You are here: Home --> Forum Home --> Recent posts by Reralae
Topic: SW: Dawn of Defiance Q/A
Subject: Okies
That's kind of what I was thinking too... so I'll probably go with it 
Posted on 2009-10-01 at 18:24:31.
|
Topic: SW: Dawn of Defiance Q/A
Subject: That'd be my job...
Karra: Use Computer +7
I'll get a post up when I can *nods*
Posted on 2009-10-01 at 17:55:00.
|
Topic: Auguries of Destruction - The Aria of the Thirteen
Subject: Let's see then...
"Let's see... according to our records, Mr. Masamune's body was released to his family earlier this morning. It's unclear what element he may have possessed, but his bloodline suggests that he had a higher likelihood of having an affinity for either water or air, or even both." Sarah answers, "As to Mr. Wilheln... he commutes to Nithrapaw Hospital from the Forested Garden district, which is a fair ways away, considering that the Nithrapaw Hospital borders the Old City district, on the eastern side of the city, while the Forested Garden district is on the western side of the river. Anyway, he's been known to frequent a casino in the same district called Morning Glory, especially on Tuesdays and Fridays, his scheduled days off. However, his financial status doesn't seem to indicate much of the presence of gambling. He lives alone, and doesn't appear to have a wide circle of friends either."
Posted on 2009-10-01 at 07:40:58.
|
Topic: Aria of the Thirteen Q&A
Subject: Oops
Yep, you're right... typo on my part... ^^;
Fixed now 
Posted on 2009-09-30 at 16:25:34.
Edited on 2009-09-30 at 16:27:19 by Reralae
|
Topic: Auguries of Destruction - The Aria of the Thirteen
Subject: Victim's profile
"It didn't seem to have anything related, but I'll bring it up." Sarah says, bringing up the file and a picture of a young-adult Japanese man with shoulder-length hair tied into a bao at the back of his head, and wearing a yukata.
"Yosuke Masamune. 24 years old. Family of three, consisting of himself, his wife, and their 5 year old daughter. He and his wife ran a small, successful, home-based editorial business for the local paper in the Old City district." Sarah read aloud, "Not exactly the sort of guy you'd expect to end up dead."
"Here's something interesting," Harold added, "His family doesn't have a medical history that dictates he'd be susceptible to heart attacks."
Posted on 2009-09-30 at 06:44:07.
Edited on 2009-09-30 at 16:38:19 by Reralae
|
Topic: Aria of the Thirteen Q&A
Subject: Yep
More or less... There's the:
"I just heard from our commander; we can't touch this case."
"Why not?"
"It's been officially turned over to the MSPD."
"I wonder... just what are those guys doing in there...?"
and then there's the occasional...
"Okay, now I'm curious... just who are these MSPD guys anyway?"
"I suggest you forget 'em. I've known too many detectives who've dug into their business and just disappeared."
Posted on 2009-09-30 at 00:01:40.
|
Topic: Aria of the Thirteen Q&A
Subject: Answers
Well... let's see... for it being a considerable facility, there are actually rather few individuals working in it. The main people are the npcs I've already mentioned.
There are no other MSPD branches in the city, at least that you know of.
As to badges... well... there actually aren't any; it's kind of a black ops type thing. So, as far as the public is concerned, the MSPD doesn't actually exist, or only does in rumours.
Even the police, who are supposed to work with and cooperate with the MSPD, know little about it.
Posted on 2009-09-29 at 23:46:41.
|
Topic: Aria of the Thirteen Q&A
Subject: MSPD Building Layout
1st floor: an illusionary copy of all other business buildings, with a reception desk (Susan's) and an elevator past the far hall. The elevator can only be accessed with a key card and pin number, which all characters have.
B1 floor: Medical station
2-5th floors: also illusionary office building floors
6th floor: Combat practise floor 1, melee weapons training specifically. There's different rooms with holographic dummies to train with just about any sort of melee weapon.
7th floor: Combat practise floor 2, weapons training with guns, specifically. Of note, the entire floor is soundproofed, so gunshots can't be heard outside of this floor.
8th floor: Combat practise floor 3, weapons training with alternate ranged weapons.
9th floor: Supernatural practise floor. This is usually where Rituals or other Crafts can be practised.
10th floor: Laboratory 1. The entire floor is essentially a lab to make various electronic equipment. Sarah often works here.
11th floor: Laboratory 2. This floor is dedicated to the crafting of more material objects, such as guns, or even blades.
12th floor: Laboratory 3. This floor is dedicated to chemistry.
13th floor: conference and office floor. The conference room is located on the northern side of the building, while Mr. Kurosawa's office is on the eastern side. The character's don't have their own rooms, but instead share a spacious room with multiple computer terminals. It's designed this way so that it's easy to converse and work with each other. Sarah's terminal, where she usually is, is also located here. It's easy to see which computer hers is, since it's so rigged with so many external hard drives and other devices that there's hardly any other room on her desk.
14th floor: Medical station.
15th floor: Unknown. Not even Mr. Kurosawa has access to this floor. Presumably, it's "A's" office.
And that's all the relevant floors I can think of offhand... although there are more... it IS a skyscraper after all
Posted on 2009-09-29 at 20:09:22.
Edited on 2009-09-29 at 22:02:52 by Reralae
|
Topic: Auguries of Destruction - The Aria of the Thirteen
Subject: Episode 1 - Seeker of the Endless
The days pass without care as time gathers in droplets.
From the pool of knowledge, all can be revealed.
Rain and mist,
Harbours of life and death,
The searcher defies the river of Styx,
All in the search for Eternity.
From his seat at the head of the table, Mr.Kurosawa stood up, silently asking for attention. The lighting of the room seemed to glint on his balding head, but he seemed very unimposing. Instead, by his posture alone, he looked as though he were simply making an announcement to his colleagues, rather than employees.
In stark contrast, the man in the back of the room, only ever known by the letter A, was intimidating as he always was. Wearing mirrored sunglasses, even indoors, it couldn't be determined exactly what he was looking at, and his military-cut brown hair, as well as his ironed formal wear, altogether gave the impression of the hostile superior. Yet, he was always like this, and so it was easy to get used to him. He seldom spoke anyway, simply the quiet overseer to the MSPD group.
Harold stopped his whispered conversation with Sarah, just as the Chief pressed a button at the head of the table. The midsection of the table extended and raised at an angle, providing a dark surface upon which the overhead projectors could display their information.
"Sarah, if you'd please." Mr. Kurosawa asked gently.
Sarah nodded, and quickly pulled up a keyboard and began typing. Within moments, a picture from a police crime scene was brought up in front of everyone. It was a side road, evidently somewhere in the Old City district as could be told by the brick-style of the sidewalk and the old paved road. A body covered by a paramedic blanket was on the sidewalk.
"This is the strange corpse that was found last Saturday. Now, the coroner has it listed as natural causes from a heart attack. Normally, that'd be the end of the case, but this one was a witch, albeit one that was unawakened." Mr. Kurosawa explained, "As you know, whenever a corpse is identified by the police computer, it is cross-referenced by the ISA's witch list. If there's ever a match, then we step in and perform a second autopsy just as a normal precaution. However, this time, the results were not even close to the ones on the police report."
"Cause of death: necrosis of the heart." Sarah read aloud, "It was caused by a witch's powers. It's not clear whether another witch got to them, or their own powers just went out of control for some reason."
"But that doesn't explain why the reports were so different. It's too different to list it as a simple mistake." "A" said unexpectedly.
"A coroner would be good to be friends with if someone had bodies to get rid of." Harold mused, "Doesn't get much easier than that."
"The coroner for this case was Mr. John Wilheln. 35 years old. He also works at Nithrapaw General Hospital." Sarah interrupted, bringing up his profile on the monitors. The man appeared to be a well-kept Caucasian man with light brown hair and emerald green eyes.
"As of yet, this is only conjecture; we don't have any viable grounds to step in as of yet. There is the possibility that Mr. Wilheln is a witch, or may be associated with one, but until we can verify it, we cannot take any official action." Mr. Kurosawa clarified, "But that doesn't mean we can't investigate either. Just don't do anything overt until we have confirmation. I guess that's all for today, unless anyone has anything they wish to ask or clarify."
Seemingly satisfied, "A" took no time in leaving the conference room, disappearing into the elevator.
(So... time to plan what you're going to do, or ask questions
If there's no questions, Mr. Kurosawa will leave to go to his office. I'll put up a post in the Q&A regarding some of the layout of the building as well, for reference.)
Posted on 2009-09-29 at 19:52:49.
|
Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Well...
I think Smoke can be pretty sure that Janelle will be okay now... so she could probably go ahead and interrupt Alex
On second thought... I just thought of something else... but then again, I'm not exactly sure how they'd react to it... 
Posted on 2009-09-29 at 18:44:13.
Edited on 2009-09-29 at 18:46:34 by Reralae
|
Topic: ^ < V game
Subject: Oooh
^ 
< 
v 
Posted on 2009-09-29 at 01:11:41.
|
Topic: Auguries of Destruction - The Linsemptus
Subject: End of Battle
As the wererat fell from Dusk's blade, his eyes surveyed his surroundings. As they had come, wererats fell, either by blade or by magic. It seemed they were all now dead. All but one, that is. However, his cowardice proved to be his salvation, for in running away, there was no immediate reason to pursue him, and there was a greater threat at hand. Dusk moved quickly, his blade now coming up as he slid around beside Akihiko, to slash at the werewolf. Unfortunately, the werewolf read his movements, and managed to step just out of the way of the blade.
The werewolf seemed to grin, "You fools! Have a taste of my magic!"
Seemingly without any regard to his own safety, the werewolf brought the staff in his hand forward, before a bead of red light seemed to be emitted from the ruby at its head. As it fell like a raindrop, the muscles in Dusk's legs tightened, as he began the motion that would deaden the force that he intuitively felt coming. The bead of light hit the ground, and immediately the air heated to a boil, as an eruption of flame spread out from the source. Dusk, in his reflexes drew his body into action, managed to avoid the brunt of the blast in its entirety. (Made the reflex save. Natural 20, and I believe Dusk has Evasion, so no damage). The werewolf, knowing that the blast was coming to begin with, had leaped into the air clear of the blast. (The werewolf made his save, and he has Evasion.) Willow and Mitsuru likewise reacted in time, Mitsuru twisting around to lessen the blast, while Willow reared her horse back. (16 fire damage to Willow and Mitsuru) Unfortunately for her horse and Akihiko, they didn't react in time, so they took the full force of the blast. In the motion of rearing back her horse, Willow instead felt it give way under her, and proceeded to change the motion into a full back-flip, landing gracefully on her feet. (33 fire damage to Akihiko and Willow's horse, Natural 20 on the soft fall)
Willow, despite the pain within her body, pushed onward. Yet, her fatigue began to show, for her first slash was unable to leave more than a glancing mark upon the werewolf. Her second and third, drawn almost in unison, were able to leave the werewolf with yet more cuts to his resilient fur and skin. (1 damage for each of the two hits) The final slash, however, didn't leave a mark upon his body.
Xira saw the blast, but didn't react much, instead drawing on her innate power, channelling energy in order to heal herself. (Cure Critical Wounds, +31 HP for Xira, 9 damage from holding the scythe)
Mitsuru, who wasn't that badly hurt, given the situation, quickly used her analytical mind to come up with the best course of action. As it stood, in front of her, she could see that Willow was faltering in her step, and her breathing was definitely ragged, the marks of weariness, fatigue, and physical trauma taking its toll on her body. Thus she reached over and imparted her own spell of healing upon the warrior. (Cure Critical Wounds, +25 HP for Willow)
Akihiko, although burned, already swung a punch with his bladed gauntlet. Unfortunately for the werewolf, he wasn't anticipating any survivors of the fireball, so didn't react in time as Akihiko struck him hard in the side. (6 damage to the werewolf) Unfinished, and seeing his opening, Akihiko swung hard with his other hand, ramming it directly into the middle of the werewolf's chest, drawing blood. The werewolf howled in pain, for the blow was considerable, and left a considerable wound even after Akihiko withdrew his hand. (Critical hit, 26 damage) A bit too satisfied by his hit, Akihiko wasn't able to land his third punch, but the fourth was successful, leaving yet another cut on the werewolf's body. (1 damage)
Mo, undeterred by the fireball, and with the knowledge that another would cause the werewolf to be hit by his own psychic protection, ran up beside Willow, swinging his blade. Yet, unfortunately for Mo, the blade left only a superficial cut on the werewolf's body. (1 damage)
Unseen, the Scout hovered above the party beginning to surround the werewolf.
"You aren't the only one who commands magic." She said, although, from the werewolf's perspective, it seemed as though he assumed that it was Mitsuru who spoke.
There was a glitter in the air, of four aquamarines before they vanished into a rain of sparkles. They concentrated on all of the party members, seemingly drawn to where they were needed the most, yet ignoring the werewolf entirely. (+20 hp to the Scout, Akihiko, Mitsuru, Willow, Dusk and Mo)
Round 4
Dusk, seeing the werewolf beginning to falter, struck with a renewed vigour. The first slash went wide, but the two that followed both hit their mark. Yet, the blades were too light, too slender to leave true marks on the werewolf.
For the werewolf, fear began to dance in his one good eye. Perhaps it was this fear that caused his first slash to go wide, for the blade in his one hand missed Akihiko by a long shot. The second one, however, was successful, leaving a good slash on Akihiko's arm. (5 damage to Akihiko)
Willow once again struck at the werewolf, yet only her first and last slashes left marks upon its body. The last having more force behind it than she perhaps intended, for it left her stance slightly askew. (1 and 2 damage respectively)
Xira now ran at a full tilt, rushing past Mitsuru to be beside Willow, before ramming the Death Scythe into the flesh of the werewolf. It was a pain like nothing the beast had ever felt before, like the scythe were trying to cut through his very soul rather than his body. He howled in pain, and reeled.
Mitsuru, seeing this chance, drew her focus into a cold fury, manifesting as an icy sphere that flew forward at the werewolf.
It seemed that it would finish it, yet that wasn't the case.
The werewolf instinctively raised his staff, and the orb of ice was drawn towards the white end holding the sapphire. There was a chime as it hit, before it simply vanished. The sapphire glowed brighter with power, but that was the only indication of the spell having taken effect.
The werewolf laughed, "Ice cannot touch me!"
"Maybe not, but I sure can." Akihiko retorted, landing a hard uppercut on the werewolf's jaw. (5 damage to the werewolf)
Akihiko pounded the werewolf with a second punch, but the third and fourth failed to land, instead letting the werewolf recoil, twist and duck aside.
Unfortunately, in its recoil, it moved to the perfect position for Mo to follow through and finish what had been started. He swung his greatsword, perhaps much harder than he had intended, for in his swing, he actually beheaded the werewolf. (Critical hit)
The werewolf's now headless body slumped to the ground, and didn't move. The battle was now over.
[Round 4 Status]
Scout - Greed
Mitsuru - Yellow
Akihiko - Yellow
Xira - Green
Willow's Horse - Dead
Other horses - Red
Mo - 66/78
Willow - 82/82
Dusk - 57/57
Posted on 2009-09-28 at 07:19:40.
|
Topic: Dawn of Defiance: The Traitor's Gambit
Subject: Time for planning is over... Time to move
During the elevator trip, Karra just kept to herself. She knew better than to say or do anything amidst the hollow racial slurs and looks of the humans that came in the elevator. Very rude, but widely accepted and perhaps even encouraged by the general human society. It made her a bit angry, but even more, it made her sad. Her face passive, the only sign that she was feeling down was her ears, which drooped ever so slightly. Inwardly, Karra sighed.
Maybe I should just go back home... to Cathar... She thought sadly, Maybe after this contract at Alderaan...
Thankfully, it wasn't too long before they reached the Blue Deck, and she listened silently as Haiko'ib proposed an impromptu plan.
Karra nodded, "Yes... that's about all we can do at this point. Let's move, but tread lightly; we're already visibly suspicious to these biased people, so it won't take much to make them either point us out, or hinder us if they see a reason to." She said softly, almost sadly.
Posted on 2009-09-27 at 20:21:54.
|
Topic: SW: Dawn of Defiance Q/A
Subject: Regarding bombs and plans
I think it's unlikely the person will find the bomb in his office, even if that is his office; quite likely, the first thing he'll find is that he's been stolen from...
What happens from there, I do not know... there's far too many variables to list all the possibilities.
Even if the bomb is discovered, that serves our purposes; it isn't necessarily meant to go off, but to be a distraction. Being discovered means it will still be a distraction.
Still, we should tread lightly at this point. We're at the most dangerous part of this chapter.
At this point, let's just try to reach the hangar. Some improvisation may be needed, but that's all we can do now.
Posted on 2009-09-27 at 20:04:54.
|
Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: And there's some comedy relief...
Well, kind of anyway... it can be amusing making the detective that figures something out but can't make sense out of it
So, yeah... there's Kenneth... a detective who takes his work seriously, although his demeanour would really suggest otherwise... ^^
Oh, and if it's a bit too confusing, since one of my NPCs in Clock Tower is also named Kenneth, I can change the name if you'd like
Posted on 2009-09-27 at 17:47:36.
|
Topic: Witchcraft: Stare into the Night
Subject: Enter Kenneth, my expendible crew member...
"Ugh, why do they sack the very strange cases on me?" Kenneth complained, just loud enough for his voice to carry to the desk next to him that belonged to Joe.
Naturally, Joe wasn't there... they often worked opposite shifts, and according to the secretary he had signed out at noon anyway, since he had spent the night prior.
"Just a murder case they say, well, how's it a murder without a murder weapon?" Kenneth continued to ask, thinking aloud, as he often did when he worked the night shift alone. Then again, that was why he liked working the night shift; he could talk to himself and no one would get annoyed about it.
He looked over the three autopsy reports in front of him again, and shook his head.
"No matter how you look at it, there's no signs of trauma or even physical damage or resistance for that matter. No toxicity in their bloodstreams at the time of death, and not even a sign of a heart attack. It's as if they just... died..." Kenneth mused, before checking their data files on the computer, "And three of the top guys of a drug-dealing street gang ain't gonna die for no apparent reason..."
"Hell, Joe's is much easier than this... you have a burnt body with ties to some sort of whacky cult... whoever did it is obviously some sort of arsonist that just likes burning people instead of property. Trace the fire, and BAM! There's your guy."
Kenneth chuckled. He said it, but he didn't mean it; he knew better than that, and he had taken a glance at it as well. His photographic memory helped with this line of work, and he clearly remembered that although the body was clearly burned to death, there were no signs of smoke inhalation, much less any sort of gasoline or oil, or signs of burning at the crime scene. Still, it seemed workable; what the hell was he supposed to do with something like this?
Kenneth picked up one of the bagged guns found in the hands of the two of the guys that were found in the same area. They were quite clearly fired, with spent shells also in the area, and there were blood spatters, a clear indication of another person present.
"So, the only thing we have to go on is blood... heh, and it just couldn't have matched anything in our database could it? No, that would be too easy..." Kenneth shook his head. This case clearly looked like it was going to go into the 'unsolved' folder.
His eyes narrowed. Bullets, and blood... a considerable amount too. He checked the blood screening photo. They were faint, but there were obvious traces from where blood must have spilt. Judging by that alone, it was pretty clear whoever was hit had been hit in a spot where no clothing obscured it. Or at least, that was the feeling he got. For most people, that would be either the arms, or possibly...
"... these ain't rookies firing these guns; these are bodyguards to the head honcho. If they don't know where to shoot, they ain't doing their job right. One of these shots has to be a head shot."
The more Kenneth looked at the blood patterns, the more he became convinced that it was a 'head shot'. At the very least, they were hit somewhere pretty vital, and gang members had a reputation to upkeep for being good with a gun.
"So... whoever it was got shot rather hard... and there's three bullets not accounted for... who the hell takes three bullets and just walks away?"
Kenneth groaned. The evidence was just out to get him this time.
"I knew I should've played hookey today..."
Then something caught his eye. A disturbance of the ground, in the approximate spot he'd have guessed the swiss cheese person would be.
"They fell down... but this can't be right..." Kenneth stared in disbelief, "If I fall down," he continued, before standing up and promptly falling onto the floor on his backside, "Ooph!" He immediately checked his position. Legs bent, and hands out behind to help cushion the fall. He checked the photo again and the ruler size reference.
"This ain't right..." He quickly checked other files for approximate sizes of individuals, before cross referencing the measurements of the picture and reaching the conclusion he had intuitively guessed, "... they shot a kid? Just why would they shoot a kid, unless..."
The pieces began fitting together, although there was no logical reason why or how it was possible.
"This kid... somehow kills their boss... they pursue and shoot, the kid kills them too..." Kenneth groaned once again, "And now I'm back to square one... how does one kill without even touching the person?!"
Sighing, he put the files and evidence back into their neat little box. It was impossible to solve, much less to find out who did it.
"... this is gonna bug me all night. I know it is." Kenneth said resignedly, putting his feet up on his desk and reclining.
Posted on 2009-09-27 at 17:34:58.
|
Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: And that's about it for Janelle...
Until she wakes up later, that is...
Oooh? Lurkers? When'd they suddenly appear? *paranoid glances*
Speaking of lurkers... I know that Sib-kun was lurking before too...
Anyway, I guess that's it for me for now...
Although, I might do a post for Alice soon... ^^
Posted on 2009-09-26 at 16:14:45.
Edited on 2009-09-26 at 16:16:29 by Reralae
|
Topic: Witchcraft: Stare into the Night
Subject: Tranquility
Okay... Remember Rosie, you are safe here. Alex and I won't let anything like that happen again. Safe... very safe...
I'll let you sleep now, sleep soundly, sleep safely...
In Janelle's dream, the scene began to melt away. Tears smudged the colours and lines together into something indistinct, like an abstract watercolour. It became blue, a soft, watery hue, in which Janelle lost herself, moving onward to a dreamless sleep.
Posted on 2009-09-26 at 16:11:14.
|
Topic: SW: Dawn of Defiance Q/A
Subject: Sounds good
It does seem like that's about our only option at this point...
The other option would be to still wait for the bomb, but since we don't know what the timing is like, or how urgent we need to act, it's not quite an option now...
So, yeah, let's try bluffing our way in for now...
Posted on 2009-09-26 at 15:54:32.
|
Topic: ^ < V game
Subject: Well...
^ Aerobic
< Aerobie®
v Aeronaut
Posted on 2009-09-23 at 19:46:47.
Edited on 2009-09-23 at 19:47:50 by Reralae
|
Topic: Dawn of Defiance: The Traitor's Gambit
Subject: Maybe isn't "will"... but it doesn't look good...
There was no mistaking the urgency in Haiko'ib's voice, or the trepidation in his frantic frenzy of pressing the button to call the elevator. Yet, for all that he, his tone, and his manner said, it wasn't very clear what exactly was going on...
"What happened? What's going on?" Karra asked, setting her pack back over her shoulder just in case the elevator arrived.
Posted on 2009-09-23 at 19:31:30.
|
Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Speaking of which...
I'm afraid I can't take all the credit for the clock monster... it's slightly based off of this monster from an online game I occasionally play...
Still, I had to do some major modifications for it to fit the clock of the memory
Posted on 2009-09-23 at 17:59:57.
Edited on 2009-09-24 at 15:47:55 by Reralae
|
Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Drinking? Without me?
Well... I could drink myself hyper if that's what you mean, but I'm not legal, so it'll have to be just pop for me
And as to Smoke being proud of Alex... are you sure it's not a Blue Moon right now?
Oh, and for the curious... Alice in Janelle's memory used Battle Boost to do so much damage... but she's forgotten how to use Battle Boost by now (and didn't use it consciously to begin with), so it's not on her sheet *nods*
Posted on 2009-09-23 at 17:33:02.
|
Topic: Witchcraft: Stare into the Night
Subject: Death and Rebirth?
Alright Rosie, Shhh, you are asleep, at Alex's house. No clocks, you are safe. Alex and I will make sure of that. Safe Rosie,
The dream essentially stopped. Time was frozen. It was enough to give Janelle a reprieve. She just stayed there for a moment, breathing quickly, and trying to calm herself down... thankfully, it was easier with Smoke being with her.
Safe remember? So tell me, was there an accident? Did Alice die? Is that what happened love?
Janelle began to shake her head, but instead she tilted it.
'Yes, and no... she died, but... she didn't die. It'd be easier to show you.'
A bedroom. Alice's bedroom. They were sitting on the floor, flashlights on, and with a sheet of paper in front of them.
"Alright, these are the times when the clock goes off." dream-Janelle whispered, "Which means it probably goes off every time its hands come together."
"That means we have until midnight to get rid of that clock." Alice replied, "If we don't, it's going to kill us."
"Okay... you can carry the wood axe right? I'll use your dad's old baseball bat." dream-Janelle confirmed, her grip tightening on the bat.
Quietly, the two girls crept around the house until they came to the room with the Tainted clock. However, stepping into the room, the clock seemed to recognize their purpose, and sped up erratically.
"That's not fair!" dream-Janelle screeched, running forward with Alice.
Reaching the clock first, Alice swung the axe around, leaving a very good cut in the side of the clock, shattering the glass pane at its front. At that moment, the clock chimed midnight, despite the true time not being midnight.
The clock seemed to morph, its face becoming much bigger, while from its head, a mask of an androgynous human face came out of the doors at the 12 mark, and likewise grew bigger. Alice and Janelle recoiled, stepping back a bit. The clock now was truly a monster, consisting of writhing tentacles that supported the clock-face-body and its extended mask for a head. Its mouth opened and a chime reverberated from the opening. The pendulum had grown into a double-bladed executioner's axe, and was held by an arm of tentacles. The other arm reached out and tore out a piece of crown molding, and hurled it. It had so much force that it went straight through Alice's body, and she crumpled to the ground.
Dream-Janelle had screamed, and, naturally, footsteps were heard of Alice's parents running to the room.
"What the hell!?" Alice's father yelled, even as her mother ran to her side.
Whether it was an attempt to avenge his daughter's death, or simply out of desperation to protect the others, the man rushed forward, picking up the fallen axe as he went, and charged the clock-creature. Understandably, Janelle wasn't really watching him, but just stood there in disbelief.
Although the man succeeded in doing considerable damage to the creature, the cost was too high. Time seemed to stop as the clock's hands reached forward, and literally tore the heart from the man's chest. Then, with a wide swing of its axe, the clock killed Alice's mother as well. It began to advance on Janelle, stepping past Alice's body, when something rather unexpected happened.
"Ow... that REALLY hurt..."
The voice... was Alice's. She staggered to her feet, and it just took her a single glimpse to see what had happened.
"YOU MONSTER!" Alice screeched, turning and charging the creature, even unarmed.
Fortunately, as it was facing Janelle, it didn't react to her in time, and so Alice punched it. The act in itself was incredible, but even moreso was the splintering sound of the wood breaking under the force of her punch. The creature tried to swing its axe-arm around, but Alice instead grabbed the offending axe, and rammed it into the creature, causing it to loose its grip and stagger with the force of the blow. In the meantime, Janelle had walked around and away from the creature. It was incredibly strange, to see Alice fighting, despite her torn and bloody nightgown. Taking its axe, Alice nearly broke the clock in two with the ferocity of her first swing, sending it flying into the floor.
"This will end it!" Alice screamed, even as she brought the axe down and struck the internal workings of the clock.
Springs and gears flew from the strike, before with a grinding screech, the clock ceased functioning.
"Alice? Are you... really alive?" Dream-Janelle asked, almost disbelievingly.
"Of course I am." Was the reply, as Alice winced and held a hand to her chest, "It still hurts though..."
At that moment, a dark, malicious energy began crackling along the remains of the clock. Alice reacted quickly, stepping between it and Janelle, before the shockwave came.
As quickly as it came, it seemed to have trouble of its own, as though the very world was quenching it as quickly as it spread. Yet, it would've easily engulfed both girls if Alice wasn't blocking Janelle. From the force, Alice was thrown into Janelle, and they both were sent flying into a wall. Alice, already having sustained an injury, was knocked out, but Janelle wasn't, so she saw what happened then.
Alice's body twisted and contorted, even though she wasn't conscious, as though it were trying to fight something off. Yet, then, two... things... sprouted from her shoulder blades. Janelle wasn't sure what they were, so she had to do a double take. The second time she looked at them, they seemed to be like wings... well, one was a scarred, leathery wing, while the other was merely the bones of a wing. Even in a dream and memory, looking at them was uncomfortable, like there was something innately wrong about it. As almost an afterthought, a neon green tattoo bubbled and appeared on Alice's forehead. A green diamond with a red clock hand.
Unable to take all of what just happened, Janelle quickly got up, and just ran.
'I ran... I... abandoned... her...'
Janelle was crying now, both in dream and in reality. She had faced her past, but it hurt no less.
Posted on 2009-09-23 at 17:16:13.
Edited on 2016-09-30 at 09:18:52 by Eol Fefalas
|
Topic: Witchcraft: Stare into the Night
Subject: Clarity and Calamity
I don't know Alice, tell me more about her, about the two of you?
Janelle didn't answer immediately. Memories began returning, memories she had long since pushed out of her mind. The scenery changed many times, from the hotel, to a park, before settling on a forest and garden path. As each setting changed, people appeared and disappeared, but Alice stayed. If anything, she seemed to get clearer, less fuzzy and incoherent. Her blue eyes were visible, as was her blue dress, and she had a healthy tanned skin tone.
'This is where we used to go... she to sew, I to draw... she was very good at sewing, and learned from her mother; she made that dress herself.'
Janelle was crying softly, and the dreamscape seemed to waver.
'We promised... to always be friends... we were happy... until her father acquired it...'
Now a dark room. Dark despite the lamps in the hotel room. Partly because it was raining outside, but maybe also because Janelle's subconsciousness added that effect in as well. She was standing beside Alice, as a man, presumably Alice's father, who seemed to be at least twice as tall as Janelle, pulled the cloth wrapping off of a towering object. There were other distortions as well, particularly the crown molding, which was jagged and rough, and the cloth appeared to be more like darkness than fabric.
It was a grandfather clock. Ornate and strange. Each of its hands, even the seconds one, was crafted with a spiralling pattern. Initially they appeared to be vines, but, whether it was Janelle's subconsciousness that added the effect or not, as the hands moved, it seemed less and less like vines and more like tentacles, of some hideous creature. This vine/tentacle pattern also went down to the pendulum, appearing to hold a wide metal disc. Yet, instead of a disc, the lighting and shadow occasionally caught it in such a way that it appeared to be a grinning skull. The wood varnish was rough, giving making the wood appear more black than brown, and also gave it a somewhat speckled appearance, like an exotic fungi. This mottled appearance was not static; one could easily swear that the patches moved.
Finally, even unawakened, Janelle's consciousness and memory very easily supplied the thing with a faint aura. Not Essence, but something... malicious, and different.
The man's words could be heard, "A friend of mine asked me to check this clock over... he said that it didn't chime when it was supposed to, and since I look after many antiques, he thought I should look at it. Ugly looking thing... I wonder why he got it, but ah well... his taste, not mine, and it's not mine to judge."
"Alice, do you see that?" It was Janelle's voice in a whisper, although much younger.
"You too? Then I'm not imagining it... if we both see it's moving then..." Another girl's voice, definitely Alice's, whispering back.
'... That's when it started... when Time... began trying to kill us.' Janelle said, her voice choked.
The dream, turned now more into a recollection of a nightmare, began speeding up, showing the 'accidents', each one starting with a chime from the clock, which sounded hollow and cold. The first one was a bookshelf nearly falling over on Janelle and Alice. The second one was Alice's father falling off of a ladder because the ladder collapsed. The third one was a chandelier crashing into a table where some customers were seated. The fourth one was the kitchen nearly being set on fire by the stove.
(... quite apparently, that clock is not only cursed, but is also an artifact of Taint.
I figure Smoke will interject something here, since the fire in particular will likely spur a reaction. It's not far enough to determine why Alice and Janelle separated, but it definitely explains the source of her clock-phobia.)
Posted on 2009-09-22 at 20:40:41.
Edited on 2016-09-29 at 22:58:12 by Merideth
|
| |
View/Edit Your Profile | Staff List | Contact Us
Use of the RDINN forums or chatrooms constitutes agreement with our Terms of Service.You must enable cookies and javascript to use all features of this site.
|
|
Shadows of the Empire
Shadows of the Empire Q&A
Audalis creations
RDINN Feature Updates/...
Shadows of the Empire - R
