Re: The Grand Battle II! [Round 3: Escheresque!]
11-16-2009, 07:46 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by bobthepen.
At Gestalts' warning, a rush of doubt swept through the Karmist's mind. Perhaps the transaction will fall apart. Where would that leave me? My body, broken, my mind, torn to shreds. The thought certainly did not appeal to Samuel. Why had I been so instant on this? Perhaps there is another way, perhaps...
DO IT. The voice rang through Samuel's consciousness, and, due to his location, through the "mind" of Gestalt as well. Confidently, Samuel raised his left arm towards the orb and clutched it.
Outside of this realm of consciousness, Samuel Therion's body began to quiver. Small portions began to shake on their own accord as the schrotgolem's power worked its way though the Karmist's body. Grasping a bone here, a tendon there, an organ or two, not quite sure what these parts were connected to and instinctively wanting to rip them out for examination, the unceremonious ritual continued. In a rush, Samuel's arm jolted back, almost coming out of socket. His eyes rolled in the back of his head as the Karmist, having lost his balance, writhed on the floor. Gestalt took hold of the Karmist's heart, stopping its rhythmic, life-giving motion. Samuel's body convulsed one final time, before lying limp on the floor.
-----
For the schrotgolem, this method of binding was largely a result of caution. The mental outburst of the Karmist moments prior to establishing contact had convinced Gestalt that binding with Samuel's mind should be saved for last in case some unknown force decided to present itself. Up to this point, nothing inherently disconcerting had appeared; however, the more of Samuel that Gestalt connected to, the more it became aware of an energy previously unknown to the creature. Though a spirit being itself, Gestalt had spent most of its time largely concerned with the physical, the intricacies of whatever trinkets it managed to possess. Rarely had it attempted to bind with something as complex as a human body, and even then without much success. Yet something seemed to guide the schrotgolem as it reached out to the bits and pieces which comprised the Karmist's form. An odd force, like a low whisper, told Gestalt what to bind, and where it should go. "Don't move that there.", "Now is the time to bind this.", "This piece is ready." As Gestalt continued, following these directions, it became clearer what exactly they were saying.
"Death is here. Avoid it."
With this realization, Gestalt began to use the force to seek out the world around it. In its search it found Galus, "This creature is not far from Death.", The Sunset, "This one is dying", Maxwell, Vrymn, even Samuel, "Death shall call for them as well". There were other signals as well, though quite distant, "This boy shall soon perish.", "This woman has a shroud of Death around her.", "This construct repels death.", and "These creatures have passed beyond the gates of death."
As Gestalt grasped the Karmist's heart, a new flood of sensation rushed into the schrotgolem. The voice of death became a window into the greater workings of the world. All at once the whole of Karmic interactions rushed through the shrotgolem, battering his spirit with the endless chain of potential implications from which Samuel drew his power. The wave of novel knowledge and perception overwhelmed the cautious creature. It needed time to pick apart the plethora of new information, shelter to protect it from the sudden onslaught of the whole. Gestalt relied on understanding the whole through its parts, attempting to envelope it all at once was too much for it. It turned to the mind of the limp Karmist and punctured it with a tendril of thought.
"I do not understand this. Aid me please. It is too much"
A single voice replied, "FINISH THE DEED."
Reluctantly, Gestalt crept over the last part of the Samuel. Finally integrating the last part of the Karmist with itself.
------
Both the doll and the man lay motionless, the man on the floor below, the doll on the floor above. Neither breathing; no heart beating, only a foul stench emanating from both. The dark, rotting stink enveloped the two forms, increasing in potency, becoming almost tangible. In a slow, deliberate motion, the power belying the decrepit odor raised both forms off of the ground and ceiling. Both nearly hovered above whatever plane they touched, and, in a sudden shock, the Karmist's heart jolted to life. He glanced up at the ceiling above him. Samuel reached out his hand, and with invisible threads grasped the discarded pencil. The small writing tool sprung towards him, spun around his hand and landed gently in his palm. A wide grin spread across his face.
Samuel Therion was immensely pleased.
At Gestalts' warning, a rush of doubt swept through the Karmist's mind. Perhaps the transaction will fall apart. Where would that leave me? My body, broken, my mind, torn to shreds. The thought certainly did not appeal to Samuel. Why had I been so instant on this? Perhaps there is another way, perhaps...
DO IT. The voice rang through Samuel's consciousness, and, due to his location, through the "mind" of Gestalt as well. Confidently, Samuel raised his left arm towards the orb and clutched it.
Outside of this realm of consciousness, Samuel Therion's body began to quiver. Small portions began to shake on their own accord as the schrotgolem's power worked its way though the Karmist's body. Grasping a bone here, a tendon there, an organ or two, not quite sure what these parts were connected to and instinctively wanting to rip them out for examination, the unceremonious ritual continued. In a rush, Samuel's arm jolted back, almost coming out of socket. His eyes rolled in the back of his head as the Karmist, having lost his balance, writhed on the floor. Gestalt took hold of the Karmist's heart, stopping its rhythmic, life-giving motion. Samuel's body convulsed one final time, before lying limp on the floor.
-----
For the schrotgolem, this method of binding was largely a result of caution. The mental outburst of the Karmist moments prior to establishing contact had convinced Gestalt that binding with Samuel's mind should be saved for last in case some unknown force decided to present itself. Up to this point, nothing inherently disconcerting had appeared; however, the more of Samuel that Gestalt connected to, the more it became aware of an energy previously unknown to the creature. Though a spirit being itself, Gestalt had spent most of its time largely concerned with the physical, the intricacies of whatever trinkets it managed to possess. Rarely had it attempted to bind with something as complex as a human body, and even then without much success. Yet something seemed to guide the schrotgolem as it reached out to the bits and pieces which comprised the Karmist's form. An odd force, like a low whisper, told Gestalt what to bind, and where it should go. "Don't move that there.", "Now is the time to bind this.", "This piece is ready." As Gestalt continued, following these directions, it became clearer what exactly they were saying.
"Death is here. Avoid it."
With this realization, Gestalt began to use the force to seek out the world around it. In its search it found Galus, "This creature is not far from Death.", The Sunset, "This one is dying", Maxwell, Vrymn, even Samuel, "Death shall call for them as well". There were other signals as well, though quite distant, "This boy shall soon perish.", "This woman has a shroud of Death around her.", "This construct repels death.", and "These creatures have passed beyond the gates of death."
As Gestalt grasped the Karmist's heart, a new flood of sensation rushed into the schrotgolem. The voice of death became a window into the greater workings of the world. All at once the whole of Karmic interactions rushed through the shrotgolem, battering his spirit with the endless chain of potential implications from which Samuel drew his power. The wave of novel knowledge and perception overwhelmed the cautious creature. It needed time to pick apart the plethora of new information, shelter to protect it from the sudden onslaught of the whole. Gestalt relied on understanding the whole through its parts, attempting to envelope it all at once was too much for it. It turned to the mind of the limp Karmist and punctured it with a tendril of thought.
"I do not understand this. Aid me please. It is too much"
A single voice replied, "FINISH THE DEED."
Reluctantly, Gestalt crept over the last part of the Samuel. Finally integrating the last part of the Karmist with itself.
------
Both the doll and the man lay motionless, the man on the floor below, the doll on the floor above. Neither breathing; no heart beating, only a foul stench emanating from both. The dark, rotting stink enveloped the two forms, increasing in potency, becoming almost tangible. In a slow, deliberate motion, the power belying the decrepit odor raised both forms off of the ground and ceiling. Both nearly hovered above whatever plane they touched, and, in a sudden shock, the Karmist's heart jolted to life. He glanced up at the ceiling above him. Samuel reached out his hand, and with invisible threads grasped the discarded pencil. The small writing tool sprung towards him, spun around his hand and landed gently in his palm. A wide grin spread across his face.
Samuel Therion was immensely pleased.