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3 yrs ago
If you want to play both Fallout 3 and New Vegas, I'd recommend trying out A Tale of Two Wastelands.
3 likes
3 yrs ago
You're a rock star
3 yrs ago
Unless the problem is in the air.
1 like
3 yrs ago
If they at least have the decency to say that they're leaving instead of simply ghosting the RP, that's good enough to me.
7 likes

Bio

I originally got into forum roleplaying on the official Bethesda Game Studios Forums in 2007 or 2008. When the forums were replaced with Bethesda.net, I was one of several close-knit Fallout RPers who came here.

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Aerarius


"Your clothes appear to be the correct size, " Aerarius assessed. "Although I suppose the best way to know is to simply wear them for a while." Clothing wasn't really an issue for him anymore. The closest thing the automaton had to such a thing nowadays was his exterior plating. He didn't usually think to hard about it because when he did, he'd come to weird conclusions. "However, depending on whether or not your new body will grow, you may eventually need to resize them regardless."

"As for the forest, yes, both Byron and myself seemed to pick up on that worrying detail," he answered her second question. "It's possible to accelerate the growth of a forest using magic, but this place...it's too natural looking, too sparse of civilization. If need be we could approximate the time elapsed by felling one of the trees and counting the rings in its trunk," he suggested, his Natural Philosophy courses finally paying off, "but Byron and the others have probably found more precise information about what the date is." Aerarius' face was incapable of showing worry, but his movements and tone of his voice betrayed a concerned uncertainty.

"But from what we've seen already," he continued, "I think it's safe to say that we woke up far later than expected. It'd also explain the degree of your transformation, if we were in there for centuries rather than merely years or decades." There wasn't much else he could tell the sage, because there wasn't much else he knew.f When the others returned from the town, they would be able to give a more comprehensive account of the group's- and the world's- situation.

@Raineh Daze
Aerarius

Aerarius watched from afar as the others approached the gate. He did not see them enter the town, but the lack of sounds of battle reassured him that everything had gone smoothly. He himself had chosen to remain outside the town, out of view. His mechanical body stood out too much- at best it'd unsettle the locals, at worst it could draw unwanted attention to the group. He was, to his knowledge, the last of his kind, and if the Volstanians still remembered Aerarius (assuming they themselves still existed), it wouldn't be hard for them to figure out that he'd returned once rumors of a brass mechanical man reached their ears.

It wasn't like he'd gain anything from entering the town. He trusted most of his companions with his life, and was confident in their ability to gather information, exercise discretion, and not draw too much attention to themselves. Besides, someone needed to stay behind to greet and update the sage when he, or she, made it here. And sure enough, he heard the patter of the footprints of someone diminutive approaching from behind.

"Ho, so you have been left out here to greet me?" asked Efander, in her new voice. Aerarius turned around. In theory, he could have simply rotated his head, but it wasn't like he had anything else to be pretending to be paying attention to.

"That, and because I sort of stick out." he answered, looking over her makeshift clothing. "How's the new body feeling?"

Aerarius knew how difficult it could be to adjust to a new body, even one that was arguably a vast improvement in most respects. Of course, Efander's teething troubles (possibly literally, considering her apparent age) would be far different from his own. Efander's new body was still human, but of a different biological sex and apparent age from the previous one. There were still several unanswered questions, though. Will the new body grow up or is it frozen at this apparent age? And will the new body affect the sage's mind in any way? Would Efander end up going through puberty a second time? Only time would tell.

@Raineh Daze
Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri drove the two bandits further back, swinging his sword and dagger with seemingly wild abandon. He was determined to ensure they would neither escape nor come to their leader's aid. The brigands had the sense to stay out of the reach of his greatsword, and continued to back away from the aggressive knight. One of them seemed to be looking for an opening, several times stepping forward in hopes of striking Fleuri while his greatsword was being swung back around. Every time she did, however, Fleuri stepped forward as he swung his dagger, threatening to strike her if she drew any closer, causing the bandit to shrink back rather than take the risk.

"Perhaps it would be a good time to surrender?" the other, more wary bandit asked as Fleuri's swings slowed and his aggressive assault subsided.

"Why? So you can have another week of life before you're hanged from the gallows?" the other berated him. "Or even worse, whatever Jeremiah will do to you after he's finished with their captain? Look, our foe is already tiring. Work with me and we'll take him down."

Indeed, Fleuri's movements were slowing. He was momentarily fatigued, for sure, and assumed a more defensive stance. The more aggressive bandit moved around to Fleuri's right, seemingly intent on giving her companion an opportunity to flank him.

"Are you paying attention?" the other bandit shouted, "Even Jeremiah can't kill all of them! And even if he kills their captain and calls that a win, it won't save us!" Fleuri breathed a sigh of relief beneath his helmet upon realizing the man's panicked hesitation.

This might not be as hard as I anticipated, No, not nearly as hard, he noted as he noticed a knight approaching the female bandit, unnoticed.

"Then if you're going to die, die with a weapon in your hand, not with shackles on them," she indignantly shouted, her rage with her companion's cowardice and wariness of Fleuri blinding her to the approach of the fourth combatant. "And maybe take down a few of our killers with...aaahh!"

The approaching Iron Rose knight skewered the bandit woman on her sword, and tossed her expiring body to the side. "Do you need any help, Sir Jodeau?"

"Affirmative, knight-sister," Fleuri nodded, turning to who looked like he was ready to soil himself.

"I surrender!" the brigand cried, dropping to his knees and throwing his axe to the ground. "I don't care if I'll hang, I just don't want to cut in half!"

The second Iron Rose Knight tied up the capitulating foe while Fleuri watched their backs. "It looks like some of them aren't giving up," Fleuri observed. "Let's leave him and take care of the rest."

As he rushed to join the battle to contain the bandits, Fleuri wondered how Fanilly and the other knights were faring against Jeremiah. Depending on how fanatical he was in his hatred of Thaln, a man like Jeremiah might consider it a victory simply to kill the captain, even if most of the knights survived and he and his entire gang were wiped out. Or perhaps he was a megalomaniac with dreams of ruling his own kingdom.
Aerarius

"I do not remember this area being this heavily wooded either," Aerarius replied to Byron. "I am not too alarmed by the appearance of a village, or the absence of anyone to greet us, but trees do not spring up overnight. At least not naturally. I wouldn't assume a worst-case scenario, though. We weren't discovered and destroyed while slumbering nor ambushed upon emerging, thus we have evaded the worst possible outcomes."

His face didn't show it- indeed it really couldn't show it- but Aerarius was a little concerned. Judging by the growth of this forest, they could have been in there for over a century. Was the Empire still around? Was it still a threat? Did anything remain of the Alliance and the civilizations that they meant to preserve, or have they changed so much as to be unrecognizable? If the enemy they fought against and the cause they once fought for no longer existed, perhaps he be better off just settling down and starting up a magitech workshop for as long as his automaton body continued to function.

The half-elf was having regrets over being sealed away. Unlike most of the group, he was a mercenary by Aerarius' understanding, a foreign refugee that had gotten caught up in the war and had evidently gotten far more involved than would be reasonable for a hired sword. Aerarius did not know what the lifespan for half-elves were, but judging by the growth of these trees, it was quite possible that if Malachi had any loved ones, they'd be long dead by now.

Izel was concerned about making first contact with the village, and it was a sentiment that Aerarius shared. None of the party was exactly inconspicuous, and some were downright alien. Until they knew more of the situation, they needed to keep a low profile

"I would suggest Byron be the one to enter the village," he spoke to Izel, his head swiveling like that of an owl to meet her eyes. "You and I are not exactly human anymore. The demigoddess and the sage have the appearance of children. And the half-elf is a foreigner. Assuming his race was not wiped out in the war, the beastman ought to draw the least attention."
Aerarius

Aerarius turned to Esfander. "Of course, Great Sage. Take all the time you need, can be difficult adjusting to a new body." Truth be told, Aerarius was eager to get out of there as soon as possible. There was so much that he wanted to find out- what the world looked like now, what magical advancements have been made, and just how many years they had been flung ahead. And if the Volstanian Empire still existed, it was their duty to cut out its black heart.

I'm almost starting to sound like Sylphie. Maybe I did absorb some of her mana in the coffin after all, he jested to himself, glancing at the goddess who was now rambling about fighting bandits. While he didn't worship her, instead being a devotee of the deity of knowledge, Aerarius felt that Sylphie's bloodthirst and moral compass would both be a boon in the coming days.

He looked over the rest of his companions. He knew little of the Great Sage's past other than that she was formerly an elderly man with a reputation for being a disaster magnet, yet wise and charitable. Unable to cast spells in a conventional sense, but able to manipulate mana to an incredible degree. Aerarius wasn't sure of the exact mechanism by which a centuries-old man had gained the body of a little girl, but might be worth looking into, if only for curiosity's sake.

The mage named Izel was an enigma to him. She was well known as the "Grand Magus of Unira" before the war, centuries old and the founder of a once great academy and library, one one of Unira's greatest patrons of the advancement and collection of magical knowledge. Until, of course, the Volstanians destroyed it, just like they destroyed the Royal Institute of Magical Technology of Aerarius' own homeland. She might be a kindred spirit, but perhaps she was simply too alien to Aerarius to be considered such. Not just due to her age, but because something was off about her. She looked outwardly human, but when viewed through the automaton's mana sensors, it became clear that not only was she not human, she was unlike anything living, artificial, or supernatural that he had ever seen. Were her thoughts equally incomprehensible to human understanding? Or was she simply a human who, like Aerarius, had given up her humanity for power?

The beastman was the youngest of the group, but even in his youth he was an experienced veteran of the war. He was a shapeshifter, capable of taking the form of a massive cat, and like Aerarius, he had lost his home to the Volstanians' aggression. The last companion, Malachi, was mostly unknown to the automaton. He knew that the half-elf was a foreigner haling from somewhere outside of the Alliance, but knew little else, other than that he had proven himself fighting against the Volstanians.

For now, Aerarius' concerns would be focused on more immediate matters. The automaton strode up to the exit, behind the demigoddess, half-elf, and beastman, and looked into the dark cavern before them. "I don't suppose any of you have a light?" he asked. "I doubt there could be anything in here that could threaten us, but I would rather not stumble around in the darkness."

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@PKMNB0Y@Lugubrious
Aerarius

Aerarius slowly regained consciousness as the sealing spell wore off. As mana coursed through his body, his auditory sensors were filled with the soft humming of his internal mechanisms as they started back up. For a minute he lay there as clarity slowly returned to his mind and his body regained its strength. He wasn't sure if it was by design that the sensation of waking up as an automaton would be so similar to that of when he was human, but he was grateful for it all the same.

Why can't I see anything? This isn't a charging station. Oh yes, that's why, he thought to himself as his mind became clearer. He extended his hand and felt the coffin's stone lid, as he recalled the events that led to this.

They sealed us away. Wanted us to strike a blow at the enemy when they became complacent and believed themselves victorious. We must have awakened, he concluded. He had clearly been shut down for a while- his joints had an uncharacteristic amount of friction within them, and a few were even entirely stuck, his half-awakened body unable to produce the force to move them.

Above the ambient noise of his own body, Aerarius discerned sounds from outside the coffin. The most likely conclusion was that the others had awakened as well. He waited another minute or two, patiently allowing his body to regain its strength. He exercised his joints in his arms and dislodged those that had become stuck, at least as far as he could inside the cramped coffin. When he was satisfied with the lack of resistance in his joints and the strength in his arms, he opted to emerge. He put his hands on the lid and pushed, flinging it open, completely ignoring that it was meant to open on its own.

Did I force it took hard? It's no matter. We're never using these things again, he thought as he climbed out. His legs were still stiff, but they possessed enough power to push through the resistance. He glanced around, looking at the others that had awakened. So far, the young beast-man, the petite demigoddess, the Grand Magus, and the towering half-elf had emerged.

"It appears the sealing spell was successful," he vocally noted, producing a human but slightly distorted voice. He couldn't be sure what sort of side effects the spell could yield. Such was not uncommon when dealing with untested magics.

In fact, he didn't need to look far to find an unforeseen "side effect". Emerging from Efander's coffin, and draped in his clothing, was what appeared to be a young girl. She appeared to possess the Great Sage's unique mana absorption, leading Aerarius to conclude that she must be Efander, somehow shifted into another form. Taking into account his own mana absorption ability, which he assumed was deactivated while he was sealed, he instinctively glanced down at his own body. To his relief, his brass frame was the same size and shape as it had been when he had been sealed.

"It looks like the spell has had some unforeseen effects, however."
Here's my CS


Fleuri Jodeau


As Fleuri drew closer to the burning tree, a warcry sounded nearby. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bandit rushing at him with a mace held high, nearly blindsiding the knight with the speed and abruptness of the attack. He narrowly dodged the powerful blow, its great momentum preventing the bandit from adjusting the trajectory of the swing. Fleuri then leapt away from his attacker, putting some distance between the two. Behind the first bandit, another approached, brandishing a handaxe.

It looks like a few have broken out of the encirclement, Fleuri assessed. He wasn't the only knight that had rushed to aid Fanilly- he had seen Tyaethe rush to the Captain's aid, and Gerard was right behind Fleuri, with the same intention. While it wasn't a reasonable assumption that the survival of the captain and the death of the Bandit King were the most important objectives, the fact remained that they couldn't let anyone escape. None of these murderers could be allowed to evade justice, and they certainly couldn't be allowed to share their firsthand knowledge of Iron Rose tactics with other brigands. He couldn't be sure if these bandits were simply trying to escape by going through him, or if they held some loyalty for their bandit king, but either way, someone was needed to take care of them and make sure nobody else breaks out.

"Gerard, go on ahead," he told his companion as he released his left hand from his greatsword and drew his dagger. "I'll take care of these bandits and make sure none escape." He immediately rushed at the bandits, swinging both weapons in succession. The bandits easily evaded his aggressive swings, but the immediate goal of this assault was not to kill them, but to drive them back and keep them on the defensive so that they could not bar Gerard's way.

Reon, please let this be the right choice.

@HereComesTheSnow
I'll try to get a post in today or tomorrow.
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