Welcome to the Character Development Threads! These shared story exercises allow you to develop your characters in a setting shared by other authors and their characters. No sign-up is necessary; simply look over the last few pages and hop on in. If you need questions answered or a recap, head over to our discussion thread
and ask; we’re happy to help. There's also a trope page (with location descriptions and other info).
Archipelago is semi-casual — no violence on the central island, but the rest are fair game. Other islands are built on-the-fly by the tropers whose visiting them, but you should probably grab a few others before having your characters head off — there's not much point wandering an island alone, since this is supposed to develop characters by bouncing them off one another and putting them in unusual situations. Be sure to communicate with the tropers you go with so you're on the same general page.
With thanks to, among many others, Gault, who came up with the initial idea, Nrjxll, who wrote the first draft I shameless ripped off, and the various people who contributed to the trope page location descriptions.
[[Current Time: Early Morning]
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL INTRO FOR THIS THREAD
This has made the hub island something of a designated neutral ground for various strange characters and dimensional travelers. A small cluster of buildings has sprung up near the one natural harbor and its dock: a couple of bars, a couple of casinos, several shops, and even the cheap but comfortable Pax Island Hotel. This is not a tourist trap, though, as much as amenities for the visitors that come here for various reasons. The Hotel's entrance leads out to a central square, with a shamelessly cheesy tiki bar calling itself the Big Kahuna and the Pax Island General Store being the most obvious, though not the only, services.
Inland, the island is covered in jungles that rise steeply into a central mountain, covered in ruins that don't seem to exactly match any of the local cultures. Apart from that, though, they're harmless and unrelated to the area's strangeness. The population on the island, humans of mixed origins, are quite used to the strangeness of their island, staffing the amenities and filling newcomers in but otherwise keeping to themselves.
Beyond this hub island, the archipelago grows more mysterious and dangerous. Fogs often cover the ocean, and compasses and other forms of navigation don't always work right. There are at least a half-dozen other islands at any one time, but that's all anyone can say for certain. The docks on the hub island offer numerous boats for visitors to travel to these islands, either under their own control or with the aid of a local sailor. Of course, there's always an element of risk involved with visiting these islands, because you never know quite what you'll find. One rule has proven consistent, though: any truly catastrophic event on an island tends to result in it vanishing into the fog, never to be seen again.
edited 27th Jun '14 6:59:52 PM by KillerClowns
[Harbor]
Sven looks over at Krajn, "For better or worse, yes."
He lets off several pulses of anti-magic, covering him and Sonuera. He reaches behind himself, considering the glaive. He'd dealt with plenty of magic... but that had been completely bizarre.
edited 6th Nov '13 10:26:23 PM by Aqueos
Bet you didn't see that coming
[Quantum Princess, Theater - Cogbeard, Adrian, Virgil, Jarla]
"Er, sure, I suppos' so," Cogbeard said, slightly suspicious of the new woman.
"Awesome! I'm Jarla," she said, "who are you all?"
"I'm Captain Cogbeard, and we be in somewhat o' a hurry," Cogbeard said, "we're trying to get to th' engine core, or at least away from that crazy wiz'rd in the hallway we came by."
"That sounds great to me - I've been getting tired of camping out in this dump anyways," Jarla said, "we can get there through the maintenance hallways down at the bottom of this theater, that way Azatha won't be able to track us... Unless you all want to get some equipment from the security office first?"
Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.
Drummer Boy
[[Motel Room 14]]
"As long as none of the energy gets into my system, it's fine. Being pregnant really sucks sometimes. Why do you ask? Is there something specific I should do with this right now?"
This television thing looked so awesome. Violet was going to have to look even more closely at it later. But right now, she was concentrating on the antenna, trying to detect the presence of magic.
[[Ruins]]
Friedrich put his hands in his coat pockets. He wasn't actually into this whole spiritual-ness stuff. The Republic didn't allow religion. He wasn't even into exploring mysterious ruins.
... okay, Violet was right, he wasn't into anything at all and he was boring and terrible. But it would be impolite to leave now. Right?
"Ooooookay. Let's go, then. I think this might do me some good. Going to a place just to... clean up my soul."
edited 7th Nov '13 3:18:28 PM by SnowyFoxes
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
[Pax Island ~ Outside Big Kahuna]
Howell skidded to a stop in front of Regina, then flipped his hat onto his back again, and stared at her with his large snakelike eyes. He took a deep breath before speaking.
"Don't worry about that. It's okay. Kind of. I'm a little mad, but you didn't actually kill her, so... only a little. I want to say sorry myself, for Iris, and I wanted to explain to you why that may have happened." he shook his head, "You don't have to forgive anything, but it might be good if you weren't left wondering about what happened."
He looked at her and nodded questioningly, a sort of way to ask 'is that all right with you?' without actually asking anything.
[Pax Island ~ Big Kahuna]
Iris gave the angel a very confused look as he spoke up. The mere appearance of the being was hardly more surprising than the Gore Demon who had tried to turn her into small Iris bits a few minutes earlier, but Iris had no idea what the angel was talking about.
A few blinks later, she shrugged and refocused her attention, glancing at Samuel as he gave his input. She might have glared at him for his comment about the kind of person she was, but at that point, she was worried that it was true— or at least that it was the sort of impression she was giving others.
"I don't mean to be an awful person." she sighed, tipping her head downward slightly. "I really don't. I'm just... I'm having troubles right now, I'm not in a good place to be, here, with my life, it's just mess after mess after mess. It's frustrating, all right? And it's too much to keep all that frustration pent-up inside. Don't you understand that?" She looked between Samuel and Hayate. "Can't either of you understand that?"
this place needs me here
They/Them
[Outside Big Kahuna]
Regina looked at Howell before sighing, "Go ahead."
[Quantum Princess Theater]
Adrian and Virgil bowed to Jarla while Adrian introduced the both of them, "Adrian Ramses and Virgil Maro at your service."
Adrian turned to Cogbeard, "Equipment would be nice, dealing with that crazy wizard might be easier."
"Lead the way then," Birgil told Jarla.
edited 7th Nov '13 11:59:04 AM by DarkbloodCarnagefang
Note to self: Pick less edgy username next time.
[Pax Island ~ Outside Big Kahuna]
Howell shut his eyes for a moment, his eyelids rather dark compared to the crimson, scaly skin surrounding them, and another large difference from any actual snake. When he opened them again, he said, "My sister doesn't... typically mean to harm anyone she pokes fun at. But she can get a little ballsy for no good reason, and has trouble finding the difference between poking fun and digging into someone's ribs. I've seen it happen before, but no one has ever tried as actively to kill her as you did."
He stared at Regina for a moment, as though to see if anything he'd said was reaching her. "To put it clearly, I don't think Iris meant to single you out as a target for her laboratory of insults, but she didn't know how to back down either." he paused, tapping the tips of his fingers together, then added, "And as for why she started it in the first place... there's a story that might have something to do with it, but I can't really tell you about that."
Howell returned to staring at Regina and smiled. "So I'm sorry about how this happened. And thanks for not killing her in the end. Also, I threw a menu at your head, so sorry for that too. I missed, though."
this place needs me here
They/Them
[Outside Big Kahuna]
Regina breathed out and continued, "Howell, I grew up in a world of ideas that believed people, especially women, had the right to enjoy certain things and not be shamed for it by people with traditionalist views, like the way Iris did. I overreacted to her comments because they were insulting me in a way that struck a cord. I normally don't try to kill me people, since it usually makes me and my kind look bad, but she was going really far with what she was saying," she sighed, "You don't have to tell me any stories, but thanks for not hitting me in the head with the menu."
She managed to make a small giggle, wiping away some pink tears she had, "I'm actually glad I didn't kill her."
edited 7th Nov '13 3:21:27 PM by DarkbloodCarnagefang
Note to self: Pick less edgy username next time.
[Quantum Princess, Theater >> Galley >> Security Office - Cogbeard, Adrian, Virgil, and Jarla]
"Aye, tha' sounds like a good idear," Cogbeard said to Adrian.
"Cool! Follow me!" Jarla said, as she walked down past the group, and opened a black door at the bottom. She carefully entered the dimly-lit maintenance walkway within, her gun pointed ahead. After checking it for safety, she motioned for the others to follow.
As they walked along, she said, "it was great timing that you all came here - it's been thirteen days since the crash, and even though everyone else left, I couldn't just stand by and let that fznort Azatha take over this ship. Wait here." She opened a door at the end of the hallway, marked 'Galley'. Inside was a surprisingly well-organized kitchen, low on supplies, but not completely out. "These emergency rations get old after a day, I mean, they must be at least 40% cardboard by weight, and I haven't had anyone decent to talk to in ages. In here." She opened another maintenance door near the large commercial ovens, as they walked through it and into another maintenance hallway as well.
"But hey, they only take the tough for the mining security forces, right? She hasn't gotten me yet, and with you on my side, we'll see how long her house of cards stays afloat! Sorry, I'm rambling again, aren't I?" Jarla said, as they approached a large metal door, "and we're here!" Once she typed in a code, the door opened to reveal a sizeable room, reinforced with large metal pylons across its sides, with what looked like an observation station on the left, and an armory on the right.
The observation station contained numerous screens, many broken, with the functioning ones displaying various abandoned hallways and shafts, an empty pool, theater, game rooms, passenger storage vaults, and the security room they were in. One may even notice that one of the screens was displaying the fight between Bernhard and the stranger, and another was displaying Raphael, Irilemi, and Kina on the stairway. "We can see (almost) the whole ship from here, pretty snazzy, eh?" Jarla said, motioning to the screens. Note that there is not a screen displaying Azatha and Adrian Kunstler, nor is there one of the Engine Room, Captain's Quarters, Bridge, Interdimensional Gateway, or any of the A sections.
The armory on the right contained about 12 open lockers, most of them empty, save four which contained futuristic suits of armor and matching handheld quantum-effect railguns, much like the equipment Jarla was wearing. Nearby, there were also a few crates containing first-aid supplies, portable communicators, powerpacks, EMP and organic disruptor grenades, and a few portable forcefield emitters.
Feel free to interrupt part of this if you want, I'm just writing it here to save time if there aren't any problems. :)
edited 7th Nov '13 3:51:46 PM by Sonzai
Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.
Laugh and grow dank!
Rikael’s voice emanated from under the table. “I- Is it gone?” It sounded muffled, but it was definitely directed at Samuel. A few brief moments later, her head emerged from beneath the lip. In line with her carefully considered personal safety protocol, she had been cowering with her hands over her ears beneath the table for the past few minutes.
With the danger seemingly past, she took a brief glance around before somewhat shakily returning to her seat. Looking to Samuel, she said, “What just happened?”
yey
[motel tv]
"...Okay. Um..." She pressed her lips together. "That metal box that all the wires run into contains the unit's circuit board. I'm pretty sure it's the culprit, but it runs on magic energy instead of electricity. For most people, this isn't an issue, but I don't want to, uh, hurt your baby." She was thinking that their best bet was to treat it like electrical circuits. Did Violet's world even have circuitry? She couldn't tell. "What I want to do is reverse its energy flow, which pretty much entails swapping two wires around. I'd rather be safe than sorry."
[quantum princess C1]
"I'm listening." Watching her with pale, jade-colored eyes, he downed his tea and set his cup on the table with the barest of smirks.
[quantum princess maintenance stairwell > deck C]
Raphael stopped a moment to skim the sign. "Eh, there should be another flight of stairs at the other end if we really want to head back down." And he stepped into deck C.
edited 20th Nov '13 11:01:11 AM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
The future of warfare in UC.
[Big Kahuna]
Samuel leaned back against the partition. "It's gone." He glanced out the door, trying to track Regina through any available windows. "As to what happened, I have no idea. I assume she was a construct, because I can't see a purely biological form of life being able to do that." His voiced was much softer for a moment. "And because I've seen them do something like that, though I really wish I had not and did not now."
The lean became more of a slump. "But maybe I'm just going with the familiar too much here." Then he visibly winced. That was a terrible pun.
edited 7th Nov '13 9:47:15 PM by Night
Nous restons ici.
Drummer Boy
[[Motel Room 14]]
"Hm." Yes, there was certainly magic in that box. "Well, if I have to use magic, it just might be the end of things for now. The doctor will help us, though. I think he'll be back soon. He should know that we probably need magic to get you out of there, and he knows I can't use magic right now, so he'll come to help us. But if I open up the box and show you what the wires look like, maybe you can tell me which ones to change? If you can't, we'll have to wait for the doctor."
Violet opened up the box and took a look at the wires. "I'm going to try to figure out how the energy flows in each of these wires and see if we can do anything with that." She started diagramming it in one of her sketchbooks, taking note of energy flow with arrows. "What were you trying to do with these television things, anyway? Did you know this might happen to you?"
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
[Quantum Princess, C1 Treasure Room - Adrian Kunstler and Azatha]
"Um... that is the offer," Azatha said, "one of the groups I'm trying to find just left the D3 Hallway into the theater here." A virtual screen popped up, showing a picture of Cogbeard, Adrian, and Virgil right before they entered the theater. "If you could track them down, and either 'convince' them to leave, or even just lead them into a section I control, that would be great. Deal?"
[Quantum Princess, C3 Hallway - Raphael, Irilemi, and Kina]
When they entered the C3 hallway, they would see quite a few passenger rooms, slightly more spacious than the B region, most of them empty but a few still sealed. One in particular might have stood out, as it had yellow caution tape covering the door, with a sign reading 'DANGER: DO NOT ENTER!' on the entrance.
"What? More pirates?" an annoyed girl's voice said, echoing through the hallway with no apparent source, "just how many of you are there?"
Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.
Attitude is prohibited
[Nulbarak Island]
"But... I..!" Tamara began to protest, but protesting was difficult and painful, so she quickly gave up and managed to simple nod instead. The look in her eyes communicated a lot; she was scared and in a fair amount of pain, but despite it all she was stubbornly determined.
She wanted to help, to get back up and take on the beast, if not for the sake of Layi and others, then just to prove to herself that could. But first, she needed that sword...
Askeda's plan was less effective than what she was probably hoping for. The island's shoreline was almost entirely comprised of rocks, so while what little sand there was got turned into glass, the spell's effect was less than ideal. The spikes punctured the softer shell of the crab's underbelly, but like Askeda's arrows, didn't go deep enough to cause any long-term, serious damage. The creature clearly felt the hit, however, and charged at Askeda with renewed vigour.
Not entirely dead.
[Nulbarak Island]
"Oh, come on," muttered Askeda. This was getting just plain ridiculous. Askeda drew more magic into her, and flames began curling around her hand. They quickly resolved themselves into the form of a large, two-handed sword composed completely of fire, which Askeda readied. The fire's nature of creation prevented much heat from moving outside the flame, but within it, it was white-hot.
Askeda glared at the crab as it charged. At the last moment, she swept her wings forward, propelling herself backward and slightly to one side, in line with the crab's movement and traveling at about the same speed. She spun as she did so, turning so that she was facing the same direction at the crab and began running with it. The move carried her so that she landed right next to one of the creature's legs, and Askeda swung her sword at it, aiming high. All the while, she had her wings tensed, ready to flare out or pump back so that if the crab tried to suddenly slow down or speed up, she'd do the same. Of course, its sheer bulk meant that inertia would keep any acceleration from being too sudden, but Askeda liked to be prepared.
Impossible Gender Forge
[[Pax Island Harbor]]
Buzzing thoughts echoed through it's head- It's own thoughts, at least.
It was broken. Incomplete. It was a mind fractured that was struggling to glue itself back together.
The minds around it echoed also. Alarm and fear. Weapons readied.
It could not recall ever fearing the weapons of things not of it's own kind, but it could also hardly recall what it's own kind was.
This was not helped when, within the crackled carapace of the sphere, it's new metamorphosing body put the final touches on the sensory organs.
Smell jolted into existence. Not the paltry version humans bandied, so blunt that it hardly worked at all. It was smell-taste-feel, with scents so strong they were almost colors. It could smell age or gender or emotions. It could tell what a human felt from hundreds of miles away. There was no hiding.
It gave this a mere half second of thought before another sense came to life.
It could feel. Not pressure. Vibration. The shaking of the air, the slow- or fast- songs of the earth. Below worms and beetles dug through the ground, unknowing of what was above. It could feel the heartbeats of the minds around it, their every breath was a symphony of rushing air.
It felt something. Ants. Little ants. Such a short distance away a small colony of them grew and moved and touched and dug.
Something within it was captivated by them.
With a faint thrum of mental noise, it's mind flew through the ground like an expanding wave, catching the colony in it's wake. It spoke the language of smells and scents to the ants, and the ants spoke back.
They spoke as one, for ants never speak as anything less. What they said could have translated in many ways, but the most obvious was this:
Sister. Sister found.
And it remembered. A sort of psychic static kicked up as the mind melded once again into a whole.
Time was a river.
All the little things that moved in time were as fish, drifting along and doing their best in the rapid and unforgiving stream.
The fish did their best, floating and swimming, but the river was stronger than them. They could never go back, only forwards. No matter how hard they tried, the river always beat them. In the end, it would always claim them. One mistake and they were dashed or drowned or eaten.
But you are not one of the fish. You are a thing that lives on the banks of the river. You watch as the fish float by. You can pace up and down the river bank as you please, unlike the fish. The whole of the river is yours to see without getting a single drop of water on you.
That does not mean you can not swim. You can. You're better at it than the little fish. You can enter and leave the river as you please, unlike them. Like them, however, you can not swim backwards. You can speed up or slow down your pace as you please, but never go back.
There are others like you. A multitude. All are the same, at first. But the river changes them. You swim in the river and you get wet. You have to learn to swim or sink, have to learn how to move and how not to move, have to learn which of the little fish are nice, and which are mean.
Those in the river and those on the shore do not get along.
Those on the shore want to take you out of the river and wring you dry. To make it like all the swimming never happened. To return you to the way you were.
But you and the other swimmers don't want that.
And since those on the shore wish to stay dry, you can ignore them. But.. this means you can never touch the shore again, lest those that dwell there snatch you up.
You look at the fish, not as a observer from the shore, but as a one who swims among them. When you first began to swim, you watched a fish swim to learn how. This one fish became your favorite fish. It swam for a long time, and swims now still. It was once one fish, but is now many.
It is the fish humans call ants.
The ants were she, so you became a she.
The ants talked smells, so you talked smells.
The ants lived and love in the earth, so you lived and loved the dirt and stone.
The other swimmers named you Ant Queen. You ignored them, but took the name. Many of them feared you, for you had swum for so long. You swam before fur and feather, before blood was warm, before trees stood.
You saw the great lizards rise and watched them fall.
And now you are here, as the young-green one asked. In a strange new river looking for another swimmer. You had no wish to, but the young-green one sang.
None who hear his song can ever forget it. Such was the payment he offered- a chance to forget his song.
The Ant Queen remembered.
The sphere rocked as the shape metamorphosed within, faintly visible through the now translucent shell of the orb.
[Quantum Princess, D3 Hallway]
The stranger continued to walk until it reached the shield. First the stranger touched... no, caressed the shield, as an infant might caress a soft new toy. Then the stranger croaked a reply: "∀ {-2 < x < 2, -0.5 < y < 0.5; 0 < z < 1} : F = {0, 0, 0}" After a few more steps forward, the stranger then seemed to hear something of interest. It paused, giving Bernhard a clear opportunity to act.
[Nulbarak Island]
Layi waved for Kevin to join her. "Yeah," she said, "I could use a hand. I don't suppose you know anything about caring for the injured? I can keep her alive, but she's not gonna get into the fight without a miracle." She looked at Kevin thoughtfully. "Got any of those to spare? Still not clear what you can do."
Then — Layi suspected this was a mistake, but she had given her word — she took Tamara's sword and, very carefully, very delicately, held it just above Tamara's hands. "Don't," she said, "do anything stupid." The she gently placed the grip in one of Tamara's hands, letting the sheath come to rest in the other.
[Harbor]
Sonuera just nodded. "Y-yeah," she said, stepping away from the thing. "I heard that." She gulped. "I, uh..." she bit her lip. Quite simply, she wanted to run. But she'd learned from Layi that, in a situation like this, running was a mistake. Best not to single herself out like hat. The thing was, at least, intelligent, and seemed able to speak. So, as though speaking to a child despite her nervousness, spoke to... whatever it was. "h-hello. I'm Sonuera. Who... who are you?"
[Quantum Princess, C3 Hallway]
"That," Irilemi said of the taped door, "is ominious." She looked between Raphael and Kina. "I believe the traditional 21st century American term for such a door is Schmuck Bait?" She tapped it. "Then again... I really should know better, but I've learned that all the best things are usually hidden in rooms one is not supposed to enter. Shall we disregard our common sense?"
Still considering for Ruins — trying to figure out where I'm going with Esa's characterization.
edited 9th Nov '13 8:07:38 AM by KillerClowns
[motel tv]
"This thing is very good at not seeming hostile until it's too late. I suppose you shouldn't be taking apart motel property, but it's still a huge liability to incorporeals. Nobody here has even the slightest clue what these things are capable of."
Marla let out a long sigh. I hate my life. "What's their problem? It's not my fault I'm trying to make something out of being stuck among the living." She rubbed her face. "...Sorry. Um... anyways, there's a big black cylinder in one of the corners of the circuit box. Nearby should be a red wire and a black wire; we attach the red one to where the black one attaches, and... vice-versa. You shouldn't have to actually use magic; I'm just worried about it going through you and hurting your baby."
I just realized that this method should be done on the TV in Marla's room, not any TV. But in the interests of getting her out, that can be omitted.
[quantum princess C1]
"Deal." He stood and stepped out from the table and seat, then came around to give her the handshake of agreement. It'll pass the time, if nothing else. "Will that be all?"
[quantum princess C3]
Raphael rolled his eyes. Fuck. "I suppose, but I think the disembodied voice echoing through the hall is a more pressing matter."
edited 20th Nov '13 10:59:38 AM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
[Ruins —> Library]
Esa nodded and said, "just so. Though I do not know if 'cleaning up your soul' is how I would put it. I mean, what 'filth' would you be cleansing it of? Anger, sadness, pride? One needs such things, so long as they are in balance." She studied the library before entering it. "This is not the sort of place my people would make holy. A sacred place should be open to sky and stream. This... it is more akin to the temple-libraries of the Suelasa." She frowned. "But it will do." And she opened the door.
[Pax Island ~ Outside Big Kahuna]
"The way you reacted, I thought you'd had trouble with 'shaming' in the past. But Iris does say a lot more than she should." Howell lowered his eyes and pocketed his hands. "Well, I'm sure she's glad you didn't kill her too."
He paused for a while, then raised his eyes to look at Regina again, studying her with an expression which was, as were so many of his expressions, difficult to read. A few moments later, he glanced back at the Big Kahuna, where they had come from, and at the large majority of their former tablemates standing just outside. Then he turned his eyes to the island ahead, where it seemed Regina was headed.
His eyes fell upon her once more, with some look of expectancy in his eyes. "Are you going to be all right?"
this place needs me here
They/Them
[Quantum Princess Armory]
Adrian and Virgil marveled at the contents of the small armory. Adrian noticed a rectangular crate on the far end of the room. Curiously, Adrian read the writing that was on the top of the crate.
"Some things in life are just better," Adrian read out loud. He shrugged as he removed the crate's cover.
Inside, was a dazzling collection of a dozen katanas, along with respective scabbards.
Virgil noticed the collection and raised an eyebrow, "How in the hell did a collection of swords get into a ship's armory?"
"Don't you have one in yout arm?" Adrian questioned Virgil with a confused look.
"Yeah, but not all the time."
"Well, whatever," Adrian shrugged as he picked up a sword. Gently observing the weapon, he swung the blade into the wall before him. The blade not only pierced the wall, but seemed to leave gashes in the nearby areas that Adrian had not aimed at.
"We should use these," Adrian said with a smile.
[Outside Big Kahuna]
Regina nodded, "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm kinda hungry though." Her stomach growled in response.
Note to self: Pick less edgy username next time.
[Quantum Princess, D3 Hallway - Bernhard Beta and The Stranger]
The stranger's spell canceled the forcefield, allowing him to move forward.
"Hey! How do you know how to do that?" Bernhard said to the stranger, "alright, you want to duel? Bring it on."
He took a few more steps backward, until his feet lifted off the ground, as he entered the part of the hallway without gravity. "ℝ : {0, 0, 0} : m = 1; v = {-50, 0, 0}" he said, as a microscopic black hole, with approximately the mass of a pineapple (1kg/2.2lbs), and traveling at about 112mph/180kph shot out from his staff, heading straight towards the stranger. This action also propelled him down the hallway, and into the floating robot parts, as he kicked them away distractedly.
[Quantum Princess, C1 Treasure Room - Adrian Kunstler and Azatha]
"Cool, just tell me if there's any equipment or tools you might need, and I'll make them for you," Azatha said, shaking Adrian's hand. Her hand felt unnaturally cold, but with an immense pulse of magical energy that could be felt even with mundane senses. "And feel free to take a bag of coins or whatever you want for your down payment."
"When you head out the door of this room, it'll warp you directly to a door next to the theater - then try to see where they went."
[Quantum Princess, C3 Hallway - Raphael, Irilemi, Kina]
"Wait - are you...?" Kina said uncertainly, looking up at the ceiling.
"Hey, I know you, you're that stupid ghost girl I've been trying to find," said the girl's voice, "why haven't you died yet?"
"Um..." Kina tried to stammer out unsuccessfully.
"Nevermind, you all better get out of my ship pronto - unless you like trouble," the girl's voice said, echoing through the hallway.
The taped-up door did not react whatsoever to the tapping or conversation.
[Quantum Princess, Security Office/Armory - Cogbeard, Adrian, Virgil, and Jarla]
"Those are pretty good if you like swords," Jarla said to Adrian and Virgil, "I think they might have been confiscated, or maybe just personal favor from the cheif. I don't have access to the logs, unfortunately."
"Arr, we shou'd be gettin' to the engine before they track us 'ere," Cogbeard said.
"Sure, the engine core is right around the corner if everyone is ready?" Jarla said.
I'll describe the core room in the next post if everyone's ready, as it's protected by a field from Azatha, and this is a major scene coming up here. :)
[Nulbarak Island, Forest]
"I have a first-aid kit, if that might help?" Kevin said to Layi, his staff disappearing, as he took out a plastic box with a red plus sign on top, "it'll heal a few HP, but I'm afraid it's not exactly miracle material..."
Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.
Big Kahuna
Hayate would have elaborated the second Iris asked her own question, but she followed that up with a bit of self-critique that was much more effective than anything he could say to her. After she was done, he nodded.
"Exactly what I wished to hear," he said, "However, it's not quite the whole story. Namely, in that you kept continuing to provoke Regina even after she started getting noticeably angry. Had you recognized that warning sign and stopped right then, this whole situation could have been avoided and we wouldn't be having this conversation." He paused, perhaps giving Iris some time to take that in. "I don't know what made you decide to keep it up. Maybe you've never met someone who would react this way to such teasing, or maybe no one you've met would be able to actually do anything to you in respone. In that case, then this should be a wake-up call. If you keep up such behavior, then this will definitely not be the last time you get into a situation like this, and next time you might not be so lucky."
He then stood up. "But there is no point dwelling on it further now. You've acknowledged the mistake, and I commend you for having enough sense to do that." With that, he flicked his middle tail to send the ball it was holding flying. He leaped up and performed another midair somersault, grabbing the ball in his mouth at the same time. When he landed, he had gone back to being a completely ordinary red fox in appearance, and the ball was nowhere to be seen. "Now, I'm not going to tell you to apologize. That is ultimately your decision, not mine."
Outside Big Kahuna
Kaguya nodded. "Hayate-sama wanted me to go with you. I guess he trusted you enough to keep an eye on me or something." She shrugged, before looking back at the restaurant. "I guess he wanted to say something to Iris-san, but beyond that I don't know what he's up to or why he didn't want to have me around. Either way, I didn't want to question him." She turned back to Thomas. "Um...I hope I'm not going to get in the way of your plans too much."
Ruins (Library)
Just how well-kept the library was truly became apparent when Esa and Friedrich entered. The floors, walls, and shelves were well-polished; the ceiling's design didn't even have a scratch. Most of the books looked like they were placed there yesterday, if not hours ago. Nothing so much as a speck of dust marred any of the structures.
The way the shelves were arranged was hardly conventional for a library, but they did seem to draw attention to the floorboards at the center and how they were arranged in angular rings of about one foot in width apiece. More suspiciously, anyone who looked closely would see a small gap in between the fifth and sixth rings (counting from center outwards).
Directly opposite the door was an odd painting. At first glance, it just appeared to be abstracted, but upon closer inspection it would prove to be an accurate painting of the library's center, with one odd difference: there was a large hole where the middle floorboard rings would be. A comparison between the painting and the actual floor would find that the hole's edges directly corresponded to the small gap on the floor. The painting was obviously significant somehow, but what purpose it was supposed to serve was not obvious.
At any rate, there was no one in here to explain it all to Esa and Friedrich. If they wanted an explanation, they would have to find it themselves.
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
[Outside Big Kahuna]
"Oh, no." Thomas said, "You're not disrupting anything. Don't worry." he shrugged, "The incident just made me think; I have to be very cautious with things I say around here for now on. Very, very cautious..."
He suddenly shuttered.
"Uh...um...l-let's just forget about that." He smiled, "You and Hayate probably need a place to sleep too, right?"
[harbor]
His blood ran cold.
What little energy trickled out of his defenses suddenly receded deep, deep inside. The din and chatter of the town, of the people he was with evaporated away. The high priest and the demon. He barely blinked, let alone breathed, eyeing the pulsating lump.
It sat there, as though in rest, pulsating like a miscarried infant.
He wanted to look away. Make as little contact with Lyrespeakers as possible, he always tells those few unfortunate travelers who run across fae-woods. Don't fight, don't respond, try not to even look.
He couldn't.
Nary a moment after it spoke, he backed away, slowly, deliberately, trying not to seem like he was staggering.
It's late; just wanted to write Kyros shitting a brick before I went to bed. Rest will come tomorrow.
edited 12th Nov '13 7:40:46 PM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."