singularity: core.

[-singularity-] The last of the arms falls away, thrashing, its death-throes sending tremors through the earth. Or what passes for earth here: fleshy, pulsating, beating with some terrible dark heartbeat of its own. All that remains is the core, naked now, a bulbous clot of flesh, muscle that sometimes seems to rotate and twist inside its sac of thin-stretched skin.

It is weakened. It has been stripped of its attendants. But it is not defeated. Its claws are sunk deep into this realm; it will not die so easily.

[R1 - nomf sinclair!]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 6, 7, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[-singularity-] [damage!]
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 3, 3, 3, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 6 at target 6)

[Brutal Revelation] [bitch, you ain't shit.]
Dice Rolled:[ 14 d10 ] 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6, 9, 9, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 6 at target 6)

[-singularity-] [R2 - nomf sarita!]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 6, 8, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[-singularity-] [damage!]
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 2, 2, 2, 7, 7, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 7 at target 6)

[Echoes of Laughter] [[SOAK PLEASENOWKTHXBYE]]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 4, 5, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Echoes of Laughter] [[Owwwww claw attempt -5 wound penalty]]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 4, 5 (Success x 1 at target 3)

[Echoes of Laughter] [[Damage]]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 4, 4, 5, 7, 7, 7, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[-singularity-] [HDY I AM THE CORE!]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 5, 7, 7, 8, 10, 10 (Success x 5 at target 6)

[-singularity-] [annnd end round! summary, after bashing regens:

Sinclair OK
Kate OK
Sarita 6A
MS 2L
WtSE OK

Core OK - somewhat weakened getting arms torn off, but looks like it can take a hit still.

Init order (taking into account wounds):

Sinclair
Kate
WtSE
MS
Sarita

Declare while I post!]

[Echoes of Laughter] [[1a: Fuck you you don't scare me bringer of my death I CLAW YOU!
1b: Yes, I know I have wound penalties I STILL CLAW YOU]]

[Echoes of Laughter] [[And R1: I CLAW MORE!]]

[-singularity-] MS:
1a. GB Sarita ffs!
b. GB someone else, and then i'm outta gnosis too!

[Where the Sidewalk Ends] [If possible, reflexive: Take hits for Midnight Sun (HAELZ STICK TUGEDDER)
1:
R1:
R2:
R3: Claws on Core]

[Honor's Compass] [Kate is:

1a. Smacking a GB on Sarita's ass, cuz she's sassy like that.
1b. Biting Core!
1c Biting Core!]

[Brutal Revelation] [1a.
1b.
R1.
R2. -- eat the Core]

[-singularity-] [ack! belated! you guys can free-change if you want.

Core:
1. EARTHQUAKE, FUCKERS!
R1. Again!
R2. SPAM AOE! BLOW COOLDOWNS! FACEROLL! PANIC!!!11oneone]

[Brutal Revelation] [NOMF]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 7, 7, 7, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1

[Brutal Revelation] [grrrr!]
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 3, 4, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[-singularity-] The wolves array themselves around this last, terrible nexus of the realm. It is all contorting flesh and gaping mouths, all teeth, not sharp and white but blunt and yellow, which is somehow all the worse. Its smaller mouths shriek and gibber, no language any of them would want to understand.

Its largest mouth is purely for destruction.


And Wyrmbreaker can't touch it. Neither of them can, just like they can't touch their own packmates now. Their. He wonders when he began to think of them as that. Our. The face under his hand feels familiar; it should. It's his own. He's seen it a hundred thousand times in the mirror, shaves it, washes it, wears it like a mask for the predator he is, beneath.

"They are our packmates," he tells his double softly.
"They are."
"They are our responsibility."
"They are."
"We protect them."
"We do."
"We guide them."
"We do."
"We lead them."
"We do."
"It is our duty, and our honor."
"It is."

A pause.

" ... but we can't help them now."

A longer pause.

"We can't."

"And they aren't helpless without us."

A very long pause.

"They're not."

Lukas smiles then. It's strange to see it: that same smile, slow and warm and just a little sad.

"We are their Alpha. We are their friend. We are their brother. But we are not their shield, their shelter, their sole protection against everything.

"And they don't need us to be."


There's no answer necessary then. Wyrmbreaker takes a deep breath. He can barely manage; a lung is punctured; he's nearly killed himself. He holds out his hand. His double takes it, seizes it, ferociously hard, and --


Wyrmbreaker rises alone from the floor. He staggers toward his packmates; shifts; he rips a Bloody Bandage from his fur and as it unravels he picks up his pace, breaks into a run as it disintegrates. His fur is matted with blood and some darker, more viscous fluid. Even with the Bandage there are traces of wounds, doubly self-inflicted.

It doesn't matter. He roars as he takes his place with his pack, shoulder to shoulder with them.


[Wyrmbreaker's declare:
1a/b/c - shit ton of bloody bandages as necessary!]

[-singularity-] [soak!]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 3, 3, 3, 6, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Brutal Revelation] [OMMM NOM NOM NOM NOM]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 2, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Brutal Revelation] [I JUST WANNA DO DA-A-AM-AAAGE. :[ ]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[-singularity-] [soak!]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Honor's Compass] [1a. Biting Core!]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 5, 5, 6, 8, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 6 at target 5)

[Honor's Compass] [Damage + 5]
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 3, 3, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 8 at target 6)

[-singularity-] [ack soak!]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 5, 6, 6 (Failure at target 6)

[Honor's Compass] [1b. Annnnd again!]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 5 at target 5)

[Honor's Compass] [Damage + 4]
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 7, 9, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 8 at target 6)

[-singularity-] [EEEP]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 5, 9, 10 (Failure at target 6)

[-singularity-] It's not that the core isn't strong. It's not that it, stripped of its attendant arms, is defenseless. Is helpless. Is harmless.

It's not that at all. It's simply the fact that it's outmatched.

The Glass Walker holds its attention. The Silver Fang shreds it from behind, splits it open, cleaves into it. Utterly savage, utterly terrible, Honor's Compass rips into the thing, and the last bite, the deepest, finds some critical juncture. Some nerve-center that, once severed, makes survival impossible.

A hideous keening fills this unformed space, this region of corruption and foul flesh. It sears their ears and blinds their eyes, rings in their skulls until one by one they must drop to their knees, cover their ears, close their eyes lest their heads simply burst.

And then -- just like that -- it's over. An enormous, soundless explosion sucks at their ears. Rolls outward from the core, peeling back the flesh, the ichor, the blackness, the corrosion. Burns it all away, clean as white ash.

When they open their eyes again, the world has changed.


The room is gone. The flesh-chamber is gone. All that remains is a limitless whiteness, and this being. Purified now.

Where the core seethed there now stands a figure. Humanoid; innumerable arms arrayed behind it. Six arms larger than the rest, prominent, flawless, svelte and strong. Each bears a talisman: a sword, an axe, a sceptre, a dagger, an orb, a torch. Six eyes in its head, glowing blue. No other discernible features.

It does not speak to them. It looks at them for a very long time, recognizing them, seeing them. And then -- between one blink and the next -- it simply vanishes away.

There's a door left behind. It's open, waiting. Through it, they can see a passageway leading upward, curving right.

[-singularity-] [Final summary:

Sinclair OK
Kate OK
Sarita 6A
MS 2L 1B
WtSE 1B
Lukas 1Aish?

Core - 15A +2
6 arms - 7A each (plus overkill here and there)]

[Echoes of Laughter] She's been knocked down in the fight. She got up. She's been nearly knocked the hell back down again and she was on the verge of death. And still, Sarita threw herself at it. There are times that she fights smart. She's sneaky, she aims for weak spots, she dodges and blocks.

This was not one of those times.

She's ready to claw. She's punch-drunk and ready to swing for the fences, and then it's down and Kate's standing in front of where it was. She blinks a couple of times, smiles when she sees Kate. Breathes easier when she gets the Gaia's Breath, and shifts back to breed form.

"Fuck me, that hurt. Thanks." She clasps Kate's shoulder (whatever form she's in), smiles when she looks around and sees that everyone's still up. "Mission accomplished, I'd say. Awesome."

She looks at the door, looks to the others. Waits to accompany them out.

[Brutal Revelation] When all is said and done, the Galliard thinks dimly that she would be angry, her pride injured at multiple failures, if only...

well, if only her rage weren't so depleted, if her will weren't sapped. But mostly: if only she weren't so blindingly proud of Katherine, so worried for the rest of them. She shifts her weight from foot to foot, dancing in place as the Core dies, horrifically, right before her. As the world burns away, as the figure comes in front of them. Steel melts from her body and she recognizes the axe held in one of its arms. If she wore a human face, it might be smiling gently at that. And at the torch, truth be told.

She bows to it.

And as soon as it's gone, she goes to Sarita, a keening note in her throat, lapping at the other Garou's wounds as though that would heal them better than a gourd. When Katherine breaks one over her, Sinclair whuffs in satisfaction even though Sarita is not completely healed, and bumps her head against the sister she was snapping at just -- how long ago was it, now? A lifetime ago.

She gives Katherine a nudge, too. A congratulatory lick. Good sister good good very strong sister sister good yay. A bark, a yelp to voice what is only over the totemlink for a moment, and then she's checking on Margaret, on Maddox, giving each of them strangely familiar nuzzles, brushing against their sides as though they are already pack, already bound.

But truth be told, they are stops on her way to Lukas. She stops before him. Then opens her maw and gently, familiarly nomfs the joint between shoulder and neck, holding on in a savage sort of hug, their throats together.

Told you so, she thinks at him, and even her spiritual voice is soft. More tender than anything most would expect of her. Maddox and Margaret sure will be surprised. She lets go of him and bumps her head against his side, but there are no other words then. She just stays. Mentally, she urges Katherine and Sarita to come close, be close, come, come, everyone be close. Out loud, she gives whuffs and faint whines that say the same to Maddox and Margaret.

Come, come. Pack come.

[Honor's Compass] Perhaps she's simply reached her breaking point.

Perhaps ever since leaving her own 'room', her own test she's been a little more raw, a little more savage and unwilling to compromise. Honor's Compass is her name, but let it never be said she would not destroy what she must to find that compass. To ensure her direction is true. She fights, Katherine, fights alongside her sisters and future brother and sister.

She fights for her Alpha, as he wages a bloody and in the end fruitless war upon his own other self.

They fall, but they do not die.
They drop, but they stagger upright again.

How long do they fight for, she cannot remember only that at the end, the arms torn away, only this mass left behind the Silver Fang lets out a deep, brutal roar and sinks her jaws so deep, so deep she finds the heart of this corruption -- and rips it out of the Umbral space it inhabits.

--

In the aftermath, in the clear limitless whiteness, the Silver Fang's fur is matted with black ichor. She opens burning eyes, the Adren and blinks several times. Sees stars and dots and sways on her feet a little before she can see the true core of this Realm, the untainted version, at least. It looks at them, and they look at it.

Honor's Compass tilts her great head to one side, her ear flicks; wet nose inhaling clean scents with great satisfaction.

After it is gone, the snowy wolf finds one of the Gaia's Breaths she'd stowed earlier, breaks it over her No Moon sister. Nuzzles her Galliard sister, then follows after to rub against her Alpha. To study him in a manner that suggests see, see pack can do much, not alone.

[Where the Sidewalk Ends] There was a moment in there, when they were being hammered, and comrades kept falling to the ground and Maddox and Margaret rush to heal, that it was just too much. Too infuriating. They were fighting and fighting, and so was the creature. And Lukas was off fighting himself, literally. In that moment, Maddox's Rage spiked higher than it's been in a long, long time. By then, he'd tapped his spiritual well dry, and almost didn't know what to do with that excess anger and wrath. So he spent it.

Unnecessarily, as it turns out. It doesn't matter, though. Maddox drops to his knees with the rest of them, claps huge handpaws over his ears, flattening them to his skull, squeezing his eyes shut. When it's over, when it's all finally over and he lowers his hands, he's dazed.

No more Rage.

No more gnosis.

He feels empty, hollowed out, lighter even than when he was trapped in that other shell. The one that was hollow inside, and wasted away after a cleansing. He stares at the being, his head tipped up, swaying where he kneels. Then he shifts, becomes homid again. His dark hair is askew, his clothing is a mess. He stares at it, hands dragging at his sides. The look on his face is one full of wonder. And then it's gone. It's over. It's over and he doesn't feel so cranky, bitter, or angry.

Maddox just feels like himself. More than, less than. He needs rest. He needs to meditate for a goddamn day. Sinclair nudges him, and he huffs, but this time it's amusement and relief. The Theurge staggers to his feet. He looks from packmate to packmate to packmate, ending finally on Lukas, brows lifted in query. Sinclair treats him like he's pack already, but the final judgment isn't hers alone. Placing one foot in front of the other, Maddox makes his way mostly steadily to where the others gather around their alpha.

[-singularity-] To say Wyrmbreaker is relieved would be true. To say he is a little abashed -- also true.

To say he is proud: an understatement.

He has nothing to say to them. He lays his chin over Sinclair's back and closes his eyes a moment. Nips at Kate's ear gently. Bumps sides with Sarita. Only a little pause, and then he pushes his nose into Midnight Sun's ruff; puts his huge paw over the back of Maddox's neck and pulls him into a rough sort of proto-embrace.

Let's go, his whuff says when he drops all four paws back to the ground. Let's go, the turn of his body says.

There's no hesitation as he takes the lead; no glance over his shoulder to make sure everyone was keeping up, to make sure no one was flagging, to make sure no one was left behind, no one was injured, no one was weak.


They're not weak. Of course not.


Upward, then.

Up the way they came. Every passageway broad and pristine now. From the bottommost and seventh room to sixth -- the triangular space where Lukas first met his double.

Another male stands there. None of them recognize him, not even Lukas, though there's something faintly familiar about him. Dark hair, blue eyes; he looks a little like Wyrmbreaker.

"Love the ones you love, Wyrmbreaker," he says. "Do not fear for them."

They run on.


The fifth room; four-sided. There is a figure in there. Katherine recognizes him even before he turns. He looks the way she remembers him. Young; not much older than she is now. He is not her father, but he smiles at her anyway.

"Your father is proud of you, Katie," he says,

and they run on.


The fourth room; five-sided. A little girl stands there, and they see her clearly for the first time. She is lovely. She looks like her mother. She speaks with her voice, but it is a spirit that speaks through her.

"You did not lose your family, Midnight Sun. They were taken from you, but you will see them again."

And they run on.


The third room; six-sided. A girl waits inside, blonde and blue-eyed. Not Sinclair, but reminiscent. She winks at Sinclair as she runs past.

"The whole picture's always bright and dark both, Sinclair," she laughs, "but you can't tell a truth by halves."

And they run on.


The second room; seven-sided. Sarita's double stands there. Cocky grin, but only if you failed to see the kindness beneath.

"Guess there isn't much you can't do, huh, chica," she calls,

and they run on.


And the first room; eight-sided. Nothing there but a torch, burning on: the torch the god of the realm held, so far below.


They run on: homeward.

[Brutal Revelation] [thank you again Damon!]

[-singularity-] [last bit of housekeeping -- for a month:

Maddox gains +1 perception.
Sarita gains +1 wits.
Sinclair gains +1 charisma.
Margaret gains +1 stamina.
Kate gains +1 intelligence.
Lukas gains +1 WP.

This would also be totally acceptable rationale to increase those stats permanently w/ XP after the month is up!]

[-singularity-] [final notes:

- the core was actually getting weakened by losing its arms. it started out with 10 attack/12 damage/8 soak or so, and that gradually wore down as its arms were lost. by the end i think it was around 7/8/6 or something -- so significantly weaker. if they had targeted the core directly, they could've actually killed the entire thing by killing the core. but six arms all attacking, plus core walloping with massive damage and massive soak, would've probably killed them deddedded.

- AOE IS INSANE. O_O

- i was pretty proud of having lukas essentially be his overprotective self THE ENTIRE SL, when that was always going to be his failing/weakness. i was also proud of basically not giving away that he'd be useless the last fight -- going so far as to charge him up and all!

- strong arm was lukas. not too much symbolism here, except maybe that he's strong and is always trying to protect everyone, so of course 'his' arm tries to harm everyone.

- claw was sinclair. i kinda liked that the most vicious arm was actually sinclair's! cuz sinclair's char has so much dichotomy -- this very caring side and this VICIOUS, WOUNDING, RIPPING side, both figuratively and literally.

- pretty one was kate. kate's a leader and a voice of reason; as a result, her arm bolstered the others (increased their dice).

- gibbering one was sarita. sarita's role is the questioner; as a result, her arm weakened enemies (decreased our dice).

- glowy one was margaret. she seems very supportive/want-to-help-esque. Her arm was the healer arm.

- dark one was maddox -- directly reflecting that he spent the entire SL keeping the light going through thick and thin.

- sword was lukas, axe was sinclair, sceptre was kate, dagger was sarita, orb was margaret, and torch was maddox. these really just reflected the associations above.

- the reason lukas and sinclair did not meet their doubles again is because they both reclaimed them. the reason maddox didn't was because he actually BECAME him for a while, then returned to himself.

- basically every room reflected some negative aspect of yourself. each had three outcomes (though multiple paths to each): best would be somehow reconciling yourself with the negative aspect of yourself, thus resorbing it. this usually requires owning up to it first, though. Next best is defeating that negative aspect, though not quite accepting it. Worst, which only Maddox unfortunately got (most likely because he went first, poor guy!), would have been to fail to defeat it at all. In that case, that negative aspect essentially switched places with you, and you'd have to walk in its shoes before making it out.

- In its pure form, the realm was a place of insight and enlightenment. The tests were unlikely to be any easier, but perhaps they would be less overtly hostile/harmful, and likely wouldn't have carried threat of death. In this SL, there was SERIOUS threat of death.

- i was pretty pleased with how the SL turned out, all in all! i was particularly worried about the last room; i didn't want it to be completely lukas-centric, but at the same time it was only reasonable that he was the last one based purely on the nature of his gate. but all in all i thought it was fairly well executed (and timed!!)

- as for the final rewards -- the rationale was this:

1) maddox gained perception to help him see that he could not stand alone; was not unutterably superior; would do better with others.
2) sarita gained wits because she was the first to think her way out of the puzzle -- albeit with help from her pack. she also gained wits to help her succeed better in the future.
3) sinclair gained charisma because it made sense to me that someone who finally acknowledged the good and the bad in everyone would be more tolerant, which in turn tends to lead to a more charismatic/likeable person *dies*
4) margaret gained stamina because her gate was all about endurance, physical and emotional
5) kate gained intelligence because her gate was very cerebral; it requires that she simply refuse to succumb to madness, hold on to her mind, etc.
6) if lukas had gained an attribute, it would have been strength -- but his gate was much more about strength of will; the will to accept that he's NOT always going to be the shield wall, and doesn't have to be. originally it was leadership -- but will fit better.

annnnd that's all!]
to -singularity-