(no subject)

[empereurs]

Do you remember the man that my squad saw in the Shadow World castle? The one who was locked in the dungeon and turned to ash upon entering the cathedral. Lenore said that he probably wasn't a real person, and given that Squad 1 also saw that same man in the dungeon, who also turned to ash when they tried to rescue him, that's likely true.

But... I saw his face yesterday, in town. He looked just the same as the [...] entity in the Shadow dungeon, but he wasn't crying. And before you ask, I don't know who he is. I didn't want to bother him. He seemed dist But... it seemed worth sharing, just in case.


[Scout]

I don't know what to tell people about the articles we found. If anything. Everyone's already under enough stress.

[Squad 4]

[...] Would any of you want to help me find out more about this man?

Comments

Squad 4

[ballhoot]

shit to the yeah my man

Squad 4

[mentalmap]

Me too.

Squad 4

[ballhoot]

we gonna go hard af on this learning shit

Squad 4

[empereurs]

Scout and I saw him in the cafe. Sitting by himself, looking out the window. I didn't get his name [...] but I bet he'll come back there sooner or later.

Squad 4

[coalblooded]

Time for a stake out!

Squad 4

[empereurs]

We're not going to bother him, though. Just a little [...] investigative journalism.

Squad 4

[pleaseloveme]

let's stalk him

Squad 4

[ballhoot]

oh we sneaky as hell

Squad 4

[empereurs]

We're not stalking him.

Squad 4

[ballhoot]

you think he can tell what we did with his dirt

Squad 4

[empereurs]

I don't know. I mean, it wasn't really him that we [...] scattered.

[unironickylorenfan]

If the thing you saw in the Shadow World wasn't a real person, but a real person with that face exists in the real world, does that mean [...] pod person?

[empereurs]

Maybe more like... a really strong imprint? We already know that the Shadow World is formed from our collective unconscious. Haling Cove's collective unconscious.

Following that logic, it would actually make more sense to see familiar faces in the Shadow World, but... we don't. Except for this man.

[coalblooded]

So, someone else's idea of this man?

[empereurs]

Someone else's idea, or something about his grief suffering pain [...] sadness is so strong that it created a doppelganger of him in the Shadow World?

[unironickylorenfan]

Hm. He's the only really human face we've seen, right? Outside of the kidnapees, I mean. I wonder how he and that castle are connected, then.

[highercalling]

I'm surprised we don't see more, to be honest. If [...] our thoughts and emotions leave an imprint on the Shadow World, and we know they do, then I'd expect to see all the people we think about each day.

[opalescents]

Huuuuuuh weird?
I wonder if everyone in shadowland who has a face is in our world too.
But mostly I’m glad he’s not ACTUALLY ash. Or a ghost. Or whatever.

[harmreduction]

Maybe it's like the people you see in dreams. See someone around town, some Shadow version of them shows up without you realizing you've seen them before.

[opalescents]

Then I wonder if/why he stood out more than others??
Maybe he was just sad and the shadow world thought “oh yes PERFECT casting”??

[empereurs]

So far, "everyone" is just him. Scout saw him too, and confirmed it was the same ash man that his squad met. The castle's gone now, or else I'd see about checking a third time if he'd still appear in the dungeon.

But yes. I was worried about him, so this is good, really.

[opalescents]

TRUE.
Huh I wonder if there ARE more or if he's just suuuper super special.

[star_boy]

It was so jarring to see him. [...] He's here, safe and alive, so I'll just try to get some comfort from that.

[Flint]
[...] I'm not sure either, to be honest. I don't want to freak anyone out, but [...] seems bad to just keep it to ourselves. I know maybe pointing out how high the stakes are is good in some ways, but [...] I don't know.

Maybe just sharing the minimum is worthwhile? We didn't find anything that perfectly matched what we saw this past weekend, but things were clearly stirred up back then.

[empereurs]

Yeah. You're right. I hope he's doing okay.

[Scout]
I'm worried about how much worse it can get, based on this. But [...] we saved everybody from the bus, and this was more people than any past incident we could find. I don't know whether to focus on our results being better, or the bus incident for being worse.

[...] Mr. Gladstone and Ms. Voss didn't have as many explorers as us, did they?

[star_boy]

I do too. Maybe we should've bought his coffee.

[Flint]
[...] Let's not project into the future. It could get worse, but it might not. It feels like we're at least making some headway in the Shadow World, with the castle gone.

And we did save everyone.

I [...] worry, though, that maybe by going in we're rocking the boat, you know? But we need to be proactive.

[...]

I can't imagine they had nearly as many, no. We're [...] practically an army.