jdh97

Darkling: The Night War

Dylan Stroud

The playful smile dancing upon Dylan’s face went slack at the spectacle. For the briefest of moments there was a frown upon his face, and his eyes might have narrowed. It happened so quickly, it may not have been there at all; now, once again, it was so perfectly composed and under control that the falter absolutely must have just been a trick of the mind, surely.

Quite deliberately, he ran fingers through the mop of hair. All his awe was genuine.

“My dear,” Dylan began, his eyes flitting between napkin and woman, “You have indulged me too! Throughout my long years, I’ve never been quite so impressed by magic.” Runes were unfamiliar to him, and he knew he would be unable to recall them from such a fleeting glance. “Can you use it on people? I may not need use handcuffs ever again.” This came with a wry smile.

He raised a hand gingerly, as if the napkin might bite. With the same slender digit that he had rapped upon the bar, he pressed gently into the napkin. It felt like, almost disappointingly, a napkin - gauzy paper, almost furry with slight moisture - yet it did not budge. A little more force was applied. Still nothing. The finger withdrew.

After finishing his drink and gesturing for another, Dylan spent a moment reappraising the woman. It was plain for all to see she was unique, but to what extent, he was only beginning to realise.

The blue light on her skin was mesmerising, and he had caught himself reaching out to touch the glowing runes. The hand returned to his knee.

“Truly, there is a beauty in the craft of such magic I had heretofore feared,” He locked eyes with her, “You are giving me second thoughts; a true pioneer indeed. I wonder what other secrets you are privy too,” His toothy grin was back. With cat-like languor, he leaned upon the bar.

Slender hands made an elaborate gesture to the heavens. “But the Gods you say? I searched for mine many a year, and never found them,” an eyebrow arched and a thin smile played at the edge of his lips, the blue lights still dancing in and enhancing his eyes, “I thought most magically inclined folk had forsaken gods, how comes you are so different, my muse?” He rested a finger on pursed lips as he awaited a response.

Darkling: The Night War

Thanks, but I fear it maybe harder to include them in the future.

Darkling: The Night War

Dylan Stroud

“Why of course,” Dylan purred, saddling a stool next to her. He tapped a slender finger upon the bar and met the tender’s gaze, “And a crimson rush for me, darling.” Using the colloquial term for blood and well drink, one of the wonders he discovered in Meridian. The man nodded, and began preparing their drinks.

Then his attention was fully on the lady before him. Now he could see a brilliant streak of cobalt through her hair, an unnatural delight against her burning locks. She was an amalgam of self-assured fire and arcane mystery. Glistening teeth showed through his crooked grin.

“The stars have left me all alone, and the moon is a fickle lover,” their drinks came, and Dylan nodded his thanks, barely turning from her, “I am here for company, much the same reason as anyone else, I would imagine. I search for singular souls amidst this surreptitious situation.”

A new track came upon the jukebox, this one terribly scratched, causing a groan from a large part of the patrons. Dylan broke his intense stare and took a sip from his drink, the taste on a single malt whiskey and the coppery pang of blood not entirely unpleasant, but still caused him to purse his lips.

When he looked back at the woman, it was with furrowed brow, as if pondering a deep thought, chin resting upon clenched fist.

“‘My hopes are dying, while on dreams relying, I am spelled by art’,” He intoned, “Whole truth told: I am a poet, searching for his muse. However, lady luck must have smiled upon me, for I think that perhaps I have found her.”

He straightened up, shaking his reverie, and split his face with a fanged grin, his eyes seeming to twinkle, “Just listen to me go on!" he gave a theatrical sigh and chuckled, his voice turned to treacle and chocolate, "Tell me, my dear, where do your interests lie?”

Darkling: The Night War

Dylan Stroud

An explosive buzz tempered the hum of conversation, and demanded Dylan look up from his work, the world materialising around him anew as his eyes left the page. The thrumming electric lights, the stone floor, the aged armchair in which he found his form sprawled upon its beaten upholstery. Dylan stretched. There was something feline about his movements. When he yawned, the sharp incisors added to that parallel, and his eyes were half-closed and slow to blink.

There seemed to be much excitement. He pocketed his tiny notebook.

Attacks by the rebels, no matter how frequent, always seemed to revitalise the young and foolish, filling their heads with such notions of glory. More often than not they found their tale concluding. Many of them left hurriedly, on the hopes they could get to the infraction before the fighting ended.

Boots clapped the floor as Dylan made his way over to who might have been the most stoic man in the room.

“Lancelot, darling, do not drink yourself into a stupor,” He said, gently resting his hand on the man’s shoulder, “Events may unfurl tonight that require your attention, and I will be otherwise occupied.” And with that he breezed of, seeming to walk with infinite grace and purpose. It was almost ruined by his frayed jeans and baggy, grey-wool jumper.

The stars were absent from the sky that night. Brooding clouds smeared the heavens, and hid its gems from view. A chill wind bit through Dylan’s clothes, but encouraged no shiver. Stalking from shadow to steeple, he made his way through the city via rooftop and alleyway, hidden, if not for the tiny embers and trails of smoke from his cigarette.

There was distant popping and thunderous crashes that rang through the hollow city, emanating from the city’s northern region.

Perhaps this is why his feet took him that direction. Before he got too close, though, he changed direction, winding his way towards the centre of the city as he listened to the twin melodies of death and triumph.

Making his way into the rebel section was simple enough with an access key. Some here knew him as an informant, a double-agent, others as a friend. Most didn’t know him at all.

It was not long walking before “The Ancient Cavern”, an establishment from which music and conversation bled, invited Dylan inside. He stomped out his cigarette. Inside was musty, but comforting. An old jukebox sang crackling records from the corner, forming a counterpoint with the gossiping huddles of fervent whispers. Those of the patrons that were not in huddled groups were staring deep into their drinks, except for a young lady with startling orange hair. Instantly, he was drawn to her like a moth to a flame. Those which did not blend in with the crowd usually had the most interesting stories.

Approaching from behind, he could smell her: sweat and coffee underneath honeysuckle soap.

“I do not believe I have had the pleasure of making your acquaintance,” he said, stepping up beside her, and, with a sidelong glance, “Might I buy us a drink?”

Darkling: The Night War

Name: Dylan Stroud
Age: 400+
Race: Vampire
Faction: Darkworld

Appearance: A wiry whipcord of a man, with gaunt cheeks and high cheekbones. Perhaps most noticeable are the large saucers of blue-grey, like the sea after a storm, that gaze out from underneath thick, black, expressive eyebrows. Incredibly fine wrinkles and creases dance upon his face, by his lips, brow, and eyes. They make any guess at age difficult, but hint of haunting smiles, the ghosts of anger, and the resting place of sorrow. Unlike his dark brows and goatee, the straggled mop upon his head is straw, and reaches down at his shoulders with teasing stalks and locks.

Personality: A selfish, yet easy-going romantic searching for a muse to displace his growing existential and epistemological nihilism.

Background:
Tracing “Dylan” back through history would be a feat deserving of its own epic. Changing names and appearances frequently, you would only chase the shadows of rumours.

Life whilst he was human has been long since forgotten, not least by himself.

After came an indulgent parade of hedonism spanning centuries. Often the centre of attention and the recipient of many a lustful gaze everywhere between the courts of Europe to the dingiest of waterfront inns, there was no social circle he did not permeate, no sin he did not partake, and no vulgarity he spared himself.

Eventually this flaming desire guttered, and the pursuit of the sweet secrets of pleasure became vapid, and all of Europe lost a marvellous centrepiece, though many knew him by different names, and, as is the way with such frivolous folk who exist on the fine edge of fashion, they fast forgot him.

During the following years he was rarely seen by anybody, his religious journey towards enlightenment often requiring the walking of paths of solitude. The soul searching seemed to be in vain though, and he did not feel any closer to what he was searching for than when he started. After almost a century of pilgrimage and learning, he turned to the arts, trying to find meaning in poetry.

That is when an old friend contacted him, a friend he owed a favour. It was requested he fight in a war, and not just a human war, a war between DarkWorlders. The very idea struck a bolt deep inside, and Dylan found that he was eager to oblige this request, wanting to use this sombre and destructive event as inspiration for his creative mind.

Skills/Equipment: Nothing beyond what might be expected of a normal Darkworld fighter.

Darkling: The Night War

Name: Dylan Stroud
Age: 400+
Race: Vampire
Faction: Darkworld

Appearance: A wiry whipcord of a man, with gaunt cheeks and high cheekbones. Perhaps most noticeable are the large saucers of blue-grey, like the sea after a storm, that gaze out from underneath thick, black, expressive eyebrows. Incredibly fine wrinkles and creases dance upon his face, by his lips, brow, and eyes. They make any guess at age difficult, but hint of haunting smiles, the ghosts of anger, and the resting place of sorrow. Unlike his dark brows and goatee, the straggled mop upon his head is straw, and reaches down at his shoulders with teasing stalks and locks.

Personality: A selfish, yet easy-going romantic searching for a muse to displace his growing existential and epistemological nihilism.

Background:
Tracing “Dylan” back through history would be a feat deserving of its own epic. Changing names and appearances frequently, you would only chase the shadows of rumours.

Life whilst he was human has been long since forgotten, not least by himself.

After came an indulgent parade of hedonism spanning centuries. Often the centre of attention and the recipient of many a lustful gaze everywhere between the courts of Europe to the dingiest of waterfront inns, there was no social circle he did not permeate, no sin he did not partake, and no vulgarity he spared himself.

Eventually this flaming desire guttered, and the pursuit of the sweet secrets of pleasure became vapid, and all of Europe lost a marvellous centrepiece, though many knew him by different names, and, as is the way with such frivolous folk who exist on the fine edge of fashion, they fast forgot him.

During the following years he was rarely seen by anybody, his religious journey towards enlightenment often requiring the walking of paths of solitude. The soul searching seemed to be in vain though, and he did not feel any closer to what he was searching for than when he started. After almost a century of pilgrimage and learning, he turned to the arts, trying to find meaning in poetry.

That is when an old friend contacted him, a friend he owed a favour. It was requested he fight in a war, and not just a human war, a war between DarkWorlders. The very idea struck a bolt deep inside, and Dylan found that he was eager to oblige this request, wanting to use this sombre and destructive event as inspiration for his creative mind.

Skills/Equipment: Nothing beyond what might be expected of a normal Darkworld fighter.

Darkling: The Night War

Like, a collaboration between players via PM to create a post? They are used, though in my opinion they end up creating a long and arduous-to-read wall of text most of the time.

Darkling: The Night War

Interested also.

Torn Across the Rift

Your last interaction was with Zesiro, so it might be worth waiting for Eyeris to post.

Torn Across the Rift

Herbert
@Eyeris

The widening of those brilliant emerald eyes gave rise to a thousand thoughts, like flies to a fetid corpse. The girl’s comforting words shuffled to the back of his attention as all the dread of the great blue expanse came crashing back like colossal wave on the shore that was his sanity. The nameless terrors of the deep. The untold fathoms above. The crushing pressure. He was drowning in fear. Darkness closed in around him. Blood thrummed in his ear. Muscles resisted his will. His chest was being crushed. A scream choked him.

Air. He needed air. Breath came ragged and fast. His wild eyes focused on Dzel, on how she held her tiny frame with unique assuredness. Oddly, the aura she radiated must have affected him in some way, for he gave a curt nod. A pink tongue flicked across his thin lips, and he wiped his sweaty palms dry and took her hand.

There were question floating around his brain, but his body was full of catecholamines and his heart beat remorselessly; survival first, questions later.

With barely a word, he would follow Dzel as best he could.