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Poll

Alan

It was inevitable
- 15 (42.9%)
Winners don't do drugs
- 6 (17.1%)
I'll be back
- 2 (5.7%)
Drink the Kool Aid
- 6 (17.1%)
Groovy
- 3 (8.6%)
Insane in the membrane
- 3 (8.6%)

Total Members Voted: 35


Pages: 1 ... 423 424 [425] 426 427 ... 521

Author Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome  (Read 1140625 times)

Lenglon

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Re: Special People: Fistful of Silence
« Reply #6360 on: August 21, 2016, 10:26:07 pm »

will be unable to post for 3-4 weeks.
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((I don't think heating something that is right above us to a ridiculous degree is very smart. Worst case scenario we become +metal statues+. This is a finely crafted metal statue. It is encrusted with sharkmist and HMRC. On the item is an image of HMRC and Pancaek. Pancaek is laughing. The HMRC is melting. The artwork relates to the encasing of the HMRC in metal by Pancaek during the Mission of Many People.))

Tiruin

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Re: Special People: Fistful of Silence
« Reply #6361 on: August 21, 2016, 11:58:49 pm »

will be unable to post for 3-4 weeks.
Can you leave orders for me to fill in? :-X I'd hope to at least go along Irine's character, but in any indecision--I'd follow Parisbre auto'ing her.
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Lenglon

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Re: Special People: Fistful of Silence
« Reply #6362 on: September 10, 2016, 01:00:56 am »

back...
I thought I'd have missed something.
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((I don't think heating something that is right above us to a ridiculous degree is very smart. Worst case scenario we become +metal statues+. This is a finely crafted metal statue. It is encrusted with sharkmist and HMRC. On the item is an image of HMRC and Pancaek. Pancaek is laughing. The HMRC is melting. The artwork relates to the encasing of the HMRC in metal by Pancaek during the Mission of Many People.))

Xantalos

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Re: Special People: Fistful of Silence
« Reply #6363 on: September 10, 2016, 01:09:53 am »

back...
I thought I'd have missed something.

Alan left the pizza pockets in the oven in some random house in his native dimension before he got nabbed by Rhymerer. They're probably burning if they haven't burnt the house down by now.
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XANTALOS, THE KARATEBOMINATION
Quote from: Toaster
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Lenglon

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Re: Special People: Fistful of Silence
« Reply #6364 on: September 16, 2016, 01:13:38 am »

((So, to explain why Irine isnt inclined to ask D for help: D is a mental presence inside her, not a physical one. Irine's flames are not actually a mental power. they are a physical one. they are a physical part of herself and she moves them as limbs, not as an act of will or thought. all her fire actions are physical ones. to her, letting D influence her flames would be like letting someone put their hand over your mouse hand while youre playing a shooter, and them trying to aim and/or click the mouse for you. its only useful if they saw something you didnt, and even then simply pointing it out would work better. Irine doesnt think D CAN help her here unless he tries to manifest his OWN powers through her body, which would not be worth it. her body is already strained for the fight, better to use her remaining strength herself, unless he has some super-attack that is extra effective vs this thing...

Im not sure why this thing is pushing against her though. her flames can overlap and intensify, and it can only slow them, not stop them. its own efforts to slow her fires should be making them more concentrated and intense, and simply being in the area of that much intense fire should be cooking it alove. hell, its body should be igniting simply from being NEAR that much heat. Fire doesnt need direct hits, in fact a near-miss does almost full dmg. both me and Irine are simply counting on the high damage over time value of her flames to take this thing out, and her other actions are just buying time for the fire's damage over time multipliers (as something heats, it takes more and more dmg from its own high temp, fire hits harder for every moment its burning until it runs out of fuel. every tirn this fight lasts the beast takes more dmg from fire than the last.) to add up and it to lose functionality.
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((I don't think heating something that is right above us to a ridiculous degree is very smart. Worst case scenario we become +metal statues+. This is a finely crafted metal statue. It is encrusted with sharkmist and HMRC. On the item is an image of HMRC and Pancaek. Pancaek is laughing. The HMRC is melting. The artwork relates to the encasing of the HMRC in metal by Pancaek during the Mission of Many People.))

TheBiggerFish

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Re: Special People: Fistful of Silence
« Reply #6365 on: September 16, 2016, 08:37:28 am »

((That poll is faulty, it needs octarine.))
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TheBiggerFish

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Re: Special People: Fistful of Silence
« Reply #6366 on: September 16, 2016, 08:39:54 am »

"You really do enjoy your games of silly buggers."
"Eh. When you're practically immortal, you need to learn to take pleasure in the simple things in life. You'll understand, if you get to live a few million years."
"Ah, who wants to live forever?"
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Parisbre56

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Re: Special People: Fistful of Silence
« Reply #6367 on: September 19, 2016, 06:39:39 pm »

"You really do enjoy your games of silly buggers."
"Eh. When you're practically immortal, you need to learn to take pleasure in the simple things in life. You'll understand, if you get to live a few million years."
"Ah, who wants to live forever?"
"I do. Like an ambitious man once said, I plan to live forever or die trying. I mean, what's there beyond life? It's not like there's any afterlife there, trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Well, not any afterlife I would enjoy, anyway. The land of the living is much more interesting. Ah. Such a long time and there's still so many things left to do. Worlds to see, worlds to conquer, people to meet, people to kill... It feels like yesterday when I was a mere mortal like you. Well, not like you, I was better, but you know... comparable."
<Wow. You reeeally believe you're a big great man, don't you?>
"No, of course not. I don't believe. I am great."


John, After the End

Oh damn it.

Does this thing have weapons?

If it has good weaponry, then let's engage the thing while trying to dodge shots.  If it has no or wimpy weapons, do not engage; just run and try to get away.

As I don't think I can get away, also summon a time bomb.  The plan if I can't get away is to fake surrender by stopping and hovering, then when they approach bail and use the hang glider trick again to drift away while the bomb takes out both craft.

Does ramming count as a weapon? I would guess not.

So once more you do the reasonable thing. You set the vehicle to hover low above a bunch of buildings that kinda remind you of abandoned gas stations. You use your ability to activate its autopilot, jump out and take your armoured suit the hell out of there. But not before you leave a little present behind.

Your weight lets you punch through the fragile roof and into the abandoned building. The building is empty, stripped of anything important years ago. It might have been a restaurant once or some sort of store, you don't know. You hide behind a counter and watch the rising ship. You try to be quiet. There is quiet all around you. You watch from the darkness, with only the sound of your voice and the purring of your engine to keep you company.

Suddenly, the lights of your vehicle darken and start twisting around when something hits it. You can't see clearly from here, the thing is quite dark, with a bit of bright spots. It attaches itself to your vehichle and after a few seconds it starts ripping it apart, opening it like a tincan. It doesn't look like they were interested in capturing you, at least not alive, because you're pretty sure you couldn't survive what it's doing to it right now. That's when the bomb explodes, lighting up the sky for a few moments like a firework. Whatever it was that attacked you, it doesn't look like it survived.

Looks like everything turned out OK. Except for you now being minus one vehicle.

Saevus, After the End

Ignore the two. Conceal (well, as much as a 3 meter tall suit of armor can conceal itself) myself somewhere on this floor and try to recharge myself with ambient mana. If possible, try to reconnect some of my runes. I probably got some blood on me, it might work as a makeshift way of repairing them. I remember that there's a bullet or something stuck in my shoulder, so try to get it out as well.
The elevator closes and departs with a ding. You move on, exploring the area beyond the lobby.

It looks like this low the tower gets quite larger. There are vast corridors here, many of them filled with great plastic pipes or bundles of wires the size of your arm. Several rooms are dark (save for a few banks of indicator lights) and filled with machinery and their noise, pumps pumping, filters filtering, fans... fanning? But the bulk of the area has been converted into great gardens, a small jungle of fruits and vegetables lit by extremely bright artificial light. Parts of it are being sprayed by water, creating small rainbows. Good thing you're not human. You bet this area would be unbearably hot and humid if you were.

There's a few guys here, but they run away the moment they see you walking around, covered in blood. You find a thick and tall group of bushes and hide inside it. Your unusual glowing metal skin makes hiding in the light actually preferable to hiding in the dark. Once there, you start working on repairs. You try your best but after a lot of effort, all you've managed to do is remove most of the shrapnel in you. It's not much, but it should at least let you move a bit better and prevent them doing any more harm. At least you've managed to recharge and replenish your supplies, so that's something. This place has a pleasant if a bit turbulent supply of ambient magical energies.

You hear the lobby elevator arrive with a ding. A few moments later, there's the sound of heave footsteps walking down the hall.


Kosak Durar, After The End:

"No bloody fair! How am I supposed to hit you now!"

By hitting the trunks attached to it. Simple enough: Kosak climbs to the nearest trunk attached to the heart and starts hitting it.
You swing on the spot and then, when you feel you've got good enough momentum, you jump. You land on the nearest trunk, slip on the bits of nanofluid left on it and almost fall off. You manage to hold and slowly pull yourself up. And not a moment too soon. Just as you pull yourself up, the needles below you shoot up, getting embedded in the ceiling and the nearby trunks.

<Oh. Nice moves. I really thought it was going to get you there.>

Safe for now, you start punching the trunk you're standing on, creating a big hole in it and making it sag dangerously as it leaks the fluid inside it. It's getting hard to balance on it.

<... I take that back.>

The spikes above you appear to be melting, drops of liquefied material slowly sliding on them and gathering towards their bottom.


Rune immediately uses his biomass to develop wings. He then sheds any extra mass, converting his body into a far sleeker form, turning himself into something more akin to a dragonfly. He attempts to get the hell out of that room, spitting one last bit of acid at his foe before legging it.
WMD, After the End
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Rune shapechanges out of the grip of his opponent's anchors, at the same time transforming into a flying insectoid creature.
"Ha! You thought that was enough to trap the great-"
He is cut off as he is immediately zapped by a stream of green energy that makes his body spasm as if hit by a taser.
"H-Ha! It-t will t-take m-more t-than t-that t-to-"
Rune is immediately smashed by a giant tentacle and sent flying into one of the walls of the room.
"Ha! I am... still alive! Despite this... minor-"
A final strike squishes Rune against the wall. William goes the extra mile and makes sure to squish him extra hard, just to make sure there's nothing left.

"Ouch. That hurt."

Meanwhile, the voice in speakers says that lockdown is now in effect and that all personnel have 2 minutes to either find safety or make their peace with themselves, their god, their gods, the force, Andre the giant and/or any other higher powers they may believe in.

None of the live ammo in the room has been detonated by all the energy flying around. Not yet, anyway.

Parisbre56

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Re: Special People: Fistful of Silence
« Reply #6368 on: September 19, 2016, 06:44:05 pm »

"Theri! It hates light and light magic! And any matter at all, any energy at all, damages it! It's a thing of void, harmed by all that exists, and harming back in return! Use light magic or dump as much stuff on it as you can!"
This is tug of war. It can absorb stuff all day. I can send fire all day. I send fire slightly faster than it can absorb it, which burns it. It is slowly being burned down over time. But I have no defenses. If it reaches me, I'm dead.
That directional absorption thing is easy enough to handle. I just attack from everywhere it isn't.
I need to focus my efforts on a single part of it, something that it won't handle losing easilly. my preference would be its neck, to stop the absorption thing, but my second pick is its legs, which is much safer to target since they are far from the absorption point, so unless I see an opportunity, the legs are my parimary targets.
if a leg is crippled it won't be able to stand properly, forcing it to fly, and probably interrupting that bomb. and those wings can't be good for it to use. they're thin membranes that rapidly and repeatedly come into contact with very large volumes of air. It probably does itself harm every time it flies, which is why it is trying to stay on the ground. I need to force it into the air, or to get it somewhere I can really cut lose.
Keep moving, distance is my friend. I also need to monitor the creature. If it isn't interrupted, and I can't get clear in time, I do have one other option. If I shift to full-fox at exactly the right moment, where I'm in my transitory flame state as the attack hits... maybe... I'd prefer not to do that though, if I manage to put enough stuff between me and it then I'll just keep my tails, which naturally are behind me anyway, between me and it.
"Theri! It hates light and light magic! And any matter at all, any energy at all, damages it! It's a thing of void, harmed by all that exists, and harming back in return! Use light magic or dump as much stuff on it as you can!"[...]
Theri felt her head tilt to the side in confusion, as if the sounding 'ticking' hand of a grandfather clock moved another second.
I don't think I can do magic here?
"Alright, dumping stuff!"


Get something big, or easily and effectively throwable, and throw it at the enemy!
Ponder if I had a sling and some stones instead. :I

Irine pulls her fire back to keep the creature's attack from absorbing it, concentrating it in large masses above the plaza to give her time to prepare her own attack. She puts them as high as she dares with the monster's turbulent influence disrupting her magic. Meanwhile, Theri quickly searches her surroundings for something to throw or otherwise use to hurt the giant monster without getting too close.

Irine splits the masses of fire in pairs and then launches them towards the monster in streams twisting around each other, using the help of distance, gravity and even the monster's vortex attack to accelerate the streams as much as she can, while at the same time making it hard to defend from all of them and predict where they come from. The monster tries to absorb the attacks but it can't get all of them. The attacks are massive enough that they actually manage to reach its dark semi-amorphous body, burning large holes in it. While it might not have hit anything important, it was still quite damaging. The monster flinches, taking a step back, wobbling as its body deforms, but it manages to continue charging its attack. It is then, as the monster struggles to maintain its balance and its attack, that Theri gets in close for her strike.

Theri strikes at its exposed neck with a gigantic stone sword she took from an equally large statue (after apologizing to whatever gods or ancestors she might be offending). While hardly a good weapon, it is enough to get the job done. It cuts through the shadowy substance of the monster like a stick through mud, but this is a very large and heavy stick being pushed by a very strong woman. The creature's head falls to the ground and its attack disappears inside it with a muffled fwoomp, while at the same time what's left of the sword crumbles to dust, leaving only a stone handle. Theri looks at the handle for half a second before throwing it at the monster and running away.

The cut off head squirms and shrinks like a balloon. This might be an apt analogy, for as it shrinks hands, paws and silently screaming heads can been seen surfacing from it. They struggle as if they're trapped beneath a membrane or sack, trying to break free. The rest of the monster doesn't appear to be very happy about being hurt. And now that it is no longer focusing on charging its attack and defending itself, it is much faster. It quickly shrinks and reshapes itself into a smaller version of itself, letting out a roar at the same time.

Mine!

It quickly twists around and pounces towards Theri, who was in the process of running away. Irine shouts a warning and tries to attack the monster, but she doesn't have a lot of fire nearby, having recently spent a large chunk of it on the monster and using the rest to replenish her supplies. The monster uses its wings to glide through the air, the wings leaving behind them particles of dark smoke as they dissolve. It uses them to reach Theri in a single leap. Theri manages to avoid being smashed by the monster's pounce. But a moment later the monster turns around and slams her with its tail, sending Theri flying through the air in a cloud of dark smoke. Her short flight ends when she crashes through a wooden window and gets smashed against a wall. She spends several seconds gasping on the floor after literally having the wind knocked out of her. She falls unconscious a few moments later.

The monster has had its tail cut in half from the strike, as the part that hit Theri vaporized on impact. It turns around and spends several seconds consuming what little is left of it, making it part of its body again.

By now its former head has completely dissolved, leaving behind a dark lupine and two dark humanoids holding a sword and a shield. While the humanoids struggle to get up, the lupine creature quickly gets back on its feet. After howling, its distorted voice in tune with the monster's roar, it charges at Irine, who is by now running through the streets, trying to get  distance between her and the monster while replenishing her flames. Irine sends a single stream at it, trying to waste as little of her fire and her strength as possible. She manages to incinerate two of the newly spawned monsters with a single attack and then keeps running.

The monster takes a moment to growl at the remaining humanoid, causing it to follow it instead of going to investigate the building Theri was thrown into. And then the giant monster leaps into the air and charges after Irine, crossing great distance with each bound.

All mine!
<Oh, just shut up and die you damn katamari rip-off!>

Irine tries to hit it while it's in the air to use its speed against it, but her attacks cause little damage and don't slow it down at all. The monster leaps again, clearly intent on landing on her. She runs towards a narrow side street, hoping it will be too large to follow. She can feel the ground tremble behind her. She can feel the monster's oppressive influence weighing down on her on top of the burden of her injuries. And as she dives into the narrow passage, she feels the creature's pseudo-mouth snapping on one of her tails, its sticky texture pulling her back and causing her to lose her balance. The monster snaps at her again, slowly elongating its neck to try to get its head closer to Irine, but she manages to hit its neck with enough fire to dissuade it from going in further.

She wastes no time getting up and running away again. The monster wastes no time either, jumping on the roofs above her and trying to reach her with its head. The fire-damaged buildings it lands on can't stand its weight, sending debris down on Irine but also slowing down the monster as its legs get trapped in holes. Irine is forced to stop when a support beam slams down in front of her. She's about to jump over it when the monster lands in front of her atop a mound of stone, evaporating shadow mixing with swirling dust and ashes.

Irine turns around and starts running the other way. The monster takes a moment to reform itself and suppress the bulges appearing on its 'skin'. When it is ready, it opens its mouth and inhales, sucking the surrounding dust and enlarging its head like a pufferfish. It then exhales, sending a stream of darkness at Irine. She tries to take cover behind the debris, but the cloud still engulfs her. It hits her like a million tiny icicles and sends her on the ground. She tries to get up and keep running, but her body feels weak. The monster takes a moment to prepare and begins summoning another Vortex Detonation. While quite weaker than the one it tried to use before, this one is also much closer to her. Close enough that it starts dragging her towards the monster's open mouth.

Irine grabs the remains of a wall and tries to hold on as best as she can while hitting the monster with everything she has managed to blindly gather by that point. She manages to hit the monster from behind with a massive stream, causing its attack to stop. The creature convulses and deforms. Its head undulates, vomiting more dark humanoid forms. The one armed with the sword also approaches from the other side of the street. She tries to summon her reserves, but on their own they are too few to make a difference, barely enough to kill two of the monsters. She tries to dodge but she's too slow. One of them grabs her and bites her. Another stabs her with its sword and the tip of the blade emerges from her chest. Her weakness and the creatures' aura darkens her vision. Their attacks stop as the monster steps closer to her, still larger than her despite its height being reduced further. She is feeling like it is staring right at her. That is the last of her memories before she is consumed by the darkness.


Hmm. Maybe I should prep a teacup.

Stealthily summon a popsicle and suck on it while enjoying being carried.
Campaign, Ike!

Utilize my tremorsense to lead the Army of the People to relative safety!
From far away, the fighting looks... uncertain. Like a fireworks display that keeps on going just when you think it's over. Flames appear in the air, swirl and disappear. The air distorts as dark implosions travel through it. Clouds of dust rise and fall. It doesn't take long for it to end though. One final stream of fire flies in the air and then nothing. The flames are extinguished. Everything is quiet as the sun disappears beneath the horizon.

Ike supposes that this might be for the best. No more combat probably means no more tremors, meaning no more cumbling earth and running away. But it probably also means that he's the only one left from the team who's in any state to do anything, everyone else being either dead or lost in more ways than one. That would certainly make the future quite uncertain. But for now he keep getting further away. Just a bit more for good measure, in case there's more terrible things about to happen. Alan, meanwhile, blissfully sucks on his popsicle, feeling quite better. It's as if he crossed some invisible threshold while being carried away and now that weakness he was feeling has subsided. He still feels pretty bad when he tries to move (or do anything really) due to his serious injuries, but at least he can enjoy sucking his popsicle while watching the fireworks show.

That's when the fireworks show decides to put on an encore, trying to top off all of its previous performance. It does that by a blindingly brilliant stream of light that causes Alan to close his eyes to protect them (not that it helps, he can see the light through them). The ones carrying him topple as the earth trembles. The shockwave hits them a second later, a high pitched tone beyond the edge of hearing that transforms into a rumble and hits like a punch, weakened only by a hastily created shield of darkness. Much like the others, Alan coughs. Then he blinks, trying to clear the afterimage from his eyes so that he can see what has got everyone gasping and speechless. His only solace in those moments is that he landed on the soft bodies of others and that he still has his popsicle.

It takes him a moment to realise what he's seeing when his eyes finally regain their ability to see. A part of the town is just gone, replaced by glowing red and surrounded by short mounds of dirt and debris pushed away by the shockwave. It's as if the earth was split in half. The slowly fading glow on the ground goes on for long enough that you are uncertain if it disappears because it run out of power or because the earth's curvature sent it "up" and away from the ground. Above it, the dwindling glow illuminates a fading mushroom cloud against the darkening sky. Around the town, the earth is cracked, poor old mother earth too abused to be maintain her skin smooth and unwrinkled. Overall, it's probably a good thing this wasn't anywhere near him. At the very least, it would probably give him a very bad sunburn.

Alan breaks the silence by pulling the popsicle out of his mouth while sucking it, causing a pop loud enough to be heard even with everyone's ears still ringing.
Cool. So what now?


The last few days passed quickly for Ike. Being the only one left alive and well can have that effect, he supposes. Well, not the only one, some of the villagers may have died, but the rest are also alive and well. Some more well than others. Good thing too. They've certainly been helpful. Quick to offer their assistance with anything he asked of them.

When he returned into town after the incident, he was heralded as a hero, leading his little militia group in search of survivors to rescue and monsters to slay. The monsters turned out to be the easiest of the two problems, having been affected and made sluggish by whatever occurred. His abilities and the glow that seemed to linger in the air for a while after the incident helped him find them in the darkness. Finding the people trapped beneath rubble, that took more effort. If it weren't for his special skills, the death toll would certainly be much higher. The fact that the part of the town they had evacuated was close to where the incident occurred also helped. So it is no surprise that everyone is grateful to them for saving their friends and loved ones (some even went as far as nominate him as the replacement for the position of captain of the guard that was made vacant during the recent events).

Well, almost everyone. There was a small minority that accused him and the others of causing this mess in the first place, but the majority ignored them. It's not like they had any evidence to accuse him with, only wild theories and speculation. And hey, nobody has tried to kill him yet, so he must be doing something right. Perhaps it's because he has kept his requests mostly reasonable.

The same cannot be said about Alan. Even as injured as he was, he was asking (and is still asking) for the satisfaction of whatever whim strikes him at the moment. And then tries to summon whatever he believes he needs to satisfy that whim with various degrees of success and collateral damage. As he usually does, Ike reasons. Good thing Ike requested a private room for Alan's recovery.

Still, people don't seem to mind too much. Most everyone was smart enough to keep their distance from him once word about his antics got around. Which didn't take long. Ike's militiamen were quick to spread tales of the group's glorious activities and embellish them over campfires and empty flagons of ale. Lately he's been good enough to start walking around though, meaning the distance people should keep from him has started increasing.

The villagers also appear to have a strange fascination with him and his ability, especially when he summons food, especially exotic (for them) food. From what he gathers, the food shortage isn't so bad around here, but food's still something that they prize greatly. To them, it's like someone got the ability to summon gold. Ok, maybe not gold, but maybe one of those somewhat expensive geodes. Heh. One of the poor fools even offered his daughter's hand in marriage to him, if he would stay with them. That was a good laugh.

Oh, related, they also found out that he actually can summon gold items with the proper amount of concentration. That got everyone in a frenzy, until they figured out that the items he summons tend to have a variable time to live. They exist from a few seconds to several days, but many of them tend to fade out overtime or abruptly pop out of existence. Hm. Wonder what that means about the food he summons. If it disappears after being consumed, that would either make it the ultimate low calorie meal or very bad for one's health. Or both. Still, both him and the villagers who consumed his food are all fine for now, so there's probably no cause for alarm. If they ever come to question the healthiness of his food, he'd like them to come to that conclusion with no help of his. And hey, if they're really lucky, the only way they'll find out about the dangers of food is through cholesterol.

Whatever the case may be, the villagers certainly don't have time to think about it, not with the state their village is in. Whatever weird magical stuff happened there left the earth cracked and toppled the less reinforced buildings, even set a few fires. Entire sections of the ground have risen out of the earth and shifted position, leading to several buildings leaning dangerously. Many are left without homes or with homes too dangerous to live in, leading many of them to camping outside or crowding into whatever building still stands. Despite that, one of their first orders of business, after covering their basest needs, was to conduct a ceremony for the departed. With their clergy dead, it fell to the religious and those good with words to perform the ceremony. While a few moving words were said, the people appeared mostly numb. Not even sad. More like they've either not fully realized what's going on yet or have completely given up caring. The bodies of those dead that could be recovered were ceremoniously burned, while a few small hot air balloons were sent to the sky for those who could not be found. The remains however presented a problem. The catacombs under their temple were destroyed along with the temple itself, so their remains were taken to the basement of a house converted to a place of worship, until they can be put in a proper catacomb and given the proper spells and blessings.

The catacombs also presented a mystery. Close to the bottom of the strip of vaporized earth where the temple and its catacombs used to be, there is a hole, going straight down. What's weirder is the shape of the hole. It looks as if somebody took an orbitoclast that could make whatever it touches with its tip cease to exist and then stabbed the ground a few million times at semi-random directions, giving it a very fayed appearance, like worn fabric. And as if that wasn't weird enough, at the bottom of the hole there is a sword, covered in flames, stabbed into the black stone floor surrounding it. That was one of the arguments those accusing their group used, that they actually caused all this mess to steal that thing... whatever it is. The villagers sure aren't eager to find out. They have put a short wall around it so that nobody accidentally falls in the hole and covered it with wooden beams and stone to make a crude barrier, making it look kinda like a giant well. While there are people supposedly standing watch there to alert others of any developments and prevent people from disturbing it, they often give in to the temptation to stare into the hole and wander about its mystery or let others come closer and take a peek.

It is close to that place, as the sun begins to set that something happens to break Ike's routine. First said routine was search rescue (with occasional breaks for combat), then it was talking, explaining and negotiating, now it's mostly patrolling and investigating things (with occasional breaks when people come to him with questions or requests). Ike keeps doing his rounds as the mayor asked him to do, mostly to stay on his good side until he can... well, he's not really sure. Until he figures out what to do next, he guesses. And he knows he needs to stay on his good side. Because he can see the fear hidden beneath the admiration and respect in their eyes in him more clearly than the others.

His rounds are supposed to keep the villagers calm and feeling safe. With most of the local law enforcement gone, every bit of help is important. And with his abilities and his reputation, Ike is equal to many men. He's found that his presence alone is enough to end disputes. And there's always the occasional disturbance he has to investigate, that almost always turns out to be a rat or a rock beetle (or someone with a really upset stomach that one time).

He supposes his weird sword helps. He can't put the thing in a scabbard without shredding it, he can't even hold it close to himself from fear of getting injured by a stray "shift" of the blades, so he's forced to walk around with it whenever there's trouble around. He can't even stab the thing in something and leave it there for more than a few minutes, the thing keeps shifting and eventually falling down or getting buried further in. Even stone eventually gives way to it. If he left it there he bets it would keep going until it reached China... or whatever's on the other side of this world. Whenever he needs to leave the sword, he has to carefully get it wedged or tied up somewhere by the hilt, since it is the only part that doesn't regularly shift. He supposes he could make some sort of custom cone-shaped scabbard for it, but he hasn't had time to make one yet and he's not really sure if he should ask Alan for one.

Anyway, it's close to the end of the day when the healer's assistant, a girl called Alba Varden, walks up to him, moving with haste.
"Sir." she says, slightly out of breath.
Ike makes a polite nod in return.
"What is it Alba? Alan got himself into trouble again?"
Her visit is nothing surprising, she's been the one reporting to him for anything that concerns him. Which was mostly Alan doing something irresponsible and/or getting himself hurt and her asking him to do something about it. Actual work-related conversations such as searching for healing ingredients (or convincing one of his militiamen that he actually needed healing that one time) was actually a nice break.
"No, it's-" she shakes her head and swallows.
"You asked us to report on any changes to her status. And she... she woke up. It was only for a few minutes before we had to sedate her..."
Hmm... Not surprising, considering the state she was in. When Ike thinks about where he found her and the state she was in, he's honestly surprised she's still alive.
"But master Oftaia says she's getting better and that-"
"Take me to her and wake her up. I need to speak to her."
Finally. Time to get some answers.


One of Ike's first goals after returning to the town was to reach the healer's house. Without someone to take care of the wounded (proper care, not the "field dressings" his men were giving them) rescuing them would do little good. When he arrived at the building, he was surprised to find anyone in there still alive. The place appeared to have been under heavy attack, with drag marks on the walls and heavily barricaded windows smashed to pieces. But there was only a single monster outside and that was taken care of quickly. From what he learned afterwards, the monsters that were laying siege to the place were distracted by Irine's fires and run off towards them. Much like Ike, she too is considered by many to be a hero, some even going as far to say she was sent by their gods of fire and light.

The healer himself (one "master" Ghios Oftaia) also had a part to play in keeping his home safe. As Ike learned, he was not as defenseless as his profession could lead one to believe. Which makes sense. Potion is a letter away from poison for a good reason. And gauze makes for a very nice Molotov cocktail fuse. Not that his combat abilities mattered much to Ike. What mattered to him was that he did a good job and treated everyone without prejudice, so long as they let him work in peace.

Which was a bit of a problem, as Ike had certain requests he did not like and Alan is a known enemy of peace. While Alan was his primary concern, Ike did insist on private rooms for everyone while the healer insisted that only those with a real need should receive them. But finally Alan, along with his group's... non-standard characteristics were enough to cause him to concede it would perhaps be best to afford his group some protection and isolation. Which was going to come in handy now. It would be best if this conversation was held in private.

Ike and Alba reach their destination as the sky continues to darken and torches begin being lit. People are moving about in the tents and buildings surrounding the healer's house, one of the more active areas of the town. Some volunteering, others staying close to aid or their loved ones, some using this opportunity to barter their goods. They must have caught some animal. There's the smell of burning meat in the air.

"Are you certain about this? She is still weak and confused-"
"No. But as I've already explained to you, it is necessary."
Ike did spend a considerable chunk of his journey doing just that.
"Perhaps if we waited for master Oftaia to return-"
"Just wake her up and leave the room. I'll call you if I need you."
Before he has a chance to intervene and delay this further. Or wake her up when he isn't there to ensure she doesn't say anything that would result in her getting fire-punched and them getting thrown out of town. He can always make an excuse to escape Oftaia's complaints later. But he needed to be on the same page with that foxgirl now.
"...yes sir. Very well."

The room is small and poorly lit by candlelight. Alba is working on the broken body laying on the bed, gently lifting her head and giving her the concoction she has just prepared, an antidote for whatever sleep potion they gave her, no doubt. The healer's assistant makes one final check on the numerous bandages on her patient's body before heading towards the exit.
"She should be waking up soon."
"Good."
"Just... try to keep her calm. Don't cause her too much strain?"
"Make sure to close the door behind you."
Indeed she does. Perhaps a bit more loudly than necessary.

After a while, the body on the bed stirs, trying to move. It's a bit disturbing to see something so powerful be so broken.
"Can you hear me?"
"Ike?" she asks.
She tries to push herself to sit upright but fails. She blinks. She can't see well in this light. One of her eyes is covered by a bandage, the other has not fully healed yet.
"That's my name."

Maybe now he can finally get some answers about what happened to Irine. It's sad about old lizardgirl. Looks like whatever happened to her, it didn't leave much behind. Not even a soulsphere. Who knows? Maybe she exploded? He was told on the start of this mission that soulspheres might self destruct under certain conditions. Maybe she died while playing hero and something messed with her soulsphere? Whatever it was, it sure did a number on this place. It would really put Ike's mind at ease if he knew what had happened to her. Mostly so that he can avoid having the same happen to him.

"What is going on? What happened?"
Her voice is still weak, her injuries not fully healed, her lungs still in pain, her strength not yet returned.
"They won't tell me. Where is River? Where is Irine?"

Or maybe he won't. But it doesn't hurt to try.

"We'll get to that. For now tell me everything you remember."


The hurt girl's eyes are closed. A sword is going through her chest. The hurt girl is surrounded by the monsters. They're all eager to feast on her. The largest one approaches, its melting mouth half-open. But the girl will have none of that. She draws on her inner fire. She denies failure. She ignites.

The blinding flash pulls everyone away from her. She pulls the sword away from her chest. The fire surrounding her melts the shadow away. She's dying. But if she's going to die, she will take every last one of those things with her. She jumps backwards to get some distance while at the same time punching forward. A superheated ball flies out. It hits the middle of the group and detonates in a flash of light. When the light recedes, only the largest monster is left in the middle of the molten crater. It rises towards her in rage. She makes a superhero landing, her fiery hair floating above her.

This is it. One final flare. That's what she shouts as she raises her hand and points at the monster. Energy gathers around her, bolts of lightning flying at the ground. The superheated air blows away from her, the ground around her vaporizes, clouds swirl above. The monster attacks with its darkness, pulling the girl towards it with its dark vortex, desperately trying to defend itself. Then the girl fires a blindingly bright beam of light from her hand. For a moment it resists, absorbing the light. Then it is engulfed. The monster melting in the light can still be seen, the only other thing one can see besides the light. The light continues until every trace of the shadow has disappeared. Then that too fades away, leaving only the girl behind.

Then the girl turns to face Irine. She raises her hand and blows the smoke coming out of her finger before smiling.
"I guess it was time to say... a-River-dechi. Hehe. Get it?"
She sniffs at the air.
"Hey. You smell something burning?"
She looks at the burnt and molten wasteland around her.
"Oh right."
She looks at her burnt clothes and skin, still sparkling from the fire surrounding her. Her smile begins to disappear.
"Oh. Right."
She looks at the ashen husk left where her soul once was.
"Oh... right... Well, let me assume a more appropriate pose then."
She leans against the sides of the newly created canyon, looking exhausted.
"So, the reason I'm leaving you these memories is so that you have an idea about what happened when you eventually wake up. I'll use whatever strength I have left to get you to a safe location. Somewhere with strong magic so you can heal."
The environment distorts, looking out of focus. The few shadows left around gather, condensing into a single point. Out of it appears a shiny marble-like black sphere. It is cracked and broken to the point it barely looks like a sphere.
"Damn! That damn thing is still alive? I was hoping his soul had suffered so much damage he couldn't be revived."
She leans down and picks up the sphere, inspecting it closely.
"I should just crush the damn thing right now and get this over with. ... But this isn't really my choice to make, is it? You're the one who'll have to live with it."
He looks at you for a few moments and then tosses the thing behind him.
"Anyway, as I was saying, if I've guessed the magical laws of this place correctly, the leftover fire and light energy from my... 'ignition' should also help you heal and get stronger, assuming nothing gets in the way. If there's any of those dark thing left alive, it should hopefully keep them away."
The environment is looking increasingly distorted. There's a blurry dark red glow behind her, with stone and dirt occasionally coming into focus. But she remains mostly in focus, still shining, as if the environment is nothing but the images of a broken camera are being projected behind her.
"Since I'm dying anyway, I also took the liberty of sending a signal to Stellar. So whatever you choose, know that once you're out of this world, she's ready to support you. So you don't need to be afraid of the consequences. Do what you think is right."
Her eybrows come closer together, making her look a bit more serious or perhaps angry.
"But you know what my opinion is. Just kill him and go home. He's hurt you before. He'll do it again. That's all he does. And I don't want you to die."
She looks at Irine for a few more seconds before turning around and walking away.
"The rest, as they say, is up to you. Good luck. Have fun. And don't do anything stupid like going all moody like Stellar does about being away from me. It's not like we won't meet again."
As she speaks, she dissolves, breaking apart into sparkling particles of dust that disappear in the wind.
"Oh, and if you see him, tell Ike he'll be in for some 'fun' when I review his memories. Just because he's fun and has a cute butt doesn't mean I'll let him get away with dick moves like this. He's my player, I was supposed to be with him."
And with that, he is gone.

Irine blinks, pushing away the memories. It's dark in here, but she can see thanks to the light coming from that flaming sword in the middle of the room. Seeing is made hard due to the fact that most of the room is made of very dark stone, some sort of smoothed basalt she would guess. She's currently sitting at the edge of a hole in one of the vast walls of the room, a couple of metres up from the ground. The dark soulsphere is on the other side of the nook. She can't see it very well, but she can feel it resonating with a part of herself. A part that is now gone. But not completely.


OOC
Feel free to give some more general commands. I won't force you to deal with the specifics.

I'm certain there are mistakes in there, but screw it, I'm too tired to check this again and I've been holding off posting it long enough.

It's been a while since I've reached the character limit. I still got it.

And by "it" I mean my ability to needlessly go on and on and on and on and on. And on.

And on.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

EDIT: Nobody likes the green cause.

Toaster

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Re: Special People: Fistful of Silence
« Reply #6369 on: September 19, 2016, 07:08:35 pm »

((Green is obviously the superior color.  Also, wow at the campaign.))

John, After the End

Well, that's one problem solved.  But they'll be looking for me, most likely.  Augments can come later.

Head not-quite-directly away from the central tower.  Focus on putting some distance.  Follow the easiest route, maybe hit the sewers if they're available and no extra trouble.  Again, focus on getting away; don't summon anything more than maybe a compass or a light.

On the way, see if I can recall anything about further objectives and targets.
« Last Edit: September 20, 2016, 04:15:12 pm by Toaster »
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HMR stands for Hazardous Materials Requisition, not Horrible Massive Ruination, though I can understand how one could get confused.
God help us if we have to agree on pizza toppings at some point. There will be no survivors.

Tiruin

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Re: Special People: Fistful of Silence
« Reply #6370 on: September 19, 2016, 07:45:49 pm »

I'm certain there are mistakes in there, but screw it, I'm too tired to check this again and I've been holding off posting it long enough.

It's been a while since I've reached the character limit. I still got it.

((I know that feel bro. ;D
Also I should really, REALLY up my physical training so I can face these mystical magical powers like Irine can :I Willpower/strength training anyway. This kitsune isn't going down to floof!))
((Tir, Irine lost that fight, even with Theri's help. The one who won it was D's piece inside Irine, which nobody knew about. Also, Irine was in the very first mission, she has more levelips than anyone else but Zech and Ike.))
((I know .__. it looked really bad to me too, but wow all that narrative. STILL I'm going to work on my kitsune character here :P She's going to get motivated and get stronger alongside all her allies!))

Quote from: Ike

"We'll get to that. For now tell me everything you remember."
Theri stopped deciding to move around, hearing her heart's pulse, and spending the next couple of minutes in a tranquility of thoughts--looking occasionally at Ike to check if he was still there (in part, thanks to his breathing). Those words of his were very calming, and she wished she could know more of her allies given the revelations she went through between now and then: thoughts and insights of mortality, of frailty, of motivation, of isolation; of choice, of circumstance, of foresight, of hindsight. After around several minutes, she managed a smile and winced while turning to look at Ike.

"It's...blurry. I stayed behind as you and everyone else went out with the villagers, I spent my time fortifying the village, assigning people into teams for duties and to look after each other, and helped with the healing process--mental or physical. Being distraught is often one of the overlooked wounds that can bleed slowly but surely if not attended to."

She spoke in a controlled manner: Slowly, but with emphasis, noticing that every word had to be forced out in parallel with her thoughts. She drummed her fingers on the bed to ensure she could feel--as there was little that she was feeling other than the areas that had taken extensive damage and were healing.

"Minutes passed that I spent going over making sure people were ok. It turned into a time that I thought helping out Irine would be a better option since you were looking all alright. I found her with another person just as they seemed to be under attack, and we fought off those darkness things, but...I could've helped out better though. I forgot his name but it starts with a 'V', that's the person Irine was with. The goal was to head to the temple, she was burning those creatures left and right, and when we got there only me and V were doing not-that-well. The doors were larger than three people as tall, and we planned to breach and clear by purging flame; we did that, but then we found one singular creature in the temple that surprised us. Irine was fanning her flames out for a pincer attack, it distracted it just enough until I got a sword from an angelic-looking statue...unsure if it had wings, but I was sorry for grabbing the only thing nearby that seemed good as a weapon, and managed to attack the creature with it being distracted. Took of the head; it still...moved. I threw the sword at it and ran--I only noticed it still moving when it flew at me (it had wings too, by the way)."

And that is where I'm still messy. Storytelling! How does everyone else do it.

"Oh-...and, ah, before all that. Before all the fire and fighting by the way, when we noticed this creature, it looked like it was preparing for something? Some kind of magical attack or such--me hitting its head and lopping it off stopped it, so I'm assuming there are essential body parts. Anyway, it flew up to me, and crushed the ground I was on if it wasn't for Irine's notice. I managed to evade, then got hit as it turned around: I did not see its tail (it had a tail, I think?), and...then I saw the inside of the temple all to well. Then I blacked out. Guess I was hit really badly, and went headfirst through something given my- yeah. I-I don't know what happened to Irine though. Or that other guy. He was important just like her. I'm sorry if I'm forgetting."

She reached up to the bandages covering her eye, wondering at the monofocal vision she just had, as dizziness hit her like some kind of vertigo.

"I'm sorry I can't help much Ike. I tried. I really did."

Recall; am I missing anything? Also, mentally focus on healing. Hello inner mantra!
« Last Edit: September 19, 2016, 10:26:27 pm by Tiruin »
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Coolrune206

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Re: Special People: Fistful of Silence
« Reply #6371 on: September 19, 2016, 08:07:49 pm »

((Am I entirely dead? Are there any tiny tiny bits of me left?))
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"You are a shameful gaggle of cowards who has made a mockery of the challenge, but you have avoided death. Sit and eat."

Xantalos

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Re: Special People: Fistful of Silence
« Reply #6372 on: September 19, 2016, 08:35:22 pm »

((Goodness, I'm enjoying this!))

Continue being the mandatory amount of silly. Provide the entertainment for everything all over the place. Even if not necessary.

Make sure Nikolai gets revived for maximum synergy, he was a cool dude.
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Lenglon

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Re: Special People: Fistful of Silence
« Reply #6373 on: September 19, 2016, 09:45:51 pm »

D... D!! D! ... D...
Mourn
After I finish crying for now, I look around. I do not hop down or stir much, I'm probably still weak and would neither land properly nor be able to get back up. After some time, and assuming no interruptions or interactions, I attempt to call out, clear my throat several times, then actually call out:
"Hello? Anyone? Is anyone there?"
If I get no response, I wait a while, resting and letting the nearby fire magic help me, and call out again after a bit. repeating up to seven times even if there is no response.
((Tir, Irine lost that fight, even with Theri's help. The one who won it was D's piece inside Irine, which nobody knew about. Also, Irine was in the very first mission, she has more levelips than anyone else but Zech and Ike.))
What about Zechariah?
((Oh, by the way, Irine is mourning right now, torn about what to do, feeling bad, etc... Lenglon feels like its her birthday. DAF responded to a PM about posting a couple days ago, Ive had two major happy things happen IRL, one expected and one not, IRL friend is going to hang out later, and now Special people has updated, and Irine isn't permadead! Lenglon is muchly happyface at this time.))

If my calls have no response, then I guess I'll have to take action. I'll first carefully sit up, seeing if I feel well enough to move. If I can't safely move then I have no choice but to sleep and recover, basking in the flames of the nearby sword to sustain myself. I didn't used to be able to do that, but with how this place works and my nature as a being of flame, I think I can. I mean, D brought me here for healing, right?.

If I am fully healed, neither dizzy nor weak, then I'll be able to move around, I'll first steel my will against intrusion, then take River's soulsphere and carefully lower myself to the ground. I'll then investigate the room  I'm in and the sword here. I am very carefull to not damage the sword, that thing could be equivilant to my very life if I'm stuck. I also do not grasp its flames for the same reason, unless I had grasped them unconsiously while resting. Right now I think my body knows more about what I need than my brain does, if that makes sense.to provide lighting to see with, I will generate 1 flame orb, and move it around to help me see.

If my calls get a response from above of all places, I'll generate a flame orb and send it up to show where the speaker is. I'll ask for help getting out, and for a small bag to "put a dangerous magic item in so I dont risk touching or breaking it."
« Last Edit: September 20, 2016, 04:22:23 pm by Lenglon »
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((I don't think heating something that is right above us to a ridiculous degree is very smart. Worst case scenario we become +metal statues+. This is a finely crafted metal statue. It is encrusted with sharkmist and HMRC. On the item is an image of HMRC and Pancaek. Pancaek is laughing. The HMRC is melting. The artwork relates to the encasing of the HMRC in metal by Pancaek during the Mission of Many People.))

TheBiggerFish

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Re: Special People: Fistful of Silence
« Reply #6374 on: September 19, 2016, 11:37:10 pm »

"You know, I'm really starting to not like you that much.

Or maybe it's the PTSD from repeatedly dying as I fell down a massive something or other.

Or maybe it's both!"
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