TURN THIRTEEN: GUARDIANS OF THE UNKNOWN, AND RAMENAnd just when you thought things were calming down.
Hah.
Rune was utterly terrified. How had he made things that would come to life? But... if he could, then he wondered... He pointed at the golem who had followed his orders, and made the golem stand to his side. He then placed clay in front of the golem and himself, and started making another golem, eager to see if the living golem would also create one too.
Make another golem, and try to have the living golem make another golem too.
Rune(Creation and control of multiple objects allowed due to proficiency in both affinity and domain.)
Roll for focus (+1) succeeded! 4 + 1 = 5
Domain bonus received for focus! +1
Golem: 5 + 2 = 7 -> Master quality, +2 to golem general HP during battle
Golem #1 <make golem>: 2 + 3 = 5 -> great quality
You take this opportunity to have the other golem make more golems beside you. Then that golem will make more golems, and those golems will make more golems, and... you get the point.
Despite the pressure in your head, you have been working long enough with these clay golems that the next golem you create is incredibly durable. Once you bake this golem, he appears to be much heavier than the others, though this shouldn't be a problem. It's not like you're going to carry him around or anything. No, we have better plans for these little guys.
Your other golem minion actually makes a pretty decent golem himself, which he sets on the volcanic rock face to bake. Although it doesn't seem as durable as the one you made, it'll do for now.
As you admire your handiwork, you feel the ground rumble below you. You believe it's just one of the common earth tremors, but this one is really starting to gain energy. You can't do much considering you're in a cave, but you huddle near a corner for protect, summoning a golem to defend you if need be.
And then the volcano erupts. No, seriously - this thing
erupts. You didn't think it would erupt within your lifetime, but you can feel the volcano belching up tons of volcanic material into the sky. You can also hear gunfire going on, but it's pretty quiet compared to the eruption happening right now. Your cave is not affected that much, though you are shaken up by the eruption.
You decide to stick around in the cave in case some lava decides to drop on your head.
Help with the fire.
Warren DrakeYou decide that it would probably be best to get some warmth within your little camp, considering that it is the deep night and you have no source of heat so far. So, you attempt to help your new acquaintances light a fire. The younger kid with a clean jacket looks up at you and smiles.
"Hello, sir! Welcome to our humble camp site. What brings you here tonight?"((Dialogue is up to you.))
With your new acquaintances, you move to help set up a fire. The next ten minutes are spent fruitlessly trying to light a fire, but the wood does not yield any light nor warmth for you three. Frustrated, you put the wood pieces down and think to yourself. The jacket kid and the hobo continue working on trying to create a fire. You estimate that it is nearing dawn, though you can't see any light yet.
Just as you become bored and nearly fall asleep, you are startled wide awake by the sound of a nearby scream. Even closer by, you hear a rustling sound not too far away, in the trees of the wetland. You try to listen in your mind for your lizard friend's return, but you hear no voices. (Probably a good thing - it confirms you're not going crazy, yet.) You become alert and prepare for the worst.
look desperately for other people. Try to figure out why I just turned into water
Alex Ramen RamanYou look around to see if anyone is near you. You're freaked out by your transformation to water, but you keep your wits about you. You don't see anyone else on the mountain side. You don't really see anything at all, actually. There is a fog closing in extremely fast, and a blizzard kicks up almost instantly. You're pretty sure that this isn't a real place. You're probably unconscious or something. You look behind you and are subsequently even more startled by the person waiting there behind you.
There is a lone girl standing there. You recognize her as your girlfriend from the Atis tribe. She stands there with sea-green eyes and dark brown hair, looking quite scared. She mouths one word to you, one single word before the snow wraps around you and takes you away.
"Help."You wake up in a tornado of ice and frost around you, ascending towards the sky. Somewhere through your blackout and your waking, you've summoned up thousands upon thousands of ice shards around you, creating a whirlwind of shards that almost completely blocks your view. Speaking of your view, you notice that your vision has a slight, light blue tint around the edges.
And you're not in control. Well, at least not fully. You can sense that you're angry, but you don't know why. Maybe it's because your girlfriend really is in trouble, or maybe your waffles came out burnt. Whatever the reason, you're climbing into the sky to meet a hurricane of fire and lava that is also in the air, descending towards you. You raise an arm and send up a solid wave of ice and some water towards the fire. All you can hear is the rushing of water and frost, with the booming sound of a volcano and fire flying towards you. You have no idea what's going on, but you feel powerful. You feel like you know the ocean around the island, and you know how to cooperate with the ice forming around the island, climbing around it. Atis is below you, you are above the inhabitants of Atis. The island is catching fire due to the volcanic eruption, and above you, you can make out the figure of another human amid the fire. He seems to be made out of an odd fabric of darkness, with a bright purple electric outline detailing his body. What makes you shiver is the fire in his eyes, a purple representation of a dark energy that exists before time began. In front of his body is a holographic, purple
arevakhach symbol. You understand it somehow. He represents the Chaos.
Yet, you are unstoppable. You will destroy the fire. You will imprison whoever stands in your way in hundreds of feet of ice and water. You will choke the life out of them.
You are Alex Raman, Guardian of Ice and Death.You are in your Initial Zero Form. Your powers to cast Death through the Ocean and the Frost are unbound.
Go.
Visit the president, wait for visions to recur.
Check if the president is busy, if not then report the Empress's happenings, and the bit about me being her new liaison.
"Eh, Mister President. I think this may interest you..."
ArnequerYou cautiously approach the president, who is socializing with some of his assistants and/or business partners. Although whatever those visions were disturbed you a bit, you aim to see if you can find any visions coming from the president.
Indeed, the visions to come back. Except this time, the vision isn't bound to the body of the president: now, the vision fills a sphere in your own eyesight. You can even hear the things going on within the vision.
The vision seems to open a portal with distorted colors to the perspective of a younger Atis president, looking out onto the bay of Aecrocia from his penthouse. It seems to be sometime in the past due to the president's age and the heavy construction within the city. He is with another older man and woman, discussing something in hushed tones. You strain a little bit more to listen to what they are saying.
"They must not know," President Palmer says softly.
"None of them must know what happened. For all they can see, this is their world. It would devastate everything we've worked for if they were to learn about the Theyin Empire.""Humor me for a moment, Mr. Palmer," the older gentleman chuckles.
"Why would the knowledge of an outside world be detrimental to our success? It would increase the demand for imports and our profits would increase substantially.""The Theyin Empire seeks to unite all four corners of the world under one flag. They seek to end capitalist proceedings and create a community where no one grows any richer. It would sound like a dream to the peasants, but it means the end of our business ventures and the halt of technological advance."The woman adds in,
"We, as an entire island, are entrepreneurs. Aecrocia seeks to prosper, and the only way we can prosper is by stopping the Theyins from extending their influence onto our island. The Theyins seek unification. Unification inhibits competition, and competition is the drive of capitalism. We can't let that happen.""Daddy!" A very young boy toddles into the scene and grabs onto the leg of President Palmer, who smiles in return.
"Cecil, please return to Ms. Melda. Daddy is talking with some guests." He motions for the boy to leave and Cecil runs over to the elevator, giggling.
Your vision ends there. You return to the present time, where you promptly report your meeting with the Empress to President Palmer. You're shaken by that vision, but you cannot lose your cool in front of the President. Speaking of the President, he seems very intrigued by your interaction with the Empress.
"She regards you as her... liaison?" He asks with concern.
"And by which office of Aecrocian authority were you given the power to enable such diplomatic channels, Mr. Arnequer?"Before you can properly respond, you hear the ground rumbling at your feet, followed by something you thought would never happen in your lifetime.
The volcano erupted. Yes, the Atis volcano has just erupted. You can't see outside the barricaded windows, but you can damn well see the ash and smoke exploding from the volcano through the window-roof of Summer Hall.
The president still glares at you, expecting a response. He doesn't seem trouble at all by the eruption. Meanwhile, the other occupants of Summer Hall chatter anxiously as the ash and smoke billow well into the sky.
Tap the sleeping woman until she becomes awake. Shush her if she makes any noise, and speak quietly.
"Ms., I hope that you do not mind if I sleep here for tonight. I do not know if my own home survived the bombardment, I'm afraid. I will be out of here in the morning, and promise to take nothing during my stay should you permit me to remain."
Eh AhYou attempt to wake the woman to ask for permission to sleep for the night. She doesn't respond to your prodding. After waiting a few more seconds, you notice that her breathing is quite shallow and she is shivering quite noticeably, even though it is not very cold in the building. You shake her very gently to try to get her to wake, but she still does not move. Turning her over for a better look, you finally see that she is incredibly ill. Her skin is pale and she is in a cold sweat. You put your hand to her forehead and she has a near-dangerous fever. You look to the kid who was half-awake earlier and he is still asleep. Even though you try to shake the woman awake some more, she is not responding to anything you do. You worry for her, even if she is just a stranger. She has two kids to take care of and she can't even wake up.
This is complicated further by the fact that you hear a very large explosion behind you. The entire bay is lit by a warm, natural light. This doesn't even freak you out; what manages to do so is the ring of ice forming around the bay at the same time. You can hear screams nearby, perhaps from the invading military units. You wonder if Anna is in trouble, but she might be long gone now; besides, you have another group of strangers to worry about now.
Outside, the moons are nearing the horizon. It's not exactly on the verge of dawn yet, but it's getting there.
"Anything in particular I should look for? And is there anything else important you need to tell me? Or shall I start asking you to fill in the stuff we skipped over?"
LirianDanielle smiles devilishly. She seems to be kind of odd in her mannerisms, but you don't feel that she'll endanger you if she's telling the truth.
"You've already met the Shadow before. Maybe you were too young or too naive to understand at the time, but you and your tight-knit family chased after the Shadow long before this whole situation even started. The Shadows normally hunt out at night, but you may see some stalking around during the day. Shadows don't just appear, however. They usually escape someone's subconscious and roam the world, but only the Guardians and Mediums can truly see them. They take the form of their host's greatest fears, so expect anything, really. Look for the eyes, though. The eyes are a pretty telltale sign of a Shadow, regardless if it disguises itself or not. Other than that it's up to you with what you want to do with the other Guardians and the world."She is about to continue with some more monologue before the ground quakes below you. You get into a combat stance, ready for anything that comes your way, but you become confused when Danielle shows no care for this. She simply turns around and says,
"Oh, the others are waking up into their Zero Forms. Took them long enough."You find that, on the volcano, two holographic symbols have appeared: one is like a green H with a line down the middle and a small circle on the bottom. The other is a purple
arevakhach with thin arms. They both appear incredibly large in relation to the volcano's size. In addition, a purple and a green holographic ring begins circling around the volcano.
You wonder what she means by Zero Form, but she interrupts your train of thought.
"It's nearly sunrise, by the way. Time for me to go. I'll see you around some other time, but right now I wanna watch the fireworks show from these two Chaos and Death Guardians."She starts walking towards the volcano, and the wind rustles leaves around you. Your vision becomes brighter and brighter before it calms down and you appear to be sideways.
You wake up back in the shack with that other boy, who appears to be somewhat awake also. You don't think he notices you yet. It's on the break of dawn - still dark, but with a tinge of that pink dawn hue - and you feel pretty hungry. You seem to be pretty well-rested, which is a plus. Your acquaintance's kitten is walking around you but doesn't seem to be harmful. All in all, you're a bit groggy at the moment but good enough to start exploring quickly enough.
I think that I'm not included in this dream sequence, so I resume my regularly scheduled sleep.
Cromwell JacksonYour sleep, as opposed to your cabinmate's, was quite uncomfortable. You don't know if it's because you had to sleep on a wooden floor or if the temperature got to you, but you feel like you were rolling around in your sleep and bumping into chairs and other wooden items of sorts. Thankfully, you didn't wake the girl through your night frets. Your kitten pokes at you to wake you up - not that you were in much of a deep sleep anyways - and you rise with a slight head pressure. You look to your right and that girl is shifting around, probably waking up right now. You heard her mention something about someone named "Daniel," though that's probably some friend she knows. You look out the window and see that it is barely at the crack of dawn, which means that you should have ample light and time to find some other sign of civilization. Hopefully.
Outside, the snow seems to have melted a bit more. It's certainly not warm yet, but it's only a mild cold now. The breeze from last night seems to have stopped and you can hear vibrant bird and animal life in some other parts of the forest. You look back to your kitten friend and he softly says one word:
"Tun!"You have no idea if this is a name or if he's trying to pronounce another word. As far as you can tell he has an air of intelligence and curiosity around him. It wouldn't hurt to try and communicate with him, seeing as the idea that cats can talk is already a wild stretch.
keep looking for food
Diana CrownYou and your small group's effort to find fruit can be described as...
fruitless.I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist.
Nevertheless, your group fails to find any sort of food and you decide that you should head back to the camp. You've walked pretty far, nearing the arch and the wetlands. Just as you turn to head back, however, you hear a snort from nearby. You look around to see if it was your brother or the guard, but they shake their heads. The three of you form a tentative circle to ward off whatever made that noise.
You hear a sharp scream arise from your group. You snap around to see that your brother is frozen in place, pointing in front of him. Ahead of you, there are three mean-looking bears stalking towards your group. They seem to be black bears, but something is off. You don't notice it at first, but eventually you get it. They have a menacing look in their eyes - and not just a natural menace. They seem to have some kind of dark, endless holes for eyes. You stop making eye contact with the bears because it is really freaking you out, and you're afraid that you will be mesmerized or something.
You and the guard push your brother out of the way and get into combat stances, though you are unarmed, so you can't hope for much. But you do hope anyways. You're not afraid of these bears, despite the fact that they could easily tear you apart. You have an odd confidence about you. Out of instinct, you look towards the sky and see dark clouds swirling above you as the dawn comes closer. You can almost feel a surge of energy go up your spine.
Oh yeah, you're ready for a fight. You're not so sure of your brother, though, so you keep him close.
Cecil sighs inwardly before putting on a dazzlingly bright smile. Hello, sir! Welcome to our humble camp site. What brings you here tonight?
Cecil G. PalmerYou attempt to make conversation with this newcomer. He seems to be nice enough, though he doesn't seem to want to talk yet. He silently goes over and begins helping you and Jorji with the fire. It's pointless, however: your past few attempts have failed with the fire and he doesn't seem to be any more successful in raising a flame. You're thinking that this was a waste of time and that you should never have boarded this boat when you hear a rustling nearby. You turn your attention to the trees in the wetlands area, where there seems to be a lot of something disturbing the trees in there. Whatever it is doesn't seem to want to make much sound besides the rustling of the trees. You call out tentatively for Diana, but she doesn't answer. There are not many things that could be used as weapons around, so you simply pull out a broken piece of wood and hope to give these aggressors some splinters or something.
Or, you could use your smooth charms to get them to follow under your will. Yeah, that'd be good.
As you are contemplating your combat strategy, you are struck by a gradual, noisy pain in your head. It's almost like white noise from a radio. In your vision, you can see somewhat scrambled images of a bony man engulfed in flames and a younger boy within a hurricane of ice. You're beginning to think that you're hallucinating from the environment, but the vision goes away soon enough.
You can't focus on that right now, however. There are potential combatants (or friends) in the area, so you turn your attention to the trees.
Return fire, and try to crawl towards the forest if there is enough cover available. Otherwise, try to crawl towards the fire. Again, if cover is available.
UnknownYou pop a few shots off at the soldiers down below, merely aiming to suppress them. Turns out your aim was much better than expected and you nail three or four soldiers. Then again, they didn't have the common sense to be in very good cover, so there's that. You're about t move towards the fire when you see something that makes your heart stop dead in its tracks.
The soldiers bring out a man from within one of the houses, a man that you know very well. A man who raised you and taught you about the forge, the flames, the meeting of steel and fire. The blacksmith who took you in when none of the other Magis wanted anything to do with you.
The soldiers make him kneel down and say a few words to him. Your mouth hangs open as they put a gun to his head. You know all to well what they will do, and it's all right there for you to see.
The only person who cared for you in this apathetic world. The only person who was willing to teach you and give you the strength to live. Dead, right in front of you. It was all in slow motion, the bullet entering his skull. There was no chance for survival, only death.
Death was what set you off. He was the only pinpoint of order within your life. Now, that was gone. You drop the gun. There's no use for it now. No, the universe was about to give you tools far more suited to the task of justice. You only feel the heat, the anger. The rising of the vengeance, because these men and women, with their petty politics, have just killed your adoptive father without a single blink.
No, now was the time. Now was the time for Chaos, for fire. You can feel the whole island beneath you. It's all within you. Even the flame of the forest is insignificant compared to this. You can feel yourself transform. You can see your arms. They're no longer solid. You are made of what looks like the fabric of the universe - a deep dark nothingness. Your body is outlined with an electricity of a bright purple color, like a maleficent warning to the world. You can feel wings of crystal forming on your back that look akin to a bat's wings, only suited to your body. You rise up into the air. You don't feel mortal anymore. No, you're more than mortal now. You raise your arm towards the volcano, and with that one, swift movement, the volcano erupts with an incredible light of fire and lava shooting up into the air. You control all of it: all of the fire, all of the lava. You rise hundreds of meters above the volcano, swirling the fire and lava around you, forming a mass of power. You can destroy the island at your whim. Lava and fire peels off as it falls towards the island, setting some of the forest on fire and falling upon both Aecrocian and Magis buildings alike.
You are unstoppable. Well, not totally. There is one thing stopping you. You are alarmed to see that an incredible mixture of ice and water is rising out of the ocean. Towards you. You can see that it leads to one other person: a young boy with green, crystal skeleton wings, flying a couple hundred meters from you. He is made of the same dark matter as you are, and his body is a similar electric green outline. His eyes are what intimidate you: they are nothing but a green, white-hot portal to his soul. In front of his body is a holographic, green symbol of an H with a line through it, and a circle at the bottom. Somehow you are able to understand it. He is Death.
He threatens you. He must be stopped. You will destroy the ice. You will annihilate he who stands in your way and prevents you from exacting your revenge on the dark souls. You will burn him alive.
You are the Unknown, Guardian of Fire and Chaos.You are in your Initial Zero Form. Your powers to cast Chaos through the Fire and the Lava are unbound.
Go.
Author's Note: I feel good about this update. Mostly because I finally got the ball rolling and now I'm introducing a little chaos into the scene.
Good luck to everyone and good night/morning/afternoon.
Artemis.
Author
Topic: Roll To Medium: Awakening [Chapter VI] (Read 145988 times)