middleofsomewhere | Let's Get Down to Business

Let's Get Down to Business

Let's Get Down to Business

On day twenty two of the month of Llama a message comes up on the ICP's.

Voidtreckers have many questions about what happened on system #93426194992 and the entity that was encountered. Analysis shows that the entity on system #93426194992 was also present on systems #86525656412355 and #2207385.

Though it is not known what that entity is, it is clear that it possesses some level of mind influence and complex illusionary magic.

There is a void nexus on system #62138 inhabited by a religious order that, due to their close proximity to the void, employ mental techniques to help with such illusions.

We will be visiting system #62138 for three Days. The Voidtrecker express will remain with the Voidtreckers during this time and due to the nature of the void nexus it is highly advisable to sleep on board.

System #62138 is a wet world. All Voidtreckers will be safe but are advised to keep their SCAs on at all times. This should be the standard on all systems.

THE VOID NEXUS
From the windows of the Voidtrecker Express, passengers see the Void Nexus as a vast island surrounded by darkness, punctuated with rivets of colours running through the sky that casts a glow of blues and violets as they descend closer to the surface. The world faintly blurs the way one’s sight does when sinking into the depths of an ocean, the train manoeuvring around tall rocks that rise like digitates, a sea-green hue deepening over the rocky land outside.

The train doors open from each carriage, and luckily it’s not a flood that welcomes them but clammy air cool to the skin. They come out to a section of land sparse of more than tunicate-like plants under their feet, pools of silvery water otherwise sunk between small pathways that lead like bridges forward.

Which is likely their destination, a vast coral-like structure with a high opening awaiting them - and as they get closer, a being far taller than any of the Voidtrecker themselves.

ARRIVAL

They are met by a tall robed figure. First glance will show them to be a deep purple in colour with a domed head and long tentacles sprouting from their chin that sway slightly when they move. Still they nod deeply and their mouth moves into a shape that could be interpreted as a smile.

"Welcome to those of the VoidTrecker Express. Your arrival was foretold and we have awaited you. Please accept our hospitality."

They lead them onwards, explaining that outsiders are always welcome here but ask them to remain within the public parts of the temple. They further explain that their order is for the most part a silent one. There is no restriction on the voices of guests but they should not be insulted if the members of the order do not answer.

Once a small tour has been conducted the Voidtreckers are left to their own devices to train or explore as they see fit.

IT'S A TRAINING MONTAGE
Going through to the back of the temple will lead them outside once more, the gentle sound of falling water greeting them at what seems to be a distance. But yet - faint as it is to see, glistening in translucent silvers and pinks - the water is quite near and wide, spilling from the high mountain cliff that borders in an otherwise enclosed space. The pool takes up a large portion of this garden, of coral reef and circled stone pathways where every step must be considered, unless you’d like a surprise trip and dip.

Fortunately, the silver water here is light. Submerging yourself in it or sitting under its flow, you won’t find the hard rush of its weight over your heads and shoulders, and the same weightlessness follows you going under. You find that you can breathe and when you come away from the lake, your body and clothes are lightly damp at most.

Still, there is plenty of ground to walk along without going over the pool. However, the first steps of learning mental fortitude against illusionary obstacles will take you into...

[ MEDITATION. ] To combat irrationalities is to iron your own reactions to them. You are instructed to sit where you find it comfortable: those unused to mental training should keep to the shoreline, while the more intermediate may find taking the stone steps out to large limpet-shaped shells - sizeable to fit 3-4 people each - a better challenge. Those more daring should sit under the waterfall or to go into the water’s depths, where you at least don’t need to worry about breathing, or even getting that wet.

To get wet isn’t the purpose, fortunately. The purpose comes the moment you close your eyes - for as soon as you do, you feel. You sense. Some other, some thing, a presence your mind decides must be there. This sensation is lighter by the shore, but sitting above the water or submerging yourself inside it brings it stronger against you. In truth there is nothing there, no one but the other Voidtreckers, but the spell of the water - or is it the void within the water? - makes your brain think otherwise, logic not welcome company.

Being in groups can help ease the effects through the SCAs, but otherwise, true control comes down to yourself. Breaks are recommended, as there’s no point wearing down an already exhausted mind. Your mind is your defence. Strengthen it. Wield it as a weapon.

[ Combat. ]

Though not exactly what they are here for Voidtreckers will notice that this order of void worshipers train in a form of martial arts. They train outside, using the watery air as part of their movement. Training is done in large group sessions and without weapons. It has a strong focus of listening to the world around them and fighting in a way that makes them one with the world, using the environment to their advantage.

Even though that might not seem the most useful to people who won't be fighting in an environment such as this world, it is at least a good form of exercise.

Any voidtrecker who is curious is welcome to join in the training and those that show especial interest can take more specific lessons aimed at beginners.

TRAVELLING THE NEXUS
[ OUTSIDE THE TEMPLE. ] While the lake and surrounding temple will help to strengthen one’s mental defences with perseverance and training, there is more that can be done away from the temple, and the island is free to be explored. The Voidtrecker Express is stationed where it dropped everyone off, and returning to it will offer everyone a mental relief regardless of the levels of their ongoing training.

The marshland continues beyond the train, one route mostly made by the natural stone pillars that rise up from the ground like stalagmites. Higher cliffs can be climbed by those who wish to, if just for a higher view, curiosity, or privacy. From wherever you look, this island gives off the same impression as most of it already has: sea-like.

[ PLANTS. ] Underfoot, there is not earth-like grass or flowers, but seagrass, kelp, algae and more. They grow along the stone, idly waving as if submerged in water and pushed by unseen waves. Strange blue plants with purple-tipped tendrils will wiggle if touched, while at the higher levels, small bulbs of some kind cluster around the size of a fist. Types of plankton make the gnats of this nexus, too tiny most of the time to be noticed as more than dots to the eyes.

[ CREATURES. ] Also, don’t forget the fish. As tiny as a pinky finger, as big as a hand, the size of a human; they swim through the air, not particularly caring for the Voidtreckers, but also not looking to engage with them. The larger of the fish travel higher than the smaller, and those as big as whales farther up than even the taller cliffs can reach. For those that have any ideas of hunting, they will know - mysteriously, as if recalling the thought - that they should go for the larger fish, and not harm the younger, smaller ones. Those are tastier, after all.

[ STONE FOREST. ] Travel low or high, the way will take them to what appears to be a forest that spans across a large portion of the central island. But as the rest of the nexus is, this is no ordinary, woody land. Its trees are stone, coral, rising high and jagged, the water in the atmosphere denser in this jungle of rock. It turns the world a sea-green to move through, with plants and coral everywhere to be seen. The air denser, thicker, leaving small droplets of water on skin and clothes.

There are no real paths than the spaces between the ‘trees’, but there are guides to find your way to somewhere: pink jellyfish, or something of the sort floating around. They are the shiri as the monks call them, and looking upon them will tell you they will help you find where you need to go, that they will aid you if you get lost and think of them. And for those whose thoughts lean such a way, they will know that harming them will bring a greater injury to the individual who does so tenfold, and they will find no guidance at all on this nexus until they have repented.

Read: Enjoy being stuck on the train for the rest of the stay.

[ CONCH LAKE. ] For those less destructive, a short travel through the stone forest will lead them to a lake, with what can only be described as a conch shell gazebo accessible in its centre. Bubbles float up and around, balls of water made to linger by whatever strange force controls this place. They can be made to bounce away and around with a touch, and respond to being thrown as a ball might. Just, watch out: They like to burst at random, no matter the force used, scattering as tiny beads all over the air.

The water here is different from that around the temple, its colour more blue, but closer to aqua than what many are used to. Yet diving into it will have the similar properties that allows one to hold their breath for much longer than usual, and to move with an ease, like floating weightlessly. There’s no worry if they close their eyes here, a peace radiating from the pool; like a refuge from the trickery that lurks no matter where you are in this nexus.

Climbing out of the pool will have you damp, more appropriately soaked than the temple’s lake. There’s nothing like towels or a great way to dry off, but you can sit and hang around under the conch gazebo if you like.

Or perhaps messing around isn’t what brought you here, but the four iridescent slabs of stone that stand at intercardinal points at the edges of the lake, that speak of the Trials to the mind when you look upon them.

THE FOUR CAVERN TRIALS

There are four caverns, four trials, with each slab suggesting their test. Upon deciding where you will go, a shiri will come to guide your character through the forest to where the stone trees part, and a half an hour walk will lead Voidtreckers to a vesicular cavern.

You know as you approach the cave’s mouth that the shiri will guide you out if you need it, but they stay outside, leaving those searching for advanced training to journey on in themselves. Passengers descend, dots of light coming through the multiple holes above to illuminate the way as you go deeper into the cave.

And you won’t have to go far to find the crystals in any of the caverns, though there’s many pathways to go deeper in. Attacking the stones to break them won’t do much, but when you put your hand on one…

The illusions start, pulling in anyone nearby.

[ CAVE OF PERCEIVING. ]    Bend deceiving labyrinths into your own path.

What is real? What is not? This cave holds a large underground river flowing through it. The water is not too fast flowing or deep but it is cold enough to be a shock if anyone falls in.

Fall in they might for their task is to cross the river. The river is filled with stones large enough to hold a person as they cross. However not all of those stones are real, some are just illusions and if they step on the illusionary rocks they will fall through to the river below.

It is possible to get by on trial and error but the task will not be considered complete until they force their minds to see through the illusions are perceive the one true path.

[ CAVE OF ENDURANCE. ]    Wounds bleed and skin burns only to bodies that believe it.

This cave may differ between Voidtreckers. Sometimes it is a monster they must face or an environmental challenge to battle through.Perhaps the searing heat of a fire or the low altitude and freezing temperature of a mountain top. Perhaps a lizard with claws and teeth. The important part is not defeating the threat but to neutralise the damage. It's not real and the mind can overcome it.

All the caves are probably best faced in groups but this was especially so. They are unlikely to be able to make the damage unreal to start with and so there is likely to be a fight or struggle before they succeed.

[ CAVE OF HEART. ]    To accept crafted desires is to invite everlasting grief.

Here they are in a beautiful place. A meadow, a forest, a rocky beach. The weather is beautiful, not too hot not too cold. A little further in is something they want, something their heart yearns for.

They can't see it yet but they are sure they will, if only they go deeper into the grass, the trees, the water. It is there, just out of reach.

To pass this test they must walk away. Turn around and leave despite their heart calling to them to go deeper.

[ CAVE OF MIND. ]    Craft a weapon from your own vulnerabilities.

Fear does not have to be a weakness. The cave is filled with a lake and in the centre there is a bubble of water, it contains something they fear. They can't see it but they know it is there. Perhaps a person, a place, an object.

Facing a fear is one thing but this task asks for more than that. To accept the fear as part of them, to turn it into a strength to protect others.

This trial is the most personal and perhaps the most difficult. They must step into that space, knowing that they will face what they fear whilst also knowing that it won't be real and use that knowledge and acceptance to bring down the entire illusion, bubble, lake and all.

art sources: alien / landscapes / waterfall / caverns

OOC Information

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These trials are not difficult for him. He spent his entire life meditating and learning how to clear his mind and focus on what is real. But he knows that isn't the case for most of the train. So when he reaches this next trial, he stands back and waits for the girl in front of him to make her decisions.

But it seems that isn't going to happen terribly quickly. So he steps up next to her and stares at the bubble. "You aren't really going back."

"Oh, I understand that physically I'm not." But seeing that place she knows is bringing back a lot of emotions. Now she understands her situation that bit better she knows it wasn't a good place. How she was treated, how she was made to use fear as a means to stay there.

She didn't like it one bit.

"It's just... if I see that, just memories of the way I was in a sense tricked to keep staying there while my mother used 'nice words'... Just not a fun reminder."

"Then use something stronger to remind yourself that you have escaped that place."

An emotion, a fond memory, something she can hold onto in order to get past the vision that wants to haunt her. This is a test of mental strength and sometimes the key to that is to focus on the good that came out of the bad.

"Something stronger?"

She didn't honestly understand what the other meant by that. What would be stronger? She seemed to be a lot less focused on what was before her. The dark tower where there was only so much space and even less to do. Right now she was going through her own head of what she could possibly use.

"Do you mean like...friends perhaps?"

"Love will always be stronger then fear." It is the love and support of others that can guide someone to push past their limits. "Think of your friends and how they will always be there to give you the strength to overcome your fear of that place."

And guide her away from it whenever she needs them to. And for now, Lan Wangji is there beside her should she need something more solid to hold onto.

Rapunzel thought about it for a moment, she could think of her friends and she knows that honestly they are a comfort and help her deal with that fear, but she also knew that well... would they always be there to help? At least while on the train anyway.

"I know love can be stronger, but on the train it's different, you know? Like, I love my friends dearly but you never know when they will leave and that's if they leave. I guess maybe that's a bigger fear than being back home"

"Even if apart, your friends still care about you." He would know...the person he cares apart was dead for sixteen years. But he never stopped how he felt even though he didn't expect him to come back.

"Across worlds, even through death or separation...what is in your heart is always there and it will connect you."

Connection and things like that weren't exactly something the young woman really understood. It was at least something she could get behind and wanted to. But considering she had only lived in a tower her whole life, thinking like that was a lot harder and the thought just made her feel like she would just feel lonely again, even if connected within the heart.

"I... don't understand that aspect. I mean if I'm alone back home, then even if we are... I'd still be alone and trapped again."

"You will not be alone here." Lan Wangji is not one that is good with emotions or giving advice about the heart. But he wants to make sure this young lady can face these fears in this moment.

"I am here." And he will make sure she isn't alone when she goes back into the tower of her mind.

Rapunzel looked nervously over towards the bubble before looking down at her hands. An illusion soon formed of a single room, or at least what seemed like a single room. The only other room seemingly being up some stairs. But there seemed to be no exit or any kind except for a window where the only form of light could be seen.

Rapunzel soon started to fidget as it formed slightly. "It's okay...I'm not alone. This isn't really right now. I can do it right? Right? I mean I've gone out into the world and managed to handle myself on my own so what is dealing with my mother to?" Okay she seemed to be for the most part talking to herself.

"So I just need to keep going and grab the bubble and done. That's all I need to do." It was within a moment that she realised she was actually mubling.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I went on a mumbling rant."

He lets her babble about whatever fears and uncertainties are in her heart and mind. This is for her to get through. Lan Wangji is simply there as her support.

"You do not have to apologize."

He places a hand gently on her shoulder as he starts to walk around the room created by her memory. "You can do this."

"Thanks. I was worried you might get annoyed at the mumbling or something." Apart from Gothel, she hadn't found anyone who considered it annoying, but she still worried that there might be others out there.

But she takes a small breath and takes a few steps on the cold floor, getting closer and closer to the bubble her hand slowly extending. When she finally reached in what as around them vanished going back to the cave as she looked around.

"I did it... I did it!" she called out hand moving back as she jumped up and down excited. In her hand was the crystal that was very much needed. As soon as she managed to calm down a bit she turned around to the other, a bright grin on her face.

"Thank you."

He smiles, soft and sincere as he looks at her. "You are welcome, but I didn't do much. You had the strength to do it yourself."

He was merely a friend to help her not be alone to deal with something that was scary to her. He was content to be that. He is just glad that she was able to face her fear and obtain that which she desired.

"But you were being so supportive even though you didn't need to." Which for her was something to be thankful about at least. She knew people around here were always so nice, but it was still always surprising when it happens.

"So for me that's still thank you worthy."

He gives a small nod, acknowledging her thanks and glad that he could do so. That is what he is used to...helping people. And being able to continue that even here is important.

"How many more crystals do you need?"

"Oh, uhh...I don't know. I have been doing them in what I thought was an order. So I think this is the third." She paused for a moment to think it over for a moment.

"How many do you have?"

"This will be my first." Not that he is too worried about it. Meditation and dealing with illusions and the like will not be a terribly hard process for him. He is confident that he will get what it is needed. But he would prefer to help others through it then worry about his own.

"Oh really." She didn't say it in a bad way, but was surprised that they choose to come to this one first when there were others that were slightly easier to do. Maybe they just wanted the harder ones out of the way or something.

"And hoqw was it for your first?"

"It is interesting what this place can do." To drag things from peoples minds and put them in that place. "I am curious about the other caves and their capabilities." Because he is more interested in the process then what it has to show him or attempt to test him with.

"Well, I can at least explain what two of them are like. Still don't know what the last one is yet." And she was honestly not looking forward to it at all. But it was interesting in its own way as well.

Being able to know what a person's fear is, is both interesting and actually terrifying.

"But the only way to really know is to go experience them for yourself. So I will happily let you do that."

"Good luck with your next test." He offers her a little smile of encouragement. He is sure that she will be successful. He is not worried about his own. "It is better for me to go into the tests without prior knowledge." and experience it on his own. That is the best way to come out stronger.

"Then I won't say a thing, but let you go on ahead." She felt like he was going to do really well at least even though she herself had struggled from time to time.

But she was starting to feel a tiny bit more confident now at least as she turned on her heels, hands moving to wave before she headed off.

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Let's Get Down to Business

Trial of Mind

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