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  • Beqanna

    COTY

    Assailant -- Year 226

    QOTY

    "But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura


    Mother of monsters - Ripley and co.
    #1
    She did not keep her monsters leashed.  She knew better than to try to keep them tethered, tied up, or locked away.  They were bound to her, yes, she kept their urges sated so that they did not consume Beqanna.  But she did not stop them from wandering.  She wouldn’t empart such cruelty upon those most loyal to her.

    She always remained mentally linked to them - an invisible tether between her mind and those of her magnificent monsters. And today, the monsters were restless. They had wandered far from the shadows in the forest, into a great expanse of desert.

    She could feel the curiosity through the bond...that and the ever-present hunger.

    It had been a long time since the pair had wandered so far, and the shadow-mare was intrigued by this new development.  So the shadowmare followed her creatures.  She stepped into the void of shadows and emerged under the bright sun of Pangea.

    She’d long since forgone diplomacy. There was no polite pause at the border for an invitation. Aside from her beasts, it seemed very few called this place home.  She could sense so few, so there was nothing to give her pause as she set out to investigate.  This land was...intriguing. She had never spent much time in the desert - but there was a beauty in the desolation here.

    She spoke directly into the minds of the monsters - luring them to her, not forcing them to her side. “Come to me.”

    @[Ripley]
    Sorry no HTML!
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    #2
    here comes a candle to light you to bed
    here comes a chopper to chop off your head


    They had tired of the forest, gorged themselves on deer and hunted dragons to no avail. Perhaps it was in part the proximity to their master – an electrical undercurrent keeping them from settling. Not that they were capable of settling or any form of peace – but their restlessness had been growing until they could cease it no more.

    So they left the forest, their first hunting grounds in this new Beqanna, and went in search of another.

    The mountains called to them and in the dark of night they slipped across borders they had no care for and began scoping out the canyons and desert.

    Oh, how many traps they could set here.

    They were feasting on the product of the day’s hunt when they felt it. A lure more than a summons, but it had the same weight. Neither the monster nor her daughter would have ignored the call of their master. Their loyalty was iron-set, enhanced by magic.

    After all, Anaxarete always brought them to the best meals and that was something they would never forget.

    Although they truly belong in darkness, the sharp images that the monsters cut in the daylight surely make them more intimidating. Their armour dull in the bright sunshine except for where the splatters of fresh blood glisten on silver teeth and hooves.

    A low clicking noise serves as the only greeting they can give to their master as they come before her. Neither of their minds are capable of true thought, not any more, but they are alert and the restlessness of the day is giving way to an undercurrent of excitement.

    What will they do next?


    ripley & nostromo
    XXVIII-----



    @[Anaxarete]
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    #3
    They came to her.
    She knew they would.

    They were magnificent creatures. Otherworldly, even though they had been born of mortal blood.  They were violent from the moment of their birth, coming into this world in a haze of blood that gore that never truly left them as they grew. 

    The bloodthirst could never truly be sated, and hunger had the potential to drive them insane. That is where she interfered - keeping them sated.  Keeping them safe. If allowed to rampage through Beqanna she feared that they would be hunted and butchered.  So instead, she ensured they were sated just enough not to be a threat - until the opportune moment when they would be unleashed.

    Their minds were not at all comparable to the equine mind. There was no mortality, no restraint, no moral foundation.  There was only hunger.  Bottomless, depthless, hunger.

    “What have you found?” She speaks to them mentally, in a way they will understand, hoping they can convey to her what it is they’ve discovered here - what force drew them out of the shadows and into the sun.
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    #4
    here comes a candle to light you to bed
    here comes a chopper to chop off your head


    There's only one creature in Beqanna that could ask a question of monsters and get a response - get a response that is not a swift bite to the face, that is. The pair are quick to answer, both in their minds - for there is no part of them they would not willingly give to their master - and in a series of clicks that serves as their language.

    This land, the canyons and trees, the twists and curves of it. The animals that live here, including a few that had fallen to the hunters just moments ago. How they had not yet crossed paths with any of the horse-creatures that dominate Beqanna. Certainly, there must be residents here - their scents linger - but no one was unlucky enough to cross paths with the pair in the short time they had been here.

    As much as they can like anything, there's a hum of approval from the monsters as they share what they can with their master. This land poses challenges for their hunts and caves that could host dozens of eggs.

    And it reminds them of the Valley, of the pit and how they had gorged on flesh and hearts on that glorious day so long ago.

    At the end of their report is a question - will there be another such feast?

    ripley & nostromo
    XXVIII-----

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    #5
    They do not tell their mother-master, rather they slowly reveal themselves in a series of images and emotions. It would be alarming if this will not well practiced between the trio. She can feel their excitement, smell the fresh blood, sense the places they wanted to investigate further.

    Even monsters can sense the promise in this place - the potential that lurks in the shadows and crevices cut in the dry earth.

    They also share memories with her - memories of a time when Beqanna was different. Memories of a time when Beqanna was perhaps more dangerous - more unpredictable than it currently is. Perhaps that’s what this place needs now - a reminder of what the world used to be like. A reminder of how it could so easily be tossed into chaos again.

    She would not be an observer.
    She would not doom those loyal to her to live as outcasts - restrained to the shadows.
    Her shadows.

    “Go on,” she spoke - both outwardly and into their minds. With the thought she granted her permission - freed them to nest in the canyons and caves. To feed. To feast. For she knew they would come if she called them. They always did. And she loved them for it.

    With that the shadowmare turned her gaze towards the heart of the quiet kingdom. The monsters were right. There was potential here.

    It was time for her to coax it from the shadows.


    @aliens
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