POOHEAD189

This isn't working out: Part 3

Video Games
I don't need them to play any or like them, but I game a bit most days and I'm not going to sit there and listen to a lecture on how they're terrible.

Tabletop games get an honorable mention.

Illustrious Illustrations by Poo

Markus Flintbrook

Hider

Bastard of the Borderlands, Lichbane, Elf friend. Privateer, Mercenary, Swordmage, and Rogue!

Tricksters and Theives: A Warhammer RP

Neil's breath produced puffs of steam not unlike the Imperial Steamtanks just outside the academy's walls. The last dying struggles of winter were upon them, sending one more cold-front before the lushness of spring. To most, it was time to look forward to future farm work and fertility celebrations. For Neil it meant maintenance, repair, and a shit ton of exams. Luckily, most exams were actual working assessments of his inventions, but he was getting a little impatient for gunnery target practice. Just another month and he could blow up a few stone walls and at the end of the next year, get his degree finally. As of right now, he was attempting to perfect his latest invention; a timed cannon. A cannon that ignited and fired its payload every day at a certain point. He was still working out the kinks, and clocks were a bitch to rig up, but he felt like he was well on his way to making a completely autonomous city 'bell' for noonday.

The room he was in was made of thin wood, just outside the stone workshop his Master worked within. Master Gunter could be said to have Neil both at arm's length and kept him on a short leash. After the last detonation, he didn't want Neil working on anything within enclosed stone walls. Couldn't really blame the old man. Word had it Countess Emmanuel was going to visit within a few days to kick off Black Powder Week. Neil, and most of the other problem engineers were going to assigned far away during that meeting, which was a shame. Neil had wanted to flirt with her ever since he saw her in that parade on Magnus the Pious's nameday two years ago.

The sound of clinking brass filled his ears as he screwed in another bit on the cast iron, the smell of sulphur and gunpowder from the casks set a few yards away from him filling his nostrils. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, bumping into the goggles set on his forehead. He would finish in time, he just had to stay up tonight and keep working on it. In two days he planned on moonlighting a bit more in the Old Quarter. His bills were barely paid from the scholarship he had received in Marienburg, and he could barely afford to eat.

His work and 'recreational' activities gave him a lean, fit body. Even with the black soot on his face, he was boyishly charming, though handsome was going too far. Neil had a youthful gift, always looking a few years younger than he actually was. Technically he could have lied about his age, but in this instance it did well to tell the truth on being in his mid-twenties. Applicants over twenty one were able to get a hold of more volatile chemicals without certain boring tutorials the youngest students had to deal with. If one could prove they knew the literature that was. Neil might not be the most well read, but when he wanted something he practiced enough to be good at it.

Sweat beaded on his nose, and outside the gas from the new forges were creeping in through the cracks of the timber workroom. He hacked up a cough. He leaned back and patted his chest with a fist, wheezing. "Think I've been in here a bit too long," He remarked. He needed a new wrench anyway to finish up the attachment, and cleared his throat as he stood up. He set his stuff down and opened the door into the main gunnery shop where his master resided. Neil had a small hall to walk down, and he heard his master's voice. He wondered who he was speaking to...?

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

---

Kayden had spent his time since the bandit attack resting, save for when he had that predictably uncomfortable conversation with Veronica. It was a good decision to get his sleep. It helped him get up at a reasonable time in order to be crisp for this training exercise, not that he felt lively, exactly. Every yawn he heard made him yawn and Professor Euphemia's dropping eyes made him want to close his own. But stubbornly he kept his back straight and his eyes welded open. He was nothing if not disciplined, thanks to his 'beloved' father's constant schooling and attentions.

The Professors seemed as dysfunctional as ever, though there was an undercurrent of heightened awareness even considering the time of morning. The attack at Luin and the Eastern Church likely weighed on them as it did him. The Prince had been taught as a child that everything was interconnected, even atrocities and skirmishes off Adrestian Land. Whatever happened would echo in foreign affairs and even the lives of the citizens. If the culprit behind these attacks wasn't caught soon, he himself might very well have to deal with it once he assumed the throne. Then again, maybe that was just anxiety. He had been on edge lately, from nearly getting killed and the news of his father's health.

He glanced at the other Eagles, hoping they were paying attention. He saw Rudolph looked a bit worried, or at least disturbed. Kayden made a note to speak to him at some point. They'd been around one another before, but he'd yet to offer a proper welcome into the Eagles. Next, he accidentally caught Veronica's eye and promptly played it off like it was a casual glance, moving over back to the Professors. He didn't agree with them wholeheartedly on the morning exercise, but it might help him clear his head to use his sword again. He wished Professor Tomai was a bit more involved in their assessment. Likely he would pay attention to Rudolph, considering their shared magical talent.

"Well, let's make a good show of it, at least." He told himself under his breath, making sure to stretch as they went and fetched the dummies and targets. He warmed up his legs and arms, hoping to make a better impression after his 'heroics' at Luin. He wasn't certain what else he could have done at the time, but he fully understood if he died during a routine trip, his father would be more than a bit irate.

Taking one of the offered swords, he stalked off to one of the designated spots where the melee wielders were set to demonstrate. The Prince whipped his blade through the air, the material whistling smoothly. He grinned, satisfied, and made his way over toward's the dummy. The Prince had read and been taught various dueling treatises of swordplay, and he took a stance that put his left foot forward, his sword point out before him. Moving closer, he replayed a maneuver he had been taught by his Master-At-Arms, sending his sword striking into the dummy thrice, feinting between each strike and moving as if the dummy struck back through each interval. Once he was done, he flourished his blade and made a salute to the Professor's in one movement, though it wasn't as smooth as he would have liked. He supposed he hadn't performed the basic drills in a year or two.

Blades of the Blood Coast

Will try to get my post up tomorrow. Just came home from work and it's already past midnight over here :/

@Fetzen

No worries, bud. I'm busy as hell too! Everyone has at least a week from today to update, so do it when you feel able. :)

This isn't working out: Part 3

Lord of the Rings, for one. Books or movies.

RECON 'Nam. A Metal & Gunther collab

I just got my computer back, so I am playing catch up with RPs. Maybe I'll have the time...

Gold & Glory: AU thread

The Captain didn't quite have the gold fever his lover did, but one never took up piracy without a bit of greed in his veins. He did his best to keep his eyes forward, toward the tangible sums he was about to make rather than the golden plaques that sat to his left and right. He kept forward, and Halfdan did as well. The big man was probably the most loyal crewmember Markus had, save Morgan and likely Sketti when he gave his word as a Dwarf. Even in the heart of the settlement, wide leaves and tropical fern-like plants popped up around them, the jungle sliding in, constantly trying to reclaim what had once been nothing but trees.

Despite his travels, Markus had never been to Lustria proper before. There was talk of deadly diseases and ravenous beasts whenever the shrouded continent popped up in any conversation. He could believe it, even among the buildings here. There was the shrill sound of some strange insect and hoots of some unknown primate in the distance wherever he turned. Halfdan glanced around suspiciously, unused to anything south of the Empire, which was still very far below his native Norsca in latitude. Ahead of them an Arabyan couple passed. A man in a cloak of red with a sharp, black beard and smoldering eyes led a shapely woman in bedlah attire across the dirt. The man muttered something to her as if to scold, but she glanced at Markus and wiggled her eyebrows as she was dragged along. Markus had never had an Arabyan woman before, and if it had been six months ago he would have tried to pursue something. As of now he simply pushed onward.

"Everyone in the Old World is here." Halfdan said in his rough accent. "It's like Marienburg."

"If it's anything like Marienburg, there's going to be plenty of thieves so keep an eye out."

Finally the two saw what had to be the center of shipping. A squat building, eloquent in a certain fashion with ubiquitous carvings and golden filigree along a few pillars connected to an otherwise mundane, wooden structure. Unlike most other buildings, the windowsills and the door were painted, and a large sign labeled 'SHIPPING' sat above the front porch. Markus ordered Halfdan to stay outside and stand watch while he went in to conduct business.

"Captain, Emma is gone." He said.

Markus spun and looked around, having sworn she had been just behind them. He sighed audibly. "I should have known she would slip off. It's nothing, just stay here and I'll be back. She'll be back at the ship likely enough." He turned and stepped onto the porch, smoothing his hair as he was about to open the door.

"Um Captain? She's back..." He said, halting Markus in his tracks.

---

5 minutes earlier.

Markus had disappeared and the streets sparkled with gold you could but touch were it not for the guards. A few grim-faced mercenaries stalked past her on some unknown business whilst a man in a feathered cap yodeled into the air, hoping beyond hope someone would toss him a coin. Something to her left caught her eye, and there was a boar's head made of pure gold set on a stand, a short mustachioed man with the smile of a shark bade her forward.

"Vak'sha! You there! Yes, you look like a woman who knows her riches, yes? Resplendent in those robes. You must be a magician! Many men would pay handsomely for your skills, so I hear." He told her, giving her no real room to speak. This wasn't Emmaline's first con, but the Boar's head sparkled so deliciously in the gleaming sunlight. The man's nosering swayed as he bobbed forward, his eyes filled with lust, but not of gold. "You came in that caravel, yes? The Imperial one with the strange colors? Must be an important vessel with such nice cargo within its hold. Of course, you can always find more coins to add to your collection."

Whatever he meant by any of this, it didn't really matter. He cackled and backed up a step, giving her a salute. "A pleasure to speak to someone so beautiful."

Suddenly Emmaline's arms were grabbed by arms thrice as thick as hers, and her body was lifted up so she couldn't flee. If she turned to look, she would be face to face with one of the Norscan guards she had 'admired' less than an hour ago. The rugged man smiled, winking back. "I vwouldn't struaggle," He advised, his accent even thicker than Halfdan's. He likely left his homeland within the last two years. "Snapping a limb is something we vwill do if you resist. Now let us go vfind your captain, aye?"

It did not take very long for them to find him, just at the foot of the Shipping house.

This isn't working out: Part 3

If a girl said she hated books, that's a complete no go by me. I have more of course, but that's a big one.