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  1. - Top - End - #1
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    Default Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Listen, can you hear it? Spring's sweet cantata. The strains of grass pushing through the snow. The song of buds swelling on the vine. The tender timpani of a baby robin's heart. Spring.
    Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, Northern Exposure, Wake Up Call (1992)

    Waiting For Rain

    OOC thread is here

    *

    The night time sky was filled with the torn fragments of clouds, rent as if from the talons of a great dragon. The moon shines out from behind the half-veiling shadows. It shines so brilliantly that it seems like it should light up the entire world, brighter than the sun ever could. That the landscape below remains cold, dark and shadowy feels like a betrayal - the sweetest, most beautiful, most natural betrayal.

    The ground is cold and wet. The tarmac is sharp and jagged under bare feet. The side of the road is lined with clumps of melting white snow. Tender green shoots and the buds of early flowers exist as black silhouettes under the moonlight, waiting eagerly for the dawn.

    They'd walked for hours along this road. Long enough to finish screaming, finish crying, and to start dealing with the confused mess of emotions and memories left by the Durance. Long enough to start to wake up and remember reality, and for the memories of Arcadia to take on a hazy quality, like a dream starting to slip away.

    The roads were lined with fresh yellow paint; they'd been re-marked recently. The men doing the re-marking evidently hadn't cared a whit about the quality of their work because they'd painted over the tops of piles of dead leaves at the side of the road rather than attempting to clear them off. Dead brown leaves with yellow paint drifted lazily in the stiff mountain breeze.

    Every now and then, the mountain sloped off on one side, giving them a spectacular view of the peaks and valleys. It wasn't as stark or powerful as Arcadia's most epic scenery, but these normal-sized pine trees and normal-sized mountains had a grandeur of their own. A grandeur that even the most outsized excesses of wilderness couldn't take away from them.

    And down in the hilly valley, in the distance, there was light. Glowing, yellow-orange electrical lights. The sensation was utterly and unbearably that of home.

    The road went on. It came to a suspension bridge, raised up between two mountains. There were two lanes. One of which had a truck parked on it, in the centre of the bridge, blocking it off.

    The lights were on. And there was someone standing there, in the centre of that bridge, with his back to the lights. A silhouetted figure.

    Tall. Hulking. Holding an octagonal sign in one hand, standing in the middle of the road at three a.m. in the morning.
    Last edited by Thanqol; 2012-01-26 at 09:50 PM.

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    This place was all so strange, so surreal. The imperfections; the poorly drawn lines on the roads, the dirty brown snow that was on the brink of slush and the night that was actually dark …

    Isabelle’s mind still struggled with those, it didn’t seem right. The lines should have been perfect, the snow pristine and powder white and she should have been able to see everything easily, as if nightfall was nothing more than a slight dimming of the stage and a blue filter over reality.

    Part of her rejoiced in those imperfections, even as she struggled to accept them. They were … well if not proof, then at least reassurance that she was no longer in the realm of Arcadia.

    She’d had similar thoughts meeting her two companions. In truth, that had been one of the only reasons she hadn’t tried to fight or flee from them when they’d first met. Part of her argued against this, told her that she knew the mutability of the Fae first hand. That her keeper might have decided to change again and that ‘reality’ might be his new fantasy.

    She tried to ignore that voice, or rather the hope within her burned strongly enough to shunt it aside for the time being. Meanwhile, her mind tried to focus on those imperfect anchors to reality.

    Because she was constantly looking around them as they walked, and by simple virtue of being first in line, she was the first to spot the person on the bridge ahead.

    Part of her quailed at the sight, trusting it even less than she did the two others that walked behind her. At least she had some knowledge of their wants, they’d all had to work together to get this far.

    Well, they could also work together to confront this first hurdle then.

    She turned back to them, and nodded towards the bridge ahead.

    “There’s someone out there, on the bridge ahead. What do you think we should do?”

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Charlene walked in silent attention a few feet's distance behind the group. As she walked, she continually breathed in the cool night air while frightened eyes darted between shadows and features of the landscape along the road. The cool freshness, the calm of the night, why weren't they running? Charlene looked over her shoulder, back down the empty road behind them, the sad leaves of brown and yellow, then back at her two companions. She lifted a hand to her face, long fingers feeling along the scars. For a while an emptiness filled her up, blotted out her mind.

    Her attention was snapped back as Isabelle spoke. Charlene started and swiftly sought the nearest shadow from which she peeked out ahead, along the road and bridge. A bridge, a bottleneck, a perfect place to set a trap. No way around, no way through. They had to flee! And yet... as Charlene's eyes searched the bridge they settled on the sign. A person with a sign, a road block, police, a vague reminiscence. Her eyes narrowed in on the sign.

    Spoiler
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    Charlene would try to make out the sign, some details about it or its shape, anything to maybe identify its meaning. I assume this would be a regular Wits+Composure check, so dice pool 4+2?

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Home

    The feeling was almost like a dream...but no, it was the other that had been a dream - a dream like when he was a little child, where the monsters were chasing you and you ran because you didn't know what would happen if they caught you, but you knew it wouldn't be good - except this time the monsters had been real.

    At the thought, Jon shuddered, but it didn't matter; for the first time in years, he wanted to run toward something, rather than away. As he walked, a blur of orange lights hovered ahead, marking out the shape of the city and reminding him of everything good there: Jessica, his parents, the old two-story house that would talk to them in a creaking whisper when the wind blew… With each step, more memories surfaced; and even though so many seemed to flow out of his mind like water as soon as they came, the ones that remained kindled a fierce sort of joy in his chest, till he felt like he would burst.

    Then, suddenly, Isabelle stopped. As she turned to address them, Jon saw the man on the bridge for himself, and all the fears he thought he'd left in Faerie came swarming back. A jolt of adrenaline burned through him, telling his body to flee, and a pang of sadness trailed close on its heels as he wondered if every new meeting would mean fighting against the urge to run away like this.

    Of course, he couldn't go back - after all, there was nowhere to go back to, and turning around would mean walking willingly into the jaws of the hunt. With nothing else to do, Jon stood by the road for minutes that weighed like hours, until he finally managed to whisper, "I don't know. Has he seen us?"
    This Machine Surrounds Hate And Forces It To Surrender

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    [Wits+Composure to discern details is at -1 due to distance and -3 due to high-beam headlights directly behind the figure, for a total of a -4 penalty]

    A closer look indicated that the figure was at least seven feet tall, possibly more, but it was hunched slightly. It's shoulders were broad, and the thing clutched in it's hand slowly became recognisable as the shape of a STOP sign.

    It continued to stand impassively, only moving to it's own breaths. Any sounds it was making were lost over the sound of the rushing waterfall below the bridge.
    Last edited by Thanqol; 2012-01-27 at 06:16 PM.

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    The headlights made Charlene uncomfortable. She couldn't remember lights so bright and vibrant, all she remembered was the bleary, grey light of the dream. "I don't think we can get past," she mumbled as she turned her head away from the light. "Unnoticed," she added. "Is it alone? It's not doing anything." The situation was unfamiliar, confusing.

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Isabelle flinched as Catherine told her what she saw. Her own eyes were not able to make out anything past the glare of the headlights.

    "I can't tell. He might have others behind the truck, it would be kind of strange to have him watching the road all on his own ...

    He looks ... big ... too big."

    She shuddered, the fear from the other two was infectious.

    "I - I could go and talk to him. Find out where we are." She suggested, half hoping that the others would talk her down. If he really was seven feet tall, he might be a fey.

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    A torrent of thoughts battled for dominance within Charlene. A fearful voice within wanted to flee, another reminded her to stay with the others. It was safer together, strength in numbers. One argued there was nowhere to flee, she couldn't face what was behind her. Not yet. "If we go, we go together," she whispered back. A tiny voice surfaced briefly, an old spark of compassion. "Maybe it is looking for help," she mumbled under her breath, remembering how she needed help not long ago. "Maybe it is hurt, or lost too." In the bright light features were blurred, she could almost imagine herself standing there, all alone on the bridge in that terrible light. The cynical fear soon returned and wanted to remind her that it was an obvious trap, the obvious kind of the city. It wasn't like her Hunter's traps, though. They always involved making her think she was running to safety, only to find it was a dead end, with dogs barking like hell hounds behind her and nothing before her. This didn't look like safety.

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    “Together.” As he said the word, Jon turned it over in his mind. For so long, he had been on his own, caught in the unending chase where there was no time to think, no time find allies or form a plan - only time to run. He had almost forgotten it was possible to think and plan and stand together against enemies, and so Charlene’s suggestion seemed almost surreal...but it also seemed right.

    “I agree with Charlene. We all have to cross that bridge and I’d rather not do it alone, especially not with that...that standing there.” As he spoke, Jon glanced nervously over to Isabelle, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt.
    This Machine Surrounds Hate And Forces It To Surrender

    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    DD, your unicorn is stronger, prettier, and higher-ranking than mine, and her secret lab has a better name than mine. THERE SHALL BE NO QUARTER.
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    Bleeeeh! Alfalfa Monster!


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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    "Together then ... but I'll go first." Isabelle replied, taking a breath to calm her nerves. " Just ... be ready to run ... just in case."

    She stood, suiting actions to words, and began to make her way along the roadside. Although she drew strength from committing to the decision, her mouth was dry as she approached the bridge.

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Quote Originally Posted by BlasTech View Post
    "Together then ... but I'll go first." Isabelle replied, taking a breath to calm her nerves. " Just ... be ready to run ... just in case."

    She stood, suiting actions to words, and began to make her way along the roadside. Although she drew strength from committing to the decision, her mouth was dry as she approached the bridge.
    "Fee," said the man on the bridge as she approached.

    "Fie," he said in a voice like he was chewing on gravel. The closer she got, the bigger he was. He was eight feet tall, looming over her, head and shoulders. Even the stop sign clenched in his fist was smaller than he was.

    "Foe," he said, and there was a sound that was distinctive even through the Durance. A sound so memorable that it echoed through a hundred movies and games to land squarely in the 'dread' section of the brain. The distinctive shuck-shuck of a shotgun cocking.

    "Fum," he said, raising his left hand to point the shotgun at her one-handed, as she was just before him on the bridge. His features were still obscured by the light behind him, but he was wearing the neon green vest of a construction worker.

    "I smell the blood of an American."

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Isabelle froze at the sight of the shotgun, reflexively throwing out an arm to sheild the others.

    "What? What are you going on about? Why are you pointing that thing at us?" She asked, before even considering the scene before her.

    Her brain soon caught up and she felt a fresh layer of sweat break out on her forehead. There was no way this thing was human, he had to be fey ... but why would a Fey need a shotgun?

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    "I was planning on eating you,"

    It wasn't a threat. It was somehow more an apology. Low and rumbling, in tune with the crashing of the river and waterfalls far below.

    "I'm just so very hungry, is the thing. Sorry ma'am."

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Charlene was happy to follow last, as before, muttering to herself as they approached the bridge and the towering... thing. "Walk calmly, don't make eye contact, don't draw attention..." old advice. She still wasn't sure where it all came from, a former life now forgotten, did it matter? The last bit was rather unhelpful given their tattered state, and all of it even more so when the thing began to speak and draw a weapon. Charlene froze at the sound, instinctive forces fighting with training now barely remembered.

    "Calm, don't provoke, don't let him control you," the teachings flashed through her mind, trying to keep her from doing something stupid. It was difficult. But if he wanted to eat them, why hesitate to shoot? Why tell them first? "Use his sympathy, make him reconsider," the thought continued. She tried to keep her voice calm as well, but it was admittedly a challenge in the situation, "W.. wouldn't you rather eat something else, sir? We are poor, and starving just like you."

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Quote Originally Posted by Deadly View Post
    Charlene was happy to follow last, as before, muttering to herself as they approached the bridge and the towering... thing. "Walk calmly, don't make eye contact, don't draw attention..." old advice. She still wasn't sure where it all came from, a former life now forgotten, did it matter? The last bit was rather unhelpful given their tattered state, and all of it even more so when the thing began to speak and draw a weapon. Charlene froze at the sound, instinctive forces fighting with training now barely remembered.

    "Calm, don't provoke, don't let him control you," the teachings flashed through her mind, trying to keep her from doing something stupid. It was difficult. But if he wanted to eat them, why hesitate to shoot? Why tell them first? "Use his sympathy, make him reconsider," the thought continued. She tried to keep her voice calm as well, but it was admittedly a challenge in the situation, "W.. wouldn't you rather eat something else, sir? We are poor, and starving just like you."
    "I don't have anything else to eat," said the giant, this time with a tinge of desperation in his voice, "I've been waiting here all night and I'm so hungry."

    There were orange traffic cones strewn haphazardly around the bridge. Some of them had huge bite chunks taken out of them. Looking closer, even the stop sign had been gnawed on, with teeth sharp enough to pierce the metal.

    [Manipulation+Persuasion, +1 for taking an approach he sympathises with]

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    [Thank you Google Cache, dice pool 4: Rolled 7, 2, 2, 10, ten again gave 2 so one success]

    "I understand," Charlene continued as best she could. She had vague memories of learning these skills, long ago, or was it someone else, or but a dream? She had to put a name to her face, make him look at her as a fellow being and not just prey. It had never worked with the Hunter, but he had never spoken, this one did. "My name is Charlene," it felt strange to call herself by name, it had been years since it held any meaning, years since she lost track of herself. She didn't think it really was her name, once, but it was now. "This is Jon and Isabelle," she gestured at her two companions, "maybe we can help each other, if you put down your gun?"

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    When Jon heard the gun ****, a part of his mind began prepping everything to flee, hoping to get out of range before the worst happened. What surprised him was that some other part suddenly began to laugh.

    So this is how it ends - you spent all that time pushing yourself and testing your skill against the Hunter and his Hounds, barely staying out of their jaws, just to come home and be gunned down on a bridge in the cold because you were out walking when you should have been asleep. It’s the most prosaic death imaginable! It’s hilarious! The laughing in his head shifted pitch, and it was hard to tell if it was laughing or crying now. This man with the gun, he should really have a nice talk with the Hunter. If he had used a weapon, everything would have been over much faster, so much more easily...

    Dimly, Jon was aware that what was going on in his head was probably a symptom of shock, or PTSD, or some other word read long ago in a psychology book from another life, but for the moment he could do nothing, not trusting himself to move or speak and sickening with the growing dread that in his absence everyone had been exchanged for bizarre creatures that wanted to eat his flesh, or some other, equally insane thing.
    This Machine Surrounds Hate And Forces It To Surrender

    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    DD, your unicorn is stronger, prettier, and higher-ranking than mine, and her secret lab has a better name than mine. THERE SHALL BE NO QUARTER.
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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Quote Originally Posted by Deadly View Post
    [Thank you Google Cache, dice pool 4: Rolled 7, 2, 2, 10, ten again gave 2 so one success]

    "I understand," Charlene continued as best she could. She had vague memories of learning these skills, long ago, or was it someone else, or but a dream? She had to put a name to her face, make him look at her as a fellow being and not just prey. It had never worked with the Hunter, but he had never spoken, this one did. "My name is Charlene," it felt strange to call herself by name, it had been years since it held any meaning, years since she lost track of herself. She didn't think it really was her name, once, but it was now. "This is Jon and Isabelle," she gestured at her two companions, "maybe we can help each other, if you put down your gun?"
    The gun wavered. Lowered. Lowered a little more.

    "You'd do that?"

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    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    The gun wavered. Lowered. Lowered a little more.

    "You'd do that?"
    Isabelle's mind had blanked, surprised by Charlene's offer as much as by the fact this giant seemed to be taking it seriously.

    She turned her head and whispered over her shoulder at Charlene, hopefully quietly enough that the Giant wouldn't hear her.

    "Would we?"

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    "Better to eat than be eaten" Charlene said. Maybe it was the light blinding her, but she found a strange empathy with this creature. As if it could have been her, as if it was her, standing there alone on a bridge in the night, starving and desperate. She reflexively lifted a hand to her face. This thing was no human, but neither was she. Neither were her two companions. They had nowhere to go, nothing to eat, no one to help them. Was this man in the same boat? They would need help, need contacts, need a network, something to pull on. Here was their first chance. She looked up at the towering figure before them. It was still unnerving, but she relaxed a little now that the weapon wasn't pointing squarely at them. "We need to find food and shelter too, we might as well help each other out. I know a bit about living in the wilds, but if we work together maybe we can do better."

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    The monster turned away a little. And as he did so, the lights from the car fell across his features. It took force of will to avoid flinching back.

    The man's jaw was grossly distended, coming all the way down to his chest. It was huge and filled with spiked, jagged stone teeth. When his mouth moved it wasn't like rocks were grinding - rocks literally were grinding against each other with each slurred syllable. Underneath the too-small construction helmet and patches of black hair, mournful black eyes gazed out from under a low, heavy brow.

    He wore a construction worker's uniform, and held a stop sign in calloused fists. The shotgun was far too small for his hands, and he held it in two fingers. He'd broken off the trigger guard so it could fit. Both stop sign and shotgun bore multiple bite marks, like they'd been gnawed on.

    "... I can't leave here, ma'am," he said ponderously, "it's roadwork. Got to work the road."

    Other than the truck full of roadwork equipment, there was virtually no sign of roadwork being done.

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Charlene flinched reflexively. The sight reminded her of bones cracking, deforming. What painful transformation had lead to this form? She knew all too well, and it did little to lessen the pity she felt but another part of her, the part that still remembered the gun pointed at them just seconds ago, was happy enough that they might not have the thing following them around. "Maybe you can tell us where it is good to find food then? Do you know the area?"

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    When the giant on the bridge lowered his gun, Jon felt his panic subside a bit. The creature in front of them was still...intimidating, but as he listened to Charlene try and negotiate, he realized that there was something sad about the whole situation as well. This creature - no - this person was a lot like them, or at least he had suffered like they had at the hands of the Fae...

    Suddenly, Jon realized that even though he was no longer in Arcadia, he still hadn’t met an ordinary person. Again he was struck by the odd fancy that the whole world had been switched out while he was gone, or that before he was taken he had been the only one who wasn’t a...whatever he was now... He shivered very faintly at the thought, and tried to push it back out of his mind; struggling to look helpful, rather than nervous, in front of the giant.
    This Machine Surrounds Hate And Forces It To Surrender

    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    DD, your unicorn is stronger, prettier, and higher-ranking than mine, and her secret lab has a better name than mine. THERE SHALL BE NO QUARTER.
    Ponythread Learns to Draw!

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    Bleeeeh! Alfalfa Monster!


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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Isabelle looked around, noticing for the first time the dejected stance of the Giant, and the detrius littering the roadway beside him. Charlene was right. With that realisation, all the anger she'd felt at having the gun shoved in her face collapsed, leaving sympathy in its wake.

    When the headlights illuminated his face and his expression, she willed herself to take a step forward.

    "Oh, you poor thing"

    OOC:

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    "Force of will" to keep from turning away? Righto, um. Composure + Resolve to keep it from affecting her. Possibly with a 2 dice bonus from the "Tolerance to Biology" merit if she frames it in her mind as a medical deformity?

    So, dice pool of 5 or 7. Depending how Thanqol rules on the merit.

    Following that, Manipulation + Persuasion for an 8 dice pool to try to gather sympathy by saying "we'll help you, we're in the same boat as you", with a bit of "we are probably not good eating" on the side

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Quote Originally Posted by Deadly View Post
    Charlene flinched reflexively. The sight reminded her of bones cracking, deforming. What painful transformation had lead to this form? She knew all too well, and it did little to lessen the pity she felt but another part of her, the part that still remembered the gun pointed at them just seconds ago, was happy enough that they might not have the thing following them around. "Maybe you can tell us where it is good to find food then? Do you know the area?"
    "I know the road. Been working these roads for a while." And there was a vague touch of... pride in that voice. "This is a pretty good spot for food. Comes by here every so often.

    Quote Originally Posted by BlasTech View Post
    OOC:

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    "Force of will" to keep from turning away? Righto, um. Composure + Resolve to keep it from affecting her. Possibly with a 2 dice bonus from the "Tolerance to Biology" merit if she frames it in her mind as a medical deformity?

    So, dice pool of 5 or 7. Depending how Thanqol rules on the merit.

    Following that, Manipulation + Persuasion for an 8 dice pool to try to gather sympathy by saying "we'll help you, we're in the same boat as you", with a bit of "we are probably not good eating" on the side
    [If I don't specifically call for a roll, presume you don't need a roll. If you want to provoke a challenge then you can suggest a roll and I'll decide if it's valid at that moment.

    As such, you don't need to make a manipulation roll because there's already been a roll to achieve that exact effect already.]
    Last edited by Thanqol; 2012-01-31 at 04:41 AM.

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Charlene glanced up and down the road. She could imagine what kind of 'food' came by every so often. "What work are you doing here? Do you work for someone?" Something was definitely odd about this.

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Quote Originally Posted by Deadly View Post
    Charlene glanced up and down the road. She could imagine what kind of 'food' came by every so often. "What work are you doing here? Do you work for someone?" Something was definitely odd about this.
    "Used to. Used to. They don't need me any more. So I just help out, where I can. At night, when they're not working, and I don't bother them. Just because I'm n-not," and here the gravel-voice trembled for a second, "a roadworker doesn't mean I can't work the road."

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    "Used to. Used to. They don't need me any more. So I just help out, where I can. At night, when they're not working, and I don't bother them. Just because I'm n-not," and here the gravel-voice trembled for a second, "a roadworker doesn't mean I can't work the road."
    Isabelle blinked, torn between comforting the upset creature and trying to convince it that its apparent taste in "food" was wrong. The two emotions converged into a ludicrous scene in her mind, of her patting the thing on its head and murmuring "people are only a 'sometimes' food" to calm it down.

    While the imagry was not helping her already raw emotional state, a rational part of her wondered whether she might be able to effect something along those lines. Clearly this creature was not exactly bright enough to strike a match, and maybe it was just misguided.

    Then again, maybe it really was a crazy homicidal giant with a deep love for pavement.

    "Hey, now. It's okay" She said, trying to break a middle ground. "Why do you want to be a road worker so badly?"

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    At last, Jon's curiosity got the best of him, and he took a step closer to the hulking figure, asking a question that had been nagging at him.

    "Excuse me, but how long have you been out here? It doesn't seem like a very friendly place."
    This Machine Surrounds Hate And Forces It To Surrender

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    Default Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

    Quote Originally Posted by the_druid_droid View Post
    At last, Jon's curiosity got the best of him, and he took a step closer to the hulking figure, asking a question that had been nagging at him.

    "Excuse me, but how long have you been out here? It doesn't seem like a very friendly place."
    "A couple of... somethings," when the giant thought deeply like this, it's teeth ground against each other so loudly it seemed like they would break.

    Quote Originally Posted by BlasTech View Post
    "Hey, now. It's okay" She said, trying to break a middle ground. "Why do you want to be a road worker so badly?"
    "Always was," the giant paused, trying to think. "I was good at it. But then I made a mistake."

    And now the creature seemed piteous rather than intimidating. A deep sadness emanated out from those pinched black eyes.

    "I went and knocked down a bridge that shouldn't have been knocked down. And I got punished for it, ma'am. This is my punishment for it."


    And he looked sad, so deeply sad that it was hard to say. So sad it was impossible to articulate. So sad that it was unbearable. So sad that it was intolerable, unendurable, impossible. So sad that the only way to properly deal with the sadness was to go over to the edge of that bridge and jump -

    Before they could stop themselves, the group found their feet taking juddering, involuntary steps towards the edge of the bridge...

    [Resistance: Resolve+Composure+Wyrd]

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