Heroica RPG - Quest #105: Eternal Reaper

[Emjajoas]

Em frowns, trying to think of some way the glasses could be of use. Tools to communicate, lenses that could see into the soul. Why were they not weapons? How were they not weapo

"We know of the Lifespark," Em replies, his frown deeper. "A little, anyways."

Edited August 14, 2014 by Emjajoas

[Zepher]

Boomingham eyes the two spirits as they speak. Finally he steps forward. "So you two kept your creations as slaves, but aren't too keen on what the Regret wants to do to the world? You can't be too shocked he wants to do the same thing to humans, can you? You can't be too shocked he kills those who are like his children on a whim. Seems he was taught that way. Chap still has to be stopped, sure, but..." Boomingham trails off. "Can't fault you for trying to right a wrong. Don't make it right, but it may help us, and seeing as he's still alive and you seem to have gotten what was coming to you, well, we can't say no to the help." Boomingham licks his lips and casts his eyes at the blue ghost, though they have trouble staying put. "You chaps don't happen to hang around with other ghosts, do you?"

[Bricksandparts]

Although he hadn't seemed to connect with Boomingham, he full-heartedly agrees with him on the issue at hand.

"You... You are no better than Eidolon, and wavering on the Regret. You created a race simply on your whims! I know you, and I'm sure you know me. You created a race which would turn against you, fully in their right, knowing the consequences!" Johon shouts at the spirits. "You convinced everyone it was right because it was 'necessary'! I grew up here, brainwashed into your pathetic beliefs!" He says, finally calming down some. "Look, I don't agree with you on your ideas on what you could do. You apparently have the technology to send us through time, yet you don't even bother getting off this god-forsaken island! ... But, the Regret is the main enemy here. You started this mess and you are going to help fix it."

[joeshmoe554]

"As for the information... You know of the Lifespark, do you not?"

"From what I have been told it was originally used to create the proggs and the regret is trying to use it now to gain more power. I take it you have more information that may help us defeat him?"

[Endgame]

Boomingham eyes the two spirits as they speak. Finally he steps forward. "So you two kept your creations as slaves, but aren't too keen on what the Regret wants to do to the world? You can't be too shocked he wants to do the same thing to humans, can you? You can't be too shocked he kills those who are like his children on a whim. Seems he was taught that way. Chap still has to be stopped, sure, but..." Boomingham trails off. "Can't fault you for trying to right a wrong. Don't make it right, but it may help us, and seeing as he's still alive and you seem to have gotten what was coming to you, well, we can't say no to the help." Boomingham licks his lips and casts his eyes at the blue ghost, though they have trouble staying put. "You chaps don't happen to hang around with other ghosts, do you?"

"If only that could apply to the living..." remarks Masson, his voice unreadable.

"...Your pardon, if you would call it that, is appreciated."

"No. We don't socialize with other specters, not ones from here. But... I'm sure there are other spirits lingering here. This place reeks of death, tonight especially."

"But The Regret does not seek to enslave humanity. He wishes to be the one to force mankind into extinction."

Although he hadn't seemed to connect with Boomingham, he full-heartedly agrees with him on the issue at hand.

"You... You are no better than Eidolon, and wavering on the Regret. You created a race simply on your whims! I know you, and I'm sure you know me. You created a race which would turn against you, fully in their right, knowing the consequences!" Johon shouts at the spirits. "You convinced everyone it was right because it was 'necessary'! I grew up here, brainwashed into your pathetic beliefs!" He says, finally calming down some. "Look, I don't agree with you on your ideas on what you could do. You apparently have the technology to send us through time, yet you don't even bother getting off this god-forsaken island! ... But, the Regret is the main enemy here. You started this mess and you are going to help fix it."

"Whims?"

"You are just as naive as you were when you left the island, and back then you were a child."

"Has it ever occured to you, Johon, that without context, there is no morality? I'm sure, in your eyes, slavery is bad, charity is good, murder is bad, saving people is good. But what if you're giving funds to someone who is wicked, or killing in self defense, or saving those who are evil or do not wish to be saved? There is right and wrong, that much is true. But without context, it does not exist. No single act is either good or evil without looking at the bigger picture. A bigger picture that you fail to see.

Tell me, Johon. Do you see any wild life here? Fertile land? No. You don't. The only fertile land is on top of the mountain which once stood here, an altitude humans could barely even survive at, let alone live there to tend to a harvest. Wild life is shrubs. We lived on nothing but the corpses of fish and withered plant life for months! Look at your hands, Johon. I can see the tiniest traces of frostbite. Even when we had food, shelter, a labor force, the cold was still taking its toll on us. Tell me, how do you think it was without the Proggs? damn near unlivable! I lost two of my fingers, my wife lost her arm, my brother died entirely - and that's just from frostbite.

We tried other solutions, as well, so don't you dare claim it was a whim. We were shipwrecked. We tried surviving. Then we tried time travel, a spell that was passed down to your parents. The very knowledge that saved you. But here is the thing, Johon, about our brand of time travel. You cannot change the past. History will correct itself - the only thing that can have even the tiniest of impact is the most extreme of changes, and these radical decisions were ones I couldn't make.

So where did this leave us? The Lifespark. We scaled that mountain to find that forsaken thing again, rallied our powers, and tried to create new life. One misstep too many, and all of us would die. We were that desperate, Johon. It was our only option.

You can say I'm partially responsible, which is true. But don't you dare say I was evil. I did what I had to out of pure neccesity. Nothing more."

"However, we do intend to help. The Glasses were your first gift. The second gift will be information. For example... We think we know a way into the Citadel."

"From what I have been told it was originally used to create the proggs and the regret is trying to use it now to gain more power. I take it you have more information that may help us defeat him?"

"You're quite right. I can't tell you how to beat him, but I know this: He plans to devour the Lifespark. That thing is rumored to be created from the combined power of the gods, heroes of Heroica. If he takes all of its power... It's over, more or less. There will be no chance of stopping him.

Already, a mere three embers burn within him, and it has made him immensely powerful. If he devoured the whole flame, he'd be virtually invincible."

"The Regret's plan for devouring it, though, is impossible. So you have that going for you. The Lifespark is, at its base form, primal souls. Tons of them. Usually, touching it causes the user's soul to overflow and be swept away... Think of your soul as glass filled with water. You pour more in, and you make a huge mess. But The Regret only has half of a soul - his glass is half empty, so to speak. It has allowed him to cheat the system and leech a few embers off the Lifespark. But there is no way even someone like The Regret could possibly contain all of its power. He'd be obliterated if he tried. The only type of being that could possibly take the entirety of the Lifespark is a being which doesn't exist... Which, fortunately, is not something that can happen."

"I wouldn't be so sure. If he made such a formidable citadel and built such an army, then he clearly has an end goal."

"We all know he's insane. It wouldn't surprise me too much if there was no endgame to this plot. Perhaps he just wishes to die with his delusions of grandeur intact."

Edited August 14, 2014 by Endgame

[Bricksandparts]

"And how do you think the proggs fared!?" Johon retorts. "They fared horribly, and because of your actions!"

[Emjajoas]

Em scowls, speaking up, though he kept his voice low. "That is not the matter at hand. Save the moral debate for when we aren't threatened by the Regret. The proggs have moved on from the past. They're rebuilding. They're strong. Don't reopen closed wounds. Now is not the time. These bastards are already dead. You can do nothing to them now. If you're angry, use it as motivation to kill the Regret. End the cycle. He holds the chains now. Free the Proggs from his grasp."

[Kintobor]

"Oh, great. So this megalomaniac is trying to become a god?"

Her mind traced back to a name she'd heard before, one that she never really cared about. Wren... was this all a repeat of what apparently happened with her?

"If he's going to basically destroy himself, why are we even here? We could make our exit and allow this tyrant to do himself in... right?"

Karie looked worriedly at her companions with worry. She felt like she signed for something else, and now here she was waiting preparing to take on evil incarnate.

[Zepher]

"If only that could apply to the living..." remarks Masson, his voice unreadable.

"...Your pardon, if you would call it that, is appreciated."

"No. We don't socialize with other specters, not ones from here. But... I'm sure there are other spirits lingering here. This place reeks of death, tonight especially."

"If you want to work as a ghost to make your amends, I won't stop you. Hel, I'll gladly help you start," says Boomingham with a leer. He turns to Karie before she can tell him to cut it out. "If the Stealer gets to make quips, so do I. Tell him to keep his mouth shut, if anyone."

"And I wasn't so much wondering about ghosts around here. Or ghosts at all. Just the spirits of the departed. But I guess some things are never easy." He smiles tiredly. "So be it. And I told you, you have my pardon, if that's what you'll call it. What's done is done. You're dead. You've paid for your crimes. Now you move forward and we move forward also."

"You can say I'm partially responsible, which is true. But don't you dare say I was evil. I did what I had to out of pure neccesity. Nothing more."

"Necessity doesn't make something more or less good. You do what you need to do to survive, sure, but the context means diddly. It's there, but you kill someone, you kill someone. That's the fact of the matter."

"However, we do intend to help. The Glasses were your first gift. The second gift will be information. For example... We think we know a way into the Citadel."

"I'll assume you mean other than that nasty looking front door."

Em scowls, speaking up, though he kept his voice low. "That is not the matter at hand. Save the moral debate for when we aren't threatened by the Regret. The proggs have moved on from the past. They're rebuilding. They're strong. Don't reopen closed wounds. Now is not the time. These bastards are already dead. You can do nothing to them now. If you're angry, use it as motivation to kill the Regret. End the cycle. He holds the chains now. Free the Proggs from his grasp."

Boomingham grins and chuckles. "Sometimes I forget you've got a head on those shoulders. It's good to be questing with you again, Em. Don't know if I said it yet, but it is." Boomingham looks at Johon. "I'm with you and I'm with him - these chaps did something bad, but nows not the time. We set it aside. And they are already dead."

"If he's going to basically destroy himself, why are we even here? We could make our exit and allow this tyrant to do himself in... right?"

"I've got to agree with my darling here. If this whole things already wrapped up with a bow, shouldn't we just let him at it? It seems more fitting than anything that he die by his own actions."

[Emjajoas]

"I'm glad to be questing with you as well, Boomingham" Em replies, crossing his arms. "How do we get into the Citadel?" he urges. "The way you speak, I doubt time is our friend."

[Endgame]

"And how do you think the proggs fared!?" Johon retorts. "They fared horribly, and because of your actions!"

"Yet you have no problem with domesticating horses or slaughtering cows, then? What I did wasn't neccasarily good or ind hearted. I didn't intend for them to be so... Intelligent. What I did was partially wrong, yes. But to hold me accountable after three thousand years? Outrageous."

Em scowls, speaking up, though he kept his voice low. "That is not the matter at hand. Save the moral debate for when we aren't threatened by the Regret. The proggs have moved on from the past. They're rebuilding. They're strong. Don't reopen closed wounds. Now is not the time. These bastards are already dead. You can do nothing to them now. If you're angry, use it as motivation to kill the Regret. End the cycle. He holds the chains now. Free the Proggs from his grasp."

"He controls more than the Proggs, I fear. Far, far more... But you are quite right nonetheless."

"Oh, great. So this megalomaniac is trying to become a god?"

Her mind traced back to a name she'd heard before, one that she never really cared about. Wren... was this all a repeat of what apparently happened with her?

"If he's going to basically destroy himself, why are we even here? We could make our exit and allow this tyrant to do himself in... right?"

Karie looked worriedly at her companions with worry. She felt like she signed for something else, and now here she was waiting preparing to take on evil incarnate.

"No. Not a god. He considers the gods weak... Spineless. Hiding behind smoke and mirrors. When and if he consumes the Lifespark, he doesn't plan to hide in the shadows and let fate dictate things, I imagine. He will take a more... Hands on approach.

And I refuse to believe he simply has no plan up to this point."

"He's insane."

"He outmanuevered you eight centuries ago, didn't he? Rather spectacularly if I recall."

"If you want to work as a ghost to make your amends, I won't stop you. Hel, I'll gladly help you start," says Boomingham with a leer. He turns to Karie before she can tell him to cut it out. "If the Stealer gets to make quips, so do I. Tell him to keep his mouth shut, if anyone."

"And I wasn't so much wondering about ghosts around here. Or ghosts at all. Just the spirits of the departed. But I guess some things are never easy." He smiles tiredly. "So be it. And I told you, you have my pardon, if that's what you'll call it. What's done is done. You're dead. You've paid for your crimes. Now you move forward and we move forward also."

"Necessity doesn't make something more or less good. You do what you need to do to survive, sure, but the context means diddly. It's there, but you kill someone, you kill someone. That's the fact of the matter."

"I'll assume you mean other than that nasty looking front door."

"I've got to agree with my darling here. If this whole things already wrapped up with a bow, shouldn't we just let him at it? It seems more fitting than anything that he die by his own actions."

"I wasn't being sarcastic, Boomingham. I was lamenting.I regret what I've done. Perhaps you will never forgive me. But we at least need to stay away from eachother's throats, lest the greater evil here comes out on top."

"To be honest, Boomingham, my succesor here is the one who got overthrown by the Proggs and died at their hands. I died of old age, two thousand two hundred years before he was even born."

"Oh yes, you lived a long life while I got nailed to the outside of the very Cathedral we're currently in. If you check the back, the spear they used to denote my demise is probably still there. As is the blood splatter. HMPH.

But we believe there may be another way into the Citadel... The entrance to one of the mines we put The regre tto work in, while he was still a slave, is nearby. It's to the West of the main village square, where our statues are. If you can find that entrance, it might very well lead into the Citadel itself."

"The Regret devouring the Lifespark may be an impossibility, Boomingham, but The regret himself is an impossibility. You see, he once got trapped down in the very mine we believe will lead you into the Citadel... Starved and isolated, he used some magic he stole from us to mutilate his soul, either ending the pain or allowing himself to survive. The magic he stole from us should've killed him. But he defied natural law. Through what seemed to be sheer willpower alone, The regret managed to cling onto his body, and live on. The Regret is an impossibility, Boomingham. He is an abomination, a defiance of what the Gods intended life to be. And that is why I think he may find a way to devour the Lifespark."

Did the party have anything else to ask?

[Emjajoas]

"I take it going through the mine won't be a walk in the park," Em mutters. "I've nothing else to ask."

[Kintobor]

"If you want to work as a ghost to make your amends, I won't stop you. Hel, I'll gladly help you start," says Boomingham with a leer. He turns to Karie before she can tell him to cut it out. "If the Stealer gets to make quips, so do I. Tell him to keep his mouth shut, if anyone."

"And I wasn't so much wondering about ghosts around here. Or ghosts at all. Just the spirits of the departed. But I guess some things are never easy." He smiles tiredly. "So be it. And I told you, you have my pardon, if that's what you'll call it. What's done is done. You're dead. You've paid for your crimes. Now you move forward and we move forward also."

"I've got to agree with my darling here. If this whole things already wrapped up with a bow, shouldn't we just let him at it? It seems more fitting than anything that he die by his own actions."

"For someone who claims to not be threatening my husband you really seem to enjoy alluding to it. And I am not your darling."

Karie replies sternly.

[Endgame]

"For someone who claims to not be threatening my husband you really seem to enjoy alluding to it. And I am not your darling."

Karie replies sternly.

"I was going to point that out, ma cherie, but I like to avoid confrontation..."

"At this rate... We've already lost. The Regret was consumed by hate. He became almost all powerful because of it. Will you allow the same to happen to all of you? You will not grow stronger. It will only kill you, add eight more bodies to the deathtoll."

"...That's the *wheeze* difference between you and the evil Proggs, I think, Daranza. You... Never really hated anyone, have you?"

"...You could say that, yes."

Punii turns to the party and whispers.

"Should I *wheeze* think these two guys are evil? I've never caught myself *cough* wondering if someone ws really good or bad... For the time I've been around, it's always been... Clean cut. These guys aren't."

Edited August 14, 2014 by Endgame

[Emjajoas]

Em frowns, squinting. "Nothing's clean cut. Doing the wrong things for the right reasons is no different than doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons. The only thing the former saves is your sense of morality. Your sanity, maybe. You're free to think what you will. I think of them as scum, myself, though I am glad they created your species."

[Zepher]

"Yet you have no problem with domesticating horses or slaughtering cows, then? What I did wasn't neccasarily good or ind hearted. I didn't intend for them to be so... Intelligent. What I did was partially wrong, yes. But to hold me accountable after three thousand years? Outrageous."

"He controls more than the Proggs, I fear. Far, far more... But you are quite right nonetheless."

"No. Not a god. He considers the gods weak... Spineless. Hiding behind smoke and mirrors. When and if he consumes the Lifespark, he doesn't plan to hide in the shadows and let fate dictate things, I imagine. He will take a more... Hands on approach.

And I refuse to believe he simply has no plan up to this point."

"He's insane."

"He outmanuevered you eight centuries ago, didn't he? Rather spectacularly if I recall."

"I wasn't being sarcastic, Boomingham. I was lamenting. I regret what I've done. Perhaps you will never forgive me. But we at least need to stay away from eachother's throats, lest the greater evil here comes out on top."

"The Regret devouring the Lifespark may be an impossibility, Boomingham, but The regret himself is an impossibility. You see, he once got trapped down in the very mine we believe will lead you into the Citadel... Starved and isolated, he used some magic he stole from us to mutilate his soul, either ending the pain or allowing himself to survive. The magic he stole from us should've killed him. But he defied natural law. Through what seemed to be sheer willpower alone, The regret managed to cling onto his body, and live on. The Regret is an impossibility, Boomingham. He is an abomination, a defiance of what the Gods intended life to be. And that is why I think he may find a way to devour the Lifespark."

Did the party have anything else to ask?

"I haven't stabbed you yet, Stealer, so yes, we'll stay away from each other's throats until the Regret's dead."

Boomingham turns to the blue specter. "I hear a lot of people fearing the Regret. You, the little Progg, some of my fellow heroes. And yes, I understand he's an impossibility - though me and the Gods don't see eye to eye on a lot of things, namely if they're around or not - but I believe you when you say he's powerful and he must be stopped. The Lifespark, whatever that is, sounds like something we don't want a bad chap eating. So I swear to you, though I don't know I like you and it's not for you, just a swear to you: he won't come out alive. I don't like him. I think he's bad. I think he will cause others harm, others who have not earned harm, so for their sake, he won't leave that citadel of his."

"For someone who claims to not be threatening my husband you really seem to enjoy alluding to it. And I am not your darling."

"Dearest darling of mine, I am only saying some words. It is actions that count. I think you'll note that I have yet to draw my sword at him, and I assure you I very badly want to." Boomingham chortles. "Credit where credit is due and all that."

"I was going to point that out, ma cherie, but I like to avoid confrontation..."

"At this rate... We've already lost. The Regret was consumed by hate. He became almost all powerful because of it. Will you allow the same to happen to all of you? You will not grow stronger. It will only kill you, add eight more bodies to the death toll."

"I don't hate. But I don't forget either. I see evil, and I stop it. That's not hate. That's just making a choice and acting on it."

[Kintobor]

"Dearest darling of mine, I am only saying some words. It is actions that count. I think you'll note that I have yet to draw my sword at him, and I assure you I very badly want to." Boomingham chortles. "Credit where credit is due and all that."

"I don't hate. But I don't forget either. I see evil, and I stop it. That's not hate. That's just making a choice and acting on it."

"Oh, sorry, right, I almost forgot that some people are sinless. The actions of others may come under judgement, but it seems some of us are exempt from that notion," Karie states drily, the sarcasm dripping from her mouth. She looks towards Lawrence lazily, "That wasn't really directed at anyone in particular, by the way, just so we're clear. Although, I would really like to know what you consider evil to be?"

[The_Customizer]

"I just have one question. What if we prove you wrong? Everyone, including you two are completely convinced that the Regret is unkillable. The Regret himself is truly convinced of the fact as well. However, we have time and time again brought down many of his "powerful" creations with nary a blink of an eye. Perhaps it is fear that he lives off of, it makes him strong, and from what this discussion has contained, I believe that he is unbeatable simply because everyone is afraid of him, they don't have confidence they can do anything to stop him. But I make it my personal goal, and the goal of this team to disprove you and everyone else, and show that he can be killed. All we need to know now, is any way we can access the Citadel without him knowing of our presence, as well as anything that we could find in there that will help us deal with him."

[Endgame]

"Oh, sorry, right, I almost forgot that some people are sinless. The actions of others may come under judgement, but it seems some of us are exempt from that notion," Karie states drily, the sarcasm dripping from her mouth. She looks towards Lawrence lazily, "That wasn't really directed at anyone in particular, by the way, just so we're clear. Although, I would really like to know what you consider evil to be?"

"Karie... This isn't to say I disagree with you, but... Now isn't the time, my love..."

"I don't hate. But I don't forget either. I see evil, and I stop it. That's not hate. That's just making a choice and acting on it."

"Fair point, but you must remain vigilant nonetheless."

"I just have one question. What if we prove you wrong? Everyone, including you two are completely convinced that the Regret is unkillable. The Regret himself is truly convinced of the fact as well. However, we have time and time again brought down many of his "powerful" creations with nary a blink of an eye. Perhaps it is fear that he lives off of, it makes him strong, and from what this discussion has contained, I believe that he is unbeatable simply because everyone is afraid of him, they don't have confidence they can do anything to stop him. But I make it my personal goal, and the goal of this team to disprove you and everyone else, and show that he can be killed. All we need to know now, is any way we can access the Citadel without him knowing of our presence, as well as anything that we could find in there that will help us deal with him."

"Your bravado is impressive, Druid, and your confidence in times like these is welcome. Just be sure to balance it out wirth an equal amount of cautiousness, or you will end up as foolhardy."

"We already informed you... To the West of the main Village square, there is a mining tunnel that Progg slaves used to toil in. Go there, and we have a supsicion that The Regret's land troops may use it as a side entrance."

Is the party ready to proceed to the Mining Tunnel?

Edited August 15, 2014 by Endgame

[Emjajoas]

Em cracks his neck and stretches his cold limbs, ready to move on.

[The_Customizer]

"A mining tunnel? Seems easy enough to me. Let's move onto the mining tunnel!"

[Zepher]

"Oh, sorry, right, I almost forgot that some people are sinless. The actions of others may come under judgement, but it seems some of us are exempt from that notion," Karie states drily, the sarcasm dripping from her mouth. She looks towards Lawrence lazily, "That wasn't really directed at anyone in particular, by the way, just so we're clear. Although, I would really like to know what you consider evil to be?"

"Who's exempt?" Boomingham shrugs. "I'm not sinless. You may judge me as you see fit. If you feel the need to raise a weapon against me, I invite it. I'm sure you will, before all is said and done, and I'm not saying you shouldn't, either!"

"Erdy, I'm of a similar mind. Everyone says that the Regret can't die, but how many people have really killed him so far and not seen it work." Boomingham laughs. "He'll fall the same as you and me, I imagine."

[Endgame]

"Me and *wheeze* Johon thought we killed him, along with 6 others, but apparently he was back his feet stronger than ever within a day..."

QM Note: I'll move this to the Mining Tunnel in about an hour.

[Kintobor]

"Who's exempt?" Boomingham shrugs. "I'm not sinless. You may judge me as you see fit. If you feel the need to raise a weapon against me, I invite it. I'm sure you will, before all is said and done, and I'm not saying you shouldn't, either!"

Karie exhales, clearly irritated. She turns away to respond to the tree. In the heat of things she hadn't been paying attention to what had been going on, what she needed to be focusing on.

"

"I just have one question. What if we prove you wrong? Everyone, including you two are completely convinced that the Regret is unkillable. The Regret himself is truly convinced of the fact as well. However, we have time and time again brought down many of his "powerful" creations with nary a blink of an eye. Perhaps it is fear that he lives off of, it makes him strong, and from what this discussion has contained, I believe that he is unbeatable simply because everyone is afraid of him, they don't have confidence they can do anything to stop him. But I make it my personal goal, and the goal of this team to disprove you and everyone else, and show that he can be killed. All we need to know now, is any way we can access the Citadel without him knowing of our presence, as well as anything that we could find in there that will help us deal with him."

"If the Regret wasn't killable, I wouldn't be here." Karie states bluntly, "However, something still bothers me... what would happen if the Regret did die from the consumption of the Lifespark?"

[Endgame]

"If the Regret wasn't killable, I wouldn't be here." Karie states bluntly, "However, something still bothers me... what would happen if the Regret did die from the consumption of the Lifespark?"

"He'd explode, not a sizable explosion, mind you, his soul would be sucked into the Lifespark, and his consciousness would be condemned to eternal isolation within it."

"I'm still baffled, though... He hasn't tried to directly devour it yet, which must mean he has some sort of plan in motion. And it's bothering me, because I cannot for the life - or rather, death - of me figure out what he could possibly be planning."