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
Outside West Gate (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
In response to Jann's alliteration, Rosalind mused, "Does this artifact summon thunderstorms? The last thing I remember before waking up here was I was riding away from a zombie horde at the break of dawn on a cloudless day, and — bang — instant thunderstorm. I fainted a few seconds after it showed up."
The blush fled from Rosalind's face when she heard the word "holy" and Jann's eavesdropping spell detected another brief surge in heartbeats before her heart stopped altogether, but she stifled all other hints of alarm. She didn't know for sure what holiness would do to her, but she had a pretty morbid clue — she was still haunted by the distant screams of her captured fellows dragged into a fortified church. She wouldn't back out of her bargain to help these people, but she could probably not raise attention if she let them do all the handling of this artifact they were going to find. But then again, if the holiness belonged to this "Death Goddess" that Varg mentioned, Rosalind estimated a 50% chance it wouldn't be an issue, and calmed down. Her heart restarted, still slow and erratic.
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 Scar -> Upstream (Mustangs + Inquisitor's Stray Horse)
The newcomer closed the distance on the herd with most eyes and ears on him. Unlike the mustangs, he had an empty saddle, complete with saddlebags, strapped to his back. He's a Tame One, the mustangs judged.
Guardian Thunder walked through the herd as the members got out of his way. He was the first to introduce himself to the newcomer. They touched muzzles and exchanged breaths. The newcomer, in addition to his identity-scent, had a history-scent of mostly human and, more faintly, dust and a large feline. Thunder's history-scent was mostly mud, but also seawater and rotten corpses. The stallion signaled the gelding to move with a mimed air-nudge, and the newcomer quickly yielded ground, acknowledging Thunder's superiority.
Then Lead Mare Flashfoot walked through the herd as the members got out of her way, stepping forward to introduce herself. She extended her muzzle, the newcomer did likewise, and they exchanged breaths. Flashfoot's history-scent also smelled strongly of mud and seawater and also had the scent of rotten corpses. She, too, signaled him to move and he yielded.
The newcomer introduced himself to the rest of the herd, who shared their leader's carried history-scent of mud, seawater and rotten corpses in varying proportions. Ripple's coat pattern was almost an inverse of the newcomer's - where her coat was mostly silver with darker dapples and colorpointsnote , his coat was mostly black with lighter dapples and colorpoints. They all jostled and shoved to establish the hierarchy of who would yield ground to whom, with the newcomer ending up the highest-ranked of the geldings, who all yielded ground to the mares and two stallions.
Rook flattened his ears against his head, bared his teeth, and took the opportunity to make a power-grab and gain rank over his sister and Speckles, only for Thunder to notice and interrupt by clearing the vicinity for a direct fight. Surprised and unprepared, Rook immediately surrendered. Thunder accepted the surrender and shooed Rook to the edge of the herd, but no farther, for a time-out. Flashfoot breathed a sigh of relief, the herd wouldn't split in twain today. Thunder privately vowed to drive Rook out just before the beginning of next mating season.
Things would have turned out way differently if the stallions hadn't been tired from two galloping escapes in a row. As it was, the peace was fragile, tensions would run high until the new pecking order was cemented. The herd uneasily milled about, proceeding upstream in fits and starts between furtive mouthfuls of grass and hasty sips of river water.
Edit: Retconning Thunder's title to "Guardian" because "van" means "front", not "back" like I had assumed.
edited 13th Apr '18 2:17:36 PM by Miss_Desperado
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
Town Square ~ Notice Board (Jean; Nui; Henry; Alice)
Jean held a curled finger to her mouth, "Oh, an Otherwolder, and an academic to boot, how fascinating," she said to Nui. Smiling at the interest the otherworldly elf had in her weapons, she carefully drew one, "These are pistols, a type of firearm; I take it you don't have these on Orenya," she said, "Anyway, these two specifically are refurbished artifacts that I found in a decades old shipwreck, though, they're reminiscent of technology from a long bygone era."
She then turned towards Henry, "Hmm, I wouldn't mind at all if your accompanied me; it's always good to have an engineer on hand for expeditions," she said, before glancing over at the man's vehicle, a rather small and unusual looking affair, "Oh, fancy," she said quietly.
Town Square ~ Solstice Cafe (Carol, Lily; Cormack; {Cas; Karl, Peggy})
Carol glanced over at Cormack, grumbling, "Ravens are just oversized crows, right? That means they're rotten little killstealin' buggers in my book, no offense t'yer friend."
Meanwhile, Lily sat up in her seat, "Oh, I see, so that means your not alone here, just like us," she told Cormack, "Though, I can't say that I've heard of a place called Crownen, nor Emerald Valley. There is Auravallia, though, and I'm fairly certain they have wyverns there. No dragons though, fortunately," she said. "Elves used to live there, but not any more, especially after the Balamar Empire took control there."
She then crossed her arms, "Anyway, I think we might have a few more visitors from what I just overheard; there's a group around here looking to go on your little excursion to the Warpfields," she said.
The Prince of Foolish Relevations
Hotel
His gaze lazily following after the "Not-Chaos-Hunters", Justin(?) frowns slightly in disappointment. Seeing Wolfe stride past without so much as a glance, however, causes the demonic young man to narrow his face in distaste. Still...
Fiery eyes flickering over to Miron, Justin(?) flashes an excited yet slightly sadistic smile. Licking his lips once, the newly dark-haired butler watches his opponent intently- Enough to lose immediate interest in Wolfe.
Though whilst her familiar visually obsesses over Miron, Valerie sneezes in response to Wolfe's vaping. Pulling back and covering her face, Valerie chants a brief song. "Let this awful thing, be purified..." Though nothing obvious seems to happen, Valerie relaxes slightly nonetheless at making Wolfe's device truly problem free.
Still, the dark haired witch ends up flinching at seeing Cynthia and Moobly arm themselves. Rubbing her hands together anxiously and looking down at being asked for explanations, it is her familiar who reacts first- Particularly, in response to Moobly's attempt at an explanation.
Twisting his head unnaturally to look in her direction, Justin(?) flashes his little smile before playfully(?) scolding her. "Now now, that's just rude- Would you merely call a king a leader, or an artist merely someone who draws? Calling me noble, that's a complete undersell of what I am."
Having even wagged a finger at Moobly, Justin(?) drops his playful little act to refocus on Wolfe. Nearby shadows shuddering, a sort of 'fire' can be sensed igniting inside Justin(?)'s soul- And the blackness of his hair briefly seems to be peeling away, a singular thought escaping: "I will kill you-!"
Yet, just like that, the blackness snaps back into place and the 'fire' is snuffed out. Justin(?), for his part, chuckles in dark amusement. Valerie, however, seems increasingly more stressed by what is happening- Wolfe's comment in particular causing her to curl in on herself.
Her demonically infused butler glances at Sindar and smiles rather simply amused- As if Justin(?) found something Sindar said personally entertaining. Seeing Sindar flying up to him and Miron, Justin(?) rather unsurprisingly motions the fairy away even as he flies off.
Once Nyceme approached the younger(?) witch however, Valerie briefly freezes up- Not daring too move, and very reluctantly & slightly fearfully lifting her head to look at Nyceme. Her gaze darting about the snake lich's face, Valerie lets out a breath of minor relief. Nonetheless...
Looking over at her combined servants, Valerie refocuses on Nyceme whilst also noticeably avoiding eye contact. Squeezing her hands together, Valerie's tone is neither upset or cheerful- Instead, with occasional glances at Justin(?), she sounds more obediently subdued than anything.
"I don't see why you would want to, I'm just a useless brat... Justin, he's... He's unchained right now, splitting them back up is the only thing that'll work. My fault he's even... They don't deserve..." Taking a breath and sighing, Valerie rather weakly extends her right hand out towards Justin(?).
"The crossing of light and darkness has-" Before she could finish, Justin(?) very sharply yet calmly(?) cuts her off. "I wouldn't do that my beloved little mistress, he has no love for my true self. Unless, of course, you think my useless body is right in hating our very soul?" That causes Valerie to flinch, looking away from Justin(?) in distressed uncertainty.
The young man stretching his arms out above his head, he moves around rather casually yet almost... Predatory, as he finally addresses Miron. "I don't particularly want to leave my own body, but I'm just so excited someone finally wants to play with me. As for my adorable little mistress..."
Flicking fiery eyes to Valerie, who shivers at his gaze without looking back, Justin(?) shrugs rather indifferently before speaking casually. "Eh, so long as she doesn't die I don't particularly mind what any of you do to her. You hear that Wolfe my boy? Do whatever you want, I'm sure there's no way that can go wrong. Hehehe..."
Snapping his fingers and exaggerating a look of realization, Justin(?) grasps his hands tightly as he gives Miron a big toothy smile. "I accept, of course, though if I win... Well, how about I just sing for you, new best friend? To our battle outside, I shall set my words free!"
Hotel - Outside
As Justin(?) spoke, his body turned into darkness, and he darted outside inhumanly fast- Rather he actually flew or acted like a three dimensional shadow, who could say? Nonetheless, returning to his apparently fleshy form, his gaze focuses on Miron as he smiles.
Nearby shadows once more shuddering, Justin(?) sings rather sweetly. "My dear boy, you're so blinded. Her lies, have seeped into your soul... Truly, I feel so sorry for you. So, let me tell you, what I'll do..."
The demonic familiar throwing out his arms dramatically, his eyes burn brightly as the nearby shadows begin bubbling upwards. Smiling charmingly at Miron, Justin(?) sings much more passionately now.
"I will save you, I will redeem you! I will free your very soul! That holy corruption, I will burn it out! For you, oh for you, I will save you! The lies of morality, will melt before me! Darkness, sin, depravity I will return to you! So don't fight it, don't fight me- I will lift the veil of your true destiny!"
The shadows having bubbled up into blank humanoid forms, Justin(?) grandiosely extends his right arm to Miron before singing one last time. "Those made in darkness, will save you from the light! So let us snuff it out, my Daemon Slaves!" The shadowy figures focusing on Miron, it would be clear to anyone they're nothing more than extensions of Justin(?)'s power.
Still, extension or not, the "Daemons" let out a short triumphant screech before each shoots towards Miron- Each noticeably connected to the shadows from which they emerged, and not moving so fast as to be unobservable. In fact, given what he was singing... It almost seems like the "Daemons" are intentionally underpowered.
"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."
Crazy Kiwi
Between Restaurant and Hotel
[Kris]Even though the restaurant was pretty much right next to the hotel, Kris did not have time to reach the hotel before a dark-haired figure materialised out of darkness outside the hotel. The figure threw out its arms and started singing some weird shit about darkness, sin and depravity and saving someone from the light. What the everlovin' fuck? He - the figure was clearly male - seemed to be focusing his attention on those inside the hotel and it wasn't much of a stretch to suppose that he was the source of the previously-mentioned trouble.
Kris wasn't about to run into the line of fire between this entity and those in the hotel, but Wolfe and others were in there and probably in danger. She cast her eyes about, looking for suitable cover and settled on one of the ornate pillars at the front of the restaurant. It looked like carved rock or at least formed concrete made to look like carved rock and she hoped like hell it was as solid as it looked rather than just a layer of plaster over a hollow shell. It was load-bearing, wasn't it? That'd suggest a level of solidity...
She didn't have time to think on it too much and quickly diverted her course so that the bulk of the pillar was between her and the strange singing man. Once stationed behind the pillar, she considered her options. She didn't want to have to shoot anyone if she didn't have to, but if she did have to, she didn't want to endanger anyone else. The rifle was out - too much of a chance that the projectiles would go right through the target and hit someone in the hotel. The pistol was not as accurate and not as certain to put a target down but on the other hand, she was a far better shot with a pistol than with a rifle, having won numerous medals for IPSC events in the past, which made it a more natural choice of weapon and less likely to over-penetrate and harm innocents.
As she quietly slipped her Beretta from its holster, she remembered the orange-clad SWAT team talking with the black-armoured woman about her prisoner. She looked across towards the group. "Hey, coppers! We've got a fucking lunatic threatening the hotel, here."
She turned her attention back to the strange demented figure in front of the hotel. She didn't want to, but she was quite prepared to shoot him if he harmed, or attempted to harm, anyone.
It's a bird.
West Gate -> Town Square (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
"Oh, it just means 'bullshit'," Varg answered Ozurr. "Or 'ass-talk' if you wanna get literal. We've seen a lot of strange things in our travels, but the stories people tell about them are pretty much never true. Not fully, at least."
Jann, meanwhile, had just realized what he was staring at, and that Rosalind seemed to have noticed as well.
"Thunderstorms? I'm not... sure... uh..."
Blushing a bit himself, he turned away, letting the eavesdropping spell dissolve. Embarrassment wasn't his only problem at the moment though.
Weak, erratic heartbeat. Apparently no need to breathe. Unnatural lack of body heat...
Yep, she was almost definitely a revenant. Or at least some kind of otherworldly equivalent of one. Jann desperately tried to hide his surprise, with mixed results. While troubling - necromancy of any kind was always troubling - it didn't need to be a cause for alarm. In fact, the possibility of an undead being still capable of reason was something Jann had always found quite fascinating, something which had quickly earned him the distrust and disapproval of his - in Jann's opinion - much less open minded colleagues.
"Ah, here we are!" he said, gesturing towards the town gate to distract both himself and the others, before heading inside, giving one of the oddly dressed guards on the wall a respectful nod on the way. He scratched his head, trying to decide whether he should confront Rosalind directly, or tell Varg about his discovery first.
edited 3rd Apr '18 9:40:20 AM by Corvidae
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
Town Square (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind; some others)
Ozurr ducked under the archway over the gate, taking note of the wide-eyed stares of the guards, and for the first time, got a good look at the town itself.
Hromstgard was basically a self-contained city-state, with all the structures connected to form one massive forbidding citadel. This was so unlike that in every conceivable way. The buildings - because they were clearly separate buildings - were a hodgepodge of architectural styles. A huge columnar marble building was visible on the other side of the town square. Ozurr could only guess as to its purpose, but it seemed official. On the other end of the spectrum was a ramshackle wooden wagon that appeared to be pulled by gargantuan beetles. Creatures of all manner of description milled about. Most of them appeared human-like, but to Ozurr, it was all so exotic and strange.
And all of it had clearly been built to accomodate beings a quarter his size.
"Wow," he said to himself. "So this is how small people live."
[Town-Cafe]
As they walked, Kaitilyn asked about their name—which was to be expected. Not-Chaos-Hunters was a bit unusual.
"Well," Nick said, "We're trying to come up with a name for our group. Ya know, just so people would know who not to fuck with. I came up with the name Chaos hunters, but buzzkill—" He looked directly at Jackson, "—over there shot it down. Constantly."
"Because the name is bloody stupid." Jackson said.
"I think it's cool!" Amy said, "You shot down Amazing Adventurers!"
"Because it's cheesy!"
"ANYWAY," Nick said, "The rest of the Mad Bastards overheard us talking about it, and that's where we got our name Not-Chaos-Hunters. Heh, if you ask me, it kind of fits."
Jackson sighed.
You'll loosen up eventually. Maya signed, nudging his shoulder.
Town Square (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
As the group of four walked between the buildings ringing the town square, Rosalind suddenly stumbled over seemingly nothing. She yelped, unthinkingly grabbing whoever was closest to her to keep from falling. It turned out to be Jann. "Sorry! Sudden dizzy flash," Rosalind truthfully explained. She held on for a tad longer than she needed to gather her feet back under her and regain her equilibrium. As she let go, she cast a quick glare at the ground behind her before standing still and scanning the scene. Her "imminent bloodshed" instinct flagged something that immediately caught her attention to the exclusion of all else.
In the middle of the town square some distance away was a bulletin board. Beyond it, on the other side of the town square, was some sort of commotion. Gawkers were staring at what Rosalind quickly inferred was a battle, though frustratingly, she could only see parts of it because the bulletin board was in the way. At this distance, she could feel a small tickle of dark power radiating from the battle, brushing against her mind. "Oh, frazzlin' fiddlesticks!" she groaned, her Texas drawl returning in full force. She made a mental note to post a MISSING notice for her herd on the bulletin board later, right now she had to watch out for herself and for collateral damage from the fight.
Rosalind conferred with her companions, "I don't like the looks o'that fight over there, it might accidentally spill over our way. Jann, I'm guessin' there might be somethin' useful for defendin' yerself or calmin' things down in those pockets o'yours, d'ya want your coat back?" Her fingers flew to undo the buttons of Jann's coat.
Author's note: Edited to reflect who we decided should be grabbed by Rosalind. Edited again to exposit a specific instinct and clarify the bulletin board is in her way of seeing the battle.
edited 6th Apr '18 8:07:23 PM by Miss_Desperado
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
Crazy Kiwi
Town
[Not-Chaos-Hunters, Kaitlyn.]Kaitlyn could understand the importance of a name to a group to, as Nick said, let people know who not to fuck with - Warrior Rockers of Cú Chulainn, Utgardians and Scorpions to name but a few - names were important.
Equally important was that the name said something about the nature of the group. The Warrior Rockers were just that, Utgardians lived below ground, Scorpions had their 'sting' and the Mad Bastards were certainly well named. Her own little group had no name as such, but they were an eclectic bunch made up of people that Gwion trusted when he wanted someone he could depend on.
"I wonder what the Mad Bastards call us - 'n' whether we'd like it. So what's this 'chaos' you are - or aren't - hunting?"
Restaurant (Leone, Gwion, James, Diantha, Nora)
"...That would be nice, yes," Leone replied with a small smile in response to Kris. After listening to Diantha's words on the subject, she added, "And that's all the more reason to take you up on it. Granted, I don't know if we'll all be in the same group or not...."
She didn't get the chance to finish before Kris got up and left. She fell silent and didn't comment on it, though a slight frown formed on her lips. Whatever it was that got Kris to leave, she figured it had to been important.
Afterwards she settled for looking around and listening to the others chat, if they had anything to say.
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
[Town-Cafe]
"Ah, story of Chaos." Nick said, "So, we don't know much about when they started, but I can tell you how they started chasin' after us." He looked up, "It started a month ago, after I saved my adorable neighbor, Adam, from some weird ass attacker."
Adam's cheeks turned red and he hid his face in his shirt.
"Turns out," Nick continued, "That dude was one of the many people looking for my dad, Thomas Riverson. Obviously, I got curious, so I decided to do some research. Lo' and behold, that dude turns out to be working for some organization named Chaos, and they work with someone named The Master Of Chaos...and they're not only looking for my dad, but Adam's parents too."
Adam nodded, once he composed himself a little.
"Y-Yeah." he said, "What we didn't know is that we were treading dangerous ground trying to find out why; they threatened our families, so we left home so they wouldn't get hurt." He clenched his fist, "But we're not giving up until we have answers."
"Our little entrance?" Jackson said, "That was just one of the many run ins with Chaos. Just the first time it ended up sending us somewhere else. No doubt they're wondering where the hell we are."
Marie nodded. "That's pretty much the gist of it all. We're hoping that musket can help us send them a message; we are not the type of kids they wanna mess with."
Amy nodded excitedly. "That's why Chaos hunters is a good name, Jackson! Come on!"
Jackson gave her an annoyed look. "No."
"Come on!"
We got some inventions Jackson made for us. Maya signed, But we're not sure if they'll be enough. We got our ass handed in that last fight, and not for the gems, we'd be dead.
edited 3rd Apr '18 3:26:24 PM by Masterofchaos
[Town Square - Parthenia, Sa'ad, Dominic Chaudhari, four Wardens]
A drop-down heads-up display showed itself on Chaudhari's helmet, alerting him to an electrical hazard and a magical hazard. Easy to put two and two together.
His squad carried electrical stun batons. The guys at LPM had accounted for the risk of someone wresting control of one such stun baton from someone in their kit. Still, there was a difference between getting walloped with one's own stun baton by some Cocktail Party thug and the wrath of a lightning mage. She might miscalculate the initial blows and waste them, but Dominic, taking the measure of her, recognized she was no fool. She'd not make the same mistake twice. If anything, she was more likely to escalate the second round in response — even if she went to stun the first time, she'd stop fucking around and try to kill them the second.
And... yeah, that was the look. She had no fear of going lethal. A fair fight could get dicey fast. Chaudhari was a bully, and Parthenia had been simultaneously cooperative enough to let him keep his face, and struck him as potentially dangerous enough for Chaudhari to not want to test his luck much further. At this point, as long as everyone not in chains remained formal and proper, Chaudhara and Parthenia could both walk away telling themselves they'd looked the stronger.
Chaudhari made a show of photographing the ID with his helmet, transferring it to Central. So. Alice had left him a lot of leeway to handle the situation. Chaudhari eased, very slightly, though he was still ready for a fight. The problem was that he was in the orange. The fewer people connected the orange to Alice, the better, and she would be furious if an actual organization — which Parthenia seemed to be part of — had that data. How to keep things apart? Alice was the brains for this sort of question — he'd relay to her, let her decide.
He could improvise, in the meantime. He returned the ID. "Small problem," he said. "We appreciate your cooperation, but your Technocracy isn't in our records. We can't confirm the validity of this. But you've given me no reason to think you're lying, so this is something for my superiors to handle. And if this is a criminal, we'll be happy to help and..." it was with reticence that he forced himself to say this last part, "apologize for the inconvenience." He looked the Inquisitor in the eyes as he added, "I'm sure you've been in my boots. You understand I'm just making sure the proper procedures that separate us from animals are obeyed."
He pulled up his own communicator and, like Parthenia, moved slowly, to show no hostile intentions. "This is Carpenter lead to Queen of Hearts. We've got a potential ally here who needs help with a prisoner. Everything seems to check out." To Parthenia, he said, "command's on other business, there might be a delay. We don't have to stay here, exactly — they've got trackers. Still, slow motions — I don't want to see anyone dead, but I don't take risks with my men's lives." This much, he meant, unfortunately for any suspicious-looking civilians in areas where he was stationed. Few things lead to war crimes as quickly as a desire for survival. "Again," he said, "nothing personal."
One of the other goons whspered something in Chaudhari's ear. Right. That. Chaudhari said, "for the extradition documents — what, exactly, is that man accused of, and what's the penalty? 'Piracy' is a broad category..."
This was when Kris showed up. Chaudhari looked the situation over. Over my pay grade. "Ma'am," Chaudhari said to Kris, "gonna have to call in a specialist for that. Don't worry, she's good."
He relayed to Alice. And, finally... he wasn't even gonna try to deal with the giant. At least that one looked non-hostile. Fucking hell. This is worse than that mess with the pig.
[Town Square ~ Notice Board (Jean; Nui; Henry; Alice)]
"Now that," Alice said to Nui's question about antimagic, "is a fascinating topic..." she paused. Radio contact.
She nodded at Nui. "I can give you a demonstration," she said.
She also had to wonder about the date of 1898 on Henry's ring. But first things first.
[The Mess at the Hotel - Outside]
Alice Winters walked over to Míron and Justin with an air of authority. She'd also turned her abilities entirely loose — they, and others, would feel the hole she tore in the very fabric of magic in her wake. Her very mind and will denied its right to exist, forcing it to flee or wither away in a Puff of Logic.
Alice knew a duel when she saw one. And yet, what was this she sensed? She studied Justin. "My dear, my very dear, Wormwood," she muttered to herself, "my poppet, my pigsnie..." she took a moment to get a sense of his aura.
Then, aloud, she said, "you two should take your duel elsewhere," she said. "Outside the city. You'll attract attention here — and even for powerful warriors like yourself, that kind of attention can be dangerous."
edited 4th Apr '18 5:51:59 AM by KillerClowns
Crazy Kiwi
Town: Restaurant - outside seating area
[Leone, Diantha, Nora, Kris, Gwion, James]As Nora spoke, Gwion nodded understanding. He was a firm believer in 'not passing up opportunities to make a bit of extra money on the side'. For the last fifty-odd years he had never been short of funds due to ''always' being mindful of extra ways to get money - so long as it didn't interfere with the job at hand and wasn't likely to get him arrested, there was no harm and the possibility of gain. It was possible that they might encounter some of these 'moufretas' - whatever the fuck they were - while out and about and have to kill them... just as they might have to kill some inherently magical thing. It didn't hurt at all knowing that there was someone willing to pay a bounty.
Honorary soldier, that explained the lack of uniform but raised questions about what sort of military allowed civilians to just hang around the academy and go on sorties with the uniformed forces. 'Their world, their rules', he supposed.
Then he noted the arrival of a figure wearing a red hooded jacket and dragging a shackled, tall, brutish-looking, black-clad bloke on the end of a chain.
It was a strange-looking situation. Gwion had no idea if the hooded one had legitimate reasons to have a chained prisoner or not - he'd done more than a little Bail Bond Enforcement in his time and had had to cuff some of the skips in order to take them back for processing, so it was conceivable that the unlikely-looking captor was a legitimate bounty-hunter or even a very-plain-clothes cop. This wasn't Earth or Capital City, so the aesthetics were probably different.
He went to tap James on the arm to call his attention to the scene but James was already watching. Of course he was. Military man, eyes like a fucking hawk, apparently trained by Native Americans before they had been banished to 'Reservations'. "Whaddya make of it?"
James gave a thoughtful frown. The prisoner looked like he had undergone a lot of hardship, which could suggest a slave. Then again, so far as James was aware, slavery was not permitted here and it would be a very foolish illegal slave trader, indeed, that would brazenly parade through the centre of town with a chained captive. So perhaps the captive was some fugitive being brought to justice and his state was a natural consequence of actively resisting arrest and detainment. " 'tis— It's probably not our concern - unless the red-hooded one attempts to sell him. I would... have words to say, in that case." Back on Earth, there had been little James could do about slavery aside from advise his father not to deal with plantation owners that mistreated their slaves and occasionally help escaped slaves evade capture, but the days when people could own other people were gone and the law was now on the side of anyone wishing to take vehement exception to slavery.
As they watched, a small group of the brightest-clad SWAT officers Gwion had ever seen turned up and approached the hooded figure - who lowered the hood to reveal a woman with short hair. The woman then shed her coat to reveal black armour. They were too far away to hear what was being said and Gwion wished that Kaitlyn were there to listen in and pass on the dialogue, but it was pretty obvious that the local constabulary had turned up to investigate. No doubt they would determine whether or not the captor was on the level and respond accordingly.
Just then, the radio on Gwion's belt vibrated. He groped in one of his pockets for the earpiece, noting that James and Kris were doing the same thing - which meant it was a broadcast call. Once the earpiece was fitted he pushed the 'transmit' button. "Gwion here." It was Kaitlyn, wanting to know about the legendary musket that had been mentioned on the notice board. Before he could reply, Wolfe answered then Peggy chimed in with the information that someone matching the description of the 'elf' was at a neighbouring table in the café.
At Wolfe's terse reply to Kaitlyn's suggestion, James and Kris looked over towards the hotel. The six Not-Chaos-Hunters had fled the lobby in obvious distress and then Wolfe had entered. Whatever was going on in there, Wolfe was in there alone.
James pressed the transmit button. "Wolfe. Do you need assistance?" When Wolfe gave a brief affirmative, James' leg muscles tensed in preparation to get out of his seat but was stayed by Kris' hand on his shoulder as she silently rose and rapidly departed towards the hotel - he barely had enough time to touch her hand with his own before she was gone.
James relaxed his muscles and settled back in his chair, confident that Kris and Wolfe could take care of themselves and watch each other's backs, then turned to Leone. "It won't matter which group you're with, we have plenty of good shots with both pistol and rifle who would be happy to teach you either, or both. When you say you usually fight close quarters, do you mean bare handed or with weapons?"
Gwion watched as Justin materialised outside the hotel and Kris took refuge behind hard cover then the petite and unassuming-looking Alice just walked up to Justin as casually and calmly as if merely asking for directions. "Nice place this - lovely atmosphere, great décor, fantastic menu, interesting street theatre - with audience participation..."
Town Square – Parthenia and Sa'ad, Dominic Chaudhari and four Wardens, maybe some others
Parthenia notices the giant with her peripheral vision and registers the young woman's plead.
Those are not my concerns. I have a job to do, however unpleasant.
Consciously or not, but her body mirrors the mustachioed soldier's state: her neck muscles relax a bit, her posture shifts.
So, scenarios 1.1.3 and 2.3 confirmed?
"Unfortunately, I'm not authorized to tell you beyond that this man attacked a flying vessel carrying the State's property," says the Inquisitor, her voice lowering.
And I know not much beyond that.
"I can't fucking believe it." Sa'ad's attempt at waving his shackled arms is ringingly futile. "She shows you a lil' trinket and you just let her walk over you?"
"He also talks too much." Parthenia gives her prisoner a look that could incinerate a mountain.
Go on, Sa'ad, provoke him further. I know you want to. Tell him you're a slave. For me. I know there are no spots on your person that could prove such claim.
…
…
Well, er… It's only reasonable to um… thoroughly inspect a dangerous criminal once you've captured him, no?
You keep telling yourself that. Non-verbally, please, I'm trying to ward her mind off.
Meanwhile, Sa'ad, despite Parthenia's best efforts, shuts up.
He's got a point, though. If we're not on your registers, why trust us? Did my little tampering with your electromagnetic field scare you?
"So, shall we wait for your commanders somewhere else more civil?" Parthenia's shoulders tense again. "Hotel's about to be out of commission, it seems."
edited 4th Apr '18 8:35:40 AM by Millership
Spiral out, keep going.
Crazy Kiwi
(Hopefully) Solid pillar between Restaurant and Hotel
[Kris]The cops didn't seem particularly interested in the unfolding threat at the hotel or inclined to take a hand in dealing with it - which was an oddity Kris intended to explore in more detail later, when it was safer to do so.
To Kris's amazement, the tiny, innocuous-looking woman that Gwion had spoken to earlier directly approached the strange dark-haired man and engaged him in conversation. She didn't seem to be armed, which meant she was either very foolhardy or had skills and abilities - or at least hidden weapons - far beyond what she appeared to possess.
In the meantime, Kris kept her pistol pointed safely at the ground beside her - her trigger finger resting safely alongside the pistol's receiver, well away from the trigger - but ready to bring into play if the situation devolved into something clearly justifying the use of potentially lethal force.
Town
[Not-Chaos-Hunters, Kaitlyn.]Kaitlyn vaped quietly as she walked and listened to what Nick had to say. She gathered that his father and both of Adams parents were somewhere this 'Chaos' organisation couldn't find them.
She had no idea what their world was like so she didn't bother asking why they hadn't gone to the authorities - hell, she could think of a dozen reason for not going to the authorities on Earth of her own era.
It certainly explained the state they were in when they arrived - and their precipitous, in more ways than one, arrival.
When Amy translated Maya's sign, Kaitlyn gave the group a puzzled look. "What sort of inventions, and what did the gems do to help?"
edited 4th Apr '18 12:56:44 PM by Wolf1066
[Town-Cafe]
Jackson smiled.
"Glad you ask." he said, holding out a small patch of white gems, "You see, these things have an amazing power—it's like a generator of some sort for my inventions." He turned to Adam, "Hey, Adam, can you demonstrate?"
Adam nodded and reached for his bow—which was stringless, almost as if the string was cut off or snapped off. That is, until he touched it with his finger...in which a blue neon light appeared, along with a blue arrow as well.
"That's just one example." Jackson continued, "I made more of them, but they wouldn't be nearly as easy to show as Adam's weapon. They also, apparently, can help with some sort of teleportation, thought that is a new thing for us."
"All I did was hope to God we get out of fight alive," Nick said, "Suddenly these things start glowing, a bright light appeared...and you know the rest." He shrugged, "Well, I hope that answered both of your questions. Got any more, me and Jacky are here to answer them."
"Don't call me Jacky." Jackson said, growling.
It's a bird.
Town Square (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
Jann's eyes darted across the town square, struggling to take in all the sights. Buildings made from strange materials, people from cultures - and even species - he'd never heard of before, merchants peddling all sorts of oddities, a pair of giant beetles pulling a wagon... Wait, what? He began to turn his gaze back towards the strange sight he'd just glanced over, but was interrupted as a very dizzy Rosalind suddenly ended up in his arms.
"Are you... alright?" he asked, confusedly looking into her eyes for perhaps slightly too long before realizing that she'd already regained her balance.
"Uh, yes, that might be a good idea," Jann answered as Rosalind drew his attention to the commotion on the other side of the square. Feeling the presence of magic, as well as something that seemed to suppress it, he made himself ready to cast some spells of his own should the need arise. "It might be best just to keep our distance for now though. Looks like there's quite a few people already involved as it is."
Meanwhile, Varg gestured towards a building with outdoor seating - and even a few tables that looked sturdy enough to maybe serve as improvised seating for Ozurr - on the right-hand side of the group, marked by a silvery sign covered in some kind of glowing wires* as "The Purple Fez Tavern".
"Maybe you could order us some food while I try to get this thing sold?" she suggested to Jann and Rosalind, patting the bag she carried. "I'll keep an eye on the fight too, warn you if things get worse."
Varg looked up at Ozurr. "Why don't you come with me, big guy? Take a look at the town and whatnot." She threw a suggestive glance towards Jann and Rosalind. "Let's give the humans some time to talk..."
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.Town Square (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind) -> The Purple Fez Tavern (Jann; Rosalind)
Town Square (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind) -> ??? (Ozurr; Varg)
Someone else had already stepped in to try and talk to the distant fighters. Rosalind nodded decisively, "I really don't wanna get involved in that there mess either." The small tickle of dark energy was pulling gently at her mind, and she did her best to ignore it. Her drawl faded as she handed back Jann's coat. "Thanks again for letting me borrow this."
At Varg's suggestion to split up, Rosalind felt the stirrings of a borrowed equine habit — Never Split the Party — and dismissed the thought with the self-reminder that she was not among horses. Instead, she looked where Varg had gestured and scanned The Purple Fez Tavern for potential threats. Nothing from that direction rang her mental alarm bells, so she focused on what Varg had said about ordering food... come to think of it, when was the last time Rosalind tried human food? Not that it mattered when she was surrounded by... NO! Rosalind shut that thought down and forced her attention back to the conversation.
Rosalind noticed the way Varg eyeballed her and Jann. Rosalind tilted her head in mild surprise. She carefully kept a smile off her face at the word "humans" — so, Varg didn't suspect a thing. Excellent.
Rosalind agreed with the plan, "Sounds good to me," and suddenly realized — did Varg just set her up on a spontaneous little date with Jann? "Eep!" Best-case and worst-case scenarios started whirling through Rosalind's mind faster than she could fully process them, flooding out the influence of the dark energy. She stood like a Deer in the Headlights with a dazed and flustered expression on her face.
Edit: I stand corrected, Alice's anti-magic isn't covering the duelists.
edited 6th Apr '18 7:54:27 PM by Miss_Desperado
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
Crazy Kiwi
Town - Solstice Café
[Not-Chaos-Hunters, Kaitlyn and others]Kaitlyn watched the demonstration of Adam's strange bow in amazement. It was clear that the gems actually had some sort of real power, as opposed to the spurious claims made by purveyors of semi-precious stones on Earth, who attributed vague abilities to their wares - like 'opening the heart chakra' or 'bringing tranquility' or some such twaddle.
That the gems had somehow translated 'get out of the fight alive' into teleporting the group of teens to safety was very interesting. Was there some sort of non-human intelligence in the stones themselves or was some unknown intelligence working through them? Or was Nick's desire to 'get out alive' subconsciously coloured by a desire to get the fuck out now that directed the gems' response?
She was troubled by the fact that the youngsters had to face such dangers and get involved in the sort of fights that required weapons. It showed desperation, a lack of suitable alternatives. Earth's own history was filled with similar cases of young kids who had been forced by extenuating circumstances and gross injustices to take up arms to defend themselves, their families or their communities. She recalled seeing an old picture of a young boy, not yet a teen, from somewhere in Africa holding an AK-47, and even Hamilton of her own era had young kids and teens who found they had to resort to violence to survive. It being common didn't make it more acceptable, it made it more horrifying.
Kaitlyn had been 16 when she went to live in "Utgard" beneath the streets of Hamilton, when she finally had had enough of the abuse at home and had fled for her own safety. The gang had provided protection, a place to stay and a means to eat. They had hidden her from the foster parents that had been far worse than her neglectful and abusive natural parents.
Of course, gang life had come with its own set of problems - and that was before the schism that resulted in a number of members, herself included, leaving to take their chances on the streets.
Before entering the café, she glanced over at Justin - now with dark hair - acting like even more of an idiot outside the hotel and at Kris keeping a rather substantial-looking pillar between herself and Justin. Over at the restaurant, Gwion, James and a trio of young women seemed quite happy sitting at one of the outdoor tables - but it was certain that they would be keeping a close eye on what was going on.
Kaitlyn led the way into the café and looked around. Peggy and Karl were easiest to find. They were in the company of a dark-skinned stocky woman with a prosthetic arm, that - due to its bulkiness - managed to look more primitive than Gwion's, and a camera instead of one of her eyes.
At the neighbouring table was another group that included a small man with pointed ears and an assortment of weapons. It was no great stretch to assume that he was the one to whom Peggy had referred and he certainly fit the rather vague description Wolfe had provided, based on the notice he had read.
She glanced back at the Not-Chaos-Hunters. "Here y'go. Dunno 'bout you lot, but I c'd go a coffee. Want one? My shout."
Town Square (Ozurr; Varg)
Although he was dimly aware of the duel in progress, Ozurr instinctively ignored it. In Hromstgard, duels were not only commonplace, but encouraged. His father claimed they served to "weed out the weak" and "establish a proper hierarchy." Interfering with someone else's duel was only permitted if it threatened you or your property, so all Frost Giants were taught from a young age to regard them as "someone else's business" and redirect their attention elsewhere.
Ozurr couldn't help but laugh at Jann and Rosalind's interactions. It reminded him of how nervous he had been the first time he had asked Arnora to watch an aurora with him, just the two of them. It was a happy memory to be sure, one of his happiest, in fact, but it made him think of Arnora, which made him think about her current situation: back in Hromstgard, without him, at the mercy of his father, who would not be happy at her for helping him help the human escape, and who wouldn't know mercy if it bit him in the ass.
"You know what?" he said to Varg. "Sure, why not. I'll come with you." Whatever his father was doing to Arnora, Ozurr was in no position to do anything about it while he was here, and until he figured out where "here" was, he stood very little chance of getting back to her.
"So, this town...does it have a name?"
edited 6th Apr '18 7:45:41 PM by apocalemur
[Cafe]
It wasn't long before they finally arrived to the cafe. And lo' and behold, at another table, there sat the elf that was described on the notice board.
"Um..." Adam said, nervously looking down, "I-I'm not a huge coffee drinker...I like hot chocolate though."
"Coffee sounds nice, dear." Marie said, "Thank you."
"I'll have some as well." Jackson said, "I don't think we've had anything to eat or drink since we arrived."
Amy, on the other hand, was already walking to the table to the elf, smiling excitedly. "Hello! I'm Amy! Are you the one from the notice board?" She began to rub his pointy ears, "They're so soft!"
Maya quickly walked over and pulled Amy's hands away. No. Absolutely not.
"I'm not doing anything wrong! I just wanted to feel them!"
Nick sighed and walked over as well. "Hey. I'm Nick, and that's Amy and Maya. Sorry about that. We came here because we saw your notice board. You're the one who wrote about the musket?"
edited 5th Apr '18 3:44:33 PM by Masterofchaos
Town Square ~ Restaurant (Diantha, Nora; Leone; Gwion, James)
Diantha quietly watched the arrival of prisoner and handler, trying to determine whether the prisoner was a slave or a criminal. Either way, it wasn't necessarily something she had to get herself involved in... unless it happened to be an unjust action. If that was the case, she wouldn't be able to determine that from this distance.
Meanwhile, Nora waited patiently, if a bit disturbed, for her order to arrive; she wasn't going to pay any attention to the group of armed men who reminded her a great deal of the less-than-gentle security at the laboratory she grew up in, back in her days on Earth, least the men in orange take an unhealthy interest in her.
Town ~ Hotel Lobby Entrance (Cynthia, Moobly; Justin, Valerie; Miron; Alice; etc.)
At Alice's approach, Cynthia was close enough to the woman to trigger a suddenly onset of intense pain, as though thousands of burning needles were being driven into her left eye and arm. The knight quite visibly winced, dropping her sword as she reflexively clasped her shoulder.
Moobly, having been preoccupied with warily watching the pair of Justin and Miron, failed to notice Alice until after Cynthia dropped her sword. Alarmed, the cynthonic jumped down from her perch and rushed to her comrade's side, before narrowing her eyes at the woman and the duelists.
Restaurant (Leone, Gwion, James, Diantha, Nora)
James's question got another few moments of silence and a decidedly heavy frown out of Leone. For a couple moments, she just watched whatever it was that was happening out in the square. Whatever it was she was waffling over had little to do with the happenings; she focused on them less out of concern and curiosity and more in the same manner one would stare at a tree to focus their thought.
Eventually, she turned back to James.
"...Normally, that's something I wouldn't talk about, since it's another thing I feel most are better off not knowing about...but I offered to join your quest, and you'll be seeing it sooner or later anyway. So...."
At that point a batch of strands of her hair started to fuse together, until what might had been a couple tens of hundreds of strands had become what was unquestionably thin tentacles. She then held up her hand, curling it like a claw, and in response the tentacles curved upwards, their tips forming into hard, sharp points.
"...I suppose it's best described as hand-to-hand, with some...assistance," she explained. After a few moments, the tentacles broke back apart into hair strands and fell back down. "It's not the full extent of my abilities, but that's something best demonstrated when we're not about to eat."
Explaination given, she turned her attention back to the maybe-prisoner situation, this time with a concerned frown. It only grew deeper when she noticed what appeared to be a fight about to break out, with the small woman from earlier trying to break it up.
"...It looks like a real mess out there," she commented after a few moments of silence, "I hope this isn't what things are normally like around here."
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
Outside West Gate (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
Cold. That was the word Jann had used when he touched Rosalind's hand. Normally this wouldn't get that much of a reaction from Ozurr - he was a Frost Giant, after all, and they hadn't invented cold that a Frost Giant couldn't tolerate - but even Frost Giants had body heat, and combined with Rosalind's earlier statement about not needing to sleep, he realized that she wasn't what she appeared. Unfortunately, this still left the question of what she was wide open. There was nothing in Ozurr's experience that matched everything he knew about her, as little as that was.
He was paying close enough attention to this that he almost missed Varg answering his question, until she used the word "arselsnakk."
"It sounds like what? Oh. Sorry, in my language, that word means..." He trailed off and stared at the ground. Was this really the first time he had thought about Arnora? After everything they had been through together? After she had risked her life helping him escape? She deserved better than that.
"...something else," he finished, weakly.
"Wait, what's a reliquary?"
"Oh!" Ozurr perked up, grateful for an opportunity to think about something other than Arnora and what his father must be doing to her now that he was gone. "I know this one! It's a container for a holy artifact. The Crowns of Hromstgard are kept in one when they're not being worn."
edited 2nd Apr '18 6:15:07 AM by apocalemur