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  1. #11
    taking flight! VeloJello's Avatar
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    Moira Magro
    Sylath Outskirts, Synamax -> Sylath, Synamax
    ARP’ers: @The Nonexistent Tazz


    My belly was full and our little “camp” was quiet when I got back. I was mildly annoyed, but not surprised, to see that Downey was still there, snoring several feet away from Abelard, who in turn was curled up not far from Captain Pike. The Nidoqueen was still, but her ears swiveled forward immediately, indicating that she was still awake.

    “How was the hunting?” the captain asked, raising her head.

    “Good.” I plopped down beside her, unworried about her spikes. They were hard to hurt yourself on unless you were trying, and anyway the worst thing they could do to me was poke me a bit. “Honestly, I just walked right into the Trapinch’s nest and offed it with a Drain Punch to heal the bite it gave me. Feels weird eating the meat raw, but I’m glad it was a predator who would’ve killed someone else.”

    The Nidoqueen nodded. “Fair. We’ll be able to fix everyone up with a proper meal shortly. I have to say, I’ll miss Downey’s cooking.”

    I could feel the scowl on my face. “He should’ve left. It’d be better for all of us.”

    “You didn’t have to do it, you know,” Captain Pike said calmly. “Threatening him like that. I can handle myself - and a rowdy crew.”

    “He crossed two of my lines,” I snarled. “He’s lucky I didn’t deliver the warning with my fists. And besides, he sounded like he was getting way too nosy about Blue.”

    ‘Blue’ was a shorthand that Captain Pike and I had come up with, which referred to any part of my life that was related to or the result of my Indigo Seer abilities. Of all of the members of the Braviary’s crew, she was the only one to ever know, and I preferred it that way. If the information got public, it would make it that much easier for the Abyss to target me.

    What’s more, Captain Pike knew that was how I preferred it, and her voice had a hint of concern in it for the first time. “Declan is… he’s not a coward, but he’s not hardened like the rest of us. When he signed onto the Braviary, he was expecting to just sit in the kitchen and shop vegetables and listen to the occasional pirate fight from a distance. He wasn’t expecting to hear and see his crewmates die around him while swarms of Abyssal monsters tried to kill him.”

    “If he’s not tough enough for the work, then why was he on the ship to start with?”

    “That’s just it. He was tough enough for what we were doing. But now, Arceus and everybody can see that he wasn’t cut out for a rough life, so he’s overcompensating by showing off. If he truly thought I was going to lead him to his death, he’d have been gone.”

    I wasn’t so sure, but I decided not to push that particular issue. The captain had a knack for seeing what people were really made of. “Still, he was faulting Abelard, who probably already blames herself. And if he figures out about Blue…”

    Captain Pike gave me a doubtful look, “You really think he’s not going to figure it out on his own? Neither he nor Abelard are idiots. You saw the destruction coming, and you’ve helped us out with your predictions before. Eventually they’ll figure it out. Honestly, I think it might be best if you just told them.”

    “Unacceptable.” Rare was the occasion in which I would flat-out defy my captain, but I was not about to compromise on this. “No one can know. If word spreads, the target on my back gets even bigger. I don’t feel like getting whacked. Let them assume it’s my aura sight or something.”

    Another long pause reigned. Conversations with Captain Pike typically involved a lot of those. “It’s your decision,” she said eventually. “Just think about it. Here. Why don’t you go to sleep? I’ll have you take last watch, if it’s all the same to you.”

    “That’d be good, thanks,” I said, relieved that she didn’t press the issue. I padded a few feet away from her and lay down, setting my rifle beside me and settling my chin on my paws.

    Before I went to sleep, however, there was one more important task to take care of. Now that the Braviary had crashed, the terms of my service to the world had changed. My first job was to take care of the remnants of the crew, but after that was done, it was time to get into the fight with the Abyss personally and make them pay for what they’d done. So I closed my eyes and cast about with my senses, hunting for other Indigo Seers.

    It took me only a few moments to triangulate the nearest Seer - some manner of Dragon-type in Syn City. I couldn’t tell much other than that, and I didn’t want to contact them yet - it was very late, and it wouldn’t be very endearing of me to awaken them in the dead of night.

    Syn City, I told myself, as I drifted off into sleep. Just gotta get to Syn City.



    Sylath was the largest city in Synamax, by my reckoning, although it didn’t come close to the splendor of Jansen. The city had been built for practicality, with brick and metal making up most of its features. Like Jansen, it overlooked the sea; however, there seemed to be more trees and grass here, which provided the terrain with some texture. All in all, it didn’t seem like a bad place to be, and the armed guards who stopped us at the gate assured us that it was also one of the safest cities still on the face of the map.

    That’s what they’d said about Jansen, of course.

    As it happened, word of Jansen’s demise was mostly considered “under investigation” within the city, and having nothing but our word that our airship had been brought down by Abyssals, we had no evidence for them up or down. The only person who believed us was an old Raichu who smelled of moonshine and happened to overhear us explaining the situation in Sylath’s skyport. “The end is upon us, I know,” he had said sagely while the skyport authorities marked down the Braviary’s crash as an ‘engine failure’. “Say, do you fine folk have any spare coin?”

    By the time we were done trying to harass the skyport authorities into taking us seriously and subsequently getting kicked out of the skyport, it was the afternoon. Downey was whiny, Abelard was nervous, I was angry, and even Captain Pike seemed mildly annoyed. It was no surprise, really, that we ended up in the nearest bar within a few minutes.

    “Can’t believe those idiots won’t listen,” grunted Downey. Unlike the rest of us, he was a desert Pokemon, and had skipped the stage of furiously downing water that we were on and gone directly to assaulting his liver with his weapon of choice: wine. “They’re ‘investigating’ the situation, they know something’s wrong. Why’s it so hard to listen to a reputable captain and her reputable crew?”

    A wry smile tugged at my mouth, “We look ‘reputable’?”

    Abelard spoke cautiously, “They probably don’t want to believe that Jansen could be wiped out. It’s very close to this city, and Jansen was equal to - if not superior to - Sylath in terms of security. If Jansen can be destroyed, so can Sylath.”

    Captain Pike nodded, then requested a Micle Martini from the bartender. “Hit the nail on the head there, Helmsman. They’re scared. But the main point is that we’re here and that ‘here’ is relatively safe. The Braviary didn’t have enough insurance on it to cover a whole new airship, but we’re not going to end up having to beg in the streets before we can find new jobs. And we don’t have to pay off the shipment to Jansen, because no one’s around to lay claim to it. We’re going to be alright.”

    “Until the Abyssals swarm Sylath, too,” Downey grunted, precariously holding his wineglass between two of his claws. “Our time is borrowed. I say we should head further northwest. Kuran’s got a skyport as good as Sylath’s.”

    “I say we should head to Syn City.”

    It hadn’t really occurred to me that I could serve two of my goals in one stroke until just then, but the idea had merit. Syn was isolated, not a huge target for Abyssals, and they had good security measures. They also had their own port, which by my reckoning was better than Kuran’s or Sylath’s. This move bought me travelling companions to assure my safety, and I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to find a better place for my crewmates to settle on the whole continent.

    “Hmmm,” murmured Captain Pike. “Isolated, safe, nice big skyport, not too crowded, temperate weather except for the occasional hurricane. I say why not.”

    Downey fixed me with a curious look. “What made you think of Syn?” he asked.

    I could feel my tail puffing up defensively. There he was, getting all nosey again. “Besides the reasons that Captain Pike just rattled off? It’s safer there than here, and I can’t leave you guys in good conscience without making sure that you’re safe.”

    “Leave?” Downey asked innocently. “I didn’t know you were planning on leaving. Where are you trying to go?”

    Ho-Oh’s feathers, I couldn’t believe I’d actually let that slip. All I was doing was giving Downey more pieces to the puzzle, and if he figured it out then everyone in the vicinity was going to know. “Right now,” I said hastily, “I’m going to the john. Don’t you guys get too plastered without me.”

    I could hear them talking behind me, but I didn’t hear what they were saying. Crap, crap, crap. If they wouldn’t listen to me, I couldn’t leave them behind, I couldn’t - not even Downey. Sylath didn’t feel safe the way Syn did, but I couldn’t tell them why that should matter, or else I’d have ten separate knives in my back in a blink. I couldn’t save the crew, couldn’t keep everything from falling apart, couldn’t, couldn’t, couldn’t.

    I blinked. While I was standing here in the hall to the bathrooms, there was one thing I could do: make contact with the other Seer.

    On closer analysis, I sensed that the Seer was a Goodra, which was good news. I’d met one once, when we were running a job to Bayoutown. They were hardy, powerful Pokemon, which was just what I was looking for in an ally. Conveniently for me, this Goodra was still in Syn City.

    To my surprise, I actually felt a little nervous. So far as I knew, I had never actually made contact with another Seer before. My abilities only told me bits and pieces about this Pokemon - I had no idea how he would react to me, or whether he would even heed my call at all.

    But nothing ventured, nothing gained. Hello, I began, my name is Moira Magro, and I’m an Indigo Seer like yourself. I, and three of my crewmates, were involved in an airship crash two days prior in Jansen; we are the only survivors. If you didn’t already know, Jansen’s been overrun. I don’t know if my crewmates will follow me to Syn City, but once I have made arrangements for their safety, either in Sylath or Syn City, I would like to aid you in fighting the Abyssal forces, if you are so inclined.

    The communication felt weird, and I was glad to end it, although I knew that hopefully I was going to have to receive and respond to another such message in time. Having spoken my piece, I leaned back against the wall and prepared for the wait.


    Button by K'sariya!

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    Paired with noob dummy crazy kid rad friend Nar.

  2. #12
    ERROR! DOES NOT EXIST! The Nonexistent Tazz's Avatar
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    Professor Talahass von McYarglefargle The Ninth
    Central/Eastern Syn City, Synamax
    Affected RPers: @Velocity


    You are now in the central part of town. The Clock Tower near city hall reads 8:45. You should be getting over to the ZEPPELIN docks soon. In the center of town is a regiment of the Syn City's pristine Navy, looking very proud and very ready for people that are, without exaggeration, fighting the legions of hell itself. Outside of that is the Governor's building, which is only somewhat more standout than the buildings around it; though he would be considerably important during times of peace, as of right now the real power around here is currently more to the north of the city, in the arms of the Navy Colonel, whoever he is. You know he is a Colonel and that is the limit of your knowledge on the subject, not like you ever really cared all that much.

    Surrounding the town square that you find yourself in is a beautiful series of canals. You can certainly see why this place is such a tourist attraction when it's peaceful...And also why it would be such a powerful maritime base, peace or war. The Canals would certainly make it easy for Water Pokemon to slip around, but not so much for a ground invasion. You could get around on the bridges and canals to an extent, but if the bridges were pulled up, that was a different story. Meanwhile, the open waterways make for easy traveling and ships from faraway could easily dock and sell goods, back when it was only naval ships anyways. The invention of the Zeppelin changed that a bit, but SYN CITY had made itself known as a trading city at that point. Then again, being so deep into SYNAMAX had its issues for naval purposes, and , there were better places for open trading, IE the EMERALD COAST or former JANSEN, or even SYLATH.

    -> Professor McYarglefargle: Move to Eastern Syn City.

    You move across the bridges and into Eastern Syn City. This is a fairly normal pathway for you, as you usually go out here to shop.

    The area you wander into is nothing short of a massive hodgepodge of all sorts of shops and a huge marketplace. The prices are competitive and busting, and even right now people were buying all sorts of things. More recent additions include the kind of things that HINTONIA would sell, but more mainstreamed and generalized, as well as other religious artifacts that claimed to protect from the ABYSS. HINTONIA was kind of an expert and closer than most others, but you really could care less. YONCHA was peddling his wares not far from you, his wares being clothing-his wife was the sewer along with her 'gal club' as YONCHA was quick to call it, while he made the living. You are also aware ROXXIA works here, but not what, as you've never seen her before. Which is odd, as she's insanely tall for a LUCARIO, a foot under your height and would probably garner attention for sheer size factor alone. You're no Biologist but you have been curious about how she's gotten so tall and who her parents were, but she's been rather insistent that you are not nearly as 'invasive.'

    FEMALES.

    YONCHA is waving you down, for some reason. You can see him clearly from here, and he's calling your name. "PROFESSOR, PROFESSOR TALAHASS!" People didn't like calling you by your last name, for some reason. You don't mind, as long as they know you're the PROFESSOR.

    -> Professor McYarglefarlge: Go see what he's waving you down for.

    You move past the crowds, which is fairly easy considering that you are not exactly small for your species, and your species is not very small at all. YONCHA's stall isn't very occupied at all either.

    Of course, before you could get there...

    "Hello,"

    You turn your head multiple directions but cannot make out where it comes from...Except, wait, no, it's coming from your head. Yes, another Indigo Seer, yes...You focus in a bit and see a Lucario, currently in a bar in SYLATH, nowhere near as tall as ROXXIA or CUMULA but certainly tall for her species.

    "My name is Moira Magro, and I’m an Indigo Seer like yourself. I, and three of my crewmates, were involved in an airship crash two days prior in Jansen; we are the only survivors. If you didn’t already know, Jansen’s been overrun. I don’t know if my crewmates will follow me to Syn City, but once I have made arrangements for their safety, either in Sylath or Syn City, I would like to aid you in fighting the Abyssal forces, if you are so inclined."

    Oh, oh yes, this is precisely what you needed, or at least, precisely what you wanted, a semi-aligned group of people who wanted to kill the Abyss. Or at least, another Seer. Safety in numbers, as they said.

    -> Professor McYarglefarlge: Respond to other Seer.

    You pretend to look off into the distance at something interesting while making a response to Moria.

    "SALUTATIOOOOOOOOONNSS!! I am Professor Talahass von McYarglefargle the Ninth! Please, just call me the Professor! In any case, you're lucky there ARE survivors at all, for you didn't just waltz into any Abyss-taken city but the last-known location of Undax of the Burning Rot himself, if the earthly rumors and these pesky visions are of any indication whatsoever! It's possibly one of the most heavily-defended locations the Abysmal army may send your way, perhaps even second only to Sartaras itself, but I'm almost certainly getting ahead of myself-the point is, you are quite fortunate to even live! In any case, I was just about to leave Syn City for Oasis to make the journey over to Jansen to rip the wretched Gengar to shreds, or something along those lines...I'm due on an Airship outbound to Oasis in less than a half-hour, in fact, and I'm not going to be wasting my Poké that I spent on the ticket, the fares are outrageous these days...In any case, I'll be arranging for you at Sylath, unless you would rather come to me in Oasis."

    That's one thing done. YONCHA is still waving you down vigorously. You then hear him cough loudly and stop waving you down-poor lug and his Asthma...

    -> Professor McYarglefargle: Meet YONCHA and investigate whatever he's waving you down for.

    You make it to his stall. His wares aren't terribly interesting to you in general, but the Shiny Pangoro always is. You wait for his coughing fit to subside.

    "Ack...Sorry about that, Professor. It's pretty important...I wasn't expecting you to be out and about...You look like you're ready to travel." YONCHA says.

    "As a matter of fact, I'm heading off to Oasis...There are errands there I must be getting on with. I'll be gone for a while." You respond.

    "Oh...Uh, funny, Oasis isn't all that good-looking right now...Eh, care to say what's up over there? Some kind of science thing?" YONCHA asks.

    "It's private business, invention showcasing, I'll have you know." You say. "Now, why were you trying to flag me down so vigorously?" You ask.

    "Oh, right! Uh, I found this lying in the street...Looks like it might be yours, and I don't have any use for it." He says, reaching down under his stall. "Where'd I put-ah, found it." He says, rising up and showing you an EMPTY PRESSURIZED STEAM CANISTER.

    "Ah, thank you! I was missing one from my stock for a while now, thank you." You take the EMPTY PRESSURIZED STEAM CANISTER and put it in your TRAVELING BACKPACK. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get to the Airport before 9." You say, leaving YONCHA to his business.

    "Take Care!" He says.

    YONCHA, such a friendly person. Shame he's got that Asthma, in all honesty.

    -> Professor McYarglefargle: Move to SYN CITY AIRPORT.

    You maneuver through the crowds to get to the place you need to be most, the Airport...

    ...

    INVENTORY:
    • GRENADE LAUNCHER (LOADED)
    • GRENADES X50
    • STEAMGUN-100%
    • PRESSURIZED STEAM CANISTERS-STEAM-X30
    • PRESSURIZED STEAM CANISTERS-EMPTY-X6
    • LABCOAT (EQUIPPED)
    • LABORATORY GOGGLES (EQUIPPED)
    • LABORATORY KEY
    • PROVISIONS-TWO WEEKS
    • RUNIC HEADBAND
    • ZEPPELIN TICKET-FROM SYN CITY, TO OASIS
    • 30,000 POKÉ

    Avatar by the incredibly awesome Neo Emolga.

    Zigzagoon: Hatch @8,669; Linoone @ Level 100: 8,829

    My VPP Stats! - My Prism Stats! - My URPG Stats!
    BEHOLD THEM AND DESPAIR!!

    GUITAR WARROIR! medeleymedeleymedeleyMOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

  3. #13
    Not insanity. Supersanity. Death's Spook's Avatar
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    Death's Spook
    Shiro Minamoto the Aegislash
    The Hole Tavern, Scarwell, Azmarax
    Affected RPers: @Neo Emolga


    "YOU!" the Darmanitan growls obnoxiously, "I'll twist you into a misshapen lump! How stupid can you be for angering me!?"

    Clearly, this idiot is intending to attempt a diplomatic solution.

    I am about to attack when Kaxo decides to steal my heart by throwing his flask at the back of the fire ape’s clearly unused head. The clay mug shatters, splattering alcohol and sharp, solid fragments across the bar floor.

    And then pandemonium breaks out. Everyone starts attacking everyone they can get their hands on. Thankfully, I manage to slip the random blows that fall around me with my Seer abilities.

    Of course, there was Pokemon who is not simply randomly attacking me. The moronic Darmanitan cloaks himself in fire and rushes at me.

    His blows definitely are powerful, judging by the impressions they make on the wall and the reactions of the drunks who are slammed by it. However, he has the unfortunate habit of telegraphing his blows, making it stupidly simple to dodge even without my Seer abilities.

    I let out a laugh, “Indeed, I do seem to be stupid! I had thought the point of combat was to hit your opponent with your attacks! I am most grateful for your brilliant example!”

    In a move I am sure surprises absolutely everyone, he gets angrier, rushing at me with even more recklessness and raw fury. I am not required to even lift another finger past my initial assault: between the number of times he Flare Blitzes into random intoxicated idiots and the retaliations of said random intoxicated idiots, he manages to remove himself from bothering me anymore most considerately.

    I move to leave the zoological garden this place has become, but before I am out the door, I gently brush against Kaxo, mutter an apology, and walk out.

    Oh. And I stealthily drop one of the Jansen royal diamonds in his hand. Not a big one, but definitely enough to pique his interest.

    <I think we should converse.>
    Avatar taken from Scarfgirl and TheOtherChosenOne of Deviantart. Two great tastes that go great together! You know, when they aren't trying to kill each other horribly.

    Ivy commands you not to touch the kitty!

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  4. #14
    taking flight! VeloJello's Avatar
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    Moira Magro
    Sylath, Synamax
    ARP’ers: @The Nonexistent Tazz


    <SALUTATIOOOOOOOOONNSS!!> The Goodra’s reply nearly was so loud that it felt like he was trying to split my head in half. <I am Professor Talahass von McYarglefargle the Ninth! Please, just call me the Professor! In any case, you're lucky there ARE survivors at all, for you didn't just waltz into any Abyss-taken city but the last-known location of Undax of the Burning Rot himself, if the earthly rumors and these pesky visions are of any indication whatsoever! It's possibly one of the most heavily-defended locations the Abysmal army may send your way, perhaps even second only to Sartaras itself, but I'm almost certainly getting ahead of myself-the point is, you are quite fortunate to even live! In any case, I was just about to leave Syn City for Oasis to make the journey over to Jansen to rip the wretched Gengar to shreds, or something along those lines...I'm due on an Airship outbound to Oasis in less than a half-hour, in fact, and I'm not going to be wasting my Poké that I spent on the ticket, the fares are outrageous these days...In any case, I'll be arranging for you at Sylath, unless you would rather come to me in Oasis.>

    I groaned, propping myself up against the wall and rubbing at my temples. Synthesize this, Moira, I told myself furiously. Undax in Jansen. Undax in Jansen. Awesome. Seer named… “Sassafras Gargler”? Suicune’s crown, I was never going to remember that name. Mercifully, he seemed to be aware of the issue, so I’d call him Professor like he asked. The Professor was effectively already on his way to Oasis and willing to meet there or in Sylath. That sounded like everything.

    So. I had some decisions to make. Having just been informed that my plans to lay up my crewmates in Syn City was going to be a lot harder to accomplish with me present, I needed to reconsider. Oasis was a safe enough place for them, too, but how was I going to get them to go there, to convince them that I had changed my mind so suddenly.

    I groaned again, rubbing at my eyes. All I could think of was that Undax himself had been in Jansen. Could he have known that there was a Seer on the Braviary? Did it even realistically matter?

    After spending an entirely unseemly amount of time groaning in frustration and leaning on the wall, I went back toward the bar proper. I wasn’t going to convince anyone of anything, by Entei’s mighty mane, or at least I wasn’t going to convince anyone of anything that wasn’t true.

    “I’m an Indigo Seer,” I announced quite calmly as I resumed my seat beside Captain Pike at the bar.

    A snort of amusement bubbled up from Captain Pike as Downey’s huge head suddenly swiveled toward me, while Abelard let out a little gasp of surprise. “I knew something was off about you!” Downey hollered.

    I reached across the captain, nearly knocking over what I wager is her third Micle Martini, and rapped Downey on the mouth. “Don’t announce it to the whole bar, you idiot,” I snapped. “This doesn’t travel any further than the four of you, hear? If I end up with knives in my back because of you then, Abyss or no Abyss, I’ll haunt you til the end of days.”

    Downey took another swig of wine, “Fine, fine, cool it. So… this explains a lot. But why tell us now?”

    Briefly, I summarized what the Professor had told me about his plans and about Undax. “I can’t force the three of you to do anything,” I said. “But I want to make sure you three are safe, and I wanted to be honest with you. I think that it would be safest for you to find new airships, it doesn’t matter where. Sylath’s as good a place to start as any… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth at first.”

    “But what will you do?” Captain Pike asked me, fixing me with a level gaze.

    “I’m going to help this Professor kill Undax,” I said simply. “Or at least, I’m going to try. He sounded a bit… eccentric, and if he doesn’t have a good plan, I may have to turn back. But I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. In the meantime, I’ll be waiting for him here.”

    “No need,” Captain Pike said. She finished her martini in one long chug. “I have all sorts of favors I can still call in. So long as my old associates are still alive, I can get you to Oasis in record time. On one condition.”

    “Which is?”

    Captain Pike stood up, her weight making the floorboards creak. “You take me with you.”

    Gears start grinding in my head immediately. I knew exactly how I want this to end, but I had to be careful. The captain was more hardheaded than anyone I’d ever met in my life, and if I said the wrong thing, I would make her more determined to come with me. “Don’t you have to stay here with Downey and Abelard?”

    Captain Pike surveyed the both of them and sighed. “Look, Downey was right in what he said yesterday - I’m the captain of a ship that doesn’t exist anymore. The lot of you are all free Pokemon, and it’d be wrong of me to try and drag you into something on authority that I don’t actually have. But Moira, this is clearly important to you, and I can’t bear the thought of you walking into danger with only a stranger’s help.”

    Tension made my crown rise. Half of my instincts were screaming at me to protect my captain, while the other half were howling at me to listen to the woman who had basically mothered me since I was a stupid little pup scrounging airport scraps. “Captain Pike, this is Undax of the Burning Rot. Not that you’re not powerful enough in your own right, very far from it, but you…”

    “If you’re about to tell me that I’m getting old, stop,” growled the Nidoqueen. “Moira, I don’t want to strongarm you. But if this Gengar is as powerful as you say, you’re going to need all the help that you can get. Sometimes you don’t know what’s best for you, so I’m going to make this simple. You have two options. Option one, you let me get you transit to Oasis and let me accompany you to Jansen. Option two, you knock me out cold and lock me up. Because that’s the only way you’ll get to leave me behind.”

    I quickly choked out the snarl of sheer frustration that was rising up in my throat. There would be plenty of opportunities to dissuade Captain Pike, or give her the slip if necessary, between there and the fight at Jansen. “Alright. Fine, Captain. You win.”

    “Good,” she said primly, then turned toward Abelard and Downey. “You two. I know you don’t owe me anymore, but I figure I may as well give you the chance to tag along. Both of you are good fighters, and you’d be most welcome.”

    Before I could tell Captain Pike that no, they are most certainly not welcome, please stop trying to help me, Downey spoke. “Nope. Sorry, ladies, but this is way out of my league. I’ve got no interest in going to a slaughter, which is what it’d be for me. Count me out.”

    I wasn’t surprised; from Captain Pike’s expression, neither was she. “Very well. What’s your answer, Abelard?”

    “I…” she hesitated for a moment, but the look in her red eyes was resolute. “I couldn’t save the Braviary’s crew when it mattered, but without Moira, all of us might have died. I still think of you as my leader, if not my captain, Miss Pike, and I’d be honored to accompany you.”

    I blinked. I had never heard Abelard utter that many words in one sitting without getting shy again and clamming up. Maybe there was some steel in the Haxorus after all - then again, there had to be, if Captain Pike had hired her.

    Of course, it made my job of going it alone that much harder. Now I had to ditch two instead of one. Although, maybe the help would come in handy, especially if I was going to be alone with that nutty Goodra…

    No. The others had to be protected, whatever the cost.

    “Thank you, Abelard,” said Captain Pike, her voice gentle. Then, her bearing and tone grew businesslike once again, “Alright. If your Professor is leaving for Oasis soon, we haven’t a whole lot of time. Let’s get moving. Goodbye, Downey; take care of yourself. It’s been an honor being your captain.”

    “You, too, Pike,” said Downey. “With luck, when next we meet, I’ll be serving up the best food that Synamax has to offer, and that Undax guy will be thoroughly killed.”

    Captain Pike led the way to the skyport and had Abelard and I stand by while she chatted up the various captains and crew that were hanging around. I decided that this would be a good time to update the Professor on my plans.

    <Moira again, Professor,> I said. This message was easier to send than the first; I had never actually done this before today. <It happens that my airship captain is going to call in some favors and arrange quick passage for her, myself, and another one of our crewmates to Oasis, so with luck we’ll be able to meet you right at the skyport. However, the two of them will not be accompanying us to Jansen if I can possibly do anything to be rid of them. I don’t want them getting mixed up on this… It would appear that my captain’s coming back. I’ll let you know when we’ve touched down in Oasis.>

    Captain Pike started talking the second I finished my message. “Good news, everybody! You ever heard of the Little Yanma? Don’t answer that, I know you haven’t. It’s a tiny little passenger airship run by a Banette who worked for me before even Moira came aboard. Meet,” she gestured grandiosely to the small Ghost-type beside her, “Captain Seelie.”

    The Banette waved a hand. “Hey, all,” he sounded as raspy as a Graveller with a smoking habit. “Look, I won’t waste time on formalities. Suffice to say you’re very lucky you’re in with Pike. She’s told me that this could be a matter of world-saving importance, and I happen to like the world the way it is. So with that out of the way, c’mon and board. Mess up one thing on my ship and I’ll curse you so hard that your grandchildren are gonna feel it. Got it?”

    Abelard nodded, while I grunted my agreement. Captain Seelie was gruffer than I was used to, which was annoying, and I didn’t much care for small airships after so long on the Braviary. They rocked too much in the winds, and were much more liable to lose fights should any opportunist pirates or Flying-types decide to swoop in. Plus, I was going to be spending the entire trip trying to figure out how to ditch the last two friends I had left in the world, on my way to go fight one of the most dangerous Pokemon on the face of all Talandra.

    Ah, well. It beat walking.


    Button by K'sariya!

    URPG Stats!

    Paired with noob dummy crazy kid rad friend Nar.

  5. #15
    ERROR! DOES NOT EXIST! The Nonexistent Tazz's Avatar
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    ((OOC: A few things. I consider Mystery Dungeon to be tangentially related to the world; Growth Garland is basically Fred Rodgers, while Dargius Pulchritude is simultaneously a Problem Sleuth reference and basically the most charismatic 'mon in existence; And if anyone catches exactly what reference King Jellyfish is to in this situation, kudos to you.))

    Professor Talahass von McYarglefargle The Ninth
    Central/Eastern Syn City, Synamax
    Affected RPers: @Velocity
    (?)

    You are now at the SYN CITY AIRPORT. It's gotten a lot of passengers for a while now-you predict a level of growth, at this rate, that will cause SYN CITY to start growing to JANSEN-like levels, or at least strat becoming more and more of a major city. Isolated from the mainland and an internal naval base, very secure-sounding. Then again, JANSEN was assumed to be very safe, and look what rumor had said of it!...Then again, by those same rumors and your visions, UNDAX OF THE BURNING ROT was responsible, so perhaps it would stand a chance against a less coordinated army?

    In any case...Oh? It looks like CUMULA, of all people, is here. She and her mother are late sleepers, you definitely know it, they'd sleep to 10 AM when most are up around 6 AM. You would have woken up sooner normally but your sleep has been so wrought with those visions...You are going to punch UNDAX to death at this rate, with your bare hands to boot, you don't care how literally sick he is. Those BROTHERS are making you that angry. this also ignores that UNDAX is a ghost type. In any case, this is highly unusual behavior out of her. She's also wearing a scarf-one her aunt ROXXIA usually does. She was always the rebellious type...Oh my. Ugh, you might want to sort this out...ROXXIA has impossible levels of stubbornness when it comes to niece protection. You might as well put CUMULA in JANSEN, mail ROXXIA (anonymously), and then watch as you are killed, and then as a servant of the abyss Witness JANSEN being literally punted out of the ground in her quest to get CUMULA. Especially if you wind up on the same ship: ROXXIA WILL BLAME YOU, and she may also ignore several laws in making sure you get the picture.

    Before you can properly react to this, Moria Margo responds again.

    "Moira again, Professor, It happens that my airship captain is going to call in some favors and arrange quick passage for her, myself, and another one of our crewmates to Oasis, so with luck we’ll be able to meet you right at the skyport. However, the two of them will not be accompanying us to Jansen if I can possibly do anything to be rid of them. I don’t want them getting mixed up on this… It would appear that my captain’s coming back. I’ll let you know when we’ve touched down in Oasis."

    You decide that, as of right now, you can wait on responding. CUMULA's return to her house is practically your life on the line, because if ROXXIA realized you knew, well...Let us put it one way, the last time this happened and you knew, she was extremely stern, and you learned how dense her fists are. And the rest of her body. You also learned the maximum velocity of a LUCARIO that may or may not suffer from GIGANTICISM.

    -> Professor McYarglefargle: Save your life.


    You manage to get past a great deal of people, saying your pardons and excuse mes, before reaching CUMULA, who is walking rather firmly towards the same Airhship you're on, which is really only furthering the complications. EVEN worse, she has a ticket. There was no way she was giving up something so valuable, and no way you were getting upon that ship should you attack her, which, by the way, would also mean a cruel, hate-filled death. You will need to suddenly become the UTOPIA-blessed lovechild of GROWTH GARLAND and DARGIUS PULCHRITUDE (by some means) to save your behind. You might as well commit seppaku and save yourself from dying a horrible death at the hands of King Jellyfish ROXXIA and whatever her (supposedly) PTSD-Riddled mind could possibly come up with, law enforcement be darned.

    At least she's turning around to see you. "Oh, hello Professor!"

    -> Professor McYarglefargle: Explain in no ambiguous terms how CUMULA must return home right now.


    "What in tarnation are you doing!?" You exclaim.

    "Boarding an Airship to Oasis. I want to explore the world, or while it lasts anyways!" She exclaims back. "My stuck-up Aunt won't let me leave Syn City even before this whole Infernal Schism Tauros-"

    "Hun, tongue. A lesser brute would murder you for getting such a mouth in the first place, and I prefer to work with people with some class."

    You look down. Oh no. Your figuratively ABYSMAL luck continues to surmount. Standing right next to CUMULA is, well, someone unfamiliar-a SYLVEON. Those of a Fey alignment were a rare and bewildering sight to witness, as they usually have some extremely uncanny views on the world. The Fairy-Types in general happen to behave-literally no other word for it-weird. They practically live in a separate society, and they either aren't aware of the rules to begin with or don't even care. They view some things as irrelevant and some things as absolutely dire, and ninety-nine percent of the time they rarely truly conjoin with society's values (though equally rarely do they completely go against it either). In other words, already a sign of everything going even worse than it already was, though you might just be somewhat bigoted due to type issues, and also because of the time three of them attempted to forcibly play matchmaker with you and a Milotic. It ended well for NO-ONE and you and that Milotic exchanged mails of apology frequently for three straight years afterwards.

    This particular specimen wore an interesting piece of headgear...You don't' have any name for it but it looks like basically she's wearing a small black sack on her head, with an EMERALD RIBBON laying upon it, as well as two sacks laid across her sides, packed with random items, many of them quite shiny. You make out quite a few items, but most importantly an EXPLORER's BADGE...Impliciting her as a possible part of an Exploration Team. Exploration Teams being something that's been legally debated (very fiercely) to be forcibly and completely retired as of right now due to the fact it basically legalized bandit work and piracy. To be fair, most Guilds for it were very bent on making sure their pupils turned out to be perfect citizens, but though there were some exquisite examples of this in action, they were the exceptions that made the rule. Most Guilds could not control their pupils enough to stay away from illegal activities.

    In other words, it was very blatant that CUMULA was about to do something very dumb with her.

    "Oh, jeez, you sound like my Aunt, the stuck up bi-I mean, stuck-up wuss that she is." CUMULA snapped back.

    "I try not to sound like other people's aunts, though, and to be fair she IS a stuck-up wuss, but I would rather you not badmouth your relatives like that, reasons reasons..."

    "Right, right, sorry, so where are we going after-"

    "You're not! You're literally going to have your aunt march through whatever Arceus-forsaken grounds she may find herself treading on and slaughter whatever bothers to get between you and her, and then kill me because I didn't talk you out of it!"

    "That sounds like a madwoman who should have gotten mental remodeling done. And also, horribly unlikely." The SYLVEON said. Oh, great, MENTAL REMODELING, that old thing. You don't even want to talk about THAT. The one time you saw any victim to that (and they were indeed victims to it), you were tempted to kill him, and not because he was actually violent, but because he was...Broken in a way to horrible to describe. How do Fey even LIVE with people like that walking among them?

    "She's too much of a coward. She's so jumpy about everything, and she could probably rip most of it to shreds!" CUMULA stated.

    "Now that is just going too far, she has PTSD-"

    "Faked, and I know it! She's never been in any fight in her life, I know it!" CUMULA cut in.

    That was enough to make the SYLVEON flinch a little. That was going a little too far.

    "If I was your father I would have beaten you to the ground for that! But that is seriously cruel, she looks so terrified by fighting, bar to save you...As I should know. Very well." You say.

    Admittently, those very beatings make you wonder if she really DOES have PTSD. They're so violent, like some spirit of the ABYSS siezed her.

    "Hun, a woman like that is too protective for this girl's own good, she's gotta go out and expand her horizons, it ain't healthy. We left a note for her to understand, and I'm making sure she doesn't get too deep into trouble, and when she's satisfied we'll settle down, maybe even return here...It sure is quite a beauty, and I've seen quite a few scenes in my life." The SYLVEON says.

    "I'm sorry, but I must ask you to hand over that ticket, Cumula, for my life's sake and yours! It's LITERALLY hell out there, you see how empty that ship is?" You state. Indeed, there were literally five people onboard-During more normal years, you usually see thirty on the ship to OASIS. "No-one in their right minds is going! You've gone mad!"

    "I HAVE gone mad, I've gone mad at every last time I've had to be bossed around by someone else! I've GOT to get away from it all, and hey, we're all doomed anyways!" CUMULA shouted, at this point trying to get behind you. You kept backing up, getting onto the bridge.

    "I am of a personal mind to say there's still hope left!" You shout back. "But no matter what the case, you shouldn't just be going out NOW of all times because you are BORED. What would your mother think?!"

    CUMULA's mother, he never really knew about her other than she was dead from some incident ROXXIA was somehow involved in when CUMULA was extremely young. And yet, the memories of her were perhaps the most fond she had. she didn't even know her mother's name-it seemed to be something only ROXXIA knew of-and she had a fierce admiration of her. She was a hero, apparently. Come to think of it, you never knew her last name either...

    In any case, that got her to briefly stop. And then, she donned a most fierce expression, one bearing but a fragment of the ferocity within a similar expression of ROXXIA's. You know she is rather young for her size and realize a fight against her would be practically unfair, but if she wants a keruffle now, then so be it.

    "So why are you going onboard that ship towards Oasis yerself?" The SYLVEON asked, quite suddenly.

    Oh boy that was a hard question to answer. You did NOT want this crazy lunatic to know you were an INDIGO SEER, and she looked like a foreginer. SYN CITY itself was fairly knowledgeable about you but you were not a brand name as an INDIGO SEER, that wasn't common knowledge outside of the city and it wasn't a common topic either. CUMULA's rage continued to build, she was now shaking.

    "Aren't you an Indigo Seer or somesuch? I've heard that the Abyss is buzzing over them for some reason, buzzing for kills, so why leave Syn City?"

    You would shout explicitives if you dared to let them enter your dictionary at all, but she responded before you could even open your mouth. OK, her learning isn't all that impossible, still, but this was not good. He could convince CUMULA away from the ship, maybe, but you had no chance to sway the SYLVEON and, for that matter, you didn't care all that much, you just had to sway CUMULA, and yet it would be very hard if he didn't have the 'moral high ground' so to speak.

    "There is a scientific presentation-"

    "During the Infernal Schism?"

    "New technologies, Military application, could help-"

    "Why in Oasis and not the Emerald Coast or some other big city?"

    "Meant to be secret-"

    "I don't think this exists, but I would think an Indigo Seer like yourself would certainly want to keep silent against the Abyss...."

    "OK, yeah, full of Tauros...Dung. Let me past or I will knock you past!

    You will eat that Sylveon and savor every last second of it one day, before you inevitably die of ROXXIA.

    "No-one else is coming aboard, I can just stand here and-"

    "You're letting us come aboard, you have no right to stop either of us, we paid for our tickets, and I'm not leaving without her...Or should I go do some sightseeing of that lab of yours? Ugly cogs..." The Sylveon said.

    No, no no no no no no no no no, UNACCEPTABLE! NOT THE LAB! But, ROXXIA would kill you if you let CUMULA aboard, and probably ACTUALLY kill you after weeks of horrendous torture! What you did last time was paltry in comparison, and even if you were to suddenly become a perfect sinless being she would STILL come and rip you to shreds. The Abyss has no fury like a woman scorned, and there is no woman scorned more ferocious than ROXXIA.

    "Lemme help that decision process of yours."

    You, paralyzed by sudden indecision, find yourself suddenly realizing how attractive that Sylveon is. Oh, oh how pretty and pink and cute is this thing?

    "You'll let us aboard, right hun? You're such a darling man..."

    -> Professor McYarglefargle: Let CUMULA and the SYLVEON aboard.


    You allow them aboard without a second thought, anything for the absolutely beloved...Uh, wow, you didn't even know her name, how rude of you to not know! You've absolutely got to ask!

    Remembering you also have an appointment to make over there, you get your ticket checked, boarding the ship of eight yourself. You follow the Sylveon and CUMULA, close to the helm of the ship.

    "Now, hun, stay here-I think we may need to move, I saw someone rush off somewhere..." The absolutely adored woman of four legs said.

    "Oh, Meiun's neck, no!"

    "Relax, hun, this one's easy to fix...Oh, you do have business on this ship as well!" The lovely maiden fae said, looking at you. "Hush, darling, I need to speak with the captain about early leaving."

    Ah, yes, marvelous, a Fae beguilement! Perfect for a leave several minutes ahead of schedule, just as you (and more importantly her) wanted. You obey her orders, waiting right next to CUMULA, as she walks into the Captain's room and uses ATTRACT...Wait.

    You look at CUMULA, eager to go. You see something else-OH NO ROXXIA YOU COMPLETELY FORGOT NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

    -> Professor McYarglefargle: Attempt to stop the Sylveon.


    Too late. Yet another endeavor screwed over by the Fae. The Captain listens to her like a sucker, just like you were. You go pale.

    The ship leaves port with an unexpected speed, confusing every other passenger as they climb back to the forward, but they find the Captain's doors locked.

    "Oh, man. It was the best decision I ever made to wake up early today...I got to meet HER, she's amazing, her name is, uhh, what was it, kinda weird...Right, it was Sophia! But anyway, she was so totally understanding and helped me out, and I'm on board and I'm on an adventure and-"

    -> Professor McYarglefargle: Recover from shock, perform last-ditch attempt to save your life.

    You grab CUMULA by the snout with your ears, by the upper chest with one arm, and use the remainder to keep a punch ready to go.

    "I am going to kill you, and her, by field test from one of my newest inventions at this precise moment and time, all reasonable and legal parameters for such aside, unless you immediately leap out of this ship right now and swim back to Syn City this instant. I will NOT suffer your aunt's wrath again! I had a cast on this arm-" You point at your left arm-"for TWELVE YEARS because of something almost completely harmless! This is NOT harmless, this is sending you off to death!"

    You let go of her snout, only to instead focus around the neck, JUST hard enough to become uncomfortable but not hard enough to choke her. She struggles, natch, but finds little success. "I'd rather die!"

    "Oh dear, I thought that would last longer...".

    You whip your head around. Of course, the Sylveon was there, staring at you with a look of utter boredom.

    "YOU ARE-"

    Oh right, wasn't she the amazing pretty one you wanted to marry yourself to and listen to and help out because she's so awesome and cute and incredible?

    You don't get much else-she suddenly leaps at you out of the blue with some sphere of lovely pink energy forming at her mouth before you go black, and your dreams instigated by this are dreams of dancing with a Milotic in a lovely field of flowers, a Milotic that looks a lot like SOPHIA...

    ...You then get nailed by more BLACK DOOM visions. Of course, you can't even dream about proper nightmares!

    Avatar by the incredibly awesome Neo Emolga.

    Zigzagoon: Hatch @8,669; Linoone @ Level 100: 8,829

    My VPP Stats! - My Prism Stats! - My URPG Stats!
    BEHOLD THEM AND DESPAIR!!

    GUITAR WARROIR! medeleymedeleymedeleyMOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

  6. #16
    Cheers and good times! Neo Emolga's Avatar
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    Kaxo Sychal the Lopunny
    The Hole Tavern, Scarwell, Azmarax
    Affected RPers: @Death's Spook


    After finishing off Sankin and Renk, I turned to see Ergin had tried to attack the guy with the cloak. If there was anything the dumb, flame-brained monkey was known for, it was pissing just about everyone off. I'd call him a stupid twat, but he lacked the warmth and the depth.

    As if on cue, he attacked a rather beefed-up Blastoise unintentionally, but obviously the big, hulking water turtle juggernaut thought it was totally intentional, and he gave Ergin that look that made it clear he was going to murder his whole family and stuff their severed heads up his anus. And then Ergin barreled into the idiot dancing Pangoro, as if pissing him off was a great idea too.

    "Indeed, I do seem to be stupid!" The cloaked one laughed. "I had thought the point of combat was to hit your opponent with your attacks! I am most grateful for your brilliant example!"

    Instead, Ergin kept rushing around like a brain-dead Bouffalant on steroids, crashing into more tables and chairs and then into Krag, the well-known, dark dary-skinned, four-armed Machamp regular that was probably the last one he should have bumbled into. Krag then slammed Ergin in the face and I could have pissed myself laughing just before the drunken Pangoro and Blastoise all gang up on him at the same time and beat the stuffing out of Ergin. After getting slammed in the face by the Pangoro, kicked in the ass by the Blastoise, and then having both of his arms get broken by Krag, I knew that stupid Darmanitan wasn't going to be heading off anywhere for a while. I swore, he was either going to be dragged out of here in a coma or in a bodybag.

    "D-damn...!" Lude stuttered, backing away. "Sweet mother of mercy, did they just kill that guy!?"

    "Who the hell cares, would have been his own damn fault anyway," I told him, really thinking he should quit being such a sheepish twit about everything he saw. "Come on, we're getting the hell out of this pisshole."

    "I swear, I'm never coming to this place again!" Bretner whined as we headed for the door. "No more alcohol for me... ever!"

    With the way he was acting and whining, he was probably a decade off from being legal age anyway.

    And that was when the cloaked guy came by me again. For a moment, I thought he was going to go his own separate ways after Egrin had his head punched so hard his colon would vomit out his skull, but he was still hanging around. And that was when I felt something drop into my paw. I took a quick look at it, obviously quickly catching onto the idea it was not meant to be seen.

    When I saw it, I thought I was hallucinating. It was a royal diamond with one of the most insane artisan cuts I've ever seen. That guy, whoever the hell he was, had to be LOADED. I quickly stuffed it in my satchel, and then looked at him.

    <I think we should converse.>

    As if the diamond wasn't surprising enough about this guy, he had some telepathy power as well. Or was he... possibly a Seer also? Damn, I never would have guessed. I had to know for sure, and it was obvious he wasn't here to beat up a few bar goons either. He had to know something about me, and even though I might have overstayed my time here, this definitely had to be one last prospect looking into.

    <Out back. There's a shed back there, perfect place to hide before the police show up and arrest all these hopeless goons.>

    I then grabbed Lude and Bretner like the little, infantile children they were and headed out the back door, away from all the ungodly ruckus and the mangled remains of Ergin and his two idiot butt-buddies. I swore, the clinic down the street was going to have fun with these assholes.

    Outside, I spotted the shed the bar used for storing alcohol down a small hill away from the tavern itself. We headed down the hill and through the patches of dry dirt and dead grass. The sky was getting oddly dark, but right now, I didn't care too much about that.

    Once we made it to the shed, I opened the sliding door and pushed the idiot Floatzel and the Furret inside. The shed was filled with barrels, old brewing equipment, and a distillery I swore I hope they weren't thinking of actually using again. When something rusts to the point it has holes, you get rid of the damn thing. In the meantime, it smelled like old people piss in there.

    "What are we doing here!?"" Lude asked, acting like I was going to murder them both in there and run off.

    "Hiding from the authorities," I told him, knowing I didn't want to be dragged out in shackles like the rest of those idiots were going to be and then held for questioning and processing. "That and... there's someone I need to talk to."

    "You mean that guy with the cloak?" Bretner asked me. "You know him?"

    "I will in a moment," I told him, smirking a bit.

    It was rare for me to find another Pokémon worth meeting, but there was something different about this guy with the cloak. That, and with a diamond like this, I knew he wouldn't make an empty promise and be yet another deadbeat I'd have to drag around trying to find some use for.

  7. #17
    ERROR! DOES NOT EXIST! The Nonexistent Tazz's Avatar
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    Professor Talahass von McYarglefargle The Ninth
    ???, en Route to ???
    Affected RPers: @Velocity


    A dream, a vision...You feel the ethers of the past in this one, this has already happened...So foggy though, like the rest...You never really got these. You felt the tiniest thread brush your mind, as if begging for more.

    -> Professor McYarglefargle: Entertain vision.

    You tried to 'grab' the mental thread and 'pull back,' as they would say...You tugged, and tugged and tugged, and...It all came into focus...

    You stood as an all-black version of yourself, horribly demonic, bearing a wing upon his back that looked more like a claw, one you were currently staring at. You would think you looked into your own Fallen, but you are not entirely sure...You're fairly sure, though. Ugh, so that's what it looked like. Even more slimy than you were, and you admitted you were kind of gross yourself, gross and slimy. Made it hard sometimes, but this was three times worse, like it was more liquid than solid...Ugh, you don't even want to look at yourself. It's as if this part was explicitly to spite you. You couldn't twitch, it seems you're stuck in first person-and the first person of this guy.

    Thankfully, you soon turn your head to some kind of altar of darkness in an unknown building-this room was equal parts cathedral, cavern and, well, hell, with stalagmites hanging down from the ceiling supporting the chandeliers, and utterly rotton-looking benches where everyone sat upon-everyone being partially made up of FALLEN, though mostly there were lesser horrors, like Cohorts or Infernals. You were looking upon some altar of darkness wherein three Pokemon worked-One was a Gengar, Mega-Evolved, who looked utterly plagued, with all sorts of open wounds letting out disgusting fsetering things-UNDAX OF THE BURNING ROT. A second was a disgusting-looking Hypno, with a Mr. Mime shoved and merged into its torso, its hands and legs operation on the Hypno's will rather than its own-XAC, THE HERALD OF MADNESS. The final one, a Grumpig who's skin was partially golden and partially some rotten black scab-like substance, sitting at the head of the Table, wearing all sorts of jewlery: DELATH, EMPEROR OF THE DESPISED.

    The Three BROTHERS...And they were writing furiously at something. Yes, you think this was the BLACK DOOM Prophecy. A few seconds pass, then, one of them suddenly flings himself to an upright position, throwing a black-feathered quill up into the air, as the Parchment burst into a black, infernal flame.


    "IT IS DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!!!! IT IS DONE, AND THEY ARE DONE, AND WE WILL ALWAYS SIT ON OUR CANDY-COATED CAVALIERS!!! HOORAYYYYYYYYY!!!" Bellowed XAC. They weren't kidding about him being the Herald of Madness.

    "YEeeEEEssS...BUt noW WE muST SaFEGuaRD It..." Said UNDAX. Jeez, he had some SERIOUS voice problems, nasty, sounded as sick as implied.

    "But of course...Letting it fall into ANYONE's hands...THAT would be a travesty and a half. We cannot write that the Prophecy is invincible, we cannot write ourselves as invincible, we cannot write a great many things as certanties...Such a pain, we could only write a probability-our victory, granted, but it was like a great many things equally beneficial were out of reach...Now, we have made victory a certainty, on a singular condition: We protect this prophecy! How we go about it ought to still be cautious...The right people in the right places can easily undo our work, and if we are not cautious about our positioning we can run into issues...And yet, at the same time, we could run into those problems if we are not fast enough in establishing our footholds, as well. This work, the Black Doom, it makes it a LOT easier to do everything-luck befalls our footsteps now-but if the Prophecy is harmed and the Infernal Barrier broken-both possible, and both events we cannot cover...Well. Let us say that we have achieved something GREAT here, but this is NOT the end of the war where we can just cruise to victory! We can run into problems, and there can always be spanners..." Said DELATH.

    ...

    You did not expect one of the BROTHERS OF DESPAIR to talk like he was DARGIUS PULCHRITUDE's long lost brother.


    "YES YES, LIKE THAT ONE SEER THAT GOT AT THE PAPERS!" XAC chimed in. The Mr. Mime on his chest was about to say something, but one of the Mr. Mime arms sealed his lips. Poor thing.

    DELATH's face soured considerably from the relatively calm position it held at the mention of the Seer. "That, that was an uncounted for piece on this grand chessboard! AN INTRUSION TO THE PLAN!!! What we have to do now is to make sure such intrusions to our plan are MINIMIZED! Indigo Seers are dangerous-one nearly shut us out of this golden opportunity SINGLEHANDEDLY, dodging our patrols, dealing significant damage when confronted, and without any warnings! Were it not for our lovely Fallen here," Delath pointed to an Aegislash in the front rows of the pew, "And HIS own powers as a Seer, we would have been without the Black Doom Prophecy, and that would complicate matters, completely disregarding what those skyward filthbuckets would do if they even could come!

    Utopia, right? You figured that the 'skyward filthbuckets' was in reference to Utopia's presumed armies.

    "SoOOOoo, NoW wE wAIt, and HiDE IN shADOwS, proTECT Our BLoOd-"

    "-and Promptly miss out on field commanding our troops, go to slowly, and watch as more complications regroup, launch a combined assault from the corners of our eyes, and destroy our propechy and destroy the Altar! No! Two of us must continue to wage war in Talandra while one of us goes and keep our secret to success SAFE in the darkest corner of the Abyss we can find!" Delath cut in.

    "AnD whO do YOU reCOMMenD foR THat TasK, OF stAYinG?" UNDAX asked.

    DELATH turned to XAC, and so did UNDAX. They then turned back to each other with extremely deadpan looks upon their faces.

    "NOT him." DELATH said. "Really, it should fall to someone who succeeds at direct combat...And I mean, someone who is not turned from powerful to weak by the presence of a Disease-protecting Utopian artifact. Plus, your power is equally potent on an offensive scale, so though I would rather be going out and introducing people to my glory...I will instead take the safety of our prophecy into my hands. Well, actually, not just my hands, but I will stay here in the Abyss as a doubled safeguard, as will the Prophecy...Yes, I know secure hands for the Prophecy itself."

    Xac piped up."OH OH OH! I KNOW! YOU WILL FEED IT TO-"

    And just like that, you awoke, sharp and fast, in a cold sweat. You highly doubted that Delath was going to feed the Black Doom Prophecy to, well, anything. Worse still, they may have already known that you were an Indigo Seer-meaning that Infernal that got crushed by your door was not alone.

    You awoke, mercifully, in a bedroom, with your backpack intact, as well as various other garments. It was a cramped quarters, you admit, you were almost too tall. A majority of furniture that was not part of the floor itself was instead crammed to the door, which surprised you. You also got an indoors cabin, it seemed, no window. Most pressingly, SOPHIA and CUMULA were there. Your face was rather sore.

    "Ah, you are awake...Yes, I think you'd be better off awake after that 30-minute powernap. Let's ignore that I fired off a point-blank Hyper Voice to knock you out in the first place and focus on there here-and-now, OK Hun?"

    -> Professor McYarglefargle: Inquire.


    "...What in tarnation is going on?"

    "Uh, someone came aboard the ship and hijacked it?" CUMULA said. She was staring at the door and readying herself as if to Aura Sphere it...You weren't entirely sure if CUMULA could even use that move, though...

    "Someone...Yes, just Someone. Someone with Abysmal magics, a thirst for blood, a vendetta against Indigo Seers, cloaked until now, now wearing the most...Demonic imagery you could get like he was a mad cultist to Zaiaku...Yes, just someone. Clearly not an Abysmal assassin out to kill us all. He had someone come aboard with him, but that particular brute is working the ship to make sure it doesn't crash...Likely taking us directly to Volgoia, and that's POSITIVE thinking...They could be taking us to Jansen, I don't know where, not much to listen too other than sadistic glee!" SOPHIA said. Her eyes darted between you and the door, and her feelers were poised and ready to attack.

    Well this was certainly not pleasant.

    "We've got the place barricaded, but I don't think it'll hold. Still, we'll know when he comes and maybe we can kill him, or her? I don't even know what it is! CUMULA said, slightly hysterical.

    "Did it have some claw-like wing?" You ask, fearing the worst already.

    "No, no, I don't think Fallen are aboard, they'd be pretty high profile...I think this is just a strong Cohort or maybe an Infernal, or something else, which is still not exactly a jolly situation...There might be more than the one aboard, but we can't really go out there and attack them straight-on. This brute has an ability to take blows, even from me...And I'm very good at dealing out blows, let no-one befuddle you otherwise." SOPHIA said.

    You breathe a sigh of relief that it's not a Fallen.

    "...They're not Fallen either, though, so that's one relief."

    Well, it appears your powers will be getting a very full application right now. But first, two things.

    "Well, I clearly didn't forsee this, but I did try to persuade you away from the whole adventure thing."

    "Can you just HELP?!"

    "Of course."

    And then, a message.

    "Sorry it took so long to reply...Abysmal forces have invaded our Airship to Oasis, at least two particularly strong fellows, not sure if there's more. I was unconscious for a time, but they haven't gotten to me yet. Not many passengers at all, and they're probably all dead. Not a fantastic situation. I do have some assistance, though...I'll see what I can work with here, it's not hopeless, that much I assure you of! These scoundrels, Moria, they lack SCIENCE!"

    The door shook, as if someone was attempting to enter. You pull out your GRENADE LAUNCHER. You also spot the RUNIC HEADBAND and, thinking it might not hurt, put it on as well. It was quite itchy, but you were not about to complain if even the slightest protection was offered.

    "Ah, yes, one is already knocking on my door. Well, I shall hope to meet you in person, and not as a shambling abomination from the Abyss!...Actually I'll keep talking to you, this isn't the time to go silent."

    Time to blind them, with SCIENCE!

    ...

    INVENTORY:
    • GRENADE LAUNCHER (LOADED) (EQUIPPED)
    • GRENADES-X50
    • STEAMGUN-100%
    • PRESSURIZED STEAM CANISTERS-STEAM-X30
    • PRESSURIZED STEAM CANISTERS-EMPTY-X6
    • LABCOAT (EQUIPPED)
    • LABORATORY KEY
    • LABORATORY GOGGLES (EQUIPPED)
    • RUNIC HEADBAND (EQUIPPED)
    • PROVISIONS-TWO WEEKS
    • 30,000 POKÉ
    Last edited by The Nonexistent Tazz; 07-19-2015 at 06:11 PM.

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  8. #18
    The Known Stranger Morzone's Avatar
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    Theo Myrsky
    Town Square, Emerald Coast
    Affected RP'ers: None


    Theo sat quietly on a metal bench, out of the way of the more busy parts of the square. He tried silently to focus on his plans, but found that he couldn't think of any real means of executing them. He certainly knew what he wanted to get done, which was to find Via and stop these infernal abyssal creatures, but he was at a loss as to where to start. So he mulled over his more recent visions, most of which hadn't been very pleasant. He knew that the abyssal forces were strongest in the Eastern parts of Talandra, but they still had a good number of strongholds in the rest of the world as well. Perhaps that was the way to go, to slow their spread until they were spent. Though of course, the problem with such a course of action was that they could simply bring more fallen pokemon back from the abyss. No, he would need to think of other ways to oppose the evil.

    "So this is where you're hiding today, in broad daylight."

    Theo looked around to see Joshua standing over him from behind the bench. The machop looked rather annoyed and he had a feeling it wasn't to do with his training that day.

    "You've been hiding off by yourself a lot lately Theo, you're not gonna get anything done if you just sit and mope."

    This annoyed Theo slightly, he wasn't moping, he was thinking. "I'm not moping Josh, unlike some people who care too much about whether or not the dojo master gave them a smile today or not. I'm just thinking about what I'm going to do about the mess the world is in right now."

    "I do not mope when Master Veeli doesn't smile at me! Besides, what is there to think about? You always said that the abyssal forces have a weak spot, why don't you just go and hit it?"

    Typical straight forwardness of Josh, but he was used to that. "Of course they have a weakness, more than one actually, but the problem is that I can't just walk into their stronghold and 'hit them' as you put it. The fallen and their masters are not easy foes, and even if I could kill a bunch of the abominations they would just come back up from the abyss again."

    Joshua blinked at me, then stared into the distance for a moment, his usual thinking pose. Josh could usually do what ever he set his mind too, but he had a habit of doing it to directly and causing needless trouble. Any idea from him would probably either be too simple or too impossible.

    "well," he said slowly, as if putting his thoughts together was no easy task, "Why don't you just stop them from coming back then?"

    "That's crazy! what good would that do when so many are-" but I stopped mid sentence. That was a good plan, though of course it wouldn't be easy. If he could find a way of closing the portal from the Abyss to Talandra, then the Abyssal forces would have no backup. Any more conquering they would do would mean spreading out their forces, weakening them. "You know, that's so crazy it might just work," he told Josh. who was genuinely surprised to find he actually liked the idea.

    Theo fell silent again and thought, if he was going to target to portal to the abyss, he would need some help. The portal wouldn't be left unguarded, in fact it was probably in one of the most guarded places of all. He would definitely run into many horrible and deadly enemies, and maybe even one of the three brothers. Theo looked at Josh, who seemed bored. He looked around the busy square, at all the shops and pavilions and Pokemon scuttling from one place to another, laughing and smiling. Josh was still in training and Emerald Coast wasn't known for having many fighters, so he would he would have to look somewhere else for help.

    "Josh, if you were me, and you were the one gong on this mission, where would you start?" he inquired.

    "Well that's easy, I'd figure out who else is fighting back against the abyssal forces. No one would be able to do anything on their own."

    "OK, but who would that be?"

    Josh thought for a moment before snapping his fingers and replying: "The indigo seers! You're fighting back because your seer vision gave you special stuff right? Well I bet there are some other seers in Talandra somewhere who are fighting back as well."

    "Technically, I'm sighting back because they targeted me by kidnapping Via, but whatever." Josh grew solemn at the mention of Via, but quickly put a smile back on his face, he never was one to admit when he felt down. "That's a good thought though, there probably are some other seers in Talandra who could help me."

    Theo decided not to tell Josh that he already did know about the other seers, though admittedly he hadn't thought of going to them for help. Back when he had been training his seer abilities, he had found the he had given off a rather distinct aura, though the aura was only distinct due to his own seer abilities. Theo had quickly used his powers to find other sources of the seer aura, locating several. Most of them were so far away that the most he could do was to know the general location, something he had checked every day since the infernal Schism.

    "Well I better grab an airship then, if I'm going to find the other seers. You keep training Josh, maybe you could help defend Emerald Coast against the abyssal forces if they get here before everything is over."

    Josh seemed to like the idea of doing something so heroic. "You got it Mr. Wizard, I'll work mighty hard."

    Rolling his eyes at the nickname, which Josh had given me back when he had first learned about my powers, Theo got up off the bench. "See you on the flip side then, Josh."

    Theo gave him a quick hug, then turned away. He hoped he could find a pilot who would still be willing to travel across the sea to the Eastern continents. Ever since Kivian City had fallen the sea and air had become rather dangerous to travel through. First thing was first though, he needed to get to that airport and figure out which seer aura he was going to go for.

    VPP

  9. #19
    taking flight! VeloJello's Avatar
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    Moira Magro
    Aboard the Little Yanma, Synamax -> Oasis, Synamax
    ARP’ers: @The Nonexistent Tazz


    The Little Yanma had several positive qualities. It flew, it had operable cannons - although part of the deal that Captain Pike had made with Seelie had been to have me fix a jam in one of the guns that the Yanma’s own gunsmith hadn’t been able to work out - and it moved at a good, fast pace.

    However, it also rocked worse than a drunk Spinda, was run by a crew that was competent but grouchy enough to make me look like a patron saint of patience, and smelled weird. Then again, perhaps that last part was simply a result of the fact that I was covered from nose to waist with soot and grease. Captain Pike and Abelard had been kind enough to offer to stay with me in the weapons bay, although a part of me wished that they hadn’t. I was feeling tense enough as it was, and I had been hoping that some alone time might help on that front.

    “How’s it going, Moira?” asked Abelard as a light breeze caused the Little Yanma to pitch so hard that I had to dig my claws into the floorboards in order to keep from falling over.

    “Just fine,” I lied, righting myself so that I could go back to examining the locks in the Yanma’s massive gatling gun. “Looks like the only thing wrong with it’s a couple of busted lock springs. Captain Pike, you sure this Seelie fellow knows what he’s doing?”

    “Captain Seelie is a smart sky-sailor,” said Captain Pike. Her leaning stance against the wall was precarious - if she put too much weight down at once, her spikes would punch several annoying holes in the wall - “but this is a passenger ship, and they see far less attacks than cargo carriers like the Braviary. They can afford a little slack where their guns are concerned.”

    My ears flicked with annoyance as I took to the rusted spring with a set of wire cutters. “Please never curse like that in my company again, Captain.”

    She laughed. “Alright, I’ll spare your poor virgin ears.” She paused, “Have you heard anything back from your contact yet?”

    I shook my head and gestured to Abelard to kick over a bucket of scrap parts over to me. I couldn’t see any suitable springs for the lock, but there was one the right width that I could simply snip short to make it fit. “Not a word,” I said, pulling out the wire cutters again. “Which isn’t too worrying. I just told him that I’ll be in Oasis when he is. No big thing.”

    Abelard piped up again, “It’s been awhile since I last saw Oasis. I don’t know if you knew this, Moira, but I was born there. There’s a lot of followers of Celebi, Landorus, and Virizion in the city, very devoted. We may be able to find some manner of protective charms within the city. My mother, for one, knew several ways to ward off Ghost-types.”

    The word ‘mother’ caressed my ears with all the gentle grace of a screeching Aggron. “That would be good,” I grunted as I began to reassemble the gun. “One of us is going to have to wait in the skyport for the Professor, though. Maybe I should wait in the port while the pair of you go looking for charms like that.”

    Captain Pike’s voice was tinged with exasperation. “Moira, for the Latis’ sakes, I’m not blind or stupid. I know what you’re trying to do.”

    You mean that I’m trying to keep you from getting yourself killed by Abyssal scum? I thought wryly. Aloud, I said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

    I never caught Captain Pike’s reply. At that moment, my telepathic link to the Professor opened up again. <Sorry it took so long to reply…> he began. <Abysmal forces have invaded our airship to Oasis, at least two particularly strong fellows, not sure if there's more. I was unconscious for a time, but they haven't gotten to me yet. Not many passengers at all, and they're probably all dead. Not a fantastic situation. I do have some assistance, though… I'll see what I can work with here, it's not hopeless, that much I assure you of! These scoundrels, Moria, they lack SCIENCE!>

    He paused for a moment; I winced. Science? What did science have to do with anything? What sort of nutcase had I blindly allied myself with?

    He was back within a few seconds. <Ah, yes, one is already knocking on my door. Well, I shall hope to meet you in person, and not as a shambling abomination from the Abyss! …Actually I'll keep talking to you, this isn't the time to go silent.>

    His blatantly cavalier attitude toward the deaths of the other passengers on his ship irked me quite a bit, given the prominence of the Black Braviary’s crash in my mind. However, this wasn’t really the best time to bring that up. <No worries, keep up when you can. If that’s the case, we’ll probably arrive at the skyport before you do - smaller, faster vessel that’s not in the process of being hijacked and all that. Best of luck to you, Professor. Stay in touch.>

    When I came out of my trance, I was struck by a feeling of vertigo - the Yanma must’ve been descending. I answered Captain Pike and Abelard’s curious glances by saying, “The Professor has apparently been compromised. Abyssals are attempting to hijack his ship, though he believes that he’ll survive. So we’ll probably be waiting for him when he gets here.”

    Abelard looked alarmed. “Is there anything we can do to help him?”

    “Doubtful,” Captain Pike said. “He’s coming from the direction opposite ours. By the time we could get to him, his fate will have been decided for better or for worse. Besides, if these Abyssal folk knew what ship to find him on, they may be getting ready to meet him in Oasis proper.”

    That cheerful thought hadn’t occurred to me yet. “I hope this guy is worth it,” I grumbled, more or less thinking out loud. “He must either be really powerful or really stupid to be so high-profile that he’s got Abyssal monsters trying to hijack an entire airship just to get to him specifically.”

    “If he is an idiot, he’s not liable to make it to Oasis alive,” Captain Pike said cheerfully, “so either way, we’re sure to find out. In the meanwhile, we’re starting our descent. You two might want to come up on deck. Oasis isn’t the sort of sight that you want to miss when you can get it.”

    Captain Pike was right - Oasis was incredible. Having been born and raised in a desert town, I was always intrigued by this whole “lush, beautiful vegetation” thing that a lot of places had going on. However, even compared to other forested cities, Oasis was spectacular. It lay on the fringes of the Esteran Rainforest, which gave it a sort of “jungle” feel with the convenience of not being located in an actual jungle. Some of the houses were carved right into the larger trees, while others were made of rich wood and decorated with vines and colored glass. Wherever paving stones and generations’ worth of footprints didn’t mark out paths, grasses, ferns, and flowers grew in tangles. From the air, it was all a swirl of light on leaves, beautiful and hidden.

    The Little Yanma came to a halt on one of the landing docks; Captain Pike, Abelard, and I disembarked while mechanisms attached to the hull of the ship and tugged it into the shelter of the ‘port. We followed it inside; the skyport wasn’t as big as Jansen’s or Syn’s, but it was respectable, and I found myself almost instantly annoyed with the number of people inside of it.

    “What did Seelie say about taking us and the Professor back toward Jansen?” I asked Captain Pike.

    “Haven’t asked, yet,” she grunted. “I have to talk to him. We may not be able to secure a flight that way, though. I can nudge him, but if I try to lead him in a direction that’ll threaten his own life, he’ll balk. Can’t say that I blame him.”

    “I can. His help would make this a lot simpler.” I paused. “You know, if you want, you can go and talk to him now. Abelard and I can go into town and see if we can find some of those charms she mentioned.”

    Abelard looked excited, but Captain Pike gave me a skeptical look. “You’re sure you’re not using this as an opportunity to ditch me? I know you don’t want us going into Jansen with you, Moira, and don’t think I’d appreciate it if you ran off on me.”

    I frowned. “I accepted your help,” I said. “Even if I wanted to ditch you -” I did want to ditch her, but I wasn’t exactly about to tell her that to her face, “it’s not like I could in this skyport, and I’m taking Abelard with me anyway.”

    The Nidoqueen grumbled, but she didn’t object, “Alright, but I expect you to return whenever your contact arrives. Try not to spend all of the cash you’ve got on you; we’re not going to be able to get more for a while.”

    “Understood,” I said. “You want to go, Abelard?”

    She nodded and I had to hurry to keep up with her in the crowd. People were willing to part for a big blade-covered dragon, but a fluffy dog, even one with battle scars and a gun, got a bit less respect, and I lost ground on Abelard pretty fast. Because of this, I was several feet away from her as she neared the exit and something started screaming in my head.

    “Abelard, wait up!” I shouted, but my voice went unheeded in the skyport’s white noise. Frustrated, I closed my eyes, still walking as fast as I could without trampling people while my crown rose and the people surrounding me changed into shapes of aura. Something was very, very wrong here, and I needed to -

    The ground exploded beneath me.

    I had just enough time to be reminded of the Trapinch nest I had raided previously before fangs closed around my leg and started pouring electricity into my body. A Krookodile with the hideous bright red life-force and oily veins of the Abyss had hold of me and was dragging me down into the ground. I was only dimly aware of the screams of the crowd around me as I slammed the Krookodile’s nose with a Force Palm. The thing screamed as I hit it, and mercifully I felt the monster’s teeth release me. I reached upward, shoving away soil, and managed to pull my head out of the Krookodile’s hole.

    This time, when the Krookodile tried to bite me, I was prepared. I pulled my legs up, holding onto the rim of the hole with both paws; when the Krookodile grew near, I kicked out with both legs as hard as I could. This time, it let out an unearthly scream of pain; something had crunched beneath my feet. Gritting my teeth, I pulled myself upward. The instant I was clear of the hole, I swiveled around and let my crown fall, letting go of the aura sight. Sure enough, the Krookodile burst out with a snarl and a flash of teeth, but I was ready this time. My Low Kick sent it sprawling onto its back; my Metal Claw sliced it open from throat to belly. Black blood poured out onto the paving stones; the wretched monster twitched a few times, but quickly fell still.

    I could feel a crowd’s worth of eyes boring into me, but I ignored them. I looked down at the Abyssal Krookodile; it had a few rotting patches of skin here and there, and much sharper and more vicious scales, claws, and fangs than most Krookodile, but definitely didn’t look like one of the Cohort. That, at least, was a relief; the Cohorts of Chaos were capable of dealing wounds that never healed. This one was probably a member of the Infernal Scourge - dangerous, but usually more of an annoyance than anything.

    However, its mere presence had been enough to worry me. It had sat and waited as Abelard and several Oasians passed over it, suggesting that it was a specifically-designated assassin rather than a chance attacker. While it may have been waiting to ambush the Professor, it had opened with an Electric-type move, which would have had little effect on a Goodra. The whole thing sent a chill down my spine. Thanks to my tenure on the Braviary, I had largely been able to avoid any run-ins with Abyssal Pokemon. But now, it would seem that they knew where I was, and they were hunting me actively. As if I didn’t have enough problems.

    “Abelard.” The Haxorus had sidled up to me tentatively and was now staring at my thigh, where I was putting pressure on the Krookodile bite. It wasn’t a massive wound, but it hurt like crazy. “Please escort me to the nearest medic before I bleed out from a pansy idiot’s Thunder Fang.”


    Button by K'sariya!

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  10. #20
    Not insanity. Supersanity. Death's Spook's Avatar
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    Shiro Minamoto the Aegislash
    The Hole Tavern, Scarwell, Azmarax
    Affected RPers: @Neo Emolga


    Being an Indigo Seer is a truly incredible experience. I have the very threads of the future at my beck and call, to be seen as I peer at the riddles of fate. Arcane forces waiting to be tapped lurk just underneath my skin, begging to be unleashed. My power is that of legend and terror and I can cow entire legions with my mystical abilities.

    It also lets me see the extremely entertaining look on Kaxo’s face as he sees the diamond in his paw.

    Petty? Perhaps. Hilarious? Well, the morale boost from that one facial expression will probably sustain me for years to come.

    Kaxo is many things, but he is not an idiot: it takes him about half of a second to reply and I am certain he put the pieces together when he does. <Out back. There's a shed back there, perfect place to hide before the police show up and arrest all these hopeless goons.>

    I actually know precisely which shed he was talking about: the distillery in there is extremely rusty, but there is still iron in it, so I ate from it before entering the bar. It is not as though the extra holes would be very noticeable.

    I do not care to be observed as I enter the distillery, so the second I think that no one sees me, I use my ghost type abilities to phase into the floor: cloak, bag, and all. It is not an ability I use often, given that most of my senses do not really work when phased, but I have a good sense of direction and distance, so it is not too much trouble to ensure I am beneath a shadowy corner of the shed within a minute. I emerge under the cover of darkness, and, as a small favor to Kaxo, warn him that <I am about to emerge from a shadowy corner. Do not be startled.>

    When I make myself visible, I have the intended effect on all of Kaxo’s companions: the startled reactions and the terrified disbelief clearly demonstrate that I am making them at least wary of me. I know from experience that to deal with the perpetually timid was a balancing act: while being kind is a good way to get them to like you, to make them truly loyal requires that they also be more terrified of you than of anyone else they can go to. The trick is to balance the carrots and the sticks to ensure they help you without betraying you at the first opportunity from either resentment or someone terrifying them worse.

    I address the group with the kind version of my voice. Softly, with a hint of kindness, I ask, “Is everyone alright? I hope none of you are hurt.”

    The Floatzel and Furret look at each other, clearly wary of me, but they nod and mumble assurances about their health after a moment or two. I cannot smile at them, but I increase the kindness in my voice as I give them a sincere “I am glad.”

    Privately to Kaxo, I explain, <They may not have courage worth a Magikarp, but there is no sense in treating them completely unkindly, in my opinion. That said, I do not trust them enough to leave them privy to our terms. Consider the first diamond I gave you to be payment for the entertainment: it was an incredible amount of stress relief to arrange for your dearest friend to beat himself.

    <That said, I am certain you are aware that I am not here to congratulate you for your stellar choice of former companions. I want to discuss several points of business with you.

    <First, I have been seeking allies in the fight against the Abyss, and would like us to travel together. I will not pay you in money for this: this part is a mutually beneficial arrangement, not me hiring you for a job. In addition, I will probably be collecting other allies as well, and the expectation is that you are reasonably civil. I am not anticipating that you will be a perfect angel, but some decorum, please.>


    I press the second largest diamond I plan to give him into his palm, <However, I am paying for something incredibly simple: until the Abyss is rooted out and obliterated, you are not to take other jobs at all. We need to be as focused as we can and that diamond will more than cover any money you could make off of jobs for the next few years, anyway.>

    I then hand him a smaller gem, just a hair larger than the very first I gave him, <I am assuming that you will be able to start putting the pieces together with regards to my identity sometime soon. I will be most displeased if you revealed details that could compromise me. Given that I would prefer to remain friends, please exercise the utmost discretion with what you learn. If you are going to insist on bringing your companions along, I expect them to keep revealing details to themselves as well.>

    I take a few moments to find and pull out the largest, most artistically crafted, and overall valuable gem from my pack. I try to use a second to calm myself so my thought voice could be somewhat level, but it still comes out frostier and more vicious than I intended. <And finally, should it be reasonably practical, I should like to be the one to slay Undax of the Burning Rot.>

    (OoC: with regards to eating the distillery, my headcanon is that while life energy is well and good for sustaining an Aegislash's life processes, Shiro would still need a source of iron for his physical body. Incidentally, he also drinks water.)
    Avatar taken from Scarfgirl and TheOtherChosenOne of Deviantart. Two great tastes that go great together! You know, when they aren't trying to kill each other horribly.

    Ivy commands you not to touch the kitty!

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