Premise
It has been a century since the incident.
The imposing form of The Bifrost Terminal, left abandoned atop the frigid and unforgiving mountain peak, has sat still and silent-- silent, but not vacant. Rumors have long claimed the Terminal haunted, but now help is needed to remove the alleged spirits still roaming those massive opulent halls.
In this writing-only OCT, compete to uncover the mysteries of the infamous Bifrost Terminal and try to rid the facility of the entities within to earn yourself a hefty paycheck... and your freedom.
Prologue
Below you will find the short tale of a self-proclaimed psychic who managed to enter the haunted facility and set the wheels of consequence in motion that will harken your arrival...
Click here to access the Prologue via Google Doc instead.
It would have been a perfect day. Serene even. The sky was a clear blue dotted with little wisps of clouds. The sun bright and warm. Yes, anywhere else in the world this would have been a wonderful day to be outside. But today, Cain was just annoyed with it.
He had been in this cute little tourist village, Origa, for two days now, trying to find a way up the mountain it was nestled next to. A portal would be the best option, and once upon a time a portal was the option, but portals didn’t work up there. Not anymore. He could only speculate that new portals couldn’t be deployed due to the high elevation. Mount Panthea was the tallest of the Pantheons after all.
His next plan had been to just hike it. Problem was, there was no path or trail up it. There had been a road that workers had once used, but nature had reclaimed it and now it was just as dangerous as the rest of the surrounding wilderness.
His only option then was to find a Dab. And no one was willing to make that journey.
“Blizzards and wild winds are too common up there,” he had been told. “Even our heavier dragons would be knocked off course.” He had been assured that there was probably someone who could help him. He just needed to find them.
Cain groaned, laying his head in his arms upon the café table. His fancy overpriced coffee sat untouched and forgotten. He had to get up that mountain. It’s not like he could just ignore the job and turn the offer down over something so trivial. He was being paid an obscene and life-changing amount of money to clean out some old buildings at the behest of TITAN. With such a huge name, there was no way he could refuse. Not to mention that the amount of payout would repay his debt in full. TITAN had given him a dusty old pamphlet of the building to get an idea. Seemed manageable. But he couldn’t do his job and get paid if he couldn’t get up there.
He lifted his head just enough to peek and watch the quaint village go about its day. The people dressed in what he assumed were traditional clothing. Agons and dragons alike were layered in vibrant colors, much like the shops that lined the street. It was lively and comfortable, seeming unaware or uncaring about the huge, allegedly mega-haunted, structure at the top of their mountain.
A tiny nudge to his arm had Cain sitting up. A little pink dragon the size of a kitten, a ragdoll drake, sat on the table. It made a trilling sound before circling his still-full coffee cup. It looked up at him, tilting its head in question.
It took Cain a moment to understand. “Ah, yes. I like it! I promise! I’ve just been deep in thought, I apologize.” He sighed. “I need to travel up the mountain as soon as possible, but I can’t seem to find anyone willing to help and it's putting a damper on things.”
The little dragon nodded its head as though it completely understood his plight. It then turned to the cup and spit bright blue flames. The ceramic warmed as it circled the cup until steam started wafting from the liquid again.
Cain blinked down at the little dragon, who was looking up at him with what could pass as a little grin. Pleased as a peach. “Oh! Thank you!” he smiled politely to his eager little server.
The dragon chirped in acknowledgment before scuttling off the table and back behind the counter. He watched it go, eyes catching the open counter where a few tiny dragons worked together to knead dough. Cain couldn’t deny that he had watched them, and the ones making sandwiches, work for an embarrassing amount of time when he first entered the cafe. It was very entertaining to watch two of them work a piping bag to carefully decorate the pastries.
This business seemed to be run entirely by these small dragons. Three worked the register, two needing to work the buttons together to have enough weight for the ancient thing to work. He wondered how they took the trash out…
Movement caught his attention. A much bigger dragon pushed their way out of the back room. They seemed to be annoyed with the little pink dragon from earlier fluttering around their head. Blue scales shimmered in the sun of the open cafe as their longer body easily stepped over the counter. And straight to Cain.
The dragon towered over him, coming to eye level as it settled across from Cain. Its expression seemed unimpressed as it looked Cain up and down. He felt like he was being inspected.
“You want to go up the mountain?”
Cain blinked, not expecting the question. “I… Yes! I’ve been trying to find a way up for a few days now, but I’ve not had any luck. No matter what amount I offer to pay, no one is willing.”
The dragon scrunched his nose. “Why do you want to go? All that's up there is an old abandoned building. A haunted one, from what I've been told.”
“I’ve heard,” Cain sighed. “I have a job up there, but I’m… not sure if I’m at liberty to say what. I just need to get up there.”
The dragon eyed Cain for a moment. He seemed to be mulling over something. “I can take you.”
Cain’s eyes went wide as his mind scrambled to register what the dragon had just said. “You want-- I-- Yes! You will?! Oh, I can’t thank you enough!” He paused. “But, are you sure? Everyone keeps saying how dangerous it is.”
The dragon waved his hand as if to wave away Cain’s worry. “I've flown up there a few times before. As long as I'm getting paid then I can take you.”
Cain slumped in his seat as the stress of the past couple of days finally lifted from him. “You have no idea how glad I am to hear that. I can definitely pay you, that’s not an issue.” He held out his hand. “I’m Cain.”
“Kazuya.” His hand engulfed Cain’s. He glanced at the sky. "It's still early enough to go today." He then leveled his gaze back to Cain, "Or tomorrow, if you're not ready."
“No, the sooner this gets done, the better. Oh!” Cain gestured to the tiny dragons working the shop. “What about the cafe? You work here, don’t you?”
Kazuya shrugged before standing. “I do odd jobs. They just need help with lifting larger things. They’ll be fine without me.” He glanced back to the counter at the pink ragdoll drake that had brought him out to Cain. "They'll find someone else easily enough."
They agreed to meet back up in an hour at the archway a short walk from the village. Cain arrived first, a small travel bag strapped to his torso. He took in the arch. It was huge, gold with deep blue marble accents. Large, blocky letters announced its destination. The Bifrost Terminal, stamped and carved deep into the gold-brass plaque standing proudly atop the arch. The dirt path that ran beneath it showed that it was traveled often, but the vines starting to snake up the pillars suggested that the arch probably wasn’t a priority to the village. The arch itself was surprisingly pristine, if only a little dirty.
“That’s the portal up to the peak.” Cain turned to find Kazuya making his way toward him. "Or it used to be, anyway. Apparently it stopped working the same time the building closed down. No one's seen it working since." He lifted his wings to show the harness he was wearing. “Ready to go?”
Cain eyed the riding harness strapped to Kazuya. It looked… complicated. Much more so than the others he had seen taxi dragons wearing. “Uh… is this an older model? I’ve never seen one like this.”
“It’s for children and those with weak grip strength.” Kazuya was so matter-of-fact that Cain couldn’t be insulted.
Once Cain was seated and fully strapped in, all the way up his legs and torso, Kazuya easily climbed the archway. Cain glanced, worried Kazuya’s claws would damage or even tilt the arch, but it didn’t give way in the slightest. He spread his wings and launched into the sky.
The moment they cleared the treetops, the air turned cold. The first portion of the flight was fairly standard. They glided through the air smoothly, even as the air kept growing colder. A sudden strong, biting gust came down the mountainside. Cain inhaled it and struggled to exhale through the sudden gale. He shook himself off, digging in his bag and pulling out a small talisman. A short whispered spell and the small saucer pulsed, flooding his body with warmth.
He sighed in relief, tucking the item in his pocket. The cold was dealt with, but now the wind getting stronger was a problem. Kazuya had to slow his pace the farther up they traveled. The screaming gales pushed against them, sometimes slamming them from the sides and pushing them off course for a moment. Even with the talisman keeping him warm, Cain could feel the chill starting to seep in.
The dense coniferous forest thinned out beneath them, the expanse of green turning white. Kazuya continuously changed flight paths, doing his best to avoid harsher gusts that would knock them off course. It had already happened a couple of times, both nearly tumbling to the rocky ground. Once the trees were gone completely, it began to snow.
Thick curtains of white rained down on them, piling quickly despite their swift movement. Vision quickly became obscured. Kazuya narrowly avoided slamming against jagged rocks more than once. Eventually, they burst through the cloud line, just missing the underside of a massive platform.
Kazuya flew up much easier now that the winds and snow were behind them. With a grace disproportionate to his size, he landed atop the enormous platform gently in the shadow of the imposing facility. He waited for Cain to unbuckle and dismount before shaking the snow off. Cain, meanwhile, was trying to get his legs to walk properly again.
They had landed between the pillars of a large archway identical to the one they had met at, suggesting that this was where the portal would have spit out. Further ahead looked to be a courtyard and a massive, three-winged building, the main center structure of which continued back into the mountainside behind it, seemingly built into the peak itself. It had been sitting atop this mountain for a century, withstanding the harsh elements and yet its opulence seemed untouched. For now, there surprisingly wasn’t a flake of snow, even though it sat just above a nasty blizzard they had weathered to reach it.
Even in the sun, Cain could see dots of glowing blue lights about the outside of the Terminal in statues, hanging lights, and a few other objects meant to decorate or illuminate pathways. The glow was dull, weak– but despite the building having been abandoned for a century, the glow persisted. There must’ve been some kind of magic within to keep those lights on. Undisturbed magic working after almost a century felt… strange. This was supposed to just be a portal-hub, but Cain got the impression it was treated more like a temple. The blue and green stone shone in the afternoon sun, the gold accents almost blinding. Twigs resembling what used to be bushes were still standing in green patches. Atop the center building sat a colossal, dragon-shaped statue. The Leviathan, he could tell by the horn shapes, or at least it was an art deco-esque stylized version of the Leviathan. A gargantuan gem was clutched in its mouth, pointed toward the sky. It too was glowing that soft cyan light.
“This is…” Cain couldn’t find the right word, lost in the grand splendor around him.
"Weird, isn't it?" Kazuya came up beside him. "You'd think it wouldn't still look so... new." He eyed Cain warily. “You sure you wanna do… whatever you’re doing?”
“I’m sure,” Cain sighed. “It’s a job. Though, I wasn’t expecting this place to be quite this big. Is it built farther into the mountain?”
Kazuya shrugged. “Don’t know. Never went inside... You said you’re going to be here for a few hours, right? Do you need me to stay?”
“Uh, no, I don’t-”
“Good. Here.” Kazuya plucked a little gem from a pouch on the harness. “Hold this in your hand and shake it a couple of times when you’re ready for me to pick you up.”
Cain took the smooth, orange stone, placing it in his pocket. He watched as Kazuya dropped out of sight over the platform’s edge, leaving him alone to explore the abandoned facility. At the top of a mountain.
Right.
Cain adjusted his bag and made his way up the path. The large double doors set into the giant structure felt intimidating. He thought it would be more difficult to open, given how long they must have been shut, but no. They swung open easily. The hinges squeaked a little, but that was it.
A shiver ran down his spine as he took in what he assumed to be a lobby. It was gargantuan. Never had he seen an interior so grand as this. And it was dark. He had expected it since the likelihood of this place still having power was low, but this… There were low emergency lights that followed the walls– that same low cyan glow. It was just enough to see outlines of structures and not much else. He imagined the ceiling was high as the walls stretched forever into inky blackness above him.
He suddenly felt so pitifully small.
He walked farther in. Every step he made was too loud, seeming to echo forever in the stillness. He felt he should stay quiet. He would disturb something if he didn’t.
Small lights surrounded the base of something in the middle of the floor. Another massive statue. He couldn’t make it out, most of it being swallowed by darkness. He could make out… more doors? Elevators? On either side of the wide hall.
He walked around the statue base to see how far back it went. He couldn’t tell. The little lights following the walls weren’t strong enough to ward off the dark the farther back they went. How big was this place?
Cain stared into the dark, squinting to try and make out anything without having to venture further. He inhaled sharply. He swore something moved. A sense of unease filled him as he made his way back to the front of the statue. At least he could see the front door he had left open from there.
The door had shut.
It hadn’t made a sound.
His breathing was too loud.
Cain shook his head. “Get a hold of yourself. You’ve dealt with too many ghosts and hauntings for this to be an issue,” he growled to himself, shoving down the fear threatening to take hold. “Think of the money– think of finally paying everything off and never having to worry about them coming for you again…” He dug in his bag, pulling out a few small items and setting them up on the floor, before he took a deep breath and spoke into the imposing darkness surrounding him.
“Alright. To any spirits that may reside here in The Bifrost Terminal, I’m not here to cause you harm or pain. I’m on your side, an aid, to help guide you to rest. Let’s help each other make this process as easy as possible, okay?”
The first ritual was small, more for detecting spirits than anything else. He needed to know what he was dealing with before he could continue. The only issue was his readings were off. Way off. No spirits were detected, and yet they were pinging everywhere… “That doesn’t make any sense…”
He tried again. The same result.
And again. The same.
A small sound churned up from the depths further in.
Cain sat ramrod straight as quiet footsteps echoed closer. Slowly, he moved to peek around the statue. There, a dim figure, off in the distance shrouded in darkness, was slowly walking toward him. He couldn’t parse any features, but it was definitely a ghost. It would be the first exorcism of the day. Hopefully, despite the strange readings claiming otherwise, there wouldn’t be too many more. After all, the sooner he cleared this place, the sooner he could leave. And the sooner he could get paid.
He pulled a couple more items from his bag, then moved from behind the statue to have a better view. Well, as much of a better view as he could. He chanted the spell, the amulet he held warmed in his hand, indicating it was working, and…
Nothing. The figure continued to move toward him.
Cain groaned inwardly. He didn’t want to get any closer to it. Then his ears picked up another sound. A second set of footsteps. Moving much quicker than the first. A smaller dim figure came into view. It quickly bypassed the first figure. It too was headed straight toward Cain. He could faintly make out the sound of panting.
A surge of fear gripped his chest as he rapidly tried the spell again. And again. And again.
Instead of any success, it seemed the opposite was happening; with every attempt at the spell, the environment around him just filled with more ghostly activity. Cries were echoing in the dark now. Wails of all kinds mingled together in a way that he couldn’t comprehend. More and more dim, wispy figures came into view. All moving toward him. And nothing he tried was working.
Cain started to back away, desperate to have something work. “I-I’m not a threat, please calm down,” he tried to quell the growing tremble in his voice, his instincts starting to scream for a hasty escape. “I promise I’m only here to help you find rest! To help you be free of–!”
Suddenly, all seemed to freeze as an indecipherable presence loomed far in the darkness. The lights along the walls flickered as the structure around Cain groaned and seemingly began to close in on him, a deep rumbling growl reverberated threateningly around the space. The sound shook his very bones. The new commanding presence, heavier than all those around it, began to take a form. Gales rivaling those fought earlier suddenly blasted from around the entity, swirling and cutting through the once deathly still air, nearly toppling the psychic. That cyan-colored light appeared as magic strands, beginning to swim with the dust rippling with paranormal energies around the powerful spirit.
All other eyes in the massive hall then turned, like an expecting audience, to focus on Cain, who was stunned in fear by this intimidating display. This… wasn’t like any haunting he had dealt with before. How was he supposed to–
The dangerous presence snapped open two piercing cyan eyes, locked on Cain.
Cain dropped his tools.
He turned.
And bolted.
The facility erupted in a loud roar behind him. His sight narrowed on the door. He fumbled in his pocket for the stone to call Kazuya, shaking it frantically. In doing so, the talisman that had been keeping the cold at bay fell out of his pocket and rolled off into the dark. He didn’t know what was happening in this building, but he did know one thing was for certain: he was in way over his head.
The door opened as easily as it had before– and he was immediately hit by a blast of freezing wind. He slammed the door behind him and took in the courtyard with wide eyes. At least, he tried to. He could no longer see it. A blizzard had moved in while he was inside. Whipping winds blew snow and ice through the air. It was far too dense to see through. Cain reached into his pocket for the warmth talisman– finding nothing. Where–!?
A muffled creaking groan came from behind him. Nope. That was more than enough to spur him forward into the screaming gale. After only a few sprints, he tripped and sank into the fresh snow. Clambering to his feet, he continued to shake the rock desperately as he moved as quickly as he could through the onslaught that was already taking a massive toll on his thin form. Without that heating talisman protecting him, it would only be a matter of moments out in this frigid storm before all warmth was stolen from his body and hypothermia would claim him.
Please work– please work!
Mere minutes suddenly felt like hours. Cain couldn’t feel his fingers or toes anymore. His lungs burned from the subzero air as it stole his breath. He had to keep moving. Was he still shaking the rock?
Another step forward proved miscalculated as his foot sank deeper than expected, causing Cain to fall hard onto the snow. And he stayed there. He had no strength left. It was all he could do to try to curl up on himself, waiting for unconsciousness to quickly overtake him.
The money was no good to a dead man, but… on the dimly lit bright side, a debt was also no longer a problem to a dead man. Even through the violent storm surrounding him, Cain caught a glint of that faint cyan glow from the beacon of the statue looming high above it all, before closing his eyes…
A shadow fell over him. At least, he thought it was a shadow. The wind had let up a little, like something was blocking it. Oh, he was moving now? It wasn’t the wind pushing him. It couldn’t be. Something had a hold of his torso, then was holding him, cradling him tight. Had he been trying to call someone? Who… was…
There was a smell. Harsh and sanitized. It made his nose crinkle. A bright light hurt his eyes, even though they were closed. Muffled sounds of low voices came to his ears. He was warm.
Cain cautiously opened his eyes, squinting against the sunlight pouring in from a nearby window. He was staring up at a white ceiling. He was in a bed that wasn’t his own. Where was he? Had the snowstorm claimed him? No. If it had, he wouldn’t be so sore.
Pushing himself into a sitting position was a little more difficult than it should’ve been, but he managed it. Sunlight was filtering through gaps in some canvas curtains. Soft voices spoke just outside a sliding paper partition behind him. Atop the plain blankets he found himself under sat a thick aviator-style jacket. That… didn’t belong to him. He could never afford something nice like that. As he reached for the jacket to inspect, he jolted when the partition slid open and a familiar blue head poked through the doorway.
"Hey, good to see you didn't die on me." Kazuya pushed his large frame into the small space. "What happened up there? It hadn't even been an hour before you called me back. Then when I found you, you were out in the snow almost frozen to death."
Cain couldn’t help but notice the new limp Kazuya now carried as he entered the small room. The reality of the situation suddenly slammed into him and he felt his heart sink with intense guilt. “You’re hurt,” he noted softly.
"Just had to make a rough landing." Kazuya shrugged. "I don't normally land that hard on just my back legs." Nonchalant as ever, Kazuya didn’t explicitly state that he had been using his arms to cradle a near-dead Cain to his chest as he rocketed down the mountain to get him medical help as quickly as dragon-ly possible at the risk of his own wellbeing, but Cain could read between the lines. Kazuya settled down next to Cain's bed to be eye level with him before he spoke again. "You didn't answer my question though. What happened? And I don't give a shit if you're 'not at liberty to say'. After finding you like that I think I'm owed some explanation."
Cain couldn’t argue with that. After a long beat, he sighed and began explaining the situation: about how it had been TITAN– the company that incidentally also owned the Terminal– that had hired him with promise of a massive paycheck that he desperately needed, about the definitely real and not just alleged spirits that haunt the facility that both existed and didn’t exist according to this equipment, about how nothing he attempted did anything but make the activity worse, and about how, in his haste to get out of there, he had apparently accidentally dropped the talisman that would have kept him safe from the blizzard as he waited on Kazuya to return.
“There’s something… unique in there, something that I’m not going to be able to handle on my own,” he groaned, sinking back into the bed. “I might have to hire a subcontractor… or two… or several. Of course, if I do that…” He trailed off. The full payment would have been enough to cover his debt, but split between many others… Still, there was no way he could do this on his own. And he had to do this. Even if he couldn’t cover his debt after splitting the check, he still needed whatever money he could get. Not to mention he needed a massive megacorp like TITAN to sing his praises, not destroy his professional reputation if he bailed or failed.
“You’re seriously going to go back up there? After all that just happened?” Kazuya’s gruff tone cut off Cain’s line of thinking. The psychic glanced wearily back at the dragon that had, for all intents and purposes, saved his life and was injured because of it.
“I… I-I need to complete the job…” His confident showman voice withered and he shrunk in shame under the dragon’s disappointed gaze. “I’m sorry, Kazuya, genuinely I’m so sorry– you got hurt because of me, because I was ill-prepared and alone. I know it sounds stupid to want to go back, b-but with a client like TITAN– they could destroy me professionally easily if I don’t fulfill my contract! I swear to you that I will be more prepared this time, and I won’t go alone,” As he rambled, he couldn’t bring himself to look Kazuya in the eyes. “I–”
“Fine.”
Cain held his breath, then sighed, that single word hitting him with more guilt, but at least the dragon wasn’t trying to stop him. Cain assumed that response meant that Kazuya was washing his hands of this crazy agon seemingly determined to die up there in the Terminal. “I’m sorry,” he repeated sadly, “I promise once I finish this job and am paid, I’ll send you more funds to cover any and all of your medical bills that came from retrieving me.” This meant he would have to start his search for another willing Dab again, but surely there was someone else out there willing and able, right?
“Yeah, well, just promise me I won’t have to make another crash landing this time,” Kazuya huffed.
Cain shook his head. “Of course not, you’re not going to be the one taking me. You were injured on my account, I wouldn’t dream of asking you to take me again. I’ll find someone else, it’s okay.”
The dragon gave a sardonic snort. “You’d probably have better luck just climbing up there yourself.” Blunt, but painfully true. He then sighed, “You can try to find someone else. I can’t take you back up there until I’ve recovered more anyway, but I’ll be surprised if you find someone before then.” It was hard not to feel a little bad for the psychic, seeing the clear guilt tearing at him as he sat there in the bed looking solemnly at his hands. “Look, I’ll be alright. I’ve had worse. You can make me another promise too: promise me you’ll take that jacket next time. Can’t believe you were running around in those thin clothes relying on just a talisman for warmth.”
Cain blinked in surprise. “Wait, this is your jacket?”
“No, it’s your jacket,” Kazuya stated flatly as he turned to leave, “And you better use it.”
“I… thank you,” Cain didn’t know what else to say after all that had transpired already. What could he say?
“You can thank me by being more careful.” With that, his ride and savior left, leaving Cain to settle back into the small clinic bed, now clutching the jacket, and ruminating on how to move forward.
“I’m not taking anyone else up.”
Cain glanced up from the paperwork he was working on, surprised by the familiar voice. “What?”
Kazuya huffed as he strode, notably without a limp, to stand before him at the café table. "I only agreed to take you. Anyone else who shows up is on their own."
It had been a week or so since they spoke in Origa’s little clinic. In that time, Cain had sent out letters to anyone he could think of that had anything to do with exorcisms, placed help-wanted flyers around Origa, Marrow, and all of the surrounding towns, villages, and cities, and received rejection after rejection from any dragon he asked about taxiing him up to the Bifrost. It seemed Kazuya had healed up in that week as well.
“Kazuya, I couldn’t ask you to go through that again!”
“Well, it’s a good thing you didn’t ask. You paid me to get you up there and then bring you back once you finished your job. You didn’t finish. Our contract still stands. And I told you that you weren’t going to be able to find anyone any time soon who can navigate that mountain better than I can,” he glanced around for emphasis. “I wouldn’t trust anyone else to get you up there in one piece anyway.”
Cain opened his mouth to protest, to contest any of those facts, but… he closed it again with a sigh. Kazuya was right. After all, he’d found no one at all even willing to take that flight. “... at least let me pay you more or something to make up for this. You saved my life last time and got injured for it– I already can’t sleep at night with the guilt over that…”
The dragon’s expression softened subtly. “I knew the risks when I agreed to the job. And I’d rather you feel guilty and sorry than wind up dead, so I’m taking you– but no one else. Better hope they don’t find themselves in a blizzard up there like you did.”
“With the plan I have this time, I don’t think that’ll be an issue,” Cain gave a knowing smile, tapping a finger on the paperwork laid out before him next to a recently spitfire’d hot coffee.
It was the blueprint for a base camp.
To be continued...
Call To Action
Cain's cry for help
Cain sent out letters to anyone he could think of that might've had any experience in dealing with hauntings of any kind. Your character could have gotten one of these letters addressed to them-- or they could come across one of them that were meant for someone else; after all, stealing or accidentally acquiring a letter are good examples of viable out-of-the-box options!
He also put up job flyers on local bulletin boards across various cities (like Marrow), villages (like Origa), and within taverns and guilds.
The important info Cain included in the letters and adverts:
- The specific date and time to meet him up in front of The Bifrost Terminal at the tent (approximately a week and a half after the prologue incident)
- Paid work
- Advisory to dress warm
- Prepare for possible hostile entities within the Terminal
The important info Cain DID NOT include in the letters and adverts:
- Any mention of TITAN at all
- A specifically powerful Entity
How your character[s] find out about the call for help is completely up to you. Steal a letter? Spot the flyer in a hunter's tavern? Word of mouth? Just happen to be urbexing The Bifrost at that same date and time? We welcome creative and unique ideas; do not feel like you have to make your character receive the info in the most straightforward way possible (but also know you can do that as well).
Finding your own way
Much like how we encourage creative thinking for garnering the info about Cain's job offer, we encourage the same for how your character finds their own way up to The Bifrost Terminal. Basically anything goes, but if you are unsure if an idea might be TOO unorthodox, feel free to contact us and ask.
The only surefire off limits method of getting to the peak of Mount Panthea is via Kazuya. He refuses to fly anyone but Cain as of the audition.
Basecamp
As mentioned, your character is supposed to meet Cain at his small basecamp tent outside of the Terminal at a specific date and time. Feel free to have your characters arrive early! Feel free to have them arrive at the last minute! Heck, feel free to even have them already snuck inside of the Terminal before the rest of the characters arrive! Again: we welcome creativity as long as it doesn't completely break the established canon event-- speaking of which...
Inescapable situation
Your character[s] will be supernaturally sealed inside of The Bifrost Terminal together. There is no way out, nor is there any way in for any characters that might be outside at the time (such as Kazuya), until the 'task' given by The Entity is complete-- that task being: be the first person to free all of the spirits/ghosts/souls that have been trapped in the Terminal since The Incident. Succeed in being the first and you will be released from the Terminal. Keep in mind, there is also the mystery of The Incident to be solved along the way as well.
Audition Canon Event
Below you will find in essence how the canon event of the audition period occurred. What your character was doing, how they react, where they are, etc is all up to your discretion. What is canon, however, is that Cain and the bulk of the player characters all entered together at the same time, they were all locked in together by The Entity, and what is written is exactly what the Entity monologues. Consider all other details up to your interpretation...
Click here to access the Audition Canon Event and Info via Google Doc instead.
Somehow, some way, you've made it. Standing in the formidable shadow of The Bifrost Terminal, you have met up with the psychic, Cain Salvatori, who had made the call for help in the first place. He and a dragon, Kazuya, have been waiting in the small warm basecamp tent they erected in the courtyard of the faculty for any who might show up. After all, there had been a specified date and time that Cain had plastered across the letters, bulletin board notices, and help wanted adverts he'd sent out in the week or so previous.
That specified date and time was now.
Cain is thrilled to see you all. He gives you all of the information he knows– or is willing to part with– about his experience the last time he was here: that none of the typical exorcism methods he tried worked (instead, those just seemed to make the activity worse), that he was unsure about the total amount of spirits inside as his means of determining that was yielding conflicting results, and that there was a wildly powerful spirit or entity or… something in there as well.
After a few extra minutes of waiting for potential stragglers (and not at all stalling on Cain’s part), you all gather as a collective and head toward the massive gold doors of the Terminal’s main entrance, a dull cyan light still glowing ever-present in the sky above you from the beacon held within the mouth of the looming Leviathan statue. Kazuya, and any others who came as accompaniments but had no intention of dealing with the haunting themselves, remain at the basecamp tent to await the group’s return and presumed success. After hesitating for just a beat, Cain pushes the doors open and you all enter.
The lobby is gargantuan– so much so that a ceiling can’t be seen beyond the imposing darkness. Only a few dim points of that soft cyan glow can be spotted further in, old emergency lights somehow still producing low output after all these years. It’s quiet… As the last of the group enters and Cain follows behind, the main doors shut.
Violently.
Sealed supernaturally.
Before anyone can react, a tempest of unseen winds swirl throughout the open space, conjuring up bright magical strands of the cyan– when a shrouded entity forms in the center of it all, floating several feet above the dark marble floor. The pressure in the room is otherworldly heavy. There is an expression of horrified familiarity on Cain’s face. Two piercing points of cyan pupils spark to life suddenly upon where it seems the creature’s face would be.
A distorted commanding voice fills the air around you as the entity finally speaks.
"The powers that be finally deigned to do something about us, huh? I should've figured when that idiot–” An arm-like wisp gestured in Cain’s direction for emphasis, “ –came in here whimpering about being here to help. Let me guess, they told you to get rid of us by any means necessary? That they would pay a king's ransom for your service. Hmph, typical. Now you're trapped in here with me. I'll tell you now: in the Bifrost Terminal, I am creator, judge, and jury. Nothing happens without me knowing.
”You are all still in one piece because I decided you should be. So, explore the terminal, ask questions. You are all here for a job, aren’t you? Well then, allow me to assign you your work task: figure out how to free the souls trapped in this godsforsaken facility. And as incentive, the first among you to succeed in freeing all of the spirits here shall be allowed to leave The Bifrost Terminal. As for the rest of you… If you don't finish first? If you slack off or annoy me and your fellows instead of putting your nose to the grindstone? Well... I'll leave that to your imagination."
You can practically feel the predatory grin in that final remark.
The entity disappears in a violent hurricane as quickly as it appeared, leaving you all now to consider the situation you are in and, most alarmingly of all, how to move forward with the knowledge that only one of you can finish first and be granted freedom…
Welcome to The Bifrost Terminal.
