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
[castle boreas east parlor]
Oh. He was about to suggest institutionalization, but they had apparently gone the 'barbaric intelligence-gathering' route. Vince had his own reservations about that, as well as just how sociopathy as a result of trauma could be a conscious decision, but that was all beside the point.
"Oh, no, you don't need to do that," he said, genuinely surprised. "You've already told me more than I care to know. I have no desire to seek restitution for a three hundred-year-old slight, if that was unclear." His eyes thinned again, though the concern in his voice was still the same, still genuine. "I understand the need to use everything at your disposal to protect the state. I understand possibly using these abilities to keep oneself safe. I'm not concerned about any of that. What I am concerned about is pointless harm. Harming people who have thus far proven themselves to be threats to no one- not himself, not the state, not a subject or subjects. And every time he pointlessly harms someone, he does everyone a disservice. He makes enemies, plain and simple, and you brush this off like it's nothing."
You can interrupt him anytime you want, by the way.
[castle boreas balcony]
Oh, yeah, she said, giving him a playful punch on the arm. This time, Henri blushed, for real, and he smiled his ineffectual sheepish smile again, and he looked away to take one last drag of his cigarette as he went back over every word he'd said in case he let his guard down too much, which was certainly very bad because this magic of hers was nothing like anything he had ever seen.
A small laugh. "That's another reason I respect him- he let me choose to do something other than clean. I was initially put on his payroll as his and his wife's personal tailor, because his shape is really weird and most off-the-rack shirts are either too short or fit him like a tent, and his wife likes her dresses a certain way. My wife Regina came on as someone who actually makes suits, because he wants all of his live-in employees to have double-breasted suits as their public uniform."
He deposited the butt into the ashtray, watching it spring to life as the tray rotated and pushed the mess out of sight. "Word about our services got around, and we turned it into our own custom clothing business- Regina handles the suits and such, and I work on the dresses and casual wear. We run it out of a room of the castle and pay him rent. We have an interdimensional door much like the one connected to the hover-yacht outside that's connected to a storefront back in town, so most of our work comes from outside as it is.
"I mean, it's perfect. Good, quiet work. We still make everything by hand, by ourselves, and obviously, we hope we can do it as long as we can. But to be honest, there just isn't that much for me, Regina, and the two hundred-and-something others in the staff to do for just the castle, ever since he moved the place off-world. Even though we're pretty sure Acquati's not going anywhere for quite some time, our consumer base inevitably will, and we'll have to find some other place to set up shop and study the fashions."
edited 16th Aug '14 9:01:29 AM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
[Hotel (Lobby)-Elevator]
May as well. Nathan thought, shrugging.
"Ah, what the hell. Have to check on dad anyway." He as he stood next to Howell, "I'm not in any hurry." He stretched his arms, "How's your morning so far?"
Argh, this is so short. Sorry sorry.
edited 16th Aug '14 7:05:23 AM by Masterofchaos
[Pax Island ~ Hotel (Elevator)]
"Well, that's going up too." Howell answered as he pressed the button for the third floor, then crossed his arms and leaned against the (relatively-speaking) far wall of the elevator. He said nothing else while the doors closed, but a few seconds after the elevator started moving, he turned his eyes towards Nathan and asked, perhaps a little reluctantly,
"Nathan... do you worry about your family often?"
the color today
[Elevator]
Nathan blinked and looked at Howell.
"Of course!" he said, "That's my family. I worry about all of them. Especially Adam...I worry about him the most. He's my baby brother after all." He frowned, "I'm trying to be a little more accepting to what he does, but I still worry." He gave a light chuckle, "But that's what older siblings do, you know?"
He then smiled. "Why'd ya ask? Something on your mind?"
[Pax Island ~ Hotel (Elevator)]
"Fourteen isn't exactly what I'd call a baby." Howell murmured, glancing away to stare thoughtfully at the closed doors of the elevator. "Do you ever worry..." he paused, rethinking his words, "do you ever feel as though you're completely powerless to stop something from happening to them?" his sharp eyes hovered on Nathan for a few seconds, before dropping downward, to the floor and his shoes, and his legs, and drooping tail.
"What do you do?"
the color today
Drummer Boy
[Castle Boreas East Parlor]
Seilaan blinked. A three-hundred-year-old slight? What is he, a time traveler? Never mind, it'd probably be complicated. Am I really that jaded by Taiyin's bullshit? How do I get out of this? I don't think they'll take that as an excuse....
"I'm sorry." She looked away and sank a little lower in her seat. "He—he can't help reading people's thoughts. It's literally impossible to shut them out. But what he chooses to do with those thoughts—"
That was a start, right? But what else can I say? If I even get close to revealing his secret, I'm doomed.
Her hands clutched her forearms as her throat tightened.
Should I just cut it off right here? Wouldn't that seem very suspicious? What are the chances these people will even run into my parents again? But I'll probably have to negotiate with him again anyway. Wait... I think I remember now. Balto saw it, didn't he? Then my parents already know. Why wasn't I told how serious this really was? They said that Taiyin simply annoyed a few visitors. It didn't seem like anything catastrophic. Taiyin is supposed to be my responsibility, so I'd—his secret was out. He had nothing to lose. So he betrayed me. Of course. My parents must think they're doing me a favor by not saying anything. So that's it. I'm—I'm finished.
She seemed to have completely forgotten that she had a sentence to finish, and was staring at a fixed point in space slightly to the left.
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
[castle boreas east parlor]
Obviously, he struck a nerve. The fact that he could read minds wasn't the problem; it wasn't Vince's place to bitch about what someone did with their life as long as they refrained from bothering anybody and successfully kept it to themselves. He knew there was no point to it.
But then she cut herself off, clutched herself, looked away in thought, froze. Lily pressed her lips together and thinned her eyes, her pre-smirk-of-triumph routine, before Vince set his hand on her wrist, giving her little more than a disapproving look as she reluctantly settled and took a sip of tea.
One of two things was happening, he felt- she either saw the error of their ways, or she froze for some reason thus far unrevealed. Or both. If she was hiding something, he could deal with it. He lowered his voice, no longer the questioning father. "Do you see? I want you to prosper. I want you to see these problems before they spiral out of control."
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Drummer Boy
[Castle Boreas East Parlor]
I do see them.
Seilaan's grip on her forearms tightened.
I've known longer than anyone. But what the hell do I say?
"It's fine. There's nothing I can do anymore. Further discussion is pointless."
Nice, deep breath, now.
She stopped clutching her arms. Her left hand absentmindedly twisted her gold signet ring around her right ring finger. I still have this. But has it lost its meaning? No, it never had much to begin with. I was, and still am, the only option.
edited 18th Aug '14 1:21:42 AM by SnowyFoxes
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
[castle boreas east parlor]
Nothing she could do anymore? About her brother, he presumed? He nodded. "Alright." Nice and awkward. For Seilaan more like, as Lily looked away from her to try and lessen the feeling, any hint of hostility having evaporated.
"Is there anything else you need, or that we can help you with? Anything at all. Please, don't hesitate." And he could almost hear her lying, yet again, saying that she was fine, perfectly fine, despite that his words had rendered her speechless, and that they were definitely no longer ambassadors.
edited 18th Aug '14 2:28:56 PM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
[Elevator]
Nathan frowned. "Howell, that's...."
He twisted his lip. He realized what Howell was hinting at, and shook his head. Dad really needs to hear this. Maybe he'll FINALLY understand what he did...
"Listen," he said, "Jackson already told me that you're worried sick about Iris; that's why he asked me and dad to help you find her." he glanced away, "We should be getting closer to dad. You should try to talk to him. Perhaps try to to get him to understand how you're feeling."
[Observatory]
Andre tilted his head, hearing some unheard calling. "Blast," he muttered. "We've got ourselves an angel problem back on my end. Wretched creatures." He then vanished in a puff of black... only to reappear a few moments later. "Oh, you'll be wanting a way out of this, won't you?" He snapped his fingers, and a portal rimmed in the same blackness appeared. It would lead where it needed to lead. "There ya go," he said. "Don't ask how it works, but it's safe."
Aseyu nodded and said, "er, thanks. But before I go... a pen and paper?"
Andre shrugged and, after vanishing for a few moments, delivered them. Aseyu wrote something down. "Hand this to a lizard-y looking fellow, will you? He should still be nearby. Anyways," she headed through the portal, "I've got to see Irilemi about this Andre fellow. Something about him..."
[Pax Island ~ Jungle (Path to Town)]
A voice emerged from the puff of black smoke that appeared before Saya and Joseph. "And you look like you match!" With a cheery smile and a nod, Andre handed Joseph the letter. "Sorry I can't stay, but there's some trouble I've gotta deal with." And he was gone.
The letter read: A pleasure meeting you, Joseph. I'm very sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye personally, but my boss is expecting me and I'm already late. I hope this will do. May we meet again, I greatly enjoyed our time together. —Aseyu ul'Valmoth vash'Suela
[castle boreas staff commons]
After listening and thinking for a while, Beth realized she didn't really have anything to add. Art was something for the wealthy, in her experience. Then she sighed as she heard the familiar sound of Andre's appearance from thin air. "Must you always enter like that," she asked.
"Why wouldn't I?" Andre replied. "It's one of the few perks of this job. Anyways, we've got a bit of a mess. Angels been sniffing around the portal, and, well, you know the rest."
Beth shuddered at the mention of angels, but shook her head, stood and gave a polite curtsey. "Shame," she said, "but I've gotta get moving, then. Wouldn't want those bastards trapping me here. Sorry I can't give you the proper goodbyes you deserve, but it really was a pleasure meeting you all. I'll be sure to have a talk with Iamatelle, by the way. I'm telling you, she really wasn't herself; she'll be more pleasant next time, you have my word." With that, she took Andre's hand, and said, "well, shall we?"
"Of course, m'lady," Andre said with a bow. And, after perhaps waiting a bit for the others to bid farewell, they were gone.
edited 18th Aug '14 7:03:57 PM by KillerClowns
[castle boreas staff commons] This was moved up from an earlier post for visibility's sake
Suddenly, Iris perked up, leaning forward in her seat.
"This is the state's doing?"
While it was also commendable that he was trying to change his world in his own way- there was no doubt in her mind that if she were an artist, she'd be doing the same -it was obvious that he would need some help taking them down the rest of the way...
That was when that man who escorted Iamatelle reappeared in smoke and lightning. Iris did not flinch, merely tightening her lips in annoyance. Thank the gods Laz couldn't see what he did; he'd start trying to do it in a heartbeat.
"Likewise, Beth. I do hope we see each other again, your queen included."
[observatory > out]
So he can do something useful. Adrian stepped through the portal after Aseyu dashed through, without giving Andre even a glance. His head spun a bit, a common symptom of portal travel unbeknownst to him, but kept walking, trying to focus on the ever-approaching doorknob that rose conspicuously out of the darkness.
At long last, he turned it, the change in light blinding him as he pushed on the knob, but not enough to keep him from noticing that he was no longer on the island. He was, in fact, back 'home', back at the fucking Oriental-house provided by Akamura with ceilings so short he had to hunch his shoulders.
...Fuck it.
edited 18th Aug '14 5:48:59 PM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Drummer Boy
[Castle Boreas East Parlor]
Seilaan shook her head and picked up her coffee again. A gulp of the hot liquid steadied her nerves a bit. "What would really help is if we stopped talking about this. I'm so sorry. Sometimes I get a bit lost in thought."
What an understatement.
"D-do me a favor and don't mention it to Wilhelm."
[Staff Commons]
Aaaaand Beth was gone. Oh well.
"The government's definitely got a hand in it, yeah. But it's our fault, too." Wilhelm was doing chord progressions without pressing down on the keys. "We have limitations. Implied limitations, mostly, since music is such a, well, nebulous thing. But if we dared to be a little more clever... I dunno. It's not like they'll arrest you or make a big show of it. They just make sure your career keeps going downhill. We rely a lot on patronage, you see. Like I needed any extra help scaring them away. Then again, can't say I was really looking forward to making a living out of kissing rich people's asses. Ignorant shits. I wish I were clever enough to run circles around them. It'd be fun."
He tilted his head at Iris. "That reminds me. I still want your definition of talent."
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
[castle boreas staff commons]
Iris blinked. Shouldn't it have been obvious to him? Yes, she mentioned the possibility of his skill being perverted for someone else's motives; the war-anthems Beth mentioned were exactly what she thought of. Perhaps he'd forgotten. Oh, well.
She looked up from examining her nails. "Skill great enough to be preyed upon and abused. I see it as both a compliment and a warning, but in hindsight, I suppose you know that already. I'm curious, how does that tie into martyrdom?"
[castle boreas east parlor]
Vince nodded, once and deeply in acceptance of her apology. "Understood," he said, when she requested that they not tell Wilhelm. And she looked away. Lily watched at her, the blue of aggression in her eyes having drained away, her eyes wide and bright with some mix of concern and curiosity as she studied Seilaan. The once-proud young woman was now a small girl, her eyes fixed on the steaming, heady abyss inside her cup behind dark bangs.
His smile was gentle. Time for a real vacation. "You're a physicist, yes?"
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Drummer Boy
[Castle Boreas Staff Commons]
"Oh, you didn't say anything about it being natural or having to be born with it or anything. That's refreshing. Really." With his right hand still making chords, Wilhelm held his left hand to his face and studied it carefully. The more effort he put into trying to keep it still, the more it quivered. "Unless you're assuming I already knew that it's natural. I—okay, maybe it's right, because prodigies exist and stuff. But I think, in my case at the very least, I want to insist that it's not part of my programming. I'm sure you've seen this before. Maybe in a book or something. They like to have a character who's not quite right in the head, like maybe they're a deafmute or a cripple or just weird somehow but they're really good at something. Better that anyone. Because even though they're considered fucked up they just got so much talent. It just clicked for them one day when they were like three years old. You know what I'm talking about, right?"
He forcefully produced a diminished triad on the piano. "Because fuck that shit."
[East Parlor]
"Yes, I often study it in my free time." Oh good, a topic she couldn't possibly have a mental breakdown over. Seilaan seemed to be getting herself together now. "Any competent mage ought to understand the basics of physics, but I take pleasure in examining the finer details. And the math is so elegant. I concentrate on runeology, but these days I'm mostly looking into how souls work."
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
[Pax Island ~ Jungle (Path to Town)]
"Ack!"
Joe, who had been trying to spot the source of a particularly interesting bird call, and was generally minding his own business, recoiled in surprise, giving a small "bird call" of his own. He might even have gone so far as to step on his own tail again, had he not already done so a short while earlier. Instead, he managed to step back quickly, but carefully enough to maintain balance, then stared wide-eyed at the completely unexpected appearance and—after handing Joe a small letter—disappearance of a man who he had never seen before.
A second or two later, left alone with no one but Saya to send his concerns to regarding what had just happened, and with a letter gripped between his hands, Joseph turned his head downward and looked it over.
"Oh." he said, sounding both surprised and a little confused. "Well. That's that I guess." He looked over the words once more, then held up the paper and shook it, turning his head towards Saya. "It's from her. I mean, one of the people who went down into that hole back at the library. Apparently she had to leave, just like that." Joe ground his claws together in a quickly-abandoned attempt to snap his fingers. "Good to know she's all right. Heck, I didn't know she had a personal messenger ready set to pop out of thin air like that. I guess I was worried about nothing..." He turned the letter over, scouring it for any additional writing hidden away somewhere. "I guess the other guy is all right too, otherwise she would've said something. Hope she found her robe."
[Pax Island ~ Hotel (Elevator —> 3rd Floor)]
Howell's eye moved between Nathan and the elevator door several times before he spoke.
"I'm not just talking about Iris." he said, "I'm sure that we'll find her and I... I feel terrible for putting her in the position she's in, but on the whole, she's pretty stable." he glanced at Nathan again as the elevator doors opened once more. "Never mind. I shouldn't be asking you these kinds of questions." with that, he stuffed his hands into his pockets, and stepped out into the hallway, walking back towards his room.
the color today
[castle boreas east parlor]
"Ooh, souls." He settled into the couch and sighed with an almost wistful smile as he picked up his cooled cup and began to reheat it, a few ripples appearing in the liquid before the steam gently reappeared. "That really brings me back... before we even acquired the castle, even."
"The mice experiments." Lily sat up as she broke into a girlish smile, holding the mostly empty tea thermos by its top. "I kind of miss having lab mice, they were so cute."
Vince sipped his now-heated coffee, the temperature just perfect and heavenly as always, and turned back to Seilaan. "Back in those days, we used them to test pretty much every soul-related hypothesis we could find. Even got to see that the law of conservation of magoenergy applies to souls when one died in the observation box. Fun times!" He half-smiled, a bit more lively.
[castle boreas staff commons] Nitpick: not sure if Wilhelm would be using the word 'programming' in that sense
She watched him as he spoke, with slowly increasing incredulity. Not at his feelings or reaction, mind, although that also raised some questions, but at the concept that he spoke of, this connotation gained by such a simple word. The notion that skill could be colored by some sort of artificial construct like social class or simply odd-yet-harmless behavior, ergo, nothing sensible or utilitarian, still never ceased to feel alien.
"You simply want to be a normal man," Iris said, almost noncommittal. "This... character type. I've seen it, I know what it entails; if anything, I saw it most often applied to my people in the country where Acquati used to work." The distaste made her voice go bitter. "The manner with which it treats skill has never made sense to me. 'Skill despite some unrelated factor that we call a disadvantage'?" She let out a scoffing, monosyllabic laugh. "I see no reason to care as long as they put their skills to work."
edited 20th Aug '14 6:41:06 AM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Drummer Boy
[Staff Commons]
Wilhelm shook his head. "Nah. Never mind. I should have known I wasn't ready to say it right. But, uhm, thanks for letting me use the piano. It's really—I needed it. Calms me down a lot. I just wish they were portable."
He gave her a weary smile. "And thanks for somehow not letting me drive you crazy. I know I can be a bit much."
[East Parlor]
"Oh, those poor mice." Seilaan didn't actually look very sorry. "They'd be more convenient for me, but I'm afraid that my current projects require people as test subjects. One mage and a non-mage. When I was ten, I fused my soul with Wilhelm's so he could use magic. Which was rather irresponsible of me, but what's done is done. Recently we've been alerted to a nasty side-effect, but we're not sure exactly what would trigger this side-effect. We already know which mage to use, so we're looking for a non-mage to replicate what I did nine years ago. Preferably a heinous criminal like our mage, so we don't have to feel bad if disaster strikes."
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
[Elevator-3rd Floor]
"I'll wait for you outside." Nathan said, following him, "If there's anything you need, just tell me. I'm not gonna go anywhere...at least for a while." He glanced away, "Take your time."
So so so sorry that this is short. x_x
[staff commons]
Iris shook her head slightly. "You're more pleasant and articulate than you give yourself credit for. By my point of view, I suppose." She finally conceded and folded her legs as she sat in the chair. In effect, he somewhat reminded her of a young, easily flustered Acquati in a more restrictive environment, a young person with powerful, budding ideas. In some societies, the most influential sort of all.
"I would not call myself partial to giving platitudes to the self-deprecating, but it seems that we're both familiar with being told that we allegedly possess irritating characters."
[east parlor]
Well, if she didn't actually feel sorry about the mice, why fake it? They all knew the truth, they're just lab materials. Fuzzy, cute-as-hell lab materials.
"One thing that we've wanted to try for a while is making our own." Lily tapped her closed fan on her chin. "Our own test subjects, I mean," she said, looking at her husband expectantly as she spoke, who only smiled weakly.
Their eyes met. "Lily, you know how far down the road that is-"
"I know, I know," she cut him off, her smile bright and earnest. "Can't a girl dream?"
He paused, giving her little more than an embarrassed-sounding sigh before he turned back to Seilaan. "I should clarify- we don't mean producing subjects the 'traditional' way. It's cost-prohibitive. As you've probably noticed throughout your visit, I have telekinetic abilities which, as it turns out, can also function on the subatomic level, which is how I was quite literally able to build this facsimile of our actual home from scratch. In addition, I've found that I can also work with magoenergy, which comprises the souls of our world, so we thought, hm, maybe I could create life." A smile. "Of course, making a soul is far more complex than anything I've done yet."
"...Yet." Just a hint of complacency. Her smile softened in thought for a moment. "I wonder if a ghost would work."
Vince half-frowned in thought. "Good question."
edited 22nd Aug '14 6:34:53 AM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
No idea how this extra post happened. Uh, ignore.
edited 21st Aug '14 8:33:01 PM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
[Pax Island ~ Hotel (Lobby —> Elevator)]
Howell twirled around to face Nathan in mid-step, almost in a full pirouette. He continued to walk backwards into an open elevator, blinking at Nathan as though he hadn't expected him to take any notice of Howell's reappearance.
"Yes." he answered, "The others are still outside, and I'm just here to get the rest of my things from upstairs. I don't want to be bogged down with not having them. Besides that, I should be hiding myself from the sun or else my arms and legs might fall off. Going up?" He gave Nathan an expectant stare, his hand hovering over the button panel.
the color today