Tripping Along

Adam had heard of a cool circle of stones from a guy in the pub; while this once would have gotten a bored scoff from him, in a place as boring and limited as Caido, sometimes a bunch of stones sounded appealing. Besides, maybe he could meet his cool rag-covered friend again and get a replacement for his lost drinking horn.

Hiking up was easy enough with Adam's skill in climbing and long legs, but he still flopped down without grace in the middle of the shrine, laying on his back and staring up at the sky. Slowly, he reached up and placed on the central stone a little grass doll, not neat but clearly in the shape of a person. "I know you said you liked toys and stuff. I learnt how to make these back when I was a kid."

While it was a far cry from the wooden bird he'd managed to bring last time, he hoped Ludo might appreciate the creativity involved in this particular gift. Adam was not often a creator, so he felt inordinately proud of the little grass figure, and hoped his ragged God friend might too.

ADAM

So what's the point of robbery when nothing is worth taking?
It's kind of tough to tell a scruff the big mistake he's making

ludo

"I know these!" Ludo disturbed the silence with uncharacteristic enthusiasm, popping into existence right over Adam's head so it could twist in the air until its mask was upside down, that it might examine the doll from above. Eventually a rag snaked out to lift it up, making it dance jovially into the air (and sneakily into the folds of fabric, where Ludo undoubtedly hoarded everything that was left for it).

"You stick pins in them and wish ill upon the person that the doll has been made to look like, yes? This doll looks like you, Adam." Cackling, it settled upon the stone where the offering had been left.

Adam jerked a little in surprise as Ludo appeared above him, but recovered quickly and smiled, especially when he saw his gift being appreciated. The God seemed easy enough to please, compared to the ones of his home, which had often apparently required offerings of great deals of money, gifts, food and even sometimes, blood.

Though Ludo's ideas for his doll were bloodthirsty in their own way. "Eeerrrr. It's just meant to be a doll to play with. I guess you could do that, but since I just gave you a cool doll, don't do it to me." Sitting up so he was facing Ludo, Adam watched it for a moment, wondering where the hands were in the sea of rags...or if there even were hands at all.

"So...how's it going?" He asked, realising suddenly he had no real reason to be praying other than boredom and missing his godly rag friend. "You...enjoying the heat? It probably gets hot in those robes, huh. If...you have anything under there."

ADAM

So what's the point of robbery when nothing is worth taking?
It's kind of tough to tell a scruff the big mistake he's making

ludo

"Oh, well. If that's the case, I suppose the Adam-doll will remain safe." For now went unsaid, though given that it wasn't the type of doll Ludo had assumed, it shouldn't make a difference. Should it? Who knew? Masks didn't blink, but that didn't mean Adam wouldn't see it do so as it tilted its head to behold the ex-highwayman. How's it going was not a question it was routinely asked, after all.

"I do not feel the heat," it said as if that might have been obvious, Ludo gazing down at itself as Adam commented on its rags. Wordlessly the rags parted to reveal the hungry, empty void within - a ghastly sight, like to make mortals mad and gods cringe. "There is nothing under here," it said.

"Well, thanks. The...uh...Adam that isn't a doll appreciates that." Adam awkwardly laughed, wondering if he had made a deadly mistake by giving the doll to Ludo.

It seemed like the God was confused when he asked how it was doing, which he found odd. Didn't Gods have all kinds of people chatting to them all the time? None of those people ever turned the conversation back onto the God they prayed to...? It was kind of sad, when he thought about it.

He didn't have much time to feel sorry for Ludo though, as when the inside of the robes was revealed what he saw made him jump back with wide eyes. "Shit, man! What the fuck is alla that?" Looking back up to the mask face, he laughed a little nervously, half impressed and half scared. "...How'd you end up looking like that?"

ADAM

So what's the point of robbery when nothing is worth taking?
It's kind of tough to tell a scruff the big mistake he's making

ludo

"As he should," Ludo said, ducking its head in sagely nod regarding the not-doll version of Adam. Honestly, there was about as much a chance that the god would forget what it had said about the offering as it would act upon it, so... well. Adam might just have to wait and see.

It let the robes fall back into place as Adam cringed back away from the void within, Ludo patting down its rags as if it was either self-conscious or proud of them (it was a difficult thing to tell, really). "It is what is under there," it said, as though puzzled as to why Adam seemed so unnerved. He had asked, after all.

"I don't remember," it said. "I have been this way for some time."

ADAM

Ludo was an odd person (God? Entity?) indeed. Adam wanted to ask more, but he suspected that all of his questions would receive equally unhelpful, short answers. Maybe if he ever got to be a cool ghosty rag person, he'd understand the appeal of giving weird cryptic responses to people.

"Anyway, I guess I was wondering if you had any more quests for me or anything. I get kinda bored around here. I have a job now, kinda, but it doesn't give me much to do yet." Lucas had introduced him to his cool club...then nothing had happened since. He wasn't sure if it was just an organisation made for clout...which he was fine with, but he wanted to know if he needed to clear his schedule.

good evening, misadventure.
farewell morality.
it's time for another risky venture,
into the depths of depravity.

ludo Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own Ludo managed to look befuddled at the mention of 'quests' - did everyone want to do things for it lately, or was it imagining things? Then again with everything that was happening... It drifted further to the ground. "You deal regularly with a member of those that the Voice calls her 'bright ones'," it said softly, quietly. "Kill him, if you want a quest. He should not exist. He spreads word of the Voice and he grows stronger the longer he walks the Hollowed Grounds. Kill him and you'll never be bored again."

ADAM

Adam was pretty sure Ludo was about to tell him to fuck off, when it asked him about a 'bright one'. He scrunched up his face, confused, until he remembered Amalia telling him about the Ascended, and The Voice. The only one he knew was.. "Oh, Lucas? Yeah."

His jovial tone was ended when he heard what Ludo actually wanted, though. His eyes grew wide and he just about stopped himself from shaking his head, though he knew right away he could not do it. It was the one thing he didn't do. He didn't kill, and he never had.

But it was always worth it to know who wanted who dead and why, so he tried to recover to ask some questions. "Why is it a big deal for you if he tells people about The Voice? Is she gonna hurt you? And...what do you mean, never bored again?"

good evening, misadventure.
farewell morality.
it's time for another risky venture,
into the depths of depravity.

ludo Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own Ludo blinked (or its mask did, at least) and it reached out a snag of cloth to poke the mortal in the forehead, like it was trying to find Adam's brains. "The Hollowed Grounds were sealed behind a barrier to trap the Voice. To keep her in, to stop her from spreading her poison into the world. The barrier is lifted and her Ascended crawl the earth like a parasite, enabling her to further infect Caido once again," it said, slowly, without emotion. "Kill the Ascended and I will ensure it, that you are rewarded justly." He had wanted a quest. Now he had one. Hooray!

ADAM

Adam frowned and leaned back when he was poked in the forehead. Personally, he thought his questions were very reasonable. If you asked him, a lot of this God-stuff was overdramatic. They seemed like a bunch of super-charged drama queens.

"Riiiight. But uh, if The Voice is the problem, wouldn't it be better to kill her, not just one of her guys?" He asked. Not that he really had any intention to do that, but it seemed the obvious answer. "Can't you kill her?"

good evening, misadventure.
farewell morality.
it's time for another risky venture,
into the depths of depravity.

ludo Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own The world around Adam would seem to grow cold and very, very dark. Ludo's mask hovered before him, the blank porcelain unreadable... until suddenly it seemed to move. The mouth of the mask parted, growing slowly into a wide, black 'o'. Wide, wider still, impossibly so, until it was a gaping, howling abyss into which Adam would be forced to stare. And then Ludo screamed, a sound like shattering glass and tearing flesh-- And then it was gone. Someone had touched a nerve.

ADAM

Adam was off-guard, not ready for what was to come. He was in the mode of a casual conversation, just asking questions of Ludo as he would any other friend, perhaps in a pub.

But the response he got reminded him that he was speaking to someone very much divine, and very powerful. Scrambling backwards, wide eyes fearful, he hid behind his arms and did not lower them until long after Ludo had disappeared, at which point he ran a long ways, until he could see Sanctuary coming up close.

good evening, misadventure.
farewell morality.
it's time for another risky venture,
into the depths of depravity.