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Post by Tiger on Jul 26, 2018 14:39:37 GMT -5
“I feel like there’s something we’re missing- some clue or something. Something the corruption does besides make one animal kill one other animal.”Taakeyrr clicked. “That’s a worrying thought...The only other thing it did that I noticed was breaking the Eye - but I think that was more of a coincidence than anything else.” “I think Beech has a point about their god’s plans having to do with this island being for extinct animals,” Soaitsae said. “I remember that part of the dream, and that voice said it was ‘our true nature’ - to be buried.” His tail thumped once, heavily, against the hard-packed dirt floor. Taakeyrr growled, low and frustrated. “I don’t get how it found animals to serve it, if it wants us all dead.” “Could be it’s lying,” Xsabaskis said. “We don’t know if any of them had the buried-alive part of the dream, right? And the scimon’s motivation - she hates predators not going extinct, but if the predators all died, the prey would eat everything on the island and starve - could be someone lied to her about how that would go.” “Unless their god could make that work, somehow,” Taakeyrr pointed out. Xsabaskis grunted in agreement. “Well,l don’t forget - the sowers had at least one cat,” Soaitsae warned. “And there are two more sowers whose species we have no idea about.” Xsabaskis snorted. “True. But if that cat-ghost shows up again - we should have Beech pin it and see if we can get some answers out of it.” Talkin’ bout possible sower-god motivations \ o / ( Shinko)
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Post by Celestial on Jul 26, 2018 15:24:56 GMT -5
Svar shifted on his feet, uncomfortable. "I'm not a very good storyteller. Nor did my creator seek to imbue me with a beautiful voice," he bowed his head. "There are some stories I know that were told to me over the years but I'm not sure how interesting they are." The firebird turned his silvery eyes out towards the entrance. For a moment, silence reined as Svar buried himself deep in thoughts. "Kohimu?" he suddenly asked. "I know these last few days have been full of death, to say the least. And some of those dead have come back in the form of ghosts. They walk among us, talk like us, exist just like that...I'm starting to think that the people who I lived among were wrong: ghosts aren't too bad." He shook his head. "I'm going off on a tangent. What I meant to say is...do you think that those who are dead and don't become ghosts can somehow live on? Murirangi and Ngake might be long-dead but their stories live on. So what I mean to ask is..?" The firebird dipped his head into his chest. His voice barely rose above a whisper. "By telling stories, are we giving the dead some kind of life, if only for a brief moment, in our memories, our minds and our voices? And in those of others?" Svar asks Kohimu( Thorn) questions about the dead and their memories.
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Post by Shinko on Jul 26, 2018 15:50:33 GMT -5
Mochi didn’t use their hammer to cling to Renpi, but did end up digging a bit with their claws during some of the stronger gusts, even if they didn’t want to. They were profusely glad when the sha finally arrived at the appointed hiding place and they were able to escape from the screaming wind. “I’m not hurt,” Mochi confirmed, closing their eyes against the water the sha shook off briefly. “Bruised a bit maybe but not hurt. And yes- I’m Mochi. Th-thank you for helping me. I’ve never seen weather this bad.” The rabbit shuddered. “I haven’t heard anything no- but the gods are getting more and more overt about their battle, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what this is. I wonder if something did happen. If it did, we’re bound to get word sooner or later… or when the storm eases and we can travel again.” The rabbit glanced back up at the sha, flicking an ear. “Forgive me; you know my name, but I don’t think I know yours. You’re of the desert, right?” * * * Beech growled softly. “Getting answers from the sower-cat is probably a good idea. I don’t blame the animals who killed the sowers for doing it- their powers make them dangerous to keep alive. All they have to do is touch someone to corrupt them. But it’d be nice if we could at least question them beforehand.” The thylacine pawed the ground. “She did tell us something though- their god gets power from death. Power; why does the god want more power? If she was strong enough to get through the mist that protects the island…” ( Liou) Mochi is grateful for the rescue, but doesn’t have any more clue about what’s going on than Renpi- only that yes, it’s likely the doing of the sowers or their god. They ask for Renpi’s name since Renpi knows theirs, and indicates they at least recognize Renpi as something out of Egyptian mythology. ( Tiger) More Beech theorizing!
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Post by Thorn on Jul 26, 2018 16:37:19 GMT -5
Kohimu followed his gaze, but nothing was there. No corrupted guardian, no spirits, no sowers...what was Svar looking at? When the firebird finally spoke, Kohimu listened patiently, markings glowing only very slightly. Whatever thoughts his words inspired had clearly affected Svar. Was he thinking about the firebirds? Kohimu could understand, if that was the case. Even now, he occasionally found himself thinking about other taniwha, wishing they could talk once more. Naelus was a blessing, but it could feel very lonely at times. "That's a lovely way to look at it," Kohimu said, when Svar seemed to have finished speaking. "I think you're right. No matter what else happens, if you keep telling stories about those you love, then other people will keep spreading those stories, and they'll always be remembered. They'll keep on living in our minds- we'll be able to picture them, hear their voices, and- well, all that. That's how I can stand here today and tell you about Ngake, a taniwha from many hundreds of years ago, who I never personally met." He leaned slightly into Svar, hoping his presence would offer comfort. There's no reason Kohimu would have ever heard the 'you're not truly dead while someone remembers you!' cliche, so he acts like it's brand new. =P Kohimu responds to Celestial's comments about helping the dead live through story. He thinks it's a beautiful thought, and that stories are the best way to help the world remember those you love!
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Post by Rabbit ♠ on Jul 26, 2018 19:53:02 GMT -5
((Collab with Reiqua )) Yira set off walking in the direction Kopi had indicated and thought about Tash’s question. How would he describe his mother...? “Well she’s big,” he offered helpfully, “bigger than me.” Kopi nodded. It was safe to assume Yira’s mother was bigger than him. “That’s good to know,” he said politely. Yira racked his brains for what else he could say. “She’s… like a brown-y sorta colour?” he added. Big and brown. That was something. He glanced at Tash and then did a double take. Did she have six legs? “And she’s only got four legs,” he added as a bit of an afterthought. “I’d imagine she has four legs,” Tash replied with a little laugh. “Does she have any markings?” “Ahh… yeah… some bits dark and some bits lighter… on her back… it looks kinda… splotchy?” He was really not doing a good job of describing his mum. Lots of things had four legs and were brown and splotchy. He could just as easily have been describing an entelodont at this point. He racked his brains for something distinctive about his mum. “She’s got a long tail?” he suggested, “and a big tooth?” Kopi thought about what Yira had said, trying to put a mental image together. All of this sounded familiar. Big, brown, dark and light parts, long tail, big teeth… Now that Kopi was paying more attention to Yira, he started to look familiar as well… The more Kopi heard, the more he hoped his mother wasn’t who he thought she was. “By chance, is your mother’s name Muuri?” Kopi asked. “Yeah that’s her!” said Yira brightly, “do you know her?” If Kopi had any blood running through him, it would have surely drained from his face. Oh no. No no no no no. Yira was Muuri’s cub. Yira was the Lionheart’s cub. The corrupted and likely very, very angry Lionheart. Kopi was hoping it wasn’t her. If he was alive, he could have easily healed her, but now nobody could. He certainly didn’t want Yira around her while she was corrupted. Who knew what she could do to him? “You could say that,” Kopi said, hoping he didn’t sound nervous. “How do you know her?” Tash asked. Kopi leaned into Tash and whispered into her ear, “Muuri is the corrupted Lionheart. She’s the one who killed me.” Tash’s smile dropped. That wasn’t good. “Should we tell him?” she whispered. Kopi quickly shook his head. He turned back to Yira. “Muuri and I had talked before.” He had no idea how he was going to tell him that Muuri was corrupted and hostile. “She was awfully busy when I last saw her and it’s likely she still is.” Yira watched the exchange between Kopi and Tash warily. Something was off here… But then concern for his mother kicked in. What he had said to Waabi was quite true, his mother often did leave during the night, or even at random times of the day when she thought he was having an afternoon sleep. But she was never away for this long and he was starting to really worry about her. “You saw her?” he asked Kopi, “When? Where? Was she okay?” “I don’t know, she just never told me. She’s okay, though,” Kopi said, hoping Yira couldn’t tell he was lying. “I do know, though, that she wants you to be safe in the storm.” Yira’s face grew serious as he contemplated what Kopi was saying. Naturally Yira was very trusting and he wouldn’t normally question what anyone told him. But right now he was a really worried about his mother and he just got the sense that something was off. If Kopi had seen her then why wouldn’t he give the details of it? Was he hiding something? Young as he was, Yira could tell that he wasn’t going to achieve anything by keeping on asking questions of Kopi. Instead he meekly led the way into the hollow tree Tash had found and lay down to try and sleep. Sleep would not come easily what with his concerns for his mother though Yira ( Reiqua) describes his mother to Kopi and Tash. The more he describes, the more Kopi puts together a mental image. Turns out Yira's mother is Muuri. Kopi and Tash decide not to tell Yira that Muuri is corrupted, but Yira's still worried.
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Post by Tiger on Jul 26, 2018 20:30:33 GMT -5
“She did tell us something though- their god gets power from death. Power; why does the god want more power? If she was strong enough to get through the mist that protects the island…”Soaitsae rumbled thoughtfully. “True...but only with a dream. A vivid, shared, one...and one that hid us from the Spirit…” He gave a few clicks of dissatisfaction. “Well. Maybe that alone qualifies as a great deal of power.” “This storm’s her doing, too, if the cat was telling the truth,” Xsabaskis said. “But it seems like she can’t touch us directly.. And powers the Spirit gave were enough to get through.” “Maybe it’s about the Spirit, not us?” Taakeyrr ventured. “The sower-god is someone she’s enemies with?” “We could guess in circles all night long,” Xsabaskis said with a sigh heavy enough to nudge Beech a little. “We’ve got no way of telling if any of it’s true. Could be over our heads, anyway, I barely understand this stuff with gods and...what’d the rabbit you overheard call them?” she asked Soaitsae. “...Primals? Primordials? Something like that.” “Yeah, those. I’ve never had to figure the things they’re doing before; I wonder if it makes you think different, if you have all that kinda of power and have lived however long they have. If some of the immortal animals who haven’t been here even as long as the dinosaurs think different…” ...Uh, the dinosaurs take the conversation in a direction Tiger didn’t initially intend and talk a bit what the god maybe wants if not power, and Xsabaskis muses that it might be something they don’t understand since, y’know, gods and stuff. ( Shinko)
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Post by Birdy on Jul 26, 2018 22:50:44 GMT -5
The rain continued to pour and the wind howled around the fleeing skvaders and jackalopes. The youngest and weakest of them were in the middle, as the rest of them helped guide them along though the storm. Some scouted ahead, trying to find shelter, while others tried to keep a lookout in the blinding rain for any dangers - whether from the storm or otherwise (though who would be crazy enough to be out hunting at a time like this they didn’t know). They eventually managed to find a cluster of small caves on higher ground big enough to hold them all (though for some of them, the size would require some huddling near the back), and the adults set out to soothe the frightened little ones (and tell them that no, you may not go out and play in the rain and wind, I don’t care if you want to spread your wings and sail like the albatross, the answer is NO!). Finally, after they managed to get everyone settled, they hunkered down to wait out the storm. In one cave, some of the adults huddled near the entrance to discuss things without being overheard by young, impressionable ears. “This is the worst storm I’ve ever seen,” remarked one, casting a wary eye out to the pouring rain and whipping wind. “What do you suppose caused it? The weather seemed fine earlier… no signs of a storm that I could tell, or at least not one of this degree....” “I know,” agreed another. “A mist like the one this morning isn’t unusual, but for it to turn so bad so quickly… it’s just not natural.” They lapsed into silence for a while, until another joined the group - a skvader, quickly hopping into the cave from the outside. “Have either of you seen Jack?” he asked, shaking the water from his coat and wings. “I’ve just checked the other caves, and they haven’t seen him either.” “...No, we haven’t,” the first said, exchanging an uneasy look with their companion. “I just assumed he was in another cave.” “So did I,” agreed the second. “You mean to say he isn’t? That he’s out there somewhere in this storm?” “It appears so,” the newcomer said grimly. “He’s been acting strange lately,” one remarked. “Not really like himself - he’s more avoidant than usual, spending more and more time by himself… I wonder what could be wrong?” “I’ll tell you what’s wrong,” growled a new voice. “He’s a Sower.” The others jumped, heads turning to the shadows behind a stalagmite. They could just make out the form - it looked like a large hare, but had branching antlers growing from its head, and a pair of wings growing from it’s back, folded against its body. The figure was as black as coal. A Wolpertinger. “...Anton,” one of the skvaders said nervously, “We… we didn’t see you there.” “That was the point,” he replied, moving closer, causing the others to quickly scramble backwards, as if to give him more room. “What…” one finally started, after a prolonged silence. “What makes you think that? That… that he's a Sower, I mean.” “Think about it,” Anton snapped. “How has he been acting? Who has he been seen with lately?” The others exchanged uneasy glances, trying to see what Anton was getting at. Anton gave a frustrated sigh. “You really don’t see it, do you? Idioten,” he hissed. “ Think about it. He was seen with the lion, yes? The golden one, that fancies himself a king. The day they called the meeting, he was seen cavorting with him. And what happens later? The lion is corrupted. And the day the wolves struck - it was said he outwitted one of them with the help of a two-headed dragon, and that same dragon also was to later fall to the same corruption! What, then, are the chances that two of those who fell victim to the madness spreading also just happened to have encountered him? I tell you, he’s one of them!” A flash of lightning and loud boom of thunder followed his words, and a tense, uneasy silence fell over them. “That…” the skvader finally dared to speak,” That evidence seems… circumstantial at best; Jack… he may have a mischievous streak to him, but he’s not evil--” “You believe what you want to,” Anton cut him off. “As for me, I can see the truth - your Jack is nothing more than a murdering, scheming liar, bent on the destruction of us all, and if you think otherwise then you can all say Auf Wiedersehen to deine Häschen.” There was a moment of silence as Anton’s words were considered. “He… can take things a bit too far sometimes,” one admitted. “Not to mention he really hasn’t been around since all this started...” said another. A discussion broke out amongst them, each naming more and more things that seemed to point towards the truth in Anton’s words. The skvader looked at them in shock. “You… you can’t be serious,” he choked. “Do you even realize what you’re saying? What you’re accusing him of? While it’s true he can be a bit... overly-enthusiastic at times, if he does carry it too far he always apologizes and does what he can to make it right! You’re acting like he goes around causing mayhem every single day, single-pawedly spreading discord across the entire island, laughing in the wake of it! Jack is not a Sower! You’re going of take the word of… of one wolpertinger over years of knowing someone?” “...Maybe we don’t know him as well as we thought we did,” one said softly. “Sometimes… sometimes those we think we know… change.” “...I can’t believe you,” the skvader said, shaking his head and backing away, towards the mouth of the cave. “Where are you going?” a startled jackalope asked. “It’s terrible out there!” “And it’s worse in here! I can’t believe you - any of you! Jack’s our friend, and if he hasn’t been around then there’s probably a good reason for it, one that doesn’t involve him being a Sower! And I’m going to find out what it is - with or without you!” And with that, the skvader turned and sprinted out of the cave, ignoring the calls behind him to come back, to at least wait until the storm was over. You’re not a Sower, Jack, the skvader thought, sprinting through the storm. You can’t be. I know it. I’ll find you, and when I do, you’ll explain everything; I know it.Mood Music!: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F7VASL6lPEThe rain, rain, rain Came down, down, down In rushing, rising riv'lets; 'Til the river crept out of its bed, And threatened all the lev'rets. The lev'rets, they were frightened - With quite a rightful fright! And so in desperation, they fled to ground with height... The adults soothed their worries and they knew they'd be alright. And the rain, rain, rain Came down, down, down As wind continued wailing. Some of the hares discussed affairs, Detailing all the failings. And the rain, rain, rain Came down, down, down Until spoke up an avower: Jack's absence brought A troub'ling thought: "Perhaps he is a Sower." The others tried to counter - This just could not be true! But as the details came out Their unease grew and grew... Jack sure had been acting strangely, Could he be one of Her crew? The rain, rain, rain Came down, down, down When the rain, rain, rain Came down, down, down The rain, rain, rain Came down, down, down When the rain, rain, rain Came down, down, downThe rain, rain, rain Came down, down, down When the rain, rain, rain Came down, down, downThe rain, rain, rain Came down, down, down When the rain, rain, rain Came down, down, downNotes: Anton has a German accent. Translations of words/phrases he used (according to google translate that is): Idioten = idiots Auf Wiedersehen = goodbye deine Häschen = your leverets/bunnies He’s also melanistic, as hinted at by the mention of being “as black as coal”. (Also here's an instrumental version of the song the summary is a parody of \ o / www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwEzmDoK_nA )
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Post by Celestial on Jul 27, 2018 5:54:25 GMT -5
The firebird flinched slightly as Kohimu leaned into him but nevertheless, he did not move away. He gazed down at his feet, his crest drooping as he thought about what the taniwha said. Those who are dead can live on if we tell stories about them and let other people know about their memories. But he had never spoken about Elena. Even after all the kindness and comfort she had provided for them, after all the sympathy she had for him as a fellow prisoner, he never said a word. Her children remembered her, followed by her grandchildren, but human minds were so fickle. There was probably nobody who remembered her anymore. Except him. And with all that was going on, who knew how long that would last? "Kohimu..." Svar quietly spoke. "If that's the case then maybe I should at least tell you. I don't like talking about it but you are my friend, and if it means that she can be remembered by somebody." He sighed. "When I was captured, alongside me there was a woman. A human woman. We were very much alike: she was very beautiful, even for a human, and like me, that beauty is what lead her to be caught. When the princeling, with the help of the wolf, came to the end of his quest, he put me in a cage to display and married her. At first I thought that she had a far better deal, but I soon realised I never saw her leave the palace. She was like me: a prisoner." Svar scraped the ground with his talons. "She would often come sit by my cage to sew and stay long into the night: my light helped her see her work. As she did, she spoke to me. I could not talk back- humans did not understand me- but I listened. She told me so many things: stories, tales from her life, songs..." he sighed. "She was an amazing singer. I don't exaggerate when I say that while she was there, she was the only thing that made my imprisonment bearable. But then..." His crest fell. Several tears rolled down his face and tinkled onto the ground as perfect, white pearls. "Elena had several children with the princeling. Three of them. But when she had the third...something happened. Something terrible. She died. The princeling was distraught," Svar's tone suddenly gained an poisonous edge. "He kept her prisoner in the palace, barely cared for her, only valued her for her beauty and he had the nerve to act distraught!" the firebird hissed before all the fight went out of him. He sank down onto the ground, drawing his head into his chest. "Elena was buried in the earth. I didn't see: nobody thought the bird in the cage would ever want to get one last look at her. They never thought I was anything beyond a pretty thing. Pretty things don't have friends. So I kept living while she was dead. I watched her children grow, but none of them were as kind towards me as she was. None of them were trapped like we were. They eventually had their own children, and those had their own children while their ancestors died...after a while, nobody could even remember where I had come from. I had always been there, except when I was taken out to be showed off. That's how I escaped: because they were careless. But I am not going to forget. I can never forget." The firebird tucked his head under his wing. "That wasn't a happy story. I'm sorry. But I wanted her to not be forgotten. She was the only human who was even remotely kind to me." Svar opens up about Elena to Kohimu ( Thorn). She was the only human who was ever nice to him. Shame she died.
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Post by Reiqua on Jul 27, 2018 6:39:54 GMT -5
Muuri contemplated the small kappa standing in front of her. His eyes were closed and his heavy, even breathing hinted that he might have fallen asleep standing right there. Either way he certainly wasn't posing a significant threat at the moment. Something was pounding in her head. She had to keep moving. The quokka was safe for now at least, even if he was still screaming. "I suggest you get away from here," Muuri told him. And without waiting for an answer she turned and leapt away from the scene, anxious to be on the move again. She had work to do. Quick response to round things off with Muuri and Kuzen ( Draco). Muuri is satisfied that nothing untoward is happening and her restlessness moves her along elsewhere.
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Post by Liou on Jul 27, 2018 9:06:46 GMT -5
Introducing herself was not something that Renpi got to do very often these days. She ususally assumed that her appearance spoke for itself, and that anyone whose path crossed hers identified her as "that reddish thing with the drooping snout and oh Spirit the teeth". "I am of the desert," she said after some hesitation, "now of the sandiest corner of the island. I am called Renpi. I am a Sha, a living image of the Lord of the Red Land, he before whom the sky trembles, he with the powerful stride, great of strength, Set." She pronounced the name so carefully that an invisible cartouche seemed wrapped around her voice. She gave Mochi a smile - with her eyes rather than her mouth. "Contemporary with the true witness, he of great magic, he who returned the lunar eye, Djehuti. I don't presume you are old enough to remember the lunar realm yourself, but your ancestors have doubtless preserved your stories." Renpi hesitated to add more of the tales she knew. How would that even go? "My maker is said to have swallowed your ancestors' home from time to time and then spat it back out, just for sport?" Instead, the Sha settled on the ground near the cave's entrance, one ear facing outwards to listen for any rockslides. Her body was shivering. "I remember hearing your name at a gathering, where the food you offered was praised by many. Between the thorns and the floods, all the sorcery plaguing this island can't have been easy on you who dwell in burrows," she mused, glancing at the pale crescent on Mochi's forehead. "If the enemy also disfigured you and your kind during that reeking nightmare, that means they had no fear of desecrating the lunar court, either. When the gods acted so recklessly, it meant that they had either many allies ready to back them, a moment of tremendous foolishness, or nothing at all to lose." Renpi introduces herself properly to Mochi, mentions a lunar god they might know, is concerned by the effect that all the scenarios might have had on burrowing animals. She joins the speculating-about-gods party, and rambles because she's old, Shinko.
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Post by Coaster on Jul 27, 2018 11:23:56 GMT -5
"My goodness, what can you say about this weather? Terrible, isn't it? It's flooded my shelter!"Pointlessness of talking about the weather aside, Genevieve heard the chatter from a few paces before her as she landed; she scrutinized the surprisingly tasty-looking but perhaps rather chewy lump (alas, when she could no longer do anything about it) as it waddled near, and Genevieve concluded the old lady haggis was harmless and possibly clueless as well, a sentiment reaffirmed by the latter's next words. "Are you alright, dearie? You look rather lost. Come on, we'll find somewhere nice and cosy for us to huddle in. Although your fur looks rather odd if I do say so myself," she narrowed her eyes further to see better. "Oh, could you also be a ghost? They seem to be popping up all over the place these days. It must be a trend with all these sowers about killing all these poor beasties."Genevieve mustered the self-control to avoid rolling her eyes in front of the beastie, recalling that this was the haggis who had briefly tried to calm her nerves after the first corruption, perhaps helping to displace the suspicion the other animals had levied toward her at that juncture. And, of course, with such an "oh-dearie-me" demeanor in the midst of such disastrous weather, it seemed unlikely to be very cathartic if Genevieve were to continue her gleeful parade here. Instead, she settled for bringing her face right up to the haggis' snuffling snout as she responded. "I am indeed a ghost, and 'coziness' is no longer something with which I must concern myself. Death has relieved me of all the sensations I wished to be rid of..." She paused as she considered the persistent itch of the Spirit-cursed onesie her spectral form still wore, and the gaudy trail of colour that radiated behind her, but bared her fangs millimetres from the haggis' squinting eyes as she resumed. "Death has relieved me of most sensations I wished to be rid of. But it has been too kind to the others who have been given their own such half-existence in the wake of corruption." She continued despite a rift beginning to peel open along her back, recalling the memory of the sha's teeth and claws as they probed inside her for evidence of shadow, and dyeing portions of her garment in deep crimson. "Need I remind you, these sowers you speak of have killed no one. We have merely unchained the true nature of this island's beasts. Every murder your ilk have had to suffer, the torment the survivors must face in remission--rather, their relapse into sentiment after they tear open their prey despite its cries of pain, whether inspired by their forceful return to the natural order or merely an act of vengeance, has been at their own fangs." Genevieve responds to Morag ( Celestial), confirming directly that she is a ghost and indirectly that she is a sower. Given the whole ghost-wounds-opening that seems to be going on, she seems pretty passionate about the hypocrisy of the residents for murdering in their own right.
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Post by Shinko on Jul 27, 2018 13:06:06 GMT -5
Mochi brightened. “Right, the one with the head of an ibis! Mum told me our kind didn’t see much of Djehuti, since he was busy a lot arbiting the conflict between order and chaos. But the stories say he was very learned and intellectual. It’s nice to meet you, Renpi.” At Renpi’s remarks about the bone nightmare, Mochi winced, looking more subdued. “Well, nobody has much to fear from the court of the moon anymore. It’s gone. Lost when mankind rose to such power that they flew to the moon to disprove the existence of the gods.” The little rabbit hopped forward to sit at Renpi’s shoulder. “My kind aren’t like yours or Svar’s, shaped by the very hand of our gods. Our first ancestor, Yùtù, the Jade Rabbit, was an ordinary field rabbit before the god Śakra transformed him for his virtue. Because of that, without our gods we were already starting to lose our forms when we lost the moon. Many of us became mortal rabbits, without our knowledge or long memory, before the Spirit took us in.” The little leporid laid their head down, ears pressed flat. “If the Spirit loses this war of the gods, probably that will start to happen again.” * * * Beech tilted her head. “Yeah, you probably have a point. I guess it’s probably likely that something that old and powerful wouldn’t think the same way we do. It’d be easy to look at something like us the way we look at… ants.” She scuffed a paw. “I think the Spirit still wants to help us- she seemed to care when she rescued us from the bone-nightmare. But I guess it would be hard to try to understand what the sower-god wants or is thinking. At least without a lot more information.” ( Liou) Beech talks about gods and the relationship their kind has to gods. ( Tiger) Beech agrees that Xsabaskis has a point, but remains hopeful that the Spirit, even if her exact thoughts and motivations are alien, is probably on their side.
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Post by Celestial on Jul 27, 2018 14:05:41 GMT -5
Oh dear. Just her luck the ghost was a sower. Morag drew back a little as the ghost flashed its fangs as her, though she could not help but notice that the teeth were not in the greatest condition. If the cat was not a ghost, she would have recommended she chew on some lime tree sticks, or something similar, but oh well, too late now. What was worse, some dreadful wounds were opening up along the cat's back. That could not be good. "Uh, dearie, you seem to be in a bit of trouble here. Those wounds look rather nasty. I don't know if this is normal for your ghostly kin- Beech certainly had some nasty-looking wounds at one point- but if it isn't, perhaps you should get that looked at? There's some lovely mosses that can staunch...would they work for ghostly blood?" The cat, however, ignored her and continued to talk. "Need I remind you, these sowers you speak of have killed no one. We have merely unchained the true nature of this island's beasts. Every murder your ilk have had to suffer, the torment the survivors must face in remission--rather, their relapse into sentiment after they tear open their prey despite its cries of pain, whether inspired by their forceful return to the natural order or merely an act of vengeance, has been at their own fangs."Morag blinked. "Oh. Well...that's lovely," she was not sure what else she could reply to such a statement. Her eyes flicked back. "But you know, the true nature of beasts isn't always a good thing, dearie. You said so yourself: they tear open their prey. That cannot be nice for the prey. And revenge is always just so awful, it's better to just avoid it. Nothing good ever comes from it. It's best to just let go," she shook her head. "You're a ghost so it's a little too late to tell you to abandon this silly thing. I'm sure you were a lovely cat before this terrible influence of the corruption got to you. Just such a shame what young creatures these days get up to. If you were still alive, I would have told you to stop this silly thing at once." A sudden gust of wind almost lifted her off her feet. Morag had to dig her tiny claws into the mud to not be swept away. She ducked down, not eager to expose her underbelly for the wind to pick her up again. "Even if you are dead, perhaps you ought to rethink your involvement with this terrible cause of yours. It's clearly not brought you anyplace good, dearie," the haggis tried to reach out to pat the cat with her claws but it just went through her. "I'd love to talk further but I should find shelter from this awful storm. I don't suppose ghosts need shelter, do they? Or if you've seen a nice place for a creature of my size to hide? One that won't flood or collapse on me?" Morag reacts to Genevieve( Coaster) in her own Morag way: with rambles and without realising any danger. She should also probably get out of this storm.
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Post by Liou on Jul 27, 2018 15:56:29 GMT -5
Mochi and their kind would have been wonderful even as regular, mortal rabbits minding only their earthly rabbit business. Renpi knew better than to say that. Losing her powers, losing everything that made her what she was, and watching her brethren succumb to the same fate, was something Renpi could not even imagine. What would they even have transformed into? Simple desert dogs with badly misshapen teeth? "My kind suffered a more merciful demise," she said, "in that my brethren died in glorious battle, defending us against different gods' followers until there was nothing left to defend. A slower, gradual loss of our nature would have been unbearable." She paused while the thunder was too deafening to speak. "Humankind in its current state may have let you and our gods down. That does not make your kind, your ways and your faith any less sacred. " She leaned the side of her head gently against Mochi's dark blue fluff. "I will breathe my last breath fighting against the enemy of Naelus before such a fate can befall you," she said in a low, peaceful growl. A slight spark crackled between her fur and the rabbit's. Renpi jumped aside. About to apologise, she realised that her fur was standing on end, catching the glow of the bright, near-constant lightning outside. "I must leave you! Stay here where it's safe," she yelped before dashing out of the cave. Lightning struck the cliffs nearby, getting closer like the steps of a giant beast. Renpi slipped and scrambled up the slope, squinting against the rain and the flashes. She must not be anywhere near the rabbit's shelter if the lightning reached her. Was the storm even natural? What if this lightning could not even course through her? What if it was an evil creation of the sower-god? She paused at the top of the cliff, panting and wobbling on her legs. She closed her eyes before the flash could blind her. The light struck the ground beneath her feet, and all was white, and all was roaring. It took her a long time to trek back to the cave and reappear, soaked and meek, before the rabbit. Snuggles for Shinko! Renpi's been... THUNDER-SHRUNK
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Post by Shinko on Jul 27, 2018 16:00:17 GMT -5
Round 15: A Forgotten Locale Kohimu had failed to account for one thing in his plans to hide himself from the danger of the storm- in his decision to trust none but Svar, for surely only another immortal who he had known and trusted for a hundred years could be relied upon. Holding himself aloof from all the rest of the island left no one to speak for his part when the veil of suspicion was cast. And that absolute certainty of his own moral correctness even when it stood against everyone else, and the refusal to bend it for anything was doomed to cast suspicion when it sounded so very much like how the captured sowers were speaking. The threat came in the form of a small herd of sivatherium. Svar and Kohimu, caught up in conversation, hadn’t even noticed the large herd animals there until they were already surrounded. “Having fun with your little story circle?” a booming male voice asked, the speaker sounding distraught and as if he’d been recently weeping. “Enjoying yourselves while we mere mortals suffer, tiny godlings?” Kohimu and Svar jumped, looking up at the oversized okapi-like creatures. Svar looked this way and that, dawning terror apparent in his wide silver eyes. “Trapped… w-we’re trapped!” “Easy, Svar, easy,” the taniwha said, forcing his voice to stay calm for the benefit of the firebird. Calling out to the sivatherium he said, “We’re as helpless in this weather as you are, friends. We’re just passing the time until it eases.” “Oh is that so?” the male who seemed to be the leader demanded. “I seem to remember hearing that you two were looking to stop the sowers. You made it your personal mission to protect this island. But now the healer and the lionheart have fallen, and the wind is so bad that it downed a tree and crushed one of my mates and our calf. But you don’t care about that at all, do you?” The others stamped, snorting their agreement, and Kohimu was offended. “Of course I care! Listen, I’m sorry about your mate and your child, but there’s nothing I can do right now while the storm is raging!” “Funny that,” a female sivatherium said, cracking her horns against the rocky overhang so that Svar flinched against Kohimu. “You never seem to be able to do anything useful. And you know, that’s not all we’ve worked out.” “You wanted to get rid of the ghost who was a witness.” Snarled the leader. “When we were all trapped as skeletons, I heard you decided to splash around in the river without a care in the world. And now instead of helping you’re hiding just because your little buddy can’t fight the storm winds!” “You’re taking all of that out of context!” Kohimu insisted. “You think I don’t hate how little I’ve been able to help? But I have no way of knowing who I can or can’t trust, and alone but for Svar there’s only so much I can do.” “Kohimu, they aren’t going listen to reason,” Svar insisted, the firebird trembling as he looked up at the herd. The taniwha sighed, remembering his conversation with Beech. “You’re right- trying to make anyone listen is pointless.” To the sivatherium he said, “I grieve for your loss. But I’m done with explanations and justifications. I’ll help in my way, and you can trust me or not.” “You cheeky-” the giant giraffid bellowed, rearing on his back hooves. Svar screeched, and the taniwha flinched as massive hooves smacked hard into the stone overhang of their shelter. “Don’t owe us any explanations? Or don’t have any explanations because you’re one of them?” “ What? No, I’d never-” Kohimu yelped, but the sivatherium were done listening. Though too large to enter into the shelter, they smacked it with their hooves over and over, until the rock started to crack and huge chunks fell away. Svar screamed, flapping frantically and darting back and forth in his desperation for an escape route. “Trapped, we’re trapped, we’re trapped, we’re trapped-” “Svar, please-” “ Trapped, trapped, trapped, trapped-” “Svar, you need to calm down-” “ Prisoners, prisoners, trapped, trapped-” “Svar, stop it!” Kohimu snapped, at the same moment a tremendous crack brought a huge stone down on the firebird’s tailfeathers, pinning him. With hysterical screech of negation, flames exploded from Svar’s body in all directions. Startled, the sivatherium recoiled and fled. Kohimu, so close to ground zero and much slower, was immolated in an instant, his woodlike body going up like an oil soaked rag. He screamed in pain, the cry startling Svar enough from his own hysteria that he went silent, watching as the taniwha stumbled out into the driving rain. The water had the flames extinguished almost immediately, but the damage was done. As Kohimu collapsed into the mud, near mindless with agony, he fleetingly thought of Te Tai, wishing he could see his old friend one last time. Within the hour Kohimu, guilty of nothing, had stopped breathing. * * * The animals of Naelus had believed themselves safe for the moment. Many had sheltered in small caverns, rocky nooks, hollow trees, or under the bulk of someone large enough to brace against the wind. For the time being, they were as well-protected as they could be. They need only wait things out. They were wrong. The only warning they got, for any still close to the coastline, was a dramatic lowering of the tide, well past what it would have naturally fallen to. Then, screams and shouts tore across Naelus as they caught sight of something horrifying. A massive, tidal wave was roaring up from the ocean north of the island. It was higher than the tallest tree on the Overlook Bluff, and there was nowhere to hide. It crashed over them in a ceaseless wall of white water. Some animals managed to cling to well-anchored trees. Some swam with the tide until it gentled and were able to climb back up to land. But many, many were too startled, too frightened to do anything but be dragged away by the tide. They tumbled end over end, unable to tell up from down or left from right, darkness and surging water consuming their worlds. Then, just when it seemed they would surely drown… a familiar song echoed in their ears. A point of golden light illuminated before their eyes. Confused, desperate, lungs aching, the animals swam towards the beacon, following it until abruptly both light and song vanished and their heads broke the surface. For a time the animals were too busy gasping for air, dragging themselves up onto dry land to fully process anything else. They lie on a hard, cool surface, panting. The ghosts of the island had suffered a tearing and scattering of their essences from the submersion in the salt water, and as their living counterparts sobbed for air, the driblets of ethereal essence congealed into their animal shapes once more. Quickly, for the murdered innocents, but more slowly for the sin-steeped sowers. Their wits eventually returned to them, and the animals began to rise and take in their surroundings. At first, none of them was sure where exactly they were. They could still hear the storm raging, but it was distant now. There was no pitter-patter of rain on their heads, no wind ripping against their flesh. The air was calm, cool, and full of the scent of saltwater. At first, it was so dark that none of the residents of Naelus could see to guess where they might be. Then, slowly, their eyes adjusted to the gloom. They were surrounded on all sides, and above by rough-hewn and water-smoothed rock walls and ceilings. Echoic whispers, like voices that were not voices speaking in languages made not of words, seemed to reverberate everywhere within the space. Small points of light, like miniature stars, hung from the ceiling above, casting everything in a dim blue glow. The Whispering Cave; somehow, they’d been saved from the storm-tossed sea and brought to the shelter of the Whispering Cave. My little ones, the time has come for you to learn the truth. Travel the tunnels until you come to the heart of the island, and there I will show you the true nature of the war you have been made to fight.Kohimu, an innocent resident, is now dead. Mandatory Scenario: A tidal wave has washed all of the player-controlled characters off the island, and they are now trapped in the Whispering Cave. Strange glowing things adorn the ceiling, and an unusual sound fills the air. Explore the cavern; and try to find the so called “heart.” (The cavern has many forks and tunnels, so feel free to split up into smaller groups if that makes interaction easier!)
Mandatory Conditions: It is very dark, and everything is cast in a dim blue-white light from the glow-worms on the ceiling. The air is pleasantly cool and a little damp. Anybody with bioluminescence (Svar, the ghosts, etc) has lost their light in the cave for reasons unknown. The corrupted characters find themselves bearing golden muzzles that emit no light either, but keep them from harming anyone and make them slightly less manic.
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