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
The Quickest Draw In The West
Crater (Murquoql, Wain Fallwen)
"I'm fine." Wain said, slowly reaching for his blaster. Just because this figure wasn't attempting to kill him on sight didn't mean he had any reason to trust her. "Listen to me carefully. I'm packing heat. So if you try anything, you're gonna wish you hadn't. If you have any way off this planet, you'll bring it to me so that I get outta here. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"
Crater (Murquoql, Wain Fallwen)
Murquoql's psychic radar had already detected the gun before the agitated stranger mentioned it. She suppressed a sneer before it could appear on her face, instead rapidly planning a few different ways she could talk her way out of this delicate situation — and in case that failed, a few different ways she could telekinetically sabotage the gun or his aiming it.
Maintaining a bemused smile, she casually raised her hands in the surrender position, "Whoa, buddy, it should be obvious I'm already trying to help. Are you threatening me?" She followed it up with an incredulous chuckle.
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 Quickest Draw In The West
Crater (Murquoql, Wain Fallwen)
Wain wasn't a fan of people snickering at him, especially people he was trying to intimidate. "Oh, you think you're in control of the situation here? Let me tell you something sweetheart. I'm the one with the gun, and you're on the other side of it."
With that, Wain pulled out his blaster and pointed it at Murquoql. It wasn't the wisest move, but Wain wasn't the wisest person when he thought his masculinity was being questioned. Which was often.
"Get me to a spaceship now. I won't ask again."
Edited by Paulred7 on Jul 16th 2018 at 2:45:32 PM
Crater (Murquoql, Wain Fallwen)
Murquoql scoffed, "Point that somewhere else!" and telekinetically shoved down on the gun's muzzle, trying to direct it towards the ground.
She messaged Arilay, "He wants to board the Hummingbird. Should we play Jackass Genie with him?"
Arilay, still watching the exchange through the hotel's transparent doors, suggested, "If you choose to do so, do something about his gun first."
Aloud, Murquoql grinned, "Oh, I could bring you aboard my spaceship, but she's alive." This was an oversimplification, but she had limited time to get the point across. "And she doesn't take kindly to strangers, especially strangers that wave around things that could punch a hole in her hull. Are you sure you want to board her?"
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 Quickest Draw In The West
Crater (Murquoql, Wain Fallwen)
Wain was taken aback. The spaceship was alive? Then again, considering the rise of the artificial intelligence rights movement, it wasn't that unusual to call a ship alive. Reluctantly, Wain lowered his blaster. The sooner he got to this spaceship, the sooner he never had to see this cocky telekinetic asshole again.
"Take me to her."
[Truck]
Everyone grabbed onto the nearest thing when the car violently turned to the left, then stared at each other in shock. They then watch silently as Mequqol was beamed away. Considering all that happened and the people they ran into, this was by far the least surprising thing they've seen.
If Carol crashes this thing, Maya signed, We're using the damn gems and getting out of here.
"How?" Nick asked, "We don't even know how to use them. That escape was just pure luck." He shrugged, "For now, we just gotta rely on Carol."
"Unfortunately," Jackson said, fixing his hair, "Her driving's worse than yours."
"Hey!"
Look, I don't actually give a shit how we get there, Maya signed again, I just want to be out of town. Like now.
"We'll get there," Marie said, "Just relax."
Kind of hard to do that when our worst enemy is on the loose and can strike at any moment.
Marie sighed and turned to the others. "Sorry you all got involved in this. This had nothing to do with any of you and you all got dragged in. We'll try to make it up to you soon."
Town ~ Truck (Bonnie, Carol; Morpho; NCH)
"Yay... more telemetting; you guys make it look so easy," fumed Bonnie as she watched Mequoql teleport away. She glanced over towards the Not Chaos Hunters, "Telemetatopsis is an exact science, you know. Lily might know more about it; she reads a lot about all sorts of stuff," she said.
Crossing her arms, she turned towards Maya, "Crashing... has never stopped Carol before. Besides, she knows better than to flip this thing; she'll be the one who has to push it upright again."
Bonnie then raised a hand and smiled faintly, "Don't fret yourselves about it, we're used to solving all sorts of messing back home. You've got a crack flight mage and a competent medic on your side now," she said, adding "and Carol," after getting an "Oi!" from the driver's bench.
Edited by WillDeRegio on Jul 17th 2018 at 8:10:03 AM
West Gate, Truck (Town ~ Truck (Bonnie, Carol; Morpho; NCH)
Morpho chuckled, "That's okay. The goldmine of information more than makes up for the inconvenience. Mael is the second mind-controller the Web has encountered and now we finally have someone to compare and contrast Sarquoql to."
"Telemetting..." Morpho mused, "We call that teleporting. And if you think that makes it look easy, you should see the Viporises in action. It comes as naturally to them as breathing, which is handy when their home moon has volcanoes and tectonic fault lines all over the place."
Crater (Murquoql, Wain Fallwen) -> WFS Hummingbird Transporter Room (Shale, Wain Fallwen)
"As you wish," Murquoql said in a tone that implied "Your funeral." She disappeared in an instant.
Precisely one second later, Wain was teleported up into the spaceship transporter room. Murquoql was already off the pad and a force field was activated, isolating Wain on the teleporter pads.
Murquoql moved to stand by Shale's side. Shale was tilting her antenna-topped head in confusion, her hand halfway raised from an aborted wave of greeting.
Arilay spoke through the loudspeaker, "Hello, stranger. My name is Arilay. You threatened my crew member. You owe us an apology."
Shale looked at the loudspeaker while Arilay was talking, then looked at the force-fielded stranger. She steered her hoverboard over to give Murquoql a hug.
"Uh-oh," Murquoql sighed. "Arilay is in Mama Bear Mode. Buddy, I tried to warn you this would happen if you threatened your way on board."
Meanwhile, Shale didn't mind the delay. As long as Valerie and company were still in the hotel lobby, returning to them while keeping the secret of teleportation was problematic. If the teleporter was still blocked by the time Valerie and company left the hotel, Shale could use one of the spheroid dropships at sub-sonic speeds instead.
Author's note: Kkutwar, I'm waiting for you to post for Valerie.
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 Quickest Draw In The West
WFS Hummingbird Transporter Room (Murquoql, Shale, Wain Fallwen)
Wain looked around the ship. It was going to be harder to commandeer this ship than he thought. Frustrated, Wain knew the only thing he could do was use what charm he had to talk his way out of this situation.
"I'm sorry, alright? I am in a little bit of shock, so cut me some slack, lady."
The Prince of Foolish Relevations
Hotel
Slightly jolting in place at hearing Nui's voice, Valerie turns to him(?). Looking perplexed, it would be clear to those with special abilities why: "Souls can possess anything inanimate, why is he confusing that with Nomis?"
Yet as Nui bent down and spoke to her... The dark-haired witch became quiet, her gaze turned downward and her feelings being kept out of sight. Looking up as Nui asked about transport and Justin, Valerie stands in silent yet clear thought-
Only for her attention to be grabbed by Cynthia. Initially looking slightly perplexed by Cynthia's and Moobly's statements, Valerie's thoughts on the topic were brief. "Do... They not remember who made Moobly's people?"
Yet the statement about aether cores causes Valerie to become visibly intrigued and excited, her mind whirling with thoughts like "It didn't seem like one" and "Nomi-powered golems!?"
What brings her back, however, is Cynthia's question. Valerie's excitement is semi-quickly replaced with a, somewhat surprisingly, serious yet childish expression. Before she could say anything however, Arilay speaks...
The dark-haired witch turning her still serious expression to the cyborg, she seems unamused by Arilay's incomplete justification. Nonetheless, as Shale disengages contact with Justin, Valerie looks up to her familiar.
The blonde haired young man, however, is massaging his forehead out of annoyance. Though it doesn't take long until Cynthia excuses herself, Valerie's now more concerned gaze flicking from the kind adult and her Justin.
Taking note as Shale leaves and disappears, soon followed by Moobly's departure, Valerie finally focuses on Cynthia. Her expression regaining some of the former seriousness, her tone of voice is somewhat serious as well.
"Bodies don't like to share themselves with other souls. So with their own soul backing them, it would be borderline impossible for a second soul to inhabit the same body. Of course, it all depends on power and whatnot, but ultimately... There's not much point to sharing a body beyond Soul Synchronization reasons. I guess emergency preservation, but..."
Shaking her head and clapping her cheeks, Valerie tugs on Justin's coattails. The blonde familiar looking down at his master, no words were verbally yet nonetheless Justin turns towards Arilay at Valerie's beckoning.
Looking the cyborg woman over briefly, Justin lets out a breath before speaking in a slightly exhausted yet calm tone. "You can let your friend know Vindex isn't really contagious. So making telepathic contact wouldn't be an issue, unless you regularly spend days inside someone's head? Don't get scratched or burned either, and you'll be fine."
Valerie turning to look at Nui briefly, the young(?) witch speaks to the group as a whole "Nui had the most exposure so far, and he seems fine. Though, other than that... Could we go somewhere first? I've been meaning to take my Justin to a very special magic shop all morning, and I can just teleport us there!"
"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."
It's a bird.
The Scar - Small River (Jann, Varg; Ozurr, Rosalind)
As the moving scrapheap of a vehicle thundered on down the Scar, the muddy banks and gently flowing stream of a small river became visible on either side. If it hadn't been for the noisy engine, a soft echoing sound might have been noticeable as the water entered a grate on the western side of the Scar and followed a tunnel underneath it to the eastern one, were it continued down towards a distant beach.
If someone looked closely enough, they might notice the many hoofprints left in the mud along the riverbanks.
Jann watched Rosalind climb onto the roof, and then glanced over at Varg, still carrying a very prominent blush on his face. The haugr woman gave him a curious look.
"You're usually more confident than this," she told him.
"Well, this is different..." Jann began to explain, scratching the back of his head as he searched for the right words.
"Because she's a revvie..?" Varg asked, with a hint of hesitation in her voice that wasn't very common for her.
"Gods, no... that's not it," Jann responded, raising his hands defensively. "I mean, I suppose that part is hard to ignore, it's just..."
"I get it." Varg grinned at him. "This isn't just some harmless flirting or a night with some Back-Alley Sally... You actually like her."
Jann gave Varg an annoyed glare. "There's no need to get vulgar..."
"Don't get me wrong. Human romance is adorable."
"Oh, shut up..."
Author's note: I'm counting on either Ozurr or Rosalind to notice the hoofprints.
Edited by Corvidae on Jul 18th 2018 at 7:34:36 PM
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.WFS Hummingbird Transporter Room (Murquoql, Shale, Arilay's Voice; Wain Fallwen)
Still using the loudspeaker, Arilay said, "All right, I forgive you. I saw you crash, you probably hit your head, you might not be thinking clearly." She warned, "But I'll be watching you. If you pull a stunt like that again..." The force field buzzed ominously before shutting off.
Shale waved and maneuvered her hoverboard to the edge of the teleporter pad, holding out her hand for a handshake.
Murquoql introduced, "We got off on the wrong foot, let's start over. My name is Murquoql. The gray lady is Shale, one of our medics. She's mute, she communicates primarily through touch telepathy. If you've hit your head, she can swiftly diagnose any damage that a human might not notice."
Murquoql moved over to a terminal on the wall and started typing. "All right, let's look at your options. Gimme a few seconds and I'll have a galactic map on this screen. There's always Sick Bay if you need it. If you're looking to fix your spaceship, you might want to talk to one of our engineers, like my sister Moquoql. In the unlikely event that we can't fix your spaceship, I met a woman who's offering wish-granting in exchange for the rescue of her missing child. Assuming we find the child, you could wish for your spaceship to be fixed."
Hotel Lobby -> Let's Get Out of Here
Arilay silently forwarded a summary of the contagion info to Shale, then planted a time-delayed copy of the message for the Mayatan sisters in Sick Bay, set to play as soon as they were out of the quarantine room. "Done," she answered Justin.
At the mention of the magic shop, Arilay said, "A magic shop, you say? Now this I gotta see. Count me in." She silently messaged Shale again, "Valerie knows how to teleport, don't bother hiding it when you rejoin us."
The Scar (Ozurr; Varg, Jann; Rosalind)
"You're not upset?" Rosalind sighed in relief, then giggled at Ozurr's somewhat vulgar description of Krakka'a's scared state of mind. "Boy, I'll say! His eyeballs were just about poppin' out of his head!" An unwelcome mental image popped up, "Ewww, can you imagine... imagine if his eyeballs did pop out and they landed in his... puddle?" She kept laughing, she knew it wasn't ladylike, but she couldn't stop — her post-adrenaline crash had finally caught up with her and it was making her laughter slightly unhinged.
Her imminent bloodshed instinct truncated her laughter. Leaning to try looking past Ozurr, all Rosalind caught a glimpse of was a blur of movement near the ground that might have been Krakka'a's wings. Ozurr was still mostly in the way, so Rosalind couldn't be sure. "Hmm," she muttered, wondering what just happened back there in the steadily increasing distance. She dismissed that train of thought with an ever-so-slight shake of her head.
"But seriously, if Krakka'a tries to ambush us, I'll rip some holes in his wings. Or I'll go for his eyes. Or both." She looked a bit sad, "That's about all I can do in a fight with a critter that big..."
Author's note: She didn't know how much she underestimated her own adrenaline-boosted capabilities. She thought zombies were fragile based on how her punches and kicks could break their bones, and she also thought she herself was fragile based on how her own bones hurt when she struck that hard. She didn't know that zombie bones were only slightly less sturdy than those of a living human. She didn't know that, with enough blood, her bones could heal faster than they could finish breaking.
The Scar - Small River (Jann, Varg; Ozurr, Rosalind)
Rosalind twisted to look at the view up ahead and saw the river. This would be a minor issue. She notified Ozurr, "Running water makes me dizzy, I better get back inside." She quickly slid through the window to land on the seat inside the truck, and repeated her notification for Varg and Jann, "Running water makes me dizzy, I shouldn't be ridin' on the roof at this point."
She took a second look out the windshield. "Hang on, is that mud trampled?"
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 Quickest Draw In The West
WFS Hummingbird Transporter Room (Murquoql, Shale, Arilay's Voice; Wain Fallwen)
Wain's ears perked up when Murquoql mentioned a search mission. "Oh, you're looking for a little girl? Well, you're in luck. I'm a bounty hunter, one of the best." Wain conveniently left out that he was the usually second best in whatever bar he was drinking at. "Will there be a monetary reward, or are we just getting a wish as payment?"
WFS Hummingbird Transporter Room (Murquoql, Shale, Arilay's Voice; Wain Fallwen)
The galactic map was now onscreen.
"Little boy," Murquoql corrected, "His name's Frederick, Fred for short. No money, just a wish, although I suppose you could wish for money if you chose." Intrigued, Murquoql queried, "So, you're a bounty hunter? Cool, that's one of many services the Web of Friendship provides. Do you have any experience with vampires and life-draining curses?"
Shale, finding her handshake offer ignored, huffed through pursed lips and tried to reach for Wain's forehead, slowly, so as not to startle him.
Exsylvan Tributary -> Downstream (Mustang Herd, Skvader)
The mustangs had been watching for the distant flying dot, presumably a Sabertooth Metalbeast, but it hadn't made an appearance since landing. Angel's limp was now a mere trace. The skvader had figured out how to perch on the mustangs' bare backs. Lead Mare Flashfoot decided it was time to continue exploring, but in a way that would obscure their tracks. She escorted her daughter into the river and they stood side by side facing downstream, beckoning the herd to pair up and get in line behind her in the river.
Fiddler saw the wisdom in buddying up — if one horse slipped, their buddy would be right there to do something about it. She escorted Mouse into the river to stand behind the two Flashfoots, helping to demonstrate what it was the Lead Mare wanted the herd to do.
The skvader was about to hop onto Nippy's rump, but Nippy glared until the skvader decided to ride on Raven instead.
Guardian Thunder organized the rest of the herd into the pattern before joining Angel at the rear, with Wheezer and Stomper directly in front of them.
Edited by Miss_Desperado on Jul 19th 2018 at 1:37:40 AM
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 Quickest Draw In The West
WFS Hummingbird Transporter Room (Murquoql, Shale, Arilay's Voice; Wain Fallwen)
Wain smacked Shale's hand away. "I'm fine" he said. "I've been in worse crashes. And no, I don't have any experiences with vampires. Unless you count giant humanoid bats as vampires. Now, where was Fred seen last?"
[Truck—Nearing forest/Away from town depending on how far the forest is cause I don't know Speeding this up cause me and Ryuhza had some stuff planned, lol]
"You guys have the weirdest names for shit," Nick said, rubbing his head, "Ah, what the hell. It's the same thing."
Adam looked out the window. "Looks like we're getting farther away from town. I can barely see it now."
"Yay! We're gonna be safe!" Amy cheered, "Well, kind of...now we're gonna go camping! I love camping! It's a great way to go explore the outdoors and have more adventures!" She looked over at everyone, "You guys brought camping gear, right?"
Everyone looked at each other awkwardly.
"Y-you did, right?"
More silence.
"...This is gonna suck, isn't it?"
Jackson rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry. We all kind of got thrown off guard after that fight, and we really didn't get the gear we needed after Cormack disappeared and Mael showed up."
"I didn't even bring any camping outfits," Marie whined, "My dress is gonna get ruined even more!"
Don't worry, Maya signed, We'll think of something. That's what we're good at, after all.
Edited by Masterofchaos on Jul 20th 2018 at 3:49:39 PM
The Scar - Small River (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
Ozurr had to laugh at the image Rosalind conjured. It was the first time he'd had something to laugh at in a while. He almost missed when she stopped laughing and tried to look at something behind him.
His instincts kicked in, and he spun to follow her gaze, his hand already on the handle of his axe before he realized it. He saw a distant flurry of movement, but it didn't seem to be getting closer. A few seconds later, he heard Rosalind dismiss whatever it was, and he allowed himself to return his attention to her.
"Don't let his size fool you," he said. "Remember, I had my hand on him, and he's a lot more delicate than he looks. I'd put him at maybe 500 pounds. That's about one twentieth of what I weigh. I saw those teeth you have. If you can get inside his beak, I think you could do some serious damage. Now Zarokh, on the other hand..."
At that moment, Rosalind said that running water made her dizzy, and returned to the interior of the vehicle. Ozurr shrugged and resumed his lookout duties. As they approached the river, he noticed something. There were strange marks in the mud. Hoofprints of something, and a lot of them, although he had never seen hoofprints shaped quite like that. Not only that, but the area was absolutely littered with something that superficially resembled unicorn droppings, although the prints did not resemble unicorn hoofprints.
"Hey, Rosalind?" he called. "What exactly do horse feet look like?"
Further north (Krakka'a, Zarokh)
"Now then," Krakka'a said. "Here's how this is going to work. I am going to fly ahead and scout out the Coast of Chills. You are going to meet me there."
"What?"
Krakka'a glared at Zarokh. "You're not questioning me again, are you?"
"No, of course not. I'm just...not sure why we're splitting up again."
Krakka'a nearly attacked him again, but then an idea came to him. "Think of it as penance. You messed up earlier, and now you need to atone in the eyes of your god. Prove to him that your faith is strong enough for you to find your way without me holding your claw every step of the way, and all that crap."
"My faith in the Great Sobek has never wavered."
"Then it should be easy," Krakka'a said. "Trench to the river, river to the Necropolis, Necropolis to the coast. I'll be waiting there." With that, he took to the skies again, this time flying directly southwest towards the Coast of Chills. In truth, Krakka'a just wanted some time away from Zarokh, without having to constantly correct him. Although, he mused as he flew off, a long march in the blazing sun with nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company might do wonders for his obedience.
Truck ~ Heading west towards the Forest (Bonnie, Carol; NCH; Morpho)
Due to many of the roads of Aria being unpaved and subject to the mercy of nature, the truck was designed to handle rough terrain using a rather heavy and stiff suspension system. Which made for a bumpy ride, negated somewhat by the truck's four ton weight, as the group left the town's paved roads.
After one such bump, Bonnie engaged in disgruntled scooting, "Owowow, my tail..." Wriggling in her seat, she sat up a bit, "We've got a few supplies we could share with you guys," she told them, before rummaging under the bench for a pack. After a bit of rummaging, she pulled out a folded bundle, offering it to Marie, "It's one of my spare uniforms; I think it should fit you okay, plus its quite durable. You could also ask Carol to patch your clothes for you; she's got plenty of experience repairing clothes."
"Aye," chimed their driver.
Bonnie then refocused her attention towards Morpho, "Tele-porting... and there are those who can use it naturally?! Amazing!" She settled in her seat, "Lily has done it before. Once. In a lab. And then she passed out," she scowled, before adding, "she spent a few days in the infirmary afterwards."
At this point, the truck dipped severely as Carol traversed the Scar, the engine straining slightly as the vehicle clambered up the opposite side. Loose things slid under the seating in the back before bumping into the tailgate. Eventually, the truck made it back onto level ground, and they continued onward towards the forest, its fringes now in sight.
Sun-Dry Sea (Nyorla; Pilot 0037, Unit 09; Layi)
The lizard person quietly excused themself.
Nyorla saw the young pilot's incredulous look and indignantly asked, "What? Skinning for leather is a much different skill from, say, for example, harvesting skin tumors. Everyone on my planet knows how to do that. Do you know how to harvest skin tumors? How would you like it if I gawped and pointed at you for not knowing how to harvest skin tumors?"
WFS Hummingbird Transporter Room (Murquoql, Shale; Wain Fallwen)
Shale quickly changed tactics and caught the attempted smack in her grip. The time it took for Wain to protest was more than enough time she needed to confirm his claim about about his health. "Okay, I believe you." She released her grip with a satisfied smile and scooted backwards on her hoverboard.
Murquoql exposited, "Fred was last seen heading towards the rainforest. From there, tracking him should be the easy part, we can follow the dead trees. The hard part will be retrieving him. Poor kid's been cursed by a vampire."
"So, you say you have no experience with the particular variety of vampire I was warned about. Well, on this mission, if we bump into that vampire, you're gonna get some experience. Now, how about life-draining curses, got any experience with those? I'll have to call in our professional cursebreaker if you don't."
The Scar -> Truck -> The Forest (Bonnie, Carol; NCH; Morpho)
Morpho reassured, "The Web's spaceship has supplies that we'll be happy to share. And if all else fails and we need to beat a hasty retreat, the spaceship's teleporter pad is big enough to fit this truck on." He queried the spaceship to see if Mequoql was done being scanned. Not quite yet. He added his own time-delayed message asking for camping gear.
Exsylvan Tributary Joins Main River -> Downstream! (Mustang Herd, Skvader)
The herd waded downstream until they came to the spot where it merged with a much larger river. Lead Mare Flashfoot spotted the very distant flying dot again. She snorted. All the other horses took a look.
Lead Mare Flashfoot surveyed the situation. The river that this tributary merged with was deep and wide, and it got deeper and wider and swifter after the merge. If they wanted to continue hiding their hoofprints...
Lead Mare Flashfoot beckoned Fiddler over. Fiddler knew what that meant, she was tasked with sandwiching Filly Flashfoot in between herself and the Lead Mare. Fiddler left Mouse behind to do so. The trio trotted in synchronization down the last stretch of the tributary and plunged into the main river. As expected, the current slammed into them and shoved them downstream. They didn't panic, they kept swimming perpendicular to the current, and the momentum they'd built from trotting got them safely to the other side, albeit at a significant distance down the stream. Lead Mare Flashfoot beckoned to the rest of the herd, Groups of three, do what we did.
The skvader decided to glide over on his own instead of burdening any of the horses, and hopped up to Raven's head to launch off between her ears. She squealed in startled indignation.
Groups of three trotted in and braved the rapids. Some groups had to be urged by Guardian Thunder threatening to nip a few rumps. Some groups were swept further downstream than others before they made it to the far riverbank.
The strung-out herd reconvened beyond the riverbanks where the ground was firmer and the grass was shorter and springier. They located the dot in the sky and tried to guess which direction a Sabertooth Metalbeast would least expect them to go in. This would have been easier with Our Watcher, she was the best at predicting Saberteeth, probably because she herself was sometimes Sabertooth.
River -> South (Mustang Herd, Skvader)
At this distance, maybe the flying dot hadn't seen them yet. To keep it that way, they might as well go directly away from it. Only if it got closer would Our Watcher's tactics be needed. The herd left the river behind and headed south at a brisk trot, the skvader bounding and gliding alongside them.
I know I said the mustangs would be exploring the river, but they're ditching that in favor of displaying how they remember and try to thwart the ways humans devised to round up mustangs. Because they mistook Krakka'a for a helicopter, the mustangs are looking for a landscape feature that they can hide under while still having a decent number of directions to exit from. There's a reason they don't use the forest to hide from Flying Saberteeth — according to the mustangs' artificial instincts, there's something worse than helicopters and D'voreem in the forest.
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
Saen gave Chitara an icy glare as she went on about how all witches were evil. "Maybe where you come from, Chitara, but in my experience most witchesss, like most people, are good. I would watch my generalizationsss, were I you."
When the newcomers started talking about their transportation, Saen was intrigued. "SS So it simply runsss on machinery? No spiritsss to animate it? That seemsss like a quite a feat to me." Sure, she knew of windmills and waterwheels, but this was far beyond such devices.
Forward, boys! For God's sake, forward!
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Hotel Lobby (Valerie, Justin, Cynthia, Diantha, Arilay, Nui, James, Kris, Kaitlyn)note
Gwion and the others who knew Nemaforte had no idea. Nui contemplated telling him and his friends the truth about her imprisonment, so to speak... but after detecting how downcast they seemed at the mention of her death, decided not to comment. It was not wise to assume the culture of whatever world they were from had any less negative views about necromancy than that of Orenya, after all.
By now Nui's eyelids were beginning to get tired of flying open all the time. Foremost among everything in the lobby conversation was the discussion of souls, which, between the confusion in Valerie's aura and Cynthia's talk about "aether cores", led Nui to conclude that they were talking about something quite different. "Ah, you're talking about artificial souls." They shook their head. "Those don't spontaneously form inside inanimate objects at all. True, it is possible to magically create one,note but unless..."
They paused thoughtfully, again becoming momentarily distracted by the rest of the stuff going on. Diantha and Cynthia discussing about who would go where (Nui noted the cuttlefish on Diantha's shoulder that distinctly held Nora's aura—another shapeshifter!), Shale leaving and Justin returning to the waking world, so to speak... and finally, Valerie's question of who wanted to go to the magic shop with her. Arilay volunteered and...
"I shall accompany you as well if you would have me," Nui spoke up, raising their right arm with its barreled gadget. "In part in assumption that you still wish to go to the Ghost Town, in part because of curiosity, and in part because I wish to clarify a few things. One, it's they, not he. Two, a question..." and here they leaned in closer, "...does your world have a field of ambient necromantic magic, a sort of magisphere that also animates things?" If the answer to that was yes, that would explain a lot. The fact that Vindex wasn't a full being (Nui had wondered why the aural signature of his dog form was more similar to a phantasmal manifestation of memory—sometimes called a kind of ghost in some cultures—than to a living being) yet had that link with Justin would corroborate this assumption. That in addition to something Cynthia said...
"Noble spirits? I do not believe I have heard of those. It sounds like what you are talking about is an independent ethereal entity with the potential to possess people, influence a part of the world, or such... which on Orenya would be called a 'demon'." They looked briefly over to Justin. "But is that what you are talking about?"
The concept reminded Nui of that "corruption" Valerie was talking about with regards to Vindex. And it made sense, if the complex interplay between souls (or soul projections as it were) in UD Justin was any indication. And it was true; Nui was fine from their so-called exposure, though if they had actually gone through with their attempted possession of UD Justin, the situation would be less clear. Yes, Nui did have a soul, but as Nyceme had detected earlier, there was something subtly not right about it. Was it more powerful than the average soul? In pieces and/or damaged? Or even already corrupted? Or perhaps some combination of the three.
For now the soul and its vessel, as it were, waited to see if Diantha, James, Kris, and Kaitlyn were going to the magic shop as well.
Edited by ladytanuki on Jul 21st 2018 at 2:29:57 AM
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.
The Quickest Draw In The West
WFS Hummingbird Transporter Room (Murquoql, Shale; Wain Fallwen)
Wain hadn't dealt with life-draining curses of any variety before. But he wanted this wish, not only to get off this planet, but also to wish for as many credits as his heart desired. And so, Wain decided to do what he did best: lie about his experience.
"I'm great with life-draining curses. Now let's get to the rainforest and find this kid already."
It's a bird.
The Scar - Small River (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
"Water?" Jann asked, turning his head to the right with a slightly confused look as Rosalind got back inside. A side effect of reanimation unique to her world, perhaps? A conceptual component of the spell itself, or something with an elemental cause..? He pushed the thoughts to the back of his head, saving them for later. The science could wait for a moment.
"How bad does it get? Should we hurry across or..?"
Rosalind glanced out through the window and suddenly said something about trampled mud, followed by Ozurr asking about horse feet. Presumably, they had both just noticed the same thing.
Varg took a quick look at her companions, her red eyes brightening up with an idea before she steered the vehicle closer to the western edge of the Scar, and hit the brakes.
"Right, your horses..." she said to Rosalind. She thought back to her younger years, of how she and Bjarn had hunted in the forests on their journey south. "Let's see how fresh the tracks are."
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
Sun-Dry Sea (Pilot 0037, Unit 09; Nyorla)
Pilot 0037 shook his head, "I don't know nothin' about skinnin', or harvestin' skin tumors. I was just figurin' that since you were plannin' on skinnin' these critters, that you knew how to do it." He then shrugged, "I guess we gotta learn somewhere." After a moment further, he asked, "What's a tumor?"
Unit 09 remained silent on the matter.
Town ~ Hotel Lobby (Cynthia, Diantha; James, Kaitlyn, Kris; Arilay, Shale; Justin, Valerie, Vindex; Nui)
Diantha gave Valerie a friendly smile as she approached the group, "Hello there! I'm Diantha, nice to meet you," she said, offering the girl a hug.
Cynthia gave an initially worried glance at Valerie when she mentioned teleporting the group to the magic shop, but quickly loosened up, breaking into a faint smile, "I'll go too," she told her.
"Me too," replied Diantha, "One, I'll be sticking with Cynthia, and two, one of my noble spirits wants to check it out. Him being a former magician and all."
The young knight gave a Nui a startled glance, "There is place rumored to be like that, called Magna Terras. Its listed as a prohibited area do how dangerous it is.," she told them.
Diantha, meanwhile, gave Nui a hard stare, "Demon, huh?" She then listened to the internal chatter going on between Oz and Zoroaster, sparked by what Nui had said.
Wot's a demon? If I am correct, daemon is Hellenic for "spirit". Though, we aren't entirely independent and ethereal. Wot's ethereal mean? Oh dear, this might take awhile... A few moments later, In which case, I'm very much ethereal! Yes, you very much are. Diantha contained a small laugh.
Town Hall (Moquoql; John Smith) -> WFS Hummingbird Transporter Room (Moquoql, Shale)
Moquoql's fingertips were now clean, she retracted her claws. "Well, if that is all you can do, then that is all you can do. Good day, sir." She reached for the back of her neck, turned off the el-kor patch covering her vertebrae, then disappeared.
She reappeared on the spaceship teleporter pad, stepped off it, and signaled Morpho and Mequoql. While she waited, she reactivated the gas mask's el-kor field and waved at Shale.
Shale was centered on her hoverboard, securing the last of the solar panel straps. She waved back.
Truck (Morpho, Mequoql and others)
With Morpho still holding onto Mequoql, he was included in Amy's hug. Morpho spoke up in defense of Bonnie, "First time was a misunderstanding, second time was a crash inconvenient for all of us. Third time's bound to have better luck now that Bonnie knows what's going on, right?"
Morpho thought for a second. Everybody present had seen Mael teleport away, so it wouldn't be breaking the secret that teleporting was possible to suggest taking a shortcut to the forest through the spaceship's teleporter. If it was big enough to fit Swanwhite, it was big enough to fit the truck. On the other hand, the people left behind to get gear needed a fair chance to catch up. Never mind, back to Plan A.
Morpho announced, "Okay, I've got a window of opportunity to send Mequoql up to the spaceship for her scan. She'll catch up with us soon. Meanwhile, I'll be here to keep an eye on things." He let go of Mequoql while counting down, "Beaming up in three, two, one!" Mequoql disappeared out of the truck.
Morpho heard a distant impact
behind him and briefly wondered what it was.
Truck (Morpho, Mequoql and others) -> WFS Hummingbird Transporter Room (Mequoql, Moquoql, Shale)
Mequoql reappeared on the spaceship's teleporter pad. Her younger sister was waiting.
"Come on," the gas-masked sister remarked in resignment, "the sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can take this uncomfortable thing off."
Shale popped open the wing-shaped solar panels. They caught the spaceship lights and the board ascended one inch off the floor. There wasn't much charge in the battery, so the hoverboard would be in low power mode, matching her usual maneuverability, for a while.
Transporter Room (Mequoql, Moquoql, Shale) -> Sick Bay (Mequoql, Moquoql)
The quarantine-airlocks sealed behind the sisters as they entered Sick Bay. A pod descended from the ceiling and Mequoql climbed in. The pod sealed shut, identifying Mequoql as its occupant, and Moquoql connected her communication microchip to it. "Run program mental security." She started guiding the pod to the designated quarantine room for this type of scan.
Mequoql would spend the next few minutes being nudged in and out of consciousness by a yellow light, allowing the program to triple-check her conscious and subconscious mind for any "fishhooks", "tripwires", etc.
Rec Room (Maequoql, Aynara, Arnaya; Explorer of Unknowns, Felian) -> Corridors (Maequoql)
Maequoql stiffened, then facepalmed. "Figures. Just figures. Remember those dangerous twins I told you about earlier? They're here."
"Ooh, what have we here?" a soprano voice sing-songed.
"I thought I smelled new blood!" a mezzo-soprano voice chimed in.
The tropical Mayatan twins rounded the corner and their grins faltered as they eyed Explorer of Unknowns up and down. "Whoa, technology," they chorused.
Maequoql introduced, "Explorer of Unknowns, Felian, allow me to present Aynara and Arnaya, walking weapons of mass mayhem. Play nice, everybody, I'll be in the cockpit." And with that, she walked out of the room, muttering something about a search not going to be easy.
Author's note: I can't remember when I previously said this, but I'll reiterate that Maequoql was designed for the Voice with an Internet Connection role. At this point, her introversion is kicking in and she really does have better things to be doing.
Arilay (WFS Hummingbird in Geosynchronous Orbit, remote-controlled from Hotel Lobby)
Arilay's spaceship sensors picked up a comparatively tiny one-person spaceship. She didn't realize it was careening out of control until it was too late to use her tractor beam in an effective manner. "Butterfingers!" she thought to herself as the smaller spaceship tumbled out of the tractor beam and cratered into the ground near the hotel and restaraunt.
On the ground, Arilay felt the impact in her organic bits and mechanical seismic sensors. At least it wasn't a lethal speed. She peered out the transparent door and quipped, "Ooh, that left a dent."
Hotel, Room 444 (Murquoql; Amelia, Inni) -> Hotel Fire Escape (Murquoql)
Murquoql said her goodbyes and exited Room 444. As soon as the door was closed behind her, she sighed in relief as she released her psychic radar from where she'd bottled it up.
The maternal distress had lessened slightly — Murquoql turned her attention down to the second floor out of respect for the women's privacy. She was surprised to not find Mark and Farah. She did a sweep on her psychic radar and found no trace of them anywhere in the hotel or beyond. Well, that was annoying, they'd bailed on her.
Just then, she heard and felt... "What was that, a tiny brief earthquake?" she messaged Arilay.
Arilay answered, "No, a little spaceship about the size of a one-person shuttle-craft just crashed.
"
Murquoql rolled up her papers, tucked them under the skin folded over her breasts, and jogged down the hall to the fire escape. The missing kid mission was not forgotten, she was guessing the pilot could use a wish to fix the crashed spaceship if it proved to be beyond the Web of Friendship's capability to repair. Murquoql's telekinesis kept the alarm on the fire escape door from going off as she briefly opened the door.
On the fire escape, Murquoql leaned her fuzzy black-spotted head out over the railing and surveyed what she could of the crater from above. She called "Hang on, I'm coming!" Her double set of vocal cords added an extra tone to her heads-up.
Hotel Fire Escape (Murquoql) -> Crater (Murquoql; Wain Fallwen)
She perched on the railing, spread her gliding membranes and leaped off, tilting herself to arc around the obtuse corner of the pentagon-shaped building. The glide got her there within seconds, ruffling her bluish-white fur.
She landed a couple steps away from the crater, instinctively flexing her telekinesis on herself for a graceful landing. She commented, "Yowch, that didn't look like fun. Do you need a doctor?"
Edited by Miss_Desperado on Jul 14th 2018 at 9:40:53 AM
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.