𝐧𝐩𝐜 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭

[uruz]

Available NPCs
SLEEP ONE TWO THREE FOUR ESPERA

SLEEP

A manipulative enigma with grand presence and power within The Murmur that rivals that of a god, and many already treat Her as such. She is everywhere and nowhere at once. Call to her, and she may answer you. She may even treat you, if you treat her, but be prepared to sacrifice. Painful offerings and loyalty are her favorite gifts of devotion (She's also a hopeless romantic).

The Numerals and Espera seem to despise Her, and One is inexplicably bound to Her. What Sleep has disclosed about Her intentions seem quite simple: Collect more Vessels to host Her power, expand past the Earth She's tied to, and deliver them all from loneliness and prolonged suffering to a divine eutopia only She can create.

For that, She needs One.

ONE

A somber, shy and elusive individual that better expresses himself through poetry and song. One's past is shrouded in mystery, tragedy and his own amnesia, but hinted to hold an incredible power that not even he is aware of. One has devoted his entirety to Sleep through blood sacrifice in an attempt to skew Her attention from the vessels to himself, but whether that was successful or not has yet to be known.

Vessels have been made recently aware that One has suffered Lunar Exaltation before the world was destroyed: An ascension, from mortal to more, and a beacon of power that remains the reason why Sleep seeks to claim him.

TWO

Not much is known about the Numeral Two, other than he is an expressive and unburdened Token, mute but not idle. He was very close to One before being thrown into a voided plane of existence by Sleep's hand, and scattered into fragments. Espera claims he is essential to returning One to his senses and putting an end to Sleep's reign.

Currently missing, but one fragment has been found.

THREE

An impish Offering of the Trickster variant, the Numeral Three has a playful disposition and colorful means of expression. Rather chaotic but not malicious, he takes the form of three-eyed corvids, cacatuas, and foxes with frequency, while answering riddles fuels his permanance for brief bursts. His connection with the Waking World is stronger than Two's, but in no less need of mending.

Currently his appearances are unreliable; He may be seen in shared dreams or when he has enough power to solidify from the Void's realm.

FOUR

The first Numeral to vanish and the last to be found. Not much is known about Four, other than having a very strong connection with Three.

Currently missing.

ESPERA

Revealed to be Nymphai, The Espera were birthed from One's exaltation and were meant to guide him on his journey from mortal to more before being barred by Sleep. She, (or they), is (are) a singular entity of three bodies, which are missing in a similar manner to the Numerals. She has a stronger presence within the Murmur but too weak to manifest physically, and is always watching to aid the Vessels in any way she can.

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© TESSISAMESS

Comments

One

[dethangel]

[Upon waking up, one thing is certain: Toki needs to check up on his friends who seemed to have been having some trouble during the dream, and after that little jam session, there's no doubt that he considers One to be one of them.

He knows something had happened with Kalmiya, based on flashes through their Tether before it had been so rudely ripped from him, and he's pretty sure he'd glimpsed One running around after that whole giant creature debacle. Of course he's going to check on him.

It's easy to reach out, just as he's done before. He can hear him.]

Hey. You doing okay?

ROLL: 16

[uruz]

[ one had awoken from his nightmare with a shift in his core. in his mind's eye, the after images of playing music with toki reminded of his nights with two, three, four— kalmiya's demise with sleep, reminding him of all the loves that were pushed away from him. or rather . . . he pushed them away. the worst of the matter had not been the rupture of these tethers. is was the slow decay of them.

he felt them eroding, barely hanging on by a single thread each. was it worse? what has he done, to bring about such cruelty to the new vessels? to bring them here at all? his guilt grows all the more.

his eyes open. he misses them. he reaches for them after what felt like too long a time wrapped in the dark. the sun rises, as a result. he sings. and someone reaches back to him. tentatively, one too, reaches back, gentle in soul after being crushed too many times, like sonar bouncing off walls. ]

As always. [ he is always . . . hanging in there. this was just another night for him. ] I am . . . Sorry.

[dethangel]

[Toki's no stranger to dreams gone wrong. While these intense dreams he's had here are different from the usual, his imagination's far too active for his worst nightmares not to feel real. And there are just so many to choose from.

So, honestly, this one hasn't been the worst.

Lingering sensations of fear, loneliness, misery, and rage spill into the Murmur without thinking, but none of it's directed at One. Not really. Sleep's the one who draws his ire, but there's no reason to dwell on that at the moment. Toki clears the emotions away with a mental smile, sticks them in the corners to wait their turn.]

It's okay. I had fun.

[Because he did. Despite everything, despite the weird food dredging up his worst for others to see, despite what Sleep did to Kalmiya and to him in turn, despite that monster that demanded his attention for reasons unknown... Well, he had fun too. And isn't that important?]

It was... a lot. [Everything. Everything was a lot.] But it was cool we got to jam. I liked that.

[uruz]

I have harmed you. [ one wants to latch on to the good. he wishes he could. but the bad is such an awful contrast that there is no way he could let it outshine. there is no way he could be selfish enough, again, to wrap himself in its warmth like a blanket in the cold. ] I have harmed your Tether . . . Irreversibly.

[ they were . . . good things. things that made his heart warm and aching for more all at once, but— the consequences of that were not fair exchanges. toki is too good for him. everyone . . . is too good for him. once again, he finds himself thinking:i am not worthy of you. ]

Only an eclipse of goodness will come from my presence.

[dethangel]

It wasn't you, [he snaps, so insistent in his assessment that inexplicable deep voices underneath his own back it up at "you," his rage towards Sleep flaring up before he can shove it back down again.]

It's... shit sucks sometimes, but it doesn't have to suck all the time, you know?

[He knows all about hanging around with people who aren't good for him. He's often spotted with the worst clown in the history of clowns, who fucks him over on the regular. He trusted Magnus, and that left him with a literal knife in his back. Maybe trusting One isn't smart either, but he doesn't care. Isn't it better to make friends, instead of worrying about it?]

And... sometimes you have to pick stuff up, and glue it back together.

[uruz]

[ not all the time. every time that it hasn't, something worse seems to happen. he wishes . . . it weren't. but the world is not a bed of roses he could smother himself under. ]

Sometimes, [ regrettably, ] the pieces are beyond repair, Toki.

[dethangel]

Yeah, but... but sometimes you think they are, but then it turns out they're not! I know this, okay?

[He knows what it's like to feel like you're just some cursed thing that destroys everything around you or whatever, to feel broken. He also knows how much it sucks to feel that way.

But he also knows what it feels like to care in spite of it all. And no matter what One says, he can't not care about him.

Not now.]

And... sometimes you can turn the pieces into something else. Something nice.

[uruz]

[ ....... ]

I would not know . . . What to do with these fractured splinters.

[dethangel]

Well... that's part of it, isn't it? Picking it up and, and, you know, thinking about it.

[This metaphor might have gotten away from him... he's never been the best with those. But he's pretty sure he's on to something here.]

Just... hold on to 'em. You can figure it out later, when you see some cool stuff that makes you go "oh yeah I know what to do."

[uruz]

[ later. later, one thinks . . . it's been so long, later never comes. if he continues to wait, would he remain broken? and what if he took action? what if—

what if he did everyone a favor? ]

Perhaps . . . She can make me whole.

[dethangel]

[Toki's simmering rage at Sleep flares up again, too much to keep out of the Murmur entirely. But, well, he shouldn't be too hasty. Maybe there are other shes One might be talking about.

Gotta treat this delicately.]

Not... not the she that fucks people up, right???

[Nailed it.]

[uruz]

[ it is to be expected, one thinks. the reaction. it has become scheduled, at this point. ]

If She had me, none of you would have been harmed in the first place.

Your anger is misguided.

[dethangel]

[Has Toki been mad at the wrong people before? Of course. All the time.

But he's sure he's right this time. Ignore all those times he's been wrong. He's been fucked over enough times to kind of get when someone else is.

But he also knows he wouldn't have listened himself, back then. He sighs.]

I don't... I'm not gonna be mad at you. I just... don't want bad shit to happen to my friends.

[It's clear he's including One in this particular assessment, like it or not.]

[uruz]

[ one would like to be included, and even if toki has said it already, more than once, a thousand times— he would always question being included in something so special.

i am unworthy. it still clings to him like the black sludge that weakens him. ]

It will happen, Toki. And I choose that . . . It should happen to me, and not to anyone else.

[ not to you. ]

[dethangel]

I wish it didn't have to happen to anybody.

[He doesn't even know what One's planning to do, exactly, but he can't imagine it being any good, especially if he's trying to take on whatever it is for the sake of others.]

Because... it sucks, you know?

[He's never been the best with words, not even when he can use his native language for a change instead of struggling with English, but he manages to project the way he cares about his friends into the Murmur, enough to cover up the rage he'll probably never completely get rid of at this point.]

I just... I hope you're gonna be okay. In the end.

[Toki's been hurt plenty, and made it through, and he can only hope for the same for One.]

[uruz]

[ he always tells himself he is fine. he is never fine. ]

. . . As always, Toki.

[ this time, there is a greater chasm of doubt within him, and a . . . realization.

that he is not truly fine. and he may, in fact, do something incredibly dangerous. incredibly stupid. the connection wanes, with a tiny bit of reluctance from one. but he does, eventually, let go. ]

[dethangel]

[Toki sighs when he feels the connection close. He really hopes things will be okay.

But, as always, he'll be here if he needs him, playing along to the voice in the Murmur sometimes.]