DETHTOWER has arrived!

[shoggies]

As the first day of the year dawns, crudely-lettered posters appear around the school. These posters contain almost nothing aside from their cryptic lettering.

It is a New Year for humans.
The Stars Are Right!
for
DETHTOWER

FOLLOW THE SIGNS

Enjoy DETHTOWER.

(The bottom of each sign contains an arrow, pointing in a

Comments

[charlesofdensen]

Well, as something 'Deth' related, Ofdensen HAD to be there.

His eyebrows were arched really high as he approached the tower. And he thought the visions he had gotten from Selatcia were strange.

At least the Shoggies were a familiar site.

For perspective of 'familiar'.

[shoggies]

Toki and Skwisgaar's 'eyesball throw-up children' were of course part of the swarm of Shoggies gathered at the DETHTOWER- on noticing 'Master Charles-Butler' they came squelching up, several more random Shoggies accompanying them. "Hello, Master Charles-Butler!" piped Shoggy 3. "Are yous here for the Guided Tour?" "It's sooo cool!" added Shoggy 10. "You gets yours free!"

[charlesofdensen]

Okay, coming from a strange, fucked up world, the Shoggies topped that, but he did like them.

"All right," he said, smiling slightly. "Gotta see if it's up to Deth standards, after all."

Not that he didn't expect it to be.

[doodilydood]

Sometime earlier, a chance meeting with some Shoggies in a hallway was how Nathan first heard of his Dethtower's completion (and he did think of it as his own, or at least as belonging to Dethklok, since he'd named it). He assumed Skwisgaar and Toki would hear of it from their adopted Shoggies, so he spread the word to Pickles. After enjoying some breakfast booze and weed together, they had house-elves pack them snacks and booze for the road, then headed out to the grounds. The huge stone sign was easy enough to spot, as was the giant X on the ground, and so they managed to find their way to the Dethtower proper without incident.

[i_am_harkonnen]

Shoggy 21.5, who'd taken up residence under the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen's sofa, was, despite its somewhat anti-social nature, as involved in the DETHTOWER construction as the rest of the Shoggies. It had slunk out on an almost daily basis to haul its share of rocks around, usually returning to scavenge whatever remained of his dinner before slinking back under the sofa, where it evidently enjoyed the 'sooo cool darkness', occasionally emerging to watch something on the television. The Baron had actually attempted to seal the apartments off from its return at one point, but, this attempt had utterly failed, as the Shoggy merely returned via some ductwork. Short of sealing every single hole in the rooms, including the faucets, keeping the thing out was impossible. And so, the Baron had learned to put up with his unasked-for and unwanted 'pet', and with time, Shoggy 21.5 had begun deciding that Vladimir and Valentine were its tenative 'Masters'. It did tend to take orders, aside from 'don't come back', but it was not nearly as

[degeneratewolfe]

Shoggy 21.5 amused Valentine. He never quite knew when it would be underfoot (in a few memorable cases, literally) and Shoggies as a whole looked like something out of his less tame hallucinations. Therefore, he was right at home with one around.

Likewise, he was at ease with the appearance of the DETHTOWER. The very oddness and unreality of it made it more real to him, the lasers made the perfect staccato counterpoint to the visual artistry that kept his eyes constantly moving, and the possibility of sudden violence was a thrilling adrenaline hum behind it all. This place was opera. "My dear Baron," he said, eyes trying to track everything at once, "I think that I may be home."

[i_am_harkonnen]

The Baron was glad that Shoggy 21.5 amused Valentine- it was perhaps this, more than anything, that caused him to cease trying to get rid of it and to accept it as some sort of family pet. As the Shoggy wasn't actually a nuisance, keeping mostly to itself as it did, and had actually accepted the order not to eat his little black cat, the Baron's his main issue with it had been the fact that he'd never requested its presence.

Real was as good description for the DETHTOWER, as, it was all the more so for its utter impossibility. It was like some sort of stacked and tangible proof of the small and incomplete nature of most reality, a visual proof of things only suggested by advanced mathematical theorems. The whirling blades and bursts of light and color were beautifully engaging, but it was the angles that held him entranced. He'd always known that three-dimensional space was a limited picture, as the Spacing Guild's Navigators ability to bend space proved this, but seeing its solid proof in the flesh was remarkable. "I may never look

[degeneratewolfe]

It was easy to coordinate a place with one's outside. Certain people seemed to belong in certain surroundings, and certain locations seemed made for precise times of year, that sort of thing. It was much harder to adequately coordinate something that went as well with one's internal goings-on, particularly for someone as creatively debauched as Valentine. Mostly, he didn't bother.

The DETHTOWER made him reconsider. It added a few entirely new dimensions (several of which were questionable) to his usual perception of the world around him, and quite cheered him. "If they're capable of building a marvel like this, one has to wonder what other little surprises they're capable of." He regarded Shoggy 21.5 thoughtfully for a few moments before returning to his dreamy good humor. "It certainly is incredible, isn't it? Even among the weirdest wonders of the Imperium, I can't say that I saw anything to rival it. The word magnificent might not be out of place." He inspected the stairs with almost professional scrutiny as they

[darknessandlolz]

Laori's never all that sane anyway, and the worst the architectural weirdness leading up to the patio does is make her feel, inexplicably, a little bit cross-eyed. She examines the warnings on the doors with interest. "Ooh, insanity, injuries, or death. Sounds fun!" She picks up a pamphlet and tries to make sense of it. "Fun with space and time? Might be interesting." After examining the pamphlet and squeeing over the Black Goat's young and the giant penguins, Laori decides to spring for the guided tour. Not for safety concerns, but because she doesn't want to risk accidentally getting lost and missing something interesting.
She dumps several fat little roast Andoran Game Hens into the donation box - she believed they'd be a better fit than a single large chicken - and turns to the Shoggies' kiosk with her money and signed waivers.
"Hey, little guys, I'm interested in a tour."

[shoggies]

The Shoggies watched excitedly as Laori approached the DETHTOWER, in hopes that she'd ask for a tour. A few began to gather around her as she perused the pamphlet, and piped delightedly as she dumped the hens into their donation box. "Sooo cool, a chicken donation!" one exclaimed. "And she wants the tour!" piped another. "Sooo cool

[darknessandlolz]

"My name's Laori," she says, beaming at all the pink, amorphous, acid-drooling cuteness. "Did you guys do all this yourselves?" Laori passes over the fish, but selects one of the foil hats - metal, to match her chainmail - and tries it on, trying to position it in a way that her ears don't interfere with. She eventually achieves what she hopes is a satisfactory angle and strikes a pose. "How does this look, guys?"

She soon ceases goofing off, however, adjusts her hat, shoulders her omnipresent giant spiked chain, and tells her guides, "Okay, I'm ready when you are. Prince in Chains, this is going to be awesome!"

[shoggies]

"It's sooo cool to meet you, Mastress Laori!" the Shoggies piped. "We did most of it," Shoggy 15 explained. "Master Lezard helped us with plans for the lasers and the windmills since we'd never made any of those before." The Shoggies waited expectantly for Laori to pick a out a hat, replying a with a chorus of "You look sooo cool, Mastress Laori!" as she struck her pose. "It goes sooo nice with your armor and spikey thing