Of dreams and nightmares [Group B]

[Schism]

The world of dreams, or as it is more commonly known by its inhabitants, simply 'here'. Its exact origins are unclear even to the most learned of scholars. By all accounts, it seems to have simply popped into being when the first of the eventual multitude touched the first of the artifacts.

As the histories of this place will attest, it was little more than a blank slate laid before the first of the arrivals. Whether the world itself existed at the time, or only the impression that one could make a world is never discussed in great detail, though many great minds of this new world have written books containing their theories on the subject. Regardless of the exact beginnings, one thing is made abundantly clear: the world was - and still is, to some degree - malleable, able to be shaped by the whims of its inhabitants. Some say that this is where the Taint came from; the corrupt imaginings of a depraved mind. Others believe it was the inevitable result of too many conflicting ideas, a confused mass of wishes and wants, perverted over time into the deadly form it now takes. Whatever the case, the Taint is as real as anything here, as are its twisted offspring, the Skarra. Woe betide any who venture unprotected into the Taint, lest their minds and souls become corrupted, and their bodies given a new, horrifying form.

Despite the conditions of the world, cities still pepper the landscapes, wished into being by those desperate to avoid the Taint. They are one and all surrounded by towering walls to keep at bay the hordes of Skarra that roam the landscape. Great crystalline monoliths reach toward the sky near the heart of each city, their very presence enough to keep the Taint at bay, if only in an area little larger than each city. The monoliths are very nearly alive, and some of those whose minds have been touched by them claim to feel a latent power within, an untapped resevoir of strength that can be drawn upon by those with the proper skills. Few posess both the strength of will and the necessary devotion to the monoliths, but those who do speak of extraordinary boons bestowed upon them, albeit temporarily.

One such city is Salira. Its white marble walls shelter a great many thousand people, most of whom live out lives similar to those they had before coming here. Others take up take up new mantles, joining the ranks of the guardsmen who watch vigilantly for wandering Skarra and repel any bold enough to approach, or else studying magic in the hopes that enough arcane power will allow them to succeed in escaping where so many others have failed. Still others devote themselves to maintaining the monoliths, a task requiring a great many participants. The constant effort of repeling the Taint clouds the crystals and drains their power, and the primary duty of their keepers is to refresh them with their own vitality.

This is the world in which you have found yourself living for the past year, and where you will continue living for the foreseeable future. Some succumb to hopeless despair; others rise up and champion causes they would never have dreamed of before. What will you do?

[Milskidasith]

Matthew was standing in front of a tavern, waiting for his contact. His thin frame was covered by a large coat and a hat, keeping his heavy armor and assorted alchemical substances out of sight. He needed no disguise for his true weapon, but people rarely thought about things, especially what means a frail man could use to get away from you. His dog, Joey, was standing beside him, sniffing the air and staring at anybody who approached.

He had gotten there a few minutes early, but so what? He had a book checked out from the library, so he wasn't lacking something to do. He leaned against the wall and kept his book open, with a button next to his left foot signaling for his contact, who he suspected would be Marcus again, to drop by.

He sighed. It was probably just another routine deal. He goes into a bland sub basement with two guys discussing some boring, uncreative plan to get rich quick and split the profits evenly, and in the end nothing happens. In the rare times where the business plan makes sense, the people involved usually wound up trying to betray each other, and then it was a messy fight with no real benefits for Matthew, especially if they didn't bring his payment like they were supposed to.

Who needs them, anyway? Let's just head over to the inn, kick back, and read up on some of the less stupid theories for why the taint exists. I think you mentioned they a new book on it in the library by some wizard; it's supposed to be pretty good.

M had a bad habit of nagging at Matthew to ignore anything that didn't involve studying. The psicrystal was, like always, either ignorant or unconcerned about some aspects of Matthew, including the need to eat, and thusly, the need to work for money.

You should know by now I need money. Anyway, if the books written by a wizard, it's probably another nonsense theory involving the God of Magic or something, Matthew thought back. To any person not involved in the conversation, it would look like Matthew was having a very good look at the contents of his pockets, but he was really communicating with his Psicrystal, which was, in fact, one of the many interesting things in his pocket.

After that little conversation, Matthew opened his book again, and began to wait.

[...Eh?]

Marcus sighed as he moved through the crowd, towards one of the little buildings that his employer, Lord Darion owned to conduct buisness deals. Marcus had recieved a word from a man who wasn't his employer that he was to go to the little building to protect another man who wasn't his employer, while the man discussed a buisness deal that could make the lord rich. A more reflective man might have stopped to wonder about how little Marcus saw the Lord, despite all the odd jobs and security that he did or him, but if the thought crossed Marcus's mind, it didn't stay there for long. Instead, he thought about the amount of money he could be making if he were the lord. There were a thousand little improvements that could be made to the buisnesses that the lord had that would bring in more gold, but instead, he had to guard some negotiatior in some dead end deal. Such thoughts of his employer's mistakes kept Marcus occupied as he passed through the street, and he would have walked past his destination, but his eye caught sight of the button, and he stopped short, nearly tripping a few people behind him.

Marcus followed the foot next the button up to its owner's face, and gave a bit of a grin. Matthew wasn't always good for conversation, but at the very least, he was someone Marcus knew. Out of the many psions, sorcerers, and fakes who helped keep both parties clean in these kinds of negotiations, Matthew was the only one Marcus felt like he could take at his words, most of the time. Matthew wasn't particularly friendly, but as far as Marcus could tell, he just lacked any real motivation to lie, and Marcus could respect that. The two of them had some basic signals set up, so that always meant the job would be a little bit easier if there was trouble. Marcus extended his hand to his fellow employee and put on his best people face. "Always a pleasure to see you, Matthew. How're you doing today? And more importantly, how's buisness?

[Milskidasith]

Matthew shakes Marcus's hand. It wasn't something he was comfortable with, but he and Marcus were on pretty good terms, and as far as he could tell a handshake made everybody a bit more relaxed. He also signaled to Joey, having him sit down and keep a lookout while Matthew talked. That's another thing he realized; having a guard dog stare at you constantly put people on guard, but whether a dog's looking at you or not, it knows when it's time to attack.

Can't complain. Haven't been shot in over a week, and nobodies tried anything stupid at the monolith, so I haven't really had to do much. Could use a bit more cash, but as long as I've got free access to the library, it isn't a huge problem.

Matthew looks down at his pocket for a second, and then starts to frown.

M is, as usual, complaining. He's been doing that a lot lately... getting kind of annoying. What I wouldn't give for a way to block him out when I'm talking with other people.

Suddenly, a glowing golden diamond jumps out of Matthew's pocket and begins shouting in a shrill voice while crawling around Matthew on a few spiderlike, barely visible legs. (If you speak Draconic, you get a translation.)

Quiet down or I'll lock you in a chest and hire whoever it takes, even a wizard if I have to, to keep you from interrupting!

Matthew grabs the psicrystal and shoves it into his pocket deeply. You can see his arm twitch as the psicrystal tries to get away, but eventually it stops and stays in his pocket. For good measure, Matthew takes some food from the pack on Joey and crams it into his pocket to keep M from escaping.

Sorry about that. Anyway, let's cut to the chase now: What's the job this time? Another basement gig where I sit next to two people with itchy trigger fingers and we leave with one of them knocked out or worse?

[...Eh?]

Marcus stared at Matthew's pockets for a few moments before he opened his mouth to respond. He wouldn't say a thing, since he wasn't really sure if it would be offensive or not, but Matthew's little crystal freaked him out. The first time he had heard Matthew talk about "M," Marcus had assumed he was a multiple personality case, so seeing the tiny, spider-like chunk of crystal had taken him by surprise the first time, and the shock hadn't really dulled since. However, once he realized that Matthew was talking to him, he snapped back to attention.

I didn't really get any details, but I figure you've got it about right. There's probably something illegal about it, too, just because a legitimate buisness isn't thrilling enough for the young lord. Are the negotiators inside yet, or are we still waiting?

[Milskidasith]

Matthew noticed that Marcus was unusually silent throughout the affair with the Psicrystal. Ah well, it could be kind of weird to people who didn't know him. Hell, it wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows for Matthew either, though M could be useful occasionally.

They're inside already. I think you should head in first, if you don't mind. Let's just get this over with.

[...Eh?]

Marcus grinned. This was the part he truly loved: acting like he was in charge. So, they're ready? Let's do this." Marcus stood straight and whipped open the door, unwrapping his chain form his waist as he did so. Okay, let's get down to buisness, shall we? I assume you both know how this goes: You have ten minutes to make a sales pitch. If we feel it'll bring in sufficient profit, we'll take it back to Lord Darion. If not, we'll tell you. We've got a mind reader here to tell us if either side is a liar, and I've got a chain in case either side gets a bit rowdy. Get cracking.

Marcus turned to close the door, letting a smug smile spread across his face as he did so. He opened the eye slat, and leaned up against the door frame, taking a position where he could look out into the street without completely turning his back to the other three.

[Keld Denar]

Ashlye pads softly through the barracks, tracing a familar path to the office of Seargent Jorasko's office. Nearing his office, she pauses, hearing voices coming from inside. Not wanting to intrude, she wait near the door. Her keen hearing can not help but pick up little snippits of conversation, though.

I don't see...

Its not up to you...

I...but...wall...

Make...disappoint...morning...

The door opens, and a tall man wearing a long dark coat storms out, his heels clicking on the flagstone as he passes. Glancing quickly at the young recruit in her guard tunic, he turns his head away as he walks briskly out of the building.

Come in dear! Have you been there long? Srgt Jorasko asks. No Sir, I just got the summons, Sir. How may I help? I'm assigning you with a small contingent of guards to go down to the trade district to investigate a warehouse where we believe some smugglers may be staging some goods. We could sure use your...keen...sight...down there to keep an eye...on things...oh dear. the Srgt says, stumbling over his words as his eyes flit from her face to his feet. Your orders will be delivered to you at 0400 tomorrow morning, be ready and comfortable in your armor by then, as you'll be leaving immediately thereafter. Dismissed.

I HATE when people stare at me... Ash thinks to herself leaving the office. Even if they don't mean it...I'll always be a freak! Wrapped up in her own thoughts, she doesn't see the man in the long dark cloak watching her leave the office on her way back to the women's barracks to clean and prep her gear so that its ready in the morning.


Can you work with this?

[Milskidasith]

Matthew takes a moment while Marcus walking in and making his speech to focus his mind. No other action was required besides thought; he didn't have to point his finger, take a step, or even move his face. Just... think. With a subtle warping of the sound of Marcus's voice, not from a change in how he was speaking, but from the power that was manifested making itself known to all, he began to hear the subtle sounds of people's thoughts. He'd have to concentrate a pretty good amount to hear both people's thoughts and what they were saying, but it was no trouble to separate the two for Matthew. It wasn't full out mind reading, but it was easy enough to detect the stress of lying, the increase in emotional duress that came when a mind was active and trying to deceive.

He walked inside, confident of another job that was about to be finished quickly. Hopefully they could fit their pitch in under a couple minutes; while he was mentally strong, Matthew did not like the feel of having his mental strength drained for such a simple job. He looked at the men there quickly, and even more quickly, stated

No introductions. No contact information until the end of your pitch. Save any questions about us until the end. Talk fast.

He motioned towards Marcus, telling him to keep an eye on the man on their right, while he motioned to his dog to keep an eye on the man to the left. The job wouldn't be hard, most likely, but it never hurt to be cautious.

OoC:

Manifesting Empathy for 1 PP. So now I've got a puny 6 PP left... multiclassing helped my durability in HP and my flexibility, but sure didn't help my PP reserve. >_<

Also, I'd like the surface emotions of the NPCs, and Marcus.

[...Eh?]

Marcus caught Matthew's signal, and adjusted himself slightly to focus on his target better. He slowly, without putting any real thought into it, he began to spin his chain. The man making the pitch sputtered out a clumcy opening, but Marcus didn't make the effort to discern the words. Although he wasn't one to be focused on his job when it wasn't interesting, he was particularly apathetic today. His inital feeling of being in charge slid into a general, wondering disinterrest; at first, he wondered about Matthew's abilities, and just how much of his thoughts the psion could read. Then, he wondered about whether or not he could send messages to Matthew this way, although he didn't try to test it. His mind went to other places, then, thinking about what else he would do with the day.

Apathy, basically. Also, ready action to take down anyone making an offensive action.

[Milskidasith]

*Manifests Summon DM, augmenting to 100 PPs.*