Character City

[Memorial Park]

Amu turned to Omlette and said, "I'm not mad. Merely..." he sighed, "disappointed. Disappointed that this woman," he motioned to Violet, "insists on communicating exclusively in threats and insults. And disappointed that those two," he glanced over at Adrienne and Molly, "insist upon equivocating us, as though I am to blame, when I am doing all I can to be civil in the face of such utter incivility. Perhaps we should leave."

edited 25th May '13 8:50:23 AM by KillerClowns

Oh, right, I was going to enter this, wasn't I? Well, here goes nothing.

[City Limits] (southwest corner of the map, across the river from the construction zone)

The old man set down his pack for a moment. "You're sure this is the place?"

"So I've heard."

"Why have we come all the way out here, Shani? I doubt anyone we meet will be sympathetic to our cause; no one in the area has even heard of Arc."

"Oh, come on. Surely you'd like to get away from all the plotting for a few days. Now, if you'll excuse me..." The girl jumped down towards the river, and put her hand to the surface. The water responded to her movements. She could still redirect it, but not in the grandiose manner she was accustomed to.

Noah called at her from the road. "Well?"

"No good. Not a lot of aether around here. Enough to get by, sure, but..."

"I think it's time we get going. I can see people across the river, in the park."

The girl walked back up to the bridge. "Approach or avoid?"

"They seem to have their own business; I don't think we should involve ourselves quite yet. There's a construction area on the other side of the road. We can slip through there without drawing attention." Shani nodded in agreement, and the two continued walking.

[Memorial Park]

People were starting to pop up, but Wilhelm and Jonathan spent too much time waffling over who would be best to bother. The woman with eight eyes was too creepy. Wilhelm sensed some magic with the guy in the blue tunic, and it wasn't the kind of magic he knew so he wanted to stay away. And so on until the "dick-waving contest" started, and at that point the two boys pretty much gave up.

"But wait!" Jonathan went down on his knees, with a dramatic flourish, gestured at the man walking with a kid. His pose resembled one that Prince Charming might have when imploring Rapunzel to let down his hair. "Sane people who want no part of that bull! We could ask them!"

Wilhelm slowly closed his textbook and gave Jonathan a flat stare. "If I were walking through the park with my son and minding my own business and someone just did that, I'd be kind of wary, wouldn't—"

But Jonathan was already walking away, so Wilhelm grabbed their bookbags and hurried to catch up.

[Entertainment District]

Vinny said "Yeah, it's kind of an odd thing where I come from, too. The city I run is kind of a woods or forest place with a lot of purple and spires, because I enjoy purple and spires. The population of the place is mostly gnomes, like me."

[memorial park-entertainment district]

He watched the group steadily grow in numbers and volume, and gladly put them behind as he went onto the main street. He continued his slow, arthritic hobble, eyeing street corners and shop awnings for cameras to avoid until the motor way led him to the what appeared to be the cities favored Saturday night dive, the sports arena dominating the suburb with all the dignity of a salad bowl. He shook his head and kept on hobbling, the foot traffic increasing as he came close to the more sedate buildings, the finest a large theatre. People milled around, looking at posters in the theatre windows and reading times and prices in brochures. With a expert hand, he performed a little pick pocketing, lifting wallets from unsuspecting passers by as they were distracted by their business, removing only the smaller notes and coins before planting the stolen wallets onto other distracted commuters. Once he had a decent figure he focused again on camera weaving, ambling toward the commercial hub. Homeless of not e was going to need a new coat, people were clearly being repulsed by the sight and smell of him and the constant crinkling would give away his presence where ever he went. If he was in luck he'd find a second hands good store or charity of some kind, if he played up his act they might be inclined to give him some of what he needed for his reconnaissance period.

For further reference, Noah◊ is in his 50s-60s, while Shani◊ is in her late teens. Average height, though Noah is the shorter of the two.

[West Bridge]

Shani glanced over at the park. "Looks like we've got company."

Noah saw the two approaching. From a distance, he could only see their basic features— tall, thin, brown-haired. "They seem to be in a bit of a rush. What do you suppose they want?"

"Probably just wanna ask for directions or something."

The two continued walking across the bridge, towards the men.

-Memorial Park-

"Well... Can I come with you?" Omelette asked, before looking at the three women, and blushing. "Wow, they're so cute..." She thought, before snapping back into the real world.

I'll say it now. Omelette's Bisexual, so expect some flirting from her.

edited 25th May '13 10:07:36 AM by DiurnalBrocolli

Entertainment District -> Memorial Park

Nyarlathotep thought about the way Vinny describe that place, "The scenery must be interesting. Haven't seen too many places that can be described as being purple or haveing a large population of gnomes."

Cthulhu looked at the map, eyeing the memorial park. He turned toward Nyarlathotep, "If we're going to be in this district, we might as well do something besides stand here like two idiots. If not, I suggest that we head somewhere else for the time being."

Nyarlathotep looked toward Cthulhu, "An excellent suggestion," he looked down to Vinny, "I would love to continue this conversation later, but we should probably explore the city to keep ourselves busy."

Nyarlathotep waved goodbeye to Vinny as they went on the long walk toward the park. Neither was particularly tired, but once they reached the park, the two found a shaded spot to rest. They began to overhear a conversation nearby, leaving them curious at what was happening.

Memorial Park

"Wait. Are you seriously planning on just aimlessly wandering around?" Violet tilted her head inquisitively. "If we're all strangers to this... city, I suppose? Anyway, if you've never been here before I'm certain there's one thing on all of our minds. You do have minds, right?"

Violet turned and pointed to the tower rising in the distance. "That building. What is it for? Why is it so tall? You can't possibly say you aren't wondering any of these things. Aren't you eager to investigate it?"

edited 25th May '13 10:25:59 AM by Collen

[Memorial Park]

Amu did not turn his back to Violet. Instead he said, "it's a skyscraper. A very tall one, certainly, but hardly inherently remarkable. Full of office workers working dreary jobs that involve staring at a computer monitor for hours at a time. Perhaps with some convenience stores and restaurants to entertain clients or grab an overpriced lunch in its lowest stories." He gave a non-committal shrug. "Terrans are, by and large, remarkably uninteresting creatures. But if you wish to investigate it yourself, by all means, go." Then he glanced at Omlette. "If you wish to join me, feel free. I have no particular destination in mind — I suspect the most worthy secrets of this land are not marked upon maps, nor gaudily built up to the sky."

[Entertainment District]

Vinny said to himself "Now let's see what kinds of places are in this city." before pulling a map from his pocket.

He looked over the map, thinking about where to go.

Memorial Park

Violet glared at the man, clenching her fists. "Once again, you are assuming too much about what you know nothing about. But if you honestly don't want to go inside, that's your problem. And what, exactly, is a terran? How do you know they live here?"

edited 25th May '13 11:22:37 AM by Collen

-Memorial Park-

"Sure!" Omelette said to Amu. "By the way, what's your story on why you're here?"

[Memorial Park]

"If I may inquire politely," said Molly, to Violet, though not looking her in the eye, "We know that he's not worth our time, and you know that he is below you, so why do you keep giving him attention? That's exactly what he wants, you see."

Adrienne began inspecting her nails, what little of them she had. For the most part they had been bitten to the quick.

edited 25th May '13 1:38:00 PM by ohsointocats

[memorial park]

"A Terran," he began in his East London accent," is an Earthling." Raphael approached Violet slightly. "You don't read a lot of science fiction, I'm assuming?"

Why the hell was he getting himself involved? Vince ran a hand through his hair. And why pick the two people described to have just been in... a 'dick-measuring contest'. He kept his distance, just close enough to hear if his son did anything stupid, as a pair of young men approached him. "Oh. Were you trying to get our attention earlier?"

[Entertainment District ==> Library]

The young man walked into the cooler interior of the library, hoping to at least get a chance to read some new books before he and the rest of the crew leave this city. He ignored the shenanigans of the other patrons and went over to browse the nonfiction section, before he wandered into the Fantasy and Sci-Fi section and began searching for titles. He pulled a few books (Hogfather and Turn Coat) and walked up the stairs in his near-silent, ninja-like way to see if there was a place to relax and read.

As he passed by bookshelves, in the back of his mind he idly scanned his surroundings and sensed the presence of the librarians and the few patrons in the library, until he felt another...inhuman presense.

It was still living, but it didn't feel human and the young man's passive sensing ability (something that he taught himself rather than always had) did not extend to other living beings. He looked around, trying to pin down the source, and spotted a lizard-like figure trying to hide under a desk, with some of the patrons trying to remove a chair. He watched them, not interrupting nor trying to hide.

edited 25th May '13 2:26:26 PM by Tehpillowstar

[Memorial Park]

She had been sitting on the bench for a while, just taking in the scenery and enjoying the quiet park and the warm sun. It had been quite nice for a while, then more and more people started showing up. She peered over the dark, mirrored lenses of her sunglasses at them. They were an odd bunch, but this was an odd place, so she didn't think much of it. As long as no-one was bothering her, they could do pretty much whatever they wanted.

It was a big park, and they were all still a short distance away from her, but she could hear that there was some kind of disagreement afoot. She hoped it wouldn't devolve into shouting; the last thing she wanted right now was some obnoxious strangers making a scene. She didn't often get vacations like this - times when she could really get away from politics, the press, the public and dozens of security guards. Escaping it all, if only for a while, was strange and refreshing, and she didn't need that spoiled by some shrill-voiced nobodies.

She stood up and sighed quietly, straightening out her clothes. She wore a light grey tunic and black leggings leading into brown leather boots - not made from cow skin, to say the least - and a black belt around her waist had two ornate metal cylinders of some kind securely fastened to it. She had striking emerald-green eyes, long brown hair, and was quite beautiful by the standards of many humanoid cultures. This was partially due to her just having good genes, but the pampering of a privileged lifestyle had undeniably had an effect as well. To all the world she appeared to be a twenty-two year old human female, and if she had any choice in the matter, nobody would ever know otherwise.

She looked around contemplatively. She had intended to wait here for her companion to arrive, but she wondered if it was worth moving on before the park got too popular. Maybe there would be a pond near-by; ducks and fish, she'd found, sometimes made for better company than people.

[Memorial Park]

"Uh, yeah. Hi." Wilhelm adjusted his glasses and pulled his coat around himself more tightly, as if for security, even though the weather was getting warmer. "We, uh, we weren't really going anywhere in particular and ended up here somehow and don't recognize the place at all. Do you know anything... helpful?"

"Nice place here, isn't it?" Jonathan said, gazing at the figurative dick-measuring contest. "I don't care if we're missing school. Let's stay for a while. Maybe grab something to eat, walk around...."

Wilhelm placed his hands on both sides of Jonathan's head and made him look away. "Yeah, and not gawk at idiots."

edited 25th May '13 6:10:20 PM by SnowyFoxes

[Library ~ 2nd Floor]

The shape let out a small groan as his last chance at remaining unnoticed fell through, and the chair fell onto his back. He could hear one of the guys walking towards him, talking, trying to reassure him. He sounded even younger than the others and there was something about his voice that tickled the shape's brain. Even so, he raced to think up some sort of excuse— a quick and adequate explanation to get him off the hook.

He felt the chair being pulled off of his back and the blanket covering him being pulled back a little as well with it, enough to reveal his head. Without wasting a second, the shape shut his eyes and started off, "Listen- I can explain, I- I'm Rufus, the lizard boy wonder, from the circus, but I'm on the run because the evil circus master wants to harvest my organs for dark and unpleasant machinations, so you can't alert the media because then they'd tell everybody and I'd—" the shape stopped speaking as he was addressed as 'Owen'. The name was familiar, but he wasn't certain why. He didn't know anybody named Owen, and yet there was a definite something lingering on the edge of his memory. Owen...? Owen? Ow- ooohhh!

The shape sometimes known as Owen let his eyes travel upward, to glimpse at the head looming above his own. It was difficult to tell from his position but, "...A...Adam?" the shape's head bobbed a little bit as his jaw moved, before he twisted his neck around slightly to get a better look at the maybe Adam. He couldn't believe it— it was Adam, the young teen he'd met back at that strange, strange university. The shape flipped himself over, and looked directly at the boy, his large blue eyes lighting up, and his mouth dropping open then pulling back in another wide, toothy grin. He grabbed the edge of the desk and pulled himself to his feet, the rest of the blanket sliding off of him. "Adam!" he laughed, "You're here! You're here. I mean, wha- what are you doing here?"

He glanced around the library as though it had suddenly changed shape. "Does that mean I'm..." the shape left his sentence unfinished as he again took notice of the two older guys who were with Adam. "Your friends?" he asked with a smile.

[Memorial Park]

Noah shook his head. "I'm afraid we can't help you boys. I've never seen this place in my life. Shani and I were—" He turned around, but the girl was gone. She was preoccupied with the nearby bus stop.

"Hey! There's a map here. Looks like all of the interesting stuff is on the other side a' town."

Noah walked over to her and sat down. "Then we'll wait for a bus. I've had enough walking for one morning."

[Library]

Adam smiled brightly. "Owen! It's so good to see you!" He glanced over at his confused friends. "Oh...that's Nick and that's Jackson."

Nick and Jackson looked at each other, before looking back at Adam and Owen. They didn't expect to find someone-or something-that looked like a lizard, nor did they expect that Adam known the person/lizardman before.

"Um...hello." Jackson said, "It's nice to meet you, um, Owen. I see you already known Adam quite well." He made a quick glance at the newcomers, giving them a quick wave.

"Ok," Nick said, a little more blunt, "I'm confused as all hell. Can someone please explain something to us?"

[Memorial Park]

Amu sighed, shaking his head at Violet, Molly, and Adrienne. They deserved each other. To Omlette — thank the spirits, a sane soul despite her curious choice in dress — he said, "I find it important to leave my usual haunts from time to time, to ensure my skills and abilities do not grow rusty. This enigmatic place seemed sufficient." There was more, but he did not intend to share it.

edited 25th May '13 7:45:45 PM by KillerClowns

Library

Upon reaching the computers, Rachel wasted no time in hopping on the nearest one, wiggling the mouse, and then starting up a search for the books she sought. Selena, having nothing better to do, simply watched her go about her business.

"You know, for someone with no thumbs and huge claws, you're an awfully fast typist," she commented.

Rachel just shrugged. "As far as this goes, it's not that big a handicap." A few seconds later, the results of her search popped up, and she browsed the list. Luckily for her, it seemed this library kept its Lovecraft and related works on the first floor. She got up and was about to walk off when Selena spoke up again.

"You think you'll be fine by yourself for a while? I want to see who else is in here," she said, "I'm not leaving the library. Hopefully, it won't take us long to find each other again should things go awry."

Rachel paused for a few moments. Selena was more than capable of looking after herself, and it wasn't like she lacked experience in that area. Yet, she was hesitant to split up since, although this city seemed calm enough for now, there was still the potential for things to go wrong. This library, however, was still fairly empty, and it wasn't like she was going to do anything other than read Cthulhu Mythos anthologies anyway.

"Well, you know what I'm planning on doing. Just don't go far."

Selena nodded, before turning around and heading up to the second floor via the nearest staircase. After she left, Rachel made her way over to that section and started looking for Lovecraft books.

Upon stepping onto the second floor, the first thing that appeared before Selena's eyes was an odd congregation of people. The teenage boys looked normal enough, but the tall man seemed suspicious. What really caught her attention, however, was the lizard. At least, she thought it was a lizard - it was either that or a person who got really screwed over by the P-virus.

She assumed at first that everyone else was staring at the lizard man, but a closer look at the surrounding facial expressions sent mixed signals. She figured that it couldn't hurt to ask.

"So, what's going on here?" she asked with a polite tone of voice, "Some kind of reunion party?" She looked again at all the other people. "One odd reunion party, if that's the case here."

[Memorial Park -> Hospital]

"Cat, I guess it has started now, so I will be on my way." Andreas knew that the cat didn't understand him, but he had a habit to talk to cats so he talked anyway. They had shared this patch for a couple of weeks and it felt rude to just leave without saying anything. "Now, I have to find some better clothes and get rid of this smell. Then I guess she just going to bump into me somehow."

"Smell you later, But you might not recognise me then."

He then headed for the nearest bus stop. He had ridden them before with no trouble and this time should be no different. The buss arrived on schedule, Andreas stepped on, payed for the ride and got seated. He stepped off at the hospital, they had some showers they let people borrow. It was a big hospital that had all sort of things.

edited 26th May '13 3:03:24 AM by m8e

[Entertainment District-Commercial District]

Vinny pointed to the commercial district on his map and said "I'll go here first. I could use some food and consumables."

He put the map back into his pocket and did a jaunty walk towards the commercial district.