TheFake

Aurora - OOC

I was going to stick around and RP but I've been drunking guinness and eating chocolate cake all evening and my judement has been deemed no longer be sound. I'll reply to anything added to the collab before tomorrow evening.

Happy birthday to me.

Well, poo. Best of luck Asuras.

Karstberg, City of Adventure: Freeform Fantasy City RP Interest Check and Signups

I hope that this character makes the cut:

Name: Lord Duke
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Appearance: Lord is entirely unremarkable in every way. His black hair is of medium length famign a clean shaven face with brown eyes. He dresses neither richly or poorly, wearing a simple maroon waistcoat over a white shirt and charcoal trousers.
Profession: 'Import/Export'
Personality: He appears to be a little bit manic and excitable, his interest flitting about from one topic to another. He is always friendly and courteous, willing to help a stranger to toss coins to a beggar. During negotiations, he focuses his entire attention to the task, nudging the deal carefully into his own favour. In a dangerous situation all sign of mania totally disappear and he will ruthlessly sort out the problem to his satisfaction.
Equipment/Weapons: Lord Carries a wooden walking stick imported from a distant country. It is hard enough to ring like steel when struck and is a match for any blade.
Going into anything that may turn violent, he will undoubtedly be seen wearing a pistol sword on his hip.
Abilities: Using what little magic he has, Lord Duke can cause objects to be overlooked as long as no attention is called to them.
Brief Backstory: Lord Duke is neither a Lord, nor a Duke. He does not hold any title, lands or property more significant than his airship and some buildings near the port. Under assumed names, he also owns a handful of safehouses scatted across the city.

Lord never intended to be a criminal. After several years of crewing aboard tradeships bound for far off ports, he bought his own small ship to make the short runs to nearby cities for fast and easy profit. The money soon turned out to be not so fast and not so easy and he fell into debt. The moneylenders had him soundly beaten, and gave him the option of working for him to pay off what was owed. The deals that were made introduced him to various unsavoury people that turned into bussiness contact that lasted until long after his debt was paid off.

Aurora - OOC

I'm around, What's up everyone?

Aurora - OOC

Alexandra Chapter 1: Hall of Silent Marble

The interior was vast, dim, white. Alexandra had heard of the Crypt before, but it was often described as much less pleasant than what faced her. Possibly the reason it was more heavily guarded, then. Pillars reached up to a curved ceiling like some chapel well over five stories high. The place was like a hallway, with a few small doors here and there leading to gods know what other underground location.

At the end, a golden door of ornate design stood shut. Somehow, the entirety of the caravan fit into the room, though it was only the people involved this time; the boxes, horses, carriages and tents all remained above the surface. Still, a number of individuals slung packed bags over their shoulders.

Anorm stood at the helm and turned to face the crowd. He cleared his throat and commanded attention with his voice.

"This is the first room of what is to be a long path. It will get very cold the lower we go, save your coats for then. I want everyone to remain attentive no matter what happens, The faster any one of you can do your job at my request, the sooner we’ll be out of here. If you see something strange, let your comrades know, then let me know. Don’t touch anything unless I say so." There was chatter among the audience as rumors of what was to come sifted through.

"We are looking to enter the bottommost chamber of the Blades Crypt, accessible only through this door. There we will find and retrieve a document long kept there, and return it to the King. Save your questions," Anorm put out a palm as if to stop them, "Use common sense and better judgement. At that, we proceed." Anorm turned towards the door at the end of the massive room and the gathering followed suit.

Anorm stopped at the foot of the door and gazed up at it for a moment, looking over its weaving golden designs. Before him, a small nook in the wall rested. It was circular in shape and no bigger than his palm. He retrieved something unseen from his sleeve and placed it in the slot, and at once the golden doors began to open slowly.

As soon as it was wide enough to fit through, Anorm walked past it. More followed suit, the flow growing larger as the doors opened fully. The hallway beyond was less tall, but just as grandiose. Alexandra could not see the end of it, as if it were infinitely long. Runes printed on the walls illuminated the path, casting an aqua-colored glow upon the white floors.

For a time, as they walked down its length, the walls appeared smooth and without markings. In an instant, however, they began to line themselves along the walls, each one bearing a different character of some unknown language. Anorm stopped, and the rest halted behind him.

He clicked his fingers and an already attentive individual shuffled to his side, a book in hand. The man hastily sifted through the papers, looking up and down between the pages and the symbol on a pillar they stood before. They whispered to one another before Anorm turned to the audience.

"I need a miner!" he shouted. The crowd looked amidst one another while someone in the back rose his hand and coursed through the gathering to the front.

"Yes?" he asked. Anorm gestured to the pillar and put a hand on the miner’s shoulder.

"You’re up. Instructions will be clear inside," Anorm stated before abruptly pushing the man towards the pillar. In a flash of blue light, the man disappeared, completely gone. The symbol upon the pillar turned a golden color, and the hallway hummed briefly.

Everyone was overcome with an astonished gasp. Many backed away, but most simply stared in surprise. Others seemed even more eager than before. Anorm turned to the crowd and crossed his arms.

"Quiet down, quiet down!" he commanded, "As you can all see, this is no ordinary hall. Each of these pillars is a portal and a lock at the same time, and each of you is a key. Beyond them are trials, which if completed, unlock the door of this room."

"There is no end to this place! What door?!" someone yelled out.
"The door will not appear until we have completed 100 tasks. Then the door will appear to us, and we can proceed," Anorm explained. "If you fail, you will appear in this hallway once more, and we will have to substitute your failure with another task that someone else might hopefully complete."

"So that’s why you needed so many different professions? To maximize the probability that we will complete 100 tasks? What are these tasks?" another asked.

"They vary. The symbols before us explain what lies beyond." The crowd discussed with one another, seemingly satisfied with the explanation. Still, many were reluctant to simply fall into a portal and find themselves alone in some place they couldn’t even see.

Alexandra smiled, things were clear now. She hiked up the bag on her shoulder and turned to face a pillar. After briefly considering how much of a pain that this was, she stepped forward and reached out a hand. It was gripped mid way by another; Anorm held her wrist in his own hand, looking quite stern.

"This one isn’t your task, lass," he warned, "Unless you think yourself an intelligible miner, knowledgeable of rocks and land and such." He let go. "We’ll find your task soon enough. Until then, sit tight." The leader beckoned for his translating fellow to follow, and the next pillar was approached and summarily understood.

Cooks. Librarians. Farmers. Animal husbandry. Generals. Performers. Thieves. Murderers. The hallway seemingly never ended in its display of professions and talents, and so far it seemed as if Anorm had properly recruited the right number. Not a single task was walked by, and the one-hundred task gauntlet became less and less daunting.

"Chemist," Alexandra could hear Anorm mutter, staring at another symbol on the next pillar.

She smiled, finally getting the chance to prove her worth on this expedition. She half wondered if her bag had even been necessary, if the task would have everything needed provided. Stepping towards the pillar without the slightest hesitation, she swept her cloak out of the way and reached out to touch it.

The pillar appeared as if to stretch out to the sides of her vision, warped around it like a white blanket of stone. The symbol glowed even more fiercely before twisting around itself. Everyone around her vanished, as she had been transported into some strange shifting hallway. Then, with a distinct whooshing sound, Alexandra found herself elsewhere.

It was a relatively large room, with a domed ceiling curving above. Despite being isolated, Alexandra could hear a sort of howling wind in the room, from where she could not deduce. The walls were smooth, while the floors were patterned with hexagonal tiles. It was otherwise empty.

The howling wind stopped, and all was quiet for a brief second.

Challenger. This is the Cauldron Hall. Complete the task, and further your advance towards the Inner Sanctum. A neutral voice called out from everywhere at once.

Suddenly, Alexandra felt an unbearable, sharp pain in her lower leg. It had been pierced by a golden rod, seemingly from nowhere. Before she could attempt to pull it from herself, the rod disintegrated into dust, leaving an open hole to bleed profusely.

The hexagonal panels below and around her lifted upwards, revealing scores of shelves within that bore countless materials with labels upon them. All were printed in clear English.

Construct a potion of healing and live to complete the task. Failure will result in death.

Alexandra bit back a cry of pain, instead letting out a very brief laugh. It could have been poison, in fact she’d almost expected it. A dozen and more concoctions flashed through her mind. After a moment of standing still to ensure that her leg would bear her weight, she limped over to the shelves to take stock. A moment of reading labels told her that it would take far too long to find anything and she sat on the ground, one leg out in front of her. Pulling her knife from the back of her belt, she cut a long strip from her cloak and bound the wound, slowing but not entirely stopping the bleeding.

Even with such a short time not bearing her weight, the leg had stiffened painfully, requiring Alexandra to use the shelves to regain her feet. Satisfied that she would be able to finish something before she had lost too much blood, Alexandra picked a recipe that would serve her goal while requiring the shortest preparation time.

She began to grab ingredients from the shelves, glancing at the labels before double checking that they were telling the truth. It would not surprise her to find that any of them might be lying about the contents. She mixed them in a flask with water from her bag, most of the materials foul smelling enough to wake the dead and toxic enough to kill if ingested. The result was every bit as foul and deadly as its parts as well as being totally colourless.

With a grimace she placed the leather sheath from her knife between her teeth and bit down, seating herself again on the floor. Setting her jaw, Alexandra pulled the makeshift dressing from the wound and poured the entire contents of the flask over it. Pain like an acid burn caused her to clench her teeth so hard that she felt they might bite through the leather. She pounded her fist on the ground and threw the glass flask across the room as new skin grew.

At last the pain disappeared and was just a memory. She lay panting on the floor with a cold sweat on her forehead. After a long moment, she stood with a new respect for the soldiers and airship guards that she sold the potent brew to.

The leftovers of the jar sizzled on the tiles that remained retracted, and then all became silent. The cabinets within the hexagons began to slide quietly downwards, returning the room to its natural, featureless state. With a bell-like chime, a symbol appeared on the wall before her, glowing with a red aura about it. The howling wind returned to the room.

She exhaled heavily, slowly standing and approaching the sign on the wall. reaching out, she tapped it with a single finger.

Once again, Alexandra was pulled through a stretched space, brought into a strange elongated hallway of blurred imagery before being let go. She found herself in the same hallway as before, though everyone had seemingly vanished from before. The pillar behind her glowed green, and a line of energy coursed from it to the ceiling and down the hall.

She could only assume the group had gone further down the way. A gentle mist obscured her from seeing too far into the hallway.

Taking a few slow steps at first, Alexandra followed the green line on the ceiling, the low lighting and the mist working together to create an eerie atmosphere.

The mist retreated in the hallway, as if serving merely to obscure her distant vision. The green line continued along the way, and soon others came into vision; multiple green paths that ran parallel to her own, all leading in the same direction. Alexandra assumed they were markers denoting how many tasks had been completed. Three, six, ten… The numbers were growing, and as she kept walking, flashes of new lines surged past her and down the hallway signalling that more had completed their missions.

It had been at least fifteen minutes of walking, and the group remained unseen. Only the sound of heels clicking on the floor -not her own- broke the loneliness. Alexandra turned to find another participant rushing her from behind.

A young man, about her age if she had to guess, wearing a white trenchcoat and bearing silvery eyes and equally white hair. He waved to her as he approached, a smile of relief over his face.

"Hey! You finished your task I take it?" He slowed down and extended a hand to her and introduced himself, "Conan Hussan. I’m a participant, if it wasn’t obvious enough. Can’t imagine someone could just find their way into this place without serious help."

Alexandra nodded, not taking the hand or even giving an indication of noticing it. She continued to follow the path indicated by the green lines. "No, I don’t imagine that they would, although I have met some stupidly unlucky people. What was your task?"

Conan retracted his hand awkwardly and seemed a bit dejected. "Would you believe it if I told you I was just a tailor?" he laughed, rubbing the back of his head, "It surprised me for a bit how specific the magic in this place could get. One pillar asked for a barber, I swear!" He looked up at the green lines which had begun to appear in droves of tens every second. "We’ll reach a hundred pretty soon, seems like. Wonder what this document is that the King needs."

"It must be damn important if it’s this difficult to get to." She was immediately struck with a feeling of mistrust. She’d asked what his task was and gotten his profession. Rather than respond by asking what she’d had to do, he’d asked about their goal. "I hope there aren’t too many failures, I’d hate to have to do another task."

"Obviously. I just don’t understand why a document would need a tomb like this. Maybe it’s a magic parchment with spells of some dangerous sort? Can’t imagine why the King would need that now. Unless he was up to something terrible!" Conan proposed, sounding quite vested in his own imagination. The fog revealed the back of a heel ahead, and then a body, then several. They had made it to the back of the group, finally, though they seemed rooted in place. Overhead, Alexandra could no longer count the number of lines that glowed.

Alexandra continued to walk, threading through the crowd and not taking a look back to see if her follower was falling behind. She nudged the other participants out of her path on the way to the front, curious to see what the holdup was.

Anorm once again made himself apparent at the forefront, standing before even more endless hallway, his head was tilted upwards, scanning over the beams of light on the ceiling and walls, possibly retaining an accurate count of their numbers. More than likely, he had sent out a proper number of participants into their respective tasks, and was now simply awaiting the final hundredth "key". Most of the group was silent, themselves trying their best to judge the time left till they moved on, others conversing about unrelated and commonplace topics.

Anorm’s mouth moved, counting without speaking, then picked up in voice as the counter ran up.
"Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine…" Anorm turned his gaze down the hallway as the final beam lit up down its length. The group hushed as a howling noise like intense wind rushed at them from the end of the hall.

Much like the process of entering her task’s location, a wall bled into existence, complete with a golden door akin to the entrance. It sped at them from nothingness, slamming still but a few feet from Anorm himself. The hundred beams curved into the new surface, slithering across the golden door until they hit their ends. Another howl and the door began to open slowly, revealing a staircase leading a good distance down into the earth. A wide grin spread across Anorm’s face as he beckoned the group forward.

Aurora - OOC

I should be around for the evening, starting now.

Aurora - OOC

Back in action after a series of excessively busy days. It will be nice to meet some of the new characters.

Aurora - OOC

I'm around for the time being.

Aurora - OOC

As am I. I'm also on the chat as long as I don't forget to keep myself active.

Aurora - OOC

Alexandra Chapter 1: Hall of Silent Marble

Daytime in the tight corridors of Bulwark's marketplace labyrinth. A thin path of bright light cut its way across dim shadows created by the overhanging rooflines. The alley was no more than ten feet in width, and few spared available space. In whatever manner they could, vendors large and small took the opportunity to furnish the shadows with their wares, though neatly at the very least. Bulwark was no slum, as a whole or in particular areas. It was difficult to come across an area of notable poverty, and even then, it seemed as if they were lacking in any sort of despair. The city practically exuded happiness and satisfaction.

Alexandra Talon worked within the confines of a notable shop in the alleyway, not so hidden due to its colorful wooden sign hanging from the front.

'Vial Venue' was printed in red letters on both sides. The potions shop was headed by a single elderly man and his newest employee; Alexandra herself. Despite the minimized staff, it ran well. Those that could purchase the expensive concoctions did so with relative frequency, and there was no shortage in patronage.

Even moreso enjoyable was her hefty salary. The old man had opted to give her much of the store's earnings, citing his lack of legacy and desire for little as the prime motive to do so. The caretaker did just that; mostly cleaning and dealing with taxes. He left much of the brewing and selling to Alexandra herself. Days were relatively busy, but without a chaotic haste that was apparent in other establishments. Customers came in knowing what they wanted, and received their merchandise promptly and with no trouble.

Alexandra busied herself behind the counter, working to fill an order for a customer that had insisted on standing at the front of the shop to wait. She carefully mixed a measure of powder into the solution, ignoring the gaze that seemed to be burning a pair of holes into her back. The lack of any partition between the front of the shop and the work area did wonders for the more paranoid customers but seemed to make the impatient patrons even more so.

With the final ingredient added, it was time to set the solution to chill. Rather than cross the room to the ice box, Alexandra traced a sign in the air with a finger while muttering under her breath. The spell caught and began to pull heat from the flask and it's contents, depositing it into the larger container of water on the floor. As frost began to form on the sides of the flask she waved her hand and destroyed the connection. At last finished, the potion was dropped into a felt bag and handed to the customer.

"I'm sorry for the wait." She wasn't, not really. A chemist rushing through an order was a sure sign of an amatuer. It brought to mind the words of her first teacher, ‘Haste makes bodies'. It was as true as it was morbid. Even though she would be hard pressed to make a mistake bad enough to turn a cure for heartburn into a poison, it was still well within the realm of possibility.

Her customer accepted the sack with a bowed head, opening it for a brief second as if to examine its contents like he knew what he was looking for. She hadn't seen him before, but given the medication requested, it was likely he was familiar with at least the color and consistency of the concoction. Retreating back into the narrow street, Alexandra was left to her passive work once again, written recipes still needing creation.

For a time she was alone, as the store owner was almost always holed up in the back behind a short and thick wooden door, tending to papers and mulling over his old life. A jingle at the store entrance, however, ended her prior work. Moving to the front, Alexandra faced the new customer, a tall and wide man with an obscene number of facial scars. So numerous were they, it seemed as if they formed the entirety of his wrinkles, making him look old and worn. Removing his dulled red hood, he looked straight to Alexandra, seemingly uninterested in the store itself. He knew what he wanted, it was clear in his eyes.

Alexandra returned to the counter, flashing a sincere smile. She did well to avoid giving his scars more than the most cursory glance. "Welcome, how can i help you today?"

For all his apparent oldness, the man looked at Alexandra with a young, bright pair of eyes. Their unwavering stare reflected an almost sinister focus, practically daggers themselves held at her neck. He returned her brief smile with his own wrinkled one, a mumble of recognition rumbling in his chest.

"Not sure quite yet," he grumbled, his voice gravelly. Turning his attention to the shop around him, he examined a few items and materials, clearly judging them with his eyes and occasionally a light touch. After a minute of wandering, he turned his body to Alexandra, though kept his head and eyes shifting about.

"I'm looking for someone with experience," he began, "experience with chemistry and alchemy. That much should be evident if I'm here." The man laughed to himself. "It is difficult to explain here, though I can say it might prove perilous." He grinned wide.

"In this day and age though, there's plenty of time and reason to dive into danger, right? Forgive me, this must all be sounding quite strange and out of place. I am Anorm. Anorm Geras," he extended a hand in greeting.

She frowned for a brief handful of seconds, mulling over his words. "I'm afraid we might not be able to help you. While we are capable of taking on special orders, we strive to distance ourselves from any illegal activities, lest we give our craft a bad name."

"It is far from illegal, ma'am. Ordered by the King himself," Anorm stated, fishing into his sleeves for a parchment. Unfurling it with a flick, he presented it to Alexandra from a distance, and it seemed authentic enough. He tucked it back in. "You need not worry about a bad reputation."

She remained, outwardly at least, unimpressed by his claims. Planting both hands on the top of the counter, she leaned in slightly closer. "And if I were to take on this job for the king, what might I expect for compensation?" She wasn't exactly hurting for money, not with the generous wages she was currently earning but Alexandra had learned that one should never pass up the chance for something better.

Anorm's smile became even wider. "Money. Adventure. Fame… A chance at ending the Silence of Life."

This sounded like quite the long term offer. This was quite the chance and far too much of an opportunity to pass up. On the other hand, her conscience was reluctant to leave the old man to run the business on his own. these two sides warred for a very brief moment before she made up her mind. There were many other talented chemists in the city, although none with her skillset, and it wouldn't be difficult for him to run things on his own.

"I'm in, when do we start?"

"Eager it seems. Good. We start in a week's time. There is little to do on your end, though I might suggest you brew and gather as many useful potions as possible. I'll leave it up to you to decide what useful means in the end. I trust your skill and knowledge," Anorm commented, fixing the sleeve around his right wrist. "You are to be at the front gates of the Royal Guard's Second Military Complex in a week's time. I along with all other participants will be there to debrief you fully." Anorm turned away towards the door. "Until then, enjoy your time."

---

A week of frantic preparation passed with Alexandra dividing her time between finishing up the last of the orders at the shop, brewing a variety of antidotes and medicines as well as buying up any supplies that she might need. After saying her last goodbyes at the shop, she strode towards the Military Complex, having already checked out the area several days before. Little was gleaned however, as without a form of identification, Alexandra was forbidden from entering particularly far into its walls. As much as she'd wanted to be prepared for any situation only the necessities were brought, fitting nicely into an oilskin bag over her shoulder.

The commonplace appearance of shops, homes, and cobblestone streets broke way into an immense walkway of solid, smooth stone. The monolithic road was wide enough for a parade of horses, she thought, with flags decorating the waist-high walls on either side.

In the distance, formidable iron gates stood closed, and at their feet, a peculiar caravan sat waiting. A huge host of individuals stood or sat around several horse-drawn carts stuffed to the brim with supplies such that rope was needed to hold the side-most packages in place. Many of them were unloaded already, crates being pried open with crowbars and lifted off somewhere else.

Alexandra approached, and countless eyes followed her. The more figures she looked briefly upon, the more it seemed she was in with a rough group, mercenaries, if she could guess. Some were more timid, merchants, seemingly, along with what looked like a gardener, a bespectacled mage, and a weak-looking royal-blooded male. It was difficult to tell if this was a serious mission or a museum.

The longer she stood and observed, the more uneasy she became. It could have been worse, however, given that they were on Bulwark and the most danger that most people faces was getting lost down an unfamiliar street. Try as she might, Alexandra couldn't help but feel that this may be one of those expeditions that become famous for never being heard from again. Putting her reservations aside, she approached the group.

The first one to respond was a heavily tattooed and bald man who insisted on walking about shirtless. He was wrapping some rope around a cylinder, seemingly readying it for a smaller packaging. Looking up, he grinned at Alexandra with a jerk of his head.

"Mornin' lass," he greeted, "you don't look like a military type. Can't say you're headin' in for other reasons. So, you're with us then?" he deduced. A few other individuals turned their attention to the conversation, listening out of the corner of their ears as they tended to their own tasks.

"Not military but I can say that it won't take long before I prove my use." She looked through the group again, scanning faces. "Is Anorm around, I've a question for him."

"Aye, he's around," another individual mentioned, "he should be around the front gates up there." The man threw a thumb to the huge barrier further along the path, past a maze of carriages and boxes. Before Alexandra could leave, however, she was held in place by the tattooed man's words.

"Say, before ye' leave, what's yer' profession?"

"I'm a chemist, among other things. "She paused for a second to speak before continuing to the gate. Threading her way through the assembled mob she made it to her destination without being stopped by anyone else.

At the foot of the gates, a pair of massive guardsmen stood taught, spoken to by a cloaked figure; Anorm's red clothing was easily picked out. Though he himself was a relatively tall man, the knights he spoke to made him seem minuscule. They were either Giants or freakishly tall humans, clad in armor that no weapon Alexandra had ever laid upon could possibly damage, she thought. They merely nodded to his quiet words until he finished.

Anorm turned to find Alexandra before him, and he seemed quite stern. His voice didn't convey the same, however. "Ah, the chemist. Good to see you follow through. Some of ours have failed to show up, no doubt put off by the prospect of danger. He seemed almost poised to give Alexandra a hardy slap on the shoulder, but refrained. "Got everything you need? Good." Anorm didn't wait for her to answer.

"We'll be heading down momentarily, the gates are about to open up." Indeed, it seemed as though the guardsmen had turned to begin pushing open the massive fence. The thick bars and their height made the task difficult even for their presumably immeasurable strength. Anorm walked past Alexandra and back towards the caravan, beckoning her with a hand.

"So, you're probably wondering what we're doing here. You know what this place is?" he asked.

Alexandra shook her head. She was a little bit taken aback that they weren't leaving the Sphere right away but quickly recovered. "I don't, but I doubt that you would organise an expedition without having a clue to get us started. I assume that you believe that we'll find one where ever you're taking us first."
"This is one of the many entrances to the Blade Crypt, the most well-guarded one in fact. It may not seem like it, but it is. Besides those giants, there's a wealth of unseen spells that judge the intentions of all who enter. Only the emptiest of minds could hope to walk past them and go unnoticed. We'll be descending into the Crypt. There's something within the King would like us to retrieve," Anorm explained.

She nodded taking everything in. "So we're taking the most impressive, heavily guarded entrance and making the largest scene so that the king might be seen to be doing something." She quickly changed topics, not wanting to stray too far into politics. "So you're not entirely sure what other dangers might lie where we're going and you've taken this group to make sure that we can tackle anything we come up against."

"As many people from as many walks of life as possible, though not for the reasons you might think. The dangers are unknown, but the path is not. I know what we need for the initial path, but what lies beyond it we'll have to find out," Anorm said, almost with intended crypticness. Once again, his face seemed as though he wished to pat her on the back. "Worry not. You'll see just what I mean once we're inside." Anorm wandered off, yelling towards the rest of the caravan to get up and get ready to move.

Aurora - OOC

online right now.