At the former Yaleson house...
Sigmund feels the need to explain why his hands are currently not full of branches to the confused Morton.
"I-I think that we can use wood from the wood pile. I don't like this forest."
"G-Good Sir Sigmund, wait! Please hold still for a moment, ah, I don't wish to be rude, but... well, you have something on your face. Oh dear, something possibly worrisome."
He examines the vampire's face. Looks rather nasty, though the coloration doesn't quite match that of the paste. Looks more like a scrape than a stain, actually. However, can't be too careful.
"Oh dear, I do hope I'm wrong about this or else... we may've found where the 'bark' came from."
"Wait! Is this over me? Damned tree! I like my face, is it so bad?"
"It'll be fine, should be fine, we've never seen the mixture affect second-chancers... It appears to be rather visible red-brown streaks on your face, a color similar to the mixture itself... It stained my fingers when I was testing it."
Morton proudly shows his rather stained and frostbitten fingers.
"What happened, good Sir Sigmund? There was indeed a tree? So perhaps it wasn't the mushrooms? Do you feel anything, pain or the like?"
"I just found a dead tree and so I decided to get some branches off it, but suddenly another branch moved and hit me. And then the tree leaned towards me, and I felt, I don't know, watched. So I ran back here. It really made me shiver."
"...That's... Most peculiar good Sir Sigmund. A tree that moves on its own? You think perhaps this is the tree the bark was obtained from... Perhaps we should go see this tree. If it is indeed, its poison shan't affect us, we're second-chancers. Hm... Although I do wonder what would give a tree such a trait. I was so sure the mixture was from those mushrooms, it even smelled of mold..."
"W-well, I can take you there, I think, but keep your distance from the tree."
And so they proceed through the unfriendly woods, not stopping until they have reached the tree. It looks rather gnarled and ancient, and its shape is like that of a willow, though vaguely skeletal as well. It still seems to peer at Sigmund with a deadly gaze. Sigmund feels rather uncomfortable being here despite the great distance. There is something not quite right about the thing, and even Morton can see it to a degree.
"... Good Sir Sigmund, perhaps we can reason with it?"
Probably not.
"I don't know. But trying wouldn't hurt, at least from this distance."
He clears his voice and addresses the tree with respect and dignity.
"Mister tree? I'm sorry for trying to cut a branch from you."
The tree's eyeless stare seems to intensify momentarily, and both of Sigmund's legs suddenly quit, the vampire falling over and shivering involuntarily. There's something about the gaze on that thing that seems to shrivel up his very soul, a pure, undiluted hatred of such magnitude one can't help but be awed by its scope and singlemindedness. This tree hates him. It hates him unlike any mortal or immortal ever before. Possibly more than most mortals or immortals are even capable to hate.
Morton, meanwhile, is a bit creeped out by Sigmund's collapse.
In the streets of Shriekpot...
Scott, not one to perform daring acts of burglary more than once per night, heads off to the ship and fills up the clay jars with the unidentified watery sludge from the barrel. Hooray, he supposes.
In Joyous Hanford's Emporium of Biological Wonders...
Mark, not sufficiently persuaded by the available things to purchase them for use, writes out a further line of inquiry. Namely, transplants.
"Transplants, you ask? Hmm... oh, you probably mean grafts! Why, I have those as well! Let me just wake my friend here," Hanford says, stroking the annelid counter. The counter then splits open, revealing an interesting array of strange objects.
"Here, for instance, we have one of my most popular grafts - the Shaper's Limb," the man exposits, pointing out what resembles a shifting lump of flesh and bone. "It may not look like much from where you're standing, but it is certainly one of my more sophisticated inventions! Its power lies in its shapelessness! You see, with an effort of will one can mold this limb into practically anything! It is fluid and soft naturally, but hardening can be easily achieved if you wish it - literally, you simply have to wish for it. You can even pick locks with it, not to mention reach all sorts of things! The price is 6 gold coins, though you can get it for 5 gold coins if you give up an arm of your own or one that used to belong to someone else. After all, you won't be needing, am I right?"
He then moves on to a peculiar snakelike appendage about the size of a leg lying about.
"And this is also an extremely useful graft, the Big Eater, I like to call it. His mouth is certainly far bigger than his eyes," Hanford explains, pointing to the jawless maw of the limb. "He can eat pretty much anything by virtue of extremely active digestive juices, and provide the user with much-needed nutrients in virtually any climate that possesses some organic material. In addition, you can tickle in a particular place to make him explosively or less explosively vomit out his entire stomach at something - perfect for covering a whole lot of people in extremely quick-acting stomach acid. And then you can eat them with the same limb! Very utilitarian, and costs only three gold coins, two with a limb-trade!"
After elaborating on the Big Eater's purpose, he points out something similar to a fractal centipede about the length of two full arms. As in, a centipede that has smaller centipedes for legs that have even smaller centipedes for legs that have yet smaller centipedes for legs.
"This is Curious Ralph. He enjoys science and exploring. It gives him joy. If science and exploration gives you joy, you may like him! You see, he has extremely superior sensory skills - hearing, smelling and tasting are what he enjoys best in life. Attach him to yourself or a favored minion and he will be able to tell you everything as you form a symbiosis at the cerebral level! He'll unfurl when you wish him to, and it is then that he can say a great many things about the water or any other chemical he is submerged in, the quality of the air and anything the sounds of the area can tell you about nearby objects and lifeforms! Just attach him to the spine and his incredible knowledge will be yours! Not to mention that he regenerates like a champ, so feel free to stick most of him in acid if you wish! He won't mind. He enjoys it! Six gold coins, five if you can provide two limbs in trade."
He then moves on to the last notable exhibit, a violet, thorny vine of some kind.
"And this is Susan the Fleshvine. She's the solid type - wrap her around some fellow's spine and she'll have found a wonderful place to flourish and grow! She'll branch and grow anywhere in the flesh from there, forming something like a secondary skeleton! An unbreakable secondary skeleton that regenerates extremely quickly, mind you. Her thorns will pierce every organ, penetrate through all places on the body, and then she'll alter your nervous system to perceive pain... differently, shall we say. She'll change your entire body to make it a better home for herself - the circulatory, nervous and respiratory systems are most affected, and you'll also start growing in size as your flesh becomes too small. Side effects include blooming occasionally - I hear it smells beautiful and looks even better - good, since I made Susan that way - and increased hunger, but the dampening of pain, lack of bleeding and physical growth can more than make up for it! And you can even multiply her fairly easily by cutting off the tail you'll start forming once you've got one grown Susan already - it'll then work as a whole new one! For this miraculous invention I ask 10 gold coins - 9 if you can provide a corpse, 8 if you can provide a living human subject! A worthwhile investment, no?"
At the Feisty Jelly...
Niklas goes inside the Feisty Jelly and decides to act boisterous.
"Right then, it is time for some good fun, yes? Now, my dear girly men, who wants to become tonight's drink? My treat!"
One extremely drunk man raises his hand, laughing awkwardly. A receptive group of patrons! Wonderful! Niklas grabs him and takes him to the kitchen and commences the creation of his newest creation after shooing all the foolish philistines right out. Now it's time for something new - Drunkard Beer! From drunkards to drunkards, courtesy of Niklas!
[Culinary Dark Arts roll: 1+1]
He looks at the drunk intently, trying to figure out how to cook some beer from him. The drunk, rather insensible, doesn't protest much. Should he use the blood or pursue alternate means? There's just so many options!
On the shrieking ship of Shriekpot...
Kevin is in a bit of an awkward situation. On the one hand, he really misses having arms. On the other hand, he doesn't want to get mutilated by an impatient or angered mage. Better to wait it out, he decides.
Erin, meanwhile, tries to finalize the issue of the ship.
"Alright, that's good! Now to finish this! Channel some anger, get a good rage goin'..."
[Erin magic roll: 6+2-1-1]
She hugs the mast and starts furiously talking to it, utilizing reassuring words to get it to work! And it does! The mast suddenly increases in size a whole lot, forming new sails of a peculiarly orange, shiny material! It's a fairly mighty sail, one might say. Certainly enough for most ships. And then the transformation overtakes the rest of the deck, altering all the masts and sails at once! Erin lets go of the mast and addresses the Artiste.
"I'm finally done, guys! Everything's great!"
"Good, good. Now we just wait for the others, hope that they get done with their revenge plot against somebody or other soon."
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Topic: Life Begins At Death - Epilogue: We Live And Live Again (Read 542773 times)