Post by Rowan MacDonnough on Apr 6, 2017 2:30:31 GMT
“And so we come, as we must, to the end of things.”
Camera fades in on Rowan sitting cross-legged in the same broken and ash-strewn abandoned IWF arena that appeared in the Signs and Portents video before the battle royale. As the image sharpens, MUSIC begins to play. The main difference is that now there are only two shredded figures laying in the ring next to her. The way that the two bodies are arranged is eerily reminiscent of how a hunter poses with a pair of fresh kills. The camera is close to them, not showing anything outside the ropes. Rowan is staring directly into the camera, yellow eyes burning with pure hate.
“As is the nature of this world, Faith fell before Pride when both were faced by oblivion. When they could have stood together to strip me from this tournament, Pride and Faith turned on one another… and just as in human nature, Pride proved the stronger instinct of the two, and destroyed Faith in its desperate search for survival.
Now Charity Crowne and Kiera Hunter will stand in the pit with me in the final match of the Diamonds in the Rough tournament. The embodiment of Pride and the epitome of self-righteous compensation will walk together and face the agonizing crucible of the abyss.
Charity Crowne is a weakling and a coward, ever running from her crippling mediocrity. She wants to be the best at everything, but knows in her heart that she will never achieve her dreams. No matter how hard she fights, how much she screams and begs, or how much money her daddy throws at the problem she will never achieve the perfection she seeks. She talks a big game, and stole a move from her betters that she performs well enough to fake strength... but she is no diamond. Only plastic - fake, and easily broken.
Kiera Hunter is even more pathetic, a mewling wretch blaming every slightest challenge and struggle on how supposedly different she is, lamenting the so-called suffering that she supposedly endured at the hands of her being a social outcast. She blames society, when in her heart she knows that her status in school had nothing to do with her refusal to conform, and everything to do with the fact that she is, at her core, a deplorable excuse for a human being. Those who refuse to accept responsibility for their failings are doomed to repeat them... and repeat them she shall.
Time will tell if they feast upon one another’s flesh in order to escape, target one another instead of standing against that which will bring them the greatest pain as Charity and Abigail did last night… or if they will choose instead to face their own oblivion by staring down the Abyss. I do not know how the match will end… who will win and who will fall…
And in the end, the final result does not matter. The importance is not in the victor, but in the ending. All things end. People die, mountains crumble… and cages rust.”
Rowan stood in her home in the United States, a penthouse apartment with a sweeping view of the city below her. It was late at night, and she leaned her hands against the glass as she stared silently at the city below. She was in her in-ring attire, as she almost always was these days. It had become like a second skin to her, feeling more natural than any other attire at her disposal.
The apartment was spartan. A simple mattress on the floor, surrounded by books and candles. A small television sat on the far side of the room, though it was only rarely ever on. The only light in the apartment came from the lit candles around the mattress, but it was enough to cast stark shadows flickering through the room, and give Rowan enough light to see her own pale reflection cast hauntingly over the city below. She reveled in watching the city at night... not for the lights of the streets, but for the knowledge of what humanity was capable when darkness fell. Here, watching from above, she could almost breath in the stench of corruption from the city below... murders in the alleyways, violence in the homes, and people engaging in every sickening vice and perversion imaginable. Every time her eyes caught sight of the flashing red and blue of a police car, she knew that someone, somewhere, was either experiencing pain... or about to. And over it all, in this light, was her face... as though every ounce of pain that the city was suffering was an offering to her image. Perfection.
"Diamonds in the Rough Tournament..." she mused quietly. "What is the tournament for?"
"The winner in the tournament will get a shot for the Iron Maiden, one of the biggest showcases of Diamonds talent in the year," the voice confirmed over the phone. "After your transfer to the IWF, this felt like a great way to showcase what you can do. It's a great opportunity."
"I don't care about the Iron Maiden," Rowan replied darkly. "I'm not here for titles and accolades."
The agent paused. "Well... that's certainly something that you're allowed to feel, Ms. MacDonnough, but you joining the company gives us a great chance to round out the tournament. Your inclusion makes ten women, which will give us the chance to extend the tournament out a bit more comfortably. You're in the tournament."
Rowan nodded, though of course the IWF agent couldn't see him. "And until this spectacle is over, I'll be... restricted... to competing against a group of other newcomers to the company as opposed to being able to engage the rest of the Diamonds Division. Am I understanding correctly?"
Another pause. "Yes, ma'am, that's... part of the arrangement. You'll be booked for nothing but tournament matches until its done."
"And how long will that take?"
"There will be a ten woman over-the-top-rope battle royale," the agent explained, "and then another three rounds of the tournament. So four weeks. Is that a problem?"
"Do you know why I was given to the IWF?" Rowan asked harshly. "Why my former promotion was so... eager... to see me gone?"
He paused again, possibly taken aback by her sharp tone. "No ma'am. I... wasn't told."
"I ended a woman's career because I was frustrated," Rowan replied. "One kick, perhaps a little careless, and now the doctors say she's unlikely to walk on her own power again for the rest of her life. A broken neck will do that to a woman. I came here to be unleashed upon the Women's Division in its entirety, not be trapped in a tournament filled with motivational speakers and backwoods cultists. Being so restricted may... frustrate me... the same way that I was when I was in the ring with Eileen Callaghan."
"Are... are you threatening to injure our talent?"
"Yes. I am."
There was a long pause before he continued. "You know... I should report you for this. Really. But there's one girl that... well... I think I wouldn't mind seeing you break her neck if she keeps leaving these sorts of messages. Four weeks. We'll give you people you'll enjoy crushing. Once that's done, you're free to do whatever the hell it is you do to whoever the hell you want, but right now the contract's been signed. There's nothing more that I can do. Goodnight, Mrs. MacDonnough."
The call ended, and Rowan continued to stare out onto the city.
"Whatever I do to whoever I want..." she savored the words like fine wine as she slowly intoned them to the empty apartment. "Permission."
"Perfect."
"Cages come in many forms. Some are caged by their false sense of superiority, others by their false sense of victimization. My cage? My cage is the Diamonds in the Rough Tournament itself.
Win or lose at Sacrifice, I will have the opportunity to inflict horrors of pain and violation upon Charity Crowne and Kiera Hunter. I will drag them down into their personal hells, and make them know pain as I have known it... and win or lose, when the match ends, the cage that is the Diamonds in the Rough Tournament will come crashing down among me. Then, at last, I will walk among the rest of the Diamonds... unleashed upon them to share the gift of the Abyss with the Imperial Wrestling Federation in full."
Rowan stands, and the camera pans out to reveal dozens of women lying prone at ringside, pictures of the faces of every member of the Diamonds Division tied harshly to their faces, eyes crossed out in what looks like blood. The ropes of the ring burst into flame as Rowan stands.
"I warned you, IWF. I warned you of my coming. I gave you the signs. I gave you the portents. I gave you everything you needed to know that the end was coming for you all. Those who remained in the Diamonds Division despite my warnings have none to blame but their own sins. Now, the Wolf of the Abyss walks among you. Hunting you. Blood is in the water, and screams are on the air.
History will tell of how my reign over you started with this tournament. Now, in the final match of the Diamonds in the Rough Tournament... it will be the end of the beginning. There will be nowhere to hide, and nobody left to protect you. You will know pain. You will know fear. It is too late to escape it, because it has already begun."
The ropes fall apart from the flame, leaving a gap that Rowan walks through, stepping on the broken bodies of the Diamonds as she strides directly towards the camera.
"I'm here, IWF. Now you face Oblivion."
Camera fades in on Rowan sitting cross-legged in the same broken and ash-strewn abandoned IWF arena that appeared in the Signs and Portents video before the battle royale. As the image sharpens, MUSIC begins to play. The main difference is that now there are only two shredded figures laying in the ring next to her. The way that the two bodies are arranged is eerily reminiscent of how a hunter poses with a pair of fresh kills. The camera is close to them, not showing anything outside the ropes. Rowan is staring directly into the camera, yellow eyes burning with pure hate.
“As is the nature of this world, Faith fell before Pride when both were faced by oblivion. When they could have stood together to strip me from this tournament, Pride and Faith turned on one another… and just as in human nature, Pride proved the stronger instinct of the two, and destroyed Faith in its desperate search for survival.
Now Charity Crowne and Kiera Hunter will stand in the pit with me in the final match of the Diamonds in the Rough tournament. The embodiment of Pride and the epitome of self-righteous compensation will walk together and face the agonizing crucible of the abyss.
Charity Crowne is a weakling and a coward, ever running from her crippling mediocrity. She wants to be the best at everything, but knows in her heart that she will never achieve her dreams. No matter how hard she fights, how much she screams and begs, or how much money her daddy throws at the problem she will never achieve the perfection she seeks. She talks a big game, and stole a move from her betters that she performs well enough to fake strength... but she is no diamond. Only plastic - fake, and easily broken.
Kiera Hunter is even more pathetic, a mewling wretch blaming every slightest challenge and struggle on how supposedly different she is, lamenting the so-called suffering that she supposedly endured at the hands of her being a social outcast. She blames society, when in her heart she knows that her status in school had nothing to do with her refusal to conform, and everything to do with the fact that she is, at her core, a deplorable excuse for a human being. Those who refuse to accept responsibility for their failings are doomed to repeat them... and repeat them she shall.
Time will tell if they feast upon one another’s flesh in order to escape, target one another instead of standing against that which will bring them the greatest pain as Charity and Abigail did last night… or if they will choose instead to face their own oblivion by staring down the Abyss. I do not know how the match will end… who will win and who will fall…
And in the end, the final result does not matter. The importance is not in the victor, but in the ending. All things end. People die, mountains crumble… and cages rust.”
One Month Ago
Rowan stood in her home in the United States, a penthouse apartment with a sweeping view of the city below her. It was late at night, and she leaned her hands against the glass as she stared silently at the city below. She was in her in-ring attire, as she almost always was these days. It had become like a second skin to her, feeling more natural than any other attire at her disposal.
The apartment was spartan. A simple mattress on the floor, surrounded by books and candles. A small television sat on the far side of the room, though it was only rarely ever on. The only light in the apartment came from the lit candles around the mattress, but it was enough to cast stark shadows flickering through the room, and give Rowan enough light to see her own pale reflection cast hauntingly over the city below. She reveled in watching the city at night... not for the lights of the streets, but for the knowledge of what humanity was capable when darkness fell. Here, watching from above, she could almost breath in the stench of corruption from the city below... murders in the alleyways, violence in the homes, and people engaging in every sickening vice and perversion imaginable. Every time her eyes caught sight of the flashing red and blue of a police car, she knew that someone, somewhere, was either experiencing pain... or about to. And over it all, in this light, was her face... as though every ounce of pain that the city was suffering was an offering to her image. Perfection.
"Diamonds in the Rough Tournament..." she mused quietly. "What is the tournament for?"
"The winner in the tournament will get a shot for the Iron Maiden, one of the biggest showcases of Diamonds talent in the year," the voice confirmed over the phone. "After your transfer to the IWF, this felt like a great way to showcase what you can do. It's a great opportunity."
"I don't care about the Iron Maiden," Rowan replied darkly. "I'm not here for titles and accolades."
The agent paused. "Well... that's certainly something that you're allowed to feel, Ms. MacDonnough, but you joining the company gives us a great chance to round out the tournament. Your inclusion makes ten women, which will give us the chance to extend the tournament out a bit more comfortably. You're in the tournament."
Rowan nodded, though of course the IWF agent couldn't see him. "And until this spectacle is over, I'll be... restricted... to competing against a group of other newcomers to the company as opposed to being able to engage the rest of the Diamonds Division. Am I understanding correctly?"
Another pause. "Yes, ma'am, that's... part of the arrangement. You'll be booked for nothing but tournament matches until its done."
"And how long will that take?"
"There will be a ten woman over-the-top-rope battle royale," the agent explained, "and then another three rounds of the tournament. So four weeks. Is that a problem?"
"Do you know why I was given to the IWF?" Rowan asked harshly. "Why my former promotion was so... eager... to see me gone?"
He paused again, possibly taken aback by her sharp tone. "No ma'am. I... wasn't told."
"I ended a woman's career because I was frustrated," Rowan replied. "One kick, perhaps a little careless, and now the doctors say she's unlikely to walk on her own power again for the rest of her life. A broken neck will do that to a woman. I came here to be unleashed upon the Women's Division in its entirety, not be trapped in a tournament filled with motivational speakers and backwoods cultists. Being so restricted may... frustrate me... the same way that I was when I was in the ring with Eileen Callaghan."
"Are... are you threatening to injure our talent?"
"Yes. I am."
There was a long pause before he continued. "You know... I should report you for this. Really. But there's one girl that... well... I think I wouldn't mind seeing you break her neck if she keeps leaving these sorts of messages. Four weeks. We'll give you people you'll enjoy crushing. Once that's done, you're free to do whatever the hell it is you do to whoever the hell you want, but right now the contract's been signed. There's nothing more that I can do. Goodnight, Mrs. MacDonnough."
The call ended, and Rowan continued to stare out onto the city.
"Whatever I do to whoever I want..." she savored the words like fine wine as she slowly intoned them to the empty apartment. "Permission."
"Perfect."
"Cages come in many forms. Some are caged by their false sense of superiority, others by their false sense of victimization. My cage? My cage is the Diamonds in the Rough Tournament itself.
Win or lose at Sacrifice, I will have the opportunity to inflict horrors of pain and violation upon Charity Crowne and Kiera Hunter. I will drag them down into their personal hells, and make them know pain as I have known it... and win or lose, when the match ends, the cage that is the Diamonds in the Rough Tournament will come crashing down among me. Then, at last, I will walk among the rest of the Diamonds... unleashed upon them to share the gift of the Abyss with the Imperial Wrestling Federation in full."
Rowan stands, and the camera pans out to reveal dozens of women lying prone at ringside, pictures of the faces of every member of the Diamonds Division tied harshly to their faces, eyes crossed out in what looks like blood. The ropes of the ring burst into flame as Rowan stands.
"I warned you, IWF. I warned you of my coming. I gave you the signs. I gave you the portents. I gave you everything you needed to know that the end was coming for you all. Those who remained in the Diamonds Division despite my warnings have none to blame but their own sins. Now, the Wolf of the Abyss walks among you. Hunting you. Blood is in the water, and screams are on the air.
History will tell of how my reign over you started with this tournament. Now, in the final match of the Diamonds in the Rough Tournament... it will be the end of the beginning. There will be nowhere to hide, and nobody left to protect you. You will know pain. You will know fear. It is too late to escape it, because it has already begun."
The ropes fall apart from the flame, leaving a gap that Rowan walks through, stepping on the broken bodies of the Diamonds as she strides directly towards the camera.
"I'm here, IWF. Now you face Oblivion."
Well howdy there pardner.