Balthazar007

The Six Crystals

Stallo City (D9), Early Morning

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... Zara nodded, her expression serious. "I take my responsibilities very seriously, Mr. Jorath. You can count on me to do everything in my power to protect your family." Jorath turned to her, smiled, and clapped her on the back. "We'll get along just fine the two of us," he said as he started walking towards the aircar his family had boarded. "Go to Verus for any questions you might have, I am sure you two will get to know each other nicely during our trip," were the last words he left her with before the driver closed the passenger door behind him.

"Fuck..." Zara rolled her eyes and sighed at the mention of the canine. "It's fine Zara... it's just one man, you've dealt with worse than that... yeah..." Just as she was hyping herself up a bit, lost in her own little world, she felt a presence creeping up behind. Before she could even turn around to look at who it might be, a gloved hand landed on her shoulder.

@Vec

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Having approached from behind, Verus appeared to Zara's right, his left hand on her right shoulder. He waved as Jorath got into their car. After his employer's door shut, Verus let go of Zara's shoulder and put both hands behind his back. "Mr. Jorath has taken a liking to you it seems." His speech patterns were proper, with little sign of any emotion besides pride. "Let's get going, shall we?" he said, as he motioned to the inconspicuous black aircar that would be following Jorath's much more extravagant car...

The inside of the car was as plain looking as the outside, but at least it was comfortable. The seating arrangement was limousine style: couch-like, leather seats with a back row that elbowed around the driver's side wall and ended just before the wall that separated them from the driver. Optional armrests could be lowered down from the backs of the seats.

When Verus and Zara entered, there was already one other inside. He had black hair with a normal human build, nothing remarkable about the man. He wore the same suit Zara was wearing. His right armrest was down, and he was leaning on it when the doors opened. Upon seeing Verus however, he sat up straight, without a word. Verus motioned for Zara to sit along the wall seats. There was plenty of room, so she didn't have to sit next to the new guy.

Verus sat in the middle of the back row and put both arm rests down, on either side of him. It wasn't until the car had started moving that anyone said anything. "Jackson, this is Zara." Verus said, breaking the silence. "She is our hired hand for this little excursion." The human man known as Jackson simply nodded in understanding. Verus continued. "Jackson is one of my men." he said to Zara. Then, addressing both of them, he dove right into the details.

They were headed to an air ship, which would then take them to the Sutisu Capitol. The entire trip would only take 3 hours. When they set foot in the capitol, it would still be early in the afternoon. From there, their vacation would begin. Jackson would be sticking with the son, who would be going straight to the hotel to be alone and play video games. Verus would be going with Jorath's wife and daughter as they went on a shopping spree. Zara, would be going with Jorath, himself, as he went to visit some of his business contacts.

There was a spark of something in Verus's eyes when he told Zara that she would be with Jorath. Was is jealousy? He hid his emotions well, but obviously something was upsetting him. The spark was gone in an instant, faster than it appeared. With that, his briefing ended.

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Tempum City (K7), Late Afternoon

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... Ah, Mougin whispered, as he was hit with a sudden burst of enlightenment. This youth had expressed his desire to strike his enemies from the back - therefore, when he asked Mougin if he 'got his back', he was in fact asking him to ensure that his own tactic wasn't used against him. Mougin nodded to himself, content with his reasoning, but tilted his head as he continued thinking. Why had this youth asked him this? Surely it would be wiser to pick someone more familiar to themselves to protect them. He mulled it over for a moment or two, but couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer. This wasn't a situation he had encountered in his life. If so, Mougin could only ask one question.
"...Why?"
Well, it probably wouldn't hurt to ask, right?

@Spin The Wheel

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The rough skin young man glanced back in momentary confusion and repeated Mougin's question. "Why?" Then he turned his full attention back to the three humans across the street. He growled his answer, so that only Mougin could here. "Because people like them, humans... they think they're better than us." His intensity rose. "And I can't stand for that."

Without waiting for Mougin's response, the young man stepped off the sidewalk, into the street. As he stepped, his body began to change. His baggy clothes started filling out, as he grew in size. His skin grew darker and small spikes started protruding all over his body. His transformation was complete in only five steps. "Now, how about you tell me why you were laughing!?" He screamed in a much deeper voice.

During the distraction created by the dramatic transformation, the snake-girl had emerged from the alley behind Mougin. With a touch of concealing magic and natural grace, she quickly but quietly snuck forward. Her eyes were on the minotaur's satchel, where she knew he was carrying all his coins. Her plan was to quickly and carefully cut a hole in the bag and empty its contents into the bag she was carrying. Then it would just be a matter of escaping back into the alley...

The Six Crystals

@Balthazar007 I've posted. Right now I'm looking at having some discussion with Vertus if possible (i set up your appearance rather well I think), then have them head to the car in front of Jorath's where the security is at, and have them drive to either the airport or the docks. I am open to either form of travel really.

If the family travels to Sutisu by ship, Zara can probably arrive at Leemo City straight up and meet with Suns at some point soon @Renny. Otherwise if they travel on a plane they would most probably go to the Sutisu capital itself to start their vacation from.

Of course, they could as well travel by portal, as I think Jorath has the money necessary to facilitate this form of transportation. This would get us at our destination without having to waste time on "travel narration".

@Vec

Quick correction. His name is Verus, not Vertus. You switch between the two. No biggie.

I think it would be better to travel by air. As to the destination, I believe Sun's next stop is to Eligiro City. Isn't that right @Renny? Or would you be willing to change his next destination to Sutisu Capitol? Maybe he could stop in Sutisu Capitol for the day of the festival and to see his family, before going to Eligiro City the next day?

I'll have a post up by Tuesday, everyone.

EDIT: Wednesday

The Six Crystals

Tempum City (K7), Late Afternoon

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... Mougin stood there on the street corner, slowly munching on one pastry after another, oblivious to the fact that he had unconsciously walked to a much quieter part of the city. There were only a scant few wandering the streets here, and only the distant sound of merriment broke the silence. That, and the sound of crunchy baked treats being crushed between his teeth.

@Spin The Wheel

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The five young gang members, three human and two beastfolk, had been trailing Mougin since he left the food truck. The humans were doing little to hide their presence, while the two beastfolk remained out of sight.

The group hadn't heard how many coins were on each of the fifteen chips the shopkeeper gave back to Mougin, but it didn't matter. Even if they had only one coin on each, it would still be worth it. And what if they each had more than one coin!? This could be a huge score. Plus, this minautor seemed like a dope, a foolish newcomer to the city. Even so, they didn't want to get into a physical altercation with the hulking monster. They were going to stick to their strengths, stealth and deception. When Mougin stopped to eat, they wasted little time making their move.

One of the beastfolk teenagers, the alligator one, turned a street corner and pretended to notice Mougin by suprise. Then, he headed straight toward Mougin at a steady, normal pace. He was still in human form, but his skin was leathery and his mouth protruded a little further than normal. Despite his rough appearance, he showed a sharp, toothy smile, in an effort to appear friendly. "Hey there!" he said, trying to get Mougin's attention. "Where did you get those? They smell great!"

As the alligator-teen approached, the three human teenagers starting laughing. They were on the other side of the street, and between laughs, they would point at Mougin and/or the alligator-teen. Clearly, they were making fun, ridiculing the two beastfolk.

Before Mougin could respond to the alligator-teen, the leathery boy had turned and started yelling. "Shut the hell up!" His pointed teeth on full display, he turned to Mougin. "Those pricks are making fun of us! I'm going to kick their asses. You got my back?"

The snake-girl, the fifth member of their sneaky gang was nowhere to be seen...

The Six Crystals

My bad, that was me misreading. I can change it if it'll be more convenient for you, it doesn't really make a difference to me

@Spin The Wheel

No no, you're fine. Its actually a good example of how you can all move along the timelines of individual storylines, as long as you're at different locations. It was early afternoon in Tempum City; now it's late afternoon. Works for me!

Also, the only parts of town that would be fairly empty at this point would be places were people primarily live, sort of like suburbs in the middle of the city. And fyi, Mougin has been followed. Let's see how you respond to my next post. lol

The Six Crystals

I will try to get a post out within the weekend.

@Vec

Heard that. Sounds good!

@Spin The Wheel, Oh, you've brought the timeline forward a few hours in your location. That is completely fine by me. For everyone reading this, you can absolutely move your story arcs along, so long as you don't move them more than about 18 hours or so. I'm looking at @Renny on this one. When you respond as Sun, you can summarize everything they talk about for that hour and skip to where General Bolis is actually using Sun's help. I picture them looking out his window, which overlooks a vast "courtyard" of sorts, enough to fit about 100,000 soldiers.

Caution: When players start to interact with one another, make sure your partners (i.e. other players with characters your character is interacting with) are okay with however long you would like to push the story.
Edit: If you're roleplaying alone (i.e. with only my NPCs) then you don't have to ask me first.

The Six Crystals

I'll try to get a post out tomorrow, various things happened today

@Spin The Wheel

You're totally fine my friend. Whenever you are ready. 🙂

The Six Crystals

Tempum City (K7), Early Afternoon

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...
He had finally divulged the truth of the matter. The man in front of him, while projecting a friendly facade, was a fiendishly skilled hunter of beings such as himself. An experienced trapper that set a truly irresistable bait in front of him, daring mougin to step into his snare. The minotaur lumbered to the front of the food cart and slowly brought his fist to the counter, opening his fist and dropping his entire fortune - the 20 gold coins he had bartered so hard for - onto the countertop. It was a reward to the shrewd hunter, for managing to catch him so cleverly.
"Please." He added, for that was, apparently, the custom in human society.
@Balthazar007

@Spin The Wheel

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At first, the food truck vendor was puzzled by how long the large minotaur took to respond and move. Then, it started to amuse him. Having been doing this job for many, many years, he could recognize someone from the Giant Foot Tribe, and this one looked fresh off the boat.

Amusement gave way to surprise, when Mougin placed 20 chips onto his counter. "Oh my!" he thought out loud, letting out a soft whistle. With an expert hand he swiped up all twenty chips and looked Mougin in the eyes. He then spoke in an audible, yet hushed voice, "My brother, you shouldn't be showing off this many coins."

The hand in which he held the coins was inside a glove. A small display on the backhand of the glove displayed '20 Coins'. These chips actually contained one coin each. Someone must have swindled this minotaur, hoping to impress him with twenty shiny pieces of metal. They must have gotten something very valuable in exchange, something he didn't even realize was valuable.

Keeping five coins, he handed the other fifteen back to Mougin. Even one coin would normally buy a meal from his truck. Three would be enough for a large meal, one suited for a beastfolk of Mougin's size. The other two, well those were his tip, for not outright robbing the poor sap.

"Here." The boar-man reached below the counter, opened some kind of door, and then produced a large bag. "This is for you." The bag was full of food, enough to fill even Mougin's stomach. "Now, do me a favor, and hide those coins. And when you want to buy something, ask how much it costs first."

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Leemo City (F5), Noon

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...
In the midst of his musing, Bolis' door slid open with a near-silent hiss. Suns often considered the dull sound a purposeful function. Just loud enough to be registered. He strode inside with his hands still held behind his back and hearing the hiss of the door close behind him, his small smile widened and his eyes softened. Bolis was perhaps his oldest friend and really the only good thing about being in Leemo City.

Suns lowered his head to acknowledge his friend's gratitude then grew quiet to acknowledge Bolis' oncoming request. His smile shrunk and an odd impulse seemed to fluctuate between himself and the Crystal. Was it trying to influence him again?

"Exactly whose help do you need, Bolis? Suns' or the Crystal Bearer's?" he asked.

@Renny

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General Bolis sighed at Sun's straight forward remark. "I need the power of the crystal. You know this." He bowed his head in respect. He then raised his head, his honest smile returning, "But your company is always appreciated."

Usually when Sun came here, he and Pietro would just talk. They would talk about life and about the war. Other times, Pietro would ask Sun to place his hand on his shoulder, which would amplify his psychic abilities. This was one of those times.

"The last of our soldiers will be arriving in an hour. Once they are all here, I'll need to borrow some of your power, so that I can use my ability to scan all their minds at once. I have to be sure they haven't been brainwashed or even worse, cursed." He then turned to look out the window at the back of the office. "We owe it to these soldiers and their families, to make sure they are in good health when they return home."

The tone of his voice lightened as he turned his head back to Sun. He now sounded like he did when Sun first entered the room. "It's been two months since the last time you visited. How have you been?"

The Six Crystals

@Balthazar007 The first scenario I thought of was for them to be close childhood friends (maybe Bolis being an older brother figure). Maybe the dads were close friends before that and that encouraged their friendship. Or if he's a bit older than I'm thinking, Bolis could have been introduced by his Dad for tactical/political gains. 7 to 8 years sounds like a good number for this scenarios.

@Renny

How about, since my character is 8 years older than your's, we go with they are good acquaintance. Both from Sutisu capitol, they may not have been formally introduced, but they met at one of the many galas/balls. Bolis or Sun was hiding away from the party, and the other one also stumbled upon the same hiding spot. This desire to escape the crowd is what they bonded over. They continued to have these encounters over the years, forming a quiet bond and a mutual respect. They didn't hang out together as friends outside these gatherings.

That first meeting was when Bolis was 15 and Sun was 7. Bolis stayed in Sutisu city till he was 23, studying logistics, like his family usually does. When he reached a certain level, he left to go join the military. So this would put Sun at 15, and they would have been "friends" for eight years.

They wouldn't speak to each other again until a few months after Sun gained control of the crystal. By this time, Bolis was already a high ranking officer, but not a General. Bolis offered his condolences, but they didn't start hanging out or anything. They both had too much going on in their lives. They did, however, start calling each other on occasion, to stay in touch.

Since Bolis became a general (2 years ago), Sun has started visiting him in person once every few months or so, at Bolis's request. While other Generals see Sun as a mear tool that isn't doing enough for his nation, Bolis sees a young man, a friend, who has had a great burden thrust upon him. He sees Sun's potential to help the war, but he also doesn't want to push the young man into doing anything he doesn't want to do.

How does a that sound? Anything to add/change?

The Six Crystals

@Spin The Wheel I'm already starting to like Mougin as a character. He just plopped 20 coins down without even understanding their value! Hahah! I love it!

I'll have my reply up in 24 to 60 hours from when you posted it. This will be my standard: less than three days, but no sooner than one day. This should give others enough time to post as well, so that I can multi-reply more often.

The Six Crystals

@Spin The Wheel@Vec@Renny

I apologize for the wait you three. I didn't realize how much work three character sheets and three short posts would be to craft. I did it though! Only took like 3-4 hours total. Haha!

If you look in the "Characters" tab, you will find three new NPCs in the first post. Your characters will be properly introduced to all three of these characters, in my next post, after your next post.

@Renny, I would like it if your character knew General Bolis from before he obtained the rank of General. How far back would you like their connection to go? When do you think they would have met and how?

@Neianna86, You seem to be aiming to start in Tempum City, where @Spin The Wheel is starting with Mougin. Maybe you two should collaborate. Depending on Mougin's reaction to my next post, he may could use some backup.

As for @ARedneckWizard, take your time. We'll be here when you're ready.