Dragoknighte

🦄 Darker Than Black - Merged With T.S.

Mali Anson

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Location: Queensguard
Skills:N/A

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So it seemed Wentworth as well was keeping a very close eye on what was being said by others at the party. At least that made things far simpler as far as socializing went. Although now that she thought about it, it made total sense. This was a big social event for a lot of who's whos, corporate execs and would-be social climbers. Why wouldn't people be spying on particular targets of interest for their own personal end goals?

Their interaction had been rather short up to this point in time, but Mali felt like she was gaining a lot of insight from Wentworth, whether it was intentional on his part or not. He wouldn't be her first choice for somebody to talk to, and she was still certain the guy was a colossal tool, but she also got the feeling that she could learn a lot from him even beyond the short term of 'what the fuck is going on with Queensguard.' She also didn't want to acknowledge it, but there was part of her that was enjoying being a shit, and encouraged her to go even further with the cattiness Wentworth seemed to respond to.

"My first Queensguard event, yes," Mali replied as she took a sip of her own drink. It would be best to keep the number of lies she had to tell to a minimum. The fewer falsehoods to keep track of, the less likely it was that you would fuck it up and out yourself for the total fraud you were. Besides, saying she had been to other events were possible avenues to him asking more questions that she'd have to make up answers for. She'd been doing well so far, but she wasn't going to push her luck any more than necessary.

"I can't say I expected much different than the affair here, however. Is every such 'party' Queensguard holds so..." Mali trailed the end of the question off, as if looking for the right word to describe the atmosphere. She hoped that Wentworth would be helpful and provided the most fitting adjective that would fit an upper class' elite's view of the party they'd found themselves in. But seeing much of what the guy had acted like, she was also about half certain that no such help would come. Either way, it would probably do its job of shifting the brunt of the speaking back towards Wentworth. Hopefully.

The Wolves of Red Lake (Completed)

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Harry Kingsfield

Location: B&B

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Harry wished he could assure Mrs. Walker that he would tell her if anything important came up, but several things that he'd deemed as such had already turned up, and he hadn't revealed anything to them. After the case had concluded, he resolved that he'd tell the couple what he'd discovered, but the last thing he needed on his hands was some kind of familial break down to deal with as he juggled solving the mundane and supernatural aspects of this case. It really did pain him a bit having to keep them in the dark, but he had convinced himself it was for the best. The situation really did not need additional, unnecessary layers of complication added on top of what was already there.

"I wish I could tell you much, but I've spent more time on the reservation out of town, than in Red Lake proper," Harry told the innkeeper. He took the fork and knife in hand, already preparing himself for the meal to come. "But from what I've seen of the town, it's quite a nice town. But there's a lot here that's hidden beneath the surface." He casually mentioned. To others, such an observation would probably be given more weight, but Harry just tossed it out as a matter of fact. He'd been to many towns like Red Lake, and none of them were the simple hamlets such places were made out to be. People weren't nearly so simple that a town, any town wouldn't have a lot of hidden complications.

"Actually," Harry began, returning mentally to the first question Mrs. Walker had asked him that day. "You wouldn't happen to know if Riley ever had an interest in any kind of obscure topic would you? Something like alchemy, ghosts or Native American cultures?" He didn't see anything of the sort when he went through her room, so he doubted that her mother would be able to confirm anything of the sort. But, if as a child she really liked Ouija boards or something, it could make his job figuring out how everything fit together somewhat easier.

🦄 Duplicity - D&D Style Fantasy Rp Adventure (Completed)

Nor

Location: Tower 3F
Interacting with:His Left Leg

Now that he had dispatched the snake and the rowdy human had slain the centipede, Nor was freed up to start dealing with new targets. Well, he would have been had things not taken a turn for the FUBAR. His hatred for mages only received further validation when the cocky hooded bastard whipped up half a dozen more enemies to contend with. Furthermore, one of the big zombie blokes got ahold of Sana and was doing quite the number on her. He wanted to chalk it up to her breaking one of the rules of combat: never separate yourself from your allies, but she was a lass that used a bow and arrow, and he didn't really see how she could use those effectively in their specific context without splitting off a bit.

The big bloke immediately ran to the gypsy's defense, and seemed to be making slight progress on that endeavor. Additionally, there were more enemies within his striking range. However, the dwarf didn't want to overextend himself and end up being surrounded, and Nor was here in the first place to make sure Sana didn't get herself killed, so he would continue to utilize his strategy of 'always gang up on an enemy whenever possible.'

The zombie had Sana in a grapple, so the first solution Nor thought up was to take out its ability to effectively hold one: remove its ability to move, and it lacks the stability and mobility to really defend itself. Luckily for Nor, he was short enough to be able to reach it. The dwarf stepped forward and struck, and right then, out of the corner of his eye he saw a bear body slamming a crocodile, and that was enough to distract him for the split second necessary to fuck up his aim, missing the zombie entirely, and by sheer bad luck, slipping right through one of the few exposed sections of his armor to embed in his leg.

Cursing his own stupidity, Nor grit his teeth and with a clean yank removed the knife, splattering his own blood all over the floor. Weapon in hand once again, Nor attempted to swing again, only this time to find his footing fail. He slipped on his own blood of all things and ended up stabbing himself in almost the exact same place, but at a somewhat different angle. When he extracted his blade this time, he couldn't stop himself from swearing externally as well as internally.

[Son of a Duergar whore!]

🦄 The Paradoxical Emendation - Merged With T.S.

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Giosue Zino

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Location: The Main House
Skills: N/A

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Every moment that passed seemed to fill Gio with restless energy. Just standing around waiting for everyone else to get everything else done wasn't sitting right with him. He really didn't want to intrude on whatever Eve or Gil were doing. The two of them focusing on equally important tasks as far as the burial ceremony went, which really left him with one potential thing for him to do in this whole situation. Or assist with.

"George, I must insist that you not do that by your lonesome," Gio interjected when the Paradox volunteered to dig Peter's grave. "Two sets of hands work more efficiently than one, no? If we work together, we can get it done in half the time, you won't be so fatigued and the sooner Peter can be put to rest." As he spoke, Gio started to undo his jacket. Unlike George who was covered in blood and filth already, the emendator was relatively clean, and he would much rather keep it that way. His jacket, vest and tie were all removed, folded and placed somewhere that looked least likely for them to get stepped on.

Lastly, the Emendator rolled up his sleeves up to his elbows as he returned back to Nancy and George. The Watch may have been the oldest of the lot as far as appearances went, but he was by no means elderly as far as his health and raw physical capabilities went. Of course he was no musclebound Adonis like Gil was in most of his guises, but his lean physique was well equipped for what was needed at that moment.

🦄 Darker Than Black - Merged With T.S.

Mali Anson

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Location: Queensguard
Skills:N/A

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The look he shot her hurt a bit, but it was expected. And it seemed to hit the mark as far as Wentworth went. Maybe if she could play her cards right she could actually get into his good graces. What to do after that, she had no idea. She couldn't exactly just call him up for favors or anything, and neither Zoie or Relic seemed particularly fond of the guy (Not like she was a fan either). In the back of her head, she figured that even in the best case scenario, she wouldn't have much to gain from this conversation.

But it would be a marginally better situation than she'd been in when she got there. For instance, it would be an ally that she had earned herself rather than through the proxy of Relic. Technically she had "earned" Relic as an ally, but that was entirely unintentional. More a matter of satiating her conscience than actually trying to make any sort of power play in the bigger picture. No, it would be her first sign to herself that she could actually affect things, even if only a bit. But back to the conversation at hand.

"I think I get it. Never interrupt your enemy when he is in the middle of making a mistake. Is that about right?" She hoped she was right with that assessment. But she was also worried what that could mean. If something was about to explode, or guys with guns were about to storm in, she didn't want to get caught in the crossfire. Then again, Wentworth didn't seem to be all that fussed by the whole situation, so whatever he thought was going to go down, probably wouldn't affect him directly. So from all this, she gathered that she should stick close to the guy and don't piss him off. Lower her already too-high-for-comfort chances of dying tonight.

It was around now that she realized if she had gone and punched the guy earlier, she would have gotten herself in serious shit. Way more than would be immediately obvious from the simple fact of punching a dude while at a party. Silently, she thanked those old anger management sessions from back in high school. Yet again they saved her bacon.

Mali's eyes flicked over towards the source of the phone alarm with a mix of curiosity and annoyance. What? Couldn't you have your phone on silent for one night? But it could also be really important. Mali shifted her stance just a bit so her ear would be pointed closer to Elizabeth and her phone call. She'd try to keep tabs on it as best as she could without leaving Wentworth. She was still being a distraction after all.

Darke Magyk - Concluded

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Atkin Bowman

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Location: Wizard Tower

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Atkin looked at the Grula-Grula with a mix of incredulity and weariness. The more he saw of this thing, the less he understood or cared to be around it. When he first saw it, he might have considered it almost cute in the same way you'd consider something like a stray mutt cute. But after having to chase it through a book store, wrestle it into submission and then listen to it whine and plead continuously in his ear for the past half hour, an charity he had towards it had been converted into annoyance. And to top it all off, the nuisance tipping a hat it didn't have just made the entire situation excessively ridiculous.

Taking his eyes off the furry little creature, he directed it first to Rowland's hand, which he took in his own for a firm shake. He could feel just how much age had affected those hands immediately. The skin was loose and he felt like the bones would crumble if he squeezed too hard. He knew this wasn't the case, but the immediate difference between his own hands and than of old timers always caught him a bit off guard.

"Sorry, but I don't think I can do that. How 'bout just Rowland?" It didn't sit right with him to call any senior citizen by their first name, especially when he didn't know them like in this case. Perhaps it was that bit of politeness that his mother, siblings and society had beaten into him over the years that said you should respect your elders. Perhaps it was that he couldn't treat someone with such an age gap with that level of casualness. Or it could be that he was ex-ExtraOrdinary Wizard and his brain told him that it'd be wrong to act as if they were anywhere close to equal stature. But he was fairly certain it'd be near impossible to just call him Blaise. The name just wouldn't fit in his mouth correctly.

"Why don't I just not draw from the pot?" Atkin asked in response to all this information. It was the first thing that came to mind and he couldn't keep it down. "Most Apprentices don't go on this Queste in the first place, if only two of 'em ever actually survived being given the task. Then it's not really important to finishing my apprenticeship, is it? If it's something that almost nobody ever survives, then it's not really a tradition worth upholding, innit? Like if this is the reason you set up the wards, then there ain't really a reason to play along with whoever rigged the pot in the first place."

He followed the adults into the tower, puzzled at everyone else's reactions. This seemed to be enough to stick a stick right up their anuses, but the danger seem entire reliant on doing something that could be easily avoided. Just, don't draw any stones. Or just dump the whole thing out and fill it with normal rocks. He really didn't see all the danger everyone else was zeroed in on. However, he could feel he was about to get some lecture about tradition, blah, blah, responsibility, blah, blah, blah, everyone's expectations for you, blah, blah, blah. But this really didn't feel like the proper for such a thing to take precedence.

The Wolves of Red Lake (Completed)

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Harry Kingsfield

Location: B&B

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And with one sentence, his existential crisis on whether he'd be able to eat breakfast today abated. It was as if a great fog that had rolled over his emotional state suddenly cleared to reveal the morning sun. Thoroughly more relaxed than he had been a few seconds prior, the private investigator took a seat at the table and took a couple napkins, placing one in his lap, and tucking the other into the collar of his shirt. It probably looked out of place in such a humble establishment, but the ultimate purpose of the action was the same. His job could be rather dirty at times, but his clothes were fairly nice and he didn't like messing them up unnecessarily. It was just an unnecessary waste of funds.

"Morning, Mrs. Walker. I'll take... buttermilk pancakes and bacon with coffee. Black." Some might consider it a bog standard meal, but Harry saw that there was a reason it remained a staple in diners, and in American cuisine in general. It was a damn tasty breakfast. And simple dishes had a way of showing the cook had a solid grasp on the basics and that there were quality ingredients being utilized in the kitchen. Yeah, those cinnamon roll pancakes with cream cheese filling looked fancy, but there was just as good a chance that it was all covering up a crappy pancake.

"I know it's difficult having to wait, but I have to ask that you don't inquire too much about my investigation." Customers in any industry had a habit of being too nosy about things they didn't understand and then making knee jerk decisions in ignorance because there just wasn't time to fill in all the context required for an informed opinion on everything. So part of the reason for his answer was keeping the Walker's relatively calm. Another aspect was that was that what answers he did have were so out there as to be unreasonable and get him fired immediately. A magical shadow man in the forest stole your daughter? No. It was better to not bring that up. He would just need to find Riley and then never mention it to anyone ever again.

🦄 Duplicity - D&D Style Fantasy Rp Adventure (Completed)

Cyne

Location: Tower 3F
Interacting with:FC

Just as they were clearing out the enemies, a fresh new batch appeared for them to kill. Whilst it was extremely frustrating, she was also high on a hormonal cocktail that welcomed the challenge. Yes, more things to kill, nothing can stand in my way right now. The bit of her that was still rational knew this wasn't the case, but she liked nothing about this situation and the only way to improve it at this point would have to involve plenty more bloodshed. If you were in an extended fight for your life, there were worse things to experience during it than a rush that brought the sensation of being into hyper focus.

And then Sana got grabbed by the zombie. Her first instinct was to go after the grey abomination herself, but there were a few immediate problems that managed to stop her from following through this line of thinking. First was that as far as combat went, she didn't have the finesse to try attacking that thing without endangering Sana. She almost certainly had the power necessary to get her out, but given the shape the bard was in, she didn't want to chance it. Second was that Keystone had gotten there first, and her being there as well would probably start to make things difficult to maneuver around properly.

More importantly, she could smell another enemy, one that was right behind them and too close to Satilla than she'd like. The scent was familiar and when the bear turned around, it found itself unsurprised to find a big, demonic crocodile. That wasn't going to fly. Getting on all fours, the bear rushed at the reptile. The first image that flashed through Cyne's mind was to attack as she had been before with another claw attack; however, that mental simulation quickly ended with the thing tearing the offending limb off. Having just been a crocodile a few days prior, she was well aware of the form's strengths and weaknesses.

Rather than present an easy target for biting, she'd give it something far more difficult to get ahold of: the bear's entire body. She threw her significant bulk into the fiendish crocodile with enough force to smash it against the wall. The impact certainly seemed like enough to at least crack a bone or two, but not nearly enough to bring the thing down. However, it had a target that wasn't a delicate scholar, which would be enough for the moment.

🦄 The Paradoxical Emendation - Merged With T.S.

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Giosue Zino

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Location: Road leading to the Abandoned House->The Main House
Skills: N/A

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Gio's first instinct was to immediately object to Eve and Gil's conversation about the Paradoxes. While what little he had seen of this batch of new recruits was mostly unimpressive, there was no doubt in his mind that each of them would be more than capable into growing into someone of great worth if they put in the time and work (that was always the hard part, wasn't it). Maybe he was just more idealistic than the dice when it came to humanity and the potential of the individual than the rest, but to doubt their ability to help when they'd all been there for a few hours at most was highly uncharitable at best.

But he didn't say any of this. Now was not the time or the place to have an argument about ideals. Especially not literally over the dead body of another Paradox. He wasn't sure what exactly that would constitute, but at the very least it would be some kind of highly disrespectful. If the topic came up later he would be sure to protest in full.

When they finally arrived at the Main House Gio elected to stay back and let Gil take Peter's body to his room alone. Let the man pay his respects or whatever he wanted to do in privacy. For the time being he would content himself with keeping his mind busy while Eve and Andromeda were preparing for the burial proper. Gio considered whether they should have all the Paradoxes present for the ritual, but almost immediately decided against it. Having such an immediate reminder of the risk of their mission would likely only serve to unsettle them further, and the last thing they needed was for somebody to get bummed out and accidentally set Peter's body and half the estate on fire due to a power newly manifesting. It didn't really matter that they had a weather controller and that it would be good as new in the morning, at the moment, each of them were an active explosive, and you kept those away from potential triggers.

🦄 Darker Than Black - Merged With T.S.

Mali Anson

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Location: Queensguard
Skills:N/A

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Well, it looked like she was starting to get somewhere here. In her head, she was starting to piece together exactly what kind of persona she'd need to continue this conversation productively. The difficult part was knowing how strongly she'd put the facade forward. Not enough and he'd probably figure it out or lose interest; to much and he'd definitely know that she was faking the whole thing.

"Agreed." With this single word, Mali shifted her weight to her left leg and rest he casted hand onto her hip, letting her right hand rest upon the countertop. She felt a bit bad for the hapless bartender; it was quite busy, he had to make a drink he had already created and he wasn't being treated very well. But she was also a bit irritated about having to wait for her drink in the first place, she couldn't show anything that Wentworth could interpret as weakness lest she lose what bit of favor she seemed to be currying from him, and to top it all off, the darker aspect of her personality twittered into her ear that the guy was probably making more tonight than she made in months. He could afford to be kicked around a bit.

"Seems like Queensguard didn't downgrade in security alone," she quipped to Wentworth when she spotted his own impatience at the speed of service provided by the bar. Sorry bartender, that probably made your night shittier than it had to be, but she had a character to play right now.

"So how are you planning on striking back at MSS tonight?" She considered immediately offering to assist him in anything he had planned to undercut his competition but decided against it. Firstly, that would likely be laying it on too thick. She just met the guy, and aside from a supposed shared hatred for MSS and/or Alicia, there would be not enough established in this interaction for it to appear suitably beneficial on her end for such an enthusiastic approach. Secondly, while it potentially could earn her personally an ally in Wentworth if she did go through with this, she was relatively ignorant of the larger "playing board," so doing this could potentially fuck up things that wouldn't have anyways. Third, she didn't want to get overly involved in something tangential to her real purpose here: acting as a cover for Zoie. Speaking of which, she hoped that was going over well, wherever they were.