Mortim

My swimming instructors a dragon. [Mortim / Siaya Dragalorn]

Yeah it's a bit but it did teach me a lot, it was all a while ago now though. Here's to hoping! :D

Yes I've been trying to learn more about sketching and drawing. I play primarily on the PC and have been enjoying VR games as of late. Plushy-making is awesome!! What kind of plushy's did you make?
I really want to get into cosplaying so I can make a barbarian outfit once a bit more fit-looking for a larp lol.

Yeah, Dan definitely is digging himself a bit of a hole. Right now he's a good bit on edge but he should loosen up once the attention isn't quite so focused on just him lol.

Yeah, I was kind of concerned when they all first got together but I'm actually quite enjoying their dynamics! They all have very distinct story's and outlooks on current circumstance too so that should be quite fun as things progress and we get the chance to see how everyone reacts to things and comes together over all of it. Since they'll let Dan take the lead it should keep things pretty open to considering he's not the most profoundly brave person lol. I've really enjoyed how Anora has been reacting to them and wouldn't be at all surprised if their outlooks and circumstance caused some sort of meltdown for her lol. We've only seen characters so far too, I'm excited to introduce unique environments and society's to Anora as well.

Well, I read this interesting thing in a book recently about limitations actually being what defines who you are no matter how horrible or how great. He said that if we were God, we wouldn't even have any sort of merits or personality because there would be nothing to overcome or enjoy or be sad about because there'd be nothing to keep us from joy or sorrow. A person is only brave because they overcame some sort of fear or circumstance and they're only happy because they were once sad. I kind of enjoyed that thought. I know I'd been told it before, just never quite like he put it I suppose.
The book is Twelve Rules to Life by Jordan Peterson'

Also, HOORAY FOR PAGE 4!!! I've had so much fun and can't wait for more iwth an excellent partner such as yourself!

My swimming instructors a dragon. [Mortim / Siaya Dragalorn]

Dan shirked away as he consistently did with Anora's abrasive state, he didn't appear to entirely understand or appreciate her current mindset as something he could grow accustomed to. He sputtered into speaking with anxiety against the waves of ever-angered questions.

"Th-th-they, uhm, well, like, the people I do jobs for, they said that Pahn was creating some sort of super-weapon here. They needed to send someone who could, y'know, like, actually neutralize it if he turns out to be hostile...-" He scratches at the back of his head before jamming his thumbs inside white-knuckled palms that pace with force against his thighs. "-I mean, the people who asked me to come here, not, like, my bosses necessarily, but, uhm, the ones who thought I could benefit from a trip here, they, uh, they call themselves 'The Council'. They're a sort of, uh, a network of wizards set up to guarantee all forms of non-hostile trade in the universe at large... W-we also, like-! Y'know, we come together if there's some sort of big threat, or whatever..."

Dan shivers visibly due to whatever combination of exhaustion and stress may be coiling its vicious body around his maladjusted mind. *Cough-cough, Whe-heeze!* Dan coughs and wheezes for a few short moments, his shoulders rattling like the legs of a chair getting ready to give under too much weight. Quickly, he finished coughing and came back to slouching as he tends to with both hands either anxiously pacing his thighs or gesticulating gently towards Anora.

"W-well Darsby, here, he will be helping with direction. I mean, you didn't exactly, interact with Pahn, but, uhm, we believe a distant ancestor of yours was one of his creations, err, associates?" Dan scratches at his head with the ending of that last statement/question.

During the aforementioned fit of coughing, Darsby performed a fast and nearly undetectable action. The man leaned towards Anora at incredibly fast speeds, and, without permission, tapped his finger against the small wound on her arm. There was a miniscule drop of blood atop Darsby's finger as he leaned back into his seat, having finished that entire movement in under a second. Somehow, her arm wouldn't hurt any more than it already had, and no bandage or scab had been opened.

Darsby breaths a small cloud of greyish smoke into his lap, this cloud evaporates once it had reached about the size of a small jewelry box. What is left in its wake is a small black cube. Darsby touches the blood against its top surface, the box then morphs and shifts its shape into that of a sphere with very small, rough looking details tapering its surface. Eventually, blues and greens and greys fill this orb with creamy hues. After about three or four seconds, it was clear that this globe was turning into a small replica of Earth with Darsby keeping his finger locked against its upper side. He eventually retracted his finger from the top, the strange object shrinking all at once with a thin silver chord attached to it to form what looks to be a necklace.

"Wear this please." Darsby would say to Anora without flinching as if everything that had just happened was what everyone should have expected. His consistently deadpan features would do nothing to alight our young woman of what it is that had just specifically occurred.

"Yes, uhm, this Quenz-Box should, uh, it should let you know, sort of, empathically, which way we need to be going." Dan blushes at Darsby while he gestures towards the small necklace with Earth as it's jewel. The clouds and oceans appeared to be moving in real-time atop its faintly reflective surface.

Ahllasta continued to display annoyance at the puttering descriptions of Dan. Perhaps it was just this man that rubbed her raw; perhaps it was the subject matter. Regardless, her lower lip wasn't likely to survive the gnawing of those ferociously sharp canines.

Should Anora touch the necklace, she'd hear a strange breeze. Winds and cawing birds would fill her ears, drops of water gently touching upon leaves and the scent of grass accompanied by thoughts of fruit would fill her mind. These thoughts and images wouldn't occupy her entire mind; it's as if her consciousness were a house and someone had flipped on the TV in a room near the one she was occupying. This TV would display distant images of what looked to be some rainforest with vast plains and tall mountains. Strangely, these images blurrily collided with the thoughts of some Chinese or perhaps Japanese city, in all of its concrete wonder shooting as towers into the sky. She would feel some compulsion to continue down this road they were driving on with an eventual inkling to turn right at some point.

My swimming instructors a dragon. [Mortim / Siaya Dragalorn]

Yeah, it was for other, unrelated reasons. Parent's just being people who make bad decisions led to a good number of moves in my teenage years lol. I'm glad you're surviving! Knock on wood, but, it sounds like things are a bit on the upward path! It's good you have some options coming up.

I understand the crafting and video games, I did the same for a good bit too lol. Warframe was my go to for a number of days.

He is a bit of an interesting character xD I'm actually super-glad I threw him in though because it gives Anora a chance to ask some questions and get some answers. Even if she doesn't fully believe them it will at least give her something to stand on at first.

The whole situation is a good bit unreal so I don't blame any sort of reactions she has lol. Her being as defensive as she is makes a lot of sense and I can definitely appreciate it! I've been working on my bad habit of letting characters put down their guard too soon or when they certainly wouldn't if I had stayed true to them. You've been doing a good job the whole way through! We're getting close to actually starting our journey too! I'm so excited.

It is funny we both take breaks but it does go to show that either we're interested in the story or just good RP-partners in general. I'd like to say it's a bit of both lol.
I've been doing really well! Been really putting my health in my own hands lately. I decided to accept my limitations and move on with my life recently and it's been paradoxically liberating lol. I've been accomplishing more of my own goals in general than I think I ever have before.

My swimming instructors a dragon. [Mortim / Siaya Dragalorn]

Dan nodded inconsistently with Anora for most of her statements with a twinge of guilt overcoming his exhaustedly anxious composure. His lower lip obtains a few reddish marks after some intensive nibbling whilst his hands knot themselves atop thin knees. His head tilts downwards with a sigh as if he were bowing to an apology. Our "monster's" head moves back into what he displays as 'awkward eye-contact' range shortly after the young woman finishes speaking.

"Monster Mash?" Dan would squeak, sounding more as a mouse than a man whilst Anora listed many references which only pushed him further into confusion. He took several seconds to blink in blank disparity before visibly shaking the confusion from himself with a few squints and bodily tremors.

"I-I-I, I think I misspoke.. Your aggressive mindset is sort of, at least, like, a bit my own fault here. I used the word, uhm, conquer? It's more like an 'indoctrination'..-" His open palms gesture with honesty and gentle dismay whilst he speaks. An inept description of things is left to this small, confused, individual as opposed to the other strange and distant creatures riding in our reinforced car down the open freeway.

"We, uhm, I mean, The Council, takes in planets full of sentient life with the capacity to produce what we call 'regal wizards', who are, like, really rare from this worlds standpoint... Roughly, I think, one for every billion people? You aren't one! I mean, not at present... Well, anyways, uh...-" Dan gets lost in thought, tapping his chin with a pause in open-handed gestures before sparking to life with further elaboration. "-uh... Right! So with these, uhm, these worlds, we perform free trade of resources and information, but, your issue is, uhm, we end up giving things up equally to everyone. Most of the, uh, the-uh.. like, political groups? Yeah, political groups on your planet don't like the idea of someone much bigger looking over them. Or that bigger person being their main source of information which is as available to them as it is to their enemy... if that makes sense? I've noticed that humans don't become friends overnight unless the one feeding them turns out to be their mutual enemy... Which we aren't worried about! Because, like, there aren't that many of you? But, even so, we don't like, want anyone to die for dopey reasons." Dan takes a moment to rub his temples, eyes closed, mumbling something like a list. He seems to be making sure he's not forgetting anything major.

"Oh! Pahn! Right, so we don't know that much about Pahn. They seem to be one person, but, we aren't sure? All we know is that they're capable enough to vaporize this world if something doesn't go their way. Wich is an issue, when we, like, don't want anyone dying because of us? So we're trying to find him before we throw wide-range magics on this planet that are standard for every world under our jurisdiction. We don't know if he'll react in a bad way, which could, y'know, like, kill off everyone you know?" Dan kind of shrugs and makes a weird squeaking sound as his shoulders slide quickly upward to perform the overt gesture of, 'who knows?'.

Dan slides back into his seat a bit before hunching over, using one finger to pick at the other one's nail. The man sits like this for a few seconds before looking up again.

"Oh yeah! Darsby was supposed to handle things quietly, but, uh, we got some new information that kind of demanded someone, uhm, someone like me?" One hand loosely pulls at his collar as if he were in danger of sweating when speaking of himself or Darsby in any context. If the subject matter of their conversation were different, you'd easily take him for some neurotic passerby living a simple life of many anxieties and a general lack-of-sleep.

Darsby appeared relatively unaffected until the end where he bowed a bit as if out of embarrassment towards Anora. His eyes gazed at her with level emotions of serious disposition as he typically seemed to do. Those eyes glimmer with the faint essence of some otherworldly thought, yet, before it could pull her in, Darsby would look away.

Ahllasta, in contrast, seemed to shift from afraid and distressed to deeply annoyed. Any talk of politics or equality seemed to claw at her patience immensely. Someone as ferocious as she could be expected to care very little for general bureaucracy. Yet, perhaps, she was pestered for other reasons?

My swimming instructors a dragon. [Mortim / Siaya Dragalorn]

That's wild! Reminds me of the time I moved around eight times in the span of a month when I lived in North Carolina, of course, our situations are both a bit different in context xD. Are you making it through okay? Any good moments throughotu all of this?
P.S. I don't mind worms lol.

Well I had an idea and he ended up being a good outlet for said idea, kind of giving him further shape then I'd even originally intended. I understand being out of it, no rush. I just dropped a lot of bombshells on Anora too so it's fine if she's super off. I don't think she'll be anything but super-off with the way the story's gone so far lol. Besides, I think you did an excellent job writing for her, the post is good!

My swimming instructors a dragon. [Mortim / Siaya Dragalorn]

Lighter shades of red dance in ever-deepening hues atop Dan's features immediately upon the perception of Anora's first question. One callous palm pulls thin, leathery fingers towards an avenue of particularly knotted strands of hair to scratch vigorously to the tune of anxiousness. His other free hand raises slowly to perform a gentle pushing gesture towards Anora as his eyes squint above a smile born from reflex to someone prying somewhere where humor is often utilized as the preferred coping method.

"U-uhm, right, that's uh, well, Darsby here-" He jaggedly gestures towards the now alert underling of an exasperated cashier running interference for the manager. "-He's supposed to be here in s-secret, sort of, because, uh, well, like, Pahn is uh, a big deal, sort of, and Earth's local magic-based groups are using that to, like, give their independence from us backing, they, aren't really, well, it's sort of like, they, uh....-" Dan seems to be backed into a corner of jumbled details, attempting to make sense of them all for the young woman before him. His eyes light up as much as is allowed by the black suit-cases hanging beneath them. Both hands gesture openly before him, outlining a sort of sphere.

"Okay so, like, a little kid is saying that his big brother, will like, show up, if a big group of other kids won't, uh, go away..? No! That's not good either..." Dan scratched at his scalp again, as if the digging of his nails would pull another more accurate answer from the drudges of his frantic mind.

"So like, Earth has its own magic, uh, government group things. We had one of our agent's working with them, as, sort of, a punishment? Considering this world is really small and on the edge, of, uh, like, all of the space occupied by the organization me and, uh... uhm..-" Dan looks at Darsby for a few moments, his lips palpitating at the frozen state of his once gesticulating body. "Darsby! The political, sort of, group that I and Darsby and Ahllasta here are all a part of. So, they didn't know that, uh, Darsby was, or is, here. They also don't know that we occupy roughly twenty-eight million megaparsecs of space or that we're eventually going to conquer this relatively small world...." Dan trails off, a finger lightly tapping his chin. He looks lost in thought as if he were trying to remember something.

"Pahn! Right! Pahn, they're a player in all of this, err... yeah?" Dan shudders into his waking consciousness. "So, uhm... They're this individual, who's like, really old and powerful and we, uh, can't just like, take in this world until we've made contact with him, because, he's potentially one of the strongest beings in the known universe, I guess..." Dan doesn't appear to be entirely concerned with any of this as he speaks of it, at least, not in the way a normal man should be. Certainly his present circumstance has him on edge, and certainly, he reacts to typical conversational cues like a neurotic shut-in. With this in mind, you would assume he'd care when he talks about countless worth of space and the conquering of Earth or the fact that there's some unspeakably profound god-being dwelling on this 'relatively small' rock of a world. Maybe, he should care as most people might have when initially presented with all of this.

Darsby doesn't seem to mind the facts; in reality, he'd begun to look out the window like a spacy teenager might on a long road trip. Ahllasta sits with one hand on the wheel and the other cradling her head with an elbow on the upholstery like a mother nursing her hangover during a long drive home. Dan gazes at Anora like someone unused to speaking to women as he drops ridiculously insane statements upon her very human perceptions.

"Honestly, though, they just gave me a big title because I'm sort of, a-a monster? I'm not really good at this whole embassy- ..Type, deal." Dan would say as he snatches the phone from Anora's hand, wrestling with his pocket like a fifth grader to fit it into a space that most people wouldn't struggle to accommodate. With the word 'monster', Ahllasta shudders visibly.

My swimming instructors a dragon. [Mortim / Siaya Dragalorn]

Oh, you're fine, I understand as well lol. I'm glad you totally seem to get it when there are times like that in life.

I know the feeling. How's your living situation though? I know the winter made it hard, is it any easier these days now that the season is sort of ending in most parts of the country?

I'm glad I've been getting the feeling of him across properly for that picture to work. That picture was kind of like half-inspiration for him as a character. I've been excited to post for him! I'm glad I'm finally getting the chance to show him off a bit.

My swimming instructors a dragon. [Mortim / Siaya Dragalorn]

Anora's words and the empowered conviction pursuing them collided with Dan precisely as one would expect them too if he were the atypical, exhausted office worker she'd initially perceived him to be. Either narrow shoulder clenched tightly atop his empty chest as one eye winced for a brief moment to cope with Anora's defensive front. One could say that what she said and how she acted wasn't unexpected to him, yet, it didn't seem to make her immediate barrage of questions any more comfortable for him to bear. Shortly after a reflexive sigh, he began to speak in that same relaxed tone, though it started with him sounding a little put-down by what he'd perceived to be an amalgam of heavy emotions on Anora's part.

"Y-yeah... Right. I'm a guy with a job, uhm, I'm uh, here on work.-" His hands anxiously laced their fingers atop his lap shortly after a brief gesture towards Ahllasta. "-I'm kind of, kind of like, uh, responsible for her, in a way. She's not been the best, so, I'm here to make sure she didn't, like, take over this guys, uh, this guys job.-" One thumb pried itself loose to gesture sheepishly towards Darsby. He seemed to lose himself in his words and emotions for a moment as if he were also attempting to adjust to the situation, those mostly-human eyes deferring to bounce back and forth from Anora and the safe space of his lap. -"So like, I'm kind of, uhm, back-up? But I'm also sorta the one, y'know, like, the one in charge, I guess? Earth's got a lot going on right now, I've been sent to make sure it doesn't all meltdown, or.. whatever." His hands temporarily unlace to display an open gesture atop legs being held tightly together. An awkward smile with half-closed eyes pours itself towards Anora before he looks away from her again; he seems to feel a bit bad about her current state.

Darsby, whose expression had shifted from surprise back to its atypical alien front of oddly formal exhaustion, didn't seem to be entirely convinced at first. He silently snaps his fingers, a small leathery pamphlet appearing in his left hand. He opens this check-book-like flatback to display a shimmering piece of paper with indiscernible writing flowing over it. Dan seems to snap-to at this like someone who'd just been reminded they might actually need to have their wallet out to finish paying for their grocery's. Those anxious hands jump from pocket to pocket, his whole body shifting slightly about to make room for frantically prying hands. Dan mumbles something quietly, giving an awkward half-laugh half-sigh to Darsby as if he were the cashier who had no time for someone so forgetful while Dan entirely understood that Darsby's just trying to do his job. Eventually, a similar pamphlet is drawn from Dan's back left pocket, he fumbles clumsily before opening it up to display his own similarly shimmering page. The booklet is quickly put away in the same pocket afterward.

"Th-there it is, my uh, rank and everything." Dan would say alongside another awkward half-chuckle, an oddly human level of anxiety presiding over him.
"Oh! My apologies, I'll be in your care, senior embassy representative!" Darsby tenses and speaks to Dan with wide eyes, offering whatever bow the backseat would allow whilst his pamphlet disappears in a small shimmering cloud.
"Oh! U-uhm, it's cool, just, y'know, like, lead the way and I'll do the talking, or, whatever.. and stuff. Heh-ehen-..!" Dan reacts with open palms and idiotic sounding chuckles waving awkwardly towards Darsby as if he wishes he could push away the entire situation as anyone unaccustomed to authority might initially do when presented with an enthusiastic employee. You could imagine him reacting this way when anyone comes to his intentionally out of the way cubicle to offer him any sort of compliment. His knees nearly raise to his chest while his eyes shut almost entirely amid an exasperated display of nervous gesticulations. Darsby nods to Dan once more, ending his bow to turn towards Anora with a severe expression alighting his tired features.

"Anora, this celestial wizard is-" Darsby is cut short in the middle of an introduction aimed to present Dan.
"I-I'm just the guy, that, uhm, that came to keep tabs on these two!-" Dan would nervously blurt, his hands waving quickly with vapid gestures in the space between Anora and Darsby as if he wished fervently not to be embarrassed in front of someone new. "-So, like, don't worry. Y'know, if you're willing to help us, we'll help you.. or whatever. I'm sure he's already cut, some sort of deal, hopefully, with you?" Dan seemed on edge, blushing and sweating a bit at his desperate odds with this new situation. One hand scratches at his already messy hair whilst the other continues to gesture with an indiscernible conveyance of atypical anxieties alongside wincing eyes.

Ahllasta kept to herself through the entire interaction. She'd have lowered her shoulders slightly to reveal her now-evolved form of distress. She looked sick, ready to either scream into a pillow or vomit into a toilet with whatever emotion has her white-knuckled fingers so tense. She was done with what was going on in this car to the same degree that a child who must absolutely sit through their parent's rant is done with listening. She continued driving with ease, but, it was no longer a prideful or controlling act.

My swimming instructors a dragon. [Mortim / Siaya Dragalorn]

Sorry, I've been gone for ages, I've just been pretty sick and occupied with work and some big life changes but I think I'm good to continue posting now! I hope you have patience and I thank you for giving me space whenever I need it. I should have been more forward about my situation so you would've at least known when I was going to vanish. I apologize.

How've you been? I hope you've been doing well? It's been a little over a month now I believe.

Also, Here's what Dan looks like in a picture.

My swimming instructors a dragon. [Mortim / Siaya Dragalorn]

“I didn’t quite, uhm, catch that last part...? Either way, here I-” Halfway through his last remark, Dan would appear in the backseat behind Anora and next to Darsby. “-have my own means of moving from here to there.”

Dan had appeared inside their vehicle with no more than a slight gust of wind to accompany him. He sat in contrast to those around him with an air one might expect when having already heard his casual tone. He looked, by most accounts, rather average. Our newest passenger exuded no unique presence, no sinister glow, no flashy exposition. If he hadn’t popped soundlessly into view, you’d likely have thought him to have always been quietly occupying his leathery seat.

Big rectangular spectacles sit atop an angular nose. Thin features and large ears embellish openly ragged eyes. Suitcases lie beneath either half-shut gateway to an overly exhausted soul. Bedraggled locks of knotted hair shoot in ramshackle arches of confused direction. By all accounts, Dan, a vapid soul, held no particular traits aside from two unusual sights. His hair was of a pure-white with greyish streaks finding means to surface amidst many split-ends, and his eyes would either be mildly off-putting or eerily comforting. An inconspicuous grey fills either iris as they sit sharply upon whatever may lay before them; should it be a person, they’d narrow like a suspicious father who’s first concern is whether or not a babysitter can honestly keep track of his child. On the other hand, you could say the gaze was that of a teacher accurately analyzing his younger student to determine how harsh or how gentle he should be with his next words and actions. Either way, he exuded no immediate magical presence, unless you count looking vaguely responsible as being magical when paired with our driver and wizard passenger.

Ahllasta defies her muscular physique and previously displayed confidence to pull her shoulders inward as if to brace for some harsh impact upon Dan’s arrival. Her eyes squint, and her teeth grind whilst awaiting the worst.

Darsby looks to be relatively speechless, his mouth agape for several moments before slowly closing. He isn’t afraid; he’d be sooner observed as surprised. He sits back in his seat as if waiting in patient awe for Dan to make some action or command.

Dan shows no signs of understanding what the other two mentioned here feel aside from the brief glares of tired dismay he bounces against them. After a short pause he leans forward in slight as if to speak generally to Anora in open view should she turn back to see him in his brown Vans, grey joggers, and loose black sweater. What a normal man he is in contrast to our magical ebon four-door rocketing down the freeway with two superhuman individuals.

“Hey, so, uh, did you like, get pulled into a really weird day with this guy or the chick who’s driving?” He gestures loosely to them both, though he doesn’t seem to speak in a way that demands an immediate answer. He looks to be perhaps the easiest one to merely talk to or initially ignore should something more pressing need to be said or presented.