SepticGentleman

Knights of Melarus

_WOO.

Knights of Melarus (High Fantasy Adventure Roleplay. Accepting Members)

@SepticGentleman

C'MERE COOKIE TITS. I'M ENTITLED TO DO STUFF TO YA.

@JunkMail

Don't you dare say that to me ever again or I'll buy you dinner.

Knights of Melarus (High Fantasy Adventure Roleplay. Accepting Members)

@Maxx Yer gettin' yer company together, ey boss?

Baybridge: Old Ghosts [COMPLETED]

Alright I'm back in. @Zombiedude101 You can use Archie as a hook for the Slayer if you want.

Baybridge: Old Ghosts [COMPLETED]

Archie Davis

---

The Obelisk, Starrybanks, White Coast

"Where did you say you were from again?"

"I come from a land down under, where women glow and men plunder."

"Australia?"

"Not exactly."

Archie had been staying at The Obelisk for much longer than he anticipated he would. The hours stacked up as he suddenly engaged in pleasantries with an assortment of people - some returning patrons, others employees, all more familiar with the establishment than he was. But the real surprise was that he wasn't at all uncomfortable, even after he found out the place was part brothel. He couldn't subjecting himself to any of the local substances and he definitely wasn't going to pay for some "quality time", so instead he just... talked to people.

What's more, he decided a change in appearance was in order. After cleaning up, he swapped out his still-stained jacket for a black blazer, and his mask was replaced with something of the same felt material, but with a different design - black and white with an inverted circle on the front, cutting the two in half and swapping them vertically. Every other article of clothing was the same as before. He'd also changed out his current TTS voice from the usual Mike to the kind you hear used in vehicle GPS systems. Y'know, the British kind.

They were in an alcove away from most of the "action", that being people mingling, dancing, a combination of the two, or propositioning one another. The rounded booth had black leather seating arranged in a cozy fashion, a table in the middle of it all (with drinks sat in front of everyone except Archie), dark curtains for privacy, and dimmed blue lighting for atmosphere. Archie was seated with three women, having no idea who was a meta and who wasn't, save for one of them having black, scale-like patches around her neck and shoulders, and the edges of her face. Plus the rather reptilian eyes. Even beyond that, he didn't know which of them, if any, "worked here".

"I don't get it." One of the "working" girls said in reply to Archie's lyrical reference of an explanation regarding his origins. Archie typed in response, "Nevermind. Let's switch the topic around."

"I know." The scaled woman said aloud, "Tell us about your powers. You're clearly a meta, after all."

"Well." Archie began, typing up a big response, "To understand the concept fully, you need a basic understanding of physics, impossible space, and non-Euclidean geometry. I assume everyone at this table qualifies in that department?"

Three of them looked confused. The scaled girl, she simply folded her arms, leaned forward, and nodded as Archie continued.

"My head acts as a universal modification tool that can be applied to any enclosed environment overlapping it, allowing me to infinitely reform the interior of any applicable item without affecting its exterior. Example." He suddenly yanked off his mask, revealing the bright yellow bubbles comprising his head. All of the girls looked quite surprised, though the scaled one's was more pleasant. Archie continued as he laid the mask on the center of the table, "I've had this bag on my head for a consecutive three weeks total. In that time, the interior no longer matches its exterior. It has grown to roughly a hundred times its original size, developing tunnels, pockets, spirals, and other sorts of formations. All of it is completely random unless I directly apply my thoughts to it, and I can add any solid material to create structures from the source infinitely."

"So..." The scaled woman inquired as Archie reapplied his mask, "You can duplicate anything that goes in? What about gold?"

"I know what you're thinking." Archie replied, "I learned many years ago that, unfortunately, anything that forms within the interior cannot be taken out of it. If it is, it simply disintegrates into nothing. So I can make all the gold I want but it will be effectively useless."

"Shame." She said in return, leaning back a bit, "Could've made a lot of girls happy if you could."

"I like to think I've already accomplished that." Archie said in return, "Just not with money."

"Have you now?"

Not wanting to dive into any details regarding the Microcosm, Archie instead replied, "I've made a lot of functionally superior purses and wardrobes for a number of girls. And even some guys. I have received no complaints, criticisms, or returns."

"Hmm."

"Woah, wait." One of the other girls interjected, "What's with your head? How do you breath?"

"I don't." Archie replied, "Don't have to eat or sleep either. I get my energy from the passive expenditure of my abilities."

"What?"

"I have to keep a bag on my head all the time or else I'll slowly die."

"Oh."

"That doesn't really make much sense." The scaled girl said, leaning back. Archie simply responded with, "I know. I lot of meta-humans don't. Not even DOVE can explain it completely."

She simply nodded. And it was at this point that Archie noticed she hadn't touched her drink, which he'd bought the round for as a (perhaps foolishly) polite gesture.

"You haven't touched your drink." He typed. The scaled girl nodded and replied, "Alcohol doesn't mix well with me. I didn't want to be rude."

"Apologies." Archie responded, to which she returned, "None taken."

It was at this point one if the male employees, tall and imposing in a fitting set of black clothes, opened up the curtains. He looked at the the two girls on the left and said, "Your breaks are almost up. Gotta go." And he turned to the scaled girl and said, "Melissa, your regular's here." She nodded, and said to him, "I'll be out in a sec." The bouncer returned her nod and left, with the other two girls following him, one of them turning her head to Archie and saying, "Thanks for the drinks!" And once again, Archie nodded and waved in reply.

"Gotta go too." Melissa said, turning back to Archie. "That was an interesting talk. Always nice when someone comes here to chat instead of getting... serviced."

"So you do work here." Archie replied.

"And I enjoy it, trust me." Melissa said, standing up. She brushed the curtains out of her way and turned her head one last time to say, with a bit of a smile, "Bye." As she left, it was then Archie noticed the sleek black tail flowing behind and underneath her dress. Yeah, that was definitely someone's fetish around here.

Archie sat in silence for a moment, checking his phone some, before he decided it was about time he left too, get back to the hotel. He reached under the table and grabbed his backpack, which he hoped hadn't been pilfered during all the chitchat. He took a minute to check - bag and router were both present, so all was good.

He stood up and exited the booth, and made his way to the exit.

---

Obadiah Raleigh

---

Somewhere in Starrybanks, White Coast

Three men were situated in a rather untidy office room. One sat behind a desk, two sat in front of him. Obadiah was one of the latter, with the man at his side being under his current charge. They were here for very impromptu meeting.

"I-I'm sorry..." The man behind the desk said, shaking his head, "Repeat that?"

"The immediate termination of your current bartender's contract, followed by Mr. Kelley's reinstatement within the position, where he belongs." Obadiah replied, "I'm sure you heard me the first time." He didn't drop that scowl of his for even a second - after so long, it had become etched into the skin of his face.

"Sir." The man replied, "Did Danny here mention that I fired him because of some rude remarks he made about Vanessa? Who, frankly, does a much better job as a bartender than he ever did-"

"Oh, shut it." The man sitting next to Obadia, Daniel Kelley, interrupted, "You keep her around because she dresses like a slut, and the cheap little tricks she does with her ice powers."

"It brings people in!" The manager retorted, "You're not gonna get me to fire her just because you think it's "unfair". It's not a matter of racism or, whatever, she's just better than you."

Daniel was about to fire back when Obadiah raised his hand to interject. He gave the manager a stern look as he said, "Allow me... if you would, to explain the bigger picture here. While your own views of Mr. Kelley and Ms. Hodges' workplace-applicable skills can be justified, you are putting yourself in a negative position by keeping her here."

"How?" The manager replied.

"The riot, that took place earlier today. Has that passed by your attention?" Obadiah asked, "Because it's still very fresh in most other peoples' minds."

"Vanessa wasn't a part of that. She was here, she doesn't support that kind of bullshit."

"It's inconsequential if she supports it or not." Obadiah continued, leaning forward, "Have you noticed a decrease in patrons as of today? I've gone over your customer reports, you're normally quite busier than this."

"So?" The manager replied, "It's just a slow day, what's your point?"

"There are going to be a lot more slow days if you keep Ms. Hodges around." Obadiah replied, "Because as a result of that unruly display of meta-human fervor, people are going to start losing trust in them. Your average bar-goer may have their own set of thoughts and opinions, but a collective can only judge by a collective. They won't take you for a neutral party purely because she's around, so to them it'll mean you must support her. With people in general, humans and metas, most everything is formed on assumptions. And people are going to start assuming the worst about metas, that I guarantee you."

Obadiah paused to gauge the manager's stilled reaction, before following up with, "Do you want your business to suffer?"

There was a moment before he tried to come up with an answer, but Obadiah interjected once more. "See it this way." He said, "Either you keep Vanessa and throw yourself in with a crowd you have no business with, or you retake Kelley and play it safe. At least one can guarantee you'll be able to keep more people coming."

The manager thought for a moment, before proceeding to say, "What if she... doesn't take it well?"

"Then you have the authorities deal with her." Obadiah replied, "Such is the case that there's just another reason not to keep her."

More silence. The manager sighed, rubbed his forehead a bit, and then said, "Just... how can you be so sure?"

"I've been doing this for a while." Obadiah responded sternly, "I know this system all too well."

The manager nodded before proceeding to ask, "Can you leave me and Danny to talk over his... reinstatement terms?"

"I'm not gonna gouge you for anything, man." Daniel said to him, "I like this place. I don't wanna see it go down."

As the manager nodded, Obadiah took a moment to stand up, getting a good balance on his cane. "Consider investing in some level of security." Obadiah said as he turned towards the door, "In the wake of the worst possible scenario, it'd be for the best."

And with that, he exited the office, and shut the door behind him.

...

Two men were waiting for him as he hobbled over to the car. "How'd it go?" Inquired one, as Obadiah approached.

"Well enough." He replied, continuing onward. "The riot is providing good leverage, but we're still only in contact with our initial supporters. I want you to start looking into local radio stations, that we might be able to use to reach out more. With how it is here, we have to mix caution with ambition."

"Yes, sir." The man replied, opening up the back seat door for Obadiah before taking the passenger seat for himself. "What about TV stations?"

"Not yet." Obadiah replied, "Little by little, James."

Baybridge: Old Ghosts [COMPLETED]

I still have Archie slated for the Slayer, if @Zombiedude101 is still entertaining that subplot.

Baybridge: Old Ghosts [COMPLETED]

Tonight, on Dateline NBC...

Baybridge: Old Ghosts [COMPLETED]

Archie Davis

---

Somewhere in Prince Ed-Field

Archie's arm emerged from the bag, and out came the rest of him following. He got up on his feet, taking a look at the fine, beige carpet flooring beneath them. Upon further observation, it looked as though he was in a hotel room. Two beds, sizable space, window overlooking the Prince Ed-Field district of Baybridge. Archie scanned the room, taking notice of a slip of paper on one of the beds, along with a key. He went over and picked the both of them up.

Archie,

Took the bag somewhere safe. Left to get Reyna to her meeting. You can use the room all you like.

We'll keep in touch!

- Arianna

Well alright then. Archie nodded, proceeding to locate his backpack and get everything in order to head out some more. The hotel room would be his base outside of his base. He'd have to thank Arianna for it next time they saw each other.

Once everything was packed up, he turned to the door, exited the room, and locked it up behind him with the key.

...

Starrybanks, White Coast

A brisk walk westward through town brought Archie back to where he'd first started out in Baybridge. Ari hadn't left the van - not that he would've used it, being a stolen vehicle and all. Hopefully DOVE and RAVEN weren't on any sort of trail leading to him, though something in his thoughts convinced him they had more important matters to tend to.

Was that a bad thing to think? He wasn't all too sure.

He had the idea to take a tour of things district by district. See if the riot had any immediate, unsavory effects. He got familiar with the boardwalk already, so he decided to try the more colorful piece of White Coast - Starrybanks. Lots of clubs and the like lining the pathways. More than a handful of them looked of rather ill repute. He thought it was kind of strange, beaches and brothels being in such relatively close proximity. There was an obscure "washing up" joke to be made there, but he refrained.

He was strolling along, keeping his belongings secure, when all of a sudden the right side of his head and upper torso was met with a lobbed, half-eaten hotdog. Archie reeled to his left a bit, raising his hand to wipe some ketchup, mustard, and relish off of his mask.

"Hey!" Came a male voice from a bit away, supposedly from the source of the edible projectile. Archie turned his head to see a group of men approaching him, the one in front pointing a wrathful finger. "You're one of them!" He shouted, as one of his companions grabbed a nearby trashcan to use its contents for ammunition.

Archie immediately turned and began running, as more assorted articles of garbage came his way. The anti-meta crowd seemed to pick up on his status as one of their "enemies", and acted accordingly.

Archie ran past a handful of other people before turning a corner left, and running further down a busier street. His clothes had gotten a little messier after a few lucky hits. Weaving through the passersby, Archie made a split-second decision to take shelter in any random establishment and hope it wouldn't escalate beyond that.

He made another turn and ran straight through a very decorative entrance into... wherever. He stopped the moment he went in, turning his vision back towards his pursuers - who, thankfully, had stopped. They all looked at the building Archie had taken shelter in, with looks of disgust, scorn, and worry on their faces. After a moment, they gave up, and took their leave. Archie didn't have much time to properly savor his relief, however.

"Those guys giving you trouble?"

Archie turned his attention towards the source of the inquiry - a woman standing behind a reception desk. Flawless skin, slim frame, short black hair, very striking green eyes, and an expensive-looking black dress. Archie hesitated for a moment before nodding in reply to her question. She folded her hands together and leaned forward on the desk, continuing to say, "Looks like they got some hits in."

She was right. Archie's mask, jacket, and some of his pants were a mess. He didn't want to wipe any of it off onto the establishment's very nice, opaque flooring. "Must still be pretty mad about the riot. No one here had any part in it but, that doesn't register with some people, apparently." The receptionist said, "You should probably go clean up. Maybe stay inside for a bit too. That getup of yours just screams meta."

Archie would have peered past the desk to see exactly what kind of place this was, but there were two heavily tinted glass doors in the way.

"Privacy, y'know." The woman commented, "Just go on in. Bathroom's marked." Archie nodded hesitantly in reply, and stepped towards the doors. The receptionist made one last comment before he went in - "And welcome to The Obelisk."

Archie passed the smiling woman one last glance before the door shut behind him.

Baybridge: Old Ghosts [COMPLETED]

Archie Davis

---

Present day, within the Microcosm

Most of the day had come and gone. Arianna and Reyna had left to handle their business with RAVEN.

Archie was situated in the concrete atrium, seated beside one of the surrounding pillars. One pillar over, Jiver had set up his drum set, providing a soft, pleasant rhythm for people as they passed through the junction. Though not everyone passing through was in all too pleasant a mood - word of the riot in Baybridge had come around. Most passed it off as not their problem, others stayed worried regardless.

Archie was watching a video report of the issue on his phone. He didn't even hear the sound of a wheelchair rolling up next to him.

"Shouldn't you be checking up on the bag?" Came the same female voice from yesterday. Archie turned his attention towards the Secretary. He switched the phone over to his texting application and began typing - he never used the TTS around her, she once commented that she found it annoying. Maybe it was a joke but, now he only texted or gestured to her purely out of habit.

I'll handle it in a bit.

The Secretary looked down at the message on her tablet, and then back at Archie. "I can feel that hypocrite in you coming out." She said, "Hiding in the Microcosm while you still try and get everyone else to leave."

Archie didn't respond. She was just right on the money.

"I get it." She continued, "The riot's working against you. You wanna relieve yourself of the responsibility of keeping hundreds of people safe, but every time you feel like you found a place that looks perfect for meta-humans, something comes up."

Still right.

She sighed, and continued speaking. "Archie, I promised you I'd be one of the last people out of here. That I'd help you get all the rest out and on their feet. But you have to stop packing up and hopping a bus for the next city over the moment you see someone toting a sign that says "fuck all metas". You are deliberately holding back your own agenda, and you are running out of places to go."

Still no response from Archie.

"A lot of the people around here have families on the outside. A lot of them are adults who can handle themselves just fine. The rest? The rest have to just figure it out, and you don't have to babysit them anymore. You have to man up, play the landlord, and tell them to file out."

Still quiet. Jiver had stopped playing his drums, turning his head over to listen to the conversation.

"DOVE and RAVEN are meant for this sort of thing. They're not gonna lock everyone up in a maximum security prison because they missed their checkups - stern talking-to's, slaps on the wrist, that's it. And if you're worried about the Allegiance or, the Pure, don't be. They're just assholes who stir things up because they feel like they have to. You brought these people together, and they've learned how to deal with all this kind of shit. They will not resent you for anything."

A moment of silence followed.

"No one's gonna call you a bad guy for making people do their own things, Archie. But this system? The Microcosm? It's gotta end. Soon. Before something happens and you can't stop it."

She waited for a response this time, but none came. She sighed once more, and motioned for her glass assistant to wheel her out. "You wanna really get started, let me know." She called to him, as she was moved away.

When are you gonna tell me your name? It's been six years.

She looked down at her tablet as the message came up, motioning for her assistant to stop.

I'm tired of calling you Secretary.

She paused for a moment, turned her head, and replied, "Bye, Archie." And with that, she was rolled out to the Obsidian Plaza, leaving Archie - and in company, Jiver - on their lonesome. Archie nodded his head a bit before standing up and making his way towards the Microcosm's exit. She was right - he had to check on the bag.

Jiver began playing his drums again as he made his way out.

Baybridge: Old Ghosts [COMPLETED]

@Spoopy Scary

High calcium doesn't make the truth hurt any less.