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Message: <blockquote data-quote="spyscribe" data-source="post: 2280866" data-attributes="member: 5808">Part the One-Hundred TwentiethMeanwhile, through the looking-glassAnvil feels an awful wrenching in the pit of his stomach and then… he is somewhere else.His clothing, his equipment is all gone, and he stands completely naked inside some kind of dodecahedral room.  The walls are mirrors, and everywhere he looks is his own image reflected endlessly upon itself.  The dizzyingly infinite sight provokes waves of nausea every time he moves, and he decides he had best sit down with his eyes closed.And that is when he notices the voices.  Many of them, speaking aloud.“Not real, not real.  Can’t hear you, can’t hear you…”“My Lord, hear my prayer. Hear your humble servant…””…and suck it out through your nose and feast on it, like a fine dessert…”“Didn’t do it. I didn’t do it.  Please, let me out. I’m innocent…”“You SON OF A DOG! How dare you talk to me that way! DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!”“Oh, I know who you are.  I just don’t care.”“WHAT!!!”“Gods and every spirit alive, why must you bait him, fool human?”“If I were free, I would HAVE YOUR WHIPPED for your IMPUDENCE!””…drown you in a bucket of your own blood…”“Shouldn’t be here.  Didn’t do it.  Please…”“Have me whipped?  What’s wrong?  Too fat to do it yourself?”“WHY YOU--!”At this, Anvil interrupts.  “Greetings,” he says.The voices go silent.“WHO IS THAT?” demands a stern and booming voice.“Isn’t it obvious?” quips a biting, sardonic one. “It’s a new loyal subject for your kingdom.”“INSOLENT CUR!” the booming voice responds.“I am Anvil the Just, follower of Kettenek,” Anvil replies.At this, there is a babble of voices.“Rock and stone, I knew it!  My prayers have been answered!  All hail our Lord, who hears his faithful’s prayers!” cries out one voice.“Nope, nope, nope.  No more.  Not any more.  Not listening…” another voice repeats, over and over and over.“Help me, help me please,” whimpers a terrified young woman’s voice.  “I shouldn’t be here.  I didn’t do anything…”“Ah. Another human. Perfect,” drolls a female voice.”A new one?  Fresh meat?  Fresh blood? I’ll drink it straight from your veins, as a chaser for your entrails…” hisses one.“Hmph,” grunts a rough voice, that has not yet spoken.The voices echo oddly in Anvil’s mirrored room, as if the sound reflects off the walls just as the light does.  Shaking his head to clear it, he silences the others.  “Who is in charge here?” he asks.At this, several voices burst out laughing.  “Well, I know who thinks he’s in charge,” the sardonic voice says.“QUIET!” booms the loud one.  “I outrank EVERY ONE OF YOU!”“Fat lot of good it does you, and when I say fat--"”…swallow your eyeballs whole, like little bird eggs…”“WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU--"Anvil again interrupts the tirade.  “You, sir.  You claim to be in charge?”“I am DAKLOD KRAKOTH, General of DAR THANE.”The name means nothing to Anvil.  He says as much.“WHAT!  My name is known across the plains of Ebis, spoken always with AWE AND FEAR.”“Oh, get over yourself.”“WHY YOU--"“Can’t hear.  Quiet now.  Quiet now…”The rough voice that has mostly stayed silent now speaks.  His Common is twinged with a dwarven accent.  “If anyone is in charge here, it is Petros.”“Yes, yes!” cries the Kettenite voice.  “The man is insane.  He has overstepped his bounds, taking upon himself our Lord’s duties.  He has declared himself judge, jury, and executioner, and imprisoned us here.”“Didn’t do it. I didn’t do it.  Please…” the young woman sobs.”…peel the skin from your body and force you to feast upon your flesh…”“Are you saying then that you people do not belong here?” Anvil demands of the Kettenite.“Oh, some of them do.  But I am innocent.  My name is Cyrus Vaaldershen.”“A Guardian of the Barrier,” Anvil notes, recognizing the name Cyrus, which all Guardians take.“And servant of the Lord of the Dead.  Long have I prayed for deliverance, and now, at last, my prayers are answered.  You are here to free us, Justicar.”“Yes, and wonderful job so far,” the sardonic voice quips.“Fear not,” Anvil says.  “I have no doubt that my companions will work to free us.”Exclamations of joy burst out all around him, echoing strangely in the mirrored cell.“After all this time, your words bring me comfort you cannot know, Justicar.  Come, brother.  Join me in prayer for our Lord’s Justice.””Oh, thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you…”“HA! FREEDOM!  I’ll see my enemies DRIVEN BEFORE ME!”“Leaving? Leaving? Everyone leaving!  Soon we’ll be all alone!  Ah, the peace.  The peace.””…carve my name upon your chest, and dot the i's and cross the t’s…”Those of us who deserve freedom, Anvil adds, silently.**********Meanwhile, back in the basement of the moving tower…Lira takes a deep breath and, picking the first word from the ‘Anterium’ column, she speaks it.  “Colrees.”The surface of the mirror briefly bows outward, extending a giant silver tongue down to the floor before quickly retreating back to its frame.  It leaves behind a naked man, hunched and shivering.</blockquote>

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