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Lugubrious male Member

Player on the other side

STATUS: Now running: World of Light: The Tale of the Dark Itself 5 days ago
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Recent Statuses

5 days ago
Current Now running: World of Light: The Tale of the Dark Itself
4 mos ago
Forever and ever, amen
7 mos ago
Calling out from Scatman's world
1 like
10 mos ago
Called into action - by threats that seem harmonized
1 yr ago
Tomorrow comes

Bio

Current GM of World of Light. When it comes to writing, there's nothing I love more than imagination, engagement, and commitment. I'm always open to talk, suggestion, criticism, and collaboration. While I try to be as obliging, helpful, and courteous as possible, I have very little sympathy for ghosts, and anyone who'd like to string me along. Straightforwardness is all I ask for.

Looking for more personal details? I'm just some dude from the American south; software development is my job but games, writing, and trying to help others enjoy life are my passions. Been RPing for over a decade, starting waaaay back with humble beginnings on the Spore forum, so I know a thing or two, though I won't pretend to be an expert. If you're down for some fun, let's make something spectacular together.

Most Recent Posts

In World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover) → 11 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka's Low Tier

Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (138/150) Level 11 Big Band (38/110)
Amaterasu’s @DracoLunaris Roland’s @Archmage MC Zenkichi’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Pit’s @Yankee Sakura & Juri’s @Zoey Boey Captain Falcon’s @Double Harry and Kim’s @Eviledd1984 Terry’s @Terry Bogard
Word Count: 1491


Thought it was nothing unusual for her, Nadia’s cheerful smile persisted long after she sat down for lunch along with the other Seekers of Gold Team. There was just something inherently absurd -and therefore amusing- about situations like this, when so many wildly different individuals, all tasked with the monumental duty of saving the worlds, came together for something as mundane as a meal. In a way, it was also a heartwarming relief, a reminder that there could still be ordinary moments of peace and joy along the perilous and uncertain journey they’d undertaken.

Well, as ordinary as they could be, with a bunch like this.

Prior to the arrival of the waitress for their entree orders, the primary topic was, naturally, the tournament signups. It wasn’t a big surprise to Nadia that most of the others eschewed the Mortal Kombat tournament, despite the fact that they did in fact risk their lives every day on this insane campaign anyway. So, it would be her and Pit against the world, eh? She gave the young-looking angel a teasing smile. “Well then, let’s hope we don’t meet in bracket, hm? If we’re Pit-ted against each other, it’d be purr-etty humiliatin’ for you~” It sounded like a couple of the others hadn’t actually signed up yet, which gave them about ten minutes to seal the deal before registration officially closed. At the very least, the presence of a couple official combots in Pao Pao Cafe gave the more indecisive heroes an exceptionally convenient way to tie up those loose ends. When Roland asked which tournament everyone signed up for, Nadia didn’t respond. Hadn’t he been listening to the linkpearl earlier…?

When the time came to order, Nadia had to make a decision quickly. As a fusion between Southeast Asian and South American cuisines, Pao Pao offered a great deal a variety within its fascinatingly specific niche, and with Terry’s offer to treat her she didn’t need to worry about the cost. She ultimately decided on the sublimely savory-looking Brazilian steak skewers, only to be thrown for a loop when Sakura ordered the same thing. Well, that just won’t do. The feral’s prideful individuality meant that she couldn’t possibly ride someone else’s coattails, no matter how appetizing the skewers looked. “Uhhhhh….” Her eyes darted across the menu once more. After a brief hesitation Nadia went with her first impulse. “I’ll have the ‘fragrant crispy duck’!”

Everyone else placed their orders in quick succession. Harry’s request threw the server for a loop for a moment; American cuisine wasn’t among this restaurant’s many offerings, after all. Luckily for him, the kids’ menu catered to such tastes, though Nadia couldn’t help but feel like the detective was missing out. “Aw, what’s the matter?” she poked fun at him. “Can’t handle a little spice?” It sounded like Harry had enough on his plate with his unique choice of dojo, though, so instead of pressing him further she left him to Sakura to deal with.

Not long after the waitress left with everyone’s orders, the appetizers began to arrive. Nadia watched as those who’d ordered before her got their snacks, trying to suppress her jealousy as she waited for her steamed buns to show up. Seeing -and smelling- such delicious food only reminded her just how paltry breakfast that morning had been aboard the Avenger. Hopefully they’d been able to source some better chow soon.

As the conversation continued, Nadia spotted the familiar shape of bamboo steamers in the corner of her eye, headed her way. She reached for her drink as her appetizer approached, so fixated on the food as she sipped through the straw that she paid no mind to the server until he set the stacked trays on the table and opened the lid, at which point a puff of steam drew her gaze upward–toward the black hood of a familiar uniform that veiled his face.

Wide-eyed with startlement, Nadia immediately ejected cola through her nose, a terribly unpleasant sensation that left her sputtering and watery-eyed. Only after a moment could she choke out a few half-formed words. “You…! You’re…!”

Band narrowed his eyes. “Organization XIII.”

“Get a hold of yourself,” the man told her sternly, his harsh and no-nonsense voice somewhat nasal. It was not the sophisticated, Hungarian woman’s voice she expected, so this must be a different Organization member, she reasoned. As she recovered, the man calmly looked around the table. “Hmph. Out of everyone Ramaxi described, only two of you I recognize, and even then, only just. You’ve been helping yourselves to the spirits of the departed, I see.”

After a moment, he adjusted his collar officiously. “Well, no matter. If you really are the ‘Seekers of Light’, then our interests are aligned. Luckily, it seems you’re already on the right track.” Selecting an empty seat, the Organization member joined the party without their consent. “There are no secret underground chambers or specially-locked temples in this city. The Guardian you’re seeking…has been staring you in the face since you arrived.”

He looked around as if to prove his point, though he didn’t point out any examples. This guy really knows how to chew the scenery, Nadia thought.

After a moment, he continued. “The Guardian waits for you at the end of the tournaments, along with the Four Heavenly Kings. Well…it’s more accurate to say that the Guardian is the Four Kings. One sovereign soul, split four ways. Only if all four are defeated can the Guardian spirit be claimed.” He leaned forward, his clasped hands on the table. “So I hope you’re ready. Once the Kings realize who you are, they’ll spare no expense to take you down. You’ll need every modicum of power you can get. Understood?”

Band kept quiet for a moment, mulling over the information. He hadn’t met any Organization XIII member before, but he’d heard of them. Nobody knew if they could be trusted. Even if some of them had helped the Seekers in the past, their first run-in with one had been a battle in some sort of extradimensional casino, according to Tora and Poppi. This man’s claim of a four-in-one Guardian seemed incredulous, but Band knew that sometimes, the truth could be stranger than fiction. If it was true that Esaka’s Guardian would survive if even one King remained standing, that was one hell of an insurance policy. “How do we know you’re tellin’ the truth?” he managed.

That seemed to annoy their new friend. “I have no need for petty deceptions. Disregard my advice if you wish; waste all the time and strength you like,” he told the Seekers coldly. “Maybe your successors will have more sense.”

Nadia wrinkled her nose, a wry smile on her face. This guy sure wasn’t doing a great job winning them over. Maybe he figured that if he had the truth on his side, he had no need for charisma. “Well, we were gonna take out the Kings anyway, so ‘fangs’ for nothin’,” she told him, showing him her teeth before popping a dumpling into her mouth.

“Hmph,” the Organization member grunted. At that moment a waitress began to arrive with the first few entrees, including a slice of pizza from the kids’ menu for the newcomer. He stared down at it for a moment. “All the restaurants in Esaka, and naturally, you ‘heroes’ chose one without Japanese cuisine.” After tucking a napkin into the collar of his black coat, he picked up a fork and knife and began to eat in a stiff, reserved manner.

Taken aback, Nadia just looked around at the others as if to ask what is happening right now? Fortunately, the arrival of her duck gave her something else to focus on. It did occur to her that ‘Ramaxi’ must be the name of the Organization lady who helped Blue Team back at that nightmarish island, though. Why couldn’t the team have her again instead of this weirdo, she wondered. This seemed like a good time to ask questions, but hopefully someone like Band would instead, since for once the feral couldn’t figure out what to say.

Of course, Band was taking his time putting his thoughts together. The stranger’s words made sense, and his fellow New Meridian was right in that they’d been planning to challenge the Four Kings anyway since that seemed to be how all four tournaments would end, but the alleged revelation of the Guardian’s nature made winning on all four fronts simultaneously that much more important. Theoretically they could try their luck again every week for the foreseeable future, but that would only give the Four Kings more time to take them out. Whether this Organization Member spoke the truth or not, the Seekers had a long road ahead of them. Best to enjoy a peaceful bite to eat while it lasted, Band supposed.

Frozen Highlands - Krat Zoo

Lvl 8 Sandalphon (64/80) Level 5 Heismay (31/50)
Edward’s @DracoLunaris Blazermate & Sectonia’s @Archmage MC Geralt’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Ace Cadet’s @Yankee Roxas & Ganondorf’s @Double, Ramattra’s @XoXKieroBombXoX
Word Count: 1820

Nameless Stagecoach
𖥞: 8/8 | 🛡️: 7/8 | Equipment: Stewpot/Windchime/Lamps/(None)/(None)/(None) | Companion: Ratshaker


For a moment, Heismay was confused by Blazermate’s nonchalance when he confronted her with his discovery. When she directed his attention to an abomination that she coaxed into doing a macabre jig through her suffering shield’s screams, though, his bafflement quickly turned to horror that her giggles only exacerbated. For a moment he could only stare, his ruby-red eyes wide and his mouth agape, until he turned back toward Blazermate to look at her in a new light. “What dreadful, malign sorcery is this? Puppeting, and even…reconstituting the deceased.” Heismay shivered, and not just from the cold permeating the Hall of Adventure. “The dead should be allowed to rest in peace.” He glanced at Sandalphon, his gaze incredulous. “And this is the individual to whom we’re entrusting our health? I shudder to think of what she’d do to us with that same smile on that metal face of hers.”

Though Sandalphon hid it better, she didn’t like Blazermate’s flagrant lack of respect for the dead much either. As always, though, she chose the pragmatic approach. “Like it or not, her single-target healing output is beyond compare. With that in mind, such eccentricities are a necessary evil. Best to remain on good terms with her.”

Knowing that she was right, Heismay breathed in deep. “Understood.”

A moment later, Blazermate was gone anyway, taking a more direct route out of the building in order to see what she could do about the blocked door that obstructed the Seekers’ path. By now, only a few parts of the Hall of Adventure remained unexplored, but between Geralt and Edward’s retinue it wouldn’t be long before the heroes had the whole place cleared out. Sandalphon’s vigilant observation had identified no signs of contamination among either the Reindrix or her subordinates so far, so she remained somewhat optimistic about the carcasses not being infectious. Still, the less time spent here, the better.

One by one, the Seekers stowed the items they’d pillaged from the Hall of Adventure and its monstrous denizens in the stagecoach, including the dubious Ratshaker. After Sectonia deemed the ratshaker cursed, Heismay happily stuck it in the empty wooden cage hanging from the stagecoach’s rear, where the jolting and jostling of the wagon along the Midnight Walk would shake it enough to elicit amusing noises. Sandalphon took a greater interest in one of the items Sectonia saw no use for, a strange blue crystal that seemed to possess some sort of power. Sandalphon held it up and peered into its scintillating, luminous facets, trying to divine its purpose. “There’s something…almost spiritual about it,” she hypothesized after a few moments. Without any appraisal skills of her own, she couldn’t discern anything else. The archangel slipped it into her pocket, making a mental note to scrutinize it later.

Before long, Blazermate managed to unblock the door, and once the reunited Seekers pushed it open, they could proceed into the zoo. A manmade river exhibit blocked their way, but before she buzzed off to enrich herself Sectonia was kind enough to plonk down an enormous crystal in its middle to serve as a makeshift bridge. The Reindrix were not eager to cross it to the open area’s central plaza given the presence of frenzied mandrill carcasses in the cages there, so while Sectonia’s antlers strove to keep the mutants boxed in, Blazermate sent forth her corpse heap to crush them. It wasn’t that big or strong yet, but even after they broke free the mandrills couldn’t tear it apart effectively, so once the enemies were dispatched, it was a net positive for the fleshmob’s biomass.

Its accumulation led to one other problem that Sandalphon was quick to recognize and address, though. “Blazermate, I understand that agglomeration is useful, but the Reindrix abhor it.” The stagecoach’s draft animals refused to advance as long as the corpse pile was in front of them, struggling inside their harnesses as they tried to flee in different directions. “Please dispose of it or move it out of our way and take up a vanguard position, ASAP.”

To the left, the drained canal led to a waterfall frozen against a tall rock face. On its other side towered an enormous greenhouse, but with no paths leading that way, that seemed like an area for later.

Once the plaza was clear, the Seekers could slowly advance through. Up ahead, on the other side of an archway formed from natural-looking red rock, lay the Endangered Species Zone. This took the form of a large, clockwise bend, through which the Midnight Walk ran. On the outside of the bend, embedded in the rock wall, were a half-dozen smaller exhibits housing interesting critters like crested porcupines, cassowaries, red pandas, giant tortoises, and numbats. On the inside of the bend stood a larger, octagonal exhibit that connected to an inside shelter behind it. While most of the exhibits held only carcasses, this one actually contained what looked like a normal giraffe, still alive and kicking despite everything going on in the zoo–including the unruly carcasses around the Endangered Species Zone itself.



Before reaching the bend, though, the zoo’s loudspeakers buzzed to life. “My, my,” a haughty noblewoman’s voice resounded. “Welcome to Krat Zoo. To think that you all would enter this place while I, Markiona, Puppeteer of Death, am here. Have you no fear?” At that, though, the loudspeakers went quiet. Even if this mysterious Markiona could hear the newcomers, it seemed she wasn’t all that interested in conversation.

That wasn’t all that concerned the Seekers, though. Up ahead, past where the Endangered Species Zone fed into the Rainforest Zone, plumes of smoke indicated the presence of raging flames. Heismay hadn’t seen any smoke when the team first crested the hill that overlooked Krat Zoo, so whatever was causing the blaze must be new. His keen ears could also hear the echoes of a distant, awful chorus of animal cries, oddly and unsettlingly synchronized. Horrible noises were nothing new in Krat Zoo, yet this sounded even worse somehow. “I have a mind to investigate those flames,” he declared, eying the bend up ahead. “That area strikes me as a good spot for an ambush. If there is a trap, best to spring it early, then clear it out, hm?”

Though now forced to consider this newly-announced Markiona, Sandalphon understood and nodded at Heismay's proposal. "Confirmed. Stay alert for any sign of the possible mastermind as well."

Heismay then waved at Roxas. “Young man, care for another run?”

Roxas was, so the two got moving. They left the stagecoach and accompanying Seekers behind to dash through the Endangered Species Zone. Their passage drew the attention of the human carcasses in the area, but their reaction speed left them in the dust, and the distraction left them with their backs to the enemy team, easy pickings. These foes weren’t intelligent enough to set up any actual traps, but they had a habit of finding strange spots to lay in wait for prey to come near, so the scouts did rouse a couple unseen carcasses as they darted by. This included a mutant cassowary, its aberrant claws and beak deadlier than ever when accompanied by the bladelike bone protrusions of its featherless wings, and several tortoises, with bulky, blunt-tipped tentacles protruding from their shells. All the while the giraffe just watched, impassive, as if waiting for something.

When they entered the Rainforest Zone, Heismay and Roxas immediately found the smoldering, ashen remains of several partially-disintegrated kangaroos carcasses, one still whole enough to suggest a very recent demise. There were more outsiders in the zoo than Erik and Eryk, clearly. The two did not linger for long, though, since now they could not only hear the twisted, bestial chorus quite clearly, but see bursts of flame through the winter-stripped trees. With a combination of flowmotion and eugief agility, the two abandoned the Rainforest Zone Boardwalk (it being just wide enough to accommodate the stagecoach once it came this way) and hustled through the former primate habitat. A few seconds later, they reached the boardwalk roundabout and could witness the advanced elephant carcass in all its gruesome splendor. From its rotted head had sprung a massive, serpentine trunk of amalgamated flesh and animal heads, with hypothermic mist cascading down from each loathsome maw. Worst of all was the huge, malformed crocodile head that crowned this grotesque abomination, its grisly antlers not even a surprise at this point. Heismay recoiled; how could something like this possibly come to be!?

The sight of a girl with long white hair and fiery wings returned the hermit to his senses, though. Heismay watched her bombard the monster with burning plumes, to little individual effect. It wasn’t that they didn’t look weak, but that this beast seemed uncommonly sturdy, its inner cold quelling the flames that threatened to consume it. Maybe she didn’t need help, but Heismay wasn’t about to take that chance.

“O, power of kings!” He leaped into the air, glided toward the action, and assumed his Archetype form to land with a giant Dark Sword slash across the monstrosity’s side. “Take this!” He turned back and leaped away as the carcass craned its neck around, then blasted the spot with a frigid spray from its mouth. Heismay exhaled as he landed on a railing, his eyes narrowed. Against a foe this dangerous, hit-and-run tactics would be best; even if he didn’t do much damage, splitting this thing’s attention would be invaluable. “We’re here to help!” He called to Mokou, his reinforced longsaber in hand as he prepared to do his part.

Meanwhile, the Seekers’ stagecoach was carefully advancing toward the Endangered Species Zone. Sandalphon kept an eye on the from the hidden staff center discovered by Sectonia, was mildly surprised when someone other than Geralt emerged. After that darkly-dressed stranger hustled the opposite direction toward the zoo entrance, the Witcher returned with a great deal of loot. He only offered Sandalphon the darts to look at, though she could tell from the glow that shone through his sack that it must contain a wealth of ergo crystals. Unfortunately, conventional medicine was not the archangel’s specialty. “I cannot determine its intended use without documentation I’m afraid. Since it appears to be designed for use with a specific nonlethal firearm, there may be more clues if we can find that.” Turning away, she scanned the area again, looking for enemies or additional third parties in need of rescue. “My scans show no other life signs in the current area. There is a strange reading at the bottom of the basin, though.” While she couldn’t tell what it was, she detected something unusual at the center of the deepest, widest part of the river exhibit, right beneath the broken footbridge.
In World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover) → 11 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka

Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (135/150) Level 11 Big Band (35/110)
Junior, Rika & Amaterasu’s @DracoLunaris Roland’s @Archmage MC Zenkichi’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Pit, Primrose & Therion’s @Yankee Sakura & Juri’s @Zoey Boey Captain Falcon’s @Double Harry and Kim’s @Eviledd1984 Terry’s @Terry Bogard
Word Count: 2369 / 1517


Ms. Fortune and Robo-fortune glared at one another, eyes blazing and teeth bared, the tension between them palpable as the other NMO fighters looked on. For a few seconds they seemed liable to throw themselves at one another once more, all notions of propriety gormlessly discarded in favor of a visceral, definitive showdown here and now. After a moment, though, Robo gestured with her head toward the dojo’s main room a few dozen feet away. “Shall we take this inside?”

Nadia eased up slightly, a smile on her face as she entertained the idea. “Sure. If we’re gonna do this, let’s do this right!”

Taking the lead, Robo stalked into the paper court, her head pivoting in its socket to keep her unblinking optics on her opponent no matter which way her body faced. Each metallic footfall hit the ground like the rod of a jackhammer, much heavier than Robo’s build would suggest. While Nadia’s stride looked far more relaxed and casual, she did not break eye contact with her adversary either, her expression playful and mocking the whole time. “A metal clone of Ms Fortune, huh?” Nadia rolled her eyes. “Guess that makes you an aluminum ‘foil’.”

Unflinching, Robo scorned her in a cold, dismissive tone. “You are old news, fleshling. I am the upgrade.”

“Upgrade? Ha! You really a-mews-me! While you’ve been sittin’ here, grindin’ your gears, I’ve been rackin’ up so much power it’d make your head spin. As a matter of fact, why don’t I do you a li’l favor…” CLANG! Nadia’s combat pack hit the ground, followed shortly by her bait launcher and Athame daggers. After her weapons clattered to the floor, the feral stretched her shoulders and arms, feeling limber. “Don’t need my new toys to strip your screws!”

As the two assumed opposing positions, Annie declared the terms of the fight. “This’ll be a standard one-on-one fight, no outside help allowed. First to two knockouts takes it.” She raised an eyebrow at Nadia. “Got it?”

“I’ve been around the block,” the feral assured her. “I know how this plays out!”

Annie crossed her arms. “You both ready then?”

“Affirmative,” Robo told her.

Nadia smirked. “A-fur-mative!”

After Annie nodded at Beowulf, the big man raised his arms. “Then, ladies and gentlemen it’s…SHOWTIME!”

As Nadia burst forward, Robo surprised her with a medium Theonite Beam. “Buster.” With her arms crossed, the pink laser blazed from her eyes with surprising speed and caught the feral in the shoulder. Taken aback for but a brief instant, Nadia rolled with the punches and spun along with her momentum, then charged on all fours. “Beam.” When Robo crouched down to fire off a lower-profile light beam, Nadia stopped short and blocked, then resumed her sprint the second Robo’s ray died down. With her opponent getting close, Robo jumped up to execute a x-swipe and throw down a four-pronged laser cutter,”Variable,” then canceled into a downward Theonite Beam from her mechanical heart. “Beeeam.”

Nadia sidestepped the former, then performed a Cat Slide to narrowly scrape past the latter. After sliding underneath her airborne foe, Nadia blasted out her legs in an explosive Fiber Upper. “Enough purr-jectiles!” She snapped up into the air to follow up with a handful of high-flying strikes, heightened and accelerated by her Elation blessings. “Eat this!” A moment later she finished with a flexible axe kick right to the schnoz. “I’ll foot the bill!”

The kick smacked Robo back down to the ground, but when Nadia descended for a plunging tail blade, her doppelganger teched backward and Nadia’s tail pierced nothing but the floor. “Quartz.” Robo dashed in to retaliate with a low-frequency knee blade, struck with an electrical current flowing between her hands, then brought one metal mitt down in an electric launcher. “Grounded.” Rather than follow up after the launcher, though, Robo took the moment while Nadia sailed through the air to pop out three headrones. “Launch, headrone. Heads, up. Form the head.”

By the time Nadia got to her feet, her foe had already issued the command. “Beep-beep-plarp!” All three headrones opened up to fire a volley of micro-missiles each. Knowing they’d lock her down long enough for Robo to mess her up, Nadia tried to outrun them, racing around the room as a barrage of explosions went off behind her.

Unfortunately, her predictable path allowed Robo to cut her off and knock her down with a Theonite Beam, and on waking up Nadia had no choice but to block the rest of the missiles. “Hell of a purr-cussion!” Nadia hissed through gritted teeth as the smoke cleared, her arms seared and smarting from the chip damage. “With all those rockets, you’re gonna give me thrust issues.” When she saw Robo launching more headrones, she quickly took off running, her anger speeding her steps. “Nyaat if I have anythin’ to say about it!”

With no other ideas, she closed the distance with Charge, becoming a bolt of lightning that blitzed straight through Robo-fortune. As sparks flew, Nadia rematerialized behind her foe and pivoted around with a double slash. The Battery hit hard, but did not allow her to follow up, so as Robo put up her defenses Nadia leaped into the air. She intentionally whiffed a light claw slash to bait out a high guard, then landed and lashed out with a low kick. “Shin-terdiction!” It worked like a charm, and as her foe fought to keep her balance Nadia continued with a pivoting kick, then seized her tail from the floor to carve across Robo’s chest with it in a reverse grip. After that a High Brow head smash launched Robo upward, and a quick air combo ensued. It ended with an upside-down, multi-hitting windmill kick that jailed Robo long enough for Nadia’s ears to plunge into the ground and restand her foe for a follow-up in the form of her level one Blockbuster, Fur-seker Purr-age. “Let’s cut to the chase! EE-YAH!”

“Pain.” The barrage of slashes ended with a hefty cross slash, and with that, Robo hit the ground. “Hurt,” she muttered mechanically.

When the machine failed to rise right away, Annie pointed toward Nadia, pleasantly surprised. “Round one, Ms Fortune.”

Nadia grinned as her opponent slowly picked herself up. “One down, one to go!” She pulled her head off, then tossed it up and down in her hand. “I guess the cooler head prevailed, eh? Now, let’s spice things up!”

She rolled her head like a bowling ball, only for her body to immediately get floored by a heavy Theonite Beam. Her head made a beeline for Robo, using her ears as little feet as she narrowly dodged laser after laser, then launched toward her for a big chomp. “Mrrow!” Her hardened teeth closed on Robo’s arm, digging in deeper as her foe nipped her again and again with a scissor pincher, until Robo gave up and blasted her with a point-blank eye laser. “MEOWCH!”

Her body ran in, but Robo was ready. She sizzled Nadia with a light laser, then immediately canceled into a Blockbuster of her own. As Robo knelt, her torso extended and her arms transformed. “Catastrophe Cannon…Alpha.” Huge pink beams surged across the room, seemingly consuming Nadia’s body for a moment as her head writhed, unable to assist.

“Eugh…” Nadia groaned as the light died down, her eyes bleary from the pain. “That must be…your cannon-ical form…” When she shook out the dizziness, she saw Robo scooting toward her head to finish what she started. “Ugh, nyaat good!” Her attempt to dodge failed as a Scroll Heel sliced her, the yellow razor blades raking her face. “Grrrah!” Before Robo could bring down an electric ground pound, a blast of blood from Nadia’s neck covered her optics, and the head scooted away into her smoking body’s waiting grasp. Her legs transformed with Fluffy Soft to close the distance, then launched a white tiger dropkick to cut into Robo’s defense. Unfortunately, that led her straight into her doppelganger’s disjointed Colimating Saw, and the trade of blows left Nadia on the floor once again, half-conscious while her foe managed to recover.

“Round two, Robo-fortune,” Annie declared.

“Good effort though, Fortune!” Beowulf cheered her on, pumping his fist.

Balling her own fists, Filia nodded. “Yeah, nice try! You can do it!”

“Indignant.” Robo-fortune glared at them. “Why?”

With an annoyed grunt, Nadia got to her feet. She wiped blood from her lip as her cuts closed themselves. “Alright, tin cans. No more kitten around!”

Round three began, as one might expect, with a barrage of fingertip-lasers from Robo-fortune. Nadia approached, dash-blocking appropriately, until Robo went for a heavy Theonite Beam from her heart. “Plutonic.” The feral bent over backward, narrowly avoiding the big pink ray, then hurled her hardened tail like a blade. Her foe blocked it, then grabbed it in both hands to try and break it in half, reasoning that the pain would stop Nadia in her tracks. Thinking quickly, Nadia let her tail go limp as she ran forward, rendering it break-proof. “Oh.” It took Robo only a second to realize this and return to her previous strategy, but by then Nadia had leaped into the air to soar over the next Theonite Beam, then spike her head down like a volleyball. It beaned her opponent on the metallic cranium, then landed behind her as Nadia touched down in front.

“Checkmate!” With Robo sandwiched, the game was on. Nadia and her head alternated attacks in a grueling, unpredictable beatdown, resetting the hapless robot over and over as she tried and failed to block the two-pronged assault. Even if she did guess the right direction to block, Nadia could grab and throw her, and when Robo found what seemed to be gaps in the feral’s pressure, they turned out to be devious traps as Robo’s challenge led to a merciless punish. After a few moments, Robo bet it all on another Blockbuster, counting on its armor to soak her foe’s hit and blow her away. Unfortunately for her, Nadia was in the bot’s head. She cut her offense short to block it out, and even as she took a lot of chip damage, her heart soared–she knew she’d won. “Baited! Nyahahaha!” When the beam died down, she had free reign to chain together an onslaught of claw slashes and kicks. The manic laughter from Wounds of Plenty fired off in the middle of it, adding insult (and even more injury) to injury, and after a few moments Nadia finished with another Fur-serker Purr-age to seal the deal. “Cat scratch fever!”

Robo-fortune wasn’t quite finished, but when she went for a desperate nail stab at Nadia’s throat, she leaned out of the way, sunk her teeth into her foe’s metal arm, then yanked the limb from its socket. “Rip-off!” Taking it by the hand, she whipped it around like a baseball bat into Robo’s head. Oil flew from the machine’s mouth as she hit the ground, down for the count. “And that’s that. No ifs, ands, or ro-buts!”

At that point, Annie scarcely needed to declare the winner. While Filia and Beowulf headed over to congratulate the catgirl, she merely offered a tired nod of newfound respect. “Not bad. Guess you do know how to do things New Meridian Style after all. Welcome to the NMO.”

Nadia beamed, though not in the way Robo-fortune had. “Sweet! Guess I’m off to sign up for the tournament, then!”

“Not wasting any time, huh?” Annie crossed her arms. “Which one you thinking?”

Nadia glanced over her shoulder at Robo-fortune, who had initiated self-repair protocols, then gestured for the other New Meridians to huddle together. “Listen up, ‘cause I got a plan…”



After her friends’ tryouts concluded, and she completed her own registration for the tournament of her choice, Sakura had a little time before the proposed Pao Pao Cafe meetup to simply wander Esaka and reacquaint herself with the city. The Low Tier didn’t exactly have streets, but it did have a lot of familiar sights and sounds, mixed in with new things that had emerged in the month or two she’d been gone. Some Low Tier inhabitants and Yokai recognized her despite her absence, some greeting her and exchanging pleasantries, though the bystanders never accumulated into the adoring mob Terry had encountered. After a bit, though, Sakura did get the feeling that someone was following her. When it persisted, she finally turned around, and spotted not just one someone, but two recognizable someones headed her way.

“Heeey!” A young Japanese woman with short brown hair hustled over to Sakura, an easy smile on her face as she called out with gusto. Like the more composed Montenegrin blonde that followed her at a measured pace, her expression austere, Asuka wore primarily white, albeit in the form of a smudged button-up shirt with rolled-up sleeves instead of an expensive, pristine blouse with ruffles. “Sakura, right?” Asuka asked as she came to a stop a few feet away. “How’s it going? Do you remember me? Lili says we used to be friends, but…I have amnesia, so I don’t remember you. Uh, but I’m game to be friends again if you are!” With a spunky smile and closed eyes, Asuka crossed her arms.

As Lili approached, she adopted a less approachable pose, with one forearm resting on her midsection to support the elbow of the other forearm, which she held curled by her face as if checking her nails. “Miss Kasugano,” she began, sounding mildly, smugly amused like always. “When a little bird told me you’d finally returned, I simply had to fetch Asuka here and see for myself. You’re looking…well.” Her gaze was a little judgemental, but not unfriendly. “A pity it’s also true that you returned without your friend Miss Kanzuki. I was so looking forward to finally settling the matter of ‘best rivals’ with a friendly duel.”

The two pairs had, after all, shared what some might call a fated link. The duos, composed of a haughty, filthy-rich blonde aristocrat and a scrappier, friendlier brunette, had enough superficial similarities that both fighters and Yokai from Esaka often compared them. Some jokingly referred to them as ‘echo fighters’, others as the simpler and more derogatory term ‘clones’, all typically behind the young ladies’ backs. Asuka, Lili, Sakura, and Karin weren’t on bad terms, but if there was anything each pair of rivals could agree on, it was that they were the dominant duo. Unfortunately, both Asuka and Karin had disappeared a while back after significant tournament losses, leaving an odd couple in Esaka until Sakura left to seek out Ryu. Karin’s appearance in Limsa Lominscuttle Town, and Asuka’s much more recent reappearance with none of her previous Esaka memories, told Sakura everything she needed to know in order to recontextualize what had happened–a fate these two seemed blind to.

“Oh, well,” Lili sighed with a shrug. “I suppose it will have to wait until Miss Kanzuki returns as well. I had just managed to persuade Asuka to edify herself with a visit to Critical Art when the news of your return reached me. If you’ve a mind to join us, feel quite free.”

While not enthused by the prospect of visiting some stuffy old art museum, Asuka seemed much more amenable now that she had someone fun around. “So, where’ve you been?” she asked Sakura. “Got any good stories? Maybe you’ll jog my memories!”



In the course of silently observing his fellow detective’s tryout against Kyanta from beside the building’s front door, Big Band quickly came to a decision: that this wasn’t the gym for him. Though his mechanical body possessed great strength and fortitude, he knew he could be overwhelmed by quick, agile opponents, and if what he’d seen so far was anything to go by, he wouldn’t last one minute against these psychos. Their combos and attack patterns followed no logic that he could identify, defying both physics and common sense. While Zenkichi probably had enough magic tricks up his sleeve to pull off a win here, Band was a much more traditional fighter, and while on Kyanta’s turf he couldn’t rely on the Heavenly Principles to even things out. Better to find a dojo that catered to his strengths; if there was one upside to trawling Esaka’s Low Tier for diamonds in the rough, it was that there were plenty of options.

After wishing Zenkichi luck and bidding him farewell for now, Band set off for another pass around the bottommost district at his own pace. He stopped by a number of dojos in quick succession, spending up to five minutes at each, and what he saw didn’t exactly paint the brightest picture for him. As it turned out, the unregulated nonsense of Ultra Fight de Kyanta was more like the rule than the exception. Everywhere he looked he saw unreactable mixups, bizarre techniques, incongruent movements, infinite combos, and staggering imbalance even between members of the same dojo. The average low-tier fight looked more like a cracked-out frenzy than a proper sportsmanlike duel. No wonder the higher tiers turn up their noses at these guys, he mused, shaking his head. The more Band saw, the quicker he went, more and more anxious about the invisible timer that hung over his head, ticking down the seconds until noon. He hadn’t wanted to partake in a tournament at all, of course, but if they really did involve Esaka’s Guardian like the others expected, he couldn’t hang his teammates out to dry. Soon, less than an hour remained to both join a dojo and register.

At length, though, Band stumbled upon an unusual dojo even by Low Tier standards. This one featured a lot of heavy metal, with a futuristic aesthetic, but it seemed only half-built, with weeds growing up from the disturbed earth in its partially-developed plot. The front door was shut tight, but with nobody around to stop him, Band let himself inside. Within, he found a strange scene. A state-of-the-art, highly technological gym languished in an incomplete state, its metallic interior dusty and rusting. The biggest surprise to Band was the bodies, not of people, but of robots. A variety of sporting-looking, combat ready machines could be found around the place, intact but inert. Poring over the scene piece by piece, Band found a handful of documents, culminating in the discovery of a ledger clutched tight in one robot’s hand. With that, he began to put the bigger picture together.

According to the documents, ‘Metal Revolution’ had been the name of the dojo-to-be, the project. Deliberately and carefully modeled after certain higher-tier dojos with a mind to emulate the best parts of each, the dojo and its roster had shown a lot of promise. Highly publicized throughout the lower and middle tiers, it had received a lot of attention and investment, but not enough to satisfy its founder’s grand designs. With the finish line in sight, Metal Revolution exhausted the last of its funding and support, shutting down before its efforts ever came to fruition. Its colorful cast of fighters, enthusiastically registered along with the dojo in advance, went offline one by one. All had been robots styled after various sports or martial arts the world over, with names like Xuan Cuo, Catalina Gomez, Paulo Silva, Jamal Ritter, and Umi Ito, but like their dojo they’d been forgotten by Esaka and its fighters.

It was a sad story, but in the midst of his revelations, Band saw an opportunity. “Hmm…” he murmured, scratching his chin with a little mechanical pincer as he reviewed the roster. However preemptive and futile it had been in the end, Metal Revolution and all its robotic fighters had been registered with the tournament board. The Low Tier housed so many stagnant, half-dead dojos in various states of decomposition that he couldn’t help but wonder if Metal Revolution had ever actually been scrubbed from the records. With that in mind, Band paid his respects and vacated the premises, headed for the nearest registration booth.

Soon, the detective was looming in front of a yellow-and-white combot, its beady red eyes inquiring. “What is your name, which dojo do you represent, and which tournament would you like to enter?”

“Paulo Silva,” Band told the machine, his tone one of unflinching self-confidence. “Metal Revolution.” That left just one important question, and unfortunately he knew very little. He did know that King of Fighters used three-man teams, and he worked best in a team, but all three members probably had to be together to register. There was no time to try and find his fellow Seekers. “...World Warrior.”

Though the combot’s lack of face made it difficult to read, it didn’t seem to suspect anything. “Responses recorded. Eligibility check pending. You are free to go. Have an excellent day.”

Band let out the breath he’d been holding as he stepped away from the booth, walking past the line. Plenty of random low-tier fighters had left their registration until the last minute as well, but he didn’t feel any better about his gambit. Nothing to do now but wait and see, he thought. After getting some distance, he lifted a pincer to the linkpearl in his ear and radioed the others. “Just registered myself. Headin’ to Pao Pao now, over.”

“Hey, me too!” Nadia’s bright, cheerful voice piped up over the comm line. “I’ll be a minute gettin’ down from the Mid Tier though. The Pools are real purr-ty, by the way. Nobody’s up there fightin’ today, so if anyone feels like a nice dip after lunch, we can have ourselves a pool paw-ty!”

Band did not relish the thought of immersing his five thousand pounds of intricate instrumentation in the water, so he decided not to volunteer. Instead he made his way through the Low Tier to Gold Team’s designated rendezvous point, ready to meet back up with everyone else.



With the glow of red paper lanterns shining off the burnished whiskers and antlers of gilded Chinese dragons, and zesty music playing near its fully-loaded bar, Pao Pao had a nigh-irresistible party atmosphere. The decor of the place, from the red railings that ringed its second-story balcony to the elaborate antique wall panels on the first floor, not to mention those great serpentine statues, struck Nadia as oddly similar to the Dragon Empire styling of some restaurants in Little Innsmouth. It wasn’t quite the same, of course, but it still left her smiling from ear to ear the moment she entered. After showing herself to the back of the restaurant, she joined a number of other Seekers at a long table. The new guys Terry and Kim were both present, while Junior, Rika, Primrose, and Therion were notably absent; Nadia guessed they must be off doing their own thing.

The moment after Nadia seated herself by Big Band, the mii waitress appeared to take her drink and appetizer order, having already taken everyone else’s. “Cola and pork dumplings, please!” the feral chirped after a quick glance at the menu. After the waitress left, she looked around at the others and told them, apropos of nothing, “So, I signed up for Mortal Kombat…”

Band nearly choked on his sweet tea. “You did what?”

The feral shrugged. “Well, someone’s got to, right? Plus, it’s got the least entrants, so that means fewer fights. And if, God forbid, I somehow do lose, I can just play dead!” To prove her point, her head rolled off her shoulders and plopped into her hands with her tongue sticking out and her ears drooping. “See? I’ll just fall to pieces the second someone goes to fatalize me, and bam, dead,” she declared cheerfully, using the term she learned during her attempted registration.

There’s more than one way to skin a cat, Band thought, but what he said was, “And what about the people you beat? You’re s’posed to kill them, too, ain’tcha?”

“Don’t care!” Nadia replied breezily. “What’re they gonna do, boo me? It’s not grounds for disqualification, I don’t think. Much as I’d love everyone cheerin’ my name, all that really matters is beatin’ the guardian.”

Soon after, the waitress returned with Nadia’s orders, then pulled out a notebook to take everyone’s entree orders. Between authentic Chinese cuisine and various South American dishes, from Brazilian to Chilean, there were a lot of tasty-sounding options. Once everyone had given their lunch orders, the conversation could continue.

Frozen Highlands - Krat Zoo

Lvl 8 Sandalphon (61/80) Level 5 Heismay (28/50)
Edward’s @DracoLunaris Blazermate & Sectonia’s @Archmage MC Geralt’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Ace Cadet’s @Yankee Roxas & Ganondorf’s @Double, Ramattra’s @XoXKieroBombXoX
Word Count: 2023

Nameless Stagecoach
𖥞: 8/8 | 🛡️: 7/8 | Equipment: Stewpot/Windchime/Lamps/(None)/(None)/(None) | Companion: None


Once the stagecoach came to a stop within the Hall of Adventure, Heismay wordlessly lent his blade to the efforts to secure the area. There were fewer carcasses in the immediate vicinity than one might expect, and mostly standard human ones at that, so with nearly a dozen Seekers it was no trouble to clear them out. Truth be told, Heismay was grateful. Though he’d fought without giving voice to his reservations, these monstrosities disturbed him greatly. The Humans that plagued his world were awful, certainly, but their horror came from an indescribably alien ‘otherness’ and ‘wrongness’. These carcasses were like nothing he’d ever seen, a repulsive and gruesome mockery of life itself, reeking of death and disease. He agreed with Sandalphon completely; the world would be better off with these things wiped out. The only problem was that he needed to help do it.

Edward and Geralt decided to stay with Sandalphon and protect the stagecoach, while a number of Seekers trooped toward the east wing, especially once the archangel’s report confirmed an avenue of egress on that side. Accordingly, Heismay turned his attention to the west wing. With the main doorway blocked, he jumped over the gap in the collapsed stairs on the western side, then proceeded through to the east wing’s second floor, where he paused on the threshold to scope it out. He spotted a half-dozen rectangular taxidermy displays along the walls, mostly themed around the wetlands. Flamingos, crocodile, hippopotamus, beavers, water buffalo, capybara…Heismay recognized few of those names, but even with the zoo in this condition, it was easy to get distracted admiring these animals.

He could see three human carcasses, a male one near the entrance and two female ones further away. The first one still wore the remnants of a showy yellow tweed suit. “Quite the dandy,” Heismay muttered. That carcass seemed busy pummeling the taxidermied remains of a beaver, mindlessly smashing the husk over and over, so Heismay snuck up on it with relative ease. With ample time to prepare, he transformed as he approached, then used Dark Sword from behind to hack the former gentleman in twain.

When Heismay changed back and turned to focus on the other two, however, he had a surprise waiting for him. Blazermate had flown in without any regard for stealth, then used that strange shield of hers to bite the two female carcasses once each, amidst their ineffective flailings. Having done the deed, the medabot flew away, and when the carcasses turned to face her they spotted Heismay instead.

“Damn it.” The eugief darted behind a display as the carcasses approached, snarling horribly. He looked around, identified a piece of broken glass, then picked it up and tossed it over the display. When it shattered, the carcasses turned to investigate the sound. Without delay, Heismay hopped up onto the display, then jumped toward the enemies. He spread his wings to close the distance by gliding silently, then drew his sword as he dropped to deliver a spine-severing slash to one target. As it fell, he pivoted and cut through the other’s leg, then repositioned himself in order to lop off its head as it toppled. It seemed dead, but the other one’s upper half was still functional. “Vile things.” Heismay tightened his grip on his longsaber, repositioned himself, then chopped off the carcasse’s arms. With no way to move or attack, it wouldn’t be much of a threat to anyone.

Heismay crossed through the second floor, pausing only to look at the taxidermied reptile. Compared to the others, even the more sizable hippopotamus, the croc seemed to have the most care and attention put into it. It was of no consequence, though, and the eugief proceeded down the stairs to the west wing’s first floor. A crude and highly damaged barricade had been erected at its base at some point, but Heismay had no trouble getting past it. Looking around, it seemed like a number of survivors had attempted to hole up here at some point, hoarding all the supplies they could. The wing looked like a junkyard of smashed boxed, broken suitcases, and trampled personal belongings, all the former property of families who’d traveled here to visit the zoo on holiday. He could see a few highly disfigured carcasses, and when one sensed him, it tore a bluish polyp off its body to hurl at him. “Not today.” Heismay jumped away from the globule of decay, then approached, methodically dashing and dodging projectiles until he could put the carcass out of its misery. A similar approach worked for the other ones, and after another minute the bottom floor was clear. Heismay wiped steaming teal fluids off his longsaber using a tattered frock. “Plague us no more.”

At his words, one large suitcase seemed to react, shaking suddenly. Muffled sounds emanated from within. Swallowing, Heismay narrowed his eyes and approached. He waited until the struggling died down, then carefully undid the latch, his blade at the ready.

The suitcase burst open, and from within tumbled a short man with a long, braided, orange beard, gasping for breath. As he panted, Heismay lowered his blade. “Ohh, thank ye for freein’ me,” the viking gasped, laying on the floor. He turned toward his rescuer, only to be taken aback. “Eh!? A bat-man?”

Heismay narrowed his eyes. “And what of it?”

Realizing his mistake, the viking held up his hands. “Nono, it’s great and all, I just…didn’t think you’d be a bat-man.” He cleared his throat. “I owe you one. The name’s Erik–Erik the Swift! What should I call ye?”

“I am Heismay Noctule,” the eugief told him, sheathing his blade. “What were you doing in a suitcase?”

“I climbed in tryin’ to hide from those wretched monsters, only to lock myself in,” Erik explained as he got up. “Wasn’t too bad, mind ye…kind of cozy, actually…but it was startin’ to get a bit stuffy.” He picked up and put on his one-horned helmet, then straightened it. “Ah, that’s better. It’s not just me though, see. My brothers, Baleog and Olaf, are around here somewhere. We got stuck here a few days ago. Found this strange doohickey and tried to call for help, but the monsters found us, and we got separated while runnin’.” Erik rubbed his head anxiously. “Any chance you can help me find ‘em? The three of us, we’re a package deal. Don’t know what I’d do without ‘em.”

Heismay nodded sympathetically. “I’ll inform my comrades. We can certainly keep an eye out. Meanwhile, you should stay with us, in our stagecoach. We…look out!”

Suddenly, Heismay dove into hiding behind a crate. Without question, Erik dove back into his suitcase with a yelp. The reason why was obvious: a horrific monstrosity had just reached the bottom of the stairs. It took a second for Heismay to even realize what he was looking at, but the realization was dreadful indeed; it was the corpses of the two carcasses he just dispatched, reanimated and fused together in hideous fashion. A single head lolled atop the mass as it crawled on three arms and one leg, the severed fourth limb dangling behind it like a tail as the rags of its dresses hung from its fused flesh. Heismay shivered, his breathing heightened. “I killed them…I killed them!” he hissed. None of the others had come back, so why now?

He steadied his breathing. How it came back was of no concern to him. Only eliminating it for good. As far as he could tell, the horror hadn’t detected him, and had in fact turned away to hobble back up the stairs. Time to make his move. Heismay leaped out from behind cover. “Thief!” Transforming, he launched a Mudo at the abomination, then charged after it with his curved greatsword raised. “HaaaaAH!” Though the monster had a second to prepare, it did not attempt to defend itself, so Heismay slashed away. After a moment its pieces fell to the floor, turning to ash as Heismay changed back. His chest heaved as he tried to shake off the chills running down his spine. “We’re clear,” he called back.

When he heard only rattling and muffled yells in reply, Heismay looked back to find that Erik had locked himself in that suitcase again. With a sigh, the eugief jogged back over to free him again.

Before moving on, they took a quick look around. There were still some usable items strewn around the former hideout.



Heismay saw the immediate value in the fire abrasive, the function of which he could intuit from its resemblance to a weapon grinder and fiery nature. The shot put looked destructive, but better used in the hands of someone of great physical strength, like Ace or Ganondorf. Since it was so heavy, Heismay gave it to Erik to carry. It was less clear how to use the crystal and bur, but maybe Sectonia could figure it out; she seemed magical enough. Most perplexing by far was the box labeled Ratshaker. When the eugief reluctantly opened it, he could only stare in confusion at the strange, unmoving rat in his hand. After a moment he reluctantly tried shaking it. “Aaaaaa, aaaaaa, aaaaaa-aaaaa-aaaaa,” it went, not so loudly that it startled Heismay, but still unpleasant, especially with the Ratshaker Meter that briefly seared itself into the middle of his vision.

“I don’t like this thing,” he decided. Maybe Sectonia could figure it out, too.

He and Erik carefully made their way back to the group. Ignorant of Blazermate’s abilities, Heismay proceeded to warn everyone about the phenomenon he’d observed once he introduced Erik. “Bad news, everyone. These horrors can reanimate even after they seem dead, and combine themselves into larger, even more horrible monsters. We must be extra vigilant.” Narrowing his eyes, he held up the rat. “And can someone take this? I get the feeling it might be useful, but ever since I tried shaking it, I’ve been hearing whispers…”
In World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover) → 11 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Alright, small update to the sheet to clarify the main thing points while also adding in the "In the Now" segment. Hopefully things are good and certainly excited to be around.



Approved, and welcome to the RP. You can put your sheet in the Characters tab. My updates are every Sunday evening, but you don't have to worry about getting one out this weekend if you already have plans. Would you like an invite to the Discord server?
In World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover) → 11 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
<Snipped quote by Lugubrious>

Yeah, I'd certainly spend upgrades and stuff to actually use different spells. That case was more of a "if she spends time to look further into stuff she's seen she can replicated it pretty well". Essentially just an upgrade path, if that makes sense.

As for the revive part, it's more so me trying to work in both the fact that she can regenerate constantly and also balance the actual revives to not be a game winner. I'll reword it to make it sound better but the main goal is that the limitation is directly tied with Mokou's will to fight through the pain, though I suppose a better way to describe it would just be that Mokou can regenerate from any injury over time. She can be injured in battle and have it last but she'll just rapidly regenerate outside of battle. While the revives are just her deciding to forcefully incinerate her entire body in order to fight further.

Also having Mokou start in the Frozen Highlands sounds fine! Hermit answering the call of a lost soul.


Okay, that sound good! Thanks for clarifying.
In World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover) → 11 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
I might have gotten hit by extreme focus despite my normal ADHD and worked on most of the sheet. Posting it now for feedback on stuff like the skills/powers while I work on the "In the Now" segment to figure out what, exactly, Mokou has been up to. Aside from probably being a hermit somewhere in a random forest.



Thank you for your efforts, that's quite a good sheet. I also play a character who's supposedly immortal (Ms Fortune) but whose regenerative abilities slow down and eventually peter out if she's subjected to enough damage. However, having Mokou's revives be limited is a moot point if she can 'regenerate from any damage dealt to her', which would logically prevent her from ever having to revive. Unless I'm just misunderstanding and this 'regenerate from any damage dealt to her' clause refers to her phoenix revival? Additionally, it would be a bit unfair if she could copy any magic spells she sees for free, but I would be fine letting you spend level upgrades to learn magics displayed by other characters (of course, she'd still be able to freely use spells she picks up in the world, like Dark Souls pyromancies, once she obtains them).

Once we've sorted this out, the character seems good. I would want her to start on the White Team in the Frozen Highlands. We just reached an area called Krat Zoo, which has been overrun by mutant, aberrant animals known as carcasses. As for why, maybe she could be responding to a call for help from one of the Lost Vikings, all three of which are separated in Krat Zoo and need to be rescued/reunited.
In World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover) → 11 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Heyo! I'm... Not entirely a fresh, new face around here but I'm trying to get myself back into RPing in order to get back into the full swing of writing, and was wanting to see if folks were willing to accept another lad around here. Working on which character I'd like to bring in and mostly leaning towards Ragna the Bloodedge from Blazblue, or a Touhou gal like Sakuya. But mostly wanted to see if things were clear to apply before I locked in.


Hey there! We're always open and would be happy to have you, both of those character choices are good (Ragna would be great for the fighting game area that Gold Team is in, while Sakuya might be better for White Team's expedition). If you're sure that you can honor a commitment of ~30 minutes spent reading and an hour or two writing in order to post once a week, you're good to go.
In World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover) → 11 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Forbidden Kingdom - Moving On Up

Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (132/150) Level 11 Big Band (32/110)
Junior, Rika & Amaterasu’s @DracoLunaris Roland’s @Archmage MC Zenkichi’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Pit, Primrose & Therion’s @Yankee Sakura & Juri’s @Zoey Boey Captain Falcon’s @Double Harry and Kim’s @Eviledd1984 Terry’s @Terry Bogard
Word Count: 2101


While Nadia figured that there must logically be an official way to go up or down between the levels of the Tiered City, whether by elevator, train, or very long staircase, the fiercely independent feral saw no reason to abide by such pedestrian methods when she could blaze her own trail instead. And from where she now stood at the very edge of the Low Tier’s cramped slums, shading her eyes against the sun with one hand as she peered up the wall toward the next level, going her own way looked very doable indeed. After all, while the wall rose with clifflike perpendicularity to form a staunch, flat backdrop for the Low Tier, it didn’t confront her with an implacable sheer surface. Instead it appeared to be stone brick all the way up, with sufficient mortar seams and irregularities of depth that Nadia could identify a wealth of handholds and crevices where her claws could find purchase. It would be tough going, and dangerous if she lost her grip, but once the catgirl was set on something there wasn’t any room for second-guesses. With a grin of utterly self-sure determination, Nadia sharpened her claws and began to climb.

To her delight, the ascent proved neither too hard nor too easy, but an engaging challenge. While 2,700 Pounds of Justice worked against her, making each movement up the rock wall harder than it needed to be, her natural (and unnatural) abilities more than made up the difference. Being able to stretch out her limbs, dig her claws into stone, and push herself against the wall with a little directional bloodletting gave her every advantage. Nadia knew that she could airdash back onto the wall if she fell, too, but it never came to that. Instead she made steady progress, working up a light sweat as she scaled Esaka’s class divide. Finally, after only five minutes or so, she took a final leap of faith to latch onto the railing that crowned the wall with hyper-extended arms, then snap her muscle fibers together to send herself flying up and over into the second tier. “Aha!”

She took one look down while airborne and saw nothing but water. “Aha!?”

PLOOSH!

Nadia belly-flopped into the cold water, sputtering and flailing as she tried to find her footing, much to the amusement of a couple surprised onlookers. The cat burglar didn’t hate water by any means, but a dunk straight away was quite the shock. After surfacing, she swam over to the narrow walkway that ran along the outer wall and pulled herself out. When she spotted a few locals chuckling at or concerned for her, she couldn’t suppress a good-natured laugh herself. “Hey there folks~!” she greeted them as she got to her feet, waving. “It’s all good! All in a day’s work as Ms. Fortune, the scrappiest up-and-coming superstar in Esaka. I’ll be here all week, so if you’re a fan of plucky underdogs (or undercats, for that matter), I hope that little pratfall ‘wets’ your appetite!”

As she stepped back onto the water’s surface, her rigging unfurled to keep her afloat atop the water’s surface, and Nadia gave a theatrical flourish before bowing to impress the spectators. Sure, the feral might be in Esaka on business, but Nadia was someone who knew how to have fun -and make friends- no matter what she was doing. “Keep an eye out for tomorrow’s headline: ‘Ms. Fortune makes a splash!’ Tata for now!” With that, she skated away.

So this was the Pools, huh? The name really didn’t do it justice. The entire tier was essentially one giant, donut-shaped pool a good twenty feet deep, littered by all kinds of bridges, catwalks, viewing stands, water features, and especially arenas. Nadia could see battlegrounds of all shapes and sizes practically everywhere she looked, all islands unto themselves with the water around them serving as a natural out-of-bounds. Some floated on the water, whether little more than rafts or multi-floor ship decks, or actual functional boats. Other arenas were simple stone shapes either just above or high above the water’s surface, usually squares or circles, some with walls. A few looked like actual sports arenas, some rising very high indeed above the water.

There were very few people actually fighting here right now, so the entire tier was mostly empty except for a couple city denizens treating the proving grounds like an actual water park, which seemed pretty fair to Nadia. With the wind in her hair, the feral happily skated around the tier, seeing the sights. She ducked under arches and bridges, leaped over walkways, and zipped through fountains, speeding wherever her whimsy took her. It was great fun, but after a couple minutes the annoying, rational part of Nadia’s mind (small and feeble though it was) reminded her that she was on a tight time limit. After making a mental note to drown that part of her in booze at the first opportunity, she begrudgingly reined it in and set off for her destination. This time, she had seen the way up (a very large, open-air elevator) so she wound down by riding it to the Middle Tier rather than climbing.

For Nadia, who’d spent most of her life in one or another of New Meridian's poorer districts, the Middle Tier seemed glitzy and glamorous–even though for all intents and purposes, it appeared to be a pretty normal urban Japanese city. Rather than a labyrinth of alleyways like the Low Tier, it had its own streets, meticulously named and organized in a feat of civil engineering. These streets all took foot traffic only, of course, with no vehicles in sight. As she walked around the blocks, gawking like some tourist, Nadia spotted all kinds of shops with strange and amusing names that sounded like puns she wasn’t savvy enough to get yet. Bread and Butter made sense as a grocery store, but Hood Perfect was apparently an apparel shop, with all kinds of stylish streetwear on display. Nadia caught the tantalizing savory smell of pizza and meatballs wafting from a restaurant called Double Luigi, but she would have to come back later to hear what kind of music got played in nightclubs like Deadly Rave.

Nadia also found fewer dojos, and not just because of the Middle Tier’s smaller surface area. Even the smallest and shabbiest one was bigger and nicer than the best dojo the Low Tier could dredge up, each boasting multiple stories and solid construction. They sported titles like Them’s Fightin Herds, Under Night In-Birth, Killer Instinct, Soul Calibur, and Rivals of Aether. With how approachable most of the locals were, it didn’t take too long to track down the one Nadia was looking for. The moment she laid eyes on the NMO headquarters, she realized that she’d come to the right place. Though she wasn’t well-versed in art enough to assign it a name, she recognized the Art Deco architectural style at a glance. With pep in her step, Nadia pushed inside to the sound of a ringing bell.

Across the lobby, the main room of the dojo appeared to be a tall, two-story windowless gym with walls of what looked like loose leaf notebook paper. Its only features were a chalk blackboard, school desk, and accompanying chair, but it was occupied. Nadia spotted a teenage girl with dark, seemingly animate hair, doing some sort of drill under the instruction of a stern-looking, long-legged tutor, who held her pointer a little too much like one might a riding crop for comfort. Intrigued, Nadia let the front door swing closed and watched for a few moments, ears flicking, as the girl tried and failed to perform a long combo strong down, berated not just by the tutor but by a gruff male voice that emanating from an upside-down face back of her head. “Sheesh, I’m surprised teachers like that don’t go cross-eyed,” Nadia muttered to herself. “They just can’t control their pupils.”

“Hello?”

Nadia’s head twisted around to see a young, one-eyed girl and a burly, hairy guy in a wolf pelt descending the stairs to see who’d entered the dojo. The feral’s eyes went wide as she pointed a finger at the two of them, sputtering. “Wait! I know you! Both you guys! You’re..! You’re..! Uh!” She turned her attention from the tired-looking kid to the washed-up wrestler. “And you! You’re that…that guy!” Unable to recall their names, she clamped her hands to her head. “You’re on TV!”

“It’s, Beowulf!” the man supplied, shaking his head incredulously. “C’mon, really? I’m only the biggest, baddest wolf in the whole New Meridian wrestling scene!” He puffed out his chest, striking a pose that might have been iconic if he was really as famous as he thought he was.

Nadia winced slightly. “Y-yeah, of course! It’s just, I don’t watch TV much, and, uh…” She scratched her head. “That’s beside the point! I’m from New Meridian too. Little Innsmouth! And I really need to sign up with a dojo today, before-”

The girl gave her a dubious look. “Oh, is that so? Looking for a way in, are you?” She crossed her arms. “You wouldn't be the first.”

“I really AM from New Meridian!” Nadia insisted. “Ever hear of Ms Fortune, the infamous phantom thief and the incredible Fishbone gang?”

The girl’s face didn’t budge an inch. “No.”

As Nadia wilted, Beowulf shot her a look as if to say not a nice feeling, huh? “W-well, I mean, it’s not like thieves set out to become household names or anythin’...”

Luckily, Beowolf was a better sport than one would hope. “C’mon, Annie, give her a break. It’s not like people are chompin’ at the bit to join NMO anyhow. We haven’t had any new recruits in ages…we could get kicked down to the Low Tier any day now!”

“Annie, that’s it!” Nadia snapped her fingers. “Girl of the Stars! Right!?”

One glance from Annie shut Beowulf up. “Can it. She probably just heard about us and came to try our luck. Didn’t even know our names.” She rolled her eyes. “Couldn’t even be bothered to come up with one of her own, either.”

That puzzled Nadia. “Say what?”

“She’s saying you’re a faker,” a buzzy, artificial voice declared. Affronted, Nadia looked up just in time to see a familiar, albeit metallic, shape drop down. The floor shook when she landed, and when she stood up, Robo-fortune’s yellow eyes glared straight into Nadia’s soul. “So, this flea-ridden meatbag thinks she can cramp my style?”

Nadia bristled, grinning dangerously. “If anything, you’re the fake catgirl around here. Comparing yourself to me? Ha! In your dreams, tin cans! In all my ears, I’ve never metal-loser like you before!”

“Hey, let’s settle down, okay?” Beowulf held up his hands, his voice gruff. “No need to be rude, Robo!” He paused, squinting at the two. “Huh. They are kinda similar, though…”

Robo-fortune ignored him, instead shooting lasers from her eyes to perform a blazing sweep. Nadia detached at the thighs, her upper body popping up to slash at Robo’s head with sharpened claws. Instead Robo’s head shot off like a missile, and after Nadia reunited, she dashed backward to evade its explosive divebomb. Both then charged forward in an electric clash, sparks flying as the two cats met tail-to-tail.

“Copy-cat!” Nadia hissed.

“Obsolete,” Robo-fortune replied.

As they jumped spart, Annie raised an eyebrow. “I see what you mean. Hm…fine.” She looked between the two Fortunes. “Ms. Fortune, was it? I can see you’re a feral, and not anyone can namedrop Little Innsmouth. If you’ve got what it takes to beat your evil clone, you can stay. ‘Kay?”

“Got it!” Nadia grinned. “Don’t worry, circuitty! Once we’re done, I’ll scrape what’s left of you into the robot-tom tier!”

Robo-fortune squared up. “This is an inefficient use of cat.”

Frozen Highlands - the Midnight Walk

Lvl 8 Sandalphon (61/80) Level 5 Heismay (25/50)
Edward’s @DracoLunaris Blazermate & Sectonia’s @Archmage MC Geralt’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Ace Cadet’s @Yankee Roxas & Ganondorf’s @Double, Ramattra’s @XoXKieroBombXoX
Word Count: 1584

Nameless Stagecoach
𖥞: 8/8 | 🛡️: 7/8 | Equipment: Stewpot/Windchime/Lamps/(None)/(None)/(None) | Companion: None


Even with the full team present and accounted for, travel through the reavers’ woods would have been stressful. Unnatural greenish lights shone from twisted trees in the distance, and hateful shapes of melded flesh and bone skulked in the shadows, their baleful eyes aglow and ever watchful. The trees that flanked the Midnight Walk were thick, at times bending over the road itself to create a rustling, whistling tunnel of bristling needles and boughs. Once most of White Team’s members broke off from the path to pursue various side objectives, though, the trip became downright terrifying. Ace, Geralt, Edward, Roxas, and Heismay split off to capture the much-needed Reindrix that promised to increase the team’s travel speed, while the restless Celica and Kit joined Ramattra to look further into the eerie sawmill to investigate Heismay’s claim of monstrous hoarders, intending to catch up with the rest once they finished.

That left Sandalphon alone inside the stagecoach, with no guarantee of safety but for the presence of Blazermate, Ganondorf, and Sectonia. When a pinecone fell from a stooped conifer and bounced off the coach’s roof, the once-unflappable archangel jumped. Though she didn’t dare to stick her head out of the vehicle, Sandalphon found herself unable to concentrate on her work, instead preoccupied with the conjurations of her fretful imagination. It was not a pleasant journey.

Eventually, the powderkeg of tension finally blew up. With most of the Seekers gone, several squads of reavers laying in wait burst from the haunted forest in a cacophony of frenzied, inhuman screams. Their arrows, axes, and bludgeons pummeled stagecoach and golem alike, and though they suffered damage, the coach’s armor held firm. Then, with Sandalphon and Blazermate on hand to support them, Ganondorf and Sectonia managed to turn the tables on the attackers, felling enough that the remainder withdrew.

At length, however, the oppressive woodland finally began to thin. The return of the capture team provided enough manpower to ward off further assault, and when the stagecoach reached a clearing protected by natural ridges of rock, White Team stopped to substitute the Reindrix for Edward’s golems. It took almost half hour to get them properly hitched, but mercifully no monsters attacked them, despite the steady and ominous increase of furtive movements and staring eyes in the darkness. During this time Ramattra returned alone, separated from the other new recruits in the lumber mill Soon after the Reindrix were installed, it became apparent that the team couldn’t afford to wait for Kit and Celica any longer. Hopefully the two would know better than to brave this forest alone, and instead retrace their steps to Snowdin.

The Reindrix were every bit as capable draft animals as their appearance suggested. While wrangling them took a little getting used to, the difference in speed with them versus the golems could not be overstated. With little purchase against the buffeting wind atop the slick stagecoach, Heismay was forced to relinquish his perch and hang instead from the forward overhang, where he served as a second pair of eyes for the coach’s driver and helped to oversee the pals at work. Moving quite quickly now, White Team proceeded along the Midnight Walk as it wound around wooded hills and rocky ridges. After an extended uphill section, the snowy trail suddenly veered right around a corner and down a steep hillside, winding back and forth like a snake. That gave the Seekers ample time to see what lay ahead of them: a sprawling and elaborate complex of both semi-natural areas and large, majestic structures in the stunning Belle Époque architectural style. Slowly, inevitably, the Midnight Walk led them down the frosty hill, past a frozen river, and to the tall, wrought-iron front gates of Krat Zoo.


The Tale of Colonel Little


From the outset, unfortunately, everyone could readily see that all was not well with Krat Zoo. Even before reaching the gates, the team’s outriders would be plagued by small packs of strange wolves with oddly elongated jaws and a variety of horrible growths and protrusions, their bloodthirsty aggressions marked by frightfully unnatural behaviors. When the stagecoach slowed down at the gates, Sandalphon stepped out to survey the situation herself. “It seems that the Midnight Walk leads through this place,” she concluded. “Let’s proceed with caution. Given the aberrant fauna we’ve already encountered, I advise that we travel ahead of the stagecoach and clear the way for it. Let us be quick, thorough, and above all, wary.”

The archangel’s precautions proved well warranted. Between the gates and the main building lay the zoo plaza, littered with an abundance of corpses both human and animal, including the tragic cadaver of a once-amazing adult giraffe. Alongside various oxidized bronze animal statues, at least half a dozen cage wagons were scattered around the plaza, two of them overturned, and within struggled unidentifiable masses of berserk, animalistic fury. When the Seekers got near, the prisoners began to break free. They turned out to be mutated mandrills, the apes’ muscular bodies twisted by some sort of biological corruption that animated them well past the point of expiration. These carcasses attacked not just with savage strength, but the cunning to backpedal when needed and throw debris from afar.

Once the team made contact with the enemy, Sandalphon put her new hexagun to the test. Guided by her expert hand, the magic rifle fired off pinpoint-accurate arcane rays that pierced her targets, and while the mandrill carcasses weren’t grouped up enough to cause collateral damage, they still packed a punch. Sandalphon quickly found that while shooting vitals did work, these horrors could suffer a lot more punishment than normal animals. “While I have no proof of any infectious pathogen at work, I advise everyone to avoid being bitten at all costs,” she called to the group.

“Noted,” Heismay grunted. As his allies attended to the mandrills, he’d attempted to skirt around the conflict in order to try and flank the monster from behind, only to run into two wolf carcasses. Relatively weak but very quick, and prone to circling around, the wolves attacked in a staggered manner, each lunging for Heismay just long enough after the other did that he couldn’t capitalize on one without risking a chomp from the second. “Hmph! Damnable things!” he hissed, leaping up onto the statue of a zebra. With a snarl he jumped down, his full weight driving his new longsaber into one wolf’s back. He then backflipped sideways, wrenching the blade out in an upward arc that severed the monster’s spine and cut it in half. The other carcass sprang over the remains of the first, its jaws snapping shut mere inches from Heismay’s wing as he jumped away. “Thief!” As the wolf approached, he transformed and blasted it in the face with dark magic, and its headless corpse slumped down. Only then did the eugief notice that the front half of the first wolf’s corpse was still coming toward him, which he put a stop to with a shiver.

A moment later, a huge, wretched polar bear carcass burst through the building’s main door. The hulking thing charged across the plaza, straight toward the caravan. Heismay cast Mudo after Mudo, to no avail. “Incoming!” he yelled.

Sandalphon breathed in sharply, then opened fire. Without bothering to aim precisely, she squeezed the hexagun’s trigger as fast as possible, only ensuring that she hit the huge carcass somewhere. Each shot was a roll of the dice, and after a half-dozen shots, her number came up. The seventh ray transmogrified the incoming bear in a burst of white feathers, leaving a bulbous white chicken in its place. Her eyes lingered on the now harmless beast a moment longer before she relaxed. “Target neutralized.” Whether or not anyone smushed the chicken was up to them.

After dealing with the rest of the mandrills, the Seekers entered the Hall of Adventure, as indicated by the damaged banner that hung over the immense woolly mammoth display inside. At least four stories high including the vaulted ceilings, and with sizable east and west wings, the Hall of Adventure was the biggest building in the zoo, but it had seen better days. Only carcasses walked its halls now, ignorant of the elaborate taxidermy displays arranged in every room with corresponding educational plaques. The Midnight Walk led around the mammoth and toward a set of huge, heavy metal doors that sat opposite the front door, but these durable doors proved to be locked, blocking the Seekers’ journey.

Sandalphon’s scan of the doors’ structural integrity turned up bad news. “It will take some time to break through,” Sandalphon judged, brushing the door with her hand. “It may be faster to find another exit from the Hall of Adventure and open the door from the other side. As for the zoo itself…it is clearly a dangerous blight on the Frozen Highlands. I recommend that we exterminate every monster we come across. We can also use this opportunity to search for useful items.”

As for what each Seeker should do, she left that to her teammates’ discretion. They could stay with the stagecoach to defend it or break through the door, as arduous and tedious as that would be, or explore the Hall of Adventure in search of loot or another way out.
In World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover) → 12 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s Low Tier

Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (129/150) Level 11 Big Band (32/110)
Junior, Rika & Amaterasu’s @DracoLunaris Roland’s @Archmage MC Zenkichi’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Pit, Primrose & Therion’s @Yankee Sakura & Juri’s @Zoey Boey Captain Falcon’s @Double Harry and Kim’s @Eviledd1984 Terry’s @Terry Bogard
Word Count: 1273


Before everyone could start running around in different directions looking for dojos, with Nadia at the front of the pack, Terry jumped in with some advice, as well as a request. Apparently the ten minutes he’d been with the Seekers and a little hearsay were enough to convince him to throw that flashy hat of his into the ring with them, and if that was what he wanted, far be it from the feral to stop him. “Sure! I mean, I purr-sonally don’t mind you joinin’ up at least. Bet Pit won’t either, he seems like a more-the-merrier kinda guy, but he’d be the one I ask I s’pose.” Her tail flicked back and forth as she thought about his other suggestion with his arms crossed. “Ahh…yeah, I’m with Zenkichi. Not hungry right now, and I’d better get the dojo thing sorted out before I slack off, ‘cause I take relaxin’ seriously.”

“In the end, it doesn’t really matter who we sign up with,” Band reminded everyone. “As long as we sign up with someone so we can join the tournaments. We’re not here to learn, after all.” Still, he had to admit that some options seemed better than others, even going off the names alone. At least the Seekers were spoiled for choice, with more random dojos laid out in practically every direction they looked. Then again, Band wasn’t sure he even wanted to enter. Unless he found proof that it would take tournament participation to reach the Forbidden Kingdom’s guardian, his time would be better spent elsewhere. His gaze settled on Terry. “Why don’t we drop by Pao Pao at lunchtime, after everyone’s got their sign-ups squared away?”

That seemed like a good idea to Nadia, but it would be up to the others to decide. That just left the matter of dojo registration, and just as the feral was about to dash off, a certain someone discreetly emerged from the background and sauntered up to the Seekers. “Oh, there you are!” Nadia greeted Roland, glad to have at least one teammate back from wherever he’d disappeared to. “Where’ve you been?”

The Fixer explained what he’d found about the city, including an up-to-date list of every dojo in the city, separated by tier. “Oh, nice. You’re on a roll…and!” Nadia jogged over to skim it for herself alongside the others, forced by the lack of information to make inferences based on the name of each dojo alone. Hellish Quart…Death Cargo…Catfight…Girl Fight? Some of them sounded highly suspect, more like adult media than legitimate martial arts organizations. More out of curiosity than anything else, Nadia looked up at the mid-tier and high-tier dojos, only to do a double take at an entry in the mid-tier section. “Hang on a sec. NMO? As in New Meridian Order?” While never able to attend one of their wrestling matches in person, the feral loved watching them on the little TV set in Yu-Wan’s restaurant. If a fighting organization from her world really existed in Esaka, maybe she didn’t need to bother with any low-tier dojos after all.

“Mid-tier, huh?” She glanced up past the dingy rooftops, beyond the Pools toward the much nicer-looking cityscape about halfway to the top. “I’ve gotta see this!” She dashed over to Big Band and tugged at his coat. “Hey, you comin’? If it’s really the NMO, maybe the two of us could join in!”

Band looked doubtful. Even if it really was the NMO he’d heard of, what business did a cyborg detective and a thieving alley cat have with wrestling? Still, he didn’t want to rain on Nadia’s parade too badly, and he did want to see Esaka’s Middle Tier for himself. For now, he turned his attention toward Zenkichi. “You go ahead, Fortune. It’s a long way up, so I’ll catch ya later.”

As Nadia scampered off, Band plodded over to his fellow detective a moment after Zenkichi made his request to Azuma. Upon hearing the proposal, the investigator seemed to light up. “Oh, well, that’d be just swell! We’re open, of course. Frankly, most low-tier dojos are. Always desperate for new talent that might bring ‘em some attention and help lift ‘em out of obscurity. ‘Course, some are so desperate to show off their strength that they end up scarin’ new folks away. And some like being small, maybe imagining that it makes them some underrated, exclusive elite, but that’s not us. We’re pretty casual here at the Kyanta dojo, so…yeah! We’d be happy to have you.” He rubbed his snout. “Actually…it’s been so long I forgot how registration works. A tryout might be good though, yeah. Once the others see what you’re made of, everything’ll come up roses, I’m sure. This way!”

Azuma turned to lead Zenkichi toward his own dojo, but Band called out to him. “Just a second, if ya don’t mind.” Nodding, Azuma stopped and turned back to hear him out. The detective gave him a grateful nod. “I wanted to ask, bein’ a visitor here and all. What exactly is it that makes dojos high-tier, or low-tier? Is it just how strong and rich they are?”

“Hmm…no, not quite,” Azuma replied, crossing his arms thoughtfully. “In fact, in some ways it’s the other way ‘round. Dojos get rich because their high tier. Most folks here in Esaka would say the deciding factor is just one thing: skill. It’s not that low-tier fighters are weak, see. Quite the opposite, in fact! Many low-tier fighters are incredibly strong. But there’s one thing you’ve got to understand, a sort of tenet we all live by. A fight’s only as good as its rules.”

Azuma paused for a moment to let that sink in. “Put another way, what makes fights worth watching? Worth betting on? Why, being fair, of course. That’s not to say all fighters ought to be evenly matched, heavens no. But having rules for what you can and can’t do, and how things work, is vitally important. That’s what the Heavenly Principles are for: to keep things relatively balanced.” He shrugged. “Of course, not everyone agrees what’s fair and what isn’t. Plenty of people scorn the Heavenly Principles, which I bet you heard for yourselves if you really met seething yokai.”

He put his hands in his pockets and continued. “In low-tier dojos, see, there’s rarely any rules. Anything goes. It can be fun, but for serious competition? Hah. Laughable. The high-tier dojos have the most established rulesets that everyone accepts and goes by, which is why they’re used for the tournaments. They offer the most interesting fights and fighters. In the end, it’s all up to the whims of the yokai. As for the Heavenly Principles…nobody really knows.”

Instead of answers, Band found himself left with only more questions. “Huh,” he mused. “And these rules…what happens if you break ‘em?”

“Well…the answer’s not so simple,” Azuma replied, frowning. “The rules aren’t just civil laws. In the tournaments, they’re reality itself. If you are fool enough to run afoul of the Principles or the Four Kings, though, you’ll get banned at best.” He left the worst case scenario up to the Seekers’ imagination.

“I see.” It sounded to Band like Esaka was inhabited by some sort of entity that could bend the laws of reality, and he did not like that some bit. Surely the Heavenly Principles couldn’t be the Guardian that Gold Team was seeking? Band wanted to know more, but he knew he’d need to be very careful when it came to messing with godlike beings like that. Just what had the Seekers gotten themselves into…?

With no more questions to answer for now at least, Azuma led Zenkichi away to find the Ultra Fight de Kyanta dojo. It turned out to be a pretty nondescript building, at least from the outside. On the inside it looked more like a gym than a traditional dojo, with its main room a big, empty box with the blue walls, floors and ceiling criss-crossed by lavender lines to make a grid. Aside from a storage room for things like training equipment, and a small office, the structure seemed pretty much empty. Today, only four fighters were around, all practicing in some form or another. First and foremost was Kyanta themself, a yellow pomeranian with a white headband. They appeared to be training Anna, a green -skinned girl with a snake tongue, while the resident judo practitioner (and racoon) Chihiro offered unsolicited advice from where he sat. Finally, the pig-man Spike sat opposite Chihiro, playing battle music with his guitar.

At the arrival of Azuma, Zenkichi, and Big Band, Kyanta looked over at the three detectives, curious. Anna promptly did a dive kick, then poked Kyanta five times in the shin as they floated in midair. She then unleashed a super that consisted of swinging one arm upward, accompanied by mouth sounds, and poked her opponent five more times before finishing the combo with a slide. It was like no style of fighting Band had ever seen, and between its bizarre looks and sounds, he found himself at an utter loss for words. After a few seconds of laying on the ground, defeated, Kyanta came to and slowly picked themselves up. “Azuma,” they barked. “Long time, no see.”

The investigator nodded. “Yeah, it’s been a while.”

“What brings you here?” Kyanta crossed their arms.

Azuma stepped aside to gesture toward Zenkichi. “This fine fellow wants to apply to your dojo in order to join a tournament. He’s fresh from a brawl with seething yokai, so he knows his way around a fight. What do you think?”

All four of the Kyanta members seemed surprised at the prospect of a new recruit, although Kyanta tried to play it cool. “Oh? Well then. If you’ve come here, you must have good taste. I commend your spirit. I won’t ask too much; if you can defeat any one of us in a one-on-one, I’d say you’ve earned the right to represent us.” They crossed their arms as Anna, Chihiro, and Spike came over to stand alongside them. “Your move, mister.”

Frozen Highlands - the Midnight Walk

Lvl 8 Sandalphon (58/80) Level 5 Heismay (22/50)
Edward’s @DracoLunaris Blazermate & Sectonia’s @Archmage MC Geralt’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Ace Cadet’s @Yankee Roxas & Ganondorf’s @Double, Celica’s @Sadu Chosen Undead’s @Simple Unicycle, Ramattra’s @XoXKieroBombXoX
Word Count: 1253

Nameless Stagecoach
𖥞: 8/8 | 🛡️: 8/8 | Equipment: Stewpot/Windchime/Lamps/(None)/(None)/(None) | Companion: None


Throughout the first leg of the Seekers’ journey along the Midnight Walk, Sandalphon mostly sat by herself inside the great metal stagecoach, compiling environmental data. This wagon featured no windows, which while useful in case of attack, proved inconvenient to her for now since she couldn’t see outside to get a feel for the terrain and inhabitants of the new region. That left relying on her teammates who chose to forge ahead, whose points of view she could see through her network connection, albeit from a limited isometric view. Though it seemed unlikely that they’d run into any real trouble so soon after leaving Snowdin, one could never be too sure, so she silently spectated via a half-dozen light screens at once both to watch for danger and to gradually assemble a map. Only if absolutely necessary would the archangel chime in with her observations or advice, since she wanted to demonstrate her trust in her team and not micromanage if she could help it. Some of them did encounter enemies out in the wilds, but they were nothing that the Seekers couldn’t handle. As a result, despite all her mental stimulation, Sandalphon’s ride was a fairly peaceful one. Except, of course, when the stagecoach hit a bump in the road.

One matter did arise that she needed to pay some attention to, not long after Edward dealt with the looming threat of a blustering Ty-foo in his typical pragmatic manner. His recon drones reported a snowfield up ahead, surrounded by dense coniferous forest, where the hidden roads presented a degree of ambiguity. Sandalphon considered requesting that somebody dig or melt some snow above the Midnight Walk and the branching paths to see which matched her current road’s material composition, but that would be tedious work without guarantee of result, since the paths around here could all easily be made the same way. The deciding factor was Edward’s report of Urriki marauders lurking around the northern road. If it was just a ratfolk ambush, Sandalphon assumed her team could handle it, but his mention of a wooden bridge over frigid water gave her pause. Forged of black steel and as big as a house, the stagecoach was monstrously heavy, to say nothing of the golems and extra baggage. Even if the vermin hadn’t tampered with the bridge in some way in order to waylay travelers, it could very well collapse beneath the Seekers as they went across, and a disaster like that might well be unsalvageable. With that in mind, White Team’s leader made her decision.

“We’ll proceed along the western route,” Sandalphon announced to the team. After that, she restricted her comm line to Edward alone. “Thank you for your reconnaissance work. As expected of a veteran commander, your skills and insight are an invaluable asset to the team.”



To the west of the crossroads clearing, the land began to get wilder. Fresh snow fell from the heavens onto the boughs of pine trees that seemed to grow taller and taller as the Seekers advanced, their lower limbs increasingly gnarled and tangled. Where there had before been little pockets of civilization like the fishing village with its smoothie shop, there were now only small, empty ruins, ravaged by the elements and time. Icy crags shot up like giant castle walls, dividing up sections of wooded countryside, and above everything towered gigantic stone swords hundreds of feet high, as if planted throughout the landscape by primeval behemoths.

Only one notable building could be found in this wintry wilderness: an abandoned lumber mill that straddled the Midnight Walk, its central second story overhang just high enough that the huge stagecoach could rumble beneath it with just ten inches of clearance. Nearby rested a broad-shouldered, bearded old brute by the name of Warden Rust, one hand resting on the long handle of his heavy mace as he sat by a crackling campfire. Heismay, obliged to abandon his rooftop post and walk beside the wagon, shuffled over to pay the big man a visit. “Good morning, sir. May we pass through your mill?”

“Go right ahead my friends, it ain’t mine after all,” the warrior told him affably, waving a dismissive hand toward the derelict building. “Keep an eye out, though. I’ve seen my fair share of places like this, and when good folks move out, bad things tend to move in.”

Heismay nodded gravely as he looked around, noting the inordinate number of crows that seemed to gather about the place, their beady black eyes watching in ominous silence. “That I can certainly believe. Farewell, sir. Stay warm and safe out there.”

Rust chuckled wryly, aware of just how likely that would be. “You too, buddy. You too.”

As the stagecoach squeezed through the lumber mill, Heismay -at home in the darkness and old, abandoned places- decided to prowl around a little, abetted by Sandalphon’s supervision. He poked through the disused rooms, finding only broken-down machines and piles of old junk, meticulously but inexplicably arranged. Seeing nothing useful, he kept moving. The place was dreadfully quiet aside from the creaking of wood planks and the whistle of the wind through the timbers, until his big ears caught the sound of a shrill, pained moaning. Assuming it to be an injured animal, he delved deeper to investigate. After slipping through a gap in a barricaded door, he peered around a large room overgrown with roots and filled with clutter. Everywhere he looked he saw knick-knacks, trinkets, busted-up furniture, bones, and wire. A lit lantern lay at the foot of a table, and as he stared at it Heismay realized that the vocalizations had stopped.

Now he could hear only a ragged, agonized breathing, and the clank of metal instruments against one another, growing louder and closer. Quietly, he ducked behind a box, and the next moment the creature came into view. Hulking, misshapen, and hobbling on two prosthetic legs, it was no animal–but it couldn’t be human, either. Not while making sounds like those. As he hid, Heismay’s eyes drifted to a small wooden totem hanging from a peg nearby. It seemed interesting, so for the sake of not returning empty-handed, the eugief held his breath as he reached out to take it. Taking it pulled the poorly-set peg out of its socket, and the little piece of wood tumbled to the floor with a light clack. With a squawk, Scrapbeak turned toward the source of the noise with its axe raised, but by then Heismay was already gone.

A few moments later, Heismay caught up to the stagecoach as it exited the lumber mill, the totem tied to his belt. Ahead, the wilderness continued, dark and dangerous. Fewer Urriki could be found here, but in their place were barbaric reavers, each warrior masked by living bone. More aggressive and powerful, the reavers stalked the woods in cohesive units, ready and willing to put their savage strength and cunning to the test against anyone they found. However, more fantastical creatures could also be found in these forests, including the Reindrix the Seekers needed. Now, the beast tamers among them could go out and do their job, ever watchful of the twisted shapes that darted among the trees.
In World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover) → 12 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka's Low Tier

Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (126/150) Level 11 Big Band (29/110)
Junior, Rika & Amaterasu’s @DracoLunaris Roland’s @Archmage MC Zenkichi’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Pit, Primrose & Therion’s @Yankee Sakura & Juri’s @Zoey Boey Captain Falcon’s @Double, Harry’s @Eviledd1984
Word Count: 1285



As Azuma led the Seekers into Esaka, Ms Fortune and Big Band took in the sights around them, trying to familiarize themselves with the city’s Low Tier–and in many ways, it felt familiar. Sure, the buildings around here might be older, dirtier, closer together, and more run down than usual, but both of them had seen rougher parts of town than this. Little Innsmouth had its own charms and sensibilities that set it apart from New Meridian’s other poor districts, but Nadia had spent plenty of time on the wrong side of the tracks, prowling through the low-income neighborhoods and crime-infested boroughs where the cops from the NMPD seldom tread. Band, meanwhile, had been one of those rare cops, walking the beats that would make his less scrupulous colleagues’ stomach turn and doing what little he could to shine a light into the inner city’s darkness. Like Little Innsmouth, though, Esaka had a flavor all its own, and its citizens an irrepressible vitality. Maybe a populace of fighters who could all stand up for themselves had its merits.

The newcomers hadn’t gotten far before a couple new faces accosted them. One belonged to a gregarious, muscle-bound blonde dressed in eye-catching red. He seemed to recognize a couple of the Seekers, and he them. Not remembering him from Alcamoth, both Nadia and Band assumed that he was another old friend, although the latter nursed more curiosity since as far as he knew, most of the people Terry eyed weren’t from the same world. Of course, the feral didn’t hesitate to be friendly. “Heya!” she replied, returning the Hungry Wolf’s wave. For once, though, she let the others speak, starting with Pit. As he and Terry exchanged greetings, Nadia’s discretion allowed her to notice a couple allies’ departure. Therion slunk away into the shadows, and though wise to his act, his fellow thief was by no means inclined to stop him. Harry also stepped away after spotting and yelling at a bespectacled fellow he also seemed to recognize. “Big day for reunions,” she muttered as she watched him go, not quite paying full attention to anybody. Primrose was giving Pit some linkpearls, which was a great idea that Nadia wished she thought of first, while Junior and Rika darted off toward what looked like a toy store. Roland was gone too, off to grill the locals no doubt. And come to think of it, Nadia hadn’t seen Juri in a while…yippee!

After a few moments, Harry returned with the man he introduced as Kim Kitsuragi. Band greeted him in his typical manner, and caught on to what Harry must have meant when he said Band could give Kim the ‘lowdon’. “Uh huh…” Band looked around discreetly. This area was too open, and there were way too many people around for an ambush. Plus, he’s siphoned off plenty of his soul freeing Amaterasu, Kit, Harry, and Heismay already. Maybe someone else could chip in a friend heart this time? Especially if Kim would bring less to the table than Harry did; the Seekers couldn’t just go around freeing everyone. For now, Band cleared his throat in a way that said you get my drift? “Ahem! Well, this ain’t exactly the time or place, y’know? One of us can fill you in later.”

By that time, Pit had finished distributing linkpearls to everyone here, then ran off. Primrose had also made herself scarce, leaving just Amaterasu, Band, Nadia, Falcon, Sakura, Zenkichi, and Harry with the team’s new acquaintances. Huh. The feral blinked, looking around again to make sure she had that right. That was fast. Azuma treated those still here to a quizzical expression, which looked pretty funny on an alligator, but when Zenkichi addressed him he took his fellow detective seriously.

“Oh, of course. Here, there’s a couple dojos nearby. Let’s walk and talk, hm? The tournament system can be a little complicated for first-timers.” Azuma continued along the street with the remaining Seekers in tow. As much as she wanted to chat, Nadia knew she’d be remiss to zone out during this particular bit of exposition.

“Well, it’s like this, see,” Azuma began. “Here in Esaka, we run four tournaments every week, one for each of the Four Kings. Mr Heihachi Mishima runs the King of Iron Fist series, better known as ‘Tekken’. Master Bison runs the World Warrior series, Shao Khan runs the Mortal Kombat series, and Mr. Rugal Bernstein runs the King of Fighters series. They’re all double elimination, open tournaments, so anyone can sign up.”

As he paused to breathe, Band snuck in a question. “Double elimination?”

Azuma held up a finger. “Oh, yes, yes. In each tournament, everyone starts out in the Winners’ Bracket. If you lose once, you’re still in the game, but in Losers’ Bracket. Once you’re in Losers, things get more dicey. Lose again, and you’re out of the running–or worse, if you joined the Mortal Kombat tournament especially.”

Nadia frowned. “Ominous…”

“Anyway, once you’re signed up, you get seeded. Higher tier dojo, better seed. Then you go through pools,” Azuma continued. “Think of them as qualifier rounds, all fought in the Pools tier of Esaka. The number depends on how many entrants each tournament has. No real ceremony, just an officiant and whoever feels like coming around to watch. Those start on Wednesday and end on Friday, at which point the top twenty-four decided. On Saturday, those twenty-four are whittled down to just the top eight, and Sunday is the main event, when the top eight -four winners and four losers- go at it to decide the winner. You can still come back and take it all from Losers’ in the grand finals, but you have to beat your opponent two sets straight: one to send ‘em down to Losers with you, and the second to win.”

While he explained, the Seekers passed by a number of interesting-looking but obviously poverty-stricken dojos, including Ultra Fight de Kyanta, the one Azuma himself represented. Verdict Guilty…Trajes Fatais…Slap Happy Rhythm Busters… As Nadia read the signs, one made her double-take. Brief Karate Foolish? Only when she snuck a glance inside did she realize exactly which definition of the word ‘brief’ was in play, and subsequently want to bleach her eyes out. The feral returned to the group a little more dead inside, just in time to hear the end of Azuma’s explanation. “Okay, cool. Guess we’ll go and sign up then!”

The investigator snapped his fingers, remembering something. “Oh, I forgot! When I said ‘anyone can sign up’, that wasn’t quite right. Only registered fighters can sign up. In other words, you have to be part of a dojo.” He signed. “Unfortunately, you can’t just join the mid-tier and high-tier dojos. Unless they recognize you, you have to be invited.”

“Wait…” Nadia dared to glance back at the Brief Karate Foolish dojo, horrified. “You’re sayin’ we have to sign up for one of the dojos down here!?”

Azuma nodded his long snout up and down. “Yes ma’am. In fact, since pools start tomorrow, signups close at lunch today.” He checked his watch. “That gives you…roughly three and a half hours. Better hurry.”

Sighing, Band smiled ruefully to himself. “Sounds like our morning just got a whole lot more interestin’.” He deployed a tiny mechanical arm to tap the linkpearl in his ear. “Y’all got that?”

Nadia turned around, now seeing all the Low Tier’s dojos in a new light. With Pit gone, she also saw the chance to grandstand a little. “Well, you heard the ‘gator. Our quest to topple the Four Kings’ tier-anny starts here! Let’s find some dojos, gang!”



Clean Hits’ cashier regarded the two inquisitive youngsters with unblinking red eyes that shone from his cylindrical wooden head, devoid of visible emotion. “No tapes here. We mostly sell records. Esaka’s fighters, particularly among the top tiers, are famous for the iconic tracks made to commemorate them and their battlegrounds, some very old. Jukeboxes are very popular here for their ability to play music from across the generations. One of Esaka’s many traditions.”

The Mokujin indicated entire walls of the store dedicated to records made for the legendary top-tier World Warrior and Tekken dojos alone, each with dozens of tracks separated by era. Compared to titans like them, mid-tier dojos were lucky to even get a corner to themselves, and music made for low-tier dojos was nowhere to be found. Even in a Low Tier store, it seemed, the preferences of the population were clear.

After a few seconds, the Mokujin attempted to address Junior’s other question. “Shinjuku is a bustling metropolis to the west. Our tournaments are often broadcasted there, but we seldom get visitors. We have converted some of our tracks into tapes for Shinjuku music stores, though. If you’re interested in tapes, you might have more luck there.”

Frozen Highlands - Snowdin

Lvl 8 Sandalphon (55/80) Level 5 Heismay (19/50)
Edward’s @DracoLunaris Blazermate & Sectonia’s @Archmage MC Geralt’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Ace Cadet’s @Yankee Roxas & Ganondorf’s @Double, Celica’s @Sadu Chosen Undead’s @Simple Unicycle, Ramattra’s @XoXKieroBombXoX
Word Count: 1897


Before the team could get too far off topic, Edward quickly chimed in to follow up on Heismay’s announcement of the Seekers’ new ride. He mentioned some of the new furnishings that the two obtained for the stagecoach. From comfort to cuisine, it sounded like Sandalphon’s crew wouldn’t want for much on the road. Thanks to their efforts, the carriage wouldn’t just be transportation, but a mobile base, a home away from home. Provided, of course, they could secure more effective draft animals than Edward’s golems. Handy they might be, but speedy they were not.

Unfortunately, Sandalphon was no expert when it came to working with materials or animals, so hopefully they would find the requisite hide, fiber, and metal they’d need to hitch the Reindrix to the carriage. Or better yet, scavenge or trade for existing harnesses.

While Geralt seemed to be familiar with beast capture, as one might expect of a master hunter, he didn’t have the right device on hand. He could allude, though, to someone who did, and Sandalphon nodded at his question. “Yes, Maru is her name. She was also referred to as a ‘pal’, which seems to encompass a large spectrum of dissimilar creatures. The stall that sold her also sold pal spheres, but Everdream Valley is rather out of the way right now.” She pondered if it would be a worthwhile investment to set up some sort of pokeball or pal sphere production aboard the Avenger, given how many Seekers seemed interested in such companions.

Sectonia chimed in with what she’d discovered, primarily about various locales throughout the Frozen Highlands. A lot of it sounded anecdotal and rather inexact, but Sandalphon was surprised to hear about the importance the locals -or at least the Soulfisher- assigned to Moon Mountain. It seemed almost mythical in nature, and given how eerily that dark globe loomed against the horizon, she definitely understood. Furthermore, Highlands had been in a state of constant night now for a while, each day a touch colder than the last. Of course, her logical mind explained that ‘night’ as mere cloud cover, but it didn’t matter if conditions out there were actually worsening. The worse the weather got, the more difficult it would be for the Seekers to achieve their goals, to say nothing of the Highlands’ citizens. If necessary, they could always consider evacuating the people of Snowdin with the Avenger. What really puzzled Sandalphon was when the sun ‘disappeared’. Had Ace Cadet, who’d been in Edinburgh MagicaPolis just days ago, experienced this…? She made a mental note to ask him when he returned.

Geralt filled the others in on what he’d already told Sandalphon. The more she thought, the more Moon Mountain seemed like the answer to the Seekers’ question, barring any unlikely direct news about Baldur’s whereabouts. If nothing else, it would be the best vantage point for a light show with which they could draw the Guardian’s attention. Sectonia made another good point about scouring various stops on the way. With how things went last time, the heroes would need every advantage they could get. Sandalphon watched Edward’s drones fly off as they prepared to perform continuous reconnaissance around White Team as they traveled. With any luck, there would be profitable points of interest to be found among the trackless wastes of snow. Ample sources of food would be harder to come by. Eleven people (ten, not counting Blazermate) weren’t quite an army, but feeding them throughout this journey would not be an easy task.

It was then that Ace emerged from the deadwood tangle that shrouded the southern uphill footpath. Behind him followed Kit, Blazermate, and an unidentified robotic individual. Though Ramattra’s size, stature, and distinctive staff combined to give him a rather intimidating air, Ace and especially Blazermate seemed comfortable around him, so Sandalphon assumed no hostility on his part. Her scans detected slightly elevated heart rates and mechanical activity, so maybe the Seekers had found this stranger in a bind and lent him their help, which would be no surprise to Sandalphon.

“Ah, there you are,” Heismay remarked, turning toward the incoming group. “And here I thought you might have wandered off.”

She and the others wasted no time in getting the four up to speed, distributing parkas alongside the information. As it happened, they came bearing very good news: that Ace had not only procured a lot of camping equipment, but also already managed to obtain a handful of pal spheres purely by chance. Sandalphon admired the reflective glint of Snowdin’s colorful Christmas lights in the crystalline orb’s many facets, then looked over Ace’s haul, scratching off items on her mental checklist. “Providential timing,” she concurred. With everything going the team’s way so far, the Seekers’ expedition was off to an excellent start. Now they only lacked one thing, albeit a big one: where to find the Guardian.

Heismay was taken aback that his problem had been solved so soon, but he certainly didn’t object. “I’ll not look a gift horse in the mouth. Fine work,” he told Ace. As he spoke, though, the eugief kept his ruby-red eyes on Ramattra. “And who might this be? Another promising new addition to our retinue, perhaps?”

Ramattra proved to be a touch reticent when faced with so many people, but it seemed clear that he’d been a big help during the kerfuffle at the cliffside mansion. “If you have nowhere else to go, you’re welcome to travel alongside us for the time being,” Sandalphon told him, extending the omnic an invitation.

As if he hadn’t done enough already, Ace had one more interesting tidbit to share. Sandalphon digested the news about the wandering faction he heard of, intrigued. So, a troop of itinerant clerics wield a miracle capable of enacting natural death without dissolution,” she summarized. “I agree. We must keep an eye out for this Holy Order as we travel. If we encounter them, I will make every effort to learn this incantation myself, if I am capable.” As far as she knew nobody else in her party had the faith required to invoke miracles, but perhaps she simply didn’t know them well enough yet.

With everyone present and accounted for, it was time for the Seekers’ leader to render her decision. “After some consideration,” Sandalphon began. “Since we have no clues as to Baldur’s whereabouts right now, and there is no reason for him to visit Snowdin, our best bet would be to search and question as we travel. Given its significance to the people of this region, as well as its prominence as a vantage point from which we can draw Baldur’s attention, I propose that we journey to Moon Mountain.” She cast her gaze, and the attention of her comrades, to the distant northwestern horizon where the moon (or at least, a moon) hung, low and still, over Dragonspine. “To get there, we need only follow the trail known as the Midnight Walk.” Though difficult to distinguish at times, the road that ran through town continued on to the west, winding around halls and between giant pines bowing beneath the weight of their snowy blankets. With no other options, it was as good a road as any.

The team quickly prepared to set out. With the stagecoach fully furnished, all the camping and survival gear got stored overhead, hanging on hooks from the metal mesh on the ceiling. Given the transport’s lackluster speed, anyone who wished to could easily walk alongside it, or run ahead to explore the surrounding area as they waited for the wagon to catch up. Though Sandalphon did not relish the prospect of sitting idle as her ride trundled along with a miles-per-hour in the single digits, the idea of walking outside sounded even worse, so the archangel consigned herself to the bench inside. The one thing Ace hadn’t obtained was a map, but she could chart her own using a light screen if fed sufficient data about her surroundings.

Heismay, meanwhile, was much more inclined to action. Expecting that Edward’s drones would be scouting too far afield to be effective security, he stationed himself as a lookout atop the stagecoach’s roof. If anything sprang out at the Seekers he’d be ready; if not, he could always busy himself brushing snow off the roof to keep the vehicle as light as possible. Of course, this post also had the questionably unintentional side effect of isolating him from everyone inside–Heismay still wasn’t used to large groups of people yet.

Once everyone was more or less ready, the only thing to do was to get going.


♫
Nameless Stagecoach
𖥞: 8/8 | 🛡️: 8/8 | Equipment: Stewpot/Windchime/Lamps/(None)/(None)/(None) | Companion: None


The Midnight Walk led the travelers west and north in relatively equal measure. Once they left the warm lights and full hearts of Snowdin behind, they found themselves crossing a vast wilderness split between coniferous forest, flat snowfields, and icy crags. Scattered throughout were crystal-clear rivers and little lakes, not always frozen, but always so bone-chilling cold that to immerse oneself in them was tantamount to suicide, parka or no parka. The frigid night was far from lifeless, however, and the intrepid explorer (or perceptive drone) could spot in the gloom a number of shaggy, primeval beasts adapted for life in the snow, such as omnivorous daeodon (colloquially known as ‘hell pigs’), the giant but skittish deerlike megaloceros, dire wolves, and even greater mammals like chalicotherium, megatherium, and woolly rhinoceros. For now Heismay couldn’t see any Reindrix, but he assumed it would only be a matter of time. Meanwhile, those with an eye for minerals could locate deposits of coal (and more rarely, veins of iron ore) among the rocky outcrops, provided they didn’t run afoul of wormlike coal tars in the process.

There were a couple oddities scattered around, as well. Relatively close to Snowdin the stagecoach passed by a frozen lake with a couple small huts on one side, along with a large igloo that turned out to be the Slushie Shop, furnished with a wooden interior and run by a griffin happy to sell frozen treats. On the other side of the lake sat an old viking warship, marooned in the ice. Farther out, though, one could find small camps -or roving bands- of the violent tribal rodents known as the Urikki. With earthbound raiders supported by their more batlike aerial cousins, the well-armed and cunning bandits could be very dangerous to lone travelers, but they seldom picked fights they couldn’t win, so they steered clear of the stagecoach itself for now. More of an issue were the blustering Ty-foos, large cloudlike creatures which happily blew freezing winds at anyone who entered their territory. At least one had decided to hang out right next to the road, so it would need to be dealt with before the stagecoach came along.
In World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover) → 12 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Forbidden Kingdom - Fields of Gold

Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (123/150) Level 11 Big Band (26/110)
Junior, Rika & Amaterasu’s @DracoLunaris Roland’s @Archmage MC Zenkichi’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Pit, Primrose & Therion’s @Yankee Sakura & Juri’s @Zoey Boey Captain Falcon’s @Double, Harry’s @Eviledd1984
Word Count: 2940


Although quick to call out for the yokai mob to ‘get them’, many of the smaller creatures were less eager to charge at the group of newcomers than their bluster made it seem. Once Nadia realized that most of the Gaki were all talk, she rolled her eyes and seized the initiative herself, diving down on all fours to sprint straight into the thick of things. Other Seekers followed her example, spreading out to tackle three or four of the miscreants at a time, but Big Band stood his ground. The Ippon-Datara didn’t stay down for long, after all. A few seconds after he hit the deck, the one-legged metalworker rose with the aid of a couple Gaki cronies, his cyclopean eye glaring with the same light that pulsed through the veins of his brawny arms. “A cheap trick,” he snarled, shrugging off the smaller yokais’ helping hands. ”Easily countered.”

“Maybe on paper. Let’s see if you got what it takes.” Without warning, Band bulled forward again, faster than anyone his size had a right to. That burst of speed lasted less than a second, but that was enough to close the distance to his opponent–yet not enough for the Ippon-Datara to enact anything beyond the most basic countermeasure. Knowing an attack would trade with the Brass Knuckles at best, he resorted to blocking with his hammer. Brass met iron in a weighty clang, and though neither yielded, the impact pushed the yokai back a few inches. Though technically at an advantage, he wasn’t ready for a proper punish, and Band got off lightly with a panicked backhand. By the time the Ippon-Datara lifted his bludgeon for a real counterattack, Band had already backed off.

Wham! Falling just short, the hefty hammer smash struck only the ground, and as its shook the earth Band returned fire with a little tremor of his own. The detective deployed his massive pedal, belting out, “Giant steps!” as it swung in an overhead arc to beat the dirt like a drum.

The pedal slam fell even shorter of Ippon-Datara than his own attempted wallop, but the yokai’s confusion came to an abrupt end when the ensuing shockwave swept his leg out from under him. ”Gyah!” He hit the ground with a surprised grunt, and right away Band closed the distance with another Brass Knuckles. His huge fist whiffed, blowing through the air above the Ippon-Datara’s head as he tried to get up, but before the slow yokai could capitalize with a whack from his hammer, Big Band managed to recover and grab him with his big bell. A good shake left the yokai with ringing ears, but rather than combo off the throw Band went for another knockdown with Low Rank, hoping that a row of organ pipes to the knee would be enough to end the fight. Instead the Ippon-Datara sprang into the air with a roar, his maul raised for a meteoric smash.

Band, though, stood firm in the face of the deadly impact, eyes up as he bided his time. His first instinct was to snatch his foe out of the sky with Beat Extend, but he knew it would be dangerously tricky to time right on the first go. At the last moment he settled for blocking instead, and just in time. The huge smash blasted the ground, sending fragments of earth flying, but Band’s stalwart guard mitigated the damage. Left in a very unsafe position by its frenzied haymaker, the Ippon-Datara received another faceful of Brass Knuckles that sent him tumbling backward. ”Aargh!”

He came to a stop in time to see Band slide forward again, and rushed to compose himself. This time, the yokai told himself, he would not fumble the punish. He narrowed his eye and put up his guard, only for Band to cut his ride short with Emergency Break and grab the yokai with his bell yet again. This time the ringing took a heavy toll, and when Band released him the Ippon-Datara could barely stand. He leaned on the handle of his planted hammer for support, head spinning, and Band took a half-step back to gauge his foe’s condition.

By that point, the Gaki who had the metalworker’s back earlier had a few choice words instead. ”Dude, he keeps grabbing you!”

”Why aren’t you breaking his throws?”

The Ippon-Datara slapping his hair face with his palms, trying to clear the dizziness. ”I’m trying!” he growled, his frustration growing alongside the sensation of helplessness. ”There’s a lot going on!”

One Gaki shook his head mournfully. ”The mental stack! His brain’s broken!”

With insult added to injury, the Ippon-Datara roused himself with a bellow. His inner fire surged as he channeled his power into his hammer, igniting it. When he whacked the earth, the impact sent forth a slow flame wave that crawled toward Band along the ground. He waited a moment, then flung himself forward, leaping over the flame to deliver a bombastic somersault slam.

Steeled by his many years of fighting, Band was ready. He stood to block the blazing wallop, then parried the predictable flame wave with his cymbal for good measure. “Uh-huh,” he drawled, not impressed. The next moment the Ippon-Datara’s eyes went wide as Band clasped him in Heat Extend, then shook him like a tambourine. Dazed, he could do nothing but drop limply, and for the grand finale Band sent him packing with a final Brass Knuckle. The punch snapped his opponent’s tusks, and after flying a couple dozen feet the yokai failed to rise. Instead, he burst into blue spirit flame. He burned quickly, and after a moment only a ghostly outline remained. ”Damn…knowledge…checks…ugh,” he groaned.

The Gaki around him stared in astonishment. When Band strode toward them, the little yokai quailed at his footfalls. “Y’all hearin’ me now? Beat it! Unless your ears need a good cleanin’, too!” Stammering apologies, the Gaki returned to this spirit world in a series of ghostly blue flashes. The disembodied spirit of the Ippon-Datara took a little longer, glaring at Band balefully, but ultimately disappeared as well. Band let out a weary sigh. “I’m too old for this crap.”

He turned to watch as the bout between the Centipede Guai and Pit came to an end a few moments later. Band nodded in respect at the angel’s victory, noting the little guy’s ability to hit way above his weight class. “Nice goin’, captain,” he complimented him with a friendly smile. Neither Sakura nor Harry made as much of a spectacle with their own brawls, but then again, there was only so much fight a couple Gaki could put up in the first place.

Not far away, Nadia had been having some fun of her own. No matter how big they talked, the Gaki were seldom ready when she ran at them, and few put up much of a fight. The first one she swept up in her rekka, landing two cat scratches before hopping up to floor it with an El Gato axe kick. That seemed to be enough to keep it down, so she went straight for the hapless yokai’s closest friend. A roundhouse kick to the chin spun it away, stunned, and a hyper-extended follow-up turn kick to the back sent it sprawling. The third Gaki put up its arms, shielding its face, so Nadia promptly swept it off its feet with a cat slide. It hit the ground with a winded grunt, clutching its abdomen as its tongue lolled out, and Nadia moved on to the next.

With the 16% speed boost from Clockwork Apple refreshing constantly, the feral fought like a woman possessed, but rather than go overboard on the little guys she found herself showing off instead. She prioritized short, snappy, cool-looking combos, performing acrobatic feats more for the fun of it than anything. One Gaki she flexibly launched into the air with Limber Up, then followed into the air to smack back down with Flying Screen Door, her reverse upside-down kick. Another she grabbed and toyed with in a giant yarn ball wound from her own muscle fibers. For every yokai she knocked down, another one remained at the periphery of the fight, content just to watch the spectacle unfold.

”Whoa, she’s pretty good!”

”Cool combos!”

”That rushdown is crazy!”

”Looking respectfully!”

Increasingly giddy, Nadia happily pulled her punches -her claws barely even sharpened- so the yokai could come back for more. Of course, not finishing any foes off led to a half-dozen coming after her at once, but luck was on the feral’s side. When she planted her ears in the ground to perform Wheel of Fortune, the extra hits were enough to trigger Maddening Voice. Multitudinous laughter burst from her lungs, and the multicolored soundwaves blasted the yokai away, returning all of them to the spirit world in one giant spectral fireball. Nadia came to a stop resting on her side, and there she lay, grinning at the excited spectators.

”Was that her super?!”

”Her attacks are borderline unreactable!”

”How have I never seen her before?!”

”It should have been me!”

Savoring all the attention, Nadia reclined there -a little short of breath- until another Gaki stepped forward from the crowd. This one was a little bigger than the others, and he wore a black baseball cap. “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he groused, arms crossed. “What, you guys never seen a catgirl before? You seen one, you seen ‘em all. They’re fast and flashy, sure, but at high level? The game plan falls apart. That’s rushdown fighters for ya: all style, no substance.”

Sensing a chance to really wow the onlookers, Nadia rose into a crouch, her smile taunting. “Oh yeah? I bet I could still make your head spin, little man!”

The Gaki sniffed. “Hmph! Come and impress me, then!”

With the crowd’s eyes on her, Nadia got into a ready stance with a smile, wiggling her tail. Then she sprinted forward and leaped into the air. The Gaki lifted his weathered hands in a defensive stance, his body tense. “I’mma block this whack-ass mixup.”

Nadia’s jump arc carried her over his head. Then she released her pressurized blood, airdashing backward over his head again. Then she spiked her head downward, which halted her momentum enough that her head shot behind him. Finally, her neck blasted out blood and shot backward again, hitting the Gaki low. He hit the ground with a surprised yelp, and the onlookers burst into a frenzy of hype, hooting and hollering as they jumped up and down.

”That was cheesy as hell!”

”I ain’t blockin’ that!”

”Well, I got mixed.”

“Nyehehe~!” Nadia stooped to lift up her head, then span it on one finger like a basketball. “What can I say? I’m always one step a-head!”

Thoroughly entertained, the Gaki started a cheer. “Catgirls rule! Catgirls rule!” Even the one she knocked down found it in him to laugh at himself. By that time, the rest of the fighting had come to an end, so the Seethe was officially over. The remaining yokai disappeared back to the spirit world, and the Seekers were left to regroup as the villagers began to clean up.

Nadia looked pretty pleased with herself. “That was fun! Well, one guy called me cheesy, but I had a gouda time.”

Band raised an eyebrow at her, wondering how in the world the feral managed to turn a riot into recreation. “Glad someone’s enjoyin’ herself at least. Anyway, now that’s over with, we better get a move on. The city’s just up ahead.”

Twenty minutes later, the Fields of Gold finally came to an end, the long and winding path through the hills of waving wheatgrass terminating at one of Esaka’s many gates. Its white outer walls extended around its entire perimeter, about two stories high, topped with distinctive steep green roofing tiles despite their lack of interior space. Beyond those walls lay the first of the city’s five tiers. Though the least well-off and the least built-up by far, with few buildings tall enough to peek over the exterior walls, the brief glimpse afforded to the approaching Seekers through the gate suggested that the Low Tier was a far cry from the slums of Midgar; it looked clustered, cheap, and somewhat unclean, but there were no muddy dirt streets or ramshackle junk shacks in sight. About one city block in, the second tier towered above the first. From here nobody could see any of the titular pools that gave the second tier its name, they could see the decorative stone waist-high railing that surrounded it, and a few places where water flowed down into the Low Tier, becoming channels that one could probably cross via traditional arched footbridges. Farther still the newcomers could see the Mid Tier, which resembled a more typical modern Japanese town, and the High Tier, with enough large buildings that it looked like a real city. Above it all loomed the Top Tier, with its tall, imperious towers. If the Guardian was up there somewhere, the Seekers had a lot of climbing to do. For her part, Nadia couldn’t wait to get started.

Of course, the first order of business was to get inside. Though the gate was open, an impressive-looking Aurumaton stood at either side, dutifully watching every person who went in and out. Since there weren’t many travelers, that meant that their ominous gaze rested on the Seekers the moment they arrived, the Aurumatons’ enormous cudgels vaguely threatening as their mechanical bodies vibrated restlessly. They weren’t the only ones around, though; Band also spotted what might be a kindred spirit in the form of a green alligator in an olive detective’s trench coat and a red tie, silently pacing in front of the gates with a phone to his ear, evidently on hold. He noticed the Seekers as they approached, and when Band tipped his hat the reptile gave up on his phone call and pocketed it along with his hands. “Good morning,” he greeted the strangers in an even, slightly nasal tone.

“Good morniiiiing!” Nadia replied cheerfully. “How’s it goin’?”

He shrugged. “Oh, not bad, it’s just…say, you’re coming from the direction of Ashwat Village, hmm? I got a report about a Seethe going on near there, but details are scarce. Don’t suppose you folks saw anything?”

“Took care of it!” Outspoken as ever, Nadia happily jumped at the chance to speak for everyone.

“Oh!” The alligator looked surprised, then relieved. “Well then, that sure is good to hear. The spirits don’t cause trouble often, but when they get going, they can do a lot of damage.” He smiled, which looked a little goofy given his protruding fangs. “Guess I owe you folks one, eh?”

Band stepped forward. “Think nothin’ of it. Though, if you’re offerin’, I guess we could use a little direction. We’re new in town, gonna be here a while. See the sights, join the tournaments, you know. Don’t s’pose you know anyone who’d be willin’ to show us around?”

The team’s new acquaintance straightened up and jabbed a thumb back toward the city. “Well shoot, I wouldn’t mind doing it myself. If the Seethe’s dealt with, I got an hour or two to kill anyway.” He cleared his throat and put a scaly hand on his chest. “Scuse me, where’re my manners. I’m Investigator Azuma, with the Kyanta Dojo. Pleasure to meet you all.”

Nadia scratched her head. “You’re an…oh! Investi-GATOR! I get it!” She gave him the double finger guns with a wink.

“Hm?” Azuma gave her a blank look, then cleared his throat. “Ahem, well, come on in.”

As Band stepped forward, he gave the Aurumatons a wary glance. “You sure these guys don’t mind?”

“Oh, the Gatekeepers? I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Azuma turned and led the way through the gates, his scaly tail trailing behind him. “As I’m sure you’re already aware, this is a city of fighters. The Gatekeepers make sure that the wrong people don’t get in.”

Nadia raised an eyebrow at the menacing machine. “Wrong people?”

At that, one of the Aurumatons spoke in a mechanical grumble. ”Those who do not respect Esaka’s traditions. Who would change things to suit their own purposes.”

”If the fighting community does not gatekeep, the integrity of its dojos and tournaments will be ruined,” the other Aurumaton chimed in, chugging assertively.

Sounds like a good way to slowly die off over time, Nadia thought, but in light of the Aurumatons’ massive cudgels she kept her thoughts to herself. With Azuma in the lead, the Seekers finally stepped into the bustling interior of Esaka, the Tiered City.

Frozen Highlands - Snowdin

Lvl 8 Sandalphon (52/80) Level 5 Heismay (16/50)
Edward’s @DracoLunaris Blazermate & Sectonia’s @Archmage MC Geralt’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Ace Cadet’s @Yankee Roxas & Ganondorf’s @Double, Celica’s @Sadu Chosen Undead’s @Simple Unicycle, Ramattra’s @XoXKieroBombXoX
Word Count: 1673


Already shivering more than he thought he’d be, Heismay rejoined Edward on the stagecoach with a hop. While he didn’t have high hopes, the strategist did mention seeming something akin to the Pal Spheres before. “Roxas?” Heismay didn’t know who that was. As much as socialization wasn’t his forte, it would be a good idea to find time to talk to all his new allies today, a few minutes apiece. For now, though, he cast his eyes around as the golems lugged the stagecoach eastward. When Edward set his sights on the Snotel, Heismay remained by his side, curious to see just what the strangely-named building would offer them.

Inside the duo found a bespectacled pair of monsters, identical except for their coloration. They seemed friendly enough, but Heismay was happy to let Edward do the talking. Either Clark and Stanley were too nice for their own good, or just very bad salesmen, but they somehow seemed amenable giving away some of their stuff for free. True to his word, Clark even shuffled off to see what else he had to offer. Taken aback, Heismay couldn’t help but wonder just how far they could push this, even before his comrade attempted to address him. “Him…Himsley?” the Eugief grumbled with an incredulous look, as if to ask how in the world Edward got that wrong.

After a moment he cleared his throat, and met Stanley’s inquisitive gaze. Faced with that innocent, oafish expression, Heismay allowed his conscience to get the better of him. “I have to ask…why give us perfectly fine goods for nothing in return?”

Stanley pushed up his glasses. “Why, holiday spirit, of course! We Snowdin folk love giving gifts. And getting them!” He nodded sagely. “Those presents, out under the tree? They’re for whoever needs them. And if you got more than you need, you should leave presents there for others. With business being the way it is, Clark and I end up needy pretty often. Just think of it as us giving back.” He crossed his arms in a very righteous manner. “Plus doing it this way just means saving on wrapping paper!”

As Heismay’s expression softened, Clark returned, followed by the sound of bells. “You said you got a carriage, right? Well, I got good news!” he announced. “Whenever people come to live in Snowdin, they break down their wagons for building material, but we take all the travel stuff they don’t need any more. We’re keeping the griddle ‘cause it makes us flapjacks, but there’s a stew pot, carriage lamps, and this!”

He held up a crude windchime, which he jingled. The sound was festive, and oddly soothing; Heismay couldn’t help but smile. “In that case, we’ll be truly in your debt.”

“Just give us a chunk of whatever goodies you find out there when you get back, and we’re even!” Stanley said. “And tell all your friends: if you’re snowed in in Snowdin, the Snotel’s the place to stay!”

Heismay nodded, and received the wind chime from Clark with gratitude. With their new furnishings in hand, the Seekers returned to the stagecoach to install them.



Despite her usual fixation on expedience, Sandalphon waited patiently as Celica considered the options at hand, knowing that she had posed a difficult -and in all honesty, unfair- question. After all, how could the Seekers’ most recent recruit be expected to know the other team members well enough to pick out appropriately colored parkas? Statistically speaking, it was unlikely that she’d managed to commit their appearances to memory yet–or that she even knew who did and did not already have a method of counteracting the Highlands’ chill.

As the seconds ticked by, the archangel considered giving Celica a reminder, or perhaps pulling up pictures of her new allies on light screens for her to see, but before she could her new acquaintance began to speak. With pupils shaped like inverted triangles, Sandalphon listened attentively as Celica replied, outlining her rationale and different perspectives on the matter of form versus function. She even offered a little insight into her homeworld, maybe a little too much, but before her response could be considered long-winded Celica produced an answer that the archangel hadn’t expected: that the Seekers should forego individual colors in favor of unity, both with one another and with the environment.

It took no more than an instant for Sandalphon to recognize the truth of Celica’s recommendation, her pupils flashing exclamation marks as she suddenly realized where her own thought process had fallen short. Her laser-focus on the matter of satisfying her teams’ individuality had prevented her from seeing the bigger picture, and her lack of field experience blinded her to the possibility of camouflage. It made much more sense to opt for any possible tactical advantage, and if the Seekers never found out that the parkas came in any other color to begin with, what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. Plus, having everyone in uniform white (herself included) with matching red Focus Sashes promised to satisfy her inner compulsiveness.

When Celica glanced at her to gauge her response, Sandalphon nodded vigorously, her expression one of utmost solemnity. It didn’t take long for the self-conscious psycorruptor to start walking her recommendation back, but by then Sandalphon was already sorting through the parkas to find all the other white ones the team would need. “No need,” she answered Celica’s question, her voice firm. “Your advice was well considered and made complete sense. Excellent work.” For some reason, part of her (probably the nascent human part) felt compelled to explain away her shortsightedness as best she could. “Although I have many years of leadership experience, I have spent very little time in the field, so you pointed out something I had not considered. Such insight was, and will no doubt continue to be, invaluable.”

Once the two ladies collected enough pure-white parkas for the whole team, they paid a visit to Morshu at the front desk and completed the purchase, albeit barely. With only a literal handful of zenny to her name now, Sandalphon waited for Celica to don her new duds, then led her back out through the pandemoniac pawn shop. Just before she reached the door, though, the familiar voice of Geralt resonated through her angelic sigil. Sandalphon paused at the threshold to listen to the Witcher’s report. As expected of a master hunter, he’d been looking into the Seekers’ quarry, and already turned up a possible lead. “Roger that. Thank you.” Her sigil disappeared, and after a glance at Celica to confirm that the girl was ready, she stepped back out into the wintry winds.

The archangel briefly considered what Geralt had said. All things considered, it was very good news. If the Guardian craved the excitement of a real challenge and would aggressively seek out any potential sources of one, the Seekers could definitely use that against him. A magnificent display of destructive power, from as high a vantage point as possible, would probably be the team’s best bet. Her pupils became crosshairs as she scanned the horizons, searching for any possible locations. The Highlands were highly mountainous, with ranges in pretty much every direction she looked, onyx-black against a murky gray horizon. One mountain towered above them all, though, and above it a gargantuan sphere hovered higher still, eerily motionless. “Hmm…”

After a moment, Sandalphon returned her attention to her current situation. Looking up and down the Snowdin’s main street, she spotted a couple other Seekers either already returned or on their way back to where they started. Sectonia was impossible to miss, but after a second she also spotted Geralt as he crunched through the snow from Grillby’s. His call would quickly prove unnecessary, but it did remind her that she’d need to pick the brains of everyone else, who hadn’t been as forthcoming with what they’d learned. It took longer to recognize what was going on at the street’s west end, from which direction a team of golems were slowly but steadily tugging a massive stagecoach through town. Once she saw Edward and Heismay, though, the pieces fell into place. Though Kit, Ace, Roxas, Ganondorf, and Blazermate were nowhere to be found, it was worth getting started with just six people present.

Easily identifiable thanks to her glowing triple halo, Sandalphon waved the overs over. “Here,” she stated, passing out parkas to Geralt, Edward, Sectonia, and Heismay with Celica’s help. Anyone who’d planned to rely on a frost resistance ring would no doubt be especially thankful, since practically speaking, there was a world of difference between elemental ice and ambient temperature. Though simple in appearance, these clothes still conformed themselves to their wearers’ shapes, which was a rare blessing. Most everyone would still need periodic exposure to a fire or other actual heat source to recover lost heat, but for now the parkas would be enough to weather the cold climate.

Sandalphon studied the stagecoach, mentally calculating its inner dimensions. “Quite the find.”

“Indeed.” Looking snug in his little parka, with his huge ears poking out from his hood, Heismay nodded from atop the wagon. “Our only problem is moving it. Tis very heavy, and quite unable to move itself. And as helpful as Edward’s summons may be, they lack the speed to cover the leagues with haste.”

Sandalphon’s pupils became loading rings as she considered the predicament. “Noted.”

After jumping down, Heismay continued. “I inquired with some local Paripus, who I witnessed riding large, deerlike creatures. Evidently more of them can be found in the wild, and they can be tamed with artifacts known as ‘Pal Spheres’, but I know no more than that. Would that Roxas was here.”

Sandalphon looked around at the gathered Seekers. “Any other updates on expedition supplies or equipment? More vitally, have we managed to find out anything else about Baldur or his whereabouts? It would also be worth noting any significant Highlands events or locales you may have heard of.”
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