Life in Stasis

The Absent King

Perhaps you might when @Errant Son posts (hopefully arriving at the cell). @ThatCharacter may also provide something to respond to, and @Fireball XL5 is due to arrive soon. I suggest waiting for them before deciding to sit out the round.

New Member, Old Friend

Welcome to the forum, Savage. Hope you find something to your liking. I think there are no less than fifty Warhammer RPs at the moment, and I think some of them are still accepting.

I've been around here since the start of the decade, and so far the forum doesn't seem to slow down while others die. Suffice to say that RPG has unusual staying power for an RP forum.

The Absent King

The Ytharien

“Be careful, Annara,” Lothren cautioned as he lowered himself carefully into the corner of the cell. Shade, at last. Though imprisoned, this stone cell offered the first dose of cool air he’d felt in what seemed like an era. Water, he hoped, was soon to follow. Every word scraped his throat. “You know as well as I the humans here may think a simple prayer to be witchery.”

While Juna and the friendly refugee traded words through the bars, Lothren tenderly arranged his broken arm in his lap, clasping one hand in the other. He knew little of complicated humanoid anatomy, but from what he could tell, the arm had shattered well above the elbow. Yet here, his hand down to the fingertips had swelled and turned violet. Beyond the pain, he couldn’t feel anything anymore. Not even the cool stone.

Lothren lifted his head and traded a worried look with Aust before Juna’s question pulled his attention.

“Escape?” he recited the elvish word. He continued the rest of his thought in Aretan Common. “I wonder, what would you have done back there, at the gate, had I said nothing? Fought for freedom? Killed a few guards protecting their city? Been killed? Even if you succeeded and fled, where would you go, Juna? Areta is hardly a verdant paradise.”

Enough Ytharien had died today of his failed leadership. After surviving by the skin of their teeth, it would have been senseless to die here, at the Greenbank Baron’s shady doorstep.

“I saw you fight that beast,” Lothren carried on, initially ignoring the refugee’s questions. He was half delirious from thirst and pain, and his voice came in dry, breathy gasps. “You were beautiful, Juna. Your hair like cornsilk, eyes like,” he paused to smile, “like home. I’ll get you out of here, sister, I promise you.”

Finally, Lothren acknowledged the human. He was inquisitive, a mark of intelligence. By the look of his tanned complexion and light hair, he appear to be native Viceni stock, but humans were known for interbreeding. He was the first of the humans to approach the elves respectfully and ask their motives, instead of hurling the nearest rock.

Perhaps he was foolish for following the prisoners into the keep’s prison yard, but perhaps his curiosity was all he had left. His home was gone.

“We did have a motive,” Lothren told him from his shady corner. “I know, stranger, what tunneled through your lands and sank your nation. I know what those creatures were, and what they wanted. I know that the only reason you and your remaining countrymen still live is because me and my Ytharien risked ourselves to herd you to safety across the river. Furthermore.”

The elf shifted in his spot as he stretched out one leg after the other, settling in for what could be hours.

“I know that, beyond the gratitude your lot owe us for saving your lives,” which had been so profusely shown so far, “that the information I hold is the only thing that makes any of us worth keeping alive. Forgive me if I do not share it with you quite yet. I will tell you this: the Aretan king is here within the city. He must be. He was present this morning at your country’s downfall.”

Lothren turned and regarded Annara with a fatherly gaze. With his good arm, he lifted a piece of her hair to get a better look at her headwound.

“If your good will toward us is true,” the elf added, “would you fetch my compatriots and I some water from the trough across the yard?”

---

The Knights

“Blood magic?” Alonso felt his lip curl. Ordinary arcana was dangerous enough, but what Marcus described was utterly heinous. Even terrifying. All too much for a travel-weary King to comprehend in the state he was. Alonso’s mind was on his waiting bath, a fresh set of clothes, and a soft bed. “Saints alive. Yes, send for the Inquisitor. By the King’s order.”

Still, no word of the creatures or from what infernal pit they had spawned.

“Captain, you’ve not said a word. Have you anything to add?”

Summoned to life, Amon swiveled his head back and forth as he gathered his bearings, as if having forgotten where he was. Disheartening Alonso, the Captain appeared ill prepared to join the discussion.

“N-no…” Serona stated, uselessly. He held his ribs as he spoke. He hadn’t eaten a thing, just taken a few sips from his goblet. “Forgive me, my liege. I had… family, there.”

“Ah…” The King felt his eyes lower. “I am sorry.”

Exhausted, Alonso sank back into his seat, resting his brow in the palm of his hand. His head was pounding and his limbs felt wooden and weak. To stave off the sensation, the King picked up a piece of bread and dipped it the salted, meaty juices of the rushed banquet the House had provided. The weight of Alonso’s crown, even when worn, was growing heavy. Every soul in the room waited to hear what he would think, and there wasn’t a single magistrate in sight to help him organize his thoughts, or decide what should be done.

“The elven band,” the King began to illuminate, after swallowing his bite, “was called the Ytharien. Ythari, wolves, in their language. But they traveled as the Mummers of Merry Andrew.” All of them were dead. The name sounded perverse now. “Actors. Raiders. Indeed you are right mage, their leader did know something of the swallowed villages. He spoke of antlions, great monsters from the south, but mentioned that their behavior was odd. As if they were being directed. If he still lived, we could…”

Alonso leaned in his chair as two armed militiamen came unannounced into the dining hall. Were this the castle at home, the interruption would have outraged the older lords and magistrates, but the Anquis Keep was decidedly less rigid. Almost refreshing.

“My Lady.” Nervous looks were spared in the mystery noble’s direction, but Alonso was patiently silent. “We have apprehended elves at the gate. They could be our raiders. They await your attention in the prison yard. I have already called for the inquisitor.”

The Ytharien? The King rose to his feet again, forcing his chair to stutter loudly behind him.

“How serendipitous.” Alonso waved an arm at Captain Serona. When the Knight Captain proved unattentive, the King furled his brow and deferred to Gawain instead. “Castagher. You were with the elves. I know you are hurt and weary, but I want you to see if these are the elves who raided Muon Pond. See to it the Inquisitor is brought here. Mage—”

It was rather a challenge to know what to do with an ungoverned mage. He was the King’s guest, but in a sense he was also a prisoner. Once false move would be his undoing, despite his value to his remaining countrymen. The Viceni were now endangered.

“I’d like you to stay close to Sir Gawain. I cannot have you roaming free. Kolbe.” Despite looking worse for wear, Sir Linus was the most able Knight among his injured brothers. The King needed an escort. “With me. Lady Anquis, before we resume our grim business, I would like to meet with your father.”

The Absent King

FYI in the morning I'll be writing a post to at least move the Ytharien group along. That will probably include @Fireball XL5 (and definitely involves ThatCharacter).

The Absent King

@Life in Stasis I am still not going to available (much) going on up 'till friday. Exams are killing me.

@Errant Son

That's cool man. Did you have anything you wanted to add to the scene or is it cool if we move on? I don't think there's going to be any major changes next round though.

Tales of Lucenrai: The Fallen Kingdom

I'm incredibly impressed by the amount of care you've put into presenting this RP. It looks like you have four applicants already. Is there still room for one more, if I submit my character? Is CorinTraven playing the child of the monarch you requested?

The Absent King

Posted. It isn't perfect, but things are beginning to fall into place! Pumped to see where we're headed.

@ThatCharacter

I have very specific plans in mind. From the start I have had to alter them based on what the characters do (which is the fun of RP, wouldn't be any fun if everyone did exactly what I aimed for), but when things go according to plan, then I don't have to figure out how to roll with it. Your post, ThatCharacter, is one the few that has gone the way I planned (and I do NEED that mix of expected and unexpected). You asked the questions I was hoping to see. I think you'll fit into the story just fine.

Everyone's posts this round have been good. Looking around the forum I'm pretty proud that this roleplay is mine.

Yellow There

I've heard of cases of people with Asperger's (though from what I hear, Asperger's has been renamed to simply 'high functioning autism' [which is good because that name's pronunciation was just terrible]) being unable to feel the cold. Perhaps you'll get it back when you're older. Until then, it probably is affecting your sense of taste. On that note, I've heard people with no sense of smell have a strong preference for spicier foods, because food is often otherwise bland.

The sneezing could just be allergies though. Dust or pollen or dry air, who knows.

That is a very graphic story about your twin. Fraternal, I'm guessing?

If you enjoy historical fiction, I'll direct your attention to Nation RPs. The genre is far beyond me, but sometimes I read over them because every post is so vastly detailed. You do, in fact, play a nation. It's like a freeform game of Risk. A lot of them take place in themed worlds like 1800s or futuristic or one of them had to do with ancient lost civilizations like the Mayans or the Rapa Nui people.

I'm more for low fantasy myself, though I'll dabble in near-futuristic dystopia or far-futuristic cyberpunk for funsies. Perhaps we'll run into each other in the wild, if our tastes ever converge.

Yellow There

I also don't have a sense of smell and I'm a twin. People seem to be really curious about those topics and find those topics really interesting about me. I'm a really open person if you have any questions.

@TheGirlInYellow

Consider me curious. I've heard people lose their smell in the short years before they're about to die. Or maybe you accidentally cut your poor twin in half and you went smell-blind out of grief.

That's a reference. If you don't get it, then you'll have to take my word that it's hilarious.

You'll find there are in fact quite a few writers with autism here. My very dear friend has it, and it's interesting when he tells me about his character process, the limits of what he feels he's capable of. He's told me a lot about a particular character, as well as areas he avoids venturing into for lack of understanding. With any luck, you'll be able to grow as a writer here.

I find the eulogies bit very touching, actually. That's rather unique. On the thought of Just A Thought, have you considered writing vignettes? They might be fun for you.

Welcome to the forum, hope you find what you're looking for here. What are your favorite genres?

Help

Welcome, StrangeWorld.

I began doing forum RP when I was your age. I had been writing my own stories (terrible ones) since I was 12, and found an RP chatroom when I was 13. Learning to write collaboratively with others is pretty natural if you're already creatively inclined. There's not much etiquette to figure out, and GMs are usually glad to offer some direction.

14 years later, I still have some of the friends I made when I was starting out in forums. It's a really wonderful, horrible, incomparable hobby. It has helped shape who I am as a person.

PM me if you need any help getting sorted or need advice.