The Day of Thunder

From their hiding spot they see the Harbinger arrive with her retinue containing some especially gruesome effigies one even with a special glowing eye. she was also accompanied by two cultists flanking her the group surveyed the scene looking for the source of the commotion. ----------------- Surpri...

The woman herself soon appeared, scowling. "And just what fresh hell is this?"

[Roll initiative. PCs must go in order, but they have one round on the Harbinger. She will roll initiative once the surprise round is over.]

"SHIBA-SAMA!" She yelled. Her face grew determined as she heard her yell and she burst out from behind the Harbinger, grabbing onto Kumori's arm. The Harbinger screamed in rage... then dropped the fire and started laughing. "That's all right. She's just a doll. There are contingencies... and they wi...

The Harbinger steps between them, creating a wall of fire with a gesture. "Oh no no. Heartwarming little drama you have playing out, but like I said, my purpose for this one isn't finished." She smiled. "And there's really nothing you can do to stop me."

The Harbinger sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. "Humans. Honestly. Do you think Yume-do is just a land of illusion and falsehood? It's so much more than that. It contains access to many places that are as real as where we are now. Which does make one wonder what the true difference between re...

"I think most people want to live, if their choice is that or an ignoble death," she said, looking at her nails. Then she looked toward them. "You realize you are proposing taking everything these villagers have away from them by fighting us, right? They have an idyllic life here. You could, too, yo...

"Very good, Kumori-chan!" She said, giving a little clap. "You got it in one. Though you got that wrong - I didn't steal her life." She sat on the dream bed and pet the frozen Chouri's head. "This poor thing's fate was to die of the lung disease she was born with after spending her life as a thief a...

"Quite a beautiful flower, I think anyone would say. It's rather fitting that all three of you are here - three children no one needed, and yet exist anyway, trying to find their purpose."

"Why don't you two guess what I offered her?" She responded playfully.

The dream freezes and a tall woman with green burning lava walks through the dream girl as if the whole scene is made of smoke, dissipating. "My my my... Nao-chan, I didn't expect you to be back. And a daughter of Shiba! A rare treat indeed."

Hiruma Naraku wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 28, 2023 5:16 pm

When do we pledge ourselves to the Harbinger though?

I'm always available for my beloved's people.

"Sure. This is only a dream, after all," she said. "I'm merely showing her what she's capable of."

She shrugged. "I figured I'd ask."

She glanced back at the eclipse. "Shall we ask her?"

"If what you say is true, that won't happen," she replied.

She seemed to consider, then gestured an open hand to Nao. "Of course... you wouldn't be running the risk of putting another person through it if you did it yourself. Are you confident in your own ability to handle power?"

"I'd make sure the cost is explicit," she says, holding up her hands. "All in good faith. I want to see what happens too, after all."

"Hmm... How about information? It would be valuable for your people to know something about their coming enemy, ne?"

"A little taste of power for someone. No tricks, mind games, or influence, except that they know more is available and can accept if they wish," she said, spreading her hands. "You can even choose who gets it."

"I disagree. It is a fact of life, especially with a Celestial Order that encourages heirarchy. One person will always have more power in a human society," she replied. "So differences in power are as natural as gathering in groups for humans."

"Would you like to bet on that?" she asked, letting the lava of her hair flow over her fingers. "If you're confident that, given power and no outside influence, most people would continue to make the right choices, it shouldn't be a problem, right?" Temptation/Awareness | 7k4 ⇒ 33 v. Etiquette/Willp...

"Well, that's just it, isn't it? You could do it on your own. But you don't have the methods available," she replied. "And if the human mind works like that anyway, then it's nothing I could cause in the first place - it's simply the nature of a human with power. That's the amazing thing about them ...

"Then wouldn't you say that a dream, like, for instance, making your mark on the Empire, or in Akiha's case, blotting out the sun," she said, gesturing casually to the eclipse, "Is still the person's dream? Even if they have help achieving it, it's still their own true desire."

"They come from people's own minds, Nao-chan. Are you saying there's nothing you want to accomplish? No future you would like to see?" She asked curiously. "Do you simply drift upon the waves of causality?"

She smiled. "yume-do doesn't enter our mind... this part of it, anyway. We're part of it."