Patchwork Universe

Rose Briar · Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 10:34 am Post subject: The Ivory City

<i>ooc: From Juniper School 'Rose, Ice and Shadow'</i>

Rose Briar came through the mists riding on Karkadann, the unicorn. Ahead of her the gleaming white buildings stretched out in all directions and she gazed in wonder, before turning to look for her Godcousin.

Lord Doomshadow · Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2004 1:39 am Post subject:

Time stretched out within the mist. Lilac knew that it could only take moments to fly through the thin barrier, but every moment seemed to last an hour. And every hour was full of dreams.

Snow White laughed at him, and slapped him across the mask. He spent a century imprisoned in the Halls of the Goblin King, digging a tunnel to the centre of the Earth. A talking cat accused him of crimes against nature, and had him drowned in an underground lake. Fairy stories. Heroic tales. Inspiring legends. He hated them all.

Suddenly he found himself lying on the ground, surrounded by shining white buildings.

Lord Doomshadow groaned, and pulled himself to his feet. He could feel his wings swiftly folding themselves, before beginning to retreat back into his body.

What had he been doing, flitting through the air like some mindless blood sucker? He must have been mad.

He considered the nature of his madness. So, he had pretended to be Rose Briar's Fairy Godcousin, to allay suspicion while arranging a suitable doom for the loathsome popinjay prince, Jack Frost. Except that he had come to believe he truly was that simpering buffoon, Lilac Warble...

Perfect, he thought. Even if they suspected me at first, no one could imagine that I would have... skipped... through the cowslips unless I truly was a... fairy. And if they ever do begin to doubt me, I can always say that I am truly Lilac Warble, who was only imagining himself to be Lord Doomshadow, pretending to be a fairy. Or perhaps I can admit tthat I am really Doomshadow, but pretend that I have gone mad, and believe myself to be Warble...

As his old strategy tutor once said, "A swimming dragon never frightens the horses".

They will never suspect me now, he thought.

He found himself laughing aloud. "Mwa ha ha ha" "Mwa ha ha ha ha!"

He liked the echoes his merriment made, bouncing round the deserted buildings.

"MWA HA HA" "MWA HA HA!" "MWA HA HA HA HA!!"

liason · Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2004 11:22 pm Post subject:

Doomshadow's laughter was interrupted by a quiet thud as a chunk of masonry walked into his boot.

As it turned out, it was part of a convoy of small pieces of masonry, apparently being shunted along the ground by a variety of curious and misshapen creatures each no more than a few inches tall.

On closer inspection the creatures turned out to be a mixture of rats, various bits of scrap metal and more masonry. And these strange little golems seemed very busy with their transportation task. Having determined Doomshadow to be an obstacle, the rest of the column circumnavigated him and continued on along the edge of the Patch.

Lord Doomshadow · Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 12:57 pm Post subject:

Lord Doomshadow began to kick the loathsome little creatures away from his leg. How dare they intrude on his moment of triumph?

But then he paused to consider. Rose Briar was standing next to him, after all. What would Lilac do in this situation?

Reaching into a slit in the heavy leather covering his upper body, he withdrew a bronze bowl and a stoppered glass flask. He then proceeded to place the bowl on the ground and, with considerable care, fill it with a colourless fluid. An attentive observer would have noticed faint wisps of smoke rising from the bronze where the liquid was beginning to corrode the metal.

"Here, brownies!", he called out in a strange, high pitched voice. "Nice Brownies! Come and get your milk!"

liason · Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 1:55 pm Post subject:

It didn't take long for a couple of the creatures to start taking an interest in the bowl. One of them stood beside it, whilst a second one climbed up its colleague's body and slid into the bowl. A tiny hose extended from what looked like a metal cotton reel on its back and it began to suck up the liquid.

This procedure didn't last long. There was a brief flash of bluish light and the drinking creature went rather floppy. A faint column of smoke then emerged from its body as it sank down into the liquid and bits of it started to dissolve.

The first of the creatures waited for a while, then got bored and joined the end of the column as it moved past. Before long, all of the small creatures were gone apart from the one who was floating in small corroded pieces.

Rose Briar · Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 11:30 pm Post subject:

"How strange," Rose Briar watched the processio with fascination and knelt on the ground to see what happened when one partook of her Godcousin's drink.

"Oh!" her eyes welled up with tears at the tiny creature's demise. "The effect doesn't seem to be entirely wholesome," she said doubtfully. "Perhaps the milk has gone off?"

Watching the procession disappear down the roadway she added:
"I wonder what the brownies are doing... perhaps they are like shoemaker elves or a nest of ants? Could they be the ones who built this city? What think you, good Lilac?"

Lord Doomshadow · Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2004 4:47 pm Post subject:

"Yes", said Lord Doomshadow heavily. "This poor creature's fate was a tragedy."

There was a pause.

"A terrible, terrible tragedy."

There was another pause.

"Perhaps you are right, and this strange place is where the Brownies nest. If I close my eyes, I can see them filling all these buildings, squirming and eating and breeding and writhing and breeding and..."

Doomshadow broke off abruptly.

"Shall we explore? Then, if we find this little fellow's kin, we can... apologise."

Slowly, Doomshadow closed his fists, as if squeezing a pair of tiny, invisible throats.

Rose Briar · Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:49 pm Post subject:

"Oh yes, let us explore," the rose maiden skipped a copuple of steps onwards and then paused. "But what about Jack? We shouldn't l;eave him behind."
She turned to look back through the mist but there was no sign of their friend or of Lilac's pet.
"I know," she said and reached down to the hem of her silky grey shift. Tearing a strip from from the bottom she held it up to her companion. "We can tie bits of this along our path," she said. "Then Jack will know which way we've gone."

She seemed unconscious of the fact that her action had already raised the hemline above her knees, displaying her long bare legs. The garment had been skimpy to begin with but a more worldly person might have thought to wonder if she proceded in this plan she would be running out of dress in short order.

Lord Doomshadow · Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2004 8:40 pm Post subject:

Clearly it would not be as easy to lose the Prince of Gigolos as he had hoped. Lord Doomshadow began to grind his teeth, before remembering that this perfectly normal habit seemed to upset the rose maiden. Sighing, he kept his jaws firmly apart as he answered.

"Yes, certainly we must not abandon Ivor. He gets very lonely without me. Also, he tends to decay..."

Pausing, Doomshadow found himself glancing at Rose Briar's legs. He shuddered briefly. As yet there was no sign of scales or barbed tail, but if she continued to tear off her clothing in this manner, he was sure something unwelcome would emerge soon...

Mother always says I have a problem with women, he thought. Of course I have a problem with women! They keep trying to lay their eggs in me!

"Ah...", he said nervously, "perhaps I could help lay the trail? So you do not need to do all the work?"

As he walked after the rose maiden, he extracted a saw toothed implement of uncertain function from a hidden pocket and began to hack at one of his leather gauntlets...

Rose Briar · Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2004 10:28 am Post subject:

Proceding through the buildings, the rose maiden looked through doors and windows and sometimes leapt of to niches where a statue might have stood or walked lightly along a railing or stone platform. Every now and then she paused to rie a ribbon of grey silk to the edge of a building, where Jack would be sure to see it.

The rooms were disappointingly empty. Grand, like the buildings of a royal city, and yet without people or furnishings, and no sign of a thriving civilisation of citybuilding brownies. She was relieved when, leaping up to stand on a winding upwards stair she looked out across the ivory city and saw a small group of travellers in the distance.

"Merry greetings," she called out, waving to them. Turning to her Godcousins she said cheerfully: "I saw people... over there... Two people walking and a third riding a horse. Shall we go and speak with them?"

Rose Briar · Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2004 5:43 pm Post subject:

"Four now," Rose Briar added, and, seeing one of the people strike out in her direction, skipped down the stairs and crossed to meet him.

<i>ooc: Rose Briar now moves to 'The End of a Quest'</i>

Lord Doomshadow · Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2004 12:34 am Post subject:

"New friends!", said Lord Doomshadow. "How wonderful. I've always loved to make friends. Choosing the right brain is so challenging..."

He could feel the attack scarabs stirring in his exterior womb. Turning to one side, he allowed them to leave the warm confines of the breeding pouch and eat their way through the leather concealing his stomachs. The oldest and strongest were quick to devour their youngest children, strengthening themselves for combat. Then, with a rustling of dry wings, the giant beetles disappeared into the labyrinth of featureless buildings.

"Wait for me, Rose!", he shouted.

OOC: Lord Doomshadow now joins 'The End Of A Quest'

OOC: I'm assuming that the scarabs - which work by a mechanism best described as bio-alchemical - do not contradict the underlying paradigm of the Map Room. If that's wrong, I'd be grateful if the local GM could message me. Thanks.

The Janitor · Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2004 10:19 am Post subject:

[OOC note on the paradigm of the Map Room:

Usually, the map room does not contradict the behaviours of other paradigms, so most things should work. However, one thing to note is that many of the items and buildings are effectively indestructible to most things and abilities current characters are likely to have access to.

In particular, the map itself cannot be directly affected. ]

Rose Briar · Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2004 3:15 pm Post subject:

Following the dark lord and the rose maiden more cicumspectly the unicorn walked gracefully after them.

ooc: This thread now ended. Plot continues in 'The End of a Quest'

The Janitor · Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2004 3:42 pm Post subject:

[OOC: I should clarify my note on the paradigm of the map room, as Dom queried it: Although many of the things in the patch are indestructible (including most things specifically described), there are still many things behave normally to being blown up, dismantled or scavenged...]