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
Forest - Two Travelers and a Stranger*
"Four hours?" Henry scoffed, taking measures to step out of the man's path—and out of his reach—as he walked past. Henry wasn't entirely sure what had happened when the man had touched him earlier, but it was disorienting and—needless to say—he didn't like it. "You're more lost than I am. Hey, try not to get eaten by a bear! Wouldn't want to scuff up that nice suit."
He waited until Mael was suitably far away before glancing towards the trees where the second traveler would have run to. His friend had done a good job of hiding, thanks in no small part to the dark, but Henry thought he could see a slight trail of slightly flattened shrubs leading to one tree in particular.
Not wanting to accidentally clue Mael in just before they were rid of him, Henry quickly looked away, just in time to glimpse a bright flash from the bushes he had headed into, and then...
Total silence.
Henry stared for several long seconds. He took off his hat and pressed the side of his knuckles to his forehead, slowly shaking his head back and forth as he tried to figure out what on Earth had just happened. When his imagination ultimately failed, he turned his attention back to the suspicious tree and called out,
"All right, I think it's safe. I think."
The second traveler peeked his head above the large tree root, glancing this way and that before finally climbing all the way to his feet and hurrying back to Henry's side. He turned in a frightful little circle, searching for any other white-suited weirdos that might be lurking nearby.
"Thah guy..." he murmured.
"Yeah," Henry nodded, "something's up. Something is officially up."
Whoever Mael had been, he was certainly no park ranger, nor was he any ordinary crime boss, if he was one at all.
"Hemry?" The second traveler glanced up at him. "Awe lal... lahth-" he paused, clearing his throat, "ah. we. lothth? Uh mean rearry lothth?" "Hey, that wasn't bad," Henry said, avoiding the question.
The second traveler's stare persisted.
"I mean it. You almost had the s sound in there, I think you're really getting the hang of it."
The stare became a glare.
"Yeah, I think we're lost. A little lost. Oh hell, I don't know. I don't even know how it happened. I followed the directions to a T. I remembered all the landmarks. I-"
"Thokay."
"I mean, not really, it's not. There's being lost, and then there's being so lost that you run into some crazy guy in a white suit in the middle of the woods at night. And that's not all, come here." Henry put his hat back on, then aimed his flashlight around a bit before finding the stone ruins he'd spied just before Mael had shown up.
This time, he walked straight over to them to get a better view. "Over here," he gestured to the second traveler, waiting for him to follow suit before shining his light down on the ruins. "Does this look anything like the Bullitt fireplace?"
The ruins in question consisted of three fairly large stone steps leading up on all sides to a mostly flat, rectangular stage that stood at about six feet above the ground, and was about big enough to host a small production. It appeared to be mostly intact for what it was, though like everything else in the forest, it was largely covered in dirt and long-reaching vegetation.
The second traveler shrugged in response to Henry's question. He wasn't an archeologist, and extensive watching of the Indiana Jones trilogy only carried one so far.
"Well," Henry continued, passing the flashlight to the second traveler before climbing onto the ruins himself, "it doesn't." He jabbed down at one of the steps, "The stonework alone is completely different, to say nothing of the overall design. This doesn't look anything like what the settlers built, and the Indian tribes built with wood, not stone. So what is it? Who made it? And what's it doing here, half an hour's walk from the foot of Squak mountain?"
He paused for a moment, seating himself on the steps of the ruins, folding his arms, and drawing in a slow breath. "If... that's where 'here' actually is."
this place needs me here
Sun-Dry Sea (Pilot 0037, Unit 09; Nyorla)
The boy shrugged as he made for Unit 09, "I'd be doomed either way, specially in the middle of a... desert?" he said, kicking a brittle piece of coral. He gave a soft sigh, "I guess I won't be able to persuade you not to come."
"Well, I guess we find the nearest Imperial outpost," he said, gingerly lifting Unit 09 off the ground, and slung it over his shoulder, "Speaking of which, I've never seen someone like you before in the Empire; what country are you from?" he asked of Nyorla.
Unit 09 interrupted, "Zero-Zero-Three-Seven, prior to the loss of the Mark Three Panzerfaust, connection to the Imperial Aether Network was lost."
The boy glanced over his shoulder, staring dumbfoundedly at Unit 09, "What."
"We are not in range of the Balamar Empire or any of its agents."
0037 sat down, dropping Unit 09 in the process, eliciting a monotonous "ow" from it. He tilted his head to the side, "...what."
Doing this cause I don't want lemur to be left hanging
[Sports Good Store]
"Yep." Nick said, "Extinct. About a trillion years ago. A meteor hit the earth, caused an ice age, and killed every dinosaur. Happened way before humanity came to be."
When he asked about museums, Adam tilted his head. "You don't know what a museums are? Uh...w-well it's a place where we hold on to stuff to study their history. Like...we collect things and preserve them. Um...I-I'm not...explaining this well. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry; I think he understands." Marie said softly.
"And yes...we did run into a demon." Jackson said, "A batshit crazy demon, and a little girl, and her...'familiar', whatever that is. We were hoping we wouldn't run into them again but—"
Y'all go ahead. Maya signed, looking at Cormack, You wanna go back to that god forsaken place, that's you. Me and my friends, though, are going to stay the fuck away. Not risking shit, you know?
edited 1st Jun '18 7:33:43 PM by Masterofchaos
Sun-Dry Sea (Pilot 0037, Unit 09; Nyorla)
"Hey, I have many tricks up my sleeves for terrain like this," Nyorla idly commented as she also kicked the same brittle piece of coral. Well, metaphorical sleeves, anyway. Her false zipper seemed to be working.
Then the boy started taking an interest in their current location and where she was from. Well, this was going to be interesting. Nyorla grabbed the base of her ponytail at the back of her head with one hand and thoughtfully pulled on it. "Uuuuuuhhhh... oh man, how do I explain this? Uuuuummm... do you know what a planet is?"
edited 1st Jun '18 9:01:38 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.
Notice Board – Iragan and Orain; Murquoql
Great. Another one.
If you're about to offer to release us from where we are, then we're not buying, miss.
Yeah, cost us a lot of trouble the last time that happened. And you don't seem well, maybe you shouldn't overexert yourself this much?
Notice Board – Mark and Farah; Murquoql
"Ha! Then you're really are a telepath!" Farah seems to be overjoyed. "That was a gentle poke, actually. Do you want to be insulted properly? I'll be happy to oblige."
"Please refrain," says Mark in an irritated tone. "We've already lost too much time on this. Are you going, Muquoql? And what do you mean by 'someone else is poking around her mind'?"
In the middle of Nowhere, Interrogation Room #(10 ↑)2 8.6 – John Smith, Security Service; Alice
"So you're on official WA business here?" Smith raises an eyebrow again. "Freely disrupting the public order, putting our citizens in a threatening situation is not within the terms of our agreement with your organization. The way you describe what happened makes me think that was not your aim. That it wasn't an act of war, but a threat is still a threat. The city would ask for a … restitution from the Western Amalgamated."
In the middle of Nowhere, Interrogation Room #M77,232,917 – John Smith, Security Service and Parthenia
"What do you mean?" says the Inquisitor.
"This trinket links you to your deity, doesn't it?" Smith handles Parthenia's badge back to her.
"Correct. It's a symbol of her patronage over me. And a source of my power."
"Incorrect," says Smith. "The token is a channel, not the source. It's useless to us as an applicable object, but establishing a contact with an all-knowing deity will do."
John Smith stands up. A door appears behind him.
"The city thanks you for your cooperation, honora Parthenia the Keraunos. Sa'ad is already transferred to the holding cells. You are free to go."
Parthenia stands up and approaches the door. She freezes for a moment.
"Is something the matter?" asks Smith.
"What are you?" asks she.
Smith turns towards her.
"You do know that 'what' is a word reserved for inanimate objects, don't you?" says he. "Do you want to add 'insulting a government official' to your list of transgressions?"
"I thought-"
"I've already told you what I am." Smith gives her a nod. "I am John Smith, Security Service. Pleasure doing business with you."
"Right."
Parthenia turns around, opens the door with "Interrogation Room #M77,232,917" written on it, and walks into the light.
City Hall, Holding Cells – Parthenia and Sa'ad
The door leads straight to the City Hall's ascetically clean basement where the holding cells are located. The holding cells are seemingly without a front wall, are of different sizes, each of them are big enough to accommodate their various inhabitants, but cramped enough to feel oppressive. Parthenia notices that the layout of the basement is unsymmetrical, the number of cells is uneven and all of them are occupied.
Guess Smith's powers extend to this area, too.
The reaction of the arrested to a woman in her prime clad in black leather is predictable, though: the leering and the jeering, regardless of gender.
Figures.
"You really wouldn't want to get into the panties of this one, guys," comes a familiar voice.
Ah, here he is.
Sa'ad is sitting on his plank-bed, with his hand on his knee, and is chewing on something resembling a piece of charcoal.
"I see you've already been fed," sayd the Inquisitor. "Care to talk now? Or do you want to wait until the guys from Arx get to you? They won't be as gentle to you as I was, pirate."
"I'll take my chances, Quizzie."
Parthenia humphs. She notices someone approaching in her peripheral vision.
edited 2nd Jun '18 12:34:57 AM by Millership
Spiral out, keep going.
Sporting Goods Store (Cormack; Not-Chaos-Hunters; Zarokh; probably some others)
Zarokh briefly reflected on what he had leared from his limited interactions with the Prenocephale, specifically what their science had determined about the age of the Earth. "Yours must truly be an ancient world, then. Mine is only a few billion years old."
He paused briefly at the description of the museum. "So...you collect the mortal remains of dinosaurs in one place to...study them?" A rumbling hiss began to creep into his voice. "Do your people have no respect for the dead?"
Notice Board — Iragan and Orain; Murquoql
Darn headache. This was why Murquoql usually ignored the Fourth Wall. But now these beings were reaching across the gap to her instead of the other way around.
"You're narrators, right? My sister Moquoql is better equipped to talk to you. I didn't even know you were trapped, but if you don't want to be freed, who am I to interfere?"
Notice Board — Mark and Farah; Murquoql
At Mark's inquiry, Murquoql realized explaining the concepts of the Fourth Wall and narrators would take too long and make her sound like a cloudcuckoolander, so she told a fib. "One of my big sisters. I told her to stop. Now, on to the hotel?"
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
[The Sun-Dry Sea – Vrask, Koyel, Layi]
"...finally," Koyel said. He headed over to the slain wyvern and muttered a brief prayer of apology to the creature's spirit, wishing it well on its journey to the next world. While he did this, Layi bowed her head, though it was a cursory gesture.
"Now what say we find out what that ruckus was?" Layi said, indicating the direction they'd heard the Panzerfaust ruckus at — far enough away they weren't immediately visible to one another. Before Koyel could complain, she looked over at Vrask and said, "don't tell me you ain't curious? Maybe they might help us haul this thing back if we help 'em out with whatever?"
[In the middle of Nowhere, Interrogation Room #(10 ↑)2 8.6 – John Smith, Security Service; Alice]
Just like Belarus.
"Of course," Alice said. There was already a protocol in place, at least on Western Amalgamated's end. Her offer to John, which she explained in detail, was a significant donation of food and medical supplies. They were packaged, she explained, as exploration kits; a human or biologically similar adventurer could simply purchase or be given them, and they'd have a professional-grade first aid kit and about three days worth of varied, healthy, high-quality MREs of the sort marketed back on Terra to wealthy outdoorsmen and women. About a quarter were gluten free, and they were all vegan, as befit the trendy American and European upper-class market the MREs were aimed at.
Hopefully this would suffice — and, as Alice pointed out, make the lives of a number of adventurers worried about supplies in town easier.
I don't want to work out the precise logistics and so am describing the offer broadly rather than having her say specifically what it is, but Western Amalgamated can afford to be generous. If necessary, you can say Smith interrupts her proposal at any time.
edited 2nd Jun '18 9:01:50 PM by KillerClowns
Crazy Kiwi
Town: Restaurant - outside seating area
[Leone, Nora, Kris, Gwion, James]Gwion turned back to his meal and mopped up the last traces of egg yolk with his final piece of sausage. The plate was almost as clean as Nora's when he put his knife and fork down.
Kris turned to Nora. "Di'n'tcha mum tell ya t'never touch strange crocodiles? I don't think there's b'n crocs that large since prehistoric times."
Gwion looked up, his memory jogged. "That's it. Deino-something. Deinosuchus. It was 'n enormous prehistoric ancestor to our modern crocodiles. Wonder what it's doin' here."
James grinned. "If it is - as you say - a prehistoric crocodile, then perhaps another question is 'what's it doing now?'"
As they watched another entered the conversation - some sort of humanoid alien - and the huge prehistoric crocodile took its leave and headed off in the direction of the shopping district, leaving the alien to talk with the drunk woman and the 'purloiner of the living'.
Leone made a comment about the variety and it being 'odd' to see it out in the open.
Gwion nodded. Although he spent a fair amount of time in Capital City, with its teeming hordes of diverse alien lifeforms, he had never seen a prehistoric crocodile apparently conversing with humans before. "This is def'nitely one-a th'strangest 'n' most diverse places I've b'n ta." He looked around the table. "We done here? If so, I think we should head t'th'shops 'n' get our new friends fitted out f'travel."
Town Square - elsewhere.
[A Terra Novan Common Raven, Mequoql]The attractive dancing lights changed colours and one of them took the form of a bird that soared towards some of the nearby humans before turning about and heading straight for him.
He let out a raucous croak and flew to another nearby branch to avoid the bird, watching it carefully to see what it would do next. He had nothing with which to compare this strange thing. It was shaped like no bird - predator or otherwise - he knew and seemed as insubstantial as the light reflected off a stream but its form suggested a bird of some sort and it was clearly moving freely.
He noted several places to which he could quickly flee if it continued to pursue him. Two of the humans-that-feed-him and the human with the strange red eye were outside one of the buildings. They would provide cover and protection if it attacked.
Chitara's Wagon - sorta
Sophia returned Ulf's grin with an equally feral one. "We're fine - we brought food 'n' equipment with us, but there may be others who're interested in going with us who'll need supplies."
Once Chitara had checked the map and headed towards the wagon. Finn turned to the others. "Well, we'd best be off then."
Sophia nodded and Teri gave both Pearl and Aubrey a hug. "Best'v luck. See ya when y'get back."
Finn feigned dismay that he hadn't got a hug. "Hey, I'm after one-a them meself."
Teri rolled her eyes. "C'm'ere, then, y'mad Irishman." She gave him a hug.
Sophie followed suit - going as far as to pat Finn comfortingly on the back. "There, there. You'll be OK, y're not missin' out."
As Finn, Pearl and Aubrey headed away towards the parking area near the hotel, Finn noticed the smirk on Pearl's face. "What?!" In the 'injured innocence' Olympics, he would have got at least a bronze for his performance.
Teri watched them go and watched the wagon lurch into creaking motion, pulled by the enormous beetles then turned to Ulf. "Well, we might 'z well 'ead off, ourselves, 'n' find Wolfe 'n' Gwion." She nodded in the general direction in which both the restaurant and hotel lay.
Parking Lot —> South Gate
As they neared the bikes, Finn sent out a broadcast to the rest of the group, advising them that he, Pearl and Aubrey were about to depart for the Necropolis. There was a chorus of farewells and well-wishes in return.
He swung himself onto the seat of the rented blue dual-sport, stuck the key into the ignition and turned it. The only response was the headlight and dashpanel coming to life. He took a moment to adjust the Heckler und Koch G36C so that it hung comfortably behind him and put on his gloves.
Once Pearl was comfortably seated on her bike, Aubrey swung himself onto the seat behind her, being careful not to bash himself against the AKM that hung across her back. He adjusted his own rifle and seating position then signalled that he was ready.
Pearl nodded and twisted the throttle. The bike eased forward with just a minor whine from what Wolfe referred to as the 'PWM'. The electric bike was nothing like her old Norton 'Big 4' - or the BSA she had ridden during The War or any of the other bikes she had owned over the years - but it was easy to ride and handled well enough. It certainly had plenty of power and, unlike any of the other bikes she had ridden in adverse conditions, it was designed to handle rough terrain.
Finn's bike fell in alongside hers and she favoured him with a joyous grin. It was good to be going off on an adventure again; just like when she toured Europe with Marjorie and a few other friends. She briefly wondered what Marjorie would think of her current adventure and was reminded again that her friends would all have wondered what happened to her. Still, that was years ago, now. No point letting the past ruin the fun of the current adventure.
She turned the throttle grip a bit more and delighted in the bike's rapid response and marked increase in speed.
On the back, Aubrey kept his hands gently on Pearl's waist and focused on not falling off. Some of the conversation before they left had been pretty disturbing - especially the bits about dealing with the 'undead' - and he fervently hoped that his travelling companions were as skilled in dealing with such matters as they claimed.
All too soon they reached the South Gate and stopped the bikes while they awaited the arrival of the wagon.
(Chitara's Wagon)
Saen slithered into Chitara's wagon behind the bird-girl, noting that she didn't seem to have the glum personality of most harpies she knew. Much more chipper. Then again, the depressed didn't get very far in sales.
The lamia looked over the wagon with appreciation. "Very nice, Chitara. Very nice indeed. It's a little small, though. If you'd like, I might be able to magic you up some extra space. Just need to come up with the right spell."
Forward, boys! For God's sake, forward!
To dream is my right
Solstice Cafe
Finished with the meal and more used to the planet's gravity, Cas hefted her pack and placed it on her back with surprising alacrity, and smiled to her friends. "Alright, I will follow you. Nui is close to an 'hotel' place, no? I think I saw a big building with that written on it close to the main square."
In the middle of Nowhere, Interrogation Room #22x2+20
Míron falls in a roofless, featureless space. Above him, the starlit night sky spins and turns. The skin on his shoulder where smith touched him is numb, or maybe missing, while the flesh beneath aches with burning pain. He can't hear the Security officer speak, and can't tell the ground appart from the walls, or find something solid to hold on to. His insides feel like they were turned inside out, but they are too empty for him to vomit, so he coughts and snarls clutching his stomach while he waits for his head to no longer spin.
"Pardon me. I said that I apologize for invading a gentleman's personal space.", repeats John Smith louder. "But there is no other way for us to talk in private. Please, take a seat.", he says, gesturing to an equally white and featureless chair besides Míron. Was it always there? Was the table between he and Smith always there? What was 'there'? What if he was actually laying unconscious in a gutter while Smith played with his mind?
"My... my sword." Míron managed to say through the haze. His weapons were gone, and his clothes were replaced by a loose white vest.
"It is safe, as are your other possessions, and they will eventually be returned to you.", said the Security officer. "Now, take a seat and breath deeply. It will help."
edited 3rd Jun '18 8:13:57 AM by EternaMemoria
"The dried flowers are so beautiful, and it applies to all things living and dead."Elsewhere in Town Square (A Terra Novan Common Raven, Mequoql)
Well, Mequoql had just creeped out the raven. What did she expect would happen, anyway? She wasn't an animal trainer.
Still singing, she shrugged slightly and landed her jub-jub bird on the nearest branch, some distance away from the relocated raven, and took most of her focus off of the little figurine. It dimmed and went utterly still.
As Mequoql sang "He took his vorpal sword in hand," a passerby stopped, slightly startled at the first appearance of the vorpal sword in Mequoql's lights. The stranger relaxed and smiled as the figure kept the vorpal sword pointing at the ground.
edited 3rd Jun '18 8:31:23 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.
[Sport Goods]
Maybe bringing this up wasn't a good idea.
"U-Um..." Adam said, "We weren't trying to...be disrespectful. W-We just wanted to know what they were like...before. Oh God I'm making it worse."
"Look," Nick said, "This is just what paleontologists do. It's their job. I mean, don't you have some way to study the history of the dead? How's what they're doing any different from that?"
Dude, I don't want to risk another fight. Maya signed, "'Let's just drop the subject. I think we're being a little offensive to our friend here.''
I'm gonna wait at least one more day until I move my characters.
Town Square ~ Frontier Sporting Goods (Bonnie, Carol; Cormack; Not-Chaos-Hunters; Zarokh)
Carol nodded, "Aye, it's a motorized wagon of sorts,” she said, before heading towards the hotel, “I'll be back in a minute."
In the meantime, Lily returned, wearing rather clunky looking copper-colored gauntlets, similar greaves worn over her boots, and matching curaiss encasing her chest, with a rather bulky metal backpack strapped to her back. She was also now wearing a leather flying helmet and goggles. This attire had gotten her more than a few stares on the way back from the hotel
"I've never seen such a large austral crocodile before, though, it does look similar to a depiction of a Megalocrocodilus," she said, giving a curt head nod towards Carol as the latter left the group for the time being, "though, they died out millions of years ago."
She paused for a moment, "'Terrible reptile', I wonder if they might have any connection to wyverns; they certainly meet the name at times," she mused, before directing her attention towards Adam, "You were doing okay with describing a museum, by the way,"
She then turned towards Zarokh, "The antiquarians at museums ensure that any remains are treated with the utmost care; every artifact is precious and invaluable. Others, such as treasure hunters and tomb raiders, seeking to gain fortune from such treasures, are not as kindly," she told him, "some are more than willing to utilize jelly in their excavation endeavors," she added with a shudder.
Meanwhile, Bonnie focused on calming down due to being in such close proximity to a giant prehistoric crocodile that was apparently not interested in eating her.
Town Square ~ Restaurant (Nora; Leone; Gwion, James, Kris)
"Aww..." Nora half-heartedly pouted. She really wanted to touch the Deinosuchus (she knew what it was, but could not remember what it was called until Gwion reminded her), and if given half a chance, she'd probably make a break for it should the opportunity open itself to her.
She shrugged at the mention of how seemingly strange everything that was going on in the town square was for Leone and the others, "Meh, for me, its just another Forzadia, only with less wyverns and stuff."
Gesturing at her empty plates, Nora nodded. "Aye, I'm all finished here," she told Gwion with a cheerful smile.
Sun-Dry Sea (Pilot 0037, Unit 09; Nyorla)
Nyorla input: Do you know what a planet is?
Accessing database archive...
Result found.
The boy simply shook his head as he stared off into the distance.
"Planet," stated Unit 09 "an astronomical body orbiting a star. Our planet, Aria, is the fifth planet orbiting the star Desidia." It paused for a moment, before monotonously asking, "This is not Aria, is it?"
Crazy Kiwi
Hotel Lobby
[Valerie, Vindex, Justin, Cynthia, Moobly, Jean, Nui, Shale, Dog!Arilay, Wolfe]Wolfe took one of the offered biscuits with a smile and thanks and sniffed it, noting the distinct smell of ginger, then took a small cautious bite - he had been caught out with innocuous-looking but overly 'hot' or spicy food in the past. His lips and tongue failed to be irreparably seared by the morsel - it was a very nice-tasting ginger biscuit - so he took a bigger, more fulfilling, bite and savoured it. He smiled wider and nodded to show genuine appreciation.
He completely understood Alice's lack of willingness to elucidate in front of the Troublesome Trio and gave her a nod of acknowledgement before she left.
To Jean, he smiled. "I c'n understand that. I'm part'v th'group headin' t'th'forest, 'n' we're also lookin' f'people to accompany us. You'd be most welcome t'join 's." From her attire and equipment, she was clearly not a 'tourist'.
Just then his radio crackled and Finn said that the necropolis group was heading out. Wolfe quickly said farewell and wished them luck then turned his attention back to Jean. "Sorry 'bout that. One'v our groups is already setting off. Do you have transport? Hold on a sec..."
He listened to Peggy's query. "Yeah, there's someone here who answers to that."
When Peggy signed off, he turned to look at Nui. "Excuse me, but one of my friends was asking for you by name and would like to meet you over near the restaurant."
He looked about. There didn't seem much more to do around here. He turned back to Jean. "I'm about t'head over t'th'restaurant to catch up with some-a me other colleagues, if you'd like t'come 'n' meet 'em before decidin' if y'wanna join us."
Town Square - elsewhere.
[A Terra Novan Common Raven, Mequoql]The strange bird-like form perched on a nearby branch then dimmed and went still. He cocked his head at it. It looked even less substantial now but no less alien. At least it didn't seem to be acting in a hostile manner.
His curiosity wouldn't let him leave it be. He had to investigate what this strange thing was, but he had no desire to get close enough to be attacked. He flew to another branch directly above it and looked down on it. It still hadn't moved.
He took a small twig in his beak and snapped it off then, eye steadily fixed on the strange apparition, dropped the stick onto it with extreme precision.
The stick passed straight through the strange glowing bird and bounced off the branch on which it was "perched". Still the 'bird' didn't move.
He cocked his head to the other side. He had established that the glowing bird was both immobile and insubstantial but still did not feel inclined to get closer.
Below, the not-human-not-animal was still making music and there were more glowing figures moving about down there.
Sun-Dry Sea (Pilot 0037, Unit 09; Nyorla)
Oh, thank goodness, they knew what a planet was. This would make the explanation much easier.
"Nope, sorry, this isn't Aria. This is a different planet in a different star system. I'm from a star system that's neither yours nor this one. I got here on a faster-than-light spaceship, but obviously you weren't expecting to be on this planet. I wonder what happened to you?"
Nyorla decided not to mention that neither Desidia's system nor this star's system was on the intergalactic map. The sum total of each civilizations' maps still had only pieces of each galaxy mapped, so it wasn't totally unexpected, but saying so painted a worse picture than it actually was.
Town Square, Elsewhere (A Terra Novan Common Raven, Mequoql)
Mequoql smiled a little in amusement at the raven's cautious antics, but couldn't smile too broadly lest that mess up the song.
The jub-jub bird dimmed ever so slightly further as Mequoql paid careful attention to animating the fight between the jabberwock and the wielder of the vorpal sword. A swordsman and his student came wandering up, she incorporated the shortest sword drills they were thinking of, and was rewarded with quiet exclamations of recognition from the student and similar smiles of recognition from the teacher.
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
Professional Recluse
Chitara's Wagon Jamie
At Chitara's chiding she impatiently pressed on one vial in an elevated holder demonstrating the mechanical and alchemical contraptions built to reduce impact and hold steady.
"So long as you are a better driver than that troglodyte caretaker in my own country you should have no issues."
She worked and didn't raise her head at the approach of the snake woman. "Alchemy can seem much like magic, but it is performed with science rather than handwaving and queer words." the words seemed routine but were said through some stiffness and pain endurance. "It is fortunate you are here actually."
She had to try twice but managed to open a hidden zipper on the right side of her back. "One of my wings are broken. You will hold the two ends together while the draught takes effect." She handed the snake woman a smaller but very sharp blade as well as a container slightly wider and larger then a beer stein. "If any aberrant tumors form I will need you to slice them off into this container, if they spread too much the limb will become malformed and I will have to remove and regrow it from scratch, a lengthy, costly, and painful process I have no intention of needing to repeat."
Ulf
He got an almost wistful feeling watching the mad bastards send each other off. It'd been a long time since he had a relationship that deep with anyone. Teri was saying something, he blinked and focused on her.
"What? Oh, yeah, yeah." he nodded and picked up his backpack to follow the two bastards to the restaurant.
edited 3rd Jun '18 10:33:53 PM by Slysheen
Stoned hippie without the stoned. Or the hippie. My AO3 Page, grab a chair and relax.
Sun-Dry Sea (Pilot 0037, Unit 09; Nyorla)
Nyorla input: I wonder what happened to you?
Reviewing log...
Current Objective: test experimental observation obfuscation device and metamaterial plating.
Result: technical success.
"That information is classified," replied Unit 09.
The boy was slowly coming back to lucidity from his initial shock. He whimpered softly, before getting back up, "What the computer said."
He gazed around at the desert, "I guess we should find the nearest town," he said.
Sun-Dry Sea (Pilot 0037, Unit 09; Nyorla)
Nyorla squashed the temptation to barge into the young pilot's mind for the classified information. There was no way she could read from the computer directly. She supposed it would be equally useless to say that since the Web of Friendship had its own classified information, she knew how to keep a secret.
According to the intergalactic "Figure It Out Yourself" clause, any civilization that had already achieved interplanetary travel or teleportation could not teach any civilization that had yet to figure either out. That included civilizations which had achieved either by accident. However, hinting that interplanetary travel and teleportation were possible was tisk-tisked at, but not actually punished.
Instead of a telepathic probe, she queried the spaceship for a satellite image of the area and said, "Good news, bad news, more good news, more bad news. Good news, I know where the nearest town is. Bad news, it's a looong hike that way." She pointed southwest. "More good news, I know a shortcut. More bad news, it involves doing something classified that an intergalactic "Figure It Out Yourself" clause says I can't show you unless you already know how to do it. So, my tongue's tied, your tongue's tied, now what?" She took a deep breath in, "Are we two kids just gonna walk all the way through the wyvern-infested desert, across a bridge that might or might not be properly maintained and spans a long drop into a narrow channel of ocean, and then through some sort of wasteland with questionable water and who knows what kind of weird and hostile creatures until we finally find a concrete trench that'll take us close to town but still be tiring to clamber out of?"
edited 5th Jun '18 7:21:46 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.
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Grasslands - Edge of the Forest (Horse herd, Amaranth, Felicio)
As she watched Pewter conversing with the other horses, Amaranth noticed the lead mare walking up to her... and slapping her across the face, clearly dissatisfied at how she had alerted the d'voreem to the herd's presence. An act that was not intentional of course, but still deserved punishment.
The slap wasn't enough. It was not noticeable at all to anyone not standing nearby, but a bolt of white lightning crashed down from a single cloud in the sky, right on Amaranth. And immediately after, another crashed down on Felicio. Both vanished completely upon impact, eaten by a close relative of Sabertooth Lightning: Sabertooth Thunder.
Pewter blinked in confusion... and then was eaten by the Sabertooth Thunder herself.
Shopping District (Cormack, Bonnie, Carol, Lily, Not-Chaos-Hunters, Zarokh)
Cormack was just as lost as Zarokh was at the concept of a museum; Crownen didn't have them either. But something Zarokh said did give the elf something to reply to.
"I dunno if I'd call it disrespecting the dead. Human hunters do that sort of thing all the time: kill an animal, place its head on the wall as a trophy. Rather morbid if you ask me, but eh, to each their own. Even in the wing of Crownen we—"
Before he could finish his sentence, a tiny bolt of lightning, invisible from high up, crashed down out of one of the few clouds in the sky, right down on Cormack. Even though it was tiny, it zapped him away, leaving absolutely nothing of him behind.
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 Square - heading to restaurant
[Ulf, Teri, Sophia]Teri set off towards the restaurant, She could see the group at the table outside and could easily recognise Kris, James and Gwion - she doubted there was anyone else about who looked anything like them.
Sophia spotted Peggy and Karl approaching from the direction of the café in the company of a woman with a prosthetic arm that made Gwion's look sophisticated and a rather obvious camera in the place of one eye. The way the stranger was walking reminded Sophia of people who had just returned from the Lagrange stations; not yet used to full Earth gravity.
She pointed the trio out to Teri and Ulf. "Looks like the young ones'v found someone."
Teri looked where Sophia was pointing and couldn't help wondering what is was about arms and eyes - yet another person with one arm and one eye replaced with prostheses.
Shopping District (Bonnie, Carol, Lily, Not-Chaos-Hunters, Zarokh)
Zarokh shook his head. "The Great Sobek teaches us that all meals are a gift. To waste a gift from a god is a grave insult!"
The yellow-haired one started to respond, but before he could finish, he was suddenly struck by lightning. Zarokh actually jumped in the air. He stared, open-mouthed, at the spot where the yellow-haired one had been standing. There was no body. There weren't even any ashes, except for a tiny singe mark on the pavement. It was as if he had simply disappeared.
Zarokh hesitantly pointed at the spot. "Okay, you all saw that, right?"
Purple Fez Tavern (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
"In a way, I think I always knew he was bad news. It just took me about two centuries of abuse and a conversation with an innocent victim who wasn't too afraid of him to speak up to finally accept it." He turned to Jann. "On a related note, when we get a chance, there's something I'd like to talk to you about."
"And you might need a weapon." Varg said to Rosalind.
"Not a bad idea. While we're at it, I should probably look into getting some clothes that are more appropriate to this climate. I didn't want to say anything and sound like I was complaining, but I am absolutely baking in these furs."
Grasslands - Edge of the Forest (Mustang herd, Inquisitor's Stray Horse, Skvader)
Sabertooth Lightning! Lead Mare Flashfoot flinched away from where Amaranth had just vanished. Not again! Not again! When the other predator and Pewter vanished, the remaining horses put their backs to the forest and battlefield and fled south, with Guardian Thunder nipping poor limping Angel on the rump.
edited 6th Jun '18 9:41:13 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.
[Sports Goods]
Before any of them could respond, Cormack suddenly disappeared with a lightening bolt that came out of nowhere. All six of the kids stared at that spot where Cormack once been, stunned.
"What...the...fuck." Nick said, blinking rapidly.
"I...uh...." Adam trailed off, "...I-I don't know. I lost my train of thought."
There goes that musket. Maya signed.
Marie quirked an eyebrow. "Really? That's your first reaction?"
Well, what the fuck else am I suppose to say? He just...vanished. She looked down, So now what?
"I guess...we go on another adventure!" Amy said, then looked at the people who remained, "You wanna join us? More people means more fun!"
edited 6th Jun '18 12:51:31 PM by Masterofchaos
The Purple Fez Tavern, Outdoor Tables (Ozurr; Varg, Jann; Rosalind)
Rosalind exclaimed, "Heavens to Betsy! I wonder how many people back at my home think vampires are irreversibly corrupted malevolent souls..." As she mused, she rubbed a spot above her right elbow. If they did think so, that would explain a lot of their hostility. But not all of it. There were some half-forgotten details niggling at her mind that didn't fall into place.
"As for the zombies, now there's a coincidence. The necromancer responsible for developing my world's first zombie germs originally intended for them to reanimate corpses for him to puppeteer. Things went wrong, of course."
Rosalind winced at the description of Einarr Silverteeth. "And you found all this out despite him being your father? Despite how easily he could use that relationship to pull the wool over your eyes? Those are some dang good reasons to betray him." More half-forgotten details were niggling at the back of Rosalind's mind.
The thoughts trying to be remembered vanished as Rosalind stared fascinated at Jann's surgical scars. Even though she'd seen them before, she was still in quiet awe of what Jann had gone through.
Varg pointed a finger at Rosalind. "And you might need a weapon."
Rosalind blinked. "Wait, you mean it? I thought I misheard you when you first said so!"
Author's note: In the interest of moving the plot along, I guess my idea about the Bloody Mary cocktail will wait until next time the gang are in town. If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.