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
Strepsirrhine of DOOM!
Mouth of the Smaller River (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
"Fjaveten!" Ozurr swore as the log suddenly swatted his axe aside and morphed into an amorphous mass of flesh. The flesh creature wrapped a tendril around Jann's leg and dragged him to the river, surprisingly quickly for something so ungainly. Rosalind tried to intercede, but the creature didn't seem to want to let go.
Ozurr took two steps before launching himself into the air with a primal roar. He landed next to the creature and used the momentum of his jump to bring his axe down hard, severing the tendril from the creature. The...thing, whatever it was, made a gurgling sound that Ozurr guessed was an expression of pain and sprouted another tendril, which it wrapped around Ozurr's wrist. The barbs stung, but compared to that time a unicorn had stabbed him in the calf, this was nothing.
"Get off me!" he snarled. It was too close to his hand to get the proper force with his axe, so he resorted to using the tip of the blade to try and push it away.
The Scar, bridging the smaller river (Zarokh)
Zarokh jumped at the sound of something loud and low-pitched in the distance. It came from downriver, and sounded like something very heavy had landed in sand.
He looked between the trench and the river. Do I investigate, or do I keep going? Krakka'a won't be happy if I delay...but this could be a sign from the Great Sobek. "Oh great one, I don't understand. What should I do?"
(A universe away, a very frustrated Sobek shouted "Follow Krakka'a, you stupid lizard!" But Zarokh couldn't hear him, and his powers only extended as far as his own universe.)
"No," Zarokh said to himself. "If this is a sign, I can't ignore it." He slid down the bank and followed the footprints towards the source of the noise.
Near the River (Akane; Krakka'a)
With a single movement of her hand, Akane freed herself from Krakka'a's grip. He recoiled, shocked, only for a second, but it was enough. Before he could retaliate, she was moving behind him.
"I am an alpha predator, you dull creature," he growled, "and I will not be-"
He felt something grab him by the waist, and then he was in the air, and then he was on the ground, on his back.
"What was that about 'mammals', hmm?"
Krakka'a just lay there, blinking at the sky, mouth open. The only sound that came out was a weak groan. How was this possible? Even putting aside their relative positions in the food chain, he was easily five times her size. Basic physics would dictate that she should not have been able to do what she just did. And yet, here he was, flat on his back with the wind knocked out of him and possibly a concussion.
He turned his head to look at Akane. This time, he was too stunned to think to hide the look of abject terror on his face.
Edited by apocalemur on Aug 2nd 2018 at 9:38:55 AM
Tidesson Son of the staves of time
Mouth of the Smaller River (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
Rosalind pressed her eyes against Jann's shoulder, his jacket wicking away the water on her eyelids and letting them open again. She lurched, but didn't fall over, as Ozurr interrupted the macabre game of tug-o-war. She steadied Jann, let go of him, and pounced at where the extremity had been cut off from the main mass. She missed with a splash, pounced again, and caught the stump of the twitching tentacle in her hands this time, bringing it to her mouth to taste the blood. It was bland and unsatisfying, she nearly spat it out in disgust. She yanked the flopping flesh the rest of the way off of Jann.
As the chitinous spurs were forcibly removed, Jann's blood spilled into the river and Rosalind tensed at the sight. She had to get herself and Jann out of the river now. She forced her eyes off the appetizing sight and located the nearest stretch of riverbank, just in time to see what Varg was up to...
Sun-Dry Sea (Pilot 0037, Unit 09; Nyorla... is Layi still around?)
All four moufretas were now flipped belly-up in preparation for the open skinning method. Nyorla worked a claw under one moufreta's lower lip and sliced, bisecting it. By sheer coincidence she noticed a white swollen mass on the side of the dead moufreta's tongue and opened the jaw. She pulled on the tongue to show the boy. "See that?" she pointed, "That's a tumor. A lump of too much flesh where it's not supposed to be." She let go of the tongue and returned to where she'd left off splitting the lower lip.
While cutting with her claw, Nyorla looked around for the newcomers. "Where'd they go? Did they go looking for an outhouse or something?" That hypothesis was temporarily preventing her from using her psychic radar, she didn't want it to cause unnecessary embarrassment.
WFS Hummingbird Transporter Room (Introducing Seenarnha and the Dragonhorses)
A slightly cramped white mass of scales appeared on the teleporter pad. The genetically engineered dragonhorse uncoiled to reveal a ribcage as large as a full-grown elephant's ribcage, but her limbs, neck and tail were longer, contributing to a sum total of flesh that was definitely less compact than an elephant. Swanwhite carefully turned, trying not to bang her body parts or the flight harness loaded with full cargo bags strapped onto her. More dragon than horse was used in her genetic mixture. She stepped off the pad to make room for the next arrivals, the much smaller dragonhorses accompanied by Seenarnha.
Blackthorn, as large as a draft horse but proportioned like a racehorse, had fur of a brownish-red color, with black mane, tail, hooves and wings, the color pattern was known as "blood bay". He had an empty saddle (intended for Murquoql) strapped to his back with a flight harness supplementing the usual cinch, the small-ish saddlebags were clearly full of cargo also. He opened his mouth in a yawn, displaying prominent wolf teeth alongside his incisors.
Two other black dragonhorses with ominous glowing red eyes, Zip and Zing, had the same empty flight harness saddles with half-empty saddlebags for guests. Lectri, with blue and silver scales, had an occupied saddle. The smallest dragonhorse, Plasma, was the only one not wearing a flight harness.
Riding on Lectri's saddle was cursebreaker Seenarnha the Mayatan. Her fur was short, glossy and a little stiff, for repelling the frequent rain in the climate she came from. A few of the black spots on her hands had a single white dot in each spot. Unlike the other Mayatans running around barefoot, Seenarnha was wearing boots that came up to just below where her gliding membranes attached above her ankles.
Edited by Miss_Desperado on Aug 3rd 2018 at 9:04:27 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.
Truck ~ Forest's Edge (Bonnie, Carol; Eris; Mequoql, Morpho; NCH)
Bonnie blinked at the newcomer a few times. The thing that caught her eye first was the pair of sword shaped orbiters, apparently of fire and ice affinities. Hazel eyes met gold ones as she laid down her staff, "Oh, hello there. I'm Bonnie," she said, offering a hand in greeting.
She then shifted her attention back to Mequoql for the moment, "I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be that hard for you to learn how to cast Dual Catharsis. I, myself, am still working on my proficiency on it so I can cast it over longer distances. As you might have guessed, having to touch someone to get it to work isn't very efficient."
Bonnie closed her eyes for a moment, "A Fortify spell, on the other hand, I can cast up to a few meters away. So, the next time, I should be able to set up a defense that will filter out the effects of your screams, with enough warning."
Next she addressed Amy, "Moof-retta," she pronounced, before scowling, "Just don't over hype it too much; moufreta is rather bland tasting," she said.
Carol, meanwhile, gave a curt nod towards Mequoql. "I suppose I can give ya at least one ov'em," she told the alien. She then turned back towards Morpho, "First things first, I'll be drainin' 'em of their blood, so..." Tying one of the ropes around the corpse she carried, she strung it up before slitting the neck. Blood began wetting the ground below, slowly forming a small pool. "After this, I'll be skinnin' and guttin' it, before breakin' it down into smaller bits afore handin' it off t'Bunny so she can work her magic on it."
She waved her hand slightly, "If ya know how to go about doing it, you can get started on another corpse if you want. If ya don't know, you can watch and follow my lead," she told Morpho.
Overhearing Nick, she called over to him, "If ya think this is a lot, wait 'til ya see a yearling," she said with a grin, before giving the newcomer an acknowledging nod of her head.
Near the River (Akane; Krakka'a)
Akane grinned. "And that's the face the cadet make once they realize who and what I am. I'm just surprised that I didn't have to break out my claws..." she said, sounding a little bit disappointed.
She glanced down at the wyvern, "You called yourself an alpha predator. So am I," she said, before sighing briefly, "In my eyes, I see a specimen of an unknown species of wyvern that barely classifies as a mid-tier for your kind. Hell, I've seen insects bigger than you," she said with a hint of mild amusement, "That said, I've never met a wyvern that could talk before, and that makes you very interesting to me. Though, I suppose I should have expected the arrogance and hostility; wyverns are said to be proud, territorial creatures at times."
"So," she extended an arm to help the wyvern back to his feet, "would you be more willing to have a nice, friendly chat?" she asked.
Crazy Kiwi
Outside Sporting Goods Store
[Lily, Matiu]Matiu's eyes widened. Fly? He remembered her taking flight earlier - without the aid of a plane, helicopter or anything else involving comfortable seats. From what she said and the way she was clearly preparing to take hold of him, it was clear what her plan was.
His mouth widened into a grin. "Too much!"
Matiu hastily checked his gear was secure before raising his arms a little.
"OK, sis. Jus' don't drop me, eh?" This was going to be fun!
Restaurant —> Hotel —> Supply hunt
[Leone, Nora, Moobly, Sophia, Peggy, Karl]Peggy was relieved that the matter of whether Nora could accompany the Wasteland group was quickly resolved. Cynthia quite happily proposed a reshuffling of her own group so that a talking lizard - certainly no stranger than a girl that could turn into a cuttlefish - would accompany Nora and that Cynthia would team up with Diantha to go to the ghost town.
A few moments after accompanying Diantha and Nora to the hotel, they were leaving again with 'Moobly' the lizard and Nora the part-time cuttlefish.
Sophia shook her head slowly in bemusement. This was shaping up to be stranger than anything she had seen in Capital City or at the Frontier. Still, at least they were sorted into their group and it was more than just her and the two youngest Mad Bastards heading out. She had no idea what abilities the small dragon-thing had but the quasi-military-looking Cynthia seemed to trust his abilities.
Sophia turned to Moobly, trying to ignore the fact that Nora was perched on his head. "Do you have transport?"
Hotel Lobby
[Nui, Cynthia, Diantha, Valerie, Justin, Kaitlyn, Kris, James]After following Nui to the hotel, Kris was aghast to as it became evident that the 'others' to which they had referred included the bloke who had been at the centre of the earlier unpleasantness outside the hotel. She glanced at James and could tell from the look of disbelief on his face that he recognised him, too.
She turned to address Nui, Cynthia and Diantha and pointed in Justin's direction. "Hang on a minute. Not too long ago, that bugger threatened the safety of everyone in or near the hotel."
James nodded. "He's certainly got some explaining to do."
Restaurant
[Jean, Ulf, Teri, Wolfe, Gwion]Wolfe was rather taken aback by Nora's sudden transformation but the scientific part of him was quickly distracted by the fact that Diantha reacted to Nora - in 'cuttlefish' form - landing on her shoulder as if she was still reasonably heavy. It was clear that, outward appearance and size notwithstanding, Nora still seemed to retain her mass - or at least a significant part of it.
As Diantha and Nora left they were followed by Peggy and Karl, who looked quite stunned, and Sophia who merely looked bemused. Leone left with them.
Kaitlyn, Kris and James followed Nui in the direction of the hotel, leaving just Teri, Wolfe and Gwion with Jean and Ulf.
"Yeah, nah," Wolfe said to Jean, "not a problem. There's only five'v us 'n' three bikes. You 'n' Ulf can sort out which crazy lunatic to entrust with your lives." He pointed over in the direction of the bikes. "Since we're all pretty much packed, shall we go?"
Without waiting for a response, Teri started heading for her bike.
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
The Scar - Chitara's Wagon (Chitara, Naiolo, Saen, Nyceme, Sindar, Jamie, Pearl, Aubrey, Finn)
Nyceme's eyes widened when Chitara went on her little rant about witches. Saen's reaction was understandable, and the undead nagini just had to wonder where Chitara got the gall to say that to someone who had indicated skill with magic before. Even though her eyes were built for glaring, she did no such thing; instead her tongue did the glaring for her, so to speak.
"Chitara, one thing you should know about me isss that I ssspecializzze in harmful magic, the exxxact sssort that would caussse the dessstruction you ssspeak of that givesss your witchesss a bad name. I do not unleash sssuch dessstruction mindlesssly upon the world, in fact I unleash it upon the people who do jussst that. If you have a problem with that, I sssuggessst we negotiate thisss before we ssstart tosssing fireballsss at each other."
Then there was Jamie who talked about destroying the dead. Here Nyceme would have shown signs of apprehension, only, being dead, her face no longer employed autonomic expression in response to emotion. Instead she decided to nod in agreement. "Ah, ssso your chemical formulasss catalyzzze life that isss already presssent. That makesss sssenssse."
Then the unaltered humans explained how motorcycles worked. Here Nyceme was just as confused as Saen was, nodding in agreement at her remark. As she examined the contraptions, she noticed the surroundings becoming lighter; looking up, she could see the clouds dissipating and the sun coming out. And she could also see... movement of a sort, perhaps from something with wings. Yup, something with wings; she saw it take off and fly west.
Sindar saw it too. "Looks like that flying creature is following the river you spoke of," he said to Finn with a side glance at Chitara. Speaking to the latter now, he said, "then onward, I suppose."
Then he and Nyceme saw Naiolo offering some chestnuts. The undead normally didn't eat such things, but Nyceme accepted one anyway. "Sssindar will have one."
The little mushroom fairy nodded. The nut was almost as big as he was, so Nyceme had to hold it for him. And Sindar... stood on it. As he did, the nut grew dark and soft, and eventually, moldy. And even the mold died out, leaving the nut shriveled and rotten. Nonetheless, after Sindar was done, Nyceme tossed it into her mouth, swallowing it whole.
Hotel Lobby (Valerie, Justin, Arilay, Cynthia, Diantha, Nui, James, Kris, Kaitlyn)
Before Valerie could respond to Nui's question about ambient necromatic magic, Cynthia of all people answered them, telling them about a place called Magna Terras. They nodded. "Mine does as well. The Field of Souls—or the Phylactery Factory as I like to call it—harbors a curse that draws people's souls out of their bodies and into the crystals there." They shuddered.
And then listened to Diantha's short response about demons. Well, short verbal response. What Nui sensed next surprised them: much like UD Justin earlier, there were other ethereal presences with distinct aural signatures inside Diantha, appearing as little fluctuations around her own. They had to be noble spirits; Nui heard Diantha mention them to Cynthia. At first glance they seemed like souls sharing her body, especially since Nui heard faint bits of chatter between them (couldn't make out any words though), but nobody was in control of the other, or at least it wasn't the sort of control Nui was familiar with. So they weren't demons either.
"What are noble spirits anyway?" they asked Diantha. "Is it simply the term you use for souls that wander amongst mortals, or are they magically processed, so to speak, from various ethereal entities? Or perhaps both?"
Then they heard James's remark about Justin, replying in a tone that was stern but not quite disapproving. "You seem to not know much about souls and auras," they said to him. "I am a scholar of souls and the necromantic arts, and possess the ability to sense the nuances of ethereal abnormalities in a person - or any soul that is not properly in a living vessel. I saw this individual during that battle, and I can assure you that the entity who was taking control of his body and mind at the time is no longer present here. Valerie here has shown an ability to drive away that entity, even if it took her a while to muster the courage to do it."
They sighed. "Forgive me if I sound biased. I will admit that I see a bit of myself in those two, although the circumstances of our worlds are very different. People in that..." The almost pedantic tone normally underlying Nui's voice now gave way to... nervousness? Fear, even? And they knew it. Pausing a moment to collect themself, they went on. "Well, regardless, your concern is valid, and it warrants an eye or three kept on at the least." They shot a glance at Valerie and Justin, half expecting one of them to snarl much like Furry Dragon Vindex did.
Then they spoke to Valerie. "Off to the shop then?" Internally though, they were impressed. On Orenya, teleportation was a very advanced form of magic, something very few mortals were ever able to accomplish throughout history. To reach faraway places, one would normally use astral projection, which was easier because it sent nothing physical, but that was the drawback: it could send nothing physical. And shops were all about something physical.
Edited by ladytanuki on Aug 4th 2018 at 2:11:23 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.
It's a bird.
Mouth of the Smaller River (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
With Rosalind's help Jann managed to stand up, finding himself waist-deep in the river with his boots trudging through the mud. He winced as the barbs in his leg came loose, but now that he was free is was easy enough to reach his weapon.
Jann backed away from the creature, aiming his gun at the center of it's amorphous shape as he followed Rosalind towards the shore. He pulled the trigger, and despite being soaked in water, the gun fired with a bright flash and a sharp bang, embedding a bullet in the fleshy mass. The materials for the weapon's truefire wheel lock had been expensive, but apparently very much worth the cost.
The creature let out a new strange gurgling sound, and briefly seemed distracted, flailing it's appendages around in random patterns. Eventually though, both the gunshot wound and the bleeding stump that remained from the severed tendril began to knit themselves back together, and the creature advanced towards the beach, sprouting sharp spurs all across it's body and shrieking with anger and desperation.
"Step aside!"
Varg ended her sprint on the muddy riverbank, aimed her massive quad-barreled shotgun towards the creature through a gap between her companions in the river, and fired a thundering blast of tiny metal shards at it. Jann took the opportunity to fire his own gun again, emptying it's five remaining chambers.
The creature, now reduced to a somehow even more amorphous blob of flesh covered in oozing wounds, was amazingly still alive. For now though, it seemed discouraged from continuing the battle and quickly dove beneath the water, swimming out towards the end of the river in an attempt to escape.
Once the danger was over, Varg went to help first Rosalind and then Jann out of the River, before slumping down on the beach next to the latter to inspect his injury.
"Well, I guess that just happened..." she said with just the tiniest hint of a relieved smirk, glancing over at the others.
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.Mouth of the Smaller River (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
"Step aside!"
Varg was lucky that Rosalind was just barely lucid enough to understand and obey. Rosalind ducked into a crouch low enough to dip her shoulders into the water. The severed end of the separated tentacle was still in her mouth, even though it didn't taste very good it was still blood and she instinctively tried to get every last drop.
Immobilized by the river, Rosalind appreciated Varg pulling her out of it. Rosalind immedately whirled to face the retreating homunculus again, dropping the shriveled tentacle to hiss at the shapeshifter until she was sure it was gone.
Still not quite in her right mind, she whirled again, her focus riveted on Jann's punctured leg. As she started stalking towards him, the amulet pulsed, and she froze. The lucidity returned to her eyes, along with confusion and anxiety.
"I didn't do that, did I?" she pointed at Jann's injury.
WFS Hummingbird Transporter Room (Seenarnha and the Dragonhorses) -> Spheroid Dropship Near Rainforest (Murquoql, Seenarnha and the Dragonhorses)
Seenarnha located the drop pod beacon and set the teleporter destination to put herself and most of the herd in between the pod and the coast. Then Swanwhite clambered onto the teleporter pad as everyone else got out of the way, and used it to catch up to them.
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
Town ~ Shopping District ~ Frontier Sporting Goods —> Air over the Forest (Lily; Matiu)
It didn't take long for Lily to have Matiu placed in a flight harness, and once she finished securing the man to herself, the pair of them took off for the forest on the flight mage's wind current.
With Matiu secured, there was no risk of dropping him; unlike what had accidentally happened earlier with Bonnie. As such, this allowed for her to go higher, and a bit faster, allowing the pair to soar over the ground at speeds besting those of the aeroplanes of the Cadian military (none of which exceeded 200 km/h).
Lily began slowing down as the approached the forest, flying lower as she scanned the trees for the truck, as she hadn't seen it in the wide open areas between the town and the forest.
Town ~ Hotel (Moobly, Nora; Leone; Karl, Peggy, Sophia)
Moobly struggled to budge Nora from her head, "Nora," she stated, "You're starting to become a bit heavy."
Nora initially pouted before hopping off and deftly landing on her tentacles before morphing back into her "normal" human self. "I’m sorry... it's just so fun being carried around."
Moobly then addressed Sophia, “Moobly does not,” she replied, “Diantha is the one with a motorcycle, and it seems Carol made off with the company truck. Again.” She paused for a moment before stating, “If you all do not mind, I will have to ride with one of you.”
She then turned to give a close lipped smile to Leone, "Moobly supposes that is a good thing?" she asked, before nodding, "Moobly and Nora do not require many supplies," she said, before procuring a small bundle from under her indigo poncho, "I am good with just a small bit of rations, and Nora is very... omnivorous."
Nora once again pouted at the cynthonic.
Town ~ Restaurant (Jean; Ulf; Gwion, Teri, Wolfe)
Jean flashed Wolfe a smile as she watched Teri begin heading towards her own bike, "Guess I'll be riding with you, then."
Crazy Kiwi
The Scar (Chitara's Wagon)
[Saen, Nyceme, Sindar, Jamie, Chitara, Naiolo, Pearl, Aubrey, Finn]Aubrey could hear what Chitara was saying about witches ruining crops and abducting people - it sounded a lot like the idea he had once had about witches - before he met Kris and had discovered that they were little more than people just like him but with a different religion; one based around polytheism and natural forces rather than the True God. Mistaken in their beliefs, but - at least in Kris' case - generally harmless and with their own moral compass that overlapped with Christian morals in many ways.
Of course, that was the reality of 'witches' on Earth and Terra Nova. The witches on Chitara's world - a world that had brought forth strange creatures like her - might well be different.
Saen very nearly echoed his thoughts, arguing that witches on Chitara's world may well do such things but those on her world were generally good - at least no more inclined to be bad than the average person.
To Aubrey's surprise, the ancient-looking Nyceme admitted to having exactly the sorts of powers of which Chitara spoke but pointed out that such abilities were used against those who would wantonly cause harm. It sounded strange but, then, for many years he had carried the means to take another's life to defend himself against those who would happily take the lives of others for no good reason - and he was carrying even more means to do so now. He didn't need Wolfe or Teri around to tell him that it would be hypocritical of a man carrying an "assault rifle" and two revolvers to judge someone who had the ability to cause harm by 'witchcraft' - especially if they expressed the sentiment that it was solely for use against the wicked.
Jamie's comments about 'theologic rhetoric' made Aubrey feel distinctly uncomfortable, reminding him of the 'debates' he had had with Wolfe, James and the others on The Long Walk. There was already an uncomfortable enough parallel between Chitara's rhetoric and his own earlier views without that reminder.
Thankfully, so far as Aubrey was concerned, the subject had shifted to the machines they were riding. The fact that Saen and Nyceme both seemed surprised that they were purely mechanical hinted that due to their skill with magic, they had never had the need to find technological solutions - which raised the question of whether or not everyone on their worlds used magic in some form or other.
Finn grinned at Saen's comment. "Well, we don't have magic, so we had to make do with more mundane ways of doing things." He looked about when Nyceme mentioned a 'flying creature' and spotted it in the now-clear sky. If that was where the river was, they wouldn't have far to go before finding it - and then they'd find out if the banks were as traversable as he hoped. He gave a nod of acknowledgement. "Got it. Thanks."
Town ~ Shopping District ~ Frontier Sporting Goods —> Air over the Forest
[Lily; Matiu]The flight harness was a good idea; Matiu was somewhat relieved that they wouldn't be travelling an unknown distance reliant solely on the strength of Lily's arms.
Taking off was exhilarating and Matiu let out a joyous whoop. Once airborne they attained speeds far greater than Matiu had ever experienced in open air and he was glad that he had thought to buy a pair of decent wrap-around sunglasses - as it was, air flow around the lenses was making his eyes water a little but he was at least able to keep his eyes open and enjoy the view.
They approached the forest surprisingly quickly - far faster than it would have taken in that old truck, easily making up for the delay while he made his purchases - and dropped lower and slowed.
Matiu guessed that Lily was looking for the truck and her friends - at least she would have a good view from up there.
" Ka rawe! This is awesome!" He looked about, trying to spot the truck and hoping it would take a while as he was enjoying the flight. He had been in a plane precisely twice - when he did his 'big OE' to the UK in his late teens - and this was much more fun.
Strepsirrhine of DOOM!
Mouth of the Smaller River (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
Ozurr just about had a heart attack as the small object in Jann's hand suddenly exploded, and the flesh creature dropped from his wrist.
"Step aside!"
Varg came charging into the fray with her own weapon, which also exploded, right as several holes appeared in the creature. Jann followed that up with five more from his own device, which apparently hadn't truly exploded. Ozurr wasn't sure how, but their attacks were clearly hurting the creature, as it bled, gurgled, and ultimately retreated into the river. Ozurr took up position at the bank until he was sure the thing had left.
"Well, I guess that just happened..."
Ozurr could hear the relief in Varg's voice, faint though it was. He walked back over to the others, inspecting the cuts on his wrist. You need to be more vigilant, he chided himself. You have clear slimes back in Hromstgard. You should know to be on the lookout for this sort of thing.
He knelt near Jann and Varg. He didn't know much about a human's durability, or how to perform first aid on something so small. "How bad is he?"
Further upriver (Zarokh)
Zarokh stopped again as seven more sounds issued from downriver. These one weren't impacts, though, but more like explosions. What the Ammit is going on over there?
At that moment, he smelled something. Two somethings, actually: sulfur, and fresh blood. He hadn't been able to pick it up before over the smell of whatever nasty stuff was on the bank at the bridge, but now it was clear as day. An injured creature might mean a meal, and the teachings of the Great Sobek said that a meal wasted was an insult to the Provider. But then again, the presence of the truck meant that the giant blue thing was probably there, and without Krakka'a around, Zarokh didn't particularly feel like fighting him again. And the smell of sulfur made him wonder if the explosions hadn't been some sort of miniature volcanic eruption.
I suppose there's no harm in going back to the bridge and waiting this out. They seemed friendly enough last time we met. If they killed something, maybe they'll be willing to share it with me. He turned around and went back to the bridge.
Near the Larger River (Akane; Krakka'a)
Krakka'a's first instinct was to bite Akane's hand off. But he was still lucid enough to realize that that would be extremely unlikely to end well for him.
He began to think. It hurt more than usual. He must have really landed hard. She's strong. Freakishly strong. She might even be able to hold her own against Zarokh...or possibly that blue mammal. I could use someone like her on my side.
Problem is, she's probably smarter than Zarokh, too. I'm going to have to be subtle about this.
So, choking back the bile, he accepted her off of a hand up. "You're strong. I can respect strength. You may call me Krakka'a."
Edited by apocalemur on Aug 4th 2018 at 8:31:36 AM
Tidesson Son of the staves of time
Air over the Forest —> Forest's Edge (Lily; Matiu)
Lily noticed movement in the forest below, the conspicuous orange of moufretas fleeing. It seemed that several others had decided to follow a pair that was charging through the underbrush, one of which was managing to be surprisingly nimble about it.
Further searching revealed a moufreta corpse, the truck, her comrades, the teenagers, the otherworlders, more moufreta corpses, and someone new. It seemed they were getting ready to set up camp.
"I'm getting ready to land," she told Matiu, before making the decent to land near the others.
Truck ~ Forest's Edge (Bonnie, Carol, Lily; Matiu; Eris; Mequoql, Morpho; NCH)
Bonnie heard and felt the wind, prompting her to turn her head to look up. Noticing Lily and Matiu, she waved.
"Lily's back," she stated for the other's benifit.
Lily's landing kicked up a bit of debris before she dispelled her wind currents. She then went about unbuckling Matiu from herself before assisting in removing the flight harness.
Near the River (Akane; Krakka'a)
"Cracker? Krakkaa? Krakka'a. Got it," Akane said with a smile, "I'm glad you respect strength."
She paced around him once, before casually throwing her hands up, "You know, I never even concidered that I'd meet a talking wyvern; I'm kinda at a loss about what to ask you— hmm..." She tapped her chin briefly before snapping her fingers, "I suppose I should start with the basics. Are you from around here? I'm not; I decided to go on a vacation to get away from micro-managing youkai."
Akane clasped her hands behind her head, glancing up at Krakka'a.
Edited by WillDeRegio on Aug 6th 2018 at 4:33:46 AM
It's a bird.
Mouth of the Smaller River (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
"I didn't do that, did I?"
Jann turned to Rosalind with a confused look, noticing the anxiety in her voice.
"What? No... this is from the creature. Are you feeling alright..?"
Now that he could focus enough to use magic again, Jann set to work on stopping the bleeding. He'd never been very skilled at healing spells, and would probably end up with a small scar or two, but the wounds where shallow and easy enough to close.
Confident that her friend could take care of himself, Varg turned her attention to Ozurr instead.
"Eh, he'll be fine," she told him. "Mages tend to heal fast, even without spells."
Remembering Ozurr's reaction during the fight, Varg gestured towards the weapon on her back.
"You're not used to firearms, I guess?"
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.Mouth of the Smaller River (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
Rosalind's legs wobbled, she half-fell into a crouch on the sand next to Jann. "No, I'm not all right, I'm shaken. That was absolute chaos and I'm not entirely certain of what I just did..." Her gaze fell on the shriveled severed tentacle and its chitinous spurs. By the time she looked back, Jann's wounds were sealed up but not entirely gone. Even though Rosalind had more than enough evidence to know this wasn't the case, the puncture marks still looked like a cluster of overlapping vampiric bites and it was making her uncomfortable.
With everybody close in and crowded around Jann in concern, Rosalind could smell Jann's recently spilled blood in the sand. But she could also smell fresher blood... Her gaze snapped to Ozurr's wrist. "Ozurr, you're bleeding too!" she observed. Her fingers pressed into the sand.
Varg addressed Ozurr, "You're not used to firearms, I guess?"
Desperate for a distraction from her own plight, Rosalind asked Varg, "What makes you say that?" She turned to address Ozurr, "Did you panic or something?"
Spheroid Dropship -> The Scar near the Rainforest (Murquoql, Seenarnha and the Dragonhorses)
Murquoql waved and extracted the papers from her skin folds, levitating the papers she'd written on over to Seenarnha and tucking the blank papers in Blackthorn's saddlebags. She telepathically transferred all the news she could think of and added aloud, "I'm going back to town to see if anyone wants to partner with us."
"Too bad about that abrasive bounty hunter," Seenarnha remarked, "If I run into him, I'll see if he can learn from his mistakes." Putting Murquoql's notes in Lectri's saddlebags, she informed, "Your socks and boots are in Blackthorn's saddlebags."
"Right," Murquoql quickly donned the socks and boots and swung into Blackthorn's saddle. "Before we part ways, we might want to eat. I reckon there's enough meat in the trench over there for all of us."
Mayatans and dragonhorses alike were perfectly capable of eating raw meat, so everyone trekked over. It didn't take Swanwhite long to crack open the skull and pry open the rib cage. From there, there was a diplomatic negotiation on how to divvy up the moufreta corpse as everyone tried to claim dibs on their favorite bits.
Edited by Miss_Desperado on Aug 6th 2018 at 3:35:59 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.
Strepsirrhine of DOOM!
Mouth of the Smaller River (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
Ozurr looked at his wrist. "Yeah. It stings a bit, but once you've been stabbed in the leg by a unicorn, you gain a new perspective on what pain is." Then he noticed the look in Rosalind's eyes. "Oh. That's not what you meant at all, is it?" He reached into his pocket. "Fortunately, I planned ahead." He pulled out several long strips of linen, leftover scraps from when he had his new outfit made, and began wrapping them around his wrist.
"Did you panic or something?"
"No," he said, awkwardly tying off the makeshift bandages with his left hand and his teeth. "I just wasn't expecting them to do...whatever it is they did. We don't have weapons like that where I'm from."
Near the Larger River (Akane; Krakka'a)
"Krakka'a, he said, resisting the urge to murder her for mangling his name. He'd be gritting his teeth if he had any. "You have to draw out the second syllable."
Krakka'a neither knew nor cared what a youkai was, but Akane had just given him some crucial information: he and Zarokh were not the only ones who weren't native to this world. Whatever rules governed the world he came from, they were almost certainly not the ones that governed this world, and the world she came from were likely governed by different rules still. Until he figured out how to properly manipulate her, his usual tactics of bullying and intimidation were unlikely to work.
So, what did he know about her, aside from the fact that she could throw him around like a boned fish? That was easy: she was fascinated by him. It had been a long time since Krakka'a had had a captive audience. A voluntarily captive audience...well, that was simply too much for his ego to pass up. She wants to get to know me? She'll get to know me. Or something like me, anyway. Not that she'll be able to tell the difference.
"No, I'm not from around here, either. I'm here because I lost something," he said, affecting a forlorn tone, "something precious to me, and there's supposed to be something around here that can help me get it back."
Tidesson Son of the staves of time
Forest -> Gone (Eris, Inanna, Others)
One minute, Eris and Inanna were present and ready to reply to others.
The next, they mysteriously vanished into thin air, with no sign that they had ever been there at all. Perhaps their existence was nothing more than an illusion...?
This post is just to get rid of these two. A Leone post will come later, hopefully.
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
[Forest]
As if the day couldn't get any weirder, the woman just...vanishes. Just like that. The Not Chaos Hunters just stared at the spot where she once was, not even acknowledging Lily and Matiu returning to the group.
"Ok!" Nick said, throwing his hands up, "That's it! That is fucking it! I'm done! I'm leaving! I can't handle this shit anymore!"
He then began to walk ahead, which instantly made the others worry.
"N-Nick! Wait for us!" Adam said, chasing after him. Jackson and the others followed.
"For God's sake," Jackson said, "We just went over—"
"No, fuck you and that damn rule," Nick argued, "I need to clear my damn head, and I do not need all five of my friends following me! I need to be alone!"
"There's a mind controller on the loose!"
"You don't think I know that? You think me being gone for five minutes is gonna be the end of the world? Let me have some space! My day has been filled with weird shit already...demons, furry aliens, Mael returning, fucking Moof whatever the fuck we ran into, that lady disappearing...it's too much! I can only take so much weird shit in one day!" Nick raised his hand, "THIS is how much I am done with today!"
Jackson glared, "You dipshit, I'm trying to keep you safe! Stay with the group!"
"Oh, of course your first reaction is to insult me. Wouldn't be good ol' Jacky if you hadn't."
"You are being a dipshit, though! You're trying to run off while we are in danger. I'm trying to keep you safe!"
Adam nervously looked between his friends. "Guys...please stop fighting..."
Ignoring him, Nick got dangerously close to Jackson's face. "Well, you could've fooled me. I'm sick of you calling me names and insulting me. Why can't you ever say something nice to me or about me for once, oh so great leader?"
"Because you don't take these things seriously." Jackson then got closer to Nick's face as well, "Maybe I wouldn't be on edge if you'd just listen to me for once!"
"Well maybe I'd listen if you weren't such a dick!"
"No, adventurers!" Amy begged, "Please! This is not how friends are suppose to act! We can figure this out!"
Her pleads fell on deaf ears; the two kept fighting, and if Henry and Joseph were nearby, they would hear most of the argument.
Well, Maya signed, This is the cherry on top of the shit sundae.
"Maybe we should've just stayed at that hotel after all..." Marie muttered, sighing.
Look at me, writing all of this at like 4 am in the morning. Ok, goodnight.
Edited by Masterofchaos on Aug 7th 2018 at 1:10:01 PM
Truck ~ Forest's Edge (Bonnie, Carol; Eris; Mequoql, Morpho; NCH)
Mequoql speculated, "Maybe I could cast Dual Catharsis, if I had the right tool, but if I use just my innate powers, I can't duplicate the physical cleansing, only the mental cleansing — e.g. terminating mind-control."
In response to Carol slitting the moufreta's throat and Bonnie saying moufretas tasted bland, Mequoql telekinetically snatched a dribble of moufreta blood as it fell and summoned the small amount of blood to her lips for a taste. "Hmm," she muttered to herself. Yeah, Bonnie was right, that was on the bland side. Only lucid goody-two-shoes vampires would drink this, otherwise it was just not effective vampire bait. And according to her big sister, the only friendly vampire who would appreciate the blood was too far away to get the blood to her before it wasn't fresh enough for her. Maybe Aynara and Arnaya would be interested, but keeping their diet limited to easily-accessible species was a high priority, and what if this star system disappeared once the Web of Friendship left? Her musing was interrupted as her telepathy noticed two allies flying in, the same two allies who'd stayed behind in town to get equipment.
Meanwhile, Morpho could have suspended the broken-necked moufreta from himself, but Bonnie had specifically said, "If ya don't know, you can watch and follow my lead," and with the phrase "follow my lead," the idea didn't occur to him. He took a rope and tied the broken-necked moufreta beside Bonnie's moufreta. The added weight made the branch creak a little. Forming a sharp edge on one of his "fingers", Morpho imitated Carol's throat-slitting method and watched to see what she would do next.
Truck ~ Forest's Edge (Bonnie, Carol, Lily; Matiu; Eris; Mequoql, Morpho; NCH)
"Oh! Hello, welcome back," Mequoql waved at the landing flyers. "Someone new just showed up, and I don't think I caught your names in all the fracas back in town, so... introductions all around? My name is Mequoql, the shiny metal guy over there is Morpho."
Truck ~ Forest's Edge (Bonnie, Carol, Lily; Matiu; Mequoql, Morpho; NCH)
And then Eris vanished. Mequoql guessed that Eris was unwittingly teleported, but it certainly wasn't the WFS Hummingbird's doing. Mequoql's train of thought was derailed as Nick just snapped from the stress and exploded at his friends.
"IDEA!" Mequoql shouted at the Not-Chaos Hunters, trying to bring a halt to the argument. "My telepathic range stretches far enough to where Nick can have the physical space he needs to clear his head. It wouldn't exactly be splitting the party until someone goes beyond my telepathic radius."
"And as for danger, according to my telepathy, there are no hostile beings, including Mael, within two hundred shelang — sorry, twelve hundred feet — of us." She telekinetically pinched a pack of hungry D'voreem encroaching on the edge of her psychic radar to make sure of it. The D'voreem mistook the pinches for a swarm of stinging insects and steered clear.
Author's note: That was the same pack of D'voreem that attacked the mustang herd.
Way, Way South of the River -> Heading East (Mustang herd, Skvader)
The now cantering herd had left the Sabertooth Airbeast far behind them. Lead Mare Flashfoot had to decide whether to go west or east. North was out of the question, and assuming that the Sabertooth Airbeast would go looking for them, south was not ideal.
Further south and slightly west on the horizon was a mountain. On one hoof, mountains had ground that went up, and if some of the ground that went up also went over their heads, the herd might be able to hide under it to avoid being spotted by the Sabertooth Airbeast. On the other hoof, it wasn't easy to move on a mountain, and there were other Saberteeth that liked to lurk in caves.
No, they would not be going to the mountain. Lead Mare Flashfoot gently turned the herd east, bleeding off inertia to ease into a trot.
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
Crazy Kiwi
Forest
[Bonnie, Carol, Lily, Mequoql, Morpho, Not-Chaos-Hunters, Matiu]As they passed over the forest, Matiu was surprised to see strange orange creatures running amongst the trees below, then they neared the truck. It seemed that the others had already done some hunting, judging by the corpses of a number of the orange creatures - clearly they weren't after deer or goat hereabouts.
After they touched down, while Lily was unfastening him from the straps, the furry alien introduced herself and the T-1000-looking fella. "Chur, Mequoql," Matiu acknowledged. "I'm Matiu, but you c'n call me Matt or Matty if y'want."
Then Matiu noticed some sort of raru going on within the group of teens that quickly got loud and heated. It seemed that Nick had had a gutsful of weird shit and wanted to wander off and the others wanted him to stay where it was safe and it devolved into a screaming match between him and the pommy-sounding fella while the quiet fella and the three sheilas tried to get them to calm down.
It wasn't too surprising, really - they'd been in some serious danger when he first met them and no doubt tensions were still running high.
Mequoql made a suggestion that she could use telepathy to keep an eye on Nick if he wanted space and said that there was no danger within twelve hundred feet - Matiu did a rough and ready translation of 'almost 400 metres' in his head - which seemed like a handy ability to have. Probably would come in handy for detecting more of the orange animals they were hunting, too.
He looked over at where a couple of the animals were being butchered. "So, are those things good eatin'?"
Town -> Gone (Leone, Others)
Leone nodded in response to Moobly.
"Food won't be such an issue for me either; I...suppose I'm similar to Nora in that regard," she said, "As for me...I'm looking for a ranged weapon, possibly some armor, and simply to peruse the offerings-"
She cut herself off as something caught her attention. For the following couple moments, she simply stood there with her head tilted to one side, as if she could hear something the others couldn't. A frown appeared on her face that grew heavier by the second.
"...My boss has decided to stop being so cryptic with what he wants. Unfortunately, my task requires that I part ways with the rest of you here." She sighed. "As much as it's for the best...I apologize for having to depart with you so soon, even before getting a chance to head out." She seemed more focused on Nora than anyone else. "All I can do is wish you good luck on your mission."
With a final bow of her head, she turned and headed off towards parts unknown....
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
Crazy Kiwi
Restaurant —> Hotel —> ?
[Leone, Nora, Moobly, Sophia, Peggy, Karl]Peggy nodded. Moobly didn't look like he would take up a lot of room on a motorcycle. She turned to Nora. "So I'm gathering you'll be on the back of one of the bikes, too? It doesn't matter if you stay in human form or not, so long as you can hold on and don't change shape while we're moving - that could make things dicey."
Just after Leone had stated what she wanted to shop for, she paused as if listening to something - Peggy couldn't see an earpiece but that didn't mean she didn't have some form of implant - and then regretfully announced she had to part ways.
Peggy nodded sadly, understanding completely. "That's a pity, I was looking forward to getting to know you better. I completely understand, though, we all have our instructions - I'm glad that your boss has finally let you know why he sent you here."
Sophia nodded agreement. "Sad ta see ya go. All the best with your mission." With genuine regret, she watched Leone leave - she had rather liked the quiet young girl.
Karl looked around at the rather diminished group and then directed his attention to Nora and Moobly. "We were mainly going shopping in order to get Leone properly equipped for the adventure. Is there anything either of you need to get or are you ready to leave now?"
< Forest, Roaming - Strange Happenings >
Henry glanced at Joseph, offering a smile at his little gesture, although he doubted Inanna would change her mind.
In a flash, Joseph disappeared behind a curtain of darkness.
"Whoa. That's not..." Henry fumbled around with his flashlight, thumb searching for the switch. He clicked it back on, illuminating a fairly narrow cone at his feet. "...good. Joseph? Joseph??" He swung the beam around wildly until...
"Yleah, I'm here."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Henry followed his voice and settled the beam on the sight of the squinting, jacket-bearing lizard.
"Ahck- thath kimma in my eyeth," Joe complained, grimacing as he held his hands up to block the light.
"Whoops!" Henry turned the flashlight away from Joe and back to the third present. "Hey Inanna, what happened to the light?" He aimed the flashlight this way and that around the spot she'd been last. Not finding her, he turned again. "Inanna?" He turned in a full circle and called a little louder, "Inanna?"
Wind shook the trees above. The rustling of tangled leaves was the only sound to break an unearthly still.
"Oh boy..." he muttered under his breath. "The clothes seemed to be a bit of a touchy subject, but I never thought that she would just leave like this."
Joseph stepped closer, his shoes pattering softly through the underbrush. Henry raised his head, took a deep breath and was about to call the missing Sumerian's name even louder when Joseph patted the side of his arm.
"Hem- Henmry! Look!"
Henry shined the light down on Joseph's outstretched arm, following the line it made off into the distant forest. It was the same direction that Eris had headed for earlier; the direction of the presumed engine sounds. Under the bright glow of Inanna's burning scythe, it hadn't been so noticeable, but now that the area was—but for the small beam of his flashlight—enshrouded in utter lightlessness, Henry could just make out a pale glimmer. It looked like...
"...Daylight." He shared a glance with Joseph. "'Day''light?"
"Sshssth."
Through the silence of the forest, the faint sound of voices could be heard. Neither of the travelers could make out what was being said, but the tones of aggression and agitation were clear.
"Those must be the car people," Henry murmured.
"Wha'll we do?"
He sighed and pressed his lips into a tight frown. "We should go over to them."
"Really?"
Henry nodded. "That's almost certainly where Eris is. We need to tell her what happened with her sister."
Joseph mashed the jacket between his hands nervously. "Buh whahlif thee's the one whoth- whoth- agh... lou know, at the thenter of all thatht?"
"What, the angry voices?" Henry paused, then shrugged. "Then I guess we're her backup."
"Whah can we do?"
Henry shook his head. "I don't really know. Create a diversion? If you think it's too dangerous, then maybe you should stay out of sight. Close, but maybe behind a tree or something. Think of what we did with that Mael guy."
Joseph sighed, tied the jacket back around his waist, and nodded in solidarity.
Henry straightened his cap, adjusted his backpack straps, and put on a look of steely resolve. "Then let's go."
From there, the two companions headed towards the light, Henry walking in a decidedly—even boldly—straightforward path toward the faint glow, and Joseph lingering a short ways behind, ready to dart behind the nearest tree at the first visible sign of people.
Once they were near the glimmering edge of the forest's heart, and Henry could make out a spattering of people—quite a few more than he had imagined, even—he glanced back and offered a hushed, "Okay, go." A few seconds of quiet rustling, one or two grunts of surprise, and finally silence ensued, then Henry raised his free hand to form a half-cup around his mouth.
"Yoohoo!"
this place needs me here
It's a bird.
Mouth of the Smaller River (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
Jann was about to offer treating Ozurr's wound as well, but the giant seem able to take care of it. Perhaps he's uncomfortable with magical healing? That was common enough back home after all.
Instead, Jann turned back to Rosalind and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," he said, "I guess perhaps one shouldn't really feel 'alright' after something like this. I might have grown a bit too used to this life over the last couple years..."
No... there's more to it than just that. The frenzied fighting, the fear of having accidentally injured him, those looks of regret... It was all painfully familiar in many ways. Jann's eyes briefly widened with fear, but that expression was quickly replaced by a solemn look of concern.
"You..." he began to say, keeping his voice lower than before, "sort of lost control for a while back there, didn't you..?"
Varg glanced across her shoulder, but decided to leave the humans alone. She set to work on reloading her shotgun, holding up one of the dull brown paper cartridges for Ozurr to see.
"This," she told him, "contains an alchemical powder, and a bunch of metal shards. You set fire to it, the powder goes boom, and the metal goes flying. Like tiny arrows, but faster. Hurts a lot."
She got up and let her eyes wander across the area. She couldn't make much sense of the tracks, but it looked like the horses had at least crossed the river.
"I guess we keep driving south?" she asked, looking back at Rosalind. "And keep an eye out."
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
[Forest]
Jackson wearily listened to Mequoql's suggestion, before sighing heavily. "I guess that'll have to do."
"Good," Nick said, "Now can you leave me alone? Can I finally have time to myself? Can I finally have time to—"
He was interrupted when someone called out to them. Normally, he would be more than willing to try to figure out who the stranger is, but after everything that had happened and the increasing stress he was under, now was not the time for friendly greeting.
"More of you? What the hell do you want?" He yelled back, "If you're another magical person who's going to disappear on us, I'm not in the mood for—"
"Nick," Marie said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "It's okay. We'll handle this. Go decompress."
Not wanting to argue anymore, Nick threw his hands in air and went into the bushes, swearing under his breath.
"Hello?" Amy called back, "Don't worry about him! He's just grumpy right now. Come on out! We don't bite!"
Edited by Masterofchaos on Aug 9th 2018 at 5:42:20 AM
Near the River (Akane; Krakka'a)
Akane raised an eyebrow, "Oh? I could have sworn I had gotten it the third time... oh well," she half-apologized with a shrug, noting the irritation in Krakka'a's voice. Annoying him was starting to become fun.
She gave a pensive stare as to what the wyvern had said. "Something that can help you get back something you lost, hmm? I suppose I might be able to help you look for it," she told him, before smiling, "now then, what might this thing you're looking for be, and where might we find it?"
Truck ~ Forest's Edge (Bonnie, Carol, Lily; Matiu; Mequoql, Morpho; NCH)
Bonnie gave Mequoql a puzzled look when she mentioned needing a tool to cast Dual Catharsis. "I... don't have any innate powers, other than a lightning affinity. I learned how to cast Dual Catharsis perfectly fine; I'm sure you could too," she said, before heading off to attend to the others.
Carol raised an eyebrow when Mequoql approached and sampled some of the moufreta's blood, "You some kinda vampire or somethin'?" she asked, cringing slightly.
And then Eris vanished.
Nick clearly did not take Eris' sudden disappearance well. Carol gave a frustrated sigh, before marching over to the teens. "Oi, you all are a bunch o'chicken shits—" she started.
"Carol!" interjected Bonnie, barring her irate comrade from doing, or saying anything else that might further exasperate the situation.
Lily joined in by placing a hand on Carol's shoulder, "They've been through a lot today, so give them a break," she told her. Meanwhile, she tried to figure out what twelve hundred feet came out to, and got side tracked by what a twelve was. Two elves?
Using her own flawed logic, she ballpark estimated the distance to the hilariously inaccurate distance of 1E00 (3168) meters.
She then crossed her arms and nodded, "I suppose I'll let you keep an eye on him; you apparently outrange me on the ground," she told Mequoql.
And then someone called out to get their attention from deeper in the woods. Lily reflexively trained her rifle on the source, before noticing it was a man armed with only a flashlight. Lowering her rifle, she waved in response, shouting, "Hoy there!"
Meanwhile, with Matiu showing an interest in the moufretas, Carol headed back over to continue butchering. "They're better than nothin'," she told him, "I'd say they're an acquired taste... if they had any. Nothin' a bit o'spices can't fix, though."
She then pulled down the now drained corpse and began deftly skinning it, something she had had plenty of practice with.
Town ~ Hotel (Moobly, Nora; Leone; Karl, Peggy, Sophia)
To say Nora was disappointed in Leone departing was an understatement. Tears began welling up as she gave the other girl a forlorn pout as she left, before sulking over to huddle beside Moobly.
The cynthonic, on the other hand, didn't know the girl, and thus wasn't affected in the least by her departure. Pushing the clingy shapeshifter away slightly with her tail, she got the girl to answer Peggy.
"Aye, I'll be riding with one of you; I'll make sure to stick to one form," Nora quietly told Peggy.
"Nora and Moobly have everything we need; we are ready to go," Moobly said to Karl.
[Forest]
Well, that didn't take long.
Amy gave Eris a friendly wave. "Hi! Are you a camper? Nice to meet you! We're about to cook the mo..." she tapped her chin, "Mof...Mo...." She awkwardly turned to Bonnie and Morpho, "How do you pronounce it?"
"We're about to have monster meat," Nick said, "Wanna join us? This looks like this could feed a family a eight."
I call dibs on the backleg! Maya signed.
"That was fast," Jackson said, "I thought you didn't trust it."
Hey, they said they're gonna make it safe, and since they're willing to help us after that shit in the city, how can I not trust them?
This is short, sorry. x_x