TheWendil

Tower of Fable

---

If Umi’s attacks, if one could call them that, were meant to be intimidating or even a remote distraction, she would be sorely mistaken. For one reason or another, the dirt she flung at the Mysterious Figure landed just behind him in a clump on the ground. Curiously, the same happened to her hand as she went to grab his ankles, though physically her flesh remained. Then it became blatantly obvious; the dirt and her hand had both phased through their opponent, as if he was a phantom of the unknown.

Though regardless of this trick of his, there was a crucial factor that was overlooked. The Mysterious Figure, the original one, was still walking towards the group, as calm as ever. However, the one attacking Kanbaru and now Umi was definitely still there. With each step, the truth was unveiled. As if from the shadows, copies of their original opponent manifested, including the one that had initially attacked Kanbaru. It was no speed-as far as the group knew-but the Mysterious Figure copying himself to attack their party on all sides.

The one who unleashed his flurry of strikes upon Kanbaru and phased through Umi’s maneuvers, now turned on his heel to deliver the assault onto her. With swift moves and lighting-paced strikes, he swung at Umi without a falter in his step. Likewise, two more copies emerged and headed right for Akiko’s group consisting of herself, Rose, and Kanbaru. One of them sidestepped away from Rose’s cast lightning, the bolt hitting the ground near his feet before he dashed at Rose with swiping blades and an intent to kill.

The second one focused entirely on Akiko, responding in equal terms to her taunting with one of its own. Instead of attacking with twisted blades of cards, it summoned a blank card and let it hover towards the sky. In moments the card burst into flames to rain down an orb of fire large enough to cover two fields. It was perhaps some luck that Kanbaru had recovered as she had and prepared to unleash a geyser of water because there was little doubt the Bard and Rose could hold back a meteor by themselves.

In the last moment, Tokuda stepped forward in an act of bravado with shield at the ready. The great orb of fire and earth slammed into his shield, exploding on contact and filling the area in fire and flames. No doubt he had fulfilled his duty to protect the ladies, but it was hardly going to matter in the long run. Especially when one copy was still aiming to strike at Rose while the other was set to summon another meteor upon the gathered group.

The only one not clustered in one spot was Umi who, for better or worse, had been isolated. The copy that attacked Kanbaru still focused on her and this time it was joined at last by the original. Having closed the distance between them, now there were two Mysterious Figures, each slashing at Umi with maddening speeds. Both were relentless in their moves, both intent to keep her isolated from the rest of her allies.

---

Tower of Fable

---

And so the second door was chosen. Despite its aura of unpleasantry and intimidation, the majority consensus seemed to agree on choosing it. Kanbaru, the card bearer, lead the way without so much as a breadth of hesitation. Assuming the others chose to follow her lead and not have hesitating thoughts, the doors slowly closed behind them. There was now no way back, only the path forward.

Much like the external view, the space the group found themselves in was hoisted with stars. A fair, night sky hung over their heads like a backdrop or perhaps a realistically styled painting. The ground beneath was grassy with flat areas all around. The door had led them to outside, though whether this was truly outside the Tower or some pocket dimension was up for debate.

More than likely, it was probably the latter, given the Tower’s properties. The field was quiet, only disrupted by small breezes of chilly air. It would only take the children a few steps however to realize there was one other occupant inside the chamber. The air in front of them shifted and, much like the Mysterious Dude, someone else stepped out of the air as if they had blended in with the background.

“…….” The newcomer certainly looked like the Mysterious Dude however they were significantly shorter in height, around Tokuda’s size. Likewise, there was no sarcasm or exasperation wafting off this person. There was only the silence of night, a quiet that persisted in all the figure’s movements even as they raised a hand and pointed it right at the group.

In swift movements a card each manifested in the figure’s palms. Defying physics, both curled and twisted into themselves, elongating with an unearthly glow until they were about the length of blades each. The ends of them were much thinner than the portions held by the figure’s hands, further eliciting the image of swords. If there was any doubt this figure wanted to negotiate peacefully, it was perished now as it slowly approached the group.

There was no rush in its steps or maddening flurry of menace. There was only the calm it invoked as the figure closed the distance between itself and the children. Well, not entirely. While the rest of the group may have seen the figure walking towards them, Kanbaru could feel it had already struck. In fact, it was by her side even now, smacking her with a flurry of swings from its hands. Only some of them cut, but most only stung with an intense pain that separated reality from the dream.

---

Tower of Fable

---

"That’s cute. You’re cute kiddo. I’m gonna call you Ruby,” the Mysterious Dude said. He paused in his departure to turn back to the overenthusiastic Rose, giving her finger guns with both hands. “Later little red-whoah, stranger danger!” The Mysterious Dude cycled his arms in mad motion as he was borderline tackled by Umi and then interrogated. A few tugs away confirmed she wouldn’t be letting go of his coat, not until she had answers that satisfied her.

“Sheesh Poppet, I think I take back what I said earlier! And I’m pretty sure I don’t know any Mamori Heiwajima too.” The cloaked man paused before he leaned closer to Umi. Behind his hood and the void that was his face, it was impossible to read his expression, if any at all. “But even if I did, I wouldn’t say that would be the real Mamori Heiwajima. You catch my drift Poppet? See, things in this Tower work different than your usual reality.”

The Mysterious Dude nodded to himself, raising his voice so the rest of the group could hear. “The people and creatures you encounter here are nothing more than replications of the outside world. Nothing in here is real; for the most part. Everything you face is comprised of data so knock yourselves out in exploring, kiddos.” He turned back to Umi now, slowly yanking his cloak out of her hand. “And for the real version of your friend…who knows. But honestly, copy or real, wouldn’t you be satisfied either way?”

The man slowly backed away, making sure Umi didn’t try to get the jump on him again. Once some distance was finally placed, he faded away entirely and melted back into the darkness of the staircase. “Be a good girl now, Poppet,” were his lingering words. Hopefully that was enough to sate Umi’s curiosity and desire. But probably not. Either way, it was her problem now, not the Tower’s.

Speaking of which, as the group rounded together and discussed their various newly acquired skills, Kanbaru’s card glowed with an ethereal light. A beam shot forward, curving up the staircase, and hit the door to the next room. The doors opened, revealing to the group a sunny backdrop and the sound of birds along with the scent of familiarity. Was that Miso City? It couldn’t be a way out of the Tower, could it? Or perhaps it held some other twist.

Likewise, a second beam emitted from Kanbaru’s card. This one snaked behind the group to the front door, splashing out and coating the barrier like the other door. Only, when these doors opened to beckon forth the group, they could see nothing but a night sky burning with stars. A menacing tension that spiked their heartbeats flourished outwards like a wave. Two doors lay open before them now, but it was up to them or whoever they chose to follow among themselves which they were to traverse.

---

Tower of Fable

---

“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you.” Before Rose could stray away too far from her would-be companions, she was halted by a voice from the darkness. As if stepping out of the room’s background the air in front of her turned corporal and stared back at her. The figure raised two arms up to shoo Rose back down the stairs where she came. “Wouldn’t want to leave the rest of you hanging, right? Stick around a little!”

The being draped an arm around Rose’s shoulder before slowly leading her back down to the others. “See? Everyone’s waking up from their hangover. Crazy kids you are.” Thankfully it looked like there didn’t need to be too many setbacks. All on their own the kids were beginning to deduce the most logical conclusion, as logical as one could get in Miso City. Where else had they landed in but the Tower of their dreams? Wasn’t this what they wished for.

Letting go of Rose, the mysterious figure turned his head down the line to get a good look at each of the Tower’s newest occupants. Or at least, of the ones who had awakened. “There should be more of you. Don’t tell me you’re still sleeping on the job,” he mused. And indeed there were still some of them unconscious on the ground but they couldn’t stay that way for long. Probably.

“Oh, I like her a lot,” the mystery man said, pointing at Umi directly. Then he moved on to Tokuda. “Huuuh….not much of a thinker this one. How come he gets the harem though, lucky bastard….” His arm was pointed next onto Akiko. “Wow. You’re kind of scary-looking. Remind me not to poke you at night.” Last of course was Kanbaru, who the mystery man cocked his head at curiously. “Sheesh, I think you’re the neediest one here. Nope, nuh uh. Not even touching your business, Sea Salt.”

The mysterious figure crossed his arms and shook his head, mumbling words under his cloak and ignoring whatever responses the kids could give him. For a certain amount of time that is. “Hmm? Oh, right, right. To gain is to lose. To lose is to gain. That is the law of the Tower….it’s what I always say.” The man whirled his arms in a majestic flare of motion.

“This place is crawling with all kinds of monsters and things that’ll blow your mind sky high! But I wouldn’t be too worried about what’ll you meet. Or who you’ll meet,” he continued, eyeing certain members of the party. “Just so long as you don’t have your head in the clouds, you should be fine. The rest is self-explanatory. Oh, right. I almost forgot. Head's up Sea Salt.” The man cusped his hand before tossing something light and small right at Kanbaru.

Assuming she caught it-this man was full of contradictions today-she would find a blank card between her fingers. “Whenever you want between travel floors, just think real, really hard to imagine the place you want to go. You’ll get there eventually,” the man said. With a wave he turned on his heels to leave the kids to their desires. “Go on, be adventurers. That’s the kind of thing you all wished for, right? It’s what you all wanted.”

---

Warped Earth, Twisted Air (An Urban Fantasy Dungeon Crawler RP) — Now Open!

---

Despite her earlier excitement in meeting Daichi, Katie found herself somewhat at a lost for words once she finally met the other two members of their team. She blinked nervously, hoping she didn’t come across as too shy or desperate. Though thankfully the others did well in speaking in her place and the conversation carried on naturally after she shook Kirk’s hand.

The mammoth of a man spoke about the best foods to be offered on the menu and sung high praises of the restaurant. And to be honest, Katie couldn’t blame him. Despite having already eaten, the smells that permeated the tiny restaurant were enough to make her stomach growl anew all over again. During Kirk’s descriptions, she found herself staring at the menu between him and Daichi…

At least until Kay mentioned the reason they were all here. That had Katie’s attention snapped back to the matter at hand with some of the nervousness shaking off her form. “Yeah, if reporters followed us through the new Rift, that’d cause more problems for us to deal with. It’s better to let the professionals handle it before the public,” she said, grinning and pointing her thumb at her chest. It was meant to indicate that they were the professionals, in case no one caught the message.

Regardless, she perked up some more once Lizzie’s presence was mentioned; or lack of it. “Oh, actually, I have Lizz-er, Elise’s number. I can call her up to see what’s taking her so long.” Careful not to accidentally crackle her phone with her Attribute and risk embarrassing herself in front of everyone, Katie flipped out her mobile and dialed up Lizzie’s number. Hopefully the other girl wasn’t in trouble. “We briefly met a while back before this mission,” Katie quickly explained in case anyone wondered how she knew the missing girl.

---

@KoL, @Vesuvius00, @HereComesTheSnow, @PKMNB0Y

Tower of Fable

@Lonewolf685

Accepted.

Tower of Fable

---

_{"So long as the light remains bright, the shadow remains cast."
[ ♫ ]}

---

---

A heartbeat lasts forever. Lives are consumed in soundless balls of fire. No one can tell when the world is displaced, but it was. Nobody knew when the Tower first arrived or if it had been there since the beginning; and it was only now people could see it looming over Miso City. Nobody knew, that much was a fact. But people tried to know. Those who sought greater aspiration tried to understand the secrets of the Tower, its overwhelming presence casting a shadow over Miso City despite its luminous gaze.

And those who wanted to know were visited in the land of their dreams. Even now in their slumber of darkness, the light of their dreams showed them the way. Average as they all are, unaware of each other’s existence, three cycles of light shined down before them in the abyss of blackness. An item each floated before them, no words spoken for direction of their purpose.

Instead, the Sword, the Shield, and the Rod remained in their places until each person would pick what their Hearts desired. The moment they did, a shining light blinded the world around them. It engulfed every crevice of the dark-stained realm each person found themselves in and then, nothing. Absolutely nothing could be found in their senses and once again they were brought back to the precipice of sleep and slumber.

When they next awoke, it was in a place most unfamiliar and with people they had perhaps never met before. None of them may have known it, but each had experienced the same dream, a dream that had drawn them to the same place. The lower floors of the Tower. Perhaps, in their deepest of desires, they had each chosen to brave the Tower’s secrets from the inside.

Whatever the case, they were stuck with each other now, adorned with new clothes that reflected each person’s personal wishes of adventure. Whether the armor and weapons they had wished for were accurate to the threats looming inside the Tower was yet to be seen. Even so, they were stuck in the Tower now with no other direction to go but up. Was this still a dream? Or had they been transported away? Either way, one truth remained clear.

The Tower’s interior remained still.

---

Tower of Fable

---

_{"Find the hearts distant from yours..."
[ ♫ ]}

---

On that fateful day, the skies were blotted by the behemoth of another world. The great monolith defied law and contradiction, floating high above the citizens of Miso City. Yet only a select few could see the massive structure that cast a shadow over their beloved city. Those who could see it had been blessed, visited in their dreams by unknown and invisible beings, each one offering up the chosen individual a choice. A choice that would determine their days to come.

And now those select few would be drawn to what could only be described as the Tower. The Tower beckoned like a melodic hum, one that whispered promises of glory and power to the idle and abled. Yet there were other promises, offers of wishes fulfilled and dreams to come true if one bested the Tower’s challenges. And so they go forward, those small few, to conquer the Tower and seek what truly lies at the top where all things converge.

Rumors abound. Some have bore witness to a girl at the Tower’s peak, one who has summoned the monolith to the mortal planes. Some mutter utterances of an artifact waiting to be coveted at the Tower’s conclusion; the King’s Crown. Still, some seek the Tower for merely the thrill of adventure, the excitement of seclusion that they’ve brought upon their peers driving them forward.

Regardless of any ambition, the Tower draws them all closer with each step.

---

Event Log

The First Awakening
The Shattered World
The Umbral Games
The Crimson Pact
The Grimmest Grotto
The Harlequin’s Hospice

Tower of Fable

Should I just post her Sheet with Umi's or post it separately?

@Ryonara

With Umi’s.

Tower of Fable

@Ryonara

Accepted.