RE: Cloudsea - The Chronicle of Alice Van Vaugen
06-16-2017, 06:25 PM
"Well, I mean, I'm not good at math?" That much was already obvious to me. "Thanks?" I was referring to your ability to think ahead when necessary, as you did just a moment ago. Also, I refer to your ability to aim a weapon with such a magnitude of destructive power without killing yourself. "I thought that's what happened before I, uh, Woke up? Still, this is all very... Orderly. I thought the afterlife or whatever this place is would be a little less formal."
Mm. Hmhm. "Was that- Was that a laugh? Did you just laugh at me?" I may have. "..." Is that a problem? "No! I just- Didn't expect you to admit it, I guess." Mmm. You pull your limbs back into yourself, then extend a hand, holding a small lump of carved petrified bone. Alice glances at the lump, then back to you. "For a near invisible, amorphous mass of light and shadow, you certainly are very..." The word you used was orderly. Yes. My kind are inconsiderate, lowly creatures that create life on a whim, then squander it on petty in-fighting, trivial squabbles, games of luck or skill with your kind as disposable pieces. I will not make the same mistake. With this seal, you will become manifest, and we will become of one purpose.
Alice stopped. They were just about to take the small seal, but now looks up at you. "What purpose is that?" You turn the seal over in your hand. It glistens with black ichor. Ink. Blood. Your own.
Your purpose, is now my purpose, Alice of Vaugen. I have waited long to find a being like you, and now that I have, I seek only to see what life has in store for you. Whatever you wish to do, I will be there to help you accomplish it.
The seal presses down against the paper.
Alice Van Vaugen was born some twenty plus years ago to Gabriel Van Vaugen, a Navigator, and Alexis Van Vaugen, his Captain. Alice's birth had been kept secret from all but the Vaugen's closest friends, and soon after had vanished from public eye. The popular belief is that as a pair of 'Gust Walkers', CloudSea explorers, they had found a wonderful treasure. Or a terrible curse. One way or another, they are rarely, if ever seen in public. Occasionally stories surface about sightings of them at the furthest reaches of the Imperial Sphere, or maybe a boat passes them on their way back out of the CloudSea. Always, they are seen going deeper than most ships would ever dare.
Alice had a simple but well-cared for childhood, seen after by either caretakers hired by, or the actual friends of her parents themselves. During this time she picked up many skills. She learned to read and write much sooner than other children, and rather than going out to play, would sit inside and read anything she could get her hands on. Somewhere along the line, she picked up a form of magical design that nobody else can properly understand, other than it seems to be powered by her overactive imagination. When she was a teenager, a number of tutors came through her house, some faster than others, sent by her parents or their friends. All she really learned was that she wasn't great with numbers and she really liked the smell of gunpowder and high-munitions.
And then two days ago, Alice Van Vaugen died. Almost. Her town, a small, mostly unimportant island of 2000 or so lives was reduced to near rubble, along with it's dedicated defensive contingent of Their Majesty's Gentlemen. Strange beasts flew in on and inside large monstrosities of flesh and metal, supported by a 'flagship' of sorts in the guise of an enormous whale. On her way to her favorite bakery, Alice was attacked, and although the beast perished in the end, her assailant struck her through the heart, killing her instantly.
Which is why it's really weird that she's lying in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She had a really weird dream, one she cannot properly remember yet. She was speaking with someone, and they offered to... Her head tilted. What did they offer to do? Whatever it was, she woke up promptly after, with a slight feeling of embarrassment. The tone they had used felt... impersonal? And yet reverential.
Alice examines her room. It looks like a storm has been through here. Books have been knocked all over the place, there are a few cups sitting around. She spies a bundle near the wall that appears to be the remains of the clothes she had gone out in, along with her shattered rifle. There is a conspicuous amount of blood on those clothes. None on her sheets though. Maybe it wasn't her bloo-
Someone is moving downstairs.
What do you do, Alice?
Mm. Hmhm. "Was that- Was that a laugh? Did you just laugh at me?" I may have. "..." Is that a problem? "No! I just- Didn't expect you to admit it, I guess." Mmm. You pull your limbs back into yourself, then extend a hand, holding a small lump of carved petrified bone. Alice glances at the lump, then back to you. "For a near invisible, amorphous mass of light and shadow, you certainly are very..." The word you used was orderly. Yes. My kind are inconsiderate, lowly creatures that create life on a whim, then squander it on petty in-fighting, trivial squabbles, games of luck or skill with your kind as disposable pieces. I will not make the same mistake. With this seal, you will become manifest, and we will become of one purpose.
Alice stopped. They were just about to take the small seal, but now looks up at you. "What purpose is that?" You turn the seal over in your hand. It glistens with black ichor. Ink. Blood. Your own.
Your purpose, is now my purpose, Alice of Vaugen. I have waited long to find a being like you, and now that I have, I seek only to see what life has in store for you. Whatever you wish to do, I will be there to help you accomplish it.
The seal presses down against the paper.
Alice Van Vaugen was born some twenty plus years ago to Gabriel Van Vaugen, a Navigator, and Alexis Van Vaugen, his Captain. Alice's birth had been kept secret from all but the Vaugen's closest friends, and soon after had vanished from public eye. The popular belief is that as a pair of 'Gust Walkers', CloudSea explorers, they had found a wonderful treasure. Or a terrible curse. One way or another, they are rarely, if ever seen in public. Occasionally stories surface about sightings of them at the furthest reaches of the Imperial Sphere, or maybe a boat passes them on their way back out of the CloudSea. Always, they are seen going deeper than most ships would ever dare.
Alice had a simple but well-cared for childhood, seen after by either caretakers hired by, or the actual friends of her parents themselves. During this time she picked up many skills. She learned to read and write much sooner than other children, and rather than going out to play, would sit inside and read anything she could get her hands on. Somewhere along the line, she picked up a form of magical design that nobody else can properly understand, other than it seems to be powered by her overactive imagination. When she was a teenager, a number of tutors came through her house, some faster than others, sent by her parents or their friends. All she really learned was that she wasn't great with numbers and she really liked the smell of gunpowder and high-munitions.
And then two days ago, Alice Van Vaugen died. Almost. Her town, a small, mostly unimportant island of 2000 or so lives was reduced to near rubble, along with it's dedicated defensive contingent of Their Majesty's Gentlemen. Strange beasts flew in on and inside large monstrosities of flesh and metal, supported by a 'flagship' of sorts in the guise of an enormous whale. On her way to her favorite bakery, Alice was attacked, and although the beast perished in the end, her assailant struck her through the heart, killing her instantly.
Which is why it's really weird that she's lying in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She had a really weird dream, one she cannot properly remember yet. She was speaking with someone, and they offered to... Her head tilted. What did they offer to do? Whatever it was, she woke up promptly after, with a slight feeling of embarrassment. The tone they had used felt... impersonal? And yet reverential.
Alice examines her room. It looks like a storm has been through here. Books have been knocked all over the place, there are a few cups sitting around. She spies a bundle near the wall that appears to be the remains of the clothes she had gone out in, along with her shattered rifle. There is a conspicuous amount of blood on those clothes. None on her sheets though. Maybe it wasn't her bloo-
Someone is moving downstairs.
What do you do, Alice?