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Total Members Voted: 28

[WillowLuman]

[HugoLuman cancels post: distracted by modding Dwarf Fortress. Blowing away mammoth corpses on an evil mountain using a carbine while wearing a stetson and a greatcoat; what can't dwarf fortress do?]

[Eric Blank]

[Give you back all that time you just wasted with it!

I'm horribly distracted by everything currently. Meh.]

[Gizogin]

[My first day of classes is now done.  Yay.]

Gizo X, his examination of Hugo now finished, returned to his observation of the fluffball.  It was still floating in the middle of the vial, bobbing slightly up and down.  It still hadn't produced any dust, which struck X as odd.  Everything he knew about these creatures, which was admittedly very little, implied that the powder was a universal trait of theirs.  The fact that this one should be different just showed how incomplete his knowledge was.

The issue facing X was just what to do with this fluffball.  It was so unlike anything else that he didn't know where to begin.  Just watching it in its vial wasn't going to get him anywhere, so he instead tried to decide what, exactly, he wanted to know about it.  Firstly, and most importantly, was it dangerous?  The others certainly were, but that was largely because of their toxic powder, which this one seemed to lack.  Then again, there was still the possibility that it could set itself on fire or freeze the air around it, like some of the others.  If that were the case, then the vial might not be able to contain it.  What he needed was a safe way to see what it could do.

[WillowLuman]

[Now that distractions of that infernal SCP wiki and being godsawful-ill are out of the way, I'll post soon. By Gandhi, never realized how much I miss Corai & Wierd antics.]

[Wouldn't it be funny if, now bear with me, we somehow made an ARG to put some energy back into this?]

[Mrhappyface]

Sorry for the long hiatus. It involved Steam, 4chan, working as a geology intern, and copious amounts of lemon gatorade and protein powder.

[OREOSOME]

[I've had my first few days in school for the year. So that's why i've been busy.]

[wierd]

(Looks both ways....)
(Nods.)

[Well, at least I don't feel so bad about taking an extended holiday vacation. I made muffins, assaulted an ancient derelict eMac PPC macintosh, hacked a wii, ad built an i5 for a friend, and still had time to make a big batch of muffins.]

[Now, for some bulk filler. Think, "rats of NIHM", but DF style.]

As usual, wry irony ruled the day. What the cactus faced elf door-greeter had refered to as "mice", had more in common with the monty python killer rabbit than they did with your typical house mouse. Thari had clearly allowed some of her experiments to escape, where they had propogated in the wild; horrible things that gnawed feverishly on anything made of wood, and had ferocious dispositions. Mice were usually timid... but not these ones.

He had put Mr Peepers down, who had quickly taken a sadisitic interest in the scurryings of the wretched creatures, and quickly snagged one in his razor-toothed beak, when its squeaks and cries invoked the madness that followed.

As if drawn by the screams of a comrade, hoardes of angry mice poured from the walls like something from a lovecraft novel, aiming to swarm and subdue little peepers. Acting fast, he had blanketed the foul things with a spray of electrical sparks, stunning thm en-mass where struck, and allowing peepers to peck, tear and shred through the stunned, lumpy pile of murine bodies.

It didn't last. As if watching the event unfold, an unholy swarm of vermin exploded from every crevice, seeking dwarven and mutant chicken flesh.

He had barely snatched up his beloved pet and stuffed it in his backpack when the biblical plague of biting brown flesh started clawing and biting its way up his legs, leaving nasty little dimple marks in the metal plated ceramic scales of his hazard suit.

With an angry yell, the storeroom became an orgy of magic and mangled mice.

That had been four hours ago.

The stench of burnt hair and charred flesh ascended the stone stairs that led into the cellars as a foetid plume of smoke lazily rose up from the depths, followed by an ash-smeared dwarf with a furious expression.

He said nothing. Only glared at Askak and the other elves that had gathered to learn of the outcome.

The silence was deafening.

[WillowLuman]

[What if Thari's creatures somehow received an inherent, unconscious attraction to her, causing them to stay near the tower?... kind of a creepy thought.]

Happyface ducked under the piston into the dark alcove, where the leaping things hopefully couldn't follow. What seemed like a small gap in the machinery, however, was apparently a corridor out onto a balcony overlooking a metal street. Clockwork figures marched below like a demented parade band. They seemed to be expecting him, though, as instantly they all raised their arms in a uniform motion. Dense darts twanged off the metal walls right where MrHappyface had been as he ran on, looking for another doorway into the brassy sky-scraper.

[wierd]

[I was going more for a "rats of NIHM" situation; experimental test subjects escape... live wild for a time, return to the tower as their "civilization" grows. Mice reproduce like crazy, and they would have been one of Thari's first sets of experments. Hence the horrible numbers of them. Rather than being attracted to Thari, they actually percieved her absence: they were exploring/colonizing the hidden nooks, crannies, and passages of the tower. ...as well as making use of the elven stockpiles for food and raw materials. Ordinary looking mice... not so ordinary behavior. Intelligent, but not human-like. Despite the genocide weird just bathed them in, they aren't all gone. Just knocked back real good............]

[I am thinking a bit of a crossover between lovecraft's "the rats in the walls", "the secret of NIMH", (book, not the horrible wilt dizzy cartoon, and its even more saccharine sweet sequel), and the world of Dwarf Fortress we all know and love. I intend to have the mice be a random, but continual encounter for weird from now on. He's fond of walks in the woods alone......... they live in the woods.... and he's basically their version of a megabeast now.]

[Oliolli]

Oliolli leaned against a tree, again. The woodcutters were working hard, and though they didn't like the fact that Oliolli kept around to keep a close eye on them, they knew it was necessary, for a dead spy lay only several meters away from where they were working. Killing her had been an accident, and while Oliolli didn't like to point fingers, he knew it was the spy's fault for moving his head right into the way of the hammer Oliolli had thrown at him. One of the woodcutters, who also had medical training said that death had been instant. Oliolli kept looking around for more, and Muthir had a hard time not showing any expression about what had happened. The spy had been his sister.

[Gizogin]

[Sudden arrival of a previously unmentioned sister?  Where have I heard that before? ]

[I've been re-reading Dracula recently, and it made me realize just how many of our common vampire cliches are "wrong" (not that a wholly fictitious creature can realistically have strict guidelines on its portrayal, but you get my point).  Dracula could go out in the daylight and cross running water, though his supernatural abilities were weakened somewhat by both (and he could only cross running water [or get on/off a boat] at the highest or lowest point of the tide).  A single bite was not enough to convert the victim into a vampire; he/she had to be killed as a result of his feeding.  He was vulnerable to iron and steel (and was in fact killed by a knife through the heart, while having his head cut off).  Also, Dracula was hideous, and his breath stank, but his English was impeccable and free of any foreign accent.  The reason I bring this up is because a lot of the stuff I had in mind for Lana comes pretty much directly from vampire mythology.]

[Mrhappyface]

MrHappyface ducked and weaved between the scything arms of the clockwork abominations. If he could only get a little further...There! A vast array of gears and axles extended before him. Hopefully, they would lose him in this labyrinth.

[Oliolli]

[Sudden arrival of a previously unmentioned sister?  Where have I heard that before? ]

This other group has a lot of family ties within itself. Muthir just got unlucky.

[wierd]

Weird's glare could melt steel, and freeze the surface of the sun. He hated when people lied by omission. Was it so much to ask that people be completely honest when asking to have something done?

Shattering the tense silence, the scorpion elf lord at last spoke.

"I see you were... successful."

"Yes." Weird retorted tersely.

"And your.... pet?"

"Alive."

Askak's face suddenly bore the smallest hint of a smirk, nearly imperceptible through the chitinous facial plates. "Impressive..." he lulled sardonically. "..I see you are as deadly as ever."

Wierd's face filled with heat and blood, and he felt his blood pressure rise. Askak was pushing his buttons hard.  It wasn't like killing things was a passion of his, and he resented the implication. Being anecromancer didn't mean you had to relish and delight in the grisly and macabre. There was muc more to him than death and corpses. He bit back his vitriol. Nothing good ever came from mouthing off when furious... but gods he wanted to burn that black caripaced asshole into the next century, from the inside out if necessary. Endangering his life over cooking herbs, and then mocking him afterwards was obscenity itself. He wished he wasn't so angry, so that he could make suitably articulate and cutting words to reply with. The best he could do was clench his jaw, glare, and remain silent.

.."I apologize for sending you to such a....dangerous... task under less than completly honest conditions..." he drolled, "but I needed to judge how dangerous you were, --and, we did need to remove the vermin from our cellars. Our previous efforts to extricate them had not been.. entirely successful."

The blood pressure was slowly dropping, but he was still livid. Too livid to give the icy cold reply askak so completely deserved. He continued the silent treatment. He'd give that bug-faced bastard all the rope he needed to hang himself with. He just needed to be patient, and pull the noose at just the right moment.

"I was quite.. surprised.. that you came here looking for 'cooking herbs'. I hope you will forgive my inhospitality; Our captor often disguised her potions with subtle cookery, food and drink the weaken body and mind alike. Wretched filth, draped in sublime and attractive packages. I feared that you may have been wandering down her road, and questioned the purpose of your...visit."

"So you decided to try to kill me rather than risk it." Weird said flatly, and as devoid of emotion as possible.

"That was not my immediate intention... though, it would have been convenient. I was more intending to test you; would you earnestly and willingly accept the chore without reservation? When confronted with the...creatures... our former oppressor had let loose upon the world, would you destroy them outright? Kill them, and use them as an army of the wretched dead? Enslave their minds, and subjugate their wills? Or perhaps some other option I hadn't thought of? And.. if you died in the process, I admit, It would have been one less thing for me to worry about. Anyone who has dabbled in... her... forbidden secrets worries me, in ways I don't think anyone who hadn't endured her cruelty could ever possibly understand."

".....did I pass?" Weird asked coldly.

"For the most part. I particularly liked how you fought to protect your creation. Thari would never have done such a thing."

That was it. Time to pull the noose.

"Good." He said with bitter coldness. "Allow me to set the record straight for you, so that no further...doubts.. exist between us."

Askak made a pleasant gesture of platitude, encouraging him to continue.

"For starters, I do NOT find death at all pleasing, desirable, or enjoyable. I instead find it to be an unfortunate necessity. Something that must eventually come. I don't relish the thought of hastening its passing."

"Then how do you..." started askak with an acidic tone. Weird cut him off effortlessly and with chill to douse the sun.

"..explain my..euthanism.. of the people you knew? For that, you would have to understand the way I look at death."

"Enlighten me." Droned askak flatly.

"Death to cause fear, death as a condemnation, and death as a curse are all wretched, and evil to me. All things in this world are temporary, even immortal beings, like elves and fairies. They still age, but in different ways. Either through physical infirmity, or through emotional hardships that grow too great to bear, eventually, all things that live come to embrace death. For them, death is not an evil thing; a thing to be reviled and hated. It is a beautiful thing, subtle, comforting, and scerene. It makes the pains of an aging body, and the troubles and cares of an aging mind go away. It relieves suffering. Ends pain. It doesn't care about what you did in life, it embraces everyone equally, with soft, comforting arms."

Askak sneered. Clearly believing his words to be flagrant deception.

"And the mice downstairs? Explain that."

"The mice threatened your and your people's lives did they not?" Weird rebutted. "They threatened your lives, by eating the food and ruining the supplies you had saved to see you through the winter months. You asked me to deal with the problem. I accepted the task as a favor between friends. I did not expect the organized violence of their response... it wasn't as if I was eager to slay them. If they could have been reasoned with, I would have tried that; but I couldnt: they were mice. I can't speak mouse. If they had fled the basement for the woods outside, I would have been satisfied. But they didn't. Their deaths were ..unfortunate."

The scoprion-elf scoffed.

"You honestly expect me to believe you didn't just slaughter an uncountable number of living things in cold blood?"

"I don't believe in excessive violence, or unneccesary killing. Every living thing has as much right to be alive as any other. I prefer non-violent solutions... but sometimes, killing is the only viable solution."

"Like my friends?" He asked wryly.

"Like your friends." Weird nodded solemnly. "Forcing them to live a life of torment against their wills would have been gross, and unforgivable. They asked for death."

"That isn't how I remember it." He scowled. "You asked ME to LET you kill them."

"I cannot endure the suffering of others."

Askak laughed bitterly, and reclined into one of the chairs in the great hall that the passage to the cellars was adjacent to, kicking his deformed legs and feet up onto the table, and letting his stinger hang limp out the back of the chair. "Really now?" He asked sarcastically.

"Did I torture them?" Weird retorted with cruel levels of his own sarcasm to counter askak's. "Did I kill them through pain or violence? Did I make them cry out in pain when I ended their lives, or did I bend over backwards to make their passing as painless and free of suffering as possible?"

"....no." askak admited. "Whatever potion you used on them, killed them in their sleep. They didn't suffer at all."

"Did I threaten to raise them from the dead, to cheat them of the release they so desperately wanted? Or did I go through great lengths to ensure that their rest would never be so disturbed?"

Askak grunted.

"I don't torture, if I can all avoid it. That is a part of my nature I want nothing to do with. Like most mortal creatures, I have a conflicted nature. I won't deny it. I CHOOSE not to cause suffering to those allready in torment. The only pleasure I get from causing distress in others, comes from bringing justice to the wicked. Needless and undeserved suffering makes me sick. I suffer with them, and seek mutual release. Death is a final, and last resort."

"So that's it then..." mused askak. "You really believe that nonsense?"

"I do."

"And the reason you wanted things to cook with wasn't to spread poison and enslave with sadistic cruelty, and callous disregard?"

Weird made a disgusted look impulsively. While he did indulge in ideas on how to do such things, to date he had never contemplated using such things with such a blatantly sociopathic intent.

"No. I just like to cook, and think it should taste good too."

"A necromancer, that can light the fires of hell at his whim... likes to cook.. and resents disturbing the dead?" He looked crossly at weird. "Either you are the strangest necromancer in the entire universe, or you are completely full of shit." He rocked the chair back up onto all 4 legs, and leaned forward. "I'll be perfectly blunt; I don't buy it."

[WillowLuman]

[Just one thing, Thari WOULD have tried to protect her creations in a perverse, motherly way. What made Thari so wrong was her inability to distinguish between pain and pleasure, and so genuinely viewed causing either as an act of kindness. Her philosophy was that one should try to screw other people up to the point where they lost the distinction, so that they would not perceive suffering any more. She honestly believed she was running something like a charitable nunnery. In short, she knew that pain and pleasure are 2 sides of the same coin, but believed that both sides were actually heads.

As for death, she did not like it since the dead cannot (usually) feel. So she invented true resurrection, to "save" people from the tragedy of not being able to experience pain (or pleasure). Still, this likely makes her even more loathsome to you. Her theme is basically "the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

The very worst fate of some of Thari's victims is that some of them lost the distinction but went the other way, perceiving both pain and pleasure as suffering.]