Re: The Fatal Conflict (GBS2G7) (Round 3: The Infinite Playground!)
09-30-2011, 03:05 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.
Kargrek had seen Zach's drifting reconnoitering when the ghost had floated above, but he hadn't seen any reason to signal to him or hide. Zach and Zom were certainly not allies, given their apathy and pacifism, but they weren't threats either for those same reasons. They were practically scenery, and Kargrek had long since filed them as "acceptable to kill if a round needs ending for some reason", which certainly didn't engender much reason to talk to the cowards in him. As Zach had drifted away, the barbarian had turned his attention back to his surroundings and thoughts.
The surroundings were confusing, garish, and almost enough to drown out the rumination Kargrek was desperately trying not to indulge in: someone with a more modern perspective would have recognized it as an unbelievably-colossal caricature of a plastic playplace; Kargrek couldn't see it as anything but a nonsensical conglomeration of platforms and tubes made of some kind of bizarre wood or flexible stone. Nothing seemed to have any purpose or reason, nothing seemed to make sense, nothing was recognizable or familiar. Even in the first two rounds, which were just as and more displaced from his own time than this was, there had been things that were obviously houses, things that were obviously streets; this place was just... Nonsense.
The troublesomeness of the setting itself was much easier to dwell on than the reasons for being there; Kargrek was not a man much given to introspection over action, but there were always times when such was unavoidable. After having your quarry overpower you or disappear smugly twice, then remove itself completely from your world, it was hard not to ask questions like "Can this even be done?" or "Is this even worth it?". It was even harder for someone like Kargrek to answer them; a lifetime of commanding men, fighting evil sorcerers, and hunting monsters and giants hadn't given him the tools to deal with futility or doubt very well.
It was probably fortunate, all things considered, that the structure Kargrek had been dropped on top of was unoccupied; it was too much a tangle of slides and crawl-chutes to allow colonization, and didn't have the convenient playhouses that so many dark-eyed children had settled in across the Infinite Playground. At the same time, the structure's qualities that made it hard to live on made it impossible for someone closer to seven feet than six and as broad as Kargrek to get off the top level. He simply wouldn't fit on any slides or chutes or ladders.
Still trying not to think, he paced around the perimeter of his colorful prison: in the distance, he could see what looked like Zach and Zom and perhaps a third figure; in the opposite direction what could be Belonna or could be some other apparent female bounding across the surreal landscape. No-one else he recognized was visible, but there were occasional clusters or bands of small, wiry figures darting around. Zach and Zom weren't worth approaching and this structure was impossible to explore, so...
A few moments later, plastic exploded outward from the top of the playplace, railing and the tops of several slides yielding to Kargrek's furious barefoot kicks. The bulk of the kicker followed shortly, plummeting a distance that should have been unsurvivable; he rolled when he landed and Krog's bracers protected his bones from splintering like toothpicks, but even all his strength and the spongy ground couldn't completely soften the blow for his soft tissues. He staggered as he stood, wincing and picking multicolored shards out of his soles. It was hard to see where possibly-Belonna had been without the advantage of height, but after spending a few moments testing his knees and ankles, Kargrek launched himself in what he hoped was the right direction.
At least the superhuman leaps the gravity and his own enhancements allowed let the man feel free and unfettered for a short time.
Kargrek had seen Zach's drifting reconnoitering when the ghost had floated above, but he hadn't seen any reason to signal to him or hide. Zach and Zom were certainly not allies, given their apathy and pacifism, but they weren't threats either for those same reasons. They were practically scenery, and Kargrek had long since filed them as "acceptable to kill if a round needs ending for some reason", which certainly didn't engender much reason to talk to the cowards in him. As Zach had drifted away, the barbarian had turned his attention back to his surroundings and thoughts.
The surroundings were confusing, garish, and almost enough to drown out the rumination Kargrek was desperately trying not to indulge in: someone with a more modern perspective would have recognized it as an unbelievably-colossal caricature of a plastic playplace; Kargrek couldn't see it as anything but a nonsensical conglomeration of platforms and tubes made of some kind of bizarre wood or flexible stone. Nothing seemed to have any purpose or reason, nothing seemed to make sense, nothing was recognizable or familiar. Even in the first two rounds, which were just as and more displaced from his own time than this was, there had been things that were obviously houses, things that were obviously streets; this place was just... Nonsense.
The troublesomeness of the setting itself was much easier to dwell on than the reasons for being there; Kargrek was not a man much given to introspection over action, but there were always times when such was unavoidable. After having your quarry overpower you or disappear smugly twice, then remove itself completely from your world, it was hard not to ask questions like "Can this even be done?" or "Is this even worth it?". It was even harder for someone like Kargrek to answer them; a lifetime of commanding men, fighting evil sorcerers, and hunting monsters and giants hadn't given him the tools to deal with futility or doubt very well.
It was probably fortunate, all things considered, that the structure Kargrek had been dropped on top of was unoccupied; it was too much a tangle of slides and crawl-chutes to allow colonization, and didn't have the convenient playhouses that so many dark-eyed children had settled in across the Infinite Playground. At the same time, the structure's qualities that made it hard to live on made it impossible for someone closer to seven feet than six and as broad as Kargrek to get off the top level. He simply wouldn't fit on any slides or chutes or ladders.
Still trying not to think, he paced around the perimeter of his colorful prison: in the distance, he could see what looked like Zach and Zom and perhaps a third figure; in the opposite direction what could be Belonna or could be some other apparent female bounding across the surreal landscape. No-one else he recognized was visible, but there were occasional clusters or bands of small, wiry figures darting around. Zach and Zom weren't worth approaching and this structure was impossible to explore, so...
A few moments later, plastic exploded outward from the top of the playplace, railing and the tops of several slides yielding to Kargrek's furious barefoot kicks. The bulk of the kicker followed shortly, plummeting a distance that should have been unsurvivable; he rolled when he landed and Krog's bracers protected his bones from splintering like toothpicks, but even all his strength and the spongy ground couldn't completely soften the blow for his soft tissues. He staggered as he stood, wincing and picking multicolored shards out of his soles. It was hard to see where possibly-Belonna had been without the advantage of height, but after spending a few moments testing his knees and ankles, Kargrek launched himself in what he hoped was the right direction.
At least the superhuman leaps the gravity and his own enhancements allowed let the man feel free and unfettered for a short time.
Spoiler