Horizon Walkers (Game Thread) Dead

[Josh123914]

"My name is Tarquin - short for Tarquinius. And dear me, this 'Daldrel' doesn't seem to know anything."

Dalrel was in disbelief for a few moments at the sheer audacity of the statement thrown at him-- it was probably true in the context, but they were all strangers here. ''There is no need to belittle others, whoever you are, and aside from that at least I'm making an effort to help, if you somehow know more about our group, which I doubt, considering my name is Dalrel, of the Free State Ilyara and the house of Alress, but by all means, negotiate.''
He figured throwing a few names around the others hadn't heard of ought to shut this 'Tarquin' up.

"This 'Tarquin' does not speak for us either, rather it is a controlling spirit having taken possession of one of your men."
Brilliant he thought to himself. He gestured to the rest of the group as the conflict brewed next to him. ''Does anyone else have any exotic secret or nefarious agenda while we get to know each other?'' he asked, as the thinly veiled courtesy he once spoke to the taciturn general with began to fade.

 

[Terratina.]

"This 'Tarquin' does not speak for us either, rather it is a controlling spirit having taken possession of one of your men."

The man's smile twisted into a frown of confusion, "Is that how you Pagan-types dismiss one another? How quaint. It is also slander from an Outsider against an Imperial Plebeian, I might add. And please, stop acting like you hold some sort of authority here."

So much for trying to help. 'Tarquin' couldn't possibly leave the leadership of such people to men like this.

"...Aren't you, honourable chap I'm sure..."

And then finally a friendly face but there was something recognisable about the women. The Leimian threw up his arms in exasperation, not returning the handshake out of caution.

"The most, if I may be so bold. I could be bolder and take this slanderer to court. However, I do have some goodwill."

There was quite a tightrope to be walked here. Especially with some of the people in the room. Unfortunately, the human was so utterly keen on being the leader was being a nuisance.

"...but by all means, negotiate..."

"So easy to trust one who also has belittled another, and so easy to dismiss another's help I see..." The Liemian's eyes narrowed, "What sort of a leader does someone like that make?"

The question hung in the heavy atmosphere.​

 

[IFS]

"I know the faces of everyone here, if he's possessed he came through the horizon that way, but that's not even relevant, what makes you say he's possessed?"

"How do you tell if someone's possessed or not? He looks like a normal mortal to me."

"Is that how you Pagan-types dismiss one another? How quaint. It is also slander from an Outsider against an Imperial Plebeian, I might add. And please, stop acting like you hold some sort of authority here."

"Yes he joined us shortly before we entered the horizon, which was odd enough in and of itself, but there are elements of his behavior that make me suspect him," he said calmly, addressing Des and the Commander, mostly the commander. He spoke in a cheerful but polite tone "I've encountered a number of them in my time, of many different varieties, they all have their quirks and its not too hard to spot one when you know theirs. This one so far has sought to consume, control, and escape, it joined us in a bid for freedom from the empire and since its been here its done nothing but have its body gorge itself on food, as for control well you can see right here its attempt to grasp for that."

He ignored Des's reference to 'other mortals' for now, the possessed man was a larger issue and he would do his case no favors by making more accusations. He had glimpsed some of Des's interaction with the snow elf before she died, watching from a safe distance to be sure he wouldn't harm her, but he had asked for her blood and she had given it. She hadn't seemed to behave different afterwards either, maybe a bit more tired, but it was something he would confront the self proclaimed demon about later.

He then turned to address the possessed man "I may not hold any authority here but neither do you, even if you weren't possessed your claims to leadership are ludicrous, you only joined our group shortly before we crossed anyone else in the group would know it better, could speak for us better."

He took note of how the man had refused to shake Serragish's hand, he wasn't quite sure what it meant though. Well other than the fact that the spirit was rude. He had certainly made a misstep in simply declaring his suspicions, it was all too easy to forget that these people had no inquisitors, but he wasn't about to let the spirit continue to hold a man's body and mind against his will.

"Does anyone else have any exotic secret or nefarious agenda while we get to know each other?"

Alex chuckled at the remark, though the spirit found it less amusing.

"What sort of a leader does someone like that make?"

"I believe you belittled him first, if we're getting on people's case about name calling, and you haven't offered to help so much as vie for his position," he said calmly "A position he's more qualified for than you, given that he's at least been with us for some time."

 

[DarkRawen]

"Is that how you Pagan-types dismiss one another? How quaint. It is also slander from an Outsider against an Imperial Plebeian, I might add. And please, stop acting like you hold some sort of authority here."

The mortal didn't seem possessed -or was it possessing- as he spoke clearly, and with a certain knowledge that sounded like it belonged to someone like him. It did seem a little bit odd that he was that quick and vicious when it came to defending himself -lashing out on whoever stood in his way- but that might be because Des preferred the more pleasant and laid-back mortals, the ones who didn't plan their every move.

"Yes he joined us shortly before we entered the horizon, which was odd enough in and of itself, but there are elements of his behavior that make me suspect him. I've encountered a number of them in my time, of many different varieties, they all have their quirks and its not too hard to spot one when you know theirs. This one so far has sought to consume, control, and escape, it joined us in a bid for freedom from the empire and since its been here its done nothing but have its body gorge itself on food, as for control well you can see right here its attempt to grasp for that."

Des tilted his head. He was slightly confused, but not because it was difficult to understand what Alex was saying, rather because it sounded off. Weird. An assumption based on something that was simply natural. "Is it not mankind's true nature to indulge in whatever provides them pleasure?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

"It is only normal for a mortal to eat everything he can enjoy, should he have the chance, the same way it is in their nature to seek out pleasure in other forms. For example, freedom and control. Mortals give up a lot for pleasure like that, after all, they sacrifice what they can in order to feel good." He chuckled, friendly, as there was nothing but praise and interest in his words.

"That is why I like mortals so much. They cannot resist the temptation in the end. It reminds me of myself." He glanced over at Serragish, thought only subtly. Des then smiled, very innocently. It wasn't done as a way to manipulate, simply the fact that he had no underlying plans, nor meant anything bad about what he was saying.

"I think you might be a bit quick to judge, Alex. Now, if his head started turning completely around, then we'd be talking about possessed."

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

" Unlike my name, which has no accurate translation, the forest I came from does have a reasonably close translation. 'The Nine Trees'."

"Sounds pretty." Vaerys mumbled. "And trust me, not all humans act like this. My people, you may call them dwarves, are more simpler to deal with. If you don't like someone, you don't deal with them or you kill them. Either way its very straight forward with us dwarves. One time, me and my mates were dealing with some orcs. I must admit that a smarter group might have went around or dug under their wall. Not us though, not us dwarves. We spent all night hammering at it until it fell. You should have seen the looks on their faces! Hah!" Vaerys threw his head back in a roar of laughter before he calmed down. He was completely oblivious to the talk that the others were having so he laughed quite loudly.

"Ah, what do you do for fun in 'Nine Trees'?" Vaerys asked, curious of the creature and her world.

 

[Lunar Templar]

She tilted her head to the side a bit, if it where possible there'd be a question mark over her head "What are 'Orks'?" She asked, "I should hope not all humans are like this, but the other humans I encountered where rather timid, like what you all refer to as a 'deer', so It's hard to get a good bead when they seem to only act in extremes." she added, really just thinking aloud.

"Ah, what do you do for fun in 'Nine Trees'?"

"Depends on the time of year, the Harvest and Spring celebrations are usually the most 'fun', outside the odd 'joining' ritual or birth celebration" She paused a moment "Come to think of if, I've been to a few funerals that were pretty lively to."

 

[IFS]

"That is why I like mortals so much. They cannot resist the temptation in the end. It reminds me of myself."

"We can resist temptation, and know better than to gorge ourselves," he said calmly "Do not project your own nature on others."

He felt he had some understanding of Des's purpose as a demon, or what he suspected it was, now. The demon hardly fit the rules of those in his world, but those rules were loose to begin with. A tempter and hedonist, though he wasn't certain how he spread or grew in strength exactly it was clearly tied to that. And to blood, though its strange he requested that rather than just take it.

"I think you might be a bit quick to judge, Alex. Now, if his head started turning completely around, then we'd be talking about possessed."

"The more dangerous a possessive spirit is though the less it makes its presence so obvious," he replied "Their behavior always gives them away, if you know what to look for."

 

[Terratina.]

"Do not project your own nature on others."

'That's rich.' The Liemian thought. Tarquin's opponent was clearly set on smearing the poor man's name completely in the possession bullcrap. Even worse was the fact the other man was claiming to have no authority but was acting if the complete opposite were true. Goddamn hypocrite. If only he knew how wrong he was...

"Says the man projects weigh onto his words." The man replied, "All of that is conjuncture, where is the proof? You might be the one possessed for all we know. Ha."

 

[DarkRawen]

Alex replied, smiling, but he clearly wasn't liking what Des had said.

"We can resist temptation, and know better than to gorge ourselves. Do not project your own nature on others."

Des looked at Alex, confused. Had he taken it as an offence? More so, was he trying to be rude to Des? Was this mortal like some of the ones back home? Arrogant with regard of their own existence? Des smiled, though he wasn't really fond of being spoken to like this, not by a mortal who thought he understood more than him. "Oh, I'm not projecting my nature onto others, Alex. I know that some mortals don't like hearing it, so I'm sorry if I offended you. You want happiness, don't you? How do you obtain happiness? Through pleasure, of course. Nothing else, nothing more." He leaned forward a little, not getting too close, but close enough for Alex to catch a glimmer of orange Des' eyes through the illusion he was seeing. His facial expression was mischievous, but there was something different, more dangerous in his eyes, making his demonic nature more obvious.

"Everything is a sin, Alex. Would you rather live your life killing, or loving? In the end, all you mortals can do is make a choice." He chuckled. "I'd rather spend the time I have being a lover, though I cannot make the choice for a mortal. My point is, don't you rather want to have pleasure, than to live without it? Do you wish to deprive other of that pleasure, simply because you don't think it's morally right? I've seen many mortals like you, and they all want to be happy, in the end, even as they deprive other of that happiness." His smile turned a bit more serious.

"I may not be as clever as you, but I know the nature of mortals, so please don't assume I'm projecting anything, okay? As for your other argument... if it's so hard to see, how can you be so sure it is a possession?"


"Says the man projects weigh onto his words. All of that is conjuncture, where is the proof? You might be the one possessed for all we know. Ha."

He sat back, and nodded, though this whole affair was giving him a headache. "That's a point..." Des tilted his head back and forth, trying to decide something. This was just causing more disagreement, after all. Finally, he lighted up. "How about we say that no one are possessed? That'd mean we don't have to think about this anymore." He smiled, believing that was the right thing to do. If someone was possessed, they'd discover it if something went wrong, after all.

"I know my options. But you can chase me if you like."

"I'll stay here, if no one minds, I'm not really made for killing creatures," he said, and leaned back. "Besides, I'm not sure it's a good idea to leave without resting."

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

Kyras listened to the conversation with minor amusement, suddenly gaining focus when he heard the woman... what was her name again? had she even mentioned it? It didn't matter, she was planning to leave. And the way she talked and the way she lit up when she got here made him suspect that she's either been here before or was from here. Which meant that assuming it hadn't been completely overrun meant she probably knew how to survive out there better than he did.

He stood up as she walked out of the tent and he followed her.

"If you wouldn't mind I'd like to come along with you."
He paused briefly before speaking again.
"I'd also be happy with directions to an exit other than the one we just used."

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

"Come to think of if, I've been to a few funerals that were pretty lively to."

"Aye, we dwarves don't dally too much into the mourning of death but rather the celebration of life." Vaerys solemnly said. There was arguing now between a few members of the ex-gladiators. He couldn't help but hear that there was some kind of commotion about something or other. He glanced back at the commotion before focusing back to his conversation. "In our weddings, an event isn't considered a great one if there aren't at least five fights. We like to quarrel a lot maybe even as much as our friends over here." He said, motioning to the gladiators near them.

 

[Lunar Templar]

She couldn't help but snicker at the Dwarves recounting of how his people celebrate "I know a few Packs like that..." she started, but was interrupted by a human, who seemed to be in a hurry for something, and didn't wait for her to reply, it struck her as rather rude. So she excused her self from the Dwarf and followed long enough to get close enough to nudge the human with the top of her head. "Two things, one, it is rude to not wait for the answer when asking some one a question with out telling them you don't require an answer from them. Two, I have no idea, fast enough to run down what you call 'deer', why?"

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

" I don't know what it is but being bare skinned for too long makes you sick."

"Don't mind if I do!" Vaerys said as he beamed at the prospect of free items. Dwarves were taught at an early age to be wary of free items but Vaerys wasn't a scholarly type. He would leap at the notion of a free item much to his comrades' chagrin and it had landed him in quite a bit of trouble but it was nothing his axe couldn't fix. He's survived by the skin of his teeth thus far and anything that could help him he would have to get. Not only that but he wasn't quite done telling his story to the animal-lady.

He fetched a cloak that could accommodate his width but not his length so he tore off the end at a size for him. The fabric gave way with some effort but once he put on the dirt-brown cloak, the end nipped at his heels. "Might have misjudged it a bit..." He grumbled before he left the tent in search of the lady. He spotted her with ease as it wasn't hard to notice her. He made his way to them even in a dash even with his short legs.

"Another adventure awaits!" Vaerys proclaimed as he reached them. "So, where's this place now?"

 

[Lunar Templar]

She couldn't help but smirk a little as the dwarf came up, excited about 'adventure' as she pondered what to do "Would It not be better to wait till the sun was down, lands such as these are best traveled at night after all." She commented, having already decided going with this human, and the dwarf apparently would be better then listening to the other humans argue.

 

[hiei82]

Kes glanced back and forth for a short while before coming to a decision. It wasn't a hard one; stay with the Liemians or follow someone little more than a stranger into the wilds. She'd go with the stranger. Better to take the chance of danger rather than ensure it by following the word of Liem dogs.

"So what's the plan?" she asked the strange woman who seemed to have taken charge.

 

[Terratina.]

The Leimian watched as the others made their preparations. Of course it would be a nice idea to go outside, where exposure would make one feel nauseous, but the idea of escape was on their mind and freedom was a sweet siren song. The man smiled, it would, at least for the Leimian, it would be more trouble than it was worth. It was natural that the Leimian should stay with the Leimian camp. Hopefully the others wouldn't leave them behind...

"Bonum cursum!" The man beamed.

 

[Lunar Templar]

The trip was longer then she expected, but they made it.

"How well can you guys climb?" the female human asked before trying, and failing to make it more the a few feet up. She snickered a little then looked over the 'hand holds' open to her, after finding a few that seemed sturdy enough, she started to climb, slowly, due to potential crumbling grips, or making use of gaps between the bricks the other wouldn't be-able to thanks to her claws, but with a general ease one probably wouldn't expect from something as big as she was. By the time she reached the top, she was actually enjoying her self a little, then sat by the edge and dangled her tail down like a rope of sorts for those who where behind her and needed an extra boost.

 

[hiei82]

"How well can you guys climb?" Serragish said, testing the ability to support their weight. Kes smirked; climbing was easy. She cracked her knuckles to loosen the joints of her hands, stretched her limbs and neck to further the effect, than backed away from the wall. She searched for a good hold until she spotted on that met her needs. From there, she bolted at the climbing surface, jumped as she drew near, and grabbed hold of her target. Using the excess force of her jump, she swung up further to a second hand hold, than began climbing up step by step without much difficulty.

 

[Josh123914]

"Can you fight?"
Dalrel coughed as an introduction, ''Of course we can, were you expecting cooks and messengers as reinforcements?'' he said, looking around reassuringly.
He knew everyone there could at least fight, but how he knew was best kept between what remained of the entourage.
In an attempt to create a rapport with the soldiers, Dalrel donned a smile and leaned near a wall. ''So, what's our plan, now that the suicidal ones have left?''
In truth, Dalrel hoped those in the desert will be alright. The reality was the group he found himself in were total strangers, and he doubted whether who remained could overpower these Liemians if need be.
Unsheathing his sword, and holding his left hand out to produce fire, he prepared for the worst, backing up and away from the growls.

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

"How well can you guys climb?"

"Bugger that..." Vaerys grumbled as he began to start climbing. The strength part wasn't the issue but it was traversing up that made him curse the gods for making him short. Many a times had he encountered a ledge just a little too high for him to reach up to. Luckily he encountered no such ledge as he shimmied his way up. Eventually he made his way higher and higher up the stony surface. The others made it there faster than he did on the account of their longer legs but towards the top, Vaerys lost his grip on one of the stone. On the corner of his eye he spotted a rope and he grabbed it or else he would have fallen off but the rope turned out to be from the animal-lady.

"Sorry!" Vaerys called out before reaching the top where the others were already gathered. "Any more climbing and somebody might have to toss me up instead."