This/Lost ones song - Revision history

Apheori: /* Line */

2016-11-03T23:23:54Z

Line

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:23, 3 November 2016
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	== Line ==		== Line ==

			After the return, she wasn't silent. Not really. Not entirely. She said one thing in the moment before she died. Hell if I know what.

			----

	"You'll have to stop me," she whispered in his ear, just as the whole world came crashing back. "Make it good."		"You'll have to stop me," she whispered in his ear, just as the whole world came crashing back. "Make it good."

Apheori at 23:23, 3 November 2016

2016-11-03T23:23:16Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:23, 3 November 2016
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	There were two things on this topic that Kyrule didn't know - that his scythe was one of the only weapons that existed that indeed ''could'' slay a god, and that Eapherod, technically, wasn't exactly a normal god. Having already been slain, she could hardly be slain again.		There were two things on this topic that Kyrule didn't know - that his scythe was one of the only weapons that existed that indeed ''could'' slay a god, and that Eapherod, technically, wasn't exactly a normal god. Having already been slain, she could hardly be slain again.

			== Line ==

			"You'll have to stop me," she whispered in his ear, just as the whole world came crashing back. "Make it good."

	== The soul ==		== The soul ==

Apheori: Apheori moved page This/Lost ones' song to This/Lost ones song: ' bug

2015-10-16T21:10:02Z

Apheori moved page This/Lost ones' song to This/Lost ones song: ' bug

← Older revision

Revision as of 21:10, 16 October 2015

Apheori: /* The soul */

2015-07-22T23:20:54Z

The soul

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:20, 22 July 2015
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	It had always been the right before.		It had always been the right before.

	A moment later, the door opened, and a priest of the Black ushered them in. The two guards escorted Vardaman into the centre. The rest ~~remaining~~ outside.		A moment later, the door opened, and a priest of the Black ushered them in. The two guards escorted Vardaman into the centre. The rest remained outside.

	The room was nothing like what it had been when the old god had reigned, when it had been Vardaman presiding. Now the symbols were broken, desecrated with black gore, and indeed the priest's robes were stained through with the stuff. The floor was covered in black. Only a simple stone altar took up the centre of the space before them, but this was a much more familiar colour - a dull brown. Blood. The blood of his brothers, of his people.		The room was nothing like what it had been when the old god had reigned, when it had been Vardaman presiding. Now the symbols were broken, desecrated with black gore, and indeed the priest's robes were stained through with the stuff. The floor was covered in black. Only a simple stone altar took up the centre of the space before them, but this was a much more familiar colour - a dull brown. Blood. The blood of his brothers, of his people.
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	They stopped before the high doors doors of the ritual chamber, the guards spreading out, two remaining with Vardaman once more, another knocking, booming, once, twice, with the long metal knocker at the right door.		They stopped before the high doors doors of the ritual chamber, the guards spreading out, two remaining with Vardaman once more, another knocking, booming, once, twice, with the long metal knocker at the right door.

	A moment later, the door opened, and a priest of the Black ushered them in. The two guards escorted Vardaman into the centre. The rest ~~remaining~~ outside.		A moment later, the door opened, and a priest of the Black ushered them in. The two guards escorted Vardaman into the centre. The rest remained outside.

	He hardly remembered what the room had been like in his own time. Now, the blackness, the desecration, was all it was. A place of broken death, that altar that took up everything. That feeling.		He hardly remembered what the room had been like in his own time. Now, the blackness, the desecration, was all it was. A place of broken death, that altar that took up everything. That feeling.
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	When she returned to Kyrule, Rahah said, "You did not believe me. I will show you." And she presented him the soul.		When she returned to Kyrule, Rahah said, "You did not believe me. I will show you your truth." And she presented him the soul.

Apheori: /* The soul */

2015-07-22T22:33:07Z

The soul

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:33, 22 July 2015
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	The black priest nodded, and the guards held Vardaman's head down to the altar with surprising gentleness, and then he could feel its cold roughness digging into his forehead, smell the blood of those he had tried so hard to protect, only to ultimately fail them all. Now, he had even failed Kyrule.		The black priest nodded, and the guards held Vardaman's head down to the altar with surprising gentleness, and then he could feel its cold roughness digging into his forehead, smell the blood of those he had tried so hard to protect, only to ultimately fail them all. Now, he had even failed Kyrule.

	"~~Fuck~~," he breathed.		"No," he breathed. But it was too late.

	Then there was the strangeness of the spike at the base of his skull, and the clang, and impossible pain, and then nothing at all.		Then there was the strangeness of the spike at the base of his skull, and the clang, and impossible pain, and then nothing at all.

Apheori: /* The soul */

2015-07-22T22:28:42Z

The soul

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:28, 22 July 2015
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	"Fuck," Vardaman whispered.		"Fuck," Vardaman whispered.

	The guards kneeled on either side of the altar, forcing ~~Vardman~~ to his knees before it as well.		The guards kneeled on either side of the altar, forcing Vardaman to his knees before it as well.

	"Vardaman, High Priest of Kyrule," the priest said, standing over them. "Had you simply come forward in the beginning, we could have avoided so much blood, so much suffering. So many souls condemned only to slow the dying of a passing god." And then he listed the names. Not many, and by no means all, but a few. Enough to drive the message home. Enough to drive a spike into Vardaman's heart with each successive name, each building upon the last.		"Vardaman, High Priest of Kyrule," the priest said, standing over them. "Had you simply come forward in the beginning, we could have avoided so much blood, so much suffering. So many souls condemned only to slow the dying of a passing god." And then he listed the names. Not many, and by no means all, but a few. Enough to drive the message home. Enough to drive a spike into Vardaman's heart with each successive name, each building upon the last.
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	The guards spotted her as she left the courtyard, and rose hands to cast, but she cut them down with her own magic, immediate and devastating. She needed no gestures, no motions to do this, even if Shalias - because that was her character's name, yes - did. The magic was the same however it was cast.		The guards spotted her as she left the courtyard, and rose hands to cast, but she cut them down with her own magic, immediate and devastating. She needed no gestures, no motions to do this, even if Shalias - because that was her character's name, yes - did. The magic was the same however it was cast.

	Shalias was a warlock. She didn't shift the world around her by dreaming it, she hurled vast energies a those who opposed her, twisting and reshaping ''them''.		Shalias was a warlock. She didn't shift the world around her by dreaming it, she hurled vast energies at those who opposed her, twisting and reshaping ''them''.

	Rahah hurried on, but then there were more guards, so she hurled curses at them, breaking their minds, their bodies, their souls.		Rahah hurried on, but then there were more guards, so she hurled curses at them, breaking their minds, their bodies, their souls.
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	"Vardaman!" Rahah yelled, and hurled another slew of curses at the black priest.		"Vardaman!" Rahah yelled, and hurled another slew of curses at the black priest.

	"Shalias? What? No!" Vardaman said, turning, but as hard as he tried, the guards prevented him from getting up entirely, still holding him.		"Shalias? What? No!" Vardaman said, turning, but as hard as he tried, the guards prevented him from getting up entirely, still holding him down.

	The priest, meanwhile, simply waved her curses aside and threw lightning right back. It knocked her clear off her feet, and then she could hardly move, let alone respond.		The priest, meanwhile, simply waved her curses aside and threw lightning right back. It knocked her clear off her feet, and then she could hardly move, let alone respond.
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	"Yes," Rahah said.		"Yes," Rahah said.

	"Say it," he said. ~~"You reject Kyrule."~~		"Say it in full," he said.

	"I reject Kyrule," Rahah said. "I reject him, all that he stands for, all of his teachings. I set aside his stories, and reject even the name. Kyrule does not exist."		"I reject Kyrule," Rahah said. "I reject him, all that he stands for, all of his teachings. I set aside his stories, and reject even the name. Kyrule does not exist."
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	She tried killing Vardaman ahead of time. Reset.		She tried killing Vardaman ahead of time. Reset.

	She tried killing the black priest, but then guards brought her down and took the ritual into their own hands, and then it was that same cold spike sliding into her neck. Reset.		She tried killing the black priest, but then the guards brought her down and took the ritual into their own hands, and then it was that same cold spike sliding into her neck. Reset.

	She tried yelling at Vardaman, but that simply brought the guards in that much sooner.		She tried yelling at Vardaman, but that simply brought the guards in that much sooner.
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	The two other guards disarmed and bound Vardaman, and he looked at her pleadingly, shaking his head.		The two other guards disarmed and bound Vardaman, and he looked at her pleadingly, shaking his head.

	She smiled sadly. Her lip quivered slightly.		She smiled sadly. Her lip quivered slightly. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

			As the guards took him away, Vardaman said, "My soul for hers."

			"A good trade in the eyes of the God of Death," the guard said.

			"Not my God of Death," Vardaman said. "Not mine."

			"I'm sorry," the guard said.

			And then the door closed and locked behind them, leaving Rahah alone once more.

			And so she sat and waited. There was nothing else to do.



			Joined now by a full contingent of guards, they brought him through the citadel at a steady pace. Despite his restraints, Vardaman held his head high as he passed through the halls of his captors, his old people. A few saluted, even using the old forms, the symbols of the old god, and one bowed. The guards did nothing to stop it. They knew where he was going. They could allow him this last respect, and they were not the inquisitors.

			They stopped before the high doors doors of the ritual chamber, the guards spreading out, two remaining with Vardaman once more, another knocking, booming, once, twice, with the long metal knocker at the right door.

			A moment later, the door opened, and a priest of the Black ushered them in. The two guards escorted Vardaman into the centre. The rest remaining outside.

			He hardly remembered what the room had been like in his own time. Now, the blackness, the desecration, was all it was. A place of broken death, that altar that took up everything. That feeling.

			That dread.

			"Fuck," Vardaman whispered.

			The guards kneeled on either side of the altar, forcing Vardaman to his knees before it as well.

			"Vardaman, High Priest of Kyrule," the priest said, standing over them. "Had you simply come forward in the beginning, we could have avoided so much blood, so much suffering. So many souls condemned only to slow the dying of a passing god." And then he listed the names, each one enough to drive the message home. Enough to drive a spike into Vardaman's heart with each successive name, building upon the last.

			"I am here now," Vardaman said finally.

			"Peledeska requires one more soul," the priest said.

			Vardaman took a deep breath and said, "I give it willingly." He almost choked on the words, but this had to be done. There was no going back.

			"And you, the High Priest, now reject Kyrule and all that he stands for?" the priest asked.

			"I do," Vardaman whispered.

			"Say it in full," the black priest said.

			"I, Vardaman, High Priest, reject Kyrule," Vardaman said. "I..." he choked. He couldn't continue.

			Standing over him, the priest nodded, waiting for him to finish.

			"I reject Kyrule," Vardaman repeated, trying again. "I reject him and all that he stands for. I reject the teachings and the stories and even the name. I take back the words, the rituals, the sacrifices given. I take back my own name, for Kyrule is dead, and he is not mine."

			"Peledeska welcomes your sacrifice, and thanks you," the priest said.

			"I give myself to Peledeska, and I give her my name," Vardaman whispered. "Ense Vardaman." Undo everything. Seal the deal.

			The black priest nodded, and the guards held Vardaman's head down to the altar with surprising gentleness, and then he could feel its cold roughness digging into his forehead, smell the blood of those he had tried so hard to protect, only to ultimately fail them all. Now, he had even failed Kyrule.

			"Fuck," he breathed.

			Then there was the strangeness of the spike at the base of his skull, and the clang, and impossible pain, and then nothing at all.



			The dream did not reset. As the birds warbled and then the dawn's rays tickled the window, Rahah knew. He had done it.

			She broke into tears, sobbing into her knees, mourning the betrayal and the loss, the sacrifice greater than all others. The beautiful strength, the terror, the release. She had done this to him. He had been able to do it to himself.

			Later, she stepped out of the dream entirely, and the crystal maze greeted her with its alien loveliness, glittering from all angles, the souls suspended within gleaming and glowing in their condemnation. One, however, was still, and so she took the soul of Ense Vardaman carefully in her hands, slipping it from its placement, and stepping backwards out of the maze entirely.



			When she returned to Kyrule, Rahah said, "You did not believe me. I will show you." And she presented him the soul.

Apheori: /* The soul */

2015-07-22T20:14:18Z

The soul

Show changes

Apheori: /* The soul */

2015-07-21T02:26:25Z

The soul

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:26, 21 July 2015
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	There were more guards waiting for her, but these were specific models, not simply the same one over and over like the ones before. These were real, to the dream, guarding a pair of high stone doors with long metal knockers, and they drew when she approached, not even waiting, flinging their magic her way.		There were more guards waiting for her, but these were specific models, not simply the same one over and over like the ones before. These were real, to the dream, guarding a pair of high stone doors with long metal knockers, and they drew when she approached, not even waiting, flinging their magic her way.
	~~aking it with her, drawing it out and with as she seeped through the cracks of the doors.~~
	She threw up a ward, but she was already exhausted, and it faltered almost immediately. In a panic, she turned to mist herself instead, and the blasts went through, mostly, weakening her even further, but she flew at them and boiled the water in their blood, drawing it out and with as she seeped through the cracks of the doors.		She threw up a ward, but she was already exhausted, and it faltered almost immediately. In a panic, she turned to mist herself instead, and the blasts went through, mostly, weakening her even further, but she flew at them and boiled the water in their blood, drawing it out and with as she seeped through the cracks of the doors.

Apheori: Vardaman

2015-07-21T02:03:31Z

Vardaman

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Apheori: Dump

2014-11-30T04:56:34Z

Dump

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:56, 30 November 2014
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	But not remember.		But not remember.



			== The Return ==

			{{q\|Death puts holes in things. In families, in communities. Places where a person was, and no longer is.}}

			She smiled.

			She never spoke. Throughout it all, she never said a word.

			Only smiled.



			They came through into utter chaos. As the worlds flooded back in all their noise and need, the other gods descended, reality made manifest, emblematic of everything that had been lost. Everything that was just the same as it had ever been.

			Eapherod beside him smiled with all her love, the mask contrasting its swirls and intricacies against her serene expression.

			Everything was as it was. Everything was different now.

			She removed the mask and pressed it to his face, his own mask falling away, and suddenly he knew. He understood. He took the mask and backed away, then, with no hesitation, turned on her, fighting her, to tear her down, holding nothing back in the onslaught. She fought back, of course, and indeed she had always been the stronger, but all he had to do was stop her, slow her down. He reminded himself of this, and made it real. The details didn't matter.

			Then the other gods were upon them, joining in, backing him, tearing at her, beating her down, and she could not face them all, though she tried, pushing forward, away, fighting with everything she had. They fought, a few fell, until she had nothing left, and fell herself, defeated before them.

			The others backed away, leaving the final act to him. His burden, his responsibility. His trust betrayed, his insight that had seen it through. That was what they believed. That was how it must be.



			She said nothing as he bound her down, nothing as he pressed for answers, threatening with pain and death as the other gods looked on, nothing as he stripped away every defence she had left until only the naked Eapherod remained.

			So they held her for a time and waited. She let herself be held as they took her somewhere where there could be no question of escape, where she could not move nor act. She let her dreams be searched, her realm dismantled, her sphinxes displaced. Her followers taken from her.

			She said nothing, only sat and waited too, powerless, unmoving, silent.



			Finally the other gods called for judgement.

			He asked what the judgement should be.

			She has gone too far, they said. End her, they said.

			Still she said nothing, and he pleaded for mercy on her behalf, arguing, begging, making offers of his own.

			They refused.

			So he slew her, for even in his sorrow he obeyed. But the tears were real, even as she smiled up at him, even as he brought the scythe down, even as she fell once more, an empty form, unanswering, unseeing.

			He broke down and sobbed, for the sorrow was more real than anything they'd seen, anything that could yet come to pass. The sorrow and the guilt that would eat at him for an eternity. What he had done, and done nothing to stop. His own hands. His own will. His own power. It was all real, and present, and it would not fade.

			But it wasn't over. It hadn't even begun.

			== Note on gods ==

			Eapherod was a god, and the thing with gods is that without a proper weapon, you can't just slay them. Need to take them apart, keep them from reforming, scatter the pieces throughout the realms.

			There were two things on this topic that Kyrule didn't know - that his scythe was one of the only weapons that existed that indeed ''could'' slay a god, and that Eapherod, technically, wasn't exactly a normal god. Having already been slain, she could hardly be slain again.