Heáh-Sittende Cwén Æt Aeld-Stybb

The Mood is Write

Mom-de-Plume
Original poster
DONATING MEMBER
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
  1. Looking for partners
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per day
  2. Multiple posts per week
Online Availability
It varies wildly.
Writing Levels
  1. Advanced
  2. Prestige
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Nonbinary
  3. Primarily Prefer Female
Genres
I'm open to a wide range of genres. Obscenely wide. It's harder for me to list all I do like than all I don't like.

My favorite settings are fantasy combined with something else, multiverse, post-apoc, historical (mixed with something else), and futuristic. I'm not limited to those, but it's a good start.

My favorite genres include mystery, adventure, action, drama, tragedy (must be mixed with something else and kept balanced), romance (again must be mixed, and more.

I'm happy to include elements of slice-of-life and romance, but doing them on their own doesn't hold my interest indefinitely.
From My Writing Thread...
Millions of years, Elizabeth had been a Councilman. She watched people come and go from her life as she clung to them desperately.

Family. Friends. Coworkers. Subordinates. Enemies.

None lasted as she had. For centuries, she fought to fill the holes left by their absences. No matter how she grasped and struggled, fate and choice forbade all from remaining.

Rare was exorcised. Ober, Seela, Kyoko, Bear, and other Hunters were killed. Crow suicided. Martin, she assumed, stopped being able to convince the judges to let him retain his memories. Poppy, Juni, and Sylvia, their nanny, were found dead in their home.

Elizabeth still didn't know what killed the three.

Jerry, Bril, Vinnie, and Victor died for her missions.

Falren—

She was with him when he died. He smelled so strongly of that hero's scent that it choked her. Nobody was left to answer her call for help for him—Sin and Ozy were out of contact and the Hunter organization was entirely gone. All she could do for the man was cradle him and keep a strong face for him.

The tears came in an unending and strangling torrent after the man passed on, but not anymore. Ancient scars on heart and flesh no longer tightened her chest or brought discomfort.

Why she alone survived what those around her did not, she had no idea. For centuries she tried to pull new people into her life to try and fill the gaps, but none remained. Personal choices and fates stole away each, and often it was her own doing.

No, not merely often. Each death was brought by her hand at its core. Each person who walked from her side did it citing Elizabeth's faults—from her nitpicking and smothering to her age and appearance.

The Councilman ceased her efforts toward happiness, but duty bound her to continue extending her protection as far as she could across the loneliness of Existence.

And then she found that even the Unifiers couldn't outlast her. Their base within the void between universes was destroyed by chance as two particles came together, and a chain reaction began that ended with a Big Bang.

The birth of that universe caused such a massive shockwave, sent two universes into early heat death, and the shockwave caused irregularities in countless others.

Elizabeth pondered these and more as she looked out from under her black and obscuring hood at the stranger who stood below. This one would also leave at the whims of either fate or choice. It didn't matter that they'd arrived beyond this moment. She simply had to see to what they wanted and send them on their way.

"What do you seek?" Elizabeth asked in a quiet rasp. Her body didn't move—couldn't, anymore—as she remained seated on a petrified stump, surrounded at back and sides by the remnants of bark. The stump had lush green moss when she first sat to rest weary legs. Now, it bore only lichens in the wasteland around Elizabeth.

"You."

The stranger's answer returned Elizabeth's attention from past to present, and she watched for several long moments. It was an attention-catching declaration, but her pulse and breath didn't quicken. This was neither the first nor would it be the last stranger to say they wanted her.

"Do as you wish," she replied, and her eyes slid shut under the preternatural shadow, "You will find limited uses for me. My limbs are as petrified as my seat."



Lurcolm-Last Tuesday at 12:49 AM


The man in his late thirties gave a nod. He wore scrap armour, The kind a savage would use in a world that had long since reached its peak and spiralled into apocalypse

His scent and expression was sad as he kept talking.

"I'm past the age of raping women who can't defend themselves." He stated bluntly, his gravelly voice sounding like he had used it to shout far too much.

"I'm here to hear the story of the Lady on the Stump."


The Mood is Write-Last Tuesday at 1:04 AM


Rape? She'd forgotten that might be a use for a person. She didn't have the looks for it, besides. Ages ago, it might have brought her pain to think such a thing, but as all things, it stopped mattering.

Lady on the Stump was her newest name, then, to those who did not bother to ask hers. It made her weary to think of saying such a phrase to refer to herself.

"Mm," she breathed in brief acknowledgment before she began, "My name is Elizabeth Leauge. I am descended from gods and cats and man."

Simplified. To describe her full heritage would take so long, and she lacked the energy for it.

She let herself think back to her earliest memories.

"There was an organization when I was young, created to protect humanity. This organization was called the Hunters. I was pulled into its ruling Council, and my first memories lie in those long-crumbled halls."

Images passed through her mind of loved ones from those times, of hated ones, and of those she protected.

"I met many people in that time, but eventually, our lowest servants, living shadows, rose and devoured all. I fled when an ally covered my escape. I started a new organization based on the old, but before it could flourish, Unifiers, the enemies of the Hunters discovered us and laid waste. I was captured."


Lurcolm-Last Tuesday at 1:07 AM


The man sat down on the endless sand and dust, nodding as she explained her beginnings.

"Remnants of these Hunters still exist, Lady Leauge. Sparfek always talked about it when he convinced me to explore the ruins of this world. What else is there? What happened when you were captured?"


The Mood is Write-Last Tuesday at 1:29 AM


"I see," she murmured. After a moment, the ground underneath him rose, forming a comfortable, if firm, stool.

To one side of him, stone rose again, with a bowl in the center. Cool and clear water rose from a hole in the bowl, and filled it to the top. A stone cup grew also, and separated with a clatter, to rest on the table's top.

"Let me rest for a time. Tell me some of your story."

She expected it would just offer a way to while away the time. Perhaps it would please him to believe his story would live on with her.


Lurcolm-Last Tuesday at 1:32 AM


He looked very taken aback by her abilities to make stone, But quickly took it in stride.

"Gabriel Bervor. Captain of the Sandworm's Teeth mercenary company."

He gave a small shrug "Not a lot to tell. I've seen a lot of blood."


The Mood is Write-Last Tuesday at 1:34 AM


"A man whose life is only blood does not know the meaning of curiosity," she murmured. It was a roundabout way of asking why he was interested in her.


Lurcolm-Last Tuesday at 1:37 AM


He gave a shrug, missing the implied statement completely as he spoke "What can I tell you besides that, Lady Leauge?"

"I fought men, orcs, elves and dwarves. I drove daggers in the eyes of dragons and I took on a hydra with a shield on each hand. It's all just blood in the end."


The Mood is Write-Last Tuesday at 1:51 AM


Not clever. Perhaps he just wanted a way to wait until he died without boredom. Perhaps he imagined hearing a story would be a good way to spend his remaining time. How long was it that humans lasted? Forty years? Thirty? More than twenty, she was certain.

She remained silent, letting him either keep going or to be silent, himself. This was the first day in a long time that didn't blend in with the rest.


Lurcolm-Last Tuesday at 1:54 AM


After a while of silent awkwardness, He cleared his throat "Lady Leauge? What happened when you were captured?


The Mood is Write-Last Tuesday at 2:15 AM


So it was, it seemed. He wasn't very talkative.

"They tried to figure out what I was. They couldn't remove my robes. They couldn't harm me. They tried, but failed, and eventually I struck back. They didn't like it. They... jettisoned me into the void."

She opened her eyes and stared at the man quietly for a few moments as she rested her mouth.

"As I continued to drift, I apparently left their radius. The Multiverse found me and sent me elsewhere after she allowed me to witness her revenge on the Unifiers. Two particles in the void touched each other. More joined. They formed a center of gravity and absorbed the Unifiers. More matter from the void joined, until it burst. A new universe was born from their remains."

Elizabeth closed her eyes again. "Poetic justice."


Lurcolm-Last Tuesday at 2:20 AM


"Uhhh.. what?"

He looked at her as if she was insane. He didn't know what the fuck she was talking about.

"So you got dumped in the... what?"

He shook his head. "Forget I even asked."

He was getting hungry.

"You hungry? Got some grub back at camp"


The Mood is Write-Last Tuesday at 2:30 AM


"I... don't recall how hunger feels." How funny, something that once ruled her life.


Lurcolm-Last Tuesday at 2:31 AM


He looked at her with genuine surprise "You don't? Sparfek said folks was incredibly important to your kind. It was how you managed to gain your strength. He said that one Hunter could eat enough for thirty men"


The Mood is Write-Last Tuesday at 2:37 AM


"That is true... but I have felt no need to eat since before I sat here."

The differences between a Councilman and a Hunter weren't important anymore. Both were extinct... but Sparfek seemed to know quite a bit about an extinct race.

"Your friend is knowledgeable. If he still lives, he might have an interest in meeting me." Already, she forgot that the man was not clever enough to listen between her words.

Lurcolm-Today at 3:29 AM

Gabriel clucked as he gave a small nod. "That's actually not so bad an idea. I'll go get him."

Fifteen minutes later, a young man with a classic, dusty wizard hat came bolting towards her as fast as his unstrengthened limbs could bear.

"YOU'RE A COUNCILMAN?"


The Mood is Write-Today at 3:49 AM


Beneath her hood, Elizabeth winced at the young man's volume. Still, her voice came out calm and unaffected. "I am Councilman Elizabeth Leauge. I assume you are the one called Sparfek?"

Her eyes took the opportunity to inspect him from her high throne. His hat drew her attention most prominently, bringing to mind history she thought she'd forgotten.


Lurcolm-Today at 3:57 AM


"Sonnovafickingbitch." Sparfek stated numbly. He looked at the women with unrestrained awe.

"I've only seen small snippets... i think... i think this was some sort of testing grounds."

His blue eyes never left her as he gestured vaguely to the entirety of everything around him


The Mood is Write-Today at 4:14 AM


"Language," she muttered absently, but let it drop as she instead pondered the rest of what he said. He claimed he'd seen snippets, and thought this was a testing ground.

For the first time, she actually looked out at her surroundings, but nothing caught on her memory that was in her line of sight. "It is possible," she offered as more acknowledgement than as a true agreement. She allowed a few moments to pass before she spoke again, "You say you have seen small snippets."

Why she asked, she didn't know or really care to know, but the 'question' already left her lips, and she saw no reason not to know.


Lurcolm-Today at 4:45 AM


Sparfek gave a quick nod. "In old ruins that survived to this time. Of steel and magic without mana."

He pushed back some strands of oily blonde hair.

"I don't even kniw where to begin asking..."


The Mood is Write-Today at 4:47 AM


Elizabeth closed her eyes after a few moments. "Tell me."

She told herself it didn't matter—that she was using this to let time pass more quickly, but that didn't stop the small bud of curiosity from sprouting.


Lurcolm-Today at 4:57 AM


Sparfek blinked and gave a nod before he started speaking. His skinny form fidgeted from side to side as he spoke.

"The Hunters left a legacy across this entire world. You can still find surviving ruins buried every now and then. Books still stood, and greater beings lived in steel, though insane and mostly inept."

"They spoke of an order of Hunters that protected this world. Half breeds of man and monster kept on control by even more terrifying councilman. Nobody knows why they left"


The Mood is Write-Today at 5:07 AM


"Insane and inept," she repeated slowly. Had she been younger, she might have joked that she was the only sane and capable Councilman of the lot, and only barely. As it was, she just listened to the rest of what Sparfek told her.

Finally, she released a heavy breath.

"If you wish me to verify your findings, I will require more details of what you have seen."

For now, she opted against saying why there weren't Hunters or Councilmen anymore. The mystery of it seemed to make the young man happy. Life was too long to deprive others simply because one couldn't feel it any longer, herself.


Lurcolm-Today at 5:10 AM


Sparfek blinked, then nodded furiously.

"Could we go to a ruin for you to inspect?"


The Mood is Write-Today at 5:17 AM


"My arms and legs are turned to stone." She opened her eyes again. "However, if you find a method, and it pleases you to bring me, I will make no protest."

She'd meant for him to sketch things for her, or describe them. Instead, he wanted to drag her to see some of the ruins. He truly was young, to be so excitable. It didn't bother her. She soon found herself offering encouragement.

"If that is not viable, drawings and descriptions of what you have seen may be enough."


Lurcolm-Today at 5:26 AM


Sparfek blinked as he lost himself in thought for how to move her. He barely caught her words thereafter

"No don't worry. I'll figure it out."

He started chanting his own languages as he moved his hands and fingers in intricate patterns.

Thousands of invisible strings wrapped around her underside, binding her in that form and stance as hr started to lift her in the air as gently as he could.


The Mood is Write-Today at 5:30 AM


Elizabeth remained still, watching not her own movements, but Sparfek's.

She was heavy, but her stillness and lack of worry eased his spell to some small extent. On the petrified stump remained an indentation of her rear, thighs, and forearms where hey had rested for so long.


Lurcolm-Today at 5:34 AM


Sparfek kept wholly focused as his movements and chanting became more pronounced. He carried her with extreme caution as he made his way to the mercenary company's camp.

There were a few gawking, but no surprise. It seemed that the hundred-strong group already knew what Sparfek would've done.


The Mood is Write-Today at 5:41 AM


The woman remained quiet and still, only her eyes moving beneath her hood as she took in her new surroundings and the people she assumed she would remain with for only a short time. A quiet voice within her mind wondered if Sparfek thought forward enough to have a place to put her.


Lurcolm-Today at 5:45 AM


He didn't, and that became clear as day as he approached the commander's tent and stopped abruptly to look around in confusion. He decoded to keep her in the air until he couldn't speak to the commander with her weight nagging his mind.

Eventually, the red-faced magician put her down on a platform of earth he had raised out of the ground while everyone was having a good laugh


The Mood is Write-Today at 5:50 AM


It was good he could keep two spells going at once. Had she thought of it, she might have raised a seat for herself, but the one he formed was suitable enough.

Strangely tired, and with arms held aloft as though on invisible rests, the woman began to silently doze.
 
Sparfek sputtered out a breath as he finally let go of all the spells he had in control. Gabriel was already on his way to the two, holding an amused smile on his face that stated he already expected the young mage to pull a stunt like that.

"Fancy seeing you here, Lady." The Captain stated drily as he gave Sparfek a small look "And let me guess. You want to drag her to an Iron Ruin, right?"

The mage gave an enthusiastic nod, his hat staying on his skull in brave defiance of physics "Yeah! We wouldn't even have to go too far off! Just half a day northwest!"

Gabriel gave a small inhale, then laughed it out "Very well. We owe you enough as is."

He turned to Elizabeth, his smiling fading just so slightly "You want food? A bed? Or should we just keep you where you stand?"
 
Gabriel's voice woke her, and she lifted her head subtly, but kept her eyes closed—not that any around could see.

Their brief conversation passed quickly, and Elizabeth finally opened her eyes as Sparfek addressed her.

"Thank you," she began. She remembered her manners, at least. "I do not recall how it feels to hunger, and I cannot lie down." She paused as a few seconds passed around her, and a request came to mind. "If it is not troublesome, arm and back rests...?"

She fell silent, then shook her head, the movement subtle. "On a wheeled seat, perhaps, to ease travel."

There was no use in making things difficult by not suggesting something of the sort.

It became harder to keep her slow breathing from slowing further and her eyes from closing again. So tired... So tired, and she wasn't even capable of movement. She might have laughed, if she were capable.
 
Gabriel smiled slightly as he saw her retreat back into lethargy. He expected something of the sort. "I'll have Dennis cook something up for you and Tyson make some sort of moving chair."

He turned around and marched towards a set of tents, shouting before he even reached the things "Hey Dennis! Cook something! Small and healthy!"

A muffled "Aye Sir" came from one of the tents, before Gabriel turned to another and shouted "Tyson! There's a robed figure here! I want a chair with wheels for her!"

A muffled "Fucking 'course you do, Boss." erupted from one tent as a figure started to climb out.

Sparfek looked at Liz for a while before blurting out "Isn't it dangerous? To use silver projectiles if it burns your kin?"
 
A quiet grunt of acknowledgement and gratefulness met Gabriel's offer. Her eyes began to close as shouted orders broke the relative quiet, met by agreement at different levels of enthusiasm. The longer she sat, the more she wanted to sag. Unused muscles in her back ached as her heavy arms pulled at her.

Sparfek's question pulled her from her reflection on her growing physical pain, and she forced a deep breath.

"We trained in dagger fighting. Our enemies favored projectiles, so we concentrated on... teaching strength and mobility. Hunters could get closer and retain the element of surprise... and their keen senses alerted them to hiding enemies, so the same element could not be used as easily against them."

She had to pause often for breath, even speaking quietly. As she spoke again, her pitch shifted as she strained.

"Against other enemies... it was usually as simple as overpowering or tricking them."

Her pitch rose more dramatically at the end, almost becoming a whimper. A trembling inward hiss of pain, and she finally spoke up about it. "I... need armrests. Now. Please..."
 
Both Gabriel and Sparfek noticed how her pain became more and more as she spoke, but Sparfek lost focus of it when the Lady of the Stump told him information that he did not expect. His eyes shot out of his skull as his surprise became abundantly clear in his scent. He would've continued on his barrage of questions if her begging didn't bring him back to the real world.

"Sparfek! Give the woman some armrests!" Gabriel exclaimed to the young mage when he saw the man's gears starting to slow. Sparfek jumped at the booming voice, then nodded furiously before muttering arcane words and gesturing grandly. Two stone pillars pushed out of the earth, pushing slightly against her arms before stopping. The display left Sparfek trembling slightly and out of breath, but he smiled regardless "Better, m'Lady?"
 
Elizabeth sighed, grateful. "Yes. Thank you." In a sitting position like the one she'd held back on the stump, she felt significantly less pain, though a remaining soreness burned at her back, chest and shoulders.

"I surprised you, though. I assume you have questions, now that the armrests are in place?"

It was an invitation—and her thanks to him for offering relief from the pain. She saw no reason to withhold information about a dead organization from a mind so curious to know more about them. The Hunters no longer existed, and neither did their enemies.
 
"Yes just... One moment, please." Sparfek stated as he felt his body act out from his magic use as he felt his last meal pushing up his throat. He ran a bit off to the side before vomiting violently into the grass. Only when the retching stopped, did he wipe his mouth clean, inspect his shoes, and ran back to the Lady.

"Sorry. Magic does not do the human body much good when you overextend yourself." He shrugged, perfectly used to these kinds of things happening as he asked, "I seem to have misinterpreted the ruins. Instead of Hunters, it seems to be your foe. Could you tell me about them? About why you fought?"
 
She wanted to be able to hear and smell his retching and feel nothing, but neither offered any mercy. She felt her throat spasm as her back tried to push her forward to hurl, but instead, she only rocked forward slightly and then returned to her prior position after closing her mouth.

Nothing emerged—unsurprising.

As he returned with an apology and an explanation, she gave a brief nod of acknowledgment.

Quickly enough, he moved on to another topic, pulling up a different conclusion than before. A very different one.

Was he simply assuming, or had evidence pointed toward two possible answers, so that if it was not one, it had to be the other? He was as flighty as a sparrow, and as exuberant.

Unifiers, though, or someone else? Unifiers had been their longest-lasting foes, who caused the most damage and resisted obliteration like roaches until the new birth that destroyed the head of the beast.

She closed her eyes as she pondered a moment, letting her head rest against the back of her seat before she answered.

"We had many foes, but the worst of them called themselves Unifiers. They wore teal, and fired silver bullets, and tried to merge all planes into one, seeking the average of existence as their ideal utopia. To them, there should have only ever been one plane—one universe, ever-expanding with no limits."

A quiet pang in her chest made her wonder what caused it, but she opted to ignore it and keep on.

"They were an army, nigh-infinite, and they possessed superior martial strength, but we survived by remaining hidden for a very long time."

Until they didn't.

"They lived in compounds, with buildings of metal, concrete, and other tough materials. They possessed technology far beyond what our order could create, and they sought conquest of the populace through gaining sympathy and performing favors. Their humanitarian acts were without peer."

It was getting harder to keep talking. Her mouth wanted to stop moving, as did tongue and throat.

"But despite all the good they might have done, they wanted to turn the vast and beautiful multiverse into a solitary universe."

A heavy sigh.

"I cannot fathom how they convinced so many to join such an idiotic cause."