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 Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 3:02 pm
There was a lot of minipet walking and snack grabbing potentially to be had in that hour that passed.
And then there they were, the challengers, the defiant, elite group of SCREAM. Versus, as promised, the single Reaper that arrived, weaponless, wearing the same cloak that had seen better days. At a relative distance, without the intimidating glow of their scythe weapon, they looked almost helpless. Harmless, subdued, quiet even, nonthreatening. "Your choices never cease to surprise me." He sighed as he parked himself down by the base of one of the larger trees, making himself comfortable. "Those who hide, those who show themselves bravely, for what they are, unafraid, and those who seek another option entirely in their limited scope of knowledge." He picked up a branch nearby and began to scrawl on the dirt. "Imagine a large pool, divided into several smaller sections. As a smaller fish, you do not see the walls around you, not quite yet. But as your environment grows too small for you, it is natural, is it not, to seek greater waters? What happens exactly when you realize you have only been swimming in such a small limited section your entire life?"
He looked up, brim of the hood revealing nothing, no face, no expression, just a steady darkness. "What if there were branches, streams, that lead away from the pool entirely?" A pause, the stick was discarded. "The power of choice, of decision, is the most important element. I will not force anyone to make a decision, this you have you accept on your own. So I ask you now: you have made it this far, you have waited, with hopes, expectations, embracing disappointment to risk everything. For those who simply want to return what is mine, a piece of treasure, I will appreciate your honesty. However, the second you step away will be the last you see of me again. You can return to your simple, ordinary lives, you can hide within others, you can perhaps remember of what transpired, but you will always also remember how close you were to that something else. Halfway there and swimming back, until you suffocate in what little space you have left. If you choose to stay, all you have to do is answer."
There was something else in their tone, and not just their tone but something in the way the air seemed to thicken around them, the way everything seemed to focus on the figure as if his every word mattered. Even the trees seem to blur out, leaving white, simple white -
- And one sitting figure. It wasn't odd, it wasn't unnatural -
"Do you want more power?"
- It was simply time. OOC - Your character has been (MOSTLY) given a choice. They can accept the figure's offer, OR they can break away right now. If they are breaking away, roll a 100-sided die. If odd, they oddly cannot move, they cannot even leave, once again their body seems to betray them, relaxed and at ease - If even, they manage to break free of the status effect. In this case, there is only one place to flee, one place to hide, to regroup from this stranger. The cave. - If you have not posted yet and your char is interested, they have just arrived RIGHT BEFORE this post. Proceed as necessary!
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 3:18 pm
Snowman watched the stranger, listening to him. He made sense, he spoke of something that sounded almost delightful to the yeti's ears. He'd been stuck in a pool much too small for him. He wanted out.
It didn't matter that everything faded to white, that the air seemed to thicken. It wasn't odd. Snowman nodded, "Yes..." No matter how slow he'd ever seem, he was the tortoise waiting for something more. He had been patient and he wanted to win the race, now. "We want more power don't we George." Even if they were all alone he knew his faithful miced tea was still in his hands.
For the byakko watching, her fur fluffed out, dread seeped in as she had a feeling she knew what was being offered and she couldn't stop it.
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 3:24 pm
Matt's sleepy gaze seemed void of much thought. The more the reaper spoke, the Sloth's demeanor seemed trance like. Suddenly he felt as if he had a better purpose, a better option. This offer, it was as if it was the only real truth.
It was no contest.
Matthew nodded slowly.
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 3:29 pm
Bella nodded, vibrating like a scareling who'd had too much candy. If there was even such a thing. She thought the entire idea sounded absolutely thrilling, and she didn't understand a damn thing about it yet! All she knew was, something new and exciting was going to happen. But she hesitated. She looked up at the boil to her left, and then to Rowly on her right. If she said yes, she was pretty sure of one thing - she would never get to see these people again. She would be doing exciting new things, and there was no guarantee they would be with her. She would be alone, or with people she didn't know, and a week ago, that would have been just fine. Her gaze lingered on Rowly for just another minute, before she decided that she would wait to hear what he and Murdoch said. She wasn't going to make her decision until the last possible moment.
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 3:35 pm
Sin quietly waited, earring in hand for what was to come. He had no idea what sort of power could be entailed in the offer, just that he wanted to know. He couldn't pass it up. He tried not to focus on how clammy his hand got as the time wore on. He wasn't nervous, he told himself. It was just natural to be apprehensive when change approached.
And then the cloaked individual arrived. He listened to the man speak with his usual scepticism, everyone in life had an agenda, you learned that early as a demon. You learned everyone had a reason, a price.
But that didn't mean you couldn't hope, that somewhere in the world there was someone who did not.
Maybe, just maybe there was someone out there who would offer something more, something greater, and offer it willingly. Maybe they took pity on those destined to be bottom feeders, forever at the shallow end of the pool of aspirations. Not right for where they were but too hemmed in to escape. It was tantalising, he wanted out, he couldn't walk away and never know.
He felt like this choice was important. Like it could change things.
"I do." was all he said, offering the earring if there was any real need for it.
He was tired of having nothing to look forward to but being subservient to other people. He wanted to fly for the sun, even if it meant jumping off the edge.
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prolixity rolled 1 100-sided dice:
28
Total: 28 (1-100)
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 3:51 pm
Ren slipped back into visibility as the stranger spoke. Offering power. Offering a way out. It was tempting. It was very tempting, and the odd reaper's voice had an almost hypnotic effect.
If there was one thing Ren didn't trust, it was tempting, easy offers.
"So what's the price on this power you're offering?" He shook his head, fighting the desire to just agree, to slip easily into the whiteness. No. He wasn't going to just accept this without suspicion, and he wasn't going down without a fight.
It was hard to fight free of the clinging, languid relaxation, but he shook it off, started to back away. What was this reaper doing to them?
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x_Nata_x rolled 1 100-sided dice:
7
Total: 7 (1-100)
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:00 pm
"What's in it for you?"
Through the sea of mindless nods of agreement, Cain spoke up unabashedly, suspicion clearly lacing his tone. Throughout the mysterious figure's speech and grand metaphors he'd stayed quiet, at least with some measure of interest if not grudging respect, watching the figure trace out patterns in the dirt through skeptical eyes. Now that he was finished, he wanted answers. There was no way in hell that he was going to agree to something he didn't understand. That was how you got yourself killed, or worse, made into a pawn, and there was something nudging at the back of his mind that didn't quite make sense to him. A short distance away, Ren seemed to have the same sort of thought, and Cain jerked his head in the other student's direction, eyes still on the figure. Trying to push away from the tree he had been leaning against, interested in approaching to confront the 'reaper,' the demon was a little surprised to find he couldn't move at all, not even to unfold his arms from across his chest.
That annoyed him. Exponentially. But he ignored it for now, his expression growing darker at the tactic, continuing.
"You know we would not have come if we didn't seek the sort of power you displayed. So perhaps you should tell us why you would bother to grant any sort of power from those who initially stole from you in the first place?"(Just rolled to see if he could approach the figure, not try to escape~)
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iStoleYurVamps rolled 1 100-sided dice:
36
Total: 36 (1-100)
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:04 pm
Rengath was 'meh'. Pestering DETH was fun, as was watching defendorks get their asses handed to them but- it had gone just a bit too far. This guy, whatever, who ever he was, was toying with them. It was all a grand act in which Rengath felt like he was simply an extra on stage.
Rengath didn't DO extras. He was starring role only. The coin he'd taken was still in his pocket. Give it up? For... power. Knowledge. It was tempting, very very tempting. To take control, to become the star of the show as he could... The world had begun to vanish, red eyes closing as he listened.
But it wasn't RIGHT. It wasn't the role he wanted. This wasn't the stage he wanted to be apart of. He wanted power... who didn't? But he didn't want it like this. Shaking his head, the world came back, the hell spawn snarling. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll find my own way."
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iStoleYurVamps
iStoleYurVamps
Crew
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:13 pm
The figure tilted their head, just slightly, and for a bare second, there was a flash of something else, an afterimage almost. Someone light blue, ghost-like, sitting next to them, long hair curled around the two. And for a second longer, something else: thick white tendrils, cobwebs almost, curling around the base of the students from the ground, keeping them grounded. She paused from her singing, just enough to look straight at Cain and smiled, before disappearing entirely out of sight.
"Opportunities." The Reaper leaned back against the tree. "I did not know indeed that you would come and take from the cave. I could not even fathom the sheer amount of you who stumbled upon the treasures, who sealed their own decisions and turned the pendulum forward. Opportunities come from choices you make yourself, nothing less, nothing more." They seemed oddly disjointed again, tone growing slightly wistful. "You could say, I am one of the few of my kind, a guardian of a secret. If there is noone after me to take my place, to protect the cave, then all my efforts will be in vain. The only price here, is knowledge. Knowing too much is always a dangerous weapon for those not ready."
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:29 pm
The flash of a figure with its long white hair curling around his feet, trapping him, sent a cold chill down Ren's spine. The figure was answering his question and Cain's, but in a strange and roundabout way. Opportunities? He wanted opportunities in trade? What did that mean? How could you give someone else your choices and opportunities ... unless you were somehow submitting to them, or in some kind of servitude?
Ren didn't like that idea one bit.
"No thanks," he bit out, and kept backing up, out of reach, out of range of that weird glowing scythe. He turned and ran. Jack pride; if he was right, it wasn't going to matter that they'd seen him running away, because the ones who stayed behind would be gone.
[EXIT]
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:44 pm
When the reaper arrived, Dabir turned his attention toward him. He clutched the rings while he listened to the stranger speak. Choices. Power. His gaze lowered to the ground to watch the branch scrawl out lines and pictures in the dirt. Curiosity lit up in his eyes as the conversation continued. There was more to this? Dabir’s grip on the treasure in his hands tightened as he mulled over the figure’s words. There were two choices—to return what he had stolen and leave, or to stay and accept this offer of power. He could have chosen either one, but what he really wanted to know what lay behind what had been given to him.
His mouth opened slowly. “Alright.”
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 5:57 pm
Murdoch remained quiet for quite some time, expression thoughtful behind it's mask. The reaper may say the price was knowledge, but beneath the calm, reasonable facade of words, the zombie heard another answer.
Everything.
He had said it earlier, they were risking it all for something beyond their immediate comprehension. Head bent, Murdoch began to tally what his everything consisted of. His few friends. His fellow SCREAMers. His family. His possessions.
Acceptable losses.
His freedom?
A small, bitter smile crossed Murdoch's lips. He was expected to happily place that on the auction block after graduating.
And so what was left?
His health?
The zombie laughed out loud, and removed his mask, "Best job offer I've gotten. I'll take it."
He glanced at Bella, and the smile faltered a little, but he didn't say anything more. It was a decision they'd each have to make for themselves.
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 6:26 pm
The translucent figure appeared, and his first thought was that she was a ghost, the mysterious figure's partner perhaps, keeping herself unseen to assist him. It would make a little more sense, then, why he had been able to fend off so many of the students. It was possibly she was the one whom had put up the barrier, protecting the figure while he dished out a barrage of attacks -- a defense/offense pair. Except... she was like no ghost he had ever met. There was something completely ethereal about her, even more so than anything you could possibly find in halloweentown, and it stunned Cain to silence, every ounce of suspicion vanishing.
It... she... was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Pretty trinkets meant nothing to him -- any rock was potential liquid silver under his fingers, silk threads and electronic toys just another means to an end. Ghouls entertained him longer than anything else, but even they bored him quickly, merely acting as another lack-luster toy. There had only been one who had come close, endlessly complex and confusing in a way that intrigued him, but that was out of reach now. But this ghoul, this specter... there was something about her that made his entire being thrum with a want that was neither sexual nor even really possessive. What he wanted, he wasn't sure, but at his very core the feeling of something he could not put his finger on filled him with an almost anxious energy. She smiled at him, perhaps knowingly, perhaps sympathetically, and the woman vanished, but the sensation did not -- if anything it amplified with her absence.
It was like a drug.
In the corner of his eye, he noticed Ren backing up, retreating away from the group, but the baphomet did not do the same. "What... was that?" he half-breathed, ignoring the rest of the reaper's answer. For once, the demon could not comprehend the entirety of the situation, the complexity of the powers at work. The figure had promised them more, but this wasn't just power. He had expected something different -- a crime syndicate, perhaps, black market workings -- this was an entirely new dimension of unexplored territory completely separate from a vanilla life in halloweentown.
There were things at work he could not possibly understand, and for once, probably in his entire life, Cain was not only impressed, but in awe.
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 6:29 pm
He almost missed it, missed the image of her. Rengath was already on edge, but that had him leaning back. That was either a really good ghost... or jack knew what. White curling around them, holding them while she sang. A siren with some sort of spell on her by the reaper?
"Jacking heaven..this isn't right." The reaper was speaking about opportunities, choices, secrets. The hell spawn shook his head. That didn't sound like it. It sounded like a bad story. One he didn't want to be apart of. No white tangles for him thank you very much. Looking over, he noticed Ren had run. That idea, of running? Now THAT was a good idea.
"Sorry, not interested." Following the ghost's example, the demon fled. He'd made a choice after all, a choice for his own freedom.
[exit]
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iStoleYurVamps
iStoleYurVamps
Crew
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 7:06 pm
Entering
Tica was sure she heard it. her ears rang with the promise of power, the chance to grow from the area around her. the violet demoness listened intently as the honeyed words of the reaper continued to spill.
The idea there was more out there for her, it thrilled her beyond words. All she had to do was listen on.
It was either that or stay in her own little world living those little dreams. "I'm listening." she replied back curtly, the answer was fairly obvious to her.
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