Print

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

[NAV]

Is this game still accepting people?

[Yourmaster]

Try to find a rat, and practice on draining to water and cold from living beings.

[Lenglon]

Lirian
So he projects blame for his errors on others. Meaning he probably won't learn from his mistakes...
Now the question is, is he friend, or is he foe?
Either way, what he is, is useful.
Back up and circle around the soon-to-ensue-brawl, letting Artemis do as he wishes. watch for any shadows that are wounded or fleeing, and cut them down.

If Artemis gets in trouble, then throw a knife or two at the foe that is pressing him the hardest.

If that isn't enough to get it to back off of him, then switch to a pair of knives and step through the shadows to just BARELY in front of one of the shadows attacking him, practically touching it, and stab my knives into its vital areas as I sidestep around it, aiming for the throat, up under the ribcage, the guts, or the hamstrings of their legs. As I sidestep, after I've gotten some good hits in in but before the shadows should be able to adapt, I step through the shadows again to a distance away, and resume my earlier tactics as I gauge just how draining the rapid shadowstep-shadowstep was on me.

If a rapid shadowstep-shadowstep isn't very draining, then repeat the tactic, only this time instead of retreating going to just barely to the rear of a different shadow instad, with the appropriate follow-up blows. continue this process until I become unsure of my ability to handle the strain, at which point I shadowstep away rather than risk a mistep due to exhaustion, and wait for Artemis to finish the job.

If it is quite draining, then I instead resume my earlier tactics, picking off the wounded and fleeing whilst Artemis goes head-to-head with them.
((Thank you for not having me say anything, that was exactly in line with my intent.))

((going knives in the if-then because of just how close I intend to get to my prey. At that range I wouldn't have the room to swing the sword, but knives on the other hand...))

[DarkArtemisFowl]

Is this game still accepting people?

Yes, you're still able to enter. The Domains of Order, Soul, and Strength are taken currently. All eight other Domains are usable.

Other than that, character creation is as normal, RP is encouraged, and I hope you have a fantastic time in the world of the Medium.

Thanks,
Artemis.

[Harry Baldman]

Warren Drake

Peer inquisitively at the girl. Check if she's in any way different now.

Eh Ah

"My growth on the island of Atis," Eh Ah repeats. "Hm. Well, as you wish, Your Majesty. It's less than interesting as far as stories go, but I do believe we may have a gulf of experience between us, so it may prove at least marginally quaint if nothing else."

"Where to begin, then? My birth, I would guess? It was fairly inauspicious, and though some did say they'd seen some interesting omens, they largely weren't the sort of people worth listening to - my parents certainly didn't, being the worldly people that they are. Or possibly were? I'm not quite sure if they're still alive, or even where they might be at the moment. They were quite fine about a week ago, but I have not really visited them since then, unfortunately. In any case, perhaps I should elaborate on the circumstances before my birth a little more, so that one is not confused  my mother owned a store in one of the nicer parts of town, a boutique of sorts, I'd say? It sold knickknacks, largely, some of them more curious than others. It tended to attract odd sorts, one of which happened to be my father, who was sort of an artist, the sort that draws things and mills about being misunderstood, in case ma'am was wondering, though he dabbled in music and, more importantly, dance as well. He had a scattershot approach to artistic expression, and I do believe he was looking for something that would stick, and had mostly settled on artwork rendered with charcoal on walls when my mother hired him to help with redecoration. She was looking to make the place look rougher, the rationale went. In any case, my father was available, and he was rather cheap to hire, and he was even quite handsome to hear my mother's tales. She took to him immediately in more ways than one, if Your Majesty catches my drift, and rather fortunately for her continued good health, so did her significant other at the moment, my other mother, and to a very similar extent, I hear. My other mother was a dancer, and she seemed even more fascinated by the man due to her own artistic bent. They used to tell me he had a 'mystique' about him, though I suppose that was an attribute of their youth that had long faded by the time I finally was told all this at the age of twelve. Or maybe I just wasn't good at properly reading it? Difficult to say."

"In any case, my father did through heroic, reckless effort manage to impregnate both of my mothers within a surprisingly short timespan, and so I and my meta-brothers were born. My mother had two children, my other mother had one, and at some point the three of us were mixed together and no longer possible to successfully tell apart. Or, rather, this happened at three separate points, once for each parent, and so I'm not sure which of my meta-brothers is my half-brother and which is my actual brother, if I even have one, hence the nomenclature. My parents, as one might guess, were not fully equipped for parentage - indeed, my father had begun experimenting with hard drugs right before the conception of me and my meta-brothers, and my mother was an avid smoker of Atisi herbs, so things were often a little complicated, or so my other mother liked to tell me. But they seemed to do a fine job bringing us up, in a manner of speaking. I hear one of my meta-brothers sailed out to the sea with some mates of his some years ago and has not returned, while my other meta-brother has apparently literally gone underground in some form of primitive bunker. Wonder if he survived? Despite what one might expect, me and my meta-brothers weren't terribly close, by and large, since by the time we became slightly more independent, roughly by the age of six, we seemed to have a slight difference of interests. Those two always seemed to like going on various adventures, while I liked to spend time in the store with my fake grandfather."

"But who's my fake grandfather, ma'am may ask? And to that I would reply - a gentleman. A barefooted gentleman, if I may stretch the boundaries of belief, with an uncommon interest in kites - the birds, not the flying objects. He was another one of those milling, shiftless types who tended to frequent the boutique, but with a bit more dignity to mask this. Unshakeable man, with nerves of steel and surprisingly little to say. Inspiring in his own dismaying sort of way, and I suspect he may have been a little senile. Nevertheless, he had an impressive profile, he tended to walk around with a cavalry saber, and he liked to call himself a warrior monk as well as an amateur ornithologist, and he usually mostly wanted to know when we were getting a new shipment of goods. Whenever I told him, he just nodded and left. I once asked him to show me how the saber works, and he sliced a nearby clock neatly in half, and even paid for it afterwards. Surprisingly enjoyable to spend time with, and he seemed rather knowledgeable about birds, and most of the things he knew even seemed to be true."

"In any case, I never went to school, unlike my brothers - my parents told me it was my choice whether I wanted to or not, and I said no without thinking much about it, and they found that entirely agreeable, since I was already literate and knew basic arithmetic, and could tell them some fun facts from encyclopedias I occasionally leafed through. So in my childhood I had plenty of spare time, and most of it I spent wondering about when it would end, since it seemed somewhat boring to be small and irrelevant to the world at large. Then of course my teenage years came, and I became middling in size and irrelevant to the world at large, and briefly wanted to be an artist of some description, similarly to my increasingly incoherent and absent father, much to the dismay of my mothers, who had calmed down considerably in those years. Not to say that my father hadn't, naturally, and eventually even he got entirely clean, much to everyone's surprise, which he's maintained to this very day as far as I know, but I am getting ahead of myself."

"As I mentioned, in my teenage years I did have the ambition to be an artist, but this proved ultimately fruitless, as I found I had very little to be artistic about, which I find a very striking similarity to my father, more than any of my physical features. I tried to make art despite this, but while the emotion was certainly there, there wasn't any novelty to be revealed, or indeed much in the way of innovation I could hope to accomplish. I could not even settle on what form of art I'd like to practice, though dance seemed appealing, as did singing. I tried both of those, with limited success in some of the bars around the boutique area, but ultimately they seemed more interested in attractive women than someone of my talents. I could sense the lack of spark within me, but there wasn't really all that much I could do about it until I had found something interesting to kindle it. Like true love, for instance, which I did fi-"

Eh Ah, not really noticing the flow of time thus far very much, suddenly stops.

"Hm. Your Majesty, the segment of my growth, as ma'am has put it, to immediately follow may include a love story. Is ma'am interested in that sort of thing, or should I just give a quick overview and not linger on it much? I'd say it was important, formatively speaking, but perhaps there's much of it that can be inferred, given the circumstances of the situation afterward."

[DarkArtemisFowl]

Bump for the last couple of people if needed. Turn is being written and should be up soon!

[Tiruin]

Bump for the last couple of people if needed. Turn is being written and should be up soon!

Oops, Sorry DAF D:
Was just coping with stuff...which prevented me from posting.


Strange. Something in his wounds and yet it...it seems to have disabled him? That doesn't make sense if he was there at the spring in the first place--he was seemingly attacked, and weak from what I guess is such an attack.

After a few seconds of gazing at you weakly, he manages to get out a few words:
"Help.. th.. the water.."
He exhales sharply and tries to stretch one of his hands over the rim of the spring and into the water, but he can't reach. He looks back to you and mouths the word "help" again.
"They can take me. Don't let them.."

Unless-I know I heard something wrong or something is missing but-...
...I will at least need something near-sterile for this.

However the question is who 'they' are, and what had happened to even simulate this kind of happening. I'm unsure if the herbs did any aid other than superficial, but I can only hope. Musn't increase collateral chance of infection however.

Though his wounds are hard. He seems very hardy.

Rip off part of clothing which I pretty much won't require. Use it as a rag, and begin dousing water then swiftly snatching off the blacking area (or, if in the case of dousing the water does not result in a hostile reaction, clean thoroughly and swiftly, dabbing away). Hold the patient's arm over a small pit or such to collect the debris.

[DarkArtemisFowl]

TURN THIRTY-SIX: THE SUBSTANCE OF THE NIGHT
My, my.. the darkness is starting to set in..

Plate the Protector once more, and order the other golems to stop with the support building. Have them start chopping wood and building a large boat. At the same time, have them haul up the more precious resources we have encountered, especially the iron. Finally, see how the construction is going, being accompanied by my new guardian.

Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)

((Todo: Make a template for this darned thing so that I can standardize these roll sheets...))
Roll for focus: 2 + 2 = 4, succeeded!
(Domain bonus for focus and crafting active.)
[SPD: 4] -- This factors into how much time you spend manipulating golems
Time units total according to your speed: 2
Golems #1-6 <Gather wood>:
5 + 3 = 8
1 + 2 = 3
2 + 1 = 3
2 = 2
3 - 1 = 2
2 - 2 = 0
Work units added: 18, chance of accident: Above Average
Time units passed: 1, focus refreshed

Creator Golems #1-3 <Transport materials>:
Extra point added for multiple arms.
5 + 4 = 9
1 + 3 = 4
3 + 2 = 5
Work units added: 18, chance of accident: Low
Action <plate golem with iron armor>: Insufficient iron plates!
Automatic action: Begin smelting iron ore
5, completed 2 iron bars, one is smelting. Sufficient for 4 iron plates.
Time units passed: 1
+2 iron bars, -2 iron ore

Rune
It's time to begin your expansion. Now that you have a sizable squad of golems at your disposal, this would be a prime opportunity to begin construction of a watercraft capable of transporting your golems off of this island. It pains you to leave your volcano behind, but you are in a hostile environment now. Sooner or later, someone will discover you. If they do, your entire operation may be over before you have even started. As you have experienced before, it pays well to be prepared ahead of time for anything that may occur in the future.

There's just a few things that you need to assert before you begin building the boat itself: Where will this boat be built at, how big will this boat be, and where will you be able to safely dock the boat? You don't have anyone that you interact with in the communities on Atis, which forces you into a tight position. Nevertheless you forge onward, directing your smaller golems to begin taking down more trees to turn into material for the boat. You leave the Creator golems to the task of transporting some of the iron and other materials from the deep underground to the factory that you have set up. Physically, you begin processing some of the iron to make more plates for your Protector golem to have on him before he is ready to begin his guard.

After another hour or so of this, the golems on the surface begin returning with some sizable logs for you to use on different projects. However, a couple of the golems from the surface have not yet returned, which you consider to be odd. The Creator golems come back with plentiful amounts of iron and cassiterite for you to use in the forges. In whole, the project seems to be running very smoothly now. The only problem is that two of the golems are still on the surface. You wonder if they are simply lagging behind or if they have gotten themselves stuck.

+20 iron
+26 cassiterite
+12 obsidian

"Well, here's to fate, Cecil..." He says to himself as he fiddles around in his pockets for a coin.

Upon not finding one, he realizes that, of course, he's a refugee here.

His curiosity getting the best of him, Cecil goes to check the bright glowing light. If the shadows were scary and mocking, hopefully the light is better.

Cecil G. Palmer
The light is inviting and warm, a stark contrast to the cold and ominous night outside. You still can't tell if this is some twisted nightmare or if this is still reality. If this is a dream, however, you might as well follow with what your mind is going with right now. Hopefully, this madness will end soon and you can wake up back in your bed at the Palmer Communications tower building. At the very least, you would be able to store all of this away as some sort of freak nightmare that your troubled mind has conjured up for you.

Deciding that the light is your only friend in this odd place, you cautiously approach the door of the box and try to peer through the flowing light. It doesn't seem like you can see past the glare that so willingly envelopes you from behind the door. You do not see any movement within there, nor do you see any objects that would represent a corporeal danger. Carefully, you put your hand on the door's rusted handle and turn it slowly. It makes a creaking sound that indicates it is near the point of breaking from age, but it stays together and unlocks for you. You push the door inward and it swings open with little resistance. The light floods out excitedly and paints the walls behind you. You hear a very quiet chime and ringing in your ears, seeming to come from further within the light.

For you all you know, this might be what heaven looks like. Maybe you died after trying to escape Atis. Maybe this is your afterlife. Well, there's no use wasting any more time out here when you can step inside and see what the light holds for you. You take a first tentative step into the light, finding that the floor within the box seems to be soft and mushy, like an odd sort of gelatin. You take your next few steps in, feeling for the ground in front of you, and let go of the door's frame. You let the light envelope you and the sound flow through your ears, until finally the light dies down and you no longer hear the ringing within your ears.

There is no door. There is no sound, no light, no handle behind you. No frame, no indication of anything - you don't even think you feel the ground below you anymore. You swear that this is it, that this is your final indication of death. You close your eyes and let it sink in before you hear a soft, smooth voice.

"Well, you certainly aren't the guest that I was expecting!"

The voice seems to echo all around you, a feminine tone that sounds motherly in nature. It comforts you, but also puts you on edge at the same time. You turn your head around - at least, you believe that you are turning your head - and try to locate the voice. However, it seems to be rebounding all around you and confusing you all the same. Instead of continuing to try and look around for the voice, you look straight ahead once again and see it all coming into view now.

As if your eyes are adjusting to the darkness, you see that there is indeed a ground below you. It is still slightly mushy, but for the most part intact. It is hard to tell with the dearth of light, but the floor seems to be made of compacted moss and soft dirt. You look up and see that the room is walled in a conical form, with the middle rising to unknown heights and darkness. In front of you, a woman stands with arms folded. She has a light complexion and deep blue eyes which complement her light-blond hair that falls behind her, slightly above her waist. She is above average in height and slender in form, clothed in silky, blue robes that are accented by white bands around her waist and one shoulder.

A word for her would probably be entrancing. Still, you keep your guard up and watch your surroundings. You never know if this is some sort of trap.Then again, is there any use for traps when you're dead already?

"I know what you're thinking. No, you're not dead yet, Cecil. You're safe from those demons while you're here."

Well, that answers your question. A descending swirl of fireflies, with a soft, cerulean light, hovers around the area. As far as you can see, the room is empty, save for you and the woman. However, the woman moves to your left and gestures behind her. There is a table of unknown material in the center of the room, with two chairs to accommodate the two of you.
"Please, sit. I hope you find this a welcome place."

Try to find a rat, and practice on draining to water and cold from living beings.

Alex Raman
((I am sorry to say that your streak of misfortunate rolls has not ended yet. Pray for the sixes and fives!))

Trying to organize your escape is proving to be difficult. There are no sources of water near you that are running. The only thing that could possibly hold water is a small, grated drain near the center of your cell, which is no bigger than your fist. Overall, the chance of summoning ice within this cell is little to none.

You spend a few more minutes pondering over your potential escape when you hear a chirp coming from near the barred window at the top of the cell. Looking in that direction, you see the body of a small bird as it moves around, presumably searching for food or a place of shelter. It peeks into the cell inquisitively and scans the cell for anything that would count as a morsel to the little bird. Taking this as your opportunity to test the extent of your powers, you try to slowly gesture towards the bird and possibly manipulate the blood within its system.

You attempt a variety of gestures, but nothing seems to be working. The bird is still searching around, but is becoming disinterested in the cell and turns the other way, ready to flap its wings to find another place to inspect. You try one last flick of your hands toward the bird to see if you can make it move in your way. Much to your dissatisfaction, however, the bird continues its motion and flies away without trouble.

There is no clue as to why your powers don't seem to be working currently. They were absolutely fine before, but you can't seem to get them to budge now. Maybe you're outside of your domain of power now? Yet, you are still surrounded by a chilly environment and snow-covered mountains. If you aren't able to think of something soon, they'll interrogate you and demand to know where you are from. It will become too complicated to deal with at that point, so you must find a way to either use your powers or plot your way of escape physically.

Lirian
So he projects blame for his errors on others. Meaning he probably won't learn from his mistakes...
Now the question is, is he friend, or is he foe?
Either way, what he is, is useful.
Back up and circle around the soon-to-ensue-brawl, letting Artemis do as he wishes. watch for any shadows that are wounded or fleeing, and cut them down.

If Artemis gets in trouble, then throw a knife or two at the foe that is pressing him the hardest.

If that isn't enough to get it to back off of him, then switch to a pair of knives and step through the shadows to just BARELY in front of one of the shadows attacking him, practically touching it, and stab my knives into its vital areas as I sidestep around it, aiming for the throat, up under the ribcage, the guts, or the hamstrings of their legs. As I sidestep, after I've gotten some good hits in in but before the shadows should be able to adapt, I step through the shadows again to a distance away, and resume my earlier tactics as I gauge just how draining the rapid shadowstep-shadowstep was on me.

If a rapid shadowstep-shadowstep isn't very draining, then repeat the tactic, only this time instead of retreating going to just barely to the rear of a different shadow instad, with the appropriate follow-up blows. continue this process until I become unsure of my ability to handle the strain, at which point I shadowstep away rather than risk a mistep due to exhaustion, and wait for Artemis to finish the job.

If it is quite draining, then I instead resume my earlier tactics, picking off the wounded and fleeing whilst Artemis goes head-to-head with them.
((Thank you for not having me say anything, that was exactly in line with my intent.))

((going knives in the if-then because of just how close I intend to get to my prey. At that range I wouldn't have the room to swing the sword, but knives on the other hand...))

Lirian
You watch as Artemis strides confidently toward the incoming monsters of the night. You're not going to interfere with Artemis' work, but you will step in if any of the beasts threatens him. At the very least, you will be able to test your powers in combat. Maybe you might even gain Artemis' trust, and then you can learn more about what you have to do in all of this.

Spoiler: Combatants Information (click to show/hide)

((Short explanation: Stats are separated into blocks. The first sentence is their name or assumed name, the second is their species or most identifiable trait, their tune denotes their dimension of main origin, physique is a general description of their bodily character, and the last line is their examined medical status or assumed health.))

Allies

Lirian
Kind: Human
Tune: Medium
Weapon(s): Knives, ceremonial sword
Physique: Lean
Health: In perfect health.

Neutral

Artemis Dimikaelo
Kind: Human
Tune:
Weapon(s): Katana
Physique: Lean
Health: Looks like he's in perfect health.

Enemies

"Shadow "
Kind:
Tune: Shadow
Weapon(s): Melee
Physique: Bulky
Health:
"Shadow Boar"
Kind: Sus scrofa, 1.7x size
Tune: Shadow
Weapon(s): Melee
Physique: Average
Health:

"Shadow Boar"
Kind: Sus scrofa, 1.7x size
Tune: Shadow
Weapon(s): Melee
Physique: Average
Health:

"Shadow Boar"
Kind: Sus scrofa, 1.8x size
Tune: Shadow
Weapon(s): Melee
Physique: Sturdy
Health:

"Shadow Boar"
Kind: Sus scrofa, 1.6x size
Tune: Shadow
Weapon(s): Melee
Physique: Average
Health:

"Shadow Wolf"
Kind: Canis lupus lupus, 1.8x size
Tune: Shadow
Weapon(s): Melee
Physique: Lean
Health:

"Shadow Wolf"
Kind: Canis lupus lupus, 1.9x size
Tune: Shadow
Weapon(s): Melee
Physique: Sturdy
Health:

You follow behind Artemis at a fair distance of about thirty meters behind him, sticking behind the trees and within the shadows when possible. Carefully, you watch as he assesses his opponents in front of him. The darkness betrays your vision, but you are able to make some small details of the Shadows that lead you to believe that there are several boars and two wolves that make up the smaller shadows. The one big shadow is a mystery you, being some sort of hulk of blackened fur and open wounds that chills you to the bone. Artemis, however, is clearly unfazed by his adversaries. You are not sure if this is a sign of his power or if this is some sort of overconfidence that he is carrying around with him. You go with the latter and keep reasonably close to the fight, in the case that he needs assistance. You need to know how he fights and how the Shadows will react, however; That will be the start of the information that you need about Artemis.

The Shadows are beginning to spread to either side of Artemis, attempting to form a semicircle around him from his front. Before they can begin closing in on him, however, he slows his stride momentarily and suddenly shifts direction to the right, sprinting towards his first target - a Shadow Wolf. The wolf, with half of its bony maw apparently visible to you in the dark night, howls at Artemis and begins charging at him. The other smaller Shadows also begin closing in on Artemis from all directions, while the large, lumbering monster hangs back for now. Artemis expects this, however, and feints a sharp turn to the right, which catches the wolf off guard. He moves in straight for the kill and embeds his katana deep in the body of the wolf, pulling the sword upwards from there. The wolf lets out a sharp cry and the indescribably black matter that composes the wolf pulls itself apart, tearing the wolf into two parts.

The wolf is no longer alive, its upper and lower body parts torn in two and lying on the ground. The other Shadows, however, have not forgotten about the swordsman. Two of the boars launch simultaneously at the boy from behind him at different angles. Artemis is able to slash at the closest boar and create a searing wound in the boar's neck, but the other boar manages to tackle Artemis down before he can react. You decide that this is your time to step in: you focus your mind on using the shadows to transport you to a tree behind Artemis and tear the boar off of him before it can inflict damage. You sprint into a shadow behind a tall tree and close your eyes, feeling the environment shift around you. You open them again to find that you're exactly where you wanted to be - behind Artemis and the Shadows. Without hesitation you sprint out from behind the tree and take advantage of your element of surprise.

Artemis seems to have been taken by surprise but is recovering quickly, attempting to kick the boar off before it can inflict a wound on him. However, you see that the wounded boar from earlier is coming around with a new fury to kill Artemis. You change targets and intercept the boar, pulling out one of your knives and throwing it with expert aim at the boar. You catch it in its left eye and it squeals out in pain, trying to shake its head in order to dislodge the knife. You capitalize on this wound and take out another knife, running by it and stabbing its throat. It lets out a quiet gurgle before it falls limp on the ground. You can see that the body is beginning to melt slowly into the ground, as if it was made out of ice and the sun was beaming on the frozen water. You quickly retrieve both of your knives and sheathe one away, keeping the other for defense. The Shadows seem to only barely register your presence now; meanwhile, Artemis seems to have staved off the other boar, thanks to your interception of his would-be assailant. The four remaining small Shadows seem to be falling back now, unsure of the damage that the two of you are capable of doing. The large, furry creature seems to be undisturbed by your actions and lumbers closer.

Artemis picks himself up and inspects his coat's right arm, noticing that a chunk of the fabric has been torn out. "Great," he sighs "My coat is ruined." He looks around and then spots you. "Oh, so you're here? Well, I didn't need your help! I would have been just fine without you." You feel that, despite his words, he still has a touch of appreciation within his voice. Before you can respond, you hear a roar from your left that makes you shift into a defensive stance once again. It looks like that large Shadow is angry at the two of you.

"Whatever. Just try not to get killed. Or don't, it's your choice."
 

Warren Drake

Peer inquisitively at the girl. Check if she's in any way different now.

Warren Drake
It is difficult for you to see what the girl looks like from here, so you'll have to get a bit closer to the clearing. After mulling it over, you hop down from the tree and go from tree to tree, hoping that you will be able to observe what has just occurred. It doesn't take you long before you are able to see the clearing from a sizable tree that sits about ten meters from the clearing itself. You should be able to climb up this tree and still be able to view what is happening. Doing so promptly, you find the proper footing and haul yourself up to a sturdy branch on the higher levels of the tree. From here, you are able to see what is happening near the girl's tree.

You can see and hear the girl softly crying from where you are. She has her head in her lap, her arms crossed over her knees. She is still wearing the same robe from earlier. In front of her is a cluster of dead vines that you don't believe existed there before. You also don't think that this part of the forest is home to that type of vegetation; maybe in the wetlands, yes, but not here. It is hard to see, but you believe that you see some sort of furry creature - presumably feline, according to its body shape - stuck within the vines. It doesn't appear to be moving or breathing, for that matter. Its fur seems to be damp and matted, as if it had been in the rain not too long ago. Nothing seems to have changed about the girl in particular, other than the crying. She still appears to be humanoid. However, the presence of those vines and the unmoving creature dishevels you. Why would she be crying about a dead creature such as that? Assuming that she's lived here for a long time, she should be used to things dying in the forest.

However, something doesn't seem natural. The vines are you first sign of warning, and the light and high-pitched whining noise did not help that either. You wonder if she has something to do with the way that you were turned into a lizard, or if she knows anything at all about what happened to you. Regardless, you think that you should probably check with her to see what the flash of light and her crying was about.

Warren Drake

Peer inquisitively at the girl. Check if she's in any way different now.

Eh Ah

"My growth on the island of Atis," Eh Ah repeats. "Hm. Well, as you wish, Your Majesty. It's less than interesting as far as stories go, but I do believe we may have a gulf of experience between us, so it may prove at least marginally quaint if nothing else."

"Where to begin, then? My birth, I would guess? It was fairly inauspicious, and though some did say they'd seen some interesting omens, they largely weren't the sort of people worth listening to - my parents certainly didn't, being the worldly people that they are. Or possibly were? I'm not quite sure if they're still alive, or even where they might be at the moment. They were quite fine about a week ago, but I have not really visited them since then, unfortunately. In any case, perhaps I should elaborate on the circumstances before my birth a little more, so that one is not confused  my mother owned a store in one of the nicer parts of town, a boutique of sorts, I'd say? It sold knickknacks, largely, some of them more curious than others. It tended to attract odd sorts, one of which happened to be my father, who was sort of an artist, the sort that draws things and mills about being misunderstood, in case ma'am was wondering, though he dabbled in music and, more importantly, dance as well. He had a scattershot approach to artistic expression, and I do believe he was looking for something that would stick, and had mostly settled on artwork rendered with charcoal on walls when my mother hired him to help with redecoration. She was looking to make the place look rougher, the rationale went. In any case, my father was available, and he was rather cheap to hire, and he was even quite handsome to hear my mother's tales. She took to him immediately in more ways than one, if Your Majesty catches my drift, and rather fortunately for her continued good health, so did her significant other at the moment, my other mother, and to a very similar extent, I hear. My other mother was a dancer, and she seemed even more fascinated by the man due to her own artistic bent. They used to tell me he had a 'mystique' about him, though I suppose that was an attribute of their youth that had long faded by the time I finally was told all this at the age of twelve. Or maybe I just wasn't good at properly reading it? Difficult to say."

"In any case, my father did through heroic, reckless effort manage to impregnate both of my mothers within a surprisingly short timespan, and so I and my meta-brothers were born. My mother had two children, my other mother had one, and at some point the three of us were mixed together and no longer possible to successfully tell apart. Or, rather, this happened at three separate points, once for each parent, and so I'm not sure which of my meta-brothers is my half-brother and which is my actual brother, if I even have one, hence the nomenclature. My parents, as one might guess, were not fully equipped for parentage - indeed, my father had begun experimenting with hard drugs right before the conception of me and my meta-brothers, and my mother was an avid smoker of Atisi herbs, so things were often a little complicated, or so my other mother liked to tell me. But they seemed to do a fine job bringing us up, in a manner of speaking. I hear one of my meta-brothers sailed out to the sea with some mates of his some years ago and has not returned, while my other meta-brother has apparently literally gone underground in some form of primitive bunker. Wonder if he survived? Despite what one might expect, me and my meta-brothers weren't terribly close, by and large, since by the time we became slightly more independent, roughly by the age of six, we seemed to have a slight difference of interests. Those two always seemed to like going on various adventures, while I liked to spend time in the store with my fake grandfather."

"But who's my fake grandfather, ma'am may ask? And to that I would reply - a gentleman. A barefooted gentleman, if I may stretch the boundaries of belief, with an uncommon interest in kites - the birds, not the flying objects. He was another one of those milling, shiftless types who tended to frequent the boutique, but with a bit more dignity to mask this. Unshakeable man, with nerves of steel and surprisingly little to say. Inspiring in his own dismaying sort of way, and I suspect he may have been a little senile. Nevertheless, he had an impressive profile, he tended to walk around with a cavalry saber, and he liked to call himself a warrior monk as well as an amateur ornithologist, and he usually mostly wanted to know when we were getting a new shipment of goods. Whenever I told him, he just nodded and left. I once asked him to show me how the saber works, and he sliced a nearby clock neatly in half, and even paid for it afterwards. Surprisingly enjoyable to spend time with, and he seemed rather knowledgeable about birds, and most of the things he knew even seemed to be true."

"In any case, I never went to school, unlike my brothers - my parents told me it was my choice whether I wanted to or not, and I said no without thinking much about it, and they found that entirely agreeable, since I was already literate and knew basic arithmetic, and could tell them some fun facts from encyclopedias I occasionally leafed through. So in my childhood I had plenty of spare time, and most of it I spent wondering about when it would end, since it seemed somewhat boring to be small and irrelevant to the world at large. Then of course my teenage years came, and I became middling in size and irrelevant to the world at large, and briefly wanted to be an artist of some description, similarly to my increasingly incoherent and absent father, much to the dismay of my mothers, who had calmed down considerably in those years. Not to say that my father hadn't, naturally, and eventually even he got entirely clean, much to everyone's surprise, which he's maintained to this very day as far as I know, but I am getting ahead of myself."

"As I mentioned, in my teenage years I did have the ambition to be an artist, but this proved ultimately fruitless, as I found I had very little to be artistic about, which I find a very striking similarity to my father, more than any of my physical features. I tried to make art despite this, but while the emotion was certainly there, there wasn't any novelty to be revealed, or indeed much in the way of innovation I could hope to accomplish. I could not even settle on what form of art I'd like to practice, though dance seemed appealing, as did singing. I tried both of those, with limited success in some of the bars around the boutique area, but ultimately they seemed more interested in attractive women than someone of my talents. I could sense the lack of spark within me, but there wasn't really all that much I could do about it until I had found something interesting to kindle it. Like true love, for instance, which I did fi-"

Eh Ah, not really noticing the flow of time thus far very much, suddenly stops.

"Hm. Your Majesty, the segment of my growth, as ma'am has put it, to immediately follow may include a love story. Is ma'am interested in that sort of thing, or should I just give a quick overview and not linger on it much? I'd say it was important, formatively speaking, but perhaps there's much of it that can be inferred, given the circumstances of the situation afterward."

Eh Ah
And so you describe your life story to the Empress as the royal group moves through the desolate forest and its serene nature. On this particular night, it would seem to be a bit chilly, with the winds assisting in the brisk air of the forest. At any rate, your group seems to walk with purpose, so as to escape the freezing hands of this special night. You're not certain as to what use the Empress would have for your story, however. Maybe she would like to gain the advantage of knowledge over you. Maybe she wishes to gain a new perspective on life. Perhaps, even, she takes a special liking to you. Of course, that would be a hilariously pitiful notion, however, so you store it in the deep recesses of your mind as you continue to roll the pages of your life's story through your tongue.

"The arts," she echoed off of you. "I was never to have a fondness for arts. They didn't serve any purpose to me - they were inefficient in nature. I walked in the footsteps of my father and my grandfather before him, who were military strategists of the highest prestige. They toppled governments and united countries, creating the empire that I maintain and hold today. To my father's disappointment, my mother gave birth to a girl. My father would have much rather preferred a male to take place as his heir, as was his bias. He saw female traits as inefficient in combat, and though his armies were of two sexes, he still clenched to his views. He was a man of logic, who thought that compassion and the arts had no place in a society of order and power. To preserve his favor, I studied progressive military tactics and invented my own. I had engineers work on cutting-edge technology to win wars. I became the man my father wished he would have been able to be the parent of."

She lets you continue with your story until you bring up the decline and recovery of your parents. She does not look at you while speaking, preferring to keep her eyes on the path ahead. "Before you continue, Mr. Eh Ah, please tell me: do you hold your parents in esteem? Did they particularly... value you?" She leaves you to answer these questions before taking in your answers. After you finish, she says: "Thank you. Please, continue with your tales of your... endeavors into 'love.'"

Bump for the last couple of people if needed. Turn is being written and should be up soon!

Oops, Sorry DAF D:
Was just coping with stuff...which prevented me from posting.


Strange. Something in his wounds and yet it...it seems to have disabled him? That doesn't make sense if he was there at the spring in the first place--he was seemingly attacked, and weak from what I guess is such an attack.

After a few seconds of gazing at you weakly, he manages to get out a few words:
"Help.. th.. the water.."
He exhales sharply and tries to stretch one of his hands over the rim of the spring and into the water, but he can't reach. He looks back to you and mouths the word "help" again.
"They can take me. Don't let them.."

Unless-I know I heard something wrong or something is missing but-...
...I will at least need something near-sterile for this.

However the question is who 'they' are, and what had happened to even simulate this kind of happening`. I'm unsure if the herbs did any aid other than superficial, but I can only hope. Musn't increase collateral chance of infection however.

Though his wounds are hard. He seems very hardy.

Rip off part of clothing which I pretty much won't require. Use it as a rag, and begin dousing water then swiftly snatching off the blacking area (or, if in the case of dousing the water does not result in a hostile reaction, clean thoroughly and swiftly, dabbing away). Hold the patient's arm over a small pit or such to collect the debris.

Eleri
If he is so insistent on removing the foreign material, you think that you must act quickly. Unfortunately, you are not sure where you can acquire water that would be considered sterile, but the water that you have now should suffice. At the very least, you know that the spring contains running water, which would ensure that the water doesn't stagnate. That will have to do for the moment. You struggle to rip a bit of your left sleeve off, attempting to use it as a rag for cleaning. After several moments, you manage to take a chunk of fabric, a little larger than your hand, to use for cleaning. Putting it in the water, you examine his back and select a small wound that contains some of the black material to start with. Gingerly, you begin wiping the area off, hoping that the water will begin to clean the vile substance off. You hear him gasp in pain and you flinch back, thinking that you might have hurt him.

"N-no, don't stop... k-keep.. keep going.."
You bit your lip and continue as he says, wiping the unclean areas off and collecting some of the black substance on the rag. Periodically, you clean the rag off outside in a small dirt mound, hoping that you will be able to examine the material later. You proceed this way and meticulously clean his wounds. He still grunts in pain and lets out a few tears, but you proceed on, as he asked. As for the substance, it seems to be viscous in nature and sticky. It is strangely opaque; you don't think you've seen anything like this in nature before. At the very least, you do not know any animals or plants that discharge a material such as this. Nevertheless, you methodically continue to remove the material from his back.

After an hour or so, with the sky growing darker and darker, you think that you have cleared the material from his back. An amount of black substance equal to the size of a small fist has been emptied in the pit. Mysteriously, however, the substance is seemingly being slowly absorbed into the earth, as if it is trying to return into the ground. You collect a little bit of it and put it on a leaf for further examination later, leaving the rest to dry out and be absorbed into the ground. Meanwhile, the boy seems to have fallen asleep, though you're not sure if he did this out of the pain or from fatigue. Either way, his breathing seems to have steadied a bit more, and his wounds are no longer bright red, as they were earlier. You seem to have done well in stabilizing him. Maybe when he wakes up, you can ask him where he is from and what his name is - that is, if he remembers. There's still so many questions to be answered from this experience.

You still have about half of the bucket of water left. The rag is pretty much worn out by now, though you still may be able to get some use out of it later. The late evening is quiet, as if the entire forest is in waiting to see the outcome of the boy. You don't feel that you'll need it, but you keep your rudimentary weapon in handy, just in case.

You have an hour or two left in the day before the night comes. This gives you time to explore a bit away from the path, find some new plants, or simply get some rest and watch over the boy.

Author's Note: And our first interaction with the Shadow begins, both on the battlefield and away from it. I'm excited to see where this goes next. As promised, this is going to be scaling down from last time, as I'm trying to bring more frequent updates.

I hope you all enjoy and have a wonderful week,
Artemis. 

[Yourmaster]

Alex would begin to chuckle and laugh before he said, "They'll all die. Ill get my power back." Alex would shake his head, before getting to work. He would attempt to move the bed over to the window and hit at it with his elbow. The worst thing that could happen is guards come over to his cell. The best thing that could happen is he could get a weapon and a hurt arm. Move the bed to the window and bash at it.

[Coolrune206]

Try to reach the missing golems with my mind. Attempt to establish a mental connection, and try to see through their eyes. Failing that, simply get a read on their location, and command my Protector golem to go there. I will follow behind it, my trusty axe in hand.

[Lenglon]

Lirian
They want to ignore me? Fine.
First, I look up at the trees above us for a moment, looking for a sturdy, shaded branch. Then I back away from Artemis and spread out a little, forcing the large shadow to pick a target.

If the large shadow targets me: I back away from it and circle around Artemis, not getting any closer too him but drawing the creature between us. If it rushes me I throw knives at its eyes and dash sideways to the charge whilst it reacts, either twisting its head away or being struck and blinded, either way giving me a moment that it isn't watching me to make my move. Once I'm to its side or rear I draw the sword and move in, attempting to make a single, deep stab into the creature and twist the blade once it's in. When the creature thrashes about in reaction to my blow I do not attempt to hold on to the blade, nor do I pull it out at all after my strike. Instead I leave it inside the creature and back away, drawing my knives and focusing on the smaller shadows, watching for them to either attack or flee. Artemis will probably finish off the creature for me if things progress this far.

If the large shadow targets Artemis and the small shadows ignore me: draw my sword and make a single deep stab into the creature, twisting the blade once it's in and then releasing my hold of it, allowing the beast to thrash about with it instead of ripping it out of my hand. I then back away a step and draw my knives, then move forwards again and attempt to hamstring the creature. once it is helplessly lying on the ground, flailing about, I clamber on top of it, stabbing it with my knives to make handholds rather than releasing them to grab parts of the creature, and climb up to the beast's neck and wrap myself around it, my knife against its jugular.
"Yield!"
If it makes an attempt to resist that isn't very effective, I repeat my demand at the top of my lungs. If it still resists, kill it. If it makes an attempt to resist that nearly works even though I've gotten that far and made my first demand, then kill it on the spot. If it falls limp, then I hold my position and give a new demand.
"Talk."

If the large shadow ignores me but the small ones target me when I split up from Artemis, then I flee to a nearby tree's shadow and shadowstep up to my pre-picked branch above the fighting, and observe from there.
If at any point I become noticeably wounded, then I shadowstep up to the branch I picked out earlier and evaluate my injury whilst applying pressure to either the wound directly or a pressure point inwards along my body relative to the injury as appropriate.

[High tyrol]

Sorry i didn't post earlie  here's my action: reply     Well I was just wanted to compare it to my estimate because of a  of a friendly     bet on who knew most about explosives  I estimated 4 dozen bundles of the stuff we normally see people like you use               

[Salsacookies]

I appreciate the consideration, but may I ask, what were you going to discuss later. Maybe later is now, and I may be part of the circle, and not a simple guest. Isn't a guest a temporary part of the circle anyway? Also, you gave me something to give to another, so it wouldn't be inconsiderate for me to ask something of you? If not, I'd like to know what he was to say. Otherwise, I will take my leave. Good day.

Stay if they answer my question with a yes. Otherwise, leave to give the lady the letter, but before I get there, read it. I am now curious.

[DarkArtemisFowl]

Bump for those who have not posted yet! Turn will be delayed a bit in order to let those who haven't put in their turns to do so.

[Gentlefish]

Cecil smiles, a bit haggardly as the stress of the past few days have caught up to him.

Thank you, ma'am.

He moves toward the seat he was offered and sits down with a breathy sigh.

I cannot thank you enough, honestly. This is the... first time I think I have been able to relax in a long while. I cannot imagine I can have a worse time than the past few days.

He stops for a second before laughing to himself quietly.

Though I can imagine you know what I am talking about... look at me going on, I apologize. I also apologize for not being the guest you expected. I hope I'm not intruding.