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Author Topic: Our Salvation: It Is Written  (Read 262302 times)

TopHat

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Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith
« Reply #1995 on: February 01, 2017, 04:51:55 pm »

"..."
Continue to observe. This is a bit surreal.

((I'm afraid to say that once again I'm off for this weekend. Sorry about that.))
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I would ask why fire can burn two men to death without getting hot enough to burn a book, but then I read "INEXTINGUISHABLE RUNNING KAMIKAZE RADIOACTIVE FLAMING ZOMBIE" and realized that logic, reason, and physics are all occupied with crying in the corner right now.

penguinofhonor

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Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith
« Reply #1996 on: February 01, 2017, 09:56:51 pm »

"Yeah!" I shout back. "It looks like there's a way out."

I put on my boots, drop the slippers, and walk over to inspect the alcove with the furniture.
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Harry Baldman

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Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith
« Reply #1997 on: February 02, 2017, 04:05:03 pm »

"Well, I guess that's the next step.  Onward!"

Look for somewhere suitably bridgey, then do the thing.

You step up to the canyon, sword drawn and ready. You hold it a little like a dowsing rod as you check out several likely locations. You wonder where would be a good point for it to begin. Twenty feet from the crumbling edge disappearing into the vast gulf of toxic waste? Fifty? Perhaps a hundred? You decide to start well away. After all, this would be a half mile bridge if you're gauging this appropriately. Need a little clearance for it to not fall in or some such. Within about five minutes of walking around and considering several angles you find a place that seems insurable enough, and take a right proper stab at it.

[Pontifex Maximus: 2]

The sword takes root, and from the ground a tree begins to grow, its bark like taut leather stretched over thousands and thousands of bones as it roils and waves out of the ground, rooting itself deeply, shapes of lifeless faces pressing themselves into the membranous skin of the thing as the pillar rises and bends over in a tall arch, growing broader and longer until it comfortably stretches over the canyon, rows of sharp protrusions puncturing it like wisdom teeth. Muscle grows in the gaps, twitching chaotically as it configures itself into the correct shape, thin trails of connective tissue coming out of the great bridge's many teeth. It moves for a while yet, gyrating back and forth along its length in an unnatural time lapse as the laws of the universe bend to accommodate its profoundly strange bulk and capabilities. It moves into place, wide enough to accommodate a crossing army, and begins to breathe slowly.

One feels a certain degree of house cleaning was long overdue. The stout folk, albeit useful, did bring rather samey material with their collective efforts. One can't help but be pleased at this sudden burst of novelty.

Er, you ask, what's that over there? It looks a little ghoulish. It's got two legs, admittedly, and two arms. And it's about ten feet tall at that, and most terribly angular. And it's not so much got a head as it looks like its throat has about triple the teeth allowance it should. Oh my, and those claws. One can't help but be amused - that is the bridgekeeper. It will collect the toll from further travelers - ten pounds of material per person, to be exact (the upkeep may become demanding, you see). Not from you, however, as you're a friend of the sponsor.

You look at the bridgekeeper. It looks back. It seems to have a very good idea of what it's here to do as it sharpens its claws intently and ruminates on a bit of gristle. One feels this was a successful experiment - a sort of proof of concept for reassembling material into a desired shape, you see. You suppose it looks happy enough with its lot in life, and one would say that with how much endorphins were packed into the thing it damn well better be.

"Heh, I'd say you have a reasonable inkling of what my relationship to the thing that dwells in the darkness beyond existence is. I'd enjoy visiting this site you mentioned at some point soonish, I left some things unfinished when I departed Anglefork that I'd like to possibly wrap up. Damn this food is good, though. Never would've thought maggots could be of such culinary value."

Daniels chews for a while longer before something occurs to him.

"Oh, one other thing about the well place or whatever you wanna call it. If you guide me there, that's fine and dandy, but I'd recommend not actually interfacing with the entity at any point if you value the sanctity of your existence and whatnot. It has a tendency of ... well, eating's the best way to put it, those who aren't like me. Body, soul, any evidence you ever existed or interacted with anything, all gone."

He takes a big bite of bacon maggot thing, the subtle pop of the insect larvae between his teeth accentuating his words.

"Also judging by what happened when some minders did try to make a deal with it ... well, doesn't seem like it'd be too good for your personal health."

He leaves the implications of that statement unanswered as he continues eating, presumably eventually finishing the plate.

"Gotta say, that was fucking tasty. Is that a thing you guys make regularly here?"

Give ominous warnings, enjoy food.

The merchants, and the word tingles in your mind, they do have many talents and have had many weeks to apply them. Most often they are merely delicious, but every now and then a heartland delicacy manages to surprise you. It helps, of course, that the flies that make such things possible have traveled along as well. They do marvelous things with insects downriver - not the kinds known by you or her, but meaty and cultured things. A brief sampling of flavors goes through your mind, and despite having just eaten several pounds of meat and desserts you find yourself drooling a little. You quickly finish your food, and this proves an adequate reprieve.

And she's well aware, Mr. Daniels - exploded heads and business like that do not a glowing recommendation make. At least not for minders - you appear to have made it out perfectly fine, no? And you also happen to have a thing it is interested in, which will obtain you a wish and questions. And as it happens, she can help you obtain another. Would you know yet more?

"Yeah, I'm not experienced using my feets for drinking so pouring sweet alcohol into my mouth would be helpful. All right, may the best man win!"

Begin the contest, first round for honor of Ęgir, second for Odin, third for Freyja because she and the demon both have great tits, and each subsequent cup for honor of whatever god or primordial being that comes into mind.

I'm a big man with a big strong liver, coming from generations of mead drinkers, trained and hardened in cold winters of Siberia with pure vodka. I should say I have advantage here.

I make sure to offer my own imaginary drinks as well. It's not fair for one side to be providing all the mind altering substances.

If I'm not a clear winner after getting decently drunk, kick the demon under table with APOCALYPTIC power. After all, nobody said HOW one should end under the table...


[Drink, Drink, This Town Is So Great: 3+1]

You have the first drink be poured down your throat, and even through the vague unreal haze of things you know instantly the burn and taste of the great healer, the booze hitting you in the back of the head like a brick. That one was for Ęgir, giant of the sea, brewer for the gods, you shout as you have Earnest put down the cup. The devil laughs, her eyes flashing as the elder puts an empty cup down as well, grinning wider than before. Nicely done! First swig is a rough one for most - you seem to be holding together well! Especially given the number of apples you ate beforehand! You hear the seductive noise of hard liquor bubbling back into your cups.

[Drink, Drink, 'Cause It's Never Too Late: 6+1 vs. 3]

The second is for Odin, clever bastard among clever bastards, and together you drink the waters of wisdom! The devil seems terribly amused once again - for Odin, she echoes, sounds like a right hearty sort! The elder pours one down the devil's throat and she shakes her head. There's a good man, she's feeling the wisdom coming already! You get yours as well, and you feel one of your eyes go out of focus while the other gets suddenly sharp, a clear sign of divine favor if you've seen one. You give the devil your focused one-eyed stare. Eye of the tiger, she points a little unsteadily.

[To Drink, Drink, To No Big Surprise: 6+1 vs. 4]

And the third for Freyja! She with the melons to launch a thousand ships, and to which the earth can have but mere grapefruits in comparison - though a more splendid set of grapefruits than those of present company are rare indeed! Why thank you, the devil nods, two vodkafruit in her hands, don't mind if she does! She sinks her teeth in, and you have some of your own. She finishes them in record time, a rapid infusion of mental vodka making her nearly fall out of her seat as she tries to stay still, your discerning eye unwaveringly on her.

[But What Words Rhyme With Buried Alive: 6+1 vs. 1]

And then the two of you have the third round slammed down for you - you hold fast as you let incredibly real drunkenness wash over you and scour away the merely mental kind, while the devil's horns just curl suddenly as the two magnify each other - she leans forward, those were some potent fruits you got there, sir, she'd like to subscribe for some more if you've... and the rest becomes a little inaudible as her face sinks into the table.

You rise to your feet, your second wind having given you a positive energy to stand tall despite having exactly one and a half limbs to your name, and the devil is raised to her feet by the elder, only to slide under the table after he lets go of her. A cheer goes through - well done, the elder says! And with that, let the festival of the return be considered open! The sound of a dozens of drinks being quaffed to your health go through the space around you like an ocean wave, and you sit back down.

Now, the elder says as he spins wildly around you, bubbles of spirits rising from him all around, now the drinking really begins! A victory speech from the winner!

"..."
Continue to observe. This is a bit surreal.

((I'm afraid to say that once again I'm off for this weekend. Sorry about that.))

The alderman seems content with what he's seen - not good news in particular, he says to you as the warden runs off to get the attention of its fellows, but at least there's cause to hope for improvement! Have to keep these fellows in good shape, you understand, it's really all for their own good. He motions with his enormous hand as you head out, wardens filtering out of the main hall into the cell blocks with armfuls of prisoners that they toss one by one into their respective cells. They bow in passing at the alderman and also at you, and he offers them best wishes and hopes to hear of any further progress.

You head up the stairs, and back into the old wooden cathedral. Next, the office! Have to file a report, you understand. The king has to hear about all this. And about you as well, most likely. He leads you back out into the streets and you head along the low alleys filled with corpses that twitch at your passing, continuously hounded by creatures with what look like giant rats for heads if rats had very human arms instead of legs, each wielding a spike or a hammer or something similarly painful. Many such things prowl the streets, tapping and stabbing at each corpse that isn't moving, kicking them down the street if they do not respond. Street sweepers seem to be as cheerful as ever, the alderman notes half to himself.

A yellow trio of eyes glares at you from one particular alleyway. Twelve o' clock, it whispers at you in several asynchronous voices, and all is well. You quicken your pace until you reach a ruined, leaning tower made of white brick turned yellow with age and misrule, the building it once belonged to seemingly crushed underneath a collection of statues, many of them depicting things clearly intelligent, yet not in any way, shape or form human. Here you are, the alderman says, Administration Square! This is where the magic happens, he growls in a manner not unlike laughter as he kicks open the tower door and you ascend an incredibly steep and astoundingly rickety set of steps.

The alderman's office takes up the entirety of the not inconsiderably sized tower, and the writing desk alone makes up fully half of it, your head not rising nearly above it. The alderman looks a little too small to use it, in fact. The rest of the room is similarly cramped with things far too large, from shelves to reports to what look like disused, dusty aquariums where dead fish twitch briefly to life in the congealed water after the alderman taps on them lightly and rumbles to himself with obvious satisfaction. Before the desk is a rug definitely made of a human being - several, in fact, stitched together in quite a creative fashion - you can't step on it without making something gently dislocate or press into something else painfully, judging by the sound your own foot makes when descending on it.

After a quick look and a gentle brushing of some dust off his most cherished trophies - chief among which seems to be a wildly deformed skull on a spike, its eyes nearly melted together, its teeth curled and fingernails coating it like scales (The Administrative Prize For Least Content Populace, apparently) - the alderman sits down at the desk and steeples his fingers, his lamprey mouth experimenting with a number of shapes before approaching one that looks like a smile. You notice he's got a wicked bone stylus in hand, dipped in something thick and dark as he has simultaneously started to write his report.

So, wonderbringer, how do you find this fair town, he asks. Very promising, don't you think? He's had some restoration work done since he was inspected - he likes to keep up on these things. Not like those lazybones in other border towns, they hardly bother doing anything until inspection time rolls around, then they're suddenly deeply concerned for the well-being of their wards. It's sickening, sometimes.

"Yeah!" I shout back. "It looks like there's a way out."

I put on my boots, drop the slippers, and walk over to inspect the alcove with the furniture.

You get your boots on, figuring them to be more appropriate for cave exploration, and head into the alcove after untying your improvised rope. There seems to be a way out, you tell the doctor! Excellent, she shouts to you. She'll be down in a bit then.

[Investigating the Premises: 5]

That being said, you look into the alcove, and it becomes immediately apparent that it was vacated in a hurry - and certainly not very long ago at that. Perhaps as recently as fifteen minutes ago. Probably, it occurs to you, when you went and opened that hole to take a look down, even.

Something stirs in the darkness. You turn to look, and see two glinting eyes like dinner plates. Oooooooohhhh, comes a voice from them. You're not a stoatman at all, are you?

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« Last Edit: February 03, 2017, 09:42:06 am by Harry Baldman »
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Xantalos

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Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith
« Reply #1998 on: February 02, 2017, 06:20:46 pm »

"Hey, I'm always up for capturing another soul for my own benefit. Do continue!"
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penguinofhonor

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Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith
« Reply #1999 on: February 02, 2017, 06:26:33 pm »

"No," I say to the eyes, "just a peaceful human traveler. Sorry for the intrusion - I'm sure you were down here because you wanted some privacy - but my friend and I were, uh, checking for earthquake survivors upstairs when the door collapsed. If you could direct us to an exit then we'll be on our way."
« Last Edit: February 02, 2017, 10:29:58 pm by penguinofhonor »
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Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith
« Reply #2000 on: February 03, 2017, 12:35:08 am »

Ten pounds?  That was, what, fifteen dollars or so?  And didn't Australia switch away from the pound?  Maybe not out here in the wilds.

"Well, that all seems reasonable enough.  Not sure how you managed all the bridge effects, but they're well done.  Cheers to you!  Shall we be off, Claire?  Oh, right, if you see the ranger, can you tell him which way we've been?  If he's looking for us?  He was quite helpful; you should give him free passage as well."

Onward!  To the north!
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HMR stands for Hazardous Materials Requisition, not Horrible Massive Ruination, though I can understand how one could get confused.
God help us if we have to agree on pizza toppings at some point. There will be no survivors.

AoshimaMichio

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Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith
« Reply #2001 on: February 03, 2017, 09:01:44 am »

((Was that one line supposed to end so suddenly? "Especially given the number of apples you ate beforehand! You hear the"))


"A victory speech?" Leif clears his throat a bit and hops on the table.

"Dear drinkers and budding alcoholists!" he starts, sharp eye scanning audience while the other one dances around. "We have gathered here today to drink and worship Ęgir by drinking! He doesn't need much of worship anyway, but let's thank him for the gift of alcohol anyway! Cheers!"

Plenty of vodka fruits for everyone! Festival in honor of slowly approaching hangover!
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Harry Baldman

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Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith
« Reply #2002 on: February 03, 2017, 09:42:54 am »

((Was that one line supposed to end so suddenly? "Especially given the number of apples you ate beforehand! You hear the"))

I sometimes write several sentences at once and don't finish a few of them before moving on, good catch!
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Harry Baldman

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Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith
« Reply #2003 on: February 05, 2017, 08:10:14 am »

"Hey, I'm always up for capturing another soul for my own benefit. Do continue!"

She sips her coffee delightedly. Figured you would be! But much like in an exhibition of powers, it is best to obtain full consent beforehand.

A vision forms in your mind. It is what you know to be the Vault of Heavens, resplendent and brimming with riches taken on a merchant expedition gone on for far too long. In quarters far more ostentatious than any you've seen in your life, layered in gold leaf and alchemical silk behind a bronze bulkhead, sits a shadowed figure of a man best described as incredibly large in both height and width, with a beard that stretches to the ground from a bed that he seems physically unable to leave, his meaty hand occasionally raising a pipe emitting colored smoke to his mouth. His squinted eyes watch as clay men run back and forth along his room in a little pantomime court. He reaches for his golden backscratcher and uses it briefly to swat at one that is tugging at his bedsheet, chuckling in a voice you'd expect of God himself. The captain of the Vault of Heavens. He is to be your goal and reward. Find him, take him, and let no one suspect you of doing this.

You see a gorgeous, dark-skinned young woman with long curls of black hair, wearing an elaborate dress with a myriad ribbons on it, practicing on deck with an ornate two-handed sword that would seem ceremonial in purpose were it not so incredibly sharp. She wears a content, placid expression as she goes through sword forms, and at the core of her mind you feel a strange, unnatural blankness. Two Shores, first mate, handmaiden to the captain, she carries his orders down to the crew and oversees all. A minion by nature and vocation. Contempt streams from Rainbow as the vision fades from sight. She may be the key.

Discretion will be all-important. Find the captain. Take him. And before anyone can see, bring him to her so that you may learn his way.

"No," I say to the eyes, "just a peaceful human traveler. Sorry for the intrusion - I'm sure you were down here because you wanted some privacy - but my friend and I were, uh, checking for earthquake survivors upstairs when the door collapsed. If you could direct us to an exit then we'll be on our way."

Ooooohhhh, lies! Peaceful, maybe! Human? Absolutely not. The owner of the shining eyes lurches forward soundlessly. Looking for an exit, yes! Checking for survivors, no! It is funny, being lied to. Had forgotten the feeling. The voice takes shape as it emerges into the near-darkness next to you.

It's a somewhat short creature, wiry and long-fingered, reminiscent very much of a warthog-orangutan crossbreed in its look with eyes that bulge out of its misshapen skull along many miscellaneous, yet symmetric bumps, the few pathetic remnants of a dress having given way to a withered, ambiguously feminine form coated in grayish hair that looks like straw. The hairs move in waving motions as minute muscles tense beneath her skin, feeling around the dark like full-body whiskers. Her arms reach down to her prehensile feet, her skin hanging loosely over her body like a bag.

Tell Oggie your secrets, delicious traveler. What brings you to her home away from home, and also her home which was her home?

Ten pounds?  That was, what, fifteen dollars or so?  And didn't Australia switch away from the pound?  Maybe not out here in the wilds.

"Well, that all seems reasonable enough.  Not sure how you managed all the bridge effects, but they're well done.  Cheers to you!  Shall we be off, Claire?  Oh, right, if you see the ranger, can you tell him which way we've been?  If he's looking for us?  He was quite helpful; you should give him free passage as well."

Onward!  To the north!

You turn to Claire in the middle of thanking your lovely sword, only to see her running in the opposite direction of the bridge. You call out to her. She begins to run faster. You suppose she's got somewhere else to be then. Onward!

The bridge crunches and occasionally sloshes under your feet as you go the distance, bits of it rising up behind you as you step on something apparently sensitive. It groans and twists occasionally as you pass onto a more tender segment, and all this makes for a somewhat uncomfortable and at certain moments perilous ten-minute walk over the giant canyon of nuclear waste. Hope somebody's called that in. Maybe they can send in a crew to clean it up or something.

In any case, you eventually make it on the other side, where another enterprising bridgekeeper greets you. It looks so similar to the first one you'd be forgiven for thinking they were related, really. He doesn't seem much for conversation, so you just bid him good day and move along northward. Hopefully you'll find something useful.

The landscape rises as you move along, leaving the canyon behind you. Occasional trees pop up on the hills which start to slope ever upward as the hours pass and you hike onward. The sound of birds returns to the air as the craters grow rare and then eventually disappear entirely from view. A 6-foot marsupial glares at you from a tree while emitting a terrible whine as its large fangs drip some kind of unsavory substance. You give it a wide berth.

The airport should be here somewhere, you tell yourself several times along the course of the day as everything gets progressively rockier. The walk starts to become dreadfully like a climb over time, and eventually you find yourself against a sheer cliff face, going upward with a bit of an overhang for quite a distance to both the right and the left. You scratch your head and wonder if you're expected to climb this briefly when suddenly you become aware of an approaching sound. Whistling, you think. Coming from above.

"A victory speech?" Leif clears his throat a bit and hops on the table.

"Dear drinkers and budding alcoholists!" he starts, sharp eye scanning audience while the other one dances around. "We have gathered here today to drink and worship Ęgir by drinking! He doesn't need much of worship anyway, but let's thank him for the gift of alcohol anyway! Cheers!"

Plenty of vodka fruits for everyone! Festival in honor of slowly approaching hangover!

Straight to the point and irreverent, that's the way to begin a festival! Everyone thanks Ęgir for the short length of the address and begins drinking. You down the round and pass around some vodkafruit - vodkafruit for everyone! Needless to say, their perceptions are very much all on you - makes it so much easier to work the process, you find. Most of them even eat the fruit at that, and compliment its exquisite mental kick. Jokes and merriment erupt from the shapeless crowd, antennae quiver, and you get the sense that a vast exchange of fluids is about to ensue just outside your view. In the alcoholic haze you feel something bubble up within you like a 2-ton burp. You have not the inhibition to hold it back as your mouth opens wide and you let loose the sound.

DRINK

[A Night To Forget: 5]

And that is about the last you can remember of what happens next, but you get the feeling a good bit of time has passed when you come to once again. You're lying on something soft and slowly breathing. And, in a staggering inversion, wearing more clothes than you were when last you remember - it's the familiar feel of the gray-brown silken robe of excellent make, the sleeves attached to the body like wingflaps. And in possession of a few more limbs. Specifically, all the ones you were missing, each of which feels tender and more than a little bit slimy. You rub your puffy eyes, but still can't see anything. A paper crown falls off your head and onto a nearby person. You pick it up and regard it with your mindsight, but see little more than its general crown-like shape. You assume something is written on it, but you'll be damned if you can make it out.

You turn your mindsight to the rest of the room, and immediately perceive two dozen slumbering intellects sprawled out beneath you and around you in several piles upon a wealth of fungal cushions, empty cups laying all around, remains of a great deal of quaffed alcohol having mostly evaporated, leaving large puddles of stagnant herb-flavored water in their wake. An upturned brazier lays across the single passage leading out, and several more stand along the edges of the room.

Among the people laying here you find Earnest! He's fairly close to the top of the pile, laying face-down on several older women and snoring gently. More surprisingly, Lee is a little further away, sprawled a little further from the rest, having hogged a cushion all to herself from several people who now must lie passed out on the hard stone of the cavern. The others you do not quite recognize save an elderly fellow who seems to have tried to go out the door before tripping on the brazier and then passing out, seemingly completely unhurt - his thoughts boom gently to you even when you do not attempt to pry.

Despite the pounding headache and the aching joints, you're fairly sure you haven't felt this good in a while.

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« Last Edit: February 05, 2017, 12:06:01 pm by Harry Baldman »
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Toaster

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Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith
« Reply #2004 on: February 05, 2017, 09:07:36 am »

Go up and investigate the whistling.  If it's an animal, watch out for it.  If it's a person, warmly greet and ask if they've seen the airport.  Er, the place with the metal dragons that let people ride them.
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HMR stands for Hazardous Materials Requisition, not Horrible Massive Ruination, though I can understand how one could get confused.
God help us if we have to agree on pizza toppings at some point. There will be no survivors.

AoshimaMichio

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Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith
« Reply #2005 on: February 05, 2017, 11:39:32 am »

((DRINK. Of course.

- Moth's Flight: A? Is that right?))


Best. Party. Ever!

Lee? Is this Moths' nest?


Observe people with a bit more clarity than yesterday. Are these all Moths? As in dressed in Moth-robe. Or did I perhaps steal it from somebody before I passed out?

Did I accidentally join Moth clan while totally piss off drunk? I feel like I need to clarify this, but better wait for other people wake up first rather than use my precious Mead of Poetry.
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Xantalos

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Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith
« Reply #2006 on: February 05, 2017, 04:07:36 pm »

"By 'take' I assume you want me to capture him in my soul jar thing? You wanna be captain? That's what's happening? 'Cause if that's so, I need you at least to gimme, like, a potion of sleep or something so I can put the guy down without killing him or making a commotion."
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TopHat

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Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith
« Reply #2007 on: February 06, 2017, 01:41:14 pm »

"Heh. While I can't comment much on the town itself, other than that life he is radically different to anything I've previously encountered, I certainly know what you mean. It's amazing how different some places are when Ofsted or prospective parents are coming round.
.. It's this king of yours that orders the inspecting, right? What can you tell me about him?"
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I would ask why fire can burn two men to death without getting hot enough to burn a book, but then I read "INEXTINGUISHABLE RUNNING KAMIKAZE RADIOACTIVE FLAMING ZOMBIE" and realized that logic, reason, and physics are all occupied with crying in the corner right now.

penguinofhonor

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Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith
« Reply #2008 on: February 07, 2017, 11:25:35 am »

"Ah, I'm sorry for the, uh, deception. My friend and I were looting the house, as we were naked and unarmed, and it appeared that the occupants had died."

I hope the doctor gets here soon. She'd probably know what this is.
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Harry Baldman

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Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith
« Reply #2009 on: February 07, 2017, 05:01:55 pm »

Go up and investigate the whistling.  If it's an animal, watch out for it.  If it's a person, warmly greet and ask if they've seen the airport.  Er, the place with the metal dragons that let people ride them.

There's a bit of a climb ahead of you, but you suppose you'll have to do it sooner or later if you'd like to proceed. So you make a good start at it.

[Climbing The Walls: 5]

It hasn't rained in a good long while around here, you think, and the rocks seem cracked enough to make good progress along them. You put one foot above the other, and make sure to keep one hand firmly gripping the rocks at all times. It's only about twenty five feet of climbing, and you make fairly good time on it as not much longer than a minute later you poke your head over the side.

The top of the cliff seems to be some kind of roadside - and what a road it is, noble and proud and ancient with rather impressive mile markers. A tad overgrown, mind you, with weeds poking out of the cobblestones and bushes having rendered its surface uneven with their roots displacing the roadwork. A row of trees pollarded in some ancient past have grown into great twisted towers on the far side of the road, bracken having erupted from the untended wood along with a few bushes laden with small black berries.

It is right next to one such berry bush that you see a middle-aged man in ragged clothes, picking his way through the berries and occasionally tasting a few in approval as he whistles his song, a repetitive pentatonic sort of thing you wouldn't really expect to hear along a backcountry road. He's got his back turned to you, obviously not at all expecting a traveler to silently scale a twenty five foot cliff behind him.

[What Ho: 2]

G'day, you heartily bid him in the traditional Australian way. He responds by tumbling into the bush and over it, letting off a yelp of surprise before ducking behind a tree somewhat ineptly. You climb all the way up and brush the dust off your dress before straightening out. The man pokes his head out from behind the tree briefly.

He's the kind of man you'd immediately peg as a clerk. Startlingly similar to yourself in more ways than you'd be keen to admit, albeit he's clearly had something of a rough time in the wilderness by the state of his clothes. You wave to him. He ducks behind the tree again. You seem to have given him a bit of a shock.

Best. Party. Ever!

Lee? Is this Moths' nest?


Observe people with a bit more clarity than yesterday. Are these all Moths? As in dressed in Moth-robe. Or did I perhaps steal it from somebody before I passed out?

Did I accidentally join Moth clan while totally piss off drunk? I feel like I need to clarify this, but better wait for other people wake up first rather than use my precious Mead of Poetry.


They do seem to be Moths as well, yes, although far different from how you remember them. More humanoid, overall. Fewer antennae. More robes - not for all of them, as quite a few appear to have either halfway or fully peeled them off themselves in the process of last night's (?) festivities.

[A Night To Remember: 3]

You don't really remember how you got your robe though. You guess you might have stolen it from some of these lads or lasses, especially given that you were on top of the pile. Though why exactly you'd get dressed before passing out is one of those Dyatlov Pass kind of questions, especially given how more than a few folks have seen fit to do the opposite. How you got a pair of arms on you is probably a better question, 'cause you're fairly sure you can't steal those without advanced surgery.

You sense a presence, approaching somewhat lazily along the outside passageway. A woman, you think from the shape, but the distance makes it difficult to know for sure. Something hot and bright is in her hand. You turn around, and see a faint blue light coming from the passageway into the room.

"By 'take' I assume you want me to capture him in my soul jar thing? You wanna be captain? That's what's happening? 'Cause if that's so, I need you at least to gimme, like, a potion of sleep or something so I can put the guy down without killing him or making a commotion."

You've got the idea, clearly. And she can help with some of that, but do understand that she is no alchemist. She is a minder, and a very specialized one at that. People can be read with little effort. Influence, however, remains mostly a matter of cunning rather than power. But she would think there is something she can do with your soul jar.

So unfortunately she cannot provide you with anything so simple as a potion of sleep in this task. Although you could ask the second mate, Peaks Ever-Crumbling - an image flits before your eyes, a woman dressed similarly to the first mate, her large, dark eyes drawing yours in a veritable gravity well of attention. Her dress is muted, less exquisite than that of the first mate. Fast hands. White teeth, bared frequently in smiles with many meanings. Vocational alchemist, unconcerned with mysteries.

"Heh. While I can't comment much on the town itself, other than that life he is radically different to anything I've previously encountered, I certainly know what you mean. It's amazing how different some places are when Ofsted or prospective parents are coming round.
.. It's this king of yours that orders the inspecting, right? What can you tell me about him?"


Exactly, the alderman says with incredible relief. It's those kind of people that cast doubt on the system - you have to torment in good faith, with the best intentions! If you're not tormenting people correctly, what really separates one from those poor slobs in the cells? You've lost sight of the whole point! You're just tormenting for the sake of it, really. No wonder the wardens regrew their ordinary limbs last decade if that's how they go about their business. That's an alderman's job - keep an eye on the poor, but more than anything watch out for the minions! If they're unwatched, anything can happen.

As his rant winds down and his large hands start to scribble with less furious purpose you ask him about the king. The king, he says, don't let the name fool you, he's a right fine sort. Knows how things should be operated - if you have to choose, the king says, it's better to be feared than to loved! Well, he said that, you understand, back when he was still able to say things in words us less advanced beings could understand. Now he writes mostly. Pretty things, his edicts. The alderman fetches a large scroll from a nearby shelf and unfurls it.

The drawing on it is incredibly strange - for an instant it's a circular mishmash of hieroglyphics written like some kind of hellish, mindbending diagram before it abruptly swims around in your head and resolves into legibility. It's heavy reading, you could say, in that you feel like you've been slammed in the back of the head with a third-world constitution as you try to read it. It's a condensation of the complexities of elaboration about over a thousand different methods of systematic torture as considered by some strange and alien intellect. The recommendation for sizes of breaking wheels, the temperature of red hot pokers and the exact amount of chunk to be cut away in an instance of dismemberment all are subtly modified in a single swoop, the entirety of a nation's policy on torment told to be moved an inch to the left. The context alone, included appropriately in the background of the main body, burns at senses you didn't know you had.

The alderman looks at the scroll as well as you stare transfixed. It has that effect on people, he's observed. Takes a practiced squint to get into the spirit of it, you could say.

"Ah, I'm sorry for the, uh, deception. My friend and I were looting the house, as we were naked and unarmed, and it appeared that the occupants had died."

I hope the doctor gets here soon. She'd probably know what this is.

Looters, Oggie says in an uncertain way. Naked and unarmed too, very brave. Not a safe house, the one above. Not since the earthquake least of all. Did you tell the serving staff? They did think themselves new masters, silly animals that they are. You mastered more than they ever did, clearly.

The doctor chooses this moment to very gently slide down the rope, stopping before the jellied pile and swinging off much like you did. Sorry for taking this long, she was taking care to not mess up the dress! It's a very nice dress, she says, and good heavens would you look at that, she says as she looks Oggie over.

[Savage Looters: 6]

Very good look for you, Oggie says to the doctor. Excellent dress - bought it for trips to the capital, many delicious travelers on the way. Hoped to impress them with good taste. Not right for capital, it turned out - not baroque enough. City women did not appreciate enough. Did have to buy a new dress, more fashionable - had many feathers, needed to buy a stoatman to carry the back of it. And another for the hat that came with it. Was a displeasing experience for the old boy. Oggie's eyes fog in reminiscence.

She's had a lot of exposure, the doctor whispers to you while she is very much eyed by the creature. Seems friendly enough though oh dear, she begins to say as a set of hands are put on her, gripping her with a gentleness that almost disguised the obvious fact that, if she wanted, the creature could almost definitely snap the doctor in half.

Wish she could have had a shape like yours, Oggie tells the doctor as she sniffs, though may want to take a bath sharpish. Could smell you coming down even before the sound. Eat a little more also to fill out the thing better. The doctor looks at you a little helplessly as the creature begins to take her various measurements, coupling them with a steady stream of cosmetic wisdom. Most of it not at all questionable, you have to admit. You are tempted to take some notes when she starts rattling off peculiar, but compelling methods of dental care (well, at least if toothbrushes continue to remain nonexistent in the near vicinity) after examining the doctor's teeth carefully.

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