Which basic model for the afterlife would you prefer?

Moderator: [Syl]

Choose wisely.

Poll ended at Sun Jun 24, 2012 4:14 pm

A
0
No votes
B
2
29%
C
2
29%
D
1
14%
E
1
14%
F
1
14%
 
Total votes: 7

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[Syl]
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Which basic model for the afterlife would you prefer?

Post by [Syl] »

I've kind of boiled down the Trial entries to the framework that supports them. You will use the one chosen to tell your particular place in it.

A. Cedar: Forges produce and recycle slow light (mortals)

B. Nyx: Every life has mirrors or echoes in Root or Crown that gods can manage how they like

C. Orlando: Souls, in a kind of raw form, travel a metaphorical river (and I assume they return to it when they die). The gods pull (or direct?) the souls from the river.

D. Nakoma: Death is the result and final face of change. After death, souls join their god in the 'ether' where there is no change.

E. Serenity: Everything comes from the Supreme Forces That Were One Mind, goes through various transformations, and returns to it in the end.

F. Shen: Making up for his mistake in allowing Death (:mrgreen:), the Autarch allowed mortals to choose their own fates after death while alive.

Some of these are fairly similar, and some might be hard to employ for the next phase. Depending on how the vote goes, I might combine bits and pieces before starting the final stage of this trial.

Only players may vote, and they may only vote once. After you have voted, please state in this thread which option you went with along with any comments you may have (they do not have to be in character, obviously). When all votes are in (or if one option cannot be defeated), I will announce the result and the final stage will start.
Last edited by [Syl] on Wed Jul 11, 2012 2:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Fist and Faith »

That's Shen's such a clever guy, I just had to go with him! :D The idea is, the mortals choose from among the choices the gods offer. What happens to the soul of someone who worshiped Shen? What happens to the soul of someone who worshiped Nakoma? Etc. And what happens to the soul of someone who worhiped nobody? Interesting question! :D
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Post by Menolly »

<shrug>

I am getting the feeling the Autarch may be casting a tie-breaker. Serenity's entry is an Acropolis version of my own personal belief. How else would I vote?
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Post by Nyx »

I voted for myself. I already have some ideas for my own paradigm, so it was an easy choice.
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Post by Katrina »

Um, I just realized I voted earlier on here. This is cause for a PSA:

Don't Drink and Watch.

Sorry, and thank you.
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Post by Fist and Faith »

Menolly wrote:<shrug>

I am getting the feeling the Autarch may be casting a tie-breaker. Serenity's entry is an Acropolis version of my own personal belief. How else would I vote?
I sure didn't vote a version of my own personal belief. :lol:
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Post by Menolly »

Understood, Fist.

I'm just saying if players only vote, who wouldn't vote for their own entry? Then, I gave my reasoning for voting for my own.
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Post by balon! »

I voted Orlando. I think the river, with this version of Acropolis, is the best. It's got lots of potential for us all to fit in but remain constrained, at the same time.

Does Ristra have a vote?
Katrina wrote: Don't Drink and Watch.
:lol: Been there...
Avatar wrote:But then, the answers provided by your imagination are not only sometimes best, but have the added advantage of being unable to be wrong.
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Post by Orlando »

Thanks, Balon. I liked the story, too.
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Post by [Syl] »

Well, I was hoping the voting process would be a little more dynamic, but this works just as well. What I'm going to do is combine pieces from all entries to form the basis for the afterlife in Acropolis and have a final version up sometime tonight.

Essentially, you're all right. The Supreme Forces accepted the necessity of change, resulting in a river of souls streaming through the aether of the universe, swirling and condensing around the forge of the Tree which in turn separates each (mortal) soul into different aspects and reroutes them to their according planes, whereupon the central/mortal forms decide in their lifetimes how they want the essence of their beings reunified in the afterlife.

Now, the next and final phase of this Trial is going to be a bit more in depth, combining what I had planned for the next trial with this one (thanks in part to Goat's entry, as well as the already planned relationship between the two). Each of you needs to choose where in either Crown or Root your physical Sanctuary (home/residence/manse/demesne/etc.) is, describe this Sanctuary, and explain how you manage these souls. I'd suggest keeping in mind that your holy place shares a very strong relationship with your Sanctuary.

You can tell the story in the first person from the viewpoint of one of your follower's journey in the afterlife or in the third person of just describing it. Go big (the laws of physics don't really apply that well in Root or Crown), but be careful of trying to do anything that would take DSP.
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-George Steiner
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Post by Menolly »

And this is sent to you privately, similar to a turn submission, nu? With deadline for the next turn coming up, how long do we have to get this done?
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Post by [Syl] »

I'd prefer publicly in the Trials thread, with any details you think should be private sent to me by PM.

The deadline can be pushed back. Is midnight of the 7th OK with everyone?
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Post by Menolly »

The Autarch wrote:I'd prefer publicly in the Trials thread,
Oy.

Not exactly sure how to publicly incorporate Serenity's appearance in Crown, which definitely has an impact on what I see happening in the after life for mortals. Will think on this.
The Autarch wrote:The deadline can be pushed back. Is midnight of the 7th OK with everyone?
I have "family" obligations the extended 4th of July weekend, but I should be able to work on my submission between now and then, I hope.
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Post by Avatar »

[Syl] wrote:
The deadline can be pushed back. Is midnight of the 7th OK with everyone?
Is that for the trial or the turn or both?

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Post by [Syl] »

The trial. Turn deadline isn't until Aug 1.
"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
-George Steiner
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Post by [Syl] »

From a PM to another player:
The Autarch wrote:You could look at the two realms like Heaven and Hell or Olympus and Hades and do just fine. Alternately, they could be The Land and Narnia. Which is up and which is down doesn't really matter (there could be blue sky in Root or mountains in Crown for all I care). I'm not really dictating what they are (though in his entry, Goat does hit on the bare essence of flavor I have tried to give them), hoping players will choose to define them instead. My purpose is to merely keep a stable playing ground, while allowing plenty of room for imagination, manueverability, and so on in the other two realms. They're connected, in that things can travel between or otherwise have effects upon the other realms, but that's it.

If you're looking for a place to set your Sanctuary, I'd suggest just thinking about which would make you more comfortable and going from there. The only things to consider are that things in Root exist more along the lines of the meaning behind things, while things in Crown are more like idealized extracts. The difference between those two states is ambiguous and more a matter of art than science. Choosing one or the other really only matters as much as you think it matters.

As for the connection to your holy place, if I was using Covenant as a model, Haven Farm would be the holy place and Kevin's Watch would be the Sanctuary... though it could just as easily be Revelstone, Foul's Creche, or whatever. Two sides to one bridge.
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Post by [Syl] »

Oh, and if anyone really wants to know what I think when I imagine Crown and Root, read Gene Wolfe's The Wizard-Knight duology.
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Post by Avatar »

[Syl] wrote:The trial. Turn deadline isn't until Aug 1.
Hahaha, ok cool. I missed that. Thought it was July 1st for some reason.

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Post by Nakoma »

Trial in. :D
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Post by cedar »

it wasn't specified in the story, but my Sanctuary, the First Cedar, is in the Crown.
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