Affili

Torn Across the Rift

Stone statues and monsters. can't go wrong with that

Torn Across the Rift

Dimitri was happy to share the booze. The more the merrier as far as he was concerned, but he was a little more reluctant to surrender the flask for testing lest it accidentally be broken. He poured most of the booze out into the Siva Coffee Co cup and slid it towards Charles with a smile.
“No, there’s no nuts in this one. A few things but no nuts in this one! I’ll tell you after you taste it how’s that?" he snatched the cup up for a drink before Charles could touch it and held onto it as he continued.
"The catalyst can not manifest liquid from nothing, it can only replenish what is left . I’m not a sorcerer so I don’t know the exact science of it all to be honest. If I could, I would have Telvah’ra explain it all to you but alas the master sorceress is not here so you shall get my version of it all” he finished with a dramatic yet wobbly pose as he lifted the flask high above his head. The monk cleared his throat for an added effect
“This is a minor catalyst...on second thought, perhaps we should all sit down for a brief history lesson.” he hopped up on a nearby table and was silent for a few moments Then rested the cup down and settled back on his table, propping one leg up to make himself more comfortable.
“Now this little slice of history goes way, way back. Back before I was even thought of. Back before my parents were even thought of and even before the Grand Coucil and the United Craftsmen Guild!”
The monk paused to jog his memories and sift through years of research and history lessons. He looked at the cup once more then took hold of it for another drink before anyone else could get their hands on it.

There was no way these people would believe the history lesson that he was planning! After all their knowledge of magic seemed fairly limited in comparison to the lore that was common knowledge of the Temperance people.

Dimitri tapped his chin for a few minutes and took another sip then wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.
“You guys are probably going to think I’m crazy but you have to try and understand that Temperance’s magical core is literally an embodiment of magical energy. As sure as the grand ocean we are buried so deep in right now, Temperance once throbbed with unchecked magic. Her magical core is considered by many as somewhat of a sentient being, with thoughts and emotions. She whispers to her people on the wind. Her Laughter can cause the very ground to shutter...Her tears; heavy enough to fill a lake...” A pause for dramatic effect...and another sip.
“So in the days of old, before the Great Terra-form, wars waged with catastrophic results. The power of those Ancient Titans is almost unfathomable. Their armies of followers were too many to count. It is agreed by lore masters across the four continents that these Titans and their followers were responsible for the Core’s initiation of what history calls The Great Terra-form. The four risen continents that is modern Temperance...All birthed from the magical abuse of those ancient people and their devastating wars. I suppose we should thank them really, but I Digress."
He distractedly tugged at a loose thread on his robe then looked up once more and continued.
"Ah yes! Absolutely All of the Titans were slain by agents of the Core during the Great Terra-form and most of their followers as well, but the few tribes that remained were forced to live within great cave systems and labyrinths without their Titans until the Core was finished with Her Terra-form. No one really knows how long the Great Terra-form took, but once it was completed and the remainder of civilization scattered across the four continents they basically had start over. The Magical energy that once so freely roamed the lands sealed forever by the Core herself." The monk sighed almost sadly
"Only several key veins exist in the new world and these are scattered across the risen continents allowing some of the Core’s magic to vent. Well after some time a group of more clever craftsmen more clever than the rest, found the locations of said veins and this is what triggered the founding of the United Craftsmen Guild and said guild later became responsible for the construction of the Mega Catalysts. Think of them as distributions hubs for most of the magical catalysts used by the people of Temperance today. These Mega Catalyst sites are heavily fortified and policed by the United Craftsmen Guild. While politics of the New world are handled by the Grand Council. Oh And Grand It is! Made up of dozens of representatives from each of the Four continents so everyone has a say in the final say...so to speak”
He chuckled at the statement then raised the cup to his lips once more taking a long drink from it.

Dimitri was unsure how the Twain and Charles would feel about him after hearing his lousy take at the history of Temperance but it did not matter to him all that much. It wa s along and complicated hstory. In fact, he half expected them to burst out laughing right there and he wouldn’t blame them if they did!

This time the monk showed the cup to Charles once he was finished drinking from it,winked, then poured the little bit left in the cup back into his flask and replaced the lid. With a serious expression on his face he mumbled a ridiculous sounding chant then shook the flask violently a few times before bursting out laughing.
"Just kidding!"

A few moments later those sensitive to magical energy would feel a strange stir in the air as Dimitri focused his energy. The crystal pulsed with a faint blue glow illuminating the monk’s hand as the catalyst responded to his soul essence and his will. In a few seconds, the monk poured more booze out into the coffee cup once more, filling it to the point that it overflowed.
He smiled triumphantly as he slid the cup towards Charles finally gesturing for him to take a drink.
“Well have at it Charles! Dimitri’s finest! Well perhaps not my finest but damned good either way.”

The concoction would be ice cold as if just removed from a refrigerator and
despite the fact that it had been watered down from several refills, the booze would still be stronger than the average aged scotch without that common choking aftertaste. The flavor would be rich and sweet with a hint of a smokey aftertaste similar to coffee. Its flavor so smooth it would encourage one to take a long gulp of it. Heaven forbid that person was a light drinker, they would feel the effect almost instantly perhaps even black out entirely just from one long gulp of it!

Dimitri could hardly contain himself as he waited, all other questions ignored for the moment. If Charles could handle the drink without passing out, he would be more than happy to answer some more questions. If not, well the jovial monk would certainly have a good laugh and perhaps draw a crooked mustache and goatee on Charles’ face while he was down for the count.

Torn Across the Rift

Well you lot did a number on me. Im writing this huge post about the history of Temperance and the magical system and to be honest I haven't really wrestled with that animal for a while so i'm having trouble relaying my idea to you all. I think i will save the history for a later date. It's kind of juicy already but I don't know if i'll have the post ready tonight.

Torn Across the Rift

Natasha eyed the rude secretary furiously as she was waved through to Tristan's office. Perhaps the lady was just jealous. Tristan was after all easy on the eyes and if his secretary did not have him to look at all day whom else could she fantasize about? Some deep sea creature or a school of scatterbrained fish?

She shut the door behind her and watched quietly as Tristian sat down at his large rather empty desk.
“I would expect the leader of TRIDENT to have at least some small semblance of work scattered across their desk...I mean damn, you don't even have a coffee cup hanging around this desk are you just the handsome face of public relations or what?”
She paused for a moment and looked back towards the door then leaned towards Tristan revealing her neatly presented cleavage
“By the way, I think your secretary is jealous of me or something because of this little one on one we’re having right now...Perhaps a little over possessive I don't know. She seems kind of stuck up and miserable and maybe a little fat!”
The MOON operative sat back in her chair once more and was silent for a few minutes as she considered Tristan's words.
“Well let's see, the vacation was fine and dandy, got some sexy tan lines out of it. Everything was great until the MOON operatives stopped updating me and I came back to work then found out that all of my fellow operatives were you know….gone whilst attached to TRIDENT and this god forsaken floating fortress you live on. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?”
Her emerald eyes glared at the man across the desk and just as he drew breath to speak she cut him off
“By the way! I don't know if you've heard yet since you look so busy and all at the moment, but the ritual site has since been destroyed. Everything's gone. Well mostly everything save for a few bits and pieces the team managed to scoop up while we were valliantly avoiding our demise once those ruins crumbled...It was a magical related demolition.” she held a hand up to stop him then continued
“A destruction equivalent to several pounds of fucking C4”
Her eyes shifted to the photograph Tristian kept in his office then returned to him once more.
“Twain was able to interrogate one of the ritualists before the place fell though. He wrenched a good bit of information from the reanimated corpse before its puppet master cut the strings though. Information, Plans...Names” the words trailed off as the desecrated corpse's words echoed in her mind. The red head shook herself free of the memories then looked at Tristan once more as she deliberated if he was trustworthy enough for her to continue. “He mentioned Slay...Tristian. It may have been just ramblings of a dieing dead man but he did mention Slay.” She fell silent after that and gazed into Tristian's eyes intently. “You remember that name don't you.”

Dimtri

“Ahhhh the brew of the day?” Dimitri scratched his head absently and shifted his eyes to their upper left corners as he tried to recall how long he had actually had his latest brew then abandoned the task with a shrug.
“Not sure how long it's been really! Days, weeks perhaps.” He flipped the flask upside down and tapped the Water Catalyst that was embedded into the base. “The water catalyst makes it hard to tell you see! Refills the thing with water whenever I need it! I mean after a while the brew loses its potency, but it never runs dry unless I want it to!” He bragged with a slightly inebriated smile before plunging a hand deep within his robes. He withdrew a well worn leather pouch and tossed in on a nearby table so that its contents spilled out. “These are the herbs and mushrooms and grasses I gathered on my last excursion into the Eastern Ridges of Temperance though. It's what I had on me when I fell from my Windstrider after the effects of a different brew hit me full on! The rest of my stash was in one of the saddlebags.”
Dimitri paused suddenly, patting at his robes before plunging his hand into them once more.
“Oh yes and these too!” He tossed some bits of dried tree bark onto the table beside the pouch then proudly swept an arm over the ingredients as his grin broadened.
“So lets see. Now all we need is some kind of boiled sweet tree sap and an airtight keg to pour it all into. We reboil everything, pour it out and seal our keg for a few days so that the tree bark can do its thing and trigger fermentation! And just like that, we can have a new Dimitri's brew of the day...You guys have an alchemy lab on this tin can anywhere?” he asked as he passed the flask to Twain so he could examine it.
“You won't be able to activate the catalyst though, it was fused with my soul essence before the final enchantment but if you have an empty glass, I'll give you a little demonstration.”
The monk slid an empty Siva Coffee Co cup towards Twain and chuckled. “Go ahead, empty the flask but don't spill it though. It's a fine brew indeed! feel free to have a sip while you watch.” He added with a wicked smile.

He turned his attention to Dayna “You want to try it too?”
she narrowed her eyes in aggravation and answered flatly
“No fleshling. I am a ball of energy. I an not solid and so, I'm certain it would simply fall right through me and puddle onto the floor. As entertaining as it would be to see you lapping it all up, I find the notion of drinking plants and dirty things unappealing.”
“Oh really now? Then tell us. If you find eating and drinking things so unappealing how do you sustain yourself?” he countered with a grin
“I didn’t say that you fool. I said dirty things”
“Suit yourself, but you don't know what you're missing. Dirty things always taste the best!” He finished with a laugh.

If Dayna was not so interested in the monk's upcoming demonstration, she would have left the room right then to pursue a much more productive way to pass her time so instead; she just floated there, burning the monk with her spiteful glare, unable to decided what annoyed her the most; How he so blissfully ignored her glares, or the fact that he always seemed to be grinning.

Torn Across the Rift

Oh boy. Those posts make my fingers want to eat the keyboard but alas I'm stuck at work. I might sneak a post in though. As long as i pick my boss' office door and find his PC logged on . if not I'll post this evening

Torn Across the Rift

So I have found a work around and I think i shall be able to stay active. hope everyone is ok.

Torn Across the Rift

Dimitri and Dayna:

Dimitri scauffed at Charles' question about the dangers of necromancy. "Oh it's not terribly dangerous. Raising spectres and dead things from the ashes and all. Vengeful spirits andhte likes. It's a very constructive art...Litteraly."the monk laughed at his own whitisism unsure if Charles would really get it. Twain might though. His remarks would probably be of no help to Charle's decision or Twain's efforts to recruit him, but the monk could not help himself.

Dayna floated patiently with an expectant glare in her eyes as she awaited Twain's response to her question. She was truly curious about the Necromancer's coat. Earth had proven a strange place thus far and its inhabitants were even more stranger to the elemental sprite. Magic, secret organizations, war... So many things to learn.

Natasha

The fiery red head had decided afterall that it was a good a time as any to hunt down Tristan. The more she had sat in her room to dilliberate the more apparent it had become that she needed to meet with him. She had stopped at the mess hall for a cup of coffee then had asked one of the uniformed Trident for directions to Tristians office where she now sat in a small waiting room to wait for him. It had taken a lot of restraint for the MOON operative not to render the man's secretary unconcious after she rather flusteredly told Natasha she needed to make an appointment, but after a little persuasion, the secretary had reluctanly excused herself to see if Tristan was available.

Torn Across the Rift

im there. sorry for the wait.

Torn Across the Rift

Dimitri
The monk had decided to visit with Twain upon their return to Tridents HQ. Happy as he was to be out of that bitter cold and crumbling rubble the tin cans that served as Tridents Mobile Head Quarters was almost equally depressing. The monk had no love for Twain’s Magic, but his knowledge on the topic of magic was the closest thing the monk would come to his homelands where magic was a very well known and present entity. Since the artisans had mastered the refinement of Catalysts, magic was almost as common to the Temperance people as electricity or running water. But Dimitri would find none of it here. The Ebb and Flow of Earth’s magic was a completely different animal than the familiar presence of the natural magical currents back home. He paused outside of Twain’s Conference room, raised the flask to his lips and took a long pull before returning it to its home on his waist. He paused in the doorway for a moment fascinated with the motion sensor and how the female voice of that door constantly reminded people to step through so it could close.

Dimitri’s eye’s fell upon the old leather bound book and he chuckled at how ancient and arcane it looked, happy to have plenty of booze to get him through the next little while.
“That book reminds me of some of the library’s back home, the only thing missing here are the unseen guardians that are able to toss a man across the room should he step out of line...but alas, booze is booze. It works on them too! His eyes rested on Twains. “I’ve come to listen Twain; simply because I can think of nowhere else to go right now and your magic is the closest thing to home I have as uneasy as it makes me feel…Anyone care for a drink?”

Natasha
She had been assigned private quarters back at Trident’s Head quarters and granted relatively moderate security clearance to their database which she was thankful for. No one would bother her there, and if they decided to, she had a few cameras along the route to her quarters so she would see them coming. The office attached to her quarters reminded her of some of the field stations she had been assigned to for MOON. Inconspicuous but full of technology, and the fiery red head supposed this might have been an area put aside specifically for MOON Agents on the rare occasion that they were attached to Trident.

Something had been bothering her for a while. Something that Mikkel had mentioned during the dead man’s grim interview with Twain. Something he had mentioned but things had escalated so rapidly at the castle she hadn’t the time to really think more on the subject of Slay until she was back at the base.
‘Slay...Yes I remember that name from somewhere...Hibiscus and her dusty old photograph. Shit, I have to find Tristan. He was in that picture too damn it.’ she thought to herself. A few moments later she rose from the desk and moved towards the door only to pause mid stride debating with herself whether or not she should go and talk to him or just let it alone for a while.

Dayna
The elemental sprite had wandered around Trident's base for a while aimlessly before catching sight of Dimitri and she had decided to follow him she floated into the room slowly behind the monk then drifted towards Twain her two orbs staring at him scrutinizingly as if she were wiling them to burn holes into that fancy, long dark coat of his. "Mr Twain do you have a body under all of that coat or are you simply just air?" her eyes narrowed "You don't feel like air, but I have yet to see you without that coat on."

Torn Across the Rift

I'm still here everyone just bare with me a little longer and I'll get some posts up.