Penny

Fortune & Glory: Grimdark Pulp RP

Beren led the way into the passageway without hesitation. Where ever it lead had to be better than this death trap. It was only a matter of time before the beasts returned with hammers to smash their way through the web of chitin that Jocasta had spun from their weapons and shields. Buri came last, cursing as bot of Jocasta's dragonflies zipped through a moment before he could push the heavy doors home. One settled into her hair like a pin, the other at the neck of her tunic like a broach. Both enchanted items began to softly glow, giving Jocasta enough light to see by. Recovering himself, Buri pushed the door closed with a satisfying click of stone on stone. Jocasta wondered if it would now be visible on the other side. Doubtful, given Dwarven craftsmanship.

The purpose of the package remained a mystery, at least to Jocasta. If Beren and Buri had any more insight they were keeping it to themselves. The walls were cut through the rock, rough and unfinished. That was obviously a stylistic choice given the mining skills of its makers, did that mean it was a simple access shaft, or was it left unfinished for some ritual purpose? There was no way to tell, and so long as it led away from the ruined Dwarfhold, no real reason to enquire. The one thing she could say for sure was that the gradient was down, deeper into the bowels of the earth.

"You hear that?" Beren asked suddenly enough to make Jocasta's heart jump into her throat. They had been walking for what felt like hours. She had been zoned out, staring blankly at Beren's back. She opened her mouth to say she heard nothing only to find her mouth to dry to speak. At first she thought all she could hear was their breathing, but then she picked it up. A soft hissing like sand sliding in a slowly rocked glass jar.

"It is water," Buri said, his face puzzled in the soft green light of Jocasta's dragonflies. Beren nodded and continued forward, his hand on the haft of his weapon. The hissing grew steadily louder and to Jocasta's surprise fungus began to grow along the sides of the walls. Her hands twitched with a desire to investigate but she restrained herself heroically. The hissing grew louder and deeper as they moved forward.

"Feel that?" Beren asked. Jocasta did, there was a soft wind blowing up the tunnel. Buri and Beren exchanged looks that were impenetrable to Jocasta, but there was only one way to go: forward. After another minute or so the tunnel opened into a cavern so vast that Jocasta couldn't see the ceiling. A pebbled beach stretched off in both directions and the waters of what Jocasta could only think of as an ocean stretched out into the darkness.

"It is huge," Buri murmured, his dwarven tunnelsense better than any human.

"An underground lake, bigger than any I have ever seen," Buri elaborated. Jocasta could only nod, hours of flight, fear, and spell craft were fast catching up with her. Beren walked off in on direction, then returned.

"Dead end that way, the wall falls into the lake. Buri nodded and headed off in the other direction only to return with a similar report.

"Think there is something on the other side?" Beren asked.

"Further than I can see," Buri replied, "but from the wind... maybe... need alot of space for air currents to build up." Beren nodded as though he agreed with the statement.

"Can you send your ear rings to scout?" he asked Jocasta. She shook her head.

"Not yet... need to rest a minute," she replied. Buri looked skeptical and Beren looked suddenly concerned.

"Alright, lets make camp, Ill take first watch," he offered. Jocasta was already spreading her bedroll out on the beach. Within moments, she was fast asleep.

Death's Edge: A Warhammer Story

I peered at the scrap of parchment while Kian ate thick slices of the local bread with evident relish. The stuff was rather good, but I had always been taught to approach bread carefully. The map was little more than a few quick lines drawn with a charcoal stick. A sketch of what looked to be a manor house, a few quick notations which obviously correlated to number of watchmen and change of shifts. I clucked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. It was clumsy, in Tilea any assassin worth his salt would have memorized the information and destroyed the note, but these were unsophisticated lands, without an elevated culture of how to kill each other with maximum artistic flair.

"He must have been planning to kill the Baron, no burglar would have the watch information," I concluded, "no chance the fellow is alive to question?" Kian shook his head as he chewed.

"Cwushed skaal," he managed around a mouthful of bread. I tutted again, though I could hardly blame Kian for refusing to pull his punches. Doubtless the assassin wouldn't have shed many tears for a dead priest in a back alley.

"I suppose we ought to warn the Baron," I concluded. If there was one assassin sent their might be more. I didn't know anything of the politics of this places, but I found it was rarely the just cause that stooped to hiring killers to knife someone in their beds. Besides someone was bound to have seen something, and it would go ill for us if the Baron thought we were withholding vital information. And there was always the chance he might have some halfway decent wine...

Pirates - Ye Be Warned

They made much better time to the beach than they had to the mountain, their pace enlivened by haste and familiarity with the way. Jess cursed all landsmen as she half ran half slid down rocky escarpments and clambered through the thick lantana to reach the strand. Hope was quickly dashed as they arrived. The boat still swung from its bowline in the gentle surf, but of the crew there was no sign save for dropped weapons.

"Look," Galt called pointing the the strange mix of tracks which intermingled human footprints with oddly reptilian ones, separated by the unmistakable unbroken lines of dragging tails.

"Yande's bleeding tits," Jess muttered, looking out to sea where the Weather Witch still hung at placid anchor. Had the crew aboard not seen what had happened to their comrades? Had they simply not the stomach to come to their aid? Jess had a bad feeling that Branch, that idiot quatermaster was responsible for that, Krycek would have intervened, but the old dwarf had been outvoted. For a moment she considered rowing out to the Witch, but it would be backbreaking and time consuming with just Galt and herself, the former of which, it could be depended on, couldn't hold a stroke to save both their lives.

"No shots were fired," Galt pointed out, "wed have heard, plus their would be musket wadding on the beach." Jess considered it, feeling a chill run up her spine. How in the name of all the gods had her whole crew been taken without firing a shot. Now that he mentioned it, there were no enemy dead at all? Even with cutlass and hand spike her crew should have accounted for at least a few of their attackers. Some kind of magic? The thought made her stomach tighten. If the landing party could be so overcome, then so could the rest of her crew, the only hope now was stealth and surprise.

"Come on," she instructed, leading the way up the beach in the direction of the tracks, moving back towards the ziggurat.

The Sunday Group - Seeds and Harvests

@Atalanta Did you take the crow with you?

The Enemy Beyond: Warhammer 40,000 Inquisitor RP

For the briefest of moments my eyes were opened to the glory of the Warp. I saw endless fields of golden possibility stretching out before my eyes, but unlike my normal human eyes my real eyes could see undimmed into infinity. There were colors for which we have no names, shapes for which our tawdry geometry cannot describe. In a single grain of sand I beheld palaces more grand and luxurious than ever graced the soil of Terra. My spirit soared in skies that burned a blue so bright it I could feel it tingle to my fingertips. There were wonders beyond counting and I suddenly felt that, for the first time in my life, I understood the universe. I could see my place in it, better I could bend the universe around myself and remake it in such wonders that people would cry out my name in wonder and terror. There were secrets I might learn that not even the gods had looked upon, pleasures which no woman had ever conceive of, much less experience. All of the universe could be mind if I but reached out my hand and...

Tawdry reality crashed in around us. I sucked in my breath in an effort to stifle a sob of loss. Hadrian squeezed my hand and I as back in my body. I let out a shuddering breath and reached down to my belt. I drew a hand gun, a rubidium plated kaiser 26, and flicked the safety off. I wished I could have brought my force staff, but carrying psycoactive material through the teleporter would have been insanely risky. Clara bared her teeth and spat as though clearing a bad taste from her mouth. I wished I could show her the glory that had seen but there was no time for any of that. She unslung a cut down las carbine.

"Ok, well we are on a miles long starship. Any idea where we should start looking?" Clara asked. Hadrian made a gesture with his pistol.

"Bridge and passenger quarters will be this way," he said, leading the way through the maze of pipes and girders. I followed along, wondering where the crew might be.

"We are near the shuttle bays, they wont be crewed during warp jump," Hadrian explained. That was right, the locator was on the shuttle, despite the uncertainty in Lazarus' calculations we must be somewhere near the hungers.

"Do we have a plan for getting off this boat once we bring the Emperor's justice to this heretic?" Clara asked.

"We will figure something out," Hadrian replied. A man in a spacer's jumpsuit and brass serf collar came around the corner. His eyes opened in shock to see armed strangers in a part of the ship where such folk rarely strayed. He opened his mouth to ask something, or perhaps to shout, but before he could do either my mind closed on his. He feel to his knees and abased himself before us.

"Command me mistress," he begged, tears of devotion starting from his eyes. Hadrian and Clara both eyed me.

"This isn't the time to be subtle," I said rather defensively.

"Where is the Inquisitor who travels with you?" I asked, taking a chance that Vorn wasn't using an alias.

"Forward Mistress, in his quarters on the officers deck," the serf babbled, his face raptorus with being able to provide information I wanted.

"You will lead us, by ways that will avoid notice," I instructed. He all but sprang from the deck and ran down to a doorway, turning with the earnestness of a puppy and beckoning us on.

The Sunday Group - Seeds and Harvests

How are we doing folks?

Shields of the Empire

Like all cavalry soldiers Phaedra had a deeply ingrained sense of superiority to foot sloggers. Who could imagine that lumbering along carrying all that heavy armor could ever compete with the speed and power of a horse at full gallop. As she reigned in her horse on the small rise north of the main action she had to grudgingly admit that they seemed to be doing alright. The Khareed's main advantage had always been the weight of their charge, thousands of pounds of horses and armor smashing through the enemy in a decisive attack. With that advantage robbed they were flailing wildly at the wall of shields. Spears and swords stabbed out with the regular pace as regular as a stroke oar. The Atvari horsemen were beginning to foul each other, the crush of horses against the shield wall making it impossible for them to press home. Phaedra saw a horse go down, smashing a momentary hole in the wall. The Khareeds tried to push in but the barricade of dead horses and men made it impossible. Soldiers stepped forward to close the gap, presenting a solid wall. With their advance stopped the horsemen attempted to flank the Imperials, but the Miravette stung them with spears before dodging back. Despite Phaedra's orders a flight of arrows cut into a particularly determined knot of the enemy, emptying saddles and sending horses screaming to the ground. It was better to allow a degree of flexibility rather than see her troops overrun due to over literal obedience, but her worries about the shortage of arrows deepened.

Frustrated, bloodied and exhausted, the Khareeds finally managed to wheel around and spur away from the wall of spears. Horns blasted as the Miravette trumpeters played the stand fast, forbidding a pursuit which might lead to a bloody running battle on the plain, or worse, a series of meeting engagements with elements of the enemy as they rushed back towards the city. Even though she had given the order, she felt a surge of frustration at not pressing home the attack. Cheers erupted from the infantry as they raised their spears and shook them in the air.

"Victory," Phaedra agreed, pulling a waterskin from her saddle and sluicing the dust free.

"Give them five minutes head start then get a skirmish screen out, two out of every tet get out there and recover as many arrows as we can, theirs and ours," she instructed. Eudoxia scowled.

"Stopping the girls from looting wont be popular," Eudoxia suggested. Phaedra made a vague gesture back towards the captured baggage train.

"We have more loot than we can carry already, arrows and food are more important to us now."

The Enemy Beyond: Warhammer 40,000 Inquisitor RP

There was an old naval saying: A stern chase is a long chase. The adage was proving true as the Caledonia slowly closed the distance on the Even Chance. Urien yelled into a series of brass speaking tubes, urging the engineseers to squeeze more speed out of the ancient and venerable drives. Lazarus lead the way down into the Enginarium where he had established what might only be described as a lair. Strange machinery of every type was scattered around, the air was thick with incense and sacred unguents, and robed acolytes droned in litanies of sanctification as they bent over obscure devices. Space had been cleared at the center of the enginarium and a large structure that looked something like an Astartes drop pod had been placed on the deck. Cabling ran from it in all directions, plugging into other devices or vanishing beneath the deck plates like a metallic waterfall. The air fairly hummed with electricity and I felt it prickle on my skin as we approached.

"This an improvised Teleportarium," Lazarus explained, "as soon as we approach within about ten thousand kilometers I will be able to transport you aboard the enemy vessel."

"How many of us can it send," Hadrian asked, glancing at the various petals, which now that we were closer, appeared to be pads.

"Three at most," Lazarus admitted, he reached out and gripped Hadrian's shoulder. "And it cannot be me, I have to stay here to operate the machine."

"I will go," Lucius Raj rumbled. Hadrian shook his head.

"If we get aboard, we will need to find the Heretic Vorn by stealth, we cant hope to fight the whole ships crew," he explained. Lucius tightened and released his fists, his knuckles popping unpleasantly.

"Once we disable the ship, we will need you to lead Caledonia's boarding party," I soothed, gently stroking his mind with my psykana touch to keep him from the killing rage that was building. He nodded and gave me a slight bow that was almost more disconcerting than him punching a hole in the bulkhead would have been.

"Clara, Emmaline, and myself," Hadrian decided. I felt my stomach lurch slightly, being teleported onto a hostile ship full of heretics and the Emperor alone knew what else didn't fill me with enthusiasm. I thought briefly about changing back into the sororitas armor but that would hardly make me less conspicuous.

"Are you alright Emmaline?" Hadrian asked. I nodded my head. I wasn't afraid to be thought of us a coward, but I could see the utility of having my talents along.

"Just thinking I should change into something less conspicuous," I explained, peeling away my veil. Hadrian nodded.

"Fetch her some coveralls."

Bodacious Bounties: Bounty Hunter AU

"Well that is very sad," Jocasta admitted, "except for the hot biker chick part of course."

She wobbled, feeling the effects of multiple shots of unknown liquors over the past few minutes. She steadied herself with exaggerated dignity.

"Though this is no excuse for beating me at pool," she mused, leaning back against the table and closing one bright green eye to try and banish the slight twist everything was developing. For a moment she thought about mentioning that Dirk was technically her partner, but decided that this might not be a politic time to do so, beside she hadn't heard anything about him in months so it probably didn't matter.

"Well at least you don't have a bounty for kicking puppies and what not," Jocasta continued, "I hate that.

"Alshoow you is kinduf cute whicsh is a pluss," she admitted.

The Sunday Group - Seeds and Harvests

@Atalanta@nightmare medx

The nervous man's eyes flew wide at the mention of the auction house. A tick crawled across his face slow at first and speeding up as it passed his eyes. The smell of him was rank, long neglect overlain with the more recent stink of fear both glandular and urinary. Scared as he was, the ingrained reflexes of poverty made him reach for the second twenty, his hand freezing on the way towards it in an agony of indecision. His lip trembled violently and he seemed to strain to speak, the prominent Adam's apple working as though trying to swallow something unpleasant.

A flutter of feathers sounded from above and a large sleek crow swooped down and landed on the vagrants shoulder in a parody of a pirate with a parrot. It looked its beady black eyes with Blythe, then turned its eyes to Ardi in an appraising glance.

"Caaaawp," the crow cawed, struggling mightily to create the P at the end of the word.

"Cawwwp, Cawwwp." Cop. Cop The vagrant's lips moved in the shape of the crows cries, though no sound actually issued from his throat. The crow hopped down the vagrant's arm and clambered out onto his outstretched fingers. The homeless man moved not a muscle as the crow climbed over him, though his eyes were wide and terrified. The bird leaned out and pecked experimentally at the second ten dollar bill. It stamped a clawed foot and then looked up at the two women.

"Blaaaad," it cawed, "blaaad, blaaad." Blood. Blood, blood.

"Caaaaaap blaaaaad."