eastbound | username: deimar

( On this occasion, King Deimar in silvered splendor: tussled, armour scratched and drenched in blood and soot, surrounded each way by his men or Rathakku's creatures. He screams, just as harpies swing in: )

Fall back — fall back, fall back — ( An infantryman politely keels over, arrow driving through his ribs. Deimar stops to stare — ) ...maybe with less enthusiasm than that.

( But then, he's led to take cover off the field, and he can mutter into his pendant: )

Greetings, greetings. Your king speaks. Deimar. ( As if, perhaps, some need the reminder. ) Let's cut through pretence: Alem is lost. The merchants are offering their... obscenely costly help with evacuation. If we had any alternative or dignity, we would decline. It won't surprise you that I've agreed, gratefully. Go to Hassir. Yes, it's a monastery old and true. No, you cannot bring your wine.

( And gentler, firmer: ) It will have you. All of you who go, Hassir will have you, and it will save you. Make a new life, away from this mountain. Away from our blood's burden, away from Hell.

( Then lighter, in this breezy tone: )

...which, I regret to inform you, is opening nice, creaky and wide beneath our floorboard. You've heard the old stories: the Motherless Children beget their devastation, bolstered by whatever souls they consume in their putrid wasteland. They're breaking through. Terrible creatures. Filthy. Ugly, too.

To all men and women of Alem who are strong, gifted and able: I won't tell you to take up your weapons and join me below in glory. If you die there, no one will mourn you, no one will weep over your bones. No one will even remember you. No, they'll live peacefully, happily and oblivious to your sacrifice. But they'll live.

So. You have your choices: Hassir or Hell below. What say you?

( ooc: brainstorming post if you want to ICly figure out where characters are headed. Hell officially starts to open on March 18, but feel free to forward-date responses & threadjack at will. Good luck saving humanity! )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

In my vast experience of stopping hell, contained to exactly one incident, I'm not completely certain.

[ Well, he does admit to his bullshit. Good for him. ]

So up until now, you've just been sacrificing people to it?

No. Reinforcing the wards worked. Until it didn't.

For how long? Did this only start when Rathakku showed up?

We've been warding for generations. But carnage creates... resent and anguish the likes of which strengthens Hell.

[ He's just going to pretend his anguish-sucking curse isn't actively feeding it. Small potatoes compared to everything else, right? ]

...And you're sending your people down there to fight it. You're not worried that'll have the same effect?

We're short on choice, and pacifism has yet to sate Hell.

[ It’s not like he has a counter argument, but that doesn’t make him any more optimistic. He doubts the king here is, if he’s electing to die in battle. ]

So that’s it. That was Rathakku‘s plan, to break open Hell and set the world on fire?

I believe he was planning to break open Hell and command whatever comes out of it. A permanent source of reinforcements isn't anything to cast aside.

[ ...He thinks he can command Hell. They haven't been able to defeat him, but they already took a dragon out of his control. He's taking a big gamble stretching his power to what could be an endless stream of demons. ]

You looked between him and Hell and decided your chances were better down below. [ It's pretty clear that they would have been massacred if Five's group hadn't shown up. ]

What do you expect to find?

Something prone to dying. If my ancestors could contain it, so can we.

[ It says something that he’s going to deal with it himself, and still takes the time to field questions. What he has doesn’t sound like much of a plan, but he’ll give him that. ]

Stranger things have happened. [ Assuming demons can die. There’s a lot he doesn’t know and doesn’t have time to find out. ] Nothing else is known about how they did it?

...they say, sacrifice. They gave their lives to linger in Hell and fight the demons within.

Of course they did. [ Human sacrifice is their solution to everything. ] Do you think you have enough bodies?

And if we don't, what choice? ( But his voice comes bittersweet. )

Hell spills over. We die either way. At least... this way, we bide time for those escaping.

[ He won't labor the point, since he's yet to come up with a better suggestion. ]

Right. Maybe I'll see you down there.

This isn't your quarrel. I don't expect it.

[ Before he was begging for volunteers, but even he seems to see the futility. ]

'Quarrel' is a bit of an understatement.

If you're old enough to choose your own weapons, you can choose your own words.

With your permission, I'd call it a royal shitshow. [ And he's at least twice his age, thank you very much. ]

Pity you can't go down in history as a martyr if there's no one left to remember you. At least this one can't be blamed on us.

And what would you have done better?

Nothing by the time we got here. But something triggered this. By the time Rathakku showed up, you were probably too late.

[ And really... ]

Although if you do somehow manage to find a way to seal it again, I'd recommend not building a kingdom on top of a gate to Hell.

How else were we to contain it?

[ It's all moot now, isn't it? ]

Is it the only one that exists?

That we know of, the only persistent mouth.

(no subject)

somebadnews - 2023-03-26 17:36 (UTC) - Expand

jatharin - 2023-03-26 18:01 (UTC) - Expand