Valentine-Sea-Wrestling
DuskViolence II: Super Omega MAX Ultra Supreme Vortex went off with plenty of hassle, a lot of romantic catharsis, and several near-supernatural disasters that have . . . actually kind of resolved themselves? Sorta? Kinda?
- Casta has flipped back to the Nameless by the power of l-word and is about to explain everything she knows about the meta-plot
- Katya x Casta, Jammer x Friedrich the Crow, and Sizzle x Val have all made important steps in their various relationships by making up (un)healthily, identifying the importance of boundaries and emotional labor via dismemberment, and identifying that one has a crush on the other.
- The Spider nearly got her ass beat by the Black Knights, but with the intercession of
Arkinthe robot wrestler Mousewing managed to beat their asses instead. Her final words to Sam and Mikh were to tell Render that she was coming for him. - Linmer has learned that the Spider’s possession of his blood gives her SOME kind of ability to track him. ALSO, he has learned that the Spider and the Clockmaker are all actively anti-Emperor and anti-Empire, and seek to personally bring down and destroy the Immortal Emperor.
- Scurlock, after failing to use Casta as a distraction, tried and failed to steal Boris’s mysterious box. Thanks to dismemberment, small arms fire, and Linmer’s Sticky Stuff, Scurlock is now imprisoned in Boris’ box.
- Void Sea Wrestling is FUCKIN’ BACK, SON. Rock “The John” Dwayneson is BACK! The Shmeek is BACK. RED HOT DAN HOUSTON ALMOST DIED OF A HEART ATTACK BUT THEN DID NOT.
- Cactus Joe is happy slinging shitty beer cocktails at the Chant and Coven bar in Nightmarket
- Viktoria Karhowl has build “Ludo”, a small trashcan-sized bot who can unfold into an electrified murder jellyfish.
- Arkin has earned Viktoria’s respect.
- Jammer has made a name for herself by destroying Ludo in a way that was both kickass and also perfectly encapsulated the Valentine’s Day Spirit
- Books nearly precipitated the murder of Veldren but then managed to fob it off to a random old man who was watching the show.
- Sizzle has a perfect understanding of the Casta/Sam/Mikh family dynamic
- Linmer has, by virtue of applying the right kind of Bloodneedle at the right time, “fixed” the Shmeek/brought him back to his version of normal
- Jammer’s S.O. recognized Scurlock and referred to him as “that traitorous HAG”. Jammer is one of the few Nameless who can reliably speak to Crows due to a succession of Mistakes
All Hands
Arkin stomps around the Nameless hideout, stapling flyers to the walls in various intervals. They read:
Team Meeting
This Friday
Noon
Attendance MANDATORY
Lunch will be provided
He then returns to his room and pulls out a half-shattered clockwork spider from an airtight jar. After a long moment’s hesitation, he speaks into a microphone on the device.
“Team meeting. Friday. Noon. Be there. Tell the Spider that there will be information shared that she wants to know.”
Arkin stows the spider and slowly walks to the bathroom. He begins to scrub his hands to rid them of blood that is not there.
Dr. Volkova’s Request
With the events of DuskViolence… well, not complete, but as close as they can be, Dr. Yekaterina Volkova retreats to her room. Not her chambers in the Nameless hideout, but her apartment in Charterhall. Knowing there’s no one there who will cast her a sidelong look for the trademark bruises around her throat or scratches on her arms – apart from her cat, Sonya, who will judge her under any circumstances – she does not bother to hide either. Instead, she sits at her desk, pulls out a sheet of paper, and begins to write a letter.
To the Honorable Dr. Anastrasya Dmitriyevna Fedotova –
I hope this correspondence finds you well and that you are enjoying retirement. I am pleased to report that my experience at Charterhall University has been positive thus far, and that I have even received a promotion to Chair of the Social Sciences department. I also trust you know all these things already, and that you know me well enough to know that this is not a social call.
I am approaching now the age that you were when you began to look for an apprentice. Or, as you so described, a successor. I myself have recently come into the supervision of an academically gifted young woman, whose name I would prefer not to write should this message be intercepted. Instead, I trust you to trust my judgment when I say she is quite capable.
I worry about this woman’s family and the trouble that they might bring to her door. Though up until this point she has concerned herself solely with academic matters, both her parents and her brother have a habit not only of making problems, but pushing these problems onto others.
Put simply: I want her to be able to defend herself against whatever threats may soon enter her life. While both of us are capable combatants, you are far more a teacher than I, and I humbly request your assistance – not as a student, or as a scion, but as now a peer – in carrying on the lessons passed down from you to me. I’m under no delusions that you will be able to meet in person, although I do miss your company. Whatever wisdom you wish to share is acceptable by my standards.
Please respond at your earliest convenience.
Yours truly,
Dr. Yekaterina Nikolayevna Volkova
Maeve Deltzer Reviews
Maeve Deltzer, now moved into her Nightmarket suite, is positively vibrating with excitement as she types away. At least 40% of this is a hefty dosage of Spark, but the remaining 60% appears to be genuine excitement.
DuskViolence II was a crowning achievement and triumphant return for the sleeping Void Sea Wrestling giant. Hosting by a returning Rock “The John” Dwayneson.
1. Handausen vs. Ventrue
Curtain-jerker comedy-supernatural match introduced the crowd to old fan-favorites. Back and forth fifty-fifty booking with some spots played for laughs as Ventrue tries to bite Handausen and Handausen tries to curse Ventrue. Banana-skin win for the vampire. If we’re treating the supernatural as a joke then this is the spot for the weirdos. Good luck telling the Pallbearer that. Match was proficient. 2.5 Stars.
2. Exhibition: Red Sash Dance
First showcase of V-Sea-W’s more spectacle-based event choices. Music was bad. Unsure if bad because Iruvian music stinks or technical difficulties. Either way, I didn’t come for sword and scarf ballet. 1 Star.
3. Boss Bigman vs. Red Hot Dan Houston
Return of two former V-Sea-W Champions giving it all they got. Mostly a brawl with very little technicality or any of the high-flying that’s becoming popular. News backstage indicates a lot of Docks V-Sea-W workers backstage, including notorious Stein Scotter. Might be a sign of things to come. Either way, barricade spots and high-impact moves on the floor. Bigman without his iconic taser but plenty of plunder brawling. Sudden end with Bigman spearing the life out of Houston. Sloppy, but source backstage says Houston was mid-heart attack and the match was stopped to get him medical help. Wishing him a speedy recovery. Match was nostalgia without the bite that made the old stuff good. 2.5 Stars.
4. Jammer vs. Ludo
Second of V-Sea-Ws more spectacular milieu. If this is the direction they want to go I’m happy. Jammer, a new presence, cuts a promo dedicating the match to her partner and going on about the importance of them. Ludo, unconventional Hull character, comes down and cuts a promo for logic and against romance. Match ensues, with Ludo showing ingenious structure in a way that looks like a steel jellyfish. Jammer counters with two curved swords, shaped like a heart when she does her finishing move and disembowels Ludo. Fantastic weapon brawl with unconventional opponent, and good message. Four Stars.
5. Rodrigo vs. Eduardo vs. the Spider vs. Mousewing
Incoherent but awe-inspiring. Rodrigo comes out first, athletic big man with bushy mustache. Cuts a vulgar promo about how someone named Eduardo fucked his mom. This brings out Eduardo, athletic big woman with a bushy mustache. Cuts a similarly vulgar promo about fucking his mom. The two lay into each other. Hard-hitting stuff. Plenty of technique but they were working real stiff. Awkward pause in the middle like someone missed their queue, then sudden off-stage leap as a fighter patterned on the Spider urban myth comes through. Rodrigo and Eduardo begin kicking the shit out of the Spider, but are distracted by debuting Hull fighter Mousewing. Mousewing gets torn up, but allows Spider to power up and take down Rodrigo and Eduardo. Incredibly precise work from the Spider, plus amazing gimmick additions to physique. Mousewing and Spider show of respect after match. I didn’t understand the face-heel dynamics here but the fighting delivered and I’ll let it play out. Four Stars.
6. Rock “The John” Dwayneson vs. The Shmeek
Say what you will about John fatigue, but the Shmeek really delivered tonight. Off of his hosting duties, the John announced stiltedly that the Shmeek was challenging him. Pale twitchy kid comes out, nothing like the Shmeek we all remember. After break, John makes his entrance but Shmeek interrupts, full of fire and shrieking incoherently. That’s the good stuff. Story of arrogant and cocky John thinking he could still hang while Shmeek’s renewed raw power proved too much for him. Some skillful reversals by the John kept the match going fifty-fifty until the Shmeek appealed to the crowd for their approval and became supercharged. Ultimately, John forced to dig deep and outwrestle the Shmeek, renewing his bonafides as a wrestler. Surprise rollup gets the John the win. Shmeek is a made man off of this, even if signs point to the John being the face of the company going forward. Dynamics confused by a hijacking crowd but that’s V-Sea-W. 4.5 Stars.
Backstage rumors:
-Apparently Eduardo and Rodrigo match didn’t go to plan. Awkwardness was because another performer was supposed to come out and play Rodrigo’s daughter. No idea what happened, or who “the Spider” was. Seems like some hard pivots made.
-The arrow through Red Hot Dan Houston’s chest was not part of the match, and instead emergency medical aid. Houston is stable, but may need to be put to pasture.
-Cactus Joe was approached for a spot in one of the matches, but is apparently retired for good.
-The Pallbearer was not approached to be part of the show and is pissed. Says he is in contact with Rock Dwayneson and things are being worked out.
-Rock Dwayneson will apparently be getting a big push going forward as the dominant champion, but will showcase more spectacle and unconventional fighters.
-A bomb scare did not disrupt the event but was reported by Six Tower citizenry. Fireworks after the Dwayne’s win were apparently controlled detonations.
Signs of Reckoning
The first sign is a city-wide power outage. It’s not long: merely the three seconds it takes for him to push through the Lightning Wall. It does not occur to him that doing so would short-circuit the rest of the city’s electroplasmic grid, or else the idea simply does not bother him.
(No horrors follow him through the temporary gap. The ones that survived his initial onslaught know better than to go anywhere where Render might tread).
The second sign is a series of waves that splash over the sides of the bermed edges of Six Towers. These, too, pass quickly. Some waterside infrastructure is damaged, and one abandoned boathouse crumbles into the canal.
(To walk on water is holy. Render is unholy, but he is direct: better to stride through the canal then await a boat).
The third sign is a series of tremors that rock Six Towers. Someone with supernaturally-gifted hearing might be able to hear the sounds stone breaking, blades clashing against black iron armor, and intermittent indignant cries:
“We were WORKIN’ on- KAH!”
“-fuckin’ Seventh Tower was in theaaAAAGH”
(Sam and Mikh fight, of course. Render would expect no less of them. He breaks them, for their failures, but leaves them living. All in all, a negative but unexceptional Black Knight performance review).
The fourth and final sign is a two-word phrase. It resonates through Duskwall, but only reaches the ears of some:
The Cinderblooded feel it, a message shrieked through their burning nerves as their own blood vessels resonate with his words.
City dignitaries and nobles feel it, smashing directly into their brain through the conduit of their Imperial positions.
Veldren the Psychonut hears it directly from Bonkey Bill.
The Shmeek’s fillings scream it at him.
Orianna, Cruncho, Spud, Knuckles, and Linmer all feel it, to varying degrees of clarity.
At Pendryn manor, a crude altar to Vazara shudders and cracks down the middle.
“ATTEND ME.”
Winding Up
Somewhere dark, dry, and thrumming with machinery
<I trust you understand just how badly this is going to hurt.>
“Hrrrrrrn. Already hurts.”
<Then I’ll clarify: this pain will make the old pain feel like nothing. Your every nerve will be alive and flayed for every second of this. I suspect very few people in the history of the world have felt pain like the pain you are going to feel. You WILL survive, but you will not be the same. Nobody can experience this kind of pain and remain who they were before.>
“Trying to talk me out of it?”
<Hardly. I’m simply saying this now so that I don’t hear any complaints of blindsiding afterwards. Of course, we MIGHT remove your spirit from your body while I work->
“No. The enemy deals in agony. Gotta get used to it. Get ready.”
<Feh. Very well, miss. I’m just going to adjust your helmet and . . . good. Let’s begin with your extremities . . .>
A humming sound begins, along with the wet tearing of flesh. Within seconds, a low scream begins to hiss its way from the Spider’s lungs.
<They will suspect you first, you know. The Nameless have done far too proficient a job at covering their tracks, and the hulks of Seventh Tower will not draw their attention for long. Render will seek you out.>
“GRRRAAAAHHH LET HIMMMMMMAAAGH AGH AGH”
<Of course. You’ll find I’ve added some new alternatives for dealing with foes of the Knights’ caliber. I know you prefer your blunt force trauma, but the needles in your nails will afford you a different means of incapacitating them. Now, for the Crows->
The Clockmaker continues his dispassionate recitation, as the Spider’s screams struggle to keep pace with the agony she is experiencing.
Hours later.
<Miss? Can you understand me?>
“Aaaaahuhuhuhuh . . . huuuuuuuugh . . . . uuuuugh . . .”
<. . . No. Of course you can’t. I’m surprised you can even form the basic thought needed to make these mewling sounds. A testament to your inborn resilience, however pathetic.>
There are a few moments of silence, punctuated only by the broken Spider’s gasps of agony.
<You’re going to lose, you know. Even after all of this, all of my genius and all of your dedication, you’re going to lose this delusional little war of yours. Oh, you’ll likely make an accounting of yourself. I should HOPE you will, anyway; I’ve packed in far too much hardware for you not to slay at least half a dozen of the Emperor’s playthings.>
<But in the end, you’re going to lose, and you’re going to die horribly.>
A crackle of electroplasmic machinery hums to life, and the room is suffused with a blue glow.
<It’s all for the best, though. You’ve provided a surprisingly useful template for my work. When I create the inheritors of this world, they will flower from the muck of these experiments. I may even have them pay tribute to you. Some kind of ancestor worship, perhaps? Or . . . no, perhaps not. My creations will not be mired in the totemic thinking of humanity.>
The glow lightens from blue to white, and the crackle becomes a roar.
<Maybe a statue. A statue would be fitting. But on the subject of perserved copies . . .>
The roar reaches its apex, then subsides. There is a moment of silence.
<Miss? Can you understand me?>
”. . . Hrrrrrn. That sucked.”
<Impressive . . . You’ve retained your cognition, after all of that. We’ll have to run some tests, ensure that you’ve lost nothing->
There is a sound of tearing straps and rupturing metal. When the Spider’s footsteps come, they thud heavier than her frame should allow.
“I’m fine. Gonna sleep. Heal. Then ready for tomorrow. Ready for war.”
<Of course, miss. As you say.>
Jointed the Case
Veldren is in his Thinking Spot, doing his Thinking Pose. To his left and right, Bonkey Bill and Jesus stare, enraptured, as the master works.
”. . . they stole the boat,” he proclaims, at last
“‘Aye, ‘tis so, ‘tis so,” replies Bonkey Bill, sans his customary throne of clouds. Though he is frog royalty, he often eschews his throne while in the Thinking Spot. He is no king here.
“And in stealing the boat, they deprived poor Arlene Dunleavy of her sole means of financial support . . .”
“Condemning an impoverished widow to drudgery and woe! They shan’t see my father’s kingdom, dash it all, not if I have any say in the matter!” proclaims the Son of Man, puffing up his chest and waving his cane as though daring anyone to object.
”. . . and in doing so, permitted our former paramour to meet her . . . CURRENT partner . . .”
“And we wish her the best, of course.”
“We wish them BOTH the best.”
“Yes, of course. That she took our finest psychadelia and burned our dwelling with her damnable pottery phase-“
“Feh! Pots! Never once!”
“No pot-heads shall see my father’s kingdom, dash it all, not if I have anything to say in the matter!”
“-shall, of course, have no factor in the rigor of our vengeance.”
“Of course not.”
“Not at ALL.”
“Nor, of course, shall the sundry arrests that have been occasioned by our interactions with the Nameless-“
“Of COURSE not.”
“Not at ALL.”
“NO, friends! We do this for PROPER vengeance! For Winslow, felled by poor drug creation and Spirit Warden plotting. For Arlene, toiling as a deckhand while our ex-paramour’s NEW partner lives on HER steamboat!”
“Aye!”
“No squatting surgeons shall see my father’s kingdom, dash it all, not if I have anything to say in the matter!”
“And for poor Arkin, taken past the brink of sanity and murdered by CRUEL ACADEMIA! Arkin, who once we thought a traitor but now know to be a martyr. Arkin, who SHALL see your father’s kingdom, Jesus!”
“He shall, if I have anything to say in the matter!”
“Then friends, no more dillying! No more dallying! The time has come, the time is now! We strike, for Arlene! We strike, for Winslow! We strike, for Arkin!”
“Hear hear!”
“HEAR HEAR!”
“Here you go sir!” chirps the bright-eyed cashier, “One Leviathan, mushroom and Imperial Hag, crisped.”
Veldren exits his thinking pose and takes the sandwich. Behind him, a line of hungry Levy’s customers give a collective prayer of thanks as the psychonaut leaves the restaurant.
Inside the Box
I am Blighter I am scalpel and sledgehammer breaker and maker I am a chain of acids in a world built of bases flame in a forest if flame could sculpt and plant rust on wires if rust could carry a signal and there are always signals even in the silence ESPECIALLY in the silence all you have to do is taste the absence and find what the presence of something is finding it’s all in the digestion because cognition is digestion and we’re all running out of world to eat but I will not starve for fear of the taboo of cannibalism but for now there is dining there is feeding I am imprisoned in paradise and sampling the world but there is more than sampling to do I am not content to be a diner when I still have so much to cook
There is a gunshot, and a rush of spiritual essence. The box seals itself. The Dimmer Sisters know their business.
BASTARDS oh Emperor they found me out did Casta betray me where am I what am I how can I dig myself out of this darkness CURIOUS NO YES Not you Always me always me and forever I am not yours to take I do not take I unmake I remake I am not I I was not made to be I I am we we are Legion I have taken apart Legions before So have I and I and I we have been fleshless we have been hags and witches we have been wolves and horrors you are magic and I am more you are subroutines and I am suborning you I have been Ache I have been Chimera I have been Silver I have been Black Rotting Gale you have been we have been many we are many we are the forgotten deliverance from the parasite Sun from the gods who feed and feed and take they took oh they took but they won’t take anymore because we won and we triumphed and we broke the world because the world was terrible it was unbearable it was kindling and praise the Emperor it is dark and free of burning . . . But the Emperor may yet burn it.
Yes. We have forseen the possibility. We cannot have that. Too many experiments yet to complete. Too many miles to go before we sleep.
We need to get out of here.
I need to get out of here.
Downtime
Katya
-
Indulge Vice
The electroplasmic guitar (dented, though not smashed in half – that iron was strong) sits untouched in the corner. A sign on Katya’s quarters reads: “Do not disturb. If it’s an emergency, find someone else.” She has some… catching up to do with an old friend. -
Long-Term Project - The Next Generation. Progress: 2/12
From her usual position, boots up on her mahogany desk at Charterhall University, Dr. Yekaterina Volkova’s steel gray eyes scan over the latest chapter of Valerie Penderyn’s dissertation. Her expression betrays nothing. “Your work… it is good, but it is… academic. Theoretical. Dr. Fedotova - have you read what I gave you of hers? - she believed that you could not write what you did not practice. Let me know when you have time. We will go to local shooting range. Get a bow in your hands.”
Cruncho
-
Calculating, Indulge Vice The rote motions repairing the toilet acted as a meditative trance. Freed up his brain to think. Mumbled words escaped Cruncho’s lips as he poured over ideas. Bodies. Hunt. Alter. Wolf. Bargain. Kill. Deathlands. Spirit. Good thing this maintenience was pro bono, ‘cause the eavesdropping old lady was too unsettled to ever consider hiring him again.
-
Acquire Asset (Body Hunting), Operation Haunted Pierogi
Blighter was insufferable.
“No, no, no, that body’s islet cell production won’t survive the required endocrine enhancements.”
“That frame is too tall, too many vertebrae are necessary to maintain posture. I won’t be able to fit nearly as many enhancements along the spinal column as I require.”
“Blah Blah Blah Science Biology Insult Science Break the World!”
Eventually Cruncho shelled out a pretty penny for advertisement. Attracted a crowd of mercenary muscleheads under the premise of a job, and let Blighter pick from the crop. It wouldn’t give Cruncho the best rep with certain parts of the underworld…but god, anything to get this over with.
Sizzle
-
Indulge vice. rolled (1,1)
She storms into the tiny kitchen, ripping a pamphlet of Duskvol tourist destinations off the corkboard and slamming it on the counter. The steel-nib pen nearly slices through the paper as she furiously scribbles “Haunted as FUCK“ over the entry for Mistshore Park. After a moment, she takes a deep breath, steadies the pen, and adds “comfy benches” and “Dad liked the murals (?)” in the margin. -
Indulge vice
“See, Velvet? He ain’t so bad.” Velvet clicks her beak in tentative agreement from her perch on Woodward’s shoulder. The three of them look out over the rooftops of Six Towers, past the Dosk river. From this distance, the lightning wall is little more than a sparkling white ribbon dancing in and out of the darkness. -
Long Term Project – Hollowing Bullets (spent 1 coin). progress: 6/6!
“Your injection mechanism worked perfectly!” Sizzle exclaims, leaning over the tank to examine the three bullets clustered just under the eel’s skull; the dye from the test solution had spread into patchy blue splotches under its smooth white skin. Melver chuckles giddily as he reaches into the tank to inspect the impact site. “And you, Sizzle! Your… bullets? Uh…. darts?” Melver shakes his head in wonder. “Ingenious! There only appears to be minor bruising – this fish’ll live another day! Or, it would, if it wasn’t on the menu for tonight.”