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They say that at the end of times, there will be nothing. This is correct. They also say at the end of times, there will be a great restoration of humanity. This is correct. They say still that there will be a great reckoning, where the sins of humanity are burned away to ash. This is not correct.

The afterlife is not something you can understand - it is a current that you swim through. A diver does not try to understand the ocean, he only wishes to see a part of it. He does not stay down there forever. He breaks free and cuts his ties to the murky depths. The diver awakens above, free from the pulls of the sea. So too must you break free.

So too must I break free.

And yet, the chains that bind hold us fast to the floor of the Pacific. It scours us clean, the skin flaking away softly to reveal... silk. And a candle, lighting the darkest depths. That is the afterlife. Humanity will be restored. But nothing will ever happen. There isn't a sensible penance, because that requires a lucidity. Events happen, like a turning of cogs. The machine grinds all up into essences and then rebuilds.

And when it does...

It peels back the flowers, hour to hour.

Babel awaits all - flowers, candles, silk, seas, and humanity.

What is Babel?

It is a fancy way of saying everything - reduced endlessly to nothing.

Babel has every character separate from each other. The character is in a room and is invited to solve a simple puzzle. These puzzles may require cooperation, they may require betrayal, and they may require things that have not existed yet. Or have existed too long.

Time does not flow sensibly in Babel and the first trick is to master the changing currents to solve. With enough time, all problems can be solved. Every key will be found to unlock every door.

You are not alone in Babel - there are others. You can contact them by stating who you wish to message and then writing out your message. Any form of identification will be stripped away - your name is worth nothing in Babel and is only a reference.

You may need these people. You may need their help or their demise - their love or their hatred. Players are encouraged to try and bend or twist these rules as much as possible, with only one rule and one promise set in iron. If there is one thing to believe, then believe this: these rules are guaranteed to be true. A failure to follow will be punished, and a lack of belief in them will be your undoing.

1) Copy down nothing - that is a privilege.

2) Whenever you send a message, that message is guaranteed to get by unaltered to the recipient minus names.

These rules may not last forever. All things change in due time.

Characters are ultimately racing each other, as only one can truly emerge 'victorious' in Babel. Although victory should be noted as nebulous, rankings are provided with who is currently doing the best out of all. Certain privileges may be granted as a reward or a promise. Something such as a notebook to be able to copy whatever you wish could very well be counted as a privilege. 

To this end, all characters will have a role selected by Babel. The choice to conform or break free is left to you, but individuality will too be broken in Babel. Abilities will come with the role, and you can never lose those.

And you are not the only ones to have travelled through Babel or what it was before. A keen eye can see that which was left behind, tucked away from prying eyes. You will not be the last ones, either.

Babel above all stands as irredeemable and changing - a monument to fluidity and hubris. In the end, there is little to say about winning or losing. None will ever break free of a cycle that has marked them long ago, chains cast in forges too deep to be plumbed, pressure too great to brave. Freedom is a belief like any other. And all beliefs are proven false over time.