cryovision | Pavo Heart Game: Sunday Session

Pavo Heart Game: Sunday Session

When you enter the light, you find yourself hovering weightless in a void, as if caught in a moment of falling inertia. In the distance, you hear a voice that seems to shift and twist, familiar and yet unfamiliar.

"You shouldn't be here. But since you already are, let's make a wager. If you can uncover the truth, you'll find me. If you can't, you may be hopelessly lost... What a shame that would be."

You begin falling, and your vision blacks out--

[OOC NOTE: your goals are "reveal the truth" to "find the true heart". All images in toplevels are for general inspo, please make sure you read the flavourtext cause things are not exactly as they are in the images.]

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You enter some sort of planetarium. It's a beautiful room with a domed ceiling covered in stars, with a floor made up of one giant marble compass rose.

However, it seems something has been tearing this beautiful room apart. The ceiling is half pulled down, the pieces scattered across the floor like an ugly jigsaw puzzle. The bare ceiling behind the stars is rough, plaster-caked stone, and there's dust all over everything. The curved walls seem to have once been covered in velvet curtains, but a few of them have been torn down and lie strewn across the floor.

Near one wall, there is a ladder.

Along one half of the room there are seats, plush and comfy. The ones more towards the right are dusty and only look up at the ruined ceiling, but the ones on the left are cleaner. At the very far left, there is a pile of downed curtains.

In the center of the room, there is a jumble of alchemy equipment, tended to by a handsome young man who is completely and utterly ignoring you.

Edited 2021-05-17 03:42 (UTC)

[ He's going to bother the man anyway. ]

Excuse me. Do you know where the lock in this room is?

[ he stares down the ceiling pieces and ogles the ladder, but just follows zhongli to the blonde shortie. how dare you ignore us. ]

[He continues to ignore you for a moment as he finishes pouring something from one vial to another. There is a small poof of pink smoke that sparkles. But then he finally speaks up.]

I can't help you with that. Whether or not you find it isn't relevant to what I'm doing, so I'm sorry but I'll have to ask you to look on your own.

I see. Sorry for disturbing you.

[ He holds up the folded note between two fingers and shows to Childe.

Should they try this next?

Do we trust Pavo at all anymore? ]

[ childe heaves a sigh. ] ...let's just take a look around. We need three switches and we haven't explored this room and the bar and the ice maze, so... [ he motions to the ladder and then the broken ceiling. ] Let's avoid elemental sight and just... I don't know. Should we try either of those?

We can take the ladder.

[ And he starts moving in that direction ]

[ surely touching this ladder won't come back to bite him in the ass... ]

[It is a regular ladder with no ill effects. It's tall enough to allow you to reach the ceiling, and a bucket of fresh new plaster hangs from a hook at the top.]

[ Hmmmm.

He summons a stele next to the ladder (as a contingency plan) and then starts climbing up the ladder up until the bucket of plaster. ]

It looks like we need to piece it back together. Do you want me to start passing you the pieces? [ and by him he means using his vision to send out a bunch of hydro tentacles to grab them. ]

[ childe is just going to stand there with his arms folded, because he doesn’t want to touch them. ]

[Nothing weird happens while you mess with the ladder.

Albedo glances over at you for a moment, but says nothing and goes back to his work.]

Yes, if you could.

[ And Zhongli will carefully take the pieces (careful to never touch the hydro tentacles) and try to place them in their appropriate place on the ceiling before using the plaster to hold it in place.

Is this how ceiling construction works?

He has no idea. He left that to Planning and Zoning, but at least he's going to try. ]

...of course. [ he also notices zhongli isn't touching the tentacles. it's not surprising given all the stuff they had dealt with earlier. he supposes if zhongli is touching them with no problem, then he can put them to rest... except that he doesn't, and they remain out, though he does start passing zhongli ceiling pieces with his hands. ]

Let me know if you wanna switch or something. This kind of seems like something I'd be better at, no offense, Xiansheng.

[It does seem to be how ceiling construction works! The pieces stay in place, anyway. As you place them, your voices begin to echo a bit. Have you improved the acoustics, maybe?

Regardless, when you get close to finished, you'll notice there are two missing pieces... and they match the shape of your constellation tiles.]

[ Are you implying he is not good at manual labor?

Childe would probably be right, but he continues working anyway. Sorry that his perfectionist tendencies means it takes a bit. ]

There is no need.

[ But he sees the spot for the constellation tiles and shifts to slot his in place. ]

[ yes. yes he is. ]

I guess we are almost finished. [ watches as zhongli slots his own constellation tile into place. ]

Let me guess... you need mine? [ offers it up. ]

[Zhongli's tile fits perfectly. You get the sense that the room is waiting.]

[ He takes Childe's tile and also slots it into place.

Here's to nothing bad happening. ]

[ FUCK YOU ROOM BE PATIENT. ]

...he doesn't deserve this. [ scowls. ]

[The tiles fit in perfectly! When they do, the ceiling is completed. The cracks disappear, and the stars twinkle brightly as if they're real.

And then your body is seized by a wave of agony. Your skin burns, your bones twist -- surely you hit the floor, but by the time you do you've been thoroughly Cursed. Exactly how is player preference, but you've gained some sort of monstrous features. Your form is no longer a pleasing one.]

[ Welp.

The wave of sudden pain causes Zhongli to lose his hold on the ladder, landing with an unpleasant thump on the marble floor from ceiling height. Surely something is broken for the loud crack that echoes in the chamber.

Except that crack sounded even before Zhongli hit the floor. And another crack follows. And another. By the time Zhongli lands, golden horns break through his skull, a long dragon tail rips from his spine, and obsidian/gold symbols start pulsating on his skin through his many layers of clothing.

The very ground (even on the second floor) rumbles menacingly as he slowly gets to his feet.

And it becomes very apparent that the poets of Liyue did not do the cold, unforgiving amber eyes of Morax any justice as they eventually land on both Albedo and Childe. ]

Xiansheng-! [ since he's standing right there he's going to attempt to catch him, except he's also stricken by an unforgiving amount of pain and forced to his kneels as it overtakes his sense. he growls, scraping his nails along the floor as zhongli lands just a few short feet from him; the sickening snap making childe flinch. ] I'll... I'll kill him. [ he hisses under his breath, ducking his head as his already bright blue eyes swirl with a greater intensity. the tips of his hair turn to wisps of water, elongating and becoming living hydro tentacles that all flail about curiously. his skin becomes marred with the sigils of permission used to summon osial as his own bones start to stretch and break, building becoming somewhat similar to the foul legacy as bits & pieces of the armor break through the skin. ]

[ childe pants, gaze slightly unfocused, but he hardly seems to care about the tiny alchemist in the room, instead focusing on the archon in front of him. ] We never did have a proper fight, ... [ his tone is deep, somewhat gravely, and without emotion. ]

[tiny alchemist is taking notes.]

Those were particularly violent transformations... But even so, there's no need to act out.

[ His expression never changes as he sizes Childe up, eyes lingering on the sigils of permissions and the hydro tentacles. It flickers something in his memory among the erosion.

Something that is quickly discarded. ]

Who are you to demand a fight from the Prime of the Adepti?

[ Sorry, Albedo, he's not paying him any attention. ]

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Re: THE SEA OF STARS (cw: body horror transformation here we go)

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