The Giovanni Saga (V20); Iskah's Thread

[BenjCano]

"Know thyself."
-Inscribed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi

relented, and eyed her 'partner' with an expression that lacked any warmth. "If the good host asks me to speak to one and one only, who am I to argue?" By the tone of her voice, she clearly didn't mean those words.

"Who are you? Are you an outcast like me, or an eccentric like so many here are?"

Theophana's eyes went wide, making her look even younger. She stared at Iskah for a long, uncomfortable moment, and then held a hand to her mouth, covering a smile and a light, girlish giggle. [I]"And you begin asking the most interesting questions. Who are you? And who am I? I don't think we have time to answer both of them, not before dinner, so we are only going to have a chance to focus on one. Which would you like the answer to the most?"

[daelrog]

"What's the purpose of me being here?" That was the most important question for her. She already assumed she knew why, that she was considered a heretic. However, that didn't explain what exactly she was doing here. It didn't explain what was going to happen to her. She chose her words carefully, and did not blink as she waited for a response.

[BenjCano]

Theophana answered with no hesitation, just the plain truth of her words in her little sing-song voice. "To die. Does that distress you?"

[daelrog]

The look on Iskah's face said as much, her mind jumping back to the gypsies who were hung. She took a step away from her. Then a second. She looked about her for the others who might still be around. "If that's so, do you think I intend to go quietly?" There was strain on her voice. Iskah as a child had been close to where they slaughtered the pigs, the poor wretched beasts screaming fitfully to the last. She always felt there was wisdom with that, and a scream was on the tip of her tongue.

[BenjCano]

"No," said Theophana. Her voice was light, but there was something terrible in it, like the rasp leather made when steel was drawn from a sheathe. Her eyes, too large for her face, were deep wells that opened up and swallowed Iskah's mind and her will. "You will not scream, no matter what happens, unless I say you may. And that is not how we play the game, little lamb. I ask a question, then you answer it and ask one of your own. Next time you cheat, I will make you bite your own finger off at the knuckle. Now play the game properly, or you'll start to eat early." And then she giggled, as lightly and sweetly as a little girl watching a jester.

It was really sensible not to scream. Nothing good would come of it, and it would only draw attention to her.

This is my dominate voice.

Theophana uses Dominate 2: Mesmirize, Manipulation+Leadership vs. Willpower. 7d10.hits(7) → [7,6,9,6,5,10,9] = (4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4578590/)

And scores 4 successes. Iskah may not scream for the remainder of the scene unless Theophana gives her permission, and finds ways to rationalize the decision.

[daelrog]

Right, she wouldn't scream. She wouldn't scream at all, for it wouldn't do her any good. Still, the cold realization was coming to Iskah of what she had stumbled upon. She had thought the monk's rantings were his salvation, that these people paid no respect to a strange, unseen God. No, it was more than that. These were true monsters she was around, men and women who held nothing sacred, not even the common decency of man.

"Yes. It distresses me greatly." She paused, making sure that it was her own turn before going again. "How can I change your mind, to let me leave this place alive?"

[BenjCano]

"Good question," Theophana says. "I don't want to say it is impossible, since then my lamb will give up hope, and that would be very very boring. Let us just say that if you are not a lamb, you must be a wolf, and take your place among wolves. But our number is set, so you would needs cast one of us down. Now tell me; what frightens you?"

[daelrog]

Whore. Hope was something Iskah had a poor view of, a tool of the church. Give the masses hope, just listen to them. Just do what they said. Why wasn't she screaming? A knife though. She could find a knife and slit her throat and be a wolf then, if that's what it took.

"I fear a people devoted to an imaginary God made up by greedy men who exploit us. I fear dying, cold and alone. I fear you."

Her eyes scanned for a weapon of some kind, something small that she could use.

"The same question to you then. What are you afraid of?"

Perception + Alertness for a knife or similar weapon

[roll0]

[BenjCano]

Iskah can see a knife on a nearby sideboard. It's just about a meter and a half away, meaning she'd have to take two steps and potentially give Theodora a chance to respond. If you want her to try for it, go Dexterity+Athletics against difficulty 6.

I'm pre-emptively rolling Theophana's Dex+Ath dice pool as an opposed roll. You will need to score more than 2 successes to reach the knife before Theophana reaches Iskah.

7d10.hits(6) → [7,2,4,8,2,1,9] = (3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4582233/)

"I am not afraid of anything," said the mad, sadistic woman. She practically moaned the word as her head tilted to one side. With the gesture and overly large eyes, she reminded Iskah of nothing so much as a bird of prey, giving serious consideration to a field mouse that had wandered into its field of view. "I am that which others fear. Now that we know where you are weak, we will have to move against it. If you are afraid of death, cold and lonely death, then that's what you are going to have to face before the sun rises.

"But I think you're lying. I think there's something more immediate. More physical. Less abstract. What is it? Tell me, now."

[daelrog]

Dexterity + Alertness [roll0]

Iskah couldn't fathom the person was speaking to. It made no sense at all. She was mad, but not the kind of incoherent, pathetic insanity she had seen with several of the downtrodden. Her eyes jumped to the knife, but too focus she was on Lady Theophana, that she tripped over herself as she tried to go for the blade.

[BenjCano]

At the last moment before Iskah could lunge for the knife, Theophana stepped around her, physically interposing her body between Iskah and the weapon. The two women were close enough for Iskah's breath to tickle her, and the reverse should have been true as well, but Iskah felt no puff of breath from her nose or from between her slightly parted lips. And where their skin touched, Iskah felt that Theophana was cold as ice, with flesh that felt slightly waxy and too-slick.

"I told you what would happen if you didn't play, little lamb," coos Theophana. "I'm so sorry you didn't take me seriously. But we're just going to have to eat you alive now." From inside her eyes scuttle forth beetles with long, sharp horns. Worms spill forth from inside Theophana's mouth, landing on Iskah's arm and beginning to burrow beneath her flesh. From beneath the table mangy rats with flesh worn through to show the bones of their ribs scurry forth, and begin to nip and bite at Iskah's ankles. From overhead, spiders drop on glistening silk threads, landing on her hands, on her shoulders, in her hair.

Theophana uses Total Insanity, with a roll of Manipulation+Intimidation vs. difficulty of Iskah's willpower (7).

9d10.hits(7) → [5,5,4,10,9,9,10,7,2] = (5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4583256/)

Ouch. Iskah is going to be sporting 5 Derrangements while this effect lasts. They will be a Phobia of insects and rats, hallucinations of insects and rats, a phobia of being eaten alive, hysteria (wild, uncontrollable mood swings), and one other of your choice.

[daelrog]

No, this wasn't happening. Iskah tried to piece things together. Something she had eaten, somethign she had drunk, but madness came in too fast. As she began to feel insects crawl on her shoulders, rats nibble at her feet, she began to scratch, and then tear at them.

"I. Will. Kill. You." The words croaked out of her mouth as blissful ecstasy entered her bones, at the feel of her own hands clawing at her skin. Each bite from something else though was horror, and she moaned in pleasure and fear, the prideful girl a wretched mess before Lady Theophana. "Kill... you. Kill... you." Her voice trailed off as she began to thrash around violently, keeping the pests at bay, and leaving her skin to her own abuse. If she broke herself, then the damned rats and bugs would have nothing left to chew on. Her eyes eyed the knife once more but she no longer had Theophana in mind. She intended to use it on herself as she slowly reached up for it.

I added masochism into the mix

[BenjCano]

Iskah found the knife easier to reach than she thought; it was handed down to her by the cruel little Greek. "Yes, that's it. Cut away the sin. Cut away the lies. You are a fraud, aren't you? An utterly black-hearted, miserable, wretched creature. You don't fool me. Cut yourself open and show everyone how rotten you are inside."

[daelrog]

Iskah started with her forehead, a shallow cut, but the blood began to flow, getting into her eyes. She blinked it away as she started mamking shallow cuts across her body, methodically, purposefully, as if conducting some sort of ritual only she understand, still shaking now and then as she felt a bite from the vermin surrounding her.

[BenjCano]

I think this may be a good point to put a pin in things...let's just say that beneath Theophana's encouragement, Iskah is in danger of doing real harm to herself....let's knock off two health levels to lethal damage and pick up when we rejoin the group.

So, before I go and award you XP for the scene, what would you feel the impact of this violation will be on Iskah? How will it affect her, assuming she survives the night?

[daelrog]

Once she regains the ability for rational thought, this event is likely to put a crack in her view of the world, realizing that there are powers beyond what she can see, that angels and demons do exist. On the outside she might still try to refuse believing it still, but internally her whole life philosophy has been shaken. It will make her fear some things more than death itself.

[BenjCano]

I'm going to go ahead and give you 2 XP for the scene, plus a bonus XP for your reflection on the impact on Iskah's psyche. If you want to say that in her lust for self-harm, she does disfiguring or permanent damage to herself, we can rearrange her Social or Physical Attributes as you see fit.

[daelrog]

Hm... for now I'll keep the dots as they are, at least for now. As time goes on we'll see if she keeps with the shallow cuts or moves on to worse things. Suffice to say she is going to look pretty bad at dinner, dried blood, cuts, and all.

[BenjCano]

Given that Iskah has been hit very, very hard by her encounter with Theophana, I'm inclined to slide you an extra XP. Take 4, and prepare to join us in the main thread.