akje

The Blood Compact: Turn Back The Clock

((Music))

Sten was running faster than he'd ever done in his life.
He had just seen more than he could handle in a lifetime.
Just minutes ago they had been standing guard on a cold night, Frank said he saw a shadow move and went to check it out.
The sarge just lit up another cigarette and told him to "Make it quick, cause it's probably nothing."
Yeah... nothing.

Sten dove behind a corner, he didn't know if he was still being followed but he couldn't look around so he just kept running.
Another sharp turn, his path was obscured by another huge fog bank.
When the fog first started to come up it had made chills run down his spine.
But by now it instilled sheer terror. Eyes wide open, unable to look away from the white abyss, Sten stood frozen.

Suddenly he saw a tiny red light hover in the deep. The lit end of a cigarette!
"Sarge! Sarge over here!"
Latching on to a tiny speck of hope he ran into oblivion.
The light got closer, and closer. There was literally a light at the end of this tunnel! The sarge always knew what to do, he'd get out of this and...

The red point dropped from the horizon.

Seconds later Sten got to it. A half smoked cigarette lay on the ground, a thin line of smoke diffusing into the mist. Which was slowly turning darker.
A Sten looked around him all was gray, dark gray. The ground looked like it shook violently in intervals but he felt nothing.
Darkness enclosed around him. Now all was pitch black around him, he was dazed and unable to see further a meter away from his face.
Far away, yet close somehow, he saw twisted faces writhing in the darkness. Laughing at him, taunting him.
His head was pounding, the world kept shaking and it felt the air pressure was rising.
The sneering and hysterical faces floated around, fading in and out, flashing horrifying twisted faces.
Stan ran, he picked a direction and held on to his last shred of hope.

Suddenly there was a wall of light in the distance. He ran towards it and as he got closer he saw there was a light at the edge of the fog bank.
Running for his life and away from the faces that hounded him relentlessly, he dashed out of the mist and out on the street.
The light he'd seen had been a street lantern.
Under it stood two figures. Long coats, looking at each other.
Sten heard his own pounding footsteps echo in his head, the blood rush trough his veins and the feint laughing far away in the distance, from every direction.
He couldn't make out what the two talked about, or who they where. He could hardly focus to look at them, yet he couldn't look away.
In a flash he saw one turn his head and make eye contact, glowing red eyes and viciously sharp teeth. But the man hadn't moved. Had he?
The pressure got to Sten. He dropped to his knees.

All the chaos and horror was interrupted by a loud tone.
It brought calm and clarity. For a moment the world was forgotten.
Sten stared out into nothing, but with no fear. He understood now.
Tears ran down his face as he cried out in manic laughter.
Crimson lines ran from his face as it stared up at a blank sky.

He understood now.

Godmode (Private Party)

Gorbo Grandman said
Picking up his own reward, he looked at the mortal who had adressed him. The idea that he could have a casual conversation with one seemed appealing to him, so he kept up the illusion. "Both... In a way." He said mysteriously. Walking up to Misha and taking his hand with both of his own. "Nicely sung Misha. Very nicely sung. Might I say you have quite a talent for singing?" He said gratiously. Letting go of Misha's hand he turned to look at the pyre in the distance. "It looks like the sacrificing has begun. We wouldn't want to miss that would we!" He urged Misha to come with him towards the celebration while he began walking there himself.

"Wait for me!" Misha shouted as he pulled the leash of the struggling goat.
He was exited that he was going to have an audience for his sacrifice.
Even if the gods wouldn't appreciate it, maybe the bard would at least find it funny and make a song about it.
After checking his bags if he had everything he thought he needed, he dragged the goat along to the fires.

---

MasterOfMetal said
Erä had been silent while his brother and niece spoke.It had been a strange meal. Erä was not used to personally dealing with people besides the other gods, and his animals, of course.This girl, this demigod, confused Erä.Erä ate, standing besides the two, sitting seemed silly.Suddenly, Erä heard something, a small sound, coming from his forest.He took a step back into the shadows, and he was gone, leaving the two to talk.When he stepped onto the soft woodland floor, he witnessed the following:A pink, fat, little boar ran past, squealing like he was being gutted already.From the direction the boar came from a small pack of wolves emerged, they were not even hunting, just toying with the pink creature.Erä raised his hand, and immediately, the wolves stopped, looking very distraught their plaything had been taken.The wild God followed the squealing creature, which was not hard to track, if you consider the sounds it was making. The boar had gotten his hoof stuck in a cluster of roots, and was frantically pulling on it, only making it worse.Erä got a closer look of the little beast.It was small for a boar, but considerately well fed, he was nearly hairless, so he almost looked like a farmer's pig.His small tusks were golden.Erä was amused by the crying creature, he pointed his spear at the pig."Speak" he commanded "tell me your tale, for you are not of this place."

Wodgev said
In the past minute, Vizlin had been chased by wolves, lions, bears, and even an very angry pigeon. In fact, the pigeon had been one of the most mean because it had blocked his only path the the light between the trees. But after he had gotten his leg stuck between the roots of a scary looking tree, he had been certain it was all over. But then a shadow had appeared and pointed a spear at him, and he nearly fainted. The sound of wind rushing through leaves in an endless chant filled the air, and Vizlin knew it to be a command. Bidden to speak, he did so, unknowing of what was in store for him. "I was the Mayor of Travel's End, Lord of the common people, and Leader of the rabble. They listened to me when I spoke, and they followed my commands without doubt. And then the Gods came and brought chaos to my order. They took my power and my life from me. They cursed me, spit on me, and threw me off my own balcony! Then there was a die and a voice, and next thing I know, I'm being chased by lions!"Tears streamed down Vizlin's cheeks as he finished his lament.

After a second or two debating herself Lyah decided her curiosity overcame her interest in the divine meal.
She got up and thanked her father. "I'm going to test my new-found abilities, let's see if I can find my uncle."
As she directed her gaze at the edge of the woods she concentrated. The same feeling overcame her again and the world turned darker. As a black sky filled with stars, some brighter than others. Far away she saw the bright light she was looking for, a similar light to the blinding light right behind her.
The way to her uncle was untamed and ever changing. But the undergrowth made way for her stride and the creatures circled at a distance.
In the distance she saw and heard the little pig. As it cried and raged his little heart out she felt pity on the little creature.
Hearing his voice she noted the little swine with the golden tusk was distressed and panicked. Hearing his words she drew the conclusion who he was.
She waited at a small distance, curious how the wild one was going to deal with this. Maybe he'd know how he'd died, and how he'd ended up in this domain of all places.

---

LordMarwain said
Tarvin stared at the hand. He was still dazzled by the fact that a god had answered his prayer. Only what was this god offering him? Forcing his thought upon others? Sure, he had promised that he would show the people of this world what it means to have a free will. But taking the free will of others, that sounded wrong to him. He looked around him. The people standing around the fire. They looked displeased at him. He knew they would start hurting him as soon as time would continue. Eyes filled with hatred stared at him. Looking at him with contempt. Suddenly he knew why he donated some of his money to the poor. It was with those eyes the rich looked at the poor. If this power could change that, he would take it. It wasn’t right that they dared to look with those eyes at the ones that made them rich. Now he had a change to make a difference, even if that would mean using such a power.Tarvin stretched out his arm and grabbed the hand. “All men must be equal, until then none are truly free. As long as some are oppressed, bound by others, they can never feel what it means to be human. And the oppressors will teach others to be the same. That circle must be broken. Only then they can start to learn what it means to be free. But the power you suggest my god, would make me an oppressor. I can’t accept to take the will of others, for I won’t allow anyone to take mine.” Tarvin, staring into the place where the hand came from, let go of the hand.

For a moment the world was frozen. A silence had fallen, but moments later:
The weather broke it.

Faster than a lightning bolt the storm whipped up around Tarvin. The world around him faded away as they became invisible trough the rushing winds.
The voice bellowed with rage.

"You DARE deny me?!"

Peals of thunder pelted the earth around Tarvin, knocking him down on his back.

"If you will not stand by me as a king..."

The hand turned and grasped at him. Between it's fingers white energy crackled and danced.

"Then you shall die as a sheep like the others!"

Tarvin was trapped, forced to the ground and about to be crushed by a fist of storms.
The moment all hope was lost he felt a slender hand on his shoulder. He heard something whispered.
Something that seemed to come from his own mouth.
"Hello again Tarvin. Do you need a ride?"

The Blood Compact: Turn Back The Clock

Back from the larping. Still alive! (sorta).

Walls of text, love it.
I'm going to compose a post in a little while. I'll be using some NPC's. I assume you guys won't mind.
I'm taking over a bunch of the NPC soldiers. I'll be naming them but they aren't full characters and thus don't enjoy the no insta-kill rule.
Feel free to massacre some of them if needed.

I feel like the battlefield will feel a lot more populated and alive if we throw some more npc's around. Plus it gives more options.

The Blood Compact: Turn Back The Clock

Wraithblade6 said
Tomorrow morning, mass chat in steam. Be there, or I will hunt you down for breaking contract. >>

I

Wraithblade6 said
Tomorrow morning, mass chat in steam. Be there, or I will hunt you down for breaking contract. >>

I´ll be offline the entire weekend sorry. But good luck with the chat.

Godmode (Private Party)

Gorbo Grandman said
Fellas, I'm a little lost. I'm not sure how or what to post because I'm not sure what's going on and I'm out of inspiration. Care to give me some ideas?I know I could always throw in a new commoner or perhaps a champion, but I feel like I should continue with my current characters before suddenly creating a new one.

There´s room for new characters no problem.
Try and have at least one commoner that makes a sacrifice.

Also. My character, Misha, Is talking to Vincus (unknowing he´s a disguised god.)

Godmode (Private Party)

'I.. I suppose so, child.'

MasterOfMetal said
Erä instantly took a form understandable to mortals, that of the bronzed hunter with the beast's skull.The lord of the hunt felt something he did not feel very often. Surprise.This mortal had seen his true form, without going utterly insane. Would she be able to understand his voice?'I.. I suppose so, child.'Erä looked at Tavon. He had a child.. that meant in some way, Erä had a child as well.Emotion was not something the Wild Wanderer was used to.

Lyah's expectations were suddenly matched as the shapes shifted and took a form she was familiar with. He took a shape similar to the statue of Erä as she'd seen him in depicted in the temple. When she stared into the eye sockets of the bleached bone feline face, she saw the impossible reality in the darkness.
A sound glamered from the skull, and echoed from every direction. It was a sound Lyah had never heard, and struggled to describe. She liked to imagine this was the sound tree's would make if they could sing.

Somehow though, she could understand the meaning. Her mind converted the swirling notes to words. 'I.. I suppose so, child.'
She smiled at the confirmation. This truly was Erä.
Not as she had expected. But then, she had no idea what she should have expected.

LordMarwain said
Tavon winked at Lyah. "Welcome to the family my champion." He went over to her and took her by the hand. "Since your my champion now, I suppose I should give you some powers. How about I give you the ability to bend the shape of nature to your will." Tavon grasped Lyah’s hand tightly and she could feel the warm energy flow inside her. She started to see the plants around her differently. "This should be enough, but as my daughter let me give you something special. You should be able to handle it with me as your father." With his other hand he touched her forehead. Another kind of force started to stream inside her. A more primal energy. "This should give you the ability to change other energies into nature energy."Tavon took a step back and looked at her. He saw the energies mix up with her own energy. "Let me give you a warning about your new powers, don't try to use them at their full capacity right now. They are very tiring to use. Over time you will grow more accustomed to them and they will get easier to use.""So now that is done, let's get something to eat and maybe you can tell me more about your past. I want to know how life has been for you." He snapped his finger and a wooden table with chairs around it appeared. On the table were all kinds of food and drinks. There was mozzarella and winter fruit salad, beetroot carpaccio, apples drenched in honey, roasted meat, cold water and wine of godly quality. "You're dining with us brother?"

As her father touched her she felt a pulse of energy run trough her. Suddenly she felt every blade of glass beneath her shiver. She felt the might of the trees around her. She felt the temptation in the flowers everywhere. She felt the ambition to grow. As she took a breath the garden moved with her.

Lyah looked up to say her thanks. Suddenly he touched her forehead. The world around her faded, lines became blurry, she saw the true form of her father and uncle before her. No, it was more primal than that. What she saw was the energy that they held. The force that made them what they were. Shaped by nothing but their will.
As she looked down she saw her hands as flowing lines of translucent lightning. She saw the earth as a sky full of stars and clouds of light. The plants around her lit up brightly. The sky above her was pierced with rays of pure power. She could feel the energy flow of everything around her.
With her will she moved the flow of energy from one plant to another, one wilted and the other grew beyond it's natural form.
"Let me give you a warning about your new powers, don't try to use them at their full capacity right now. They are very tiring to use. "
These words returned her sight and mind back to the ground. Dazed she looked at her father, who suddenly started to discuss dinner.

Lyah blinked at the table full of food. "Uhm.. what? I..."

Godmode (Private Party)

LordMarwain said
The flames were dancing in the pyre. Tarvin followed their movement with his eyes to calm his mind. He had his sacrifice ready, but still didn’t feel at ease. Was it enough to attract the attention of the gods? This was something Tarvin was not familiar with. He was good at taking important stuff away, not at giving it. Sure he had some experience with giving coins to the poor, but he couldn’t possibly compare this to the giving to the gods. There was a whole religious aspect at giving offers to the gods. No, he shouldn’t worry about that. He just had to present his offer to the gods. No one was offering right now. Tarvin stood up and walked to the pyre, while opening his backpack.“Gods,” he started his sentence. “for years I have lived on my own. I learned how to live independent. I kept myself to my own moral standings. I saw this society from the side it doesn’t want to present itself. People filled with greed and hate walk with a smile on their faces over the streets. People who like taking from others. Who enjoy standing above others. I took from them.” Tarvin took the trophies he gathered from the mayors and threw them one by one in the fire. “And I gave some back to the ones they took from. Not because that is what I should do. Not because it is what others think that is right. I did it because I am free to make my own choices. I did it because they were wrong and doing it felt right to me. I did it because I felt myself that this was the right thing to do.” Tarvin was shouting right now. He knew he was gathering more attention than he should. That he should be planning his escape right now. To disappear in the crowd. But he didn’t want to stop yet. “Please accept my offer. Not just the trophies, but also I will show the world what it means to be free. I will not be held down by the standards and moral choices of others. I will find out for me myself what is right and wrong and tell other to do the same.” He saw the circle close. His way to escape had closed when he tried to express his feelings to the gods. A lot of unwanted attention had focused on him. He heard the people whisper to each other. A few man in fine clothing were giving him mean looks.Tarvin looked at the sky. “Please gods help me,” he whispered.

... ... "Does this boy claim to know better than the law?" ...
... "Are those stolen goods he's sacrificing?" ... ...
... ... ... ... "If he's a thief he's a hypocrite. Talking about right and wrong like that." ...
... "Just arrogant fool." ... ... "A criminal!" ...

Murmurs and whispers arose from the crowd that slowly formed tighter around Tarvin.
He could see their disapproval. Their fear. Their malice.

A peal of thunder crashed down from the skies upon Tarvin. A low and heavy voice made the earth tremble.
"Finding the right gift is difficult isn't it?"
Looking around it was clear none of the people around him had heard the thunderclap nor the voice. This was just for him.

"You humans were created equal to animals, but a difference was made. Or at least.. Attempted." The voice continued.
Time seemed to slow down as the voice spoke. There was time for this. A strange calm. Everything seemed loaded, strung tight. As if ready to jump into action.
The mob around Tarvin stood almost frozen in place, but on their faces it was clear they would jump him the moment time would reset to normal.

"At great risk, at great expense. Humans were granted the chance to decide their own fate. Free from the shackles of animistic thought. Unbound by the laws of nature, merciless as they are." The voice raised, it's tone dripping with bitterness.

"But guess what they did with it? With this divine gift? They made laws, and they kept each other to them. Anyone who tried to use their divine gift was punished by another. They fought and they bickered. They squandered their free will." The voice bellowed with anger. Growing more frighting and dangerous.

"But you! You! You understand what it means to take matters into your own hands! To make the decisions these sheep can't. Reach up and take my hand! I will give you the means to decide for them. Choose their will for them."

A thin swirling cyclone came down from the heavens, crackling with energy. It changed shape, forming a hand at the bottom. An open hand with a white-golden ring on it.
"Take my hand and they shall think like you. They shall think with you. As you think for them."

Godmode (Private Party)

LordMarwain said
Tarvin looked at the sky. “Please gods help me,” he whispered.

Dibs.
just trying to think of the most fitting thing right now...

The Blood Compact: Turn Back The Clock

So...
Do we go straight to all out battle?
Or do the big league mofo's go in first to to recon and sabotage, and then send in the armies?
Do we have armies? Or is this gonna be skirmish?
Maybe Shikaru can post a overview of the beginning of the battle soon?
A bit of narration to show what all the npc's are doing in the backdrop.

The Blood Compact: Turn Back The Clock

Wraithblade6 said
Angela wasn't even writing, as she was listening so intently. She looked at the USB stick and accepted it. "Bouwe. I'll take this, and I'll be sure to back it up and release it as you say, if anything were to happen to you, but... I don't think you can go to the public right out, right now, just with your own success. There are going to be so many people who won't believe that you were ever a vampire, even though we have proof. I mean, you're registered and all, but you're going to need to revert someone else, and have it recorded and observed by scientists or something. Listen, I have another idea. If you want to avoid becoming famous, or a martyr, then maybe you could keep your reversion ritual on the street for a while. We could look for candidates by word of mouth. Maybe we could go to some of those Christian, fledgling sanctuaries. You know those places for wrongly turned and new, unwilling vampires? I'm sure there are lots of them that would die to be human again. After a while, word will get out slowly, and you can decide if you want to be known or not. Let me take care of getting word out for you on the underground. I can do that." Angela looked at him in awe and concern. "You know, you've got a vampire's home. My place has food and is clean. I would feel better if you stayed with me for a little while, so I can keep an eye on you. Would that be alright? God, I hope you don't have a cat allergy."

"Spread the rumor, so people will be ready to accept it before they meet me. That seems like a good idea. And it's probably a good idea to start with fledglings, they'll be less likely to be dangerous in case the ritual fails. I'm not quite sure on all the variables. I knew I was right to call you for this. I need someone from this time, someone grounded... I feel a bit fuzzy right now."
Bouwe got out of the chair and staggered over to the door.
"Let's go then. I'm thrilled to find out if I have a cat allergy."