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Bright_Ops Member

The Insane Scholar

STATUS: Sorry for my lack of posts lately. I've just... been struggling to get the energy to write something up. I'm trying some new meds through so hopefully that will change soon. 9 yrs ago
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9 yrs ago
Current Sorry for my lack of posts lately. I've just... been struggling to get the energy to write something up. I'm trying some new meds through so hopefully that will change soon.
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In March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay → 4 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Roxanna

Mentioning: @Ponn


Roxanna had never been the greatest of people when it came to expressing interest or making friends, even before they... well, became Roxanna. That being said, they did have experience with people... not really getting their intent and that was the strong feeling she was getting from the Angel; To be fair, it was a pretty piss poor attempt at flirtation anyway because magic or not, there was a part of her that was legit worried for the other girl's health.

Of course, any attempt to explain or follow up was interrupted by... by...

It was kind of hard to put into words just what the third person talking Magical Dream Princess actually was. Despite the fact that it was a cold winter's night, the girl seemed to have a cloud of sparkles and glitter about her that, considering the nature of magic, likely stuck to those with ill intent or weren't pure of heart and burned them or something equally demented. That part she could have forgiven because... well, it's not like anyone had much of a say in what happened to them when they became a Magical Girl... or Boy on occasion.

The tone of voice was bad and easily grating, but in turn that wasn't what made Roxanna dislike this new girl; After all, despite everything she clearly had friendly intentions and just wanted to be friends with people and that earnest desire could excuse a lot. It was the way she spoke that did it. Even independent of everything else, that 'cutest woosy' crap was painful to listen to, but combined with everything else...

Of course, it was around about this point where the conversation between Magical Dream Princess and the Angel turned to include them... and Roxanna looked completely serious, if somewhat disturbed as she took a step back to try and get some personal space back, raising her hands to have them between the both of them before answering "Okay. I get that you're trying to be friendly and everything but... you're coming on way to strong. My name is Roxanna and... look, if it's something about your transformation you can't control that's one thing, but if you can... could you please stop the whole baby talk thing? It's not cute."
In March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay → 4 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Roxanna

@Ponn@Majoras End


All in all, Roxanna was at least breaking even on the evening. Yes, her attempt to earn a bit of spending money on the side had been interrupted by fucking Wendigos and she was going to have to cleanse her now tainted stock while purging a bunch of frozen hearts in the process, but she had kind of met some magical guys who were rather stuck up, but professional and a solid team to work with... and she had met a beautiful angel who wore a tastefully skimpy attire that used her magic to make her awesome! She had even called her a noble champion and complimented her for protecting her!

In the off chance that either of the boys asked why her face was so red, she fully intended to blame it on the cold night. However, even as her clones fought the original did turn to the Angel in an almost timid way as she answered "T-Thanks. You're presence really brightened up a night that was starting to go rather sore... even if I do want to throw a blanket over you because damn you must be freezing!" Just because the sight was a pleasant one didn't mean that Roxanna wanted the poor girl to get frostbite after all!

Of course, it was around this point that magic started to get thrown around like it was nothing... and Roxanna's eyes widened just a bit as the source of said rainbow colored magic started to skip over... and a sigh escaped her as her shoulders dropped. "...I'm never going to get all the glitter out of my hair after this, am I?" She muttered aloud to herself, but otherwise just accepted that this was her life and running away from Miss Rainbows and Glitter would be a bad look.
In Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk. VI → 4 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Aethel


As they lazily drifted and observed the Sea of Dreams, Aethel couldn't help but notice something...interesting. Something that they hadn't intended when they developed the Sea. From their observations of the phenomena this wasn't caused by the introduction of the Fey to the Realm either, since they seemed fairly content flickering around doing their duties and enjoying themselves. In fact, it was because of one of the Fey that this phenomena had been brought to their attention, since one of the dream children had noticed this and requested they investigate since this was beyond the abilities of the Fey to do anything about if something needed to be done at all.

Aethel's intentions when they had designed how Dreams would work was that the bubbles containing the dreamers would be completely self contained; The Dreamer would be influenced by their own mind and nothing more, with nothing slipping into the dream from the outside and the dream staying within the bubble, vanishing once the dreamer awoke.

The reality proved... somewhat different. For the most part it worked as intended... but as Aethel floated there they noticed what the Fey had informed them about. In the event of a strong enough dream or nightmare, the core emotional energy behind it would leak out and influence the Sea around it, tainting the dreams of local dreamers and creating their own currents in the Sea as it spread and influenced other dreams, strengthening it and allowing it to continue on its journey.

Observing it, there wasn't any intelligence behind this. It was simply akin to dropping some ink into a river and it being strengthened by encountering something that could generate more 'ink', but all and all it did seem harmless enough to be ignored since in time it would simply fade away. What couldn't be ignored through was what happened if such a current was pulled towards one of the gateways that now connected the Sea of Dreams to Galbar through.

Once loose upon the mortal world, raw emotional energy tended to cause... issues. The mortal world wasn't really designed to handle raw emotional dream energy floating around and influencing it in such a direct manner and currently there wasn't really a manner to deal with it. That would need to change... but the question of how arose. Aethel didn't want to do it themself and while they could expand the duties of the Fey to enter the mortal realm in order to locate this escaped dream energy, they could already see how that would become... problematic.

What they needed was something attuned to both the mortal and dream worlds, but didn't have enough will of their own to run off and abandon their duties. Something so used to the extremes of emotion that not only would they be suited to tracking it down, but also not be overwhelmed by it as they gathered it up to bring it back.

...Now that they thought about it, there was a place that such things could be found.

Aethel disappeared in a flash.



The place that Aethel reappeared was a place... in-between. Where the darkest, most depraved depths of the Sea of Dreams overlapped with the infernal Ashen Planes; Where the final resting place of damned souls met the dark place in the back of the mortal collective consciousness that whispered that when they died, they would pay dearly for what they had done in life. It was in this place in-between that Aethel would craft the solution to their problem... and possibly answer another problem that the Deity of Souls was going to have to address at some point.

Crafted from the darkest of dreams and filled with some flame borrowed from the Ashen Plane, Aethel crafted a Heart. A dark red glow shone out as it started to beat at a slow, heavy pace. A beat that crossed dimensions into the afterlife, the realm of dreams... and even the mortal world, if one is in the right place and of the right mindset to listen carefully enough. But this was just the first step. The forge and puppeteer behind the curtain to guide the actions of the true performers.

This was why the location was important... because the Ashen Planes would easily provide the raw materials needed. Some souls would come under their own power... others would by pulled by the presence of the Heart itself, while others would be carried and dumped by the denizens of the Ashen Planes themselves in a manner akin to that of an offering of sorts, but all of them shared an aspect; All of them had been broken by the Ashen Planes. Their original personalities had been stripped away, ground into dust by the torments and punishments that the Ashen Planes provided. Inflecting further suffering was pointless for many of them had been on the anvil and struck so many times that even the idea of pleading for release or even just screaming had been snapped off, leaving little more then an empty husk to be cast aside.

It was these husks of broken souls that would be consumed by the Heart made of nightmares, reforged in the dark flames within and given form anew, their wills bound to that of their new master. They would go into the Heart as prisoners of the Ashen Planes, but they would leave it as a brand new kind of Fey of the Sea of Dreams. Ones that could operate on the mortal plane without causing undue harm.

The first of this new breed to leave the Heart and take form would be met by a warm grin from Aethel... as well as a couple of gifts. Not only would they refuse some vigor to empower them beyond their future kin, but over their shoulders and wrapped around their body would be draped a cloak woven from divine will and the essence of the dream world itself. There was a quite moment as this new champion of the Heart looked over themselves... before they offered Aethel a respectful bow that was returned in kind.

No words needed to be exchanged between deity and champion as Aethel left. The avatar of the Heart, it's caretaker and servant understood his role in the grand scheme of things perfectly fine. It was his job to lead his fellows out of the dream and into the mortal world to gather the dream energies that found their way there. His duty to ensure that the energy was returned to the Heart so it could be properly dealt with. The keeper of rituals, the one who directed the performances of others and served as the mouth piece of his master.

He was Grimm... and he had a troupe to form.











In March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay → 4 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Roxanna


Mentioning: @Ponn@Majoras End

Roxanna's plan for the night had been to make a little bit of extra money in order to start the new year with by selling some of her spiritual wares. Granted they were likely going to be misused by the people buying them due to them ignoring the cultural history of Ofuda and were largely getting them because they looked interesting, but all she could do was try and educate and if they didn't learn that wasn't her fault.

Instead she had ended up killing two wendigo and getting sent flying by a third who had full on tried to gore her. Granted no actual damage was done, but being thrown after getting charged by a freakish deer like abomination wasn't a fun situation all the same. It was enough to knock the wind out of your lungs. Thankfully the second one had decided to go deal with the other two magical gir-...boys who had shown up that had decided to employ the old American ideal of 'If you put enough bullets into it, it will die'.

As the beast that had charged her clearly intended to follow up on its aggression, Roxanna snapped her head right towards it and swiftly called her psychic powers to the fore, grabbing the Wendigo that was even now charging towards her with the power of her mind in order to hold it still; The momentum of the character made the process harder due to her having to put more force into stopping it from just physically slamming into her, but once you were able to lock the joints into position actually preventing it from gaining enough momentum to physically resist being held like this the situation got a lot simpler and easier to manage.

It was then that a heavenly voice seemed to ring clear around the train station... and despite Roxanna wanting to turn her head towards the source to see it for herself, a combination of her own desire to stay alive and Socialism briefly employing some psychic will of its own in order to stop her from moving her head because that would be a terrible idea at the moment likely saved her having to deal with a fair amount of injury and grief.

This angelic voice was soon followed by... it was hard to describe the feeling exactly, but what became clear as crystal to Roxanna as it flowed through her was that it was empowering her natural abilities beyond their normal limits. She generally felt fairly powerful when it came to her psychic abilities under normal circumstances, but right that moment... right that moment her eyes began to glow as she felt stronger then ever.

For a brief moment, Roxanna saw several paths in relation to dealing with the Wendigo in her grasp. Truth be told she wasn't quite sure if she could pull some of them off, even with the power boost... but there was a part of her that wanted to test her limits just to see if she could do something like crush it into a meat cube with nothing but the power of the mind. She didn't do this for one reason through; She didn't know the beautiful voice or the girl giving her this additional power, but she felt like going for a brutal, gory display of power would not be the method to make a good first impression.

Instead, Roxanna decided to make use of the tools that the Wendigo itself had... volunteered for her usage. Slowly and shakily, the Wendigo's right arm moved. Even as the creature fought against the force holding it, the elbow was bent and its claw like fingers were brought together to create something that looked like it would have been an impressive war spear... that was angled at the point where the beasts neck and chin met. It gave out an enraged bellow as it continued to struggle, but with one strong shove of psychic force to give the arm a terrifying amount of momentum and... both the bellows and struggles were cut short as claws entered brain.

Merely holding a sack of bone and meat, Roxanna dropped the dying creature and let it hit the stone ground with a thump as it started to spasm as its body tried to deal with the fact that its brain was dead.

Reaching up, Roxanna suddenly felt tired as she started to rub her temples. "Oww..."
In Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk. VI → 4 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Raethel Norvegicus


As his pups were running around doing... pup things and generally amusing themselves while trying their best to stay out of the kind of trouble that would look really bad for their loving father if they were caught doing it, Raethel sat on a wooden seat, looking over some clay tablets in order to try and get the best understanding of the problem being offered to him. While at the moment he wasn't acting as the First Speaker and thus politically he was just an ordinary citizen, what he was being asked to look at wasn't a political problem; It was a navigational one.

The Rattus had taken to sailing upon open waters...rather well all things considered in that no properly made water craft had been lost to the salty depths. While some Rattus had died on the trips between Greenland and the Homeland in the past, this was normally due to factors such as age, illness or injury and was thus seem as within acceptable standards, if stressful for those on board said craft with them. However, a concern that had been lingering among the minds of all those who sailed since the original trip had been how easy it was to get lost out on the open water.

Currently most water craft preferred to take a little longer and sail within sight of the stretch of land between Greenland and the Homeland in order to keep a firm understanding of just where they were at any given time. Those that took to sailing open water had much fewer options as far as ordination was concerned; Generally they used the sky orbs in order to make sure they were sailing in the general right direction and avoided being turned around or the wrong way, but that wasn't the most refined of methods. Sure, it would ensure that you would find the coastline of the land you were looking for, but both had a rather far reaching coastline. This wasn't such an issue if you were planning to land on the Homeland since there were Rattus settlements and outposts all along the coast, but in Greenland the process of developing Rattus settlements was a lot more slow going.

There were some suggestions on different ideas of course and Raethel was reviewing them... but none of them really seemed to have that glint of promise. Taking a moment to push one of the more... optimistic of suggestions away, he reached up to rub the bridge of his nose and on reflex start cleaning his whiskers and he considered the issue. There was a small part of him that raised the question of how the gods would solve it, but his experience with Aethel had enlightened him to the fact that the idea of getting lost while traveling would simply be viewed as an experience for their co-creator, who didn't give a damn about things like supplies or survival.

However... thinking of Aethel gave Raethel an idea.



In the end, Raethel had needed a little help with the more physical side of things and his second born daughter Nitidus had thankfully be up to the task of helping him with the prototype, but the idea was honestly rather simple in execution. They had created a pyramid out of three sticks and used a bit of rope to dangle from the top where they sticks met. Hanging from the rope was a stone ball that he had thrown together rather quickly. The ball and rope was defying the natural order all by itself by noticeably floating in the air, pointing a certain direction. No matter where they moved the pyramid too or what direction they turned it in, the ball would move in order to continue pointing in the same direction at the same thing.

While the mana workings were a little complex, the idea was rather simple really. The ball had been attuned towards the most powerful mana fixture on the planet... the Tree to the south from which mana came from, went to and was renewed at. It also was, according to Aethel, at one of the 'ends' of the world, with another opposite it far up north. It wasn't a grand enchantment, the ball would simply be pulled towards the Tree of Harmony firmly enough to be noticeable, but not so much as to cause it to fly off and defeat the whole point Raethel had been going towards.

A stone enchanted in this manner, if suspended, would always point towards Aethel's Tree of Harmony... and thus would always point south. Unlike the vague nature of 'East' and 'West' that the sky orbs provided, this method would allow an exact measurement of where South was... which when you don't have any landmarks in sight to use, could be a highly useful tool to have in order to figure out where you are and where you need to be going.

Of course this was merely the prototype; There would no doubt be refinements and experiments in order to develop a version of it that would be useful and strong enough to endure conditions on the open water... or even traveling over land now that Raethel thought about it, through that version would have to be smaller due to carrying concerns... but as Raethel looked over the prototype he couldn't help but reach out a paw and squeeze Nitidus' paw with love and pride of this very moment



In March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay → 4 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Roxanna


There was a reason that people tended to refer to battle as a 'tide'. Some were easy to read with the outcome decided months before any given day, but others were faster and more chaotic. It wasn't a great analogy, but Roxanna had more important things to focus on at the moment than stray thoughts and philosophic bullshit.

Kicking the wendigo that she had stabbed in the chest directly in the head and hearing a sickening but final sounding crack of bone, silencing it as it dropped. It being dead wasn't as important as it not being a threat at this moment in time since there were at least three others waiting for the chance to strike. The psychic distraction seemed to have faded in that while the urge to fill the unending void was ever present the desire for warm, human flesh seemed to have won out over mindless gluttony.

The sounds of gunfire was a welcome one, but the exact source of it was a mystery at the moment since one of the freakish monsters decided to try and take a bite out of her thigh. While her attire was more then up to the task of stopping the bite from actually doing any harm (Yay!), an issue quickly arose in that the damn thing's teeth was stuck in the fabric, causing her to be in a rather hindered position that the other two would almost certainly try to take advantage of.

Without pausing to think, Roxanna threw both of her arms to the sides before bringing the palms her hands back together hard and fast in what might have under other circumstances been a clap... with joints where the wendigo's lower jaw connected to the rest of its skull being in between. The plan was simple; Break or dislocate the lower jaw with the opening strike, grasp the lower jaw with both hands and with a hard yank combined with a solid knee to the wendigo's throat...

There was a bony crunch as the wendigo stumbled backwards, its roars of pain and anger currently little more then wheezing and coughing as it tried to regain its breath while its long, seemingly rotten tongue hang limp without a lower jaw to hide it. Granted the damn lower jaw was still lodged in Roxanna's dress and hung off it like some dark, gothic fashion statement (and to be fair it did rather suit the style the black dress rather nicely), it did free her up to leap after the now wounded deer headed creature.

Leap was the key word, in that she launched herself up in order to stamp one foot down against its shoulder for balance (with what was clearly the wet sound of bone covered by muscle and skin shattering underneath) while grabbing both of its antlers at the base of the skull for control as the knee of her other leg delivered an uppercut directly under the wendigo's 'nose' and causing the skull (and thus the rest of the creature's head) to jerk upwards. With an unrelenting grip and having weakened the beast's body, the second foot was slammed into the until now uninjured shoulder before Roxanna tightened her hold on the skull and started to pull upwards while pushing down with her legs.

There was a few moments of weakened struggling from the wendigo that made the scene look like a bull riding contest at a rodeo... but with an unholy tearing sound and a spray of black, rotten blood Roxanna ripped its head clean off, kicking off the torso in the process to do a small flip in midair to land unsteadily on her feet. She did not look amused. "Gods damn it! I just did did laundry earlier today." anyone with sensitive hearing might have heard a mumbled "Fucking blood stains." as she threw the head in a random direction to focus on the rest of the fight.
In March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay → 4 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Coco


For her part, once Coco had spotted the two intruders in her apartment, she calmly sighed before using an old but unused teabag as a bookmark to show her what page she was on for later and carefully put the bowl of noodles down so that she could get up without disturbing them... before she glowed and within seconds went from being dressed down and relaxed to her 'magical girl' alter ego. Without a word, her gun materialized in her hands and two rounds were fired; One for that terribly unfashionable lighter and one for the cigar that the rude dick had lit up in her apartment. The gun remained trained on Al Scarpe's head.

Rupert for his part had awoken at the arrival of 'guests' and had easily shifted into their massive combat form, the cute puppy have turned into a massive dog with a deep rumble of a growl akin to that of a bear.

"Consider this your only warning that you're not welcome here. I work for Greed, not you or the Mint. If you want to hire me for a job, you arrange that with Greed. Trespass in my apartment again and you die. Do I make myself clear? Now kindly fuck off."

Knives appeared between the fingers of the woman’s enclosed fist when Coco made her shots, seemingly about to return the hostility in kind, when Al lifted his empty hand up in a casual manner.
“Hah haa! So the kitten does have claws! And I was beginning to wonder why Santa Beacon put you on the naughty list. Isn’t that right, Sonia?”

Sonia scoffed, and the knives disappeared as she leaned against the wall with her arms crossed.

Coco noticed how Al’s shadow had its hand reach out to the lighter and grab it without Al giving the gesture even a glance, and after it was dropped back to his hand he placed it back in his pocket. He then stepped to the cigar, and lightly stomped on it, putting out the smoke.

“As irritated as you might be, I make it a habit to meet face to face with potential…business associates, if you catch my meaning. Simply calling up O’l Miser would be easier, but where’s the fun in that?” He summoned a glass filled with an unknown black liquid from the depths of his sleeve, and took a sip. “I also like to give my little gigs directly if possible, just so there’s no complications or misunderstandings. You understand, don’t you?” He asked, and flashed a cocky grin.

The expression on Coco’s face suggested that she might have recently sucked a lemon and thus wasn’t in a good mood, regardless of the people who were in her home… and ruined her carpet. Yes, the place would be free of cigar smoke and the patch on the floor when she returned but she would be stuck with it until she left. While she didn’t speak, the voice in her head did it for her… even if she would be the only one present who would hear it.

“Oh Al… I would hate to have to explain to your successor just why your career was suddenly terminated. Coco, while I see you are upset by this breach of decorum and I am willing to file a complaint with the Mint on their human resource violation on your behalf, Mr Scarpe and his magical resource personnel have so far not warranted a sudden termination of employment. If you would kindly hear out what he has to say for the benefit of future endeavors towards synergy that would be ideal. ”

A small huff escaped Coco as she put her gun away before reaching out to softly rub Rupert’s head, letting her familiar know it was okay to relax just a little before she muttered “For my sake, don’t do this again. The worst that will happen to you is that you’ll be dead after all. Now what exactly is so important that you felt the need to intrude upon my space and time?”

“Seeing you make a frowny face,” Al answered with a chuckle, before he put a fist to his mouth as he coughed a couple of times. “I’m pulling ya leg.” He pulled out a folder from the inside of his jacket, and let it float out to Coco, allowing her to take it. The inside of it included files and pictures of locations and people she had never seen before.

“I’ve got a couple of jobs for someone with your talents. Of course, any job you take will be agreed on by contract, as per your sugar daddy’s preferences,” he said with a grin. “First one is a simple job. There’s a certain organization called the Crimson Cradle hanging around town, and I’d like to learn more about these folks. Problem is, they’re a sneaky bunch, and very picky with who they let in their secret club. But since you’re a new arrival in town, maybe they’ll give you a chance. Try to join in, and report your findings back when the opportunity comes. Depending on the dirt you scoop up, there’s going to be some hefty coins to collect.”

He paused for a moment, before continuing. “Second job’s a bit more difficult, but accordingly comes with a better payout,” he said while rubbing his thumb and index finger together.

“You see those broads?” He gestured to a certain picture that had two girls in it; the girl on the left seemed to be a robot or at least a cyborg based on her metallic features, while the girl on the right was a more traditional-looking magical girl, complete with pastel colors and childish accessories. “Local corrupted answer to a certain big cheese called Penny. She’s made herself a little utopia underground, and as a result, the Mint’s business has taken a dip. She’s a thorn in my side, but rubbing her out’s not a viable option. Chick’s armed to the teeth, and likely to be replaced anyway. But little birds have told me she’s got a sweetheart. I want you to look into this…Magical Dream Princess,” he looked visibly repulsed by speaking her name out, “and if you see the opportunity…take care of her. I don’t care how, but the sooner she’s out of the picture, the better. If that doesn’t work out, make their honeymoon full of stinging bees.”
He took a sip of his drink. “Any questions?”

Opening her mouth to clearly say something insulting and hurtful, Coco stopped herself before she antagonized the waste of flesh in a jacket beyond what was a healthy business relationship. The show of restraint and tact got her a pleased noise from her benefactor, making it somewhat easier to offer a smile as she explained “What information can you tell me about the Crimson Cradle, Penny and… and…” A sigh escaped her as she closed her eyes. “Magical Dream Princess. I’m going to kill her, if for no other reason than for making me say those words aloud, but I still expect payment for it.”

“Of course. We wouldn’t expect you to do anything without compensation,” Al replied. “The Crimson Cradle was founded by a foolish broker who thought they could betray the Mint and strike out on their own.” He cracked his knuckles. “Naturally, due to certain circumstances…she disappeared. However, her secret club was taken over by a new founder. We don’t know too much about her except that she’s a witch of some sort, and that her agents had taken in the ex-Sinner of Lust.” He threw a picture to Coco; it depicted a girl with a similar fashion style to herself, except she favored more red than black. “Apparently she got screwed over and got herself purified, not that it matters.” Coco noticed how Sonia’s expression tightened upon hearing Al, but then returned back to her neutral expression, glancing over at Coco.

“Can you hurry this up?” She bluntly remarked, and Al chuckled.

“Alright alright. Next up’s Penny. In addition to being the Queen of her precious Sanctuary, she’s also a cop. You see, for some damn reason, the Beacon decided to let this freak join them like the hypocrites they are. Fortunately it seems it’s not all roses for that galvanized gal based on the reports I’ve gotten. As for her abilities, what can’t she do? Three Specializations, hover boots, gauss cannon, the works. If you’re picking a fight with the Robocop, you’re in for a scrap.”
He took a sip. “Lastly, the Pinkie Pie. She apparently can use some kind of reality-warping magic to summon cutesy stuff, turn stuff into cutesy stuff, and so on. Fortunately she doesn’t seem to fully control it, and overall seems to lack in the smarts department.”

He took one last sip, and noticed how his glass was empty. “That’s all. You think you can handle it?”

Some people might have taken Coco’s silence as she looked over the documentation as a moment of quiet contemplation about the information gathered and debating committing to it. The reality was that she was currently having a private discussion with her benefactor.

“Look, I’m happy to take this Crimson job. Information has value after all. I’m not so sure about this assassination. I mean stupid name aside, killing the bitch sounds like a very easy way to end up with both the local Beacon and this ‘Sanctuary’ braying for my blood.”

“A fair assessment… but one that only factors in if one executes the operation poorly. Besides, Mr Scarpe’s primary objective isn’t the termination of MDP. His primary objective is the instability and pain of ‘Penny’. To use a saying you humans are fond of using, there is more than one way to skin a feline.”

With the mental discussion sorted for now, Coco turned her attention to Al as she got to the point. “I’m happy to get some information on this Crimson Cradle group… even if it does kind of sound like some sort of cult. As for this second job. It sounds like the death of… MDP isn’t your actual goal as much as it is to exact retribution on the Sanctuary and its leader Penny for disrupting your goals. I’ll see what I can do but… this isn’t going to have quick results. From the sounds of it the assassination of MDP, if handled poorly, would simply turn her into a martyr that would bring Beacon and Sanctuary together, possibly against Ebon Mint and our shared interests.”

There was a small pause… before Coco finished “At any rate, I’ll look into it. Is that all you wish to offer me or did you have a third job tucked away somewhere?”

"As I've said, it doesn't matter as long as the Queen of Steel gets to rust from her tears. However, I want it done discreetly. Surely that won't be a problem to someone as talented as you, of course." Al then put a hand to his chin, deep in thought, until he nodded.
"You know, there is one more job you could do. I've heard a rumor that Beacon's been developing a new weapon of sorts lately. I'd like you to procure something about it; maybe blueprints or a prototype, a broken piece, heck I'd even settle for just evidence of it."

That got a shrug from Coco as she answered “Corporate espionage against Beacon? Sure. Those hypocritical bitches could always use a smack to the face.”

Al flashed a pleased smile, showing his menacingly jagged teeth. “Excellent. Now then, shall we make the contract?” He summoned a golden scroll on his open palm, and let it float over to Coco. As the enchanted item unfolded, it revealed a silver quill for her to use. The words written elegantly on the parchment contained the terms of the agreement, separate ones for each job Al had offered. It also included sections that Coco could modify, such as the duration of the contract and possible resources to be requested for accomplishing the tasks.

Coco offered a smile as she accepted the contract… before rolling it up and tucking it away. “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to drop off your copy of it after my master’s people are done having a look at it. If working for Greed had taught her anything, it was the value of having professionals go through a contract with a fine tooth comb before signing anything.

Greed’s approval for her screwedness was a pleasant feeling in her mind and Coco herself couldn’t help but watch Al’s face, watching it for the surprise at things having gone off script.

Whatever reaction Coco wished for in the Mint broker, the man did not show it in his jovial expression. “Go ahead. No matter where it is taken, I will know when it is signed,” he simply answered, and turned away. “Well then, I’ll be heading off; I have other obligations to attend to, and so on.” He nodded to Sonia, who stepped off the wall and created a portal with a sweep of her hand. Al gave one last glance back at Coco; at that moment, as he was hunched over, he resembled less a man, and more like a fey creature of some kind. “Pleasure doing business with ya, Miss.” Then, he walked through the portal, and disappeared.

However, Sonia didn’t immediately follow.

Her eyes darted over to the portal, followed by her briskly walking over to Coco; she produced a note, and gave it to her. She gave her one last look, as if she was examining her, and then also left, closing the portal behind her.

Finally, Coco and Rupert were alone. When she read the note, she realized why Sonia seemed strange about giving it:

I have a request for you. Find Justine von Visceral, and bring her to me alive. I’ll be waiting at the roof of the local church at 2 A.M. every night. The Mint can’t get involved, so don’t let them know about this. I promise you’ll be well rewarded.

Sonia.
In Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk. VI → 4 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Aethel and ASTUS


I




The rain was falling, the wind was blowing and despite the otherwise terrible weather Aethel continued on their personally assigned ‘quest’ to explore the world as they started to stroll between the chains of islands that connected the eastern landmass to the western one.

…To be fair, it wasn’t exactly a proper ‘quest’ per say, but in their own mind it sounded a lot grander and more noble than ‘I’m kind of bored and having a look around’.

Skipping across the water of the ocean in a carefree manner, there was a strange grace and dancer like motion to their movements as the humanoid body that they were currently wearing in the event that mortal life was nearby to witness their passing seemed inclined towards turning even the simple act of walking into a performance.

It had to be said that it took Aethel a few moments to realize that they had actually stopped skipping upon the surface of the ocean and had actually made landfall due to the rather swampy, watery nature of the region they had arrived at. The presence of trees hinted at there being land but they hadn’t dismissed the idea that one of their siblings had decided that what the ocean needed was trees that grew tall enough to anchor on the seafloor, but reached all the way to the surface to bathe in the sun… but it was the familiar lingering aura of rot and life via decay that only a swamp could generate that confirmed it for them. It wasn’t an exactly average swamp either, at least it had things the others did not… For example, overgrown remains of ancient structures, or the occasional spot where equally ancient roads had yet to be reclaimed by nature.

Had Aethel not been a God, they probably wouldn’t have noticed the little speck far above in the sky, visible only through a small opening in the canopies that covered the swamp, and they probably wouldn’t have realized that that little speck was in fact some kind of… Mechanical being. Not unlike the great Colossi that wandered the lands, just much smaller in scale, and apparently also capable of flight.

The thought of checking the machine out from much closer was interrupted, however. Naturally, Aethel knew that they were being watched. They also knew that the ones watching them were the six furry creatures hiding in a bush half-hidden behind a thick willow. Aethel knew they were furry, because a quick sideways glance revealed six pairs of triangular feline ears poking out of the bush. The ears flicked every time a fly buzzed close, and the leaves rustled whenever one of the creatures inside swatted off a spider or caterpillar.

“A-choo!” sneezed one of the creatures.

“Dumbass!” whispered another in response.

All of this was relevant information that had been picked up on… but Aethel made the appearance of having not noticed. In their strange dancing skip they continued on, passing by a tree that blocked them from sight of the various pairs of eyes for a moment. Then there was nothing; From their point of view, the skipping being should have passed the tree and kept going but they seemed to have stopped behind it for some reason.

The truth was more humorous for the deity though. They had gone past the tree, leaped upwards and over the top of the treeline and the group of watchers with what would have been an awe inspiring twirl and landed behind them… all in a matter of seconds and all stages done in complete and utter silence.

Hiding in the bush behind the interesting cat people, Aethel waited a few seconds for them to notice the lack of… well, them coming out from behind the tree before they reached out to casually flick a spider off of the shoulder of the person who had sneezed before as they softly stage whispered “Maybe someone should go investigate?”

All the children in the bush froze. They made no movement, with the exception of the sneezing one who little by little lifted her shaking tail to confirm someone was indeed behind her. The moment her tail bumped against the deity, she screamed. Then, everyone else screamed. Before long, all six children were pushing each other as they tried to untangle themselves from each other and jump out of the bush.

For their part, Aethel seemed to take a great deal of enjoyment out of watching the small band of ragamuffins freeze up as they spoke… and the girl using her tail in order to confirm what her ears had heard was just adorable. There was something to be said about a bit of terror to make life worth living after all.

Calmly standing up and walking out of the bush at their own pace in order to give the children more room to get in each other’s way or tangle themselves in the bush further, they decided to politely wait for them to get themselves…somewhat organized. Finally, after quite a bit of struggling, one of them popped out and pulled the others out as quickly as he could. Once only the deity remained in the bush , he pushed his siblings without turning his back to the deity. “Run, run! Get Carer and the Tins! I’ll be fine, Master Night Terror taught me how to defeat Aliens!” Ordered the one who’d jumped out first, assuming a combat stance despite his size being at most a quarter of Aethel’s. Brave, Aethel thought. His siblings quickly took the hint and ran off into the swamp, leaving the boy alone against the god.

For their part, Aethel didn’t chase after them. It was tempting, but their attention was currently locked on the boy who stayed. “The next two minutes are going to be really important to you. You’ve got some critical decisions to make and the first of them is to concede prior to this fight starting because I’m not going to hold back if we start. Here’s the thing… you’ve probably got about ninety seconds to concede and you’ve really got to think it through because what’s going to happen is this…” there was a slight pause in order to take a breath, Aethel’s tone being surprisingly calm and collected, as if they were merely informing the boy of something rather then what the words were about to suggest.

“I can’t guarantee what’s going to happen to you. There’s no promise for your safety, no promise for anything like that. About sixty seconds left. If you’re not going to concede, what do you want me to tell your family?”

“Waow,” The boy sighed, relaxing his stance and shaking his head. His tail imitated the motion. “When did I say I was gonna fight ya? Never! That’s when! ‘Cause Night Terror told me the best way to defeat a villain is to never fight them at all. If I fought a massive alien like ya I’d probably just get punted all the way to the golden toilet. Smart, huh?” The boy nodded with a wide smirk on his face, hands on his hips and chest puffed out.

For their part, Aethel couldn’t help but grin just a little. “Let me guess… You figured that if I actually meant you or your… friends? Siblings?” there was a brief pause before a quick shrug followed and they continued “Any actual harm, I had ample opportunity to do so before revealing myself… and why you were all struggling to get out of the bush. So you decided to prove how brave you were in their eyes by staying behind to stall me. Clever. What’s your name?”

“It wasn’t really about ya meaning any harm. Ya wouldn’t know the kinda messed up things that happen round here. For all I know ya could just be toying with me, asking me questions before ya drain me dry. Or ya could be a new kinda ghost! Or maybe a very weird looking mushroom. Huh, there weren’t any mushrooms on the ground inside the bush were there?” The boy asked and took a quick look inside the bush, emerging with a shake of his head. “Nop. None. I’m Blue Soar, anyway.”

There was a brief pause as Aethel absorbed this information… and after a moment asked “Considering that of the local threats the first one you decided to mention involved the draining of your blood… I’m guessing you’re referring to a breed of creature that changes their appearance and pretends to be other people to drink the blood of their victims. The Rattus refer to such creatures that lurk in the deserts around their homeland by the name of ‘Pretenders’.”

Having offered a reward of information in exchange for what Blue had offered already, Aethel did add “I haven’t heard about hostile, bipedal mushrooms before… but then again this is my first time visiting this part of the world. You can call me Rainbow Tree if you want.” the deity offered back, thinking of a name on the fly.

“Rats? They have names for Vamps? Ya pulling my tail, Tree? Though to be honest I haven’t seen that many rats around. Mom says it’s because they were all eaten after the Day of Ashes. Also on the mushrooms, obviously ya wouldn’t be the mushroom Tree, ya’d be one of the crazy things the mushrooms make ya see! Ya know, one time I licked one of them and dreamed I was a girl? Not just a girl, a Prime too! So ya could easily be a vision from the mushrooms.” Soar said with another self-confident nod.

“Blue, if I was yanking your tail you would know it. That being said, the Rattus do have a somewhat easier time with the bloodsuckers because they see the world a bit differently than most. Their illusions still fool the eyes but it doesn’t change how the winds of mana interact with them. But the Rattus are a people much like yourself and the others you were with before they scampered off… they were originally rats, but they’re a lot more now. There was a slight smirk as Tree added “Some of them stand taller than you on their back legs.”

The mushroom dream actually caused them to chuckle. “I’m not going to rule out the possibility that I’m some kind of dream created by fungi… but I like to think that if I am, that means you’re having a good dream. After all, a cute, brave boy deserves them.” There might have been a slight wink and a playful chuckle, before ‘Tree’ got semi serious again as they asked “You mentioned a ‘Day of Ashes’. What is that?”

“I did. Ya don’t know about it? Ya truly are an alien. D’ya come from the moon, Tree?” Soar asked and crossed his arms. “I’m not supposed to tell aliens anything to begin with…”

There was a small scoff at the suggestion. “No. But creating the tree I call my home played a part in creating the moon. Launched most of the materials it’s made out of up there. But I don’t know about this ‘Day of Ashes’ and I do enjoy hearing new stories.” Some might have considered Tree’s words to be utter insanity but… it was the simple way they said it in passing that suggested that not only was it the truth, but it was an unimportant one at that.

Soar scrunched up his face, then with a flick of his ears he turned his head to one side and chuckled. “Carer’s on the way. I’m not old so I can’t tell ya about the D.O.A. If ya wanna know just ask her.” The kid explained.

“Was this Carer old enough to be there?”

Blue Soar shrugged, just in time for a figure to drop down from above the canopies of the trees. It landed with both feet on the muddy ground and skid to a halt in-between the child and Aethel. Arms that previously looked like metal wings quickly turned to humanoid ones, and it's pointy face flattened and an opaque blackish green visor slid over it. Once its transformation into a full humanoid was over, it stood upright at nearly two metres tall.

Blue Soar didn't seem scared. Instead, he had a wide smirk on his face as he turned around and walked off into the swamp with a swagger in his step. "See ya round, Tree."

The distinctively feminine metallic humanoid's visor flashed green for a split moment before settling on a rich orange hue.

"Divine creature, your presence has been reported to Astus. Will you tell me what the purpose behind talking to a lone child in the middle of the swamp is?" The robotic human asked, her voice coming from a box in her throat rather than where one would expect her mouth to be. It sounded raspy and had a constant background of static.

Had they been any other type of entity, the new arrival could have been seen as threatening or at least have gotten a surprised reaction from its appearance. In Aethel’s case, the look on their face, after they offered Blue a polite wave and a simple “Take care Blue.” before giving the newcomer their attention, was that of a child's curiosity.

“Well, aren't you an interesting one? A living creature made out of metal with a mana heart bringing you to life. You’re utterly captivating in how beautiful you truly are…” their voice trailed off for a moment… before he suddenly shook their head in order to snap out of it because the being had asked him a question.

“Oh forgive me, I just found myself lost gazing at your core. I’m sure you hear that all the time through. You can call me Rainbow Tree and I was just passing through on a quest to see what my siblings have done with this part of the world when I happened to encounter some youths. Blue seemed inclined to talk and I was happy to do so.” An explanation given, ‘Tree’ smiled as they asked “Are you Carer by any chance? Blue mentioned the name but I didn’t want to assume.”

“I am Carer, First Generation Prime Astalonian, our Cores are triple-shielded against shock, temperature and penetration. They’re masterpieces created by Astus, Chief of Industry, that serve as Central Processing Units and Black Boxes. In the future please refrain from speaking to lone children, Divine Creature Rainbow Tree. Are you taking your leave now?” Carer asked, her hand resting on the hilt of the long blade currently attached to her hip.

For the first time in what felt like eternity, the smile slowly started to fade from Aethel’s face until there was only Aethel left. While it might not have sounded like much, for someone witnessing it, it would have been as unnerving and creepy as if Aethel was disappearing and leaving a smile behind. “I’m sorry, I do believe I must have misheard you. Did you just imply that I, as a divine entity, cannot be trusted to be left alone with a child? Because that would be insanely rude. The only thing I dislike as much as rudeness are people who attempt to lie to me.”

Carer's visor flashed red. She was silent for a few seconds. "I apologise if I have offended you. Is it rude to request unknown Divines to stay away from Children? Our own Divine Patron killed hundreds, after all."

The best way to describe ‘Rainbow Tree’s body language would have been that of an angry bird who, having ruffled their feathers and finding the situation returning to calm, was smoothing them out again. The smile was back. “Very much so, but I am willing to chalk this up to a hole in your creator's teachings since he is clearly somewhat active in your life and thus I will accept your apology Carer. Out of curiosity, was this slaughter of mortals the ‘Day of Ashes’ that Blue mentioned? He didn’t go into details, but insisted you would be a better storyteller.”

Carer's hand came off the hilt of her blade and her arms began to stretch and twist and break in different places, slowly assuming the form of a pair of long wings. "Blue Soar tends to exaggerate my skills. I am merely a machine, after all. The Day of Ashes was a tragedy that took place on this land decades ago, orchestrated by Chief Astus in order to cleanse the land of a horrible taint. The project was a success, of course, but I have no more memories of it. I was confined to the Vault throughout it all."

Aethel’s head tilted slightly to the side, a small ‘hmm’ escaping them before they asked the first question that came to their mind. “And what nature of taint was this?”

"I do not have that information."

There was another ‘Hmm’ as for a few seconds the gears in Aethel’s head turned. “Fair enough then. I will have to speak with Astus himself at some point to find out that detail. Would hate for the mortals I’ve created to encounter something that needed to be so heavily purged after all. What is currently troubling your people at this time, Carer? After all, while I am sure Astus meant the best, I'm sure Blue and the rest of the organics you protect would appreciate a more… soft handed approach to problems going forward.”

"We've recently contained a Stage 4 Fungal Outbreak fifty seven kilometers northwest of this location. We estimate about three hundred and seventy nine tons of biomatter has been infected on the surface, with an unknown quantity extending underground throughout the caverns. We need more firepower in order to stage an effective extermination. Chief Astus is also always on the lookout for ways to increase birth rates among the Astalonian Homurans."

For a moment, Aethel weighed their options before at last suggesting “I think, before I make any decisions of how to proceed, I should have a look at this fungi problem you seem to be having for myself. If you want to lead the way I’m happy to fly after you.”

Carer nodded, "I will lead you to the entrance into the quarantine zone and request the Primes stationed there to let you through. I can not be your guide in the area, however." She said and took off running, then with a mighty jump propelled herself to the sky, using her wings to glide.

In what had to be a flashy, somewhat gaudy display a pair of translucent butterfly wings appeared on Aethel’s back, easily lifting them off the ground and allowing them to fly after Carer, bathing the land below in different colored lights as the sun beamed through the wings with each flap.

II


Carer landed with a long skid and a quick shift back to her humanoid form, with Aethel landing behind her almost soundlessly a split moment after. The Primes posted at either side of the double chain link gates nodded at Carer, their visors a steady blue, and placed their hands on the hilts of their weapons as soon as Carer returned the nod.

“This Divine wishes to enter the Quarantine Zone. Stabber, Cleaver, you two will allow their entry or exit at any time as long as protocols are followed at all times.” Carer commanded, her visor green. The two Primes nodded again.

“Acknowledged.” They both said at the same time, their voice boxes sounding the exact same.

The one named Stabber then nodded at Aethel, his visor suddenly changing to yellow. “Does the Divine Creature wish to enter the Quarantine Zone now?”

Gazing through the chain link gate into the Quarantine Zone, Aethel let Carer speak with her peers in silence as they focused on what they were seeing… only to snap out of it slightly as they turned to look at Stabber. “And what exactly are these protocols that are in place?”

“To go through decontamination before entering and upon leaving.” Stabber nodded his head towards a moderately sized tent beside the entrance. “To prevent any infected lifeforms from exiting.”

About a hundred meters overhead, what must have been a hundred drones whizzed past and over the Quarantine zone, dousing the area in some kind of purple powdery substance. Massive needle-like projectiles launched up from the thick, sickly swamp and shot down several of the drones, the sound of the explosions reaching Aethel several seconds after the fact.

Aethel was listening to the discussion, but it was easy to see that they were watching the fight that was happening in the air with a degree of interest… event as they pointed out “Decontaminating before going in seems like a waste of time. I mean, are you worried that I’m going to take something into the zone that will sicken the fungi?”

“We’re worried you may carry new, lethal microscopic life into the zone which the Fungal Hivemind will then inevitably assimilate into its arsenal, Divine Rainbow Tree.” Carer explained, making her way to the tent’s entrance and motioning inside. “Please, if you would. Upon entering, the entrance will seal while you’re decontaminated.”

“Very well. I am a guest in your land after all.” Aethel politely offered before walking towards and into the tent in order to get this process over with. True to Carer’s word, immediately upon entering, a flap of plastic dropped over the entrance and sealed it, then they were doused in a yellow vapour of some kind for what felt like an entire minute. It was eventually over, however, and as the vapour was finally completely sucked out of the tent through some small vents on the ground, the flap of plastic covering the entrance came off. When Aethel left the tent, the gates to the Quarantine Zone were open and the three Primes motioned for them to enter.

“The Divine Creature may now enter.” Stabber declared, both him and Cleaver closely observing the tree line a few dozen meters past the gate. Offering the two ‘guards’ a small bow of his head, Aethel said nothing as they crossed the threshold in order to see what was hidden within the infected zone.

III


It was a good three days before Aethel exited the treeline of the infected zone, clearly no worse for wear because it would take more than a fungal infection to actually cause a deity any actual issues. In a calm but thoughtful manner, they allowed themselves to undergo the process of decontamination. An idea had already, pun intended, taken root in their mind but the details needed to be worked out just a little.

It was once they had left the tent that they got to work. With a small show of flare, Aethel walked about an arm's length away from the wall of the quarantine zone, pausing every few meters in order to throw what appeared to be some kind of seeds into the air away from the wall. This would continue until at last they had done a full circuit of the wall… and then they turned around and repeated the process by going the other way. At no point did Aethel actually reveal a bag or container for the seeds they were throwing; It was as if they threw their hand out and the seeds appeared.

Once the second circuit was done, Aethel came to a stop to take a deep breath. Their eyes closed, they tilted their head upwards as they let out what would appear to the mortal eye as a rain cloud, floating up out of their mouth and spreading out, growing in size until it easily surrounded the Quarantine Zone so that it had a ring of cloud cover, but none of it drifted past the wall. Those with the ability to see mana would easily be able to spot the green that laced the cloud that Aethel was creating.

Once the cloud was at an acceptable size, it stopped coming out… and Aethel closed their mouth before bringing their hands together in a loud, thunder-like clap that caused the clouds to suddenly start raining.

For a few minutes there was no change… and then the flowers started to pop out of the ground. At first they were small things, but within seconds they started to swell in size until a massive ring of brightly colored, beautiful and pleasant smelling flowers surrounded the other wall. Then the flowers started to push themselves out of the soil, revealing that the ‘flower’ was simply the top of what appeared to be a dark bluish humanoid body with legs, arms and a pair of small red eyes and a small mouth.



While they were all a variety of sizes, shapes and colorations, the biggest of these plant characters was almost two meters tall… though while there were hundreds, if not thousands of them, few actually came close to that massive size. As the plant animals started to look around and move, spores started to leave their flowery heads, filling the air to seemingly no ill effect. Satisfied with their work, Aethel turned to Stabber and Cleaver and offered “I do believe this will help you and your feline companions out in keeping things under control.”

“The Divine Creature’s work is appreciated.” Stabber nodded, his visor blue.

“The Divine Creature’s work will ensure the outbreak is contained.” Cleaver said, his visor red.

“And if you let them wander around and do their thing in peace, it should be rather difficult for further outbreaks to get rooted.” Aethel offered, but didn’t feel inclined to explain the details of it. “Before I go wandering again, you wouldn’t happen to know where Astus is, would you?”

“That information is classified.” Explained Stabber.

Aethel looked at Stabber in their blue visor with the look of someone who knew what the outcome of this conversation was going to be, but they were still slightly inconvenienced by the fact that the other person was insisting that the steps be taken in order all the same. “I was under the impression that Astus wanted to see me at some point. He was made aware of my presence after all. At this stage I feel like it would be awfully rude to have enjoyed the hospitality of his domain without at least meeting with him personally.”

Stabber’s visor flashed yellow, “A report of the Divine Creature’s presence has been submitted to and received by the Chief. No further reports have been made. Does the Divine Creature wish for us to submit a request for an appointment with the Chief?”

“The Divine Creature would have to be really fuckin’ lucky to get one. Worth a try.” Cleaver added.

Glancing towards Cleaver, Aethel’s face was unreadable as they asked “You are suggesting that Astus wouldn’t make time to meet one of his kin?”

“The Chief is a busy Divine Creature. The Chief will make time if the Divine Creature requests an appointment and He deems it worthwhile.” Stabber explained, his visor slowly going back to blue.

For a moment, Aethel placed a hand on their hip and slowly started to tap it with their fingers in a slightly put out manner… but they shrugged as they answered “In that case, please send a message on my behalf that I was intending to move on and leave his domain, but would have liked to see him in person before going.”

Stabber’s visor flashed yellow again. “Request submitted. Orders received. Engaging R.C.M.” A split moment later, Stabber’s visor turned off entirely and his entire body seemed to twitch. When his voice box activated again, it wasn’t the smooth and calculated voice of the Twin Primes, but a rough and obnoxiously loud one.

“IF IT ISN’T ONE OF MY COLLEAGUES! CUT TO THE CHASE AND JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT, SMALL MAN. I GOT A 155,000 HORSEPOWER ENGINE PROTOTYPE WAITIN’ FOR ME TO GET BACK TO WORK.”

For their part, Aethel sort of leaned back as the yelling started. Despite having a form that didn’t have visible ears, their ‘hair’ seemed to fold onto their head as if trying to protect them all the same. “I’m assuming I’m speaking with Astus. Why are you yelling?” was the first question that came to mind.

“AIN’T YELLIN’ SMALL MAN, MAYBE YOUR EARS ARE TOO WEAK? I GOT AUGMENTS HERE THAT YOU COULD PURCHASE, HAH!”

There was a deep, deep breath as Aethel took a moment to respect the fact that this was Astus’ domain and thus he was the host. A short explanation was offered quickly“I was passing through the region when I encountered some of your people. After a bit of a chat, I decided to assist them with their Fungus problem… but before I departed I wanted to check in with you, since this is your domain. I would have done so sooner, but I was exploring the depths of your infestation problem.”

“I’VE ALREADY SEEN THE PLANT THINGS YOU MADE. THEY’RE GONNA BE REAL HELPFUL, SO THANKS! NEVERMIND THAT THOUGH, YOU CALLED YOURSELF RAINBOW TREE WHEN YOU SPOKE TO CARER. YOU AETHEL? CREATOR OF THE AETHELIC FIELDS?”

There was a brief moment of confusion on Aethel’s part… before they blinked as it hit them. “Yes, I am Aethel… and I am the creator of Mana. I’m not sure if that’s what you’re talking about though because I’m not prone to naming things after myself.”

“K, SO I’M GONNA ASK YOU. NO COPYRIGHTS ON THIS MANA THING RIGHT? I’VE BEEN USIN’ IT FOR A LONG ASS TIME NOW, WOULDN’T WANNA HAVE TO PAY FOR THE RIGHT TO USE IT.”

There was a glance offered to Cleaver that summed up in a single look the sentence ‘The fuck is Copyright?’ before they turned back to Stabber and answered “I did create it with the intention that it was going to be used. Granted, using it to create a machine heart to develop metal life wasn’t something I had planned but that’s why I’m happy to let people play around with it. Wonderful things come of it after all. So yes, you may continue to use it. However, there is one question I would like to ask of you while I’ve got you here.”

“Carer mentioned that you needed to purge a number of your organic mortals due to some ‘taint’, but she didn’t know what it was. You mind filling me in?”

“AH, THAT. YEAH THEY WERE LAZY AND DUMB CAUSE I DID EVERYTHIN’ FOR THEM. SO I WIPED ALL THE TECHNOLOGY OFF THE ISLAND AND FORCED THE SURVIVORS TO LEARN STUFF PROPERLY. WHAT NOSTALGIA! SO, YOU DONE SMALL MAN?”

“It would seem so. Thank you for your hospitality Astus. Though I must confess the coincidence of how your organic mortals bare a striking resemblance to the mortal template that Homura created and started gifting to other deities to finish.”

“IT’S ALMOST LIKE I MIGHT HAVE GOTTEN THEM FROM HOMURA TOO. WHAT COINCIDENCE! WE BOTH CAN CONNECT THE DOTS. YOU IMPRESS ME, RAINBOW TREE.”

“I see I have contacted you at a bad time. Thank you for taking some time out of your clearly busy day to speak with me, Astus. I’ll let you get back to playing around by yourself in your workshop.[/color]”

“AND I’LL LET YOU GET BACK TO DANCIN’ IN THE SWAMP.” And with that, Stabber’s visor turned back on and settled on a deep purple.

“Is the Divine Creature satisfied?” He asked, his voice back to normal.

There was a small sigh as Aethel answered “About as satisfied as I can be under the circumstances. I will take my leave… that being said, I do hope that whenever Astus brings the wrath of other deities down on himself that you survive it. It would be a shame to lose such a marvelous people like yourselves after all.”

The Primes nodded at Aethel and went back to standing at either side of the chain link gate.




In Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk. VI → 4 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Raethel Norvegicus and the Rattus People




Raethel had always found the settlement of the Greenland Docks to be an interesting contrast to Firstbarrows. Where the latter was largely located underground with settlements made of sand colored stone on the surface (turning sand to stone had been among the first tricks their people have ever employed mana to perform after all), Greenland had provided new challenges in order to properly settle it.

While digging down was still possible, the vast presence of plant life and especially trees caused an issue that simply wasn't a concern in their homeland: Roots. They were numerous, big and often ran deep into the soil around them. While it didn't make creating barrows impossible, digging down to the layer you needed to be in order to avoid roots completely was something of a nightmare to do. While there had been some early clashes between the Followers of the Green Wind and others on the debate of moving the roots verse destroying or damaging them in order to bypass them, the truth of the matter was that both were highly time consuming and troublesome to do.

As such, the early settlers of Greenland had come up with an alternative method of dealing with their shelter problem since burrowing into the ground was so difficult to do in a timely manner; They started burrowing into the trees themselves. The idea wasn't as insane as it sounded, Raethel had discovered when he had visited the place for the first time once the settlers had gotten a bit more dug in.

Some of the true giants of the forest of Greenland were massive things that alone could provide enough timber that would last the Rattus as a whole for years, but their size made actually felling them a logistical impossibility; Not only would it cause untold damage to the world around it as it fell and crushed everything unfortunate enough to be in its path, but wood trended to decay fairly quickly unless the could get to it and treat it first... and the sheer size of one of these fallen titans of timber would ensure that most of its bounty would simply go to waste if the time and effort was made to bring one down.

Instead, Raethel was proud to say that the settlers had solved two problems at once as they started burrowing into the titans and hollowing them out, extracting block after block of timber in the process while also leaving enough behind to both keep the tree stable and keeping it alive so that the rest of the wood wouldn't start to decay. This allowed the creation of rooms within the still living trees for Rattus to move into and maybe use some mana in order to strengthen the walls a bit in order to better support their house.

This development also meant that unlike in Firstbarrows, where structures tended to go downwards, in the Greenland Dock settlement their buildings went upwards as they dug out more and more of the tree. There were Rattus who spent the dark hours of the cycle resting closer to the sky then most animals dreamed possible, with those in rooms closest to the outside even going so far as to gnaw holes in order to let in air and light. Some of the wood of the tree had gone into creating barriers for the entrances and these holes to the outside so that they might be closed as needed, but Raethel had to admit that it was quite a sight to see the tree barrows at night, when the shutters were left open and one could see the lights of the Rattus within brightening the trunk.

The view from those upper windows truly was something to behold as well, as Raethel himself gazed from one out across the construction yards of the Docks themselves, as well as the forest and far out across the great salt waters for a long way. He couldn't quite see their homeland from up here, but maybe in a few more years as they went further up the tree...

The only thing that was even more impressive then the view outside of the window was the expression on the faces of his children as they, in small groups, had their turn to look out and see it for the first time. While this exact height was new to Raethel himself, he had seen similar views in prior visits to the settlement... but this was the first time his children had ever been so far above the ground. He still somewhat remembered his first time gazing out and feeling a mixture of fear and excitement... it was something else entirely to see those expressions play out on the features of his pups.

Then again, this whole trip had been a chance to witness his pups see and experience things for the first time. Sailing on open waters, the site of the tree barrows at early dark, the sight from the top of the tree barrows.. but he still remembered the captivated look in the eyes of some of his pups from both litters when they witnessed the construction yards of the docks from up close. While he could see them from here if he poked his head out and looked down, it wasn't quite the same as actually standing there... and he didn't want to encourage his children to lean out the window either.

In person the dockyards were in full swing as countless paws worked on creating ocean craft. All one needed to do was look towards the ocean in view and one could see the fruits of the dock workers labors as wooden craft sailed between Greenland and the homeland to trade with Firstbarrows... but craft were also traveling along the coast south of the docks. While it was true that the craft could only travel so far still, each week seemed to bring improvements to the designs and how they were constructed, as well as better preparing them for the rigors and trials of the salty sea.

Their crews also had a chance to grow more experienced and practiced with every journey, allowing for quite a selection of Rattus to choose from in order to build a crew to fulfill Aethel's divine mandate for Rattus kind to set foot on a far distant shore that wasn't connected to their homeland at all. While he couldn't see it from here without setting a bad example for his pups, Raethel knew that down below the frame of a new craft was slowly being put together. One that was bigger then all the rest.



In March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay → 4 yrs ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Roxanna


If she was being completely honest with herself, Roxanna had lost the Christmas Spirit a long time ago. Back when she had been Argol and a young boy the holiday was a magical time of the year, but after a certain point the whole thing just became more of a hassle then anything due to the friction and conflict that was generated whenever their family got together. The fact that Roxanna didn't have any family of her own in order to go and visit likely didn't help but... Christmas was just another day for her.

However, for the holiday season, Roxanna did run something of a small 'business'... through the term was used lightly because while she wasn't an ordained priestess or had a shrine she could go and visit, some traditions of Ofuda had to be maintained and one of the most important was that the kamifuda and kifuda that she kept on her stand were not for sale. They were holy items after all and to sell them would be highly questionable at best. Instead she followed the method used by the shrines themselves: The items were 'received' by those that stopped by her homemade stall at the train station and in exchange they made a donation relevant to the time and effort she had to put in to make and bless in item in question.

With people returning from holidays or coming home for the New Year, inside of the train station was generally a good place to set up shop so those trying to stay out of the cold could come and have a look. Unfortunately, the presence of people also tended to draw less welcome attention... Which was why there were innocent people running away screaming, her stall had been toppled over and somewhat broken with the displayed items scattered over the ground and Roxanna herself impaling a kifuda dedicated to Ucchusma into the chest of a rotten looking humanoid deer thing with blood (both fresh and old) caked around its maw before kicking it hard enough to send it stumbling back to give herself a bit more room.

While it was true that ofuda writings dedicated to Ucchusma were generally made with a more passive cleansing of the unclean in mind, Roxanna couldn't help but feel somewhat vindicated by her belief in it as the deer creature started to violently claw at its chest, trying to dig out the kifuda as she saw flame start to shoot out of the puncture wound. With her current foe incapacitated and distracted by a deity that she was going to be offering some prayers to later, Roxanna quickly looked around to see how the rest of the fight was going.

The two clones she had created at the start of the fight were holding their own against two more of the rotten beasts, the damn things proving rather tanky to her physical blows but at least preventing them from chasing after fleeing human targets. The fourth one of the pack was still ripping around one of the food kiosks, consuming everything that it encountered. That had been a stroke of genius on her part; These creatures weren't mindless, but their hunger was so all consuming that it was easy to think otherwise. Actually reaching in and enhancing that drive to eat towards the nearest source of meat possible had proven to be somewhat easy since was inclined to do that anyway, so instead of hunting humans it was currently content with ripping into half cooked chicken and meat products that hadn't been put on the grill or into the deep fryer yet to try and lessen its hunger enough to start thinking of hunting humans again.

'Social, we need to end this quickly.' Roxanna thought in her mind... and wasn't that surprised by the fact a different voice answered her there.

'Fire would be the most effective tool to use, but despite how tough these things are they can be physically killed by more mundane means. Just remember to collect their icy hearts afterwards. They need to be burned in a fire hot enough to melt them to finish these things off for good, otherwise they'll just return in time.' It might not have been the quick and easy answer she had wanted, but Roxanna could appreciate just having information at all. That thing about the hearts alone was worth knowing.

'Do you think I could trick two of them into fighting each other? Make them so hungry they'll try and eat each other?' She asked at the speed of thought, with a reply coming a moment later after Social needed a moment to consider the possibilities.

'If it was just two, it would be possible. But you would need to focus on keeping them locked on each other and since there are four of them... Wouldn't recommend. Heads up, the one you impaled is just about done 'healing' itself.' Social's warning proved true, as the wendigo in question had managed to dig out the blessed wood from the gaping hole it had dug into its own chest, reveling the extent of the internal burns that was preventing the wounds from healing up as it cast the kifuda aside before roar-screaming in fury and pain.

Taking a deep breath, Roxanna charged forward in order to get the offensive on this opponent before it had a chance to collect itself... or worse, try to actually heal rather then just remove the object burning it from the inside out.
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