/K/ is closed for a bitFollow

I have no idea what this thread is about (except Spoonless' post about Josh Hamilton), but I think it's my favorite on ZAM right now.

And Hamilton is a left-handed power hitter. They have a knack for staying relevant into their early 40s. See: Bonds, Barry; Ruth, George Herman "Babe"; Mays, Willie; Thome, Jim; and Palmeiro, Rafael.

Ignore the fact that at least 2 of those 5 are either suspected or admitted steroid abusers please.

See, I don't even know what /K/ is, which was sort of my original point.

It's closed while he's remodeling it.

Partially because it's kind of an ongoing thing I wouldn't want getting lost in the thread of randomness, and partially because I was considering making the discussion thread in =5 anyway, I've put the continuation of our Heroic Age thread in =5. I know this isn't in keeping with my plan to keep all /k/ things in this thread, but I felt it was appropriate here.

Since I'm sure you're all dying for a followup:
Elements part of campaign scrapped, so changed type of rampaging monster. Also altered storyline a bit to add in some more impetus for evil.

SpoilerLillian Promeio
House Promeio and the Game of Rulership: In infernal Cheliax, it is well known that many of the noble houses use devils as tools to increase their power. Few, however, take it to the same extreme as House Promeio. Long has this family been calling on the power of not only devils, but also other creatures too terrible to mention. Eschewing the powers of traditional wizardry and sorcery, every child of the family is trained in summoning from an early age. The children mind their studies well because it is known that the strongest summoner becomes the head of the household, including the house’s title and treasury, when the current one dies.

Not content to play by the rules, some of the younger members of the family seek to improve their positions not through study, but by eliminating their competition. In some families, this kind of murder might not be tolerated. However, House Promeio is not most families. In the time when Lillian was born, the current head of the household had twelve adult children. Each of these had given birth to an average of a few more than eight children each. And all generations before had followed similar patterns. So it was that House Promeio could afford the deaths of a few of its members with little consequence.

After a generation or two, the murders were not only accepted, but encouraged. It became a sort of game, watched over by the older generation. As long as the rules were followed, victors were celebrated and those who fell were simply forgotten. The rules were simple. The older generation could not become directly involved. People under the age of fifteen were not to be harmed. No witnesses could be left, though members of the same generation could not act as witnesses, nor could servants. And finally, while venom coated weapons were fine, ingestible and contact poisons were not allowed, due to the risk of accidentally killing the wrong target.


Natural Allies and a Loss of Innocence: As noted already, the Promeio family was quite prolific. So it was an anomaly that one of the youngest siblings produced only three children. The first, Alena, showed no talent for summoning. Knowing that showing such a weakness invited attacks from her cousins, she placed herself in exile from the family, fleeing on the eve of her fifteenth birthday. This was much to her liking, as she was keen to travel. Eventually, she became a cleric, spreading the word of Desna, goddess of freedom and luck, creator of the starry heavens. She left behind two younger sisters, Alessia and Lillian, aged eleven and two, respectively.

A family so small was at a disadvantage as each group of siblings tended to band together against their cousins while settling ranking order among their family via less final means than death. So it was that when Alessia turned fifteen, she was alone against quite a few older cousins. For a time, she took care to keep herself out of situations where she could be attacked without leaving witnesses. As with all things of this nature, all it took was one mistake.

In the Promeio family, fifteenth birthdays were a huge deal. Aside from the head of household’s yearly birthday party, they were the only time the entire extended family would get together. It was at one of these where Alessia lost her life. Six year old Lillian was lured away into the garden by a slightly older cousin. Alessia, upon noting her sister was missing, became panicked, worried for the safety of the young girl. So she quietly inquired whether anyone had seen Lillian, and quickly followed the trail into the garden.

It was there, away from the watch of any adults, that she was ambushed by four older siblings of the boy who had led Lillian away. She summoned her eidolon to her side and fought valiantly, but against so many she was doomed to fall, though she did manage to scar one of the others before finally falling.

As Alessia fell, Lillian, who had been held and forced to watch as her sister was brutally slain before her, rushed to the dying girl’s side. With her last breath, Alessia told the little girl to grow up strong so that she would not suffer the same fate. Lillian led her parents to Alessia’s body immediately. Unfortunately, she was unable to bring her testimony to the family, as her age did not permit her to act as a witness.


Alone: After the death of her daughter and the self imposed exile of her first, Lillian’s mother could not contain her grief. So it was that after burying Alessia she drank a fatal dose of hemlock and joined her daughter in death. In his grief, Lillian’s father became withdrawn, unable to do more than just barely function. Even comforting his daughter was beyond him, so Lillian found herself alone.

In her loneliness, she reached out to those around her. Servants, those ignored by the rest of the family at best, horribly mistreated at worst, became her only source of companionship. Not just the servants of her own family, but those of the other households within the Promeio family, it did not matter to her. To them, she was a breath of fresh air, a noble who treated them with respect and even compassion. To her, they were all that sustained her… all that kept her from feeling utterly alone.

She also devoted herself to her studies, determined to become strong enough to avoid the same fate as her sister. However, she did not just study the summoning arts. She learned anything anyone would teach her, from simple household chores to marksmanship to acrobatics. She even learned military history and tactics from one servant’s elderly father, a retired lieutenant. She was unsure which skills would serve her best, so she felt it was best to learn everything.

A Different Solution: Despite her hard work and study, Lillian showed only marginal capability with summoning. Truly, she could summon lesser monsters, but seemed completely unable to conjure an eidolon. So, when she took a carriage into town on the eve of her fifteenth birthday, all expected her to flee like Alena. She had decided that she would not give them the satisfaction.

When she was announced at her birthday party, all attention was on the door she would enter by, though none expected her to show up. It was that much more surprising when she arrived, not by the entrance everyone expected, but through the door that led only to the second floor balcony. Her face was a stone cold mask, betraying no emotion.

But that wasn’t what sent hushed whispers murmuring through the crowd. That honor belonged to her companion. Nearly six and a half feet tall and broad shouldered, his face, hair and body were all obscured by his long coat, wide brimmed hat and the scarf around his mouth and nose. Even his eyes were hidden behind some kind of goggles. What wasn’t hidden was the pair of falcatas on his back.

“I’ll say this only once,” the man said, his baritone voice booming through the grand hall. “Mistress Lillian is under my protection. Any who would bring her harm will know swift and unmerciful death.”

“That is quite enough, Belkross,” Lillian said coolly. “Come now, grandfather, aunts, uncles, cousins. Let us celebrate. This is a party, after all.”

An angry murmur ran through the room. The sheer gall of this girl, to bring a mercenary into their family’s business, completely enraged the onlookers. All except one. Her grandfather suddenly burst into laughter. “Well played, my girl. It was time we saw some guts displayed in this family. Everyone know that I am hereby granting this one exception, due to lack of an eidolon, for it is only right that each and every member of the family have their own guardian.”

So it was that the girl was no longer alone.

Victory or Death: Even though murder amongst cousins was encouraged, most sought to play the long game, working to their best advantage rather than simply killing as soon as opportunities arose. Because of this, it was rare for more than a half dozen to die in a year. So far, only twenty two had fallen or fled into exile. Within Lillian’s first week, thirteen of her relatives had met early demise. So long had the servants been ignored that no one considered that anything said in their presence might filter its way to their new rival, so no care was exercised when planning attacks on the seemingly disadvantaged girl.

Because of this knowledge, she was always ready for them. Using her knowledge of military strategy, she would set up clever ambushes, taking her foes out as they were attempting to prepare their own ambushes. Each body was found under the same conditions: the tendons in the wrists and ankles were cut, the tongue cut out and a single crossbow bolt right between the eyes finished the deed.

One time, she even took on a fight four against one, fittingly the same foes who had killed her older sister. They managed to convince her to meet them alone, without her mercenary, under the pretense of making an alliance. Upon seeing her alone, they began summoning their eidolons to make quick work of her. The first ballista bolt disabused them of their plan. Belkross fired the second ballista, managing to knock out one foe by hitting him with now airborne body of his sibling. Lillian drew a crossbow and finished the final fleeing enemy with a well placed shot to the back of the skull.

When he awoke, the fourth person found himself in great pain and unable to move his hands or feet, the tendons already cut. “You’ve finally awakened, cousin,” Lillian addressed him. “I wanted to take a moment to thank you. By holding me and forcing me to watch as Alessia died all those years ago, you taught me a valuable lesson. Please, allow me to show you my thanks with a bit of truth of my own. Belkross, show him.” The man removed his scarf and goggles, giving the boy a good look at his face.

“An eidolon!” the boy gasped.

Lillian smiled. “Indeed.” She aimed her loaded crossbow at his face. “I will grant you a mercy. I will not force you to spend your remaining nights waking up terrified as you relive the deaths of your loved ones. I will not let you suffer as your mother dies of grief and your father turns away from you. No, you’re simply going to become nothing more than a memory. An afterthought. Goodbye, cousin.” With that, she pulled the trigger and he died like so many others before him.

Promeio’s Swan Song: The sudden rash of deaths drove the family into new levels of paranoia. Arms were worn openly, eidolons walked alongside their masters openly everywhere and one member of the family was driven to seek power in forbidden magic. It was this last that spelled the doom of the family.

It was known that devils could be controlled, bound by the terms of their contracts, but that other fiends could not be trusted. Still, driven to desperation, one young man sought the raw power only found in daemons. So he studied for a fortnight, the war raging all around him. Then he came out of seclusion and drew the spell to summon a Thanadaemon, servants of the Horseman of Death, Charon.

Unfortunately for him, he made a mistake and summoned a Temerdaemon, fittingly the personification of accidental death. His mistake meant that the runes of control which would have protected him were the wrong ones. The daemon tore him apart quickly and raged about, slaughtering most of the rest of the family in short order. It was only when House Thrune sent in the Hellknights that the beast was brought down.

Thanks to Belkross’ quick efforts and several already prepared ballistas slowing the monster down, Lillian managed to escape. With her family finally gone, she was left no choice but to wander, using her intellect and Belkross’ skills to find a place in the uncaring world.

Edited, May 14th 2012 3:27am by Poldaran

I'm enjoying it, though I agree that the next one should probably include =5 as well.

I'm not having problems with that in English. Her voice is completely soothing.


Edit: Didn't want to make a new post and double post it, but the ending to Mermaid was pretty good. You still on episode 4, Al?

Edited, May 16th 2012 12:20am by Poldaran

My guess is that it was sometime between this morning when I last checked to see if /k/ was back and when you discovered it.

Does this mean I have to leave =28 now?

Yes.

This ominous looking moon says so.

Totally using part of this as my Wallpaper.

Man, I love Tony's work.

Edited, May 16th 2012 9:07pm by Kirby