|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 6:53 pm
Castor actually smiled as his Lady thanked him. ...Ahura, I've even started calling her that in my head. What else will I do today, serve Her tea? ...If She asks, maybe. Castor concentrated on his thoughts, keeping them level- with how strong the bond was, he didn't want to risk offending Her, in case She could hear him. Which She likely could, but...
The Lady turned to the side, looking in Skurk's direction. Castor blinked. Skurk. I forgot all about him after the explosion- is he alright? He knew he should be angry at Skurk for attempting to harm Her, but, while she was present, he couldn't feel irritated at all. She had that effect on people.
"Strange companions you have," she said in that choir of voices. Castor started to nod, and then blinked. Companions? There's only Skurk- isn't there? He turned, and saw that, once again, he was wrong. Some sort of armored man was creeping toward Skurk, raising his hands in what appeared to be a non-threatening gesture. As Castor looked, however, he noted something... off, about the man. And Skurk as well. He blinked, unsure of what he was seeing, then noticed something. The flares of color. They were faint, but they flickered in his vision, even without his inner eyes.
Castor blinked, then shrugged inwardly. Must be part of Her gift. He concentrated, and found what was so strange about the other man. He shook his head slightly, then closed his eyes, using stronger sight to confirm it.
The other had no flare. Only flat lines of light that ran through its body. There was life in him, but not of him- an artificial life. A construct, perhaps, like a golem.
"" said Castor, still watching the artificial man as it approached Skurk. "" Castor looked closer, and noticed Skurk was injured. A serious wound, no less. Castor turned toward his Lady.
"" he said, moving over to Skurk and kneeling down next to him, checking his leg.
"" he said in a chastising manner, though something was wrong with the manner in which he said it. It didn't... feel right. He suddenly realized it was said in a different language- harsh, guttural. It was the language Skurk had attempted to speak to him in when they first emerged from the lake. Castor blinked, and turned back to his Lady.
Another gift? he thought wryly, not necessarily directed at her, but enough. In truth, this made things easier. Much better than speaking in broken Erosian. He turned his attention to the wound, which was indeed serious. Castor placed his hands on either side of Skurk's leg, and concentrated out toward his Lady.
If indeed your Champion I am, my Lady, then let me heal him. If I am right, we can manage that- you can, through me.
Let me see what we can do together with this gift you have given me. Let me heal him.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:05 pm
The idea that Mac had not watched was a bit far-fetched, but the meaning of the interaction was completely lost. He understood embraces, and he understood collapses, but he couldn't draw a conclusion between the two, and thus merely stowed both interactions for later connections.
Unprepared to approach the short one without approval, Mac instead observed that the woman had... more or less spoken Thungrian in that mix of languages. "<>" Mac asked, his voice clearly synthetic but not without expression. Mac was not aware of this, but the engineers who designed him had gone to great lengths to ensure his speech was as human as possible - just different enough to fall outside the Uncanny Valley, but just similar enough to be capable of association with humans.
The situation was changing rapidly, which was concerning to Mac. Quick shifts in dynamics indicated uncertainty, and uncertainty preceded error, and error preceded violence. In fact, the unclear nature of the situation indicated Mac had made a mistake in revealing himself. It was wise to await a resolved situation. This, then, was his second mistake here. Where to go from here?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 1:04 pm
"Oh for the love of. . ." Pango growled then stomped back up to the door from which they had just come. The water puddle below it made sure they knew it was the same. Then the youth jerked it roughly open. "Everyone out," Pango snapped angrily holding the door. No giant wave crashed in on them. Not even a drop of seawater. On the other side wasn't even the waterlogged wreckage of the port they had just come from.
Instead the door opened up to a courtyard in what looked to be some sort of castle. Long white banners hung down from tall, embattled walls. A shining golden sunburst decorated the snowy cloth and white and yellow roses grew along the grassy paths of the courtyard. The same dim twilight hung in the air as everywhere in this strange world but lanterns splashed pools of liquid light along the edges of the walls and a large sort of chandelier hung over the courtyard suspended from towers above to cast a warm, bright light over the garden.
Alex stared, wide eyed and slightly glazed at the splendor of the place as Pango glared at them, waiting for the others to do as told and step outside.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 1:21 pm
Skurk jerked his head back with a grunt as he tied off the tourniquet. "Arstruk," he hissed. Demon. The only creatures he'd ever known to use magics of a mental nature so readily. Even the Crown Prince had tried to be judicious in the use of his Order-powered Voice of Authority. Ruthless, yes, but it didn't seem to strip those around him of their free will.
"Thish... ish not where we came from. At all," was Linda's insight into the matter. She took in the full sight and realized how foolish her attempt to check the time of day by the sun had been. Their odd haze didn't even have the decency to have a light spot behind it as a timepiece and compass. "I don't... I don't totally get, uh, why the lights aren't in the walls." She offered no further elaboration on this matter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 1:29 pm
The child was so easily disgruntled, it was a miracle Pango's head hadn't already exploded purely as a result of frustration. Rüd couldn't fight the odd feeling opening a known door onto an unknown area gave him, but he couldn't do much about it. So the Nightwalker strode right on through having no other reliable options. The courtyard struck him as regal, and perhaps a tad overdone. Some people lived to impress others, and some people worked all their lives making other people look impressive. It was pitiful, really, but Rüd held it in lest he end up offending one of the natives. Chances were whoever owned this courtyard was important too, so best if they didn't find out his opinion of them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 5:01 pm
"Alex," Pango called the paladin sharply and he jumped at the sound then trotted after, closing the door behind him. After just a few steps though Alex paused and turned back with a grin to open the door again and reveal just a simple storage room. He stared at it a moment before shaking his head and following after the others.
"This is the rose garden," Alex announced rather obviously but as if it should have meaning. Pango rolled hazel eyes at him with a sigh.
"Yes, Alex. This is the rose garden. We have that thing we need to see the High Justiciar about. Remember," the youth drawled with a glare and Alex blinked. He obviously did not but still gave a quick nod.
"Course, course. That thing. Yeah."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 4:21 pm
The Lady watched the others with a gentle, knowing smile as Castor reached for the goblin to heal and the machine approached her. She just watched, calmly, unconcerned though the unicorn glared and snorted at Mac as he got closer.
Castor's request was answered with a warm caress as the many tongued voices echoed in his head chanting those ancient words that had healed him to send a tingling power through his whole body and out his hands. If the goblin allowed himself to be touched, Skurk felt it like a slight tingle and passing warmth that repaired his broken flesh. It was a much simpler magic than what had been done to the mage, no strings attached, as he healed the goblin with borrowed power.
The Lady turned half closed eyes to Mac when the machine spoke and her lips curled in a curious expression as she slowly shook her head, "No. I am not," the many voices sang softly and they all understood at least one of them. "And you are something I have not seen," she purred softly taking a slow step closer, "Not in a very long time."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 7:27 pm
"Arstruk," said Skurk as Castor apporached, and Castor realized perhaps that understanding what his companion was saying might not always be a good thing. Demon, he said. But who is he calling demon, exactly? Me? Because of my horns? No. If he had thought me a demon, he would have assumed so when we emerged from the lake. So, then... he is insulting The Lady. He wasn't quite sure where to go with that.
A hum of power flowed from his head and through his arms, accompanied with the same primordial chorus that had healed him. The melody traveled through his hands and into his hands. Castor pinned Skurk's leg down for a moment, carefully, and removed the shard of metal in his leg- it would be a poor thing if the wound healed around the metal. A moment later, the power pulsed out of his hands and into Skurk's leg, stopping the heavy bleeding and knitting his flesh back together, with an extra shot of energy to help him get over the blood loss he'd already suffered.
When it was done, Castor removed the tourniquet around Skurk's upper leg, and released his hold on the man- Castor decided it wouldn't do to keep referring to him as a "creature," even in private- poor manners, even if he wasn't like anything Castor had seen before.
"" he admonished in Skurk's language, firmly- for some reason his comment stung a bit more than it should. He ignored this and continued. "" Castor said, indicating the now-missing wound. He stood, looking over at his Lady for a time. She was talking with the construct for some reason- he seemed to interest her. He turned back to Skurk.
"" he said, pointing back at the goddess. This was not strictly true- only one Source had ever possessed as much power as his Lady, and even then, she might still outclass Ahu--
...No. Blasphemy. Ahura is still a god- your god. Do not insult Him any more than you already have. Castor shook his head, continuing.
""
This was said without edge, a simple explanation of their predicament, and how Castor was trying to turn it to their advantage. It was Skurk's choice whether or not he wanted to listen to his reasoning.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 7:40 pm
"<>" Mac observed. "<>" Mac recalled this could imply she had seen something else like him, but where would such a thing have come from? It was effectively impossible for anyone to be ahead of House Holzmann in the arms race, and he was the cutting edge, as far as he was aware anyway.
Of course, there was the vague possibility she was not mistaken. Mac did not have the wherewithal to consider this creature a god. Sure, he knew of the mythology, but that was precisely what it was: Mythology. Her speech was odd, presumably accomplished through some form of translator like the technology he was equipped with. Either way, that meant she thought she recognized him or something like him, and she was still to be considered fallible. (Not to say that gods are not such.) She was very probably just wrong then.
"<>" Mac requested on a sudden whim, or the nearest he could come to one. "<>"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 8:49 pm
The lady's smile turned slightly wry when Mac claimed to be unique. She did not argue with him, instead she watched the others over his shoulder as Castor spoke to the goblin. It was the machine's question that brought the Lady's eyes back to him.
"It is a much larger world than you know," the chorus of voices spoke to him. "And you are far from home," she told him gently. "You are in a world beyond worlds, very near the end of all things. And this" she paused to lift both hands slightly and gesture at the trees around them. "This is my forest."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:12 pm
Mac stared at the woman rather blankly. This was difficult to achieve, as he lacked any ability to make facial expressions, but the absolute stillness and lack of immediate response conveyed the same. Mac considered the immediately obvious possibilities.
A. She was not lying, and he was not where he had formerly been. This was supported by the remarkable flora and fauna he was surrounded by, but shot down by nearly everything else he knew. The wormhole project had been a miserable failure. He had been there to see it, in fact. Three men had died in the resulting explosion, all three of them standing by him.
B. She was lying. This was supported by the absolute impossibility of his sudden movement, but added many more questions. Why would she lie? What purpose did she have here? He was unique, true, but there was no one brave enough to lie to Mac. There certainly hadn't been back home. The number of questions triggered Occam's Razor, Mac felt, and this possibility had to be discarded.
C. She was not lying, but she was incorrect. What had deceived her was unclear, but apparently such deceptions were common in the human mind, even some self-influenced. This also fit nicely with her declaration that they were far from home; if she could not give him a relative position, it was clear she did not know where he was actually from. Thungria should have been sufficient to anyone familiar with the nation. Perhaps she was from further away. How she had arrived here was less clear.
"<<...Please provide coordinates,>>" Mac finally asked.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:01 pm
The Lady watched patiently as the machine processed then her lips curled coyly at the edges for his request. "Second star to the right and straight on till morning," the chorus purred as the Lady grinned then shook her head.
"Logic will not help you here, man of Science," she sighed laying a hand lightly on the unicorn's shoulder to calm him from glaring between the three intruders. "This is a world of pure imagination," the choir sang sweetly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:31 pm
This is my forest.
This.
Is its.
Forest.
No no no no no nononononononono
Skurk was suddenly quite disinterested in how poorly his attempts to evade Castor had gone and the sudden healing he'd experienced. In his mind, he'd just had his worst fears confirmed: he had not managed to successfully leave the Great Forest. He was, he was now quite certain, trapped in the heart of Chaos itself - logic will not help you here - and now the demon in it, using the most cruel and wicked of all magics to violate the freedom of their wills, had them at its mercy.
He flicked brass snap open and closed, debating the merits of lighting up his gear, throwing it, and running. Because it had worked so well last time, right?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 4:20 pm
C was suddenly looking like a far more promising candidate for correctness. A could yet be accurate, but Mac very strongly doubted it. That meant he had to try another angle.
"<>" This was a good fallback, or so the Sergeant had taught him, when dealing with foreigners. If you couldn't get a proper fix, a city was always a good landmark, and Mac certainly wasn't getting a star fix if these clouds stayed overhead. The sun itself was surprisingly non-obvious in its direction; the cloud cover had to be pretty thick for that. It was a bit light for that, too.
Perhaps A had some merit. Thungria didn't experience cloud cover like this without rain, and it was clearly too bright out for the cover that was present. Mac glanced up at the sky, silently wondering. Uncertainty in matters like this was not normal for Mac in the least. Discomfort was also unusual, but he was certainly experiencing it now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:25 pm
Castor did not like to be ignored. Especially when he had relevant information to their predicament, and a viable way of escaping it lined up. And especially not when the person ignoring him was fiddling about with his pack, which had already been noted to contain explosives, which had already seen use and nearly gotten them all killed.
It was a very specific kind of hatred, so he didn't get to exercise it often.
A low animal snarl emitted from Castor (which, unbeknownst to the rest of the assembled entities, was not an effect of the Lady's bond with him- Luminaren were just that terrifying.) when he saw Skurk undo the clasp on his pack, and his eyes narrowed to slits. The way he stood over Skurk, the snarl, the glare that literally glowed with anger...
It was very little wonder that, on certain Shards, the name for Castor's kind was, "Albtraum." Nightmares.
"think of throwing another explosive at her, I will rip your throat out with my teeth. I've already been speared once by your antics- I do not want to have to experience it again. Now, for the love of Ahura, close the damn pack and stop looking like you're voiding your bowels- you're embarrassing me.>" He continued to tower over the man, his arms crossed, waiting for him to put the clasp back on his pack. A lot of things had happened to Castor today that were within his capacity to tolerate.
This was not one of them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
