towerofanimus | (no subject)

Characters: A'kin the Friendly Fiend and YOU
Setting: 3-18, dorm floors, and the Cafeteria
Format: Willing to follow your lead
Summary: Arrivals are confusing; arrivals when the Tower is preparing for mischief doubly so.
Warnings: None

Room 3-18
His first thought is that he must have been summoned; that he's been gated by a fellow 'loth for some reason, or that somehow, somewhere, some berk had got their hands on a copy of the Book of Keeping... But why him, of all yugoloths, and why is he immobilized flat on his back against some kind of soft surface, why is he not hearing demands or gloating or anything at all from whoever or whatever is responsible for this?

The thirty seconds of paralysis seem to stretch on for ages as A'kin's mind darts from one unanswerable question to another. Once he's able to move, his surroundings still offer no answers. There's no residual summoning magic that he can detect; no magic at all, save for a few suspiciously familiar items in the trunk by his bed; no watching presence that any of his divinations can reveal. The sense of resistance when he tries to teleport tells him that this isn't anywhere in Sigil, but he can't reach familiar locations on other planes, either. The only thing the arcanaloth can find that might be some sort of clue is a tiny note tucked in some clothing, and its simply-written message of destruction is completely implausible.

"What are you playing at here, I wonder...."

Forcing a pleasant, amicable grin that he's not really feeling right now, A'kin steps outside.

Dormitory Hallways
"......"
"I'm sorry, say again?"
"....."
"My friend, I don't understand..."
"......"
"I don't follow, cutter...."

Anyone departing from or returning to their rooms may find themself greeted by an odd sight- a worker unit being interrogated by a jackal-headed being in brightly-colored robes. As the one-sided conversation continues, his look of confusion at the unintelligible babble deepens into a worried scowl. Being transported against his will was troubling enough, but this...

Cafeteria
Having eventually given up on that information source, A'kin eventually meanders his way to the Cafeteria, hoping that the lure of food will create an informal gathering place. From time to time he idly picks at the unappetizing oatmeal, but the majority of his attention is on the other diners.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A'kin nods. It had been more like 'assuming' than 'asking', but he's beginning to to question how much common frame of reference he can really assume here.

"Regardless of how you came by it, you do have something of that nature about you."

Well...he certainly wasn't an ordinary human anymore. And the encounter with Rei had proven he wasn't so to certain supernatural senses either. He wasn't sure how much to reveal, since he wasn't sure how much he could explain.

"I'm...human. I may not be the same as others anymore, but what sets me apart is that I was invited to Heaven while still alive."

And there go his hopes of being able to take any commonalities for granted. Visiting the Upper Planes while alive shouldn't be able to have this kind of effect on a man's nature... but visiting the planes isn't a rarefied privilege, either. Grasping for understanding, he seizes on the one part of that which made sense.

"So... you were uniquely favored?"

Enoch nods. "God summoned me to Heaven to act as scribe for the Council of Elders."

Normally he would steer clear of mentioning the Council. After all, God wasn't thought to need one. But this was a being from another world entirely.

"I would have guessed you for their paladin sooner than their scribe, but you seem like it would suit you well."

The existence of a divinely-appointed council of celestials isn't remotely aberrant from A'kin's perspective- but even if it was, the religious context would be reason enough to hold his tongue. Spiritual matters are one thing; gods are another entirely.

"You were saying, though, that you believe your soul stayed with your body when you died here? Is that normal for your experience of immortality?"

"'Paladin'?" Enoch repeats immediately after A'kin says it. He assumes it's some sort of warrior. He knows he looks the part. He is one, really, has been for literally as far back as his memory goes. His memory of being a scribe in Heaven is very faint by now, where it exists at all.

Regardless, the other had begun to speak again - and Enoch's reaction is immediate and clearly more emotional than logical. "No. As far as I know...my immortality only prevents me from aging."

"I'm sorry.. I had no intention to thorn you." A'kin shakes his head, ears flattened back anxiously.

"The experience you described should not, could not, happen where I'm from without active and powerful intervention. This place seems to either be operating under a very different system of metaphysics than my world's, or else putting a great deal of energy into subverting them... but what you've spoken of your world is curious to me too, if less unnerving. I don't know what I can take for granted anymore."

"No, I'm sorry. Souls that remain earthbound when the body dies are...matters I dealt with at home. Certainly other worlds must have different rules, but...the ones that seem connected to...rifts to multitudes of other worlds seem to be consistent, though."

Enoch picks another piece off his bread roll distractedly. It was strange, but after he'd accepted the idea of different worlds, he hadn't given much thought to how different they were...