ERode

Iris Ascendis

I'm guessing that for this round, we're only waiting on Psykers now? Considering Sifr's gonna be busy for a while.

Iris Ascendis

_@Nanaya

“Only fools expect the same actions and same situation to lead to different results.”

It was five seconds. Whatever he had imbued his legs with, it had not actually transferred into his shoes. Instead, it was closer to a blast, no, an explosion of wind, one that seemed to be designed to escape from the ‘bottom’ of whatever limbs it was being transferred towards. Five second release, 0.1 second burst. No clarity with regards to the prime essence, but the Ethos looked to be a fair bit more ‘strict’ than his own.

And only twenty-five seconds left in the day. What a fun morning exercise!

As Davil remained lying down, Otis squatted beside him. The Strigidae’s Adapa warped, expanding into a larger projection that slowly looped through the moment that had just occurred. Visualized now, it was clear that Davil’s prime essence was breaking off into jagged bits to reach his legs. Most arcanists understood essence as a flow rather than an individual piece, more of a fluid than a solid. Whether it was a problem with Davil’s own abilities, or another intrinsic oddity to his prime essence had yet to be confirmed, but certainly at this juncture, Otis had much to talk about. “Observe here,” he spoke, eyes filled with the brilliance of scientific obsession. “See how your essence shifts there, as if it has a mind of its own? How the earth is disturbed, but only ‘around’ rather than directly beneath? It invokes my own experiences with the steam propulsion devices of particular Gearveins! And it’s curious too, that this 30 second limitation doesn’t seem to match the visual capacity for prime essence you possess, judging by the amount of essence that returned after you disabled your Linearic Liner.”

Was it a different sort of limit then? Was it an exchange for explosive speed? He considered rebound, the destruction, nay, unravelling of the body once enough essence was drained from it.

“Well, regardless, there’s another 24 seconds left, and plenty more to test out. Up and at it, Davil. There’s two more main tests I want to settle before it’s over.” As Otis spoke, he offered a hand to his test subject up. If Davil didn’t mind the injuries on his body, then Otis wouldn’t show concern over it either. Instead, he reached into his pouch and pulled out a pair of leather gloves, from which wing-like patterns had been embroidered on. The materials were mundane and had been sitting in his sewing kit; if one ignored their lack of fingers, it was perfectly functional. “Try these on.”

The Strigidae had taken measurements while his roommate was asleep. Not that Davil needed to know that either.

“I modeled them after your shoes somewhat, under the presumption that there’s a psychological angle present. The second test would be to channel your Ethos into these gloves instead. I would say…point them out straight, do your five second charge, and then release. For experimentation’s sake, point your palms outwards, not downwards or upwards.” The Adapa began its recording once more. He had established that the Ethos desired ‘upwards’ movement over all else. But did that apply if the limbs changed as well? And from what point, exactly, did that upwards movement spawn from? If it had been from the bottom of one’s feet, then if applied to the ‘bottom’ of one’s hands, did that still apply? “When you’re ready, Davil.”

And Otis’s eyes glowed again, ready to track the shifting of Essence within the Wund scion’s body.

Children of the Otherworld - An Isekai Story

Real cursed RP, with a GM getting dogged this hard.

Iris Ascendis

@NanayaFYI, Nanaya, Otis did tell Davil to charge it up like he usually does before starting, in case that would change anything.

Children of the Otherworld - An Isekai Story

Ey, can we expect a post this weekend, NoCo?

The World We Left Behind (Steampunk/Sci Fi, Mecha, Adventure, Progressing Technology RP)

Will keep an eye on this fo sho. I do desire an expedition.

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

Unga bunga'd the post, but at least it's out.

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

The featherless flier, some sort of cousin of a bat, was too far to reach, even with the blessing granted upon her by that spirit, so Esfir could safely ignore that. If it just watched her, there was nothing that was to be done about it. If it attacked her, it would enter her range and she would kill it. Until they decided however, there as plenty still for Esfir to do. Taking her sharpened stone in her hand, the orc runt went off to cut off branches from the tungem tree, coming away with four that looked even and straight enough to serve as spear shafts. The Elwet horns were useful in their own way, but if she imagined a spearhead or a bayonet, then the horns from that small creature were certainly more suitable, slender and single-pointed as they were.

It was on the approach of those skeletal remains though, that Esfir encountered a real problem.

As she stepped beside the pimpled mushrooms, however, the caps let out puffs of spores. Her eyes narrowed and Esfir brought a hand up to cover her nose and mouth, but that was an entire misjudgment on her part when the caps themselves split open, barbed vines whipping out. She practically fell back, the barbs slicing into her forearm, striking her shoulders. A glancing blow, but enough to sting like a schoolmaster’s whip. Were those monsters as well? Or were they…

Esfir decided not to think too hard about it. Instead, she picked herself up and bashed the remaining shrooms to bits with one of the sticks she had. It was a quick job, though the damage that the retaliatory shroom-whips did in return indicated just how deadly they were, practically mangling the stick beyond recognition. The stick still got the better end of the deal though. With the shrooms destroyed, she could approach the skull once more, breaking off the horns. Bad luck came with good luck after; the whips that had struck her now became the lashing for securing the horn-tip onto the end of her spear.

The whips themselves looked to be edible enough as well. Though they were tasteless, Esfir could confirm that they too were targets for her ability to Ingest. Did that mean then, that ‘creatures’ covered plants as well? That plants too, had abilities to consider?

It was something worth chewing on, but something to finish later.

Esfir’s gaze turned back towards the harpy, checking its positioning, and it was in that moment that movement caught her eyes. From the shadows, another predator lunged forth, fangs bared! Finally, prey!

Twisting around, the orc runt’s gaze hardened, [Murderous Intent] released. All she needed was it to hesitate for a moment, for its body and its mind to have mismatched impulses! So long as that happened, her spear could be tested upon its head. If not? Well, she would have to hope that the tungem shaft was hardy enough to block the bite.
@Zeroth

Children of the Otherworld - An Isekai Story

Pushed out a quick post for Progress(tm).

Children of the Otherworld - An Isekai Story

Character

Skills

• Master of Seas ★★★★★★
• Element Resistance ★★★
• Combat Sense ★
• Iron Skin ★

Inventory

• Half-Broken, Nicked One-Handed Sword
• Rope

“Aye, shush,” Belo whispered, pulling the mewling child off of him. It had been hours of wandering through the dark tunnels, scaring off anything that dared approach, but the fatigue was felt now. A heavier, weightier fatigue, one that reminded him that he literally could not remember the last time he ate food or drank water.

It had been a merciful thing then, for the light in the tunnel to be finally reached and for him to be able to breathe air that didn’t smell of soil and stagnation. Tall trees, so far removed from the scraggly groves he recalled, blotted out the sky. The brush itself was thick too, enough to swallow him whole if he simply sat down. If there was so much vegetation, then that had to mean that there was a source of water somewhere, no? He swallowed his saliva, looking about slowly. But it was movement, not the sound of a gurgling stream, that caught his attention.

A strange creature.

Bold antlers curved out from its crown like tree branches, its form similar to the gazelles in the center of his homeland yet packed with even more flesh, even more muscles. There was something distinctly masculine about it, dark fur hanging from its neck like a beard. Could he kill it? He regretted the lose of his knife twice-fold. The sword he held would be too unwieldy to carve the creature with. But even a leg or two would suffice. His stomach grumbled again. The runt of a child continued to mewl. He gave it a couple leaves to chew on, hoping that it’d be distraction enough.

And for himself?

It was impossible to move silently. There was too much undergrowth, and only a fool would consider the ‘silent’ stalking of a human to be imperceptible to the senses of a beast. He could mask his footsteps, but what about his smell? The smell of blood, the smell of sweat, the smell of desperation?

So Belo instead dropped into a sprinter’s posture, his black eyes staring at his quarry as it padded through the forest. His muscles tautened. His breaths deepened. He waited for it to stop. To graze. To chew. To relax. To…

Go!

He sprang forth, clods of dirt kicking up behind him. His ears flattened back from the resistance of the wind, his lungs heaving as his heart rate skyrocketed. Already, his muscles were protesting, tearing from the exertion. But his body had never been lighter, and that surreal cocktail of chemicals and hormones hit his brain to give Belo a vicious high like no other! The creature looked up, turned to flee, but his sword was faster! He had flung it and it spun in a murderous arc, the nicked edge slicing into the creature’s hindleg. Ah, there it was! The pop of a tendon rupturing!

And though the creature could still run with only three legs, its balance was lost. It crashed into the earth, its magnificent size enough to snap the sword in two halves as it fell. But that just made the weapon more useful to Belo. He swept it up on approach and leapt upon the creature, driving the broken tip into its throat as he ducked to evade its swinging horns.

More violence soon followed. Blood loss was not enough to dissuade the desperation of a prey animal, but the result itself had been decided.

…

Once more, Belo was soaked in blood that wasn’t his own and, as he watched steam rise up from the scalding blood that he was splattered with, he let out a slow sigh. It was a good thing that he had no hair or fur. A clump of dirt was all that he needed to wipe off most of the blood, before he went to retrieve the kid once more, who was certainly bawling over the bitterness of the leaves.

Raw meat wouldn’t be the best, but considering the circumstances?

“Eat up,” Belo spoke, as he sliced a bloody strip of flesh off the creature’s side. There were probably parasites and shit, but maybe he’d get lucky and miss out on those. If only they had a day and plenty of sun. Could sun-dry the meat, turn it into jerky. The air was too humid though. It’d rot before then. “C’mon, chomp chomp. Boys don’t cry.”

Wait, was this child even a boy?

“And it’s tasty too. Yum yum.”

The meat wasn’t tasting of anything except for iron. Awful stuff, but the body demanded fuel.

"Ah, right. Can you even talk?"

The kid had to be conscious enough to eat, and the ones who were his kind looked to have some sense of language, so...

...well, what was even the point? Not like he understood the language.