Welcome to the Netherworld!

[lazyvassals]

[It is difficult to define what a normal afternoon is by Netherworld standards. In the dark, torch-lit halls of the Overlord's Castle, penguin-suited prinnies totter about pretending to do work, while most other vassals make no effort at all to pretend. No fights have broken out yet, but it is questionable how long that will last with the Overlord being awake. It is just the sort of calm that comes before something unexpected happens, or someone makes it happen out of boredom.

And that is precisely when the first stranger comes through the swirling vortex of the Dimensional Gate.

It doesn't seem so unusual at first, because people use that gate on a daily basis. But more people start to show up, people who aren't demons. The Gatekeeper herself has no idea where they've come from, or how they've found their way to the Netherworld.

Unfortunately, neither do the unexpected guests.]

Comments

[bound_skyward]

[Though he perhaps should rest some more, Kain isn't one to sit still for long. So he gets up to explore, and search for answers. He's still convinced this is some other life, considering how he 'left' the war... He will keep looking around until he finds someone who seems to know what's going on.]

[lazyvassals]

[You might not find someone who knows what's going on, Kain, but hey. How about a ghost? Just to help you with that whole other life thing. He's floating on by, trying to figure out where would be a good hiding place to popcorn.gif from for when Laharl learns of what's going on.]

[bound_skyward]

[Ah, great. The presence of a ghost doesn't exactly ease his mind, but it does perhaps answer his question. Perhaps.]

Excuse me... can you tell me if this is the afterlife?

[One thing at a time, but he has to know what to do if it is. Where should he go? He'd thought it would be more... obvious where he was, that he'd be greeted by warriors of the past, especially his dragoon ancestors.]

[lazyvassals]

[Huh. Another human. This is getting interesting...]

Well, it is for me.

[bound_skyward]

Clearly. But could it be the next life for others, as well?

[Though Kain certainly feels alive and nothing like the ghost that he sees before him. It doesn't change what he last recalls happening before arriving here, though.]

[lazyvassals]

This is the Netherworld not the Underworld.

You're also not a prinny, so if you think you're dead or something, you got nothing to worry about.

[bound_skyward]

[If it's the Underworld, where are the dwarves? Kain isn't sure what to think about that.]

It's not something I merely think... I know it happened. How can you be so sure I've nothing to worry about, though... what do you mean by 'not a prinny'?

[lazyvassals]

[But it's not, it's the Netherworld, Kain?]

The only dead humans around here are prinnies. Prinnies contain the souls of humans who sinned in life.

[bound_skyward]

[Whoops, worded that whole thing weirdly, IGNORE. "There aren't any dwarves he could see anyway, for it to be the Underworld- not quite a land of the dead where he's from. But that means a lot to think about given it's some other place etc."]

[He's never heard of such things back home... so it definitely confirms that he's in no familiar world.]

Is that what you are?

[lazyvassals]

[Hahaha no worries! <3 ]

Me? No way!

If you see a blue demon with peg legs? That's a prinny.

[bound_skyward]

[He's going to have to keep an eye out for these things. Although... if he's in some world with demons and ghosts... well... it doesn't do much to make him feel better about his alive or dead status.]

But you're not alive yourself, are you?

[lazyvassals]

Well, I am a spirit.

[bound_skyward]

Did you live in this world before you became a spirit?

[Maybe he can begin to understand more about this world if he gets more answers from this spirit... or so he hopes.]

[lazyvassals]

Beats me. I don't actually remember.

[Yeah, sorry Kain... not gonna get much outta this ghost.]

[bound_skyward]

Then... you probably know of no way to aid me in leaving this realm...?

[It's discouraging, but he's not going to stop looking for answers.]

[lazyvassals]

Not really. If the dimensional gate isn't working, you're pretty outta luck.

[bound_skyward]

Do you happen to know why I've come to be in this place?

[He has his assumption, but still... he'd like to know more.]

[lazyvassals]

[The ghost seems to shrug.]

Your guess is as good as mine. I've never seen the dimensional gate do this before.

[bound_skyward]

Perhaps the first thing to do is determine why it's brought us here...

[It's a direction to take anyway, Kain figures.]