001 Video

[redenzione]

[It's been around two weeks and finally Dante's making his first post on the network. He still seems rather tense around the Gear, almost as if he's expecting some demon to pop out of the screen, but two weeks isn't enough to catch up on nearly 900 years of technological advancement.]

Good day. My name is Dante Alighieri and I have been here for twelve days. The last sight I remember before I awoke here was a tall mountain in the distance, it's peak stretching far into the clouds in the sky. I had thought to begin my ascent, to submit myself to further trials and redeem myself of my sins, but before I had yet to take the first step I found myself here instead.

Wherever here may be.

I must ask; is this Johto part of Purgatory? Are these children's battles and pets part of my penance?

Even if you do not have an answer, I would like to hear of your thoughts.

Thank you for your time and God bless.

[The feed then switches off after some minor fumbling. Serious one, isn't he?]

Comments

[video]

[enjoymyatelier]

[...the most dubious of squints]

Dante Alighieri? Well, I suppose some version of existence where the Divine Comedy was actual fact isn't terribly unlikely...

[...even if he doesn't look much like a poet to Kayneth's eyes.]

In any case, you've taken a detour into a completely different universe, I'm afraid. This place is no purgatory, though it may feel like one at times.

[redenzione]

If you know of my story, sir, then you must know that it is no laughing matter.

So Our Father has created yet another earth for Man to walk on.

...I may not be in Purgatory, but I shall continue to seek my redemption here, for through the road of absolution lies the gates above, and a reunion with my beloved.

[enjoymyatelier]

Well, that's what you yourself called it-though perhaps that was a different you. Honestly, after finding out what King Arthur and Emperor Nero were truly like, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if you weren't actually a poet.

Perhaps, perhaps not... but that's just adding more difficult questions when there are already far too many to think on.

Well, if nothing else, as soon as this place decides to send you back you'll find yourself at the same point in time as you left, as though you were never gone in the first place.

[redenzione]

I would ask for further explanation, sir.

What do you mean when you say there was a 'different me'?

[enjoymyatelier]

There may have been... it's difficult to say. Everyone here is from a different world-some more similar than others, to the point where someone named "Dante Aligheri" existed in the same time and place as you, but lived a completely different life.

Of course, it's also entirely possible that the poem attributed to you is an autobiography of sorts, but... I'm not entirely sure how likely that is.

[redenzione]

...were I younger, I would've scoffed at your explanation. But I am inclined to believe you, sir. If a man can be offered grace at the lowest level of Hell, then so is it possible that what you claim may be true.

[enjoymyatelier]

That is good to hear; I find it's far easier to deal with this place once you've become used to the improbable, as I can say that the idea that there may be multiple iterations of you is one of the least absurd ideas you'll encounter in this place.

[...he's not going to imply he was already used to this sort of thing because... well... mage-church relations. They are kind of bad.]

[redenzione]

There are so many new tools and implements; such wonders that I would've thought them some form of sorcery if not for the kind townspeople who have been willing to explain this power of 'electricity' to me. To think that us mortals would be able to chase away the darkness of the night with a mere push of a switch.

I feel very much at awe at all I see but at the same time my lack of knowledge has become rather tiresome. From what I have gathered I am from a time much further back than others; I hear new words and old ones given new meaning. Children are much bolder and wander out on their own at a very early age. And fathers and mothers do not seem to mind. It is a mystery to me how they are so willing to allow their young ones to go forth on adventures even before then have reached 11 years of age.

[enjoymyatelier]

Well, I'll admit... my time period is several centuries after yours, but there are some things here that even I'm somewhat baffled by. Things like electricity are commonplace where I'm from, but the ability to contain creatures of varying size in a ball that's invariably smaller than them and store them in a computer... that's extremely far beyond my world's technological level.

That isn't even getting into the cultural aspects, which are also extremely different from my own world's cultural norms... even in my time, parents wouldn't dream of sending ten year olds into the monster-filled wilderness with only tamed monsters to protect them.

[redenzione]

So though our worlds differ, we are still both men lost in time.

Forgive me, but I have not asked for your name, sir.

[enjoymyatelier]

I suppose you could say that, yes.

Ah, forgive me for forgetting myself. I am Lord Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi.