Asuras

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

Would be really unfortunate for mages if random mooks had access to Dispel Magic.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

... Nice.

Also, look at @Asuras everyone! Being all active and getting their post for the week out RIGHT AFTER the weekly update! Now that's a dedicated and good little player right there!

*headpats for Asuras*

@Xaltwind

I literally just happened to be visiting RpG a minute after you posted and wasn't busy, so...

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

>"Don't worry he's friendly"
>Facehuggers a guy

Oh also I forgot to share a recent new Annabelle art

big

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

"Hello, Sir Paladin," Annabelle replied with apparent surety that 'Paladin' was actually his real name. Letting out a confused little hum, she tilted her head slightly at Vani as they walked. "Shadow beast thing? You mean Carpenter here? I can assure you he is not dangerous. He is quite amicable to other people, in fact!" she said cheerily before pausing.

"Is there something wrong with him? Also..." Annabelle reached out with her free hand to pat upon Vani's pauldrons, "We'll make it out alive. Let's not consider the alternative until it becomes more certain, yea?"

Annabelle's attention suddenly whipped behind at the sound of a frantic shout; she had missed sight of a soldier in the alley. Damn. Turning her sword back upon the Galanonian soldier, she appeared ready for a quick fight against the greatly outnumbered scout. He certainly was brave to flag them down with no backup. She didn't want kill him if she didn't have to, which gave her an idea.

"Carpenter!" she said with an elated whisper to the familiar beside her. The canid blob nodded and broke into a lightning sprint for the soldier before leaping up and morphing once again. His amorphous body aimed right for the soldier's head to latch around it like some kind of sci-fi alien -hopefully Carpenter could at least block his voice long enough for someone to deliver a merciful knock-out strike, and they could continue on their way.

Arknights - Project Neptune

The VTOL's belly scraped along the ground, passing sparks and small bursts of flame as the metal behemoth rubbed against concrete. It made it down with some bends and bruises, but maintained a perfectly fly-able form in the end. Chariot had Thunderer still over a shoulder, though he had managed to get himself onto his own two feet by then. Quiet words were exchanged, and then she nodded to the Supporter before letting him hold himself up. With a quick hop, she made it up onto the airship's bay, and was moving into the cockpit.

"Damnit I'll do it then!" she shouted to the team. With the cockpit drone already dispatched, she easily fit into the seat, though her legs were a little cramped considering her greaves. Settling her longsword sheathe beside her, she placed her hands over the various controls lightly, as if testing whatever memory she had of flying.

"Alright... alright. Not too different. Not too bad, but... what's this one...?" Chariot muttered to herself. "Whatever. Everyone on board!"

When the team had hopped on, Chariot pushed a throttle, blasting the VTOL's rockets into life as it slowly lifted off. Much as she wanted to simply rise to the skyline, they'd all be sitting ducks up there. That meant navigating between the buildings, which she was not too fond of. No time for hesitation. Chariot pushed the airship into forward motion, flying down the streets thirty feet above the ground. It was just narrow enough that she had to constantly shift the stick, lest one of the engines come into contact with a solid wall. For a moment, it seemed as if their speed, combined with the immediate lack of enemies, meant that they were in the clear, and would reach the other side of the city in no time, but a peculiar feeling soon dismissed such notions.

Everyone's vision seemed to distort here and there, as if the simulation was failing to keep up with their speed, or perhaps their activity itself. The VTOL itself disappeared in brief flashes, leaving them flying through the air upon invisible seats for seconds at a time. Chariot caught herself from simply dropping the controls each time, but yelped nevertheless. Diver's voice came over the communications link.

"Sorry everyone. It looks like the simulation is experiencing some... technical difficulties. We're trying to f-f-f," the voice cut off into a mess of static, repeating sounds. The VTOL disappeared permanently, and soon the entire world around them began to fade into that plain white, endless plain as when they had first arrived. Their sense of forward motion disappeared, though they remained still in their same positions, paralyzed but aware.

"Wh-what's going on...? Guys, can you still hear me?" Chariot asked.

And then, blackness.

Everyone's eyes opened -their real eyes. They were back on the Retra headquarters, inside of the closed pods. A minute passed, and then they opened. Diver stood in the center of the room with a sorry look to her face, feeling guilty of something. Biting her lip, she spoke to the operators as they pulled out of their groggy, disoriented states to the real world.

"Oh my... I'm sorry everyone. It looks like the simulation didn't... quite know how to handle your actions," she said.

"We didn't test some of the modules for vehicular flight. Didn't have time," said one of the engineers working nearer to the room's entrance.

"I suppose there's some merit to finding an avenue for breaking the simulation," Diver chuckled, rubbing her neck. "What did you all think, otherwise?"

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

"Am I a girl?

Well that certainly settled it in Annabelle's mind. Serafaye had been mentally afflicted in some capacity. She had not an inkling of how to undo the curse or confusion, but that was hardly the most pressing point at the moment anyways; the rest of the suddenly inflated team was already heading out to escape the ruins, or otherwise was prepared to do so. Annabelle nodded down to Carpenter and made into a brisk jog, making sure to keep pace but not to exhaust herself too thoroughly at the start.

Carpenter morphed into the shape of a small canid creature, its limbs lithe and long, and easily kept alongside Annabelle's movements. Serafaye's strange walking speed caught her attention for but a moment, but she dismissed it as just another feature to the heavens-sent girl. No doubt they'd all come to understand a good deal more quirks and powers the girl had. While she was confident Serafaye's power exceeded her own, her strange behavior and confusion worried Annabelle as to her usefulness. If they encountered soldiers, would Serafaye even be able to muster a single spell?

Annabelle kept towards the front of the group as much as she could, eyes alert for any other adventurers or soldiers skulking in the corners of the ruined city. If there was to be a fight, she wanted to be the first to take them on; getting Serafaye out was her top priority then. Something about her introduction and confusion felt familiar...

There was a desire to see to it that Serafaye didn't suffer a kind of fate she had herself all those years ago.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

To others, it seemed as if an issue of poor communication. Annabelle surmised that many of the things this 'Serafaye' was talking about was half made from the language of the gods, or perhaps this 'other plane' as Cecilia described it. But the longer that Serafaye continued to act with clear confusion and bewilderment, the more Annabelle felt that the girl was ultimately simply sick and manic. She'd never heard of an 'Omnistorm' or 'Severanoxis'; they certainly seemed like words to describe something truly awful or powerful. Had she been cursed or afflicted in some way?

Annabelle had, of course, made it down much the same way as Cecilia, and approached Serafaye after she'd spontaneously groped at Cecilia's cheeks. Forgetting the lizardman's attempts at touching her, Annabelle shot for Serafaye's hands, grabbing them tenderly in her own if she would let her, and spoke with a soft, caring tone.

"Did this 'Severanoxis' hurt you? Do you need the healing of a mage, perhaps? You look so very bewildered. Hysterical, even. I do not know what it is like to be 'Serafaye' in her home plane, but you seem like you need help in ours," she said with a worried smile. "My name is Annabelle. We can help you figure out what is going on, if you would have us."

Arknights - Project Neptune

In those short few seconds that the team had put together a plan and then worked to carry it out, the entire lobby floor had already been turned into the image of a well-worn battlefield. Nearly every surface imaginable had become blackened and chipped from gunfire. Were the bullets of this world not of a different design, the lobby would have undoubtedly been filled with smoke from projectile explosions as well.

Chariot was nearly ready to give Thunderer a heavy dosage of Originium healing, but she held the Arts back as she witnessed Vlad's swift application. It was a rugged solution, but it worked. Nevertheless, Thunderer appeared still incapable of rising to his feet for combat just yet. Chariot gave his shoulder a pat, and then retrieved her shortsword, ready for battle.

Thanks to her wide-reaching and severe action, Thrones managed to prone every last droid, and even caused the VTOL to lurch a foot before its engines kicked in more power to offset the sudden shifting. Though prone, some of the more well-positioned drones managed to let off some wayward shots, of course nowhere near striking any of the Operators, even as they moved in to slay the inundated robots. Ten seconds was plenty of time for them to dispatch the unarmored enemies, and as soon as Thrones released her grip, they were once more left with a moment's respite from being assailed.

The same, however, could not be said for Feral. While the VTOL did not utilize any suddenly-appearing vehicle mounted gunnery, she wasn't completely safe. The operator caught hold onto the ledge of the VTOL's bay, still lifted up from when the droids had dropped down. Lifting herself up into the bay platform, it appeared all of the active droids had already been dropped save for two -two which, while initially inactive with their heads bowed and their backs locked onto a hanging mechanism, suddenly sparked to life. The clamps holding them in place released, and their metal feet hit the floor of the VTOL's interior with a clang.

Their sides had holstered firearms, but they opted instead to pull machetes from slots in their hips to attack her, likely cautious of opening fire inside the VTOL. They swung at her in tight space, but proved all too easy to kill. However Feral might have dispatched them, she was left with an entire aircraft to hijack.

The cockpit was accessible, and immediately visible to her in the two-seater craft were two droids locked into the control array. The cockpit seemed as if equipped to handle Ancient operation, with buttons, mechanisms, steering controls and the like, but which were currently occupied by legless machines strapped to the pilot seats.

In the distance, another alarm blared. The next round was incoming.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

Can confirm elf tiddy is more engrossing than bright lights.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

As the crystals began to crumble of their own accord, and an unnatural sound burst from between the cracks, Annabelle prepared herself for the worst, and hoped for the best. Carpenter returned to her side with a quick jolt of speed, hopping around the corner of a hole in the wall, and she spread her stance, one hand hovering over her sheathed sword. She doubted her ability to fight a goddess, but if the entity so choose to, she wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Her forearm shot up to her eyes, and she averted her gaze as the blinding light enveloped her whole body and the room around her. She grit her teeth and a grunt of shock escaped her, waiting for the wave of brightness to wash away. When at last her sight returned, and the room was left with silence and one new, small body, she stood straight.

Annabelle waited and watched for the strange girl from the heavens to speak. What she didn't expect was the shock of the girl. Visibly recoiling as the girl shouted, Annabelle's hand quickly darted to her sword, briefly but hesitantly afraid that the horned girl was angered. When she appeared only simply frightened and confused, her grip relaxed. She looked to Ciel and Cecilia in turn, before speaking.

"M-miss... Er... H-hello. Are you alright? Do you know where you are?" she asked, mustering a light smile.