POOHEAD189

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

I'm not any kind of expert but I have heard/read multiple reports that Cyber terrorism will be the next huge problem most 1st world nations will face.

Grim Galaxy: Shots and Chances

The water was a welcome shock to Neil's senses. It was cold enough to grip him for a moment, but he was also quite hot and realized that was probably why he felt such a contrast in temperature. He was more than glad light filtered through into the first section of the aqueduct, and followed Junebug as her light led the way. Oddly enough, the stone on their feet was well carved. Most of the roads above were made of dirt, but even such a basic structure as this was a very different style of architecture.

"You know when we get out of here, first thing I plan on doing is taking a long ass nap." he said. "Right after a good shower and some nice steak."

He didn't give the impression of complaining, more like daydreaming. Despite how rough the day had been, Neil was nothing if not energetic and upbeat. He remained in the rear to protect Taya, the girl shivering from the cold and probably the dark. Neil placed a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped with a squeak. "Hey, hey it's ok." He chuckled, giving her a wink. "Sorry, I just..." she began, at a loss for words about the last few days. Neil then felt a hand on his shoulder, and it was his turn to jump, only for him to find the fearful beauty gazing at him, her eyes big and dark.

"Just uh...stick close." He said. She obviously understood nothing that he said, but his soothing meaning was caught by her and she did, one hand perpetually tugging at his necklace lightly while he held his gun out. He was attracted to her but Gods, they needed to make it out of here first. He made sure to listen out for any splashes of pursuit, but for once they were lucky. At least in them escaping quietly. However the tunnel was long, and water made trudging a whole lot harder.

The section they stopped at was a...dead end. Sayeeda's gunlight illuminated nothing but stone wall, though on second inspection she saw the pool before the wall had no discernible floor. The woman at Neil's side babbled something incoherent, but after a moment Junebug explained that they had to swim before they made it out. The hesitation of the crew was palpable, and so the woman offered to go first Neil suspected, as she gripped Neil's arm tighter before making her way to the fore and diving in.

Neil shrugged, and told Taya to stay near Junebug's light as they all took a breath and followed a moment later.
@Penny

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

*Tosses this in the thread and awaits denial*

The Sorceress and the Slave

Rhaak wrapped his mouth with a cloth as the dust billowed, for the ancient air was already stuffy from centuries of little to not filter. He and Amira made it out of the falling stone alive, with Ma'kum holding the Khopesh menacingly only to have it lower to the floor as he gaped at the scene that now unfolded before them. For at the end of the hall was not a dark dead end, but a drop. An entrance to a stone stairway that led to a gaping, vast cavern.

At the entrance, there was a small causeway. Thick enough for a mouse to slide down, and to Rhaak's amazement, he smelled oil within it. At Amira's order, he placed the torch upon it and a fire flared brilliantly, racing down and illuminating the vast cavern to reveal mounds of sand, with Wadjet statues of sheer gold standing guard. They were made of pure ore from the looks of it, and held no dangers other than perhaps a ceremonial gaudiness. Upon each of their brows were diamonds the size of Rhaak's fist, sparking enchantingly in the firelight.

At the end of the cavern looked to be another drop with no discernible end to its depth, though neither Rhaak or Amira had deigned to look as of yet.

Below the stone stairs was a depression in the ground, and to the mounting fear of the group, it looked to be an entire river of black adders. The hisses were even audible as high as they. The archway they stood at was framed by two statues of bronze, in the likeness of a man and a cloaked woman with 4 arms each.

"By Allah, what is this place?"

"The tomb of a witch!" Ma'kum cried, and Rhaak spun as the bandit had seemingly regained his wits and lunged at the Sorceress. Rhaak moved on instinct, blocking the Khopesh by his forearm and gripping Ma'kum's shirt, sending him sailing end over end to hit the stairs and roll down it hard, cursing with each bounce until he made it upon the dirt floor of the cavern, groaning. Rhaak picked up the Khopesh as Ma'kum groggily came to his feet.

As he dusted himself off, the mounds of sand behind him began to shift ominously. "I have been through raids and tombs, and now a sorceress and her thrall is all I have for company!?" He asked himself. Rhaak blinked, and even the hardened fighter was aghast as one of the mounds uncoiled to reveal itself as a truly enormous snake, its eyes fixed on Ma'kum. The sand slid off of its body like trickling rain.
@Penny

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

I think the 40k crew has pretty much every permutation of that universe covered.

@Penny

That's kind of why I never bothered before, to be honest.

Grim Galaxy: Shots and Chances

Neil was covered in dirt, tired, and still extremely woozy from the blow to the head. But he blinked rapidly, doing his best to gather himself up, comically confused at the sudden eruption of violence. He stood up to his full height as another volley of javelins flung above and past his head, seemingly oblivious to the danger. He placed a hand over his eyes as he gazed up at the ziggurat, squinting. "So what's happening?"

He was subsequently yanked by Junebug out of the field as the tribesmen charged through it, clashing against the forces of the other tribesmen. Neil's brow furrowed in confusion, before Sayeeda screaming for him to get in shape somehow brought a tingling from his palm, which somehow jolted his system and brought him back to focus. He parted from her and gave a steadying breath. "I uh..." he said, running a hand through his hair. "I can get our weapons and Taya." He told her. "I know how to duck and dodge my way through shit. You watch my back."

With that, the chaos of the warriors and the screaming non combatants on the stands would have daunted most anyone. But the crew of the Highlander were made of sterner stuff. Neil knocked aside a warrior's whose back was turned, and as Junebug finished him off, Neil held his palm up to distract another warrior before he took his javelin and ran him through. It was when they broke through the line that it was a bit less dangerous, though still confusing as all hell.

Neil leaped and vaulted up the stairs, yanking people off balance or out of the way and almost snake-like slipping through the crowd until he made it to the top with Junebug close behind, a few steps down. Wetumpkah had a nasty gash on his forehead, and the other Shamans seemed none the better. One of them was now dead, a dagger in his gut. Neil wasn't a political scientists, but this probably meant war so it was best to get the hell out of here.

"Neil!" Taya called. She was on the ground, her legs scraped as if she had been roughly shoved. Thankfully she wasn't hurt, or worse, kidnapped and violated like he suspected would be a captured woman's fate. He dove around the Shamans, banging his knee but finding his balance and stumbling over to Taya, helping her up. "Where's the guns?" he asked her, and she nodded at the items below the wooden seats the nobility used. Neil grabbed ahold of his pistol and tossed Junebug her sidearm. It was good timing, because he suddenly felt healthy and supple arms cling to him, and the assistant woman was probably begging him to save her.

"No no, he'll only kill you!" Neil yelled, as slowly as he could (like that would help her understand).

"You!" Wetumpkah cried, pointing at Neil above the brawl. "Starman! She is mine by right!"

"I don't claim anyone!" Neil cried, picking up Taya by sweeping her off her feet, not exactly having the means to keep the buxom assistant away from him as he leaped down the stairs. Somehow the assistant kept up as she made it down there, and Neil was wondering for the first time if she had been mistreated here with Wetumpkah.

Fuck it, not my call. I'm the pilot. Neil shot at a tribesman, the gunfire cracking so loudly a few of the tribesmen cried out in surprise and anguish.
@Penny

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

All this talk of Commissars makes me want to create a 40k RP...

The Sorceress and the Slave

Rhaak gave a nod to Mu'kam as the bandit regarded him. "You are of the fighting pits?" He asked suspiciously. Rhaak nodded once more, sitting down to rest as his master had bade him touch nothing. "My last master was Mal Jashe of Sharsaya. I fought and bled for his coin, until I came into my new master's service."

Ma'kum eyed Rhaak, having heard of a slave fighter of renown known as the 'Qabdat Alhajar.' He would have pondered this further, but there was an unknown quality to this place. A quality that spoke to his thieving nature. A quality that even went beyond his mortal desires. It was a calling; a yearning to learn of the ancient past of this place. Ma'kum's eyes glazed over, having fought against the urge for many minutes before succumbing.

"The scroll..." he heard in the deepest reaches of his mind, and his conscious mind agreed. If ancient secrets of magic truly were written upon it, he would make a fortune in the market's of Iz-Rayed.

What happened was as Amira feared, and at once they were trapped within the tombs.

Ma'kum shivered, gaining a clarity of what he had done. The bandit dropped the Papyrus Scroll and flinched back, gazing around sheepishly and in claustrophobic fear. Within the dark, bronze glinted as figures shifted in the gloom. Rhaak was on his feet, a scimitar in his hands as he stood protectively before Amira. Stone grinded upon stone, and Ma'kum turned about just in time to see the first mummy rise from the sarcophagus.

No, not a mummy. It was a guardian of the tomb. Its shoulders were broad and its body sculpted, an archiac lower robe was swept across its upper legs and hips, inlaid with gold. The Tomb Guardian was taller than Rhaak by a head. The bronze Khopesh swords were in its hands, and its head was the visage of a snarling Jackal. Baleful eyes met Amira, and then Rhaak, before settling upon Ma'kum. Three other Sarcophagi began to shift as the Anubis drooled and advanced.

Behind Ma'kum, the dias had fallen from the tomb's movements. Below it was a shaft, albeit a small one.
@Penny

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

Doctor's don't even bleed people with leeches anymore. Charlatans.

Grim Galaxy: Shots and Chances

The smell of sweat and blood nearly overpowered Neil's senses in the brawl, and though he was stronger than he looked, the men around him were combat trained and used to intense physical warfare. He felt like he was knocked about a bit too much, and was just lucky enough to not get anything more than a glancing blow as of yet, but that would change sooner rather than later if the ball didn't get free. So using his monkey-like dexterity, instead of attacking the men head on, he decided to duck under the melee and trip the tribesmen up as best he could until he paved a way toward the ball.

"Shit!" He cried when he saw a club aiming for him, and he dived downward. His head had escaped the club only to knock against the ball with a loud 'thunk.' To say he was light headed after the diving strike to his cranium was an understatement, but perhaps the Gods were watching, for the ball shot out and into the goal.

The next thing Neil knew were rough hands grabbing him, dragging his limp body out of the dying quagmire and into the light. The pilot had a welt on his head and a very ill favored, near unconscious look. But he was alive, and the cheers erupted for both he and Sayeeda for their exceptional teamwork. He was too far off to see, but the servant woman was in awe at his Radifiri skills, biting her lip and gazing hungrily. However the celebration was not long lasting, as the men dragging him set him on his rump across the field with what was left of his team and Junebug, and a Shaman with the same manner of dress as Wetumpkah emerged, stalking across the field. His very presence demanded the game end and the tribesmen prostrating with respect.

"Who is that?" Neil asked tiredly, holding his head.

The Shaman stalked up the central stairway of the Ziggarut, followed by three other Shamans in succession. Wetumpkah greeted them in the traditional manner, and quick words were exchanged. Pointing at the mountains, and at Neil and Sayeeda, there were gasps from the accompanying Shamans. Neil would have made a jibe at their popularity, but at the moment he would have rather a plasma gun incinerate his head.
@Penny