Give the man (or woman) a medal! Or in this case, two votes.
I was hoping someone would get it. I wasn't expecting that everyone would.
----
Eve glanced to her left; a stone wrist was now visible along with the hand, protruding from behind the rack.
Her eyes flicked back to the center - and the statues had moved. Both had lowered their hands to chest level, and were looking straight at Eve. Their cold, empty stone eyes betrayed no emotion as they locked gazes with Eve...
She glanced to the left. A whole stone arm was now visible.
Back to the centre. They'd shifted closer, hands completely lowered, stone wings raised behind them. They were just... staring. Eve stared back, trying desperately not to blink.
A single bead of sweat rolled its way lazily down the back of Eve's neck.
So, Option C, because you're all wusses and apparently no-one wants to tackle the Angels head-on. Weird...
-----
Unfocussing her eyes, Eve finds it's just about possible to see all three statues at the same time. Barely.
Edging away tentatively to the path on her right, Eve keeps her eyes open, trying desperately not to blink. They only seem to move when she's not looking at them, after all. Moving slowly, Eve makes it behind the wine-rack - and now can't see any of them. Shit. She presses her back right up against the wall and flicks her vision furiously left and right; at least she should be able to see them approaching this way.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" she calls, albeit with much more confidence than she actually feels.
These things are nasty...
Deciding to get out of here as quickly as possible, Eve inches down the aisle, still looking left and right. She makes good pace... is it possible she could get out after all?
The light bulb starts to flicker.
"Oh for fuck's sake!" Eve cries. It wasn't casting much damn light to begin with, but in the dark... she knows she's completely finished.
She slides faster, still looking aroun- there! One of them! It stands where she was originally, just at the start of aisle. It no longer looks much like an angel; with its wings flaring, arms reaching forward viciously, and some horrifying fangs protruding from its mouth... it looks more like a demon.
Eve backs away slowly from it, keeping her gaze locked with its own. The light bulb flickers again, and in a second of darkness it closes right up in front of her, its face and claws just inches away.
Something cold and smooth closes on the back of Eve's neck. It twists.
*****
"Fuck!" is Eve's first word when she wakes up. She's back outside the fog door, lying spread eagle on the cold, stone slabs.
"Those bastards!" Eve's furious, as she was last time she died (if not moreso - the knowledge she has only 1 'free' death remaining is a surprisingly heavy burden).
Thinking, Eve concludes that stone angels/demons probably wont be swayed by any lust driven magic - but maybe that isn't the only way to get past them.
Five minutes later, Eve has a plan. Perhaps it's not a very good one, but it'll do in a pinch.
She steps quickly through the fog door, and notices two things; one, the light isn't flickering any more, and two, she can't see the Angels. Point one is good, the other not so much...
Regardless, she presses on up the centre aisle, looking around cautiously the whole way. There! Up ahead, a glimpse of a piece of stone dress, and another one's wing. That'll do.
Steeling herself, she launches a Fire Blast I at the wine-rack on her left. The spell shatters the glass and its stand with an almighty crashing sound - and the alcohol catches alight instantly.
There. They'll struggle to put that light source out.
Still looking ahead at the two she has trapped, she jogs up towards them, trying to get away from the blaze. The third one must be around here somewhere...
A chink noise as a piece of glass is gently knocked aside -
"Blöthr adurna!" Eve calls, shooting the spell behind her. Unsure of whether or not it worked, she risks a glance over - and sees a statue frozen in ice, its hand reaching out towards her. Although the stone face betrays almost no emotion, Eve thinks it looks almost a little... surprised.
That just leaves these two-
OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT-
One is right on top of her, arms outstretched, fangs bared, mouth contorted horribly. Eve drops to the floor, away from it, and very nearly blinks - only to remember at the last second that's not a good idea. Crawling along on the floor, Eve keeps the two in sight (one was standing right behind the individual bearing down on her). She shuffles backwards, aiming for the door, not taking her eyes off the Angels...
She feels her right foot pass something cool and airy. The fog door!
Out of sight, Eve hears the sound of ice smashing.
Fuck.
There's no time. Eve picks herself up and throws herself through the fog door, tearing her eyes away from the statues in an instant. As she sails through air, she hears a whoosh, as though something was moving very fast towards her - and then she lands, banging her head on the stone tile. Everything goes black.
****
Alive! She still alive! Laughing with delight, Eve inspects herself from head to toe - some mild bruising, but otherwise fine! Looking up, she sees she's passed cleanly through the fog door. Circled around the other side of it are her three statue friends, hands obscuring their faces once again.
Pausing only to flip them the bird, Eve clambers to her feet, and makes her way up the stone staircase before her.
Another door. How many of these things left? wonders Eve, a faint note of despair in her thoughts. Well, two, the more rational part of her mind responds. Two left. That's do-able.
This door is different to the others; it's golden, and looks thickset and heavy.
Feeling surprisingly timid (not an emotion Eve normally likes to associate with) Eve pushes it open.
Clouds. A big, empty blue sky above, fluffy white clouds beneath her feet. Thankfully, they seem to support her weight easily. Sunlight fills the entire area to an almost blinding degree, as does a sense of something else. Something pure. Eve feels the Corruption inside her shift awkwardly.
Well, it's a zone just like the others... better find a way out.
Or... maybe not.
The clouds are flat, and some distance to her left, Eve sees 5... well, she's not quite sure what they are. They look like men - big, rugged, muscled men, wielding spears, shields and swords - but they're composed entirely of shifting, golden light. As is their equipment. Most bizarre.
One of them seems to spot Eve, pointing over at her. Eve waves back, somewhat hesitantly.
The light-beings lower their weapons and charge.
"Yes, you want to watch out for them," a voice behind Eve says. Looking around, Eve sees another light-based person - although this one is in the shape of a snake-woman, as tall as her. With breasts. Obviously.
"At this rate they'll get to you in... five minutes?" she continues. Her voice has a faint but noticeable hiss to it.
"Whereupon they'll chop you to pieces instantly, of course. No, if you want to get out of here... run east, until you get to the end of cloud, and jump off. The exit is on the plane below." She smiles devilishly at Eve's look of confusion.
"Oh, and I have this for you," she turns round and plucks something from within the cloud. A glass bottle, filled with blue liquid...
"Magic-restoring potion. You look like you need it." She grins again, showing sharp little light-fangs.
-----
Option A) Go over there and slay the light-beings in battle. How hard can it be?
Option B) Go straight forwards and find the exit. The snake-thing is obviously lying.
Option C) Trust the Light-Snake - run to the right and off the clouds. It's not too far, we should make it before the cavalry arrives.
Option D) Question the Light-Snake further, to make sure she isn't lying. (Supply your own questions if you wish). Each question, for the sake of simplicity, costs one minute of time.
Option E) Other.
Option X) Take the offered Potion. Option Y) Don't take the offered Potion.
DX This is a "light" level meaning if we had low corruption the light guys would not try to kill us sadly we have 80+ meaning that "battle" is near unavoidable the snake thing is of dubious intentions so ask simply
Q1: How do you feel about my corruption?
that should allow us to determine her motives
also hold off on drinking till she answers the question IF she does answer in a positive manner ask
Q2: What Gender am I
To see if the snake HAS to lie to us *because of our high corruption*
DX This is a "light" level meaning if we had low corruption the light guys would not try to kill us sadly we have 80+ meaning that "battle" is near unavoidable the snake thing is of dubious intentions so ask simply
Q1: How do you feel about my corruption?
that should allow us to determine her motives
also hold off on drinking till she answers the question IF she does answer in a positive manner ask
Q2: What Gender am I
To see if the snake HAS to lie to us *because of our high corruption*
DX This is a "light" level meaning if we had low corruption the light guys would not try to kill us sadly we have 80+ meaning that "battle" is near unavoidable the snake thing is of dubious intentions so ask simply
Q1: How do you feel about my corruption?
that should allow us to determine her motives
also hold off on drinking till she answers the question IF she does answer in a positive manner ask
Q2: What Gender am I
To see if the snake HAS to lie to us *because of our high corruption*
DX This is a "light" level meaning if we had low corruption the light guys would not try to kill us sadly we have 80+ meaning that "battle" is near unavoidable the snake thing is of dubious intentions so ask simply
Q1: How do you feel about my corruption?
that should allow us to determine her motives
also hold off on drinking till she answers the question IF she does answer in a positive manner ask
Q2: What Gender am I
To see if the snake HAS to lie to us *because of our high corruption*
Well the devil snake did give Adam and Eve the knowledge their kind and loving God kept from them... behind an ankle high fence, on a tree out in the open, inside tasty apples, so we can guess that what it offers is sincere but there'll be a catch.
Jumping off the clouds will probably take us to a Hell themed level, but the next level is a dark level so it's probably a step in the right direction anyway.
Quick question: am I replying too quickly? Is everyone who wants to vote getting a chance to cast their decision? Just something I'm curious about.
Anyway, Option D) and Option X).
----
Eve thinks. If the Light-Snake is right, and those warriors are five minutes away (although they do seem to be closing the distance pretty damn quickly) surely there's time to make sure that she is everything that she seems? Blind trust is probably a very quick way to end up dead in this Temple.
"What do you think about my Corruption? Surely you can sense it," Eve asks. It's the first question that comes to mind.
The Light Snake shrugs, before brushing some of long, golden, admittedly non-tangible hair away from her breasts.
"Doesn't really bother me," she replies. "Everyone up is here is far too goody-good anyway. Gets boring. And stop staring at my boobs!"
Eve wrenches her gaze away, and considers another question. A thought occurs. Maybe this... creature is magically bound into lying?
"What gender am I?" Eve asks.
The Light-Snake bursts out laughing. It's a pleasant, twinkling sound, with only the very faintest hint of a hiss.
"You're clearly a woman. As in female. Unless... you're not a man in drag with fake tits, are you?" She breaks out into laughter again.
Well, she seems genuine. And those light-warriors are getting closer all the time... Eve comes to her decision.
"OK," she says. "Can you pass me that magic-restoring potion?"
"Absolutely." She reaches down and passes it to Eve, a faint smile playing on her lips.
Wasting no further time, Eve removes the stopper, glances over her shoulder (they're closer, as expected) - and swallows the blue liquid down in one swift gulp. It blazes down the back of her throat, filling her with energy. Blue sparks shoot from her fingers, her hair starts to glow radiantly... before she turns and vomits into a cloud. Eve starts to retch, coughing up the liquid - she can feel her stomach clenching and twisting in pain. She's sick again, and collapses on her knees. Gasping, she turns to face the Light-Snake.
"You... poisoned me!" Eve gasps, bits of liquid spraying from her lips.
"Only a little!" she simpers condescendingly, smiling down at Eve. "Everything has its price." And with that, she turns and dives through the cloud, vanishing from sight.
Eve roars in frustration, looking again at the light-warriors. Not far away now... their golden weapons glint visibly in the sunlight.
A quick decision has to be made. Although she was tricked, Eve realises the Light-Snake never explicitly lied... and she has no better plan for getting out of here. And there's no way she can fight off the warriors in this state.
Clambering unsteadily to her feet, Eve coughs, wipes the spittle from around her mouth, and sets off on her way. At first she can only walk, as her vision swings unsteadily, but she's soon very nervous about her 'friends' closing in behind - although at least these guys are less nerve-wracking than the Angels.
Soon, however, she finds herself having to jog; the overwhelming feeling of sickness will be nothing compared to the overwhelming feeling of 'dead' if those guys catch up.
Shit, they're right on her tail...
Faster! Faster! Eve urges herself onwards. It's hard to tell how much further there is to go, the clouds are so flat. Something whistles through the air, and Eve ducks out of instinct - just as a golden spear goes sailing through the space exactly where her head was, not one millisecond ago. OK, apparently these guys mean buisness...
Faster! Faster! One of them's right behind her; she can picture the sword being raised, the muscles poised to throw-
Falling! The cloud just stops with absolutely no warning, and Eve blunders right over the edge - into the abyss. Down and down she plummets, air whistling deafeningly into her ears. The sky slowly turns navy blue, indigo, purple, violet... black. Still she falls.
Eve lands.
****
"So... am I dead?" Eve's question echos around the empty, grey, stone room. It's hard to tell if it's one she's been too before, if it's a new one - they all look so much alike. A thought occurs to Eve, and she glances around - no sign of a fog door.
OK, that's good. It must be a new one then. And that's the traditional staircase.
Eve tries to feel some elation at the knowledge she only has one level left before the 'final choice' - whatever the hell that is - but frankly she just feels tired. So far she's been raped by a gang of zombies, burnt to a crisp by a dragon, nearly fallen in lava, seduced by a plant, shot at, had her neck snapped, poisoned, fallen from an unimaginable height... that all tends to wear a girl out after a while.
Still. Onwards and upwards. Shaking a little, Eve drags herself to her feet, up the staircase, and onto the final zone.
****
An empty archway, wreathed in flame. Oh that bodes well, doesn't it. Eve steps through.
Hell. That's what it looks like. Vast lakes of boiling lava bubble and boil all around her, some splashing worryingly close to the small rock ledge upon which she stands. Thick black smoke rises from the lava lakes, forming huge sulfourous clouds above. Purple and black lightning writhes and spits within them, and thunderclaps shatter the zone intermittently. In front of Eve is a sequence of ships; wooden (bizarrely), with masts, full sails, and piles of rigging. They seem completely desolate, empty - the only noise comes from the bubbling lava lakes (hell, it's more like one giant sea, covering the entire area of the floor). Interesting, above her seems to be a rocky shelf, although she can't see anything on it from her angle below it.
-----
Option A) Make your way along the series of pirate ships, jumping from each one to the next. See where they lead.
Option B) Jump onto the first ship, and explore below decks. Maybe there'll be something of interest.
Option C) Climb up to the crow's nest of the first ship, then leap across onto the rocky shelf above. Maybe that way is safer than, I don't know, a path of wooden ships floating impossibly on a sea of lava.
Option D) Other. (Hint - you might want to consider healing).
Heal, then B followed by C, but only if we see no uber monsters on the ledge. If we do, climb back down and A. I doubt we'll get that far, but it pays to be prepared.
