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Author Topic: Our Salvation: It Is Written  (Read 262418 times)

Harry Baldman

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Re: Our Salvation: Eyes of Terror
« Reply #2310 on: September 06, 2017, 09:51:30 am »

((Someone offering the newcomer clothes?  These young whippersnappers just get everything handed to them  :P))

Thomas beat a hasty retreat to the others before getting scalded or asphyxiated or worse.  "You know, suddenly I feel like exploring the city.  Who's with me?"

Head out and explore the city.  Anyone who wishes to come with is welcome to tag along.

Everyone decides to come along with you, as while they can't say for sure that something is going to kill them horribly if they choose to stay behind, their better Rabbity instincts can't rule out the strong possibility that this is so. As such the Rabbit delegation heads back out into Elizabeth's streets - one of the house staff follows you with an unreadable expression, soundlessly gliding behind you and attracting suspicious glares from virtually everyone besides Tabernacle, who knows enough to understand that most of the danger you'd run into here is unlikely to have been following you the entire time.

[Her Magnificent Attractions: 2]

There's rather a lot of Elizabeth to take in, considering she has been here since anyone can remember, shedding outer walls every century or so when her boroughs started getting too large. You spot the occasional statue watching you carefully from a window, and every now and then a distant clansman is walking in the distance before disappearing, invariably in the company of another statue. Elizabeth herself is quite charming still, and very nicely put together if you can say so herself - her streets give the impression of a city that knows how to take care of herself and what she likes - her tastes might be old-fashioned, but you have to say she wears the look of an acropolis very nicely.

That said, it does become increasingly apparent across the next half hour or so that she doesn't seem to very much like the idea of you running into anyone else around here. For one, whenever you almost come close to a clansman or five the servant following you invariably finds some way to interrupt - whether by bumping into you as softly as a five hundred pound statue possibly can, or by suddenly bringing your attention to something in the distance, or even by tapping you on the shoulder and pointing to a plaque that you could swear wasn't there a moment ago, detailing some kind of famous event you lack the context to even recall a few minutes later. Invariably the person you spot had disappeared by then - led away, you can't help but notice, by an analogous chaperone or inexplicable happenstance.

Daniels cracks his knuckles. "Oi Dipper! Quiet down, you hallucinating nut! You're just reacting to some psychoactive bullshit that got put in your booze!"

Restrain the poor man and try to calm him down. If that doesn't work, SILENCE his screaming.

[Resistance Is Useless: 5+1 vs. 2]

You pick Dipper up as he continues to scream and lay him down in bed face down, pinning his arms behind his back as you try to get him to come down off whatever horrific trip he's on.

[The Buddy System: 4]

It's not real, you tell him! You have no idea what he's seeing or why he's screaming, but it's definitely not real and absolutely can't hurt him much worse than you can. He resists at first, but a few rounds of nakedly and fruitlessly struggling against you holding him down begin to exhaust him, and understanding words plus a few flirtations with oxygen deprivation as you push his face into the pillow take him the rest of the way into a state where he, while still bombed out of his skull, at least has become a lot less noisy.

The ship's doctor looks up from his supplies and, noticing Dipper appears to be compliant, walks up and looks him over - well, suppose that addresses the noise complaints he'd been getting. In his qualified medical opinion, however, the dude still looks pretty fucked up.

[Give Me The News: 2]

The doctor leans in and checks his pulse, shines a light over his eyes, tests his reflexes, checks his lymph nodes and looks down his throat - yep, the diagnosis does check out. He really is fucked up in all kinds of ways. Poisoned, drunk, allergic, hypertonic and maybe a bit off his gourd as well. He pulls out a couple of pills from his supplies and hands them to Dipper, communicating in a couple of gestures that he'd better swallow them if he knows what's good for him - Dipper luckily sees reason on the matter. The doctor then takes out a metal syringe and fills it up with something labeled "wow juice" in sloppy penmanship. Dipper doesn't even wince when he gets a full dose right into his arm, but a few moments later is out like a light.

He'll be good in a bit, the doctor explains to you as he rolls him on his side and pats him on the head, then puts a blanket over him all the way. Like a week at most, they have a bit of variability on how soon they come out of the healing coma. Note to self, the doctor says aloud, don't forget to check on him.

"Peaks. What an interesting name. Now, where does someone get a name like that?"

Make small talk with the mad woman. Hope she doesn't stab me.

It's a scripture name, says Peaks as she continues to dig around her closet. They're all taken from the books of genius, which are a thing they have over- well, where you're going right now, actually, where the ship is going, she means. They're written by what used to be people, back when they were people. Kind of like a holy text and a manual. Ideally, anyway. Sometimes they're just complete nonsense, but you never know what'll give you a clue when you- aha!

[And What Do We Find: 5]

Peaks turns around and holds up with one hand a hanger on which you see a black-and-gold paisley bathrobe, waving her other hand over it in a revelatory gesture. There's a faint sheen on it that makes you wonder if that's actual gold leaf put into it. It seems quite fluffy, warm and, you suspect, very comfortable.

"Hey, Oggie, snap out of it! I'm on your side!" I dodge away from her and throw an explosive cyst upward at the ghoul head, timing it to explode in midair and vaporize the head, or at least knock it to the ground.

[Putting In Distance: 5]

You shout at Oggie for a moment and something does appear to get through - enough for her to stop in place and attempt to listen to the screaming outside of her head rather than the screaming within it, at least, and she stops swinging wildly for now, which gives you some much-needed room for concentration as you mature another explosive cyst in your palm.

[Cooking Your Bioweapons: 6 vs. 4]

And it does actually come out as a very nice feat of timing as you throw the cyst upward from behind your back at almost the right time to hit the thing head on, and it's only at the last moment that the rampaging floating head tries to veer to the side, which is why the explosion blasts it into the nearby wall rather than completely vaporizes it. There is a sickening crack as the skull cracks and blood spurts out of the head's mouth and ears and from several other bits as well, and it falls to the ground meatily as the impact briefly stuns it. Oggie shakes her head as her sight returns to her, the shadows around you receding in a lapse of the ghoul's concentration.

Then the head begins to unfold - the cracks widen as the skull bursts, its brain unrolling into a fine mist of neurons, exploding into easily a hundred times its original size, puzzle-piece fragments of the head held aloft by an airy silver sail of neural tissue. It seems unable to scream now - instead it seems intent on striking you straight in the heart, its bleeding eyes fixing on you as its desperate, twisted mind moves not to prod and suggest this time, but to outright strangle.

[A Simple Plan: 3+1 vs. 6]

It is distracted, if only for a moment, by the doctor coming out of the shadows with a bucket of water in her hands - she looks intent to use it somehow right up until an eye fixes on her and you see her stop completely in her tracks as she becomes utterly paralyzed on the spot.

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TopHat

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Re: Our Salvation: Eyes of Terror
« Reply #2311 on: September 06, 2017, 12:35:12 pm »

"Oh, hello there. I must say, I thought you were one of the exhibits at first; I don't think I'll ever get used to this land of the dead. Oscar Wilde, pleased to meet you."

Greetings etcetera.
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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.

Xantalos

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Re: Our Salvation: Eyes of Terror
« Reply #2312 on: September 07, 2017, 01:18:07 am »

"Yeah please don't forget, I'd hate for him to come to further harm."

An idea comes to Daniels. "Actually, now that I think about it, I can take care of that, doc. I'll have my people alert you if his condition changes.

Go find my assistants again. Inform them kindly but firmly that one of them, rotating each time, will check on Dipper's condition every 8 hours or so and make sure he's properly hydrated, not getting worse, if he is alert the doc, etc. They went a bit too far with that prank and while I won't slap them around or whatever, they do need to be accountable for what they did.

Dan's excluded from this, to be clear, he arguably didn't know the significance of what he was doing.
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Re: Our Salvation: Eyes of Terror
« Reply #2313 on: September 07, 2017, 08:52:01 pm »

Well, no sense putting it off if there isn't much out here?  Thomas stopped and faced their guide.

"Lovely city, yes indeed.  But where is the airport?"  Thomas was prepared to explain about metal dragons if he had to.

Ask where the airport is.  Explain as needed.

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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.

DoctorMcTaalik

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Re: Our Salvation: Eyes of Terror
« Reply #2314 on: September 09, 2017, 10:31:47 pm »

Not just a nut- a religious nut. This is fine.

Accept and don the robe, and hope this ship gets us to wherever she said we were going quickly.
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penguinofhonor

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Re: Our Salvation: Eyes of Terror
« Reply #2315 on: September 10, 2017, 06:53:56 am »

Goddamn, hurting this thing just makes it scarier.

I turn the ghoul's HUNGER for fear back on itself, so it devours its own body and/or mind like a much creepier ouroboros.
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Harry Baldman

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Re: Our Salvation: Eyes of Terror
« Reply #2316 on: September 10, 2017, 12:24:51 pm »

"Oh, hello there. I must say, I thought you were one of the exhibits at first; I don't think I'll ever get used to this land of the dead. Oscar Wilde, pleased to meet you."

Greetings etcetera.

She lets the "exhibits" line slide out of professional courtesy as she creaks forward off the wall she had been slouching against. Her hand travels to her wig slowly and pats it, shaking out a considerable amount of dust. A testament to the wig's craftsmanship to have survived this well under the conditions.

Ciiinnndyyy, the young lady draws out as she basks in your light, momentarily reinvigorated. Cindy's teeth are gray, but otherwise immaculate as she presents a charming smile toward you, wondering silently if you'd care to spend a little time with her.

"Yeah please don't forget, I'd hate for him to come to further harm."

An idea comes to Daniels. "Actually, now that I think about it, I can take care of that, doc. I'll have my people alert you if his condition changes.

Go find my assistants again. Inform them kindly but firmly that one of them, rotating each time, will check on Dipper's condition every 8 hours or so and make sure he's properly hydrated, not getting worse, if he is alert the doc, etc. They went a bit too far with that prank and while I won't slap them around or whatever, they do need to be accountable for what they did.

Dan's excluded from this, to be clear, he arguably didn't know the significance of what he was doing.


You find Pines engaged in a spirited, clearly very strategic game of checkers with Dan, played with the house rule that Dan gets to eat any pieces he captures. Fires seems to be coaching Dan on moves, with rather poor results. Day acts as an observer to make sure that neither party decides to cheat for whatever reason.

You walk up to them and mention that Dipper's totally fucked up in the doctor's qualified opinion and has been put into a medical coma. None of them seem very worried about this - suppose a thing like that'll happen, sure. Dipper could use a vacation, too. Third-mateship's been hard on him, it's true.

[Nurses At Law: 4]

They seem less enthused when you specify that they are to check on him every 8 hours to make sure the bastard won't die or something. Aw, says Fires, fuckin' nurse duty again? Day punches her on the shoulder at this - no trouble to check on him while he's, er, indisposed, no sir. Yeah, Pines adds, they don't move much then. Just gotta check on the IV now and then and bam, you're pretty much golden.

As they speak to you, Dan sees an opening and eats the rest of the pieces. Your minions look back and curse to themselves. They'll have to start collecting bottle caps next.

Well, no sense putting it off if there isn't much out here?  Thomas stopped and faced their guide.

"Lovely city, yes indeed.  But where is the airport?"  Thomas was prepared to explain about metal dragons if he had to.

Ask where the airport is.  Explain as needed.

[Do You Know The Way To Albany: 2]

You ask the statue where the airport is, and this appears to confuse Elizabeth to an impressive degree as the statue stares out blankly. You go for a strategic rephrasing - does she know where the metal dragons come in and land, because you would really like to ride one out of here to Albany at the earliest convenience.

The streets rumble awkwardly as the statue tilts its head. There is a minute of awkward silence in the cityscape as you elaborate in several layers of euphemisms. This fails to help, and the statue merely shakes its head slowly. Perhaps Australian slang isn't very universal. Or maybe she just thinks you're barking mad?

Not just a nut- a religious nut. This is fine.

Accept and don the robe, and hope this ship gets us to wherever she said we were going quickly.

The robe fits well enough and, though it's a hand-me-down from the wardrobe of a madwoman, strikes you as probably the highest-quality garment you've ever worn. You tie its belt neatly and look yourself over in a mirror Peaks uncovers in a corner - it's clearly not been tailored for you, but a bathrobe tends to be forgiving of such things. Your host also goes on another brief dive to give you a pair of matching slippers.

Looks nice enough, Peaks says after looking you over critically. Not exactly a fashionable outfit to wander around the ship in, mind you, but a hell of a lot better than anything the other ship rats have. Distressingly it looks a little better on you than it did on her, but what can you do.

Anyway, she claps her hands together, still feeling all right? Not hungry or sleepy or nauseous? That's an honest question, actually. There's a lot about your physiology that isn't really clear at this point. Care for a bit of lunch, maybe? Maybe you'll run into Mr. Daniels on the way.

Goddamn, hurting this thing just makes it scarier.

I turn the ghoul's HUNGER for fear back on itself, so it devours its own body and/or mind like a much creepier ouroboros.

The ghoul is powerful, it's true, but you have within you abilities it can scarcely comprehend. The warehouse shakes as it anticipates the Word.

HUNGER

[Word: 5]

The ghoul begins to billow and spin as its ravenous hunger for revenge grows geometrically and vastly within its twisted frame, the net of neural fibers vibrating with wild activity as it expands precipitously, its mind pushing at the edges of the warehouse as it attempts to reach out and consume all within its vicinity, unhinging itself like a snake's jaw... until something breaks.

It takes but a second, the weight of the ghoul's mind collapsing in on itself as spacetime suddenly gives way, folding the ghoul's presence into a bizarre telepathic singularity of overpowering despair and hatred, hanging naked in the air as the now-empty frame that used to house the mind flits to the ground, collapsing into a dusty, thin sheet of fragile tissue mingled with skull fragments and facial features.

[Heart of Darkness: 2]

You look cautiously out toward the singularity. It continues to hang there mysteriously, felt rather than seen as it radiates impotent hatred and menace.

The doctor, meanwhile, collapses on the spot as the terror leaves her, looking up at the ceiling and breathing heavily as her heart continues to race. Oggie helpfully knuckle-walks over and pokes her with a two-by-four, causing her to roll over on her side and groan.

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penguinofhonor

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Re: Our Salvation: Eyes of Terror
« Reply #2317 on: September 11, 2017, 03:58:22 pm »

"Don't fear the reaper," I say to the singularity. Nailed it.

Though I guess I should probably get rid of this thing too. Don't want anyone complaining that I didn't clean up thoroughly - a monster hunter's got to care about her reputation, you know.

So, I feel like this is a long shot, but I have to see if it'll will work. I stick my sword right into the singularity in hopes that it will absorb the ghoul's residual power and turn into something like the fear sword the thing offered me.
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Xantalos

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Re: Our Salvation: Eyes of Terror
« Reply #2318 on: September 11, 2017, 06:02:13 pm »

Daniels chuckles. "Nice move taking advantage of their distraction, Dan. Do keep in mind that games like that are primarily a test of mental flexibility and acuity, though, not by necessity physical ability."

He goes and finds a nearby crate or corner or something where he can sit down in. "I'll be remaining still for the next little while, Linda," he says to the little manikin. "If you find yourself bored, feel free to go play with Fires, Pines and Day. Or if you wish to go elsewhere, make sure to tell them beforehand so I can find you later, all right? I won't be out for long in any case."

After making sure Linda's properly accounted for, Daniels assumes a lotus position and closes his eyes.

Go to my inner temple mindspace and go to the central courtyard. Or if there isn't one, it's my mind, now there is.
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DoctorMcTaalik

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Re: Our Salvation: Eyes of Terror
« Reply #2319 on: September 11, 2017, 07:40:13 pm »

Answer the woman's questions more or less honestly (I'm curious about these things myself), but only jump at the offer of food if I'm especially hungry.

"Mm. And who is this Mr. Daniels?"
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Harry Baldman

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Re: Our Salvation: Eyes of Terror
« Reply #2320 on: September 12, 2017, 11:42:19 am »

"Don't fear the reaper," I say to the singularity. Nailed it.

Though I guess I should probably get rid of this thing too. Don't want anyone complaining that I didn't clean up thoroughly - a monster hunter's got to care about her reputation, you know.

So, I feel like this is a long shot, but I have to see if it'll will work. I stick my sword right into the singularity in hopes that it will absorb the ghoul's residual power and turn into something like the fear sword the thing offered me.

You walk up to the singularity of terror and pull out your scimitar before raising it right above the infinitesimal point and bringing it down in an arc. The blade lands perfectly on it, seemingly seeking it out, and a now-familiar heart-stopping chill rises within you!

[Nightmare Blade: 3]

A terrible keening comes from the sword as the singularity destabilizes right into it, sublimating into its vacant core, lending it imagination where once was none. An organic, horrific sense of foreboding fills you as the blackened layer surrounding the sword begins to crack, the wailing steel beneath it yearning to get free and inspire terror in all who behold it.

You hold the scimitar out at arm's length at first, quite unsure, but the doctor staggers over to you, the bucket of water still in her hands. She motions hesitantly for you to get some of the soaps, a bit of the oils, some of the alcohol and a lot of the hydrochloric acid in your possession, and together you begin to clear the sword's chrysalis. What's underneath is not a scimitar at all, or even a blade in the classic sense - it looks more like a fanged whip, malevolent and sentient, glistening unfathomably bright yellow in your hands, rolling and unrolling and occasionally snapping toward the doctor, very deliberately causing no harm but making it very clear that it most certainly could if it - if you wanted it to.

The sword seems linked to you somehow - you experiment with putting it away, and notice that it stops shining and merely looks like a somehow rolled-up rapier, hanging unassumingly by your side when you aren't intent on using it. And when you do think of drawing it, it rolls out with disturbing, slithering noise. You try this a couple of times to get a feel for it. It can be trusted, you think - for now.

You and the doctor stop admiring the sword when Oggie, altogether less impressed, taps you on the shoulder as she assumes a defensive posture. You turn to look at what she's pointing at and spot a stoatman guard, clutching a spear to his chest with his short arms as his eyes dart around and he sweats profusely as he looks around, his eye particularly caught by your strange weapon.

Er, he says after a moment and gulps, what's the meaning of all this? There's been report of... explosions? He looks unsure. You wouldn't happen to know anything about some explosions, er, ma'am?

Daniels chuckles. "Nice move taking advantage of their distraction, Dan. Do keep in mind that games like that are primarily a test of mental flexibility and acuity, though, not by necessity physical ability."

He goes and finds a nearby crate or corner or something where he can sit down in. "I'll be remaining still for the next little while, Linda," he says to the little manikin. "If you find yourself bored, feel free to go play with Fires, Pines and Day. Or if you wish to go elsewhere, make sure to tell them beforehand so I can find you later, all right? I won't be out for long in any case."

After making sure Linda's properly accounted for, Daniels assumes a lotus position and closes his eyes.

Go to my inner temple mindspace and go to the central courtyard. Or if there isn't one, it's my mind, now there is.

Linda seems very much against the idea of leaving your side for any reason, shaking her head vigorously as you climb on top of a crate and assume the lotus position, diving into your magical realm of wonderment as the sounds of your minions working out a new solution for their checkers game fades away.

You find yourself in the courtyard of your mind's temple, students watching from the windows with odd numbers of eyes and mouths, clamoring to look at you and perhaps be looked at in turn. The courtyard is otherwise silent, any practicing students having retreated out of the way as soon as your presence became felt. The zen garden is half-raked into a bizarre and violent pattern, and a book on molecular gastronomy rests on a particular bench off in the corner amid dry stacks of reports related to training. A hero sandwich half-wrapped in newspaper seems to have been left near on the rim of the square dragon-themed fountain.

Answer the woman's questions more or less honestly (I'm curious about these things myself), but only jump at the offer of food if I'm especially hungry.

"Mm. And who is this Mr. Daniels?"

[There's Nothing I Want To Do: 2]

You guess you feel a bit peckish, and you do get occasional pains in various bits such as your neck or your side, but those aren't particularly abnormal. You also figure a little extra sleep wouldn't go amiss. Mostly you're slightly irritable at being in a strange place away from anything you'd consider particularly familiar.

Ah, Peaks says. She clearly considers taking some notes to this effect, but decides against it. Suppose there's nothing notable there, hm.

As for Mr. Daniels, he's a lot like you, but a little more advanced. He's been around a while, y'see. Don't really know how he'll react to seeing you, truth be told, you showing up was kind of a sudden thing, but she figures it probably won't result in some kind of struggle for dominance. About a 1 in 4 chance of that if history is any indication.

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Toaster

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Re: Our Salvation: Eyes of Terror
« Reply #2321 on: September 12, 2017, 01:15:06 pm »

Damn it.  Well, this never fails!

Explain my request via the time-honored art of pantomime.
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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.

Xantalos

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Re: Our Salvation: Eyes of Terror
« Reply #2322 on: September 12, 2017, 02:07:45 pm »

Daniels cracks his knuckles.

Right, first things first. All this is my mind, so therefore I can manipulate the environment however I want. Therefore, that fountain isn't a fountain anymore, but a big (say 5 meters tall) statue of myself that happens to be multifaceted, like that Hindu god Brahma who has four faces only I have four bodies, if that makes sense? One facing each direction, so they can see everywhere in the courtyard. This will make sense, I promise.
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Re: Our Salvation: Eyes of Terror
« Reply #2323 on: September 14, 2017, 06:21:11 am »

"Well, good to meet you, Cindy. Could you tell me a bit more about this place?"

While we're talking, look at her and observe the effects. Strange how these people react so differently to the light.
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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.

Harry Baldman

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Re: Our Salvation: Eyes of Terror
« Reply #2324 on: September 14, 2017, 02:15:10 pm »

Damn it.  Well, this never fails!

Explain my request via the time-honored art of pantomime.

You lift your arms up to shoulder level and begin running around in circles, making whirring noises with your mouth. The statue continues to stare. You hop in place and point yourself northward, and attempt to insinuate luggage with a particularly diabolical series of gestures. You approximate the purchase of tickets through means best left unexplained. You borrow techniques from interpretive dance to explain security checks, and offhandedly gesture that you might need something from the duty-free shop to prove your inexplicable absence to Mr. Munderly and assuage his terrible, godlike rage. While also making sure that you prefer to fly economy class, can't let there be a mistake about that.

The statue nods slowly after making triple sure your routine is done, and leads you on through the mostly silent streets, coming to a building that it eagerly ushers your group inside of with the help of a few other statues. It looks like some kind of public building from the inside, not quite a place you'd like to live in, but certainly acceptable enough to conduct business in, you would say. All the marble is a bit gauche, you guess, but you've seen worse in New York City.

[Bring Before Me What Is Mine: 1]

For your own safety, the door is shut and locked very securely behind you.

Bugger, says Evey, this city thing sure is bloody dense, innit? It's probably just concerned for your collective health, Silver suggests. Yeah, Tabernacle nods, being out there with the rest of the clans sounds like a pretty unhealthy thing to do on the whole, so maybe you all ought to count your blessings.

Daniels cracks his knuckles.

Right, first things first. All this is my mind, so therefore I can manipulate the environment however I want. Therefore, that fountain isn't a fountain anymore, but a big (say 5 meters tall) statue of myself that happens to be multifaceted, like that Hindu god Brahma who has four faces only I have four bodies, if that makes sense? One facing each direction, so they can see everywhere in the courtyard. This will make sense, I promise.

It may have never been a fountain at all. Perhaps it was a 15-foot cherubic effigy of you this entire time and you just hadn't noticed. It certainly sounds like a thing you'd have inside your mind - it absolutely smacks of pure ego.

[The Mind, It Goes A-Wandering: 3]

Come to think of it, maybe you have been a 15-foot cherubic monstrosity this entire time as well and the statue has simply captured your likeness? Thinking about it makes you tingle slightly, so perhaps there is something to it.

"Well, good to meet you, Cindy. Could you tell me a bit more about this place?"

While we're talking, look at her and observe the effects. Strange how these people react so differently to the light.

Shhheee cooould... iiifff yoou haave thhe tiiime...

Long story (made much longer by virtue of Cindy having clear difficulty speaking) short, this is the Famous Rubber Heel. Or at least Cindy thinks that was the name, it might have been something else when she thinks about it, but it was certainly a Famous Something. Maybe even the Famous Something. Because let her tell you, this place certainly was the greatest bit of something (but especially prostitution) for miles around in the days of the Murkwood!

You rather understandably mention that you've never heard of any sort of Murkwood, but Cindy takes no offense - it sank, y'see. Kingdom took it, whales ate it, parts came over here. Parts wound up elsewhere. Them's the breaks in the Kingdom of the Dead, y'know?

[Life And Love And Light: 3]

You notice Cindy grow increasingly animate as you peer at her, the petrification slowly receding under your high beams. Very slowly. She's just about up to regular speaking speed by the time she's done relating to you the story of the Famous Something's sinking, back in those halcyon days of the Whateverwood - used to be such a nice town by the seaside afore the lagoons rose up and the whole place got et. Murked from top to bottom, it was! She didn't see it, mind, she only heard about it later. Was sleeping at the time, y'see. First and last thing she experienced was a hundred tons of swamp water rushing into her lungs and the building collapsing onto her. Too mad, she says, a thing like that happening to good working girls who didn't even steal that much. Not as much as they should have, anyway, given what happened.

And after that, well, business has been slow. Geological, actually. About the only person she remembers seeing in here more than a distant memory is Hrmhrmr, and that old fellow hasn't been in here for over thirty years. See, she told the Madame there weren't no foot traffic in the region and they ought to relocate, but no, low rent was prolly too important. She could have arranged something for sure, those monsters from the city administration even came in for an inspection when they first appeared... well, who even knows how long ago at this point. They didn't want any, mind, but the girls weren't trying too hard either.

Seamstressing ain't the erstwhile business it used to be, Cindy says as she creakily shakes her head, delighted at this range of motion she's developed now. Although, speaking of, didja wanna go a round or something? She'd love to get that helmet off ya at the very least.

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