003 ♕ Paradisa: a comprehensive report destined to piss some people off (text + spam)
[Lois Lane is parked in a chair at a table in the middle of the library, notes sprawled everywhere around her, books opened haphazardly, the map of Paradisa spread open before her, and a veritable graveyard of empty white Styrofoam coffee cups rising up around her like some kind of miniature city. Her face is smashed against the journal that lays open in front of her, and she's out like a light, circles carved under her eyes from apparently pushing herself as far as she could before sleep turned the inevitable tide. Above her cheek, it's possible to see what page she was looking over when she zonked out: the journal of one Clark Kent.]
[ooc; open to spam of anyone who wants to come into the library and find her as such. The rest is text, written as a journal entry before she passed out. Later edits to the report will be in red.]
[Anyone interested in solving the castle mysteries, and esp. Clark Kent, the Blur, Akihiko Sanada, Prof Raine Sage Jr., Tim Drake, Yuan, Lady Sylvanas Windrunner, Stephanie Brown, Cassie Sandsmark, York, Oliver Queen, Chloe Sullivan, Roy Harper, Tony Stark, Allen Walker, York, Asano Rin & Arthur Pendragon.]
If you're on the list of priority names and you have no idea why, it's because somebody name dropped you to me in as somebody with information on the Outsiders/Arachne/Dead Zone/world beyond, etc. I could use all of your help, with any information possible. I'm making it my goal to compile all the information people have come up with in one place, because this constant rehashing over things is going to get us nowhere at the speed of light.
Here's what I've got so far. If you know anyone else who has valuable intel on this kind of thing, direct them here. I'm curious about why everybody's so keen on information lockdown and filtering things when we're probably being constantly watched anyways. I'm going to continue striking things out and squeezing more in the margins as we get more information so feel free to check back.
I'd apologize if I spilled something you wished to keep personally private here, but if we're going to figure out the truth about this place, trying to keep your own little secrets isn't going to fly. We need to shine light on all the corners of what's going on, and I was careful not to attach names of specific sources. This is all piece mealed from a variety of reports as well as old journal entries.
Paradisa, a comprehensive report
by Lois Lane
Paradisa:
Allen Walker suggested we make a calendar system to follow, so I'm going to use that to label this from now on:
BCRE (Before Current Resident Era): the period of the First Generation, leading up to the arrival of current Cair Paradisans
year 0CRE (Current Resident Era): the first December that people arrived here
1CRE: the January that followed onward.
New Years 3CRE: The Dead Zone borders first shift
4CRE: Current year
5CRE: Current year
Recently, Yuki Nagato and Cassandra Cain uncovered a map of the area surrounding the castle, in a bookshop in Paradisa Town.
Yuki pointed out:
-No legend or proper compass.
-A title insinuating the continent itself is referred to as Paradisa.
-The symbol used to represent Cair Paradisa also appeared near the top right corner.
-A grey line connecting this continent to another unknown landmass.
Known locations:
Cair Paradisa & City Royale:
The consensus seems to be that the castle itself is some kind of sentient entity, which is a whole new level of creepy, but raises serious concerns on a lot of levels. If the castle's truly alive, then it seems like every moment of our lives here is being monitored, no matter what we might choose to stick under filters. Given the number of crazy disturbances this place apparently likes to throw at the residents, and considering that almost every single resident seems to be someone slightly extra-ordinary in at least one capacity or another (from superpowers, to their experiences, to simple courage), it looks a lot like we're rats in a laboratory, being tested. So whether this is just to learn about us, or to try to prepare us for something / find out which of us are most capable, or to teach us something, either way it's clear that the castle, or whoever controls it, has something in mind for us. The fact that some people are sent home occasionally seems to reinforce the second theory, though it's been noted that some people come back as well: perhaps, given that time travel seems to be involved in this whole mess, because they were brought here too early to be as useful as the castle wants them to be.
The place seems to designed to keep the residents from complaining too much, whenever the experiments aren't being run. Spirits are everywhere, willing to grant any basic desire for items or food, and the town outside provides employment so that those who can't stand to sit still can do something to keep their minds and bodies occupied. It also creates a mental illusion of a self sufficient community, and seems designed to make people more psychologically inclined to adapt to 'settling down' here. The castle also seems to enact some kind of mental draw on residents who attempt to go beyond its borders too far: however Roy Harper claimed that eventually, anyone could learn to ignore it..
All Cair Paradisa residents arrive inside or near to the castle, and none of them are natives of this world. Each one seems to suffer the loss of something personal to them (oftentimes important memories, sometimes powers or abilities that they valued at home). Some of them even possess superhuman abilities.
According to Joy (see the Arachne section below), there's some kind of power hidden in the castle that others want to get at, though nothing's been discovered yet, and we're not sure we can take her word as law.
Additions from Allen:
"it's important to note that the castle has a limit on things that a person wishes for. They cannot wish for a living thing...or a large item like a car. Sometimes these will appear during Christmas or another point in time, but not on a timetable the residents control...also it doesn't really fill requests that the residents wish for as just assumes what to give a person. It's as if the castle has limits of energy that it takes to do things like this, which is important to note later.
Also it should be noted that there is a theory that townspeople could have once been residents as well. This is backed up by the fact that it's been found that at least one towns person has a journal like ours and back in January of 4CRE, there was an attempt by the castle to manipulate many of the powerful residents into thinking that they should be townspeople. This was only stopped when the people who weren't affected... destroyed the castle. I think that repairing itself and keeping us under control was too much energy for it.
Though I do not know any measurement on what the castle's energy is in any quantifiable way like electricity. But there is a limit.
It's also completely possible for a person to change their loss. Though it usually requires the person to die, sustain a serious injury or go on a loss. There is no predicting when a person's loss will change...even if these events do occur to them."
Flora, of Mineas Well, hinted that there was a secret behind the townspeople that connects City Royale to the castle, but she could not reveal any information about what that secret might be.
The castle is surrounded by a vast area known as the Dead Zone, in which magic, technology, even inherent abilities of superheroes cease to function, which had made it difficult to cross. For details on why, see the section on the Dead Zone and First Generation below.
Pillar Fields:
Due north of the castle. Where Prof. Raine found a switch that expanded the area unaffected by the Dead Zone.
"I've only been out there once myself, and that wasn't when Professor Sage found the switch but earlier. Though...I do recall you get a very odd sense...of playfulness when you go there. I don't know exactly why or how it does so." -- Allen Walker
Wanderer's Yard:
Northwest of the castle. Contains gravestone-like structures containing the names of all current residents, past and present. Current resident names are painted in red.
Pier:
Northeast of the castle. Has been examined. By who? Anything to report? It's worth noting that there's nothing living in the water, whatsoever - fish, plants, algae, etc..
An Outpost is located here.
Tower:
Northeast of the castle. Has been examined. By who? Anything to report? According to Yamanaka Ino, the tower was empty. Raine says that it seemed to be the ruined remnant of a castle similar in scale to Cair Paradisa. [First Generation's castle?]
Mansion:
Unexplored, I think. Visited by someone (?). Who's Riful? Due south of the castle, on the fringe of the Dead Zone.
"Riful is a resident and an awakened being from a world where humans are implanted with yoma to be warriors. She is one who lost her mind to the yoma and is extremely powerful, as well as she feeds on human guts. She's incredibly powerful and she may...also be looking for allies. I know that last time I spoke to her, she seemed interested in having me grow stronger." -- Allen Walker
Riful captured a bunch of Cair Paradisans (Crowley, Julian, Deadpool, Elektra, Archie, Teresa, Dick, Ino, and Allen) and tortured them, trying to get them to ally with her (including eating someone's tongue). She's also been known to eat some of the townspeople, and is from the same world as Teresa. She normally appears as a human girl.
Eldritch Forest:
West of the castle, in the dead zone. Actually more of a swamp. Separated from us by a river (?)
"A swamp region is located to the west. That expedition was begun at the behest of spiders who had the ability to communicate to the residents of the castle through the use of language. A pig-like life form was encountered, as well as hostile spider-like life forms that attacked those on the expedition. An unknown species of fruit was recovered." -- Yuki Nagato
Home of the Arachne, and also where Damsel was encountered.
Lente's Point:
Unexplored (?). South of the castle, inside the Dead Zone.
Stonehuts:
Unexplored. Far southwest of the Castle, in the Dead Zone.
Stormlands:
Unexplored. Far southeast of the Castle, in the Dead Zone.
Mineas Well:
Unexplored. East of the Castle, in the Dead Zone.
In November of 4CRE, Ukitake and Tesla were two of those dumped in the Dead Zone by forces unknown. They came across a sign that pointed out the direction of the Well, and upon their return, Kat organized a team to go explore it. You can find a list of most of those who went on the trip here.
The exploration team first came across a forest of exceptionally tall trees, that had a path marked on them, though there were no other indications of inhabitants. According to Kat, "the trees themselves had what at first appeared to be glowing fruit, but at night was revealed to be animals, in some sort of dormant state until night. Raine Sage is trying to capture one to bring back." The expedition team reached a sealed gate, where they were met by a talking cat named Goldfleck, who invited them in to meet his mistress, Flora. They claimed to feed and house travelers (which Six seemed to confirm), and Flora admitted to have had a vision of the coming expedition team, that prompted her to expect their arrival. No weapons were allowed inside the Well, given that it was a place of peace.
Inside the Well was a Great Tree, where the expedition team spent the night, and then shared breakfast with Flora. The gate was left unguarded while they were there. Flora claimed to have chosen to live there, in isolation, as a neutral party, and house anyone who needed her assistance. Though Flora claimed to have a loss that prevented her from revealing secrets, she also admitted that she had 'agreed' to keep many secrets - so perhaps her 'loss' was a convenient way for her to not have to take too much flack for not discussing certain matters. She admitted to having been a resident of the castle previously. She said that she avoided staying within the castle itself, and may have stayed there almost as long as a decade. She claimed to have bound her life to the tree in exchange for its assistance.
According to Flora, the Legend of Mineas Well was as follows:
"Long ago, a young man set out on a quest to retrieve the sap of this tree, which is said to have healing properties. He wished to save his kingdom and his people, and to win the love of his queen. There was another faction that met him here, after his long and dangerous journey, and he was stabbed and left to die. He crawled to the tree and used its sap to try and save himself, only to find that it did not cure his wound. Many flowers grew out of of his wound, and it split him apart." --Flora
Flora implied that the tree inside Mineas Well has magic that functions within the Dead Zone, but can only be accessed by one who has made a pact with it; in this case, Flora herself. On top of this the sap of Mineas Well has great healing powers, but is too strong to use upon the human body. Flora claimed that Mineas Well is meant as a gathering place for neutral parties to rest and refresh themselves. An illusion outside the gates is meant to keep the more violent 1st Generation factions from even perceiving Mineas Well. It seems akin to the perception filters and protection barriers equipped within the TARDIS. However, while the castle residents were visiting, the Well was beset by agents of the First Generation, the Iron Suits, implying that either those protections had failed, they had found a way around them, managed to overhear about the expedition over the journals, or that Flora had been less than honest. Either way, they threatened to burn down the forest if they were not allowed entrance or handed the residents, and Flora revealed that there was a passage that would lead them back to the castle: a mysterious castle that operated as a portal and returned everyone safely.
Important information revealed by Flora & Six was compiled by the Fifth Doctor and is outlined here. [ #]
Flora's messenger, Goldfleck delivered a package to the castle before Christmas, and informed us that Flora was alright, and that the Iron Suits had stuck around for awhile after our residents left. He also revealed that they entered the Well and spoke with Flora, who 'talked them down'. When opened [ #], the package contained a crystal that serves as a constant portal to Mineas Well (located now in the castle courtyard, one simply has to touch it to activate it and take the trip, which connects to a matching crystal inside the Well) - as well as hundreds of small crystal necklaces, that could be used to power small electronics in the Dead Zone. The Fifth Doctor and several others ran tests on the crystals to test how they functioned: not only did they prove they work, but that they could also be chained together to enhance their power. The power of one crystal seems equivalent to about four Earth standard double-A sized batteries, according to the Doc. We're unsure how long they last. It's possible that they are self-replenishing, since they seem to run off from magic, not technology.
I have personal suspicions about Flora delivering us these crystals, however, especially given that Goldfleck admitted Flora spoke privately with the Suits after the Residents fled, despite telling residents that the Iron Suits would not be allowed in the tree. He said he didn't hear all of it, other than her telling them to stay away, and that she "wasn't doing anything that would hurt them". You can read more here, but basically it seems a little too good to be true that she created these in eighteen days (maybe less, since according to Goldfleck the Hostile had hung around for "lots of days" after the residents fled), after admitting she had never considered replicating technology until that time. Combine that with the fact that the power source is a technology we know the Hostiles already possess, and it's possible the Hostiles were the ones behind us receiving those gifts, whether they coerced or forced Flora into it, or something else. If so, they could be trackers, or just a way to tempt us into their territory to give them an excuse to take us out, considering how violent some of them have seemed to be. Of course, at this point, that's all just speculation: we have no reason to suspect Flora's not telling the truth.
Worth Point:
Unexplored. Far southeast of the Castle, in the Dead Zone.
Old House & Paradisa Town:
Northeast of the castle, in the Dead Zone.
"Paradisa Town and the house noted on the map have been examined. Paradisa Town was a site in which residents were transported to more than two years ago. An unusual sheep-like organism with eight legs was recovered during this expedition. Those on the expedition also encountered a possibly hostile life form that resembled both a plague doctor from medieval Europe, Earth and a large bird, who had contained a resident in the old house. The encounter ended with the life form's death." --Yuki Nagato
"Paradisa Town was a world change that happened in May of 2CRE. During that time, the town was filled with people who resembled animals. Residents had to work or scavenge for food or money and it was a peaceful week. This is especially because any attempts at violence was blocked by magic...and profanity caused you to be yelled at by a talking mole...[yes he knows how weird it sounds]
When we came across Paradisa town again in April of 4CRE, we found the city to be abandoned by the townspeople (Maybe they are also part of the first generation) and the magic that blocked violence to be gone. Not only that, but the houses that residents had stayed in were exactly as they had been left. There was no sign of dust or rotting of food that had been left behind. And there weren't just the sheep, there were fish in the lake and river that appeared perfectly normally when we fished them...as well as cockroaches in some of the houses that were large, but no different from the ones that appeared in the world change." -- Allen Walker
Where the map was found, and also an old picture of the castle (?)
Train Station:
Unexplored. West of the Castle, in the Dead Zone.
Last Look:
Unexplored. Southwest of the Castle, in the Dead Zone.
Cair Enigma:
Actually unmarked on the map but represented by the same symbol as Cair Paradisa, so we can assume another castle. It's far to the northeast, maybe outside the Dead Zone. The question marks could be an indicator that whoever made the map didn't know who it belonged to either. Maybe the map was made by the First Gen during exploration?
Terra Haute:
Unexplored. Far east of the castle, possibly outside the Dead Zone.
The Dead Zones and the First Generation/Outsiders:
According to Professor Raine, not only was there originally a complete different climate here, where the weather stayed the same year round, but there was an actual invisible physical force keeping anybody from cutting and running, that surrounded the castle at about a day's distance. Two years ago that border changed, and it sounds like there was no known cause for what prompted the shift, unless someone here can tell me otherwise.
So is there a potential scientific explanation for an invisible barrier or do we have to go with the theory that it's all magic? I remember a quote or something about any society that was tech savvy enough being indistinguishable from a society that used magic, so maybe it's just the technology we're talking about her is on an ultra-advanced level. In which case, it's hard to believe that the technology could have been hidden from our world so long, so either we're going to take it that we're in another dimension where technology is on an entirely different level, or that someone came from outside our world, bringing that technology with them. I'm not really sure which would be the better scenario as far as we were concerned.
Anyways, the barrier shift extended at this point to the border of what is now the Dead Zone, and in between that, and the place where there'd first be an invisible fence, technology, magic, and powers stopped working, just like the further out Dead Zone now. Which means that it's nothing inherent in the areas themselves, but rather some kind of outside force, which lends credence to the theory that it's some kind of generated disruption field or other, whether electronic or magical. Six confirmed that there is an area outside the Dead Zone where powers function normally, but that it fluctuates and moves: whether it moves because of someone altering the fields, or on its own is another question we have no answer to currently.
Two falls ago, Professor Raine and some others (if anyone can provide names of who was involved with this that's still here, that'd be appreciated), were checking out the Pillar Fields to the north of the castle when she found a switch. When it was flipped, the Dead field changed - moving to its current position, while the previous Dead Zone became open to tech and magic again. So the question is a) if that was really some sort of field generator, why would they put a switch there then fail to protect it, if someone was actively monitoring us, unless they wanted us to find it and flip it? And b) if the switch were flipped again, would the areas switch again? Since Pillar Fields is at the edge of the original Dead Zone, that would technically mean technology could be brought out there, the switch could be flipped, and if Raine was right about the Zones just being -reversed-, it would just be a matter of pushing things over the border and the outside world would be opened up. Or does it seem more likely that the switch didn't actually reverse anything, but just turned off the field generating around this specific area?
"The weather would constantly be like spring, except for at Christmas when it would snow for a few weeks...though it was still rather warm for winter then too, as I recall. This shift that caused the weather to change happened after a world change that took place in November of 2CRE. The world change itself was to a 21st century version of New York City. The first few days started out relatively normal, but then there was a gigantic blizzard that produced many feet of snow. A day or two later, there was a giant heat wave that caused all the snow to melt and flood the city. Finally there was a large tidal wave the size of the city, and the world shifted as we got hit by the tidal wave. After that, seasons would happen. " -- Allen Walker
"Changes that happen in Paradisa may extend out to the border of the Dead Zone. Before, when the powered area was small, there was a day when it was entirely dark. Yet Rin, who had ventured on a camping trip out into the dead zone, was in daylight and mentioned seeing the area of the castle engulfed in a spherical blackness. Then in April of this year when the surrounding area was a swamp, it extended only out to the second barrier; outside that, there was still water as far as the eye could see." --Prof RaineAccording to Flora, who lives in Mineas Well, magic can exist in the Dead Zone, as long as its source from Paradisa itself (see the section above on Mineas Well for more infomation). Therefore it seems to only reject magic that comes from outside this world. These external sources of magic, however, do not seem as capricious or malicious as the magic that resides in Cair Paradisa itself. It's possible that the magic that controls the journals all residents receive is connected either to a type of magic from outside this world, or to the castle's more sinister magic, as Flora revealed that journals cannot "follow their owners freely" into the Dead Zone.
Moving on, according to Clark, outside the current Dead Zone there are people who used to live in the same place we're living now (though with the other castle on the map, are we sure that's not where they lived, or did Reno Browne specify that they used to live here at Cair Paradisa?). For all intents and purposes, these people seem bound and determined to ignore us, with a few exceptions. Some people have crossed over beyond the Dead Zone (it sounded like, at least, from what Clark told me, though he also hasn't mentioned who, if any of you were involved) and managed to interact with a few of these people. It sounds like some people were calling them the outsiders, just because they live outside the Dead Zone and keep their distance. For the purposes of this report, I'm going to call them the First Generation, since it seems like they were in the same position that we're in now, once upon a time. There seems to be an entire community of them, living their lives, but also apparently not leaving the continent, at least not permanently. So far, all of the ones who have been spotted were human, though from the fact that some of them were dressed like cowboys and some of them were dressed like spacemen, it sounds to me like they were from just as many different worlds as the people at Cair Paradisa right now are. Which further supports the notion that they were in the same boat we're in now, once upon a time, though their reluctance to help us out shows that they don't consider themselves in that boat anymore, for one reason or another.
According to Flora, a First Gen-ner who lives in Mineas Well, and Six, another former resident, the First Generation is divided into several factions, and comprised of approximately 500 people. Six provided further information: there are two distinct large groups, and many smaller ones that travel more nomadically. The nomadic groups are the peaceful ones, and will trade in information or rare goods. The larger, non-hostile group is "more Northern". Reno Browne has mentioned mountains - it can easily be surmised that she is in this group. Occasionally those living outside of Cair Paradisa will find themselves affected by the same world changes as us. This is a reason to keep our guard up, even when not at the castle proper, as it were. These outside groups have established a rule amongst them that anyone wishing to leave the castle and join a faction must be self-sufficient for a minimum of five years before joining them (meaning cutting off all contact from the castle and its residents for that time). The Fifth Doctor speculated that perhaps the nomadic group followed the fluctuating areas that allowed outside powers and magic, although Six claims that this group keeps further north, about a month's travel from the castle. He says they're willing to trade in information and hard-to-find supplies.
As for the Hostile Group, see below (the Iron Suits/Metal Beasts). It's unknown how long these groups have been in this world, but Flora revealed that there were some who had been in this world for decades. She did not know whether there was a certain period of time after which it becomes impossible for a resident to ever return home or not. The First Generation may have more information on this: if any of their number who have been here for decades have ever left, we would have a clearer idea.
First contact (John Hammond, Whip Wilson, Reno Browne):
First contact with a non-resident was when Cair Paradisans visited some kind of dinosaur theme park (can anyone tell me where exactly this was and whether it just up and disappeared or what?) where they ran into a man named John Hammond. They didn't think anything of it at the time, figuring he was sort of extension of the castle's sentience. They later second guessed this a few months down the road, when the castle stuck Cair Paradisans in 18th century Kansas. Enter two more First-Genners - cowboys named Whip Wilson and Reno Browne, who asked about John Hammond and claimed he was a friend of theirs. They exhibited a fair share of self awareness of the situation, and signs seemed to point to the fact that they had lived at the castle, though there wasn't any evidence left over that somebody lived here.
This means either 1) the Castle wiped all the evidence clean to start fresh with us or 2) it wasn't -this- castle they were even at originally, but rather the one further out.
The First Generation seems to be able to get in and out of the weird world changes that the castle throws at us, though how they're able to do that remains a mystery. However, one of them threw around allusions to the Allegory of the Cave (I'll get back to that later), which seems to suggest that they understand something about the bigger picture that allows them to see this place for what it really is, and not end up victim to its shadow plays. It's all very Matrix, except they seem determined to keep up plugged in, going as far as to recently 'ban' us from entering their territory, outside the Dead Zone. They sound like they're not above using force if that's what it's going to take to do so.
So what kind of motivations could the First Generation have for keeping us here, and in the dark? It's been mentioned that they seem interested in protecting themselves, though what exactly they think they need to be protected from US from is beyond me. Unless they're afraid that us poking around is dangerous to not only us but them as well, and so they're trying to keep us on a short leash, in case we end up making some kind of mistake, like they might have already made, or almost made. Maybe they feel like if we even knew about the possibility of whatever it is, curiosity would get the better of SOMEone here, and damn everybody.
"I don't know very much more about the First Generation people, but I should note that according to Miss Reno Browne...they do not age like the people in the castle do not age. I am not sure if the people in the city age, no one has studied them long enough to find out. Also among the First Generation people, Miss Reno Browne said that there are children.
Of the people we know who are out among the first generation, it should be...said that Whip Wilson was killed during the world change that caused us to go to 19th century Kansas (not the 18th century). I...don't know if he ever returned to life. " --Allen Walker
A number of books went missing from the library around about the same time residents mysteriously were dropped in the Dead Zone.
Books Missing From The Library: Genetics in the Wild by John Hammond, Identifying Paradisian Flora by Morphology and DNA Fingerprints by Unknown, Flora Mirabilis by Unknown, Describing Species by John Hammond, and Flora and Fauna by Unknown
It was speculated that the books contained information that might be of value to the residents, though it's unknown as to whether they were removed by the castle itself, or whoever kidnapped residents. Given the Hostile group's apparent dislike of John Hammond, and the fact that they seem the ones most determined to keep us in the dark about this world, it's possible that these books contained clues to direct us to the information they've been trying to keep from us. Attempts to wish up copies of the books have failed as well..
Reno Browne (First Generation):
For awhile (last summer, it sounds like?), Reno was actually living at Cair Paradisa, and she still keeps a room here, on the twelfth floor, though it's empty right now. I went and double checked every inch of it (what's a little breaking and entering between friends?) and couldn't find a trace of anybody or anything except this note which she left:
For folk from Paradisa, the lot of you sure rose to the occasion. Though what happened was far from what Whip and I wanted from you, for your sake I hope you all can settle and forget this ever happened. It would be for the best. I'll warn you that much.
But I must be taking my leave now. Sorry to back out on my end of the deal, but there's a place I haven't seen in far too long and I best hit the trail before it goes cold.
God bless all of you.
Sincerely yours,
Reno Browne
She seems to be really friendly and bear no ill will herself towards the Cair Paradisans, but when she left, suddenly and mysteriously, she wasn't heard from for a long time, until she seems to have accidentally opened up her journal and broadcast a message. Someone in the background, a male voice, can be heard, and from their language, they don't sound like they're from the same time period as Reno is. They were overtly hostile towards her when she spoke to the Paradisans, ordering her not to talk to them anymore. Just the fact that she seemed reluctant to follow these orders seems to demonstrate that among the First Generation, it's a general consensus to keep from contacting us, but -not- something that everyone is 100% on board with. This gives us an opening, if we can find someone who sympathizes with us, that's not terrified of retaliation from the rest of the First Gen-ners.
Reno broke the enforced silence again, apparently for no other purpose than to wish Cair Paradisans happy holidays. She made a passing remark about how it had been awhile since she could look at her journal, which might imply that it was taken from her, or that she was being heavily monitored for awhile.
York, you said once that you thought Reno was trying to give you a message - what happened with that?
Crowley discovered a CD with a duet apparently sung by Reno & Roy, with some kind of disturbing lyrics. Roy confirmed that she is part of the larger nomadic group.
Damsel (First Generation):
Asano Rin and Stephanie Brown went exploring this summer through the swamp back in June and ended up lost, where they ran into a woman named Damsel. She demanded they close their journals before she'd talk to them, which seems to go along with that whole 'no broadcasting to Cair Paradisans' vibe that came from the other voice in Reno's entries. Despite this, she wasn't hostile towards Stephanie and Rin, although she didn't wish to return to the castle with them, possible because she worried that we'd try to get more information out of her here.
Stephanie's notes on Damsel:
- Woman called herself Damsel, wore a mask and had short black hair. 36 years old. Arrived wearing what looked like tactical gear. Possessed two swords.
- Had a boat with an engine, whatever powered it caused a blue glow. 2 rifles on boat.
- Knew about the spiders (ARACHNAE?) Said she was supposed to deliver a message to the queen, but she was dead. Didn't find out what the message was.
- Said something about not liking people from the castle and "promising to protect" us. (No idea what that meant...)
- ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE look this up!!, said they had to be the bad guys that left the cave.
- They're "stopping us from making the same mistake" (does that have to do with the protecting thing?)
- Said there ARE people out there that will be willing to give us answers, just not her rude
- was a superhero, has abilities: flight, strength, vision, force field
- GIOVANNI = BIRD PEOPLE. Said they were "nice people." ???
- Knew about Roy. Knew about him missing in late Feb.
- Giraffes (???)
Asano's additions:
- She said they both traded with locals and farmed to support themselves.
- She mentioned that they found both glowing starfruit and big pink apples to cultivate.
- She became hostile when questioned whether the group outside had ever had altercations with the 'native' Paradisans, like the Arachne.
The fact that her boat functioned in the Dead Zone indicates that either the First Generation found a way to counter the disruption field (with maybe whatever caused that blue glow), or they're the ones responsible for it in the first place.
I'm not sure who Roy is, so can anyone fill in the gaps on that?
As for the allegory of the cave, I looked that up, and can give you my interpretation of how it applies at least.
Plato talks about how people are prisoners of their sense, and that we're all trapped into believing things as we perceive them with our eyes, even if that's not reality, and will be naturally resistant to any attempts to break us from that. Anyone who was taken out of 'the cave' to see the sunlight would be met with hostility upon returning to the cave and trying to tell the people chained there of what was really going on. It also sort of deals with how truth is something you have to experience, rather than just read or hear about, if someone is going to really believe it.
So basically, it seems like a really melodramatic way of telling us that they see our ignorance of what is really going on as a good thing, because they've gotten a glimpse of what's really going on, and it's horrified them, or done some kind of damage to them, psychologically or otherwise. They want to protect us from being exposed to reality, and not being able to go back to our peaceful little lives here in King Arthur's court. They're also potentially worried that if they were to tell us the truth, we wouldn't believe them, or be able to cope with it, and that we'd turn on them, so they're as interested in protecting themselves as us.
Roy:
"Roy is a man who we found out by Paradisa Town in the old house. He was being held by the Doctor, who claimed that he was some sort of patient. Afterward we brought him back to Paradisa...he seemed to have relations with Reno and maybe the other First Generation people, but he seems to have memory trouble. I don't think that he's faking it. As far as I know, he is still in Paradisa if you wish to speak to him." --Allen Walker
Roy suffers from amnesia, however, regarding any events before he came here.
[Private]
Roy's bluffing: he remembers plenty, but he's not talking about his time with the cowboys to protect the good relations he has with them. Much like York.
[/Private]
Roy left the castle in 5CRE. During the arguments regarding Mineas Well, he voiced his own opinions over how the Outsiders viewed us: and implied that they might think of us as "minions of the castle, sent out to wreak havoc and destruction on the countryside". In other words, they might not believe they we aren't being mentally influenced by the castle - which might coincide with the fate of residents who possibly turned into townspeople. If this is true, then it only makes sense for them to be wary of us.
The Metal Beasts / The Iron Suits / The Hostiles [First Generation]:
See Arachne, below. Killed Joy, the Arachne, though the motivations for this are unknown. She claims they want to take over the castle. It's possible confirmed that they have different motivations from the rest of the first generation - and are some kind of splinter group? They seem to be the most openly hostile of anybody. According to Six, they stay close to the castle, and are protective of their territory. They split off from the other group after a few First Gens (Reno?) alerted castle residents to their existence, causing a rift in the group over how to deal with us. There are "a hundred or so" members, but only three "iron suits" - men possessing technology stolen from current castle resident Tony Stark. These power suits seemingly function in the Dead Zone: technology that might operate using a more powerful version of the crystals castle residents received from Flora. The suits are powered by batteries with a source that glows blue. They need to be recharged. It is possible that the hostile group has found a place similar in nature to Mineas Well to shelter in. It is uncertain whether they have an explicit plan to attack Cair Paradisa or the town proper. As the Fifth Doctor said: "This is a fair bit of information - when they showed themselves at the festival, their only victim was Joy, another non-resident, which hints at a conflict within the First Generation." They abhor John Hammond, in particular, for some reason. It was said that mentioning him was an easy way to tell friend from foe.
Six made an entry in January of 5CRE [ #] revealing that the hostile group had begun discussing executing any unsanctioned wanderers found in their territory. He said a contact down South (Lente?) claimed someone was killed over a misunderstanding just the week before. [Does this imply, perhaps, that the hostile group's base of operations might be to the south of the castle?] According to that same contact, the hostile group was offering negotiable "rewards" in exchange for large quantities of alcohol. This seems to support the notion that First Genners can no longer wish for items, and that those only come from the castle. It seems as if these 'negotiations' were opened to residents of the world, but not to castle residents: perhaps allies of the Hostiles, or even members of the nomadic group?
He also confirmed that the leader of the Hostiles was a female. He implied she was also "an idiot", , and that her position might have come about because she was involved with the acquisition of the suits. The group apparently feels as if the Dead Zone is 'their territory'. He said that whatever the group can't grow or produce themselves, they do without or smuggle from the castle, implying they have a way to get in. This would seem to support the idea that they were involved in the Dead Zone Disappearances (below).
Flora (and Goldfleck):
Residents of Mineas Well. They claim to be truly neutral parties. Flora, like other castle residents, has a loss, which, according to her, is the ability to divulge secrets. This seems to imply that even when they cut off contact from the castle, outsiders do not regain their losses. They both seemed very benign, and castle residents who went on the trip almost unanimously seemed to support the notion that they were trustworthy. She admits to be a witch back in her own world, though the title simply implies that she is someone who "strives to connect with the spirits of the world, and harness their strength in order to understand the world around us". She sometimes has limited visions of foresight. Her life is bound to the Great Tree of Mineas Well, which gives her some powers and abilities.
Lente
Mentioned to be living south of the castle, and familiar with Six and Flora. It's unknown precisely where she lives, though Six said she's part of the Nomadic group, though she has a permanent dwelling. She stopped by Mineas Well at least once. She refused to be alone with strangers unarmed.
Other groups we know of:
Six:
Not a group, but rather an individual, from the same generation as we are. He goes by the name "Six" to protect his identity from the outsiders, and left the castle in May of 3CRE, and attempted to join residents in the Dead Zone, hoping to find out more information. He has only recently begun revealing some of the information he's gleaned in his travels. He has no idea about why we're here, anymore than we do, and cut off contact with the residents for most of the time by keeping his journal duct taped shut. He's mostly traveled around the Eastern area of the Continent. He's had contact with a number of groups and individuals, including Flora. He feels that anyone he's run into who seems themselves as a 'native' here is likely simply delusional.
The Arachne (or spiders):
Back in mid-June, out of seemingly nowhere, the castle ended up filled up with hundreds of spiders that could talk. This was the first (?) encounter Cair Paradisans had had with non-human talking residents, but no one could figure out what they were doing in the castle initially. One of the spiders, named Joy, went to Akihiko Sanada, and reported that the spider's queen was in danger back at their home in the Eldritch Forest, just inside the borders of the Dead Zone to the west. She claimed the danger came from "metal beasts" who turned out to be humans, who seemed to be with the First Generation. Were those armored suits they were wearing the same ones they stole from the Peace Patrol and modified? Because if so, cat's out of the bag, boys. If there's a chance Tony knows how to counter them, we have to know it. The modifications, if that's what they were, allowed the suits to function in the Dead Zone, just like Damsel's boat, confirming that these guys seemed to be with the First Generation, and that as a collective they know how to get around the disruption field.
Professor Raine Sage, Jr., Tim Drake, Clark Kent, Yuan and Akihiko went on an expedition to the forest, into the Dead Zone, with the intention to help protect the spiders. On the first day they encountered the froglike creatures (see below), and Joy claimed they were involved in a territory war of sorts, though didn't provide any details, as she said she didn't know much about it. She also said these groups were fighting to get control of the source of power hidden in the castle. The group was then approached by a pig creature (see below), but left it to another group to deal with.
A day or two later, the team discovered tanks in the river. They searched them but they were empty - either way, it demonstrates that the 'dead zone' wasn't always dead, or at least it's not a constant.
Joy went ahead to prepare the queen to meet them, but never returned, and when the team proceeded to meet the Queen of the Spiders, she wasn't like the rest of the Arachne. Instead she was half-human, half-spider, and she attacked the group, though they took her down. Joy conveniently reappeared, claiming the power suited First Genners captured her, and sent an imposter Queen to attack them. She said the imposter ate the real Queen alive in front of her. Her comments about never having seen the suits before contradicted later statements she made, and seemed to catch her in a lie, so it's possible that anything she was saying was a distortion of the truth. Joy announced she was going to be taking the throne, which makes her motivations in leading a group of Paradisans there extra suspicious, since she could have wanted them to do the dirty work for her, and easily have warned the Queen that the group meant to kill her, resulting in their being attacked at first sight. Either way, someone in the group kept pressing her with questions, and she ran off, which seems to show she had something to hide.
Supposedly the real Queen had a wealth of info about Paradisa, but of course we lost all possibility of accessing that when she died.
A couple months later, Joy showed up in City Royale, in human form, acting incredibly suspicious. If it even actually was Joy, it seems to imply the Arachne can shapeshift. She claimed the First Genners in armor met with her and tried to get her to join with them in an attempt to take over the castle. She was gunned down by those same men before she could say more, and the Paradisan with her at the time would have been killed if she hadn't taken the bullet. One of them cheered when Joy died, and some Paradisans tried to give chase to them when they headed towards the Dead Zone, but it sounds like no one caught up to them? but Jr, Raine, Sylvanas Windrunner, and Yuan followed them. There was an altercation at a campsite with them, that had been used by Arthur and Allen, and they discovered some of the weird facts about the buffalo there (See Buffalo). They discovered a second abandoned campsite, and Sylvanas and Raine returned to the Outpost, while Jr and Yuan had a run-in with the men in suits, who took their mounts, lifted them up, and dropped them within the castle's reach as a sort of public humiliation.
The whole situation with Joy strikes me as a case of some political backstabbing, but there might be truths in there somewhere.
Raine's account:
"When we first entered this area, called the Eldritch Greenwood, we encountered a type of fruit that energizes whoever eats it - it tastes of banana and strawberry, and we are bringing samples of both fruit and seeds back to the castle for further study. If there are any residents skilled in gardening or plant-based magic, I would appreciate your assistance in cultivating these at the castle. They were all gathered in one area as though deliberately planted, so it's likely they can be domesticated for use in the castle gardens as well.
Shortly after passing this orchard, we came upon a collection of aged canoes. [She sketches one of the boats, pointing out the metal bits in aprticular.] They appear to be handmade. As the direction indicated by the spiders (both vocally and with arrows woven into webs) was into a swamplike area with glowing water, we took these boats for approximately a day and a half of travel into the Greenwood. About halfway to our destination, we were attacked by a giant boar that apepared to be rotting; it was destroyed before anyone was injured. Some heard it speak of "grinding our bones". There were also bodies of small, froglike creatures I'm told are called "Trevors" in the water that looked as though they had been torn apart. [And here she draws the Trevors, both an intact and a torn-up body, as well as a sketch of the charging boar.]
Once we had nearly reached out destination, we passed by several large metal vehicles stuck in the swamp. I was unable to inspect these directly, as my group's canoe was visited by a set of spider-human hybrid twins called Neville and Araina. [She has a quick sketch of one of the twins on Rin's lap and the other poking at Steph.] They led us to the solid group where we were greeted by the spiders' Queen, appearing first in the shape of a young girl. Naturally, she transformed into a giant spider and attempted to use her children to consume us. We fought back, sustaining injuries and with one casualty, until Joy, the original spider who asked for help, escaped from her prison and bit the imposter Queen, felling her.
Joy is now the new Queen of Spiders, claiming the twins and Queen who attacked us were imposters from the "metal beasts" who had taken control of the spiders. Although we were able to verify the presence of a second large spider corpse hidden from plain view, much of the truth remains a mystery. "
The Giovanni:
Bird people, who Damsel mentioned to be nice, though the one experience Cair Paradisans have had with them couldn't be qualified them that way. However, it's possible he was just one really bad seed. He had red eyes, called himself a doctor, and was encountered beyond the castle (where?) Someone told me to ask Raine about it, and about how it 'didn't like red hair'. It was holding one of the First Gen-ners hostage, and he had to be rescued (though he now suffers from total amnesia, conveniently). One of the metal suited First Gen-ners killed the Giovanni. It was also suffering from a transferable disease.
"The doctor we ran across transformed into a large monstrous thing when attacked, as if his body was swelling up (similar to Akuma...a sort of monster in my world who can disguise themselves as humans). In this form, normal weaponry that we could use in the Dead Zone was useless against him. Would refer to red heads as "titians" and he believed them to carry disease. When I attempted to pursue him, he had no interest in me as a person who doesn't have red hair.
A man in one of those metal suits... came by and fired some sort of...beam of light at the doctor. It caused the creature to develop many boils and pulse even more...until he exploded." --Allen Walker
The "Buffalo":
In late August, Arthur Pendragon and Allen Walker went looking for buffaloes, though where exactly they first heard of them I'm not sure (clear that up for me, gentlemen), and what they found was more than a little on the disturbing side. When they skinned the thing, they found that its innards were made up of human body parts: not like it ate someone, but like the body was actually fused inside the skin of the thing.
In other words, someone had to do this.
Here's another entry about the buffaloes.
Possibly chimera technology? - a form of alchemy.
"I heard about them when we came across them on our first expedition out into the Dead Zone (3 CRE). We decided to take a hunting trip and decided to go after the buffalo since those were the only creatures I recall being in that part of the dead zone. However, we never skinned the animal. It is only when we gutted it that we found....when the creature is turned inside out, it has the form of an eyeless human being. This was found to be the case with two buffalo, so it was not a fluke occurrence. " -- Allen Walker
There are some buffalo (as well as sheep) in the castle stables.
Frog-like creatures:
Joy claimed they were killed in a battle for territory, near the Eldritch forest, at the river. They appeared to have been torn apart. We're not sure how reliable her testimony was.
Pig-like creatures:
Hostile species in the Eldritch Forest that attacked an expedition team led by Yuan : also Tasselhoff Burrfoot, Oliver Queen, The Doctor - Zivilyn, Death the Kid, Faye Valentine, Sylvanas Windrunner, The Question and Alucard.(?) Not sure who was on that team but they "took care of it". Only one was even spotted.
"It was rotting and covered in tiny spiders, which seemed to be affecting it in some manner, although it wasn't easy to tell exactly how while it was attacking us. It spoke, after a fashion, shouting something about grinding our bones to make bread, but didn't seem to understand when it was being spoken to in return. After we killed it, it disintegrated, revealing that nearly all the flesh was gone, and a giant nest of tiny spiders rested where its heart should have been." - Yuan
This is by no means complete: there are years worth of journals to pick through and I've only been here a couple weeks. But I'm trying to at least pick out the important information and organize it so that we might figure out some patterns. And is there any word on people making further attempts to explore the Dead Zone? Seems kind of ridiculous to just sit here when there might be answers waiting out there.
Other mysteries:
Dropped in the Dead Zone: In November 4CRE, a number of residents, as well as townspeople were taken from wherever they were at the time (some from within the castle, some from en route to the Dead Zone), and dropped in various locations inside the Dead Zone. There is evidence that it took several hours to transport each one of them, but no noise accompanied the actual kidnappings, and some residents were only alone for as much as five minutes when it happened abruptly. There were no tracks leading away from the kidnapped, and even Akihiko's dog couldn't trace the scent of two vanished members of his party. Most residents appeared in the Dead Zone sans journal, and some suffered injuries, as if they had suffered a fall. Residents had no memory of how they got to that point, or who had kidnapped them. Other townspeople were encountered in the Dead Zone, but they were practically going out of their minds trying to get back to the castle, representing that it had a much bigger pull on them than it does on regular residents. Residents vanished in groups of 3, which was actually predicted days earlier by Lambdadelta.
Residents who were kidnapped:
Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Jo Harvelle, Lucy Saxon, Damian Wayne, Bela Talbot, Dick Grayson, Maya Fey, Haruno Sakura, Julian Keller, Nikola Tesla, Ukitake Jyuushiro, Joshua Foley, Minato Arisato, Lenalee Lee, Vereesa and Aleena Windrunner, Freelancer Washington, and Cross Marian.
Theories: It seems highly unlikely that the castle would have been behind this, as it has no reason to want to send residents away from it only to draw them right back in. It's possible that this involved the first generation outsiders who have the power suits. Zexion fully seemed to believe that the disappearances were probably caused by one of the Outsiders, and that they were testing the limits or reactions of residents.
[ooc; open to spam of anyone who wants to come into the library and find her as such. The rest is text, written as a journal entry before she passed out. Later edits to the report will be in red.]
[Anyone interested in solving the castle mysteries, and esp. Clark Kent, the Blur, Akihiko Sanada, Prof Raine Sage Jr., Tim Drake, Yuan, Lady Sylvanas Windrunner, Stephanie Brown, Cassie Sandsmark, York, Oliver Queen, Chloe Sullivan, Roy Harper, Tony Stark, Allen Walker, York, Asano Rin & Arthur Pendragon.]
If you're on the list of priority names and you have no idea why, it's because somebody name dropped you to me in as somebody with information on the Outsiders/Arachne/Dead Zone/world beyond, etc. I could use all of your help, with any information possible. I'm making it my goal to compile all the information people have come up with in one place, because this constant rehashing over things is going to get us nowhere at the speed of light.
Here's what I've got so far. If you know anyone else who has valuable intel on this kind of thing, direct them here. I'm curious about why everybody's so keen on information lockdown and filtering things when we're probably being constantly watched anyways. I'm going to continue striking things out and squeezing more in the margins as we get more information so feel free to check back.
I'd apologize if I spilled something you wished to keep personally private here, but if we're going to figure out the truth about this place, trying to keep your own little secrets isn't going to fly. We need to shine light on all the corners of what's going on, and I was careful not to attach names of specific sources. This is all piece mealed from a variety of reports as well as old journal entries.
Paradisa, a comprehensive report
by Lois Lane
Paradisa:
Allen Walker suggested we make a calendar system to follow, so I'm going to use that to label this from now on:
BCRE (Before Current Resident Era): the period of the First Generation, leading up to the arrival of current Cair Paradisans
year 0CRE (Current Resident Era): the first December that people arrived here
1CRE: the January that followed onward.
New Years 3CRE: The Dead Zone borders first shift
4CRE: Current year
5CRE: Current year
Recently, Yuki Nagato and Cassandra Cain uncovered a map of the area surrounding the castle, in a bookshop in Paradisa Town.
Yuki pointed out:
-No legend or proper compass.
-A title insinuating the continent itself is referred to as Paradisa.
-The symbol used to represent Cair Paradisa also appeared near the top right corner.
-A grey line connecting this continent to another unknown landmass.
Known locations:
Cair Paradisa & City Royale:
The consensus seems to be that the castle itself is some kind of sentient entity, which is a whole new level of creepy, but raises serious concerns on a lot of levels. If the castle's truly alive, then it seems like every moment of our lives here is being monitored, no matter what we might choose to stick under filters. Given the number of crazy disturbances this place apparently likes to throw at the residents, and considering that almost every single resident seems to be someone slightly extra-ordinary in at least one capacity or another (from superpowers, to their experiences, to simple courage), it looks a lot like we're rats in a laboratory, being tested. So whether this is just to learn about us, or to try to prepare us for something / find out which of us are most capable, or to teach us something, either way it's clear that the castle, or whoever controls it, has something in mind for us. The fact that some people are sent home occasionally seems to reinforce the second theory, though it's been noted that some people come back as well: perhaps, given that time travel seems to be involved in this whole mess, because they were brought here too early to be as useful as the castle wants them to be.
The place seems to designed to keep the residents from complaining too much, whenever the experiments aren't being run. Spirits are everywhere, willing to grant any basic desire for items or food, and the town outside provides employment so that those who can't stand to sit still can do something to keep their minds and bodies occupied. It also creates a mental illusion of a self sufficient community, and seems designed to make people more psychologically inclined to adapt to 'settling down' here. The castle also seems to enact some kind of mental draw on residents who attempt to go beyond its borders too far: however Roy Harper claimed that eventually, anyone could learn to ignore it..
All Cair Paradisa residents arrive inside or near to the castle, and none of them are natives of this world. Each one seems to suffer the loss of something personal to them (oftentimes important memories, sometimes powers or abilities that they valued at home). Some of them even possess superhuman abilities.
According to Joy (see the Arachne section below), there's some kind of power hidden in the castle that others want to get at, though nothing's been discovered yet, and we're not sure we can take her word as law.
Additions from Allen:
"it's important to note that the castle has a limit on things that a person wishes for. They cannot wish for a living thing...or a large item like a car. Sometimes these will appear during Christmas or another point in time, but not on a timetable the residents control...also it doesn't really fill requests that the residents wish for as just assumes what to give a person. It's as if the castle has limits of energy that it takes to do things like this, which is important to note later.
Also it should be noted that there is a theory that townspeople could have once been residents as well. This is backed up by the fact that it's been found that at least one towns person has a journal like ours and back in January of 4CRE, there was an attempt by the castle to manipulate many of the powerful residents into thinking that they should be townspeople. This was only stopped when the people who weren't affected... destroyed the castle. I think that repairing itself and keeping us under control was too much energy for it.
Though I do not know any measurement on what the castle's energy is in any quantifiable way like electricity. But there is a limit.
It's also completely possible for a person to change their loss. Though it usually requires the person to die, sustain a serious injury or go on a loss. There is no predicting when a person's loss will change...even if these events do occur to them."
Flora, of Mineas Well, hinted that there was a secret behind the townspeople that connects City Royale to the castle, but she could not reveal any information about what that secret might be.
The castle is surrounded by a vast area known as the Dead Zone, in which magic, technology, even inherent abilities of superheroes cease to function, which had made it difficult to cross. For details on why, see the section on the Dead Zone and First Generation below.
Pillar Fields:
Due north of the castle. Where Prof. Raine found a switch that expanded the area unaffected by the Dead Zone.
"I've only been out there once myself, and that wasn't when Professor Sage found the switch but earlier. Though...I do recall you get a very odd sense...of playfulness when you go there. I don't know exactly why or how it does so." -- Allen Walker
Wanderer's Yard:
Northwest of the castle. Contains gravestone-like structures containing the names of all current residents, past and present. Current resident names are painted in red.
Pier:
Northeast of the castle. Has been examined. By who? Anything to report? It's worth noting that there's nothing living in the water, whatsoever - fish, plants, algae, etc..
An Outpost is located here.
Tower:
Northeast of the castle. Has been examined. By who? Anything to report? According to Yamanaka Ino, the tower was empty. Raine says that it seemed to be the ruined remnant of a castle similar in scale to Cair Paradisa. [First Generation's castle?]
Mansion:
Unexplored, I think. Visited by someone (?). Who's Riful? Due south of the castle, on the fringe of the Dead Zone.
"Riful is a resident and an awakened being from a world where humans are implanted with yoma to be warriors. She is one who lost her mind to the yoma and is extremely powerful, as well as she feeds on human guts. She's incredibly powerful and she may...also be looking for allies. I know that last time I spoke to her, she seemed interested in having me grow stronger." -- Allen Walker
Riful captured a bunch of Cair Paradisans (Crowley, Julian, Deadpool, Elektra, Archie, Teresa, Dick, Ino, and Allen) and tortured them, trying to get them to ally with her (including eating someone's tongue). She's also been known to eat some of the townspeople, and is from the same world as Teresa. She normally appears as a human girl.
Eldritch Forest:
West of the castle, in the dead zone. Actually more of a swamp. Separated from us by a river (?)
"A swamp region is located to the west. That expedition was begun at the behest of spiders who had the ability to communicate to the residents of the castle through the use of language. A pig-like life form was encountered, as well as hostile spider-like life forms that attacked those on the expedition. An unknown species of fruit was recovered." -- Yuki Nagato
Home of the Arachne, and also where Damsel was encountered.
Lente's Point:
Unexplored (?). South of the castle, inside the Dead Zone.
Stonehuts:
Unexplored. Far southwest of the Castle, in the Dead Zone.
Stormlands:
Unexplored. Far southeast of the Castle, in the Dead Zone.
Mineas Well:
Unexplored. East of the Castle, in the Dead Zone.
In November of 4CRE, Ukitake and Tesla were two of those dumped in the Dead Zone by forces unknown. They came across a sign that pointed out the direction of the Well, and upon their return, Kat organized a team to go explore it. You can find a list of most of those who went on the trip here.
The exploration team first came across a forest of exceptionally tall trees, that had a path marked on them, though there were no other indications of inhabitants. According to Kat, "the trees themselves had what at first appeared to be glowing fruit, but at night was revealed to be animals, in some sort of dormant state until night. Raine Sage is trying to capture one to bring back." The expedition team reached a sealed gate, where they were met by a talking cat named Goldfleck, who invited them in to meet his mistress, Flora. They claimed to feed and house travelers (which Six seemed to confirm), and Flora admitted to have had a vision of the coming expedition team, that prompted her to expect their arrival. No weapons were allowed inside the Well, given that it was a place of peace.
Inside the Well was a Great Tree, where the expedition team spent the night, and then shared breakfast with Flora. The gate was left unguarded while they were there. Flora claimed to have chosen to live there, in isolation, as a neutral party, and house anyone who needed her assistance. Though Flora claimed to have a loss that prevented her from revealing secrets, she also admitted that she had 'agreed' to keep many secrets - so perhaps her 'loss' was a convenient way for her to not have to take too much flack for not discussing certain matters. She admitted to having been a resident of the castle previously. She said that she avoided staying within the castle itself, and may have stayed there almost as long as a decade. She claimed to have bound her life to the tree in exchange for its assistance.
According to Flora, the Legend of Mineas Well was as follows:
"Long ago, a young man set out on a quest to retrieve the sap of this tree, which is said to have healing properties. He wished to save his kingdom and his people, and to win the love of his queen. There was another faction that met him here, after his long and dangerous journey, and he was stabbed and left to die. He crawled to the tree and used its sap to try and save himself, only to find that it did not cure his wound. Many flowers grew out of of his wound, and it split him apart." --Flora
Flora implied that the tree inside Mineas Well has magic that functions within the Dead Zone, but can only be accessed by one who has made a pact with it; in this case, Flora herself. On top of this the sap of Mineas Well has great healing powers, but is too strong to use upon the human body. Flora claimed that Mineas Well is meant as a gathering place for neutral parties to rest and refresh themselves. An illusion outside the gates is meant to keep the more violent 1st Generation factions from even perceiving Mineas Well. It seems akin to the perception filters and protection barriers equipped within the TARDIS. However, while the castle residents were visiting, the Well was beset by agents of the First Generation, the Iron Suits, implying that either those protections had failed, they had found a way around them, managed to overhear about the expedition over the journals, or that Flora had been less than honest. Either way, they threatened to burn down the forest if they were not allowed entrance or handed the residents, and Flora revealed that there was a passage that would lead them back to the castle: a mysterious castle that operated as a portal and returned everyone safely.
Important information revealed by Flora & Six was compiled by the Fifth Doctor and is outlined here. [ #]
Flora's messenger, Goldfleck delivered a package to the castle before Christmas, and informed us that Flora was alright, and that the Iron Suits had stuck around for awhile after our residents left. He also revealed that they entered the Well and spoke with Flora, who 'talked them down'. When opened [ #], the package contained a crystal that serves as a constant portal to Mineas Well (located now in the castle courtyard, one simply has to touch it to activate it and take the trip, which connects to a matching crystal inside the Well) - as well as hundreds of small crystal necklaces, that could be used to power small electronics in the Dead Zone. The Fifth Doctor and several others ran tests on the crystals to test how they functioned: not only did they prove they work, but that they could also be chained together to enhance their power. The power of one crystal seems equivalent to about four Earth standard double-A sized batteries, according to the Doc. We're unsure how long they last. It's possible that they are self-replenishing, since they seem to run off from magic, not technology.
I have personal suspicions about Flora delivering us these crystals, however, especially given that Goldfleck admitted Flora spoke privately with the Suits after the Residents fled, despite telling residents that the Iron Suits would not be allowed in the tree. He said he didn't hear all of it, other than her telling them to stay away, and that she "wasn't doing anything that would hurt them". You can read more here, but basically it seems a little too good to be true that she created these in eighteen days (maybe less, since according to Goldfleck the Hostile had hung around for "lots of days" after the residents fled), after admitting she had never considered replicating technology until that time. Combine that with the fact that the power source is a technology we know the Hostiles already possess, and it's possible the Hostiles were the ones behind us receiving those gifts, whether they coerced or forced Flora into it, or something else. If so, they could be trackers, or just a way to tempt us into their territory to give them an excuse to take us out, considering how violent some of them have seemed to be. Of course, at this point, that's all just speculation: we have no reason to suspect Flora's not telling the truth.
Worth Point:
Unexplored. Far southeast of the Castle, in the Dead Zone.
Old House & Paradisa Town:
Northeast of the castle, in the Dead Zone.
"Paradisa Town and the house noted on the map have been examined. Paradisa Town was a site in which residents were transported to more than two years ago. An unusual sheep-like organism with eight legs was recovered during this expedition. Those on the expedition also encountered a possibly hostile life form that resembled both a plague doctor from medieval Europe, Earth and a large bird, who had contained a resident in the old house. The encounter ended with the life form's death." --Yuki Nagato
"Paradisa Town was a world change that happened in May of 2CRE. During that time, the town was filled with people who resembled animals. Residents had to work or scavenge for food or money and it was a peaceful week. This is especially because any attempts at violence was blocked by magic...and profanity caused you to be yelled at by a talking mole...[yes he knows how weird it sounds]
When we came across Paradisa town again in April of 4CRE, we found the city to be abandoned by the townspeople (Maybe they are also part of the first generation) and the magic that blocked violence to be gone. Not only that, but the houses that residents had stayed in were exactly as they had been left. There was no sign of dust or rotting of food that had been left behind. And there weren't just the sheep, there were fish in the lake and river that appeared perfectly normally when we fished them...as well as cockroaches in some of the houses that were large, but no different from the ones that appeared in the world change." -- Allen Walker
Where the map was found, and also an old picture of the castle (?)
Train Station:
Unexplored. West of the Castle, in the Dead Zone.
Last Look:
Unexplored. Southwest of the Castle, in the Dead Zone.
Cair Enigma:
Actually unmarked on the map but represented by the same symbol as Cair Paradisa, so we can assume another castle. It's far to the northeast, maybe outside the Dead Zone. The question marks could be an indicator that whoever made the map didn't know who it belonged to either. Maybe the map was made by the First Gen during exploration?
Terra Haute:
Unexplored. Far east of the castle, possibly outside the Dead Zone.
The Dead Zones and the First Generation/Outsiders:
According to Professor Raine, not only was there originally a complete different climate here, where the weather stayed the same year round, but there was an actual invisible physical force keeping anybody from cutting and running, that surrounded the castle at about a day's distance. Two years ago that border changed, and it sounds like there was no known cause for what prompted the shift, unless someone here can tell me otherwise.
So is there a potential scientific explanation for an invisible barrier or do we have to go with the theory that it's all magic? I remember a quote or something about any society that was tech savvy enough being indistinguishable from a society that used magic, so maybe it's just the technology we're talking about her is on an ultra-advanced level. In which case, it's hard to believe that the technology could have been hidden from our world so long, so either we're going to take it that we're in another dimension where technology is on an entirely different level, or that someone came from outside our world, bringing that technology with them. I'm not really sure which would be the better scenario as far as we were concerned.
Anyways, the barrier shift extended at this point to the border of what is now the Dead Zone, and in between that, and the place where there'd first be an invisible fence, technology, magic, and powers stopped working, just like the further out Dead Zone now. Which means that it's nothing inherent in the areas themselves, but rather some kind of outside force, which lends credence to the theory that it's some kind of generated disruption field or other, whether electronic or magical. Six confirmed that there is an area outside the Dead Zone where powers function normally, but that it fluctuates and moves: whether it moves because of someone altering the fields, or on its own is another question we have no answer to currently.
Two falls ago, Professor Raine and some others (if anyone can provide names of who was involved with this that's still here, that'd be appreciated), were checking out the Pillar Fields to the north of the castle when she found a switch. When it was flipped, the Dead field changed - moving to its current position, while the previous Dead Zone became open to tech and magic again. So the question is a) if that was really some sort of field generator, why would they put a switch there then fail to protect it, if someone was actively monitoring us, unless they wanted us to find it and flip it? And b) if the switch were flipped again, would the areas switch again? Since Pillar Fields is at the edge of the original Dead Zone, that would technically mean technology could be brought out there, the switch could be flipped, and if Raine was right about the Zones just being -reversed-, it would just be a matter of pushing things over the border and the outside world would be opened up. Or does it seem more likely that the switch didn't actually reverse anything, but just turned off the field generating around this specific area?
"The weather would constantly be like spring, except for at Christmas when it would snow for a few weeks...though it was still rather warm for winter then too, as I recall. This shift that caused the weather to change happened after a world change that took place in November of 2CRE. The world change itself was to a 21st century version of New York City. The first few days started out relatively normal, but then there was a gigantic blizzard that produced many feet of snow. A day or two later, there was a giant heat wave that caused all the snow to melt and flood the city. Finally there was a large tidal wave the size of the city, and the world shifted as we got hit by the tidal wave. After that, seasons would happen. " -- Allen Walker
"Changes that happen in Paradisa may extend out to the border of the Dead Zone. Before, when the powered area was small, there was a day when it was entirely dark. Yet Rin, who had ventured on a camping trip out into the dead zone, was in daylight and mentioned seeing the area of the castle engulfed in a spherical blackness. Then in April of this year when the surrounding area was a swamp, it extended only out to the second barrier; outside that, there was still water as far as the eye could see." --Prof RaineAccording to Flora, who lives in Mineas Well, magic can exist in the Dead Zone, as long as its source from Paradisa itself (see the section above on Mineas Well for more infomation). Therefore it seems to only reject magic that comes from outside this world. These external sources of magic, however, do not seem as capricious or malicious as the magic that resides in Cair Paradisa itself. It's possible that the magic that controls the journals all residents receive is connected either to a type of magic from outside this world, or to the castle's more sinister magic, as Flora revealed that journals cannot "follow their owners freely" into the Dead Zone.
Moving on, according to Clark, outside the current Dead Zone there are people who used to live in the same place we're living now (though with the other castle on the map, are we sure that's not where they lived, or did Reno Browne specify that they used to live here at Cair Paradisa?). For all intents and purposes, these people seem bound and determined to ignore us, with a few exceptions. Some people have crossed over beyond the Dead Zone (it sounded like, at least, from what Clark told me, though he also hasn't mentioned who, if any of you were involved) and managed to interact with a few of these people. It sounds like some people were calling them the outsiders, just because they live outside the Dead Zone and keep their distance. For the purposes of this report, I'm going to call them the First Generation, since it seems like they were in the same position that we're in now, once upon a time. There seems to be an entire community of them, living their lives, but also apparently not leaving the continent, at least not permanently. So far, all of the ones who have been spotted were human, though from the fact that some of them were dressed like cowboys and some of them were dressed like spacemen, it sounds to me like they were from just as many different worlds as the people at Cair Paradisa right now are. Which further supports the notion that they were in the same boat we're in now, once upon a time, though their reluctance to help us out shows that they don't consider themselves in that boat anymore, for one reason or another.
According to Flora, a First Gen-ner who lives in Mineas Well, and Six, another former resident, the First Generation is divided into several factions, and comprised of approximately 500 people. Six provided further information: there are two distinct large groups, and many smaller ones that travel more nomadically. The nomadic groups are the peaceful ones, and will trade in information or rare goods. The larger, non-hostile group is "more Northern". Reno Browne has mentioned mountains - it can easily be surmised that she is in this group. Occasionally those living outside of Cair Paradisa will find themselves affected by the same world changes as us. This is a reason to keep our guard up, even when not at the castle proper, as it were. These outside groups have established a rule amongst them that anyone wishing to leave the castle and join a faction must be self-sufficient for a minimum of five years before joining them (meaning cutting off all contact from the castle and its residents for that time). The Fifth Doctor speculated that perhaps the nomadic group followed the fluctuating areas that allowed outside powers and magic, although Six claims that this group keeps further north, about a month's travel from the castle. He says they're willing to trade in information and hard-to-find supplies.
As for the Hostile Group, see below (the Iron Suits/Metal Beasts). It's unknown how long these groups have been in this world, but Flora revealed that there were some who had been in this world for decades. She did not know whether there was a certain period of time after which it becomes impossible for a resident to ever return home or not. The First Generation may have more information on this: if any of their number who have been here for decades have ever left, we would have a clearer idea.
First contact (John Hammond, Whip Wilson, Reno Browne):
First contact with a non-resident was when Cair Paradisans visited some kind of dinosaur theme park (can anyone tell me where exactly this was and whether it just up and disappeared or what?) where they ran into a man named John Hammond. They didn't think anything of it at the time, figuring he was sort of extension of the castle's sentience. They later second guessed this a few months down the road, when the castle stuck Cair Paradisans in 18th century Kansas. Enter two more First-Genners - cowboys named Whip Wilson and Reno Browne, who asked about John Hammond and claimed he was a friend of theirs. They exhibited a fair share of self awareness of the situation, and signs seemed to point to the fact that they had lived at the castle, though there wasn't any evidence left over that somebody lived here.
This means either 1) the Castle wiped all the evidence clean to start fresh with us or 2) it wasn't -this- castle they were even at originally, but rather the one further out.
The First Generation seems to be able to get in and out of the weird world changes that the castle throws at us, though how they're able to do that remains a mystery. However, one of them threw around allusions to the Allegory of the Cave (I'll get back to that later), which seems to suggest that they understand something about the bigger picture that allows them to see this place for what it really is, and not end up victim to its shadow plays. It's all very Matrix, except they seem determined to keep up plugged in, going as far as to recently 'ban' us from entering their territory, outside the Dead Zone. They sound like they're not above using force if that's what it's going to take to do so.
So what kind of motivations could the First Generation have for keeping us here, and in the dark? It's been mentioned that they seem interested in protecting themselves, though what exactly they think they need to be protected from US from is beyond me. Unless they're afraid that us poking around is dangerous to not only us but them as well, and so they're trying to keep us on a short leash, in case we end up making some kind of mistake, like they might have already made, or almost made. Maybe they feel like if we even knew about the possibility of whatever it is, curiosity would get the better of SOMEone here, and damn everybody.
"I don't know very much more about the First Generation people, but I should note that according to Miss Reno Browne...they do not age like the people in the castle do not age. I am not sure if the people in the city age, no one has studied them long enough to find out. Also among the First Generation people, Miss Reno Browne said that there are children.
Of the people we know who are out among the first generation, it should be...said that Whip Wilson was killed during the world change that caused us to go to 19th century Kansas (not the 18th century). I...don't know if he ever returned to life. " --Allen Walker
A number of books went missing from the library around about the same time residents mysteriously were dropped in the Dead Zone.
Books Missing From The Library: Genetics in the Wild by John Hammond, Identifying Paradisian Flora by Morphology and DNA Fingerprints by Unknown, Flora Mirabilis by Unknown, Describing Species by John Hammond, and Flora and Fauna by Unknown
It was speculated that the books contained information that might be of value to the residents, though it's unknown as to whether they were removed by the castle itself, or whoever kidnapped residents. Given the Hostile group's apparent dislike of John Hammond, and the fact that they seem the ones most determined to keep us in the dark about this world, it's possible that these books contained clues to direct us to the information they've been trying to keep from us. Attempts to wish up copies of the books have failed as well..
Reno Browne (First Generation):
For awhile (last summer, it sounds like?), Reno was actually living at Cair Paradisa, and she still keeps a room here, on the twelfth floor, though it's empty right now. I went and double checked every inch of it (what's a little breaking and entering between friends?) and couldn't find a trace of anybody or anything except this note which she left:
For folk from Paradisa, the lot of you sure rose to the occasion. Though what happened was far from what Whip and I wanted from you, for your sake I hope you all can settle and forget this ever happened. It would be for the best. I'll warn you that much.
But I must be taking my leave now. Sorry to back out on my end of the deal, but there's a place I haven't seen in far too long and I best hit the trail before it goes cold.
God bless all of you.
Sincerely yours,
Reno Browne
She seems to be really friendly and bear no ill will herself towards the Cair Paradisans, but when she left, suddenly and mysteriously, she wasn't heard from for a long time, until she seems to have accidentally opened up her journal and broadcast a message. Someone in the background, a male voice, can be heard, and from their language, they don't sound like they're from the same time period as Reno is. They were overtly hostile towards her when she spoke to the Paradisans, ordering her not to talk to them anymore. Just the fact that she seemed reluctant to follow these orders seems to demonstrate that among the First Generation, it's a general consensus to keep from contacting us, but -not- something that everyone is 100% on board with. This gives us an opening, if we can find someone who sympathizes with us, that's not terrified of retaliation from the rest of the First Gen-ners.
Reno broke the enforced silence again, apparently for no other purpose than to wish Cair Paradisans happy holidays. She made a passing remark about how it had been awhile since she could look at her journal, which might imply that it was taken from her, or that she was being heavily monitored for awhile.
York, you said once that you thought Reno was trying to give you a message - what happened with that?
Crowley discovered a CD with a duet apparently sung by Reno & Roy, with some kind of disturbing lyrics. Roy confirmed that she is part of the larger nomadic group.
Damsel (First Generation):
Asano Rin and Stephanie Brown went exploring this summer through the swamp back in June and ended up lost, where they ran into a woman named Damsel. She demanded they close their journals before she'd talk to them, which seems to go along with that whole 'no broadcasting to Cair Paradisans' vibe that came from the other voice in Reno's entries. Despite this, she wasn't hostile towards Stephanie and Rin, although she didn't wish to return to the castle with them, possible because she worried that we'd try to get more information out of her here.
Stephanie's notes on Damsel:
- Woman called herself Damsel, wore a mask and had short black hair. 36 years old. Arrived wearing what looked like tactical gear. Possessed two swords.
- Had a boat with an engine, whatever powered it caused a blue glow. 2 rifles on boat.
- Knew about the spiders (ARACHNAE?) Said she was supposed to deliver a message to the queen, but she was dead. Didn't find out what the message was.
- Said something about not liking people from the castle and "promising to protect" us. (No idea what that meant...)
- ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE look this up!!, said they had to be the bad guys that left the cave.
- They're "stopping us from making the same mistake" (does that have to do with the protecting thing?)
- Said there ARE people out there that will be willing to give us answers, just not her rude
- was a superhero, has abilities: flight, strength, vision, force field
- GIOVANNI = BIRD PEOPLE. Said they were "nice people." ???
- Knew about Roy. Knew about him missing in late Feb.
- Giraffes (???)
Asano's additions:
- She said they both traded with locals and farmed to support themselves.
- She mentioned that they found both glowing starfruit and big pink apples to cultivate.
- She became hostile when questioned whether the group outside had ever had altercations with the 'native' Paradisans, like the Arachne.
The fact that her boat functioned in the Dead Zone indicates that either the First Generation found a way to counter the disruption field (with maybe whatever caused that blue glow), or they're the ones responsible for it in the first place.
I'm not sure who Roy is, so can anyone fill in the gaps on that?
As for the allegory of the cave, I looked that up, and can give you my interpretation of how it applies at least.
Plato talks about how people are prisoners of their sense, and that we're all trapped into believing things as we perceive them with our eyes, even if that's not reality, and will be naturally resistant to any attempts to break us from that. Anyone who was taken out of 'the cave' to see the sunlight would be met with hostility upon returning to the cave and trying to tell the people chained there of what was really going on. It also sort of deals with how truth is something you have to experience, rather than just read or hear about, if someone is going to really believe it.
So basically, it seems like a really melodramatic way of telling us that they see our ignorance of what is really going on as a good thing, because they've gotten a glimpse of what's really going on, and it's horrified them, or done some kind of damage to them, psychologically or otherwise. They want to protect us from being exposed to reality, and not being able to go back to our peaceful little lives here in King Arthur's court. They're also potentially worried that if they were to tell us the truth, we wouldn't believe them, or be able to cope with it, and that we'd turn on them, so they're as interested in protecting themselves as us.
Roy:
"Roy is a man who we found out by Paradisa Town in the old house. He was being held by the Doctor, who claimed that he was some sort of patient. Afterward we brought him back to Paradisa...he seemed to have relations with Reno and maybe the other First Generation people, but he seems to have memory trouble. I don't think that he's faking it. As far as I know, he is still in Paradisa if you wish to speak to him." --Allen Walker
Roy suffers from amnesia, however, regarding any events before he came here.
[Private]
Roy's bluffing: he remembers plenty, but he's not talking about his time with the cowboys to protect the good relations he has with them. Much like York.
[/Private]
Roy left the castle in 5CRE. During the arguments regarding Mineas Well, he voiced his own opinions over how the Outsiders viewed us: and implied that they might think of us as "minions of the castle, sent out to wreak havoc and destruction on the countryside". In other words, they might not believe they we aren't being mentally influenced by the castle - which might coincide with the fate of residents who possibly turned into townspeople. If this is true, then it only makes sense for them to be wary of us.
The Metal Beasts / The Iron Suits / The Hostiles [First Generation]:
See Arachne, below. Killed Joy, the Arachne, though the motivations for this are unknown. She claims they want to take over the castle. It's possible confirmed that they have different motivations from the rest of the first generation - and are some kind of splinter group? They seem to be the most openly hostile of anybody. According to Six, they stay close to the castle, and are protective of their territory. They split off from the other group after a few First Gens (Reno?) alerted castle residents to their existence, causing a rift in the group over how to deal with us. There are "a hundred or so" members, but only three "iron suits" - men possessing technology stolen from current castle resident Tony Stark. These power suits seemingly function in the Dead Zone: technology that might operate using a more powerful version of the crystals castle residents received from Flora. The suits are powered by batteries with a source that glows blue. They need to be recharged. It is possible that the hostile group has found a place similar in nature to Mineas Well to shelter in. It is uncertain whether they have an explicit plan to attack Cair Paradisa or the town proper. As the Fifth Doctor said: "This is a fair bit of information - when they showed themselves at the festival, their only victim was Joy, another non-resident, which hints at a conflict within the First Generation." They abhor John Hammond, in particular, for some reason. It was said that mentioning him was an easy way to tell friend from foe.
Six made an entry in January of 5CRE [ #] revealing that the hostile group had begun discussing executing any unsanctioned wanderers found in their territory. He said a contact down South (Lente?) claimed someone was killed over a misunderstanding just the week before. [Does this imply, perhaps, that the hostile group's base of operations might be to the south of the castle?] According to that same contact, the hostile group was offering negotiable "rewards" in exchange for large quantities of alcohol. This seems to support the notion that First Genners can no longer wish for items, and that those only come from the castle. It seems as if these 'negotiations' were opened to residents of the world, but not to castle residents: perhaps allies of the Hostiles, or even members of the nomadic group?
He also confirmed that the leader of the Hostiles was a female. He implied she was also "an idiot", , and that her position might have come about because she was involved with the acquisition of the suits. The group apparently feels as if the Dead Zone is 'their territory'. He said that whatever the group can't grow or produce themselves, they do without or smuggle from the castle, implying they have a way to get in. This would seem to support the idea that they were involved in the Dead Zone Disappearances (below).
Flora (and Goldfleck):
Residents of Mineas Well. They claim to be truly neutral parties. Flora, like other castle residents, has a loss, which, according to her, is the ability to divulge secrets. This seems to imply that even when they cut off contact from the castle, outsiders do not regain their losses. They both seemed very benign, and castle residents who went on the trip almost unanimously seemed to support the notion that they were trustworthy. She admits to be a witch back in her own world, though the title simply implies that she is someone who "strives to connect with the spirits of the world, and harness their strength in order to understand the world around us". She sometimes has limited visions of foresight. Her life is bound to the Great Tree of Mineas Well, which gives her some powers and abilities.
Lente
Mentioned to be living south of the castle, and familiar with Six and Flora. It's unknown precisely where she lives, though Six said she's part of the Nomadic group, though she has a permanent dwelling. She stopped by Mineas Well at least once. She refused to be alone with strangers unarmed.
Other groups we know of:
Six:
Not a group, but rather an individual, from the same generation as we are. He goes by the name "Six" to protect his identity from the outsiders, and left the castle in May of 3CRE, and attempted to join residents in the Dead Zone, hoping to find out more information. He has only recently begun revealing some of the information he's gleaned in his travels. He has no idea about why we're here, anymore than we do, and cut off contact with the residents for most of the time by keeping his journal duct taped shut. He's mostly traveled around the Eastern area of the Continent. He's had contact with a number of groups and individuals, including Flora. He feels that anyone he's run into who seems themselves as a 'native' here is likely simply delusional.
The Arachne (or spiders):
Back in mid-June, out of seemingly nowhere, the castle ended up filled up with hundreds of spiders that could talk. This was the first (?) encounter Cair Paradisans had had with non-human talking residents, but no one could figure out what they were doing in the castle initially. One of the spiders, named Joy, went to Akihiko Sanada, and reported that the spider's queen was in danger back at their home in the Eldritch Forest, just inside the borders of the Dead Zone to the west. She claimed the danger came from "metal beasts" who turned out to be humans, who seemed to be with the First Generation. Were those armored suits they were wearing the same ones they stole from the Peace Patrol and modified? Because if so, cat's out of the bag, boys. If there's a chance Tony knows how to counter them, we have to know it. The modifications, if that's what they were, allowed the suits to function in the Dead Zone, just like Damsel's boat, confirming that these guys seemed to be with the First Generation, and that as a collective they know how to get around the disruption field.
Professor Raine Sage, Jr., Tim Drake, Clark Kent, Yuan and Akihiko went on an expedition to the forest, into the Dead Zone, with the intention to help protect the spiders. On the first day they encountered the froglike creatures (see below), and Joy claimed they were involved in a territory war of sorts, though didn't provide any details, as she said she didn't know much about it. She also said these groups were fighting to get control of the source of power hidden in the castle. The group was then approached by a pig creature (see below), but left it to another group to deal with.
A day or two later, the team discovered tanks in the river. They searched them but they were empty - either way, it demonstrates that the 'dead zone' wasn't always dead, or at least it's not a constant.
Joy went ahead to prepare the queen to meet them, but never returned, and when the team proceeded to meet the Queen of the Spiders, she wasn't like the rest of the Arachne. Instead she was half-human, half-spider, and she attacked the group, though they took her down. Joy conveniently reappeared, claiming the power suited First Genners captured her, and sent an imposter Queen to attack them. She said the imposter ate the real Queen alive in front of her. Her comments about never having seen the suits before contradicted later statements she made, and seemed to catch her in a lie, so it's possible that anything she was saying was a distortion of the truth. Joy announced she was going to be taking the throne, which makes her motivations in leading a group of Paradisans there extra suspicious, since she could have wanted them to do the dirty work for her, and easily have warned the Queen that the group meant to kill her, resulting in their being attacked at first sight. Either way, someone in the group kept pressing her with questions, and she ran off, which seems to show she had something to hide.
Supposedly the real Queen had a wealth of info about Paradisa, but of course we lost all possibility of accessing that when she died.
A couple months later, Joy showed up in City Royale, in human form, acting incredibly suspicious. If it even actually was Joy, it seems to imply the Arachne can shapeshift. She claimed the First Genners in armor met with her and tried to get her to join with them in an attempt to take over the castle. She was gunned down by those same men before she could say more, and the Paradisan with her at the time would have been killed if she hadn't taken the bullet. One of them cheered when Joy died, and some Paradisans tried to give chase to them when they headed towards the Dead Zone, but it sounds like no one caught up to them? but Jr, Raine, Sylvanas Windrunner, and Yuan followed them. There was an altercation at a campsite with them, that had been used by Arthur and Allen, and they discovered some of the weird facts about the buffalo there (See Buffalo). They discovered a second abandoned campsite, and Sylvanas and Raine returned to the Outpost, while Jr and Yuan had a run-in with the men in suits, who took their mounts, lifted them up, and dropped them within the castle's reach as a sort of public humiliation.
The whole situation with Joy strikes me as a case of some political backstabbing, but there might be truths in there somewhere.
Raine's account:
"When we first entered this area, called the Eldritch Greenwood, we encountered a type of fruit that energizes whoever eats it - it tastes of banana and strawberry, and we are bringing samples of both fruit and seeds back to the castle for further study. If there are any residents skilled in gardening or plant-based magic, I would appreciate your assistance in cultivating these at the castle. They were all gathered in one area as though deliberately planted, so it's likely they can be domesticated for use in the castle gardens as well.
Shortly after passing this orchard, we came upon a collection of aged canoes. [She sketches one of the boats, pointing out the metal bits in aprticular.] They appear to be handmade. As the direction indicated by the spiders (both vocally and with arrows woven into webs) was into a swamplike area with glowing water, we took these boats for approximately a day and a half of travel into the Greenwood. About halfway to our destination, we were attacked by a giant boar that apepared to be rotting; it was destroyed before anyone was injured. Some heard it speak of "grinding our bones". There were also bodies of small, froglike creatures I'm told are called "Trevors" in the water that looked as though they had been torn apart. [And here she draws the Trevors, both an intact and a torn-up body, as well as a sketch of the charging boar.]
Once we had nearly reached out destination, we passed by several large metal vehicles stuck in the swamp. I was unable to inspect these directly, as my group's canoe was visited by a set of spider-human hybrid twins called Neville and Araina. [She has a quick sketch of one of the twins on Rin's lap and the other poking at Steph.] They led us to the solid group where we were greeted by the spiders' Queen, appearing first in the shape of a young girl. Naturally, she transformed into a giant spider and attempted to use her children to consume us. We fought back, sustaining injuries and with one casualty, until Joy, the original spider who asked for help, escaped from her prison and bit the imposter Queen, felling her.
Joy is now the new Queen of Spiders, claiming the twins and Queen who attacked us were imposters from the "metal beasts" who had taken control of the spiders. Although we were able to verify the presence of a second large spider corpse hidden from plain view, much of the truth remains a mystery. "
The Giovanni:
Bird people, who Damsel mentioned to be nice, though the one experience Cair Paradisans have had with them couldn't be qualified them that way. However, it's possible he was just one really bad seed. He had red eyes, called himself a doctor, and was encountered beyond the castle (where?) Someone told me to ask Raine about it, and about how it 'didn't like red hair'. It was holding one of the First Gen-ners hostage, and he had to be rescued (though he now suffers from total amnesia, conveniently). One of the metal suited First Gen-ners killed the Giovanni. It was also suffering from a transferable disease.
"The doctor we ran across transformed into a large monstrous thing when attacked, as if his body was swelling up (similar to Akuma...a sort of monster in my world who can disguise themselves as humans). In this form, normal weaponry that we could use in the Dead Zone was useless against him. Would refer to red heads as "titians" and he believed them to carry disease. When I attempted to pursue him, he had no interest in me as a person who doesn't have red hair.
A man in one of those metal suits... came by and fired some sort of...beam of light at the doctor. It caused the creature to develop many boils and pulse even more...until he exploded." --Allen Walker
The "Buffalo":
In late August, Arthur Pendragon and Allen Walker went looking for buffaloes, though where exactly they first heard of them I'm not sure (clear that up for me, gentlemen), and what they found was more than a little on the disturbing side. When they skinned the thing, they found that its innards were made up of human body parts: not like it ate someone, but like the body was actually fused inside the skin of the thing.
In other words, someone had to do this.
Here's another entry about the buffaloes.
Possibly chimera technology? - a form of alchemy.
"I heard about them when we came across them on our first expedition out into the Dead Zone (3 CRE). We decided to take a hunting trip and decided to go after the buffalo since those were the only creatures I recall being in that part of the dead zone. However, we never skinned the animal. It is only when we gutted it that we found....when the creature is turned inside out, it has the form of an eyeless human being. This was found to be the case with two buffalo, so it was not a fluke occurrence. " -- Allen Walker
There are some buffalo (as well as sheep) in the castle stables.
Frog-like creatures:
Joy claimed they were killed in a battle for territory, near the Eldritch forest, at the river. They appeared to have been torn apart. We're not sure how reliable her testimony was.
Pig-like creatures:
Hostile species in the Eldritch Forest that attacked an expedition team led by Yuan : also Tasselhoff Burrfoot, Oliver Queen, The Doctor - Zivilyn, Death the Kid, Faye Valentine, Sylvanas Windrunner, The Question and Alucard.(?) Not sure who was on that team but they "took care of it". Only one was even spotted.
"It was rotting and covered in tiny spiders, which seemed to be affecting it in some manner, although it wasn't easy to tell exactly how while it was attacking us. It spoke, after a fashion, shouting something about grinding our bones to make bread, but didn't seem to understand when it was being spoken to in return. After we killed it, it disintegrated, revealing that nearly all the flesh was gone, and a giant nest of tiny spiders rested where its heart should have been." - Yuan
This is by no means complete: there are years worth of journals to pick through and I've only been here a couple weeks. But I'm trying to at least pick out the important information and organize it so that we might figure out some patterns. And is there any word on people making further attempts to explore the Dead Zone? Seems kind of ridiculous to just sit here when there might be answers waiting out there.
Other mysteries:
Dropped in the Dead Zone: In November 4CRE, a number of residents, as well as townspeople were taken from wherever they were at the time (some from within the castle, some from en route to the Dead Zone), and dropped in various locations inside the Dead Zone. There is evidence that it took several hours to transport each one of them, but no noise accompanied the actual kidnappings, and some residents were only alone for as much as five minutes when it happened abruptly. There were no tracks leading away from the kidnapped, and even Akihiko's dog couldn't trace the scent of two vanished members of his party. Most residents appeared in the Dead Zone sans journal, and some suffered injuries, as if they had suffered a fall. Residents had no memory of how they got to that point, or who had kidnapped them. Other townspeople were encountered in the Dead Zone, but they were practically going out of their minds trying to get back to the castle, representing that it had a much bigger pull on them than it does on regular residents. Residents vanished in groups of 3, which was actually predicted days earlier by Lambdadelta.
Residents who were kidnapped:
Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Jo Harvelle, Lucy Saxon, Damian Wayne, Bela Talbot, Dick Grayson, Maya Fey, Haruno Sakura, Julian Keller, Nikola Tesla, Ukitake Jyuushiro, Joshua Foley, Minato Arisato, Lenalee Lee, Vereesa and Aleena Windrunner, Freelancer Washington, and Cross Marian.
Theories: It seems highly unlikely that the castle would have been behind this, as it has no reason to want to send residents away from it only to draw them right back in. It's possible that this involved the first generation outsiders who have the power suits. Zexion fully seemed to believe that the disappearances were probably caused by one of the Outsiders, and that they were testing the limits or reactions of residents.