A New Platform [Intro Post April!]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

Two days after they return from their mission they are awoken as usual "Good morning passengers, it is day sixteen of the month of Egret. The shop has been updated and points have been applied to passengers tickets."

Those that go to check the shop terminals will find they have indeed updated, with the option to buy larger items and also animals. The morning goes on until just after noon there is a second announcement.

"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 they are soon surrounded by the fog that means they are at a platform. Though the fog is thick, thicker than usual perhaps, there are patches on sunlight shining through and it is pleasantly warm.

The doors open and the first few to disembark do so with rucksacks on, hoods pulled up, silent and almost blank faced. Cu Chulain, Dio Brando, Disreputable Dog, Heiji Hattori, Loki Maedhros, Maglor, Naruto, Thor, Tobias Fangor.

They walk to the barriers, show their tickets and disappear.

But on the platform itself there are once again new faces. All are stood, waiting for the train.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam. Billowing around them as they come to their senses. They are standing, in clothes that are not their own, styles 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 but then as people begin to shift or call out it will become apparent they are not alone.

The platform is not large and it holds eighteen figures all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. It's warm but foggy making it hard to see much, but there are clearer patches bathed in sunlight found across the platform. Both left and right the tracks disappear into the mist. Then there is 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 into the cold step a selection of people. Some are human, some are less so. They are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple.

The Train

The doors hiss open. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there is 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 not be a good thing. 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. The store rooms have been restocked with an abundance of onions, in case the passengers weren't bored of them yet.

Passengers who are not brand new will notice that the train has gotten yet longer again with a sixth sleeper cabin for new arrivals.

New passengers will find their tickets allow 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 and you will hopefully find a pillow for your bed if it has not been nabbed by a roommate, there are also spare blankets for if it gets cold.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers and the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view 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. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

Comments

Aw, I like your chibi Glorfindel userpic!

[so_dark_a_road]

"Voidtreckernet is an internet, which doesn't make much sense in our world's terms. We didn't have any such thing. It's a communications system that is ultimately powered by electricity, the same force that drives a lightening bolt, though of course in much tinier quantities. When we board the train, you'll see a device called an ICP, which stands for Information and Communication Point. There is an ICP in every train coach and in every sleeper cabin. You can use it to send a message to the whole train, or to any coach or cabin, and you can use it to look at other people's messages or to reply to them. The train entity also uses it to post messages and information to the passengers." He shrugs, smiling a little. "We use this network a lot."

And on to the Wraiths. "I guess these nine kings had no experience with angelic spirits gone wrong. A Ring of Power must have sounded like a good deal to them. Surprise! They ended up slaves. But Glorfindel, I doubt that just anybody could have faced them and prevailed. Maybe Elrond's daughter could have; she's Galadriel's granddaughter, after all, and must have some of Elrond's powers as well."

"Strange to think of Elves leaving Middle-earth to return to Valinor. Maybe that's because most of our generation were so eager to leave, and I think of that as the norm. Aman is beautiful and full of the power of the Valar, and so maybe Elrond will indeed find healing there. I wish him well."

Curufin laughed along with Glorfindel. "Cirdan is as OLD AS GOD! I've heard mortals use that comparison, though of course they were only talking about their own kind. But it seems apt. He must be practically as old as the First Elves. Maybe your human bard was right, though. Living takes its toll, even on the Eldar."

Thank you!

[laurefindil]

"A remote device for communication. So a Palantir, then?" Glorfindel asked. He wasn't an expert on them, that was Curufin's father, but they sounded rather similar.

"Arwen chose another path, so no. And actually it was a human woman that killed the Witch-King, with the aid of a Hobbit."

"After six thousand years, and all the changes, plus the forgiveness of the Valar, most elves were tired of the blood and the fighting, and had lost someone dear to them. It starts to wear on some. Plus, then there was the longing when you see the Sea. Legolas has it, but intends to stay until Gimli is ready to sail."

Glorfindel blinked. "Cirdan IS one of the First Elves, Curufin. He woke at the side of the lake. But yes, it does take it's toll, causing some to fade."

[so_dark_a_road]

"A network and a palantir have similar functions, but they work on very different principles. We have some palantirs, by the way. My father made one and then I helped him make a few more. We had the chance to test them, and they work over quite amazing distances."

"I almost wish that Arwen had followed the path of an Elven warrior. There were so few women in our time who chose the warrior's path, either Elvish or mortal. There was Caranthir's friend Haleth, of course. And there were some Elven women in Himlad who fought alongside the men in the Fourth and Fifth Battles of Beleriand. Though I don't suppose Elrond would have wanted his daughter to risk it. nor would her mother, I'm sure."

"I guess I missed that part of our history, most of the events that followed the War of Wrath. I didn't see the ships set sail, nor did I hear any of the discussion that preceded their leaving. I was up in the mountains trying to figure out how to re-embody myself. I had been down to the ocean -- the new coastline, that is, the one that formed after the great deluge. I've always loved the sea, but I didn't long for it enough to want to cross it again. But I can't blame anybody who did. Legolas and Gimli were two of that company that set off to escort Frodo to Mt. Doom, I guess? I've heard a little of that story, as I said, but I don't know it in detail."

He smiled when Glorfindel blinked. "Cirdan is really that old??? I guess my joke wasn't a joke after all. No wonder he looked so luminescent. I met him once, though we didn't talk long. It's a good thing for our people that he stayed and built ships in case anybody wanted to leave. And didn't himself succumb to the temptation to depart, at least not for the longest time! I know about fading, of course, though I don't know anybody who did."

[laurefindil]

Glorfindel laughed. Of course they'd created new Palantirs. At least here there was no Sauron to corrupt them. "I am sure the people here count themselves fortunate you and your father are here."

"He would have preferred it over the path she did take," Glorfindel agreed quietly. "But it was not his call to make. Perhaps if she'd met him when he first came to Imladris, but she was visiting her grandmother and met him when he was mostly full grown and they were quite taken with one another, she and Aragorn."

"I would be happy to discuss it in some detail with you," Glorfindel offered. "As we are to be travelling together for the foreseeable future. But my wrist amulet is getting rather insistent."

"He really is. If you ever get a chance, ask him what it was like when he first Woke. But be prepared to cry. It is a beautiful story." Glorfindel sighed at the memory. "Is it any wonder that the Teleri built such wonderful boats? He was in the last official boat back to Valinor. Which as he was bearer of the Elven ring that Mithrandir ended up with, is only right." He nodded at the last, "Be glad. Your grandmother was the first to do so, and it still brings pain and chaos to a family, even now, but aside from putting them on a boat and sending them to Valinor, there was no cure, and left alone the elf ends up in the Halls."

Good place to end?

[so_dark_a_road]

Volcanic rocks had been available on one of the mission planets, and hence the chance to make Palantirs out of obsidian. And if there had been a Sauron here, Curufin would have pitched him off the train before he let him mess with the Palantirs. "It was a good thing we had those stones on the mission we just completed, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks so."

Curufin nodded. "Arwen is now lost to her father forever, and that loss was the more certain one. Any warrior might survive a war, but no one survives a mortal death."

He glanced down at his own wrist, where the SCA was flashing the train symbol. "Yes, we'd better climb aboard. The train wants to depart." Its doors were open and the foggy platform was fogging up even more. Curufin gestured in that direction and started to walk that way, trusting that Glorfindel would follow, of course.

He kept talking, though. "If I ever meet Cirdan again, I will certainly ask him. Cuiviénen, the lake of our origin. Lake of songs, lake of dreams. I would also love to pick his brains about ship-building. I can build a boat, but a craftsman of his experience must have secrets to pass on. Oh well, if he's back in Valinor, I'll never get the chance." He made a wry face. "I don't really think I'd be welcome there."

"Oh yes, the Three Elven Rings. My son made them, of course. They must all have gone back across the Great Sea with their bearers. And as for fading, yes, Grandmother Míriel must have been trying to fade, but then she departed from her body altogether. I found that a gruesome story, when I was a child. It gave me nightmares. But later, of course. . . I began to understand the oddness of the relationship we Elves have with our bodies. Of course, I didn't fade. But when I was ghosting around, I met a fair number of Elves who had ended up ghosts because they had faded. They were mostly of the Sindar or of the Dark Elf kind. They refused the summons of Mandos and stayed, just as I had."

On board the train, Curufin looked around. "I could show you the various coaches, and you can locate your own cabin. You cabin number should be printed on your ticket."

Awesome Place to End! Let's go play elsewhere!

[laurefindil]

"I'm sure you are busy, but I would appreciate a quick tour, thank you." Glorfindel followed him onto the train. He was very much looking forward to talking to Curufin again.

\o/

[so_dark_a_road]

"I'm not too busy to show you around!" says Curufin, and off they go.