The Blinder
THE SEAS OF TOME
The remains of the soldier's ship floated across the water, most of it had sunk beneath the waves save for the side of the hull. The water around it had turned red as sharks had taken their feast out of the crew.
Kneeling on the boat was a naked young woman, her skin was almost black from sunburns and ritual scars covered her body. She had a makeshift spear laying beside her as she ripped at the chunk of meat with her sharp teeth. Suddenly, the water erupted and a large, skeletal fish with large, blue eyes and shark-like teeth rested on the side of the boat, a piece of shark caught in its teeth. "It seems that they've become too dependent on their black powder." He observed in a deep voice. The girl smiled.
"Neither of us are harmed! And they taste good!" She said cheerily, sitting cross-legged before she took another piece of the dead captain and popped it in her mouth. "Surely, the Icon's going to be noticing us?" She asked, scanning the horizon for any more ships.
Good to be back
Mike Jones
The Rocked Boat
Jake stepped off of his boat, squinting in the tropical sun. The tall, tan man had spent much of his life on various ships, but he liked his homeland best. Especially the little taverns in the middle of the ocean. He'd been sailing for much of the day, but he hadn't found any ships that looked like they were good targets. If he was going to feed one to Daedalus, he wanted it to be a fat merchant vessel that Emeritius would definitely hear about.
"That woman." Daedalus had said during one of their conversations. "Emeritius? Yeah, now that I think of it, she's a jackass." Jake had said. "I want to eat her." Daedalus had told him back.
At first, he'd been a bit skeptical. But the tentacled colossus had told him that devouring her would make it stronger, and that it would create a massive power vacuum, ushering in a new age of piracy. Considering he wanted to start a crew, he was definitely interested.
But Jake was getting a bit fed up with it. They made good money, sure, but there were a lot of pirates, and he wasn't sure that just doing what they always did was likely to draw the Icon out. So today, he was retiring for drinks about an hour early, while Daedalus went to go eat some hapless fishermen.
Jake took a seat at the bar. "I'll have a pina colada, please." He said, then noticed the poster. He had no idea who Vivian Aurion was, but 30,000TP was nothing to sneeze at. He tore the poster from the wall, resolving to make sure she wasn't on any boats he was going to pillage.
edited 13th Mar '17 10:00:22 PM by HeroicSociopath
Well, this is a certainly interesting development from Ellanua, as Katarina thought as she strolls through the forest, appreciating nature a little bit more. In all her lifetime, she had never heard of the NEET Icon opening her door ever. Not even the oldest of her peers had seen her do such a thing before. Obviously, this is a huge news everywhere, especially in the town of Slate. Rumors and conspiracies circulated throughout the art world, speculating on the reasons why, though most people don't look at the gift horse in the mouth and take the chance to get the goddess of art herself to notice them. Including Yoko, Katarina's wife.
"Excuse me, young lady," a voice called out from behind. And here she thought she could go through the walk without any interruptions whatsoever. Still, it would be impolite of her to ignore the person, so she turned around, trying to hide her exasperation with a standard polite smile, and greeted "Yes?"
The owner of the voice in question was a rotund man dressed in a typical tuxedo, though it's ill-fitted for him, and in each arm were what Katarina was a couple of sugar babies. She can tell because they spotted on some pretty nice jewelry and silk dresses that only the rich Windlasser could afford to wear. "Pardon me for being rude," the sugar daddy lied."But who are you?"
"I am Katarina Kat," she said simply and the socialite scoffed lightly at that name and his entourage followed soon after. "What an amusing name! Is that one of those artist's names where they gave themselves nonsensical pseudonym to make themselves feel deeper? Or is that your actual name?" Katarina could no longer hold the polite smile and it slowly turned to a scorn. "Or do your parents actually give that name to you because they think they're so smart."
After having a bit of a giggle, the socialite wiped the smile off his face and seriously stated "Listen, I know you're going to that party but you're a nobody and I know because I know every single important artist and dealers out there in Dakon and you're not one of them. Ellanua will never lay her eyes on you, let alone listen to you or consider adding your artwork to even her trashcan. I'm just being charitable here and telling it to you right now instead of you wasting time and energy at the party to find out your current place in this art world. Now run back to where you came from before you regret-"
That's the last word he ever muttered before he and his sugar babies got stabbed in the back by the tip of a giant claw. The socialite tried to scream out in shock but all that came out of his mouth was blood before he and his entourage were scooped up. He was held up like a piece of shrimp inspected by a food critic. And that food critic was a giant jaguar the size of a house perched on top of the treeline.
"Nice job, Sampha," Katarina said, now with a genuine smirk on her face. "Leave the fat one to me but keep the rest."
"Understood," Sampha said before tossing the man back down to Katarina Kat while he enjoyed his junk food. The man was shaken and he could only shake more as Katarina approached him and kneeled down on him with a dagger in her hands. But a glimmer of hope entered his eyes when he spotted a group of artists coming their way. And that glimmer left his eyes as soon as he realized that they're not noticing the soon-to-be-murder scene at all. Even as they passed them by, they're still talking about the party, one of them even accidentally stepped on the man's head, though they were quick to assumed that they stepped on a snail and move on.
"You may be wondering why they're ignoring you," Katarina said as she twirls her dagger around. "I assure you, this is not the bystander effect in its most extreme form. Nay, it is simply my BAE's bestowed power, Take Me Inside, where, if I'm under his shadow, a shadow that only I can see, I am invisible, as well as the rest of the object that I'm touching, including you." The man could only widen his eyes in fear. "You people just had to gloat, can't you? When all I want was a quiet walk to the party, you had to spoil it. Fortunately, I have the means to eradicate irritations in my life." She then proceeded to...released her stress onto the sugar daddy.
It's only a short walk before Katarina and Sampha saw the mansion in person. It's...way bigger than what Katarina had anticipated. Perfect. They had not walked out of the shadows of the forest just yet, though, as they were planning their moves while scanning the movement of the party. "I still think it's most convenient that we go straight for the kill," Sampha repeated the same suggestion that he had given to Katarina for the past few days ever since Ellanua made her announcement. "No," Katarina declined once more. "I got to show her my wife's work first. My dear Yoko's heart would break when she finds out that the Icon of Earth had not laid an eye on her art yet." She patted the art tube, which contained some of Yoko's best artwork of her entire portfolio, slung on her back to emphasize her point. "Besides, just think of it as a hunt without a kill, stealing whatever precious art she has without anyone realizing it. No evidence whatsoever. An Icon, being bamboozled by a mysterious entity, and she have to live with that shame with the rest of her life. You'll appreciate the nuance."
Sampha simply shrugged and commented "Well, I have to commend your commitment to your wife, at the very least. Other than that, well, you're my mistress, we'll see how our 'hunt' goes, "Thank you," Kat simply said as she walked towards the mansion, looking around for the guardian of Slate while Sampha watched over her from the treeline with no worries of anyone spotting him due to his power of Under; where he is invisible to anyone under him.
edited 14th Mar '17 1:09:32 AM by sgtpendulum
http://www.last.fm/user/sgtpendulum Yo, check out what I'm listening, it'll be heat, brah :^)
In love with an Uptown Girl
A Man and his Centipede
Jorge was snoring again, much to Torrock's irritation. The centipede was crawling along the forest floor, feeling about with his antenna. He clacked his mandibles together, hissing. The jungle was silent at his approach, moving to avoid the mighty earth crawler.
The world had changed since he had last been awake. The Icons had increased in power. The whores now dominated humanity. He didn't care much for humankind as a whole, but the Icons right pissed him off. They lied, they stole, they manipulated everyone around them for their own ends, to maintain their power, privilege, be worshiped as goddesses. Each and every one was due for a good whipping, in his opinion. Yes, he was looking forward to breaking their bones.....
Jorge yawned, and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "So, Torrock," he began, "how are things right now?"
"Dreadful. I've been crawling about for ages now, and cannot find a damn thing."
"Oh, I'm sure we'll find something. We heard there was something kind of fish monster out here in the water, raiding pirate ships. Does that sound familiar to you?"
"Yes. It reminds me of a particularly big fish, with a rather inflated ego."' Torrock hissed even louder now, clicking his mandibles together. "Pity I am such a poor swimmer, otherwise, I would be able to track that fat flounder easily."
Jorge rolled his eyes. "Well, since you can't swim, what if we stole a boat and just went out to seas? Oh yeah, he might attack us! Well, what should we do?"
Torrock was still thinking when Jorge and himself both had the same idea.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Of course. I do believe this could work, actually."
"Well, let's get to it!"
Soon enough, the two were now approaching a large city, one of the key trading ports. If he commandeered a boat big enough, then they could put their plan into action easily enough.
Please allow me to introduce myself, I am a man of wealth and taste. Nice to meet you, hope you can guess my name.
That's just how it is on this bitch of an earth
The Forests of Vox
"That guy was an asshole. We should kill him."
... That one comment from Azale pretty much summed up all the interactions Amalda had had for the past two months or so. Every time Amalda had been slighted in some way, Azale's immediate reaction was to make a suggestion of murder. Guy who stuffed the bill on a custom set of carving tools? Kill him. Woman who dropped a whole bin of nails on the ground and refused to pick them up? Kill her. Whoever dropped a shit ton of rocks on Amalda in that cave? Definitely kill them.
"We're not going to kill him, that's a stupid idea. He's already gone anyway."
It's not that some of these people didn't deserve to die, in her mind. Whoever did that last thing definitely did. But if word got out that she was a murderer, that would be bad for business, yeah?
"Geez Amalda, I was just kidding."
.. And there was the other thing. Every so often Azale was just making a joke. Not that Amalda could easily tell, since the one saying these things was a giant cassowary with body language mostly foreign to her.
The latest subject of Azale's odd sense of humor (if you could call it that) was a man who had passed Amalda on the thin forest path they both walked. The man had jostled her, causing her to drop her bag. After he helped her pick it up and apologized profusely, they both continued on in opposite directions.
"..."
"Aww, you're not mad are you?"
While Amalda was a little mad, that was not the reason for her silence. She sees the black plume of smoke rising in the distance, and immediately knows that it shouldn't be that big. Not for a normal fire, anyway...
".. That's too much smoke. There must be a big fire.."
"Someone set a fire on my territory? Let's go kill them!"
"Maybe no killing and that definitely isn't your territory, but yes let's go investigate."
"That's no fun.."
And off the two go, Amalda on the path and Azale running through the trees, running towards the source of the smoke.
off the shits
Classic
Skies Above Tome's Seas: A Servant And Her Sassy Birdy
The peace and quiet of Tome's calm ocean breeze would soon be broken once again as a large...something zoomed through the air above the waters at high speed. Upon closer inspection though, the object was a large bird with black and reddish-orange feathers, with a woman clad in clothing of similar colors riding on its back. The duo appeared to be headed right towards the island nearest the wrecked ship, though they began to slow down as they got closer.
"Hmm...a shipwreck? That certainly wasn't here last time we headed toward this island.", the woman with blonde hair pointed out as they stopped to survey the area from above. Her voice was very calm, composed, and yet oddly devoid of emotion.
"Well no shit it wasn't here before! And judging by all the blood in the water, it's either caused by sharks, or maybe an old timer I know all too well...", the large bird squawked. Her voice was far more emotional than her partner's, and absolutely loaded with sass.
"Regardless of what the case may be, we should probably carefully investigate. Take us lower, Falaze.", the woman said.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it, Vivian."
Falaze then more closely approached the ship for Vivian to investigate the wreckage, while still being high enough in the air to be seemingly safe...
"Never let anyone tell you that something is impossible." - Monty Oum, 1981-2015
The Blinder
The Shipwreck
As a dark shadow passed over Fathom and Mila, the fish chuckled, breaching the water as it chewed on a great white, "It appears that the Baroness has also awakened." he said, Mila turned to face him, still eating the sailor.
"The Baroness?" She asked, looking up the the blazing red silhouette.
"Come child, you didn't think that we only ruled the seas." Fathom asked, "Falaze is her name. I wonder if she has a master too."
"Is she anything like the squid?"
"No, that fool cares only about feeding. Now please, show some respect." Mila sat excitedly as she followed the bird. She stood up, waving. Her front covered with gore.
edited 20th Mar '17 12:19:05 AM by TroyandHawk
Good to be back
The Forests of Vox
On one of the quiet trails of Vox a lone incredibly strange and foreignly dressed man travelled, carried by his unorthodox animal, he touched his sidelocks as he read a map of his surroundings, taken from a recent settlement in his path.
"Do you believe this map is legitimate Eliya?"
"Nothing created by these people is legitimate Behemoth, but I must get to the Icons, therefore I must use whatever guide I can get, even if it was made by filthy hands"
"Hah! All of you humans feel the same beneath my feet and look the same from my eyes, all of your hands are filthy, especially you with all the blood you spilled"
"Are you complaining about my policy Behemoth?" Eliyahu scratched his cheeks and asked, not feeling a particularly up for the conversation, though he thought himself justified, he was tired and would rather move on.
"Oh no, in fact I am joyful at your policy, it allows me some indulgence" The creature said as it laughed.
"Good" Eli ended their discussion and looked at the path ahead of them, noticing the thick black clouds rising up in the distance the man inspected his map again and sighed.
"Should we continue moving towards that ominous smoke?"
"Yes, according to this map in order to get to the nearest settlement destination we have to go through there, no other paths are available and we're in need of a few new supplies and getting information on the Icons so we could pick up the pace on our hunt, let us press on"
Despite trying to avoid major hindrances on their path, Eliyahu and Behemoth, seeing no other option available them started making their way towards the big fire, come what may.
edited 14th Mar '17 1:54:17 PM by LiorVal
Blood Mage Apologist
The Forests of Vox
Cunning like a... do I really need to say it?
"I'd like to point out that we're walking towards a forest fire. Or at least, what is likely to be a forest fire- or at the very least, fire in and of itself. Fire before smoke, after all."
Valan laughed. "I know exactly what we're doing, Gal. You know me- always have a plan."
The huge fox padding alongside him gave the man a doubtful look. "I believe that we're getting our roles mixed up," he quipped. "I'm rather sure that your role is to run in and attempt to stab things with my powers, while I come and save you five minutes later."
The human rolled his eyes. "I prefer a slightly more subtle approach than that, but I can see where you might get that mixed up with your preferred method of fighting."
Galirin snorted. "I strike from the shadows, thank you. And don't forget that I'm the one who always has to carry you now when you get tired. What happened to that rugged, survivalist persona that woke me up? Surely he could walk for miles," the fox teased, giving Valan a fanged grin.
"Oh, shut up. You know that I stayed in one place most of the time." Valan looked towards the smoke once again. They were closer, but it was still a ways to go. "Speaking of carrying me..."
Galirin let out a barking laugh. "See, I told you. Now aren't you glad you accepted my bargain? Free sight and you get to ride on my back. Of course, you'll owe me one later."
By the end of the fox's sentence, Valan had already clambered up his side. "Just keep going. And no, I'm not going to buy you ten pounds of fish. We've been over this."
Laughing again, the surprisingly cheerful BAE picked up the pace towards the smoking... smoke.
edited 14th Mar '17 12:53:07 PM by Cwest5538
Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look
2 Spooky 4 U
Well, nothing much was going to get done just sleeping here! Rex moved off Lupus and landed on the ground. He went to get his rucksack while stretching his arms upward and letting out a big yawn but while doing soon, he noticed a large column of black smoke raising into the sky. Strapping on the rucksack and pulling his greatsword out of the ground, he clicked his tongue. Someone or something is burning up a whole damn forest with smoke that big. He and Lupus would have to stop that.
Rex yelled in Lupus's direction, "Hey, it's time to get up! We have a fire out here and we can't just let it go!" At that, Lupus awakened from his sleep. His gray eyes looked at Rex and replied with, "And why should I care about some trees burning down? Are they just not plants without thought or feeling? There destruction is of no importance to a mighty warrior like me." His eyes closed again.
Rex stomped his foot and then said, "But someone or something might get burned by the fire! Asides, wasn't this your territory or something a long time along?" The wolf let out a big release of breath out of his nose and said, "Not anymore and I'm sure that it's just a natural forest fire. Just the way nature rolls Rex." Rex itched his head on how to get Lupus to move and then he got it.
"Lupus, what if there's some guys there that need to be hunted for making a forest fire?"
At that, the BAE's eyes snapped back open. There we go. He got up gracefully and pulled his giant weapon out of the earth. "Well, if you put it that way then I guess I will honor those possible fools with my presence." Rex rolled his eyes. Well, he isn't wrong either. He then started his Wolf Form transformation. Bones shifted, hair grew and changed color, internals moved around, and flesh extended. At the end there was a normal sized wolf of the same appearance as Lupus and the same clothing on as Rex. A complete change of biology. "Let's go see if there's any punks to beat up. At the very least there should be some dead animals to feed you."
Lupus nodded his head in agreement and with that, they started spiriting towards the smoke that was blighting the sky.
The Forests of Vox
As the various interlopers got closer they realized that it looked like Vox on the whole got off pretty lucky! The source of the fire was a midsized town with unusually crafted stone walls that curved inwards; in the midday sun it was readily apparent that the walls were covered in intricate swirling carvings and detailings, similar to a few buildings they could see over the walls. They made the town look like some kind of exotic cauldron with the dark smoke issuing forth. The screams didn't help this sort of pretty imagery, though; there were people still inside! The gates, one north and one south, were blocked on purpose, too! Both sides had a tree fallen into their path, jammed straight into the entryway in spite of the gate actually being open inwards, and was completely blocking anyone trying to get out. The trees were also on fire, and it was possible that they were the source of this inferno. So that was one mystery solved!
The Rocked Boat
The bartender, a tanned man with hard laugh lines, nodded and started in on the drink. "Gonna be 6 T, by the way. Oh, and can you replace the poster?" As he crouched below the bar to get something, the bartender came up not only with the drink mixers but with another poster of Aurion and a big clunky stapler made of black iron. "Seen a lot of people going after her, no idea who it is but hey, good to get some use out of this thing. Picked it up in one of Emeritus's charity auctions, and it's already paid for itself just for how much I'm paid to put those posters up!" He finished serving the drink and passed it to Jake. "And your drink, sir."
Windlass, Windlass
Since you didn't explicitly name a location, Vamp, I'm gonna put Jorge on Windlass, closest thing I could tell from your post. If you want me to change it just message me on Discord or something.
Jorge wasn't exactly stopped by any guards at the gates of Windlass, but they were sure as shit scared. "Is—is that a Megafauna?" The two guards in the little guard box next to the road looked at one another. "Shit that's—" "Yeah it's—" "HEY!"
The shorter one—his nametag said ROSEN—fumbled his matchlock up. "Hey! State your business! And—and you'll need to register your..." He shook and gulped. "Your Megafauna. Wow. Hey, Stern, you got the sheet?"
The taller guy—with the nametag of STERN, as said—pulled a notebook off their desk in the checkpoint and held it up with a pen for Jorge. "It's mostly so we can track who's wielding what weapons, you know, keep the people safe, so can you just put your name down and bring any weapons forward you've got? We'll figure out registration fees after."
The Slatish Bracelet
It just so happened that yeah, Ellanua was out on the lawn, greeting guests and putting on a bright smile. Freed from the Icons' hypnotism, Katarina immediately picked up the dopey, vacant looks people put on while talking to her. She was just kinda there for now though, not doing anything too crazy and not even saying much bad—just talking about art. At present they were in front of an oil painting.
"Well, you see, this is a strongly impressionist piece, but I love how if you look closer," Ellanua pointed at the painting, a bridge over a river, "You can actually see that all of the brushstrokes go in the same direction, in the flow of the river. A really evocative piece, in my opinion. I was thinking of gifting it to my darling sister Emeritus, actually, she loves that sort of thing!
Stop Killing My Titles
A New Challenger Appears in Vox!
"VILLSFIN!"
"I HEAR YE LOUD AND CLEAR!"
Unfortunate Cauldron City
Somebody was riding down the hill, straight ahead towards the burning city. It was mostly brown in coloration, though given the speed of the charge that the rider's mount was up to. In the man's hand rested a massive axe shining with faint blue light even among the fire and the jungle...
And his mount was one really angry and really big boar. The two seemed to not be too intimidated by the flames as they charged towards the inferno, aiming towards the southern entrance and, more specifically, the log blocking the path.
Villsfin the Unbroken would die in shame rather than be afraid of a simple burning log and his rider, Bors Hellebard of Baran Tor, could not agree more. The boar rammed right into the log, hoping to break it in half or, at least, push it out of the way. With his legendary strength that would be a child's play.
Assuming they tumbled inside the city, now it was Bors' time to shine. "ALL OF YOU WHO CAN STILL BREATHE, THE SOUTHERN GATE'S OPEN FOR RELIEF!" It paid off having an impressive set of lungs on his person. The pact with Villsfin only helped in strengthening them.
grah
2 Spooky 4 U
Rex, shifting back into human form while crossing the gate opening, and Lupus move in and get to work on helping. Rex with his air control would send a gust of wind to hopefully remove the flames off any townsfolk he would encounter upon and inform them that the north gate was free. Lupus on the other hand could hear Bors yell from a mixture of it's pure loudness and the wolf's amazing sense of hearing. He started to move where the boar and master team were at and Rex followed slowly but closely behind.
edited 14th Mar '17 4:25:59 PM by LightToAll
Blood Mage Apologist
Fiery Town
Jump the Fox'
Galirin drew close, and Valan gasped. "Oh, hell. We have to do something!"
The fox sighed, his eyes scrutinizing the large boar and the huge wolf with a sword. Seriously, why the hell did a wolf have a sword? Was this the kind of thing people did nowadays?
He was a BAE, of course. That much was obvious to him- but what their intentions were wasn't. Sure, the boar appeared to have smashed the gate on his end, and the wolf was slicing into the log barring the other entrance, but whether they were rescuers, or merely tools of further destruction wasn't something that he could simply-
"ALL OF YOU WHO CAN STILL BREATHE, THE SOUTHERN GATE'S OPEN FOR RELIEF!"
Well. That was convenient.
"Gal, take us in close and jump the wall. Some of the villagers may be trapped under the rubble of their own collapsed homes," the ranger instructed. The black-furred fox nodded, and dashed forward- he ignored the other two BA Es, and jumped the wall with a mighty leap, crashing onto the other side.
Almost immediately, the pair set to work- Valan crawled through spaces that were too small for the giant fox to get too, and Galirin lifted rubble and cleared away debris. The fire scorched his fur, and the pair found themselves having to put themselves out several times, but it would still be a bit before they were driven away.
Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look
In love with an Uptown Girl
Jorge winced. He complied with what the guards asked, and handed over his cutlass. Torrock said nothing, of course. He had to pretend to not be intelligent here.
Once they got through, they would set off to find a good boat, and then go to Tome.
Please allow me to introduce myself, I am a man of wealth and taste. Nice to meet you, hope you can guess my name.
The Slatish Bracelet
Katarina did pick up on the fact that there's a strange look on the guest's face but she attributes it to the fact that they're in the audience of an art mega-celebrity than anything explicit. When the Icon of Earth talked about giving the art piece to her sister, though, Katarina found a perfect opportunity for an ice breaker. And a potential target for thievery.
"I never knew your sister appreciates great arts too," Katarina said. "Let alone an impressionist piece. How would she like it, though? That she would be impressed by the clever artistic technique alone or the fact that everything aligns and moves along with the river because of said technique?"
http://www.last.fm/user/sgtpendulum Yo, check out what I'm listening, it'll be heat, brah :^)
2 Spooky 4 U
Rex was still following closely behind as he did his job of helping all the burning people when Lupus came up to fox and ranger pair and started to help move all the material by dropping his weapon, which the gray wolf did not enjoy, and using his dull, almost human like teeth to move all the scorched wood, stone, and other material. Any people that Valan rescued would be quickly hit with a force of wind and then pointed to the now open north gate by Rex. When Valan had the chance to take notice of Rex, he would tell the brown haired bowman, "We are here to help! Nice to meet you."
Then the wolf told the fox, "Figured that you two could use the help. We can handle anything after all."
edited 15th Mar '17 7:06:06 AM by LightToAll
Inferno City: Not Saving People
When Eliyahu got close enough to see the city from which the flaming inferno rose, he glanced at the gate, then at his map, it was showing the nearest enclave to be a good distance away. He frowned, he's been getting bad maps for a while now. "Seems like we've got another worthless one" He said as he lit the map on fire.
"What's the plan Eliya?" The mammoth said as they finally arrived at the city's gate. Eli touched his sidelocks, inspecting the trees and black smoke and then finally through the gates, he dropped from Behemoth's back to the ground and spoke.
"I'm gonna go in alone to quickly grab some provisions, doubt we could really gather good information in this confusion and chaos anyway so let's just get resources and hopefully, a decent map. Wait for me here."
"I'm gonna take a rest" The Megafauna said before moving away from the gate to find a resting spot. Eliya rolled his eyes at his partner and kept on moving towards the log. A few minutes before Villsfin knocked the tree jammed into the gate, Eliyahu jumped on it, directing the fire away from him he bypassed the block around the gate and entering the flaming city, soon he saw the boar charging and turned towards a nearby narrow alley to hide, he had no desire to deal with a monster like that at the moment.
This sudden change meant he couldn't waste time, a Megafauna's in the city, he had to take whatever he could and leave. The man wasn't afraid of the fire, after all he could control it. Traversing the city is easy, but he needed directions to make it faster.
Before he could move out of the alley Bors yelled at the top of his lungs, reaching anyone nearby and making Eli stop. He waited for the masses to pour in near the southern gates, and as they swarmed towards it, he tried to grab the first adult he could find trying to leave the city and drag them to the alley.
"You, I need directions, tell me how to get from here to the nearest place storing food and the nearest Cartography shop and I'll let you be" Eliya tried to speak quickly and with an intimidating voice towards the stranger, in addition he used his free hand to lightly grasp the scabbard of one of his scimitars. "Ignore debris or flames blocking the paths, I can get through those, now speak quickly."
edited 15th Mar '17 9:55:43 AM by LiorVal
Fwomph
Heading towards Burning Cauldron-esque Town
Unlike some of the others bearing their own BAE companions in this day and age, Daev was not a particularly fast runner and his companion was not willing or able to be used as a mount. So he was walking and running when he felt he had the stamina too and Apophis, his BAE, was lazily slithering along the branches overhead and easily keeping pace.
"So... Mysterious fire, middle of the forest... You got any ideas because I have none."
Daev was quite sure that the BAE overhead actually did have a theory as to what the fire was and like almost all of Apophis' theories it usually came down to insulting the Icons in a snide way.
"Probably improper campfire construction or bad town planning. There's a lot of things that can burn and a lot of things that can make things burn yaknow."
"Well we can wait and see. A ruin too fresh is a ruin that cannot be savored right."
And so they kept walking until they arrived at the burning town of course.
"See, told you, bad town planning. Two gates and no way to get out of the wall without them."
"Oh, wow. Was the designer looking for irony? ... Is that fire woman responsible for town construction in Vox?"
With a moment of hesitation Daev began making his way down the hill towards the other people doing obvious hero stuff.
"Hello! Need a hand anywhere!?"
edited 15th Mar '17 11:02:19 PM by Pentigan
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
Blood Mage Apologist
Vox- Burning Town
Galirin had glanced at the wolf and smiled gratefully. "Thanks- we do. I'm stronger than my Master here, but having a wolf like you on our side will help greatly." He lifted a fallen beam long enough for a young man and his daughter to escape, before letting it drop again, since it was, after all, on fire.
And sure, well that was technically flattery, he hadn't been lying, per-say. Having a wolf on their side would certainly help. So what if he had complimented the pair instead of just giving them simple thanks?
Everyone liked it when they were praised, and the wolf did look strong. Having an ally like them on their side could help in the long run.
Valan, on the other hand, glanced at the man beside him. "Great. Here, help me break down this door!" Someone had thought that it was a good idea to lock and bar their door when they were asleep.
Apparently, they were having a bit of trouble getting it open- and as fire had started to consume their house, it was up to the two humans to get it open.
Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look
2 Spooky 4 U
He looked at Valan for a moment and considered if going from man to wolf would freak him out. Then he looked at the black fox that he came with and he came to the final conclusion of no. It wouldn't. Rex shrugged his shoulders and dropped his rucksack to the ground. Needed to reduce his size. Rex then shifted into his Wolf Form and jumped into the hole he made. Using the giant greatsword, he pushed the bar out of the way and then went back to human to unlock the door. He walked out and blew out the burning beings that came out from there opened prison.
Lupus on the other hand was still busy with moving around the human rubble. His fur was getting covered with ash and the hairs were getting burnt by the fire. This is a gross offense against his being. His fur was high quality and having it damaged because he was saving some humans wasn't his idea of ok. Still, he continued along. He hoped that there was some punks who started this fire because then he could have fun hunting them. Lupus told the fox, "You're welcome. Helping a fox Megafauna is something I'm more than happy with doing."
Well, it was true. The wolf didn't think that the fox was better than him, though he believed that was hard to do for anything, but he could at least have a small amount of respect for a creature so close to his kind. Who knows? He might even become as grand as himself one day.......Not likely though.
edited 16th Mar '17 6:33:12 AM by LightToAll
That's just how it is on this bitch of an earth
Burning Town, Vox
Amalda and Azale come up on the town. Azale's inmediate reaction is disappointment.
"It's just a burning town? Geh. What a waste of time. Oh well, these people are dying already it ought to be easy to kill them."
"Why would we kill them. Why are you like this." Amalda's voice is hollow, like she's asked this question many times and she already knows what the bird's answer is going to be.
"They wasted our time, and you're the one who keeps telling me your time is valuable! That seems fair."
"That's not how it works and you know it. I'm not having this discussion with you right now, just go take your aggression out on the burning buildings and rescue some people or something. It's painful just sitting here and watching them burn to death." Amalda sighs and runs off towards the town. She begins breaking down doors with her hammer and escorting anyone still inside out. Somewhere in the back of her mind, it registers that there are other BA Es scattered around. But she honestly did not care, at least not at the moment.
Azale just harrumphs, shakes out her feathers and jumps high in the air- landing somewhere in the middle of town. She violently tears open a few houses and lifts the occupants out with her beak. Some of them end up injured but hey, better injured than dead.
off the shits
Stratus - Knight Errant and Errant Silver
Two mercenary companies waiting for an Icon to give one of them a blessing, at the base of a mountain and right by farmland that stretched nearly as far as the eye could see. For Calum, this was yet another battle for him to enter, for he could not knowingly subject a nearby farm to the fires of war and not intervene.
A sigh of resignation to this course of events came from his benefactor, savior and partner, Faefnyr - the silver being gave a sudden chuckle, "Well, I suppose with you as my partner, Kid, I can't really expect anything less. Your devotion to these Concepts in particular is at least interesting..."
Calum kicked a pebble along the road, and looked at his swordspear, handle clenched in one hand. "I can't ignore people in danger - justice commands me to move, and fight for honor, truth and victory."
Faefnyr seemed to issue a slightly darker chuckle in response, "...Heh. Whatever ya say, Kid. I'm just interested in the concepts of this world. If this battle brings out some particularly interesting ideas in anyone - you, me, them...it'll be worth it."
Calum did not really put much thought into what his partner meant by that. Battle was battle to him, and that was how it should be. And yet...last time he had engaged in a mission, fighting for a local noble to rescue his daughter...
He shook his head - he hoped that this battle would clear his head just as soon as it allowed itself to begin. He would need to fight intensely to get these disgusting fleshy lusts out of his system. This island would be the site of a conflict, and the people from this farm would need someone to keep the worst from spilling over. And that would be him.
He pointed the blade of his swordspear down at the ground again and kept moving. Maybe he could ask around - he doubted that something could build up like this and not incur any talk from the locals. For now, Calum decided to see if anyone was out and about in all this farmland, whether they knew anything, and where to go from here.
AKA: Oh hey, look who finally posted
"...Just what the hell's going on?"
Not far from the scene of the fight, a young man cloaked in shadows were watching (in the loosest use of the term, considering his face was bandaged up) the two mercenary groups. While combat was being held, for the most part, it felt like they were holding back for something.
Probably they're hoping Emeritus would favor one or the other before going all out, Lucas thought. "Not exactly the most honorable of actions, but then again, war never favors the honorable."
" You've been listening to that fight for half an hour," hissed a now-familiar voice into Lucas's ear, causing the former soldier to bolt up from shock. "How much longer until we hunt?"
"Not now," Lucas responded. "I want to learn how it turns out."
" More like you want to barge in and risk both of our asses again," responded the giant bat. "And you're not doing that while there's deer to be eaten."
"You go on ahead, then," Lucas responded, grabbing his stuff and heading towards the field. "I'll meet up with you later."
Not trusting his mater not to put himself in danger again, the bat grumbled something along the line of "idiot human" before following after him.
Not many people wanna talk about how SNAFU means "Situation Normal: All Fucked Up."
You could say that of a lot of Dakon, the shattered peninsula that the humans, the Icons, and the BAEs called home. The latter had only recently awoken and revealed to a couple lucky humans just how fucked up the normal situation was. So, all around the world, the Icons were doing cool shit.
Emeritus was freaking the fuck out. It appeared that one of her assistants had gone missing for real. She thought maybe the girl had just fallen ill, or needed to take some days off for her daughter or something. But as the days stretched into weeks, and then months, she realized there really was a problem on her hands. Emeritus sent out the call, posted it to many ports across Tome and even to a buoy or two hundred: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WOMAN? VIVIAN AURION. MISSING, REWARD 30,000 Т One of these posters was stapled to a friendly port of call in Tome, THE ROCKED BOAT. One of those really small islands, it was basically just a dude's house, some docks, and a nicely-sized open-air bar facing the sea with a nice wide, expansive beach. It was a nice day and there were plenty of people coming to lounge by the beach for a drink.
On Slate, Ellanua had been convinced to open her art to the public for once in her goddamn life. Over on the lawn of her opulent mansion on the "wrist" of her home island with more inside, there were paintings, statues, even a tapestry or two. All the arts she treasured were on display in her little alpine getaway. The girl herself was mingling through the crowd on the lawn, drinking and welcoming guests coming out of the forest. In spite of its extreme decoration all throughout, Ellanua's mansion actually had a super simple design: a big old foyer with one of those grand staircases, a locked door leading to the bedroom all the way in the back on the top floor, some doors to research labs and libraries in this main foyer space, and two huge-ass wings on either side, empty rooms leading to gallery space that was significantly freer now that there were people on the grounds as well.
In the veritable Adventure Land that was Vox, there was some kind of trouble. Well, like, there always was, was the thing, so much like all of Dakon it was a standard SNAFU. On the many quiet trails of the forest one could see an amount of smoke rising up from the forest one wouldn't typically associate with a campfire—it was thick and black and way, way too big. There wasn't anyone near it, but it was so big distance almost became difficult to determine.
And on Stratus shit was tense, actually, not openly crazy just yet. On the southern face of the mountain there were two mercenary companies ready to throw the fuck down. The thing was, these two guys were a little more savvy than was expected of the humans: they were both very low-key waiting for Effarian to show up and endorse one or the other. The land there was something special, for sure, even though anywhere else it might not be. It was a farm! Like, a huge farm, easily a full four square miles of farmland cut into a level chunk of the mountain, and small squadrons stood poised in the spaces between the huge fields. Waiting.
And there you are! Here are some options, and if you want to make your own fun as well, have at it! Courtesy link to the signups.