A New Platform [Intro Post March]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

Once again passengers are awoken by the morning announcement.

"Good morning passengers, it is day One of the month of Kazoo. Points have been updated on the system."

They have indeed, and everyone can spend the morning shopping. Those who have been on the train for a while will also be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A lurch and a jolt and the windows fill with the fog that means they are at a platform. The fog is thick, the air is warm and humid and there are rumbles of thunder, the air heavy with the promise of rain.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers: Alfredo Martini, Daia, Enna Alchiba, Lord El-Melloi II, Natsuno Yuuki, Nita Callahan, Saku Gyousou, Sakura, V and Wen Qing

But on the platform itself there are new faces. Wearing hoodies in all four colours, in various states of confusion.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam, billowing around them as they come to their senses. As their eyes adjust, they will see they are on a platform, glass and dark stone rising in sturdy arches around them. Behind them is a set of barriers, and in front of them is a single track extending both ways into thick fog.

They are standing, in clothes that are not their own and a style they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone in the white haze; then the steam begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform is not large, and seems smaller with twenty-seven figures scattered around. All facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. To both the left and right, tracks disappear into the mist.

A roaring sound, and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out step a strange assortment of people. Some are human, some are less so. Most are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple, though some are sporting different clothes in a variety of styles.

The Train

After a short time, the doors hiss open again. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there's anywhere else to go and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would lead to something terrible. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information (see
'Publications'). Those not new to the train will note the addition of an eighth sleeper carriage. The store rooms have been restocked with fresh ingredients, it seems the month of Kazoo is defined by the tomato and there are plenty of them.

For passengers that have bought items, these are also scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags.

New passengers will find their ticket allows them into their cabins. They may need to negotiate for beds, especially if they want a top bunk!

Room is tight but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches full of spare blankets and pillows.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers as thunder rumbles further and the storm threatens to break. The doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, but they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view again as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express." A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog-filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. A flash of light, colourful and blinding. As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady itself. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever-changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

Comments

[helborn]

“... A lot of gods have kids with mortals. They basically never stick around.” He sighs and smiles a little sadly. “Anyway... yeah, probably. I’ve done the world-jumping thingy before. The best example I heard is... imagine a bunch of grapes. You start at the stem with one commonality and then it grows in different directions from there. So you get worlds or planes of existence that share some things snd other things are really different.”

He flicks his wrist and a few small balls of light appear, clumping together. “My friends and I call them clusters. Like, my friend Thorne and I have worlds with a lot of similarities. Same with Gil and Jules - not sure if those two are from the exact same world or just ones that are closer than normal. And my boyfriend is from yet another very similar world. So we say we’re from the same cluster of universes, but not the same worlds.”

[springforth]

Okay yes, she's really glad she didn't finish her thought there. She's deadly curious about his world's Hades, but she can refrain, to let him explain. And honestly, it makes enough sense for her to lean in, chin in her hands, to listen.

"That's--that's fair." She pauses, "There was someone named Thorne here for a bit. She knew of me--at least by a name I used to go by. We never really got to talk in depth about it, sadly." She hums, "But that kind of makes sense, honestly. We run into a lot of differences between our worlds but a lot of similarities. Same domains, so on. Different personalities, looks, things like that. Way different looks..."

[helborn]

"... Wait, Thorne was here? Black and pink hair, Latina, vampire?" Wait should he have not said the vampire thing - eh. Whatever.

[springforth]

"...No? I mean, there was a girl named Thorne, she said she was also a goddess, though of a separate world? But well, related to mine." Persephone completely missed the whole AI thing in favor of taking a fellow minor goddess at face value. She waves her hands, frowning.

"She was short, pink hair with green roots. And wings--pink I think? Maybe they just have the same name? There's only so many names and all." Oh she feels bad for getting his hopes up.

[helborn]

The description sounds almost like an overlay of her... mm. He sighs and shrugs. "It might have been some kind of different... version of her. We'd see people in other worlds that were like different versions of ourselves... sometimes we would be stuffed into their heads. The Arcana were... weird. But... um. I hope you and her had a good time?"

[springforth]

"I didn't get to spend as much time with her as I'd have liked to, she left rather quickly. It's like that sometimes, people leave when you least want them to."

Persephone ducks her head, then lifts it in a sudden flush. Gods her mom would kill her if she knew how rude she'd been on this train sometimes.

"Oh gods, I'm so sorry, I've been bugging you this whole time and I never even introduced myself. I'm Persephone, goddess of Spring."

[helborn]

"Yeah I... know how that is. I know sometimes people come back to places, but not always. My boyfriend went away for a while... thankfully he came back. Maybe she will, too."

Oh no... he does similar things when he gets embarrassed. That's kind of sweet. "It's okay, I should have introduced myself, too. I'm Casper. I... don't know what kind of god I'm going to be, I haven't quite gotten there yet." He pauses. "I think? Picking up skills from all sorts of worlds kind of... muddles with the progression, probably. So I have no idea what 'rank' I am. But -"

Shut up, Casper, stop rambling. "Gods, sorry, I need to stop... going off on things? But um. If you need any help with things, let me know? Especially ghost problems. I've dealt with those since I was a kid. It... took longer than it should have to realize not everyone saw them..."

[springforth]

Probably shouldn't ask if his boyfriend also landed on the train kidnapping list. She imagines he would have mentioned him by name if he had. She tucks her legs up under herself and nods along.

"Shades? I have a god for that. But don't worry about rambling, I'm way too prone to the same thing." She tucks back her hair, "I'd offer to give you information from my world but I doubt it would be nearly as useful. Just your standard...well reasonably standard gods and goddess, all the creatures between. Though I've never actually like...met a child of a mortal and a god. Mom had a whole personal thing with the Olympians."

Not everyone keeps the role they were born into, but most gods are at least born into some role. She's unclear about semi-mortal children. Do they always become gods? She doesn't think so. But it's probably yet another weird thing about their worlds.

[helborn]

"It's okay. ... I can... imagine. Some of them ah. Can't keep it in their chitons." He scratches his head. "I've never heard of another world that has kind of... ranks? Like mine? I mean there have been mortals turned into gods, or demigods brought up to gods in like... stories and stuff. But I kind of... well."

How to explain... "In my world the gods run on belief, more or less. So the more people believe in you and the cool stuff you do, the stronger you get. It's even to the point where we basically regain energy that we need to do some of our cool stuff when we pull off a crazy stunt where other people can see."

So yes, even more than the Norse are already, he's sort of encouraged to do stupid shit.

[springforth]

With a snort at his first comment, she's about to ask for clarification when he provides it. Or at least some form of information? Her first thought is that it's a good thing that her world doesn't run on that, the gods already get up to enough shenanigans. Then, her wrath would have been a powerful bit of belief. She waves that thought away, clasping her hands solemnly in front of her. Thank the gods that she isn't subject to those crazy rules.

"I have never been more happy to be worshipped in a temple in my whole life. It's so awkward but way less awkward than having to do something important and memorable every time I want power."

[helborn]

"Yeah, it's kind of... I don't really know how it works on the higher levels. I do know that some of the old gods aren't as powerful as they were since people don't really worship them anymore." Setting aside the pagan community issue for now. "But India is still going really strong and the Chinese pantheon has significant strength. I don't really know that many people from there, though..."

... Right. Her pantheon. That... raises a good point. "So um. I saw on the roster there's someone named 'Thanatos'. Is that... like Thanatos Thanatos or someone with an Edgy McCool name?"

[springforth]

He doesn't name her pantheon, so she imagines she's qualifying as an older god here, one who has fallen out of favor. How weak must she be in that world, a minor goddess made even more minor. Unless she's queen of the Underworld there too? But he said Hades didn't marry, so... Right--Right Thanatos.

"God of Death and all the nonsense. He's from the other version of my world. Or I guess other other version now. Him and Zagreus. The edgy thing, unclear, but he's certainly dramatic. Not a lot of hanging out with other gods, a little too much time with shades so you can't blame him. He's learning to cook though, makes pretty decent eggs."

[helborn]

Casper just... sighs deeply and holds his head for a minute. "Great. And here I am, in a weird sort of state of being dead but not really and also having snuck into and out of the Greek underworld at one point. That's... probably going to be awkward..."

[springforth]

"Eh I wouldn't worry about it. Apparently Zagreus dies all the time and he's his best friend. Of course he's also a god and no I'm not entirely sure how it works." She taps her chin and then waves it off, "Regardless, there's no Underworld to take you to and death is kind of... weird on the train. All else fails, bribe him with bread. The boy loves bread."

[helborn]

“Bread is good.” Bob squawks from his perch. “Yes, I know you like bread.”

Zagreus, huh... “The Orphic one that’s tied heavily to Dionysus and Osiris and is the child of Zeus and Persephone, or the underworld one that’s the son of Hades and Persephone? Wait, if you mentioned Thanatos it’s probably the latter. There’s not much written about him, though Timothy Gantz had some really interesting theories and -“ Wait. He went off again. And also Persephone is right in front of him. And this is probably awkward.

“... Sorry...”

[springforth]

You know that thing where you come on absolutely nothing, just swallow weird or wrong? That's what happened the second she processed Zeus and Persephone. Zeus. She would make ten kids all on her before she let Zeus touch her. Hades, she gets it! There was something there, he was cute--but Zeus. She slaps at her chest, waving away concern. She does not even have time to process the bird, not that it's even weird at this point.

"No no, not Zeus. Hades. He's not my kid, personally, but a Persephone and Hades. Gods, do I even want to know how that happened? Or is this another thing with mortals making up stuff to fit some idea they have about us?" Please be the latter, please please.

[helborn]

“It’s a... a Dionysus thing I think. I honestly don’t know, scholars only have scraps of information for some gods. But I... I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you upset. I can tell you’re - sorry. Um. Maybe we should talk about something other than family...” He pulls his head into his shoulders a bit.

[springforth]

"I really do not know who Dionysus is, but--alright. I get it, weird mortal thing probably." She takes a breath then shakes her head, "One more thing before we move on. Am I Queen of the Underworld? Or rather, is your Persephone Queen of the Underworld?"

[helborn]

"God of wine and fertility. But yeah. She is, as far as I know? At least for half the year."

[springforth]

A god of fertility, who has ever heard of such a thing. Even fertility goddesses are just old wives tales, she thinks. Maybe. Though she keeps being called one. And why do they need a god of wine? And how do you even part-time queen? Why half the year?!

The questions, they pile on, but she just takes a deep breath. Well, that settles that. The Fates have it in for her and Hades. Batting three for three, it would seem.

"Right. Once again, alone in my unmarried state. Well! Um. Lovely bird." She gestures up to the raven. Yup. Nice bird. You've broken her a little. And here she thought it wasn't possible to do that after this past month. Here she thought she was having a nice calm platform, free of any revelations.

[helborn]

"... I'm sorry. I... didn't mean to make you upset." Bob flutters down onto Casper's lap, looking at Persephone. "This is Bob. He's... kind of like a familiar? I found him when he was a chick and raised him. I can channel some of my power through him for some of my abilities."

[springforth]

"It's been a whole month. You aren't adding anything more to my plate than I was already dealing with." Though, really, he added a whole new thing to her plate. ZEUS. She swears to the gods, she went months without learning anything about herself in mortal eyes and bam, this. She twists a strand of hair back and forth in her hand.

"Oh--I've never heard of the concept but he seems lovely. So many people with birds on this train, not a single dog in sight." She holds out a hand, gentle gentle, not touching but offering if desired.

"Does he speak all the time or just for effect?"

[helborn]

"Oh. A familiar is kind of a magical helper found in some cultures. He's not exactly the same, but it's similar enough..." Bob hops over and stretches his head out for pets. "Right where his head meets his neck is his favorite scritching spot."

As for the talking... "He talks around me a lot, but he doesn't talk around other people a lot. I mean... people don't really understand him? So it's kind of not worth it for him. At least that's his opinion on it."

[springforth]

"Fair, who would want to talk if no one understands you?" Scritches are dutifully provided, moving until she finds the right spot. It's more difficult to judge with birds, they don't have the same tells.

"I wonder if some of these pets I see around the train are actually familiars then. I wouldn't know the difference myself."

[helborn]

Oh right... right there. Bob fluffs up and tilts his head to allow further scritchings. You have been accepted, you may proceed.

"Maybe. It's hard to tell sometimes... and sometimes you just kind of... want a pet. Having another living creature in my room with me growing up was a really big comfort..."