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my oath shall be sped;
WHO? Everybody!
WHAT? The January TDM.
WHEN? The mythic dimension of Vorspiel.
ANYTHING ELSE? Violence, as always. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence, and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.
WHAT? The January TDM.
WHEN? The mythic dimension of Vorspiel.
ANYTHING ELSE? Violence, as always. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence, and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.
JANUARY TEST DRIVE MEME;
Vorspiel; a land of song.
arrival for new recruits
You wake up in a patch of verdant forest, with the birds chirping all around you. You're not in a clearing; your body lies between the trees. Near you, a frail woman with tired eyes rocks back and forth. You have none of your clothing, just black military-issued underwear, and none of your previous possessions beyond the one you chose (if you remember choosing) to bring with you.
When the tired woman notices you've come to, she speaks in a tongue you won't recognize, but somehow understand, in tilting tones that somehow always rhyme. Tired and sorrowful though she is, if you have questions as to what's going on, she'll answer: you are a member of COST, a paramilitary organization of time travelers fighting against the Regency, a tyrannous kingdom of the future who are trying to stamp out freedom and individuality in the name of peace.
She will provide you with the clothing necessary to fit in, and show you how to use your BCE implant to look up information on this dimension and its social and political mores. She won't let you leave until you're properly dressed to fit in, but once you are, she'll wish you luck. She thinks you'll need it.
And, she says as you depart, if you see the Gods, spit on them. They will do you no favors here.
ARRIVAL FOR VETERANS
While on BASE, you'll receive a message on your BCE.
URGENT MISSION: VORSPIEL UNDER MAJOR ATTACK. ALL POSSIBLE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO PROVIDE AID.Selecting 'Y' will instantly teleport you to Vorspiel. Or maybe you're not the volunteering type, but your BCE glitches and signs you up anyway. Them's the breaks.
ACCEPT: Y / N ?
When you appear in Vorspiel, you'll find yourself in that same forest with the same woman who is ushering new recruits. She will give you clothes and wish you luck-- though luck, she says, is something true heroes have in short supply.
VORSPIEL
Regardless of how you got here, your BCE will have a short rundown of the situation once you arrive.
Vorspiel is a mythical, magical dimension rich in rare and precious resources. During the course of the war, it's been fought over by both sides. The Regency has recently allied with the leader of the misty country of Nibelheim to issue what is known as a Time Break; a sort of spell only possible in ancient dimensions such as these. Essentially, linear time has been destroyed in this dimension. Everything is happening at once, simultaneously and perpetually, a never ending cycle of lives and deaths and battles. While Vorspiel is a vast dimension, its borders have become warped; it is possible to walk from one country to another across the sea in a matter of moments, by accident. While the BCE is trying to send people to Nibelheim, it's entirely possible it misses the mark completely, or sends them to several places before they reach Nibelheim.
This chaos is meant to be a punishment: bow down before the Regency, or nothing will ever be the same again.
There is good news, though. Vorspiel is a dimension of inherent magic; singing or humming or whistling certain magical tunes will have an inherent effect upon one's surroundings. The BCE lists all the spells, though it notes that some have varying results (AKA go wild, guys, have fun), and the ones named after people will do little unless the person in question is present (a statistical unlikelihood).
As you enter different parts of Vorspiel, the BCE will sometimes give you different assignments, prompting you to take this action or that. If you have any questions about how this setting works, feel free to ask!
THE RHEINAs a final note: This will not be the main mission for January. This TDM is meant as a one-off to dump characters into a setting they don't have to read a ton of infopages for, while still getting a sense of what Agoge could be (and as always, this TDM is game canon).
You come upon a giant river with clear and beautiful water. The sun shines down upon it in yellow light, and wherever the light touches it, gold floats to the surface of the water. The BCE will prompt you to fetch as much of this gold as you can-- it is an extremely powerful magical resource, rheingold-- but it will not warn you about the Rheinmaidens.
The rheinmaidens are mermaids, essentially, and at first, they are very friendly and gentle, singing nonsense songs and welcoming you to their home. But as soon as you begin to make any moves toward the gold, they will curse you, dive for you with surprising speed, and attempt to drown you. They will be vicious, and their natural element is water. You're in their territory, taking their things, as far as they are concerned. They have every right to kill you.
Killing the rhienmaidens will work... for a minute or so. And then they will rise again. Wounds will undo themselves-- whether they're inflicted by the rheinmaidens or you. Drowning doesn't seem permanent either-- you're pulled under, and all air escapes you, death befalls you... and then you wake up a moment later, standing on the shore.
Time has been fundamentally broken. Nothing done here is permanent.
WALHALL
You stand outside a fortress bathed in rainbow light atop a glorious mountain. Around you, the air is cool and still, and the roof of the sky seems terribly close. No matter how far toward the fortress you run, you can never make it inside. And thundering footsteps are coming just around the mountain pass, coming for you.
Lumbering giants wander around the fortress, searching for something they mutter and murmur is theirs. If they see anyone around, they will attempt to carry them off, kidnapping them for unknown purposes. They do not seem interested in eating their catch; they seem more interested in kidnapping it. Still, they are dangerous, brutish and sloppy with their strength. It is best to avoid them if possible, hiding in the trees.
Or perhaps you'd rather fight these fifteen-foot monstrosities on your own?
Of course, if you kill them, they just... come back. Death cannot be permanent in a place where time has been caught in an endless loop.
NIBELHEIM
The misty country of Nibelheim is located within a network of caverns dug into the side of a great mountain. It's a foggy, polluted place that brings to mind a city on the brink of the industrial revolution, not unlike Victorian London, though Nibelheim is entirely underground. There is smoke and smog everywhere, and living conditions are generally poor. The rich class is one family, ruled by a Nibelung named Alberich. He has various objects of great power that keep him enslaving his fellow Nibelung, working constantly in factories of his making. He has allied with the Regency to achieve this goal, and the time break within his home dimension is due in large part to his planning and plotting.
Human visitors to Nibelheim aren't unheard of, due to trade, though they are in a minority. Nibelungs, for the record, look and feel and act completely human, but they are ultimately alien, averaging a foot shorter in height at least, having naturally sallow skin, large eyes, hairless regardless of gender, and long, nimble fingers. They are a race of people made to live underground, and it shows; most can see in the dark, and climb nearly any surface. They are famed as smiths and metalworkers. Most just want to make a living and feed their families, though Alberich's clan keeps them in line.
Your duty here, the BCE says, is to try and befriend these people, the average Nibelung, and spark some kind of revolt. There are Regency spies everywhere, however, so be careful; you cannot call for rebellion in an open voice on every street corner. No, it's better, safer, to be subtle about it. Win the trust of a local businessman, seek out influential Nibelungs and figure out their opinions. Be tactical, be clever, be quick.
And avoid Alberich and his family at any cost.
But if you can, try and save some of the Nibelungs. Due to Alberich's machinations, Nibelheim is the only part of Vorspiel that has been untouched by the time break, but that will only stay true for so long. If you can convince any Nibelungs to join COST, they will do so willingly; you'll just have to escort them to safe places in hidden back rooms within dingy bars and forgotten libraries, the places where COST cells have been fermenting under the nose of the Regency. Don't get caught, and be careful; save as many as you can.
AT THE BASE OF A GREAT TREE
A man lays dying. He looks very much like the woman who introduced you to this place. Regardless, he lies in a pool of his own blood, a stab wound through his heart. The time break keeps him from ever truly passing into the next life; as soon as he dies, his eyes open, and he begins the process of his last painful moments once again.
Each time, he begs you to avenge him and find his love (or sometimes his sister; he seems very confused), and if you ask him his name, he will only respond that he is, "the woeful one". And then he will die again, for the hundredth time.
In the trees, warriors watch, poised to attack. They see you communing with their enemy, and they wish to defeat you as well. These warriors care little for your protest; they are locked in an endless battle that they cannot free themselves from, and you have just joined it.
IN THE FOREST
There is a serpent, larger than anything you have ever seen, sitting at the mouth of a cave. It sits upon a hoard of gold that may be familiar to you. It may not, but the BCE will inform you of what it is: rheingold, an incredibly potent and valuable magical resource.
Regardless, the serpent will attack anyone that comes near it or its hoard, even by accident. It, too, is caught in an endless loop of battle long over, for it calls you boy and foolish young man regardless of who or what you are. It speaks in a deep and sonorous voice, and will not stop until its head is cut off. The creature is obnoxiously large and highly dangerous, and battle with it will be long and painful, not least because, like everything in this place where time has been so fundamentally broken, it is very bad at staying dead.
Be careful when you fight it -- if you accidentally get some of its blood in your mouth, you will be suddenly and temporarily able to understand the language of birds. Which is cool, but also, you know, distracting.
The birds will tell you to find the Valkyries, who will bring you great fame and glory. They will also tell you to run, for Fafnir does not die so easy.
AT THE END OF THE WORLD
You are at a funeral. A golden-haired woman stands upon an unlit pyre, standing next to the man who, she sings, is her dead husband. Her song is beautiful and loud and incomprehensible, and when the pyre is lit, the fire swallows her whole. But the burning doesn't stop there; it begins to destroy the assembled mourners, the forest around it, the castle, the very river burns. The fabric of the world crackles and sets to flame.
Run from the flame all you like, but it always licks at your heels.
There is a trick, though, to saving your life. If one is truly unafraid of death, the fire cannot harm you, or anyone you touch. The BCE won't warn you of this; it doesn't know. But if you are unafraid, you can simply walk through the flames unharmed.
It will bring you to a wide field atop a mountain, where a woman lies sleeping. It's the same woman at the funeral, peaceful in sleep, unmoving, unsinged. She can be awoken by a kiss.
Of course, awakening her will begin the cycle again: the pyre, the fire, the fearlessness, the clearing. Over and over again, endlessly, until the BCE manages to pull you out.
This is the will of the Regency.
The main mission for January will be the Gallipoli campaign, as detailed here. Future missions for Agoge are always listed here months in advance.
no subject
He'd like to show him how much quicker he is... God, Achilles. ]
What? Do you expect that I had a reason why you'd be all the way out here in mind? You could've been hunting for all I know.
[ He steps past him, expecting him to follow. They're in this together now. ]
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Also that doesn't give you any excuses for expecting Heine to follow, either. He's just going to go off in the opposite direction.. ]
1/2
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Where are you going?
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I gotta take care of some other thing. See you around.
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Achilles is at his feet in no time, making a disapproving clicking noise through his teeth. He could have went his own separate way, but he's been bored without company and they're supposed allies. It makes sense to stick together. ]
You were brought here for the same reason I was.
We'll look for Nibelheim together.
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it may be true, but Heine is no hero; he can't save anyone, let alone an entire world that's falling apart into ruins in its own immortality, destroying itself inside out, rebuilding in a more and more twisted way.
Heine is just going to keep walking, the fact that the other person is following him again not deterring him from the path one bit. Maybe Achilles was one of those persistent types, but Heine was stubborn as well. ]
I don't really care about any of that crap.
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He did say he had something else in mind to take care of. ]
Then what is it you're after?
The sirens' gold? I can take you there, myself.
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The gold?
[ look, he just said that to throw Achilles off... ]
Why would I need that?
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Hah. [ A breath of laughter. ] You're saying you don't care about fortune? Then if it isn't gold you're after, or saving these people, what are you here for?
You're no hero. That much is obvious.
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Heine has to laugh at that, a cackle that's barely audible among the forest noises as he continues to cut through the shrubbery and the tall grass among the trees. He's not going to stop or slow down even through Achilles is following him... Even though he has no idea where he's going, either. He's just that sort of a guy. ]
Yeah, no shit.
[ What kind of cruel irony is it that they've pulled him here? He doesn't have any power to save anyone. ]
But threatening people for information doesn't seem very heroic either, so where the hell do you see yourself sitting on that scale?
no subject
You think I'm going to listen to what you have to say about what it means to be a hero? [ He barks out a laugh, himself, but it's short and clipped. ]
But you're digressing, aren't you? I'll ask again; where are you going if you don't have any intention of doing this mission?
Are you going to wander around until your legs are tired?
no subject
[ Heine doesn't glance back to the other even with the stinging retort; his expression is dull again, eyes scanning the path ahead but it's not with any sort of interest, more borne out of habit of watching rather than any curiosity towards the new surroundings.
It might seem strange, probably, to see how little he reacts to the things around them. Giants and dragons aside, there were worse things out here. ]
You don't have to follow.
no subject
[ Glancing up at the trees, he recognizes the area by certain marks. It'd be a waste of time to walk around in circles, even if he's indulging himself in some company. Guess he should end this.
He leaps to one of the trees with a powerful kick of his legs, landing squarely in the foliage and shaking the branches in the process. The birds who'd been perched in this tree begin flocking out, squawking as they soar into the sky above. Achilles doesn't seem to care. ]
You'll soon find your way over to the sirens if you keep going in this direction. COST wants us to collect the gold in the river.You should be careful.
[ Ugh, should he check in on him later... ]
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Heine is, despite everything, maybe a little surprised at how this guy made it up there in only one leap; his eyes follow the trunk of the tree to where Achilles is now standing, and he raises his (faint) eyebrows a little at it. ]
Nice, camouflage.
[ is he being an ass????? probably. ]
Thanks for the advise. Bye.
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Instead, he finds the dying man.
Normally, Heine would walk past; there is no appeal to him to pay attention to the suffering of others — being as selfish as he is, his own self-made chains are enough to deal with. But there's something in the other's eyes that make him pause, to draw close enough to hear the dying gasp. my sister, he says, and Heine bites the inside of his cheek so hard that he tastes blood on his lips. my sister.
Avenge me. ]
Just let go.
[ he mutters out, but he'd be better off talking to the wind — the breathing ceases, a few seconds' worth of silence, then the dying heart kicks and splutters back to life. The clouded eyes open again. The hands clutch at nothing, again. The mouth gasps out sister, like a blessing or a curse or a plea. He knows exactly how it feels. ]
no subject
Tracking him is fairly easy. He finds the spot where they'd parted ways and follows the direction he'd seen him take. He moves past the sirens and their territory, realizing that the boy from earlier must have done the same earlier, and eventually finds him in a small clearing amongst the trees.
He'd came across the same scene before, had watched the same man die the same death. He's seen this kind of tragedy countless times before, in his time and his war, but in those cases he had put them out of their misery. With time being on a constant loop here, though, that isn't possible for this poor man. It's frustrating, really, to not be able to do anything. Achilles had left him there after weighing his options, deciding that he'd carry this memory in his heart, but now he's revisiting it, and so soon too.
Now, he watches silently as the new member of COST stands there, staring at the dying man as he alternates from laying there as a corpse to a barely-living person.
He wonders if the white boy notices the unmistakable, ominous feeling of being watched, the are figures in the trees that wait for Heine to make his choice: keep walking or help the dying man. ]
I don't know what could be a crueler fate than this, to pitifully hang between life and death for eternity. [ He thinks of his teacher, who had chosen death over having to live forever with the pain of poison in his system. ]
no subject
Heine is familiar with bullets tearing through flesh, of the sharpened blade slicing its way through his body. Arrows are much too archaic a weapon in the times he come from that it actually comes as quite a surprise to have one whizzing past his head, leaving a streak of red running down the back of his ear from where it grazed him.
If he hasn't turned his head right that moment upon hearing the other's voice, it might as well have gone straight through his throat.
Shit.
There are more arrows. Heine swears softly, quickly finding the direction they are coming from and rolling away, a hand going for the gun at his hip before it's pierced through at the wrist, splintering through tendon and muscle like nothing. Another finds its mark on his shoulder, protruding through, dripping red with blood. ]
Fuck, [ it hurts in a different way but it's still pain, it's still something that make his head ring with echoes of bloody teeth and howling, and Heine's eyes flash fire and brimstone, briefly. His wrist is useless for now; he doesn't know enough about arrows to pull them out properly but it's not like it matters, and he reaches over with his good hand and breaks the feathered end of the shaft, before pulling the other end out of him with a sharp, annoyed sound. The blood and smoke mix acrid in his eyes but Heine briefly takes aim with his gun, now grasped in the other hand, and fires. ]
1/2
The moment the arrows are fired he's rushing towards the trees, knowing that the time loop would save him from a permanent death, spear in hand. He could have saved Heine from the arrow, but that would have left both of them open to more fire. Wiping them out entirely is the better strategy in this unique case, and neither of them will have to bear with the consequences.
He makes short work of the men in the trees. With Heine's added help, it's even faster. He cuts them down seamlessly, leaping from branch to branch and slicing away at limbs and heads alike. The fine soil below the trees are stained in blood, organs dropping to the roots jutting out from the ground and making a tangled mess. The birds that had been startled out of the trees due to the commotion will return later to peck at the remains, only to disappear once time restarts itself. ]
no subject
I'll put you out of your misery, if you wish. You'll just be brought back to life once time restarts.
[ He could wait, if he could survive long enough for the loop to begin anew. Achilles thinks he's doing him a service by offering him the choice. ]
no subject
Heine is on his knees, on the ground. The blood drips down from between his fingers, staining his knuckles red. The neck of his tunic is red too, the bandages stained with the blood. Another minute or two, his arm will be good.
The main difficulty is the arrow lodged in historic shoulder, and the blade pointed at his throat. ]
—Are you fucking kidding me?
[ the edges of his grin is still much too sharp, much too bloody, some unknown voice screaming in his head, and Heine gets to his feet after a second or so, wincing. ]
Hey, can you just pull this out? It fucking hurts.
no subject
With a firm hand on his shoulder, Achilles presses down, anchoring him so that he can't get up. He stares at his shoulder as if assessing the damage, wondering if it'd be worth it to pull the arrow out when it means he'll be losing even more blood. If time will restart, can't he just wait? It seems almost foolish and a waste to follow his request. ]
You'll die quicker that way, if I pull it out. Can't you wait a little longer?
[ He reaches behind him to break off the bladed head of the arrow in an effort to make him a little more comfortable. ]
no subject
[ Heine grumbles out, finally taking his hand away from the other arm and wiping the blood on his tunic, leaving a dirty smear of blood on the knee of it. Underneath all the blood, it's as good as new, just as he expected. It's not like things will change regardless of where he was, he'd fully expected this. ]
Just pull it out while I'm asking nicely.
no subject
[ There's a lilt to his voice, something like an air of amusement. He's half-impressed by this display even if it's foolish. He's not panicking for one thing, and even if he knows that his death won't be permanent, most humans in his position wouldn't be able to maintain their composure like this.
He's irritable, understandably. He's in pain, so Achilles finally obliges and yanks the shaft out of his shoulder with a single motion. Blood spurts out, spattering across Achilles' breastplate. ]
It's a shame, you know. [ He toys with the broken arrow, which is still coated in Heine's blood, twirling it around his fingers. ] It always bothers me to see something so white get soiled.
[ The man at the tree is as dead as the men he'd just killed, now. They have this quiet moment to themselves. ]
no subject
The spurt of blood, some of it gets on the other's armour, but most of it run down in a fucking waterfall of blood down his back, the dark blue of the overcoat dyed darker with it. Heine grits his back molars tightly, sucking in a breath, sharply, when Achilles pulls the arrow out of his shoulder, and stares hard at the dead body on the ground, the others still strewn about them. Everything is quiet — the birds have gone.
It's always a weird feeling that he won't ever get used to; the bitter acrid taste of smoke in the back of his throat like bile, his cells knitting the broken bones and torn muscles back into place, setting it just as new. It only takes a couple of minutes before it stops bleeding, another three before the wound closes, leaving angry raised scar in its wake. It will be gone, soon. ]
That fucking hurt.
[ he doesn't acknowledge the other's remark, but when he gets back up on his feet again (Achilles better let him this time), he reaches out with his bloody hand, smearing messily across the shiny silver-polished shine of his armour. ]
You don't sound too bothered.
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