Mokley

The Zephyr Extinct

Just checking before I post -- @Grey Omen do you want to throw in a response? 👍🏼

The Zephyr Extinct

Woohoooo!!! Just an idea, for future situations where you feel like you need permission to go through with an action that affects another character, you guys could totally hash it out in the OOC! :)

The Zephyr Extinct

"Y'know," Listener commented. "Fluke, you really need to step up your smack talk game. Unless you're trying to be cute. It's okay though, I'll play with good ol' Ruski. You can keep up your color commentary. You're great at it."

@drewccapp

"Oh, I'm adorable, but it's nothing to do with smack." Fluke laid back on top of the weapons chest, bouncing a leg on his knee, twiddling with the controls of the drone. "Make sure you don't catch ol' Ruski's crazy, I'm not liable for your work-related accidents, whatever happens."

On the steps overlooking the market, Ruskali sat with his arms on his knees, his head bowed, rocking back and forth and muttering to himself between intermittent sobs. His coarse hands clenched and released, he breathed in the sugary-sour smells that wafted over the colorful crowd, and he pushed himself to his feet.

With a sag of his shoulders, Ruskali quietly descended the stairs. He kept his unfocused eyes on his feet, mumbling incomprehensibly, and somehow still managed not to bump into anyone on his way toward the main street, the long way home.

As he trudged closer to Listener, the smell became pungent. Ruskali reeked of body odor, but also a powerful stench of sage and cinnamon, as if he'd bathed in incense. This, too, ensured that the crowd gave him a wide berth as he walked.

"I try, they don't listen," he murmured. "No one hears. I'm sorry, my dear, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." He stopped when he caught a glimpse of Listener's mask and he peered sharply at her, his grizzled beard pulled in a frown. He studied her a moment, shifting back and forth on his feet. "You have a mark on you," he told her factually, as if he were reading words that were written on her forehead. "The witch lies. You will die in three days."

"I've got eyes on the Nox," Cedar said, the tension in his voice subtly suppressed. "It's going for an armadillo, so I'm going to take a jab. I'm... not sure if I'll need backup or if Ruskali has anymore around, though." ... Cedar readied himself, gripping his weapon hard, then jabbed forward with the spear head of his weapon, trying to intercept the Nox on its path towards the armadillo while also keeping his distance.

@Grey Omen

"Okay, well, you take a jab, Ced, I'm sure the Nox will sit 'n wait for ya to finish explaining what yer gonna do before you do it. They're friendly like that." Fluke grinned toothily while the drone whirred round and round like a halo over Cedar's head, which did absolutely nothing to help.

The spear sliced the air directly in the Nox's path-- a clean hit! --but Cedar's blade passed right through with only a shimmer of light to show for it. The Nox, however, noticed: It twisted and writhed like a smear of black paint, then wrapped itself around Cedar's spear, lunged along the shaft and swallowed Cedar's hand in jagged jaws.

Nothing pierced Cedar's skin-- the Nox had no real teeth to bite with --but immediately his hand would feel frozen and numb. His fingers rapidly turned blue and purple, as if his hand were submerged in ice water.

"Heads up!" Remembering Archer's warning about bright lights, she narrowed her eyes and pressed the trigger. An energy bullet illuminated the space like lightning as it shot past the Nox, denting the wall instead.

@LuckyBlackCat

The bullet ricocheted and exploded in a burst of white-bright light that blinded the alley (and Cedar, too, if he failed to close his eyes at Rose's warning). With a high-pitched screech, the Nox let go of Cedar's hand and flung through the air, away from the light--

--and smacked like putty into Rose's mask.

The Nox immediately wrapped itself around Rose's head and clung to her mask like black oily taffy, shifting and writhing and hissing while it blocked the holes in her mask, rendering her not only unable to see but with a finite amount of air to breathe inside the mask.

The Nox clung to Rose like a cat clinging to its mother, glaring in Cedar's direction as if he were responsible for the bright scary flash of light.

"Rose, it seems like you and Cedar are having fun on the ground! Good for you guys, but I went through a lot of trouble to get up here, and I'm gonna need a few minutes to catch my breath. Meantime, I have eyes on Ruskali. I'm gonna divert to keep an eye on him. If he looks like he's getting too close to home I'll body block him, he doesn't look like much."

@Plank Sinatra

From her perch high above, Iris could see everything: Ruskali's confrontation with Listener. Rose and Cedar messing with a Nox in a narrow alley. Fluke wiggling his feet in the air while he mashed buttons on his controller. The ebb and flow of the clueless crowd that moved and flowed like the tide, full of every color of the rainbow, guided by roots and leaves.

And she could see the source of the sickly blue smoke: an oil barrel burned atop an abandoned building whose windows had long ago burst with twisting trunks and scrapes of ragged branches. The roof was cracked from the pressure of the roots beneath; the thin leafless branches (possibly dead) clattered in the breeze, stuck like pins high above the rooftop. The building had been abandoned for years at least.

But beside the blue-burning barrel stood a figure shrouded in a heavy wrap of orange cloth. The unidentified person's face was hidden deep inside the bright hood, another wrap of cloth held tight around their nose and mouth against the stench of the smoke.

The hooded figure raised their head and looked directly at Iris with bright, glowing blue eyes.

From her perch, if she looked close enough at the distant sky beyond the mountain, Iris might see a strange dark, shimmering cloud shifting like starlings in the sky.

Slowly, it was coming closer.

The Zephyr Extinct

Aw man but I am SO intrigued to read your short story!!

The Zephyr Extinct

Holy .... it's been almost a MONTH since the last mod post?! How did that slip. Guys, it has been the weirdest few weeks of my life no joke. I can't remember an hour ago.

I swear I am checking this all the time and thinking of where to go from here, and also giving you more adventure and mystery to delve into. Last call in case anyone wants to post in response to another PC or add anything to your post, or if you just need an answer from me in order to write more I would be happy to help! 💚

The Zephyr Extinct

You guys!! All of you!! Please take care and be well and get lots of sleep and water and sustenance! HUGS!!!

The Zephyr Extinct

I am so, so sorry for your loss! Please take care of yourself, I hope you and your family find peace soon. All the hugs!!

The Zephyr Extinct

Ok, post is up! It looks like Fluke's mission now is to get everyone as angry as possible while remaining utterly useless, himself.

The Zephyr Extinct

"Alright, guys I'm almost there. Is it really as bad as was said?"

@drewccapp

"Worse, yep!" Fluke chirped with a savage grin that they could all somehow hear. "Way worse. why's it taking so long for you to get to the alley? Cedar's been there for hours now. You got a wooden leg? Maybe you're gonna let us do all the dirty work and take the credit."

He said this while he sat safely upon Archer's weapon chest, navigating the drone as if it were a video game.

What happened to getting at the place from both sides? Is the plan changed? Sounds like the plan changed. Was there a plan? Someone tell me the plan! Unless I'm making the plan, in which case let's set it all on fire, yeah?"

"If you need us," she reassured him in her usual chirp, "we're not far behind, just let us know!"

@LuckyBlackCat

"Hey, how about a little reconnaissance, ah?" Fluke hollered, swinging his feet in the air. "Looks like Ruskali's kinda fed up with yelling at everybody right now, he might head home and he can't do that until we're done. Or else maybe he knows something he hasn't shouted to everyone in a ten-mile radius. Or help Listener with her wooden leg! Where'd Iris go?! She got eaten I bet. All ten feet of her. Whoever's backing up Cedar better get your guns out. Who's going around the other way?!"

"Fluke - if the path ahead looks safe enough, can the drone pass over and check behind me? I can find my way through the alley, but I don't want to end up caught here. I think I saw something and I think we should play it safe, y'know?"

@Grey Omen

"You're all alone, Cedar," said Fluke. "Except for that Nox behind ya. It's a juicy one-- oh, nope, there it went. That's not your shadow, Ced."

A flickering darkness scraped the wall beside Cedar, shaped vaguely like his shoulders and limbs but just wrong enough to catch the eye.

The shadow opened bright white eyes. Jagged teeth sharpened on the brick wall.

Meanwhile, the armadillo had found something buried beneath the soil in the alley: a shine of a silver bracelet, still attached to a wrist, buried just below the dirt.

The Nox, with a skittering hiss, lunged at the armadillo.

game notes

Whoever wants to take a whack at the Nox, we don't need to RP through a play-by-play. This thing is like a darting, flitting wisp of black smoke, but it won't attack you directly because of your masks. It will, however, attempt to possess the armadillo. If it does, then you have a mean bug-rodent on your hands.

The Zephyr Extinct

@Plank Sinatra AAAAAAA congrats on finishing finals week!!!!!! 🎉 No sweat, we're here and hangin' out! And having time is definitely amazing!

Cheers!!