kingdomdaze | (no subject)

(no subject)

Who: EVERYONE!!
When: Day 1, early morning but not so early that you'd encounter monsters from last night
Where: Port Perplex
What: You have arrived to the kingdom!

[you weren't sailing that treacherous sea for long--in fact, the ride seemed surprisingly swift, if not potentially sickening. but here you are now, standing in the port of Port Perplex, unloading yourself and your belongings as the old ship sounds its obnoxious horn for the seventh time. and, well, come to think of it, you're not the ONLY one getting off the ship!

on land, you and the others are bombarded by a crowd of cheering townsfolk! they throw confetti over you, try to drape flower neklaces around your neck, and also blast horns PROBABLY RIGHT IN YOUR EAR, ow.]

"Who are these people? Oh... OH! They're here to help us!"

"Thank you! Thank you!"

"Please, have some petals. You like petals, yes?"

"IS MY HORN TOO LOUD FOR YA? WHAT? WHAT DIDJA SAY?"

[...anyway, it doesn't take long for them to disperse and leave you be, assuming you aren't getting caught up in their antics. should you explore further into the town, past the harbor, you'll find that the colorful town looks like it's on the brink of a festival--banners, streamers, bunting, balloons... they're everywhere! is it because of you? one might wonder, but you'll come to find that the town will always look like this from here on out. on the contrary, the beach/cliff area surrounding this little town leaves a LOT to be desired.

the Queen said you'd get a room of your own at the inn if you got a part-time job. well, the Dolph-Inn's visible in the distance. in an act of kindness, the innkeeper will gladly allow you to keep any of your stuff in a room until you get a job! however, should you return jobless by nightfall, the innkeeper will just as gladly toss your belongings onto the street and shove a cardboard box into your arms. yikes.

so... what are you up to?]

((QUICK LINKS: F.A.Q. - SETTING - THE INN - BUSINESSES & JOBS

NOTES: Just a reminder that job acquisition is ~handwaved~, ie nothing about it needs to be actually threaded, and you don't need modly approval to say if your character taking this job or that job is ok or not! It's in your hands, assuming your character takes a job!

ALSO backtagging is totally ok if you join in late, and you are certainly allowed to make posts of your own when you're ready! But just as a reminder, posts should steadily progress time in a linear fashion!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[considering him, looking him up and down...]

I'm the Commandant of the Oracle Knights, the military branch of the Order of Lorelei -- located at Daath. If what they say is true, then I should also add that Daath is a large island on the planet of Auldrant, shouldn't I?

[dressed pretty plainly, in a button down shirt and trousers. In other words, pins his place and time as 'turn of the millenium, North American/Western European' but is otherwise kind of blah.]

Yes. Considering I'm from the planet Earth. I've never heard of any of those places, or positions. I mean, I know what a knight is, but nothing else.

[of course, now he's going to take a second look to confirm Van is human, or as much can be confirmed by looking at someone.]

[Van is indeed human, just a human with a few magic abilities.]

I've never heard of a planet called 'Earth' either...Between myself, you and all the people here, that means there's at least three worlds that humanity resides on.

... Suddenly all the comic books I read are coming in handy.

What is your world like?

Sorry, that's a really open-ended question. Especially since we've been to another world for less than a day.

Comic books...?

[...laughs softly.]

It's a very open-ended question...Perhaps I can narrow down what makes my world unique with some questions of my own.

Can you predict the future in your world?

There's plenty of myths about that, but it's not an agreed upon fact. For every legend about prophecy or oracular abilities, there are plenty of skeptics who see it as stories, or con artists. So, if some people can, it's not an obvious thing.

Can they on Auldrant? Is that everyone, or only a few people?

...I see.

On my world, only one person can see the future and she died long ago -- but before then she wrote all that she could down as a prophecy that we call the Score. Only those with the ability to use the Seventh Fonon can read the Score, but after two thousand years of predictions, not a single one has been wrong. Not even once.

How clearly are they written, if I may ask?

[...]

It depends on the prediction. Usually the predictions for war are very clear and we know when fighting will -- and must -- occur. However, occasionally there will be predictions that rely upon...special names for certain individuals. For some cases, we still remember the original meaning of names in Ancient Ispanian and can predict who it's referring to through the name and other clues given in the prediction -- but there are times when someone managed to slip our eye because people were looking for an adult when they had to be searching for a child, or some other similar mixup. The Score will fulfill itself either way, but that does still mean there's the occasional error in how we humans interpret what was read.

[yeah, retroactive prophecies are not abnormal.]

If you know when and where fighting will occur, why not try to stop the war before it starts?

. . . If it's been foretold, it would be heresy to stop it.

Would you stop a war that you've been told would undoubtedly happen?

So this Score is associated with a religion.

Was a reason given why there needed to be a war, or just 'there's going to be a war and you can't stop it'? There should be a difference between 'you can't' and 'you shouldn't'.

[shakes his head]

It... one of the two most important commandments of my own religion is 'love thy neighbor as thyself'. I could imagine failing: I'm one person setting myself against whatever people want the war. I can even imagine being called a heretic, since God knows humans have justified wars in part over what Scripture means. Or even what should be Scripture. That doesn't mean I shouldn't try.

But that is enough to make people not want to, yes. Maybe when faced with it, I wouldn't either. The person I aspire to be is braver and more competent than the person I am now.

... That's more than I intended on saying to a stranger, to be honest.

[now he's a bit nervous, watching Van's reaction: calling out someone's religious beliefs isn't a polite thing to do, even if he was framing it in terms of his own faith.]

[listens to Zack intently, and then remains quiet for a long moment...keeping his expression still as he thinks it over.]

[and then, he smiles to him]

It's perfectly all right. Hearing the words of someone with an entirely foreign fate and approach to the world than I'm used to is quite an illuminating experience.

On my world, we uphold the Score because unprecedented prosperity is promised to all of humanity. We uphold the Score because many believe that if we do not, then humanity would lose the prosperity promised by it. However...there are of course those who don't want to lose anything for the sake of a promise.

[he pauses for a long moment, considering]

And if I'm to speak honestly where the Order cannot hear...I can understand why there are those who would rather overthrow the Score and give up on prosperity than go along with a war that no-one wants. There are those who would try to stop the war, and they fail. But I am still glad to hear that there are those that would continue to try and strive for a outcome where war never needs to happen.

There are those sorts of prophecies and religious sects in my own world. My own religion even. I suppose the difference is we can argue about interpretation and metaphor. Or even if it was meant to be read as prophecy of the future or social satire of the time it was written or visions brought on by an altered state of consciousness. You can find people trying to read it as alluding to 'next decade' for at least the last fifty years.

But I don't think there is a category of people who believe in their hearts that it is true prophecy of the near future and wish to avert it. More that the ones who believe it's prophecy believe both that it can't be averted and that it shouldn't.

Being able to dismiss it as false makes the ethics a lot easier.

[You have activated Zack's nerd mode about religion, Van.]

[considers his words and nods]

The 'ethics' of choosing to follow or avert a prophecy do seem much easier when the prophecy in question is one that can't even be reliably interpreted or may even be false. On my world, the Score has enough clear predictions that had reliably come true that the truth of the prophecy is never once considered something anyone could dispute -- with the only arguments coming from the more unclear predictions and what they could mean. Each prediction is associated with a year though, so everyone knows at least the year a prediction is meant to come true even if the exact day is unknown.

If your predictions are so vague as to easily be misunderstood and don't come with any sort of timeline to follow, then I imagine it's very easy to toss out the idea of them being true...But what if the predictions were happening as written, and simply no-one has been able to find the connection between what was written and what would occur?

I suppose the question is, does it matter if you can't change what is foretold?

[considers this question]

I suppose one can emotionally prepare for it, especially if it is bad news. But a lot of that happens on its own terms. Even if you know, for example, that you are terminally ill... your head might know it, but your heart takes time. People will try a lot of long shots before coming to terms with their own mortality. Even in the abstract sense of 'I will die someday'.

[...]

Those who know they are closest to death will either do everything in their power to avoid it...Or do everything that they can to ensure that their lives meant something before the end.

Depends on what you mean by 'mean something'. If someone is old, it might be 'live long enough to see a grandchild get married' or 'make it one more Christmas with the family'.

...I see no reason why that wouldn't mean something. It may ultimately only have meaning for the family, but that is still something with meaning.

What is 'Christmas' if you don't mind my asking?

It's a religious holiday around the winter solstice, but it's also common for families to celebrate it together. Have a big gathering and feast, and exchange gifts, especially for the children.

Even people who aren't particularly devout will usually have a feast and gift exchange, if their family grew up celebrating it. In parts of the world where Christianity -- my religion -- is dominant, schools close down and many shops close, so that helps with visiting family.

Since it's so family-centric and can be everywhere for the month before, losing a family member makes future holidays hard on the survivors. No one wants to be the person who ruins the holiday for their family.

...Ah, I see. With such an ubiquitous holiday, I can see how it would be a significant yearly milestone.

Yes. On the religious end, I'd say Easter is more important -- that's another holiday in the spring -- but as a cultural touchstone, Christmas is the big event.

I see...What do Christmas and Easter celebrate, exactly?

... [he really isn't used to not being in the dominant religion, sorry, Van]

How long do you have?

The really short version is that they celebrate the birth and death-and-resurrection of the founder of my religion, who was believed to be the human incarnation of God, or a part of Him.

[Wait, better not try to explain the Trinity. Lifelong adherents of the religion can't explain the Trinity without getting heterodox beliefs all over their shoes.]

I have until the afternoon...It sounds like the more detailed explanation would be best to hear over lunch though.

[makes a thoughtful sound as he explain]

The founder of your religion was able to die and be resurrected? How did that occur?