exsilium | eleventh rune; unholy; video

[He thought he could handle this situation on his own, somehow. He thought he would sort it out eventually, that it wouldn't matter to anyone but him -- these were creatures designed for his torment, meant to make him suffer. Their harsh murmurs tear at him more deeply and specifically than anyone else; unlike the others, he feels their burning claws slice into his back, their eyes boring into him. The demons curl around his ankles like unwanted cats; they settle in the chinks of his armor and hiss, their whispers as corrosive as acid. They don't tell him anything he hasn't heard before, which is partly why he's taken so long to say anything. He feels sure that the problem was contained--confined, even, to Koltira alone.

But recent posts on the network suggest that this is not the case.

Koltira stands in the center of his lake, on his platform of ice. Byfrost is stuck into the platform beside him, its blade completely invisible beneath the thick, writhing mass of miasma that envelops it.]

I apologize. If you have heard cruel whispers recently, or seen the shadows emerge from the dark and give chase, then I am to blame. They are demons meant for me, released by the evolution of my runeblade.

[He pauses a moment before continuing. His usually inscrutable expression is pained: his eyes are half-closed, his lips are thin, and his long eyebrows are drawn together in frustration. He hates that he has to do this, but there's no other choice.]

I cannot defeat them. They are reaching out from their own plane of existence, a realm of shadows.

[Another pause. He's getting there. It's happening.]

I ... I am powerless to enter this place. But if any of you are willing, I can send you to it. You could clear them away.

[His fingers close into a clenched fist over his chest. He exhales.]

Please.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[His response is a half-sigh, half-groan.]

This problem is a very recent side-effect of Byfrost's evolution. I never expected it.

Yeah... I mean, that's understandable. Of course you didn't mean it. But it'll just start again even if people go in there and clean these things out, right?

No. The cause is the Initiative's technology. I will have to destroy the chip they implanted.

That's good. You know exactly what you're going to do, that's good. Will it stop then?

For the others? Yes.

[For him? Not exactly.]

... You need to find help...

After they are cleared out, the beasts will not trouble anyone else on the island. That is the point, is it not?

I mean, if they're still on you, you need to find help. I mean, that's the implication, right?

The Lich King's voice will never leave me.

Lich whatever, have you looked amongst everyone here?

[frown.]

It would not matter, girl. These demons are merely a manifestation of his voice. Even without them, he remains, at least for me.

Well, maybe someone could still do something about that.

Unlikely.

Have you looked?

Do you know what I am?

[Though it's hard to discern with his strange, guttural voice, he's not asking with a 'YOU SHOULD KNOW' tone; it's an honest inquiry.]

No!

[She just sounds vaguely grumpy. But she sounds vaguely grumpy all the time.]

[He sighs. He's pretty familiar with grumpiness, himself.]

I am a death knight. I was killed and my corpse was raised, transformed. The Lich King is my maker, and for many years I was enslaved to his will. Though I broke free some time ago, his whispers remain. They will always remain. They are as a part of my biology as your heartbeat is a part of yours.

Well... their are ways around heartbeat for a human too. Talk to any vampire, I bet.

[IS THAT A JOKE! He raises an eyebrow.]

Yes. The solution is an unmaking, as it would be for me.

As a human, I would call it more of a remaking.

Unfortunately, there is no way to remake the undead.

But did you talk to anybody? [- ugh. Okay.] It's none of my business.

[Stiffly.]

No. It is not.

Good luck with your problem.

A useless sentiment.

(no subject)

payback - 2013-07-21 15:42 (UTC) - Expand