[Serph looks serious when this video turns on, but his voice is even and calm as he addresses the residents of Vatheon.]

...You've likely seen the body of a nurse in the plaza. The Defense Force will be putting in place more patrols.

[Pretend there is a detailed map of Vatheon here instead of the approximated one the mods have drawn. On this map, there are blinking dots to represent homes people have volunteered for use as a safehouse in times of danger, accompanied by a text list:

MIDDLE DISTRICT
[Near Plaza] The Crow's Nest Bar
[East] Clinic

LOWER DISTRICT
Coral Corral, House 2
Phanga Neighborhood, Hive 15
Phasma Apartments, Floor 1, Room 3
RED Base (stay out of the basement laboratory)

FOREST QUADRANT
Embryon Base

ISLAND
Village

There's one other unlisted safehouse. Serph has a record that House 4 of the Coral Corral can replace House 2 if the latter can no longer be used, since having two safehouses next to each other is kind of pointless.]

These are the locations of safehouses for people to use. They have a magical barrier around them, courtesy of Zelda.

[There's a small pause, before he continues.]

It's clear we know very little regarding this murder. If we pool our knowledge and ideas here, we will come closer to finding the root of this.



[ooc: Feel free to use this as an open forum of discussion etc. so THREADJACK AWAY. I'm unfortunately going to be slow because of university :|

Defense Force people, especially those who are willing to do some extra time patrolling, you can assume you've been instructed to do so.]

In Egyptian times, they used to believe that when a person died, it was not considered the end. Instead, it was the beginning of an everlasting afterlife.

[The camera shows Jacob sitting in his cabin, his unfinished blue and white tapestry hanging in front of him on a loom as he works on it deftly, not even stopping while he speaks. It's hard to see, but it's clear that the tapestry so far has some Egyptian influences as well- black figures can be seen along with several hieroglyphs on it.]

[Jacob himself isn't smiling, though. In fact, he looks incredibly serious- the murder that happened a few days ago was not something he was taking very lightly. So he continues working on his tapestry, a very focused look in his gaze.]

It was a rebirth, really. But even then, when someone died, their soul, or their ka, didn't just immediately get the lush afterlife that they wanted. They had to go through many perilous obstacles, such as creatures that would devour them or kill them if they didn't recite the proper words. Because the fact was that even in the afterlife, you could die. And death was permanent if that ever occurred. There would be no afterlife from the afterlife.

[A pause as he starts on the next row of the tapestry, his mouth still set in a slight frown.]

But the hardest part of the road to the afterlife was the Weighing of the Heart. For after you defeated all the creatures, your soul would be brought before the goddess of justice, Ma'at, and you would tell her that you had not committed any sins. Then your heart would be taken and weighed against a feather. If the scales balanced, you would be brought to the lush lands of the afterlife and live there happily for the rest of your life.

If it didn't balance...then a terrible creature known as Ammit, the Destroyer, would eat your heart whole, and your journey would come to a quick end.

[There's a moment of silence, and he finally turns to the camera, bright blue eyes forever ancient and piercing.]

Even if death here isn't permanent...it does make you think about where the people from other worlds go when they die. Do they go to a sort of afterlife before being revived? Or is there something more to it? Does the place itself keep us alive and resurrects us because it needs us? And...why does it only apply to the ones that have been brought here against their will?

So far, when the natives die...they stay dead. There is no rebirth for them.

[A slight sigh.]

What, exactly, has death become here?


[ooc: Don't forget to fill out Jacob's permission post if you haven't done so already! Thank you. :)]

Okay, weirdos. I'm fucking bored.

I've reprogrammed this stupid piece of shit alien communicator thingy with a text to speech program. By touch. In a foreign programming language. So now there are no excuses.

Someone entertain me.