Revelations of the Madman

[Percival]

Act One

The Throne

<----~--~---->

The darkness curled and swayed around the puppeteer's ankles and wrists as the king of the board wandered around in his prison, observing the emptiness that he had lived in for many years. The blank plateau stretched on in every direction, a flat terrain drenched in an eternal twilight that threatened to drown the only living being in darkness had there not been the few lights shining in equal intensity, keeping the overcast at bay. There is not a single sign that someone had ever survived, much less passed through this place, apart from the few patches of grass and the film-covered bones in the dark. The lack of any sign of civilization gives the place an eerie sense of dread, magnified by the fact that the darkness seemed alive, curling and swaying unnaturally, analyzing every step and mistep you took, every breath of fear you exhaled, every pang of hunger kept hidden by the false prospect of progress.

In the center of the plateau, or at least the center of what could be seen, a flurry of wisps of light would appear if one got close and kept the darkness in a perfect ring, lighting the middle in a brilliant shade of red and yellow. Illuminated in the light were several innocuous pillars of stone and marble, but what would caught one's attention is the throne that sat in the center, seemingly entwined with the surrounding gloom. The throne was odd in that it didn't appear to be made from any kind of recognizeable material and it was slightly translucent, and yet it was solid enough and sturdy enough to bear the weight of someone resting on the seat of it. As of now, it was currently empty, but tendrils of shadows can be seen snaking outwards from the armrests, curled around the only individual in this empty area.

The individual would stare into the distance, despite not being able to see beyond the gloom, a wistful look in his eyes. He began taking a step forwards towards it. His soles met the ground, and wisps of shadow struck him in the shins and arms, and the threads of black wrapped around his wrists tightened and pulled back, forcing a constrainted wince from the man as the shadows slowly pulled him back to his alotted space. He sighed, and returned to the center of the plateau, wondering what he was trying to accomplish.

He was a modest, yet determined person, a recently new puppeteer in a long lines of prisoners. He arrived here with his skills of ingenuity and a large sense of self preservation that never desisted, along with a tiny seed of adventure. He has died many times, but he had always been prepared for the possibility of dying and had many lifelines set up for him, and with each death he grew wiser and knowledgeable. With these traits, its not surprising that he found the door that others have seen countless times. His curiosity helped him have the courage to open the door, his determination gave him the persistence and belief to continue, his self preservation kept him wary of obvious traps, and his knowledge gave him an advantage. Surviving the onslaught of the challenges thrown at him, he thrived in the most unexpected situations and lived on.

Several days would pass, or so it seemed; time was odd in this world. He had died so many times he can't count with every appendage he can find on his body, but, with enough persistence and anger, he passed the final hurdle, and ended up in the plateau. Inevitably, he would wander in the darkness, seeing lights in the distance, and slowly prodded and forced towards the aforementioned throne. His curiosity would beat his self-preservation, and he would rest upon the seat. As we all know, that would be a mistake, and he all know he will struggle against the bonds, wanting nothing to do with the deaths of individuals.

. . .

That was several years ago.

Now he sits on the throne, his fragile sanity broken from the revelation of what is to become of him, and the false belief of power. As many other puppeteers, he has toyed and manipulated with the world, watching the fates and deaths of the many people sucked into this unforgiving world. He was revolted and disgusted with himself at first, when he realized what his purpose was, but, with enough time, what you hate can become what you cherish; the influences and ideas of what he hated began seeping into his very being, plagueing and corrupting his sense of morality.

Unlike the others, he has thought of many odd ways to kill the innocent that wasn't limited to creatures, traps, and curiosity; some he has forced into characters in stories of his own making and had them mutilated, destroyed and killed. Others he had killed with runes and spells that he devised; he killed one of the trapped people with a rune that forced every sharp object in the room to charge into his neck; took him eight days to clean the blood. One of them he even killed by putting her in a play and had her killed by the clock hands of a grandfather clock piercing through her chest. Of course, he would always return to the original template, the original idea. He had a few problems with it, though, which was that he had always found it uninteresting. The problem was that it was far too linear, with characters that were too independant for the linearcy. That's when he had an idea.

<----~--~---->

Silas awoke in the middle of the night, resting on a comforter made from beefalo fur, the light of his slowly dying campfire still bright enough for protection. He looked around confused; perhaps the smell of the beefalo fur, which was horrid to put it lightly, woke him? After a few moments, though, a look of comprehension moved over his face, and, after sitting up for the longest time, he reclined slowly and lied on the comforter once more, slowly nodding off in the middle of the night.


(Sorry if this seems short and forced, but I was in a hurry. I only have the computer for so long.

Also, now you don't have to wait on me! Your turn, Mena!) Edited September 7, 2014 by Pecival

[MenaAthena]

Another night in the wilderness. Another night of the darkness pounding on an ever shrinking ring of light. Another night since Shana was ripped away from everything she had ever cared about. All was quiet except for the occasional crackle of an ever dying fire and the rhythmic breathing of a young girl, but it wasn't the peaceful kind of quiet. The silence was suffocating, unnatural, as if the very darkness was waiting. Waiting for what? Shana didn't know. For a few fleeting hours she was in a peaceful, dreamless sleep, away from the worries of surviving in an unforgiving wilderness. Sometimes, she wished she could sleep forever. It's not like it would change much.

[Percival]

(I suppose this would be the part where Adam and Blew miss out on this post and ran out of time. However, as I wish for everyone to have an introduction into the roleplay, Ill simply post to get the attention of the two.)

[Blewcheese]

(Is the order not Adam first, then me? I was just waiting for him to post.)

[AdamTheGamer]

woa, ok, sorry for not beeing here, school, sleep and life keeps getting in my way

 

clears throat

 

Adam was just about to finish his jerky when he realised that he was full for now and put the remains of the dried meat in his pocket. For once, he smiled. He'd been surviving for almost 3 quarters of a year now, and his base looked wonderful. Nice, marble floor in his lab, wooden floors in his main room and a lovely bit of carpetry in the hallway. Huge, stone walls protecting him a bit and hound traps at his door in case of a break-in.  What was he going to do next? A roof maybe? Or a proper door? Or a way out of this god-forsaken wilderness? Nah. He decided, since it was getting late, that he would go to sleep. the puffy rolls he made were very cozy, and he lookedforwards to sleep his way to a full year of the same lifetime (It's what he called everythime he had to start over). But something was keeping him awake. He wasn't tired at all, despite having chopped down an entire forest, dealing with th treemen, and replanted the things.

 

"Well" Adam said to himself. "If i can't sleep, i'll have to walk."

 

His promenade usually lasted an entire torch, but this time, something went wrong. He realised that his last night-walk was shorter and that this torch was nearly done. after feeling the pain of leaving another good base forever, he was now falling. and falling. and falling. aaaaaand....

 

Ploof. H had landed in the darkness. Odd. He normally woke up again at day. fortunately he saw a fire nearby. he ran as quickly as he could. who's was the campfire he saw before his eyes? He was about to find out...

 

exhale phew, that was a long intro...

[MenaAthena]

(pst, @Blewcheese it's your turn.)

[Blewcheese]

(Pst. Roger. Over.)

 

Dorian had been shuffling through his two chests of supplies. They weren't much, but enough to make him proud. He had been in the strange world only a week, and he still hadn't the slightest of what it was. Had the police caught him, and placed him here? Was this some sort of prison? He didn't know that, but he did know that he had done the right thing. A feeling of justice coursed through him once more as he saw the child's soul leaving his body, and his sadness, behind. He was brought back to the present when his fingers came to what they were searching for, a few bits of rabbit morsel. He had killed it easily by convincing it to come to him, then slitting its throat. He was very proud of that, too. he impaled the bit of meat on a stick, and began roasting it.

 

The Soul-seer looked into the darkness, a wall of inky black that slowly creeped closer to his fire. A shiver ran down his spine. There was something there, he knew it. At first he had thought it to be a deer, or rabbit, or something along those lines. But one night, when he nearly forgot to light a fire before darkness came, he had a much closer encounter with whatever it was. It sent a deep terror through him, something he was not used to feeling. He sighed, looking back to his meal. He was smart enough to ration the food for himself, but tonight he had once again awoken with a rumbling belly. He had given in and decided to cook some of his meat. This was something he wasn't proud of, but his rest would be important if he were to find more food the following day.

 

And eventually, a way out.

[MenaAthena]

(@ please hurry up. I don't want to have to post without you.)

[Percival]

(Oops, was I a bit late?

Also, I forgot to add that you can pass your turn if you wish.)

Silas once more awoke unceremoniously, although this time due to part of him hungering for sustenance. Sitting up, with the fire of the pit reduced to the flicker of a bright candle, he looked off into the darkness, pondering private thoughts to himself. For about two minutes he stayed like this, staring into the gloom, until he gave a sudden start that seemed to reverberate in the darkness; the fire at this point was a small wick of orange, and, as his head was kept in darkness, he heard the hiss that reminded him of nails pulling against the strings of his being. Scattering and flailing in the darkness, he pulled whatever he could from the darkness and forced it into the fire.

The fire roared to life again, banishing the darkness that surrounded Silas. He pulled his hand back in recoil, his hands still clenched around the fuel he stuck in the flames. The single board, already ash black at this point, bounced before settling, but the fire thrived on the boards remaining in the ashes.

Now relieved, he sat again, but this time he stayed on the board floor; he didn't think he would be getting any sleep tonight. Instead, he leaned back to stare into the fire...and hit his head against the chest behind him, hard. Cursing, and covering his new bruise, he jolted straight up.

Still rubbing his injury, he stared into the fire once more. The tongues of crimson and orange were licking the plumes of ash-ridden wood, shining their light into the darkness. He stared into the flames for a long time, wondering when day would come.

And then he started counting.

"It's nearly time. 20. 19. 18..."

(For those of you that never read his ability, he can remember what has happened in this specific world as he always seems to recall things that never happened in this branching path. He also seems to be a character that seems to be reused over and over, like an excellent actor used in numerous films.)

[MenaAthena]

(No, but you were getting really close.

Also, I noticed Shana is the only one without a last name. It makes me feel incomplete. )

When Adam entered the ring of light, he could see the makings of a small camp. In the center was an almost perfectly round fire pit with the flames dangerously low and flickering. To the left was a straight line of three drying racks, only one of them having a small piece of meat that looked recently hung. In front of that was a neat row of berry bushes, picked clean of their bright red fruits. To the left was a science machine, a neatly made wooden chest, and a young girl sleeping on an almost compleatly unraveled grass roll. The girl shifted a little before rolling onto her side, back facing Adam. Whether she was shifting because of the noise of her unexpected visitor or the quickly aproching morning was unknown.

[AdamTheGamer]

(Yeah, my turn! ahem...)

 

"Hmm..." Adam though. "Curious... i wonder who made thi-"

 

Then he noticed the girl.

 

"Well... this is a bad situation... i could either stay and get killed in the morning, or i could kill her her in the morning, or i could raid her and loose my reputation as a gentleman."

 

He decided to get killed in the morning. He walked toward the chest and looked through it. he found a straw roll ("Better that than nothing") And went a few steps away from the girl. but as he was about to go to sleep, he bumped into something. He felt behind himself. he recognized what it was.

 

He turned around and said:

"What do you want? I offered you something yesterday you know."

"Not in this world. but you do have a fine subject right here."

Whatever he was speaking with pointed at the girl.

"Look mate, i didn't come here and discover another person, wich i heven't met in how many years only to get rid of said person in 5 minuites. I'll find you a pigman tomarrow or something. now leave me."

"As you wish. But i expect you debt to be paid soon."

The unknown figure dissapeared into the darkness.

 

Adam turned around, looked at the girl, siged. then went asleep.

 

(There. I edited it a lot. sorry for the inconvenience.)

Edited September 11, 2014 by AdamTheGamer

[MenaAthena]

(Please don't control my character, @AdamTheGamer )

[AdamTheGamer]

(Please don't control my character, @AdamTheGamer )

 

Ok, i won't do that in the future. sorry.

[MenaAthena]

Ok, i won't do that in the future. sorry.

(Could you please edit the post? Shana wouldn't attack something randomly, even if she just woke up and didn't know what was going on.)

[AdamTheGamer]

(Could you please edit the post? Shana wouldn't attack something randomly, even if she just woke up and didn't know what was going on.)

Done. take a look.

[MenaAthena]

Done. take a look.

(Thank you. I would recommend reading this: http://forums.kleientertainment.com/topic/25886-tips-to-being-a-good-roleplayer-not-a-roleplay/. It has some really good tips for roleplayers. 

 

And now it's @Blewcheese 's turn.)

[Blewcheese]

(I hereby pass my turn. Dorian is all alone, and is doing nothing but eating and sleeping. Please continue to skip my turn until morning.)

[Percival]

(I suppose its my turn then. However, there isn't much occurring on my side of the story, so I'll pass. However, there's one thing I must clarify;

I mean it when every choice you make will have an impact on the ending, even things you might do while idle.. The choice of you tripping over a certain rock or the chance of you lying to someone whether you saw a dove fly overhead, spoilers, will determine everything. I. Mean. It.

Also, Adam, I believe powerplaying is not tolerated here.)

Edited September 12, 2014 by Pecival

[AdamTheGamer]

(Look, about that, i changed it. sorry. won't happen again. and @MenaAthena, i have been rolepaying for a long time now (Even though im a bit rusty), so i know.)

[MenaAthena]

(So, time for a time skip then! A small time skip, but still a time skip.)

 

Shana awoke on her side, staring out into the forest beside her meager camp. She stretched a little, yawned, rolled over onto her other side and... nearly had a panic attack. There was a man sleeping only a couple feet away from her. Her eyes went wide and she just barely stopped a scream from escaping her lips. Standing up off of a roll that was now frayed and matted beyond use, she tried to clam herself. She should be happy there was another person here. After all, if he wanted to hurt her he would have done it while she was asleep... right?

[AdamTheGamer]

Adam awoke to the sound of movement (He was barely sleeping, having been laying in basically a pile of straw), Saw the girl and dahed up on his feet.

 

"Ahem... excuse me miss" He said, rubbing his eye a little. "But this camp was the only thing stopping me from getting eaten by the darkness. I don't wish to hurt you, or anyone else. Unless, of course, you were to attack me. so please, do not panic. it would make the situation worse."

 

He felt into one of his pockets, ready to pull up the knife if things were about to get ugly.

[Blewcheese]

With a yawn, Dorian awoke. His fires were on its last, burning embers by now, and he stood up carefully. The stick he had used to eat the rabbit had been on his chest as he fell asleep, and dropped to the ground as he arose. He shifted through his pair of chests, and retrieved his pickaxe. Yesterday, he had meant to mine for rocks, and potential gold, but noticed that it was getting dark after he crafted the new tool. Thus, he set off towards the west, in search of rocks to mine.

[AdamTheGamer]

(So now i suppose it's @Pecivial 's turn?)

Edited September 14, 2014 by AdamTheGamer

[MenaAthena]

(Yep, all though he is a bit late...)

[AdamTheGamer]

(Waiting game initiated then.)