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

[BlackHarte]

Spoiler: Rugal

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Right to Rule

Rugal's story

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Phili took the bag graciously and bowed deeply, "Um.... Thank you!" She blushed, flustered by the sudden turning of fortunes. She took out the roasted meats and gingerly laid them out on the plats next to the fruits. She filled a small silver vessel with honey and put it next to the glis.

Ortha brought a small cup of wine to Rugal. It was sweet and acidic, raw to a degree that wasn't all that common in the modern vintages he was used to. It was a little rough around the edges but enjoyable none the less. "I'm sorry, Mistress Livia had left for the Temple of Minerva. She should be back soon." She set the wine jug some ways away and refused to take a cup for herself. They sat at the floor near the couch that they had set up supper around.

"I was hoping to ask her about the Seer of Apollo. Apparently such a person has information that could be invaluable for returning me home. Do any of you know of such a person?" Rugal asked.

Phili furrowed her brow, "Apollo? I'm sorry. I'm not as educated as Eury or Kleo. I don't know who Apollo is. Do you Ortha?"

Ortha shook her head sadly, "I'm not sure either."

"Apollo is the sun god," Livia said as she ducked into the room from the terrace.

"Mistress!" Phili bowed.

"Roast dormouse," Livia said quietly as she walked over to the couch and sat down. "Eurydice's idea right?"

Ortha nodded solemnly.

"That girl was sentimental to a fault," Livia said. She tore a piece from the carcass and took a small bite of the brown flesh. "The last time I was here, my father purchased this for me. It was the last meal I shared with him. Two years is a pretty short time. Tastes the same. I guess some things don't change. Where's Kleo?"

"Gone to fetch more meat, mistress," Ortha answered.

Livia nodded and then turned to Rugal, "You are desperate if you're looking for a priestess of Apollo. The sun is strong, yes, but also dangerous. I would wager that a servant of Mercury, or Mercury himself put that thought into your head." There was a pause as she plucked some figs from the plate and ate them. "Of course, the strongest of Apollo's maidens is the girl at Delphi, in faraway Greece, the second resides in Siwah as a servant of Ammon, in sun-scorched Egypt. To hear them would cost you a hundred heads of cattle or silver in the same worth. Seek Apollo at your own peril, for unlike Bacchus he is not so whimsical as to entertain unworthy mortals."

"What did Minerva say?" Phili finally said, breaking her uncomfortable silence.

"About what?" Livia asked.

"About, y'know..." Phili turned to look at Rugal. "Our journey."

"Accidents happen. It is the fault of neither the fool nor the master. If we lay our friend to rest with her memory in our heart, she will do well in Elysium regardless of the nature of her death. As for those who you would hold responsible, forgive both them and yourself. Such were the words of the Owl." Livia shrugged. "Live happily because it would be a shame not to do so otherwise. Like the words of a grandmother."

"That's a lot of words I don't really understand," Phili responded, dismayed.

"We make for Pompeii tomorrow like we would have otherwise. There I will take our guest to the forum and maybe he can find someone to help him find a disciple of Bacchus."

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Spoiler: Rugal

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Right to Rule

Rugal's story

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"...I was thinking it wasn't going to be that simple......" Rugal sighed as Livia explained the service fee of Apollo's servants, something that he could afford in his own time but not here.
The guess about Mercury seemed a bit too good to be a guess but he decided against questioning it, rather focusing on his task.
"Hm, religion...always with money grubbing..." He muttered under his breath as he had some more wine, thinking about how exactly one could get such a sum.
Robbery was the easy option, but knowing this world, that would be more complicated than he'd like, nevermind the moral reasons against it.
Gazing out the window, he kept silent when the topic turned to Minerva, knowing they were talking about what happened to Eurydice.
When the conversation then changed to their travel plans, he spoke up asking "Very well. Pompeii is closer then Greece or Egypt. That being said, I do hope that this follower of Bacchus will finally reveal the secret of my presence here..."

Taking another sip of his wine, he moved from the window before deciding to have some bread, still standing rather then sitting.
"...Just one thing...This "Minerva"...what did she say about the raiders? Should they be forgiven as well?..."
It was a bold question but one he felt needed to be asked, for as much as this realm might pride itself on peace and diplomacy, he knew better then to rely on such measures alone in order to prevent evil.

After all, they did little to slow his rise to power back in his youth...

 

[Silence]

Spoiler: Anjali

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Reason to Rise

[i]anjali's story[/i]

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This was a lot of new information, and Anjali's head was spinning. She had never heard these words before, as this was a new world altogether. For a moment she thought that it might resemble her old home more closely, but thinking about it, it seemed more like a distant future than traveling to the past.

She knew she was not a vampire, no part of this Crimson Congregation, but she knew why she had to keep her head down, still. Maybe, eating what she ate, she was closer to the vampires than to the other people of this world. That is, if any of the fallen civilization were still around. This was a place ravaged after some powerful magic had gotten loose, a magic ... no, she did not know if it was the same kind of magic she could use. Or if the magic of the soul essence even was the same as the one of the Crimson Congregation.

Puppeteers were interesting, and Freya apparently was one of them ... it kept Anjali thinking. She knew she could control spirits, but would she not be able to be a puppeteer herself? One that could do it more directly. She did not know why she had those thoughts, stealing others freedom was not really something she wanted to do. She stopped and turned, as Freya finally came back. Trying a not intimidating smile, she greeted her.

"I ... like I said before, it might be good if I got back there again. I don't know how people are, and they might be more in trouble than this world is. The big catastrophe happened here already, didn't it?

I was thinking, could this Nightshade artifact bring me back? Or maybe find this artifact called Echo, to find this other one? I'm ... I'm not sure how you want to handle this. Or me. There's ... I'm getting hungry as well, and I don't know how accomodating you are to ... uh ... undead."

 

[BlackHarte]

Spoiler: Rugal

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Right to Rule

Rugal's story

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"It is without ambiguity that we are to forgive the bandits," Livia answered without so much as a second thought. A cool breeze blew through the room from the coast side windows. The air was thick with the smell of brine as much as it carried the sweet smell of meats and baking bread. Livia undid her hair so that the long red strands cascaded down her shoulders and back like strands of blood-stained silk.

Kleo broke the silence by coming back through the door holding a pot in both hands. Her face was flushed with the effort of bringing such a heavy load along with her. She cleared her throat, "Ah, Mistress. I had not known that you had already returned. I would have hurried faster if I had known." Kleo put the pot down in front of the couches and undid the rope knot at it's top. "I had the fortune of running into Lord Gaius Valerius Catullus and he gifted me with some of the food he was carrying in his own entourage. We have some beef braised in spices from the Persians, quite good, he claims." She uncorked the pot and a sudden bouquet of earthy flavors exploded into the room. There was cumin and allspice, cinnamon and saffron, traces of myrrh and frankincense, cloves and pepper. The beef was stewed with some sort of vegetable in a thick almost curry-like sauce dashed with colorful peppers of yellow and red and green. Moreover it had a sweet scent to it that was different than the smell of honey. It was cleaner, crisper, and more intense.

"Sugar!" Phili said, bolting up from her seat. "This is a marinade made with sugar!"

Livia was surprised, "You said Catullus gave this to us?"

"Yes!" Kleo replied in the same tone of disbelief. "Apparently it was a gift from his brother in Troy, but there was so much that he couldn't take it all back to Rome with him!"

"While I don't buy that explanation for a second, his whimsical generosity is not unknown," Livia clapped her hands, "Well, as long as we have it, we should all partake in to this gifted feast."

[hr]

After dinner, Livia sent Ortha, Kleo, and Phili to bed and asked Rugal to join her on the terrace. Outside the air had become somewhat cold, but the warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The moon was now high in the sky, it's blood red visage casting an ominous air across the city of Ostia. The sconces had begun to burn low as the late hours ebbed into the first ticks of the morning. There were sharp whistles from the docks as fishing boats began to leave port, headed toward the sea with nets set on catching the schools of fish lured into a feeding frenzy by the umbral moon.

Kyuubey sat on the railing, his tail waved back and forth like a metronome. His eyes glimmered in the same red as the moon above. Livia put her hands gently on its face, rubbing its fur coat affectionately. There was a period of silence when the wind lulled. All that Rugal could hear was Livia's soft breath. Her chest rose and fell in simple rhythm, her silhouette captured by the light of the moon. Livia tucked her hair behind her ears before she turned to Rugal, "Why do you do the things you do?"

Kyuubey stretched its legs and padded over to where Rugal was standing.

"What drives you, Rugal, to act the way you do?" Livia turned toward the sky. The drifting clouds were like running silver under the light of the moon. "Is it love? Is it want, desire, anger or hatred? And of what? For what? The more that I look at you, the more I see a fragmented mirror, pieces of silver reflecting a confused man inside that massive body of yours. You are not of my people, foreign, yes, but strange in a way that is different from the other travelers from worlds abroad."

Livia's eyes glimmered silver-blue in the light of the night. Silent wings brought two beautiful horned owls to perch on the terrace rail. Their yellow eyes shone like spotlights in the darkness.

"I was asked to see into your future, and your past, but I found nothing. It is like peering into an abyss, nothing makes sense. I cannot tell who you are, what you want, and for what you live for. It is as if you are not truly a person." The words that left Livia's mouth were of a different timbre than the playful tone that Rugal remembered. It was then that the stars in the sky moved, no, the stars were never in the sky. The shadow behind Livia finally became clear as the clouds covered the rays of moonlight.

A pale maiden in armor stood where Livia had been standing. She had long black hair tied into a neat knot at the nape of her neck. She wore lipstick of the same color as the sea and had the eyes that reflected the full moon. Her robes beneath her golden plates were of a shadowy weave, knit as if holding the image of the stars in the sky. She leaned against the rail as more owls landed near her. "It is because of this that I believe Bacchus would know best what to do with you. You are not whole, Rugal Bernstein. Your soul is stitched together haphazardly, your sense of self is weak. So I must ask before I allow my friend to go with you to Pompeii, who do you think you are?"

Spoiler: Anjali

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Reason to Rise

[i]anjali's story[/i]

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[[Good End Flag]]​

"I ... like I said before, it might be good if I got back there again. I don't know how people are, and they might be more in trouble than this world is. The big catastrophe happened here already, didn't it?"

There was a glint of recognition in Vil's eye. It was a fleeting, but sudden presence of another consciousness in that metal husk of his. Anjali had the strange feeling that the old automaton was... pleased at her words.

Freya ran her hand through her short green hair and thought about it for a little bit. "Well, I mean... I don't see any reason to hate an undead that doesn't hate me. That being said, it shouldn't be too much of a problem if you don't go eating any living people."

"Indeed," Vil interjected, "we can procure some fresh meats once we leave Dulce. For now, we have some blood packs we use for lacrima infusion, if you would like to take a drink to sate some of that undead hunger of yours." He pointed at the pack of blood that he had given Anjali before they started talking about the goings on of Amaranth.

"Leave Dulce?" Freya asked, suddenly aware of what Vil was actually saying. "You don't mean that..."

"I do. I think we should help Anjali return to her Rising Dawn."

"What about the term projects we still have to do! Or the rent for this workshop?" Freya asked angrily.

Vil put a hand on Freya's chest, "For what reason do we do these things? Why are we here in Dulce, renting this space from the guild? Why do we build equipment for our adventurers, and for what reason do you entertain Cor's deluded ideas that he has any chance of marrying you?"

Freya stumbled with her words looking for a response.

"All of this is to recover Controller, your father's legacy is it not?" Vil smiled, "Our goal was never to make a living as a support team. We were always biding our time, gather funds, gathering experience, maps, supplies, to venture out into a delve of our own. In our everyday routine, we might have lost sight of our actual goal."

"I mean... yeah... that was the plan, yes." Freya answered.

"Then our friend Anjali is a blessing in disguise. We could not join a delve because we have always lacked an adventurer. If Anjali can pass the combat trials, she can be our adventurer for our delving team. And with her as our front, we can hire other adventurers to join our party. Then we can make the journey to the Deep Braves forward operating base, find Echo, find Controller, and for Anjali, find Nightshade."

Freya looked overwhelmed, "I... you're right. We can do that now... but." She swallowed. "Anajli, do you think you're strong enough to pass the adventurer's guild's combat trials?"

 

[Silence]

Spoiler: Anjali

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Reason to Rise

[i]anjali's story[/i]

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"Controller is your fathers?" Anjali asked. "Maybe ... maybe, if we travel, you can tell me more about it?" She got up again, after being seated for so long, and looked into Freya's eyes. "I want to be of service to you as well, and help you with your own task. You both are nicer to me than I expected people to be.

Though ... what are those trials? I guess I can fight, and ..." She thought for a second, then nodded. "I feel powerful here, I think I can fight and pass those trials, whatever they are. Though I do not know what these trials entail. Keep in mind ... I think my power and my being undead are related. If you are not allowed to use this ... magic, or what it is, then I might have more troubles. I feel like I could endure anything, but it could take a long time ..."

She wondered. What had changed about herself? In her life, she never had been a fighter. She could cook quite well, and people liked her being nice and polite, but this ... did she have to release control to the thing inside her? Not that she had any choice if it wanted to. She was but a vessel. Still ... why fight? What reason was there for these trials?

Anjali shook her head, stopping to think before her thoughts went only in circles, again. Then, she smiled. "Tell me what I need to do for these trials. And ... what I can wear in combat as to not seem like such a child of the night."

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Spoiler: Rugal

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Right to Rule

Rugal's story

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Oh great...he's here too... Rugal thought as he saw that strange creature once more.
"You seem to turn up a lot around this realm for a mere cat..." He muttered to Kyuubey as he leaned against the wall, quietly listening to Livia's questions.
"...It's almost as if I'm not from this world or something like that..." He snarked slightly upon watching her display, least before "Livia" seemed to transform into someone else.
Now THAT was eye catching and arose both feelings of awe and a bit of ire in Rugal, as if to say "Oh come on, YOU'RE a god too?!"
...You seek me to tell the truth, yet you are content to hide behind lies when it suits you?...fucking gods...

Still, he walked over before gazing out to the sea himself, looking somewhat unimpressed by "Livia's" display.
"...I'm not a good person. From an early age, Violence is all I knew. My homeland was East Germany under Soviet Rule, a land fractured by war and who's people were split between the victors. Never knew my father, never knew my mother, knew squalor rather well however. I begged, I pleaded, but who cares about a starving child? My first warm meal came from the death of another person. I had managed to slash his throat with a rusted pocket-knife I had fished from a drainage pipe. Took his gold, went to a local "Fast food" shop, even ordered one of those "Milk Shakes" I saw all the other children having. With age it got easier. My strength increased, my mind developed and my prey was plenty...then I met him."

"A holy man of sorts in a blue robe. I saw him walking the markets while looking for my next target, sometime after I had became a man. He seemed disgusted by what he saw but what really caught my eye was when he managed to shoo away a lowly beggar. By handing him a actual solid bar of Platinum, not even Gold, Platinum. Still don't know why, could have been out of spite for all I know. Either way, I had my next target. I followed him for the next few weeks, invested what little I had in a firearm just be sure. Cornered him like so many others, told him to hand over one of those Platinum bars...I was going to finally make something of myself...In all my years, I have yet to be so brutally and utterly bested in battle since that day. He wasn't human, something I found out the hard way. Angel, Demon, I never did find out. All I remember was his words, mocking, jeering, even as he tore my eye clean from my skull. He could have killed me that day, but he told me that "Why would I do that? You aren't worthy of death nor life. That's how little you are to me now..."..."

His fists clenched slightly as he rattled off that quote before he continued.

"...That day changed me. I wasn't much of a good person before that but...I felt this haze of sorts over me. All that mattered to me was getting stronger, besting my rivals and becoming someone "Worthy of Death and Life". I left my home, I traveled. For most of my adult life, I searched the earth for those who would teach me the ways of battle. Such was my drive and anger, I would find myself walking into a training ground on a Monday morning and leaving a graveyard before the sun had even set. But that wasn't enough for me either. During my travels, I expanded my crimes. Mugging became Robbery. Robbery became Extortion. Extortion became Corruption. Corruption became...Acceptance. My name had traveled so far that even those sworn to protect the innocent from me would rather submit then attempt to stop me. The stronger I became, the more control I had over them. Law enforcement, Armies, entire nations attempted to stop me. They all came short, most of them deciding it was better to be on the winning side of history then the right one. A few scant years ago, I had more gold to my name than this entire empire. I was igniting conflicts between nations and peoples, giving them both the tools and reasoning's to murder each other, not even for power, glory or gold, just mere amusement. And I was getting stronger each passing day, to the point in which a contest between a mortal and a god no longer seemed so impossible. I wasn't at the top forever though. My throne was unseated more then once yet every single time, no matter what they might do, no matter how hard they pray to be rid of me, even as my body died, was destroyed or turned into some-...God awful Monster [https://orig00.deviantart.net/9359/f/2012/026/1/8/my_little_rugal_bernstein_by_drkrizalid-d4nprrr.png], I would always find a way to return to my rightful place as "The King of Fighters"..."

"...Then another day changed me. The day I met her. A warrior unlike me. A holy Paladin, Protector of the innocent, fighter of evil, one who was wise beyond her years and twice as graceful. Chance caused our first meeting as she saved me from peril during one of my periods away from my throne. Doubt she would have if she knew who I really was. Once I returned to my throne and my followers, her memory haunted me day in and day out. I had a new target but...why her?...I could snap my fingers and summon literal kings to rest my feet upon, surely finding a wife couldn't be much harder. But-...No. No it had to her. Then fate brought us together. In a ironic twist, I lead many of those who tried to stop me in battle against one of my greatest rivals, her included. I thought nothing of them at first, mere pawns I would use to defeat my enemy and establish my total rule over mankind. Short version, the forces of good won. And I won. My opposition was weakened, conflict filled the world, my wealth and sycophants were beyond number. But-...I couldn't return to my throne."

"In the ravages of war, I found love. A family, 2 young girls and a wonderful wife. A home. Companions. A collection of fools who look at me and claim to see anything of worth, even as I gloated and raved to them about my intense power and attempts on their lives... I tried to take this power of mine and use it for something good. Something constructive. To try and become a person I merely wasn't. Sometimes I succeed...Sometimes I failed...No, I failed a lot...but they were with me all the way, be it to stay my hand or even to strike me down when old habits returned then help me back to my feet...I felt like I had worth. Their ideals, values, their love, it's the only part of me that's worth anything anymore. Without them, I'm just an lost angry pretentious old man playing at running the world, vying for revenge against a world that he feels deserves to be his..."

Finally turning to face the maiden, he finished off his little speech by saying "That's who I am. I'm a murderer. A mortal God of war. An monument to mankind's arrogance and ego. I am all these things and worse. My soul will never find redemption nor is that even my objective. All I want is to use my power and whatever life I have left to repay my family for the kindness I never deserved and hopefully create a world or them where someone like me can...never exist or come to power again..."

"I'm a bad person who knows only how to do bad things trying to do good...Does that answer your question?"

 

[Zepherus14]

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Table for Two

Nina's story

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Spoiler

It had all happened so fast, the accusations flying at lightning speed, Nina tried to interupt this malstrum, but her voice was lost in the back and forth. After the third attempt, Nina let out a sigh. Hopefully they'd work it out themselves and not immediately kill each other, the least she could do now was try to get some information else where. "So this stone slab thing? Where's that?" She asked her companion quietly. "Not sure, the fourth Miriam was there and it was not on this train. Something about the kitchen is abnormal." He spoke softly in her ear. "The fourth Miriam? There's more than one?" She asked"In different places but there clearly are, perhaps more but each were unique." "So, she wasn't the one using the stardust right?" Phillip slowly shifted his mass again. "No, she did. Just not for the palette cleanser. She used it to create-"

[HEADING=2]"Because of that!"[/HEADING]​

Thrown into the darkness, Nina half expected another memory to be thrust into her head, but it never came. In the uncertain darkness, Nina called out in a panic. "P-Phillip! I can't see- I can't hear anything!? What's-" Despite her being unable to hear him, she could imagine the gentle "Shhh." come from her companion as he pressed a tentacle to her lips. There was something oddly comforting about this, and as Phillip helped to press Nina's hat into her chest, a memory of her own took liberty to overtake the darkness.

Spoiler: Down Memory Lane

To fix a music link [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkOK8tdEsFY]
It was back at her old school, getting shockingly close to two decades ago. She'd been scared back then too, or so she'd been told.
"I don't wanna go!!"
People don't often have memories that early on.
"But Nina dear, you've been looking forward to school all summer?"
"Yes, all your friends will be there. Emily and Nicholas too?"
But that's the trick with memories, the stories others tell can weave into one's own.
"BUT I DON'T WANNA! I just wanna stay home with you!"
Stories that others tell, experiences they had experienced, memories of memories from people long passed.
"Now now, there's no need to make such a fuss. It's scary to do new things, that's true but if we didn't, how would we know how good flapjacks are, huh? So tell you what, you keep this 'ere cap of mine, and when you're done I'll be sure to pick you up straight away. Then you, Nana and I can enjoy some of her homemade flapjacks, and maybe you could tell us all the great stories from your first day? Whadda ya say kiddo?"
All of those could just go away over some stupid spice?

When the world around her returned to her, but it could very well have been another realm entirely with how different it was. Nina quickly regained her surroundings, not just for her own benefit, but to understand why everyone looked so grief stricken. As if he understood Nina wouldn't be able to witness the message herself, he felt it right to cut the silence for her. "The Matron is dead. She had been murdered. That's what it says there." He stated, pointing a tendril towards the window.

Nina bit her lip, how could so much have gone wrong so quickly. This was far bigger than her by a long shot, but they'd made one mistake this day, they'd made her mad. "Get me a knife Phillip, I need my hand free." She said as she purposefully threw her hat on. "Listen, everyone? I won't say I know what you're going through, the Matron was beyond special, that much is clear. But... right now, there's someone on this train that's trying to erase you all!" Nina started to call out to the broken patrons, tugging aggressively on the glove on her right hand. "It's quite possible that the same person took the Matron too. We can't let them get away with this, forgetting yourself is horrible enough, but forgetting others like that?" Giving Mnemonyse a knowing glare now that she realized just how bad this stuff really was. "It's unforgivable."

The silk glove lifted off her hand like stubborn duct tape, resisting as well as it could, but silk was never meant to be stretched that aggressively. Nina let out a pained yelp as it finally came free, using the knife Phillip snatched to help cut the extra fickle patches, but her hands were red from the harsh pulling. "Nocturne probably already left to try and figure out what's going on as Head of Security, but he'll need help. He's just one person. Please believe me that we must bring closure to this, not just for the Matron's sake, but all of you as well. All of you, have something to bring to this that could help us all. Faea knows everything going on in the train, Crown knows the lineage of the guests here, Talavie, you probably know what happened to the Matron right? Your dominion is death after all?" Nina asked, somewhat unconfident about that last part, but thought it was reasonable. "And Mnemonyse knows Shuwa the best out of all of us." She said as she wiped a tear from her eye, those gloves really hurt to remove!

"As you all know, I don't have any powers, no domain or prestige, but at least I can be someone to help drive you all fix this. There's other universes out at your borders, who cares if that Stardust is irreversible now, that doesn't mean it's impossible! We could stop it or even slow it down to a point that it's practically stopped. So please, I'm begging to help me help you! We'll catch these monsters, stop the poisoning and then give the Matron a proper sending off that she deserves, who's with me?" Nina pleaded, furiously typing on her phone now that her hands were uncocooned, able to use the touch screen again. The hamster in her mind was going full tilt now, she never was the one to like being cornered. "Ms. Lockstar was using Stardust to make an entirely new spice that was harmless compared to the original, Nina is correct there is a way." Nina didn't even look up at this, only nodding all the while still pounding out more text before looking up and pointing to Phillip. "And that's what I'm talking about. We can't give up yet, I've got a plan!"

 

[BlackHarte]

Spoiler: Anjali

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Reason to Rise

[i]anjali's story[/i]

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"Well, Dulce is a city for the odds and ends of society gather. An undead should be not too far of a stretch." Freya smiled meekly as she patted Anjali on the shoulders. The coldness of Anjali's skin made Freya shudder. She tilted her head and gave a nervous laugh, "Still not used to you... being dead quite just yet." Freya cleared her throat. "But the combat trial is usually just a sparring match with a Master-class adventurer. If you can impress them, they will offer you a delving license."

"Yes, and Anjali brings up a good point. She needs to be made as to fit into this world. A necromantic would not be so welcomed in the outside world, no matter how polite." Vil waved his hand toward the workshop. "We have the pieces here to craft you whatever equipment you would like. Though, if you would like, I could take you under my own wing."

Spoiler: Combat Class: Puppeteer

A Puppeteer is a medium range control-type sorcerer that uses a puppet medium as their primary combat tool.

The Puppet of a puppeteer is a weapon made in the guise of a living creature. It is imbued with soul essence and manipulated by the puppeteer, much like how a traditional sorcerer would handle their familiars. However, unlike traditional sorcerers, puppeteers place pieces of their own souls in their puppets. Damage suffered from a puppet can backlash to the puppeteer and is capable of causing severe damage.

Puppeteers of the Crimson Congregation were able to infuse the soul of living beings into their puppets, creating an autonomous weapon known as a "Living Doll." The creation of Living Dolls has been outlawed in every civilized nation, and the techniques for doing so have been lost to time.

Puppeteers are regarded by some as vestiges of a distasteful past, despite their necessary functions as Soul Tinkers. Public sentiment is mixed toward a Puppeteer.

"Otherwise, just tell me what you would like and I'll whip up what I can with the resources we have lying around."

Vil held up his hand. "No, you go collect the necessary paperwork for Anjali. I will forge her equipment myself."

Freya nodded and hurried out with a renewed vigor. Vil rose up to his full height and put his hand on his mask, drumming his long fingers over the smooth surface. He chuckled, "I haven't seen Freya so excited in such a long time. We are very fortunate to have found you. Now tell me, what would you like me to make for you?"

Spoiler: Rugal

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Right to Rule

[i]rugal's Story[/i]

[hr]

Minerva looked at Rugal with apathetic eyes. In one swift motion she produced a short sword out of the wisps of silver smoke trailing out of her robes and tossed it to Rugal. Then she spoke so plainly that even Rugal felt the jarring transition from Minerva the god speaking to Minerva the person speaking, "If what you said is true, then kill yourself so that our world and yours both will be rid of such an abhorrent person."

An owl screeched as it and Kyuubey came to a series of quick blows over a spot on the railing.

"Minerva," Kyuubey interjected. He placed both his paws on top of the defeated owl's head. "I do think you are being far too harsh. The man is trying his best, though his rhetoric is weak, I do believe his emotions are true."

"You overstep your authority, White One," Minerva answered. She held out her hand and a spear materialized and ran through Kyuubey, launching him off of the balcony and into the streets below. A new Kyuubey ran up the side of the terrace and took the old one's place on the owl's head. His red eyes gleamed, overtaking the silver of the moon above.

"That is highly improbable. It is interesting that even an entity of your nature is subordinate to the emotions that make the human race so special," he scratched his ears, "eventually I would like to examine what causes creates your waveform function, Minerva. It is most peculiar. Perhaps you are a Witch that has lost her memories? But I do not remember creating you, nor would that explain your male family members. Familiars gone awry perhaps?"

A second spear tore Kyuubey's head off of it's body. A third of the white creatures appeared. "I-"

He was cut off by a rain of spears that completely eviscerated him as he appeared on the terrace. A mist of his pink innards settled in a thin layer on Rugal. A fourth appeared, padding down from the roof of the hotel. "You should know that no matter how many of me you kill, there are still more of us."

"You are even more of a monster than this pitiful man you seek to protect."

"That's cruel Minerva."

"I have yet to be convinced that you and your kind are capable of emotions."

"We are, but it is considered a mental illness," Kyuubey tilted his head and added a Kyu~ at the end of his sentence. A spear sent the body flying toward the stars.

"What is it that you want, White One?"

"Let Rugal Bernstein live. If for no other reason than to satiate my own curiosity."

Minerva banished her spears in a flourish of her arms and set her grim eyes on Kyuubey. "Fine. But I will take a sacrifice from you."

"If that is the nature of the contract," he tilted his head "will a hundred white bulls do? Or would you prefer the burning of cassia in your name, or the victor of the next Olympics be yours?"

"I will have Athens restored," Minerva sneered.

Kyuubey's ears glowed with light, "It will be so."

Minerva vanished in a plume of silver smoke. Livia slumped to the ground, eyes barely open. She muttered something from under her breath before she fell asleep, exhausted from serving as the vessel of a god.

Kyuubey sat down and addressed Rugal, "I have done some research and this girl Livia is probably the key for you to leave this world. I have a hypothesis that if you simply kill Livia, the ripples in causality might be significant enough for you to return home."

Spoiler: Nina

[hr]

Table for Two

[i]nina's story[/i]

[hr]

The atmosphere in the train car was grim as Nina made her announcement. The psychological weight of losing the Matron was devastating to the eldritch. Mnemosyne, however, seemed to be effected less than most. She was still able to stand, albeit weakly, and move forward by using the tables to support herself as she inched toward the front of the train.

Ironically, Nina found herself to be one of the most able, if not the most able, people on the train. Her mundane nature and resistance to natural eldritch nature made her completely immune to the aura that had settled like a smothering blanket over the citizens of Anazorzia.

"Nina," Mnemosyne forced through her teeth as she opened the door to the next car, "I appreciate your enthusiasm... but this sort of behavior is a little inappropriate for the circumstances."

The screen on Nina's phone blinked to life as it received a text message.

Hey, hey, flatstuff. I hope you had fun in this little wonderland.
So sad though, all things have to come to an end at some time...
But hey, it's the end of their universe, doesn't mean it has to be
the end of yours. I'll tell you what, if you can figure out who on
this train killed the Matron and why, I'll give you a special reward <3.

Here are the rules:

1. You may only guess once.
2. You may not leave this train.
3. You may not use any precognitive abilities.
4. You may not kill anyone on the train.
5. You may not tell anyone about this game.
6. You may not ask anyone to help you with this game.
7. You may ask others questions about the circumstances of the murder.
8. You lose if the train reaches the end of the universe.
9. You lose if any of these rules are broken.

Let me give you some hints:

1. There is only one killer.
2. The killer is on the train.
3. The killer is mortal.
4. I'm not the killer.

Oh huh, all of the people on the train are mortal now since they've
all got Stardust poisoning now huh? I guess number 3 is kind of a
crapshoot now. Soz.

Anyway, once you think you know who it is, text me their true name
and their motive for killing.

GL HF!

"Come on Nina. Help me over, I have to see the crime scene..." Mnemosyne held out a hand to Nina, beckoning her for help.

 

[Zepherus14]

[hr]

Table for Two

Nina's story

​

[hr]

Spoiler: INVESTIGATION START!

Nina looked over the crowd, honestly expecting at least some sort of a reaction. She wasn't expecting everyone to get up and go, but for Mnemonyse to be the only one to get up was pretty disappointing. "I appreciate your enthusiasm... but this sort of behavior is a little inappropriate for the circumstances." She frankly looked drunk to Nina, since Nina herself couldn't feel the oppressive influence.

"Well no shit." Nina murmured back, eyeing the rest of the people slummed there. "Their, your great great grandmother just got murdered in cold blood! I tried to put it as softly as possible, but come on, I'm not an idiot. I thought it was a long shot." Nina whispered, sounding a little annoyed that she felt like she was being spoken down to. "You sure you're feeling alright, you don't look so-"

BZZZZT~ BZZZZT~

Nina looked down at her phone, honestly surprised she was getting a message at all, let alone service. She was on the edge of a universe completely outside of any realm that had any business having telecom towers. "Come on Nina. Help me over, I have to see the crime scene..." Mnemonyse called out to her, drawing her away from the blinking message. "Right, right... Just let me check this one thing... my plans gone kinda sideways since, everyone's mourning." Nina explained, that feeling of empathy washing over her as she saw the faces of those there in the car. "Phillip, could you help her for now, I'll be right there." "Do I have to?" Phillip replied back, his contempt for Mnemonyse pretty out in the open, Nina just giving him this look of 'Pretty please? It'd mean a lot to me~'. "Fiiiine, but I won't like it..."

And with that, Phillip would hop off Nina's shoulder, engorging to his full size as he brought himself over to Mnemonyse and picked her up unceremoniously to then plop her down on a chair. He'd then pull her through the hallway fairly effortlessly as he anchored himself from place to place, and rather quickly pull her through the door.

Nina'd follow along from a distance, flipping open the message with a sense of dread. She'd seen enough movies to know this was either spam or something really fucked up, and soon she'd fine it to be the latter. 'That FUCKING SON OF A *****!' She looked around, trying to figure out if anyone was looking at her, getting some picks out of this. 'What does that even mean precognitive abilities, if I can't get any help from anyone then obviously I don't have abilities to use? Fucking really though... She's just lucky I was already going to figure out who the hell this killer was anyways. And how am I supposed to know their real names if everyone here's got a million yard stare going on... FUCKING *****!' She thought to herself, frankly just as much if not more pissed off at whoever this little shit was than the killer. With a few more punctual taps of her phone, she saved this new number as 'McDipshit' and pulled up some music to play quietly in the background. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js6aiyKjvIA] If Mnemonyse asked, Nina'd just say it was reflection music or something from her world. She needed to get into the mood for some Truth Bullet Sleuthing after all.

Nina'd then catch back up, get Mnemonyse off the chair with an arm over her shoulder, being mindful to watch their hair. "How do you know this is the right way Mnemonyse?" She asked.

 

[BlackHarte]

Spoiler: Nina

[hr]

Table for Two

nina's story

​

[hr]

"There's a sense of dread coming from up there," Mnemosyne answered, "it's like the stench of blood. It's sickly beyond reason." They moved slowly through the cars. Each one was the same of the last. The Eldritch patrons were dumbstruck by the sudden murder of the Matron. The only real movement was the heavy footfalls shared between Nina and Mnemosyne.

In the first car, the ballroom car, they found the whirlwind of darkness that was Nocturne. He hovered over a corpse on the ground that was soaked in black-shadow blood. The Matron, or at least her corpse, looked to be that of a human woman. She had long red hair that would have been waist length and fair skin. She had wide shoulders and hips and must have been at least seven feet tall when she was standing straight. Her dress was an immaculate weave of crystal thread that still held all the colors of light within it's lattice weave.

She lay still on the ground, arms placed on her lap. Instead of blood, a streak of misty shadows trickled out of a wound on her neck. For someone who was murdered, she looked oddly at peace.

Nocturne chimed as Mnemosyne and Nina approached, but with none of his family to translate for him, the primal darkness was indecipherable. Mnemosyne looked on in confusion at Nocturne and motioned that she couldn't understand him. He twisted and turned and then pointed at Nina as if to say, "this girl is now in charge of the investigation, if only because everyone else on board this train is no longer in a correct state of mind."

Mnemosyne nodded and took a seat on the floor, leaning back against one of the booth chairs. She looked up at the ceiling, her eyes betrayed her exhaustion.

The other great monstrosities in the ballroom car sat is silence at the booths near the walls.

Scene 1: Matricide

The Matron lies dead on the floor as eldritch life forces flows out of the wound in her neck. It looks like a laceration, but there is no sign of a struggle nor a weapon. She lies serene, hands folded in her lap as if in prayer. Her eyes are closed.

Nocturne has transferred the duty of the investigation to Nina for the reason that Nina is unaffected by the foul aura that has settled over the train after the death of the matron. Mnemosyne is crippled, but will help in the investigation when prompted.

The other guests in this car are flabbergasted, but most of them are too alien for Nina to speak to.

The killer could still be anyone.

It may be prudent to speak to one or more of the following people or anyone else that Nina might think of:

Crown, the Count of Lineage - He might know someone who has a grudge against the Matron?
Faea, the Spider - Maybe she heard something before the blackout that could help?
Groa, the White - His Domain is that of Healing, maybe he can examine the body?
Primal Knowledge - Mnemosyne's father. He's really smart, maybe he can point us in the right direction?
Nivdeth - The train conductor. Maybe he saw someone suspicious while he was collecting tickets?
Cuelle, Eyeless Seer - She was the only one that saw it happen, but she can see into the future so does that count as breaking the rules?
Miriam - Crown said that she has no lineage. Maybe she's not effected by the Matron's death either?

Mnemosyne chuckled, "To think that you used to be the weakest person here. Now you're the shoulder we're all relying on to carry us through this crisis. We're counting on you Nina."

 

[Zepherus14]

[hr]

Table for Two

Nina's story

​

[hr]

Spoiler

Nina would stop fast as she finally saw the corpse, the mortality one will inevitably face making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Although she'd seen other maimed bodies in the time in Denver, there was a differences here, a different mind set. Her delusions could not shield her from a corpse she'd gone to find, nor did this world lend itself to such hand holding. "I think I know what you're talking about now with the stench." Nina gulped loudly.

The turn of events were not in her favour, she was a civilian after all, how many ordinary people would be happy to hear that they alone were going to head a high profile murder case? But given the current situation Nocturne was right, she was the only one able to accomplish this goal. 'Damn it, I was really hoping to get everyone together for this but... if McDipshit's serious then... I'll have to follow along with their rules. Not that I want to, but if I don't then I might lose the one chance to fix all this. Someone that full of themselves wouldn't give up a chance to personally give a special gift, that's my chance!' Nina clenched her fist as her vision shifted from the Matron's body to Nocturne's mass.

"You got it! I won't let you all down." Nina confirmed to the shadow monster, taking out her phone and taking several pictures of the scene in front of her. Now real detectives would probably frown upon Nina taking investigation advice from the likes of CSI, NCIS, Phoenix Wright and Danganrompa, good thing they weren't there to chastise her about it. Those shows and livestreams were the best thing she had now.

"To think that you used to be the weakest person here. Now you're the shoulder we're all relying on to carry us through this crisis. We're counting on you Nina." Nina chuckled nervously at this comment, organizing the pictures she'd gotten of the general room's layout, the Matron's position and her current injuries. "No pressure though, right? I... I kinda wish I could be smug about all this, after some of the comments I've gotten here, some humble pie would have been really fitting..." Nina lamented, letting out a deep sigh. "But I'd never wish for this, brought down so far because of something so tragic." Nina said looking up to Phillip who'd been silently overseeing their activities. "I really wish it hadn't come to this, but since you're here, could you look at this for me?"

Nina would move over to Mnemonyse, showing her her phone with the wound marks. "Crown had said that your guns wouldn't hurt the people here, so what weapons do? Also, when we were walking up here, I tried to spot where your dad was, but must have missed him on the first pass. Do you know where he should be, I might need to get some info from him." Nina asked, giving the woman a good look at the wound marks, letting Phillip hold the phone up for her while she turned to Nocturne.

"And Nocturne, I know we can't understand you, but you can understand us." She said grabbing two random objects from the car, what they were didn't much matter. "I'm going to ask you some yes or no questions, and you're gonna lift one of these to answer which one, do you understand me?" Nina said setting down the two objects for him to use after indicating which meant which.

If Nocturne would answer yes, Nina would continue on with these questions.
"Has the Matron been moved since you've arrived?"
-
"Has there been anyone here acting extra strange here in comparison to anyone else in between that blackout and us getting here. And if so, point out who with the yes object."
-
"... Actually, did anyone else notice that blackout? It was after Cuelle said "Because of that" the world went black and silent for a bit before it came back. Was that just me or did anyone else see that? Trying to figure out a time line." This last one was for everyone including Phillip to answer.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Origin Plains: Rising Dawn Hanger: Adelheid Bernstein, Torment X Leoric

"-To engage in land transit mode, release the break handle and put it into 1st gear. 1st gear, 1st gea-...wait, where's the gear stick?...isn't there meant to be one in here? Who makes a car without a gear stick? Grrrrr..."

Back with our heroes and one of the least lucky people to ever been born, Adelheid was trying to make sense of one of the least helpful user manuals he had ever read.
Peering from his book and over the transport's dashboard, he let out a sigh of relief when he failed to see anyone else in the hanger.
"Alright. Calm down, nearly there. You got this...Y-you got this..." He reassured himself as he shook off his nerves before attempting to start the transport-
"The ignition is under the steering wheel."

Instincts quickly took over as Adel barely avoided getting his head taken off by a rather large mace, watching in shock as it cleaved right though the dashboard.
His eyes couldn't believe what he was seeing, a rather large skeleton with a frenzied expression on his face(?) as he grinned at him.
"Don't worry, you were still the fastest one of you to figure out how to use one of these flying vessels. Shame it won't help you..." Leoric taunted before Adel attempted to escape, vaulting over the chair and-...getting whacked in the chest by a rather skillful swing.
Stumbling back to his feet off the floor, he brought up his hand before shouting "REPPUKEN!", attempting to use one of his famous ki attacks on the skeletal invader.

Such an attempt was met with manic mocking laughter as Leoric swatted it away with his mace, blowing a large flaming hole in the side of the transport.
"You tried this last time! It's not going to work!" He pointed out before Adel used the opening to dive out of the vehicle.
Phasing though the metal, Leoric quickly prepped another mighty swing of his mace, nailing Adel center-mass and flinging him against the exterior before he could even touch the ground.
"No one. EVER listens to me! NO ONE! You will obey your king, Peasant! HEAR THAT DIABLO!? I KNOW YOU CAN! YOU THINK YOUR LITTLE CHILDREN'S PUPPETS CAN FOOL ME?!" The Black King barked, as if someone was watching, while Adel tried to flee once more.
That was before he noticed a large spectral hand start to form around him, squeezing the literal life out of him and transferring it to his attacker.
Confusion set in first as Adel noticed the flesh on his limbs start to become more emancipated and his bones more visible, then terror as he realized what was happening then...sheer exhaustion as his attempt to run turned into a meek stumbling crawl.
"Oh, where were you going to run? To your demonic masters?! Well, I have some bad news for you..."

Grabbing him by his hair as the life and strength fled his body, Leoric knelt down before whispering a rather unsettling message: "No one came to help you the last time I killed you. So make it easy on yourself. Surrender. It will be over soon...For you and the rest of these traitors..."
He then raised up his mace to bring it down upon Adel's head...

Origin Plains: Rising Dawn Medical Bay: David West, Jenny, Dr. Violet

After whitie'ing out in front of everyone and ruining what at the time seemed like a wise use of several thousand dollars ("Ewwww...it's all warm and under everything..."), David soon awoke in the medical bay, feeling just as much of a killer hangover as he did earlier.
But even though the sedatives, the comfort liquor and the medical grade liquor you aren't even meant to drink, it wasn't enough to stop the pounding in his skull.
Clutching his pillow, he grit his teeth in pain while Jenny and Violet tried to figure out what was happening to him.
"So if it's not biological, then what is it? Technological?"
"No, it was nothing like that. Don't even know what kinda term we would use for it. All that I know is it's causing him a great deal of distress..."
"[sub]And gave me one hell of dry cleaning bill...[/sub]

Their exchange was interrupted when David suddenly screamed awake, shouting "HANGER BAY! BLONDE KID! SKELETOR! SOMETHING ABOUT SHIFT STICK! FUCK! WHY WON'T THIS STOP?!"
"David! David! Calm down! Violet, more sedative!"
"Again?! God, what's this guy's liver made of?!" The "Doctor" said before quickly taking another needle and jamming it into David's neck, causing his expression to go blank before he finally leaned back on his pillow, murmuring slightly as he drifted off into another restless sleep.
"It's getting worse...And we're no closer to figuring what it is..."
"...Why was he talking about shift sticks?"

Spoiler: Rugal

[hr]

Right to Rule

[i]Rugal's Story[/i]

[hr]

"...Of course she is..." Rugal sighed after watching the two god's slight confrontation.
While Kyuubey did stand up for him, it did little to ease his distrust of the creature as he looked down at Livia.
He paused for a moment before gently picking Kyuubey, even petting him slightly as he stared down at her.
Indecision filled him as he slowly raised his palm towards her, as if about to raze the woman with a powerful ki blast.
"..."
Silently turning back to Kyuubey, he spent a lot longer weighing up his options then he usually did when he was about to end someone's life.

"...There is one thing I am curious about. You seem to be able to reform from any injury. But what about...displacement?...Like this-"
Rather then take his advice, Rugal instead decided to see how well he compared to the Discus legends of old, throwing the creature with all his might as far as possible across the city.
He watched from the balcony with a content look on his face as Kyuubey flew though the night sky like some children's lullaby. (Albeit, a bit closer to the Mach 1 then in most of those stories...)
Exhaling happily as he managed to vent just a bit of his anger on someone who most likely deserved it, he then calmly picked Livia's sleeping form up before returning her to her room before that smug little bastard flew back or something.
Casually laying her in her bed and even going so far as to tuck her in, he then retired for the night, awaiting their departure to Pompeii.

This road might be the longer one to home, but it would have been the one his family would have wanted him to take.

 

[BlackHarte]

Spoiler: Nina

[hr]

Table for Two

Nina's story

​

[hr]

Mnemosyne smiled weakly, "My guns are causality weapons. They're more for damaging the souls of aberrations than any actual killing. But if you want to know about the weapons that can kill a God... there are several that exist. But they're all special, named weapons. There's; Sendahl, the Banishing Blade; Kusanagi, the God-Slaying Sword; Vora, Ancient Disk; Telshir, Heaven's Needle; Longinus, Crown-Breaking Spear; and Dusk King, Ancient Reaper. But almost all of these aren't in Anazoriza, in fact, most of them can't even be brought into Anazorzia. " Then Mnemosyne tilted her head, "as for Primal Knowledge, he should be somewhere in the operations car down near the center of the train. If you're going to go talk to him, I would make sure you have a really good grip on your intimate regions. His branches wander a bit too much in his old age."

Then Nina turned to Nocturne who graciously took the objects from her hands.

"Has the Matron been moved since you've arrived?"

No.

"Has there been anyone here acting extra strange here in comparison to anyone else in between that blackout and us getting here. And if so, point out who with the yes object."

No.

"... Actually, did anyone else notice that blackout? It was after Cuelle said "Because of that" the world went black and silent for a bit before it came back. Was that just me or did anyone else see that? Trying to figure out a time line."

Yes.

"I saw that as well, yes. The emptiness. It was something more foreign than usual," Mnemosyne chimed in, "it was different from darkness, it was more intense... you'll have to ask Primal Knowledge about it. I have to admit that I don't know enough to tell you anything about that phenomenon."

The Emptiness: Mnemosyne and Nocturne both agree that the darkness that Nina experienced was not unique to her. In fact, after asking around, just about everyone experienced the Emptiness. They all describe it similarly, a brief instance of a nothing so intense that even the word "nothing" fails to describe it adequately.

Mnemosyne said to ask her father, Primal Knowledge, about it. But Cuelle was the only one that actually saw through the phenomenon, maybe she knows something even Primal Knowledge doesn't?

Spoiler: Rugal

[hr]

Right to Rule

[i]Rugal's Story[/i]

[hr]

The morning broke without much incident. Kyuubey had returned at some point during the night and eaten the broken corpses of his previous bodies. The spears that Minerva had summoned lay in neat organized piles on the balcony. They had begun to turn transparent as the sun bore down on them. They would disappear by midday.

Kleo prepared a breakfast for everyone that consisted of spiced bread and fresh fish she had picked up from the docks before the sun had risen. Despite her youth and small stature, she was succeeding at filling in the void that Eurydice had left with her passing. Though, there were clear signs of exhaustion starting to appear on the girl. Every now and again she stumbled in her gait as if her mind was somewhere else.

Ostia was just as lively in the morning as it was in the night. Instead of business men lining the streets, there were fishermen, farmers, craftsmen, and cooks who peddled their wares to passing travelers from either the sea or capital. Livia had bought a second horse to carry the lithified body of Eurydice. The other girls had wrapped the marble statue in robes and a scarf, and sitting on top of a trotting horse, it was difficult to tell that she wasn't alive.

As they were about to reach the coastal highroad down toward Pompeii, a courier appeared shouting after Livia.

"Lucretius!" the lanky man shouted as he approached. He was ambiguously an adult. He had the beard for it, but the rest of his body seemed to be stuck in his teenage years, from his knobbly knees up to his frayed sandy hair, he looked like someone who had just stumbled out of a high school. "A letter for you, from the Consulate." He handed a bound parchment to Livia. "It is a case most urgent."

Livia looked over the paper and scoffed softly, "I will get to this when I can. At the moment I am on an important pilgrimage, so I would appreciate it if you would tell Julius that I will appear before the Senate come the next full moon."

"Understood," the courier bowed and then left the way he came.

"What is it about, mistress?" Kleo asked.

"Just some loose ends that Father left me. I will clean them up on our return trip." Livia answered.

Kleo's eyes widened at the mention of her Father, but she quickly averted her gaze and ducked her head beneath her cowl.

---​

They reached Pompeii a little before the onset of evening. They had eaten a mix of cheese, bread, and fish that Ortha had fashioned into a makeshift stew for lunch. She had come across a bushel of lemongrass from Arabia in the morning markets and the addition made the stew somewhat edible.

Where Ostia was a small bustling city on a well defended artificial harbor, Pompeii was something else entirely. The place reminded Rugal more of Las Vegas than any other place he had ever seen. It was better than Las Vegas even, instead of a flat plain of unbearable desert, there were olive trees and greens that blanketed the rolling hills around the city. The city itself was in a valley near the ocean. Huge estates covered the land from high on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius down to the beaches. Further inland, the density of the buildings increased until at the forum, huge complexes for pleasure, drinking, and gambling existed. The tune of the city itself was lazy. The people moved and acted as if they would live for an eternity.

There was a gambling den on every block, a brothel every other, and on every corner was a cook hawking his meats, breads, and vegetables to people passing by.

Unlike in Ostia, when Livia rode into the city, no one paid her any attention.

"Rugal," Livia said upon reaching a crossroads near the estate road and the downtown center, "I am going to journey down to the shore to visit my grandparents. This is the place where you would best find someone devoted to the God of drinking, orgies, but most importantly, boundaries. Look for Bacchus among the women of this city. Most likely they would be girls from wealthy families posing as prostitutes and the like. If you do not find what you need before you must rest, you may seek out the villa on the coast emblazoned with the mark of twin asps. That is where I will be, and I will welcome you to rest your head there should you need it."

With that Livia pulled the reigns of her horse and started down toward the shore and the setting sun.

 

[Silence]

Spoiler: Anjali

[hr]

Reason to Rise

[i]anjali's story[/i]

[hr]

Anjali thought for a long time, and looked around the workshop, before she finally decided. "I definitely need something else to wear regardless. And I think I know what kind of puppet I want to use. Though first, what fits me ..." She walked over to some leather plates. "Maybe we could build some kind of armor out of these ... tie it together with some laces. And ..." She looked over what was available further, and found a dark green cloth.

"I think this would make a good cape and hood ..." Now that she had thought about it, and had this many materials at her disposal, she started to learn what she wanted. Instead of letting Vil work by himself, she instructed him how to build some kind of leather armor and trousers, tied together with laces at the sides, some plates on her forearms and lower legs, for protection, and a belt and some more laces at her back, to keep her spear there. And above, a dark green hood and cloak, flowing over her back and to the ground, so she could keep herself hidden from view, if necessary.

After she was done, she set her eyes on pieces, plates, that looked similar to the ones Vil had on his body. "I know what you should build for me, though I do not know how you would build something like it. And how you fuel it with this soul essence. I require you to build a long body, something that can writhe and is agile enough to both get through small spaces or constrict something between it. Something that has sharp fangs and a bite that can go through whatever this guild is throwing at me. I want you to build a mechanical snake for me. Can you do this?"

 

[BlackHarte]

Spoiler: Anjali

[hr]

Reason to Rise

[i]anjali's story[/i]

[hr]

"You insult me by even asking," Vil said. The inner workings of his body clicked and whirred. The back of his chest plate let of steam and he held out his arms to either side of him. "I am more than capable."

Spoiler: Party Member: Vil

Name: Vil ur Cor Sakse
Age: Unknown
Race: Living Doll
Affiliation: Dulce Free States
Unique Ability: Nameless Art
Equipment: Puppet Chassis - Smiling Moon

The dormant puppets rattled at his sudden display of power. The salamander that Anjali had saw before materialized again. It's body a bed of smoldering lava as it clung to Vil's back. It blinked. Anjali could swear that she felt Vil swell with pride as the salamander crawled up to his shoulders. The sapphire on his belt gleamed with light. The incomplete bodies sprung to life, clattering and rolling. Their limbs and bones smacked against wood and metal as they rolled toward Vil.

"A puppet snake you desire, a puppet snake you will acquire." He clasped his hand and the pieces slammed into each other. The clasps undid themselves as ceramic and steel came apart to be rebound by leather and crystals. Slowly the frame of a great snake began to take shape. A serpent armored in white, with glittering amber eyes. From head to tail it was twelve feet long and as thick as Anjali's thigh. The underbelly was woven scale and undulated as it cleaned itself of dust.

Vil drew the mechanical snake around on the floor with a flourish of his hand until it rested in a neat coil before Anjali. "Alas, the gift of life must be given by its puppeteer." He produced a small amber gemstone seemingly from nowhere and held it out to Anjali. "Hold this lacrima and summon forth all of your love. Envision the puppet in your mind's eye and crystallize your desire for it to prosper. See it grow and live, be happy for it's joy and heartbroken at it's sadness. See it hunger and be satiated, see both the peak of it's excitement and deepest lulls of its sleep. Then press all of your empathy into the puppet through this crystal, and bring it to life with it's name."

 

[Silence]

Spoiler: Anjali

[hr]

Reason to Rise

[i]anjali's story[/i]

[hr]

Anjali took the lacrima into her hands and kneeled down on the ground, before the curled up, lifeless snake.Vil had said that she should summon all her love into the crystal, though she did not know how. The feelings she had, they still felt alien to her, not quite her own. Though ... what was inside her was supporting her in what she was doing. It wanted to bring part of it out, into this crystal, into the snake's body. Before Anjali even started doing anything herself, the small amber started to change its color into a dark, almost black, greenish color, and swirling around it were the silvery snake spirits she had summoned before.

She looked up to Vil, then down on the gemstone again. It was starting to emit power. Anjali softly spoke, trying to bring what happened under her control. "You are part of me and I am part of you. I want to bring you to life, and keep you safe. Your feelings are my feelings. Your hunger is my hunger, and your rest is my rest. I want you at my side ..." The spirits stirred, then calmed down, giving a seemingly spiritual connection between the gemstone and her hands. The greenish tint slowly vanished again, though the power inside the amber lingered.

Helding out the amber to Vil, she smiled, and said: "I think it is done." She looked at the ceramic snake, like a mother looking at a child, and waited for it to stir and move by itself.

 

[BlackHarte]

Spoiler: Anjali

[hr]

Reason to Rise

[i]anjali's story[/i]

[hr]

Vil put his hand over Anjali's and gently guided it down to the snake's head. He pressed his ceramic fingers into her cold flesh. His hand was warm and smooth, with the subtle reassuring feeling that was appropriate for his grandfatherly mannerisms. The gemstone melted into the ceramic and the snake's eyes flared to life.

She could see herself in the snake's mind standing before herself. A myriad of colors shimmered in her vision, she saw these colors flow through the room, pouring out from the activated lacrimas in the puppet and in Vil.

The puppet raised it's head. It was not wholly subservient to Anjali. No. But it loved her as she had loved it.

"Wonderful!" Vil said, "Truly wonderful."

The door opened.

It was a tall man, comely with well groomed brown hair and a square chin. His eyes were dark brown and his outfit reminded her of some of the higher ranking staff she had met on the Rising Dawn. It was a black coat that buttoned down on both sides of his broad chest. He cleared his throat, looking at Anjali with suspicion.

"This is the girl that you are sponsoring to become an adventurer?" He seemed dissatisfied somehow. He turned to his right and shouted, "You could have at least told me she was a Soul Tinkerer, then I would not have needed to waste my time coming down! I would have dismissed your request immediately!"

"No, you cuntnugget!" Freya answered with the same amount of aggression, "She's not a Soul Tinker. She's an honest to god Puppeteer. Like Leland. She has the gift."

This man must have been Cor.

Cor turned and regarded Anjali again, tearing her apart with his analyzing gaze. Her snake instinctively moved to shield her from his leer. "So it seems. But I will not allow you."

"I ain't askin' to be allowed! You don't have any power over me, ya hear!? You can make goddamn suggestions, but you ain't going to stop me from doing nothin'!"

"You would so flippantly disregard your father's will!?"

"I. AM. NOT. LELAND'S. PUPPET."

Cor took a step back, flustered. He cleared his throat, "I... I didn't mean. I mean, I never said you were."

"Than whattafuck are ya on about talkin' about some deadman's will!? I'm alive, he's dead, getitinta yer goddamn ****-dreaming bullshit-spewing overdressed-assstain-colored-hair-brownnosing-whore-fuckin' head!"

He held his hands up. "Look, I know your mad. I know there's no point in talking to you when you're mad. So let's just calm down and talk this through like adults. This is a very dangerous proposition you're asking me to sign off on."

Freya slapped him. "So what!? You want me to stay cooped up heah withya for the rest of my life? If this is about wantin' ta sleep with me, then fine! I'll fuck ya if you sign off on this fuckin' sponsorship form. I'll do it right fuckin' now so youc'n show everyone how ya have finally broken in ol' Leland's daughtah."

"That's not what this is about!" Cor roared back. He grabbed her by her shoulders and embraced her.

"Let me go!" she shrieked.

"I love you Freya, yes. But it's not because of anything your father did. I love you because you're like this."

"Fuckin' pervert! Ugly bastard! Die you fuckin' goat-sucking whore-beating asshat!"

"I know you don't want to hear it. But for fuck's sake I need you to listen to me for a damn second!" Cor shouted. Freya stopped struggling, stunned by his use of an expletive. He let her go. "I love you, Freya, but not because of anything your father did. I love you because you were cruel and crass, and you loved to pick on me more than anything. That even though i was a pathetic child who didn't know how to do anything, you would always bring new inventions for me to see, new animals, new insects. I loved that you always came to see me, even when everyone told you that you couldn't. I love you because I don't want to be away from you. That's why when your father put you up, I spent my entire family fortune to save you."

"Savin' me? Is that whatcha call it?" Freya grumbled.

"I don't want to see you hurt. That's why I never sent any of the delving teams your way. That's why I always wanted you to check in with me with whatever you were doing. If you died, I would have no reason to live, no reason to advance my position, no reason to make Dulce a better place." Cor cleared his throat, "You're my raison d'etre, Freya. Without you, my world is an worse place."

Freya stared at Cor. It was her turn to be flustered. She wore a mixture of anger and relief on her face, unsure of which one she ought to be feeling in a situation like this.

"So I don't approve of you running off in search of Controller like this. Because I don't want to lose you. But if you can swear to me, in the way that Freya Allyone of Terenith swears, that you will not take any stupid risks in this journey. I'll approve your sponsorship."

"That's... askin' a lot."

"You were ready to fuck me in this hallway to get what you wanted not two minutes ago."

Freya blushed. "And ya won't laugh?"

"Why would I?" Cor answered as he let Freya go.

"I swear upon my heart, my soul, and my body that I will uphold this promise with all of my being."

"I still don't like this," he produced a pen from his breast pocket and signed a paper before handing it to Freya, "but God knows that I'd rather die than have you be legitimately angry at me." Then he turned to Anjali. "You take good care of Freya for me, okay? She's hotblooded to a fault and liable to get herself killed to satisfy her curiosity."

He held out his hand to Anjali, "Will you promise me with the oath of wherever you're from?"

 

[bluerocker]

shout out to Diabs for writing/supervision on some bits.

[hr]

Origin Plains​

[hr]

Ton Ton and Cadolbolg looked at each other with curious expressions when Diana suggested making use of shapeshifting for investigative purposes...or perhaps mischief. Cadolbolg was the first to speak up, his youthful exuberance shining through when he asked, "You can shapeshift? Can you turn into a cupcake? No would expect a cupcake watching them!"

[color=15650D]"Or potentially get her eaten..."[/color]

"Aww...." Cadolbolg slumped in the air - a strange sight for something that was formerly hovering there, and then reflapped his wings to right himself as he asked instead, "Well, I dunno what'd be the most fitting, really. My father says spying on people is rude, so you shouldn't do that in the first place! But you are right about one thing- something's screwy. I thought we were on the Dawn, but instead it's right over there..."

Ton Ton coughed to get his brother's and Diana's attention, and indicated his head to the airship, [color=15650D]"While your shapeshifting abilities are a very useful ability, I don't think they'll get much use out here. Why don't we go inside- and maybe you could tell us your name? I'm Ton Ton by the way,"[/color] he gestured to Cadolbolg and followed up, [color=15650D]"And this is my brother, Cadolbolg. Also, I apologize for yelling at you earlier. I suppose we all got off on the wrong foot with the rude awakening."[/color]

---

Angelus looked down at the "former" slimegirl, her immense head tilting in confusion as she regarded Hillary, "What on earth...?"

She took a hefty sniff at the strange red-scaled creature, and to her surprise - smelled herself! The dragon lifted a toe cautiously to inspect Hillary further, an expression of bemusement upon the dragon's face, "'Another' dragon...? Ah, you must have met my son, Cadolbolg. I think I recall speaking with you in my mortal form, Hillary."

She lifted her wing to let more of the sunlight in from above dance upon Hillary's new scales as she examined her, thinking aloud, "I understand that is a human's name, but human you clearly are not. What matter of creature are you that you can replicate the exact smell and texture of my scales... Caim, come gaze upon this."

Caim - who had felt a strange sort of disappointment from his fight being interrupted, turned when he was called. Sheathing his sword, the warrior wandered over to where Angelus and the draconic-Hillary were speaking, blinking in confusion at the sight. As he closed in, he crossed his arms and tilted his head, looking between the pair and shrugging,

"Hillary, right? Angelus, we've seen this one change before- it's probably just like that, only with your scales instead of metal...though the fact that she *can* replicate it is interesting..."

Rather like Angelus before him, Caim leaned in to examine the strange property of Hillary's as well; eyes narrowing as he scrutinized each scale that made up her new form.

---

Teri gave Hillary a friendly wave before the shapeshifting slime girl went off to hug Angelus' leg, a small smile growing on the Cleric's face. Hillary was honestly one of the nicer people she had met on board - her disposition being something she'd liken to a sunflower; bright, open, and easily seen by all. As she watched Hillary carry on as she usually did, Teri couldn't help but muse, [color=0e59e4]"What a sweetie pie..."[/color]

However when she heard the sound of the Reppuken Adel sent towards Leoric, her head jerked in the reaction towards the sound. At the sight of Leoric assaulting her once very cyber-ified patient Teri hopped on Garm's back and urged him towards the terrifying looking skeleton man. As the wolf charged towards Leoric, Teri's hands moved in strange and arcane waves, her voice taking on a sonorous quality as she incanted the spell. With a final gesture, a series of small blue lights appeared out of the aether, 10 in number, and began to spin around her head, almost like a crown. With a focused glare at Leoric, the Cleric pointed a finger at the undead king, the lights around her head shooting straight towards him.

Right before his mace could hit it's mark, he stumbled back when the weapon was seemingly shot out of his hands.
"What th-OW! Hey-OH! AH! Will you-OW! Now you liste-OW! I'M ON YOUR SIDE! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO KILL YOU BEFORE-AHHH! DAMMIT! RIGHT WHERE MY FACE WOULD HAVE BEEN!" He then protested as he was peppered repeated with holy bolts, each one causing his undead form to glow brightly as he used his hands to protect his crown from the barrage.

"No, no, no, NO NO NO NO! You aren't meant to show up now! Curse you! The Black King screamed as he faded from view, only to reform atop the burning transport, clearly irate over his lovely one liner being ruined by meddling kids.
"Oh, you think you can best me, child!? Or should I say....DEMONIC APPARITION OF BAAL-I mean-...wait, which one was the one who lied all the time again?...Belial! That was it!" He rambled for a time, followed by his best "Totally insane old man" impression.

Teri elected to ignore Leoric's ramblings, instead dismounting from Garm to look over Adel. While the winter wolf stood his ground and growled at the undead king, Teri began chanting another series of prayers, laying a hand on the young martial artist as she finished with a punctuated, [color=0E59E4]"Panacea!"[/color]

A golden light bloomed around her hand, before entering the martial artist's body, the young Cleric's lower lip worried as the healing energy surged through him, [color=0E59E4]"Come on...hang in there! Don't die on me!"[/color]

Teri cast Darts of Life (a 5th level spell) and Panacea (4th level).
Darts of Life creates 10 glowing lights around the caster's head, each able to heal 1d8 points of damage. In Leoric's case, because he is undead, it *damages* him instead.

Panacea is a powerful healing spell, which restores a small amount of HP as well as wipes away a number of rough status conditions. Adel heals for 19 points and is cleared up of (most) potential status conditions.
Time till next 5th level spell: 12 seconds
Time till next 4th level spell: 12 seconds

 

[mcpop9]

Origin Plains

Akasumi gasped deeply as her eyes opened. Something had happened. She had been one minute under contract to try and entertain and keep an eye on the guests of the dawn, but it's been a weird past few hours. She'd been stuck somewhere inbetween here and... well... not here. She had been using a disguise to hide her identity from the crew of the dawn during her employment and deployment to it. Unfortunately, 'repspawning' on the origin plains had removed her disguise, leaving the woman in a white blouse, black skirt, black stockings and high heels. What this didn't hide however were her distinctly Japanese facial features and her long hair, the insane length down to past her rear. For those familiar with those employed to the dawn, the outfit was one seen prior about the ship but the person in it would be recognizable to only those who had existed in this world for a long time.

Seeing several people outside the ship and thusly some sort of fight occured between some guy... and someone she recognized as... Adel? She had come this far and was about to blow her cover by starting to pull off crazy combatant abilities, that and whatever just happened was leagues above her current abilities. Deciding to try and make herself scarce in this instant, Akasumi began to walk towards the ship as if nothing was rong, keeping her nerves calm and making herself try to look as natural as possible. Reaching the side of the dawn, she opened one of the doors and began to step inside, a goal of making it to the brig to "keep an eye out for any prison break attempts." or so she would claim if she was caught.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Spoiler: Rugal

[hr]

Right to Rule

[i]Rugal's Story[/i]

[hr]

...7/10

That's the score Rugal gave this particular den of vice and excess, which was rather high praise for someone who practically lived and worked in such places for most of his life.
While the classical nature of the city endeared it, he still longed for some of the more modern day amenities not to mention the possible looming threat of Mount Vesuvius making the whole region history (Literally and figuratively).
But alas, back to more pressing matters.

Once they reached the city, he gave a polite bow to Livia and said "I thank you and your servants again for your assistance and patience. I'll begin my search right away and meet you at the villa once I'm done. May you all stay safe until then."
With the formalities out of the way, he began to walk the streets of the city, looking somewhat unimpressed with the sheer number of "Working girls" vying for his attention.
Out of all the groups of people I have to search among, why prostitutes?...And ones who look young enough to be my children no less?... Rugal thought to himself, wondering just how this realm dealt with "Social Diseases".
Then of course there was the possibility of Bacchus deciding to hide among mortal women, which meant that possibly every single wealthy woman in the city could be whom he was looking for.

He would need a way to narrow things down first.

To this end, he began to browse the gambling scene first, while he mightn't have enough gold on him to really make much headway at the tables, if nothing else he could find something useful or even better possibly stumble upon some prize fighting den.
Wishful thinking, sure, but if such a place existed, he could easily enrich himself with his skills.
While those bandits who ambushed managed to get past him and kill one of his allies, if they were anything to go by, the skill ceiling for combat here didn't seem too high (Thus far anyway...)

It was either that or attempt to present himself as a male escort to lure in his target, something that he could do but didn't necessarily want to. ("Like anyone here could afford me anyway...")