Orb post on the cusp of Midnight GHB 16 & 17

[thequestgiver]

[[There's nothing very visible in the orb. Light filters in a little through the cloth over it, but nothing enough to tell who's using it.

There's a long moment of silence before a voice speaks. It's faint. Distant and muffled and has an almost wispy quality to it.]]

Flow away, flown away, to where none can say.... to the wood, to the sea, to the peaks, to the depths... the walls crumble as we all fall down and down...

[[There's a pause before there's a soft laugh. It's hard to even tell what gender the person speaking is, through the muffling and the odd intonation in the voice.]]

It's all falling apart, isn't it? Time has warped, the walls are falling once more... falling falling falling...

[[another laugh. This one's a little higher pitched. Maybe it's a girl's voice? Then it suddenly drops down again.]]

I saw it all... from my tower high, I saw it all, but no one would listen... no one would listen and now it's all coming true, isn't it? Everything will fall again... again and again, we're locked into it, you see? Locked...

[[The voice cuts off suddenly. When it resumes, it's shaking.]]

I'll smash it all... never locked away again. Never never never--

[[and the orb suddenly goes black]]

Comments

[goldeneyeball]

Are you tryin' to sell me somethin'?

[thequestgiver]

[[There's a breathless laughter that can't decide what pitch it wants to be in response]]

You've already been sold... don't you see?

[goldeneyeball]

Listen, lady, I didn't order anything.

[thequestgiver]

But you've been Ordered...

[[The laugh this time is deep and without humor.]]

We've all been....

[goldeneyeball]

_{[JW scratches at the base of one of his horns.]}

Are you tryin' to tell me about Jesus? Because we already know each other.

[thequestgiver]

A cloud of air, higher and higher... you found nothing, didn't you?

[[The voice raises in pitch before dropping suddenly in the middle.]]

[goldeneyeball]

<sub>[THAT was the first thing the mysterious voice that got his attention. Clouds. Nothing.]

[Those damn, thankless giants. The wizard screws his face up.]</sub>

SO what?

[thequestgiver]

There's no reward for helping anyone... they only take advantage and hurt you for it, don't they? Always taking never giving... why shouldn't it all be burned away?

[goldeneyeball]

_{[JW has taken to tapping on the orb to try and clear up the picture. No dice.]}

And get an angry mob after my ass? No thanks.

[shadow_sage]

If they don't listen, ignore them and get ready anyway.

[But really? Liara has a lot of sympathy for anyone in that position.]

But I'm listening now. What can we do?

[thequestgiver]

Make it stop

Before the wall falls again

[shadow_sage]

What do we need to stop?

What walls?

[thequestgiver]

This battle... tearing the world apart cycle after cycle... We're all toys to it, don't you see? Pawns in the hands of a larger game....

[[The voice shifts slightly on the last sentence, sounding almost like it's speaking at the same time as another one, similar but just different enough to cause a strange clashing disharmony.]]

[shadow_sage]

[Cycles. Liara takes a minute before she responds, in a very carefully neutral voice.]

How many times has this happened before? How did the cycles before this one end?

[thequestgiver]

Don't know... Don't know...

[[It's just a single voice this time, shifting on the repetition to be lower and more exhausted]]

It all looks the same when it all is the same...

[shadow_sage]

Yes. It becomes hard to follow.

It has been 137 years since the Wall fell. Do you know what the wall is? Or was?

[thequestgiver]

137 years.... 137....

[[The voice cracks, breaking into an uneven sob]]


It has not been so many... for the Wall has fallen again...

[dash_dynamic]

[There's some cautious prodding at the orb.]

...this is like one of those radio dramas Grandma Ishihara was always going on about, isn't it?

[thequestgiver]

Do you think I lie...?

[[There's a touch of a dangerous tone as the voice lowers unevenly as if having trouble keeping his? her? tone level.]]

[dash_dynamic]

[Oh, geez, there is no need to get all offended there, we're all friends here, right?]

Well...no...there's just usually a video...and you usually don't get more than one person talking...and...uh...

[It seemed like some sort of radio drama...with a really weird cast.]

[thequestgiver]

There's naught left of me to see... it all was locked away because they wouldn't listen

[dash_dynamic]

[Can he have some more giant monsters, please? Even if he doesn't have any of his powers working here, at least he knows how to deal with those.]

I'm listening! I'm listening!

[thequestgiver]

[[The voice falls quiet, the sound of uneven, heavy breathing almost audible through the cloth covering the orb.]]

It's too late now... it's already falling...

[dash_dynamic]

[As freaky as this was, Gunpei's detective instincts were starting to kick in. Gathering information might be good, right?]

What's falling?

[thequestgiver]

We're trapped inside it, don't you see...? And unless we break free, we'll be destroyed... again and again and again....