phantasmalrift | DUNGEON - BELLMARE ENCLAVE (BELLMARE MOUNTAINS, PT 2)

The shadows are starting to grow very long as you crest his particular ridge - it's not night yet, but it will be soon. In the shadows of the afternoon, with a tall mountain already blocking the sun, lies a snow-covered valley that is different from the ones you've come across thus far in your investigation.

This valley is home to a town, and unlike all the settlements you've seen so far - Incendia, the Telovia mining town, and the manor - it's very much active. There are actual people in the streets, visible from above, going through their days on snow-free streets, bundled up against the cold.

Those of you who asked were told of the handful of people who didn't go into the slumber of stasis as the Fissure conditions of the world grew worse and worse, instead isolating themselves and trying to continue living their lives as they could. Now, it seems, you've found exactly such a group.

Welcome to the Bellmare Enclave, and enjoy your stay.

[[OOC: Welcome to part 2 of the dungeon! For the most part, interaction with the town's NPCs can be handwaved as described on the main information post. Worth noting are the following major things: The Bellmare Enclave isn't expecting visitors, though the people are generally friendly to the new arrivals. They don't know about the time dilation effect of their Fissure - to them, it's only been about eighteen years since the Slumber Plan was put in place and they withdrew from the world. And finally, by a similar token, they have no idea how far the Fissures outside of their own have grown - while it's not uncommon for them to find odd objects from time to time, they'll assume that the characters are just arrivals from other places within their own world, rather than outsiders, until told otherwise.]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Apparently, you say. So you've only just encountered the townspeople yourself?

That's right. In fact, I more or less just got here.

At least it seems like a happy, peaceful town. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Hmph. You do realize, that makes it even more likely there's some dark secret or something behind it, right?

Is that how it is in your experience?

Sort of. Considering I've been the seemingly innocuous threat hiding in plain sight, I've learned not to discount it.

That may be. We will have to see which is true, though.

... I have to say, you tend to take things in stride very easily.

The universe is far stranger than this, in my experience.

Oh really? Do tell.

For one, most of the aliens one might encounter are far from mundane. I've got a teammate who reads minds, two with laser abilities, and one whose hair turns into prehensile appendages with some kind of outer shell. And for another, the other day, I travelled through time and fought two women in bunny girl outfits who were simply standing around in the middle of space in their spaceship, and I still don't know what that was about.

... Yes. That sounds at least as bizarre as my world. I see your point now.

Your home has a good deal going on, I take it.

That's putting it mildly. It starts with things like ancient societies, alchemist kings, cyborg Nazis, and last I was there, ends with robots trying to conquer the world by fighting a superhero powered by toy cars.

I am one of said robots, for the record.

I see. [She frowns.] And what are your aims in this world?

Not really the same. I've turned over a new leaf, so to speak. Dying tends to make one re-think their life.

You mean to say that you've died and been revived?

That's correct. It even happened more than once.

Forgive me if I say that sounds troubling.

Try being the one to actually experience it.

Well, of course you'd be happy to be alive over the alternative... [She awkwardly looks away.] It seems unnatural, but I'm sure that's rude. My apologies.

Nothing that occurs within reality is unnatural. It simply involves laws and scientific concepts that we don't yet fully understand.

That seems like a good way to look at it, but surely there are some things that shouldn't exist in the world.

That depends on the actions those "things" take more than how they were created.

You're referring to something besides an evil person, then. I know you're right. There are some who would be allies, even if their own people are the enemy.

(no subject)

splendidandhonest - 2019-01-04 00:14 (UTC) - Expand