The Ferryman (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
theferryman) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thecrossing2024-12-14 11:51 am
theferryman) wrote in thecrossing2024-12-14 11:51 am
Entry tags:
voice + text
[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. ]
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:]
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. ]
no subject
The catacombs are confusing enough that the effort is appreciated. I was following your work, when I set out.
[He pulls out his own notebook, and a bookmarked page where her map is reproduced, entirely faithfully.]
Furthermore, we do not know what the Crossing will change. It may be that the record is yet useful.
no subject
You're right... the nature of the Crossing is uncertain, isn't it? I do understand it to be a physical move away from this location, but that hasn't really been confirmed.
[How sure can they be that it won't instead be their state of mind that'll be altered? As a matter of fact, who's to say that the place they find themselves in right now indeed exists on a physical plain?]
I'll see if I can leave a copy of the maps behind instead of the originals. If I tear the pages from my book, they might disappear from everybody else's, too.
no subject
[Celehar turns his attention to the city and the catacombs, or at least in its' direction - the dim caverns don't allow for much clarity, even with the lantern's light.]
The Ferryman spoke about the Wraiths... it sounded like we are not the first this has happened to. Nor will we be the last.
no subject
Have you received confirmation, then? Were they once souls like ourselves?
[When she asked the Ferryman about the wraiths not too long after their arrival, the light-giver assured her that the faint beings were on their own path and that there's nothing she could possibly do for them, successfully steering her away from the matter in a gentle way. Now, she wonders if she wasn't all too easily diverted from her worries.]
no subject
[There's a sorrow and anger for those lost that layers his ragged voice, and a grim expression that creases his pale face and lowers his pointed ears.]
They are driven by their pain.
no subject
Then my worst fears for them have proven true. Even so, the Ferryman said that the best thing we could do for them on their path is to follow our own. I... I find that hard to accept.
[Having failed so many people in life, she desperately wants to at least aid the souls around her, and being told that it's impossible feels like a punishment in and on itself.]
no subject
I believe... we are the patient here, not the healer. There may be a cure, but it is not like to be the solution to our own problems.
[He is silent for a moment, but then adds,]
Still, I admit to finding it disquieting. I mislike leaving the dead to suffer, in whatever form they take. But it is something that we must occasionally do, for the sake of prudence and for those who can be saved.
no subject
It's such sparse solace, but the Ferryman did say that these wraiths were still on a path of their own. Perhaps, not all is lost for them, even if their fate is out of our hands.
[It's a pathetic morsel of hope to cling to, but... well, it's all they have.]
no subject
To walk the path, that we might not endanger others or ourselves. ... And to convince others, if we can. I do not mean to speak ill of those I know little of, but... skepticism seems a strong sentiment, here.
no subject
Perhaps those who resist the most are the ones who were least ready to depart their world.
[It pains her to imagine how much they may have had to live for - families, friends, hopes and dreams. But whatever the reason, the outcome is the same: She and Celehar will have to play missionary and attempt to convince the others who follow them on the guided path.]
Shall we return to the light? Many will want to seek out the Ferryman for further guidance.
no subject
[Celehar turns to Frieda to offer a hand should she need it - he's not so much a Lord that it is often expected of him, but having seen her in distress and having introduced such disquieting topics as he is prone to do it seems prudent in this particular instance, to offer some manner of help in recompense.]
no subject
[He shouldn't feel bad. After all, the Ferryman is the only one they can turn to with their qustions, and even if the Ferryman's answers are often diffuse, they at least can't lose anything by asking.
She takes his offered hand with another faint smile, appreciating the gesture. As they start heading back to the river's shore, the sensation of their contact is a much-needed reminder that at least for now, they still exist as the people they are.]