Heroica RPG - Quest #81: Home Sweet Home

[Endgame]

"I have been wondering this for a while, why do you not have a face? And yes, we have been captured and sent here, however, we must have been put to sleep on the way here, where exactly are we?"

"How confused can you individuals possibly be?! This is Eubric!"

The party glances out from the bars of their prison cell to see what horrible city awaited them outside. It was nothing like the Eubric they once knew. The once bustling city was now cold and dead, no evidence of the previous city remaining. A thick, inky smog hung over the entire city, smothering both the sky and the world below. The wooden buildings of before were now just detritus, hastily swept aside into trenches, along with the rest of the waste from the operation. Prisons like theirs dotted the area, arranged in rigid rows and aisles. Inside the oppressing grid stood hundreds of faceless figures in their cells, all eerily identical to their cellmates. Hundreds upon hundreds of dark figures skulked about from row to row, not even bothering to pay their captives any attention. The world was unbelievable - none of it seemed even real. Colors twisted and bended, some things as clear as day while others painfully obscure - It all seemed like ink on a canvas, a twisted world made by a madman. The last thing they could remember was being put to sleep by Iris - if she wasn't behind these visions, who was?

"I don't follow..." Johon says, noticing the stranger. "Who are you anyways? And what did you say earlier, something about the Eternal reaper?"

"The Eternal Reaper... How could you not know him?! He rules this realm with an iron fist... I've heard that this is the third continent he has done this to."

"The only other person we know to be under Iris' spell," Em says abruptly, "is probably this man. You wouldn't happen to be Jetorix, would you?"

"...Iris? Jetorix? What are you talking about? Do you not get what ordeal you're in?! Today is Decision Day!"

[Bricksandparts]

Music!

"Eubric... This can't be..." Johon says, staring into the grayness and ruin before him. "This is what they call paradise... Decision day? What's that?"

[joeshmoe554]

"It would seem these hallucinations are an image of a potential future. If they are being thrust upon us by a sentient being, than I see only 2 probable reasons for doing so. One would be to intimidate us into retreat or to warn us of the consequences regarding inaction. Seeing as Iris appeared to be unaware of these images, I would lean towards the latter explanation." Jeaux looked out over the ruined wasteland that was once Eubric. "If this is in fact a vision of what may be, perhaps we can learn more of how the conquest began and better prepare ourselves for its prevention."

[Endgame]

"When the Reaper manages to find all and jail all of the humans in one area, Decision Day comes the night after... All humans are faced with three choices: They may either be slaughtered, brainwashed into their legion, or brainwashed and sold into slavery. The Executioners are making their rounds now... They will be at our cellblock within the hour.

I'm not sure what to opt for yet, honestly..."

The faceless figure retreats into a corner, wrestling with the demons inside of him. He enters a silent hysteria, clearly panicking.

[Emjajoas]

Em grimaces. "Death's not something I'd embrace with open arms, but being brainwashed doesn't sit too well with me."

"However... I see hope in Slavery, if nought else. I won't fight for the Reaper, but I'm not going to lie down and die like a dog. I'd live to fight, even as a slave."

[Endgame]

"Unfortunately, no matter what, if you opt out of death, they will brainwash the free will out of you. Either way, your body dies... Or your mind does."

[joeshmoe554]

Jeaux looked to the faceless man, "I have only recently arrived in this area, so much of what is happening is news to me. Last I heard Eubric was a thriving trade port, can you tell me what happened. How did this 'Eternal Reaper' manage to decimate the city?"

Edited January 9, 2014 by joeshmoe554

[Bricksandparts]

"How long ago was it that the Eternal Reaper began conquering regions?"

[Pyrovisionary]

Sarge wakes up a bit later than the others, and goes on to say: "Coldharbour... That's what it is. Anyway mate, we're armed, we're gonna execute them executioners."

[Bricksandparts]

OoC: I am guessing we don't have our weapons. If we do, I'll change this post.

"I don't know how much choice we have." Johon says. "We fight. We may not have weapons, but if we can unite the other prisoners, we stand a chance. If we die, we die, whether in this nightmare or in reality."

[Endgame]

Jeaux looked to the faceless man, "I have only recently arrived in this area, so much of what is happening is news to me. Last I heard Eubric was a thriving trade port, can you tell me what happened. How did this 'Eternal Reaper' manage to decimate the city?"

"...It was horrific... Thousands of demons poured into the city, inky abominations... His legion swept in, and in less than a single day, decimated all of it. His legion was really just there to pick up the pieces to establish this hellhole, though... The Eternal Reaper hardly needed the back-up. He was plenty capable of tearing through the city on his own. In less than a day, our city went from prosperous to just... Gone. Before, his endless conquest of countires just seemed like a bad dream. We could defend against him. The city had turned in on itself... The Reaper scorched Heroica, and had its ashes swept into the ocean... In the end there was nothing we could do."

Sarge wakes up a bit later than the others, and goes on to say: "Coldharbour... That's what it is. Anyway mate, we're armed, we're gonna execute them executioners."

To Sarge's horror, he pats his thighs for his sheathed scissors - and finds them absent. They were practically defenseless.

"I don't know how much choice we have." Johon says. "We fight. We may not have weapons, but if we can unite the other prisoners, we stand a chance. If we die, we die, whether in this nightmare or in reality."

The faceless figure seems to go into a sudden rage.

"Fight? Fight?! We're all starving! They are armed to the teeth, trained, capable of putting an entire cellblock down with a single gesture! And you expect us to fight? Half of us have been practically begging for Decision Day to come! Don't you get it, Raider? We have been driven to the point where we welcome armageddon! Do you not understand what the Reaper's regime has done to us all?!"

Edited January 10, 2014 by Endgame

[The_Customizer]

"Perhaps there is another way out of this situation. Maybe we don't have to fight, we just have to find some way to prevent this from happening. Right, we are currently asleep in the past, this 'dream' or whatever we are in, is just a glimpse of what is to come, what if we found a way to change it? Perhaps, somehow, someway, when we awaken, we can prevent this from ever happening, but in order to do this, we have to find out exactly what happened in the past to cause this possible future. Any ideas?"

[Pyrovisionary]

"I can still Hex 'em"

[Emjajoas]

"What is the Eternal Reaper, exactly?" Em asks. "Have you seen it?"

[Bricksandparts]

"Why are you afraid? You're gonna die either way. We might be able to get out of here."

[Endgame]

"Perhaps there is another way out of this situation. Maybe we don't have to fight, we just have to find some way to prevent this from happening. Right, we are currently asleep in the past, this 'dream' or whatever we are in, is just a glimpse of what is to come, what if we found a way to change it? Perhaps, somehow, someway, when we awaken, we can prevent this from ever happening, but in order to do this, we have to find out exactly what happened in the past to cause this possible future. Any ideas?"

The faceless figure wheezes out something...

"If only this was a dream... If only..."

"I can still Hex 'em"

"Hex an entire legion of demons? You're just as delusional as the rest..."

"What is the Eternal Reaper, exactly?" Em asks. "Have you seen it?"

"Glimpses of him... Mostly his shadow, really. He's horrifying... He is seven stories tall. He weilds a scythe capable of cleaving through an entire city neighborhood in a single instant... In a single motion, he essentially wiped half the hovels off the map."

"Why are you afraid? You're gonna die either way. We might be able to get out of here."

The faceless figure's featureless facade contorts into an image of anger, his raspy voice growing furious.

"Why am I... Do you not understand?! It's like your mind is just blissfully unaware of what is going on! We get fed weekly! We are confined only to these tiny concrete cells! We are used as tools of entertainment, tortured, harassed, humiliated and dehumanized just for our captor's sadistic pleasure! Half of us are too hungry to even move, let alone stage an uprising! There is no out... The Reaper has practically stomped out every remnant of human life on Uland. We are all in a death camp, and yet here you are, a random inmate, wondering why we're afraid! You're in denial, Raider... You're in denial..."

A metallic shuffling can be heard in the distance.

"The Executioners approach... Best have your decision ready for them."

[Bricksandparts]

"But what happened? How did the world become like this? How long ago did it begin?"

[Emjajoas]

"And here I was hoping to save dying for another day," Em mutters. "I suppose that is my best choice, unless the rest of you want to experiment with different options and the result."

[Pyrovisionary]

"Let's get on with it then. Know what I'm gonna do."

[joeshmoe554]

"Hex an entire legion of demons? You're just as delusional as the rest..."

If he had some sort of echo chamber to broadcast the hexing words among the entire legion, than I believe it could be possible.

[The_Customizer]

Erdathcath shakes her head slowly, "No, hexing doesn't seem it would work, there has got to be another way about this. Is there anything we have missing?"

[Endgame]

"But what happened? How did the world become like this? How long ago did it begin?"

"The nightmare started across the world about 9 months ago... It only spread to Eubric about two weeks ago."

The metallic shuffling grows louder and louder, vague shadows of some horrible creatures dancing across neighboring cells. Heavily armed and heavier armored executioners pierce through the suffocating smog, and to the party's horror, their soon to be executioners were not, in fact, Oculoids...

...But proggs.

While the other Proggs atleast looked safe enough, if a little bit odd, these Proggs were nothing short of sinister. A aura of pestilent smoke surrounded them, their thick shell gnarled and jagged. The weapon they heaved around beared semblance to giant spears, able to tear and rend through anything they could. Instead of having two claws, one had lenghy saw-like fingers, perfect for grabbing prey. Even their tails were eldritch, having a barbed grabber instead of a spike.

"Opt." Somehow, the Executioner had managed to fill that one word with a lifetime of contempt.

The faceless figure sputters, backing into the corner like a terrified animal.

"I-I'm sorry, with these delusional people around I didn't have the time to-"

Suddenly, the barbed tip of the lead Executioner's spear jets off with a horrifying hiss, blasting off like a harpoon. It slides through the bars expertly and pierces through the stomach of the faceless man. Blood spurts out from the wound as he topples to his knees in shock. With a flick of his wrist the blade retracts back through the prion bears, clicking back into position. The barbed tip rips through the fellow prisoner again as it returns to its weilder, and the featureless man crumbles to the left - dead.

With the "insolent" prisoner disposed of, the Executioners turn to the other heroes.

"Opt."

Death, brainwashed into servitude, or mind controlled into the Reaper's legion - what will the heroes opt for? they each had a very important choice to make...

Edited January 12, 2014 by Endgame

[Emjajoas]

Em grins sadly. "Death," he spits, he grin growing into a wide-eyed smile.

[Bricksandparts]

Johon attempts to tackle Em before they have a chance to attack. He then attempts to kick the severed bars to create a possible escape.

[Endgame]

There were no actual severed bars - the head executioner managed to angle his spear-esque weapon in a way that the blade glided in between the gaps of the bars instead of through them. Thus, Johon gives the solid steel bars a solid kick, his foot buding instead of the bars.

The Executioners give a slight chuckle.

"We appreciate the comedy, but this is the last time we will ask: Opt."