Patchwork Universe

Rose Briar · Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 6:24 pm Post subject:

As she backed away from the flaming bug thing, Rose Briar's leaf green eyes were wide with alarm.

"Jack!" she said, recognising her erstwhile companion with relief. "Help us, please. The beetle man is on fire. And he doesn't seem friendly."

Outside the door the black horse and silver unicorn were snorting and shying at the flames, their bodies effectively blocking any chance of a smooth exit for Doomshadow.

Lord Doomshadow · Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 6:36 pm Post subject:

Doomshadow felt a brief pang at Ivor's fate, but he knew that there were always casualties among soldiers. And they were all soldiers here, whether they knew it or not, whether they fought for the Gods or against them...

"Jack!", he called out. "Come quickly! You must save Rose from the Flaming Beetles!"

After all, he thought, if the ice cold popinjay fought the insectoid torch, perhaps he could dispose of two problems at once...

Lord Doomshadow · Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 6:55 pm Post subject:

Doomshadow's teeth ground jaggedly together as Jane spoke. Would this impertinent female never be satisfied?

"Very well", he snarled. "Heal Larkin whichever way you can. I shall seek the brownies' help alone!"

His spare tentacle shot out to retrieve the abandoned slab as he released his hold on Quickgrip, pausing only to tear the pack from his back with one of his now unoccupied human arms.

Then he paused as the rest of Jane's words ascended to the surface of his mind. Rose, frightened? Rose was not a soldier. Everyone else here was a soldier, but Rose was a... civilian.

He exerted his will. The scarabs were full of agony and rage, almost impossible to control. But he was a Doomshadow.

Turning, he lurched through the doorway. And the blazing Man Beetle followed him.

Only for both of them to be confronted by Buccaneer and Karkadann, snorting and rearing in the street.

Clearly it was time to abandon the parts of the plan which involved locking them all in the building with Larkin's key and stealing the horse...

OOC: I'm assuming that Buccaneer and Karkadann effectively prevent Doomshadow from slowly lumbering off down the street, but there's still enough space for him and Insect Thing to get out of the door. I hope that's okay.

Jones · Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 7:07 pm Post subject:

Staggering as she attempted to support Larkin's weight, Jane spotted that Lilac had stolen his bag. But as the man beetle now seemed to be chasing him she decided that would just have to wait.

Buccaneer, seeing the lumbering shape of Doomshadow coming towards him, leapt out of the way. Karkadann jumped over both dark lord and man beetle in a fluid motion, heading to rejoin his mistress.

Jane caught one of her horse's reins as it attempted to surge past her and whistled reassuringly through her teeth. With one eye on the running figures she rummaged in her pack and managed to bring out a small vial labelled 'cure'.

Dropping to her knees she held it to Larkin's mouth.

Larkin Quickgrip · Strong Joined: 21 Jan 2004 Posts: 194 Location: The Slums

As the cure slipped down his neck the change was almost instantly visible as Larkin coughed and spluttered a little before mumbling a weakly ". . . stard."

The young thief then pulled himself to his feet out of Janes way and he went back and grabbed his knife and jacket, quickly making sure that the evil fungus was more than dead and tipping it out of his pocket. He then struggled into his coat and gripping his knife, he briefly glanced at Karl then stumbled after the masked beast. clearly having not regained full use of his limbs.

"Hey, gimme ma pack back and the slabs too." He glared at the monster as it started to lurch away and yelled "Poison me will yer." Then taking careful and deliberate aim he hurled his knife again where thanks to years of experience alone it landed point first in the top of the things shoulder.

Suddenly feeling through his pockets he mumbled "I should carry more knives." before looking up as the fairytale creature turned to face him once more, Larkin still obviously affected by his paralysis and quick-fix cure.

Guest · Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 10:11 pm Post subject:

Karl watched in some relief as Larkin dashed back into the room, before his euphoria lessened somewhat as he watched the young thief hurry back out to face the giant. Karl got to his feet, still nervy with the adrenaline rush. He gave a pained smile in Peri's direction. 'I owe you something,' he said, breathlessly. 'Now, what in the name of all that's good are we going to do about stopping this deranged thing?'.

Karl Groever · Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 10:26 pm Post subject:

[OOC: Bollocks! It will keep forgetting to log me on. Now, on with the show...]

Rose Briar · Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 11:22 pm Post subject:

As the blade hit the dark lord's shoulders, Rose Briar gave out a cry as piercing as the knife.

"No!" she cried. Turning eyes full of betrayal on Larkin she said: "Lilac was trying to help you."

Leaning against the flank of the unicorn for support, she urged it forward, to join her godcousin.

Lord Doomshadow · Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 12:20 am Post subject:

Doomshadow seemed to hear the ghostly voice of his long dead strategy tutor echoing in his third ear. "Remember", it said, "all trees are pines at midnight."

His tentacles were full of stone slabs, and his hands were occupied with Larkin's bulging pack. The wound in his shoulder was trivial, but he could not fight these swarming vermin without... appendages. In any case, he suspected that Rose would be upset if he tore off even the smallest limb. And she might be injured...

The great black wings unfurled from his back and, slowly and painfully, he rose into the air. The weight of the slabs was almost too much to carry, but he was still a Doomshadow. Weaving slightly and unable to gain more than a few man heights above the ground, he headed off over the rooftops.

The watchers below could hear the sound of his dead, monotonal voice drifting back on the wind. "I am sorry, Godcousin. You must think of me as... possessed... by an evil spirit. I have become a... bad fairy."

Lord Doomshadow · Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 12:23 am Post subject:

Most of the beetles were alight by now. Still screaming in a high, inhuman voice, the Insect Thing staggered off down the street, into the empty city. Empty, that is, except for the salvagers...

Jack Frost · Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 10:17 am Post subject:

Jack was still stunned and confused by the sudden rush of action. There was also the terrible, horrible feeling when that thing made out of insects, the creature that flickered with a red and orange light, had brushed past him. A strange dampness.

Still, it seemed to have passed. Then Lilac's words struck him.

Rose! Rose Briar was in trouble.

He sprinted into the room, still carrying Ivor.

liason · Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 10:20 am Post subject:

The burning mass of scarabs hadn't got far before the waiting mob pounced on it.

A heavy stone pillar not dissimilar to a bird bath and supported by a complex wooden structure resembling a medieval siege engine rolled into the road. Something was burning in the dish on top.

There was a notable absence of other salvagers in the region - because they wouldn't survive what it was about to do. A sudden flash of blue light from the bird bath caused the scarab man to shatter into its component scarabs, each of which became suddenly still.

Crowds of salvagers rushed from the nearby buildings.

Harvest biomass !

Harvest alchemical engines !

Extinguish flames !

They swiftly set about their tasks. They might not have long before the scarabs recovered from the aetheric shockwave. When they did, they could be extremely dangerous.

Larkin Quickgrip · Strong Joined: 21 Jan 2004 Posts: 194 Location: The Slums

Larkin yelled after the departing doomshadow "Possessed my arse!." He then turned, still very shakily to Rose and said "Can yer not see that!? He is stealing my pack and Yarrows slabs!" Larkin thought for a moment and then added "An my blade!"

The rose maidens look of incomprehension almost offended Larkins sense of realism. Clenching his fists together he said "Them beetles were followin *him*. *He's* the one who gave me that stupid mushroom thing that poisoned me!" After barely a second he added "Can yer not see that!?"

Rose Briar · Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 12:03 pm Post subject:

Rose Briat turned to look from Larkin to Jack, then she turned and buried her head in the unicorn's silver mane, weeping piteously.

Her shoulders shook with tremours and as the group turned to look at her she lifted her head once more and stared back at them. Crystal tears slid down her ivory skin without blotching or griming it, and those unshed sparkled in her green eyes like dew on a rose leaf.
"Lilac is my Godcousin," she said with a ring of challenge thrilling her voice. "He is a gentle and kind fairy who has been a good friend to me and Jack. But he has spells when he is overcome by a malady that makes him believe he is a dreadful beast called Doomshadow. Now his sickness has overtaken him entirely..."

She looked back at Jack, then Jane, then Peri and Karl and finally Larkin, hoping for agreement from one of them.

"We must rescue him!" she declared.

Lord Doomshadow · Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:52 pm Post subject:

At the centre of the stunned and burned out swarm was an extraordinarily large scarab, almost two feet long. When the harvesters opened up its scorched body, they found a sealed box, constructed from a silvery metal which defied analysis. Could this be the alchemical engine they had been searching for, the swarm's unmoved Prime Mover?

The metal was soft and easy to cut. Within was a scrap of paper bearing the words:

I am nothing pure.
My race is mixed, my sex is mixed.
I am woman and man, light with darkness, nothing pure.
I am mud and flame.

As soon as it was exposed to the air the paper began to shrivel and burn.

There was a flash brighter than the sun, casting the shadows of the salvagers in stark relief upon the smooth white walls. The harvesters were frozen in place for an endless instant, a moment taken out of time.

And then it passed, and the scavengers could move again. But they were strangely changed.

The stone lunch box had exchanged its telescope for the siege engine's bird bath. Most of them now sprouted antennae like spines, while one individual had acquired all the drills. They had become intermingled, all their parts exchanged...

OOC Attribution Note: Quote stolen from the 1975 television Play for Today Penda's Fen. Which is dead good, by the way:-)