Unity do not pursue, though they do look the way the person ran for a long moment. Eventually they sigh and look to Nissa. "Humans eat meat, too. Why outlaw it? This 'Doctor' seems to have little understanding of what he's actually doing..."
They shake their head. "Or his author was being symbolic. This whole being inside a story thing is hard to keep straight sometimes."
"The people Dr. Moreau altered have a leader, right? Perhaps we should go to them next. Perhaps it would be best to hear these 'laws' as they understand them."
You find yourself approaching a small gathering of poorly built huts. They are not as nice as the one you were invited to use. Just outside of the clearing in which the huts stand, you run into each other.
By the time Unity and Nissa realize Prendrick has joined the party, it is too late to hide.
Prendrick gasps.
"Pendick! Calm down!" The big warrior warns his fellow castaway. "These are our friends. Unity won't bite you unless you give a reason."
"How's my 'little girl'?" The Olympian asks the Bombshell.
Nissa’s answer to Unity’s question: “Control? Moreau isn’t forbidding a luxury, but a necessity. Is my understanding correct? I mean… you couldn’t survive on a vegan diet, could you?”
_
When the others show up, Nissa is at her current maximum size: 3 inches. She can’t hide, and doesn’t see a reason to.
“What? We’re three beastmen and a firefly girl. We’re as normal as you are, on this island.”
“Just so we’re clear, Dr. Moreau didn’t make me like this.” Smiling warmly at Theo’s words, she says, “He’s my dad!”
She flutters over to him. “I’m fine… a bit outta my element though. The local boys here flee at the sight of me. Unity thinks we should find their leader.”
"Unity, I'll back whatever play you wanna run", Theo nods at his chimeric friend, patting his shoulder.
"Ah, that would require us to know just what we wanted to do," Unity reply to Theo.
Unity are currently a bipedal, four-armed creature over 7' tall, encased in dark blue futuristic armor save for their massive black wings.
The look to Pendrick. "You have nothing to fear from us," they promise. "Though you will find we are not the only thing here you will find unusual."
Prendrick stumbles, shouts, gasps, and proclaims noisily his astonishment.
This causes some commotion down at the huts. They have heard Prendrick and know that you are approaching.
They get quiet quickly, but you can see eyes peering at you from the darkness off the trail down near the huts. One set of eyes is high up in the tree.
The eyes don't look entirely human.
Unity sigh and take off their helmet, revealing their vulpine head. "We have... some knowledge of the Doctor here. Our creator took some... inspiration from him."
Theo, accustomed to the strange and unnatural at this point in his career, smiles back at the eyes.
"Yeah. Just enjoying the wonderful scenery. I bare you no ill will, if you do not bare us ill will. Please. Don't be shy. I'd like to meet you all."
Zellgato picks Prendrick up from his stumble and tries to get him to stop shouting but to no avail. "Buck up man. Our friend is quite civil. Youre a man of the Natural History collegete work. Act as a scholar, not a child." zellgato attempts to adopt a vernacular based off of Prendrick's own up to this point.
Henri hovers near the second NPC to intercept/reassure if he panics.
Unity sigh and take off their helmet, revealing their vulpine head. "We have... some knowledge of the Doctor here. Our creator took some... inspiration from him."
"My God!" exclaims Prendrick, looking at Unity.
"No! Not God! Whomever its creator was ...," starts the other man, trailing off before he says anything more offensive.
The two become quieter when Zellgato scolds them.
The strange figures hiding in the woods remain still. Their eyes glow.
A creature that looks like a naked pink sloth waddles out of the clearing. His face has been reconstructed to look like a human child's. Otherwise, he remains sloth-like in many ways. The pink creature beams at you and then makes a gesture that you should follow it. It leads you into the clearing and gestures towards a hut with torn canvas walls. It holds one flap opens and invites you to enter. The smell from within is off-putting. It smells of animals and their s~~+.
"Our creator was an amoral madman. No need to tiptoe around it. We know this all too well," Unity say to the poor surprised men.
They give the sloth-person a deep nod when they approach, and follow where they lead. They enter the hut without hesitation. None of their past selves were strangers to animal smells, after all.
“Hey!” came a voice from the darkness. “It is a man.”
“It is a man, like us,” gabbled the naked sloth-like creature that guided you in. "And a man. And a man. And a man. And something else."
"Is it a five-man?", asks the voice from the darkness. "Or a man-like-us."
"They are all a five-man, like me,” says an ape-man, stepping from the shadows and holding up his four fingers and thumbs proudly.
“Shut up!” said the voice from the dark and grunted. Prendrick gnawed on a cocoa-nut nervously.
The creature in the darkness seems to be studying you.
“They are all a man,” the voice repeated. “They comes to live with us?”
The sloth-man, the ape-man, and the eyes in the dark wait for your reply.
Nissa is in the hut, listening to everyone saying man-this and man-that and five-man… She asks, “Am I the only woman? …again?”
Note to self: make a compelling case to warp L.C. to the all-woman world.
Henri enters with the others, but says little, waiting for his eyes to adjust and Unity to address their mysterious host.
"Greetings to you", Theo steps forward. "I am a Man. I am Theo. We are visiting your island home. We want to speak to Dr. Moreau, when he is ready. Will you please tell us The Law?"
"We will live with you for a time, yes," Unity confirm, waiting to hear more.
Zellgato watches as the rest enters, but he remains near the flap. He does not hold the flap open-assuming the light in there is the preferene but remains listening in. He'll nod to Henri before they go in, letting him know he'll keep an eye out.
"Greetings to you", Theo steps forward. "I am a Man. I am Theo. We are visiting your island home. We want to speak to Dr. Moreau, when he is ready. Will you please tell us The Law?"
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20 + 17
"The Master dwells in the House of Pain," replies a half-goat/half-ape that looks like some kind of monstrous satyr. "You cannot see the Master."
"We will live with you for a time, yes," Unity confirm, waiting to hear more.
“They are a man. They must learn the Law,” says one of the ape-men.
Now distinguishaable in the deeper blackness, you see a vague outline of a hunched-up figure. More of Moreau's beast men crowd in behind you. The thing in the dark says something, but other beast-men speak at the same time, demanding that you learn the law.
The thing in the dark repeated in a louder tone, “Say the words.". He repeats his last utterance in a sing-song voice, “Not to go on all-fours; that is the Law.”.
Zellgato watches as the rest enters, but he remains near the flap. He does not hold the flap open-assuming the light in there is the preferene but remains listening in. He'll nod to Henri before they go in, letting him know he'll keep an eye out.
[dice=Zellgato keeping watch if needed perception]1d20+16
Zellgato hears the shuffling of feet and muttering outside the hut. He detects the presence of at least a dozen of these beast-men. The hut is surrounded, but they have not been hostile.
"Not to go on all-fours; that is the law", The Olympian repeats, clearly not having any issue with The Law. "You guys are a fun group."
Nissa crosses her arms. “I can’t help but notice that ‘law’ doesn’t apply to women.”
Unity cross their four arms. They consider pointing out they could go on *six*, but decide now is not the time to bring that up. "Not to go on all-fours; that is the Law."
Henri looks around at his friends, he was telling us to say it? Ok... He looks into the darkness, clears his throat, and says, "Not to go on all-fours, that is the Law."
Nissa finally gets that every guest has to say it. “Ahhhhhh…… well, as I woman, I actually prefer ‘not to go on all fours.
“‘It’s the law,’ and it’s undignified.”
The figure in the shadows steps forward a little. It looks human in form, but is covered with grey fur. Something apelike about his features hints at its origins.
He recites and expects you to recite after him. All the beast-men do and watch to see if you do.
“Not to go on all-fours; that is the Law. Are we not Men?”
“Not to suck up Drink; that is the Law. Are we not Men?”
“Not to eat Fish or Flesh; that is the Law. Are we not Men?”
“Not to claw the Bark of Trees; that is the Law. Are we not Men?”
“Not to chase other Men; that is the Law. Are we not Men?”
The shadow-cloaked beast-man then swung around to a new formula:
“His is the House of Pain.”
“His is the Hand that makes.”
“His is the Hand that wounds.
“His is the Hand that heals.”
Theo repeats the Law, frowning slightly at the thought of not eating fish. The godling is sure the fishing on the island must be great fun.
Once The Olympian gets the rhythm of the song, he casts ghost sounds as a backup track.
Henri sees the expectation that they repeat, and does so.
When the beastmen sing ‘are we not men?’, Nissa answers honesty: “I’m not.”
Unity scowl, but repeat the words.
They are, after all, just words.
The hut stinks with the smell of the beast-men. Despite all being men they are no more interested in Nissa than one might be a dragonfly.
“His are the stars in the sky,” says the grey-furred beast-man stepping from the shadows. His face shone with perspiration.
The creatures that crowd around you are grotesque caricatures of humanity. With some the origin is hard to determine, but others bare clear hints of dog, great cat, boar, and goat. Moreau's ability to reconstruct these creatures to look like men with only surgical tools and early 20th century medicine is unbelievable, but this is a fictional sub-universe after all.
“Not to run on all-fours; that is the Law. Are we not Men?” the Sayer-of-the-law said.
“Eat roots and herbs; it is His will,” said a brown-furred Ape-man.
“I am the Sayer of the Law,” said the grey figure firmly. “Here come all that be new to learn the Law. I sit in the darkness and say the Law.”
“It is even so,” said one of the beasts in the doorway.
“Evil are the punishments of those who break the Law. None escape,” warned the Sayer-of-the-law ominously, before finally breaking his gaze away from the brown-furred ape-man who dared to usurp his role.
“None escape,” said the Beast Folk, glancing furtively at one another.
“None escape,” said the grey creature glancing towards the ape-man.
“None, none,” said the Ape-man, “none escape. Once I did a little bad thing once. I jabbered, jabbered, stopped talking the words of men. I am punished. I am burnt, branded in the hand. The Master is great. He is good!”
“None escape,” said the Beast People, looking askance at one another.
“For every one the want that is bad,” said the grey Sayer of the Law. “What you will want we do not know; we shall know. Some want to follow things that move, to watch and slink and wait and spring; to kill and bite, bite deep and rich, sucking the blood. It is bad. ‘Not to chase other Men; that is the Law. Are we not Men? Not to eat Flesh or Fish; that is the Law. Are we not Men?’”
“None escape,” said a dappled brute standing in the doorway.
“For every one the want is bad,” said the grey Sayer of the Law. “Some want to go tearing with teeth and hands into the roots of things, snuffing into the earth. It is bad.”
“None escape,” said the men in the door.
“Some go clawing trees; some go scratching at the graves of the dead; some go fighting with foreheads or feet or claws; some bite suddenly, none giving occasion; some love uncleanness.”
“None escape,” said the Ape-man, scratching the branded hand guiltily.
“None escape,” said the little pink sloth-creature.
“Punishment is sharp and sure. Therefore learn the Law. Say the words.”
They have forgotten about you. They chant to each other, playing out the drama of their punishment, the worship of their cruel creator and neglectful master.
Theo side-eyes the others. "My exalted Uncle Dionysus would LOVE this place! But then, he always liked pirates into dolphins, so."
“…some love uncleanness.”
“Some?”
Nissa is definitely better off being ignored. Mom wants honest, not stupid.
“So, those are the laws. Wants are bad, punishment is sharp and sure, none escape.” Etcetera. “So, now that the info session is over, is there a tour? And any special rules for—”
—for those of us with wings? Dummy! Ask him that, and he’ll be like,
🎵 walk around with your feet on the ground
that is the law 🎶
Then a depressing flightless birdman’ll chime in,
🎵 I did bad a thing and flew; my wing
was plucked by the claw 🎶
“—hey! That law and punishment song is great! I already found my answer by saying the words in my head. No questions. The law is clear, and having us say it helps me understand perfectly.”
Unity can be the one to bring up the dead rabbit, if they wanna.
"I am the Sayer-of-the-law!" says the Sayer-of-the-law to Nissa.
"None escape," affirm the congregation of beast-men.
Prendrick, at this point, is no longer able to maintain the cognitive dissonance to disbelieve what he is seeing. He screams and runs out of the tent. The beast-men look concerned.
Henri apologizes for the departing man before following, "He has had much stress, I will check on him."
Unity scoff in disbelief. "No one owns the stars. We have been to some."
"It seems like we have nothing further useful to do here for the time," they add, turning away. "We'll find another way."
[ooc] I feel like I blink and suddenly it goes from Saturday to Wednesday.[/ooc[
Prendrick's sudden action and movement, followed by Henri, Zellgato departs with them, not wanting anyone alone.
Jogging up to best he can to Hneri. "Good time for your empathy, I suppose."
Nissa can’t help but notice that more than none are escaping. She flutters by her dad’s side to see how he handles the situation…
"Sayer", Theo asks, stepping forward.
"The Law says you do not eat fish. Does The Law allow for climbing of trees to harvest food, or for fun? What does The Law allow you to eat?"
"Sayer", Theo asks, stepping forward.
"The Law says you do not eat fish. Does The Law allow for climbing of trees to harvest food, or for fun? What does The Law allow you to eat?"
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20 + 17
“Eat roots and herbs; it is His will,” says the Ape-man.
Prendrick stumbles out of the enclave of huts and, gaining his footing, makes towards the big white house that looks over the island. "Insanity! Madness! I must see this Doctor Moreau!"
"Okay", Theo concedes. "It is His Will."
Unity decide to follow a little behind Prendrick, wondering if their presence when (or if) Dr. Moreau shows himself will throw the story off-script.
Unity are in turmoil as they leave the hut. They had hoped to some degree to help their... distant cousins, might be the best term for them, but... well, what really were these story worlds? How flexible were they really?
Now, they just want to get this over with quickly. [i]Perhaps their appearance will encourage the Doctor to want to examine them--an easy in to the laboratory, after which they could simply overpower them and find the door.[i] Though preferably such deception wouldn't be necessary. Surely some kind of agreement could be reached...?
Even so, part of them... well, part of them wishes to just kill the Doctor for essentially torturing and enslaving his own creations simply to feed his own ego. But what would it really accomplish? But on the other paw, can they really say that the temporary relief isn't *something*? Isn't everything temporary, in the end?