API tools faq
paste
Advertisement
oniwaka21

the void

oniwaka21
Oct 9th, 2016
144
0
Never
Add comment
Not a member of Pastebin yet? Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!
text 14.04 KB | None | 0 0
raw download clone embed print report
  1. 01[22:27] <@SpaceThor> Carter's got some time alone to attend to things...and Tara's parting message has been bouncing around in his head in the weeks since their last meeting. It's time to make a decision.
  2. [22:31] <Feldi> Carter excuses himself from the house, the statue weighing down his jacket. He wanders a while before finding some forgotten back alley, to ensure no one wanders in like Dolores had that morning. He takes the statue in hand and points it at a box, concentrating on sending it...elsewhere. Tara had said that would be all it took to call her, if she was telling the truth.
  3. 01[22:32] <@SpaceThor> It takes some effort. It doesn't work at first, but some time and concentration later, and you feel something change. Reality spins, shearing itself apart as you're sucked into inky blackness.
  4. 01[22:33] <@SpaceThor> You find yourself on a beach, sitting on sugar-sand under the twilight and burning stars above, and inky black ocean beyond you.
  5. 01[22:33] <@SpaceThor> A ship sinks slowly in the distance, how a ship got here, and why it's sinking is beyond you.
  6. [22:36] <Feldi> Carter swallows his fear and stands, turning around to look at what might border this whitest of beaches.
  7. 01[22:36] <@SpaceThor> It all stretches infinitely beyond. Shapeless. Unchanging.
  8. 01[22:37] <@SpaceThor> A voice comes from behind you. 0,1"FAMILIAR."
  9. [22:40] <Feldi> Carter slowly looks over his shoulder.
  10. 01[22:41] <@SpaceThor> The shape from before, accompanying Tara as she left, is standing behind you. Its shapes make no sense, jagged, shattered light giving way to wispy tendrils that rapidly fade into nonexistence. Its four yellow eyes stare into you as it awaits you.
  11. [22:43] <Feldi> Carter turns the rest of his body to face this thing. His hands are quivering but his legs don't run, just yet. "Hey there...boy?" Carter attempts.
  12. 01[22:44] <@SpaceThor> 0,1"NO BOY."
  13. [22:45] <Feldi> "Oh...so where's Tara? She said she'd be here."
  14. 01[22:46] <@SpaceThor> 0,1"FOLLOW."
  15. 01[22:47] <@SpaceThor> It walks through you, all ten feet of it, and begins to wade out into the midnight ocean.
  16. [22:48] <Feldi> "...." Carter turns and follows the monster. There's little other option. He doesn't even know the way back.
  17. 01[22:50] <@SpaceThor> It wades into the ocean, sinking deeper and deeper until he just...disappears.
  18. [22:51] <Feldi> Carter finds himself treading pitch-black water over where the monster disappeared. He waits there for a minute, waiting for something. Surely he wasn't supposed to dive after that thing?
  19. 01[22:52] <@SpaceThor> After a moment of waiting, unreality dissolves again, and you tumble back into reality. Tara sits on a table nearby, amused, while the Nothing Beast sits in a corner, nearly invisible.
  20. 01[22:53] <@SpaceThor> "Welcome, young'un. How was the trip?"
  21. [22:55] <Feldi> "Strange. I wasn't expecting to be guided by..." Carter casts a nervous glance at the beast before turning back to Tara.
  22. 01[22:56] <@SpaceThor> She chuckles. "He was back there already when you came, so I just had him do it. Convenience and all. So, you made a decision, hun?"
  23. [22:59] <Feldi> "Yes. I want to learn about that place. Whatever it is. The things Ms. Dolores, Redson and the others are doing...I think I need to know more so I can do more for them."
  24. 01[22:59] <@SpaceThor> "Philanthropist, hm? Well, truth is you haven't made the decision yet. You've made a decision, yes, but you'll need to learn a lot more before you make the one that really matters."
  25. [23:01] <Feldi> Carter frowns. "What does that mean?"
  26. 01[23:01] <@SpaceThor> "It means you have more to learn before you make the committment you think you're ready for now."
  27. 01[23:03] <@SpaceThor> "But speakin' of which, we can start on the learning now."
  28. [23:05] <Feldi> "They're not expecting me back before dinner so I have a few hours."
  29. 01[23:07] <@SpaceThor> She laughs. "Lesson one. Time travels funny in the void. I bet you missed dinner already." She walks to a window and draws the curtains, revealing the night sky of Malifaux, strange moons looking over the...sideways buildings.
  30. [23:09] <Feldi> "...I might be in trouble when I get back." Carter sighs. "Last time I went to the void, if felt like years but I was only gone for a minute. This time, I was in the void for a few minutes and now I've lost hours? That doesn't seem fair."
  31. 01[23:11] <@SpaceThor> She shrugs. "First lesson is to try to not fixate on the stuff that doesn't make sense. The void is the antithesis of us. It's everything we're not. It's something that's fundamentally alien."
  32. 01[23:12] <@SpaceThor> "You know how the void looks. The sky of fiery stars and the endless black ocean?"
  33. [23:13] <Feldi> "And the beach...there was a ship there this time."
  34. 01[23:14] <@SpaceThor> "Sometimes stuff like that'll be there. One time I saw a sea monster. All tentacles and beaks and whatnot. But that's not actually what the void looks like."
  35. 03[23:15] * Ira (Ira@sux-16FDFD38.nwrknj.fios.verizon.net) has joined #IntoQuarantineIC
  36. 03[23:15] * Ira (Ira@sux-16FDFD38.nwrknj.fios.verizon.net) has left #IntoQuarantineIC
  37. [23:16] <Feldi> "What does it look like?"
  38. 01[23:17] <@SpaceThor> She shrugs. "Dunno. Only one who does is Obliteration, and the Nothing Beast I guess, but he's not the real talkative type, as you probably saw."
  39. 01[23:17] <@SpaceThor> "The void is antithetical to us, so what we see when we're there is just what our minds can make sense of the whole thing."
  40. [23:18] <Feldi> "But we all see the same thing? Isn't that weird?"
  41. 01[23:19] <@SpaceThor> "Little bit, yeah. Though a few I've talked with who've been there see different things, though some of them aren't the most...reliable sorts."
  42. [23:20] <Feldi> "Oh...so what else do I need to know?"
  43. 01[23:21] <@SpaceThor> "This'll cover us to start. The void is something you can't understand, but you'll wield it all the same, so be careful and respectful of its power."
  44. 01[23:22] <@SpaceThor> "So, pull out that statue I gave you. We're gonna go for a walk."
  45. [23:23] <Feldi> Carter does as he's told. "A walk in the void?"
  46. 01[23:23] <@SpaceThor> "Nah, a walk out here."
  47. 01[23:24] <@SpaceThor> She opens the door to the dilapidated apartment. "Ever been out here to the Sink before?"
  48. [23:26] <Feldi> "No. I never came over this way."
  49. 01[23:27] <@SpaceThor> "Makes sense. Only two types come here, really." You go down the stairs, and you can feel that this building isn't level either, though less so than some of the buildings in the distance. "Some folks use this place as a hideout, lot of abandoned buildings in this western section, and not a lot of reason to be here otherwise."
  50. 01[23:28] <@SpaceThor> "And the second...well, they're a special level of foolhardy. This place is called the Sink because there's a giant sinkhole in the eastern part of the district. So big none of the buildings here are fully straight up an down. Some, out that way." She points. "Are just barely clinging to the ground, tilted like that tower in Italy or worse."
  51. [23:28] <Feldi> "Not many kids need a hideout"
  52. [23:29] <Feldi> "And I don't think many want one next to a giant hole."
  53. 01[23:30] <@SpaceThor> She nods. "Exactly. Now." She gets to a position where a smaller sinkhole yawns nearby. "These sinkholes all connect down to an ancient structure under the city folks call The Necropolis. Some say it's an exact mirror of the city, but upside down and hanging over a bottomless pit. Never seen it for myself to know the truth."
  54. 01[23:30] <@SpaceThor> "Folks occasionally find priceless artifacts of Old Malifaux down there, so there's a steady trade of adventuring types to go down there and try to find em. Not many come back. Fewer of those come back with anything worthwhile."
  55. [23:31] <Feldi> "Sounds like the library Ms. Dolores and the others are after, but with less books...who builds the new buildings down there that get built up here?"
  56. 01[23:32] <@SpaceThor> She shrugs. "Don't rightly know. There's a lot about this land nobody knows about. Now, let me see that statue real quick."
  57. [23:33] <Feldi> Carter hands the statue over. "There's a lot more mercenaries that I don't know too."
  58. 01[23:33] <@SpaceThor> She nods. "Now, watch close."
  59. 01[23:34] <@SpaceThor> Tara looks at the statue for a moment, then hurls it into the sinkhole.
  60. [23:35] <Feldi> "Ah! Why did you do that?!"
  61. 01[23:35] <@SpaceThor> "Here's your real first lesson about the void. That statue was a lie."
  62. 01[23:36] <@SpaceThor> "The statue was nothing. Just a statue, made of obsidian, but it had touched the void, and so it had that last glimmer of power to it. It's like a razor in a bag of apples."
  63. [23:36] <Feldi> Carter peers after the statue. "What? Why would you put a razor in a bag of apples?"
  64. 01[23:37] <@SpaceThor> "Most folks will never know the razor's there. They'll take their apple and walk away, ignorant that there was ever the slightest bit of danger to them."
  65. [23:37] <Feldi> Carters stares at Tara.
  66. 01[23:37] <@SpaceThor> "But every once in a while, someone'll get a nick sticking their hand in. And then they'll never look at a bag of apples the same way. The apples weren't special, and the razor wasn't special. But it changed everything in that person's mind."
  67. 01[23:38] <@SpaceThor> "That statue did the same for you. And for Mischa. It nicked you, made you see the statue for the lie it was. See reality for the lie it was."
  68. 01[23:38] <@SpaceThor> "Once it was done doing that, it went back to just being a statue. But he, and you, thought the statue was what had the real power."
  69. [23:39] <Feldi> "...but it doesn't?"
  70. 01[23:39] <@SpaceThor> "No. You have that power. You touched the void, you felt it, tasted it. You'll learn over time to harness it too."
  71. 01[23:40] <@SpaceThor> "The statue is the same lie of reality. And now that you know better, it never looks the same. It's the reason you came to see me today."
  72. [23:42] <Feldi> "I guess so....so I really had the power and not that statue?"
  73. 01[23:42] <@SpaceThor> "You do now. Now that you've felt the pull of the void."
  74. [23:44] <Feldi> "....so was the nothing beast something from here once?"
  75. 01[23:44] <@SpaceThor> "Nah, he's a native of the void. Just like the things in those stones I gave your boss."
  76. [23:45] <Feldi> "Things live in...nothing?"
  77. 01[23:46] <@SpaceThor> "Oh yeah, though I don't know how many or what types."
  78. 01[23:46] <@SpaceThor> "The void is a big place. It's everywhere that reality isn't."
  79. [23:46] <Feldi> "I thought reality was a lie?"
  80. 01[23:47] <@SpaceThor> "It is. But it's an interesting lie. Like a particularly stubborn soap bubble."
  81. [23:48] <Feldi> "I don't think soap bubbles are that interesting....Oh, can you get to places like Spain through the void?"
  82. 01[23:49] <@SpaceThor> She shrugs. "Haven't tried. And what I mean by the soap bubble thing is that reality floats along, nice and self-contained, never realizing what's on the outside of it. Never realizing just how fragile it all is. From out in the void, you can see just how precarious all we hold dear truly is."
  83. [23:51] <Feldi> Carter steps away from the sinkhole, realizing how that probably isn't too safe. "Do you do something about that? Are you protecting the world from it?"
  84. 01[23:51] <@SpaceThor> She thinks a moment, and laughs. "Sorry, I'm confusing you at this point. It's hard to not go crazy with the explanations when it comes to this stuff."
  85. 01[23:52] <@SpaceThor> "And, well, the specifics of what I do are gonna come in a later lesson. For now, let's get you home. Do you need to eat before you go back?"
  86. [23:53] <Feldi> "I did miss dinner."
  87. 01[23:53] <@SpaceThor> "Alright, I've got some spare trail rations back at the safe house. Let's get you fed and back on home."
  88. [23:54] <Feldi> Carter follows after her. "Where's your friend?"
  89. 01[23:55] <@SpaceThor> "Karina? Not sure, actually. She wanders off sometimes."
  90. 03[23:57] * Nemi (zareveh@sux-4ED432B8.nycap.res.rr.com) has joined #IntoQuarantineIC
  91. [23:57] <Feldi> They walk for a bit before Carter speaks up again. "Do you know anything about a Red Lady?"
  92. 01[23:58] <@SpaceThor> She raises an eyebrow. "Why?"
  93. [23:59] <Feldi> "Some guy we met wants us to find some papers to summon it. I thought you might know of it because...you know about all this stuff."
  94. Session Time: Sun Oct 09 00:00:02 2016
  95. 01[00:01] <@SpaceThor> "Hm, well, I know of a spirit who looks like a lady in red, but let's just say I hope yours is a different one."
  96. [00:02] <Feldi> "She's not a good spirit then?"
  97. 01[00:02] <@SpaceThor> "Nothing of the sort. To be honest I don't know what she is."
  98. [00:04] <Feldi> "Oh..." Carter frowns. "Do you think that people who want to summon her would be good people?"
  99. 01[00:05] <@SpaceThor> She chuckles. "You really are a kid, ain't ya. It depends on how they got the idea in their head to summon her. And honestly, whether we're even talking about the same spirit. Lots of spirits in malifaux."
  100. [00:07] <Feldi> Carter nods and goes quiet. This has all been a lot to think about.
  101. 01[00:08] <@SpaceThor> It's a short walk from here to the safe house. Tara gives you a bag containing some dry rations. "Alright, I'll come find you when it's time for the next lesson, okay?"
  102. [00:10] <Feldi> "When will that be?"
  103. 01[00:11] <@SpaceThor> She shrugs. "You can send yourself back, same way you came."
  104. [00:12] <Feldi> "Well...thank you, Tara. For teaching me and all."
  105. 01[00:14] <@SpaceThor> "Don't thank me yet. We got a long ways to go."
  106. [00:14] <Feldi> "...thanks for the rations then." Carter gives her a smile.
  107. 01[00:15] <@SpaceThor> She laughs at that. "You're very welcome."
  108. [00:16] <Feldi> Carter starts to concentrate on the feeling the statue gave him as it pulled him away from reality.
  109. 01[00:18] <@SpaceThor> There's a sensation like he's being pulled in all directions at once, and suddenly Carter is back in the alley where he started. Curiously, the sun is still high in the sky, and his bootprints in the alley are still fresh.
  110. 01[00:18] <@SpaceThor> Looks like he may not be late for dinner after all.
  111. [00:20] <Feldi> Carter lifts up the bag of rations and, with a shrug, places them in the pocket the statue used to be. No point wasting food, especially when its a gift.
  112. [00:20] <Feldi> He sets off back to Ms. Dolores', home.
Advertisement
Add Comment
Please, Sign In to add comment
Advertisement
Public Pastes
Advertisement
We use cookies for various purposes including analytics. By continuing to use Pastebin, you agree to our use of cookies as described in the Cookies Policy.  OK, I Understand
Not a member of Pastebin yet?
Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!