DUNGEON - BELLMARE ENCLAVE (BELLMARE MOUNTAINS, PT 2)

[phantasmods]

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.]]

Comments

[hairpincurves]

Oh... Did you think it was?

[She doesn't sound like she's judging, at least...]

[misplacedxsheath]

At the time, yes. We were led to believe we were on a holy mission, to eradicate a threat to humanity, and to reawaken mankind's creative spirit by rediscovering our lost roots. In truth, it was all a lie, meant to keep us pliable to the hands of an immortal being.

[hairpincurves]

... Is that so.

[That last part... clearly doesn't sit well with her, given how her grip on her coffee cup tightens.]

[misplacedxsheath]

I...never learned the full details of why. Merely that he had his plans, and that they relied on someone guarding certain knowledge and relics as sacred.

[hairpincurves]

Tch... to be used like that... I can't stand the thought. Especially being manipulated with such a cause...

[Her grip relaxes a bit as she takes a deep breath.]

[misplacedxsheath]

It was infuriating to me as well. Particularly seeing as even the servants of the one responsible were too powerful for a single human to overcome, no matter how skilled.

[hairpincurves]

Damn, seriously? That's such bullshit.

[misplacedxsheath]

The Testaments have the ability to warp space on a whim, and manipulate human senses. To stand against even one would require dividing their attention, and he called two to see to it that I didn't interfere.

[From the way his own fists are clenching, it's...still something of a sore spot.]

[hairpincurves]

Jeez... Of all the rotten...

[.... She's going to put this coffee away before she ends up crushing the paper cup it's in.]

[misplacedxsheath]

Uzuki might know more, if we ever get the chance to speak with him. The last time we met, he was on his way to what I suspected to be the location of the peak of our universe's conflict.

[hairpincurves]

I'll... definitely keep that in mind for if he does show up.