Dervish

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

<Snipped quote by Dervish>

I'll have it up after work and gym.

@Leidenschaft

Always with the excuses, you juice monkey.

Mass Effect: Borealis

<Snipped quote by DearTrickster>

More like shitty.

@Fallenreaper

Naw they didn't go in. THEY ARE UNTAINTED.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

Apologies for the wait, this 10 hour time difference made it really hard.

@Scout

How dare you live on such an inconvenient side of the planet. :[

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

@Leidenschaft THE POST IS UP.

EXECUTE ORDER 66.

By that I mean get the move along thing up so the rest of these fine ladies and gentlemanatees can get back in the groove.

The Jolly Roughers ~ Dervish & MacabreFox

"Shay..., this is hard for me to say, so you must try and understand."

The words immediately made Shay tense up and flush with embarrassment. Had he read the situation wrong? Was he being foolish in allowing personal feelings get in the way of his responsibilities? He stared back at Vera, uncertain and apprehensive. He feared what she was going to say, and it was shaping up to look like she was trying to let him down easy from a crippling blow, how she thought lovers were foolish and how no man had ever won her heart. He wasn’t sure if he were quite at that point himself, but she seemed to be preparing to cut the head off the snake before it had the chance to strike.

Words like these… it’s probably why there’s no snakes in Ireland. Shay thought jokingly to cushion the blow.

And then she caressed his face. It was electrifying, and he was enraptured by the gentle warmth. He looked searchingly into Vera’s eyes, trying to make sense of what was happening. Her words turned to praise, separating him from so many others, that she actually trusted him, something he knew came very hard to Vera. The barbed words he had expected instead turned into a confidential warmth, something she offered him in confidence. His heart raced, realizing that even in the past week, he actually was someone important to Vera that she had no intention of discarding.

"Tonight was wonderful. Please know, that I too, share these same emotions. I am glad that I can bring you some peace to a world like this."

Before Shay could let the implication of these words sink into his heart, a loud bang against the window startled him, thinking someone was furiously trying to interrupt the moment, which all but evaporated like water on a stovetop. A cheeky, grinning face appeared. Silas.

If Shay had access to snow at that moment, he would have tossed it in the youth’s face for scaring him half to death, even if he had a point. They’d dawdled for long enough, he supposed. Sam had been waiting in the Tawdy for probably hours now, waiting for their return. The realization made Shay feel guilty as he rubbed his temples with his forefinger and thumb. “As soon as my bloody heart steadies its tempo. Damn Silas scared the life out of me.” He said, before breaking out into a nervous laugh.

“Before we head in… I just want to say that I appreciate all you just said. You had me mighty worried I made a grand fool out of myself, but I suppose there’s worse things if it means you smile at me like that.” Shay said, returning the warm expression as he reached for the door handle and stepped outside into the street. Walking around to get the door for Vera and help her out, the pair headed into the familiar doors of the Tawdy and the familiar, friendly air was intact and it was not as deserted as the last time they were in. Sam was sitting at a round table with four chairs. Looking up, he watched his sister and friend approach and he offered them a gesture to sit, which was taken.

“I’ll be damned, you dress up mighty respectable, if I do say so myself, Shay.” Sam said with a grin, turning his attention to Vera. “And I’ve never seen you look anything less than stunning in a dress. You certainly got that from mom’s side. So, how did it all work out? Do you have your in?”

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

Since there's a sort of official Guild Discord server, would anyone think it would be a good idea to set up a FoC chat channel? It would be a decent way to draw interested parties to our game.

@Frizan

We made a Skype channel that 4 people joined, so why would anyone give a crap about Discord?

The Jolly Roughers ~ Dervish & MacabreFox

When Vera stepped in closer to Shay, the reaction to hold her closer yet was only natural, and it felt almost protective. Even through his suit, he felt the warmth of her body against his, and their entwined fingers were an intimidate gesture that went far beyond simply playing the role. Fate had brought them together, first as her distant protector, then as her protector, and now her… what, exactly? This definitely was something, although the words escaped him. Vera’s perfume rose from her like a flower, and closing his eyes, Shay could almost imagine he were in the fields around Cork as a young lad again, a more innocent time. He felt at ease in a way he had not felt in quite some time, and he did not want the moment to pass.

The band, however, concluded their piece and a silence came over the dance floor. Both Shay and Vera did not break their embrace immediately, finding solace amongst each other, a desperate attempt to let the moment linger but a bit longer as if resisting the setting sun. Eventually, they pulled away from each other, but their fingers were still entwined, as Vera smiled back at Shay, he felt his heart lift. There was something here, with her, that filled him with hope. He didn’t want to return to the Tawdy, to let reality come back. He wanted to be here, with her, for as long as they dared. Masters of their own fate, not answering to anyone else, even if it was family.

Still, there was an obligation to be fulfilled, and their expensive clothes and admission to this place was because the gang had made the arrangements. As pleasurable as it was, there was still a duty to fulfill. With a regretful sigh, Shay said after a spell, “I suppose we made our appearance convincing.” He said with a sad smile. “Shall we head back to see what Sam has for us?”

Departing the White Star and returning to the drab winter London streets, Shay opened the passenger door of the car as the valet brought it around and helped Vera climb into the cab before moving around to the driver’s side. Handing off a two pound note to the valet, Shay climbed into the driver’s seat and took off, following the streets to the familiar neighbourhoods where the gang resided. Before long, they pulled up to the Tawdy and Shay turned the car off, not in a hurry to head inside. “I didn’t want to leave… I don’t know what that was back there, but I felt something. I feel like I’m overstepping my station here, Vera, but there is something wonderful about spending this time with you I never want to let go of. This is a cruel, hard city, but you make me forget all of that.” He said softly, looking down, slightly abashed.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

<Snipped quote by POOHEAD189>

When @Dervish finally puckers up his anus.

@gcold

Don't wait up. ;D

Mass Effect: Borealis

Compared to the cool temperatures of Elysium, Virmire was positively roasting. In the thick foliage of the jungle, the cooling breeze of the bay and open sea were utterly consumed by the vegetation around the group, and it was muggy and hot going. Tanya was glad they packed extra water for the observation post, but to get there, they had to lug around a shitload of equipment. In addition to her own rucksack, she carried the two grenade turrets on her back, toting nearly three-quarters of her weight across her body, an exhausting endeavor she’d forgotten how much sucked spiny lizard dick since forced marches in the marines. Still, she didn’t bitch, nor particularly mind that she was carrying a heavier load than even most of the guys; she was tough, and Hazan’s bullshit dibs on being “pointman” was probably just a ruse to get out of doing any substantial lifting.

When Vellios had asked her if she was going to break her spine in the process, she’d explained that it was simply the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities. Further explaining, she said that they wouldn’t want something that couldn’t be found when they needed it, and that they couldn’t live without it. There as a melodically inclined infliction to the whole idea.

And so, sweating her ass off in the muggy-ass underbrush in a single-file column just ahead of Vellios, who in turn was disguising Hazan’s stupid little tree X’s. The fact they were walking down a somewhat beaten trail as it was, either from others who had make the walk before or animals, didn’t leave much confidence that the markings wouldn’t be seen in their duration in on the operation. A big inviting X was hardly natural, and Tanya caught Vellios’ eye when he finished scratching one of the markings to look like claw marks approvingly. It might be wild country, but it was no place to let one’s guard down. It would be stupid to assume no one else was combing the jungle. These were, after all, paranoid criminals on a border world that wasn’t unfamiliar with skirmishes between rival factions were hardly the kind to take things at face value. The only difference between here and Omega was the scenery was nicer and batarian preachers didn’t draw crowds over their pious opinion that humans are a blight on galactic civilization.

Bunch of wankers.

After what was around two hours, fifteen minutes based on the clicks her omni-tool gave off every quarter hour, Tanya and the others arrived in the designated observation post. Happy to take the weight off of her shoulders, Tanya couldn’t help but admire the view below, which had a surprisingly commanding view of the smuggling camp below while remaining hidden behind foliage. There’d be no fires, and food would have to be cooked with water pouches and thermal cooking strips, just like the good old days in the marines. Tanya’s first order of business was positioning the automatic grenade launchers, which deployed a small tripod and had a programmable console off to the side. Each member of the team had an IFF tag somewhere on their person, and the launcher was programmed to engage man-shaped targets only, and within 20 meters… there was a chance that patrols would miss them entirely if they concealed their operations well enough.

Both turrets activated and in position, Tanya pulled off her hammock tent from the bottom of her rucksack, and using the net weave across the surface, began to weave foliage and deadfall through, concealing its profile. Finding a length of trees she hung it half a meter from the ground, securing both ends with ratchet straps. A side pocket had a square piece of fabric that she pulled a chord and tossed into the tent. It quickly inflated and took shape of a pillow. The whole process took ten minutes, if that.

“So, we should probably plan some scouting missions down to the camp, figure out a path in case we need to get down there, or need to give the others an escape route. The launchers should be able to hit the camp from this range if the fit hits the shan and we need to bug out and cause a bit of chaos.” She said to the others, taking a water bottle from her pack and drinking from it. It was already piss warm.

“So, how’s your body holding together, Vellios?” she asked, knowing the march must have been brutal with his injuries. Damn turian was too stubborn to stay on the ship, that was for damned sure.

The Elder Scrolls: Rage of the Waves

It went long, so I figured I would post here. Maybe Fiona can find the group at the end of someone else's post, I dunno. She's in a bad way, thought I should do justice to that.

Edit: just read above comment. Let me know if I should edit my post. I wrote Faruq being definitively dead (more for Fiona to wrestle with in her head), but I can always just have Fiona not find him.

@Luminosity

It was a great post, I think you handled it all pretty darn well.

We'll just play some slow motion Faruq clips with some Sarah McLachlan dubbed over to help with the grieving process.