fracturarpg | intro log.

Entry tags:

! intro

intro log.

welcome mingle

( AND SO IT BEGINS. )

There's nothing but the clatter of train tracks, and the odd feeling of almost floating.

When you wake, it's hard to tell exactly what it is that you're missing - only that you are. There are pieces that aren't quite right, even if you're not sure where those pieces would normally be. Pieces of what, exactly....? Well, if you had to put a word to it, it would be - yourself, probably.

The place you've found yourself in is strange, certainly. It's probably worth exploring a bit. Though it just as easily seems that the only form of welcome or explanation that you have, comes from nothing more than a slab of marble.

Well - that, and all the people who seem to have woken up alongside you, lost and also probably Doing Their Best™.

There's no need to fret that much though. It's hard to say exactly where you're going next, even though some places might feel a little bit more like a clue, but what you do know is one unshakeable thing:

There's still much more ahead of you.

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Only recently! But they've been... weirder recently, too. I guess that's why I thought this was one, but maybe I was off on that.

[But, hm.]

Hey, what's the last thing you remember?

Well, it's a fair guess! This does seem like the sort of thing that could only happen in a dream, right?

[GESTURING WIDELY WITH BOTH ARMS. Some kazoos go flying out of his sleeves just to add to the surrealist vibe.]

Ah - before waking up here? I was falling out of a tree. [Intentionally.] But I don't recall hitting my head on the way down or anything. Is it something like that for you?

[He's looking at the kazoos with a puzzled expression as they go flying out of WWX's sleeves, but that's probably the least weird thing that's happening to him today, so it's fine. He looks more alarmed by what he says next.]

Were you okay? Unless you were still falling before you woke up here... [Which, hm, is worrying in itself. Anyways!] Not quite. I actually just woke up, I think...? Before, you know, waking up again. It's been a weird day.

I was in the middle of falling! It was very disorienting.

[He says this, but he honeslty doesn't sound like he's never known a disorientation a day in his life. It's fine.

THIS POOR GUY, THOUGH... He gets a mildly sympathetic look.]

Oh, hm. Even more "dream-in-a-dream"-like that way! I'd have been confused waking up like that, too.

Well, at least you missed out on breaking anything or hurting yourself, right? Silver linings, and all that.

[He nods, but then he kind of shrugs it off.]

It's kind of... important that I find a way back, though. The big pillar said everything back home is on pause, which I'm really hoping is true, but - I guess, just, you haven't happened to seen anything that screams exit, have you?

True, very true! Though I hope I don't wake up and find out I'm dead because I've broken my neck or something.

[Haha! That'd be wild. ANYWAY. He shakes his head, tapping his chin thoughtfully.]

I haven't, and I doubt I will. I was thinking of trying to create one so I can let you know how that will go? But for now, it seems like our only option is to trust that the pillar isn't lying.

I... also hope that? I mean, for you, obviously.

[Yikes. Anyways, he looks curious as he continues on.]

Create one? What do you mean?

Haha, thanks!

[LIKE THIS IS A NORMAL CONVERSATION. Anyway he makes a vague sort of hand gesture at that, in the shape of a circle. You can't really pantomime magic circles but he's sure trying.]

You know - create one! This place probably exists in some sort of self-contained... hm. Spell? [SURE everyone knows words like that.] And every spell has an exit. Sometimes you just have to make it yourself.

—Are you a wizard?!

[this is now the best day of his life?]

[Hunter is now one of his favorites.]

Hah, a cultivator! We deal with spirits, primarily - and the usual manner of things that come from that side.

You cultivate spirits.

[Something seems to occur to him at that exact moment, and in an awed, almost reverential tone of voice:]

Oh my god you're a Ghostbuster.

[He says, to this man who has clearly stated he doesn't know what movies are.]

[Why do people keep doing this to him this is the WORST!! ...Is what he'd think if he wasn't Wei Wuxian, probably. Instead he just finds it hilarious. All these comparisons he knows nothing about still means there are cultivator-adjacents in other worlds, which is interesting too!]

I suppose so? Well! If it's their job to help the dead pass on and get rid of anything volatile and threatening, anyway.

Oh my god. Okay, I have so many questions, uh... Okay, for starters! What do they look like? Are they—

[he

gets so excited that he drops the melon. rip, cantaloupe. i don't know how sturdy cantaloupes all but i'm making the executive decision that it's in pieces now.]

—Oh, shit. I...

[BYE MELON.]

Haha, whoops! [Hm. Well, some of these pieces are still good?? He's bending down to pick up one of the bigger chunks that came into contact with the floor on the rind side since he has Some standards, inspects it for floor particles, and takes a bite.]

—Ooh, a good one! This one's sweet. Anyway, what kind of questions? What do what look like - spirits? The undead? There are a lot!

[He just. He just moves right along. Like there isn't broken melon at their feet that he's now eating.]

[Well. If you're going to eat a melon off the ground, that's probably the most socially acceptable way to do it, but all the same:]

I can get you another cantaloupe if you want... There are probably tons around, you know? Especially since that was my bad. Sorry.

[Since this store is huge. Anyways!]

Okay, new first question. What's the difference between and spirit and the undead?

[He has like, a tiny scrap of sense sometimes, see! Teeny tiny... So small. He seems perfectly content with his floormelon though, and shakes his head.]

No need to apologize, this one's fine! I already know it's sweet and I don't want to waste time trying to find another sweet one. What if I open it and it's watery? That would be the worst. Do you want some?

[He... holds his out... Not that he actually expects this poor kid to agree.]

Ah - that's a good one, though. The spirit is the essence of a person! The undead typically just involve the physical part - the body. You can divide it further though, if you want! Technically, demons and ghosts come from humans, spirits and monsters come from plants and animals.

Uh, no. No, I'm good.

[Moving on quickly!]

So it's just the body coming back, not the soul... Like a zombie, basically? I mean, the undead type. So if a spirit does come back, it's not from a human?

[He's still clearly interested, but not enthusiastic enough to forget WWX's movieless life. The Evil Dead reference will wait for now.]

[He just shrugs in a very SUIT YOURSELF way, like Hunter is truly missing out by not eating this damn floor melon.]

Zombie? I suppose! [He's learned a new and vital word in this moment.] Fierce corpses are among the undead - animated bodies, but without the spiritual consciousness.

[He taps the side of his head for emphasis. The dumb kind of zombie...]

Mm, but that's more or less it, yes! Sometimes we call everything not of the living a spirit, just because it's easier to simplify for people who don't deal with these things, you know?

Yeah, without the consciousness! Like, just wandering around because they want to eat brains. That's a zombie. God, I wish we had a DVD player... I could teach you so many things.

[He still hasn't explained what a movie is, but in his defense he got distracted by ghosts and melons and forgot.]

[AND WEI WUXIAN WON'T REMIND HIM because ???? for some reason instead of asking for explanations directly he just likes making a game of putting two and two together, apparently.]

There might be one in here, right? We can go look, see if we can find it!

Yeah, fair enough. I probably missed it somewhere along the way... I mean, this place has everything else, right? It'd be weird if it was just missing that one specific thing.

[Narrator voice: it is missing this one specific thing.]

["Surely we can't be that unlucky!" they think, being that unlucky.]

Is this sort of thing normal where you come from, too? Stores this big with just about anything you could ask for inside of it? Haha, it's so much more convenient than marketplaces! And no one's here to trick you into buying sprouted potatoes, either - how nice.

[It's been 13+ years and he STILL REMEMBERS YOU, POTATO MAN.]

Grocery stores? Yeah... Did they not have them where you came from?

[He's slowly narrowing down on what time period WWX is probably from, but then he gets distracted by potatoes.]

Wait, someone did that to you? That sucks.

They don't - only marketplaces. Vendors come from all over to sell their wares, but even the biggest one I've ever been to hasn't had quite so much variety!

[HE'S AMAZED...

ALSO YEAH. YEAH. Let him TELL YOU about his fuckin POTATO ADVENTURES.]

Isn't it just the worst? How terrible! There I was, obviously a man with no money - did you know I was called Brother Poor? Isn't that just the saddest thing? Anyway! There I was, just trying to get some potatoes for supper that night. No radishes! Only potatoes! And yet, the only potatoes being sold were sprouting already. So I said I'd take them, but only at a discount! And would you believe it? He wouldn't even give me that!

[There are a few things of note here, but. Holy shit.]

People called you Brother Poor? That's awful!

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