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  1. - Top - End - #1471
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Ironsmith's Avatar

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    Default Re: GLoG 93: Something something something babies

    [Scorching Depths]

    Braon stumbles out of bed, in a daze from heat stroke. She... she had to be imagining this, right?

    No, of course not. If she were imagining this, there would be a nice, cool pitcher of water with her name on it. She's parched, so much so that her lips are sticking together and she can taste the roof of her mouth. It's not exactly pleasant. She needs to find a way to cool down, before she passes out again.

    Maybe her magic would help?

    Yes, of course. It was simple enough in theory. Weave some good old-fashioned calmness into the air. In its stillness, it would be much cooler than the adjacent rooms. A simple enough cantrip.

    Braon raises her hands to begin the enchantment... and then stops abruptly when she realizes she's having trouble bringing the necessary thoughts to mind. What did calmness feel like? Certainly not this. She had this horrible knot in the pit of her stomach at the realization that she was still trapped in a hell, with a demon queen who had already double-crossed her once and could, at any time, elect to make things worse for her by dropping her off on that mountaintop again.

    That certainly stirred up a lot of feelings in her. Anger at Sekhmet for this treatment. Paranoid dread that she was at her mercy. Deep-rooted sorrow at the similarity between this and other events. Which would circle back into rage, as Sekhmet knew about them on some level and still decided this was okay.

    The point is, calm was not on her palette anywhere.

    And when she realizes this, she realizes something else; she can't piece the experience back together, like she could before coming here. She'd lost the Pit's gift of self-knowledge as well as her vines. Sekhmet's bath had made her far stronger, but taken away her finesse. Her brain was once again unillumed; she no longer understood herself well enough to weave anything too complicated. Or, for that matter, anything simple she didn't immediately have a good grasp on.

    Damn.

    Braon sighs and collapses on the bed. This was just the worst feeling. Total helplessness. She thought she was rid of it, and had been for years, but Sekhmet was making her relive it all over again.

    ...Well, not on her watch. Braon resolves to punch Sekhmet right in the face the next time they meet. Demon queen or no, nobody was going to make her their plaything. Not with impunity, at least.

    ...Was it just her, or did it get a little wetter in here?

    Braon looks up and notices that it's now raining in her room.

    Did... did she do that? How did she do that?

    Braon sighs and leans back on the bed. It didn't matter. At least it was better than just sweltering heat. Marginally.
    Who're you? ...Don't matter.

    Want some rye? 'Course ya do!


    Here's to us.
    Who's like us?
    Damn few,
    and they're aaall dead.


    *gushes unintelligibly over our cat, Sunshine*

    [Nexus characters, grouped by setting:
    Ouroboros: here
    Maesda: here
    Others: here
    ]

  2. - Top - End - #1472
    Troll in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: GLoG 93: Something something something babies

    Scorching Depths
    Braon can stew in her loathing for a while. Nobody will check on her. The room is nice, so it's clear Sekhmet doesn't want her to suffer too much.
    She might not even be locked in; has she considered checking the doors? Or any of the furniture? They all have storage space in them.
    Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!

    Quote Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46
    'Tis the time's plague, when madmen lead the blind.
    My Nexus characters

  3. - Top - End - #1473
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: GLoG 93: Something something something babies

    Quote Originally Posted by bc56 View Post
    Campground
    Sekhmet can easily start the fire. She seems at least a little confused with the clothes. That was a sudden change. And then she lets the music take her.
    And she is beautiful and terrible, as a demon queen should be.
    The music dies, she breathes deeply. Is she still dressed differently herself? "Wow, uh..." That was strange and a little creepy, but wow. "How did you do that? With the clothes and the fire and everything?" And her voice! Sekhmet can't believe she sang so well. Or Jahlynn sang through her? Something like that.
    Campground

    Sekhmet very much is. She might spot that her original clothes are laying in a neatly folded pile some distance away from her. The demon queen is still wearing the same underwear as before, just so you won't have to ask.

    Jaahlyn lets out a laugh at the question. "I already told you your highness, it's the magic of the music." She looks away, or more specifically glancing at the pile of Sekhmet's clothes. "...mixed in with some of my own. The right props do adds to the music wouldn't you say?" Then the satyr gestures to her. "But the voice, the fire... that was all you. Like I was lending you my talents I was also lending some of yours in a way."

  4. - Top - End - #1474
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: GLoG 93: Something something something babies

    Quote Originally Posted by bc56 View Post
    Scorching Depths
    Braon can stew in her loathing for a while. Nobody will check on her. The room is nice, so it's clear Sekhmet doesn't want her to suffer too much.
    She might not even be locked in; has she considered checking the doors? Or any of the furniture? They all have storage space in them.
    [Scorching Depths]

    It takes a while for Braon to decide to get up. Even if she left this room, there wasn't any way back to the Nexus proper, was there? She'd only leave her current cage to find out she was in a bigger cage. What would be the point of that?

    Then she changes her mind. No, there is a way out. Sekhmet. She'd gotten her into this mess, and she was going to get her out. Braon was going to find her and make the demon queen bring her home.

    After all, that was the only way forward.

    With that newfound resolve, Braon stands up and walks over to the door, testing to see if it's locked. If not, she'll just walk right through, potential guards or traps or anything on the other side be damned.
    Last edited by Ironsmith; 2021-09-20 at 06:02 AM.

  5. - Top - End - #1475
    Troll in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: GLoG 93: Something something something babies

    Campground
    "Uh, how much of that was me and how much was you?" So the fire and shadow were probably Sekhmet, and the singing and dancing Jahlynn. But what about the clothes? If Sekhmet could learn to do that, it would make being a shapeshifter much easier. "What of that can you, uh, teach me?"

    Scorching Depths
    One door is locked. The other opens onto a bathroom with fittings of marble and gold. But a comfortable cage is still a cage.
    Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!

    Quote Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46
    'Tis the time's plague, when madmen lead the blind.
    My Nexus characters

  6. - Top - End - #1476
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: GLoG 93: Something something something babies

    [Scorching Depths]

    Well, then. One way out, and it was locked. Probably magically reinforced, too. Sekhmet clearly did not want Braon getting out.

    Not that that was going to stop her, mind.

    Braon kneels next to the locked door, placing her hand on the lock. This was a fairly basic trick; right now, what she wanted more than anything was freedom. Not to have to do what she was told. Not to have to stay within the bounds she was given. Not to have to wait for someone's approval.

    If the lock "wanted" the same thing, it would usually unlock itself, then go on to fiddle with its own components in a myriad of ways, before working its way free from the door entirely. This was a simple matter of channeling. Nothing Braon hasn't done hundreds of times before.

    "Come on. You know you want to be free, too." She mutters to herself.
    Who're you? ...Don't matter.

    Want some rye? 'Course ya do!


    Here's to us.
    Who's like us?
    Damn few,
    and they're aaall dead.


    *gushes unintelligibly over our cat, Sunshine*

    [Nexus characters, grouped by setting:
    Ouroboros: here
    Maesda: here
    Others: here
    ]

  7. - Top - End - #1477
    Titan in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: GLoG 93: Something something something babies

    [Infirmary]

    "You have newly come into power," Sophie explains. "You're an unknown, without ties or a power base. People want to be the first to gain your favor, use it to their advantage. Is there anyone there you think you can trust? Someone you can bring in from the outside, maybe? From the sound of it, a firm but fair hand may be necessary."
    My FFRP characters. Avatar by Ashen Lilies. Sigatars by Ashen Lilies, Gullara and Purple Eagle.
    Interested in the Nexus FFRP setting? See our Discord server.

  8. - Top - End - #1478
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: GLoG 93: Something something something babies

    Quote Originally Posted by Earl of Purple View Post
    Lake- by still practice

    "Just... fill that one up with water. We'll try both." She waves her hands over the bucket, and more of the red symbols appear in the air around her, and the bucket rapidly fills up with sand. Once it's full, she heaves it up and upends the bucket over the weirdest part of the fire. Hopefully Hadrian wasn't meddling with alchemic fire capable of burning sand.

    Ideally nobody in the daycare notices the sand siphoning off the top of the sandpit and disappearing as Natalie fills the bucket, because she can't easily put it back after she's emptied the sand onto the forest floor.
    [Lake - by still practice]

    The sand covers the ignited brush near the busted drum where the fire is burning hottest. Was burning hottest, because it successfully blocks air from reaching the fuel. Hadrian's attempt with the water is less successful. Somehow, despite no liquids being visible, whatever he threw the water at splashed like it was burning gasoline and spread a few more violet flames around. The net effect of the two teenagers' efforts is only slightly positive. The brown-haired boy utters a particularly colorful and profane swear he learned from his father, then runs back to the lake with his bucket.

    The fire climbing up the tree trunk, Natalie may realize, will be harder to snuff out with sand. But it's only harming the one tree for now, while the other spots of voracious fire are a more immediate danger.
    “Me quoque per multos similis fortuna labores
    iactatam hac demum voluit consistere terra.
    Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco.”

    – Publius Vergilius Maro, The Aeneid

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  9. - Top - End - #1479
    Orc in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: GLoG 93: Something something something babies

    Lake- by still practice

    Natalie raises an eyebrow at the swearing, but won't comment. She's not sure she knows what some of those words mean.

    A bit disappointing that the water doesn't work, though. It takes quite a bit of effort to summon sand into the bucket... Although, Natalie's just had a better idea. Rather than summon another bucketload of sand, she holds her hands out concentrates on GLoG's kitchen. Symbols coalesce around her hands, as she summons the fire extinguisher usually kept under the sink, which she's going to spray over the burning tree. Because it's intended for potential use on grease or electrical fires, it isn't a water-based extinguisher; a cloud of carbon dioxide billows out and over the burning wood to suffocate it without needing a lot of sand from GLoG's sandpit.
    Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!

  10. - Top - End - #1480
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: GLoG 93: Something something something babies

    Quote Originally Posted by bc56 View Post
    Campground
    "Uh, how much of that was me and how much was you?" So the fire and shadow were probably Sekhmet, and the singing and dancing Jahlynn. But what about the clothes? If Sekhmet could learn to do that, it would make being a shapeshifter much easier. "What of that can you, uh, teach me?"
    Campground

    "About half and half I'd say, you got a real diamond in the rough of a voice, your ladyship." Jaahlyn chuckles and gestures to Sekhmet. "But I believe there's more than just your voice that I can train if you would want me to. While I was, ah, directing you I got a much better sense of what you have the potential to do and I was impressed." She makes another flourish and as she finishes it there's suddenly a mask on a stick in her left hand. Sekhmet might at this point have noted that Jaahlyn is left-handed.

    "So let me introduce another aspect of myself. I am Jaahlyn Hesperos but I am also a goat and Baphoreth, an aspect of death." The satyr let's the mask be held over her face but doesn't quite put it on.

    It's a black masquerade mask stylized as the face of a goat. Three horns come out of it, but while the left and middle look very much like Jaahlyn's own, the third horn is pure white and sprouts out of the middle of the goats skull, shaped like a long candle.

    "We are more alike than you might think. I guide souls to the beyond, much like the ones that come to your realm, oh queen of demons. That's how I knew your powers you see. They are not too different from my own as the death beyond is as much a part of me as it's a part of you. I've seen the torture the souls below inflict upon themselves. They were the very same shadows that you saw dancing in the flames earlier in fact. Therefore I happen to be in the position to teach you about such things. But again, only if you desire me to." Jaahlyn's tone has grown darker as she holds the mask in front of her face.
    Last edited by Shadowcaller; 2021-09-21 at 12:21 PM.

  11. - Top - End - #1481
    Troll in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: GLoG 93: Something something something babies

    Infirmary
    "I, uh, have a few advisers." One, really. But Sekhmet knows she can trust Rose. "But, uh, it's hard to find trustworthy fiends."

    Campground
    Sekhmet doesn't think the left-handedness is notable, because she is also left-handed. "I'm Sekhmet, but, uh, I'm also the Fated One, Queen of the Scorching Depths, Queen of Succubi, Lady of Forgiveness, uh, and some other things." Since they're sharing titles. "I'm, uh, less of a guide and more of a, uh, prison warden?" She has to think. "What exactly could you, uh, teach me about that?"

    Scorching Depths
    Moving this to planeside, should've done it a while ago.
    Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!

    Quote Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46
    'Tis the time's plague, when madmen lead the blind.
    My Nexus characters

  12. - Top - End - #1482
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: GLoG 93: Something something something babies

    Campground

    Ironically, 'aspect of death' wasn't even one of Baphoreth's titles, it was more like their general descriptor. But sharing their actual titles would break the conditions of the bindings.
    "A jailor of forgiveness? What an interesting mix of traits." Jaahlyn muses. "But the real question is what you wish to learn, lady Sekhmet. You no doubt realize that your gifts can be used for many things, good or bad. But I could teach you how to bend shadows and souls to your will, how to influence and control the mind, how to communicate with the dead or devour them whole. How to guide spirits or lead them astray. Or simply... to change your clothes." Sekhmet can't see Jaahlyn's expression behind that mask but she sounded mirthful despite the dark subject. "So what will it be?"

  13. - Top - End - #1483
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: GLoG 93: Something something something babies

    [Lake - by still practice]

    The CO2 extinquisher works very well indeed. It displaces the oxygen which, apparently, the alchemical conflagration still requires. Without air the flames dwindle and finally die. Although before she relaxes too much, the tree is still hot and whatever started the fire is probably still present, albeit unseen. Hadrian splashed something with the lake water, after all. Would a heavier-than-air gas react like that?

    By the time the young psychic returns with a bucket half full of damp mud, Natalie has put out all of the fire. For now. "Ah, that's a useful power. You really saved me."
    “Me quoque per multos similis fortuna labores
    iactatam hac demum voluit consistere terra.
    Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco.”

    – Publius Vergilius Maro, The Aeneid

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  14. - Top - End - #1484
    Ogre in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: GLoG 93: Something something something babies


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