So many people seem to have gone home. I wonder if the Coral senses the intentions of The Head Nurse and wishes to save those it's housed over the years. Whether that's the case or not, I truly do wonder if things will come to a head like it seems. Things have been boiling to the surface quite quickly as of late, but I suppose that's to be expected, given the recent turn of events.

[A small, quiet pause as he thinks out what to say.]

How do you all feel about this? After all, many are being sent homes, whether to a good life or a bad life- and it's entirely possible some may remain here. Which would you choose?

( [Filtered to Alister Azimuth] )

 It seems I chose a good time to be personally... absent. My apologies, but being afflicted with the sleep coma, then moving from the Bubble to the Island has been somewhat taxing on this old man. You'll forgive me if I need to rest these old bones.

I do hope not too much has changed since I've been gone~ No more apocalypses, I take it.

Th-this is ridiculous... ! How can I be expected to work in this condition?! I--

[oops.

sneezing.

a lot.]

... I don't even have the energy to be angry at the coral, as cold as I am.

[sniffle]

Does anyone have any hot tea I could have... ?

[Jade looks like he's freshly out of the shower, but there's a contemplative look in his eyes. He normally doesn't share his thoughts, but the last curse and seeing the effects of people completely changing personalities based on headwear has made him think.]

I wish I could say I was old enough for a mid-life crisis, and given the circumstances, it's impressive more of my head isn't grey, but I digress.

The last curse has got me thinking. Vatheon has more power over us than we'd care to admit. The basics of our genders, personalities, and even full bodies have been changed and swapped up so many times it seems that it's almost curious Vatheon has not done anything more sinister; at least not more openly. Yes, the occasional change is cumbersome, but at it's core, many of the curses seem far more... I don't wish to say lenient- but not as bad as the Lamufao, with all its power, could be.

[A pause for thought as he presses his towel to the back of his neck.]

Which brings me to the question that everyone's been asking over and over since we arrived: Why us, and what is the purpose? I've heard its for a experiment, that we help charge the Coral -though it's failure recently seems to counteract that. I do not wish to say we've grown complacent, but I hear the questions asked less and less-specifically because the answers either simply do not seem to exist, or are nigh impossible to find.

My own question is this:

What would you do, if you weren't really you? If the you that exists in this place is not the you that exists on your own world; if the you now is simply a fabrication of the Coral, its purpose unknown; being changed from body to body, or being molded by the curses simply because the body is not yours in the first place.

Would you remain in your home, or would you make the effort to change your circumstances, find your real body and your home?

[Have some high pitched cackling and some flame flaring up on the screen of your SFCs, Vatheon. When the fire clears, it reveals a dim but dramatically lit room somewhere and who else but your resident Vampire Queen? She's sporting a diabolical grin on her face, revealing all of her very sharp teeth, and...]

[Huh. Okay. That sure is a dress she's wearing in shades of dim purple and bright red accents. It's probably a good question as to where she got it and the fake crown on her head. However, a far better question to ask might have to do with the lineup of men all tied and hung up with rope on the wall behind her.]

[Anyone who's been in Vatheon long enough will probably be able to recognize some of the host club's members- Peony and Angelo are obviously the ones who stand out the most as the heads, but there's also Rin, Fai, Duke, Ronald, and Ioder, too. They are CLEARLY all captive, seeing as they are tied up and there are pieces of cloth around their mouths.]

[After she's gotten her cackling down with- hey, as a villain, she has to have a memorable laugh. It's all about standards, you know- Marceline finally speaks to the SFC.]

Hello, people of Vatheon. For a few months, I've been hiding my TRUE villainous nature from you as I've watched and studied your pitiful population. Now, I've chosen to strike and start my campaign to rule over the entire city! To begin with, I've kidnapped all of these pretty handsome dudes and will turn them into my vampire slaves!

[Ironically, she gestures to Fai as she says this.]

I'm a Vampire Queen, it's kind of what I do.

Anyway, IF YOU WISH TO RESCUE THEM from a life of slavery and bloodsucking and stop my evil plan before I unleash them onto the city tonight to spread the plague of vampirism, then come face me if you dare!

Oh, right, but I forgot. [She flicks her hand out to inspect her nails smugly.] Vatheon doesn't have any heroes. You're all a bunch of scared little mice cowering in your holes.

If there's anyone who thinks they can challenge that... You have until-

TONIGHT!

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!

[Another flare up of flames over the screen, and then the video stops. Will anyone in Vatheon step up and stop this Mistress of Horrible Evil before totally legit terrible things happen!?!?]

[Action]

( Meanwhile, behind the scenes )

[When the SFC's camera turns on for the first time, Vatheon's network is treated to a view of some glorious, glorious chest hair. And a few seconds later, it pans upward to the face of the owner of said chest hair, a dwarf with a smug look on his face. He's holding a crossbow in his arms.

He's holding it rather affectionately.

It may or may not be slightly unsettling to those watching.]

Greetings, citizens of Vatheon. My name is Varric Tethras. And this- [He pats the crossbow.] -is Bianca. Now, the two of us have a very important question we need answered.

Where, exactly, do people go around here to gather, relax, and have fun? It would be most preferable if said place had drinks. Cute dwarven serving girls not required, but a nice bonus.

It is good to see another curse gone by with... minimal damage.

[At least personally. Nothing that can't be fixed.]

Speaking of curses, regarding the tattoos at least, does anyone know of any tattoos that have moved locations or they have been brought back after dying or a coma to find they have switched positions?

Merely for curiosity's sake.

[Call it guilt, call it a bunch of different factors, the Lombax holds a small kitten in one arm, sitting by a bed occupied by one(1) Jade Curtiss. The small creature mews incessantly, digging its tiny claws into the General's arm, trying to crawl up further. They were safe on the island above, for the time being. But... they shouldn't have to be up here at all.

Especially with the Colonel like this.

And yet the situation wasn't yet resolved.

So he grabs the SFC with his free hand, ears bent back and a snarl from a fanged mouth, the General far from pleased with how things were progressing.]

Let it be known that a good man's efforts fell for naught in this blasted city. If the rest of you have any other bright ideas, I'd sure love to hear them.

[With the teams out and scouting for people, Jade is going through and carefully finding decent places to drain water into. It's better that they try to get some water down in case some people were trapped. Plus, if the bubble didn't crack further, they could have more time to study the Coral.

When Jade decided on a spot that's good for draining into, he stands still and holds his hands out carefully, looking around at his location before a shining glyph of intricate symbols envelops the ground in a wide circle. The orange-ish glow remains even as Jade steps off the light and moves a good ways away from the glyph. It'd better he doesn't get caught up in the tide when all the water starts heading down.

There a noise like thunder as the ground begins to collapse in on itself, Jade's expression one of concentration as he continues to force the ground to crumble farther and farther down the new shaft. It's a good five feet wide and continues to deepen until the first vein down into the caves below is opened up. There's a moment of quiet before a torrent of water rushes in. Jade takes the moment to rest as well as keep his distance from the twisting drain. The effort of getting that large hole down into the caves took a bit from him, but not enough to slow the old man down.

When the water was rushing down steadily, Jade moved to the next location and pulled his SFC from the pocket of his tunic.]

There is a large drainage hole in the southern end of the bubble. Please avoid it. [Most of the markers have been used in lighting the way to the elevators and Jade isn't about to eschew that.

Now for Eastern and Western and northern if he had time for it, as well as energy. It was no small task to make those things. They were about control and carefully making sure the arte doesn't go wild. Worst came, he'd try to use Grabity Well. He didn't want to, since Vatheon's structural integrity was still something to consider, even with recent events.]

((OOC: Open post!! Feel free to run into him near the Coral or on the SFC!))