ic Slave to Time (IC)

[Ari]

The horrid power of the false Reverend stabbed out from his eyes and into Subito's, the youth moving to turn his head a second too late, and the lance of despair shot through directly into his brain! A lead casing seemed to fall over his limbs, his heart was numbed and all the world turned to shifting greys before him, and he knew with the certainty of the mad that all things were futile, that against the power wielded by the priest neither of them could hope to fight, and that the pews were getting to their clawed feet and beginning to creep towards him, wooden mouths opening to reveal slavering jaws, and a strange sliding noise like scales on wood....

From the outside, it looked like he had frozen stiff, eyes wide and jaw slowly clenching and slackening, arms pinioned to his sides. All of a sudden he gave a shriek of horror that echoed painfully around the room and started babbling "They're everywhere! They're all over the floor and the walls, it's slithering through! Get it out, get it out!" and turning on his heels he dashed for the door, eyes widened from terror at the phantasmal terrors!

[Tiffany Korta]

There was something about his demeanor that gave her pause, that and the anger at the wrongness of this whole place, finally made her power flare up. Her eye blazed white with her fury, which temporary blinded her, just as the Reverend unleashed his dark power.

“Actually I’m more of a Goddess person myself, blame my upbringing if you will.†She give a wicked smile.

She now allowed her aura to spring into life as she floated a few feet from the floor seeming obviously to Subito’s adverse reaction.

“You know I was having a bad day so I could really do with working some kinks out. Shall we dance Reverend?â€

[Tiffany Korta]

The glow of her aura continued to build until it was uncomfortable to look at.

“Normally I’d make some kind of play on words around blinding light, maybe a biblical reference. But you and your rock pile of a town don’t really deserve such effort.â€

With that she floated up towards the roof of the church and unleashed a burst of light with the light bursting out of the windows of the church.

A small nagging doubt crept into the corner of her mind, she should have warned Subito. Wait a minute where did he go?

[Supercape]

GM

The bright light of Brittania was too much for Parsons, who actually fell over from its intensity. He looked pale enough to make one wonder when he last saw the sun, and the luminescence of Young Brittania was far too much for him.

"You worm!" he yelled, laughing his head off "You don't know how insignificant you are, you ignorant ant. Your blood and bone shall be boiled and stewed. Meaningless creature! Your life is but an insignificant speck! why do you cling to it so, rather than embrace the madness of the unspeakable one! Ha ha! Ha ha!"

With that, he twisted, a thousand or more black shades, like crows of oily mist, spewing from his mouth and circling the air around him.

"Hear my words, pathetic one! Your life is but a plaything of powers you cannot fathom! All shall bend and gladly, joyously, surrender their lives and freedom, and revel in pain and chaos and servitude! Your life - is ours! hahahaha!"

The elderly man, blinded, frail and quite clearly insane, laughed with confidence as the black forms danced around him, passing straight through Young Brittania and clawing away at her soul as they did so...

[Supercape]

GM

Meanwhile, outside...

There were several of them...seven precisely, in fact. Waiting outside the Church, dressed in drab and in some case tattered clothing, one leaning on a pitch fork.

Like all Fang residents they had some funny look to them, with eyes that were too big, and faces that appeared bulbous and dysmorphic.

"Told ya to stay out of our business" said the man the two had met on the way in "only leaves to trouble. We look after are own kind here. Don't take to nicely to strangers. And we be preferrin' that our Reverend, he don't get disturbed by people askin' too many questions. Questions we don't like"

He picked out some grime from his teeth, casually.

"Reverend' he may be strange to you. But he tends his flock. Says we be on our way to salvation...in our own kind of way..." he said, clearly not indicating any conventional Christian virtues.

[Tiffany Korta]

Maybe he was right, after all she couldn’t help that poor animal and they hadn’t caught this man yet. Her aura dimed and she floated closer to the floor all the fight having suddenly gone from her.

She then felt it, a knot in the pit of her stomach, for a few second’s she thought it was from her deflated confidence but then she realized that it was coming from outside. She gritted her teeth and fought off the Revenants magical attack.

“You might be right I might be dwarfed by your mighty god, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to lie down and just give up.â€

Her aura flared back up as she again gained height and confidence.

[Supercape]

GM

"What?" said the surprised Parsons, holding his hands up in disbelief.

"Who are you who stands before the mouth of chaos? who defies the chains of servitude?" he babbled. The light hit him, and he crumpled into a heap, visibly deflating, being thrown across the tumbledown church to the Altar.

"I am but a vessel..." he whispered at Young Brittania "your light is nothing, just another force to be chained and brought to heel. Just another whelp, another human to be a slave..."

He waved his hand at Young Brittania as his eyes glazed over and he fainted out cold on the Alter, like a heap of rags.

[Ari]

As Subito staggered out of the church, the horrific vision fell away like scales from his eyes, and he stared in mute bafflement at the semi-circle of ragged foes arraigned against him for a few moments before placing a hand over his heart, calling upon the power vested in him with a Ye Dame, I beg your aid!, transforming in a flash of light into the heraldic and dashing El Heraldo!

Raising his fluttering Bandera above his head, he said in a loud voice "Your clothes: be mended!" and with a lusty shout of triumph, a stream of red, white and blue swirled around the garments of the townsfolk, turning their aging and weakening clothes as good as when they had been sewn together. Slamming the butt of the flagpole into the ground Subito leaned on it, fixing each of the m with his dark eyes in turn, saying in a firm voice "Good people, I have no quarrel with you. I spoke roughly with your Reverend, perhaps, but he struck the first blow! You worship some serpentine god named Set, I judge? Well then, let Set's chosen champion deal with us! And if we defeat him, then you shall not strive with US. I shall return if your shepard falls." He concluded, turning around sharply and hefting the banner over his shoulder as he walked back towards the church.

[Supercape]

GM

The Villagers of Fang looked on unimpressed as their clothes mended themselves.

"How pretty...." mocked the leader, the man who they had met when first entering the village.

He picked up his newly tailored sleeve daintily, between finger and thumb in mock gesture.

"Look at the pretty clothes! Ha!" he spat at the ground "your petty tricks and incantations are just baubles. Enough to glint the eyes of babes in arms, 'till they awake to the sea and the blood and the ways of the world. The beating of the heart, that courses through vein and ear and head, that is all that fills us now, fool..."

"Go to your friend. And if any harm has become of our shepherd..." he pronounced the word with a sarcastic smile "...then it will be your head on a pike, my friend. Although it is your friend I would be more worried about if our pastor has had anything to do with it...hahahaha!"

[Tiffany Korta]

Just at that moment the door of the church, as much as they were, were thrown open and Young Britannia floated out carrying the unconscious form of the Reverent.

After everything that happened in the church she was feeling a lot better, a lot more grounded. A lot more well herself. She floated to beside El Heraldo an gave a reassuring smile. Taking in the situation she floated over to the crowd carefully putting their reverent at their feet.

“Don’t worry he’ll be fine, just a bit of a headache when he awakens. We don’t want trouble all we want to do is find out where the stranger went. Then I promise you we’ll leave you well alone.â€

[Supercape]

GM

"The Stranger?" answered the tall man, leaning on his pitchfork and eyeing Young Brittania with suspicion.

"Can't say I like you" he said, spitting at the ground "but, then I can't say I like any folk that ain't from round here. Any folk that ain't got Fang blood in them. Why Parson felt he needed that man, I can't say. But he did. Thought he could...well..." he looked at Young Brittania hard.

"Never mind" he cut himself short.

"I dont trust the stranger, anyhows. No matter what he says he can and cant do. He aint of Fang. All I knows is he went to see Parsons, and I ain't see him come out. "

He pointed his pitchfork at the unconscious reverend.

"Maybe I should wake him up, see what he has to say about this, eh?"

[Ari]

"I am uncertain he will say anything, no matter how much any of us prod him" commented El Heraldo the tall man, walking back over to the group and feeling very foolish indeed(partially because of how easily the reverend had got him out of the fight, and how easily Young Britannia had beaten the man, and partially because of how little impact his attempt at persuasion had been), "He was just defeated, and that married to his antipathy for us before the fight even began tells me the mixture of anger, imjured pride and fear will make him uncooperative at best. Besides," he added, putting the Bandera back in its loop "if our man is in the house it will be easy for us to capture him, and if there is some hidden tunnel leading out of town the house is next to, we shall apprehend him and then capture him." he turned to Agnes with a smile "What say you, O Vanquisher of Evil Priests?"

Not much he can do to escape now! he wthought confidently.

[Tiffany Korta]

Agnes gave a smile and leaned in to talk to Subito.

“Look I can’t help but feel that I got us into this mess. I guess being here and everything else got to me more than I realized.†She gve a little sigh “Let me try this, after all we’re the good guys we should be showing a little mercy.â€

She knelt back down by the reverend and look up at the villages spoke man.

“I’m going to wake him up, but please make sure he realizes we’re under a truce. I don’t really want to have to subdue him again.â€

She put a glowing hand on the man allowing her healing energies to flow through him. Once she had done as much as though he needed she retreated to a safe distance to allow the people to explain the situation to him.

[Supercape]

GM

Parsons eyelids fluttered, and he sat bolt upright, his eyes glazed and rolled briefly before settling down.

He mumbled to himself in a strange tounge that was incomprehensible, perhaps not even a language at all, but pure gibberish.

His head span round. A little too far too be compatible with strictly human anatomy, and his ivory white eyes bulged.

"Slaves!" he said, cursing Young Brittania and El Heraldo.

"You and you land monkeys are nothing but slaves!" he hissed.

"Soon the Lemurian Chains will be unearthed from beneath our church, and reforged anew! And you and your filthy kin will be naught but slaves!"

His head spun, unnaturally towards the villagers of Fang.

"The time of Lemuria, the blood of the deep, the yellow sign, the unspeakable one, is nigh, my kin! these filth shall not stand in our way! let them be the first to wear the manacles, as they were born to do! clap their bodies in irons and crush their souls in despair!!!!"

With that, the Villagers grinned, picked up their pitchforks, hammers, and tongs, and advanced towards the heroic duo...

[Tiffany Korta]

“Slavery! Really you’re going for that? You might not have noticed but there a war going on about that very issue. And I have very personal reasons to back an end to the whole practice.†As she said this her aura once again flared into life and she floated a few feet above the ground. “I hate to break the Hippocratic Oath so quickly but I plan to do some harm.†Glowing energy coalesced around her hands.

“As a great man will one day say Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. And I’ve got plenty of light let me share."Too really drive home the point, and maybe to show off a little, she repeated the phrase in Lemaurian.

She then sent a steam of energy towards the troublesome reverend.

[Supercape]

GM

"Your pathetic race was born to slavery, and your light will be snuffed out by the chains of set you pathetiiii...." snarled Parsons, before being bowled over, tumbling head over heel, by the light of Young Brittania.

He dropped, face first into the mud.

"...iiiiic human...." he finished, mouth slurping the wet mud, the soft pitter-patter of drizzling rain echoing around him.

"You'll pay for that, stranger!" yelled the leader of the Villagers "Fang has seen the bones of many folk who tried interfering...and you ribs and skull and spine will be the next!"

[Ari]

"Quite incorrect!" exclaimed El Heraldo hotly, filling his lungs with air, landing, and expelling the breath from his lungs in a miniature hurricane of wind that spiraled into the ranks of the townsfolk, with an extra breath for the tall man.

What strange affliction could be causing this? These people are like none I have ever encountered! he thought to himself ...What? Are you being quite serious, Subito? Yes, O Dame. Why? You-! You will learn shortly what is causing them to look and act this way, I fear. Now, focus on the fight! at this admonishment, he drove a foot into the muddy ground to stiffen his posture, and provide a little resistance to the outflow of air barrelling out of his body.

[Supercape]

GM

Mud and rain flew into the faces of the villagers, who raised their hands and steadied themselves on their tools and pitchforks. Two slipped down, unceremoniously, onto their rears, including the tall leader.

"Get them! Get them!" he roared, as he pulled himself up from the mud.

The remainder started to make headway against the wind, then, as the lungs of El Heraldo emptied and the wind died, the rushed full force at the two heroes.

The villagers were strong, and whilst not trained in the art of warfare, they were brawlers - clumsy perhaps, but cunning and low. Street fighters, who had the scars to show for it. they set about the two heroes, hammer and tong, left and right, laying into them without restraint, eager for the taste of blood and revenge.

[Tiffany Korta]

The villagers improvised weapons didn’t seem to have any effect of Young Britannia. Almost without thinking about it she swatted away a bunch of the attackers.

“I think I owe you an apology El Heraldo, well two. One for being such a moody cow for the last couple of hours.†Her grin suggested this wasn’t the case as she sent a blast towards an approaching villager. “And for thinking that these idiots would be able to listen to reason.â€

She floated up above the mob lighting up the darkness with her glow

“Next time we go with your plan.â€

[Ari]

Decking the two who had begun laying about him with their hammer and tongs(and distantly wondering if the two had got them as some kind of personal joke) with two swipe of his mighty arms, Subito shrugged ay Young Britannia's apology "In honesty, YB, I thought they would listen to reason myself several seconds ago. I also thought they would be awed by a gift of repaired clothing, so I think you're one up on me there" he added with a rueful smile "Aside from that, it is scarcely your fault our chase has led us to such a place and to such sights. I would be moody too if I was a little older in this situation. I think." He gave that serious consideration, wondering if getting older really would lead to such a changed perspective on the world as it seemed it had with Agnes. YB sounds like she's had a way different life than me too, might be part of it.

He took up a ready stance in the air, the Banner held loosely in his gloved hands to more easily bring it to bear. "Also,I have quite forgotten what my plan was, so we'll have to figure out something new for next time!"

The words of the townspeople earlier still weighed in his mind. "Salvation", they said. being rescued..from what? The wrath of this false god Set? Such a spirit as this should be forced from the world by the Pact, someone must have summoned its power for some purpose With any luck, we'll be able to send him back whence he came! ...Yes, luck would be a great assistance such a battle

[Supercape]

GM

Before long, six unconscious villagers lay spread out on the mud in various uncomfortable poses around them, their makeshift weapons scattered around them, some bent, one or two shattered and splintered having broken themselves on El Heraldo and Young Brittania.

Only the Village Leader lay awake, sporting a black eye and a dazed expression, kneeling in the mud.

"Set and Dagon!" he spat "I know not from which strange land or world you come from, strangers, but know this...you cannot stop what has been set in motion here. The chains of Lemuria will not be broken. The humans will once again be slaves, just as in times past, like Parson's promised. No more will the children of Fang be cursed and shunned....we are treated like dogs here...no more...no more...."

He collapsed, leaning on both arms, barely conscious.

[Tiffany Korta]

Agnes floated back down touching back down beside Subito. She gave him a quick scan to make sure he was unharmed, before crouching down to do the same to the villagers. Though this time she didn’t revive any of them, more trouble than they were worth.

“I guess we’re on the right track here, and it all centers on that run down little church there.†She pointed to the ramshackle building for emphasis “I guess we’re just going to have to search the building. Don’t suppose you’ve got X-Ray vision? It would make things quicker.â€

[Ari]

"Sorry, I don't" admitted Heraldo, flying back into the church(cringing at its state upon re-entry) "the Blue Dame hasn't been able to teach me how to alter my sight yet, just my hearing. I can detect stuff going on about...1000ft. away, or around 300 meters," he added, remembering Agnes' British origin "Let me try and find him, if he's here that is."

Landing at where he estimated the rough center of the church to be, Subito closed his eyes and concentrated fully on his surroundings, listening for the tell-tale thud of a human heart nearby. The several townsfolk without made the search a little more difficult than he would have wanted, besides that he couldn't hear anything except the scuttling of insects and arachnids, the tip-toeing of rodents and the labored breath of the recently-defeated. That and birds chattering and chriping, the stealthy movements of deer deep in the forest, and someone's goats ramming a far-off barn wall.

After several minutes of fruitless harkening, Subito shook his head, opened his eyes and said to Young Britannia "I can't hear anyone in here. But that rapscallion who seemed their leader mentioned he "Hadn't come out", I vote we start looking around for secret passages, as that's the case. There's bound to be a couple somewhere in this church" he stated with utmost certainty "even just for hiding places."

[Supercape]

GM

Low and behold...

It was not hard to find. It was hardly even hidden, it was more that the church was in such bad repair that the rotting floorboards and cracked masonry has half collapsed around the stairway to the cellar. There was a door, loosely speaking, and the door was loose, certainly no effort to shift open with a bit of effort, even for a normal man.

The cellar seemed large, and relatively protected from the fall of the church. Dimly lit by candles, it was hard to see. Mould climbed the walls.

El Heraldo could hear the lapping of the sea in the distance, reverberating around long tunnels.

"Welcome welcome..." came the cackle from the semi-darkness.

It was hard to see the man. He was half-silhouette. A tall, thin man, dressed in modern, plain, but rich attire, of deep black and purple. A well tailored suit and buttoned up shirt, no tie, and scarf. He had a faustian look about him, with a jet black goatee, and slicked back hair peaked of hairline.

"I don't know how you found out about this plan. But I imagine all things are possible. All things can be done. And all things can be undone..." he smiled.

In his hand, he held a glinting length of chain.

"The chains of Lemuria. The ancient artifact of the serpent people. You see, at this point in America, the land is fighting for slavery, or emancipation, depending on your view, I suppose. Slavery is the natural state of human's, and Slavery should have won..."

He gripped the chains tightly in his hand, a glint in his eye.

"This is the turning point, where the Serpent people can rise again! The cults are strong in the south. The blood, even if weak, is worshipped...."

Yes, the man was mainly human, but there was something in his eye...

[Tiffany Korta]

She had dim memories of conflicts with the humans overthrowing the serpent people long ago. She wasn’t sure if it was from the studies that some of her past lives had made, some of a more arcane nature, or that the the spirit had somehow been there in some form. At time like this she suspected that the Spirit of Justice was part of a much greater, and older, spirit than she could possibly imagine.

“You know your history, you much realise how much people gave up to overthrow those chains. The rein of Lemuria has passed it’s time has gone. But there noting to say that we couldn’t try to live together in peace as equals. Isn’t that why people are fighting and dying in this war?â€

He was a zealot and was probably too far gone to listen to reason, but she had to at least try and reach him.