THE FRACTURED WORLD: ARRIVAL

[modormenace]

 

A

rrival for some goes all but unnoticed. It's a sudden shiver, the sensation of being watched... and then nothing at all. Life continues serenely as it always has. The only indication of any change comes with sleep, wrapped in dreams: vague and distant echo imagery of another life, melting away in the morning.

 

F

or others, arrival is a sharp jolt. In the space of a single blink, they find themselves in an unfamiliar world, surrounded by the trappings of a life they have not lived. They are replacements, spirits taking possession of bodies belonging to people very much like themselves...

 

A

nd for the rest, arrival is a procedure. Routine. Those ported in to the Fractured World wake hazily in the comfortably dim light of the Porter room, laid out on an exam table. Their wounds, if they remember having any, have been healed— and even those who remember their own deaths find themselves miraculously restored. As they regain consciousness, an automatic audio-visual presentation is triggered. Regardless of their backgrounds or physiology, all imPorts 'see' and 'hear' this message as if in their own language:

"Greetings, imPort."

The voice is calm and gently authoritative, almost certainly selected by committee.

"On behalf of the Synod and all imPorts it represents, we welcome you to the planet Earth."

A decidedly non-humanoid robotic arm holds out a palm-sized device and rather insistently demands the new arrival take it. This is the imPort's comm, used for accessing the Porter's database of information, as well as the communications Network— though it won't receive communications from outside the Porter building until carried through one of the many Gates set up in a long, crescent-shaped array on the far side of the room.

As each Gate is approached, information about the faction it leads to flashes up on the comm device's screen. Which will you choose?

THE WHITE TOWER SANCTUM AURORAE KRAKOA HOUSE OF M EMPIRE OF LIGHT EQUALITY BEFORE LAW THE TWIN CITIES OLIN VALE EDEN SEEKERS OF THE NEW DAWN NORTHWESTERN IMPERIUM GREEN PIECE MAD BURNISH LUMINARY

Comments

[edelgards]

Edelgard, usually composed for the sake of public appearances, spends an awful lot of time behind that rigid mask of authority. When she hears Caspar call out to her in the crowd, however, she can’t stop from raising herself up higher on tip-toes to try and make out his figure in the thick flood of street-farers. Caught with the same affliction of being not as tall as she would prefer, it doesn’t stop her from trying to catch sight of him.

The excited flap of wyvern wings finally gives him away and she can’t help but allow a smile to slip its way onto her lips as he bursts through the crowd. She has taken all the burdens of her station far too seriously, but that doesn’t mean she’s had to endure them all alone. If not for the familiarity and support of Caspar, well. It would be a troublesome state indeed.

“You shouldn’t rush around like that,” she says as soon as he catches up to her. The fussing over him comes naturally, immediately, even before she has a chance to look down and inspect her own collection of shopping bags.

“I’m merely taking this opportunity to stock up on important supplies,” she insists with a huff. Looking through these bags, however, it should be obvious that she’s indulged herself quite a bit.

[genuinewrestleboy]

He waves off the concern with perhaps a little too much ease. "Eh, as long as I don't bowl people over it's fine!" Where Edelgard was careful with how she presented herself, Caspar was straightforward to a fault and somewhat lax.

Helping Edelgard in a more official capacity has made him grow more mature over the years, but when they weren't on the job he considered her a friend first and foremost. So he peers into the bags with little regard to propriety. And boundaries. "Hah! Board games are 'important supplies' now?"

[edelgards]

She really should appear more serious and composed but Edelgard, even after so many years, can't quite find the strength to fend off that comment. Looking a little embarrassed, she shuffles around her bags to hide the evidence. Caught red-handed!

"They are important to me," she argues feebly. "At any rate, I won't have another chance to resupply for possibly quite some time."

Things have been busier lately, with matters of state growing increasingly more urgent; the conflict of whether or not to amass a stronger army has certainly left her with even less free time than usual. So maybe...she was indulging herself. A bit.

"What about you, Caspar? Are you interested in any shopping for yourself?"

[genuinewrestleboy]

"Oh, I keep buying things and then eating them immediately!" He grins. He's not as big an eater as some others, but he likes festival food, especially the part where he doesn't have to cook it himself. "If I see something else I like I'll get it, but I'm not really looking for anything."

He shrugs, but then he gestures to her bags again. "You know, I'm glad you're doing some shopping for yourself. You're so serious all the time, you should get stuff that makes you happy."