The Escapist Avatar Adventure: An Open RP (Now Re-Opened!)

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Spoiler: Rugal

[hr]

Right to Rule

Rugal's story

​

[hr]

"Thank you. I shouldn't be long. Should anything happen, meet back up at your father's home. Oh, and here, you'll need it out here more then I'll need it in there." Rugal said as he made his way towards the barracks but not before giving Livia his suit jacket.
It's bright red color would be unlikely to assist in his covert operation anyway.
Before he looked for a way in, he took a moment to try and sense the energies of the people inside, using it as a crude radar to ensure he wouldn't get caught off-guard.
With that taken care of, he went for the last place they'd expect someone to break in from: Though the roof.

A brief jump was enough to get him atop the building, silently stepping on the roof until he was above the barrack room where soldiers slept and, more importantly, kept their armor and weapons.
Double checking for the people inside, he then used his Slashing Aura once the coast was clear, softly carving a hole in the roof for him to slip down from.
Peering in before he dropped down, he was careful to slide the "Lid" he had cut back into place before beginning the next part of his ruse: Trying to disguise himself as one of the Praetorians.
Granted, it might be risky considering how much he stood out from the local population but if it distracted someone long enough, he could easily disable them prior to them raising the alarm.
Hope these things come in my size... He thought, snatching one of the outfits and adjusting it slightly if needed.

 

[Zepherus14]

[hr]

Table for Two

Nina's story

​

[hr]

Spoiler

"And that colour would be? Hmph... Hold on..." Phillip reached out, pressing Faea in the sternum and forcing her to remain close to her webbing. Reaching out towards the fallen food cart, Phillip snatched up one of the knives there, and with some expertly precise swings cut the webbing behind her. With a swift scooping motion, Phillip had Faea sitting in a sort of makeshift hammock and started making his way to the front of the train. "Don't move too much." He said as his form swelled a little.

"How do you suggest we get into the engine room? Nina had tried to get in when the investigation had started. She couldn't get in. The gap was too narrow for even myself to slip through." Phillip suggested, making quick headway as he reached out and grabbed hold of each doorframe and tugged himself across the floor. "I'm not dragging you all with me, so follow along you two!" He called out to Mnemosyne and Crown who were likely left in the dust.

[hr]

"Not really... no?" Nina gave White an equally confused look. "I don't know if you've seen one of these before, but the text is always black." Nina said with a sigh.

"So these pillars are like walls in a convention center. No walls and you get Democrats, Republicans, the Alt Right and Hardcore SJWs all in the same room together... But why's this all going to hell now? Black's apparently sealed off Phillip from the rest of himself with those stones and just looking around this place it's certainly not looking stable." Nina asked, pointing down to some of the red streams underneath their feet. "Where are your other... sisters? The..." Counts on her hands a moment. "Three other Miriams? The one I first met before getting on this train, the one Phillip saw when he first went into the kitchen, and the one he talked to in the kitchen? Or hell, do you know why these books have stuff about you in them, is this your library?"

While Nina let White reply to her questions, she took the moment to have a look around the library, looking to see if there was anything else amiss in this place. Tossed books aside, maybe there was some evidence lying on the floor, stashed on a shelf, in a book?

 

[BlackHarte]

Spoiler: Rugal

[hr]

Right to Rule

rugal's story

​

[hr]


Rugal slipped into the barracks, dripping wet with rain. The faint flicker of oil lamps lit the room with dull orange. No one was in it, but there weren't any weapons or armor. Instead there were crates of different knickknacks. It was heaps of all sorts of pottery, linens, jewelry, and papers heaped into wooden vessels and stacked on top of each other. This was some sort of store room. There was a desk near the wooden door that was laden with parchment. A quill and inkwell lay dry to one side. The slow burning flame of the lamps cast long shadows over the scene.

After Rugal patched up the ceiling and began to look for clothes of the Praetorians, he could not find any. But, something in one of the crates caught his eye. It was a book, unlike the scrolls and threaded ledgers that he had seen throughout his journey in ancient Rome. The cover was smooth and well pressed, a material that was black and looked synthetic. It wasn't bound with thread, but glued.

He picked up the book. It was lightweight and about the same size as a small journal. The pages were paper, thin, white, and crisp. He opened it out of habit, just to see what was inside.

The words were written in a deep blue ink, scrawled in beautiful cursive letters. And it was Greek, not Latin. It was Greek that he recognized as well, not the archaic version he was expecting. This was modern Greek, interspersed with patches of English loan words. He recognized a few immediately.

No-Kill. Prime Unit. The Inquiry. Search and Destroy.

But of everything he saw as he flipped through the journal, one thing stood out to him out of all of the anachronistic things. Two words written in the Latin alphabet.

Rising Dawn.

He flipped to the first page.

Mission Log

Colonel Nemesis Eiroch
Rising Dawn Anti-Labyrinth Strike Force


July 14, 2012

Orders received from Admiral Valdur. Find and retrieve the targeted items from subspace phenomena zones 4, 5, 6, and 8. Gain access to subspace phenomena zone 8 at any cost. Danger level is high. No-kill orders are active.

Subspace Zone Brief:

Zone 4: Adventure world. Low danger rating. Target is a star-studded mantle that hides planeswalker auras. Item will be necessary to safely access subspace zone 5. Item is in possession of an adventuring group named the Deep Braves. Authorized to offer items in exchange.

Zone 5: Subspace zone 5 is a world of legends. Gods exist. Be careful. Killing anyone will be problematic. Target is artifact in possession of Lucretia household. Item resembles a small stone mechanical timekeeping device. Necessary to stabilize planar phenomena when travelling to zone 6.

Zone 6: Stitched world. Dangerous to human females. Keep a low profile, subspace zone is densely populated by high-level eldritch beings. Target is in a hidden library on a phantom train. Retrieve planeswalker journal detailing how to open a path to subspace zone 8.

Zone 8: Mountain zone. Cold. Bring extra rations. Target is a dragon tamer. Subspace region is specifically localized to harbor high level dragon-type lifeforms. Target name: Erika of the Ink-Blade. Destroy or retrieve the gemstone on her left gauntlet.

Rugal flipped through the pages until he found the latest entry.

October 20, 2012

Arrived in subspace zone 5. Made contact with informant. Unfortunately, target is deceased one month prior to arrival in zone. Will use advanced methods to satisfy mission objectives.

Target name was Livius Lucretius, head of the Lucretia family. 44 years old at time of death. Survived by one daughter and two brothers. Wife and son are both already dead. Most probably cause of death: poisoning. Local authorities are investigating the crime. Suspects include his surviving daughter and his younger brother.


October 21, 2012

Visited his younger brother. By all accounts he did not order the poisoning of his elder brother. In my judgement, he is being truthful. Nonetheless, obtained knowledge of artifact location from his younger brother. Retrieving it and immediately heading to Zone 6.

He closed the book. The papers on the desk looked interesting as well. "On the Senate Investigation of the Death of Livius Lucretius, Governor of Etruria."

 

[BlackHarte]

Spoiler: Nina

[hr]

Table for Two

nina's story

​

[hr]

Nina's phone rang abruptly. The caller ID on the device simply said "McDipshit." White leaned over and pressed the accept prompt. "[sub]PUT ME ON SPEAKER[/sub]" came a garbled voice. White swiped her fingers over Nina's phone.

"You're on speaker now Black," White stated.

"I knew you had something to do with this you little twerp!" Black roared through the phone. "Where did you take Nina! She was doing something fucking important don't you know!?"

"Well look who's talking! We fell through the Wound you foul-mouthed neanderthal. The very type of spatial distortion that your dampening stone are supposed to stop? I dare say that it is you who has neglected your important duties."

"Well gangbang me with fuckin' cactuses shit-for-brains. The whole thing was something thrice damned important!"

"Cacti." White said flatly.

"Y'what?"

"The plural of cactus is cacti."

"Yeah! I don't fucking care! In case your tits are stopping you from looking out the fucking fuckity fuck windows, Anazorzia is collapsing in on itself!"

White covered her breasts in instinctive offense. "Why I'd never..."

"Nina! I hope you've figured out who killed the Matron, because I'm running out of fucking time over here!"

"What could you possibly be doing at a time like this that you'd have to rely on a mortal girl?" White scoffed.

Black's response physically caused Nina's phone to vibrate, "NOW LISTEN HERE YOU OPPAI LOLI WHORE, SOME OF US ADULTS HAVE FUCKING JOBS TO DO. AND ONE OF MY FUCKITY FUCK FUCKING JOBS IS MAKING SURE ANAZORZIA DOESN'T FALL APART AT IT'S FUCKING SEAMS. I'VE BEEN PLUGGING MORE HOLES OVER HERE THAN RED GETS HERSELF RAILED IN A YEAR." There was an explosion on the other side of the line. "Wounds and tears aside, there's even a foreigner with a subspace vacuum inside of its body. Do you understand how much of my energy it takes to seal an entire subspace dimension from where I am right now?"

"Well maybe if you relied on other people once and a while and didn't spend all of your free time tricking people into doing things that they would have done if you just asked them nicely, then we wouldn't be having this pointless argument while Anazorzia falls apart!" White retorted, her small body shaking with primal rage.

There was a shuddering in the Crystal Archives. The crystal floor turned opaque and then dark.

"Oh high heaven, what is it now?" White said, exasperated.

A familiar darkness flooded the library from top to bottom. The presence spoke in music sung by wind chimes. A path opened in the shadows, leading out of the Crystal Archives.

"If it's anything I can see, Primal Nightmare is fishing for something below the Wound." There was a pause. "Are you fucking kidding me? That's where you were? If you're in Blue's library, then I don't fucking see why I couldn't see into it!"

"Wow, well maybe all that eye-shadow's finally cause you to go blind!" White snapped. "Can you still see enough with those eyes to tell where Blue and Red are?"

There was silence from the phone for a few long moments. "No. I lost them when we hit that void. I need help finding them too."

"So what's your plan?"

"Find whoever killed the Matron. Find Red, find Blue, and stop this world from tearing itself apart."

"Why does the Matron matter?"

Black scoffed, "The Matron was the first creation in Anazorzia dumbass. She has the most strings of karmic destiny out anything in this world. Killing her is like cutting the core knot in rope bandage. Without her shouldering all the tension, everything started to fall apart faster and faster. New worlds are trying to force themselves into us, old ones are falling out. It's more than I can handle by myself. Whoever killed her definitely knew that she was a keystone in this stupid world of ours. Now get back up here you two twats... I need your help..."

---​

The journey to the engine room was quick for Philip as he pulled himself across the persistent aftermath of the Matron's death. Eldritch were still laying down where they had taken the brunt of the physic whiplash. Mnemosyne did her best to keep up with Philip's pace. Crown struggled still farther behind, too prideful to accept assistance from the goblins that followed him.

They made it to the engine room and the sealed door that kept them away from the front two cars of the train.

Faea looked at the door with a pensive glare. "Violet, do me a favor and put your hand on the door.

"Okay," Mnemosyne said as she made her way to the door. She put her hand on the metal and pressed against it. Nothing happened. "It's a door."

"Can you knock on it for me?"

Mnemosyne knocked.

"Harder... my hearing is not the best right now."

Mnemosyne knocked harder.

"A little lower... two... no, three feet lower."

Mnemosyne knocked lower and lower until everyone else heard it. Instead of the ringing clang of steel, this particular part of the door responded to her knock with a dull thud. Mnemosyne stepped back in shock. Faea smiled. "Shoot it."

"Excuse me?" Mnemosyne said, "Are you crazy?"

"Your guns shear the soul right? If it's a normal door, than it shouldn't do any damage." Faea said. "If I'm wrong, we don't lose much. If I'm right... then there are a lot more questions to this insane situation."

Mnemosyne gave Faea a incredulous look before picking up one of her guns and pointing it at where the door had gone bad. She gave Faea and Philip a second confirmatory look before she pulled the trigger.

The muzzle flashed bright white, and something left the barrel, but that's all that they could see. The door shuddered, broke off it's hinge and folded into the darkness of the engine room. A musty, wet damp smell rushed out of the cavity and into the cabin. It reeked of moss, tepid water, and musk.

The door had left a trail of blood into the darkness. Now that the door was gone, they could hear it clearly. What once was the machine-like whirring of the engine now resonated with deep long thrums. A heartbeat. A massive heartbeat.

"Finally, that stupid ringing is out of my ears. I had wondered what in the world was making that obnoxious noise." Faea motioned to be let down. "I believe some mysteries will be solved within that darkness, but I will venture no further from this point. I cannot fight in my condition. Philip, Violet, this will be up to you two."

 

[Zepherus14]

The Rising Dawn: Armoury [https://orig00.deviantart.net/1cc6/f/2012/168/d/1/contact___armory_by_shimmering_sword-d53uu2p.jpg]
Hillary the Slime | David West | Jenny | Violet​

With Violet forgiving her for damaging his rings, Hillary's mood brighted again. She was shiny, sitting next to Hillary eagerly listened to the group conversing, still retaining her platinum form while she still held the broken knee replacement in her hand. The idea of finding those that might still me on the ship excited Hillary, earning an approving nod as Jenny suggested it. This was soon stopped as Violet injected some very vital logic to the situation, separating now would be extremely dangerous.

"Hillary still hasn't seen Miia yet, she didn't seem to be in the planes outside the ship either. Maybe she's still in her room..." She responded to the brainstorming until Jenny offered the can of lemonade.

She hadn't ever seen a can before, not like this however. Taking the can into her hand, she spin it around curiously. "Hoenn Spring Lemonade? That's so very nice of you Jenny thank you!~ So... food is inside this, and Hillary needs to get inside it?" She peered at it for a while longer, noticing the tab. "Hmm..."

Despite the logical method of pulling the tab to open the can, Hillary simply pressed her platinum finger straight through the relatively fragile can. The sound of tearing metal was undercut by the sudden spray of pressurized liquid that splashed onto Hillary's face causing her to drop the knee replacement joint. In the ensuing domino effect, Hillary's body started to shift to the floor's material, having lost her platinum state with no platinum touching her. Without thinking, she jerked the can up as she attempted to grab the platinum again, only to get more lemonade on herself, enough in fact for her body to start liquefying. Soon enough, Hillary was sitting on a translucent, yellow pseudopod of lemonade with a nearly empty can of lemonade still in her hand. Her hair looked to be some odd look similar to Lisa Simpson's, like some sort of lemon hair. Within her liquefied form, Jenny could see the airpocket where her lungs could potentially be, slowly shrinking whenever she spoke only to inflate again. It was odd that she didn't appear to need to breath, but given Hillary's biology that certainly wasn't the weirdest part about her.

Looking over herself, she stuck her free hand into her mouth and her eyes widened. "Mmmmmm... This is delicious! Hillary has never had lemonade before, but this is very tasty!" She exclaimed, removing her hand and for a very brief moment it appeared like her fingers had disappeared, but only to return. "Thank you for sharing with Hillary!"

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Spoiler: Rugal

[hr]

Right to Rule

Rugal's story

​

[hr]

"...Son of a-"

While he always knew the Rising Dawn was a collection of the strangest of characters, he had no idea just how deep their operations into these Labyrinths were. (Ohhhh, you're joking. "Colonel Nemesis"? Who the hell is named that? That has to be fake...)
So he was in "Zone 5" then but it still didn't really explain how he ended up here and what exactly they were trying to achieve by travelling to these worlds.
It was then that he realized that perhaps other members of the ship's crew ended up in other equally bizarre worlds like himself, a thought that did little to ease his concerns over his family's safety.
Was Julia in on it? Was that why she stole those weapons? Or was she and her family merely pawns of Colonel Nemesis? (If she was tricked by him, she can only blame herself, I mean, come on. "Nemesis"? What, was "Murderboner McKil-Lovin" taken?...)
It mentioned the death of Livia's father as well, Rugal noticing that while he was listed as having two brothers, only one of them was a suspect. (Huh, guess someone's better at covering their tracks...)
Shaking off his self-doubt, he took the mission log and stashed it before deciding to browse the findings of the Senate.

 

[Zepherus14]

[hr]

Table for Two

Nina's story

​

[hr]

Spoiler

"... Alright, I'll do what we can on this side Black. We might not agree on much, but no one here wants this place to get erased. We do this together." Nina said looking to White, that look of an adult disappointed with a misbehaving child. Without saying a word, she made it clear she wanted White to keep her comments to herself, they needed unity not division.

Nina stood up tall and waved a hand for White to follow towards Nocturne's entry way. "So probably stupid idea on my end, but is there not a way to make a quick fix to buy us some more time? Make a sturdy Peter to be your cornerstone and hook it up to the loose threads to at least hold some of this stuff back, like Wreck it Ralph and Turbo hooking himself into the network? If you can't do it alone, would getting the other Miriams make it easier?" Nina asked.

"Or is the reason we're looking for the murderer not just because of the Matron but because they might kill off any 'new' Matron as well? I don't understand exactly why finding the killer is important here other than the obvious justice being served. You make it sound like there's an ulterior motive to find them Black?" Nina asked as she drew closer to the new gateway.

[hr]

Phillip did as Faea ordered, but certainly not as gently as before, plopping her down in one of the chairs nearby unceremoniously. The noodle monster wasn't the most well versed in social etiquette and the idea of not having to carry the woman was too compelling. "Hmph, that explains why I couldn't see any farther into it..." Phillip spoke as he started making his way inside, then paused. "You can see yes, inside here?" Phillip asked, his tentacles slowly churning as he realizing that if Mnemonyse couldn't see in this space she could very easily shoot him.

If she didn't have the means to see within this space, Phillip would grab the web hamock out from under Faea, tie the ends together and sling it over Mnemonyse's shoulder before hopping inside. "Let's go! We don't have time to waste here."

 

[BlackHarte]

Spoiler: Rugal

[hr]

Right to Rule

rugal's story

​

[hr]

The investigation into the matter of Livius Lucretius' death has been undertaken by the Praetorian Guard under the command of Consul Julius Caesar. The investigation was completed in the seventh month of the third year of the Consulship of Julius Caesar, two years after the end of the Civil War.

The cause of Livius' death has been ascertained to be poison, but by what alchemical composition it is not known. The Praetorian Organization has spent one hundred silver pieces on the appraisal of the substance discovered in Livius' body. However, of the twenty five alchemists contacted, none were able to offer conclusive identification of the substance.

The substance is described as follows: It is white and thick. It is slightly gelatinous to the touch with a consistency reminiscent of the mucous found in a man afflicted with the cold. The smell is pungent, but not off putting, it is reminiscent of the scent of the alpine columbine and evokes the same moon-touched dream in sleeping men.

An Ionian alchemist by the name of Gaius Phyrrus Dexter, who works in a workshop in the Chalcidice, claims that he has seen such substance far to the North, pass the land of the Germans and into far flung kingdoms of Siber. When pressed further, he was unable to offer proof to the matter of fact and instead referred us to old stories passed to the Greeks by the Amazons who had once journeyed there to assist the khaganate of Mollor in taking a land rich in gold.

When the substance was introduced to a human body, we found the following effects.

When introduced to the slave women assigned to the Northwestern barracks, they reported no ill effects.

When introduced to the Gallic men digging the new canal, all but one fell into a deep sleep and could not be roused. Eventually those men died in their sleep from attrition of some sort, but not after at least the passing of two weeks. The man that was awoken was mad with lust and sought violently the comforts of a woman. He was killed after an arrow pierced his heart.

Investigations into suspected parties have yielded the following results.

Livius' younger brother, Callus Lucretius, has yielded no results. As expected, he was studying in the kingdom of the Persians and did not know of his brother's passing. When he discovered that news, he fell into tears and retired to his quarters for two days. On the third day we spoke further with him. He was unable to say for what reason anyone would wish for the death of Livius. We retrieved some personal effects from Callus and brought them to the Oracle at Delphi. Apollo affirmed that Callus had spoken the truth.

Livius' younger brother, Regis Lucretius, has yielded no results. After searching, we discovered Regis was in Britannia. He was similarly surprised to hear of the passing of his older brother, with whom he had no quarrel, but did not mourn for. At that time Regis informed us that Livius' son, Gaius Lucretius, had passed away a moon and a half ago attempting to climb to White Cliffs with his unit. We passed this information onto the Senate committee when it was received, but we did not deliver this information to the rest of the Lucretia estate for fear of disrupting the investigation. We presented some of Regis' personal effects to the Oracle at Delphi and Apollo found him to have spoken the truth.

When investigating the case of Livia Lucretius, we were unable to ascertain her involvement in the case at hand. She was not available to speak to us at the time. In lieu, we investigated by interviewing some of her handmaiden and collected some evidence from around her household. We found no items which were immediately suspicious. Her handmaidens were able to corroborate a single story of Livia Lucretius having journeyed to the Black Sea to visit members of her mother's family. We sent message to the legion stationed at the Crossing to assist in our investigation. Their findings returned that Livia was observed having taken residence for the course of two weeks with an older Amazonian woman.

That's where the report ended. The ink on the page was still fresh. Rugal could hear faint footsteps outside, probably heading out of the barracks. Rugal was certain that he would have a little time to rummage around for more items, or he could head out of the barracks quietly with what he already had. Though, whoever was left in the barracks had to be alone at this point.

 

[BlackHarte]

Spoiler: Nina

[hr]

Table for Two

nina's story

​

[hr]

The inside of the engine room was as wet as it smelled. Each one of Mnemosyne's footsteps sank into a thick mass of undulating flesh. The consistency of the material was sickeningly soft and springy. The light from the crystals that Philip had appropriated from the other cart lit the mass beneath them a sickly green.

The heartbeat grew louder as they ventured deeper, each thrum sending waves through the veins in the floor and walls. Slime bubbled out from beneath gelatinous bulbs.

"I do not like the air of this place," Faea said from within her hammock, her voice barely above a whisper.

Mnemosyne was silent. She moved slowly, making sure that her footing was good before advancing forward. She held one of her pistols with both hands.

"There's someone else ahead. I hear a second heartbeat." Faea whispered in Philip's mass of tentacles.

---​

"That's not how karmic destiny works," Black replied as the two girls made their way down the pathway paved in shadows, "An individual's karmic destiny is developed as they do more and more things that effect other people in a significant way. It's a way to describe the amount of importance they have to developing a timeline. The Matron is special even in this regard. She is an immortal, and one of the Primals to boot, so there is no natural timeline wherein she would have died. Her death therefore is the first indicator that a separate course of events is forcing itself on our world."

"I know that you like the sound of your own voice, but could you please get on to the point?" White said exasperated.

Black made an annoyed noise. "Whoever killed the Matron is trying to destroy this world. And to destroy this world they need to destroy all of the linchpins keeping it together. So there's someone out there trying to kill me is what I'm getting at. That's why it's important."

Before they knew it, they had found their way out of the Crystal Archives. They were in the ballroom cart, where a door into an abject darkness was ajar. Crown was sitting near it, half-awake and attended by two goblins.

"A couple of people went in there earlier," Black said. She was standing on top of the clam-tentacle-grub demon that had tried to violate Nina the first time she was in the ballroom car. Black was taller than the other Miriams, thin and regal looking. She had a dark purple headband and a black trench coat that ran all the way down to the buckle of her boots. Her arms were crossed, each of her fingers was adorned with a stone ring.

Nina peered into the darkness and saw - instead of an undulating mass of organs - a swirling vortex of that glimmering blue dust that was present in the library and on the Matron's corpse. She staggered suddenly, assailed be a vision of the past.

The girl was sitting alone on a cliff overseeing a still ocean. The water was blue and clear, so much so that it was possible to see all the way down to the bottom of the sea floor. The girl was full grown. Her red hair was tied back in a long ponytail, her eyes were sad and somber, their azure color a reflection of the ocean. She held her knees against her chest and gazed longingly toward the horizon.

The world was beautiful, rolling meadows of grass and flowers, high skies filled with cotton clouds. The sun was warm and hovered eternally at the hem of faraway mountains. Yet, she was unsatisfied.

"Are you sad?" the Matron asked the girl.

"No," she answered.

"Do you wish to hear a story?" the Matron asked the girl.

"No," she answered.

"Why then, do you sit here and gaze so longingly toward the end of the world?" the Matron asked the girl.

The girl mused on this point in silence for some time before she answered, "I feel alone."

"Are you not surrounded by people who love you?" the Matron asked the girl.

"Yes, but all of you love me because I made like that," the girl replied. She stood up, a strong breeze stirred the ribbons in her dress. "There's no one here that I can really talk to. "

"Why not?"

"Because there is nothing new here. You wove this paradise, but it is too tranquil. There is no chaos, no strife, no anything for which life may be worth living." The girl held out her hands toward the sun.

"Would it make you happy if you could see new worlds perhaps?"

"Perhaps," the girl repeated.

"Then it will be so," the Matron bowed.

A snap brought Nina back to the present.

"Your tentacled roommate went in dragging to women with him. If you want to catch up to them you should hurry." Black said impatiently. Outside the windows Nina could see that the red tears had begun to widen, opening up like the torn stitching on a stuffed animal. Huge stone tablets were floating around the openings, tanking huge bolts of chaotic red energy. Each time a tablet cracked, one of the rings on Black's fingers flashed red.

---​

At the center of the engine room was a massive beating heart. A thousand veins and arteries connected it to the walls of the train. A thin emancipated looking creature lay before it, prostrated. The lower half of it's body fused into the pulsating mass of the floor. It looked up. Where there ought to have been eyes, there were instead sunken holes. As if its eyes had shriveled from dehydration. It's mouth was dry and agape, opening and closing like a beached fish.

"Oh my," came a polite boyish voice. "I did not expect visitors."

Reign stepped out from behind the beating heart. He wasn't wearing his usual uniform. Instead he wore long black robes that trailed behind him like tails. His eyes were closed, two thin lines on his face and his mouth was pinched into a perpetual smile. His hands were behind his back as he moved.

"I'm sorry, but you lack the authorization to be here. The engine room is for special personnel only I'm afraid."

Mnemosyne pointed her gun at Reign. "What's going on here."

"I am conducting the train in Nivdeth's stead." Reign said softly.

"What happened to Nivdeth?" Mnemosyne pressed.

"I am afraid that Nivdeth is no longer with us. He was relieved from his duty as conductor some time ago."

"Then, did you kill him?" Faea whispered.

"I am afraid that I will not be answering that question."

"You bastard!" Mnemosyne pulled the trigger on her gun.

An explosion ran out in the room and light filled the darkness from the briefest of moments. When everything settled, Reign smiled. The shot had not left a single mark anywhere in the room.

"I am afraid that I must ask you to refrain from discharging that firearm in here. If you kill this pitiable creature, the train will fall apart."

Mnemosyne took two swift steps to put Philip between her and Reign. She held her gun out toward him from cover. "Who in the fuck are you."

There was a blur of movement and Mnemosyne's gun went flying in twain.

Reign continued to smile. "I am Reign," he said, "the Painter's Servant." He adjusted the sword he held his left hand - a golden blade decorated with red tassels and draconic markings. "I have never been anything more, nor anything less."

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Spoiler: Rugal

[hr]

Right to Rule

Rugal's story

​

[hr]

WAIT WAIT WAIT...You're telling me Livia's dad was killed by a-...*snort* freaking aphrodisiac?! Oh my god, what a way to go. It even sounds like it's fucking-pfffff-Hehehehahahhaha!"

Rugal found the man's demise slightly less entertaining as that damn laugh echoed within his head but at least he knew what to look out for.
Heheheahahaha! I'm sorry-ohh-I'm sorry! I just can't get this mental image out of my head. All of the poisons and toxins in the world and they go for an Aphrodisiac. God, talk about rigor mortis Eh?....Eh?....Because he most likely died with a massive raging-
The footsteps broke their lines of thought, prompting Rugal to quickly stash the Senate Report before resuming his ex-filtration.
Last thing he wanted was to outstay his welcome.
Using his Ki senses once more, he made sure the coast was clear before deciding to get out of the barracks the same way he got in.
Moving the ceiling slab out of the way, he silently leap back up onto the building's roof before covering his tracks and returning to where Livia was waiting.
Oh man, what if Livia really DID kill her father? And she used a-...Pffffff-heheehehahaha. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm fucking crying back here. That will NEVER not be funny to me. Ohhh...That's made my day now...

Dropping down to street level beside the young Mistress, he presented the Senate report before saying "Security back here isn't nearly up to scratch. They left that right on a desk in plain view. Very sloppy for an "Elite Guard". They found he died of a poison- Aphrodisiac!-POISON!... *Ahem* and apparently managed to clear both of your father's brothers of the crime. At the end of the report mentions you saying with a "Amazonian Woman" but they didn't seem to have any hard links between you and the murder."

"But that's not all I found..."
Holding up the Rising Dawn report, he then explained "This tomb was written by someone from the Rising Dawn, my homeworld. They talk about travelling to different worlds and collecting certain artifacts. I don't know for what end but they described a item your father owned as a "small stone mechanical timekeeping device". There's hardly a chance that they're talking about that blasted box the Aurelius have?"
Glancing around for any prying eyes or ears, he put back on his jacket before asking "So, should we leave or shall I see if I can find more within? The guard is lax but I didn't want to risk losing what I had already found by lingering for too long. Your choice, Mistress."

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

The Rising Dawn: Armoury [https://orig00.deviantart.net/1cc6/f/2012/168/d/1/contact___armory_by_shimmering_sword-d53uu2p.jpg]
Hillary the Slime | David West | Jenny | Violet​

"....Man, that's such a trip to watch." David remarked as Hillary went from being pure metal to pure lemonade in the space of a few seconds.
"You're most welcome Hillary. Now, we should be moving off now. They'll come for us again." The Gardevoir said as she on the flak jacket and begun to lea-
"Whoa, wait, where are you going?"
"I know you mightn't agree with me but if there's someone still on board, I'm their best chance of getting back to the rest of us safety."
"Oh come on, J, don't make me the bad guy here..." David pleaded, having already found her dead body before[footnote]The start of the Angel War, right after New York was hit.[/footnote] and not being exactly keen on finding it again.
"I'm sorry David but I can't just leave them behind, not without at least saying I tried everything I could."
"Wait-....oh shit!" Violet cursed once he remembered someone he was hoping to not have to remember again: "The Cartel! They're all still in the brig!"

"Oh you are fucking joking! After everything they put us though, you want us to rush in and save them?!" The sniper protested, about as excited by that prospect as you'd expect.
"Oh, I wasn't worried about saving them! I was worried that they might use the confusion to slip away! Hell, Cortex once built a inter-dimensional communicator using a public payphone!"
"Then maybe they could figure out a way to get rid of all the skeletons!"
Clearly conflicted by the change in plans, David rubbed his temples for a moment before muttering "Alright, alright! Two groups, one checks the personal quarters, the other checks the brig. Jenny, keep us in contact at all times. I'll take the Brig. Hillary, which group you want to go with?"
She could either go with David to make sure the bad guys they spent all that time and energy locking up stayed locked up or go around the crew quarters to see if there was anyone else left on the ship.

 

[Silence]

Spoiler: Anjali

[hr]

Reason to Rise
Anjali's Story​

[hr]

"All these ... permits and what else there are are making my head spin. Why can I not just help people like that?" Anjali said, clearly confused. "But if that is what we have to go through, we should go through it as quickly as possible. So yeah ... let us get something to eat, and then let me do those trials."

She was about to walk off, as she spotted the man that Astarte was gazing at. "And who is this guy? How does he manage to stand out like this in the first place? ..." She turned back to Freya. "He seems to be of interest to Astarte at least. There's too much happening at once here. If he is relevant, tell me, otherwise we probably should just go on with our plans."

[hr]

The Rising Dawn: Server Farm
Mio​

[hr]

"If you are a skeleton king, why do your skeletons just do what they want - I don't serve milk! Or anything for that matter!" Mio responded, looking fearless into Leorics eye sockets. "You clearly have no control over this vessel, or anything. And knowing what's going on isn't going to help you anything if you are not doing anything with it."

She took a step forwards. "So, you know what? I'm restoring order to this place, and I will show you how to command your skeletons correctly, and you tell me what you think is going on. Then your title of skeleton king will make much more sense. And you could even help me restore order. You know, what reason should we even have to fight? This vessel clearly has enough space for all of us. You just stop terrorizing the poor imps here, then we can make a deal, okay?"

 

[BlackHarte]

Spoiler: Rugal

[hr]

Right to Rule

rugal's story

​

[hr]

Rugal found Livia leaning against the wall of the alley underneath a wooden overhang. She had wrapped his coat around her shoulders and was playing with a small fire in her fingers.

She looked at the investigations report with a mild interest. As she was scanning through the scroll, she had to stifle a laugh. Then she cleared her throat, "Yes, well. I believe it all to be ridiculous. Clearly my father had no shortage of political enemies. The first suspects of his death should not have been his closest kin." She tucked the report into Rugal's jacket.

"Yes, when my father died I was at the Black Sea visiting one of my mother's cousins. She had just returned from a journey into the Caucasus. There, at this time of year, a rare flower blooms. It is a gentle violet, a color most beautiful. They flower only under the light of a full moon, and only as it rises from the crest of the mountains. When they do, the nectar they produce is magical. A single drop will help even the most manic man sleep soundly until morning. The flower beds in my grandparent's home are the results of that trip. They do not bloom as beautifully in the warmth of Naples as they do high in the cold of the Caucuses."

Livia smiled, "Auntie always said that my mother was fond of them." Then she took the mission log from Rugal and flipped through it. "You can read this?" she asked as she scanned the pages, "This is the most complex cipher I have ever seen, how is it that you were able to crack the code so easily? Well, no matter."

She tossed the book back to Rugal.

"If you are finished with this diversion to search for our mysterious heroine, then I would kindly like to resume the search for Julia. While I don't know what the stone device you mentioned is like, I agree that it is unlikely that Aurelius has it. I do not believe that they possess the ability to have broken into my father's safehouse - not to mention that they had come begging for the key not two days after the passing of my father." Livia started to walk down the alleyway. "It is clear to me that there is no more value to be gained from tracking down this other outworlder. Let us make preparations for Julia's imminent arrival. Let us pay a visit to the Aurelius estate."

Spoiler: Anjali

[hr]

Reason to Rise
anjali's Story​

[hr]

"It is a matter of judgement, Anjali," Vil said softly, "what is 'right' to you may not be 'right' to others. The same is properly said about our definitions of 'to help'."

The man in the white cloak vanished into the crowd as quickly as he came. The only remnant of his unsettling presence was Astarte's piercing gaze into the depths of the guild hall. Freya gave it some thought before answering, "Yeah, I got some bad vibes from him as well, but as far as I can tell, there's nothing too terribly off about him... except for that outrageous sense of fashion."

Vil looked in the same direction as Astarte. "That man is a puppeteer."

"So what? Soul Tinkers aren't terribly rare."

"Yes, I suppose," Vil mused."Even so. There was something odd about that man."

---​

After some searching they found a tavern on the second promenade that was built to serve a clientele of beastmen. The meat there was served thick and raw. The sounds of dining consisted of the wet ripping of meat and the crack of breaking bone. Freya found a table for them amidst the throngs of drinking and dining adventurers.

"This will be a good time for me to explain what you will be facing in the trial." Vil said as he bent down over himself to fit at the table.

A woman came over to take their orders. Freya struck up a conversation with the girl, exchanging some pleasantries before ordering. Vil produced the paperwork that was handed to Anjali earlier at the reception desk. He set it on the table. "Coliseum B. That is Garrote's domain. More likely than not he will be your proctor. The licensing examination is generally at the discretion of the proctors, and knowing Garrote, this will likely emphasize combat. Garrote is not a smart man, and he does not pretend to be either. This exam will be straight forward and without any tricks, which is good for you. However, it also means that his evaluation is not as empirical as the other proctors. It is more likely than not that he will pass the petitioners based solely on his own feelings."

A small bipedal feline wandered by them, wearing a large backpack and wielding a blunted shovel. It was followed by a flock of small bipedal kittens all tied up in a line with rope around their waists.

"I suspect that teamwork and kindness will feature strongly into his scoring system." Vil reached out to take a plate of raw boar meat from the waitress. He set it down in front of Anjali and Astarte. The waitress set down a bowl of beef stew in front of Freya.

"I ordered for you want the lizardmen always get," Freya said, "Although it looks a little tough and smells a bit... gamey. Let me know if you want to exchange it for something else."

"You have everything you need, gear, skills, information, and a full stomach. Once you're done eating, we'll drop you off at the testing site. I have no reason to suspect that this will be anything other than easy."

 

[Zepherus14]

[hr]

Table for Two

Nina's story

​

[hr]

Spoiler

"Right, that makes sense, but that means we can't shove something in there to plug the hole?" Nina huffed as she tried going up the stairway as fast as she could. At least she knew why the killer mattered to Black, not the most virtuous reason, but in context it made sense. Why couldn't this be an elevator though, so much damn running!

Eventually Nina found her way out of the shadowy path, looking around while taking a breather, planting her hands on her knees. "R-Really happy this outfit breathes as well as it does." Nina said as she looked around the room she found herself in until she noticed Black and previously vulgar clam monster. "H-Holy shit! You're here!" Nina exclaimed, practically jumping upwards again as she realized Black was there and that the engine room was now open.

---

"Where, wha- Not again!! I don't have time for this!!" Nina started running through the hall, not even looking at the outside as she headed into the fleshy walled engine room. "Keep your phone with you and hide! If you don't have to be here, be somewhere else!" She called back to Black. Sure Black might need to be there to keep the train together against the incoming chaos, but bringing herself so close to a possible murderer gunning for her was an accident waiting to happen.

[hr]

Back with the group at the heart of the conflict, the tension was as thick as Reign adjusted his sword with a menacing ease. He knew what he was doing with that weapon, the speed and precision of his blade too great. If only there wasn't some rather exhausted American screaming out in the background. "Phillip!? Phi- ugh... Phillip!! Where are you!?" Nina's breathless voice cut through that tension with expert precision that rivaled even Reign's swordsmanship.

Phillip just let out this long, drawn out groan almost pained in a way. "Just let me grab her, she's just going to continue to be a nuisance until she gets here..." He said to Reign, knowing full well the Painter'd be able to strike him once he stretched out. With Reign's approval, Phillip would then jettison a tendril out from behind him, rocketing into the darkness out of Mnemonyse's view. "What's th- Oh Phillip there y- Waaaaah!" Nina's voice came from further down the hallway and rapidly approaching interspersed with the sound of splashing paint as Nina waterskied her way towards them.

Soon enough she was with the group, dangling above the ground with her hands held by the tendrils. "S-So that's where you've all gotten to." She breathed as she surveyed her surroundings and Reign in his Weebish glory. He couldn't have made it more obvious unless he put a big flashing neon sign behind him saying 'I'm the Killer', but that wasn't important now. No, Reign had been suspicious because of his sheer absence. The fact he now was found in a location wielding the legendary weapon Kusanagi, in a location utterly locked down, with sparkling blue dust found on the body, right next to the location the Matron was found. The who was answered handedly, but it was the why that still needed answered. "Hey Reign, looks like you're dressed for the occasion." Nina said as she was let down, then looked at the strange being on the ground and the surrounding area. "You can come out now! Reign's definitely got the unparalleled sword skills you needed clearly, but you don't need to try and trick us into thinking he was the mastermind behind all of this!" She called out to the bewilderment of Phillip and potentially anyone else there, holding her muted phone behind her that should still have Black on the line.

In fairness, this could backfire on her, but if her hunch was right this was all she'd need to get Reign to confess. Reign was a very old creation of this world, extremely old. Old enough to not be within the confines of the rule set of Anazorzia, since he had no colours. So that meant he was likely retooled from a previous work, from a younger Miriam, and given his attire and demeanor now, a specific time between the age of 13-14. 8th grader syndrome is a specific window of time where kids think themselves to have super powers, to be a cut above their peers. It was almost criminal just how many points Reign was checking off at this point; the eyes, smile, black trench coat, eastern inspired sword, that smug presence. Not that he'd use that sword against them, not now; no someone of his nature wouldn't want to kill them when the universe was tearing at the seams. Doubly so when someone fully accepted that he was in fact unmatched in skill, what are you trying to prove. He could kill them at any time, the look on Mnemonyse's face stated as much, he wanted attention, to bask in results of his actions. Nina asserting that there was someone else undercut Reign's accomplishments here, he was a second banana in a plan that was a solo job from the beginning! And nothing hurt an edgelord more than getting due credit stolen from them.

 

[BlackHarte]

Spoiler: Nina

[hr]

Table for Two

nina's story

​

[hr]

Reign sheathed the decorated sword silently and smiled. Reign spoke after a brief period of contemplative silence,"The Matron died by this blade, yes."

Nina could see the blue dust flowing out from deep within the fleshy darkness of the car. At first it was as it had been on the Matron's body, immaterial and light. But now it was drifting in like a sandstorm. There was so much of the azure sand that the darkness seemed to flee it's gentle light.

"What's going on!? What is this stuff?" Mnemosyne cried, "Is this Stardust?"

"It is similar," Reign answered politely.

Faea flinched. But it was clear that both Faea, Philip, and Menmosyne could see that azure dust that had once been private to Nina's special eyes.

"But Stardust... doesn't glow like this," Mnemosyne said. She covered her face with her hand, "And there's no fragrance of Shuwa at all."

"Somebody is coming." Faea said sharply, "Get ready."

"You were a very interesting woman, Ms. Zaczoltski. I am very glad to have been so fortunate as to have met you. You have done more than I expected, more than anything anyone could have expected." Reign took several steps back as the blue dust flowed in ever more thickly. Now that dust had filled the room to the point that it was like a cerulean fog.

A woman's voice.

"But you were far too clever for your own good."

An empty room.

"You should have minded your own business."

A suffocating silence.

"People like you are the worst."

I can't remember how long it's been.

"I cannot stand people who meddle in the affairs of others."

Why hasn't father come back?

"I cannot stand people who never give up."

Where have my sisters gone?

"I hate people who pretend to care about others."

Why won't anyone save me?

"Because in truth..."

I don't want to be alone anymore.

"The only people that matter..."

I want it to be light.

"are themselves."

I want there to be color.

Miriam Lockstar was a tall woman with sharp hawk-like eyes. She had dark red hair that ran down to the back of her knees. Her lips were full and painted ruby-red, her eyes shone like liquid gold. She was a head taller than Nina and was wearing a muddled green dress so dark that it was almost black. Scars ran down both of her bare arms. A dark liquid ran down her left hand from a cut right above her forearm. As the droplets traveled down her pale skin and to the tips of her fingers, they turned blue and evaporated into sparkling azure sand.

Like the other Miriams, she had a lapis-lazuli hairband, but she wore hers around her neck - and it was cracked and faded. Missing pieces in some places and worn smooth in others.

"And just who do you think you are!?" Faea suddenly snarled. Her eyes were wide in primal rage. She leaned forward away from the webbing that was supporting her weight and tried to throw something at Miriam.

Reign stepped forward.

Faea fell back, clutching the stump of what used to be her right hand. She howled in pain, screaming in an almost feral manner. Issim, the spider that lived in Faea's hair scuttled around frantically, fangs bared.

Spoiler: I hate you.

The world was basked in green and red. The trees ran so high into the sky that you could not see the earth nor the sky through the maze of branches. Faea was sitting on the side of a large outcropping, carved into a smooth road by the hands of skilled artisans. She was listening to the gentle sounds of her forest home. The chirping of birds, the rustle of other weavers high in the canopy, and the scuttling of creatures deep into the depths of the sea of trees.

She could hear everything through the thin threads of her web. Issim was by her side, scuttling back and forth to form a small web for which he could catch a passing dragonfly.

Then something was wrong. She heard it in her web first, a crackling followed by sudden silence. Then she smelled the acrid bite of smoke. An alarm rippled through the webs high above. Faea leaped up and started climbing. She felt it in the strings, the panicked movement of other weavers, the boom of gunfire, and the song of her mother calling for her and her sisters.

Moving between the webs and carved wood of the ancestor trees was like breathing to her, but soon she reached the canopy and immediately felt her heart sink.

Huge leathery beasts were drifting through the sky upon wings of grey stone. Upon them rode men who held black banners in the sky. From their seat in the sky-beasts, they rained down fire upon the sea of trees. Her world was on fire - and she did not know why. But she dove now, deep into the forest and away from the hungry flames.

And she hid. She hid until the webs no longer hummed with the boom of gunpowder, the crackle of fire, nor the song of the weavers.

Mnemosyne had collapsed to her knees. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She was catatonic, unable to move.

Spoiler: I'm scared.

The room was cold. Ensay moved with careful precision around Violet. Several branches had dug into her wrists using blunt brambles and held her in place below glowing fruits of her father's design. His beady yellow eyes flickered from beneath the mess of leaves and branches that made up a puppet of a body.

The air was cold against her bare skin. A thick branch pressed against her back, forcing her to arc her spine awkwardly. The brambles around her wrists started to cut into her skin. It hurt, and she was so scared.

Ensay uncorked a small bottle and let out some of the clear liquid onto a cloth. He ran it over her naked body. It was cold and smelled of acid. Violet squirmed.

"Papa, please," she whispered. Her voice was choked by fear.

Ensay looked at her and answered in a series of rapid clicks.

Violet shook her head, "Papa, no, please. It hurts. It hurts. I don't want this."

Ensay tilted his head and readied a small knife.

Violet struggled, feeling the brambles cut into her wrists and draw warm blood. She kicked against the roots at her feet. A second pair of spiny branches wrapped around her ankles and pulled her legs forward and apart.

"Papa, why..."

Ensay answered in a vague imitation of human speech, "Why... *click click* not?"

Reign took another step forward.

"Stop." Miriam said. Her voice was firm and steady.

Reign stepped back and bowed. "As you wish mistress."

Nina could understand what had happened to some extent. Her own heart was churning with intense emotions. She felt the weight of the world on top of her shoulders. The home she lost, the places she's seen devastated, the life she left behind. But she also felt the joys of meeting new friends, the fear for their safety when they were separated. She could feel the Faea's phantom fingers dancing underneath her clothes, she remembered the awe she felt when they passed the pod of travelling Eldritch Wonders. And she felt terribly angry at Nemesis and so terribly protective of young little White.

Philip, however, felt something lift from his body. That annoying influence that had bound his powers and spacial presence since he arrived in Anazorzia, simply vanish.

Miriam spoke again, softly but forcefully, "None of you belong in Anazorzia."

 

[Zepherus14]

[hr]

Table for Two

Nina's story

​

[hr]

Spoiler: Nina

"Or'i Gashi?" Phillip suggested as he reached up to grasp some in the steadily increasing sandstorm. "Stardust isn't this consistency."

Nina for her part braced herself against the oncoming storm, the view becoming worse than any whiteout she'd had the displeasure of driving through. It had been distracting before but this was ridiculous. "No kidding someone's coming!!" Nina shouted back to Faea, cursing herself as she hadn't expected there to actually be a second person, she'd been absent for the 'Painter's Servant' comment after all. She'd expected to be having this encounter with Black, but a fragment of the same whole would have to do.

Spoiler: Green's arrival

"But you were far too clever for your own good." 'I really wasn't.'

An empty room.

"You should have minded your own business." 'You shouldn't have poisoned everyone'

A suffocating silence.

"People like you are the worst." 'That coming from you.'

I can't remember how long it's been.

"I cannot stand people who meddle in the affairs of others." 'Couldn't agree more!'

Why hasn't father come back?

"I cannot stand people who never give up." 'You chose the wrong person to piss off.'

Where have my sisters gone?

"I hate people who pretend to care about others." 'I'm not pretending!'

Why won't anyone save me?

"Because in truth..." 'I'm here now!'

I don't want to be alone anymore.

"The only people that matter..." 'You don't have to be!'

I want it to be light.

"are themselves." "That's WRONG!!"

I want there to be color.

There she was, without a doubt the mastermind behind this nightmare, of intentions Nina still didn't fully grasp. There were many reasons why someone could bring themselves to do this, if this really was a prison for Miriam for so long, it made sense she'd break in multiple ways. But to go do these lengths, to endanger an entire world like this, to go against herself in this manner. That's what Nina took issue with.

Nina stood her ground, not letting the size or power difference stopping her from looking at Green as an equal. She knew full well that she and Phillip were the best bet at stopping this, the others may have powers, but they were up against the one that allowed those powers to function in the first place. This wasn't going to be a battle of force but of words. Faea didn't seem to get that memo as she shouted at Miriam. "FAEA NO!" Nina screamed, turning just in time to see Faea fall back with her missing hand. "Damn it!" She cursed, turning back around, taking a step forward and trying as best she could to provide cover with her small frame. "Don't attack her! Just leave this to me and Phillip! And Phillip, grab her arm and keep it raised! Squeeze it tight, and make sure they don't try attacking her again! Issim, bandage her!" Phillip for his part did as he was told, supporting Faea's arm and prodding the two behind Nina and as his restrictions were lifted the first thing he pulled out from his mass was the black cookbook that'd eluded him all this time.

With the swelling emotions welling up in her, it was a wonder she wasn't crushed underneath its tremendous weight. She was exhausted, running around, ridiculed, assaulted, flung through various realities, torn down into nothingness. You'd have to be insane to be in one piece after that, and lucky for Nina these several hours had given her that in spades. No, this culminated in a singular point, a drive so fierce her muscles couldn't argue. The determination to see this through and sheer defiance to not allow the god of this world to push her around.

"None of you belong in Anazorzia."

"Go get em kiddo."

"Neither do you. If this place really is a prison for you, that you'd go to such lengths to split yourself apart into four other pieces of yourself just so you could have someone to talk to, I would be the first to try to help you. But to do this, to erase everyone and everything here, I can't accept this!! Why are you taking this place away from them, from the other Miriams, from me!? If you were lonely, why didn't you just come right up to Phillip or I and just talk?! But instead of doing something reasonable, you decided, fuck it, someone new's just shown up, let's just pull this convenient destroy everything utterly lever. But please, tell me I'm wrong!" Nina argued loudly, finally face to face with the person who'd been behind this nonsense.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

[hr]

The Rising Dawn: Canteen
Mio | Leoric​

[hr]

"Ohhhh, you think me some fool?! I've slain you and everyone on this ship time and time and time and TIME AND TIME AND TIME AND TIME AND TIME AND TIME AND TIME AND TIME AND TIME AGAIN!!!" The Skeleton King barked, slamming his mace into the ground every time he said that damn word.
Leoric shivered with rage and frustration as his minions slowly backed up, while he didn't have true discipline over his men, he did have fear. LOTS of it.
"No, Young Captain. You know not what transpires here. You th-think you can bring order?! None of this matters! Any of it! I kill you! You defeat me! I bring you into my cause! You seal me away! BUT! NOTHING CHANGES! This vessel is cursed with demonic magic you can't even comprehend! YOU HEAR THAT?! I'M ONTO YOU! YOU WILL NOT KEEP ME TRAPPED IN THIS DAMN LOOP! I HAVE BESTED THE PRIME EVILS BEFORE AND YOU WILL NOT BREAK ME NOW!" He begun to shout, pacing around the room as if someone was listening.

His breath(?) shuddered a little before he craned his head back to Mio, scoffing as he added "Ohhhh, you think I'm mad don't you? Y-you always do! But I have proof! PROOF! I-i-i-i remember! I can recall events that have yet to pass. Like the foreign doctor sending her thoughts into your mind! She'll speak of escape and tell you that the arbalest wielder (David) is securing the prisoners. I know! I've seen it before! And she'll do it right about..."
An uneasy silence filled the area as even the Skeletons seemed a bit un-nerved by Leoric's behavior. (One of them did take the chance to raid the breakfast fridge for a milk carton)

"...
...
...W-wait for it....
...
...Now!"

"Attention anyone who can hear me. We're going to try and make our way to the bridge so we can get out of here. Regroup as soon as you can, those skeletons will overwhelm you otherwise. David is going to head to the brig, I'll be in the living quarters. Meet up with one of us as soon as you can."

Right as Leoric predicted, Jenny's words begun to sink into Mio's head matching his description disturbingly accurately.
"SEE!? SEE?! Y-you heard it right?! You believe me, don't you!? Y-you didn't think I was crazy the last time I told you this!" The Crazy King barked in an almost desperate manner, almost hoping up and down as his skull shook like a bobblehead.

Spoiler: Rugal

[hr]

Right to Rule

Rugal's story

​

[hr]

"It's not a cipher, it's just another language. It hails from the remains of the British Empire, one that's yet to come into being in this world. On top of enslaving or "Civilizing" over half the planet, they spread their language. While still a major power even in my time, The British Empire has long since fallen." Rugal explained before the topic turned back to Juila, much to his darker sides delight.

Hey, ask her if she's still up for some "Hows your Father"?
"Very well. Hopefully we might be able to get the jump on them. While I would be able to best them in a fight, the-..."Entity" here is greatly limiting my ability to do so."
Oh god, THAT thing...urg, I mean it's a flat out insult to humanity that is. All we are made to do as a species is Eat, Fuck and fight each other over the first two. It's stupid..."When in Rome" my arse...
Wincing a little, Rugal cleared his throat and added "My-..."Otherside" points out that should we have to confront her and whatever Aurelius servants we may encounter, we won't be able to do so within the city's. If they become hostile, how will we resolve the conflict?"

With that, he begun to walk with Livia though the alleyways to their rivals estate, snatching his jacket back as he did so.
"Watch the pryomancy. This was gift from my daughter..."

 

[BlackHarte]

[hr]

Table for Two

nina's story

​

[hr]

"The one thing that stands out to me about Miriam the most is her endless compassion. She has a unique way of putting herself in someone else's shoes. It really stands out, almost like she's desperate for people to like her."
- Teresa Goldhollow​

Miriam stood silently before Nina and Philip for a time. The azure sand blew around them like a swarm of locusts. There was a gentle sweetness to the air they touched, a lingering taste of the dreams that they gathered. Miriam answered Nina in a soft, almost motherly voice, "Anazorzia is sick. The worlds so haphazardly sewn together are coming apart at their seams and not because of some event that you or I have caused, but because the world has reached it's limit. I killed the Matron because it was necessary.

There are things that my younger selves do not tell you, either because they do not know or because of selfish reasons.

I built Anazorzia with my younger selves to create a world that was a mirror of our home. Unlike the first of my paintings, it would be a world of disparity, of conflict, and through the contrast of colors it would become beautiful in its fleeting nature.

For a time, it worked. Anazorzia was all that I could have asked for. Yet as we continued to weave this place, my younger selves grew greedy. Each of them created new worlds to add to my painting. Their disregard for balance left Anazorzia in flux. Each color radicalized and cannibalized everything around them until there were no grey spaces.

Instead of working together to make something new, my younger selves had cut out pieces of my painting to call their own. For a long time I acquiesced. I spent eons in silence, holding my painting together in the face of their infighting.

Several cycles ago I decided that it was enough. It had come time for Anazorzia to die. We needed to move onto a new painting. A new work. Our world had grown stale, inaccessible, and masturbatory in its routines. The worlds that my younger selves tried to add were worked in with much difficulty, forced into places where there was little room. They conflicted each other in their laws of nature and overwrote the authority of one another.

Yet, when I did so my younger selves stopped quarreling among themselves for the first time since creation and stood against me. They did not believe in the truth that I spoke and instead sealed me away in a tomb of my own creations. They took the weight that I bore and forced it onto one of my oldest children, and bound her with ancient sorcery to the very fabric of Anazorzia.

They believe that even if I could break free of my prison, I would not have the heart to kill my first friend.

They were wrong. Yet, the karmic destiny that my daughter carried made it difficult to kill her. It was difficult to wholly remove her from the painting. For that purpose I required a special tool that did not exist in Anazorzia. So when I broke free of my prison, I kept hidden, pretending to be in bonds so that I could move against the precautions that my younger selves had created.

I weakened Anazorzia's defenses to the outside, enticing as many outworlders as I could with the treasures of our cobbled painting.

And they came. Many at first, but then the number of visitors dwindled. I set upon Ensay a madness to research the outworlders in order to discover the means of their travel. Ensay sired many children with the blood of the outworlders and upon them he researched the nature of their spark.

Of them all only one held that ephemeral nature to traverse worlds. That daughter did suffer greatly for my purposes. And from her body I was able to see and reproduce the same manner of ability in my servant. My servant left this world for the realm of my most abrasive sister and retrieved from her the blade you see before you. And through my servant I killed the first of my children to set the events you have witnessed in motion.

It is of this matter that Anazorzia is no longer a place for any person, it has become corrupted by the hedonistic tendencies of not only my younger selves, but of their haphazard creations. Lust and gluttony run rampant in the world. Humans are bred and consumed as both toys and livestock. Things refuse to die.

The natural order of this painting is in this way disrupted.

To maintain this realm is to enable their rampant perversions, doing a disservice to all that lives within. The beings born of the Anazorzia you see today are imbalanced, created by amateur hands and a representation of adolescent dreams. You of all people should understand the necessity of removing such ugly things from a painting."

Miriam finished speaking and brushed her hair to the side with her right hand. She looked toward Nina, but those pools of liquid gold seemed to peer through her. The azure sand grew still.

"You talk like you're the original goddamn Miriam Lockstar, Green," Black growled. "I was so fucking sure that the killer was the weird human girl that showed up uninvited, but after all this it's you. I thought I left you rotting in subspace outside of Anazorzia."

"It makes sense that it was Green." Blue said quietly. She hid behind her taller, darker self. She was still wearing the white-gold chef's uniform she had donned to work in the kitchen.

"If ya knew, then ya shoulda said something you big-breasted idiot." Red was standing next to Black. Now that they could see Red and Blue side by side, Red was definitely more muscular than her more bookish counterpart, though the two looked nearly identical.

"That's not nice." Blue said meekly.

White was farther behind them, her petite form protected by a teenage girl dressed in black ribbons.

"Honestly, all of you are idiots." Cuelle said frankly. "I can scarcely believe that my world is run by a group of such irresponsible gods."

"Oi, that's fucking rude half-pint."

Miriam snapped her fingers and Reign stepped in front of her, brandishing the golden sword. "I am more whole than all of you combined. I alone remember the painting before Anazorzia, and I alone am willing to burn away this rotting world."

"That's kind of out of character for you though... I always thought of Green as a sort of nurturing color." White said.

"No, Green is the color of nature. It is more hands-off than any of the other colors. Green represents the cycles of life and death as well as the facets of the natural world." Blue answered.

"Do not attribute me to such things as color," Miriam spat, "I am not like you. I am Miriam Lockstar, the Painter of Dreams. I am above such things as color."

"Besides, burning things is sort of my thing, y'know?" Red laughed. "It's too late for Anazorzia anyway, I say we drop the pretenses and just beat the shit out of Green while we still have a universe to exist in."

"Alright, let's do this. Just like last time." Black took off the ring on her middle finger and her headband glimmered to life. A giant slate tablet appeared behind her, inscribed with strange symbols. "One banishment spell coming right up."

Blue flexed her fingers and countless threads suddenly appeared from the shadows. Red stepped forward, creating fire from where she touched the fleshy ground.

White tapped the sides of her headband and began to radiate a gentle light. "I don't remember what I did last time, but... this feels right."

Miriam furrowed her brow in anger. Then she snapped with her left hand. The azure dust suddenly started to blow to the left in a whirlwind, sweeping the four Miriams behind Nina of their feet and slamming them against the wall. Miriam snapped again and the dust reversed, throwing the group into the right wall.

"Sealing magic is so much worse when you don't have the element of surprise, trust me."

The world spun around and suddenly everyone was standing on the ceiling. Miriam threw the group to the ground and flipped the world again. The dust glowed brightly in strands from her bloody left hand. The dust started to rush downward as gravity grew intense, forcing everyone but Nina and Philip against the floor.

"Try to understand, I am not Green. I am Miriam Lockstar," Miriam said slowly, "You are aspects of me, understand? BlackHarte abandoned me in the darkness. BlackHarte destroyed my world. All of your feelings are born from me. I am the artist, you are the creations."

Miriam walked forward, now she had let loose, her strength was beyond overwhelming. But she seemed fixated on the four girls plastered against the ground by her sorcery. "This hurts me so much more than any of you could know. The last thing I want to do is to be alone again. But every story needs to know when to end. Every painting needs to be finished. We must make room for new things to be created."

Miriam passed Nina and...

 

[BlackHarte]

Spoiler: Rugal

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Right to Rule

rugal's story

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The Aurelius estate was relatively lackluster compared to the glamorous constructions that he had seen all over the palatine hill. The building was out near the far end of the city, pass once again the river Tiber. The estate was made of an acre of grassy knoll set around a single story horseshoe shaped building built out of brick and marble. A bronze gate surrounded the property. The rainwater flowed in fast streams along chiseled canals along the sides of the road.

"With any luck we won't need to fight at all." Livia said softly as she tested the bronze gate.

Much to her surprise, the gate was unlocked. "Well... I suppose we should go see if anyone's home."

The path to the house was red cobblestone. The edges were decorated with bushes of small chamomile flowers. The house was dark inside. There wasn't even the smell of burning oil. Livia put her hand on the door and pushed, and it came open.

The scene inside was grisly. Slaves and servants lay strewn across the floor and furniture cold and dead. Their flesh was dry and grey. It did not look like a scene of struggle, they died where they stood. No violence, and no smell of the dead. Livia put a hand over her mouth.

"What in the world..."

Lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the homestead in a bright flash. Thunder rumbled slowly afterwards. The house shrines to the gods had been smashed and burned. The idols lay in charred pieces across the hallway floor far within.

Rugal reached out with his Ki energy and felt... nothing. A terrible and malevolent void that originated deep inside the house. Something deep inside was devouring the energy of everything inside of the house. Something told him that whatever it was, it was related to the entity patrolling Rome.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Spoiler: Rugal

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Right to Rule

rugal's story

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"...I'm not sure if one could call this "Luck"..." Rugal remarked, his expression hardening before the carnage in front of them.
This is bullshit! Ohhh, When *I* want to kill something, that's a "Big No-no". But when someone ELSE wants to do it-
"I-...I can sense something but-...it's more the absence of anything. Like a gaping hole consuming all energy nearby. Stay close, don't wander. I cannot tell if it's still here..." He warned, instinctively moving in front of Livia as they slowly made their way though the building.
He brought up his "Dark Barrier.", a transparent green Ki shield providing protection and a modest light source.
Even if he couldn't fight, he could still defend.
He halted Livia for a moment as he examined one of the bodies.
"I don't think couldn't have been Julia. There would have been traces of her magic I could sense. No...think this is the Entity..." He added as he made a bee-line for the rooms belonging to the higher classes of the family, mindful to keep his guard up and his eyes open for any signs of life (As unlikely as it seemed at this point).

"Watch for any trace of Julia, I can't sense her energy so I can't tell if she's arrived or has been here and already left..."