epilogue chapter Era 7: Epilogue

[Koloss17 She/They]

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This thread will be taking place at any point between 24 hours and 3 months after the events of E7Ep4.

This is an all new thread type! We’re trying things out, and the format might change in future eras. 

The purpose of this thread is to wrap up any loose threads and arcs of the era, and to set up a potential arc for your character in the next era. Whether you end up following through with that plan is up to you, but this is to help you lay the groundwork for the future of your character.

Given that this thread is taking place across a span of time, feel free to write scenes that take place at any time within this span, and feel free to move about. This by no means needs to be a documentation of what your character has done during this 3 month span, it is just there to give people the time needed to wrap up their arc and set up something new.

Essentially, go wild! This is a much less structured thread, so as long as you stick with the typical Alleyverse formatting, you’re free to do whatever else.

I suspect this thread will be a bunch of snapshots of separate stories, but you are more than welcome to interact with others just like a standard era thread. The world is your oyster; just stick to the time span and you’re good.

 

 

[Stormlightsong]

Lucky, Smokestack, 3 days after the blood moon.

Lucky sat in front the grave stone. Lucy had really outdone herself: the stone was made in the shape of a playing card, the name ‘Asylum Smedry’ was set on the top and upside down on the bottom. The picture was ok but probably intentionally unflattering. 

Lucky took a swig of wine then, after a moment of consideration, poured out the rest onto the grave. They had never found the body, probably because they hadn’t looked, but she felt that Lum would approve of the gesture.

With a sigh, Lucky stood up and looked down at the face of her old friend. “They had it coming.” She said, and then walked away.

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Woo! Era 7 is over. TBH everyone did really well. There wasn’t a post I didn’t enjoy reading. I think everyone knows by now that I have big plans for era 8, so I will be posting the big reveal soon. I wouldn’t want people to think I’m uninvested in this story. You’ll get that pun later

 

Edited October 18, 2024 by Stormlightsong

[Steel Speedster ♂]

Fenna, Smokestack, Fenna’s Apartment, 2 days after the Blood Moon

Fenna dropped the iron bar to the floor, its Feruchemical charge siphoned into the metalminds clasped around her legs. The apartment was empty, her scant belongings stowed in a small pack that lay ready by her feet.

Disgust rose within her as she surveyed the small room. Disgust that she had lived like this for so many months. Disgust that despite all her efforts, it had come to this.

She had tried to be good. Tried to leave her past behind and start again. But the universe seemed determined not to give her that chance.

She had fought her hardest—done her utmost to save as many people as she could. Fought until she couldn’t fight anymore. And it had all amounted to nothing. What more was she supposed to have done?

It was time to stop trying—to stop pretending that she could be a decent person. She wasn’t. She was selfish. A coward. A killer.

Fenna slung the pack over her shoulder with a clinking sound. It was filled with a large stock of pewter vials. The metal, it turned out, was quite easy to come by if one was willing to break a few laws in the process.

Without a backwards glance, Fenna strode out of the room and made her way down to the streets. After the horror at the constabulary, she doubted that law enforcement would be on her trail any time soon, but she didn’t intend to give them any opportunity to find her.

This was how it always should have been: whatever it took to survive.

Fenna slipped down a side street and turned her steps towards the dark slums of the Mistwarrens.

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As I mentioned in another thread, I’m not sure whether or not Fenna will appear in Era 8. I may give her a bit of time off screen to focus on other characters. But she will definitely return at some point!

 

Edited October 19, 2024 by Speeding Steelrunner

[Lunamor she/her]

Eza, The Mistwarrens, 3 days after the blood moon

Eza silently sprinted forwards with occasional bursts of speed where her feet left the ground as she ironpulled on objects ahead. The woman chasing her, thank Harmony, didn’t seem to have any abilities that lent her the same grace. When she leapt up to a rooftop to follow Eza when she tried to get some height, there was an audible, if small, thud. She was probably a pewter misting, although Eza wasn’t familiar enough with other Alley magics to be certain.

Eza's heartbeat wasn't nearly as quiet as her footsteps. The thundering in her chest was so loud she almost worried that the woman chasing her could hear it. It took everything she had to keep her breathing quiet and avoid drawing in panicked gulps of air. She kept her hood pulled down low, thankful for the night's darkness that obscured her face.

While she passed the occasional wanderer sticking to the edge of whatever street or alley she found herself in as she madly half dashed, half flew, they took no action to help her. This was the Mistwarrens- everyone here knew better than to interfere in any altercations. You just kept your head down and pretended like you hadn't seen anything.

Eza's current predicament was entirely her own fault. By this point her wanted posters had been taken down, likely because witnesses had confirmed that she probably wasn’t responsible for the crimes she’d been accused of after the events in the prison. She’d assumed that meant she was safe, that the authorities were no longer looking for her. Unfortunately, the authorities weren’t the only ones who had been looking for her.

To be fair, she’d been pretty distraught at the time of her carelessness. The loss of Eighth had broken the wall holding back the emotions she’d tried to suppress for so long. That didn’t excuse walking around with her hood down and chatting with people in the daylight, though. Her scar stuck out quite a bit, the new one she’d acquired not large enough to offset its prominence.

Eza faltered as her thoughts focused on her grief. Her foot caught on an uneven cobblestone and she tumbled to the ground. Unexpected anger flashed within her. There was a reason she’d forgone any semblance of friendship for so long; you couldn’t have anyone to mourn if you didn’t have anyone in the first place. Eighth had made her weak. Apparently, a friendship with someone she'd known for less than a day was enough to break her.

She turned her tumble into a roll, springing back onto her feet and resuming her running. She lost a bit of the lead she'd slowly been gaining on her pursuer. If she didn't do something soon, the woman behind her would catch up and the monsters would have her. She had to end this now. The biggest advantage she had over this woman was her control over momentum. Eza took a deep breath, drew her knives, then jumped up into the air and ironpulled on something heavy behind her.

She shot backwards, rapidly approaching the woman chasing her. She was forced to skid to a stop, but couldn't change direction as quickly as Eza could. This threw her off balance, her focus on keeping her feet beneath her rather than on the girl rocketing towards her. Eza held out her knife, gripping the handle with both hands, and closed her eyes. She felt something tugging it backwards, then it ripping free. She ended her ironpull, letting herself slowly skid to a stop. Something in her knew that this chase was over.

Eza turned around and returned to where the woman had been standing, footsteps dragging across the stone with soft scrapes. Her pursuer was motionless on the ground. She hesitantly tried poking her and got no reaction. The woman had crumpled so that she was lying face down, so no injuries were visible, but the pool of blood spreading beneath her told her that something vital had been hit.

Had she just... no, she hadn't. This wasn't a person. They- they weren't. They couldn't be. A person wouldn't be chasing her like this, that was what the monsters did. She hadn't gotten a good look at the woman, though. Why hadn't she looked?

Carefully, Eza rolled the woman over. She didn't pay too much attention to the fact that her head flopped backwards further than it should've, instead ripping off the person's tinted glasses. All she could stare at was her eyes. She still had eyes. No spikes of metal pierced the woman's wide open eyes.

That didn't make sense. She had to have been a monster. Eza flared her iron, desperately searching for some proof of her own innocence. She saw nothing, so she flared it even higher. The fire in her stomach started to feel as if it was burning in the literal sense, but she ignored that. She just needed to-

There. Two faint, but thick, lines leading to the woman's shoulders. The lines said they pointed to steel, but felt wrong, somehow. Eza extinguished her iron and hastily yanked the collar of the woman's shirt sideways. Sure enough, that revealed the head of a gleaming spike pierced into her shoulder. Eza breathed a sigh of relief. That meant she hadn't made herself into even more of a monster than she already was.

Without dallying for a second longer, Eza took off into the night, her hand now stained bright red with a monster's blood.

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I'm making a bit of an assumption about the wanted posters for Eza being taken down, I can edit that to not be the case if preferred.

 

Edited December 15, 2024 by Lunamor

[Koloss17 She/They]

Perses, 5 days later.

Perses walked down the streets of Mistkeep. He had rarely traveled here, but it was nice to breathe in fresh air. He was disguised, with glasses and his old mistcoat on. He didn’t know why he decided to visit this place. Very little of his life was spent here, with very few memories made.

He walked, aimlessly wandering, until he stopped, reaching the destination that he didn’t know he was going to. A giant manor on Wickwillow street.

Though the air was clean, he still smelled a darkness emanating from it. Burning bronze, its power smashed into him, drowning out its other senses. There was something evil here, and he knew it well.

Welcome back, Perses.

The voice echoed throughout the street, bouncing off of the other houses, long abandoned. The voice was calm, collected. Booming, yet intimate. 

“Who are you? What do you want from me?” Perses yelled, remembering himself in this same scenario multiple times. Yet this time, the thing answered him.

I am Belias, your master. I have been guiding you for some time, and you have done well. I gave you your freedom, your strength, your life. I have reforged you, and we are far from finished. 

Memories flooded Perses. Ones he had repressed, and ones that he hadn’t remembered. The terrible days spent in the House, with constant fear. Helplessness, weakness. A voice, striking a deal. Freedom. Perses fell to his knees.

You are exactly what I have been searching for, Perses. Someone with ambition, and great potential. Someone not afraid to do what is needed to get ahead. Cunning, yet ruthless. Your hope to get a foothold in this city is commendable, but together, we can do so much more. Under my guidance, you will get the respect you deserve. Rise Perses, Prince of the Alleys. Embrace your place in Alleycity.

Perses rose, heart racing. He walked, stumbling, into the mansion that haunted his nightmares. The prison that kept him under its thumb for so long. 
 

As he entered, something changed. He felt a power over it, one that he had never felt. He walked the halls, feeling the house morph to his will. He knew these halls well, and now he could walk them with ease. The power of the Alleys, guiding him. To a single room, buried in the heart of the house. At its center, a writhing void of madness greeted him. Tendrils of darkness rooted itself here, with a fierceness to take hold of this reality. A pocket of the Alleys, seeping into the city. 

Take it, Perses. It is yours to control. 

Perses entered the Alleys, knowing he pulled the reigns.

 

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To clarify, Belias is not actually as powerful as he lets on. He is a powerful entity of the Alleys, and has domain over a particular space of it, but is not the king of it by any stretch. What he is giving Perses the power to do is travel the Alleys safely, essentially letting him Elsecall to anywhere in the city, so long as there is a gateway (believe it or not, in an alley). The Alleys is usually insanely dangerous to traverse, and Belias is providing Perses with safe passage to travel the Alleys under his protection. Powerful for sure, but not that powerful.