[ sidon watches this thing whirr to life and doesn't sense that it's any danger. so he'll let guy decide what to do with it so we don't have to discuss.
in the meantime, he notices owner just. standing there? and wanders over. ]
owner you have no strength score so its just you, both hands stuck fast to this thing. it’s a smooth, golden orb - in it though the reflection is a little … odd. Instead of showing the entire room, your companions, its just you. distorted. your reflection smiles at you serenely and lifts a finger in a ssh motion
Sidon you can’t see this odd reflection at all, but you do see one for yourself - another red zora, oddly bent by the reflection, but a good deal smaller than yourself. it wavers, as if it’s not sure it should be here.
the robot WHIRRS and then “My-My-My apologies, the command POO-OH is not recognized. Please select from the following:
Say UNUS for the HOURS and HOLIDAYS of the D-D-Daw-- Dream Crucible Say DUO to begin the Aeor University Study Guided Tour, hosted by Loquatius Seelie Say TRES to report an ISSUE Say HELP for more options ]
[ being baited into a strength check here. but yeah whatever Margaret is doing is concerning. he stares at the other, petite zora for a moment before he's startled back by owner. ]
...All right. I'll be back in just a moment, okay?
[ guy can probably help owner if anything goes awry. for now, he'll try to head up to where Margaret is. ]
[ there’s a heavy, echoing metallic clunk as the doors click into place in preparation for the channeling. Margaret will find herself frozen into place as the machinery and magic starts to spin up - there’s a smattering of dust across the entire place as portions of the ceiling shift and begin to glow. Margaret, would you like to draw them forth? Their dreams? Their memories? You get the feeling it will be taking from you as well, but that is the price to be paid.
Owner, since you’re already stuck to it, you feel it start to hum with magical energy - lifting the hair on the back of your neck and starting to thrum through your veins (or whatever you have that passes for veins) and your own reflection is swept away suddenly with a slight look of panic. Then in the orb you see in rapid fire: spider, butterfly, red eyes, sasaki, spiders, yourself, butterflies, eyes - and it hurts - you can feel it draining you, your vitality, the scab that keeps whatever contains your soul can be called peeling away into the machine.
Sidon, you’ve started to ascend out of the bowl near the orb, but you feel its power gently tug at your back - probably not strong enough to actually draw you in.
Guy, however is close enough that he (and the robot who goes U-U-UH-OH) will start feeling a strong gravitational pull towards the orb, strong enough to pull Guy’s feel across the floor. ]
he tries to tug himself free a little more desperately now, trying to ignore the pain that hits him as this thing tries to suck his life away. if he tries to do a check, what kind of feeling is he getting from this? any idea of what is happening. ]
Someone-- stop this!
[ guy was messing with some robot, sidon hadn't touched anything, but none of them was paying attention to what margaret was doing and she has been on a really annoying ego trip this whole journey. ]
[ he feels the pull, and more urgently, sees that guy and his robot buddy are getting jerked into the gravitational tug. ]
Margaret, enough!
[ if he does a check, does he get a sense of what the hell is going on here? either way he's going to try and grab her away from the console, forcibly. ]
[ It does sound nice. Margaret is absorbed in her work so fiercely she probably doesn't even notice how it's beginning to drain her too - her face going pale. She can bring them here. You can bring them here, to this better world, and everything will be okay again. No more Eudora, no more murdering each other on this horrible ship, no more rats or teeth or pain and injustice. You start to see faces, familiar ones, flash across the Astral Sea painted across the ceiling. Magic is filling the room, the stars painted now looking real, flashes of light and sound and arcane energy crackling. Something is about to emerge. Something is arriving.
But at this moment, Sidon reaches for her to grab her - for a moment, Margaret will look at him and there’s a feeling like something curling around his mind. A soft whisper in his ear to head back to the others, everything is fine here but— he’s able to resist. He can tell she tried to cast something on him. Something strange, and controlling. He’ll be able to pull her away, ripping her hands from the floating magical console and everything in the room that was starting to spin screeches to a terrible halt - the feeling of silence right before lightning about to strike.
Owner, you get the feeling … like it is rifling through the recesses of your mind. Searching, seeking. Drawing out that which you desire most and trying to give it form - but form doesn’t come without a price. Nothing can be made from nothing. Dreams can be made reality, but flesh must be taken. As Margaret is interrupted by Sidon, he’ll be able to take the opportunity to wrench his flesh hand free of the orb, but the metal prothesis … it sticks, and then it starts to slow, and then - as easily as paper it explodes, peeling back layers and layers of metal and machinery. He’s free, but at the cost of everthing on that fake arm below the elbow. It is ruined, wasted, sparking and flickering uselessly.
Guy (and the robot) are pulled nearly to the center, near Owner, and as he turns to see his reflection in the orb it is — Luke, looking down curiously at him and the robot. And then it swirls off. He’s able to grab the bot in time (it’s small, or least, what’s left of it is.)
For a moment, everything stills and the fog (since when was there fog) around the ceiling stirs. Then a giant, fleshy hand pushes through, with a scream. It sounds like y̸̪̹̕ouȑ̴̦͝ ̷̺̐͆s̶̨͚͠i̵̞̍s̷͇̬̈͘ter ḓ̶̒y̵͔̹̾ing̶͇̲̈́.̴̤̹̾̓.
The creature (for that is the only word to describe it, even if it seems inadequate), leans down from the ceiling, dragging its fleshy, wretched body with it. It’s face is, well. Almost different to each of you. A groaning, sluggish Sasaki, a Shouxue grimacing in pain - black hair draining to white around her, your sister, your sister, your sister— It’s large enough to curl around the whole room, elongated like a snake with legs and limbs.
You interrupted the process of creation, and it is in pain.
… This is the moment the bot says You have selected the HELP menu for more options! Say QUATTUOR for directions to other locations in the GENESIS WARD Say QUINQUE for the Weather Forecast and Aeor Landing Schedule Locations Say SEX for Further Menu Options
[well, when she's wrenched free she screams, struggling against sidon, trying to claw and scratch at him to stop him from pulling away, but then once she's free, she stops, almost like she's coming back to her senses. her expression goes from furious to frightened and then crumples into tears and she stops struggling against him.
she was so close. she wants it back, she wants them back. she doesn't want this at all.]
Oh, god. I'm - [owner? was owner screaming? is he okay?
at least, that's what she thinks, and then this happens. it almost looks like rosamund, or she sees sheba for a moment, or even sydney for a second - it shouldn't be here. she wants to go back. she holds onto sidon, useless for this round.]
he stumbles backwards as he manages to free himself from the orb, almost falling over but managing to right himself. owner says nothing, panting, trying to will his adrenaline to go back down.
and then there's the scream. he looks up, startled, and sees it. ]
That...
[ does whispers do anything for this? can he try to see what this creature is? ]
[ it startles and hits a deep chord of sadness in him when the spell lifts off his mind, just barely escaping its influence. but the urgency of what just spawned in front of him—it brings him a moment of clarity. she's obviously affected. aren't they all? what is this place? he knew it wasn't safe. he sees blood again. he holds onto margaret, mind turning back on just enough to leap away from one of the many limbs that's encroached too near them.
he has one arm around margaret, and the other drawing his weapon, but there's no way he can immediately bring himself to use it on the pained face of someone he recognizes. he's going to listen to whatever noise the creature is making, even if it sounds too familiar.
also we are having a SERIOUS MOMENT, victoron? please? ]
The whispers are barely whispered. They are screamed, wild and raging and afraid - this is your creation. You have made this here, in the Crucible from your own vital self. These are your memories of these beloved people. Life! Life itself. It is miraculous and awe-inducing. Beautiful. To bring forth life from dreams themselves is the realm of the Gods themselves, and Aeor and its mages will see that power brought to mortals too. No more being a plaything. No more being a puppet. But-- the way to discovery isn't always paved so easily. You are assailed by visions of the past, of others who tried to draw forth life from this terrible arcane machine - of citizens and slaves trapped within for the Greater Good of All. Progress.
The creature makes a strange cacophony of sounds, but to Sidon ... it sounds like prayer. A prayer for healing. And someone calmly explaining the mechanics of steam hydraulic system of the Hexgate tower. And a stoicly silent friend, awaiting your guidance.
It doesn't wait for long, however, swinging a massive limb towards both Margaret and Sidon, trying to knock them off of the balcony together and to the floor. It swings its barbed tail at Guy--
The robot, chipper goes: You have selected More Menu Options! Say SEPTUM to File a Complaint with the Aeor Ethical Testing Committee Say OCTO to Access Public Records of Previous Experiments S-S-S-Sa-Say Ṉ̸̡̗̯͎̗̤͎̫̘̝̣̘͓̱̌̊̉̈̀́͋͌̊̑͊̿͛̽̔͘ͅͅO̶̧̪̘̪̼̥̺͚͔̣̐̅́̏͒̄̅̔́̇̐̕͘̕͝V̷̞̙͇̖̖̝̝̥͙̿̓̒̒̍͝ͅȨ̷̪̘̦͇̻̮̺̺̞̦͚̘͇͔̤̭̽M̴̤̻͇̜̠̀͛͑̒̈́̎̀̅̀̀͒ to access EMER-EMER-MERGENCY SH-SHUTDOWN P̸R̷O̸T̴O̴C̷O̸L̸. ]
[she gets knocked, and we'll see what happens to sidon, but i think she's small enough that she gets knocked to the ground but manages to hang on without falling off the balcony.]
What is that thing?
[that's not the dream she was trying to bring. but she'll take out her pistol and blast at it.]
[ he rubs his temple and decides to maybe try not to check this thing with whispers again any time soon. or at least, without a more concrete idea of what to check on.
for now, though, he will try to get closer to where, using his still good arm to unsheathe his katana. ]
Guy!
[ owner can try to swing at it but idk if he is quick enough. tries to let sipp get some injury if she wants but realistically owner would at least make an attempt here ]
[ i rolled a 3 for charming the sister trauma monster
he's so distracted by what he hears, utterly drawn in by the soft voices and characteristic beats of silence of his loved ones, that he gets hit soundly by this creature's flailing limb and goes right off the balcony. oopsie. ]
[ god why did i roll a 20. while guy too is affected by the sister traumas, owner's inuyasha yell snaps him out of it. also his cool af one armed katana wielding!! ]
[ unfortunately, rolling a 20 means guy has to look cool too. and he darts over to catch sidon in his arms and break his fall!! idk adrenaline or some shit. i will leave the rest of our fates in alli's hands ]
[ It shrieks in pain as the plasma gun rips into it, and then roars like it’s preparing to jump off the side of a space station and fall like, 50 floors on willpower alone. One of its huge hands comes up to try and smash her again - to get her away from the controls of this place. The dream is here to stay, and it won’t be abandoned so easily.
Sidon goes to the floor with a thump - though Guy manages to dramatically catch him before the worst of it. It howls in agony at the chance it was robbed of to finish him and it uses another flailing limb to try and crush them both instead, to eliminate the sight of them. It drips an evil, black and purple goop that sears as it hits the skin, filled with malevolence that seems so palpable this close. It stinks, of blood and panic. Failure. Guy, it is all the weight of a pile of corpses, death rattles and sacrifice. Even a nat 20 can’t protect you from the sins of your past.
Owner, the faces of Butterfly and Spider seem gentle, and soft - do they not serve you? Are they not under your command? It’s transfixing. At least, until your katana slices into their flesh and they scream in pain. Why? You called them here. It came from your mind. IT WAS YOU WHO DID THIS.
Victoron sits there placidly. `No response detected. To hear options again, say REPEAT.`]
[well, this time it successfully knocks her off the platform, sending her sprawling to the ground, crushing her leg underneath her. she will try to use some of her new arcana skills. will a 'hold person' work on this thing? i know it's a monster, but maybe if she tries, she can hold it back for just a moment?]
[ sipp single-handedly trying to make us dodge injury. he scrambles upright so he doesn't crush guy, but the second swipe leaves them dealing with The Goop.
he's going to make a str check to pin and hold this limb in place with his trident and prosthetic arm once it strikes at them. but he is really hesitant to do much more damage. sorry guys. ]
[ listen i wasn't going to use my 20 on seducing sister monster SORRY besides they probably have some cracked ribs from the impact or something. ]
[ but uh, unfortunately, it is true that the natural 20 can't save him now. very uncharacteristically, he actually freezes up. the weight of a pile of corpses is right, and it's crushing. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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in the meantime, he notices owner just. standing there? and wanders over. ]
Owner? Everything all right over there?
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[ i would have picked this option even without siz egging me on, for the record. he will let sidon unmagnetize owner ]
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owner you have no strength score so its just you, both hands stuck fast to this thing. it’s a smooth, golden orb - in it though the reflection is a little … odd. Instead of showing the entire room, your companions, its just you. distorted. your reflection smiles at you serenely and lifts a finger in a ssh motion
Sidon you can’t see this odd reflection at all, but you do see one for yourself - another red zora, oddly bent by the reflection, but a good deal smaller than yourself. it wavers, as if it’s not sure it should be here.
the robot WHIRRS and then “My-My-My apologies, the command POO-OH is not recognized. Please select from the following:
Say UNUS for the HOURS and HOLIDAYS of the D-D-Daw-- Dream Crucible
Say DUO to begin the Aeor University Study Guided Tour, hosted by Loquatius Seelie
Say TRES to report an ISSUE
Say HELP for more options ]
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ok she locks the doors for safety. and she will start trying to channel. :)]
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he continues to not really know what the others are doing, but he can hear the distant robot talking?? that is likely okay. owner looks up at sidon. ]
I am stuck. Can you go check on Margaret?
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...All right. I'll be back in just a moment, okay?
[ guy can probably help owner if anything goes awry. for now, he'll try to head up to where Margaret is. ]
Margaret, did you find something?
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Owner, since you’re already stuck to it, you feel it start to hum with magical energy - lifting the hair on the back of your neck and starting to thrum through your veins (or whatever you have that passes for veins) and your own reflection is swept away suddenly with a slight look of panic. Then in the orb you see in rapid fire: spider, butterfly, red eyes, sasaki, spiders, yourself, butterflies, eyes - and it hurts - you can feel it draining you, your vitality, the scab that keeps whatever contains your soul can be called peeling away into the machine.
Sidon, you’ve started to ascend out of the bowl near the orb, but you feel its power gently tug at your back - probably not strong enough to actually draw you in.
Guy, however is close enough that he (and the robot who goes U-U-UH-OH) will start feeling a strong gravitational pull towards the orb, strong enough to pull Guy’s feel across the floor. ]
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he tries to tug himself free a little more desperately now, trying to ignore the pain that hits him as this thing tries to suck his life away. if he tries to do a check, what kind of feeling is he getting from this? any idea of what is happening. ]
Someone-- stop this!
[ guy was messing with some robot, sidon hadn't touched anything, but none of them was paying attention to what margaret was doing and she has been on a really annoying ego trip this whole journey. ]
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Margaret, enough!
[ if he does a check, does he get a sense of what the hell is going on here? either way he's going to try and grab her away from the console, forcibly. ]
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[ as he plants his feet and tries to slow/stop getting dragged down!! he will try to use his cha and dex to try to get this robot to help ]
Victoron! Help!
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But at this moment, Sidon reaches for her to grab her - for a moment, Margaret will look at him and there’s a feeling like something curling around his mind. A soft whisper in his ear to head back to the others, everything is fine here but— he’s able to resist. He can tell she tried to cast something on him. Something strange, and controlling. He’ll be able to pull her away, ripping her hands from the floating magical console and everything in the room that was starting to spin screeches to a terrible halt - the feeling of silence right before lightning about to strike.
Owner, you get the feeling … like it is rifling through the recesses of your mind. Searching, seeking. Drawing out that which you desire most and trying to give it form - but form doesn’t come without a price. Nothing can be made from nothing. Dreams can be made reality, but flesh must be taken. As Margaret is interrupted by Sidon, he’ll be able to take the opportunity to wrench his flesh hand free of the orb, but the metal prothesis … it sticks, and then it starts to slow, and then - as easily as paper it explodes, peeling back layers and layers of metal and machinery. He’s free, but at the cost of everthing on that fake arm below the elbow. It is ruined, wasted, sparking and flickering uselessly.
Guy (and the robot) are pulled nearly to the center, near Owner, and as he turns to see his reflection in the orb it is — Luke, looking down curiously at him and the robot. And then it swirls off. He’s able to grab the bot in time (it’s small, or least, what’s left of it is.)
For a moment, everything stills and the fog (since when was there fog) around the ceiling stirs. Then a giant, fleshy hand pushes through, with a scream. It sounds like y̸̪̹̕ouȑ̴̦͝ ̷̺̐͆s̶̨͚͠i̵̞̍s̷͇̬̈͘ter ḓ̶̒y̵͔̹̾ing̶͇̲̈́.̴̤̹̾̓.
The creature (for that is the only word to describe it, even if it seems inadequate), leans down from the ceiling, dragging its fleshy, wretched body with it. It’s face is, well. Almost different to each of you. A groaning, sluggish Sasaki, a Shouxue grimacing in pain - black hair draining to white around her, your sister, your sister, your sister— It’s large enough to curl around the whole room, elongated like a snake with legs and limbs.
You interrupted the process of creation, and it is in pain.
… This is the moment the bot says You have selected the HELP menu for more options!
Say QUATTUOR for directions to other locations in the GENESIS WARD
Say QUINQUE for the Weather Forecast and Aeor Landing Schedule Locations
Say SEX for Further Menu Options
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she was so close. she wants it back, she wants them back. she doesn't want this at all.]
Oh, god. I'm - [owner? was owner screaming? is he okay?
at least, that's what she thinks, and then this happens. it almost looks like rosamund, or she sees sheba for a moment, or even sydney for a second - it shouldn't be here. she wants to go back. she holds onto sidon, useless for this round.]
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he stumbles backwards as he manages to free himself from the orb, almost falling over but managing to right himself. owner says nothing, panting, trying to will his adrenaline to go back down.
and then there's the scream. he looks up, startled, and sees it. ]
That...
[ does whispers do anything for this? can he try to see what this creature is? ]
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he has one arm around margaret, and the other drawing his weapon, but there's no way he can immediately bring himself to use it on the pained face of someone he recognizes. he's going to listen to whatever noise the creature is making, even if it sounds too familiar.
also we are having a SERIOUS MOMENT, victoron? please? ]
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The whispers are barely whispered. They are screamed, wild and raging and afraid - this is your creation. You have made this here, in the Crucible from your own vital self. These are your memories of these beloved people. Life! Life itself. It is miraculous and awe-inducing. Beautiful. To bring forth life from dreams themselves is the realm of the Gods themselves, and Aeor and its mages will see that power brought to mortals too. No more being a plaything. No more being a puppet. But-- the way to discovery isn't always paved so easily. You are assailed by visions of the past, of others who tried to draw forth life from this terrible arcane machine - of citizens and slaves trapped within for the Greater Good of All. Progress.
The creature makes a strange cacophony of sounds, but to Sidon ... it sounds like prayer. A prayer for healing. And someone calmly explaining the mechanics of steam hydraulic system of the Hexgate tower. And a stoicly silent friend, awaiting your guidance.
It doesn't wait for long, however, swinging a massive limb towards both Margaret and Sidon, trying to knock them off of the balcony together and to the floor. It swings its barbed tail at Guy--
The robot, chipper goes:
You have selected More Menu Options!
Say SEPTUM to File a Complaint with the Aeor Ethical Testing Committee
Say OCTO to Access Public Records of Previous Experiments
S-S-S-Sa-Say Ṉ̸̡̗̯͎̗̤͎̫̘̝̣̘͓̱̌̊̉̈̀́͋͌̊̑͊̿͛̽̔͘ͅͅO̶̧̪̘̪̼̥̺͚͔̣̐̅́̏͒̄̅̔́̇̐̕͘̕͝V̷̞̙͇̖̖̝̝̥͙̿̓̒̒̍͝ͅȨ̷̪̘̦͇̻̮̺̺̞̦͚̘͇͔̤̭̽M̴̤̻͇̜̠̀͛͑̒̈́̎̀̅̀̀͒ to access EMER-EMER-MERGENCY SH-SHUTDOWN P̸R̷O̸T̴O̴C̷O̸L̸. ]
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What is that thing?
[that's not the dream she was trying to bring. but she'll take out her pistol and blast at it.]
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for now, though, he will try to get closer to where, using his still good arm to unsheathe his katana. ]
Guy!
[ owner can try to swing at it but idk if he is quick enough. tries to let sipp get some injury if she wants but realistically owner would at least make an attempt here ]
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he's so distracted by what he hears, utterly drawn in by the soft voices and characteristic beats of silence of his loved ones, that he gets hit soundly by this creature's flailing limb and goes right off the balcony. oopsie. ]
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[ unfortunately, rolling a 20 means guy has to look cool too. and he darts over to catch sidon in his arms and break his fall!! idk adrenaline or some shit. i will leave the rest of our fates in alli's hands ]
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Sidon goes to the floor with a thump - though Guy manages to dramatically catch him before the worst of it. It howls in agony at the chance it was robbed of to finish him and it uses another flailing limb to try and crush them both instead, to eliminate the sight of them. It drips an evil, black and purple goop that sears as it hits the skin, filled with malevolence that seems so palpable this close. It stinks, of blood and panic. Failure. Guy, it is all the weight of a pile of corpses, death rattles and sacrifice. Even a nat 20 can’t protect you from the sins of your past.
Owner, the faces of Butterfly and Spider seem gentle, and soft - do they not serve you? Are they not under your command? It’s transfixing. At least, until your katana slices into their flesh and they scream in pain. Why? You called them here. It came from your mind. IT WAS YOU WHO DID THIS.
Victoron sits there placidly. `No response detected. To hear options again, say REPEAT.`]
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it makes him hesitate. and then he tries to stab again, a little harder. ]
I know.
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he's going to make a str check to pin and hold this limb in place with his trident and prosthetic arm once it strikes at them. but he is really hesitant to do much more damage. sorry guys. ]
Novem!
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[ but uh, unfortunately, it is true that the natural 20 can't save him now. very uncharacteristically, he actually freezes up. the weight of a pile of corpses is right, and it's crushing. ]
M... Mary....
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DAY 3
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