The Battle Majestic (Round 4 - Magpie Skies)

Originally posted on MSPA by redskap.

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SpoilerShow

Busy busy busy. I promise I'll try to update more often. Sorry for holding everyone up. [img]images/smilies/icon_sadder.gif[/img]

Blitz, watching the activity all around him, stood in silence. A wolf, or rather, the Wolf, had appeared in their midst, along with Steven. Blitz watched as Vexmagog spouted gibberish at them, initially, then corrected himself to speak with Wolf. <Such an interesting character, that satyr...>

He was snapped out of his daydreaming by a movement out of the corner of his eye. Jacob was kneeling on the ground, over by that...robot? It was something like that. A strange construction, to be sure. Blitz looked around nervously, then slowly walked toward Jacob.

...What do you think you're doing, boy? Blitz flinched and stopped at the sound of Father's voice. You aren't going to help this ass, are you? He's the one who's most suspicious of us! Getting closer to him isn't going to help anything! Blitz trembled. He could feel Father in his mind; coiled like a spring and ready to take control again.

<No, Father, it will help.> Father said nothing; a good sign. He meant to listen, at least for a short while. <If I continue assisting him, he'll start to trust us. He'll stop being so suspicious. He'll know we're safe to be around.> Father remained silent. <If he's our companion, he won't have any reason to be wary of us when...when the time comes.> This last thought was nervous and sad; Blitz didn't want to see anyone die. He really just wanted to get closer to Jacob because...well, he didn't like when people thought bad of him. A brilliant idea popped into his head; it would surely convince father.

<What's that you like to say sometimes...keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?> Father continued his quiet, then a cruel chuckle echoed through Blitz's mind. You're learning, boy. You're finally learning. Go, then. Help the man. And when the time is ripe, when the moment of his death has arrived, it will be my-...no. Another laugh, this one louder and horribly callous. It will be your hand on the knife in his back.

Blitz, realizing he had been standing in the middle of the floor for what was probably several seconds, started walking toward Jacob again. He stopped a few feet away and tried to hide the guilt and sadness on his face. "Um...hey. Do you...do you want any help with that?" He raised his arms. "I helped out with that door, before...I might be able to help with this. I'm pretty much a walking, talking power generator." He gave a weak chuckle at his rather lame attempt at a joke.

Originally posted on MSPA by Not The Author.

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Jacob scowled, pressing harder. The machine remained inanimate. Another scan of the machine's exterior revealed naught in the way of aid. Standing, grumbling, realizing he didn't actually know what he would do with a robot, he nabbed his sword from its resting place against the wall and glared at the stubborn hunk of metal. "Stupid piece of junk..." He turned, and was surprised to find Blitz already there. Or rather, more surprised that Blitz hadn't taken the opportunity to fry him, or something. He seemed somehow... preoccupied, most of the time, like his mind was elsewhere... Jacob shook the thought from his head.

"Um...hey. Do you...do you want any help with that?"Blitz raised his arms. "I helped out with that door, before... I might be able to help with this. I'm pretty much a walking, talking power generator." He gave a weak chuckle at his rather lame attempt at a joke. Jacob, however, remained unamused. "Nah, that'd probably fuse a circuit or two, which was kinda the point with the lock. Besides," he shrugged, "what good would it be on rather than off?" Blitz considered this. "It... might know where the escape pods are. Or how the stuff up there works." He gestured in the appropriate direction. "It also might not take kindly to five armed men and a wolf busting into the heart of this place. Look, just forget it. I'm sure we can scale this tower ourselves," INNNADVISABLE. "and we're sure to f-"

They both turned to face the machine, as Jacob was sure everyone else had. It was trying (and failing) to right itself, eyes glowing yellow.
C C CONTROLLLLLLLLLLLLL CENTER NOT
Somehow it managed to balance itself, albeit precariously, upon its single spherical 'foot'. It turned to face the center of the room.
NOT
The bot rolled sideways, nearly falling over in the process, then corrected itself and started towards the elevators.
NOT CENTER NOT
Whatever idea it was trying to get across was apparently too much for its aged processors to handle, and it slid to a halt in the middle of the room.
NOT NOT INADVISABLE
The bot's eyes flickered out. It fell over heavily, access panel finally coming free and clattering to the floor.

The room was quiet rather longer than a clock would say it had been.


Jacob crossed his arms, but his face betrayed his worry. "...See? Waste of time."

Originally posted on MSPA by Drakenforge.

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Ah, just one thing Baph, for future relevance. Wolves speak mostly in body language. This is just for information, as I believe it's not something Vex would actually figure out by looking into wolf's mind once.

What trickery is this? Wolf heard wolf-talk, but couldn't decipher from what direction. The only mouth moving at the time was the furred tailless.
The tailless speaks the wolf growls. But it is useless. No emotion. Like a cub. Only a wolf can talk wolf. It cannot speak in fur and ear and tail. But, it still speaks to me, and in it's yip-yap talk.

"Apologies, Wolf replied to the best of his abilities without using his body, "The one called Sen and I have something in common. We cannot understand one another. And yet, it has a purpose other than returning to it's world.

"I have no reason to want to return. Banished by wolf kind. Would like to live out remaining days with assisting it's purpose. Bark-skin cubs."

Wolf sighed after the ordeal. He remembered the words of the strange first taillesses that spoke to them all. One was to die here. He didn't understand fate, but he understood that some things in life were unable to be stopped. If he died, he knew, he wouldn't be missed.
An image flashed through his memory briefly. The faces of the cubs, happy at play. He felt sorrow to remember them, but they would ultimately forget him.

Originally posted on MSPA by Baphomet.

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Vexmagog sighed. He could not parse most of the words. This language was strange and difficult to decipher. So, apologies, and no. I suppose that answers the question, at least. It says it has another purpose, something with...trees? And it mentioned Sen, somehow.

He remained on one knee. The others, attention diverted by Wolf's actual response to Vexmagog's query, looked at him quizzically.

"So can you talk to wolves or not?" Jacob asked, a cynical edge to his voice.

Wolves. A plural form of Wolf. I had never checked this name for a definition before. This is a creature native to many humans' homeworlds! An unintelligent one, by most definitions. Predatory pack animal. "His language is difficult," Vexmagog replied. "From what I can gather, it does not wish to return to its home." A concerned look crossed his face. "I think there is more to the tree we saw earlier than we realize. We should accelerate our progress."

Vexmagog looked Wolf the wolf in the eyes. He cleared his throat, in order to produce a sound to alter. While he could alter the signal of any background noise (no place is ever truly quiet) he preferred to alter a noise he made himself when communicating. That way, the target's directional hearing could discern that he was the source of the noise.

"If we do not escape, then one of us will die, and everyone will go somewhere else. You and Sen included. The bark-skin cub will be packless, one way or another." Vexmagog stood and turned away from Wolf, now pointing to the elevators and addressing the remainder of the group. "A lock sounds like what prevents these mobile rooms from proceeding up to our destination. Blitz, if you know how to bypass one, I would like your assistance in doing so."

"Oh, uh, yeah sure." Blitz said, standing. He looked back at Jacob to ensure that he was following. Vexmagog pressed the up arrow and the door opened with a familiar ding. The computerized voice rang out again, now comprehensible to Vexmagog.

"Welcome to Wainwright Omega 57 control center! Please input a destination."

The buttons, Vexmagog realized, were numbered. The one they were on now was labeled 1, and the number increased up to 23. The one he had pressed before was labeled B, though he was not sure of its significance. The floors 15 and up required keys.

Vexmagog pointed to the button marked 23. "I suspect we need to proceed here."

Jacob nonchalantly strode into the room and drew his sword. "I agree," he replied, prying the metal panel off with the edge of his blade. The buttons and locks were attached to a dark green rectangle, crisscrossed with silvery lines and strange protrusions. The locks were connected by two wires, which Jacob was quick to sever. "But Blitz would just fry the circuit."

Blitz looked at his feet and rubbed his arm as Jacob touched the ends of the two wires together. The computerized voice chimed again. "Level three administrator access accepted. All personnel of level two administrator access or lower, please eckzit thlvatr at this tiiiiIIIiiiiiiii-" Holding the wires there, Jacob pressed the "23" button, glancing concernedly at the speaker, which continued to produce an oscillating tone. Vexmagog, now, was the one to look at his feet and rub his arm. Noticing the similar motion, Blitz shot a glance at him.

The door began to close, but Jacob held it open. He looked out at Steven and Wolf. "Coming?"

Both appeared to go through some internal debate, but entered the elevator nonetheless. The door closed, and the elevator began to ascend.

The tone produced by the speakers had lessened in volume, but was increasing in small rhythmic pulses. Lub dub. Lub dub. Lub dub. Surely the lights weren't flickering in rhythm? Surely this was not an intended outcome of use of the elevator? Surely this tone did not match the heartbeat of anyone present?

The ascent continued unabated, accompanied by the beat and the whirring of the machinery responsible for the elevator's operation.

The rhythm increased, and the lights dimmed further, now undoubtedly flashing at each pulse of the speakers. Lub dub. Lub dub. Lub dub. Blitz was the first to speak up. "It's uh... It's a little creepy in here."

Still, they ascended further.

Jacob looked around at each person in the small space in turn. Vexmagog returned his gaze, which he kept for a moment. "Elevators don't normally do this. I'm getting out." He pressed a larger red button marked "Emergency stop." Nothing happened except a quickening of the beats. Lubdub. Lubdub. Lubdub. He pressed it a second time, but harder, with an expression like he knew it was fruitless. The lights began to oscillate between complete blackness and complete brightness, like a strobe. Lubdub lubdub lubdub lubdub. The sound got louder and louder. Someone said something but they were drowned out. The elevator began to screech outside, and everyone became slightly jumbled as they all moved to act at once. Words were muffled by the insistent sound. Everyone was sure, now, that the racing heartbeat was their own. Everyone but Vexmagog, who stood in the back corner, trying to breathe in a measured way.

The elevator stopped. The doors opened, flooding the room with light. The speaker crackled one last time. Not with a heartbeat, but with a slow, deep, static-filled chuckle, sounding distant and muffled as though underwater. Everyone tumbled out into the large room. Vexmagog was the last to step out, and as soon as he did, he had to brace himself against the door frame to avoid being sucked into the elevator shaft by the backdraft of the car they were just in suddenly plummeting to the bottom.

A loud crash. A cheerful chime as the doors closed. A clatter, as Vexmagog dropped the black stone he had just pried loose from his arm.

Most were too dazed to immediately acknowledge the enormous holographic display in the center of their circular room, showing their spherical station surrounded by space debris. No one commented on the three tiny figures moving across the rocks outside the station. No, the first things the five had to say didn't even have anything to do with the innumerable consoles, all lit up and displaying undoubtedly vital data to a hitherto empty room.

"What the fuck." began Jacob, more a statement than a question.

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Sorry I posted so much here. We really need to get this moving towards a conclusion pretty soon. Some of you might want to go back and explain what your characters were thinking at the time or something.

Originally posted on MSPA by Korbz.

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John was insanely confused. Wait, wait, wait. What just happened? Not really wolf came here with gloves guy, some sort of robot was annoying or something, goat man and sword guy got the elevator to work, though it was rather scary, and now we're up here, in a mostly empty room? "So uh...Now what?" While saying this, he prodded Vex several times.

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I feel ashamed posting after Bapho. I'm going to go hide in a corner now.

Originally posted on MSPA by Schazer.

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Fricksicles. I'd call a reserve, but I can't start writing for an hour or so, plus you all kinda know where I'd be getting at... Tentative reserve which is going to be more of a status check on everyone's favourite Tender, rather than a huge plot-shaker.

Originally posted on MSPA by Weldar.

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I know Schazer's got a kinda reserve going but I think this post should be okay, it's shouldn't effect Sen at all it's basically just all old stuff again [img]images/smilies/icon_sad.gif[/img]

Steven stared at the fallen robot. Damn it would have been good to know what it was trying to say but oh well it's dead now.Steven stared at the robot a little longer.Hmmm or maybe... would that work. Yeah I guess it wouldSteven glanced down at the gloves, the right glove seemed eager to try the left glove was just acting like a normal glove. Hmm I guess so but would it be worth it, it would be good to hear what it has to say but.... Yeah I dunno creating life would probably be tiring I am supposed to be surrounded by allies here but still..... Steven pondered the idea a little longer until his thoughs were interrupted by Jacob.
"Coming?"
Steven looked up, they'd opened the elevator. He took one last look at the fallen robot then headed towards the elevator. Looks like I waited a little too long, the decision was made for me

Steven remained silent during the elevator ride. As the throbbing and flickering quickened Steven hands clenched into fists and the gloves slid off a little, ready to jump into action at any second. Steven looked around the room, his heart pumping in harmony with the flickering lights, Vex was the only one who still looked somewhat calm. Is this another illusion or something? The throbbing quickened and then DING. The doors slid open, the speaker cackled evilly, Steven rushed out the doors stumbling over the others, the elevator went plummeting back down the shaft, Steven barely even noticed.
What...

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Aw man Baph why you gotta leave such an awesome post on a cliffhanger like that. I'm not even gonna try and follow that up

Also I can't help but feel we have a small problem here. Currently six characters are in the one place but the other two have no good reason to come to where there are and the six don;t really have a reason to come to them. This leaves Sen and Alex with somewhat limited options right now. We need some way to bring all the contestants together as one big happy family for the finale, perhaps breaking the pylon...

Originally posted on MSPA by Baphomet.

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SpoilerShow

Also I can't help but feel we have a small problem here. Currently six characters are in the one place but the other two have no good reason to come to where there are and the six don;t really have a reason to come to them. This leaves Sen and Alex with somewhat limited options right now. We need some way to bring all the contestants together as one big happy family for the finale, perhaps breaking the pylon...

HOO HOO HOO

The world tree's trunk, an enmeshed tangle of stretching vines so ingrained in one another as to hardly be called separate masses, reached yearningly for the warmth of the sun. Most trees this large, upon finding that the gravitational field radiated from a singular point, would simply carry on their normal growth pattern and eventually collide with the sides of the station. Of course, this was not most trees. The canopy acknowledged the abnormalities (as did Sen, by proxy) and began to grow into a bowl-like shape, the curvature more pronounced as it approached the light source. Vinelike tendrils extended downward, even with the increasingly varied definition of what exactly "downward" is. Where they made contact with the ground, they bored into it - a new node for root growth.

Sen paced back and forth along a knot in one root, which was pushing itself and the Tender farther from the main trunk. The rush of information with each footfall brought reassurance - minor obstacles, sometimes, a building collapses on a root, a concrete foundation proves unusually stubborn, but -

Suddenly, pain flooded into the Tender's synapses. Fire had struck the tree. Sen knew exactly where the source of the problem was as surely as you or I could locate a pinprick on our own bodies. It leapt from the moving root, loping with furious swiftness over the matted tangle which was quickly replacing the grass and concrete. No, again - not the same problem, but another. The nutrient rich soil had yielded to a hard metallic shell, which provided, once breached, nothing.

Outside the station, a seam between two metallic plates stretched. The fingers peeling it away emerged into the darkness, wriggling as though seeking to grasp something else, but coming up short. Another seam, and another, cracked open, yielding the same results. As if making a sudden decision, the disparate root structures reached for each other and tangled into a wooded mat across the outer shell of the station, but spread no further for the time being.

The Tree prioritized its problems quickly for the Tender, who once again set off along his previous heading.

Alex stood determined against the oncoming wave of woven wood. Behind him, a root had curled innocuously, now smoldering for its trouble. On either side, the tide of roots flowed past, avoiding his position until the threat was neutralized. A shadow fell over him as if a storm were oncoming, but upon looking up, Alex saw that it was the canopy of the trees spreading high above. Seeing the wall on either side growing and coming together behind him, he drew his sword.

He pushed down the growing fear in his gut. I am a warrior, he thought. I am a fighter, and I am fire. Now is not the time for fear. He charged at the wall to his left, slamming the blade of his sword into a root. He leapt up, using it as a springboard to gain some altitude, then he let loose with his flames. The stream of roots and the stream of fire came together into one mighty river, the roots retreating from the heat, those too slow withering into black coal. A cloud of embers swirled into the air like a swarm of startled fireflies escaping into the darkening night, and Alex dropped down through them, wrenching his blade loose from the blackened root as he landed.

Sen crested the mound of roots at the head of the parting around Alex and saw him for the first time, the orange flicker of the flames behind him silhouetting him as he stood from his landing. The Tender bared his needle-like teeth and hissed. Alex narrowed his eyes, raised his blade, and smiled.

As if only to demonstrate the tree's raw deductive ability, the station threw a second gravitational abnormality at it. The upper leaves, upon determining that the heat and light increased dramatically with increased altitude, hastened their upward push -- but now, what was "up" shifted again. The gravitation surrounding the control center was inverted, which is to say, it was facing inwards so as to make the surface of the "sun" traversible. The tree processed this information and dropped vines along the new downward axis. Those that hit the surface of the multiple distinct panels that emitted the light sizzled and quickly retreated, but those that hit the borders and walkways between them began to scratch and grind at the metallic surface, seeking new sources of nutrients.

Vexmagog searched his companions' expressions as they voiced their concerns, his eyes growing more and more sorrowful. I will have to tell them, he realized. Better that I tell them than to have them discover it on their own.

He sighed and held out his arms. "I apologize. I did not realize that these mobile rooms would keep us enclosed for so long. The god that is bound to me has ways of changing things, in ways that it hopes will cause... chaos. The longer I stay in one place, the more dangerous that place becomes, physically and mentally." He sighed. "I am sorry that I did not tell you sooner."

The others just stared. As he often was, John was the first to reply. "So you were about to kill us with a power you didn't say you had."

"It is not a power I have, it is the arm. I cannot control it. And I do not think it would have killed you in the elevator with me. It cannot kill me, or maybe it knows not to, which is likely why the room didn't fall until I left it. That's why I left it last."

"But you still didn't tell us about it." Jacob, oddly, glanced at Blitz as Steven said this, as if trying to gauge his reaction.

Vexmagog looked down. "I am ashamed," he admitted, "both of the power that this has, and the power it has taken from me." He raised his head, his eyes twinkling in the glow of the holographic display. "I was a god. I and six others forged an entire universe out of nothingness, countless animals, plants, and living things you don't even have names for. Land, sea, sky, bodies, souls, my mind was a piece of the blueprint for all of them. And now..." He paused and drew breath audibly, almost wincing at the next words that he spoke. "...Now I am a mortal being, and a danger to those around me. Now I'm forced to play out this absurd contest at the whim of some being whose power I can't even fathom. Now, I'm separated from everyone who ever knew me as my son is challenging my power, to take the mantle of adma poki. Now I try desperately not to fear for my life, because such emotion would make others fear for theirs." He pointed to the right arm. "Because of this. That's why I didn't tell you, and that's why-"

He was interrupted by a terrible sound from the opposite end of the room, like metal scraping against metal. Two of the monitors flickered and went dead. Glancing at the hovering hologram, Vexmagog saw the world tree reaching up to their current position, with two sections of the image representing the outer hull flashing red.

"We don't have time for this," Jacob asserted, running over to the hologram's console. "We need to find what we're looking for and get out of here." Blitz followed and began tapping at the console as well. The display zoomed in on the station. "I think I've got it," he said. Blitz stopped tapping as Jacob continued, and all present took an expectant, anxious step forwards. "This should show us where the escape pods are."

Five red dots blinked, clustered in a line in a small metallic chamber almost directly under the main trunk of the world tree, with a hatch entrance by one of the small fountains dotting the park.

No one spoke. The knowledge of what, exactly, this new piece of data meant to them plowed through their minds like a bulldozer.

As if to break the heavy silence, one side of their room broke inward, yielding to a faintly-glowing root. The light of the hologram and all of the consoles were immediately extinguished, replaced by the light reflecting on the distant ground outside.

Originally posted on MSPA by Kaitostrike.

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I will get out of here...No,I must.And this tree is the most immediate threat.Also,wood burns,or at least last time I checked.
Fire weaved and mixed with the mass of roots,burning everything in it's path.Alex threw himself at the tree,slashing and burning all he could.The roots seemed to try to grab him in a futile effort to stop him.
The human's rampage was cut short by a claw of the Tender;he was hit in the face with the surprise attack.The two looked at each other face to face for a moment,before the Tender let out a high pitched "scree".
Alex covered his ears to shield himself from the noise,which it took advantage of and tackled the human.He was knocked backwards,onto the ground.The creature let out a small "klik",hoping for a response of some kind,which Alex replied with a ball of fire.
"Bring it."

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This was originally going to be much,much,much longer,but it felt like I was taking too much control,so I changed it a bit.

Originally posted on MSPA by Baphomet.

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Don't stop yourself because you feel like you're taking too much control. Taking control is pretty much a must in this kind of thing.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Yeah, take the risk and go for a long post. If you're taking a lot of control, that means you're driving the plot, and that's where the best parts of the game come from.

If you make characterization or continuity errors, you can go back and fix them later based on advice from other players. It's very unlikely you'll make a mistake that renders your whole idea unusable, unless you just haven't been paying attention at all.

Originally posted on MSPA by Schazer.

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Hey, some people were asking me for more info about the World Tree, as you're all about to get acquainted with it - so I thought I'd just post it here instead.

Firstly, the wood is probably similar in consistency to tropical hardwood in all its developmental stages. Saplings you could probably snap, but it's not like it's made of iron or anything. Wood's wood.

What's probably most useful to note is that it won't directly attack you. It might put up a few thorns if Sen tells it to, but roots won't chase after you trying to strangle you or beat you to a pulp. Essentially, any action that doesn't seem particularly "tree-like" would have to be ordered by Sen, limited attention span and all, but even then he'd probably limit it to putting up thick spikes, or maybe making roots grow underfoot to make your footing shaky. However, at this stage in the proceedings it simply "grows".

Sen and the Tree have a symbiotic relationship; the tree does its thing with the occasional directive from Sen, and feeds him in exchange for his active defence of the plant. Because the World Tree is comparitively passive, you should be able to walk along it (at least, until Sen notices and doesn't take kindly to your suspected aggression.) but damaging the plant will certainly alert the Tender to your presence a lot faster.

The World Tree in its initial stages creates cellular energy through photosynthesis, like a normal plant. However, this limits your potential output to daylight hours, so its root cells also have the capacity to create cellular energy using geothermal heat as an external energy source, rather than the more plant-traditional solar energy. It can do this because its roots are tougher than nails. Of course, that's not going to happen here, but it does give an indication of how fast the roots can grow on this thing :P Energy's energy, anyway, and there do exist primitive plants that do something equivalent to photosynthesis (chemosynthesis?) without the presence of sunlight, near volcanic vents in the ocean floor. Because the World Tree's genome is a nasty mishmash of various examples of the kingdom Plantae, it's got a veritable toolkit for survival.

tl;cbf, as well as solar energy, the World Tree can also utilise a planet's core heat, and can change what it's growing if it feels what it's doing right now isn't working. Oh yeah, and I suppose if you can detect that kinda thing, it's a little bit radioactive too.

And... NTA also asked for the picture of Sen I drew earlier, so here it is (I would've scanned it in if I had a scanner, but I didn't, so I made do with the crappy webcam, computerised it, and coloured it in):

Originally posted on MSPA by Not The Author.

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Though it didn't yet know it, the World Tree was hastening its own downfall. Not that the six within the artificial sun posed it any threat, but by breaching the faux celestial sphere, it was slowly destroying the sole source of usable energy it currently posessed. Regardless, it continued to grow towards the ground, which was, according to gravity, directly through the sun. As the Tree shredded the pylon's solar shell, those plates which simulated stellar emissions flickered and failed, giving the monstrous plant more paths into the tower.

"Damn thing grows fast, doesn't it?" Jacob backed away from the breach, the others doing likewise at varying speeds. More branches - or were they roots? - burst through the wall, and now, too, were coming through the roof. They waved around a bit, as though testing the air, before continuing through the floor. Jacob wasn't sure whether to be relieved that the vines hadn't seen them, or afraid of the idea that they could.

"Wait, it's just a tree. Why are we afraid of a tree?" Jacob wasn't listening this time, so it fell upon Steven to state the obvious. "Because it just tore through metal?" "Oh, yeah. That." Jacob's mind raced, seeking a way out as several more vines wormed their way in. They couldn't take the elevators, as much because of Vex as because of the plant. That left maintainence tunnels, or... Suddenly, he spied several metal rungs leading up the wall to a hatch in the ceiling. "Hey, guys," he grinned, "I just had a terrible idea. Come on." He started for the ladder, and realized no one was likely to follow him. Reaching the first rung, he shrugged. "Or, you could get killed by a giant mutant tree. Either way."

The Tree in question had started to realize something was wrong. As its new trunk continued to breach the sun, more and more of the heat and light it had detected in such abundance before began to fade and die. Some semblance of cognizant thought caused the World Tree to halt its progress, and merely satisfy itself with the roots already passing through the structure. Instead, it focused on making more branches, to maximize the sunlight it recieved.

Jacob emerged into the blazing light, lessed somewhat by short, translucent panels that also acted as railguards. He took a step and immediately tripped over a branch... root... thing. Picking himself up, he glanced back in time to see Blitz trying to stifle a laugh.

Jacob had a glare which he had, over several years of consistent use, nearly prefected. It involved certain facial inflection that had to be practiced, or the glare would come out all wrong. It lasted about three seconds, and generally sent people fleeing in terror, or at the very least, deeply unnerved them.

It was commonly followed by the words, "you're next."

Two-and-a-half seconds later, Jacob was walking across one of the inactive solar panels, followed by the others; a rather worried looking Blitz taking the rear. Reaching the main trunk segment, they came to a halt, Vex already getting an idea of what was to occur. "I'm confused. Why are we here?" The satyr turned to John. "I imagine we're going to climb it." Jacob nodded, still facing the tree. Blitz took the opportunity to panic. "Hey, uh, remember when you said this was a bad idea?" Jacob raised his sword, gazing intently into the glowing metal. "Because, uh, it's a bad idea." Jacob spun around, blade arcing through the air in front of his companions. A couple flinched. Wolf leapt back and bared his teeth. Steven, perhaps not the first to notice the subtle change, was the first to comment. "...What did you do?"

"I gave you all personal gravity fields. You'll be drawn towards the nearest, most massive object. Since there are six of us, I had to cut the size back from a ten-foot buffer to a four-foot buffer. Just means you can't jump very high or you'll fall. Speaking of falling, they're not actually at max power, so regular gravity will also affect you... whatever 'normal' is around here, anyway. It just means that it'll feel like walking on an incline most of the way down, that's all. One last thing. They won't last forever. Ten-ish minutes, probably twelve at most. Another result of having more than one person to cast on; so sue me. You should be fine so long as you keep up the pace, alright?"

...What he actually said was this: "No time to explain." Jacob stepped on to the sheer vertical surface of the treetrunk. "Just don't jump too high and you should be fine. Now hurry up, you've only got about ten minutes." Unsatisfactory explanation delivered, he began sprinting up... down? ...along the surface of the tree.

Originally posted on MSPA by Baphomet.

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Vexmagog tried to keep up with the rest of the group, weaving through the rapidly sprouting branches, but their flat feet were designed for running, while his foot-hands were not. A few yards from the surface of the "sun", Jacob's incline with regard to the surface swapped, as if suddenly shifting from walking uphill to down.

Vexmagog began to stray behind, until he passed the barrier where gravity switched. Reminded of the crystalline thorn towers that bored through the mountains of his home, he stopped. The others ran ahead as he walked out onto a branch, shifting his gravitational field to match its incline.

He held his arms out in front of him and pushed himself off of the branch.

He fell a good twenty feet, his green cloak trailing behind him, before catching a branch below with all four limbs. His momentum and the angle at which he hit caused him to spin around it, his right hand digging a scar through the bark. Without missing a beat, he pushed off with his legs, snagging a newly-forming branch beneath. It bent with his weight and twirled him around the main trunk, which he alighted on next to the sprinting Blitz. The branch snapped back into place and Vexmagog leapt again, stopping himself once on a branch along the way before dropping past Steven, Jacob, and Wolf, a green streak through the air.

The branch below, once grabbed, twisted him close enough to the trunk for his gravity field to catch it, and he skidded and sprinted across the surface for a brief moment. Jacob and Wolf caught up and passed him as he regained his balance.

Vexmagog's heart raced and he smiled, panting slightly. Raising his arms into the air, he let out an alien whoop and leapt again.

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I'm having fun working out the details and the mythology of Vex's homeworld as we progress. I've already designed the majority of the landscape, seascape (though it's not quite a sea in the strictest definition) and heavens. I've got the rest of his pantheon and the details about the dominant species worked out too. I think some of it might come into play later, depending on how the future settings pan out and how long I last.

Originally posted on MSPA by Weldar.

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Steven ran along the tree back down towards the bubble his heart beating almost as fast as it had on the elevator ride up away from it. His legs were battling with the conflicting desires to both sprint back down to the ground as fast as possible and walk along as slowly and carefully as he could, rather than settling on a middle ground he instead decided to alternate between both. Blitz behind him noticed his uneasiness.
"Uh are you okay"
"Yeah it's just this whole gravity thing is weird. and um.." Steven paused for a second wondering whether he should finish the sentence. "I'm kinda not good with unstable heights." Steven slowed a little, he considered letting Blitz pass him but soon decided it was time run again and sprinted off. Steven managed to catch up to Jacob and Wolf with little problem, a few small stumbles but the gravity field kept things in order, however just at that moment there was a distracting odour. Is that smoke? Steven turned to look for the source just as a green blur zoomed right past his face, it startled him a little but things would've been okay if it wasn't for the fact in that one moment Steven had decided to look away from the tree trunk his foot had gotten caught in a vine. Somehow all this things combined together to send Steven stumbling off the tree straight towards the ground.

The gloves sprang straight into action. Steven cried out in pain, holding back tears. The gloves had flown off and grabbed him by the wrists, the jolt had almost dislocated his shoulder, but still it saved him. The gloves let go again, this time they grabbed him by the waist.Steven winced, he could feel their thumbs digging into the base of his spine, but still it was better than last time. Steven could already feel the bruises forming on his wrist. The gloves dropped Steven one last time and this time bolted down quicker than ever and grabbed the soles of Steven's shoes. It took a little it of balancing but eventually he managed to get steady on the two makeshift platforms. Steven exhaled sharply, he could still fell his heart hammering away but he was safe. He looked down at his gloves (well really his shoes, he couldn't see the gloves.) "Thanks for that guys."

Meanwhile inside the "sun" a vine had coiled itself around a particularly nice looking piece of machinery. None of the contestants had seen this vine, and even if they had they wouldn't have though much of it. Unless of course they happened to read the sign above one of the nearby terminals which read, Colony Gravity Control, but of course none of the contestants had seen that sign either. Luckily the vines inside the sun had already stooped growing, everything's gonna be just fine, right....

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You know what's fun? Messing with gravity [img]images/smilies/apple.gif[/img]

Originally posted on MSPA by Drakenforge.

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I would love to know how Wolf managed to climb rungs.
In a haha way, not a cynical, "that was an error in your post" way.

Would definitely be a kodek moment, I believe thats the term anyway.

Originally posted on MSPA by Not The Author.

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Honestly? I was wondering that myself. [img]images/smilies/pc_pranky.gif[/img]

The answer is, of course, "very carefully."

Originally posted on MSPA by Kaitostrike.

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Alex got back onto his feet,only to notice the lack of a certain beast.Turning his head,he saw that the tender had climbed onto a high-reaching branch;or was it a root?Either way,Sen had began to flee.
"Oh,so you're going to run now?Fine then!If you will run,then I shall chase!"
The Tender was frightened by this certain human,and so relied on his instincts to tell him what to do;and they said run.He climbed onto one of the branches of the tree and climbed higher and higher.But it didn't take Sen long to realize Alex was following him.As it turns out,a wave of fire is a good attention getter.Regardless,he kept on climbing,and Alex kept on trailing him.
That thing is very agile;I can't seem to hit it!Alex,while not exactly falling behind the Tender,wasn't exactly staying up with it either.It's hard climbing up trees you know!
"Get back you damn coward!" he yelled,continuing his vain pursuit.
...
...
This game of cat and mouse continued until Sen spotted something familiar in the distance;it was the other contestants,who were also climbing on the tree,albeit in the other direction.But what was important was that the one who helped him earlier was among them!He let out a series of "Kliks",hoping to inform his colleague of his dire situation.
Wolf heard a friendly sound;no,it was a frightened one.He looked in the direction of the noise to see Sen running towards him.Why isn't he with the bark-skin cubs?Upon closer inspection(the fact they were getting closer helped as well),he saw that Sen was being chased by the tailless that commands the bright-beast-that-bites-hot.Wolf leapt into action and passed the taillesses in his pack.Sen jumped over Wolf and kept on going,running past the rest of the group.
Alex's chase was stopped by a somewhat familiar figure blocking his path.
"Ah,you're the one who was helping that thing earlier.Now be a nice doggy and get out of the way."
"Grrrrrrr."
"If you don't go on and move,I'm going to have to kill you too."

Originally posted on MSPA by Schazer.

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Resoivered (For real this time)

Damnit, I got distracted >_> Un-reserved.

Originally posted on MSPA by Korbz.

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John was deciding whether or not to show off more than Vex and Steven, but decided against it when he saw a flame wall flying up(down?) towards him. "Heh. Sorry Goatman, gonna do something." He lept from the tree, diving(rising?) towards the Fire mage. "Welcome back! Ready for round 3?!" His staff glowed and he covered himself in a thick sphere-shaped blizzard. "This is a little technique I learned. If you touch the snow, it'll rip you to shreds!" He charged Alex, who jumped out of the way, shooting a fire ball on his way up, letting John shred the branch he was on. Alex barely made it to the next branch, and pulled himself up. "Holy crap, that was close," was all Alex had a chance to say before John rushed him again, leaving the branch with a large dent in it. John released his sphere, and landed on the tree, forming a sword. "Are you ready for this?!" "There's no way someone with no fingers could beat me in a sword fight!" "We'll see about that!" John dashed up the tree, charging Alex again. This time, he was ready for the ice mage. Alex sidestepped and John flew off the tree, Alex slashing him in the back. "Ahhh! Blood! You're not supposed to sidestep, cheater!" He re-attached to the tree, getting ready to put snow on his wound when he started falling. "What." Looking up, he could see the rest of his 'team' on branches. "Oh hell no!"

Originally posted on MSPA by Drakenforge.

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Flashes of sound. Lots of movement. Move.

Wolf raced through the moving vines like, well, an animal. Sometimes he had to slow down, which he despised, to allow the tailless to catch up. Too far away and he would fall.
Then pack-leader Sen leaped over him, and continued to climb it's way back up. Wolf saw that a tailless, the red one that smelled burnt at all times, was chasing it.
Wolf squared his shoulders in agitation. Bright-beast-that-bites-hot.... Fire, in this language.
It devours needlessly, preys on all things. Not just what it needs to survive.
He took a stand as the tailless aproached. His first initiative was to growl as a warning.

"Ah,you're the one who was helping that thing earlier.Now be a nice doggy and get out of the way."
"Grrrrrrr."
"If you don't go on and move, I'm going to have to kill you too."

Wolf left nothing to chance. He bounded over the boy with speed he didn't know he had. He landed, turned quickly by spinning on one paw that he dug into the bark of the root, and barked.

Wolves aren't known for barking. It's beneath them really. However, that wasn't the strange thing about what Wolf did. The noise didn't just hit your ears, it pounded at your body, especially the heart. And that's where it originated in Wolf. Not his Wolf lungs, but the object in his chest working as a replacement for his heart.
He didn't understand why he had just figured it out. He just knew. He watched as the good taillesses tumbled and fought to regain their balance. The fire tailless stood clutched his chest, being the closest one to the noise. A second later, and he stood frim once more.


"So be it." He announced. Alex lit a straight line of fire in wolf's direction. Wolf pounced to the left, and ran not towards Alex, but around the root so that he was beneath him, and eventually, behind him. Alex brought he sword around as Wolf's teeth sank into his arm. Alex felt the pain, but kicked Wolf away and threw a ball of fire at him.

Wolf backed away. He couldn't fight a tailless without hurting him too much, and he had not found the resolve to harm him. Fire was the bad thing, not the tailless that uses it.

Originally posted on MSPA by Sruixan.

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I'm thinking that the climax is kinda soonish, so you can go kinda crazy if you want. I have a setting waiting in the wings (it just needs a snappy name, that's all...) for when death does occur.

I have two potential eliminees earmarked, so if you feel like you might be on the borderline somewhat, I'd recommend a nice juicy full-on post to show off what you've got...

Originally posted on MSPA by Schazer.

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Sen scrabbled up the World Tree's main trunk in gangly leaps as branches ground their way through bark in anticipation of his reaching fingers. The rest of the forest had ceased its mad growth; Sen's directives were consuming the twisted plant's now-dwindling energy. The knowledge of this World Tree's demise came automatically to the Tender; its deceptively complex cognitions, despite being incapable of language or higher thinking, could process all of the data from air and sound and Tree and self, and conclude the monstrous plant's doom. If Sen were capable of disappointment, he would've shown it now. Instead, he gave up whatever portion of the Tree Alexander had set his flames upon and had dashed off to investigate another source of damage - where Vexmagog's arm had scarred the upper branches.

The new branches were green and springy, perfect little springboards as Sen loped up the tree. Unlike the humans making their way along it, for the Tender up was still unnegotiably up. Sen stomped past the main party, noticing Wolf. Around him, and the others, was a bubble of influence that acted upon the trunk, ordering its gravity about. He perched on a branch roughly halfway between the sun and the ground; watched the wolf and the fire mage's fight break out. The Tender shuddered when Wolf howled, the keening sound reverberating through Sen, and by extension, the whole Tree - and flinched again as Alex ignited, his bursts of flame aimed at Wolf but inadvertently scorching bark.

Giving the bark beneath his feet a reassuring squeeze, Sen leapt off the branch, jaws agape, screeching like a neon banshee. Alex looked up at the plummeting beast, which had launched itself at him, head now tucking in to spin, and bring that clubbed, pod-bearing tail down-

The mage readied his blade. The tail-pod thwacked into it with surprising force, and to Alexander's amazement, did not break - in fact, it knocked his sword aside, nearly cleaving off his shoulder. The Tender was still somersaulting during this strike, and followed up by sweeping the pyromancer's feet from underneath him with a slender-fingered hand. The two tumbled, out-of-control, down the trunk; Alex grabbed his weapon with both hands this time and stabbed it as far as he could into the trunk which rushed by him, gouging the Tree with one lengthy scar.

Sen did not need to be touching the World Tree to feel the pain from so brutal an attack. His scream almost put Wolf's sonic howl to shame as the pair crashed through the canopy formed by all the smaller trees (though in saying smaller, they were already full-sized trees in their own right). Through the haze of pain, the Tender sensed the ground approaching and began rolling down the rest of the trunk, the durable pods taking the impact where Sen struck the tree. Alex could not time it so well, and jarred most of the bones in his body upon impact - though his sword had decelerated him enough to survive the hefty drop. It took him quite a few moments to extract his blade from the trunk, which was smoking for once not of his volition. A rush of fire up the length of steel, and the pyromancer pulled the sword from the charcoal.

Alex turned, to see where the Tender had fled to this time, then realised why it had not attacked him while he had his back turned. The saplings had parted or bowed down to Sen's orders and killed themselves off, leaving a clearing at the foot of the main tree. Glancing warily around, Alex noticed firstly the lack of escape routes - the arena was swiftly being walled off by a enmeshed ring of trees, which as well as being straight and leafless had a peculiar sheen to their bark. A jet of fire, launched while Sen directed a similar treatment of the above-ground roots that could not move or die, confirmed these trees would not ignite as easily. Behind the ever-forming wall, Alex recognised the pulverised remains of an iron-bar fence, with a stone base and topped with fleur-de-lyses, for a brief moment, before the view was rapaciously swallowed up by silvery-grey wood.

Sen hissed and glared balefully at Alex as he leapt upon a curved piece of concrete, tail lashing about and knocking over the top of the fountain. The pyromancer looked more nervous, realising this time there was no escape. Nothing left to do but fight to the death. Alex began with several fireballs in the Tender's direction, but it was already sprinting around the arena, its swift, long-legged gait almost too much for the mage to keep up with as he turned and shot. The fireballs struck the steely bark behind Sen and disappeared in a conflagration of embers. The Tender ceased its orbit and strode in with a few wildly jack-knifing leaps in an attempt to confuse Alex. Twisting to rest upon one spidery hand, Sen raked at the boy's face with the sharpened tips of the other. Alex had no time to guard with his sword; instead he darted back and launched a jet of flame in Sen's face.

The Tender screamed again, but this time its agonised cry had a sickly gurgle to it as it clawed at its incinerated face, falling to the ground as it used both hands to fruitlessly attempt to alleviate the pain. Clear, green sap poured from the wounds like cursed blood. Sen had had the brains to shut its eyes at the oncoming flames, but the translucent skin of its eyelids had been pretty much fried off. The surprised pyromancer lowered his arm, which had been stationary in the position it had been after the launch of flames. He couldn't believe it was going to be that easy - well, maybe he should've, considering it was a plant, but still... Alex took one step towards the prone, still creature, then heard its rhythmical, throaty clicking. The sound left him ill at ease, and the sword danced in front of him, pointed at the mess of fingers that was obscuring the reptilian face and the persistent tchlick-click-click-click.

The fingers parted, and the blade fell with a clatter as the talons lashed out and struck Alex's sword hand, marring the back of it with four neat punctures. The ticking crescendoed wildly, tempo outracing Alex's own heartbeat as the almost-mechanical noise mutated into an alien snigger. Sen, standing up with one hand, seized the sword with the other and tossed it aside, still click-chuckling away. The entire portion of its face which had been burned no longer spilled the Tender's essence - now it was caked in the silvery, fire-tolerant bark of the trees around it - and it was spreading across the smirking green face.

Originally posted on MSPA by Korbz.

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John was still falling, yet thinking. Not the old thinking he used to do, no, this was 'thoughtful thinking' as he described it in his mind. There is no more hurting of his brain, just thoughts. If I hit the ground, I'm going to die. I should probably not hit the ground. How do I not hit the ground? I can create snow, but that wouldn't really help, would it? Perha- John trailed off when he smacked into a branch, his wound shooting blood out as if it were a fountain, his legs broke, and to make it more annoying, first Wolf did that really annoying screech, then Sen yelled twice. John rolled over and fell off his branch. I'm going to die here. I'm really going to die here. If I land on anything that isn't soft, I am going to die when I land. He was doing several flips in the air, but he could see Sen and Alex fighting below, but he didn't care. If he could survive, he probably even wouldn't be able to fight the fire mage anymore, let alone fight Sen for putting a dent into the tree. This is taking forever. Why can't I just land and get this over with? He was completely oblivious the the fact that he was once again a snowman, though this one was bigger. I hope I land on the fire mage, then I could at least take someone out with me. He smashed into the ground, right next to Sen and Alex, snow flying everywhere. "Oh, eternal whiteness. Is this what heaven is?" "You're not in heaven, you idiot. You're not dead, not yet anyway." A pillar of flames melted the snow around Alex, and Sen seemed to fly out of the snow and attack Alex. "Hey! He's mine!" John wiggled his body around as much as he could to no avail. He could barely even see the fight anyway, being covered in snow.

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I hope I did all right with this.
Damage report: John is now bleeding and has broken legs. If I survive this round and there's no healing, I am royally screwed.

Originally posted on MSPA by Kaitostrike.

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I just have one question;was the wall of wood built around Sen and Alex merely a wall,or an all-encompassing sphere around them?
Oh,and kinda-sorta reserve.I'm not really sure I'll be able to post a long winded post anytime soon.