Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Harry Baldman]

"To be honest, it might be a little hasty on your part to say that this is all, strictly speaking, real. It might merely be a greater illusion in the process of a breakdown rather than proper reality. Whether that's the case, of course, remains to be seen."

"As for what you can do for me right now, you can go back and stay with your children for now. I get the feeling there is something else that might need doing right now."

If she agrees, investigate the source of that slightly displeased voice. The red and yellow one. If not, continue dialogue in free format.

[darkpaladin109]

Find the danger.

[DarkArtemisFowl]

((Alright, update is about 45% done and finals start tomorrow, which means that I'll have to put the update on the backburner until finals pass. I'm liking the way the update's looking so far - merely the size of it will compensate for time lost during the finals.

Have a good day/night everyone,
Artemis.))

[Gentlefish]

((Alright, update is about 45% done and finals start tomorrow, which means that I'll have to put the update on the backburner until finals pass. I'm liking the way the update's looking so far - merely the size of it will compensate for time lost during the finals.

Have a good day/night everyone,
Artemis.))

Good luck! And I just moved so I'm out of internet for a little while. I'll hop on when I can, please be patient for me.

[Tiruin]

[I am so sorry, busy busy here.]

"If you're going into town, wouldn't you be beaten up by those two we saw earlier?" Lirian asked. She seriously wondered why there was any evidence of a dangerous object in the child's area, especially given the lack of safety devices around. Though if it was handled easily like a courier does, then either it must be a trick to gain curiosity, or something as simple as a warning label.
"Could you tell us more about Esthenis, by the way?"

Deon thinks it over in his head and says, "Oh. Hadn't thought about that one. Well, if one or both of you came along, I don't think they'd be a problem. Besides, those jerks only hang around the shadows where they won't be seen. Believe me, the whole town isn't like them two. "
You look for any reaction in his face when you bring up "Esthenis." Maybe he knows something about it that he isn't telling you. Unfortunately, he looks just as confused as Cromwell does at this moment.
"Esti.. Esther... what? I 'aven't heard that one before. My friend just told me to bring some papers, and that there might be some boxes there too. I didn't get to see that before I was dragged outside again." He rubs the back of his neck and suggests something else. "Maybe my friend knows about it? You could ask once we get there, but I don't know anything about it."

Let's get there.

[DarkArtemisFowl]

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Third Chapter of the Sixth Book of The Medium.
Let's recap what's happened so far, shall we?

You all came from the island of Atis, a quiet communications hub and trades port near the edge of the continent of Survatas. There were three distinct cultures living on Atis: The Magis Kingdom, who believed in secrecy and the expansion of Atis-controlled waters to new locations; Aecrocia, a thriving city living on the northern bay of Atis and at the forefront of communications technology of the day; and the Atisi Tribes, the indigenous population of Atis, who believed in certain myths long forgotten about the origin of the world known today. Separating the three cultures lies an odd and curious technological disparity between all three cultures that coincides with the recent territorial disputes created by the three cultures.

Aside from the occasional military bout and political flare, Atis stayed as the quiet island it was. It even remained neutral, for a time, against the War of Colors which plagued most of the rest of the world. And yes, it would remain neutral for quite a long time.
Until the Theyin Empire bombarded the island and invaded, seeking it as a forward outpost against the Jaunatne Coalition. The Theyins would plan to use it as a staging point for amphibious crafts to deploy to the mainland of Survatas and invade the Jaunatne Coalition on their home territory. It would all have gone well, had not the universe decided to intervene.

This would mark the awakening of the Guardians.

Well, two Guardians, at least. The Guardians of Death and Chaos both realized their fates on different parts of the islands of Atis, where they were activated into their Zero Forms and laid waste to the island below. Most of the forest separating the different cultures had been burned down and the Magis Kingdom remains merely a skeleton of its former self. Nobody knows how the Atisi Tribe is fairing either, and Aecrocia has now been destabilized also. The Guardians soon disappeared and no trace of them was to be found. The other Guardians remaining on Atis have not yet shown their powers to the wide world - yet there is still time enough for them to make their mark.

Meanwhile, two groups of Guardians had landed on the shores of a new land in different ways and are beginning to make their way into the mainland. One of the groups has already met some new people in an unfamiliar village, while the other group is under siege by a force of darkness unknown to this world, until now.
Reality isn't as it seems. Atis' volcano was never expected to erupt in the coming days, yet it erupted and destroyed a large part of Atis. Along with that, some freak weather has fractured the island, with phenomenons such as fire and ice surrounding and choking the island.

The Guardians have yet to learn what their true power and calling will make them. They are only taking their first step on this journey by BREAKING REALITY.

ROLL TO MEDIUM: BREAKING REALITY [CHAPTER THREE]

Leave this ghost town. Attempt to clear all images of the dead city from my mind. Locate a forest, and have my golems strike the earth.

Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)

Roll for focus: 2 + 2 = 4, succeeded! +2 to actions relating to mental ability.
Domain bonus achieved! +1
Golem 1 <dig>: 4 + 2 = 6
Golem 2 <dig>: 1 + 3 - 1 = 3
Golem 3 <dig>: 1 + 3 - 2 = 2
Golem 4 <dig>: 3 + 3 - 3 = 3
Golem 5 <dig>: 5 + 3 - 4 = 4
Golem 6 <dig>: 6 + 3 - 5 = 4

Rune
Now that you've seen quite a lot of what the Magis Kingdom has become, you decide to leave the area and start anew somewhere else. The biggest forest that existed on the island of Atis was in between the three settlements of Atis, so you decide to head there. Already, before you are even close to the forest, you can see that a large part of it has already burned down. However, there is a substantial amount of trees near where the Atisi Tribe was once located, so you decide that that will be your best spot for now.

It doesn't take you that long to get there. You begin sending the golems down to dig; however, it is difficult to control all six at once still. Ah, well. You don't have much else to pay attention to at the moment, so you focus your mental energy on having the six golems work. Unfortunately, only three of them get any real work done in the current time frame, though two of the others do a little digging.

By the end of the hour, your golems have dug a small tunnel network in the ground. It's not near anywhere completed, but it will suffice for now. You crawl in after your golems and watch your golems as they slowly carve out the hallways for your new dorfy tunnels.

Run. When has listening to talking lizards that no one else sees ever been a bad idea?

Warren Drake
One foot after the other. Left step, right step. Running always seemed trivial, but now it's like your mind is a ball of tangled spaghetti in a giant sea of tomato juice, which makes running seem like the challenge of the century. Speaking of your mind, you can't tell reality from nightmare anymore. For starts, who was that thing that was taunting you back there? And what happened to those iguanas that made them so monstrous?

You jog along for a short while, mixing various questions around your tomato soup head to try and make sense of the situation. Now that you think of it, nothing has made sense for the past day or so. Maybe this is just a dream.

Your footsteps slow down. Actually, it seems like you are slowing down completely - and... shrinking. Your senses seem to be both amplifying and slowing down at the same time, as if your perspective has been changed.

"Ssssoorrryy! But tthhe Ssshadoow iss foollowing, I haave to do thissss!"

You look down and back. Yep, as if this couldn't get any weirder, it just had to change even more.

Yerr a lizard, Harry Warren. You now have a tail, small eyes, a long mouth and nostrils in front of you, and four feet instead of your fingers and toes. Well, at least you're small and not noticeable anymore. Surely that's a good thing, no?

You feel the same presence behind you again. That same darkness. Except, this time, it seems to be flowing over you and not behind you now. Passing over you. Flying away from you, not paying attention to you.

And then it's gone. All of it is quiet around you. This would be fantastic, if not for the fact that you are still 100% lizard right now. Again, oh well. Maybe you could use to this to your advantage? You try tuning your mental thoughts to Darzenis and see if he somehow picks up on it. No luck, however. Darzenis is busy with something else at this time.

You're in the middle of some part of the wetlands - it looks to be near the left side of the mountain/arch that you were in before. Now that you're a lizard, it's time to see what you could do here.

Drain a small bit of water from my girlfriend's body. Track that energy to find her

You try to use an unconventional means of finding the location of someone you know by taking a little bit of their physical self in order to track down where they are. Unfortunately, your power is waning too fast at this point. Your green-electric wings are already flickering into oblivion, and you are losing altitude fast. The ground seems to be racing up to meet you. In an attempt to keep yourself in the air, you spin once and aim yourself in a horizontal position, attempting to keep some of your flight energy with you.

Needless to say, this does not work. You continue to fall down to what surely will be your inevitable death. The ground finally comes up to meet you and everything goes black. Silent. Nothingness.

(Now, please refer to your Three Days response down below for more.)

"One target left."
Flat hand(right), thrust tip first toward wolf.
Lightning spear from hand to wolf

Diana Crown
(You're getting the hang of this.)
[SPD: 3v1] You stay on the defensive, watching the wolf's movements. His eyes are full of hatred, if that is even possible for an animal with no eyes and darkness flowing around it. He makes the mistake of choosing to attack first, with clumsy footing and a mindset of rage. You get the strike in and [5] produce a blade of lightning in your hand, striking it into the side of the wolf and running it across the length of his body. He does not even have time to shriek in reaction before he is completely annihilated by the sheer force of electricity. He is nothing more than ashes being blown into the winds by the time you are done with him.

"Oh... so that is what you carry." The voice seems to be holding you in contempt now. "Hehee... very well. We shall meet again in another time, another place. For now, have your fun. You will miss your innocence soon enough." The voice giggles with a high pitched voice one again, surrounding you and whirling around you over and over again until it finally dissipates.

You are alone once again. The glow of the dawn washes over you as the morning sun rises.
You'd better start heading out once again.

((I can't see this next bit as being anything more than an action so)) Cecil nods his head ever so slightly. Y-yeah... Yeah okay. He stands a little straighter, trying to assume his radio-quality voice in his posture as well.

Cecil G. Palmer
She cackles with a dark overtone. "Hahaha... then let's get started, shall we?" She swirls into a gust of pitch-black darkness, flowing around you and everywhere else, like a ghost. She then half-appears in front of you. Her face is actually incredibly stunning - she looks calm and collected, with her chartreuse eyes and hair. She grabs you by the arm and pulls you into the shadowy darkness with her.

You spend several seconds in some murky limbo before you emerge back into a lighter area. Beneath your feet lies the island of Atis. You appear to be floating several hundred meters above the island itself, with Seira Theyin floating right next to you. She seems to enchant you with her beautiful yet hollow eyes and her mocking smile.
"It's such a shame, isn't it?" She walks around on an invisible platform, looking down on the wasteland below. "All I wanted to do was bring some form of new liberation to the island. This island... everyone who sides with the Jaunatne.. they are blinded. Blinded by their greed, their yearning for innocence and not for truth." She looks back to you with a worried look on her face - yet you cannot tell if she is simply acting, or genuinely saddened.
"I am not a murderer. I am simply looking out for those who cannot save themselves. Can't you see that? They cannot see what I see."

"I see the world for what it truly is. Don't you?"

"To be honest, it might be a little hasty on your part to say that this is all, strictly speaking, real. It might merely be a greater illusion in the process of a breakdown rather than proper reality. Whether that's the case, of course, remains to be seen."
"As for what you can do for me right now, you can go back and stay with your children for now. I get the feeling there is something else that might need doing right now."
If she agrees, investigate the source of that slightly displeased voice. The red and yellow one. If not, continue dialogue in free format.

Eh Ah
The woman carries a blank stare upon her face. Looks like you've broken her sense of consciousness a little bit more, if I do say so myself. Ah, well. It was worth a try, right?
She nods slightly and murmurs to her children, keeping them relatively safe. You then look for whatever voice was talking.

It doesn't take you long. Looking out to the backyard, you find a scared-looking girl sitting atop a picnic bench in the backyard. She looks like she has blond hair, brown eyes, and has a red jacket with a black shirt that are both cut at the midriff. Oddly enough, she even seems to be translucent - as if she is not fully there. Considering what you have seen already, this is not that surprising, though you do wonder what sort of circumstances had to happen in order to have these sort of events occur.

It is only a few moments before the girl grows wide-eyed at seeing you looking at her.
"Wait, can you see me?" She says with a whisper. You nod and open up the screen door to show her that you can respond to her.
"Oh god. This is bad. Really bad. Really really bad, so bad, no no no..." Her breathing begins escalating to the point of hyperventilation, and she doesn't seem to be fully stable at the moment. "Why? Why.. is it breaking?"
Her image begins to flicker, as if you needed further proof that she is not fully tangible. She is nearing the point of tears. The small family doesn't seem to react still.  It seems that you are the only one who is able to see her. You swear to yourself, however, that when you flicked your gaze to the small boy, he seemed to be looking at the girl too. He wasn't saying anything, but you think that he was able to see the girl also.

While this is happening, it seems that things have quieted down somewhat outside. At the very least, it is no longer raining lava and ice like something out of the apocalypse.

Find the danger.

The real danger at this moment seems to be your thirst. While you were wandering around, you tried to ignore your lack of water and other resources - but your body will have none of it at this moment. You slowly stop walking around and simply degrade into an incomprehensible mutter while lying on the ground, deprived of the water that you so needed.
You can hear voices. They are soothing, but they don't seem to be real. Wait, what is that figure in front of you? Your vision is blurry, but you can still see a brown blob in front of you.
"Get him... town.. doctor..."
The voices slowly fade away into oblivion as you pass out. You finally fall unconscious and give into your involuntary processes.
"Oh, he appears to have fainted. Get him into the town, quickly. The doctor will tend to him. We will also have to ask where he found... this... from."

You are unconscious.

(Please refer to your "Three Days" response below for the rest of your turn.)

Let's get there.

Lirian & Cromwell Jackson [autoaction]
Deon smiles cheerfully, excited to have someone to accompany him. "Thank you! Let's go. I have to get some stuff from the town first, but it shouldn't be long. My friend will be glad to meet you. It won't be long, I promise!"
He runs out of the door and into the alleyway that leads back into the town. For someone who was just beat up, he seems to be very active. Cromwell simply shrugs when you look to him for his reaction.
"I don't know. Let's just see what happens from here. Hopefully, he's okay."
You wait for him to return. When he does, he has a shoulder bag, an assorted variety of fruits, and an envelope. He hands you the bag and some of the fruits, but keeps the envelope.
"Thank you for waiting. Alright, let's go!"

(Please refer to your "Three Days" response for the other portion of your turn.)

DO NOT POST AN ACTION, PLEASE!

I need to get the Three Days post done, so please bear with me here. This next post will put the story back on a smoother track and makes sure that I don't slow things down from here on out. Also, I will be on a family vacation for the next week starting Monday, so I will not be available during that time. I will get the Three Days done before that time, however, so do not worry.
Have a great weekend,
Artemis.

[DarkArtemisFowl]

Unfortunately, I have to go somewhere this week. I will try to finish the TD post through the coming days and release it using my phone. After this week, I will finally be free to do updates on the regular basis that I promised. But for now, please bear with me, as I will not be available for the next week.

Thank you and I wish you all a good week,
Artemis.

[DarkArtemisFowl]

CHAPTER THREE: THREE DAYS FORWARD
Part two of the Chapter Three: Breaking Reality update.
Eh Ah
You finally manage to calm the girl down after a minute or two of crying and anxiety. Still, the family does not notice - except for, of course, the young boy. He certainly has something odd about him, an awareness of the situation that looms over his age. Nevertheless, you try to have a meager conversation with the ghostly girl. She goes through a wide range of emotions while talking to you, including sadness, anxiety, anger, and fear - fearing being the most prevalent emotion here.

With a hint of fragility in her voice, she begins speaking. "You don't know me... but I know you. You can call me 'Witch', for now. Let's just say that I watch over you all. Look, we don't have too much time here, but I need you to understand something: what you said about reality breaking apart? You're not far from the truth. Something went wrong in the universe, some variable that wasn't accounted for. That family that you guided just now? Yeah, they're not supposed to exist."

She lets that sink in. You look back towards the small family of three. What does she mean by "they're not supposed to exist?" They seemed pretty tangible from what you could tell, though there was something odd about the two kids. They seemed very quiet and intelligent, as if they know things that they are not supposed to know. But at the same time, you have no reason to believe that they are any more than innocent.

She points up to the volcano, the breeze picking up around the two of you."You saw that, didn't you? The ice and fire and lava and all of that, right? That's the wake-up call. You're part of that - part of all of this. You... you're a Guardian."
The wind blows event faster around you, howling between the buildings of the once long-standing city of Aecrocia. It all seems so empty now. Empty and burning. You can't even begin to think of what might have happened on the other part of the island. The Witch raises her hands in front of her.
"You're a Guardian of all that has life in this universe. You remember that glow of energy you gave off when you put your hand on the mother? That's only the beginning of your powers. The only thing I can tell you about it now is to keep following the feeling of compassion. It'll help you later on in your adventure." Her image flickers heavily, almost disappearing completely.
"I've gotta go now. Find the Empress and learn what she learns. This has something to do with her. I'll see you in a couple days again."

Her image is almost completely gone now. "I hope to god that it's not him. Please, no."

Three days pass. You have stayed with the family for these three days, at their Uncle's house. You then departed after saying some goodbyes and giving them some food from a nearby abandoned house, keeping a small amount of food for yourself. The island has been quiet ever since the eruption happened. You've seen some Theyin troops patrolling around and other Atis civilians scavenging around, but you assume that most people have gone to some other part of the island. You are currently near the bay at the northern side of Atis, inside of Aecrocian territory.

You are in control now.

Alex Raman

Blackout.

That was all that you could remember of your landing. It was as if your powers were stripped away and you were left to fight the sky on your own. You fell with little grace and then went unconscious. In fact, you don't even remember landing, really; just falling into a darkness.

And now, you are awake, laying on the floor of a mossy cavern. After taking in your surroundings and making sure that you are safe, you get up from the floor and do a cursory check of your body. You don't seem to be injured anywhere, apart from your scorched left arm. However, it seems as if someone has bandaged your arm up with a dark, spongy fabric, akin to the moss covering the floor beneath you. In front of you, the floor of the cavern is lit up on both sides by two strips of glowing fungi, running along the sides of the cavern. It is a soft blue and green glow, inviting yet ominous at the same time.

As you are following the strips of fungi, you spot a glowing figure not too far from you. It appears to be a woman in a soft blue robe with a white fabric belt. She gives off a warm, light aura that beckons you forward. She moves slowly and with purpose towards a wooden table with two chairs in the middle of the cavern. She takes a seat and whispers to you.
"Congratulations, Alex Raman. Welcome to my home. Please, take a seat."

((Dialogue time, if you want.))

Warren Drake
Spending time as a lizard wasn't as bad as you thought it would be. You learned things from a new perspective; you were a small, quick amphibian who could escape and climb at a moment's notice. The wetlands seem so much more appealing in a lizard's body. You could now take the time to appreciate the life inside of this little forest-marsh combo: lizards, small birds, insects, frogs, and other small creatures inhabit this environment.

Along the way, you traveled with a salamander with a brown-green body who is, apparently, a friend of Darzenis. On your way, he had told you that his name was Makio. The rest is described below.
"Ey, Darzenis never told you about me? Nah, don' worry bout it. Darzenis ain't the sharpest out of alla us, but he was the only one who wanted to watch over Atis. There's some freaky magic round Atis, ya know? Nonna us like bein' there, so Darzenis's the only one who wanted ta volunteer for that. Me, I'm the watcher of the mid-Survatan coast, near Perith. Ya ever been to Perith? Nice place, it is, but we reptiles never go there. Inland belongs to the felines, man. That's not our business.

Oh, got any questions fo' me? I know Darzenis has trouble with this translation stuff, so let me do that for you. Shoot away, Guardian."

The both of you travel along the border of the wetlands, watching the coast and looking out for your old party members. Speaking of which, you haven't seen any of them in some time.

Diana Crown
You began your travel inland, only a few hours in, before you found your brother and the Magis guard. Unfortunately, they were not found in the most optimal of conditions. They were both heavily wounded, blood dried all over their bodies and their clothing torn with claw marks all over. You could even see some black ooze seeping from some of their wounds, which was certainly odd. Nevertheless, you attempted to drag the both of them a few hundred meters before you reasoned that you can't drag them forever. The best that you could do at the time was clean them up using some water from below a drop in the hill and cover them up as best as you could.

Time was running out. If you didn't find some help for them, they would both die here. It was getting cold fast and you had no food, water, or medical supplies for them here. You don't even remember where the coast was relative to your position right now.

"Hey, over here! John, come look, we've got some of the lost ones over here!" You turn to your right and find a search party of three men and two women heading your way. They look like they have a mixture of relatively simple and practical clothing styles, with some interesting devices that they are carrying. Unfortunately, your fatigue overcomes you and you pass out.

..
...

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" You open your eyes slightly. Your head hurts. You can see that you are in a small brown building, and a woman is standing over you, offering you water. You take it and drink in small sips, afraid that you might gulp it all down in one sitting.
"You worried the search party back there. They thought you were all dead already. May I know your name?"

Rune
The memories of the few days that have passed are washed away. Now is not the time to worry about the past. You have a future to look forward to now, a future that you will build on your own. Well, not really on your own. You do have the help of a few clay golem buddies who are under your mind control. That does help to speed up the process.

Now, you are serving as overwatch for the operation that your golems are currently carrying out: carving a dwarven fortress beneath the earth. They have already dug a few tunnels and placed some wooden supports using some supplies gathered from the nearby Magis Kingdom, which is now defunct. Your golems work quickly and efficiently under your control, carving out a nice-looking complex down under the ground, where no one can see it.

You go down into the depths of your tunnels once more to check on the progress. Everything is fine and dandy - that is, until you notice a rather loose slab of stone beneath your feet. You spend some time ordering the golems to remove this slab of rock. One of the two golems you send down here picks up the stone slab.

You hear it before you see it. The tunnel is collapsing around you, you realize. You try to sprint for the exit, but it is no use. The ground gives way below you and you tumble down to an immense cavern below. Aside from a few bruises, you are fine. You turn around and face the cavern in front of you.
What you see blows you away. Metaphorically, of course.
You are standing in a towering chamber engraved with intricate, swirling designs all around. You can see depictions of creatures you've never seen before, and even people you've never seen before. The one that catches your eye is the one depicted in the center - on the floor is a carving a butterfly and a dragonfly circling around each other, and beyond them are ten symbols engraved on the floor. In the center of this engraving is an empty, cracked pedestal.

The wind howls around you and through the cavern. It almost seems as if the drawings are alive in their own way.

Cecil G. Palmer
You sit straight up, eyes wide open, scanning the room for anyone or anything threatening. You breathe heavily for the next few seconds, still not having recovered from what appeared to be a dream. You seem to be in some kind of wooden building. According to the medical equipment above and next to you, you guess that this would be some kind of hospital. Yet, you wonder why the heck you are here in the first place. Weren't you back near the shoreline before? And what happened to that new guy and the hobo and the Magis princess? Most importantly, where the heck are you now?

Looks like your questions will be answered soon. An older gentleman in a white coat steps into the room, closing the door quietly behind him. He looks pretty friendly, with his slight smile and his kind eyes.
"Good morning. How are you feeling? Our friends over at Perith found you near the coast, along with a couple of other guys and gals. You were in pretty bad shape. You looked like you had been attacked in your sleep. What's your name, son?" He asks you slowly and with a gravelly voice. You still have no idea where you are, but you decide to go along with the man in case he will provide you some answers.

One moment, at the shore of a foreign land. The next, in a hospital with a blinding headache and back pain. There seems to be a constant flux in your life, and it's not letting you recover anytime soon.

Lirian & Cromwell Jackson
Time to go see this friend of Deon's. He has been pretty cautious about his words, although you could chalk that up to him not wanting to give up too much information to basic acquaintances. The three of you walk slowly up the hill to a rather nice greenhouse complex, about a six minute walk from the main town. The main structure of the building is topped by a glass dome, while the wings on both sides seem to be used for housing plants or some other biological institutions inside. Whoever these friends of Deon's are, they either have a surplus of money or an important job here. Deon leads the two of you up to the front door of the complex and casually rings a doorbell on the right side of the door. The door opens, and out comes a young man in a brown jacket and square-framed glasses. He has very dark hair and brown eyes, with a nice smile at first. However, it seems that he is startled by your appearance and grows pale for a moment. He trades glances with Deon, and Deon introduces the two of you.

"Hello, Dr. Kito. I would like to introduce you to these two. They're visitors to this town. Dr. Kito, meet Jack and Liri."
Dr. Kito changes to a more friendly posture and offers his hand to Cromwell, who accepts the handshake. Lirian stays quiet outside of the door, scanning the area around the complex.
"Apologies for my dirtied appearance. My name is Allen Kito. I work as a botanist for the Jaunatne Coalition, Global Sciences Branch. Deon here has told me about your predicament. I do have a guest room that I could offer you for a while. If you need anything, my daughter will tend to you. She is not here right now, but she should be back soon. Please, make yourself at home!" Dr. Kito opens the door further, allowing the two of you to enter. Deon does not enter alongside you, prompting Cromwell to ask him why.

"Oh, I have to go back to the town now. I was just here to deliver something to Dr. Kito, and to find you two a place to stay. Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll be staying on the good aide of town. I will be back tomorrow to check on you two. Stay safe, and thank you for the help. Bye!" Deon begins jogging down the road back to town and Dr. Kito closes the door behind you. The whole complex has a theme of white and grey. It appears to be more of a botanical research facility than it is a home, but you suppose that it serves with a dual purpose. Above you is the glass dome you saw earlier. There are four doors in this room that lead to other areas of the complex, but Dr. Kito leads you through one of the middle doors. This goes down a hallway and to the right, where there are two doors at the end of the hallway. The doctor leads you to the last door and shows you the room. There are two separate beds, a nightstand, a table and two chairs, and a glass wall that looks out to one of the greenhouses and the town. Additionally, there is a bookshelf full of various collections and a chessboard in the corner. Again, this room shares the overall theme of white and grey throughout the house.
"If you have any questions, please do ask. Otherwise, get some rest. By tomorrow morning, my daughter should come by and introduce to you the rest of the complex. It is so rare that we get visitors besides Deon! Well, is there anything you need of me?"

Jorji Constanza
You open you eyes to a gray ceiling in front of you. Your head hurts and your body aches. All that you can remember is that you fell unconscious and you were being carried away by some men in uniforms, though you could not tell what the uniforms were exactly. You sit up, and find that the rest of the room is exactly like the ceiling - grey and unadorned. It is damp and cold, feeling more like a prison than a house. In fact, you think that this might actually be a prison. Why would they put you in a prison, though? You don't think that you did anything wrong - at least, not yet. The only thing you did was try to find a better place to live.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see a door open. Into the room steps a man in a grey coat, several medal pinned on his lapel. He walks straight and with definition in his stride. Yep, this is probably a prison. He pulls up a chair from the corner of the room and takes a seat neart he bed you woke up from. It appears that he has a folder in his hands - though for what, you are not sure.

"It seems you've finally awoken. Maybe now, you can explain to us why you had a dangerous substance in your possession? Specifically, the drug depressant T-132O 'Esthenis,' otherwise known as 'Thin.'"
The man pulls a few files out of the folders and spread them out at the edge of your bed. One is a picture of the same plant you were carrying when you were last conscious; the other two documents explain the origin of Esthenis and what the drug exactly does to the body. It's a bunch of jumbled nonsense that you can't understand. Why are you being interrogated?

"We are not going to hurt you. We just want to know where you obtained this plant. It is very important to know this. Right now, you are the only suspect we have for smuggling this into Survatan territory. So, what do you know?"

Author's Note:
Typing on a phone to send this update sucked.
Oh well. I wanted to get this out for you all.
I will be back Friday afternoon. After that, it's smooth sailing from here on out.
Have a good week everyone,
Artemis.

[scapheap]

"My name? It's Diana." she leave off the surname for now "What of my brother and our guard?"

[GreatWyrmGold]

Attempt to figure out where I am in relation to...anything. Climb a tree, that should help.

[Harry Baldman]

((Important question right now, hopefully to be answered soon in some capacity: since Eh Ah has learned of the fact that the family is not supposed to exist, it is entirely reasonable for him to have watched out for anything... off about these people. Possibly while innocuously chatting with them by the fire or engaging in some other activity. Has anything been divined about them in such a manner? Three days is quite a bit of time to get to know somebody, after all. What is the sum total of my new knowledge about them?

Also, what have I discovered or seen about the surrounding area during that time? Did I and/or the family stay exclusively indoors? There was obviously a bit of scavenging happening, and I did visit the nearby house. Do I know the general disposition of the Theyin troops toward the remaining civilians? Have I seen any looting or atrocities committed by them unprovokedly? Anything else of interest I may have detected?))

The ruins are still busy. Interesting.

Action to be finalized after answer to this question: are the scavengers bothering to hide, do the patrols see them, and do they look like they're going to do anything about it?

((So, yeah. Right now I'm practically made of questions.))

[Yourmaster]

"Who are you and where am I?

[Nunzillor]

Just popping in to say that I'm thoroughly enjoying this.  I only wish that I could have known what ended up happening between the president and the empress...

[DarkArtemisFowl]

I am back. Yay computer !

((Important question right now, hopefully to be answered soon in some capacity: since Eh Ah has learned of the fact that the family is not supposed to exist, it is entirely reasonable for him to have watched out for anything... off about these people. Possibly while innocuously chatting with them by the fire or engaging in some other activity. Has anything been divined about them in such a manner? Three days is quite a bit of time to get to know somebody, after all. What is the sum total of my new knowledge about them?
Also, what have I discovered or seen about the surrounding area during that time? Did I and/or the family stay exclusively indoors? There was obviously a bit of scavenging happening, and I did visit the nearby house. Do I know the general disposition of the Theyin troops toward the remaining civilians? Have I seen any looting or atrocities committed by them unprovokedly? Anything else of interest I may have detected?))
Action to be finalized after answer to this question: are the scavengers bothering to hide, do the patrols see them, and do they look like they're going to do anything about it?

I'll list them off for you.
1. As for their physical selves, you haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary. It's not like that Witch girl, who was flickering and translucent, which proved that she wasn't really attached to the physical plane. They look just like your typical human beings, after all.
You have been able to get some details out of them, however. The mother's name is Zahra Dimikaelo, the young girl is Selene Dimikaelo, and the boy is Artemis Dimikaelo. The names have some sort of familiarity to you, but you can't remember where you've heard those names before. I've already told you about how the boy seems to be unnervingly calm and intelligent despite the situation. You've asked the family about their past and where they've come from. The mother has told you that she doesn't really know where she came from, that she just remembers having lived on Atis for her entire life. Other than that, the family has been quite kind towards you, keeping you company while you decide where to head now following the disaster on the island. In conclusion: No, no freaky magic going on around this quaint little family. However, there is an odd sort of misalignment in this family. The more time you spend with them, you find that they know less and less about the island than you would've thought, for a family that grew up on the island itself.
2. The relationship between the Theyin Imperial troops and the island's civilians is somewhat mixed. On one hand you have the Imperial troops keeping their superiority on the island. If anyone dares to challenge the Theyin power on the island, they are shot on the spot immediately and disposed of. However, should they come across someone who needs help and doesn't do anything to provoke the soldiers, then the soldiers do indeed go out of their way to supply food and emergency supplies to the civilians. In essence, they are imposing a sort of marshal law over the island's civilians, in trade for emergency supplies and help for the Atis civilians. It's a very hard divide that the Theyin troops have set up, yet there is not much more that the Aecrocians can do to help themselves, since they are under the orders of the Theyins for now.
3. Again, reactions from both the Theyins and the Aecrocians are mixed. Generally, however, it seems that if you don't do anything to make the Theyins suspect that you are trying to resist against them, then you'll be fine. There are not many scavengers here, but most of them keep to themselves and try to stay away from the Theyins, afraid that they will be executed. The Theyins are not really actively searching out for scavengers - rather, they seem to be targeting obvious signs of resistance, including possible weapons, defensive structures left over on the island, and rebels who are trying to escape the Theyins.
As for the Theyin presence on the island, there are occasional patrols, but most of the troops seem be centered in the middle of Aecrocia and down in the southern portion of the island. You guess that there are somewhere between a thousand and two-thousand troops on the island.

"Who are you and where am I?

The mysterious woman chuckles softly. "I am known by many names and in many forms. Some call me Mother Nature, others see me as Gaia, and yet others see me as one-half of God. You, however? You may call me Veida Apteun."
She lifts one arm slightly and flicks her hand upwards. All around you, the cave lights up with glowing vines and leaves sprouting out from the walls. It is a soft and blue-green glow that fills the roofless cavern as fireflies dance around you and lift their way into the darkness above you.
"This," she whispers, "is the endless darkness that exists within everywhere and everything. It is the nexus that connects every living thing, every world, to one another. There is no real name for this; no description for the boundless imagination.
Yet, one of your kind has created a name for this place. A fitting name that matches the potential of every living soul. Welcome, my young child, to the Medium."

She gestures toward the table. "Now, may you take a seat at this table? I do believe that you have more than two simple questions for me, Alex. Do not be afraid. I am merely your guide on this journey - your journey which begins here."

"My name? It's Diana." she leave off the surname for now "What of my brother and our guard?"

The woman looks slightly confused for a moment, but she finds her words soon enough. "Oh, the other two that we found? Yes, they should be alright. Many cuts and external wounds, but nothing really permanent. They should be completely fine in a month or so. Where do you come from?"
She takes the cup of water from you and sets it on a table nearby as she begins preparing some odd ingredients on another table to the right of you.
"My name is Alex. I will be taking care of you and the other two as your nurse. Do you have anything that you need? Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. You are currently in Perith, which is about six miles from where we found you. This is our hospital, if you will. It's nothing fancy, but it's good enough for the purpose."
You are able to get a better look at the nurse now. She seems to be of a young age for an adult, but she still looks like she is confident in her work. She has a mix of red-brown hair that is tied back in a ponytail behind her, and she has dark brown eyes.
You are on a white bed with matching sheets. To your right and your left are wooden tables with various medical supplies scattered about. Above you are several cabinets, most likely for other medical
supplies. The whole room seems to be clean and well-kept. There aren't any windows, but you can hear the low buzz of a community outside of the building, including music, chattering, and walking about. It seems that you are not too far from the center of the town.

Just popping in to say that I'm thoroughly enjoying this.  I only wish that I could have known what ended up happening between the president and the empress...

I appreciate it, thank you! I really would like to reveal that part of the story, but I would need Onyxjew back to do so... I hope he gets back soon, though!

[Harry Baldman]

Shrugging, Eh Ah raises his arms, palms open and turned toward the Theying patrol, and approaches.

"I say, excuse me, good sirs, but would you be open for a bit of conversation? I'm afraid I'm a little in the dark here, myself."