Mortarion

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

I'm still here as well, my apologies for the silence as of late

Mass Effect: Borealis

Khosin spent most of the week and a half worth of travel time that it took the Riggers to get to Lafayette Station in a state that wavered between unease and calmness. On one hand he knew what his job entailed, act as a distraction for the rest of the crew while on the station, and that knowledge helped to ease his nerves when his thoughts inevitably turned towards the mission, the fact that -as a Batarian in a, mostly, human-populated station- he was absolutely certain he could easily create a distraction also helped to smooth over the small anxiety he felt towards the mission. On the other hand, the fact that there wasn't much that he could do certainly helped to left him feeling anxious when he thought about the coming mission. He didn't have the technical know-how to help Dex and Serena with the matter of the crew's security, nor could he help Haze with plotting a course through the station since his knowledge when it came to human settlements was limited to planetside settlements and, even if there wasn't much difference between the layout of a space station and a regular city, how to use the terrain to prepare ambushes to either kill or capture people or where to strike to cause the maximum amount of damage or panic, and he doubted that kind of knowledge would be of any use to Haze when planning a route through the station. Not to mention he didn't want to wind up in a situation where the Turian scout would ask him where, or how, he came by that knowledge.

As such he spent most of the trip training or checking on the engine of the Borealis once in a while, occasionally performing some light maintenance on the old machine. As such it was almost a relief for the Batarian when they arrived, that is until he remembered that they'd have to go through a security checkpoint before entering the station proper. Donning regular civilian clothes, Khosin made his way out of the Borealis and towards the security checkpoint shortly after Vellios, Dex, and Haze had done so.

Arriving at the entrance leading towards the security checkpoint Khosin took a deep breath as he stared at the doors that led towards the security station "Relax Khosin, it's just like going through C-sec customs back on the Citadel." He told himself in an effort to relax, even though he knew that the present situation was nothing alike going through the usual screening on the Citadel "At the very least I can get lucky and get an Asari or a Salarian officer." He thought humorlessly, knowing that the people manning the security station would most likely be humans and that the recent Skyllian Blitz would make the whole thing less than pleasant "Though, given how everyone thinks of us Batarians nowadays, I'd probably get shit from just about anybody nowadays and with good reason to boot." He mused, shaking his head slightly.

Letting out the breath he had been holding, Khosin took the few steps that remained between himself and the door. Once the door opened Khosin immediately crossed the door's threshold and almost instantaneously felt the room's mood tense when the guards took notice of him. "Step to the middle of the room." He heard one of the approaching guards say, shoving him slightly towards the center of the room. Letting out an exasperated sigh, and once he had regained his footing after the push, Khosin made his way towards the spot that he had been pushed.

"Alright, stay in the middle of the room while we scan you. You better have nothing hidden on your person, furthermore you are required to answer any and all questions that we might ask you before you are allowed entrance into the residential areas of Lafayette Station understand?" Spoke the guard with barely concealed contempt, Khosin's reaction being a mere affirmative nod.

"Alright, first question, full name, birthplace, and current residence."

"Grothan Had'serah, born on Vana and currently living on Omega." Said Khosin, hoping that the fake IDs that Dex had made for the crew would fool the guards if they tried to confirm what he had told them. "Alright, luckily for you, everything seems to be in order." Grumbled the guard in annoyance. However just as Khosin was relaxing and everything seemed to be going fine the scanner began beeping loudly, having detected something.

Before the Batarian could open his mouth every guard, with the exception of one who was manning the scanner in a nearby booth, had their guns trained on him. He could see that the guards were itchy for any excuse to hurt him, preferably something that permitted them to put a bullet in his head without getting into too much trouble. "Well, well, what do we have here, according to our scanner you have a Gemini Bio-Amp tucked in that head of yours." Said the guard manning the booth, a revelation that caused the rest of the guards to put their fingers on the trigger of their weapons.

"Why are you here you four-eyed freak, the rest of your slaving friends send you out to scout Lafayette huh? Maybe they expected you to disable our security systems so that they could collar us while we sleep, right?" Asked another guard, his voice tense as he spoke. "That's the reason why I came, got in a fight on Omega when some people tried to enter my house there. Got quite a beating and while the bruises have healed I was a little afraid that might implant might have gotten rattled, I don't trust the doctors on Omega, they would be as likely to cut open my skull to get the implant as they are to help me, and I had heard good things about Lafayette's doctors so I came here." Spoke Khosin, coming up with the lie on the spot. It was a safe lie as crimes were a near-constant on Omega and the lack of a proper government, unless one considered Aria's control over the station a sort of 'government', meant that there was no way for them to find out that he was lying.

The guards seemed to relax, for a given value of the word, after Khosin was done spinning his little story, but he still noticed that more than a few gun barrels were discreetly pointed towards him, or at least it would have been if not for the fact that as a Batarian he had four eyes and catching up little details like those was a relatively easy thing for his kind to do or at least it was for those that ended up working as either smugglers or mercenaries. The scan, and the question, continued for what felt like an hour, but eventually Khosin was told to exit the security checkpoint into the station proper, but not without one last warning that at the first sing of trouble they'd 'eject his slaving ass from the nearest waste disposal system' as one of the guards put it.

With the security checkpoint behind him Khosin breathed out in relief. "Finally out of that damned place." He thought with exasperation, checking the Rigger's comm channel and listening to the message that Dex had spoken. "I'm inside Lafayette, sorry for the radio silence I thought it'd be best to turn my omni-tool off before entering the security checkpoint." He explained "One thing, my Bio-Amp got picked up by whatever scanner they are using...not sure if they'll raise a fuss for you guys like they did with me, but I thought it'd be best to warn you. Regardless, I'm on standby if any of you guys need a distraction." Said Khosin before promptly closing his omni-tool and making his way towards the clinic that they were taking Drono to, the people of Lafayette turning to look at Khosin as he walked through the streets of the space station.

Into The Dark: Harbingers of Ruin

And me and @POOHEAD189's collab is up.

Into The Dark: Harbingers of Ruin

Talos looked up at the feeling of eyes bearing on him, his eyes locking with the Praelian’s before she walked away from him. He briefly followed the figure of the woman as she made her way towards the fortune teller, his brows knitting together in a frown as he watched the woman for a few brief seconds before turning his gaze away. “Why was she looking so intently at me….something seems shifty.” Thought the knight to himself before shaking his head slightly “Ah, probably overthinking it.” He thought to himself, but the uneasy feeling that had settled in his mind wouldn’t go away no matter how much he tried to convince himself he was overthinking things.

With a last sigh Talos stood up from the log that he had been using as a makeshift seat since his arrival to the cairn. Scanning the plateau with his eyes Talos couldn’t help but draw his eyes towards the fortuneteller and the hooded woman that had locked eyes with him, debating with himself whether or not to talk with the Praelian woman when he noticed a second woman -another traveller he guessed based on the clothes she wore- approaching the fortuneteller’s stand. Deciding that it’d draw undue attention to go and interrogate the hooded woman, the knight settled his eyes on the trio of Darkslayers that gathered on the cairn and began making his way towards them. “Hail fellow travellers.” He addressed the trio of monster slayers once he was close enough to them, he didn’t exactly trust the trio -after all part of the Order of the Dusk- but he had heard plenty enough to know that his and their order had enough in common for him to approach them (at the very least to get info regarding any sights of Fey monsters). “Might I ask you what brings you to the Northern Marches? Perhaps looking for one of the damnable Fey monsters?” He prodded with his question, weighing the kind of answer they’d give to him to know if he’d try and strike a proper conversation in hopes of gaining any tidbit of knowledge in regards to his elusive prey.

The three Darkslayers turned to regard the heavily armored Knight. They weighed him with their dark gazes for a moment, and then looked to one another. The group was varied in most ways one could image. The taller one was scarred, with his hair pulled back. There was a short, stocky slayer as well next to him, a tad older. In the center was a slim and grim woman. All of them wore dark colors over lightly wrought chainmail.
“Heard nothing yet,” the tall one said, his voice gravelly. “Or nothing on fey. But there is a Troll needs slaying north east of here. First we’ll hit the town. Why? Have you heard tale of something in particular?”

Talos crossed his arms over his chest as the Darkslayers turned to regard him, seemingly weighing him with their gazes, for a moment, the expression on his face hidden behind his helmet. He took a moment to inspect the monster-slayers as they did the same to him, slightly surprised to find a women amongst them, having not picked out that particular detail from when he had first noticed the presence of the Darkslayers upon his arrival at the cairn, but not particularly bothered by the fact. He had, after all, seen plenty of women picking up a blade from the corpse of an unlucky sod, sometimes that particular sod being a family member or a loved one, when it came to defend those they cherished, though such instances were far from common. “Hmmm, a troll you say?” He echoed when the Darkslayer, the tall one, responded to his query before posing one to him “Hmmm, not recently if I am to be honest.” Replied the Knight to the trio of slayers “See, when I was a squire, me and a group of other would-be-knights were tasked by a baron named Daubeney to patrol the village and areas to which he claimed lordship over.” He explained, hoping that giving the trio of monster slayers his story might help him get some info “During our time there we ran into a Fey witch who was responsible for a number of troubles in the region, which happened to share a border with these same marshes.” Continued the Templar “And I was hoping that, by the grace of the gods, I might be able to pick the trail of the witch, whom we were only able to drive away and not fully slay.” Finished Talos, an idea blossoming in his mind as he recalled the events that had so fundamentally changed his life “Say, you did mention that there was a Troll that needed slaying north of here, no? Pray, tell me, is this the first such incident that you have heard about in the nearby area, or have there been more incidents of the sort? Either in regards to monsters or any sort of increase in criminal activity in the area?” He asked, trying to keep his voice calm but there was an unmistakable air of tension around Talos (and which might have crept somewhat into his voice). The point of his question was less interest in the activities of monsters or criminals, indeed he cared very little and had next to no interest in the activities of the latter, but more in seeing if the same pattern that had presented itself in Daubeney’s lands could be repeating in the marshes. It was a flimsy hope admittedly, but it was the only one that Talos had at the moment.

The taller Dark Slayer answered. “The Marches are filled with such beasts, though many slumber or remain in the hills and mountains, or deep forests. We have just arrived, so I am not certain.”
“Aye,” the woman replied. The stouter, older hunter sharpened his knife as the others spoke, merely watching the conversation, and the crowd about them.

“The forests west and north of here are known for their Fey spirits,” the woman said, hands on her hips. “Perhaps you’ll find what you seek there, though it’s quite a bit of land to be searching through.”
“Not to mention the beasts and Orcs,” the taller one continued. “Good hunting for the right price, I’d say. But for you, you might need to find something to help point you in the right direction.”

Talos listened as the taller member of the trio of slayers answered his question, nodding silently when the man answered that the Marches were filled with such beasts but that many of them were inactive and spent their time slumbering on the nearby hills and mountains. It was disheartening, if not unexpected, piece of information, but the fact that the trio of Dark Slayers had just arrived, and this hadn’t had much time to obtain information about the activity of the monsters in the zone, gave him a glimmer of hope that he might yet be able to find his prey or, failing that, some information regarding it’s whereabouts. He turned to look at the woman as she spoke, maintaining his silence until she was done speaking “Yes, that is very true.” He said, nodding once more in agreement with the woman of the group, about to speak once more when the tall Dark Slayers continued speaking.

“As much as it pains me to admit it, you are right.” Said Talos with a defeatist sigh “Without a group or someone to point me in the right direction I’d die of old age before finding my quarry if I searched this lands by my own means, even if I looked out for the same pattern that led to my encounter with the Fey Witch in the first place.” He said, shaking his head slightly “Nonetheless, I thank you for the advice you have provided to me.” Said the knight “It’s best that I accept my inability to accomplish this mission on my own before starting it rather than while lost in the middle of the marshes.” He said, his shoulder slumping slightly as he pondered what to do next.

“Knight,” the tall one replied. He reached into his pack, and produced a pendant made of rabbit fur and obsidian, on a leather thong necklace. He tossed it to him. “For good luck.”

Talos looked up when he heard one of the Darkslayers, the tall one if he recognized the voice correctly, address him. He was somewhat confused when he saw the tall Darkslayer reach into his pack, his hand instinctively reaching up to catch whatever it was that the monster slayer had tossed at him. Turning his hand towards his face so he could take a good look at whatever it was that the Darkslayer had handed him Talos’s eyes widened in shock when he finally recognized the object: it was a pendant designed to protect the wearer against Fey WItches, they were also supposed to react in some sort of way to the nearby presence of witches as well. Talos had heard of the pendant’s existence, and of their properties, during his training as a member of the Order of the Dusk but had never expected to ever find one.

“My thanks for this gift Darkslayer, I hope that you find whatever it is that brought you to the Northern Marches and that you succeed in your endeavor.” Said the Knight as he closed his hands once more around the pendant, bidding farewell to the trio of monster slayers one last time before he returned to his previous spot in the Cairn near the smithy.

Mass Effect: Borealis

Allow me to dust off this ooc thing here. Has everyone survived their finals?

@DearTrickster

Still haven't gotten to them, but they'll be here soon _{Help me, I'm scared D:}

Into The Dark: Harbingers of Ruin

Got ya man

Into The Dark: Harbingers of Ruin

And my post is up, hope it's good! And sorry for the long wait.

Into The Dark: Harbingers of Ruin

Among the many figures making their way towards Umber’s Cairn one of them stood out in particular among the throng of travellers that made their way towards the plateau that overlooked the Northern Marches. This traveller, who stood out from amongst the rest of the people making their way towards the cairn, was a knight or, more precisely, one of the Templars from the Order of the Dusk, a fact that was readily apparent ue to the dark indigo tabard that the lone knight wore over the chest piece of his armor. Yet it was evident that the templar had been on the road for a long time, something that was evident by the dried mud stains that one could spot on the tabard alongside with quite a few places where it was clear the tabard had been teared and which had been subsequently sewn again.

No one knew what had driven the mysterious knight to make the trip towards Umber’s Cairn and, by extension, the Northern Marches. Indeed the knight spoke very little towards the troupe of travellers with which he had arrived to the path leading to the cairn, only speaking when it was absolutely necessary or when he had to request something directly from another member of the group, and so far no one had the courage to ask the knight any more details past his name: Talos Valcoran. As such, most of the group had eventually started ignoring the templar and barely anyone noticed when the knight suddenly stopped on his way upwards towards the cairn.

---

Talos had stopped making his way towards the plateau when a familiar sight had suddenly appeared: there on the distance he could barely make out the outline of the Dragonback Mountains. While it was difficult to recognize the distant mountains, their sight was one that Talos was all too familiar with due to the time he had spent serving Lord Daubeney in an effort to be knighted. Anger and bitterness surged in equal measures in his spirit as the memories of the time he had spent on the accursed lands that Daubeney lorded over, memories of joy and triumph as he recalled the victories he and his fellow would-be-knights had shared over a decade ago. Yet the sight also dredged painful memories from the depths of Talos’s mind, briefly passing before his very eyes: he remembered himself and his fellow squires chasing a beast in the direction of the Dragonback mountains, their discovery of the lair of the Fey Witch and the gruesome encounter with the witch.

Raising a, unknown to him, shaking hand Talos touched the spot under his breastplate where he knew that the pendant he wore was located. Taking a deep breath Talos calmed himself down, his hands looking around the path towards the cairn to see if anyone had noticed his small outburst only to notice that -instinctively- his free hand had reached for the hilt of his valdium blade. Breathing deeply once more, Talos let go of the hilt of his sword and turned his gaze towards the outline of the Dragonback mountains once more “I swear I’ll avenge you my brothers, even if it’s the last thing I do.” Talos swore to himself under his breath before giving a small nod in the general direction where the mountain was, a small gesture of remembrance towards the memory of his dead comrades.

With his emotions back under control Talos resumed his trek towards Umber’s Cairn with a renewed sense of purpose, quickly reaching the clearing. “I swear I’ll avenge us all.” He thought to himself bitterly as he gently set down the rucksack that he carried with himself, settling down on a log that was near the smithy located in the northern part of the cairn.

Into The Dark: Harbingers of Ruin

I'm liking everyone so far, honestly. But totes, Roze makez the coolest characters.

@POOHEAD189

True, true. Looking towards to see how everyone interacts with each other, that's bound to be interesting.

Into The Dark: Harbingers of Ruin

@MiddleEarthRoze Hahaha, looking forward to seeing what you write about him!

Can't wait for this RP to get in full swing now!