Topic: Our Salvation: It Is Written (Read 264135 times)

Toaster · « **Reply #2010 on:** February 07, 2017, 05:08:53 pm »

"Er. Sorry, didn't mean to startle you, sir. Mate." That was the Australian term, right?" "I'm on the way to the airport... uh, where the metal dragons land and take off and carry people around. Perhaps you could confirm for me I'm going the right way? Pleasant day, isn't it really?"

Converse.

TopHat · « **Reply #2011 on:** February 08, 2017, 12:07:55 pm »

"This is incredible! How on Earth does he do it? Did invent the language himself? Could I have a sample? I simply must Measure it, when I get the chance. Speaking of which, do you know anyone here who's good at fixing things?" Not the nicest subject matter but that really is something.
Questions, questions, so many questions.

Xantalos · « **Reply #2012 on:** February 08, 2017, 12:43:26 pm »

"Okay, point the way to first wherever they have more of that maggot cheese stuff, then her. Him. Whatever gender."

First go exploit my 'carry stuff and forget about it' property which allows me to port around far more shit than is feasible for an actual human being to get a ton more of that maggot cheese pizza stuff. Then go see this alchemist lady.

AoshimaMichio · « **Reply #2013 on:** February 10, 2017, 01:46:16 am »

Snack few apple-mushrooms and wash them down with most realistic alcohol I can find in this place while waiting for lightbringer.

penguinofhonor · « **Reply #2014 on:** February 10, 2017, 06:54:07 am »

"Well, we appreciate the advice. We should probably be on our way, though. We don't want to take up any more of your time than we already have, and now that you mention it, I feel like we should find food." I point to the passage leading away from this chamber. "Is that the way outside?"

Harry Baldman · « **Reply #2015 on:** February 11, 2017, 07:35:25 pm »

Quote from: Toaster on February 07, 2017, 05:08:53 pm

"Er. Sorry, didn't mean to startle you, sir. Mate." That was the Australian term, right?" "I'm on the way to the airport... uh, where the metal dragons land and take off and carry people around. Perhaps you could confirm for me I'm going the right way? Pleasant day, isn't it really?"

Converse.

Yes indeed, a pleasant day like few others. Not a cloud in the sky, you say as you go closer to the man behind the tree, feeling a little uncomfortable speaking to him while he's behind a tree. You step around the side. His eyes do not turn to you. Say, you think you already asked, does he know where the dragons land? You think you ought to locate one sharpish and get out of here. Good old Straya has her charms, one has to say, but you do think you're very late for some crucial business at Sureness Assurance. Can't let these matters go unattended! Absolutely not!

[In The Grip Of Tharn: 2]

You look at the man, who appears absolutely petrified. He stares at you with wide eyes and extraordinarily dilated pupils, something very crucial in his fight-or-flight response having completely jammed. Poor fellow must have something on his mind.

Quote from: TopHat on February 08, 2017, 12:07:55 pm

"This is incredible! How on Earth does he do it? Did invent the language himself? Could I have a sample? I simply must Measure it, when I get the chance. Speaking of which, do you know anyone here who's good at fixing things?" Not the nicest subject matter but that really is something.
Questions, questions, so many questions.

[From On High: 6]

The alderman seems greatly flattered at your interest! It's wonderful to see a man so appreciative of the magnificence of these. It's not even the best one he's received - there was that one from a few decades ago, he had it somewhere in here, he growls out and starts to wrestle open one of the enormous, sticky drawers of the desk. There is a pop and a rattle of dozens of scroll cases, and a great quantity of dust to accompany this. The alderman's large hands both go into the thing up nearly to his elbows, and finally he withdraws a particularly well-etched, elaborate silver case that, though quite incredibly large, seems to your eyes nearly bursting in some unfathomable way. This was when the land reform came into play, the alderman explains and hands you the case in a motion that makes you doubt the laws of perspective. It is sufficiently large to accommodate an orangutan contortionist and sturdy enough to make sure it doesn't escape. You strain a little under the weight. It begs you to take a look.

What language is this written in, you ask again as you consider the scroll in your possession, possibly delaying its opening (possibly even deliberately). Did the king invent it? The alderman declines to comment on this - the King has his ways, and if you would inquire more about them you may as well ask him yourself, wonderbringer! His palace isn't far if you've got the legs to walk and the mind to dream of it, or so goes common wisdom. He hasn't gone recently, mind you, so he couldn't tell you where exactly it's gone off to, just that it was indubitably because his attentions were needed there. The king sees many things, you know. Often very far in advance.

Quote from: Xantalos on February 08, 2017, 12:43:26 pm

"Okay, point the way to first wherever they have more of that maggot cheese stuff, then her. Him. Whatever gender."

First go exploit my 'carry stuff and forget about it' property which allows me to port around far more shit than is feasible for an actual human being to get a ton more of that maggot cheese pizza stuff. Then go see this alchemist lady.

They'd have to make it, Rainbow says and claps her hands. A cook comes by shortly, and Rainbow merely looks in his eyes meaningfully. He runs off post-haste - they'll have that prepared for you a little later. In bulk, of course. The ingredients need a little time to come together and ripen. Then they can be made yours, and allowed to slip into your impressive collection of things momentarily forgotten. Come now, she rises from the table. Peaks Ever-Crumbling would most certainly be pleased to see you.

You head out, casting one last glance at the now rather calm inn, the drunken sailors having either passed, stumbled or fallen out of it as befits their state, your last glimpse that of the two cooks pondering the logistics and unquestionable risks of putting that many maggots into that much bacon at the same time.

The second mate does not appear to see fit to reside on the ship, and instead has taken up residence in a fetching little abode off the main street, right by the palisade. It looks like somebody took a hovel and began to build upon it much as you would with a snowman, sticking loose, balled-up bits of concrete onto it until it resembled a proper building. Proper in a very broad sense of the word, it's a lumpy and organic thing, practically screaming of witchcraft at you as you and Rainbow both make sure to wipe your feet on the outdoor mat before knocking. A voice shouts for you to come in.

The door opens readily outwards on well-oiled hinges, and out rolls the oily, miasmatic reek of an alchemy lab in operation, traveling along a labyrinth of heavy, colorful drapes and fresh-made shelves stocked with very neatly if not comprehensibly labeled arcane supplies. It takes about a minute too long to walk through it all to the workbench of the day where the alchemist stands, observing a bubbling, intricate experiment in progress with a weight to her gaze that leads one to suspect some of it surely wouldn't bubble without her full attention.

[Peaks Ever-Crumbling: 6]

She nods for a moment as you stand there silently, expecting some form of introduction from Rainbow. A strong scent of pineapple begins to pervade the vicinity. A grin on the second mate's face suddenly blossoms and keeps growing. Her fingers dart to adjust a valve every now and then. A moment or ten passes as the reaction develops.

Oh, she says after a few more seconds in a voice richer than you would have expected from so slight a woman. You aren't one of those, are you? Something different, as she says. Different and peculiar. You wanted some kind of drug?

Rainbow steps back a little. She will leave you to it. Act as a bringer of business and good fortune, and business and good fortune will come back to you, she implies as she leaves.

Quote from: AoshimaMichio on February 10, 2017, 01:46:16 am

Snack few apple-mushrooms and wash them down with most realistic alcohol I can find in this place while waiting for lightbringer.

You don't feel very hungry, but you feel like a little food might help you set this hangover behind you, or at least take the edge off. You have three for now to start off easy. The lightbringer is not far off - in fact, it's hardly a minute before she comes to this room, bearing a rather large oilskin and a blue light. You get a good look at her in the light - on the robust side, perhaps around thirty or so. She has the full moth-robe and more beyond that - on her head is a skullcap bearing two antennae that wave gently in the cavern air like skeletonized leaves, and around her neck you see several amulets and strings of beads. She steps over the elder and lifts up the brazier, refilling some of its oil and wiping down any hazardous spillage before lighting it, bathing the room in a soft blue glow. She looks around the rest of it and spots you sitting up on the pile, still chewing on your mushrooms as you contemplate where among the empty cups you might find some actual booze.

Didn't expect you to be up after such a heroic effort last night, she says after looking you over. Good show, Leify! Rare to have a guest like you about, absolute pleasure to have drunk with you till the very end. You rub your temples, not quite remembering her. Does she have anything to drink, you ask after a moment. She smirks and tosses you a half-empty vial after fiddling in her robe a moment. It's hardly more than a shot or two in there, but you down it anyway, chomping on another mushroom to drive the burning from your sinuses. Want some actual food? The happy-happies, don't get her wrong, the happy-happies are all good but you do not want to make a diet of them. She found that out the hard way in her time.

Quote from: penguinofhonor on February 10, 2017, 06:54:07 am

"Well, we appreciate the advice. We should probably be on our way, though. We don't want to take up any more of your time than we already have, and now that you mention it, I feel like we should find food." I point to the passage leading away from this chamber. "Is that the way outside?"

[Home Sweet Home: 4]

Oggie looks to you, her large hands still on the doctor's face, kneading it idly. She has time, she says. A lot of time to think and work and think and work and think and sleep and dream. Talking is a reprieve. Centers the mind. Voices on the outside are always louder after all.

If you want to leave, sad days. There was a way out. It was drafty and unsafe, so she closed it. There was too much light coming in as well. Can concentrate better in the dark and stillness and lack of bears coming in. Same amount going out though. Funny how that works.

Food though, food is possible. Many things can be scraped off walls. Follow Oggie, delicious traveler. She will show you.

The creature lumbers into the passageway, hair bristling as she brushes up against a wall gently. The doctor leans in - did you know what that thing was saying or was this merely a very unlikely bluff that paid off? It's a little hard to tell with you sometimes.

Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

Toaster · « **Reply #2016 on:** February 12, 2017, 12:18:42 am »

"You okay, mate? None of the worries, as they say?"

Maybe a gentle poke?

AoshimaMichio · « **Reply #2017 on:** February 13, 2017, 01:18:01 am »

"Food would be good, yes, thank you. I'm not particularly hungry, but I need something to shave edge off of the hangover. Some water would help too, no doubt. Say, I don't remember anything what happened after the drinking contest and everything before it is a bit hazy too. Mind summarizing some of it for me? I didn't do anything excessively stupid, right? I seem to have new limbs and clothes too, wonder where they came from..."

Learn from another person's experience and put all mushooms aside. Accept any and all foodstuff she offers as well as summary of missing memories should she give one. Oh, since we have light now I might as well observe my party hat in greater detail.

"Was there really a demon? Or was that just another hallucination?"

Xantalos · « **Reply #2018 on:** February 13, 2017, 03:39:30 am »

Daniels shakes his head to clear it of a rather convoluted train of thought that had been going through it.

"Right, who were you again? Not that I care, but I should probably remember you. Not your name, just describe an easily identifiable feature of yours. Also I think the minder lady with the rainbow bandanna or something like that wanted me to get you to make a sleep potion so I can drug the captain of whatever bizarre land-based mercantile enterprise you people run, absorb what is effectively the summation of his being into an extradimensional storage space that I carry somewhere between the back of my skull and the depths of my soul, and then she'll lead me to a nodal access point to an intelligence that exists in what seems to be the primordial darkness between universes so that I can then trade your captain for notable favours to myself, retroactively deleting him from the memory of everyone he ever interacted with in the process. Also this one stoatman I already have in there, I'm set to make a bundle in a short while. I think the rainbow minder lady probably wants to be captain in his place and is using me to get him out of the way is the point, and she wants me to get your help to do that. She mentioned rewards or something for you, so you'd probably benefit a good deal from the transition of power assuming you don't get gutted during the uncontrolled chaos that's going to result when this affair inevitably gets blown into what passes for the public eye around these parts. Oh, I've probably been talking too long without pausing, conversations are supposed to be a two-way street. You may speak now."

Ramble distractedly, completely spilling all the sensitive details of Rainbow Lady's planned mutiny or whatever it is she's wanting to do in the process.

penguinofhonor · « **Reply #2019 on:** February 13, 2017, 07:42:54 am »

"I can understand her. You can't?" I whisper to the doctor. "I guess that's one more weird magic power I have. You should have seen this squid lady I talked to. Anyway, it sounds like she's taking us near the exit, but we'll have to figure out how to get it open. And then probably reseal it for her, since she blocked it off. But hey, it's something."

I then follow Oggie into the passage.

TopHat · « **Reply #2020 on:** February 13, 2017, 10:46:05 am »

"Ah. How large is his kingdom, then? Are there any others in this land?"

Harry Baldman · « **Reply #2021 on:** February 14, 2017, 07:46:50 am »

Quote from: Toaster on February 12, 2017, 12:18:42 am

"You okay, mate? None of the worries, as they say?"

Maybe a gentle poke?

You step up to the man and poke him gently on the nose.

[Fearful Reverie: 6]

Something snaps inside him, you think, and his expression suddenly changes. He exhales for the first time in a minute and slumps back against the tree. Whoa, ohohoho! Hoho! Haha, woo! He shakes his head and has a few of the dark berries. Hohoho! Oh boy!

Is he all right, you ask after a little bit of this. Don't mind him, the fellow replies, just had a spot of the bleak despair! Happens when he gets proper startled! 'S a good sign, really! He was beginning to wonder he wasn't going to fit in, with all the hazings and the trials and the being sent into increasingly dangerous places! At least he's mastered being afraid, and that is fairly crucial if he understands correctly! Got to have a healthy fear of things if you're in the refuge business!

Anyway, he bats you on the shoulder, you were asking something about dragons, was it? He's never seen one, they usually carry off anyone who gets near, hoho! They leave little evidence, dragons! Frankly he's unsure what he'd do if he saw one, but then it's not like the matter will be in his hands in that case, hohoho... hoho... hoh...!

... you're new here, aren't you? He was a lot like you once, dressed in rags, clueless of the ways in the savage northlands! How distant last month seems now! Lucky you ran into him, you are - there's things here that will rot the flesh off your bones, he's been told! Spiders the size of your head! Aborigines who'll as soon stab you as tell you the way to go! And the dragons! Oh, the dragons!

Quote from: AoshimaMichio on February 13, 2017, 01:18:01 am

"Food would be good, yes, thank you. I'm not particularly hungry, but I need something to shave edge off of the hangover. Some water would help too, no doubt. Say, I don't remember anything what happened after the drinking contest and everything before it is a bit hazy too. Mind summarizing some of it for me? I didn't do anything excessively stupid, right? I seem to have new limbs and clothes too, wonder where they came from..."

Learn from another person's experience and put all mushooms aside. Accept any and all foodstuff she offers as well as summary of missing memories should she give one. Oh, since we have light now I might as well observe my party hat in greater detail.

"Was there really a demon? Or was that just another hallucination?"

[A Night To Remember: 3]

To be perfectly honest, she only remembers bits and pieces herself. First you pretty solidly outdrank her - good job there, and great trick with the vodkafruit - then you said something she didn't register on account of being completely pissed, and then everything exploded into debauchery. Usually these others aren't up for all that much, she says incredulously, but by the time she was back in drinking condition you should have seen the shit that was going on. Best night she's had in months. Everybody was cutting loose. The booze supply nearly ran out completely, had to hit the reserves.

Gets a bit hazy from there, she's got to say. Don't know about a demon or nothing, but there was dancing and singing and a lot of minderbooze when the regular stuff ran low. She may have made out with you at one point during a late-night rematch. Or maybe with Lee. One or both of those might have just been a dream though. Or that bit where you strained so hard you sprouted a whole new arm - she was thinking that couldn't possibly be real, but there you are, fully limbed and everything.

Mind you, shitfaced as she was, she'd wager she's probably the only one who remembers even that much. Dunno what came over these other people, but they were partying like there was no tomorrow, and they sure as hell don't got her tolerance. It's going to be a real zombie apocalypse around here in an hour or two, mark her words.

She leads you out through the passageway into a maze of small tunnels. Watch your head, the lamplighter instructs. She pauses every now and then next to a brazier or goes inside a side chamber, each hosting at least one passed-out Moth, many of them very familiar-looking to your somewhat pickled intellect, until at last you come to what seems like a small dining hall, cold leftovers lining a well-polished stone table. Most of them seem to have migrated out of their plates, and the few Moths remaining here have either slumped on the table or rolled off along the floor. The lamplighter sits you down next to a less objectionable plate. Dig in! This'll be going off before the day's done, so might as well finish as much as you're able.

By the way, you ask as you try some troglodytic crab, lightly fermented in the original shell (it's like a Norse delicacy in that you're making the best of something a little rancid and expected to smile about it), where'd you get the robe? And the crown, which it occurs to you to take off and look at. It seems to have been hastily cut out of some compressed and treated chitin, the words "Igor, Party God" written on it.

The robe! Yeah, you might have missed it in all the fun, she doesn't blame you a bit, but somewhere along the way they made you a Moth. The elder was so sauced he couldn't remember the procedure for honorary induction, so they all just agreed on the simple thing of saying you're in the clan now and that's that.

Quote from: Xantalos on February 13, 2017, 03:39:30 am

Daniels shakes his head to clear it of a rather convoluted train of thought that had been going through it.

"Right, who were you again? Not that I care, but I should probably remember you. Not your name, just describe an easily identifiable feature of yours. Also I think the minder lady with the rainbow bandanna or something like that wanted me to get you to make a sleep potion so I can drug the captain of whatever bizarre land-based mercantile enterprise you people run, absorb what is effectively the summation of his being into an extradimensional storage space that I carry somewhere between the back of my skull and the depths of my soul, and then she'll lead me to a nodal access point to an intelligence that exists in what seems to be the primordial darkness between universes so that I can then trade your captain for notable favours to myself, retroactively deleting him from the memory of everyone he ever interacted with in the process. Also this one stoatman I already have in there, I'm set to make a bundle in a short while. I think the rainbow minder lady probably wants to be captain in his place and is using me to get him out of the way is the point, and she wants me to get your help to do that. She mentioned rewards or something for you, so you'd probably benefit a good deal from the transition of power assuming you don't get gutted during the uncontrolled chaos that's going to result when this affair inevitably gets blown into what passes for the public eye around these parts. Oh, I've probably been talking too long without pausing, conversations are supposed to be a two-way street. You may speak now."

Ramble distractedly, completely spilling all the sensitive details of Rainbow Lady's planned mutiny or whatever it is she's wanting to do in the process.

Peaks looks up at you. Her eyes aren't quite as captivating as Rainbow would have led you to believe, but you do feel a very acute, inquisitive pressure as they rest on you.

Huh, she says and smiles at you. Goes to show you shouldn't trust help hired off the street, wouldn't you say?

She wouldn't want to rock the boat, she shrugs and laughs to herself. The captain is a solid enough sort and, more importantly, pays quite well. Not to mention that drugging a man of over 400, perhaps more than 500 pounds is a questionable and very expensive proposition, she can say from personal experience.

If you're not very committed to this conspiracy, however, and she gets the strange feeling that you are not, could she perhaps provide you with a sensible counteroffer?

Quote from: penguinofhonor on February 13, 2017, 07:42:54 am

"I can understand her. You can't?" I whisper to the doctor. "I guess that's one more weird magic power I have. You should have seen this squid lady I talked to. Anyway, it sounds like she's taking us near the exit, but we'll have to figure out how to get it open. And then probably reseal it for her, since she blocked it off. But hey, it's something."

I then follow Oggie into the passage.

Frankly the doctor is surprised that the creature speaks a language. It, er, she looks like she's been maddened by the underground. Scrambled in body and mind. It happens when you're alone and think too much about things. She looks at Oggie walking ahead of you into the dark. You should do something. Maybe talk to her?

Oggie looks back at you to make sure you are following. There is quite an extensive network of tunnels down here. Many of them certainly not natural, clearly clawed out of the bedrock over a long period of time. It is down one such tunnel, the light fading to the point where you can't see anything beyond the occasional eyeshine from Oggie's direction or a firm hand guiding you onward, that you eventually stop. There is a heavy, stagnant smell in the air, and a scraping noise as your host lumbers toward a wall and gets to work.

You are passed a generous handful of insect-ridden flesh of not-quite-fungus. Judging from the noise she makes, you think the doctor gets one too. Eat well, says Oggie. Very nutritious. Will help grow your whiskers strong and acute.

Quote from: TopHat on February 13, 2017, 10:46:05 am

"Ah. How large is his kingdom, then? Are there any others in this land?"

Distance is hard to quantify in the kingdom, the alderman says. The places wander around, and the bog ebbs and flows. Larger than you think, he believes the official answer is, to the point where he is not entirely positive where it might end. He has heard of an end to the far side of the bog, but he has certainly not seen it himself. The King would know for sure, he'd expect. No other kingdoms here, of course. There is Benzerwald, he supposes, but they're somewhat new. Good to have them, an occasional raid does much to invigorate the more piratical citizens. Used to be you had to sail south for months either way to get any real raiding work done, this is considerably more efficient!

He tilts his head a little. Damnedest thing though, now that you mention it. There used to be places nearby, he's fairly certain. The proximal kingdoms to the land of departed souls. Don't hear much from them anymore, not in the past few centuries at the very least.

Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

Xantalos · « **Reply #2022 on:** February 14, 2017, 12:11:20 pm »

Daniels shrugs.

"Sure, I'll listen to ya. Best for both of us if you don't ramble on too much, though, my attention tends to wander."

Toaster · « **Reply #2023 on:** February 14, 2017, 05:23:38 pm »

Thomas nodded. "Yes, indeed, I have heard tales of spiders. But yes, these dragons... which way would I go to find them? I'm rather looking for a ride on one."

Converse, yet get to the point.

TopHat · « **Reply #2024 on:** February 16, 2017, 02:49:35 pm »

"few centuries? How long to you people live, if you don't mind me asking?
And could you tell me more about these kingdoms? Were they also part of the bog?"

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Author Topic: Our Salvation: It Is Written (Read 264135 times)

Toaster

Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith

TopHat

Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith

Xantalos

Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith

AoshimaMichio

Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith

penguinofhonor

Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith

Harry Baldman

Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith

Toaster

Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith

AoshimaMichio

Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith

Xantalos

Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith

penguinofhonor

Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith

TopHat

Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith

Harry Baldman

Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith

Xantalos

Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith

Toaster

Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith

TopHat

Re: Our Salvation: Leaps of Faith