Sneak peak #3 + Original World Introduction · 7:27pm May 21st, 2016
Like the last one, this one's another snippet from an original work that I'm writing for a game that I'm developing.
Edit 1: I didn't really make any introduction to original work's world and it probably didn't really make much sense posting the preview without any context whatsoever. The introduction is below the preview. Should make future previews much easier to understand.
The library was full of newspaper clippings, open books and on the only table sat a half-empty cup of coffee. What was left in it was still steaming hot.
In the middle of the room sat Merciel, memorising and studying something. A brief look at a few of materials revealed they were all concerning humans.
"Whoa, you've been busy, a'right," Viol said, carefully avoiding the paper as he walked. "This' sum serial-killer obsession." She finally acknowledged his presence, but didn't turn her head to him.
"I was right," she proclaimed, a hint of glee in her speech. "There was a pattern, a correlation. Ever since humans started arriving and calling this place home, the amount of brutal murderers went up exponentially." Viol stopped and crossed his arms, gazing at one of the clippings his sister glued to a wall.
When a Crestfallen or a Silent killed someone, it was no big deal, but for whatever reason, when a human did it she and a bunch of others freaked out like it meant the end of the world or something. It just didn't add up for her to be the smarter sibling and also believe in such malarkey.
"Which's nothin' mo' than just a coincidence," he tore it off and ripped it to shreds."Hell, from yer poin' of view, it would 'ave seem like they learned from us." Merciel frowned. She was not cleaning that.
"And what if it isn't?" she asked him, finally turning to him and piercing him with her gaze. "Do you think I'm willing to wait if I'm right or wrong?"
“Diplomacy, reason?” he argued. “Isn't that, ya know, what you're supposed to be doing?”
“If it's applicable, yes,” she stood her ground. “But this calls for desperate measures. I don't like it, but I'll have to resort to fighting fire with fire.” Viol sighed. He had nothing against them, really. In fact, he liked the fact they introduced new and very clever ways of murder and allowed him to witness a lot of very interesting things. For example, who knew that a Silent's blood contained so much sugar it could be used as a substitute in pastry? The fact that it was purple and tasted like blackberries didn't exactly help.
Not that he knew.
“So, ya'r gonna what, wage a one woman war on all of them?” Merciel shook her head. “Alone?” Waging a one woman war already meant going against something alone. Why did he feel the need the repeat that?
“It'll be pointless to bug the ones that are already here, but I'll watch the new arrivals closely and-”
“You mean stalk 'em.” He cut her off, causing her to give him an annoyed smirk before resuming.
“Try to convince them to use non-violent methods. If it doesn't work, I kill them, fair and square.” He liked the idea; she would do the killing and he would get front row seats. A win-win.
To elaborate and explain – both their world and the human world have varying degrees of magic. Humans only know fire and ice magic, whilst the Crestfallen (avian, bipedal, just one of the many beast races, but they have the largest population) and the Silent (reptile-like, bipedal – developed a very complex sign language before they taught themselves how to speak, hence the name) have a wide variety, including and not limited to favourites such as healing, necromancy and teleportation.
Humans can choose to enter their world via a black, indestructible tower that's built into a mountain and whose doors swing open every fifty years, twelve hours per one opening. Basically, every two generations there's a group of adventurers that goes in, seeking adventure and riches. Mostly riches.
Unfortunately for them, the tower is actually solid and merely acts as a rift between their world and the next. it is also one way only. To further add insult to injury, spending two weeks in that world equals to fifty years in the human world; it's not uncommon for a human to meet his own ancestor or descendant. Most of the humans that are informed of this simpy give up and just settle down; the ones that do not chase legends and rumours, the most persistent one being that Prince Lucien Escheron, the last living royal and heir apparent to the throne, is from a family of riftwalkers – individuals that know how to open and close rifts, and thus knows how to get them back.
No one has ever gotten that far on their quest – the Prince's agents that act on a simple 'do or die' make sure of that. These are known as Gatekeepers, as they are strategically positioned around gates that may lead the adventurers closer to their loved ones.
As such, these two siblings agree that these adventurers should be monitored closely, as some are willing to do anything, even murder, to get even a tiny bit closer to home.
