Creative Corner

@TheCell @Kava

11th October. Prompt: Parasite

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What is a parasite but something which takes from others without payment? There are some who would say that dragons are so to Sornieth. Other's who say that is what the sick are to clans. Other's that that is what hierarchical clans encourage - people filling roles that ultimately serve the clan very little.

Aerugosanguis knows parasites. They're what the things in his skin would be if he hadn't worked a cure and a curse on them and made them a part of the weave of his flesh.

He'd not been born with them. He'd not even gained them as part of his trials.

He'd gained them later, after drastically offending a pair of Necromancers, one of Nature one of Shadow.

Plague and plants. Pollen and microscopic spores.

"Cure that," he'd been told.

It had taken three days.

Firstly, to find them all, even as they ate into him, roots wrapping around lungs, spores in each air sac, fungi in his flesh and stems in his sinews - parasites.

Secondly, to identify them all. Bloodlily and a cousin to cordyceps, toxoplasmosis and some flesh-eating fungal variant. Something born of roses that he'd gifted to Pleurisy before the new 'mancer culled it out of his flesh and stored it, that fed on blood. All of them, parasites.

The third day - the final day. The day he knew he'd go mad or find a way through, the day the fever burned through him hot as the Flamecaller's own. Parasites made particular blessing, ready to be sicced on those who'd try to do the same to him.

They don't expect it of him. He's an Earthborn Priest of Plague, who moved to the Wastes after a fever like the Flamecaller's fires had burned through him and left a mark enough that he knew it to be a sign. They don't expect someone of earth and fire and plague to know about parasites or plants, or to use them.

He's glad. What dragons don't expect, they don't defend against.

No one yet has managed to defend against him and his.

Day 11: Parasite [img]https://i.imgur.com/mI2J2ox.jpg[/img] I like those parasites in fish that replace their tongue and slowly starve them to death so I stuck one on a dragon Day 12: Neutralized Ghoul Azor has neutralized a Ghoul. Once. It isn’t easy to neutralize a Ghoul. For most Necromancers, that is. Azor has the benefit of being a Primal of a healing class, so it actually comes quite easily to him. This conversation happened during a training outing, with Delta questioning his nature and Typheus being as strange as always. Typheus: ...what is that? Azor: Looks like a Ghoul to me. Delta: A what now? Azor: A Ghoul. Someone who… failed their trials. They could not fight off the infection and now they wander, doomed to suffer until they are killed. Typheus: I want to kill it. Delta: I agree. Azor: Oh come on guys. Aren’t there better ways to go about this like perhaps *points at himself* me? Delta: What you’re saying to me is. You want to show mercy. To a failure. Azor: Well, no - Delta: You would rather save it than let it face punishment? Azor: I don’t want it to interfere with anyone else’s chance of survival. It doesn’t deserve that much. Typheus: Delta, he might be on to something. The Ghoul can still suffer with the knowledge that it failed but it also can’t hurt anyone. Delta: How is that a good thing? He could be a weapon! We should slaughter it and throw his flesh to the enemy! Let them eat it and watch them die! Azor: Remind me again why you didn’t take the trials, Delta. You would make an excellent Necromancer. Delta: Thank you. Typheus: Azor, do your thing. Just do it before I change my mind. Azor: On it. ----- Typheus: Why are you mean to him? He has brought nothing but good fortune to this clan. Delta: His unwillingness to kill makes me wary. I don’t trust him. Typheus: He doesn’t have to kill to be useful. How many times have you seen Botox make a kill of her own? Delta: Many!!! I trained her!!! Typheus: After that? Delta: … Typheus: Precisely. Let him do his thing. I wouldn’t recommend getting on his bad side. He might not kill you, but he sure can make your life hell. ----- Azor: Hello. Ghoul: ?? Azor: Ooooh my, this infection looks awful. Does it hurt you? Ghoul: *nods* Azor: Did this happen long ago? Ghoul: *shakes head* Azor: A fresh ghoul, then. You can still be saved. Will you let me do that for you? Ghoul: !!!!! *nods excitedly* Azor: Very good. Now, just hold still... Azor: There. Does that feel better? You look much better. Ghoul: 88V Azor: Good. Now go, before my friends find you. Ghoul: *nods* *runs off* ----- Azor: I did it. The poor guy was completely mute but he’s neutralized now. Typheus: *scowls* Mute, you say? Delta: Oh no. Delta: *whispers to Azor* He hates mutes. You mega f*cked up this time. Typheus: I’ll be right back… Delta: *facepalm* Azor: :o Edit: Removed the images because they were breaking everything

@TheCell @Kava

12th October. Prompt: Neutralised Ghoul.

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Pleurisy has six loves in this world - the same number as he has fingers on one hand. His job, his element, anthrax, strychnine, fire and Neutralised Ghouls.

He loves his job and he loves the plague that gave it to him, thats simple enough. Anthrax and strychnine are arguably parts of his job, but he's found them terrifying and fascinating since he was small, so thats a separate thing in his mind. Fire is... fire cleans everything and sets it back to before, ready for him to try again.

Its part of why he moved here, after all, all the way out in the Wastes. Well, that and Pestilentia. But part of it is a desire to find Ghouls, and in the Plaguelands they're both altogether too strong and too often killed by others.

He doesn't want to kill. He wants to neutralise.

Here's something so many Necromancers forget: their duty is to cure as well as to curse. Any who survive so long with Her plague buried so deep in their skin have proven a strength that none can match. Oh 'servi can be strong despite their failings - he's seen what Testy can do by replicating mutations and using curses to cure and he's given him leave to teach Tia the same - but there is nothing there like the plain brute strength of body and mind and sheer will that keeps a Ghoul alive.

And curing a Ghoul is no easy business. He's read every text on the subject that he can, made all the notes possible, and every last one says that it takes time and focus for a Necromancer to cure a Ghoul.

He's tried before. He knows they're not wrong.

But there's more to it than that - the Ghoul has to want it as well. Some are mad, driven so by the curse in their skin, by the Mother's Plague, and to cure them is to kill them. To neutralise one of those would be folly; they'd commit suicide as soon as they woke. Others are sane, but tired and almost finished. They just want peace and Pleurisy isn't going to take that from them so he can put them through an arduous experiment which may not even succeed. Tia would never forgive him and no matter what others may think he loves his apprentice and sees her failure to be his as much as hers. He wouldn't let her down like that.

So: he must wait. For a Ghoul with enough strength to survive and a drive to persist. With a pain threshold far beyond any else so they can handle having the curse burned and bored and bled out of them. With the will to last, and intent to agree.

One day, he hopes he'll find such. Until then, he'll wait.

@TheCell @Kava

13th October. Prompt: Cornucopia

I... did not have many ideas for today's prompt. Also, tired.

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We are to be Cornucopias of both plague and prevention; operatives of Her hand who will curse or cure as She degrees. It is strength that we seek, in Her name, and it is failure we must cull until only the strongest survive...

-- Excerpt from Guidances of the Necromantic Caste, an ancient text penned by the first Necromancer.

@kmrikkari @Horseleech @SashaFiredrake @Mnkn10 @EssayOfThoughts @Bara2684 @reotheleo @WolfandCrow @StDuke @Pebz @Shadowfire1223 @ToxicSugar @vengeful @WolfTrickster @Scorpiontail @Meilkor @Turboblaze @Blightwyrm


Hey all! I'll be tallying up the entries for this week's Inktober and announcing a winner for the Necro tert gene in a couple hours! Get those last minute entries in for the 7th - 13th. Yep--you can go back and make up days! Just make sure you label which entry you are doing and @TheCell! Thanks :)

9) Ghoul
10) Fate
11) Parasite
12) Neutralized Ghoul
13) Cornucopia
14) Vampire

[this post reserved for the posting of ALL THE DAYS I MISSED due to scatterbrain]

@EssayofThoughts @StDuke @Turboblaze @RoaringSpector @MnKn10 @Scorpiontail @Meilkor @WolfandCrow @Shadari [color=B40404][b]2nd week of Inktober down! I have tallied all the entries and used a random number generator to choose a winner...[/color] [color=orangered][b]The winner of our Tertiary Necro gene bag including:[/color] [item=Tertiary Gene: Thylacine]x1 [item= Darksteel Earrings of Necromancy]x1 [item=Rotting Plaguebringer Effigy]x1 [color=limegreen][b]is...... @Kava ! Great lore entries for your dergs Netsu, Rabia, and Celiac this week, and of course--thanks again for running our creative corner!

@TheCell Day 13: Cornucopia The Cornucopia is the name for the one who brings the food. They are a backbone to any clan. [img]http://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/dressing-room/dummy?breed=10&gender=1&skin=0&apparel=15308,18809,20598,21871,28033,28032,24707&xt=dressing.png[/img][outfit=587431] ----- Day 14: Vampire - I was completely at a loss for this prompt. Enjoy Azor being squeamish. [i]Come on, me. It can’t possibly be that bad! Remember, blood is mostly water. Oh Mother I can’t do it. It looks slimy eeeeeugh No Mother would want me to do it. No chickens allowed here. Who did this come from again? Delta? Oh lord then who knows what kind of disease is in here. Maybe I should… Okay. Now it’s clean. It was probably clean before. But now it’s double clean. Breathe, me. Just breathe. Take it all down in one gulp and you’ll never have to do this again. One… two… THREE DSAFKLVNFEWRIGFONJRFDBGJERNGADFMGEWA NOPE NOPE NO NONONONONONO NO. GAG. NEVER AGAIN. OHHHHHH NO. NONO. NO.[/i] ~Internal monologue of Azor, the first time he drank blood. Apparently it tasted terrible and he’ll just stick to water. ----- Day 15: Fear Seven dragons sat in the bunker. Only Typheus was brave enough to stay at the top and wait for news. Rolas clinged to Tricholoma’s bulky neck. “I’m afraid.” was all she said. “I know. I know.” Trich was no good at offering comfort. “This reminds me too much of the dungeon…” “You aren’t in chains this time. You’re safe, surrounded by people who care about you.” “...Thank you, Trich.” Oblivious to the gravity of the situation, Whitefang slobbered, waiting for a treat. Botox stood over the hydroponic setup that nobody knew she had until just now. “There’s enough food here for… maybe a few months. And there’s a side chamber over there with some meat in it.” Echidna was confused. “Side chamber? What do you do down here that we don’t know about?” “Enough. I already told you that this is the only place suitable to grow food in the whole Wasteland, and what use is a bunker without any meat?” “What about water? Is there water?” “Certainly.” Botox summoned an ice pillar, which immediately started to melt from the heat of the land. “I promise it’s fresh.” “YOU EXPECT US TO LICK FROM THAT?” “What’s your other plan?” Echidna scowled. There wasn’t one, she knew. Sometimes she hated how Botox could outsmart everyone else without trying, but now wasn’t the time to hate each other. After all, they could all be wiped out in a moment. Viper paced back and forth. “What can we do?” he asked to no one in particular. “There is nothing we can do. We can only wait for the destruction to pass,” Lyra tried to console him. “Unfortunately. Maybe our ambassador will unleash the Infection, as payback.” “But won’t that kill us too?” “Maybe. But it will kill all the things that she Seed brings, and it won’t kill Typheus, because the plague can’t touch him.” “So you’re saying a piece of us can live on even if we all die to the Infection?” “Correct.” Cess lay directly on top of Delta. They were having an interesting argument. “You think I can’t lift you?” “I know you can! But you can’t go out there and fight! You don’t stand a chance.” “I REFUSE to sit here and do nothing! I can’t let this happen!” “Yes you can! If you walk out there, you’ll be annihilated! I don’t even know if Typheus is still alive up there! I won’t let you leave!” “WHY NOT???” “BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!!!!” Delta sighed and stopped. Her only weakness. “Fine. You can get off of me now.” “Nah.” Cess said with a grin. While those in the bunker feared the worst, he sat atop the Spire with Stella and Arrow. “I have seen nothing. Do you think it’s been stopped?” “Doubt it. Maybe they slowed it down, but there’s no way to stop it once it starts.” Stella knew about Nature as much as she did about Plague. “What if whoever sounded the alarm was faking, inciting mass panic just for fun?” “Then we will find that person and kill them. No mercy.” Typheus was busier thinking about his clan than about revenge. “Have you protected the bunker?” Stella nodded. “The force field will hold off the Seed for long enough for them to escape, once it reaches them, if it reaches them.” “And what about us?” Arrow was concerned with where this was going. “We will sacrifice ourselves so that our clan can survive.” “Lmao nope. Nope. Hell nah. Y’all have fun being the greater man here but I ain’t about to die. I’m going with Echidna.” Arrow turned to fly off. Without looking, Typheus said “Suit yourself.”