Not Literally Me
"yer not gonna get anywhere in yer current state thats for sure. but i might have a few ideas about how we might be able to level the playing field. but you want it you gotta earn my trust ya hear?"
"im not spilling everything i know to a bunch of kids i barely know who might stab me in the back with it later. specifically i dont trust you..."
You point at Mike. You're not sure why you don't trust him, but his manner gives you the creeps. You then point at Alyss. The girl's barely spoken the entire meeting, and you haven't got a clue whether she'll be a irsk or not.
"and you...."
Finally, you turn to Viktor, for reasons that should be self-evident to anyone who had heard the conversation.
"you want me to help you out you gotta prove yourselves trustworthy."
You lean back in your chair.
"One thing, though- apparently the eldest goat is the bastard child of Muhammad Ali and the Hulk." ~ Exelixi, on The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
>Viktor: Smile
You put on your best Montelbahn
"oh, i've given You no Word to keep."
You shrug, returning to that eerily calm voice you've kept through this meeting.
"what is it i can do that You cannot do Yourself, Mister Noir? and for that matter... why should i trust You any more than You trust me?"
edited 13th Feb '12 6:04:21 PM by Scrounge
Not Literally Me
"the fact of the matter is that im the one with all the cards. im the one with the information the resources and the know-how to help you out. you dont want ta help then ill just have to wait a little longer for my revenge. if dont wanna help you you gotta deal with queen bitch all on your own."
"and let me tell you. you go in there unprepared shes gonna skin you alive."
"so prove to me that yer gonna be worth the risk or no dice. ya hear?"
You fumed and turn slightly in your chair, your eyes staring off into space.
"as fer what i need doing there are a few things even i dont know. the queens trying to lock me out of the loop. but she hasnt been in the game as long as me. no matter how sturdy her pipes are theres gotta be a leak somewhere."
You point at Viktor.
"yer consorts the mice. theyve always got their ears to the ground. whatever you might say about big cheese hes got a good set of eyes and ears. see if you can extract any declassified transmissions that theyve been able to crack."
You lower your hand and look over at Mike next.
"as for you mr. tall weird and gormless. theres stuff going down on your land that even i dont know about. yer gonna be killing underlings down there anyway so when you wake up i want you to knock down one of their mining posts and see if you can find out what the underlings are doing rounding up slaves without my permission."
Then you look at Alyss.
"as for you... just tell me if anything turns up."
"The White King graces the Battlefield of Skaia with His Presence. We await the News of His Death with anxious ears and Heavy Hearts. For when He Falls, the Black King Will take up His Sceptre."
"The Sceptres of the Two Kings and the Rings of the Two Queens are Artefacts of immense Power and Magnitude. With both of the Sceptres in His Possession, the Black King could Destroy Skaia."
"One thing, though- apparently the eldest goat is the bastard child of Muhammad Ali and the Hulk." ~ Exelixi, on The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
>Viktor: Nod
"simple enough."
Inwardly, you smile.
You're not entirely sure how you're going to take advantage of this situation, but you've certainly got no shortage of options.
===>
sounds fair. what about me, do i do anything or do i just (ontinue on my quest to be(ome some sort of obnoxious wizard.
When in deadly danger, When beset by doubt, Run in little circles, Wave your arms and shout.
>Steve: Take in information.
STEVE: Oh...So...It's really a big deal...huh...
STEVE: Uh...I know this is a stupid question to ask...but how did this war even start?...
STEVE: I mean, I know they're the dark guys and your the light guys, and that you probably just have some kind of intense hate for each other...But..How exactly did it just break out?...Unless, it was just like that from the start....which would be kind of strange...
I'm a ghost, you didn't see me.
>Alexandra: Land already
Indeed, despite the exhilarating and thoroughly enjoyable nature of your flight, it was facilitated with a purpose in mind. The SACRED ISLE lies before you, and the MAP guides you through the volatile security measures that the ANGELS have put in place. Your wings carry you up the mountain in the sky, through the wall of clouds and onto the SACRED ISLE.
You land confidently on the ground, your weightlessness making such a usually complex manoeuvre an easy task.
Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!
Not Literally Me
> Axes: Surely you've come up with some ideas by now?
I said I wasn't doing a self-indulgent crappy intermission. Not now, not ever. But yes, I'm going to stop procrastinating.
> Jack: Surely you've come up with a quest for Tom by now?
"you just gotta keep going and kill hemera. shes a big pal of queen bitch and almost manages to eclipse even her in the stupidity and bitchiness statistics. you off hemera itll rattle her and well be able to exploit that."
"but fer the moment i suggest we consider this meeting adjourned. youve got stuff to do im sure and ive got people i need to see."
"Prospit and Derse have been at Odds for A Very Long Time, Seer. But the Battle Itself did was not Joined until Your Arrival."
"When Your Kind Arrived in the Medium, You 'Prototyped' a Series of configurations into the Matrices of the Black King's Cloning Laboratories and into the Matrices of the Rings and Sceptres which the Kings and Queens Wield. That was what Gave Them the Boldness to Wage War."
There is a flash of light near to Alexandra, then another, and then another, and within a few seconds she is surrounded on all sides by a ring of six shining white winged figures seemingly composed of light, which causes them to glimmer to the eye and makes them hard to make out even at close range. Each of the Angels draw an object, a blade, from seemingly nowhere with a shimmer and a glassy chiming sound. They turn towards her and plant the blade-tips into the tiled surface of the plaza Alexandra landed in. A spirograph symbol, much like that on the First Gate, expands across the floor, the colours shifting and changing, with her at the centre and the Angels at the edges.
edited 22nd Feb '12 9:37:23 AM by MadeOfAxes
"One thing, though- apparently the eldest goat is the bastard child of Muhammad Ali and the Hulk." ~ Exelixi, on The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
same old me
>Nita: Pipe up
8< Oh wait! There's something I need to ask you about.
8< I was told that you know someone with information on Eris. Is that true?
8< If so, do you know where this someone is?
>Tom: Adjourn.
suits me, from that journal i pi(ked up i think (onfronting hemera will be pretty mu(h inevitable anyway, provided i pro(eed normally with my "(lass quest". and if we get the added bonus of speeding along this regi(ide, then all the better, right.
You float over to the window.
i'm going ba(k to my tower. i (an't just freeload at the toads' and laze around sleeping off this hangover all day. or night, or however day/night (y(les work around here.
You sure can be blunt about farewells. It's time to ditch the pajama party and go wake up. You mean sleep. Doesn't matter.
When in deadly danger, When beset by doubt, Run in little circles, Wave your arms and shout.
>Viktor: Remain silent.
You nod, but do not leave, instead moving to stand by Nita for no apparent reason.
>Tom: Surely you've made your way back to your tower by now.
What? Come off of it, you've only been floating for a few seconds since you left Jack's office. Let's not get too excited here. You don't live in some alternate reality where time passes faster for you than it does for everyone else, you gotta at least let the others do their talk before you can be expected to get up to anything new.
edited 22nd Feb '12 4:35:21 PM by l3wt
When in deadly danger, When beset by doubt, Run in little circles, Wave your arms and shout.STEVE: Wow....this is really sounding like it's our fault, huh? Sorry we...did...stuff...I guess...
STEVE: So...What would of happened if we didn't prototype anything?...You know, like we just decided to enter without that crap....Well, if that's even possible, I mean...
>SUPERALIENSPRITE: Surely you've destroyed all of these low-grade monsters by now.
Oh, well, you have, but then more have come to fill their place. You are accumulating a fair amount of GRIST though. You just wish that your young, stressful friend would wake up soon.
edited 20th Feb '12 6:34:48 PM by lightdarkhero250
I'm a ghost, you didn't see me.
Not Literally Me
"I do Not Know if such a Thing Was Possible, Seer."
"Regardless, You should Not Worry over the Mistakes of the Past. After All, Your own Dominion lies with Space, Not Time. The Mistakes of the Past are not within Your Purview as a Seer. Instead, You Must Strive Towards a better Future for The Medium and its Inhabitants, as well as Yourselves."
"If it is of any Comfort to You, Know that these Events had long ago been Prophesised by the Oracles of Skaia. There is Nothing You could have Done, and None here will Begrudge You for Your Actions."
> Jack: Bid a fond farewell to your friend.
Oh hell no. Are you thick? You don't think you can have fond feelings towards anything not immediately involving violence or stabbing.
You watch Tom leave, but only to make sure he doesn't break or steal anything on the way out. Then you turn to Nita. You periodically glance at Viktor, a little wary of why he is still here.
"eris? what the empress of migraines?"
"i know the queen would know how to off her. she kept the information for herself so that eris wouldnt get any bright ideas about trying to rebel against derse."
"theres someone else on derse that might know. you heard of the CLAIRVOYANT SYBIL?"
"i guess not. you seen those things hanging over our heads? the horrorterrors? well do ya know what eris is?"
"she aint like the other denizens girl. shes an itty bitty baby horrorterror who fell into lotai in a meteorite. grew in a cavern underneath the planet and got stuck there. thats why noone can tell you how to off the betentacled eldritch bitch."
"now ive heard rumours that the sybil is down with the horrorterrors. that she listened a little too closely to their singing and went completely out of her mind. if theres a soul on derse whod know how to kill one itd be her. problem is of course that shes cracked in the brainpan."
"One thing, though- apparently the eldest goat is the bastard child of Muhammad Ali and the Hulk." ~ Exelixi, on The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
>Viktor: Discuss music
"You're more the smoky jazz type, then? i can hear the Singing You're talking about. don't know the Words, but the Tune... let's just say It moves me. makes me see the Worlds a little different."
A grin spreads across your face.
"seriously, You think They're bad, You should hear our Landlord in the shower."
same old me
======>
8< Oh nooo.
8< I don't suppose you'd happen to know what loony bin they sent her to, do you?
edited 22nd Feb '12 7:58:21 PM by Rivux
mario is red, i am green, i try my best, but everyone's mean
Not Literally Me
You look at Viktor, wrinkle your brow, and look at him, slightly weirded out.
"okay good for for you. aint my problem if creatures of the cephalopodic and eldritch persuasion eat your soul and use your corpse as a meat puppet to further their unknowable plans."
You sigh and turn back to Nita, she might be sightly more sensible than this guy.
"they couldn't send her to a loony bin. she kept escaping us whenever we turned our back on her. we think its probably because shes got some powers from her tentacled friends. you can probably finher though, if you look around. i imagine shed be interested in meeting you"
"One thing, though- apparently the eldest goat is the bastard child of Muhammad Ali and the Hulk." ~ Exelixi, on The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
>Tom: Dude. DUDE. Have you done anything yet...?
Okay you know what fine.
You have floated back on to the purple-and-blue-lined version of your room, which took you all about thirty seconds at the speed you were flying at, and crashed on your dream bed. You fall asleep almost the instant you close your eyes - which you're pretty sure is something that's scripted to occur. You don't really know anything about programming, but during your web browsings you've occasionally stumbled onto things regarding the language ~ath, how infuriatingly asinine it is to actually work with, and how those who are really good at it can pull off all kinds of bullshit that you don't really understand. When it leaked that SBURG would be coded in it, there was a lot of ruckus on various message boards and videogame fora.
Most of it was general inane chatter of fanboys proclaiming it to be the "omg so much potential best thing ev4r!!!12 gb2 ^cake u noobs" versus the trollish cries of "ruined forever" and "$kaianet are incompetent morons lol piece of shit game will probably be bugged up as fuck".
You neither really cared nor understood why the programming language was such a big deal at the time. You suspect all the random internet assholes didn't fully grasp the scope either.
But here you are, in a bullshit fantasy land, having magically fallen asleep on a bullshit dream bed because of some bullshit reality warping code told you to. The bullshit is verging on being total right now. Complete, even.
Wow would you look at that, introspection time is over, asshole. Time to make a smooth segue into-
>Wake up.
Yeah, that. So. Smooth. I mean, damn, that transition was silky-
>GET ON WITH IT
Okay, jeez! You wake up back at the toads', feeling significantly better. Though rested, you have an odd sensation that you never actually caught a break, given your dream activities. Weird. You scan the room for your hosts.
edited 24th Feb '12 5:41:17 PM by l3wt
When in deadly danger, When beset by doubt, Run in little circles, Wave your arms and shout.
>Viktor: Adjourn
"i think i can help Nita track Her down. as for the Lovecraft Philharmonic? it's not like i could talk to Them even if i wanted. we done Here? lots on the agenda."
edited 24th Feb '12 7:05:29 PM by Scrounge
same old me
======>
8< Oh. That's unfortunate, but I appreciate the help!
8< I suppose I'll just go and look for her now, I guess.
>Nita: Excuse yourself
You stand up from the chair and extend a hand with a smile, you know, for friendliness.
8< It's been, uh, nice to work with you Mr. Noir.
mario is red, i am green, i try my best, but everyone's mean
===>
Unlike Nita, you don't extend a hand or offer pleasantries as you stand to leave. You know Noir's type. In a few small ways, you are Noir's type.
"we'll be in touch."
In light of recent discoveries, you really need to get Nita away from the prying ears of this midnight crew. You know something... Something Jack Noir shouldn't.
edited 24th Feb '12 7:44:42 PM by Scrounge
Not Literally Me
> Jack: Show them out.
Once again, you really wish that was some sort of gangster euphemism for 'rough them up a little and maybe shiv them for good measure', but alas that is not the case. But the girl is offering you a handshake, and underneath all the vitriol, bile and loathing, there's some part of you that can't help but return the smile..
Who are you kidding. Underneath the vitriol and bile, there's more vitriol and bile, like an onion gone rotten. But you do have the heart of a professional diplomat, so you stand and return the handshake as a common courtesy. You really don't look like you're enjoying it, though, and you look at your wrist like your hand's about to turn necrotic.
"same. i guess. now clear out. i have a friend i need to meet and he aint so big on restraint and hes even bigger on stabbing. exits the first on the right."
Tom awakes to Coppereyes standing a distance away, hesitanatly waving a lengthy stick in your direction and whispering over his shoulder.
[[gray: "no i don't want to wake him. i don't know whether this guy takes his drink well and i don't want a witch with a massive hangover and a few new fraymotifs up in my face."
He turns back to you, takes a deep breathe, and advances with the stick. He pauses a fraction of an ink before prodding Tom in the side, and notices his eyes are open.
"oh you're awake already. way to make me look the idiot. so, was your dream palace to your liking?"
"One thing, though- apparently the eldest goat is the bastard child of Muhammad Ali and the Hulk." ~ Exelixi, on The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
Yep, they play music too
Mike: Agree
Fine, sir/ I'll a++emp+ + ge+ i+ done as quickly as possible/
You leave the room as told and head back to your tower, before climbing into bed, and falling asleep.
Mike: Wake up
You awake to find yourself lying down on in the square of the consort village. You pull yourself up and rub your eyes, before quickly remembering why you fell to sleep.
It was worse than you remembered.
Mike: Grab and go
You need to leave this place, you can't stay here any longer. No one can see you do this. But you feel like this stuff has to come with you as well.
You capchalogue all of the various items laid out to you by your mysterious friend, and then turn on your heels and head straight back to the apartment.
You have no demons.
Demons are for people.
Ashe? Really? Sad Little Try-hard.
>Viktor: Go.
"sounds like Your type. come on, Nita, let's let the Archagent get back to His business."
You take Nita's hand and head for the door, hoping she'll get the hint.
edited 25th Feb '12 9:43:26 PM by Scrounge
>Steve: Quickly read clouds.
You step outside real quick, just to scan the skies very briefly. After all, might as well get an objective in mind, or something.
You gaze upon the clouds with marvel once more, learning things that you obviously can not expose to anyone reading this post, and will probably only be mentioned in passing, when whatever event has already occurred.
>:Step back in.
Fulfilled in learning whatever you've just learned, you quickly retreat to your room.
>: Try and strike up another conversation with FW.
While you're asleep, might as well try and mingle with you friend here. After all, it seems kind of awkward to have him in your room all the time and never just casually chat.
STEVE: So...what's new? STEVE: Uh...Other than the whole...intrusion thing...
>: This is boring. Go to something else.
Hm? Why, this is a perfect example of proper character conversation, you know. There doesn't always have to be some kind of life-threatening action taking place. And if you can't respect that, well then—
>: Go to SUPERALIENSPRITE.
Fine.
You are now SUPERALIENSPRITE. Your young ward has fallen asleep. Right now, your making sure he isn't disturbed. Of course, the accumulating group of Imps are starting to make that difficult.
I'm a ghost, you didn't see me.