ERode

Iris Ascendis

Iraleth just dies on the way to the dorms.

Iris Ascendis

Oh right, Nanaya. How long do you project this sorta downtime to last? In terms of number of rounds.

Iris Ascendis

_@Nanaya

Otis’s own Adapa emerged a beat later, a looseleaf tomb bound together by a brass ring that punched through the upper right corner of the thin paper. Strings of essence formed their two-way connections, binding the temporary alliance to something a bit more substantial, and with that, they parted ways, the Strigidae having tossed Davil’s reeking boots into his Workshop. A beat later, the chainsaw katana that the wannabe-hero held disappeared as well, its form becoming an apparition before dissolving into stardust.

Those shoes would be a good nighttime project to start looking into. For now, however?

He needed to map the Academy properly, to set up as many points as he could where he would be able to step out of, if expedient transportation became a necessity. There were security systems to be examined and sublimated as well, a whole bevy of things to familiarize himself with. The first step then, would be simple enough. Without entering one of the carriages, Otis pulled out his rolling board once more and kicked off it, wheeling down the well-paved roads as he headed towards the heart of the academy city.

As he headed towards the clocktower, one of the highest points of Wingram.

He had no wings, but he could still glide.

Children of the Otherworld - An Isekai Story

@TheNoCoKid
To confirm, how much freedom do I have in regards to making shit up about this band of orcs?

Children of the Otherworld - An Isekai Story

Everyone knows Players will always ignore the complex, grimdark guy at the bar to go talk to the bug-eyed goblin with a funny accent who cleans the pigsties anyway, right?

Fool, Zeroth. They'll ignore everything to start hitting up the first anime-style waitress they can find. Failing that, they'll Fireball the tavern.

The real tech you should apply though, NoCo, is to just outsource the creation of NPCs to the players. Managed to generate a whole class of students just by asking each player in one of my RPs to come up with three names and three relationships each.

Iris Ascendis

All they desire between students is violence, not love.

That being said, there’ll probably still be plenty of Romeo Juliet hijinks happening between factions hehehe.

Iris Ascendis

_{@Nanaya@Psyker Landshark@Estylwen}

Dark cellar. Small form. Encaged. Two forms.

One. North Rekordian accent. Tall. Masculine. Settling a debt. He was that debt.

Two. Small. A beautiful, but unaccented, voice. Slight as shadow. Eyes like emeralds, and, from behind, a giant eye, splitting that murky void. She succeeded in something. She was working for someone. She needed him for something.

Goetia will fall.

…

Oh, this was exciting! Did all Adapa possess such curious memories? What was Goetia? A person, a place, an event, a star? He had lost his smile, that thin smile that surfaced from cruelty and obsession, but his eyes were still alight with a brilliant curiosity. There was no reason for him to record this on his notebook, not when he had seared that misplaced memory into his brain, not when he knew not how dangerous this knowledge that he came across was. How much did Principal Raja know about these Adapa? He’d have to do further research, see what the libraries of this Academy contained. But for now…

He turned to face the scarlet-eyed grand caster. “Will and determination are inconstant things. I’d rather not test those qualities.” A lie, in truth. The Strigidae was, at the very least, self-aware enough to understand just how stubborn and set in his own ways he truly was, as a mortal upon Castalia. And in that same vein, he was aware too, that of the Sword or Shield, it mattered little where he was placed. Binary divisions were nonsensical in nature. The metaphor of sword and shield itself fell flat. What was the worth of a shield if it couldn’t be used to keep others out? What was a sword if it did not extend one’s reach? There was knowledge and faith, dwelling in every culture and civilization. Rekordia’s Clockwork Empress had fostered a nation of those who subsisted only due to the benefits of science, and yet in turn, she had cultivated a religious fervor that placed herself as an idol worthy of worship.

And, that motto…

Well, he was no hero, nor was he kind, but Otis could be stalwart, at the very least.

With the meeting adjourned, the Strigidae left his seat, casting a glance over to the Mannekins that arrived to take them off to their new place of residence. Ciara had sat beside him, and he turned towards her, a flicker of interest forming with regards to how her own Adapa had meshed with the deep darkness that dwelt within her Ethos. Did she consume it, like a star tossed to the void? Or did she let it shine still, so that she still had something to guide her in the night? A touch poetic for his tastes. There were greater matters to settle.

“I will join the Sword of Wund.” The qualities the factions championed mattered little to him, but their names held weight enough. “Many others will join the Shield of Leuvalt.” There was no doubt in his tone there, nor any hesitation as he lifted his gaze and turned it towards that red-haired princeling upon his throne of gold. “Because you will join the Shield of Leuvalt.” Because if Valen was as great as he proclaimed himself to be, he would be the perfect whetstone to sharpen Otis’s tools against. And if, out of contrarian desire, that princeling chose to align himself with the Sword instead? Then that too, informed greatly upon his character.

“If you wish to extend our truce, Ciara, join me.”

That was all he had to say as Otis strode off, leaving with a final remark towards that paladin, smoking and bleeding upon the wood she sat. “And you should seek to become a Shield yourself. We need both to shape this school.”

Those last words lingered in his wake...at least until Otis suddenly turned back, strode past the trio of girls again, and held his hand out to Davil.

"You've made it into Wingram. So give me your boots."

Iris Ascendis

Ok, but is the school crazy enough to go for co-Ed dorms?

Children of the Otherworld - An Isekai Story

Naw mate, xianxia is based. The meme speaks for itself. Saying this as someone who has only read Feng Shen Ji and only a whole ass decade ago.

Children of the Otherworld - An Isekai Story

@Silver Carrot That's what Zeroth's character (that fucking isekai-consuming nerd) is trying right now. Guess wait for NoCo to post and hopefully there'll be an answer to that.