She raised the silver axe and brought it down, again and again. Crimson glinted along it, along her hands already. The moonlight, shining bright through a broken window gave shape to the slaughter. There wasn't much left of him, already, but their meeting here had been enough. Her eyes held a parting haze of madness, each swing of the axe slower. Eventually she stopped swinging altogether, propping herself up. After a slow breath, she spoke.
"You shouldn't have been here. Sorry." She said that to all of them, though. However many there had been. "See you later." The girl brushed her hair behind her ear, staring down; smearing amber with earlier exertions.
Then, she started walking; dragging her weapon. It scraped and left gouges, producing a wailing that followed her through the silent halls. There were others. Four others, I think. She reminded herself, wiping a bit of blood against her apron. If I get too careless, I'll lose my axe again. Her lax grip and slow stride belied her ready nature, Everyn Krauss ever prepared for whatever lie ahead. Thomas or, at least she thought that was his name, didn't have anything visible. Looks like he'd been a punching bag, too...
"Hey, goddamnit! I thought we agreed on no re-using weapons!" She brought the axe up and scowled, stomping her foot twice. "If you gave someone those space-eating knuckles, again, I'm going to be pissed! I mean, really, how lame can you-"
A sigh from behind that set her to turning, then the swing of an arm. A heavy left that grazed her ear with typhoon winds. Everyn danced away, narrowly avoiding one of the many chairs that seemed to litter the hallway. Her opponent stepped forward. "Get the fuck out of here, I'm not TALKING to you!" Everyn couldn't remember her name, but she was mean. Looks mean, anyway. Boxing gloves, though, for real? It didn't matter. The boxing-girl didn't have what it would take. Everyn pressed forward, through another close and heavy swing; and buried the tip of her axe in the girl's throat. Everyn pressed a bit harder, driving it up after impact; before ducking away and letting the taller girl fall.
"You shouldn't have been here. Sorry." Really, it could've been much worse. She could've actually hit me. The sound of it had been enough to worry her. She sighed, slowly getting her axe back; after knocking aside the corpse-girl's arms and worrying at it for a moment, before it finally dislodged. "See you later," came the usual line as she walked away. Everyn doubted it. The two had never crossed paths in Port Crescendo, before.
More winding hallways waited for her; poor imitations of the academy she attended. Somewhere in their depths were more. Three. Now, she sighed. I killed an unarmed Thomas and an Amazon boxer. Are those really going to be the highlights of my night? She took half a step before spinning her axe and slamming its head against the floor. "You could've shown up, sooner."
"No, madame. I was disposed elsewhere; watching other contestants. Also, I'd never assign a contestant the same weapon." The empty suit that spoke to her did so from the ceiling, a lit cigarette in its hand. It pointed to her with its index and pinky finger. "And, I've come to congratulate you!" Everyn's face was not moved. "Once again, you've come through victorious. What'll it be this time, champ?" From the hand he pointed with came a wave of distortion that fractured the world of glass around them. Gone were the facsimile and facades. Only Everyn Krauss and The Empty Suit remained amidst the pieces.
They floated by. They were moments from tonight. Moments from years ago. Moments that didn't belong to her. Moments that would have been, if she had let them. Really, they didn't much interest her. Well, maybe a few. She didn't think one possibility could exist anywhere in Suit's un-world.
"How many times has this been?" She already knew. Six. Hearing Suit say it was going to be cathartic; she'd been telling herself that for a month. Before, it hadn't mattered.
"Six, Miss Everyn Krauss. Your decision? I am very busy, you know."
That helped cement the decision. She lifted her hands, as if in resignation.
"I want something different. A new world, with new rules. A new game."
A moment of consideration, and an impossible drag off a cigarette.
"And what of you?"
She laughed, a little, letting her axe finally fall from her fingers.
"What a dumb question. I want to be new, too."
Because worlds can be made an unmade on a whim. It isn't my place to challenge the will of one who is momentarily a god. A wise choice, truly. I, too, have grown tired of this game.
Perhaps the next game, the next world, will be kinder to you.
And so the wheel turned. Sinful and vain, unaware of the hands that set it spinning. A wish for a new world was granted, changing little but much. In truth, it was nearly the same world that Everyn Krauss had tried to leave behind. Simply without her existence ever being a factor and several other variables rearranged. Shuffled, more than remade. So too were the rules changed.
The game, however, continued.
The Enlil Network was gifted to humanity, as a result of Everyn's wish, allowing them to see themselves quantified and Ranked. Classes, too, became a commonality; once their access was granted. Even those without a Class still possess their Tablet Skill. Tablet Skills are unique to an individual. Those who aren't classed are usually referred to as 'Nobodies'.
Combat became entertainment, after a time. Eventually institutionalized. Schools, Academies, Universities; all devoted to the practice and perfection of combat. For some reason, briefly before this surge, the Nemesis function became available human beings; allowing them to forever mark one (or several) enemy as their greatest foe.
Do you see where I'm going with this?
• High-school fighting stuff.
• Except a little more slice-of-life?
• Everyone has a Tablet Power. It can be almost anything.
• Everyone is connected to the Enlil Network. People can see when it is being used. (Translucent screens.)
• The Enlil Network lets a human view and interact with their:
-Inventory (Hammerspace. Be reasonable.)
-Statistics (Level. STR, DEX, etc. These will be a general measure and I'll probably make some more of it in the OOC.)
-Skill List (Skills are learned from Class progression.)
-Communication ('Phone' calls, text and e-mail standard.)
-Tablet Grid (Tablet Powers will progress. This will be how.)
-Modification (Allows customization of Enlil Network Interface.)
• I plan to set this in Port Crescendo. Year 2013.
• The game begins anew.
Interested? Let me know! I'm willing to answer most questions you have, probably! I'm looking for a group of anywhere from four to six people. I expect three paragraphs a post. I also expect, despite the kind of dreary and dire things I have planned, for us to have fun!
@Redward I'm sure you'll go into more detail in the main OOC, but what is Port Crescendo like? And how much of our current real world is accurate in this setting? All I ask is a short tidbit. Since this 'Enlil Network' is so drastic, I'm assuming not a lot. Based on how you described it, this thing probably threw all sorts of wack on a historical and political world stage. But I don't want to make assumptions when I know so little of how you want things to be set thematically.
I tend to meditate on potential character designs based on theme and setting for a long time, so getting this out of the way beforehand will be beneficial to me. Thanks in advance.
@Redward My only hangup is that I don't know the exact tone you are going for, you said slice-of-life stuff but our first glimpse into you're world is some psycho killer craziness. It's the only real thing that's throwing off my character creation process, otherwise, I'm all game.
@RyuShura A good question. Port Crescendo isn't heavily developed. All I've really got in mind are a few locations. General idea is that it's seaside and is somewhat sizable. I'll be adding Locations in the OOC. For now I've got a few. Player contributions have worked out, pretty well, in the past; so I'm all for Locations being submitted.
Strangely, the world of NEMESIS HEARTS is molded similarly to our own; at least in appearance. The difference, as I would phrase it, is simply that humanity as a whole was deterred from war and used single combat. (or even 10 v 1 or 3v2, or whatever) This ties into Tablet Powers and the Enlil Network, and the pact (yeah, there's a pact!) formed between Mortals and their benefactors.
There's also Monsters and the like. I'll elaborate on all of that in the OOC.
@Ghost Queen That's rather messy to pinpoint! I would like to begin with a more lighthearted sense of things, focusing on the development of Characters and their respective Skills. Fighting, joking around, making friends and enemies. That's the slice-of-life bit, for me.
How long that goes on is really up to the Players.
I also want Suit's game to begin (continue) with these Characters. Then I think the tone shift will be somewhat evident, once that gets started. Contest details and such will be laid out in OOC. Short of it, though; happens at midnight, lasts six hours and occurs in a contained area. Rules subject to change.
Then I want to see if we can strike a balance of both!
Now, I'm sorry for having to be hasty! Hopefully that cleared up something. If not, please inform me and I'll do better! Work on the OOC will begin later today!
@Redward Thanks! I've got another question though, are we gonna have anything like a starting inventory restriction, or anything? I've got a plan for my character which involves about 26+ hand grenades (it'll make sense once I write it out ;-), or maybe it won't actually)
