The Sorrow of Love

[Tio Silver]

Fate was too cruel sometimes. A young, innocent seeming girl, just entering what should have been the best years of her life, had been snatched away in a handful of terror-filled seconds by nothing more than the shock of a loud noise. There had been no time to call in professional help, and by a stroke of bad luck the only person around who'd tried to help her was Tio; a man so utterly useless at medicine he was literally had a bounty on his head for practicing it. The yludih grit his teeth in frustration and cast a silent curse at himself. This was the second time a young woman had died in his arms because he hadn't possessed the skill to save them.

He only became aware of the pale man who'd come to stand beside him when they spoke up, expressing a similar sentiment that the girl had been too young to die. "Aye, she didn't deserve this. Nobody does." He replied wistfully, keeping his gaze down on the poor victim. Yet when the pale man said his next sentence Tio's eyes shot up to look at him, a mixture of threat and disgust clear in his voice. "You aren't taking her anywhere creep! She's going back to her... family..."

His voice trailed off as Tio finally noticed that the world around him had frozen, and that a strange mist hung in the air. Slowly but surely the world around him was fading into a foggy void, with the exception of him, the pale man and four other people who'd been in the garden. One of them Tio realized looked familair; it was the very first person he'd briefly bumped into when he was sucked into that maze at the start of Vhalar, but the rest of them were all complete strangers. It was pretty clear at this point that something strange was happening here, something evil judging by all the darkness and fog. Was the creepy pale guy behind this? And more importantly could he have caused the disaster that'd killed this poor girl?

Two of the people he didn't recognize; a pair of women who could have been twins (they looked very similar, but with all the darkness and fog about Tio struggled to make out much of their features) asked him, the blonde boy and the other woman who they were and how they came here. The woman replied to them first, stating firmly that her name was Kirei and that she had no idea. From what Tio could make out she was a biqaj, and a very pretty one at that. Under better circumstances he'd probably have started hitting on her already, but the endless void of shadows and pair of dead bodies kind of spoiled the mood a little.

"I'm Tio. Tio Silver." He said after her, trying to sound more jovial than he was really feeling and not at all succeeding. This place and these three strange siblings set his nerves on edge, and as much as he wanted to he couldn't quite hide it. "I have no idea either, I just sort of get pulled into these kinds of things. Are the three of you responsible for what happened to this couple?"

[Toraj]

Though he knew what death looked like, he probably wouldn't ever get used to it. He'd held the dying Amaris not too long ago, but this time he'd been too late to even ask the man's name as his body flopped uselessly in his arms, life already drained and warmth swiftly fading from it as whatever soul had once been within it had long since departed by the time Toraj reached it. His head fell at an odd angle, the shifting noise of the flesh and broken or disjointed bones within his neck causing a strong enough reaction in Toraj that he almost dropped it again. It was unnerving like few things he'd experienced before, crawling the length of his spine and making his hair stand on end.

It'd be some time yet before Toraj could forget that sound, though he'd have happily submitted it to the fog of oblivion if he'd a choice in the matter.

Nausea came rising up from the depths of his chest again and before he hurled, he lowered the body respectfully onto the floor again, pushing the head gingerly to right the angle of his neck so to not frighten other onlookers or, perhaps, the woman who was being tended by Tio---should she survive the ordeal. Toraj didn't know yet that the woman's life had ended about as soon as Toraj himself had realized that the man in his arms was dead. There'd been nothing he could've done, short of stopping the lightning itself---the sharp noise that started this in the first place. If only one was capable of performing such miracles... but Toraj was not. The woman's words punched their way through the fog in Toraj's mind and he turned his blue eyes to her, staring.

He didn't know who she was. Not that it mattered, yet.

His eyes turned back to the boy. Perhaps there was nothing to truly regret regarding his life if he'd lived it fully, but... he was still young. Perhaps it was some kind of mercy that it'd happened so quickly. He departed without ever knowing much of the pain he must've suffered when he fell, or the look of agony on the woman's face as her heart stopped and she passed away only moments later. Ignorance is a strange thing. A blessing for some, a curse for others. He mused aloud, in Grovokian: "Just the opportunities he'll never know. I suppose it spared him the pain of having to say goodbye. ... And I suppose it'll be good to know for those who cared that it was quick."

Toraj didn't speak to anyone in particular. Though the woman had remained close, he didn't specifically address her as he stood up and looked around when he started to notice the world changing, slowing down, stopping... His eyes narrowed. He recognized a few faces, now that he stopped to think about it. Tio---the man he'd tried to follow within the Maze... and... His eyes settled upon the pale man with the dark hair. His heart sank, and a chill settled in the pit of his stomach as he remembered clearly the feeling of Amaris' body slumping, lifeless, in his arms---and Vri's words of condemnation of them all. These two women---the twins---were his sisters?

"... Toraj," he replied, eventually. "I walked." It was a simple answer to follow a very simple train of thought. There was a pause before he thought to continue, clearing his throat. "I was getting air. Feeling sick to stomach. Inside stinks." Though his Common had been getting a little better with practice, it was still broken and with a heavy accent. (Grovokian, if one could recognize such.)

[Pegasus]

90th Zida, 718

Kirei
When Kirei asked the woman kneeling next to her who she was to judge, the response was a sudden quirked brow of amusement. It was the only amusement, or emotion other than irritation that the woman showed. She simply watched Kirei, not answering, not seeming to care overly about anything concerning the mortal's feelings.

Tio
Tio focused on the girl, as she died and he was there with her. It was a deeply intimate moment, incredibly personal and her last sight was him. While that gave him no comfort, who knew what comfort it gave to the young woman in question? Certainly, it was better than dying alone. Wasn't it?

Toraj
The man Toraj went to aid was very much already dead. The woman who spoke to him listened to his reply and she nodded. "It's a loss of potential. That is so very true. But really, it's just swapping it from one sort, to another." She gave Toraj a gentle pat on the arm.

All
And then, they were in quite a different place and, as they each gave their accounting of who they were, and how they got here, the tall, pale man frowned a slight, almost imperceptible expression, but there nonetheless. "No," the man said, in response to Tio's question. "We are not responsible. We were there because..." He sighed slightly and then looked at the two people who lay dead and his frown deepened.

"I am Vri," he said, and somehow to the three of them there was no doubting it. "These are my sisters, Pier and Pre." Neither of the women said anything, but they looked at the three mortals with interest, curiosity and, in at least one case, barely concealed irritation. "We are here because something has created a situation. Two deaths, but it is time for only one soul to pass over."

Motioning to the two corpses, Vri seemed somewhat perplexed. "One of these two will live. One will die. Which? Who knows." Looking at the three mortals gathered, he seemed to come to an immediate, sudden and absolutely logical answer.

"You must decide. The three of you." The twins moved to stand beside their brother, shoulder to shoulder and together the three Immortals nodded. "That is why they are here," they all three spoke in unison.

"Decide."

OOC Stuffies

So sorry for delays!
Throughout the thread there is no posting order.
Please don't control any NPCs
More than anything, I want you to have fun here. There are risks to this thread, there are rewards to be gained. Play your pcs, go with the story and enjoy it!
There are two types of objective.
--"Must Do" - which mean you have to do these. NOT doing them will incur negative consequences for your pc which might be more far reaching than this thread. You have been warned.
--"Can Do" - these are optional. Do them, or don't - up to you.

Any questions - ask!

I will post again about this time on Saturday 8th December

Choices & Consequences

Round Number	Kirei	Tio	Toraj
ONE	Rain	Snow	Lightning
TWO	Touch + Dog	Taste + Girl	Sight + Boy

Must Do Objectives

1. Come to a group consensus. Who lives, who dies. You may post as MANY times as you wish, you may discuss in PMs. I will post this time next week, either way.

[Tio Silver]

If Tio had any blood, it would have turned cold in his veins as an icy stream of fear washed over him. There were quite a few things he was afraid of, but among those fears there was one that stood head and shoulders above the rest. It was something everyone feared, but most people were able to make peace with and accept eventually. Yet he hadn't. He let it scare him into delving into the dark arts of necromancy in order to find a way to escape from it.

And now the being who ruled it was stood right in front of him.

He, who was so afraid of death, stood face to face with Vri!

While the god certainly didn't look like the ominous, hooded doom many people depicted him as, something about his pale complexion certainly suited his trademark domain. There was a presence of death surrounding him that set the illusionary hairs on Tio's arms standing on edge. Unconsciously he backed away, his body language betraying that he was giving serious consideration towards bolting away into the unending darkness surrounding them in a desperate bid escape.

Yet survival instincts won out in the end. The void would almost certainly kill him, whereas the three Immortals at least didn't seem openly hostile right at this moment. While he remained clearly on guard, Tio set his hackles down in a sign that he wasn't going to run and listened as the gods explained why they had been brought here.

"You want us to decide who lives and who dies?" Tio asked, his tone surprised but not at all upset by the notion. Only a trill of thinking passed before he nodded his towards the girl. "Then I choose her. I can't say I have any logical reason why she should live rather than the man since I've never met them before, so I'll go with what feels right. The girl should live."

[Kirei Qe'Azour]

The woman's amusement in response to her question irritated Kirei greatly. She wanted to say something that would get rid of that look....right up until the moment when the man introduced himself as Vri, and told them that the two women were his sisters, Pier, and Pre. Kirei felt a wave of cold shock wash over her as her eyes widened.

Oh. she thought weakly as she stared at the woman who had called her heartless.

So she does have a right to judge me. She has every right in fact...

"I still made the right decision, though." she muttered quietly to herself.

"I am not heartless."

This entire situation was bizarre. Kirei couldn't help but wonder how she had managed to stumble into a meeting of Immortals. Then if anything, things got even more bizarre when Vri told them that one of the two people who had been injured was going to die...and that they had to decide who. Kirei's eyes widened further as she glanced at the two men who were with her uncertainly. Was she dreaming? No other explanation for this situation came to mind, but nothing changed when she pinched herself in an attempt to wake herself up.

"We have to decide who lives, and who dies?" Kirei questioned warily.

How in the hell were they supposed to do that? As Kirei tried to wrap her mind around the problem, and think about it logically, one of the men said that his instincts told him that the woman should die. Kirei looked at the man and the woman they were supposed to choose between, but nothing she saw gave her any idea how to choose.

"How are we supposed to make a decision like that? I don't know about these two, but I have never met either of these people before. Can you give us any information that would help us decide? Do they have families that need them? Is one of them a murderer? Has one of them devoted their life to helping others? Will one of them suffer more than the other if they survive? Is there anything we should know about these people before making our decision?"

Kirei eyed Tio curiously, wondering what kind of instincts he had that told him that the woman should be the one to live. She certainly had no such instincts. But she did consider herself fairly good at observation. When she glanced at the people who they had to decide between once more, she noticed that the man's neck was bent at an unnatural angle. Kirei was no doctor, but even she knew what that meant; his neck was broken. Vri was the Immortal of Death, ans his sisters were the ones who judged a person after they died. Kirei knew that much because she had read a book about Immortals several arcs back. She couldn't remember anything that suggested that any of them could heal injuries. And while it was possible to survive a heart attack, it wasn't possible to survive a broken neck...not as far as she knew, anyway. She turned to Vri.

"Looking at their injuries, I guess I would have to say that the man should be the one who dies...unless one of you are able to heal a broken neck?"

If they could, then Kirei had absolutely no idea which one should live, but since the other two seemed to think that the girl should live, she would stick with her initial thought; the girl should live.

[Toraj]

Toraj had met Vri, once. It was brief, but the meeting had left a mark on him in many ways and the Immortal's judgement still hung heavy over his mind since then. Son of Light, he'd called him, and made a judgement call of his character when he bore witness to Amaris' death as they'd all failed to provide this same man with a sufficient reason that Amaris did not, in fact, deserve to die just then.

It was such a surreal and strange thing to be asked to make this decision now. His eyes passed over the woman and the man, the two who'd lost their lives here just a few moments ago. Though he felt he knew what his answer would be as his instincts told him much the same thing he heard Tio say just moments later, he needed to think it through... nothing else would be just in this situation. He didn't particularly relish the thought of having the lives of others placed in his hands in this way, in an almost literal sense. It was true what the woman had said with regards to the man that Toraj, himself, had tried to save. He had died quickly and relatively painlessly and she'd noted that he'd lived a full life, and a happy life. As such, he could likely die without regrets and if he was allowed to meet judgement in the hereafter now, he would likely receive a fair and good reception from the dark-haired and sullen Immortal. His soul would find peace someplace else, and spoiling that by dragging him back to life could potentially condemn him in ways that the trio present in that moment had no right to subject another to.

The girl, however... Toraj hadn't seen how it happened in detail but what little he had seen and heard since Tio had rushed to her side... She'd been scared, terribly so, and in pain. She'd departed, still clutching to her attempted saviour and gasping for air as she was pulled under. Wherever she was now, she was likely shaken and afraid, in pain and surging with the anxieties and regrets of her life. It hadn't been a good and peaceful death in any way and because of this... perhaps it would be best to give her another chance. Though there was no guarantee she'd find a more satisfying end down the line, it would give her a fair chance to find a way to enter the hereafter on better terms with herself and her life, and by means that would carry her peacefully. One could hope, at least. That's all they had to go on when making a decision of such gravity.

"The girl, let live," Toraj spoke up eventually. "Boy's lived well. Good, full life. The girl should live."

[Pegasus]

90th Zida, 718

Kirei
She stuck to her point, like the foolish mortal she was. The Immortal looked at Kirei and she shook her head, dismissing Kirei as not worthy of her time. It was the right decision, she was not heartless. It was all just one excuse piled on another, as far as the Immortal was concerned and she turned away from Kirei without further thought, although all of them heard her judgement.

Tio
The Yludih who so avoided the topic stood, face to face with the Immortal of Death. It was probably a little ironic, all things considered, but there it was. Vri stood before him and he looked at Tio as though he knew him ~ as though he'd known him, in fact, all his life. Of all things, Vri looked at Tio with compassion in his eyes, obviously so. When Tio spoke his judgement, Vri's nod was solemn.

Toraj
Toraj, too, spoke of his decision and the woman who seemed to be more focused on him than the other two nodded her head in understanding, but the slightest frown crossed her face. "It seems like such a waste." She wasn't really talking to Toraj, nor to her brother or sister, more to herself. Looking at the two, she sighed slightly.

All
The sense of quiet and stillness continued and there seemed to be some communication between the three of them "A unanimous decision," Vri nodded.There was no approval or disapproval there, no sense of judgement ~ simply acceptance. He looked at the three mortals here and he seemed... just slightly interested. In them, in their decision; maybe even in the process they used to reach that decision. Then, he nodded.

"Very well," he said and, as he did, the two women, and the two mortals seemed to fade slightly. They were still there, Kirei, Tio & Toraj could still see them, but it was like they were just in their peripheral vision. Vri, however, was directly in their line of sight and, as he spoke, the focus on him grew and that on the others in this place, wherever this place was, faded.

"Your decision is made, and in making it, their fate is sealed." He paused, then, for a moment, allowing the gravitas of his words to sink in. Their decision had granted life to one, sealed death to another. It was important and Vri obviously thought so. "You have performed a service for me. Us. If you could ask one favour of me, what would it be?"

He regarded them, each, seriously as the question hung on the misty, still air.

OOC Stuffies

So sorry for delays!
Throughout the thread there is no posting order.
Please don't control any NPCs
More than anything, I want you to have fun here. There are risks to this thread, there are rewards to be gained. Play your pcs, go with the story and enjoy it!
There are two types of objective.
--"Must Do" - which mean you have to do these. NOT doing them will incur negative consequences for your pc which might be more far reaching than this thread. You have been warned.
--"Can Do" - these are optional. Do them, or don't - up to you.

Any questions - ask!

I will post again about this time on Monday 31st December

Choices & Consequences

Round Number	Kirei	Tio	Toraj
ONE	Rain	Snow	Lightning
TWO	Touch + Dog	Taste + Girl	Sight + Boy

Must Do Objectives

1. Identify which, if any, favour you'd like from Vri.......

[Tio Silver]

It was unsettling, a little annoying even, how calmly accepting Vri was of the animosity Tio showed him. A little part of the yludih had hoped that the god might be wrathful to him just so that his fear of him might feel more deserved, but if the Immortal felt any hatred towards him he kept it well hidden.

The two other people spoke up in agreement with him that the girl should be the one to live, and without any fuss Vri solemnly declared that what they had decided would be so. The girl would live, and the man would die. Just like that. Although he'd taken part in the decision, a shudder ran down Tio's spine at the thought of how easily that choice had been made. People's lives had been at stake here; lives that had the potential to drastically alter the future of Idalos, and he'd taken less time to make his choice than he normally took thinking about what to have for dinner. Something about that just felt wrong. Was this what it felt like to have the power to make such monumental decisions so easily? Was this what it felt like to be a god? Tio raised an eyebrow at the still perfectly serene Vri. No wonder the Immortal of Death looked so easy-going. If it was his job to make such a decision all the time he'd have stopped caring about it a long time ago.

At the mention of a favour Tio's mind kicked into overdrive. A favour from the literal embodiment of death could be very useful, and very dangerous too. Could he just straight-up ask for Immortality? Somehow he didn't think Vri would grant him that reward quite so easily. That being said he'd already shown that he wasn't too concerned about reviving someone who'd been killed before their time just once…

“Well… there is something I'd sleep a lot easier at night having…” Tio began slowly, thinking over the wording he was using to double-check that he was being completely clear on what he was asking for. “As I'm sure you know I'm something of a trouble magnet,” he gestured to the scar Cassion's curse had left over his eye, “and I end up with my life in danger far more often that I'm sure is good for me. If I am killed on some adventure of mine and stand before you for judgement, could you give me a free pass to return to life like you have for the young woman we chose? Just once? Can I have one get-out-of-death-free card?”

[Kirei Qe'Azour]

Everything was happening so quickly that Kirei's head reeled. The decision was unanimous. The girl would live, and the man...would not. And did Vri look interested in them for just a trill? Or perhaps in the decision they had just made? It was only a flash, and Kirei wasn't at all certain that she hadn't imagined it. As she watched, the two mortals began to fade, and so did Pier and Pre. She could still see them, but their forms were faded, and difficult to focus on, much like catching a glimpse of something in the corner of her eye. Part of her wondered if she was dreaming as she tried to make sense of everything that was happening.

Kirei's eyes widened in shock when Vri asked them what they would ask for if they could ask a favor of him for the service they had done. Her mind raced. A favor for a service rendered? On the surface, that was a normal thing. People performing services for others could usually expect to be paid for them in one form or another...if everyone involved was mortal. On its most basic level, that was how having a job worked, after all. But this was far from normal. Three Immortals were involved, and the service that had been requested...Kirei didn't even know where to begin to figure out how she felt about that.

One of the men asked if he could get a free pass to return to life the way the girl they had chosen to live had. Apparently he tended to find himself in danger a lot, and wanted a...safety mat of sorts. Kirei wondered if that was something that Vri was willing to give him. As the Immortal of Death, Sorrow, Remembrance, and Love, it seemed like it might be possible. And if it were, Kirei could see how appealing such a thing would be to a lot of people.

But she didn't get into a lot of trouble. As a chef in training, she led a fairly calm life. And given what she was, she could expect to live a very long time indeed unless she did something stupid to get herself killed. So a free pass to return to life didn't hold the same appeal to her as it would to another. Losing her family, however...she wondered if Vri would be willing to grant such a pass for one of her family members. But which one? How could she choose? No. Kirei didn't think she could make that kind of decision. But the thought did remind her of the decision she had just helped to make.

"If I could ask for a favor, it would be that of information."

Kirei struggled to find the right words for the questions she wanted to ask. She had so many of them, and she didn't want to risk offending Vri, or his sisters.

"You asked the three of us to decide which person would live. Why...why us? Is there something about the three of us that made you ask us to make the choice? Or would you have asked any mortals who happened to be here had we not been here? Why ask mortals to decide at all? What about this situation required a mortal to make this choice? Or was this a test of some kind? And if so, what were you testing, and why? What are the ramifications of our choice...beyond the obvious of one person living, and the other dying? If it is allowed, I would ask to be able to understand this situation, and our part in it."

The scholar in her demanded no less. And since she had played a part in the decision of life or death for two people, she felt a responsibility of sorts towards them. Did the man who would die...or had already died...have a family that needed him? One that would suffer for his loss? If so, did she then have a duty to help them if she could since she had played a part in deciding his fate? She felt as if she did. As for the girl who would live...who was she? Was she responsible for any evils the girl might commit because she had a part in the decision to allow her to live? Kirei was less certain about the latter since a person's decisions and actions were their own, but there was no denying the fact that if the girl they had saved did cause harm to another in the future, that harm would not have been possible had they decided in favor of the man instead.

"And if it is allowed...I do not know how much you might remember of the mortals who pass into death. But three people who are very dear to me are dead. Lihara Qe'Azour, and Teren Qe'Azour both died in Ymiden of 717, and Kaelen Qe'Azour died in Zi'da of 716. If it is possible, I would like to know what their fates were after they were judged, and what their judgements were."

[Toraj]

There was a sort of empty feeling attached to it as the decision was reached, even if it was a unanimous one. Toraj's attention slipped and he stared towards the dead boy or where his body had been. There was no real victory in the situation this time, no satisfaction and no sense of completion. One person was given back their life, for certain, but one person still died. It was something that Toraj wasn't certain had to happen in the first place, but that may've been the bitterness towards the Immortal of Death speaking. He remembered clearly the feeling of Amaris' body as it cooled in his grasp and the feeling of his last shuddering breath.

Once the offer was made, Toraj's decision was fairly simple in his mind. He snapped to attention and looked between the three Immortals as if suspecting foul play. ... He didn't know what to expect or believe, and though the women had done nothing to earn his skepticism, the same couldn't quite be said for the dark-haired one. Vri.

Even still, he'd performed his duty here as requested, and he may as well cash in on the reward.

"Amaris," he said, softly, with his eyes landing on Vri for a moment before passing slowly between the others. "I want... Amaris, to be given another chance. I think your judgement was unfair. Could you do this?" He turned his attention back to Vri. "Could you give Amaris their life back?" It was at least an earnest request. He'd felt Amaris' life slip away in his hands. It was a feeling that would haunt him for a long time to come, no matter the Immortal's decision today.