Chakrasul Demands a Payment

Aloli

Hello,

Between Benedicto and myself, we have a few logs to share surrounding the events leading up to the wedding and the wedding itself.

(If you have RP comments or feedback on anything you see that could be improved upon, please let us know! I love constructive criticism and a chance to do better.)

I hope you enjoy.

You don't notice it for a while as a presence snakes around your consciousness, however, as your vision becomes glazed in a jade haze, you know. "Whatever could I claim for My debt." Whispers the dark, alluring voice of Corruption and there is a soft *TWANG* and, like the plucking of a harp, She strokes at the fibers of your mortal coil.

Aloli bows her head and forces herself to try to regain some control over her emotions. Still dread sits in her heart, "Lady Chakrasul..." she whispers as her heart beats faster.

(Tells): You tell Benedicto, "Bene?"

Think:
I thought about making You a special kind of tea, would You like that instead?

You reach out and touch a trident pierced heart pendant.
As you touch a trident pierced heart pendant it begins to glow softly, and you feel a tugging
at your soul.

You are pulled along by a trident pierced heart pendant, warping through space to meet with
Benedicto.

Archives within the Pentarch's office (22063) - The city of Enorian (428)
A display case of Mor gun darkwood stands here, ensconced between the western bookshelves.
Dividing the eastern bookshelves, a display case of vibrant acacia wood is set here. Resting on
the ground is a cube-shaped silver sigil. A sigil in the shape of a small, rectangular monolith
is on the ground. A large war turtle stands here. Benedicto sits behind his desk, hands folded
onto the surface in front of him. A small sign indicates that LIBRARY CATALOG will list the
materials in this library. A single stocking has been hung up here.
You see a single exit leading south (open pine door).

"Mmm?" The presence coos, as if She is reveling in the sound of Her name on your lips. "Tea.
Mm, no. Hardly compensation for the lies you spread about Me, is it? Whatever do I do about My reputation?" The feigned hurt is thick and it leaves a rotting taste in your mouth. You roll
your tongue to try and rub the flavor away.

Aloli shakes her head to shake away terrible thoughts as she comes to stand next to Benedicto behind the desk; her hand heavy on his shoulder as if to check for his safety. Soon she grimaces and smacks her lips, trying to change the rotting taste forced upon her then smirks as her vibrantly blue eyes scan the office.

Think:
We all have reputations and other things we want to protect.

She chides you with a soft "tch" and you feel Her shift against your coil and, in your jade-filmed vision, you swear you catch sight of Her in your peripherals. Turning your head would reveal you're still only there, with Benedicto. "He cannot protect you from Me, Abbess. No. You -owe- Me for those lies." *TWANG* There She goes, plucking at another chord of your core and it makes beads of sweat begin to form on the back of your neck. Eventually, the salty droplets slide down your spine and feed your fears. "I've waited patiently for you to come to Me with your own offer. Do I need to take it from you? Tear it. Rip it. Devour it. RUIN IT, ALOLI?" The shrill shriek in your mind almost deafens you.

Aloli's jade-filmed vision has her staring out into space sometimes. She tries to clear her eyes by force of her will, which fails. She resorts to rubbing her eyes with both hands as she takes a step backward. Is this paranoia? Is she seeing things? She does indeed turn her head to look for Chakrasul and finds nothing. Her grip on Benedicto's shoulder returns and tightens. Each pluck on her soul ushers a sharp gasp from her and a greater sinking feeling of misery and anguish. "No!" She answers loudly at the threats. "This isn't my greatest fear," she lowers her voice to an explanatory whisper even though her hand never leaves Benedicto's shoulder.

Think:
I don't have anything to offer You. No power or fame. I'm just a monk.

Benedicto glances up from his apparent distraction at his desk and firstly looks out of the window behind him. "Good grief, is that the time?" He declares, surprised before then apparently noticing you. "Oh! Hello love. Come to attend Aeryx's knighting?" He queries, somewhat puzzled.

From the corners of the room, jade tendrils begin to emerge and they slither towards the pair of you. Their journey is slow, no quicker than a babes crawl, but terror still catches in your throat none the less.

Benedicto immediately stiffens in his chair, clutching at the edges of his desk. Recognition is more or less instant and within moments he has pushed back his seat, swiftly crossed to you and positioned himself before you defensively.

Aloli's hand had been clenched over her heart out of fear and pain but when she hears Benedicto's voice and sees his immediate reaction, she reacts to the tendrils first. "Get back..." warns him and pulls at Benedicto's clothes to try forcefully pull him back as she throws a ball of light at the rolling jade tendrils.

Holding your hands before you, you gather light in between them until you form a globe of light.

You drop a globe of light.

Benedicto uses his arm to keep you at his back. Angrily, he addresses the empty room. "You've had Your way with one of my Knights and cost him an eye. You had Your way with me for decades before Aban succeeded in removing Your taint from me. Now You seek my beloved! Does Your recent victory over Your brother embolden You so much?!"

Think:
I don't need to throw any psychic shield around him, he's strong.

The tendrils continue to crawl over the floor of the room and they slowly climb over one
another to coalesce into Chakrasul Who smiles wickedly. "Come, Abbess. I am a Goddess." She coos, the soft, soothing sound of Her voice doing nothing for your fears or the pit of despair that has started to open at the bottom of your stomach, making you gag. "Benedicto, sit."

Benedicto doesn't get much choice in the matter as essence snaps around both the chair, and
his ankles to only join the pair.

Staring boredly at the light, Chakrasul, Goddess of Corruption says, "Quit prattling, defector.
Your wife owes Me for the lies she spilled. She knows it. She knew it when she whispered them
to try and bring My attention."

Darkly, Chakrasul, Goddess of Corruption says, "She desired knowledge, and there I was, more
than happy to offer answers."

That bored, verdant gaze of Chakrasul lands on you and Her smile grows to reveal wickedly
curved fangs.

Benedicto collapses backwards into the chair, straining furiously against the bonds of essence that restrain him. His pearl-white gaze radiates anger as he regards the demure Divine, the expression both familiar and unsettling, as though it borders on maniacal. "I won't let You do to her what You did to me!" He hisses at Chakrasul.

(Tells): Her voice laden with crackling fire, Sekeres whispers warmly to you, "Hey, you feeling
O-K? Last time we talked you kind of fell asleep, I put you in some cold water though then
carried you back to where I think your home is."

Aloli grabs her stomach and grunts. It takes her a moment to breathe through the despair growing in her heart. However, instinctively she reaches forward to put a hand on Benedicto's shoulder again and show that she's unharmed. "I do thank You for sharing the knowledge I sought. Everyone was researching ways to help cleanse the forest from it's..." She hisses the word, "Corruption." She also levels her gaze on Chakrasul and speaks frankly, "He
has nothing to do with this, leave him alone and I'll..." She can't finish that sentence. She can't think of what to offer.

"You need to learn the difference between Me, as Corruption, and the corruption that leaks from you precious Dendara." Chakrasul seethes and the butterflies in Her hair flit frantically to try and escape, as if Her simmering anger has instilled a second wind in the futile attempts. The demure Goddess wrinkles her nose in disgust and Her eyebrows tilt into a frown over Her eyes. She leans into the desk on the other side of you both, Her palms pressing into the wood and Her wings blotching out the light cast by you. "I'll do as I please, defector, as I have always done. You. Get. No. Choice." An accusatory finger is pointed at you, "Get creative, Abbess. Else I'll start plucking at the ones you love dearly." She shoves away from the desk, a sneer twisting Her delicate face. "You may have the strength to quell your own fears - except one. Except your compassion and I will use that against you to get what I want. One. By. One. Aloli." She jabs a finger at Benedicto, "And you'll be the last if I don't get something, Benedicto. Don't think for a second I cannot undo Aban's work. It only takes the right." She pauses and the last word is whispered so sweetly, you cannot help but shiver with a conflicting sense of wanting. "Motivation."

"Don't attempt tea again." Chakrasul spits angrily before Her slender frame simply - explodes -
into a cloud of duskywing butterflies. As the insects flit away, you notice She is gone.

At the disappearance of the Goddess, all of the jade essence ebbs from the room, including the restraints.

Even so, the lingering stench of decay hangs in the office.

Benedicto glares at Chakrasul, though it is clear that it is an anger born from fear until Her
disappearance sets him free and he explodes suddenly out of his seat and towards the desk. He catches himself before he topples fully over it, clearly not expecting his release. Upon gathering himself, he turns to you. "Are you alright?" He asks hurriedly, stepping to check over you.

Aloli covers her mouth to stop herself from gagging and she falls to the floor breathing heavily and crying. She held her strength well enough but she's allowed to break down to Benedicto. She shakes her head in response, "I didn't think tea would upset Her so much, thank God I didn't offer green tea." She covers her face with both hands to try to stop crying. "That was terrifying. I was scared for you."

"We must never attempt tea again if it draws Her ire so." Benedicto declares grimly, agreeing
with you. He reaches out to stroke the top of your head, soothing you. "I'm fine, I was just as
worried for you." He manages a smile. "What a pair we make."

Aloli lifts her head out of her hands to look up at Benedicto. The weak smile she sees and caresses on her head soothe her enough to a soft, tearful giggle. "I'm sorry. I did really think both kinds of corruption were the same, I was wrong..." She lowers her hands and one naturally falls to her lap the other on Benedicto's, "She wants me to get creative but I don't know Her well enough to know what would appease Her. What do we do?" She is rattled and can't think like this - no creativity comes when there are exhaustion and fear.

"She took Stine's eye just for him requesting unbridled access to Her Temple." Benedicto
comments in response as he reaches out to take your hand. "We'll put our heads together and
think of something love." He presses his lips to the top of your hand.

Aloli gasps at the thought of Stine's eye but it immediately gives her a measure for the payment being demanded. She closes her eyes at the kiss to her hand and relaxes a little. "Okay, I have a feeling She's not going to wait for much longer but I imagine this can wait for a little bit. You said you were late for a Knighting?" She squeezes his hand as she asks, "May I come with you?" She's still too shaken to go home alone or focus on anything else.

Benedicto nods his head, helping to draw you to your feet. "Of course love. Aeryx has stated he wanted it to be open to all attendees anyway. Perhaps if we gather everyone together, it might make you feel a touch safer."

Aloli doesn't shy from leaning more of her weight into Benedicto as she is drawn to her feet. "I am safe with you," she states matter-of-factly, it is something she believes. "But yes, I think just being around people and seeing them happy will help." She interlaces her fingers in his free hand for the walk out of the office, but she looks over her shoulder at the globe of light left behind, wondering if there's any more jade essence lingering.

Sarita

Thanks for sharing! I always love seeing and doing these kinds of things. Two questions though:

1. Are things like these

Aloli's jade-filmed vision has her staring out into space sometimes. She tries to clear her eyes by force of her will, which fails. She resorts to rubbing her eyes with both hands as she takes a step backward. Is this paranoia? Is she seeing things? She does indeed turn her head to look for Chakrasul and finds nothing. Her grip on Benedicto's shoulder returns and tightens. Each pluck on her soul ushers a sharp gasp from her and a greater sinking feeling of misery and anguish. "No!" She answers loudly at the threats. "This isn't my greatest fear," she lowers her voice to an explanatory whisper even though her hand never leaves Benedicto's shoulder.

where we have a bit of thoughts and action emotes from you? The reason I'm asking is because I find myself in situations sometimes where I have a character that could reasonably know or really sense what mine is thinking, but I know they don't have access to a mind reading ability, and I might not always have a way to show them things (like illusions, blood vision, etc.) I'm always interested in seeing how other people deal with that, and if I'm reading it right, I think that's what you were doing there?

2. Do you have more logs to share?

Aloli

@Sarita Thank you for the comment and question! That's exactly what I was doing

It's something I've struggled with as well. I had a friend explain to me how to better separate between telling a story about the character and revealing more about her personality, history, or thought process through this method versus limiting what I reveal about her to what they might be exposed to through their senses only.

Maybe it is easier to share bits of your character's personality or whatever emotion their going through with someone they interact with on a regular basis as opposed to someone they just met and would be forced to read through the lines of why your character reacted the way they did.

For example, if your character has an irrational fear of bears and someone just mutated into a bear in front of you. You would physically freeze and freak out then maybe run away, but would you also reveal little bits of the reason why you suddenly froze after they shifted?

Would it be okay if I did something like this: Aloli suddenly freezes as soon as she sees Benedicto shift into a wild bear. Her eyes grow wide and she rushes backwards and away from him, toppling over the chair and falling.

That's just action, but what if you added more to explain her feelings more elaborately? "She knows she can trust him so she stays and doesn't run away."

Personally, in this situation, I knew Benedicto didn't have access to the Insight skill at that moment. I'm usually comfortable sharing things about her as if you're reading a story with those she might know enough to otherwise reveal those things through actions and words.

I also think he reacted perfectly because he was ignorant to the inner dialogue Aloli was having with Chakrasul, he only got to see her awkward behavior after suddenly turning up.

I imagine it looked like a scene from a movie where people suddenly burst into your space but continue on with the fight they were having with a huge monster and you're given a few seconds to find your wits and join or freak out and flee.

To answer your question, we do have more logs to share! I'm just cleaning them up as time allows. I promise to post everything. There's only just a small hiccup with a couple of the logs in that when we were recording them we accidentally lost an emote or two. So we're scrambling to try to remember them as accurately as possible. I have reached out to people I believe were involved in the missing emotes to try to recreate them