War Journal

So, The Tower of Life. That building is full of moral quandaries. Supposedly, it's a Guthixian building, but there are various experiments planned for when it is completed involving the anima mundi, something that is mostly frowned upon by the Guthuxians. Glouphrie's experiments on the matter have lead to his banishment from the gnome settlements to the southern parts of the elven lands which are now a poison waste due to the byproducts of his experiments. I've sent in Lateri to map the inside while the construction is halted due to a labor dispute and she has found various instances of symbology belonging to the cults of both Zaros and Zamorack but none of Saradomin or Armadyl to "balance" things out. Typically, followers of Zaros and Zamorack do not get along. Typically, they are at each other's throats, and with good reason. Something fishy is going on there.

Perhaps a clue is in the symbology that was most prominent. It is something I haven't seen in ages.



The Man in the Maze. The Trickster.

Does he, too, make his move now? He was a buddy of Guthix. A miniguthix. Always concerned with balance and living with nature. Why, then, does his mark decorate this Tower of Life, when inevitably, it will pour forth death into the Kandarin woodlands just like Arposandra poured forth death into the the forests of Isafdar?

Maybe he's looking for a good laugh?

Or maybe it is a diversion. He was always good with diversions.

The discussion with the Charter Mage brought back the nightmares. And the nightmares were his only memory of those early years, those horrifying years, those powerless years.

"What are you?!"

A woman's pained, confused, and crazed cries pierced though the formless dark. And the Formless responded in kind, not losing the least bit of its insensibility.

"A chicken?"

Madness, anger, and pain poured forth, filling the room physically. It flooded from the summoning circle where a new creature stood. The raw emotion made reality hit the walls. Parts bled to the other side, parts bounced back, creating a maelstrom at the room's center.

The world was being torn apart.


Darkness. Then, pale, sickly grey light. Similarly colored flesh. Blind. Mouths. Stinging appendages. Biting, snarling wind. Hungry wind that stole away bodily heat and dashed it's prey against cold stone.

Darkness. Chickens, being raised for food. Being killed. Lives lived for death, for life. Confusion, madness. And the wind, yet again killing both predator and prey.

Darkness. Now amongst myriad intelligent lifeforms engaged in shaping tiny portions of the world as they saw fit. And they saw unfit that intelligent minds be trapped in bodies which could not use tools.

Then the mighty wind's return.

Darkness. Light. Darkness. Light. Darkness. Light. Darkness. Light. Darkness. Light. Darkness. Light. Everywhere, mouths, everywhere, the wind, the hungry wind. The mouths become food.

Death, itself. Stolen away. Revenge offered up in its place.
Hunger.

With Shufti again

http://community.livejournal.com/milliways_bar/23175139.html

http://community.livejournal.com/milliways_bar/22972271.html

Bridget
http://community.livejournal.com/milliways_bar/22971506.html?thread=1020182386

Gielinor

oh duh, this thing can teleport

Evil Chicken and the silvery faceless humanoid that was holding him reappeared somewhere in the northern wilderness. The bot started scanning the new territory.

"I forgot you can teleport. I can just skip going through the Killerwatt plane altogether now, can't I?"

"Was our previous location part of a separate universe than the one designated Milliway's?"

"Yes it was, and I was the one that teleported us there in case you were confused. That universe is known as the Killerwatt plane." Evil Chicken had worked with golems before, he was sure this thing's learning process was similar. "If you are ever low on energy, teleport yourself there. Don't spend too much time in there, though, someone may notice your ability to absorb electrical attacks and think you are some neat new monster to slay."

"Acknowledged," replied the bot.

"And this is an entirely different universe altogether. This -- well, at least the planet we are standing on, is called Gielinor. Let me turn around so I can see were we are." Evil Chicken was facing the bot's chest throughout the ordeal in the Killerwatt plane in order to partially shield his eyes. He wasn't ready to leave the bot's arms yet though.

"Acknowledged," replied the bot,as it loosened its embrace of the chicken.

Ah, good, no one around thought the chicken to himself after shifting around. Nothing but scorched earth for miles. "This, most probably is the wilderness." Now came the difficult part. "I can't teleport here," or anywhere on this plane due to the interference of the Magic Guild. "Get us 1000 feet in the air so both of us can get a better idea of were we are."

The bot and the chicken disappeared and then reappeared at exactly 1000 feet above their previous location. As they fell downward, Evil Chicken scanned the horizon and the Providor unit scanned the lands below, diligently preparing a mental map.

Oh, the thrill of being this high in the air again! The freedom of free fall, without the worry about impacting the ground! This is what they took away from him when they clipped his wings, and now, after several months, his wings have been replaced.

"There! To the south-east! That is Varrock. To the south is Edgeville. Teleport us somewhere outside Varrock's northern wall; hopefully no one will see us."

Again, the bot and the chicken disappeared, this time reappearing in the forest outside Varrock's northern wall.

"Set me down on the ground." The bot obeyed Evil Chicken's order and stood upright as the chicken inspected its silver form. "Darn, can't wander into the city with you looking like that. Hrrmmm.... back to the Killerwatt plane." Evil Chicken took to the air and perched on the bot's head. Both disappeared once more.

---

Killerwatt plane
This time, they were in a different part of the plane, but before the bot could finish mapping the new location, they teleported once more. In front of them was a shimmering pool of white light. Evil Chicken spoke up again. "This is the portal from the Killerwatt plane back into Gielinor. There might be someone on the other side who isn't expecting you to step through, so be ready to do what I say."

"I am always ready."

"Let's go through the portal then."

---

Gielinor, Draynor Mansion
It was Ava's turn to watch the portal and make sure the fools who decided to go in were given the standard disclaimers about epileptic attacks and death by electrocution. Today had been slow, though. Slow enough that she was inspecting Oddenstien's machine and attempting to determine how it was keeping the portal open.

A silvery man shaped thing and an abnormally sized chicken stepped though the portal. The chicken, she recognized; the humanoid, she did not. "Seize her! She will be your new face!"

In two quick steps the bot grabbed Ava by the wrists and held them above her head. It appeared to be ogling her shape. That would be true, if it had eyes.

"Let go! Help!" she shouted. As she struggled against the bot, she had an idea. "Backpack! This thing looks metal, they tearing it apart for spare parts!" The backpack she was wearing sprung to life (or rather, unlife) as two dozen undead elongated chicken legs came out, talons clutching the most powerful magnets Ava had found and various instruments for cutting and shaping metal. The talons swung wildly around Ava, stabbing at the humanoid who held their master. Soon they were opposed by identical twins springing from the backpack a duplicate Ava was wearing.

"Enough. Let her go. And don't you dare attempt anything like that with my new prize ever again unless you want to be replaced."

Ava #2 released the original Ava. The original Ava's backpack was still seeking to destroy the bot. Seeing this, Evil Chicken unleashed a wind spell at Ava #1 which knocked her back and away form Ava #2.

"Ava... you seriously need to find a better way of control that... thing of yours."

"What is that thing? Why does it look like me now?" Ava #1 got up slowly from the floor, sore from the struggle. The limbs of her backpack were still flailing about, looking for metal to destroy. The limbs that sprung from Ava #2's backpack had settled down and tucked themselves back into the backpack.

"Careful Ava, you are awfully close to the portal generator." She was, and seeing this, she whispered a command to her backpack. The limbs hid themselves. "This," Evil Chicken gestured toward Ava #2, "is a marvel of technology from another world, built by a very clever girl."

"What? How?"

"What do you mean how? You were once a very clever girl. Both you and Penny, I suspect."

Ava let out a small involuntary snarl at Penny's name. "That is not what I meant. How was it built?"

"I suspect a lot of that semiconductor technology went into it. In her world it has advanced so much that something like Oddenstein's machine can be reduced to the size of a thimble. No magic involved, and no undead parts."

He's trying to anger her. Why? "And it changes shape..."

"Oh, that's because most its volume isn't actually real. It's something called a solid hologram." He can talk about his new toy all day long. "It can lift large weights, it can absorb electric and probably magic attack, and best of all, it can teleport!"

"So, you got your very own mahjarrat?"

Evil Chicken was speechless for a minute.

He then turned to the robot. "Your name is Ava for now. Come on Ava, I think you have been spending too much time researching the undead. Let's go outside for a walk."

Evil Chicken lead the robot, who was now wearing Ava's face, out of the room, leaving the original Ava alone in the room again, grumbling and trying to massage her bruises away.

The origin story that says that Evil Chicken was summoned accidentally in the 'Days of the Mahjarrat' just became a lot more interesting, due to a peculiar reading of Gielinorian history.

The days of the Mahjarrat began in the First Age, which itself ended about 8,200 years ago. Icthlarin, God of the aspects of death which lead to new life, brought the Mahjarrat to the realm of Gielinor to serve as his Stern Judges. He had delivered them from their own tortured realm of Freneskae, a world of total and unending war. That such powerful beings such as the Mahjarrat would flee their world into the arms of a god which they would later speak of as, "the fool who wished to enslave us," speaks volumes of the horrors of Freneskae.

The oath of allegiance they swore to Icthlarin failed to keep the horror of Freneskae from spreading into Gielinor. The histories are unclear, but it seems that at least one consequence of the violent behaviour and habits of the faceless Mahjarrat was the corruption and madness of Icthlarin's sister. The goddess Amascut, who was the aspect of life which caused death, became broken, became The Devourer, The Wanderer, Goddess of Destruction.

The god and goddess of the cycles of life and death were no longer balanced, but eventually, Icthlarin became what he is today, God of Death, God of Rebirth, Guide to the Afterlife, Protector against the Devourer, who only wishes for the destruction of both the body and the soul. Eventually balance was restored, but not for many centuries.

It was during this time that the Mahjarrat aligned themselves to The Empty One and the First Age ended. Even the Empty Lord, Zaros, is described by some sources as being a benevolent god before the so called 'Age of the Mahjarrat,' but the beginning of the Second Age is marked by a sudden surge in Zaros worship and the expansion of an empire guided and ruled by The Empty One and his dreaded army of Mahjarrat.

It was during the Second Age, while the tortured cry of Amascut echoed through the world, that the stories about Evil Chicken start. It is then, in "the times of the Mahjarrat" that the earliest tales describe

"a mad mage, who attempts to summon a demon and bind it to his will. Unfortunately his spell failed and all that appeared was one confused chicken. In a fit of anger at his failure the mage banished the chicken to the abyss. The chicken however appears to have survived and grown in power. Years later, when the mage cast another spell of summoning, the chicken appeared! The story does not tell of what became of the mage."

-- Book on chickens

This reading of history is particularly exciting, because it sheds light on what Evil Chicken may actually be and why he is worshiped as a god by some. He may in fact be the part of Amascut that she lost when her sanity was shattered by the actions of the Mahjarrat and her brother, Icthlarin. It would explain his ability to lay eggs, some of which may be fertile, based on the similarity between him and the dreadfowl, which at times claim to have been 'mothered' by an entity they call "the Strongest Father." The ability of this particular rooster to do what only females can may be because he is part goddess. Or it may be that Evil Chicken came into existence due to the adjustments Icthlarin had to make to fit into his new role as his sister's opponent rather than collaborator. Either explanation would fit with the reports going back thousands of years of Evil Chicken's stubborn refusal to stay dead. What is death to something created, perhaps inadvertently, by the gods of rebirth?

It raises a troubling theological issue, though. What if Evil Chicken is Amascut's call for justice? After all, he takes a form very similar to Lord Armadyl's favored creatures, the Aviantese. If this is so, are we to allow him to do as he pleases, since he may be serving the Lord of Justice?

It is unlikely, though, for Evil Chicken has been wreaking havoc and killing seemingly random people for nearly 7,000 years, if the stories are to be believed. How does what he has done so far serve justice, and why has the debt taken so long to be paid?