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
This is my good side.
East of Town
Slippery little thing, the tiny critter evaded it's attack. Instead, it retaliated against the monster, releasing more ice on its head with a strike. The creature stumbled back, dazed, a sitting duck for the next strike on its jaw. The hit shattered the ice blossom on its face and took a chunk of rocky hide, leaving the soft flesh underneath exposed. The monster grumbled in pain and stepped back, taking a hand to its face.
Meanwhile, Nasur listened attentively to David's explanation. It was a little complicated, but he could make sense of it. The gun he was handled was heavier than expected, and he had trouble lifting it, but he managed to point it forward. Just at that moment, John called them out for taking hteir time while a rock monster was trying to eat them, at the same time that it stumbled back, letting out a bellow of pain. Nasur quickly retreated to a safer distance, and tried to try out his gun. With some effort, he lifted it at the creature, readied the hammer, and fired. Despite David's warnings, the kick was strong enough to knock Nasur on his butt, the shot going nowhere near where he had aimed. Still sitting, Nasur reloaded and fired at the creature's general shape. It fired again, but did not seem to do anything.
Both Nasur and John's shots were just ricocheting harmlessly off the monster's hide, but a well aimed shot to its now weak spot could do more harm. The monster was now starting to step back, considering dropping hte fight and running away.
WFS Hummingbird Transporter Room (Seenarnha, Blackthorn) -> East of the Forest
As she gathered four el-kor ward-stones, Seenarnha thought for a bit on how to make her entrance. She teleported down a short ways east of the forest. The distance was quickly and easily crossed, as she and Blackthorn had appeared in midair. Blackthorn spread his wings and flew, lowering his altitude until he hit the ground galloping. As they got nearer to the forest, he slowed to a canter. As they entered the trees, he slowed to a trot. As they entered Mequoql's telepathic range, Seenarnha read her mind for an update on what was happening.
Forest's Edge ~ Campsite
Bonnie, Carol, Lily; Morpho, Mequoql; Henry, Possessed!Joseph, Possessor!Arku; Rebecca, Michelle)
Morpho notified, "The rescue that Mequoql said was almost over at that time was already a success by the time the teens arrived on the scene."
The invisible creature that had paralyzed the moufreta revealed itself to be a large galliform that Lily identified as a coco raptor.
Carol lazily stared at where the coco raptor had been moments earlier. "Wait... that's not on its list of techniques—"
"It swiped a gem, you dolt," came Bonnie's snide reply, "Probably the one you tossed, since Mequoql noticed it while it was cloaked. It wouldn't have been able to sneak towards the pile."
Mequoql speculated, "If that's the bird's first time using the gem, then the bird is probably barfing it up somewhere, so now would be a good time to disarm it..." Morpho stood between her and the fire as a silent reminder of what she'd told him to do. "Oh. Right." Mequoql felt Seenarnha's approach, and telepathically updated her orders over the comm-line, "Morpho, remember the 'until further notice' I said? Seenarnha is arriving. When she's here, consider that your further notice and follow her recommendations on what to do about the gems."
Bonnie, Carol, Lily; Morpho, Mequoql, Seenarnha, Blackthorn; Henry, Possessed!Joseph, Possessor!Arku; Rebecca, Michelle)
Into the clearing trotted the blood bay dragonhorse with his wings folded unobtrusively against his sides. The glossy-furred Mayatan cursebreaker in the saddle chimed in, "Wrong, wrong, wrong, Henry. The gems are still broken, according to Mequoql's assessment, and I'm here to, among other things, find out if it's something I can fix. Even if the gems weren't broken, most methods of finding out where a teleport went also reveal what was teleported. Mael wouldn't be chasing a coco raptor because he thinks it's you, he would be chasing it because he thinks he can make it useful in hunting the rest of us down. The process you are thinking of is useless and cannot set a trap. If you don't want Mael to find your teleport, you need to hide your point of departure, and that's something civilians can't do without education no matter what means of teleportation they use." As she spoke, she sent the dragonhorse trotting around the edge of the clearing. As she rode, she set down three hand-sized granite tablets in a triangle formation large enough to cover the clearing.
Addressing Arku, Mequoql said, "To what end should you speak? To find out how to accomplish your end goal without resorting to theft, that's what. Your end goal might or might not be objectionable, but the means to which you resort are what we are objecting to. Your apologies and reasons why are useless empty words without a promise to never steal bodies or memories again. Your promise to never do so again is likewise useless empty words if you don't know how to accomplish what you set out to accomplish without resorting to stealing Joseph's body."
While Mequoql spoke, Seenarnha levitated out a long rope of Etroshkan water-spider silk, tied each end to high tree branches opposite either side of the clearing, and hung the fourth granite tablet from the middle of the rope, overhead above the clearing's approximate center.
Edited by Miss_Desperado on Sep 3rd 2019 at 8:59:23 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.
Forest's Edge ~ Campsite (Bonnie, Carol, Lily; Henry, Joseph; Mequoql, Morpho, Seenarha)
Carol shrugged. "Bah, I wouldn’t be too worried if Mael got his mitts on a coco raptor— in a straight fight, I could probably whip its tail feathers off," she said, "I’d be slightly more worried if he got a hold o’ a coco magia."
She glanced up at Seenarha, her eyes widening at the sight of her mount. "Nice monster you’ve got there," she said, impressed.
Bonnie sighed, shaking her head. "It can hide its presence, inflict a paralyzing toxin, and has a tendency of stealing anything that catches its fancy. There are no straight fights where a raptor is concerned, you fight happy blockhead."
The lagokin crossed her arms, "Though, a coco magia getting its claws on a gem would be cause for concern— they’re clever spellcasting wyverns With that kind of power…" She shuddered at the thought of a magia being able to use its most powerful attacks with reliable consistency.
Meanwhile, Lily intently observed Seenarnha's preparations. The geometric orientations tipped her off that the curse-breaker was about to perform some sort of magic, as arcane sigils and glyphs formed the channeling basis for Arian spellcasting.
East of Town ~ Engaging the Enemy (Claire; John; David; Nasur)
Claire ducked and weaved around the beast’s legs, lashing out stinging blows with her weapon, an eager grin plastered on her face.
Noticing that the beast was using its hand to guard its face, she lashed out, wrapping the chain of her flail around its wrist, and pulled with all her deceptive might, despite— or rather, due to her frame and profession as an athletic, kleptomaniac, spellcasting adventurer.
"Gotcha now~! Aim for its face, your attacks might do something that way," she yelled.
Hotel Lobby (Mael; Archaeologist Ellya-Salaenl, Sarquoql alias Ren 4; Nora, Moobly)
Mael smiled, "I supposed boar hunting wouldn't hurt. I might need some lessons on how to handle it, though. I've haven't been boar hunting since I was a child."
Sarquoql silently suggested, "You could just mind-control it."
Moobly had her own tutorial. "Much like most creatures and monsters, an angry boar is a fearsome fighter. A prospective hunter will need a good eye, a steady hand, a cool head, a courageous heart and be fleet of feet. In other words, a standard hunting trip for Moobly." She then nodded her head, "Seems like a reasonable course of action," she told Sarquoql.
Sarquoql double-checked with a subtle touch of telepathy to reassure himself that Moobly was referring to splitting up.
Ellya-Salaenl reacted to Nora's bright smile with a hopeful smile of her own as she sidled a few inches closer to Nora. "A boar is too heavy for me to pick up in my telekinesis, but my spaceship's tractor beam is more than adequate to immobilize a boar. The engines are too loud for patrolling, I'd have to park and guard one area. Oh! That means you could try to chase the boars to my spaceship! Let's go talk to the farmer and fly... uh... wait, it's a two-person spaceship, it's going to be a cramped flight to his farm if we all go at once. I'd have to make multiple trips or something."
"Or something." Sarquoql impatiently opened the hotel door, barely remembering in time to do so with his hand instead of his telekinesis. "We'll figure that out a little bit later, we've got a farmer to talk to."
Edited by Miss_Desperado on Sep 2nd 2019 at 4:35:20 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.
< East of Town, Battle Beyond the Butte - Last-minute Liabilities >
"Spinning plates, John. Not to worry; I'm quite adept." Without turning away from his sharpshooter-in-training, David raised his pawlike hand high above his head and flicked his wrist towards the rocky beast, "keep the noise coming."
Holstering his own pistol for the time being, he stepped back with Nasur, keeping a close eye on his impromptu apprentice as the Narati readied the weapon, lined up his shot, and took it. And boy did he take it.
David flinched, toes and tail curling as the shot went wide of the beast, though thankfully there was no resounding cry from Claire that would otherwise mark the least fortunate of Nasur's possible targets.
He backpedaled a bit to the forcibly-seated marksman and began, "I guess words only go so far, but now that you've-"
CCKKRACKCKR
"WHOA-oh-oh!" David quickly crouched down and put a hand atop Nasur's hands, slowly but forcefully lowering his aim to the ground, "hold your horses there, cowboy. Emptying this thing as fast as you can won't count for much if none of your shots hit, and it'll count for even less if you hit the wrong target." He narrowed his eyes at the monster, "Truth be told, I think we might be trying to fight a mountain with small rocks here. I can't tell if these shots are even penetrating. Not from so far back."
He rose to his feet once again, hand hovering near his holster for a moment before digging into his pocket and retrieving the bag of bullets John had given him earlier. "Here," eyes still on the monster, he tossed the bag to Nasur's side, where it landed with a myriad of tiny clinks. "Don't let these tempt you. I want you to make your shots count, and if that means not shooting at all, then consider yourself a grade A conservationist. Now look at me," he turned to stare at the Narati, jabbing two fingers at his own dark brown eyes. "Whenever your finger is on that trigger, you'd better know when to shoot, where to shoot, and why you're shooting in the first place. Ask yourself, and if you can't answer, you'd better let that finger slide right off. I've given you that there to protect yourself, but if I ever catch you pointing it somewhere it shouldn't be pointed, I'll be taking it right back. You need any more help, ask John."
David nodded to the rifle-toting mist-man, then with one last meaningful, fur-faced look to Nasur, turned and began doubling towards the monster, dropping to two legs and a hand as the other fished out his pistol. Claire had just dragged the creature's arm away from its face, exposing a notably missing chunk of rock. David pushed himself upright and skidded to a stop just barely within the monster's reach, but leaving himself plenty of space to leap out of any incoming limbs. With two swift motions, he raised his pistol, took aim, and—steadying himself—pulled the trigger. The shot marked the edge of the creature's exposed flesh, where the sensitive underskin met with a bit of ice and rock residue.
"If you've got an iota of intelligence, you'll beat it!" he yelled, adjusting his aim closer to the center, "...or I sting you again!"
this place needs me here
[Butte]
John rematerialized, noticing that creature looked like it was trying to leave. Good, cause he wasn't sure just how many more bullets he had, and being a mist was taking a lot of energy out of him.
"You heard the man," he said, "We don't want to kill you, fella. Just walk away and we'll end all of this, alright?"
God, he wanted to just lay down right now, but he had to set his priorities straight. Damn monsters...
[Hotel]
Mael was slightly annoyed by Sarquoql's impatience, but didn't comment beyond, "Well, I supposed we should get going. Sincere thanks for your tips."
If we end up getting alerted cause I decided to take your advice, he thought, Then I'm pinning the blame on you. I hope you know what you're doing.
Sorry for the short posts. x_x
Edited by Masterofchaos on Sep 3rd 2019 at 8:25:38 AM
Sick Bay (Arnaya, Maequoql, Nyorla, Zip; Joseph; the Hunters; NPC Bandits including Mulligan, Tom and Clancy)
The other bandit not under Mael's control, the one who had panicked himself into a faint earlier, reawoke. His screen activated. "Gaah! I'm still in here?! Where's Mulligan? What have you done to him?"
The parleying bandit said, "Clancy! Calm down and look at me! You're not gonna get anywhere by panicking. Understand?"
"Easy for you to say, Tom, you didn't wake up to the sight of vampire fangs in your boyfriend's neck like I did!"
"Enough!" Arnaya interrupted before switching to telepathy. "Clancy, my enemy mind-controlled Mulligan — who's right in here — and a few more of your fellow bandits. Remember Black Morgan ordering a retreat? That's because my twin used Amos to warn him about that enemy. If you want to help snap Mulligan out of it and stop the guy who did this to him, the easiest way is to follow my orders. Tom already started parley." With that, she continued parley negotiations with the two bandits not under mind control.
Meanwhile, in response to the flurry of questions Maequoql said "The side effects are why we concluded your gems are defective in the first place, properly made gems from our galaxy don't have side effects." Nyorla cleared her throat and Maequoql concluded, "But I don't have time to go on at length about this."
When Amy was visible again, she happily went over to Nyorla. "Hi, I'm Amy! Wanna be friends?"
Nyorla shrugged, "Sure, but I don't have much time right now," as she dismounted. Zip pricked up his ears and extended his nose to Amy, sniffing her. Nyorla introduced, "This is Zip, he wants to be friends too." Zip stretched his neck further as he curled up his upper lip in a Flehmen response, sniffing more intently at Amy's neck and shoulders. Nyorla translated, "He thinks you smell interesting..." Zip briefly pointed an ear at Arnaya as he recongized her scent mark. "...more specifically, he can smell that you've been hugging Arnaya." As Nyorla walked over to a pod with a mind-controlled bandit inside, she silently asked, "Arnaya, why did you scent mark Amy?"
"Fiendlord, remember?"
"Oh, right."
Pulling the hovering pod she'd selected back to Zip, Nyorla didn't elaborate much. "Yeah, there's a Grim Reaper, but what the Grim Reaper is like is not important." She turned to face the group as her eyes flared gold and her telekinesis pulled a tether out of one of Zip's saddlebags. "The important part is, the Grim Reaper says that nobody in this room is scheduled to die in this star system any time soon. I'm not authorized to get more specific than that, though." Her eyes returned to normal brown as she finished attaching the pod to Zip's saddle horn. Nyorla asked, "Now will you quit delaying the deployment? We could have had all the mind-controlled bandits in position twice over by now if it weren't for you balking and jabbering away!" While she spoke, she got back in the saddle and turned Zip to leave. But when the airlock opened, somebody was already in the way.
WFS Hummingbird Transporter Room (Shale) -> Sick Bay Airlock
Shale was on her way back to Arilay from dropping Simon off at the Hub Town jail when she decided to find out what was taking so long to get a mind-controlled bandit down to the Ghost Town for triangulation. The airlock leading directly from Sick Bay was closed, and when it opened, Shale's face nearly collided with Zip's nose.
Shale expertly caught Zip's muzzle in her hands and directed him to take a couple of steps back. As she passed by him, she briefly rested a hand on Nyorla's bare ankle.
Nyorla began, "Everyone, this is Shale, she's..."
Already on her way out with another pod carrying a mind-controlled bandit, Shale tossed a wave of her hand over her shoulder before the airlock closed behind her.
"...not sticking around for introductions." Nyorla finished. "Like me, she showed up to see what's taking so long."
Ghost Town (Cynthia, Diantha; Arilay, Shale, Aynara; Different Bandit under Mind Control)
Now that Aynara had had her snack, Shale had left to deposit Simon in jail. Aynara and Arilay carefully guided Cynthia and Diantha around the less easily bypassed hazards on their way to Haydn and Wilhelmine until Shale returned, this time with a hovering medical pod in tow.
"Another snack?" Aynara asked hopefully.
"No," Arilay said, downloading a summary of the pod's recent activities, "The potion still hasn't finished replacing what you took from him last time."
Aynara pouted, "Aw, did Maequoql have to set the injection rate of that potion so slow?"
"Yes," Arilay exposited for the sake of Cynthia and Diantha, "Otherwise he wouldn't be weak enough to not give us any trouble as we use him to triangulate the enemy who mind-controlled him."
Shale added through Arilay's radio, "We probably should have told you this earlier, but the entire crew of our spaceship is multitasking at the moment."
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
< Forest, Edge - A Window In >
"Well whatever," Henry grumbled, eyes sweeping the ground furiously as he tramped through the clearing, "it's still pretty out of left field to suggest that they're all brain-damaged by gems because they wanted to leave here to check on a friend. Or am I now brain-damaged because I'm trying to get home?" Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, he shut his eyes tight and put up his hand, "on second thought, I'm really not looking for a clinical review of my survival instinct, so whatever notes you have, just— just... save them."
He returned his attention to the search, a creeping suspicion filling his chest with cold ire. Shortly thereafter, another Mayatan entered the campground, making her presence known by repeatedly telling Henry that he was wrong about some magical thing. He twisted his mouth into a smile elevated purely by his cheeks, then turned around to face the newcomer and her horse creature, nodding and raising his eyebrows with the greatest of interest as she explained to him how exactly he was wrong.
"You caught me, I didn't do the homework. I couldn't have done the homework, because the homework doesn't exist where I'm from, so all I've got to go off of is what you tell me, and I've just gotta trust in that, which is becoming harder and harder to do as it seems like you all are withholding a lot of key information until you can use it to shoot down my ideas." Pausing for a half-second breath, he turned to Mequoql, "Here's a new one. If you're so insistent that Mael—who had me isolated and clueless in these woods hours ago—is going to sniff out my transport and decide to suddenly drop whatever he's got going on here to pursue me through teleportation back to my place, then why don't I just wait a couple minutes," he changed his posture, holding his bat in striking position again, "...until he comes through and bean him in the head? Huh? No— let me guess," he made a circle with his hand and pressed it to his eye, "now there's going to be some kind of teleportation peephole where he can peek in and see me waiting. And then he'll probably mind-control me through the peephole, which he'll want to do because..." he shrugged, "leverage? Because I've got a bat and a .200 average? Because he wants free car repairs for life?"
Henry stopped, held out a finger, and drew in a deep breath. "How about an easier question? Forget the speculation, we'll just cut right to it: why... are you trying to keep me from going home?"
Arku's gaze fell beneath Joseph's eyelids, its sharp severity dimming further beyond the loss of light. He was silent for a moment before a feeble laugh escaped his host's lips. "It's always the end goal. Your ilk were nowhere to be found as my own body was stolen away. While my existence is being erased, I reach to those who dress themselves in benevolence and feel no firmness, but the faint vapors of mirage. Beneath the affectation lay half applied ideals and no intention of sharing my touch. That bounty of love, of fairness... useless empty words, as you say.
"Neither the importance nor the nobility of one's cause have bearing on its resources. What little I had was eradicated. What little I've borrowed is for the betterment of all involved. Joseph will not see it at first— it's a matter that begs perspective from a distance, but he'll know in time." Joseph's eyes flew open. "You of course won't see it; you've come into this stamping your scepter with the barest notion of who these people are. The society I've pulled Joseph from—that which you'd return him to—would waste him in ways I could never dream of. Henry has his own purpose and the drive to fulfill it, but his knowing Joseph has been nothing but a distraction. If he continues to carry Joseph's responsibilities as his own, neither will thrive. They are enabler and ward, each clinging to the other's heels, each holding the other back, pulling into torpor into stillness. Both stand to live fuller existences apart."
He leaned forward in the pod, mouth pressed tightly. "But why in Heights' shadow would you believe me? Believe me and you give up some of that power, too precious to spare. And what for, when you have a mold you can fit everything into?" He fell back, sighing in wonderment, "Ah... and when you dress in such benevolence..."
this place needs me here
[Hummingbird]
Nick pulled some gems out of his pocket and looked worriedly at them. Defective? Shit, we gave Henry some of these! He's probably home by now and—
"Bloody hell!" Jackson said, visibly annoyed, "We get the damn hint, we're going!" He looked over at his friends. "Ready?"
Nick shoved the gems back in his pockets. "Y-Yeah." He turned to Adam, "You ready, buddy?"
Adam nodded, his face stern. "I want Mael stopped, and if this is what it takes...I'm ready for it. I'm not worried anymore, cause I know you'll be there to protect me."
Nick's face turned red and he turned away, a nervous smile on his face. "Of course! Yeah!" He cleared his throat and bawled his hand into a fist, "Time to kick some mind controller's ass."
Amy gave Zip a small peck on the snout then happily joined her friends. "Don't worry, Clancy! We'll save your boyfriend! We promise!"
Marie, once again, put a gentle hand on Joseph's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile and nod. She only hoped he would take her advice and not try to go after Mael; she didn't want another innocent person being turned into his puppet.
"Beam us...down, Scotty," Maya said, "I probably butchered the hell out of that. I never watched Star Trek."
Edited by Masterofchaos on Sep 4th 2019 at 8:18:49 AM
This is my good side.
East of Town
Nasur was readying up to shoot again when David stopped him and gave him a stern talking about making sure to land the shots of his gun. Nasur huffed a little as he picked up the bullets he was given, annoyed. Why the need to be so careful with these things? Back at his home, Nasur had waved his magic focus without a problem and no one ever told him off... Then again, no one really was in a position to tell him off anyway. He was just that over the rest of everyone else.
Nasur stood back up and followed David in a slight jog. The others were much too close to the monster for comfort. No way Nasur was getting that close. Taking a good distance, he lifted up the gun. "Alright, then. Time to test this." He said to himself. "Why am I shooting? Well, there is this giant monster that tried to eat me, and is now trying to eat my new friends. There! Done! Now, when and were to shoot..."
David had been right on that. The creature's shell was too thick, and nothing had seemed to have affected it, with the exception of Claire. Speaking of, she was pulling down one of the thing's arms... leaving a patch of skin exposed on its face, around the eye. Nasur aimed up, and took his shot.
The creature, meanwhile, had pretty much made its mind about running away. These creatures had proved much too much danger to be worth eating. It was already starting to back up when it felt a harsh tug on its raised arm, strong ans sudden enough that it paused for a moment. Another moment later, pain erupted in the exposed side of its face. The beast let out another roar of pain and pulled its bound arm back up with all its strength while turning around at the same time, trotting away from the group.
Hotel Lobby (Moobly, Nora; Ellya-Salaenl, Sarquoql (Ren 4); Mael)
Nora nodded vigorously at Ellya-Salaenl, "I definitely could do that for you— wait, did you say space ship?" She blinked a few times, before saying, "I can take a smaller form if you need me to."
"And Moobly does not mind being in cramped places," said Moobly. The cynthonic followed closely behind Sarquoql as he left the hotel, using her prehensile tail to keep a door open for the others.
The Necropolis ~ Coffin Room (Akane; Jen Jara, Syrni Sandra; Alexa, Cody; Krakka'a, Zarokh, Shade of Osiris)
Akane’s eye twitched in annoyance. Taking a few breaths, she spared the briefest of glances around the room. "Someone should escort young Cody aside— he's looking a bit green in the gills," she said to her new comrades. "Things— could get messy," she added, quietly.
She narrowed her eyes as she approached Krakka'a. "Care to run that by me one more time?" she dared, "I really hope that was a bad joke, 'cause the last person who harmed children I dealt with is serving a life sentence as a floor rug. Hell, two centuries ago, I would have painted the room red with you in an instant."
She then frowned, turning her attention to the Deinosuchus, "Why would a crocodile god pick a scrawny, disrespectful, throwback of a wyvern to serve as his emissary? Wouldn't you be a better choice?" Akane asked Zarokh.
East of Town ~ Allowing the Foe to Flee (Claire; John; David; Nasur)
Claire let go of the beast as it reasserted control over its arm before turning tail and fleeing. She gave a brief sigh, she lowered her weapon at the behest of others. "Looks like we showed him what for," she said to the others, "good job!"
Holstering her whip, she approached the others, "With that out the way, I think we can continue after the thief."
Ghost Town (Cynthia, Diantha; Arilay, Aynara, Shale; Bandit)
After Shale's return from delivering Simon to jail, the slug-like alien brought another bandit. And with him, a cause for concern. The girls exchanged looks, "Mind-controlled?" they both said, worried.
Worry not, daughter-of-mine, for I am here. I would not let anyone take you away from me like that, Fiona stated in Diantha's mind.
Diantha crossed her arms, "Wow, sounds like you've got a lot on your plate," she said to Arilay.
Cynthia nodded, "If there's anything we can do to help once we're done here..."
Edited by WillDeRegio on Sep 12th 2019 at 9:26:16 AM
< WoF Scouter Hummingbird, Sick Bay - Calm Water Posture >
"Well..." Joseph murmured, scratching his neck and tilting his head, "I guess that's reassuring." His mind was already busying itself, one part contemplating the idea that he had some kind of firmly set expiration date, and the other wondering if there was a Grim Reaper figure for untimely life-altering injuries. Severed limbs, paralysis, nerve damage, brain damage...
Amid the rapid sinking of his gut and the storm in his head, he felt the sudden urge to stretch his limbs. Like a life ring cast down from above, he seized the urge without question, throwing himself upon it with all he could command.
He launched his arms up high with his belly out and his back in. He lifted his head, bending back his neck. He brought his tail into an inverted arch, forming in all his motion an almost moon-shaped silhouette. He stretched and strained and clung to the pose for several mighty seconds before letting all slip off and fall back into place, heaving what must have been the most satisfactory sigh he'd had in months.
And by some small chemical miracle, his mind was clear.
Joseph felt a hand touch his shoulder, turned, and looked to see Marie smiling at him. He smiled back, long mouth tugging into something a little sideways, a little awkward, but genuine. He patted the hand atop his shoulder, nodding his own assurance before turning back to face the others.
"Alright," he said, continuing to loosen himself up, "I s'pose I'm about as ready as I'll ever be. Let's get a go on."
< East of Town, Beyond the Butte - Chaste Off >
David steadied his footing as the creature roared and shook, while also keeping mindful of the balance between when it was time to stand his ground, and when it was time to get far out of the way of a creature that could squash him if it tripped. Fortunately, the creature—heeding either his warning or, more likely, the rather unpleasant sensation of maceheads and bullets striking the side of its face—ceased its retaliation and made its getaway, hobbling off to wherever to nurse its wounds however.
After waiting a few seconds just in case the creature decided to double-back and kamikaze the lot of them, David lowered his gun and allowed a bright smile to bloom across his face.
"Well done. Well done." He re-engaged his pistol's safety and holstered it, then turned to face the others with a veritable beam of admiration. "You're really very good with that chain, Claire; I've never seen anything quite like it, but I'm sure it must take a particularly adroit touch. Sharp use of that misty business, John, and fine shooting besides. Nasur, a bit eager, a bit excited, but all things considered, you kept it together and you're a quick study. Bravo."
He turned slightly away from John and Nasur, silently mouthing another emphatic, very good to Claire with an almost-wink squint of his eyes.
"Needless to say," he continued, "that thief hasn't got a clue what she's in for. Now..." he furrowed his brow, snapping his claw-tipped fingers twice next to his head, "remind me, did we get any sort of a heading on her from up top? If she's in the area, there's no doubt she's heard our commotion by now, which means she'll have either tried to hide or tried to run. Making a bad bet either way could cost us."
David glanced around, tapping his foot impatiently until his eyes ran across John again. He stopped for a moment and tilted his head in consideration. "Hanging in there alright, John? You're looking a tad tuckered if you don't mind my saying."
this place needs me here
[Butte]
John glanced over at David. "Huh? Oh! Don't worry about me. I just rarely use the mist form that much and it kind of took a lot out of me." He chuckled and waved his hand away. "I'll be fine."
He looked back to where the monster had ran off. "At this rate, though...I'm hoping that thing didn't get to our thief before we did. Jesus."
[Hotel-Outside]
Following Sarququol outside, he thought. This entire thing is entirely out of my character. I hate pigs with a passion and I'm hoping and praying they don't destroy my suit. Do you know how much this costs?
Outwardly, his expression was rather blank.
Edited by Masterofchaos on Sep 9th 2019 at 5:29:13 AM
The Scar, Wastelands (Varla; Lerna, Nerea, Cuddles; Sallara)
Varla had been rolling her wheelchair along in a near-trance, focused intently on the storm for a long time. She'd alternated the magical songs of her kind with the spellcasting dialect of her former captors as needed. But Sallara's hunters dove too deep for the storm to reach them, so Varla had been forced to switch to siphoning off the storm until it was no longer magical. She'd finished, but because she'd pushed the storm into the ocean before siphoning it, there was too much energy for her to safely hold on to now that she was no longer in battle mode. Her throat and mouth were glowing purple, more purple energy was oozing out of her eyes like unusually viscous tears, and every exhale bore a puff of black mist. Varla groaned, "Somebody PLEASE tell me if you have something to store excess magical energy in!" Otherwise she'd have to vent, which would make another magical storm right on top of their heads.
Forest's Edge ~ Campsite
Bonnie, Carol, Lily; Morpho, Mequoql, Seenarnha, Blackthorn; Henry, Possessed!Joseph, Possessor!Arku)
Blackthorn proudly arched his neck and put a prance in his trot at Carol's compliment. Meanwhile, Morpho silently noted what Bonnie and Carol had to say about coco raptors and coco magia, adding the information to the spaceship's wildlife database.
Seenarnha noted Lily's intent watching. She decided to let the pyramidal el-kor field remain deactivated for the moment. She ditched words in favor of faster wordless impressions to telepathically inform Lily about el-kor fields blocking telepathy, telekinesis and teleportation, ending with her decision on not activating it until after the designated gems were inside.
As Seenarnha dismounted and grabbed cold iron tongs and gauntlets out of Blackthorn's saddlebags, she started in on Henry, "Would you continue using a broken toaster before the electrician comes? Would you continue using a broken toilet before the plumber comes? Would you continue driving a broken car before the tow truck comes? Would you use a broken gem before I try my hand at fixing it?" With the cold iron gauntlets now on her hands, she used the tongs to pluck a gem out of the fire. "Morpho, cool this one down so I can put a sensor array on it."
Unaffected by the heat, Morpho's hand engulfed the moonstone in the tongs. He soon had it out of the tongs and rolling around inside him.
Mequoql shook her head at Arku, "I find your pushiness to separate Henry and Joseph disturbing. Separation is a last resort solution, instead it's far better to find at least one mentor, preferably multiple, for both."
Seenarnha's gaze fell on Arku possessing Joseph. "So, you were disembodied? We could have stopped it from happening if we had known. I wouldn't be surprised if there were perpetrators who took great pains to make sure you were far away from our influence before disembodying you. We may be way too late to have prevented your disembodiment, but I know a few different ways to undo it." She glanced at the moufreta that was paralyzed by the coco raptor. "But unless I find your body miraculously intact somewhere — highly unlikely if you ask me — or until I have access to a genetic vat, the best I can do is transfer you out of that sapient being and into this nonsapient being." She gestured to the paralyzed moufreta.
Edited by Miss_Desperado on Sep 14th 2019 at 6:48:28 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 Wasteland ~ The Scar (Lerna, Nerea, Cuddles; Sallara; Varla)
The empress noticed the energy leaking off Varla. She took a step towards the mermaid, wrapping her tail around Lerna’s upper arm. The serpentine-featured girl let out a startled squeak.
"I do," Nerea told the mermaid, "you can use my servant; she can handle it." With that, she flexed her tail, causing Lerna to totter forward a few paces toward Varla.
While her servant stumbled, nearly falling into Varla's lap, Nerea approached the mermaid further. "While she is not a spell-caster, her body is comparable to that of a trained mage," she said with a dip of her head.
Lerna gave Varla a concerned look at the mermaid's status. "I wanna help..." she quietly said.
This is my good side.
Wasteland: The Scar
For a while, the group walked along the flat road, mostly in silence. Eventually, Varla broke her constant chanting to ask for something to store magical energy in. Sallara, who had been carrying the isopod all the time, took a look at her. Varla was definitely not looking well, puffing and huffing black fumes with every breath, and looked quite ragged herself. She was even glowing pruple, that couldn't be good.
"Store, you say?" Sallara looked down to her pearl bracelets. The ones on her wrists were almost completely white, with only a few staying light-blue. Stopping to check the one on her ankle, she frowned at seeing all the beads completely white. Useless to her for any magic, but perhaps they could still be of use.
"May I offer you these?" Sallara approached Varla, stretching out an arm to show Varla her bracelet. "The pearls are used to store mana, since our bodies can't do it naturally. But I used much too much of it and now they're empty. Could they be of use for you?" She paused for a moment, hesitating, before she added: "Would it be possible for you to charge them?"
East of Town
As the rocky creature put more distance between itself and the group, Nasur allowed himself a breath. He realized his hands were trembling, and tried to steady them. It was not of him to be scared by such a disgusting creature.
He noticed David's praisings, and made a slight bow in acknowledgement. Then he added. "Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get much of a trail. A few footsteps, but they could have been of anything else. That being said, considering how that... 'thing' took me by surprise, there is the chance that our thievely friend has suffered some horrible fate. If she did not," He looked to the horizon, where the beast could still be seen, much smaller and far away. "She may have tried to run. There is not much where to hide." As if to drive the point home, his gaze fell into the extensive shrubbery that had been trampled by the beast in its escape.
"So it's more probable that she is running away as we're speaking, if she was not eaten." Nasur concluded. "Maybe follow the trampled path from a safe distance?"
Edited by Pyxo on Sep 20th 2019 at 12:28:15 PM
The Necropolis, Cody's Cove, Coffin Room (Syrni Sandra, Jen Jara; Akane; Krakka'a, Shade of Osiris, Zarokh; Alexa, Cody)
Syrni Sandra listened intently to what Krakka'a and Zarokh had to say about The Great Sobek.
Mildly annoyed, Jen Jara whispered to Akane, "Why did you let go of him?" and then to Alexa "Why didn't you grab him?" Not that it mattered much when Krakka'a was so much slower than Viporises, but still...
Syrni Sandra instantly repositioned herself in front of Cody. "Anyone who tries will have to go through me!"
Cody was long past the age where he would have fit in Syrni Sandra's pouch, so she prepared to scoop him into her arms instead. She whispered to him, "Let's get you to the top of the staircase and around the corner."
Akane narrowed her eyes as she approached Krakka'a. "Care to run that by me one more time?" she dared, "I really hope that was a bad joke, 'cause the last person who harmed children I dealt with is serving a life sentence as a floor rug. Hell, two centuries ago, I would have painted the room red with you in an instant."
"Well said," Jen Jara nodded to Akane.
Syrni Sandra hesitated in her departure, both to give Cody the chance to cling to her voluntarily instead of her just grabbing him, and so she could listen intently for any scrap of information she could use.
Sick Bay (Arnaya, Maequoql, Nyorla, Zip; Joseph; the Hunters; NPC Bandits including Mulligan, Tom and Clancy) -> Kitchen (Maequoql)
Maequoql sealed up the spinel and amethyst in two separate shield-boxes bearing hazard symbols. Once that was done, she discarded the latex gloves and started for the kitchen, adjusting the spaceship's el-kor fields along the way so she could use her telepathy to remain in the conversation, "Right — I'm staying behind on the ship to organize distribution, including fetching food from the kitchen. Nyorla, when you get to David's truck, send Murquoql to the dropship in the rainforest. I'll send them a bandit once they get there."
Sick Bay (Arnaya; Joseph; the Hunters; NPC Bandits including Mulligan, Tom and Clancy) -> Transporter Room Storage Bay (Nyorla, Zip; mind-controlled bandit)
Zip stayed still long enough for Nyorla to get in the saddle and Amy to kiss his nose, nickering happily at the attention before a click of Nyorla's tongue sent him towing the pod through the airlock to the transporter room's storage bay, where she took the podded bandit's weapons out of the confiscated pile and began rummaging for a couple of mage-quality diamonds and eight el-kor ward stones.
Kitchen (Maequoql) -> Sick Bay (Arnaya, Maequoql; Joseph; the Hunters; NPC Bandits including Mulligan, Tom and Clancy)
Maequoql looked around the kitchen and noted the drone activity. Evidently they'd learned from Nyorla's cooking and had been cooking hunks of moufreta meat ever since they noticed it was getting close to dinnertime on the continent below. So all Maequoql had to do was gather packaged hunks of cooked moufreta meat and canteens of water. On her way back to Sick Bay, she continued her telepathic broadcast, "Arnaya, you didn't finish tracking that truck thief. Load up the amethyst, and take Joseph and the Hunters to rendezvous with David and the rest. I've got the food."
Arnaya noticed what Maequoql was bringing back. It was not a gourmet meal by any stretch of the imagination, the kitchen drones weren't that smart. Arnaya's telekinesis summoned a dozen more Camelian heartfruits into the pod that Adam had been in, joining the first heartfruit lingering inside.
Maequoql reappeared to tilt that pod on its back and unload her burden into the pod, next to the fruits.
Clancy called after Amy, "Wait, kid, uh, what's-your-name! If you're gonna be taking someone mind-controlled with you, can it be Mulligan? And can you take me with you too?"
Arnaya was about to say they already had Adam, but she changed her mind and said "I don't see why not," looking expectantly at the Hunters. She stealth-cloaked the shield-box with the amethyst and levitated it off the counter, across the floor and over to a fold in her gliding membrane at the crook of her elbow. She then used her comm-chip to message Arilay for a temporary override code so that Adam could travel alongside Arnaya without having to go back in the medical pod.
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
[Hummingbird]
Before they headed out, they heard Clancy call out, asking to come with them, along with his mind controlled boyfriend. The NCH's looked at each other, then nodded.
"Of course, sweetie!" Marie said, "We'll make sure you two are safe. If we do happen to run into Mael, do not try to get involved."
"They still didn't find that thief?" Nick asked, "Christ, how long as it been?"
"I'm not sure," Adam said, shrugging his shoulders, "I just hope they're okay."
He still couldn't believe the system found him 'mind controlled.' He didn't have silver eyes, he wasn't shuffling like a zombie, and he didn't have a glassy stare like poor Mulligan. Most importantly, once that amethyst shot out of his system, he lost his pull towards Mael. He was fine.
He trusted the Web of Friendship, but he did not trust that machine. He would prove them all wrong...as long as he didn't spend another second in that pod.
"We leaving yet?" Maya said, her face shifting to one with annoyance, "You guys are rushing us but here you are taking your sweet ass time to send us down."
"Maya!" Amy said, glaring, "Be patient!"
"Ugh, fine."
Jackson adjusted his electric gloves, then put his laser pistol in a holster. Maria adjusted the flower dagger in her hair, Amy twirled her bat, and Nick slipped back on his metal gloves.
Adam then realized he felt naked and unprepared.
"...When we get down," Adam said, "Can I have my bow back?"
Edited by Masterofchaos on Sep 14th 2019 at 2:34:17 PM
East of Town ~ Allowing the Foe to Flee (Claire; John; David; Nasur)
Claire shrugged her shoulders, "Eh, took a lot of painful practice to get to the level of skill I have with it." She snapped her fingers, "The magic, not so much."
She gazed off at the retreating monster, watching as it eventually left her sight. Looking around revealed no sign or trace of the truck thief. "Well, I would like to point out that the monster we fought seemed to be an ambusher. I'm sure that if our thief were to have been caught by it, we'd have heard it; you guys showed up a few minutes after she headed off."
She cupped an ear in the direction the monster had fled, "And I still don't hear any screams, so..." She folded her arms and tapped her chin a few times, "I'd say she high tailed it outta here as well..." Frowning, she paced around, staring at the ground. "Now, if I were a truck thief, where would I go..."
Town Square, Billboard (Maelys, Mist; Soryn; Jenny, Alt!Jenny, Alt!Michelle, Zelena, Julia & Lauren; Aseyu)
"What have we here?" The speaker, striding over to the group, was a tall, athletic, and remarkably attractive woman in her late thirties, with dark skin, grey eyes, and her black hair, subtly dyed a darker, sleeker shade than it naturally came in, was kept in a short, playfully tousled pixie cut that much effort had gone into making look effortless. She wore a long, tiered silk skirt whose layers formed a sunset gradient: black, down to purple, then red, and finally amber. Above this, a midriff-bearing shirt that matched the black of the top of the dress. She carried a long cudgel of some dark hardwood; it could certainly be used as a walking stick, or a weapon, but something about the lazy way she carried it over her shoulder suggested it was a symbol first.
And she wore a lot of what had to be custom-made jewellery. A hanging necklace of gold and softly glowing, opaque, blood-red stones whose design was, shamelessly, meant to draw the eyes downward to her chest. A golden waist chain dotted the same blood-red stones. Bulky armlets and bangles bejeweled with green tourmaline and red precious coral.
Last was her Anti-Magic — or her seeming lack thereof. Blatant anti-magic wasn't all that useful in her world, given how many magic users carried guns. So the first indication anyone would have that magic might not be as helpful here would be if they tried it and met a lot more resistance than anticipated.
Aseyu put down her staff and leaned on it, smiling as she studied the interesting women — and the snake-man — milling about the billboard. "Good evening," she said, "I'm new here..." there was uncertainty here. She felt like she'd been here before, yet not been here before. As if first seeing a fleeting picture from a dream in the waking world. "Oh, wait. Strange people, signs full of quests... is this some kind of 'adventuring party'?" She looked the group over, then the board. She smiled wryly; they did look like they'd walked out of one of Roshni's games.
Yes, this is the infamous Aseyu ul'Valmoth — but for those who've seen her, I should note she's changed a lot over the most recent drafts. As such, if anyone recognizes her, she'll recall them only vaguely, as if a dream. She's mellowed out significantly, while her overall role in the story has changed from being a member of the main cast to providing context and the perspective of Qorisa's young but ambitious mercantile class. Still, certain proclivities remain, in lesser form; or at least, that's the idea. I need to make sure she avoids any flanderization here.
Edited by KillerClowns on Sep 16th 2019 at 7:07:05 AM
WFS Hummingbird Transporter Room (Nyorla, Zip; mind-controlled bandit) -> Hub Town Parking Lot, David's Truck (''Nyorla, Murquoql, Zip, Zing, Plasma)
Murquoql looked up at the arrival and said "Ah, finally!" It didn't take long for Nyorla to fill her in and get off of Zip.
Hub Town Parking Lot, David's Truck (Nyorla, Zip, Zing, Plasma) -> Rainforest, Drop Pod (Murquoql, Lectri)
Leaving Nyorla behind with the bandit and dragonhorses, Murquoql took advantage of the drop pods' one-way teleporters to summon herself to the one in the rainforest. She needed to see what was inside before Zip and Zing could follow her.
Murquoql appeared in midair over the gear left on the floor. Fortunately she was able to aim her feet in time and stick the landing on the sturdiest containers. She quickly got off the pile, then opened the door to let Lectri know she'd arrived. Her telekinesis started moving the gear bit by bit up against the benches where they wouldn't be in the middle of the floor.
Lectri stopped grazing and nickered, glad to see Murquoql. She extended her head and neck through the door and exchanged breaths with Murquoql.
Rearrangement done, Murquoql glanced around, took note of the surrounding fog and the deadly mirage nearby, and asked, "Where's Swanwhite?"
Hub Town Parking Lot, David's Truck (Nyorla, Zip, Zing, Plasma)
Zip and Zing trotted over to where Plasma had relieved herself and answered the call of nature there too. Meanwhile, Nyorla started placing the ward stones, placing four on the ground at each corner of the parking lot. Sitting by David's truck, Plasma watched from a distance. For the other four, she had to elevate them. She decided to do so by climbing up the surrounding buildings and putting the ward stones on the roofs. Even with one hand grasping the ward-stones instead of the wall, Nyorla had no trouble climbing. Plasma stood up just in case she had to fly to Nyorla's aid. But Nyorla's footing was confident and secure as she skipped and leaped around the perimeter she was setting up, singing to herself a jumprope ditty from her home planet that she'd translated on the fly.
Hotel Lobby -> Outside Hotel (Mael; Archaeologist Ellya-Salaenl, Sarquoql alias Ren 4; Nora, Moobly)
Moobly and Sarquoql held open the doors for everyone.
Distracted by Nora, Ellya-Salaenl exclaimed, "You can shapeshift?" She blushed blue as certain possibilities ran rampant through her mind, and nearly blundered into the doorframe on her way out. She would have collided if Sarquoql hadn't surreptitiously used his telekinesis to shove her sideways.
Flustered by what he was overhearing in Ellya-Salaenl's mind, Sarquoql also blushed blue. He sighed in sotto voce, "Get Your Mind Out of the Gutter..."
Turning his attention away from the gutter, Sarquoql then tried to dismiss Mael's concerns. "Non-sapient beings attract much less attention when they're mind-controlled than sapient beings do — less mind to control. That was literally the first thing I learned about mind control as a child, even before learning about the eye-color change and how to get rid of it." He glanced at Mael's suit. "As for your suit, it doesn't matter much whether it's woven from cotton or silk or carbon nanotubes, an atomic manipulator can still replace the physical structure easily. Dragonhide, enchantments and mage-quality gems are harder to replace, as they're beyond what an atomic manipulator can do. So unless your suit is enchanted or something, if I were in your shoes, I'd be more worried about losing your gloves than your suit."
As the last one out the door, Sarquoql let it swing shut behind him. His keen ears were going to waste in the muffling spacesuit, so he couldn't hear Nyorla at all. As it was, Nyorla was far enough away and singing softly enough to where Ellya-Salaenl could barely hear her. Ellya-Salaenl wasn't paying attention, so when the jumprope ditty started playing in her head, she dismissed it as random happenstance. But at least it kept her mind out of the gutter.
Sick Bay (Maequoql; NPC Bandits including Tom) -> Transporter Room (Arnaya; Joseph; the Hunters; Mind-controlled Mulligan, Bandit Clancy)
Arnaya grabbed Mulligan and Clancy's pods in her telekinesis and pulled them behind her along with the medical pod temporarily bearing provisions. She input the code she got from Arilay and the airlock opened to let the group parade through.
"I'm not sure," Adam said, shrugging his shoulders, "I just hope they're okay."
Arnaya levitated Mulligan, Clancy and Adam's weapons out of the confiscated pile, then grabbed a different el-kor ward stone with a conspicuous diamond embedded in it.
Meanwhile, lurking in the airlock, Maequoql briefly adjusted the el-kor field to telepathically check, then restored it before saying, "Well, to be fair, they lost a source of psychometry..." she pointed at Arnaya "...and they just finished fending off a wildlife ambush."
Arnaya repeated the override code on the locked transporter pad, but the code was rejected. Arnaya looked again and realized Arilay had given her a one-time-use code.
"Ugh, fine."
Through the comm-chips, Arnaya silently asked Arilay, "Hey, what gives?"
Arilay answered, "You know the protocol, overrides like that are one-time-use only. Besides, that's a big group you're about to join. Take a dragonhorse or two with you and I'll give you another override code."
"Deal." Arnaya opened a channel to Murquoql and Nyorla...
Hub Town Parking Lot, David's Truck (Nyorla, Zing, Plasma) -> Transporter Room (Arnaya, Maequoql, Zip; Joseph; the Hunters; Mind-controlled Mulligan, Bandit Clancy)
It didn't take long for Zip to return, sans Nyorla. Arnaya fiddled with the el-kor ward stone, then slid it into his saddlebags.
"...When we get down," Adam said, "Can I have my bow back?"
"What about me?" Clancy added, "Can I have my gun back?"
Arnaya reminded, "Adam, do you remember what we told you about dormant mind-control connections? Sarquoql knows how to do that, what makes you think there's anything stopping Mael from learning how to do that too? What do you think will happen if Mael reactivates your connection while you're aiming your bow?"
"As for you, Clancy, I could give you your gun, but there's not much point to you having it when us Mayatans can all do this." Her telekinesis disassembled Clancy's gun in sixteen seconds, the parts floating in an orderly line in front of her. It took her a few seconds longer to reassemble it. Author's note:
Arnaya pushed the three pods onto the transporter pad and acrobatically sprung into Zip's saddle. "I'll take the weapons with us and we can discuss this further after the rendezvous. Everybody onto the transporter pad."
Transporter Room (Arnaya, Maequoql, Zip; Joseph; the Hunters; Mind-controlled Mulligan, Bandit Clancy) -> East of Town (Arnaya, Maequoql, Zip; David, Joseph; John, the Hunters; Claire; Nasur; Mind-Controlled Mulligan, Bandit Clancy)
With Arilay's second one-time-use override, the transporter pad sent the group down to the bottom of the butte where David's truck used to be. Before doing anything else, Arnaya immediately activated the el-kor ward stone. The el-kor field blended with the diamond's selective force field, which was sensitized to mechanical insects and arachnids. The combined field sprung into place as an expanding bubble until it encompassed the whole group. Arnaya chafed at her now limited telepathic range — at least the field was hollow, so it wasn't suppressed entirely — and pushed the bubble further until it reached the edge of her unenhanced telepathic range.
Wasteland, The Scar (Lerna, Nerea, Cuddles; Varla; Sallara)
Varla looked at her prospects: Lerna herself, and Sallara's bracelet and anklet. The choice was easy. Varla whipped out her amethyst heart, but before she could touch it to the pearls, bolts of energy mimicking lightning leaped between them. The flashes and crackles continued for a few seconds, recharging the pearls until they were all full and slightly warmer than Sallara's skin, then the last bolt carrying a gentle comforting heat hit Lerna.
The purple glow faded and disappeared from Varla's throat and mouth, but Varla was still jittery and the black mist from her breath was still accumulating above her head. "There. That takes care of some excess." Her free hand wiped the oozing purple tears off her face as she looked up. "The rest of the excess is going to be trickier to deal with. It's tied to my emotions and too dangerous to push in its entirety onto someone who's not an emotion eater." She took hold of the cloud, which mixed with the purple tears and compressed into a wad of black sludge.
With the sludge in one hand and her heart in the other, Varla informed, "If you've never understood the frustration of leaving a battle unfinished when you could have ended it, now's your chance to find out."
Varla looked back at the ground they'd covered and assessed, "But in any case, I think we've left enough of a decoy trail. I can instantly transport us to civilization now."
Ghost Town (Cynthia, Diantha; Arilay, Shale, Aynara; Mind-Controlled Bandit
Cynthia and Diantha worriedly echoed "Mind-controlled?"
Aynara blithely said, "Yeah, this guy is under the mistaken impression that he's capable of and obligated to kill me. Watch this..."
Arilay stopped Aynara from activating the comm-screen. "Now is not the right time to taunt the bandit," she scolded.
"Awww," Aynara pouted.
Cynthia nodded, "If there's anything we can do to help once we're done here..."
Arilay began shifting her nanobots. "Well, at the very least watch out for the mind-controllers. If you see a silver-eyed dark-skinned human who looks like this..." She finished rearranging her nanobots to look like Mael, except her mechanical eyeballs were still green, "...that's Mael, he's the one who mind-controlled this bandit, we found out about him today. Humans aren't innately capable of mind-control, so he relies on the amethyst on his glove to do so." She shifted her nanobots again. "If you see a blue-eyed Mayatan who looks like this..." She finished rearranging her nanobots to look like Sarquoql this time, "...that's Sarquoql, he doesn't need gems to mind-control people. We've been fighting him for years and we don't know where he is at the moment." She returned to her previous brunette appearance. "Don't look into their eyes, eye contact is their vector for initiating mind-control."
Aynara could feel on her telepathy that they were starting to get close to Haydn and Wilhelmine. She decided to discard subtlety and asked, "By the way, the pyromaniac I ran into said he's from the Balamar Empire. Does that place sound familiar to you?"
Edited by Miss_Desperado on Sep 21st 2019 at 8:04:24 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.
There was post here but I eated it.
Edited by Masterofchaos on Sep 18th 2019 at 9:35:03 AM
Town Square ~ Notice Board (Maelys, Mist; Soryn; Others(?); Aseyu)
Maelys gave the wealthy-looking newcomer a bow and a "Good evening, madame," of her own in return.
She gave a quick glance at the notice board, "I suppose we are," she said. Placing a hand on her chest, she continued, "My name is Maelys, servant of the goddess Aria, and this—" The maid frowned slightly, before gently nudging her companion with her elbow.
The valkyrie blinked a few times, before realizing she had been staring at the newcomer's necklace (among other things) a bit too much, causing her to blush from embarrassment. "I'm Mist," she said.
Outside Hotel (Moobly, Nora; Mael; Ellya-Salaenel, Sarquoql alias Ren 4)
Nora beamed an adorable smile at Ellya-Salaenel as she nodded. "Yup, I can transform into quite a few different things."
She focused on her hand, willing it into another form. Her skin rippled softly as black fur sprouted from the back of her hand and arm, before wrapping around. The structure of the hand changed, bones lengthening and shortening, pads forming on her former fingertips and palm... it wasn't long before she was waving a cat's paw at Ellya-Salaenel. "See," she said. Moobly overheard what Sarquoql had said, before giving the Mayatan-disguised-as-a-dragon a distinctly puzzled look, "Moobly begs Ren's pardon? Did you say something?"
Edited by WillDeRegio on Oct 6th 2019 at 6:36:30 AM
Town Square, Billboard (Maelys, Mist; Soryn; Disgruntled Farmer) -> ??? (Jenny, Alt!Jenny, Alt!Michelle, Zelena, Julia & Lauren)
Soryn watched the agents depart with the body in the bodybag and most of the women present. Then he turned to the remaining two women, Mist and Maelys, and remarked, "Well, that was random." He let out a disappointed sigh over What Could Have Been. The writing faded off of his chest as he dispersed the extra melanin.
Town Square, Billboard (Maelys, Mist; Soryn; Aseyu; Jobe Pearson the Disgruntled Farmer)
"What have we here?" Someone new had shown up.
Soryn turned to look at the new woman and exclaimed "Wow!" at her looks, unabashedly staring and not noticing Mist also staring. After Maelys and Mist introduced themselves, Soryn introduced himself, "My name is Soryn, genetically engineered serpentine wizard at your service." He sensually twirled his staff and carefully bowed, but his battle injuries gave a sharp twinge at being disturbed. Soryn straightened up with a muttered "Ouch!" and put a hand to his stitched-up wounds, wondering why they were hurting despite his bowing this time being just as careful as his previous bowing.
The disgruntled farmer on the other side of the bulletin board finished putting up his notice. Hearing the newcomer remark on the "adventuring party" he poked his head around the bulletin board and piped up, "I sure hope this is 'some kind of adventuring party', because I'm looking for one to help me get rid of two boars!" He stepped around the bulletin board, doffed his hat and introduced himself, "I'm Jobe Pearson, disgruntled farmer and quest-giver."
Soryn said, "I'm so sorry to disappoint you, but it would not be a good idea for me to go boar-hunting while I'm still injured from a moufreta ambush."
Edited by Miss_Desperado on Sep 21st 2019 at 8:35:55 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.
Larger River (Ozurr; Rosalind; Morag)
Rosalind's eyes returned to yellow as she looked at the grass for footprints and searched the air for Varg's scent trail. She was distracted by a whiff of unfamiliar scent, which prompted her to repeat her Flehmen response. "Stranger approachin' from upwind," she warned. She pulled a tiny mirror out of her pocket and checked her reflection, frantically rubbing one hand over her eye sockets until her eyes switched back to brown.
"Oi! Ah heard shootin', ur ye alrecht?"
"Eep!" The stranger was faster than Rosalind had expected. Self-inspection interrupted, Rosalind jammed the mirror back into its pocket and ran to hide behind Ozurr.
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.