Life in Stasis

The Absent King

Hey @ThatCharacter, gonna have to ask you to change some information in your post. It conflicts with some story elements earlier in the story.

The past few days had taken a lot out of Tobias Ilingard. His normally bright eyes were dull, having been watching over his small flock of concerned villagers who had managed to escape the hordes of insects...

@ThatCharacter

There weren't any arachnid monsters anywhere else. Elven raiders and elven raiders alone drove Viceni villagers out of their homes. Additionally, the only refugees in Udny Pass are from Muon Pond earlier in the RP. Notably, by our player characters (and a flock of NPCs).

When the country was collapsing, no one knew what was going on, let alone had any chance to escape. Imagine America collapsing and you live in Tennessee. It's not as simple as hopping over to Canada. It happened much too quickly. Only the scattered villages on the desert border had any chance, and the only one close to Udny Pass was Muon Pond.

No one knew when the creatures would arrive...

@ThatCharacter

Just to reiterate, no one except the player characters have seen the creatures.

He had no ill feelings to the ancient creatures.

@ThatCharacter

A minor note that elves only live to about 300-500 years or so, I think. I guess that's pretty ancient, but most of them you'll see are between like 30 and 150.

And another reminder that it was elves that raided the border villages, including Muon Pond (where I assume Tobias is from).

It's tough to get your bearings when joining an RP in progress, but you'll find your stride. Shouldn't be too hard to make these changes while keeping to the original spirit of your post.

Thanks!

The Absent King

My thoughts exactly.

The Absent King

@ThatCharacter It's all set up for you. Sorry for the delay, got waylaid by FRIENDS needing HELP. I told them I had better things to do, like playing make believe with other grown adults.

The Absent King

“It is an unimaginable tragedy,” Lothren agreed breathlessly. “I share your sentiment. What I truly wonder is this: whatever those beasts were, what did they gain from destroying a nation?”

He traded a look with Aust, who had been carrying Annara without complaint. They did make quite a pair. After seeing them playing each other’s love interest in The Aurelian Collector countless times, it was sometimes difficult to separate stories from reality.

“And will they stop there?”

***

“Humble group of…” The guard leaned back off the parapet, pushing back his iron helmet to unobstruct his view. After hanging there to stew for a moment in incredulity, he passed a look to his partner further down the wall. “D’you hear that, Rod? They’re just travelin’.”

“Look like elves to me,” Rodney replied, leaned back in his stool and plucking the string of his crossbow. “You gonna do somethin’ about it or stand there and make jests?”

“Well,” the first guard sucked on his teeth, “did have a good one about the human there. Suppose they'll eat her for supper?”

“A human?” Rodney set all the legs of his stool down and rose to his feet. From below, the Ytharien saw another silhouette blot the sky as he appeared over the wall to peer down at them. Uttering a curse, he moved his partner along with a shove and drew a bolt from the bench nearby. “She looks hurt. Come on, you idiot.”

In short order, the gate was lifted by the winch, revealing both guards standing just beyond on the other side. The first had his sword drawn, and the other held his loaded crossbow at the ready. The swordsman ducked under the rising and approached the party with his blade pointed at the blonde elf.

“Each o’you, show your hands.” A necessary question for elves known for their hand cannons and magic devices. There were tales of elves shooting men dead after little more than reaching into their vests. “Yer all three to come with us peaceful, and nobody gets hurt.”

“Four,” Rodney offered from behind his crossbow.

“Damnit, I can count!” The guard tipped his head at the human. “The girl’s a blasted native, not a human. An' looks like she's comin' to.”

The Absent King

[snipped] - would it step on any of your toes if I end my post with the lot of your characters sitting down for tea in my family's keep? (I'm assuming Alonso would insist they keep the mage with them.)

EDIT: If at all possible it's going up this evening, by which I mean some absurd hour tomorrow morning.

@Lyaer

After some deliberation, I say go for it. Saves me the trouble of having to do it myself, as long as the others are fine with it.

The Absent King

After I've read up, I'll see what I can do about posting. My girlfriend happens to be in town at the moment though, so no promises.

@FateWeaver

I appreciate you checking in periodically, thank you. Come back whenever you can, but I am going to write him out softly at this point. You can reenter once you're back, I just need to do what I can so I'm not stretching myself so thin.

Hi!

Sorry about your RP group.

Text based roleplay is pretty unique. You have to get used to the rhythms and etiquette, but people here are pretty friendly about that. Especially if you ask questions. Good luck in finding adventure.

By Way Of The Leaning Gale [Space Western RP]

I will also be posting today/tonight. Sorry for the wait!

The Absent King

@ZB1996 Hey would you mind adding a second time-skipped portion to your post with a response to the "who goes there" from the Udny Pass guard? Since FateWeaver is still MIA and Annara is waiting for the next round, it sort of falls to you.

I could have responded with Lothren or godmodded Aust again but I want to keep my interference with character decisions to a minimum.

It can just be a couple lines so I can respond to it. It was going to serve as a way to introduce @ThatCharacter's character (I've already approved his character, he just has to post it).

Would appreciate it!