Character Frontier

(The Washington)

Treasure? Anne's ears perked up at hearing the word in a conversation. Treasure often meant magical artifacts, and given her odd situation, she was always in the market for more of those.

"Excuse me, but did I hear something about treasure hunting? I've got several powers that could be of use, and I can afford to outfit myself. All I ask is a share of whatever magic items we may come across."

Her cat gave Anne a dirty look. "Why do you have to stick your nose in everywhere?"

"Lucky, if you give me any more sass, I'll hex you with the worst case of fleas you've ever had. Don't need runes for that."

Forward, boys! For God's sake, forward!

General Store

Saya took the man's response to mean that he probably wanted to know a little more. "While it's been with me my whole life, I actually don't know much about it. The best guess anyone's been able to come up with is that it's some kind of guardian spirit."

Now that they'd been talking for longer than a couple seconds, she found herself wondering a little about him as well. He really did look strange for a human; if nothing else, those markings around his eye had to have some kind of interesting story behind them. Then again, there really wasn't a guarantee they'd be speaking for much longer, and that they'd ever meet again after this.

The song had since shifted back to its usual state, and once again Saya was unable to hear it. Now that it had told her what it wanted to tell her, there was nothing more it had to say for now.

Icon by Civvi the Civilian!

[The Washington]

Without her prompting, one of the saloon's wait staff approached Hana Matoi's table carrying a glass of beer. She leaned forward and set it down in front of Hana, which gave her a quick view of the tip of a ten dollar bill poking out of the top of the waitresses' front pocket, and said, "Compliments of the gentleman sitting over at that table over there." The young woman gave a quick nod in the direction of a table at the far corner of the saloon, at which was seated a single figure. The server shuffled off, not seeming particularly eager to play the role of messenger, and the man at the table beckoned to Hana with a gloved hand.

The man cut an odd image. He wore a dust-colored full-body suit overlaid by an eclectic assortment of rigid and semi-rigid armor pieces. Salvaged composite plates adorned his chest and upper arms in different colors- white, tan and olive green- marked by battle damage and idiosyncratic symbols, and his forearms were wrapped in a weave of fabric strips that wound from his hands up to his elbows. His face was invisible, his entire head shrouded by a hood that fell behind him in a short cloak. All in all, there wasn’t a single patch of exposed skin on him.

Patient, he waited quietly. Though his head was lost in the shadow of his hood, by the inclination of his head he was clearly observing Hana from across the room to see how she would react.

edited 19th Aug '15 10:14:23 PM by Gault

yey

[The Tipsy Toad]

Samuel gave a nod of acknowledgement. "Same to you. Though I won't say well. I'd say lost and in need of food." He noticed that the group themselves were of varied background, or not of the clothing the locals wore. If they aren't from here, how did they get here?

Samuel took out one of the waters bottles he bought and drank from it. "Treasure hunters, at least in my country, look for things that may or may not even exist. Not the best job security, I'll say." He eyed the girl's sword. It looked pretty real. Though it didn't change his thoughts on the matter. Perhaps she's drinking for a reason, the man thought. He confirmed his suspicion with the comment about her brother. He didn't press it.

"By the way, where do you all come from? I said earlier I'm a bit lost here." He shrugged. "In fact, I don't know where I am, other than this is a er... Borderworld."

Life is hard, that's why no one survives.

[The Washington >>> Main Street]

"Fantastic!" Said Hoshi, following Brin towards the door. "I wanted to do some shopping anyway! Are we gonna meet up somewhere after we're done?"

As she headed for the door, someone else spoke up. She was about to ignore them, but then their cat spoke. "Is that a talking cat?!" Said Hoshi, wide-eyed and curious. "Oh, if you're looking to join, that's the woman to talk to." She said, pointing in Brin's general direction. She crouched down to get a better look at the cat. "Hey, cat!" She said. "What else can you do?"

Miyuki walked right past the both of them and waited just outside.

---

[The Washington]

The waitress came with quite curious interruption. "Beer." Muttered Hana, still holding her glass of wine. "A plebeian's drink." She sighed. "But nevertheless, a gift."

Maya grabbed the drink and gently set it aside.

Hana looked over at the drink's sender, taking a moment to get a good look at him, briefly raising an eyebrow, then turned to one of her companions. "Rin, dear," She said. "Go and see what our new friend wants. If you like him, invite him over."

The turquoise-haired girl nodded and got up. She tucked her chair in and marched right over to the stranger's table. "Good day, sir." She said, rather formally. "Commander Matoi sends her thanks for your generous gift." Rin took moment to bow politely. "If I may ask, sir; what are your intentions?"

Not entirely dead.

[The Washington —> Main Street]

Brin frowned when Anne mentioned she wanted to join. She intercepted her and said, "we're running a bit heavy as it is." She was, in fact, about to refuse her, but hesitated. "You're the last ones," she finally said. And only because I've got a soft spot for cats. Then she continued, "there's going to be slim pickings though. And we're heading to a valley nobody's entered and lived. Suela's only going because she is convinced she knows something the other guys didn't, and I'm only going because it's my best way home... and if I don't get back, I might as well be dead anyways."

Then she turned to the ones who'd followed her out. She divided up the paper money Suela had given her into two equal piles. "Miyuki, Hoshi," one pile, "take care of food. Military rations, quantity over quality, if you want better it's on your own coin... and your own back. Azuhl," the other pile, "get us some tents. Eleven of us, remember. I'll be getting us a beast of burden: Suela has a... some sort of warm climate camel-yak we can stick most of the stuff on," — a camel, in other words — "but I don't want to break the poor beast's back. New girl: what's your name, and what you can do to keep us alive?"

[Main Street]

Azuhl took the money Brin handed him, mentally examined the difference between this paper money and the septims he carried in his pocket, and made way for the general store. Taking only a brief look around for what was important, he picked up and paid for ten tents for his companions, and one hammock for himself.

Folding the hammock and fixing it to be just under the satchel on his back, he carried the ten tents under his shield-less right arm, keeping them in place while he awkwardly walked, much closer to waddling, to a place where he could wait for the others. Deciding that just outside the Washington was a good waiting spot, he rested the tents and leaned his back to the building. He whistled a tune as he waited.

Note to self: Pick less edgy username next time.

[The Washington]

Lia watched Brin's group to leave; indeed, those two (Suela and Brin) has attracted quite a number of curious individuals; perhaps a bit too many. She gave her flaxen hair a slight brush of her hands as she looked at Krul, "Aren't you coming with them?" she asked. The way Lia saw it, Krul seemed like he would get along well with Brin.

"To leave you alone here will be my greatest mistake." Krul said, "With supplies taken care of, I suppose we can can depart as we are right now." he added.

Lia nodded, before going back to Cyrus' question, "I am turning nineteen this year. A rather young age to be setting out in a journey like I do, but there are all sorts of circumstances." she let out a slightly empty laugh, "As for my way of learning magic, I was taught all sorts of theories before my journey began, but I didn't get much of that, so a lot of things are essentially self-taught." she said, "Well, to begin with it was a rather unusual sort of magic. and I can't really use it for fancy things right now."

[Main Street]

Cyrus, Brin is splitting them up. Miyuki and Hoshi are going to take care of food, Azuhl's getting tents, and Brin's going to find a pack animal. Don't know about the cat girl yet. Who should I follow?

Well, you definitely shouldn't go with Brin, you'll frighten every animal that—

Maybe that's why I should go with her, so she picks the only animal that doesn't try to run from me. Suela already has a "warm-climate camel-yak" somewhere and I'm willing to bet that thing has no idea what a wolf is. Or how much I'd like to eat it.

Don't even think about it. Just—maybe you could scout ahead of us so you don't have to be close to the animals all the time? Anyway, I don't quite trust any of these people yet, so I'd say... check on everyone periodically. You should be able to track their scents well enough. And if they move too far for you to find them... I'll let Suela know. I don't think she'd like it if her "allies" went off to do something on their own. Unless Brin assigns you to someone, go off on your own for a minute and then cycle through everyone. Try to stay out of sight sometimes and listen in on conversations, too.

---

[The Washington]

"Oh, we're almost the same age! I'm turning twenty next spring. So what do you mean by 'unusual' and 'fancy things,' exactly?" Cyrus was struggling to pay attention to Lia while having an intense mental conversation with Kito. However, he did notice and was slightly worried by the hollow laugh. "I had a lot of really good magic, physics, and chemistry tutors when I was younger, but the engineering was all self-taught, just me taking things apart and putting them back together and somehow making them a little more deadly than before, heh. And then my parents stopped paying for tutors and I—I did more things on my own. It's a wonder I've been able to progress this far without proper guidance or encouragement, to be honest." He laughed nervously. I've... probably said to much. Damn it, I always ramble when I'm nervous...

edited 19th Aug '15 10:47:11 PM by SnowyFoxes

The last battle's curtains will open on stage!

[The Washington]

A quiet sigh, rendered partly as the hiss of static, escaped from under the man's hood. Evidently, he didn't relish being given the run-around. Reluctantly, he straightened in his seat, fixed Rin with an eyeless stare and said, "Right now? A friendly conversation. What I intend after depends on how friendly." The stranger's voice was soft and even, the voice of a young man. It was also slightly tinny, having clearly been processed through a digital speaker system.

edited 19th Aug '15 10:59:31 PM by Gault

yey

[general store]

"Perhaps they're right." He shrugged faintly, trying not to seem too dour. "Quite a place to be alone. These..." What word? Acquati's 'settings' didn't make sense. "...intersections. World tears." Tsadro glanced up and down a nearby shelf for a moment. "Nobody knows what could come."

He thought he saw something a little reflective, but the lighting in the store was so dim he wouldn't be able to use it to check eyeliner anyway. At least his servant marks were attracting more attention.

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."

[Main Street] -> [Across the General Store]

With a sour-tasting candy on his tongue, Alba was walking down the various store-fronts, which has became livelier with time. The sound of the wind was unending against his ears, "A sandstorm? Hopefully not." he thought. His words, of course, had no effect on the wind. Silently going through the open street with the aid of his walking stick, Alba took care to stay near the shadows of the stores, where the wind is weakest. Strong winds. He recalled the image of a devastating tornado born from the whispers of a butterfly, wrecking the marching army of the Embrorean Empire at the Amber Valley. He was an alchemist then, part of a convoy situated atop the hill, overlooking the power of the world as it ripped apart spear and shield, trees and knights alike.

He bit on the candy and let the strong, slightly acidic flavor wash away the resurfacing memories. Suddenly he felt tired, and rested his back on the front walls of a store. "I'm getting old. The map is not going to fill itself." he lightly mocked himself. It was then he heard an odd song under the winds' bellows.

'Heard' was not correct, it played in his head, dim in volume, making the source impossible to spatially locate. Those properties reminded him of one thing only, "Songspell? Is that Lia? Was she not disconnected from this alien world?" Alba righted his stance. His eyes darted about, trying to find the source of the sound, to no avail. Soon the song disappeared. Right now, he appeared like an confused old man.

[The Washington]

"That's amazing, Cyrus." Lia said, her eyes are bright with admiration, "People who can make their own way are the amazing ones." she said. "Even though I've went on a journey, I kept causing trouble left and right. Without guidance, I would've lost my way long ago." She subtly shot Krul a thankful look.

"You were a bit sheltered is all." Krul said. He was looking elsewhere, or more precisely, he was not looking at Lia, trying his best to maintain a neutral response.

"Fancy things I can do... I suppose making a really bright light counts?" Lia said, to which Krul made a loud coughing sound very unlike him. Lia continued nervously, "A-anyway, I communicate with the land, and became a conduit through which Aur, the world's power, flows. The magic I manifest through songs or through regular spellcasting, although I'm really bad at the latter." she said.

The Tipsy Toad

Lost, thought Wolfe, I suspected as much. "Sorry to hear of your plight. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with this place myself. My colleagues - Teri, Kris, Peggy, James and Karl - and I have only recently arrived and all we were told was that this was, as you say, some sort of Borderworld. I've taken to calling the place 'Bugadivyno' so I've at least got an answer for 'where are we?' I'm generally called Wolfe, by the way."

Teri looked up. "If you don't mind me asking, guv, how'd ya get here? We used a dimension gate to get to this world."

[The Tipsy Toad]

He liked how the group had a mix of names. Though he did wonder how they were related. "Pleased to meet you all. It's Samuel."

He raised an eyebrow. "Dimension gate? Well, uh..." When he began to think about it, the more confused he got. "I'm not sure how. I was basically shot out of the sky. I mean, I was in an aircraft. So I went to search for help. My country is pretty arid, so I thought I was still there." He chuckled, in spite of his own state. "I suppose strange things have been happening as of late. Ever since these magic people came out of the woodwork. In fact, I think one of them gone and did it to us." He took another drink of the water.

Life is hard, that's why no one survives.

(The Washington-> Main Street)

"I'm Anne, and this is my familiar, Lucky. I'm a ghost, which comes with several unique abilities. I can walk through objects, though iron and silver hurt like the blazes, and I can bring inanimate objects to life by possessing them. If that's not enough, I don't need to sleep, so I can stand watch without a break, and I have strong skills in runic magic and incantations."

She took a breath. "As you can see, I can offer you several helpful talents and powers. Still need certain things, like food, but I think I'm valuable enough to have on the expedition."

Forward, boys! For God's sake, forward!

Tipsy Toad

Chloe looked up at Kris, surprised she heard what she had muttered. "Sort of. My brother ran away from home a long time ago without a word and I haven't seen him since. I have no idea where he is and in this vast place he could be anywhere. But I'm hoping that on my treasure hunting excursions that I'll run into him. I just...I just want to know why he decided to disappear." she explained, staring into her shot glass half full of tequila sunrise.

She was listening to the others talk about the areas they were from and couldn't believe there was something like dimension travel, though the magic sword she had found made her think maybe there was more to this place than she thought. She had come here from her home town which was far away by train thinking that because it was a popular place for explorers and such, that perhaps her brother was here.

edited 20th Aug '15 7:18:59 PM by Sphinxyness

"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"

[The Washington >>> Main Street >>> General Store]

"A ghost, huh." Muttered Hoshi, as she stood back up. "This is getting way weirder than I thought it would." Then she sighed and stepped outside to meet Miyuki and the others.

"We're getting the food." Miyuki informed her compatriot. "That means we're going to the General Store."

"Yes!" Said Hoshi, eagerly. "I was hoping we'd go there! And I think you know why." She grinned.

Miyuki rolled her eyes as they set off. "I'm not wearing any ridiculous costumes."

"Aw come on!" Pled Hoshi. "It'll be fun! And we'll blend in with the natives!"

"No." Was Miyuki's only reply.

"Well, we'll see about that." Said Hoshi, pouting a bit. "You'll change your mind when you see the things up close!"

The General Store was not far, so it wasn't long before they walked through the front door. After a brief look around, they split up, with Miyuki heading for the cashier and Hoshi dashing down one of the aisles.

Slapping Brin's cash down on the counter, Miyuki looked the cashier in the eyes and said "I want as much food as this will get me."

---

[The Washington]

Rin was quiet for a few moments, considering the man before her and what he had said. That last part could easily be construed as a threat, and letting an armoured and likely armed individual near the Commander would be highly irregular. And yet...

"A conversation, then." She said, after a lengthy silence. "But regardless of how 'friendly' it gets, your 'intentions' will remain benign, or else I may be forced to act. The Commander's safety is my only concern." She said. "One last thing, sir: What is your name?"

Not entirely dead.

General Store -> Main Street

"I think I'll be fine," Saya replied with a shrug of her own, "If nothing else, this place is a bit like my home anyway."

She raised an eyebrow at the mention of a 'intersection.' What did he mean by that?

However, her curiosity was cut short by the increased number of people that were starting to arrive; a reminder that she hadn't come in to buy anything just yet and was just getting in the way of everyone else without offering anything in return. She still needed to look into a way to earn some money.

So instead, she gave the man a brief farewell nod. "It was nice talking to you, but I think I should probably get going now."

At that she turned and headed back out, the song following her out. Like a normal sound it'd still be audible to those in the store for a while, but eventually it'd fade away as Saya got further and further away.

Icon by Civvi the Civilian!

The Tipsy Toad

James gave a short laugh. "I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you, sir. I do know the feeling. When I came to myse- when I came to in the middle of the woods on Terra Nova, I at first thought I was still in England. Then I thought that it must be Europe. It wasn't until later that we realised that we were on a different planet. In our case, at least, magic does not seem to be involved, our best guess is something called a 'stable wormhole'. That was nearly three years ago, now."

Kris looked at Teri. "I love it when he starts speaking all twenty-first century."

James gave her a good-natured grin.

Karl nodded at Samuel. It seemed to him that what James had said might be confusing. "We come originally from Earth and mysteriously wound up on Terra Nova but we came here intentionally."

Kris looked at Chloe. "I'm sorry to hear about your brother and I hope that you do find him; it's terrible not knowing if someone you care for is safe."

"What does your brother look like?" Teri asked.

edited 20th Aug '15 7:36:29 PM by Wolf1066

[Desert ~ Railroad] (the sleeper)

It only took a few steps—careful though they were—down the railroad tracks for his body to properly wake up. And with that wakefulness came the thrilling sensations of bruised, worn out muscles, stinging cuts, and the grimy wetness that clung to his body in the form of his thoroughly sullied clothes.

His journey had hardly begun, and already he felt as though he was on his last legs. He staggered forward, step by step.

How much further? How much further until he could even find a place to go? The tracks would take him somewhere, but only if he could last the walk to wherever that somewhere was. Was it miles away? A day's walk? A week's? He'd be picked to bones by then, and the desert would've gained a rather curious-looking skeleton. The thought almost made him smile, but the area around his mouth stung too fiercely to pull it off.

He looked back, staring at the tracks that ran in the opposite direction. He didn't even know which way forward was, did he? Was the train about to arrive, or had it departed not long ago? Which direction was he supposed to head? Too many uncertainties, too many unanswerable questions, both compounded by too little experience surviving in the great outdoors.

He sighed and looked downward, eyes fixing on the tie straight ahead. Maybe he could just sit on the tracks and wait for the next train. Maybe he could catch it if he was prepared. Or signal it. Flag it down. Act like he was terribly injured. That wouldn't be too difficult, what with him being terribly injured. Then he wouldn't have to move. He wouldn't have to walk. He could conserve his strength and enjoy the sounds of nature for a while. It sounded like a great idea. The best one he'd had all day. And with nothing better in sight, he-

Footsteps.

The sleeper's train of thought halted.

'Hey!'

The sleeper's train of thought derailed and smashed into the side of his cranium. He turned his head and looked.



The sleeper was a strange looking sort. Not a person in the 'human' sense, at least not by any outward appearances, except perhaps for the clothes he wore. Instead, he looked a whole lot like a large, man-sized lizard who had crawled up into some unfortunate soul's laundry, and had taken it as his own. He had a long face that seemed to blend almost seamlessly into his equally long neck. This face of his was decorated with a mouth and two small nostrils as part of a round lizardy snout, along with two tired eyes, each a watery blue. The skin on the top of his head—and on the large majority of his body—was black, but the tip of his chin running down his neck and to his belly was white, like the moon against the night sky. There were a few small cuts under his chin, mostly scabbed over, and signs of bruising around his neck, and fine sprinkles of mud and dirt just about everywhere else.

Below the neck, being held up by his rather small shoulders, the sleeper was wearing an old farmer's shirt, wet and also thoroughly caked in mud. The left sleeve of the shirt was mostly torn off, with only a few strips hanging together near the shoulder blade, around two vicious looking cuts. They looked like they'd been reopened recently. Lower down his arm there was more bruising, visible even against his already very dark skin. His hands, what could be seen of them, were much like human hands; four fingers and a thumb for each, only that the tips were all nails, or, more suitably, claws.

Lower than that, he was wearing a very dirty, torn up, and worn out pair of jeans. On top of everything else, they looked a bit too big for him. Moreover, his legs seemed a little shorter than a normal human's, at least in proportion to the size of the torso. Behind him, a large and rather long tail was hanging out from a hole torn into the back of his jeans. It nearly dragged behind him as he walked, though seemed fairly better off for wear than the rest of him. At the very end of his legs, nearly covered by the sagging and soaking wet overlap from his pants, he had on a ratty old pair of sneakers. They looked especially tarnished, with bits of rubber peeling off and the laces wholly unmanageable, not to mention the sloshing and squidging with every step he took.

Besides all of that, he looked just like any other person you'd pass on the street. ^* illustration◊

Hey, are you okay?

The sleeper waited, blinking slowly, until the man got closer before responding. The moment he opened his mouth, it occurred to him that he hadn't opened it at all since waking up, and for however long before then. He hadn't so much as moved his tongue, which had been stuck to the roof of his mouth for the past few minutes. As he finally did move these things, he noticed a very odd taste. Something earthy, but a little diluted.

Oh... shit, it's mud.

With a wince, he looked at the man and said, mostly lying, "Yeah, you?"

His voice was a little scratchy at first, though he cleared his throat almost immediately after. But he sounded young. Not 'child' young, but youthful nevertheless, with slight reservations, uncertainties, and an almost effortless attempt to sound laidback. He glanced around the area for a moment after, wondering why he hadn't seen the man before.

"Did you... jump off the train?"

edited 21st Aug '15 11:00:44 AM by Ryuhza

the color today

[MAIN STREET (EN ROUTE TO THE TIPSY TOAD)]

The man cautiously exited the store. Nothing seemed to be the trouble.

A distance away, he could see the elderly woman, standing guard it seemed, near the flatcar.

"Tana." The man called as he approached, "Why are you just standing in the middle of the road?"

"Why do you think?" Tana answered, with a smirk, nodding towards the vehicle on the flatcar.

Putting his hands on his hips, the man narrowed his eyes. "Am I that transparent?" He asked, getting a laugh out of Tana.

"Christopher," She began, "during the ride, you kept looking at it every ten seconds."

After looking around, she looked at Christopher again. "Anyway, let's get to askin' for help getting this off the train. Heard some passengers talkin' 'bout a saloon close by. Maybe we can ask for some help there."

Christopher shrugged as they began walking in the general direction of The Tipsy Toad. It was better than sitting around, doing nothing...

Sorry Truth, but you haven't even posted in the discussion thread for more than 48 hours. No offense, I'd just like to get a move on.

[The Washington]

The hooded figure nodded once. With deliberate slowness, he reached a hand under the table and brought a chunky handgun◊ up into view. It was a rather odd-looking sidearm, with a large frame and revolver-type cylinder despite not appearing to be a kinetic weapon.

He held it around the body as opposed to by the grip, and set it down on the table's surface, it's barrel pointed at himself. "Just so we know where we stand. That's the only weapon I have on me. As for my name..." He paused, seeming to think about this for a few moments, then said, "Your boss can call me Crowe."

yey

[general store > main street]

He could think of few Aitherionians who would agree to even set foot in one of these places. They're very Earthlike- there's too much iron laying around. Not only that, Acquati mentioned the possibility of entities with the power to call themselves actual deities. Perhaps such places were indeed far from the death-land that they often were to him. Odd that she presumed he was attempting to become her guardian... or assumed worse of him. Tsadro couldn't know for sure, but she left so quickly he couldn't give her a proper goodbye. Even her song faded into the crowd outside.

Although she was interesting, he still assaulted her the whole time with his smudged eyeliner. He opened the drawstring on one of the pouches on his belt and slipped a hand-sized sheet of near-frosted glass out. It was a mirror by the time he held it up to look, and he ducked into an empty aisle. A moment later, Tsadro stepped out, satisfied with the state of his eye protection. He deftly flipped the cap of his veil back onto his head and left the store altogether, slipping out behind the shopkeep's gregarious greeting display.

edited 20th Aug '15 11:59:24 PM by CrystalGlacia

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."

[Desert]

When John got a good look at the stranger's face, he froze. All of his train of thought vanished, and all he could so was stare at whatever the hell he was.

From his voice, he sounded like a kid. He also dressed in very human clothing, which only added more to his confusion.

It was then that he realized that he spent a good minute just staring at the sleeper, so he cleared his throat and looked away.

"I...n-no." he finally managed to say, "I, uh, w-was trying to get a train actually." He gave a small glance at him, "...Did you jump off the train?"

[Main Street —> Stables]

"A... ghost?" Brin shook her head in disbelief. "You don't look like a spirit of any sort." And I think you are about to make Suela's day terrible. "I don't... alright, I'll believe anything these days." She smiled wryly. "Anyhow, if it's runes you're into... how come so many magic types do runes, anyways? So much simpler to just," she telekinetically lifted a rock into the air with a practiced, martial gesture, then dropped it. "Anyways, time to grab that... thing."

It wasn't hard to find Suela's camel, a two-humped relative of the Terran Bactrian camel. Suela had bought it off the elderly, retired Graveyarder who had told her about surviving around a Dead God. And it showed: though the beast was technically in the prime of its life, the numerous scars and it possessed made it seem ancient. Those scars told a number of stories: the most mundane were the marks of teeth at its throat, and numerous claw marks at its legs, shoulders, and hips. Stranger was the laser burns that marked its back hump and a massive scar on its left flank that a technologically advanced observer might recognize as coming from being grazed by a very large particle cannon. Having survived assault by both the mutant beasts of the Graveyard and weapon systems intended to destroy spaceships had also left it completely out of fucks to give: the horses shied away from it, and it regarded all it saw with even greater curmudgeonly boredom than is normal for camels. It had a number of very large packs, mostly empty, and would surely carry an impressive load.

Brin grabbed the beast's reins and told Anne and Lucky, "Cloudsplitter. He doesn't bite, amazingly enough. But he occasionally spits." Then she grabbed his reins and led him towards the General Store.

edited 21st Aug '15 5:57:39 AM by KillerClowns