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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ashy" data-source="post: 1869740" data-attributes="member: 312">Intro, Part I...Despite all your history, all your past experiences, all your gained knowledge and power and riches, at this moment in time, you know one and only one thing for absolute certain.  Right now there is only one universal truth and you know it without the slightest sliver of a shadow of doubt throughout ever fiber in your entire soul.…You are dead.Surprisingly, this fact does very little to alarm you.  In fact, you have very few emotions about much of anything at this moment.  You are doing nothing more than standing upon something that is neither hot nor cold, neither firm nor soft, with your eyes closed.  You think that you will open them.Immediately, you wished you hadn’t.  Your eyes are flooded with an intense, flaring, golden light.  Greater than the light of a million suns – you have no doubt that your eyes will soon be poached like an egg within your skull and that all the hair on your head will be seared to cinders by the sheer light.  Strangely, this does not happen.  In fact, your eyes quickly become accustomed to the blazing maelstrom of light and you begin to make out your surroundings.You stand on a massive flat, featureless plane that stretches to your right, left, and rear as far as your eyes can see.  Everywhere you look, there are millions – no, surely – billions of creatures of every known or imagined type, size, and sex.  There are humans of every known ethnicity and there are other creatures as well – creatures that you have only heard about in fairy tales or storybooks: demons, angels, elves, dwarves, aliens, dragons – the list goes on and on, and soon you have no names for the things you see.  Your mind begins to boggle until you notice one other thing:You are all standing in massive lines.Lines that seem to stretch, like semi-orderly snakes, into eternity behind you; lines where creatures of all shapes, sizes and configurations stand heel to toe with one another – their faces in one of three states: completely drained with utter boredom, starkly blank and emotionless, or totally confused and completely bewildered.  You have no doubt that you fit into this final category.  You look around the thing in front of you in line and you see, apparently, where all the lines are leading.Stretching from horizon to horizon is a massive thing – the only structure that you can see – and it spans far wider than any building that you have ever heard about could possibly span.  Impossibly, mind-twistingly massive, it is smooth and sleek – unlike any architectural design ever conceived – and it gleams like polished pearl and silver.  Inside this massive arch (and only inside) lies whatever object which is the source of the terrific light – from within that arc spills the light of a thousand-thousand suns.It is at that moment that you notice the other…things…  Like gossamer dreams given wings these streamer-like things float over, around, and through you.  Continually shifting, like a spring breeze through cotton curtains, they seem to be formed of sheer light and the sweet smoke of incense.  As they pass you by, speeding along their way towards the scintillating light, you can sense their joy utter happiness; you can hear the sounds of murmuring, contented laughter.For some inexplicable reason, you utterly despise them…An eternity of in-line, shuffling steps pass and the great silvery gate nears.  You can now see that the lines in which you stand do not head into the beautifully welcoming light, as you had assumed.  Rather, the lines begin to slowly bank away at gently rolling angles, herding you and your companions towards any one of what seems like endless rows of small, dark doorways that seem scooped out of the massive arch-like gate before you.  This fact, coupled with the sudden appearance of millions of tiny, glowing, mosquito-like creatures that buzz and flit through the air, begin to stir up anger and resentment amongst some of the crowd.  Apparently they, like you, are not happy with this recent turn of events.  The mosquitoes, sheathed in their eldritch flame, become more numerous as you near these doors and they begin flying into your face.  As they do, they quickly project a sickly green light that flashes into your eyes, stinging like hot water.  It is apparent that they are looking for something, but if they do not find the treasure they seek, the flit away to someone else and repeat the process.  Their flight patterns are utter chaos and you marvel at how they manage to keep from colliding, much less actually find anything.  Blinking back the tears from the continual green eye-washing, suddenly one of the mosquitoes seems to find what it is looking for in you.The tiny creature lights on your arm and begins stabbing you over and over again in a bizarrely intricate pattern.  You watch, slightly pained by the punctures, but strangely, more fascinated by the creature.  Its proboscis moves up and down, much like the needle of a sewing machine and its entire form moves with a jerky, mechanical motion.  It finishes its task quickly and then wings away – you stare at your arm in fascination – now, written upon it in a Braille-like language are symbols.  What language they are and what they mean however, is completely lost to you.Nearby, a large leathery winged creature who seems one part attitude and the other part equally divided among teeth, claws and muscles begins roaring as one of the mosquitoes performs its tattooing upon its flesh.  Leathery Wings begins thrashing about, apparently all the waiting, the lines and now the pesky mechano-bugs have gotten to it; it picks up an innocent bystander and is in mid-toss when the air hums with power, pressure and danger.The air above Leathery Wings shimmers, like magic, and reveals a massive thing.  Something that seems to be a cross between a giant mechanical eye and a floating, balloon-like squid is left in the shimmer’s wake.  Two large, angelic wings flap lazily as the mechanical iris slides smoothly down the surface of the flying sphere, pausing to rest directly above Leathery Wings.  In the blink of an eye, a bright shaft of light zaps down over Leathery Wings and both he and the giant eye thing vanish.  You have a mental picture inserted into your brain of poor Leathery Wings who has just instantly earned himself a ride to the very back of the line.You, and about one-hundred million others, turn your faces to the rear and look at the distant horizon behind you.  Some sigh.  Some chuckle.  Some merely shake their heads in pity.  You are all grateful for the lesson and consign yourselves to “grin and bear” it all...---------------------------------------------------OOC: No actions yet, gang.  More to come!</blockquote>

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