The Freedom Stone

Rose cried against Unfettered Sky’s shoulder, possibly the first she had been able to cry for a long time. Sky pat her back lightly, and tried not to wince when Rose would accidentally touch one of the healing briar wounds on her own back, from the night before. All the while, Sky thought about what had happened in the town and what had happened beneath the Inn.

Faint sounds came from outside, murmurs and shuffling. “Stay here,” Sky said to Rose as she pulled away from the young woman and stood back up. She drew her sword again, and pushed the chair out from in front of the door with her other hand. As the door opened, Sky saw that a crowd had formed on the mist-shrouded muddy street. The villagers were gathered around the door, blocking any path away.

Sky closed the door behind herself, and shoved townsfolk out of her way as she walked back toward the blacksmith. The mob followed her silently. Sky kept the corner of her eye on them, but focused her attention on the smith. He had gone back to shaping something from metal, as though everything were normal. As Sky approached, he looked up at her. “Something I can help you with?” he asked casually.

The point of Sky’s sword almost touched his eye. He didn’t even flinch. “Okay Lion, I know what happened. Care to tell your side?” Sky growled.

He laughed. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but the words came out without his mouth moving more than that. The voice was low and rasping. “He does not go by that name anymore,” the voice coming from the smith’s mouth hissed. “Speak only to me.” Sky stared for several seconds at the open-mouthed Lion, caught rather off guard. “Get her out of here!” the voice growled at the crowd of villagers on the street.

Dozens of townsfolk shambled over to Sky and grabbed at her arms and the back of her shirt. They began dragging her back, out of the smith’s open forge-room. Still somewhat surprised, Sky didn’t resist at first. Then, she regained her senses and pulled free of the villagers. “What are you?!” she hollered at what used to be Lion. The voice inside laughed, a grating sound.

The villagers grabbed Sky again, and tried to pull her away. The shell of Lion closed its mouth and turned back toward metal shaping. Everything Sky had heard and seen told her that something had to be done, but she couldn’t escape the feeling that these were still people somewhere inside. Sky’s heart clashed between slaying the unholy creatures, and saving the unfortunate people of this town. The conflict quickly tore her up inside.

Anger won. With superhuman might and a fierce howl of rage, Sky threw the villagers off herself. Her vision went red. If these people didn’t want to be helped, if they wanted to do everything in their power to stop her or slow her down, then to the hells with them! For what seemed to be a very long instant of blurred shapes, red sight, and blood pumping like fire, Sky lost track of the world.

Her heart slowed down, and her vision cleared from its haze. Sweat rolled down Sky’s face and dripped from her chin. Her arms shook slightly. As her thoughts arranged themselves, Sky looked around. Her blade was covered from hilt to tip in blood, still dripping for how thick it was. She was standing just outside the smithy. The streets around her were covered in at least a dozen bodies. Mud and blood mixed around the corpses of villagers. Behind her, Lion’s body was half through the wooden wall of the smith-shop. Beyond that, the heavy fog obscured the rest of the town.

Sky stared long and hard at the destruction. A feeling crept up from within her. Standing amidst the carnage, her limbs slowly relaxing and her mind feeling clearer than it had since she arrived, Sky realized what the feeling was.

She felt good.

Limit Breaks are good for that.

Also, if that's her Limit Break, that explains worlds about some of her reactions. And that's also the safest use of Limit I've ever seen (ie. the only people who got hurt probably/maybe deserved it.).

Epiphany wrote:

Limit Breaks are good for that.
Also, if that's her Limit Break, that explains worlds about some of her reactions. And that's also the safest use of Limit I've ever seen (ie. the only people who got hurt probably/maybe deserved it.).

Yeah, that's a good hit of willpower back.
And yes, she's been gaining limit for a while... I tend to portray limit as a building effect. Someone with foolhardy contempt doesn't just suddenly go stupid, he builds up to it then breaks (seems more natural that way, and helps hide the great curse). In this case... berserk.

My girl, who played the signature Zenith Yezenjen in my Pivot Child book, did the same thing. Looked at Limit as progressively greater played-up traits. The Temperance Primary character finds it harder and harder to stay in control. The Valor Primary character keeps getting angrier, etc.

It's not really statted up in the game. But I really like that interpretation on Limit.

Then again, I like looking at Limit as innate tendencies in people blown out of control by the Great Curse. What can I say, I like the Greek Tragedy element. And it's so much harder for a character to come to grips with post-Limit Break when they can see the seeds of it in themselves to begin with.

Epiphany wrote:

It's not really statted up in the game. But I really like that interpretation on Limit.
Then again, I like looking at Limit as innate tendencies in people blown out of control by the Great Curse. What can I say, I like the Greek Tragedy element. And it's so much harder for a character to come to grips with post-Limit Break when they can see the seeds of it in themselves to begin with.

Yeah, I've always prefered a more progressing problem then then hits a breaking point.
And I've always interpreted it as a quality of the person either intensified or twisted by the curse. No one should ever come out of limit and go "why did that happen?" Someone with berserk anger should have something of a temper anyway, someone with ascetic drive a need for simplicity and wisdom already.