"There! There he is! Get him!" That's what one of the Ogres cried just before the Namekian clocked him in the jaw with a hard shot, knocking him out cold. But it was too late; his warning cry had been heard by the others, and now they were hot on his tail. The Ogres were the Guardians of this dimension, who kept an eye on the denizens and made sure they stayed were the belonged. Usually those up top didn't have much reason to want to leave, but those from below...
Gandigan had been trying to find his way out of Hell basically from the moment he had arrived, and now he believed he may have found something. Lottus had found his own way out of Hell, but he hadn't been gracious enough to let Gandigan in on that secret which left the Namekian to scour the lands almost clueless. His other visits to Hell hadn't produced anything either, but now he was hoping that this had a little more promise.
Gandigan had managed to fly up through the outer limits of Hell, where he found himself colliding into some massive bridge that he hadn't ever seen before. Flying to the top of the bridge, he was able to make out that it had been designed in the form of a snake, and the end appeared to be... while, endless actually. The scope of the bridge nearly distracted Gandigan enough for one of the Ogres to tackle him, but the former Mazoku King found a way to wriggle out.
Once he made his way back to his feet the chase was on.
Post by Nervan & Friends on Nov 1, 2023 8:59:17 GMT -5
|| Prophos’ PL: 14,800 || Due to being a Shinjin, Prophos can visit Otherworld freely!
“There you are, gotcha!” Prophos triumphantly retrieved the soul of a large serpent with a strange device— a staff of sorts with a kind of mystical net and hook on the front that was used to capture serpents— to then put the soul into a large gourd that the Shinjin was carrying on his back.
It wasn’t a common occurrence, but sometimes there was a mix-up, error in paperwork or even just transportation accidents when it came to certain kinds of souls. In this case, a large amount of serpentine souls had been misplaced somehow and collectively found their way to Snake Way. If Prophos had 1000z for every time this happened, he would have 4000z, which wasn’t much but it was hilarious that it had happened four times in his life.
Aside from checking up on some colleagues or anything about new magical artefacts, the Shinjin had nothing else to do during his visit this time. Not that it was his job or anything to retrieve these souls, Prophos had overheard rumors of Ogres being spread thin in this sector of the Otherworld so they weren’t as readily available to set smaller things like this right again.
Besides, he had a feeling something interesting might crop up.
So crop up it did.
A few hundred meters, just within his scope of vision, Prophos saw a Namekian land on a segment of Snake Way, somewhere below on one of the many twists and bends this mysterious path had; and they were being followed by some Ogres— some members of the hell-side border security squad in fact. Prophos had no way of knowing for sure if this Namekian was simply a living being that had crossed the barrier with a Guiding Candle or something similar or if they were indeed dead and were sentenced to Hell, currently trying to go somewhere else.
The question was, what would Prophos do in this situation?
Simple, he saw some more lost serpent souls nearby and chose to use them as a form of distraction to try and cause the Ogres running this way to lose ground while feigning a slip up on his part to make it look like an accident. “Ah— damnit, sorry fellas!”
Somehow the Ogres were able to keep up with Gandigan; despite his vast power in the mortal realm, the Namekian was slowly discovering that the rules were different here. If the Ogres somehow managed to get their hands on Gandigan and chuck him off the mighty serpent it would take him days to get back up here. In the heat of the chase Gandigan hadn't noticed anyone else up here, but right now he was running right towards... someone.
When he first saw the stranger, he thought it was Vale with that purple skin of his. Their facial structures looked similar too, though the outfit was very different. Upon getting closer he was able to see that it wasn't Vale at all; maybe a relative or something? Higher up in the Afterlife it wouldn't be shocking to come across another Shinjin. Gandigan's first thought was to assume that he'd probably try and help out the Ogres and get in his way, but instead he did the opposite.
The little stranger caused a distraction for the chasing Ogres, allowing Gandigan to gain some distance on them. The Namekian gave the purple man a nod while running on, eventually stopping within a small station and hiding within while dropping his power level as low as it would go. A few moments later and Gandigan could hear the Ogres getting closer before they stopped outside. "... Damnit! Where'd he go? Yemma's gonna have my ass if we don't find him!"
He could hear one of the Ogres smack another before continuing. "I guess he must have made it further than we thought. Lets keep going." The Ogres continued on marching down the endless snake, before Gandigan would come out of his hiding place and take a seat outside of the mysterious station. There the Namekian would rest a moment and catch his breath.
Post by Nervan & Friends on Nov 3, 2023 1:56:05 GMT -5
|| Prophos’ PL: 14,800 ||
The Namekian gave a nod as he passed by, and Prophos returned the gesture quickly to avoid the Ogres noticing it. To Prophos’ pleasant surprise, the Ogres seemed to completely buy into what he had orchestrated. Focusing on the small group of serpentine souls nearby, Prophos shrugged as the Ogres passed him. “I’m a bit busy here too, I didn’t see where they went.”
Eventually the Ogres were rushing on their way again, away from where the Namekian had hidden. While his primary objective was collecting these serpentine souls, Prophos did kind of see where the Namekian had gone. So, while doing his job, the Shinjin wandered in that general direction. The Namekian had hidden himself in what looked to be a largely unused guard station.
Approaching casually and on the lookout for more of the lost souls, Prophos gave the Namekian a short wave. “Hey there. Are you alright? I’m gonna guess that you’re new here.” Whether it was by way of Guiding Candle or death was of little consequence to Prophos, and as far as the Shinjin was concerned the specifics were up to the Namekian to share. The same could be said as to why or how they managed to get some Ogres on their case. “I am Prophos. Are you willing to share your name as well?”
Gandigan took a moment to rest. Despite being dead, he could feel that his body was still 'real' and even if he could push it a little harder than when he was alive, it still had it's limits. Looking behind him, Gandigan tried to sense if there was anyone else within the station that he had to worry about, though from what he could tell it was empty. What was this place? Some sort of lookout? That was the only option that really made sense to him.
A few moments into his rest and the purple man approached, asking Gandigan about himself. Seeing as how he had just helped Gandigan continue on with this journey into new horizons he couldn't rightly refuse the man an answer. "Aye. Was killed a few weeks ago by Lottus. I'd explain who that was, but most people I've spoken to around here already have an idea. I went down with a whole planet so I imagine there were a lot of new spirits wandering around that day."
He had to wonder just how many planets Lottus had already destroyed. Had he done it again since the time that he had died? He knew that the power to destroy worlds was something all Super Saiyans could do, but with such ease? He hoped Nero and the others were training hard; the same fate could not be allowed to befall another world.
"Gandigan, Namekian. I must ask: are you a Shinjin? And have you heard of someone called Vale? When I first saw you I confused you for him; you too look quite alike."
Post by Nervan & Friends on Nov 4, 2023 4:56:29 GMT -5
|| Prophos’ PL: 14,800 ||
“Straight up death, huh? My condolences.” Prophos bowed politely. He had heard a few whisperings of this ‘Lottus’ character when arriving here. There was a strange surplus of multiple similar mortals as of late, from what Prophos had heard. It was clear that whoever caused this was a huge problem, especially if they had annihilated a whole planet. “So I’ve heard, mostly from Ogres talking about it in passing.”
From what Prophos could tell, it had happened at least a few more times prior to his own return here. He had no real idea just how many planets had been razed either, but clearly it was more than zero planets, and that was not good.
“Indeed, I am a Shinjin.” Prophos motioned to his special earrings that he chose to wear on the thread of a necklace rather than on his ears. Should the Namekian take a closer look at said earrings, he would notice that the colours were quite unique— orange orbs set into chrome black fasteners with black ring hooks.
“Vale..?” Prophos looked surprised, then immediately disgusted at hearing the name— but it was not disgust from personal experience with the individual, he just knew of negativity surrounding that name. “I must warn you Gandigan, that is not a name to mention lightly, many well read Shinjin understand that whom you may be speaking of is a blight on our history. Some sweep it all under the rug and say it is a legend. Others, such as myself, believe differently. He and three others from ancient times caused untold havoc in the early days of the universe until they were supposedly sealed away; they were known as the Four Horsemen. Cyprus, Nidhogg, Retemed, and Vale. Conquest, War, Famine and Death.”
Four names, never again repeated and given to other Shinjin, for the wounds they left behind were too chaotic to ignore. “They threatened the balance of the universe once, and if they still exist, if indeed the seals upon them were broken, they are likely to do the same again.” Prophos wasn’t exactly the most traditional Shinjin, he had views that some of his own kin may consider insane or something like that, but the horrid legacy left by those four was too much.
Gandigan looked into the earrings that Prophos gestured to, though he couldn't recall Vale wearing any special earrings. "Oh, are those something that most Shinjin wear? The one I encountered did have such jewelry." The mention of Vale seemed to shift the conversation towards a darker tone, though that hadn't been Gandigan's intention. From the Namekians encounter with Vale, the Shinjin didn't appear to be all that bad, yet the way that Prophos spoke about him would have you believe that he was a threat greater than even Lottus.
"I was not aware of any of that. Those names; Cyprus, Nighogg, Retemed. I do not recognize the last two, but I recall the first as well. Recently there was a tournament on my home of Namek. A man named Cyprus fought in it, though... I don't know if he was a Shinjin, but I do recall him wearing earrings. Orange skin and tall white hair."
The four horsemen. Conquest, War, Famine and Death. "Vale is death then? He presented himself as someone who could help me... I suppose someone like that would disguise themselves though. When I died he was watching. He said he could help train me; could help send a warning to my people back home. Now... I don't know what to think." Perhaps the only 'friend' that Gandigan had made in Hell may in fact turn out to be not such a great guy; what are the odds?
"Well, what about you? I don't know much about the afterlife yet but from what I understand there's three different realms, and Shinjin usually hang out in the top? What are you doing down in Yemma's land?"
Post by Nervan & Friends on Nov 4, 2023 6:44:26 GMT -5
|| Prophos’ PL: 14,800 ||
“Indeed, they are what we call Potara, we have had them for as long as we can remember. Some say they were very powerful magic items once.” Nowadays it was more of a status indicator or unique fashion choice; the true magic of the Potara has long since been lost; but Prophos had an idea of what it may have been and was sure he could potentially recreate it. “For the most part, at least in my experience the colours that a set of Potara possess have different meanings.” Most of which Prophos truthfully cared little about, but he liked to share knowledge all the same.
“Ah, don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t expect folks not born of the Otherworld to have heard about them unless their actions were at all recorded in mortal history.” Even so, history keeping of the mortal realm and Otherworld were very different, as were their perspectives. “Wait, another? You say that you saw another one of them? That doesn’t bode well...”
Prophos sighed, more problems upon problems it seemed. “I can imagine that those four are conniving schemers in some way.” It was possible that they could train Gandigan, or even help on a whim, but Prophos thought it unlikely. “It wouldn’t surprise me if they had an ulterior motive. Some sort of chaos and disorder, no doubt.”
Looking around for a moment, Prophos spotted yet another lost serpent soul, which he retrieved and put into the gourd on his back. “My people do usually reside in the upper realms for the most part, yes. As for me, I’m usually in the mortal realm. I just decided to pay a visit and saw things in some measure of disarray. Ogres seem to be spread a bit thin recently— likely due to the mass influx of souls sent here by that Lottus character that you mentioned.” Prophos gestured to the unique capture device he was holding and the gourd on his back. “I’m using this to gather serpent souls that managed to escape their designated area since their usual caretakers are busy with something else.”
"Well, to tell you the truth I didn't actually see him with my own eyes; I only heard him described to me. He ended up making the final of the tournament, so there was a lot of talk around him. I'm not exactly sure who these Horsemen are or what they want with me, but I'll be sure to ask Vale the next time he saw him." Death. That was what Vale represented. What is it that he could want out of Gandigan? Did he have some plans for Namek? Was Cyprus's visit there some sort of scouting mission?
He should have joined the tournament; remembering his absence only made him more upset. What was it that was the prize again...? Some sort of orb he recalled. He didn't know anything about the orbs that were up for grabs, but if Cyprus was interested in it then Vale likely was too; another thing to ask about. "The tournament prize was some sort of magical orb; you don't know anything about that do you? It might be what Cyprus and Vale were after. Vale seemed quite interested in travelling to Namek to 'help' me."
Gandigan took a look around at the white clouds he saw around him, only now recognized that they were actually souls. "Oh? These are dead snakes? I thought... where are their bodies? And uh, what are you planning on doing with them once you collect them all?"
Post by Nervan & Friends on Nov 4, 2023 7:26:10 GMT -5
|| Prophos’ PL: 14,800 ||
“Did he?” Prophos raised an eyebrow. “I thought it was some other people that made it to the finals, a Namekian local and a martial artist from Earth. That said.. I also heard there was a secondary bracket for those that dropped out of the primary bracket. Maybe he was in that match?” Tournaments weren’t really Prophos’ thing, it was just Budoshi that almost wouldn’t shut up about them so the Shinjin knew some vague details by proxy.
“A magical orb? Hmm. Well, that depends, do you have a physical description of it by any chance? You’d be surprised how unique they can get despite being one kind of shape.” Prophos saw himself as a bit of a magical item enthusiast, so where most people would have given up at the general description of a ‘magic orb’, the Shinjin had lived long enough to appreciate the various simplicities of some mystical items. “It is probably best to keep it out of the hands of those four too.”
Prophos nodded after Gandigan took note of the souls floating around— quite a few were a puffy cloud shape around here at the moment. “Mhm, these are serpentine animals. Some of them have their bodies, some don’t just yet.” But the ones that looked like cloud puffs would surely be hard to differentiate, right? “It might be difficult to notice at first, but if you look closer—” Prophos held a hand up to one of the souls that was floating past him lazily. “— you can see the impression of the scales they once had in life upon their soul.” Prophos also held the device above the soul and a small ring of light appeared on it. “It also helps that they were all already tagged by their caretaker.” He explained, retrieving that soul with the device to then gently place it in the gourd.
“Once I’ve found them all, I’ll be taking them back to their enclosure, hopefully that area has been secured before then or else I might be waiting a while with a gourd full of snake souls.”
"Was it? Maybe... uh yes, I recall now. That match with Cyprus and the Heran lady lasted soo long and it was so dramatic; I was remembering it as the finale. The actual final was between Nero and an Earthling woman which ended rather... well, anticlimactically." Prophos asked for a more detailed description of the Orb, but Gandigan didn't really have much he could give him. "Well, the one that I saw was grey, and it had a blue star in the center. I'm afraid that outside of that, they were pretty non-descript. Ring any bells?"
It was only a small hope that Prophos may be able to illuminate the meaning of the spheres for him, and even then there was always the chance that these orbits were nothing more than a piece of jewelry, and that Cyprus's visit was a complete coincidence. Still, a guy being known for conquest being on Namek for any reason didn't sound good to him.
Upon Prophos gesture, Gandigan took a closer look into the white substance in front of him, and indeed he was able to see some degree of scales running along the side. "Whoa... I must have been lucky to not end up like this. Wait a moment; you said not yet? They'll gain bodies at some point then? How does that work? You got empty ones lying around somewhere?" Maybe they made artificial ones? "Wait... is that how I got my body?"
Post by Nervan & Friends on Nov 5, 2023 4:09:33 GMT -5
|| Prophos’ PL: 14,800 ||
“I’ve been told that things just happen that way in tournaments sometimes. I suppose it can be said of a battle without restrictions too.” Prophos didn’t quite fully understand why Budoshi was so into this sort of thing still, but the Tuffle was certainly passionate. “It isn’t my area of expertise, a friend of mine would be quite enthusiastic to talk about a tournament.”
As for the prize of the tournament, Gandigane described it as a grey sphere with a blue star in the center. Prophos found that quite interesting. From what the Shinjin had studied, stars in a particular setup or pattern held great meaning. “A blue star you say? How peculiar, stars are not used lightly within circles of magical study. It is quite possibly a powerful item. It sounds like it emulates some legends from Earth and Namek that I’ve skimmed over.”
Gandigan seemed interested in what Prophos showed him in regards to the souls floating around— even to the point of bombarding the Shinjin with questions. “Sure, I suppose luck has something to do with it. For the most part, anyone with a strong will or high amount of Ki can more easily form a body if not immediately.” Phrophos began, explaining the subtle basics. “In some cases, it does just take time. I believe how old one is also contributes— the older the individual, the more their identity is present in their soul, whereas the opposite seems to be true for someone younger... A bit grim if you really think about it.”
Prophos analysis of the orb was... lacking. It was clear that he wasn't certain about anything in regards to the relic, but he did mention some legends that it could be linked to. "I'd love to hear them if you have the time to share them. Unfortunately I'm not much of a history guy. Nero would probably know more about it; he won the sphere after all, so I probably should have asked him about it at the time. Cello knows a lot about magic too, and he's way older than anyone else I know. And maybe Nervan? He's just a weird guy; probably into weird things."
The legends that Prophos spoke off were probably from the Dragon Caste, which meant that even if Gandigan had studied up he probably still wouldn't be an expert on them. The Dragon brothers from the southern side of the Namek had a strong affinity with Magic, and Gandigan had even been known to... well... steal from them back when he was under the influence of Amon. Most of the items he had tried to return once he regained control of his body, but others were lost even to him.
"You know a lot about souls. Is that something that every Shinjin knows, or is it just because you like to work down here? Don't really know a whole lot about your kind in case you couldn't tell. Outside of you and Vale I don't think I've met any others." Gandigan didn't mean to pepper Prophos with so many questions, but the Namekian was quite keen to soak up as much knowledge as he could while he had the time; those Ogres could be back any minute and if Yemma found out he was up here...
Post by Nervan & Friends on Nov 5, 2023 5:03:08 GMT -5
|| Prophos’ PL: 14,800 ||
“Well, rumor has it, these legends speak of Dragons— Eternal Dragons to be precise. They are said to exist connected to Earth and Namek— they are known as Shenron and Porunga; the latter I’m guessing you are somewhat familiar with? I know that Porunga has a very important place in Namekian culture. Anyway, both are supposedly connected to seven artefacts each, in both cases theorized to be orbs with sets of stars engraved in them. I don’t know how true this as I’ve never witnessed it myself, but I’ve heard that you can see the shapes of these stars perfectly from any angle you view the orb.” Prophos gave his further assessment in a somewhat excitable manner; happy to have a curious listener present. “Admittedly, I’m more of a general historian. I’m sure the two you mentioned have some further insight if they are closely connected to Namek as well.”
At the mention of Nervan however, Prophos blinked a few times in surprise. “Come again? Nervan?” What a wild coincidence, surely it wasn’t the same Nervan that Prophos knew? Although, Gandigan did specify that they were weird, and that certainly tracked. The Shinjin had to be sure though. “Exactly five feet tall, messy black hair and even messier outfit, pallid purple skin, unmoving facial features at all times, speaks with many voices, impressively pronounced nose?” Talk about questions for questions, at least the reaction to this name was undeniably positive.
“Generally speaking, my people are taught a lot about souls— what we call the basics might be a lot to others. Ogres are taught similarly; with some differing expertise depending on occupation.” It was no surprise that Gandigan hadn’t met many Shinjin, most of them were always here in the Otherworld. “We aren’t an especially common sight in the mortal realm, historically speaking, in terms of fully showing ourselves. A few of us go to the mortal realm completely disguised if we need to. This seems to be changing in recent days though. Other than that, if you haven’t frequented the Otherworld through some other means besides death, the chances of meeting one of us isn’t too high.”
Dragons. Shenron. Porunga. Seven Spheres. A lot of this was going over Gandigan's head. Of course he knew about Porunga, but the way that Prophos was speaking about him... to Gandigan, Porunga was his God. He watched over Gandigan, and the Mazoku would send him prayers in his time of need. "I don't know much about what you speak of, outside of Porunga. When-- If I shall ever find myself back on Namek I'll have many questions to as--WAIT!"
A memory hit Gandigan like a freight train. Something from the time that he was under the control of Amon; when he had first met Mollusc and that Oni Usumidori. "I recall. An Oni called Usumidori. A long time ago she and I, well, we uh... we were searching for something. This Demon wouldn't tell me what it was at first, until eventually I convinced her to spill. She mentioned magical spheres, somehow connected to Namekian history, with the ability to grant any wish..."
Could this be it? It would explain why someone like Cyprus would want them; it would explain why anyone would want them. "Maybe these stories are more well known in the Afterlife. Maybe Cyprus and Usumidori are for some reason working together; she and Cyprus seem the type to get along. I... don't know what to make of all this."
The name Nervan seemed to spark something in Prophos, leading to a wholly accurate description of the alien. "That's right. You know him? We meet on a lost world a few months ago. Some sort of creature was pulling ships onto the surface, and he helped me leave. Haven't seen him since then, though if he went to Namek like he said he would, and if Lottus is heading there... maybe we'll be seeing each other again soon."