September Event Log

[kaisoumods]

September Event
Dominant Element: Wind
Waning Element: Earth

Full Moon: September 28th - September 30th

※

As August and all of its chaos leaves Kaisou, September comes in with cooler weather. The Spirit Vein in the sky will turn to hues of green, indicating the shift towards the Wind element. In fact, there's so much wind, it frankly isn't funny. No tornadoes (that was a few months ago), but more than half the month will have windy weather, and a day or two of high wind warnings from the local weather people. Try not to get blown away!

Rosemary and Thyme

It's September, and you know what that means: school, school, and more school. For the seniors in high school, it's their last year, and soon it'll be time to start looking into secondary education and making plans for the future. Everyone else... enjoy a week of syllabi and ice breakers!

If you're looking for an education that's a bit more magical, there's a whole different school you can attend. While Cygnus Academy has had classes all summer, now that it's fall, they're really kicking it into gear. Several of the faculty will be offering more regular classes on various magical or practical skills, and they're even offering homework help for the younger students as well as college prep for those who looking for it.

September also means that Kaisou's renaissance faire, Sherwood Festival, is back in town! Located near Blue Fish Park, the renaissance faire is full of the usual things one might expect to find at a ren faire. If you're looking for activities, there's all manner of things; from jousting, magic shows, bard performances, visiting a "royal court", and so on! Meanwhile, if you're looking to spend money, there's many vendors selling their handmade goods, such as soaps and or potteries, as well as all sorts of "old timey" foods to try, such as mutton or turkey legs (and of course, beers and ciders for those old enough). Or perhaps you're just interested in the new attractions, which include a fairy circle within the forest, or the mermaid cove that's been set up in the Blue Fish Lake.

However, it's not all just simple gimmicks in this year's faire. App users may notice a few things different about some of the performers this year. That faerie having fun dancing with the kids? That's an actual Fae, likely one that stayed behind after the incursion in March. That "magician" performing around the food stalls? She's performing actual magic, not just illusions and sleight of hand. Even in the mermaid cove, a few of the "mermaid actors" are actual mermaids, and the forest where the Fae circle is located is still heavy with traces of fae magic from last March. There's a couple more strange sightings like that, and though they're not the majority by any stretch it is perhaps a bit concerning that there's as many as there are.

It's up to you if you call these people out or not. Leave it be, and you'll be able to enjoy a good time. If you approach one of these more magical folks, they will try to deny anything strange going on - they're just running a nice faire! Should you take it far enough to piss off one of the fae, you may find yourself cursed into becoming a monster.

Bad Moon Rising

The full moon usually passes through Kaisou with very little fanfare. There are certainly people with monster changes who have to deal with it for the few nights it hangs around each month, forcing them into their monster forms until daybreak. Until now, though, it's always only affected a very small selection of the population - feline and canine monsters, specifically. A few individuals, most of whom have figured out how to manage their condition by now, nothing to cause a panic.

Not so for this month... and for all months following. Thanks to the damage done by the spirit vein, all monster types will feel the full moon's effects. This means that once night falls and the full moon rises, you will have a harder time maintaining your normal form in the city, while your monster side gets significantly stronger. Retaining your humanity will be extremely difficult unless you have some serious control over your monster self. Perhaps you will be fortunate and be able to keep your stable mind, or perhaps you will find your monster thoughts overpowering you and you'll find yourself going a little feral, which is rather unfortunate if you happen to be in a populated area when night falls. This effect will last until sunrise, when you will regain normal form again. Best find a way to handle your abrupt changes, as this certainly isn't going away and the full moon lasts for three nights. You will either need to get better control over your monster form, or seek out other means to manage yourself through the full moon nights. Every month following this one will be the same- it seems like these changes are very much here to stay.

The Stable Gates

Full moon chaos aside, this quiet time in Kaisou might be a good opportunity to check up on how the stable realms are doing. Hyrule, newly freed from the grips of Calamity Ganon, has begun the slow effort to rebuild. Even better, with the Calamity gone, weapons will no longer decay as quickly. Besides Princess Zelda, the Hudson Construction Company is building new structures and is working on infrastructure around various communities in Hyrule. Curiously, every member of the Hudson Construction Company has a name that ends in "son". But that quirk aside, they are the ones to go to if you, too, are interested in having any structures built within Hyrule. Otherwise, you can help them with gathering resources or fighting off any monsters still around.

It's not all peaceful in Hyrule, though. If you're unlucky, you might run into the Yiga clan. They're a clan of Hyruleans that, despite the Calamity's goal of wiping out all life in Hyrule, thought it was a good idea to side with the Calamity. With it gone, they've now taken to attacking the folks that were responsible of destroying Ganon. They'll often be at roadsides, pretending to be travelers in distress before attacking. Besides dressing like red clothed ninjas, they seem to carry a weird amount of bananas with them. They should be easy enough to fend off if you're a skilled fighter, but maybe it's best not to travel alone for awhile.

Meanwhile, in Stardew Valley, the autumn season has fully set in. Crops like pumpkins, cranberries, and apples are all the rage in the small community. At the end of the month, the townsfolk will hold a festival to showcase the harvests for the year and have small community activities. If you're looking for a simple life or want to do some simple farm work without getting attacked by monsters, this might be a good place to spend some time.

A New Job

On the morning of September 4th, Zodiac will send out an alert message.

ALERT: SPIRIT REALM GATE DETECTED IN UNIVERSITY DISTRICT.
Element Classification: Wind
Danger Level: Low
Designation: Great Library of Alexandria
Zodiac has detected a spirit realm gate appearing in the University district, and confirmed it to be the Great Library of Alexandria. We have also has received a message from the Muses. It reads: "We the Muses, goddesses of the arts, have decided to take some time off due to some recent events. As such, you shall be charged with watching our library this month. Failure to do so competently will incur our wrath. Thanks!"

No pressure, huh.

The atmosphere of the Zodiac office is calmer compared to last month, as dealing with the Great Library is much easier than everything that was happening last month. The Zodiac employee will tell you the most important thing is to make sure to bring a piece of knowledge to share, as that's the admission fee of the library. They aren't sure what watching the library entails, but surely it can't be that bad, right?

That said, while the Zodiac employees are relaxed, the Professor (fuzzy) is anything but. He's talking a mile a minute about how excited he is to see the Great Library of Alexandria. He even has a little suitcase with him that's full of notebooks and gear in case he wants to say overnight. Because of course he's coming with this time! He wouldn't miss the great library for the world!

To find the gate, one simply has to head out to Kaisou University's main campus. Among all the class buildings and libraries, there's a new building front that seems to have appeared. White columns and stone stairs are hardly unusual among a college campus, so it might be easy to overlook, except that the entryway is glowing with a bright energy. No doubt about it, this is the gate.

The Great Library of Alexandria

Stepping through the gate, characters will find themselves in a grand marble hall that would put most to shame. Around the hall are statues of the nine muses, posing in different fashions with objects associated with each one. There are signs with the rules of the library. Even though it's written in Ancient Greek, you find yourself able to read what it says like it was perfect English:

I. Take nothing out of the Great Library, leave it all as you found it.
II. Damage nothing in these halls.
III. To obtain knowledge, you must share knowledge.

In the center of the hall is a pedestal that stands four feet tall. It is here that you place the knowledge that you've brought to share. Books, movies, comics, art pieces, fact sheets, personal notes - anything that could technically be considered either knowledge or art are accepted. Once you place your item on the pedestal, it will disappear and a bracelet made of olive tree wood will appear around their wrist. This is their proof that they are allowed entrance into the rest of the library. Anyone who tries to go into the halls without donating a piece of knowledge will find the entryways into the other wings magically blocked.

Once the admission fee has been paid, it's off to explore the rest of the library! There are several wings to explore, each of them chock full of knowledge. A person could easily spend a lifetime in a single wing and not see everything there is to offer. Even though it offers works written and created in countless languages, you'll find yourself able to understand all of them as if they were written in your native language. That said, any cameras will not work while within the hall, so if you want to remember the things you read- you'll have to take notes. Any character with fire magic will find their fire powers do not work while in this realm either - the library has a bad history with fire, okay.

The wings are as followed:

The Literature Wing

This wing is devoted entirely to any work of literature that's ever been written. Novels, poems, short stories, comics, fables - anything that counts as a story would be found within this wing. There's even a section devoted to fanfictions throughout the ages, if that's what you're really about. There are braille and audiobooks with headphones, for those who get their reading through that way. Throughout the wing, there are comfortable chairs and window seats to sit in. The wing is managed by a legion of cats, who are clever enough to understand human language. They will carry books to and from their shelves, bring book recommendations, bring snacks and drinks as refreshments on a little push cart, or just curl up on your lap as you read.

The Knowledge Wing

Next to the Literature Wing, the Knowledge wing contains any non-fiction texts or documents that have ever been written. Any topic of non-fiction is covered here: history, science, mathematics, cookbooks - the list goes on. Interestingly, there are more than just books about this Earth found in these halls. It's possible to find textbooks detailing events or information about other worlds as well - so long as it covers events already taken place (meaning before any OU's canon point). Unlike the literature wing, the seating are set up more as study tables and chairs, but are still comfortable enough to sit in for hours on end. This wing is managed by a bunch of owls, who will fly up and down the aisles with books in their talons. The fuzzy Professor can be found here, basically acting like a tiny child at Christmas as he piles on all the history books and shares every interesting fact he learns ("this is going to make such great material for my classes!!"). There are several puppets with him helping out. Where did the puppets come from? Maybe it's best you don't ask, because they'll start to sing and annoy the owls.

The Music Wing

A wing designed to have perfect acoustics, no matter where you go within the hall. Here, you can find every music piece ever composed, as well as any type of instrument ever created. There's plenty of practice rooms for any size group, all of which are soundproofed. In the back of the wing, there is a concert hall where you can either perform your own shows, or watch astral recordings of any concert that's ever taken place. Want to see Beethoven perform his famous 9th symphony? You can do that! All the musicians past will appear as ghostly apparitions as they perform. Songbirds are the maintainer of these halls, who will fly by on errands or maybe even stop by to sing along with your performances.

The Theatre Wing

Next to the music wing, there is the theater wing. This area has play stages and movie theaters all set up. You can either watch any movie or show in existence (no worries about streaming rights here!), or rewatch any theater performance that's happened in history in the form of ghostly visages. Find out how Hamlet was performed when Shakespeare was still alive (in fact Shakespeare's visage himself might look... familiar), or see the first Greek tragedy. Mice and rats are the maintainers of this wing, they will help out pick out movies and also run a concession stand with any movie snacks you'd like to consume during the show.

Of course, not all shows are ones that we passively spectate. Besides the theaters, there is a room devoted to be a fighting simulator. Take any kind of weapon you'd like, and fight spectral foes from history and legend. Trade blows with the greatest samurai or battle a beast of legend. While it feels real, no actual injuries will come from these fights. And for those who prefer their battles to take place in the digital plane, there is a relatively newly added room with all the video games you could possibly want.

The Planetarium Wing

The planetarium is the wing devoted to astronomy and the heavens. While there's plenty of shelves of books here with information about space, the main event in this hall is a planetarium. A massive dome that can be set to display the night sky as it appeared at any time or day- and not just on Earth either. You can find out what the sky looks like on any number of worlds. All of them feel hyper-realistic, like you're looking at the real night sky. Bats help run this part of the library, the dark starry skies doing nothing to hinder their assistance with visitors.

Should anyone use this room to investigate the moon, they will find that the moon itself? Is still a perfectly normal moon. No, really. It's normal. However much like it affects the tide, the moon will also affect the magical energies of Spirit Veins. And the higher level of concentration of magical energy, the larger the effect. So the reason the full moon is affecting more monsters? Is less about the moon and more the increasing spirit energy that is ever growing in Kaisou.

The Museum Wing

The museum wing covers all artifacts that relate to knowledge, but wouldn't quite fit in the other wings. Dinosaur fossils, vases, paintings, tapestries, all of them are carefully displayed with information about each item. These items have been collected across different worlds and throughout history, with all of them carefully preserved. One room of the museum is devoted to divine donations - donations given by deities when they came once came to visit, and clearly the shining gem of the museum. Items such as a Dharma Wheel, an apple from the Tree of Knowledge, an actual eye (thanks Odin), and other items relating to knowledge have all been carefully put on pedestals. While trying to steal from the other wings will have magic measures that simply prevent you from doing so, the consequences of trying to steal from this part of the library will lead to much more dire consequences. To reflect that, this wing is patrolled by crocodiles who will guide you to exhibits, but will also snap their jaws anytime they feel you're getting too close to an artifact.

The Mess Hall

With so much to see in this library, it'd be a shame if hunger got in the way. Just head down into the basement, where an expansive dining hall and kitchen await you. The goats that run this part of the library will be happy to cook you up any kind of meal that has ever existed. Or, if you're the type to want to cook for yourself, you'll have free access to the kitchen, which is full of any ingredients you could possibly want. The walls are lined with cooking tools and cookbooks to help you along, as well. Cooking is a form of art, after all.

The Records Wing

The final wing contains records of every person who has ever lived and died. Each person's life is recorded in a hardcover book that is decorated in ways to reflect the person. The length of a book will depend on how long the person has lived, and it will cover events that happened throughout their lives. While you can access records of people that live in different worlds, you can only access records of people who have died (the permanent kind). Not only that, but the keepers of this wing (ghostly apparitions of scholars) will only allow you access to the records of people that are part of your family or somehow related to you.

Hauntingly, AU characters will be able to find books of their past selves among these shelves, as well as the records of their past selves relatives. It will detail their lives in their previous worlds, the events described lining up with memories you've experienced. The causes of death will vary. Some will go on to live long lives before dying of old age, while others will be killed abruptly by something either within or out of their control. Either way, it's probably rather unsettling to read about how your life once came to an end.

Watching Over the Library

For those who have agreed to care for the library, when you enter the library and pay your admission, a special key will appear in your pocket the same time the wristband does. This key will allow you to enter the backrooms of the library. The backrooms of the library are expansive, split into two main areas. The first area is clearly the living areas for both the Muses and their animal helpers. There's a bathing area that's full of rejuvenating water, a greenhouse full of plants found in Ancient Greece, and nine apartment-style homes that belong to each of the muses. While you're free to use the public bath or look through the greenhouse, going into the apartments is a good way to get yourself cursed in new and horrible ways.

The second area? Well, that's where your work as the library's caretaker begins. There are a couple important tasks that must be done. First, the animal caretakers must be fed. There are large storage containers full of the different kinds of foods the animals like to eat and food troughs assigned to each group of animals. Make sure they get fed regularly, unless you want them to start to turn on each other. You can also help the animals by playing with them, grooming them, or just giving them some nice pets.

Not quite an animal person? Well then, you can head into the next room where the Sorting takes place. The Library of Alexandria is getting new material all the time, and all the newest items appear here. There's a pile of books and media that need to be sorted into their proper wings. Each of the wings have a drop chute that you can throw items into, or you can hand them off to an animal attendant. Try to keep up with this task as much as you can, before the piles grow out of control.

If neither of those jobs sound appealing to you, there's always patrolling the library and making sure everything remains in order. Keep things from getting out of control, or help clean up messes that get made by other patrons. Remember, you want to make sure the Muses don't come back to a sight that angers them.

Finding Closure (POKEGO Mission)

"This is a selfish request from a selfish old man, I know. But in every way but blood, he was my son. So please... help me understand his reasons. If it was my fault, or if there was something I could've done. I just... I need to know. Thank you."

It's not typical that Professor Oak asks personal requests, usually preferring to allow his associates to follow their own interests and goals. But it seems the memory of Willow's actions were haunting him more than he was letting on. And for those who were familiar with Willow's case file... this realm was the place where he had gotten his idea to go after Ra, so if there was any place to search for answers...

There are two wings within the library that will yield some findings. In the Knowledge Wing, shoved away amongst the other books about Ancient Egypt, you can find Professor Willow's notebook lodged into the bookshelf. The notes are a mixture of research and observations, as well as his own personal log. At the start, it reads much like the man many of them were familiar with; an easy-going and curious man who truly did think well of his fellow colleagues. Persephone was like a mother, Abasi was so intelligent (even if a bit prickly), and he felt pride watching Sorey and Mikleo grow and come into their own as POKEGO members.

But as the notes and logs go on, the tone slowly slips into something darker and eventually... desperate. Life setbacks (usually described in vague terms, if at all) eat at him more and more. And more and more, he begins romanticizing his past life, his past world. Not wanting to trouble anyone, he never speaks to anyone about it, allowing it to fester until idle daydreams manifest into dangerous plots. His notes and observations become less careful, more unhinged. But even as he continues his plans, his logs continue to reflect a man who is torn by his actions and whether they are the right thing to do. Even in his final log, the one written on the night he found the way to get to Set, he writes: "I know I'm going to cause a lot of pain, but this is the only way. I just... I'll try to make things right, somehow."

The other finding POKEGO can find is within the Records Wing. Willow had long considered the members of POKEGO as his family, so they'll be allowed to view his records. These will shed some light and give context to his background from an outside perspective. In the final pages, it mentions that he's currently serving his life sentence in Florida under the Order's watch. He doesn't know if he deserves to live, after so many lost their lives through his actions. Frequently, he'll try to write letters to various POKEGO members - but can never bring himself to send them. Each one of them has the same kind of message: I'm sorry. It's not your fault. Maybe you can use what you learn to help give Professor Oak (and yourselves) some closure.

Speaking of Professor Oak, for those who are curious enough to look up his records, POKEGO members will be able to access them as well. Reading his record might learn some interesting information about the old man, even if you'll have to own up to grandma that you were snooping.

To Be Forgotten (Black Order Mission)

While everyone else has the library or their own matters to attend to, the Black Order has their own mission to follow. "Locate Rukkhadevata" was the message that the Order had left them with. Strangely enough, there's no records of any Rukkhadevata anywhere in the public areas of the library. Looking through any records relevant to the name turns up empty, and even the animal keepers of the wings seem puzzled at the mention. If no one named Rukkhadevata exists, then why does the Order seers keep hearing that name?

The answer lies in the backroom of the library. Past the sorting room, there is another room hidden away. This is the forbidden part of the library, books that have been intentionally removed from the main collection. Most of these books are sealed and marked, with clear labels indicating that attempting to break the seal will result madness or death.

However, there is one book that sits on the table that has no such warning label, looking more like a normal book that got placed in this room by mistake: a life record book on Rukkhadevata.

Should you read the book, her life story becomes clear: Rukkhadevata was a former member of the Black Order, a recent former member. She was recruited after she began getting memories of being the Dendro Archon, the god of wisdom of Teyvat, in her previous life. Wise beyond her years and deeply kind, she did her best to help her fellow comrade through missions. Alarmingly, these comrades include Black Order members that are present in Kaisou today, with specific stories of their time together being detailed in this text. None of these stories are ones the Black Order members remember as they are written. Only as they hold the book in your hand, do the memories of her existence begin to come back to you.

Its only at the end of her record book does it become clearer what's going on. Three years ago, Rukkhadevata decided to leave the Order. Her reasons aren't discernible, with the lines being intentionally blotted out. But it took her time to figure out the best way to leave. In the end, she found two feasible options: the first was giving up all her powers by striking a bargain with a "bargaining horned spirit", which would render her useless to the Order. As for the other option...

"The Great Library of Alexandria is the realm that maintains all the knowledge in the world, as well as all the world's memories. Even for those who have faded into obscurity among the living still have records within the Record Wing, so the gods and seers are able to draw upon them. So in theory, if one removes their own records from the library, then the world itself will have no memories of them to draw upon, and thus will forget them. To maintain normalcy, any records of my existence will be eradicated or repurposed. Even the Order itself will have no knowledge that I exist. The Muses say doing such an act will consume about half of my soul's power to pull this off. They also caution me how difficult it'll be to be truly forgotten, but if this is the best way to achieve what I need to do...

World, forget me."

The record book ends there, with no further recordings to what happened to her. Rukkhadevata must have placed the book back here, thinking it'll be enough to erase her from the world's memories. However if the seers in the Order are still able to get her name...that's clearly not enough. The book itself needs to be destroyed.

So, the Order is now left with two options. They can return the book back to the Records Wing, which will reinstate the world's memories of Rukkhadevata. Or... there's a single fireplace within the forbidden part of the library, the only fireplace within the entire building. Should you throw it in there... all memories tied to Rukkhadevata will be permanently erased with no hope of regaining them. Decide amongst yourselves what the best course of action is.

Aftermath

The library will be around all month. At the end of the month, it will vanish once it came. If you've done a good job with looking after the library, you will be blessed with new inspiration for your creative endeavors. Should you have done something to harm the library on the other hand... well, depending on the severity, you'll certainly find yourself with some curses to attend to.

As for the Black Order, whether or not you remember Rukkhadevata, you are now equipped with knowledge that could help you leave the Order yourself, if you choose. Erase yourself from the world by burning your own books in the record wing, or seek out this bargaining horned spirit that the notes mentioned. Even after the library leaves this month, you'll just need to ask the shopkeeper of the Gacha Goodwill for the means to return to the library. He'll take you... but only if the stars are right.

OOC Notes

The dominant element this month is Wind! Anyone with an affinity to the fire element will find themselves boosted throughout the month. This could mean a boost to their power, having more energy, feeling more inspired with creativity, having better luck on different attempts -- the boost can manifest in all sorts of different ways. By contrast, anyone with an affinity for Earth will be experiencing the opposite. Perhaps their powers will be weaker, they have less energy, they're having a creative block or general worse luck - again it can manifest in all sorts of way and players are free to play with this mechanic as they'd like.

The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here. Another Zodiac Post will be going up September 15th to serve as an intro post for new characters and allow characters to react to developments over the network.

Comments

Edward Kenway | Assassin’s Creed | tw grief

[jackdawvision]

[one: the literature wing]

[Edward had known a little bit about the modern-day popular conception of pirates. He works for Zulius, he’s heard the fellow talk a bit about Hollywood pirates. Still, he hadn’t run into any depiction of them himself, so out of curiosity he digs up a few fictional titles about pirates, just to see what the fuss is all about.]

Blackbeard’s what now.

[He’s having a bad time so far. There’s a whole stack of novels on his table that vary from “classic” (Treasure Island, On Stranger Tides) to “good” (Daughter of the Pirate King, Pirate Latitudes) to…well. This.]

Who wrote this? Blackbeard’s Bride—this isn’t right. I knew Thatch, he wasn’t the sort of man who would whisk some woman away just like that. And—during Charles-Towne, at that! I was at Charles-Towne, all he wanted were some fucking medicines—he didn’t even kill anyone there, I did.

[He slams the offending book shut and pushes it off to the side away from him, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose with a clear disdain. And…grief. He’s grieving the man, like he knew him personally and actually liked him a lot.]

That’s how people see Thatch today? Bloody hell.

[two: the nonfiction wing]

[Well, if he hated that, now he’s got a copy of Johnson’s A General History of Pyrates and is leafing through the pages with a look of deep and utter annoyance. Then:]

He didn’t even bother to get some of the names right. If this is what passes for a history of pirates, no wonder the books on us are so unbelievably wrong. [Flip, flip, flip.] Where am I in all of this, anyway? I knew all these people he writes about. This has Vane, this has Rackham of all people—oh, he even wrote about Mary.

[He sounds noticeably sadder when he mentions Mary, and he stays on her entry for a little while longer before giving a tired laugh.]

Whoever wrote this didn’t know her very well. [Hadn’t known her fire, or her dedication to her cause.] Or Anne neither. [He pushes the book back into its slot, his heart sore from the reminder of those he’s lost, his mind a little troubled by his own lack of mention.

Might as well hit the records wing, he thinks.]

[three: the records wing || closed to Jinwoo]

[There are a lot of records on various pirates. Blackbeard’s here, along with Vane and Rackham and Bonny and Read and even Stede fuckin’ Bonnet of all people. None of it he has access to, though, so he spends a couple of hours poking around and looking up records belonging to his parents—farmers who’d lived a hard life, then died in Bristol. Well, his father died, but his mother still lives, and he knows after reading she won’t be happy to see him again.

Then, on a whim, he picks out a record for a Caroline Scott Kenway.

Reads it through, end to end. It’s when he comes to a certain page that his pencil drops.]

No. She— [His voice cracks on the pronoun, and his breath hitches in his throat.

They have a daughter. They have a daughter. Oh god, he’s a father, to a young girl who lives in England that he’s never even met.]

Jennifer. [He says her name, whisper-soft, tries to imagine her. Does she have his hair? Does she have Caroline’s eyes? Did she get the Kenway nose? He must apologize to her if she did, that’s his fault. Oh, he has a little girl, a daughter, he has—

He has to know what happens next. He starts reading, further and further, and the hitch in his throat turns into a full-blown lump when he realizes that Caroline caught a disease, and her lout of a father, that bastard, let her—

He let her—]

No. No, no, no. [She’s dead. She’s dead. She died and he never even knew. She’d been trying to send him letters and he never got one. He buries his face into his hands and just stays there at the table for a long while, surrounded by the records of the dead, grieving them all, grieving a wife he had loved and left behind. God, he’d only ever wanted to make her happy. Oh, god, she’s gone.

Save for this record of her—her name, her life, her death. Their daughter, god, they have a child. His head spins to think of it: a little girl, who probably has his eyes. Or hers. Caroline, he thinks, and makes a choice.

The library said not to take anything out but—but surely. Surely they won’t begrudge him this. Surely they won’t mind if Caroline’s grieving husband takes her record with him. Surely.

He takes her record, and slides it into his bag. Then he gets up, and turns, and starts to walk away.

He doesn’t get far.]

[four: wildcard]

[have an idea that’s not in here? this option is for you! outside the library, Edward will be working at the Vogue Theater and also running around Kaisou’s rooftops at night, if not hitting up the stable gates to see what’s going on there, so you can easily find him anywhere. hmu at mollymauktealeaf or at foggytealeafs on Discord if you want to hash something out!]

iii; closed

[lowestclass]

[ he's here for his own reasons. the mission with the Black Order this month was a ... complicated one. the order wasn't by any means a kind organization, there were plenty in it, like himself, who had joined due to being put in a corner, having little other choice.

But it raised so many questions in his mind. If one order member could erase the memory of their entire existence from the world; it'd beg to the reason that it could be done by anyone.

He's been lingering in the hall for a while now. A few of the people he knows coming and going, but the vampire himself was sticking to the shadows for now. assessing how he should act. if he should look up his own files. learn his own secrets.

and that's when he catches a sight of his new friend(?), the pirate who had done him a solid. the man with a playful disposition who Jinwoo was, somehow, somewhat endeared to, already. But the smile the pirate usually wears is not on his face. No, the man seems... stricken, and maybe it's dishonest of him to watch from the shadows, quiet and unseen, but.

Old habits die hard.
And he probably would have been contented to stay there until Edward left...

up until his eyes catch what the man did. That book, put into his bag. And his attempt to leave.
There's a... feeling of fear rumbling up in his stomach as he watches him go, and the very fresh memory of Edward chanting a quiet 'no' into the air told him two things:whatever he'd read had not been good. and it had driven him to the mad decision to take the book, as what he read had dug in too deeply.

Fingers find Edward Kenway's wrist. And while he isn't a strong man, the ice-cold grip of a vampire's hand is hard to ignore, isn't it?

Especially when it's followed by a quiet voice that pleads, very quietly. ]

...Trust me when I say. You do not want to do that, Edward-ssi.

Please.

[jackdawvision]

[It is a mad decision, and some part of him is already regretting it. But if Caroline is dead and he's three hundred years into the future then there's nothing left of her but this record, and his memories, and—

He stops in place when he feels cold fingers wrap around his wrist. Even for a man such as Edward, who's dealt out death to so many and who's seen quite a lot recently, the icy feel of a vampire's fingers is still a shock to the system. He looks at Jinwoo, then lets out a breath.

He could deny it. He's sure of that. He could talk his way through. He could fight and force his way through, if needs must, but he'd...rather not.

The book sits heavy in his bag. The grief sits heavy on his shoulders.]

...it's my wife's. Does that not mean something? [She'd been pregnant when she left. She'd been pregnant when he'd come to speak to her for that last time. If he had known, he would've—he would've—

Would you have stayed, even then? a voice asks. It sounds like Caroline herself.] Give me a good reason why I shouldn't just walk out of here, with the last bit of her left in this world, in any world.

[lowestclass]

[ he understands it. He does. He absolutely does. He'd love to grab up a book or two about the people in the library of those from his past life. Of Ha Chae-in, of Go Gunhee--but knowing what he knows due to his mission, due to how he knows someone had deleted their existence from the world once before, doing the exact thing Edward is...

His heart is breaking for him.
His heart is breaking for a man he barely knows, because he can't stand here and let the man make a mistake that'll hurt him more than he's hurting right now.

Jinwoo readjusts his grip on Edward's wrist. Not loosening it, but rather, fixing how his fingers hold him almost to try to coax him to slow down. ]

It means more than I'm sure that I know, Edward-ssi. A book like that isn't just a book, it is a treasure. [ he isn't about to act as if edward's action was even wrong; just... not a good idea. He tries, so hard, to give him a look that's soft.

But given his eyes are glowing a bright violet, and he's half hidden in shadow, it's difficult. ]

Even if it's the last part of her that exists.

If you take that out of here.
The world--and even you--will forget she ever existed.

Taking her story out of here... will make it as if she never existed.
That's how this place works.

[jackdawvision]

[Edward’s a selfish man. He’s trying to be better, but his first instinct isn’t always to be kind, it’s to make sure he comes out of a mess with gold in hand. It took years for everything his friends said to him to sink in, years and too many deaths and more grief than anyone should be able to hold.

Edward is a greedy man, that’s true, but he’s damned loyal and he’s trying to be better, though he backslides sometimes. He has so many arguments ready, but then Jinwoo gets to his heart, his selfish broken heart, and—he can’t forget Caroline. He won’t. What sort of man would he become if he forgot the reason why he left home in the first place? If he didn’t know why he was trying to become a man of quality so badly?

His shoulders slump, just a little. He lets his bag fall open for Jinwoo to slip a hand in and take the record from him: one named Caroline Scott-Kenway. Her face is pictured inside, and she’s a beautiful woman, with red hair and a soft smile.]

How do you know? [His voice is quiet, raw, worried.] That taking the record out would make it as though she never existed. How did you learn of it?

[lowestclass]

[ he understands selfishness. pretty well. given how his family was before he'd faked his death, selfishness was something he understood better than most anything else--that desire to have something, while not fully thinking about the concequences of taking that thing you desired so blindly.

Part of him can't even blame Edward's wish. There was a small part of him that wanted to steal some of the books in here, as well. The lives of his family, back in his hometown, half the world away... but he had to steel his hand. Because of what he knew.
What Edward wouldn't know.

...He knows he isn't supposed to divulge a lot of details about the Black Order to others outside the group. He knows that. However, this was something that ... he has a feeling, even now, that other members might see as a godsend--an escape from said order. it wasn't something they would likely share with the higher-ups, or if they did, they'd hide details.

Rukkhadevata had escaped the order, and not a single member of the Kaisou branch... felt the need to force her back in. Why would they? To delete yourself from the world was such a painful weight, and yet... ]

I told you, when I met. That I worked for the Black Order. I did not lie to you about this, but I did leave out some details.
And that is that, most of the members of it were ... pulled into the organization on bad faith contracts. An agreement that was one-sided, against our favor. So most of us work for the Order out of necessity. But many of us quietly resent them for cornering us in our moments of weakness.

Speaking more on that may be considered treason, so I will leave it there.
What I will instead say, is that I have reason to believe that while normally, there is no leaving the Order without risking your life or your memories fully intact...

...A loophole has been found. And it involves doing exactly what you are doing right now.
After all, there's no need to return to the order when the entire world forgets you, is there.

[jackdawvision]

[They sound like the Templars, he thinks. They brought Hornigold on as Nassau fell and his ideals turned to ash, and despite all the good works they claimed, they had an ulterior motive behind all of it and no compunctions toward less than savory actions to achieve their goals. Edward says nothing for a long moment, then lets out a breath.]

Aye. Who would even remember you in the Order? [It's an extreme action to take, especially since just now he had to be convinced to put Caroline's record back for fear of forgetting her, but desperate people will do anything to get out of their situation, and it sounds like the Black Order preys on desperate people. Doesn't that sound like a familiar tune.]

It doesn't seem entirely foolproof, though, if you've found that loophole somehow. Otherwise you wouldn't know what my taking Caroline's book would do to her memory. [He lets out a breath. He'll figure out what it means, that somehow that loophole was found anyway, despite what he imagines were the best efforts of the first one to find it.] Take her. Please. I don't...I can't forget her. Or our girl. [He has a daughter, they have a daughter.] But I can't let go of her either.

[He can't trust himself not to turn around again and walk out the door, books in his bag anyway, ready to roll the dice that he'll keep the memories somehow. He's missed her so much.]

[lowestclass]

I wish there were some other way. [ he really does. having a memory of the past --or your future that you never got to experience--is difficult to leave behind. he knows. but taking it from this library was just asking for horror the pirate doesn't deserve in his life.

he can't imagine how terrifying it might have been if Jinwoo hadn't caught him. How he'd find himself forgetting her again and again, every time he put the book down.

No, this was for the best. He casts a look of pity at the man as he asks the vampire to take the book. Unable to put it back.
...and of course he will.
He's silent when he moves. Jinwoo wasn't strong, by any meaning of the word--but he did specialize in stealth. The book is extracted from Edward's bag so quickly, he may not even feel it.

Jinwoo is quick to place it back on the shelf where it belonged... and then returns to put a hand on Edward's shoulder. ]

I know it's hard. But I think you made the right choice.

[jackdawvision]

[He just sags into the touch, clearly emotionally exhausted. He needs a drink. He needs two drinks. He needs to crawl into a bottle and not come out for the next three months because his wife is dead. He wants to charge into the nearest spirit gate and find a way back because he has a daughter. He wants and needs...a lot of things, right now.]

It don't feel like the right choice. [Edward lets out a shuddering breath.] She was—She'd left me, but I always thought I'd come back one day, repair what had been mangled between us. If I had the money...

[Well. Does it matter now?

—yes. Yes. Because they have a daughter. He has a daughter. He can't come back to England broke, he needs to come back rich because then his daughter will be safe, and secure, and happy. She'll never want for anything. Oh, Caroline, he thinks. Why didn't you ever tell me?]

Did you ever—Did you have someone like that? Someone it would break you, to forget?

[lowestclass]

I know it doesn't. Leaving behind the people you love isn't easy. No matter what kind of decision it was you had to make in order to keep walking forward.

[ he's had to do it before. He understands the strength it takes to walk away--how weak-legged it felt to turn your back on something that would hurt to walk away from. ]

They say money doesn't buy us happiness, but. Whoever said that was a very rich man, I feel. [ he laughs--a sound that is void of amusement. he can't imagine the pains that Edward is feeling right now, but. He can, at the very least, sympathize with the man.

...The question he asks, though, makes him pause. ]

Maybe we should take a visit to the kitchens. I feel a heavy topic might be better spoken over a warm drink.

[ but... his eyes cast aside. ]

Because, you see. Due to my place with the order.
I had to fake my death. Ten years ago. My family... well.
Maybe memories of my youngest sister are the most dear to me.

[ but she ... probably has long forgotten about him. ]

two

[prunedworlds]

"I think it's pretty normal for a lot of history books to be wrong? People write what they think happened, or what they want to think happened, even if that's not entirely true..."

Yes, she heard some of that rant. And she's also rather familiar with this whole concept, herself.

[jackdawvision]

“There’s being wrong and then there’s mouthing off with rank slander,” says Edward, with a huff. “And I know what the difference is.”

He glares at the book, as if it’s personally offended him down to his core. Which it has. It’s one thing for rumors to spread around, it’s another thing entirely to wipe out their legacies and their memory for this—this bag of steaming shite.

“Whoever Captain Charles Johnson is,” he says, “he’s not one of us. I knew these people. I’ve fought with them.”

[prunedworlds]

"That's what I mean. That's one of the older books, right?" Assuming she's remembering that correctly. The problem with occasionally reading up on stuff in Chaldea's archives is that there's just so much there.

"Some of the people who wrote stuff just wanted to get people to buy the book, whether it was true or not. People weren't always as strict about the difference between history and fiction as in the modern day..."

[jackdawvision]

"Aye, seems like this was written," and he flips the pages back until he finds the very beginning and says, "in 1724, apparently. Three years after my time, then." Which doesn't entirely bode well for Edward's prospects, if he didn't even make it into this book.

"They're still not so strict on the difference today either," Edward says. "I read a few other books, did you know they've been calling our time the Golden Age of Piracy? As though we were swimming in gold on Nassau." It didn't look so golden from the inside. Mostly, it just looked like sickness out on the streets, gaunt faces on the ship, dead pirates swinging from gibbets when they sailed into unfriendly ports.

[prunedworlds]

"I figured they meant golden age because of how much piracy there was? Obviously all the buried treasure stuff is made up, and there's still pirates today, but you almost never hear about them anymore, let alone there being any famous ones..."

Not counting internet pirates, of course. But that's a little different, and would also require explaining the internet.

"So you were a pirate too?"

She hadn't wanted to assume just based on apparently being friends with pirates, but he did say we just now...

[jackdawvision]

“The buried treasure wasn’t that made up, it just didn’t happen that often,” he says while shutting the book again and slotting it back onto the shelf. Then he picks out a different history book on pirates, with a dramatic illustration of a man with a smoking beard on the cover. The Siege of Charlestown, the cover reads. “It didn’t feel so golden,” he says, “going through it. Mostly we were just trying to survive and not get hanged.”

And sometimes that didn’t work out quite as they’d hoped. Edward still remembers all the pirates swinging in gibbets in so many ports, their bodies rotting slowly away in their cages.

“Aye, and a damned good one,” he says. “I knew them all, the ones Johnson speaks of. I’ll tell you what they were really like, if you wish.” Someone ought to set that record straight, and it might as well be Edward. Maybe that’s the burden of being one of the last ones left—you carry the stories with you.

[prunedworlds]

"That's what I mean, though. It's like... There were probably lots of different people who did at least some of the things the stories say Robin Hood did, but probably no one who actually did all of them. The stuff people tell stories or write about isn't always what really happened, exactly."

Or at least, it sure isn't in her world, to judge by some of the interesting ways various heroic spirits have manifested as Servants.

"Oh, I actually know some things already? At least... how they were in my world. I guess it could be kinda different in this one."

[jackdawvision]

"I know that, it's just." He sighs. "It's different when it's people you knew, when it's the time you yourself lived in and the things you did." Johnson's assertions are bloody confident, for a man who clearly had never met a single one of the pirates he's chronicling, and it pricks at Edward's heart to see these people he knew so maligned. A few deserve it, certainly, but there are more who don't.

He blinks at Ritsuka for a minute. "You've met them?" he asks, incredulously. "Like—Anne and Mary?" Anne, he'd last seen laboring in a rowboat, and Mary—he'd carried her body from prison himself. Is this like Diarmuid, he wonders, where they'd been summoned into the modern era to fight a war? His stomach churns at the thought of it, at the idea of Mary's peace suddenly disturbed to fight another secret war.

[prunedworlds]

"Sort of... In my world, famous heroes and such can become what's called Heroic Spirits, who can be summoned in certain circumstances. It's... kind of a really long story but there's been threats that could destroy all of humanity, so I've met and fought alongside some of them."

And by 'some' she means a couple hundred at this point. It's been a time.

[jackdawvision]

There's a silence. Then:

"You met Mary? You've fought alongside her?" Her body was so light. It shouldn't have been so light. She'd been such a force when he'd known her, why was it that her body weighed so little? He shakes his head, trying to clear away the grief that roils inside his heart, and says, "I've heard of Heroic Spirits before. Do you know a Diarmuid? He'd mentioned that he'd been summoned from his time—or from his story, I wasn't clear—to fight a war."

[prunedworlds]

"Yeah, I have. Her, and Anne, and a few others."

As far as pirates go, at least. And even then, Ritsuka certainly hasn't met every famous pirate.

"Oh, yeah, I met him a little after he got here." Though ah, if he's talked enough to Diarmuid, that gives her a better idea of what to explain. "The 'war' he was talking about is a Holy Grail War, where pairs of Masters--mages who summon and contract with the Heroic Spirits--and Servants--the Heroic Spirits who're summoned--fight with each other to have a wish granted by the grail.

"I'm part of Chaldea, though, not a Holy Grail War, which is why I know so many Servants. It's... well, like I said, we were fighting against threats to humanity."

She also has effectively zero interest in participating in such a war, herself. Which may be evident by the offhanded tone in which she describes it, at that.