Event: Healing Waters

[voidtreckermods]

"Good morning passengers, it is day twenty three of the month of Grasshopper. All passengers of the Voidtrecker Express require rest. Next stop Jema’grethy Island. All passengers prepare to disembark."

It is a very strange morning message that rings through the train on the morning of day twenty three but as the passengers of the Voidtrecker Express wake their screens glow with the colour of the void and a holographic screen pops up for them to read.

World #2554098133741: A world once inhabited by an ancient civilisation and now preserved as a historical site, nature reserve and well-being retreat. It is famous for its relaxing hot springs, calming atmosphere and beautiful beaches.

It is a popular void-traveller destination, particularly among void missionaries as a place to rest and recuperate after difficult missions.

The Voidtrecker Express will spend three days here, arriving today and leaving on day twenty six of the month of Grasshopper. The dressing carriage is open for your convenience.

It is time for a holiday it seems!

Preparation

For those who go to explore the dressing carriage they will find a variety of beachwear and wetsuits. One cupboard has a pile of tents and groundsheets in all four team colours.

One cabinet is exclusively filled with beach towels, in a kaleidoscope of colours, designs and patterns. Another is filled with different shapes and sizes of plain towel dressing gowns. There is even a cabinet with buckets, spades and small rock-pooling nets.

It seems they are in for quite an adventure.

Arrival

"Shortly arriving on World #2554098133741. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

The train lurches and rattles as it leaves the void they will get a glimpse of silver-purple sky and a beautiful ocean below.

However some passengers might be a little more than distracted, one staring at that table for a second too long, another seeming lost in thought for a couple of seconds, a longer than normal pause in a sentence. They see a vision, a glimpse of a life that is not their own. Not all at once, but here and there as the train descends to the island.

But then it is gone and things are back to normal. Just in time, as they come to land.

Jema’grethy Island

The train has landed on a grassy ridge, overlooking a beautiful beach of white sand and the ocean beyond. It is warm, but not too hot, a cool ocean breeze cutting through the heat making it pleasant. Behind them is a grassy plain, changing to forest in the distance. There is the sound of birdsong in the purple sky. To the west the land is more craggy, the silhouette of a fortress in the distance. In a word, it is idylic. A sense of peace permeates the island.

A little more worrying is the volcano-like structure in the north. But even a quick glance will show it is not a typical volcano. There is no smoke and the liquid slowly running down it in rivulets is pink and blue.

Exploring the passengers will find beautiful beaches, ragged cliffs to walk and caves to explore. Where it is more craggy the beaches are made of pebbles- perfect for rock pooling.

The place has no people, but it is clearly maintained. The eastern beaches have racks of shallow boats, both canoes and one- or two-person sailing dinghies. There is also a small building in which scuba gear is stored, along with several waterproofed manuals and instructional literature.

Ruins of ancient houses are scattered across the island, but the main settlement is built into a rocky section in the north-west that has been secured with ropes and stairways cut into the cliffs, perfect for scrambles and hikes.

There are no living quarters, but there are sheltered sections with basic toilet facilities marked as camping grounds in five different sections of the island - by the hot springs, within the ruined fortress, beside the harbour, on the eastern beaches, and on the northern face of the mountain.

Hot Springs

To the west are the hot springs. They have both outdoor and indoor areas; the indoor areas being wooden loghouse saunas, changing rooms and storage sheds, whilst the outdoor areas are a tiered series of pools spilling down the side of the mountain and shaded by brightly flowering trees. The waters are hot, mineral-rich and soothing.

Perfect for overly stressed, world weary Void heroes...

(OOC: More setting information is here, please feel free to go wild with the setting and have a fun and relaxing time. You can use this post as a catch all for your holiday or make your own posts on middleofsomewhere. More information about how the memory event is structured is here!)

Comments

[myblueskies]

"Why did you have to bind your soul? What was trying to kill you? Can we make you not a book?"

He's not afraid of any grumpy book glares!

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Someone tampered with the Sacred Tome, and long story short, I had to bind my soul to it or be destroyed. Trying to undo that has been my sole purpose since the moment I woke up in the freaking Far Shore!" How did he manage to miss filling Romeo in on this, all this time?!

[myblueskies]

"Oh!" He blinked at him, "You never told me!" No wonder he was a little bit grumpy, honestly. "Did you tell Elfnein? We can help you you know! We can help you undo it! Elfnein is super smart so she will help find a way!"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"I KNOW how. I conquer a Netherworld or turn a world into a Netherworld, and then I have the power to fix things. That's WHY I keep trying to do that, by the way!" There! Feel bad about trying to stop him!

[myblueskies]

"But that's bad!" Romeo's face twisted in horror, "There's got to be a better way than that!"

He and Elfnein would come up with something! They won't let Zetta be a book forever!

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Of course it's bad. That's how we demons WORK. A good way to do it would be a bad way for demons, since it's good for us to be bad."

Mmm. Was now the time to give Romeo a proper lesson in the Way the World Works? Maybe...

[myblueskies]

"That doesn't make any sense!" He shook his head, "You're a god too as well as a demon and it's bad for a god to be bad and if it's good for a demon to be bad then you can't do... anything!"

It was really tricky to think about!

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Okay. Here goes.

"Okay, let's start from the basics. It's good to be a hero, right? It's good to help others and save them when they need it, right?"

[myblueskies]

"Yes mister Zetta." He nodded, "Of course it is. You should always help people if they need it!"

Even if you weren't a hero!

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"And not doing those things is bad, right?" So far so good.

[myblueskies]

"Yes sir." He nodded, not helping people was bad. He understood so far.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"So there's only two choices. Bad or good."

Stay with him...

[myblueskies]

"I guess so sir... But it's sometimes more complicated than that."

He wished it was that simple, that everything that wasn't good was bad and everything that wasn't bad was good. But he kept finding situations that were really tricky!

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Sure, but the point is, to have good, you have to have evil. If you don't have one, you don't have the other. So evil is necessary!"

The entire purpose of the Netherworld, in fact.

[myblueskies]

"But that's..." He frowned, "So you mean for people to be good they got to chose to be?"

So evil had to be there, to be the wrong choice?

That sounded so incredibly unfair...

[badassfreakingoverlord]

The book tipped slightly in a nod. "Yep. If there's no choice, what would it mean? That's like saying it's something special to walk down the only path you have."

[myblueskies]

"I guess so..."

He hadn't really thought about that before. If you didn't have any choices... Then you couldn't really be good...

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"So you see, by serving as a source of evil and despair in all existence, I give heroes and champions a reason to exist." And then he beat them up, but let's not overwhelm poor Romeo here.

[myblueskies]

"But that's really sad!"

He looked at him, as if seeing him for the first time. "It's really sad that you got to do that, and can't... do anything else."

Being a source of evil and despair sounded like a terrible thing. Like an ayakashi even!

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Not at all! I like being evil! Wouldn't it be sad if I wasn't allowed to do what I like?"

[myblueskies]

"But if what you like doing makes other people sad... Lots of people sad..."

This was very complicated. Technically monsters liked eating people, but that didn't mean they should let them...

[badassfreakingoverlord]

How many times can he heave a deep sigh?

"Look. All the friends you made back in the Far Shore, 'cept for Elfnein and vamp-boy, are gone now, right? That makes you sad, right?"

[myblueskies]

"Yes..." He looked down, "Though I guess it is us that are gone. We all disappeared from the heavens."

Just like people had disappeared before them.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"So would you rather never have met any of them? You wouldn't be sad now."

[myblueskies]

"No!" He shook his head, he couldn't imagine never meeting any of his friends! That would be really sad!

"I'm glad I got to know them! Even if I can't see them anymore."