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The Cage: Part Two
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 6:43 am
by Taelian Edevane
6th of Searing, Year 120
It was the first village they came upon. The entrance to it was lit by a cart, turned over, with barrels that had poured out their contents now scattered across the ground. The cart was charred, with a small fire still raging near the base by the dirt of the road. Before them were a collection of small wooden houses, circling around a village square of sorts that largely ran against the length of an inn. Stepping forward, Taelian could see that the entrance to the inn was very much open -- but not by conventional means. It had been bashed through, a gaping hole consuming the front-right of the building. Already, he could see blood trailing out from the inn onto the wooden panels, going so far as to run down the steps.
Only, the blood was faint. Whatever stained the wood was left, but it seemed on first glance that it had been lapped up wherever it fell. "Gods," the Siltori whispered with a sigh. The two continued to step forward, though Iridith shortly after gestured for them to pause. She sent her Irothar into the inn, examining the building's interior before the two of them would follow and investigate. She did not want either of them to be surprised by the creature, if it still remained.
The Irothar returned from the inside, one of them slightly bowing the glass frame of its head to beckon the two to enter. Taelian stepped forward first, drawing Ard Fuil with its length lit by cinders, an ember line of molten flame running out from the pommel to near the end of the blade. He had a black cloak around his neck, with a scarf over his mouth. His nostrils faintly breathed into the warm fabric.
Taelian's eyes quickly caught onto the bodies -- there were a few of them. Mostly they were bone, but even then much of the bone was chipped and fragmented, with small portions of their spine remaining, and most of their skulls. It appeared that holes had been punched into the area of their skulls that held their teeth, as the creature had likely eaten their tongues. Then, the scalp area had been ripped off; he of course consumed their brains. The animal... it was Dranoch-like after all. It took everything, not satisfied by simple sustenance of meat. Most of the bones had been eaten, and the parts that remained were the ones typically too hard to be appealing; elbows, knees, and again, the spine.
"Iridith, the creature is gone," he called out. If it were still around, he imagined it would have already presented itself in some way. It was possible that it was a stealth predator, but -- it had just been feeding. It was hungry and voracious. Often, new creatures afflicted with 'being' a Dranoch could not control their hunger, though he knew of course that this thing wasn't actually a Dranoch. It was just... something, with some familiar traits. Traits that were, of course, as sickening as the models they were based on.
"It looks like everyone in the village barricaded themselves in the inn," he said. Taelian gestured to the wooden boards that had clearly been broken, scattered around the remains of the door. "They were all killed. It likely went out to the farm-houses to look for isolated individuals; if it really does intend to keep eating and keep killing. This was... quite a meal. It could be satiated."
"I don't know," the Thespian replied. She was clearly pondering. "Wylen told me little about it; he doesn't know much of it himself."
"How did it manage to break free?" Taelian asked.
"It was unexpectedly able to puncture through the cell that Wylen kept it in, in the mountains above Raellon. That's all I know. We don't know of its abilities, only that it's likely very powerful. Wylen said it's one of the strongest creature's he's produced; silly that he stored it in a container in the middle of nowhere then, yes? Now it's free to do whatever it wishes."
"Including killing scores of people -- tainting the Covenant's reputation," Taelian added. He shook his head. "We need to kill it fast and cover it up. No one can know from where it came."
Iridith's brow rose curiously. She smiled. "You are a wise one already. Eloise chose well."
Re: The Cage: Part Two
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 9:50 am
by Taelian Edevane
The mage softly exhaled, and channeled his aether. He activated Spatial Perception, attempting to see if he could sense any objects within radius that were organically shaped. Once it was active, he slowly wandered through the core of the village, feeling the dimensions and structures of the shapes that surrounded him. It didn't take him long to make out a peculiar shape, leaned against the wall of one of the interior cabin-homes. A textured fabric suspended by seemingly little, sprawled out across the floor. Taelian stepped towards the door of the building and pulled it open, its exterior handle unlocked. Stepping inside, he moved through the common area and took a right, glancing towards the object he'd spotted with his spatial sense.
It was a blanket, covering something under it, and from whatever was below he could hear the humming of soft breaths. Taelian bent forward and pulled the blanket from the creature, unsurprisingly revealing a human child. Likely... fourteen years or so; perhaps a little younger. It was a boy, and his eyes were shut, though his mouth was open. He was asleep, and had likely fallen asleep while hiding beneath his blanket; a tactic that seemingly worked.
"Hey," Taelian sounded, a pitch or two above a whisper. His voice was calm. The boy's eyes began to open, flickering into awareness, as he seemingly examined the tall Siltori with his half-lidded eyes. He was somewhat confused, perhaps startled, but clearly not afraid. In fact, he awoke with a smile partway through his lips. He appeared to be pleased at being found, though Taelian wasn't sure he'd remain pleased for long. Not when he found out what had happened to... everyone else.
"Hello," the human responded. "You only speak Common, then? Got it."
Taelian awkwardly shifted for a moment, before nodding once in reply. "Were you hiding from the beast?" he asked the boy.
"Yes," he said. "I came here when the rest of the village went to the inn. That collection of people... I was worried that they would attract attention. They didn't care, when I told them; they wanted to do a last stand fight. The farmer's way."
The child had a somewhat thick accent -- but it wasn't obtrusive. If anything, Taelian was impressed by how clearly he spoke the Common tongue. Unfortunately, the time he had been given before needing to inform him had roughly elapsed. He'd already spoken of the people in the inn -- the flaws in their idea. He was, sadly, right.
Re: The Cage: Part Two
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 9:58 am
by Taelian Edevane
"They died," Taelian told him, almost coldly. But his tone wasn't cold, and the empathy he felt was clearly displayed. It was faint as always with him, but still there. Visibly there.
"I see," the boy said. "Did you kill the monster, at least? How did you know it was here?"
Taelian could sense a glance of suspicion. He pressed his lips together. "We haven't killed it," he said. "As for how we knew? It was just happenstance. We were venturing by at the... right, or wrong moment, depending on how you view it. I'm glad we found you, though -- we can get you to safety, now. Do you have any family outside of the town? And, what's your name?"
"Destian," he answered. "I don't have any family anywhere else -- I don't even have family here. I was an orphan, adopted by one of the barn owners so I could labor on his farm. He's probably dead. But that's okay."
Taelian's brows lowered. He wasn't certain if what he was seeing was a denial of sorts, or the boy's actual outlook. As an orphan himself, he felt that he understood. This... cynicism of sorts that he spoke with wasn't far off from the way Taelian viewed the world not long ago. The Transposer created a mirror, honing it in where he thought Iridith might be; she was likely still somewhere in the town center, awaiting the results of his reconnaissance. Once the portal was formed, he spoke into it, hastily blurting what he'd found. "We have a boy here; a survivor. He might be able to better inform us of what happened here, and perhaps lead us to the beast. Come to the cabin to the left of the inn; three doors down towards the town garden. I'll be here," he added, before eroding the node, the portal shutting afterwards.
The boy's lips curled. He seemed neutral to the sight of magic; uncaring. Though he was interested enough to speak. "You're a mage, then?" he asked Taelian.
"Yes," the Siltori replied.
"Good," he said. "I don't think a simple warrior can kill that thing. My... dad, even had a gun. But I don't think that was enough, was it?"
Taelian shook his head, frowning. "No, I don't think it was. But you did enough -- to survive."
"I did," said Destian. "Yay."
Re: The Cage: Part Two
Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2020 1:38 am
by Etro
♅ The Cage: Part Two ♅
XP:
- 5xp {Can be used for Transposition}
Pieces of knowledge:
- Transposition: Spatial Perception can be used for reconnaissance
Transposition: Spatial Perception: Scanning
Transposition: Using Window to communicate remotely
Investigation: Examining out of place objects
Investigation: Unveiling a hidden object
Investigation: Questioning a victim
Comments:
- First and foremost, Wylen should be barred from all necromancy experimentation if he can't keep his creations in check. Otherwise, this was good to read if not a little on the dark side. I enjoyed it either way and was able to picture how it all played out easily in my head.