In the wilderness of Eckledun...
Sigmund, after making the rookie mistake of confusing flapping, bubbling tissue for a communicative organ, then failing to locate any form of eyes within himself, tries the well-known third method of undead sensation recovery - seeking evidence for one's ability to detect things.
His metasense reveals nothing of use in that regard, of course. He doesn't actually have the ability to see, for even he is not oblivious enough to believe he might be able to when for all intents and purposes he is a bloody ooze, with only vague sensations of pressure, temperature and pain his guides in this terrible world.
Speaking of, he feels kind of sick, which he supposes is probably because it's sunny today.
In the dwelling of the wonderful Ms. Klemm...
Kevin graciously accepts any help Ms. Klemm can provide, hoping that she is indeed as kind a hostess as the cheery atmosphere in here may indicate.
"Ah, yes, thank you, that would be great. Nice place you've got here, by the way, Ms. Klemm."
"I find the paint job really helps the atmosphere a lot," Ms. Klemm replies, smiling as she points her thin fingers at Kevin's collapsed form. He feels his hand tickle a little. "Hm. Perhaps a bit more of a complicated task than I would have thought. No matter, Ms. Cooker, I am sure this is but a minor setback."
She picks up Kevin's body and lays it out in a very orderly manner across the floor in sharp contrast to the sort of half-deflated pile he resembled before. Kevin's not quite sure how that helps, but his joints are a little too eaten by spiders for him to make much of a fuss about it.
"Now hold still, good woman. I shall have you up and walking about momentarily."
She bends down and puts a finger up to one particular spider-cavity in Kevin's body, and it immediately sloshes, then bulges as it is filled up with flesh and blood knitting itself together appropriately. She drags her finger slowly along Kevin's body, and the shapes of it become malleable at her touch, altering and filling out, wounds disappearing, the color of the flesh becoming healthier, pinker, everything feeling much more functional and alive, new and unusual organs taking shape beneath his skin. She has a slightly absentminded look as her hand travels along Kevin's body, physical features reassembling at her whim. She makes three whole passes over the whole thing, each time lingering a little around the stomach area, and almost seems to be in a trance until the moment that Kevin coughs loudly and slightly uncomfortably. All of his flesh has been smoothed and filled out in a highly proportional, anatomically correct manner, and a healthy, warm feeling strikes him as Ms. Klemm looks him in the eyes.
"I apologize for taking so long. It's just been rather long since I've manipulated a human body. Come now. We shall find you some new clothes."
And this they do - walking Kevin to a closet nearly indistinguishable from a wall, Ms. Klemm quickly retrieves a set of dresses similar to her own for Kevin to wear, handing an orderly parcel of them for him to pick from.
"I am afraid there is not much choice here. I am not the most fashion-conscious sort, but we will have to make do," she smiles warmly. "Would you perhaps like some dinner afterward, Ms. Cooker?"
On the precipice of the Mystery Forge...
Niklas, quite interested in his new capabilities, nonchalantly floats off the top of the Mystery Forge, finding his way to the maid, who backs away a little.
He draws a bit closer.
She backs away faster.
"Um, miss, I would ask of you to respect my personal space," she says, quite uneasy. Why must they always be so shy?
In the chamber of the Crown of Flowers...
Darren, immediately halting all psychic activity in a way that most certainly does not implicate him in doing it in the first place (the ghost merely rolls his eyes, so he knows he's safe for now), continues trying to start up a dialogue.
"Oh, heavens no. He's a dick. But tell me more about the ways he screwed you over," he says glibly.
"It was the usual, really. Ask for immortality for your people, he provides it in the form of a divine artifact," he points to the Crown of Flowers, "then everybody happens to mysteriously die as magical devices start to work oddly, and everybody lingers perpetually as a ghost, incapable of moving out of here. And now he's trying to kill us all off for good via a hapless adventurer. Going to be a decent crop of souls if you succeed, the way I understand it. You sure you don't want to go for it?" he winks.
Outside the Black Tower of Eckledun...
A meeting of the minds occurs outside of the most nefarious structure belonging to the Black Circle, and Morton and Scott happen to be its main participants, with Tailor Craig looking absently into the distance. While Morton prefers to assume innocuous intent, it is abundantly clear to Scott that there is a conspiracy at work, and a most terrible one at that. He immediately figures out the most important course of action - steeling his mind something fierce! Luckily, he has perfected his ability to scream inwardly through his vast personal experience, and the only thing he really needs to do now is manage to do that all the time. Of course, screaming inwardly does make it a little difficult to concentrate or think, but when the integrity of his mind is at stake, who can really blame him for getting an immediate head start?
Good news is, the voices in his head immediately abate! Bad news, though, Francine currently isn't one of them, so he has no real way of telling if it worked. Damn mind with its lack of objective reality-checking devices!
Morton, meanwhile, gazes about and looks for any signs of mysterious wizards responsible for heinous acts of city destruction - he can't really see any, so he assumes they must have buggered off entirely or some such.
Tailor Craig, meanwhile, makes an observation.
"Ah, Scott! Where did you come from?" he asks a little absently. It seems his little distracted phase has come to an end.
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Topic: Life Begins At Death - Epilogue: We Live And Live Again (Read 556253 times)