WEEK 2 - EXECUTION

[foundationmods]

EXECUTION

Just like before, you all get up in the morning...but you know that after today, there will be less of you.

The Lady appears again, leading you all up the stairs to the third floor, just like before. You arrive at the chapel - where a screen near the altar is already playing a video, the sound of the most beautiful instrument in the world washing over you all as you take a seat in the pews.

The Lady puts down some tarp near the altar, as if expecting this to get messy. When she's finished, she sets her gaze on all of you, her beautiful face somehow awful during this moment before someone dies.

"Good morning. Shall we begin this execution?"

Comments

[duskhound]

We did some testing after the trial last night. We had to use some samples from the puppy though, so the only thing we managed to figure out in the end was that it's immune to fire.

[dereban]

I mean, he also did say [ in the worst Flat imitation that she can muster, on purpose: ] "Your futile attempts will not stop me, even if this body is set in flames," so that was a pretty strong hint against fire, too.

[duskhound]

That's true, but I still wanted to check for myself.

[dereban]

Well, checking is always good in any case. It's useful.

[swordhandled]

I'd hesitate to trust whatever he says, but it's good to have that confirmation.

[dereban]

I mean. . . [ waves hands ] . . . fair enough? At least we do have that confirmation. Which is. Good.

[swordhandled]

Yeah, let's hope that Cinque picks right...

[geckodad]

The odds aren't on our side.

[He hopes she does pick right, but...realistically, it's not very likely]

[swordhandled]

No, a one of six chance, eliminating fire.

Still better than one in seven.

[tacticalespionageaction]

[...]

What did you do to the dog?

[duskhound]

One of the doctors did some surgery to remove some excess skin and fat. It didn't seem like it was in any pain, and it was sutured up and bandaged within a few minutes. From what I was told, it shouldn't run around for a while, but otherwise it's fine.

...Honestly, it was really impressive to see.

[tacticalespionageaction]

[Hnnrgh.]

...Good. Might be useful to keep it around a bit longer.

[And, despite everything, he still has some fondness for it. But that's best left unsaid.]

[resortghosts]

[ding!]

You may rest assured, 'Duke Pinkington' has not come to any harm -- my surgical skills are second to none. And I will ensure that he will not be held responsible for the actions of his.... 'parent'.

[tacticalespionageaction]

[Oh, hi Szayel. Does he message back or speak out loud? He guesses he's listening in, so...]

Duke Pinkington?

[There are worse names...probably.]

I can help make sure no one tries anything. Keep an eye on him. I doubt anyone would be willing to get through me.

[resortghosts]

[that seems to work, because he answers!]

... Not my idea, but Miss Cinque seemed intent on him having a ridiculous name. It was a compromise. I usually just call him "Duke".

Haha! Yes, you are a tough customer. He'll be in good hands. The problem is I have no way to prevent him from slipping between spirit form and physical form, so walls aren't exactly a barrier.

[tacticalespionageaction]

"Duke", huh? I can work with that.

[Snake prefers names with very few syllables. Frank, Meryl, Miller...any longer than four and you're gonna need a code name.

He reads the rest of the message, and makes a hrrnnmmhh kind of grunt; a grunt of contemplative thought.]

You think he could be trained? If we could get him to do it only on command, it might help.

[resortghosts]

An elegant name for an elegant creature.

[and less ridiculous than the alternatives]

Trained? Ah. I hadn't thought of that. The pup does respond well to treats of meat, both cooked and raw. I think food could be used as a motivator. I will admit, though, I have no experience in training animals.

[tacticalespionageaction]

[You're in luck, Szayel.]

I've raised dogs before. Had fifty of them, myself.

[Once you've taken care of that many you've kind of earnt it as a dog trainer.]

They were more...tangible, though. It might take a bit of work.

[resortghosts]

Fifty??

[that is a lot of dogs. But, he has about that many Fraccion, so...]

I don't think the barghest is actually a dog. But-- the behavior seems similar enough. Whatever it is, it's definitely a predator, and I think all the usual training there could apply. Can I count on you to help me with this?

[tacticalespionageaction]

Yeah, fifty. Used to be a musher.

[In hindsight though, maybe all the dogs were a weird coping mechanism. Time to not think about that and the implications of trying to raise this helldog with that context.]

I'm not sure if it can be fully domesticated...but you can count on me to try.

[resortghosts]

Ah, I see. One of those people who uses dogs to cross the snow, yes?

I'll take "tame", honestly.

[tacticalespionageaction]

Yeah. Not half bad at it either.

[Which also comes with using dogs to cope with your PTSD: you sink all your time into it.]

Tame works. A wild animal will always be a wild animal, but...I'm not sure how much these actually are.

[resortghosts]

[that seems like a perfectly healthy and reasonable thing to do]

I'm not sure it's even an "animal" by our standards. But... the behavior seems similar enough.

[tacticalespionageaction]

[Hnrnrghh]

We'll work with it for now, until we have a better idea. Maybe we'll learn more about it along the way.