Re: The Vivacious Deadlock: S3G6: Round Two: BJ
03-08-2012, 03:57 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-19-2021, 06:46 AM by Anomaly.)
Several minutes of walking through the catacombs and, subsequently, significantly-less-tomblike hallways of the temple passed uneventfully, the priestess staying mostly silent and the other clergy of the temple doing little more than gazing in awe. The paths, heavily decorated in musical notation utterly foreign to the Kryesan (if they'd been told what it was, they might've passed it off as inefficient), eventually led to a plain wooden door, nowhere near as impressive as the one leading to the sacrificial altar/rave hall. Shira knocked at the door, which opened a few minutes later to reveal a man dressed not in the robes of the other priests, but in an odd black coat with a bright red ascot, the collar of his white undershirt resting atop. A wild mess of curly gray hair complemented the man's stern features, those this attribute of his face did not last long at the sight of Nalzaki.
"Great Sf'rzando, is that really you?" the man questioned, astonished.
"Yes, my loyal subject," Nalyg replied. "You are the high priest, are you not?"
"You do not know, mighty Sf'rzando? Has something happened?"
"The God of Music has lost their memories of us, it would seem," Shira gravely replied. "I do not know how, but it does not bode well for us."
The high priest remained silent for a few moments. "There is no need worry, sister. Do not forget what is written in the Score. When Sf'rzando first appeared a thousand years ago, they were not aware of their identity at first. They slowly came to realize who they really were, and thus did they teach the unenlightened masses the ways of Sf'rzando. This was before the days of the clan Thünderwölf, you must keep in mind. The city of Santa Nada stood instead against the fearsome forces led by a group calling themselves 'The Phantoms'. Do you remember none of this, enlightened one?"
Nalyg shook his head, followed shortly after by Razaran and Kanpeki. "It... has been a long time, my subject," Razaran replied.
"We are, however, aware of the current situation," Kanpeki continued. "The clan Thünderwölf threatens to destroy the city, do they not?"
"For hundreds of years we have thought that, but the raids have all but ceased over such a long time. Have they begun gathering forces for another attack?"
"They have, my subject," Nalyg responded. "But unlike previous attacks, things may be tipped in their balance by circumstances not of this world. Is the city able to defend itself?"
"If what you say is true, and I do not, of course, doubt your judgement even in your current state, I fear they may not be able to. The Symphony is more then enough to keep them at bay under normal circumstances, but the balance, as you say, may have been tipped. It is a shame that in a thousand years, so many have forgotten your ways, great and powerful Sf'rzando."
"Sorry, back up. The Symphony?" Razaran questioned.
"A powerful weapon that has many times been able to keep the raiders at bay. I only fear that in these hundreds of years, they have finally devised a method of overcoming its terrible power. We need you, great and powerful Sf'rzando. I pray that you will protect our city!"
"It shall be done as is within our power, my subject," Kanpeki replied. "Is there anything more we should know about?"
"Yes... Yes, there is something more. Please, follow me." The gray-haired man turned and walked back into his unusually spatious office, past the shelves lined with various odd trinkets and the occasional holy script. Nalzaki managed to push through the distinctly human-sized door, though not without knocking over a potted tree which they quickly righted.
"I am sure you do not remember these things, but perhaps your memory will return." The high priest played a brief, but complex piece on the grand piano at the head of the room, causing three large panels behind him to slide open simultaneously. Both panels on the sides held an identical item, an odd sort of pole topped with a duo of discs, a couple of wires running from each. In the center, full-body armor the shape of the Kryesan, though bearing sleeves for four arms rather than the two the Kryesan currently possessed. Beneath the armor lay what any familiar with such things would refer to as an unusually-complex midnight-black keytar, arranged more like a small organ than a normal keyboard, complete with two separate rows of keys.
"What is this?" Nalyg asked the high priest.
"This is the armor you used long ago, in the war against the Phantoms. That war was in the days before the Symphony, and you were at the head of the battle. Without you we might have fallen, but with the aid of you and these weapons of legend, Santa Nada survived. Please, great Sf'rzando, take them up again. Lead the people of Santa Nada to victory against the clan Thünderwölf, for all of our sakes."
"Thank you, my subject. I do not believe we have been told your name," Kanpeki replied.
"My apologies, great Sf'rzando. I am High Priest Thovebeen of the Temple of the Score."
"Your aid will be remembered, Thovebeen, priest of Sf'rzando."
With those words, Nalzaki stepped toward the items on the wall. The armor did not entirely conform to their body shape, but was close enough to be easily worn. Their faces were entirely obscured while wearing the armor, but quite naturally it did not obscure their vision from within. The two "weapons of legend" mounted to the back, crossed in an X shape, and the plugs fed both into the keytar and into the armor itself. Razaran and Kanpeki each developed a second arm to suit the armor, as well as to properly play the complicated instrument. As a test, Kanpeki played a few notes at random. As she did so, the dormant Tesla coils on their back sprang to life, emitting a musical buzzing as bolts of electricity arced across their body, absorbed into the mesh of the armor.
This should be good, Razaran thought to the others.
For all the drive and ferocity with which Cascala was moving foward, she really didn't seem to be moving toward anything in particular, Dr. Harmon noted. The trio moved through alley after alley, passing countless streets in a direction that could only have been described as "vaguely toward the center of the city". Maybe it was that she really was following some invisible force that drove this world as it snaked throughout the city, calling out to her, but then again, she could have just been completely crazy. Klendel seemed very interested in the mage's progress for some reason the physicist could only vaguely fathom. A part of her wanted to ditch the two of them, but the other, perhaps more powerful part was intrigued with the vague feeling of this "song", and wanted nothing more than to find its source and utilize it. Dr. Harmon just hoped she wouldn't be driven to whatever madness possessed Cascala.
Meanwhile, Klendel, less in tune with whatever vague force may have existed, was mostly intrigued with what new opportunities Cascala could be leading him to. If there was some sort of mysterious force that drove the lives of everyone in this world, Klendel wanted nothing more than to cease this power for himself. For now, of course, it was best to simply keep to himself, let the meatbags lead him right to whatever it was Cascala was seeking. She paused occasionally to blather something about "the song" or some kind of weird music-based metaphor, but he was scarcely paying attention.
What he was forced to pay more attention to, however, was the three-headed, armored figure approaching the trio, some kind of highly unusual machines strapped to its back.
"Hey, Doctor. Isn't that Nalzaki coming toward us?"
"What," she started, her head whipping around to face the approaching form of the Kryesan. "Oh god no. Not this again."
It appeared as though Dr. Harmon was hurrying the other two along, trying to avoid contact with Nalzaki. It would apparently be hard to reconcile for their actions in the other city, in spite of their lack of memory of the events of said actions. Nonetheless, they had to at least try. Thus far they had made very few alliances and very many enemies, and they would very much have preferred to not have the odds stacked against them later on.
Nalzaki ran toward the trio, Nalyg attempting to announce an intention of peace which more likely than not did nothing to help. It was worth a shot, he guessed. Maybe they'd get through after all?
"Great Sf'rzando, is that really you?" the man questioned, astonished.
"Yes, my loyal subject," Nalyg replied. "You are the high priest, are you not?"
"You do not know, mighty Sf'rzando? Has something happened?"
"The God of Music has lost their memories of us, it would seem," Shira gravely replied. "I do not know how, but it does not bode well for us."
The high priest remained silent for a few moments. "There is no need worry, sister. Do not forget what is written in the Score. When Sf'rzando first appeared a thousand years ago, they were not aware of their identity at first. They slowly came to realize who they really were, and thus did they teach the unenlightened masses the ways of Sf'rzando. This was before the days of the clan Thünderwölf, you must keep in mind. The city of Santa Nada stood instead against the fearsome forces led by a group calling themselves 'The Phantoms'. Do you remember none of this, enlightened one?"
Nalyg shook his head, followed shortly after by Razaran and Kanpeki. "It... has been a long time, my subject," Razaran replied.
"We are, however, aware of the current situation," Kanpeki continued. "The clan Thünderwölf threatens to destroy the city, do they not?"
"For hundreds of years we have thought that, but the raids have all but ceased over such a long time. Have they begun gathering forces for another attack?"
"They have, my subject," Nalyg responded. "But unlike previous attacks, things may be tipped in their balance by circumstances not of this world. Is the city able to defend itself?"
"If what you say is true, and I do not, of course, doubt your judgement even in your current state, I fear they may not be able to. The Symphony is more then enough to keep them at bay under normal circumstances, but the balance, as you say, may have been tipped. It is a shame that in a thousand years, so many have forgotten your ways, great and powerful Sf'rzando."
"Sorry, back up. The Symphony?" Razaran questioned.
"A powerful weapon that has many times been able to keep the raiders at bay. I only fear that in these hundreds of years, they have finally devised a method of overcoming its terrible power. We need you, great and powerful Sf'rzando. I pray that you will protect our city!"
"It shall be done as is within our power, my subject," Kanpeki replied. "Is there anything more we should know about?"
"Yes... Yes, there is something more. Please, follow me." The gray-haired man turned and walked back into his unusually spatious office, past the shelves lined with various odd trinkets and the occasional holy script. Nalzaki managed to push through the distinctly human-sized door, though not without knocking over a potted tree which they quickly righted.
"I am sure you do not remember these things, but perhaps your memory will return." The high priest played a brief, but complex piece on the grand piano at the head of the room, causing three large panels behind him to slide open simultaneously. Both panels on the sides held an identical item, an odd sort of pole topped with a duo of discs, a couple of wires running from each. In the center, full-body armor the shape of the Kryesan, though bearing sleeves for four arms rather than the two the Kryesan currently possessed. Beneath the armor lay what any familiar with such things would refer to as an unusually-complex midnight-black keytar, arranged more like a small organ than a normal keyboard, complete with two separate rows of keys.
"What is this?" Nalyg asked the high priest.
"This is the armor you used long ago, in the war against the Phantoms. That war was in the days before the Symphony, and you were at the head of the battle. Without you we might have fallen, but with the aid of you and these weapons of legend, Santa Nada survived. Please, great Sf'rzando, take them up again. Lead the people of Santa Nada to victory against the clan Thünderwölf, for all of our sakes."
"Thank you, my subject. I do not believe we have been told your name," Kanpeki replied.
"My apologies, great Sf'rzando. I am High Priest Thovebeen of the Temple of the Score."
"Your aid will be remembered, Thovebeen, priest of Sf'rzando."
With those words, Nalzaki stepped toward the items on the wall. The armor did not entirely conform to their body shape, but was close enough to be easily worn. Their faces were entirely obscured while wearing the armor, but quite naturally it did not obscure their vision from within. The two "weapons of legend" mounted to the back, crossed in an X shape, and the plugs fed both into the keytar and into the armor itself. Razaran and Kanpeki each developed a second arm to suit the armor, as well as to properly play the complicated instrument. As a test, Kanpeki played a few notes at random. As she did so, the dormant Tesla coils on their back sprang to life, emitting a musical buzzing as bolts of electricity arced across their body, absorbed into the mesh of the armor.
This should be good, Razaran thought to the others.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For all the drive and ferocity with which Cascala was moving foward, she really didn't seem to be moving toward anything in particular, Dr. Harmon noted. The trio moved through alley after alley, passing countless streets in a direction that could only have been described as "vaguely toward the center of the city". Maybe it was that she really was following some invisible force that drove this world as it snaked throughout the city, calling out to her, but then again, she could have just been completely crazy. Klendel seemed very interested in the mage's progress for some reason the physicist could only vaguely fathom. A part of her wanted to ditch the two of them, but the other, perhaps more powerful part was intrigued with the vague feeling of this "song", and wanted nothing more than to find its source and utilize it. Dr. Harmon just hoped she wouldn't be driven to whatever madness possessed Cascala.
Meanwhile, Klendel, less in tune with whatever vague force may have existed, was mostly intrigued with what new opportunities Cascala could be leading him to. If there was some sort of mysterious force that drove the lives of everyone in this world, Klendel wanted nothing more than to cease this power for himself. For now, of course, it was best to simply keep to himself, let the meatbags lead him right to whatever it was Cascala was seeking. She paused occasionally to blather something about "the song" or some kind of weird music-based metaphor, but he was scarcely paying attention.
What he was forced to pay more attention to, however, was the three-headed, armored figure approaching the trio, some kind of highly unusual machines strapped to its back.
"Hey, Doctor. Isn't that Nalzaki coming toward us?"
"What," she started, her head whipping around to face the approaching form of the Kryesan. "Oh god no. Not this again."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It appeared as though Dr. Harmon was hurrying the other two along, trying to avoid contact with Nalzaki. It would apparently be hard to reconcile for their actions in the other city, in spite of their lack of memory of the events of said actions. Nonetheless, they had to at least try. Thus far they had made very few alliances and very many enemies, and they would very much have preferred to not have the odds stacked against them later on.
Nalzaki ran toward the trio, Nalyg attempting to announce an intention of peace which more likely than not did nothing to help. It was worth a shot, he guessed. Maybe they'd get through after all?