9
To say that this curse causes me no small amount of distress would be a gross understatement. In the interest of preventing myself from focusing on how very exposed I feel today, I've made revisions to the informational document I posted previously.
The City
It has no other name. The City appears to be something of a nexus where thousands-if not millions-of potential universes converge.
The City’s Population
The population of the City remains relatively constant. Numbers of people entering the City exhibit a cyclical pattern, with an influx of new arrivals appearing every other week or so. There appears to be no end of variety in the makeup of the City’s population.
Statistics
On the 17th of January, 2009, I conducted a survey to learn more about the people of the City. Here, in brief, are the results of that survey. The results are expressed in percentages and, for the sake of simplicity, rounded to the nearest whole percentage point. Keep in mind that these numbers are mere approximations; only a fraction of the City’s inhabitants chose to participate. Additionally, these percentages are given to change with the constant cycle of comings and goings.
Species Breakdown
-Human: 61%
-Human with Superhuman Abilities: 25%
-Vampire: 4%
-Demonic Entity: 4%
-Other: 6%
State Within the City
-Living: 82%
-Dead (prior to entering the City): 10%
-Dead (due to events that occurred after entering the City): 6%
-Other: 2%*
Number of Exits from the City
(Does not include exits that resulted in total amnesia)
-None: 67%
-One: 23%
-Two: 8%
-Three: 2%
Topics of Concern
ABILITIES
-The City appears to damper the abilities of many who enter it. While powers that a citizen had in their home world typically survive the transition into the City, they are often notably weaker.
BARRIERS
-Throwing oneself bodily at the barriers surrounding the City does not result in the successful penetration of said barrier. The effectiveness of this approach is not appreciably enhanced by the number of people attacking the barrier.
CURSES
-Curses can entirely alter a citizen’s emotions, but they also have the ability to enhance emotions that have been kept hidden.
-Not all curses terminate at midnight.
-Certain curses may result in a false death. That is, a citizen who expires in the duration of a curse may find his or herself fully alive when the curse ends.
-There is no known way to avoid curses. They are, at this time, considered random.
DEATH
-If a living person dies within the City, there is a chance that they will return. Once they have revived, however, they are incapable of returning to their home world. Some are resurrected with whole, unharmed bodies, while others return sporting whatever injuries caused their demise.
-If a person was dead in their home world, they will be dead in the City.
-Those in the City who are dead are not noticeably different from those who are alive-they are capable of healing from injuries, metabolizing food and drink, and breathing. Eating, drinking, and breathing do not, however, appear necessary. Their body temperature is appreciably lower than that of a living being, their hearts don’t beat, and their blood flows rather sluggishly without the heart’s propulsion.
-There is a cemetery within the City, and there are bodies within this cemetery. Presumably, those who die in the City and fail to return are buried here.
DEITIES (see the section on known deities further down)
-There are higher powers than the deities. As one deity said: “I am not as high as one can go in this hierarchy.”
-The deities are by no means permanent. They have a tendency to come and go.
-Deities will grant requests, provided something suitable is surrendered.
-Questioning the deities on the nature of the City will provide little to no viable information. There is speculation that not even they fully understand the inner mechanisms of the City.
-The deities can and will punish individual citizens or the populace as a whole for disobedience or bad behavior.
-They hear and read more than citizens might care to think. Be cautious when making disparaging remarks.
-The deities appear to operate as a loose sort of bureaucracy.
-There appears to be an agency that deploys the City’s deities. The deities have referred to it only as “headquarters.” It is likely that this is where their superiors are.
ESSENTIALS
-Minors-those under the age of eighteen-are provided with free room and board, and perhaps also with essential food items.
-Living quarters are not assigned. Open apartments are considered fair game.
-Working is necessary to earn money. Employment can be found at any of the numerous shops, eateries, and so on in the City’s central area.
MEMORY
-Frequently, those who leave the City return with little to no memory of their previous stay.
-Memory may be temporarily altered by curses or other Citywide events.
RETURNING HOME
-There is, at this moment, no proven way to return home at will, although there are rumours that such a feat is possible.
-Citizens typically return home unexpectedly. When they are not present in the City, their pictures may be found in the Hall of the Missing.
-I will offer what I believe is a truism, based on past trends: The harder you try to escape, the more elusive ways home become.
TICKING
-Upon arrival, most note the constant ticking. This sound is, presumably, emanating from the clock beneath the carousel.
-To lessen the noise, avoid isolation. Flat mates or a simple pet will damper the ticking’s volume.
TIME (see the section on the Clock further down)
-Time within the City is not necessarily synchronized with the time in other worlds.
-The City operates on a standard system of twenty-four hour days, with seven days in each week.
The Clock
(and its possible relevance)
Known:
-The clock is located beneath the carousel.
-Some sort of force field prevents the curious from getting too close.
-The clock has, at some point, showed signs of “winding down.”
Speculation:
-The clock is counting down to the end of all worlds.
-The deities draw their power from the clock.
-The clock absorbs negative energy generated by the curses.
-At one point, a power higher than the deities arrived to fix the clock.
Further Speculation
What is apparent is the significance of time in the City. The apartment buildings are arranged like the numbers of a clock, with the carousel as a central point. The ticking sound is a dominant feature of the City, and the City's clock appears to be of great importance (judging, of course, by the amount of care taken in keeping it inaccessible). The curses, while sporadic at best, generally last twenty-four hours. Those that go on longer can still be divided into twenty-four hour increments. Citizens of the City who die revive in twenty-four hours' time. There are patterns everywhere, but the significance of the day--perhaps of multiples of twelve, if the City has a strictly mathematical basis--is as of yet unknown.
Thought: The City’s Doomsday Clock
There has been speculation that the City’s most prominent feature-the carousel, to which the clock is attached-is counting down to a massive end of all universes, or even to the end of the City itself. Some have proposed that the City is serving as a kind of ark, if you’ll forgive the biblical allusion; perhaps those who are pulled into it are meant to survive the destruction of all other universes.
Thought: The City as a Conscious Entity
The City appears to have a will of its own, quite independent of that of the deities. Some propose that the City is, in some way, a living thing, and that it subsists on the unhappiness of the population.
The Known Deities
Laszlo Jamf (Doctor)
Laszlo appears to be a male deity with an appreciation for the sciences, particularly modern psychology. Laszlo resents covalent bonds. Of the deities, he tends to present himself as the most cynical and least likely to render aid.
Notable quote: “It's nothing as it seems.”
Lenny
The gender of this deity is in question. Lenny enjoys tea.
Lina
Lina is the newest deity, female, and prone to speaking loudly. Her command of the English language is less than impressive, and she speaks largely in third person; she does, however, appear largely benevolent to those who approach her with respect.
Mouse
Fond of mechanics.
Sabine
Sabine seems to be a female deity with a kind, nurturing aspect. According to some, she was rather benevolent at one time and has become less so just recently. She has a fondness for the gardens of Xanadu.
Virginia Lupus
Virginia presents herself as an older female who enjoys fine drinks and teasing those of us stranded in the City. She has a sense of humour, although its bent may not be favourable to citizens. Of all of the deities, Virginia appears to be the most respected and the least pleasant to cross.
*Due to the nature of the City, it is difficult to form categories that adequately describe every citizen within its boundaries. Exceptions are almost guaranteed.
My thanks to those who have shared their knowledge and participated in the latest survey, and to Cain Hargreaves, who has been an endlessly valuable source of information as well as a worthy compatriot.
This modest guide will be refined and expanded upon periodically. Should you wish to donate information, correct an error, or pose a theory of your own that might better our ongoing attempts to understand the City, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Last Update: 28 January 2009
Now! Is there anyone wandering about in monastic robes, by any chance? If so, you may want to be careful. In addition to expandable stakes, a bottle of holy water, and a few other odds and ends, there's a very small vial in one of the pockets--the rightmost pocket on the reverse side of the cassock, if I remember correctly--that contains an experimental gelatinous explosive that interacts rather violently with oxygen. Take care not to break that, if you would.
[ooc: Carl has switched clothes with Jun and is appropriately mortified. No photomanip from me-- it's too scary. Those in the Hellsing household are more than free to point, laugh, and make rude remarks (also don't hesitate to tell the freeloader to get a job and find an apartment of his own).]
The City
It has no other name. The City appears to be something of a nexus where thousands-if not millions-of potential universes converge.
The City’s Population
The population of the City remains relatively constant. Numbers of people entering the City exhibit a cyclical pattern, with an influx of new arrivals appearing every other week or so. There appears to be no end of variety in the makeup of the City’s population.
Statistics
On the 17th of January, 2009, I conducted a survey to learn more about the people of the City. Here, in brief, are the results of that survey. The results are expressed in percentages and, for the sake of simplicity, rounded to the nearest whole percentage point. Keep in mind that these numbers are mere approximations; only a fraction of the City’s inhabitants chose to participate. Additionally, these percentages are given to change with the constant cycle of comings and goings.
Species Breakdown
-Human: 61%
-Human with Superhuman Abilities: 25%
-Vampire: 4%
-Demonic Entity: 4%
-Other: 6%
State Within the City
-Living: 82%
-Dead (prior to entering the City): 10%
-Dead (due to events that occurred after entering the City): 6%
-Other: 2%*
Number of Exits from the City
(Does not include exits that resulted in total amnesia)
-None: 67%
-One: 23%
-Two: 8%
-Three: 2%
Topics of Concern
ABILITIES
-The City appears to damper the abilities of many who enter it. While powers that a citizen had in their home world typically survive the transition into the City, they are often notably weaker.
BARRIERS
-Throwing oneself bodily at the barriers surrounding the City does not result in the successful penetration of said barrier. The effectiveness of this approach is not appreciably enhanced by the number of people attacking the barrier.
CURSES
-Curses can entirely alter a citizen’s emotions, but they also have the ability to enhance emotions that have been kept hidden.
-Not all curses terminate at midnight.
-Certain curses may result in a false death. That is, a citizen who expires in the duration of a curse may find his or herself fully alive when the curse ends.
-There is no known way to avoid curses. They are, at this time, considered random.
DEATH
-If a living person dies within the City, there is a chance that they will return. Once they have revived, however, they are incapable of returning to their home world. Some are resurrected with whole, unharmed bodies, while others return sporting whatever injuries caused their demise.
-If a person was dead in their home world, they will be dead in the City.
-Those in the City who are dead are not noticeably different from those who are alive-they are capable of healing from injuries, metabolizing food and drink, and breathing. Eating, drinking, and breathing do not, however, appear necessary. Their body temperature is appreciably lower than that of a living being, their hearts don’t beat, and their blood flows rather sluggishly without the heart’s propulsion.
-There is a cemetery within the City, and there are bodies within this cemetery. Presumably, those who die in the City and fail to return are buried here.
DEITIES (see the section on known deities further down)
-There are higher powers than the deities. As one deity said: “I am not as high as one can go in this hierarchy.”
-The deities are by no means permanent. They have a tendency to come and go.
-Deities will grant requests, provided something suitable is surrendered.
-Questioning the deities on the nature of the City will provide little to no viable information. There is speculation that not even they fully understand the inner mechanisms of the City.
-The deities can and will punish individual citizens or the populace as a whole for disobedience or bad behavior.
-They hear and read more than citizens might care to think. Be cautious when making disparaging remarks.
-The deities appear to operate as a loose sort of bureaucracy.
-There appears to be an agency that deploys the City’s deities. The deities have referred to it only as “headquarters.” It is likely that this is where their superiors are.
ESSENTIALS
-Minors-those under the age of eighteen-are provided with free room and board, and perhaps also with essential food items.
-Living quarters are not assigned. Open apartments are considered fair game.
-Working is necessary to earn money. Employment can be found at any of the numerous shops, eateries, and so on in the City’s central area.
MEMORY
-Frequently, those who leave the City return with little to no memory of their previous stay.
-Memory may be temporarily altered by curses or other Citywide events.
RETURNING HOME
-There is, at this moment, no proven way to return home at will, although there are rumours that such a feat is possible.
-Citizens typically return home unexpectedly. When they are not present in the City, their pictures may be found in the Hall of the Missing.
-I will offer what I believe is a truism, based on past trends: The harder you try to escape, the more elusive ways home become.
TICKING
-Upon arrival, most note the constant ticking. This sound is, presumably, emanating from the clock beneath the carousel.
-To lessen the noise, avoid isolation. Flat mates or a simple pet will damper the ticking’s volume.
TIME (see the section on the Clock further down)
-Time within the City is not necessarily synchronized with the time in other worlds.
-The City operates on a standard system of twenty-four hour days, with seven days in each week.
The Clock
(and its possible relevance)
Known:
-The clock is located beneath the carousel.
-Some sort of force field prevents the curious from getting too close.
-The clock has, at some point, showed signs of “winding down.”
Speculation:
-The clock is counting down to the end of all worlds.
-The deities draw their power from the clock.
-The clock absorbs negative energy generated by the curses.
-At one point, a power higher than the deities arrived to fix the clock.
Further Speculation
What is apparent is the significance of time in the City. The apartment buildings are arranged like the numbers of a clock, with the carousel as a central point. The ticking sound is a dominant feature of the City, and the City's clock appears to be of great importance (judging, of course, by the amount of care taken in keeping it inaccessible). The curses, while sporadic at best, generally last twenty-four hours. Those that go on longer can still be divided into twenty-four hour increments. Citizens of the City who die revive in twenty-four hours' time. There are patterns everywhere, but the significance of the day--perhaps of multiples of twelve, if the City has a strictly mathematical basis--is as of yet unknown.
Thought: The City’s Doomsday Clock
There has been speculation that the City’s most prominent feature-the carousel, to which the clock is attached-is counting down to a massive end of all universes, or even to the end of the City itself. Some have proposed that the City is serving as a kind of ark, if you’ll forgive the biblical allusion; perhaps those who are pulled into it are meant to survive the destruction of all other universes.
Thought: The City as a Conscious Entity
The City appears to have a will of its own, quite independent of that of the deities. Some propose that the City is, in some way, a living thing, and that it subsists on the unhappiness of the population.
The Known Deities
Laszlo Jamf (Doctor)
Laszlo appears to be a male deity with an appreciation for the sciences, particularly modern psychology. Laszlo resents covalent bonds. Of the deities, he tends to present himself as the most cynical and least likely to render aid.
Notable quote: “It's nothing as it seems.”
Lenny
The gender of this deity is in question. Lenny enjoys tea.
Lina
Lina is the newest deity, female, and prone to speaking loudly. Her command of the English language is less than impressive, and she speaks largely in third person; she does, however, appear largely benevolent to those who approach her with respect.
Mouse
Fond of mechanics.
Sabine
Sabine seems to be a female deity with a kind, nurturing aspect. According to some, she was rather benevolent at one time and has become less so just recently. She has a fondness for the gardens of Xanadu.
Virginia Lupus
Virginia presents herself as an older female who enjoys fine drinks and teasing those of us stranded in the City. She has a sense of humour, although its bent may not be favourable to citizens. Of all of the deities, Virginia appears to be the most respected and the least pleasant to cross.
*Due to the nature of the City, it is difficult to form categories that adequately describe every citizen within its boundaries. Exceptions are almost guaranteed.
My thanks to those who have shared their knowledge and participated in the latest survey, and to Cain Hargreaves, who has been an endlessly valuable source of information as well as a worthy compatriot.
This modest guide will be refined and expanded upon periodically. Should you wish to donate information, correct an error, or pose a theory of your own that might better our ongoing attempts to understand the City, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Last Update: 28 January 2009
Now! Is there anyone wandering about in monastic robes, by any chance? If so, you may want to be careful. In addition to expandable stakes, a bottle of holy water, and a few other odds and ends, there's a very small vial in one of the pockets--the rightmost pocket on the reverse side of the cassock, if I remember correctly--that contains an experimental gelatinous explosive that interacts rather violently with oxygen. Take care not to break that, if you would.
[ooc: Carl has switched clothes with Jun and is appropriately mortified. No photomanip from me-- it's too scary. Those in the Hellsing household are more than free to point, laugh, and make rude remarks (also don't hesitate to tell the freeloader to get a job and find an apartment of his own).]
