Event Ten.

[awashmods]

Little Willie, mean as hell, Pushed his sister in a well. Mother said, while drawing water, "My, it's hard to raise a daughter."

t's pretty dark and miserable down in the well. The cavernous area feels much larger than a well should be, bodies milling about in the darkness and knee deep, frigid water. So you're here -- and you're not alone, and the only way out appears to be the thin circle of sunlight from above, the opening of the well. (And elsewhere, in the Town, everyone's waking up to gifts of various usefulness, but hopefully they remember to check the well today even so!) What now? Welcome to Awash's tenth event log, and the intro log for this month, everyone! All new characters have found themselves waking in the well in the middle of the Town. Hopefully they can get a hand out! For more information, please go here! Meanwhile, the current characters have some new gifts. If there are any questions, please ask them here, and have fun! Thank you!

Comments

[promissum]

Is that so...?

Only sinners end up in the Netherworld. Other humans simply reincarnate. We're already having a prinny skin shortage. [So he had to deal with Fuka constantly saying that she wasn't dead despite all the signs pointing to she's very definitely dead. Imagine if he had to wrangle a bunch of non-sinful humans through...]

I see. [He's dealt with a rascal like that-- though Nico doesn't remind him even a little bit of Emizel.] No matter who your father is, make sure you make a name for yourself first.

[umbraportation]

Everyone ends up in the Underworld, though some have the option to be reincarnated. [ A raise of his eyebrow. ] Do I even want to know what a prinny skin is?

[ Sounds disgusting if you ask Nico. He's kind of imagining some wrinkly, horrible-looking skin just laying about or even strung up like a shirt.

Look, the Underworld is not that nice of a place - it could happen. ] Pretty sure it's too late for that in some cases. Though it isn't as if I go around announcing my parentage to every mortal who comes around.

[ But other demigods like himself, even the gods and goddesses know whose kid he is. ]

[promissum]

The Netherworld would've run out of HL if we had to deal with every human soul. prinny skins might be cheap, but they still cost something to create.

A prinny skin is the blue penguin like skin that a sinner's soul gets stitched into. [Val doesn't think they're that weird, but he's been dealing with the prinnies for 400 years. They're endearing in their own strange way.

Hmm...] You're a prince of the Netherworld? It would make sense if you weren't a mortal. What are you? You don't seem like a demon.

[umbraportation]

[ He has no idea what HL is but it isn't as if every soul ends up in the Underworld. There are other versions of the afterlife just in his world alone. ]

So becoming a soul trapped inside of a penguin skin is how you punish sinners in the Netherworld? [ No, it's weird. It's really weird. Maybe a little disgusting just because of what Nico is currently picturing. ]

Half-god, half-human. Most refer to us as demigods. Are you a demon?

[promissum]

[The Netherworld's currency, but since Val thinks the Nico is from a similar Netherworld, he thinks they're on the same wave length here.]

That's part of their atonement. If they want to be reincarnated, they need to repay their sins with hard work. My job is to make sure the prinny rules are drilled into their heads. That's what it means to be a Prinny Instructor.

Demigods... I've never heard of those before. [But if Nico says that's what he is, Val will believe him.]

Indeed! I am Valvatorez, a vampire demon from the depths of Hades. That's my Netherworld's prison.

[umbraportation]

[ Look, as far as he knows Charon is the only person who gets paid in the Underworld for ferrying souls across the River Styx. ]

Huh, guess whoever's running your Netherworld is a lot nicer than the Underworld. Sinners don't really get the chance to attone for their sins so they can be reincarnated.

[ They just get punished. Eternally. ] Most mortals don't even know about us so I'm not surprised.

Nico di Angelo. [ There's a faint smile. ] Your Netherworld's prison has the same name as my father.

[promissum]

[What terrible conditions! Not even sardines for the rest of the staff.]

Hmm... It might take a prinny hundreds or thousands of years to earn the right to reincarnated. As long as they work hard they will reincarnate. And it is hard work. Being used as soldiers for other demons, menial tasks, chores, being forced to explode... all for low pay.

Your father's name is Hades? What a coincidence.

[umbraportation]

[ Not that he's seen anyway. Definitely no sardines (unless it's a punishment). ]

Somehow I doubt the gods would let every soul reincarnate. A few end up in the Field of Punishment because they made a god or goddess angry and are given special punishments. One guy has to push a boulder up a hill until it reaches the top, only it always falls back down so he has to start all over again.

[ He shrugs and puts his wet shoe back on. ] It's not much of a surprise to hear that some things are similar in another version. There's always bound to be some overlap. If you told me you had a guy named Hades, I might be more surprised.

[promissum]

There's only so much room in the Netherworld between on the demons and the prinnies. We already had a prinny overpopulation problem, but that's the fault of lazy demons who don't even do their jobs. [HUFF. Anyway.]

There may be a few demons that share the name. I haven't spoken to everyone in the Netherworld. Most of them aren't even in my party.

[umbraportation]

The Underworld doesn't take in every dead soul, there are other afterlifes in play too. Otherwise we'd probably have an overcrowding situation. [ Curious... ] If a demon doesn't do their job, does it mean they don't get paid?

Fair enough. I don't know everyone working in the Underworld either.

[promissum]

Especially pure human souls can become angels, but I've only met one of those. Those demons don't. There are other ways to get HL, beating up less powerful demons. [Just a simple fact of life.]

So, demigod, do you spend most of your time in the Netherworld or Earth?

[umbraportation]

Seems like it'd be easier to just do their job rather than go picking fights. [ But maybe they prefer fighting to actual work. Who knows. ]

Earth usually but I have my own space down in the Underworld. I've been staying at a camp with other demigods for the past few months.

[promissum]

It would be better for the world's overall health as well. We wouldn't be having this prinny overpopulation problem if the demons were just doing their jobs. Instead they're acting like greedy humans. Fine. We'll be having performance reviews soon enough.

I've never heard of a demigod camp.

[umbraportation]

Can a demon get fired if their performance review doesn't go well? Getting rid of lazy workers probably wouldn't do much to help with the prinny overpopulation problem. You'd still be short-handed.

[ It's not surprising that Val hasn't heard of it. ] Basically it's kind of like regular camp only more dangerous. They teach demigods how to survive against monsters who want to kill us and provide up with a relatively safe haven from them. Some kids actually live there all year round.

[promissum]

They can't be fired, but they can be imprisoned. Most will just have to deal with a downgrade in power. If they want more, they'll have to challenge me. [Yeah, this skinny stick of a vampire seems awfully confident.]

Humans do a good enough job of killing each other. Why are monsters bothering?

[umbraportation]

[ Honestly, who is Nico to judge power by the size of someone? ] You their boss or something? Or just rich and powerful?

Guess they like the challenge or the way we smell. Most mortals don't even see them for what they really are so killing them isn't nearly as fun.

[promissum]

I'm a Prinny Instructor. I'm powerful. [These two things have absolutely nothing to do with each other.] I faced down God and made Him back off.

... The way you... smell?

[umbraportation]

[ For all he knows, those two things have everything to do with each other. ] That sounds like an interesting story.

[ Shrugs casually. ] We are half-god or goddess, we have their blood running through our veins. The kids of more powerful gods draw more monsters.

[promissum]

God wanted to destroy the world. I didn't want to leave it. It's that simple. [It is not that simple, but it's that straightforward for Val.]

I don't smell anything strange about you. Well, you're not bleeding.

[umbraportation]

That part may be simple but somehow I doubt actually going up against Him was that easy. [ Nico's dealt with all sorts of gods and knows it's not that simple. ]

Sorry but I'm not going to cut myself just so you can get a whiff of my blood.

[promissum]

It was a long and winding road, but in the end I fought God with my comrades by my side. That is the power of angels, demons and humans working together. He backed off. [For now.]

Good, I don't want it.

[umbraportation]

Well, that's good. Maybe sometime you can tell me the full story. [ They can exchange stories. Maybe when they both know each other better.

That does bring up a question... ] As a vampire demon do you need blood to survive?

[promissum]

[A soft chuckle. It's kind of nice to have somebody be interested in his adventures.] Alright. Come find me and I'll tell you the story.

Yes, but it doesn't need to be human blood. I'm... keeping a promise. [400 years without human blood... It's fine. He'd never had discovered sardines otherwise.]

[umbraportation]

[ It's his first time meeting someone who isn't a demigo that fights gods... even God. ] Sure. Once we're both settled.

[ He listens quietly as Val admits to it, not seeming bothered at all. ] Not sure what sort of animal blood you might get around here but it'd probably be a good idea to look into it before you need it.

[ Nico could offer his blood but he is half-human. ]

[promissum]

Tell me about your world as well.

[Then Nico makes the mistake(?) of asking about what kind of blood Val needs and he begins.] Sardines! Those insignificant creatures are full of nutrients. They're high in major minerals like phosphorus, calcium and potassium! They're a natural source of omega-3 fatty acids! Those can reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular disease!

[And then he goes back to his much more measured demeanor.]

Any fish will do in a pinch. I just prefer those.