Mokley

Mirror, Fox, Key

The view through the magus lens presented Meryn with the following scene:

Alex, poised for another jab at the Traveler, was positively radiating yellow and red spirals that flickered and spun and whirred all around him. He wore his heart on his sleeve and perhaps loved too much; the forms that surrounded him were hostile toward Spook and protective of the felidrakes and of his fellow cityfolk.

Emma's dreams were blue and green and white, except for dark spots like bruises that marked them; they flitted and pulsed like fireflies in the air around her, changing color, faltering only occasionally. At the moment they were spinning and sparking, alarmed that a child was missing. A few of them even moved forward ahead of Emma, as if to check around the trees for Lux's presence.

Lily's dreams were steely pink and deep blue, angled and deliberate and a bit fuzzy; they clung to her shoulders and sat on her head like wise little angels. At the moment their little wings were outstretched, angered and holding their ground. There was a sense that they had suffered a great loss, but remained bright through sheer determination.

Kelsier's dreams were jet black, sharp as knives and shimmered like oil. They hovered over his shoulders obediently, and they moved in flashes. There was something organic at the center of those jagged edges -- something that seemed to always be watching, maybe even hoping. It glowed slightly orange, flickering in and out.

Spook was . . . empty. Where everyone else was a tumult of motion and color, Spook stood calm and serene and void of any hint of a dream.

"Why are you here?" Spook went on. He lowered the cage and tipped his masked head at Alex. "You're bored?" He glanced toward Emma. "Running away from something?" To Kelsier, "Looking for something?" To Lily, "Or maybe there's just nothing left for you back there." His grinning voice matched the mask's smile.

"This is how all Travellers start: alone, unsatisfied, scared, determined. At first it's a field trip, the wonders of the forest and the discovery of magic and freedom. Then you make decisions." He held the cage over the void again for a moment, then thought better of it and instead shoved the cage into Alex's arms. With a scuff of his boot he broke one of the lines of the sigil, and the portal vanished without a trace.

"If there's anyone back in that city that you'd like to keep safe, you'll come with me -- because this disease has already claimed half the surrounding cities, and I'm here to make sure Enn doesn't become one of them." He gestured to the cage in Alex's hands. "If that starts to look or act strange, bring it to me immediately."

He wasn't smiling anymore.

Mirror, Fox, Key

That can be arranged. :)

I'll see about maybe posting, give you guys something to lean on. The plot will have to be rearranged a bit, I think, maybe.

Edit: it looks like it's Lily, Emma, Kelsier, Alex and Meryn.

This is a great group, guys. We can work with this, most definitely.

Moonfiend

Looks like most of the PCs are ready for Dazz to act...maybe even taze.

@Archimedes

Yeah, I get the feeling half the PCs are waiting for Ethan to eat it, hahaha.

Moonfiend

Might do that synopsis post tomorrow, complete with responses to people waiting on Dazz.

Mirror, Fox, Key

Hey guys! :D

What sorta stuff do you think might be cool to do? Shall we go deeper into wilderness? Find some ruins or a monster? Or head on to the next city? What are ya looking forward to?

Lantern

"<I… I don't understand. I'm sorry.>" She wrapped her native language around herself like a heavy cloak, a familiar weight pressing itself on her shoulders. She didn't know if she was strong enough to move under it. Tightening her grip around the Lantern's warmth, Artemis did her best to steady her breathing as she looked at the child in the mask. "Pirate?"

While the fire lady made herself known, Morly wobbled back and forth as if he were standing on the deck of a ship, his hand stuffed up under his mask to scratch his nose.

"You talk weird," he informed her. "Piiieee-rate! They're the ones with iron and armor and magic scribbles. Everybody knows that. Where'd you come from that you talk like a batmonkey?" It was an honest, innocent question.

Meanwhile, the healing water was working; even as Anise soaked Reus' fur in it, the wounds began to heal slowly. The wolf remained still and compliant until Anise stood up to address the newcomer; he then lifted his head and grabbed the water jug in a comical hug between his paws, tipped it, and lapped up mouthfuls of the water as it flowed.

"Y-You won't hurt Reus again, will you?" She lifted the hawk mask off of her face and let it rest on the top of her head. The change in the clarity of her vision disoriented her for a brief moment.

Morly twisted around to see Anise, and his jaw dropped to see that she'd taken off her mask. He quickly looked between Anise and the fire lady, wondering if there was some social rule about masks that he didn't know about. Finally he decided to follow Anise's lead, and he, too, shoved his mask up on top of his head.

The little blond boy was certainly near eight years old, with sleepy brown eyes and a perpetually bored expression.

Behind him, Reus finished his drink and sat up straighter; the wolf's face looked much less alarming now, though it would take awhile for the fur to grow back on those patches of burned skin. He huffed, gave Artemis an annoyed look, and shook the water out of his fur in a torrential spray.

Morly sniffed, still squinting at Artemis. "I think you gotta be careful with that thingy, 'cause you almost caused another forest fire, and that one made the river super mad, and you're gonna get in trouble with the witch, and if you're not careful -- UWAAAH!"

Suddenly, Morly was dangling upside-down in the air, held aloft by the mossy root of a tree. His mask fell into the grass below.

"LEMME GO!"

The root threw him up into the leaves, where he was caught expertly by a branch curled around his waist.

"WHOOAAA GAAAAAHHH BAD TREE! BAD! LET GO! I'M KITH! KITH! FRIEND! WHERE'S MY MASK! AAAHH! LEGGO! DON'T EAT ME! NOT FOOD! BAD!" Morly smacked the branch with his feet and fists.

The trunk of the tree slit itself open like a vertical mouth, revealing bones and fragments from a number of small creatures that had previously been devoured.

Reus only continued to groom his soaked fur.

Lantern

Excellent! I've actually been thinking about this one all day trying to come up with something, haha. Here we gooooo!

Moonfiend

If it might help, I once did a thing in another RP where every round I'd write up a tl;dr for what's happening at the moment in the RP and where everyone is. Since we have so many people, I could do that -- write up a single narrative that shows what's happening. If you like. :)

In other news, I made up a simplified map thing with numbers in a sort of clockwise spiral.

#1 is the palace tower where the queen lives.

#2, 3 and 4 are probably landmark important buildings, like the university.

#5, 6, 7, 8 I think should probably be districts?

The outer numbers are the cardinal direction points and the main visitor entries to the wall, though there are multiple minor (mostly employee only) entries all along the wall.

Going by what's been written so far, I think we're all gathered around #9, at the western side of the city.

Any suggestions on what should be where are definitely welcome!

Lantern

Haha! I think at the beginning we decided to just ignore the language issue -- but if ya wanna get technical, we could say everyone understands everyone else who wants to be understood, as long as they're near a lantern.

So if Artemis wants to speak in gibberish with the intention of confusing someone, then do it. xD

Lantern

The Dragon was unmoved. Anise would feel the cold emptiness again -- the expanse of indifference that stretched on inside the egg -- but it took what she said into consideration. It still wanted the red Lantern, wanted that fire and destruction, because it belonged to the Dragon. There was no such thing as sadness or empathy -- not yet.

Reus struggled to push his head and forelegs onto the shore of the river, assisted by Anise, but laid down immediately. His face was a horrific mess of charred fur and burned-away flesh. One eye was fused shut, the other only squinted. He breathed, though, and every indication was that he would recover.

Morly beached the raft alongside Anise, and for the first time in years he stepped off onto solid ground. He shifted his weight a little, unsteadily standing on a surface that wasn't constantly moving, then dragged a jug off the raft and laid it down in the gravel beside Anise. "Here's shiny water from the firefly grotto," he explained, pointing at the jug. "That'll heal him right up." The kith patted Reus gently on the head. "I'll go get the scaredy lady okay? Somebody already burneded the forest once."

The little boy wobbled unsteadily across the brush and into the forest, staring around him through the eyes of his white frog mask. "Hey fire lady!" he hollered, his hands cupped over his mouth. "Are you a Pirate? It's okay if you are, ya know, I'm a neutral party." He'd heard the witch call him that once before, and he wasn't sure what that meant but he assumed it was good. "I'm Morlyenaim the Riverkeeper, but everybody calls me Morly, what's your name?"