Welcome to the first installment of Roleplayer Guild's Character Development Thread! A writing exercise and a collaborative writing effort aimed at fellow writers. Interested? Be sure to give the OOC header a read, and feel free to join in afterwards.

If the length of the thread becomes a bit daunting, don't be afraid to ask for a summary at the OOC.

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The warm morning sunshine peeks out from the eastern mountain crest, litting up a good part of the park. Very faint clouds decorate the sky, and a thin fog envelops the greenery of the park, upon whose leaves dew rests aplenty.

[Park Entrance - East] (Alba)

Tap, tap, the rhytmic sound of a wooden walking stick against the paved road accompanied the chirping of the morning birds. The spring air was fairly cold and blue, but comfortable. The owner of the walking stick was a short old man who appeared to be in his sixties, with grey ashen hair that he went through great pains to style properly. He came dressed in a suit of black, fairly formal as garments go, but not too out of place against the serenity of the park. His sharp eyes betray his supposed old age, as does his healthy skin coloration.

Alba was his name, "What a nice place. Taking some time off might be the correct decision after all." he said to nobody in particular. His voice was slightly rasp, but firm and showed no lack of control. He walked to the side of the street, eyeing a white orchid upon which a small butterfly rests upon. As if reacting to the stare from his blue eyes, the butterfly fled off, causing Alba to emit a slight chuckle. He looked around; spotting not a single person, "Looks like I am the first to arrive." he said. His stray left hand moved to rub his beard for a second, before he returned to the middle of the road.

Taking his time, the old man slowly walked down the path.

[Park Entrance - North] (Mortosh/Zam)
"Zam? You Awake?" Mortosh asked as he pushed the strange gate open and took step through it, His iron boots clanking on the stone pavement but he stopped when he felt Zam shift about in her hidey-hole "No i wasn't until you asked and it was such nice dream too" came the answer from Mortosh's Pocket companion who was shifting about in her hidey-hole trying to return to the preferred sleeping position but quickly gave up when she figured it was a waste of time so she opted to instead to fly out of her pocket and place herself on Mortosh's Shoulder

"Let Me Guess It Was About The Land Of Sugar And Cake" Zam shook her head "No it was the one about me slaying King Applemint. But why did you wake me?" "Because We Have Arrived" Mortosh Answered as he looked around around the odd park ("I May Not Know Where We Are But It Is Beautiful")

[Park Entrance - East] (Alba) (Cecil)

Awww, vacation! Cecil was soaking up the sun and wonderful smells emanating from the parks garden in a state of euphoria. This was going to be a good time. That was until he came to the startling realization that he had no idea what he wanted to do. The day was just beginning and there wasn't any other visitors around yet. Cecil pulled out the brochure of the park he received, hopefully this would give him ideas. Flipping past the boring info about the park, Cecil scanned the map of the park. The only part of the park that looked interesting was the beach, but with no one there, what was he to do? It would look pretty lame if he were to sit out there alone. Finally he decided to head to the hotel maybe he could take a nap, he HAD woke up four hours earlier than usual to get there.

A devilish grin spread across Cecil's tan face, as he spied an old man entering the park. The early bird gets the worm, he thought to himself as he tip-toed towards the man. Alba probably wouldn't hear Cecil coming, and if he didn't Cecil would spook him and run off.

[Park Entrance - East] (Alba, Cecil)

Alba viewed the occasional flowers as he slowly trod along the path, occasionally stopping to appreciate the finer details. Hailing from a land of harsh cold, such strong greenery were unusual for him. Not to the point where it dulled his senses, however. The rhythmic tapping of his stick ended with a louder, more punctuated tap that would've scared nearby birds; He then turned around, facing Cecil's general direction, "Young man, it is rude to sneak up on an old man with a weak heart." he said, his voice slightly louder than normal. His expression stayed neutral, as if intending to not threaten the other man.

Kyle left the East entrance and looked around. Someone had reported a portal opening in the city, and he had been ordered to investigate. Without knowing about this area, however, he decided to not use his powers in case the people in the area didn't know about such things.
He saw an old man and a young man standing in the park and walked over to them. "Hello," he said, hoping he wasn't interrupting them. "I seem to be a bit lost. Could you tell me where I am?"

[Park Entrance - East] (Alba) (Cecil) (Kyle)

Cecil couldn't believe it when the man noticed him sneaking. It was frustrating for an aspiring spy like him to be caught, especially by a guy who was probably hard of hearing. As he hurried to prepare a lie to tell Alba, he noticed a man approaching them, asking where they were. Cecil immediately jumped on this chance. Although he wasn't often caught sneaking, he was experienced enough to lie his way out of the situation.

"This is the Character Park, a special resort," Cecil put on a kind polite voice for this lie, showing Kyle his brochure, "I saw that this gentleman here was about to trip himself on a plant root, and it wouldn't for him to hurt himself on vacation!" Cecil hoped that the old man wouldn't call his bluff. Next time, he had to be more conscientious about which geezers he'd try to spook.

[Park Entrance - East] (Alba) (Cecil) (Kyle) (Lino)
So this is the place, Lino thought as he stepped through the gates into the park. He had been assigned to come here, to keep watch and gather about this new place that his allies had learned of. A simple recon mission. But what he saw when he set eyes on the place was nothing he had ever dreamed of.

Inside the park he saw what seemed to be a small commotion going on between three people at the entrance. He walked nonchalantly closer until he was within earshot, listening to what was going on as he pretended to be simply taking in the view.

[Park Entrance - East] (Alba) (Cecil) (Kyle) (Lino) (Grun)

Grun grumbled to himself as he made his way to the gate. Several miles away his tank had broken down, leaving most of his items stranded with it as he made his way to the park on foot. It had been a long trek for his stubby legs and large clumsy feet. Once he pushed open the gates, all he could think about was how tired he was, and how much of a break he needed after his long walk. Any normal sized person could make it in probably half the time, while a trained sprinter could have been here in less than half an hour.

Turning to his right, he saw a bunch of pamphlets, ready for the taking of any newcomer. He pulled one off the rack, and quickly opened it. He picked out a few words he understood, but most of it was gibberish to him. He closed it and tucked it under his arm, saving it for some time later to attempt and read when he had the time.

He moved away from the gate across the paved road, looking around as he did. He saw flowers on his way, something he never found himself admiring before. Even still they looked bland to himself, but he tried to take them in as something enjoyable. However hard he tried, he couldn't manage to find a way to like them. They were just a bunch of colors, blushed together in some pattern he didn't understand.

Continuing along the path, he saw a young man seemingly also trying to take in the view he was, but not doing as well. Just beyond him, a small group of people gathered and talking. One of them appeared to be older, older than Grun, and just about the age his father would be at around this time. Then two other younger gentlemen, wearing strange clothing... even Grun understood it was strange... but did he? They weren't strange to the people wearing them. Perhaps he just truly hasn't gotten out enough to understand other people.

He thought of changing his direction to walk up to them, to build up the courage to speak to them... but somehow he didn't feel he was ready. Besides, perhaps they are talking about something important? Wouldn't want to interrupt something important you know nothing about, would you? he thought to himself as he stood there plainly. He shook off the original thoughts of talking to them, and continued down the path as he turned his head to face back the way he walked.

He had neared closer to the younger man than he had originally thought, roughly bumping into him and knocking himself down from the unexpected encounter. "Hey hey hey! Watch where you're going! Don't you know it's rude to block a dwarf's path!" he yelled out in anger from the ground he had thrown himself onto. He rolled himself from side to side, until he managed to get a good enough angle to push himself up to a standing position, brushing the dust and dirt off.

"Nosta Vakhal" Kyle said, slightly bowing to the man. "I apologize" in the Dwarven of his dimension, or more accurately "I make amends." Of course, the Dwarves weren't native to Earth, or at last his Earth, so there was the chance what little he had learned of the Dwarven language and culture wouldn't be the same, but he needed to at least try. He also ignored the dirt that the man was stirring up and getting on his suit and the fact that there was plenty of room to go around him. "Can I help you? I'm new here myself, but if I can, I'll assist you." Maybe on his world the Dwarves were a ruling class?

[Park Entrance - East] (Alba) (Cecil) (Kyle) (Lino) (Grun)

Grun folded his arms after he had finished cleaning himself, listening to the young man speak. What did he say? "Nosta Vakhal" Was that some form of Dwarvern, perhaps? Maybe he thinks I can speak it, being one myself. he thought over the man's next words. Grun never learned to speak the dwarvern language, having been taken away at such a young age. He did know how to read a little dwarvern from some of his father's findings, but he could never figure out what most of it meant, just like the human language he read.

"No, no no help. I'm just here to get away... such troubling thoughts back home, it's nice to get away." he said, looking over the young man closer. He thought again the strange apparel, but gave up quickly after thinking it may just be his own thoughts once again. He then thought back to his tank stranded out from where he had come, slightly afraid of what might happen to it sitting alone out there.

"Wait... actually, there might be a favor you could help me with." he said, unfolding his arms and looking up at the man with a renewed face. "I had run into a little trouble on my way here, stranding my ride out in a river, along with most of my personal belongings. Perhaps you know of someway I could dry it out and get it going again, maybe after a short break here? I haven't gotten out very much as of lately, so my legs are like slime." he explained. "It may also help if we gather a few extra hands... my ride is a bit heavy for a measly two pair!" he laughed at the thought of himself and a young human pushing his large 'ride' out of the water. "A pulley system might be handy as well, unless you happen to have a means of making us breath underwater."

"If we could get another vehicle out there, maybe we could pull it out, or even winch it out. Other than that, I'm not sure how to get it unstuck, and I don't know if it would even be possible to bring a vehicle through the portal to help you out." Unfortunately, none of Kyle's powers could help in this situation, unless making the vehicle a maximum of 10% lighter would help. Without knowing more about the technology of the man's world, he couldn't even know if they had the tech to winch it out.
"I'm Kyle Long." he said, introducing himself.

[Park Entrance - North] (Mortosh/Zam)

Sam trudged along through the woods, letting his feet guide him along the well worn woody path towards Alice's home. Or, well, what was left of it. Well, more accurately, the amount of it Old Ambros's construction friends had managed to rebuild. He hadn't spoken to Alice or her grandfather since the old man had gotten out of the hospital, and even that had been only few strangled words of apology that he couldn't be sure he'd actually said anywhere but inside his own head. He honestly wasn't sure what he was going to do once he got there. What could he say to her? That house, it had been special to her. Even he could tell that. He supposed he could hammer nails, or whatever it was you did when building a house. Maybe he should apologize again. Maybe he should have brought a gift. Maybe, Maybe, Maybe, Maybe...

Maybe he should have been watching where he was going, because it was during this stream of self doubt that he suddenly stepped out of the woods and through a gate. He stopped mid-stride, held in place by a finely developed sense that things had gone very weird. When a crazed, hatched wielding rabbit was out for your head you learned to listen to this sense. He looked around quickly, taking in the surroundings. In the calm, serene sort of atmosphere that permeated the place the only living inhabitant that Sam could see seemed starkly out of place.

A mysterious hooded figure wasn't exactly the sort of person you wanted to meet in a dark alley and Sam couldn't decide if meeting one after walking through a mysterious gate was better or worse. He didn't exactly believe in fairies, but if the events of the past few weeks had taught him anything it was that you didn't have to believe in something for it to hurt you. He took a deep breath, spun on his heel, and ran back the way he came.

A loud BANG! echoed through the area as he ran right into the only partially open gate and tumbled back into the park on his butt, gripping his throbbing head.

[Park Entrance - East] (Alba) (Cecil) (Kyle) (Lino) (Grun)
Upon hearing an angry shout back towards the entrance Lino turned to see two people who had apparently just bumped into each other while walking. One was very short, and looked just like a dwarf from one of his friend's video games. But that couldn't be true, right? There was no such thing as dwarves. Lino listened into the two's conversation, only understanding what was said in English. There was a slight sense of danger emanating from them, as though there was a possibility of something bad about to happen to them. A vehicle dredged under water, what could go wrong? It would probably be best to go help them so that there was no chance of anything happening. Lino walked over towards them.

"Hello, sounds like you are in need of assistance," Lino said, not bothering to hide that he had overheard their conversation. "Want some help?"

[Park Entrance - East] (Alba) (Cecil) (Kyle) (Lino) (Grun)

Another vehicle? He already assumes I have a tank! Perhaps he knows a lot more about the dwarvern race than just merely looking at him. I'll have to remember to ask him about it later. Grun thought with his arms folded once again. "Another vehicle should do nicely to pull it out, especially with some form of winching device. But aye, I believe your questioning getting another vehicle out there might be the tricky part... unless there's another gate somewhere, or perhaps one outside the gates. My own vehicle is the only I have known where I come from, so I do not know if it would be possibly to simply come across one nearby." he agreed with the boy's options. "We'll need help for this endeavor."

"Kyle Long? Is that supposed to be some sort of joke?" Grun asked, unfolding his arms and standing straighter, as if ready to attack. "Well... I guess that makes myself Grun Small, ahahaha!" he bellowed, grabbing his belly as he laughed. "Splendid to meet you! I can't thank you enough for your help, considering we manage to get it unstuck. I should be fine handling any damage it might hold, either way." he said, calming down as his speech went on.

Another young man seemed to walk up to the two, apparently listening in on what they had been conversing. Luckily, however, Grun and Kyle had just been needing some more help. "We certainly are in need of some assistance." he replied, "You don't happen to have access to a vehicle, do you?" he asked as he refolded his arms once again. He couldn't help but eye the strange clothing the human wore. This one obviously was different... but, Grun still didn't know why. He still assumed it was just himself being weird.

@Gentlemanvaultboy "Are you alright?" Zam asked with Mortosh walking behind her who then walked past her, bent down and offered his hand to boy

[Park Entrance - North] (Mortosh/Zam)

@Gentlemanvaultboy "Are you alright?" Zam asked with Mortosh walking behind her who then walked past her, bent down and offered his hand to boy

Glowing eyes. It had glowing eyes.

He scooted away as the other guy leaned down, quickly scrambling to his feet and turning to face it and...the fairy. Yeah, there it was: an honest to god fairy. A tiny little blue lady. She'd spoken. She'd talked to him. As this realization dawned he felt himself calm down just a little. The Bunnyman had never talked. Everything he'd had to say was said through the swing of an axe. Were these two different from that? Where had they come from, anyway? He'd never heard any rumors or stories about fairies or ringwraiths living in the woods. Had these Tulpa come from somewhere else and settled here? Damn small reference pools, he didn't understand anything!

Still, he wasn't dead. He'd thought for sure that he was dead when he ran into the gate. He decided he should probably work on keeping it that way.

"I, uh..." he started, raising up his hands entreatingly. He looked around the serene little area again, licking his lips nervously. "I don't know where I am. If, uh, if I'm some sort of intruder I apologize. I did not mean to come here."

@Gentlemanvaultboy "you think we own this place?" Zam then looked at Mortosh who seemed to be chuckling "No were just visitors like you also i am Zam Mano and That Mortosh he doesn't speak but he is a friendly skeleton" Zam said.

[Park Entrance - North] (Mortosh/Zam)

@Gentlemanvaultboy "you think we own this place?" Zam then looked at Mortosh who seemed to be chuckling "No were just visitors like you also i am Zam Mano and That Mortosh he doesn't speak but he is a friendly skeleton" Zam said.

He was just going to pretend he hadn't heard that skeleton comment.

"You're not?" he asked tentatively, relaxing a little more. An old tidbit of a story jumped into his head, something about the fae not being able to lie. Was that a thing? Did people believe that? If so, that meant they really were just visitors to...here. If that was true maybe they could help him figure out where here was. There was no shortage of old abandoned structures in the woods around town, but this place was far too well maintained to be one of them.

"I'm Sam. I'm a, uh, well, I like to think of myself as a, sort of, an investigator." He said, remembering another tidbit that said to never give faeries your true name. He didn't know what powers these Tulpa might have (if that's even what they were) but he didn't want to push his luck. Better to just obey anything he remembered. "So, did you guys get an invitation to come here or...?"

[Park Entrance - East] (Alba) (Cecil) (Kyle) (Lino) (Grun)

"No, can't say that I do," Lino replied. He had gotten here through some sort of portal. "I've heard that there is a hotel here, perhaps they have some trucks, or at least be able to send staff out to assist us."