Unmissionful
The twisted doll ignores your shouting. It shoves the chair away from the door, allowing its slave-dolls to barge into the room, immediately rushing towards you with their arms raised to strike. You throw the lamp at them and it shatters against one of them, spraying lamp oil everywhere that is ignited a moment later. You belatedly realize that that might not have been the best idea as now you still have two dolls running towards you, only now they are on fire.
((I imagine the crown is not too easy to remove, otherwise it would look quite silly with the thing constantly reappearing every time he nods or something. If it was too easy to remove, you could even hang him upside down and turn him into a perpetual motion device. 
))
You try to dislodge the crown from your head but the crown continues to be as stubborn as ever, refusing to leave your head without good reason. You try to scrape your head against the doll but the angle is all wrong. You try to summon dolls to your aid but your concentration fails, nobody comes, nothing appears, the last of your dolls having turned to ashes moments ago. Even your body is refusing to listen to you, the grip of your hands weakening, your knees bending.
<By what right do you deserve to be my master?>
The doll speaks into your mind, its voice and form clearer than ever before.
You muster all the strength you have left and manage to free yourself from the doll's hold, letting you turn around to face it, putting two hands on the sword. But your legs are weak.
<By what right do you deserve to be free?>
It speaks with your voice, with the voice of your thoughts.
You push and pull but you remain evenly matched. Your arms are trembling, moved by foreign impulses.
<Why you and not me?>
Its eyes are dead, yet you feel as if it is staring at you with a fury matching yours.
The flames are starting to lick the soles of your shoes. The heat is becoming unbearable.
(Correct you are!)
As the gravity of his situation got worse, much of Napoleon's fury died down. Here he is, losing a mental battle with what was one of his dolls while the latter was somehow much stronger. As the twisted doll continued to dominate him in both mind and body, Napoleon begin to shed tears at the unfairness of it all. All of his plans, his tactical brilliance, had been rendered moot by the cruel hands of fate and now the master is about to become the servant. A cruel but fittingly ironic fate for the one who craved power. Whether he truly deserved all of this or not was irrelevant.
His face relaxing into a softer expression, Napoleon begin to ponder his fate. Sure he may be doomed to be the twisted doll's servant forever but what if that wasn't the case? It is just as likely that the doll would decide to hold him only temporarily, if only to toy with him. It is also likely that someone else will kill the doll in the future, freeing him from its influence. Perhaps the doll's power over him would be somehow weakened in the future, allowing him to finally break free and exact revenge?
Now that he was on the subject of his impending servitude, what sort of... things would he be forced to do? Could it be mundane or embarrassing? Could he be forced to commit atrocities against the innocent or could the twisted doll see fit to compel him to commit suicide? He cannot run away because his legs are weak and summoning more dolls is now out of the question. However, Napoleon figured that he could at least make a final gesture.
Gathering his last ounce of strength, Napoleon will throw the sword at the twisted doll as a final act of defiance.
As the presence digs deeper into your mind, you let go of your anger, of your desire to dominate. You can feel the dolls mind clearly now, the fear and desire resting within it, its feelings mirroring yours in a way.
<W-Why do you->
With one fluid motion you rip the sword out of its hand and twist around for a strike. The doll uses a burst of speed to retreat, getting out of your range. You let go of the sword, allowing it to sail through the air and impale the doll while it is recovering, going through its torso and getting stuck in the wall behind it.
"Ha!"With this final act of defiance, you collapse to the floor, your limbs twitching beyond your control. The doll is thrashing frantically, trying and failing to remove the sword. Maybe it will manage to free itself. Maybe it will burn here with you. Maybe it will gain control of you. But for now there is little you can do, even if you wanted to. Your mind can take no more.
Could the loss of your senses be a blessing? So that you don't have to endure the pain of being burnt alive? Maybe. But in the end, dead is dead, no matter how you get there. And death gives birth to nothing. Your consciousness dissolves, the last thing on your mind being the faint smell of burning wood before that too disappears.
...
"You fight beautifully."
You're still alive.
"With intelligence, grace and determination worthy of your title."
You cough and try to breathe, spitting the smoke out of your throat.
"Most of the time." she adds. You can tell from her voice that she is smiling while she says that.
Your everything hurts and something is being dragged against your back, the bumps making the pain intensify.
"But this world is not fair. It doesn't matter if you try the hardest."
No, you are being dragged. You can see the ceiling moving above you, feel the pull on your leg.
"It doesn't matter if you're the strongest." says the doll with a pull.
Is it really a doll? Its back is turned on you, your can only see its burnt hand around your leg, pulling you.
"The smartest."
Pull.
"The best."
Pull.
"It doesn't matter if you have the best of intentions."
She lets go of your leg and approaches you.
"All that matters-"
She pauses as she lifts you and carries you down the stairs.
"-is who wins in the end."
She sets you down on the ground, her burnt and broken form concealed in shadows cast by the bright blaze consuming the manor behind her.
"Even if they do so by cheating you out of your victory."
As if to demonstrate the truth of her statement, she spreads her arms wide. Her broken arm mends itself, her half-torn torso reattaches itself and even her burnt fabric reappears, becoming pristine once more.
Stephano Falcone
Try to subtly inspect Iris without drawing her attention. What does she look like? Does she appear to be related to Mantis? Does she have any weapons visible on her person? After taking a few moments to catch my breath, say the following to her:
"Thanks for the rescue, Iris. Now, care to tell me more about Rockslide and why your group decided to rescue me?"
If she has any visible weapons, keep my eye on her and be ready to draw my gun if she tries anything. Otherwise, continue to observe my surroundings while she speaks and drives.
Also, if she asks me about Mantis, tell her that last I knew, Mantis was unconscious in an unlocked janitorial closet. If she asks me why I am wearing Mantis' clothes, tell her that I swapped clothes with his unconscious form in order to increase my chances of not being noticed by the guards.
She is very focused on driving and making sure you've escaped. Her hands are trembling from the adrenaline and she keeps glancing around. She's so focusd you're pretty sure she wouldn't notice you looking at her.
She doesn't have any weapons on her that you can see. She's wearing a sleeveless shirt and tight jeans leaving her very few places to hide things, though there is a crumpled jacket in the back. Maybe she's hiding something there or maybe there's a weapon in the glove compartment. She's not wearing a uniform or anything, so there's nothing screaming she belongs to the same group as Mantis. She looks like she could be related by blood, but you that's just guesswork on your part. They're not identical but they look similar enough that the possibility is there.
"Thanks for the rescue, Iris. Now, care to tell me more about Rockslide and why your group decided to rescue me?""We're a group of freedom fighters fighting against the Garando organization. Their aim is nothing less than Total World Domination and the enslavement of the entire human race. Our goal is to stop them at all costs. As for you I..."
She looks down for a second and bites her lip.
"I'm sorry, I don't really know why you were selected to be rescued. Our leader would not say."
"But he has never been wrong before!" she adds hastily.
"Every research center we've raided, every facility we've bombed, we've stopped cruel experiments and saved countless lives. I'm sure whatever he has planned, there's a very good reason for all this."
"Look, I know this may all seem strange to you, but we really do want to help you. And everyone else. We are the good guys here. We are going to save the world."
You've never heard any of those things. Then again, it's not like they would tell you anything while they had you locked up.
"I- I'm not the best at this sort of thing, I'm sure that when you meet our leader he'll be able to provide a much better explanation. It will all make sense then, I promise. Just trust me until then."
She keeps speeding away, overtaking the few cars you encounter along the way. You guess this makes sense. If they're going to be sending someone to catch you a van full of bullet holes will be hard to pass undetected. Might as well floor it.
"We need to ditch the van. We've got another vehicle stashed nearby. We'll make our way to the safehouse after that."
Campaign: On Road
Irine will stay with the caravan, learning about the people in it and letting the new additions meet her. She'll at night be attempting to pinpoint the influence muteing her flames and seeing if she can reduce its effects.
The water monks seem reasonably polite and even friendly. They spend a good deal of their day meditating, a process that sometimes involves them manipulating water with their abilities. Their... you're not sure if you should call it a religion or philosophy. They say their beliefs promote acceptance of the self and of others, the quest for inner and outer peace. However when questioned about them participating is such an expedition, they say that fighting does not go against their beliefs. They say that to them their beliefs are not an immutable set of laws, they are meant as words of guidance and stories worthy of contemplation and may change overtime.
They're quite interested in learning more about you and the Sword, though at times you get the feeling that they are doing this because they look at you as a curiosity, a puzzle to solve, an event to record. They are friendly to you, sure, but are they friendly because they're nice people? Are they friendly because they want to use you? Are they friendly because their religion requires it? Does it matter?
Nowhere is this more apparent than the master alchemist. She doesn't feel evil nor does she appear crazy (or at least not too crazy). But she becomes overly focused, obsessed one could say with certain things. Unwilling to move on once she's found someone or something interesting. And for most of your time together her 'someone interesting' has been you (interspersed with periods of obsessing with Nikolai instead or walking around picking up interesting pebbles). It's as if she enjoys prodding you and probing you with careful words or bombarding you with constant questions on the subject of your creation and other worlds. You'd swear that was true if it wasn't for the fact that during your time together she's displayed nothing but genuine interest and enjoyment, not at your discomfort but at what she's gained. And sometimes it feels like she's giving away potions like they're candy, like she doesn't care what happens to others as long as she can learn something out of what the results (where does she get all those bottles anyway?). Or maybe she doesn't get that all of life's problems can't be solved by throwing potions at them. Your Sword suggests she might be of the Mind element.
Most of the recruits from Chizra act like they don't know what to make of you. The recruits from Road's End have told them about what you and your group did (or their version of the story) and they have heard the latest stories about your groups' actions, how you and Theri helped the refugees and how Ike acted in Chizra so they know they should trust and respect you (or at least not mess with you). And that is what they do, treat you with respect and politeness. That is
all they do. Most of the time it feels like they would rather not be in the same room with you.
Your Sword offers the opinion that they do not know how to act because you do not fit in the way they are used to think. They know you're not a human and yet you look like one (mostly). You hold power but you don't act like they're used to people in power acting. You talk the same language they do and yet your behaviour seems strange, alien, for more than one reason. They look at you as a leader and yet you do not act like you're in charge. This lack of normalcy, of routine, not knowing how they should act to please you or avoid your wrath, it makes them anxious, it scares them, even if they don't consciously realise it. Even more so now that man they're used to leading them is away, when they feel like they lack structure, Order.
The Sword suggests that you should help them create a new 'normal', that you should tell them what to do or at least talk to them about what you like and dislike. You don't need to hold a big speech or anything, simply speak to a few of them about it or take the lead in common interactions with them. In such isolated groups any sort of worthy information (and gossip) will spread near-instantly. That is why it is important to shape their image of you now, before they create a mistaken (or inconvenient) one on their own. You could also attempt indulging them by engaging in activities they expect you to engage in, even if you don't personally find them interesting or necessary. That all of course depends on how you want them to see you and how you see them to a lesser extent. The Sword says it has helped others lead groups of people in the past. Should you need help or guidance, even for mundane things like prayers, songs and eating habits, it would be willing to provide it.
((The above is based on how I see Irine in social interactions. To me she seems a bit aloof or maybe driven, like even though she is friendly, helpful and reasonably polite, she mostly approaches 'foreign' people with her objective in mind rather than merely to socialize and is a bit reserved/guarded on first encounters (which is reasonable given her experiences so far). Even the way you phrased it 'let the new additions meet her' rather than 'meet the new additions' seems to support that. Please feel free to correct me if you feel how I think she would act is wrong.))
The Sword explains what it knows about the Dark magic effect. Somebody could say that if Fire magic is like the air you breathe, then what's happening is like poisoning the air with black magic. But that somebody would be wrong. When you release poison into the air the poison mixes with the air but the air is still there, it's just contaminated. After you filter out the poison, you can breathe just fine.
What's happening here, this is more like someone converting breathable air into poison or taking air and replacing it with poison. You may filter the poison out of the air, but that would still leave you with less air to breathe. So even though the Sword and your willpower should be able to protect you from the effects of this Dark magic (so you don't run the risk of turning into a monster) this doesn't change the fact that the flow of Fire magic is weakening. The Sword believes that until the source of the Dark spell is found and eliminated, it will continue to become stronger. Though this is a remote possibility at the moment, should the flow of Fire magic be completely extinguished, then like a fish out of water you would sleep and never wake up again. Not to mention the horrible effects this could have on the entire continent.
You decide that if you are to act to defend yourself against this spell you need to learn more about it, starting from where exactly it's coming from. The Sword asks you to help it set up an arrangement Light and Order spells that would help it find out more about the effect. Right now all it knows is its general effect and very vaguely the direction it's coming from. To learn more details about such a large scale dark spell, it would be necessary to use a large scale detection spell in order to track how the dark magic spreads and how it affects the network of Fire magic.
You begin the preparations a bit more than two hours before sundown. While the others rest and set up camp, you move to predefined positions, pausing to let the Sword prepare the detection spells. Following the Sword's instructions, your path traces a spiral on the ground, until you reach the top of a small hill, from where you can observe the results of your work. Though in this light it's hard to see, if you know where to look you can make out the thin grey lines of the spells tracing arcane shapes on the ground. You make sure to warn the others that they are not to approach the area of your spellcasting, lest they disturb the sensitive spells and spoil the results. To them it might appear like a powerful, impressive spell, but magic here is weak. If it wasn't for the Sword and the preparation you did, it wouldn't had been possible.
You finish the final preparations by casting the master spell on and around you. As the sun approaches the horizon, you raise the sword and activate the spell. Luminous lines shoot out of the Sword, each one connecting with and activating a spell.
"By our design, let those who pervert the natural Order be brought to justice."Grey spears burst out of the ground, rising high into the air, a phalanx waiting to strike.
"By our Light, let the path to those who would spread evil be revealed."The tips of the spears unfold, a thin white construct rising from each tip, like candlelight rising out of the petals of a flower, like fragile white flames moving in the faint wind.
"By our will, let Fire burn them all to ash."The Sword's fires flare. They are released a moment later, washing over the surrounding area. For a split second you feel the flows of magic running through the spell as if they were part of your body, letting you see them like a twisting serpent of fire slithering against the land, jumping out of the hearts of the recruits. The feeling fades but the memory remains, their arrangement stuck on your sight like the afterimage of a lightning strike.
<The spell it ready. We need but wait for the Dark magic to shift and intensify, as it does at night.>And wait you do. You don't have to wait for long. As you wait, watching the magical lights dance against the darkening sky, their glow suddenly flickers as if struck by a strong wind. After about two minutes it's all over, the final of the lights having been snuffed out. The spears dissolve into grey voxels soon after.
All this preparation amounted to a disproportionally small amount of action and yet you have everything you need to make a good guess about what's going on. Each wisp of light was deformed by the impact of the advancing front, its length becoming shorter as its magic was suppressed. You could see each wave as it hit, how powerful it was, how it moved, how it spread.
Combined with the knowledge of the local Fire flows and your map, you can make some educated guesses.
The spell arrived on 5 weaker "waves", some of which arrived from different directions. From this you conclude that the spell is cast multiple times, at least some of which are cast on different locations. They tended to spread through the straighter flows, the ones pointing towards major settlements, the ones that also bore a tinge of Order magic. The same ones that would had been used to sustain the Fire Tower's network of Fire magic. The spell must be using the remains of this network to make affecting the entire kingdom easier. The spell spreads through the flows of fire magic and corrupts them, slowly isolating and redirecting them, leaving only Dark energy behind. It's a magic drain spell in a scale rarely seen before and it's highly unlikely it is something natural. The most likely scenario is that someone is using the Spines to weaken Fire magic. While it should be possible to reverse this effect with a bit of effort and render an area free of corruption, this will not restore the strength of the flow unless a large part of the surrounding areas is also purified. It would be better to attack this spell on its root, but the multiple sources would make such an effort quite hard for you to undertake alone, not to mention that the area around the Spine would be heavily corrupted and thus harder to use your abilities in. The final and most worrying piece of information is that the spell is first cast somewhere on the East, with subsequent castings coming closer and closer to you, the closest (and weakest) most likely occurring on Traveller's Rest. Worryingly, the final and most powerful spell is cast from the West, from Ineth, the destroyed city where you spent your first days in this world.
Irine will stay with the caravan, learning about the people in it and letting the new additions meet her. She'll at night be attempting to pinpoint the influence muteing her flames and seeing if she can reduce its effects.
Theri will continue her training--past 'pointy sticks 101' and into actual combat in respect of what experience the people have faced. Application in reality, to discipline and also to hone.
Help Theri train the army.
Teach them proper formations. Pike wall, shield wall, ranged volley fire.
Teach them how to fortify an area. How to form a wagon fort, build barricades, dig trenches, set traps.
Teach them how to find, make, and use various improvised weapons. Including slings. Everyone should do their best to be well equipped.
Leave most of the fancy techique training to Theri.
You continue teaching the troops while singing inspirational songs. You know they need any help they can get if they are to have a chance of surviving in combat against someone competent, like a professional soldier. Gods know they'll need all the help they can get and soon. In a few days you'll be reaching Traveler's Rest, which is currently in control of the Sovereignty. Even if you choose to go around it, there's always the chance of running into a patrol or raiders. If you stay with them, combat will be impossible to avoid. And even with all your training and with you helping them at least some of them will probably die. The best you can do is help more of them survive.
Campaign: The Wandering Arms
Ike, Gentleman Explorer and General of the People!
"Ah, a wretched hive of scum and villainy! Miscellaneous explorers, keep an eye out. I'm going in! Zech, you're with me. If things start to pop off in a big way, hit the building with something reasonably explosive."
So a general and a messiah walk into a bar and take a seat.
You leave your dudes on standby as backup while you approach the Wandering Arms. Nothing dramatic happens as you approach, no group of armoured cavalry come out to meet you, no warnings are shouted, no dramatic music plays. It's just you, your footsteps and the occasional gust of wind.
As you approach the entrance your keen ears begin to hear the sounds coming from inside, music and somebody singing. Sounds like an upbeat song. Lots of smells here as well. Must be around 40 individuals, not all of them human.
The guard doesn't look disturbed by your approach but he does raise his hand to block you from entering before you get too close.
"Hail stranger. I've never seen you around these parts before. What business do you have here?"
He looks calm. You can hear a disturbance in the muddy water, something moving in there. Sounds big, as big as a cow.
”Ah good, it’d stink if I lost those. Thanks Brad!”
Why would I want to stop being me? I’m awesome! Focus as much as I can on retaining my psychological integrity, using stuff like my memories of the various shenanigans I’ve pulled to anchor me.
Oh, and talk to Ike if I can spare the effort - say hi.
I don't know, would your awesomeness compare to the sum of the combined awesomeness of everyone else?
You attempt to make some spooky noises in Ike's ears but he is not listening. Which is astonishing considering the size of those ears. Maybe it's because you are him the least. Or at least the least compared to everyone else you know.
Maximus: Turret 4A Backup Control Room
Kosak Durar:
"Sadly, I lack medical training. I will be glad to keep an eye out, however!"
Kosak looks at his injured comrade, and tries to see how well he's doing, at least. And yes, Kosak will keep his eye out. This "Dave" will not attack undetected!
He's not quite dead yet. In fact, he looks like he's getting better.
The area looks deserted. There's nothing but the sounds of your actions echoing through the empty hallways. If someone's here, they might as well be a ghost. Or maybe lying in wait to ambush you.
Walking Tank, Maximus
Take the regen gauntlet off whoever's holding it now and put it on Svajoklis, if they haven't yet. Aside from that, keep an eye for danger like usual.
That would require you to be inside the Ship. We can say you followed John an the rest in there if you like.
<Svajoklis, Inside Maximus>
Check if I am in too much shock to feel pain and can therefore be useful.
Air means there was something here to breathe it. Yet we see no people. This means that the enemy either has a use for corpses or uses weapons that don't leave any. I'm not a fan of either.
You feel no pain. Not even a bit of discomfort. You don't think that's normal. And you're still so weak you don't think you could walk. Luckily there is little gravity here, so if you disable your boots you can float around with almost no effort. That means you can 'get up' and do stuff, as long as they don't involve anything more strenuous than feebly moving your legs and single remaining arm around.
You could try helping others with the turret control room situation, offer some words of encouragement or something. Or you could try exploring. If you're lucky you might even be able to find something to help with your missing body parts. Then again, it might be better to stay close to the others, in case you kick the bucket. I mean, you might be feeling better now and look like you're about to recover but you might suddenly feel the icy hand of death upon you.
John: Inside the Maximus
John frowned at the console. Great; sabotage instead of just failure. Well, it'd do no good for this to be boring, right? <<Okay, everyone, I'm going to try to shut down this turret. Fair warning; the turret was turned on on purpose, and someone's sabotaging the ship. Dave Nal's a name I see on here. Phoenix, if you can hear me, does that ring a bell?>>
He motioned to Urist. "Keep an eye out? Also, if you can help that poor guy, hopefully we can stabilize him. I'm going to try to override these locks."
Interface to controls; let's do this. Disconnect if I sense the ship trying to override the interface.
No response from Icarus. He must still be out of range or maybe the hull is interfering with the signal.
You press your Interface against the terminal's control system. A small spike extends from the interface, connecting to an appropriate slot.
: Connection established. Attempting standard override codes... : Ship AI unavailable. Override D4R3 failed.
Connection with ship database unavailable. Override 3N71 failed.
Secret Share at 100%. One-time structure valid. Override G4M3 accepted.
: Override successful. : About 3 seconds later you feel the screen flashes red and the wires that would had detonated the booby trap activate.
: Interference detected. Re-authenticating... :The screen clears and your Interface continues its work. Still, the changed login, the booby trap and now this... Whoever put it there must have
really wanted to ensure only they would have access to the turret. They could had just destroyed the control room if they wanted, so they must have had a reason to try and keep it intact. But the booby trap shows they were also not afraid of destroying the control room if they had to. Hmmm...
: Extending physical connection to Turret 4A... :The screen displays a rough representation of the umbilical extending to connect with the turret, struggling a bit with the current configuration of the armour plates but eventually managing to force its way through.
: Umbilical in place. Preparing to initiate physical connection... :The screen flashes through various windows, giving you little time to process what is going on.
: Operation complete. :Script connect_and_disable loaded.
Execute(Y/N)?>
Maximus: Outside
WMD, Somewhere in relation to the Maximus
Grab my shitty dwarven GPS by wrapping him in one of my tentacles. Burn some of my energy to power my blades to cut back into the ship. We're rerouting. Try to find another way to some air that doesn't involve giant deep-space fish. Burn enough energy to keep up RMEs without going boom, since they seem to be more useful than my finale for now. Continue using my Willpower to try to get useful effects. If the situation gets too dire, try to Will a way to live off the energy I generate. And if I'm really out of options, I guess I'll have to go boom and hope my interface can be recovered.
You reach out and grab your dwarf before the thing can get too far. He looks at you and shrugs.
You infuse your blades with your power, making them burn white hot. You raise them as high as you can and then stab the hull with all your strength. They manage to cut through the hull, getting embedded deep within it. You try to widen the holes but it's not easy. This thing is incredibly hard. Even with your strength and power it would take some time.
Energy bursts from your body. It condenses into a dark sphere that hurls itself into your dwarf. The dwarf looks at you impassively as his blood leaves his body, leaving him a mummified corpse that moments later crumbles into dust. You're left with your tentacle wrapped around a glass mannequin full of dead dwarf dust. ... You've had weirder things happen to you. The blood dives into your body, not only giving you more air to breathe but also making you feel better, stronger.
Through the murky darkness a light appears. A voice travels through the liquid but it's too distorted to make out. The light gets closer and you can make out the form of the Phoenix, although right now it has altered the configuration of its wings, moving some to the back of its fuselage to make it appear more humanoid in shape. It lands next to you, lowering its cockpit so that Icarus can look at you while speaking. With the way the wings are arranged, it kinda looks like the Phoenix is on its hands and knees.
: Can you hear me? Are you OK? What happened to you? Why is your interface not working? : comes the voice out of the Phoenix.
Brian Hoss, hull of the Maximus
Wait patiently for John to do his thing.
You feel the hull vibrate a bit and then stop. Hmm... Still waiting it seems.
You really wish you had a third eye. That way you could... Hmm... Unless...
"Interface, begin solitaire game. Voice output only.": Affirmative. Game start. Column 1: 3 of clubs. Column 2: ... :
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Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1145363 times)