oo1. mid-month lore squabbling

[thetatters]

—ello? Is it broadcasting? Can you hear me? Hello?

[ Those who've met him in person will recognize John's deep and strangely resonant voice. There is a brief crackling pause as he awaits a response, then: ]

—Oh! Well.

This is John Doe. Wait, are we supposed to say what automobile we're driving? I have a black truck.

[ It's a vintage Ford from the early 1930s, but he earnestly seems to think 'black truck' covers it. Now, in the tone of a man speaking to idiots: ]

It seems that many of you have taken to robbing the altars of unfamiliar gods. This is obviously a terrible fucking idea! To worry over 'traps' is missing the point. Studying these forces at all is a fool's errand.

Whatever entities these cults once served, they may present dangers beyond our comprehension. Some things are not meant to be understood.

Comments

Voice, sometime after they stop for the night

[solitarysoul]

[Levi barely notices the network while he's driving, but he has a lot of sleepless nights to find anything at all to distract him.]

I hardly think it matters. If the gods want to fuck us up they'll do it no matter what we do.

[thetatters]

[ John chuckles darkly. Even over the radio, it's a weirdly ominous sound. ]

Only if they notice us. Do we really wish to draw their attention?

[solitarysoul]

No, but its not like I tried to get it. Or with whatever brought us here.

[thetatters]

Perhaps the two are related. If there are forces in this world powerful enough to merit frequent sacrifice— and to break the very moon— they may also be responsible for our arrival.

[ John excluded, obviously. He's very certain of which asshole Outer God pulled him in here. But of course he wouldn't be treated the same as these lost and frightened humans. ]

[solitarysoul]

Obviously. But it might not be the same one. Though if whatever brought us here also killed the moon then that's a point in my book.

[Killed, not destroyed, because as far as he knew in his world the moon god and the actual moon were one in the same.]

[thetatters]

You... want something to have killed the moon?

[ John is puzzled. Did Arthur fail to tell him that Earth's moon is a malevolent force? Or, more likely, Arthur never knew. That sounds right. ]

[solitarysoul]

Yeah. Fuck Rher, if someone killed him I'll celebrate after his stupid festival.

[Levi does not realize others don't know his world or his gods yet.]

[thetatters]

His festival?

[ He would ask whether that's the name of the moon, but for all he knows, this is mundane Earth knowledge among some peoples. Better to hedge his bets. ]

[solitarysoul]

[He sighs.]

Yeah. He had a festival we got thrown into. The point was only one person could survive.

[thetatters]

All the rest were... sacrificed?

[ He sounds horrified. Concerned? It's somewhere on that spectrum, in his oddly rumbling voice. ]

[solitarysoul]

No...yes, I guess. We were supposed to kill each other. I guess every death was basically a sacrifice to Rher.

[thetatters]

[ There is a hesitation, and then: ]

I am sorry.

[ His tone has dropped low and genuine. John thinks of the boy's nervous flinch back in the forest, thinks of Arthur's early panic, and decides perhaps a degree of fear is sensible. He is unfamiliar with offering comfort to anyone but Arthur, but... it seems like something he ought to try. ]

You must be strong to have endured that, and yet here we are, trapped once again. It is not... fair.

But I still believe we should proceed cautiously. The situation could always get worse.

[solitarysoul]

Nothing's fair. And things always get worse.

[The two times he got the change he'd hoped for turned out to be for the worst.]