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Author Topic: They told me I could be anything...  (Read 79095 times)

Ochita

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #210 on: July 02, 2010, 12:04:17 pm »

I don't think we will gain powers unless they are up on the board.

Tip your hat off to the man. Go to work at red's and ask for a day off tomorrow because we need to do some shopping
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princest zaldo of hurl kindom: the mushroom aren't going to choice itself, ochita

Silleh Boy

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #211 on: July 02, 2010, 01:12:50 pm »

Further inquiries over the application process had the bored secretary pass you a leaflet and an application form before he returned his attention to the yellowed newspaper that sat before him. He was seemingly looking for patterns in the words as he traced his fingers over the lines of print and highlighted parts of them with a quill. You figured it best to leave him to it as you strode out of the main entrance once more, pausing briefly to look at the Mechanical men stood on guard there.

They were crude replicas of a man, with simple facial features, luminous green eyes and plates of metal that had been fitted to overlap with enough space to allow movement, without leaving much of them exposed from anything but the most awkward of angles to reach.

They were well enough made on the outside, but you could see nothing of the workings beneath their armoured exterior. That amount of armour was heavy however, that did tell you that they were slower than a man was. It was hardly much comfort though, now knowing how to defeat these things should you ever need to.

That was something you could work out another time though.

Maybe you could find one that was damaged or destroyed and take it apart, learn what made it tick. It was almost a bad joke, figuring out what made a clockwork creation tick. Making your way past them, you tucked your leaflet and form into your newspaper, made your way down the steps and paused to straighten your jacket and waistcoat.

You paused as you turned to face the Technomancers guild, realising that you could feel the fainted of rumblings. A rumbling that grew in intensity, growing as it became a roaring boom, as the doors to the guild were blown off their hinges, black smoke, leaflets and assorted papers billowing from within the building as terrified people ran from the door, scattering as they grouped up in the street, nervously talking amongst themselves.

All of them were sooty and singed, nervously trying to figure what had happened. Clockworkers hurried from their guild hall, directing a small number of mechanical men toward the other guilds hall, ordering them to recover anybody trapped inside still.

You bent down, picking up one of the less soot damaged leaflets and forms before slipping it into your newspaper too, figuring that it was none of your business getting involved in what seemed to be nothing more than an accident as you made your way down the street, stopping into a weapons shop on the way back as you made brief inquiries into gunsmithing, inquiries that were met with the suggestion that a hobbyist checked one of the bookstores for one of the in depth books on firearms that were stocked on occasion.

It was a starting point at least.

A well written book with good diagrams would tell you all you needed to know, allowing you to work out how all the pieces went together, how they worked, how best to maintain them.

With that you made your way back across the river and towards Reds, telling yourself as you made the journey there that you should have purchased a smaller weapon. You could feel that constant slap of the machete against your leg as you walked, telling you that it was probably better strapped to your leg or back instead of your belt. Still, you could worry about that later. For now, you had work to worry about, though after work the night was yours.

You weren't sure fighting was wise tonight given how you were recovering, though that didn't mean you couldn't do a few bets. Did you really want to turn up for the fights, or did you have other plans for the night once you were done with work?

Ochita

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #212 on: July 02, 2010, 01:30:57 pm »

I think we will not go to the docks and instead we try to find a new place to sleep
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princest zaldo of hurl kindom: the mushroom aren't going to choice itself, ochita

rickvoid

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #213 on: July 02, 2010, 02:06:26 pm »

We should put in an appearance, make little money (but lose a little too) but we might want to look into getting some new lodgings.
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Toaster

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #214 on: July 02, 2010, 03:01:15 pm »

I say investigate the city more.  We're not required to show up every night.
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HMR stands for Hazardous Materials Requisition, not Horrible Massive Ruination, though I can understand how one could get confused.
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sonerohi

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #215 on: July 02, 2010, 03:37:04 pm »

I think we need to put in an appearance. Once he sobered up, Oak probably was wanting to make sure we got home okay, specially if he talks to other farmers and saw the gore.
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I picked up the stone and carved my name into the wind.

Silleh Boy

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #216 on: July 02, 2010, 05:54:56 pm »

As you worked through the rest of the day you found yourself torn over the most wise course of action, torn over if it was better to put a few bets in and try and make a touch more than you lost or if you wanted to explore the city and see if better lodgings would present themselves in the mean time.

It wasn't an easy thing to decide on, as on one hand the money was something you could benefit from at the moment, and on the other a safe place to sleep was something that you sorely lacked. Of course the entire thing seemed distant while you were scrubbing floors, walls and tables, while you were busy ejecting trouble makers and helping drunks find their way out the door when they'd had too much.

As always, it seemed to be on you all of a sudden as your day was over, as the musicians packed up, as you did one last sweep to ensure the place was presentable for the next day. Red was busy counting coins as usual, though his expression was one that was troubled.

"What is bothering you, my friend?" You asked as you moved over to the bar, leaning against it as Red briefly paused, turning his attention to you instead of finishing counting the coins. "It's been gettin' all th'more dangerous these days. More'n more o'those bloody abomination's 'ave been seen e'ery night..." Red sighed, though he couldn't hide it from you, this wasn't what was truely bothering him.

"It's me, isn't it." You stated calmly, while Red scowled. "Not just ye, kid, not just ye. I've seen 'ow ye seem t'be a new man e'ery day, stronger'n smar'er..." He sighed once more, sorting coins once more as he set aside your pay. He still wasn't being straight with you.

"Red, I am no mind reader, spit out what is bothering you. Maybe it'll turn out to be nothing?" You smiled, though it seemed to do little to reassure the man as he placed the stack of coins before you, as he leaned back and started to polish the bar with a cloth as he spoke.

"Kid, ye've been a blessin'ere, I 'ave no idea where ye came from, who or what ye may be. Call me a selfish ol'man if ye mus', but ye've taken a burden off m'shoulders and i'd 'ate t'see ye go. I get th'feelin' though, that ye be quickly out growin' this li'l part'o town... who are ye really?" He cocked his head slightly, his attention focused on you as he ceased polishing the bar. "Will ye let me know tha', so when ye leave, it won't 'aunt me 'till th'grave?"

You breathed in deeply, not knowing how to answer this question yourself.

At least not in its entirety.

"I have no idea who I am, though I have fragments of memories, dreams, flickering glimpses of the life I have lived. I know that once I was a great man, a man of power and status, a man who at the feet of you would find lords and ladies prostrating themselves. I know I am a thousand years old, if not more. I am immortal, that I have recovered from injuries that would have caused the death of those that have enviably finite lifespans more than once. I have seen the night sky change as stars once present have burned out, I have seen the rise and fall of nations. Now I am nothing. Believe me or not, you cannot deny that in my eyes you can see the echoes of eternity."

Red was transfixed, enraptured by your words as you stood proud, as your presence filled the room as if for a brief moment you were that man you had once been. "But... if ye've no idea who ye once were..." he paused, taking a moment to collect his wits. "What are ye plannin' t'do with yerself?" he asked, tilting his head slightly as he did so. "With th'potential ye 'ave, ye could be anythin' at all."

"Then I will become a god."

With those resonant words echoing in his ears you turned from Red and made your way out into the night, starting in the direction of the docks as you strode with defiant purpose into the night.

Once you had been a man who kings bowed before, whatever had caused you to fall so far would pay for what it had stolen from you when you awakened once more.

You were half way between Red's bar and the docks when you felt the sensation of watchful eyes upon you. The gaze of an unknown amount of individuals, unknown amount of things gazing from all directions. You edged across to the other side of the path to stand beneath one of the streetlamps, your hand moving to your gun, your eyes scanning the area around you, trying to piece the gloom as you looked for a sign, any sign at all that would betray what was watching you.

You waited, your breathing stifled as you listened carefully.

Seconds felt like minutes.

Minutes felt like hours.

Nothing but the sound of the river lapping at its banks.

Finally something seemed to loom ahead of you in the darkness, between the pools of light cast off by the flickering streetlamps. A figure that groaned with an inhuman, low pitched sound, the reverberant echo of it in your ears causing you to falter as one large, luminous yellow eye opened in the darkness.

Then another.

And another.

And another.

Four luminous yellow eyes hovered in the darkness, heavy breathing filling your ears as whatever they belonged to exhaled with the force of a strong wind. You could still feel eyes on you from all around, though you could only see the ones belonging to this thing.

You had no idea what you were facing and what else was out there, all you knew was it was big and potentially very, very dangerous. How were you going to deal with this situation?

sonerohi

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #217 on: July 02, 2010, 06:14:53 pm »

Revolver at the ready in our right hand, knife in the left. Left forearm across the right wrist, right leg trailing and bent slightly for a proper shooting stance. Shoot dead the one we can see, and keep turning left slowly, taking out threats as they come.

((Basically, the best shooting stance we can get into here given that we are circled, and we turn left to maximize the momentum of the knife in case we need to get stabbing)).
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I picked up the stone and carved my name into the wind.

RAM

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #218 on: July 02, 2010, 10:59:24 pm »

Shooting the lights would be too easy, best to lure it into the light so we can figure out what we are dealing with.
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maxicaxi

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #219 on: July 02, 2010, 11:41:23 pm »

Revolver at the ready in our right hand, knife in the left. Left forearm across the right wrist, right leg trailing and bent slightly for a proper shooting stance. Shoot dead the one we can see, and keep turning left slowly, taking out threats as they come.

((Basically, the best shooting stance we can get into here given that we are circled, and we turn left to maximize the momentum of the knife in case we need to get stabbing)).
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I have absolutely no idea what's going on in this fort any more. Migrants arrive, they die for some reason, the fort is flooded for another reason, then dwarves go mad, more dwarves die and I'm just laughing in my distress.
you cannot defeat the potato.

Wimdit

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #220 on: July 03, 2010, 01:46:03 am »

Try talking to it first though. Just because it's an ominously groaning shadow with evil yellow eyes doesn't mean it's not friendly.
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maxicaxi

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #221 on: July 03, 2010, 02:00:26 am »

if we talk to it it will be an evil monster out to kill us.
 if we don't it will be peaceful .
attack
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I have absolutely no idea what's going on in this fort any more. Migrants arrive, they die for some reason, the fort is flooded for another reason, then dwarves go mad, more dwarves die and I'm just laughing in my distress.
you cannot defeat the potato.

Silleh Boy

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #222 on: July 03, 2010, 08:41:53 am »

Your hands went to your weapons, unfastening them as you stood ready to draw them, as you tried to figure what exactly it was that you were up against. It had four luminous yellow eyes, eyes that you couldn't quite tell if they were supposed to be horizontally or vertically aligned yet, given that they were at an angle. They stretched up and out, finishing out over the river.

This confused you, as you couldn't figure what would possibly sit at such an awkward angle.

You needed more variables, something that would tell you what it was that you were up against. You needed it to approach the light, but you didn't dare move yet. The streetlamp that gave you light enough to see what was going on clearly in your immediate vicinity almost blinded you to what this think was.

Without the light, you knew that you could see its outline looming in the darkness, that would at least give you a better idea of what it was. If you saw a shape, you could match it to the many things you had seen in your lifetime, assign its form to the nearest animal it matched. That was assuming however, that it matched an animal. For all you knew, it could be some hideously corrupted monstrosity that bore no form you could possibly hope to associate it with.

A large, thick tentacle edged into the light, inquisitively poking as it edged ever forwards, as it poked and prodded at the debris that sat in its way, before touching upon the base of the lamp post. There was a crack as it pulled it free of the ground, the sound of tortured metal and escaping gas filling the air, only for a solid clunk to fill the air as an emergency stop valve sprang into action on the gas line.

For a brief moment you almost forgot that the beast that had done this existed as you gave a small nod of approval to this well thought out design.

Now you sat in darkness.

Now, your eyes adjusted to the gloom as the form of this thing slowly came into sight.

It was a large mass that seemed to quiver as many tentacled arms writhed at its base, a form with four luminous yellow eyes stretching up the side of its body. At least you assumed the conical mass that leaned out over the river was a body. While the body of it appeared to be soft with how it visibly quivered, the thing was massive. You weren't certain that you were armed with anything that could do substantial enough damage to that thing.

It was a hungry creature that had been lured out of the water, it had been brought up to deal with you. Your enemies wanted you out of the picture, that could only mean one thing. The sensation of eyes all around you, was your enemies.

Your gun was drawn as you decided that the best course of action was to wound this thing and run while it thrashed around, to cause a distraction and to head down the alleyways where it couldn't possibly hope to chase you.

Your aim was spot on as you fired from the hip, your hand drawing back the hammer on your revolver as you fired off four bullets, hitting those four visible eyes.

One bullet for each eye.

The creature screeched as it visibly recoiled, tentacles lashing out as it demolished riverside property, screams coming from all around as towns people started to flee their homes in the confusion.

Ducking into the nearest alley you made a mental note that you had two bullets remaining in your weapons cylinder, rubble falling behind you as a vast tentacle clipped the side of the building, while before you loomed a figure.

Metal glinted as moonlight caught it, robes fluttered as the figure stepped forward.

Two more gunshots rang out as you shot the figure in the arm and the chest, quickly holstering your empty weapon as you replaced it with your machete, lashing out as you watched the weapon falling from their grasp. You weren't happy with disarming them, you wanted to ensure that they were literally unarmed.

Pained cries filled the air as you swung your blade twice, once for each shoulder as you severed the arms of the figure before you before you swung your foot for its legs, tripping it. Sheathing your machete in one fluid motion, you stooped, grabbing the legs of this fallen figure.

The enlightened had set a trap for you that had failed and now you had one of the enlightened.

The trail of thick ichor that this thing bled quickly ceased as corrupted flesh knitted, as you dragged it down alleyways, across streets and into one of the more rundown parts of the city on the outskirts.

You eventually stopped as you made your way into a rundown city square, windows boarded up all about you, visible dust and debris inside some of the partially collapsed buildings telling you that it was as good as uninhabited. Breathing deeply, you stepped back, locking the figures one leg in place as you exerted yourself, twisting their ankle sharply enough to hear a pop and a crack.

The figure let out another cry of pain, a cry that faded into a low moan that made you feel uncomfortable as there was something distinctly femanine about it.

You had been too caught up in defending yourself and escaping earlier to pay attention to who this thing was. As you turned to face them, to look down at the figure you had captured you took note that their arms were regrowing, that they wouldn't remain harmless for long. Unless you wanted to inflict further injury upon it to to keep it from recovering.

You no doubt had questions, but did you want to inflict more harm than was necessary on this thing?


Spoiler: "Possessions" (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: July 03, 2010, 11:30:53 am by Silleh Boy »
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Ochita

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #223 on: July 03, 2010, 08:50:08 am »

We need some type of heat, soon
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Quote from: Freeform
princest zaldo of hurl kindom: the mushroom aren't going to choice itself, ochita

penguify

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Re: They told me I could be anything...
« Reply #224 on: July 03, 2010, 12:16:51 pm »

I say inflict minimum harm, but naturally keep it/her tied up. Perhaps bargain its freedom for information? Might be pretty effective, especially if we can bluff it into thinking we could/would keep it there indefinitely.

We need some type of heat, soon

What do you mean by "heat"? The only fitting meaning I can see is "gun" (as in "packing heat"), so I assume you mean a bigger gun?
« Last Edit: July 03, 2010, 12:19:06 pm by penguify »
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