[Video]

[iorhael]

[when the image comes on, Frodo isn't quite framed all the way. He's still figuring the device out, but looks skeptically at it for a moment. Is anyone listening at all? He feels somewhat foolish talking at the object, but it is better to start somewhere and try this...

[There is the slightest pause.The proper thing to do - had this been decent places or decent times - would be to introduce himself, but he doesn't know who is listening. Instead, Frodo goes on ahead]

Has anyone ever managed to leave this place, go home?

Comments

video;

[ex_contractual778]

[ C.C. tilts her head, peering at the small man—or at least the parts of him he managed to appropriately fit in the frame—curiously. ]

Why do you ask? Is there something important waiting at home?

Re: video;

[iorhael]

[Frodo can't help it; he looks surprised, even for a moment, that he was answered at all.]

Yes, there is. And home is back there; wouldn't anyone want to return to it?

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[ex_contractual778]

[ The gold in her eyes glints briefly. ]

Not everyone has a home to begin with.

Re: video;

[iorhael]

[Guilt crosses his face; it clearly hadn't occurred to him that others may not have a place to return to, or at least ones that they may call home]

...I am sorry, I did not know.

Re: video;

[ex_contractual778]

[ She just shrugs her shoulders, as if the fate of the world depended on it and yet she couldn't care less whether it lived or died, so icily callous she is. ]

It doesn't apply to me specifically. [ A half-lie, half-truth. ] It was just an example.

[iorhael]

[that gets her a long look. She almost doesn't seem to care that someone has had such bad luck]

....It must apply to someone out there, and it is very sad that it must at all.

[ex_contractual778]

[ Frodo receives a long, inquisitive look in return. ]

You're right, in a sense.

But not everyone wants a home, either.

[iorhael]

How could anyone not want a home to return to at the end of any journey?

[permatext]

[stonefaith]

At least one person that I know of, for certain. I don't believe that it was his choice to go.

[video] (for Frodo)

[iorhael]

Why would he not want to go? Wouldn't anyone?

Do you know how he was able to do so?

[stonefaith]

[ had john wanted to go back? he...

dammit, they talked about this once. bariyan remembers that they did, and he even remembers the date and approximate time-- but the conversation itself he only remembers vaguely. it's been a while. ]

I did not mean that he did not want to go. Just that he was not given any options. The decision to leave or to stay was out of his hands entirely.

That decision is left to the Initiative.

[iorhael]

So the manner then is the same as we arrive, with neither warning nor choice at all.

[stonefaith]

Yes. That is a rather succinct way of putting it.

[onemoredeath]

Sometimes people disappear. Sometimes they come back. I do not know if it was something they chose or if it was because how we were brought here.

[iorhael]

Those that do come back, have said nothing about such matters?

[There is a pause. One can be dragged back even if they escape?Frodo sounds the slightest bit disappointed when he does speak]

So there is no knowing which way in or out, save for what only the Initiative knows, it seems.

[onemoredeath]

Some do not even remember being here, other recall it as a vague dream.

I think that the Initiative have no idea how their machines works and are only hoping it will bring them people who can help them fix their world and save all the other worlds as well.

[iorhael]

How can that be possible? It seems to me that one would have a hard time forgetting this place!

[the last gets an odd look from Frodo]

That then is just as unsettling an idea as if they knew how it works; rather like the cart driver who has no idea at all how to guide his beasts thinking he can attempt the Misty Mountains.

They are carrying off those who are neither warriors or great leaders, but hoping to catch some by chance itself. How can they expect the odds and ends they pick up - [Frodo looks a little apologetic; sorry for describing them all so, though it fits] to save them, I wonder.

[onemoredeath]

From what I understand, it has to do with the space and time becoming tangled with the person's memories.

Because not everything needs a great warrior or a leader to get things done. Sometimes, one needs someone who can listen and change the direction of things without the need of a sword wielded for great power. As for them not knowing exactly what their machine does, I think that is out of desperation.

[iorhael]

[it seems you have momentarily lost the hobbit with this talk of space/time tangling with memories, but he tries to understand it]

The journey to and fro makes it difficult for a person to keep track of it?

[it seems like in all the great tales, it was great warriors that were at the center of all great things, but Frodo thinks then of Bilbo. He sounds wistful for a moment]

Or sometimes one clever or bold enough, despite how they may look or feel setting out, or how great or small they are, may be the very person that changes the tides.

[he doesn't think he is that sort though]

Their war must be terrible if it has come down to such desperate measures.

[onemoredeath]

It might be. Brains are sometimes subjected to strange whims.

[ He knows that for a fact - his own mind is one that should never been created at times. ]

Yes, that's it exactly. We have fighters and mages, but we also have the bold and the clever and the small. It is a good mix.

Their world is dying. They are desperate to save it.

[kissingchamp]

Oh... Are you having a difficult time settling in? [ Here are the words of a sympathetic ear. ]

[iorhael]

I would prefer not to settle in at all. There are people I must get back to, as quickly as possible, and places to go. I cannot stay here.

[life_binder]

[ There are definitely a few someones listening. ]

By will, no. Do you miss your home?

[iorhael]

[She sounds very kind, but all the same, he almost wishes she hadn't asked it. The longing can't be missed; the homesickness has always been there, but so far now from home, it hits him especially hard]

Yes, very much so. You don't quite realize what you had all along until you are so far from it.

[life_binder]

That is very true. Rest assured, many of us are doing all that we can to see everyone returned to their proper time and place, as soon as possible.

[iorhael]

[he knows nothing about this woman, but even so, something about this coming from her is comforting]

Then there is some hope to look towards. Have you ever had to face a power like this before?

[life_binder]

In a sense, yes, but never one with the power to shift beings between worlds.

[iorhael]

[when he next speaks, it seems slightly more subdued than before. There was some a glimmer of hope, but it seems to have been shaken]

...I see. I am sure if we all come together, surely someone will find a way.

voice;

[shamanism]

[His voice is deep with warm edges.]

Not willingly. Our fate is up to our captors.

Re: voice;

[iorhael]

I think I would rather face a long, hard Road into uncertain lands instead, than be at the whims of another.

[shamanism]

As would I. It is the right of all to be free.

[iorhael]

A right in decent places, but it seems that it is a privilege or only a hope in some lands.

It seems there will always be those that destroy for the sake of it or those who cannot bear to see others free or happy, because they themselves can find no happiness.

[shamanism]

But there will always be those who rise up against them. There can be peace. We must believe it.

[iorhael]

As long as there remains enough to stand against them, then at least hope can live; I suppose in our current situation, one must be satisfied to get even that much.

video

[moirailcompass]

I ended up returning to the place I was befur--which wasn't home to be exact. I didn't do it voluntarily though. I just woke up back there as suddenly as I arrived here.

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[iorhael]

Befur? So you do remember something about it, at least.

video

[moirailcompass]

Befur! [Please pardon Nepeta, she likes making cat puns]

I remember the last time I was here. I remember going to sleep, and then I woke up right where I was when I was taken as if I had never come here. No time had passed, no one had noticed my absence. It was really disconcerting.

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[iorhael]

[Frodo seems to have gotten it after a second; he had thought it where she came from, for a moment]

Ah, before
It certainly is disconcerting. At the same time, I am glad to hear our "hosts" are telling the truth on that matter. I had thought it only a story told to keep us focused on what they want of us and less on our homes.

video

[moirailcompass]

[She shakes her head reassuringly] Nope! In that regard they are at least being honest. I can't really say how much that counts fur everything else they've told us but it seems currently we don't have much of a way of telling. [Unfortunately]

But there is hope of going home at least. I just don't know how or when that could happen.

Re: video

[iorhael]

It is at least a point in their favor, if they are telling so far telling the truth.

At least there is a hope at all. Have you been here long?

[a_million_blossoms]

Would we still be here if we had?

[iorhael]

It seems there are some who would stay if they have the choice, for they have no home to go back to.

[a_million_blossoms]

I think those are in the minority. Most of us want to go back where we belong.

[iorhael]

Of course, but it is a question worth asking all the same. Even if one saw another leave and never return here, at least the way out was shown.

[a_million_blossoms]

If people have left, I do not think anyone knows how.