Re: Intense Struggle! (Round 5 - Cervaled Fall)
05-03-2011, 01:02 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.
Clara had actually been mid-blink when the round had ended, and due to The Monitor's transportation system and protocols, her eyes had stayed sealed shut when she had been deposited in the new setting. They stayed forced closed as his droning voice gave them the minimum of information he felt they needed, and weren't released until it faded. Once the paralysis faded though, she kept them closed for a few moments anyway; she'd been placed in a sitting position on a barely-soft and rather-cold surface, back against a harder and colder one, but at least no-one was killing anyone else. Or at least not doing so in front of her. It was pleasantly peaceful by comparison, and she breathed slowly in and out, more out of habit than necessity.
Her reverie was quickly ended by another mechanical voice, this one certainly close by and physical in origin. "Ah, I was wondering when I would get a cell-mate. Only the 'social risks' end up in solitary confinement."
With a small sigh, the nun opened her eyes; the room around her was small, rectangular, and made entirely out of a dull-matte metal that glowed faintly blue. The door was just another plate that ostensibly withdrew into the wall or floor, and had no mechanism for operation on this side. She couldn't glean any more details at the moment (and what she did pick up was all incidental and subconscious) because all her attention was focused on the figure opposite her.
It was a skeleton, dressed in a tattered robe and missing an arm; one of its eye-sockets was glowing, but the other had a handful of fine cracks emanating from it. It was sitting slouched on a bunk on the far wall, remaining arm folded in its lap, and didn't move as it continued speaking. Even its jaw stayed completely motionless, but there was little doubt it was the speaker, given the direction the sound came from and the lack of any other potential source.
"Welcome to Cervaled Falls, the last place you'll ever be. We'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on. Quite a lot, if you understand."
Finally, it moved, standing up and crossing the room in two strides then extending a necrotic hand. "Konka Rar, lich. Sorcerer too, but it seems inappropriate to wear the title given the situation. Lord, once, but that's universes away now."
Clara reciprocated the gesture, pumping the skeletal arm with no hint of distaste. "Sister Clara Jungfrau. Mother Superior, I suppose, in another time and place."
It was impossible to read any reaction on the skeleton's face, given the lack of muscle or motility. The social ritual finished, the pair disengaged and sat back down. After a moment, she broke the silence again. "If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean that it seems inappropriate to call yourself a sorcerer? I've never heard of anyone losing that kind of power."
Konka Rar cocked his head and gestured to the boxy little cell around them. "Mana dampening. It's in the walls, it's all around us. I'm surprised you didn't feel it when you arrived. I couldn't cast a cantrip if I was holding the world's largest powerstone on the full moon that was also the equinox and standing waist-deep in the blood of unicorns."
Clara blinked. She hadn't really been in a mental state to notice it, but now that she calmed her mind and focused, she felt... Nothing. Not the flow of mana, nor the comforting promise of Schleier's presence in the back of her mind. Nothing at all. It was slightly unsettling. Worse, it was worrying. Without magic, what could she do at all?
She was just an old woman in a metal box.
Clara had actually been mid-blink when the round had ended, and due to The Monitor's transportation system and protocols, her eyes had stayed sealed shut when she had been deposited in the new setting. They stayed forced closed as his droning voice gave them the minimum of information he felt they needed, and weren't released until it faded. Once the paralysis faded though, she kept them closed for a few moments anyway; she'd been placed in a sitting position on a barely-soft and rather-cold surface, back against a harder and colder one, but at least no-one was killing anyone else. Or at least not doing so in front of her. It was pleasantly peaceful by comparison, and she breathed slowly in and out, more out of habit than necessity.
Her reverie was quickly ended by another mechanical voice, this one certainly close by and physical in origin. "Ah, I was wondering when I would get a cell-mate. Only the 'social risks' end up in solitary confinement."
With a small sigh, the nun opened her eyes; the room around her was small, rectangular, and made entirely out of a dull-matte metal that glowed faintly blue. The door was just another plate that ostensibly withdrew into the wall or floor, and had no mechanism for operation on this side. She couldn't glean any more details at the moment (and what she did pick up was all incidental and subconscious) because all her attention was focused on the figure opposite her.
It was a skeleton, dressed in a tattered robe and missing an arm; one of its eye-sockets was glowing, but the other had a handful of fine cracks emanating from it. It was sitting slouched on a bunk on the far wall, remaining arm folded in its lap, and didn't move as it continued speaking. Even its jaw stayed completely motionless, but there was little doubt it was the speaker, given the direction the sound came from and the lack of any other potential source.
"Welcome to Cervaled Falls, the last place you'll ever be. We'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on. Quite a lot, if you understand."
Finally, it moved, standing up and crossing the room in two strides then extending a necrotic hand. "Konka Rar, lich. Sorcerer too, but it seems inappropriate to wear the title given the situation. Lord, once, but that's universes away now."
Clara reciprocated the gesture, pumping the skeletal arm with no hint of distaste. "Sister Clara Jungfrau. Mother Superior, I suppose, in another time and place."
It was impossible to read any reaction on the skeleton's face, given the lack of muscle or motility. The social ritual finished, the pair disengaged and sat back down. After a moment, she broke the silence again. "If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean that it seems inappropriate to call yourself a sorcerer? I've never heard of anyone losing that kind of power."
Konka Rar cocked his head and gestured to the boxy little cell around them. "Mana dampening. It's in the walls, it's all around us. I'm surprised you didn't feel it when you arrived. I couldn't cast a cantrip if I was holding the world's largest powerstone on the full moon that was also the equinox and standing waist-deep in the blood of unicorns."
Clara blinked. She hadn't really been in a mental state to notice it, but now that she calmed her mind and focused, she felt... Nothing. Not the flow of mana, nor the comforting promise of Schleier's presence in the back of her mind. Nothing at all. It was slightly unsettling. Worse, it was worrying. Without magic, what could she do at all?
She was just an old woman in a metal box.