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Post by Lucca on Dec 8, 2010 10:18:18 GMT -5
Mirriam frowned in confusion. "You don't have a name?" This seemed strange to the girl until she realized that just because this girl could talk and looked like a kid didn't mean she wasn't still a newborn. And babies were never born with names. Their parents gave them a name, but...in this case, that didn't seem possible. "What would you like your name to be?" she started to ask, and then the door was thrown open and another Card came in, demanding information in a loud voice that had Mirriam stand a little straighter from years of being taught how to act around nobles of the Court.
Of course, the little Giraffe ran and hid under the bed, and Mirriam made a worried noise. "Wait! New friend! It's okay!" Wow, she really needed a name. The little Bat turned to look curiously at the newcomer. What Realm was he? She'd never seen anyone with those kind of markings before in her life. She gave him a little bow despite the situation, but for once left the talking to the adults in charge of the situation. That was when she noticed Elodie behind him, and gave a little wave, relieved the Feline had made it to the rest of them. She shot another glance back at the Giraffe, still worried for her.
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Post by Nathalia on Dec 8, 2010 18:22:17 GMT -5
Yarrast balked as the smell of viscerra finally hit his nose.
Wrinkling his snout in disgust, he backed up a few paces and nearly bumped int the Cat behind him.
"My apologies." He mumbled to her, gazing around the room and focusing on Ceren and the Avington. They had the most force to them.
"Ah, I'm sorry I was a little...shocked, to say the least..." He stared around and curled his lip in revulsion and the whites of his eyes betrayed his fear. "Forgive me, I am King Yarrast, of the Durram Veldt. I am here as an ambassador to my people to see her Majesty, Queen Sadie...I found her, but...she doesn't seem to be...very well."
He gave the Bird, Gods that Bird..., beautiful... a pleading look. "I realize this isn't the time, I just hadn't known if this was..." He glanced to the Avington King by his waist. "A regular occurrence...the staff and the silence, I mean not..." He gestured lamely. "Not this."
He stared as the creature coated in gore half vanished beneath the bed and almost wanted to leave.
Wash his hands of the whole mess and responsibility and head back home, plans to the Queen be damned. But...there were things he had to do...
Sighing. he spread his hands.
"I mean no harm. As an ambassador, I'll help any way I can, what can I do for all of you?"
((As Yarrast speaks, Ceren will begin to feel a bit ill and notice a mild bit of bloat around her midriff...she could just be ill...
For King Kushreanada, however, this is not the case.
His body shudders suddenly and he is overcome by a wave of illness as his body seems to swell, horribly.))
~Nathalia
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Post by The Jenn on Dec 8, 2010 19:27:45 GMT -5
Quite a time for an ambassador to visit their Court, especially one from such a remote region. Khushrenada knew that Queen Sadie would doubtless curse the inconvenience of it all, among many, many other things about this entire bizarre ordeal.
"Our Court has never seen the like, as far as I am aware," the avian said carefully, holding himself together in the face of the horror while at the same time wishing dearly that the servants were not so bizarre and scarce. Someone would have to be literally found to take care of this horrific mess.
"As to what you could do, this is a difficult question. Until we can determine the cause for our Queens' sudden incapacitation and the strange behavior of the staff, little that we do will be overly productive. Perhaps we should begin to discuss this elsewhere. I don't believe that King Ezekiel would want-"
His words were cut off suddenly and with a choked, unnatural sound as something within him suddenly swelled. It sapped the strength from his legs and he collapsed to the floor, gasping. At the same time, his eyes bulged grotesquely and he gagged several times, having trouble with breath against the sudden internal pressure.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Dec 8, 2010 19:37:29 GMT -5
Ez vaguely heard the conversation going on in his room. A small part of him wanted to scream at all of them to leave, but that wouldn't accomplish much of anything. He sighed as he grabbed the rather decorative bucket he used to store the odds of his bathroom supplies, poured it out unceremoniously on the floor and filled it with water.
After it was filled he flicked the water off and grabbed an armful of towels returning the main room.
He could feel his stomach churn in protest at the sight of his brother and the mess that was part of him on the floor.
The Giraffe shook in terror from under the bed. She heard the girl call to her and wasn't particularly sure what to do. Scary things were out there, but.... the bat wasn't a scary thing. And they weren't hurting her...? She whimpered as she slowly pulled herself out from under the bed.
Still wobbly with her face painted in pure terror she slowly edged her way out of the mess that used to be her mother and closer to Mirriam. She gave everyone in the room a timid glance, not really sure what to put her attention on. She jumped slightly at the sound of the bucket being set down.
The sparrow dipped a towel in the water and started ringing it out. He placed it over the young giraffe despite her protests and pulled her too him, trying to clean off as much gore as he could. There was a lot of her damnit.
He faintly listened to what the other Kings were saying. As one of the Majesty's Kings he probably should be more helpful. He looked up at the sound of his name horrified at the sight of Khushrenada gagging and bulging. The sparrow let out an alarmed chirp.
The little giraffe's ears pulled back as she looked at the sudden change of the Avington King. "That... doesn't look good."
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Post by Lucca on Dec 9, 2010 9:51:21 GMT -5
Mirriam kept her expression polite as she looked at the visiting Donkey...apparently he was from the Veldt? She'd never heard of such a region, and made a mental note to look it up later. In the meantime, though...she smiled up at the man. He seemed nice enough, and Mirriam was by nature a very trusting Card. Of course, she didn't focus on him for long, letting him speak to the other adults while she looked back toward the Giraffe...and was surprised to see her head peek back out. The rest of the child followed and she came over to her.
"See? I-it's gonna be okay," Mirriam said with a little chirp in her voice. She half wondered if she should hug the other girl, but she was still so messy and icky...ah! She smiled at Ez as he came to clean her up. "I can help," she offered, grabbing another one of the towels in her wingclaws and trying to help clean the Giraffe a bit. "Don't worry, we're just cleaning all your pretty fur!" she told the girl. And it -was- pretty, she could see now that it wasn't covered in blood and ick. Wow, the Giraffe really needed a name. Overall, Mirriam was surprised herself at how calm she was able to be, despite what had just happened. It was only because she was needed, most likely, and later she'd break down.
Of course, all the calm in the world meant nothing when she heard a weird sound from Khushrenada. Brown eyes widened as she turned to look. "Sir? Your Majesty? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Dropping the towel, Mirriam quickly fluttered to her guardian's side, heart racing and choked with fear. What if he was going to be like Zane and...she couldn't even -think- about something so horrible.
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Post by Greenie on Dec 9, 2010 23:41:57 GMT -5
Elodie took another step backwards as Yarrast accidentally bumped into her, and then side stepped him to get a closer look at what had scuttled under the bed. Her gaze drifted back and forth between what must be Zane's remains and the.... hoofed mammal? ... for several moments. Poor Zane... She hadn't even known him long and he was dead. Clearly it was a doomed association from the start.
She abruptly realized that he was the reason she was at Diamonds at all - did that mean her obligation was over and she could leave now?
Just as the cat was pondering her grand escape, the larger Avington suddenly fell down and began gagging as if his windpipes were cut off. She stared in horror but stayed back - she was not equipped to help him. She looked helplessly at Yarrast, Ezekiel and Ceren - weren't they nobles? Shouldn't they be doing something?
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Post by Nathalia on Dec 11, 2010 23:47:27 GMT -5
((The King shakes violently and has about thirty seconds to speak before his entire front half explodes off of him, something tumbling out of his innards snarling and coughing. The death is instantaneous, every organ ripped out as the creature tumbles forth and half of the spinal column hooked on huge antlers.
Once the thing tries to stand...it becomes apparent that it is now larger than the corpse it has left behind.))ID: SD 463 Name: ---- Suit: Diamonds Rank: Jack Gender: True Hermaphrodite Animal: Mutated Canine (Thylacine) Region: Highlands/Avington Dealer: Jenn Parents: Khushrenada x NPC Notes: What...what is this little monster? It has a weird flap of skin on its stomach and everything, eugh what purpose does that serve?... This child is a true hermaphrodite with no visible secondary sex characteristics and his odd face and ridged tail are such an odd mix of...what? Its ridged tail is heavier than one would expect and can deliver quite a hefty smack if need be. It was born as a full adult, approximately 23 years old and has knowledge of the world around it and an odd, shaky attitude. It is aware of what it did to its parent...and seems oddly aloof to it, though the gore has certainly shaken it. Its heavy antlers are hollow and weigh very little, but are also brittle and could shatter in a fight.  Basic Magical Ability: They can act charismatic and persuasive at times, whether or not they actually have the natural charm and grace to pull it off. Moderate Magical Ability: When activated, they can decipher up to two languages of the player's choosing. These languages are in addition to the common tongue and the Diamond house language. Strong Magical Ability: When activated, they can cast a lie-detector spell on a Card of the Suit of Hearts and of a Rank lesser or equal to their own, once per day. Cards of equal Rank would be aware of the spell, but Cards of lesser Rank would not. Powerful Magical Ability: When activated, they can fly for up to one hour. Winged Diamonds can use this ability for effortless, perfectly controlled flight. Jack's Ability: Once per week, they can think of another Card they are well acquainted with and mutter the phrase "gifted minds think alike". For the next five minutes, they are effectively trapped inside that person's consciousness, sharing all of their senses and hearing their surface thoughts. They cannot move and are in fact not aware of their own body for the duration of this spell, so they'd best stash it somewhere safe! The person must be within one mile of their body for this spell to work. Yarrast took a stumbling step backward, heaved, and clapped a hand over his mouth, choking back everything he could. A few whimpers later shows the futility of it. He vomits pathetically out of his nose and mouth and crouches in the corner, shaking ears pressed to his back. ~Nathalia
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Post by The Jenn on Dec 12, 2010 7:54:55 GMT -5
Khushrenada did not know what was happening, but from the state of Zane's corpse and the result... well. He could guess. And he had never been so horrified, so scared, or in so much pain. Nothing before now had even come close.
Though the miserable, gut-wrenching ordeal seemed to go on for an eternity, the King was unable to summon breath or presence of mind enough for speech. He gasped and choked and flailed his wings, but he was unable to even flop back or onto his side from the immense, horrifying changes that were happening all throughout his body.
He felt something hook his spine and move it right before the whole thing ended. After that, he became blissfully unaware in an instant.
The creature that emerged lay sprawled on the floor, its head slowly rising. Brilliantly blue eyes opened and blinked in confusion, and then tried to shake away some of the gore that dripped into its vision. The movement rattled the bone and viscera still attached to it and it froze at the sound, confused. There seemed to be some sort of internal debate going on inside of its mind for a moment. It seemed to settle and slowly the face of the "child" settled into lines of disgust and discomfort.
It tried to rise slowly, its legs unsteady and its thick tail acting as a means of balance. Little of its true colors could be seen through the blood and gore, excepting those eyes. Its gaze traveled the length of the room, skirting quickly away from the sight of its mother and of the other bloody body on the bed. It didn't know what that other one was about, but it had a fairly good idea... no, a very good idea of what had just happened to it.
An unsettled gaze eventually stuck on Mirriam, as the only one to share its mother's markings. "...father?" it tried hesitantly, its voice that of an adult but sitting somewhere between a normal male and female register. "Are you... my...?"
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Post by Kari Muffin on Dec 12, 2010 22:44:53 GMT -5
Of all the things to happen, Ez was hoping that children exploding out of people was a one freak happening. Of course it wasn't. Though this time the speed of it was far more horrifying and it involved more vital organs.
A shrill chirp escaped him as he looked on in wide eyed terror. First Zane, now Khushrenada. What next?
The little girl that he was still holding onto made a yelp before falling back on her butt, dragging the sparrow down in surprise. He winced when she landed awkwardly on his wing tips.
The giraffe tried to edge away from the scene of gore, though she couldn't quite get her footing. Her ears pulled back as she gave a terrified whimper, trying to bury her face under Ez's wings. She hastily found a towel placed over her face.
The sound of vomit hitting the floor made the sparrow's head snapping around to see the sight of the King huddled up. His feathers puffed out. It was like a cherry on top of the madness wasn't it?
There were several options. He could suck things up and try to take charge, he could throw a tantrum, or he could just sit here awkwardly on the floor with the terrified giraffe trying to crawl under him. He rubbed the towel a bit, getting the rest of the gore off of her and replaced a towel with a new one. "Stay there," he said quietly to the child before getting up to open the windows.
Windows. That would be a good small distraction before he had to face reality.
Thoroughly confused the giraffe remained seated. Hadn't someone just exploded out of that poor bird that was a friend of Mirriam's? Shouldn't everyone be more terrified of everything? Shouldn't she be hiding?
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Post by Lucca on Dec 13, 2010 9:53:03 GMT -5
Mirriam's eyes clouded with terrified tears as Khsurenada continued to worsen, and though she whimpered and begged and tried to claw desperately at him, nothing seemed to help. He seemed unable to speak, but he was in horrible pain, the Bat could tell. And she knew...somewhere she knew what was about to happen, but refused to believe it. The baby couldn't possibly be about to explode out of him. It just didn't make sense! Mirriam managed to work herself into a deluded sense of calm, and she took her guardian's hand in her wing claws and squeezed it gently. "We'll get through this," she whispered.
Then, Khushrenada exploded.
It was somehow even gorier than what had happened to Zane, and Mirriam's brown eyes widened as gore and a large shape went flying, as her green fur was spattered with all kinds of nasty things that should definitely have stayed inside of Khushrenada's body. She stumbled back, face white as a sheet beneath her fur, tasting blood in her mouth which was open in horror. She stared at the creature that had come out of her guardian. That wasn't a baby. It wasn't even a child, like the Giraffe had been. It looked older than her. It turned to her and asked...it asked...Mirriam just shook her head, a tiny, nervous motion. Then, she started screaming. She threw her head back and let loose a horrible sound of grief and pain that would probably pierce the ears of anybody standing there. Her guardian, the closest thing she'd had to a parent since her own abandoned her, was -dead-.
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