Blue Ash (Dark Souls III/PMMM)
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[X] Come clean.
Its pretty much just the previous explanation plus "Except we turn into giant abominations of "Despair and Curses" if we fail to keep the black stuff from filling our souls. That wasn't exactly advertised when we made our Wishes."
chocolote12
A Penguin Flailing Against The Keyboard Of Life.
[X] Come clean
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Well, that's pretty unanimous. Vote closed.
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Just an update. I'm back home, so expect the update either tonight or sometime tomorrow. I never imagined I would have missed having a keyboard so much.
Edit: oh god how does this new interface work I don't understand
Guess there's just a random dice roll on this post now. Just uh, ignore that.
Edit: oh god how does this new interface work I don't understand
Guess there's just a random dice roll on this post now. Just uh, ignore that.
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Firelink Shrine 11: Explanations
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You meet Ludleth's cold gaze, as you panickly try and think of some sort of explanation. However, nothing even brings to spring to mind. All that really appears is an indiscernible mess of stuttered noises and general panic.
After several torturous moments of painful silence, you bow your head. "Do you want the short version or the long version?" You ask, as anxiety fills your body.
"Long, if thou wouldst be so kind. " He replies, his form remaining perfectly still even as he speaks.
You nervously swallow, before giving Ludleth a nod. "Well, it all started with this weird rabbit-cat..."
It takes you quite some time to explain what you know about the Magical Girl System, but Ludleth listens intently to every word that leaves your mouth, his gaze never faltering.
Eventually, however, you reach the parts that you hadn't told Hawkwood. The blurry recollection of random moments of your last few days. The void in your memories filled only with misery and nightmares. Ludleth simply nods when you say that you'd rather avoid probing into it, while you try and hide any sign of tears from being noticeable.
"The last thing I remember is this massive burst of flame appearing, and then I woke up in the cemetery." You say, as you finally finish your recollection.
By this point, you'd guess you'd just spent the better part of an hour explaining as much as you could to Ludleth. Despite this, however, you do note that the light coming from the Shrine entrance remains constant and unchanging. Weird...
"So in summary," Ludleth begins, "thou became an Abyss-spawn, or as thou knew it, a 'Witch', only for thee to meet thy death shortly thereafter. Thou then awoke as Ash, no longer an Abyss-spawn, and with thy soul," He gestures to your soul gem, "once more whole. Is that correct?"
"Y-yes, that's right." You nervously nod in affirmation.
Ludleth remains silent for several seconds, each moment marked by a tap of his right index finger against his left hand, which is the only part of his body that seems to be in any sort of motion. Right before you feel the urge to ask him if something's wrong, he finally speaks once more.
"I would request some time to ponder this new information. Wouldst thou find that to be acceptable?" He asks.
"Sure, I guess?" You reply.
"Very good then." Ludleth says with a nod. "Now, might I advise thee to fetch thy companion?"
Upon exiting the shrine, you're met with the sound of loud barking off in the distance. Are there dogs here? You did see some back at the High Wall, but if these are more of the same, maybe you shouldn't. Those things earlier were pretty horrifying to look at from a distance, you'd much rather avoid getting near one.
You wander around for a bit, trying to find Hawkwood. First you turn to your right, and take a quick look around. Down a short pathway and up a staircase, you spot what looks to be a half naked man with a katana. You aren't sure if he noticed you or not, but you leave before you notice any sign of such. Crazy naked men with swords is something you can deal with later. Or never. You hope for the latter, but expect the former.
After several minutes of dead ends, hollows staring blankly at you everywhere you go, and general annoyance at how all the gravestones turn the area into what is effectively a maze, you finally stumble on Hawkwood buried away in a nook of the graveyard. Well, not really much of a nook, seeing as you find him kneeling in front of a gravestone facing directly off the cliffside, but that's besides the point.
Hawkwood hears you approaching, but he nevertheless remains still, eyes glued to the grave in front of him. The guy seems to really enjoy being dramatic.
"The poor wretched souls." He says as you get closer. "Be they Lord or Legend, the curse shows no mercy." He pauses. "What a sham."Hawkwood then turns to face you.
"Is it time, then?" He asks. "I've been stuck out here buried in memories for long enough, I feel."
What do you say?
[] Write in
After several torturous moments of painful silence, you bow your head. "Do you want the short version or the long version?" You ask, as anxiety fills your body.
"Long, if thou wouldst be so kind. " He replies, his form remaining perfectly still even as he speaks.
You nervously swallow, before giving Ludleth a nod. "Well, it all started with this weird rabbit-cat..."
It takes you quite some time to explain what you know about the Magical Girl System, but Ludleth listens intently to every word that leaves your mouth, his gaze never faltering.
Eventually, however, you reach the parts that you hadn't told Hawkwood. The blurry recollection of random moments of your last few days. The void in your memories filled only with misery and nightmares. Ludleth simply nods when you say that you'd rather avoid probing into it, while you try and hide any sign of tears from being noticeable.
"The last thing I remember is this massive burst of flame appearing, and then I woke up in the cemetery." You say, as you finally finish your recollection.
By this point, you'd guess you'd just spent the better part of an hour explaining as much as you could to Ludleth. Despite this, however, you do note that the light coming from the Shrine entrance remains constant and unchanging. Weird...
"So in summary," Ludleth begins, "thou became an Abyss-spawn, or as thou knew it, a 'Witch', only for thee to meet thy death shortly thereafter. Thou then awoke as Ash, no longer an Abyss-spawn, and with thy soul," He gestures to your soul gem, "once more whole. Is that correct?"
"Y-yes, that's right." You nervously nod in affirmation.
Ludleth remains silent for several seconds, each moment marked by a tap of his right index finger against his left hand, which is the only part of his body that seems to be in any sort of motion. Right before you feel the urge to ask him if something's wrong, he finally speaks once more.
"I would request some time to ponder this new information. Wouldst thou find that to be acceptable?" He asks.
"Sure, I guess?" You reply.
"Very good then." Ludleth says with a nod. "Now, might I advise thee to fetch thy companion?"
Upon exiting the shrine, you're met with the sound of loud barking off in the distance. Are there dogs here? You did see some back at the High Wall, but if these are more of the same, maybe you shouldn't. Those things earlier were pretty horrifying to look at from a distance, you'd much rather avoid getting near one.
You wander around for a bit, trying to find Hawkwood. First you turn to your right, and take a quick look around. Down a short pathway and up a staircase, you spot what looks to be a half naked man with a katana. You aren't sure if he noticed you or not, but you leave before you notice any sign of such. Crazy naked men with swords is something you can deal with later. Or never. You hope for the latter, but expect the former.
After several minutes of dead ends, hollows staring blankly at you everywhere you go, and general annoyance at how all the gravestones turn the area into what is effectively a maze, you finally stumble on Hawkwood buried away in a nook of the graveyard. Well, not really much of a nook, seeing as you find him kneeling in front of a gravestone facing directly off the cliffside, but that's besides the point.
Hawkwood hears you approaching, but he nevertheless remains still, eyes glued to the grave in front of him. The guy seems to really enjoy being dramatic.
"The poor wretched souls." He says as you get closer. "Be they Lord or Legend, the curse shows no mercy." He pauses. "What a sham."Hawkwood then turns to face you.
"Is it time, then?" He asks. "I've been stuck out here buried in memories for long enough, I feel."
What do you say?
[] Write in
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Sorry for the short post, but this morning my plans for the rest of the summer fell apart, and it didn't really leave me in the mood to write. I'd also like to apologize if a lot of my non-update posts seem to come off as whining or general complaint filled excuses. I won't lie, they kind of are that in a way, and if anyone finds it to be a bother, please let me know and I'll try and cut it out.
Nottheunmaker
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[X] Tell him what Ludleth told you. Which is pretty much everything you already told him, so you guess you'll both find out more if Ludleth comes up with anything. Which might take a while. The two of you can either wait for him, or you could get back to Lothric. You'd prefer that latter.
I think that about covers everything. Wait if he likes, or just get the show on the road.
I think that about covers everything. Wait if he likes, or just get the show on the road.
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Vote closed.
Firelink Shrine 12: The History of the Watchers
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You run over what Ludleth explained to you with Hawkwood, who nods along as you continue to speak. His face remains flat, as he already knew most of the details. But then you make what, in hindsight, was a pretty big mistake. You tell Hawkwood about your connection to the Abyss.
As soon as the words leave your mouth, before you can even react, you find yourself shoved against the stone wall by Hawkwood. He's holding a dagger, the one he must keep sheathed most of the time, to your throat, as he glares at you with hate filled eyes.
"Explain. Now."
You can feel your heart bashing against your chest as you try to resist the urge to hyperventilate. Distantly you're aware that you could take Hawkwood in a fight if it came down to it. Despite this, human instinct refuses to acknowledge the fact, magical girl or not, and so fight or flight comes into effect.
"E-explain what?!" You croak out as you struggle to breathe.
"How, by Nito's decayed balls, did you become an Abyss-spawn and then turn back?" Hawkwood grunts.
"I don't know, but I-I can control it as long as I'm careful!" You manage to choke out. "A-and I know how to cleanse the corruption!" Hawkwood pushes the blade closer to your throat. "I swear I'm not lying!" You cry out. "I wouldn't say any of this if I was!"
Several different emotions flash across Hawkwood's face. Fear. Hate. Sadness. Regret. The hand holding the dagger to your throat begins to shake as he clenches the hilt so tightly his knuckles begin turning white.
Hawkwood heaves out a sigh, practically deflating as the tension seems to drain out of him.
"...Fine." He spits out as he finally releases you. You slide to the ground, gasping for breath as Hawkwood carefully sheathes his dagger at his side. "You're sure you can keep it under control?" He asks.
"Yes, but what the hell was that for?!"
"I... apologize for that." Hawkwood says earnestly. "Old habits die hard."
"Yeah, well that doesn't exactly explain why you were threatening to kill me a moment ago." You say, anger written on your face as you glare at Hawkwood.
"Sayaka, I spent 9 years of my life as an Abyss Watcher. Our goal was to destroy any and all traces of the Abyss, wherever they were found. No price was too great, because even if we died we'd get back up and get back to work. So when you go and claim you turned into a literal Abyss-spawn, what did you expect was going to happen?"
"I didn't think you'd attack me! Do you think I look like a monster or something?"
"Not everything that crawls its way out of the Abyss looks like a monster." Hawkwood says, with a roll of his eyes. "Besides, didn't you say that you can get your neck ripped out and be perfectly fine a moment ago?"
"That doesn't mean I want it to happen." You grumble out in response.
"Look, the Abyss isn't something that can be played around with." Hawkwood explains. "There's a reason Thorolund was razed to the ground, after all."
"Wait, razed to the ground?" You ask. "The Abyss Watchers burned a city to the ground?"
"Well, yes, but Thorolund itself was a nation, not a city."
"You burned down an entire country?!" You stare at Hawkwood as you're unable to prevent your jaw from dropping. What the hell?
"Not entirely, otherwise Carim wouldn't be so prominent" Hawkwood mutters. "Anyway, It was before my time, so I don't know exact details, beyond there being a lot of fire."
"Weren't the Abyss Watchers good guys? Why go around attacking people?"
"It was done because it had to be done." Hawkwood says, his voice adamant. "The records were kept as a reminder to every Abyss Watcher who followed of the danger faced, and why such a response was necessary." Hawkwood sighs. "And really, you'd think a nation of clerics would be the last to fall to the Dark."
"If it's so dangerous, why are you willing to let me use it at all?" You ask.
"Because I expect you not to be stupid with it." You said you've been able to purge the corruption before, so as long as you practice restraint, you should be fine." Hawkwood explains. "That being said, if you face the risk of losing yourself entirely, I'll do what must be done."
Now isn't that a happy thought? Truth be told, however, you'd rather die than go back to being a witch. The bits and pieces of memories that are floating around are enough to be sure of that.
"Gods, it's a good thing none of the others are here to see me." Hawkwood mumbles to himself.
"Weren't you a deserter though? Why do you care so much about what they'd think?"
Hawkwood rolls his eyes as a response. "Let's just head back." He says, turning to head back to the shrine. While he does, you take the opportunity to get a closer look at the grave he was in front of. Lying on the gravestone is a large greatsword with a strange flower motif decorating the hilt and part of the blade blade. The gravestone itself is faded, making reading difficult. There are several lines of text, but you can't read it with a glance. You could probably decipher what it says if you took your time, but unfortunately...
"Are you coming?" Hawkwood's voice shakes you out of your focus.
"Yeah, I got distracted by something. I'm coming." You call out as you run over and catch up with him.
You both remain silent as you walk back to the Shrine entrance, despite the occasional Hollow moan and dog bark. When you finally make it back, the two of you walk back in. Ludleth turns to look at you, before his eyes widen (slightly) when he sees Hawkwood.
"Didst thou tell thy companion all that was discussed?" He asks.
"Yeah, was I not supposed to?" You ask with a tilt of your head.
Ludleth meets this with a dumbfounded stare, which slowly morphs into a small smile with a light chuckle. "Nay, if that is the path of thine own choosing, then thou must be sure to follow it." Ludleth states, his voice calm and steady.
With that, you and Hawkwood prepare to set back out for Lothric. Ludleth takes the opportunity to ask to see your soul gem once again. You hand it to him, and he seems to examine it once more, before he hands it back to you with a nod and a thank you. Or as he puts it:
"'I am thankful for thine assistance in this matter." Ludleth says with a small smile. It's hard to tell if he's actually smiling with how little his face seems to change, but you swear there's a bit of an upward shift.
"You're sure you don't want me to wait here so you can keep on taking a look?" You ask Ludleth while Hawkwood runs over to Andre for something.
"There is little more I can offer to ye at this moment." Ludleth's almost-smile disappears from his face. "Unless ye happen upon a Transposing Kiln, mine efforts would be for naught."
"Well, I'll... see what I can do?" You offer with a shrug.
"Do not fret thyself. 'Tis much to ask of thee to but stumble upon such. If thou were to happen upon such one in thy travels, then all I ask is for thou to bring it here." Ludleth says.
You and Hawkwood sit at the bonfire of Firelink Shrine. You decide to warp to:
[] High Wall of Lothric
[] Tower on the Wall
As soon as the words leave your mouth, before you can even react, you find yourself shoved against the stone wall by Hawkwood. He's holding a dagger, the one he must keep sheathed most of the time, to your throat, as he glares at you with hate filled eyes.
"Explain. Now."
You can feel your heart bashing against your chest as you try to resist the urge to hyperventilate. Distantly you're aware that you could take Hawkwood in a fight if it came down to it. Despite this, human instinct refuses to acknowledge the fact, magical girl or not, and so fight or flight comes into effect.
"E-explain what?!" You croak out as you struggle to breathe.
"How, by Nito's decayed balls, did you become an Abyss-spawn and then turn back?" Hawkwood grunts.
"I don't know, but I-I can control it as long as I'm careful!" You manage to choke out. "A-and I know how to cleanse the corruption!" Hawkwood pushes the blade closer to your throat. "I swear I'm not lying!" You cry out. "I wouldn't say any of this if I was!"
(Opening a Fanatic's Eyes: 79 + 10 for previous crit = 89)
Several different emotions flash across Hawkwood's face. Fear. Hate. Sadness. Regret. The hand holding the dagger to your throat begins to shake as he clenches the hilt so tightly his knuckles begin turning white.
(A Hawk's Path: 42 + 10 for previous crit + 5 for previous success = 57)
Hawkwood heaves out a sigh, practically deflating as the tension seems to drain out of him.
"...Fine." He spits out as he finally releases you. You slide to the ground, gasping for breath as Hawkwood carefully sheathes his dagger at his side. "You're sure you can keep it under control?" He asks.
"Yes, but what the hell was that for?!"
"I... apologize for that." Hawkwood says earnestly. "Old habits die hard."
"Yeah, well that doesn't exactly explain why you were threatening to kill me a moment ago." You say, anger written on your face as you glare at Hawkwood.
"Sayaka, I spent 9 years of my life as an Abyss Watcher. Our goal was to destroy any and all traces of the Abyss, wherever they were found. No price was too great, because even if we died we'd get back up and get back to work. So when you go and claim you turned into a literal Abyss-spawn, what did you expect was going to happen?"
"I didn't think you'd attack me! Do you think I look like a monster or something?"
"Not everything that crawls its way out of the Abyss looks like a monster." Hawkwood says, with a roll of his eyes. "Besides, didn't you say that you can get your neck ripped out and be perfectly fine a moment ago?"
"That doesn't mean I want it to happen." You grumble out in response.
"Look, the Abyss isn't something that can be played around with." Hawkwood explains. "There's a reason Thorolund was razed to the ground, after all."
"Wait, razed to the ground?" You ask. "The Abyss Watchers burned a city to the ground?"
"Well, yes, but Thorolund itself was a nation, not a city."
"You burned down an entire country?!" You stare at Hawkwood as you're unable to prevent your jaw from dropping. What the hell?
"Not entirely, otherwise Carim wouldn't be so prominent" Hawkwood mutters. "Anyway, It was before my time, so I don't know exact details, beyond there being a lot of fire."
"Weren't the Abyss Watchers good guys? Why go around attacking people?"
"It was done because it had to be done." Hawkwood says, his voice adamant. "The records were kept as a reminder to every Abyss Watcher who followed of the danger faced, and why such a response was necessary." Hawkwood sighs. "And really, you'd think a nation of clerics would be the last to fall to the Dark."
"If it's so dangerous, why are you willing to let me use it at all?" You ask.
"Because I expect you not to be stupid with it." You said you've been able to purge the corruption before, so as long as you practice restraint, you should be fine." Hawkwood explains. "That being said, if you face the risk of losing yourself entirely, I'll do what must be done."
Now isn't that a happy thought? Truth be told, however, you'd rather die than go back to being a witch. The bits and pieces of memories that are floating around are enough to be sure of that.
"Gods, it's a good thing none of the others are here to see me." Hawkwood mumbles to himself.
"Weren't you a deserter though? Why do you care so much about what they'd think?"
Hawkwood rolls his eyes as a response. "Let's just head back." He says, turning to head back to the shrine. While he does, you take the opportunity to get a closer look at the grave he was in front of. Lying on the gravestone is a large greatsword with a strange flower motif decorating the hilt and part of the blade blade. The gravestone itself is faded, making reading difficult. There are several lines of text, but you can't read it with a glance. You could probably decipher what it says if you took your time, but unfortunately...
"Are you coming?" Hawkwood's voice shakes you out of your focus.
"Yeah, I got distracted by something. I'm coming." You call out as you run over and catch up with him.
You both remain silent as you walk back to the Shrine entrance, despite the occasional Hollow moan and dog bark. When you finally make it back, the two of you walk back in. Ludleth turns to look at you, before his eyes widen (slightly) when he sees Hawkwood.
"Didst thou tell thy companion all that was discussed?" He asks.
"Yeah, was I not supposed to?" You ask with a tilt of your head.
Ludleth meets this with a dumbfounded stare, which slowly morphs into a small smile with a light chuckle. "Nay, if that is the path of thine own choosing, then thou must be sure to follow it." Ludleth states, his voice calm and steady.
With that, you and Hawkwood prepare to set back out for Lothric. Ludleth takes the opportunity to ask to see your soul gem once again. You hand it to him, and he seems to examine it once more, before he hands it back to you with a nod and a thank you. Or as he puts it:
"'I am thankful for thine assistance in this matter." Ludleth says with a small smile. It's hard to tell if he's actually smiling with how little his face seems to change, but you swear there's a bit of an upward shift.
"You're sure you don't want me to wait here so you can keep on taking a look?" You ask Ludleth while Hawkwood runs over to Andre for something.
"There is little more I can offer to ye at this moment." Ludleth's almost-smile disappears from his face. "Unless ye happen upon a Transposing Kiln, mine efforts would be for naught."
"Well, I'll... see what I can do?" You offer with a shrug.
"Do not fret thyself. 'Tis much to ask of thee to but stumble upon such. If thou were to happen upon such one in thy travels, then all I ask is for thou to bring it here." Ludleth says.
You and Hawkwood sit at the bonfire of Firelink Shrine. You decide to warp to:
[] High Wall of Lothric
[] Tower on the Wall
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Ugh, a lot of the dialogue from this update bothers me. I'm probably going to do a pass over of all of the posts I've made at some point just to tidy things up, and try and make stuff sound less awful. Or would it be feel less awful? Read less awful? Fuck, I dunno, just be less awful I guess.
As a side note, a very similar scene to the start of this one would have happened if you had failed the roll way back when you had healed Hawkwood, although it would have had more negative repercussions then. But then you crit on that roll so I kinda just scrapped that part.
By the way, sorry for leaving off with two pretty lame votes twice in a row, they felt like natural stopping points. In the future I'm going to try and give fewer suggested votes, because I enjoy seeing what plans you guys come up with instead. They tend to be a lot more interesting than anything I could hope to come up with.
Additionally, sorry for posting this so late again, but I told myself that I'd finish the update tonight.
Then it became tomorrow so I decided this was the next best thing.
Anyway, thank you everyone for reading, but now I must sleep.
As a side note, a very similar scene to the start of this one would have happened if you had failed the roll way back when you had healed Hawkwood, although it would have had more negative repercussions then. But then you crit on that roll so I kinda just scrapped that part.
By the way, sorry for leaving off with two pretty lame votes twice in a row, they felt like natural stopping points. In the future I'm going to try and give fewer suggested votes, because I enjoy seeing what plans you guys come up with instead. They tend to be a lot more interesting than anything I could hope to come up with.
Additionally, sorry for posting this so late again, but I told myself that I'd finish the update tonight.
Then it became tomorrow so I decided this was the next best thing.
Anyway, thank you everyone for reading, but now I must sleep.
... I'm not sure if I'm more upset with Sayaka for being an idiot, the thread for not remembering she's an idiot, or not remembering/noticing this was updating to catch this because she's an idiot.
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That 99 from earlier saved you here. If you hadn't gotten that, unless you rolled a full on crit here, it wouldn't have ended well.
If you had waited until later to tell Hawkwood, depending on how long he'd been with Sayaka and what he thought of her, his reaction would have been much more variable.
Anyway, now to actually go to sleep.
Nottheunmaker
Altman be praised
- Location
- USG Ishimura
For the record, I did forget that we didn't tell him Sayaka turned into a witch. But I would've voted to spill the beans anyway.
[X] Tower on the Wall
Bête Noire
Abhorrent Anathema
- Location
- Dark Alley
[X] Tower on the Wall