Mokley

Lantern

Good question! The answer is yes -- it's not sealed or anything. Technically if you wanted to knock off Tyaelaem's mask, you could easily do so. He'd be a bit mad though.

Lantern

What are you talking about you weird rabbit? What is a spirit weed and what is a soothsayer?

Simon

Tyaelaem shifted from foot to foot, taut as a wire. The forest hushed around them, and the stream gurgled and sparkled as it flowed. The green light of the lantern had disappeared into the darkness. "Spirit weed grows in starlight, and eats the souls of the dead," the Kith spoke quickly, and he glanced around the forest. "A soothsayer is someone who has a strong connection with vagrant souls and is able to release spirits from the spirit weed -- among other things." He smiled warily, and he hopped and flitted away to stand close to Anise. He felt safe with the princess. Simon's presence made him uneasy.

"We should go look for that child with the green lantern since it seemed to have some affect on those weird things that attacked us earlier"

Simon

She then looked back at the torch-bearer who spoke mentioning how the lantern had and effect on the creatures. "I saw him go that way." She gestured down the path he took. "We should leave quickly. I don't want him to get hurt." . . . She started down the path. . . . She had a limp as she walked thanks to the injuries she got from the creature attacking her leg. Her whole body hurt and she hoped that she could keep going under all this stress.

Anise

"Please drink some of this, Your Highness," Tyaelaem offered, hopping backwards in front of Anise and holding out the canteen full of water from the grotto. "It will help your injuries, Your Highness, and you'll feel very refreshed." He shook the canteen in front of her and grinned hopefully. But soon his mouth turned down in worry, and he leaned closer to whisper, "I think these people might be pirates in disguise and we should be careful and leave them as soon as we can." Soon after Anise, Simon and Tyaelaem had begun their pursuit of Kituo, a scuffle and a muffled cry sounded suddenly behind them: something heavy hit the ground, and a red-feathered arrow quivered in the bark of a tree. In the branches above, a cacophony of monkeybats screeched: eeeEEE! eeeEEE! eeeEEE! The white wolf-mask lay still in the grass. Talan was gone. "PIRATES!" Tyaelaem cried over the screeching, and he grabbed Anise's hand -- and the moment he did, the world went dark for Anise. While Tyaelaem touched her, she could no longer see in the dark. The rabbit-boy yanked her along through the woods. Simon would be forced to run if he wished to follow them by the light of his torch, while the monkeybats sounded their alarm and shadows moved among the night-dark trees. The path ahead was winding, and led them around great ancient trees and boulders coated in bright green moss; the path itself had long ago been carefully laid with flat stones. In the thick green foliage were old statues, obscured by moss and roots and blooming flowers. As they fled deeper, the screech of the monkeybats dimmed and disappeared behind them, leaving only a peaceful silence. Ahead, Kituo's lantern light glowed.

"I know where some 'monkeybats' were" . . . "Never mind. I'll be on my way." He tried to tuck the lantern under his shirt to prevent the man from seeing it as he walked to move past him.

Kituo

The old man squinted at Kituo, and seemed to foggily realize that the boy was holding a source of light in the vast darkness of the forest he was so accustomed to. He tipped his head at the green light that glowed through Kituo's bulging shirt. "Well hey now what've you got there? Well I might think that's a summoning lantern if I didn't know better. But how could you have that? It's impossible. Come, come, let me see." He stepped forward, his eyes on the light, and he stretched out a hand to touch it. As he came closer, Kituo might see a few more details regarding his person, such as the black tattoo on his palm that resembled an eye. The armor that he wore was etched with runes and sigils, and each piece of armor had a very different arrangement of them. A battered old sword hung at his waist, and an iron pendant hung around his neck.

Lantern

Awesome is a perfect description. :D Wong, looking forward to it!

Lantern

So glad you've stuck around, Red! Hopefully there will be much more to come. To be honest, while the site was down more often than it was up -- and it wouldn't stay up long enough to post -- I seriously considered abandoning it, myself. You guys kept me going. ;)

Lantern

Yaayyy drewccapp! Woohoo! I've just -- finally -- edited/updated the first post of the OOC. A few of the stricter rules were removed, as were any references to teams. More specifically, it's shinier. I've also dangled some bait for any potential new players. We shall see!

Lantern

Seeking new characters!

Lantern

Just thought I'd make some notes about the current scenery and story, partially to organize my own thoughts:

Each of the trees had a face peeking out from the trunk. They were not living faces, but masks: white masks that seemed to be growing out of the bark. Each tree only had one mask, and each mask represented a different animal: a wolf, a badger, a deer, a hawk, a bear. One touch might release the mask from the tree, so delicately were they attached.

Each of the masks is made of white wood and covers only the top half of the face. Tyaelaem is wearing a rabbit mask in the same style. Talan took the wolf, and now there's a tiger in its place. It's only recently occurred to me that a fox would be a logical addition, maybe in place of the badger which makes less sense. xD There is currently no light anywhere -- maybe a few straggling fireflies. Simon's torch is the only source of light. Anise can see just fine as long as she has the nightstick. The water of the stream is very reflective and glimmers in the light. Tyaelaem is in possession of a water bottle full of the healing water. On the ground are the skinnings and entrails of Talan's mutilation of the dead monkeybats. More monkeybats are hiding in the trees but won't attack anymore. It has been many hours since you all arrived, and so far there has not been a single glimmer of sunlight. There are more people in the forest who wear masks, who call themselves Kith. There are others who are familiar with clockwork and runes and shooting at people with arrows, who call themselves the Resistance but the Kith call them Pirates. The lantern is made of iron and was forged by the Resistance/Pirates. The Kith -- and the animals of the forest, and anyone who is wearing a mask -- are burned by iron. They consider iron taboo and evil. This is why Tyaelaem made Hania throw away her iron rosary. The Kith also cannot make the runes work. But the Kith have other, potentially formidable abilities, and protection from the forest if they learn to take advantage of them. So, essentially, these are the important factors to consider: It has been a very long night with no sign of morning. People with masks can't use runes or iron tools but are safe in the forest and have access to a variety of forest-based abilities (they are also fair game to any Pirates who like shooting Kith on sight). People who choose to be able to use rune spells, tools, and iron will be subjected to the wrath of the forest but may find some very interesting enchanted/useful objects on the way. The Kith and the Pirates hate each other with a deadly passion. Also you all should probably be feeling a bit hungry and/or tired by now. The healing water should help a lot, but something to think about. ;) Aaaaaalso. Shall we advertise for new characters to join in?

Lantern

Awww so sad to see you go, Templar! Your character rocks! I'll write Talan out, but leave his fate up in the air should you want to return later. Hopefully you will! Take care! drewcccapp, that's awful! Any way I can help? If there's something you're stuck on or you don't like where the story's going, let me know and maybe we can brainstorm. :)

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Woohoo! Sorry that post took so long. Sometimes posting on weekdays just doesn't happen. x.x

Lantern

Arriving at the stream he fell to his knees and collapsed on his back into the water.

Talan

Within moments, the gurgling gold-flecked water filled Talan's wounds with a cool relief. Throughout the next minutes, his injuries would slowly heal themselves, tingling and only slightly painful.

"I am Princess Anise Sinclair. This is my friend, Tyaelaem."

Anise

The boy in the rabbit mask bowed awkwardly, his eyes still fixed on Talan with a wary stare. "I am honored to be counted among your friends, Your Highness." He sloshed barefoot through the water until he stood next to Anise, and he shifted from foot to foot as if he might bolt. "Your Highness," he whispered to her delicately, gesturing to Talan as the wolf-masked man skinned and stuffed the dead monkey-bats, "please be wary of the wolf, he doesn't seem entirely sound of mind, I think, Your Highness, and he makes weapons. Wolves should run in packs but he seems very alone, you see, Your Highness. He might attract pirates if he doesn't turn on you himself. I've seen it, Your Highness." As he spoke, the fireflies above continued to disperse and disappear. The forest around them grew darker, and darker. The only light came from the torch, and a faint green glow deep in the woods where Kituo had gone. Anise would continue to be able to see just fine, though, as was the power of the nightstick.

He did manage to pick up the torch with his right hand.

Simon

"Ack!" Tyaelaem yelped, as he saw Simon draw the burning purple torch out of the water. Like a rabbit he bounded and splashed through the water, just as the thick smoke of the torch began to mold itself into the form of a person again, and shimmers of ghosts began to form around Simon. The boy in the rabbit mask grabbed Simon's wrist, and with long fingers of the other hand yanked the golden leaves off of the torch. Immediately the fire became a normal and familiar, hot red and orange, and the leaves blackened and crumbled in the boy's hand; the ashes washed away in the stream, and the ghosts disappeared. "Spirit weeds are nothing to play with," Tyaelaem admonished Simon, letting go of his wrist. "Unless there's a dead person you'd like to speak to. I don't think there was, was there? I mean, it's very hard to summon spirits, I've never seen so many at once, but you did it, I don't know how, how? Are you a soothsayer?" Tyaelaem stared at Simon through the dark holes of his rabbit mask -- and he suddenly stood up straight and looked out toward the green glow deep in the woods, where Kituo had run. He'd heard something. The woods were black all around them, and the yellow light of Simon's torch was the only thing that kept the shadows at bay.

Bing! "Ouch!"

Kituo

Something moved in the bushes behind a tree ahead. Leaves rustled, branches broke. "Sssshh!" a voice hushed. In the light of the lantern, a gaunt old man stepped halfway out from behind the tree, his eyes wide and a finger to his lips. He wore weathered, rusty old armor that had been patched and beaten back into shape a hundred times over, and his white hair was bedraggled in a crazed halo around his head. "I'm hunting monkeybats!" he whispered loudly. The little bell flashed and shimmered as it swung on its thread from the branches.