I’m going to bump this thread. I realize that it somewhat ironic as I might well be the person who killed the game with delay but I know that the thread gets lost if it’s not near the top.
Lou the Punctilious
“Yes. Fly. Feel the wind. I am here for you. All you needed to do was ask. This might be a tad uncomfortable… just relax.”
It almost feels like there’s an invisible hand on Jose’s shoulder for a moment.
To malkav and MM: Are we going to do like body horror stuff here with wings ripping out through the skin or just a magical * poof *?
Up to you two. They should be sinister in some way though.
@Madmarcus do you want to write something up since it’s your character or is it something you want me to handle?
I can go either way. Some body horror the first time makes sense. Go for it; it’s my character but they are your wings in a way.
Jose
The itch started small at two points just at the bottom of his shoulder blades. Those two spots that are nearly impossible to scratch. Quickly, the sensation ramped up until it was a nearly unbearable, burning feeling. His whole back felt like it was on fire. Jose tore off his shirt and slammed his back against the nearest wall, wailing in anguish. Jose pumped his legs and pushed his back up and down the wall. The small amount of relief he felt from the scratching motion gave way within moments to new needling pain from his skin tearing on the wall. The itching and burning subsided for a moment, and Jose fell forward onto the floor. Cold air blew across his open wounds and brought a sharp twinge, so Jose flipped over, painfully and gingerly laying his back against the floor. On the wall were two streaks of scarlet and yellow like the smeared remnants of two giant boils being lanced and squeezed. At the bottom edge of the streaks, pus lazily flowed down towards the baseboards.
Lou’s voice broke though. “Try to be calm. This is necessary for your transition. Don’t be so… dramatic.”
After a few precious minutes of the pain’s flow ebbing, the itching returned. This time it was a living thing, like something was inside of his skin, trying to get out. Something pushing, prodding, and scratching inside of his skin. Jose dragged himself from the carpet now saturated with blood and pus and ran into the bathroom. Turning himself so he could see his back as best as he could, he could barely make out two holes like bleeding eyes. Inside them, black. Wet, shiny inky strands of something.
The hole he could see widened and the scratching inside his skin worsened. A black shape began sliding out of the hole like a talon got through. Jose managed to reach back with the hand on the other side of him and grab it tightly and start to pull it out. The gash in his back pulled out a bit and then snapped back as he removed a dark gooey gob of… a feather? In his hand was a nine inch long black feather, which had just unfurled in front of his eyes. The feeling of sharp claws pushing out of his back intensified.
Suddenly, there was excruciating pain, and then only blackness. Jose lost consciousness.
I love it! I also agreed to it and don’t really have a problem with taking the game in that direction but it does lead to some issues. The other aspects we’ve seen have just turned on. I get that this is more of an extended scene but we might need to settle on a middle ground that doesn’t involve loss of consciousness.
More later as I have students coming in and I need some time to answer @arrendek at the level he deserves.
We can just say that it turns on like this the first time, but the holes remain on your back (like long eye slits) and all future times it’s just uncomfortable. That’s how it seems to happen in most media I’ve read at least. If you need consciousness right away, then how about you wake up five minutes later covered in blood, pus, and some kind of feather goo with your wings still out and you can jump in the shower and do your thing, then clean up later?
Also, if it’s just a bummer that your process was different than everyone else’s, that can be explained away by saying Lou is a sadistic prick, which he is.