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In Symphony on High → 5 mos ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay



In Black Clover: Fool's Arcana → 5 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Are any types of magic outright not allowed for the characters we make? I'm considering Key Magic but it's kinda busted so I figured I should ask.

Also, are dual attributes banned from use?
In Revue of Annihilation → 6 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay

Ananta Aroa


//O8 - The Underpass



Many had waxed poetic of the sunrise seen from the inside of Oratorio’s wall, claiming all manner of things. A horrible thing, she’d heard it called, affirming that the city was something of a prison in their minds. The walls boxing everything in, paired with the opulence residing atop them, brought understandably unpleasant memories for some adventurers. Many who’d come from a city could sympathize with the sentiment and understand where it came from.

However, that sentiment was rare… Well, rare in Kamal, that is. Ananta couldn’t speak for other cities and towns, but considering much of Kamal’s population holds retired adventurers who were successful in their journey, there is another idea of that sunrise that is far more common. One that is something of an inverse of that last mentioned feeling.

That of invigoration. Of assurance. Another day, another delve to the depths. That single constant that always guaranteed a job. Unlike just about everywhere else, being an Adventurer in Oratorio meant that you always had a route to gain some kind of coin. That route being, of course, the Abyss. Outside, it was always something of a gamble. Unless you and whoever you worked with were good enough to get hired out of being an adventurer by a kingdom or something similar, a secure path towards a constant income was just out of the question.

The Abyss wasn’t completely that, if only because of its danger and the oversaturation of adventurers on the early floors, but it was close enough. It was the kind of thing that those who took the adventurer path for either what it represented or what it could bring loved. That was why they saw that sunrise in such a way.

But that was also why Ananta couldn’t share either perspective. Perhaps if she’d become an adventurer for those reasons, or perhaps if she’d spent more of her time focused on the past, she might’ve seen something similar to those who’d told such tales. Yet, she didn’t.

To her, it was just the start of the next day, and nothing else. Another sign of the unending passing of time. A sign that nothing would stop that slow ticking in her heart. A sign that a mother’s life was soon to be extinguished. She could hardly afford a moment of stalling.

Bright and early, much like many of the eager adventurers who walked the streets, Ananta’s feet met the road once again. As she walked, she took a moment to reflect on her last delve, and her sales thereafter. Against some surprising odds, Ananta herself had come out uninjured, if exhausted. Her first two encounters with monsters had gone well in her favor, certainly. Much of that ease could be attributed to the crossbow she’d been gifted, it was certainly carrying its weight.…

But past that, the third ambush could’ve very well been the end of her. If she hadn’t run into that party, Ananta knew she would’ve needed some strong luck to escape with her life. They’d done rather well, for what was, as she’d later learned, a mostly green party. They’d been forced to pull themselves into a fighting retreat, and it was far more effective than if she’d just been alone. She ended up sticking close by after that scare, unwilling to risk such a mob swarming her for a second time on her own. There were some couple more monsters to slay afterwards, but they never experienced a repeat of such proportions.

On that party, however… there was one that Ananta had felt a sense of familiarity towards. Perhaps that is the wrong word, but the moment Ananta laid eyes on the Kitsune, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d recognized something about her. It was not a feeling she’d experienced in regards to anyone else in the party or throughout the city, and Ananta knew with absolute certainty that she’d never met anyone that looked quite like the blonde Kitsune before.

She let that thought sit once again in her mind, pondering that feeling further as she walked. She couldn’t quite place it from her earlier adventures either, nor any time that she’d seen an old face for the first time in months. Her terribly infrequent visits to her family didn’t allow her to recall anything of the sort either… If not the sight of an old face, what could that feeling have been?

… Ananta shook the thought off for the time being. Exhausted as she was after returning from the abyss, she’d rather quickly bid farewell to sell her share as soon as she could. She’d neglected to ask after any inns or stable hay bales or… wherever the party had planned to stay. So attempts to find that Kitsune again would rely quite a bit on luck and time both. Neither of which she seemed to have much of, recently. How ironic.

Regardless, Ananta had made her sales of her spoils the previous day, and with her remaining supplies would need to pull together some extra coin to prepare herself for the delve to the Second Layer… there’s no way she’ll get close to the amount she really needs for a proper delve, Ananta knows, but anything that can get her down without outright death will have to be enough. The supplies for the delve, bolts and delving equipment, will likely be the majority of what she brings. Perhaps also some form of blade. Water, of course, is essential as well, as is food… but Ananta can bear to go hungry. Not entirely of course, she needs to be in some state to fight, but it’s an overall familiar pain she has dealt with in the past, and she can conquer it again.

As long as she has what she needs to reach the banshee, and put it down… all that would be left is to get out. Well- and verify if the treasure is real, but that’s more of a secondary concern in the grand scheme of things. So long as her aim is steady, and her bolts are prepared to deal with ghostly opponents such as a banshee… it should be doable. Maybe with some luck.

That said, it’s equally possible she’s underestimating the threat of a banshee, even with what little she knew. Perhaps she should ask around, so she knows what to pick up tomorrow? … Yes, that would be for the best, Ananta thought. There was no reason to not be absolutely sure she had at the very least the minimum required to take out the monster.

Alongside making sure she knew what to get, that is, if anyone knew at all… she was reconsidering her stance on going it alone in the Abyss, given the scare from the day before. If there was a party going down today to the Abyss’s First Floor, looking for some kind of ranger, and they had a fair split of the spoils… she’d likely go for it. Even if they were a green party, as long as they could use their weapons, Ananta would gladly take the extra help.

But if she didn’t find anyone, then… then she’d go it alone, for the second time.

Perhaps if she had some kind of shop or business, but Ananta had never been skilled in much of anything besides staying alive and getting granted glory that wasn’t her own.

But spiraling thoughts such as those were pointless. She knew her mark, the requisite tasks, and the rough danger…

For now, she could only focus on what was directly in front of her.
In Revue of Annihilation → 8 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay

Ananta Aroa


//A7 - On the Streets



Upon reflection, Ananta supposed it made sense. It did not make her want to curse any less, but she could see why the First Layer would give such a low profit. With the sheer concentration of adventurers that make the city home, it only makes sense that the most accessible layer also produced the least value. There was likely an overabundance of spoils from that Layer, which did what supply and demand usually does…

Oratorio was called the City of Opportunity as a result of the Abyss. For any adventurer, the idea of an area that seemingly endlessly spat out monsters and treasures of each and every kind was both utterly terrifying and incredibly appealing. However, the reality of any true opportunity was the fact of risk. In a market so saturated as this, without putting your life and resources in peril… the odds of turning any sort of profit were so small you may as well have never come in the first place.

Back on the road, before she’d arrived in Oratorio, she’d distantly realized this reality. Until Ananta was able to reach below the First Layer, she wouldn’t be getting anything particularly splendorous when it came to rewards. She hadn’t known it would be quite so bad that the best result on the First Layer would be, more often than not, breaking even… but she would survive.

It certainly threw a wrench in her plans, though. She’d expected the average First Layer delve would at least net a small profit, and Ananta had told Valentine she would make the delve with that thought in mind. It wasn’t enough to change her mind on accepting the request in the slightest, but the time limit was going to make this all the harder.

Five days was… not as much time as Ananta would like. Even just one more day would have allowed this to go so much smoother, but that would not be in the cards. Including today, she had two days to turn something of a profit, and obtain some manner of supplies to delve to the Second Layer. And, more than that, given what she’d learned from the adventurer’s she’d spoken to… the blades she’d brought weren't going to cut it.

The crossbow Valentine had granted her was an incredible boon, and was likely going to be essential in the days that would come, but it would not be enough for the Second Layer. Alongside the supplies she was going to need to purchase, she would need new steel… And she should probably ask around for what specifically would be useful against a Banshee later.

But, again, that was for later. Right now, Ananta had far more pressing concerns to ponder as she walked. She needed funding, and she needed it quickly. Perhaps if she’d had a connection or two to reach out to for assistance… But she was not in Kamal, nor any city she’d visited before, and had no such friends. In Oratorio, for the moment, she was alone.

Similarly, any thoughts of trying to pick up odd jobs were dashed. From what she’d been told, market saturation was in full effect, and thus the pay for such things was below nothing. So, she’d need to think about alternate methods. Intrusive thoughts of returning to her roots came to the forefront of her mind. Ananta banished them as quickly as they had come.

And thus, not seeing an alternative, her thoughts turned back to the Abyss and its siren call.

Ideally, she would join a party, however… with the crossbow she’d been given, it was likely that a number of assumptions would be laid upon her. Ones that she knew full well that she wouldn’t be able to fit. Sure, she could work a crossbow just fine, ease of use was practically the selling point of them. She was good enough to aim, shoot, and kill reliably… but she was no deadeye. She wasn’t going to start hitting hundred plus meter shots one after another, and with the good quality she held, the possibility of a party taking her lack of impressive ability as deception was… Well, it was not a chance she would like to take.

Perhaps she might function as a porter, it wasn’t as though she hadn’t done such things in the past, but she could see the competition in that market. With the statues that she would be forced to compete against, it just wasn’t worth wasting the time, in her mind.

And thus, her legs had brought her here. To the edge of the First Layer of the Abyss.

Ananta would need to be as conservative as possible with her gear, and simultaneously secure as many kills as she could. As many spoils as she could.

Her heart ticked faster and faster, yearning to take the next step.

She would need to keep an eye out for the bodies of the dead. The surroundings would need to be checked, to be sure she wouldn’t be ambushed if she went to take, but unless it was too dangerous to risk, anything that their bodies might hold could be another item that could keep her alive… or that she could sell.

She was losing daylight.

She had everything she figured she might need. At this point, difficult as it was, she would need to have faith in herself.

And so, alone, Ananta began her plunge.
In Revue of Annihilation → 8 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay

Ananta Aroa


//O7 - The Shanty Between Buildings




Ananta observed the child's - Sasha's - mother and their home without judgment. The home, though many would likely hesitate to call it as such, was something made out of pure necessity... Though, given the state of Sasha's mother, Ananta assumed that she'd made it either a long time ago, before her body had undergone such deterioration, or appropriated it for her own use. Such was the way of things.

But these idle musings did nothing to help either of them, so Ananta banished them from her mind. There were far more pressing concerns, in her mind. Such as that strange mark that she'd gotten a glimpse of.

But before she would inquire further, it seems some clarifications were in order. Ananta spoke gently, "I said I would see if I could help, I would not dare speak of a guarantee. I know not of what afflicts your mother." And past that, introductions. "I am Ananta, ma'am." She said, inclining her head. "I cannot say for certain if I can provide a solution for what might ail you, but if you are willing, I would see if there is naught I can do." She held some experience when it came to illness, but if she were to make an assumption off of what she saw, Ananta could guess that this wouldn't be quite as simple as that.

The woman coughed.

"Would it be too much to ask you to...take my daughter out from Oratorio, to a village or town far from here?"

"Ma!"

"This isn't an illness that can be fixed with medicine, and this stupid girl won't stay at the orphanage."

... Ananta knew that such a thing was within her power. Indeed, though she could certainly feel something writhe inside of herself at the thought of leaving now, she knew that she would return by the time she'd found a safe home for Sasha. Kamal may not be as far away as the mother might like, but it would likely be the best Ananta could do. Even if she could endure the burning coals inside of her for that long, the amount of families she knew that might be willing to take in a child, or just a good orphanage, were primarily concentrated in Kamal. It would not make much sense to go further, when it would likely only serve to harm Sasha.

However, even though she had the ability to do so... Such a thing was an option she would much rather save as a last resort, in a scenario like this. Even if her mother wished for her daughter to leave, and even if it would more than likely grant her daughter a better life if Ananta brought her to Kamal or elsewhere... The fact remained that Sasha very clearly wished to stay with her mother, and was desperately searching for something, or someone, to help. But, more than that, it was Sasha who had reached out to her, and it was Sasha who brought her here. So, at the end of the day, the one who had petitioned for her help was the child, and Ananta would do her best to ensure she completed the child's request.

That said, she would not lie. "... I could do that, yes." She would not do so until it was clear that she could not help, but she would admit it was possible. "The town I call home, Kamal, is likely not quite as far as you would like, but yes, I could." But would not settle to end it there, so she pressed further, "However, ma'am, it was your daughter who brought me to assist you. Even if medicine cannot banish this illness, I would see if there is aught I can do to assist in another way, if you would allow me."

"Kamal..."

A flicker of recognition.

"So you came from there."

It was not quite what Ananta had hoped she would focus on, but so be it. "Yes, ma'am." She confirmed. "I would not call it my birthplace, but it has been my home for nine odd summers." She had started young, incredibly young. So much so that when she had started out adventuring, more often than not, she was laughed out of many a party and job. In the end, she'd made something of herself, but only out of luck.

"You are familiar with it?" Ananta said, attempting to gently broach the subject.

"I've passed by, on my way here."

She shifted her position, as if setting aside that memory.

"Sasha brought you, but why did you come? If you stop for every misfortunate child on your path, you'll never make it to the Abyss." There was suspicion, but it was cursory at best, easily understandable whenever one unaccustomed to charity receives it without reason.

It was a fair question. One that Ananta herself would inquire, had she been in the mother's shoes.

The answer was twofold. One that she could provide with resolve.

"I stopped to hear what she wished to say, and as it was something I might be able to provide, I saw no reason to refuse."

And the other with a modicum of embarrassment.

"And, as you can likely tell from my pack, I may have... overpacked, somewhat."

The hero of Kamal, everyone. Truly, an inspiration.

"A weird sort, aren't you?"

A brief look of surprise graced Ananta's otherwise serene expression, before being overcome by a small smile and a chuckle. "Ah, well, I suppose I cannot deny that, can I?" Internally, Ananta would have claimed fraud, but weird suited her quite well, too.

She shook off her amusement at the comment after a moment, and returned to the task at hand. "But, I believe we are straying, ma'am." Ananta said, referring to her daughter's request.

The woman looked at Sasha as well. Then she held her daughter close while placing a hand over the child's eyes. The blanket shifted off afterwards, revealing a body emaciated, a dark, pulsating tattoo having consumed more than half her body.

"Do you know what this is?"

Ananta took a moment to properly analyze what she was looking at. If she had to label the kinds or markings the horrible tattoo appeared to have distributed across the woman, she would label them as flames. Black flames that had crawled their way over much of the woman's body, that were very clearly harming her in some way. She could see full well why the woman said medicine would not help. If Ananta were to assume, she would point to this being some form of curse. It fit the bill of curses she'd seen in the past. A particularly horrible one, at that. If she were to guess further, Ananta would say that the pulsating of the mark was playing a part in the harm.

And so, she spoke her suspicions aloud. "... A curse, I would say." She said. "One done out of cruelty."

The woman nodded.

"A Banshee resides on the Second Layer, and I reckon I've got five more days in me." She closed her eyes, leaning back. "It takes two to reach the Second Layer."

"Can you do it?"

A Banshee... Well, this would certainly be a first for her, wouldn't it? An undead fiend, loud ones, at that. She'd heard a few tales from the elderly and retired adventurers. Unable to leave that which they are bound to, but they hold the ability of flight. A tricky foe, and one that she'd heard many a tale of loss over.

But could Ananta pull off something like this?

The Second Layer was deeper than she had intended to delve for some days. Ananta had planned to get her bearings with some more contained delving on the first floor... But the woman before her did not have such time to spare.

It seemed, then, that she would have to adjust her timeline.

After some moments of contemplation, Ananta resolved herself, and with her hand on her heart, nodded to the woman. "I will make the delve. Again, I shall not offer a guarantee of success, but I will do everything in my power to put the fiend down." It would be a disservice to everything she was, and everything she represented, to do anything less. She would succeed or she would die in the attempt.

"Do you recall it's location in the Layer? Bound as they are, with that information it would become much less of a task to track it down." If the woman did not, then that would be fine as well. Hunting down beasts and fiends with only an incredibly unspecific guide to their hunt such as "In the forest somewhere" was something of an adventurer specialty, even if she would rather that she got to the fiend as quickly as she could.

"No." She shook her head. "The Second Layer...you'll understand when you see it. And rather than doing everything in your power to kill it...make sure you survive." Because if time ran out, someone needed to know that Sasha still lived.

The location was not...? ... Very well. At one point or another, the woman had clearly braved the Abyss up to the Second Layer, and by virtue of that, she was more experienced than Ananta in that area by a good amount. She chose to simply nod at her words. If the woman believed that all Ananta would need was to see the Layer for herself, then she would trust in that.

The woman pulled out a crossbow and offered it to Ananta. It was a well-maintained thing, made of good wood and thick cord, its bolts tipped with iron.

"This will help, I trust."

Ananta accepted the crossbow without fuss, and inspected it's quality for no longer than a moment before realizing that it was of quality make. She nodded again. "It will."

Before she would depart, however, Ananta had one final question. "Ah, may I have your name, ma'am?" She asked, "It's occurred to me that I failed to ask earlier, my apologies for that."

"Valentine."

Ananta nodded. "Well met, Valentine." A good name, she thought. "I will take my leave. With luck, I will return with success." Ananta said, and turned to leave. She met Sasha's eyes as she did, and Ananta gave the girl the most confident nod she could manage. It seemed to lift her spirits somewhat, as her eyes regained some small amount of hope, so Ananta would call it a success.

About to exit, Valentine called out once more, reiterating her earlier words. "Even should you fail, see to it that you live."

Ananta paused her steps for a moment, and replied, "As you say."

"Good."

And that was that.

In a few moments, Ananta found herself back on the streets of Oratorio. Her hood up once again, her form obscured by her worn dark blue cloak. The streets of this district were much the same as the one she'd arrived to. But she would not spent overlong on those thoughts, not for a second time. With renewed determination, Ananta's feet brought her back to the Underpass.

Once again keeping a close eye on her things, she contemplated her next steps. This development would propel her much deeper than she had intended for, she knew. The supplies she'd brought along had been at the advice of a long retired tavern goer. Supposedly, it'd be what she needed to spend time hunting for a day or two on the First Layer of the Abyss... and she hadn't planned to delve beyond that for some a good while yet. Ananta had hoped to build at least some amount of familiarity with the trials that would be thrown at her, before going to where many claimed the "true" challenge began.

But sometimes, that was just the way of things. It wasn't reasonable to expect everything to stick to a single plan. So, she needed to adapt...

Five days was a heavy limit to be chained by. Ananta wasn't certain as to exactly how long it would take to reach the second floor... but it was likely for the best that she obtained what she needed quickly. Preferably in a day or two. The quicker she managed to delve, the better.

She would need additional supplies, for certain, and she would need them quickly. Ananta couldn't say she was entirely sure as to how she would go about it, but the simplest in theory, if likely somewhat challenging in practice, was to simply acquire more funds. But, then, how to go about such a thing?

... When she reached the Adventurers District, she would need to ask around. There would likely be at least some who were willing to answer the questions of a newcomer to the Abyss.

She would ask around, first, for how much one could make off of a day or two in the First Layer. Despite all the tales she'd heard back in Kamal, few had gone into the exact specifics of what they'd managed to gain, outside of vague exaggerations. For the most part, it was a result of them being muscleheads, but some of them simply could no longer remember. So she would need to confirm that first.

If it turned out to be viable for her needs... then she would consider delving.

The second, then, would be information on what she should expect. It would be good to hear more details on both the First and Second Layers, so she had a clearer picture of what she was getting into. The more she knew, the better prepared she could be to brave the depths.

And, lastly, for other methods of making coin. Though she imagined that it would be difficult to find someone willing to cough up the kind of coin she imagined she would need for her purposes from just a single job... Ananta knew how to be efficient. While a single request would likely not grant her what she needed, multiple very well could.

Information would be her very best friend, for the trials that lay ahead.
In Revue of Annihilation → 9 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay

Ananta Aroa


//O8 - The Underpass



And indeed, the words of the child informed Ananta of everything she needed to know.

Well, perhaps that is a small exaggeration. Certainly, Ananta could easily base her decision off of those two words, but whether or not she had the tools to truly help would be another matter entirely. Indeed, for those without a strong innate resistance to such things, even something as simple as a common cold, or an otherwise easily treatable infection, could spell the end for a slumborn of any sort. That was just the reality of the environment her fellows were forced to suffer through.

Indeed, every inch of life was a battle for even something as good and well as air that does not burn the throat. Something that she learned, later in her adventuring career, likely came from an abundance of mold or something similar. Every single aspect of the world that surrounded was actively working against her fellows, all for the sake of dragging them down into the dirt, to proliferate off of their corpses to drag down even more. To survive, you needed to learn how to cope. How to breathe, and how to move. How to walk and run, and how to hide. How to figure out who is diseased, and with what, to know who to avoid and who was an acceptable risk...

But then, she was getting off track. Though the child's situation was far from unique, Ananta wouldn't be particularly surprised if she could find many others in the Underpass looking for help with something similar, there was a chance that she might be of help. It was a small chance, it entirely depended on if what she had on hand was enough to heal the mother... but she would try.

As such, after that moment pause to ponder, Ananta spoke quiet enough for only the child to hear. "I cannot guarantee a cure to whatever might afflict her... however, should I possess something that might assist your mother, I will provide." For the time being, the Abyss had become the furthest thing from Ananta's mind.

Her path, for the time being, had been decided.

"Please, lead the way." She finished, at the same volume as the rest.

She did have some amounts of medicine with her, so there was a chance...
In Revue of Annihilation → 9 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay

Ananta Aroa


//O8 - The Underpass


Ananta was fully aware that what the man some steps ahead of her had done what many would consider the smart thing. What many would call the 'reasonable' thing. Such filthy things they were, slum dwellers. No better than animals in how they lived. Rolling around in their own waste on the daily, taking undeserved scraps from those who'd truly worked and from their betters. Thieves and criminals, the lot of them. At the very least, they knew where they stood in life. At the bottom.

Or, so many would say.

Ananta was a remarkably difficult person to inspire rage in, many found, very much unlike her adventuring peers. Adventurers, in general, were often rather brazen people. Crass, rude, vulgar, and perhaps hundreds of other similar words could be used to fit the description of the average. You could liken them to those mercenary companies of knights, just far more honest with themselves. And while you could generally trust one to fulfill their requests to at least the bare minimum... The less said about their negotiation skills, the better.

Ananta imagined that much of her success, in terms of connections and companions, came from her ability to simply keep a cool head and be polite, just as much as her incredible luck. Much of the time, working out the details of the requests that came directly to her group, instead of just something random off the job board, was left to her, as she was the most suited to it. Perhaps it was something that another might find insulting, but Ananta couldn't find a reason to feel such a way about it. She and the rest of her old party knew very well that it was only her words that had gotten them many valued requests and contracts, and she was valued for it, just as much as she was for her perceived skill.

Many wondered about her origins, be they a close companion or a stranger that'd only heard word of the achievements of Ananta and her party. Her general demeanor, appearance, and manner of speaking inspired some fantastical things, often said in jest when in her presence. Perhaps the most common was some assumed background of a noble lineage. Be it anything from a bastard child of some important house attempting to make her way in the world, a disguised baron's daughter trying to bring her family some manner of fame, or a runaway daughter of some royalty... Jokes and jests, as she said. She'd always taken some small amount of amusement out of these sorts of things. Simply shaking her head with a light smile, gently brushing them off as nothing more than the jests they were.

There was a sort of twisted amusement she got out of it as well. It was a strange phenomenon, wasn't it? How, when faced with someone like herself, someone of her words and looks, it was subconsciously assumed that she held some kind of noble heritage? Much of her true amusement, after all, came from the past she'd never spoken of. It was far, far easier to get what you wanted when the person you spoke to thought you were like them, or their better, after all. One of her greatest weapons in negotiations was that very assumption.

It was that same past that she had to clamp down upon. Ananta was not, and never would be, ashamed of where she had come from. The status she had attained? Sure, she struggled to feel something besides a sense of guilt in that, but that feeling would never apply to her true background... But a lack of shame it in did not make it wise to share. There were many a stigma that would follow such a reveal, and that left her far better off leaving her background as a mystery.

But one of the few things that might force her to put her throat in a vice to stall vitriol from spewing out would certainly be attacks on that background. Not her background specifically, - no one knew it, after all, - but on those she would consider her fellows, even if she knew that not a one would see her as one of them anymore. That protective instinct was something she knew she had to clamp down upon in front of many. In front of her party, the clamp was certainly loosened, but never in front of those who would use it to put her at a disadvantage. Even though they may see it as Ananta holding sympathy for those downtrodden instead of what it truly was, it was a disadvantage nonetheless.

And regardless of what she dearly wished to say- regardless of what she dearly wished she could do to the adventurer some steps ahead... Ananta didn't dare do more than narrow her eyes at the man's departing back. An action that would be missed, in this darkness, by most all.
Was it cowardice, to act this way? To allow things like this to happen, with the titles she held, and the place she'd come from?

She knew the answer to be nothing other than yes.

Her focus turned, and she locked eyes with the battered child. She didn't dare feel pity, she would not insult the child like that. Not when she understood. Her gaze would not hold an inch of judgement, for it couldn't. Not when Ananta had experienced the very same, just as near all slumborn had. Her eyes, hidden by darkness and by hood, simply waited.

Many would say that doing such a thing was a mistake. Animals such as this would take the smallest scrap to the furthest reaches of the mortal plane, should they be given such an opportunity, they would say. And though Ananta would privately disagree vehemently with the phrasing of such a sentence, she did not fully disagree with the sentiment of the words. To be born in such a place transformed every aspect of life into a fierce competition for survival, and if you wished to see another day, you had to take every inch you could.

Indeed, a detour such as this could turn out to be a mistake. At the very least, it would certainly delay her first delve to the depths of the Abyss somewhat, that was for certain... But she had all the time in the world, before needing to brave the soul of Oratorio.

And thus, her journey was paused, for a moment. Ever so slightly, Ananta moved to the side, allowing any behind her to make headway, and kept a close eye on her belongings and her environment. She couldn't give all of her fellows assistance like this. Not without endangering her own chances of survival. But she would pause for this young one.

The child needed a chance to speak.

Ananta could only hope that what they asked for was something she could provide.

@ERode
In Yu-Gi-Oh!: Perils of the Night → 9 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Lucy Mallory




Lucy hid her mouth behind her hand, silently laughing at her opening hand. A dice jar, a samurai, a roulette spider, a second coin toss, a fairy box, and an ordeal of the traveler. A wonderful start.

Her opponent was a young man that, judging by his uniform, had come here straight from the local high school. He eyed Lucy carefully, before pulling his own draw. If she remembered right, the boy played Blue Eyes, in some vain attempt to imitate Seto Kaiba ... But, judging by that blossoming expression of his, Lucy could only assume that he'd found himself holding a brick, as those cards often did.

Her grin only widened behind her hand, and when it was removed to instead hover over her cards, she did not even make the slightest attempt to banish it from her face. The boy, of course, noticed that, and glared. How fun!

Though Lucy had never bothered to actually remember her opponents name, she had actually dueled him a few times in the past. Twice, to be specific. Both at the same little card shop. In other words, he was fully aware of the kind of deck she played, and since he had very clearly bricked his hand, both of them knew there was nothing he could do to stop her before she started.

Especially since Lucy had won the coin toss, like always.

Practically radiating a smug aura, Lucy declared her choices. "I'll set one card face down, in defense position~..." The boy made a face at that, already piecing together exactly which card it was. "And, I'll set two cards in my backline!" Her tone was light, almost playful, and it only served to make her opponent's face grow more pinched.

Her grin remained strong. "I pass~."

The boy, on the other hand, looked on the verge of swearing... It took him some moments, moments that only made Lucy's grin grow wider, but he did, eventually, make a move.

"I... set one card, and... pass..." He said through gritted teeth. As she'd thought, the boy had bricked. He crossed his arms. She laughed unkindly.

Coming upon her turn, she drew, and found herself with a Cup of Ace. Unneeded, but it would be an amusing thing to use, especially if she lost the coin flip. Ah, she could already imagine hope coming to the boy's eyes, if she were to land two tails...

Lucy would save it for later, in case the duel dragged on and she became bored.

Still grinning like a cheshire cat, Lucy made her move. "I place Sasuke Samurai #4 in attack position, and declare an attack on your face down monster~! And, since it's Sasuke Samurai attacking..." But, before she could finish, her opponent cut her off. "We've done this before- just call the coin already!" Ah, the boy was certainly frusterated, wasn't he?

How fun!

Her grin morphed into something else, a placating smile that some might call mocking. "Of course, of course, how could I forget... ah, what was your name again?" The boy bristled, but said nothing. Expected.

"No matter, heads!"

The coin was flipped, the monster was destroyed, and with a grimace, the boy deducted the damage from his life points.

One more turn, then. Before the true gamble.

She passed, and the boy went once more. Ah- he'd drawn something good, it seemed.

"I set one monster, and activate Lightning Storm, destroying your backrow!" Or maybe he hadn't.

Lucy, accordingly, removed both placed cards from her backrow to the graveyard, and seeing her opponent pass once again, drew once again. She didn't even bother to read what she'd drawn, though. This little game was about to end.

"Heads, again." She called. Utilizing the Samurai once more. Of course, she called it right, and of course, the monster was destroyed. Her opponent seemed resigned, to anyone who looked. She couldn't blame him. After all, he knew what was coming.

Entering the second main phase... Dice Jar was flipped up.

Two dice met the table. One a five, one a six.

That was the end of it.

"A fun distraction." Lucy said, standing from the table. "I hope to see you again."

Her opponent grumbled as he stood, walking off to presumably go see how his friends were fairing in their matches.

Though Lucy might not have a friend here, she figured it would be for the best to follow suit and check out how other matches were going, if only to kill time.

She doubted many other matches would finish so fast, after all.
In Yu-Gi-Oh!: Perils of the Night → 9 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay

In Revue of Annihilation → 9 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay

Ananta Aroa


//O8


Ananta had heard much of Oratorio, before her coming. A symptom of the location of her old home. With its relative close proximity, hardly a day would go by without at least a single outsider arriving and professing how it would be they who would conquer the depths. How it would be they who would become the next Sword of Varanasi, or whatever other great legend that the nobodies wrongly thought they had a chance to become. Those types are often the ones that you never hear about again.

But more than the fools who cannot comprehend the magnitude of the journey they are about to undertake, Kamal, alongside its status as a strong general hub for adventurers, can be called something of a retirement town for those who’ve had their fill of the Abyss that Oratorio imprisons. Be it those that have become too injured to continue their delving, those who have had their fill of the danger, or the lucky few who have lived to an old age, there is plenty of reliable and not so reliable tales one can collect from the folk of Kamal.

Much of the time, one does not even need to bother asking. So long as one hangs around the local taverns or the guild, you will surely overhear at least two separate tales of greatness or stories of embarrassment being spouted off by someone or other. Usually, the tales of greatness are epics of bravery and adventure, primarily about the trials they grappled with in the Abyss. The stories of embarrassment were much more often found to hold the setting of the city of Oratorio itself.

The way Oratorio was described varied in each and every tale. For every one that described it as some variation of glorious splendor, there were at least four or five others to counterbalance that called attention to a revolting underbelly of some sort. It was a contrast, many said. The further up you could pull your gaze, the more beautiful it would become, and the further down your eyes were dragged, the more horrid.

It was a contrast that, upon setting her sights on the city for the first time, Ananta found herself agreeing with.

But at the same time, it was not a sight that she could muster up any kind of special feeling for. How could Ananta, when she’d glimpsed and journeyed through cities of much the same states? Indeed, it was a clear, horrible showing of class divide, but that was the reality of any city. As was the smell, and as was the state of the homes. The truth of the matter was that Oratorio was nothing special… at least, outside of the Abyss it surrounded.

It did not take long for her to break into the slums of the city, from the hill she had glimpsed it on. The people of it were as standard as slum dwellers came. Their clothing was so unwashed that the environment they lived in had become one with it, and the stench as well. All who entered and passed by Ananta’s hooded gaze were some manner of sickly, clearly showing signs of illnesses that, in many other towns and villages, had long since been extinguished.

Some had eyed her cloaked form, sizing her up, but would turn their sight elsewhere upon glimpsing what she carried with her. Ananta could guess that they would try to find another, less equipped adventurer as their next mark, or a fellow slum dweller.

Her pace was steady, and filled with purpose. The slums, though familiar to her in many ways, were not her goal.

Like the legends and the fools both who had come before her, Ananta’s destination lay past the slums, below the road, and through the Underpass.

Her destination lay, instead, in the den of fools.

The Adventurer’s District, and the Abyss beyond it.

Approaching the Underpass, Ananta moved in time with the ticking of her heart.
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