In Undefined Space...
Timothy looks at the shattered remains of the hippo. Um... uh... better make this good, 'cause he thinks there won't be a repeat performance.
"... Ha! Ha ha? Heh heh hoo hahahah!" he forces out, though it's not the best laugh of his life, he must admit. Or his unlife, for that matter. He runs downstairs, noting how odd it is that he has to walk down them. After some time, he makes it down there.
Strangely enough, the hippo appears to be dissipating. His bones shift into various geometric shapes, as well as certain fruit-like shapes on occasion, then explode into tiny motes of dust. The clown costume quickly disintegrates, and soon there is but a small trace of unswept bonemeal where the hippo once was. For some reason, the strange and inexplicable void seems oddly quiet right now.
At Brenwicke's Books...
Kevin, supposing that one shouldn't give up on a plan that hasn't worked only once, and gets another chest, preparing to hurl it.
[Kevin strength roll: 4]
He picks the thing up slowly, shoving it out of the window right above the two guys skewering his buddies!
[Blackjack dodge roll: 1]
[Guard 2 dodge roll: 5]
[Blackjack endurance roll: 3]
Blackjack is hit straight on the head with the chest, though he takes it rather well - as in, he doesn't seem very dead right now. Merely unconscious and probably quite concussed. And covered in books of many sorts. The other guard dodges backwards in time, looking up at Kevin. It is not the nicest look Kevin has seen.
"Damn, Kevin! Can't we have a single day of our unlives in which we don't end up losing limbs or being mauled?" Sigmund shouts, quite dissatisfied at this turn of events. He then drops his stolen spear.
"Okay, I surrender. I was not the one who hurt any of you, anyway, I just got stabbed and beaten, and then tried to threaten you to prevent more bloodshed. The guy that kills people is not even here, anyway."
Scott also can't help but concur, freeing his grip on his guisarme and dropping it to the ground.
"Sir, I surrender. As a noble, even minor, you will treat me and my servants more gently than this and you will bloody well like it!"
Carlson nods at him.
"Since you surrender and all, you won't be killed just yet - have to wait until trial for that, don't you know."
He looks up at Kevin.
"That guy, though... won't be so lucky."
The guards quickly grab Sigmund and Scott, then drag Blackjack away from the building.
"And... now."
Kevin, who is a tad perplexed, suddenly feels something change about him. Something changes very rapidly, actually. He suddenly attains great velocity, and is flung against the back wall with amazing force, smashing into it extremely rapidly and immediately bouncing off, smashing into the next wall with the exact same rapidity. After about three more times smashing into virtually every wall in the store he flies out of the window, then ramming into the walls of several homes, yet flying perfectly horizontally for some reason. And then, just as abruptly as this neverending pinball hell began, it stops, and Kevin begins to fall, smashing into a final wall before unceremoniously falling down to the ground as a completely mangled and smashed mess.
[Kevin will roll: 2]
He feels that this doubtlessly could have gone better. This certainly could have gone much, much better. He thinks most of his face has wound up on various walls in the Trade District. As well as a large proportion of his arms and legs, not to mention his torso, his poor torso.
Back at the store, Carlson looks mighty pleased with himself after the screaming body of Kevin is launched out of the building.
"Right, let's go after him. He should look pretty amusing now."
The guards, after collecting Sigmund and Scott's weapons, start poking them over in the direction Kevin went.
On the deck of the shrieking ship of Shriekpot...
Morton continues speaking with Art, supposing that he has little better to do and blissfully unaware of more exciting and far more terrible things happening elsewhere.
"Magical powers? In addition to those you already possess as a mage, I assume, perhaps granted by your new form? Hm, an interesting prospect. I'm afraid I don't quite know of any of the others who have such powers, but then I suppose we're all still getting used to our new form, trying to understand how it works properly."
"Yeah, and I think that light I have... well, had inside me does something other than look pretty. Guess only time will tell."
"If you don't mind me asking, sir Mage Art, what exactly led you to be with this assortment of individuals? No offense to the others, but you all together seem more... relaxed than your compatriots. Hm... perhaps that's not the right term, no... Rather, you seem like the kind of person I could perhaps imagine meeting in a library or bookstore rather than out wondering and doing strange things. I suppose 'normal' might suffice as the word, although I'm hesitant to use it in these times to be frank."
"Well, I'm really here because me, Evelyn, Erin and Justine went on a sort of joint venture. We were going to get into the Black Circle of Magic. Must have spent months planning it all out, who was going to be there, how to deal with 'em, that kind of thing. Grueling, but it was gonna be worth it - we were gonna get everything, access to the Black Circle, artifacts beyond measure, knowledge and so on. And from there, we would get our own domains, move up in the world. I mean, yeah, I already had a house and garden, and there was a bit of money in the exorcist business, but it didn't seem like something you want to do your whole life. There's gotta be more, you know? So I went with the scheme - Evelyn had contacted me previously - I knew her from my university days, though not her new friends, certainly. And, some misadventures and so on later, I'm here. Can't say it's been the worst experience, really."
At the Brotherhood of Fine Furniture and Other Odds and Ends...
Niklas is intrigued by the proposal.
"What is your preferred payment method?" he asks.
"Money, preferably. And if you wish to cut down on costs, you can also give us some materials to work with. It's cheaper when you have some dense matter ready than when you have to do the whole thing out of thin air. And once you pay, we guarantee satisfaction within the margin of your payment."
Fortunately, Niklas does have some money - exactly four gold coins in change that he took from the dead guards. And plenty of dense matter in the form of armor and weapons.
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Topic: Life Begins At Death - Epilogue: We Live And Live Again (Read 564220 times)