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Zeroth Post
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Zeroth
Curse of the Azure Bonds




The sky darkens and the last rays of the sun disappear, leaving the landscape a rippling set of grays and shadows. It might just have been your imagination, but this evening you feel that the sky seems slightly darker than usual as the sun begins to set. For a singular moment it looks like the tendrils of shadow cast by the dying light reach out with dark fingers to entangle you within their shroud. There almost seems to be conscious intent in the way they crawl across the ground towards you.

And yet that is what they are. Simple shadows and nothing more.

Putting your overactive imagination back in its place, you settle back down again. You unfurl your bedroll and you nod your head to your companions. All is well and this seems to be a night on the road like any other. There is nothing to fear here it seems, nothing to be wary of.

Like shadows in the night they come. Whispers in the dark. They blend in so well with the blackness of oblivion as they encircle the camp, and as they do the fire blazes merrily with no indication of what is about to come. Like tiny, flickering shadows they flit in and out around, dancing close then away before they can be seen. When they strike from the shadows they do so quickly and without warning. It begins with the drow as they seem to materialise from nothingness against a backdrop of night. With a cry of alarm, you bring your arms to bear as do your companions in response to the sudden and vicious onslaught.

And yet the drow are not alone. Other figures materialise in their midst, humanoid shadows bearing swords swathed in fire. Dancing shadows that flit and flicker at the corner of consciousness and reality itself.

Before it even starts, it is over.


~


You waken to the sound of two dogs barking and the evening hubbub of wagons and carriages passing by your window. You are resting on a simple straw tick covered with graying sheets. You look around to find your companions similarly laid out and just now awakening. You remember an attack, drow and figures leaping out the shadows and appearing magically among your midsts. Then nothing, a deep void of blackness until your awakening.

Your gear has been packed neatly beside your bed. You reach for it, then stop as you notice that your entire right arm has been covered by an ornate, gleaming tattoo. A tattoo marked with strange and mysterious symbols.

So begins the mystery of the Curse of the Azure Bonds.
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Hidden 22 hrs ago Post by Valen
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Valen

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Do you understand what you are? That in the great cycle of life, and as the wheel turns, you are nothing more than specks of dust blowing in the breeze. Are you really that important to the gods that look down on you from the sky above?

Do you understand what you truly are? Do you truly understand the role you will play in events to come, for the story of those who would come to bear the curse of azure is terrible indeed.

Yet it is far too late, and you are already in far too deep to get back out again.


***


The sound of two dogs barking pierces through the hubbub of carriages and wagons passing by.

You awaken, and as your eyes blink into consciousness once more, they take into view the surroundings around you. A simple straw tick covered with graying sheets. Above you, a timber roof can be seen held up by wooden supports. To the side, a wooden door is closed, yet a small amount of light can be seen coming through the edges of the cracks. Angling on the roof above you is a gabled window, through which the dying embers of sunset stream through, providing some faint illumination in the otherwise darkened room. The view of the small, yet quant and picturesque town through the window is pretty enough. Below you, wagons can be seen traversing cobblestone-ladened streets, splashing through puddles at the side of the carriageway. The sunset itself is a picturesque cornucopia of oranges, purples, hues of red and yellow that mix to make a beautiful miasma of colour set against the darkening sky.

It is evening, and people are starting to make their way home from a hard days work.

In the distance, the imposing edifice of a white-washed temple can be seen, however at this distance there are no markings to identify the deity that the temple is dedicated to. In fact, this whole area, the street below, the humble yet comforting thatched dwellings, is not familiar to you. You were not here, not inasmuch as you can remember. You were camped out in the wilds, on a road that was leading north to Daggerdale.

The sound of dogs barking is both loud, and insistent. It intrudes on your train of thought. Yet it is not the only noise inside your heads. In your mind's eye, you recall words spoken to you by another. Words softly spoken as memories come rippling forth unbidden.

The sky darkens and the last rays of the sun disappear, leaving the landscape a rippling set of grays and shadows. You strain your eyes to discern movement near the camp. Any creature could creep up on you through these shadows....

All is quiet, then a voice echoes out of the gloom towards you.


"Looking for something in particular, or are you just browsing?"

Looking for something in particular?

It was strange really, for some reason you rather believed that you were looking for something. What that thing was, whatever it was you were looking for, it is gone now, lost in darkened memories that have been lost to the void of time itself.

It is hopeless though. The speaker, whoever he was, is lost to your memories also. You remember the voice though, that you could never forget. It is not just that though. The memories of last night are gone to you. Where they once were there is nothing but a dark hole, almost as if someone had reached in and plucked them away from you. And then, as if from nowhere, a wild cacophony of seemingly random images suddenly assault your patchy memories. Dark-skinned warriors leaping out of the shadows, clutching wicked curved blades dripping with dark poison.

Drow.

And yet they were not alone. There were others amongst the drow. People clutching swords that exploded into burning fire. Beyond them all, something else.

Worse than the drow, at the very recesses of your mind, you see something else, floating. Several great, bloated orbs, tendrils extending out of the great, floating mass. Each one of the tendrils ending in a small eye. And in the center of the orb, one great eye and a wide, cavernous jaw filled with razor-sharp teeth.

Amidst all these strange memories, one more voice amidst them all. A voice of questioning concern, although the speaker too, is lost to the void.

"You can't remember, can you?"

Besides you, in the room you now lie, your gear has been packed neatly besides your beds. You reach for it, and stop -- as you notice your entire right arm has been covered by an ornate, gleaming tattoo, marked with strange and arcane symbols.

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Hidden 14 hrs ago 14 hrs ago Post by Bounce
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Bounce

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The dwarf’s eyes flew open.

Rolling off the bed, the stout red-headed youth steeled himself for...

Well, for staring at Lulli it seemed.

Fists raised and ready, the boy’s eyes moved around the room, head turning as the feeling of disorientation washed over him. The fists relaxed, lowering slightly as the dwarf tried to reason with where he was. A room? This was an... inn of some sort?

By the sounds from outside, a town of some sort.

One by one, he glanced at each of the companions in turn. Simon, Fyodir, Check, Illa. All accounted for.

When had they..?

They’d been on the road. They’d made camp. And then..?

The youth winced, bringing a hand up to his face to pinch the bridge of his nose as recollection came in disjointed flashes. Images. Voices. All devoid of context.

When he finally spoke, he uttered what was surely the question on everyone’s mind right now. “Why am I sober right now?”

This definitely called for a stiff drink.

Blinking several times as he tried to shake off whatever malady of memory had gripped him, he saw his gear ordered by the bed and then looked himself over. Seemed no worse for the wear, save for the tattoo.

That was new.

”Everyone good?” the druid inquired aloud, in his accented speech. As he did, he started to roll the sleeve back along his arm, exploring how far the markings went. He spoke again and said, “I seem to have a mark of some sort on my arm.”

Did he recognize the markings at all?


Hidden 8 hrs ago Post by Guardian Angel Haruki
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Guardian Angel Haruki The Healer

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Checkmate


Checkmate gasps lightly as she awakens from her slumber. She stares at the ceiling for a while as she recalls the scattered memories. She silently, but desperately, searched her memories for any detail she could grasp--odds be damned.

At the end of it though, she lets out a frustrated sigh before she sits herself up and runs her perfectly manicured fingers through her hair, across her scalp, and around her horns. She's trying to massage the headache away, but the dogs barking outside certainly were not helping matters. She takes stock of the unknown room she's in, and her compatriots from the road.

Her own eyes carefully study each of their reactions, and she finds that they are in the same boat as she is.

She blinks as the dwarf makes it clear that their priority is their sobriety right now. She doesn't answer his question, but when he asks if everyone is good, she answers him, "I'm alright,"

She reaches for her belongings, only to find the tattoos on her arms as well.

"Oh Hells. What did I get myself into this time?" Checkmate wondered to herself as she studies her arms carefully. Perhaps the tattoos would give some sort of context...

"What new Dragonchess game is this?"

She answers the dwarf when he mentions that he has markings on his arm, "You're not the only one. I have tattoos on my arm as well,"



Hidden 5 hrs ago Post by N3v3rM0r3
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N3v3rM0r3 Cranky old Raven

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Illa Dragon-Scaled and Nameless


The kobold grumbled as she slowly woke, wondering what in the nine hells did she drink last night? Those memories, they seemed to be her's, but also didn't. And what about... Sudden panic filled her as she looked around the room for her little gold drake. She was ready to burn the place to the ground looking for her... before sighing in relief as she noticed the drake asleep beside the bed. "I think that dwarven whiskey had gone bad last night... has us having nightmares of elves and freaky eye things..."

She would pause as they mentioned tattoos and looked up at her own arm. The kobold typically didn't wear clothing under her beloved armor, simply bindings over... nothing really, so the tattoo its self was in full display, tarnishing her gold with brass vitiligo scales that she cherished deeply.


She would suddenly roll onto her belly, looking over Nameless to see if she too had the mysterious markings.

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