Inside the Webbed Toe...Kevin finds the idea of taking his new friends over to the ship most agreeable.
"Sure, that solves all the problems. We'll just move the party there!""Wonderful. Let's move then, shall we?""Yes, let's."Before they can move, though,
Mark writes out another message on a nearby wall.
"Yeah the body is from a demon summoner who screwed up trying to kill me and he got possessed by the our master"The words are not lost on Kevin's two friends.
"Ooh, I've heard of things like that. Never seen convincing proof, though.""Probably because nobody it's happened to has ever told the tale, so it's easier to assume they were just crazy or whatever."This makes Kevin remember something.
"Oh, and the guy doesn't like talking about his nature. He said that he was just a necromancer to this demonologist guy. So don't believe him.""Duly noted!""Should we interrupt Marlene and... the other one over there?""Meh, let them resolve their differences. I do so hate people who get irritable when they're drunk."And so Lizzie, Stephen and Kevin all head out for the ship, leaving Marlene and the other one - and Mark and
Niklas, by extension - behind. The two remaining undead utilize their time in varied ways - Mark, for his part, sneaks outside and tries to find the chair-hating gentleman who might provide some free parts for him to mess with. However, he is nowhere to be seen - only the mutilated remains of two chairs and a sizable puddle of blood provide evidence that he was even here to begin with. There is a small blood trail, but it quickly ends. Judging by the lack of a corpse, he must have either stopped the bleeding or been lifted up into the heavens somehow - at this point, neither would be entirely surprising.
Niklas, meanwhile, seeks to connect with the chair he's currently holding. Despite his best efforts, though, chair empathy proves elusive, and the noise in the ruined tavern in combination with the failure is starting to make him quite annoyed.
On the deck of the Second Shank...Sigmund, knowing what he needs now, thanks Erin for trying to help him in his time of need.
"Oh, well I guess that I will figure how to do this on my own. Thanks anyway."Guess he'll have to do this the uncivilized way. He heads down into the cargo hold, grabbing a whole lot of paper on the way, then sits down to concentrate a moment. The task ahead is going to be quite dire, and he must be ready... sadly, though, he can't really imagine what challenges he might face. So far, his focus creation has gone pretty well. He has no idea what he's in for, to be honest, and that's a little frightening.
Meanwhile, back on deck, something appears on the horizon.
"Is that Kevin?""Looks like he isn't in great shape.""Who are those people with him?""They seem... harmless? I guess?""Well, that's good."As the people on deck assess the approaching people, Evelyn flaps her wings and makes her usual hissing sounds, then returns to trying to pick up small objects with her grasping rib-beak. Within a few minutes, the three people step on deck. Lizzie makes an unnecessary throat-clearing sound, then speaks.
"The party has arrived!"The people on deck are silent a moment.
"Uh... welcome? Who are you?""We're friends of Kevin, and we're here to spread good cheer!""Or at least greedily get more of it for ourselves, if you don't prove too friendly - don't worry, it happens.""You're the Artiste, right?"The Artiste sighs, glancing at Kevin for a moment.
"Yes. That I am.""Kevin here says you're a pretty amazing necromancer!""I suppose?""Can you fuse souls?""Not sure, really. I've never tried it. Isn't that dangerous? I don't think you're supposed to do that.""So what?""Yeah, come on! From what Kevin said, you're like some kind of soul... master or something!"The line of conversation appears to be making the Artiste a mite uncomfortable.
In the waters under the Second Shank...Scott, thinking on his feet as always, dives at the lobster with his hammer.
[Scott's swimming roll: 1-1]
He tumbles through the water like an elephant in a tidal wave, and for a moment isn't really sure where he is or what exactly is happening to him at the moment.
[Lobster's charge roll: 6+
1]
[Lobster vs. Scott: 3+
1+
3 vs. 4-1-
1-
1]
Then, however, he realizes what just happened - a lobster just went by. He had two claws to show him. They were really, really sharp. And now he's in three pieces - neatly severed head, neatly severed pelvis and legs, neatly severed torso. That lobster may have been a little dangerous, Scott concludes.
[Scott's will roll: 6]
As his head, the current seat of his soul, it seems, floats down to the bottom of the sea, he briefly wonders how he'll get out of here. He'd be more shocked about just getting diced like that, but right now it really just feels like a logical continuation of what's already happened to him at this point. After a brief moment of fidgeting about, he notices the lobster poke at his torso for a moment and sample a piece of it. He'd never really thought of lobsters as things that
eat up until this point, honestly. It doesn't seem particularly interested, and promptly leaves, once again resuming a confused-looking, leisurely swim.
In the den of the Second Shank...Morton, wondering about what kind of world he is about to step into, asks follow-up questions on magical teamaking.
"Is it perhaps possible for good mage Erin to make me some ectoplasm and I attempt to make tea from that myself? Although I suppose I might need enchanted tools for that, perhaps. Hm..." he ponders.
"What exactly makes something irrefutably enchanted? Does it have to be particularly magical, a sort of measure I suppose, or would any touch of magic do?""As long as it's magical in some way, it should work - I've never tried it myself. All I know is that ghosts can be sliced to bits with magical weapons - why couldn't they imbibe magical tea as well? I don't think anyone I've heard of has tried it, actually. But it sounds crazy enough to attempt, no?"In an artifact weapon-pet store...Darren wonders if this lady'll be open to bartering.
"I don't have 500 quicksilvers on me, but, perhaps we can negotiate another way to pay."The pet store lady's eyes widen with interest, though she still seems generally distraught. Darren decides to perform a quick trick to cheer her up - his handkerchief trick. While complicated, it is also quite interesting. At least Darren thinks so, anyway.
"Are you interested in sleight of hand? I can teach you some tricks, then you can use them to draw attention to your shop."The ghost stares at Darren cryptically for a few seconds, blinking irregularly. She then slowly nods.
"That... works. Yes."She doesn't look fully on board with the idea - rather, the look on her face is one of resignation.
In the Realm of Love...As
Timothy takes in the scene, several questions arise in his mind. But one definitely takes precedence.
"Whatcha means? What dead man?! I hopes no-buddy's been deaded 'cause of all dis weirdyness..."The creature laughs. Its voice, like most everything here, is strange to Timothy - the voice makes him feel oddly excited, instilling a feeling of longing.
"I WOULDN'T KNOW, MY FRIEND. I JUST KNOW THAT IT ISN'T HEALTHY TO TRAIPSE AROUND LIKE THAT. HERE, LET ME SEVER THAT FOR YOU," the person says, and Timothy suddenly feels much lighter.
"THERE WE GO. YOU'RE FREE NOW."Not ready to give a reply just yet, Timothy looks around. There's no sign of the portal he came in through, and the rest looks like the pastoral backdrop he'd already seen - it looks pretty much like the normal world, but more colorful. Or is that just him being momentarily unaccustomed to the sight of normality?
"SO, HOW CAN I HELP YOU?" the androgynous person, apparently quite the important person, judging by the volume and authority of its voice.
Author
Topic: Life Begins At Death - Epilogue: We Live And Live Again (Read 563815 times)