citrine

[dramatispersonae]

[ The hill in the Ring dissolves, leaving you alone with your team in a soft, featureless grey space. The Dog's genderless, gentle "voice" speaks into all of your minds, less anxious and more confident now; confiding. ]

My name is The Dog Who Dies At The End Of The Story. I don't remember the name I had before that, and I didn't know what this one was either, not till I chose a new Master. I don't think I was supposed to do that, but I did, so here we are.

I understand being a dog, and sometimes dogs die. But I don't understand dying, even when I know what it is. . . and in order to make a choice about it, I need to catch answers. I've died over and over and not understood yet. Maybe some of you have, too. I wanted . . . to ask what you thought. . . ?

Thank you. . . I won't be able to answer for a little while, so if you would. . . please answer for me.

[ You know instinctively that while the Dog will not answer your words for a while, once it asks you its questions you will be able to speak your answers when you've reached a consensus and be heard. ]

Comments

round one part one

[dramatispersonae]

[ The questions click into your mind like pieces into a puzzle. You know that you must answer them together as a group. ]

In your story, you've just died. They're mourning you back where your body is, or they're not; I don't know how much they loved you in this story.

The rest of you is following a trail away. What's at the end of it?

something warm or something cold.

something close or something far.


something or nothing.

discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Re: discussion

[meekstrength]

Oh...That is gloomy.

Re: discussion

[heartrending]

Indeed.

[scowling]

It is a Personae, a creature of wicked magic; can it not simply conjure up the answers to these dark questions?

answer

[dramatispersonae]

[ Please answer as a group if you choose to answer this question: one answer each for the three "or" choices. ]

Re: answer

[heartrending]

Something far, something warm, something.

round one part two

[dramatispersonae]

Why did you answer that way? Is that how you think it is, or know it is? How are you sure? Or is it just what you want to be true... has someone you loved died, and now you hope they're there?

Please help me understand.

discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Re: discussion

[meekstrength]

...I just wanted to be nice.

Re: discussion

[heartrending]

Ah. Now it wishes to hear our logic.

answer

[dramatispersonae]

[ Please answer as a group if you choose to answer this question: you can go into detail or not, but the thoughtfulness of your answer will affect your score and game results. ]

Re: answer

[heartrending]

We don't know--but we didn't want to say nothing, and we didn't want to lie and present you with some trite, easy answer, either. We said what felt right, and that is all we can offer now.

round two

[dramatispersonae]

What does death mean to you? Is there ever a time to die?

discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Re: discussion

[meekstrength]

[this question...]

...Sometimes you have to.

Re: discussion

[heartrending]

...I would not choose death.

answer

[dramatispersonae]

[ Please answer as a group if you choose to answer this question: you can go into detail or not, but the thoughtfulness of your answer will affect your score and game results. ]

Re: answer

[heartrending]

Death is an end. Something to fear and wonder about, and never know until it's finally experienced; something different for everyone, because every person's death, like every person's life, has a different weight.

If there is a time to die, it is if you have found something you would die to protect, and the world requires that of you.

round three

[dramatispersonae]

Tell me about. . . the place you talked about in the first question, even if your answer was that it wasn't a place. What it looks like and feels like around you. Just so I can. . .

Thank you.

discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Re: discussion

[heartrending]

[shaking his head]

I do not know.

answer

[dramatispersonae]

Re: answer

[heartrending]

A warm, comfortable place, with all the people who went ahead of you--if you want to see them. It is a place for when you're done with all the troubling things in life you did not want; you no longer have to do anything you don't wish for. You can have a nice rest.

result

[dramatispersonae]

Re: result

[dramatispersonae]

[ The room warms, closing in around them; suddenly there's comfort here, and repose. You can hear the laughing voices of the people you love around you, not quite in reach but present. It would be a nice moment, to lift your eyelids and look to them, to speak and laugh; perhaps when you've rested, you could.

But something about the whole scenario is remote and far away. You will not face this today: here and now, you are alive. ]

((endgame.))