Cursed

**Brickman** · 10-16-2010, 09:22 PM

==>

Your attention slides back towards the here and now. The vision ends here, but what happened next is a matter of record. By all rights one of those humans should have slit the other's belly and then spent the next few weeks wandering around in a confused daze in which nobody he remembered exists. Should. However, as luck would have it, the two of them ran into an old friend of yours...

----

You are now Esther again. One of the orcs seems to have woken up by now. Actually he's been leveling aggressive threats and orcish insults at you for the past couple minutes, though you were too busy to pay much attention. This was one of the two you just recovered memories from, so he should have a distinct memory of you dicking around with his brain. Not that you needed convincing that he wasn't very smart. If you don't feel like dealing with him you could probably just shout for a guard's attention, though then you'd have to deal with him.

**Dragon Fogel** · 10-16-2010, 09:48 PM

>Call out for a guard.

**Schazer** · 10-16-2010, 09:52 PM

**Brickman** · 10-20-2010, 03:30 PM

>Call out for a guard.

You shout as loud as you can for a human's attention, and momentarily one appears. Surprisingly it's the same human who you made a "deal" with during the battle. So he already knows why you think you shouldn't be in jail.

chatlog:

Either this human is very confident that you've already demonstrated the full extent of your powers, or he is very stupid. Probably both. Either way he's almost suicidally brave. A shame, since you were looking forward to being the one to act high and mighty in this conversation.

**Brickman** · 10-23-2010, 10:25 PM

> Adventure: Proceed on autopilot until people actually start posting suggestions again.

It's time to teach this human a lesson in manners. Or at least self preservation. Ironically, the easiest method of teaching him is to make him already have been a graduate from common sense academy for the next 30 seconds or so.

chatlog:

That's that. You'd much rather negotiate the "price" for your aid from out here than in that dingy cell, whether you keep talking to him or leave him here while you find someone less stupid (and possibly higher ranked) first. Come to think of it, though, you never actually decided on what you actually wanted from them; demanding a price just seemed the natural thing to do. You wouldn't even be too set aback if you skipped town without collecting, unless you can think of something you need that these people can actually provide.

**LightGutierrez** · 10-23-2010, 11:06 PM

Esther: Tell him that you'd rather not have to DEAL with that any more, hence why you lock him into the cell. Also, mention that there's no hard feelings, you just wanna be safe. Then erase his memory if what just happened. After that, tell him that some orcs tricked him into letting them out, and ran off, and that you managed to find the keys to the cell, and now you're trying to let him out.

This might work, if we remember to do that last part...

**Brickman** · 10-24-2010, 10:19 AM

> Esther: Tell him that you'd rather not have to DEAL with that any more, hence why you lock him into the cell. Also, mention that there's no hard feelings, you just wanna be safe. Then erase his memory if what just happened. After that, tell him that some orcs tricked him into letting them out, and ran off, and that you managed to find the keys to the cell, and now you're trying to let him out.

But... that wouldn't work at all. You'd have to undo it before you leave unless you want your memory even more messed up than it already is, and that'd ruin any benefit you think you might get in dealing with him. Better to leave him in the cell, trying to puzzle out how you convinced him to switch places with you.

Not that there's anything wrong with the idea of making fun of him for a bit.

**ShadoWKilleR** · 10-24-2010, 04:50 PM

/me activates thread resurrection.

Don't mess with him as someone will surely knock your head from behind *again* and it won't be as easy getting out after that. > Gain altitude to get away fro mthe humans reach, find Dat Kidd over there (lol) and GO ON AN ADVENTURE!!
I use Bold instead of Italics, so.. yeah.

**Planet of the Japes** · 10-26-2010, 04:56 PM

Leave this moron in the jail cell. He's obviously useless. If we could totally conquer these people and enact our will on them, that would be cool, but I don't think we can manage that in our state. So, since we'll be leaving town anyway, look for someone in a position of wealth and authority. Under the pretext of being indignant about the kidnapping, steal something valuable and flee the town.

**Brickman** · 10-26-2010, 10:05 PM

> Since we'll be leaving town anyway, look for someone in a position of wealth and authority. Under the pretext of being indignant about the kidnapping, steal something valuable and flee the town.

The indignant act is tempting, but ultimately there's no way that a town like this will have anything of value for you to take. You might as well forget claiming a decent reward, given voluntarily or not.

> Gain altitude to get away from the humans' reach, find Dat Kidd over there (lol) and GO ON AN ADVENTURE!!

In fact, you might as well skip the reward entirely. Especially now that you've demonstrated your real power, the longer you stick around, the more likely someone is to link you to your reputation. Things could get ugly if that happened. The only thing in this town of any interest to you is Dat Kidd, because he knows where one of your past victims is. You fly up over the buildings to find him.

You're in luck! Kidd is out in the open and alone. You swoop down to talk to him.

chatlog:

You hide out of sight while Kidd borrows a horse and meet him at the edge of town. With that, you set out on your journey. Even with a horse the trip is going to take almost a full day, and it'll probably be extremely boring. If someone was watching you they'd probabaly be much better entertained following somebody else for a while. But who?

**Dragon Fogel** · 10-26-2010, 10:11 PM

>An orc who managed to evade death/capture.
>Or maybe that guy who got himself locked in the cell.

**ShadoWKilleR** · 10-27-2010, 12:01 AM

Why not the guy were looking for? that will surely create some laughs

**PriffyViole** · 10-27-2010, 01:16 PM

Another fairy.

**Planet of the Japes** · 10-28-2010, 09:10 AM

I also vote for another fairy, I want to see Esther try to wriggle her way out of a situation she can't just mindzap away.

**Brickman** · 10-28-2010, 05:50 PM

> Be the guy who got himself locked in the cell.

You are now the guy trapped in the cell, and you are flipping the fuck out. The orcs KNOW you can't understand them, so why won't they just. Shut. Up?

> Be another fairy.

You are another fairy. You are a fairy, and life is currently boring. This is a contradiction that simply should not exist, and yet it does. As a "missionary" for the Penitents, you are pretty much forbidden from anything that would break this tedium, though you still keep alive the dim hope that each coming day will give you an excuse. You miss the days when people would scare their children with stories of the self-titled Blood Bender. Considerably fewer people knew your real name at the time, which is just as...

Hold on.

Dumb animal was really getting annoying. Doesn't it know better than to follow someone like you around? What are you, made out of sausage? Anyways, where were you? Ah yes, your name.

**Proxima** · 10-28-2010, 06:56 PM

Karen.

(Very nice concept you have here -- I'm interested to see how this one develops.)

**ShadoWKilleR** · 10-29-2010, 04:03 AM

I support Karen as her name, but I will add Nehrim as the last name because it sounds awesome AND it is a tribute for a great mod for a great game

**Brickman** · 10-30-2010, 11:25 AM

>Karen

Yes, your name is Karen. And yes, annoyingly, you are a member of the Penitents. Not because you give a shit what happens to any of those humans, no. It's just that in today's political climate, a being like you who intends to spend her nights in something resembling a building, rather less civilization, without someone trying to stab her in her sleep needs to be able to show off a Penitent's mark. And any Penitent who wants to wander freely has to become what's officially known as a "missionary", rather than just calling it what it is, "a monster who isn't going to kill you". So you put up with it, you go around "helping" people and obeying the Code.

In fact you probably do legitimately help people. You just go around as you please from town to town, fixing broken limbs and injuries for people who generally aren't willing to test the limits of your piety by stiffing you on the bill. It'd be a pretty good gig if you could do it part time, instead of being bound full-time by the Code.

Ugh, the Code. "Unless given specific orders from above, a Penitent may not use any powers he or she possesses on any but a fully willing recipient, and shall not harm or kill any thinking being." Self defense is allowed to be performed with nonlethal force, but the only real exception to the rule is if you stumble on someone pretending to be a Penitent, or who you know for a fact to have repeatedly broken the Code. Because apparently in the Grand Penitent's Grand Vision, humans need to be able to trust you guys, at a glance, and surely that's all it'd take to ice over centuries of history. Truly, the self-delusion of the Grand Penitent knows no bound.

As it happens, while on the way to something resembling civilization, a city called Sprohm, you've spotted plumes of smoke in the distance. And not campfire- or bonfire-smoke either. It's building-smoke, all-my-worldly-possesions-and-probably-my-baby-too smoke. After enough time you can sort of tell. You weren't aware that there was even a village over there, so it's probably nothing more than a dozen dirt-poor straw huts huddled together, but if you veer off-course now you'll probably find some people willing to hand over all their dirt in exchange for your help.

**ShadoWKilleR** · 10-30-2010, 11:49 AM

What is her relation to Esther?

**Planet of the Japes** · 10-30-2010, 08:07 PM

Hmm. At first I was thinking, "Hey, considering how lethal our (Karen's) power is, what's to stop us from using it when we want and just making sure to leave no witnesses alive?

On the other hand, if people start finding a lot of guys whose heads have exploded, they'll probably start thinking "Hmm, it might have been the faerie who has the power to explode heads." Oh well. On the plus side, the term 'non-lethal force' is ripe for abuse.

What kind of familial relations do faeries have anyway?

**Brickman** · 10-30-2010, 09:35 PM

>What is her relation to Esther?

With who?

> What's to stop us from using it when we want and just making sure to leave no witnesses alive?

Oh, don't be fooled. Your power's a bit more versatile than exploding heads, and you have killed people since joining the Penitents. Fewer, but some. But the threat of violence was always way more useful than actual violence, and that is completely out the door.

> What kind of familial relations do faeries have anyway?

Most of the time, none. Fairies sort of spring into the world fully formed; some humans have written books trying to figure out why they do but for the most part none of you care. Occasionally two or even three appear at once with the same power, and you've taken after the humans by calling them sisters. Most of them just go on to ignore each other, since teaming up would be totally redundant, but you've heard stories of some who did work together and some who killed each other. Certainly you, Karen, don't have any such siblings to worry about; your power is totally your own.

**Dragon Fogel** · 10-30-2010, 09:48 PM

>Investigate the smoke.

**Brickman** · 10-31-2010, 11:53 AM

>Investigate the smoke.

Might as well. You're more likely to find something interesting over there than in Sprohm, and it's probably less than a day's detour anyways. About two hours later, you arrive in the village.

It's about how you expected. Half the buildings are torched or half-torched, and while a few people are running around with supplies most are just wandering around dejectedly. The least-pathetic building, which you guess to be the house of whatever passes for a leader here, is mostly intact, as is a building that people keep bringing what you assume to be medical supplies to (mostly just bandages and booze). Either one would be a good choice for going to first.

People are already eying you funny, from a distance, and conversation dies as soon as they spot you. Yeah, that's right. Just because this code has got you by the wings doesn't mean these guys can stop considering you important.

**ShadoWKilleR** · 10-31-2010, 03:01 PM

> Investigate what has happened, make sure they can see your shiny badge.

**Brickman** · 11-01-2010, 11:20 AM

> Investigate what has happened, make sure they can see your shiny badge.

You're not really sure how you could go about making it more obvious than it already is. Well, you could wear clothing that doesn't cover the one tattooed on your arm, but come on! It's cold in this region. Anyways, you're pretty sure everybody is noticing it, since none of them are screaming, running away or seeking weapons.

Anyways, if you want to know what happened seeking out the leader is your best bet.

Indeed, the slightly-less-poor-looking house contains a man behind a desk covered with paperwork (This dirt-hole has to contain at least one person literate enough to make sure they've got enough food and tax money each year), wearing a sash that you assume denotes relative authority. He drops the stack of papers he was holding when he spots you; a glance shows that at least one was a request to the mayor of Sprohm for supplies in light of this disaster. You've met the man before, and can safely say that's not gonna happen.

You inquire as to what happened, and he tells you about a raid by a bunch of orcs. Rather boring, and you're left debating whether or not you should try to heal the captured ones. More interestingly, he tells you about a fairy who showed up just before; she offered help defending from the attack in exchange for some unnamed price, and when they somehow managed to capture and lock her up she applied some form of mind control to escape her cell and prevent the jailer from reporting it for nearly an hour. She left without collecting, but one of the young men in the village, whose name you can't suppress a giggle at, acted strangely after the attack and left with a horse about the same time the fairy vanished. He told others he was going to Sprohm.

You inquire more about the fairy. He starts describing her as best he can, but after a few sentences you're describing her to him as he nods his head. That fairy was none other than the infamous Mind Eater. How exciting! And unfortunately for her, you happen to be entirely aware of her little... "condition". Not that that means you can throw caution to the wind, but you'll definitely have the upper hand should you meet, and she probably won't remember your last encounter.

Much as you want to pay her back for that, you still need to come up with a loophole in the Code to allow you to do so. And you still ought to do something about the people injured in this attack.

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