Tipsy Toad
"Thanks for the kind words." Chloe replied then turned towards the door as someone asked for help with carrying something. Everyone jumped to it and she would have too but probably wouldn't have been very helpful in her current...state. Instead she watched and her jaw dropped when the one known as Ammolite suddenly changed form into a more muscular larger form.
She rubbed her eyes, wondering if the alcohol was making her see things or if it all was real. After a moment she realized it was as real as she could see. "You guys are definitely not from around here..." she muttered, watching them help the man who introduced himself as Christopher.
edited 22nd Aug '15 6:26:19 PM by Sphinxyness
"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"
Attitude is prohibited
[Outside the Washington]
"Yes." Replied Miyuki, adjusting her hat slightly.
A moment later, Azuhl spoke up, and Hoshi took issue with what he said. "Undead?" She snorted. "Well, I guess that's not the strangest thing I've heard today. Normal bandits, though?" She grinned. "Why don't you let me worry about those? Anything short of an army, and I'm pretty sure I can handle it on my own." She said, brimming with confidence.
[The Washington]
Hana chuckled quietly. "Very observant." She said. "Most people don't pick up on either of those things, at least not right away." She paused to take a sip of her wine. "So, what if it is my work? The cybernetics and the gene mods both." She looked over at him, curious to see his reaction.
Not entirely dead.
They/Them
[Outside The Washington]
Azuhl stared at Hoshi for a second and shrugged, "If you say so. Mind you, I've been in an army," he didn't care to clarify which of the two, "And I know a good deal about clearing out both bandits and trained soldiers, but if you feel like you can handle any number of outlaws that come your way, be my guest."
Azuhl didn't care to fight other people. Yes, he had done so and had to do so regularly, but there was no satisfaction in doing so. No cheers of victory or moments of glory, just a trail of dead bodies and the orphans of soldiers. If he ever settled down, he was definitely going to adopt that poor boy up north.
[The Tipsy Toad]
Devastater Dragon flexed their muscles and turned toward Sammuel, "Thanks! This is usually what I use for extreme wrestling, but any excuse to get beefy is good enough!"
Devastater Dragon nodded at Wolfe, "Lets go lift then!"
Note to self: Pick less edgy username next time.
[THE TIPSY TOAD]
Christopher yelped as the one known as Ammolite suddenly morphed into a hulk-like figure. The suddenness of it made him take steps back a bit more than the others, ending with him collapsing into a chair in a somewhat comical fashion.
"Jeez, pal!" He exclaimed, feeling his chest, "Could you warn us before giving me a heart attack?"
He got his nerves under control just as Wolfe made a joke of the sudden transformation. Christopher thought about it as well.
"So...when you're like this, you have the strength of how many men?" He asked, starting to wonder if this transformation had just rendered Wolfe's group obsolete.
[MAIN STREET]
"Azure? Blue?" Tana inquired further. Now that they had been talking a fair bit, she could see the exotic, painted sun on her face.
"Very different traditions, it looks like?"
edited 22nd Aug '15 8:54:23 PM by TroPartner
Drummer Boy
[The Washington]
Cyrus actually didn't understand much of what Lia said, and he wasn't really paying close attention anymore, either. Four hours had passed since his morning dose and he was getting anxious. Should I go hide, or—
Calm down. I don't think they'll really care.
If they think I'm too weak, they'll leave me behind.
They're bound to see you doing it eventually. Shouldn't be too hard to lie about it.
All right. Fine. If they have a problem with it, then that's... their problem. Cyrus reached into his satchel and took out a small bottle made of brown glass. His hand fully covered the label, and he gripped the bottle so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. He uncorked the bottle, dumped a tiny white pellet into his remaining tea, and put the bottle back in his satchel before vigorously stirring the liquid.
"I—I'm rather prone to getting headaches. Just a precautionary measure," he said with a nervous smile. "Oh! I forgot to ask earlier. This dead god, Suela... what was it like when it was alive?"
[Outside The Washington]
In response to Azuhl's musings about him, Kito gave him a surly look that seemed to say Yeah, I sure know what you're talking about, so watch out and gazed coolly at Cloudsplitter. I'll stay out of your way, you stay out of mine.
Well, here's what I've learned so far about the others. Azuhl seems like one of those antihero lone wanderer types to me. You know, like those guys in the magazine serials that Wilhelm really hates. Hoshi has the potential to be quite irritating—to me, at least—so hopefully Miyuki can keep her from doing anything too wild. I'm still very concerned about this whole "no one has ever made it out alive" business. Fortunately, we don't get to that part until we arrive at the mountain pass. You have a lot of time to come up with some kind of excuse to leave if you don't want to look like too much of a coward. How about falling and pretending to break a rib? You won't even have to fake the pain if you fall right on your chest.
edited 22nd Aug '15 8:55:50 PM by SnowyFoxes
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
(Outside the Washington)
"Good to know somebody has a plan. I don't want to be headed out to the badlands without an idea as to where we're going." Anne looked at the others, who were discussing who would handle what kind of threats. "You guys can deal with any outlaws we may run across, but leave the scouting to me. There's a reason that you want your spies and scouts to be like, well, ghosts."
Forward, boys! For God's sake, forward!
Crazy Kiwi
The Tipsy Toad
James looked around. Between the lot of them, those ramps were going to be set up in next to no time. It was a good bet that any ramps to get something down off a flat car would be fairly long to provide a good gradient and they would have to be fairly substantial to support a vehicle, so they would be fairly weighty - but eight humans and Devastater Dragon should do quite nicely.He turned to Christopher. "Lead on, friend."
Peggy was still staring at Devastater Dragon, astounded at the transformation, when Teri clapped her on the shoulder and said, "you all right? It takes a bit of getting used to, this multiverse stuff."
Peggy nodded. "I'm fine. We live among bears and wolves, I can handle a few surprises."
Teri grinned. "Yep." And she's lived on Terra Nova for longer than any of us, she thought, she'll be fine.
Main Street
Saya didn't get too far away from the store before she stopped and wondered just where she thought she was going. She knew her plan was to find some way to earn money, but her thoughts then were mostly focused on leaving the store. Now that she was back outside, however, she realized that she didn't have a plan for what to do next. She probably should rectify that before she went and got herself lost.
Coming up with a means to her end goal turned out to be the easy part. She did remember to bring her flute with her; she made sure never to go anywhere without it. There had to be some kind of popular place around here where she could set up shop, play some music, and earn some tips. There was an advantage to having a strange song constantly play around here; the combination of her flute playing and the song's own tune was enough to make her fairly popular back home.
The question now was finding such a popular place. The store she just left had gotten pretty active, but she didn't want to go back there so soon after leaving it for just that reason. Besides, she wasn't sure if she wanted to compete with the store over funds.
The only thing to do now was to see if there was anything else around here that would suit her purposes. If she stayed on this street, she hopefully wouldn't have to worry about getting lost. At that, she let out a small sigh before continuing on her way, at a slightly faster pace than her usual.
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
Laugh and grow dank!
[The Washington]
Crowe nodded once. "I have some prior experience with these technologies." The hood turned to observe Rin, and she got the distinct impression he was sizing her up.
After a silent moment, he continued, "It's good work. And an interesting choice. Far as I know, soldiers are typically either genetically or cybernetically enhanced- less complicated that way. Don't have to worry about potential conflicts or exclusions. But you- you've managed to seamlessly integrate both. On a technical level, that's quite impressive." Though he offered praise, his voice remained level, even aloof.
The hood turned back to regard Hana, sightless gaze boring into her. "Might I ask why you opted for this approach? It doubles the amount of work you have to do- cybernetics and genetic modification are separate fields, after all- for limited benefit. Many of the enhancements gene mods provide can be accomplished through cyber-augmentation, and vise-versa. Using both seems somewhat redundant."
edited 23rd Aug '15 1:25:03 PM by Gault
yey
[Desert ~ Railroad](John, the sleeper)
The sleeper tried to pull another smile after hearing the man's offer, ending up somewhere between grin and grimace. "Mmm... maybe later."
His smile faded slowly, and his eyes began to wander towards the man's backpack. He only half-heard the man's name—which was fine, he'd heard it a million times before. At the man's question, the sleeper opened his mouth to answer, but hesitated. His gaze grew somewhat vacant, and remained that way for several seconds, even as he murmured, "Yeah... swimming. I guess." he nodded, "Yeah, we'll call it that."
When he eventually snapped back to the there-and-then, his eyes once again focused on the backpack. "Hey, uh, John," he began, tilting his head to the side and subtly nodding it towards the backpack. "I don't suppose you happen to have some Band-Aids or something in there, do you?"
this place needs me here
Attitude is prohibited
[The Washington]
Hana casually sipped her drink. "Complications? I prefer to think of them as challenges." If Crowe's strange gaze bothered her at all, it didn't show. "Now, as for the why, I suppose..." She began, slowly and thoughtfully. "You might say it was partially a matter of principal, and partially a choice shaped by circumstance. In their earliest incarnations, the gene mods and the cybernetics were two distinct projects with rather low ambitions and scarce resources to match. I proposed merging the two, managed to outline how that might be done, and headed the new, resulting project myself." She smiled at the fond memories. "My, that was long ago."
She paused to sip her drink again. "More resources were acquired as circumstances changed, but the goal of the project changed too. It was no longer about mass-producing slightly enhanced foot soldiers, " She said, with some derision "but something greater." She looked over at Crowe for a moment, then shifted her gaze to Rin, who was standing behind and slightly to the right of him. "A kind of... Transhuman prototype. One step closer to humanity's ultimate potential."
Rin squirmed under her commander's gaze, though Hana had nothing but fondness for her. Across the table, sitting quietly, Maya kept an eye on their guest.
"Of course, they still had to be soldiers." Hana continued, with a shrug, as she returned her attention to her drink. "The war was in full swing back then, not like the stalemate we're in today." She said. "And obviously I wanted to prove that I could indeed make inherently superior humans..." She paused, briefly, lost in thought. "Normal human physiology is actually quite remarkable; a magnificent machine, when conditioned correctly. And with the correct modifications to the DNA, an even greater potential can be achieved in a very short amount of time." She said.
"Ah, but sadly, the human form will forever have its limits." She sighed. "Thus, what can not be achieved biologically, must be achieved through other means. Cybernetic technology being the obvious choice. Humanity incorporating its finest tools into itself... Convenient for pursuing humanity's ultimate potential, and yes, in the short term, for creating unparalleled soldiers as well."
She looked over at Crowe, gauging his reaction. "In short, you might say that my choices were motivated by war and all the circumstances that brings about, as well as a dedication to a... Shall we say, 'a greater good.' And besides," A devious smile curled her lips. "Using both is only redundant in the face of a lack of imagination."
Not entirely dead.
[The Washington]
Suela nodded, then glanced curiously at the tea Cyrus had dumped his pill into. A painkiller? Never mind; it would be rude to ask. Besides, given how I get without my morning tea... she looked away sheepishly. "The Dead Gods? Depends on who you ask," Suela said, to get her mind off the question. "Different stories, different mutually contradictory tales of their demise, only a few agreements. So let's stick with those. The Dead Gods are," she ticked off each adjective with her fingers.
"Huge: the Kykiten easily fit a great city in an unusually dead one. Usually that gets you killed by the Dead God, they just found a really dead one.
"Invincible: we don't know anything that can harm their bodies, and the stories say they were either an anathema to magic or its masters. Like I said, contradictions, but point is," and here she frowned, clearly herself wondering how such a thing was possible, "whatever killed them had to it without physically attacking them or, presumably, using spells.
"Bloody: even those who seek to resurrect them, like the Elasane, believe they require human sacrifice to be appeased, though the Elasane insist the Dead Gods rewarded such offerings with," Suela scoffed, "'bountiful harvests and peaceful societies'.
"Inhuman: few of them even remotely resemble any other living thing, and those that do tend to resemble the strangest of sea creatures. Eyes and teeth are also a common theme in art depicting them, independent of culture.
"And deceitful: they claimed the natural balance of the world depended on their survival, but... well, they're dead and the world isn't.
"In short," Suela concluded, "they were almost certainly, as we define it, quite evil."
edited 24th Aug '15 6:21:28 AM by KillerClowns
[THE TIPSY TOAD > MAIN STREET]
"Yeah, let's get going. We're burning daylight."
After the first dozen steps, Christopher turned towards Devastator Dragon.
"So... Out of curiosity, how many other...bodies do you have?"
They/Them
[The Tipsy Toad -> Main Street]
Devastater Dragon looked at Christopher rather quizically, but remembered that they hadn't quite explained the whole transforming thing.
They broke out into hardy laughter, "I have only one body. This," They gestured all over their body, "Is only one of many possible light form extensions of this," They moved their hand to point out the green, orange and yellow scaled pattern on their right hand.
Note to self: Pick less edgy username next time.Tipsy Toad - Outside
Despite how drunk she still felt, Chloe decided to leave as well to watch where the others were going with the item they were carrying. She staggered out of the bar and leaned against the outside wall, watching the others go down the road. With a bit of rest she could sober up and go off looking for treasure again though a part of her was hoping maybe to find someone to travel with. The Terra Nova people were fun to talk to and seemed interested in treasure hunting so a part of her thought about asking them once they were done helping Christopher.
She took out her sword in the meantime and began examining it, not seeing the runes strangely that appeared every time she used it and magic came out. "Ah c'mon, appear! I wanted to see if I could read the language." she mumbled to herself, rubbing the blunt part of the sword carefully with part of her poncho.
"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"
Laugh and grow dank!
[The Washington]
Crowe nodded again, and his voice gained a wry edge. "All that sounds about right. So, I guess it is the same everywhere." He let out a crackling chuckle. "That's strangely comforting. The faces change but the reasons don't."
Crowe uncrossed his arms and let them fall to the table. One hand began tapping idly, though whether this was out of nerves or boredom was impossible to tell. He continued, "There's a lot of talk about greater goods. Can't fly a parsec in any direction without tripping over one. They tend to appear concurrently with lesser evils, but that's just a personal observation. So, speaking of greater goods, what's yours?"
yey
Just flowing with it.
[The Washington]
Krul watched as Cyrus' tiny episode resolved itself, headaches are not unusual under such heat, although he hadn't exactly expected Cyrus to be the sort of person who would get afflicted with a case. Regardless, the talk about the dead gods only worry him more. "It certainly doesn't sound like an entity worth involving yourself with, no matter how dead it may seem." he said, taking note of Suela's stimulant-aided explanation, "With so many adventurers from different worlds here, one is bound to have some sort of device capable of sending you home."
Even as he said that, a bit of skepticism remained as he took Suela's recounting of the dead gods' traits into heart. Many a beast had great, seemingly tall tales woven about their abilities, only to be just another beast, mortal and definitely weaker than initially expected.
Lia doesn't share Krul's skepticism, though, and visibly gulped at the thought of such a being. Krul immediately noticed this, "Lia, if you think this is too great a risk to take, you shouldn't come." he said. Seeing Lia in doubt, he continued, "Stay with Alba; as you are right now, you'll end up as a liability. I'll tell you all about it later."
Faced with Krul's overbearing tone, Lia couldn't help but felt defeated, "Fine, fine. Because I'm dead weight, right? And don't call me Lia just when you're asking of me." Lia said, visibly irritated. "Well, that said, Suela, thanks for the offer, but I'll have to excuse myself here." she said, looking slightly apologetic, "Cyrus, take care. I know how bad headaches can get." She looked at Krul, and after getting an approving nod, she walked to the exit.
edited 24th Aug '15 3:06:50 PM by FlowingCotton
Main Street -> Outside the Washington
Saya's wanderings eventually lead her to stumble upon what appeared to be a bar of some kind. It wasn't necessarily the fact that it was a bar that caught her eye; it was the fact that there happened to be a lot of people outside of it. In fact, it seemed so popular that there didn't seem to be any space left in front of it.
That wouldn't be much of a problem. Just from her current position, she could see a few spots nearby that would put her close enough to it for most going in and out to hear her and the song. Plus, all the benefits of such a spot were enough to outweigh the crowd. She imagined most diners would probably appreciate some music, and while there was the high possibility of drunkards, maybe someone sufficiently wasted would tip her more.
She decided to go for it, and went for a spot just across the street from the bar's entrance. However, the closer view was enough for her to see that most of those people seemed to be preparing to head out. She hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and prepared to find her flute. If this place was popular enough to attract this many travelers, it'd certainly attract more.
Then she noticed something else that somehow had escaped her attention on the first glance, or rather a pair of somethings. In addition to all the people, there was a pair of great furry animals. Well, "great" from her viewpoint; while she was very familiar with the odd rodent and insects were plentiful, she had never seen an animal bigger than her foot. The bigger of these two animals, a strange beast with two humps on its back and odd-looking feet, was just as tall, if not taller than, some of the people surrounding it. The other animal was smaller, but still far bigger than any animal she knew.
She just stared at both for a long couple moments. For the time being her goal of earning money was second to the burning curiosity she had about the creatures. She really wanted to ask all those people about those animals and learn everything she could about them. It took a poke from the song, in the form of a brief scolding tune, for her to shake her head and come back to reality.
As much as she hated to admit it, she had a job to do here, and she didn't want to bother the other people too much with a bunch of questions that were likely very obvious to them. Granted, they might already be bothered by the song that they no doubt probably heard by now, but at least that wasn't hindering them on their way out.
She sighed and finally tore her eyes away from the beasts. A couple moments later, she had found and taken out her flute; a rather simplistic, side-blown instrument with six holes that appeared to be mostly constructed of wood. She put it to her lips and started to play a simple, somewhat melancholy tune. The song made itself audible to her and changed its own tune to match the one Saya was playing, all the while looking for other rhythms to incorporate into the shared melody.
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
[Desert]
"Band Aids?" John asked, blinking, "I think you're going to need more than that. Here, give me a sec."
He knelt down and started going through his bag. "Let me see...ah-ha! There we are!"
He pulled out a very long roll of bandages, followed by an unopened water bottle. He then closed his backpack and stood back up, looking over the sleeper carefully. He was no medical expert, and the way this kid was like, this was not going to be a walk in a park. He still wasn't going to leave him bruised up when they got to town, though. If they ever were going to get to town.
"I don't know when the next train is gonna come," he said, "But for now, I think you should have this." he handed the stranger the water bottle, "It should be enough to keep you hydrated. Now hold still." Without waiting for a response, he started to wrap the stranger's forehead—trying not to cover his eyes.
Attitude is prohibited
[Outside the Washington]
"You've been in an army." Muttered Hoshi, to no-one in particular. "I am an army. Well, a small one, but still."
Meanwhile, Miyuki stood next to Cloudsplitter, staring up at the sky, having angled herself and her hat in such a way that she could see the sky without the sun getting in her eyes. And while she was perfectly content the watch strange clouds roll through an odd, blue sky, she knew there were other things that needed to be done. After readjusting her hat, she walked up to Brin. "When will we be leaving?" She said.
Shortly afterwards, Hoshi heard a strange noise. Unusual music, vaguely ominous or haunting, sounding like a strange mix of singing or the whistling wind. And then a new sound joined it; an instrument, almost certainly, though not one she'd encountered before. And the the music changed to go with the instrument.
Immensely curious, Hoshi set about finding the source of the music, and it didn't take her long to find the girl with the flute. Rather than say anything, though, she just stood near-by for a moment and watched her, listening to the tune... And trying to figure out where the non-flute-related music might be coming from. She took to searching around the general area for speakers of any kind, or really just anything unusual, but was inevitably stumped when she found nothing relevant.
After a short but puzzling search, her attention returned to Saya. She still said nothing to her, however. Perhaps she just didn't want to interrupt.
[The Washington]
"Nothing short of the advancement of the human species." Hana said, rather nonchalantly. "The definition of what a 'perfect' human might be changes according to societal norms, expectations, etc. But nevertheless, it seems to me that it is and will forever be the most noble pursuit of all." She shrugged. "Of course, even as informed as it may be, that is still simply my opinion." She smiled and took a moment to sip her drink.
"Now, exactly what kind of experience did you say you had with genetics and cybernetics?"
Not entirely dead.
Crazy Kiwi
Main Street
Wolfe looked at the back of Devastater Dragon's hand. "'Light form'? What, as in some form of holographic projection?"A group of men - most likely locals - were working the front of one of the buildings as they passed. Teri spared them a glance and noted that they had basic manual tools.
A man's voice yelled out. "Look out!" A moment later a large wooden spar from the work site smashed down onto Kris' left arm, knocking her sideways towards James. The spar hit the ground with a crash that echoed off the nearby buildings.
James grabbed Kris to steady her before she could fall. "Are you all right?"
Kris looked down at her arm then flexed elbow, wrist and fingers experimentally. "I seem to be. Got a fuck of a fright, though."
A man wearing denim dungarees, cotton shirt, broad-brimmed hat and a worried expression ran up. "Are you all right, ma'am?" He sounded extremely scared. "Are you injured?"
Kris held up her arm and moved it to show no harm was done. "Nah, it's fine."
The man stared at her arm then down at the heavy spar then back up at Kris. "God damn!" He reddened suddenly and took off his hat. "Beggin' yer pardon, ma'am."
Kris shot him a smile. "No fuckin' worries, mate." She turned and carried on with the others, leaving the hapless fellow doubly astounded.
edited 24th Aug '15 7:06:00 PM by Wolf1066
[main street, outside general store] Going to assume you're referring to the painted sun on Tsadro's face
"Most cultures want the same things. Love, luck, happiness... They merely pursue them differently." A truly Rivari-esque answer. Judging by the look she gave his servant-marks, she had probably never seen one before. Lucky for him, a platitude like that would get an eyeroll out of Verena. Such a matter was better approached when the woman chose to ask.
Did she wish to talk? Was that all?
He laid his palm on his chest. "I am Tsadro," he said, giving her a low nod.
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
(Outside The Washington)
"Whoever's playing the flute is pretty darn good," Lucky commented. "They could make it in any orchestra in the world."
"Maybe." Anne's own tastes ran more towards classic Madonna. Lucky had teased her more than once about the irony of her favorite song being "Material Girl". She turned to Hoshi. "What do you mean, 'you're an army'? I know wizards, lesser angels, and demigods, and while all of them are pretty potent, none of them approach the kind of status that the term one-man army would suggest."
Forward, boys! For God's sake, forward!
[MAIN STREET]
Christopher took a step back as the spar fell.
Afterwards, with the worker giving his apologies, it took a while for the paleness to drain from his face.
"Lucky for us, we're not taking the ramp anywhere high up." He reflected, wiping his brow with his sleeve.
"But you handled that very well. If it were me, I'd have to take five to calm down from that. And Tana..." He laughed as they continued, "Chances are she'd take him by the collar and drag him to the nearest courthouse. Even if she was hurt, she'd still do it."
"Tana Norman." She said, "I'd curtsey, but you'd have an interesting time, trying to do that with shorts."
She made a quick glance down the rest of the street. "Mostly, I'm waiting for my friend to come back with, hopefully, some extra hands to unload that flatcar with the big vehicle." As she concluded, she pointed at the flatcar in question.
edited 24th Aug '15 8:43:46 PM by TroPartner
[The Tipsy Toad]
Samuel made a slight bow to Christopher. "Samuel Kahler, sir."
Then Ammolite became something else entirely. It was he moment when he was very much convinced he either really was dreaming or the bartender slipped a mickey in the sandwich. Though The Terra Novans reacted accordingly. After giving his own of taking a step back, he said, "That's uh... Actually pretty cool." He guessed that anything could happen in Frontier.
"I guess I'll get whatever that's needed," Samuel shrugged.
edited 22nd Aug '15 6:01:54 PM by electronic-tragedy
Life is hard, that's why no one survives.