POOHEAD189

The Deposed Dilemma

Berek hoped the smoke hid his face when she asked about servants. She was serious... He shook his head, more to keep his senses in tact than to say no to her, though he didn't stay silent. "Nope. Just me." He told her, somewhat amused and confused at the same time. Even Queens did some things for themselves, didn't they? He'd offered to help her with whatever she needed, but he had things to do.

"I'd have an apprentice if I could afford one. But so far I've been too busy to look, unless you want to learn some smithing." He joked, and once the furnace was hot, he placed the metal down to begin reshaping it. He breathed in, his considerable chest enlarging as he stretched, before he began working the metal with his hammer.

"Something on your mind? You can grab a chair and talk if you want. Or sit on the cot. I'll be here for awhile. I have until lunch to finish two more contracts. At least with the metal working..." As he spoke, he lifted the metal up and eyed it, making sure he hadn't accidentally bent it too awkwardly with his strength.

Grim Galaxy: Shots and Chances

Neil's ears uncomfortably popped due to the depressurization, causing him to open his mouth wide and bite as if he was chewing gum like he'd been taught back on his homeworld. Once they made it inside the facility proper, he switched on the lights mounted atop his small head piece. It was a far more civilian and less bulky version of what Sayeeda wore, more of something to keep his rebreather hugging his mouth. But the small flashlight helped, and if he needed he could put on infrared/ultraviolet goggles with a mere switch.

He headed into the ghostly decontamination room, pistol out and ready. The feeds of the monitors buzzed ominously, but other than that and the lack of light, it looked like there'd been quite the party in here. Drugs and packs had been tossed away, a table was overturned as well, but no sign of anyone. No passed out personnel, or even a corpse to set any kind of scene. It was as if they disappeared. "Well, they might have heard about the anomaly and decided to head out before the RIP was impossible to traverse..."

He watched the exits while Sayeeda checked the feeds, and something had his intuition piqued. He didn't exactly know what, but he slowly placed his handgun back in the holster, and deployed his personal flamer weapon, revving it up just in case. Thankfully, nothing had happened so far.

“They kept an outpost here, however… sloppily, something is up and it looks like it started just before the anomaly was detected.” Sayeeda said. Neil raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, I don't think we'll actually find anything here, but...might as well get Cho-Lan's money's worth."

Neil peered through the hatch's window, gazing into the darkness of the hallway that lay before them. It looked like there was nothing amiss, even with his limited field of vision. He checked to see when Sayeeda was ready, and then opened the blastdoor to reveal the hallway fully. His flashlight shining into the deep of the lightless corridor, he squinted. Shaking his head, he could have sworn he saw a face when he shined his light on the right corner, but it was suddenly gone when he looked back.

"Did you just see that?" Neil asked Sayeeda.

"See what?" Sayeeda replied, gun trained on any movement she might find. Neil shook his head. "Probably nothing." The pilot shrugged, and they moved out. Boots padded on the floor as they moved, and the next facility they encountered had various side rooms covered in glassteel, with stretchers and beds set up to house whatever patients happened to be sick from all of the vices they happened to do way out on the fringe of the system. Tools and blood samples were splayed across tables unceremoniously.

"Well this looks deserted too." Neil said, making sure the left of the hall was covered why Sayeeda had the right in her sights. Flamer glowing hot, Neil was about to turn it down when he heard a scream that he'd never imagined would come out of Sayeeda mouth. And a wet thump hit the ground. Neil spun, to see Sayeeda's left shoulder covered in some sort of liquid that clung to her skin. The pilot's light drank up what had hit her what was now on the ground.

It was the face.

A body twisted and corrupted, its back broken by what looked to be savage convulsions, and tear marks were through the man's torso. He wore the tattered remains of a lab coat. His left arm was shattered, and his eyes stared blankly at Neil, just as they had the split second he had seen it not 10 minutes ago. Neil's mind began to work, and he gazed upward to reveal slime dribbling down from the ceiling, mixing with the crimson blood of the broken form that lay on the floor.

"I saw this guy back in the room, in the hall. But...I don't think he was alive then either."
@Penny

Underrated and Overrated Video Games

Anyone here played Divinity 2 yet? I just started last night with a few friends.

Underrated and Overrated Video Games

<Snipped quote by POOHEAD189>

Here's the grand secret about video game discussion on the internet: It's always two sides dick slapping about opinions as fact. You were there in the Skyrim thread, dude.

@Fabricant451

True! But I bailed.

<Snipped quote by POOHEAD189>

Is this coming from Penny's online Husbando?

In the immortal words of Fabricant:

Do you want to be the Pot or the Kettle?

@Dynamo Frokane

I was just seeing a pattern with how you were trolling prawn for your meme arguments :P

Underrated and Overrated Video Games

@Dynamo Frokane They have articles to back up what they say. Trump articles, granted. But still. This is going into "this combat sucks" "um no you're wrong. the combat is good." "Um no, it's bad."

@Prawn Don't take Dynamo personal. He's doesn't like people taking away a girl's attention from him.

Underrated and Overrated Video Games

I've sat here for an hour and I've never seen two people go "you're factually wrong because my opinion" more than this.

The Deposed Dilemma

Berek wasn't tired yet. Long years spent at the forge with his heavy hammer meaning he had endurance most men didn't. But it was always a good idea to pace yourself. He'd take a lunch in a few hours. The smith still had plenty to do though.

He was nearly done with this arming sword, other than sharpening it. He'd forgotten the leather and materials for the hilt and crossguard, dang it. But he'd go back in town in a day or two. Firs thing's first, he'd forge the blades. Over 16 contracts for the next three weeks and likely more people coming to ask for more, he was as busy as ever.

After he was done shaping the arming sword, he set it down in the pile of products that needed to be sharpened, and he was just about to grab what he'd make into an axeblade when he turned and saw Ferona standing there, one fist closed and her eyes on Humphrey.

"Oh, I see you're up." He said to her, lightly and cordially. Hopefully she'd be in a better mood today. Then again, last night might be how she always is. "Have a good sleep? Hope the food was good." As he spoke, he began to smelt the bit of iron he'd need to make the axe head, smoke blooming from above the house as his powerful arms turned the pump.

Dragon Age: Oathbreaker

Garlenn's raised brow was priceless at the cutting remark from Ovra. He barked a laugh, his next words probably facetious. "I love it when a woman takes charge!" he replied, and ran ahead with Ovra to cover the fallen mage, keeping one of his throwing knives in his hands just in case. He would check the downed rider for valuables on his own, but the others might not be appreciative of that. Plus it could complicate things with a reward, after all.

He sighed, cracking his neck and getting ready to get his game face on for what he knew would inevitably end in bloodshed. It always did after all. "Thinking of talking the Imperium out of killing someone is like keeping a Fereldan from owning a dog. You might halt it for a moment, but eventually their urge'll override their good sense and do it anyway."

The riders were drawing closer now, horses neighing and stamping along the somewhat uneven ground. The weather made it seem like they were harbingers of doom approaching to collect their souls.

The sweating images of the men now closing on them gave them a bit less of an intimidating impression, even if they were armed to the teeth with magics to be wrought. "Rough weather to be out riding, eh?" Garlenn called, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Might want to head back inside where it's safe. We'll help your friend."

To anyone who wasn't a fool, the threat and implication was quite clear, even masked with a thin veil of congenial greeting.

The Deposed Dilemma

The medicine was foul tasting, but she'd find she would feel a tad stronger the next day. The bed he had was large and comfortable, but still a bit lumpy so it wouldn't be something she would be used to. Berek had taken the cot in his workshop, while she had his small room with a table and two chairs, along with a single window the moonlight could spill in from if the curtains were not drawn.

That night would be relatively quiet save the occasional howl of a distant wolf, and the faint braying of what must be the donkey Berek mentioned earlier, though these were few and far between and it would be easy to find sleep in the thick blankets of his bed.

It would be early the next day Berek would awaken, cooking a hearty breakfast for two with eggs and bacon, along with pitchers of water. Though when Ferona would awaken, she would already hear the clanging of hammer on metal as Berek shaped and tempered a long piece of steel that he had already smelted the previous day in his bloomery.

Berek wore his usual trousers and his linen shirt that clung to his powerful frame like a glove, his apron on as well. The billowing flames of the furnace heated the room comfortably, though if one got too close it could get intensely hot. Humphrey sat between the Kitchen and the smithy/workshop, panting from the heat but also quite enjoying it, so used to the usual noises by now.

Underrated and Overrated Video Games

@Fabricant451@Dynamo Frokane