drewccapp

New Elysium [High-Casual]

I'm still here. I plan on posting within the next two days. Having a little difficulty focusing at the moment as I have a fresh idea for a story bumping around in my brain and it's interfering with most everything else.

Lantern

"The Lady of the Pond," he breathed, wearily -- and he looked back into the darkness from which they'd come.

This was the point where Anise realized just how weary Peck was. He may very well be used to exerting himself, but even then he was still human. There would be a point where he would have to rest. She watched him resolve himself to action regardless of his fatigue which caused a slightly worried expression to grow on her face. While she had rested, he had forced himself to work. At the time they had no choice, but now at least they could rest.

"C'mon, then." He walked past her, trudging through the brush. "I don't know how much help I can be to you -- I'm just a rider without his gryphon -- but I won't let you down."

Anise bit her lip as he walked past her. She knew he would do his best to keep his promise, but she still worried. Finally, she forced herself to smile and followed after him. "Thank you."

As trudged through the forest, Anise finally had some time to realize the beauty of this place. As fearsome as it was there was so much to see. The fireflies were a wonder that she had never seen before in Riverforde as the weather wasn't particularly good for them. She had heard about them from stories that she had dictated to her. The statues hiding beneath the vines and moss had an air of mystery to them. The flowers that grew near the gnarled trees were quite pretty. She now fully understood that if she hadn't been pulled into this world, her life would not be nearly as filled with wonder as it is now.

"This forest... in spite of the dangers," she said to no one in particular. "It's quite lovely."

As they made it to the lake a pair of Kith started calling out to them and throwing objects quite rudely. She was fairly sure she had seen the mouse mask before, but couldn't pinpoint where considering how much had happened in the last day or so. She noticed Peck's remarkable restraint and felt sad that neither the Kith nor Pirates wanted to get along with each other.

"We can summon the Lady by drawing circles in the water and calling to her," he told Anise.

Anise nodded and knelt at the water's edge. She felt fairly certain that the Lady of the Pond would be able to hear everything that she said. She noticed both of her hands were full: one with the Flight Lantern and the other with the Spirit Egg. If she were to draw circles in the water she would have to free one hand of one of these items. An idea then popped into her head. Since she was able to send dirt flying into the Witch's face to stun her for a moment with both abilities she had from these Eggs then she could cause the Spirit Egg to float without much difficulty around her head.

She smiled for a moment about her idea and then concentrated on the Spirit Egg asking it to fly around her using the power of the Lantern of Flight. She gazed in wonder for a moment when she witnessed it pick itself up and begin to zip around her, but always remaining within arms reach of her.

Feeling proud of her accomplishment she reached out and drew circles in the water. "Lady of the Pond, it is I, Anise the new Lady of Light. I understand what you said about the previous Lady of Light. I know that she was killed, and that you were on opposing sides. Even so, I can't imagine that it was easy for any of you to lose a sister." She cleared her throat as her emotions grew high. "I would... We would like to have a conversation. Your mother is quite upset at everything that has happened while she has been sealed away. You can see for yourself that everything is withering away and that the whole balance of the forest is a mess. Don't you think that's sad? Don't you think it is all sad? Don't we all have a responsibility to make everything right?"

She had two goals to accomplish in this meeting. First was for the Dragon to have an honest heart-to-heart with her children. Second was to get the Spirits to collectively work to help repair the state the forest was in. All of them. She connected to the Spirit Egg and gently thought. I will let you speak through me to your child, but I ask you to restrain from using me to harm her, please. I understand that you are maddeningly upset at your children, but these are your irreplaceable children.

Lantern

I find it quite very funny that I actually had figured that the Lord of the Wood was basically everywhere. Anise hadn't quite drawn to that conclusion, but I think she's close. :D

Alright, now it's time to make contact with the Lady of the Pond again.

New Elysium [High-Casual]

I'm having a little trouble putting a post together that I'm happy with... I think I'm going to wait a bit to see what else gets written first.

Moonfiend

@Tojin That post was sweet if you catch my drift :)

Lantern

You could always randomly roll it out. Dice always make for interesting results.

New Elysium [High-Casual]

As they made their way to Pyre, Watcher had a few words on his mind. Something worried him. Maybe his paranoia was starting to hit him. The last statement Mark made left a serious impression on him. Someone was tracking the meeting. This meant someone knew that it was happening. What if a member of R3v314t1on was an insider within the UN and knew enough to know that there would be a meeting just now? The person hacking them knew when it would happen that much was obvious. Then another thought crossed his mind: what if someone within this group was a R3v314t1on member? No, they all were too suddenly summoned and it was more than likely that none of them knew they were going to be chosen, and their reactions were all very natural and expected.

He hadn't realized they arrived until one of the guards commented on his new team. Pyre was a fairly impressive defensive spot. A perfect place to turtle up and hide away from R3v314t1on. The fear of death was a plenty good reason, but Watcher had nothing else left to lose. He would go on the offensive, and nothing would stop him. His greatest comfort in all of this was that he wouldn't be working alone, and while no one could replace his old friends, maybe, just maybe, he could make new ones with his new teammates.

As Pyre's commander waved the defense off Watcher smiled. He enjoyed watching cooperation between players. He listened carefully as she introduced herself and her second, Minx. "Good to meet the both of you, I'm Watcher or Demavend, but I prefer Watcher." He kept to his alias so strongly out of habit more than anything. Besides, he rather enjoyed using it as it reminded him of his achievements in the game.

”No one has ever called you “G” Percy and I told you not to call me Minxy. It’s Minx and by the way, next time you think about staring at my ass I’ll rip your 1 and zeros off your digital body and make you eat the coding, perv.”

Watcher raised his eyebrows at this with a slightly amused expression. He felt partly tempted to do so just to tease her. Of all the things to be concerned about this was one? Someone was sensitive about their avatar, or perhaps too deep into roleplaying to move past the character. Well, everyone needed their own distraction from reality, this one was probably Minx's.

”Well what do I have to work with? We have an Overwatch, battleborn and a Goliath so that’s good. But three Warlocks? Three? Do any of you know healing spells? Defensive spells?” She sighed but gave a dismissive wave.

"I know it's not ideal," Watcher commented with a shrug and a slight frown. "But I'm sure we can manage." The UN hadn't chosen them randomly that was for sure. Watcher knew he himself was very well known throughout the entire game. His gamertag and alias was the first in the list of achievements on the in-game leaderboard for several achievements with the greatest being the "Full Clear" achievement. Any player that didn't know that probably never knew how to look at the leaderboard.

”Alrighty then! The name’s Minx and as you can see I’m a Goliath class so that makes two Goliaths. That makes it easier when we get in. I don’t expect any immediate resistance from Killion but once we’re in - it’s only a matter of time.” She shrugged and turned towards the exit.

“We can’t waste any time so let’s go. Any questions ask along the way.” She looked back at the group before leaving.

"Well, what do we know about their defenses there?" That was the first question that popped into his head. "Secondly, we probably should make a plan if they're expecting company. I know the physical layout of the place, but if they've made any changes with their hacks it'd be best if we had intel on that. The fact that we'd be able to walk in without immediate resistance kind of concerns me too. Makes it feel too easy in some cases I suppose."

He actually didn't like heading out immediately like this and he sounded like it. While his guild had been the first to clear the Hyperion Mercenary Company raid, they had done all the research necessary in order to clear it as quickly as possible. Then they could afford to die a few times learning the patterns, but now each operation had to be perfect. Lives were on the line here after all.

Watcher then looked at his teammates. "We don't actually know each others strengths and what we bring to the table. It'd be good to know what strats we can come up with together before we actually commit to something. I'm a scout subclass, so a lot of my abilities are for getting close and gathering intel. I've basically mastered stealth without the use of invisibility, although I do have a skill that cloaks me if I'm not moving. My damage is best used for hit-and-run tactics until I can get safely behind the tanks, then the Watcher comes out and... boom. I can scan an area for enemies, but it lets them know they've been scanned by giving them a debuff. Kind of sucks as far as element of surprise, but knowing exact locations is super good. The ability works better in PvE because the AI doesn't react as effectively to it as players do."

He didn't PvP often, but he was fairly confident in his skills to survive. "I have Frostbite Grenades to freeze and root people. I can make them myself, but my supplies are in my house. I also have the Last Waltz for close-range fighting if I need to, and the elemental ammo it uses has some fairly effective debuffs. Alright, who's next? The more we know about each others skills, the more likely we're going to wreck them R3v314t1on scumbags."

New Elysium [High-Casual]

You have successfully scared me with the introduction of Glitch. That's some serious power.

EDIT: I think my character feels like he's patting himself on the back for most of the post I'm writing up. -_- I guess that's not a bad thing.

New Elysium [High-Casual]

"Janus we are sorry for your losses and the creator of the game has contacted your friend's families and has promised to pay for their funerals in its entirety." Sad eyes met Janus's own.

"I lost a few friends in Killion myself and its hard but I know you and the rest here will be able to take him down." He said with confidence.

Watcher had been listening quietly to the briefing, but this really caught his attention. He nodded with a tearful expression and wiped his eyes clear. "Yeah, thanks." He breathed. That was right. This was more than just about him. Everyone in the game was locked into the enemy's grip and he definitely wasn't the only one to suffer.

"Time to lighten things up a bit. Senji the creator, the hackers and myself have managed to remove the level caps for all of you as you can see in 3...2....1."

So his suspicions about the glitch he had noticed earlier were proved correct as he watched the numbers disappear. Certainly some fancy computer wizardry. He definitely didn't approve of cheating. His life was entirely handed to him, and he played this game to prove to himself that he could earn something for himself. As the fourth son in his filthy rich family in many ways he wasn't expected to do anything, and because of this he refused to take any "easy way" up. "I don't like it, but it doesn't seem like we have much of a choice in this matter. Knowing what we're up against."

He was of half a mind to demand that once this was over his level get reset to cap, but that would be more appropriate for later he felt.

"Also if any of you need anything in game just leave a personal not in you Codex and we will see what we can do. Also after R3v314t1on is removed, the UN has promised you all anything you want as reward for your cooperation in taking down the international cyber terrorist group. Now with this being said-"

Right now the only thing he wanted was something that he would have to take into his own hands. After all no one else aside from the group around him right now was in a position to do the things he was of a mind to do. They were definitely quite accommodating which made sense too, but he didn't want to rely on them too much.

Marks screen minimized slightly as a face popped up on screen.

"This is Mayhem, one of the founders of R3v314t1on. He currently resides in Santuary Killion." He sniffed as he took a sip of coffee again.

"We think he may know the whereabouts of their leader who was dubbed "Glitch", by himself of course. Egotistical bastard. Anyway we need you to capture him and get him to talk. The UN does not care what happens to him afterwards. All in all he lost his rights after his actions. Mind you this order comes from a unanimous vote. Afterwards take back and secure Killion. Once this is done Genesis should be good." Mayhem's face was then added to their Codex under: People.

Watcher's eyes narrowed as Killion was brought up. Taking down one of R3v314t1on's big wigs would be a fantastic start. He thought of the wonderful things he would do to the man to get him to talk and a slightly sadistic grin slipped onto his face.

"Pyre is currently one of three Sanctuaries that are still in the control of players, their overall defenses are made of Goliaths and Overwatches while their main force is made of a mix of...well, every other class and subclass you can think of. We have sent word to a player known as Minxy, who seems to be one of their captains. We want you to make contact with her. She has agreed to help you get into Pyre."

Watcher bobbed his head as they received the end of their mission briefing. This was definitely a good start. Once the briefing ended completely he turned to the others and listened as they introduced themselves. Some were fairly enthusiastic which made him feel fairly good about this group. His eyes landed on AoD as she finished her somewhat awkward introduction. She definitely didn't seem like one to voluntarily get involved in something like this, especially from her body language.

He stepped up with a smile after Echo finished her introduction. "I guess I'll start my own intro all over again. I'm Watcher. Yes, I'm named after the rifle that I have. I chose that alias after I learned about it during the beta test. I'm the last survivor of First Operation, we were planning for a raid in Killion when the massacre happened. The only reason I survived is because I wasn't there due to a preparatory issue."

He closed his eyes and paused as he took some time to calm down. After a heavy sigh, he reopened his eyes and continued. "As you can see I'm very motivated to destroy those hacking scumbags. I'm fairly good at operating in a team." He glanced around noticing there was a fair imbalance to the class types. "Seems like we're fairly weighted towards a couple of the classes, which will make some things quite... difficult. Not impossible though. My kit is best for scouting and hit and run tactics when it comes to PvP. I look forwards to work with you guys."

Unquiet

The gods: "I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse."

Rain: "Nope. Nope. Sorry. Thanks bye!"