The Relentless Slaughter [Round 3: Tormentorland]

The Relentless Slaughter [Round 3: Tormentorland]
#36
Re: The Relentless Slaughter [Round 1: Untitled-1]
Originally posted on MSPA by engineclock.

“…a pleasure to meet another person hand selected by our God.”

Hair rose at the back of Gannet’s neck at the sharp scent of chemicals and fire. The man standing before him was swathed in a cloud of smoke that he knew from experience wasn’t really there, though he could smell it overtaking their surroundings. Sulfur and acid and other, bitter things; blood and earth, distantly. The man reeked of alien land and substances Gannet didn’t have a name for. The smoke billowed around them both, masking the more distant smells he was only beginning to identify. The chemical man didn’t notice.

Briefly, Gannet’s eyes flickered to the newcomer’s outstretched hand. It was lined with tiny scars and fading burns, the nails smooth and neatly trimmed. Blood moved under its skin like a slow river, pumping the chemical smell even further into the air; its flesh was soaked with the same acrid scent. The smoke moved to cover it and its details grew foggy, though he had no trouble tracking its movements. Something deep in Gannet’s memory shifted- I am terribly pleased to meetyou siriam thecaptainofthisshipand- this was a friendly gesture! Good. Everything was good. He would know the things this man had to offer and the Oracle’s eyes would be opened further.


Zimmer paused awkwardly. This Gannet person had his head tilted to one side and was looking at him with an expression caught between confusion and interest, though his smile hadn’t changed. He noted with curiosity that the strange man’s tongue seemed to be black behind his bared teeth, the same diseased-looking color as his too-long fingers. Obviously this creature was under the effects of some strange environmental factor he had yet to discover; his physical appearance indicated as much.

The odd man’s lack of response was starting to unnerve him. Perhaps he didn’t speak-

Gannet’s hand flicked out and drew a line sideways across Zimmer’s forehead in the blood from his wounded arm. Stunned, the alchemist blinked at the feel of the claw-like finger on his skin, the jagged tip scratching him just slightly. Angrily he stumbled back. What right did this man have to- to- he smelled fire and burning earth and heard screams of glass breaking on stone and cracking and tiny lines appearing on its surface and blood bubbling over the edge and fire a-and oh God, what?

The tall grey man leaned in.
“I am an Eye of the Oracle,” he said happily, his smile seeming impossibly wide. “It is good to meet you.”

Zimmer stared back, his heart still beating madly. Unconsciously he felt for his knife as he stammered, ”Er, y-yes. Very good indeed.” What in God’s name had just happened? What had the Tormentor not told them about this man? He was clearly insane and judging by what had just happened, at least marginally dangerous….God damn this headache, it was making it next to impossible to sort out his thoughts. The man didn’t seem hostile, not yet at least. Perhaps it would be more fortuitous to have some sort of ally in the test his Lord was presenting forth- unless that was forbidden?

He glanced at Gannet again, who only grinned back. Surely, he was better than nothing, and had not his Lord mentioned befriending his fellow combatants? This Gannet seemed sociable enough, even if he was slightly unbalanced. He might prove to be of some assistance in the coming battle.


If the alchemist’s next smile was somewhat forced and his bow a little stiff, then Gannet made no notice. He was used to seeing the tenseness in people’s bodies when he spoke with them, to seeing their tendons tighten and their muscles half-prepare to spring away. The chemical man’s cloud of smoke darkened and gathered about him with fear, though maybe not so he would notice it. He was terribly interesting. The bitter scents of his body and the things he carried and the things he’d seen…the Fates had been kind to send him to this place. He would serve the Oracle better than any of its other servants, and when he returned it would know of far greater places than the black shores of its ocean and the damp caves it lay screaming in.

“It seems to be that our wisest course of action would be to move forward at this point, yes? We have already seen this area to be dangerous,” Zimmer said, indicating the walls behind them, which were quickly gaining a reddish tinge that he rather didn’t like the looks of. “Perhaps our next course of action will be more certain once we have explored this area more.”

Gannet blinked slowly and laughed. It was a terrible noise, more nervous than happy and it set Zimmer’s nerves on edge even further. He was being unreasonable, he told himself. This man had no ill intentions towards him. There was nothing to be concerned about. His newfound ally began to stride off towards the end of the field they stood on, which was looking more and more like some sort of courtyard, barring the neon-colored skulls tumbling into existence on the unnaturally green grass.
“Yes,” the strange creature called back, turning his head sideways to behold Zimmer with a single bright eye. “We will move onwards.”

Zimmer had to jog slightly to keep up with the taller man’s odd loping stride, falling slightly behind as he warily watched his new accomplice’s strangely precise footsteps. He’d begun to swing his head slightly from side to side as he walked, like an animal, with his teeth bared in the eerie grin that the alchemist was quickly becoming accustomed to. Eager to make conversation, Zimmer said , “So tell me of this…Oracle, you said? You are his or her follower, am I correct?” It was possible that they might have common ground after all. He’d heard of oracles, ancient and obscure figures devoted to speaking the words of hidden gods. Was that not the very same task he sought to accomplish with his scientific work? This man could very well be a fellow seeker of truth.

A wall drew itself across their path, disconcertingly quickly. Rapidly it gained a messy coat of grey that melted into neat, smooth stones; Gannet stopped in his tracks and made to turn back, but it was too late. It had already joined with the walls of the courtyard and was stretching higher than Zimmer could reach. Frustrated, he looked about for a way around. He still had the vial of the Alkahest, though he’d need more than he was willing to expend to get through that wall. Damn it, damn it all to hell-
Beside him, Gannet hunched down for a moment, then leapt nimbly onto the top of the wall, his spiderlike fingers gripping the stone tightly. He grinned down at Zimmer and began to speak gleefully, craning his neck downwards to get a better view of his hapless audience.


“The Oracle came to the sea weeping for what it had lost and for the earth that blackened beneath its broken feet, its bones kissing the rocks it tread upon. It knew truth now, at last, and all its screams could not stop it now. The Oracle’s eyes were closed forever in ecstasy and it begged the ocean to end its life, but neither water nor death would come for it.”

He knelt and reached down a hand to help Zimmer up. Taking it, the already alarmed lieutenant shuddered at the feel of Gannet’s bone-like fingers, hard and sharp like claws, and the surprising strength in the man’s narrow arm as he pulled Zimmer to his feet next to him on the cramped ledge. His chatter never faltered even as he lifted the alchemist up, still intent on answering his ally’s questions.

“What the sea would not grant it, the Oracle called for elsewhere. It moved under the stones that rose from the water, hiding its ruined face and singing songs it had never learned in voices that were not its own. Others came, soon, having heard of its passing and seen the beauty of what its destruction wrought. They called back to it, deep in the stone and half-sunk in the merciless water, and asked for the divining that had crushed it so.

“It answered them, seeing more than ever they could with its closed and weeping eyes. Some took pity on it, and followed it down into the caverns it had carved from the earth with its own broken hands, seeking to offer it release. But there are more and wiser beings than those born of man and these few were blessed by the Oracle, their eyes closed against the fog of the raging sea and given new and distant sight. The few became its first acolytes, and as the Oracle’s ravaged body grew once more to its strength they answered its screams with those its own, calling out in joy to that which had given them their lives.

“I am an Eye of the Oracle, I have said this. I am the successor to those first few. I serve the Oracle and walk the land to tell it of the things of which it does not yet know.”


Zimmer waited a moment to see if his ally’s terrible story was over, and as they walked in silence on top of the wall it became apparent that it was. He coughed suddenly and mumbled, “Yes, well then. That’s…quite intriguing!” Lord have mercy on him, this man was stark raving mad. But it was better than being alone, he told himself. It had to be. If this damned headache would just clear up he’d be right as rain and he could get on with trying to survive his Maker’s increasingly tortuous test.

Walking ahead of him, Gannet basked in happiness from telling the story of the Few and Oracle. The rhythm of the legend hummed in his bones and his blood and he stretched his fingers in satisfaction. How fascinating it was to meet with one not already of the Oracle! He had not had to recall one of the Hymns in….a long while? He did not recognize the passage of time. Though, he realized, he was failing in not gathering information from this new person. He turned his head back to speak to the chemical man. “I am being rude. I see this. Will you tell me of yourself?”

Slightly startled, Lieutenant Zimmer replied, “Well, mine’s a bit of a longer tale than yours, if you’ll permit me to say so. You see, I am both a man of science and a man of God, through a series of-”

Gannet cut him off suddenly with a sharp, rattling hiss. Offended, Zimmer began to rebuke him just as a titanic saw blade screamed through the air and sliced the wall ahead of them neatly in half.

Gasping, the lieutenant ducked as in front of him Gannet reflexively darted off the wall and clung to its side like a spider, his fingers digging into the fake stone. Towering over them both was a massive red octopus, the crown of its huge head swaying through the air as ragged, scything lines formed the outline of its body. Each of its tentacles, themselves as thick around as tree trunks, was tipped with a huge glittering circular blade that swung through the air with a terrifying whistling sound. More and more arms were being completed now; as they watched in horror the octopus began to lurch towards them, its huge eyes glazed over in pain and fear as it haphazardly swung its blades at them, occasionally gashing itself with a pained, shaking roar.


Over the huge beast’s head, the hateful black text began to appear.LVL 30 CIRCLE SAWCTOPUS”, it read.

FIGHT!
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Messages In This Thread
Re: The Relentless Slaughter [Round 1: Untitled-1] - by GBCE - 02-22-2011, 01:47 AM