|
Abayz, Hanuman - Edges of Wallastra City (Hellstorm) "Yeah that sounds like an awesome game! Ok here we go!" "Ok be silent starting... now!.......... Cool, total silence." "Hahaha you lost like a bitch!" "Shut up! It's my turn!" "I found a soul!" "Hey! We need more silence over here!" "Silent game, yeah!"  The Hunt was a success. With Thrym and Pirsuq pushing back the Ice, the Hellhounds were able to track the spoor of the Imprisoned across and Beneath the planet's surface. Soon they found themselves warped straight into the outskirts of Wallastra City. The Wallastra of previous Ages had been a great metropolis, heavily populated with an orderly design guided by the will of that city's God. Now fire and screams bellowed forth from a multitude of furnaces of all sizes and the heavy clouds of suffering and smoke roiled together to form mild storms of fire and lightning, which having passed through it Hanuman and the others could recognize as being a dangerous and lethal threat in its own right. The furnaces which dominated the city and fed into the central cathedral, and with the easy realization of what they did even the Trickster was mildly impressed. Souls were being trapped and burned whole here for warmth, and their suffering and ash spewed forth to create an infernal storm the likes of which could stand off the Ice itself (in a limited fashion). "I want to have fun too. Parelle doesn't tell me what to do, I only choose to do it because she asked and I love her. I do things! I choose things!" "Hey Pirsuq! We're playing the Silent Game! You're it! Shut up!" ABYAZ +4 assists with the Teleport spell, transporting himself and the WILDINGS! Roll was success! HANUMAN & THRYM & HELLHOUNDS & PIRSUQ (44, +2 AP) Mass Teleport towards the spoor of the IMPRISONED! Roll was success! HANUMAN et. al have arrived at WALLASTRA CITY, which strongly bears the scent of the IMPRISONED! Everything in WALLASTRA CITY reeks of the IMPRISONED! 25,000 incorporeal souls have been picked up by the WILDINGS! WALLASTRA CITY is surrounded by +18 HELLSTORM (like Ice only it doesn't freeze you it only hurts)! +18 HELLSTORM protects the metropolis from the ICE! WALLASTRA CITY is pretty heavily populated and is kept warm by a furnace which burns the souls of the damned and has divine-sized hole in the middle of it, see the third post for other details! Isath - Hell, Impure Swamp Isath's probe engorged with light and divine might as the hint of a blasphemous eye peeked forth from its tip. The greater bulk of Isath embedded within the Impure Swamp drained and pulled, twisting lattices of energy and fleshy lenses together into a single violating orb. It would forge an eye which could see far beyond even an immortal's unassisted gaze. Not one that could see around casualty itself, for that way lay Tiphanes and madness. But a simple, lesser artifact which could dig into the visual cortex of its bearer and see farther than any living thing could be allowed to see.  The Farseeing Eye plopped and slithered its way across the damp ground, climbing tendrils questing upwards across Hanuman's body in search of an ocular cavity to occupy. ISATH (+10, 2 AP) creates an artifact, +2 FARSEEING EYE! Roll was success! +2 FARSEEING EYE has been created and given to HANUMAN! It's called polycoria and if you want to see some slightly NMS poo poo google image search it for fun. This was the least one I could find. Wallastra - Bottom of the Pit The endless darkness swallowed him and Wallastra fell on. He had no idea how long he had been falling. In the darkness devoid of sound, light, or souls, even a God's sense of time could grow flexible and soft. Was it months or had it been years? The pit swallowed everything, took everything so that even the beat of his divine heart was smothered and driven silent in the fall. Without air or temperature there was no way to even guess if he'd picked up speed or had slowed to a crawl, only the endless sensation of descent. Objects increased in speed the longer they fell, the transferred energy increasing in relative mass so that ultimately even a pebble could shatter a mountain. Privately Wallastra wondered if he'd made a terrible mistake, and if he should have used his powers to soften or done something different. Idly he considered the mechanics of reaching inside himself to build a city anew of flesh and bone that fell into forever, but shuddered at the ramifications of what would happen when and if he struck against the unfathomable bottom. or worse if it never did A foundation of his bone and nail, mortared by sputum and lashed with his own twine. He could even revisit his fancy of the last Age and make of the city a ship with sails tanned of his own skin. Something bent in the seamless fall and Wallastra found himself looking upwards at a tunnel which reach towards infinity.  Whatever it was used time and space in ways that they were not meant to. Cruelly and harmfully, in a way which he wasn't sure was safe or insane. "Lord Wallastra! Hail, Lord! Hail!" A congregation bearing the trappings of his priesthood approached and groveled before him in the red light of the Pit. "Have you come to lead us Lord? Has our time come again?" They wept and laughed in honesty, muttering prayers to him which reach back across the centuries in a dozen languages but Wallastra could feel no sense of spiritual connection to them. WALLASTRA uses no traits and falls into the +8 BOTTOMLESS PIT! Roll was success! Wallastra has reached the bottom of the BOTTOMLESS PIT (not so bottomless after all)! The way back up is nearly infinite and bends space/time in a very disturbing manner which may be very unsafe! People live at the BOTTOM OF THE PIT and they look like they worship WALLASTRA but do not give him the benefits of any faith! Parelle - Hell, Outside Vendruck's Workshop There was a long pause followed by Vendruck's reluctant chuckle. "If you can still feel your face you're not doing it right at all." The gun port rotated open again, and a mirror on a stick poked its way out. "Let me see the coal you're using for the boiler, it probably doesn't have enough bauxite. Non-dwarves never get the ore mix right." He grunted as it swept over the load. "They had artisans you know, dwarves who learned to pick the best sized and shaped lumps of ore by hand. Like anything you surface folk did with inconstant and boring fruit, my dwarves could do with fungus, metal, and stone." Parelle waited patiently for his reply, sensing that this was something which Vendruck was better off saying himself. He remained silent for much longer before withdrawing his mirrored stick. "I could rule Hell with you Parelle. Maybe even make a new race of Dwarves once my sorrow has cooled. But would the Trickster allow it? His guardian giant is a cruel thing, and like all Giants will never be pried free of what he thinks is his save by violent death. My giant would have been less evil. I plan on seeing my obligations quit, after which I will build my epitaph and die myself. Whatever Gods come next can probably do a better job. They certainly can't do any worse. You and your brothers killed Malador, but he made me swear that Hell's operation would take precedence over either of our lives should we fall." "I told the Trickster I would serve him, and my word is my bond." He laughed bitterly and paused, the sensation of building power and suffering within the workshop halting momentarily. "Until it's broken anyway." VENDRUCK's counteroffer is that he's down for all 3, but really doesn't believe it's doable with the TRICKSTER & THRYM alive! It's unlikely he will trust either of those Gods! VENDRUCK intends to imprison SIN and see his other grudges met before building a grave and killing himself! VENDRUCK has stopped whatever he was doing in the +6 PLACE OF MECHANICAL PUNISHMENT! REGGIE & CADENZA keep working on REGGIE'S PROJECT!
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2016 21:26
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 04:18 |
|
|
Parelle Parelle refilled and gulped another beer. It wasn't as bad once you got sufficiently drunk. Really, really drunk. She leaned against the wall and spoke less like someone who was about to die, and more like a friendly neighbor. Vendruck hadn't killed or tortured her on the spot. She hadn't killed him when he was vulnerable. He had her hope, she had his artifice. She doubted she'd ever be completely forgiven, but this was a path towards understanding of a sort. Or she could just be lying to herself. She was still trembling after all. She'd come close to death, or fates much worse just now after all. "I have this feeling that the trickster isn't trustworthy, but he's a survivor and therefor not stupid. I'm not sure about the ice giant, but we're gods. There's really only so much trust that we can build up. Seeing as I'm not particularly good at being in charge, my suggestion is this: Cooperation enforced by mutual self-destruction. I'm not some old hand at this, but I know the stories. Gods don't trust easily or well, but I figure the only way to deal with the powerful and create anything resembling trust is that if I hurt you or you hurt me, it would be the same as hurting the both of us. We offer the Trickster the same deal. We all enter into a pact of mutual self-destruction or we go our separate ways. Seeing that he's a trickster of course I can see he'd try to wiggle out of anything like this, but we don't even have to hurt him. He might be able to take down Sin, but he can't trick the ice into not existing. He needs us, or he needs other more dubious sources of power. If it works you can keep your oath and punish any betrayal from any party. That's how I see it anyway. A good out of your situation.. I mean, he's trying to build his own power base, but he hasn't even checked if his hounds and the giant are trustworthy. My guess is no. He's trying to track down Sin with former sin gods now dogs and a giant made almost entirely out of sin and Hell stuff. On the other hand, I haven't really checked with Isath, but Isath seems just to want to survive." She finished her beer and let go of the stone mug. It disappeared before it hit the floor. She looked at herself and frowned. Should the queen of Hell really be dressed in simple furs? No wonder no one took her seriously for so long. On a whim she whipped up something new. Her new dress was long and flowing, though weatherized. It was so black that one might almost think one could see through her if not for her small curves which kept her from being completely shapeless. She kept a hood, so it was still good for the cold and she quickly schooled her frizzy and mousy looking brown hair into something longer and with more luster to compliment her brown skin. Of course she wore plenty under it, though no one would be seeing that. She blushed at the thought as she corrected herself. Wait, plenty of people had seen that now. poo poo. Then blushed a little more at the remembrance of the plane of Lust. She transformed her backpack that kept her food, cookware and tools into pouches on a simple brown leather belt which gave her better access than her pack. On her left side hung a sickle sword. Long ago they'd been in vogue before straight swords. Steel and death to compliment her status as Warden of Hell, and the sickle shape to show her command over nature. It would be awful for stabbing, but it was just as much a tool as a weapon. In the end she realized Vendruck must have watched her as she made her transformation. She smiled and curtsied slightly. This showed off a hint of her furs underneath at the legs. She was mostly still the same woman as before, at least underneath it all. "I'm going to visit Isath to speak to him. Him? Him is close enough. If you'd like to accompany me you can get a better view at what I'm doing with new hell. It has a full ecosystem and paths to leave for those exceptional souls who have known sin, but can reject it. I plan on great things with them once they make themselves known, though of course they wouldn't be allowed to run free. Further, as judge, you have the right to reject any that make it through the process, or at any point really. None have left yet, but I'm going to see if I can produce a few. If you think that any of it needs a dwarf's touch, I would appreciate it. If you wish to stay, then that is okay too. This is an invitation. If anything I'd like your take on Isath. He's useful, but inscrutable. I really can't make heads or tails of him." She stepped back just a few feet and to the side, waited for a short time to let him make up his mind and then ascended to speak to Isath with or without Vendruck accompanying her to his wish. On the way she'd see damned souls, and of course there were ones that were obviously not strong enough to escape on their own, but had the will, or at least maybe had the will. Strength wasn't as important as the will, so she gave a few notables a boost. It was cheating of course, but she didn't have forever to wait on mortals to climb out of hell. Parelle managed to not get murdered. She'll be sticking to her agreements of boons, potential punishment at a later date, beat back sin, thaw the ice and co-equal rule of New Hell with Vendruck as judge. At some point when the trickster is here she's going to propose an actual alliance with formal rules and most importantly mutual self-destruction for betrayers as most gods really aren't trustworthy at their core. Vendruck is cordially invited to speak to Isath. She's going to check in and apologize for the way her ant people got into his home. Vendruck's touch would be welcome in Hell wherever he wants to put it. Parelle is going to boost the fortitude of any promising souls, but not their will. They'll be able to ascend if and only if they can pass the tests. They won't be able to brute force the tests, but they'll be able to dust themselves off again. Essentially think of this as me accelerating the growth of the shining souls (IE, damned souls that rejected Sin) for processing in the school that was built over the Hell Mouth. +2 Warden of Hell to make them more resistant to Hell, +4 Nature to make them more resistant to the flora and fauna, +2 Travel to make them exit all the swifter and +2 Food and Drink to add the occasional oasis along the way for them to rest at. Reggie, Pirsuq and Cadenza keep doing what they're doing.
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2016 00:39
|
|
|
Wallastra 16/16 AP Well there was a lot of things he expected to be at the bottom of the hole, this was not it. He looked at the multitudes gathered in his presence and they were... Odd. They looked like his worshipers and to his divine sight it seemed that they were indeed real beings rather then just an illusion, but he felt nothing from them and not just in the sense of worship. If he could describe it, it would be the feel of standing in a crowded room, whilst your brain was telling you the room was empty, the ghost people had seemed to no 'substance', and when Wallastra reached out to one, they seemed to shift away from his touch like smoke. He said nothing, and looked for what he suspected he would find. And walked. And walked further, the grasping hands, worried faces of his ghostly congregation fanning out behind him like a comet, and when he couldn't seem to make any progress walking left or right he, attempted to walk down. He reached his hand to what seemed to be the ground, and started to dig with his hands. --- Seriously can I even use any purviews or even flaws here? I mean this is not technically my city, and these are not exactly my people, and I am not sure I can really use the bottomless hole, whilst I am in the bottomless hole, but it's still within the city walls. I am as unto a mortal here, and thus will have to use a mortal's penance.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2016 18:19
|
|
|
Isath, Hellswamp Hell was emptier now. The "Hunt" had left, and now the number of gods in Hell was lesser. This greatly unsettled Isath - as psychotic as gods could be with each other, at least there had been a somewhat stable truce, and about as much peace and quiet as one could expect from a worn-down world breaking apart at the seams. They were all still unpredictable, but they could at least be expected to seek survival, and it was in everyone's best interests that Hell didn't fall. Now there were less gods defending it, though - and the gods of the world had a remarkable tendency to find smaller groups of their kin to destroy and consume. They were, after all, gods, of course. Isath wondered if the current state of the world was not, after all, inevitable. But it digressed. The matter of survival was at hand. There were many things to do, and too little time. For now, the area of warmth around Hell's gate seemed to be holding. Isath would use that precious time, void of distractions, to take advantage of one of its previous actions - Isath had previously repaired Hell somewhat, laying down living matter to fill the cracks, so to speak. Now it was time to touch whatever mind had grown around this Hell-flesh. The Hellgate seemed to have a very limited awareness, after all. Ancient divine constructions such as Hell, which had required the combined effort of dozens of gods, were difficult to understand completely by a single god. However, Isath knew gods, and they would have definitely, in their eternal quarreling, have put in individual quirks. Safeguards. Backdoors. Insurance policies. These were the weak links in the chain, and Isath hoped they could be used as points of entry. Something about the Ice should be buried in the mass of memories accumulated in the fabric of Hell. Something useful. Now that Hell is somewhat alive, trying to briefly mind-merge with it to dig out any useful memories about the Ice, with Flesh +6
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2016 18:31
|
|
|
Abayz, Hanuman - Edges of Wallastra City (Hellstorm) Abayz and Hanuman paused for a moment to catch their breath and take in the sights of the city. It really was amazing how except of course for the massive pit leading down into imperceptible depths smack in the middle of it all. Now that he had the chance to see them a bit more Abayz was struck by healthy and numerous the mortals of this place were. They were nothing like the stooping and lazy ones of the Trickster's domain, and even the ones in Alvande's care had been brushed with the constant watchfulness and fear of knowing they were soon for the Table. The mortals did lively, orderly, ordinary things. A delegation of lesser powers strode forth from the city to greet them. A mechanical soldier bearing the marks of a much earlier age, a scattering of wizards and priests, and lesser divinities of what were probably city-related functions smiled warmly and bowed. quote:"Greetings honored deities! We are the elected and empowered city council of Wallastra city. We speak on behalf of the city and Wallastra himself in welcoming you. The God Wallastra has anticipated your coming and requested that we assist you in what we may. As they waited the Hellstorm increased in pitch and intensity. WALLASTRA's CITY COUNCIL +8 have appeared! They've received orders from WALLASTRA to cooperate and are currently not hostile! ABAYZ has noticed that the mortals in WALLASTRA look pretty different than the mortals he's seen before in SUMMER'S VALLEY and HELL! The HELLSTORM IS SLOWLY INCREASING IN STRENGTH! Parelle - Hell, Outside Vendruck's workshop "You would make ME Judge of Hell again?" Vendruck's squawk was something between horrified and indignant. "I can't conceive of that as a good idea. Go away. I have work to do and other thoughts to finish. The fleshy abomination can wait." Through the door Parelle could feel the buildup of power to whatever machines he'd made begin anew. "Come back later." But that was progress right? He hadn't opened fire and maimed her while she was deliberately vulnerable, nor had he gone off on a drunken crazed rant (more what she was expecting). And nobody stopped her as she took her meandering path, leaving fresh supplies, giving heart to the hopeful and brave of Hell as she did. Soon. She definitely felt it would be soon that she could see for herself the first full crop of Hell's promising souls. As she approached Isath's Swamp she passed Reggie and Cadenza with what appeared to be the entire population of Fomorians. To her great surprise she saw that none of them were whipping, eating, or murdering each other at all. "'ixed 'em." Reggie shrugged. "Oh yeah they were just awful before." "Petty, vicious, vindictive, hateful things. The problem we ran into before was that whatever we got them to build the horrible little monsters used it to murder, enslave, or torture each other. So Reggie's been giving them work and I introduced the concept of not being awful. They were bleeding and eating their own children Parelle. Their own children." Reggie shuffled from foot to foot as he pointedly avoided the potential argument between his sisters. "'nyway, they just needed productive jobs to do 's all. 're gonna build a garden, tie this all in. Definitely not going back in that swamp anymore, that's for sure." "Yeah watch out for the penis tower's giant disgusting tongue if you're headed that way. It's been flopping around and slurping things pretty hard." Parelle - Hell, Impure Swamp It was true. Isath's monstrous tongue thrashed and heaved across the landscape, leaking fluids and redrinking them from a thousand papillae mouths that grew and died across its length from the center of the swamp to the far regions of Hell's gate. Due to the strange construction of the place and Reggie's deliberate planning, most paths and buildings in hell were well out of its path but it still made for a disturbing sight. After being violently defeated at least twice, once in social combat, and having lost every thing left in his keeping except for grudges VENDRUCK has some doubts about his effectiveness as a responsible leader! The +6 PLACE OF MECHANICAL PUNISHMENT has been reactivated! PARELLE +10 empowers the souls that she feels have the least sin/most potential currently trapped within the Tests for the Wicked! Roll was success! There are many souls that are nearly all the way through, which will break free of the Tests for the Wicked soon! REGGIE & CADENZA have changed the nature of the FOMORIANS! FOMORIANS now worship REGGIE, CADENZA, PARELLE equally! FOMORIANS are now considerably less prone to being awful and more likely to cooperate! FOMORIANS have begun to build a possibly sacred space or new trait to HELL's landscape, GARDENS OF ORDER under the direction of REGGIE and CADENZA! Also ISATH's enormous heaving tongue is stretching out in a line straight from the IMPURE SWAMP to the HELLGATE! ISATH is clearly busy! Wallastra - Bottom of the Pit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWz0qVvBZ0 Wallastra dug downwards accompanied by the clamoring of ghosts. It was hard going and now more than ever he felt far and away from his divine roots. It wasn't that he had no access to his domains down here, but rather that the twisting of space meant that he just wasn't sure. He was so off the Plan that he had no idea where to even begin. But if he kept digging he'd eventually get somewhere right? Or hit bottom. Either way this wasn't a very great place to be. As he clawed away at his mortal labors the crowd of ghosts grew and grew, soon swelling to a mighty horde he didn't bother counting. Their chatter was incessant but clearly they could do nothing to him and had no effect on him anyway. W̦̟ͤ͛͜a̶̫̣̯͈͚̙̙ͧ̆̔̋ͧ̓̔ͅͅḻ̶̣͈̲̯̆̾͒̑͑̑͢͝l̤͉͇͙̩͈͔ͫ̎̌ͪ̽̊̎͢ĺ̡̡̬̤̳̘̰͎ͦ́̾ͮ̚ş̥̮̲̳̐ͪ̽́ţ̧͎͎̳͌͐ͯͤ́̏͗ͫ̐ŗ̠̱̝͙̰̮̱͇̣͒̌ͨ͊͋a̷͚͈͚̹ͫͨ͝ Wa̵̟̜̮̰ll̥̲a̶̩̼̯͈̹͔s̛̼̩t̵̝̭ṟ͎̖a̳̜͙̩͇̜ͅ! "Why are you here Wallastra?" The great voice boomed from everywhere around him and shook him down to the marrow of his bones. Was this how mortals felt when he did a visitation? It was inescapable and hurtful at first but lowered to what it thought was probably a safe level of discourse. WALLASTRA starts digging a hole! The people who live at the bottom of the BOTTOMLESS PIT keep asking WALLASTRA questions and asking for his attention! WALLASTRA does not interact with the people who live at the bottom of the BOTTOMLESS PIT! Something has begun talking to WALLASTRA, its voice echoes throughout the entire BOTTOMLESS PIT! Isath - Hell, Impure Swamp There was ancient knowledge locked within the bones of the Hellgate, and Isath meant to make it all its own. It was no smith or mason to read the stone or construction of the gate, but where there was life and some semblance of mind around flesh Isath could merge.  It proved difficult. Aside from it was made from ancient and unfamiliar magic, the core of the gate actively resisted Isath. Isath had built a gate of living flesh and eyes and this older, vestigial thing hated it and its non-living will could muster. All it could taste was the effluvia of its own salty flesh, the bitterness stung Isath's probing receptors. Then it realized how the gate had survived the purge of every living thing in Old Hell. The core of the gate wasn't truly alive in the first place! roll was failure! ISATH has discovered that the core of the OLD HELLGATE is actually not alive, which is how it avoided being instal-killed along with everything else in HELL not sufficiently God-like when THE IMPRISONED broke free! The remainder of the OLD HELLGATE really hates ISATH and the new decor!
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2016 22:11
|
|
|
Parelle - Hell Just like that, Vendruck turned a complete 180. He retreated to his torture chamber and left her outside with that stone mug. She snorted derisively at her misstep, but understood. Like her, he wasn't particularly good with power either. She disappeared around a corner and came back. This time she rolled a keg of that mushroom beer with the extra specifications. She'd tested it. If anything it was even fouler than before. She pinned a note to it. "I'd like for us to be good neighbors and to at least get along. I'm not dictating what our roles should be. Obviously we've both had our problems in the past. You don't have to judge, but I would like your help in the future. More beer to help you think. Please let me know what you decide. - Parelle" She thought about knocking again. She did, but sped away before he could come to the door again. In effect she'd ding-dong-ditched a god, but at least she'd left him beer. She was feeling merciful and decided to leave foodstuffs for the damned souls, lights, a few other things, nothing too fancy. She talked with a few, hugged some of the saner ones and generally tried to wrestle with her guilt that she'd sent them down here in the first place. Sure most of them probably knew or at least suspected they'd go to Hell, but it was one thing to know, another to hold the keys. There were some serious horrors down here though. The most recent mingled around the starting point. New Hell was built on the architecture of old Hell, and she'd never questioned who should go to Hell and who shouldn't. After all Heaven was (probably) taking their fair share of the souls, and what they didn't take she should pick up, right? Well she'd slapped Home right over where purgatory was. It was supposedly off limits. In the crowd of rapists, murderers, thieves, betrayers and other horrible mortal riff-raff were the sinners who were almost venial. The ones who'd barely made it into Hell, or were here on mere technicalities. She found more than her fair share of children here. Many of them didn't even understand that they were in Hell. It was just a scary place full of scary monsters. She handed one in particular a sweet. She didn't eat. "Hi lady," said the soul. The soul looked reminiscent of a little girl. She looked sweet at a full two and a half feet tall with strawberry blonde hair and a pug nose. She looked up at Parelle and was one of the few that didn't scatter. The bravest, or perhaps just the slowest. Parelle did look scarier than before after all. "Hi," said Parelle, who felt awkward. "Thanks for the...The..." "It's strawberry pie," said Parelle. "Oh. Um...Wanna share?" she asked. A little piece of Parelle cracked inside. She tried her best not to cry. "You want to share?" asked Parelle. The child paused and shuffled the wisps that passed for feet. "Not really. I'm really hungry, but I just thought you were nice, so I'd be nice," she said. "I have more if you're hungry," said Parelle. "Kay." So it was that Parelle sat down in Hell with this unlucky child and ate strawberry pie. Soon more came. She had food for all of them. Children were full of questions though. These questions burned. "Where's mommy?" "Can you take me home?" "I lost my shoe. Can you help me find it?" "I was cold before, but now I can't feel anything. Why can't I feel anything?" "Why's it so scary here?" "Why are you wearing so much black?" "Have any more..." "What can I..." "Mommy, where's..." "Wanna go home, wanna go home, wanna..." They were here because Heaven didn't want them. All of them had probably done something bad at some point, but should someone who was barely responsible for their decisions be here? How could she have hosed up so badly as to remake Hell? She could have done anything, but she let herself be talked into making Hell all over again. She thoughtlessly bought into Hell as being a necessary place in the metaphysical cosmos. She felt the weight of her own sins crawling down her back as she did her best to address the basic needs of these dead children. They wouldn't be able to leave this place at all. They were doomed. Born, did something just bad enough, died young. Some of these kids were legitimately awful creatures even on the scale of adults, but they were few and far between. Most of them were here on trivial matters, or matters that came from desperation and privation. She really needed to get purgatory up and running again. Or maybe create her own heaven for the least lost. Or maybe...Or maybe... That crack inside of her widened. She split down the middle and broke for a time. Tears filled her eyes. She tasted strawberries as children pitilessly asked her endless impossible questions. Mere children made the Warden of Hell cry. It took a while to compose herself. That original girl even hugged her. The Warden of Hell squeaked as she was hugged. So much for the new attitude. "You smell nice," she said. That was the perfume from Lust. She couldn't wash it off for some reason. Parelle didn't move. Maybe if she didn't move they'd get bored and go away. Some did. Most stayed. After all, she had food and hadn't attacked them. Most quieted down though as she fed them more. At least there was that. The chewy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that she made helped. "Mommy isn't coming back. Is she?" asked the little girl. "No...No I don't think so," said Parelle. The little girl looked sad, and then brightened. "Can you be my mommy?" she asked. "Umm..." "I can cook a little. And clean. And I can be reaaaaally quiet. And...And..." "Okay," said Parelle. "Really?" she asked. Maybe this would be best. She couldn't help everyone, but if she could she should at least help children. "What's your name?" asked Parelle. The little girl shrugged. "I dunno. Do you remember yours?" "Yeah. I'm Parelle." This made the small child pause. She didn't remember her name, and if pressed all she could remember of her mother was the name, "Mommy". But that name was recognized. "You mean like from the stories?" she asked. "Yeah. Like from the stories," she said, quietly flattered. "Nuh-uh," she smoothly countered. "Parelle has a big fur coat." "Can't I change my clothes?" asked Parelle. "Nope." "Huh. Okay, new plan. I'm taking all of you out of here with me. I'll figure out what to do with you all later." She did banish a few of the most horrible souls from the mob of children that formed up. Parelle did have standards. Eventually she got them into more or less of a real line and lead the children out of Hell like a mother duck with a trail of ducklings, or in this case the Warden of Hell and a procession of dead children and more innocent souls. They didn't have to be losers. Not in this afterlife at least. She stopped when she got to Reggie and company. Her new look of a black dress and sickle was accompanied by a procession of slightly damned souls, mostly children. It was like a leather goddess decided to become a school teacher. She listened as she made sure none of them ran away. "I didn't really make them, Cadenza. I made the flora and fauna, then I pushed it to create the most brutal predators. It seems like nature loves the classics. These were it. I made them smart. Doesn't surprise me that they're awful. Mostly I just wanted fast breeding shock troops. It was a good idea, but in the end I couldn't civilize them like I wanted to. Intervening meant that one would wipe the other out." Parelle was just a little mad that they'd taken the edge off her creatures. They weren't supposed to be civilized. They were supposed to be obedient meat for an army. Even now though Parelle realized that even if they were horrible creatures, they were still living creatures. They were still her children. "Thanks for civilizing them. It's probably better this way," she said. "I uh...It seems that Hell is full of people that shouldn't be there. I found this crowd at the entrance. Kids mostly. I can't bring myself to ignore them, can't uh...End um...Their suffering in the way we discussed. Can't resurrect them because the trickster will mess with them. Going to see if I can make something of them. I think I might need your help for this, sis. I want to keep kids out of Hell. At least that much." Before she went to Isath she left Reggie and Pirsuq to their own devices and took Cadenza up to Home. Parelle rubbed her cheek and thought. Lots of dead children. There was still the problem of them possessing bodies or getting snatched up and dropped into Hell again by the Wildings. "I was sort of a hearth goddess once," said Parelle. "They need families. Why don't we give them families?" The natures of the children had to change. No longer dead, but not exactly living. No longer souls, but less than divine. They became house spirits. Some called them domovoi, some lares, others brownies, but to children their new imaginary friends. In the end they were once children, but would help around the house, make sure people at that curse lifting fruit and made sure that kids stayed out of Hell. She could do that much at least. As they were still children and forever hungry, offers of fruit, bread and drink would be the traditional offerings, and would live in carvings that would sit above the hearth. Once she and Cadenza were done she brushed off her hands. The small girl she originally found would find a place of honor in her temple as her personal domovoi. "Your name is now Vin. I'll visit you later, Vin," said Parelle. The little girl smiled and waved as she left her temple. She looked at her sister. She still felt guilty, but smiled weakly. "Hell shouldn't be awful for everyone," she said, quietly. "And it's not for everyone. I really messed up when I made it again. I don't really think I've been myself lately, sis. Thanks for helping fix my mistakes. At least you have your head on straight." She awkwardly hugged her sister. She realized belatedly that she still smelled like a brothel. It made the hug even more awkward. "I'm going to visit our resident monster god to check in. I visited Vendruck and didn't get murdered, but he holed up. I think I scared him a little. I'm just checking in with everyone to make sure we're all good." She remembered something and her eyes drifted to Cadenza's forearm. Was she imagining it, or could she see teeth marks on her forearm? Guilt stabbed into her and she averted her eyes. "You really should've gotten the power, sis. Not me. I don't think I've done very well with it." Then just like that she was gone. She went to the swamp to visit Isath. She pulled up lightly to the edge of the swamp, spied the remains of what looked like a battle, frowned and idly tapped the edge of the murky water with her fingers. Her version of a knock on a place with no doors. "Hello Isath. I'd like to check in. Would you like some company?" she asked. Long post. Boiling it down. Parelle is creating household spirits. For roleplay purposes she's emptying Hell of souls which are there by the smallest of technicalities. Like unbaptized babies for example or kids who stole too many times from the cookie jar. Not exactly, but sins that barely squeak one over into Hell now that purgatory is gone. Mechanically I want to add a significant health and fertility boost to all of the races under Parelle's care. The number of living mortals is pretty small and I want to fix that. They're also going to make sure that they also eat their curse lifting fruit so their souls don't wink out of existence. This means the humans, non-humans and even the fomorians, though how their house spirits would work I have no idea. +4 Life, +4 Nature and +4 Healing to make them great for fertility and healing, +4 Sun and +2 Food and drink as they're hearth spirits and +2 Warden of Hell to help keep people out of hell. 4+4+4+4+2+2=20 Reggie and Pirsuq are still left to their own devices to work on their own. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 04:45 on Apr 5, 2016 |
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2016 04:35
|
|
|
Hanuman Wallastra City - The Suburbs AP: 22/24 Wallastra City Council posted:"Greetings honored deities! We are the elected and empowered city council of Wallastra city. We speak on behalf of the city and Wallastra himself in welcoming you. The God Wallastra has anticipated your coming and requested that we assist you in what we may. Having integrated Isath's Far-Seeing Eye into his own being -- situating it directly over his pineal gland (where else would a Third Eye belong, after all?) -- Hanuman is ready to continue The Hunt. In retrospect, he is not terribly surprised that his taks entails less wilderness tracking and more discerning the hidden depths of mortal souls. "Greetings honored representatives of Wallastra!" he responds grandiosely, his Third Eye staring unblinkingly at the mortal councillors. "As your patron deity has no doubt informed you, a greal primordial Evil has been loosed upon the world, and we are here to re-Imprison it. While you have protected yourself quite effectively from the Cold and the Ice," here Hanuman gestures non-committally toward the rapidly-strengthening Hellstorm, "there are subtler ways that the seeds of destruction may insinuate themselves into a people. As mortals, you are unlikely to have the needed resources to combat such influence -- but that is precisely where our Hunt shall succeed. To start: we shall examine the hiding places and deep recesses of your domain, to root out our quarry. I would also learn about your City, its People, and its novel Technologies. If any of you have insight into where the Curse may hide, your wisdom would be highly valued." TL;DR: Help me help you! What do they have to say about The Imprisoned, whether they know it by that name or not? We'll start with what they can tell me about their city and its recent (since the ending of the last Age) changes. Any direct mystical insight into the Curse and its (meta)physical manifestations would be welcome as well. Mostly I expect them to be actively obscuring the truth -- whether they speak out of maliciousness or ignorance or are themselves the victims of deceit -- but lies can be just as informative as the truth. If not moreso, since they reveal the liars' true priorities and what they might be desperate to conceal. So: Trickster Spirit +4 to separate truth from lies, Inbetween All Worlds +4 to discern the non-physical evidence of The Imprisoned (whether in their words, in their souls, or elsewhere in their city), Leader +2 to elicit cooperation from the mortals, HellWarden +2 to continue pursuing The Imprisoned's "scent" on and among the mortals and their cultural artifacts, and finally Far-Seeing Eye +2 for even more Divine vision; Total is +14 (plus whatever Abyaz can contribute); hopefully this investigation targets the mortals considerably more feeble skills than being directly opposed by The Imprisoned (though come to think of it, such direct opposition could bring it out of hiding more rapidly, even in the case of failure). In any case, for now the Mortals do not have my leave to retreat into the safer(?) confines of the City. I want to keep them on edge and anxious to comply with my request, before the Hellstorm gets threateningly strong. Meanwhile, Thrym and the Hounds and the Chaos-sensitive Wildings (+12 +12 +?) will physically patrol the city looking for material manifestations of The Imprisoned and generally being ready to fight it or any of its minions, if it comes to that.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2016 01:42
|
|
|
Abyaz- Wallastra City The party waited for its welcome, and it eventually arrived, but Abyaz was surprised by the non-arrival of the city's namesake. "I'd like to know why Wallastra himself isn't here, as I've been led to believe the Imprisoned is a grave threat, and I'd expect a city-god to take his city's safety seriously; not to say that he's incompetent for leaving this matter to his council, just a lack of priorities on his part; though, that vast pit does raise doubt about either his sanity or control over his own city." Aiding Hanuman with +4 Mouth and asking some questions as well.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2016 21:55
|
|
|
Wallastra - Bottom of the Pit 16/16 AP "I have come for the truth!" He yelled into the gaping void around him. The voice had brought him to his knees, it took a herculean effort to pull himself to his feet "No longer do I wish hide behind a vanguard of lies, I wish to see what I have wrought for myself, no matter where that path may lay." This isn't about personal redemption, this isn't about power, this isn't even about personal mistakes. Walk into the fire. See into it's flames. Know the truth And if it is a horrible truth, then I will bear witness to it. TheNabster fucked around with this message at 13:25 on May 15, 2016 |
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 21:59
|
|
|
Parelle - Hell, Home "I don't know Parelle, I probably wouldn't like myself very much if it made me all crazy and evil. But then it's not like I ever tried to heal anybody to death or spawned murderous demonic child cannibal clones of myself so..." Reggie interjected and guided Cadenza away before she could say something which couldn't be unsaid. It was enough that they were working together and they'd done it. The Domovoi took shape beneath their hands easily like puffy little loaves of new bread, and between the two of them Parelle and Cadenza put the best of themselves into the souls of those she deemed to be not-quite-sinners. These would be fully mortal, not just demonic near-mortals like the Fomorians were. She used less of Hell to make them (Cadenza insisted on it) and each one popped out of the oven with a warm smile and confusingly fruity and sweet-smelling hug. There were some mutterings from Cadenza about children in ovens but even her grumping gave way as they shared the joy of raising a new people. Cadenza was naturally bossy and issued her orders to the army of tiny Domovoi a hundred thousand strong. "Proper prenatal nutrition, basic hygiene and cleanliness for the home, and low stress, low conflict-filled environments, got it?" "Got it!" The chorus of voices rang through the former field of Purgatory they'd claimed as a workspace. "If the little bastards come out the wrong way or strangled you get your hands in there and you push. And don't be shy to come get me if something worse happens. Oh and sometimes they're born with a bit missing in the heart area, but there's an easy fix for that..." PARELLE +20 increases the population of HELL by recycling not-very-heavily-sinning souls back into circulation! Roll was success! A new mortal species, DOMOVOI have been created! DOMOVOI increase the fertility of other mortal species through a series of actions they deem beneficial and make sure they eat plenty of curse-breaking fruit! In a related note FOMORIANS are essentially ant-shaped mortals with some add-ons ala demons made from the stuff of HELL itself! Abayz, Hanuman - Edges of Wallastra City (Hellstorm) quote:Wallastra has left the city to pursue a personal project. But even absent he protects us from the cold and invaders with his Grand Design. The Necropolis shields the populace from the effects of evil spirits and their influence by nature of its great magnetism, and once trapped we burn them to produce heat and thus ward off the Ice. The Soul Furnace takes us all in time so that our civic duty is fulfilled. Hanuman listened carefully to the mechanical man's explanations, but more importantly he listened to the spaces left by the question and watched the council's reactions with supernatural care. It was strange. If the Imprisoned was the manifestation of Sin itself then everything in Wallastra itself was steeped heavily in Sin. Yet by looking at them the Trickster did not judge Wallastra's citizens to be more good or evil than other mortals. But they were telling the truth as far as they knew, and were otherwise exactly as they seemed. It turned to Abayz and tilted its mechanical head in an expression of confusion. in reply to Abayz posted:What vast pit? Thrym shook his massive head, pulling the throng of Hounds and wild fae behind him. He frowned towards the towering furnace cathedral and necropolis but otherwise had nothing to object to. "Hey this sucks!" "Yeah this city blows~!" "It's just boring assholes following rear end in a top hat zoning laws!" "That storm's pretty badical though! Dude check me out!" "Dude! You should totally hold your asslight up to that thing! There's like a squillion volts in there!" "Yesssssssssss. So chaos... do it slower. yeeeeeeeah." ABAYZ & HANUMAN +18 interrogate the CITY COUNCIL +8! Roll was success! CITY COUNCIL +8 has conveyed the following true (as they know it) facts! WALLASTRA CITY is protected from the ICE by a combination of two things! +2 INFERNAL FURNACE which burns the SOULS OF THE DAMNED and a NECROPOLIS which attracts the SOULS OF THE DAMNED much in the way that HELL did! There are millions of active, healthy, and industrious people in WALLASTRA CITY! It is clear to HANUMAN that the CITY COUNCIL (and all of Wallastra's citizens that they can detect) bear some relation to the IMPRISONED! They appear otherwise to be normal! THRYM & FRIENDS +24 have made a circuit of WALLASTRA CITY! No other divine beings or signs of the IMPRISONED (besides the ENDLESS PIT) have been discovered! WALLASTRA CITY's NECROPOLIS and INFERNAL FURNACE are very potent sacred spaces! The city is extremely well ordered but a great deal of potential chaos & destruction is present in the HELLSTORM! Wallastra - Bottom of the Pit "See what you have wrought!"  The jumble of images assailed him, lives, voices, petty cruelties and faces flickering simultaneously through him as Wallastra saw the minutiae of every mortal life which he had consigned to the flames and the magnitude of the suffering he had wrought. So many souls, so many lives stained with venality and horror, everything good or bad ground into soulstuff and burnt to keep him warm. "You are mistaken, Wallastra." The walls of sound buffeting him changed inexplicably, almost gently as they suddenly wrapped around his nearly-mortal frame like the firm hand of a comforting parent. "What you have wrought is no small thing. What you fear has not come to pass. Your city is strong. Your people are plentiful and safer than any which live in the world this Age." The endless ranks of ghosts watched Wallastra blankly. He saw them now for what they were, nothing. Only an empty distraction. "Life is a sin. All which struggles does ill or takes from another. Your people know this and resign themselves to suffer in the next life and by destroying them in this way you save them from that suffering. In the greater balance isn't a short period of eternal suffering preferable to a long one?" The great span of his city unfolded above him and in the infinite distance Wallastra could see the entirety of its underpinnings. The Necropolis had grown and metastasized, fusing together and rising Beneath as a dark reverse image of his city populated by millions of substanceless ghosts. Everything was there from the smallest cracked brick to the great temple furnace which dominated his heart. Everything except the pit. Why had he built a vent for damned souls in the Necropolis in the first place? He'd originally intended it as a defense, a prison for the evil dead who threatened his citizens but somewhere along the way it had become an enormous feeder mechanism. "In their living lives you shield them from harm and give them a productive place to raise their families, and in the next you give them the release from the prospect of endless suffering. It is a choice they make, and as their God a choice you make for them. What do you choose to do, Wallastra?" WALLASTRA CITY is reflected underneath by the NECROPOLIS! The above ground portion of the NECROPOLIS is merely the tip of a vast (not Ice)iceberg! The NECROPOLIS +12 reflects WALLASTRA perfectly and may be used by WALLASTRA as a domain if he chooses!
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2016 03:17
|
|
|
Wallastra - The Bottom of the Pit This is what he wanted. Isn't it? You deny it, but it's the truth isn't it? But, the people who made up his circle of gods. The Waterlord, The Warlord, The Firebird, The Undermaster, would they have done this? And he knows, he knows in that moment that the answer to that question is 'no'. Wallastra may have been the de-facto leader of that pantheon, but he always considered himself lesser then the other gods. They had the power, he had the people, they offered power to protect the people, he ensured that the people gave them that power. And now, there was no power but he still had the people, and what had he done with them now that they were his responsibility? Fed them into a hungry fire and convinced himself it was for the 'greater good'. The people who he should be protecting, the people who he had through unthinking action, he had unthinkingly confined to suffering. He wanted to protect the people, this wasn't what he wanted. This wasn't what he wanted at all "No" He stood up. "No! No this not the way! I wanted to ensure that my people would not suffer in this life, but all I have done here is ensure they suffer in death! I traded an uncertain suffering that could be overcome, with a certain suffering that awaits all the people I should be standing to protect!" "Strife, that is the human condition, strife is a human invention passed onto gods. The world struggles on the brink but 'safety' guaranteed by torture in the world after solves nothing!" "You are not my thoughts, and you are not the thoughts of my people! No more illusions, no more lies and no more avoiding the question WHO ARE YOU?" --- Wallastra declines TheNabster fucked around with this message at 15:19 on May 15, 2016 |
|
#
?
May 15, 2016 15:16
|
|
|
Hanuman Wallastra City - The Grand Tour of the Grand Design AP: 22/24 Hanuman offers a grateful bow toward the mortal representatives of the city and its god. "We would love nothing more than to see all there is to be seen of your impressive and prosperous city. Lead on," he says, gesticulating toward the city proper. "Keep them talking," Hanuman whispers to Abyaz. "See if they have anything useful to say about the Storm, or their missing God. I'll be joining the tour, but my attention will primarily be...elsewhere." As they walk, Hanuman engages them with all sorts of inane questions, about infrastructure, taxes, and the like, peppered with a few more relevant questions about the workings of their city -- in particular the Forges and the Necropolis. As they approach the center of the city, and the gaping chasm that eludes their fragile psyches, the form of Hanuman continues to nod along benignly to whatever they say. But the god himself is no longer present, only an image left to allay the suspicions of the mortals. Orpheus Descending into the Devil's Throat AP: 20/24  With the mortal denizens of Wallastra City preoccupied, Orpheus silently slips away. Before long, he is gazing over the precipice leading into the Underworld. WIthout bottom, it seems, from here. But the Trickster God knows that appearances are always deceiving. Always. And so he steps into the void, flitting down like a spirit, plumbing its depths and divining its secrets. Unlike the Orpheus of myth, however, he does not seek to return with a lost love, but with the secure knowledge of how The Imprisoned hides itself among and beneath the City. Only then will the members of The Hunt be able to excise its influence from the hearts and souls of the mortals. If such a task can even be accomplished cleanly. He fears that perhaps the city and its inhabitants are already too far gone, and that they must be sacrificed for the safety of the entire world, regardless of how relatively "innocent" they are. The thought plagues him as he continues to float within the Pit, seeking the connection to the Necropolis that no doubt hides Beneath -- the connection, he surmises, that allows The Imprisoned to continue to consume the souls of all the mortals -- even those that, by rights, should be beyond the influence of Wallastra's domain. But even as he frets over the ultimate fate of the City, he hopes that perhaps The God of the People is indeed living up to his name, and is already seeking to confront the one that threatens his chosen mortals. He had talked a good game during the Godsmoot, in any case. If Wallastra can be found during his investigations of the Bottomless Pit, or of the Necropolis, he would certainly be a valuable ally in their Hunt. Perhaps his journey would be more like that of the Orpheus of myth after all -- minus the whole failure in self-control and the resultant loss of the one whom he sought, of course. As he continues his search, though, Orpheus returns to worrying: but what if the god himself is complicit the city's corruption? While Abyaz, Thrym, the Hounds, and the Wildings (E: and Pirsuq) are going on the Grand Tour (at least partially as a feint), or doing whatever else they choose, Orpheus will be trying to suss out just where The Imprisoned has gotten its hooks into the city, and if those hooks can be, um, unhooked without causing catastrophe to the inhabitants. Protector of Mortals applies, unfortunately, because the initial plan is to leave as much of the infrastructure protecting Wallastra City in place as possible, rather than focusing exclusivley on capturing The Imprisoned. Trickster +4 Inbetween +4 Hellwarden +2 Far-Seeing Eye +2 Soul Seal +4 -2 Protector of Mortals = +14, +2AP to investigate the Bottomless Pit for signs of a) The Imprisoned and how it can be separated from Wallastra City, and b) Wallastra himself Based on the responses from the mortals, and our investigation so far, I presume that the Bottomless Pit and the Necropolis are the best places for investigations in pursuit of both of these goals, and so if the Pit doesn't work out, I'll move on to the Necropolis and try the same thing next round. Presumably the connection between the Pit and the Necropolis that lies Beneath the city is easy to see, at least for a god? TychoBrahesNose fucked around with this message at 20:10 on May 23, 2016 |
|
#
?
May 19, 2016 21:15
|
|
|
Parelle - Hell Parelle frowned at her sister as she let all of the vitriol out of her secret heart and vented it at her. She'd created her ants, yes. Were they monstrous? Absolutely. They were the byproduct of accelerated evolution. Top tier predators hammered out of the flora and fauna in the most wicked of environments. Her environment. It made sense that they were cruel and evil. She was their parent, but to them a long absent one. In the end it would be easier to waste them on enemy steel. That was the point, wasn't it? All along she wanted to create a race that was so alien and unlovable that she could feel okay when she used them to kill. Was that Malador's plan once upon a time with his demons? She shuddered. drat them. They'd tempered them. Made them less alien. Less wretched. They were supposed to be an army. They were supposed to be tough and fierce. They were supposed to die. They were made to die. drat them. After waiting for a time she called for Pirsuq. "We need to figure out why Hell isn't working like it should. I need your speed," she said. So from the ground up she would identify and hopefully be able to fix Hell's problems. She didn't direct Reggie and Cadenza. Too many problems. Hopefully they would content themselves with the domovoi, those new creations. Maybe they'd work with them and see that she was trying for redemption. Up from the bottom she and Pirsuq traveled. She felt like she'd done this too much already and was distracted by her brooding and guilt. Like a craftsman that knew their work so well that one might miss small trivialities. It made her have to go over her work again. She had this sneaking suspicion that it was at lust. That it was too good. That it was as close to heaven as they'd ever get. She hoped hard that it wasn't that. That they weren't just killing themselves there. After all, that's what she wanted to do. Sorry about the hiatus. I didn't have the time to write something like I wanted to. I'm changing -4 protector of mortals to -2 protector of mortals and -2 guilt. Parelle feels guilty for her actions and anyone reminding her of that guilt is going to make her falter. Friends, enemies, allies, anyone. They've all seemed somewhat logical and not always completely horrible when taken as a whole, but the weight of her guilt is catching up with her. That said, Parelle is investigating the holdup. She's going to work her way up from the bottom with her eye on the souls and find out what is going wrong. There seems to be a holdup and she wants to find out what it is. +4 Wind Storm and +2 Travel to move quickly, +2 Warden of Hell and +4 Nature to navigate Hell's environs, +4 Sun to illuminate any predators or hidden traps or places where souls are pooling that she might have missed. I'm not going to add -2 guilt because it hasn't been approved yet, but feel free to lob that on top. 4+2+2+4+4=16 to figure out what the holdup is and possibly correct it. Reggie and Cadenza along with Home are free to do as they wish.
|
|
#
?
May 23, 2016 06:33
|
|
|
Abyaz - Wallastra City "I prefer to keep them listening, but I'll see what I can do." As the tour approaches the pit, Abyaz feels the presence of Hanuman diminish; he takes that as his cue to take the reins. As the tour continues around the large pit, questions continue to be met with answers. The people are healthy somehow, the city is as normal as one can be during a catastrophe like the Ice, and even the morally grey combination of furnace and necropolis (although, it doesn't seem too dissimilar of our own system on the Sun, or Summer's Valley for that matter) has been talked about. Everything, whether good or bad, held some use or was at least acknowledged. All but the pit. Abyaz waits for the Councilor speaking about tax to finish, but soon realizes he's waiting for an end that will never come, and only when the tour starts moving away from the edge of the pit does Abyaz cut in, "Stop!" He motions towards the members of the hunting party. "This seems like as good a place as any to search for signs of the Imprisoned." Their guides watch as the members of the party seemingly probe and examine nothing; They look among each other, not sure whether to be confused or insulted. Abyaz returns his attention to the guides, the interrupted Councilor in particular, with a look of embarrassment on his face, "I didn't mean stop speaking, but Hanuman's interest in tax is one purely of personal enjoyment, and we do have more important questions to ask while they search." Noticing that hasn't cleared up the confusion, he adds, "The Divine can be found hiding in the most mundane of places." Abyaz prepares a question, but one question rises to the top of his list, demanding an answer immediately. Although he was joking with his earlier statement, he knows they wouldn't know that and think he's being a hypocrite, but he resigns to asking it anyway, "But before we continue with any more on-topic questions, I have to ask something personal as well; Have you seen anyone like me pass through here? His name is Ayahuen." With that weight off of his mind, he returns to his original questions, "Has the Grand Design had any fluctuations in performance? Has it undergone any changes or been tampered with? Is the storm overhead part of the design? Has the storm caused any problems?" Glancing at the hole, Abyaz considers asking a bunch of questions filled with pit, hole, and cavity-related puns at their expense, but holds off on his teasing for now as it'd go unappreciated in present company. "Of course, we'd prefer to ask Wallastra himself, as he is the visionary. We'd be happy to help Wallastra with his problems if it meant being able to pick his brain over all of this." Using Mouth +4 to ask more questions while Thrym +12, the Hounds +(8 I guess, judging from TychoBrahesNose's character sheet), Pirsuq +6, and the Wildings +? probe around the Pit. GoldenJoe fucked around with this message at 20:56 on May 23, 2016 |
|
#
?
May 23, 2016 19:25
|
|
|
Abyaz - Wallastra City Using Mouth +4 to ask more questions while Thrym +12, the Hounds +(8 I guess, judging from TychoBrahesNose's character sheet), Pirsuq +6, and the Wildings +? probe around the Pit. "Bleugh! Ugh. This thing's really deep. I'm not feeling so good when I look down there..."  "Hey! You just horked all over me! Do that downwind or give a courtesy call or something if you're gonna- BLEUGGGH!" "Haha you guys are a bunch of lightweights, it's just a stupid hole in the- BLEUGH!" "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU GUYS?! DIDN'T I SAY THAT WHEN YOU SCREW UP LIKE THIS IT LOOKS BAD AND MAKES ME LOOK STUPID? QUIT IT OH, UGH. YEAH OK. I'm going to sit down for a second. Yeah there's definitely something down there." Abyaz continued winnowing out the truth from the councilors, who were doing their best not to stare at the entourage of lesser Gods and monsters sniffing around the ground at nothing and noisily vomiting nowhere. The mechanical representative soldiered on, experienced in the eccentricities of foreign divinities and the fairy-formed as he addressed the questions as honestly and capably as he could. quote:No, no, yes and never. We have experienced nothing but planned, unprecedented regrowth since entering the current phase of Wallastra's Grand Design. Wallastra's plan is quite flexible and contingencies which allow us to respond to various situations are already in place, our prayers are borne upward on sacred smoke and in return we receive the pronouncements of Wallastra's sacred furnace. Would you like to consult our office of records and audit the necessary documentation for yourself? Having made a loop around the pit, Pirsuq sat down heavily. There was something wrong with the situation and his connection with the Wildings made him uncomfortable as they spewed out their guts, recovered to mock their brethren, and succumbed again to whatever was causing them to be ill in a seemingly endless cycle. Standing at his side Thrym glared downwards in barely checked hate and rage. "It's down there. It'd definitely down there." quote:I have never met an Ayahuen, or one such as you speak. One of Lord Wallastra's previous confederates, the Firebird bore similar traits to what you describe in that she had wings and commanded a great flame but I do not feel that the two are connected as she died before the rising of the last Age. Would you like my assistance in searching our city for Ayahuen? ABYAZ uses +4 MOUTH OF THE SUN to talk truthful answers out of +8 CITY COUNCIL! Roll was success! CITY COUNCIL appears to be telling the truth! CITY COUNCIL has never heard of AYAHUEN! THRYM and PIRSUQ +18 probe the edge of the BOTTOMLESS PIT for information! Roll was success! BOTTOMLESS PIT +8 takes up the majority of the center of WALLASTRA, and continues an immeasurable distance BENEATH! The spoor of the IMPRISONED is definitely down there! WILDINGS examine the BOTTOMLESS PIT using their CHAOS VISION ability! They really don't like looking down there into trans-infinity! WILDINGS have been disabled temporarily! Parelle - Hell It took her a while to realize that Pirsuq had gone. The absent constant declarations of love and farting meant that the Wildings were gone too, and it was with a guilty twinge that Parelle realized she hadn't noticed and didn't care much that they'd left. When had he even left? Pirsuq had been by her side since the moment of his birth (there another confusing and unpleasant train of thought) and somehow she'd been so busy with herself that she hadn't spared a glance when he left? It was clear he was alive and probably unharmed, or she would have felt the change in him through the bond of their Pantheon, but where had he gone? She vaguely recalled him hanging around with Hanuman and being asked for permission to join the Hunt for the Imprisoned, so it was fair enough a guess that they were together and abroad. There was something else to deal with later, but she turned her attention to the task at hand. Somewhere along the way the trials she'd set were malfunctioning. Or maybe not? She walked through them again, paying extra attention to Lust and finding the same roil of sweaty bodies she'd left before. A pleasant distraction but ultimately not her problem today, she sought a likely young soul who should have passed and followed in through the motions. Things were going well. Then the soul took a turn along the path and vanished from her sight, reappearing at the beginning of the trial and passing through a few others halfheartedly before giving up and returning to the Graveyard along with the other incorporeal dead. But the place it had vanished had no trap, at least none that Parelle had installed. She ran her hand along the spot and found a gaping hole which opened down into tunnels of glistening stone. Her blood began to quicken and burn and she thought back on Cadenza's wretched holier-than-thou attitude. That sanctimonious bitch liked to pretend that she'd never get her hands dirty but she had never had to see what Parelle had seen, do what Parelle had done. Parelle could show her what it was like to come home to nothing but an empty house full of dead loved ones, Parelle would smash the smug self righteous smirk right off of her stupid superior face. Her hand snapped back and the guilt crept in again. Not all of that was her. They were her thoughts, but coming into contact with the tunnels (the light of her senses could see that the tunnels ran all along the trials and through Hell itself) brought them to the fore and made everything worse. It made her worse. PARELLE +14 investigates and possibly corrects the flow of souls through HELL! Roll was success! PARELLE has discovered the INFERNAL TUNNELS! Souls have been passing through the INFERNAL TUNNELS and then returning to the general population of incorporeal souls of HELL! INFERNAL TUNNELS have an effect on the mind(and soul?) of those who pass through them! INFERNAL TUNNELS run all through the length of HELL! Wallastra - The Bottom of the Pit "I AM THAT WHICH MOVES THE HEARTS OF MEN! YOUR HEART! DO NOT QUESTION ME WALLASTRA LEST I DESTROY FROM WITHIN! I AM THE PRISONER WHICH COULD NOT BE FREED! THE CRIME WHICH COULD NOT BE ERASED!" The pit bulged and crackled in on itself, smothering at Wallastra with the voice's raging rant. He was undeterred, at least he would die free. "Wallastra! I give your city hope, stability and warmth. These things do not come without cost. I know your thoughts, I know your fears. What you fear has not come to pass, that which you swore to prevent remains in its slumber. Your choice was cruel but the right one." The great Seal that his city empowered flared into existence above them, having been pushed temporarily sideways in time and space. Wallastra had never seen it from Beneath (never having known it had a bottom) but it was clearly in good health and still functioning. All the millions of souls living and working in concert over the age kept the sleeping monstrosity lulled and docile. "Wallastra. Know that my experience is longer than yours by far as yours is from mortal man. Torment followed by oblivion is preferable to an eternity of suffering in death. If you wish I will leave and take everything of mine with me but those who come will not be so gentle. They will not slay me for fear of what comes after but rather seek to imprison me anew in this land, to steal your creation for themselves and make their 'justice' easier. I will ask again, will you accept my help or shall I leave your city in entirety taking all which is mine?" He had suspected of course. But Malador's prisoner was all around him and in honesty didn't seem that bad. But then it had also hollowed out the core of Wallastra for its own purposes and parasitized him for an unknowable time. The IMPRISONED pulls back the curtain! The IMPRISONED doesn't mind leaving WALLASTRA if that's what he really wants, but doing so will have consequences on the city! The IMPRISONED has revealed that the SEAL OF WALLASTRA +16 is intact and working, forcing its contents into somnolence and is safely doing its own thing in an unrelated branch of spacetime! Orpheus - Descending into the Bottomless Pit Everything of the Pit stank of the Imprisoned's work. He had never met the being beyond their brief and apocalyptic encounter but the painful warping of space and time which disquieted him down to his core told Orpheus everything that he needed to know about where the Imprisoned had made its mark on Wallastra. The space within was truly nearly endless, without more forceful or precipitous action he would fall forever but for now Orpheus needed to know more. The eye gifted him by Isath burned with new might, channeling the force of the world and his mastery of Hell itself as he looked into the limits of the abyss and saw. Saw a dark and empty reflection of Wallastra where the Necropolis was its center. Saw the endless lines of hook and tread leading to the waiting and hungry furnace grate. Each life thus condemned released more quintessence than the normal load at the cost of great suffering and the great plumes of suffering ash stained everything in the city from its heights down to its bones. Everything was touched by the Imprisoned, and nothing in the city escaped its influence. Something misshapen and crumbling slid into the darkness beside him, were the citizens of Wallastra in the habit of throwing their garbage down the conveniently bottomless hole? He looked closer and found the dross of the furnace's process. It looked mostly useless and was devoid of soulstuff anyway. ORPHEUS (+14, 2 AP) identifies the BOTTOMLESS PIT and its connection to WALLASTRA, THE IMPRISONED! Roll was success! ORPHEUS has discovered that there is a REVERSE CITY OF WALLASTRA! ORPHEUS has discovered that the NECROPOLIS feeds the INFERNAL FURNACE and vice versa in REVERSE WALLASTRA! It generates a lot of energy and releases ash which stain everything in WALLASTRA! ORPHEUS has discovered THE DROSS! DROSS is the leftover bits from when SOULS are fed into the INFERNAL FURNACE!
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2016 01:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 04:18 |
|
|
Susano-O AP: 18/24 Reverse Wallastra Their quarry at last unearthed, at least in a metaphysical sense, Susano-o acts to force it out into the open where he and his allies can confront it directly. Releasing a handful of souls from his Soul-Seal, he gives them the fruit that had been blessed by Cadenza for the disruption of The Imprisoned’s influence. As the souls are pulled inexorably toward the foul machinery, Susano-O takes up his own position at the nexus between the Necropolis and the Infernal Furnace. Just as the souls reach the Furnace grate, the fruit they bear reacts violently with the heat and the power of the place. At the same time, Susano-O wields his own divine power to disrupt the Infernal Furnace, using his command over the souls of the dead, and the draw of his Soul-Seal, to wrench all of the souls anywhere in the vicinity of the Infernal Furnace from the grasp of the Imprisoned’s foul clutches. “Yamata no Orochi, eight-forked snake, I abjure you, come forth from your hiding place amongst the machinations of the mortals!” Susano-o declares, his voice echoing and re-echoing across the City of Wallastra and its fetid reflection in the Reverse City. “Your doom is at hand!”  Trickster Spirit +4 and Far-Seeing Eye +2 to find the best place to exploit the vulnerabilities in the Imprisoned’s influence. Inbetween All Realms +4 and Warden of Hell +2 and Soul Seal +4 and Cold-resistant fruit +? to gum up the works and bring The Imprisoned’s influence to a grinding halt. All that topped off with Leader +2 to trash talk the Big Bad into revealing himself and bring the contest for the soul of Wallastra to a head. These are all different aspects of the same action: +18 + ? + 2 AP to flush out The Imprisoned so that we can all collectively deal with the root cause of the corruption in Wallastra City — and, not incidentally, return The Imprisoned to his proper state of, well, Imprisonment. I guess this can be considered an attack on the twisted infrastructure of the Infernal Furnace, though my goal isn’t necessarily to destroy it outright so much as it is to exorcise the ghost from within the machine. I just figure that interacting with the physical structure at the heart of the corruption is the best way to get at The (not-yet-physically-manifested) Imprisoned. TychoBrahesNose fucked around with this message at 03:44 on Oct 17, 2016 |
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2016 03:41
|
|