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The Final Trial
Alrighty, so Aldric rejoined the Carnifex a little while back after having previously been one of the Tainted knights. Rather than allowing him to simply breeze through the same requirements he'd already done, Moirean came up with a new, more intense method by which returning members that were previously tainted will regain their title called the Purging.
GHELP PURGING (for reference)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Composed by: Moirean
Composed on: 2013/04/10 00:44 GMT
P U R G I N G
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Abandoning our ranks will not endear you to the Carnifex Knights. The
guild will hunt you down and pike your head outside the Shadow Keep - if
we are feeling benevolent. If you truly earn our ire, far, far worse
will come.
However - rarely - we will elect to give a wayward knight a chance to
return to the fold. This generous decision on our part is a rather large
kindness, and it will be the last one you see until you have regained
the right to be Tainted, for upon returning, the turncoat Knight must
be...purged.
The Test of Fealty
------------------
Your link to the master soulstone will be severed, your own stone
shattered. You do not deserve a connection to the other Tainted and to
the stone's strength. Instead, you will be given your new tool - a dull,
broken shard of rock - and your new title: Dishonoured. You will be
lower than the low, and even the recruits are ranked higher than you.
The Test of Strength
--------------------
Our strength lies in our arms, both literally and figuratively, and you
have proven yourself lacking. Your blade will be broken, and your arms
bound in spirit chains for three Aetolian months. Your feet will be
fettered and you must trudge, helpless, through the land, bereft of
strength. Even entering the Keep will acquire assistance, but this is
what you have reaped by sowing a fickle path.
The Test of Slaughter
---------------------
A Carnifex revels in slaughter and does not shirk at death. To remind
you of what you left behind, the first to fall before your blade will be
you, dishonored one. Should you survive the first two tests, and remain
constant to the Keep through your trials, you will have to die at your
own hand. Then, and only then, will you be returned your soulstone and
will the darkening of the Taint touch your soul again.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is part one: the test of Fealty for background purposes.
Part two, unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the log of. Essentially it was exactly as listed in the GHELP up there.
Here is the third, and final part of the Purging.
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(Carnifex): You say, "You folks doin' alright?"
Courtyard of the Shadow Keep.
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Long and rectangular, this stone courtyard is lined with pointed archways which support a column of upper galleries and walkways, level upon level, opening a channel to the sky. Torches line each of these archways, secured in severe steel mountings fashioned in the shape of gauntleted fists. In the center of the courtyard is a raised dais, wide enough for even the largest Azudim to comfortably stand and see over a gathered crowd. The center of the platform features a stone fountain, though the climate has turned it into little more than a statue, blacked by the elements and slick from ice. Depicting a circle of harsh-faced warriors looking out over the courtyard, the carving highlights the brutality of war, with the stony knights' cleated feet treading on heaped corpses of the fallen. Where water may have once run, the frigid cold of the mountains now only allows for ice - glistening rivulets cling to the gaunt faces of the conquered like frozen tears, while a sheen of frost as misty blue as stolen souls sheathes the warriors' weapons in an icy haze. A set of maple stocks stand here. A sigil in the shape of a small, rectangular monolith is on the ground. A murky darkness has settled in here.
You see exits leading north, east, southeast, south (open pine door), southwest, and west.
(Carnifex): Tsvanni says, "Mhm."
(Carnifex): Moirean says, "Oh yes, Dishonored. Quite excellent."
(Carnifex): You say, "..Too much enthusiasm, you just murder somebody or somethin'?"
(Carnifex): Moirean says, “No, but that’s an excellent idea.”
(Carnifex): Kiershu says, “Murder..where….when?”
(Carnifex): Moirean says, "The main Courtyard."
(Carnifex): You say, "Why do I get the feelin' this whole murder bit involves me?"
Toz enters from the north.
They are followed by Moirean, a bloodleech, a chaos hound, a humbug, a minion of chaos, a soulmaster, and an ethereal firelord.
(Carnifex): Moirean says, "Someone's a clever boy."
Kiershu gives the world a smart salute.
You have emoted: Aldric stands in a rather upright position, his back straightened in what seems to be quite the display of proper posture despite the more ominous undertones of the courtyard. At his side stands an enormous wraith that shifts and distorts with every motion it makes, its form vaguely resembling that of a troll bandit. Where the bandit's eyes would normally be, however, are instead two practically abysmal pits that swirl with endless depth.
Kiershu brings a lit shisha cigarette to her lips and takes a long drag.
look Aldric
He is a powerful Azudim vampire and is a hulking figure, the bulk of his muscled mass focused upon the upper half of his body in a way that lends the man a wide chest and bulky shoulders. Eyes a nearly piercing, lighter shade of gray are set above a slightly crooked nose that appears to have been broken a time or two. His skin is an ashen gray in hue that seems to compliment the ebon shade of the majority of his hair. Stretching from the front of his head, down the middle, and towards the back of his skull, a rectangular strip of his hair has been left to grow longer than the short hair around it to form a wide mohawk a crimson in color. Stretching from the shorter black hair atop his head, strips of jet-black hair stretch down upon each side of his face to collect upon his chin in such a way that creates the image of a more rugged jawline.
(Draped over his shoulders) : a flowing black cloak
(Inked upon the back of his neck) : a black-inked tattoo of a pair of crossed fists
(Hanging loosely off of his hip) : a tribal, bone-adorned weaponbelt
(Worn snug at his waist) : a baggy pair of black pants
(covering the torso) : a loose-fitting ebon shirt
(worn on the feet) : a pair of steel-tipped combat boots
Moirean spares a glance at the wraith, one eyebrow raising in silent interest. She does not comment on its presence, however, and focuses instead on you himself. "The chains?" she asks in a harsh voice. "How are you enjoying them?" Her lips twist in a smile as she crosses her arms - yes, arms, for her maimed and missing hand is replaced, gloriously, by a steel gauntlet webbed with living soulstone - over her chest and stares at you.
The stars wink into existence, familiar constellations illuminating the night with tales of myth and legend.
Toz trails in after Moirean, steps clacking unusually hard against the stone. He studies you, wordless, though he returns Kiershu's salute distractedly.
You have emoted: "Enjoying ain't the word I'd use, personally," Aldric replies in a noncommittal tone, a vague shrug of his shoulders that elicits an ominous jingle of the mentioned chains that bind the Azudim's hands behind his back ccompanying the response. His attention is focused entirely on Moirean alone, an eyebrow raising as he seems to make silent note of her newest appendage.
You tell Commander Moirean Seirath, "We'll talk about that later, yeah?"
"But learning, perhaps?" Moirean asks.
Moirean tells you, "Yes.”
Kiershu utters a guttural phrase as she lifts her soulstone. An inky-blackness pours forth to quickly envelop her form, hiding it from sight.
You have emoted: Aldric's immediate response to Moirean's brief inquisition is not verbal, but instead a grunt, his lips twitching into the beginnings of a smirk.
A distinctly wry note evident amidst his tone, you say, "You don't know how much you really need those things 'till you lose access to them. Ain't that right, Commander?"
Barda arrives from the east.
He is followed by a powerful mastiff.
Barda gives the world a smart salute.
A ghastly hiss is ushered forth from a wraith's form in response to the Azudim's comment.
Deepest Stygian night steals over the land as the symbolic hourglass empties and turns, ready to begin a new day.
It is now the 20th of Haernos, year 389 of the Midnight Age.
look Toz
He is an undead herculean Azudim. Form comprised of wiry muscles, his build is tall and thin. His siena-hued skin is distinctly leathery in texture, covered in callouses and rough to the touch. His hair is raven black, worn short and slicked back. His right ear ends in a sharp point and the tip of his left has been blunted by a bite. His face is angular, thin lips concealing a row of dangerously sharp teeth, and his eyes are an icy blue. Digitigrade feet hold up his form, each ending in a three-taloned foot. From his back sprouts two leathery wings - each jointed to allow them to fold the patagium against his back when not in use, safely out of harm's way. Sinuously extending behind him is a thin tail, the tip shaped like an arrowhead.
(worn on a finger) : 5 thin black bands
(worn on the legs) : a pair of sturdy black cotton trousers
(worn on the back) : an ivory leather pack
(covering the torso) : a dashing white corsair's shirt
(around the waist) : a brown leather bandolier
(worn on a finger) : a flamewall ring
(worn on a finger) : a moonlit iceberg ring
(over the torso) : a tabard of the Shadow Keep
(covering the body) : a Carnifex's side-buttoning black wool longcoat
(around the neck) : a sulfurous amulet
(worn on the back) : an embroidered leather bag
(worn on a finger) : a bejeweled signet ring
(worn on a finger) : a ring engraved with the Seirath crest
(worn on the hands) : an iron ylem-binding gauntlet
(around the neck) : an entwined grisly necklace of fanged skulls
(covering one eye) : a clarion eyeglass
(covering the body) : a suit of scale mail
(worn on head) : a dented and beaten-up bucket
You tell Defiler Toz, the Hammer, "You look.. exhausted. You alright? Maybe it's the bucket."
look Moirean
She is a powerful Azudim and is a slender, tall woman. Her sun-bronzed skin gives her a healthy glow, with battle-toned muscles showing clear evidence of combat training, tempered by a curvaceous, rather alluring silhouette. Dark auburn hair tumbles around her shoulders in soft waves to frame high cheekbones and bright, luminous amber eyes. Crimson horns sprout from her forehead, a lithe spade-tipped tail twists behind her and a pair of wings extends out from her shoulder blades, bat- like in shape, but nearly as tall as she is. Her right arm is sheathed from the elbow downwards in an elaborate steel gauntlet, its surface covered with a spiderwebbed network of slender black lines. The delicate etchings twist across the metal, constantly pulsing with flares of murky, warped darkness. She walks with the blessing of Maghak. She walks with the blessing of Iosyne.
(jangling on a thick chain from her belt) : a brass keyring
(stretched tightly over her legs) : a pair of shadowy leather trousers
(proudly displayed over her armor) : a tabard of the Shadow Keep
(unbuttoned, over her armor) : a Carnifex's side-buttoning black wool longcoat
(skimming her torso) : a black, silken bodice
(hanging on a chain around her neck) : an entwined starstone engagement ring wreathed in ro..
(delicately pinned to her tabard) : a jagged ylemshard pin
(set at a rakish cant atop her brow) : a pair of Impish horns
(worn on the feet) : a pair of boots
(hanging on a chain around her neck) : a ring engraved with the Seirath crest
(worn on the hands) : a ylem-binding gauntlet of the Parxian Order
Ser Barda says, "Going to go see to some slaughter, and well, things of that nature."
Barda gives the world a smart salute.
Barda leaves to the east.
He is followed by a powerful mastiff.
Moirean mirrors the smirk and steps forward silently to smack you across the face - HARD, incredibly HARD - with her silvery steel arm. The inset network of flowing souls flares in a dark coruscation and add a cold, draining bite to the strike. She clenches and relaxes her hand, balling it into an experimental fist as she stares at you. A mark mars his face - a tangled knot of pale white tendrils creep across one cheek as evidence of the hit - and she studies it thoughtfully.
Toz tells you, "Worry about yourself, Dishonored. I am fine."
After a moment, Commander Moirean Seirath says, "...and then you recover it." She grins fiercely as she grips her metallic fingers into a fist. "...stronger than ever before."
(Carnifex): Moirean says, "The Dishonored faces his final trial, for any who wish to watch."
Toz stands by as Moirean strikes you with her gauntlet, watching the strike and studying the damage done to your face with a discernible trace of pride, straightening a bit further. Inexplicably, a dented and beaten-up bucket remains firmly atop his head, though he doesn't comment on it or acknowledge it in any way.
You have emoted: The chains the bind Aldric's wrists clearly allow him no opportunity to parry the attack to his face, his head snapping sideways with a rather sickly sounding crack accompanying the motion. For but a moment the Azudim's ash-hued skin pales just somewhat as his expression seems to sink, his countenance comparable to that of a mortal that's forgone just a few too many days of sleep. This odd display fades slowly, a sense of obvious bewilderment replacing the worn, wearied expression as the bulky man eyes Moirean with what seems to be a glance of unsubtle curiosity and awe.
Shaking his head, as if attempting it free himself of a daze, you say, "That.. yeah.. wha-."
Satomi arrives from the east.
You have emoted: Aldric's lips decidedly press shut, the sentence cut off.
Moirean's lips curl up into a sharp smile and she states, "Strength."
There is a long moment of quiescence after this - Moirean seems content to let you sit and wait as she quietly stares at you. Finally, she breaks the silence, her voice shattering the still, frozen air of the courtyard as she coldly states, "Unbind him."
Toz steps forward at Moirean's command, a hammer of forging raising up. As it swishes downward, he seems disoriented briefly, the strike missing - slamming painfully against your arm instead. With a curse, he stomps a foot onto the chains binding your feet, attempting to hold it and you still for a second try.
Riding her chariot of light, the great life-giver rises from her long sleep and shoots a timorous ray over the horizon.
Moirean regards Toz impassively, her steel hand tightening into a fist. "Unbind him," she repeats in the same tone.
You have emoted: "Fuuu-" Aldric begins, his eyes widening as the hammer comes into contact with his arm. "Ain't you the -hammer- of this place or somethin'?" the Azudim irritatedly hisses through clenched teeth. A slight jerk of his arm brings forth a stomach-lurching *POP* sound that seems to allow a brief display of relief to flood the man's face.
Moirean curtly, coldly tells you, "Silence."
Feelings, sensations that you thought were dead. No squealin' remember, that it's all in your head.
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