Giant alien spiders are no joke.
[North Guest Bedroom]
"I haven't shown my face to my friends yet. Are we so different?"
Andrew looked at a window. "Sorry if I can't really be much of help. I guess I wasn't really thinking this through, or that I don't have as much sagely old man wisdom as I originally anticipated."
[Dining Hall]
"Mold? Oh, you mean penicillin? Some guy way back in the day synthesized that into pill-form and saved a lot of lives. Then people used them too much and then the pathogens started to become resistant..." Jonathan added. Hey, he wasn't stupid you know.
"Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." - R. W. Raymond
(ʘ‿ʘ✿)
[Outside]
"Oh." The tea in Bianca's hand were momentarily forgotten as she tried to stop herself from launching a ramble about her own work. "I used to study similar topics. It's a good idea for a runeologist to examine the past. But since my job doesn't really allow for going on digs, I've mostly been getting my information from books. I've only been at one dig site, and that was years ago. But it was so much fun. Much better than being surrounded by chalkboards covered in numbers and runes all day." She smiled wearily. "What's it like being a teacher? A friend of mine has some interest in becoming one, and we're not really sure if it's for the best."
edited 27th May '13 8:30:49 PM by LeungBaiFang
Let's not go there. *flails noodle arms*
[Dining Hall]
"Yes," Esa said with a sigh, "that happens. My son-in-law was educated up in the mountains. Told me about it... 'course, any apothecary figures it out fast enough." She shrugged. "Thank the spirits for the Magocracy. Manage to find all sorts of new medicines to replace the ones that the diseases get immune to." She laughed bitterly. "Can't think of a better use for rapists, slavers and terrorists..."
edited 28th May '13 6:37:53 AM by KillerClowns
[Outside]
Mai couldn't help grinning a little. "That's one way to put it," she said. "The gods of irony always seem to pick the worst times to strike, don't they? You want change and next thing you know, you're a corpse or fleeing your homeland because of famine." She gave a snort halfway between disgust and amusement.
"Anyway, I can understand wanting a more interesting life. A little something different is something we all want every now and then." Mai vaguely waved a hand. "But a lot of the people I know who liked staying home a bit — myself included — tended to be really familiar with the surrounding land. You know the area around your home a lot?"
"Well..." Xavier coughed, flexed his wings a moment, and grinned. "You're surrounded by papers with numbers and runes all day." Not exactly true — chimera magic didn't involve runes — but close enough. "At least, I am. My job doesn't usually have a whole lot of digs. Mostly giving lectures to students and grading assignments. Kind of a niche job."
He glanced at the torch stuck in the ground behind himself; the flame was getting a bit small. With a mutter of "Vanarh," it flared up again. He turned back to Bianca. "I suppose whether or not your friend becomes a teacher depends on what's stopping her. Why do you feel that it might not be in her best interest?"
(ʘ‿ʘ✿)
[Outside]
Bianca quickly finished off her pastry. "He's a music prodigy who was forced to become a little brat's piano teacher some months ago because of his financial situation and then had to take up a job teaching magic to a group of children. He has recently announced that he has grown to love it and will be opening a music school for the financially disadvantaged, with the help of a close friend, after he finishes his education at the conservatory. The problem is quite simple: he is an asshole with social anxiety. No one knows what came over him, really."
Let's not go there. *flails noodle arms*
Attitude is prohibited
[Wine Cellar]
"Well," Said Claire, seeming to hesitate for a moment. "I am familiar with some non-human sentient species, but such individuals are exceptionally rare in my society." She shook her head. "What I was primarily referring to was that cybernetic augmentation is not uncommon where I'm from, with some people even receiving such extensive augmentation that they do have a 'debugger', of sorts, for their brains. Though I imagine the technology is quite primitive next to what you're referring to." She said.
"As for how the standard, non-augmented human being manages without the ability to actively change their neural processes... That's not really my area of expertise, but I suspect one could argue that the human brain is adaptable enough to overcome any 'bugs' largely on its own." She gave a halfhearted shrug.
"At any rate, are you saying that the people in that room are in immediate and serious danger without a 'debugger' in their minds? Because if that's the case, the ethical thing to do would be to intervene..."
[Outside]
Were Samira observant enough, she might notice Tamara seemed a bit perplexed by Aseyu's job description. The young girl contemplated her words, but said nothing. That seemed to have passed by the time they reached the shore, however, as Tamara seemed fascinated by the strange environment around her. It wasn't long before she spotted a frog of some kind and, forever curious, pursued it bravely into the tall grass along the shore.
Not entirely dead.
[North Guest Bedroom]
"Hey, you've shown me." Ozzy said, talking out the side of his mouth, presumably because the other side was still full of sandwich, "And hey, maybe dish could be a valuable learning exshperience for me and you." He took a moment to finish his bite of sandwich, then gave Andrew a meaningful look. "As we seem to have the same problem."
He tore off another greedy bite with his teeth and chewed silently, staring sternly at the wall and door opposite him. After a while, he looked back at Andrew and shrugged, "I mean, look at us: your curse has some... negative associations in the land from which you hail, yeah? And the village I grew up in,—well, outside of, but in close enough proximity for it to matter—the people there were very religious people, you bet my curse made people associate me with Hell, and demons, and all manner of dark and evil things. But in a place like this," he said, gesturing at the floor and the people who were below, "that shouldn't hardly matter." he swallowed, "The people here come from many different cultures and any number of different versions of existence." Ozzy bent forward and grabbed the carton of chocolate milk, "Now, that's a big thought to wrap your head around, but consider it; at it's base, what does that mean for people like you and me?" He gave Andrew another look over, then popped the carton open and took a big swig, his face only slightly screwing up from the sudden shock of flavor.
this place needs me here
Outside
"Depends on which home you're talking about," Anne said, "I'm pretty familiar with the area around the dwarfs' house, but it sits in the middle of a forest that's pretty easy to get lost in - I found that out the hard way." She made an odd sort of half smile. "Apart from the clearing and the area immediately around the house, it's a bunch of trees."
She finally decided that she'd been standing long enough and sat down cross-legged across from Mai, setting her tea on the ground besides her. "Before I started living with the dwarfs, however, there was a town not that far from my old home. Father and I went down there frequently for the markets, so I became pretty familiar with it."
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
[Wine Cellar]
Kokabiel shook its head and said, <I wouldn't call the danger "serious and immediate". This world is well-sealed; the Eyes and Teeth cannot tamper with the flow of time here, and its ability to physically or mentally assault them is extremely limited. In the worst case scenario, only a few months of therapy will be needed.> A pause. <Provided their world has competent therapists or an equivalent, of course. If you're concerned, I won't stop you trying to help them. Provided you actually have some sort of plan to help. I...> it paused. <To tell you anything that would help you protect them would attract dangerous attention to myself. I apologize.>
[Outside]
Aseyu and Samira watched with amusement as Tamara pursued something, though Aseyu was ready to drag the girl out of the water if she fell in and was having trouble.
Samira smiled and said, "reminds me of my own daughter, that curiosity."
Aseyu shrugged and said, "wouldn't hurt her to have more." Then she sighed. "Sorry if I don't have more to say. My usual approach isn't really, y'know, applicable here." Then she glanced at the frog. Her first thought was to wonder how a jungle frog had gotten into this swamp. A brightly colored jungle frog
... alarmed as she recognized it, she yelled, harshly, "Tamara!"
Samira jumped, startled by the outburst, then stared in worry as she saw what Aseyu had.
Sorry if I trod on a plan. Just stirring the metaphorical pot a bit.
edited 28th May '13 4:28:18 PM by KillerClowns
[Outside]
"Hnng," muttered Xavier, tugging on his left frill a bit. "Odd, although I've heard of some stories like that before. There's a possibility he just found something he liked. I mean, if you like doing something, you'll go through a lot for it. Just look at what people are willing to go through for sex."
He frowned for a moment, tapping his tail on the ground as he thought. "Although... assuming that's not the case... there wouldn't happen to be anything in your world that can influence thoughts, would there? We've got stuff like that where I'm from, but normally it's obvious..." He flexed his wings a bit as his voice trailed off.
"Well, with forests," said Mai, "you can find your way around eventually, but it'd take a while. At first, all you see are the trees, but then it's, 'oh, that creek is just north of here' or 'that's that one tree that got struck by lightning' or something. You stop missing the forest for the trees." She chuckled a little. "Still, it does take a while, and forests can be incredibly disorienting, so I can't blame you for getting lost.
"Cities're easy, though, unless the street planner got particularly drunk. I mean, you wouldn't want people to get lost, would you?" She paused. "Although that also kind of depends on the type of city, I suppose. With some old chimeric cities, it can be really confusing for humans because you can't fly and the designers just sort of assumed everyone could. Still bad planning, though, since it's so irregular."
Attitude is prohibited
[Wine Cellar —-> Sparring Room]
"Damage enough to justify 'a few months of therapy' is fairly severe, by the standards I'm familiar with." Considered Claire. "Equipped with this information, the ethical action to take would be to warn them..." She paused for a moment. "Although... I would not want to endanger either myself or you... So a warning is the only action I feel obliged to take..."
She paused for just a moment longer before knocking on the door and, with Kokabiel's relay in hand, walking right in. "I must insist that you stop this fight immediately." She announced, calmly but sternly, and seemingly unperturbed by the temperature or the unusual scene before her. "For the sake of your own safety, I highly recommend you both stand down."
[Outside]
She had been within grasping range, almost. Reaching out towards the amphibian, she had wondered if she would actually be able to catch it, and if her mother would let her keep it if she managed to bring it home. It was so different from the colours around it, like a hopping gem in the mud and swamp. She wasn't always so interested in frogs, but this was an unusual frog in an unusual place... And it was just a little leap ahead of her!
Just as she was closing in on her colourful opponent, Aseyu shouted. She skidded to an abrupt halt in the mud, also quite startled by the sudden noise. Somewhat stunned, she stood up to look over at Aseyu, her head and shoulders just visible above the tall reeds and grasses. She quickly looked back to see where the frog was, and frowned as she saw that it had vanished into the plants. "Aww..." She muttered.
Not entirely dead.
Drummer Boy
[Sparring Room]
"Fight? What fight?" The priestess slouched on her throne and smiled at the intruder. "If you mean this thing incessantly babbling nonsense to me as I wait for it to get tired and leave... well, I would say that I'm merely taking precautions. This is hardly a fight. I can take down my defenses and clean up as soon as this annoyance burns itself out."
But there was definitely something wrong. The goddess was whispering to her; the irritating drone in the priestess's ear was not something to be taken lightly.
"And would you be so kind as to let me know what exactly is the problem with me calmly sitting here?"
edited 28th May '13 8:51:29 PM by SnowyFoxes
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
[Sparring Room]
The spirit sighs. "And we were just getting to the good part. I was considering the best way to smoke her out, and now you come in intervening."
The forgotten claymores begin to float off the floor, magical energy swirling around them. "Besides, what exactly do you have to back this up with?"
edited 28th May '13 8:37:16 PM by Aqueos
Bet you didn't see that coming
[Sparring Room]
It had not *desired* this turn of events. But the situation could be salvaged, even with what little power it was able to wield in this place. Ordering its inconvenient servant into silence, it lazily coalesced a small but sharp and aerodynamic wedge of ice — a bullet, for all intents and purposes, though one that would shatter impotently if it struck bone and melt before it could pierce even past muscle — from the vapor in the air. It then hurled the bullet of ice at the spirit-possessed meat-puppetnote . Normally, it would aim this fragile weapon for the eyes, but it dared not scare off its meal. It *desired* instead to leave the spirit-possessed meat-puppet with a nice, ugly little gash in the ear. A gash that the possessed meat-puppet would, if its instincts were correct, blame on the ice-wielding meat-puppetnote in the very same room.
And of course, the buzz remained, just to make things a little more interesting.
[Outside]
"Poison dart frogs," Samira explained with a look of motherly concerned. "If you touch them... well, you get poisoned. Badly."
Aseyu looked Tamara over with a frown and asked, "doesn't your curiosity ever get you in trouble? This can't be the first time..."
edited 29th May '13 3:54:49 AM by KillerClowns
Attitude is prohibited
[Outside]
Feeling somewhat sheepish, Tamara waded out of the reeds to walk over to Samira and Aseyu, her coat now dotted with wet leaves and mud. "Uh," She began. "Well, sometimes, I guess..." She muttered. "But I didn't know it was poison!" She said, a little bit defensively. "I won't chase another one - I promise!" She looked up at Aseyu apologetically, pouting a little bit. "... Okay?"
Not entirely dead.
[Outside]
Samira was the first to reply. "Of course you didn't, but it's good that you listened. Better to learn it from someone else than the hard way."
But Aseyu said, "still, I can see why me and Sammy have to keep an eye on you. Can't have you prodding some sort of unspeakable tome or something, hmm?"
Samira muttered, "hush, you," then out loud said, "don't worry, curiosity's a good way to learn. You just have to temper it by listening to others..." she smiled slightly on the good side of her face, "like you have been, of course."
Aseyu just groaned. The whole "mothering" thing was something she'd never understand.
edited 29th May '13 5:56:15 PM by KillerClowns
[Sparring Room]
The ice bullet doesn't make it to Linza's ear, instead intercepted by the elven spirit's magic.
"Ah." His tone seems more amused than anything else. "Well if you want to play that way."
With another snap of his fingers the claymores heat up to the point they glow, magic the only thing holding them together
"You're going to have some fun then."
Linza brings her right hand forward, firing the weapons at the priestess. The actual damage they could do was more than likely negligible considering the ice structure, but still given regular ice it would melt through it in instants.
edited 29th May '13 6:21:45 PM by Aqueos
Bet you didn't see that coming
Giant alien spiders are no joke.
[North Guest Bedroom]
"You haven't seen my face yet," Andrew said, with a sigh. "You know, it was because of the Corruption that I lost everything I had. My wife, my job, my looks, my friends, my magic. It's really hard to tell when you fucked up when you're basically on one big evil power high."
He looked out the window, and there was a sadness to his figure, then he sighed and looked down, and unbuckled the mask that covered his face.
Andrew's face was very feminine, but there was a hint of masculinity—perhaps it was the expression or the jaw or the eyebrows. His nose was narrow and he had a strong, pointed jaw. His mousy hair, with a few grey hairs, was cropped messily as if he cut it himself with a knife and no mirror. Hadn't it been the Corruption, he could of been quite pretty, despite approaching his fifties.
His skin was very pale, most likely from constantly wearing a mask rather than the Corruption itself, and he had tainted veins on the sides of his faces and the corners of his eyes. On his neck and wrists there the tainted veins and scarring—similar to stretch marks but not in color. His eyes were red, and his teeth filed unnaturally flat. His face was a mask of no emotion, but there was sadness in his eyes. Regret.
[Dining Hall]
"Well, from where we came from, people stopped using anti-bacterials as obsessively and new antibiotics were invented. So yeah. What kind of machines do you have over there?" Gabrielle eyes seemed passionate as she ate another bite of parmesan chicken.
"Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." - R. W. Raymond
Attitude is prohibited
[Outside]
Tamara paused for a moment, and took that into consideration. Then she looked back up at Samira, smiled hopefully, and said "Alright... That means we can stay out here, right?"
Not entirely dead.
[North Guest Bedroom]
"Well, you described it somewhat, so I was able to..." Ozzy began, but he didn't finish his sentence, and quickly fell silent as Andrew explained the cost of his curse. He watched the man carefully, though his face was still covered by the mask, occasionally sipping quietly from the carton of milk. In a way, the result Andrew's curse was similar to what had happened to Ozzy himself, though his own misfortune had only sprung up when certain people from his village had finally discovered him. His mouth twitched, and it looked as though he was going to say something of the sort, but before he could, he was again silenced when Andrew took off his mask.
The man's face was strange to behold indeed, because in so many ways it was almost normal. To Ozzy, it was similar to the eeriness of something like a vampire; a creature that is close to human, but different... dark, foreboding. Perhaps the man was some sort of vampire. There was no telling whether they were only relegated to fiction in a world that was not Ozzy's own. He did not ask, though, and seemed uncomfortable keeping his eyes fixed upon Andrew's face. It wasn't so much that the face was unpleasant to look at, but Ozzy was the type who knew what discomfort it could be to have drilling and examining eyes staring at oneself, especially if you wore a mask most of the time.
A few seconds passed, then he sighed and shook his head. "Ridiculous. That they give you all this shit, because of that? How can these people revile you when you are the exact same underneath? It's absolutely ridiculous." he half smiled and said, "My brother used to say that I looked like a cow. We were on better terms when I left, but I wonder how this society of yours would treat someone like me if they knew I was supposed to be a regular human. Not that I got much better from the people back home, but most of them thought I was some sort of devil spawn. But..."
Ozzy looked over to the other man. He saw the man's eyes, and turned his own eyes downward. "I'm sorry Andrew. It sounds as though you've had it exceptionally hard."
this place needs me here
Drummer Boy
[Sparring Room]
The priestess was sure of only one thing: she hadn't lifted a finger. But that hardly mattered at this point. Tendrils of white fire engulfed the claymores and they became powdered snow.
"An exercise in futility," she said. "I know not what you truly are, but you are clearly not a demon. Divine magic cannot be touched by anything else. But continue putting me to sleep if you wish."
The spirit could eventually drain the priestess's strength, but she had a reliable exit strategy, so she wasn't worried at all.
edited 31st May '13 5:31:36 PM by SnowyFoxes
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
[Dining Room]
Esa shrugged and said, "not the one to ask. I don't head outta the village much. My son-in-law, the mountain-educated one I mentioned earlier, pays attention to that sorta stuff. But me? Eh, I've seen my son's rifle, some rich merchant had a shotgun, and I hear city folk are building these... factory things. Sound dreadful, from what I hear." She sampled more of the purloined spaghetti. "Do the same thing over and over again like a cog in some Maurosian clockwork machine... just ain't right, y'know?"
[Outside]
Samira said, "of course. You still want to explore, or should we go back and join the rest of them?" She was confident she could keep Aseyu in check...
"What's the story with the cute one-armed girl?"
...or not. "Friend of mine," Samira said, "from that mess with my husband and Kokabiel, you know the one." She sighed. "It's a long story, and..."
"She's that girl you mentioned? From that world Kokabiel nearly destroyed?"
Samira just blinked incredulously, but that was all the answer Aseyu needed.
Gonna let Aqueos and/or Blackfire post in the Sparring Room before further mischief.
[Sparring Room]
"Ah cute, you know it would be wise to keep me from calling down favors."
The spirit laughs. "But why would I do that when I can just do this instead?"
Linza grabs her fan and makes a couple sweeping strokes, sending razor wind in the priestess's direction, then thrusts upward, reversing the flow of gravity around the priestess.
edited 31st May '13 9:06:29 PM by Aqueos
Bet you didn't see that coming
Giant alien spiders are no joke.
[North Guest Bedroom]
Andrew shook his head. "The Corruption is an effect from using...well, Corrupted Magic*. Necromancy, Blood magic, curses, torture, mind control...you basically use others for your own power gain...It's very twisted, and sick, but damnit, you don't understand it. Understand how...great it is. Awesome. Everyone wants a taste of a little power, for people to submit under your own skill and fortitude...and...ah, damnit. The Corruption basically twists your mind into...I wouldn't say evil. Evil is such a black-and-white concept, but anyway, I went insane. I managed to get out of it before it killed me." The energy seemed to have leaked out of Andrew and he sighed.
"It's not just looking like a 'vampire' though," He unwrapped one of his grey bandages wrapped around his wrists and pulled up his sleeve, to reveal a cut on his forearm, two inches long and sealed together with black stitches and some kind of clear seal or glue. The wound looked pale, with no blood and no sign of healing. He then let go of the sleeve and reached into his pocket and tossed a small, clear, plastic orange bottle with a white top and label, half filled with white pills. Painkillers, rather potent ones too. "I have wounds like this everywhere. They don't heal, so I have to constantly keep them clean. I suffer from a lot of pain too. It's all permanent. You could find the person who gave you your curse, if you take the initiative, but I have to live with this the rest of my life."
"The Corruption is a fucked up thing, but don't as hell think that what I experienced is something much worse than the discrimination you experienced. Don't judge a man's experiences by how awful they seem. Judge them on their emotional impact they had on the person. Don't pity me, I made my choice and now I have to live with it, but you're still young, and you're not crippled like I am, mentally and emotionally and phsyically. You got a future, Oswald. Don't waste it."
"Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." - R. W. Raymond
[Wine Cellar]
<Right,> Kokabiel said, <I forget that. Minds without debuggers and exception handlers tend to do poorly in direct encounters with the Eyes and Teeth unless they've been trained against such difficulties.> It then tilted its head and looked curiously up at Claire. <Not to be rude, but how do you manage, anyways? I can't imagine what it would be like to live without the ability to analyze and directly repair my own subconscious neural processes. And yes, I've asked this question many, many times before, but I've yet to get a satisfactory answer. But might as well try again. And... "fully-organic humanoid species?" You speak as though from experience with bipedal non-human sentients.>
edited 27th May '13 7:03:13 AM by KillerClowns