Thou who open the book of plagues, the harbinger of eternity, will thou accept thy burden and wield power unimaginable?
First. >:D
In the spirit of Outcast back on CLTCG, I thought I'd bring over the Cursed Books RP that he himself invented with his mind. (He's my brother, and he's been making edits to the RP itself for ages. We believe he got it up enough in quality to warrant a return. While he's not going to come to SP here for it, I figure I could try my hand at managing it.
So, Cursed Books.
Cursed Books is about a set of books whom give the person that finds it extraordinary power, at the cost of a curse that will befall them. To be rid of this Curse, the person in question must fill the book with their life story. However, the Book disallows any writing to be done into the book itself, as the ink or whatever is used to mark any sort of writing will be blown away in dust. Instead, the book will write itself.
Depending on how full the book is will also increase your power. ... And the intensity of your curse.
When your book is fully complete, your curse is lifted (If you are still alive after what the curse has done to you.) and you keep the ability that the Book gave you forever. The book becomes any other regular book, and you may do with it as you wish. Some notable people in History that came across such books have sold it as autobiographies once they were done, others instantly threw it into a fire the moment their curse was lifted.
But be warned, if your curse is not lifted, then any damage your book sustains, you do as well. And once your book is destroyed, with no way to continue one's story, then you yourself may not be long for this world...
The format of books are as follows:
Curse: This states the curse the user sustains upon obtaining the book.
Power: This is the ability gained in return.
Book length: How long the book is. This can vary depending on what kind of abilities the Book gives. 'Short' books will take a maximum of maybe two years to fill, while 'Very Long' Books can take a minimum of Ten years, maybe even more.
Curse Strength: This concerns how strong the curse is, as well as the power, depending on the length of the text in the book. Either the Curse and Power grows, The Curse is fully applied and the power grows, or the Power is fully applied but the Curse grows. In rare cases, Both Curse and Power are fully applied.
Curse: Memory of your name and life, even those who remember you is completely forgotten
Power: Have the ability to use the shadows as your weapon.
- The shadows around you morph into any weapon of your choosing, taking on a physical form.
Book Length: Long
Curse Strength: Depending on how full the book is will determine the strength of your curse.
First starting: People often forget your name, but that's it. (Minimal control of Shadows. You can move them about, but that's it.)
1/5: Others begin to forget about you altogether (The shadows peel from the ground; you manifest them physically into the world.)
2/5: You start to be forgotten by history. (The Shadows are yours to command. You modify their shapes, create complete objects, and start to gain energy-like shadow abilities.)
3/5: You are forgotten, except by those that love you. (You can begin to add color to your shadows, and your energy-like shadow abilities grow enough to produce projectiles and beams of sorts that eat away at the very spirit.)
4/5 in and onward: You are completely, and utterly forgotten until the book is complete. (Shadows all around you in a few mile's radius is yours to command.)
Filled: Cured of Curse.
- For the purposes of balancing in terms of curses, a character may not have any combination of the following books at once if they so choose to have multiple books: Book of Legacy, Book of Memory, and Book of Shadow.
Curse: Blindness, loss of vision
Power: Control of Earth
- Can 'see' anything that touches the earth within a radius of 400 feet, like a sonar of sorts.
- Loss of vision is dependant on the amount of words in the book.
Book Length: Medium
Curse Strength: Depends on how full the book is.
Just starting: Everything begins to be tinted Gray a bit. (Small rocks and clay are yours to command.)
1/5: All color is lost from your vision. (The ground starts to become play-doh to you.)
2/5: Reality begins to fade away. (Minerals, diamonds, and the like become easy to find, and shaping them is an easy feat.)
3/5: You are blind, your sonar ability kicks in. (You could probably make a man-made island in a few minutes. Perhaps split a continent, given a few days.)
4/5 in and onward: Even your sonar fades to nothingness until you complete the book. (Earthquakes that register 7-8.9 on the Richter scale on a global scale, anyone?)
Filled: Cured of Curse. You gain your Sonar back as well.
Curse: Become a Vampire
Power: Power of illusions that trick the five senses, and can even make the target feel pain.
- Only Sunlight bothers you: it stings. (You cannot turn others into vampires.)
- You are required to drink blood.
Book Length: Medium
Curse Strength: Depends on how full the book is.
Just starting: No need for it. Though, it does start to taste good... (Trick of the eyes are easy to do. Modifying how people see light is relatively easy.)
1/6: A few drops would be nice. (You can begin to start messing with the nervous system; but you can't seem to cause pain yet...)
2/6: You start needing a pint about once every month. The blood kinda tastes so-so now. (Prick at their senses! Make them feel short vibes of pain, and create the illusion that they are in different places.)
3/6: A Gallon every month and a half would be really great. The taste quickly degrades. (Any sixth senses? You control them now too.)
4/6: You begin to crave it almost all the time. (Their mind, body, and spirit is your plaything.)
5/6 in and onward: You're going to need quite a bit of blood every day. The taste is now atrocious, and you can never get used to it. This continues until the book is complete. (You could kill people with the very fear they manifest through your illusions if you couldn't already. Also, putting many people under your influence is very easy.)
Filled: Cured of Curse.
Curse: Existence does not recognize you.
Power: Change small pieces of Reality.
-Think of Epoch circles.
-Instead of being forgotten, you just aren't there. People don't register you in their sight. All of anything's senses exclude you in every way. You are no longer a part of any divine being's "Plan."
Book Length: Very Long.
Strength of Curse: Fully applied once obtained. Only your power grows.
First starting: About the area that a basketball would take.
Onward until done: Your power steadily grows in area until the ability of which you control these things top off at about 15 feet in any direction from you.
Filled: Cured of Curse.
- For the purposes of balancing in terms of curses, a character may not have any combination of the following books at once if they so choose to have multiple books: Book of Legacy, Book of Memory, and Book of Shadow.
- For the purposes of balancing in terms of power, any curses gained after Memory will have a book length of "Very Long," regardless of what the original length is. This applies even if the Memory curse is not complete yet.
Curse: Become Mute
Power: Super Speed and increased acrobatics
Book length: Short
Curse Strength: Depends on how full the book is.
First starting: Your voice begins to fade. (You speed up a considerably amount, able to outrun or outdo any olympic champion at the very least.)
1/5: Your voice is gone. (Your speed before? Plus 32 Miles Per hour to that original speed. You also could bound over some buildings.)
2/5: Noises you make begin to fade as well. (Plus another 32 miles, your jumping and acrobatics are very much increased.)
3/5: Any noise that is related to you in any way are utterly unheard, anywhere. (Plus another 32 miles. Others mistake you for flying.)
4/5 in and onward: You can't even hear yourself or any noise YOU make. (Plus 200 miles to your ongoing count, and grows until you can go at ~1000 Miles Per Hour. You mistake yourself for flying.)
Filled: Cured of Curse.
Curse: Burn all you touch
Power: Control Fire
- Anyone that touches the character will have 2nd degree burns, but not fire. Excessive touching can prove deadly.
- Likewise, anything that can't be burnt will be melted instead.
Book Length: Short
Strength of Curse: Fully applied once obtained. Only your power grows.
First starting: Flames around you are yours to command.
1/6: You can make your own flames out of nowhere.
2/6: You can start to make magma.
3/6 in and onward: You can put ANYTHING to fire. Even water.
Filled: Cured of Curse.
This one could be fleshed out a bit more. Anyone feel up to the task?
Curse: Strength is decreased, nearsighted.
Power: Can change the weather.
- Can barely pick up things that weigh over 3 pounds.
- If already nearsighted, blind in dominant eye. Your other eye becomes even more nearsighted.
- Severity of weather changes depending on words in book.
Book length: Medium/Short
Strength of Curse: Fully applied. Only your power grows.
First starting: Light rain.
1/6: Heavy Rain
2/6: Freezing rain and/or Hail
3/6: Snow, eventually blizzards.
4/6: Searing Heat.
5/6 and onward: You can craft clouds right in front of you. These clouds are solid, and can be walked/sat upon.
Filled: The very sky is your canvas, and you may treat yourself as part of the sky (Your weather abilities can affect you.). Cured of Curse.
Curse: Eats away at personality and life
Power: Control Ice and Water
Book length: Medium
Strength of Curse: Depends on how full the book is.
First starting: Loss of neutrality. (Drops of water are yours to command.)
1/6: Loss of happiness. (larges amounts of water, and ability to change said water into ice.)
2/6: Loss of Sadness, Pity. (Spawning Water and Ice out of nowhere is a breeze.)
3/6: loss of Anger, Hate, Love, envy, lust. (Lakes are your playthings.)
4/6: Loss of all emotion. (Polar Icecaps, anyone? How about freezing the very moisture? Creating moisture?)
5/6 in and onward: Loss of motivation to stay alive, meaning of life. Suicide is imminent. (Reaching absolute Zero temperatures is an easy feat for you.)
Filled: Cured of Curse.
Curse: Shapeshifted into an animal, cannot become a human.
Power: Ability to sense things ahead of time, communicate telepathically.
- Most become wolves, dragons, bears, or Eagles.
Book Length: Medium
Strength of Curse: Curse is fully applied. Only your power grows.
First Starting: You have a sixth sense for things...
1/4: Visions in the near future are vivid, and you can communicate feelings to others mentally.
2/4: Predicting the future becomes second nature, often being able to actually guess things with nigh impeccable accuracy.
3/4 in and onward: You begin to see images of almost any action that takes place in your sight before it happens, and telling the future of far off events is an incredibly easy feat. You can communicate words, and share your memories or future visions with others mentally.
Filled: You can transform into the animal you were cursed as at any time. Curse is cured.
Curse: Invisibility
Power: No damage from Physical attacks
- Can still be affected by heat/cold/spiritual related attacks.
- Cannot be touched, but can be heard. Any object that cursed individual touches is also invisible, but only as long as it is touched.
Book Length: Short
Strength of Curse: Fully Applied. Your power is fully applied as well.
Filled: Cured of Curse.
- For the purposes of balancing in terms of curses, a character may not have any combination of the following books at once if they so choose to have multiple books: Book of Legacy, Book of Memory, and Book of Shadow.
- If a user is Cursed with the Book of Shadow, and wishes to take on another curse, the Book of Shadow's Book Length becomes "Very Long." This is also true if a character is cursed with a different book and takes on the Book of Shadow; Shadow's length will be increased as well. This applies even if the Curse other than Shadow is complete.
Curse: You're half dead.
Power: Ability to fuse things, Alchemy
- No heartbeat, staying alive on spirit alone.
- Being near others allows you to make use of their spiritual energy to help you live. Depending on how close you are to a person will determine how much they make you feel 'alive.'
Book Length: Medium/Long
Strength of Curse: Fully Applied. Only your power grows.
First starting: You can shape and play-doh anything in front of you.
1/4: Fusing objects and changing their molecular makeup is quite easy, actually.
2/4 in and onward: Rocks into water. Oil into Gold. Air into Fire. You get the picture. (The area of which you control these things top off at about 15 feet in any direction from you...)
Filled: Cured of Curse.
Curse: Lose all morality
Power: Ability to control lightning/electricity
- Can control lightning from the sky or can produce it from oneself, or anything that is considered high voltage.
Book Length: Short
Strength of Curse: Depends on how full the book is. Your power is fully applied.
First Starting: You start to make choices that benefit your own interests, and possibly those you care about.
1/3: You care for no one but yourself.
2/3 in and onward: You can no longer tell right from wrong. You are a slave to your urges, and what feelings you may have at the time.
Filled: Cured of Curse.
- Those that have taken the Book of Zeus' curse will not be able to take the Book of Soldier's curse, even after this curse has been complete.
Curse: You are bound to the Earth.
Power: The stars, the moon, and the sun are yours to command.
Book length: Very long
Strength of Curse: Depends on how full the book is.
First starting: You can't seem to jump very high... (You seem to be able to make Days longer/shorter, the Stars swivel across the sky faster/slower, and the phase of the moon...)
1/4: Jumping is a very difficult task, often resulting in pain if attempted. (You can call pillars of differing elements depending on what celestial body you control. The sun brings down Pillars of Fire, the stars bring down pillars of searing light [It's not fire, but more of a light element.], and the moon brings down Pillars of darkness [This causes a numbing, cold sensation. Senses or parts of one's spirit seem to be eaten away at.])
2/4: You can't seem to be in the air at all. (You can combine the pillars you bring down. Night, Day, and the position of things in the celestial sky is your sandbox.)
3/4 in and onward: You are Bound to the earth. Whatever action you do, you must be touching the ground at all times. (You gain the ability to synchronize with the stars, sun, or moon. You become filled with the power of any celestial body out there, and their abilities are yours to command.
Filled: You gain the ability to 'Union.' The cosmos is now within you, and you may fly to even outer space without fear of dying.
Curse: The Burden of Morality.
Power: The ability to create(and dispel, but only these) weapons from nothing.
Book Length: Very long
Strength of Curse: Depends on how full your book is.
Starting out: You feel urged to be helpful to those close to you. You can create flimsy, blunt, thin melee weapons that are more likely to break than do any damage.
1/7: You begin feeling like helping the community, when convenient. Helping those close to you becomes somewhat prioritized. Weapons made begin taking shape, and are sturdier. Damage caused by these won't be much greater, but they'll last longer.
2/7: You participate in charity events, and help those less fortune than you. Weapons created can now take on a dull blade, hardly suited for cuttingto bread but still better than nothing. Also, quality of the 'materials' is better, as they can now appear as a metal as opposed to a form of wood.
3/7:You begin organizing charity events and your own needs are less important to you than helping others. You make sacrifices when you are certain another will benefit from it. You can now create viable weapons to fight with, sharp blades, strong materials, the works. They aren't perfect, but they work just fine.
4/7: In addition to the above, you protect those in need of it. Technically vigilante, except you don't necessarily go out looking for gangs or crime to stop, and you don't necessarily make a costume or anything. You can begin to create firearms of a sort. Of note is that you do not need to know exact mechanisms, just a general appearance, and need no training with them. Melee weapons are very strong now, and can have very sharp edges.
5/7: You don't seek out crime necessarily, but you do whatever you can to help others, even if it means breaking the law to do so. You protect anyone you come across that needs it from any threat you are aware they are in need of protection from. It is of nite that you are aware that you can't save everyone, and can prioritize certain things higher than others. For example, kid being bullied vs burning building, building takes precedence, guy getting mugged vs gang war, gang war takes precedence. My point being, you areaware still able to tell which is more significant or urgent and what needs your aid for, not by any supernatural means or anything, and fan still act accordingly with no repercussions. Firearms become more complex and accurate, and weapons might seem to be completely impractical. Despite this, they work just fine and are easily wielded by you(not necessarily anyone you give them to).
6/7 in and onward: The city/country you live in are your charge, as are the people within it. Again, you can still make the tough choices, but you do everything you can. If you haven't already, you'll probably be forming a team or group in order to help you deal with all these problems. Your oath is probably something along the lines of 'To serve and protect', and you are feared by villains everywhere by virtue of how you tend to respond to them. All weapons made are limited purely by the imagination, and of any possible classification, on the condition that you are, in some form, a infantry(basically no vehicles can be made, but other than that...). Additionally, wielding these instruments is second nature to you, no matter how impractical they may be. Others...Eh...Not so much.
Filled: Cured of Curse.
- Those that have taken the Book of Soldier's curse will not be able to take the Book of Zeus' curse, even after this curse has been complete.
Curse: Curse of Pain and Burden.
Power: Strength, durability and stamina ranging from superhuman to Godlike.
Book length: Long.
Curse Strength: Depends on how full your book is.
1/5th - Superhuman strength allowing for the cursed to bench-press things over five-hundred pounds easily, eats once a couple days, jog for literally a day straight easily, and will survive a mortal wound or two. However the shackles have already appeared and have begun digging into the victim's flesh. It has lined the bone up a little above the elbow and knee in very dense metal. This metal is covered is hot and burns the victim constantly, and it's also incredibly heavy only to the victim. Even while filled the metal only actually increases the cursed person's weight by twenty-five pounds. However the cursed will feel like he's always a bit too heavy.
2/5th - Strength allows for the cursed to lift things over a thousand pounds easily, eats once every two weeks, jog across deserts, and could survive losing a limb without stopping whatever he's doing. However cutting that limb off would be the hard part, and this is due to the shackles haven grown internally all the way up to the collar bone and hip. Lining every bone so far in heated and stronger metal. The cursed feels much heavier then they should be.
3/5th - Strength allows for the cursed to move things over a ton, very rarely eats, the victim only needs to sleep once a month; yet always feels tired. Can't bleed to death. The shackles have grown over most of the victim's ribcage and lower/middle spine. The burden part of the curse is nearly matured as the victim feels as if he carries a great burden on his shoulders. Never resting.
4/5th - Strength allows for the cursed to just bash everything but the hardest and heaviest things about like toys, almost never eats, and rarely even needs to breathe, the cursed doesn't require rest but is constantly exhausted, and can only be killed by beheading, or piercing his heart. The metal has grown to cover his entire ribcage except for the area around his or her heart; the curse doesn't want to kill the cursed. It's stopped just below the person's chin. The victim feels as if a mountain rests on their shoulders.
Finished - The cursed becomes Atlas in all but name; their strength is unchallenged and can move the mountains themselves. Requires no food, nor air, nor sleep. Only the sharpest of blades and the hottest of fires can hurt them, a metaphor as anything strong enough to hurt them can. The metal has ceased to burn but will always burden them; they feel as if they carry the sky itself on their shoulders. But as their curse fades the burden becomes less and less of a challenge. Only the ribs around the victim's heart are vulnerable and not covered in nigh-indestructible metal.
Curse: You lose the ability to control any of your own energy (kinetic, or otherwise) due to you no longer being bound by the Laws of Physics. This can result in catastrophic results such as breaking ones hand just by grabbing it, or not being able to lift up a cup. The thermal energy at which you exert is also varying along with all other forms (But none of this will kill you. It may cause extreme difficulty with just about everything else though.)
Power: The ability to manipulate the physics of things around you.
Book length: Very Long
Curse Strength: Depends on how full your book is.
1/6- This is somewhat of a starting point. The effects of your inability to control yourself is slightly evident. You can manipulate the physics of everything around you to about 5 meters. You start to lose the need to eat, and sleep, due to the odd make up of your now more self sustaining cells.
2/6- The effects of your inability to control yourself is now evident in many of your daily situations, but not all of them. Your range of manipulation is extended to about 15 meters. Your need and want to eat and sleep is decreased even more, as your cells become more efficient, but at the cost of absorbing nearby energy of everything you touch.
3/6- The effects of your inability to control yourself is evident in your daily routine. Your range of manipulation is extended to 30 meters. The need to eat disappears completely, as your need to sleep decrease. Many of your cells have reached almost complete self sustianation. Your ability to absorb energy is under slight control.
4/6- The effects of your inability to control yourself begin to worsen. Your range of manipulation is greatly extended to 50 meters. The need and want to sleep is decreasing, as most of your cells and processes are completely self-sustaining. Your ability to absorb energy is under moderate control with somewhat of a working knowledge of how it works.
5/6- The effects of your inability to control yourself is exceedingly bad at this point. The effects are borderline unpredictable. Your range of manipulation is only limited to your visual range if otherwise hindered by normal range. Your need to eat and sleep is completely gone, as your body is now self-sustaining. You now have complete control to absorb any energy you desire, but while keeping in mind that this is now what "feeds" you).
Filled - Cured of Curse.
- This cannot affect anyone who is not recognized by existence. A character may not have a Book of Energy and a Book of Memory at the same time, regardless if their curses are complete or not.
Curse: Curse of the Hellion; cursed with an endless appetite for destruction and chaos.
Power: See everything in a mathematical value, and know how to modify said variables to suit one's needs perfectly. For example, to cause certain events, they'll know exactly what actions to take to result the actual event to happen, and they'll know the least amount of actions needed (Or most.) to do so. The secrets of the mathematical world are revealed to them in full.
Book length: Short
Curse Strength:
1/4th - A very destructive act a day keeps the doctor away, or it at least sates your hunger for now.
2/4ths - You've begun to sink further into your need for destruction, and now constantly cause waves a destruction to spread forth into the world multiple times a day. You know understand the patterns of sentient creatures perfectly, along with complex algorithms and how they apply to society. They now have a place in your plans.
3/4ths - You're addicted to the power of destruction, and will cause it at every chance you get. You now crave mass chaos and with a single action can spark a wildfire of chaos and destruction, along with any other event or result you could possibly want with your mathematical prediction skills.
Filled - Cured of Curse.
Curse: - Always have a sense of dread or impending doom
- Drain life from anything touched.
Power: Ability to control raw energy into attacks, shielding and pathways.
Book length: Long
Curse Strength: Curse starts at full strength, energy control levels up.
-1/5 = Basic control of energy, able to do blasts, orbs and shields big enough to block a bullet.
-2/5 = Moderate control of energy, able to do beams, large orbs, shields to cover a person and minor pathways.
-3/5 = High control of energy, able to make large energy explosions, beams, lances and bullets as well as long pathways and shielding big enough to defend a large group.
-4/5 and onwards = Absolute control of energy, able to create massive beams of energy, swarms of bullets, gigantic explosions in addition to shields big enough to defend a small army and very long pathways.
-Filled = Curse Cured.
(Still a work in progress, but we're chugging along!)
Magnet trains. One of the many contraptions that seem to have rolled out of the two superpowers of the world since a few years ago. They didn't go very fast, about the speed that someone could catch up to if they sprinted long enough. That was the nature of this magnet renaissance, though. If it made things easier, the two governments were onto it faster than a person could blink. Terram might have been an exception, but all in all, the magnets were there to stay.
And rolling through Falz at a leisurely pace was a magnet train, about to return to it's homeland Renatus with a rather good haul. Recently, Renatus and Terram had slowly been sending teams of sorts, often excavators to dig up treasures from the nation that once ruled the vast wasteland. Many Falz settlers and wasteland drifters that witnessed the magnet trains and the soldiers just assumed it was the two nations wanting to make a quick Mark on goods of a nation that used to be. Marks make the world go round, you know. The red pieces of paper with varying amounts never had much of anything to do with the residents of Falz, so they let the magnet trains roll into their wasteland, with not a care in the world.
But, eventually, as it usually goes in Falz... if you have something of value, don't expect to have it the next day.
"There's the pig's train. Looks like another magnet shipment." A man in a red bandanna announced to his rag tag group, like they'd seen the event happen a million times by now. His trench coat flapped in the dusty, soft wind as the crackling sound of the rotating magnets pierce the air. The trains seem to go faster every day they see them.
"Damn pigs. Fueling their high off the corpse of Falz." Another red bandanna man chipped in, sitting off to the side with a worn out gauss rifle, which has seen use far too many times for one to count. "You sure this is the train we're looking for?"
"It has to be. Never seen them leave the site this early. Nor with so many of their soldiers. They look armed to the teeth with Gauss weaponry." The first one replied, peeling back the red bandanna to reveal a scarred and rugged face whom had seen one too many fights. "Whatever they just dug up has to be good. Really good. Maybe one of those books."
"Hell no, do you think they'd really stop an entire excavation project over a damned book? Not even if it was that one that let you play god. I'd say they came across something even bigger. Maybe something Falz had cooked up near the end of the war." A rather big-and-burly red-bandanna clad man interrupted. And the group agreed in silence. Books were dug up every few weeks almost anywhere in the wasteland of Falz. Sometimes accidental, bringing the children's nightmare stories and classic fairytales to life whenever they found their way to the actual two nations.
"Whatever it is, it'll be our boy here doing the digging." The leader of them spoke up again, giving a forceful pat on a young man's shoulder. "What did you say your name was? Lenaguy? Lendagay?"
"Lenega. If you can't remember my name, then just remember the deal." The 19 year old kid spoke up, still eyeing the train.
"Yeah. We leave your settlement alone for a few moon phases. We get ya. Just as long as you create that distraction. You good with a magnet bike, right?" The leader assured in his worn voice. A certain truth rang in his words. They raided their settlement a lot of times before; they knew they were low on supplies, and the gang wasn't one to let a settlement starve. Much.
"I rode one coming over here, didn't I?" Lenega replied, taking his eyes off the magnet train that seemed to go on forever at the speed of a panting cheetah, leisurely jogging toward it's meal that it will never catch, and pointed his head towards his bike.
The leader nodded, and looked toward his team.
"So, here's the plan. Lend-a-Hand here is going to charge out at the side of the train, and draw the gauss rifle fire. He's then going to board it and try to detach the train at their half point of the train, which will be coming up shortly. All of their hands are going to go towards the center. Meanwhile, with most of their hands away from near the front where they handle their best stuff, we'll hijack the pilot, and raid the carts up front. Remember, we're looking for nice military-like stuff, things that looked like they came outta Falz from it's glory days. And if nothing else, just get some of them Gaussian rifles. And in exchange, we leave Len-a-guru's settlement alone for at least three moon phases. Six if he kicks the bucket. Are we clear on the plan?" The leader adjusts his bandanna back on his head, and looks across his rag-tag group.
"His is the one with that grannies' home on the outskirts, right?" a smaller red-bandanna clad one chirped, smaller than Lenega, even.
"Yep. We took their wheat supply last full moon. About twelve days ago. Least we could do for a man that's probably about to die, right?"
"Shoulda asked for longer." The big and burly one suggested with a hearty chuckle afterwards.
The rest of the group gets a laugh in as well, making Lenega even chuckle a bit. If he asked for too long, they'd just break the promise. Three moon phases seemed long enough. Long enough indeed if he found what he was looking for in the middle cart. And even if he died, he bought the settlement a bit more time to live a little. Raiders may break promises, but they aren't without a code of honor.
"So, let's start it up. The middle point is about in that direction, Lanagu. The moment you hear Gauss shots up front should tell you that you're jobs done. Got it?" The leader started off, and mounted his magnet bike. And with a press of a petal, the metal applied it's force to the back wheel, and the leader sped off, with the rest of the gang piling off after him.
He could let them die by their own hand, and let the undivided attention of the guards and soldiers get them, but Lenega wasn't going to get blood on his hands. At least, not yet. Besides, there was the chance that they may survive. And the first thing they'd go for was the settlement he lived in. The teenager mounted his own bike, and pressed the petal. The magnet in the back applied to the wheel, and away Lenega went, as well.
The magnet train looked like it was going much slower back from up top that hill...
Lenega mentally commented, the dust the wheels kicked up seemed to poison the air and whipped all about the teenager that would turn twenty given half a year. Dates never mattered in Falz, and the moon was almost always visible in the dead air that blanketed Falz. It just was more visible near nighttime, where the stars danced in the black.
But anyways, back to the magnet train robbery. He certainly got a lot of attention from the guards, already they were firing Gaussian shells at the poor boy. Whatever they were carrying apparently adopted a shoot-first-ask-questions-later policy. Lenega began to slow down, allowing the train to gain speed and placing him more near the middle. His goal wasn't the exact middle, per se, but rather, a covered cart that didn't hold any magnetic metal. It was roofed. And if what he saw at the dig site was correct, then his deal with the Red Bandannas will tie in very nicely with what he was about to gain.
The Book of Cosmos. His grandmother told him about such a book that altered the very heavens themselves. It wouldn't mean much for those that lived in Terram or Renatus, but for the residents of Falz, Day and Night was the same as Life and Death. All time was told by the heavens, the position of the moon, it's phase, where the sun was, which planets were visible... In fact, the planet Eraqu crosses behind a new moon on Lenega's birthday. A date shared by the day that what was left of Falz declared surrender against Renatus and Terram. A date of silence shared by every true resident of Falz.
But that day of silence is a long ways off. Now was the time to get onto his destination. He saw he attracted quite a crowd of the armed guards, chasing him from alongside the magnet train. The young man grabbed hold of one of the railings and pulled himself up onto the train, holding up his Gauss Pistol at the lot, with the crowd responding with the same. Only their response included them actually discharging their weapons. Lenega immediately dove to the side between two carts, and-- Oh, the cart he was looking for was right there. It even had a locked door on the side. How lucky. The young one discharged his pistol upon the lock and immediately loaded another bullet into the firearm. He kicked the door to opening and dove inside the moment a guard charged around the corner and fired off a second bullet.
Once inside, the young man turned right back around and slammed the door shut again, smashing a guard's fingers. Or disfigured them horribly, and applied a chair up against the handle that was inside the cart. ... Wait, a chair?
Lenega turned around to see a robed man, interlocked with chains, ropes, and whatever else they dared tie onto him, and in front of him was the book that Lenega came after for in the first place. The book of Cosmos.
"Quite a bit of commotion outside, don't you think?" The chained man mused, his voice clearly sounded scratched, like he had been through a lot. The banging and charging of the door was very apparent too, it's sound echoing through the small room.
"Who are you?" Lenega immediately questioned, holding his pistol towards the imprisoned man.
"Just a man of the past. I presume you are after this book?" He nodded toward the book that laid in front of him on the floor.
The boy only let silence become his answer. That was, whatever silence that was with all that racket with the door behind him.
"Take it. Your chance of escape comes whenever you hear a crash up front. It'll divert their attention and let you escape." The man spoke up, his voice ragged from speaking even moreso than before.
"... You're cursed with the Book of Red Sun, correct?" Lenega predicted, and lowered his pistol.
"Oh, so you know the name of it. Except I'm not cursed." The man mused again, only to follow with a cough and a hack afterwards. "A story told by your grandmother, correct?"
Lenega nodded. The Red Sun book allowed a person to be able to foresee and tell things long before anyone ever actually see them happen. Another one of the millions of books that his grandmother told him about. Which means if this man knew about his grandmother, Lenega would be seeing this man down life's road again.
"The book you're looking for, Book of Cosmos, is an answer to your prayers, but a creator of many more troubles. It will take you far away, away from your grandmother, and away from Falz. In the end, the things that you sought to solve by this book will seem petty, like child's play, by the things you will experience in the coming moon phases. The ones that you don't manipulate. The only word of advice I offer you is... just keep moving forward, regardless of what, or who, you lose. Even if it means you can no longer soar towards the sky."
A crash at the front of the train. The constant banging at the door ceased, and the guards immediately vacated the area. Whatever happened to the Red Bandanna's was apparently more important than a man with a completed curse. "There it is. Take the book, say yes, and get off this train immediately. This is your only chance.
Lenega warily looked at the chained man, and knelt towards the book. "How did you get them to leave it here with you?" He asked. He had to know before he left.
"The governed part of the world knows almost nothing of the books. I told them this was the Red Sun book, and the text was only visible to me. They apparently don't know we can destroy our books once our curse is over with, but they apparently understand you can kill one of us by burning a book." The hooded man answered quickly, with another hack and a cough. Something in Lenega's mind told him he was cursed with more than a Red Sun book.
But time was not on his side. He picked up the Book of Cosmos.
Thou who open the book of plagues, the harbinger of eternity, will thou accept thy burden and wield power unimaginable?
The words echoed into his soul, into his very being.
Yes.