BCTheEntity

Capes of Denver: A Worm RP

Raymond Haywood: The Cruise Room

Everyone seemed to go about their methods reasonably peaceably once the kerfuffle with Benito was done with, asking for or declining vials as appropriate. Indeed, it seemed the newly-established parahuman could return the objects he disappeared as handily as disappearing them in the first place. Useful to know - if he ever needed to fight him, of course. Not that he ever would.

And then, with some dramatic forewarning and flickering lights, along came Xolotl, bragging about his superiority, and his plan to steal the vials, and how everyone at the meeting was going to die. This, then, would be the Community’s spy at their meeting- well, one of them, at least. It could easily be he was alone, or perhaps that he had backup for just such an occasion as this. Either way, since he knew he could take the maniac out with contemptuous ease given half a second to direct the shot properly, Raymond drew his weapon from its holster, standing up and moving into the aisle to aim the weapon as Xolotl made a dramatic leap toward “the Broker”...

And promptly fell in an awkward heap in front of the man. Hmm. He’d expected more resistance than that. Then again, when he knew the real Broker’s powers had something to do with manipulating the powers of others almost freely, it wasn’t that surprising after all. He didn’t put his pistol away or sit down, though nor did he shoot, now that he knew his power would be unnecessary to secure the target - no need to risk revealing it by knocking him out with a bullet, after all.

Instead, as the so-called Broker bragged right back at Xolotl (and announced a decent reward for knocking him out), he approached the Meso-American-themed villain from behind slowly, only to sprint the last couple of meters and attempt to crack the would-be God across the back of the head with the gun, an effort to daze rather than directly knock out. If that worked, he’d actually take the odd step of placing his gun behind himself - out of reach of Xolotl, for the time being - as he knelt down and attempted to put the man in a blood choke, ideally leading to a quick and easy knockout, at the same time jerking his head to indicate that the “bartender” ought to bring some rope to tie him up once all was said and done. He focused on being a sniper, true, but it wasn’t like his army training wasn’t still useful in cases like this, even if he was no longer at quite his physical peak.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

Post made, fellas. For reference, if we want to speed things along, @POOHEAD189 is free to make Sett finish up the ritual and grant the blessing once everyone is back in one spot, mostly Nicademus.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

Sett's sleep was rather fitful, though it calmed as the night went on. Good, then, that nobody else had shared a room with him to be disturbed by his motions. By the time he awoke, roused by the odd noises rattling around the Madame Alice's quarters, he was feeling much calmer. Indeed, he was more able, as he took care of basic amenities that morning, such as prayer, and for the first time in a little while bathing, to think back over what Nicademus had said the previous evening with a clear mind.

In the first instance, he remained annoyed at how readily the guard captain had just brushed off his honeyed words. He'd put quite some effort into that speech, after all. However, the annoyance was not that of mere offense, he realised, but rather it combined with how impertinently sharp Nicademus was. He had to be especially careful around him; he rather felt some of the other members of the party were already too suspicious of him, and he'd hardly done anything worth drawing suspicion to begin with. Nothing stolen from anybody, only items pulled from their place when he'd been sure nobody was looking... honestly, he wondered whether Fineki was annoyed with him for not taking more chances.

And in the second, it struck him that perhaps he'd been a bit too cruel in his mind toward the guard's plight. Even if he hadn't technically been "tortured" as a prisoner- and that was a debate for a church, whether whipping and chains yet counted as torture, or whether such pains needed to be more protracted than that- he had indeed lost both his home town and his family to the Dark Elf scourge. To discount that merely because he portrayed himself as too much of a victim...

...yet, in the third instance, he found he could not forgive how he merely ignored the possibility that others had also been tormented by their foul clutches. Not that sympathy fell more handily on Aeryn for any reason of race or gender, nor that Nicademus' credibility was in question, but unlike the guard, she'd proven without doubt she was a victim to the group. They'd encountered her, in chains, about to be executed simply for being half-breed. Was he perhaps letting some aspect of her being reach him where Nicademus had failed to reach with his first impression? Well, maybe. He reiterated to himself that his first impression hadn't been the best, then resolved to try and find some spark of goodwill toward the guardsman.

Breakfast found itself a simple affair, fruits and bread and a small amount of meat. He wasn't used to exceptionally heavy meals, even whilst he was still ensconced at the Church of Fineki, for despite everything that branch of the cult remained only middling in wealth; his rations were about the richest thing he'd ever consumed in large quantity, to an extent reserved for the most action-intensive days of his trip thus far. And truthfully, whilst he was at least forced to shift his weight when it came to assisting the settlement, he didn't intend this day to be too rough on himself.

Well, at least until the message reached him about their meeting out front. Apparently, they were to go on a hike in search of any nearby Dark Elf settlements - or, perhaps, at least signs that they might be poised to strike back against the party, with the town as consequent collateral damage. Though Alice's statement made sense, Nicademus' next action was simply weird - pleading, nay, literally begging on hands and knees that they help the people of the town, for they didn't deserve to be enslaved simply because those who had fought the Dark Elves before rested there. And that, despite his foul attitude just the day before!

I... don't think I can read him at all, at least not yet, Sett wondered, frowning despite himself. What was he supposed to make of that sort of attitude? Incensed by their mere presence one day, fearful that they'd fail to help the next? Though, both could be explained by the common trait that was "protective of those he cared for", which was at least a positive aspect of Nicademus' persona. Even then, Sett rather felt the urge not to follow after him. Remaining in his presence seemed like it could well end in disaster, depending on how they turned out.

It turned out Aeryn was his saving grace there, citing very emotionally why she really, really didn't want to ever encounter another Dark Elf again, at least not on their home turf. Where one set a precedent, then, the second merely made the option more viable - and unlike her, he could in fact expand with a logical argument for leaving some behind at the village, based on something she'd said probably as an afterthought to her main point.

'Actually, Aeryn does make a fair point,' he began to speak, minding his phrasing just in case somebody had the gall to tell him off again the way Nicademus had previously - though in truth, the man had already vanished, seeking arms and armour for himself in preparation. 'Think ill of me as you will for saying so, but I believe it's fair to state that I am but a priest, and thus the least helpful in a combative situation... directly, that is. I can, of course, offer divine assistance, but there is only so much I can offer to a small group when the gods see fit to offer but a limited portion of their strength.

'On the other hand, of course,' he explained most reasonably, 'with quite a fixture of guards present in this town, one ritual cast can potentially go much further, distributed among so many. Enhancing their speed, their strength, their durability, their agility...' Their luck and fortune he did not say out loud. 'And of course, it could well be, as Aeryn stated, that the Dark Elves are waiting for us to leave before enacting a strike against a village they then perceive to be poorly defended, maybe even specifically to spite somebody like Nicademus. I say again, the effect of these rituals expands more effectively amongst many fighters than few, and there are very many guards within this village.

'That said, of course I would never deny anyone here a long-lasting blessing of divine favour...' At this, he grabbed a nearby stick and began crafting such a ritual circle in the ground immediately, though technically the ritual was for Fineki-granted luck, rather than general divine favour. He lacked his ritual daggers at the moment, so the stick would have to do - and it wasn't doing so badly, after all. Really, any point did a decent job, though the daggers had special symbolic significance that he hoped Fineki would overlook a lack of just this once. He could only assume Captain Nicademus would want to receive this blessing, too, once he returned.

@POOHEAD189@Gardevoiran@The Fated Fallen@Fetzen@Stormflyx@Mortarion

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

@Stormflyx Okay, cool. In that case, I'll be able to write my own post reasonably soon, I think.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

Excellent post, @POOHEAD189. I like it very much. @Stormflyx, do you want us to get started on that collab now, or after people head out on this scouting trip?

Strange Cases of SYNBAD [High Casual]

Collab Between @BCTheEntity (Jack Valent) and @LemonZest1337 (Bridget Blackburn)

In the end, Jack never figured out if Myles and Luka got their breakfasts. It'd be a shame if they didn't, but even if they hadn't, he hoped they managed to pick up some food from the festival, or somewhere else. Maybe they could save the bacon and eggs for later? The pancakes could just be refridgerated and microwaved, for sure, but nonetheless, they'd be good to eat later on. Maybe not the cooked food so much, but you never knew. He'd let Gemina handle that; she was an expert in creating food and forcing it to taste good, even when it shouldn't.

They drove up to the festival, with Bridget taking up a lot of the van, naturally. Aside from being ten feet tall, she also had very wide... uh, wings. Yeah, definitely wings. Well, also wings, but there was no need to elaborate more on that. Focus on Myles instead. Yeah, Myles, what a guy. He claimed he looked like a cancer patient, sure, but he was perfectly fit. More than, even, with how flexible he managed to be, and very popular with a lot of people for his Snapgram images. When they said he was pretty... well, they weren't wrong. Wait, crap, he was doing it again. Luka, Luka, yes, Luka was nice to look at. He'd dressed very well indeed for this event, in a way that really showed his figure off- GAH. Why did he always do this? Killer Queen, Killer Queen was nice and fuzzy. Cats were nice, especially when they could properly communicate what they wanted.

...wow, where had the time gone? They were already there? He had to pay more attention to his surroundings, really. And what surroundings, so bright and colourful, with a lot of people in costume - or out of costume, so to speak. There were some very skilled artists out that day, apparently. Viorel offered them instructions and what seemed to be a joke, followed up by Angelica offering her own instructions, more direct, but less concise. She was very forceful when she wanted to be, of course, but not so charismatic. He was pretty sure he wasn't a shitstain, after all. Bit rude of her, though he understood that maybe there was a bit of pressure to be nice to people.

Speaking of, hey, Nilin, Foster and Harper had arrived. He'd been wondering where Nilin was, a little bit, but it looked like she'd been driven up by Foster and Harper after all. He didn't know which one was in control of their shared body from just a cursory glance, of course, hence "Foster and Harper", but whoever was out, both he and Nilin seemed in high spirits. Had they finally managed to get their date on? That'd be swell if they had, honestly. He'd just leave them to it, he figured... in that case, should he buddy up with somebody else? He spied Jensen heading off on his own, so that was always an option, but he figured pairing up would give him people to chat with between fan talks. Decisions, decisions...

Bridget squeezed herself out of the van grunting as she needed to apply a little bit of force to get out of the door. She hated driving, mostly because a large amount of them aren't designed to take someone of her proportion. As both her feet finally made contact with the pavement she let out a quiet sigh of relief, stretching out her arms and wings. I hate cars... she though to herself as she took a brief moment to look around. There were people here of all shapes, sizes and colours, Bridget wasn't at all surprised to see some imitators among the crowd. Though her sight see was interrupted by Viorel and Angelica. Bridget was a little confused as she could have sworn Viorel just tried to make a joke, she didn't know why this disturbed her so much but she tried not to dwell on it.

Then as to be expected Angelica was tactless as usual but her message was clear. Bridget rolled her eyes when Angelica addressed her specifically. Of coarse Bridget would take photos and behave, what did Angelica take her for? Some kind of bitch or something? Angelica's "pep talk" couldn't have finished sooner, Bridget just wanted to get away from everyone. Some because she didn't care for them, others she found annoying and others she didn't feel comfortable around. She really wanted to get along with some of them at least, but it was hard. She looked over everyone trying to pick out someone she could be bothered to try and get to know.

You had Myles there, she did admire his courage for posting pics on snapgram, but Bridget couldn't help feel anxious around him. He was cute, though she didn't know if he'd cope well with all the attention being close to her would bring. Chloe was a no, sorry not sorry Chloe. Harper and Foster were strange, Harper was pretty annoying actually so that was a no on the dynamic duo. Nilin was pretty nice, but being around her could cause some nasty complications. Luka was too small and adorable, she might step on him accidentally. Jensen was... Already leaving, cross him off the list too. Stirling was just a little strange so she'd leave getting to know him for later. Then there was Jack, he seemed alright, wasn't bad looking either. But he was sooooo boring! Talking to him is like reading a history book, though he still doesn't hold a candle to Viorel. Maybe she could pick Jack, they were at a festival after all, it's not like he could make that boring? Could he? Only one way to find out.

Bridget didn't know how to go about getting his attention though, and she couldn't just ask him to go with her. That'd be showing weakness and Bridget can't be doing that. She'd make him ask her, or at least initiate the conversation, yes that was it! Bridget took a moment to look around, then with a little turn she bumped her tail into Jack gently, just enough to get his attention.

A bump against Jack's leg, just firm enough to have him stumble a little before righting himself, pulled him out of his internal world of considering who to buddy up with. Turning to face the source of the bump, he found Bridget, studiously not paying any attention to him. He'd only known her for a week or so, and he still wasn't quite sure what to make of her... then again, if they were to become friends at some point in the near future, he'd want to get to know her somehow, right? So why not now?

'Bridget,' he asked, trying to draw her attention, 'it looks like everyone's off doing their own thing for now. Would you mind if I went with you to go talk to people? I just reckon, you're famous enough that people will flock to you, but if people see you and are rude about it, then I'm there to say "actually, she's a cool lady", right? Well, not "say", but show that that's the case. I might need to say that, actually, if they say it to your face, but if they're doing that, you could say it yourself, too. But we could also both say it, is my point. We can meet some cool people around, you know, and chat about things and whatnot.'

Bridget smirked as her plan worked, Jack had initiated the conversation. Bridget then realized this was Jack and him starting the conversation might last for ten minutes. He was like the king of rambling, Bridget didn't know how he was so good at it. At least he said he'd stick up for her, though if someone insulted her she'd like to deal with them personally. Actually it might be better if Jack handled it... Bridget knew she'd probably overreact and get into trouble...

"Yeah, meeting some people and chatting sounds grand." There wasn't much enthusiasm in Bridget's voice. "And I don't need you to stick up for me, I've dealt with criticism and insults before." Bridget then turned and started to walk off, it was pretty clear she expected Jack to follow her.

'Well, I'm just making the offer,' Jack mentioned congenially, treading lightly after Bridget as she began wandering off. 'If you'd rather I didn't, that's fine. Like I said, you're clearly capable of handling yourself. Speaking of which,' he asked as they hit the crowd proper, for what it was given how they either split or converged as the duo moved about, 'how was life as a childhood celebrity? Was it really great, or did you have adults trying to control everything you did or something? I know a lot of child celebrities do get that, to the extent that all the pressure really damages them later on in life, you know how it goes with most. But then, you aren't most, and I bet they wouldn't have been able to force you to do anything you didn't want.'

Bridget's tail twitched a little as Jack asked about her childhood, though it was hard to hear him over the sounds of the festival. She continued walking towards the many food stalls as she answered Jack. "My childhood was fine, only thing that was different for me is that I was home schooled and a lot of other people are home schooled. That and I was six foot three at 9 years old..." She didn't sounds so proud of that last part, her volume dropping substantially as she said it.

The pair would eventually make it to the food stand area, and god did it smell good. Being that bit taller than everyone else meant the smells had un-impeded access to Bridget's nose with no people smell to get in the way. Bridget very much wanted to get right into eating, but she remembered that they needed to suck up to the public. So that meant food had to wait, and it was time for photos and autographs. She sighed internally and looked down at the crowd before putting on a smile. "Photos anyone?" She said to the many waiting fans. There was a cheer from the crowd as a Bridget cosplayer stepped forward, and Bridget had to admit she was impressed. This girl was dam near identical to her, only off details were the hips, face and tail length. But aside from that Bridget was amazed, or creeped out, she couldn't decide yet. The flood of photos was about to begin.

One Piece: New Horizons!

Dirk Messir - Okay, Cool.

Oh wow, he was really strong, too. Just like the other men crew mans in there my crew. They are real strong, even strangthlier than you yourself. Somehow it happened. But really, he has to have the had got strong power, so if Max is this great, he'll also be the second next have the power to be there in a fight with strong people, and if that is that there that so, he may have power allies too. Oh dang.

'Well, you said we needed to move, but not to there is a location where it is,' Dirk said, with noise, but not some noise as the Divine Purpose told his exit to exit. Luckily, snails are smaller than mice, so if you drop it, it survived. Probably. Yes, that is how snails work. One of the people who was there says so one time. They have saying it.

You're making things up Lame-o! You have no idea what you're talking about Bastard! You suck Sucker!

'Okay thanks though,' he said to himself, saidly. He said it in a saying fashion is what that means. 'We should tell everyone first. And say to them. "There's bad guys." See, I can use a way better stratego too.' Shut up Smush, who said he can't so there anything to anyman who dares abuse my trust? He had bringth, or brain strength. There were As to remove.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

I'm doing pretty well, yeah. Looking forward to the collab with Stormflyx, as well, since she suggested it.

Before I forget to mention, though it shouldn't matter so much for this game, I'm going to be out from the afternoon of Saturday and morning of Sunday, so I won't be around at those times.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

<Snipped quote by BCTheEntity>

Hell yeah. Calanon has just really made her feel okay with it all so lets balance that out by making her mad about it! Haha

@Stormflyx

Yeeessss. She's gotta teach Nicademus a lesson in manners, and the fact that some people can have equally bad or worse situations even if they look like they're not subject to it.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

<Snipped quote by BCTheEntity>

Care to collab soon? Thnk our characters would have an... interesting connection

@Stormflyx

Sure thing. Just so you guys know, Sett is prolly still going to be upset with Nicademus come the morning. They can bond over that, right?