Hello and welcome reader, to the 28th instalment of the Character Development Threads
! These shared story exercises help budding writers develop their characters alongside the characters of other budding writers. No sign-up is needed; just jump right in with your characters. It is recommended that you read the thread page and the last couple of pages before starting.
Discussion Thread Thread Page Town Map
This is a "Main Series" thread and, as such, an element of risk is expected. Rules and participation guidelines may be found on this page.
The thread page groups active characters under the areas in which they are active, enabling you to see who is at a given location in which you might be interested or to find out where to go to encounter characters with whom you wish to interact.
Kindly add your own characters to the thread page, with a link to their initial post, under the area in which they are located and update the page if they change location.
Bear in mind that if your characters are arriving at a location, they are likely to know little more than what they see and hear as they arrive - what the location looks like, what other characters are there (both of which can be read on the thread page) and the last few lines uttered and actions taken as they are arriving (which can be found in the last few posts for that location in the story thread itself), so inserting characters need not be a terrifying process.
If you need help, have any questions, or want a quick recap (if the page count is daunting), head over to the discussion page, and someone is sure to help you out!
To help guide character interaction, having your character come in with a at least one short-term and one long-term goal or motivation is strongly recommended. It is not required, but it does make it easier to drive the plot forward. Feel free to come up with rumours about what treasures, adventure, locations, and dangers may be found in the setting - they need not be true or accurate, just some hook on which to hang an adventure.
The setting is specifically designed to be a vast sandbox into which details can be inserted by participants (for example, you are free to decide that there is a particular temple in the midst of the forest in which something may be found or that there is a particular shop/hotel/restaurant in a section of the town), if you come up with a location that you desire/expect other characters to visit, please add it to the thread page as a sub-location of the relevant area.
Things change as the story progresses. If, for example, a massive battle occurs at a location and the area is now strewn with bodies and buildings are damaged, kindly update the thread page to reflect those changes, in order that other participants have an up-to-date description of the location prior to sending their characters there.
Special thanks to all those who helped in getting the thread launched or provided ideas and feedback. In alphabetic order, they include:
Blackfire667, Collen, Corvidae, daird, DarkbloodCarnagefang, EternaMemoria, Gault, Kkutwar, KillerClowns, ladytanuki, Masterofchaos, nrjxll, Pyxo, Slysheen, TroPartner, WillDeRegio and yours truly
Apologies if I missed anyone - just let me know and I'll update the post.
Between dimensions, and linked to the rest of the multiverse, lies a strange post-apocalyptic environment made up of various regions strewn with the remnants of past glory - ruins, lost technologies and magic. Here and there, nature has found its way back amongst the ruined temples and towns.
In the midst of the blighted landscape, a fresh new town has emerged - a synergy of technology, nature and magic; clean and eco-friendly; a beacon of hope for a brighter future - where travellers can rest, recharge their batteries both literally and metaphorically and get whatever they may need - technological, magical or otherwise - to aid them on their adventures.
New arrivals can turn up by diverse means in the transportation area in the north-western part of the town or by whatever other means they deem appropriate. Here they may also find for rent, lease or hire, any transport they desire from riding animals to vehicles.
The wilderness areas have not been fully explored since the mysterious apocalyptic events that ravaged the area some time ago and no one is really sure what's out there - but rumours abound.
All that is known for sure is that both magic and technology have existed here for a long time, so anything is possible...
Currently in Day 1.
Current Time: 10:00 PM
Current Weather:
General Setting: Fine, a few light clouds Rainforest: Moderately misty, the fog is slowly thickening
See the thread page for updates.
Edited by Wolf1066 on Feb 11th 2021 at 12:12:29 AM
[City Hall Plaza - Parthenia and Sa'ad, Dominic Chaudhari and four Wardens]
At the request for a name, Dominic said, "Chaudhari. Dominic Chaudhari. And we can deal with curses." He slowly withdrew a metallic cylinder. "AMON gas. Not as reliable as a trained specialist's soul-based anti-magic, but I think it'd do the trick against your man there."
Dominic Chaudhari was entirely wrong about this. AMON gas only prevented humanoids who inhaled it from conciously using magic or casting spells; if Sa'ad's curse was innate and not conciously activated, it would continue to function as normal. (This would also apply to magic-dependant beings, who would find themselves perhaps crippled offensively, but would not die simply because they breathed in the gas. If it even had an effect, given that it was a mundane chemical compound meant for human physiology that had no inherent anti-magical properties.)
"If that doesn't work," Chaudhari said, "we've got enough of a cease-fire with the WARDens that we could bring one of their magic-immunes in. Winters, or the Ace of Spades." His cringe of distaste at bringing up the latter, Alice's demented pet barbarian, was entirely sincere. "You probably spotted the first one — that tiny woman staring down a demon like it wasn't even a thing? So if we suppress your man's curse, then can we talk privately to him?"
edited 15th Apr '18 7:34:33 AM by KillerClowns
City Hall Plaza - Parthenia and Sa'ad, Dominic Chaudhari and four Wardens
Persistent.
"Chaudhari." Parthenia's voice is calm, her pale gray eyes pierce into the squad leader's blue. "I'm not refusing you because I doubt your or your superiors' abilities at containing him. Sa'ad has committed a crime against the Technocratic State. Whether the State wants it or not, he is Her citizen, and thus his fate is in the State's hands. The State also possesses whatever information he might give about his case while he is in my custody."
She took a deep breath.
"I have no intention of giving him away but to the jailers of our Arx unless I receive a direct order from my immediate superior. You can talk to Sa'ad about whatever topic you want, though I doubt that he'll be as pleasant a company to you as he was to me. But I'll be present. I'll hear everything you'll be talking about. Or there will be no talks."
Parthenia sighs.
"Chaudhari, take a good look at me. Do you think the Technocracy, or any other state, would send someone like me to catch a mere pirate?"
Would She?
Indeed.
Spiral out, keep going.
It's a bird.
Town - Purple Fez Tavern, Outdoor Tables (Jann, Rosalind)
"No need," Jann responded, waving his hand dismissively. He took of his longcoat and slung it across the back of his chair, and adjusted the gun holster on his hip a bit. "I pretty much enchant these things for fun anyway. Always found that a lot easier than direct conjuring for some reason. Less stressful, I suppose..."
Realizing that he was trailing off, Jann leaned in over the table towards Rosalind, giving her a quizzical and slightly concerned look.
"So, what was your idea?"
Town Square (Ozurr; Varg)
After handing off the D'voreem head at the tent and receiving some local currency, Varg went back to Ozurr.
"I guess 'Thassilae' is the human?" she asked. "You said you didn't know about them before she showed up, right?"
That part was difficult to imagine. Varg had been maybe seven or eight years old the first time she'd met one, and that was only because she'd grown up so far north.
"Where I'm from they're everywhere," she continued. "Breed like rabbits."
She paused, subtly smirking a bit to herself.
"Speaking of... We should head back to that tavern place we found. I'm getting hungry."
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
Town - Purple Fez Tavern, Outdoor Tables (Jann, Rosalind)
Rosalind blushed and stammered, "Well, uh, my idea was, um... that if I was getting too out of control I would... well... um... have you tie me up." A nervous burst of giggles escaped her, "Kind of a stupid idea in hindsight..." She hid her tomato-red face in her hands and whimpered, "Why did I say all that?"
Desperate to Change the Uncomfortable Subject, Rosalind grasped at a metaphorical straw, "So, I'm still trying to wrap my head around something. Where I come from, any wizard who found out that I'm a vampire would either try to kill me if they were good or enslave me if they were evil. I'm flabbergasted that I'm still alive... well, as close to alive as I can be, anyway. I'm guessing you've got at least three different ways of killing me, five or more if you put a bit of creative effort in or have spells I'm not aware of... and yet here we are and you haven't used any of them."
Spaceship, Geosynchronous Orbit (Shale, Maequoql)
High up above town where it would take a telescope to spot it, the WFSnote Hummingbird was in geosynchronous orbit above what seemed to be the only town on this Earth-like planet. The spaceship had been there for a couple of hours, minus its pilot Arilay who had beamed down on arrival and was remote-controlling it from the surface of the planet.
Deep in the bowels of engineering, a five-foot-tall figure wearing head-to-ground canvas protection was double-checking wires. The figure paused as a message played over Engineering's loudspeakers.
"Shale, you can stop fiddling with the wires now, you're tickling me. Didn't Maequoql tell you the null dot is not a mechanical fault on the scanners?"
In the scanner seat of the bridge, Maequoql, a nudenote humanoid woman with black-spotted bluish-white skin, gliding membranes, and short silky fur stopped meditating with her fingertips on her temples and spoke into the intercom, "Actually, Arilay, I neglected to mention that to Shale. Sorry, Shale. The null dot is making a hole in my psychic radar as well. Whatever it is, it's much more thorough than a mere el-kor field."
Shale scooted backwards out of the wires and peeled off her canvas protection to reveal a long-sleeved hooded aluminum chain mail dress underneath and large black eyes that shone with a calm innocence. She spent a few seconds rubbing her hands over her gray skin and the chain mail, dispelling excess heat and redistributing her sweat. She pushed back the chain mail hood and carefully groomed her fluffy white antennae. Scooting over to the nearest terminal, she typed in the chatroom, "Sorry about the tickling, Arilay. So, if the null dot is not a mechanical fault, then what is it?"
Arilay's text appeared too fast for her to be typing. "The null dot is centered around an apparently human womannote . I'll spare you the technical details of how I got this info, but she forces concentrated essence of mundanity on her surroundings. I wouldn't catch her attention if I were you."
The two humanoid aliens made disgusted faces. Other humans they'd met (while disguised, of course) who had such an ability fueled it by sheer force of boring personalities, Luddite philosophy, and a desperate hatred of anything regarded as fictional and/or supernatural. The aliens were less than optimistic that the woman that Arilay described would be any different.
Town Square, Corner of Restaraunt Overlooking the Hotel (Camouflaged Arilay)
The cyborg Arilay had infiltrated town just before the break of dawn local time, and had carefully inched her way to the vantage point she currently held. Up against a corner of the restaurant's foundation, her external nanobots were arranged to look like a random pile of soil. Within the camouflage, she had an excellent view into the hotel lobby one way and the entirety of the town square the other way. Her biological visual cortex had long since given up trying to process the images from too many mechanical eyes carefully disguised as rocks, her computer visual cortex was handling the task instead. Now was not the time to reveal herself, especially with that fight going on, better to keep watching, waiting and absorbing the details of this culture along with Maequoql as they had done over the past few hours. The little girlnote was especially intriguing, various yellow flags had gone up in Arilay's imagination.
edited 15th Apr '18 2:34:13 PM by Miss_Desperado
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
Strepsirrhine of DOOM!
Town Square (Ozurr; Varg) -> Town - Purple Fez Tavern (Ozurr; Varg, Jann; Rosalind)
Ozurr's mood immediately brightened at the mention of food. He hadn't had a proper meal since he left Hromstgard. In fact, the last few days, there hadn't seemed to be much to hunt at all, which was odd. The two things that were reliable about the wildlife in Faerie was that it was A) hostile, and B) everywhere. If he had thought more about it, he might have noticed that the sudden drop in prey had coincided with him noticing Arstadam following him.
"My understanding," he said, following Varg to the tavern, "is that the human lands and Faerie are separated by a huge mountain range. The humans rarely, if ever, have any reason to set foot in Faerie, and I don't blame them. It's a terrible place. Hromstgard is on the other side of Faerie from those mountains. We don't go into Faerie much either. Fae and Frost Giants pretty much have a mutual 'kill on sight' philosophy. Thassilae was only in Hromstgard as part of settling some outstanding debt with the Queen of Faerie. I think. I didn't press her for details."
As they approached the tavern, Ozurr smiled at the familiar smell of cooking meat. He also noticed that Jann and Rosalind seemed deep in conversation and...was Rosalind blushing? He thought so. He wasn't sure what color a pink-skinned creature might turn when they blush (Frost Giants turn indigo), but she was definitely redder than she had been a few minutes ago. Ozurr nudged Varg with his knee and gestured to them with a smirk.
Tidesson Son of the staves of timeTown Square (Ozurr; Varg) -> Town - Purple Fez Tavern (Ozurr; Varg, Jann; Rosalind)
Rosalind found herself in Ozurr's shadow and groaned, "Oh no..." She flashed a pleading puppy-dog pout at Jann, silently begging him to not spill her beans, before turning to address the approaching party members, "...how much of that did you hear?"
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
[Town Square, Corner of Restaraunt Overlooking the Hotel (Camouflaged Arilay, Ace of Spades)]
The Ace of Spades has gotten relatively close to Arilay, approaching in a manner that made it clear he recognized her for a potentially sapient being, not a mere pile of dirt. He'd done this sort of thing before, poking around one of the crashed spaceships that gave the Graveyard of the Gods its name with only stone-age technology at his disposal. A Graveyarder rite of passage that always claimed a few lives. It was the same experience that kept him from getting too close; he wanted to be able to be able to run if he was wrong about the nanite swarm not being hostile. (That was the only sensible response to a hostile hunter swarm.)
"I thought I smelled nanites," he said, as if it were obvious what nanites smelled like. "Yet this does not seem a hunter swarm. Such a thing is not patient; you would have processed someone quite messily by now. And we would know if a Dead God was nearby. And all the... buzzing. So... what are you?"
edited 15th Apr '18 8:41:09 PM by KillerClowns
Town Square, Corner of Restaraunt Overlooking the Hotel (Camouflaged Arilay, Ace of Spades)
Arilay silently grumbled, "So Much for Stealth."
Maequoql offered, "Want me to distract him with a hallucination?"
Arilay refused, "That sounds like something Sarquoql would do."
Maequoql flinched at the reminder of her evil brother. "Shutting up now."
Keeping her sandpile form, Arilay bluffed the stranger in a harsh whisper, "Shh! I'm a xenobiologist and you just interrupted my research film! Very bad form, sir!"
edited 15th Apr '18 9:10:47 PM by Miss_Desperado
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
Town Square ~ Restaurant (Diantha, Nora; Leone; Gwion, James)
Nora stared at her hand for a moment. "I— I could be unpleasant with my powers if I really wanted to be, but I prefer to be pleasant." She continued starring at her hand, "I've never shattered a mind with my abilities, though," she mentioned, before glancing up at James, "Eep! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!" she exclaimed, quite literally shrinking into her seat, and turning an embarrassed shade of pink.
She took a moment to breath calmly and return to her normal size and coloration before coolly carrying on. The girl tilted her head slightly at some of the things Gwion mentioned, "Oh, so a cartoon," she commented, before innocently asking, "What's polyandry?"
Diantha choked on her coffee.
Meanwhile, Nora turned her attention back towards James, blinking in recognition at his mentioning of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
At Gwion's prompting, the two girls turned their heads to get a better look at the going-ons between Justin and— everyone, it seemed.
"Theater try-outs?" Nora suggested.
Diantha scowled, before admitting, "I'm not entirely sure."
Town ~ Hotel Lobby Entrance (Cynthia, Moobly; Valerie; Wolfe; etc.)
Moobly continued frowning as Wolfe proceeded to waltz out to confront the erratic Justin. "This... is probably not going to end well," she said to no one in particular. "Cynthia," she said, glancing down at her de facto leader, "since others seem to have the outside covered, perhaps we should intervene with short, pale, and creepy over there. Moobly would hate to see what that Justin character would do should actual harm come to his mistress," she suggested.
The knight nodded as she got herself back up on her feet and retrieved her sword, sheathing it.
The pair, with Cynthia looking a little worse for wear, approached the curled up witch. Cynthia extended a hand to the little girl, "Are you alright? Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked.
"Little girl's hat is very poofy," Moobly nonsequitously stated, attempting to lighten the mood, before glancing around, bewildered, "Where did that strange man go?"
Restaurant (Leone, Gwion, James, Diantha, Nora)
"Ah," Leone replied simply to Gwion's explanation. At that she took another bite of her steak, but didn't quite get to chew it when Nora asked her question about polyandry. For a couple moments all she did was blankly stare. Eventually, however, she swallowed.
"...It's something the pastor advises heavily against, that much I know," she replied, "Although my local pastor is a bit of a dunce, so up to you whether or not it's good advice or not."
After that, she simply returned to her meal like nothing was ever asked. After another bite, she looked up to notice Nora being confused about something James said. Given that he just mentioned something about the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, she could guess just what it was that was confusing her.
"I don't know the full details, but apparently time's a little...messed up, where they're from." She frowned. "And I think it's a little messed up here, as well. Either way, I wouldn't recommend thinking about it too hard. It's for your own good."
Then Gwion brought her attention to the sharply-dressed man ranting and raving about...something that Leone couldn't hear from this distance, plus the group of shadowy dragons surrounding him. She gave the scene a long and hard look, her eyes narrowing as time went on.
"I've met such people before," she said, her voice taking on a dark tone, "They're prone to causing...lots of collateral damage, if not dealt with quickly." She glanced around the people around him, and her expression lightened a little. "Though thankfully, it doesn't look like this man's the kind I'm used to. At the very least, he doesn't seem interested in hurting innocents. Though if it turns out I'm mistaken..." Her next two words were spoken with cold certainty. "...he's dead."
On that grim note, she went back to eating.
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Smaller River, edge of the forest (Rosalind's Mustangs, Inquisitor's Stray Horse, Skvader, The Grim Reaper... I mean, Navigator... I mean, Amaranth... and Pewter)
Two of the horses—obviously the leaders of the herd—decided to approach the Grim Reaper(?), or rather, block them from causing harm to the other horses. The horse he rode took a step back, seeming a bit embarrassed by the ordeal. She whinnied. Whoa whoa... it's okay, I don't bite, and my rider's actually nice. Navigator, I call her.
"Navigator" recognized the horses' act of caution and held up a gloved palm as he—I mean, she, apparently—dismounted. Then she removed her hood, revealing a head of wavy flaxen hair. The skeletal face turned out to be a mask made from the front half of a skull; removing it revealed an obviously human face with a light complexion, but a bit tanned from sun exposure, and light green eyes. Her hands weren't skeletal either; removing her gloves revealed human hands too. Then she took off her cloak altogether, revealing another cloak beneath, this one just a plain brown traveling cloak. And with a rather ordinary dress—ordinary to a middle ages peasant sort anyway—with a mostly green and brown color motif.
Although none of the horses—or that weird rabbit thing—could speak human language, she spoke, softly, anyway, tentatively holding her hand out while keeping the other on her horse's saddle. "Easy now, I know I might have looked scary for a while, but it's okay. It probably doesn't mean anything to you, but my name is Amaranth, and this is Pewter. I am sorry to disturb you, but Pewter looked like she wanted to meet you." Pewter, the new horse, gave a confirmational whinny. Nice to meet you.
It was almost as if Amaranth and Pewter shared some sort of connection or bond, even.
Hotel (UD Justin, Valerie, Miron, Kris, Aubrey, Pearl, Finn, Cynthia, Moobly, Jean, Alice, Nui, Nyceme, Sindar, Saen) "As Peculiar as Peculiar Could Be"
In all the chaos, Nyceme was focused primarily on the fight between Justin and Miron, each an intended victim of an SOSnote from the other. So far all Justin did was summon shadowy constructs, which Miron easily defeated. The red-robed mildly-undead-ish man seemed to do rather well in the fight... until he accidentally stumbled into that one woman's antimagic field. Cynthia seemed to also suffer an adverse effect when near that field, as did the short elf (who looked undead at first glance from skin tone alone, but had too healthy a complexion to be so on second inspection), though mildly. The fiery shadow dragons Justin summoned afterward looked a bit more threatening, but they were still constructs. And the flame wall... Nyceme had ways of dealing with such a spell. Heck, even Saen seemed to think that Justin's magic was pretty much all show.
Child's play. If he fights only with those, the only difficulty might be in knowing which sorts of spells would actually harm him. Especially after seeing him not only remove his own heart, but fuse his heart back into his body through his arm. Although, he is part human... and what's this? Focusing more on Justin, Nyceme saw something anomalous about his soul—namely that there were two of them, not fully connected to his body... in fact they were more connected to each other. However, she had no way of telling which one was Justin and which one was the demon, especially with how closely they were bonded.
Scanning the parking lot some more, she noticed that the elf(?) was pointing their arm gadget thing at her. To which she narrowed her eyes, wondering why the hell they would consider her a threat rather than either of the two combatants or that woman with the antimagic field. Was it her appearance? Did they specialize in hunting undead?
That was when Justin spoke to her about liberating her own soul, and using the 'praise' from defeating him to leverage her way toward resurrection. More misguided nonsense, of course... but then he also referred to himself as an unchained devil. Which was quite different from a demon, if devils and demons in his world worked the same way as they did in the legends of Crownen (like perfect vampires, they very rarely appeared before mortals). This led her to surmise that it was not the demon possessing Justin after all, but rather some strange devilish presence possessing both Justin and the demon. It was as peculiar as peculiar could be; never had she witnessed such a complex interaction of souls. Even the complex ritual she had undergone to get to her state of undeath still involved only one soul: her own, merely transferred to an object.
He did have a point about the antimagic woman being a greater threat. Looking in her direction, Nyceme started to think of ways she'd deal with her if she became a problem. Obviously not spells, but physical contact... nope, her body was animated by magic. Same with anything Sindar could conjure, and any undead at all for that matter, with the possible exception of vampires. Besides, this woman hadn't done anything threatening, so she saw no need to even engage her at all. If she did... she'd cross that bridge if and when she should come to it.
So instead she looked over at Saen. "If you are coming with me to the necropolisss, surely you will sssee me in combat at sssome point. I consssider myssself an exxxperienccced adventurer, and in my exxxperienccce, the wildernesss can contain all sssortsss of dangersss. And of courssse, likewissse. That isss, asssuming you are interesssted in the necropolisss? Or isss there another place out there you would rather exxxplore?"
Meanwhile, inside the lobby, Sindar saw a man in somewhat formal attirenote approach Valerie, saying that he "sensed" a connection between her and Justin and asking her about said connection. Or perhaps it was an illusion; the next moment he was gone. Valerie was understandably nervous nonetheless, maybe even on the verge of tears, in her reply. Meanwhile, Justin came in, and was speaking in three different voices. It seemed like there was some sort of identity crisis going on with him. There was the demon, struggling to break free after being subdued. And there was a more devil-like persona that put out the aggressive front. Which was very strange—now it suddenly sounded like the demon was the victim here. It was as peculiar as peculiar could be.
But it was still berating the older man for belittling Valerie, even though it sounded to Sindar like he did no such thing. So far it seemed that he was as concerned for Valerie's safety as anyone. So with a disgruntled look, he made a shooing gesture at Justin. "Back off. Don't you have someone to fight first? And tormenting someone is a very strange way of protecting your master, just saying. And an even worse way of treating someone who saved you like that. Even she herself is asking that you leave her alone, or are you too blinded by madness to notice?"
He flew back over to Valerie. "Don't worry, I'll make sure nobody hurts him. It seems like he's reverted back to being the monster you saved him from, so... you might be the best one to deal with this. You saved him before; can you not do so again?"
Back outside, on the far side of the battlefield, Nui was having second thoughts about focusing on the lich. Especially when Justin reached out to them. When he pulled his hair back, they saw something struggling inside his head, and on top of it they saw a ripple in his aura that suggested a clear distress, like it was trapped inside. Though they kept their gadget at the ready and occasionally glanced back at Nyceme, they grew curious about that entity inside Justin and decided to observe him more. Especially when he removed his heart and put it back without any sign of a wound (the removal itself didn't faze them, for some reason). That was some unusual magic. His aura, while still having that strong air of negativity, was complex to say the least. It took some studying to see any nuances though.
But of the nuances, the most prominent was a bonding, which to Nui seemed a lot like the magical signature of someone who was possessed, except neither soul was fully in control; there was a third... something, that was responsible for Justin's behavior. Their guess was correct; his later speech shifting between three tones was evidence for it. His words were less important, seemingly directed at someone else in the hotel, but by now the nature of their bond was clear. Though Nui was unaware that a devil and a demon were involved, they knew that there were two souls at work, and that one was dominating the other and fueling a false visage from its hatred. It was peculiar as peculiar could be; although Nui had certainly heard about advanced necromantic rites that could control and subdue souls like that, that false visage was something they never could have imagined.
The woman with the "firearms", which apparently were some explosion-fueled projectile weapon, then joined them, seemingly excited about the conjured shadow dragons. Which, though they contained the same aura of negativity as Justin himself, didn't have any... uniqueness. "I highly doubt those are real dragons," Nui explained. "They are conjured apparitions, which while a very advanced spell, typically do not linger. Still, they seem to contain some small facsimile of sentience, as you might tell from the way they are actively avoiding Alicewinter's antimagic field. That is also further proof that they are magical constructs; if they were real dragons, they'd have no reason to avoid such a field. While some dragons are capable of magic, they function biologically like any person or animal. That wall of flames is a rather typical spell, one that man must have practiced, as you can tell since he did not use an incantation and the effect falls outside the normal parameters of pyrokinesis. They are not even real flames, or even spectral flames. Constructs of shadow, just like the beings his enemy defeated."
After that lengthy explanation, Nui finally decided to intervene, running around to the side of Justin's wall of flames. There they gestured out with their left hand, the one bearing the smaller gadget. As they did so, the rod on it projected an energy disc about the size of a typical frisbee, sitting on their arm like a shield. As they concentrated, the shield darkened, until it was as black and as impenetrable as the wall of flames. Nui then retracted the shield and shot a beam of pure darkness out of the gadget on his right arm. This sprouted a black wall on the opposite side, forming in a semicircle. This wall and the wall of flame had a small opening that Nui stood within.
There they spoke. "As I understand, your two souls don't like each other, right? I have some experience with the necromantic arts myself; perhaps I could help you with that. Do you want to free the soul that you're suppressing? Or what? I have options."
Solstice Cafe (Cormack, Carol, Lily, Cas, Karl, Peggy, Kaitlyn, Not-Chaos-Hunters)
The elf boy raised an eyebrow when Lily explained the difference between wyverns and dragons... and eventually admitted that maybe their dragons were different. "Ya think?"
With those same ears Amy had rather rudely touched, he overheard someone at the adjacent table mention his notice about the legendary musket. Later, the elf(?) woman who had just arrived introduced herself and her two companions at that table. So did the other new arrivals, who also mentioned, rather enthusiastically, that they also had adventuring experience.
"That's an awesome bow!" said Cormack to Adam. "What sort of magic's on those arrows?" Then he scowled briefly when Amy asked about payment, but shrugged it off. "Well, I heard there were other cool gadgets in the Warpfields too. I figure those qualify as payment, no? Plus we can all have fun with the musket itself once we're there. I guess we leave..." he gestured at Peggy, "whenever that group she mentioned arrives. Can't leave anyone who's interested behind after—"
That's when he casually looked over in the direction Cas and the others were looking in... some sort of scene brewing near the hotel. Cormack could just barely make out Nyceme among the crowd; in fact, it looked like she had found another snakewoman to interact with. Small world... only that one looked living. Then there were some weird shadows and an undead-looking elf and a knight and two men in a duel... not too easy to make out much though.
This too he shrugged off, turning back to the group. "So, you two are not coming..." he indicated Peggy and Karl, "...what about you two?" He indicated Cas and Kaitlyn. "Or is it just you lot" he indicated the Not-Chaos-Hunters "and that group Peggy mentioned?"
edited 16th Apr '18 7:56:40 PM by ladytanuki
Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.
Crazy Kiwi
Town: Restaurant - outside seating area
[Leone, Diantha, Nora, Gwion, James]James nodded at what Leone said about time being messed up where he was from and here as well. "Time is definitely messed up on Terra Nova, more so for some of us than others, and places like this - liminal places between worlds - even more so."
Gwion gave a smirk at Nora's response. It wasn't a particularly helpful answer - except possibly as an oblique way of admitting she hadn't a clue - but it was delightfully cynical and he appreciated it. Diantha was more direct in her acknowledgement of not being able to answer. Leone, on the other hand, seemed to have had experience in such matters and was able to at least surmise that, although there was potential for collateral damage, the intent was apparently not to harm innocents. Her finishing words were chillingly direct and Gwion had no doubt that she was completely serious - or that she would be capable of carrying out the implied threat.
Just then, he heard Wolfe's voice delivering a loud declamatory and scathing assault and looked over to see that Wolfe had joined the snake-woman and the red-uniformed soldier in front of the hotel, facing the theatrical dark-haired guy. He couldn't help but remember delivering a similarly impassioned and uncomplimentary tirade to 'Sir Afro' after the infamous 'Pizza Incident' at Zan's Diner in Capital City.
Gwion turned to James. "His voice carries, dunnit. Was he raised onna fuckin' farm or somethin'?" He looked over at where Wolfe was just starting to get warmed up to his topic. "Y'know, he really oughta learn to de-escalate situations insteada windin' people up." Thankfully, Ulf wasn't around to say anything embarrassing or incriminating.
James grinned. "Actually, compared with some of the— discussions he had with Aubrey on the 'Long Walk', this is quite tame."
Smaller River, edge of the forest (Rosalind's Mustangs, Inquisitor's Stray Horse, Skvader; Amaranth, Pewter)
Flashfoot kept her head imperiously raised and stomped a forehoof. I'm the Lead Mare, I'm the one who does the navigating in this herd. Follow your Navigator if you must, or follow me if you choose, but whatever you do, don't expect me to follow your Navigator.
The horses bravely stood their ground as the human removed the skeletal costume. Guardian Thunder dropped his imperial pose and approached the human, sniffing her outstretched hand first, then sniffing the rest of her for tidbits or Sabertooth Boomsticksnote .
Meanwhile, Flashfoot dismissed Rook to go back to the herd, but instead, Rook stuck around and made a lewd gesture — specifically, he tried to sniff under Pewter's tail with his upper lip curled in a Flehmen response. Thunder truncated his search to chase Rook away from the new mare, leaving Flashfoot to sniff the human for herself.
It was at this point that the skvader noticed the bottle of happy-juice in the newcomer's saddlebags. He leaped into the air, gliding from one saddle to the other, and started poking his whiskers into where they didn't belong, trying to figure out how to open the bottle. Then Fiddler noticed where the skvader's attention was and came trotting over to join in the rummaging.
edited 16th Apr '18 10:29:28 AM by Miss_Desperado
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
It's a bird.
Town - Purple Fez Tavern (Ozurr; Varg, Jann; Rosalind)
"Oh," Jann responded, blushing a bit himself as he heard about Rosalind's initial plan. His mind involuntarily wandered back to a certain... creative lady from the less reputable parts of Brightcliff that he'd once known. That is clearly not the sort of thing she's referring to, you buffoon! He cleared his throat.
"Yes... I suppose this is... the better option."
At the second part of what she said, there was a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth due to the unpleasant topic, but eventually, Jann simply leaned back in the chair and shrugged.
"A wizard might do that," he said, "but never a gentleman. I've always held the firm opinion that you shouldn't kill anyone unless they force you to."
At that point, Varg and Ozurr arrived at the tavern. Varg smirked back at the giant before taking a seat at the table, pointing towards a nearby empty table for him. It seemed sturdy enough to work as a chair.
"Hear what?" she asked, facing Rosalind, which prompted Jann to perform a set of somewhat panicked-looking I'll-explain-this-later gestures. Varg quirked an eyebrow, but chose not to press any further.
"Hm, right on time," she said next, as she noticed an approaching waitress precariously balancing a large number of plates and bowls in her arms.
The waitress carefully put them all down on the table before glancing between Jann and Ozurr, giving the latter a somewhat strained but understanding look.
"I'll bring out the rest of them in a minute."
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.The Purple Fez Tavern, Outdoor Tables (Ozurr; Varg, Jann; Rosalind)
Rosalind stared thoughtfully at Varg, trying to determine if Varg was telling the truth, but switched her gaze to Ozurr upon seeing Jann's frantic motions out of the corner of her eye.
Then her attention was grabbed by the mutton she'd ordered in the first load of food. She used a fork and knife to slice off a bite. "Now that's clever," she murmured to herself. The thinnest layer of barely-cooked surface sealed a tantalizing amount of blood within the raw meat just beneath. Rosalind chewed her forkful. It tasted just as good as she remembered, apart from the obvious difference in how it was cooked. Maybe this little experiment would work.
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
Mr ship
[Town-Notice Board>Outside the Hotel/Henry]
“Well tell him to keep an eye out next time.” Henry told them annoyed from almost getting chrushed to death.
Once done grumbling he noticed that Jean disappeared. After looking around he noticed her over at the Hotel watching what looked like a fight.
He slinked over to Jeans side and whispered in her ear. “So what’s did I miss?”
Strepsirrhine of DOOM!
Town - Purple Fez Tavern (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
Ozurr considered the table Varg had indicated. She seemed to be indicating that he should sit on it. It seemed sturdy enough to hold him, but it was also at the same height as the table that all the food was on. Plus, sitting on someone else's table seemed kind of rude. So, Ozurrr simply crossed his legs and sat on the ground - carefully this time, making sure there was nobody underneath him.
He watched in mild amusement as the waitress brought out the first few dishes. Well, of course small creatures would eat small food. Why should it be otherwise? He gingerly picked up a loaf of bread, examined it for a few seconds, and then popped the entire thing in his mouth.
Tidesson Son of the staves of timeThe Purple Fez Tavern, Outdoor Tables (Ozurr; Varg, Jann; Rosalind)
Despite Jann's earlier reassurances, Rosalind was still falling back on old paranoid habits. She made a mental note to keep an eye on Ozurr. He hadn't answered her question, so for all she knew, he could have heard everything. Worst-case scenario, he was plotting to backstab her the instant no one else was looking, perhaps by pounding her ribcage to a pulp with the handle of his axe.
Rosalind still didn't know what species Varg was, and didn't want to ask until she felt comfortable reciprocating her own information. Still, there was one question she could safely ask.
"Varg, how do you and Jann know each other?"
A few bites later, Rosalind felt the meat sitting heavily in her stomach. She didn't remember mutton being this filling. Too much meat, not enough blood. Still, it tasted good, so she kept eating.
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
Town Square ~ Solstice Cafe (Carol, Lily; Not-Chaos-Hunters; Cormack; {Cas; Karl, Peggy})
Carol grumbled something under her breath, directed towards Jackson, before vacating her seat and standing beside Amy. When Adam drew his bow and showed off the neon light show, Carol's eyebrow shot up, "Hmm, similar t'cave elf tech," she commented, "decent, compact, worth a fortune. Annoyin' t'be on the receivin' end," she dryly added.
Lily, on the other hand, struck up a conversation with Jackson. "I've got a bit of experience with engineering myself; I'm always upgrading and fine tuning my arms and armour," she said, gesturing to her weapon with her artificial hand, before patting her jacket.
Town Square ~ Restaurant (Diantha, Nora; Leone; Gwion, James)
Nora nodded briskly, "I've also experienced muddled time before, it was a little confusing getting used to Aria," she said.
Diantha cracked her knuckles. "The more I watch that guy, the more I think he needs some sense knocked into him," she mentioned.
"I could sit on him," Nora chirped.
The colorful haired girl shook her head, "Uh, no, that would escalate things faster than saying "your mum,"" she said, placing a hand on the shapeshifter's shoulder, "plus, you know, all of the collateral damage you would probably cause in the process, if your thinking what I think your thinking."
This is my good side.
Town Square
It looked like things were starting to get a faster pace. Just now another possible customer showed up! But, alas, he didn't seem too interested in buying anything, instead was getting acquainted with the two women.
Chitara couldn't help but get interested. "Ah, you seem to know each other. Small world we live i-"
Whomp
The ground shook hard enough to lift Chitara off her feet, even for a moment. Buto and Gata, the two giant beetles that pulled her wagon, stopped grazing and moved their antennae around, startled. Naiolo stood up, looking at the source of the ground shaking. His heart jumped up at his throat when he saw the towering creature entering another building. Even if it didn't seem hostile, the sight of a giant was not something one would hope to witness. Naiolo sat down, perplexed. "D-Did anyone see that?" He asked half-heartedly to the air.
Chitara didn't seem to mind. However, she did mind the ever growing conflict that was going on on the other side of the square. That... 'demon' seemed powerful. If things kept escalating, Chitara didn't want to be around.
The costumed customer expressed interest in exploring the necropolis. That may be a good opportunity to jump town for now. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Certainly better than being here right now." She pointed at the fight going on. "Say, would you mind if I decided to tag along? If anything, I can provide some transport and accomodations." Now, she pointed at her wagon, large enough to accomodate more than two. Naiolo, still too dumbfounded at the giant's sight, didn't seem to hear her.
"Oh, by the way." Chitara added, grabbing and waving the two talismans at the two women. "You gonna buy or not?"
Crazy Kiwi
Town 'Square': Chitara's Wagon
[Chitara, Naiolo, plague doctor, Ulf, Teri, Sophia]The Plague Doctor was apparently also seeking information, which was good as it meant that there was a chance that her search would complement that of the others. The question was a little more problematic. 'Competent' at what? Teri shrugged. "Well, they've all survived some pretty strange 'n' 'arrowin' stuff over th'years, 'n' they're all competent with weapons that should deal wiv any wild animals, at least. They're not trained archaeologists, if that's wotcha mean, but they're also lookin' for arcane knowledge what might be 'idden in the ruins."
Just then a man's voice interjected. The accent sounded familiar and there was a familiarity about the way he addressed the group. At first, Sophia thought it might be someone known by the two bird-people addressing them but then she looked and saw a somewhat familiar face. "You— you look younger." His hair was still grey and unkempt but the lack of beard seemed to take years off him.
Teri turned and stared at Ulf in surprise. "What? 'ow long you been 'ere, then? We 'ad t'go 'ome and change into our Sund'y best 'n' pick up a few fings."
The bird-woman was saying to the Plague Doctor that she was also interested in going to the Necropolis and was willing to provide transport and accommodation. Pearl, Aubrey and Finn had their own transport, but others would need to organise transport and the wagon looked like it would solve the problem for at least a couple of them.
The woman then picked up the talismans and asked if they still wanted to buy them. "Yeah, why not, would'nt 'urt t'have somethin'." Teri dug into one of the pockets of her vest and produced some of the local currency, figuring the woman would make whatever change was appropriate.
Sophia looked in the direction of the hotel and the fight and saw that Pearl, Aubrey and Finn were approaching. "Talking of the Necropolis, those friends of ours who're goin' there are headin' this way." She turned to the woman in the robe and mask. "You can talk to them yourself and get an idea of their competency."
Teri, having finished paying for both talismans, turned to Ulf. " 'n' what about you? What great adventure you got planned?"
Restaurant (Leone, Gwion, James, Diantha, Nora)
"In my experience, sometimes collateral damage is unavoidable when dealing with these kinds of people, and it's best to do whatever it takes to strike them down," Leone commented further as she kept an eye on the happenings in between bites, "Though I'd rather avoid it if it's not necessary, which so far it doesn't seem to be here."
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
The Prince of Foolish Relevations
Hotel
Looking up at the woman she had clung to earlier, Valerie somewhat slowly flicks her gaze at Moobly- Her eyes widening just enough to indicate she's slightly discomforted by Moobly's observation. Still, letting her gaze focus on Cynthia's hand, Valerie seems to be considering her offer.
Yet as Sindar stepped in on her behalf, the young(?) witch gives a subdued yet clearly horrified look as the fairy claimed she wanted Justin(?) to leave her alone. Turning her head away from Sindar, the dark haired girl nearly squeaks for her response.
"H-he, he never became a monster. He still hasn't because, b-because I would know. So long as he remains my familiar, he'll be safe from that fate. I, I just want people to stop hurting me. I'm not mom, I'm not her at all so why?"
Justin(?), of course, smiled "charmingly" sadistic as he flicked his gaze to the fairy thing. Yet before he could laugh at the arrogant doll, Justin(?) twisted his head unnaturally around to look at the elf. For a moment, a screech came from each of his souls in response to the offer-
Utter terror from the human, fearing his demon would run wild. The demon, however, is utterly confused & baffled that anything would want to free him. Though as that moment passed, the dark persona chuckles darkly.
Doing a sort-of twirl to take everyone & everything in visually, Justin's "unchained devil" has yet to stop chuckling even as he faces Nui. Running his hands through his hair, Justin's dark persona speaks in a very amused tone.
"First the fairy doll claims my sweet mistress wants me to leave her alone, and then someone who tries to offer me freedom when I already have it? Clearly, be they human, fae, or whatever else... You're all desperately in need of salvation."
Breaking out into full on maniacal laughter, a massive column of darkness & fire sprouts up halfway from the hotel. Justin(?) unraveling into darkness, he reappears by emerging from the top of the column- His arms held up high, in an almost religious manner.
Surveying the world below him, all kinds of odd appendages start sprouting from the column- Arms, legs, tendrils, malformed wings, claws, there's more variety than can be immediately deduced. For Nui and the hotel though, numerous constructs resembling Justin(?) undulate at them- And speak in unison with his voice.
"You look at me and see a shadow, some falsehood born from 'poor unfortunate souls' being stuck together. Well I have news for you- I am the true self, not some mask worn by a dirty human. It is you who are in need of freedom..." Though nothing outwardly would expose it, not once as Justin(?) spoke did his dark persona seem any realer.
Nonetheless, six smaller columns sprout up with the larger at their center. Justin(?) himself, projects his presence as he sings. "You seem to think I'm in need of salvation, like I don't know what I am. The truth, I'm sad to say, is something you can't comprehend..."
Justin(?) sinking within the large column, he seemingly emerges atop the one closest to the hotel. Curling his fingers with tension, Justin's dark persona begins clawing down from it- His right hand extended to Nui as he sings more passionately.
"However I can make you realize, the truth of this world and all others! You embrace the light so readily, that you've been blinded! There's no salvation there for you, or anyone! The darkness is home, to all! So take my hand, and come home! There's nowhere else, that you can be free!"
To those that can tell though, the "Justin" clawing his way down his own column isn't the real one. Indeed, he seems to be constantly shifting between them, besides the one he's pretending to be at presently. In fact, judging by the way he's shuffling about, it is almost as if he's planning something.
edited 19th Apr '18 11:48:02 AM by Kkutwar
"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."Corner of the Restaurant (Ace of Spades, Camouflaged Arilay)
Arilay stared astonished at the latest summons in the fight and quickly relayed her video feed to a relevant monitor on the bridge of the Hummingbird. "Maequoql, are you seeing this? Looks like hammy guy is summoning an eldritch abomination down here!"
Spaceship, Geosynchronous Orbit (Maequoql, Shale)
By this time, Shale had scooted into the bridge to burrow her fingertips through Maequoql's fur and make skin contact. Together they examined the live-stream video footage from Arilay. Maequoql briefly narrowed the beam of her psychic radar to focus on the puppet, then pulled her focus away hopefully before its controller could notice. She concluded, "That's not eldritch, it's just a meat-puppet. If it were eldritch, at the very least I'd have a nosebleed by now."
Shale mused, "Assuming I could successfully approach, I might be able to hijack control of the meat puppet..."
Maequoql vetoed, "Why waste your opportunity on the puppet when it would be much better spent on the linchpin Valerie?"
"Not yet," Arilay cautioned.
edited 19th Apr '18 6:01:40 PM by Miss_Desperado
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
City Hall Plaza - Parthenia and Sa'ad, Dominic Chaudhari and four Wardens
Interrogate Sa'ad? Of course they would. Also, is he stalling for the backup to arrive?
Passing the Hotel, Parthenia registers the calamity near it.
Demonic presence imminent? Why do others get all the fun?
She turns to Chaudhari.
"Privately? Out of question." She punctuates her words with the raising of her arm. The chain around her wrist fuses into a bracelet. "Only with my presence."
"Don't wanna let me go that bad, huh, Quizzie?" says Sa'ad.
"This man is cursed." She raises her eyes on the City Hall building looming over them. "Or, rather, everyone else in his proximity is. Whenever someone living gets close enough to him there's a high chance of getting harmed. Non-lethally. Not always physically. I can't counter it. He can't control it. He wouldn't if he could help it."
"Not with you around, you stuck-up bitch!"
"The chain is long enough to allow me to be just out of the range of his curse. According to my observations, there are no more than three accidents per day. One less accident after each occasion when he harms himself deliberately. There were two accidents today and he didn't harm himself yet. About time, Sa'ad."
"Fuck you."
She stops at City Hall's steps.
"If I'm going to deal with you it would be courteous of you'd tell me your name," says she to the squad leader.
Spiral out, keep going.