[ACRO] Outside IX: There are Mosquitoes

[Reinholdt]

This place is just as it sounds. It's outside.
Want a change of scenery? Go outside.
Always wanted to visit the beach? Come outside.
Looking to have a climatic fight on clifftops? Attempt outside.
Secret meetings being held where there's no cameras? Try outside.
Want an ambush without nasty base defenses? Yep. Outside.

Any and all are welcome here. There are no NPCs unless you bring them in. The major exception is the creepy eyed squirrel. The creepy eyed squirrel does not interfere with anyone. The creepy eyed squirrel is everywhere outside. The creepy eyed squirrel is always watching. The creepy eyed squirrel never sleeps. The creepy eyed squirrel can not be damaged, manipulated, or killed by anyone. The creepy eyed squirrel will eat anyone's very being who attempts to do so. Anyone can god-mode the creepy eyed squirrel. You may pet the creepy eyed squirrel at your own risk.

Other NPCs currently include:
The menacing crabs. These intimidating creatures are usually found by the shore.
The non-existant duck. You'll miss every time you shoot at it.

There is very little you can't do outside. However, like always, please follow the forum rules and general rules of conduct. Private conversations can be held outside. If it seems like a private (secret) conversation, please respect that. Those having such a conversation should do their best to indicate it as such. Otherwise, other characters may stumble upon you. Those desiring to spy in on private conversations should first PM those holding the private conversation, more out of courtesy than anything else.

There are many areas outside, and people can be in multiple places outside. In order to keep areas outside separated so there's no confusion, consider bolding your outside location at the start of each of your posts, like so:


The Fields

Reinholdt sets up various targets and practices his sharpshooting. All these events recently has made him a bit rusty. To his left, he notes the creepy eyed squirrel. Giving him the heebie-jeebies, Reinholdt decides to head somewhere else.

The Cliffside

Calublufiok broods over his latest scheme as he flies over the cliffs. The creepy eyed squirrel is watching him again. He finds occasionally landing and telling the creepy eyed squirrel his plans helps him find holes in his plotting.

Note Reinholdt and Calublufiok do not interact because they are in different areas outside. They could interact, if Reinholdt moves to the cliffside. Of course, various things like telepathy help bypass this. Also, please note outside has no major buildings, though minor ones crop up from time to time.

And most importantly, enjoy outside. That's what this is all about. :smallsmile:

Outside now contains various Outside locations! Such as...
[Dead Pine Lake]
This lake lies in the middle of the forest. On the eastern shore, woodpeckers feast on the dead pines that give the lake its name. Sometimes one can find Lady Death here, the Aspect of Eve also known as The Grandmother, or Jedwiga.

(Please PM happyturtle if you wish to interact with Jedwiga.)

http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq40/happyturtle-avs/p243360-Delray_Beach_FL-Wetlands_sc.jpg

[Greensbrook]

A peaceful farming village overseen by John De Metz. Formerly home to Rocky the Render. Notable families included the Bobrow and Giles families.

[The Islands]

An island cluster forms an archipelago along the coast. Some of the islands are settled, some not, but most are at least occasionally visited by the fishermen who work these waters.

[Gersemi's Island]

Gersemi the seighkona lives on a small island in the archipelago with a single hut and a few sheep. Inside the hut, there is a single room, and a fireplace. A loom rests in one corner.

(Please PM happyturtle if you wish to interact with Gersemi.)

[Redbrick Falls]

A mountainous, cliffy region with a prominent waterfall. A large quarry once was worked in these cliffs. Now, only a few scattered villages and solitary dwellings remain.


[Whitemount]

A rather large town with some scattered farms and the seat of a duchy.


[Castle Silhouette]
Genesis' base of operations.

[Club Banana]
Here be primates of all sorts and much silliness? An aircraft hanger turned into a club used exclusively by intelligent apes.



PM Reinholdt if you wish to add locations to Outside.

Special: Reinholdt will update the Outside threads and post new ones when it is time. Please don't post a new thread without his permission or he is away for an extended period of time.
Thank you.

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World]

It's not like he's ever asked about her past or anything.:smalltongue:

Well, who wouldn't? Ashna says, smiling. The fires blink a few times.

It was good to meet you Brendan. Farewell to you both. The amoeba turns to leave.

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World]

He should probably fix that at some point. :smalltongue:

Brendan's cheeks turn just a little redder, and he smiles, and bows a little to their hosts. "It was good meeting you as well. Farewell, and may the wind always be at your back, and the sun upon your path...

...that really doesn't work here too well does it?" he whispers to Ashna a little sheepishly.

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World]

Probably.

The nameless amoeba amoeba-bows to him.

She shakes her head and starts walking back the way they came in. No. Especially since if we didn't know better, the "wind at your back" part we be a curse.

[The Bushranger]

(Ashna's World)

"...oh." Brendan is genuinely embarassed now. "Guess I need to learn a few things before putting my foot in my mouth like that, huh?"
He follows, looking thoughtful. "Where my dad's ancestors came from, that's an ancient blessing - part of it, anyway."

[Osnagard]

[Forest Glade]

Creepy eyed squirrel glares at the thing ringing the bell. It's killing his beautiful home! As it is, it's painful just to listen to that bell. But Creepy-eyed is a lot stronger than the normal animals. It chitters angrily at Os before darting off and away.


The fist slams into the Drayd and she emits a choked shriek, the wind knocked out of her. Hugging herself and curling up, she whispers, "No-"

And then the bell tolls. The tree dies, and with it, the Dryad. The mindscape Dranas is in becomes a blank slate, and the mental Dryad vanishes.

[An Internal Struggle]

A cruel smile comes to Dranas' face. For a moment. He then he doesn't have time to relish the Dryad's pain. Or her death. He's got more important concerns for the moment. The bell finally gets a grip on him, and forcefully removes him from the Dryad's body.

[Forest Glade]

Normally the chittering of a squirrel would mean nothing to Os. He doesn't concern himself with the world around him, it's not his problem. Not normally. But then... he just killed everything in this glade. Everything, unless there's a player character level being around. And that squirrel just chittered.

That's not unusual in itself. Os once knew a fully sentient llama. It was his first friend in town in fact. He takes a moment to look for the source of the sound. A mere instant. But that's often all it takes for things to go wrong.

The trees die at the reverberating peal of the bell, leaves droping. Any NPCs, were there any nearby, would find themselves drifting into a sleep they're destined never to awaken from. Thankfully he's in the forest and not in town. Just the wildlife takes a hit. Unfortunatly, with the trees, the Dryad's body stops moving as well. She's grown still and cold, and Os doesn't notice. Not in time to save her soul from the abys.

What he does notice is the skeleton hacking the head of the Dryad with it's shovel-axe.

No. NO!

Too late. The shade of Dranas rises out of the body, confused for the moment, disoriented. It had a body. IT ALMOST HAD A BODY! Why was it now out, and the body laying there, without a head.

Os reacts fast enough, now that he's clued into the situation. The large bell goes back into it's pouch and the next small of the seven (aye he has seven bells, each with a different power) comes out. The binding bell. He begins ringing it in a complicated pattern. Dranas' shade shrieks and withers at the sound. Right hand ringing furiously, Os' left hand reaches into a rear pocket and produces a small gem. Storage.

The pattern changes, the gem glows slightly. Shifting between blues and purples. A whisp of Dranas arcs towards, and then into the gem. Slowly it's sucking him in. Consuming the shade of a dark elf, powerful... and evil. Os will have to brek him later, this isn't something that will accept him as master easily.

Finally the ritual is complete. Os tucks the gem back into it's pocket and replaces the bell in it's appropriate pouch. He looks down at the dead Dryad and sighs. Well. I've stopped their conflict for you, there won't be any more fighting between the trees of this valley. He pats the gem in his pocket. I'll see if they'll take this for payment.

He shrugs. So what if he killed her. It was her own fault ater all. She tackled him. A quick dispell of the skeletons, they fall back into their protal for later use. He releases the weak shade back into death. No use for it now.

One last look around the glade. It'll rebound soon enough. Life has a thing about that. I ought to kill that squirrel, cost me a client. Spits on the forest floor and heads back to NO headquarters to make his report.

[Recaiden]

"...oh." Brendan is genuinely embarassed now. "Guess I need to learn a few things before putting my foot in my mouth like that, huh?"
He follows, looking thoughtful. "Where my dad's ancestors came from, that's an ancient blessing - part of it, anyway."

[Ashna's World]

They're back up to the surface. The creepy voices on the not-wind are back. Brendan should not quite be able to make out words.

Well, it's only recently taken that meaning. Ashna waves around. Don't worry about it, love.

[Destro_Yersul]

And here we have a paladin, out for a walk. Seems Endrik got bored with sitting around in a castle all the time and decided to take a stroll.

He's probably not even looking for anything. Just taking some time to think. What he might find, of course, is entirely different.

[UncleWolf]

Wolfbane curses as a noise spooks a deer he had been stalking. He really hopes it isn't something he'd have to fight as he needs a bit of rest, but even so, he draws his hammer and moves towards the sound to investigate.

[Destro_Yersul]

Fighting is, at this point, Wolf's choice. Endrik has found a convenient rock to sit on, and the scraping of his plate armour against the stone is probably what made that noise in the first place.

He seems to have noticed someone is nearby. How is not exactly clear at the moment, but he hasn't stood up. Hello?

That ought to determine if it's an animal or not.

[UncleWolf]

Wolfbane, noticing the figure sitting, puts his hammer back at his side. "Hello." Endrik will see a man in a suit of rather beaten up dark platemail and a bright red scarf covering the lower half of his face walk out of the woods nearby. He moves cautiously.

[Destro_Yersul]

Endrik notices that. He also notices the tears in the plate and spends a few moments wondering what such a man is doing out here. Bit unfair of him, that. He's out here, after all. You look as though you have seen better days.

Straight to the point, as always.

[UncleWolf]

Wolfbane nods his head and sits wearily on a different boulder. "Yes, very much so. Ran into some magic castle and its owner earlier. I was lucky."

[Destro_Yersul]

It is always best to scout such places before entering, Endrik agrees. They are not always pleasant to be in.

[UncleWolf]

He scoffs and adjusts his scarf. "I didn't even make it inside."

[Destro_Yersul]

Oh? That causes a raised eyebrow. Endrik is unfamiliar with architecture that tries to kill you while you are outside it. Though perhaps the owner was to blame for that...

[UncleWolf]

He nods. "Some... girl who called herself Genesis. Summoned a daemon on me." Wolfbane lowers his scarf, revealing some very heavy scarring, and takes a drink from his waterskin before putting it back up. "Killed the cursed thing, but as you can see, I had to get out of there."

[Destro_Yersul]

I see... And in fact, he does. Though he's never met Genesis, anyone who summons demons is not on his favourite person list. Yes, you would have needed to retreat and regroup before confronting her again.

[UncleWolf]

Wolfbane sighs and shakes his head. "More of refit and rearm." He looks at the man. "And you? What is a holy warrior such as yourself out here for?"

[Destro_Yersul]

I decided to take a walk. I needed some time to think. And one must never be unprepared for danger. That, at least, explains the large hammer slung over his back, as well as the armour. He looks like he's ready for battle, the current lack of helmet excepted. There's one on his belt, though.

[UncleWolf]

Wolfbane nods. "Sound advice. Unfortunately, there seem to be things that are even better prepared than you can assume." He says, gesturing at his mangled plate.

[Destro_Yersul]

I have run into a few of those. Endrik things of the many surprises he's had to deal with during his career. There were more than a few. It taught me to over-prepare.

[UncleWolf]

He simply shrugs. "I have more than a few tricks myself. Those were what got me out alive."

[Destro_Yersul]

Better than the alternative. Is all Endrik has to say to that.

[UncleWolf]

Wolfbane nods and stands. "It is. Farewell for now, I must now track down the game your arrival scared off." Endrik may notice that the wounds he had earlier are much smaller than before.

Wolfbane reenters the woods, where he goes back to hunting for fresh meat, and deadtime.

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World]

They're back up to the surface. The creepy voices on the not-wind are back. Brendan should not quite be able to make out words.

Well, it's only recently taken that meaning. Ashna waves around. Don't worry about it, love.


[Ashna's World]

"Ah. I won't then." Brendan smiles, then looks around a little disturbed-ly. "Those voices give me the creeps..." He moves a little closer to Ashna, intending to be protective if need be. :smalltongue:

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World]

Ashna nods on her way back to the car.
That's normal. It takes a lot of time to get used to them. Like she needs protection in her own family home? She doesn't mind though.

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World]

Brendan is, perhaps, just a bit old-fashioned that way, gentlemanly, noblisse oblige and all that.
"I suppose I should try and get used to them...provided they're only voices and some boogieman isn't going to jump out from behind a tree or something at some point," he chuckles.

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World]

Not a bad thing.
Oh, yeah, pretty much the second the sun goes down all the way. It's pretty close to the horizon already.
We've got plenty of time though.
Ashna walks over to the car and climbs in.

[The Bushranger]

"Er...I was kinda kidding, actually..."
Brendan starts looking around a little more intently, as he climbs in the other side of the car. "I'm sure they won't mess with you, though." He grins.

[Recaiden]

Oh. Well, they're actually out there. Not so many anymore, but enough to be a danger. Except to us; you're right.
She returns the grin and starts up the car.

There's nothing dangerous to see yet.

[The Bushranger]

'Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, I shall fear no evil, for we are the two baddest sons-of-guns in the valley?' Brendan asks, his grin getting a bit bigger. "I think I can live with that."

[Recaiden]

That saying is full of holes. But Ashna grins more and nods anyway.
Right. Let's go. She starts up the car and it should lift off into the air.

[The Bushranger]

True. Especially since only one of them would count as a 'son' anyway. :smalltongue:

"You know, if the kids back at school knew I was in a hovercar with an honest-to-gosh paladin girlfriend they'd probably need a week to pick their jaws up off the floor," Brendan observes, as a part of his mind says he needs to show Ashna 'The Blues Brothers'.

[Recaiden]

That's one of the holes. :smallsmile:

If the people knew I was in any hovercar, with any bofriend, the same would probably apply. She laughs a bit.
((Gone for a while. Probably goodnight.))

[The Bushranger]

(('night!))

Brendan chuckles, and goes to slip an arm around her shoulders even as he keeps his eyes peeled. "I'd say something about feeling like I'm king of the world right here, but, you know, I hated that movie..."

[Recaiden]

Ashna switches driving hands to put an arm around Brendan.
Then feel like it without saying it. I like being up here too. Don't get too often.

And it's dark there by now. Relatively. Still the light of the car and the fire, and the moon, and the other moon, and the other moon, and the other moon...

[The Bushranger]

...and my brother Darryl, my other brother Darryl, and my other brother Darryl. :smalltongue:

"I will," Brendan whispers softly, alternating looking at Ashna and up at the sky. "It's...wow. Just, totally, completely, wow. Having only one moon, we're missing out back at home."

[Recaiden]

But there are other planets back there. That more than makes up for it. She spares a few moments to look at the sky. It's not like there's much to run into.

[The Bushranger]

A giant owl slams into the nose of the car!

"There is that," Brendan admits, "But they're all so far they just look like bright stars. The moons, they're somewhat more...romantic, I guess."

And he leans over to put a kiss on her cheek.

[Recaiden]

Ashna gets kissed, and hugs him with the arm she can spare.

That they are. Since they're our moons, not just other planets.

[The Bushranger]

"Exactly." Brendan nods happily, closing his eyes and looking totally relaxed. "You know, if you had owls here, the night would be perfect."

[Recaiden]

Sorry. We could head across the ocean to get some, but that might take longer than we want. Ashna keeps her eyes open, to see, but is smiling and at peace.
Someone should fix that.
The car has started to slow down. That was fast.

[The Bushranger]

Just as long as nobody fixes the lack of starlings.
"No need to be sorry, love. It's amazing the way it is..."
Brendan looks thoughtful for a bit, his mind clearly considering something, before he notices the deceleration. "Huh. We're here already?"

[Recaiden]

Yeah. It's nice to see again.
Ashna nods.
We're getting close, anyway. You thinking over something? She sounds curious. Because she is.

[The Bushranger]

"Just kinda pondering the possibilities of starting an ornithological society to see about introducing the more interesting birds here," Brendan admits. "Would have to be careful not to upset the ecosystem, but if it could be done it might be interesting."

[Recaiden]

Along with the electronic things? Ashna shakes her head. I guess it could. We'd have to have a group to bring our lizards to your world too.

[The Bushranger]

"Ah, some people might get mad at that," Brendan chuckles. "We've already got Gila monsters after all. But it might be interesting, yeah..."

[Recaiden]

Ah, but do any of them fly? The car should come to a stop back where it started. There are probably some anti-bird people here too. But let's not mind them. Ashna says, getting out of the car.

[The Bushranger]

Brendan laughs. "Some of them can jump really good, but fly? Nope." He shakes his head and hops out of the car. "Anti-bird? The horror! Some people have heads that are mere hatracks." Chuckling, he offers Ashna his arm.

[Recaiden]

We'll have to change that.
SHe takes his arm as they go back downstairs.
Yeah, some people don't like them, for some reason. Like starlings.

((Gone for right now))

[The Bushranger]

Starlings are nasty. :smalltongue:
"Together, we'll change the world." Brendan smiles happily as they head down the stairs.

((Leaving soon here too, see ya))

[Recaiden]

I like starlings. Why does everyone seem to hate them?
Right. And nothing can stop us, ah? Ashna smiles, and lets go his arm. Because, you know, people.

[Rebonack]

[Deep in the Mountains]

Forgotten.

Forgotten.

Lost to time and knowledge.

There it lies, dead.

Yet dreaming.

Always dreaming.

Dreaming of the nightmare that will one day descend.

Always dreaming.

But now...

Now they seek to wake it.

To wake it and unleash the nightmare upon the world.

It has begun. Slowly, at first. Visions of what is yet to come.

Signs of doom.

Omens of terror.

It has begun.

****

Around the Silver Gate the multitude of robe-draped monks stand in staunch silence, eyes fixed on the site that looms before them.

A great slab of glacial ice, dyed black with the terrors of countless dread visions. Within a shape, a shape without form. Without edge. Without center. And upon it the Silver Gate itself. Molten metal poured into fissures in the ice, sealing away the horror within.

A ward that has stood for eons. Though burning heat and biting cold. Through empires and kings. Through history and legend.

A ward that is even now beginning to crack.

And the dreams of its prisoner rolling across the land as a fog.

Only a trickle now.

But in time, the dam will fail.

And the cataract of nightmare will flow free.

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World]

Because they're exotic birds that usurp the native ones. :smallsmile:

"Exactly!" Brendan laughs with a smile, humming happily as they reach the other peoples.

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World]

The house has been burnt to the floor below.
No, wait, it's full of people.
There's the one guard by the door, who waves them in, and the 6 students, and Luna and that one guy whose name I forget and Anna and someone who has to be Peter and a couple of little kids surrounded by flames and a reporter and 5 people they haven't met yet.
Peter seems to be alive and talking to the reporter, and everyone happy.

Ashna stops and looks at everyone.

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World]

Brendan takes in the sight before them with a raised eyebrow, and studies it for a moment before turning to Ashna.
"...it seems things have moved quickly in our absence, haven't they?"
He makes sure his tone is completely deadpan. :smalltongue:

[Recaiden]

Yeah. I didn't expect them to heal him so fast. Ashna starts to laugh at how he said that.

Charles. That was his name.

[The Bushranger]

Brendan grins, chuckling. "I've learned to expect the unexpected." He motions torwards the group. "Shall we?"

And BR is about to fall asleep in his chair. So, g'nite. :smallsmile:

[Recaiden]

Ashna nods, and goes into the main part of the room.
We're back! Although that's not such big news around here.

Goodnight.

[Reinholdt]

[Heading towards the Magcave]

Run Stu, run! Run with your ill-gotten gains in the palm of your hand. RUN I SAY!

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World]

Brendan follows her in with a smile. "I see the old standby, 'I was dead, but I got better' is possible to be applied here?"

[Gimliggamer]

Sinder is outside flying around nowhere in particular on his wings.

[Ashen Lilies]

The giant dragon is chasing after him angrily, breathing fire for good measure. Then it deadtimes and flies away, defeated.

[happyturtle]

He gave up?

For shame, Jazirian. What kind of dragon lets a little bit of deadtime interfere with a gold thief?!

[Reinholdt]

[Heading towards the Magcave]

Phew. Grats Stu! He slows down.
Before realizing he's accomplished pretty much everything he wanted in life. He got Magtok back in a way (or at least forced him to help for that betrayal). He's gotten vengence on GLoG. And he's filthy rich.

Only one thing to do now.
Go buy whores and an extended vacation.
Stu stops heading towards the Magcave and instead turns to go to Radiant Waters (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131512).

... Probably ought to deal with Susan sometime though. Before she suffocates.

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World, specific location, etc.]

I guess so.

The students look over. Hey, you two made it back alive. And without blowing up the car. They all laugh.

Welcome back. Brendan wasn't driven crazy or anything? Good, good.

The reporter edges away towards the door when she see them arrive.

[DoomITP]

(Grant's house)



Grant opens the door to his house, hopefully Pesty is there too.

[Beans]

She be's there.

[DoomITP]

The house is warm and cozy, fully stocked with a kitchen and all the stuff stuff that is supposed to be in a house.

[Beans]

Stuff?
HOT DAMN!
Oooh, it's nice.

[DoomITP]

I know seriously! :smalltongue:
Thanks.

[Beans]

Nice contrast to outside.
Outside is a great big cold world, and here's all nice and warm and cozy.

[DoomITP]

That's what I thought when I first appeared over there.


He says pointing to a little crater in the backyard.

[Beans]

Heheh.
Cooooool.

[DoomITP]

Maybe I should stay here to avoid any more problems, though there isn't food for about 100 miles.

[Beans]

Why? Is this house in the middle of nowhere?

[DoomITP]

The place had a run in with some raiders that aren't around anymore. I protected the house but the people all ran and the rest of the place was burned.

[Beans]

Oh...
If... if you stayed here... I'd miss you.
A lot.

[DoomITP]

You know if you and the doctor needed a house I could let ya stay, it's a three bedroom two bathroom place you know.

[Beans]

Yeah, but... I thought you said there was no food for 100 miles?
Or is that 100 miles not counting the house?
...
I think Dr. L would prefer to stay with her lab, but I'd love to stay here.

[DoomITP]

Did I mention that I use the basement as a lab?

[Beans]

... Convenient, but I'm pretty sure she's happy at HALO.

[DoomITP]

Well either way, you're welcome to stay.

[Beans]

Pesty huggles Grant.
Thanks.

[Gimliggamer]

Sinder is still flying.

[Rebonack]

Sinder is still flying.

Generally speaking, when Rebo notices someone wandering around seemingly aimlessly he'll respond in a very particular way.

Random Encounter(tm)!

The air around Sinder abruptly begins to grow dark and heavy, a feeling of oppression and gloom building around him. Almost as though something dreadfully unpleasant were about to happen.

Which is probably exactly what's about to happen.

[DoomITP]

Pesty huggles Grant.
Thanks.

He huggles Pesty back.

Your welcome. I'll let you have first pick of the rooms.

He grins.

[Gimliggamer]

Sinder stops flying and hovers, drawing twin elven blades. After all, he is just Sonder with black clothes and black hair.

[Beans]

[Grant's House]
She giggles and checks out the rooms.

[Rebonack]

Hovering might not have been the wisest recourse.

Getting the hell out of there probably would have been a bit more sound.

But adventurers don't always make the best choices in life.

Thick darkness begins to bubble up from the air itself, as though the sky were little more than a fabulously realistic oil painting and tar were seeping through, marring the beauty.

[DoomITP]

They are all pretty much awesome.

[Beans]

[Der GrantHaus]
She picks one at random, then.

[DoomITP]

She can press the red button to make the room have pretty much whatever she wants it in, furniture and color wise.

[Gimliggamer]

Sinder casts lightning at the bubbles.

[Beans]

[Chez Grant]
Lots of nice teal colors, then.

[DoomITP]

The room becomes the nice teal colors.

[Rebonack]

Lightning is cast at the darkness!

The darkness remains dark, foreboding, and otherwise unmolested!

Slowly at first, but ever faster the blot in the sky begins to tear away, long strands of vile tar like hair draped about a vaguely humanoid form. Below the surface writhes a crimson mass, as maggots gnawing at gangrenous flesh.

And from this terror comes a low, throaty gasp. A death rattle that cuts to the very soul.

Seems the thing is trying to paralyze its prey with fear.

[Beans]

[House of Grantiness]
Wow!
It's all... tealy!
So cool.
Shouldn't this be in the "Home" thread?

[DoomITP]

(sure, lets move there)

[Gimliggamer]

It doesn't work. Sinder is just more pissed off now. He strikes a huge lightning attack at it.

[Rebonack]

As before, the lightning bolt lances through the apparition, doing little in the way of harm. Or at least harm that's readily noticeable.

Though there is a distinct possibility that the being found the event unpleasant.

This is evidenced by the fact that it suddenly exudes several dozen lashing tendrils of blood, each limb decked in jagged ivory teeth. Said limbs are used with the intent of causing great physical ill to Sinder. Mostly in the form of gratuitous puncture wounds.

[Gimliggamer]

AAAAaaaaaaaahhhhhh! Sinder yells as it pokes through his wings, making him fall to the ground. He casts feather fall on himself as he falls, so that he won't die.



Yet.

[Rebonack]

Everyone dies eventually.

But it won't be his day today.

Why?

Because the horror is gone.

Without a trace.

Weird.

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World, specific location, etc.]

I guess so.

The students look over. Hey, you two made it back alive. And without blowing up the car. They all laugh.

Welcome back. Brendan wasn't driven crazy or anything? Good, good.

The reporter edges away towards the door when she see them arrive.

[Ashna's World - Unseen University :smalltongue:]

"Driven crazy?" Brendan grins. "You can't be driven to where you already are. But seriously, I actually found it to be a very enjoyable trip. As for the car, I'm sure if I'd tried to drive I would have plowed into a mountainside or something."

He notices the reporter's attempted exit, and arches an eyebrow curiously.

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World - Unreal Estate]

Oh? You didn't seem mad.

Nice guy. To actually enjoy the wastelands. I bet it was just that she was there. Or maybe he really is insane.

Peter notices that, and breaks in. Oh, that reporter? Was afraid of Ashna. You've got admit, it's a normal thing to feel. Not that I have anything against you guys now. I can't explain how grateful I am. And it went pretty easily. Your people just put out the sun, cast their spells, and an hour or 2 later I was back here.

Yeah. Maybe you're not so bad. says Anaa.

Ashna shrugs and nods, used to such in this city.

[billtodamax]

[Forest]

Dominic's out here, looking for herbs. Occasionally he'll stop to examine a particularly interesting insect or flower. Sometimes he'll store away one of these, for no particular reason. Doesn't seem to be gathering many herbs though.

[Neon Knight]

[Forest]

The wind may carry a sound to Dominic's ears. Is it... crying, maybe?

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World - hopefully nowhere near HEX]

"Now now, I didn't say I enjoyed it." Brendan chuckles. "But I have always held to the theory, somewhat, that sanity is overrated..."

He trails off as something that was said sinks in.

"...er...I presume by 'put out the sun' you're not quite speaking literally...?"

He doesn't comment on being afraid of Ashna, simply because he can't imagine how anyone could be, she's too nice. :smalltongue:

[billtodamax]

Ooh, perhaps Dominic isn't the best man for comforting, what with his deep booming voice, tendency to give the appearance of gliding rather than walking, long talons of hands, and facial figures obscured by darkness. But... with the lack of anyone else around, he heads to the source of the crying.

[Neon Knight]

[Dead Wood]

Dominic will notice that as he proceeds towards the source of the crying, the woods around him become... dead. No life, plant or animal, is here, only detritus and corpses. The trees are dead where they stand, the leaves all fallen off at the same time. The drifts of leaves are browned and blackened, and crunch underfoot like the bones of a small animal.

He's getting closer.

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World - A safe distance away]

Yeah! It's really neat! Says a little girl. Then one of her siblings throws a ball to her, and she loses focus.

No, not literally. They just cause a lunar eclipse ahead of schedule, so that Maria can come out during the day. She's a vampire, you see? As though moving moons around is totally normal.

It's more thorough than just creating clouds. Sanity, you're right, just holds us back sometimes. No, it really does help.

That's nice of him. But it probably is reasonable.

[billtodamax]

Hmm... He says to himself. Odd. Might be some sort of poison in the soil... as he continues to walk.

[Neon Knight]

[Dead Wood]

Up ahead, Dominic can see a clearing. It looks like someone is holding another person underneath a tree, at the base. The roots of the tree have some twisted up through the soil, becoming exposed; the tree is just as dead as the rest of the surrounding forest. The figure cradling the other, limp person is clearly the source of the crying.

[billtodamax]

Hello? Dominic says. Are you alright? Do you need medical help?

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World - but is it a safe distance from Detritus' crossbow? :smallbiggrin:]

"Ah. I see." Brendan nods and decides not to ask how one moves a moon, the explanation is likely either 'a wizard did it' or something that will reduce his SAN score still further. :smalltongue: "Well, I'm glad to see everything worked out alright, then."
He nods to Peter. "I'm Brendan, by the way, in case these fine folks haven't already eludicated to you on that point.."

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World - No. How could it be?]

Do you happen to remember which moon they used?

Peter shakes his head. Sorry. Not so much. And they have. I'm Peter, I think you know. Nice to meet you. He holds out a hand to Brendan. To shake hands.

((Short Deadtime.))

[Neon Knight]

[Dead Wood]

Dominic gets close enough to make out the two figures.

The dead one is a rather beautiful woman - a dryad. In death her form has reverted closer to her natural one, revealing her true aspect.

The one cradling her is a woman robed and hooded, but when Dominic sees her face, it is hideously ugly. Surely she must be a hag or some other creature; and she answers Dominic in a deep, throaty voice, a horrid croak. "No healer can help here."

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World - 'tis true :smalltongue:]

Brendan accepts the hand with a smile, and a firm handshake. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, sir."

((Not sure how long I'll have, so if I'm still here I'm still here, if I'm not I'm not. :smalltongue:))

[billtodamax]

Oh... Says Dominic. I'm sorry. He says, walking over to sit down next to her.

[Neon Knight]

[Dead Wood]

The hag is mostly focused on the Dryad, holding her reverently. "Not healer, not anything in the world... nothing can fix this... nothing..."

[billtodamax]

Dominic lays a gentle hand on her shoulder.
What happened? he asks quietly.

[Neon Knight]

[Dead Wood]

"She - the dryad - she was my only friend. And now she is gone. Killed, killed by a - this magic, I know it. Necromancy. The man from NO.. she went to a place called NO, to get help. And they... they killed her."

[The Bushranger]

((:smallfrown:))

[billtodamax]

They killed her? He asks, shocked. Why? He asks.

[Neon Knight]

[Dead Wood]

"I... I don't know. There doesn't seem to be a reason." The hag scowls; nay, the hags face briefly becomes a mask of hatred. "Maybe they don't need a reason. I know well enough that people can be beasts and savages upon whims."

[billtodamax]

Indeed that can. Says Dominic. Why did you say she went to NO? He asks, always curious. He'd probably be poking the body if the hag wasn't there.

[Neon Knight]

[Dead Wood]

"I don't know... something about the trees... her trees.... they killed her trees too..."

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World - Moving moons around probably causes problems, now that I think about it]

But you don't know a thing about me. Peter shrugs. I must say, I didn't expect you, Ashna, to show up here, much less with someone. We were just going to go look for you.

Things change. That's a lot of what we're about, right?

[billtodamax]

Okay. Says Dominic. How about we head there now, and ask them why they would have done that. He says, standing up. And don't worry, I'll be right here to protect you.

[Neon Knight]

[Dead Wood]

"Why? They have killed her, they have taken her away from me. What could asking them about it possibly do?"

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World - Where the fishermen have to adjust their tide charts every time you move a moon...]

"That's true, but I make a point of giving people the benifit of the doubt until they prove me otherwise." Brendan nods...then with a smile steps back a little so he's standing next to Ashna, not too close, but not too far either...maybe...yes, the distance is "just right".

[billtodamax]

Well I'd like to find out why they did what they did, and if they're likely to do it again. He says. I certainly don't want anymore people dying.

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World - They only do it for emergencies. Honest.]

A good way to live. I'm planning to look into it. But we were just about to leave. I hope we'll see you again sometime. He laughing, he goes over to Anaa, and they walk down the stairs. Unless someone tries to stop them.

Ashna smiles at Brendan and waves goodbye. Goodbye Peter.

[Neon Knight]

[Dead Wood]

"They're monsters. Animals. Of course they'll do it again."

[billtodamax]

Then maybe we should stop them. Dominic says, noticing how much this lady doesn't want to go to NO.

[Neon Knight]

[Dead Wood]

The hag nods. "We should make them pay. Make sure they can never take beauty from the world again..."

((But NK needs to deadtime.))

[billtodamax]

Y-yeah. says Dom, a little unnerved.

((see ya NK))

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World - "In Case of Emergency, Move Moon"]

"Fare well," Brendan offers his good-bye with a nod. "And I hope to meet you again, as well. There are many stories to be told around here, I think - far more than can be told in a single evening..."

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World - And call the birds]

Yes, far too many. Take something other than paper to write letters on when you go back.

We will. Ashna wonders if they should be going home too.

Some of the other people have drifted away. So it's just Luna's family and those students still here.

((Deadtime for a while. Or the day.))

[The Bushranger]

"I certainly will." Brendan nods, contemplating a souped-up PDA or something, then looks at Ashna. "Do you want to stay here tonight, dear, or head home?"

Where lots of stuff has happened. :smalltongue:

((Deadtime for a while here too, so g'nite!))

[Recaiden]

PDA? :smallconfused:

Let's go home, love. Thank you for all your help, Luna.

You're welcome. Till we see you again. SHe waves as they presumably go to leave.

((Goodnight.))

[Kaelaroth]

After a rather long period of deadtime, in which one would presume there has been both tiring and therefore somewhat tiresome cross-country travel, both on foot, and on hired vehicle, and a little bit of curtain-dropping action, Eksandr is walking through the forests towards the general area of "main" Acronym, having been walking, and, well, moving, away from Felina, where he'd popped out of his dimension-thingummy. Is he accompanied by the catgirl he left with? Is he being followed by the robot legions of GLoG who're pursuing him, or claimed they would? Who knows!
For now, though, he's humming, as, dressed neatly in dark green, he kicks an acorn across the beaten track, as he walks.

[Neon Knight]

Y-yeah. says Dom, a little unnerved.

((see ya NK))

[Dead Wood]

The hag rises, lifting the body of the Dryad with her.

[Reinholdt]

After a rather long period of deadtime, in which one would presume there has been both tiring and therefore somewhat tiresome cross-country travel, both on foot, and on hired vehicle, and a little bit of curtain-dropping action, Eksandr is walking through the forests towards the general area of "main" Acronym, having been walking, and, well, moving, away from Felina, where he'd popped out of his dimension-thingummy. Is he accompanied by the catgirl he left with? Is he being followed by the robot legions of GLoG who're pursuing him, or claimed they would? Who knows!
For now, though, he's humming, as, dressed neatly in dark green, he kicks an acorn across the beaten track, as he walks.
The catgirl is indeed following him. How else is he going to get his curtain dropping action in? How would she get hers?
... Well probably just by going back to the place she came from. But this guy isn't a cat, so it's a little new.

[Kaelaroth]

The catgirl is indeed following him. How else is he going to get his curtain dropping action in? How would she get hers?
... Well probably just by going back to the place she came from. But this guy isn't a cat, so it's a little new.

So which way would you like to go, dear? Eksandr asks, stopping as the path reaches a fork - one way pointed to NO, the other to the Taverna.

[happyturtle]

Mainframe is still spying on the pair from above.

[Reinholdt]

So which way would you like to go, dear? Eksandr asks, stopping as the path reaches a fork - one way pointed to NO, the other to the Taverna.
69045 looks at the path that points to NO. Then the path that goes to the Taverna.

"Umm... that way sir." She points... left.

[Kaelaroth]

69045 looks at the path that points to NO. Then the path that goes to the Taverna.

"Umm... that way." She points... left.

Well. Presuming that 69045 looks at things the way most people do, then the first thing she looked at was on the left.
So. To NO they go!

[Reinholdt]

I have no idea!
69045 follows Eskander to NO.

[happyturtle]

[Auxiliary MagCave]

Sunny puts the finishing touches on MagSat. "I think you're ready to launch," she says happily, hugging her project. "I hope Magtok has the rockets set up." :smallsmile:

[Isolated Valley]

The young man who stole the Jack clones very carefully removes the eyes, ears, and tongues from one of the clones and places them in the appropriate positions in a leather mask.

Let's not ask what might have been skinned to make the leather.

In a mortar and pestle he makes a mixture of several herbs and other ingredients. From the now disfigured Jack corpse, he takes some blood (mostly congealed/clotted/dried? Fortunately the player has no experience with dead bodies to know). From himself, he adds a drop of spit, a dab of earwax, and one tear.

He spreads the mixture on the mask and gestures to cast his spell.

"Speak to me, strange one. What brought you to the place where you died? Let me see through your eyes and hear through your ears."

He then places the mask on himself. If the speak-with-dead spell works, he will see and hear what the clone did before it died, and the Jack clone can speak using the young man's voice.

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World]

So, Brendan, unless you specifically want to spend another day or two on the train, I'm going to send us right back to the capital. It's a lot closer.
Ashna tries to take his hand.

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World]

Brendan nods a good-bye to Luna, then takes Ashna's hand with a smile - and a raised eyebrow.
"You can teleport? I guess I'll just add that to the list of amazing things you can do." He winks.

((PDA - Personal Digital Assistant. One of the little palm computers.

Posting will be slow, I'm exhausted from yard work))

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World]

Technically. To the capital only, one way, and only when I'm in this world. Oh, and close your eyes.
They should vanish and appear there.
And she would say, Keep your eyes shut. And what else is on that list of what I can do?
It should be very bright even if he did close his eyes.

((Alright. But cutting down pine trees? Why?))

[The Bushranger]

"Ah. That...was pretty bright."
Brendan, who was smart enough to keep his eyes shut the whole time, is rubbing them a little now. "Nice ability to have, though. As for the things you can do..." He puts on a lopsided grin, as he looks around a bit. "Shall I make a list? Or condense it into two words?"

((Because we have about eight zillion of them. :smalltongue:
Our place used to be cleared, it's grown up over the last 10 years. We're trying to clear out some again, both for possible use as a pasture, and hopefully to get the bluebirds back. :smallsmile: It's gotten too overgrown for them.))

[Recaiden]

It's probably still fairly bright. There looks to be a wall of white light in a cone shape closing off the center of the large room, impossible as that may be.
Brendan might hear kids talking from the room's center, but the place is otherwise deserted.
Two words should be fine for now. Ashna smiles back, wondering which exact words he'd pick.

((Ok. Good luck then. Also, gone for a bit.))

[The Bushranger]

Brendan chuckles, smiling broadly. "The two words are 'everything, love'." He winks, then takes a moment to try and pull Ashna in for a kiss before looking around. "Soo...how exactly does this work? Or would it melt my brain trying to understand it?"

((Thanks))

[Recaiden]

Oh, thank you. He'll succeed, and be kissed.
You know you can do just as much. Except maybe make toast. Ashna smiles at him.
She tries to lead him off towards a door outside.
Your brain doesn't seem especially melty. But we're not quite sure what the light is. They just shine a bit of it back here from the citadel. And we can pull ourselves back to it.

[The Bushranger]

"Hey, I can too make toast! It's just extra...toasty." Brendan laughs as he's led away. "So it's one of those things where you don't know how it does it, just that you know that it does? Most people settle for 'a wizard did it' in those cases." He sticks his tongue out playfully.

[Recaiden]

Ashna sticks her tongue out back at him and laughs. Not even the people who did it know how they did. They're outside. It's a fairly normal looking city. There's the aforementioned beam of light heading off towards the center of the town.
Ashna points out another train station.
That way. It's just a short trip back home though.

((Probably deadtime))

[The Bushranger]

"Home again, home again, jiggity jig. You know, I'll kinda miss this place. It's totally different, yet...well, it just feels right, y'know?"

((See ya later, then))

[Recaiden]

Well, it's not like we're not going to come back. And I miss the nexus a bit already. It's got this simplicity about it, you know?
A few people are looking at them kind of oddly.
And the train station isn't so far away. They'll probably be there next post.

((Not back yet, by the way.))

[The Bushranger]

Brendan doesn't look at the people looking at them oddly. :smalltongue:
"When people aren't trying to end the world, sure." He laughs. "But I do see your point, yeah. And we've got friends there, too, so things have to balance out somehow, I guess."

((I have to head off anyway, so...))

[Lord Magtok]

[Auxiliary MagCave]

Sunny puts the finishing touches on MagSat. "I think you're ready to launch," she says happily, hugging her project. "I hope Magtok has the rockets set up." :smallsmile:

The MagSquid floats by, and raises up a pair of fore-tentacles in a gesture vaguely resembling upraised fists.

We rejoice to see you near completion, Intern Sunny! At long last, the Lord's might shall rise above this puny atmosphere, and take its rightful place amongst the inky abyss beyond! Mortals will tremble and bow, the quivering masses will sha-AAACK!

Once more, a MagClone emerges from the portal built into the MagSquid's face. He figures that since the MagSquid is controlled by a squishy Magbrain, it doesn't fall under ol' Machine Deity's jurisdiction, and he can still mess with the poor thing now and then.

Thanks Squiddy No-Name. As a matter of fact, the rockets are ready. We're all set to send MagSat skyward, where he'll be able to see the whole world with his telescopic sight. Also, weather's going to be fantastic for the next few days, so even deadtime shouldn't be a problem.

However, after a little erm...incident at the main cave, we're going to hafta do the launch by here. MagSquid, I need you to clear a bunch of trees and stuff outside, get everything set up.

But-

And you can terrorize the woodland creatures while you do it.

At once, m'lord!

The squid zips away, and Magtok looks over the satellite closely.

So everything's all set and double-checked? We're not going to be making the MagChallenger due to some minor error?

[happyturtle]

[Auxilliary MagCave]

Magtok should find that MagSat is in perfect working order. Defensive measures are in place, against perils mundane, divine, supernatural, or otherwise. Gun turrets have been installed. The spy cameras are mounted. Other high tech satellitey stuff is ready and even better than spec. As long as the rocket can get it safely into orbit, MagSat should be quite safe and happy once there. Sunny may be a clever engineer, but she's not a rocket scientist.

"MagSat is very excited to launch. And I am too." Sunny says.

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World]

Well, you can't escape that here either. But yeah, I'd like to see them again. Now here's a train. Which Ashna is going onto.

The ones walking in the same direction are now looking at him.

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World]

"You'd think they'd know, if you destroy the world, what's left to rule over? But noooooo..."
Brendan shrugs, then leans over to whisper.
"Love? Why is everybody staring at me?"

[Recaiden]

Yeah, but they never seem to get it. She takes a seat.
Because you're with me and you're so obviously foreign. Maybe?

[The Bushranger]

Brendan takes the seat next to Ashna, and chuckles in a somewhat self-consious way.
"So much for being undercover while we were here, eh? I guess I should try to blend in a little more, though."

[Recaiden]

Oh, we don't need to be any more. We're safe here. I'm just kind of not supposed to go to Tower City. Or really . . . that whole country.
Ashna tries to put an arm around him.

[The Bushranger]

"Ah. Well, I'm glad we did."
Ashna is quite successful at that.
And Brendan goes to put his own arm around her!
"Of course, I'm glad to go anywhere with you..."
Awww.

[Recaiden]

How sweet. He is just as successful.
Oh, so am I.
Ashna leans a bit against him.
And there's nowhere I'd mind going, so long as you're there with me.

[Neon Knight]

[Isolated Valley]

The young man who stole the Jack clones very carefully removes the eyes, ears, and tongues from one of the clones and places them in the appropriate positions in a leather mask.

Let's not ask what might have been skinned to make the leather.

In a mortar and pestle he makes a mixture of several herbs and other ingredients. From the now disfigured Jack corpse, he takes some blood (mostly congealed/clotted/dried? Fortunately the player has no experience with dead bodies to know). From himself, he adds a drop of spit, a dab of earwax, and one tear.

He spreads the mixture on the mask and gestures to cast his spell.

"Speak to me, strange one. What brought you to the place where you died? Let me see through your eyes and hear through your ears."

He then places the mask on himself. If the speak-with-dead spell works, he will see and hear what the clone did before it died, and the Jack clone can speak using the young man's voice.

((Apologies that I didn't get to this sooner. This was totally awesome, by the way.))

Our mysterious corpse thief feels his spell working, and gets his vision...

He sees a sterilized environment, the sound of voices and footsteps. The memory of the clone waking up somewhere. He steps out of the containment unit, looks left and right, sees his brothers emerging as well. There are rows and rows of white clone pods, line after line of emerging identical dusky skinned me. The room is almost entirely white, brightly lit. There is a sound of a door opening. The clones turn to look, and they see.... something. Something they cannot understand. The memories and perceptions of the Jack clone blurs for a bit.

The next clear image is of the Jack Clones in a locker room, suiting up. They speak among one another in low voices as they don clothing and ballistic vests and prepare weapons. "What we owe... as soon as this is over... as soon as we pay back what we owe...."

The next memories the Jack Clone has are of the ride to the house, the fight, and the death.

[SeptAngel]

[Temple]
Mirari appears with Alexi's body in the alter room. She's really not happy at the moment. Trying to calm down, she tries Speak with Dead on him.

[Dirk Kris]

With a groan, the spirit of the man Alexi answers the call. No form appears, only the voice. Even now I cannot have peace, it seems. What do you want of me?

[SeptAngel]

What in the hells were you thinking? Killing yourself is just going to put everything back to normal? Don't think so. She growls. And the funny thing is, they've never actually met. Mercedes is going to completely lose it when she finds out. She's already snapped just from the break up. But this, this will send her over the edge.

[Dirk Kris]

The disembodied voice speaks. The only break was in her mind. I never told her I didn't want to see her, only that I could not swear my heart's fealty to her. Call it...a committment problem. Besides, what does it matter now? She is a hungry, lustful goddess - she will find another plaything.

[SeptAngel]

She's hurting. Does that mean nothing to you? You think you were just a plaything? You're a fool. She was going to give up everything for you. You're too selfish to see that. She would have gone to the end of the earth to prove herself to you. But apparently that wasn't enough. She shakes her head. Her mind is broken now. Once she finds out about this, no one will be able to stop her from breaking her body. She'll find something strong enough to kill her.

[Dirk Kris]

I wanted none of that. Yet I could not stop my eyes and hands from roving, seeking new things. I was selfishly hungry to taste and touch and feel everything. What good would I have been to her? No, I do not doubt her love. I just do not understand it. For one so clearly unworthy...you must protect her, you realize.

[SeptAngel]

You used her. You played her. Made her fall in love in love with you. And now you do this? Maybe you really want her dead. That's your plan all along. You knew about her ex. She went on a suicide mission after him. So sure, this will be a great way to kill her off. I can't protect her. No one can. She's my goddess. She has more power than I could ever imagine. She'll succeed.

[Dirk Kris]

You give yourself too much credit, child. Who ARE you, anyway?

[SeptAngel]

My name is Mirari. I was born in this very temple. Mercedes taught me everything I know. Mercedes... She trails off. She was the closest thing to a mother I had.

[Dirk Kris]

Then I assume you have the same problems she and I both do with...fidelity and selfishness. Good luck to you, child. I am tired. A bitter chuckle. She can't be doing TOO badly, having already found another lap to warm, other lips to kiss. And a knight on a shining white stallion to save her - how sweet.

[SeptAngel]

Neither of them mean anything to her. She slams her fist into the ground. I told you, her head is broken. Do you not see her twitch? She's snapped. They're not helping. They're hurting her. But of course you don't care.

[Dirk Kris]

And what do you propose I do to help, child? Be locked away like she did with Coltia? Gouge out my eyes?

[SeptAngel]

You can't change at all then? You can't promise someone your heart when they'll do anything to have it? One of her most darkest secrets is that she will one day have a family. She thought she could have that with you.

[Dirk Kris]

I don't...know...that I could keep such a vow. And I refuse to break it and hurt her more.

[SeptAngel]

You're selfish. She was completely honest with you. Never once did she betray you. Yet you can't keep your hands to yourself. I could have you raised against your will, you know.

[Dirk Kris]

You wouldn't dare.

[SeptAngel]

I'd do anything for her. She growls.

[Dirk Kris]

I'll have you know, I'm not your average dead guy. It won't work - I can guarantee it. There has to be a connection, and there simply isn't. Now, seeing as the duration of your spell is up, leave me be. And...he's gone.

[SeptAngel]

She punches the floor again. A connection...Mercedes... She sighs.

[The Bushranger]

Speaking of Mercedes!

...Roland now arrives, riding Mariposa the not-a-horse, and carrying the aforementioned redhead. Landing outside, one presumes.

[SeptAngel]

Mirari meets him outside, tucking her hair behind her ear. You have access to anything here. There isn't much food but there are places to sleep. I'll show you to her room. She leads him upstairs to her old room. The bed is still in good condition just a few things around it breaking down.

[The Bushranger]

"Thank you, Miss Mirari." Roland nods, dismounting - somehow with a flourish - even as the ice-chimera-dragon-thing changes back into white-stallion form. "I can go quite a while without nourishment, so that shouldn't be a problem."

When they reach the room in question, he'll gently set Mercedes on the bed.

[SeptAngel]

Mercedes sighs a little as she curls up on the bed.

Mirari shakes her head. This isn't going to be easy.

[The Bushranger]

"No, it's not." Roland leans against the wall, crossing his arms and sighing. "Not for anybody, I suppose."

[SeptAngel]

She's screwed up, you know. She tells him softly. Not just now but in general. You really think she's worth it? She's talking about his interest in her.

[The Bushranger]

"I do," Roland says, quietly. "I have met many women in my life, yet none have caused me to feel as I do about her. The problem, as seems to happen so often, if that her heart belongs to another."

[SeptAngel]

Her heart is what is getting her into these problems in the first place. I can tell you that if this doesn't work out with Alexi her heart won't take much more.

[The Bushranger]

"Alas, it does seem that way. Unfortunatly it seems people tend to fall for people they shouldn't..."

Yes, he's somewhat including himself in that assessment.

"I can assure you, though, that I have no intention of hurting her. If it comes to it, I will simply depart, rather than risk that."

[SeptAngel]

I just don't get it. She shakes her head.

[The Bushranger]

"Get what?" Roland asks, eyebrow raised. "Her, or me?"

[SeptAngel]

Both. Love in general. She shrugs.

[The Bushranger]

"Ah. I see." Roland nods in understanding. "Tell me, have you ever truly met somebody who you would do anything for? No matter what, just to be with them?"

[SeptAngel]

I thought I did. Honestly, I'm not sure what happened with all of that.

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World]


How sweet. He is just as successful.
Oh, so am I.
Ashna leans a bit against him.
And there's nowhere I'd mind going, so long as you're there with me.

"Good to know the feeling's mutual," Brendan says, leaning back and snuggling close. "Always."

********

[Mercedes' Temple]

"Sometimes that happens," Roland nods. "And other times, time passes, but the feeling doesn't grow weaker." He looks back at Mercedes. "Even though, in a way, she isn't who she was when we met, I still find myself unable to think of anyone else in the way I think of her. It's something that even someone like myself can't explain...it's something that can only be experienced."

********

[Alex's Hot Spring :smalltongue:]

Somewhere in the woods not too far from GLoG is a small hot spring in a rocky grotto in the woods, and Alex leads Alexis here.

[SeptAngel]

[Temple]
Are you sure you don't just have her up on a pedestal? She asks softly.

[Spring]
Alexis strips off her street cloths and slips into the warm water in her bikini. Perfect...

[Reinholdt]

[Castle Silhouette]

Or rather nearby. Vincent, the spiky haired protagonist is traveling towards what he heard was a dungeon. At least according to the instruction book anyways. And he thinks he may be high enough level now to at least do some initial exploring for xp and loot. Maybe.

Guess he'll find out soon.

[Rebonack]

Wow!

It looks like for all their walking Avatar and Crow and Erin have finally made it to the beach!

And there are a bunch of neat little thatched room huts all over the place!

Hopefully no Murloks.

[b]"Ha! We finally made it! Though... I don't remember having any huts on the beach before. I guess that's the Nexus for you."

Several Menacing Crabs menace at the invisible Far Horror with their deadly claws.

[Recaiden]

"Good to know the feeling's mutual," Brendan says, leaning back and snuggling close. "Always."


[Ashna's World]

Always. Ashna just closes her eyes and holds on to Brendan for the train ride.

[Jacklu]

Crow picks up one of the menacing crabs and looks it in its little eyes. I'm hungry.

[Rebonack]

[The Beach]

Well...

The crab is about the size of a cat.

Which of course means that it's far more menacing than a crab of normal stature.

The crustacean reaches out with its flesh-rending claws to grab Crow by the nose.

"I wonder if they sell drinks in those little huts..." Avatar wonders aloud to himself whilst walking off toward one.

[Jacklu]

Crow narrows her eyes at the crab. Nwee seconds befow I boiwl you in you shellw...

[Rebonack]

[The Beach]

The crab doesn't seem at all phased by Crow's dire threat.

Avatar, meanwhile, is still mostly invisible and peering into one of the huts.

"Huh. That's weird. Everyone in here is asleep."

[Dirk Kris]

Temple
Alexi's body is...yep, still dead.

[Jacklu]

[beach]

Crow misses Avatar's statement as she is currently in dire wolf form enjoying a crunchy if menacing snack. <.< >.> She gave fair warning.

[temple]

Drawn by a prodding post like that, the dead body fairy descends upon the temple to collect the dead body in exchange for a shiny quarter. She pauses to poke it to be sure it is absolutely dead first.

[The Bushranger]

[Temple]
Are you sure you don't just have her up on a pedestal? She asks softly.

Roland sighs. "I suppose that might be possible. But I have yet to find anyone who might possibly be worthy of bumping her off, if so."


[Spring]
Alexis strips off her street cloths and slips into the warm water in her bikini. Perfect...
Alex removes his own street clothes and slides in next to her in his swim trunks. :smalltongue:
"I thought you might like it, dear." Smiling, he goes to put an arm around her shoulders.

---


[Ashna's World]

Always. Ashna just closes her eyes and holds on to Brendan for the train ride.

Brendan smiles happily, and hugs her close as she rests and the train rumbles along...

---


[The Beach]

Crow is very quiet as they discuss Lanna. Lanna... She stops and turns her gaze to the ground, her face obscured by her hair which falls forward from it. After a moment she wipes her face with the back of her arm, then catches up to the others, smiling cheerfully again. I would be nice to see her again.

The other Erin nods emphatically. "Yeah, it would." She leans over to put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I've missed all of you..."

[Recaiden]

[Ashna's World]
The train does not, in fact, rumble. :smalltongue: Ashna will so remain for the while it takes the train to get to the town they started from. Which was about as long as the first section of the trip earlier.
There are fewer 'suspicious' people this time, and the train should arrive without incident.

[Darkcomet]

[Whitemount]

An APC with Acro-Imperial markings arrives and starts to drive around the town, careful to avoid hitting things, of course. Perhaps a surveyor? How ominous.

[Viera Champion]

The Moon Palace
Alhana appears in the throne room of the Lunari Moon Palace. An old elf is sitting on the throne.
Hello father.

Hello Alhana. I have been expecting you.

You always did rely to much on your gift of foresight father. You should have expected me to try and book what you see. So I am assuming you weren't expecting me to bring someone along with me.
Cue Lee's entrance.

[DoomITP]

Lee appears standing next to Alhana.

Hello.

[Viera Champion]

The Moon Palace
The man sitting on the throne actually seems quite surprised by Lee.
I thought so. Would you like to meet my boyfriend. His names Lee. And he would actually be worth marrying unlike that worthless prince you forced on me.
Gaurds!!
From somewhere a strong power tries to create a ward around Lee so as to prevent him from using magic. It is extremely strong since it seems to be coming from a large amount of casters. At the same time a few armed elves walk in along with someone who appears to be a prince.
Hello brother.
Alhana's voice remains perfectly calm.

[DoomITP]

Interesting method of defense...

[Viera Champion]

The Moon Palace
Alhana walks over to her brother before the guards can get to her. And she slaps him straight across the face.
Now that felt good.
And ten the guards grab her. The shield on Lee grows stronger too.
Take the caster down to the dungeons. I am going to have a "word" with my daughter.
The man gets off the throne and walks up to her. He slaps her right across the face.

[DoomITP]

DIE!

He growled, scary voice activated, Sakura drawn.


You guys really want to try me?

[Viera Champion]

The Moon Palace
Lee! Please stop! I can take care of myself.
Alhana spirs in one of the guards eyes. As he let's go of her hand she pulls the chopsticks out of her hair and used them as weapons against the other guard holding her. She rolls away as he lets go. She jumps out the door and Lee may notice the power blocking him slowly fading.

[DoomITP]

Sakura no Hana... Shinu!

The pink energy goes flying towards the weapon arm of his nearest enemy and should make the arm useless for awhile.

[Viera Champion]

Alhana runs back in to the throne room.
Lee. Home. Teleport. Now!

[DoomITP]

Lee follows Alhana.

Not without you I'm not.

[Viera Champion]

The Moon Palace
Just leave. I have a few more things I most do first. Don't worry about me I will be fine. My sister will teleport me home when I'm done.
And with that she races out the for leaving Lee behind.

[DoomITP]

The a guard comes up behind him and cuts him just slightly. The sight of blood shifts his eyes from red to yellow and he then swings his sword at an inhuman speed, most likely removing the guard's arm.

[Viera Champion]

The Moon Palace
Alhana continues running down the hall. She winces as she feels the elf's arm being cut off. She finally finds what she was looking for and enters the room.

---------------------------------------

Back in the throne room Alhana's brother approaches behind Lee and swings his sword at him.

[Rebonack]

[The Beach]

Avatar is a bit puzzled over the occupants of the first tent being zonked. Though when he checks the next things just start getting weird. "All the people over here are asleep too. Would someone mind poking one of 'em for me?"

He would do it himself.

But the result wouldn't be pretty.

[DoomITP]

If you weren't Alhana's brother I would take you down right now...

He says, using magic to hold the elf still.

[happyturtle]

[Auxiliary MagCave]
[Launch Pad]

Sunny finishes the job of attaching the MagSat to the rocket. She is very proud of her work, because despite the name, she built MagSat on her own. And she feels a special connection to the satellite as well.

"We're ready to launch!" she announces, more to MagSat than to her boss. IZK-alpha is nearby as well.

[Viera Champion]

The Moon Palace
Alhana enters her old room and is surprised yet relieve that everything is just the way she left it when she ran away. She searches the room picking up a few things here an there. She then races from the room and runs into her sister.
Hello Laurana.
Hi Alhana. You ready?
Alhana nods and they teleport to the house.

----------------------------

He laughs.
What are you protecting? My sister bah! She isnt my sister anymore. And she seems to have ditched you. She is quite for away now. So much for undeniable love.
The guards start closing in around Lee.

[DoomITP]

Orly? TELEPORT!

[Neon Knight]

[Whitemount]

The peaceful, low tech citizens of Whitemount don't know what to make of the APC, and the streets are soon empty. People peer from the windows at it, wondering.

[The Beach]

((May I get invovled with this scene?))

[The Bushranger]

[Ashna's World]
The train does not, in fact, rumble. :smalltongue: Ashna will so remain for the while it takes the train to get to the town they started from. Which was about as long as the first section of the trip earlier.
There are fewer 'suspicious' people this time, and the train should arrive without incident.

[Ashna's World]

Well, it made train-y noises then. :smalltongue:
Brendan will be quite happy to hold her for the entire journey, and 'suspicious' people or not, he'll keep a careful eye on everyone, just in case. After all, just 'cause you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.


[The Beach]

"Huh?" Erin hurries over to where Avatar is investigating the tents. "Oh, huh, that's w-weird. Sure, I can poke one."

And, using the end of her staff, Erin will do exactly that!

[Rebonack]

[The Beach]

((May I get invovled with this scene?))

As with all Rebo plawts that don't say otherwise, this scene is quite open.

Erin will find little response to her staff-poking.

The fellow really seems to be out of it.

Avatar, still quite invisible and hanging out on the other side of the veil, is quite troubled by this development.

"Just had to be sure... I know what normal sleep is like. And this certainly isn't normal sleep. Isn't magical either..."

The nose-end of the Far-Chimera pokes through the veil for very brief moment and sniffs at one of the villagers.

Only to retreat again before said nose starts to sizzle.

[Neon Knight]

[The Beach]

One of the 3 may notice a tent flap shift as someone tries to sneak out.

[Lord Magtok]

[Auxiliary MagCave]

"We're ready to launch!" she announces, more to MagSat than to her boss. IZK-alpha is nearby as well.


Wonderful! Now let's get everything set up and-

Later, at the Launch Site

5...

Time flies by. The prefabricated pieces to the launch platform as assembled, the craft is hovered into place, and a large number of Magbots stand by for security purposes, tactfully deciding to not inform the MagClone stationed here that they might be better utilized by being tossed into battle against the Draken minions.

4...

It's a few minutes later, as the Magbots work pretty darn fast when they think that doing so may get them out of active combat duty. The engines of the MagSat warm up, the maintainance portal has been put in place, and all systems are go. From the safety of a heat-resistant bubble shield, Magtok surveys the launch site, as robotic magpies act as a second set of eyes from up on high.

3...

A few more minutes later, the area is secure. Some NPCs had to be forcibly dragged away from their homes for a little while, and a laser sweep was done to get rid of any birds that might get caught in an engine or something, but aside from those minor gray areas, the preparations are entirely cruelty-free. Sunny is invited to watch from the floating transparent bubble shield, as a Magbot begins announcing the five-second countdown. A ten second one might've been nicer, but they can't afford to spare the enemy an extra five seconds simply for decor and such, right?

2...

The launch platform detaches.

It's about to go, everyone! Stay in the bubble, we don't need anyone getting barbecued trying to get a better look at it! Shh, look!

1...

The MagSat rocket's engines liquefy the cement ground beneath it, starting slow but quickly gaining speed as the cosmic torpedo blasts off towards the heavens.

http://www.wangshappytrading.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/liftoff.jpg

AuxCave, we have liftoff. I repeat, we have liftoff.

[The Bushranger]

[The Beach]

"That's just w-weird!" Erin pokes again.

Poke, poke.

She wonders if she should try some sort of spell that might wake them up, when she sees...a tent flap moving!

If that ain't suspicious she don't know what is.

"Over there!" She points. "Something's moving!"


...for the record, this is not the same Erin who's the "ACRO Native." Rather, the one who came over from Enup.

[happyturtle]

[Launch Viewing Bubble]

Sunny jumps up and down clapping her hands. "Go MagSat go!"

:biggrin:

It's the happiest she's been since the ApocaCon.

[Neon Knight]

[The Beach]

The figure is caught out in the open!

He's a tall, dour man, his face mostly hidden by a wide brimmed hat pulled low. You can see the stubble on his face and the grit between his teeth. He wears a beaten old duster, leather breeches, cowboy boots, a gunfighter's rig of holsters, bandoleers, and straps loaded down with six shooters, and a blackened metal breastplate.

Slung over one shoulder is a bulging brown burlap sack.

[Rebonack]

The poked person remains utterly inert and unable to assess his surroundings.

As for Avatar, he seems to have inherited Zee's knack for missing the utterly obvious. Which means the tent-flap goes utterly unrecognized.

[b]"What's mo-" begins a voice echoing out of mid-air. Only to pause as soon as it becomes clear that there's a man in a pancho standing there in the open. "Did we just stumble unto the set of Gunsmoke or something? You there! Identify yourself!"

[The Bushranger]

Erin, for her part, is a bit startled, and stares.

Maybe she's wondering if the burlap sack is full of snipe.

[Neon Knight]

[The Beach]

Jonah Cooley is having a bad day. He has the good fortune to stumble across sleeping people he can rob blind and the bad fortune to get caught by others doing it. Jonah stops and faces the trio. "I'm just a drifter."

[Reinholdt]

[Castle Silhouette]

Or rather nearby. Vincent, the spiky haired protagonist is traveling towards what he heard was a dungeon. At least according to the instruction book anyways. And he thinks he may be high enough level now to at least do some initial exploring for xp and loot. Maybe.

Guess he'll find out soon.
Closer now. Any second now...
Unless he got lost. Hmm... Vincent pulls up his map screen to take a look, but keeps walking.