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Post by Brownie on Jun 14, 2022 20:22:22 GMT -5
haha it's funny because I'm going to rp with myself get it? Feel 100% free to post on here any time btw!! You aren't interrupting anything by chatting here~ If you're curious about what I'm doing or my story lines or just to gossip and talk about the weather (it's hot here), then come on in and chat. Informal poll: who do you think is more gay, Ilyz or Ravaniir?
But yea, this is something I've wanted to try for... a while now. And I could never really justify doing it this way instead of just... writing a story instead. Then I came to realize something: rp posts Aren't Stories. Not really, not in the way that you have to make a story concise and with voice and with perspective. This is detail focused, with an emphasis on character choice and motive, even more so than a story. So I'm going to go for it and try something a little... unconventional by making a solo rp. Where I play all the characters and see where they go. It's fun because I can godmod since its my own oc. (; No getting stuck in weird ruts where you have to wait for someone else to decide if they want to mention that one backstory bit that would make this 10x more dramatic. I can cause ALL the drama right up front hehe And I can mention characters in passing without having to double triple quadruple check personality traits and reread people's posts to see Exactly how they were portrayed and what they did yesterday and with whom So onto the plot(s) that will be featured here~ I'll try and keep them all captioned with post headers, for the ease of myself rereading if I choose to and any random other people that have, for some reason, decided to read this. If so, you're always welcome to post and chat and, if I like you, maybe join in the plots for a little bit or cameo an oc (;
Road Trip Marle & Ravaniir A swordsman and arcanist join forces to travel through the roughest parts of Rin together. They tolerate each other, but neither really appreciates what the other does and their companionship is a tenuous one at best. But saving each others' lives multiple times in a journey makes even the toughest rivals respect one another, and eventually form trust and friendship. temp map will update esp cuz their journey is like 10 pixels on this massive scale PMD: Sand Pix & Penny A scyther who was responsible for her trainer's death tries to run from her past and finds herself at the edge of even pokemon civilization in the Origin Desert. When she finds out there might be a way to turn back time and save her trainer's life, Pix knows she will do anything to fix her mistake.
A buizel who has spent her entire life chasing stories of legendary pokemon has finally found a concrete lead: the Omega Orb, hidden deep within the desert, is the key to opening a mystery dungeon no pokemon has seen for centuries which not only contains Groudon, but also many other dungeon keys for the Legendary Realms. The path is dangerous, and the Guild refuses to send a team into the sandy dungeon after several experienced teams could not find the exit. When a scyther with nothing to lose ends up on her doorstep, Penny knows this is the call to adventure she's been waiting for.
(Project moved private due to mature themes~ Preview posts in the middle of this page, if you want more, dm me) Starcrossed Ivywhisker & Slatepool A fluffy tale of two cats from rival Clans that find love. It's cute. (Project moved here on wff board because it ended up being more prose than rp; also dropped because romance is too hard) Dungeon Crawl Ilyz, Nvrit, Osma, Jakheem A ttrpg-style dungeon crawl featuring a egocentric gorgon sorceress, a robot-lizard rogue, a stubborn were-unicorn barbarian and a human whose only redeeming quality is his Divine Luck. |
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Post by Brownie on Jun 14, 2022 21:22:14 GMT -5
- - - I'm just going to use this ancient post header from forever ago mk Anyways, let's get one starter up tonight before I fall asleep at the keyboard. I feel so Adult it's only 9:30 and I'm exhausted zzzz I'm so used to staying up until 3am ezpz that waking up for a job and working 8hr+ days makes me super tired.
City name is subject to change. I'm pretty sure I actually have a name for this city in my old planning doc for this world, but that has to be 10+ years old now and I don't know if I could find it even if I tried, which I won't. But I will try and come up with something that's more fitting in the language. Right now it can literally be "river stop" tho lmao
tl;dr: Intros!! - - - Marle Ray of Light, Ramlpaj . Road Trip
He'd been in Ramlpaj for three days now and Marle was beginning to tire of the tourists. Not that he was a local by any means, but he was a seasoned wanderer and no matter how wonderful the dam was, he wouldn't be found dead gawping and flocking like réeqa around every hawker selling cheap wooden carvings for 17 coins each. The number of people carrying around the ugly things disgusted him and he dodged away from a gaggle of tourists as deftly as he would turn a spearpoint, positioning himself behind them as he wove his way to the door.
The streets were little better than the inn, but at least he could hear the roar of the waterfall and taste the fresh spray of mist in the air. It reminded him of the sea even if it wasn't quite dense enough to condense on his skin like the fog off the waves would in the mornings before the sun rose high enough to pierce through onto the deck. At the bottom of the dam, the mist was eternal: no amount of noon-time sun would burn it off.
It even sounded like the waves sometimes, though that was probably Marle's imagination filling in memories that had gone too long without remembrance. Maybe he wasn't tired of the tourists, maybe it was that Ramlpaj reminded him too much of the sea: that the dam reminded him of longing and the reflection of mist in the lake made his knees relax in sympathy to invisible waves.
He wouldn't be here long. Marle assured himself of that as he wandered the streets, standing out from the crowd of tourists with his heavy pack weathered from years of travelling and the hilt of his sword sticking out above, the wrapped end frayed and fit to his hand and always within easy reach. Even his gait was that of a warrior: confident yet light, quick yet deliberate. It was the only life Marle had ever known.
It was also the reason he picked the thin man from the crowd. He was wearing a wide-brimmed hat and haggled at a fruit-seller's stand much like any other tourist, but like Marle, he held a heavy pack topped with a thin, intricately carved rod. One end was thickened while the other held a light blue gemstone that winked in the sunlight. While anyone could see its value, Marle, who had set out to master every weapon in the known world, recognized it as a piece of a thuvaal --a bladed staff.
In Rin, you didn't carry a weapon if you couldn't use it. Especially not a weapon as specialized as a thuvaal.
Marle kept his eyes on the man as he purchased several lagothi, stuffing most of the fruits into his side satchel but taking a bite out of the last in his hand as he turned. His brimmed hat must have obscured his vision somewhat, because Marle had practically reached him before the man noticed him. "Fellow traveler," Marle said, trying not to scare him off. "Might I have a word? Perhaps over a cup?" |
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Post by Brownie on Jun 15, 2022 17:04:00 GMT -5
- - - Intros are my favorite part of rp ngl. I could spend years and years and years just writing 1k intro paragraphs for millions of characters and I would be content. Screw plot, more worldbuilding.
There's a map for this, but it's literally like, 7 years old + whatever my memory was on the original map that was 10+ years old that I made in middle school so like //shrug I'll make the "real" version Soon(tm) For now, this gets the point across. Ramlpaj is on the western coast of the dam, and they'll be travelling towards the circle that says "dark", though they probably won't get into the darklands. Also, they're in the southern hemisphere of their planet! So "north" is warmer while "south" and the ocean are colder, though even the bottom of the continent doesn't touch the 45th latitude so it's far from cold year round.
tl;dr: MORE intros!! Raveniir is a self-insert character I made a long long time ago, don't judge. He'll evolve into his own self soon. He has a lizard <3 - - - Ravaniir Ramlpaj . Road Trip
"Can I have six largothi?" he asked after running his hands over the fruits and picking the ones with the most yellow. They tended to be the least sour of the bunch, he'd found, or at least he'd convinced himself that it was so. The largota weren't in season here yet, so these would have been shipped in from the north --Miniir probably-- and would always be more sour than one fresh off the bush. Ravaniir had a liking for largothi, however, and he was willing to buy them anywhere he could get his hands on them.
The shopkeeper, a woman that was only slightly shorter than he was with stout arms and a forehead heavy with wrinkles, shrugged. "Five coins each. Thirty."
Ravaniir balked. "They aren't worth half that!" he said, pushing the fruits back, though his fingers lingered on the last: it had taut skin plump with water, mostly yellow but speckled with blues as if splattered with paint. A bruise covered the top where the stem had been roughly plucked, pulling the fruit down early to be shipped here. He put his palm over it possessively. "I'll pay eighteen. That's three each." Even that was too much, he thought, playing with the brim of his hat with his free hand. A soft squeak came from above and he ignored it, though he quickly let go of the hat.
"Twenty."
The shopkeeper wasn't going to budge on that and so Ravaniir sighed and counted out the coins. Most of the lagothi went into the satchel, but the one he'd singled out he kept in his hand, tossing it to feel the heft of the fruit in his hand before turning and taking a bite. Ravaniir closed his eyes and paused to enjoy it, debating if they were worth the price. They were a bit sour and more water than juice, but the surface tension was satisfying to break and the smaller seed sacs gave a stronger burst of flavor when they broke in his mouth. Maybe not worth twenty coins, but he knew he'd make the same choice again even knowing the flavor of the outcome.
He opened his eyes and stiffened as he noticed a wide-shouldered man angling for him in the crowd. He stood out: his skin was paler than most of the locals and he walked with a determination that most people lacked, taking every step with purpose. He also had a sword visible from over his shoulder and the wrapped hilt looked well-worn with use.
Ravaniir found the lagota's flesh stick in his throat as he swallowed.
"Fellow traveller!" the man called, and it was obvious from how his focused steps pulled him closer that he was speaking to Ravaniir. "Might I have a word? Perhaps over a cup?"
Ravaniir wasn't usually a timid person, but he had to force himself to hold his ground as the stranger stepped into his space. The tourists cleared out from around them, giving the two a wide berth like they had an invisible wall up a meter in all directions pushing them away. Ravaniir couldn't blame them; he wished he could join the flow. But he was singled out and so he stood his ground as if tempting a charging gariir, looking up to meet the man's eyes.
"A word?" He cleared his throat. The lagota felt more acidic, burning there. "I know many words, which one would you like?" he asked, using the lighthearted joke as armor against the man's intensity. Ravaniir was still tense and he wondered if he could grab his thuvaal before the man could draw his sword. Perhaps. Perhaps not.
He didn't want to step away, but he did lean a bit, giving him more space to get a good look at the warrior and gauge his stance. The man was large, yes, and had the muscles of a fighter. He stood with his knees slightly bent: not enough to diminish his height, though it did give him a slightly bow-legged stance. Ravaniir recognized it as the posture of a person more accustomed to the rolling deck of a ship under their feet than solid ground, and he wondered if it made this large man a more formidable fighter, to have such a delicate balance.
His attire was a mix of cultures, clashing in ways that even Ravaniir, studied as he was, couldn't understand, at least not completely. A woolen cord hung from his bag, woven with brightly colored yarns in various checkered patterns: a Kesh name braid. The man himself certainly didn't hail from the steppes and while he was paler than the average Vranni, he didn't have the sickly, ashen skin of the Mardessi. An enigma, certainly. As the details filtered in, Ravaniir felt more at ease in his presence and began to slightly relax, loosening his grip on his satchel. His posture wasn't threatening, even if his figure was, and Ravaniir doubted he would try anything in the middle of the streets.
He'd love to have a word with this curious looking warrior, if only to unravel some of the mystery. Though what he could ever want with Ravaniir was beyond him. He took another bite of the lagota as he waited and swore it tasted sweeter. |
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Post by Brownie on Jun 15, 2022 20:35:39 GMT -5
- - - tl;dr: Marle talks to people. He's actually kind of good at it, esp when he's not looming - - - Marle Ray of Light, Ramlpaj . Road Trip
"I know many words, which one would you like?" the man quipped and Marle instantly regretted ever thinking he'd be a good travel companion.
But he was the one who pulled the man away from his shopping, so Marle gritted his teeth in a rough approximation of a smile, as if his play on words amused him rather than dug beneath his skin like a splinter. "Sorry, I should have spoken more clearly," he said, feigning ignorance at the attempted joke and hoping the cold reception would deter the man from trying another one. "I was hoping our paths would lead in the same direction, friend, as I'm traveling near the darklands and no matter how sharp my sword, it would be a blessing to have a companion along those foul roads."
It was mostly bandits that roamed those woods and a lone traveler would attract them like flies. A pair, however, both with weapons and gear, should deter the petty thieves at least. Marle hated fighting other people, even if that's all he'd trained to do his entire life; the more fights he could avoid, the better. That, and he didn't think he could take on a determined Erop'mai alone, which were known to have dens throughout the region.
The man bit into the largota, chewing thoughtfully, then nodded and gestured with the fruit for Marle to lead. "The Ray of Light okay?" Marle asked.
The man's hat bobbed as he nodded again. Marle swore he could hear a faint chirp, though with the loud crowds and now the shopkeeper scolding them to find somewhere else to chat, they were obstructing the customers, Marle hesitantly dismissed it and started back towards the inn. He was almost disappointed when they reached the door and the man was still behind him.
At least now most of the tourists were gone. With the sun well in the air, even the latest of risers had wandered out into the misty streets to bask in the glory of the mighty dam. Good for them, since Marle was able to snatch a nice corner table with a pair of painted screens separating them from the rest of the room, granting them a bit of privacy. Marle shrugged off his pack, though he kept it between his feet as he sat in the chair against the wall, able to look out over the room from the cracks between the screen.
Once sitting, he realized the other man was nearly as tall as he was, though much slimmer of build. Like Marle, he kept his pack close with his thuvaal close at hand; even in the reflected light in the interior of the inn, the metal staff gleamed and the blue crystal at the end seemed to glow with its own dim light. Magic? Even if it wasn't, it was certainly expensive. The man sat. He glanced furtively around for a few moments, worrying Marle with his intentions, then removed the hat.
Upon his damp hair was a charrip, curled into a tight ball.
He reached up and the charrip lazily unwound itself, gripping its front two sets of legs onto his wrist and allowing him to extract it from his hair. Fully extended, the lizard-like creature was the length of his forearm and the forked tail almost the length of its body flicked up and curled possessively around the man's wrist. "This is Razo," the man said, introducing him to the charrip by holding it up. "And I'm Ravaniir." He gave Marle the hand that wasn't occupied with holding the lizard to shake over the table, which Marle took after a moment's awkward pause.
"Marle," he said slowly, still surprised about the traveler's hidden companion. How had he even fit an entire charrip under that hat?
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Post by Brownie on Jun 15, 2022 22:01:02 GMT -5
- - - I'll start the other plot when I feel like it and not a moment before. I've never put these two characters in the same room together, and let me tell you it is SUper fun. I like writing them in this back and forth way too, it helps keep me moving forward.
Their dynamic is at every conflict or problem: Marle going "don't make me draw my sword" and Ravaniir going "PLEASE give me an excuse to smack you with my magic stick" and it is perfect
tl;dr: lizards, lemonade, and pretty staffs - - - Ravaniir Ray of Light, Ramlpaj . Road Trip
Ravaniir noticed Marle's surprise and felt a glimmer of satisfaction as he assumed, correctly, that Marle was a hard man to frazzle. "Charripi are more intelligent than people realize," Ravaniir said, feeding Razo a bit of lagota. She chomped down on the fruit, though she was less passionate about it than Ravaniir was. "Razo is bonded with me. She won't willingly leave my side unless it was to rear a clutch of eggs." He was rambling a bit, but Marle didn't offer any words yet, so he spoke to fill the silence.
"She's nocturnal and likes to sleep under the hat where it's dark." Marle nodded absently along, watching Razo's tongue flick against Ravaniir's arm. He gave her another bit of lagota.
The scrape of the screen drew Ravaniir's attention and a younger man stepped up to the table. "A lemonade for me," Marle said before the server had a chance to say anything. "The lemonade is wonderful here," he advised Ravaniir with a fast smile and a nod towards the young man.
"It is our specialty," he said on cue with the same fast smile.
Ravaniir tried the smile back. "Then I'd be a fool to order anything else."
The server nodded. "It's on my tab," Marle called after him as the screen hissed shut. With a slight shake of his head, Marle sat up straighter in the chair, seeming to gather his resolve. "So where'd you get a thuvaal?"
Ah, of course the warrior would choose that as an icebreaker. Ravaniir reached under the table with his free hand and awkwardly maneuvered the staff to the table, trying to avoid scraping the thuvaal, the furniture, or disturbing the sleepy Razo too much as he did so. As always, Ravaniir admired the carvings in the metal rod, delicate and intricately wound together in the pattern of vines.
They were actually words. A poem, one which he'd memorized when the thuvaal first came into his possession years ago, though it wasn't one he had the chance to recite often. Maybe this Marle, a warrior as he was, would be interested in the stories of battles the thuvaal memorialized. The recitation was beautiful in his opinion, even through the awkward translation.
Ravaniir brushed his hand down the metal length of it, his fingers familiar with the impressions. "How about you tell me why you're going to the darklands first," he replied.
"Fair enough." Marle grinned. "Though that's a long story."
"I have time." Being pulled aside by the warrior was honestly a stroke of good fortune, for Ravaniir's quest had ended suddenly in Ramlpaj: the item he had come to appraise had been sold and the new owners only cared for the authenticity of the object, not it's history. While Ravaniir had been able to confirm its age, his plans to stay for a few weeks with the artifact to discern its properties had been abruptly cut from the agenda as the new owners took it home and left him aimless without another job lined up.
Just the thought of artifacts sold to nobles to be hung on walls and consequently ignored made Ravaniir shake his head slightly in disgust.
The server came back with the lemonades, invading the space only long enough to place the drinks on the table --hesitating a mere moment over the thuvaal laid upon the tabletop-- and disappeared back behind the screen with another soft hiss of canvas. Marle immediately took a sip of the drink and Ravaniir followed suit. The lemonade was certainly as good as his companion said it would be: tart but sweet and soothingly chilled. He wished he would have discovered this treat sooner. |
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Post by Brownie on Jun 16, 2022 12:02:26 GMT -5
- - - is it clear that the threats are erop'mai and bandits? I think I'm being clear that the threats on this journey are (mostly) erop'mai and bandits. Also, think of erop'mai as like... spider bears. Huge spider bears. That have dens and are highly territorial and can climb the giant trees that grow there (:
There are a lot of very dangerous creatures in Rin, but the erop'mai is the creepiest and the one people are most terrified of. Probably accounts for most of the "wildlife kills traveler" statistics and tales too. They aren't widespread though: just the northern half of the region between the darklands and the ocean, and perhaps a second zone north of that near the mountains where there are enough trees to support them. They do need a large territory to sufficiently hunt enough to sustain their place as a tertiary predator.
tl;dr: Story time by marle - - - Marle Ray of Light, Ramlpaj . Road Trip
Marle drank about a quarter of the lemonade before he started his story. He put the cup on the when he started, knowing that he'd want to try and tell it all in one go. "There's a city on the border of Vra'rien, Aumeisarl. I was passing through from Qaax on the way to the grand consul last spring." Ravaniir nodded at that. The traveler was obviously Vranni with his raven-dark hair and delicate brow; if he hadn't been at the grand consul, he'd know someone who was.
"I'd heard a rumor then, about a relic in the north."
"Oh?" Ravaniir said, leaning forward and placing his elbows on the table. He'd been listening, but now he set his drink on the table and gave Marle his full attention.
Marle wasn't exactly surprised by his companion's excitement of the topic: a man with a thuvaal, especially one of that quality, would be interested in unburying artifacts. That, or be very rich. "The rumors were just that: rumors. But I'm going back to Qaax and it's on the way. Or at least not too far out of the way, so I thought I'd see if there was any truth behind it. Artificers rarely go that way--"
"Because of the erop-mai dens and the bandits, yes," Ravaniir interrupted, his voice sharp and fast. The charrip on his arm chirped, raising its head at Ravaniir's emotion.
Marle nodded. "Exactly so. And mercenaries aren't cheap, especially when that's their destination. So it's likely the artifact is still there and hasn't yet been investigated. I have the skills to get there--" he pointed a chin at the hilt of his sword, "but even for me, it would be dangerous to try it alone."
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Post by Brownie on Jun 17, 2022 18:22:13 GMT -5
- - - Quests??? Also I'm RETCONNING a little bit: Marle was looking for an artificer specifically to bring along, and Ravaniir does have a reputation and was in the area, so he was looking for specifically Ravaniir not some random person on the streets. The thuvaal was what allowed Marle to identify him still, however. I didn't have a plan for where they were going at the start, but this makes a lot of sense why Marle doesn't drop Rav on his head for the next able body: he needs Rav to get to the artifact.
tl;dr: lizards, lemonade, and pretty staffs - - - Ravaniir Ray of Light, Ramlpaj . Road Trip
Ravaniir's mind raced with the prospect of adventure. He hadn't heard rumors of artifacts near Aumeisarl, but then again he hadn't been this far south in a long time. He tended to stay north, where it was warmer; neither he nor Razo appreciated the snow that sometimes fell south of the plateaus. And not many were brave enough to venture off the established trade paths between Vra'rien and the West.
Eight legged bears and birds that were big enough to occasionally eat those bears did make it hard to get the latest gossip.
"I would love to accompany you," Ravaniir said, hopefully not too quickly. How lucky! It wasn't often a lead came to him to quickly --or so easily. Usually he'd have to spend weeks combing a city for rumors of ruins that haven't already been fully excavated and since over half of those were dead ends, it would be months before anything tangible came out of his work. This time, though the road was dangerous and the prize wasn't guaranteed, they would at least be traveling through land that hadn't been studied. Ravaniir had to admit that without knowing Marle's skills, that he sure looked like the mercenaries Ravaniir would be keen to hire if he had the money. The fact that he had the desire to seek out artifacts was a bonus and spoke well of him... at least in Ravaniir's humble opinion.
"So?" he pushed, "what do you know?" Ravaniir shuffled in his seat, pushing his elbows on the table. Razo wriggled on his arm and he absently shifted the charrip to his lap, where she could curl more comfortably, feeding her another lagota seed. His dark eyes looked straight into Marle's blues, unblinking in his rapt focus. Without Razo to keep his hands still, he ran his fingers over the thuvaal's carvings, the buzz of the crystal familiar as a purr as it sank into his core. humming alongside his heartbeat. The energy of the crystal made him sit up in his seat, a new clarity to his thoughts as his imagination ran free: what kind of artifact could this be? It must be rare, perhaps the rarest of his carreer.
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Post by Brownie on Jun 17, 2022 22:00:00 GMT -5
- - - Oh yea there's also giant raptors! Think like a dragon and then make it even bigger, the kind of size that could be mistaken for a hill. It's said that they only discard a feather once every hundred years, and if you find one, the bird will find you and grant you a wish. It is also said that if you save one's life, it allow you to ride it to the highest peak in the mountains where there's a gate to the heavens. This one has a grain of truth: the birds are actually aliens they can fly in space (: They need a new name tho, cuz the old one doesn't follow the linguistic pattern of the conlang anymore. There was an interesting plot where one of them decided it "owned" Rin (the entire planet) and some other ones were upset because they wanted to find the Ancients (the previous sentient race) which are now "extinct" (not really but they don't exist on this plane anymore). Good times.
Screw it I'll talk about the ancients a little too, even if it isn't relevant to the current goings on. This whole plot and Ravaniir in general specializes in "artifacts" which are just magic things that were made by the Ancients. Most of them are actually inside the prisms --which are like, house-sized pyramids of pure light that are both on this plane and... not-- but some artifacts were left outside after the Ancients went into the ideal realm and the artifacts were made well enough that most still work even though it's been a solid thousand years or so. "Humans" are the third dominant lifeform on the planet: first were the Ancients who left physical forms behind to become pure ideas, and before them were these lion-chimera beasts, but they were not cold-tolerant and an ice age wiped them out, leaving humans --who were, in this world, bred for labor by the chimeras-- to inherit the place.
One of my fav characters ended up depriving herself of food and water and almost died to be able to astral project into the ideal realm and talk with the Ancients. She wrote a book about it. It may be slowly starting a religion in the current timeline (unintentionally). And now I spent too much time reminiscing and rambling here that I'm too tired to finish the post. Tomorrow it is.
tl;dr: Marle's warning - - - Marle Ray of Light, Ramlpaj . Road Trip
Marle shrugged, unsettled by the intensity in Ravaniir's gaze, and grabbed his lemonade to deflect the tension. "I don't know much," he said with another shrug, "rumors."
Ravaniir was not happy with his dodging, the man's delicate brow furrowing as he leaned onto the table, and Marle realized he was doing the exact same thing he'd disliked in Ravaniir earlier: creating distance as a defense against the uncomfortable situation. Damn hypocrite, he though scathingly to himself, determined to not dissemble even when it felt easy. "Here's what I heard," he started again, "perhaps you can give more insight into how likely it is to be accurate."
That was better and Marle felt better about it. He was asking Ravaniir for help, after all, it wouldn't do to distrust him right out the gates and the more information the arcanist had, the better he could do his job.
Marle also knew he wouldn't let the arcanist come along unless he fully knew the risks and the reward and could weigh them accordingly, no matter how much Marle hoped he would agree. "But first, I know you already expressed... interest in this venture," Marle paused for a moment, looking down at the thuvaal on the table between them. "But I want you to know that until we leave, you have every right to back out. For any reason, or no reason at all."
He dropped his voice, crossing his arms. "This is the most dangerous thing I'll have tried in my life and I fought a Qaax huntress." He let that statement sink in for a few moments in a heavy, heavy silence. "I'll give you everything I know, but I want you to make this choice willingly. Once we're on the road, I'll need to trust you completely."
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Post by Brownie on Jun 18, 2022 11:57:44 GMT -5
- - - I like doing these in pairs, which makes sense I guess.
tl;dr: A bit tense, but Rav is addicted to artifacts - - - Ravaniir Ray of Light, Ramlpaj . Road Trip
At first Ravaniir was annoyed Marle was withholding information, fearing that the man didn't want the arcanist to know the value of the objects they were to find, but as Marle continued, the hesitation turned to warning and Ravaniir realized he was afraid. Afraid of the danger to himself, partially, but also afraid Ravaniir wouldn't accept if he knew how far-fetched the lead he had to go on was. Especially for such a dangerous trek.
Ravaniir settled down in his chair, grabbing his own drink Marle gave warning. His hand dropped down to Razo's cool scales, taking comfort in the living creature as Marle spoke of death, but he paused at Marle's next words, low and personal, that echoed over the table and within the screened-off corner of the inn like an omen: "this is the most dangerous thing I'll have tried in my life," Marle admitted, "and I fought a Qaax huntress." The condensation on Ravaniir's glass of lemonade, once refreshing, now icy.
The mood shifted and some of Ravaniir's excitement drained away as the reality of danger set in. He wished he had something more than lemonade to sip, but he made do, though it's sweetness felt misplaced here.
"Thank you for those words," he said. Softly, as to not break the fragile vulnerability Marle had gifted him. "But it is not by happenstance that I carry the thuvaal." With a tap to the metal handhold, Ravaniir urged the crystal to brighten, casting a blue mist over the tabletop and rattling the cubes of ice in Marle's mostly empty glass as the thuvaal vibrated the wood with a frequency that was mirrored in Ravaniir's gut. He let it go and the effect stopped. He had to take a deep breath to cleanse himself of the shaking before he could continue. "Tell me of these rumors. Then I will judge --fairly and honestly-- if they are worth chasing."
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Post by Brownie on Jun 18, 2022 15:37:00 GMT -5
- - - ~~~
tl;dr: Okay, here's the quest for real. In the form of a song~ Or at least one stanza of one (so far) - - - Marle Ray of Light, Ramlpaj . Road Trip
The intensity never left Ravaniir's dark eyes, but it did shift from a reckless, wild fire to a determined burn that shone no less brightly, focused by the arcanist's will. Marle admired that focus, reminding him how he felt with a blade in his hand and an opponent in front of him. A warrior's instinct-- no, not just that, a single-minded drive to put your all into whatever lay ahead.
Marle grunted his approval, relaxing in his seat for the first time since he arrived at the inn, though he kept watch of the entrance through the gap in the screens out of habit more than anything else. He finished the lemonade, even if it was watered down and tasted like ice with only the tinge of sugar left in the bottom. "The locals have a song about the forests to the north of Aumeisarl," he paused, feeling the off-kilter beat of the song in his head and using it to help him recall the story as best he could. When he started again, he spoke in a half-song lilt, keeping the rhythm rhyme:
"a stone white as snow with an icy core,
a mountain of shadow stands no more,
a whisper in the Ancients' word,
touch the ring and you'll be heard."
He finished the recitation and found he was tapping his finger to the beat on the table, which he stopped as soon as he noticed he was doing it. Marle had a decent memory --particularly for things he could put a beat to, like songs or forms-- but he should have written it down somewhere. At least he still remembered it; maybe he'd ask Ravaniir to put it on paper afterwards, he looked like the kind of person that carried around some sheets of paper and a pen.
"There was more about the forest and something about a napping knight--"
"Naprnite," Ravaniir interrupted. "It's a kind of rock."
Marle shook his head. He'd never paid much attention to rocks. "We'll have to get more of it when we reach Aumeisarl, but it's certainly about an artifact." |
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Post by Brownie on Jun 19, 2022 12:31:27 GMT -5
- - - Yes I made one of my characters have Opinions on a book another one of my characters wrote. It's called Lore and Meta. Also, since the Eyes are a secret organization of semi-immortal beings, Blusi published this anonymously, which led many people to believe it was faked. She was hoping to just get the truth out there (the Eyes aren't supposed to interact with mortals at all) but since she's so distant from her humanity, she didn't really think it through that she needed a name, even a fake one, to be reputable lmao Of course, the secrecy meant that some people believed it must be true, which sparks the whole religious cult movement going on with the "true believers" of the "secret messiah that can speak with Gods". Fun fun.
Remember the chimera-beasts? Halzar is that guy that is credited with killing them off (he sent people to stab them while they were in hibernation due to the ice age's cold) and is later the leader of the first human settlement in Vra'rien. That was nearer what is now jungle, but was then desert, though with the ice age, everything was just snow so it didn't really matter except that it was close to the chimera capitol. The capitol later moved to the plateaus, though the actual ruling body is located on the eastern coast just before the swampland even if the kings still live on the plateau.
Also I'm looking over my notes from way back and Ravaniir's name was spelled, originally, Ra'vnr. Which is largely the same pronunciation and technically fits the rules of the conlang more tightly, but eh it's Very exotic looking.
(Note to myself for later: Marle was hoping the "you will be heard" would allow the holder to talk to anyone regardless of distance. He wanted to give it to his mother; his only regret in travelling is that he won't see her again and his only real fear is not being able to talk to her again before she dies)
tl;dr: Ravaniir analyzes a song. - - - Ravaniir Ray of Light, Ramlpaj . Road Trip
"Certainly an artifact," Ravaniir said, enthralled by the simple stanza that spoke of something far, far greater than any prize the artificer had chased in his life. "I hope the rest of the song tells of the location, because I have not heard of a 'mountain of shadow'. Also, when it says, 'you will be heard'... by whom? It hints that it may be the Ancients themselves," Ravaniir had to gasp a breath at the implications that brought-- "but songs like these often exaggerate and change over time. I have no doubts this 'stone white as snow' has something to do with sound, but it may not be a touchstone to the Ancients-- even if we do believe they are still, somehow, around to hear the call."
Ravaniir didn't really believe the Ancients lived, though the documents were tempting. It fit just a little too perfectly for his tastes; the truth was never as simple as what was written. Of course, he'd read Ancients: incorporeal from cover to cover. He'd eaten up the alluring text and the colorful images it painted of the world --through the Ancient's eyes themselves, if the author was to be trusted-- and he would have loved to buy into the awesome fantasy that the Ancients could answer all the questions of the old Artifacts. But the fact was that the Ancients hadn't communicated with anyone else before or since, and as the author had remained anonymous, Ravaniir thought it more likely that it was entirely made up. A well-read and well-researched fake, but a fake nevertheless.
But even if Ancients: incorporeal wasn't accurate, that didn't mean that an artifact that could call the Ancients wasn't still out there somewhere. Ravaniir guessed it was actually quite likely, in fact. If this artifact was indeed that missing link, it would put him (and Marle, he grudgingly admitted) in the history books beside Halzar Kaan-li himself. If he spoke with the Ancients, he'd be even more qualified to hold the title of "Speaker of the Gods" than Halzar. Now that would be an accomplishment. The thought had Ravaniir buzzing and even Razo chirped, pushing her head against his stomach, curious about his agitation. "If this artifact has even a slight chance to speak with Ancients," he said, breathless in his excitement, "it is worth every risk."
Perhaps not a logical assessment, but it was one Ravaniir believed with all his heart. Marle's warning was dust to the wind now and the arcanist itched to get on the road, the siren call of the artifact singing to him over the long miles to Aumeisarl.
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Post by Brownie on Jun 19, 2022 17:06:41 GMT -5
- - - I'm going to try and stick with just Marle and Rav for... let's say 50 posts? That should be good enough to get their line solid and started and make me (hopefully) stick to a plot for longer than just the beginning. I'm already starting to lose steam a little bit (we're 5k words in for reference) and I want to see if I can pick it back up. Time for a few longer posts that are more action and less rambly/thoughts.
tl;dr: Marle is disappointed that the song wasn't as detailed as he hoped, but motivated to at least get to Aumeisarl which I still can never spell right the first try smh - - - Marle Ray of Light, Ramlpaj . Road Trip
Marle was disappointed that the arcanist didn't have many concrete leads. He was hoping the mountain of shadow would be something easily recognizable at least, since it was the most concrete location in the song and would have given them a good starting point for their search. Because of the dangers of the region, it would be wise for them to have a solid idea of where they were going; wandering aimlessly in the hills wasn't the way to find the relic, just to get them eaten.
He also hoped the artifact wasn't just a communication node to the Ancients that no longer worked, a dead line where no one was there to answer. While Ravaniir might love the historical relevance and rarity of such an object, as well as the opportunity to study its inner workings and perhaps divine some modern invention from it, giving their society insight and engineering far past their current theories like so many other artifacts had, Marle hoped it was something that was immediately useful and worked. He wanted it to be a stone that could allow him to talk with someone across the continent --farther-- in real time. Now that would be something worth chasing.
It was still ambiguous, at least to Ravaniir, who Marle thought would have seen any hints he had missed in the spaces between the literal words of the song. Marle had pulled the song apart over the campfire on the way to the grand consul and hadn't gotten much out of the cryptic lyrics; he had hoped it was only because he didn't understand the references it made, which were buried deep in the history books he'd never had the time or patience to read. Of course, the only remedy was to go to Aumeisarl and hope some of the locals could shed light on the region's lore. Perhaps it wasn't the Vranni, but the neighboring tribesmen that held the key.
Marle was tapping again, this time with his foot against the tile. Not loud enough for anything but a mouse to notice although the tic buried its way deep into his soul until he swore the eternal roar of the waterfall in the distance had taken on the beat of drums. He let Ravaniir think --his dark eyes even darker, glassy, as he stared inwards, his hands abnormally still against the table; Marle stared for several moments, enthralled by the arcanist's thinking, but had to look away as it felt too personal to stare any longer.
So it startled Marle when Ravaniir finally spoke, as he was instead admiring the painted screen behind him (depicting birds in flight in unrealistic but artistic positions, their colors dulled in patches where the sun fell through the windows and bright where it did not, painted with a skilled brush but cheap materials). "It is worth every risk." Was the arcanist's assessment, causing Marle to sit up straighter in his seat, bumping the table and making their glasses of ice clatter and the thuvaal to roll until Ravaniir reached up and stopped the staff's movement on reflex.
The fire was back in the arcanist's eyes, if anything, even more fervent than before. It sent a spike of worry into Marle, but this time, he also found himself caught up in the excitement of discovery and a new quest on the horizon. "So, you will join me until Aumeisarl, at least?" Marle asked, searching for confirmation, which Ravaniir quickly gave.
"And further, if you would allow me the honor."
Marle laughed, feeling the momentum of their choice building in the small, screened off room of the tavern. The noise prompted the server boy to knock on the screen before entering. "Ales this time, unoh," Marle called to him, grinning, and the server disappeared. "To a new partnership."
Ravaniir didn't quite get caught up in Marle's exuberance, indeed, he looked nervous in Marle's shadow, reaching down to the charrip on his lap with a polite but forced smile. Some of the emotion drained out of Marle at that, and he tried to lighten his tone as he said: "you still owe me the story about the thuvaal, Ravaniir."
The ales came in then, and the arcanist's smile turned genuine as he looked down at the weapon with fondness. "That is a long tale," he warned, echoing Marle's earlier statement.
Marle caught Ravaniir's humor, having started to see that he thrived on nuance, and took it for the offering of goodwill as it was. He leaned back in his chair, placing his foot possessively on his bag, where the familiar wrapped handle of his own weapon lay, and gestured for Ravaniir to continue. "I have time," he replied, echoing Ravaniir's prior reply with a wink as he settled in to listen. The ale was cheap, but it went well with the taste of adventure. |
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Post by Brownie on Jun 19, 2022 19:29:56 GMT -5
- - - They actually like each other a little bit. Or rather, Marle is used to accommodating people he doesn't like, and Ravaniir hasn't found anything to be mad at Marle for (yet). they differ enough in problem solving and morality that they should clash a little bit, even if they work well as a professional team. Also Marle is totally going to have a one-sided crush on Ravaniir by the end but it won't be reciprocated sorry my child.
EDIT: One week later and finally finish this freakin post smh it was a good place to take a pause and regain motivation after half of this deleted itself, and I was busy this week so it worked out. A little rambley in the middle but I love describing fog and I only get to set the scene every once in a while so let me indulge a bit, who's really watching ;)
tl;dr: Short time skip to the next morning~ Our boys start on their road trip. - - - Ravaniir Ray of Light, Ramlpaj . Road Trip
They spoke late into the afternoon, sharing stories of adventures and conquests until the tourists began filtering in for supper and the server regretfully informed them that, while the establishment appreciated their time and patronage, they would need to clear the table for the nighttime rush. By that point, Marle had imbibed several of what the Ray called ales, though after managing to get down the first Ravaniir had stuck to the lemonades which were quite good indeed and satisfied his sweet tooth.
Marle had a room at the Ray of Light, but Ravaniir had been staying in the guestrooms of the man who had hired him here in the first place. He'd negotiated the payment before arrival, so even if there was no artifact to study, courtesy bound his host to offer the room to him for at least a few more days. The patron would have lost all reputation and standing if it was found that the artificer he'd hired had been forced to pay for a bed while there was room in his own guest chambers.
With a quick agreement to meet in the town square at dawn the next morning, the two separated at the Ray's doors and bid each other goodnight.
The next morning, Ravaniir informed his host that he had taken another job and would not be needing the room any longer, to which the man reacted joyously and loaded his pack full to bursting with food to take on the road for getting out of his hair earlier than he'd expected. Courtesy had required him to provide Ravaniir with lodging for as long as the job would have taken, regardless if he'd snubbed the arcanist of the actual work, and the food was a small price to pay for Ravaniir's discretion.
Munching on a lagota of much higher quality than those he had purchased at the stall the day before, Ravaniir found himself in high spirits and made it to the fountain as the sun turned the world grey. The eternal mists from the waterfall caused by the dam kept the dawn's rays high in the sky, reflecting off the fog and causing the dew to shimmer and the horizon to streak gold, the edges of houses and stalls and fountains soft and fuzzy at the edges and tinted silvery white, as if Ravaniir's eyes were wet with tears; he blinked often, aware of the fog's illusion but unable to convince his body from the instinctual reaction to try and clear the blur from the world, as if he could possibly change the climate by reflex.
It was quiet without the tourists, who were still asleep in the inns after a long night drinking, celebrating, or slow walks by the lakeshore. With the quiet --or relative quiet, the waterfall's roar fading to white noise after a time-- and the fog, the small town was ghostly. Ravaniir found a fountain that was gurgling pleasantly and seated himself on the flat edge to wait for his companion. Was I too hasty in accepting this quest? he thought to himself as the minutes ticked on and the world gradually brightened.
He hadn't decided on an answer before Marle appeared in the mist, the mighty man reduced to wraith. "You came," he said, echoing through the empty streets, hollow as the waterfall's distant roar snatched the lower tones of his voice. The words may have been slightly insulting, but his tone was light and there was a hidden "I knew you would" in his welcoming smile that was kind enough that Ravaniir decided not to take offense and stood to greet him.
"A wonderful day to start an adventure, Marle'li," Ravaniir said, appending the title of a business partner. "This man speaks for me" was the honorific, shortened to just "speaks" in the second person; it was the kind of factoid Ravaniir would have loved to weave into conversations but never had the reason to, here it was left as a layer for Marle to unfold, understand. He dipped his head as Marle approached and Razo chirped from under his hat, upset at the movement. Her claws scrabbled in his hair until she settled again. |
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Post by Brownie on Jun 25, 2022 23:11:29 GMT -5
- - - It's the weekend which means I have time and motivation to rewrite the last post. It's up now!! Luckily I'm in this rp with myself and while I am annoyed with my other self delaying it, I can sympathize with my own frustration from losing a post to refresh button.
Onto the next morning! Also I'm super tired so short xp
E: It's actually kinda long I lied. Also I don't think it's really come up yet, but the people here have two sets of arms. The body plan on this planet has six legs by default, and that extends to the dominant humanoids. The second set of arms aren't very strong or dexterous, with only three fingers and probably don't even extend past the first set's elbows. This is fairly normal for mammals' evolution, even the "wolves" run on four legs with the second set curled against the stomach most of the time. Anyways, Ravaniir is literally using his small arms (see why I don't use them? what would I call them? second arms small arms ugh they are awful to explain in prose) to hold up the pack from the bottom and take the weight off his shoulders
tl;dr: A quick sketch of Marle's afternoon + up to speed. - - - Marle Ray of Light, Ramlpaj . Road Trip
Marle had spent the rest of his night on a rooftop. The place had an excellent view with the dam on one side and the sunset over the hills on the other, the locals had recommended it to him, explaining that if he gave the widow that lived there a few coins, she'd allow him up to the rooftop for a few hours without bothering him and that the tourists rarely went that far south, preferring the northern viewpoints closer to the falls.
He thought this was superior, in a way. It would be struggle enough to travel in the rain, let alone deal with the constant mists of the falls as he napped.
Sunset came all too quickly and once the first stars lit the sky, the widow knocked on the trapdoor and politely kicked him from the premises. Marle bet he could have slept there if he'd given a few more coins, but he'd already paid for his room at the Ray of Light anyways so he used the light of Eros to guide him home. Three of the moon's satellites were visible tonight: Murel and Kaanl were silhouetted against the moon's surface while little brother Eis wandered over her rings. Ivos didn't rise until after he'd reached town, its pale orange glow just visible over the rooftop of the Ray of Light as he opened the doors and slipped inside.
The bottom floor of the inn was full of patrons --singing, eating, dicing. Marle ignored the bustle as best he could and hurried to the stairs with a quick nod to the innkeeper as he passed, letting her see his face and know he was paid for. The inn knew its patronage, and once Marle closed the thick door, all sounds of the crowd downstairs were silenced, leaving only the eternal thrum of the waterfall in the distance, which was as much a part of him as his own heartbeat after being in the town for several days now.
He woke to a knock on his door, loud and persistent. Grumbling, he rolled out of bed to answer it, his eyes flicking instinctively to the sword leaning against the wall then the window behind him before he reached for the knob. Marle turned it to find no one was there, leaving him with a moment of sleep-muddled confusion before he remembered that he'd asked the innkeep to have him woken before he'd left for the rooftop perch the day before. Yawning, he closed the door and set to work packing what little he'd removed from his pack while he was staying at the Ray; it didn't take him long, and then he was out the door and down the stairs, thanking the innkeep with a nod before he opened the door into the pale dawn.
A few other early risers wandered around like ghosts in the fog, Marle could only catch the blurred motion of their forms and the outline of their shapes as they faded in and out of view with the light breeze. Mostly locals, he guessed, going about their morning chores before setting up stalls to snare the first wave of tourists after the breakfast rush. Marle set out towards the square --an extravagant, useless thing, only there to hold the milling people as they waited for tour guides-- and it wasn't long until he saw Ravaniir's slim form perched atop one of the garish fountains. "You came," he called with a wave and a grin, cutting across the cobble to where the arcanist waited.
Ravaniir stood as he approached, slightly off balance until he set his shoulders. "A wonderful day to start an adventure, Marle'li," he greeted with a somewhat formal and, Marle guessed, teasing, bow.
Marle was uncomfortable being addressed so casually, they'd hardly met, but he tried not to let that show and grinned. "You don't pack light," he said instead, commenting on Ravaniir's still slightly off-kilter stance and the way he braced his arms against the weight of the pack, helping hold it up so the weight wasn't all on his shoulders.
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Post by Brownie on Jun 28, 2022 19:06:03 GMT -5
- - - I keep being vague about the town's name because I thought I didn't come up with one, but it's been in the post header since literally the first post so uhhhhhhh
Also I could have made the sun rise in the west since there's really a 50/50 shot of that happening but I didn't because I'm nice and I wanted some things to be equitable to our Earth-centric mindset. Just know that I could have. And all roads lead to rome Aumeisarl! You can see on the map that there's a neat constriction where Vra'rien has made a natural island of itself through oceans or hazards; Aumeisarl is the biggest city in that constriction below the darklands, and so it's the center of all trade going in and out of the country. It's also why there's so many bandits there; because legal trade runs through Aumeisarl, illegal trade needs to bypass that by going off-road north or south, leaving those people vulnerable to bands of thieves. They also hit some merchants travelling on the road, but that's rarer and oftentimes people travelling that far will hire mercs or join a convoy. Strength in numbers.
tl;dr: A little about their backstories + skips - - - Ravaniir Ramlpaj . Road Trip
"My host was nearly as excited as I for my departure," he said wryly, "having gifted me half his pantry for the gift of my absence." It wasn't good travelling food, but they'd appreciate the early days of feasting once it was down to typical rations. Ravaniir was accustomed to such things more than the average Vranni, having been on many expeditions to the furthest corners of the country where food was not as easily available as it was in the heartland. It would be another story altogether once they passed Aumeisarl on the border; Ravaniir hadn't ever been outside of Vra'rien before.
Another reason to partake in this quest. The two adventures cut through the mists, heading away from the rising sun westwards. Since Aumeisarl was the bottleneck of land trade in and out of Vra'rien, all roads headed westward would eventually take them to their destination and the one out of Ramlpaj was no exception to that hard and fast rule.
As they walked, the two wanderers engaged in some small talk, probing the other's history. Ravaniir learned that Marle hailed from the islands, which explained the man's bent kneed resting posture, and that he'd wandered the entirety of Ren from the jungles of Vra'rien to the Qaax deserts and the far reaches beyond where civilization was only a distant memory and hardy Keitho hermits were the only settlers to brave the wasteland. Ravaniir admitted that he'd read much about the westlands, but that he'd never actually stepped foot outside of Vra'rien yet. "There's too much work to do here yet," he said defensively when Marle reacted with surprise, "it is known that Vra'rien was the Ancient's eden and many of their ruins are here."
Finally Ravaniir decided he'd ask what he'd been wondering about since he'd first seen Marle: the colored cord on his bag. "That's a Kesh name-braid, right? How'd you come across one of those?"
"So you're familiar with them."
Ravaniir shrugged. "I've read about them and it was a logical guess, though I'd never seen one before." There was a few seconds of silence as the two walked. "You don't have to tell me about it if you don't want to," he added gently. Marle usually jumped on any questions he'd asked prior, so his pause made Ravaniir feel as if he'd probed too deep, too personal. He certainly had things he wasn't ready to talk about to this near stranger and it would be odd if Marle didn't have a few things he'd rather keep close to his chest as well, though to have the name-braid hung proudly and highly visible on his pack as he did had lead Ravaniir to think it was not one of those such secrets.
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Post by Brownie on Jun 30, 2022 16:01:41 GMT -5
- - - I doubt anyone is following this THAT closely, but if the colors on the text aren't on, it means the post isn't finished yet. I try to get them up in one go but sometimes I start them on my lunch break and I post them to save them. Once the colors are added, that usually means I won't go back and add more.
tl;dr: Marle is a sheep hero - - - Marle West of Ramlpaj . Road Trip
Marle wasn't surprised that an artificer had read of the Kesh traditional name-braids, but he hadn't expected him to bring it up in conversation. Well, maybe he should expect it, since it was often brought up in his travels. "Nah, it's alright. Bit of a joke, how I came to have this," Marle said, reaching back and flicking at the tassel. The cords were braided in a tight square, and though he'd had it for years now, the colors were as bright as the day Umi-kmer wove them with deft fingers.
"I saved her sheep, you see. Her pregnant ewe had felt something wrong with the birth and had run out of the barn into the storm." Storms in Kesh were no joke, Marle had felt death many times, but none so close as realizing he was without shelter as the clouds gathered above the steppe. "We saved each other, actually. I found the sheep cowering beneath a shrub screaming its fool head off, so I grabbed it and it led me to the farmhouse. I wouldn't have made it to the town, but we got to the barn just as the winds hit." Marle grinned. "First time I saw a storm bigger than the sea squalls! Anyways, I got to help Umi-kmer with the birth, and she gave me this in thanks."
"This side is my name," Marle flipped it to the side with the most blues. "I don't have a Kesh family line, obviously, so Umi-kmer made one for me. Dunno if it's official, I doubt it, but it's mine. Blue, blue, white, yellow. And this is Umi-kmer's family name," he rotated the cord so it showed the other faces. "And this her personal title and profession, and the last I was told is a bond-word." That was a complex braid of colors that he didn't comprehend, even when Umi-kmer told him what each meant as she wove the threads together. He let the cord fall again, starting to walk again with a stretch of his shoulders.
At least it was a good day for walking. Hopefully they'd be beneath the trees before the twins rose in harmony to herald the summer; the shade would keep the worst of the heat off them, and they'd be able to find water more easily than in the open plains once the snowmelt streams from the mountains to their north ran dry. |
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Post by Brownie on Jul 4, 2022 9:30:06 GMT -5
- - - More time skips. I'm just gonna have a few more backstory bits in chunks so that they're "canon" but I don't want to spend too much time here. I also want them to have one encounter before aumeisarl so they can trust each other's fighting before they embark on the real danger.
tl;dr: A little about their backstories + skips - - - Ravaniir West of Ramlpaj . Road Trip
They stopped for lunch beneath a large tree with wide leaves that shaded the hillside in a picturesque way. They had exhausted the fresh fruits Ravaniir had been gifted and were down to travel rations, but haven't been with those long enough yet that they felt like a chore rather than relief. It would surely reach that point before they arrived at Aumeisarl, unfortunately, since they were only half way to the city yet.
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Post by Brownie on Jul 24, 2022 14:43:03 GMT -5
- - - I was talking with a friend yesterday and we both realized that when we are on a worldbuilding binge (like I have been with the Circle of Granite) then I just. Cannot. Write prose. It's like a switch and only one can be on at a time. But that's the neat thing about roleplaying with myself: I can poof as long as I'd like and there's no one around to be annoyed by it but me (which I am annoyed I've left this so long!).
I've been stuck on where to take this though. I wanted to have something happen on the road... but I'm not sure what and I don't want to rough them up tooooo much. I may just skip to Aumeisarl? :/ The bad thing about a one-on-none is that I don't have someone else to bounce ideas off of or who can help me out of a rut. oof.
So until I decide, imma start AnOTHER plot. (: That way, I can write, and I can always come back to our duo when I feel more ready to tackle their situation.
tl;dr: A new plot! This one is pokemon (: - - - Pix Gold City . PMD: Sand
She left the third house, rejection ringing in her ears. A sob caught in Pix's throat as she sat on the curb, it was too hot for tears, they dried before they reached her eyes, but the sobs made her breath shudder and her shoulder shake as if there was a cold breeze instead of baking sunlight streaming from the sky.
"It's not that bad," Jamie consoled, patting her shoulder. But his words were hesitant and she knew he didn't believe them.
Pix raised her arms in frustration and Jamie leapt away, his frill billowing out and eyes frantic with fear. His reaction broke Pix again and she curled into herself, pulling her bladed arms close to her chest. "I'm sorry," Jamie said quickly, approaching again, "it's not-- it isn't-- not--"
"I thought I could run away from it," Pix said softly, cutting him off. "I can go to Hoenn, it'll blow over." She'd already told this story to Jamie before, but once she started falling into the self-pity she couldn't stop herself. "I had enough money saved up to take a boat to Unova, but even that wasn't far enough. Then I thought: the pokemon cities! They don't follow human news, I can start over. Fresh. Good."
Jamie's hand rested on her shoulder again, his scales light as a feather. He was so brave, so trusting. She didn't deserve that. But she was too weak to refuse the comfort and she didn't push the helioptile away when he sat on the curb beside her, extending his frill slowly this time and turning to block the sun, casting her in cool, cool shade. "You are good, Pix. It's a shame no one can see that."
Now the tears came. "You are too kind, Jamie," she said between sobs. He didn't jump away when she rested her claw on his leg, though she felt him tense. That was good enough for now.
They sat there for a while, long enough for Pix's legs to gather dust. Jamie didn't complain, turning his head to block the sun as it fell. "You should go," Pix finally said, when she was brave enough to conjure the words and brace for the pain of being alone again.
Jamie was about to argue, she could feel it, but she pushed on before he could get in a word. "No. I'm grateful for all your help --I mean it, I wouldn't have gotten here without you-- but you're risking your position in the Guild by helping me." He didn't refute that. He'd already gotten a warning from the Guildmaster to stop talking to "that no-good ruffian". "I've already done enough harm, I couldn't live with myself if I was the reason a good pokemon like you to lost your job." She softened the words with a smile, looking up at Jamie's face, small inside the massive frill haloed against the sun. He looked like an angel.
"I can manage. I always have."
For a few moments, Jamie didn't speak. "Call me if you need me," the helioptile finally said. "Anything I can do to help, I'll try. Please."
Pix grinned and nodded. "I will, I promise."
Jamie nodded back then slowly folded in his frill, forcing Pix to look away. When she looked back, he'd already darted down the street, kicking up dust beneath his wide paws. She couldn't help but smile as she watched him go back to the Guild's headquarters and his team. But Jamie was soon out of sight, leaving her alone on the curb with only the sun and dust.
"You got this, Pix," she said to herself, "you've been through worse. You got this." And with that, she stood up and knocked on the next door. |
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Post by Brownie on Jul 24, 2022 18:01:41 GMT -5
- - - Okay so after randomizing the first post, I think I have a basic premise to this plotline. Pix was once a trainer's pokemon, but she did something which accidentally got her trainer killed. Not only is she full of guilt for this, but she was put on trial for it and despite being found innocent since it was an accident and not something she could have anticipated (idk what exactly she did yet, but the idea is that she was indirectly involved, but still arguably responsible for the series of events). Pix is trying to run away from the bad press and reminders of her own guilt, but she was blacklisted by the Pokemon Guild and the Trainer's League, so she has to try and make a name on her own. Unfortunately, the only thing she knows how to do is battle and even out here, pokemon have heard of the trial and many think she's unstable or untrustworthy or simply a bad pokemon for not protecting her trainer.
Jaime is from the guild and while he's a bit skittish, he knows what it feels like to be socially outcast and tries to help Pix when she comes to the guild. Unfortunately, the guildmaster doesn't take kindly to him associating with Pix and gives him an ultimatum: stay with the Guild or help Pix and be kicked out.
Penny here is a bit of a mad scientist type. A girl with morals that are up for interpretation, she's the kind that does bad things for good reasons. She's super smart but not too strong, and her previous encounters with the Guild has left her blacklisted from posting offers on their boards as well, leaving her desperately trying to search for independent teams that are willing to take on the most notorious dungeon in the Desert. Penny is obsessed with contacting legendary pokemon, though she'll never give a direct reason why (current theory: she wants to take their place and become a legendary herself). She uses Pix's situation to coerce her into becoming partners.
tl;dr: Penny is a chaotic MESS and I love her for that - - - Penny Gold City . PMD: Sand
"Dammit," Penny swore, shaking her singed paw. She turned away from the cracked orb, using one of her tails to drip water onto her hand and soothe the burnt skin as she leaned against the workbench. She lifted the goggles from over her eyes, rubbing at the sore indentations they'd left in her fur, and sighed, a harsh sound with deep frustration baked in. Penny had been trying to repair the cracked orb all day now, and while some of the pieces slotted together easily, some of the smaller bits required a guess-and-check method.
The "check" was if the shard of clay didn't spark with electricity, repelling away from the orb cradled on the workbench and rocketing off into a corner of her lab with enough force to slice through skin (she had the cuts to prove it).
She had only a dozen or so shards left to go. Her stomach rumbled, which the buizel ignored as she popped the goggles back over her eyes and scanned the workshop for the grey shard of clay that had exploded from between her fingers. She clicked and rotated the lenses of the goggles and her equipment swirled with a rainbow of hues until she found the frequency she was looking for: the tiny shard glowing bright yellow, lodged in the adobe wall. "There you are," Penny said to the clay.
The buizel picked up a pair of tweezers and was about to go free the shard from the wall when she heard a knock on the door. The sound startled her, she didn't get many, okay any, guests. "It better not be the Guild again," Penny grumbled as she wiped her paws on the doormat to her lab, crossed the dark-as-pitch living quarters by memory and opened the door. "Yes?" she snapped before even looking to see who it was. |
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Post by Brownie on Jul 24, 2022 21:29:47 GMT -5
I'll probably still leave those two posts up but uh, I'm writing more of that the more traditional way and I think it works better so I may or may not stick to that. Also I want to be able to explicitly detail some of the darker bits of the plotline and make Penny a little more morally grey than I'd be comfortable writing on the forums~ I could censor some of her out, but I may be too lazy to do that.
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Post by Brownie on Aug 6, 2022 10:57:57 GMT -5
- - - Returning to this line!! I need to stick to things better and figure out how to move to a new scene. It's a skill I sorely lack. We're ignoring the random attempt to skip with Rav and picking up after Marle's story.
tl;dr: - - - Ravaniir West of Ramlpaj . Road Trip
"A bond-word is no small thing," Ravaniir said, though he guessed Marle, having actually been through Kesh, would know that about the steppe people's culture. It was a simple gift, but one that had much more meaning than the simple colors could describe; with a bond-word, Marle would be treated as a citizen of Kesh: he couldn't be refused shelter, could speak with the Circle of Elders, and a slight against him by any other Kesh could be officially challenged.
Ravaniir let the cord fall from his hand, leaving it to swing from Marle's pack again. It spoke to the man's character that a Kesh would invite him into her clan for what would have been a moderate token of goodwill on Marle's part in the grand scheme of her flock.
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Post by Brownie on Sept 5, 2022 14:53:58 GMT -5
- - - Who cares if I poof on myself? Who cares if my posts are short? Not me or I
tl;dr: A sad realization and Ravaniir's thinking face - - - Marle West of Ramlpaj . Road Trip
Marle felt the weight of the bond-word hanging from the canvas bag, even if the strings themselves were feather-light. He shrugged the straps of his pack over his shoulders, feeling the familiar press of the hand-and-a-half sword against his back, pinched the sides of the scabbard with his shoulderblades and relaxed into the strain. "I think," Marle said, speaking slowly, using the tone of speech reserved for subjects with no prior knowledge, for conclusions that were only conjecture and inference, "that my kindness reminded her of someone she loved. And lost."
It was a somber conclusion, and one that he couldn't really defend apart from intuition. The way Umi-kmer's eyes pinched when she smiled, how she had laughed a little too hard at his poor translation of a joke, that she was near tears when the calf rolled into the hay, blessed with the sound of thunder and rain and wind that shook the barn so violently, Marle had thought it would collaspe atop them. He smiled at the memory, a smile that was just a soft exhalation of breath and a crease of his forehead, never brave enough to curl his lips.
Ravaniir walked beside and slightly behind him, reminding Marle to mind his steps so that he didn't outpace the arcanist. Despite nearly matching Marle's height --and wasn't that a feat for a mainlander!-- he had a markedly shorter stride: measured and deliberate. Unrushed. Ravaniir was even slower when he was deep in thought, as he was now, his brow furrowed as he stared at the path ahead with unseeing eyes, turned instead on the puzzle bright behind them.
Marle let him have his thoughts for a few moments, in awe of someone who, on the road as they were, felt safe enough to zone out so completely. He never had that aptitude, always firmly, steadily in the present and aware of everything around him. The clouds scudding overhead, the hiss of long grasses --taller than the two men already, even if it was over a week until the summer solstice, and very green-- arching over the road. Even now, a part of Marle was on edge, listening for danger that might be lurking in the fields: gliphoni, erop'mai, a mother ufesent with her brood. Vra'rien was much safer than anywhere else Marle had wandered, the plains a haven without many predators or poisons, but they could come down from the mountains, just a smudge of darkness far to the north, or from the sea far to the south. And so he watched, though he didn't let that distract him from enjoying the pleasant breeze and the easy road.
Finally, the silence began to gnaw on him. "What about you?" he asked, jerking Ravaniir out of his inward stare as the arcanist turned towards Marle, blinking like a man recently woken from sleep. "You never did tell me about the thuvaal." |
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Post by Brownie on Sept 8, 2022 15:49:05 GMT -5
- - - I WILL make it to 50 posts of these two I promise. I'm also going to throw a fight at them in the next three posts, after story time. It'll be a skip straight into the fight. BOOM.
Also a little bit of language time. Aennevnl (EYEN-niv-inl) is a very Vranni name for a place for starters. Remember the chimera beasts that bred humans as labor beasts? Those are the Vethek(i). They used a lot of Ancient cities for their own, mostly as bases for resource collection as their society didn't like living outside of their homeland (the area that is now the jungle and vale). You can actually have a good estimate of where Aennevnl is from the map above: the plateau is the purplish part, the Forest of Reeds (which isn't the real name, but I'm done with making new names for things right now and it gets the meaning across) is that dark green bit to the west (it's a cool place that has grasses the height of trees! Pretty much bamboo but a little less structured). Aennevnl is in the mountains just north of that area, right on the edge of the northwestern bit.
Ellis is some rich dude that funds new archeologists. He enjoys "mentoring" up and comings, and betting on their success with other arcanists. Like many in the profession, he was Ravaniir's first sponsor, though not his first teacher (whooooo doesn't have a name because apparently I didn't update the right doc when I switched all the lore to google docs in high school :( She's an epic lady with a sick quaibow you just have to trust me that she's a badass).
tl;dr: Ravaniir kinda tells about the thuvaal. He got it from a magic sealed room. - - - Ravaniir West of Ramlpaj . Road Trip
He couldn't simply drop the questions he had about Kesh culture, that wasn't what an archeologist --a scientist-- like him did, after all. But he could compartmentalize them, memorize them and shove them into that box in his mind labelled "Kesh" right next to that ever-growing box that was "Marle's past". Ravaniir blinked and the ideas sorted themselves, letting the arcanist refocus his attention on Marle's voice. Then the question: "you never did tell me about the thuvaal."
"No, I haven't," Ravaniir replied. "Though I suppose we have the time now." He couldn't ignore Marle's grin, a wide split of his face that was both comforting and off-putting all at once. Ravaniir cleared his throat to distract himself from that mess of discomfort and tried to focus on how he wanted to paint the story. It was only fair, after he'd asked about the Kesh bond-cord.
"I was at a dig in Aennevnl --you know Aennevnl?" he glanced over to Marle, who shrugged.
"Heard of it, maybe. The mineshaft in the mountains?"
Ravaniir nodded, somewhat impressed, though he bet Marle, as a traveller, had heard of many places outside the general eye of the world. "You're well read. Yes, in the mountains just past the plateaus and above the Forest of Reeds. It was a city of the Ancients before it was a mine for the Vetheki, and many archeologists have combed through the site thourougly, including my team years ago, back when I was an apprentice under Ellis-- but I digress." He'd learn how to tell a good story, one day, without too much blathering.
"There was recently a team that was working deep inside an Ancient ruin --Yaekiil maybe-- and found the corner of a room, a room with no doors. They uncovered the mechanism for opening it, cleverly hidden inside a mosaic, an image of a seven-pointed star. I heard this in a bar one day and I remembed, vividly, seeing that pictogram in Aennevnl. So as soon as I could, I set another expedition up the mountains, hoping beyond hope that perhaps this star could also lead to a secret chamber."
"And it did," Marle concluded, correctly. Which irked Ravaniir, who had wanted to reveal that himself.
Ravaniir gave a dismissive huff. "Yes, as you say." |
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Post by Brownie on Sept 9, 2022 10:29:44 GMT -5
- - - HAHAHA I said action in a few and it's now I tricked you!!
tl;dr: Marle hears a sound - - - Marle West of Ramlpaj . Road Trip
A less intruiging story than he would have hoped --less exciting than Ravaniir's other tales at the Ray, at least. He figured that's why he didn't tell this one, anticlimatic for those anticipating a long journey-- but Marle knew that was just how things went sometimes: a boring an easy explanation was the safest, after all. Those were the adventures explorers came back from. "A thuvaal like that is a good prize."
"Mhm."
He thought there might be more to it than that, but he found Ravaniir looking pointedly away. Touchy, Marle thought, frowning, more than a little upset that he had interrupted the story and wouldn't get to hear the end, at least not without pushing his companion further.
The silence dragged this time, with Ravaniir's discontent seeping into the cracks. It put Marle on guard.
Which ended up being a good thing, as his instincts prickled at the first hint of change: a rustle in the grasses, too regular, too violent, to be just the wind. Marle drew his sword in the space between a heartbeat, putting himself between Ravaniir and the sound. To his credit, Ravaniir took only a moment longer to read Marle's reaction and draw the thuvaal himself --Marle could feel the weapon humming behind him, like it had in the Ray.
He hoped it wasn't just a farmer herding sheep. But his instincts screamed that it was a predator's walk, seconded by the fact that the noise stopped just a moment after they had. |
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Post by Brownie on Sept 15, 2022 8:33:49 GMT -5
- - - The first clash begins!
tl;dr: FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT - - - Ravaniir Roads, West of Ramlpaj . Road Trip
Ravaniir just caught the edge of the sound --a step, perhaps, crunching against dried stalks of grass to their left-- before it stopped. The thuvaal vibrated in his palms. He had drawn the weapon as soon as he'd seen Marle spin, sliding the bladed staff from the top of his pack with a practiced ease, his fingers snapped at the seams and buttons on the grip and the bottom end extended outwards, the top sprouting a spearpointed blade with a metallic snick.
For a second, he held his breath, adrenaline rushing through the arcanist in a wave, pushing against the defensive, sulking furrow he'd worked himself into and washing it away like a wave smoothing footprints on the beach. Once his emotions settled, Ravaniir was able to breathe in tune with the thuvaal, amplifying its vibrations with the flow of his body. The echo-state was harder to initiate under pressure but easier to maintain, and once Ravaniir settled in (magnetically, a key turning a smooth lock), his senses exploded.
A quiet, rustling susurrus, soft as feathers but distinct from the wind in the field like music off-key to Ravaniir’s enhanced hearing, came from the grasses to their left. But also from their right, and several other places besides.
Ravaniir turned slowly, trusting his back to Marle as he watched the opposite side of the road. The sound of his boot scuffing in the dirt was distractingly loud, but he didn’t want to lose his sense of the enemy, and so he tried to keep his voice as quiet as he could as he called to Marle: “Four. Varnëthi.”
His grip tightened on the thuvaal and the crystal in the center flared brighter. His fingers danced on the ridges and with a click of a curling vine he retracted one of the blades, making the weapon’s blade one-sided, and another click extended the longer blade on the opposite end. Ravaniir shifted the weapon, bringing both hands towards the center grips, changing his grip so it was as a quarterstaff instead of a spear. Oh, how he loved the thuvaal.
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Post by Brownie on Sept 18, 2022 22:25:34 GMT -5
- - - Varnëthi = plural
Varnetha = singular
ë is like the difference between o and ö in german. Kinda like "ea" in "hEAvy" vs "e" in "peck"
e in Vranni is always pronounced as a hard "a" like "Aim"
i in Vranni is always prounounced as a hard "e" like "Eagle"
Varnetha is rooted in Var -> Air and neth -> hand
(hand = neth and hands = nëthi is why the somewhat irregular vowel alteration in the plural carries over)
Anyways, they are called such because the first thing you usually see of a Varnetha is their bony hands, seemingly out of thin air. They are not completely material, and occupy the niche of "wraithlike" creatures, using Rin's honestly quite terrifying air composition and evolved anscestral sensory quirks to alter the viewer's perception of them. This ability also allows them to radiate an aura of emotion --usually something akin to sorrow or loss-- to creatures able to smell them. While they tend to move in groups, they also are fairly rare, preferring to stay away from populated areas. They can be called upon, however, in exchange for human emotion. Touching one gives sight into the Ideal plane --since time doesn't exist in the Ideal, trained varnëthi'lm can use this ability to see short glimpses into the past.
While they don't often go after humans, preferring other prey that is easier to catch, sometimes a large pack may attack travelers. Rarely do these attacks kill --varnëthi feed more on the dread of near dying than the flesh-- but it's not fun being on the recieving end! Unfortunately, that means varnëthi are more dangerous to seasoned travelers: those that are accustomed to fighting are not as likely to feel terror or dread, and so the varnëthi are more likely to do severe damage before being satiated. However, they are also more likely to be able to fend off the false-emotion aura of wraiths and fight back and varnëthi are likely to flee after being fended off, which is what our boys are going to be able to do to them.
tl;dr: FIGHT scene FIGHT scene - - - Marle West of Ramlpaj . Road Trip
Marle relaxed.
Not because the varnëthi were not dangerous, but because they would only grow stronger from his emotions. "Wraiths," he said, the word a curse. By far the most annoying of foes, doubly so since his sword couldn't find enough corporeal form to bite; Marle never trusted anything he couldn't hit with his sword. "You've fought them before?"
Already he'd decided to put his trust in Ravaniir, turning his back to the arcanist's blade so he could better guard the front. Marle didn't have a second to spare to look at his companion's expression, to see if he was hardening his fear into steady determination backed by cool, flat emptiness, like Marle had trained to do during fights. "Once or twice," he heard Ravaniir reply, quietly from behind him. Marle grunted his approval, noted the steadiness of Ravaniir's voice, and hoped it would be enough.
The varnëthi rustled in the tall grass on the sides of the road, a loud and intentional sound, seemingly from all directions at once like they were caught in the center of a twister. Flashes of movement: pale, bony hands; black ribbons twitching like rat's tails in the corners of the eye; sparkles of darkness like glinting light, but with nothing behind it, pinpricks of void. "Only four?" Marle asked, serious, but with a joking edge. He didn't look away from his side of the road, though he tried to keep his eyes unfocused. Don't be distracted by the obvious, see between the gaps, that's where the wraiths hide.
There.
Marle's lunge was quick, his hand-and-a-half sword licking outwards like a cat's paw to stab into one of the centers of motion. The varnetha screeched, an otherworldly sound that rattled his teeth in his jaw and blurred his vision. A pulse of dread seeped through the ground into his bones, and Marle grinned through it, heightening his posture as if to shake it off. "Go on, shoo," he said, "you won't get any fear from us. No need to fight." |
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Post by Brownie on Nov 12, 2022 2:16:52 GMT -5
- - - Them fighting really be like: Marle- I don't want to hurt you please stop fighting me. Ravaniir- *feral chiuaua noises*
Also I just wrote Marle's bit before this today, though it looks like months. I hadn't even started the reply before poofing, I had just wrote the footnotes, so I edited it in reather than make another post.
ALSO I will say again that I love this little rp by myself like??? I can poof for two months and no stress just. Come back to it for a few posts. The fight will wrap up in the next one though, I think, because I suck at fight scenes. This one also feels more "prose" than "rp post" but whos really counting? not I. And I could see myself submitting this as an rp post if the fight is done in two halves like this. Marle's half next and then they can sit down and have a break.
And yes the mantra is loosely based on the litany of fear from Dune. It's good.
cw: creepy body imagery. including faceless forms. These wraiths are pretty terrifying!~
tl;dr: FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT - - - Ravaniir Roads, West of Ramlpaj . Road Trip
He took a deep breath, then another. Ravaniir could feel Marle's stillness at his back, the fighter's steadiness as he bent his knees in a fighter's stance with a seafarer's ease. He ran his fingers down the edges of the thuvaal's ornate vine engravings, familiar and comforting as it buzzed in his hands, sending sparks of energy up his neck, tingling as the shorter hairs stood on end. The thuvaal's energy suffusing his body was nearly as bad as the varnëthi's heavy auras, and the two forces clashed violently, burning him at the edges.
This, he knew, was not the proper way to fight wraiths.
Empty mind, empty heart, fear is an ocean and I shall hold my breath, Ravaniir started the mantra, repeated the verses in his mind as the varnëthi swirled around them, picking up energy of their own with a hiss and roar of broken laughter. But even as they moved, Ravaniir felt their eerie presence diminish, the aura ebbing away as the thuvaal's own energy created a shield.
He held the staff sideways, ready to retailiate with the ends should any of the varnëthi's hands or feathers come close. "Only four?" Marle said from behind him, and his ironic tone wasn't lost to Ravaniir, even in the midst of the swirling chaos. Ravaniir chuckled, gripping the thuvaal tighter and keeping focus on his mantra. The tide breaks over me, a stone, steady, strong, solid; in its wake, void, oh that powerful silence, an echoing heart.
Marle moved and the varnetha he hit shrieked.
Ravaniir startled, and his mantra faltered. Fear, terror, a blinding darkness crashed into him just as the two varnëthi appeared, ghastly and pale, hands reaching through the rift between here and not-here towards his thuvaal. Dark tendrils whipped and snapped through thin, shadowy rends and pinprick voids.
They wrapped around his thuvaal's shaft--
His heart stopped. Time stopped. For a moment, he could see each feather outlined in silvery sunlight, he could see the varnetha's shadowy face only inches in front of his own, with hollowed, dark sockets for eyes and only the vaguest suggestion of a mouth puckered in blurred, ashen fog. The varnetha's mouth was opening, the not-quite-corporeal flesh ripping--
SNAP
The thuvaal's crystal flared blue, pushing a barrier between Ravaniir and the wraith as he pushed his will inside it. The varnatha screamed, but this time Ravaniir was prepared for the sound, gritted his teeth against it and sent the sharp bladed end of the thuvaal to slice in the wrath's direction, scattering its incorporeal bits to ribbons of smoke and the more corporeal bits to dust. Dark feathers withered where they had touched the thuvaal's metal, burning with an acrid stench. The discarded bits, small ribbons of shadow, twitched like snakes on the ground where they were severed from the void.
Ravaniir turned to the second varnatha, teeth bared in a grimace, or perhaps a smile. His heart stuttered --bop a bop a tiss-- and a blue hue tinted his vision, turning the grasses turqoise and the sky blindingly saturated with color above. His grip on the thuvaal was painful, he could feel the engravings pinching marks into his skin, but he stood his ground and cast away the lingering bits of the wrath's emotional influence. Clear mind, a lake of endless depths, fear is an ocean and I shall hold my breath. |
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Post by Brownie on Nov 14, 2022 2:08:01 GMT -5
- - - ...
tl;dr: End of fight, Marle is dissapointed. - - - Marle West of Ramlpaj . Road Trip
He could feel the varnëthi feeding off Ravaniir. Energy hissed and spat at his back and it was only with great willpower that Marle kept himself from turning to look at what must be a veritable fire show. The varnetha to his left attempted to shift around, a blur of fog rippling the grass behind it, and Marle took a backhand swing at it to interrupt its progress, causing the wraith to swirl angrily backwards away from the blade's edge, bits of incoporeal mass drifting off where the blade had touched it.
It was too late to take back his trust in Ravaniir, but at least he could keep the other two varnetha away.
The warring emotions faded and Marle stepped back defensively. "You won't have any fear from us," he said to the varnëthi. The one to his right --the one he'd taken a stab to earlier-- faded backwards, its only physical presence shown by the crackle of grasses as it parted the field. The other grabbed at him with pale hands and he ducked out of the way, raising the sword to parry. Its palms curled around the steel and Marle twisted the blade. The varnetha dripped shadow as more of its form peeled from the space between worlds, showing the bottom half of its ashen face and a swirling mass of dark feathers.
Why didn't it let go? Marle had one moment to think before the wave of pure energy sliced through him, slamming into the wraith and shoving it violently away. It crashed into the grasses, mostly corporeal, flattening a line into the field for several meters.
Marle spun, readying his sword for the others, but they had been similarly deflected. A barrier blossomed from Ravaniir's thuvaal, crackling with blue light, while the man himself stood, trembling, his breaths coming in gasps.
The varnëthi were gone.
"Ravaniir!" Marle barked, sheathing his sword and stepping forward. He grabbed the arcanist's shoulder, shaking him. "They're gone!" Varnëthi were not fighters; even the slightest resistance would have been enough to turn them away in search of easier sources of emotional energy. It wasn't as if the wraiths needed to feed, after all. They were not so desperate that they would try and challenge a competent foe --varnëthi were cowardly, half-souled things, greed and the pursuit of satisfaction were their only motivation.
They could have held their ground, given a few pokes, and left the wraiths to live. Instead... Marle turned his lip at the feathers scattered around Ravaniir's feet, their shadowy ribbons still faintly twitching, still reeking of acrid, sour smoke as the severed feathers smoldered against the ground.
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Post by Brownie on Nov 17, 2022 21:59:38 GMT -5
- - - This is the Vibe of their relationship at first. I know they got along well the first few days but that's just because they're professionals and neither of them is really for just? Randomly irking a stranger? (Rude also a weird thing to be on Rin in general; their society is kinda new comparatively and still in a psudo-communist roots, so it's either be kind to your neighbor or starve). But they do struggle to work together, and those rough edges show!
tl;dr: Fight end. Ravaniir let the magic take control. He hates that but chases the feeling anyways. Arguments occur. - - - Ravaniir Roads, West of Ramlpaj . Road Trip
He couldn't think. |
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Post by Brownie on Dec 9, 2022 1:56:40 GMT -5
Our story begins on the banks of a river.
This isn't a new story by any means, it's a story is as old as time itself: of two people (cats) that are madly in love, yet bound by customs that hold them apart. The hatred of their families (Clans) runs deep, a icy, generational feud born not of conflict or ideology, but of their shared past: the knowledge that they had, long ago, been intertwined, roses and honeysuckle, torn apart at the roots and filled with bristling thorns.
There is nothing quite like the raw, frayed edges of torn paper.
Yet even here, where there is no hope of understanding and should only hold hatred, love grew. Fragile, young, hidden deep under snow, but strong none the less.
Most such stories of star-crossed lovers end in tragedy.
This one does not.
Ivywhisker is a young warrior of CreekClan. She is a grey tabby she-cat with solid pale grey dapples and yellow eyes. She has long whiskers and a keen sense of smell. She has two brothers: Wavepatch (black and white tom) and Mallowflash (white tom with grey tabby dapples). Her father, Twistedtail, once a SkyClan hunter, died during a RockClan raid when she was an apprentice.
Ivywhisker is curious by nautre, questioning everything around her. She finds wonder in the smallest of things, and is always asking how or why things work the way they do. She has some training as a healer, but doesn't have the patience for it. Ivywhisker is a natural liar. While she isn't quite a social butterfly, she tends to be rather outgoing, shameless, and fairly charismatic.
Slatepool is a young warrior of StoneClan. He has dark grey fur with faint, glossy black classic tabby markings and amber eyes. He has a narrow body and is good at diving underwater for treasures and crayfish. He has one brother, Basaltstorm (black tom with white paws).
Slatepool is a calm cat. He doesn't do anything to the extreme, and isn't very good at identifying his own emotions, usually ignoring problems until they go away. He likes quiet, simple guestures that make the recipient smile. He is terrified of fighting, which brings out a desperate side of him that he despises and fears. |
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