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| Prologue: Henry | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 26 2013, 19:33 (615 Views) | |
| FalseHumanity | Jun 26 2013, 19:33 Post #1 |
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There's a long scream, a squealing of rubber against something altogether unprepared for it, and then you're surrounded by the blaring of car horns. All around you, metal boxes streak by. You're headed right into them. The car is around you, responding to you. It's warm against your fingertips. It's resistant against your toes. You throw the wheel to one side and spin out of the lane and into the blacktop of a large strip mall. You wait for a few seconds, the car occupying multiple parking spots. Nothing is following you. You take a deep breath, exhale, close your eyes, open them again. Nothing. You can feel your heartbeat, taste the air. You're free. And then from around the corner you see it. Something moves in the crowd that distinctly is not human. It has to be your Keeper. It HAS to be. Fuck. It is. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck- You've got to do something. Edited by FalseHumanity, Jun 26 2013, 23:45.
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| FalseHumanity | Jul 4 2014, 00:36 Post #51 |
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Spoiler: click to toggle Ulysses looks at you, his eyes widened slightly under his bushy eybrows. "I think it'd be best to wait a day, don't you? There'd be no point joining the Summer Court if it killed you." He smiles, to soften the criticism. "But your zeal is admirable." He gestures to the two others in the little yard of the bakery. "How about introductions, instead?" He indicates the woman with burnished skin and huge arms. "This is Sonja Essert, our forgemaster. She anneals the Iron Spear." The woman smiles and claps you on the shoulder. It's just soft enough to not hurt. "Nice to meet you, Henry." "And this is Vijay Mhasalkar," Ulysses says, about the man with rocky skin to his left. "Our strategist and planner. He helps Summer keep our borders strong." Vijay nods to you, his hands pressed palms-together. "Namaskar." Edited by FalseHumanity, Jul 6 2014, 01:05.
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| Riggs | Jul 4 2014, 14:47 Post #52 |
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"Good to meet you Sonja, Vijay," Riggs give a curt nod in each of their directions before turning back to address Ulesses. "If I'm not doing the rest of the initiation today, then what's next?" He's anxious, Riggs deals well with fighting and running, building and breaking, but not so much with meeting and talking. |
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| FalseHumanity | Jul 7 2014, 04:00 Post #53 |
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"Well," Ulysses says, "apparently there's going to be some heavy rain tonight, so our first order of business is making sure you're not caught out in it." He gives you a kindly smile. "I'm assuming, of course, that you don't already have a place to stay." "Second order of business," he continues before you can respond, "will be getting you back into the world. A job, a bank account, a new person to be, for a lack of a better term." |
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| Riggs | Jul 7 2014, 21:17 Post #54 |
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That last bit stuns him. "A new person to be," what? He barely knows how to be Riggs, and he's not sure he ever knew how to be Henry. How the hell can Ulysses expect him to just abandon what little he knows and become this "new person?" Then there's everything else on top of it. It's isn't simply "abandon you identity" it's also "take up this new one that we've chosen for you." Get a job, get a place to live, Riggs isn't even sure what a "bank account" is, but he begins to feel very boxed in by the idea. Isn't the Summer Court supposed to be about ensuring freedom? Could they really be as bad as the Keeper? Riggs wants to trust them, but if they're intent on making his decisions for him... He feels his fists clenching. No, he can't lose these new allies so soon after finding them, it's too cruel. Think. Why would Ulysses make these demands? The Keeper enslaved Riggs because it derived entertainment from his fights. But what entertainment could Ulysses get from Riggs having a warm bed? On the other hand, there was a clear benefit to Riggs if he did the things Ulysses expected. Maybe it was for his own good then, but he had to be sure. He only partly manages to keep the anger and despair out of his voice. "Does this entertain you?" |
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| FalseHumanity | Jul 7 2014, 21:37 Post #55 |
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Spoiler: click to toggle Ulysses blinks. "Entertain? I can't say I find any of this amusing. It's standard procedure for us, Henry. Almost no one returns to this world with a home or money. And..." He looks at you with something approaching sadness in his eyes. It's like a remnant of the emotions he used to feel, worn away by time. "We still haven't told you yet, I suppose. I guess we all try to forget about it." "There's a pattern to all of our stories, Henry. It always follows the same formula. It changes in the details, sometimes leaves out parts, but it's fairly consistent. You know that the Keeper changed your body, maybe even your mind. What you don't know is that things changed in this world, too. Sometimes, you just vanish here. One day you're taken, and no one can find you, and your family and friends have to assume you're dead. Sometimes, it's like that for years. Sometimes, it's only a few days." "But usually... they leave something behind." He looks over the rims of his glasses. "Something that we call a fetch. It's a crude replacement, but the Fae can imbue it with enough life to suffice. The fetch may have continued your life since you were taken, believing it is you. It may not know what it means to be human, getting arrested or killed. Sometimes, it simply gets sick and dies." Ulysses sighs. "The fact is, Henry, nine times out of ten, there's no life to go back to. It's been stolen from us. So in order for us to adapt, we have to start over. We have to fake an identity so that the mortals around us don't notice that there's something wrong." Spoiler: click to toggle "I don't mean you to think that I'm taking this lightly. It's just... become natural." Edited by FalseHumanity, Jul 7 2014, 21:38.
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| Riggs | Jul 8 2014, 22:10 Post #56 |
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Ulysses mentions family, and Riggs remembers... She hits the floor hard, one hand covering her face where she's been struck. Blood drips onto her yellow sundress as she looks up at him, shocked. She seems to be seeing him for the first time. "Henry..." She sobs, the shock fading from her face, tears smear her makeup. He reaches out to her, but a large man grabs him by the collar. "C'MERE YOU FUCKIN' WEASEL!" His grease-stained shirt says "Larry" and "Turtle St Auto", but his face says only "Rage." The big man swings, but Henry twists free and runs. He does not look back. Ulysses mentions friends, and Riggs remembers... He and Chris come home to their little gang's abandoned warehouse and blunder right into a crime scene. From the catwalks they can see cops everywhere, inspecting evidence or turning the place upside down searching for more. Chris' face goes blank, he taps Henry's shoulder and points. There, all around the TV that Steve had looted during the riots, are six bodies, each of them lying in a pool of blood. Steve, Jack, Mike, Crazy Tio, JT, and Kyle, the names run through his head unbidden. "Ya think it was them Crips that Tio pissed off?" Henry doesn't have time to respond, one of the Cops searching the first floor hears Chris' question and looks up. He shouts something, and now all of the other cops look up. "Dude! GO!" Henry isn't sure which one of them said it, but he's running all the same. He runs for days. Straight into the arms of the Keeper... Riggs pushes away the memory, that's one he's relived all to recently. He's much happier to focus on the present. Here at least, there are still people who care about him, who want to help him. At least, Ulysses really seems to care. Riggs decides he'll go along with what Ulysses is suggesting, maybe this life could be a good one. "I had no life to steal," Riggs shakes his head slightly, as if to dislodge the last fragments of memory, then smiles "But I think I'd like to." Edited by Riggs, Jul 8 2014, 22:28.
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| FalseHumanity | Jul 9 2014, 23:52 Post #57 |
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Spoiler: click to toggle Ulysses nods to you. "Well, let's get the ball rolling, then. I'll make a few calls, and we'll find you a place to stay." He looks up at the sky, where the clouds are starting to gather grey and dark. "Sooner rather than later, it seems." He retreats back inside, already dialing on his phone, and Phil ushers you in after him. The others follow. "So Henry," he asks, "do ya got any questions about the Freehold? Anything you're wond'ring about?" Edited by FalseHumanity, Jul 9 2014, 23:52.
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| Riggs | Jul 10 2014, 17:43 Post #58 |
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Riggs leveled a blank stare at Phil. "The what?" |
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| FalseHumanity | Jul 10 2014, 21:59 Post #59 |
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Phil actually looks around for a few seconds, trying to see what you're referring to, before it visibly clicks for him. "The Freehold? Okay, okay. So the freehold, it's like a big family, right, but the big t'ings are the Courts. They're like little'r families-" he taps the side of his nose and winks at you, "-nottin' to do with lawyers, apparently. But so each Court is suppose-ta do a different job, and the big ones - Winter and Summer, here - run the whole show. So when it's Summer, like now, Ulysses is in charge. But when it starts getting colder, then Queen Anna takes over and does her t'ing." He nods sagely as he explains it all. "So ya see, it's like a little, uh..." He pauses, looks at the others. "What did Anna call it?" "A Kritarchy?" Sonja supplies an answer, her words just slightly accented. Phil frowns mightily. "I have no idea what that is." Sonja shrugs with a smile, almost like she enjoys watching the burly man stymied. |
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| Riggs | Jul 10 2014, 22:27 Post #60 |
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"Ah. Okay so Ulysses and Anna are in charge. Esau said he was the tracker. What do you do 'round here Phil? And what about you Sonja, what does a 'Forgemaster' do?" |
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| FalseHumanity | Jul 10 2014, 23:05 Post #61 |
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Phil grins. "I'm the dumb muscle," he says proudly. "As for me," Sonja interjects, "I make sure that our people have the best weapons we can make or get. Just in case." She pulls a small, ornately-worked piece of metal from around her neck. It's a symbol you don't recognize. She winks at you. "And sometimes, more than weapons." She indicates the last man of the group, still standing calmly and quietly. "And Vijay, well..." She shrugs. "He was one of the Tamil Tigers." "I am familiar with war," he says, his voice low and firm, "and it with me." Edited by FalseHumanity, Jul 10 2014, 23:10.
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| Riggs | Jul 11 2014, 00:22 Post #62 |
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Riggs considers all this for a moment before responding. "Well I don't know much about war, but I do know metal. Sonja, could you use help with the forge?" |
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| FalseHumanity | Jul 22 2014, 00:31 Post #63 |
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Sonja laughs. "Well, that depends, I suppose. Are you afraid of horses?" |
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| Riggs | Aug 7 2014, 13:10 Post #64 |
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"Nah, Hedgehog out there has five hundred 'em." |
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| FalseHumanity | Sep 26 2014, 22:37 Post #65 |
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Sonja cocks her head, just slightly. "Well, I suppose that answers my question." She fishes a small card out of her pocket, glossy and embossed with the words "Hunters Glen Farms" on it, and a picture of a large, stately creature coated in brown fur. There's an address on the bottom, and a phone number. "Why don't you drop by some time?" |
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6:50 PM Jul 10