Hello and welcome reader, to the 29th installment of the Character Development Threads! These shared story exercises help budding writers develop their characters alongside the characters of other budding writers. No sign-up is needed; just jump right in with your characters. It is recommended that you read the thread page and the last couple of pages before starting.
Discussion Thread
—Thread Page —
Trope Page —
Town Map — Wilderness Map
This is a "Main Series" thread and, as such, an element of risk is expected. Rules and participation guidelines may be found on this page.
The thread page groups active characters under the areas in which they are active, enabling you to see who is at a given location in which you might be interested or to find out where to go to encounter characters with whom you wish to interact.
Kindly add your own characters to the thread page, with a link to their initial post, under the area in which they are located and update the page if they change location.
Bear in mind that if your characters are arriving at a location, they are likely to know little more than what they see and hear as they arrive - what the location looks like, what other characters are there (both of which can be read on the thread page) and the last few lines uttered and actions taken as they are arriving (which can be found in the last few posts for that location in the story thread itself), so inserting characters need not be a terrifying or arduous process. In most cases, they don't need to know more than what you yourself can glean from reading just a few posts.
If you need help, have any questions, or want a quick recap (if the page count is daunting), head over to the discussion page, and someone is sure to help you out!
To help guide character interaction, having your character come in with at least one short-term and one long-term goal or motivation is strongly recommended. It is not required, but it does make it easier to drive the plot forward. Feel free to come up with rumors about what treasures, adventure, locations, and dangers may be found in the setting - they need not be true or accurate, just some hook on which to hang an adventure.
The setting is specifically designed to be a vast sandbox into which details can be inserted by participants (for example, you are free to decide that there is a particular temple in the midst of the forest in which something may be found or that there is a particular shop/hotel/restaurant in a section of the town), if you come up with a location that you desire/expect other characters to visit, please add it to the thread page as a sub-location of the relevant area.
Things change as the story progresses. If, for example, a massive battle occurs at a location and the area is now strewn with bodies and buildings are damaged, kindly update the thread page to reflect those changes, in order that other participants have an up-to-date description of the location prior to sending their characters there.
Special thanks to all those who helped in getting the original thread launched or provided ideas and feedback. In alphabetic order, they include:
Blackfire 667, Collen, Corvidae, daird, Darkblood Carnagefang, Eterna Memoria, Gault, Kkutwar, Killer Clowns, ladytanuki, Masterofchaos, nrjxll, Pyxo, Slysheen, Tro Partner, Will De Regio and especially Wolf 1066, whose original post I have shamelessly copied with only minor alterations.
Apologies if I missed anyone - just let me know and I'll update the post.
The dawn of another day rises across the land, heralding fresh morning air, clearer heads, opened doors, and new arrivals.
Between dimensions, and linked to the rest of the multiverse, lies a strange post-apocalyptic environment made up of various regions strewn with the remnants of past glory - ruins, lost technologies and magic. Here and there, nature has found its way back amongst the ruined temples and towns.
In the midst of the blighted landscape, a fresh new town has emerged - a synergy of technology, nature and magic; clean and eco-friendly; a beacon of hope for a brighter future - where travelers can rest, recharge their batteries (both literally and metaphorically) and get whatever they may need - technological, magical or otherwise - to aid them on their adventures.
New arrivals can turn up by diverse means in the transportation area in the north-western part of the town or by whatever other means they deem appropriate. Here they may also find for rent, lease or hire, any transport they desire from riding animals to vehicles.
The wilderness areas have not been fully explored since the mysterious apocalyptic events that ravaged the area some time ago and no one is really sure what's out there - but rumors abound.
All that is known for sure is that both magic and technology have existed here for a long time, so anything is possible...
Current Time: 10:00 AM
Current Weather: Sunny
See the thread page for updates.
Edited by Ryuhza on Feb 22nd 2023 at 1:14:28 AM
[Basement]
James chuckled. "Goodness, no. I was under them because of...well, that's a story for another time. Right now, I want to know what the hell's going on here."
For several minutes, neither men said anything. All they did was stare at the lights; they were beautiful—almost hypnotizing, in a way.
"Well," Amandus said, "I'm not sure what we want to do with these, either. We've just been following your lead the whole time. Though...they haven't hurt us so far. Maybe they're harmless?"
[Aseyu's Suite (Lancer; Aseyu)]
Aseyu looked Adrienne over thoughtfully. Admiringly, yes, but not leering. A mixture of attraction and platonic curiosity about a new species, a new person from a new world. "My species didn't have much need for 'insulation'," she said. "We come from a hot, arid climate originally, and were persistence hunters. Being able to cool our bodies through sweating helped us run down prey, before we figured out agriculture and... well, the rest is history."
Then, as she poured herself a cup of tea. "And this? Decocainized mountain tea: the main thing you smell there is wispflower, but there's also Ashar's glove, onyx tulip, some redfern shoots to make up for the lack of coca leaf, and a tiny bit of red thunaya peel." She considered the tea, inhaling its steam thoughtfully. "A lot of foreigners think that last one tastes a bit 'artificial'? It's a pretty unique flavor."
Edited by KillerClowns on Apr 30th 2024 at 2:22:58 PM
< Hub Town - Hotel, B1 (Blue oblong chamber) >
Joseph glanced back over his shoulder, his throat feeling oddly constricted.
Maybe they hadn't heard him. Or maybe he'd already unloaded enough onto their shoulders. It had been a lot. They wanted to be supportive, but they were only human, as he was, in a certain light, and he knew just how draining it could be to receive such sorrow. Even if they were his actual parents, could a parent be responsible for all that weight? Could they always shed wisdom when it was needed? How, if their lives fell far out of step? If they'd never been through what he had, done what he had done?
He thought of the phrase It takes a village to raise a child, feeling suddenly that he had a much stronger understanding of what it meant. Ignoring the impulse to shut down support he did not feel he deserved and refusing to question his own hazy position on the child-adult spectrum, he considered who else he might speak to.
Rip was a possibility, though in truth the man made him nervous, bearing a silent energy akin to watching a storm behind a soundproof window. According to Connie and David, he was from Earth originally, but hailed from Holland centuries before any of them had been born and wound up in Janus when he was still a boy, making him the longest resident of that strange world. Between both histories, it was hard to imagine that they shared much in the way of relatable experiences. That and he seemed preoccupied with his new beau, which could make things extra awkward, given the nature of what he wished to discuss.
Connie was close to him in years, both in age and origin, and they went back further than he did with Rip or David. At the same time, they lived somewhat contrasting experiences, her from a large family that—prior to her untimely departure—only seemed to be growing, and he from a small one that just kept shrinking. Her from hot, arid Arizona, and he from cold, damp Washington. And though she wasn't a total social butterfly, she always did seem to find his hesitance and shyness perplexing. Still, she might have some kind of insight into the situation. At the very least, she might be able to commiserate with him, sharing an understanding of cliques and teen cruelty. But as she had made quite clear, she was busy, and there was no telling when she'd be back to speak to.
David...
He wasn't sure about David. Since the night before, he hadn't been sure about anything with David. Beneath what looked like contempt was envious admiration, beneath what looked like confidence was fearful isolation. Still, for all the stress of their misadventure, after the dust had settled, there was a bridge between them. At the very least, he'd be willing to listen, and as far as Joseph was aware, David had no major plans for the day besides squaring away their job.
Outside his traveling group, he supposed he could talk to Adam or his friends if he bumped into them again. He wasn't sure how different things were in their time, but maybe they'd understand. Nasur would surely be willing to listen, but somehow Joseph doubted he'd be able to offer more than broad advice, offered through countless degrees of cultural separation. He considered trying to contact the Web of Friendship, but their solution would probably involve beaming emotional competence straight to his brain, and where did that leave his heart?
Thoughts returning to the present, his gaze roamed the circular chamber of lights, silently pondering the once-dim root excretions that had somehow turned stygian murk into a brilliant spectacle. James wanted for understanding, and Amandus seemed content with the notion of safety. Staring at the nearest blob, examining its finer details, Joseph couldn't care less for understanding. That place was a magical room where he could stand illuminated, outside that cloud he'd drug around like his own personal rainy day. Understanding sounded like disillusionment. And safety sounded like what he'd had before: A bruised and bleeding mess, wrapped up and wrapped up and wrapped up again, untouchable and unhealing. If there was still something sharp stuck in there, maybe it wasn't time to wrap it back up.
"Yeah," he said, wiggling a claw against the blue oblong nearest him, "I figure they're harmless. I mean, c'mon, it'd be pretty careless for the hotel to leave something strange and dangerous open to the public like this. It's a little out of the way, but any curious kid could come down here and- oop!"
His claw grazed the narrow end of the glowing oblong, near where it emerged from the root. It was like running a finger through a cobweb, sans the stickiness, and before he knew it the oblong was falling to the floor. "Ah, crap," he squatted swiftly, stretching his arm out to catch it. Not quite swift enough, the oblong missed the palm of his hand as it struck the fine grille of the floor, only to be punctured by his claws as he extended his arm. "Crap, crap." He blinked rapidly, watching as the oblong's contents spilled out, tiny and granular, slipping into the surrounding holes as freely as sand in an hourglass. With them went the light, leaving only an almost imperceptibly thin skin behind.
Soon he was staring at nothing but the grille itself, his long tail coiling slightly over the cool, damp surface. His long mouth hung open slightly, caught between the impulse to speak and the knowledge of his own cluelessness.
"Uhh... well, uh..." he glanced up at Amandus and James, pointing at the floor, "that one was loose."
Before he could defend himself further, a deep, resonant sound began to build from far below. A rumble, low, incredibly low, like the purring of a monstrously giant catfish at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
"Uhhh..." Joseph's eyes widened as he drew his head back— as though the few inches would make a difference, "that's probably a harmless rumble, right?"
Edited by Ryuhza on May 1st 2024 at 12:21:14 PM
this place needs me here
Lancer, Hub Town, Hotel, Aseyu's Suite
"Hm, smells lovely." Adrienne remarked, entirely failing to grok that she was being admired—being unable to get even an empathic surface read on Aseyu, coupled with her own somewhat atrophied sense for social cues, made things like that a bit more difficult than they would be otherwise. "I shouldn't be too long."
The 'artificial' descriptor stuck out to her as she stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. There was that deity, the Weaver, with the implied emphasis on crafting, that odd wood marked by metallic veins that struck the stoat's eye as distinctly unnatural... all these things made her undeniably curious about where the other woman came from, as well as prompting thoughts about her own world. She wasn't up-to-date on her paleontology, but she knew there'd always been certain massive gaps that no one could reconcile.
"We... don't know exactly where we came from, I don't think." the stoat remarked just loud enough to be heard as she disrobed fully, neatly folding her suit and underwear and setting them all aside. Looking herself over in the mirror, in particular her injury from earlier, she gingerly peeled off the field-applied bandage and examined the stitches. Clean, no infection developing, but there was a good deal more bruising now—she had hit a tree, after all, and with enough force to splinter the tree and kill her had it not been for the suit. Inhaling too deep still hurt a bit, but she knew that was from the bruising, specifically a bruised rib as some probing with her powers revealed.
She frowned, knowing that would just have to heal on its own, with some care taken not to aggravate things.
"Planet's billions of years old, got fossil records of all kinds of animals, some we think might be ancestors, but the records aren't there for us, and our cultural memory only goes back some few thousand years until it just... stops." the stoat elaborated, looking over the various toiletries and through the medicine cabinet until she spotted some painkillers whose name she recognized and knew to be safe for her physiology, downing one. "The 'Lost Age', we call it. Firewalkers go back to around then, or at least they say they do."
Then she located antiseptics and fresh (waterproof) bandages, along with a razor which she used to neatly shave the fur around the injury before applying the new dressings. After this, she started up the shower and waited a moment for the water to reach a satisfactory temperature before stepping in.
Here, she stood under the flow and let it soak into her fur for a little while, letting out a long sigh somewhere between relief and bliss, not particularly caring in the moment whether Aseyu heard it or not.
Edited by Chortleous on May 5th 2024 at 2:18:54 PM
This is my good side.
Hub Town: Nattlås Dim Diner, a dimly-lit corner seat
Valten measured both Lucille and Sigmund's answers to his question. He took a spoonful of soup. "So, plants it will be." He concluded. He took a bite out of his flatbread. "And maybe bring down something big if it bothers us."
Sigmund and Toni's brief banter was not something the mercenary had an understanding of. Like the term 'chrome' (Did they mean armor? Sigmund certainly had a nice suit, but Toni was only wearing plain clothes). Instead, he decided to focus on the words Lucille had spoken.
'Tai hwa no hoa' . Nothing Valten had heard before, certainly. It didn't sound like Old Daanic, or any language from nearby realms he had heard. "Can't say I know of it." He said quickly, suddenly more focused on his soup than on the conversation. Soon it was revealed why: A bigger, uncut piece of mushroom he had just fished out of the bowl, threatening to fall off the spoon. Valten quickly caught it between the spoon and a piece of flatbread, before shoving the whole thing (mushroom and bread) into his mouth. He chewed it a few times before swallowing.
"Sorry for that." He excused himself when he could talk clearly again. "But no, sorry. I don't think it rings any bell." The mercenary poured himself a glass of cider and gave it a swig. "Is it important? Pardon the curiosity."
Forest (Samelin, Rosafa, Devad, Issichar, Amy, Maya, etc.)
"I can help with the gauging." Rosafa reached into her bag and pulled out a small box. Inside were a set of claw-like devices that she affixed to her fingers. Another small box contained two similar devices that she attached to the toes of her shoes. A third contained a pair of goggles. And a fourth contained something that resembled a mechanical beetle with a spike coming out of its stomach. She moved to a tree that was reasonably close to the structure. "Devad, I shall need your assistance."
Devad crossed to her and gently grabbed her legs, then hauled her upwards towards the tree.
As her artificial claws made contact with the wood, she scrabbled up the tree at an surprisingly fast rate, until she was slightly above level with the tower, then launched herself at it.
"I love seeing her do that," Samelin murmured.
Her claws punched into the wood, granting her a handhold, and she took the beetle-like contraption and slammed the spike into the side of the tower.
"There." She turned to Adam and indicated a spot on the back of the beetle that resembled a target. "See if you can hit this with your arrow. When hit, the target traps the arrow."
By now, it should be clear to all except the most dense of us that sheep are secretly conspiring to kill us all and steal our pants.
[B1]
The rumble startled both Amandus and James.
"W...was that an earthquake?" Amandus stuttred, "Oh, hell, no, I am not going to deal with something like that today."
"I'm not sure what that was," James said, "But we all should be careful. I don't have a good feeling about any of this..."
[Forest]
As Adam concentrated on his shot, Nick turned to the group's new companions.
"You still didn't answer an important question, dude," he said, "Is it safe to leave Mael's victim with that vampire guy? You guys clearly had a problem with him before, and the last thing we want is someone turned into a vampire before we free her." He shuddered. "I already dealt with that yesterday..."
Edited by Masterofchaos on May 6th 2024 at 12:53:34 PM
Lancer, Hub Town, Hotel, Aseyu's Suite
"Hm. Not really bothered, not nowadays..." Adrienne remarked idly, by this point more focused on her next task: carefully lifting the cuff of one glove and slipping her fingers beneath to disconnect concealed wiring before slipping the garment off and placing it beside her cape and belt, then doing the same with its twin. Her hands were white-furred like her face, furless on the padded palms and fingertips, with digits tipped in short claw-like nails kept meticulously trimmed and filed so as not to interfere with the suit. "Things have loosened up a bit since I was younger. That, and when you've been in and out of hospitals, had medical and search and rescue training drilled into you... you get a little numb to it, personally."
She then knelt down and set about removing the suit's boots in a similar fashion, neatly setting those aside too before making her way over to the bathroom on padded feet. As she walked, she undid a hidden zipper down the suit's front, shrugging it off her shoulders and extracting her arms from its sleeves, leaving the upper half to fall down around her waist. She still wasn't entirely nude beneath it, clad in a utilitarian gray cotton sports bra with an emblem
◊ printed on the back, between her shoulder blades, recognizable as the branding of some sort of governmental organization.
Notably, the mustelid's overall physique wasn't nearly as muscular or well-defined as her suit might have suggested, though she was clearly athletic all the same, and by no means frail or malnourished save for a bit of boniness here and there. Moreover, fur and its natural concealment of wrinkles and blemishes made it hard to discern precisely how old she was at a glance, though Aseyu had likely already deduced that the stoat was around her own age from their conversation earlier... and from how she wore those years in her eyes. Now that the two were alone together and she wasn't trying to put up any kind of image or front, she looked tired—not so much from fatigue or any lack of sleep, but tired and weary in that distinctive way that people vastly older tended to be. Or soldiers.
"I guess it helps that we have one more... layer, than most people here seem to?" she shrugged with an amiable smile over toward Aseyu, opening the door. "Insulation."
The smell of tea brewing stopped her in her tracks, though, her natural olfactory senses far more keen than Aseyu's own, taking in the unique smell as it diffused around the room, piquing her curiosity. What might have been subtle notes to a human stood out sharply to her. "What is that?"
Ultra, Hub Town, Hotel, near reception
Ultra didn't do much else but continue to watch as things played out and, eventually, the gathered group began to thin out, each involved party going their separate ways without further incident. She felt like she could breathe again—and she didn't even need to breathe.
Her eyes then fell on Joseph again, expression about as unreadably impassive as it ever was, though her tone was patient as she finally spoke up. "I'm assuming you wanted to talk to me about something?"
Toni, Hub Town, Nattlås Dim Diner, a dimly-lit corner table
Toni likewise went about enjoying her meal, internally adjusting her taste sensors to give her an experience roughly equivalent to what her traveling companions must have been having... though not without examining certain ingredients and flavor notes, providing her with insight they didn't have. She could pinpoint exactly what kind of fertilizer the cabbage and the vegetables and the mushrooms had been fed with, the composition of the soil, the mineral content of the groundwater, even the quality of the olive oil... and therein lay that same odd sort of incongruity that had come to characterize the rest this world—none of the individual ingredients came from the same place. The lentils were indigenous to a ρ-branch Earth, as was the cabbage, but the mushrooms weren't, and what seemed at first to be lemons used in the sima weren't either, being instead a similar citrus-y fruit from someplace she couldn't identify.
Back to the topic at hand, there was mention of 'chrome', one common term for cybernetic augments in a lot of worlds. The possibility didn't seem to enter into Sigmund's mind quite yet that Toni was a wholly artificial being despite what she felt to be some fairly obvious hints, and Valten didn't remark on the matter either way, both of which suited the giraffid just fine—she'd rather they never know what she really was, certainly not if they didn't need to, so she wasn't in any hurry to spell it out. Maybe her eating had misdirected them?
"I've had a bit of work done, yeah." was her only reply to that.
Of particular note was the notion of the anomalous fog possibly interfering with her sensors, maybe even her essential functions. She hadn't considered that wrinkle, but the properties of this place in general already had an effect on her method of travel, to the extent she wasn't sure she could even fully trust it in an emergency. She didn't like that feeling, but these were things she'd just have to deal with when they came up.
She also took a moment to consider Connie's last remark. She could answer one way or the other, but she wanted to see where this line of questioning was going. "Why? Let's... say I don't." she instead ventured after swallowing a bite of food.
Edited by Chortleous on Apr 25th 2024 at 11:41:33 AM