Lugubrious

Dungeon Keepers

I am going to be traveling starting tomorrow, but where I am I will have internet access and there should be no disruption.

Living Reflection: A Psychological Alter Egos RP

I am going to be traveling starting tomorrow, but where I am I will have internet access and there should be no disruption.

.::Legend of Zelda :: Whispers in the Night::.

Of course, that doesn't mean we can't post. I may even make a new character soon.

On another note I am going to be traveling starting tomorrow, but where I am I will have internet access and there should be no disruption.

Living Reflection: A Psychological Alter Egos RP

Truthfully, Greg had heard better. To expect excellence of a schoolgirl, though, was totally unfair of him, so rather than criticism he put up an appreciative smile. “Lovely, Aiko!” His praise was somewhat marred by his unintentional mispronunciation of her name: 'aye-ko'. Still, his countenance was genuine. “You've got the makings of a star! Though I enjoyed your performance, I'm not going to make you strain yourself for an encore.” Now that the miniature concert was done, if Greg remained here he would be forced to make small talk, and when his audience was anything more than private it was no easy -or interesting- feat. “Gotta get this food home to my folks. Take care of yourself, Aiko. You too, Kenji. Be seeing you.” With that, Greg made a rather abrupt departure.

-=-=-

Ironclad turned his back and stalked off, clanking with every step. Overall, he was not unlike a walking armory, and his sudden departure characterized him with about as much hospitality as one. “Knock yourselves out. No, really; if you care to spar, I'm good for it any time.”

Seraph ignored him, pleased that her guests had decided to stick around after all. “Divine! What will it be, then? The mess hall? The lounge? A general tour?” She had her own opinions of these two, which she had so far kept to herself. This Crisis Sonata character seemed childish, preoccupied with teasing Sky Breaker. The latter, however, didn't abstain from jabbing back at her, indicating that there was more going between them than banter. She saw reflected in these two an earlier version of her own relationship with Ironclad; two egos entirely opposite, somehow connecting. Though normally one to dismiss cliches, particularly when it it came to relationships, Quicksilver Seraph supposed that perhaps opposites did attract, after all.

.::Legend of Zelda :: Whispers in the Night::.

Though Cain and Lethe had only been a few moments in each others' presence, he had already grown tired of her attitude. Back in the Palace of Twilight the position of Royal Spymaster had been a dubious one, but the other officials had never treated him with anything other than courtesy. On the job, if he interacted with anyone at all, the result was inevitably fear. Even among Twili, his prowess with dark magic and his bladed gauntlets was remarkable. This fairy, however, treated him with infuriating disdain. His trek through both worlds in search of his monarch had been long, arduous, and hopeless; he didn't need some pixie flippantly dismissing them like some wild chirri chase. And how dare this impudent sprite denigrate the Princess! More appalling, however, was her knowledge of his most guarded secret. Any other being would have erupted in rage, but the Royal Spymaster forced himself to remain calm. The price of humility was just as hurtful as the price of pride, sometimes.

“You've got an ego far too large for your head,” Cain commented brusquely as strands of hair snaked out from the back of his cowl. Their tips adopted a slight orange glow, somewhat solidifying themselves. “And you have stolen secrets in there, too.” A shapeshifter's ring could prove to be a valuable tool, but as Lethe so kindly pointed out, it would be useless for he and Frore to try using it on their own. Cain knew he would need to get this fairy's trust. “Perhaps...they are faults we share. Our chances against Halbert and his men are better than you might expect, but unnecessary bloodshed is never an inviting prospect. We will help you find these...'others'. No one else is better equipped for seeking. But who is it we seek?” They gingerly wrapped around the outstretched ring, grabbing it, before tossing to back for Frore to catch. Naturally, Frore's reaction time was less than perfect, and the jewelry merely bounced off his cloak. He did stoop to pick it up, bony fingers closing over the tiny ring.

At that moment, however, a girl burst out of a cleft in a cliff nearby. Instantly, Cain was on alert. Hoping to preserve at least some semblance of anonymity, the Twili instinctively vanished into Frore's shadow. Frore reacted accordingly, having performed this maneuver several times in the past, and began to arm himself. Those times, however, the sudden danger had been far more dire; this unexpected visitor, both bashful and young, seemed little more than a lost villager. Cain did identify, however, that she appeared to be another race entirely, different from anyone else in Kakariko. While the girl dusted herself off, a sharp of ice in the Chilfos's hand expanded in both directions until it was a deadly spear as tall as himself. In his off hand he clutched the ring.

“Hello, little one,” Cain greeted, attempting to pass himself off as merely the voice of Frore, as he had done for ages. “Looks like you're not afraid of the unusual. Could you be someone we are looking for?”

Dungeon Keepers

Not much shorter, I'm afraid.

Dungeon Keepers

The fire priest twisted his head slightly to see where the villager had fallen, reduced to a ravaged, bleeding corpse in the span of mere seconds by the devilish creatures that had surrounded him. Calvartem's words echoed in his mind. So, necromancer, he remarked mentally,you think me human. With himself practically out of commission, the village and its people stood as much chance as an ant beneath a boot, so there really was no point in continuing to struggle. That, however, had never stopped him before. "My kind are a different sort." From his splayed-out position on the ground, the fire priest mustered his energies as the Gremlins closed in, their large, disfigured arms all too willing to rend flesh from bone. The intense, minuscule inferno within his eye pulsed, sending out a burst of fire that ignited the rest of his body. The cleansing fire burned away cloth and flesh in seconds, leaving obsidian in its wake wreathed in flame. The obsidian man rose slightly into the air, his burning aura discouraging the gremlins from attacking. Once fully vertical and hovering a foot above the ground, held aloft by excessive warm air currents, he turned to face Calvartem.

"No human could pose a threat to the forces of a Keeper, much less the Keeper itself," he resonated. "Only a Rogue Construct could do that." Despite his intimidating, newly-manifested appearance, he was still weak from his injuries. Fortunately, as his knowledge from past ages confirmed, Keepers couldn't bear to interrupt a good, dramatic monologue. "I've traveled far to find a worthy master. Please forgive my actions and allow me to repay you with my service." It was obvious from his tone that words such as 'master' and 'please' were strained, but that he said them at all was quite unusual for him.

Calvartem's expression did not change, but this was merely because he had no physical capacity to change his external expression. Inside, he was quite surprised at this turn of events, that this was no mere mortal, and that he knew of the Keepers. He kept his staff pointed at the obsidian man regardless. The Gremlins stood back, snarling.

"If you really are what you say, then burn down this village which you have been protecting," Calvartem demanded, "But incinerated corpses are no good to me, so leave the bodies intact."

In the background were the screams and sounds of people getting overtaken by the undead cattle. However, the cows were now split up, and they had limited effectiveness in getting inside buildings.

The seam of flame that formed the former fire priest's jaw twisted into a smile. He had hoped that Calvartem would make him prove himself. "My pleasure." The bound bow reappeared in his hand, now larger and more flashy in design. From the air above his head, undulating with heatwaves, he pulled a special arrow. Rather than a point, it was tipped with a clump of lava. "You may want to stand back, and send your forces away. The fires of Conquest pick no sides." He loosed the magma shaft into the air, which erupted into a spray of molten rock when it reached fifty feet. A burning, torturing deluge rained down over the village, melting through wood and cloth alike and setting all ablaze. In no time at all the entire settlement was engulfed in a raging fire, its people screaming and crying, their last hope immolated before their eyes. Though often seared and burned by the hellish downfall, the people avoided the slow-moving lava for the most part, leaving them intact. With Shadowmane's speed Calvartem easily hopped out of the range of the rain of lava, allowing him to watch without worry of getting melted. He was not able to coordinate his forces to such an extent as to get them out of harms reach, and neither were the Walkers smart enough to actively dodge the falling molten rock, but the spray was dispersed enough so that collateral damage would be with-in acceptable boundaries. As the people ran from the burning buildings the Walkers and Gremlins charged at them and ran them down.

"Do we have a deal?"

Calvartem returned to where the obsidian man floated. He looked around at the picture of destruction approvingly, the amber light of the flames and lava matching the crimson light of the sky, the black smoke providing contrast and texture. "A being of your power would be valuable to have fighting for me, and worth keeping away from my enemies."

"Then it is settled." Conquest descended and landed on the ground, setting his height at a few inches shy of seven feet. Now that combat was over, and any likelihood of resistance squashed by his fires, Conquest allowed his flaming form to dye down somewhat, leaving only enough to properly animate the obsidian that constituted him. In the background, though, the blaze only increased in intensity, sweeping over the town and consuming everything save for the villagers. By now, though, their lives were being extinguished anyway, as the Walkers of Calvartem sought them out and put them out of their misery, only to rise again as new ones. Though very pleased that the necromancer had accepted his offer, Conquest kept his stony face devoid of any new emotion, lest he betray any hint of his devious purpose. In reality, Conquest had no intention whatsoever of remaining Calvartem's lapdog -he wasn't even a Rogue Construct, in fact- but for the time being this would have to serve. "As you can see your monsters have annihilated the townsfolk and recycled their carcasses into your ranks. What will we do now?"

"Now, I consolidate the conquest," Calvartem replied. Waving his hand fifteen shadowy imps appeared out of thin air. A nod was all that was needed to tell them what to do, and they dispersed through the town as the fires began to burn out and started harvesting stone bricks. "It is little use to slaughter this tiny town and not claim the power and control of the region."

Calvartem dismounted and seemed to just stand there, waiting and observing, with Shadowmane standing patiently in the dying firelight, his pure black coat not reflecting any of that light. After a while all the townsfolk were dead and the town was devoid of life, and the fires had burned down into smoulders and hot ash piles. He struck his staff onto the ground and all the Walkers and Gremlins too simultaneously found places to lay and the black light went out of their eyes. He waited a while more, observing the imps begin on the foundation of a tower. Perhaps sensing some impatience in Conquest, Calvartem said, "We wait until the task is done."

Compendium Entry
Conquest - the Immolation of Hope and the First Horseman of the Apocalypse. Known by no other name. An animate golem of obsidian wreathed in flame, with impressive pyromancy. Wields the Cremator, a bound bow capable of firing several different payloads. Previously masqueraded as a traveling fire priest of Caldor; now masquerades as a Rogue Construct in the service of the Keeper Calvartem.

.::Legend of Zelda :: Whispers in the Night::.

Baklava said
I'm ashamed to say this statement got me weirdly inspired...

Good Lord. I am somewhat frightened.

.::Legend of Zelda :: Whispers in the Night::.

If Cain was disgruntled by the fairy's lack of satisfactory response to his showy entrance, his shadowy form made the emotion impossible to read on his face. Of course, even in full-bodied form most of his head would be hidden beneath his hood and bandana. Regardless, he remained somewhat stupefied as Lethe began to circle him. There was nobody like him in the World of Light, except for Midna, of course, and perhaps Zant. To the best of his knowledge, the fairies of Hyrule were a somewhat happy-go-lucky and skittish bunch, very close to the Goddesses and without love for darkness. So why is this one unfazed?

Cain's veiled emotion did not stop his probing eyes, though. He took in the little sprite's appearance in a matter of seconds, almost snickering out loud at the sight of the sewing needle sheathed at her waist like a sword. His own weapons, gauntlets with finger-blades around a foot long, were impossibly to see from within his sleeves, shadow form or not. As quickly as the close-up had come, the mutual examination was over, and Lethe had darted over to alight on a nearby headstone. Her next words have him cause to cock his head and cross his arms. Misplaced one. How could she know? He had never once divulged his origins or true mission, not even to Frore.

He remained quiet, respectfully listening with the ears of one hungry for knowledge, until she spoke of them helping one another. That was where he drew the line—he needed no help, no pity, from the denizens of this world, particularly one so close to its deities. Cain remembered the story of his ancestors well. Still, pride could have a terrible price; the hubris of the Royal Family back in the Twilight Realm was evidence of that. Putting aside the disturbing fact that this fairy knew his secrets, he made up his mind. Frore, meanwhile, stood stolid and unmoving, though with his hood now down the morning sunlight played into his icy skin, causing it to glow with a greenish-white radiance.

After Lethe's transformation into a Hylian girl (for which Cain saw little to no purpose, as both he and Frore, whose attention had been suddenly seized by the light and its accompanying whimsical ping, still outmatched her in the height department) and her ultimatum, the Twili gave his response. “If you speak the truth, you're putting a lot of faith in us. We're not heroes. We're a monster and an outcast. Between the two of us there's less love for Hyrule that in its castle's dungeons.” Frore turned his head and glanced briefly at his partner, getting the gist of his words, then crackled in affirmation. Cain, however, had more to say. He leaned in closer to Lethe, a looming shadow, to keep his words from reaching Frore. “If you can promise me that I'll find a way home,” he reverberated in a low tone, “or find her, we'll give you a try.”

.::Legend of Zelda :: Whispers in the Night::.

Baklava said
In other news.... PLOT TWIST!Everybody gets a crescent ring and becomes a magical girl just like Lethe.

Frore's going to love this.