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  1. - Top - End - #91
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    [ABAJ - ???]

    "It's a guess that there will be any of this at all, but it would fit the bill for a villainous necromancer to have souls and bodies on hand..."
    Otherwise, what the heck was the point of being a villainous necromancer at all?

    The presence sounds subsequently apologetic and chastised.
    "I don't mean to pressure, just offering counsel within my role. Your lack of previous skills in tasks is...unimportant, while you wear that bracelet. We all elevate you according to our natures, some differently than others.
    Unlike the other blade you have now, I am not very martial. Still a blade, but what I give has little to do with that. Ugly, maybe, but useful still I hope."
    "Fear and creativity are conjoined twins."
    Absentee Spirit

  2. - Top - End - #92
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    ABAJ - ???

    G'nichi shakes his head.
    Having a skillset that fluctuates based on who appears in the morning makes it very hard to plan ahead. Still, we'll see what we get. If there are souls loose enough to pull from her control, I'll need you to tell me what to do, okay? If there's a few Bad End me-corpses I'd really rather not fight that. G'nichi thinks that someone his own size is not something he'd like to be facing even assuming a reanimated corpse wouldn't have its own bracelet.
    "We're just going to have to go down there and see what we can do." He wouldn't hold it against Mari if she wasn't up for joining him in her condition.
    Spako Highclaws by Ceika.

    [Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]

  3. - Top - End - #93
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    Walking To GLoG

    The footpath travels through a wooded area, which eventually opens out into a small paved area around a monument of some kind- an old bronze statue of a naked man riding a large goat, both with branching antlers, and the man is raising a goblet to the sky. It looks like it used to be a fountain, probably from the goblet, but it's not working and the dish around the statue is dry and littered with dead leaves and old coins.

    Lying on the ground near the edge of the statue is... it looks like a body. It's wearing a pair of trousers, ending in socks, with a hooded coat with the hood up. It's lying on its side with its back towards the centre of the paved area, and doesn't seem to be breathing- though she or her passenger may note a few oddities. There's no sign of the shoes, and dry grass and straw seems to be sticking out from under the jacket, and the trousers are tucked into the socks.
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  4. - Top - End - #94
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    Walking to GLoG
    Miranda can be sure that she's making a good choice here, because the whole way, Lizzie is screaming bloody murder and forcing Miranda's body to fight against itself in order to keep going. She doesn't care about any of the other things they're passing, she just wants to keep Miranda from reaching GLoG.
    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.
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  5. - Top - End - #95
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    Quote Originally Posted by Earl of Purple View Post
    Walking To GLoG

    The footpath travels through a wooded area, which eventually opens out into a small paved area around a monument of some kind- an old bronze statue of a naked man riding a large goat, both with branching antlers, and the man is raising a goblet to the sky. It looks like it used to be a fountain, probably from the goblet, but it's not working and the dish around the statue is dry and littered with dead leaves and old coins.

    Lying on the ground near the edge of the statue is... it looks like a body. It's wearing a pair of trousers, ending in socks, with a hooded coat with the hood up. It's lying on its side with its back towards the centre of the paved area, and doesn't seem to be breathing- though she or her passenger may note a few oddities. There's no sign of the shoes, and dry grass and straw seems to be sticking out from under the jacket, and the trousers are tucked into the socks.
    Quote Originally Posted by bc56 View Post
    Walking to GLoG
    Miranda can be sure that she's making a good choice here, because the whole way, Lizzie is screaming bloody murder and forcing Miranda's body to fight against itself in order to keep going. She doesn't care about any of the other things they're passing, she just wants to keep Miranda from reaching GLoG.
    [Walking to GLoG]

    About an hour into the walk, Miranda is already tired. With Lizzie resisting her every step of the way, her limbs feel like they're made from tungsten and she more or less has to drag herself down the trail. However, these are hardly the worst circumstances she's ever had for hiking, and she can keep going without too much trouble. Thanks, Sargeant Daniel.

    ...Huh. She wonders why that was on her mind.

    At any rate, by the time she reaches the fountain, she's willing to take a brief breather and lean against a nearby tree. "Oh, hush." She grumbles to Lizzie. "If you're gonna be like that, I'll just drop you off here and be done with it."

    ...She can't, unfortunately, but Lizzie really had nobody but herself to blame for her present condition.

    Miranda looks up at the dried fountain, taking a minute to appreciate the detail.

    ...Not like that.

    ...Okay maybe a little like that. She does have a succubus in her head.

    Miranda's eyes wander down the statue until she comes to the body at the bottom. She steps back in alarm, only to notice at a second glance that it looked like it was stuffed, with the straw poking out. A scarecrow, maybe?

    She kneels next to the body and rolls it over, mostly in an attempt to satisfy her curiosity.
    Last edited by Ironsmith; 2021-11-16 at 02:14 PM.

  6. - Top - End - #96
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    Walking to GLoG

    It's not a scarecrow, which is quite obvious when Miranda turns the stuffed figure onto its back and can see into the hood. It's a skeleton, padded out with newspaper, rags and dry grass. Staring out of the hood is a skull, and the front of the coat is ripped and bloodstained, with newspaper, dead leaves and scraps of cloth spilling out along the zipper.

    The purpose of the 'scarecrow' is also rather quickly apparent, as whilst Miranda is rolling it over, three figures have emerged from the woods and are stalking up behind her- it's bait, a distraction. The three figures are small, about the size of children, eight or nine years old. Two look human, one very dark-skinned with a bald head, wearing a grass-stained pair of white joggers and a tattered dark purple t-shirt, the other white-skinned, with shoulder-length frizzy black hair and wearing a tattered dress apparently made from plastic bags stitched together. The third has pointed ears, dark blue skin, and deep purple hair, wearing a dark grey adult suit jacket, the sleeves rolled up and a pair of old sandals. All three have their mouths and eyes open, revealing that between their 'lips' are a large eyeball, yellow, pink and pale blue respectively, whilst their 'eyelids' conceal extending tentacles ending in tiny mouths. They're creeping closer to Miranda, nearly soundlessly over the pavement, and prepare to jump on her whilst she's distracted
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  7. - Top - End - #97
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    Walking to GLoG
    Other than the skeleton, the first sign Miranda will have that something's wrong is that Lizzie stops resisting her. "Behind us!" She can sense the predatory minds approaching, even if she can't see them. She doesn't want to die any more than Miranda does.
    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.
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  8. - Top - End - #98
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    [ABAJ - ???]

    "I'm told improvisation is the essence of heroism..."
    This sounds like something one of the more exuberant weapons would say.
    "But I agree with you. I will be here to support you, whatever we find below."

    Mari has taken G'nichi's internal conversation time to rest some more, eyes closed and doing some deep breathing exercises.
    She cracks an eye open as he actually talks out loud again and grimaces.
    "I feel like I have to say how terrible an idea this is, even though I'm pretty sure we also don't have a choice. Don't die, huh? I already know I'm not winning any fights down there, losing you would be...bad."

    Another moment of wishful thinking later and she begins to wearily pull herself to her feet.
    "Assuming she pulled back a little, we should be able to see her before she sees us. The inner wall of this hallway goes away after a bit, leaving open air towards the bottom."
    "Fear and creativity are conjoined twins."
    Absentee Spirit

  9. - Top - End - #99
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    ABAJ - Day ???

    G'nichi nods and picks up the greatsword again.
    "Okay, buddy. You're on point again. Give me your best anti-monster options." he says as he holds up the blade to his eye. It's shockingly light for its absurd size.
    "Alright. Stay behind me. I'll do my best to get us through this." He'll keep his left hand on Gladius so she can help him clear the pink mist from their path forward.
    Spako Highclaws by Ceika.

    [Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]

  10. - Top - End - #100
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    Quote Originally Posted by Earl of Purple View Post
    Walking to GLoG

    It's not a scarecrow, which is quite obvious when Miranda turns the stuffed figure onto its back and can see into the hood. It's a skeleton, padded out with newspaper, rags and dry grass. Staring out of the hood is a skull, and the front of the coat is ripped and bloodstained, with newspaper, dead leaves and scraps of cloth spilling out along the zipper.

    The purpose of the 'scarecrow' is also rather quickly apparent, as whilst Miranda is rolling it over, three figures have emerged from the woods and are stalking up behind her- it's bait, a distraction. The three figures are small, about the size of children, eight or nine years old. Two look human, one very dark-skinned with a bald head, wearing a grass-stained pair of white joggers and a tattered dark purple t-shirt, the other white-skinned, with shoulder-length frizzy black hair and wearing a tattered dress apparently made from plastic bags stitched together. The third has pointed ears, dark blue skin, and deep purple hair, wearing a dark grey adult suit jacket, the sleeves rolled up and a pair of old sandals. All three have their mouths and eyes open, revealing that between their 'lips' are a large eyeball, yellow, pink and pale blue respectively, whilst their 'eyelids' conceal extending tentacles ending in tiny mouths. They're creeping closer to Miranda, nearly soundlessly over the pavement, and prepare to jump on her whilst she's distracted
    Quote Originally Posted by bc56 View Post
    Walking to GLoG
    Other than the skeleton, the first sign Miranda will have that something's wrong is that Lizzie stops resisting her. "Behind us!" She can sense the predatory minds approaching, even if she can't see them. She doesn't want to die any more than Miranda does.
    [Walking to GLoG]

    Miranda frowns when she sees the skeleton. Why would someone do that? This wasn't the product of natural decay, as someone had clearly stuffed the corpse's clothes. It also wasn't likely a funerary custom, since the body was just left here. The only option that left was that it was meant to trick people into thinking they were looking at a person. Who would do that, and why would they use human remains?

    Then Lizzie's warning goes off, and it all makes sense.

    Miranda grabs a fallen branch from the ground and turns around in a combat-ready stance, surveying her attackers. Three on one, and they seemed to have human-level intelligence. Those were bad odds even for her. She'd have to find a way to reduce them.

    Miranda sets her Hotbox to begin printing off more gas canisters, then swings her branch around in a way that makes it clear coming any closer would result in at least one of them getting concussed. Maybe she couldn't fend off all three, but maybe also they have enough self-preservation instinct to try to avoid being the one she could beat down.
    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*

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  11. - Top - End - #101
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    [ABAJ - ???]

    The big slab of a blade continues to be nonvocal, though as G'nichi makes his request that greenish blue glow begins to emanate down its length. It felt light before, but now it feels right.
    A confidence in training that G'nichi never received, an awareness that he knows precisely how to wield this thing, what movements get what results, and when to make them. Alongside this, a certain ease of movement invites itself to his steps. He could move quickly, if he wishes to, and any physical weariness that had been plaguing him finds itself conspicuously absent.

    This is not the showiest boon the weapons have given G'nichi, but it seems the most understandable and straightforwardly useful.
    There's certainly more, he remembers how the blade blew through Nemeth's home, but such things are difficult for the blade to express without action.

    Mari's gaze is on the blade's glow for a moment, clearly curious, but the task at hand ends the distraction in short order.
    "Lead the way, hero guy."

    And so they descend.

    It doesn't take long to reach the point where G'nichi entered, the basin now full of a thick pink fluid. More disturbingly, what appears to be a giant, fleshy vein has grown out of the basin, down its side, and is traveling along the edge of the hallway downwards in the same direction they're going.
    Periodically, it pulses down its length, evidently transporting something.

    The floor is coated in a thin blanket of pink fog, which obligingly parts around G'nichi thanks to his smaller sword.
    At the same time, the sword's presence seems to be tensing up at his back.
    "That flesh on the floor...I can feel the necromancy in it, but there's something else in there, too. Magic, but not any I've seen before."

    If he goes down the hall further, the next basin is dark, but the one after that seems identical: pink fluid, peculiar pulsating vein running down the hall, joined to the one he already saw.
    Every basin he's going to pass for quite some time is going to be one or the other of these. The pink fog along the floor is going to get thicker as they go, and the vein at the edge gets large and larger.

    The walk is long.
    Mari wasn't lying about there being hundreds of these basins. The hallway reaches an uncomfortable monotony, the only change being the increasingly unpleasant nature of the fog and veins.

    "If it comes to running, don't think I'll make it back up this..."
    She mutters from somewhere behind G'nichi, a few moments later reaching forward to tap his shoulder for attention.
    "Look, ahead. The glow changes, that's where the wall breaks and we should be able to see what we're heading towards."

    Further down the seemingly endless hall, that bright pink glow they had originally fled from can be seen strongly blooming. The fog seems to be shifting and churning up there, as altered wind currents in the cave(?) conflict with the path of travel through the hallway.

    Moving forward more, the wall falls away to reveal a clearer image of where G'nichi finds himself. The ground of the hallway, alongside the inner curve, finds itself lacking a wall and falls away, far below.

    It is a giant pit, shaped roughly like an inverted mountain.
    The hallway that G'nichi and Mari have been walking through seems to be running inside the wall of this giant pit, which stretches off into the pink-tinged darkness above. From the current level downwards, the hallway becomes visible spiraling downwards into the pink below.

    And below is where the interesting stuff lies, where the pit terminates into a flat stone area large enough to fit an entire house
    .
    The most immediately obvious feature is the rather large pillar made of pink gemstone, slightly darker than the surrounding mist. Its shape is reminiscent of a closed-off pinecone. It is also the source of the pink glow, rather brilliant against the otherwise-gloomy nature of the cave.
    Squinting more closely, the pulsing veins can be seen crawling up along its sides.

    Scattered around the ground around this is what looks to be lab equipment, poking up through the swirling fog tightly clinging to the floor. Numerous metal tables, covered in vials, tubes, books, and papers. Here and there more glowing pink gemstones of a more reasonable size are arranged in intricate patterns on the floor itself.

    Lastly, shuffling figures in purple robes move amongst the tables, moving around equipment and gemstones to whatever purpose they are engaged in.
    "Fear and creativity are conjoined twins."
    Absentee Spirit

  12. - Top - End - #102
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    ABAJ - ??

    G'nichi makes an effort to take his sword and slice all the veins he sees. It isn't much, but if they're drawing power from the souls in each dream it probably pays to cut off those sources of power. It would be hard, since there's so many except that they're all going parallel to the same place.
    "Is there a way we could reverse some of this magic? Draw whatever power its getting out of that source?" he asks his present company.
    This desire becomes even stronger as he gets a glimpse of the source.
    what is it with eldritch entities and monuments sticking up in the air?"
    Spako Highclaws by Ceika.

    [Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]

  13. - Top - End - #103
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    [ABAJ - ???]

    The veins aren't especially fortified and cutting them is a simple matter of course.
    Upon being wounded, they begin to twich and leak a strange fluid colored with all the swirling colors of the rainbow onto the ground around them. The portion of the vein leading up to the basin also immediately begins to wither and die.

    Two more things happen after that:
    The vein begins crawling back upwards, like a grotesque worm, towards the basin again.
    Mari leaps forward with a strip of cloth to quickly wipe the rainbow goo from G'nichi's sword.

    "Do not let that crap get on you. It's why I'm down to only one arm.
    ...wasn't in the veins before, what the hell."
    Last edited by Chaotic Bob; 2021-11-17 at 01:57 PM.
    "Fear and creativity are conjoined twins."
    Absentee Spirit

  14. - Top - End - #104
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    ABAJ - ???

    "I admit I'm not sure the bracelet's capabilities to repair the weapons it sends me. The weapon I had before I was pulled out never returned when he offered to scout for me."
    He shakes his head.
    "I was hoping to cut off their power, but it seems these things just regrow. Maybe if I had a flamethrower. I don't think we'll be able to disrupt things on this end." he says bitterly. Back to the original plan, then.
    Spako Highclaws by Ceika.

    [Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]

  15. - Top - End - #105
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    [ABAJ - ???]

    "Unless we are completely destroyed, the bracelet should theoretically repair us. I wouldn't make any assumptions with this...ooze. It seems a sibling to divine power, which means it may have unexpected effects."
    The gladius-presence tries to be useful again.
    "I don't detect any diminishment in the bracelet now, so I would think your other weapon simply returned when you came out of the 'dream'."

    Mari tosses the cloth off to the side before crouching next to one of the squirming veins.
    "No no, I think this idea still has merit. These aren't going super quick, so I think if you cut them off far enough from the basin we'll do some disruption. Not permanent, but we're planning on causing more serious problems soon enough."
    She contemplatively taps her knee for a minute.
    "Can your swords do anything here?"

    "I think we can 'freeze' the necromantic energies here, but I doubt we can maintain that across all of them...we could steal the idea though and extract the souls from the basins ourselves. This looks like a slow pull for some reason, but we could do a quick one."
    "Fear and creativity are conjoined twins."
    Absentee Spirit

  16. - Top - End - #106
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    ABAJ - ???

    G'nichi swaps weapons again. He's getting good at this.
    "That seems like a good idea. We'll pull the souls out of the basin so they can't be fed upon anymore. No one deserves to be turned into some necromancer's battery." Of course pulling might also do bad things, but he's fairly sure being trapped in an unending dream of deadly pink fog tormented and used as a power source is already pretty high on the list of Bad Ends.
    If Gladius wants to try pulling, G'nichi is willing to try it with her as his guide.
    Spako Highclaws by Ceika.

    [Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]

  17. - Top - End - #107
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    Walking to GLoG

    Lizzie will note that these predatory minds, whilst intelligent, are alien. They're broadcasting to each other, but not words- they aren't telepaths, but rather empaths.

    They don't seem too worried about the stick, and advance. They've started to send out an image, which Lizzie might pick up as they aren't used to being cautious with their ability, of a leaf falling from a tree, drifting slowly to the floor. They stalk closer, the one with pointed ears dropping to all fours, though the movement is slower this way. They're all preparing to pounce, which they'll do- at the moment the leaf they're projecting to each other hits the floor. They all jump, aimed at Miranda. The pointed-ears kylder has jumped low, aiming to intersect with Miranda's legs. The girl in the plastic dress is jumping for Miranda's middle. The third is jumping up, the least accurate leap to ideally intersect Miranda's head or shoulders. They're hoping she's too busy focused on one that she can't react for all of them, and they've positioned so that to avoid them she'd need to throw herself out of the way, rather than just make a small step.
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  18. - Top - End - #108
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    [ABAJ - ???]

    "There are some slightly more ethical ways to draw power from the dead, without tormenting them."
    It's still messing with the dead, though.
    "That comes after. For now, we can pull out the soul energy easily enough, but I'm afraid extracting the bodies will be more than we can manage from here. There are reasons for that, but it's... Pretty much just math that I don't think you will care about."
    Not because it thinks that G'nichi is stupid, but because it would take awhile to explain, is very dry, and would delay them getting results right now.

    Speaking of which, the sword directs him to hold it over the basin, pointed down towards the water but not actually in it.
    From there, it suggests imaging something like a light drawing in moths. A beacon for the souls to be drawn towards.
    This isn't something that will have immediately interesting results, beyond forming something akin to a gentle whirlpool in the basin.

    After that is the more uncomfortable part.

    The presence gently guiding his hand and thoughts nudges him towards creating a pathway between the dream and the sword, like a road for carts. A simple mental task.
    Then G'nichi is directed to reach his will out (similar to how he detected the Pink within Mari) into the basin to find the souls.
    They are not hard to find.

    It is mostly easily compared to shining a light into a pitch black cave and finding silently screaming faces staring back.
    Only it's in his brain and he can feel the edges of their agony and terror scraping against his consciousness the longer he keeps awareness of them.
    The sword seems to be trying to mute this, but it isn't a total success.

    After that it's technically just a simple matter of "plucking" them from the water, into a growing hazy blue glow around the runes on the sword.
    Easy peasy. Definitely.
    "Fear and creativity are conjoined twins."
    Absentee Spirit

  19. - Top - End - #109
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    ABAJ - ???

    G'nichi sucks in a breath. He yanks on the souls, slamming them into the sword. He gasps, breathing heavily.
    "I'm not doing that again." he breathes, gasping.
    That sounds pretty final.
    Spako Highclaws by Ceika.

    [Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]

  20. - Top - End - #110
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    Walking to GLoG
    Lizzie can hear the thoughts, but she doesn't know how to interpret them. It's just her luck that the creatures aren't smart enough to communicate the right way.
    "You're going to beat them with a stick? Ugh, so crude. Here, one moment." She begins uncoupling psychic limiters that keep their two minds from really connecting with each other and setting new ones in place. Magical power floods into Miranda's veins to grant her a new and fiery way to defend herself. Unfortunately the moment this takes is too long to prevent Miranda from being pounced upon.
    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.
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  21. - Top - End - #111
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    [Walking to GLoG]

    Right. Intimidation isn't working. Miranda really should have seen that coming.

    As the kyldren leap, Miranda makes a split-second decision regarding which of the creatures to try to punish for their attack. It seems inevitable that they'd all manage to dogpile her; she has her back to the fountain and can't exactly dive anywhere. With a grunt of effort, she swings her branch at the one leaping for her torso; she'll need her hands free if she's going to make use of her Hotbox. She's pretty strong, and that impact should be stunningly painful if it connects; it'll certainly be enough to shatter the branch.

    Regardless of how that goes, Miranda's hands will go up to protect her next-best asset; her head, and all of the sensory organs located therein. She's going to make a grab for the kyld's face, aiming to physically hold it back from biting her like it seemed to want to do. This will be a temporary measure; she was planning on using a canister at close range, but this will be about when Lizzie's contribitions kick in and her hands start heating up dramatically...
    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
    ]

  22. - Top - End - #112
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    [ABAJ - ???]

    "You lessen their suffering with this. We can pull their ambient energy and release their consciousnesses to whichever afterlife they are destined. I know it was unpleasant, I tried to shield you from the worst, but this was a Good thing."
    Ethereal as always, there is a comforting sensation of a hand on his arm from the presence.

    The runes on the sword continue to glow in a somewhat pleasant, but still distinctly unholy light.

    The basin's pink coloration now seems dull.

    Mari elected not to watch this and has instead been watching the regrowing vein like a hawk, noting that it seemed to not have any particular reaction to what G'nichi has done. It is crawling along at precisely the same pace as before.
    "Fear and creativity are conjoined twins."
    Absentee Spirit

  23. - Top - End - #113
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    ABAJ - ???

    Is it even possible to release them while in this thing? I can only hope their gods can hear their pleas from in here. G'nichi ponders, shakily going back to Mari.
    "I don't think I can do that the few hundred times to release all of the souls. Better go with your plan and just slice the pipes at the mouth of the cave." he tells her.
    Spako Highclaws by Ceika.

    [Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]

  24. - Top - End - #114
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    [ABAJ - ???]

    "Or perhaps you could not?"

    "Oh ****."
    Mari jerks behind G'nichi as if she was struck, not being subtle at all about using his muscly frame as a barrier.
    At the same time, a wave of warning pulses from the greatsword, and alarm.

    Higher up in the hallway, back the way the group game, someone appears to have simply walked up out of the pink mist cloaking the ground.
    They certainly don't look like a necromancer, but the feeling from the greatsword is just as severe here as it had been in the temple within the dream not so long ago, alongside a murmured and concerned "oh goodness" from the gladius-presence.

    She looks pleasant. Attractive in a noble-but-bookish sort of way.
    Draped in a loose-settling blue sun dress, she takes off a pair of reading glasses with one hand and absently taps a burnt-black leather bound book stained with rusty red small gray notebook against a shapely leg.

    She also appears to be of the lizardfolk, possessed of smooth white scales, interspersed with flecks of pink culminating in thick bands of the color wrapping around her face and an almost dark enough to be red crest folded against the top of her head.
    "I don't suppose you would be interested in some polite conversation on the nature of saving the world and forgotten gods?"
    "Fear and creativity are conjoined twins."
    Absentee Spirit

  25. - Top - End - #115
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    ABAJ - ???

    G'nichi honestly has to wonder if she's glamouring herself or it's pure coincidence that for once an adventure made him run into a pretty lady. Oh, well. Even if she wasn't super evil, G'nichi's heart is sworn to another.
    "The last time someone told me that they just needed to kill and torture someone to save the world, the plan turned out to be 'kill literally everyone in the name of our goddess who doesn't even want that.' Are you promising your plan being a bit more sane? Because I'm finding quite a lot of tortured souls that would need about a decade to explain bare minimum." G'nichi growls. Sparks drip from his mouth as he adjusts his glasses again. He can practically feel the sword's green energy as his emotions flare again. He's betting on needing them within the next fifteen seconds.
    Spako Highclaws by Ceika.

    [Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]

  26. - Top - End - #116
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    [ABAJ - ???]

    "That's her, the one at the core of this."
    Mari mutters the obvious from behind G'nichi and one gets the distinct impression that she would happily be running away if she didn't need him for shelter from the pink fog.
    Her terror is mirrored pretty closely by the general "flee or die" sensation the greatsword is steeped in.

    The gladius seems to be the sole beacon of calm.

    Down the hall, the woman tucks her glasses into a little sheath on her waist and presents a fairly polite smile.
    "I do believe my plan successfully clears the low bar of 'everyone must die', yes. Not much purpose in preserving a world with no one else to appreciate the effort, hm?"
    Eyes tinged in the usual shade of pink flick to G'nichi's side for just a moment, to where the gladius-presence can still be felt, and crinkle slightly in quiet amusement before returning to him.
    "My name is Vermillion Page, and while the actions I have taken here will likely fail most ethical considerations on their own, they are taken in the understanding that without them, the world is going to be drowned in a rather spectacular degree of madness of blood.
    This god we stand within is going to awaken, one way or another, it may as well awaken to its immediate demise."
    "Fear and creativity are conjoined twins."
    Absentee Spirit

  27. - Top - End - #117
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    ABAJ - ???

    An equestrian name? Or a dragon's. The two styles are remarkably similar.
    "And you devouring it is an alternative? You do yourself no favors hiding behind illusions and shapeshifting. I have trouble believing that someone willing to sacrifice so many souls would take that power and be so benevolent with it."
    Flee? Flee where? They're standing in a divine kaiju. Where exactly is he supposed to go?
    Spako Highclaws by Ceika.

    [Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]

  28. - Top - End - #118
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    [ABAJ - ???]

    The greatsword has no actual plan to go with this, it's just some sort of instinctual feeling based on the desire to keep G'nichi alive.

    Page inclines her head in agreement to G'nichi's immediate concerns.
    "Of course. It is the usual means of acquiring power, but it rarely has good optics. Originally this was to be a closed system with no point of concern for the rest of the world. All energy and sacrifice born from within, used within, and unaffecting those beyond its borders. From outside, no one is lost, no one is hurt, the peace continues.
    It is a poor excuse from your perspective, in that sacrifices are still being made at all, within, but I must offer the rather cliched 'they aren't real nor were they ever intended to be real' excuse."

    She doesn't seem angry about his accusations, or particularly ruffled at all. There is the general impression of someone discussing a novel concept with a colleague.
    "They can be made real, as evidenced by the poor girl behind you, but that is a different sort of problem. Is the author of a story at fault, if someone brings their tale of violence and intrigue to life, without their consent?"
    "Fear and creativity are conjoined twins."
    Absentee Spirit

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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    ABAJ- ???

    G'nichi seems unphased.
    "They were rather real to me when I was pulled in against my will. But to some extent, this isn't about this loop of dreams, is it? Because if it was, you wouldn't be trying to kill this thing.
    No, this seems to be more about you. Why should I believe you're better than your peers? Why should I doubt what I've already been told? Because frankly I already want to stab everyone involved in this, and the one who pulled me in isn't even the one trying to devour an elder-god with necromancy."

    It's true. G'nichi would like to stab a lot of powerful beings at the moment.
    Spako Highclaws by Ceika.

    [Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]

  30. - Top - End - #120
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    Default Re: Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

    [ABAJ - ???]

    The first sign of displeasure presents itself, as the indirect mention of Syncope.
    "This was originally a joint project, you know. Little Syncope acquired a list from amongst her mother's records, of lingering and less-than-permanently resolved issues.
    She wishes to preserve the status quo of the imprisonment here, while I presented a more permanent solution after studying the nature of the witchcraft binding this place together. Elegant, but with an expiration date if not maintained in a particular manner.
    One should not bottle up an apocalypse on a timer, wouldn't you agree?"

    Page sighs and steps over to one of the walls, to place a hand upon it in a rather tired gesture.
    "Seems the idea was threatening enough that she thought I ought to be boxed up in here with it, but that was not as ruinous as she expected, I suppose.

    What would you prefer here, G'nichi? Pray the bindings of a dead witch are stronger than they look? We wait for it to wake up, fight it in a suitably dramatic battle that devastates the world for years to come? Assassinate it in its bleary awakening, before it has its full might to bear?"
    "Fear and creativity are conjoined twins."
    Absentee Spirit

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