Hades Introduction Meeting [All PC Corsairs Invited]

[blessmefather]

Mid-month, leaders of the Corsairs send word to multiple highly regarded individuals among their ranks, asking them to go to The Vault for a meeting. To meet someone of utmost importance. His identity is to be kept secret from the Empire at all costs, and we have decided to limit the number of those who are given this information for now.

The meeting takes place behind closed doors in a small lecture hall. The Vault's higher ranking scholars, who take up most of the select crowd, are found speaking enthusiastically to each other. This is something of great interest to them and pens are at the ready.

When everyone is settled into their seats, a man rises from his seat, tapping his way to the center of the lecture floor. He fiddles with the end of his cane, smiling at the crowd and greeting them after pushing his dark glasses up his nose.

"Hi! Thanks for coming, everyone. My name is Matthias Meerdock, but please call me Matt. I was previously a private investigator, and yes, I am blind. If you're wondering, I worked with a sighted partner on cases. My other senses are abnormally strong though, so I pick up on other details. Smells, sounds... But I'm not actually here to talk to you about that."

He clears his throat and purses his lips, hesitating for a short moment at the intimidating weight of the message he bears. He pushes onward.

"The old religion says that ages ago, The Pantheon of Gods came upon a wealth of Ether, and used it to build our world. Together the gods controlled and shaped the elements to mold the lands, the Eternal Ocean, the life, and the Peoples of Esthere.

For many long years, The Gods lived among the Peoples, teaching them the beginnings of magic, and watching over the planet while the Peoples grew and established their societies. The Gods were immortal, but not eternal, and in time when one god would pass out of the world, their Will would be left behind and seek a mortal among the Peoples to elevate as an Heir to their name and power. At one time, a god would live many ages.

However, The Empire and the Church of the Divine, have made serious efforts to wipe out the religion and in turn, the Gods themselves. The Imperials want for all of you not only to worship the Emperor's will as the will of the Almighty, but to forget that the Pantheon ever existed. They have been mostly successful outside the efforts of The Vault's preservation of knowledge, and those who worship in secrecy.

I was one such worshipper, in my first life, and The Empire took my life and the lives of my fellow congregation when they discovered the hidden temple where we worshipped. All of us were slaughtered." He pauses, swallowing hard.

"As I took my last breath, I heard a voice call to me. It was the Will of Hades, and I was offered a way back to the mortal world and a second chance to help people. Long story short, I accepted the Title and have been bound to the rules the Gods laid out for each other long ago. My purpose here, as the Heir to the Title of Hades, is to restore the power of the Gods, and to protect the world as the Gods of Old once did.

I'm here to ask for your help to save The Peoples of Esthere from a problem The Empire has only exacerbated: the instability of this world. The Gods are guardians who maintain the world as it is. With the Pantheon nearly gone, natural disasters, plague, and monster attacks are becoming more common. If The Church of of the Divine have their way, the world itself will be at risk."

He takes a breath. "I understand if this is overwhelming or hard to believe. But I need your decision whether to help as soon as possible. Sorry if this is uncomfortable, but it's the quickest way to establish what I'm telling you." Matt raises his arms, cane in one hand, and a great darkness engulfs him instantly, casting a long shadow on the floor that moves separate from the lights overhead. Large horns emerge in a smokey dark fog from the black shape of his head. All present will feel the presence of death and the underworld as a sensation in their core. Those who are not ready to die might feel a moment of dread, while those who are ready will feel a sense of peace.

After a half a minute, he lowers his arms and the presence is gone. He is again what appears to be a normal human, and he flashes a cautiously hopeful smile. "Any questions?"

Comments

[newmemorywhodis]

Link does not remember being dead. He doesn't actually know what being dead feels like, despite experiencing it. And yet, there's something...familiar, about the presence of death that the man emanates for just a moment.

He does not, however, have any questions. In fact while others raise their hands, Link just stays at the edges, paying close but quiet attention. In fact, there's an intense study to the way he looks at Matt.

It's a study that continues on even after everyone else has asked their questions, and the meeting ends.

Was this man who was a god like Hylia? Or...was he more like Zelda? This was rather different from the divinity Link was used to.

[blessmefather]

Matt is aware of Link's presence hanging back in the room after the others have filed out. The sound of his breath gives him away, of course, but with the senses he has gained, Matt can feel that Link is an unusual individual, even among the crowd he had just spoken to, Shu being the other major oddball. He turns in Link's direction and greets him.

"Are you one of the people who was brought here from another world by the Empire?" he asks.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link steps forward, and nods. Then remembers that Matt is blind, and can't actually see Link's gestures.

Right. It's just like with Rezo. He's going to have to...use actual words.

"...Yes," he says.

[blessmefather]

Matt's face lights up. "I thought you might be. Your presence stood out. Several people in the crowd did, but your soul in particular seems to be very old. Ancient, even."

Matt catches himself and laughs. "Not sure if that sounds familiar to you at all."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link hums softly; a vague, roundabout confirmation. But it's one that also sounds faintly surprised. Not so much because of the fact that Matt can apparently date his soul, but because his soul being old is...unusual?

In Hyrule, souls are reborn. Over, and over, and over again. They don't just go to another place, and stay.

"Aren't other souls old?"

[blessmefather]

"There are planetouched and elves, and ancient beasts that live long lives. But yours is older. It's like the souls of the long passed in the Underworld, but here you are." He gestures at Link and bites his lip, squinting behind his glasses at the puzzle. "Does death work differently in your world? What road do souls walk there?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Even though Matt can't see it, Link shrugs. He doesn't actually know all that much about how death works here - so if it's any different, he wouldn't know.

He only knows what everyone in Hyrule knows about death.

"We're born. We die. We go to the Sacred Realm, until it's time to be born again."

[blessmefather]

"Even where souls go after death can be different between worlds then? I wouldn't have guessed, but maybe anything is possible." Matt pauses to consider.

"I'm not sure what would happen if you died while you're in this world, if your soul would follow the path it does at home or the local one..." He hopes none of the offworlders pass and end up somewhere they weren't supposed to. He's not sure how the gates to any of the afterlives would react to their souls. "Let's not find out though," he adds, chuckling.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link...pauses.

The possibility that his soul might not return to the cycle of death and rebirth back in his own world wasn't something he'd considered as a possibility. At least, not until now. Now he's suddenly contemplating the possibility that his soul would stay right here instead.

"...The Goddess wouldn't like that," he says. And then there's a faint chime - barely perceptible even to those touched by divinity, and not at all to those who are not - from the Sword on Link's back. The Sword is in agreement, it seems.

[blessmefather]

Matt's head tilts ever so slightly at the hum of the blade on Link's back. "Is your weapon connected to the Goddess you speak of?" he asks. He pauses, considers, then decides he ought to explain a little more, tone slightly deeper and more serious. "If the worst happens, I'll be the one to greet you in the afterlife. Perhaps we could try to contact your Goddess in hopes she will hear, and take you away to your next destination."

He's not sure it would work, and he's new to these powers, but he didn't mean to plant a looming concern in Link's head. At least he can suggest a possible solution.

[newmemorywhodis]

“ Yes."

There was no question about the Sword's connection to the Goddess. In fact, Hylia probably wouldn't be happy if the Sword were left in this world either.

Hopefully, Matt's offer wouldn't be needed. Link wasn't planning to die. But he knew all too well how wrong things could go.

He hadn't planned on dying at Blatchery Plain either. He'd still died.

"...Thank you."

[blessmefather]

"You're risking your life to help the people of my world. It's the least I can do. Thank you for what you've done to help everyone," he says, expression going soft. He might have entered the room with a grand announcement and a wild display of power, but to anyone looking close enough he is still the man he was in his first life; concerned about the people.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link takes Matt's thanks in stride. Honestly, he's kind of used to it; used to risking his life, used to people being grateful. Thankfully he's not one to let it go to his head.

Instead he takes a moment to pause. He'd been wondering at the beginning if he was more like Hylia, or Zelda. But after the discussion they've just had...Link can only conclude that the answer was that Matt wasn't like either of them.

Gods here were weird.

A thought which Link - perhaps fortunately - does not voice. Instead, he just nods, and says, "Bye". And leaves Matt to any others who have been waiting to speak with him.

[blessmefather]

Matt bids him farewell. He's glad they had this conversation; he will have to keep in mind in future interactions that death means different things to people from different worlds. His vow taking this role ought to extend to properly guiding all the deceased who come to the underworld; there is much to learn. For now, he will pray for the safety of the Corsairs.