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Author Topic: They told me I could be anything...  (Read 78937 times)

Silleh Boy

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #1095 on: August 31, 2010, 05:36:44 am »

You looked this way and that as you ensured that the coast was clear, peeked into the windows of the nearest buildings quickly to confirm that you were alone. You would investigate them more thoroughly soon, though not until you had done something more important than this. Something that you felt should have been done already, something that you needed to do before you considered doing anything else. You needed to get a better look at your surroundings, confirm that there was nothing else of note that needed your attention, ensure that you had done that little more to ensure that you were alone.

You hurried across to another of the run down buildings, one that had a tree growing beside it, one that you could see was more stable than the others. One that you could use as a vantage point. You struggled briefly with the tree as you attempted to find a foothold on the rough surface of its bark. The tree was a medium sized oak, one that you knew should have been easier for you to climb, yet you felt that you were going about it wrong. For some reason, attempting to climb it struck you as the wrong way to go about it, not due to the fact that you would get your dress dirty, but due to the fact that it somehow seemed unnatural for you to approach it that way.

You didn't know why climbing it seemed such an alien concept all of a sudden, yet you felt that any attempt to climb it would be met with disaster. Of course, there was another way of going about this, a way that didn't involve climbing it, a way that as unnatural as it should have seemed to you, struck you as being the better choice.

You stepped back, sizing the tree and the building up before you leapt towards the building's wall, your foot kicking off it as you pushed yourself towards the tree, grabbing one of the low branches. You half hauled your body up before kicking off the tree, letting go of it as you grabbed the lip of the building's roof, pulling upward as you kicked off the side of it again, then backwards off the tree, your palms shooting down now as you pressed them to the lip of the building's roof. A slight grin came to your lips as you swung your legs up, as you stood atop the building's roof, now able to survey the surrounding area.

You felt proud of yourself.

You carefully paced across the building's roof as you surveyed the rooftops you could see before you, the streets, the tall buildings that stood out. There was the railway station, with what looked like the rooftops of carriages now visible to you, there was the church, still run down and with its roof collapsed inward. There was an opening for what could be a town square, or a marketplace, though you couldn't tell what it was from this distance, there was what you assumed may be a town hall.

There was something else though.

Something that set you on edge.

There was movement.

You could see what you assumed to be misshapen figures lingering in some of the inner streets, figures that moved in and out of your line of sight as they seemed to pace in an agitated manner. They were a good distance away, however, that was all you needed to know. They were a good distance away from you, and even further from the station that you planned to investigate just as soon as you had poked your head into a few of the nearest houses in search of a weapon.

You ducked and slipped over the side of the roof, dangling briefly before dropping down to street level, ignoring a brief stinging sensation in your shoulders as you did so. It felt almost as if you had pulled a muscle, yet not quite, though the sensation quickly passed. You checked a few of the less run down houses quickly, poking through them as you took note of how one of them had the bones of its former occupants within in. Bones that had been picked clean, bones that only invoked a sensation of jealousy within you.

You would have loved to have something freshly killed to eat.

The thought of food did at least remind you to check the kitchens of these homes, prompting you to pick up and discard several knives as you did your best to find the biggest, most sturdy looking knife you could. One that you knew would serve you well should you need to fight, one that you could stab into some foul creature's heart, like one of the Technomancers who had been looking at you with desire in their eyes.

Especially after they had found out what you were.

It was as if they thought that the discovery of what you were would allow them to easily woo you, as if it meant that you couldn't afford to have standards. The only thing you had really desired lately, was a meal, something raw, bloody, something that you could sink your teeth into and tear chunks out of. They could provide that, though you knew that a certain person would object to it, tell you that you shouldn't do that, find a way to make you feel bad for acting on your nature.

A nature he said you were better than.

What did he know though, what gave him the right to tell you that you shouldn't embrace more of this aspect of yourself than you already did?

You slumped against the wall, huffing as you sank down, crossing your arms as you brought them to a rest atop your knees. Your mood had soured with that thought, with the thought that this man, this idiot who thought himself so smart was trying to control you by using the fact that you owed him so much to allow him to do so. He was using the fact that you owed him, to make you bend to his word, to his will and you didn't like it.

Did you?

Was he?

You felt confused, as well as moody, as if something about this very town's nature was getting to you, as if the stench of death, as if the fact that tainted people were so free here caught some repressed desire to be free like that. As if they had everything you truly desired, yet the thought seemed so alien to you, so out of place, so raw and instinctual. Maybe it was his presence that had been keeping this aspect of you in check, maybe you had forgotten how it felt like. Maybe you had never felt it quite like this before.

You sighed as you absently toyed with the knife you had aquired, though the sound of footsteps caught your attention. Footsteps, in the street behind the house. Footsteps that fell unevenly, footsteps that belonged to more than one person. You could hear voices, too, voices that you managed to catch small snippets of as they passed by your hiding place, as they went by unaware that you could hear them.

"They will come, they that survived will come. Come. Into our home, to steal away with the train. Steal. Steal!" one voice wailed, a voice that bore a strange resonance.

"We shall ambush them, they shall pay. He is gone, the beautiful one is gone!" another cried, making you wonder who this beautiful one they referred to was. Were they talking about the idiot who sent you to investigate?

"Such ugly forms they-" came one voice, harmonious and light, though it stopped abruptly as another voice started, a voice that was deep and powerful, resuming where it left off.

"-bear, while we are blessed with such-" the voice cut off, as the harmonious voice resumed once again.

"-wonderous forms, gifts of the divine!" it finished, prompting a small frown from you. They were referring to the thing that Eurochkoles had beaten then most likely, not Eurochkoles himself, who bore a strange form of beauty due to his ageless nature.

As the voices and sounds of footfalls faded off into the distance, you found yourself wondering if you should continue to the station and approach these things in some manner, if you should head back to inform Eurochkoles of this, or if you should check another part of the town first.


Spoiler: "Stats" (click to show/hide)

RAM

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #1096 on: August 31, 2010, 08:02:12 am »

Well, I think that scouting is pretty much satisfied... Yes, there is a train. No, it isn't safe. Yes, the town is inhabited by the same people who attacked the train. Yes, they are capable of more social interaction that ambushing and eating people. No, they are not in the mood for diplomacy. I think that that should just about cover the immediate need for information...

Still, just because the scouting is finished, doesn't mean that we can't have a little fun while we're here...

We should see if there is any mundane food we can swipe for the civilians, that should get us some respect. If we can find out if the train will actually run, that might earn some notice from Euro. And lets not forget that there are probably some valuables in that church that nobody will miss...
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Armok

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #1097 on: August 31, 2010, 03:00:29 pm »

!!!

Abort! Abort!
There things are not evil mindless things, they have a complex and coherent point of view of their own! This war over a misunderstanding must be stopped!
Return to Eurochles and report all this! The "corrupted" are people, with cares and emotions and thoughts and values and the promise of a culture! This is probably the most important thing ever discovered about any TTGBITN ever!
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So says Armok, God of blood.
Sszsszssoo...
Sszsszssaaayysss...
III...

cerapa

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #1098 on: August 31, 2010, 03:36:54 pm »

...
Armok, its an evil cult that corrupts and kills people because they think they are ugly. I dont think they like diplomacy.

Anyway, return to Euro.

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Ochita

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #1099 on: August 31, 2010, 03:43:01 pm »

!!!

Abort! Abort!
There things are not evil mindless things, they have a complex and coherent point of view of their own! This war over a misunderstanding must be stopped!
Return to Eurochles and report all this! The "corrupted" are people, with cares and emotions and thoughts and values and the promise of a culture! This is probably the most important thing ever discovered about any TTGBITN ever!
Seriously, what? That sounds like a really REALLY bad idea.
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Armok

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #1100 on: August 31, 2010, 03:54:15 pm »

Umm, that was the Enlightened. There are similar only in biological orgin.
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So says Armok, God of blood.
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III...

Strange guy

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #1101 on: August 31, 2010, 04:04:56 pm »

While they may have minds, though I'm not sure we've even doubted that, they still appear to be insane, extremely violent to outsiders and trying to stop us getting to a replacement train. I'd say killing them would be far more justifiable than killing Enlightened (ignoring their healing powers for the moment or assuming they would fall into the clockworkers hands) since without Pride the Enlightened aren't different from normal humans outside of their abilities. These things are crazy even after we've removed their leader.
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RAM

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #1102 on: August 31, 2010, 05:25:35 pm »

That wasn't necessarily their leader, it may have been more like a hero or mascot...
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neo1096

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #1103 on: August 31, 2010, 07:30:49 pm »

I say report to Eurochkles.
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Silleh Boy

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #1104 on: September 01, 2010, 01:37:30 am »

You breathed out slowly as you remained sat there, listening intently for a long moment after the footsteps you could hear had faded into the distance. It was better to be safe than sorry, better to be cautious given the fact that these things were all over the town, the fact that they were hostile towards those that you were associated with. You personally would have had no issue with feeding the civilians to them, allowing them to be eaten in return for safe passage. You knew that someone tainted like yourself could swing such a deal with them, could persuade them that the three of you were worth letting go with the train in return for the food.

You didn't like the bursar.

They could eat him too, for all you cared.

You shook your head briefly as you attempted to shake such thoughts, knowing that this wasn't how you were supposed to think, that you were better than this. He had told you that you were better than this, better than the self centered and easily controlled Enlightened drone you had been before he had found you. He wanted to save those people, people you had no attachment toward, no responsibility toward, no guilt over the thought of sacrificing for your own gain. He wanted to do so, not because it would give him some immediate gain, but because it was the right thing to do. He wanted to do the right thing, and you were going to do your best to respect that.

Even if you did think that the right thing to do was to let them all die, even if you did think that such a sacrifice was the better option. It was probably a good idea to report back to him on this though, let him know that these things were intelligent enough to know what you would come for, hateful enough to want to kill you.

You sighed as you pushed yourself to your feet, knowing that without him you would be out of control, that you needed him to keep you in check, to help you find your humanity again. If you did things your way, there was no way you would find your humanity again, no way that you would be able to continue to climb that slippery slope if you allowed yourself to slip when it suited you. You pressed your ear to the door as you reached it, listening carefully before pulling it open ever so slightly, peering through that crack as you made certain the coast was clear.

Feeling emboldened by the apparent absence of these things, you stepped through the door, peering left and right as you continued to listen out for activity. You knew that you should head back right away, yet you also knew that there were likely things inside the church that had been left abandoned, things of value. There was also checking out the houses for valuables under the pretense of searcing for food for the civilians, checking the number of those things about the train so you could see what you were up against.

There was a lot you could do, but you knew it wasn't wise, you knew that if you got caught trying to find out if the train was servicable and had coal to fuel it for one, that you'd have to deal with a horde of these things. You couldn't risk leading any of them back, either, as you knew that they would likely overwhelm the small group with ease. They could survive wounds that would kill a normal person, though a head wound or sufficient damage to their body was fatal, still. They lacked your ability to recover from even these types of normally fatal wounds, your strength conferred by such an ability.

The ones in London had been prey to the Enlightened.

"I smell something," came a rumbling voice from behind the building, prompting you to curse under your breath as you ran to the nearby wall, hopping over it, ignoring the brambles scratching at your legs. The knife you had picked up earlier was clutched to your chest, ready for use if it came to such a thing. You were no fighter by nature, but if it came to it, fight you would.

"What do you smell?" came another voice, this one higher pitched, excitable and child like.

"I do not know," the rumbling voice echoed, while the sound of a foot slamming against wood followed, the sound of the door to the building you had been in prior crashing against a wall filling the air.

"Is it a person?" came that higher pitched voice, followed by the gnashing of teeth. "Is it a person, did they come here after the crash, are they food?" the voice continued, followed by the sound of teeth gnashing again.

"It is not the scent of a person," the deeper voice echoed, almost seeming to grumble at this revelation, though it was entirely possible it just normally sounded like this. It was hard to be certain with such individuals, people chaotically twisted by the taint, people who hadn't been fortunate enough to have somebody orchestrate the changes in their body like Pride had with the Enlightened. People as they had once been, akin to you as they were, they were and always would be prey in your eyes.

"Oh," the other voice sighed, the excitable edge taken off it. "What is it, then?"

"I smell a crow. A carrion crow," came that voice, the sound of footsteps coming towards you, a sound you realised oddly, belonged to one pair of feet. You twitched slightly at the mention of what he could smell, the mention of the creature that once tainted had grown, taking on the twisted form that was better known as a vulture these days.

"Too small, too small to eat!" the other voice rang out, before a strained huff came from it. "Lets go find something bigger to eat!" it continued, that strained noise continuing.

"Come out, little crow," the rumbling voice came, the sound of footsteps having stopped a short distance from your hiding place. You knew you had to do something, that you had to act, that you had to do something to have this thing lose interest in you. You held out one hand before you, fingers stiff, held out in a claw like manner as you thrust them down into the grass about you, as you bounced them up and down, imitating a bird's movement.

"Caw!"

It was unconvincing, causing you to cringe as you heard the sound of grumbling behind you, a hand shooting over the wall, grabbing you, a hand that was twisted, gnarled and pale, a hand that bore the bulk of muscle. "Little crow," the thing growled as it pulled you half back over the wall, as it leaned over you, two heads staring down at you. One of them was small, shrunken and had a mouth full of tiny, needle like teeth and the other was bloated, with a mouth bearing a handful of broken and blunt teeth.

The thing bore the stench of death, its breath smelling fetid, like a sewer, it was bloated and mishapen in some areas while others were withered and almost skeletal. It was a perfect example of the taints ability to change people, to twist them into things they should not have been. "Hi!" you responded brightly as you thrust the knife in your hand upwards, plunging it into the bloated heads throat, figuring that it was the thought center of this thing. You didn't stop at that however, you swiped the blade sideways attempting to slice through the smaller heads neck too, though this wasn't as successful as you had hoped it would be.

The blade caught on an unnatural bone structure in its neck, causing it to let out a piercing shriek as its body staggered backwards, hands clutching at both injured necks. "Why did you do that?" it cried, seemingly shocked that you had fought back, while you rolled over, hopping up onto the wall you had been half draped over as you perched on it easily.

You were uncertain now, did you risk running back with how this thing had likely attracted some attention, did you finish it off as your predatory instincts demanded, or was there a better course of action you could take?

RAM

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #1105 on: September 01, 2010, 02:41:48 am »

Mmmmmm, tasty...

Too bad, I was starting to like two-heads...
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Armok

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #1106 on: September 01, 2010, 10:01:07 am »

Diplomacy! End this mindless killing, this can be sorted out nonviolently!
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So says Armok, God of blood.
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dragnar

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #1107 on: September 01, 2010, 10:06:15 am »

You still want to try and use diplomacy against something that thinks of us as food?! You don't try to make peace with things that want you dead unless you have a good way of making sure it can't kill you while you're talking. We can try that if we capture one, but not before that.

Get out of here. Our weapon doesn't seem to do much.
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Silleh Boy

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #1108 on: September 01, 2010, 01:19:26 pm »

A grin crossed your lips, a grin that was all too wide as you looked at that thing from the point you were perched, as you raised the knife that you had swiped through both of its necks to your lips, your tongue running over it slowly as you licked ichor from it. You relished the taste of it, for it had been a forbidden pleasure as of late, it had been something that you had been denied. The psychological effect of this act wasn't lost on the thing before you, the fact that it had seen you so readily lick tainted blood from a blade, the ichor that it bled, ichor that would have been enough to corrupt the form of any normal human. Ichor that you readily swallowed as you licked your lips, as you held the knife ready, as if preparing to strike again.

You had no intent of doing so, as you knew that this thing was likely going to be harder to kill with this old blade than it was worth. This thing had likely alerted others with its cries, too, meaning that your best course of action was to carry out this deception, to run as soon as a window presented itself. "I have tasted things like you before," you started, before bursting into a giggling fit as you rose to your feet, still poised atop the wall perfectly. "Many things like you are prey for the Enlightened. Many, many things."

The thing backed away as you rolled your neck, hands moving away from its necks as the flow of blood slowed, then stopped. A jagged scar was visibly forming where the knife had swiped across its necks, the imperfect and rapid healing of these things something that you knew paled in comparison to the reliable means your own body possessed. "Enlightened!" hissed both heads in unison, prompting a snicker from you as you knew that it meant that the reputation of your kind had preceded you. "Beautiful hearts with foul skin!"

This statement however, caught you offguard, though you knew you couldn't stay and talk, that this thing would be more likely to attack you given the chance than to converse. There was something about that statement that unsettled you however, the worship of that form that they bore being close to what you had felt in your own nature at one point. You, as well as many others had been quite taken with the power that you felt your tainted natures had given you, with the fact that you had maintained a form that was familiar, with the benefit of a tainted form's strengths.

"Kill!"

As the thing hissed those words, snarling as it lunged for you, you hopped backwards, your body feeling oddly light as you hopped back further than you knew you would normally have been able. This oddity was cast from your mind however as the thing stepped over the wall, howling in anger as it started to charge at you, prompting you to run alongside the wall, knowing that you couldn't afford to lead it back to the others. If it had brought the attention of others upon you, then you knew that you would potentially get the others killed by doing such. That didn't bother you, truth be told, the concept that you could get them all killed like that. It was the fact that Eurochkoles would take even longer to recover if you got him injured that bothered you, that he seemed to be so helpless when wounded.

You hated seeing him like that, you hated seeing him looking so weak when he was the nearest you had to Pride anymore, the nearest you had to a figure who could lead you towards some goal you could believe in. You hopped up onto the wall again, dropping the knife as you started running along the uneven surface, as you ran towards its end. As you reached it you dived for the roof of the building at the end, sharp pain briefly lancing through your shoulders as you hauled yourself upwards. The howls of the thing behind you became frustrated cries as it slammed into the side of the building over and over again, as it attempted, yet failed to climb up after you as you continued to run onwards.

You stopped for nothing as you sprinted across the uneven slate rooftops, as you hurtled onward, hopping over the gap between each house as you made your way inwards. The town center was where you intended to go, knowing that from there you could easily double back and take another route around to the people waiting for your return. Another route back to Eurochkoles, to the man who made you feel stable, sane, the man who you had come to depend on more than you cared to admit.

Even now, outside of his presence you could feel your mind rebelling, contradictory thoughts racing through it, thoughts that alternately demanded blood and caution. Thoughts that you knew didn't all belong to you. Maybe it would be for the best if you left his service, got as far away from him as possible and let nature take its course. Whatever that course would be.

"No," you hissed under your breath as you effortlessly made another jump, knowing that this thought was yet again one that did not belong, that the absence of one to keep you in check was allowing something that should not be to run riot. You didn't want to get away from him, you didn't want to leave his presence, you didn't want to be deprived of that only sense of normality that was granted to you by being with him.

You couldn't leave him.

You wouldn't leave him.

You came to a halt atop one of the rooftops overlooking the church grounds, panting softly as you listened out, hearing the howls of many things, things that were attempting to track you. You were right at least in assuming that the worst thing you could have done was to head back, to lead these things to the group and get them killed. You needed a plan, a plan so brilliant that even he would tell you he was impressed with what you had done. You would make him feel proud, you'd make him praise you, you would make him acknowledge that you had done a good job here under the circumstances.

This was your chance to shine.

You crouched briefly, wiping sweat from your face as you glanced about. You were close to both the towns market square and the grounds of the church, you were being pursued by a number of tainted things, though it wasn't an organised group like the train attack. You needed a plan of action, but what was that plan going to be?


Spoiler: "Stats" (click to show/hide)

Armok

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #1109 on: September 01, 2010, 02:43:52 pm »

how can the points pool be a ?, ?
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So says Armok, God of blood.
Sszsszssoo...
Sszsszssaaayysss...
III...
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