Asuras

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

If possible I'd like to be put on a waitlist, Rune. I'm interested in joining this!

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

Regardless, post is up.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

"I don't think a masterless horse would draw much attention," Annabelle hummed, "Perhaps it would interest them for but a moment?" 'Distraction' as a tactic really didn't seem like a good choice, here. With the archers up on the walls, and their destination ultimately to get on the other side and keep running, they had little in the way of cover. If they just ran outside the ruins, their backs would be exposed the whole way to the bowmen.

"Well... we cannot carry you like a shield, Serafaye, but maybe we could draw things into a narrow space?" Annabelle suggested. "Maybe we could entice the men with swords to chase us into one of these alleys. Surely Serafaye could be like a plug on the alley!" she exclaimed quietly.

"Then, when they're pushing against her, we can attack from behind, or pincer them inside the alley with an ambush!"

The idea sounded good to her, at least, but it all hinged on actually drawing the forces away from their position, and it still didn't solve the issue of the archers. At the very least if they could get rid of the main force on the ground, dealing with the bowmen would be that much easier, and less impeded. Annabelle was also assuming that Serafaye could indeed indefinitely take hits from spears and swords. There was a hint of a worry in the back of her head that such luck might eventually run out, somehow.

"That is... if... Serafaye is ok with being our shield," she nervously laughed.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

Once a week is different from "within the week I had posted". If that's what you want then that's fine, but until 14 days have passed, "once a week" can still be maintained.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

I was under the impression that we are to post at least once a week.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

@ERode

"The One Ring?" Valentine replied with a shit-eating grin to Tux's authentication question. Annabelle delivered a sharp jab with her elbow into the red-head's side, earning a noise of complaint from her.

"Napoleon," Annabelle said, speaking the genuine phrase she'd been assigned.

"And Russian winter," Valentine added, rubbing her rib sourly.

Annabelle had brought along an umbrella with her, while Valentine was satisfied with wearing a hood alone, though it was not waterproof. The soaked red clothing clung heavily over her hair, while Annabelle's form enjoyed overall sanctity from the torrential downpour. A flash of lightning, followed by thunder, and then the distant roar of some nameless beast turned Annabelle's attention aside across the rooftops.

"You don't say..." she hummed after Tux described Penrose's situation. She'd not seen something like this in quite some time. She supposed, then, that this was why Penrose was oft nicknamed the 'Conflux' in the magical girl communities elsewhere. "Seems a bit of a shame we're here breaking into Beacon, then, instead of out there, helping the city. It sounds as if it could some more hands," Annabelle said, looking back to Tux. Both of the girls accepted the warm water, plain as it was. Valentine made a face after drinking some, and tossed the rest.

"Think it'd be a good idea to have a nasty show up on camera nearby the HQ? Might be able to get some more of them to come outside looking for it," Valentine suggested, stepping beside Tux to look out over the disguised building.

"Annabelle Murgang, nice to meet you, Tux. You can call me Anne," the black-haired girl introduced after Tux, "I'm feeling quite alright, if a bit apprehensive of the city already. We came straight here."

"Valentine, but you knew that already," Valentine said dryly. She didn't have an answer as to her current 'feelings'. "What're we looking for in there, anyways? Sis' said it wasn't a smash n' grab, so... what? We looking for some juicy secrets? A prisoner?"

"I'm curious if Beacon is aware of our organization at all," Annabelle pondered. They were not new to the business, but it was the first time they'd be dealing with Beacon, never mind a Beacon headquarters, of all things. Big Sis had mentioned that Beacon wasn't their biggest worry, in the grand scheme of things, and that they were closer to the side of human alliance than others, and yet here they were, about to snoop on them. Keep your friends close, and your not-really-friends closer, Annabelle supposed.

"How... long have you been on this rooftop?" Annabelle asked, puzzled. Her gaze turned back to the campsite Tux had set up. The word 'urban jungle' immediately came to mind.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

Annabelle had made it onto the roof, and though she was aware that archers would be training upon her movements, she was prepared to be that distraction. She dashed along the side of the rooftop for the imperial blockade, sword lifted at her side and angled to intercept in front of the bulk of her frame. Fortunately, as she made it a quarter of the way across, Cecilia provided an even better distraction. Before the arrows could fly for her, accurate or not, a bright light granted Annabelle good cover for the rest of her approach. She'd handle being the next distraction, but she was able to provide additional support too!

"Carpenter! Help the lizard-man!" she shouted out. The red blob that was bounding alongside her suddenly veered off to the right, leaping out onto the ground-level of the alleyway. The dog burst into a wide web of red, easily latching hold onto one of the guardsman's body. But instead of face-hugging the man like last time, Carpenter slunk down his arm and enveloped his sword, turning the bladed weapon into a blunt, squishy mass -surely a terrible design to try and strike at Kaze with. The blood elemental would follow Annabelle's orders, slipping around the men fighting against Kaze to cover blades. He wasn't fast enough to dampen the blow of every sword, but he could certainly invalidate at least one fighter at a time, decreasing the number of blades Kaze had to deal with at any one moment.

Annabelle meanwhile leaped from the rooftop, feet outstretched to try and land right onto one of the archers that had nearly threatened her. Rude as it was to make someone kiss the bottom of your boots was, without the blinding light, the archers would quickly become a problem if not dealt with.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Normally, if someone wanted to enter and then navigate an entire city like Penrose, you would roll up in a heavily tinted car, and drive at the speed limit. Getting by on foot would be impossible, especially if someone was out looking for you. For a magical girl, however, such a feat was child's play, to say nothing of one who commanded darkness.

Street lamps along a nameless street seemed as if to have their souls snuffed out, light dimming even as the bulbs themselves remained healthy. The rolling blackness progressed slowly... a walking pace. Within the blackness, it was difficult to see anyone hidden within -only the dim lights from inside homes was able to reach the sidewalks, shining upon the casual gait of two young women as they walked along.

Valentine Achill and Annabelle Murgang had only just arrived in Penrose for the first time, entering by foot from the outskirts to take a stroll for their destination. Valentine darkened the streets as they went, obscuring their forms from curious eyes, even if anyone thought it worthwhile to venture out from their homes to inspect the peculiar event as it passed their windows by.

Though they were new to the city, their business was not. As part of NEXT, their organization had already snaked its way into the city walls long before them. Tux, a magical girl known for her disguises, was to be their contact in Penrose, and their ultimate mission the subterfuge of a certain monolithic presence within the city. Under the loud and distracting cover of a dark rave, they had little to worry about in regards to being accosted, but it didn't hurt to keep out of sight.

"How much you wanna bet she won't appear to us as her normal self?" Valentine asked, eyes trained on the large revolver she lazily spun around a finger. She had her hood up, drawing long red hair over one shoulder to hang over her chest. Though their surroundings were utter black, she maintained a small sphere of dim light just around her, so that at least her accompanying teammate could see where she was stepping.

The girl beside Valentine, a certain Annabelle Murgang, was dressed to the nines in her magical girl outfit, sporting a long, elegant and elaborate red dress embroidered to high heaven with precious metals and gems. A large sword rested on the exposed skin of her right shoulder. The raven-haired girl hummed, tilting her head ponderously.

"I'm not sure. Maybe I'm hopeful that, being teammates, we'll get her real face, because that's the courtesy?" Annabelle responded with a light smile. Valentine's gun spinning came to a halt, landing the handle in a sudden grip around her fingers.

"You don't think that being a spy-type means she's got her own goals in the background, and she's duping everyone, even Big Sis?" Valentine grinned.

"We should refrain from losing trust in Tux before we've even met," Annabelle responded.

"Yea whatever." Valentine lifted her other hand, angling the screen of a cellphone to her eyes. Shifting on the LCD screen was an active GPS map, pointing them down the street towards an otherwise nondescript building. At a mere few dozen yards away, Valentine began looking for a hole in the wall to duck inside before dropping her shadowy cover. Sliding through a narrow alley between two buildings, Annabelle followed, and over several seconds, the streetlights began to return to life.

The two magical girls used the alleyway to obscure their quick jump onto the roof of the building at their side. Leaping up, they were met with a suddenly grandiose view of Penrose's taller inner city miles away. The twinkling of the entire city illuminated the rooftop in a dim blue glow, and it was here that they were to meet their third, and begin the mission.

Arknights - Project Neptune

Diver frowned deeply at Thrones, appearing as genuinely sorry as she could be. Though she clacked some notes away at her PDA, her eyes kept trained upon the Sankta as she spoke.

"I'm... we're well aware of your situation, but i'm afraid the decision was not up to me. Miss Solveig insisted on utilizing the simulation. It's one of our newest technologies, and I'm certain she and others were eager to see it put to use," Diver explained, "Not to mention that it is... admittedly difficult to carry out extensive real-life examination aboard the ship. Expediency was of utmost importance as well. I'm sorry, Thrones. We will do everything we can to reduce the strain in the future."

Chariot chimed in, "So then we will be having to go back in? Or are you insinuating that we're accepted?" she asked, fixing her ponytail after stepping out of the cramped pod.

"Miss Solveig was already invested in you all before the test. This was, ultimately, just a way for us to measure you all more thoroughly regardless of your existing good impressions," Diver smiled. "So for the time being, no, you will not be going back into the simulation for awhile. I imagine there's a good number of kinks we need to work out anyways, clearly," she giggled. Chariot's expression became bright as she turned back to everyone else, silently celebrating with her smile at the news.

"As for your question, Vlad. The task was admittedly impossible to achieve. The simulation was programmed to continually ramp up difficulty, and would have surely inundated the team before you could reach your destination. It wasn't meant to be beatable, but rather to test you all, and perhaps illuminate your behavior in the face of apparent failure."

The two tech engineers paused their typing to look up at Dragoon, exhaustion in their eyes. "We've been working for three days straight," said the woman. Indeed, were she to look around, Dragoon would have noticed the remnants of coffee packets, spilled sugar, and dirty mugs about the desks off to the side.

"Two weeks of preparation, though. The tech really is new. Couple dozen other employees were helping us up until it was up to us," the man added.

"The simulation is a one-to-one where time is concerned. Your hour or so in the simulation was an hour out here," Diver explained to Strix.

"We do have plans to try and increase the in-simulation speed, though," the male technician said aside.

"With the examination concluded, you're all released from today's duties," Diver said. "Under your current employment, you have level B clearance, which will permit you to visit most facilities here, including laboratories. We ask that you exercise caution when moving about delicate locations like those, of course." Diver moved to a desk and retrieved a pile of lanyards, handing one to each of the operators. It displayed their name, a serial code, a large white 'B' and a number of other printed security features.

"Any one of the directory consoles around the ship can direct you to your dorms, if you wish to relax for the moment. Cafeterias, gyms, theaters... all are available with your badge. We also have a park towards the center of the ship, if you would like for a place to relax. The dome is, in fact, real and looks out into the sky. It is not a television panel, as much as even our own veteran employees would like to rumor.

"Tomorrow we'll have you meet with Miss Solveig, but for the time being, you've the rest of the day off."

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

There was no point in trying to keep up with a horse, and so when Carpenter returned to her side, once more in the form of a canine, Annabelle took off for the larger group. Strength in numbers, and all that, never mind the fact that Serafaye was being roped along by Yinha down the alley anyways. Dashing off to try catching up to the trio, she came to halt as she rounded a corner and found them accosted by a wall of spearmen. Annabelle hugged the corner, eyes peering around the side just in time to catch the sight of a much larger man's hand stopping short of Serafaye's face. It looked and sounded as if he had smashed his hand into the side of a stone pillar.

Perhaps... that was where the girl's strengths shined. Still, being unable to carry a weapon or cast magic, she was still just dead weight, much as she'd be able to shrug off anything else coming for her, from what she could tell. Besides the spearwall before them, the scout group from the main road might end up finding them there as well, pinching them in the alleyway. They needed some kind of trick or strategy... fast.

"Big lizard man... do you think you could toss me onto the roof? Or at least give me a boost? If I can get behind them... maybe... maybe I can disrupt them enough to make for a better way forward. It's... all I can think of. Or perhaps, bind them before they notice me with some magic."