Mokley

Lantern

"So you were here when there was daylight," she said, tilting her head to the side a bit. The storm outside stopped as suddenly as it'd started. "Before the dragon was trapped in the Lanterns."

Oseely quirked an eyebrow at her, and he burst a laugh with a slap to his knee. "Well, I guess a pirate told you that. Or was it the Witch herself? Eh, I shoulda known." He gestured toward the gryphon, which had calmed since the storm had ended and was now attempting to look as if it were here to protect Artemis.

"Yeah, I've been around since there was daylight, not that the dragon had anything to do with that. I bet she told you that the damned dragon turned the sky dark and they sealed it up before it could do more damage. And then the Kith'll tell ya that the damned pirates sealed up the dragon first, and that's what snuffed out the sun. I tellya all of it's a load of hooey. But then, I'm the patron of thieves and liars, what do I know, right?" He laughed and leaned back against the cave wall. His attention diverted to Artemis, interested and thoughtful.

"Lemme guess something about you. I never meet anyone new, humor the old man for a minute." He scratched his chin, studying her. "Well, I know you stole that gryphon -- she belongs to the captain of the guard at the Roost outpost, and he's doing a horrific job of training her. I know you've been to see the Witch because those are her enchantments on your armor. And --" His eyes rested on the rabbit mask, which he hadn't bothered to notice much until now. His face seemed to get a shade paler as he stared at that mask. He rubbed the back of his head and took a deep, nervous breath.

"Well. None of any of this matters to you, don't it? Nah, no reason for you to give a shit about fairy tales. What're you after, then? The way home? A little more power? Maybe just someplace to call home? Tell me, I'm interested." The smile reappeared, and he watched her lazily for her answer.

---

"Ah, it's nice to meet you Miss Rhea, as Cod said my name is Aslynn......and I really wouldn't mind something to eat..."

Rhea laughed heartily and gestured for Aslynn to come join the troupe. "Once the outpost hears you've brought Cod home safe, you'll have more than you can ever eat and then some. C'mon, then, it's a bit of a hike but you look like you can take care of yourself."

The other men led the way back up the twisted path, and Rhea followed them with Cod's hand firmly held in hers. The wind had died down as quickly as it had begun, and the forest was dark and silhouetted only by the stars, the pirates' lamps, and the violet glow of the Lantern.

After awhile, Rhea glanced back at Aslynn, unable to contain her curiosity. "You're not the first sun-child I've met tonight," she said, her brow furrowed uncertainly. "There were four others: a girl, younger than you in a raggedy dress, a skinny boy with spectacles, then a guy built like a tank, and a guy who wore monkeybat skins and teeth for kicks, all of them with that same look on their faces as you have. How long've you been here? And are there any more of you?" She chuckled; it almost felt like the island was being invaded by people from other worlds.

"Miss Aslynn has a sun where she lives!" Cod squealed, hiking expertly up the roots and rocks that riddled the path.

"She does!" Rhea feigned wonder and surprise. "Well, we'll have to ask her all about it while we eat supper."

"Yeah I'm hungry."

The path got steep and curled around the mountain, shielded from the wind and cold by thick flowering trees. Occasionally a gap in the leaves would afford a magnificent view of the island: a lake shimmering gold, a pinprick of blue and white light on its shore; a sea of thick green trees, paled by bluish starlight; a dark patch stricken with dead white trees, where a fire had recently burned away part of the forest; and far beyond, the ocean stretched black under the night sky.

They could hear the sounds of voices and clanging metal before they rounded a corner to find the outpost in full animation; tents and stone houses made up the outpost, where men and women in leathers and armor cooked food over a bonfire, or wove fabrics, or fashioned weapons. A group of children were gathered around an old man who was in the middle of a fantastic story about the Kith. A gray grypon -- bigger than a horse -- slept soundly by the fire, its bluish feathers rustling in the breeze. Another gryphon flew overhead, its winged silhouette barely visible in the dark sky.

---

While Anise slept, she dreamed.

She felt constricted and detached -- like her heart had been broken into pieces, each one squeezed into a jar and locked in a cage. The more she pushed, the more she tried to breathe, the more it hurt.

The Kith! The Kith would lend their power, help her break free as they had once before -- but wherever she searched for them, wherever she extended her reach, there was nothing. Their energy was blocked from her -- there was only emptiness, only darkness. Why was it so dark? Anise was growing weaker. The jars and the cages gripped harder, and would never let go. The ticking of the trees never stopped.

TICK. TICK. TICK. TICK.

She was cold and weak and stiff before the veil between the worlds thinned, and a source of power glimmered beyond it -- all she had to do was extend her reach, scratch through the veil, and latch her creeping vines onto the energy on the other side.

Power trickled in. Warmth very slowly filled each broken piece of heart. Slowly, she suckled on the life of another world, until the veil thinned again. This time, she was ready.

She reached out into another world, grasped the first bright source of power she felt, and yanked it through the veil. Again, and again, and again. Bring the power closer. Hope it would break the cages, smash the jars, piece her heart back together again. Where were the Kith? The Kith were out of her reach. Why was it so dark? Her children had betrayed her, had betrayed each other, and her daughter was dead.

Power flooded her veins, and her heart strained against the jars and cages, close to bursting.

I WILL HAVE A WORD WITH MY CHILDREN.

When Anise awoke, the moon was rising on the horizon and she was being dragged along the rocky ground on a makeshift sledge. Peck lighted the way with the white lantern, pulling her after him, and the blue egg was tied up in Anise's dress. They were out of sight of the lake, moving slowly through the deep forest. Blood-rats and monkeybats shied away from the dual lanterns' light.

As soon as it became clear that Anise was awake, Peck spoke through the quiet of the woods: "Reus took the Witch back home," he told her solemnly. "Don't worry, you're safe."

Wings Askew

@Alina13 Thanks for understanding! :) This character is just great -- approved!

Your image is indeed broken, but I went ahead and uploaded it for you, assuming I got the right picture. Just copy/paste:

[img]i.imgur.com/FaiK7C3.jpg[/img]

Which is this:

Hider

Unquiet

I'm gonna just draw a map. XD. It might be awhile, Mondays are busy for me.

Edit: Ok! BEHOLD! A map!

most amazing artwork

At the bottom is the main entrance, where the bridge is totally busted. To the right is the rubble that leads halfway up a wall, where the top half of the wall is gone, so the characters can climb the rubble and drop down outside. There's also an ogre there.

To the left top is the hallway and the room where the singer is and the hole on the left where the ogre smashed through.

Lantern

I'm currently deciding whether to complicate the plot EVEN MORE. It's already at an anime-level cluster-plot. I'm afraid you guys might shoot me if I add another element. XD

Lantern

@drewccapp It can be done! :)

Unquiet

After a few moments Rain found herself standing outside the wall with singing starting up behind her and shuffling and grunting from somewhere out here.

When Rose finally reached the top of the rubble, she took a step up onto the wall, almost reaching the promised escape. But a piece of plaster went out from under her back foot, destabilizing her footing and almost causing her to tumble back to the ground. She caught the lip of the wall with one hand, barely saving herself from the fall back down. She looked meekly up at the blue-haired girl. "Could I get a little help? Please?"

Grace pulled herself out of her coffin, wedged into a corner of the room, and took stock of the situation. There was no word for it but chaos, and she had no inkling of what was happening, but could feel the anguished souls of the recently killed. This was not a place for any soul, living or dead, and she protectively clutched at the wrist of her right arm. She hurried, hunched over, to where she saw other humans, but said nothing to them, trying to understand what was happening first.

Forcing her protesting limbs to move, Amuné clung to the tangle of ivy and other plants that covered the wall, working her way slowly around the edge of the room. She didn't look at the dark shape with the glowing eyes. Even unable to make it out clearly, instinct whispered that looking at it would only bring pain. She prayed the blurry figures that must be the other people she heard speaking wouldn't see her as she picked her way around the edge of the room, aiming for a level other than the one they seemed to be on, and trying to head for the singing.

"The gems and a way out and I'll agree."

Both her tone and her eyes had a calmness to them, like one resigned to their fate to die, a lying smile plastered across Nali's face as she stuck her hand back out like one would for a handshake.

"Let's not waste time, hmm? I don't feel like dying here."

A mist of rain softened the harsh landscape. All around the Stone were the shattered remains of old burned trees, now covered in moss and wrapped in new vines. From the spot where Rain stood in the muddy grass -- and where Rose clung to the top of the wall -- they had a clear view of the valley over the cliff's edge.

The landscape below the Stone was a rocky expanse of tufted weeds, crumbling metal pieces of old mechs and broken catapults, rusting helmets and muskets, the stark lines of bones overgrown with high grass. The outside of the Stone was dark with old burn marks, soothed by age.

A crash and a grunt announced the approach of something big, long before the ogre pushed through a stand of rotted trees. It stood more than seven feet tall with grimy rock-colored skin, dressed in what amounted to an old rag of a skirt; an enormous hammer was slung over one bony shoulder. It peered down with dull eyes over a bulbous nose and hooked teeth, and it gripped the hammer a little tighter when it caught sight of Rain. A low, gurgling growl rumbled in its throat. It had not yet noticed Rose.

A fangy grin stretched white across Rshalogg's flickering face, and the god's glowing eyes narrowed in humor at Nali's bold acceptance.

YOU ARE THE INTELLIGENT ONE.

A black clawed hand stretched out. The moment it touched her hand, a swirl and storm of empty darkness enveloped the hungry thief. Rshalogg gripped her arm tightly while the shadows of his form swung and spun. Flashes of eyes dizzied around Nali's head before her mouth was forced open and something hideous and cold was thrust down her throat. She blacked out and collapsed just as the last tendrils of shadow disappeared between her lips.

Now that the dark god had vanished, Amuné would find her path clear of obstacle save for the rubble and broken coffins that stood in her way. The weakened sound of singing echoed in the dark arched walls of a wide corridor, at the end of which was a bright open doorway.

Should Amuné decide to continue toward the singing, through the doorway, it would take a moment for her eyes to adjust to the bright light that filled the vaulted room on the other side. A gigantic hole had been recently smashed through one wall of the room, clearing the way outside into the scraggled grass and misty rain. The source of the room's light was not the sun.

The wide empty room was filled with pipes -- the very same pipes that crisscrossed the walls of the Stone and ended at each of the prisoners' coffins. The pipes trailed up and over the ceiling, or along the walls of this room, and all of them met in a mass of hissing metal at the source of the light and the singing.

A young girl was held against the wall by pipes and wires, as if she'd been half-engulfed by copper tendrils. Thin tubes were stuck into her head and pale skin so that she could barely move. She was glowing from within, bright enough to light up the room.

She stopped singing, her throat dry and cracked. Her eyes opened wide in fear, and the light within her dimmed and faded. She focused on Amuné, but didn't make another sound.

Nali awoke to the sound of laughter inside her own head. She was laughing, and her face was smiling, like an involuntary spasm she couldn't control. Her own voice spoke:

"A curse! Hungry for sapphires and diamonds, I see, or the blood will run."

Nali's hands and legs pushed her to her feet, where her body swayed unsteadily. Her hand stretched out, and her mouth grinned while her eyes admired the way her fingers closed around a handful of rubies.

"But isn't blood the more delicous?"

Nali's head turned around, slowly, and she saw Grace and Rose at the crumbled wall on the far side of the room. Her grin broadened, impossibly wide.

"Theirs, for example?"

Nali's hand tossed the rubies and caught them a few times, then fondled them thoughtfully.

"But, a deal is a deal."

Nali's head tipped back, and the rubies were dropped into her open mouth. They melted and soothed down her throat, calming the amplified bloodlust that roiled in her stomach.

"Gather your strength, thief."

Nali tilted her head quickly and cracked her neck, narrowed her eyes, and laughed again; the sound echoed on the walls of the Stone. Slowly, Nali regained the use of her own hands, could work her own mouth and decide on her own what she was looking at. Rshalogg voluntarily retreated to the back of her mind -- a dark, roiling presence full of anticipation, pride and mockery. She knew, instinctively, that he could and would take control of her body whenever he pleased, but that now he was only content to watch and listen and gather the power he had lost. Another gemstone materialized in her palm -- she could summon them at will, with only a thought. He spoke to her, a voice pounding in her skull:

NOW YOU'RE EATING FOR TWO.

Unquiet

Planning a post tomorrow! If anyone has anything else to add, give a squeak! :3

Wings Askew

With the next story post I'm considering a forced timeskip to evening.

So, if there's anything else you want to do before the adventure kicks in, do so now! :)

Edit: Also, this RP is closed to new players as of now. No more! Please! ;-;

(ily guys really)

Lantern

Your link's broke! But I think I found it. :D Come Away to the Water

That's haunting and awesome! Will put it in. :)

Wings Askew

RP update! :D Since there are so many people here, the OOC moves fast and then there's the Skype group, there's a lot to keep track of -- might as well keep everyone on the same page while I'm making notes! Let me know if this is helpful, I can keep doing periodic updates.

player & character updates

@Ghost Queen is busy IRL and will introduce Braum when things settle. Take it easy, looking forward to meeting Braum! :D

@Disciple Cain may introduce Kelari after the star plot begins. Get lots of rest, we'll be here! :)

@Chronothesis is likely scrapping Aurora to reroll a different character, which is absolutely cool. Curious to see what you have in mind!

the story so far

I've just reread everything, and hot damn you guys are awesome writers! There's a very solid feel developing, and I can totally envision the island and the town. Because everything is jumbled chronologically (which is unavoidable in a forum format), I've taken the liberty of trying to thread it all together into a single narrative. Let me know if I've misinterpreted or left out anything!

here's what's happened!

Thema took up her lute and set off in search of a muse for her next song.

Blin set off on his glider toward town, narrowly missing a passenger cable car on the way. He delivered milk to Eli at the preschool, then set off again to a secluded little island where he could rest and catch up on his daydreams before the day's work. After only a few minutes he was energized and inspired, and he set off immediately for Lee's shop to begin his rounds.

Lee was sitting outside, singing and working on embroidery, when Blin arrived. She provided him with the paints that Kelari had asked for, and in turn asked if Blin would bring her blue thread. With a promise, Blin set off again to deliver the paints to Kelari's tattoo parlor. Lee went back inside the shop to put away some gems, and heard a commotion outside.

Gaius had caught Forrest stealing candy again, and was making quite a scene in the street. Forrest, in turn, did his best to antagonize the knight as much as possible.

Meanwhile, Eli took up his glider and set off toward the market -- only to realize he had forgotten his glasses. Ahead, Nikki was already circling in the air, watching the exchange between the knight and the thief. She had a front-row view of the scene when Eli -- half-blind -- glided far too close to the street, and would have clipped Gaius if the knight hadn't dropped to all fours; Eli swooped off with a wave of apology. Forrest took this opportunity to make a break for it and sprinted for the library, where Blin had just landed to pick up books for the school.

Gaius got to his feet and began to make his way toward the palace for a scheduled meeting with the king, greeting Lee as he passed by. He caught up to Blank, who was walking in the same direction. Nikki swooped low and landed in front of them with a proposition for Blank: sneak into the palace! Gaius advised against this, and instead offered to introduce them legitimately. Nikki, not at all thrilled by this idea, raced off toward the castle with Blank rushing after her.

Meanwhile, Eli made it safely to Rahna's apothecary shop. Rahna was quick to take up her glider, and the two set off at a race toward one of the smaller islands.

Lee finished work for the morning and went out into the market for food for her family. On her way back she paid a visit to Kelari's parlor.

Sera, low on spoils from looting the ruins, sold off her last good treasure at the market. She bought a sweet pie and sat near the marketplace to eat.

Tivo glided into the market from the ruins, dressed in his pajamas, and found Thema as the bard was walking through the street in search of a muse.