Residual (Chapter Seventeen)
Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 12:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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mindcrackloveThings are starting to get a bit more spooky and are really heating up. Now Vechs is hearing things...
I think this is our only chapter in which there is only one Mindcracker. Usually we have at least two- Zisteau and Vechs, Paul and Vechs, Blame and Vechs. But nope- it appears to be just Vechs. Wow. That makes tagging it very, very easy.
Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Map of the continent: http://tanadin.deviantart.com/art/Monstrous-Residual-map-526465833
Character status spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yvK6D0XzgjhMNjblFFQaAeJ7JkzdidaLJux1S8qsSUA/edit#gid=1227692709
Chapter Seventeen
Kingdom of Illian, Minecraftia. September 21, year 373. Time instance 483Z.
Vechs knew it couldn’t be that easy.
He had reached the mountains in only about fifteen minutes, and had quickly started climbing up their rocky sides and gliding between them. He was almost to the end of the stretch, about to glide east over the hills between Ashwatch and the mountains on the far side. Once there (he wasn’t sure he could glide all the way but he would try), he could easily go through that thin stretch of mountains, glide across a small segment of plains, and reach the larger mountain range. He could head south from there and be back at base within a few days, especially if the winds kept favoring him as they had been so far.
But it was never that easy. Why would it be?
He had been travelling for only a couple of hours when one of his Hostiles located him.
He sighed when he saw Kor’vah, the tropical themed bird woman, swooping down on him. He adjusted his flight and folded his wings, landing on and clinging to the face of a cliff. He scrambled up it and stood at the top of the cliff- a ledge a couple of meters wide that ran around a good third of the mountain in each direction. He waited as Kor’vah landed before raising his claws.
“Hold your fire!” she cawed. “I wanted to speak with you.”
“That’s likely.”
Kor’vah folded her wings to her sides- they were like Vechs’s in that they doubled as arms- and folded her claws in. “I wish to speak. I, unlike some of the others, am not simply a vicious killing machine, although I can be when I want to.”
“I would expect nothing else. But why-“
“Why am I more reasonable? You designed me to be less brutal than a certain monstrosity.”
“Saltar’vesque?”
“Yes.”
Vechs nodded, understanding. He had created Sunburn Islands to give those who enjoyed challenging themselves with the Hostiles a break after Nightmare Realm.
Kor’vah continued. “Specterveil informs us that you abandoned us in the Vortex in order to become mortal here, but thinking it over, something doesn’t quite fit. Perhaps it’s that you could remain a worldbuilder while still playing the part of mortal. Perhaps it’s that there are zero benefits to being mortal.” Kor’vah tilted her head slightly. “Perhaps it’s because you have never, ever lied to anyone that I can recall- even the rare snatch of outside contact that I could pick up before becoming what I am now.” She made a motion at her physical form. “Other than jokingly.” she amended. “But that’s not a true lie, now, is it? My point, Vechs Davion, is that I want to believe Specterveil- he empowered us and allowed us to roam free. He has done nothing but good for us and made us more powerful. But I can’t help but doubt what he says, and I can’t help but feel like you may not be lying when you say that you did not fall intentionally. I want your side of the story.”
Vechs’s mind ran quickly, trying to work out what she really wanted, before coming to the conclusion that this was what she wanted. He had no idea why she would be so reasonable and want both sides of the story, however. She was by no means his tamest map, and-
Imperfectly corrupted.
The corruption. He looked into her eyes and noted that the red glow wasn’t as bright as it was in the others, and it seemed slightly orange. She must have been imperfectly corrupted.
A piece of her was still loyal to him.
He didn’t say this, however. He suspected that they had no idea that they were corrupted and forcibly turned against their master. His clawed hand absentmindedly brushed against the pocket in his toolbelt that the heart of Draemae rested in. Kor’vah noticed the action and nodded slightly.
“Yes. That’s how I found you. I could feel his energy signature.”
Vechs cursed under his breath. No wonder the Hostiles had been finding them so quickly and easily, even setting traps for them. They could track Draemae. He made a mental note to find a place to stash the thing.
“But it’s less angry than it was before.” she remarked. “Perhaps it’s because he’s weakened due to lack of a physical form, or perhaps he doesn’t hate you anymore. I want an explanation as to why and how you fell, Vechs. And I want it quickly.”
Vechs weighed his options before speaking, deciding to just tell her. He couldn’t alienate them any more than he already had, really, and if he could get one on his side that would make a world of difference.
He told Kor’vah of their final day in the Vortex, and of how he fell. He briefly described the adventure they went on, discovering that someone had tampered with their power source, finding Zisteau, obtaining the dragon claw and meeting the others along the way. He told her of the battle of the Nether portal- but left out the part about Norazdomu and how they would not become worldbuilders until they died once the crystal had charged. He let her think that they would continue to be mortal- he guessed that it wouldn’t be a good idea to give out all of their secrets. He also left out all of the personal conversations he had had with his friends, primarily Blame. The Hostiles also didn’t need to know that he was a descendant of Kaltaerion.
Kor’vah listened intently, eyes widening as time went on. Once he had finished, she shook her head. “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe…but you’re telling the truth. Oh my god, you’re telling the truth.” She closed her eyes and cupped her face in her hands (other than her beak, which she left an opening for). “But Specterveil never lied to us, either…”
“Specterveil is misguided.” Vechs said, choosing his words carefully. It was very possible they could convince her to help and he didn’t want to screw this up. He wished, not for the first nor the last time, that Aureylian was here. “He doesn’t know what happened, and I don’t think he will listen to you. He really believes I abandoned you, and I didn’t.”
Kor’vah kept shaking her head, caught between two extremes: Vechs and Specterveil. “I…I don’t know. I don’t know what I expected when I came here. I don’t know.” She lowered her hands and opened her eyes, and there was a dramatic difference.
Instead of the angry red that the other Hostile’s eyes were, her eyes were now a piercing yellow, neither friendly nor unfriendly.
A conflicted Hostile.
“I don’t know who to believe. I don’t know who to follow. You both believe what you say…” Vechs could practically see corruption and reason battling for dominance in her mind. “I can’t stay. I have to go. I need to be alone for awhile. I can’t help anyone like this.” Kor’vah spread her wings and took flight, soaring south.
Vechs watched her go, tempted to follow, but decided against it. He hoped he had done more good than harm before setting off again. He couldn’t waste any more time- he had been talking to Kor’vah for an hour and time was ticking for Blame. He set off, heading east.
~~~
He had crossed the hills and reached the mountains opposite by midnight. As he flew, he caught a bloodred shape out of the corner of his right eye and panicked, clinging to the mountainside and looking south before relaxing. He laughed at himself quietly.
The Bloodshadow.
It was just the Bloodshadow, creeping up ever so slightly over the southern horizon for its minute or so before slipping down again. Blame had told them that it would rise every night after the first until it covered the moon. At this rate, Vechs reflected, it’s going to take a hundred years to get high enough to hit the moon at midnight.
Threat assessed and dismissed, Vechs thought about setting off again but decided against it. He needed to rest, and if he didn’t, he could grow so tired that he would crash. He carefully descended the mountain to slip into a cave entrance he had noticed. He growled at the resident creeper and giant spider when they started towards him. They hesitated, and then were sent running when he shot a warning jet of flame.
He really wasn’t worried about typical monsters. He settled down in the least uncomfortable corner of the cave to rest.
~~~
Vechs honestly wasn’t sure why he was surprised when his dreams were interrupted.
He couldn’t remember what his previous dream had been about, but the interruption turned it all into a dark fog. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t feel- he was entirely numb.
Vechs, could, however, hear.
He could hear the oddest set of footsteps he had ever heard in his life.
Step.
Clank.
Step.
Clank.
He twitched in his sleep, feeling a horrible disturbance going through his system.
Step.
Clank.
Step.
Clank.
There was something very, very wrong. Something wrong with that sound.
Step.
Clank.
Step.
Clank.
He had no idea that Blame, fitfully asleep due to the poison in his system, was having the exact same dream.
Step.
Clank.
Step.
Clank.
He also had no idea that Blame had this dream almost every night.
Step.
Clank.
~~~
When Vechs awoke the next morning, he had no memory of his bizarre dream. His ears were ringing and he flicked them- noting he was still in his monstrous form- before reaching into his toolbelt and pulling out a piece of bread. He munched moodily on it, eating it in two bites, before standing. He wished he had something more- he’d see what he could do about picking up more food elsewhere. He left the cave and climbed back up the mountain face before setting off east again. He only needed to get through this small patch of mountains before he could soar over part of the plains and reach the larger set of mountains that would enable him to turn south.
South, towards the epicenter of their fates.
I think this is our only chapter in which there is only one Mindcracker. Usually we have at least two- Zisteau and Vechs, Paul and Vechs, Blame and Vechs. But nope- it appears to be just Vechs. Wow. That makes tagging it very, very easy.
Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Map of the continent: http://tanadin.deviantart.com/art/Monstrous-Residual-map-526465833
Character status spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yvK6D0XzgjhMNjblFFQaAeJ7JkzdidaLJux1S8qsSUA/edit#gid=1227692709
Chapter Seventeen
Kingdom of Illian, Minecraftia. September 21, year 373. Time instance 483Z.
Vechs knew it couldn’t be that easy.
He had reached the mountains in only about fifteen minutes, and had quickly started climbing up their rocky sides and gliding between them. He was almost to the end of the stretch, about to glide east over the hills between Ashwatch and the mountains on the far side. Once there (he wasn’t sure he could glide all the way but he would try), he could easily go through that thin stretch of mountains, glide across a small segment of plains, and reach the larger mountain range. He could head south from there and be back at base within a few days, especially if the winds kept favoring him as they had been so far.
But it was never that easy. Why would it be?
He had been travelling for only a couple of hours when one of his Hostiles located him.
He sighed when he saw Kor’vah, the tropical themed bird woman, swooping down on him. He adjusted his flight and folded his wings, landing on and clinging to the face of a cliff. He scrambled up it and stood at the top of the cliff- a ledge a couple of meters wide that ran around a good third of the mountain in each direction. He waited as Kor’vah landed before raising his claws.
“Hold your fire!” she cawed. “I wanted to speak with you.”
“That’s likely.”
Kor’vah folded her wings to her sides- they were like Vechs’s in that they doubled as arms- and folded her claws in. “I wish to speak. I, unlike some of the others, am not simply a vicious killing machine, although I can be when I want to.”
“I would expect nothing else. But why-“
“Why am I more reasonable? You designed me to be less brutal than a certain monstrosity.”
“Saltar’vesque?”
“Yes.”
Vechs nodded, understanding. He had created Sunburn Islands to give those who enjoyed challenging themselves with the Hostiles a break after Nightmare Realm.
Kor’vah continued. “Specterveil informs us that you abandoned us in the Vortex in order to become mortal here, but thinking it over, something doesn’t quite fit. Perhaps it’s that you could remain a worldbuilder while still playing the part of mortal. Perhaps it’s that there are zero benefits to being mortal.” Kor’vah tilted her head slightly. “Perhaps it’s because you have never, ever lied to anyone that I can recall- even the rare snatch of outside contact that I could pick up before becoming what I am now.” She made a motion at her physical form. “Other than jokingly.” she amended. “But that’s not a true lie, now, is it? My point, Vechs Davion, is that I want to believe Specterveil- he empowered us and allowed us to roam free. He has done nothing but good for us and made us more powerful. But I can’t help but doubt what he says, and I can’t help but feel like you may not be lying when you say that you did not fall intentionally. I want your side of the story.”
Vechs’s mind ran quickly, trying to work out what she really wanted, before coming to the conclusion that this was what she wanted. He had no idea why she would be so reasonable and want both sides of the story, however. She was by no means his tamest map, and-
Imperfectly corrupted.
The corruption. He looked into her eyes and noted that the red glow wasn’t as bright as it was in the others, and it seemed slightly orange. She must have been imperfectly corrupted.
A piece of her was still loyal to him.
He didn’t say this, however. He suspected that they had no idea that they were corrupted and forcibly turned against their master. His clawed hand absentmindedly brushed against the pocket in his toolbelt that the heart of Draemae rested in. Kor’vah noticed the action and nodded slightly.
“Yes. That’s how I found you. I could feel his energy signature.”
Vechs cursed under his breath. No wonder the Hostiles had been finding them so quickly and easily, even setting traps for them. They could track Draemae. He made a mental note to find a place to stash the thing.
“But it’s less angry than it was before.” she remarked. “Perhaps it’s because he’s weakened due to lack of a physical form, or perhaps he doesn’t hate you anymore. I want an explanation as to why and how you fell, Vechs. And I want it quickly.”
Vechs weighed his options before speaking, deciding to just tell her. He couldn’t alienate them any more than he already had, really, and if he could get one on his side that would make a world of difference.
He told Kor’vah of their final day in the Vortex, and of how he fell. He briefly described the adventure they went on, discovering that someone had tampered with their power source, finding Zisteau, obtaining the dragon claw and meeting the others along the way. He told her of the battle of the Nether portal- but left out the part about Norazdomu and how they would not become worldbuilders until they died once the crystal had charged. He let her think that they would continue to be mortal- he guessed that it wouldn’t be a good idea to give out all of their secrets. He also left out all of the personal conversations he had had with his friends, primarily Blame. The Hostiles also didn’t need to know that he was a descendant of Kaltaerion.
Kor’vah listened intently, eyes widening as time went on. Once he had finished, she shook her head. “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe…but you’re telling the truth. Oh my god, you’re telling the truth.” She closed her eyes and cupped her face in her hands (other than her beak, which she left an opening for). “But Specterveil never lied to us, either…”
“Specterveil is misguided.” Vechs said, choosing his words carefully. It was very possible they could convince her to help and he didn’t want to screw this up. He wished, not for the first nor the last time, that Aureylian was here. “He doesn’t know what happened, and I don’t think he will listen to you. He really believes I abandoned you, and I didn’t.”
Kor’vah kept shaking her head, caught between two extremes: Vechs and Specterveil. “I…I don’t know. I don’t know what I expected when I came here. I don’t know.” She lowered her hands and opened her eyes, and there was a dramatic difference.
Instead of the angry red that the other Hostile’s eyes were, her eyes were now a piercing yellow, neither friendly nor unfriendly.
A conflicted Hostile.
“I don’t know who to believe. I don’t know who to follow. You both believe what you say…” Vechs could practically see corruption and reason battling for dominance in her mind. “I can’t stay. I have to go. I need to be alone for awhile. I can’t help anyone like this.” Kor’vah spread her wings and took flight, soaring south.
Vechs watched her go, tempted to follow, but decided against it. He hoped he had done more good than harm before setting off again. He couldn’t waste any more time- he had been talking to Kor’vah for an hour and time was ticking for Blame. He set off, heading east.
~~~
He had crossed the hills and reached the mountains opposite by midnight. As he flew, he caught a bloodred shape out of the corner of his right eye and panicked, clinging to the mountainside and looking south before relaxing. He laughed at himself quietly.
The Bloodshadow.
It was just the Bloodshadow, creeping up ever so slightly over the southern horizon for its minute or so before slipping down again. Blame had told them that it would rise every night after the first until it covered the moon. At this rate, Vechs reflected, it’s going to take a hundred years to get high enough to hit the moon at midnight.
Threat assessed and dismissed, Vechs thought about setting off again but decided against it. He needed to rest, and if he didn’t, he could grow so tired that he would crash. He carefully descended the mountain to slip into a cave entrance he had noticed. He growled at the resident creeper and giant spider when they started towards him. They hesitated, and then were sent running when he shot a warning jet of flame.
He really wasn’t worried about typical monsters. He settled down in the least uncomfortable corner of the cave to rest.
~~~
Vechs honestly wasn’t sure why he was surprised when his dreams were interrupted.
He couldn’t remember what his previous dream had been about, but the interruption turned it all into a dark fog. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t feel- he was entirely numb.
Vechs, could, however, hear.
He could hear the oddest set of footsteps he had ever heard in his life.
Step.
Clank.
Step.
Clank.
He twitched in his sleep, feeling a horrible disturbance going through his system.
Step.
Clank.
Step.
Clank.
There was something very, very wrong. Something wrong with that sound.
Step.
Clank.
Step.
Clank.
He had no idea that Blame, fitfully asleep due to the poison in his system, was having the exact same dream.
Step.
Clank.
Step.
Clank.
He also had no idea that Blame had this dream almost every night.
Step.
Clank.
~~~
When Vechs awoke the next morning, he had no memory of his bizarre dream. His ears were ringing and he flicked them- noting he was still in his monstrous form- before reaching into his toolbelt and pulling out a piece of bread. He munched moodily on it, eating it in two bites, before standing. He wished he had something more- he’d see what he could do about picking up more food elsewhere. He left the cave and climbed back up the mountain face before setting off east again. He only needed to get through this small patch of mountains before he could soar over part of the plains and reach the larger set of mountains that would enable him to turn south.
South, towards the epicenter of their fates.
no subject
Date: Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 06:22 pm (UTC)....
*spazzes*
THE STEP-CLANK THING IS BACK AGAAAAAAAINNNN!!!!! >_<
(I like Kor'vah)
no subject
Date: Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 06:31 pm (UTC)Step.
Clank.
:3
no subject
Date: Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 08:19 pm (UTC)G.C. (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)
no subject
Date: Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 08:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 10:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 10:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 10:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 10:43 pm (UTC)c:
no subject
Date: Sunday, May 3rd, 2015 12:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, May 3rd, 2015 12:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, May 3rd, 2015 01:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, May 3rd, 2015 01:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, May 3rd, 2015 01:44 am (UTC)Step Clank.
no subject
Date: Sunday, May 3rd, 2015 01:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, May 3rd, 2015 03:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, May 3rd, 2015 03:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, May 3rd, 2015 03:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, May 3rd, 2015 01:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, May 3rd, 2015 01:17 pm (UTC)Plot is hard to develop if you're not already on a roll. I honestly don't know what I'm gonna do after chapter 20...not specifics, anyway.
no subject
Date: Sunday, May 3rd, 2015 01:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, May 3rd, 2015 01:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, May 4th, 2015 11:03 am (UTC)Yay ness! Yay this!
I'm in SPAAACE!
Conflicted!
Oranges!
Good job!
no subject
Date: Monday, May 4th, 2015 11:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, May 4th, 2015 11:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, May 4th, 2015 11:31 am (UTC)