Work Text:
Charlie, Queen of Shadows -
A figure appears from the shadows. Formed from the darkness, a woman in a black and Grey dress and flower in her hair towers over you.
Visual Calculus [Medium:Success] -
Specifically, she towers 60 centimeters above you, at a total height of 240 centimeters. Also, she's wearing flats, not heels.
Authority [Godly:Failure] -
There is nothing you could do to possibly exert authority over her. You're clearly in the presence of some sort of freakishly tall demon, and she's definitely in charge here.
Reaction Speed - [Formidable:Success] -
It looks like she's about to leave, quick, convince her to stay!
RED CHECK: Rhetoric [Challenging] - Convince the woman to stay for questioning. [+1 Didn't side with the moon, +1 Been attacked by the darkness]
... 4+6 +2 =12, SUCCESS
Rhetoric -
Convince her it's so you can help her, that you're *useful to her*. Someone like her is sure to enjoy more pawns on her side of the board. And that pawn might be more useful promoted to a different piece.
You - "You want my help right? I could be more useful to you if you told me more about this place and what you're planning."
Charlie, Queen of Shadows -
"Oh? You'd like to know more? Curious, nobody's ever dared to ask that before."
Drama [Medium:Success] -
She's telling the truth sire, seems like most people wouldn't want to get on her bad side by asking questions.
Charlie, Queen of Shadows -
"Sure, I'll indulge your questions, I enjoy some conversation every now and again, especially with the likes of you."
Rhetoric [Challenging:Success] -
"The likes of you, in this case, being people who could not use the information against her anyway. She doesn't think you're a threat."
Half-Light [Medium:Success] -
"That's where she's wrong. We just singlehandedly took out that skeleton guy. We could beat her ass with just a hound's tooth and a stale piece of jerky."
Perception (Smell) [Easy:Success] -
"Now that she's been standing there for a while, you can get a better read on her scent. She smells of roses, to an almost pungent degree, with just a hint of formaldehyde. The same scent as the monster in the dark."
Logic [Medium:Success] -
She *is* the monster in the dark.
You - "What was that thing I just killed, it seemed to be trying to warn me."
Charlie, Queen of Shadows -
She looks down at the rose in the ground placed there after you felled him. "He was a traitor," She plucks the flower from between the cracks in stone and lightly spins it between her fingers. "and he stood in my way. I needed him gone, and you helped make that a reality."
Empathy - [Heroic:Success] -
She speaks like someone who's felt the sting of betrayal, yes, but there is more to it. It feels as if she's not only talking about him, but someone else too.
You - "Was he the only one to betray you?"
Charlie, Queen of Shadows -
She thinks for a moment. "No he was not, betrayal is to be expected with my goals and methods. But those who do turn traitor always return to me eventually.
Logic [Trivial:Success] -
Except him?
You - Except him?
Charlie, Queen of Shadows -
"Except him."
Perception (Hearing) [Medium:Success] -
She says it through gritted teeth.
You - What should I do next?
Charlie, The Queen of Shadows -
"Next? Next you will patiently wait for when you will be useful to me again. Until then, make sure to prepare, you will need to if you want to stand a chance against what you've just let in."
Inland Empire [Challenging:Success] -
You have a feeling that you shouldn't have let her fix that portal.
You - What's that eye in the portal?
Charlie, Queen of Shadows -
"The eye?" She looks back at it. Then she leans down and puts the rose she's been holding into the pocket of your blazer, so that the petals are peeking out and the flower is clearly visible. She gets back up, straightens her posture and before leaving, looks at you and says "Don't worry about it." (End of conversation)
As you leave the atrium, you feel it.
Shivers -
On the surface, pig men are working hard to stock up on food for them and the King for the coming winter, the merms are building fortifications to protect their infant empire, a lonely crab woman sends out yet another message in a bottle, and a camp of survivors hungrily await their next meal, totally unaware of what you have done. Down here in the Caves, cracks are beginning to form about to give way to horrors yet unseen. The bunnymen and rock lobsters are not prepared for their future visitors, and the now-regenerated ruins are nothing compared to what's to come.
You - This feeling, it is strangely familiar, like that time in the anodic dance club...
Shivers -
i am always.
i have forever been, i am constant.
You - "It really is like that time in the club. But, you're not her. Your voice is so..."
Shivers -
my voice is that of the trees shaking in the wind, the bogs bubbling, the sandstorm howling and the waves crashing. and it speaks through the swine, crustaceans, amphibians and lagomorphs alike, tiny pieces of them form a giant voicebox.
You - "But why? Why are you speaking to me?"
Shivers -
you are not supposed to be here, even less than any other visitor, less than the humans, less than the crows, less than the imp, even less than Them.
you were not in the script, you were not supposed to be in this act. you belong somewhere that isn't here, and yet you still tread my tired paths, wearing them down with footsteps that do not belong there, and take actions with consequences none of my eyes could foresee.
You - "So you're saying I shouldn't be here? You think I should leave?"
Shivers -
unpredictable consequences are not always a bad thing. your unintended presence may be the key to defeating Them.
You - "Who are They? Why won't anybody tell me who They are?"
Shivers -
They are the ones who came here uninvited, who took control of what is mine. They infested my stars and ground with their filth, They lured away and corrupted my chosen people.
a piece of my voice remains, deep within each of their molten and twisted shapes lie a uncorrupted fragments of me.
they are all screaming in agony.
listen to my voice, interlaced with their cries of regret.
DO NOT TRUST THEM.