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AJ_Impy
Jun 17, 2007

SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?
Yam Slacker
ARISE AND PROTECT THE TOMB, SKELETAL GUARDIANS!

Centuries have passed, but the seed for this incursion was left by the last. Again, the winds are silent, yet the peace of eternity is shattered by the shrieking of tearing copper.



TIME DEVOURS

When the Mag Men came, it seems they left something behind, tucked beneath the shifted sarcophagus. A sylex bowl, that had been reflecting eldritch energies up and into the resting place of the imprisoned one. Now, the bowl is drained and empty, its purpose fulfilled.

quote:

As if by some unknown signal, arcane energy throbs within the sepulcher you have guarded so faithfully. The one whose corpse you are bound to protect stirs, and desiccated hands scrabble at the stones containing them. A cool voice says “free me”, but the implacable logic of your curse is clear - anything that moves in the tomb must be destroyed. You guard the tomb, not … its occupant. What do you do? Everyone answers none, one or two questions as they prefer. Choose once each on the Glory Fades or Gods Laugh tables.

The sarcophagus lid is rent asunder, and the one conquered and bound millenia ago rises, a nightmarish, dessicated being of demonic sinew and infernal, smouldering malice. Twice the height of a man, it roars in triumph as it moves of its own volition, sniffing at the air as it seeks out the exits from this prison.

Kelchiredzem is unbound, and seeks to walk the world once more.

What do you do?

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UnCO3
Feb 11, 2010

Ye gods!

College Slice
Arrow-shield


I see--

--

--

--the demon above me, I see--

--

--papery flesh drawn taut over three skulls, I see--

--

--

--

--

--

--screaming demonic gargant mummified by time and heat, I see--

--

--

--

--doombringer and deadly foe.

I reach for my axe, my trusty axe. My fingers instead claw feebly at the dust and the fleshy regrowth of volcanic fungus. It has grown within me and around me and beyond me, and I am too weak now, weaker than I ever was. When did I become so weak? Ah-- when the pit-slaves burst through. We freed them, and yet could not free them. I was stronger than ever before, then, and since, only weaker and weaker. I see--

--

--

--

--fungus around me, and within me, and beyond me. Where am I? I am a guardian of the tomb, a sacrifice of sorts. I must be at my station at once. Kelchiredzem must be kept contained and bound. Nobody can be allowed to disturb the sarcophagi. East, Centre, West. I see--

--

--

--

--

...a shield can only hold for so long.

Kelchiredzem stands in the shards of its prison. It roars in triumph, then sniffs the air.

I stand to my feet inch by inch, supported by the chamber wall. Fungal hyphae tear and fall away from the stone one by one, and dangle and wrap around my dirt-encrusted bones. I consider my weapon - a sharp stump of bone where a hand should be - and look up at the demon.

It has yet to notice me.

Whom did you once love?
Arrow-shield loves all the other skeletons.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
'the Bloodless', because it was said that I shed all my blood for the king - or because I didn't hate my enemies, depending on who you asked.
What memento of your old life is still somehow rattling around with you?
A holy dagger for an impious warrior, kept in reserve, bound to my shield.
Who here among the skeletons did you once feel fierce loyalty toward, and why?
Rusted Shirt, because they saved me from the headman's block.
What connection do you have to those you've just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I tried to mediate with the Mag-Men when I was alive, but they swiftly betrayed our peace accord.

Double May Care
Mar 28, 2012

We need Dragon-type Pokemon to help us prepare our food before we cook it. We're not sure why!

Tattered Cloak



sssss
stone
stirs me awake

behemoth
down

rage
quarry

intruder

intruder?

again the tomb is silent
but movement there must be
must be

something stirs in its heart
i would answer it

drat it all
i lost my possessions to the damned creatures
however long ago it was

how degrading
needing to rely on my victims to perform my duty
someone drew a weapon

something must be found
south of here

What was your name?
Segart.
Whom did you once love?
Herida, for whom I almost slew my lord.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
Blood Standard, a name for the cloak which was once sopping in blood, as well as the executioner who bore it.
What area within this place are you forbidden to set foot in?
The western chamber, for its marble stele holds information I must not know.
Who here among the skeletons richly deserves this fate, and why?
Herida, for being an unfit leader among forsaken sacrifices.
What connection do you have to those you’ve just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
My Herida fought these as long as I knew, but higher powers limited my knowledge of them to keep me loyal.

Fathis Munk
Feb 23, 2013

??? ?
Headless


Once more I awake. I am covered in soot and dust and cobwebs, it seems that I lay dormant for a long, long time. Was this the will of the Gods? Is it because... Did they... Could it be?

My hands shoot towards my head, but grasp only air. It was not enough. I sent them souls, willing souls, penitent souls, but it was not enough.

As I lay in despair in the ash and dirt I hear the roar and I know. This is the evil that was caged here. An abomination to men and gods. Is this yet another trial? Is this one more challenge? Did my sacrifice to the gods buy me this opportunity?

I rise, grasp my weapon and my symbol and hurry through the corridors.

What connection do you have to those you’ve just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I was part of the first wave of sacrifices, at the time it was a great honor for us.
Whom did you once love?
Headless loved themselves and the Gods. But mostly themselves
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
I was called the Silver Tongue for ending a war by converting a barbarian king.

AJ_Impy
Jun 17, 2007

SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?
Yam Slacker
Arrow-Shield

You rise, and you bear witness. Kelchiredzem heads towards the pit wherein his blade, last wielded by Ishum the heir, had once been secreted. The pit wherein his blade had shattered. The pit wherein his blade and his heir had been subsumed by magma as Ishum fled the tomb hundreds of years ago. The put where featureless rock had cooled perfectly flat, devoid of heat for hundreds of years. You heard a hiss from the dessicated primary throat thatwould once have been a roar of frustration: You remain undetected. Beneath the largest fragments of sarcophagus lid you see barely-motile bones, pinned in place. You see a dagger held in clenched phalanges peeking out from the edge.

What do you do?


Tattered Cloak

Here, a Mag-Man lost their weapon. In the dust of centuries, your finger bones close around a spear of obsidian, unnaturally sharp, perhaps ensorcelled by the strange elementals. You hear a hiss from the central chamber.

What do you do?

Headless

A Hiss heralds your arrival as you make it to the central chamber. You perceive that Kelchiredzem is no longer bound, and that the sarcophagus that constrained him has been torn open, bones trapped beneath the largest part of the lid in the fungal chamber.

You sense the gaze of Kelchiredzem upon you, feel the floor tremble as he strides to meet you.

What do you do?

Double May Care
Mar 28, 2012

We need Dragon-type Pokemon to help us prepare our food before we cook it. We're not sure why!

Tattered Cloak



it must do

yes i hear it
i'll be with it soon
if i must run
i will
through the east of course

this creature comes from the sealed chamber
i only hope it meets us with gratitude
for all the good we've done

...

or is as tired as us
and won't fight

What was your name?
Segart.
Whom did you once love?
Herida, for whom I almost slew my lord.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
Blood Standard, a name for the cloak which was once sopping in blood, as well as the executioner who bore it.
What area within this place are you forbidden to set foot in?
The western chamber, for its marble stele holds information I must not know.
Who here among the skeletons richly deserves this fate, and why?
Herida, for being an unfit leader among forsaken sacrifices.
What connection do you have to those you've just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
My Herida fought these as long as I knew, but higher powers limited my knowledge of them to keep me loyal.

Double May Care fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Aug 22, 2019

UnCO3
Feb 11, 2010

Ye gods!

College Slice
Arrow-shield


The last little ebb of the magic that sustains me keeps me upright like marionette strings as I stumble and sway over to the half-buried arm and holy dagger.

I reach for the dagger, and past it before I can stop my hand. It's as if I'm controlling my body from afar, and I'm an inexpert puppeteer. After some fumbling over the rubble I manage to pull my hand back and drape my fingerbones over the hilt. They brush against the bones--

I know these bones. Herida. I still feel the thrum of the black iron law through their fingers, but muted. At least they're alive. Would that they were awake, though, and I asleep. We would surely fare better against the beast.

I pull at the knife, and pull again, putting every bit of the little strength I have left into pulling it free.

Whom did you once love?
Arrow-shield loves all the other skeletons.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
'the Bloodless', because it was said that I shed all my blood for the king - or because I didn't hate my enemies, depending on who you asked.
What memento of your old life is still somehow rattling around with you?
A holy dagger for an impious warrior, kept in reserve, bound to my shield.
Who here among the skeletons did you once feel fierce loyalty toward, and why?
Rusted Shirt, because they saved me from the headman's block.
What connection do you have to those you've just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I tried to mediate with the Mag-Men when I was alive, but they swiftly betrayed our peace accord.

Fathis Munk
Feb 23, 2013

??? ?
Headless


I do my best to remain steady as the floor trembles below. It seems that I might have underestimated the size of the task the gods have set for me.

But surely, they would not have set me up to fail? Steeling myself I raise my holy symbol to the heavens, consigning this lost soul to the gods. Soon I will get my just reward.

What connection do you have to those you’ve just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I was part of the first wave of sacrifices, at the time it was a great honor for us.
Whom did you once love?
Headless loved themselves and the Gods. But mostly themselves
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
I was called the Silver Tongue for ending a war by converting a barbarian king.

AJ_Impy
Jun 17, 2007

SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?
Yam Slacker
Tattered Cloak

Forlorn hopes of gratitude or inaction are swiftly dashed, the twice-tall dessicated monstrosity is there in all its repugnance. To look on it is... Dzzt

To look on it... Dzzt

GODS LAUGH

Millennia ago, when Segart lived, much was done by higher powers to keep knowledge of this thing and the mag-men forces at its command from the Blood Standard's knowledge and awareness. This demon, eventually caged by Herida and secured here, was blocked entirely from the Blood Standard...

Until now. Every effort made to suppress it, every memory tweaked to write Kelchiredzem out of history in Segart's mind just disintegrates in the face of the monster, weakened by so much time in its cage but unforgettable. Everything the long-dead powers did to keep him loyal is gone, forever.

You know exactly what this is. You know what it did. You know why it cannot be freed.

What do you do?

Arrow-Shield

Trapped in torpor
Trapped beneath the sarcophagus shard
I relinquish the blade for others to end my foe.


Herida's hand opens, the blade is in your grasp and under your control. The trapped phalanges constrict once around your radius and ulna, almost as if in reassurance or to impart what energy the pinned-down, torpid animate bones can lend, before falling slack..

You are armed with the magic dagger, but the sound and motion mean you are no longer beneath the monster's notice.

What do you do?

Headless

You brandish the symbol of your faith, constant after all this time, in the direction of the demon, and as if in reaction to the great evil, it becomes brilliant within your grasp, suffusing the fungal chamber with light. The horrific creature screeches, and tries to raise an arm to shield the pits where eyes once were.

You might be able to hurt them here. It tries to barrel past you and get to the exit. Do you inflict harm?

Double May Care
Mar 28, 2012

We need Dragon-type Pokemon to help us prepare our food before we cook it. We're not sure why!

Tattered Cloak



Kelchiredzem

herida said the name before
i considered it zealous gibbering
others hushed the name in my presence
if i was trifled with a grand war
my job would be frivolous in comparison
disposing of perfectly good soldiers

and yet

this is what stands before me
this is what herida fought
this is what sat in our tomb
this is what the walls warn of
this is the reason we wake eternal
this is why we're here

gently caress this
if i can't leave
kel can't either

i'm not good with spears
though i know its weaknesses
skirmishing with herida

while headless distracts the fiend
i must find out
if kel has a heart
and if so
what it's made of

What was your name?
Segart.
Whom did you once love?
Herida, for whom I almost slew my lord.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
Blood Standard, a name for the cloak which was once sopping in blood, as well as the executioner who bore it.
What area within this place are you forbidden to set foot in?
The western chamber, for its marble stele holds information I must not know.
Who here among the skeletons richly deserves this fate, and why?
Herida, for being an unfit leader among forsaken sacrifices.
What connection do you have to those you've just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
My Herida fought these as long as I knew, but higher powers limited my knowledge of them to keep me loyal.

UnCO3
Feb 11, 2010

Ye gods!

College Slice
Arrow-shield


What now, Herida?
Granting power
Saviour yet again.

This may be the last time we meet, so take a word of advice. Mend your bonds with Segart. You and I alike know we are all not long for this world, and he never knew - was never allowed to know - the trials of battle we endured and the losses we saw.

Now, wait for me, my comrades, my friends! I have the dagger in hand, and our foe is near. I bound with old strength up the chipped and shattered steps to the East - Kelchiredzem's withered silhouette still towers above. Let us bring that decrepit, evil tower crumbling down!

Wait for me, my friends.
I'll come through for you
At our duty's end.

Whom did you once love?
Arrow-shield loves all the other skeletons.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
'the Bloodless', because it was said that I shed all my blood for the king - or because I didn't hate my enemies, depending on who you asked.
What memento of your old life is still somehow rattling around with you?
A holy dagger for an impious warrior, kept in reserve, bound to my shield.
Who here among the skeletons did you once feel fierce loyalty toward, and why?
Rusted Shirt, because they saved me from the headman's block.
What connection do you have to those you've just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I tried to mediate with the Mag-Men when I was alive, but they swiftly betrayed our peace accord.

Fathis Munk
Feb 23, 2013

??? ?
Headless


The Gods smile upon me! They still recognize me as their champion, even after all this time.

The demon rushes towards me and I surge forward to meet it, as if carried on divine wings. I swing my mace in a wide righteous arc, aiming for one of its heads. A fair trade, this creature's three monstrous heads for my single perfect one, the Gods have always had a sense of humour.

What connection do you have to those you’ve just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I was part of the first wave of sacrifices, at the time it was a great honor for us.
Whom did you once love?
Headless loved themselves and the Gods. But mostly themselves
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
I was called the Silver Tongue for ending a war by converting a barbarian king.

AJ_Impy
Jun 17, 2007

SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?
Yam Slacker
Tattered Cloak

One of the three heads focuses on you. The vile thing raises a clawed limb to try and deflect the thrust of the obsidian spear, the ancient musculature bloodlessly shredding at the edge of the magically sharp volcanic glass. Harm done, but not a killing blow.

They might be able to resist on equal footing. Kelchiredzem grasps at the spear to try and wrestle control of it. Do they hold you off?

Arrow-shield

One of the three heads focuses on you. It clearly senses the power and protection of the ancient weapon. and attempts to move to interpose one of the other two between you and it.

They might be able to fight free. Kelchiredzem attempts to manoeuvre so that you no longer threaten them. Do they get away?

Headless

The head you try to shatter focuses on you, alimb reaching out to grab the head of your weapon, catching it and holding it fast. This has become a contest of strength, and it has phenomenal leverage.

They might be able to overpower you. Kelchiredzem tries to lift you into the air via the head of your mace. Do they succeed?

UnCO3
Feb 11, 2010

Ye gods!

College Slice
Arrow-shield


There'll be no escape
From this furious
And final judgement.

Not so fast! You have your size on your side, but I am more vigorous than before. No matter where you flee, I'll be right there, dagger in hand, cutting loose another chunk of flesh or bone.

I weave between Segart and Headless and slash Kelchiredzem's left ankle, putting in all the more force from my unbalanced, literally-disarmed momentum.

Cut you down to size
Look you in the eyes
And send you to hell.

Whom did you once love?
Arrow-shield loves all the other skeletons.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
'the Bloodless', because it was said that I shed all my blood for the king - or because I didn't hate my enemies, depending on who you asked.
What memento of your old life is still somehow rattling around with you?
A holy dagger for an impious warrior, kept in reserve, bound to my shield.
Who here among the skeletons did you once feel fierce loyalty toward, and why?
Rusted Shirt, because they saved me from the headman's block.
What connection do you have to those you've just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I tried to mediate with the Mag-Men when I was alive, but they swiftly betrayed our peace accord.

Double May Care
Mar 28, 2012

We need Dragon-type Pokemon to help us prepare our food before we cook it. We're not sure why!

Tattered Cloak



tugging at the spear
i recognize it now
the lord from the mural
six eyes glaring down
at its quarry

the whole tomb sits as tribute
or warning
how disgusting
that kelchiredzem would be this ugly thing

if he wants a struggle
he needs to lose more flesh
twist and thrash against his grip
until it's too late to realize
he should have let go

What was your name?
Segart.
Whom did you once love?
Herida, for whom I almost slew my lord.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
Blood Standard, a name for the cloak which was once sopping in blood, as well as the executioner who bore it.
What area within this place are you forbidden to set foot in?
The western chamber, for its marble stele holds information I must not know.
Who here among the skeletons richly deserves this fate, and why?
Herida, for being an unfit leader among forsaken sacrifices.
What connection do you have to those you've just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
My Herida fought these as long as I knew, but higher powers limited my knowledge of them to keep me loyal.

Fathis Munk
Feb 23, 2013

??? ?
Headless


The abomination lifts me up as if I was made of straw. I try to hook a foot into one of the floor's asperities, but it is no use.

Think, the Gods would not have put me in this situation if it was hopeless. Maybe if I hold on to the mace I can strike one of the heads with my holy symbol...

What connection do you have to those you’ve just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I was part of the first wave of sacrifices, at the time it was a great honor for us.
Whom did you once love?
Headless loved themselves and the Gods. But mostly themselves
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
I was called the Silver Tongue for ending a war by converting a barbarian king.

AJ_Impy
Jun 17, 2007

SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?
Yam Slacker
Arrow-Shield

Your wild strikes with the enchanted dagger sizzle through the leathery flesh as you press on, and it's probably a good thing your olfactory apparatus was dust tens of hundreds of years ago. Ears, too, as that pernicious hiss erupts between several pairs of time-stewed lips. It has nowhere left to run.

You might be able to hurt them here. Kelchiredzem seems to be performing a foul invocation. Do you inflict harm?

Tattered Cloak

It is a tug of war in which having flesh and the sharp end is disadvantageous. Nonetheless, this being was sealed away here for a reason, as eldritch flames travel down the weapon of volcanic glass, at a heat that even magically reinforced bone might struggle with. But who would need to relinquish the weapon first?

They might be able to put you at a disadvantage. They cause the spear to erupt in superheated eldritch flames. Do you hold them off?

Headless

Unfortunately the demon keeps you both at arms length and moving, but it is struggling against the concerted onslaught so soon after its weakened re-emergence. It needs to even the odds, and attempts to hurl you, mace and all, at horrifying speed into the remains of the sarcophagus from which it sprang.

They might be able to overpower you. They're trying to smash you into the empty sarcophagus. Do they succeed?

UnCO3
Feb 11, 2010

Ye gods!

College Slice
Arrow-shield


Withered flesh, dry bone
Skin of flax and dust
Weaker than you thought.

I thrust up through the fiend's jaw, aiming to pin its tongue (one of three, at least) to the roof of its mouth. Let's see you spit your dark incantations then, beast!

Not that it needs to, as it picks up poor Headless and shakes them around by the skull. Still, we fight on. We'll beat this monster back, cut it down, bury it all over again, save the sleeping kingdom all over again - whether it knows or not.

Blow by bloody blow
We will strike you down
And empty your throne.

Whom did you once love?
Arrow-shield loves all the other skeletons.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
'the Bloodless', because it was said that I shed all my blood for the king - or because I didn't hate my enemies, depending on who you asked.
What memento of your old life is still somehow rattling around with you?
A holy dagger for an impious warrior, kept in reserve, bound to my shield.
Who here among the skeletons did you once feel fierce loyalty toward, and why?
Rusted Shirt, because they saved me from the headman's block.
What connection do you have to those you've just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I tried to mediate with the Mag-Men when I was alive, but they swiftly betrayed our peace accord.

Fathis Munk
Feb 23, 2013

??? ?
Headless


I swing and bash with all my zeal but to no avail, my reach is just too short. I try and try and then suddenly I go flying, slamming into the bronze sarcophagus with a sickening crunch.

I have lost my head, I have lost my brain and yet the violence of the shock dazes me and all I can do is grasp on to the metal. It feels familiar under my fingerbones. Long ago, before all this, when I was still whole, I remember working on the sarcophagus. I was tasked with carving holy runes in it, incantations and wards meant to bind the abomination.

I remember the lid, polished to a mirror sheen, I remember losing myself in that lid, for hours at a time. I told the others I was praying, and I guess in a way that is what I was doing. I can almost see it, see myself even now...

The metal is molten and dull, I am lying in the middle of battle, the left side of my ribcage shattered against the hard sarcophagus, but it doesn't really matter.

I can almost see myself...

What connection do you have to those you’ve just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I was part of the first wave of sacrifices, at the time it was a great honor for us.
Whom did you once love?
Headless loved themselves and the Gods. But mostly themselves
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
I was called the Silver Tongue for ending a war by converting a barbarian king.
What thing in this place did you craft with your own hands?
Headless crafted the runes ornamenting the bronze sarcophagus.

Double May Care
Mar 28, 2012

We need Dragon-type Pokemon to help us prepare our food before we cook it. We're not sure why!

Tattered Cloak



my hands hurt
instinct kicks in
i let go
to preserve what's left of me

that won't work
but it's still in there
for now

well
at least i have rocks
when all you have is a rock
everything looks like a stake

i hope you have a heart

What was your name?
Segart.
Whom did you once love?
Herida, for whom I almost slew my lord.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
Blood Standard, a name for the cloak which was once sopping in blood, as well as the executioner who bore it.
What area within this place are you forbidden to set foot in?
The western chamber, for its marble stele holds information I must not know.
Who here among the skeletons richly deserves this fate, and why?
Herida, for being an unfit leader among forsaken sacrifices.
What connection do you have to those you've just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
My Herida fought these as long as I knew, but higher powers limited my knowledge of them to keep me loyal.

AJ_Impy
Jun 17, 2007

SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?
Yam Slacker
Arrow-Shield

The sizzle would almost be deafening if anyone had ears, the ensorcelled blade fulfilling its purpose as it pierces through the mandible and palate both, up to deal a mortal wound to one whose apparent immortality is to be sorely tested. Light fades from the eyes of that head, the hand that threw Headless forlornly clutching at it.

You might be able to kill them here. Bereft of a third of its guidance, Kelchiredzem's attempts at staving off attacks grow increasingly erratic. Do you kill them?

Headless

Magically-hardened bone may have fractured, but the sarcophagus...

GLORY FADES

The sarcophagus you put your heart and soul into creating, that successfully held the bound Kelchiredzem for thousands of years, the sarcophagus which as a skeletal guardian you have been bound to protect for all this time, buckles and is torn asunder at the impact, weakened as it was by the demon escaping. That which the skeletons were protecting has effectively been destroyed.

The cause of its destruction still stands before you, withering beneath the assault of the others. What do you do?

Tattered Cloak

You yield your burning weapon, and snatch up another, a fragment of the bronze sarcophagus so annealed as to resemble a lump of stone. With Kelchiredzem still grasping and inflaming the spear, it is all it can do to desperately fend off the onslaught of blows, one of the three heads stilled.

You might be able to kill them here. Bereft of a third of its guidance, Kelchiredzem's attempts at staving off attacks grow increasingly erratic. Do you kill them?

UnCO3
Feb 11, 2010

Ye gods!

College Slice
Arrow-shield


One head perishes
But in the beast's rage
The sarcophagus...

The sarcophagus is broken. This is kill-or-die. The possibility of re-imprisoning the beast - not that I took it seriously - is off the table.

Not that it matters. Everything is aligned, now, and we have a moment to plan while Kelchiredzem is shaken by the death of its head. I spy a crack in the floor under the beast and thrust my blade through its foot and into the stone, jamming it in place - and look to Segart, who has a stone of some sort in his hand, and look to the sword half-buried in Kelchiredzem's chest.

Just one hammer blow.
Break the beast in twain.
It's in your hands now.

Whom did you once love?
Arrow-shield loves all the other skeletons.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
'the Bloodless', because it was said that I shed all my blood for the king - or because I didn't hate my enemies, depending on who you asked.
What memento of your old life is still somehow rattling around with you?
A holy dagger for an impious warrior, kept in reserve, bound to my shield.
Who here among the skeletons did you once feel fierce loyalty toward, and why?
Rusted Shirt, because they saved me from the headman's block.
What connection do you have to those you've just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I tried to mediate with the Mag-Men when I was alive, but they swiftly betrayed our peace accord.

Fathis Munk
Feb 23, 2013

??? ?
Headless


It is gone, as soon as I spotted it. My reflection vanishes as the sarcophagus crumbles. I have spotted if for an instant, but it felt like an age. But it is gone,it has been taken from me again. Why am I being punished again.

Who is this abomination that dares take this away from me, that dares steal the gift the gods have given me, my divine reflection, as soon as I finally find it again.

I let out a mouthless roar, scramble to my feet and throw myself at Kelchiredzem. My weapon lies on the floor, next to the holy symbol, but it does not matter. I hurl myself at the creature with bare hands and no regard for my own safety. It has to pay.

What connection do you have to those you’ve just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I was part of the first wave of sacrifices, at the time it was a great honor for us.
Whom did you once love?
Headless loved themselves and the Gods. But mostly themselves
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
I was called the Silver Tongue for ending a war by converting a barbarian king.
What thing in this place did you craft with your own hands?
Headless crafted the runes ornamenting the bronze sarcophagus.

Double May Care
Mar 28, 2012

We need Dragon-type Pokemon to help us prepare our food before we cook it. We're not sure why!

Tattered Cloak



my comrades...
they look to me
and throw themselves against kelchiredzem

i see herida
inert for this
what would be the epitome of our purpose here
and herida is inert

do i steal glory
or is this in service
it matters not

if i heard herida
i'm sure i would be justified

something to brag about
if we wake again
that i brought down the boogeyman

i swing the discarded stone
toward the impaled blade in its chest
however many strikes
as long as it moves
i will strike

as long as i move
i will strike

What was your name?
Segart.
Whom did you once love?
Herida, for whom I almost slew my lord.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
Blood Standard, a name for the cloak which was once sopping in blood, as well as the executioner who bore it.
What area within this place are you forbidden to set foot in?
The western chamber, for its marble stele holds information I must not know.
Who here among the skeletons richly deserves this fate, and why?
Herida, for being an unfit leader among forsaken sacrifices.
What connection do you have to those you've just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
My Herida fought these as long as I knew, but higher powers limited my knowledge of them to keep me loyal.

AJ_Impy
Jun 17, 2007

SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?
Yam Slacker
Arrow-Shield

The familiar sizzle of the blade in demon flesh, boiling and puckering around it as you pin the foot to the floor. As much as it thrashes, it cannot free itself.

Headless

You throw yourself at Kelchiredzem, though enchanted bone is a poor substitute for magic or holiness. Nonetheless, ferocity is what is needed here, and you occupy its attempts to defend itself, opening up opportunity for...

Tattered Cloak

If Herida could see you now, what would they say? The bones beneath the shattered sarcophagus lid have done little but yield up the blessed dagger currently pinning Kelchiredzem in place, courtesy of the Bloodless. Kelchiredzem is trying to fend off the silver-tongued, leaving Segart, the Blood Standard, to play the role in death that he did in life: Executioner.

Every strike of lumpen rock on pommel rings out loud and clear. Kelchiredzem jerks spasmodically between the strikes, but then the demon body begins to shrivel, the motivating force within overwhelmed as the embedded weapons do their work. The threat of thousands of years is at an end at last.

The Demon is swiftly dying. Your awareness will end when its life fully fades. What do you do?

AJ_Impy fucked around with this message at 12:56 on Sep 20, 2019

UnCO3
Feb 11, 2010

Ye gods!

College Slice

UnCO3
Feb 11, 2010

Ye gods!

College Slice

Double May Care
Mar 28, 2012

We need Dragon-type Pokemon to help us prepare our food before we cook it. We're not sure why!

Tattered Cloak



it's done
it's done
it's done

i am the executioner of kelchiredzem
but who will know my glory?

herida
i'm sorry
i hope you can see this

you can't
i know that

will we wake again?
the beast fades
is our purpose fulfilled?

i grow tired
rest will take us

i lie next to herida
i needed a new resting place
i couldn't bear to see its visage again
emblazoned in glory
knowing it lies in shame

i'd rather wake with herida
like i should have
so many
times

time to

make up
for

lost

time



What was your name?
Segart.
Whom did you once love?
Herida, for whom I almost slew my lord.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
Blood Standard, a name for the cloak which was once sopping in blood, as well as the executioner who bore it.
What area within this place are you forbidden to set foot in?
The western chamber, for its marble stele holds information I must not know.
Who here among the skeletons richly deserves this fate, and why?
Herida, for being an unfit leader among forsaken sacrifices.
What connection do you have to those you've just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
My Herida fought these as long as I knew, but higher powers limited my knowledge of them to keep me loyal.

Fathis Munk
Feb 23, 2013

??? ?
Headless


You stole it, you took it, you deprived me of a glance, a glimpse, an instant seeing myself again!

I claw and tear at the three heads in my rage, three ugly aberrations, three mockeries that taunt me, even as they die.

Suddenly I remember, the Gods, the soul, the sacrifice. I need to consecrate this offering. This is my redemption, I just need some time to

What connection do you have to those you’ve just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I was part of the first wave of sacrifices, at the time it was a great honor for us.
Whom did you once love?
Headless loved themselves and the Gods. But mostly themselves
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
I was called the Silver Tongue for ending a war by converting a barbarian king.
What thing in this place did you craft with your own hands?
Headless crafted the runes ornamenting the bronze sarcophagus.

UnCO3
Feb 11, 2010

Ye gods!

College Slice
Your eyes open; your bones ache. You have awoken, not called by the tomb nor its denizens, not alerted by the breaking of the threshold.

A century has passed since the mummified, dead-but-dreaming Kelchiredzem rose from its sarcophagus and was finally slain. Just one century among many.

TIME DEVOURS

It seems that while you were asleep a tremendous and cacophonous earthquake shattered the structure of the tomb. You must have slept soundly through it. Not only that, it feels as though the abyssal heat has withdrawn from the mountain. Was that what rocked the earth? Who can say.



The central chamber is, perhaps miraculously, untouched, except for the fragments of stone and sarcophagus having been hurled around in the upheaval. The channel down to the secret chamber and whatever else lies below has closed up like a swollen throat. The rough, abrasive stairways up to the Eastern and Western chambers are intact, though even rougher than before, and almost all of the other passages have collapsed or been smashed with horrible force by the two sides of the mountain into sliver-thin cracks filled with shards of rock. The only corridor now open – a new opening born from the shattering of old rock – leads up from the central chamber to the Northern entryway, through the unfinished tunnel carved by one of the Builders so long ago.

All of the carefully-crafted whistling stonework has been undone by the vast destructive power that nature has indifferently let loose. It’s impossible to say whether anything has actually broken the threshold.

You see feeble strands of white light coming down from the Northern entryway like starving worms descending.

What do you do now?

AJ_Impy
Jun 17, 2007

SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?
Yam Slacker
Rusted Shirt


Free.
We are not summoned to action.
The one we waited to kill was slain.

Borrowed power has returned to me.
I could not act, but action happened
I will look around for the dagger.

Centuries beside the sarcophagus
Century beneath its ruin
Until the quake liberated me.

I rise up, without urgency.
I look around for the others
I see what remains in this chamber.

I look to the north.
Unfamiliar entryway.
It did not reach this far.


Who here among the skeletons was once a great rival of yours, and in what endeavor?
I killed Headless and vice versa when we were sacrifices, for holy glory and honour.
Whose bones rest within the great sarcophagus?
Kelchiredzem, a vile creature defeated in ages past.
What was your name?
Herida.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
The Cager of Demons
What connection do you have to those you’ve just killed or driven away? What
memory did they evoke?

They were the surviving footsoldiers of Kelchiredzem. They devastated the realm in their master's name, and ending them became the work of my life and unlife.

Double May Care
Mar 28, 2012

We need Dragon-type Pokemon to help us prepare our food before we cook it. We're not sure why!

Tattered Cloak



ssstone
garbled

ugh

what the hell

light

sunlight
one would assume
but in here
ahh

is this the intruder?
must we extinguish the light?

or is this exactly what it seems?

but first

"Herida... I'm sorry..."

i retrieve my weapon from some deflated husk

"Sorry I killed your quarry while you slept."

and cautiously
ever cautiously
proceed

"As well as the other things... Sorry."

forward

What was your name?
Segart.
Whom did you once love?
Herida, for whom I almost slew my lord.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
Blood Standard, a name for the cloak which was once sopping in blood, as well as the executioner who bore it.
What area within this place are you forbidden to set foot in?
The western chamber, for its marble stele holds information I must not know.
Who here among the skeletons richly deserves this fate, and why?
Herida, for being an unfit leader among forsaken sacrifices.
What connection do you have to those you've just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
My Herida fought these as long as I knew, but higher powers limited my knowledge of them to keep me loyal.

Fathis Munk
Feb 23, 2013

??? ?
Headless


I rise again and for a while I don't dare to move.

I slowly raise my hands to my face. They don't feel anything. But that can't be, I have offered the Gods a soul powerful enough to warrant a boon, have I not?

Maybe it has just been so long that I have forgotten how it feels to be whole, how it feels to be me. How long has it been anyways, how long since that fateful clash with Rusted Shirt. If I could find a mirror, I could make sure that this new face is as glorious as my old one. Surely the Gods would not have cheated me. Surely I must have a head again.

I move towards the light, spine straight, head held aloft. Let the others see my restored grace and beauty, let them be in awe at my divine, god-given beauty.

What connection do you have to those you’ve just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I was part of the first wave of sacrifices, at the time it was a great honor for us.
Whom did you once love?
Headless loved themselves and the Gods. But mostly themselves
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
I was called the Silver Tongue for ending a war by converting a barbarian king.
What thing in this place did you craft with your own hands?
Headless crafted the runes ornamenting the bronze sarcophagus.

UnCO3
Feb 11, 2010

Ye gods!

College Slice
Headless

For some reason you feel unsteady on your feet, and totter out of the blackness into the pool of light in the middle of the central chamber. Herida and Segart are already up and about when you get there.

What do you do now?

-

Herida and Segart

You retrieve your weapons from the twice-corpse with as much fanfare as can be expected from ancient skeletons. They feel lighter in your hands than they ever did.

Up towards the light, you see the beams straight and strong, as if they were beams of wood holding up this jagged passage of broken stone.

As you look around further, you see a pile of bones in disarray, half-buried beneath the body. One arm ends in a splintered stump. You feel a slight something emanating from the skull, but nothing from the rest of it. Whatever animus the body had has long since faded, but who can say of the skull?

Then Headless enters and steps into the light where you once lay. Well, not-Headless-any-more. They look unsteady on their feet, and the reason is obvious, reflecting the white light.

They have a head. A head made of a lump of rough, unworked star-metal.

What do you do now?

AJ_Impy
Jun 17, 2007

SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?
Yam Slacker
Rusted Shirt


All this time.
Centuries upon centuries, thousands and thousands
Yet we never really spoke, did we?

Segart mindspeaking an apology.
Remorse for kill-stealing,
Amongst other things.

"No need.
Never any need.
You did what I wanted to be done."

"It did not need to be my hands that ended him,
Just that he was ended here again and for all time.
You did well, and I am happy with how it transpired."

I rest my old phalanges upon the skull of the Bloodless,
Something there,but nothing in the rest.
"Can you still mindsense us, old friend?"

I glance up as the silver-tongued, starmetal-headed one enters.
Even more ridiculous than before.
Perhaps I should divest them of this one as well.

I glance down at the long-rotted ruin of what had been Kelchiredzem.
Memory flares at what it was at the height of its power.
Older, deeper memory of back when it was mortal, and had just the one head.

Youth and naivete abounded.
I was starstruck, and loved them.
It was never returned.

It sacrificed that which was human.
I was jilted and discarded.
But I knew enough to ensure its ruin.

Not just back then.
But how to prevent the return.
Segart did brilliantly.

I mourned my first love when it forsook humanity.
It fuelled my hate when I fought the Mag-Men.
Now I feel satisfaction and completion.

I turn to my second love,
Or the remnant thereof.
"Let us all go together into the light."

Who here among the skeletons was once a great rival of yours, and in what endeavor?
I killed Headless and vice versa when we were sacrifices, for holy glory and honour.
Whose bones rest within the great sarcophagus?
Kelchiredzem, a vile creature defeated in ages past.
What was your name?
Herida.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
The Cager of Demons
What connection do you have to those you’ve just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
They were the surviving footsoldiers of Kelchiredzem. They devastated the realm in their master's name, and ending them became the work of my life and unlife.
Whom did you once love?
Kelchiredzem, before it became the demon-thing we have opposed across millenia.

Double May Care
Mar 28, 2012

We need Dragon-type Pokemon to help us prepare our food before we cook it. We're not sure why!

Tattered Cloak



good

ever-humble that one
we both know
my praise is ill-deserved

"Thank you, Herida."

and the others
the bloodless one refuses to wake
they grew distant over time
that much goodwill
is hard to sustain

and
gods

does this one know
they pirate the celestial intruder
i can't help it

"Can you see from that hunk of lead?
Or could you ever see at all?"

i reach out
with the back of my knuckles
and tap on their forehead
(or where it ought to be)

"Well done. Onward, then."

What was your name?
Segart.
Whom did you once love?
Herida, for whom I almost slew my lord.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
Blood Standard, a name for the cloak which was once sopping in blood, as well as the executioner who bore it.
What area within this place are you forbidden to set foot in?
The western chamber, for its marble stele holds information I must not know.
Who here among the skeletons richly deserves this fate, and why?
Herida, for being an unfit leader among forsaken sacrifices.
What connection do you have to those you've just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
My Herida fought these as long as I knew, but higher powers limited my knowledge of them to keep me loyal.

Fathis Munk
Feb 23, 2013

??? ?
Headless


I move into the room with unsteady steps, but my back is straight, my chin is raised, I am restored. I just need to get used to being whole again.

I give Rusted Shirt my best sneer when the other one addresses me. I have to admit that I have no idea what they are talking about. They raise their hand to strike at my face and I do my best to swat away their paws.

I almost lose balance due to the sudden movement, I just need to get used to being whole again.



What connection do you have to those you’ve just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I was part of the first wave of sacrifices, at the time it was a great honor for us.
Whom did you once love?
Headless loved themselves and the Gods. But mostly themselves
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
I was called the Silver Tongue for ending a war by converting a barbarian king.
What thing in this place did you craft with your own hands?
Headless crafted the runes ornamenting the bronze sarcophagus.

Fathis Munk fucked around with this message at 19:57 on Oct 20, 2019

UnCO3
Feb 11, 2010

Ye gods!

College Slice
Herida

You feel a slight rumbling as you touch the skull of Arrow-shield.

Snoring.

Whatever might happen in the future, some vital essence still remains in these old bones.

You take their skull with you.

and Segart

You begin the climb up the path to the light. Black stones scatter down the slope with every footfall, but you hear two more pairs of feet following you upwards.

and Headless

The three of you are approaching the Northern entryway now and the light is brighter than anything you've seen in uncounted years. The threshold awaits--

A winged shadow flits across the opening and away into the sky, and the sound of fluttering feathers fades away in the breeze.

What do you do now?

Double May Care
Mar 28, 2012

We need Dragon-type Pokemon to help us prepare our food before we cook it. We're not sure why!

Tattered Cloak



yes
i can tell they're fulfilled
well

something flutters
from the cavern's mouth

imagine
raising alarms over a bird

the gods must have enjoyed
this display of tenacity
if they paid any attention
if they indeed loom over us

...

i halt near the threshold

...

"Will we persist out there?"

What was your name?
Segart.
Whom did you once love?
Herida, for whom I almost slew my lord.
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
Blood Standard, a name for the cloak which was once sopping in blood, as well as the executioner who bore it.
What area within this place are you forbidden to set foot in?
The western chamber, for its marble stele holds information I must not know.
Who here among the skeletons richly deserves this fate, and why?
Herida, for being an unfit leader among forsaken sacrifices.
What connection do you have to those you've just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
My Herida fought these as long as I knew, but higher powers limited my knowledge of them to keep me loyal.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Fathis Munk
Feb 23, 2013

??? ?
Headless


The light, the breeze, the world. It all comes back to us, all it took was my offering to the gods, they must be pleased indeed! I have freed us, our vigil is... complete? I struggle to believe the gods would be pleased enough to end our endless watch.

But it seems I have proven us worthy. It is time to leave this place, I will return to the capital, they must have missed my services.

What connection do you have to those you’ve just killed or driven away? What memory did they evoke?
I was part of the first wave of sacrifices, at the time it was a great honor for us.
Whom did you once love?
Headless loved themselves and the Gods. But mostly themselves
What byname did you earn in life that describes your greatest accomplishment?
I was called the Silver Tongue for ending a war by converting a barbarian king.
What thing in this place did you craft with your own hands?
Headless crafted the runes ornamenting the bronze sarcophagus.

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