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Post by Morgan on May 17, 2019 21:47:19 GMT -6
Morgan was, once again and for better or worse, not afraid. Perhaps it was the chaos node that had been swallowed, imparting a bit more recklessness to the individual than would be desired otherwise. Morgan had previously been an individual of habits, doing the same thing every day for years on end at the same times during the same portions of the week. This orderly (and perhaps scientific) lifestyle had been cut a bit short by the chaos node, which seemed to have brought a certain fervor to the human's life that would never have happened if not for it. In fact, new things tended to make the individual a bit fearful and nervous, but now, everything was a spectacle. - Before Coming to the Temple - This morning, the day after the drake's breaking, Morgan had went out to the barn to bring Waar out for some training. Morgan had been planning to use Waar as a well-respected mount. What individual, after working so hard to break such a magnificent creature, wouldn't want a dragon-like mount? The creature was a right heraldic beast after all; something out of the fairy-tales that Morgan's father had spent so many a dark stormy night reading to them. However, like everything else that seemed to happen to Morgan, lady luck had ran out of time to spin her great wheel for the human. Waar appeared to be dead. Morgan didn't do it, that was for sure. It had been well fed, nothing in the area seemed to be amiss. Morgan swallowed a lump in their throat and got to working on finding out what had been the matter. There was nothing freshly chewed upon on the substrate (was there something in the creature's throat?), and Morgan had not managed to kill it in the pit by accident or anything. Waar simply seemed to have passed, probably not even half an hour before Morgan had bent down next to the creature in the dirt. The great beast lay on it's side, not even stiff yet, still warm, but very much dead. Morgan searched for a pulse, not quite able to cry about it yet, and then looked into it's great mouth... The beast had managed to swallow a ball. Morgan reached in and removed it, and then placed their ear to the creature's chest. No pulse. No breath. No anything. Morgan rose up after a moment, and then immediately called for help. It took only an hour to get the individuals together to heave his body up on to a wagon, and Morgan grabbed the Magical Coins off of their desk, just in case. -At the Temple-
Waar was dead, and he was on the cart. Morgan was dragging the cart, and obviously having a hard time doing with, since their body was weak. It was their cross to bear, though. Morgan blamed this somehow on theirself. Never mind the fact that Morgan had no idea how a ball got in his enclosure in the first place. He must have hidden it, the clever creature, so that he could test it out later. Morgan still couldn't really feel anything at all, just numb, about it. However, Morgan did know of a temple, a temple that could raise a dead creature back to life, and Morgan was willing to give anything it took to 'fix' this. Waar was their responsibility, and Morgan had failed that responsibility. Morgan didn't flinch as the squawking occurred, but something did seem unnatural about it. Was that... Bone? Morgan was not bothered by this, simply curious. Elenore, huh? Was it some kind of sentient, or just trained to do that? Morgan knew that izers were sometimes capable of mimicking. Morgan drags the cart up as far as they can, and stops, seeing a shadow beyond the izer's perch. Morgan squinted their glowing green eyes. What was this... Morgan could see the figure now, and hear the question. Servant of shadows, huh? Morgan figured that they might as well be at least a bit polite, not that Morgan preferred that most of the time. Their voice started out with a near scientist-esque straightness. "This morning I awoke to find my sarane deceased. I am looking to..." A bit of guilt tinged their voice unbidden. "Correct that issue." Morgan looked this new possible danger in the face, feeling like they should be careful here. It was not what it appeared to be. However, Morgan was not afraid.
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Post by NPC on May 17, 2019 22:23:04 GMT -6
"Correct it..." the man said, shrouded in robes, the brazier of light flickering beside him. He reached out and held a gloved hand over the fire for a moment before peering at the animal on the cart and the person who had brought it with them. Odd, but nothing he had never experienced before, all kinds came to him in their time of need, and he knew they would do whatever it took to get back what they wanted. The man waited a moment or two, eyeing the person in front of him, looking for the payment that was never shown, but it could be asked for.
He stroked his face before stroking the feathers left on his Izer. Some things didn't come easily or cheap, and his services were some of those things. "Fresh meat then," he said with a loud laugh before he leaned forward to inspect the creature in front of him. It had been a random death then, if the person who brought it was to be believed, which made this a little more... interesting. He smirked a bit within his robes as he inspected the body, touching the horns, picking up the wings and paws, testing the weight and what could be salvaged. The fresher the corpse, the more that could be preserved, after all.
"To correct... there must be a payment..." he finally said, eyeing the person in front of him before he turned his back and held his hand over the flames again, "What do you... offer, this day?"
"Day, day!" cried the bird from her perch next to the man, leering at the person in front of them and staring at the corpse of the Sarane hungrily.
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Post by Morgan on May 18, 2019 0:36:20 GMT -6
Perhaps 'correct it' was too clinical a term, but Morgan didn't know anything about this mysterious individual anyway. Trying to read the situation was perhaps a bit rough when you were rusty. Morgan had expected payment to be asked for, and had guessed that it would be something like the coin that they had managed to procure, but wasn't quite expecting the method of questioning for it. Of course, Morgan knew that it would be odd to see someone like them; practically one of the richer individuals living in the Labs, but ah well. There had to be other members of the elite to be here before, right?
Fresh... Meat. Morgan felt a bit nauseous at that. Sure, creatures ate creatures, and everything was meat after all. Morgan was meat too. Somehow, it was easier for Morgan to think of theirself as meat than it was to think of Waar as simple meat... That actually sent a shiver down Morgan's spine, and a flash of green glow to their eyes. What was this place?
Morgan simply nodded, and dug down into their lab-coat's deep left pocket to procure the magical coins. Morgan fought the urge to say something rude or snarky, and instead chose their words carefully, almost in a pained way. "These would be enough, right? I also suspect that Waar will be... Returned in a state like that of Elenor." Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it. Morgan was able to swallow the snarky comment. "I am sure that Waar would find it acceptable to be returned without the pound of flesh I assume is required." Morgan really had to think about this though. Waar was a proud creature, a clever creature. Had there been a better way of doing this? Morgan steeled their mind. No, this was important. This would do.
"Take the pound of flesh from his belly. From the neck to the base of the tail, all the way down; and his ribs most certainly. If possible, I'd like his wings to be functional... I am sure Waar would have loved to fly." Truth be told, Morgan's favorite part about the drake was the purple tail tip, so they hoped that he kept that as well. Morgan more mused this than choked this out. Where anyone else would probably have cried, Morgan simply glanced over the body of the poor unfortunate creature. "What of his acidic nature? He was born that way, will that trouble your work?" The bespectacled human looked up, their glasses flashing in the strange 'light' of the brazier. Morgan figured that whatever this... Entailed, that the figure would need to know that there was probably acid in the body that might pose a bodily danger.
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Post by NPC on May 18, 2019 6:31:38 GMT -6
Elenore's eyes sparkled as she saw the coin, and flew down, snatching it from the person's hands to bring it back and drop it into her master's gloved hand, intentionally attempting to bite the fingers of the one who was holding it. The man's eyes sparkled in return, an amused look crossed his face as he took the coin and tossed it into the brazier's flame. The coin sizzled and popped before it started to melt, the magic surrounding it swirled into the air. Quite the spectacle if one was interested in that sort of thing.
"A pound of flesh..." he mused for a moment, stroking his face with a still gloved hand, "Yes..." He stared at the creature's corpse before him intently as he thought about it. The belly, yes, from neck to tail, ribs included, that should appease... "Functional wings... we may make that work... We have plenty to work with..." the man said with a little sneer, pulling back the curtain dramatically to show preserved corpses from behind it. It helped the corpse in front of him was fresh, but some pieces might need to be replaced. Eyes, yes... "The eyes... may be different... Acidic natures often take... much more than we shall..." he informed the person who had brought the Sarane in to him for his ministrations. "Waar, is it? May be returned... much less than you thought because of it..." he mused out loud to the person with a predatory smile on his face, "Explain his nature..."
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Post by Morgan on May 18, 2019 14:06:31 GMT -6
The bespectacled human absolutely recoiled when the izer swooped down to retrieve the coin. The fingers were scarcely saved due to the flinch, but a slight bead of blood welled up on Morgan's ring finger on that hand. Morgan had been rolling their coin over their knuckles when it had happened, and Morgan was incredibly lucky to have gotten out with only that. Morgan stared after the izer, and watched as the coin was tossed into the flame. The spectacle was glorious; a beautiful set of flashes that kept Morgan entranced for their momentary existence. Then, the bespectacled individual glanced down at their bleeding finger, causing the glasses to fill up with light again, obscuring their expression. After a moment, the individual looked up again, flashing determined neon green eyes at the pair, pushing the surprise from the bite down, and replacing it with a veneer of passiveness; that was immediately replaced by a chuckle.
There was now far more determination flowing from the individual than before, as if the gravity of the situation suddenly hit like a meteor behind their expression.
Morgan found their gaze drawn to the individual's gloved hand, listening to the babble but keeping quiet. Morgan couldn't really say anything snarky about this, Morgan did this sort of thing quite often before as well; the musing, the speaking aloud while considering. However, whenever the curtain was pulled back, Morgan's neon gaze flashed up, and the sight was certainly more than what Morgan had been subconsciously considering was the case all along. Something... perhaps a bit wrong was going on here. Preserved corpses, ah? Morgan was more curious than anything else, taking a hardly noticed step forward to get a better glance. But only just that step. The sneer, however, was not noticed, perhaps because Morgan was used to those sort of reactions and also perhaps because it was hard to look at someone when there were an ass load of corpses just beyond them.
Morgan waited until the being seemed to be done musing before adding, still looking beyond the individual and toward the corpses. "I don't think we will mind the eyes being different..." The bespectacled being glanced up at the izer accusingly for a moment, figuring that this would probably be where Waar's old eyes would... Go. The golden orbs that most Sarane had were a bit ugly anyway, Morgan tried to ration with theirself. Really, in all honesty, this was absurd. His... Nature... Huh. Morgan had been as non-talkative as possible during this whole thing up to now. However, it was now probably time to exposit. "Waar was a clever drake, patient and willing to wait to get what he wanted. I was told previously that sarane were vicious, and I performed my duties as required to break him. However, Waar was willing to plan, to plot to get what he wanted. I haven't seen a creature of that prescribed 'intelligence' ever plan ahead like he did." Morgan stopped for a moment, looking back up at all of those corpses, and then back over Waar's body, trying to sound clinical and not sad. "Waar took to training very well, he was honorable, and as a chick while I was raising him, terribly... cute." The cute came with a bit of a lip tremble that was perhaps not so well masked with Morgan's own sneer. An attempt to not appear weak. "He hatched for me, you know? The egg hatched as soon as I touched it, how could I not buy him after that? I raised him the best I could, and I feel like I've failed him." That was that.
Morgan cleared their throat, trying not to be mushy, and instead removed their glasses from their face, cleaning them with a soft cloth dragged from a lab-coat pocket in order to distract theirself. "What kind of person just lets a creature die on their watch? So it is my duty to see this unforeseen issue... Corrected." That was that, right?
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Post by NPC on May 18, 2019 14:43:52 GMT -6
Intelligent hmm? Intelligent enough to know what was going to happen to it, he mused to himself. How would it feel to know what the owner was willing for it to sacrifice to come back? He smiled over at the person, though the smile seemed rather predatory nonetheless. "I believe this can be... corrected..." he told them, flexing the fingers of his gloved hand before settling his other hand on the back of the Izer. "We require... time, of course... Your... Waar, should be ready soon," the man said, eyes on the corpse in front of him, "You will be contacted shortly... when he is ready to be seen..."
"Go!" the thunderous voice echoed through the chamber, startling even the Izer for a brief moment before her beak seemed to form a sneer at the individual who had brought the Sarane into their home.
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Post by Morgan on May 18, 2019 16:08:22 GMT -6
Morgan was starting to feel a bit numb, and they only just then noticed that they had been standing their with their knees locked for a while. Morgan let their knees bend slightly, as they typically were. Morgan finally notices the individual's face for a moment again, looking back at it after having basically stared all the corpses down for a hot minute. The smile was quite frankly, horrifying, but it just made Morgan's mind begin to fire off a bit excitedly, as if Morgan was having a hard time keeping their magic from firing off. Morgan willed it down, closing their eyes for a moment, squeezing them shut and willing it down.
"Certainly." Morgan said, beginning to turn. Ah, thanks were in order, right? Morgan was one of those practical 'not until the job was done' kind of people, but this situation was quite... Different. What kind of a person looks at a temple of corpses and a flying corpse bird, and then looks a priest dead in the eyes and the only thing they thought was 'well this is different'. Morgan was beginning to feel less and less like theirself as time goes on. "I appreciate your services." That will do. Morgan casts a sorrowful gaze over Waar, and gently runs their left hand over his face as they walk past. The 'go' had shaken them a bit, why wouldn't it? It was loud and reverberated; though perhaps not unexpected entirely.
Morgan showed theirself out they way they came, this time without the wagon and without Waar. There was a slight feeling of loneliness; and perhaps a slight awareness of not truly knowing what they had gotten themselves into, Morgan and Waar, together.
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Aug 8, 2019 18:34:37 GMT -6
The bird had perched on a fencepost. She had then perched on a lamppost. Then a roof, then a hutch, a signpost, a random passer-by just for the joy of nicking their ear with her sharp beak and several more before the entrance to the temple. And each time that derisive snicker, that mimicking mockery ever urging you onwards and back to where you had stood mere days before.
The shadows were strong that fateful day, and yet they seemed almost alive now, things ever flickering out of the corner of your eyes and yet never seeming to be anything more than a trick of the mind. "Up.. Up.." the bird mocks again, beak snapping towards you before wings unfurl and she takes wing, flying to the temple proper and its flickering flame.
There the hooded man stood waiting, a butcher's apron flung offhandedly to one side, calmly pulling his gloves back on as Eleanor parked herself onto an awning.
"Ah, they return," he smiles, adjusting each finger carefully, before settling. "Your beast.. your.. Waar--" the izer cackles in delight, receiving a glare from the man. "--is complete," he finishes, attention returning. He moves towards the back of the room, and reaches for the heavy curtain, chattering all the while. "Such breed, such work, such.. wonder. And oh so very fresh. They come later, you know, usually. Two days, a week, a month. Such poor condition, those ones. But this one, hah! So very fresh its blood was still acid! So very much acid.. What surprise to discover when making the first cuts." The tone is almost sing-song, as if an excited child describing their new favourite toy. "I took the pound, the rest.. well," he pauses to grin wide, "The rest Waar took himself."
The curtain is pulled back and he glances in, softly calling, "Waar, my pet, come forth~"
Clack, clack, clack.. the footfalls should be heavy, for a sarane. Heavier, at least, but when the form emerges and stands in the light, the frame is much more hollow than before. The pound had been taken alright, but neon green mucus oozes and drips out of every fibre of muscle beneath the skin, gathering, pooling, running in little rivulets and dripping in little drops, catching limb and floor alike, ever burning and sizzling away even as skin tries to regenerate around the skeletal belly and legs. "Wonderful, is it not?" the man says, letting the curtain drop back. "And all yours, darling.. Corrected. As promised."
"Yours! Yours!" the bird screeches, taking wing and making a circle of the brazier as she cackles. "Promise!"
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NEW STATS ARE AS FOLLOWS
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