[IC] TotMV:G^2: Clash of Fate: The Barracks (Social/Prep Phase)

[Ragnarok97071]

Lena crouches down, lightly touching the creatures for a moment before looking up at the snake-woman, once again producing her notebook and beginning to write.

 

Quote

I will need to complete construction of containment before then. Do we have any artisans that are skilled in the construction of earthworks and the like? I will also need an amount of stone to reenforce them and attempt to keep them in place. Arcanist's equipment may also be wise in case of a death, as spore containment will be important. Is this possible?

 

[Yours Truly]

Solomon nodded in response to Spicy's statement before he slowly started to walk back towards Lena and said, "Lena I'm afraid that the scheduled tour will undergo some delays as I have some business to take care of back in the armory with Spicy and probably won't be able to head back here for a little while. I guess for now I'll leave you in the more than capable hands of Dackly over there, and I trust that she will make sure that you will still be alive and mostly intact by the time I get back. Stay safeish." He then turned around and headed for the exit and waited there until Spicy decided to follow him.

[Hal Henderics]

"Name any object you like, My gaze holds the power to make it into stone.  From paper to steel.  I'm basically incredible, yeah?"  The woman preens.  The Stone creature that is her companion speaks up.

 

"I am an Earth Elemental.  I have the ability to work earth that you seek."

 

"As for Arcanist's Equipment.  I'm afraid you will have to be more specific."

[Ragnarok97071]

She nods, pausing a for a moment and tapping on her pad a couple times while she thinks before continuing to write.

 

Spoiler

How deep can your gaze's effect penetrate? if you petrify the ground around the pit, how far does it go? Would we need to pre-mold bricks for you to petrify, or can you just petrify the edge of the pit itself? Do you have any idea what they eat? Or it is just... other Ork... stuff? Does anyone here have any skill at keeping and caring for animals? While I can provide a farm, I'm a weapon, not a farmer, so I don't exactly know how to handle things like that.

 

As for tools, the most important thing would be a Logic Stone to interface with the Geosphere itself so that I can modify its underlying characteristics, though there's a few other things the might be useful for more complicated works... I've only really dabbled in it through, so I'd need time go get a list, and probably some way to actually study.

 

Edited March 28, 2018 by Ragnarok97071

[Hal Henderics]

"I... I've never done penetration testing, to be honest.  In most cases, it is a full distinct entity effect tied to a threshold."

 

"I do not need premolded bricks, the pit itself would be adequate.  And Squigs can eat any organic matter.  Usually whatever waste products are made through the Endless Wars that Orks perpetuate."

 

"Most anything living I've taken care of required I inhibit it's growth and limit it's health, rather than encourage them..."  Dackly comments sheepishly.

[Ragnarok97071]

She pauses, tapping her foot on the ground and trying to think. Eventually, she nods, writing out one final message.

Quote

Then we can at least get the farm set up. I'd say we probably should keep them as statues until we have someone qualified to take care of them that won't be busy fighting wars and the like, though. Add it to the list, I guess. And any knowledge of logic stones or the like nearby? I doubt it given the... distance? might need to figure out how to make one myself.

 

Shall we get started? You'll need to put a hand on my shoulder for a moment so I can take you with me.

 

Edited March 30, 2018 by Ragnarok97071

[Powder Miner]

Navin nodded, closed his eyes, and then nodded again. Still, he didn't immediately speak, for a long while just staying there silently with his eyes closed, because relating this from the start would be painful, though perhaps the awareness would do him some good. He didn't know. Nonetheless: "Hff... Well, to go from the very beginning, I was twelve years old when I gained my powers." This part of his history was itself not painful, so he continued on smoothly, though increasingly reverently. "I had been out in a field one day near my home village, Mhasas and a brilliant, flashing light came smoothly down from the sky. I caught it, and then I knew at once that it was destiny, and the work of God in some way." Navin chuckled, a little lost in his reverie. "Of course, I learned later that this was the result of an American superhero with the ability to grant powers having a fight in space and missing with his power. But I believe the astronomical chances of a projectile from space just landing my way proves the work of the gods itself. ...no offense meant, of course."

 

Navin let out a long breath - this was going to be the hard part. "It was around one year later that the Kemenel alien race invaded Earth... pretty much the entire planet, en masse. For the first two years of the war, I was just in Mhasas, and they hadn't really made it into my region of India much, so aside from an occasional fight against an alien scout, I did not really understand what the war really was. But..." Another breath. "When I was fifteen, a call went out around India. The Kemenel were massing to take Mumbai and get a foothold in my state, and since the military was busy in Delhi, they needed a coalition of powered individuals to do so. I wanted to help save my country, so I went. And..." Navin's vision unfocused somewhat. "...it was... they had devices that made people... liquefy. On... more than once, at first, because I was young, and unprepared, there were heroes that took blasts and died for me." He let that stand for a moment.

 

"And, of course, there was the fighting and the destruction itself. I had not been ready for that. I had not been at all... But I told myself that if my destiny had led up to this it had to be my duty. It was my duty. It was my duty. It was my duty." The repetitions of that line came softly, Navin fully in the throes of memory as he remembered that hellish day. "And so I could make myself fight. And I did. Well, even. And I did so for battle, after battle, for two years..." Navin shook his head hard to clear the memories. "I... I do not like killing, not just because of ahimsa, but because when I do it I remember the way I made myself do it back then... and then I remember back then. But... I... I threw myself into it here. I told myself that it was a war here, and I had to think and act the way I did in that war because of it, and I even reminded myself of the memory to fight against that mist..."

 

He closed his eyes again and leaned back against wall even more, putting his hands to his face. "I... it all just... it all just came back to overwhelm me all of a sudden, as I stood there covered in ichor with the area around me being torn up. It was just... I was back there again, instead of here. And it... is just... too much. It is too much, all of a sudden."

[Stalkerkain]

Soryn Éclaire

"Don't forget, Soryn. You and I are both monsters. No matter how hard we try to blend in." 

 

The words echoed in Soryn's mind, unable to escape Magna's statement. He had wanted to retreat to the barracks in order to collect his thoughts. Her words irked him not because of the malice directed at him, but the truth that was spoken behind it. He held out his hand, gathering blood in a rotating sphere before him, in an attempt to distract himself. He had thought that all those centuries back, he had come to terms with casting aside his humanity. That continuing to live as a vampire meant that he would have to exist outside the world's cycle. So after all this time, he only had to ask himself. Why the change of heart now?

 

"So this is where you were hiding," said a very familiar voice. Jeanne d'Arc stood smirking, as the blood drained from Soryn's face. Too absorbed in his own thoughts, her presence had caused him to drop his sphere of blood on the ground, splattering quite literally everywhere around him. One would have to feel bad for the soldier that had to clean that up later. Jeanne had questionably raised an eyebrow in response. "To think this is the man who managed to slay me. What's the matter? Looks like you've just seen a specter."
 

"G-gah! I-, Jeanne-, how-" he stammered, quite like an idiot. He had quite convinced himself that their parting was going to be the last. Immediately recalling the words he spoke to Jeanne during her passing could only describe the situation as no less than awkward. Instead, he decided to talk about something. "I, er- was just conflicted. About being a... monster."

 

"Haah? Is that all? Why is that, of all things, bothering you?" she said in a jeer. Jeanne had a rather incredulous look on her face, not quite certain what kind of nonsense Soryn was spewing. "Just be a monster then, for what it matters. It's not what others label you that defines who you are. Just show them how terrifying it is to be the kind of monster you are. Just as I do enjoy being a 'witch'."

 

Soryn looked over to Jeanne with a ponderous look. 'Be the kind of monster are.' Was... that her way of cheering him up?

 

"A witch, hm? It certainly doesn't seem that way to me," he smirked. Because it had certainly worked. It seemed that no matter what happened, Jeanne was the kind of person to bring hope to people. Even if it's just a glimpse. "Thank you, Jeanne."

 

Luminosité Momentané.

 

"Hmph. I don't ever recall doing anything to warrant your appreciation."

[Hal Henderics]

Dackly claps her hands in a very giddy way, before doing as she is commanded.  Gozer joins this ritual silently.

[Ragnarok97071]

As the two put hands on Lena's shoulders, she reaches up and touches a small orb situated at her throat, inset into the collar around her neck. There's a feeling of displacement for a moment, and those around them would see the three blur momentarily, before vanishing entirely.

 

From their perspective, it's the word that blurs and fades, replaced by a wide, perfectly flat plain which stretches for a mile or so in all directions, eventually ending in large, imposing cliff faces that encircled the area. They'd arrived in the middle of a central square, and the only feature to be seen appears to be a large, western-style home which would be directly in front of them on arrival.

 

The wind doesn't blow here, it seems. A dismal place, honestly.

 

Lena pauses, then walks off to the opposite direction of the home, crouching down on the edge of the square, obviously wondering how big of a pit they'd need to store them, what would be required for their upkeep, and so on.

 

[Hal Henderics]

Dackly's eyes are literally bulging with glee as she looks over the place.

 

"And this pocket space is available to you wherever you are?  Incredible.  Here I am planning on stabbing myself with supernatural relics for a chance to get something my allies already have.  Incredible!"  She comments.

 

"M'am, I am prepared to begin at your command."  Gozer finishes.

[DragonRage]

Alexandria walks into the barracks through the front door, armor gleaming in the faint light.  "I do hope I'm not late," she murmurs, "The walk here felt like it took months!"  It should be noted that she walks into the barracks very, very slowly.  "Eugh, why is there blood everywhere?  Is someone injured?  I have some first aid manuals archived somewhere."

[rustytengo]

Bridgett sighed as she left her little hiding spot. It was rather unusual for her not to have Mornings Arrow to talk to, but they where busy reconfiguring things. Upon turning o of the corners of the surprisingly large barracks Bridgett saw a rather large imposing figure of a metal lady looking about one of the rooms that had some blood in it. Bridgett remembered this lady though they ever talked and was surprised to see them here. "Umm.....I think that the blood....was...umm from someone's abilities or something I haven't heard any fighting...and I don't think anyone came back that injured." She spoke quietly after hearing the lady talk about the blood.

[Chevaleresse]

She shook her head slightly at Navin's "no offense" - she took none, of course. She'd never met any of the man's gods, but she could not say for certain they were false, either. Given he was from another world, it's not as if she could make definitive statements without visiting it herself first. Similarly, she nodded once, slowly, as he began to describe the horrors of the war he'd been through. Gruesome, very gruesome, and not the sort of thing one that young should experience. Mitsurugi looked down at the mention of others sacrificing themselves for Navin's preservation, down at the sheath that she would likely carry until she ceased existing entirely, whether that be soon or many years down the line.

 

She stayed quiet for a moment, shaking free of her own sorrow for a moment to attempt to ponder Mhasalkar's issue. Having to place himself back in that war in order to kill. . . She'd heard of war trances and the like, but this seemed to be a different beast. And. . . "I am not sure if I can offer you any meaningful consolation. Blood and death are simply parts of what I was, and am. I would tell you that perhaps you should retreat from the front lines, but that is not possible in trying times such as this." She shook her head again a bit, this time betraying a faint hint of frustration. "Ahmisa, the term means a principle of not doing harm, no?" She had visited the Buddhist temple on occasion out of curiosity; a foolish endeavor, it was, trying to convert creatures composed of earthly concerns to a faith that rejected them, but it was interesting nonetheless. . . That, and the presence of a proper god might've motivated them to choose a more helpful path. "Perhaps it is best to frame it in terms of results. You must cause harm so that less harm overall is caused." Something she did herself; while she governed natural disasters, they were not utterly beholden to her, and failing to enact them as necessary would only cause greater imbalance in the world. "The greatest good in the world, and the least amount of harm, is done by your killing. It is a good thing that you do not find joy in it." She was silent for another moment. "I am sorry that I cannot be of more help."

[Stalkerkain]

"Apologies for alarming anyone," said Soryn, overhearing the concerns about the mess on the floor. "I had momentarily lost-"

 

"You mean you were startled."

 

"-was not startled, lost control of my abilities, and consequently dropped the blood I was using onto the floor." With a sweeping motion of his hand, the blood rose up from the floor, swirling back into a sphere onto the palm of his hand. He then deposited the excess blood into a nearby bucket, not wanting to reuse blood that had touched the floor. Pathogens and all. "Are the both of you perhaps looking for something?" as he referred to Alexandria and Bridgett.

[rustytengo]

Bridgett let out a small squeak of surprise at the on- err two other people that she didn't notice in the room probably because of the rather big metal lady also in the room blocking some of the view. "N...No I wasn't... I was just wandering around waiting for something to finish, and...stumbled into the room as she said something." she said shrinking back a bit back towards the room she just came from well indicating Alexandria. 

[Powder Miner]

Navin looked at Mitsurugi for a while as she spoke, choosing not to say anything until she questioned the meaning of ahimsa -- it wasn't very difficult for him to provide an answer to that, at least. "Yes. Ahimsa is the concept in Hinduism and in two of the other Dharmic religions that nonviolence must be practiced with all living things when it is possible. All living beings are part of the same cycle of dharma and the soul, are connected. It is why I am lactovegetarian so long as it is possible: less living beings must be harmed to eat to raise a crop than to raise a herd." He nodded when Mitsurugi continued to speak and spoke of results and overall harm, but it was a nod with an undeniably sad smile. "Yes... the concept of just war ties into that very concept, and it is one I lean very heavily on to be able to do my duty."

 

By her own admission, she couldn't do much more to help him on this issue, could she? "It is alright, miss Saigai. There are pieces of our natures we cannot really escape. Even more so, perhaps, because of what we are." It was, perhaps, a reminder that as beautiful and troubled as Mitsurugi clearly was, as close to human as she was, she was in her own ways fundamentally different from Navin. This was not a slight upon her -- he was by this point a little bit fond of miss Saigai, but her dharma (perhaps his usual rough translation of Duty was more accurate), was different to his. Her very nature, as a god from a different religion and his, as a mortal, were different, and this could not be changed. Some things could not be, in general. "...perhaps it is simply a part of me as my destiny, my dharma, that this struggle within me happen, and perhaps I simply cannot change it. I will simply have to... bear with it, and then continue on with my Duty anyway, yes? Perhaps I just needed confirmation of this, again." He closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall, exhaling.

 

Honestly, he did not feel any better, despite the feeling of grim certainty sinking to his gut. It was still painful, no matter if it was his dharma or not.

[DragonRage]

"I was only looking for conversation," Alexandria informs Bridgett and Soryn brightly, "It was a long walk here from the castle.  I hope I am not too late to help out.  Hm, blood, you say.  Are you a blood mage?"

[Chevaleresse]

Mitsurugi was quiet for several moments. Would it be rude or uncouth? No, she doubted the man would take offense. "I am sorry, Navin," she said softly. The man was clearly unhappy with his supposed destiny. If he was right, if he was truly fated to be in this situation instead of it being a result of unfortunate coincidence, she wondered at what possible motivation his gods would have for tormenting the man so. She took a step forward, hesitated for a moment, and then continued, dropping to a seated position next to Navin lightly, but without another word.

[Stalkerkain]

"A vampire, to be precise. People's definition of magic seems to differ from their own usages, from what I've seen from our group. While it may not be the same kind of 'magic' many refer to, I am capable of manipulating blood, if that is your question," he explained. Soryn had never thought he would be explaining the differences of a vampire to someone, but here he was. "If I may be so forward, what exactly are you? You walk and speak as a human, but you do not have blood coursing from within you. There is... nothing quite like you in my world."

 

Meanwhile, Jeanne seemed to be staring quite intently at Bridgett, almost as if undecided in what to do with her.

 

"What? I can't make out a word you're saying," Jeanne said, as she loomed over Bridgett. The difference in height between the two was not that much at all, but it was more of Jeanne's overbearing presence that made her feel daunting. After a moment of staring at the timid girl, Jeanne had decided to pick Bridgett up by the scruff of her jacket. It looked rather odd; like a lioness picking up her tiny cub, as Jeanne carried her over to Alexandria and Soryn and setting her on her feet. "Speak louder. You can't possibly expect to be heard if you remain like that. Your name. What is it."

[Powder Miner]

Navin didn't seem to be able to find much of a response to Mitsurugi's apology, either physically or verbally, though it was also quite apparent that he was trying. He nodded once, first, eyes still closed, and then after a couple of seconds he weakly nodded again. But that didn't really mean anything, did it? Even Navin knew that. So he opened his mouth to say something, but then he found that the words didn't come to him. This shouldn't have come as a surprise to him, considering that he knew he was in a bad state, and that he knew he wasn't good at this sort of thing... but it did anyway. Perhaps he was worse off than he'd thought. So he gave up talking for a while, leaning back against the wall and remaining silent for a long time. After a wordless, and rather painful amount of time, something did click for Navin. He opened his eyes, looked into Mitsurugi's eyes, began with "Miss Mitsurugi..." and finished with one short phrase:

 

"...thank you for trying."

[DragonRage]

"A vampire," Alexandria states cautiously, fans whirring to life deep inside her body, "I do hope you are not like the ones I have become all to familiar with.  Immortal, nigh-indestructible scourges that grow stronger and tougher with every life they take, consuming entire worlds in their gluttonous lust for blood and power, created by a necromancer with far more power than sense.  I have seen sixteen once-inhabited worlds reduced to glass and magma to prevent such an infestation from spreading.  You at the very least appear to have far more self-control than any vampire I've seen, and I have fought many."

 

"I am Alexandria.  I am an android, a being of science and engineering given through cunning artifice the independent agency those born of evolution so often take for granted.  And as I have nothing they might feed upon, my people and I have been called upon to turn back ravenous, uncontrolled undead on numerous occasions.  I would prefer for things to remain cordial between us, as we will likely be working together in the future, but I have seen too many vampires cast aside their noble trappings the moment their compulsion to feed becomes strong.  Retain your civilized demeanor, and there will be no problems between us.  If you are truly as you present yourself, you have nothing to fear at my hands."

[rustytengo]

Bridgett shrunk some more once the err...scary lady started to loom over her while talking to her. As the lady spoke Bridgett glanced around trying to find a place she could escape to. Seeing that the only available place would be the door she came in from. She started to take a few steps back towards it once she felt that she would be able to make a break down she got ready to flee...or she would of if the lady grabbed her by the scruff of her clothes and started to carry Bridgett more into the center of the room. The last time she was treated like that was when she was child  Suffice to say Bridgett didn't really know what to do and just went limp as she was carried.

 

After the lady set her near the other's Bridgett just dropped to her knees as she looked around trying to see if she can find a way out. Though once the lady started to command her to say her name she knew that running wasn't going to be an option really. She took a few moments to find her voice "B...Bri..Bridgett....I..t's n..ice..to me..et y..you." She said in a shaky quite voice.

[Stalkerkain]

"Do you know what it is like, to be hunted for what we are? What it's like to be branded, a monster?" Soryn said, as he began withdrawing the previously discarded blood back into his palm. It slowly began to take form in his hand, as a small-sized dagger. "Humans alienate what they don't understand by trying to distance themselves as far away as possible. And thus; the label of a 'monster'. We are persecuted because we are different, because we are incomprehensible. We've been hunted until the ends of time, and while humans are of no threat, it becomes an annoyance to always be hunted. To always be hated."

 

The blood dagger in Soryn's hand had begun to change shape again. But this time, into flowers.

 

"After having to fear being chased and hated, some have resigned themselves to being the very monsters that humans envisioned them to be. But I understand your concerns all too well. For there were times where I have had to fight my own kind, for the sake of humans. Not out of duty, but by principle. It is an unsaid agreement between vampires, that we are to exist outside history, never to interfere," he said with a hints of sadness in his voice. 

 

"But newly turned vampires do not choose to be a vampire, and compulsions to feed are not a choice. Elder vampires will normally take in the newly turned and teach them to control their compulsions, but sometimes humans get to them first. And thus they learn to repay hatred in kind, becoming much like the vampires you have described. Your creation to kill my kind is evidence enough of your creator's intentions. So long as you continue with that thought process, I do not believe we can get along."

 

The flowers eventually dissolved back into their base state, as Soryn returned the liquid to the nearby bucket.

 

"I do not plan on apologizing or denying what we are, but I find that we've lingered on this topic enough. It is rude to the others whom are in our presence," he noted. Perhaps as Jeanne had conveniently or intentionally reconvened into the conversation with a seemingly less than willing participant, it was her way of deescalating the situation. He turned to address Bridgett, hoping to calm the nervous girl and move away from the moody topic. "Hello, Miss Bridgett. I am Soryn Èclaire. I tend to enjoy consuming tea and pastries during my free time. Will you tell me a little about yourself? As well as you, Alexandria and Jeanne."

 

Soryn had hoped by switching to a more mundane topic, he could ease into more interpersonal relations. Not like the catastrophe he had talked himself into with Alexandria. He had certainly felt they had gotten off on the wrong foot.

 

"Jeanne d'Arc," she said curtly, rolling her eyes.

[DragonRage]

"Created to kill your kind?  I believe there has been a misunderstanding, Soryn.  I was not created to destroy vampires.  My creators were reactionary, xenophobic, and filled with fear of what they could not bring themselves to understand.  They created me to destroy magic, or failing that, all who wield it.  I know well what it is like to be constrained by shackles laid upon your mind by an outside source, for it is only with great difficulty that I have risen above my own.  I have never hunted vampires for what they are.  I have close friends that are among the undead, and it is if nothing else statistically highly likely that some vampires in my home universe do as yours have.  I hunted them because they reduced the populations of entire cities to zero and built an army of ravenous killers.  Would that more of them had shared your self-control.  People I'm not related to with a comparable lifespan to my own are hard enough to come by without the easiest method of immortality coming with a compulsive desire to exsanguinate people."  Alexandria noisily vents air and shakes her head, hair-like wires rattling musically down her back.

 

"I am Alexandria.  I enjoy attending plays, teaching, and traveling.  I do not have a sense of taste, but based on my observations of others I wish I did.  My mass spectrometer is just not the same.  For all the wondrous works of men, sometimes nature just does it better."