What I want here is for the story to have the Hadestown preemtive metanarrative tragedy thing where like. Dramatic irony is a big thing and the audience knows it's going to go wrong from the beginning. I'm thinking that they fail by lacking a Time or Space player because the whole failing to prototype thing is something the Alpha kids do. Maybe also point out that this is session that's made redundant by the canon trolls so maybe that's like a "this isn't your destiny lol."
Your name is PYTHIA CASIAS. You belong to a sect of the CLOWN CHURCH that governs your planet, but will admit much of your belief is based more around a fascination with the lore your church preaches. They tell of a strangely sad story, one of DOOM and LOSS. You hold a slightly morbid fascination with the concept of doom, one that you feed with STORIES OF TRAGEDY. It's probably not healthy, but what can you say? Catharsis is a powerful thing. Besides, your MOIRAIL is always there to LIFT YOUR SPIRITS, or at least DEFEAT THEM WITH FACTS AND LOGIC.
Your trolltag is
credibleHermit and you speeeaaak kiiind ooof draaawn ooouuut brooo.Pythia is the first player in the chain, and the first to sus out the truth about their session (that being that it's unwinnable). How, I'm not sure, maybe the clouds? If that winds up being the case I'll just say Alides doesn't sleep enough to wake up, or that his dream self dies before he can take a gander at the clouds. Either way, Pythia works this out pretty quickly and is not happy that no one will listen about it. I'm gonna say that their session doesn't last that long because Bomoss triggers the Reckoning early, and also Alides is over here speedrunning.
What ends up happening, more or less, is that after Alides goes god tier, he calls a team meeting to discuss what the plan going forward is. Pythia cuts in like
"oookaaay buuut weee'reee aaaall gooonnaaa diiieee sooo whaaats theee poooiiint" and Alides is like "I wish you'd stop Being so dArn drAmAtic! OBviously we'll Be fine! We hAve me!" and semi-intentionally does a Thief of Hope and yoinks Pythia's hope. Which. He didn't have much of to begin with. So she instantly stops responding and begins what will be [S] Seer: Descend (an obvious reference). Pythia heads down to the battlefield and takes the White King's scepter. He then then turns around and cracks it open on the ground, splitting Skaia into a bunch of pieces. This probably winds up killing her in the process, but if no one will listen to the Seer, then they have to facilitate the future themselves. Also everyone else sees this from a distance and Nephil starts yelling "A/CIDES, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!". It is important to note that because of how Skaia works (basically a shell for the battlefield), the battlefield is the part that gets most fucked up. However, this also interferes with the defense portals (what with this pretty much killing this instance of Skaia/possibly Skaia just being like "well fuck you too"), leading to Alides's escape plan failing.LoGaT draws on the delphic oracle, obviously. Pythia never finds out what he's supposed to do, because he doesn't get that far before getting visions of doom beamed into his skull.
LoGaT features a lot of vents spewing gas and a lot of ruined temples.
The consorts were suffocated by the gas.
Prior to the game, Pythia thought of Alides as kind of an ass, but an entertaining one. However his total unwillingness to take anything Pythia said as truth is what prompted Pythia's downward spiral, and after that, any semblance of friendship they may have had was pretty much doomed.
Nephil and Pythia are happy moirails, despite their differences. Pythia finds Nephil's realism grounding and comforting. Pessimism versus realism. Nephil understands that, yes, everything will end, but that you can still go down fighting, and Pythia appreciates that.
Pythia doesn't know Bomoss well, but from the little she does know, she appreciates her. Sure, Bomoss is shy and reclusive, but she's fair, and she did at least consider Pythia's advice. Pythia is the only one who knows the potential Bomoss possesses, though it's through the somewhat roundabout way of knowing that she'll never reach it.
Pythia's name comes from the Delphic Oracle, the title of whom was Pythia. Casias is a fusion of Cassandra, the main inspiration/archetype for him, and Tiresias, another greek seer. She's a purpleblood due to the Delphic Oracle's thing of inhaling smoke that was possibly hallucinogenic, which is also where his land name comes from. Her trolltag comes from one of the theories on what this substance was, being the letters comprising the chemical equasion for ethylene gas (C2H4).
Your name is ALIDES RAKISI.
Your trolltag is
aristocraticBravery and you speAk formAlly And heArtily, with the BeAring of A greAt leAder!Alides is not a smart lad. He is, however, blindly optimistic to his core (which in a way can be seen as stupid). He takes on the role of leader against everyone's wishes, and takes on the puzzles and ruins of his flaming planet with vim and vigour (he actually plays the game how it's "intended" to be played, basically). He is also the only member of his session to manage god tier (his quest cocoon is on fire. Literally. We love a mythological allusion that is very very literal. Jumping on a pyre to ascend to godhood yippee). Then when he can finally say that yep this session is basically fucked, he has an amazing idea. He will get on one of the meteors and ride it through a defense portal, arriving on Alternia and escaping death in the session. Everyone else thinks this is incredibly stupid and after much arguing he's like
"Well, if you reAlly insist on stAying here, then let me just sAy... goodBye. It hAs Been An honour to Be your leAder.", climbs on the meteor. Which, due to Pythia's destruction of Skaia, it goes completely sideways. It doesn't work. He collides with one of the pieces of the battlefield and is killed in a manner considered Just (ie: karmic. This is why you listen to people).LoTaP's two themes both draw on Heracles; his twelve labours, and his death. Alides's planet quest/thing to do is basically a load of sidequests; there's an artifact split into several pieces and scattered throughout several dungeons, and he has to fight his way through them in order to find his quest bed.
It also features a lot of fire, to tie in to the whole pyres thing. The lesson he was supposed to get out of this was basically "sometimes things do just fail". Actually, given how void session's consorts seem to work, it'd make sense for the planet to basically be very unsubtly post-apocalyptic. Actually that'd be a neat thing for all their planets... theme 'em around apocalypses
Alides's consorts went extinct due to the spreading fires.
Alides is somewhat bemused by Pythia, although this is in part a cover for a dread that she's right. He dismisses her as paranoid and melodramatic, and wishes that she'd put her clairvoyance to what are in his eyes more practical uses.
Alides finds Nephil to be an aggressive contrarian who, as far as he's concerned, goes against everything he says for the sake of it. He's not willing to hear out their reasoning, assuming that they just don't like him and that's all the reason there needs to be.
Alides doesn't really know what to do with Bomoss, as a leader making plans or as an acquaintance. She's not competent enough to be a particularly useful asset, but at least she isn't as argumentative as the rest of the party.
Alides comes from Alcides, a birth name of Heracles, Rakisi comes from the Swahili name of the Hercules constellation. His indigo status is mostly just for vibes. His trolltag comes from the 1st and 2nd letters of the alphabet, because that's the individual numbers of 12. OG character idea: "Leadery sort (probably a hope player, doesn't listen to Pythia, possibly Sylph of Hope?)".
Your name is NEPHIL MEISSA.
You consider yourself a HARDCORE GAMER, extremely skilled in a very specific practice; that being breaking games. You love finding ways to beat games in unintended ways, love finding new secrets. It really thick dairy spreads your eggroll. Rules are for losers, as is window dressing. There's nothing wrong with stories, but there's also nothing wrong with getting to the point.
Your trolltag is
nuclearQuarreller and you sharp/y and with /itt/e sympathy for bu//shit.Nephil is a source of motivation and drive, but doesn't end up acomplishing much in terms of big events. However, this changes as everything goes to shit, because after Bomoss's chat with her denizen goes so well, Nephil goes to talk to their own denizen. Or possibly just didn't think it was worth it until afterwards. Anyway Hephaestus then forges their cane into the Chronometric Catalyst, which is capable of scratching their construct.
Nephil deserves a metal planet. We won't see it much, it's fine.
LoSaO features metal shards sticking out of the ground (like the cliffs in deltarune) and also tides. The shards sort of act like really tall vertical islands. It's kinda visually inspired by Shoreline from Rain World. There's also a big floating island called the Compact Dirigible which is honestly quite a bit like the Beat Mesa. But we can't be original all the time. It's more CD based, it's all rainbow-y.
The planet has somewhat heavy rains, leading to the flooding. Obviously, the consorts drowned. This is one of those "yeah the entropy was inevitable".
Nephil and Pythia are happy moirails, despite their differences. Nephil may be the one doing the most obvious work, and dislikes his unshakeable pessimism, they also appreciate Pythia for being gentle and relaxed. Nephil needs a degree of calm, and Pythia is the definition of the eye of the storm.
Nephil finds Alides to be naive and deliberately obtuse. Their aspects are opposite, and that's instantly apparent by how firmly their worldviews clash. Nephil is bluntly and harshly realistic; Alides is not.
Nephil and Bomoss, even before the game, are distant friends. The sort of friends where maybe you're coworkers or in the same class, and you can talk a bit, and you don't dislike each other or anything, but you also don't know their last name. Nephil is willing to reach out, but doesn't have the patience to be kind.
Inspired by a WigglerSim grub named Weyely Apollo. Nephil comes from nephilim, who are said to be Orion's descendants, and Meissa is one of the brightest stars in the constellation. Their trolltag comes from the quadrant of the sky Orion is in, NQ1 (at least i think that's what that is). OG character idea: "maybe a glitch enthusiast? i'd want to make them one of the psychic castes. rust or gold. maybe like a maid of rage who does listen to pythia but decides trying to break their way out of the session is the best way to do it? wait i'm going to reuse weyely." Back when they were a rage player, their planet was the Land of Shards and Scorpions, both in reference to Orion's death, and also a bit of a connection to rage's association with madness and that one Macbeth quote of "Oh, full of scorpions is my mind".
Your name is Bomoss Gliese. You are a JADEBLOOD AUXILIATRIX, but more importantly to you, you are a PERUSER OF THE ARTS. You especially admire MUSIC and MYTHOLOGY, and decorate your block to accommodate this. You worry that you're regarded as A BIT OF A WEIRDO, especially because you DO NOT HAVE ANY FRIENDS. Try as you might, you just find bonding with people quite difficult.
Your trolltag is
mediatingUnderspoken and you tenD tO inflecT wordS A biT strangelY, heH heH.It's not that Bomoss wasn't intended to play Sgrub, nor is it that she wasn't/isn't wanted in the party. It's just that they realised they needed a fourth player on short notice and Bomoss was the first on hand. Though her status as a Blood player would have made her a good leader in theory, the modifier her class posed put a dampener on that. Her predetermined start as one who is lacking in Blood means that she is shy, awkward, and slow to make friends. Her being raised as a jadeblood doesn't help; as tensions rise she feels the need to intervene, but can't find the words or confidence.
She ends up seeking the guidance of her denizen in like a
"I havE nO ideA hoW tO savE thiS anD theY'rE waY toO busY shoutinG aT eachotheR tO worK thiS ouT sO. senD helP." sort of way. Hence she gets offered The Choice. Hera's like "Okay. Problem understood. Here's your choice: You can end this slowly and peacefully. You and your friends will be trapped here, in this session, but there will be no further conflict. Or you can end this quickly and violently, for is it not better to burn out rather than fade away?" and Bomoss thinks really hard and is like "I reallY wanT tO choosE thE firsT onE... buT fadinG awaY herE doeS sounD reallY depressinG anD honestlY? I reallY dO thinK theY'lL thanK mE foR thiS. I choosE tO burN." And then that initates the Reckoning, which is shortly followed by the destruction of the battlefield via Pythia, making the choice indirectly lead to Alides's death.LoPaP mostly draws on just. Greek mythology generally. Pillars and all. And the plains are for the vibes. And a little bit of holding up the sky.
LoPaP features enormous, empty expanses of flat dirt, occasionally interrupted by big white pillars. In the centre, there is a huge mountain, which is home to the denizen Hera.
There are a few signs of ancient battles- things like fossils and preserved weapons- implying that the consorts wiped themselves out in a war. One could say due to a lack of the Blood aspect. Much of the mythology Bomoss finds while exploring is talking about how "Oh gosh if only we had some way to unite and bring peace".
Bomoss wishes she could have met Pythia under different circumstances. She just can't be particularly frightened of Pythia, and though his pessimism is a little depressing, he's also chill, and Bomoss could do with some chill friends.
Bomoss finds Alides's optimism appealing. She also wants to believe that things can get better and that the situation isn't unsalveagable, but... surely he can't believe it THAT strongly, right?
Bomoss wishes she could be closer with Nephil, but finds them intimidating and a little too unapproachable. Especially as the situation descends, Bomoss finds Nephil frighteningly destructive and rash. She appreciates Nephil as a source of motivation and energy, though, and they don't dislike each other by any means.
Ara as a sign was selected because the myth to do with it seems to be about the greek gods uniting at this cool altar to fight the titans. Gliese is the name of several stars in Ara and Bomos was a different name for Ara. Their trolltag comes from Mu Arae, another star in the constellation. OG concept: "possibly a blood player who is desperately trying to mediate and keep the group together?"
Act 1
We begin with our first POV, Pythia. Pythia has, at this time, just entered. She is quickly followed by Alides, who insisted that Nephil run his server while he ran Pythia's. However, this isn't immediate. There's a little bit of a delay, because Nephil has worked out that they need a fourth player and is trying to recruit someone. They find Bomoss for this purpose. Pythia and Alides spend this time exploring their planets, the Land of Gas and Temples and the Land of Tasks and Pyres respectively. Alides immediately gets distracted, but Pythia is able to bring Bomoss in, completing their player roster. Soon they're all exploring their planets, though Nephil decides the Land of Shards and Overflow is basically impossible to explore, not to mention kinda boring, and decides to instead do some alchemizing, creating a collection of weapons among other things. Bomoss also concludes that her planet, the Land of Plains and Pillars, is kind of boring, except she wants to work out what that Weird Giant Mound is. There's a general agreement that all their planets are pretty boring, except Alides, who is totally stoked about his planet and can't understand why everyone else is so bored. Pythia winds up spending some time on Prospit, avoiding getting assassinated and looking at Skaia. And slowly getting more and more worried that, hey, this isn't looking good. But that's how Pythia always is, so Nephil offers some facts and logic and that's about it. The act ends on Pythia finding out about their session being doomed.
Act 2
We open with a cut to what Alides is up to, in like. The vibe of [S] Dave: Accelerate. A montage of him collecting the puzzle pieces, fighting skeletons, avoiding getting set on fire, the like. He is interrupted by Pythia being like
"oooh shiiit oooh fuuuck heeey guuuys weee'reee aaall gooonnaaa diiieee". While Nephil and to a lesser extend Bomoss are like "thia, what the fuck. exp/ain p/ease." "uH, whaT?! whaT'S happeninG?!", Alides cuts in like "I'm so Busy! CAn you not interrupt me? I don't hAve time for delusions, Pythia! Why would we Be doomed?" which is. Thoroughly unhelpful. And then Alides goes back to speedrunning, Nephil and Bomoss try and be comforting and are like "hey, you can come and hang out with us, we'll try and work something out" and Pythia agrees but. She's not happy. I'm thinking that this act would end with a pesterlog setting up that Alides is about to go god tier, followed by [S] Thief: Rise up, which may be scored by clubbed to death from The Matrix soundtrack. The sound page also includes Bomoss arriving at her denizen's lair. Then there's like, an Act 2 Epilogue which is Bomoss talking to her denizen, getting the confirmation that yeah they're fucked, and The Choice. Curtains fall on Bomoss choosing to burn.Act 3
Act 3 opens with Alides being like
"PythiA, we Are SO FINE. I'm so powerful, this is awesome, I can't believe you were so dramatic about this! We're fine! I'm literally a god! Stop being ridiculous." and steals Pythia's hope. And Pythia kinda just thinks "Oh so that's how it is." So as the Reckoning begins, we get [S] Seer: Descend (almost certainly orchestrated by Woodpeckers from Mars unless I find something better), in which Pythia heads to Skaia, steals the White King's scepter and smashes it on the floor, thus shattering the battlefield. Alides has to make a run for it and Pythia winds up dying. Alides regroups with Nephil and Bomoss near The Veil and dismisses their "DUDE WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!" with his plan to hide on a meteor and get through a defense portal. He's worked out that the meteors that land on their houses originate in the game and that if they hide they can survive. Nephil and Bomoss don't agree, so Alides goes without them. Aaaaand there's no defense portals. They got used up really early on in the Reckoning, Skaia doesn't need to defend the battlefield at this point. He gets a Just death from this, because he's been enough of a stupid bastard that he gets one. So Bomoss is like "oH nO thiS iS alL mY faulT... listeN I havE aN ideA. gO anD asK youR denizeN foR helP. theY'rE smarT, theY caN helP." and Nephil goes to talk to Hephaestus. They get this sick fucking cane called the Chronometric Catalyst and instructions on how to scratch the Compact Dirigible (which is not compact. It's a fucking huge floating island), so they invite Bomoss over to watch and. They initiate the scratch. The end. Better luck next time.For the most part, these guys are hypotheticals.