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Author Topic: Our Salvation: It Is Written  (Read 262296 times)

Xantalos

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Re: Our Salvation: To The Four Corners Of The World
« Reply #1500 on: August 28, 2016, 02:39:16 pm »

"I asked it. And I know you haven't dealt with it, but no, no details that could be comprehensible by mortal minds probably. Apparently the substrate which makes up our bodies is completely indestructible but we still get damaged to feign the appearance of being human and stuff? Has a lot to do with how you think, far as I can tell. Expect to get hurt, you'll get hurt.

Before you ask, nothing less vague, getting details out of that thing is like squeezing blood from a stone."
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TopHat

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Re: Our Salvation: To The Four Corners Of The World
« Reply #1501 on: August 29, 2016, 05:02:45 am »

"Hmm. That fits, a bit. Did the minders have anything to do with it or are their successors just misinformed?"
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Harry Baldman

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Re: Our Salvation: To The Four Corners Of The World
« Reply #1502 on: August 29, 2016, 12:56:16 pm »

"Eh?" Leif's eye twitches involuntarily.

"You know," he says as much to Lee as to the rude stork, wearing a smile without realizing it. "I don't mind being referred as 'it'. I understand that in some cultures and languages it isn't considered as an insult and I'm willing to assume that's the case here. However this way of treatment feels rather insulting, being treated as a thing. I have this new word of power I haven't tried yet, apocalypse," he rolls the word out of his mouth, pronouncing it carefully, tasting the power in it, "and I'm itching to see how it works. I presume it results fire and brimstone raining from heavens, rivers flooding backwards, death walking amongst men, bunch of gods dying and such. So acknowledge me as a person, will you?"

[It's So Easy When You Know The Rules: 5]

As you provide this ominous monologue, Lee widens her eyes. This is definitely not a thing that needs to or should happen, her look seems to tell you as she starts subtly shaking her head in your direction.

The stork man just keeps looking over at her, then glances at you for a second. What's she shaking her head for, he asks. Lee looks at him. He's a minder, she says. And he seems to have some kind of trick in mind, and is very offended that he is not acknowledged as a person, she explains hurriedly.

Oh, says the stork man, looking in your direction, that's a minder? He thought there was something weird about it, but he couldn't put his finger on it, to be honest. He was wondering if there was some sorcery at work there, because while it does appear to be some form of freestanding luggage in the way it takes up a portion of space, he can't for the life of him make out any details. Which is odd, because all the minders he has seen love to make their presence very much known.

Wait, asks Lee. Did he... hear the luggage speak? Say anything? The stork man raises an eyebrow. Was it speaking? If so, he must apologize, as he didn't hear a thing. And he does seem legitimately apologetic, still giving you a moment's glance every now and then.

In any case, he tells Lee, could he ask the good minder to reveal itself? He's not sure it's terribly conducive to polite contact to have it remain hidden from perception thus.

Thomas looks blank for a moment, a gesture lost in the dark.  "Errr... why don't you ask?  It's not really my place to ask for pieces of... what?  I'm not even sure.  Look, you ask.  I don't know."

Let the sword ask, but respect the woman's decision.

One is obviously more familiar with negotiations where both parties have a great deal of knowledge about one another, such as between oneself and stout folk. But one supposes it is also fair that one be required to conduct one's own dealings.

[A Convenient Exchange: 2]

A short few moments pass as you continue holding the sword, and the lady of the castle makes several thoughtful noises, and after a period of thought informs you that she doesn't think it entirely reasonable that she part with a chunk of herself. She does rather like having all of her chunks in place. Why, if she were less attached to them, you can be sure she would have tried doing something about her terrible countenance a long time ago. That's why she's here, you know. Perceptual hazard, the minders called it.

Oh! That reminds her. She doesn't suppose she can keep staying here, can she? She somewhat assumes that the castle folk will be leaving soon, and she's unsure if it would be feasible to ask anyone to keep leaving her food in the cell when stout folk could come back rather soon and try some frightening business again, yes?

Shit.

I pretend I died on impact in case that makes me less interesting to these guys.

[Death Becomes Her: 1]

You hold your breath, close your eyes and go terribly still. There is a jangle and a clanging, the sound of a great deal of silver bones hitting upon one another. A few minutes pass as the din of chiming, fluting, cackling and cooing grows increasingly dissatisfied, and you feel a particularly large figure approach on a great deal of legs. You feel a sharp talon approach soundlessly and touch your bare foot coldly. In a swift and effortless motion it carves into the arch of the foot, slicing a little up along the leg, sampling skin, sinew and muscle in equal measure as you feel a sharp pain and the slight rush of air on your bone as a good piece of it is pulled off. You open your eyes reflexively, holding in a scream.

Before you stands a far less humanoid creature, an ancient and snaking figure, all silvery arms and elephantine tusks and yellow glowing lights in mismatched bones forming its serpentine body. It has come into the clearing halfway, and you see it extend all the fifty or so feet back into the woods and, if the way the bones gleam in starlight is any indication, wind far back for much longer yet. You see the chunk of your leg disappear into a mess of pincers and teeth fashioned from the broken-off bones and exoskeletal plates of a dozen different creatures, rendered into blood and paste in a few munches as it grinds it down, a shiver spreading through its whole body. It raises the fore part of its body, rising high and twisting round as it raises its arms and screams out to the other gaunts. Alive!

Alive, echoes a mile or so of forest around you. Alive! Alive! The large creature conducts the chant further, screaming out recognizably once more. Blood and magic! Blood and magic, all repeat three times more.

"I asked it. And I know you haven't dealt with it, but no, no details that could be comprehensible by mortal minds probably. Apparently the substrate which makes up our bodies is completely indestructible but we still get damaged to feign the appearance of being human and stuff? Has a lot to do with how you think, far as I can tell. Expect to get hurt, you'll get hurt.

Before you ask, nothing less vague, getting details out of that thing is like squeezing blood from a stone."


As you drop these truth bombs on Mr. Wilde, the blacksmith returns, holding up a far cleaner funnel than you remember in his hand. You wonder if he is proudly displaying it to you or Mr. Wilde. It occurs to him that this is exactly what he is doing, and he's not quite sure why. After looking at it awkwardly, he secrets it away back in his outfit.

"Hmm. That fits, a bit. Did the minders have anything to do with it or are their successors just misinformed?"

They could be, Nately says as he returns to the conversation and tries to dive right in. They are but children, none of them more than mere apprentices. At best they would know HALF of the story, he would expect. He nods at you enthusiastically at having provided this extremely useful information.

As you become aware of Nately's return, you also notice Deirdre standing off by the corner of the chapel, listening in to the conversation as she seems to be trying to read your lips to get a better sense of what you're talking about. Noticing you looking at her, she merely shrugs. Gotta catch up somehow, right?

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Xantalos

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Re: Our Salvation: To The Four Corners Of The World
« Reply #1503 on: August 29, 2016, 01:11:37 pm »

"They ... sort of. Yes and no. They thought they were doing one thing when they really gave the well permission to do something else, ie us.

Now then, the next step?"
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penguinofhonor

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Re: Our Salvation: To The Four Corners Of The World
« Reply #1504 on: August 29, 2016, 03:07:46 pm »

"It speaks? Please, Mister Giga Gaunt, you don't want to eat me. I know I look tasty, but I can help you. I can go where your gaunts can't, and bring you as much blood and magic as you can eat."

I try to reason with the monster. I don't expect it to respond, but it's worth a shot. If I can't convince it not to eat me, then I'll have to directly influence its HUNGER to crave something else.
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Toaster

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Re: Our Salvation: To The Four Corners Of The World
« Reply #1505 on: August 29, 2016, 06:21:35 pm »

"Well, looks like she said no.  Sorry about that."  Thomas then looked generally in the direction of the voice.  "Ah, uh, I'll put in a word for you with the warden, then?  I... don't see why he'd refuse?  I guess?"

Agree to her requests.  If departing, tell the warden that she wishes to stay.
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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: To The Four Corners Of The World
« Reply #1506 on: August 29, 2016, 11:54:01 pm »

"That went better than expected, I guess. Thanks for being translator. You probably need to continue as one because I don't recall making this effect. Something else is fucking with us here. Let's see..."

Damn it, no excuse for apocalypse. All those wonderful steps of minding must now come together. His Perceptions is clearly fucked with and the entire process is taken right up to Abstraction, it seems, and left there. Well, I can use that.

Lets introduce a Perception (improved one) of me into him and him alone.

Wait, is this The Promised Sixth business? Oh fuck that well...
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TopHat

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Re: Our Salvation: To The Four Corners Of The World
« Reply #1507 on: August 30, 2016, 03:54:51 pm »

"The next step? Wait for the Measure to finish processing, it should be done in a few minutes. Meanwhile, I'd like to get a feel for the area, since I'll probably be leaving soon."
Wave to Deirdre, then get up onto the walls and study the surrounding countryside.
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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: To The Four Corners Of The World
« Reply #1508 on: August 30, 2016, 05:55:11 pm »

"They ... sort of. Yes and no. They thought they were doing one thing when they really gave the well permission to do something else, ie us.

Now then, the next step?"


The next step, or rather the next hundred or so steps, take you up to the battlements. Mr. Wilde stops here, looking out into the field as it is bathed in early morning light. The royal guards are seemingly making an improvised bridge of some kind, hefting ropes and planks to get them into place for a crossing, about twenty men and women all at once constructing it out of materials looted from the war camp. About forty more guards and a whole lot of civilians seem to have moved out as well, and are currently in the process of looting the surroundings.

"It speaks? Please, Mister Giga Gaunt, you don't want to eat me. I know I look tasty, but I can help you. I can go where your gaunts can't, and bring you as much blood and magic as you can eat."

I try to reason with the monster. I don't expect it to respond, but it's worth a shot. If I can't convince it not to eat me, then I'll have to directly influence its HUNGER to crave something else.

[Blood and Magic: 1]

Blood! Magic! Blood! Magic! The gaunts break into a horrid chant all at once, your words driving them into an apparent frenze. The great gaunt begins to circle, winding out of the woods and around your cairn, all its bones clicking and jangling in anticipation. Blood! Magic! Blood! Magic!

So you let them have another word.

HUNGER

[Word: 2]

Hunger! Blood! Hunger! The forest reverberates, the gaunts begin to step closer. The great gaunt quickens its pace, stopping in front of you, then pouncing downward.

[A Feast For The Ages: 5 vs. 1]

You do not even begin to roll away as it falls upon you straight on, teeth and arms grinding into your flesh through your robe, blood pouring liberally as you are slowly crushed and chewed, pieces of you pulled off and into the body of the gaunt, its silver bones becoming deep red as it goes about your evisceration. Hunger, chant the other gaunts, blood and hunger! Blood and magic!

"Well, looks like she said no.  Sorry about that."  Thomas then looked generally in the direction of the voice.  "Ah, uh, I'll put in a word for you with the warden, then?  I... don't see why he'd refuse?  I guess?"

Agree to her requests.  If departing, tell the warden that she wishes to stay.

Oh no! No no no. She doesn't wish to stay. She'd just like to know when everybody else is leaving. She would like to leave afterward. Perhaps go somewhere else. Somewhere without people.

"That went better than expected, I guess. Thanks for being translator. You probably need to continue as one because I don't recall making this effect. Something else is fucking with us here. Let's see..."

Damn it, no excuse for apocalypse. All those wonderful steps of minding must now come together. His Perceptions is clearly fucked with and the entire process is taken right up to Abstraction, it seems, and left there. Well, I can use that.

Lets introduce a Perception (improved one) of me into him and him alone.

Wait, is this The Promised Sixth business? Oh fuck that well...


[Tricks of the Mind: 3]

Where you attempt engagement of perception, the first link in the chain, you find only a vast ocean before you, deep and dark, reaching far and reaching wide as you grasp for something, anything - all your feelers, however, disappear into the void, eaten after the merest movement makes them known. There is nothing to reach, you think. Nothing there at all. To him, you are an object. And you can be no more.

Right, says the stork man after you concentrate a moment on him, turning to Lee once more. So they'll be throwing a tarp over her luggage and tying it down so it doesn't go anywhere, and put it under guard for her stay, a privilege extended to honored clanfriends. He nods to Lee in respect.

Wait, she says. That is a minder. It assists her, and demands equal treatment. Oh, says the stork man. So is that a minder trick, appearing to be luggage? What a strange thing to bring along, truly. His apologies for not seeing it, of course, though he would appreciate it if Lee could ask her minder companion to suspend the effect and let them converse like quasi-civilized folk. Lee looks a little bewildered as she looks at you again. This isn't working, she says through her teeth.

"The next step? Wait for the Measure to finish processing, it should be done in a few minutes. Meanwhile, I'd like to get a feel for the area, since I'll probably be leaving soon."
Wave to Deirdre, then get up onto the walls and study the surrounding countryside.

Deirdre follows at a distance as you head up to the battlements, now significantly empty of any patrols. This is reasonable enough, as you think that a majority of the forces (and quite a bit of the civilian population beyond that) have moved out into the field, looking damn well spirited as they prepare for a raid upon Anglefork Town, recovering supplies and rebuilding improvised bridges out of planks and rope. You look on for a few moments longer, the preparations going almost astoundingly quickly. A few of the troops even conduct quick drills, to spacious area around the castle giving them as much hope as a taste of actual rations.

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Toaster

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Re: Our Salvation: To The Four Corners Of The World
« Reply #1509 on: August 30, 2016, 06:53:42 pm »

Thomas nodded.  "I apologize; my mistake.  Maybe I can ask for the door to be unlocked so you can get out on your own time?  I understand that the Outback has lots of places without people, if you don't mind the heat."

Continue to not fully understand various situations.  Put in a corrected word with the warden, then.
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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: To The Four Corners Of The World
« Reply #1510 on: August 30, 2016, 10:27:05 pm »

Jack's unsettling gaze turns over to Diedre.

"So, who're you?"

Socialize while I wait for my armor.
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AoshimaMichio

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Re: Our Salvation: To The Four Corners Of The World
« Reply #1511 on: August 31, 2016, 02:39:10 am »

"That hundred times cursed swindler... This doesn't appear to be his fault. Certain bastard in certain well cheated hell out of me and this is the price. Ask if you can have... your luggage in your own tent. Say it doesn't take much space when handled properly."

His annoyance is being redirected to certain well in certain place. Leif wonders if he could rain APOCALYPSE on the well from this far away. He hopes he can, even if it registers as a minor annoyance at best.
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penguinofhonor

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Re: Our Salvation: To The Four Corners Of The World
« Reply #1512 on: August 31, 2016, 07:19:08 am »

No! If I get eaten it's going to be by something bigger than you.

CHAOS SEA HUNGER
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Xantalos

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Re: Our Salvation: To The Four Corners Of The World
« Reply #1513 on: August 31, 2016, 07:32:38 am »

No! If I get eaten it's going to be by something bigger than you.

CHAOS SEA HUNGER
this has never gone wrong before
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Harry Baldman

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Re: Our Salvation: To The Four Corners Of The World
« Reply #1514 on: August 31, 2016, 07:34:42 am »

You can only use a single Word a turn, actually.
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