A Delicate Surgery (AKA Tremula Gets New Eyes)

Tremula

Special thanks to @Kurut for RP'ing this out with me, and not giving me eyes that would make everyone look like Pectus. That would be well and truly frightening. Also thanks for grabbing the log, since SOMEONE released the gnomes right after we finished and I scurried off to grab the gnomes before I remembered to grab the lines!

Within a field of flowers.

The corrosiveness of the taint sickens the land. A wash of green spreads in all directions with dots of blues and yellows and reds spread evenly throughout. Flowers of all types dot this landscape, everything from purple pansies to crimson poppies and even the softer tones of buttercups and tulips. Upon closer inspection, one can see that it is not earth that these things grow from; rather, a seemingly unending sea of corpses piled atop eachother. Each corpse is horribly disfigured, some with missing eyes and others with only fragments of faces left, but all are in advanced stages of decay. Something unseen, something sinister, masks the stench of decay, allowing the area to be filled with the sweetest scents of flowers and wild grass. Should one look closely enough, bits of corpses are interwoven with the flowers themselves. Fingernails are caught in filaments, hair on petals and very rarely bits of eye tissue are caught on thorns.

 

Soothingly, you say, "Hand me the corpses and lie down upon the... ah... ground."

 

Tremula nods her head sagely.

 

Tremula gives the corpse of Hive King Nefomotep to you.

 

Tremula gives the corpse of Kar'chen, the Castellan of Djarrakh to you.

 

Tremula gives the corpse of a female viscanti slave to you.

 

Tremula sits herself down before stretching out on her back amidst the flowers.

 

Lullabied Requiem Tremula n'Lochli, the Tiniest Nightingale says to you, "And what lovely...er...ground it is."

 

You have emoted: Kurut busies herself with the corpses. She is quick in each movement, as if she had done so a thousand times, and she doesn't even flinch as she wrenches the eye from Kar'chen's socket. She stomps harshly, causing mud to ooze up between the corpses that compose the ground below, the mass of wet earth forming into a pillar upon which she places the krokani eye.

 

You have emoted: Kurut discards the krokani corpse, turning now to the kephera, Her delicate and willowy fingers wrap around the head in an almost maternal embrace, one made suddenly foul as she wrenches her hands to the side and pulls the insectoid head free. Another pillar of mud rises to join the first, and upon this one she places the head of the insect king.

 

After seeing the swift movement with the corpse of the krokani, Tremula quickly brushes her bangs from her forehead, the Taint surrounding her sliding down with another movement of her hand to reveal the ivory skin of her face, clean and unblemished.

 

You have emoted: Kurut casts the viscanti corpse toward you, the lifeless thing landing heavily upon the ground at your side. A twisted, almost malevolent grin spreads upon her features as she stomps again, more mud seeping up between the corpses and oozing around your form. The mud is black with the Taint, and it bubbles, each pop releasing the fetid stench of decay into the air. "Hold still..." she croons gently, retrieving the eye and the head from the mud as she steps closer.

 

Tremula's body stiffens as the foreign matter squelches around her, enclosing her in its cool grasp. A soft sigh escapes her mouth before her eyes glaze over and her body relaxes, as though she is used to the proceedings that will follow.

 

You have emoted: Kurut looms over your prone body, her imperious gaze studying every aspect of your features as her grin widens. She kneels slowly, straddling your waist and letting her weight ease onto your abdomen. She says nothing, no words of encouragement and no ritualistic nonsense, she merely plunges the eye and the head into the tainted mud on either side of your head. The viscous black semisolid oozes over the two objects, sizzling and popping and releasing a stench vile enough to turn the most tempered of stomachs.

 

You have emoted: Kurut struggles several times, wrenching her shoulders this way and that, before her hands finally pull free with a watery squelching sound. The eye and the head are all but dissolved now, giving the blackened mud swirls of crimson and incarnadine. "This might hurt..." she whispers, barely loud enough to be heard. One mud-encrusted hand darts to the side, her meticulously manicured nails acting like claws as they cave in the upper face of the viscanti child. The flesh and bone bend to the will of her fingers like clay, letting her scoop away nose and eyes and bits of brain with an almost effortless movement.

 

Tremula's cloudy eyes follow your movements with what would appear to be interest, a lack of emotion on her perfectly still face not assisting in the portrayal. As you work, the Taint swirling and churning around her body seems to slow down, more and more of her alabaster skin showing as the tempestuous smog begins stilling.

 

You have emoted: Kurut scoops up the red-swirled mud with her other hand and grinds it into your eyes without hesitation, not even giving you a moment to close your lids. The tainted earth burns on contact, sizzling like acid upon flesh as it seeps into the miniscule gap between your eyelid and eye. The hand with the viscanti remains then hovers over the muddy mess and curls into a fist, letting droplets of viscera fall upon the mud. She whispers something, but your ears can't quite make it out. The words are harsh, violent, malevolent and purely evil, and by those words the mud churns with the blood and flesh and gore, driving past your eyes and into your optic nerve, the taint seeping through the flesh easily.

 

You have emoted: Kurut casts aside what little remains of the child's face and places her now-bloodied hand over your mud-encrusted eyes. Her flesh is cold, almost like ice, but upon your taint-infused skin it feels like pure fire. More and more of the tainted mud slips around your eyes, guided by her touch, until your face is clean of earth and your eyes are glistening pools of brown, red and black. "Think..." she whispers, her voice cutting through the pain, "...will the change to happen, or lose your form to the glorious Taint!"

 

Tremula's hands spasm as the mud begins burning, her soft hands shaking as they arch into claws, clenching at the air for a few moments before digging into the dead flesh below her. As the mud continues, her stomach violently rolls, though not powerfully enough to dislodge you or alter your position. The Taint about her responds angrily lashing this way and that in the shape of skeletal arms, swiping at the air above your head in obvious distress and pain. A deep breath and a furrow of her brow, however, is the only emotion her face betrayals as her head softly begins vibrating with the force of her concentration, her lips forming silent words as your hand holds her in place.

 

You have emoted: Kurut keeps her hand pressed forcefully over your eyes, holding you down, letting the mud do its work. She leans in slowly, whispering something, or perhaps nothing at all as tainted, poisonous fumes slip past her lips and roll over your face. Terrifying visions fill your mind, vision of eyes coming in from all sides, of tentacles and mouths and tongues lashing from all directions, but all that really matters is the eyes. The Taint bubbles and seethes around your eyes as the mud is absorbed into your flesh. Soon all traces of brown and red and black are gone, leaving only your eyes, whatever they may be. Satisfied, she pulls her hand away and looks down upon you, her baleful red glare both terrifying and maternal.

 

Tremula's eyes close, a heavy sigh escaping her lungs as they orbs flicker back and forth, the movement visible underneath their thin lids. When she opens the right, it is perfect and whole, a rich spectrum of violet splayed over the iris. When the left opens, all seven irises share the same colouration, the six pupils surrounding the center one shrinking and enlarging rapidly in response to the new light. "K-Kurut?" Tremula slowly closes one eye, then the other, studying your face carefully as her mouth opens in wonder.

 

Her pupils finally settling down and her eyes growing wide as she studies your face, reaching out to touch it gently before becoming fixated with her own hand, turning it this way and that as she gapes, Lullabied Requiem Tremula n'Lochli, the Tiniest Nightingale says, "You...you did it. I could never have imagined how beautiful this would be."

 

You smile softly.

 

Tremula's eyes grow even wider, almost seeming to bug out of her head as she audibly gasps, staring out at the sea of flowers before her. After a few moments, a single tear escapes her right eye, visible for only moments before it is absorbed by the Taint slowly beginning to surround her once more.

 

You have emoted: Kurut chuckles softly and rises to her feet, relieving your abdomen of her weight. She takes several steps, her bare feet pressing carefully upon the flesh below, as she studies both you and the mud around you. Her toes curl into what little mud has made it past the corpses, forcing the rest of the mud to seep back below the sea of death into the earth that rests beneath it all.

In a swift, fluid motion, Tremula springs up from her hands to land crouched on her feet.

 

Tremula stumbles as she lands, almost collapsing on to you and she sways back and forth, her eyes wide as she stares at the ground.

 

Her voice slightly shaky, Lullabied Requiem Tremula n'Lochli, the Tiniest Nightingale says, "This...could take some getting used to."

 

Your eyes sparkle with amusement.

 

You say, "The blessings of the Taint are many."