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

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BlackHarte

the Heart of Darkness
Nov 30, 2014
150
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Lost to Love
inuart's story
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"Out of all of us, Alesha is the most childish. She has strange fantasies and stranger ideas of relationships."​

Alesha clung to Inuart's arm and leaned into his body, "In whatever way we go, providence will deliver us." This world was strange, capricious, and contradictory. It was in the soil, the wind, and even the light of the sun. It all felt alive. Inuart began to move, and in his second step his foot landed on hard brick road.

The town was a bustling hub of people. The aroma of roasting meats dominated the air. The buildings were wood and stone, neat and tidy with white walls and sloped roofs. The wind swept around the couple in the street, whipping up Alesha's brown cloak. She grabbed onto the ornate cloth and pulled it back over herself, as if to cover her modesty.

Funny, Inuart didn't remember that she was wearing a cloak. Nor, in fact, did he remember arriving at this town.

But it was definitely a town, and as he looked around he felt the name dance on his tongue even though he did not hear it from anyone. Kaltrope, Hinterland Crossroad. As he looked around he could read the words on the signs, he could understand the language of this people although he knew that they did not speak his tongue nor write in a script that he was familiar with.

It was as if the Ypris itself had suddenly accepted Inuart, Son of Ipris, as one of it's own.

Alesha leaned into Inuart, moving his arm so that she could fit in near his chest. "I knew such a wonderful person like you wouldn't fail." She smiled, "Oh what a knight in shining armor you are."

The town was quite large and boasted a native population of four thousand and a transient population of eight thousand. Most of the people here were traders on the route between the two warring Empires that encircled the hinterlands. Crior, a theocratic monarchy, held the West while Farren, a democratic republic, held the East. Both nations hated each other, but did not have economies that were self-sufficient.

As a result, independent border cities like Kaltrope became incredibly important, and also incredibly wealthy.

Kaltrope had two large guilds that governed its transient and permanent residents. The first of which was the Adventurer's Guild, which had it's roots in the founding of the town as a base of operations for mercenaries. The second, and larger of the two, was the Merchant's Guild. The two guild halls stood at the opposites edges of the downtown. Massive structures that glared at each other from across the circular concourse that made up the commercial district.

But at any rate, that explained the number of armed mercenaries that seemed to just litter the streets.

Beyond the mass of moving traders, merchants, and peddlers was a fountain where adventurers gathered. They filled their cups and canteens with the cold pure water and chatted about arbitrary things. Their families, their jobs, the girl that they fancied the next town over.


[hr]
Right to Rule
Code:
Rugal's story
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"If you're looking for someone of powerful magical affinity, I would recommend a devotee of Bacchus. It is in his dominion that things such as boundaries and sorcery lie," Livia drank deeply from her cup - but it was not wine. Her cup was served from a separate pitcher than that for all others. "The devotees of Bacchus, who once were called the Menaeds, are mostly women too. Wives and mistresses of powerful men. Otherwise you'd look for sorcerers which live far in the outskirts of old Thrace and Eastern Greece."

"Nonetheless, unless you wish to seek out the mystics in the outlands by yourself, I still suggest making the acquaintance of those in Pompeii. However, if you do not wish to do so and cling to such defenses due to some degree of either impotence or infertility, then I will not force you. My estate is afforded to you as a place to stay for as long as you are in need. I, with or without my esteemed guest, will leave for Pompeii tomorrow morning." She picked up another roll and started to pick at it with small bites.
 

Zepherus14

New member
Jan 24, 2012
10,126
0
0
[hr]
Table for Two
Pow Wow in the Porcelain God Domain
Code:
Nina's story
[hr]
Nina would quickly make her way in through the door, surveying the powder room she'd entered. Much the same as the other halls, it was larger than the dimensions of what the train should be able to allow. Nina would head over to the mirror in the room, looking herself over as the crystalline silk woven into her hear clattering against the countertop. "You do realize if you keep doing this people will start thinking you have a bladder problem or something, right?" He commented as Nina slowly combed her fingers through her braided hair curiously.

"I panicked okay, there was a lot of things that I wanted to say, and not a lot of them were the right thing to say. Can I see my hat please?" She requested, reaching a gloved hand up to him. Tumbling her keepsake in her fingers, she'd let out a relieved sigh. The silk dampened her sense of touch, but she could still tell it hadn't suffered the same fate as the rest of her clothing. "Oh thank god it's safe. I hate to say it, but I nearly would have tackled her if it wasn't for you waving it behind her." She said as she hugged the cap close to her chest. "Like I get it, this is easily the most expensive, beautiful and down right kinky thing I've ever had the privilege of wearing... [sub]but couldn't she've least asked if I wanted to save anything?[/sub]" She asked rhetorically, cupping on of her hand's across her jaw.

"You've heard how this world works, it's more surprising you'd think it would be." Phillip stated as his mass crawled down Nina's front and plopped onto the sink. "I-I know that, trust me I do. This place sounds like oodles of different commissions I've drawn up. Even the one liner she used, I've definitely used before, word for word. Argh! It would have been so much better if she was some handsome dude spider. A nice suit, sauve, maybe a bit taller..." "...Nina?" "Right, sorry. But the question I still don't know is if this is like something I'd make, or something else." She would attempt to unlock her phone, only to realize the silk gloves wouldn't allow the screen to work.

"Could you unlock this for me please?" She asked, handing off the phone to Phillip. While she waited she'd tug at various spots of the outfit, mostly pulling her skin along as she did it. Feeling this she confirmed what she was feeling already, the dress's interior incorperated sticky webbing. Only the flappy part by the thigh seemed to be void of this. "And then she practically glued me in here, somewhat. Like I could probably rip it off with enough force but I'm not getting out of this without destroying it." She stated, attempting to get a finger underneath the choker on her neck and failing quite spectacularily. "And that's a problem?" Phillip said, presenting the phone to her. "Of course it is! This is a piece of art, I'm part of a work of art!" She exclaimed, patting her bust with an open hand. "Argh, she's reading me like a book! She stripped me in front of everyone! Dressed me up in this masterpiece that she knows I won't get out of for a multitude of reasons! And I can't even be mad at her because I'd have done practically the exact same thing!" She groaned, shaking her head and causing a clattering of her hair hitting the counter top again.

"Are you good now?" Phillip said flatly, sounding quite bored with her belly aching. "Ya, I think so... Thanks for listening to me, and as a reward..." Nina smiled slyly as she bent down to lean her elbow on the countertop and twirling her hair around her finger. "Guess who figured out a way to fix that cook boook~" She sung, knowing this would immediately peak Phillip's interest. She couldn't have been more right as Phillip visibly start to shake."When, how!?" "We gotta use that bug juice stuff, the stuff you made that spaghetti out of. It's inky, and we found it basically in the same place right? They gotta be connected somehow, right? We could do it now, no one's here."

Like a light being snuffed out, Phillip slumped to a sad limpness. "We can't, not now." "What do you mean?" "Ever since we got here, all the stuff I've been carrying, it seems to be gone." "Everything?! Phillip what do you mean, nearly all our stuff is in there!" "I know. Something is clearly wrong, its... like when your arm goes numb while you sleep. I can still feel something, but for now I'm empty." "It doesn't hurt though, right?" "Not at all, just... different."

With this said, Nina stood up and crossed her arms. "That's a relief at least, but still, that's just one more thing to add to the weirdness bucket. This whole thing just strange." She said with a sigh before looking at the door. "We should probably get back, what are we even going to tell them." She pondered until Phillip interupted her. "You've already gushed about how you love that dress to Arachne, so take that off the list." Unaware of the mistake she'd made looked back down at the abomination. "I just said I'd go to the bathroom to her. I haven't said anything about the dress?" To which Phillip shook his tentacles. "She has silk strings all over this train, three of which are in this room. There, there and there." He said, nonchalantly pointing to spots Nina had no hope in seeing the fine webbing hidden there. "I thought you knew that..?"

And with that the room was left in silence, only the slow deep breathing of Nina could be heard, one could only assume she was trying to go over just what all she'd spilled in this short span of time. Faea's charms working on Nina, Nina insulting Faea, Phillip and Nina's relationship being quite different than a simple pet and master scheme, some weird cookbook that may or may not be fueled by bug juice, and that Nina letting on she was putting on an act to a degree. "...We'll be right back..." She eventually spoke, fully expecting some sort of comeuppance for her actions but praying she was overblowing this like she normally did.
 

BlackHarte

the Heart of Darkness
Nov 30, 2014
150
0
0
[hr]
Table for Two
Code:
Nina's story
[hr]
"I have my reservations about Miriam. She's too unstable. Most times it seems like she's fighting for control of her own body."

When Nina returned, Faea flashed Nina a knowing smile from behind a fan of her fingers. Her eyes glimmered in the yellow lamplight. The scenery outside grew dark as they left the warm light of drifting stars for the true abyss. The outside was utterly black, an infinite incomprehensible expanse of space.

Then in the distance light sparkled forth from the nothingness. They broke the stillness of the abyss as a dolphin breaks water, leaping out into existence in a flurry of exploding color and lights. They traveled alongside the train, dipping in and out of darkness as if it were the surface of some vast sea. They were creatures of pure creation, flickering light and transient ideas. They were hope, light, life, chaos, and order in the simple form of shooting stars.

"They're so pretty!" Talavie gasped as she sat down in awe. The dancing lights ebbed in and out of time, through space, and combined with one another like living fireworks. Nocturne chimed in agreement, stretching himself to capture more of their wonderful light.

Crown smirked, "If we are the creatures of eldritch horror, they are the creatures of eldritch wonder. Even defying mortal understanding, they give rise to hope instead of despair. It could be said that they are the embodiment of all that is right in the universe."

"Who exactly are you explaining this to, Crown?" Faea asked. She shot Crown a truly terrifying smile.

"Ah, force of habit... I suppose," Crown answered as he turned away, pulling down the brim of his hat to hide Faea's face.

Faea moved close to Nina and grabbed the human girl by her waist. She pulled her close and gently whispered in her ear "You don't have to worry, I'm straight as an arrow. I was talking about," she nibbled on the lobe of Nina's ear, "the sweet nectar pumping through your veins."

Then a massive roar of light filled the train car as a god dipped into reality before them, illuminating the abyss of the empty universe with flowing ribbons of color. It was a twirling mass of color and emotion, like some sort of cosmic ball of string, tethered to all corners of creation at the same time. It twisted and turned, playing a venerable symphony on it's ribbons of light that had been cast out into the abyss. It twisted and twirled, ducking in and out of reality. With each breach of the surface of oblivion, more of it's brilliant star-like core became visible. It and it's kin were like an escort of angels for the train travelling through to the ends of space.

"What is that!?" Talavie gasped, enamored by the scene before them.

"Though, I do wonder what kind of world do you come from, Nina..." Faea voice tickled the inside of Nina's ear and sent a shiver down her spine, "where humans aren't food, homes, or incubators. You must tell me once we are in private." Faea let go of Nina, making sure to draw her sharp nails lightly over the sensitive skin around Nina's neck.

Crown leaned against the booth chairs and lifted his glasses up to get a closer look at the splendor before them. "That is one of the primordial elder beings, and it's flock I suppose. It's natural that you would not know of them. They do not fall under your domain of Death, Darkness, nor mine of Dominion. They on a scale unique to themselves. To witness their coming is a honor the Matron gives to few indeed."

Bells rang throughout the train car, heralded by a small furry creature carrying golden bells in two of its six arms. Behind it came a burly man, an ogre more like, pushing and pulling two carts laden with plates. Soup. A cart filled to the brim with hot viscous, aromatic broth with all sorts of mysterious spices. The mysterious display of the Outer God outside only heightened the ethereal aroma of the soup being served to each patron in the car.

And when the cart got to Nina's table, two small furry creatures carried plates to Nina and Phillips while the ogre dashed each porcelain vessel with a thin covering of the white liquid. A second furry creature rolled over and threw some red seeds onto the surface of it and garnished it with a sprig of some foreign plant before rolling off on it's hands and legs.

"My, this is a little early to be starting the feast. But, I suppose that that Lockstar girl couldn't pass up a chance to try and eclipse a Great Outer God with her cooking."
 

Diablo1099_v1legacy

Doom needs Yoghurt, Badly
Dec 12, 2009
9,732
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0
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Right to Rule
Code:
Rugal's story
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...Did she just suggest I can't-
"I'll ask you to keep the incorrect assumptions of my personal life to yourself. I have little patience for such nonsense. Still, if it will get me in touch with the Menaeds, I will join you in your travels to Pompeii." Rugal finally relented, while he tried not to let it show, the jab at "Infertility" got under his skin a lot more then he would like to admit.
It was then that he turned his attention to one of the Slave servants standing by the table before asking "...Tell me, these Slaves of yours...What are the terms of their contract? I personally find the practice rather distasteful so I do hope for your sake that they are treated fairly and as humans rather then mere property..."
While he knew this could stir up a bit of a hornets nest, he then made a rather bold move as he waved one of the Servants over and asked "Tell me servant, how does Livia treat you? Don't wait for her to tell you her answer, I would like to hear your own. Nor would I fear of a reprisal or punishment for such an action. I for one, wouldn't allow it nor do I feel our host would want to be impolite to her guest..."

He took another sip of his wine as he waited for his answer, keeping a close eye on the noblewoman while silently hoping she would give him an excuse.
He had long lived as she had, off the pain and misery of others in pure unadulterated self-gratification, and he was keen to make other's learn from his mistakes.
He then began to channel his own energies for a moment, hoping to sense any other Ki or Magic-based auras on the estate.
Last thing he'd want would be to catch unaware...
 

BlackHarte

the Heart of Darkness
Nov 30, 2014
150
0
0
[hr]
Right to Rule
Code:
Rugal's story
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"Tell me, these slaves of yours, what are the terms of their contract? I personally find the practice rather distasteful so I do hope, for your sake, that they are treated fairly and as humans rather than as mere property."

Livia seemed lost. She tilted her head, "Contract? You find what distasteful? The food? The wine?"

"Tell me, servant, how does Livia treat you? Don't wait for her to tell you her answer, I would like to hear your own. I would not fear a reprisal or punishment for such an action. I for one, wouldn't allow it nor do I feel our host would want to be impolite to her guest."

There was silence. There was a stirring. Rugal could feel antagonistic energy whipping up in the room, but it wasn't what he was expecting. Livia's corner was silent, like the eye of a hurricane. All others however, they held such a profound shock and hatred in the pit of their hearts that it left Rugal baffled. Surely he hadn't offended the servants somehow?

(There is a time and a place for everything, Rugal Bernstein.)

The blonde girl slapped Rugal across the face. Her eyes were twisted in a mix of anger and disbelief. "You dare!?" she bellowed. Her long hair settled over her shoulders like the mane of a lion. "You dare insult the Master like that at her own dinner!? I am ashamed to share the color of my skin and hair with you, you, you uncultured swi-"

"Einwen! That's enough!" Livia barked. She had her hands locked together to hide her mouth. Her glare could kill. "I appreciate your passion, but never assault a guest no matter how outrageous his manners may be."

"Master! Master! I... I don't. I can't! It's not right! I know that your gods say that-" Einwen pleaded, putting down the pitcher of wine she was carrying and dropping to her knees.

"They are your gods now too Einwen. Do not forget, to serve me is to become part of my family, and a family does not disobey. When I strike, you strike. At all other times you are to obey." Livia's last word echoed throughout the kitchen. The other slaves looked on in a mix of fury and fear. The aura of the room was as chaotic as it was united.

"A thousand pardons, Master Lucretius," Einwen prostrated herself.

"Make sure it does not happen again, that is the same for the rest of you." She turned toward Rugal, "And you, my esteemed guest, should know that even if you were some officer or official in your old home, you are far from that realm. Remember that you are a guest and while I have a duty to respect and care for you, you must refrain from intentionally stepping on the toes of your host"

She cleared her throat, "I do not know how it is in your realm, but here in Rome, slaves are a part of our household. A master and servant are bonded inseparably when they are joined. In public, their actions are my actions, and my triumphs are their triumphs. Any one of these girls would die for me at a moment's notice, they would cut themselves apart and strangle themselves with their own innards if I commanded it.

"This is my home, my genus, and these are my people. We do whatever we must against the other genus to secure our right to exist. If you wish to push your foreign worldview on us, then feel free to do so from the outside of my property and away from my people."
 

bluerocker

Queen of Cockblocking and Misery
Sep 22, 2011
2,638
0
0
Origin Planes
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Ton Ton was about to run off the moment Hillary mentioned seeing silver, but was frozen when Diana approached and gave a very angry tongue lashing to the little gathering. Ton Ton inwardly winced when he heard all the swear words, remembering another time when such language was considered taboo amongst his stuffed animal kind. Now that he was the personal minder of another child, albeit one that was more capable than most, Ton Ton found himself speaking before he could stop himself, [color=15650D]"You know there's kids around here right? That's not very nice language."[/color]

At the top of the tree, Cadolbolg stirred from his slumber at a bunch of noise, lifting his head from the branch with a yawn. Stretching himself out like a cat, he spread his wings and lazily hovered down towards the grouping of David, Hillary, Ton Ton and Diana. Once he reached about head level with all the tall people, he gave a wave and yawned loudly, "I dunno how, but I was in a tree. I thought we were on the Dawn?"

In the midst of all the goings on, a Cleric and her lupine companion were waking up whomever wasn't already awake at this point, and found that a group of Dawn members were already up and about! She also heard a bit of loud voices, and wandered over, Garm in tow.
As she approached, she began to ask, [color=0E59E4]"Hey, I heard some yelling, is everyone okaaaa,"[/color] trailing off the moment she saw Diana, her expression livid as she stared down Hillary, David, Ton Ton and Cadolbolg; and heard something about a ruined outfit. As far as the young cleric was concerned, everyone's clothes seemed just fine, if a little unsuited for the great outdoors. Then again, considering the last thing she could remember was the party before they all woke up at the Origin Planes, then that was probably where everyone was prior to this strange turn of events. She gave a weak little wave, unconsciously moving a little closer to Garm as she asked, [color=0E59E4]"Um... I've just been going around and waking people up. Is anyone hurt?"[/color]

A little further away from the rest of the awakening Dawn members, Lucifer- no, Luke walked over to Teresa and tilted his head at her curled up form. Crossing his arms, the devil in disguise joked, [color=eca222]"You know, I've been around the block a few times, but this certainly isn't a conversation technique I've ever heard of..."[/color] As he looked over her prone form, his shoulders slumped and his joking tone switched to one that a little more sympathetic, especially considering all the goings on with Venia and The Boss, [color=eca222]"You alright, Teresa? We have a giant airship over there - if you need to lay down, I think a bed will do you a lot more good than all this grass."[/color]
 

Zepherus14

New member
Jan 24, 2012
10,126
0
0
[hr]
Table for Two
Spider no biting, Spider no biting, Spider noooooo biting!
Code:
Nina's story
[hr]

She should have known that Faea would have kept her new found information to herself, it's classic spider lady business at its finest. Manipulative little curmudgens that only put on a warm face long enough so they can get you alone and gobble you up. That little smile alone was telling enough that Faea hadn't mentioned to anyone else what she'd heard, probably thinking she could use it to hold it against Nina in some way. It was something she'd seen numerous of times before, and that connection to the familiar helped to ground her. If this was a wonderland of lewdness, maybe she wasn't as far out of her element as she thought she was? Faea fell somewhere on that spectrum of eldritch horror, she just needed to figure out exactly where she was.

'I couldn't have been in the bathroom that long, when did it become nighttime?' She thought only to bare witness to the light breaking the abyss. Nina was oblivious to whether these wonders had similar mind shattering capabilites as their horror cousins, but their beauty was certainly not wasted. Reaching instinctually for her phone in her nonexistent pockets, she realized Phillip still held it within his tendrils. Without breaking her gaze from the dancing flood of light, she whispered. "Phillip, do you mind snapping some pictures of this for me?" She asked to which Phillip merely shrugged but complied. The pictures with him never came out quite right, so these would be no different, but why argue in the moment. "They truly are beautiful~" Nina commented as Crown explained the phenomena in front of them.

Her euphoria was short lived however as Faea made her move, pulling her in close and breathing into her ear. It certainly didn't take long for Faea to show her true colours, definitely sorting into the 'something else' category she was hoping it wouldn't come to. The nibbling was a tad much, Nina's hand clenching as if ready to box the spider's ears in, but held off. She wouldn't do anything specifically dangerous, not with everyone around, not while she was still technically Phillip's companion. "Close your eyes." Phillip warned as he brought several tentacles in front of Nina's face as a blast of light radiated into the train car. "What is that!?" She said with Talavie, squinting at the god's presence within the abyss.

And with the entire cabin distracted once more, the spider found it in her interest to toy with Nina again. As she pulled her finger nail over Nina's underjaw, she find herself stopped as Phillip intervened. The clamy touch of his tentacle stopped her finger there, and slowly lifted it like a record needle from its record. "I would recommend against that. Insufferable as you may be with Nina, I wouldn't want you repeating the last spider's meal." Phillip spoke softly but firm in a way sounding like a statement than a threat. There was no ill will towards her, he seemed to genuinely offer this advice from experience for her own sake. "And while Phillip has your attention, I'd be happy to tell you stories." Nina turned her gaze to meet Faea's "Heck I might even skip over the boring bits like tax returns or trips to the laundry mat for some nice heels out of the stuff in my hair. But I must thank you, all that just now-" She said as she waggled her finger all over the Weaver's direction. "Really helped me get over that initial honeymoon phase of our relationship real quick. Nothing personal, kinky little nutbar I might be, but I'm not, nor ever will be, food." She would then take her leave, Phillip brushing away the spider's hand as Nina sat back down with Crown, Talavie and Nocturne.

"Sorry about leaving there, that elder being sure is bright huh? Wish I'd brought some sunglasses." Nina half joked, bringing her hand up to help cut off some of the light. Try as she might, she couldn't get a good look at marvel outside the window, only catching the brief glimpses of its followers indirectly from the far sides of the train. Her head perked up with the bell ring and the parade of fuzzy folk and orcish fellows served out the initial dish. Perhaps Nina's palette was rather unrefined, but the sparce sprinkling of broth, beans and loose veg didn't seem to peak her interest overtly. Sure it was fancy and smelled great but this was barely enough to be considered a light snack? "Well I guess we should see how she did I suppose?" Nina replied to Crown's proclaimation, and gingerly took a spoonful to her mouth.

It was good sure, but with Talavie's description of 'food one could die for', this was severly lacking. Heck Phillip's french onion soup the day before was easily riding the coat tails of this, and it was made from instant noodles and random bits from some bachelor's unstocked apartment! "It's good." She said, trying to mask her disappointment, only for Phillip to pipe up himself. "In fairness, you're only tasting about a half of the flavour in that bowl and it's primarily meant to wet your appetite rather than to bring satisfaction to your belly. It is lacking, especially compared to Crown's claim just now." Phillip stated, dipping a tentacle into the bowl as the contents seemed to be absorbed into it.

"So, if you don't mind me asking Crown, what is it that you eldritch beings do on... on um..." "Anazorzia.""Right, Anazorzia. From what I've gather it's... a bit different than what we have going on Earth." Nina asked, hoping that she might drum up some conversation after the meager helping of an appetizer.
 

Zepherus14

New member
Jan 24, 2012
10,126
0
0
Origin Planes
[hr]

"Alright, which one of you little bitches is responsible for this shit? And who the fuck is responsible for ruining my outfit?" Hillary was remarkably confused by this woman's angry outburst. The newly reformed dress looked perfectly fine, why was she so upset. Although she was too weak and flimsy to lift up Ton Ton currently, she would pivot on her pseudopod to position Ton Ton behind her torso portion, keeping an arm to his back to make sure he didn't fall off. "I don't know what happened exactly, one moment Hillary was in the ship, and then she woke up here. Mr Um... David! Mr David has said we need to make sure everyone's alright and not hurt because something super bad has happened! So could you please not be so angry and vulgar, Angelus is a very nice mother of these two little ones and Ton Ton is right. You shouldn't say such mean things!"

Hearing Teri call out to them, Hillary would pivot once more and let out a breathy gasp due to the loose grass blades that made up her form. "TERI! You are awake as well! And Garm too! Hillary was not harmed, and it appears Ton Ton wasn't either!" She smiled a healthy green with a friendly wave which slowly dusted portions of her arm off her.
 

BlackHarte

the Heart of Darkness
Nov 30, 2014
150
0
0
[hr]
Table for Two
Code:
Nina's story
[hr]

Faea slipped away into the train cars as the servers arrived, the tinkling of her shoes and webs hidden by the rhythmic din of goblin bells and squeaking trolleys. Faea had earned her nickname as "the Spider" in a way that was oddly ironic, given her web-spinning and weaving tendencies. She was cute, but she still had an insidious bite. It was a reminder that despite the carefree and silly nature of many of these people, they were still man-eating monsters.

Nevertheless as the soup continued to be consumed, there was little to no fanfare among the crowd in this particular crowed. The ribbons of light streaming out from the elder gold twirled inside the car, sending rays of soft red, blue, and green light dancing across wood and cloth.

Crown considered Nina's question carefully as he spooned the broth into his mouth, "That's a difficult question, miss meatsack," Crown said. He adjusted his sunglasses and peered down toward Nina, leaning over her head. She couldn't be sure just where Crown was looking as he spoke... but she knew it wasn't her eyes. "We do whatever it is we please, mostly. Though, that sort of language makes it sound a little too carefree. No. We are not without rules."

He cleared his throat and pushed the plate away.

"If you need to go work honey, go. It's been more than a pleasure having you by my side, even if just for a little bit," Talavie said as she ran her finger lightly on Nocturne's forehead, "Go see if Cuelle and her friends are doing alright while your doing patrol, kay?"

Nocturne chimed and slithered away, dodging the streams of light as he did. Talavie brought the broth to her mouth and squealed, "This is anthroposcia! I didn't know you could get it so light!"

"We are bound to 'families,' different from the way that you humans understand the term, which help define our domain. Each family has a head, which has power over all others in their family, and their influence trickles down as you go down the ranks." Crown pointed at two gentlemen sitting in the booth on the opposite side of the train car. "Take them for example. The one on the left is Groa, the White and the one of the right is Logan, the Black. They both used to be humans, before they were adopted into Wonder's family. And from his dominion they gained influence over White and Black magics respectively. Groa has two daughters; Aesa, the Faithful and Tabula, the Undying. And Tabula has a son and a daughter, Lowry, the Chemist and Lea, the Scalpel. As a family goes down, each entity's dominion becomes more narrow and refined. What they lack in the raw power of their parents they make up with creativity and skill. As you can imagine, Tabula has dominion over medicine, and her children specialize in drugs and surgery respectively."

"The further down you get on the totem pole, the closer to human you are. One of us eldritch, the term we use is dwamme, which approximates to 'traveler', are unique. In that sense there are no other in out species of which for us to reproduce with. Fortunately most of us are compatible with humans... to some extent. So to have offspring, we use humans. Mostly their women, for reproduction." Crown put his gloved hands on the table and folded up his napkin, "This continues, and so as we go down in generations from an Elder Being, we become more and more human-like, until we reach the levels of which we are more mundane that eldritch - like goblins and ogres. That said, we do whatever it is we want, as long as we obey our progenitor."

Crown put his napkin away as he looked on toward the Elder Being still following the train across the vast expanse of space, "But even to high-ranking individuals like us, that one is something of an enigma. One of the nameless Great Elders that existed since before the existence of even Anazorzia itself. It's essence is so pure that it's children are consumed and become the same celestial creature as it's progenitor. A true marvel."

A second dish was being sent up the car. It was fragrant, thick, succulent red meat. Seared on the outside to a crisp fatty crunch and bloody raw on the inside. It was served with a sweet blackberry sauce and garnished with a mix of crushed coriander, cumin, and allspice.

The ogre cut through the meat, bone and all, in one lazy cleave of it's knife. The goblin server carried it to each of the soup plates still on the table. As soon as the meat touched the left-over soup in the plate, the meat expanded, dripping thick sweet smelling juice from between it's tender fibers. The combined aroma changed the feel of the dish completely, setting a scent in the air that was like earl grey tea spiked with pomegranate juice. The savor was almost palpable, a rich and complex umami welled in Nina's mouth even before she could pick up a knife and fork.

Talavie looked head-over-heels. Her eyes sparkled and she could barely hold her composure. "This is... meat from a kabande... how is this even possible?"

Crown laughed and shrugged, feeling more than happy to explain to Nina, "A kabande is an immortal that travels from world to world, consuming the energy of each planet's core. It's said to be completely immortal, if a piece of it is cut off, it will travel under it's own power to rejoin it's main body. It can evolve endlessly to it's environment, and is even capable of mimicking sapient life to return to it's home. So to see it... cooked and served is a bit of a strange occasion. What's more is that it's reacting with the soul residue that was in the broth from earlier. It's almost like the two ingredients are waging war at some microscopic level while we consume them." Crown laughed. "Well, dig in."
 

NotYetForsaken

Power in Procedure
Sep 27, 2010
1,073
0
0
Code:
[[Side Story]]
[hr]
Overshadowed Sibling
Code:
teresa's story
[hr]

Code:
"Teresa has always been a crybaby.
Most of the time I can't stomach the idea of having to call her my sister"
Miriam Lockstar​

"How can you be so calm?" Teresa said, her breaths a ghastly rhythm. She looked up at Lucifer from the side of her eyes, holding the cover of her mantle close to herself. The red of her wounds were bleeding out from their usual neat borders. She seemed far more agitated than normal. "Her influence is everywhere... I can't stand it. Now I think I'd rather be with Venia than here."

Teresa's eyes darted frantically back and forth. Her skin was a deathly pallor.

Then she seemed to calm down. Her eyes unfocused and the blood ran in jaunty droplets out of her blood tattoos. "Some place to rest would be nice. Yes. Away from the sun, please."


System Message said:
The following entities have encountered a fatal error and have been restored.
Code:
/characters/Diablo1099/Doom.char
/characters/Diablo1099/Cortex.char
/characters/Diablo1099/Wesker.char
Code:
/spawn (Doom.char, Cortex.char, Wesker.char) 0 0
Spawning Entities: at coordinates (X,Y), (0,0).
User note: Entities have now died (7) times. Please be more careful.
In a flash of light, Wesker, Cortex, and Doom appeared in the origin plains. It was somewhat delayed, but it seemed like they were fine. The last thing that they remembered was the flash of light enveloping the world.

System Message said:
Foreign Entity detected. Attempting to parse...
...
Entity identified as
Code:
master level character file
...
Attempting to access
Code:
Teresa.char
Access has been denied. File requires higher permissions.
...
Code:
/delete Teresa.char
Access has been denied. Entity is
Code:
moderator
.

...
...
...
Code:
asweogjaberoibasdfbaseoubaej
"asweogjaberoibasdfbaseoubaej" is not a recognized command.

Code:
/help moderator
A moderator is a high level character entity. A moderator may only be added or removed by the system administrator. For more information, please contact your system administrator.
...
...
Code:
/msg BlackHarte Hey, your little sister is here. What should I do with her?
BlackHarte said:
Busy fixing the the campaign trigger right now. If you don't have permissions to handle it, then leave it alone and I'll take a look after I finish fixing all the things that broke from that emergency reset.
Code:
/r Yeah, okay. She doesn't look like she's too thrilled to be here. She'll probably leave by herself?
BlackHarte said:
She's pretty much a shut in. I don't imagine that she'll cause too much trouble.
Teresa snapped back into lucidity and sat up. The blood ran back up into her open wounds and she slowly got to her feet, knees shaking as she did. "Okay, just... I need somewhere dark to sit, away from the sun. I'm a little... sensitive to the outdoors." Teresa leaned into Luke as she struggled to move. All the strength had left her legs for some reason.

The light still weighed on her shoulders, but now there was something else. There was a primal fear in her stomach. She felt almost like she was petrified with fear. It was that same overpowering feeling she had felt in the presence of the Golden Monster. She shook her head slowly, it felt like her brain was rattling around in her skull, so she stopped abruptly.
 

Texas Joker 52

All hail the Pun Meister!
Jun 25, 2011
1,285
0
0
The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Child in Chains | Some Freaky-Ass Jungle on Suwa
"Give that chest a rest!"
B.C.
[hr]

B.C.'s pink eyes immediately narrowed to neon-colored slits at Syl's flinch. This chick knew Balance. She supposed it shouldn't be surprising, since this felt exactly like how she was pulled from one place to another without any kind of input from her. At least this time she wasn't unarmed. As the two crawled away from the Mahnamahna as they stomped, chomped, and blasted away the soldiers behind them, the Convict listened as this big-tittied 'native' girl started to bullshit her about the planet. It didn't take long for her to drop it entirely.

"This is Suwa, an ultra-Earth in the Talmus cluster. It's the homeworld to the Dahmahwa, of which that thing is but a soldier drone. They're an intergalactic space-faring biological race that have terrorized this part of the Galaxy for the last several hundred years. Those guys are pirates here to capture and sell the native humans as sex slaves. Idiots if you ask me, they're so much more useful for navigating the underworld here. They're the only thing that the Dahmahwa don't attack on sight, for god knows whatever reason."

B.C. paused to glance back at the hulking Mahnamahna. That thing was just a soldier drone? And given how they were intergalactic terrorists or something, and had been for a few centuries, she was forcibly reminded of the good-old Intergalactic Confederacy of Thoom. Oh how she hated them and anyone that reminded her of them. She scarcely felt sympathy for the pirates, however. Sex slavery was so... Tacky. She was about to voice those thoughts and more when she was once again smothered by large, pillowy breasts.

Despite the heavy, thudding footsteps that passed over them, she made a few mammary-muffled protests before Syl pushed herself back off, leaving a gasping Anarchist laying back in the grass, red-faced and more than a little annoyed.

"Now who are you, and how in the name of high heavens do you know Balance."

She rolled her hot-pink eyes and irritably said, "I'm Bethany Carson, if you must know, and I know Balance because she's a huge, crystal ***** that ruined my fucking day! She just snatched me up in the middle of shopping, had me beat this brat's ass, then up and shattered because of some... Thing. I don't know what it was, but there you go."

Turning over and propping herself up with both hands so that she could glare at Syl properly, she added through clenched teeth, "Now will you quit it with the tits?! Do I look like some perverted shut-in, or a dirty old man? I don't think being smothered by your naughty pillows to be a good way to die, thank you! The fuck is your deal?!"
 

BlackHarte

the Heart of Darkness
Nov 30, 2014
150
0
0
[hr]
Child in Chains
Code:
bonnie's story
[hr]

Syl covered her chest with her hands, "Excuse me!" She shook her head, blonde hair floating back and forth in the air like it didn't subscribe to either the humidity or the gravity of the world. "You should count yourself lucky that I have such generous curves. Otherwise the Dahmahwa might have eaten both of us."

The cascading bellow of the two titanic creatures a little ways away brought the, back to the matter at hand. "Not that my breasts are the issue here!" Syl started down the jungle, her chains following her like a trail of wind chimes. "But to hear that Balance was in her crystal form... and shattered at that," Syl sighed, "though I doubt that she is dead. If that were truly the case then I would have already heard about it."

Two birds landed near them and chirped. They were colorful, feathers a sunset orange that faded into gentle lavender. Theh hopped around on some low hanging branches and watched the two women curiously. Syl pushed deeper still into the jungle, hugging large boulders and deep brush when she could find it.

"If you were Balance's champion... or something like that... then she must have been in quite a pinch. You're absolutely nothing like any of her other champions," Syl said dryly. She swung her chain over a thick branch and tugged hard, breaking the bough off. She caught the lengthy piece of wood and struck it into the earth she was standing on. Then she wrapped her chain around the branch-turned-stake and began to rub it furiously, stripping the bark off of the wooden rod. Soon a thick milky syrup started to bead from the branch. She tore it out from the ground and handed the sheared rod to B.C.

"Strip and lather yourself with this. You don't look like a Shuwan girl, but you definitely don't smell like one. And the latter is more likely to draw attention to us." Syl took a bit of the sap herself and smeared it over her chain, her cloth top, her chest, and her shoulders. "Plus, it also protects you from the suns once we break out from the canopy. The atmosphere here doesn't have ozone so the radiation is quite something fierce."
 

Diablo1099_v1legacy

Doom needs Yoghurt, Badly
Dec 12, 2009
9,732
0
0
[hr]
Right to Rule
Code:
Rugal's story
[hr]

...Who said that?...How are you-

Despite Rugal' best intentions, it became clear that it was a massive mistake to make the comments he just made.
Remaining stoic, even as he was slapped, he then finished his glass before explaining himself: "...The world I hail from still has Slaves. But there is no illusions of honor or grace. More often then not it is merely an extension of the twisted desires of even more twisted individuals. An excuse by the powerful to bring out the worst of humanity and to inflict it on the powerless. I know this because I witnessed it first hand. So much so I have little patience for such practices in any form. If this view offends you then I shall take up your offer..."

Standing up and adjusting his outfit, he bowed slightly before adding "I shall await outside your estate until you depart for Pompeii. And if you feel so threatened by my words, then I shall not speak them again. I bid you all good night and I shall rejoin you in the morning."
He then began to take his leave, his mind marred by his own experiences with such "Twisted Desires" from his past.
Transactions with human traffickers, meetings held at slave auctions, even his own estate had a captive workforce too!
The parallels were a bit too close for comfort, to the point where he could honestly see himself sleeping better out in the elements then among such company.
Still, despite what had happened, it wasn't an entire loss: A figure reached out to speak to him to protest his actions, possibly the same one that sent him here in the first place.


Making his way outside, he then started attempting to contact the being that spoke to him.
...Who are you? Why did you speak to me? What spurred you to speak to me? How are you able to speak to me like this? He began to ask, hoping this voice would react to his questioning.
...Are you the reason I am now in the middle of Rome? If so, spare yourself some pain and say so now...
 

BlackHarte

the Heart of Darkness
Nov 30, 2014
150
0
0
[hr]
Right to Rule
Code:
Rugal's story
[hr]

"You are an interesting human, Rugal Bernstein. But unfortunately, I am no god. I'm just telepathic," Kyuubey said as he appeared from behind a column. He was a white cat-like creature, with soft white fur that was so delicate that it did not disturb the dust resting on the dirt road in front of the Lucretius' estate. He waved his tail back and forth, the tip curving to mimic the shape of the crescent move above.

He hopped onto the stone wall that ran alongside the road. The air was cool and the soft chirping of crickets filled the summer air. "I am curious as well. Who sent you here? Where are you from? When are you from?" He sat down. His eyes glimmered in the moonlight. They were deep scarlet, so intensely red that it was almost like they were glowing.

"Allow me to tell you these things, Rugal Bernstein, to satisfy my own curiosities. I did not bring you here. I do not know what brought you here. But you are so strange. Your karmic destiny is so incredibly weak. If I had to make an educated guess, it's like someone tried to erase you from existence." He cocked his head, holding a perfect and unchanging cat's smile.

Kyuubey paced higher on the wall until he was between Rugal and moon. The crescent drooped over in the sky, beautiful alabaster enveloped Kyuubey. He sat down, tail waving back in forth. "Travelling back in time is impossible. Entropy does not function in such a way. The most that can happen is another entropy stack is created in a similar configuration as a past you remember. So who put you here, I wonder."
 

Silence

Living undeath to the fullest
Legacy
Sep 21, 2014
4,326
14
3
Country
Germany
[hr]


The Origin Planes

Original thoughts?

[hr]

Being scolded by a little kid did not dampen Diana's black mood, but it made her rethink her own manners. "I'm sorry." She said, sarcastically. "I also thought we were on the Dawn. Seemingly not? Even though it is right here.
Something must have gone terribly wrong!"


She looked at the grassy Hillary. "And you, whatever you are ... you at least don't really seem responsible for this either. Hey ..." she smiled a friendly fake smile at Ton Ton, Cadolbolg and Hillary. "You want to help me find out who did this? And how? It had to have been someone on the Dawn, right? I mean, we could also try to help other people here, but, no offense, a ruined dress seems to be the most terrible thing that happened here. So ..." She shrugged.

"I can turn into anything you want, so if you see something and find it suspicious, come to me and I check it out, in the form most fitting to spy on people. We can possibly have a lot of fun with that."

[hr]

Reason to Rise

Code:
[i]anjali's story[/i]

[hr]

Anjali would have blushed if there had been any drop of blood left in her. "Of course." she said, and covered herself with the blanket. "I mean, I hope my ... eyes won't raise any suspicion either. I felt scared of myself as I first looked into a mirror again ..."

She looked on the raft to see if there was anything she could carry as well, and if there was, she would pick it up like Vil. "This questions might sound simple." she answered Vil, "But they are very difficult for me to answer. I do not know what I am. Well, I know I am neither dead nor alive, but ... I do not know what kind of creature I am. Just that I was a human in the past, possibly ages ago, and then woke up, in a swamp not unlike the one you found me in. I felt something guide me ... like feelings that were not my own, but I knew they were important. Then, I went through a portal ... maybe one also brought me here?"

She looked to Vil with a questioning look, if such a thing was even possible. "I met some people on a flying ship called the Rising Dawn, and I was about to take part in their missions, but then ... before I even did anything, there was this ball. And before I even knew what was going on, someone was shot? At least I think so. Then, I woke up where you found me. Right after. Not even these feelings can guide me right now."

She was not able to carry much, but she felt no strain in her muscles as she did so. She knew she could go on carrying for ages, not stopping once. "That is where I am from, at least as much as I know. And I would like to ... like to return to the Rising Dawn." She smiled at him, trying not to be intimidating. "But, that is also the only thing I know. Maybe there is a portal somewhere, that can bring me back? And if it is not too much to ask for your help. And like I said before, if you need my help with anything, I would like to prove myself useful to you. I don?t know how, yet, either, but there has to be something here that I can help you fix?"

Anjali hesitated for a moment, then added: "I don't know why I was thinking there is something to fix, here. I am probably wrong."
 

bluerocker

Queen of Cockblocking and Misery
Sep 22, 2011
2,638
0
0
[hr]
Lost to Love
Inuart's Story​
[hr]


"I knew such a wonderful person like you wouldn't fail. Oh what a knight in shining armor you are."

"But I did not do anything."

Inuart held his tongue as the offending words threatened to claw out of his throat, confusion and uncertainty clouding his thoughts. How was it he had become so intimately familiar with this place? He looked around at the strange city he and Alesha found himself in, somehow able to take in the signs and the language as if it were his mother tongue. His head throbbed at the disconnect between memory and the 'false ones' given to him but whatever strange power brought him to this city. His eyes flickered to Alesha, who had made herself cozy against his body, and considered what he had seen and felt before - this sudden knowledge of this town, it's general layout as well as the political tensions it sat between... it was most likely her doing. He would have to continue to play along as bodyguard to her temple, his mind racing to considering the next course of action. There were *many* things he could do, but it was a matter of what would get something done quickest. He decided then, he would 'consult' his usual frame of reference when he found himself at a loss - his friends.

He allowed his mind to wander, thinking to himself, "Let's see...What would my friends do if they were my shoes? Doom and Neo would just *science* at it, Bruiser would strong arm it, Bison would use his powers to mentally control everyone in the nearby radius...which leaves Albert. What would Albert do?"

Albert was always the most sound and logical of their group; traits Inuart always respected [sub](and perhaps envied a little, if only due to his own lack therof)[/sub]. If Albert were in his place, he would extract as much information as possible from his clingy associate, consider every possible angle, eliminate the impractical courses of action, and then make a decision without hesitation. Though, Inuart couldn't help but wonder if Albert would have been a bit more brusque about the lady's clingy behavior; but for now he'd endure it. Barring her strangeness, there was a lot to mull over.

He was a stranger in this land of Ypris, which somehow bore his father's name and did not. He thought it strange, how they sounded the same, but the meanings were different. If what he could see from the amenities about him, he could gather that the citizens probably used coin for money, as was commonplace in his old world. Regrettably, his wealth in his new homeland was in numbers hidden in a bank, in 'cash', in 'card'. Convenient, but distinctly intangible compared to the systems he grew up with. Without money, establishing a home base was going to be difficult en route to the priestess' location...what was it called again?

He wracked his brains for it, and then recalled a name - 'Crosis', which she was going to from 'Tear' after performing some harvest rituals. Alesha called herself the Daughter of Ypris, which would seem to indicate a title or ranking. If she was part of some hierarchy, then perhaps there was a temple he could exploit as a halfway house between destinations, and gather more information about this world's capacity for magic. Alesha certainly seemed powerful, but Inuart was uncertain about whether or not this was exclusive to her priesthood (if she was in fact a part of one), or powers she herself contained. The last thing he needed to get back to his world was to carry some hanger-on with him; so he'd have to think over a plan of ditching her as well...but first things first, some questions, as well as getting her off his person - or at least at a slightly more manageable distance. Why was she sticking so uncomfortably close to him? Did she have no sense of propriety?

Scooting away from Alesha's little embrace, he pointedly moved her hand to his arm instead; enough to keep her close, but not uncomfortably so. He took a look around Kaltrope, still reeling from the depth of information that had wormed its way into his skull, before looking back at his companion. He did his best to keep his voice level and nonthreatening, despite his mounting frustrations and confusion about the situation, "I have a few more questions for you. You told me earlier you were going to a place named Crosis. Tell me about it, and the priesthood you belong to. At least, based of what you've told me thus far, you were performing some harvest rites, and I'm presuming you calling yourself 'the Daughter of Ypris' is a hierarchical title of some kind. Does it or Crosis have a reputation? Is discussing Crosis or the priests a taboo? If I'm going to ask for directions, I'd rather not have someone attempt to cut my throat because I've caused some sort of offense."
 

BlackHarte

the Heart of Darkness
Nov 30, 2014
150
0
0
[hr]
Reason to Rise
Code:
[i]anjali's story[/i]
[hr]

Vil laughed. It was a loud, hollow, mechanical laugh that echoed from inside of the white armor that the creature wore. The laugh was not unkind for though it was sick and raspy, as if worn from use, it was full of a warm mirth like that of a grandfather. It conjured the image of fire in the soul, a likeness of family and friends as flame flickered in a hearth. "Such a commitment!" Vil said, "There are so many things that need fixing that you would still be here after a million of even my long lifetimes."

Vil put his fingered hand on Anjali's back and gently patted her, "Such an honest child, I am sure that your mother, wherever she lies, is very proud of you."

---​

They entered the guild hall through one of the many loading bays in the rear of the building. Around them were many others. They were dressed in a thousand different ways, and looked to speak about the same number of languages. There were old men in clean suits barking at small automatons, young women in overalls riding the back of gargantuan beasts of burden, children even who wove between the crates and containers moving in and out of the building.

Here the guild hall looked different. Unlike the front half which boasted beautiful anarchic decorations, the rear was fully devoted to industrial use. Several docks lined the open air complex where furnaces chugged black smoke into vents in the high ceiling. Each artisan had their own little smelting group, lined up behind a furnace waiting for their turn. Several guild workers, brawny men dressed in thick armored cloth, shoveled heaps of coal into the gaping mouth of the main oven.

Vil stalked toward Freya, his steps were silent as to keep away from the attentions of the busy members of the Alchemist's Guild.

"What do you mean you wont let me use the furnace?" Freya was already in a confrontation with one of the foremen at the mouth of the smaller furnaces. "What kind of bullshit is that? I paid my fuckin' dues!"

The foreman shook his head and ran his finger through thick bristly black sweat-slick hair, he licked his lips and said apologetically, "I'm sorry Allyone, the Director's orders. If you have an issue, please take it up with him."

"What, does the ************ want me to sleep with him or something? Fuckin' calling me out by name that little piece-of-shit dick-sucking ****-swabbing incomprehensible knob-end." Freya scowled and spun on her heel. "Come on Duggin, let me at least smelt my loot for today! I'll get it sorted out before the next expedition date, I swear on my immortal soul."

The foreman, Duggin, shifted uncomfortably on his feet. He shook his head, closing his eyes in some deep thought. "Fine, fine. Make it quick before any of the other foremen see you at the ovens."

Freya grinned, "Owe you one, Duggin. Come by my room anytime you want to cash in," Freya turned around with a wink.

"Damn woman will be the death of me, I know it," Duggin grumbled as he moved down the line of waiting alchemists.

Vil put his hand back on Anjali and swept them both toward Freya with great long strides. He was keen to let as little of the other people see them as possible.

"Cor wants to see you again?" Vil asked as he let the basket of metal scraps down gently on the ground near the furnace. He motioned for Anjali to do the same with her basket of crystals and metals.

"When does that piece of smegma-eating shit stain not want to see me?" Freya answered, putting her hands on her hips. "Stupid asshole isn't doing enough directing as he is just micromanaging the place."

"Freya," Vil said softly. He put his hand on her head, "am I causing you trouble?"

"No!" Freya balked, embarrassed at the volume of her interjection, "No... that's not it. It's got nothing to do with you Vil. I just, I just have to work things out between me and him, that's all. I wouldn't be surprised if this was his was of trying to get me to go to dinner or something, y'know. Never can know with Cor, and that's one of the things I can't stand about him."

"Well, then, you are able to take it from here?" Vil continued in the same kind and reserved tone.

"Yeah, well... yeah, no. I'm fine. You can take swamp girl-"

"Anjali," Vil corrected.

"Anjali, to the workshop. I'll meet you there once I have all the processed materials. Thanks." Freya turned around and started to order a workshop automaton to heave the metals into the furnace. The red glow of the fire obfuscated her embarrassed blush.

---​

"Noltell shifted last night," an adventurer said sadly as he reclined on a wooden chair in the restaurant inside of the guild hall. He looked upwards and fiddled with his hat, "It was something insane too. I think it moved three, maybe four miles out further to the East."

A second person at the table shook her head. She was clearly not human, even from a distance. A cat's tail swung lazily back and forth near the end of her chair and her ears perked forward as she leaned over her plate of food, "Think that there were artifacts unearthed beneath Noltell?" She grinned, eyes sparkling with anticipation.

The first adventurer sighed and ran a finger along the nook of his ear, "Heard rumors that there's a Crimson Congregation ritual site there in the before-times. If there aren't artifacts there, well, at the very least somebody is going to pay good coin to scout out the new area."

Vil lead Anjali through the restaurant and up several flight of winding staircases up to a balcony that overlooked the entire dining area. Anjali could hear clearly from the second floor the many conversations that filled up the space in the Alchemist's guild. There were an immense amount of people, and not just Alchemists. There were adventurers, mercenaries, merchants, and bards as well as the magical craftsmen. They spoke in strange terms of far-away places. But a few key words kept coming up again. Roil, Crimson Congregation, Lacrima, Artifact, Soul Essence, and Ekroia were quite popular.

In some few sparse moments, Vil had shepherded Anjali to a small wooden door deep in the hallways of the second floor. He pushed it open and waved his hand, sending a spark flying through the room, lighting all sorts of filaments. The room was bathed in a glow of warm yellow light.

The workshop had a lot less potions than an alchemist should really have. What Freya's workshop had was metal, tons of it. They were laid out in heaps of intricate gears and pulleys. Thick fibers of woven steel that were fashioned in the image of muscles, mechanical arms and legs, skeletons of dark blue steel. And every now and again there were small tear-shaped crystals lying in small mechanical hearts. The glow of the lights made them seem to hold fire.

"It is not much," Vil said as he closed the door and stood up to his full height. He stretched out his legs and arms, "but it is what Freya and I call home. For now, until we find a way to return you to your Rising Dawn, it will also be your home."

He motioned to the parts laying across the room, "Freya is a puppeteer. She inherited both her guild membership and her skills from her father, who was a master puppeteer. She works hard to live up to his legacy, but she is struggling. Because of her obsession, she does not have many friends. You look around her age, so I think it would be nice if you two could get along." Vil smiled beneath his mask, a sheepish smile of a doting grandparent.
 

Diablo1099_v1legacy

Doom needs Yoghurt, Badly
Dec 12, 2009
9,732
0
0
[hr]
Right to Rule
Code:
Rugal's story
[hr]

"...So rather then back in time...I'm in a parallel timeline instead...Glad we cleared that up..." Rugal snarked slightly, not exactly pleased to see this creature again.
Still, it did give him a better idea of what exactly happened to him and possibly the other members of his crew.
"...So tell me this: Is there anyone else who has been "Displaced" like myself? Did this being try to "Erase" anyone else?" He then asked as he walked down the road, attempting to find a good place to set down for the night.
Glancing back at the creature as they walked, he added "...What of Dolores? Before this all happened I had seen you with her. If you had nothing to do with all this, then perhaps she did?"

A brief walk later, he settled upon a nearby tree on the road into Livia's estate, far enough to avoid any rude awakenings but close enough to catch her trip to Pompeii.
Using his Slashing Aura, he then began to tear some fire-wood off the tree's trunk, like a knife though an apple, until he had enough for a decent camp-fire.
A simple ki-blast later and he had a proper fire, one that he'd rest at for the night.
"...Can you at least tell me if my family is alright? Do you know that much?..." He then asked, almost a bit keen for a bad answer: Been a while since he was able to skin a cat...
 

BlackHarte

the Heart of Darkness
Nov 30, 2014
150
0
0
[hr]
Lost to Love
Inuart's Story​
[hr]

"You're a funny one," Alesha laughed. She took two steps forward and two steps back, setting her cloak aflutter in the breeze. Her next words danced on her lips. The entire world seemed to grow silent and still. Her voice did not reach Inuart, but Inuart knew what she had said, "of course you know."

---​

A mountain, far in the north, swathed in snow. The steep cliffs and deep valleys hid ruins of ancient civilizations, two thousand, four thousand, six thousand, eight thousand years old. A living god lay sleeping at the peak hidden in the clouds. It's name was Crosis. Every two thousand years, he awoke and cleansed the world, Ypris. This mountain was the center of it all, the beginning, the end, the home, and the grave.

Away from the shadowy figure of the God-Judge Crosis was an endless plain of dead pilgrims, each bowed in reverence and exhaustion at the journey to the holy mountains. There were men and women, the elderly and the young. All had fallen to attrition.

The God awoke and the land shook under its might. Rolling storms of fire and lightning washed away people and cities alike, leaving nothing but ruin.

As the firestorm roared across the world, a single girl reached the God on the mountain above. Her thin emancipated body looked to be on the verge of breaking against the force of the bitter winds. She reached out with her hands, pleading for Crosis to hand her salvation, to give her the reward she had crossed the world to receive.

The God looked down and saw the girl. It was curious how she had survived for so long, as weak as she was, and how she had reached it.

Her answer was inaudible. But from the God's reaction, it was satisfactory. The God gifted her a piece of itself, a emerald gem that she swallowed. This girl was worthy to see the next world. To see the God's next beautiful experiment.

The girl fell into a deep sleep.

When the girl woke up, she was in a field of green grass next to a lake. She was bare, but the wind was not cold. She stood up, alone in the world, and then she began to cry. She had been blessed, but the world she knew was gone, buried beneath a layer of ash two thousand years thick.

The girl stood up and began to walk. Where she would go, prosperity followed. At first it was flowers that bloomed as she passed, but soon it became the birthing of creeks and the sprouting of forests. Gold and silver bled from the earth where she slept, and soon after that, the first cities rose from the stone.

And those cities became the home to people. Then came agriculture, then came invention. Then soon, war broke. The humans fought each other bitterly for the resources of Ypris. The girl was horrified and gave herself to the humans to quell their thirst for resources. The humans took her greedily.

Where she walked, the harvests were plentiful. Where she bathed the waters grew sweet. Where she laid, the mineral veins would run deep. And where she bled, the earth itself would bloom with life.

But soon the humans grew greedy. They told stories of how to best make use of the girl.

Cut her up! One man said. Scatter her innards across the fields to grow a forest with game eternal!

Bind her in a prison! Another proposed. Stuff her deep in the earth so that we can mine riches!

A man in black proposed something else. Let us partake of her flesh, so that we also may live lives eternal.

The humans captures the girl as she was hopping between two borders one day. They drank of her blood and consumed her flesh in vain hopes of gaining immortality. The man in black simply watched from afar as the humans fell into their destructive vices.

For a small while it seemed that their plan worked. Their fields grew with frenzy and their mines ran with minerals as a river runs with water. And they themselves grew young and strong. The girl, however, did not die. She did not begrudge them either, for she had done much the same two thousand years before. But the girl could not die.

Another two thousand years passed and Crosis awoke, spewing ash, fire, and lightning over the entire world. In the cleansing, none but the girl survived again.

When the girl woke up, she was in a field of green grass next to a lake. She was bare, but the wind was not cold. She stood up, alone in the world,. She had been blessed, but the world she knew was gone, buried beneath a layer of ash two thousand years thick. From there she began to walk again.

And the same thing happened again.

And again.

And again.

The same man-in-black would herald the end of an age, the end of mankind, and the waking of the god.

The cycle repeated a thousand times, ten thousand times, a hundred thousand times. Then one day, the girl stood at the peak of Crosis and addressed the God as he awoke.

Bless these children, for they cannot know the wayward nature of their own hearts. The girl pleaded to the God. The God listened and thought on the subject. It was unsure, but in the end, it allowed the girl to change the experiment. This time, the righteous humans would survive the cataclysm.

The girl was overjoyed. For finally she had companions in her journeys.

These people called the girl mother. And she provided for them. Her harvests filled their storehouses with plenty. Her blood and milk cured the infirm, and her presence soothed the mind. Life was good for her followers. After two thousand years, the man-in-black appeared again. He bid the girl's followers to take greedily from their mother. Their simple hearts were swayed by greed, and they attacked her.

Soon Crosis awoke again and his fires cleansed the world.

But half of the humans survived. Those that did not fall to the man-in-black's temptations. The girl had prevailed. Her followers, though few in number, survived. After more cycles their numbers bolstered. The true believers grew in strength until even Crosis' fire and fury did not cull their numbers.

The girl who was their mother grew ever so distant as invention superseded her. No longer did the people need her stone buildings or simple harvests, or plentiful game. They irrigated and farmed, and domesticated the animals of which they ate. And soon in the cycles, she started to wane in power. Though she was once a mother to all humans, a martyr for their salvation, she became and idol, and then from there fell to a priest, and then from their fell further until all she was known was by her name, "the Daughter." She was someone that the people looked after, but did not need. Of this fate, the girl was content.

But then the cycles happened again, and the people neither blessed by the girl nor tainted by the man-in-black died in the rolling thunderstorms.

Those that survived grew to see the girl not as a person, but a tool. A thing to use to survive the wrath of Crosis. Those in her presence would be spared come the storms of the apocalypse. So she turned from "the Daughter" to "the Gem." And the world fought wars over her, to hold her favor and her protection come the end of time.

But cycles and cycles after that, even that reason was forgotten.

Now the people fought over the girl without remembering the reason at all. Even the girl herself had forgotten the reason why. She began to believe that she was indeed just a tool for bringing good harvests and good fortunes. She could not remember why it was so important for the kingdoms of man to possess her.

And neither did the kingdoms of man remember.

But Ypris remembered. Ypris remembers each tear that stained the face of its daughter. Each anguished second of her lonely wanderings. Though all other forget, Ypris does not forget. That high on mount Crosis, where the God of the same name lay slumbering in a dreamless sleep, that two thousand years of good fortune had come and gone. The cycles would continue.

To the ears of those born of it, Ypris is silent. Too imperceptible to notice. But to those who are foreign, like the man-in-black, and are still sensitive to the pleas of the world, the land itself speaks.

---​

"Crosis is the city where the temple is!" she laughed, "Of course it's not taboo! No matter where someone is from, they know that the blessing of the Priestesses of Ypris are quite a big deal." She motioned to herself, "Our very presence blesses the earth to give good harvests and the people good fortune. A priestess is something quite valuable, to Crior especially, but even the Farren to some extent."

Alesha gripped Inuart's hand tightly, "Don't be so tense! As long as I'm by your side, then nothing bad can happen. Just take a confident step forward with an objective in mind, and I'm sure you'll be able to accomplish it, Mr. Hero."


[hr]
Right to Rule
Code:
Rugal's story
[hr]

"You don't listen very well do you?" Kyuubey asked as he dropped down next to Rugal. "I wasn't lying when I said that this is the first time I have met you. I don't know who this 'Dolores' person is, nor do I know anything about your 'family.'" He shook his head and sat down next to the fire. "Additionally, that you were erased was only a hypothesis based on initial observations. I have yet to truly know the nature of your existence, Rugal Bernstein."

Kyuubey waved his tail back and forth slowly. His unblinking eyes stayed on Rugal, "You must see a lot of yourself in that girl." Then Kyuubey got up and began to walk back toward the estate.

"Mister," came a soft voice from behind the cobblestone wall. A young woman peaked out from behind the wall, "What are you doing out here?" The girl was some years older than Livia, but still nowhere near being an adult. She was the servant from the road before, unlike the servants in the homestead, she had nice curly brown hair and olive skin. She was wearing a white cotton tunic and sandals in lieu of her serving gown from earlier. "It is not like Mistress Livia to kick out a guest, even for rude behavior. What happened?"
 

Diablo1099_v1legacy

Doom needs Yoghurt, Badly
Dec 12, 2009
9,732
0
0
Origin Plains: Rising Dawn Landing Zone: David West, Jenny, Blade, Dr. Violet

Silently taking Teri for the save there with Diana, David once again began to ponder what exactly happened that caused them to end up here.
"...ehhhh, "Fun" mightn't be the word I'd use but noted none the less. Just start checking the ship, see if there is anything out of place." He ordered somewhat ineffectively, not massively sure what to do about the current situation himself.
Everything felt-...wrong for lack of a better term, it felt like a bad night out as even simple movements and notions felt like they had a-..."Delay" about them.
"Uhhh....w-what happened?..." Jenny began to mumble as she was stirred awake, picking herself up off the ground and-
"...What the-...Jenny?...Hey JJ! Over here!" David called out, stopping himself slightly as he noticed something..."Different" about his Gardevoir friend.
"Uh...strange, don't remember landing..."
"...But-...weren't you-...sorry can I just-" The Irishman insisted before looking her up and down as if something was wrong, though the real problem was that there wasn't anything wrong with her.
"...This is so fucking weird...I mean-...no. No, this isn't right..."
"What isn't right, West?"
"...You are meant to be a wheelchair after a Colorado senator turned you into a Cyborg Ninja."

The look on her face said it all as Jenny stared slightly agape, clearly not expecting that answer.
"...David, what are you talking about?" she asked, much to the sniper's disdain as he started pacing back and forth slightly.
"Oh for the love of-Do you not fucking remember?!"
"I would like to think I would remember being in a wheelchair, David!"
"Okay, okay, okay, we'll settle this. Jenny, read my mind."
"David..."
"Oh, just fucking do it. I'm not having you think I'm off my head because I KNOW you weren't like this before-...whatever the hell just happened!"
Finally relenting and rolling her eyes slightly, Jenny then placed her palm against the Irishman's forehead, expecting to find a long night of boozing and god-awful sexua-

"His mind was like an immense sphere of perfect black stone. So large that she couldn't make out the ends in any direction and that they curved out into infinity. The surface was spotless, with no cracks and no blemishes. A perfectly protected mind, impossible to break, impossible to worm into. It was like looking at something alien. It was unknowable, frightening and dark. There was no way it could be human."
Breaking the link quickly, her expression turned to one of fear as she merely said "...That-...isn't what's meant to be in there..."
"...W-w-what's not meant to be in there?...Is it a tumor?! Oh please tell me it isn't a tumor" He densely remarked as he instinctively clung to his own head, trying to "Feel around" for such a thing.
"...N-no, David-"
"Oh my god, it's a tumor isn't it? Jenny, if there is a fucking tumor in my skull, you better fucking tell me!"
"It's not a tumor! That's not even how this works! I-I don't even know what It even is!"
David found that answer even less comforting as he started to recall that "Database" that had been blasted into his skull.
"....ohhhhhhhhh shit....okay....okay..." He began to pant as he started to walk towards the ship, leaving a rather puzzled Jenny in his wake.
"Jenny! You okay?!" Blade cried out as he rushed to his lover's side.
"...Huh? Yeah, fine. But...I think he's the one you should be worried about..."

"Alright...Alright...Okay...clam down...focus...an-....an-..." He started to mumble as he then realized something rather jarring...He had been here before...hadn't he?...
As he stumbled towards the ship, he was soon ambushed by a wave of bright violet lights as Dr. Violet's godforsaken rhinestone jacket soon began to blind his eyeballs.
"Hey, West...You alright?...Should I get you a drink?...uh, of water?" Violet asked much to David's confusion
"Yeah, I-...wait, Violet, don't you say something else?...Or-...did you say it-....wait...waitwaitwait..." He started to stammer as he tried to think-
"Maybe a aspirin or 3 as well?" "MAYBE A ASPIRIN OR 3 AS WELL! THAT WAS IT!...how did I know that?...unless-...but that'd mean-....whoa...oh my head-...I don't feel so good..."
A bit taken aback by David's exact timing as well as the fact he seemed to be growing increasingly pale, the doctor then asked again "...So was that a yes or-whoa-wait-WAIT-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A horrible scream filled the air as David suddenly expelled the contents of his stomach all over Violet's prized jacket, retching slightly before finally fainting on the spot near the foot of the hanger bay.
"NOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOO! NOOOO! IT'S ALL IN-BETWEEN THE RHINESTONES! NOOOOOOOO!" DX

[hr]
Right to Rule
Code:
Rugal's story
[hr]

"...Tch, Everyone is a psychologist..." Rugal merely muttered as the cat began to dash away, leaving him just about as lost as he was before they met.
While it wasn't an entirely inaccurate statement, it was still something that hit a bit too close for home, part of the reason it annoyed him so much really.
And in a place like this? It would be rather easy to fall into old habits. No technology, feudalism in full effect, slavery, magic could reign him in...or make him unstoppable...now that was a really unsettling thought...yes...unsettling-
"Mister, What are you doing out here?"
The voice grabbed his attention over his thoughts as he turned to face the young woman.
"It is not like Mistress Livia to kick out a guest, even for rude behavior. What happened?"
"I was not removed, I left of my own accord. She explained that if I had such objections as to how she ran her estate that I should voice them off her property. So I did. I shall wait here for her departure to Pompeii. You need not trouble yourself over me. This is far from the first night I spent outdoors." He kindly remarked as he gently stoked the fire, namely by firing a small "Shakunetsu." [http://streetfighter.wikia.com/wiki/Shakunetsu_Hadoken] onto it from his palm.
"...You were there when I awoke...weren't you? I don't believe I caught your name the last time we met...Mine is Rugal Bernstein of Rising Dawn. Pleased to meet you. Feel free to sit if you wish."