etcelsior | A for effort though

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A for effort though

TEST DRIVE MEME

Considering apping into MASK OR MENACE? Want to dip your toes into the setting and get a feel of whether your character will fit into it? Or maybe you're just cruising and want to play around? Then you've come to the right place!

Pick any of the following scenarios below or feel free to make up your own, but don't be afraid to throw yourself at someone else's thread, either!

And remember to have fun!

01. Your memory might be a haze still and you might even feel frustrated or anxious by the sudden news that you are no longer in your own world and that the Porter scientists and military cannot send you back. You don't get a chance to linger long in the underground Porter lab, but something is clearly amiss; light patches on the floor indicate something else used to sit in that spot in the room. Parts of the wall, floor and the tables look as if they have been refurbished in the past few months -- something happened in here some time ago. Something big.

You're ushered out quickly and then suddenly, you're enveloped in a faint blue blue light before you find yourself under the bright Floridian sun. Another soldier steps toward you with a smile, directing your attention to a car near a large gate. She mentions she'll be debriefing you soon, handing out a brown folder and a pamphlet. You don't see the digital tattoo on your wrist, but it's quickly explained on your way over to the car as you realize there are other confused faces nearby, all holding files of their own.

02. The city of Heropa is what one might expect from a small, bright and cheery place. The locals are friendly enough and local shop owners might offer a free drink to help cool you down in this awfully nauseating heat. Some of the locals might thank you for always lending your service to the nation and others might not say anything. In fact, some people might back away from any imPort who quite obviously looks like they aren't from around the neighborhood. Once in a while there's a look of disdain on someone's face and hushed voices. Something about "the outbreak" and "the government's gotta crack down on their medical files". "Some of them can't be right in the head" says another.

03. De Chima, Virginia, is a large city with a healthy economy, and though it's quieter, there are just as many citizens awed at your presence. Heavy winds have people grasping at their newspapers and constantly brushing hair out of their faces, but that doesn't distract them from crowding you in excitement if you're obviously from a different time or world, or just let it slip that you're a newcomer. Children and young teenagers are especially likely to ask for an autograph and a photo.

Some locals seem less enthused to see you. They never make an approach, but they can be overheard scoffing and muttering something about cameras. "Who do they think they are?" or "I don't like it... it reminds me of the government corruption back in the eighties." What could they be talking about?

04. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania, is normally known for being a little more on the apathetic side, but there's been tension in the atmosphere lately. Nobody will outright state what it is that's rustled their jimmies, though you might find a newsstand with articles on recent and aggressive vigilante behavior within the city. "ImPorts: loyal to the cause of their own?" reads one newspaper article.

People are not as friendly in this city and go out of their way to avoid walking down the same sidewalk as the more obvious looking imPorts pass through. Local cops say nothing, but they scowl at those imPorts and utter something about "no badges" and "acting like authority figures".

05. Nonah, North Carolina, is the liveliest of all cities. It's loud, busy and there's some kind of energy in the air that gets everyone buzzing with excitement. Anyone who they come to determine an imPort is bombarded with all sorts of offers; job offers, advertising gigs, spokesperson for advocating children stay in school, etc. Anything and everything! You name it. Shops offer discounts for food and clothing, whatever they need. People flock in droves with questions, but they all say the same thing. Thank you for your service to this country, Hero. You saved a lot of lives. Wow, feels great to be a hero, doesn't it?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Apparently, you are. [The speaker is another teenager- an unusually tall, and unnaturally pale one, whose outfit is fairly normal looking, aside from the sword at her hip.]

If you weren't, I would know. That device is capable of... well, of several things that should be impossible, true revival among them.

[She flexes her fingers a few more times before she looks up.]

That's impossible. Not even the most powerful necromantic magic can truly revive the dead.

[She'd been brought back, certainly. Just not the same. She presses her hands together suddenly and smiles.]

...I didn't really remember what warm felt like.

To be honest, speaking as a necromancer- I'm not sure what the machine does counts as actual necromancy. Bringing someone back to true life, regardless of the circumstances is...

[Sabriel stops, and blinks.]

Oh- did someone er- raise you? I'm sorry. [Sabriel's tone is sincere and deeply apologetic- to her, it's one of the crueler things to do to a person.]

Mm. [She would have accepted that apology, long ago. But now she just shakes her head.] Don't be. It was necessary, as much as I might have hated at the time. And I've grown somewhat more...complicated since then.

[A beat, and her eyes narrow in thought as she examines him more closely.]

Did you say you're a necromancer? From where? Do you serve the Mother Namtaru?

Something you still had to do?

Oh- from the Old Kingdom. I'm an Abhorsen, we serve the Charter- making sure things pass on, and the Dead don't prey upon the living. Who's Namtaru?

No. Well. [A thin smile.] As much as vengeance can be obligation, yes. [It's said with a kind of wry humor, the sort of view that can only come with the passage of years or distance.]

She's...the spider aspect of the dragon god Asha. She helps to counsel those of us who mediate between the living and the dead. You've never heard of her? I mean, admittedly the cult is not what it was but it hasn't been that long.

[Still, she'd never heard of an Abhorsen, but she wasn't going to admit that just yet. Still, two worlds was enough, if she was from yet a third...]

Edited 2015-09-27 02:31 (UTC)

It probably doesn't exist in other worlds- we're all from different ones. I mean, does your necromancy work through music? Do your Dead feed on the lives of others? [The last one is something of a sticking point for Sabriel. Having undead that aren't actively trying to kill people- that don't need to- is strange to her.]

So necromancers in your world don't kill people?

That will certainly take some getting used to.

[She seemed to try and gather her thoughts before she answered. Necromancy wasn't really discussed much with people who didn't really know about it.]

No, they are held in the sway of the necromancer who raises them. They were more an extension of their necromancer's will. So no more dangerous than...well, whoever was controlling them. Aside from the vampires, anyway, they do whatever they want.

[She almost said 'we' but caught herself. No sense spilling all her secrets.]

It's just another form of magic. Not a school I particularly wanted to learn, but necessary.

[And she'd been frighteningly good at it.]

Ah- no individual spirits? In the Old Kingdom the Dead- whether risen of their own accord, or brought back by a necromancer- are the spirits of the departed, sometimes housed in corpses. Either type can be brought under the power of a necromancer- but free or bound, all need to kill the living on a regular basis- to remain in the world of Life, they need to steal life from the living.

I was... eager to learn, at first. Because my father was a necromancer, and I admired him. Then I was less eager, but I understood the necessity.

[And had also found a disturbing affinity for it- to the point where she hadn't even needed her instruments to restore a rabbit to life.]

It...depends. [She sighed.] It's all a bit more complicated than can simply be explained in a conversation. I mean, depending on the ritual, you might end with...well, me. I was hardly under anyone's control by then, just myself but...different.

[She shifted a bit.]

On the other hand, when raising a ghoul, my aunt always preferred to use the soul of a murderer. She thought of it as a punishment for them, because they had no free will at all. And of course skeletons were even different from that, because how much soul they have is something of an ongoing debate. I-

[She caught herself and drew in a breath, then rolled her eyes.]

Sorry. I can get a bit carried away. But there isn't really a straight answer, I'm afraid.

Ah. Ritual in general is more of a Charter magic thing- which I also use. But necromancy is a type of Free magic- it's mostly a matter of will, raw power, and musical skill. But what did your aunt do if no such souls were available?

Trust me- I, and every mage I've met here, will go on about their magic if you let them. We dedicate our lives to studying magic- of course we like talking about it with people who share our interest.

Once you understand the rituals, it becomes something like that. Force of will. I hardly even have to think about it anymore.

[Her face narrows.]

I suppose it says something about my world that there were always suitable souls available.

[At the talk of magic, she looks at her hands again.]

I suppose I could show you though...I'm not really sure it would work anymore. I've never tried it...well, while I was alive.

[If she was alive, was she a priestess again? No...she could still feel the magic inside her somewhere.]

I wouldn't object. [Sabriel's tone manages to be both encouraging... and a little suspicious. Most necromancers, without the Charter to shield them from the effects of their own magic, end up degenerating into megalomaniac sadists, regardless of how good their intentions were at first.]

Hmm. [She hasn't had cause to show off in quite a while, but after she makes the offer she realizes she isn't entirely sure how. They clearly aren't near anything resembling a graveyard, which was probably for the best as she doubted people would be fine with a shambling skeleton following her around. But perhaps something smaller...]

[It wasn't hard for her to find the tiny body, a few weeks dead, thirty or forty feet away. She just stretched out her mind and...there it was. So she could still sense death, that was something. Although she felt a wave of cold come over her as she did so, which made her hesitate.]

[Still, she'd offered, and she did need to see if her magic still worked. So she closed her eyes and lifted her hand, gesturing away from the pair of them, concentrating on the tiny former life. A swirl of green energy appeared around her fingers and leapt away, darting into the tall grass on the edge of the wide lot they were in and piecing together....something?]

[The cold grew worse as she worked, but she would have stopped if she had been aware of the outward change it caused. Unfortunately she was too far into the process by the time she realized what was happening. As the magic slid away, her skin grew sallow and far more pale, closer to the bone, and if he really could sense undead, then she would've suddenly been setting off every radar.]

[When, thirty seconds later, she held out her arm, there was a flurry of activity and a skeletal bird, probably a pigeon, burst from the grass and flew over to land on her forearm, bone claws digging into her sleeve. She turned back to the other woman and opened her eyes, her dark, glowing, green eyes.]

There. [The skeletal bird cawed in triumph, but Stacya's smile was sad.]

I suspect I don't want to look in a mirror right now, do I.

[Sabriel feels it- like and unlike the necromancy she's familiar with- not quite as caustic, but she feels the same chill. Especially as she feels the woman in front of her shift from life to death, and a small spirit being dragged from Death- or whatever passed for it here- into Life.]

No, you don't.

[Sabriel looked at the bird, and tried very hard not to think of gore-crows.

Still, as unnerving as it was, as much as some part of Sabriel (a large part)- wanted to run for her bells, she offered a smile that was more of a grimace.]

Er- do you mind? I want to try sending it back.

[Anastasya looked at her hands again, flexing the paler fingers now.]

I wonder if they gave me something and I already ruined it. [A tired laugh.] That would certainly be appropriate.

[At the request though, she shifted a bit and held out her arm. The bird cackled twice, shifting on her arm, head tilted to the side as it peered at Sabriel with it's empty eye sockets.]

You're welcome to try, it's just a bird.

Edited 2015-09-28 01:26 (UTC)

[Sabriel starts singing- no words, just notes accompanied by an unearthly sense of power, that echo and resound in the air longer than natural sound really should- and while beautiful, the sound is isn't something that a human throat can naturally produce.

It's focused on the bird, so Anastasya will feel only a slight tug, the echo of an order to rest, pass on, go- but the bird starts falling apart, bones dropping to the ground as what's still connected shifts and settles like it's about to fall asleep before it drops to the ground.

By the time the Sabriel shuts her mouth and the echoes stop, there's a small pile of bones on the ground between them.]

[Anastasya's nose wrinkles at that strange tug, and she has to resist the urge to take a step backwards, away from the woman and whatever she was doing.]

[The bird doesn't struggle, it just flaps it's bone wings a few times before it seems to let itself fall apart, and Stasya drops her arm back to her side once it's gone.]

Impressive. Although I think I felt a bit of that myself, too. I hope you aren't intending to send me to the dirt.

[As she speaks, now that she's no longer concentrating, does her skin look a bit less deathly pale? It's hard to tell, but maybe...]

No- given the nanites, even if I wanted to, it would be a waste of effort. [Sabriel notices- mostly because something Dead returning to true life is not something she's ever experienced- reviving the recently dead is something entirely different.]

Wait- don't do any magic for a little while. There's something...

What's a nanite? [There's a word she's never heard anything even like before. At the rest of it though, she frowns.]

Why? I mean, there's nothing else I'm feeling an urge to revive but...

[She is definitely less pale. But she doesn't seem to be feeling it herself yet. And the green in her eyes is fading.]

Tiny machines- they've been injected into our bodies, and revive people- fully, regardless of how they died. It's supposedly science, but anyway I- think you're coming back to life.

Tiny machines inside your body. [This is the most skeptical expression. Because that sounds even crazier than everything else going on, honestly. But there were clearly more important things to discuss.]

I...what?

[Now that she was paying attention, she could sort of feel it happening. At least, the chill was fading. She found herself looking at her hands again, watching the color flow back into her fingers.]

This is impossible.

I know. [Well, it wasn't like Sabriel was incapable of such a feat- but only with the recently dead. And to go from unlife to true life was, as far as she knew, utterly impossible.]

And yet revivals that should be impossible aren't unusual here.

I...[She doesn't answer, she just draws in a breath she suddenly needs and shakes her head. This had to be impossible. You didn't come back from being raised, and you especially didn't come back from taking the kiss of the Mother Namtaru. Yet she could feel it going away.]

Maybe...it's an illusion?

[It certainly felt real, but still..]

My senses aren't fooled that easily. Especially not that one.

Although with how little we know about Death in this world, I suppose it's not entirely out of the question.

A for effort though

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