Habitual Vicissitude

[thirdofnine]

In the distant past the races of the universe were united under benevolent rule, united through humanities technological prowess.

Until the power humanity governed over all was stolen by another.

Across the universe their spread a plague of cracks, breaking the foundations of reality itself. Life since that time of piece has been fractured. Broken, seemingly never to be fixed. No one remembers the time of unified realities, yet not all is lost.

In order to mend the fabric of the universe, six central points were established throughout space and time to be set in stasis. Never-moving from that state, and the only steady and reliable thing to exist anymore.

First, the old capital of humanity was set in stasis. A grand expanse of solar-harvesting rings set in a dance-like movement pattern across the sky, 39 stars each with a massive satellite capable of housing near infinite capacities of people made up what once was the single most important place to ever exist. Now it exists as a beautiful constellation of metal rings and waltzing suns, but nothing more.

Second, the ancient homeland of humans and skerent alike.. Earth. Having been harnessed to it's fullest capacities before humans left it for good, it remains simply as a sentimental husk. It's skies are grey, as are it's winds, oceans and decaying architecture. With the loss of life, so too did the planet die. Humanity grew beyond it's symbiosis with it's origin, and left it's old mother to die. Yet it is preserved still, one of the final bastions of steady (if grim) life in these collectively crashing rapids we call the universe today.

Third, to the homelands of the erg. Possessing pitch black skies, neon glowing plants and consisting entirely of abstract rain-forests, little else can live in such a place other than the erg without the powers which have been stripped from all that dwell there, placed in stasis as it is. Not a place of significance it was put in stasis exclusively due to it's lack of being altered through tech. It is perhaps one of the last "pure" and "untainted" realms in the universe.

Fourth, the grand plague-lands of the Lint were put in stasis. A small corner of the universe cut off from all others, it was where the Lint were to be penned in like animals and attempted to be killed off through unleashing a grand plague upon their kind. The Lint lived through this atrocity, but not without suffering even more for crimes they commit simply through living. Never intended to be placed in stasis, the Lint themselves hold the barrier between their realm and the outside universe. It is the only place where Lint go unpersecuted, yet to live there is to live with the curse of bearing the Lint Plague.

Fifth there exists a plane of reality separate from the rest of the universe, just as the Lint Plaguelands do. A grand chapel the size of a planet, a world known as The Kindred Shards acts as a hub point between itself and all distinct reality shifts within the universe. Having been created first to quickly allow travel across the universe and supply meeting points between all life, it was repurposed after the fall of humanities reign to serve as a junction point between worlds.

Finally, there exists the Sixth world in stasis. In this life, there is only one thing assured. Death eventually claims us all. In turn, there exists a place for those departed souls to dwell after death. It's stasis existing purely as a result of such a large amount of concentrated energy, this Sixth world is known as the Shrine to Cinder. A resting place for all life.

Called upon from their lives without known reason or purpose, six beings have been summoned to the Shrine to Cinder long before their deaths.
Given a clear view of this world's dark-orange skies, seemingly endless void of a ground and thousands of millions of spikes jutting out from the shadows similar to the one they'd appeared upon, six individuals awaken covered in ash and shaken with fear, unknowing of their location or what threats may lie near.

(Shrine to Cinder reference painting: i.imgur.com/xUzeo.jpg )

[kain17335]

Kal'seen awoke with a an almost maddening headache as she leaned up, her eyes opened slowly as she began to gaze around the place she had been so rudely brought too, she seemed to be surrounded by a few others in this place, giving her a slight comfort that she was not the only one to have been brought here.

She grunted as she stood up, regaining her calm and collected composure as she began to look around, she seemed to have been left without her only friend in this universe, although most would call her a mere pet, the beast must have been left at her sanctuary, most likely in some sort of anamlistic fury gripping it as it did not have Kal to calm her, this troubled the 'young' women, as she is the only one who can stop the black beast, making the town an almost certain target for it is the closest thing to civilization that the griffon knows of.

Kal's head bowed for a moment, trying to focus her mind on discerning where she was, the why however, proved to intrigue her even more, not that focusing seemed to do anything, her mind was like that of a jigsaw, jumbles together with no real order to it, whatever this place was, it did not allow her to think straight, whether it was because of her sudden awakening leaving her in a weakened state, or the area itself was not something that she could yet know.
With this thought, Kal turned to the people around her, perhaps they had answers that would put her troubled mind at ease.
A lint female caught Kal's eye first, she was a viable a person as any to ask, "Awaken, child." Kal's said wordlessly, using her mind to speak directly into the Lint's mind as she leaned down, swaying her hair onto her back to reveal her pale face and glittering purple eyes, "I know not who you are, but I must ask for you assistance.

[Sleix]

Vance awoke from his deep slumber, his eyes adjusting to the deep, orange sky. He could feel the heat slowly decomposing his body and peeling his flesh. He clenched his fist and stretched his shoulders back to restart the blood flow through his arms. Like every morning, Vance was reluctant to get himself up, but something was different, smoldering ash covered his surroundings, and he wasn't in the comfort of his home in the wilderness. Vance shot up like a dart, choking and spitting ashes out of his mouth, into the ventilation of his body suit.

Vance carefully examined the platform he was standing on. One..three...five other people were here, one of which was already awake. He did a quick check of his suit, ensuring it was functioning properly, "What in god's name..." Vance was speechless, never had he dreamed of such a place. Giant towers were all around, all of them with a kindled fire placed on top of them. Vance did not understand, where was he? Who were these people? He did not recall any of the events that happened a few hours before he awoke.

"Hello?" he looked at the girl, she was concentrating on a female Lint that was not yet awake, almost as if mentally communicating with the creature, a power only Vestigials hold. Maybe she had answers to this confusion.

[guycoolspore2]

Περιέργεια Woke up, his mind flowing with questions already, like how long he'd been sleeping, where he was... "Is the presence of death really this close to me? I've only felt it from afar."

He made his appearance that of a gray cat and walked over to Char. He took a look at her and sat, not giving a hint that he was even capable of understanding speech. Even so, he was curious as to who she was.

[kain17335]

Kal raised her hand to the neclin in a motion that would be discerned as a command to be quiet, keeping her gaze upon the Lint as she began to awake, she smiled warmly to the girl as her eyelids slowly opened, with the first thing the Lint seeing being the glittering lilac of Kal's eyes, "Hello." Kal 'said' in her disembodied tone which was almost ethereal in tone as it danced between the brainwaves of the Lint's mind, finding it unsurprisingly easy for her to converse with the hybrid.
She stood up, full knowing the both the Lint and the Neclin were wary of both hers and each others presence wishing to calm them of their questions which she heard like the beat of a steel drum rippling through space, "I do not have the answers to your questions." Kal projected to the two confused beings, turning to the small feline creature that had taken an interest in the Lint, such a being was obvious to Kal that this form was not its only one, but mentioning it could anger the being, or the people near her, she merely looked to the 6 beings that were in her presence, each with their own characteristics that were laid bare in front of her like that that of an unwoven thread.
The other two entities that had not yet awoken however, did not look as if they were going to awaken for a while, or ever awaken, for if this place what the Shrine To Cinder, which both the feline and the Neclin had thought of, although Kal never paid much attention to thought of death, such an inevitability did not need dwindling on for Kal's case, as such thoughts aided her in no way.

These people, however, intrigued Kal, she could see that these people had been alive for many, many years, yet they still lived by the basic animalistic thoughts when such things that they did not understand, nor comprehend, they still asked the first being that they laid eyes upon for answers, like that of a child who had lost a toy, they had not yet noticed that asking questions will only plant the seeds of curiosity in their minds, and in a place as this, that could be dangerous.

[Luke]

Awakening to a world of ash and smoke would startle most, set them off balance and make them question their very reality, the reason for their existence. With a small shift, the large metallic suit lifted itself from the ash soaked ground, yet seemingly with little effort. Despite the seemingly large size of this Neclin, he moved with the grace of any other creature that knew their 'body' well. Only the small whirring sound of the gears in motion gave away he even stood up. Staring out over the side of this...platform, the Doctor seemed deep in thought for a short moment, his mind a mesh of wonders, horrors, and utter chaos even to those who could read such minds normally.
'Shrine of Cinders.' Finally, a legible word escaped the creature, though it wasn't clear if he spoke it, or simply let the thought be read by any that cared to. Lifting one of the man's mechanical limbs, the others noticed a small orb like device to one of his arms, which glowed somewhat faintly, and started to rotate rapidly. It too, made a small whirring sound before a small solar system of ash balls appeared in his hands, rotating in the exact manner a proper solar system may behave. This did not seem to be for show, nor did the man even bother speaking to them, instead he gazed upon the ash as if curious, before crushing the tiny system within his metallic palm, and letting it blow away in the wind.
Doctor Malloy Kershay felt himself agitated...he could not remember exactly how he arrived here...but it mattered little. Really it all did.

[Randominsult]

Coal woke to the faint sounds of gears in motion, like that of a faint engine starting up.

Coal had tried to to get up but found that all energy within him was completely depleted. He mustered enough strength only to be able to shift his head to the side to see what appeared to be gray cat. There were others he now saw who looked to be as confused as he was though they seemed to be able to move.

Not knowing what has happened or who these people even were he did the one thing that he never planned on doing in his whole life. He gazed at the beings across him and with a shaken and raspy voice whispered "Help..." It was then when he slipped out of consciousness as darkness began to fill his vison once again.

[Sleix]

The woman had no interest in talking to Vance and as such turned away. Three other people had awoken, the Lint that the young girl was speaking to, a Neclin in a mechanical suit and a feline. Vance knew the feline wasn't a cat that was mistakenly bought here, it was a Vestigial, such fascinating creatures, communicating through brain waves and the ability to take on a visage that is not their own. Already Vance felt claustrophobic, seven hundred years on his own had turned him into an unsociable, grumpy man.

Vance then turned his attention to the Neclin in a mechanical suit who was using the ash as a model solar system. The Neclin had a look in his eyes that Vance did not like, a look that wanted power, wanted revenge, "Pompous idiot" Vance thought to himself, and looked away.

[kain17335]

Kal turned quickly to the Lint male, a look of care growing across her face as she walked towards him, she looked down to the person, their mind seemed almost juvenile in its appearance to her, although this 'Coal' was old, their mind had not evolved to the point that its years would show.
She almost spoke with him, only stopping herself as Kal noticed that 'Coal' was slipping in and out of consciousness, speaking with them in such a state that communicating with them would be a very bad thing to do, being spoken to by a being that could reach straight into your mind as easily as it is to walk though water, isn't a very comforting experience, especially when you're just coming back from passing out, she quickly chose to leave the man be, for the time being, she would await until 'Coal' awoke again, waking him now, although possible and easy for Kal to do, was very dangerous, it would take time for the Lint to readjust to its surroundings, being teleported to an unknown state of reality must be painful on a 'normal' being, while most of the people who had awoken with her were far from normal.

[Luke]

Finishing somewhat with the scenery watching, the Doctor turned an eye to the other beings he was on this...rock with. Out of all the several multi trillion solar systems in the universe...he was stuck on this ash ball. But why? Who was responsible for this? Malloy was certain he didn't arrive of his own free will, for if he had, he hadn't brought any proper equipment...or even a ship to travel in. He was never that careless. Never. Leaving his abduction the only possibility.

If any looked at the Neclin man, they would see that, other then the fact that his face was actually exposed, as opposed to most normal Neclin, revealing the rotting, decrepit old man beneath, suspended in whatever life sustaining liquid kept the Neclin bodies alive, he seemed like most Neclin, an overdue rotting corpse running a mechanical suit to sustain their life.
Despite his age, whatever it was, Malloy's face seemed very much alive, small slivers where his eyes were giving off almost no life as opposed to that of a young child, or even a middle aged man, but he was definitely looking at them from within the chamber, taking a deep breath from the breathing device attached to his face and body, he seemed to be taking in the sight.

A side glance to the Lint on the ground having trouble gathering himself, his face shifted, if ever so slightly, every expression difficult to read, mind even more so.
"Wasteful anomalies. " He spoke, a more mechanical type of speak, yet strangely and almost eerily human at the same time. "What brings such failures to the Shrine of Cinders." He said more as a statement instead of a question, or any sort of insult. He didn't care for their reasons. It didn't matter after all.
A small glance to his fellow Neclin, Malloy seemed almost amused by his presence. Neclin were among the few races he...tolerated the company of. It wasn't often such a feeling was mutual however.
"Or perhaps there is some greater plot here.." He added to his statement, his face contorting as he inhaled deeply again. "Most of the Opportunists that roam the universe avoid Neclin, far too...slow for quick get away, or smart for blind bloodlust filled raids you see." He explained his reasoning for his...lack of distaste. That was the best way to describe it, nothing more.

Tilting his head downwards, Mallow noticed the 'cat'. If he wasn't aware that the beast was, actually, a galactic phenomena, he would have likely shooed it away...with some form of gravity catapult. However, he found the creature more interesting then many of the others, and instead of speaking to, and likely insulting, it, he simply gave it a longer glance...one that almost seemed...plotting in nature. As if the man wished to cut the being open and examine his insides...which, truthfully, he likely did.
That strange, icy gaze turned then to Kal, the final person he had not 'greeted' yet, yet instead of speaking, he seemed to glare at her, not in so much hatred, though there was likely that in that look...just not directed at her. No, instead it seemed more out of...thought. As if he were trying to recognize her at first, before the look vanished...somewhat. It was hard to tell on such a rotted face.
"Erg...such skittish, childish creatures." Is all he said with a small mechanical and likely forced laugh, holding up the device on his wrist closer to him, as if displaying it, as the device glowed dimly and formed several spinning orbs of dust, and several other substances that weren't immediately obvious. Turning around, away from them with a lack of care, Malloy seemed to study the new creation now. In truth, he was testing the content of the air here, the soil, and even the flames that centered each pillar, attempting to identify what he could about this...rock and the materials he was forced to work with.

[kain17335]

Kal's gaze quickly turned to Malloy's as his own eyes fell to her, "The Erg are such because that is how they are brought up." she 'said' to him as she walked towards the Neclin, her fingers entangled between each other as they lay against her stomach, "You speak of the Erg as if they are unnatural."
She grinned as Kal bent down, kneeling close to the scientist, "You think yourself above all life, don't you?" her smile widened, almost as if she would laugh deviously at the Neclins thoughts, she could see everything he had ever done, every action, every word, even through all the time that he had lived, Malloy had never grown past himself, "You have lived so very long, yet you still cling to the things that weaken you, you think yourself a higher power, yet you still have not evolved, you are still the same man you were all that time ago..."
Kal regained her composure, with her gaze still keeping with the scientist that sat before her, "You have taken so much life, Mr Malloy." she said, her voice now almost slightly sarcastic in the tone that Malloy was hearing, while it still kept the out-of-body sound as it ringed through the Neclin mind, "Tell me, have you ever created it?"

[guycoolspore2]

The "cat" looked Mallow up and down, not exactly liking what he was seeing. His curiosity obviously got the better of him and he walked around, now used to four legs. As he walked away from the Doctor he turned and gave him a sort of nod before looking at the rest of the group.

Curiositas had an interest in getting to know some of them a bit more, and wouldn't be changing his form any time soon due to the fact that it sickened some people. He especially had an interest in Vance, who didn't seem as much of a team player as the others. Curiositas sat down next to Char again, keeping his eye on him.

[Luke]

Pausing in his calculations, Malloy kept the spheres of ash and dust in place, as if his concentration was barely altered in the least, though he did turn an eye to Kal to address her, something he didn't often do.
"I am well aware of the Erg and their upbringing. It does not excuse them from their fear of the future. Of technology." He said simply. "Unnatural? Perhaps that is a word for it...technology itself is very natural. To oppose it is to oppose the ocean itself." He seemed to find this thought quite amusing at first, before turning back to face the woman half way. Her attempts at absorbing everything the man has seen and done resulted in a swell of memories that date back years, far before many of the aliens here had contact with humans even.
"That I am." He assured her. "A being far more adept and prepared for this place then any other. If you see fit to take pity on such failures and lowly creatures so often, it is obvious to me you are not worth my time. The wheel of time will weed you, and all other such failures of life and science out...leaving only the strong and worthy." He reminded her, there was little anger in his voice, and in fact seemed devoid of emotion all together, but he continued regardless with almost a sarcastic laugh. "But you see...that is where you are wrong, Hybrid." He said with somewhat a sharper tongue. "I am far greater then I ever was then, then anyone thought possible, even I was surprised by the change... You think yourself equal with those you take sympathy with. What gives you the gall to think you know me so well, hm?" He questioned now. "You think simply gazing into the minds of other creatures allows you to learn everything about them? You're like a child that reads the title of a book and feels they have read all of it in its entirety. You feel you know volumes when you know little at all. That, my dear Hybrid, is why you and your species are childish." He explained now, now not taking his eyes off the spheres he was examining closer now.
Raising an eyebrow to her last question, he smirked in a quiet sense. "Some day...I will." He nodded with an even stranger and improper grin that adorned his face. "And then this universe will finally be in proper order."

[guycoolspore2]

Curiositas decided it was time to speak up a bit before his form grew instincts that would prevent him from helping the others. He looked at Char, placed a paw on her leg, closed his form's eyes, and spoke to her mentally. "I can tell you're not exactly certain I'm just a regular feline. Well, I'm not. But I'd like to keep that a secret between you and I. My name is Curiositas Solutos, or Curiosity Unbound. As you can expect, I'm curious as to how long it'll take for them drop me over the edge as a useless cat. That or realize that I'm just not as useless at I look." He then sat down and gave a faint, "Mrow."

[Sleix]

Vance sat on the blanket of ash that covered the rocky surface. He inspected the group, "I'm suprised one of you hasn't shot an unsuspecting member in the back of the head yet," Vance smirked, "It's obvious we weren't bought here for no reason, but that reason I can not fathom and I'm sure your feeble minds couldn't either, so, what will we do? Sit here until we die of starvation? I intend to find out who bought us here and...why they bought us here." Vance stood up and sighed.