Re: Inexorable Altercation [Beginning Momentarily]
05-24-2010, 03:19 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.
It hadn't taken long, the gentlemen had grown rather adept to searching the multiverse. Each man save the one who held the book had chosen a single contestant to search for, and each had found their contestant.
The seventeen beings now stood in null space. In all directions, nothing stressed eternally. Not blackness, not colorlessness, simply nothing.
But nowhere wasn't empty. All around, were massive spheres. Not truly luminescent, but by contrast to the emptiness, they shone with the light of existence.
The group now floated over one such sphere. Chains of light bound the eight contestants, as the nine gentlemen overviewed them, ensuring the matched the profiles given to them by the tome.
"The first contestant, Loran Twight, was a being called a Creeper. A naturally evolved assassin, his very appearance reflected his nature. Though perhaps somewhat insane, this made him all the deadlier to his opponents."
Scanning Loran, the gentlemen found him acceptable, and continued.
"The second was a half-oni by the name of Greyve. Though his phsycial prowess was great, he also possessed the ability to learn the moves of his foes. Though playful in times of peace, this battle would show another side of him."
Again, the Greyve that now floated, bound in chains of light, was found by the gentlemen to be the very same Greyve written of in the book.
"The third, a human by the name of Will Haven, was a peculiar case. Caught in a network of time loops, he had unwittingly wandered towards this battle himself, hoping to uncover the mystery of his vanishing future self."
Were it not obscured by the black hood, the leader of the gentlemen may have grinned at Will.
"The fourth, Apathy, was a sorrowful human. Having hoped to shut off her emotions, Apathy held promise to be a heartless warrior, in the battle to come."
Apathy made little attempt to break free of the chains, as the gentlemen passed her.
"The fifth, Felix Atrum, was a textbook villain. He held in his power the peculiar ability to morph into dark matter."
"In a footnote." the leader of the Gentlemen noted "It is mentioned that the power to change one's shape is extraordinarily common among these battles..."
"The sixth, Annaliese Nibbs, was a witch. This witch in fact, was a demonstration of the peculiar nature of this battle.
While any other battle would have chosen only the greatest and most powerful beings as contestants, fate itself has selected these. This woman, though a witch, was by no means a powerful being."
The gentleman flipped a few pages, he had no interest in reading the Wordsmith's meaningless rants.
"The seventh 'contestant' was in fact a pair of beings. One, OTTO, a machine of war, was possessed by the other, O'rlyath, though the two disliked each other, they were an extraordinarily powerful combination."
Though simple chains had been sufficient to hold OTTO, a much more intricate noneucledian seal also held O'rylath in place.
"The final was a being called Voitrach. Describing the very nature of its existence could be done in volumes."
Evidently the Wordsmith had decided on pages, for the Gentleman was flipping through several again.
"To summarize, it is a gravity-manipulating golem" he added, to alleviate the irritation of the other Gentlemen.
At last, the man stood in the center of the circle, and spoke directly to the contestants.
"You have all been gathered here, as part of a game. To put it simply, you are to kill each other."
The words were completely dry, matter-of-fact.
"Your motivation for doing so is simple. 'you will kill each other.'"
The contestants didn't understand, but it was simple to the Gentlemen. It was written about in the Wordsmith's book, and it would happen. The battle had not yet concluded, and so it was a prophecy.
"The battle shall be divided into 7 rounds. Each death shall end a round. Each new round will take place in a new arena. The arenas have been predetermined.
Slowly but surely, the group had been descending on the sphere beneath them. Now the Gentlemen stopped descending, but the contestants accelerated.
"The first battle will begin now."
7000 years earlier, the Wordsmith closed his eyes.
To see a world- to truly see it- perhaps took more focus than the other aspects of his writing. Still he could see it, as the contestants landed throughout the first arena.
Scattered were they, throughout what to them seemed simply a stone maze. An intricate temple perhaps on closer inspection.
Indeed the "Temple" was massive, countless structures marked in intricate runes. A huge mountain-sized being.
The contestants touched down within the first arena. Kosmo Tourok, the Sleeping World of Rock.
It hadn't taken long, the gentlemen had grown rather adept to searching the multiverse. Each man save the one who held the book had chosen a single contestant to search for, and each had found their contestant.
The seventeen beings now stood in null space. In all directions, nothing stressed eternally. Not blackness, not colorlessness, simply nothing.
But nowhere wasn't empty. All around, were massive spheres. Not truly luminescent, but by contrast to the emptiness, they shone with the light of existence.
The group now floated over one such sphere. Chains of light bound the eight contestants, as the nine gentlemen overviewed them, ensuring the matched the profiles given to them by the tome.
"The first contestant, Loran Twight, was a being called a Creeper. A naturally evolved assassin, his very appearance reflected his nature. Though perhaps somewhat insane, this made him all the deadlier to his opponents."
Scanning Loran, the gentlemen found him acceptable, and continued.
"The second was a half-oni by the name of Greyve. Though his phsycial prowess was great, he also possessed the ability to learn the moves of his foes. Though playful in times of peace, this battle would show another side of him."
Again, the Greyve that now floated, bound in chains of light, was found by the gentlemen to be the very same Greyve written of in the book.
"The third, a human by the name of Will Haven, was a peculiar case. Caught in a network of time loops, he had unwittingly wandered towards this battle himself, hoping to uncover the mystery of his vanishing future self."
Were it not obscured by the black hood, the leader of the gentlemen may have grinned at Will.
"The fourth, Apathy, was a sorrowful human. Having hoped to shut off her emotions, Apathy held promise to be a heartless warrior, in the battle to come."
Apathy made little attempt to break free of the chains, as the gentlemen passed her.
"The fifth, Felix Atrum, was a textbook villain. He held in his power the peculiar ability to morph into dark matter."
"In a footnote." the leader of the Gentlemen noted "It is mentioned that the power to change one's shape is extraordinarily common among these battles..."
"The sixth, Annaliese Nibbs, was a witch. This witch in fact, was a demonstration of the peculiar nature of this battle.
While any other battle would have chosen only the greatest and most powerful beings as contestants, fate itself has selected these. This woman, though a witch, was by no means a powerful being."
The gentleman flipped a few pages, he had no interest in reading the Wordsmith's meaningless rants.
"The seventh 'contestant' was in fact a pair of beings. One, OTTO, a machine of war, was possessed by the other, O'rlyath, though the two disliked each other, they were an extraordinarily powerful combination."
Though simple chains had been sufficient to hold OTTO, a much more intricate noneucledian seal also held O'rylath in place.
"The final was a being called Voitrach. Describing the very nature of its existence could be done in volumes."
Evidently the Wordsmith had decided on pages, for the Gentleman was flipping through several again.
"To summarize, it is a gravity-manipulating golem" he added, to alleviate the irritation of the other Gentlemen.
At last, the man stood in the center of the circle, and spoke directly to the contestants.
"You have all been gathered here, as part of a game. To put it simply, you are to kill each other."
The words were completely dry, matter-of-fact.
"Your motivation for doing so is simple. 'you will kill each other.'"
The contestants didn't understand, but it was simple to the Gentlemen. It was written about in the Wordsmith's book, and it would happen. The battle had not yet concluded, and so it was a prophecy.
"The battle shall be divided into 7 rounds. Each death shall end a round. Each new round will take place in a new arena. The arenas have been predetermined.
Slowly but surely, the group had been descending on the sphere beneath them. Now the Gentlemen stopped descending, but the contestants accelerated.
"The first battle will begin now."
7000 years earlier, the Wordsmith closed his eyes.
To see a world- to truly see it- perhaps took more focus than the other aspects of his writing. Still he could see it, as the contestants landed throughout the first arena.
Scattered were they, throughout what to them seemed simply a stone maze. An intricate temple perhaps on closer inspection.
Indeed the "Temple" was massive, countless structures marked in intricate runes. A huge mountain-sized being.
The contestants touched down within the first arena. Kosmo Tourok, the Sleeping World of Rock.