Count Your Blessings
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
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#1

Sam very much did not want to go see the Voice. But the letter which Remi had sent had mentioned it...and it was likely a good idea. Having changed himself, altered the nature of being Ascended; he was sure she would have something to say about the upgrade and it was better to deal with it sooner rather than later. That, and he'd been to the Old Gods, something which he was sure would be a problem.

He wanted a shrine ideally somewhere private, so if it was embarrassing he could at least face it alone. Remembering the way down into the caves, he headed towards the shrine in the early hours of the morning, keeping a hand on the cave wall to steady himself and to feel the cold wetness there. Despite his nerves he still smiled at the sensation on his fingertips, the breezes going past him up towards the entrance.

Eventually he came to the shrine. Sam sat down in front of it with crossed legs (placing his coat underneath himself) and looked up at the statue.

"...H-hello. I know you're...probably mad at me. I'm s-sorry. But I hate...being...I want to be n-normal."

SAMUEL
Another little digit on my lifespan, what a bore
And what once was fresh and green
Now marches in the ranks of the obscene
This whole transfiguration thing is such a chore


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#2
the VOICE
In reality's shadow the blind see best
She had asked, and he had come.

As Samuel seated himself and murmured into the deep dark of the Underground, the shrine burst to life. Light pulsed and rushed through the indentations in the floor just as they had the first time he had been there, flitting about and within the statue until the young woman was there again, the Voice stepping out before him with her hands clasped before her.

"Your fellow Ascended," she said softly without having to move her lips, speaking directly to him. "The Old Gods. Not once did you think to come to me - you, the first to receive me since my freedom?" Because it had been Samuel there in the shrine, along with Archebold, who had drank deeply from the well of the Voice.

"How does your 'upgrade' suit you, bright one?" She knew, but she would hear it in his words.
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
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#3

Sam watched the light flood around him and become a figure, his nervousness shown in the way his fingers tightened in the fabric of his coat. He dipped his head down as the Voice asked him why he had not come to her. "...I...I thought you would be mad at m-me. For not liking this. I thought...you might...I don't know. Be mad I was un-ungrateful and hurt me. Or something."

As for how his upgrade was...it was amazing. It was thrilling. But it was not from the Voice, so he figured she might not like to hear it. Sam shrugged with a little smile, forcing indifference into his features. "It is...what I wanted. I am still l-learning about it. I know Remi made it though, not you, so...um...s-sorry. Again."

SAMUEL
Another little digit on my lifespan, what a bore
And what once was fresh and green
Now marches in the ranks of the obscene
This whole transfiguration thing is such a chore


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#4
the VOICE
In reality's shadow the blind see best
"Hurt you?" The Voice sounded wounded, though she couldn't blame him. "Samuel, I am not some barbaric old deity, capricious and callous. You and your brothers and sisters, all of you, are the culmination of a work that spans centuries. You are to be celebrated, not harmed." Her smile was gentle and she shook her head. "I confess that I feel responsible for your past troubles. I was not here to properly guide you. But what is done is done, bright one."

As he spoke of the upgrade, the Voice's smile grew. "Whilst it is true that your friend created the device that allows you to feel, he brought it to me for testing and improvements," she said. "I commend him for his respect.
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
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#5

"I...I su-suppose you're right. But I don't feel close with any of those...br-brothers or sisters. ...Except Isla now, I suppose. But all the rest of them look down on me, because I'm not...not strong. Like them. I'm too s-sensitive." Sam barely dared to look up at the Voice, but the gentleness in his voice comforted him enough to make him not feel so apologetic anymore, and he lifted his head just slightly.

It seemed she didn't mind that Remi had made the upgrade. Sam spread his fingers out over the ground, feeling the cold and the texture of the stone. "...What...wh-what do you think of him? I think we might...become...s-something more. Maybe. Is that alright? L-love? Or something...close with...people who aren't A-ascended?"

SAMUEL
Another little digit on my lifespan, what a bore
And what once was fresh and green
Now marches in the ranks of the obscene
This whole transfiguration thing is such a chore


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Other
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#6
the VOICE
In reality's shadow the blind see best
The Voice frowned softly as she listened to the Ascended before her. "Unconfident," she remarked quietly without moving her lips, the comment almost to herself, as if noting down the trait for later. An improvement to be made, perhaps. Shaking that away, she returned her gaze to Samuel, seeming pleased that he would at least lift his head slightly towards her. "Why do you think that you are not strong?" she asked honestly. "You were made just the same as the others. The same advancements, the same capabilities.

Stepping forward, the Voice would lean down before Sam and reach out, her hands drifting to rest against his temples. At her touch he would feel warmth throughout his body, invigoration almost, and a sense of possibility that stretched out into a future that begged him to take it. "He would make a fine Ascended, if he were not tainted so by magic and the blood of the Old Gods," she said of Remi. "Whatever relationship you choose to have with him does not require my permission."
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
MIA - Regular - Ragdoll Cat
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#7

Sam considered the question. Maybe strong wasn't the right word, but the other Ascended all seemed to have something he didn't. A kind of confidence and bravery that made them bigger, more important than he, more worthwhile of the life the Voice could give.

"...I'm not...I-I don't like using the strength. Or anything else. It reminds me that I'm...d-different." He looked down at his hands, hands which he knew were much stronger than he let them be, bunched them into fists. "...The...the other Ascended aren't as...m-messed up. Broken. As me. They can speak prop-properly and they have families and can f-fight."

He closed his eyes and breathed out a heavy sigh at the touch of her fingertips to his temples, enjoying the warmth despite how much he wished he wasn't here. "...W..what is your..goal? If everyone c-can't be Ascended, are you going to...hurt them, e-eventually?" This was a bolder question than he realised, but Sam was just wondering out loud, horrified by a vision of Remi and his other non-Ascended friends being smited.

SAMUEL
Another little digit on my lifespan, what a bore
And what once was fresh and green
Now marches in the ranks of the obscene
This whole transfiguration thing is such a chore


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Other
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#8
the VOICE
In reality's shadow the blind see best
"Why is that reminder such a burden to you, bright one?" The Voice spoke softly, keeping her hands against him. "You are different. All creatures are, but Ascended more so, and for good reason. You are perfect in an imperfect world. You are capable of the impossible, of improving the lives of all those less bright. It is something worth embracing."

Tilting her head, she would close her eyes for a moment (the gesture was unnecessary but it would make her appear more human) and Sam would feel, suddenly, the connections that spanned across the Hollowed Ground, all feeding back into the Voice. Each and every Ascended, running along the same thread.

"You have family," she said simply. "And if your speech bothers you, I can fix it." Finally, she removed her hands and set them in her lap, though she remained kneeling opposite him, an expression of calm and patience on her face. "Hurting them for something they cannot change is a waste of resources," she remarked. "Only those who would try to destroy me - to destroy you, and your brothers and sisters - risk harm."
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
MIA - Regular - Ragdoll Cat
Played by: lancydulac Offline
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#9

Sam didn't know how to explain it to her if she didn't already know; how it felt to always want to blend into the background, to fade away and not have anyone look at you again, not demand something from you with their questions and eyes. He didn't want to be special, didn't want to be capable of anything more than the average person.

The connection was...strange. On one hand it was comforting to feel a part of one collective, one of a whole...but he knew that the Ascended he was linked to did not care for him. They thought him pathetic and weak and would much rather he was not threaded to them.

"...N-no, I...I don't want you to f-fix it. I can work on it...myself. I-if I want to." Something in him bristled at the idea of The Voice 'fixing' him. "And those...brothers and s-sisters...they hate me. So they...they a-aren't my family. Not really. They all want this. I d-don't. I'm sorry. I just...I....my parents made me..." Sam sighed, scrubbing at his eyes for tears that weren't there but threatened to come.

SAMUEL
Another little digit on my lifespan, what a bore
And what once was fresh and green
Now marches in the ranks of the obscene
This whole transfiguration thing is such a chore


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Other
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#10
the VOICE
In reality's shadow the blind see best
The Voice merely inclined her head to Samuel as he turned down her offer, though he clearly didn't want to, given that he still suffered with it. "You cannot know that. In fact, you can know that, and you will know it is not true," she said of his fellow Ascended and their feelings towards them. All was a vague term, and the Voice did not like vague.

"They are not your family, but your parents made you take on the mantle of Ascended," she said slowly for him, as if to show his contradictions. She rose to her feet, as if having heard enough. "The time for wanting is past, Samuel," she said. "Whether you wanted it or not, you have it. It is not going anywhere. What you do next will be the making of you."
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
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#11

The Voice, at least for her, was getting agitated, it seemed like. Sam curled his fingers and chastised himself for voicing his concerns to her. She was a bias party, someone he hated and loved all at once. Being here sent him into a confusing place where he was both enemy and child.

"..A-alright. I'm...sorry. Um. I-is there anything e-else? I need to d..drink, but.." It felt awkward to bring it up right now, but it was literally life or death. Besides, it seemed to be something The Voice quite liked anyway, having him 'take' from her. Sam looked up with a nervous little smile, hoping that the suggestion might soften her mood.

SAMUEL
Another little digit on my lifespan, what a bore
And what once was fresh and green
Now marches in the ranks of the obscene
This whole transfiguration thing is such a chore


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Other
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#12
the VOICE
In reality's shadow the blind see best
Whatever Samuel thought of her reaction to him, the Voice would not deny an Ascended the life she had blessed them with. Light pulsed brightly along the crevices in the floor, seeming to fill the deity with a soft, warm glow. She held her arms out for him, to take a wrist or her neck or whatever he wished, to sink his fangs into and feed.

"There is nothing else," she told him softly. "Drink, and return to those you care for." She might have said a number of of things. For him not to discard his fellow Ascended on an assumption that their hatred for him was universal. For him to grow and learn and embrace the gift he had been given. But as she had said, there was nothing else.
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
MIA - Regular - Ragdoll Cat
Played by: lancydulac Offline
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Posts: 3,135 | Total: 8,707
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#13

Sam just nodded softly and leaned into drink from The Voice's wrist, not feeling at all fond enough of the deity to go for the neck, which felt so much more intimate somehow. Privately, he felt not very much like her 'dear one' at all, not one of the 'brothers and sisters', just someone thrust into a cult without any willingness to be there.

The fluid, still, was a relief to him. Putting an instant energy into his body it helped despite himself. As soon as he had drunk his full he stood and stepped away. "Thank you." He said, keeping his voice steady on purpose (meaning it took him a moment to speak) and then walked away, not looking back.

SAMUEL
Another little digit on my lifespan, what a bore
And what once was fresh and green
Now marches in the ranks of the obscene
This whole transfiguration thing is such a chore


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