The Centrality (6-21-17)

> Say hello to those two gray fellows on the left!

Oh, more statues that are probably not statues, come to think of it. How come everyone here is in grayscale? Did Murky and Lurky steal everyone's colors?

>Greet the smol children in a friendly manner!

>dontinsultthemdontinsultthemdontinsultthem

>"wow you guys are short"

> Greet them.



There was a voice in Elli's head telling her not to comment on their height, but nevertheless the first words out of her mouth were "Wow, you guys are short."

As her foot was not sufficiently far enough in her mouth, Elli followed up with "Why is everyone grayscale?" It took a moment for her mind to catch up, and when it did, she slapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide, and muttered a "Sorry. Hi."

She was pretty sure that guy in the black glasses, the one from before, was trying not to laugh.

The one with white hair smiled. "Hello. My name's Dia."

"Mine is Diza," the one with black hair continued. "And our colleague here is Tukha."

"Well met, friend," Tukha said. "It certainly is nice seeing a new face." Elli could hear him winking, which she considered an accomplishment.

"Er, yes," Elli said. "I'm, uh, Elli. Elli Alakrit."

Diza held out his hand, and Elli began reaching to shake it. But at the last moment, a paper appeared in his palm instead, and he began looking it over. "Ah, yes, we have your intake form right here. Well, welcome, then, Ms. Alakrit."

"Um," Elli said.

"Yes?" Dia said. "I'm sure you must have questions."

Elli spread her arms, gesturing at the room around them. "Where...?"

"The Centrality." Diza tossed the paper into the air, whereupon it disappeared. "The domain of gods, goddesses, and deities." When he saw the confusion in Elli's eyes, he continued. "Dia and I are the god and goddess of judgment, for example. Tukha is the god of odds and ends. And you, Ms. Alakrit, appear to be the goddess of fear and... food." He exchanged a quick glance with Dia. "We certainly have stranger combinations of domains here."

"I'm a... goddess?" Elli felt, in some detached way, that she probably ought to have been more surprised by that.

Dia patted her on the shoulder. "That's right. And you're in good company. Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to get up to speed."

"That said," Diza continued, "we, ah, weren't expecting you, which was, in and of itself, unexpected. All we've managed to set up is your room."

"And the Centrality takes care of that on its own," Dia said. "Oh! And we also have this for you." She reached up one sleeve and pulled out a small rectangular device - one that Elli found familiar.

"I actually have--" Elli started, but she bit her tongue when she saw Tukha subtly shaking his head. "--one more question," she finished after stumbling for a moment, the steam gone. "What... what exactly do I need to do?"

Diza grunted. "For now? There's nothing required of you until we finish processing your paperwork. So you may familiarize yourself with the Centrality and its inhabitants for the time being. Rest assured, you will be aware when something will be expected of you."

"And welcome!" Dia said as the two of them turned to leave. "We're very happy to have you here!"

"Even if we don't know why you're here at all," Diza muttered under his breath.

Elli watched them go. "Tukha, was it? Why'd you..." she started, but then she realized, a moment too late, that Tukha, too, had disappeared.



So that was that. She was a goddess. Elli figured she would probably have felt more strongly about that if she could remember what she was before she was a goddess.

Y'know, this is, uh. Kind of a suspicious situation! Maybe... maybe here is not where you should be, and something is very wrong, and you should make sure it's possible to leave before doing anything else.

>Head to Centrality Exterior

I have completely wild theories but zero basis for them.

> Pay mind to review thoughts before acting on them, before you say something weird again.

Indeed, go outside for some fresh air

As she stood in the empty meeting hall, Elli was filled with the sense that something was wrong. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something about what Diza and Dia were telling her...

Well, there were red flags. When added to the memory loss, it all left her a little concerned.

Elli decided to leave the building for a bit to clear her head.

The Centrality was surrounded by dense forest on all sides. Elli ventured in, but it didn't take long before her surroundings turned pitch black. She didn't much like it, but it looked like there wasn't any leaving. She turned around and headed back.



When Elli found her way out of the forest, Tukha was there, waiting for her. "Ah, friend, I'm glad I found you," he said. He glanced around him, then approached her. "I expect you have questions," Tukha continued quietly. "I might not be able to answer everything, but please, feel free to ask."

Well, even if he says he might be unable to answer this, it is worth a try:

>What is Everything?

>Okay, let's try this: who am I? Why do I have amnesia?! Is this a trap?!?

>"Where can I get a hat, cuz I keep l
Feeling like I should be tipping some sort of hat, but nothing's fucking there and that makes me uncomfortable.

An expression of weariness crossed Elli's face, and she fixed her eyes on Tukha. "What's... what's everything?" she asked, her shoulders sagging as the exhaustion of the day thus far began to hit her.

Tukha tilted his head slightly. "Would you mind focusing that question in a bit, friend? 'Everything' is a bit of a wide proposition."

"Okay, let's try this." Elli took a deep breath. "Who am I? Why do I have amnesia? What's going on here?"

"Mm." Tukha took a step to the side, hands in pockets, looking away from her and towards the endless forest. Elli still couldn't see his eyes behind the sunglasses, but she had the impression that his face had fallen a little. "I suppose those are fair questions. I'll answer what I can." He drew his hands from his pockets and held them palms-up in front of him. A picture, faint and hazy, appeared between his hands - something blue, with lots of green and brown.

"These are the mortal lands," Tukha said. "Or, rather, a representation of them, at least. That's where you're from, Elli Alakrit. As for why you're here..." He paused and looked around again. His gaze fell back on the Centrality, looming up behind the two of them. "That's my doing. I have an important task that I cannot do on my own, and I cannot ask my colleagues for assistance. So I, ah, expedited your paperwork, so to speak. It is nothing you need to concern yourself with... yet, anyway."

"And the amnesia?" Elli asked.

"As I understand it, it's a side effect of ascension. Your brain sorting all the new sensations out." Tukha glanced back to her. The picture that he had summoned had disappeared, and he was fidgeting with the cuff on his sleeve. "Speaking of, friend, once Diza and Dia have completely processed your admission, you'll likely begin feeling more going on in here." He tapped her forehead.

"Hey!" Elli huffed.

"Don't take that the wrong way. I mean your senses will begin to expand. And once they do, I can help you learn what to do with them. In the meantime, though, so that you and I can eventually complete my task, I would ask that you go about your time here without raising suspicion. Meet the others, certainly; explore the Centrality, absolutely; but remember this - you and I are nothing more than colleagues, I had nothing to do with why you're here, and we certainly never had this conversation." Tukha cleared his throat. "Is there anything else you need to ask?"

It took Elli a moment to take it all in. "Uh... can I get a hat somewhere? Your hat's pretty neat."

The question took Tukha by surprise, and he let out a belly laugh, one that echoed through the forest. "Check your room," he eventually said, wiping a tear away from behind his glasses. "If you want one, it'll be in your closet." Tukha reached out and shook Elli's hand. "If that's all, friend, I ought to be going. Be seeing you."



Elli watched quietly as Tukha headed back for the Centrality, leaving her alone.

They don't let you leave.... maybe you should hide in a different place

>Go to the Solarium

The Solarium doesn't sound like a great hiding place from the name, but then again neither do "Meeting Hall", "Main Lobby", or god forbid "Elli's Room". You should probably make a priority of adding more locations to that list, so you have more options for where to lay low if this situation turns sour.

> Go get that hat.

> Go get that hat.

Secondingsecondingseconding

Elli returned to her room, pleasantly surprised to find a hat on the bed.

She put it on. It fit perfectly.



With the hat only providing the barest of relief, Elli still found herself unsettled by what Tukha had told her.

Maybe I need to find a good hiding place, she thought. Never know when things might turn south. Well, more south. It already sounds pretty south.

Elli looked at her device. Under the "Locations" tab, there was only one place she hadn't visited - the Solarium. She set out in that direction, resolving to find some way to add more places to the list, just in case.

There was someone waiting already in the Solarium, which sort of defeated the purpose of a hiding place, Elli thought.



"Ah, hello!" they said. "Greetings! Welcome! I'd heard scuttlebutt around that there was someone new among our number! And what a cute hat you've got, too!"

Elli blinked. It was probably the friendliest greeting she'd gotten so far. "Oh, uh, hi," she said. "Um, Elli. That's my name, I mean. Elli."

"Good to meet you!" Only their eyes were visible under the cloak, but from what Elli could tell, they seemed happy. "My name's Nisi. I'm the goddess of cooperation and aid," Nisi said, clapping her hands - well, sleeves - together. "You seem a little lost. I know how it goes. I'm what you could call a newbie around here too. It can be intimidating, can't it? This big old place, all the gods and goddesses wandering around, and I bet on top of that you don't remember anything."

Elli could only nod as the words washed over her.

"Well, don't worry! In time, you'll get used to it. My memories took a while to come back too. But I'll give you some advice - when I first started here, what helped me get to know everyone was helping them out with their problems. So I took it upon myself to start a little service. I call it the Help Board." Nisi gestured behind her with one wide sleeve.



"All of the members of the pantheon," Nisi continued, "can post their troubles here. If you think there's one you can help resolve, then you should! Solving troubles can help you get to know everyone, and it'll help you learn the layout of the Centrality, too."

>Searching for tools sounds like the option least likely to necessitate being around people, but you do feel positively about gardening. But then, looking for tools means exploring, while the other two involve staying in one place... hm. Hard decision. Probably not the jam session, unless it involves actual jam, which, mmm, jam.

also elli would have no way of knowing this, but ohohoho, this is a member of the pantheon we don't recognize from The Normal Place. i guessed back then that Thale might have actually been a goddess of Lies and Discord, lying blatantly about her domains, but that turned out to be wrong- perhaps i can be suspicious of this goddess of Cooperation and Aid who hides her face and whose symbol seems to be... an eye? a mouth? hm...

> It seems that what aided her in getting settled in was getting acquainted with her domain. Your domain is fear and food, so maybe you should consider becoming a cook? If we're going to be responding to a request, perhaps a good start would be to help with the garden and thus see if they're growing any food or spices?

> If she's the goddess of Cooperation and Aid, perhaps she could help you fill out your map?

And Nisi not being from The Normal Place isn't that suspicious. For one thing NonAnalogue said this was a sort of alternate universe, so other deities may be present, and for another she did say she was fairly new. That said, you do make a good point about the fact that a goddess supposedly of Cooperation and Aid hides herself.

>Jam sounds delicious

>I love jam. Well, not really, but it's better than just looking for some borin' tools that don't do anything interesting like dancing, or screaming for the sweet release of death, or singing. Go jAM.

Elli thought about the options for a moment. It didn't seem like a bad idea, helping other people out to get to know them and to learn the layout of the place. She decided to start with the 'jam session' - she vaguely recalled that that referred to music, but on the off-chance that it didn't, she was also a fan of jam.

She bid farewell to Nisi, who waved and said "I'm sure we'll run into each other again soon!"



As soon as Elli had figured out what task she wanted to take on, she noticed that the locations tab on her device had a new entry - the Music Hall. She selected it and eyeballed the map, then set out.

The route took her through the lobby, and she ran into someone there - not someone she'd met before. "Oh, uh, hi," Elli said, offering a small wave.



But the person took off without acknowledging her. Elli watched them leave, then shrugged and continued on.



The music hall was, appropriately, filled with every instrument Elli could think of, with a wide stage at the front of the room. She looked over the instruments, wondering if any of them spoke to her.

Something tugged at her memory, and she sat down at the drum set.

One sick drum solo later, Elli heard someone applauding.



"Hey!" they said. "That was wild! You're a natural! Yo, we need to get in on a jam sesh together!"

Elli could feel herself blushing slightly. "Oh, er, thanks... You're Ithria, then?"

"Yup! Got it in one! Ithria, one and only, goddess of weather and music!"

"Elli... goddess of fear and food." It was going to take Elli some time to get used to introducing herself like that.

Ithria grinned, and her smile lit up the room. Elli wasn't entirely certain that was metaphorical, either. "Elli! The Elster. Elgirl. Els! I like it! How's about let's you and me lay it down!"

"What do you play?"

"You have to ask?" Ithria said as she vaulted over a few chairs. "I play everything! But this time, I'ma have at my baby over here!" She landed at the electric guitar.

Elli looked at the speakers the guitar was hooked up to. They were taller than she was. She smiled. "Then, uh, let's start?"

"Don't gotta tell me twice!"



"Man alive, you can jam with the best of them!" Ithria said, wiping the sweat from her brow. "I got some major thanks for ya! Nobody around here ever wants to join in, and it suuuuucks. But now I know who I'm gonna call next time I need a partner!"

Elli exhaled. She hadn't worked herself like that for a while - at least, not as far as she could remember. "Yeah, that was pretty great," she said, leaning back and stretching out her back.

Ithria slapped her on the back. "Now go on, get outta here," she said, beaming. "You look like you're gonna keel over. Oh! By the way, my username's CrashingDynamo, in case you wanna message me or something. And if you ever need a favor or anything like that, give me a yell. Just lemme know next time you're down to rock out!"

Elli left the music hall, feeling like she'd made pretty good friends with Ithria. Plus, it seemed like she could ask Ithria for favors, just in case it ever came up.



Elli returned to the Solarium. Nisi was nowhere to be seen, but that didn't bother Elli. She erased Ithria's trouble from the board. With that done, Elli felt like she could maybe help with one more thing before she would want to call it a night.

>Go and cook it is time to show off your divine powers

although hope that your food domain is about making food and not eating it

>Go and cook it is time to show off your divine powers

although hope that your food domain is about making food and not eating it

Fuck yes, make some bomb ass spaghettios