idolpro | Eclipse's Heart Game ☉ Session #3

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!heart games

Eclipse's Heart Game ☉ Session #3

You drift like you're floating in water. It's almost relaxing, actually. As long as you don't think too hard that what you're floating in may be bottomless, because under you lies only a deep darkness that only the ocean can provide.

Then something grabs you and drags you deeper, down, down, down into the abyssal depths. You can't breathe, but that's not on the forefront of your mind now, is it?

There is a mounting sense of anxiety and dread.

Who do you want to become? Will you even get to see tomorrow? What if all roads lead to ████████? Can you still stay '███'? If people see the ████ you, will they think less of you? Will they feel cheated?

You want to live. Even if it's a ███, even if your hands must be covered in █████, you want to live. You want to be '███'.

Finally, a voice pierces through the darkness. It's a woman's voice.

"My, how unfortunate. Your journey ends before it even begins."

"... Just kidding. That would be terribly boring! I suppose I can do the boy a favour just this once."

You feel someone grab your arm and pull you up to the surface.

...

When you come to, you are standing somewhere else.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Both Imeeji and canon powers are OFF.

All characters in the run occupy the same spaces, so you can talk to each other.

You can have whatever items you would have on you. Technological items don't function, except for your phone. It's stuck on one screen, displaying instructions.

This is an exploradora! You are encouraged to poke around, examine items and talk to the NPCs. All the Heart NPCs are generally trying to look out for Eclipse's emotional wellbeing. If you ask them, they can suggest or advise on things characters can do.

There is a non-zero chance that you may die or get badly injured in this heart, though it's very unlikely. I don't expect combat to happen but idk my bff Imeeji. You'll be fine when you get out if that somehow happens.

Your phone displays the following:

Once, there was a maiden...
...who set sail with a Captain she did not know. The sea came over the side as a creature with teeth. So, she set it on fire, until only the teeth were left. It wasn't expecting that to happen.
She noticed the ship was crushing the waves and told the Captain to steer the ship higher, so that it could be above them. "But not too high," she said. "I'd hate to crush the clouds."
A face in the depths glared at the Captain. The maiden got angry. She broke the face, and broke the depths, and broke the sea, leaving only the white caps of the waves. "Why did you do that?" asked the face.
"Rarely is travel peaceful," the maiden said.

- Explore as much as you can
- Talk to people and honour their requests
- Learn more about him
- Meet the True Heart

You are standing on an elevated boardwalk made of wood and stone. In front of you is a view of the sea and docks. Behind you, the city stands tall and casts its long shadows over you and the port. It's not pitch darkness, but dark enough that you probably wish you had a little more light to see a little better, even with the distant glow of sunlight in the horizon.

In the sky above hangs a solar eclipse. Strangely enough, the sun does not seem to be reflected in the water.

There are a set of stairs that seem to let you head down to the beach. Further down along the boardwalk, the glow of blue lanterns outside a blue building catches your eye. In the opposite direction, you can see there's a path from the boardwalk that leads you into the city.

You're not going to get to enjoy the view for long before light just...coalesces right in front of you, in the shape of a person. Then, it snaps its fingers and the light shatters like glass, 'pieces' of it falling off and disappearing to reveal a ...

... Young girl ... ? No, it's probably more right to say it's a short lady. Her white hair stands out against bronzed skin, her eyes bright like amber, and her fine clothes a verdant green. There's a blue veil draped over her head, trailing behind her like a curtain.

Some of you might find her familiar, if you've seen a certain memory of Eclipse's.

She doesn't bow, or give any kind of polite deference to you as a guest. In fact, she just smiles and spreads her arms wide.

"Welcome, interlopers."

And that is definitely the voice of whoever pulled you out earlier.

When you arrive outside the blue building, there are two signs hanging above the door, each in a different language. Even if you don't know the languages, you understand that they both basically say the same thing: 'The Azure Pavilion'.

Once you're inside, you're in a lounge area that is a cross of traditional and modern. On the table there's a tray with a teapot and some tea cups.

A woman dressed in fine blue clothes sitting is playing a guzheng, across the table. The song she's playing is beautiful, and she currently seems so absorbed in it that she hasn't noticed you. She looks quite similar to Eclipse, actually ...

There is a set of stairs that leads up to a hallway with several rooms.

There are four rooms in the hallway, three closer to you, and one at the far end. Each room has a small wooden nameplate next to its entrance.

Of the three closer to you: One room has a thick, purple crystal bead curtain instead of a door ('A place of belonging'), the second room has a latticed folding door ('A place of familiarity'), and the third one has a door that looks similar to the ones in the hotel ('A place of beginnings').

The room at the far end has a metal door that doesn't match the decor of the rest of the building at all, not even a little. A big, bronze deadbolt stretches across it, though it doesn't look like you'll need much effort to lift it up if you want to open the door. The nameplate next to it is scratched out.

For some reason, being in this room gives you a sense of comfort. Even if you don't fit in perfectly, there is still a place for you here.

The room looks like something that belongs in AlcheME's dorms. The floor is clear, reflective crystal, and all the furniture is also made of crystal. Cloth that sparkles with starlight is draped on various pieces of furniture to be a little more comfortable, or at least to provide a non-crystal surface.

Hanging on the walls are various paintings mounted on scrolls, done in black ink and coloured pigments. A couple of the paintings are of cats, and one seems to be a rendition of the fountain in AlcheME's dorm. On the back wall hangs another scroll. There's something written on it in cursive calligraphy.

There is an open notebook and some pens on a table.

The shelves have an assortment of items.

The decor of this room better matches what you saw downstairs. On the walls are paintings of countryside landscapes; rice fields, in particular. A path towards a village along a river, lined with flowers and trees.

One painting is the landscape of a grandiose city, or at least someone's second-hand impressions of such a city -- it's not very clear. You just get the sense it's supposed to look beautiful and grand.

There's a table with a blank scroll on it, with some brushes and an inkstone. (Yes, an inkstone. If you want ink, you're going to put in some elbow grease.)

The shelves next to the table hold various items.

On the back wall hangs a scroll. There's something written on it in cursive calligraphy.

Edited 2021-01-28 01:52 (UTC)

The decor is an imitation of the decor in the hotel's communal areas. Sleek, modern shelves are lined up against one wall. The shelves are each lined with a cloth matching various unit colours, with different items arranged on them. Judging from the way some shelves have more items than others, the colours seem to be meant for organisation?

There are shelves matching BAD END=DEAD END, future is now, Wild City, Heart Soldier Senshi and avante en garde.

The table and chair in the room look like the ones in the hotel's cafeteria. An open notebook and some pens sit on the table.

A scroll is hanging on the back wall. There's something written on it in cursive calligraphy.

Numbness washes over you when you walk into this room. As you breathe in the stale air, a slight bitterness forms in the back of your throat. It smells faintly of rot.

The room seems to be an approximation of the conference room in Heart Soldier's dorm, albeit in ... a pretty terrible state. The spinny chairs have been left on their sides on the floor. None of the buttons light up or function at all, even uselessly. Some display monitors are smashed, glass shards scattered on the floor. There's a pretty thick layer of dust on everything.

Besides the destruction however, the room is pretty bare. There are no decorations, and only a few items that stand out. There's a broom and dustpan, like someone thought of cleaning the place up but then just ... didn't do it.

On the conference table is a notebook and some pens. Next to them is a wall scroll laid out across the table, with cursive calligraphy. On the far end of the table is a locked box.

You could probably sort of tell from where you were at the waterfront, but actually walking into the city gives you a better sense of its scale. Everything seems to tower over you. Shops and houses are piled onto one another, as if the city decided that rather than build outwards, it should build upwards. There are doors accessible only through exterior stairways and catwalks. The buildings seem to drunkenly lean together, with rickety rope bridges on different levels connecting them.

The streets are fairly narrow, and you might realise that you aren't so much walking on ground as you are walking on floorboards. There's clearly more of the city under you that you cannot see. The shop signs and lanterns have a neon glow reminiscent of Tokyo-F's, bathing the street in some light.

Around you, people are going about their business. There are a lot of completely foreign faces, but there are also various random people in Tokyo-F mixed in, albeit dressed in a manner more befitting the setting.

There are some very conspicuous signs showing the way to several places:
"ARCHIVE, 3F"
"MUD, DOWNWARDS"
"WATERFRONT, THAT WAY"

It seems that if you follow the corresponding signs, you'll end up at one of those places.

The signs lead up the stairs of a building to the third floor. Down the corridor, where a shop would normally have been, there are two signs in different languages hanging above a door. Even if you don't know the languages, you understand that they both say 'The Archive of Principles, Perceptions, Competencies and Miscellany.' A green lantern hangs by the door.

When you walk in, it's immediately apparent that the inside is bigger than the small outer facade would imply. There are shelves upon shelves of books, going almost all the way up to the ceiling. The books might be a little different from what you're used to: they're all bound by string, and some are bamboo strips tied together. If you check them, they seem to be different sections, such as Tokyo-F and Creation. The Tokyo-F section in particular has a sub-section called Units.

A little further back in the room, there are two whiteboards, with things written on them.

There are three exits: The door you came through, a doorway on the western side of the room ('Principles'), and another door a little further up ('Perception') next to it.

The shelves here are fewer and shorter compared to the main library room, and there are several tables, but they're filled and covered with various books and scrolls. One table in particular has some blank, wooden slats, brushes and inkstones.

(Yes, inkstones. If you want ink, you're going to put in some elbow grease.)

A couple of the wooden slats on the table already have something written on them, though you'll need to take a closer look to read them.

On a wall is a wooden board with more written wooden slats hanging on it.

Oh, and there's also a ... boy (?) in green robes sitting at a table against the wall. At least, he looks younger than Eclipse, but even with his back turned towards you, you get the sense that he's much older somehow. There are books and scrolls opened up around him on the table, and he seems to be busy with something. Quite grumpily, if the mumbling under his breath tells you anything.

There are two exits: The door to the main library, and the door to 'Perception'.

Edited 2021-01-28 02:20 (UTC)

The signs lead you to a ladder that goes down beneath the floorboards. The climb down feels more like a descent into darkness.

... Or it would, but as soon as your feet touch the marshy ground, you can see the glow of a lot of lanterns on a cart nearby. The light lets you see that you are right outside what appears to be a labyrinth of alleyways, somehow more claustrophobic than the streets above. Perhaps it's because of the ceiling above you. At least upstairs, you could see the sky through the buildings.

There's a tall man with braided flaxen hair and purple eyes nearby the cart. Around his neck is a red bandanna. He perks up when he notices you, and waves you over.

"Oh, hey!"

The alleyway is narrow, lit up by the occasional torch on the wall and lanterns hanging from ropes above you. To one side there are some shops, or at least the back doors to what are presumably shops, but they're all locked or sealed.

You can go straight on ahead south, or go around the bend east.

((Map for players' reference is here.))

[This seems like a contradiction in terms.

[Also this place just tried to drown him, so he's sort of pissy.]

So wait are we welcome or are we intruding, you gotta pick one.

[ ...has she been here before? or—rather, seen this view before, sort of?

well, never mind that, but— ]

..."Spring Born Wind," isn't it?

"Intruding, then," she says this way too casually considering what's being said. "The boy would much rather no one ever come in here, but he doesn't get a say in that."

"That is me."

She smiles.

"... Or rather, I have her appearance. He isn't really sure if I'm supposed to be really be her or not."

[Ugh. That was. Entirely unpleasant and he's swaying a bit, but trying to take in the view around him, has to, has to, has to-]

[This view is familiar, like an old dream.]

[And then-]

[Oh. Crazy ghost lady.]

....hi.

Is this....Eclipse's...dream?

Rude (but not exactly inaccurate).

"Not quite. You could say this is his heart."

Well—

...I suppose I understand that a little bit, anyway.

Yeah, I figured, where's here?

Heart?

....wait, like his soul? [Is this like not-copyright Persona????]

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Eclipse's Heart Game ☉ Session #3

INFORMATION

OOC INFORMATION

IC INSTRUCTIONS

The Waterfront

START

The Azure Pavilion

The Azure Pavilion: Hallway

The Azure Pavilion: A place of belonging

The Azure Pavilion: A place of familiarity

The Azure Pavilion: A place of beginnings

The Azure Pavilion: █████ ███████ ██████

The City Streets

The Archive: Main Library

The Archive: Principles

Mud: The Cart

Mud: Maze Entrance

Re: START

Re: START

Re: START

Re: START

Re: START

Re: START

Re: START

Re: START

Re: START