tvk | (no subject)

[You are asleep.]

[Whether you turned in for the night, decided to take a short nap, or maybe just dozed off for a minute or two, you are sleeping. Often paired with sleep is dreaming, and that is just what you do. For it is in a dream you arrive on your own here, to a tall and narrow room of deep blue--though it is spacious and somewhat furnished, it appears to move upwards like an elevator. Piano music and an accompanying woman can be heard as well, quietly and with no visible source.

Before you there is a chair facing a table--sit down, make yourself comfortable. A long-nosed man in a suit sits opposite you, leaning on the table with his hands folded. Beside him holding a book stands a too-pale woman in blue with yellow eyes and silver-white hair.]

['Welcome to the Velvet Room.']

[He says as much, in exactly those words. Despite his startling and perhaps even frightening appearance, the man's voice is steady and calm--friendly, even.]

Do not be alarmed. I have summoned you here--in the real world, you are fast asleep. My name is Igor, and I am delighted to make your acquaintance.

[He calls you by name at the end of that greeting--your real name, should you have an alias.]

This is Elizabeth; like me, she is also a resident here.

[The girl nods in your direction, her own high-pitched voice haughty without being arrogant. The small smile on her face is ever-present, every inch of her too surreal to exist though she stands there plain as anything.]

I am pleased to meet you.

You have traveled a great distance to arrive here, and you have a road to venture that is longer still. But as with many things, the destination is of lesser significance than the journey taken to reach it. It is the journey which models and shapes one so that they may be different upon arrival than they were at the outset.

[Igor waves his hand over the table between you, and a card appears upon it, laid flat and facing him, so that to you it seems inverted.]

This is The World. [Elizabeth's tone almost sounds condescending, until you realize that isn't the case--her words are eloquent, but her tone is like that of one who has rarely if ever spoken with actual humans before. Her voice may well be the most ethereal thing about her.] As you can see, it lies unmoving and without momentum. The journey you all take together has halted and been allowed to stagnate.

[She holds out her own hand--the card begins to glow faintly and slowly turns in place, around and around as Elizabeth continues to speak.]

The journey taken at zero ends with twenty-one. And now the World may revolve as it is meant to, moving onwards in its eternal turning. But before your new journey can begin, you should reflect on that you have seen on the path now behind you.

You, among others, are our esteemed guest in this Velvet Room. Very soon, you will be able to come and go here as you please. I look forward to seeing what the journey ahead holds in store for you.

[As suddenly as you arrived in the Velvet Room, you leave it, waking up. The entire encounter transpired in a matter of moments. No longer than any other dream, and yet the experience lingers in your mind as far more real than anything fabricated by your subconscious.]

[Note: Consider the World Arcana event to have officially begun! ~~I know, it's about an hour earlier than I said it would be--as it happens, I am mildly concerned I won't be awake at midnight. Better safe than sorry~~~]