MrSkimobile

a Tale of High Adventure!

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A Little Harth Side Story - Or, what happened before their arrival at Kari-Mar

A Little Harth Side Story:

“I feel we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot,” Harth said. He had spent the first half of the journey keeping his head down and grumbling to himself. As this was Harth’s first time travelling outside of any Dwarven hold, or even outside of the deep, deep mountains that were his home, he felt awkward. More than awkward, actually, as his getting used to the swaying out at sea did not come with very good nights of rest, or a consistently full belly for that matter.

Still, Harth had his duties to carry out, and that alone was enough to keep a Dwarf sane. Harth saw it fit to help at the pantry with preparing food and drink with the shipmaster’s wife, and keeping track of inventory. Not only to satisfy his own fussiness, but also to keep an eye on that Lucky fellow whom Harth suspected in partaking in unsanctioned and unsanctified midnight snacks - what behavior! Harth kept his religiosity not particularly noticable, save for his purifying rituals during times of food and drink (which did nothing to keep his stomach from being as unruly as the seas, unfortunately). But the crew had found out his honoring of the Stonefather soon enough from his talks with Colt and Caleb - Men of Sword and Armor were always the first people he gravitated to, based on his experiences with his brothers in the militia back home: it took real strength and conviction to clad yourself in iron and offer yourself to righteous battle willingly. And before long Kraseawai paid him holy courtesy in passing, but he didn’t quite know what to feel about her. She didn’t seem to be the type to hold to any higher callings per se, considering her dress, but there must have been something to her that made the gods see it fitting to make her endure all the bad luck in her past, much like Druuk, actually - he may have stayed in the background for most of their trip, but Harth knew scars when he saw them.

And, in so doing, they arrived at the Vale before long. He had secretly prayed for all of them the night before, so that with their landfall the Great Mantle may carry their footsteps well, wherever each of them might find themselves after…

Harth the Dwarf said his goodbyes to the captain and his wife, thanking them for their voyage and company and wishing them well in a pace that seemed uncharacteristically hasty of him. He saw the two smile as he rushed by, his stone-headed walking stick in hand (or club, if things got rowdy). Then he grunted a hearty “Heigh… HO!”, lifted his packed carrier sack onto his back, and stepped off the ship.

And -ahh, goodness of the Earth- felt solid ground under his feet again. Or rather, that’s what it should have felt like. It seemed after many weeks at sea that, even after landfall, the swaying of the ship hadn’t quite left his mind. Like the ground underneath his feet was shifting still. “Kraseawai, why is the ground still moving?!” He asked as he followed the other crew members to their -very rudely- assigned customs boxes.

“Name?” “Harth-Kazann, my pl--.” “Business of pleasure?” “Why, you tell me, I was going to say it was my pleasure, before you so rudely cut me off.” “Are you here on a business trip, or for sightseeing, luv?” “Ahh, why business then, with the dwarves of--” Do you have anything to declare?" “Hmmm, my undying devotion to the Stonefather, I suppose.” "Anything of value, exotic, or illegal?" "Well, I don't thin--" “Search his bag. And the eye. Next!”

"You know..." Harth grumbled deeply, turning to his former companions after all was said and done, carefully wiping off and putting the runed, many-sided glass bead that served as his right eye back into its socket. “I feel we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot...”

Fabula Ultima: JRPG Adventures

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Ellion hadn’t expected the man to break out into an entire lecture, but he was grateful for it. He had a knack for it, and Ellion felt he learnt some very valuable information. The youngster walking next to him didn’t seem so pleased about it, though. He seemed rather skeptical about Amalia and him, or judging by his face as the old storyteller went on, alternatingly frustrated, grumpy, pained, and annoyed at least. He almost seemed to bark at the two to get a move on, as his stomach growled. Ellion’s own stomach purred back in accord. “Well, it has been a while since I saw any food.” Ellion replied. He glanced at Amalia and wondered how she did the whole eating thing. Only one way to find out! “We’ll come!”

On the way, Ellion stroked his chin as he muttered to himself. “Giant bats, huh? Bonding ritual, you say?” He turned to Amalia and mouthed the words The bats! They could be our tickets out of here!, then tentatively adding some gestures, as subtle as he could, to drive the idea home.

Then, when they came to the stall, he seemed to petrify a little. A huge woman with a huge axe? Had Yankind sent their bounty hunters after them now already? “Y-you two go ahead…” He said, his voice nearly a whisper. Then he eyed Amalia and gestured, just as inconspicuously: What do we do now?

@Tachi @XxFellsingxX @rush99999 @Raineh Daze

a Tale of High Adventure!

A Little Harth Side Story:

“I feel we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot,” Harth said. He had spent the first half of the journey keeping his head down and grumbling to himself. As this was Harth’s first time travelling outside of any Dwarven hold, or even outside of the deep, deep mountains that were his home, he felt awkward. More than awkward, actually, as his getting used to the swaying out at sea did not come with very good nights of rest, or a consistently full belly for that matter.

Still, Harth had his duties to carry out, and that alone was enough to keep a Dwarf sane. Harth saw it fit to help at the pantry with preparing food and drink with the shipmaster’s wife, and keeping track of inventory. Not only to satisfy his own fussiness, but also to keep an eye on that Lucky fellow whom Harth suspected in partaking in unsanctioned and unsanctified midnight snacks - what behavior! Harth kept his religiosity not particularly noticable, save for his purifying rituals during times of food and drink (which did nothing to keep his stomach from being as unruly as the seas, unfortunately). But the crew had found out his honoring of the Stonefather soon enough from his talks with Colt and Caleb - Men of Sword and Armor were always the first people he gravitated to, based on his experiences with his brothers in the militia back home: it took real strength and conviction to clad yourself in iron and offer yourself to righteous battle willingly. And before long Kraseawai paid him holy courtesy in passing, but he didn’t quite know what to feel about her. She didn’t seem to be the type to hold to any higher callings per se, considering her dress, but there must have been something to her that made the gods see it fitting to make her endure all the bad luck in her past, much like Druuk, actually - he may have stayed in the background for most of their trip, but Harth knew scars when he saw them.

And, in so doing, they arrived at the Vale before long. He had secretly prayed for all of them the night before, so that with their landfall the Great Mantle may carry their footsteps well, wherever each of them might find themselves after…

Fabula Ultima: JRPG Adventures

@XxFellsingxX I think it would unironically be a funny dynamic.

Ellion: *says literally anything*

Miloh:

Hogwarts: The New Professors

Posted something, sorry for the delay, I like to mull things over, so I'm not always the fastest of posters. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. :)

Hogwarts: The New Professors

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_{Location: Great Hall, Hogwarts
Mentions: @Thayr @Mole @World Traveler @Varshanka @Eviledd1984 @Herald}

“I have to say I quite missed this.” Alvis mused as he nipped at his pumpkin soup. “Ministry lunches are a pale shade of what the elves at Hogwarts manage to cook up. Budget cuts, eh? Hmm, even has some hints of smoke to it, fancy! Oh hi, Cifaretto.” He acknowledged his senior Hufflepuff as he joined and made himself quite at home, to some furore from the group about his habits. And for a second, Alvis paused and wondered how he would manage when his students would get rowdy in class. He may have been an auror, but he never was very good with discipline. He mostly just anticipated it, and then avoided it. He shrugged to himself, then continued eating. That time would come when it would come…

Then the topic came to something intriguing: the future headmaster. He remembered how the news of the restructuring came as a shock when it broke, even at the ministry. Quite the mystery, indeed. He stared off into the distance a little, his spoon left hovering in the air as he did. Then, as always when he started a case, he started rattling:

“Curious. I haven’t gotten any hints about that at the Aurors, but then again, we are known for keeping secrets. So who else, then? I think if Mr. Potter himself would even only have been a candidate, the rumours would’ve been out of control, even if we did put out a wholesale ban on owls. Still, it does all seem to be somewhat politically motivated, does it not, what with the restructuring coming from the Ministry? One of the Ministers themselves? I doubt we’re important enough for the Prime, but I could see muggle and wizard relations improving if that were the case. So, one of the Weasleys?” He stroked his almost-there o’clock stubble with his spoon, absent-mindedly coloring it with some leftover pumpkin soup. “I think what’s most interesting is that there hasn’t been any reliable news or leaks about it at all, to be honest. One of the Unspeakables then, perhaps? But then how would we ever know? Puzzling, puzzling.” Then, adding to himself, he muttered. “I’ll have to set up an idea board in my office for this case.”

Fabula Ultima: JRPG Adventures

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”Yes, quite. You may be right.” Ellion said to Amalia as he finally took the time to look around the busy scene. It was a good thing she was with him. Why hadn’t he thought of that? Must’ve been the nerves, from the aftermath of the crash. Yes, that was it. But there were so many people! Who would be able to help them? Who, indeed, could even be trusted? He looked suspiciously at a child staring at them from a distance, licking on some syrupy piece of dandelion stalk. No, not that one, definitely not. Then, he saw two people shuffling by: one young teen, and one that may well have been his grandfather, following their noses. They didn’t seem to be too dangerous.

Ellion shared a look with Amalia, then tightened his lips in concentration as he drew up the brass fastener on his cape, a habit to make himself appear presentable that he picked up from the Collegeon’s uniforms. He nodded to himself in self-encouragement, then he stepped towards the duo, and cleared his throat, with not exactly a small sense of insecurity to it.

”Excuse me, but we seem to have wandered into this town by… accident. Might you be so friendly as to tell us where we are, and what’s going on?”

@Tachi @XxFellsingxX @rush99999

a Tale of High Adventure!

@Red Wizard For your consideration:

Harth-Kazann, Cleric of the Stonefather

^{Header source: Iknu Font, By Bernardo Ramonfaur, on 1001Fonts | Image source: Kerundi the Soul Saver, by d-torres on DeviantArt}

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Name: Harth-Kazann
Race: Dwarf
Gender: Male
Age: 157 (about 58, in human-terms)

Appearance: On the whole, Harth looks rather unremarkably like many other dwarves: about two-thirds-man height, with stocky, broad features, pale skin, a grand beard of silver-gray, and deep-set gray eyes. He wears a gambeson made of cave bear leather and a bright red gugel-style hood. A large drawstring sack hangs strapped across his shoulders and back, and he wields a simple stone-head mace both for protection, and as a hiking stick. The only remarkable thing about him is that, upon closer inspection, one of his eyes is artificial: a many-faceted carved glass bead, each side beset by traditional dwarven runes of good luck and protection.

Personality: The Stonefather commands us to Carry Weight. So, Harth does. He works hard and without complaint, his voice almost a droning chant, as calm and sombre as the mountains themselves. He intensely values loyalty, honor and perseverance. He does not carry a holy symbol, as the Stonefather needs none - the Plight weighs upon all his followers more than any holy symbol could. This means that he considers his vows and promises holy, and gifting and receiving them are a great treasure to him. As such, he easily becomes fond of those who are helpful and ‘take one for the team’, and will do his best to aid them both in and out of battle via healing, cooking, and well-humored -if somewhat prudish- moral support, and, if you’re very lucky, every now and again, with a joke as dry and stale as dwarven ale.

Background: Harth was born deep under the mountains, in the hold of Bul-Kazann, where his clan served as the stewards and protectors of the ancient forges and temples of the Stonefather, one of the oldest and holiest deities of their people. From an early age, Harth felt the call of the clergy more than the call of his own father to join the militia like his brothers. At the Temple, he apprenticed under the priests to learn the sacred rites of communing with the mountain, and how to forge blessed iron. It was during this time that he led an expedition to reclaim a forge long-lost to the shifting mountain. In this expedition, he lost his eye when the party stumbled upon a rather angry cave bear. Upon their return to Bul-Kazann, he was gifted a carved eye of protection for his sacrifice, and a gambeson made from its pelt for his bravery. After decades of faithful service to the temple more, Harth received a dream which called him away, to visit the Dwarves of the Vale. And now, with the Temple's blessing, Harth has set out on a holy pilgrimage to the Vale, to aid the Dwarves there in their Plight, and, perhaps, to help purge and uncover the ancient mysteries of Daka-Gorn.

Talents:

• Spells: can cast 2 of the following spells per day: Cure Light Wounds, Light, Purify Food and Water, Protection from Evil, Detect Magic.
• Languages: can speak and read Common, Dwarvish, Ancient Dwarvish, and Stonelore (get an intuition for a stone work's history).
• Has some rudimentary skill in repairing weapons and armor.

Flaws:

• Can sometimes trust others too easily.
• A reluctance to ask for help.
• Rigid and possibly judgmental when it comes to his vows and beliefs.

Equipment:

• Leather gambeson, red hood, glass eye with protective runes
• Stone mace
• Sack with standard adventuring kit (blanket, rope, flint-stone, frying pan)

Miscellaneous:

• Speech color: B6A99B

a Tale of High Adventure!

@Red Wizard Thinking of writing up a Dwarven Cleric, nice and classic. Every party needs a healer, after all. (cough, and some tasteful moral busybodying, cough)

Did you have any ideas for deities? Else I'll make up a generic-enough dwarf-appropriate one to flavor the cleric with.

Also, what would you say is an acceptable age-range for dwarves/elves?

DELTΔ HYPER (An F1 Drive to Survive inspired Anti-Gravity, Slice of Life, Cyberpunkish/Solarpunkish RP)

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Kais Zenix @ASZenix:
"Not the result I wanted, but that's racing. Props to the team for gluing the ship back together. Shame I couldn’t push it as much as we wanted.
@MadBea: Hope you’re doing well, that was a rough one. Rest up, and see you back on the track soon.
#AlSaqrRacing #DeltaHyper #FormulaAG #LetsGO #Onwards #Revanche"

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Sunday March 19th, 2094, 1400 GMT
Formula AG Championship: Round 2
South African AGP, Cape Town

Through the shimmering heat that was the track at Cape Town, Kais held a steely gaze upon the starting lights.

5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

And off they went.

Acceleration kicked Kais in his seat. Al-Saqr’s ships were a beast to fly. The mechanic wasn’t wrong. The ship really was just one giant brick of repulsors going one way: forward and onward. The first few laps went by in a blur, straight and hard, up and down. What a track! Then Bea came up beside him for an overtake. Kais pushed his craft to hug close to Nora in front. It wasn’t a true overtake, but it would take up some space at least. Bea didn’t seem deterred. The readings on the sensors that had auto-focused on her started decreasing. Decreasing. Decreasing. Then, forcing his way through the corner: Jamie Hart.

Then BEEPING! At least four different alarms forced themselves into his mind as the craft shook violently and lurched, as if pushed and sucked into a vortex, and with a heavy bang almost half of his experience turned to static for a few seconds. Kais breathed hard as he fought for balance, but that fucking handling! Other ships flew by as he regained what wobbly speed he could. Then the red flag notification popped up in one of the higher parts of his mind, and only then did he stop to notice the carnage left behind. Busted mag parts scattered around the track. And half a Wiphala ship in tatters.

“Command, status! What the hell was that?”

“Unsure. The detectives are on the case, Kais. But the red flag’s out, return to the pits and we’ll have you checked out. Ward looks to be out, massive damage. How are you doing?”

“Still flying.”

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The pit drones were already waiting for him. When the scans were completed, the mechanics immediately came in after them. 3D printers started whirring, and the disembarking steps were rolled out. The young mechanic from before climbed up to help detach Kais from his still-beeping coffin, from his helmet, and get him down. Farouk, his nametag said, now that Kais took a moment to look at it. Medical crew came up for check-ups, and were then brushed off as quickly as Kais could. He looked back to his craft, then to Farouk. “Give me the bad news, then go deal with it.”

“Wings are clipped, some deep scratches, and a few AG drive sections have been knocked offline. Replacement patches are being printed as we speak, and the damaged drive blocks are being switched out.”

“What about Ward? She didn’t give me an inch there. Reckless idiot.”

“The Queen Bee seems done for today. Nothing too serious-looking on the footage, but she’ll probably be stuck at medical for some time anyway, after a crash like that…”

“I’ll take it.” Kais grumbled. He would've liked the rematch.

“I’m in a good position for a restart after the red flag, Kais, so I might be able to make some gains.” Layla chimed in over the comms. “Safe to say what strategy we’re gonna go for now.” She poked at him to lighten the mood.

“Fine. I’ll keep the others at bay. Might still make some gains on the straights, though, even with a scratched-up ship, so don’t think you’ll be safe from me just yet.”

“That’s better. I was getting worried there for a second.”

“Make it count, Layla. Hart’s ass better hurt after this race…”

Farouk came back around as the pilots entered their ships again. He reported on the maintenance as he double-checked Kais’ safeties: “Patches are applied, pulse blocks should be good to go, but we weren’t able to integrate the sensors as well as you like in this short a time. Might stagger a bit on the left. And the sensor readings might feel a bit raw, but this is all we can do for now! Sorry, uh… sir!” The young mechanic said, almost hesitantly.

“Chin up! We’re not done with this race yet, it’ll hold!”

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🔴 Delta Hyper Live - Cape Town | HyperDriveCrew Commentary

[Welcome to live chat! Remember to follow our community guidelines]
[HyperForMore]: Layla got luckyyyy with that restart after the red flag. You reckon Nora feels the heat yet?
[YallaFanNotABot]: Layla is *so* flying under the radar right now. I’d put some good money on her, if I had some.
[RadNad74]: Yeah she's cool 😊
[ZenixRising]: Messy overtake? More like JAMIE CAN’T HANDLE THE PRESSURE!!
[ZenixRising]: Kais would've been top 3 by now without all that [Naughty Word!]. Boxing match, anyone?
[TIE_Fighter]: Yeah, we’re not going to forget this one. But Zenix must focus.
[ZenixFanatix]: Bro, Kais is a monster. Man’s pure hate-driving now. Glorious.
[QueenBeaForever]: He needs to calm down already.
[QueenBeaForever]: Bea didn’t deserve that! im crying
[TT_0785]: ikr, that’s what Al-Saqr calls their S-game? Crash a racer that comes too close for comfort? Does the S stand for shit?
[RadNad74]: It was an accident, calm down. And they’re pushing back well enough.
[TT_0785]: Oh please. Remember what position Ulrich was in when he crashed last time? And now Bea? Coincidence?
[RadNad74]: Commentators said it was an air pocket by Jamie or something. I don’t know, I’m not a physicist.
[TT_0785]: They also say never let a good accident go to waste. I bet he’s been waiting for this moment.
[TT_0785]: They don’t call him the Meteor for nothing.
[UsahDrrrei]: Whatever, man, nobody got hurt. Just enjoy the chaos.
[RadNad74]: Also, don’t come to a fan stream if you’re just gonna shit on stuff.
[TT_0785]: [User was banned for this comment]

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At the Interview

Kais, you must be feeling a lot right now! An excellent recovery drive, but you must be gutted about not being able to press more positions throughout the race following your contact with Ward?

"Gutted? I'm pissed!" Kais said, throwing up his hand. "We had the speed, and a clean shot for the top, and then we lost out because of someone else’s sloppy moves. Sloppy, and reckless. Dive-bombing like that. Unbelievable." He shook his head as he looked off-camera, to whom would be any viewer's guess. But one could certainly guess with a reasonable degree of accuracy. "We made the most of it, Layla got in some good gains. And I'm not just gonna be backing down after a stunt like that. I fought every lap to recover and keep those positions. Fought my own damn damaged craft. And next time, I'm gonna fight just as hard. They're gonna have to keep scrapping me to keep us down. And Beatrix, hope you're well. That's it."

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