voice + text

[theferryman]

[You feel it before you hear it: an uncanny sensation like you aren't alone, like someone just out of sight has fixed their attention on you.

They're not hiding, though. The Ferryman is simply speaking, directly into all of your minds, as clear as if they were standing right beside you.]

It's starting.

Sorry. Was hoping you'd all have more time to rest before we got going. But when it's time, it's time.

We're going to Cross. Not now, but soon. You'll feel it when the moment gets here. And you need to be ready for what that means, when it does.

It's a dangerous journey. There's still a lot of yourself left to lose, even if it doesn't feel like it now. That's my role here. I can guide you through it. Keep you safe.

There's a cost. You'll have to give something up, a part of your life Before. A face. A feeling. A memory. That's your toll to Cross. You pay it to me, and you won't get it back.

You don't have to pay. But if you're not with me, I can't keep you safe. You'll have to make The Crossing on your own. And if you do, there's a chance you lose a whole lot more than what the toll is asking from you.

There's some time left still. You don't need to decide now. But you do need to decide. You'll find out soon what sort of toll The Crossing is asking for, this time around.

Come find me if you want to talk. I'll be where I always am.

[The connection is tenuous; message delivered, The Ferryman's voice fades from your mind. If you're quick, and you concentrate, you might be able to grab on long enough to ask a question or two more.

Otherwise, all that remains is the object that purports to connect you with the other souls, all tasked with making the same decision. Whether it's a page or a screen, there's a new message for you:]

A toll to be levied for safe passage
from the cavern to ǝɹǝɥʍǝsʅǝ

Hear a voice that causes you pain
words spoken with rage or grief or envy
fueled by hate or love or suffering

offer it to The Ferryman
and let go

---

[ ooc | And we're off! Remember: The Ferryman is (for now!) the only one who can communicate to everyone via voice; the rest of you are stuck with text! The only exception is if characters try to hijack the fading connection to talk with The Ferryman one-on-one; there's a header for those questions here.

Otherwise, consider this a mingle! Chat, threadhop, go nuts. ]

Comments

[knockingatthedoor]

We've been given no specifications, I see no harm in attempting to lowball and everything, you know? And it was a pretty strong experience anyway- I love my favorite soda, it's always been me and them against the world.

Well. Big scary monsters right outside the light's protection? Us being like iseka- I don't remember that word exactly, but like Minki Mono we basically all met the equivalent of Mister Truck. And now we're trying to get by, figuring out the laws of this place and how to 'survive', so to speak.

It's all depressing as hell, if I compare it to a game that has a chance of winning it's at least a little tiny bit better.

[blindluck]

I believe you're referring to isekai! Which might make this a strange question, but have you heard of Japan? [The wild variety of places people are from here is still very curious to him.]

As far as this being a game... If it's a game, it means we could lose, too, you know?

[knockingatthedoor]

Yeah! That's where the Good Comics beside Spaceboy are from and I have a few friends who are part Japanese. I'm from the land of eagle pride, football not actually being played with feet and burgers, if you heard of it.

[He takes a good moment before replying.]

We already lost our last life I'm not entirely sure on how we could lose even more.

[blindluck]

You must be referring to the United States of America. [Which Nagito picks out more by the references to hamburgers and eagles than football.] I'm from Japan, but I think you're the first person who I brought up Japan to who's recognized it. [To be fair, he only brought up Hope's Peak to Sunny. And then accidentally made fun of Faraway Town's name.]

If you've watched anime, you must know that saying something like that is a death flag! And since we're already dead, who knows what might happen! [Is he joking? Unclear.]

[knockingatthedoor]

[Kel would be very confused by hearing Sunny didn't recognize Japan, in case, but... that doesn't matter now.]

Death comes for everyone, I guess? I'm surprised there are only so many people around here, though..

Maybe I'm setting up my own death flags so I can heroically sacrifice myself at some point and be remembered as the true Hero of this tale, tsk tsk. Jokes aside, I think our current issue is that we don't know a lot.

Why do we 'have' to move? what is coming that the other cannot stop with the lantern. What is awaiting us on our destination? What actually ARE those things in the dark out of the 'safe zone'? We have more question marks than anything else.

[blindluck]

Those all sound like questions for Ferryman-san! [And sure, Nagito could ask himself, but it's easy to fall back into the habits of nudging everyone else instead.] But if you think about it, us having to move so soon after we arrived might be the reason there are so few of us. Everyone else has gone ahead.

[knockingatthedoor]

Probably. I may make a list if I find some pen and paper and just go with it.

and... yeah. Maybe. But also, we have a massive abandoned city, kind of, and lots of catacombs and tunnels and such, did everyone just 'move away'? Also, I don't know you, but I found a lot of weird stuff from my place? Kind of? Stuff that's useless but still recognizable, that's weird if we all come from so many different places, isn't it?

I'm not sure thinking is my specialty, but whenever I try to do it I only see stuff that doesn't convince me.

[blindluck]

I did find a couple of things that were certainly from my world. [By now, Nagito has accepted the different worlds idea some of the others put forth to him.] There are a few ways to look at it, depending on how optimistic you'd like to be!

If we're being optimistic: it follows that if we're here, then this place is undeniably connected to the places we came from. Of course things from our worlds would be here.

If we're being pessimistic: we still can't deny that this place is connected to our worlds. Someone set up things we would recognize because they knew we would be here, for some purpose we don't yet know. Perhaps to give us a false sense of comfort. Perhaps to intimidate us.

[knockingatthedoor]

Hard to pick one when we know so little.

Out of sheer preference I'll go with the optimistic option, even if then I wonder: we cannot be the only people dying in out towns or cities, so it's also weird it's... just us? I was in a big hospital full of sick people when I passed, so...

I don't know, really.

Maybe I should stop trying to apply logic to this mess. Or videogame logic. Still, I want to see how low I can 'pay' for the trip. Words spoken with rage, the ferryman wants? When I had my drink, a friend yelled at me. It wasn't pelasant for some reasons. But it's a memory small enough not to really weight too much on my shoulders. I think, at least.

[blindluck]

I'm not sure how the whole process of giving up a memory will work, so can you let me know how it goes? I'm curious to see how low the fee can be as well! [Nagito has some ideas for what he might give up, but he's aware enough at this point in his life to know that his ideas of what a low-stakes memory to give up are are different from others.]

I was in a hospital as well, although I was the only patient. Perhaps something about all of our deaths is similar? What did you die of?

[knockingatthedoor]

I don't really know. I'm just... trying to plan how to document things now. I'm not too keen on losing myself, you know?

Mh. I wasn't sick. I kind of fell from a very high place. I doubt that's how most people die in a hospital, here. And I know of at least one person who didn't die in one...

[blindluck]

I was sick--that's the "how most people die" you were referring to, yes? And I also spoke to someone who didn't die in a hospital, so if there is any similarity, it seems like it's not going to be something simple!

[knockingatthedoor]

I guess? But if we have to analyze our deaths, I'd rather discuss it in person. And yes, that's what I was referring to. Sickness is one thing, falling from a roof is certainly another, right?

[blindluck]

Yes, it would have to be something like attitudes, motivations, feelings... Not something so clear as "we all died in a hospital" or "we all fell off a roof". That's if we even have any similarities. It could be random. We all just happened to die around the same time, however time across worlds would work.

[knockingatthedoor]

yeah. all personal stuff I'd rather discuss in person. I can tell you it was morning, at least? And that may make sense, yes. BUT
One of the people here that I know
died years before me.

[blindluck]

[Oh, well that's interesting.] I think you're the first person I've spoken to who knows others here. But they died years before you did? Is there some sort of queue? That would probably be worth asking Ferryman-san about.

[The idea that he might come across someone he knows who died years earlier is--not something he wants to think about right now.]

[knockingatthedoor]

Yeah. It's complicated. She didn't seem to be aware of how long it had been for... well, us. On the other side. But there have been so many other people in our little city that passed during those years, so- why her?

It's all a bit of a mess, honestly.

[blindluck]

It does sound complicated. Is she someone you know well? [Knew well? If they're both dead now, it's probably "know" again. Nagito is probing for information, meanwhile; is this something he might have to worry about?]

[knockingatthedoor]

Someone I deeply care about. Still do. [She would have been his sister in law if everything went well, he can totally say she's someone he knew well enough.] I can't share much more, can't talk for her, but I have two people I knew from home here. Maybe our town is especially cursed?

[blindluck]

Normally, I would say you shouldn't believe in curses, but when we're all dead like this, who knows! Maybe the rest of us should be looking out for people we recognize, as well.

[knockingatthedoor]

That was more a joke than anything else but... maybe? Who knows, perhaps there are other groups like ours out there, who says our Ferryman is the only one. I don't know how you arrived, but the river did feel pretty large and deep...

[blindluck]

And painful! [So yes, he also arrived via river.] I wouldn't be eager to jump back in, but it could be that there are different places to go based on where you climb out.

[knockingatthedoor]

Yeah. One would expect we don't feel pain considering, you know... we're dead. But it hurt so much. And... do you think things would have been different if we climbed on the other side?

I mean. the other side doesn't -have- a light.

[blindluck]

We should try to see if someone will swim across and check it out!

[Is he joking? Who knows!]