THREAD #2 EYES WITHOUT A FACE
Link to Thread #2 Here
Headmaster’s Ritual (Nuna 9-1)
- You and Thimble, still disguised as Ace and Ash, were given an upfront offer to join Calea‘s band VVURM2TH. Her justification for the seemingly random offer was that they needed help to get the band ready to play in an event called “Gore Pit VI”
- After some feigned hesitation you agreed to take her up on the offer, she asked for you to meet her after school.
- You noticed that Calea had some bandages on her stomach and was trying to hide the fact she was in pain. Using your mutation you left a Furbunny in the room so you could observe the teens.
- After you leave them alone at their insistence, you observe through your planted Furbunny that Calea was seen to be in a lot of pain. Mutual Exchange chastised her for abusing her mutation, which has her to build up Ichor. Mutual then begins to finish the in progress ‘Blood Purging’ ritual, however they have Boiling Point using his mutation to create an illusionary bubble to muffle and cover the grizzly scene.
- You decide not to move your Furbunny to watch the scene closer, discussing the scene with Thimble you learn that due to Mutual’s skill, he believes they must be from The Abattoir instead of being from outside Carcasse like the other two.
- He explains that most likely Mutual is an Oy’uz Exile whose had their secrets sealed away.
- These are done by sealing tattoos, but you noted that Mutual seemed to have very few tattoos.
- Lunch ends and during Study Hall you decide to head to the Library to retrieve some books.
- Initially you had a plan to try and get a list of books that Calea and her friends checked out from the Library, however after getting brushed off by the Librarian you decide not to risk detention. Instead you get a few books for information. You get one book on this Equestria called “FOE-496’ so you can make up your backstory for Ace.
- You check out a book on Wayfinders, and at Silvy’s suggestion you also get a massive tome on the Vulgar Tribes. Specifically you read up about the Oy’uz and their history.
- After reading up, Silvy suggests that Mutual’s behavior suggests she was always rebellious even before her exile from the Oy’uz. You start to realize that the VVURM2TH gang probably weren’t completely manipulated into this as you hoped.
- Checking your Furbunny after classes, you notice their Club room is missing their instruments and a large Cello case. Rushing over there you find a note from Calea saying they’ve decided to move the Band practice to a warehouse in Tar Wharf over in The Foundry.
- While getting the location of the place from Hope Breaker (one of Calea’s friends) you suggested to Thimble that you should get your gun in case the meeting goes sour. Thimble begins to act erratic and suggests that you should bring some extra Ambrosia along instead
- His tone worries you, and when you try to push him on it he shuts down and tries to drop the subject. You get suspicious that this could be due to something involving his past, since he seemed to be acting odd every since he found out that Calea knows about it.
- Thimble confirms as much but his cryptic wording doesn’t make it easy to know what it’s planning
- Taking him to the nurses office you test his Ichor levels (30:12) which you assume is rather high. You decide that Thimble should try to take the rest of the day off and get his nerve again while you deal with the mysterious Warehouse meeting alone.
- Stopping by the Evergreen mansion again, you call Interest Rate to learn more about Mutual’s exile. Unfortunately only higher ranking Recollectors are allowed to view the files so you have to ask Lovesick about it.
- Lovesick explains that she personally knows about Mutual Exchange and their past, having some unknown involvement in it. Mutual Exchange was the Heiress apparent to The Qayi clan who were one of the most important clans that make up the Oy’uz. The other clans learned that Mutual Exchange expressed sympathies for Migrationism (an Oy’uz movement that wants them to leave The Abbattoir and spread their influence across the universe as a Migratory people again) and they feared if Mutual was allowed to rule the Qayi they would be implement this policy.
- The other clans all rose up against The Qayi and forced Mutual Exchange into exile. Several other Qayi joined them and hailed the teenager as a Child of Prophecy. Lovesick did not elaborate any more, but she implied that something happened and that they “nipped the problem in the bud”. This lead to the other Migrationist Qayi to abandon Mutual.
- You also asked Lovesick to look into the name Imminent Critique and learned that this was the name of an actual Oy’uz Exile who left around the same time as all this happened. They did not directly support Mutual’s prophecy, and he apparently became an Errant sometime 3 Refreshes ago.
- Armed with this extra info about Mutual, you gave a quick update to Madam Fang and then left with Thimble to Tar Wharf. Thimble claimed they would be waiting nearby at a coffee shop in case you needed help.
- Arriving at the Warehouse, only Mutual and Boiling greet you. The air is instantly tense and after a few pleasantries they get straight into business: Boiling Point uncovers that he’s been hiding Mutual’s true form: they are covered head to hoof in Tattoos and their mutation is a hoof twisted into a giant boney talon dripping with colorful ink.
- They reveal that the VVURM2TH members all have Tattoos on them that invoke an ‘Ishara Oath’ and binds their soul together. To join their band, you must take this Oath.
- You decide to join the VVURM2TH clan and take the oath. Mutual inscribes the Tattoo on you and the mood of the entire situation changes. You can feel the teen’s emotions and they instantly begin to trust you as they can understand what you are feeling.
- Mutual and Boiling plead for you to help them now that they know they can trust you. Calea apparently forced them to try and either recruit or “Enslave” you and Thimble. This seemed to be due to Imminent Critique’s influence over Calea. You also learn that Imminent Critique told the teens he was apart of a group known as The Accelerationists.
- Calea also let Mutual use her powers on her for another purpose: To inscribe a new prophecy on her. She does not have the exact wording but she summarizes it as “To break the gilded cage of the Vulga…achieve a world where the gifts of Ishara are available to all freely. Where wealth and knowledge is no longer hoarded by the Bourgeois or secretive Cults like The Kuvava or The Oy’uz.”
- You learn that Imminent Critique has another oath binding him to fulfill a specific, much more radical, interpretation of this prophecy. He apparently egged Calea on to do this to him and as you talk the teens realize just how much he’s been manipulating them.
- To test the limits of Mutual’s Prophecies, you have her quickly inscribe a Prophecy onto you: You would eat Ice Cream sometime tonight. You want to see if you can avoid the Prophecy intentionally.
- You told Thimble about the Oath and that you took it, and this resulted in him losing his mind and trying to rush towards you. The Teens were given instructions to capture or indoctrinate him, but you also said you will not let this happen no matter what. This created a paradox with the Oath and if the Teens run into Thimble they would die from being unable to fulfill both requests.
- You have the teens run away as you confront Thimble. He’s created a giant Origami Dragon and seemed completely erratic and violent.
- Unfortunately, you are not able to calm Thimble down, even with Silvy trying to help you and explaining that The Accelerationists were responsible for his past trauma
- Thimble ends up destroying Silvy and flying off to chase after Calea. He destroys his own origami dragon and then absorbs it’s power to turn into a new ‘Pre-Hoarder’ form.
- He leaves behind his backpack which has another bar of Ambrosia and several pieces of Silvy scattered about. You take the bar of Ambrosia and try to follow him, but you lose track due to his speed.
- The hallucinations and visions you get from taking Ambrosia, coupled with the stress, causes you to have a mental breakdown while flying. You crash into the Vulga River below after hitting your head on something hard….
Just a Burning Memory (???)
- You had a dream of your past. Of the Old Carcassonne. It was a city torn by strife, the air itself was poisonous Ichor and you had to use a Gas Mask to not breath it in and be corrupted.
- You were a Soldier in Red Glare’s army. Somehow this all seemed natural and mundane. You were guarding the The Heart from raids from the Vulgar Tribes in The Expanse. It was a boring post but you didn’t mind.
- A fellow soldier, but one who was much higher rank than you, approached you and tried to get sentimental. His name is Imminent Threat.
- You brushed off his attempts at small talk and reminded them of your goal: To Die over and over as a continuous sacrifice, and keep Ambrosia from leaking out of Carcassonne into other Equestrias. You were all martyrs for this cause.
- Suddenly, your noticed a hoard of Vulga Tribals descending on your position. Imminent Threat took your suggestion and told you to run back to friendly lines to warn them of the attack. It was clear that there was no way they could repel an attack this big.
- You flew off, however you suddenly felt a Harpoon pierce your side: A Tribal had ambushed you!
- You fought them off, using your mutation to trick them and ultimately kill them. This was the first time you were to take a life up close though, and you hesitated.
- The Tribal told you her name: Memory Leak, before you put a bullet in her skull.
- You limped towards friendly lines, but collapsed into a sink hole in the street and began to lose consciousness.
- Luckily before you passed out you saw some friendly soldiers found you just in time. The Heart was safe for another day.
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (Nuna 9-2)
- You wake up from your dream with an electric shock. You forget what your dream was about and the finer details, but you remember the face of ‘Imminent Threat’ in particular.
- Mutual Exchange and Boiling Point sensed you were in trouble and mounted a rescue operation to fish you out of the Vulga. Thanks to your injuries and the extra Ambrosia you’ve taken, you generated enough Ichor that you ended up reverting back to your normal Cat Bat form. Although you’ve also ended up mutating further and gaining a Sea Urchin like coat of poison spikes.
- They tried to steal a boat to do this, but they ended up being roped into hiring a Hoarder and his Handler: Sabre Rattle and Thighs respectively and used Thigh’s Fishing Trawler for the task.
- Thighs and Sabre explain they saw that Thimble flew away into the Vulga Delta. They identified that Thimble was in a ‘Pre-Hoarder’ state which allowed him to Wayfind like a Hoarder.
- Mutual explains that Calea was helping Imminent deliver a shipment to the Equestrian Liberation Front in an Equestria named KAG-788. It’s a world where Changelings conquered Equestria and ruled over it as a militarized protectorate.
- While discussing your plan, you made the mistake of insulting Hoarders to Sabre’s face. He then invited you to see his true form underneath his outfit.
- You gazed inside.
- You were not worthy.
- After suffering mental damage from having the secrets of the universe revealed to you, and passing this onto Boiling by your empathic link (Mutual seemed to find it just annoying), you came up with a plan to divert Thimble away from Calea: As a (Pre-)Hoarder he’s able to detect Ambrosia, but being able to identify what Ambrosia belongs to who requires training. Sabre is filled with so much Ambrosia that he will be detected as a shipment of Ambrosia to the Moth’s untrained senses.
- The plan is to split up: the Teens would head to Calea to warn her while you and the Hoarder Duo lead Thimble away.
- While you set out to the Vulga Delta, Boiling repaired Silvy and you agreed to let Mutual perform a Blood Purging ritual on you to get rid of your ichor. This got rid of the poison needles on your back and reverted you to your normal form
- With Thigh’s and Sabre’s navigation, you ended up in this KAG-788 world and arrived with the boat in the middle of the Manehattan bay.
- You decide to implement your plan: You have Boiling use his illusionary powers to make you look like Calea and the 2 Teens head off to warn Calea and try and convince her on their own.
- Meanwhile you lead Thimble away from the teens successfully as a Decoy. Unfortunately, the local Changeling authorities caught wind of you and tried to order you to stop your ship.
- Not wanting to risk Thimble landing on your ship and causing a issue, you ran from the Police. They threatened to shoot your ship out of the water but Thighs began to pretend she was being held hostage, and that your ship had a cargo of explosives.
- This attracted even more attention of the local Changeling Authorities but it allowed you to lead Thimble far enough away from the Teenagers. However, Changeling Commandos tried to breach the ship to ‘rescue the hostage’.
- You decide to lead Thimble away from this Universe into another one. You ask Sabre Rattle to take you to a ‘quiet universe’. With some stressful maneuvering you’re able to get Thimble to land on your ship, and then Sabre used their Wayfinding abilities to transport you to a new universe.
- Sabre Rattle took the 4 of you into an alternate Nocturnum: A version of Thimble’s old home. This calms him down slightly and prevents him from rampaging but you still need to capture and drain the Ichor out of him.
- Still disguised as Calea, you stall for time as Thighs quietly sneaks up on him. She manages to get a sneak attack and hits him with a ‘Recollector’ (a giant needle spear designed to extract Ambrosia). Unfortunately she only manages to get only a small amount of Ambrosia drained from him.
- Luckily this was enough to make it so he could no longer Wayfind, Thimble ran off into the City and you gave chase.
- You were unable to corner Thimble to extract the rest of his Ichor, however you decide to lead him towards this Universe’s Thimble and Death Wish, hoping that this would give him enough pause so you can strike.
- After determining where they most likely would be, you headed towards a park and luckily found the alternate pair. This caused Thimble to pause and look on sorrowfully.
- You dropped your Calea disguise and used this to try and reach out to him. Thimble opened up about his past, and his secret rage and bitterness at his predicament, and how this lead to him wanting to make Calea and anyone else associated with The Accelerationists pay.
- You luckily are able to convince him that Calea deserves saving instead of punishment, and Thighs is able to successfully extract enough Ichor out of him to prevent him from become a Hoarder permanently. He passes out from the shock of this however.
- The Other Thimble and Death Wish hear this and come over. You engage in some small talk, and desperately try to prevent Thighs from sexually harassing them. The Other Death Wish was holding an ice cream cone, and somehow in defiance of all logic and reason he trips and loses his grip on his Ice Cream. You try to avoid it but it locks onto you, and then a firefly grows teeth and bites you, forcing it into your mouth. You accidentally fulfill the prophecy in time before midnight…
The Ironclads (Nuna 10-1)
- After being forced to fulfill the prophecy, you get some more ice cream and say good bye to this world’s inhabitants
- Heading back to the ship you realize if you try to head back to KAG-788 with Thigh‘s Fishing Trawler you’ll probably get the Changeling authorities to chase you immediately.
- You decide that you’ll head back to Carcasse to get a new ship and also to refresh your Body Morph disguises.
- Heading back to Carcasse, you intended to send Thimble home but he insists that he wants to see this case out now. You let him come with you.
- You headed back to The Palatine first and tried to get your Ace Thruster and Ashen Skies disguises redone, but the Mane Monster was not having it. He demanded 150 Scrips each and also that Thimble needed to do a photo shoot in a Maid Outfit
- Thimble refused this: He hates Maid outfits. You’re luckily able to broker a deal with him to lower the price to 100 scrips and you’ll offer yourself to turn into a ‘cute stallion’ for him later for a photoshoot.
- With your disguises refreshed, you head to The Ironclad’s Mansion (Mutual‘s adoptive noble family) back at Tar Wharf.
- You keep your explanation vague, but you let them know that Mutual is in another Equestria and needs someone to rescue her and her friends. Due to your disguise, The Ironclads want Sabre Rattle to send you two home as you’re both teenager. Sabre forges his contract with Mutual to justify taking you along.
- The Ironclads agree to help though and you get a fresh new boat. Heading down to the Pier though you meet a stallion named Bluejacket. He insists on coming with you as he’s Mutual’s Stepbrother. He recognizes your VVURM2TH tattoo and knows that means Mutual trusts you.
- You let him come along, and with your new boat you set back out onto the Vulga…hoping that things with Imminent Critique have not escalated while you were away.