Welcome, reader, to the latest Character Development Thread! These shared story exercises help budding writers develop their characters alongside the characters of other budding writers. No formal sign-up is necessary; one can simply jump right in. Just make sure to review the OP and the last few pages first.
If the length of the thread has become a bit daunting and you need a recap, or if you simply need another question about the threads answered, just post in the discussion thread
and we’ll do our best to help you out.
This particular thread focuses a bit more heavily on character interaction than usual. It is recommended, though not required, that your characters come with specific goals in mind.
Many thanks go to nrjxll, Killer Clowns, SolipSchism, Corvidae, electronic-tragedy, Darkblood Carnagefang, Strix Obscuro, Gault, Night, and gameknight102xx, among others, for helping to prepare the thread.
◊Somewhere in the vastness that is the multiverse, there lies a great city. Born from a mix of modern technologies and ancient magic, it has become a crossroads between many different realities, resulting in a wonderfully varied populace and a mostly near-futuristic cityscape.
This shining Capital prides itself on being a place of opportunity. It’s up to the inhabitants to make something of it.
- Current Time: Night (~10:00 PM)
- Current Weather: Cloudy
edited 12th Oct '15 12:20:03 PM by Yomegami
[Waterfront - Experience]
Qrlil leaned over her plate and opened her mouth, tasting the scent of the shshlsh platter. It was pleasant enough, sort of a pale blue or cerulean smell. She took that as a good sign.
Before she started eating, though, she glanced over in Angua's direction. "I do not recall asking before," she said, "but it is possible." Teasingly: "I am afraid I don't remember quite everything about my past meetings with you." She filed away the information mentally; so apparently, the scale color might have originally evolved as some form of camouflage? Rather like the gluvpaki, in that regard.
"I should ask," she continued, "is there, in turn, anything further you would like to ask me about my world? Either of you?"
As she waited for a response, she reached down and took one of the fruit slices, mashing it in her mouth. Her head tilted sideways. 'Interesting' is definitely the word.
[New City - Meiko's Cafe]
The cloaked alien was silent for a moment. The unnatural shadow effect inside its hood almost seemed to ripple and swirl, though it quickly returned to normal.
"I understand," it said eventually. "And no, I am sorry, but I likewise cannot provide you with any further information on your friends. All I know is that they were doing something involving..." it hissed, "magic."
The hood tilted again. "Before you go, a further question. I must admit I am... sss... slightly ignorant of much about human behavior and sexuality, and so I do not quite understand the point of this establishment. I asked your cold coworker, but I did not get a clear answer."
edited 6th Sep '15 1:03:56 PM by nrjxll
Attitude is prohibited
[Museum Park - East]
"I'm sure Kyana will be deeply touched by your passionate concern for her well-being." Miyuki said, flatly. "Given that, as I understand it, she wants to make a career out of vigilanteism, the compassionate thing to do would be to try and talk her out of that..." She looked over her shoulder at Buso and paused for a moment. At least, that's probably where he was looking. It was impossible to know for sure, given that her eyes were hidden by her visor.
"Regardless," She said, turning her head to where she'd been looking previously. "A minute has passed. My search begins now." Noiselessly, she took off, hovering a few feet off the ground, the ends of her thrusters emanating a faint, blue light. She took one look back at the others. "Stay safe." She said, and then she rocketed off into the sky.
Akira sighed and watched her leave.
Not entirely dead.
[MUSEUM PARK (HEADED TOWARDS NATIONAL MUSEUM]
Lara pondered over Moreena's words. She was exactly right, they were all foreigners, even if not geographically. Only the locals could be considered native, and even they must've come from different times and places.
"I heard that people from all over the multiverse bring some of their neatest stuff to the museum." She recalled, "Maybe we'll find something from one of ours."
She too took the turn the steered them towards the National Museum.
Mr ship
[Market Street-Pub.]
"I see." Henry responded to the explanation and keeping that idea in mind for later. "I'm a decent enough singer myself mostly from singing along to songs playing from an Edison Army Navy Phonograph in the trenches during some of the less heated battles."
As he finished saying his words he glanced over at the others and noticing some possible trouble brewing. He decided anything to quietly shift his left hand toward the custom Colt Single Action Army he had holstered on his right hip incase things got hairy.
New City - On top of a building
Midori stood in complete awe once Sophie had set her down upon the roof of the skyscraper. When they flew she didn't yelp this time, just braced herself since they weren't going very far. The sun cast beautiful colors across the sky and she could see the rim of it as it lowered away. "This...this is amazing." she muttered softly then took a seat next to her friend. She started to smile then said "Thanks for bringing me here!" while looking at Sophie.
Museum Park
The fire girl sighed when the man kept silent. She had a feeling he wouldn't answer her questions so easily, especially after the fire scare. Kyana paused mid run when she heard three different sounds in three different directions, the diversion working as she was hesitant on where to go and picked the path where the rock hit the tree. But he was very ahead now and she grumbled to herself before her head perked up at hearing his voice again.
Ninja? He must have been talking about Miyuki. She at first wasn't sure if she should give a name, but really what was the man going to do with a first name? There were probably plenty of people in the world named Miyuki.
"Her...her name is Miyuki. Why do you want to know?" she shouted back. She expected to once again not get an answer but she thought she would take a chance.
edited 6th Sep '15 7:30:08 PM by Sphinxyness
"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"
New City - Skyscraper Roof
"My pleasure," Sophie replied with a smile of her own, "Actually, thank you for showing me that arcade. It really was nice to relax for the first time since I started this quest." She glanced out towards the sunset. "So much for finding out what we were supposed to, but at least we can't say we didn't do anything. Since we're not going to be alone together for that much longer, I figured we might as well enjoy it while it lasts...."
At that point, she blushed and looked down at her lap. "...And I think I was about to get really mushy there. Don't mind me." She was silent for another couple moments, before looking back up at Midori. "...On a different note, I don't think we ever did come up with something to do for the rest of the night. Want to try and think of something, or should we just risk whatever crazy thing Kiyumi comes up with?"
New City - Meiko's Cafe
"As I told them to," Samantha said once the being elaborated, "Maybe you should have stuck with them regardless. That way they would at least stayed on task...." She stopped there and shook her head. "...But that's beyond your concern."
She shrugged. "As for your question...well, there's a lot of lonely men out there who can't get a girlfriend to save their lives." She gave Aku a knowing look as she said this. "Since they can't fulfill their desires that way, they turn to other things. Apparently, men dig cute girls in silly maid uniforms. So the owner of this establishment decided to have their employees dress like that in order to lure in those lonely men and get some money out of their pockets." She sighed. "Frankly, I'm surprised I haven't seen more creeps today. Then again, I did just start today.
"Anyway, I should probably get back to other things now. If you need anything else, do let us know. It is our job, after all."
Provided the being had nothing more to say to her, Samantha would offer up a curtsy before heading back to rejoin Kiyumi and Naoko.
"Turns out Sophie and Midori made a friend they didn't tell us about," she said, "He didn't have a lot more to say about them, but I suppose they can fill in the blanks once they get back." She shrugged. "Now back to business. Before that little interruption, I was thinking that we should be talking about our next plan of action once we get off work. Assuming we're saving this underground city stuff for tomorrow, the best plan of action would be to pick up the other two's slack and go from there. What do you think?"
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
Crazy Kiwi
Market Street - Pub
Kris watched as Nick took Howell aside for a quiet word, which she she surmised was to do with his behaviour, and heard Adam's stammering attempt to apologise on the alien's behalf.Howell returned, muttered something Kris didn't catch but didn't exactly have apologetic tones, then said "Are you feeling cranky, Nick? Is everyone? Is that what it is?"
James had spent enough time in the presence of nineteenth and twentieth century people to determine that Howell's use of "cranky" meant "bad-tempered", rather than fanciful turns of speech. The question puzzled him as they had been having an enjoyable time and hadn't seen any overt signs of bad temper.
Kris seethed. "Speaking for myself," she said in quiet, measured tones, "I only started feeling cranky when some dick started taking the piss out of everyone."
Teri recognised the tone and mouthed "oh, fuck."
James saw Teri's unvocalised sentiment and nodded. Kris was getting ready to, in her vernacular, "tear Howell a new one." He quickly reviewed the conversation so far in the light of Kris' obvious ire and the exchange between Howell and Nick.
Wolfe looked at Henry with fresh wonder. He had no idea what an Edison Army Navy Phonograph was, but the archaic nomenclature coupled with "trenches" suggested the first World War. Had Henry travelled back to that era? He would have asked for clarification but he became aware of the tension building between Kris and Howell and noticed Henry's hand stray towards his revolver.
He turned to look at the rest of the group and noticed the tension radiating from Kris. He exchanged a knowing glance with Teri and settled back to watch.
[New City - Meiko's Cafe]
The cloaked alien shook its hooded head as Samantha left. Like many of its gestures, it seemed somewhat unnatural, but nevertheless it seemed to carry more real emotion behind it than most. Then it lifted the cup of coffee in one barely visible black and scaly hand and tipped into the shadows of its hood, from which a curious gurgling and sucking sound came.
No idea what or if I'll do anything with it next.
[Museum Park ~ East (Headed South)] (Buso, Akira)
Buso watched nearly silently as Miyuki began to leave. He offered only a quiet, solitary, "Good." just before the woman left the ground.
He continued to watch, voiceless and expressionless, until Miyuki's dot was all but lost in the dimness of the evening sky. Then he sighed, letting his head droop forward, and muttered, "Vigilantism... a career in vigilantism. With stars in her eyes I'm sure. And I suppose she'll sustain herself on the pride of a good deed, grilled to perfection on the warmth of a few kind words."
Buso's mask shook slowly from side to side, followed by a few seconds of stillness.
"We should head to the bench." he said, without looking at Akira. "There's no telling what's to happen next."
He took one step forward before finally looking at the young man. He hesitated, lifting and lowering his feet slightly without actually moving anywhere. Finally, he approached Akira slowly, reaching out to touch his shoulder as he said, "Not to worry, not to worry. If there's any one of us who can hold themselves together in a precarious situation, it's the one with the 'Directed Antigravity Thrusters' and the edge of hard stoicism."
[Museum Park ~ Northwest (Near Central Canal)](Buyer, Kyana)
"Miyuki" the man whispered to himself under his breath, coming rapid and heavy. "Kyana, Miyuki. Miyuki, Kyana. good- good-good-good..."
He let his feet slide out a bit so that he was leaning against the tree instead of pressing up against it. The tiny bit of relaxation allowed him to steady—or almost steady—his breath, and think of how best to make his next move. Amazingly, his ridiculous long shot plan, cooked up mere seconds after he'd seen the girl summon fire from thin air, now seemed almost... achievable. But if he messed up now, his best and only backup plan was a three letter word made better by two shoes.
The man shut his eyes for a moment, listening carefully for any footsteps that sounded especially near. Hearing nothing to be too worried about, he quietly cleared his throat—as quiet as several sharp grunts could be—wiped the sweat from his brow again, lifted his head, and answered.
"Eh- it's a matter of trust! Don't make deals with folks you don't trust; rule número uno of negotiating!"
He paused for a second, then carefully loped ahead a few meters before hiding behind another tree. From where he was standing, he could see the edge of the dense thicket, and what he presumed was the canal beyond. Quickly, he spoke up again.
"I'll tell you what! It'd make me feel a lot more comfortable if I knew what this Miyuki looked like without the ninja gear! Tell me that, and we can talk about making a deal!"
The man shut his eyes, clenching his teeth in anticipation. Please. Please. Please. Please...
every little word and every little step
It's a bird.
Museum Park -> National Museum
"That would be rather neat, yes," Moreena responded, and followed Lara. The path took them out of the rural areas, following the southwestern edge of the park's central pond until the the white walls and pillars of the National Museum could be spotted in the distance.
Waterfront - Experience
Garkin took another bite from his odd meal before answering.
"Well, back at the beach you began telling me a bit about Skrahsis," he said. "Something about it having a unique history, involving the... Kor-ee-narchi, was it?"
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
Laugh and grow dank!
[Waterfront - Experience]
Angua frowned at Garkin and said, "Wow that sounds really boring. No offense," before diving into her clams-with-scallion soup. A few spoonfulls later, she turned to Qrlil and said, "Hmm, not that I can thin of. Not right now at least."
Angua finished off the last of the soup with a last piece of scallop bread she held in reserve, soaking it in the soup's remains and devouring it. She gave a small burp, looking quite satisfied. "That was nice! I really like this place. You two up for more?"
yey
[Waterfront - Experience]
Qrlil grinned at Angua. "And yet you seem to have no problem with qrtxians being even more monochromatic, hrmm?" she said teasingly.
She continued eating the shshlsh, alternating bites between the fruit slices and the gelatin, and periodically washing it down with her glass of water. Despite being strangely-textured and sweeter than she was used to, it was easy to become more comfortable with. It helped, of course, that the soft substance was well suited for qrtxian jaws and flat teeth.
"I suppose I enjoyed it well enough," she said to Angua, "although - wait. This was only your first course?" (Though that would help explain why the kasuar had eaten so fast).
She turned to Zerrimus. "Corinarchi,"note she corrected mildly. "The Corinarchi Empire is a human civilization, but not from Earth. Some unknown species thousands of years ago transported a large population of humans they took from Earth to a planet multiple parsecs away. There, they developed a spacefaring civilization much faster than Earth humans - Terrans, as they sometimes call themselves - did."
She folded her hands together in an unconscious lecturing gesture, her posture growing straighter. "Now, the Corinarchi Empire in its early days was a very imperialist empire, and it waged a number of major wars of aggression against early civilizations. After its defeat in the first way, a peace treaty was signed on a neutral inhabited world between the Corinarchi and the other two major powers of that time. That planet was Skrahsis, and the first Treaty of Skrahsis was what originally put it on the galactic map as a planet for diplomacy."
edited 7th Sep '15 11:05:26 AM by nrjxll
It's a bird.
Waterfront - Experience
"Hm, I could probably go for some more of this stuff," Garkin said. "Or some kind of dessert, maybe." He looked at Qrlil.
"Heh, those 'humans' sure seem to get around a lot. Makes me wonder if there might be more Cravyn out there somewhere. Well, in my own universe I guess. Rolph would probably love the whole 'ancient people get moved to a different planet' thing."
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
[NATIONAL MUSEUM-LOBBY]
Paying the fee, Lara entered into the lobby. Branching off were multiple doorways, all given different titles, obviously to describe what exhibits were down each hallway.
The titles were, in no particular order: Culture, Technology, Plant Life, Geology, Zoology, & Astrology.
Museum Park - Main -> National Museum
Eliza mostly silently trailed behind Moreena and Lara, admiring the scenery along the way. Every now and then she stopped to look over the odd flower or other thing that caught her eye. At one point she heard something like commotion and glanced in the general direction of the sound, but considering it could have been anything she didn't think much of it.
"Looks about what I expected," she commented upon seeing the museum for the first time, before following the other two into it. Almost immediately she found herself, once again, in the awkward situation of needing cash despite not having any on her.
If Moreena didn't own my soul before, she definitely does now.... she thought, again looking somewhat sheepish. Outwardly, she just glanced at the signs above the doorways.
"Personally, I'd be most interested in the 'Culture' section," she said, "But I'm fine with whatever you two decide on."
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
It's a bird.
National Museum - Culture Section
"That sounds like a good place to start," Moreena said and strode off towards the 'Culture' section. Past the doorway and to the left was a large room filled with various show-cases, odd sculptures and trinkets placed on pedestals, and paintings and banners hanging from the walls. A staircase near the entrance led up to an elevated walkway running along the walls about halfway up to the ceiling, giving visitors a better view of some of the larger exhibits.
Moreena went over to take a close look at a large stone tablet carved with writings from a dozen different languages. According to the brass plaque underneath it, it had been found during the construction of the Visitor's Terminal and was about 1200 years old. Only some of the writings had been deciphered, but they were thought to be messages from early off-world visitors. Moreena leaned closer to examine the carvings, scratching one of her horns.
"I wonder who this 'Kilroy' is."
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.Meiko's Cafe
Kiyumi was finishing up with some more work before Samantha approached her and Naoko again. "A friend hm? Probably just someone they helped along the way somewhere." she mused softly to herself but nodded in agreement to the plan. "So, are we going all together or switching roles? Either way is fine with me." she replied to the idea. Naoko nodded in agreement as well.
New City - On top of a building
Midori giggled a bit at Sophie mentioning being mushy. "It's fine. I've been having so much fun hanging out with you." she replied and thought about what to do afterwards. "Well, that beach idea sounded like a lot of fun, but I'm worried if Samantha will even agree to it. After all, I think she figured out we were goofing off." she said, her voice getting quiet as she looked down at the ground nervously.
Museum Park
Kyana kept trying to follow the sound of the man's voice, the density of the trees providing a major obstacle. His next question made her face twist in confusion. What did Miyuki wear besides the suit? Why did he want to know that? "I...I don't know, we only recently have met." she replied and it was the truth. That was the reason they started out clothes shopping in the first place, so Miyuki would have other things to wear besides her suit.
"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"
Laugh and grow dank!
[Waterfront - Experience]
Angua leafed casually through the menu as she spoke, "Hey uh- speaking of Humans, is it just me or do they kind of show up everywhere? I mean, I see 'em around these kindsa places a lot. Never met any other Kasuar, or any Chimeras after Vincent and Xavier. Doesn't that seem a little weird to the both of you?"
yey
[Museum Park ~ Northwest (Near Central Canal)](Buyer, Kyana)
The man's brow furrowed in bewilderment, then in mild frustration. He listened carefully for a few more seconds, then moved his foot forward—inch by inch—slowly shifting his weight as his heel touched the ground, meticulously avoiding as many loud, crunching twigs as he could. In this way, he began a slow walk towards the edge of the tree thicket, and his potential escape.
When he was about ten meters away, he turned his head and called back, "Does she have a face? Hair?? Something to- to picture yeah? To make this whole deal business seem less... well, fishy!"
Something to put a name to, he wanted to say. Something for identification. But again, phrasing was of the utmost importance. He doubted that he'd get anything more out of her, but wasn't too concerned. As it stood—as he slowly closed the gap between himself and escape—he probably already had enough to work with. Enough to play his hand.
every little word and every little step
New City - Skyscraper Roof
Sophie sighed. "Samantha's not going to approve of anything we come up with. She wouldn't approve of anything Kiyumi would come up with, either. She's just not happy unless she's working towards her end goal."
She glanced down at her lap again. "...I really wonder about her sometimes. I do think she has the right idea, because otherwise I wouldn't be working with her. And her dedication is admirable. But she's so dedicated that it's almost like she's blind to everything else."
New City - Meiko's Cafe
"I was thinking that we might as well go together," Samantha said, "While I do hope they'll at least get themselves hired, it is getting late and I'm thinking we'll have more luck with five heads as opposed to three or two. And I'll be around to keep everyone on task, so it'll be much more efficient."
She tapped the side of her chin in thought. "The real question is where to start. I get the feeling this part of the city won't bear much fruit, and the shopping district wasn't any better. Maybe we'll give whatever part of the city Sophie and Midori tried a more thorough look over."
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
[Waterfront - Experience]
Qrlil's posture shifted slightly in mild disappointment that neither of them had chosen to ask her anything further about her reality. She'd found that she rather liked talking about history and culture, not just learning about it - or, at least, she liked it when talking about it didn't touch on anything that was particularly sensitive to her own life.
Still, the question about humans was a good question. "I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "I have wondered in the past if it might perhaps be related to the nature of these places. You see, I access them through a form of ancient precursor cross-reality artifacts, the Gates, and from what little we know, the... the 'hub' for all the Gates know to have been discovered is located on Earth, the human homeworld. But I do not know if that actually explains everything." She nodded at Zerrimus. "There are not any humans in his reality at all, for instance - though it is possible that they just have not been discovered yet."
She took another bite out of her meal, savoring the strange but memorable taste, and looked down briefly at her menu before turning towards Zerrimus. "It isn't actually the first time it happened, you know. Two of the other species from my universe, the etis-tra and kaorrl, share a common ancestry - one that neither species shares with the rest of the life on their homeworlds. It's theorized that some even more ancient culture took both of their ancestors from some unknown third planet and seeded them on their current homeworlds, long enough ago for both of them to diverge evolutionarily."
How about that. I did get to speak some more about history after all.
It's a bird.
Waterfront - Experience
Garkin scratched the side of his head, taking it all in. "Your universe has some pretty amazing things going on, by the sound of it," he said, and took another bite from a glazed and sprinkled arthropod leg.
"How did you discover those gate things?" he asked. "We've found plenty of weird artefacts and whatnot back home as well, but nothing like that."
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
[NATIONAL MUSEUM]
Lara smirked at Moreena's discovery of the Kilroy carving. No doubt whoever chiseled this prank was someone from her dimensions, or possibly Eliza's.
"That's sort of a juvenile thing." She explained to Moreena. "Some people write their name along with the words 'was here' as a harmless prank to whoever comes next. Some people just write 'Kilroy' to be stupid."
Mr ship
[Market Street-Pub]
Henry looked over at Kris and Howell still keeping his hand on his revolver. He didn't know them that well and for all he knew this could completely explode, so he decided to better play it safe and keep an eye out incase he'd need to make a fast getaway. Glancing over at Wolf he knew that he'd seen him slip his hand to the gun. Decided to help alleviate any pressure on himself he leaned towards Wolf and Teri "Should we do something or just let them work it out themselves? I'm good at making quick getaways if needed and I'd help you if needed."
Waterfront - Experience
The frr'ui... food had a surprisingly pleasant flavor. A bit similar to bevyn meat, but softer, and with a crunchy shell. The sprinkles were a bit weird though.
Garkin looked up from his plate, glancing over at Angua. "That's kind of cool," he said. "For Cravyn it's all shades of gray, more or less."
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.