Collaborative Narration

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**chaplaingrabthar**

I'm not as repulsed by the charnel house smell as I think I ought to be. Crouching behind the dome, I hear the voice cry out for Arbyat. Is that me?. Doesn't sound familiar. I see Eyes has gone to check it out. Maybe he's Arbyat?

I see that one of my companions has commandeered a chair leg and is using it as a makeshift weapon. I go to do the same, but a sense of pacifism stops me. I need no weapons Confused, but unable to deny the instinct, I leave the detritus of this horrific slaughter unmolested.

The man I dropped seems to have regained consciousness. He'll have a sore head, but it's better than being killed by collapsing masonry. He wants an appraisal of the situation. I give it to him as best as I can.

"We were imprisoned here. I awoke with no memory, wearing a white robe, much like those two. I don't know if we were captured, if there was anybody to capture us, or what went on here. I don't even know if these robes have any significance other than clothing. I just remember eyes, and a door. Oh, and I think I might once have been some kind of a healer"

Listening to myself, it sounds ridiculous and unbelievable. I don't know if he buys it. I'm not sure I care.

**Manchu**

The stone swirls back to total blackness for a long moment before unclouding ever so slightly. "How many of you . . . awoke?" The voice sounds nervous.

**dogma**

The voice! I snap to the stone:

"Several. What do you mean by 'awoke'? We were clearly not asleep...Who are you?"

**Manchu**

"It will take to long to explain. You must escape. In the room that you . . . awoke in . . . there is another stone, somewhat like this one, atop a pedestal. You must find it. Use it to escape. I cannot speak more. They will be drawn to the stones."

**dogma**

Neglecting my companions I sprint to the pedestal I had previously wished to investigate. Certainty is refreshing.

**Manchu**

There is indeed a stone on the pedestal but this one is smaller (about the size of an orange) and not embedded in the wall. It sits perfectly still atop the pedestal. How a perfectly round object is sitting this still is puzzling.

**dogma**

This is an odd piece of firmament. Still, I take the stone. Robes have no pockets. Damn. Slowly I return; wondering if they will notice my absence.

**Shane**

When a purpose presents itself, I act quickly. (Dogma) sprints off, and I follow at a brisk jog. He outpaces me, so that when I reach the bottom of the stairs he's nearly to the pedestal. Seeing him arrive at his destination, I pause to examine the statue outside of my erstwhile room. Cell? Infirmary? What are these places? Cell seems unlikely, they were too easy to escape.

Now I look at the statue - it seems so familiar. Hair just past the shoulder, swept back and tied with a cord. What might otherwise be angular, noble features are softened by the slightest hint of fat, marred by pockmarks. A long mustache and short, pointed goatee sit at odds with stubble covering the rest of the face. My left hand comes up to feel at my chin - Is that me, then? The statue carries in one hand a belt; on that belt is sheathed a long, straight, graceful blade. Looking at the clumsy chair leg in my hand, I bark out a short laugh.

...But (Dogma) is moving again, and I hurry to follow back up the stairs.

**Manchu**

Excellent, Shane.

**chaplaingrabthar**

I see(Shane) & Eyes head back down to the hallway we had recently climbed away from.

I stay up here. I'm not sure I trust a disembodied voice in a weird black stone. Moments later. They return. Eyes is carrying a black sphere of some kind. I assume that this must be the key to the escape the suspicious voice spoke of.
What does it mean awoke? And why the hesitancy?

I ask (Shane) what he saw down there. I gather my thoughts to myself and head off towards the direction of the screaming I heard earlier.

Someone is suffering. And I must heal them.

**Orkeosaurus**

I poke around the remnants of the fire in the middle room, as nonchalantly as I can. Two of the monks ran off to recover some sort of relic, and when I get a chance to avoid the gaze of the third monk I grab a five inch piece of wood that caught my eye; one end had been burned into a sharp point. I palm it, just in case.

The two other monks return from their little expedition. They need a little holy ball to "escape" from damnation or something. It would be nice to have someone who knows what they're doing here, I think.

**Shane**

"Hmm? I... Perhaps a statue of myself?" Or of someone I used to be. I shrug my shoulders dismissively, but it's a ruse. My mind is racing. Was I a monk? Some sort of priest? That doesn't seem to fit. The blade. That, at least, seemed familiar. It would be a far sight more comforting than this chairleg, come to think of it. "Hard to say, really. Frightfully ugly creature, hair about so long..." This is accompanied by a hand gesture. "Facial hair," and again one hand pencils in the mustache and goatee, exactly the same style I wear. "Long robe. You know the sort," I add with a smirk. "Might have been me. I didn't have a mirror to hand - more's the pity."

I walk as I talk, making sure to stay near the stone. We may have to show it to whomever is sent to rescue us, it seems. Why? What is its significance?

**Manchu**

(dogma) can feel the smaller stone getting warmer as he approaches the larger one.

**dogma**

Warmth from the stone. Seemingly the result of proximity to its larger cousin. I oscillate my steps in order to test the theory, and it is quickly confirmed. Potentially useful. Potentially dangerous. No matter, with no memory the concept of personal worth is alien.

That feels odd; self-sacrifice. As if I had not done it before. I must have been ruthless.; tragic, but useful. A resurgence?

*shakes head *

Better. Must find answers. Speculation accomplishes little.

I approach the wall-bound stone, and hold out my current possession.

"They, Drawn, Stone"

"I'm sorry, but it seems I've killed us all."

**Manchu**

An arc of lighting flashes between the smaller and larger orbs. Some of the power seems grounded in the stone itself but the hairs on the back of (dogma's) hand stand up. The principles of how this device operates flood through (dogma's) mind. One simply touches the stones while exerting one's will to encompass in the mind those who will travel with the operator. Clarity.

**dogma**

Ah, sweet simplicity.

"We're going for a ride."

Though I don't know where the ride will end. Adventurous? Feels familiar. Pleasure seems to emanate from chaos, at least in the plainly disfigured mind that I possess.

I initiate the sequence; bringing all my companions along.

**chaplaingrabthar**

I see (dogma) doing something arcane with two black stones. As he touches the stones together, I'm hit with some kind of concussive force. The sensation leaves me nauseous, and I vomit a little, noticing what appear to be dark flecks of blood dotted among the evidence of my nausea.

Suddenly, I find myself floating, suspended above where the ground used to be. There is a sense of rushing winds flowing by my face, leaving me breathless. As my mind swims back into focus, I see various images of a young man with a thick, barbed scar running down the left side of his face.
That's me. I know, instinctively. I'm wearing a blue robe like those of the slaughtered inhabitants of the prison temple? that we appear to be leaving. I see myself talking to an older woman about the fate of her son.

I see myself digging a hole in the ground a grave?

I see myself, looking older now, brandishing a scourge. I am penitent.

I see myself one final time, approaching a barred portal, with a familiar blue door behind me.

Are these memories? Or are these premonitions?
My fractured mind refuses to tell me.

**dogma**

Impact. A gut shot from an invisible assailant. I feel nauseous, but an odd sense of feeling seems to emanate from it. I remember things, at least I think they're memories.

A face in a mirror. It feels familiar. It also belongs to a heterochrome. What did he call me? Eyes? Can't be a coincidence. It must be my face. A scar runs the length of my right cheek.

Pain! I feel it like its happening again. My knee buckling under stress. Stress applied by a kick from a tall man. I cannot see his face, and his body is a blur. Perhaps the kick was preceded by a strike to the head? I feel he is armed, and yet I do not know how.

The light returns. I can see more of scene which it obscures. A street. Not unlike the one I viewed through the collapsed wall. It's dark, and a hot wind blows. The man, I still can't see his face, but I now know why. The light wasn't simply obscuring him, it was coming from him. The oddness of that fact resonates even now.

**Manchu**

You find yourselves transported to a round room made in entirely of smooth white stone. You are standing upon a raised dias. A man in a blue robe similar to your white ones starts as you appear. He is unconciously wringing his hands. He is looking you over nervously as if trying to recognize a familiar face amongst you. Apparently he cannot.

**Shane**

There is a sudden shift which leaves me reeling.

For what seems like an eternity, there is nothing.

Suddenly, there is unparalleled clarity.

Even through the stale reek of vomit in my mouth, I can taste last night's drink. My head pounds, but not from the sudden shift in my perception. My hand rests on the blade at my belt, though I'm in no condition to draw it. A young boy's voice rattles off an inane question, to which I respond with a growl. "I said lunge, boy! Not step. Lunge, or by your father's beard I'll whip you until you bleed!" My vulgarity shocks a passing maid; her face reddens even before I address her. "Fill my flagon, girl, or you'll join him at the whipping post!" As I let myself fall heavily back into my chair, there is a second flash of oblivion, and I'm back adrift.

A second eternity, and I find myself in an unfamiliar room, faced by an unfamiliar man. At least the hangover has passed.

**dogma**

A man, a nervous man. Excellent. I approach him with menace:

"Who are you, why are you here, and why do I not know my own name?"

**chaplaingrabthar**

At last my teleportation dream has come to an end. As the focus of my mind returns to my present predicament, I see that we are in a perfectly circular room. I'm impressed by the architecture. I'm also overwhelmed by the sheer whiteness of the place. Aside from my recently acquired blue robe, and a matching one worn by a new stranger in this room, there is no other color but white.

I sense that we are on a raised dais, and am immediately suspicious. Is this a temple? Are we to be blessed? Or sacrificed?

I look to our host, who seems remarkably unsurprised to see us. He's not familiar to me at all. I see Eyes is threatenng the man for information. I'm not sure that's the most productive plan in the world, but I'm fresh out of alternatives at the moment. I can think of only one thing to say.

I turn to our new host, "Arbyat?" I ask.

**Shane**

"You'll have to pardon our... Friend," I say to Blue Robe with a wink. "He's always like this when he wakes up."

Still, I back Eyes' play, crossing my arms and visibly appraising Blue Robe. Nervous. Bookish. Frail. No sense trying to intimidate him, he's already as nervous as he's going to get. Ah well. We're committed now, I suppose. You don't switch foils in the middle of a match. One corner of my mouth turns up in a smirk that I hope conveys just the right amount of contempt, and I let my eyes wander from our host to take in the surrounding whiteness.

**Manchu**

The nervous man looks slightly annoyed at the barrage of questions. Still wringing his hands and now pacing a bit, he replies "Ah, ah, and I thought you would have answers for me. No, I am not Arbyat. I assume he is dead back in Velnau." He stops short and turns to you all, spreading his arms. "Welcome then to Temenos. As for why you don't know what your name is . . . well, I have no answer for you. I only know that Arbyat was conducting an experiment and that you four are the . . . results, as it were. His work was frowned upon by the Elders and so he kept all of his notes in his personal library in Velnau."

**chaplaingrabthar**

"What kind of an experiment?" I ask the man, pacing rapidly towards him. I look for a way out of this building, as it's increasingly obvious that the nervous looking man is more or less useless now that he's brought us here.

I have one more question for the befuddled Blue Robe "How & why did you bring us here if you knew nothing of these experiments?"

I hope Temenos has more to than a round room and a crazy old man.

I assume the books we saw being burned were Arbyat's personal library. I turn to my erstwhile companions and say "I guess we need to go back. If any of you can read, I imagine some of those books we saw underground might tell us who we are"

Now, if only we could get some provisions, and some better clothing than these conspicuous robes.

**dogma**

The slight grimace on our host's face indicates that his nervousness didn't result entirely from our presence. Perhaps there is a rapport to be built here.

"I apologize for my earlier address, you must understand that its quite a shock to wake up in the middle of a battlefield."

"However, I must ask, how is it that you knew there was something wrong at Velnau?"

**Shane**

I remain on the pedestal, turning the chairleg over and over in my hand as my companions talk. I hope that the makeshift nature of the weapon makes me seem more menacing, rather than less so. Let my compatriots do the questioning - truth be told, I'm not sure where to begin. Altogether too many questions. Matters of identity and background will have to wait until I decide whether I'm safe for the moment or not.

**Manchu**

"If you want to go back, you will have to find another way," the robed man says. "As for your quest," he says tuning to (dogma) "I did not know that anything was wrong in Velnau until I overheard sounds of violence while communicating through the seer stone with Arbyat." He folds his arms across his chest, tucking his hands into the deep sleeves of his robe and seems lost in thought.

**chaplaingrabthar**

"Who are you?" I ask the robed man. "And how do we leave this building to visit Temenos? I don't say any doors or other egresses."

I make a mental note that Velnau was the site of the experiments that had imprisoned us and stolen our minds. It could be useful information for questioning people.

This scared old man can't be the only one of this robed order. Someone must know something.

I wonder if Eyes' stone could be of use. after I'm done talking to the robed figure, I turn to (dogma) and say "He called that orb a seeing stone. perhaps we can use it to look back a few days and see what happened at Velnau. There must be a reason for such senseless destruction."

Without bothering to wait for an answer from Eyes, I place my palm on the stone and try to concentrate on the chamber I awoke in.

If only I could remember how long I was there

**dogma**

I pass the stone to (grabthar) so that he may continue his experiment. Then, turning to the blue-robed man, I ask: "What is the name of your order, and what is its purpose?"