Innue

Natrelmon: Reckoning [Creature Capture]

If Selim had the time for more conscious thought, it probably would have been filled with expletives for Windspeakers. Everyone in Atren knew about how annoying Windspeakers and physical barriers were as a general combination. The moment Kiyo's Wall was visible, Selim knew how his next few seconds would turn out. It was a classic, effective Windspeaker strategy that a Counterspell could have had the potential to preform what in essence was a combo break, but Selim was steady in his resolve.

The moment he felt the wind push him, it was confirmed. What was a bit unexpected was Kiyo's decision to essentially give chase for a follow on. However, Selim's initial plan with Soelbe was still executable. Kiyo was a quick caster, but Abjuration did have a series of advantages and disadvantages, one advantage being that spells that required motions with the hand could be chained easily with spells that did not. Selim countered the Windborn Weapon, essentially as his side impacted painfully against Kiyo's Wall with his own Wall, before whispering the short invocations for two spells: Blinding Radiance and Effulgent Burst. While blinded, the marked territory for Effulgent Burst would be slightly behind Kiyo, while Selim surged forward at her, his right arm poised to strike her, in a low recovery stance almost like a tackle, putting her directly between him and his spell.

If Kiyo's plan was to rely on the sensory perception of her Mythari, that would prove inadequate. Soelbe, who was still on a course to approach from behind Kiyo unleashed Indolu's Pride, which would narrow the visual range of the Mythari until it chose to go into the sphere, or outside the range of the Globe. The Globe of Ielle would trail along behind Soelbe at a much slower pace from the ghost's charge - if you could say ghosts could actually charge a physical being.

Natrelmon: Reckoning [Creature Capture]

Selim decided in that instant to roll the dice. If she had a card to play, his response would likely for her to play it.

Rather than move to either side, or even away from them, Selim surged forward quickly towards Kiyo ready to engage her in exceptionally close range. While Kiyo was overall bigger than most women, Selim still had a fair amount of size on her, which did have its advantages in a direct on attack when there was not a difference in physical agility. He was confident at that close of range, even with her Windspeaking, he would be able to force her to reevaluate her decision. It was smarter than letting her execute on whatever she was trying to do. At Selim's behest, Soelbe, along with its light orbs moved to collapse on Kiyo with Soelbe coming in an arc from behind, the Globe of Ielle more from a direct side position, and the Globe of Indolu right next to Selim.

With all of the motions towards each other, everything would quickly erupt in complete and utter chaos.

Natrelmon: Reckoning [Creature Capture]

Upon Kiyo's first motion, Selim directed Soelbe to move her Globe of Ielle forward as their lead 'chess piece'. It would directly go on a path to meet Kiyo and Mythari. Soelbe moved forward as well, making sure to keep the Globe in the lead floating about five feet off the ground. Selim, as well as the Globe of Indolu waited in back to see the response from the approach. Selim could not be certain what other skills Kiyo might have, but she had to have some tricks up her sleeve given she was moving head on towards someone who fought in the Clash of Iron, and done well, even with Windspeaking's proclivity towards close range combat. His skill with Invocation could sense Kiyo's Frostweaving skills, as well as an additional school of magic that was under a veil of secrecy. It was not that unusual, as anything aside from the core Disciplines was this way. It meant Kiyo had knowledge, and some relative skill in some esoteric magic art.

Selim, of course, had magic of his own should he find it necessary. He knew he had a disadvantage not in just offensive power, but sheer number of accessible spells. However, Selim had two strategies in mind. Ideally, he'd end the battle quickly with a trick, however, he had a long term strategy where Soelbe and him had an advantage if they could build up to it. All of it depended on the battle pressure Kiyo exerted and how well they could resist it.

Natrelmon: Reckoning [Creature Capture]

"As you wish," Selim waved deferentially before setting his spear up against a wall off to the side. It would only serve as a burden for him if he kept it on his body during battle without actually using, plus he was not sure if he got into a desperate situation in battle that he would be able to resist the instinct to use it. As he walked back to the center, he summoned his Soelbe to the battlefield. Given the clear indication she was a Windspeaker and had a flying Natrelmon meant he had fewer choices to select from on his end. His Kohitsuji would struggle to deal with two possibly aerial fighters. With Soelbe, the pressure he would normally be able to put on a trainer could be done by the ghost.

Selim then took a spot about twenty feet in front of Kiyo, meeting her stance with one of his own. Selim also lead with his left for his stance, but chose a loosely closed hand for his lead, which could transition to a palm for deflection or striking a blow with a fist within a moment. His face clearly expressed his irritation that she was a Windspeaker. Selim found them quite annoying to deal with, especially given the domains of magic he had funneled his experience into.

"Whenever you are ready," Selim stated, his Soelbe hovering next to him.

Natrelmon: Reckoning [Creature Capture]

@Tuujaimaa

It had been hours since Selim had taken up post in the square. He had tried to catch the attention of anyone that looked well enough off they would even be interested in hiring someone like him. However, Toran did not have a culture that made his venture very successful - the Toranese did not have that same insecurities as some of the Orani or Lifanites who had this obsessive need to compete with each other in status. Having a bodyguard meant you were important.

And then there was Kiyo.

Before she even spoke, Selim knew exactly who she was. The Reijin were one of the Five Noble Houses and there were only so many from those houses within the appropriate age demographic to be completing the Rites, so that narrowed the list down to essentially a few parties. Most of the Noble Houses, despite their prominence, were not as prolific as one might think. However, if you spent any time working in the upper echelon of Atren's nobility, you would know exactly who to identify Kiyo as.

"It is a bit of providence to have my first interested client be Reijin Kiyo," Selim responded, bowing slightly. "I am Selim Raess Dar. While I assure you my credentials for such work are appropriate, I do understand as a craftsman the need to test the product. What are your rules of engagement for this test of strength? As a competitor in the Clash of Iron, I am versed in a variety of weaponarts as well as unarmed combat."

Natrelmon: Reckoning [Creature Capture] Interest Check

Still open.

Where do I go from this point?

You can take a break to reflect or continue writing. There isn't really a wrong answer.

Unfortunately, I can't speak to any specific issues due to lack of background, but do remember people phase in and out of interest on certain topics and it may have nothing to do specifically with you as a person or writer. Maybe jumping in something that is already established or has a larger character base could allow you to participate in something to get the groove back?

Natrelmon: Reckoning [Creature Capture] Interest Check

If you have any questions you can ask on here, or on the main thread.

Natrelmon: Reckoning [Creature Capture]

The battle between Selim's magic and the Olena had left him exhausted. He had infused the magic rituals into the bauble around his neck before leaving Gadot, thinking he had a healthy supply, but between the Veolu and the Olena, Selim did not much gas left in the tank. He was pleased to have both of the creatures on his team, but it made it near impossible he would have the resources to make it to Ward and still be able to add additional summons to his team.

However, fate would not be done taunting Selim. Nearly immediately after capturing his Olena, yet another ghost made an appearance. Unlike the darkness of the Olena, the Soelbe radiated a peaceful light. Selim had seen Soelbe a few times before in the desert. They were known for helping lost travelers out of the desert or leading them to an oasis. Selim paused for a moment to examine the situation. Low on magic he could tap into the fuel the capture, he would have no other choice but to do battle with it. He hated to do that, but it was an opportunity to get a strong type advantage for future gyms. Soelbe was the only natural possessor of both ghost and light magics, a rare type combination that made occasional appearances in some hybrids or adaptive creatures.

Selim called for his Crowire silently, covering the summoning light up with his Invocation magic to avoid alerting the creature, as well as mask his own presence. It was a simple enough trick that just needed to divert attention away from the staging long enough to give Selim a bit of a tactical advantage - as well as minimize risk to the Soelbe. It just needed to be weakened enough to capture, should his first few attempts fail. Based on his quick mental calculations, he had about 6 shots at capturing it.

Clutching the bauble, he called forth from the last bits of his restraining magic to arc light around the Soelbe to startle it. Like before, the arcs of light shot out from Selim's bauble and surrounded the creature. Up until the the last second before the Soelbe, vanished, Selim's fingers were intensely clasping the bauble to the point where some of the relief picture had started to dig into his skin. Thankfully, he did not have to do battle with the Soelbe and its name was added onto the back of the bauble.

However, Selim now had a new challenge - figuring out how to get some more funds. Normally he'd be a good enough craftsman he could make something to sell, but he had no raw materials to work with or the funds really to procure anything of decent quality. That meant he had only one fallback - bodyguard. So, a bit dusty from his journey, Selim marched to the center of the town, managed to find some scrap materials to set up a sign next to himself that said 'Bodyguard for Hire'.

Natrelmon: Reckoning [Creature Capture] Interest Check

We decided to relaunch a thread we've worked off and on for the last 15 year with a number of playthroughs. We recently reworked some of hte outdated material and decided it was a good time to release it again. General premise is it is a unique take on the creature capture concept of Pokemon, but in an entirely different type of world. We have 70-100 unique creatures designed for the thread for players to encounter. I've snipped a bit of the description from the main thread below.

Hi there, and welcome to Natrelmon! Natrelmon is a thread that takes the primary mechanic of pokemon--that is, creature capturing and battling--and applies it to an entirely new world with a rich history, a fully fledged magic system, and a plot all its own. Natrelmon is comprised of a lot of information, which can be very difficult for new players to get into without being overwhelmed, so we'll do our best to give you the information in bits and pieces as and when it becomes pertinent to you!

For now, let's focus on the basics:

You are the equivalent of a "trainer", undergoing a journey known as the "Rites" (as described in the introduction)! This is a journey that mimics that of the heroes of the past and is meant to be taken as part of coming of age. In increasingly modern times it is done less and less, but the central government has recently made an incentive to send people on their Rites--and that's where your story begins!

You can check out the thread at (which has more narrative material) - Natrelmon: Reckoning