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.

NAME5
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Info Five Here

© TESSISAMESS

Comments

[hongtian]

[ Where Ruhong's smoky warmth curled through their connections just moments ago, the sense of her suddenly becomes sharp: like the sudden snap of sparks against kindling, roaring against cold winter air. ]

I think you know what my next question will be, and I beg you to answer it.

[ She makes a decision, then and there, before voicing her obvious next question. Ruhong has spent a lifetime of paranoia holding her true nature close to her chest, her people's history and her secrets for fear of discovery and manipulation by their ancestral enemy, but—if she is truly at the heart of this conflict now, as she believes, then what is the point of such caution? ]

My people have spent generations fighting to halt the incursion of the Dreaming Dark onto the waking mortal planes. We have believed, since even before our very banishment from the Plane of Dreams, that it is yet possible to turn the Dream of the Age from one of darkness and nightmares to one of light. Call it Sleep, il-Lashtavar, Hēimèng, whatever it may be—I have but one purpose to fulfill the oath that I have sworn and to see this done. Please. This Lunar Exaltation. Of what do you speak?

[uruz]

[ She— They, have expecting it, and their receptiveness spreads open, arms wide to receive such a fire as well as give her own. No one had considered to ask, and that one of them is ready to know, The Espera would never deny the excursion, especially if it would help their wayward Mentee. ]

Two millennia or so ago, the Mother Moon— A force of great nature, not Sleep, mind— bestowed upon the earth Her Seed. Within we slumbered, like babes in the womb, and birthed, we were, when a being came in contact with the Seed at long last. This contact fuses both host and Seed, causing Lunar Exaltation: An ascension, from mortal to more.

[hongtian]

[ She was never known for her wisdom nor her intelligence, and Ruhong feels that keenly now. She can recall nothing like this from her studies, and it does not even begin to ring the bells of a memory long lost to a previous life. She feels herself thrumming, the promise of understanding or explanation closer now than it has been for the last half a year. ]

But you are not these hosts that have fused with the Seeds of the Mother Moon. You are companions.

... Our companions?

[uruz]

His companion.

But, to an extent— Yours, as well.

🙇‍♀️ crawls my way out of being sick

[hongtian]

"His"? Have we met... him? Or is he someone yet unknown to those of us here?

Please. Anything you can tell me.

i hope you're feeling better 💖

[uruz]

You all have heard of him plenty by now.

[ There is only one him they've heard of that much, in fact. But The Espera shall allow Ruhong to piece the remaining pieces together herself.

And wait for the weights of shock to drop. ]

thank you, much!!

[hongtian]

...You mean One.

[ And drop it does, though she makes this connection hesitantly, almost uncertain of her own conclusion. She is, after all, more accustomed to relying on cleverer companions and a well-placed Detect Thoughts spell to confirm suspicions—neither a luxury she has at the moment. ]

Don't you? The Him we have all discussed the most—you mean One? One ascended from mortality to godhood? Is that why Sleep wants him?

[uruz]

That is.

[ All of it— now feeling like lifted weights. ]

Do you understand now, why She must not have him? If Sleep were to usurp his body, his mind—

This world and those beyond, yours, are all doomed.

[hongtian]

Yes. I understand perfectly.

[ Grim. Flint. Ruhong feels a prickling under her skin as though she has just been dunked in ice water. Rather than creating any contradictions, this revelation aligns perfectly with Ruhong’s beliefs and what she has already decided is behind Sleep’s nightmarish takeover of this place.

Wherever she stands in the city, Ruhong grasps reflexively for the opal pendant that doubles as her holy symbol in a silent prayer. ]

I do not swear oaths lightly and rarely do I swear them easily, but it seems I do for you. I’ll cherish this knowledge you gave me, and I’ll ensure others know this importance, too. Sleep will not usurp him. Darkness will not doom this place for good.

I am sorry that I couldn’t help him—before. I won’t fail again. As One brought back the dawn, I want to remind him of the light.

[uruz]

As I shall do everything in my power to aid you all.

The Numerals are the key. You are the cogs.

[hongtian]

Yes. I think Three was trying to give us what hints he could about where to find them and how to help.

Espera, does Sleep listen to the Murmur? Is it safe to share this information in that way?

[uruz]

[ Good— that's very good. Three's awakening is ever promising. Now, the worst of their problems . . . ]

She listens in the way we hear the breeze, or a bird's song— She is everywhere and not, and it's hard to say where Her attention sticks, or wavers.

She considers Herself above us. I say that should be used.

[hongtian]

[ grimly: ]

That is more or less as expected—yet helpful to have confirmed.

I cannot thank you enough for all that you have shared with me. I will ensure that all know how crucial it is that we do not allow harm to come to One yet again. And—

Are you in any danger?

[uruz]

[ The Espera sigh, three in one entity, wishing each for their sister bodies to react in tandem except, there is nothing to carry it out. Just the void she is trapped in. ]

No. I simply exist in a state of limbo, for now. With order returning, the Numerals . . . My boys— So may my bodies.

[hongtian]

They... are your bodies? They are part of you as well?

[uruz]

Oh, no— Th boys are each their own.

But my bodies are three, spread from one mind.

[hongtian]

It feels almost foolish to ask this—but is Sleep also the reason you are all of you so... scattered? Did She do this to all of you?

[uruz]

There is no such thing as a foolish question.

[ Although she does pause, as if measuring her words carefully. ]

She is the root of it all, yes. If the Numerals and I are kept in the Void, One is vulnerable.

[hongtian]

So we search to free them, and when we do, we free you too.

[ She considers this and does not question it much further. ]

When we free you [ for they will, they must ] and him from Her clutches, what will you do?

[uruz]

I will do everything in my power to give him the push he needs to defeat her. I believe in him.

[ and then, fondly: ]

. . . I will also give you all an embrace worth remembering, turn the pages of books waiting for my return, and feast on the fabled Banana Joe Banana Chips.

[ She misses doing things with her hands. ]