letsplayamurder | Epilogue: A New Day

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Epilogue: A New Day

In the end, hope triumphed over hate. A new pantheon of gods, gathered from all corners of the universe, came together to unlock the ultimate power and it it flow over the land once more. They proved one goddess that her wisdom was correct, and another that her wisdom was keeping her trapped in a vision of the world that would never be.

You exit the temple of Olympus, battered and bruised, but more together than ever before. Athena raises her hand and drags it before her. In the distance, the keen-eyed will see the barrier that's long protected you finally fading away.

The sun shines down. Two months and you're finally, finally free.

Athena takes care to thank each of you personally. This was exactly what her and Fenyx had theorized was possible - not exactly, but the outcome is greatly acceptable. And now, Athena is bound by her oath to return you home... or wherever it is you'd like to go. You're gods now, you have the privilege.

Speaking of! Once everyone's rested and healed, Fenyx prepared a little get-together for everyone on the cliffs, with a special bonus: they can bring in any person you desire. Family and friends are preferable, but who are they to question if you want to smack your rival across the face for the first time in weeks?

They may react in confusion, however, if you tell them about the bits of Hope buzzing in the air like glowing fireflies. They're not gods, after all. They can't see them.

Dipping lower around half-day, you may peer over the side of the area and see far, far down into the valleys of ocean and cities. And beyond all of that, sailing in from the horizon, ships. Old ships of man-made nature. Sails billowing in a wind that no longer tears them asunder. Now that the storm has passed, life can resume picking up the pieces.

It will be messy, probably a disaster at times, but there's always hope. And if that carried you here, then maybe it will bring those people to the top of the mountain.

[This is the final post of Let's Play A Murder! Players are welcome to invite cast members to this log for the purpose of tagging out reunions (Fenyx and Athena will have personally greeted and asked to bring them here). You may tag this at your leisure, whatever last-minute endeavors you'd like your characters to get into will go here.

Thank you for playing.]

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[ Oh there is so much to handle before they leave. When Fenyx asks if there's anyone he wants to see before they all go their separate ways, there is only one person he can think of- both for himself and for the sake of poor Liora and Derrick. In fact you might catch him in the stables getting them ready to go with their hopeful new owner. It would not be fair to make them live on the station, after all.

Otherwise though he is lingering around the gathering, looking so very bright and hopeful. Even peering out over the cliffs when the ships show up on the horizon]

There! Look, people! So this world was not dead after all!!

[As the victorious gods finally find their way out of the temple, into the warm, shining rays of the sun, Aglaea manages to slip away. She hears Fenyx speaking of bringing some of their companions here, but she doesn't even bother asking any further questions on that. After all - two and a half months. Barely the blink of an eye to a demigod that's lived a thousand years, but she knows that things were... dire, back home. They needed to move fast, between the encroaching black tide and Caenis's machinations, she knew Phainon would be taking up his mantle and offering Kephale's coreflame soon. It's probably happened already, the Era Nova coming to be...

... Hm. What would the new Amphoreus look like, without a Titan of Romance? Her friends and companions, even that conceited scholar who she still couldn't stand... they must have all taken on their new forms by now. Taken up new roles. There's likely nothing left for her in Amphoreus, nothing left of them... if she's even able to return at all.

... She's not sure if she feels anything, as that knowledge sinks in. She's been feeling so much more than she's had in centuries since she awoke in this world, but now it's just... empty.

The cycle of Amphoreus she came from, long dead and gone. All her companions, gone.

But at least this world survived. At least these people survived. That, at least, she can feel content with. There are still regrets, still uncertainties and things unsaid lingering in the air... but at least here, she can see the fruits of their labor laid out before them.

She breathes in deep of the fresh air, leaning against one of the marble columns of the arena as the ships drift into view.]

I can't remember the last time I've truly been able to feel peace such as this.

[The offer is nice, but Manulov isn't really interested in dragging anyone here. Maybe it's something he should do someday, just to blow somebody's mind. But for now... he'll just hang out and watch the ships coming in.]

Well, now, I wonder if we should go down and mingle amongst the mortals. What would they think to meet all of us...? Would they even know?

[it sounds like fun to him, really.]

[No, he doesn't know the woman that approached him with an offer into another realm. Which, certainly, means it was a terrible idea to accept that offer. Especially in the wake of Shamballa.

Then she says Ferdinand's name and he immediately marches through the portal.

It's a beautiful day, the view of the seaside cities below enough to make him think for a moment that he's been transported far above Derdriu. He's in his best attire, of course. Athena caught him at his office in Derdriu, after all. Though there may be a slight smudge of ink on his fingers. He'd been in far too much a tizzy rushing here to remember his gloves. (Terrible manners, truly.)

But all recollection of manners and propriety goes out the window when he sees that flash of brilliant copper in the crowd. He doesn't yell, that would be unbecoming, but he's a man accustomed to giving orders on the battlefield and speaking to large gatherings of people. He knows how to make his voice carry.]

Ferdinand Von Aegir!

[It's the only warning he gets before Ferdinand is accosted. One bare hand landing hard enough to make a sharp crack! on his cheek. Lorenz hardly gives him a moment to process that before the redhead is yanked in against Lorenz' chest, long elegant fingers buried in his hair, shoving his face into a cravat that smells of roses and salt air and he can feel the way Lorenz trembles, attempting -and failing- to suppress the rising tide of emotion. Before long he's sobbing quietly into that rich scarlet mane.]

[ Now that things have settled down, Velvet's looking for Aglaea, considering she owes the woman at least some thanks. Velvet praying to the dragons her local child will not have wandered off—who is she kidding, she's probably asked Ferdinand to help entertain said child while she handles other matters. ]

I get the feeling a lot of us have led, uhm. Exciting lives even before all this.

[That gets a soft laugh out of Aglaea, her gaze still watching the people far below.]

That is certainly an understatement. We might fill the entire library with the stories all of us can tell from our lives, I think.

[After his dramatic entrance, once Lorenz has composed himself, he is far more interested in seeing who else is here and learning what he can of the people Ferdinand has been spending his time with. Anyone that has the misfortune of mentioning Ferdinand around him will be treated to a line that seems so repetitive it could be a joke.]

Ah! You know Ferdinand? Then you've certainly heard of me for I am none other than Lorenz Hellman Gloucester!

[But he's so serious when he says it it surely cannot be a joke. Oh no. There's two of them.]

[She looks down at the ships slowly arriving, pulling in towards ports from who knows where.]

[She looks back over the mountaintop, at the ragtag little pantheon that's formed.]

I think they might have some suspicions.

[ Velvet's preparations mostly consists of deciding what things she wants to take with her from here. She spends some time back in her room picking a few items she's collected during her time here, along with personal belongings she's regained, gathering them all into a cloth tied up in a bundle.

As for the offer to invite someone from home, Velvet has one person in mind, if only because it's the only person she can think of whom she could break the news to without there being too much fussing. Granted, she also thinks it'd be good for Sunrise to see these new, foreign sights.

You can find her at the gathering, either alone (or sticking close to Ferdinand)... ]

Huh, so there really are still people here.

[ ...Or in the company of a short teenaged girl wearing a teal shawl, and carrying what appears to be a large instrument case on her back. She has an incredibly stoic, even blank expression, but despite that, there's a distinct sense of awe as she looks around at both the other people present and their surroundings. ]

...You have a lot of explaining to do, Ms. Velvet.

Yyyyyeaaaaah, I suppose I do...

[ And you know, chances are, despite Velvet's best efforts to keep an eye on her, said girl will have inevitably wandered off at some point to look around. People can probably approach to speak to her on her own. ]

((OOC: You'll be getting tags from

cleansewithfire if you wish to interact with the castmate!))

Edited 2025-09-01 01:34 (UTC)

[Astarion keeps his distance from the group. After all, he didn't want to spare this other Athena to begin with. He's gazing at the portrait of a particular woman that Typhon threatened him with all those weeks ago..

He only looks up when Tav appears in front of him.]

...Astarion?

[He looks up at her with wide eyes. The woman is ever-so-slightly taller than him. For a moment, he looks like he's not certain what he's going to do, but he doesn't get much chance to decide, because she pulls him into an embrace, near sobbing.]

I thought you were dead!

[And then she looks at the people milling around and switches to a different language. Whatever she's saying, Astarion quickly responds in the same language. Whatever they're talking about, "Withers" keeps popping up.

Later, after things have settled, Astarion can be found with Tav overlooking the cliffs. It's quite clear that the two of them are sickeningly in love, though they also trust each other deeply. If someone wants to speak to Astarion privately, neither of them have a problem with Astarion being pulled away.]

Edited 2025-09-01 01:39 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I can't say mine are especially enjoyable unless someone likes tragedies.

[ Though she says it in a way where it's meant to be more like bleak humor. ]

[ So once things have settled down some, but probably before Fenyx calls them over for the gathering, Velvet is going to approach Ferdinand. ]

Do you have a moment, dear?

[ "I'll be back before you know it. I have some loose ends that need tying up."

with that, sayo yasuda had traveled back to the moment she'd left. to rokkenjima's shore at dusk, with a cart full of bottled manuscripts.

and she burned all of them. she approached genji, kumasawa, dr. nanjo—"the plan is off. reach out to begin liquidating the gold."

setting the process in motion to defuse the powderkeg of the ushiromiya inheritance took some exhausting hours, but more than that... there's someone coming the day afterwards who she needs to see. and if he won't steal her away... then maybe she can steal him away.

if the endless witch is responsible for countless sins in countless fragments, then... she can do something different here, in this fragment, can't she? the sea of fragments holds infinite possibilities.

she hasn't rested when she returns to the gathering on olympus, still buzzing with manic energy as if she can't believe what she's done. ]

This world isn't empty after all...? [ she lets out a breathy, giddy laugh as she looks over the cliffs, seeing the ships on the water. the ocean that stretches past the horizon... it's a beautiful shade of blue, she thinks.

she can be found anywhere from the library to the bar or eatery, able to smile easily for the first time in weeks. here and there, she writes in a notebook with intense focus. a new mystery, of course. ]

[Well, if Velvet can joke about it...]

The stories of your life would be popular in Amphoreus, then. My people certainly love their tragedies as much as they love the epics.

[Some of you might get to see the purpler haired girl arrive, looking thoroughly confused, more than a little wary, and shouldering a utilitarian-looking canvas backpack. The eventual angry shouting from the gardens is- much more obvious, and not much of a mystery. After the fight with Agreena everyone's heard what Vanity sounds like when she's really pissed, right?]

[But once that's over and done with, Vanity can eventually be found -back in her chiton, with a new, blood-free capelet- sitting at a quiet table in the bar sipping a steaming cup of coffee, wearing an unfamiliar pair of silver-rimmed glasses, and sporting one fresh black eye. A thick metal case with an embossed medical caution symbol sits on table nearby.]

[The other eye doesn't seem quite focused on anything in the room, scanning over something unseen; unless you're particularly sharp-eyed, in which case you can catch faint reflections of light scrolling across the lenses.]

[Pinkerton the Eye-pod trundles cheerfully around the floor nearby, and her stubbornly persistent Zubat hangs off a wall decoration without apparent objection from Vanity, for once.]

[If she notices anyone approach, she'll blink, tapping the side of her glasses to dismiss whatever she's reading, and look up.]

Think all this crap will make it into whatever myths those guys on the boats end up telling?

[Later still- time for one last run around the island on the EggCycle, capelet flapping in the wind as she rides laps all over. As good as it will be to get back into space on a proper station, the chance of there being enough room for this seems slim.]

[And here's Aglaea. She hadn't left her behind - of course she wouldn't. She never says anything that might be even half empty words of reassurance. She always says what she means. And these were her companions; even if she wasn't a leader anymore, she still had to look out for them. At least until they were all standing on their own feet.]

So you stepped through the door after all.

[She sounds... proud.]

[Vanity shades her eyes to watch the ships approach.]

Huh. Think it was not dead before Hope got loose, or are these guys fresh sprouted from nothing?

Do you want to check and see?

[hehehe.]

I kind of do. Think there's time? Scaling the mountain looked like a real bitch and a half.

[There's no one for Seymour to ask to have brought here, of course. The one person he could even consider definitely doesn't want to see him again, and... well, it's better this way. Now there's nothing left to tie him to Spira. It's as freeing as it is terrifying, the first time he's ever lived for himself and what he wants. But through it all, whatever lies ahead... he knows that he isn't going to be alone, and it's that thought that gives him strength.

He's going to keep his distance from the others - they're furious with him, and rightfully so - so as not to ruin their joyous reunions or bring back any unpleasant memories they would rather forget. He only shows up at the gathering (hanging back around the edges) so that people can have Words with him if they wish to do so-- he's not going to run away from that much. He made his mistakes, and he's going to own them in whatever form that takes.

Later on, he can be found at the bonfire with a familiar-looking pile of blue and red fabric in his arms. He's dressed in something different now, a much more practical off-the-shoulder green robe that's shorter and far more suited to moving around than his summoner's robes ever were, and so it doesn't take much to figure out just what it is that he's carrying. And then? He's tossing it all into the fire. He watches it burn with a mixture of satisfaction and trepidation... the closing of one chapter, and the beginning of another. He may never be able to summon again; he doesn't know. But if he can't... he doesn't think he'll miss it.]

... those always did get in the way.

Been a while since it's felt like things aren't liable to explode any second, huh.

Heh. [ It's weirdly funny to imagine her life story being popular with anyone. ] Even with all the ominous portents in them?

Ferdinand probably would enjoy those Amphorean stories too, though, now that I think about it.

Hmm... you are right. You would think that after all we have done we would unlock more divine powers, like flight and teleportation and whatnot.

[It takes some time for Astarion to approach, mostly because he's been spending his time catching up with someone else, but approach Seymour he does. Tav is nearby, of course, but it looks like whatever Astarion is going to say has her blessing, because she doesn't look the least bit uncomfortable.]

Seymour. I have a proposal.

[It's probably obvious what his proposal is going to be, but he keeps talking.]

And lest you worry, Ivilezlei is getting the same one.

[It's obvious he's serious, because this is the first time he's ever uttered that name.]

Right, Athena can do a bunch of shit, I guess Alex can literally raise the dead now? ...You think we've all got, like, God Puberty coming sooner or later, or something?

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Epilogue: A New Day

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Gathering

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bonfire

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