ZincAboutIt

Lita had already been at her desk for the better part of an hour when Laurelai arrived, bearing a sealed letter in a pair of gloved hands. She took notice of the blonde’s blue dress - something cut closer to what Lita had once worn back in Elendel than anything she favored now. It was rather fetching on her, which Laurelai doubtless knew already. Lita let her eyes flick up and down the woman’s statuesque form approvingly, obviously enough that someone not burning tin would notice. The outfit was a calculated move, though perhaps riskier than Laurelai knew. Lita was not overly nostalgic for Elendel, but she did appreciate subtle cunning. And she also appreciated that shade of blue against Laurelai’s skin. ”If thou seek enlightenment,” Lita read aloud from her own letter, “follow the three-tailed fox.” She had found the letter on her nightstand when she’d awoken - from a nightmare, this time. The dichotomy of dreams was beginning to take its toll on her; some mornings she would wake in such blissful satisfaction she’d swear she hadn’t spent the night alone. Other times she was plagued with a sense of deep horror and confusion, a sense of wrongness so profound and physical that she’d actually been ill over the side of her bed, feeling as though she was trying to see through two sets of eyes at once. Both of them her, but only one surviving whatever was coming. The letter was a welcome distraction, though how anything had slipped through the warding on her chamber door was a mystery all its own. She’d taken it to R&D - they loved opening strange mail - and when it hadn’t killed any of the interns or the lead researcher Lita had felt comfortable taking it back herself. She slid the wax seal, which she’d cracked off with a thumbnail, off her desk and held it up to Laurelai. ”This being said fox rendered in wax form, I imagine. We can take your letter down to R&D as well, or you can just open it. I’m eager to compare notes. And then we will need to conduct a bit of a fox hunt, I should think.” @Voidus @kenod

Vivica followed the Light Line far into the city, criss-crossing over other Lines, wending her way through streets that she'd never seen when she was alive. At least, not in this life. She passed many people, always checking each. They were never who she was looking for. Still, it was nice to have company. She hummed softly as she walked, her voice carried off by the wind that always seemed to pull at her, no matter which direction she faced. The hole in her forearm had continued to grow, spreading up her arm and beginning to eat away at her shoulder. There was no pain, but a slight disquiet began somewhere in her heart. Or, where her heart had been, when she was alive. The silhouette of a large building loomed up before her, and Vivica paused in her walk, spectral eyes tracing the classical facade arching over a broad set of stairs. The shapes of people darted in and out of the two large double doors - not many, though a few. Vivica had learned that this indicated it was night in the city. Most people slept at night - that was always hard to recall. Something about the building touched an impulse within her, and she followed it, stepping off the Light Line for the first time and wandering up the staircase. The entrance hall was vaulting and broad, most of it lost in deep shadow like the rest of this realm, though illuminated here and there by the glowing forms of the living. A wide staircase spiraled up from the ground, offering an inviting journey, but Vivica found her attention called to a smaller hallway on the main floor. A wisp of indigo-blackness, deeper even than the surrounding gloom, seemed to dart out of sight just beyond the first bend. Vivica cocked her head, then followed it, relieved to, for once, be free of the relentless wind that whipped through the streets. She walked through the smaller hallway, turning where whim dictated, trusting that she was going in the right direction. If there was a "right" direction at all. After all, she likely had forever to complete her task. But it would be nice to find them, finally. The one she was looking for. Perhaps they were here. Rows of doors passed her on both sides as she walked, turning another corner until she felt herself slow, then stop. She looked to her left, where a small plaque on the door read "Prof. L. Esserethel." Vivica frowned at the words, that sense of disquiet in her chest deepening even as something else leapt and tugged at her. The missing pieces of her mind had never seemed so absent, now. The words meant something, but what? She reached out one hand, fingertips fuzzing as she attempted to open the door. No, she thought. Knock first. Don't be rude. Vivica raised her hand to knock, but found it passed right through the door as she set her knuckles against it. She pursed her lips, staring at the door for another long moment, before she looked at the words on the plaque again. Then, curiosity overcoming even politeness, Vivica stepped through the door. Someone sat behind the desk, someone living of course, his frame tall and lean even sitting as he was, bent over a stack of papers. Vivica froze, peering at his face, excitement beginning to flutter within her. He seemed... familiar. The angular cut of his jaw, the long clever lines of his fingers - they conjured foggy memories of quiet laughter, of the taste of coffee and smuggled cake. Cake with plenty of frosting on top. Vivica smiled, tracing the glowing lines that spiraled within his translucent shape with a kind of reverent joy. As she looked closer, she noticed a second set of lines beneath the first. Where the others glowed white-gold, these were dark - the sort of darkness that stood out even against black. Dark as a night without stars. Dark as the skies in the Alleys. A beautiful, perfect kind of darkness. The most beautiful thing in the world. Vivica blinked at that thought - a new one. But one that made perfect sense. A memory, as real as coffee and laughter. A memory of another life, a life of white coats and black skies and all the red she could want. A life where he was as he was meant to be. Dark, and perfect, and unhidden behind a false light. Vivica moved to the side of the room and sat on the floor, watching him with rapt joy. She ignored the wavering filaments that bound her left arm together, ignored the gaping holes across her body, ignored the gnawing disquiet in her heart. Everything was going to be fine. It was going to be perfect. She had done it. She had found the most important person in the universe. Now, all she had to do was keep him safe until he could save them all.

Yes Lita would definitely just say “I do what I want.”

I figure since Lita has technically slept with a cognitive shadow now, she can’t really call herself just bi x]

Heat Waves Is this only semi-canonical? Yes. Do I care? Nope!

Friend/colleague/pansexual libertine stress hookup

How does one casually, passingly describe whatever the hell else they have going on?

In addition to this summary, you have a few newer plot points to consider. 1. Voidus has been given a hemalurgic spike copper earring (basically in this case it gives him a piece of someone’s mind) that has connected him to an eldtritch god that is starting to fracture his sanity. The insanity previously belonged to his friend Vivica, who killed herself in an effort to help break his mind and free him from the false reality. She is now wandering the cognitive realm looking for him. 2. The Stranger has realized his initial world Forgery has some fatal flaws. He seeks to remedy them by completely eradicating everyone’s connection to their previous life, making resetting the world impossible. He is currently in progress for making this happen. 3. Voidus’s daughter Laurelai and her friend/colleague Lita are working on unraveling the strange occurrences in the city as their old memories increasingly return to them. 4. A mysterious location known as the Chapel of Rain holds all the knowledge in the universe but at a terrible price. Both Voidus and his daughter are increasingly drawn to this place after touching the water once before. Does it hold the answers to their questions, or only sorrow and horror? 5. The citizens of Alleycity continue to move through life as they believe they always have, though continued mental fragmentation and physical turmoil (earthquakes) shake the once-tranquil false utopia.

Ah yes, good plan. We can do this in a month. I believe in us.

Yes, agreed. We could even start talking now, honestly. It might take a bit to gather any stragglers who want to chime in on the next era.

So, the main effects of this particular Era end are going to be more nebulous and individual-specific than most Eras. Since the Forgery timeline will fracture and then revert to the normal one, your characters’ responses can be wildly different. Perhaps they totally forget what happened during the Forgery. Maybe they remember everything and can’t process the idea of living another life. Maybe somewhere in the middle. If someone altered their character during the Forgery, they might keep some changes, or scrap them totally, when the timeline resets. A character who dies in the Forgery can come back or stay dead. Basically, it’s somewhat of a choose your own adventure type thing. If your character entered the AV during this Forged timeline you have an interesting opportunity to decide how that affects their mind. If you want to abandon a character, you can leave them in the Forgery and effectively kill them off, making them part of the decoration of the false world. In terms of wider AV effects of the Forgery, we don’t have a clear setup for next era’s main conflict. Someone had suggested an instability in the Alleys due to too much deific meddling. I like this idea and it can go lots of ways. But the main consequences of this Era end will be the lasting impact of being brainwashed repeatedly for an indeterminate amount of time and then shoved back into your old life. Some will handle it better than others. Some won’t be able to handle it at all. It’s your choice!

The demigods likely appreciate the break in obligation Edit: Also, @Chaoslink, is your character at all inspired by the (Game of Thrones/ASoIaF spoilers)

Yes this Dept would be its own thing in the normal timeline or sort of rolled into Marketing (which is headed by the Stranger currently and uh, might need a new leader too depending )

I would guess that the PR division might exist but it would revolve around people not knowing about the DA. So likely some kind of sub-department of possibly the DoCI or maybe even Acquisitions. One of the groups that is out in the city covertly making sure no one gets too aware and also making sure that the more enthusiastic R&D members don’t get out and roam around looking supremely suspicious.

Yes, as I said I’m more than happy to stretch the date further out if needed. But a hard end seems rather necessary at this point. And as I’m due with my second baby around Christmas, I would (selfishly) like to at least get the new Era rolling before I get much more tired and partially insane. Though this may in fact elicit a more in-character portrayal of Vivica so hey - win win.

End of Era discussion Hello again. Double posting because why not, this topic is important and deserves a new post. So, it’s been a very sleepy Era and slow going which is just fine, but we should really wrap it up so we can deal with all the wonderful horrible consequences of this plot in a new Era. Woo! Misery, baked goods, lots of tension - I’m excited already. Large plot elements will need to be wrapped up by myself, the illustrious @Voidus and the formidable @Fatebreaker as far as I can tell. I propose we end this Era and start a new on on or around All Hallows’ Eve aka October 31. That gives us all a month and a half or so to plot, type, and weep collective cathartic tears. However, I’m open to suggestions for other dates. This one just seemed appropriate because I’m a self indulgent dark academia fan. Also a plug for our Discord server where you can RP short-form dialogue/interactions as a continuation of a larger long form scene here! And if you want to revel in some language, violence, or other fun activities that aren’t permitted on this forum, feel free! Channels are sorted as such and if you want a role, just ask. We exist to enable you, whatever that looks like: heroism, villainy, or [redacted].

It absolutely is. There are probably some spoiler-y things regarding Mistborn here but more along the lines of magic system than canon plot. We don’t really do any canon tie ins here aside from offhand mentions of things. So if you don’t mind learning about Allomancy, Feruchemy, and (highly relevant) Hemalurgy outside of a canon context, you should be fine.

“Apologies. It feels very strange... like a bad Forgery almost where the memories can't quite snap into place correctly." Lita tore her eyes away from Laurelai’s hand at those words, resolving her face into a cool, attentive mask. Something about that suggestion tickled the back of her neck, but she put it away. ”I will write down my entire memory of the cavern. Then you should cross-reference it with your own memory. This is important, and if we both remember it, then… I don’t know. Perhaps it’s actually real. I will look into my own records.” Lita sighed, very suddenly feeling the weight of the day. She longed to lay down to sleep, close her eyes, and forget the strangeness for a few hours. “You may go home, Laurelai. Get some rest. Our tasks await us on the morrow. And the next day. And the next… Perhaps I have pushed both of us too far today. Sometimes I can be a bit… relentless.” The faintest smirk flirted over her mouth before she sighed again, sliding another file out of a drawer and flipping it open. “You did well today; I’m impressed. But everyone needs respite. I shall see you back in the morning.” She could not help but look at Laurelai’s hand one more time as she spoke, a hollow feeling deepening in her gut. What is the matter with you, Lita? Sleep. She just needed sleep. And some wine. Possibly a lot of wine. Very certainly a lot of wine, actually. @Voidus

This was not how Vivica had imagined death. For one, it had lasted much longer than she had expected. Not the dying part, exactly - that had been quite quick. A precise cut along the throat, angled perfectly. Vivica was nothing if not accurate in that regard. But afterwards. That bit was definitely taking quite a while. It had been nearly a week now, if she was counting her days properly. And that was hard to do here, because there was no sun. And there were no days. So perhaps it had not been as long - or perhaps it had been much longer. Vivica was not overly worried. She imagined that she might have forever to complete her task. And that was comforting, because she did not quite recall what it was she was meant to be doing. There was something missing from her thoughts, something incomplete - she could see it in the way her form shifted and wavered. When she looked down at her hands, the edges blurred and frayed, as though she were slowly dissolving. It was all rather fascinating, actually, and she would have observed it with great interest if it weren’t for the slight niggle at the back of her mind, driving her. There was something she needed to do, someone she needed to find. They were very important; she remembered that much. Incredibly important. The most important person in the universe. It was very dark here, in the Cognitive Realm. At least, she assumed that’s where she was. It made sense. Today, she walked around the south edge of the city, which loomed like a collection of jagged teeth thrust up from the ground. She walked next to one of the Light Lines - that’s what she called them. They probably had another name. If she had the entirety of her spirit, she suspected that she would know the name. But she did not, and so she made do. The Light Lines were crevasses carved all across the ground, gouged with a precision both impressive and intimidating. The swirled and zig-zagged, running both parallel and perpendicular to one another, some wide as an avenue and others slender as a hair. All ran deep into the earth, and they stretched out from the center of the city in all directions. Most of the time they were dark, like everything else here. But occasionally, lightning would crack and flicker through them, far within the bowels of the land, always moving in the same direction - into the city. Towards the Worldspike. Vivica walked along one such Light Line, listening for the tell-tale crack of lightning that would herald another flicker in the dark. As she entered into the city, she passed the translucent shadow of a man, filled with a swirling collection of white light that glowed like hot wire. He was alive, walking the city right now. Vivica was not. She peered at him, checking his face. No, she shook her head. He was not who she was looking for. She was sure that she would know upon seeing them, know that she had found the one she needed. The one who would fix this - fix the world. Fix her. If only she could remember them properly. If only there wasn’t so much missing... Vivica continued walking, checking each living face that she passed, following the crackling light deeper into the city. A passing wind tore out a section of her forearm; she looked at the resulting hole with interest. She was comforted by the fact that she likely had forever to complete her task. Or at least until the last piece of her dissolved away.

Lita was not ready for the panic that seized her at the sight of Laurelai hunched forward in pain. It reached out with icy fingers and gripped her heart, squeezing hard, and she was out of her chair before she knew what was happening, reaching across the desk. This was Laurelai, her friend, her closest ally, her confidant and comforter. What was she doing sitting opposite and unfamiliar? Why wasn’t she already at her side, checking to make sure she was alright? She felt a moment of deep confusion at their encounter earlier in the day - she had never felt that way toward Laurelai before, had she? Lita blinked, and the world slid like quicksilver beneath her feet in a moment of brutal vertigo. Lita was the Head of the Department of Counter Intelligence. No, she was just an agent, just a spy - a denizen with tin and brass and pewter and - No, not pewter. Copper. Copper of course, Mac had given her copper to remember, a perfectly logical spike. What would she do with pewter? Copper is… Copper. A copper ring she hadn’t seen all day. Some creeping horror lurked behind Lita’s conscious mind and breathed cold dread down her neck as total nightmare overtook her for a moment. Laurelai was not wearing her copper ring. Her Laurelai. The real one. The one who was inside that ring. “I…apologize,” Laurelai said. Lita stopped, hand outstretched for Laurelai’s fingers, and blinked. What was she doing? What had she been so worried over that she was leaning halfway across the desk like a fool, simply due to an acolyte’s slight headache? ”Please,” Lita said, her voice eerily steady and soft in her own ears, juxtaposed wildly with her racing heart. “You have no need to apologize. Dealing with memory is a delicate and finicky art even for those experienced in the field. Take your time.” She sat again, hoping Laurelai had not caught her own odd behavior, and rubbed at one temple. Her eyes kept straying to Laurelai’s hand - though what she was looking for, Lita could not say. After all, her hand was bare. There was nothing to see. @Voidus

Lita looked up from the open dossier, her mind taking a moment to register Laurelai’s words before she gave a small smile. “Yes, rather different. The underlying theory is the same. The practical application is where any number of deviations can occur.” She marked her page and closed the file, letting out a small sigh. “As for the hidden department… I’m not entirely surprised. There have been odd reports from the entire city for weeks now, and I’ve had a few from within the DA as well. Up till now I’ve dismissed it largely as simple mental fracture among denizens. It’s not uncommon -playing around with too much hemalurgy will do that. But this is too coincidental to ignore. Now if only that rusting girl would get back to me…” She frowned, tapping the end of a pen against the tabletop for a moment. “I will have to think on what to do about this. And I should like you to think on it too.” She flicked green eyes upward, meeting Laurelai’s. ”And I should also like it if you told me the truth about that cavern with the waterfall. Because I remember it as well, and I definitely went under it first.” @Voidus

Just perhaps a small bit of advice - simply “adding problems” to a character in order to get more points isn’t always the best idea. Also, if you build too intensely up front then it’s really hard to add fun stuff as time goes on. In a world full of easily inserted upgrades (“easily” being very ah, simplistic of a term ) it’s often way more fun to let things unfold naturally and build power level slowly. I think, anyway.

Tis a sleepy time around here.

Lita slid open a drawer in her desk and removed a file of her own, settling down to read opposite Laurelai. As she did so, she waved an errant hand. ”Port is for drinking, preferably with fine company and definitely during the small hours of night. It is not so terrible a fate to consider.” The words carried an echo of her earlier hunger, but it was faint and cool, more affectation than seduction. Repartee for its own sake - simple, pleasant. She had meant her earlier statement; it was time to get to work, and she quickly lost herself in the web of secrets and whispers surrounding the strange goings-on in the city. Her city. She added thread after thread to the growing pile in her hands, so many now, all overlapping and crossing and weaving through one another. Some led off into nothing. And some, she knew, were even tied to her own wrists. Something was playing an entirely different kind of game with them all - even the Dark Alley. Her eyes fell to the slender, silver blade that still lay atop the desk, it’s wicked edge catching the ember light glowing in the fireplace. Its presence might have felt reassuring, if it didn’t come with its own list of questions. Still, she could use every weapon at her disposal. And she would likely have to, if her opponent was something - or someone - that could move the entire Dark Alley like a game piece. Lita took another sip of port, savoring the sweetness, and continued to read. @Voidus

The room was quiet as Lita sat at her desk and lazily re-plaited her hair, watching Laurelai fidget and fuss with the buttons of her Havah. The heat in her blood had waned, the incessant voice urging her take, to claim, to unravel, had fallen silent. But the echo of that golden thrill still simmered pleasantly beneath the surface. “Do you mind if I write down what you said?” Lita quirked a single auburn brow at Laurelai’s question, but it seemed that the blonde had already realized how it had sounded. ”About the memories.” Lita let a little smile spread over her lips. “You may write down whatever you like. I daresay you’ll have a sudden increased interest in research should you write down everything I said. The Department of Records could use a bit of livening up.” She tied off her braid and stood, and if perhaps her steps over to the bar were a bit wobbly and tremulous, well. What of it? Laurelai had a right to take note of her own skill just as much as Lita herself. Lita poured two small glasses of deep, ruby port, setting one on Laurelai’s side of the desk and sipping her own. Then she tapped the file. ”I realize I emphasized work before play earlier today, and I have quite perjured myself. But we have played…” Lita allowed one slow look over her newest acolyte, “and so now must work. The fate of Mr. Darsen rests entirely on what we might discover in this record. His interrogation is unlikely to be as pleasant as ours. Now we shall see exactly to what degree it will be unpleasant.” @Voidus