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Barsoom Tales II: Romance, Revolution and BLOODY REVENGE!!! -- COMPLETE
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<blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 4060726" data-attributes="member: 812"><p><strong>Frying Pan, Fire: 14</strong></p><p></p><p>Isaac squinted in the sunshine.</p><p></p><p>"You know, this is all just a little weird."</p><p></p><p>"I agree," said Elena. "And I say with the caveat that for us, 'a little weird' is a lot weirder than it is for most people."</p><p></p><p>"Yeah."</p><p></p><p>The two sat on the deck of the <em>Wavereaver</em>, the ship Collette had brought them to a couple of nights ago, and on which they'd managed to escape Cadençia. They watched as their captain, a roguish-looking fellow named Mateo, strode past, calling out an order of some kind to his first mate, Natacha.</p><p></p><p>"How does he remember the battle for Pavairelle? I mean, that was thirty years ago."</p><p></p><p>"He looks like he's thirty himself."</p><p></p><p>"Exactly."</p><p></p><p>"And I don't like how they just laugh whenever we mention sorcery, like they know all about it."</p><p></p><p>"And I especially don't like that Collette put us on this boat. She's up to something, I know it."</p><p></p><p>"Maybe she just wants to help. Maybe she wants you."</p><p></p><p>"That's not funny."</p><p></p><p>Arrafin came over, unsteady against the motion of the boat, and lowered herself to the deck beside her friends.</p><p></p><p>"So, this boat is kind of weird."</p><p></p><p>"We were just discussing that. What's got your weird alert notioning?"</p><p></p><p>The Naridic girl looked around, then leaned towards Elena.</p><p></p><p>"Can you do your thing?"</p><p></p><p>"Which thing? I have such a plethora of options."</p><p></p><p>"The thing with your brain."</p><p></p><p>"Oh. That thing. No."</p><p></p><p>"You can't?"</p><p></p><p>"No. My brain doesn't work."</p><p></p><p>"Why didn't you say anything?"</p><p></p><p>"I just found out right now, when I tried."</p><p></p><p>"Oh. Well, my thing doesn't work either."</p><p></p><p>Isaac stared at the two women. Etienne walked up just as the Saijadani burst out, "What is wrong with your things?"</p><p></p><p>Etienne blinked.</p><p></p><p>"Whoa. This conversation is more interesting than I thought."</p><p></p><p>Arrafin looked up as Zuleika and Nevid joined them.</p><p></p><p>"Neither sorcery nor psionics seem to work on this boat. I can't grasp any Shadow at all. And Elena's brain doesn't work."</p><p></p><p>"How can you tell? Ouch. Sorry."</p><p></p><p>Isaac saw Mateo watching them from the other side of the main mast and waved the man over.</p><p></p><p>"Look, enough with the knowing smirks. Why doesn't sorcery work on this ship?"</p><p></p><p>"Oh, that. Well, sir, I gotta tell you, I don't really know."</p><p></p><p>The steady gaze of the assembled friends didn't seem to faze him at all.</p><p></p><p>"What I can tell you, sir, is that at the battle of Pavairelle we were caught in a blast of flame hundreds of feet high. Wiped out our entire squadron. Except us. Ever since then, we've had the feeling that maybe there's something weird about this ship."</p><p></p><p>"Excuse me, are you saying there was sorcery at the battle of Pavairelle? I've read seven different eye-witness accounts of that battle and nobody ever mentioned sorcery."</p><p></p><p>"Oh well, then, I must be mistaken, missie. Pay no mind."</p><p></p><p>"Wait. Are you saying this ship is impervious to sorcery?"</p><p></p><p>"Yep. Even had the Blood Council check the whole thing out. They confirmed it. There is no power on Barsoom capable of using sorcery against this ship in any way whatsoever. We are invulnerable."</p><p></p><p>With a quiet rushing sound, dark shadowy tendrils erupted from the deck behind Mateo, and coalesced into the stately, smiling form of the Demon Goddess, Yuek Man Chong. She bowed, her immense headdress toppling forward and then teetering back upright as she did so. Her eyes were only for Arrafin.</p><p></p><p>"Hello, darling. Did you think I wouldn't find you? You're not playing hard to get, now, are you?"</p><p></p><p>Isaac was sufficiently startled that he failed to prevent Arrafin scurrying forward to address her.</p><p></p><p>"Madame Yuek. But. How did you come here? I thought--"</p><p></p><p>Dark eyes darkened further.</p><p></p><p>"You mean you WERE avoiding me? Arrafin."</p><p></p><p>"No! Well. No. It's just. We. Um."</p><p></p><p>Arrafin retreated with a worried headshake, then stopped as curiousity overcame her fear.</p><p></p><p>"Try to do something. Something. Sorcerous."</p><p></p><p>She waved her hands in front of her face to demonstrate.</p><p></p><p>Madame Yuek frowned, then shrugged.</p><p></p><p>"Whatever will please you, dar--"</p><p></p><p>An expression none of them had ever witnessed took hold of the undead sorceress' face, and with hideous snarl she slapped Arrafin backhanded across the face, sending the girl sprawling backwards. Madame Yuek shrieked.</p><p></p><p>"What have you done!?"</p><p></p><p>Her hand reached out in a savage claw, fingernails stretching outwards into long talons, when she froze in place. Again her expression transformed in a heartbeat, into that terrible sadness Elena had witnessed long ago, in her castle in Shaer.</p><p></p><p>"Oh, Arrafin. Arrafin. Forgive me."</p><p></p><p>The Naridic girl got to her feet, sobbing, and ran to the rear of the ship and through a cabin door. Madame Yuek set after her, only to come up short as Isaac stepped in front of her.</p><p></p><p>"If you think I'll let you harm her, you're not so smart after all."</p><p></p><p>The vampire stared at him, her face now expressionless.</p><p></p><p>"Your concern for your friend is noted. I swear to you, if I intend to harm her, I will tear you to pieces first. Now step aside."</p><p></p><p>"What are you going to do?"</p><p></p><p>"Something I don't do very often, and something I don't chose to share with you."</p><p></p><p>One long-fingered, elegant hand gripped his shoulder. Isaac had just enough time to be surprised at the warmth and softness of that hand when he found himself lifted in to the air and placed to the side.</p><p></p><p>She'd lifted him off the ground. By the shoulder. With one hand. Isaac watched her pass him and go to the door Arrafin had fled through.</p><p></p><p>And kneel. She began speaking quietly.</p><p></p><p>The others looked each other over. Isaac glowered.</p><p></p><p>"She hit Arrafin."</p><p></p><p>Zuleika shrugged.</p><p></p><p>"I bet she's grovelling about that right now. Maybe Arrafin can get something out of her."</p><p></p><p>"Arrafin's not going let that bitch get away with something like that. She hit Arrafin. Hard."</p><p></p><p>Just as Isaac spoke, the door opened, and Arrafin, wiping at her nose and eyes, came out to look down at Madame Yuek. They stared at each other and the vampire bowed. Arrafin nodded.</p><p></p><p>The pair returned to where the others stood. The crew of the <em>Wavereaver</em> stood around staring. Arrafin drew in a shaky breath and spoke.</p><p></p><p>"Madame Yuek has a theory. About Shang and Nevid's head."</p><p></p><p>Elena crossed her arms.</p><p></p><p>"Does she? How nice for her."</p><p></p><p>"Elena. She said she was sorry. It's okay now."</p><p></p><p>"Sure. Everything's fine."</p><p></p><p>"Anyway. She thinks Shang wants to collect the fragment of the Blood Mother's soul so that nobody can restore it. There's a way to put her back together. To restore the Blood Council."</p><p></p><p>The others looked back and forth between Arrafin's intense face and the tall vampire standing beside her, staring off across the waves as though none of this had anything to do with her.</p><p></p><p>"Great. So how do we put her back together?"</p><p></p><p>Madame Yuek turned from her study of the sea to regard Elena with a cold gaze.</p><p></p><p>"You don't. I do. You help."</p><p></p><p>"Why would we help you? You're evil."</p><p></p><p>"I've never lied to you."</p><p></p><p>Etienne coughed.</p><p></p><p>"That's not exactly true, now, is it?"</p><p></p><p>A large number of eyes turned to him.</p><p></p><p>"You told us Shang destroyed the Blood Mother. But the Blood Council say you did it."</p><p></p><p>"That's right. So. Now what do you have to say for yourself, evil undead evil bad... person."</p><p></p><p>Madame Yuek smiled with what appeared to be actual good humour.</p><p></p><p>"Careful who you trust. But it's true, I may not have been completely forthcoming. Still, what I said was true. Shang did it.</p><p></p><p>"To understand my involvement, you have to understand my origin. Matai Shang made me."</p><p></p><p>She gestured to the deck and seated herself in a graceful motion. The others followed suit, with varying degrees less of grace, and arranged themselves in a sort of half-circle, facing where Madame Yuek knelt.</p><p></p><p>"I am perhaps his greatest achievement. He unlocked the secrets that had been hidden since the days of ancient horrors, and rediscovered the sorceries that created the vampires of old. And he saw me as a mortal woman, and he turned me into this."</p><p></p><p>With a sweeping gesture she indicated herself. Elena studied the white marble of what was once flesh and now seemed like a sort of liquid stone, and the horror of it struck her again.</p><p></p><p>"But why?"</p><p></p><p>"Why? Why would he turn a beautiful young woman into an indestructible engine of terror and death?"</p><p></p><p>She laughed and clapped her hands together as though relating a saucy joke.</p><p></p><p>"He did it so that I would stay pretty, no matter what he did to me."</p><p></p><p>Open-mouthed stares greeted this announcement, and the vampire laughed even harder.</p><p></p><p>"You see, when he created me, I was his slave. I was bound through his sorcery to do whatever he wished. Which was mostly suffer horrible tortures and be torn to pieces, screaming and screaming and screaming and screaming AND SCREAMING--"</p><p></p><p>Her laughter sank beneath a fiery glare and one of her hands punched through the decking beside her. With evident effort, Madame Yuek regained her composure.</p><p></p><p>"He sent me to gather the Blood Mother. Against the ancient might of the entire Blood Council, the most powerful cabal of sorcery the world has ever seen, he sent his favourite plaything. And I consumed them. I destroyed the entire city Zuyang in one breath. A million souls ravaged. And I took the Blood Mother to him.</p><p></p><p>"And then I played a little trick on him. As he was absorbed in the rituals required to perform his spell on the Blood Mother's soul, I performed a spell of my own. One I'd been preparing for over a century. I freed myself from his control in a sorcerous explosion so violent I was sure, for many years, that I'd killed him."</p><p></p><p>Her gaze settled, unseeing, on the deck before her. Arrafin coughed.</p><p></p><p>"But now you want to fix it, right? Fix the Blood Mother? Put her soul back together? Make things better?"</p><p></p><p>"I don't think I'd put it quite so strongly. But anything Shang doesn't want to happen strikes me as a good thing to do."</p><p></p><p>Her dark eyes drifted to Nevid.</p><p></p><p>"You have Tsing Kwan's memories, yes? What do you recall?"</p><p></p><p>"Destruction. Torture. You, killing people."</p><p></p><p>"Hm. Well, we all have our skills. Now, we need to bring this ship to the shore, so that I can disembark. If Shang realizes I'm here, and without sorcery..."</p><p></p><p>The deck tilted, timbers splintered and creaked, and the whole ship shook.</p><p></p><p>Giant figures stood fore and aft, glittering in the sunshine, translucent and deep ruby red, carved with facets as though formed from enormous gemstones.</p><p></p><p>"...it's possible he'll take the opportunity to cause trouble. This should be interesting."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="barsoomcore, post: 4060726, member: 812"] [b]Frying Pan, Fire: 14[/b] Isaac squinted in the sunshine. "You know, this is all just a little weird." "I agree," said Elena. "And I say with the caveat that for us, 'a little weird' is a lot weirder than it is for most people." "Yeah." The two sat on the deck of the [i]Wavereaver[/i], the ship Collette had brought them to a couple of nights ago, and on which they'd managed to escape Cadençia. They watched as their captain, a roguish-looking fellow named Mateo, strode past, calling out an order of some kind to his first mate, Natacha. "How does he remember the battle for Pavairelle? I mean, that was thirty years ago." "He looks like he's thirty himself." "Exactly." "And I don't like how they just laugh whenever we mention sorcery, like they know all about it." "And I especially don't like that Collette put us on this boat. She's up to something, I know it." "Maybe she just wants to help. Maybe she wants you." "That's not funny." Arrafin came over, unsteady against the motion of the boat, and lowered herself to the deck beside her friends. "So, this boat is kind of weird." "We were just discussing that. What's got your weird alert notioning?" The Naridic girl looked around, then leaned towards Elena. "Can you do your thing?" "Which thing? I have such a plethora of options." "The thing with your brain." "Oh. That thing. No." "You can't?" "No. My brain doesn't work." "Why didn't you say anything?" "I just found out right now, when I tried." "Oh. Well, my thing doesn't work either." Isaac stared at the two women. Etienne walked up just as the Saijadani burst out, "What is wrong with your things?" Etienne blinked. "Whoa. This conversation is more interesting than I thought." Arrafin looked up as Zuleika and Nevid joined them. "Neither sorcery nor psionics seem to work on this boat. I can't grasp any Shadow at all. And Elena's brain doesn't work." "How can you tell? Ouch. Sorry." Isaac saw Mateo watching them from the other side of the main mast and waved the man over. "Look, enough with the knowing smirks. Why doesn't sorcery work on this ship?" "Oh, that. Well, sir, I gotta tell you, I don't really know." The steady gaze of the assembled friends didn't seem to faze him at all. "What I can tell you, sir, is that at the battle of Pavairelle we were caught in a blast of flame hundreds of feet high. Wiped out our entire squadron. Except us. Ever since then, we've had the feeling that maybe there's something weird about this ship." "Excuse me, are you saying there was sorcery at the battle of Pavairelle? I've read seven different eye-witness accounts of that battle and nobody ever mentioned sorcery." "Oh well, then, I must be mistaken, missie. Pay no mind." "Wait. Are you saying this ship is impervious to sorcery?" "Yep. Even had the Blood Council check the whole thing out. They confirmed it. There is no power on Barsoom capable of using sorcery against this ship in any way whatsoever. We are invulnerable." With a quiet rushing sound, dark shadowy tendrils erupted from the deck behind Mateo, and coalesced into the stately, smiling form of the Demon Goddess, Yuek Man Chong. She bowed, her immense headdress toppling forward and then teetering back upright as she did so. Her eyes were only for Arrafin. "Hello, darling. Did you think I wouldn't find you? You're not playing hard to get, now, are you?" Isaac was sufficiently startled that he failed to prevent Arrafin scurrying forward to address her. "Madame Yuek. But. How did you come here? I thought--" Dark eyes darkened further. "You mean you WERE avoiding me? Arrafin." "No! Well. No. It's just. We. Um." Arrafin retreated with a worried headshake, then stopped as curiousity overcame her fear. "Try to do something. Something. Sorcerous." She waved her hands in front of her face to demonstrate. Madame Yuek frowned, then shrugged. "Whatever will please you, dar--" An expression none of them had ever witnessed took hold of the undead sorceress' face, and with hideous snarl she slapped Arrafin backhanded across the face, sending the girl sprawling backwards. Madame Yuek shrieked. "What have you done!?" Her hand reached out in a savage claw, fingernails stretching outwards into long talons, when she froze in place. Again her expression transformed in a heartbeat, into that terrible sadness Elena had witnessed long ago, in her castle in Shaer. "Oh, Arrafin. Arrafin. Forgive me." The Naridic girl got to her feet, sobbing, and ran to the rear of the ship and through a cabin door. Madame Yuek set after her, only to come up short as Isaac stepped in front of her. "If you think I'll let you harm her, you're not so smart after all." The vampire stared at him, her face now expressionless. "Your concern for your friend is noted. I swear to you, if I intend to harm her, I will tear you to pieces first. Now step aside." "What are you going to do?" "Something I don't do very often, and something I don't chose to share with you." One long-fingered, elegant hand gripped his shoulder. Isaac had just enough time to be surprised at the warmth and softness of that hand when he found himself lifted in to the air and placed to the side. She'd lifted him off the ground. By the shoulder. With one hand. Isaac watched her pass him and go to the door Arrafin had fled through. And kneel. She began speaking quietly. The others looked each other over. Isaac glowered. "She hit Arrafin." Zuleika shrugged. "I bet she's grovelling about that right now. Maybe Arrafin can get something out of her." "Arrafin's not going let that bitch get away with something like that. She hit Arrafin. Hard." Just as Isaac spoke, the door opened, and Arrafin, wiping at her nose and eyes, came out to look down at Madame Yuek. They stared at each other and the vampire bowed. Arrafin nodded. The pair returned to where the others stood. The crew of the [i]Wavereaver[/i] stood around staring. Arrafin drew in a shaky breath and spoke. "Madame Yuek has a theory. About Shang and Nevid's head." Elena crossed her arms. "Does she? How nice for her." "Elena. She said she was sorry. It's okay now." "Sure. Everything's fine." "Anyway. She thinks Shang wants to collect the fragment of the Blood Mother's soul so that nobody can restore it. There's a way to put her back together. To restore the Blood Council." The others looked back and forth between Arrafin's intense face and the tall vampire standing beside her, staring off across the waves as though none of this had anything to do with her. "Great. So how do we put her back together?" Madame Yuek turned from her study of the sea to regard Elena with a cold gaze. "You don't. I do. You help." "Why would we help you? You're evil." "I've never lied to you." Etienne coughed. "That's not exactly true, now, is it?" A large number of eyes turned to him. "You told us Shang destroyed the Blood Mother. But the Blood Council say you did it." "That's right. So. Now what do you have to say for yourself, evil undead evil bad... person." Madame Yuek smiled with what appeared to be actual good humour. "Careful who you trust. But it's true, I may not have been completely forthcoming. Still, what I said was true. Shang did it. "To understand my involvement, you have to understand my origin. Matai Shang made me." She gestured to the deck and seated herself in a graceful motion. The others followed suit, with varying degrees less of grace, and arranged themselves in a sort of half-circle, facing where Madame Yuek knelt. "I am perhaps his greatest achievement. He unlocked the secrets that had been hidden since the days of ancient horrors, and rediscovered the sorceries that created the vampires of old. And he saw me as a mortal woman, and he turned me into this." With a sweeping gesture she indicated herself. Elena studied the white marble of what was once flesh and now seemed like a sort of liquid stone, and the horror of it struck her again. "But why?" "Why? Why would he turn a beautiful young woman into an indestructible engine of terror and death?" She laughed and clapped her hands together as though relating a saucy joke. "He did it so that I would stay pretty, no matter what he did to me." Open-mouthed stares greeted this announcement, and the vampire laughed even harder. "You see, when he created me, I was his slave. I was bound through his sorcery to do whatever he wished. Which was mostly suffer horrible tortures and be torn to pieces, screaming and screaming and screaming and screaming AND SCREAMING--" Her laughter sank beneath a fiery glare and one of her hands punched through the decking beside her. With evident effort, Madame Yuek regained her composure. "He sent me to gather the Blood Mother. Against the ancient might of the entire Blood Council, the most powerful cabal of sorcery the world has ever seen, he sent his favourite plaything. And I consumed them. I destroyed the entire city Zuyang in one breath. A million souls ravaged. And I took the Blood Mother to him. "And then I played a little trick on him. As he was absorbed in the rituals required to perform his spell on the Blood Mother's soul, I performed a spell of my own. One I'd been preparing for over a century. I freed myself from his control in a sorcerous explosion so violent I was sure, for many years, that I'd killed him." Her gaze settled, unseeing, on the deck before her. Arrafin coughed. "But now you want to fix it, right? Fix the Blood Mother? Put her soul back together? Make things better?" "I don't think I'd put it quite so strongly. But anything Shang doesn't want to happen strikes me as a good thing to do." Her dark eyes drifted to Nevid. "You have Tsing Kwan's memories, yes? What do you recall?" "Destruction. Torture. You, killing people." "Hm. Well, we all have our skills. Now, we need to bring this ship to the shore, so that I can disembark. If Shang realizes I'm here, and without sorcery..." The deck tilted, timbers splintered and creaked, and the whole ship shook. Giant figures stood fore and aft, glittering in the sunshine, translucent and deep ruby red, carved with facets as though formed from enormous gemstones. "...it's possible he'll take the opportunity to cause trouble. This should be interesting." [/QUOTE]
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