The Grey Dust

The Harbingers (High Casual Fantasy Villain RP)

I believe I am last to go in the posting order so... I will wait for everyone else.

The World of Blood Compact

A chalice of blood. Offered to your disciples. Is it so innocent a choice? Or do they already worship you as a living god? And to deny a god was madness. To reject him a sin, a damnation that you would carry to the grave. But could you drink with him? To drink and know that you would be bound to him, and that he would be your lord eternal. The new life given to you, a life he gave. But is it your life to lead? Was it ever? Was he not always there, the ribbons of his jet hair flowing in the wind? Was it not his awaiting eyes which stared back into your soul upon the mirror? Think of it, was he not already in your mind? Dwelling upon your thoughts as you meandered through your will. There it was his hand that took yours and tugged you along the path, and like a wayward child you let him. So innocently taken, and so innocently laid, a child, his child, but not his child. Not yet at least, for the path did not lead yet to the clearing, and perhaps inside you knew it to be wrong.

It was wrong was it not? Though his allure was far too captivating, the seduction enticing you with the sway of his hips. You had to follow him, taking to all fours and you crawled forward. Obeying was not a choice, but a need. The master called your name from his lips, those lips you would kill to grace you again. And how many would you kill? One? Two? Twelve? How far steeped in blood you would let yourself go to please him? A baptism in blood, and there he would submerge your naked body into the sanguine sea. Embrace it, as you long to embrace him, let the ancient power whisper into your heart. Open your mouth and drink, drink from the offered cup for you thirst for it. You thirst for him. Reach out and accept it, take his blessings and born anew!

Let the blood drip across the body you behold. Each precious drop, caught within your quivering lips. May your tongue curl in ecstasy of the moment as you savour the rubies gleaned from your master's prefect form. Throw yourself at his feet and cry out for what he has given you. For now you are complete, made whole again as your eyes awaken from the dream. Peel off your eyelids and see, see the man before you, no longer your master but truly your lord. For he was desire, and now he is the sire. Look upon him, your father, and ask with newfound insight, where you are and what has happened. No longer are you the innocent child so ignorant and believing in your god, but now the waiting youth questioning your very own existence.

This is the future of acceptance.

Such was the offer laid, as the Red-headed thrall looked long and hard into the eyes of the man he would both live and die for. Could a thrall truly consider the options given? The descion of it now? To remain like this obsessing over a single being, or to be changed and become bound to blood? Perhaps there was a moment of thought, a spark of will in the eye, caught between the struggle of enthrallment and shortly snuffed out. And yet perhaps with the most genuine nod as Lucan brought Mithias' hand around his to his lips.

"Yes Master."

A betrayal by a kiss.

The World of Blood Compact

I have absolutely no idea... Um... Maybe Tuesday? maybe Tonight? :X

🦄 Duplicity - D&D Style Fantasy Rp Adventure (Completed)

@Sigil

Apologizes. Timezones, working, and a pecking order of RP things.

🦄 Duplicity - D&D Style Fantasy Rp Adventure (Completed)

Thomas Richard Harrison

Location: Road North of Salarn. By the wagon, supported by Satilla
Interacting with: Satilla, Ntaj, some leaves.

Not sure what all that excitement was about. But fortunately the problem seemed to resolve it self just as quickly as it came. An addition of a bear-sized mass usually makes things right, sometimes. But at least now it was all over, and they could enjoy lunch. Burning up with a fever that would last till the day after, fortunately the leaves helped a bit. So too did Satilla as she helped him up. Her voice demanded of him not to do anything rash, almost like a mother scolding a child. Not that Thomas saw Satilla as a mother, no heavens no, she was far too young for that. Or at least he thought so. "Alright, thank you. You too Ntaj."

Walking wasn't so bad. Not as much nausea as an annoyance. Each step forward massaging his temples with his thumb and index finger. The burden of course was not as much in walking as it was the heat. Like walking upon hot sand, it was not the effort to walk, but to set your foot down for longer than need be. Still it was not his fight nor his place to say. Some tea would be nice though, something, anything to keep his head cool. Burning up as his pores cried beneath his robes, sweltering heat that made Thomas want to drop his face into a pool of springwater. How nice would that have been, but instead now it seemed there was a game afoot.

"So tell me, um, what's this groups story?" Time for a backstory, every group had one. And a menagerie of a bird-bear-druid, several half-orcs, and a bunch of badass fantasy women sounds like the beginnings of a bawdy tavern punchline.

The Harbingers (High Casual Fantasy Villain RP)

I hope the introduction to Zhystkrexas is sufficient.
Business first, and then we can move on the pleasure.

The Harbingers (High Casual Fantasy Villain RP)

You have brought him in with you,
For he dwells within you waiting,
Both the first to come and the last.

Can you hear the music? The faint whispers of the desert wind? The tambour of the drums? Hear the taught skin rumble, hear it drone forever to the rhythms of eternity. The plucking of strings pulling at the soul, weaving the melody into the will of fate. And then the desert awakens, the sandswept skies rising the cloud to blot out the starlight night. The desert wind blows to the entrancing legato of the spindle. Become mesmerized, feel the music in your very chest. Each grain and note brushed across your skin to strip it to the bone, your blood runs dry, and your organs shift like the sand. Bursting, wanting, clawing itself out ask it seeks to be freed, unleashed upon the world. So listen, and you may hear the call of the desert.

From the skies they came. Bearing their music. The droning sounds of millions of wings vibrating at once, the chorus of the desert for this was their song. And though the dark storm clouds brooded and brewed, it was not their thundering rumbles which shook the air but those of the swarm. It was the swarm which veiled the stars, swallowing up the light as a darker darkness overtook the skies. A living darkness, a breathing blackness, a hungry void. What dared to stand before them? For the might of millions upon millions upon million and more would devour all who resisted the will of the world. For hunger ran the world in many ways, and those sated are deluded or empty, far too empty. And where there was once a forest and mists, food and drink, now stands nothing more than a cobblestone path to a rotting shack.

Could they, the others, hear it? The symphony of cacophony just outside their secret sanctum, roaring with the might of the living sandstorm? So many seated, so many called, but none so far collected. The Evil Eye had assembled quite the team, but what reason did they answer the summons? Why have they all come? Each a powerful lord or master in their own accord, why would they gather to kneel before something? Perhaps it was an intrigue which motivated them, to simply sate their curiosity and move on. Or perhaps it was ennui which plagues the immortals quite commonly, so much so that they would stoop so low. Or better yet, and perhaps most accurately, it was a hunger which compelled them all. A drive which kept the universe flowing towards the end, whatever end it may be, it is hunger which chases down the need. Or is there no end at all, for it may never end and all that is left is for the universe to consume itself. So to feast upon hunger, that is why He came.

Bursting into room, through the cracks in the walls, the door, the roof, and whatever space there was to assemble the myriad. Thousands of jaws making swift work of the chair until nothing was left of the last seat which marked the place of the which had yet to come, but had already came, and just came now. There it was, the writhing mass of insects, desert locusts which devoured the chair as their wriggling bodies climbed over each other again and again. Crawling upon their brethren and forming a wretched lump that began to resemble a chair. Then, the rest from rose, hopping forth and revealing themselves into an emerging mass that formed from the seat of the chair. Slowly an arm, made of skittering locusts, shaped itself from the mass, a head crafted itself next from the swarm. Another arm, legs, a humanoid body which sat upon the infesting throne.

"My old friend, what is it you desire?" The buzzing sounds made from the many, reverberated through the throne as this thing, whatever it was to those unfamiliar, and curious to those who knew better. It spoke to no one in particular, directed at none of the others as a few of its number fell and rose to crawl again upon its form. Of all those who attend only Zhystkrexas had not physically manifested himself, merely deciding to send an avatar, or in this case a vestige of himself to this dark meeting place. It was not out of fear, but rather of courtesy. For if indeed Kil'threx had wanted to gather an army for his cause, Zhystkrexas' presence, and what it caused, would not be needed. Only a scroll need be signed by all parties involved.

And once the pact was made, what force of good may stand before them?

The Harbingers (High Casual Fantasy Villain RP)

@TheWizardLizard

For immersion purposes and/or World building, I have written up a more in-depth description of I'Zhystana and the surrounding desert.

The Endless Sands of the Forgotten Desert

The Forgotten Desert was and forever will be a desert. It goes by many names, for it borders many nations like a dried patch of land, in Ancient Elven it is called Qualmanfauglir, in Dwarven Kurz-Gazan, Humans have called it more names throughout the ages than other races, but the common name is the Forgotten Desert. For as long as anyone could remember it was a forsaken place upon the world, a cursed boundary where the kingdoms of old would draw the borders of their nations. There was no value to claim the desert, for it was an inhospitable place, and nothing of value was ever found. Who would send legions to defend a sorry claim? Only a foolish ruler would gaze upon the tides of unforgiving sand and see any potential.

Only outcasts live there. Herding and scavenging on the picking the harsh climate offered. Though the sun shone brilliantly upon the sands, and the beautiful sunrises broke through the plateaus of stone, no plants grew and no life survived without water. And as the ancestors knew, the Forgotten Desert had no water to give. Rain never came upon the empty dunes, nor did waters ever rise from the sands, no river it had to claim and locked in by land from all sides. Only by living on the fringe did anyone survive, and yet to push on into the heart of the desert as a journey of discovery. For despite the warm days and cool nights, those who drive on, past the storming sands and chaffing winds, into the heart of this barren place, they may see the splendor that is I'zhystana.

Only the well prepared can venture forth in the great city, or anyone who wishes to make the journey by more practical means than traversing a great desert should consider chartering a passage either by magic or caravan into the city. There are even desert-ships which sail through sand like water, catching the winds upon their sails and rolling upon the dunes with their great wheels. But with its crown jewel of I'zhystana, and vessels which travel to and from it like this the Forgotten Desert is no longer quite Forgotten is it?

I'Zhystana: The Three Districts

I'Zhystana is built in a labyrinthine arrangement of walls circumscribed into walls with the Palace of the God-King in the middle beside the Oasis of Acrid. The sectors between the three walls serve as districts which tend to offer a particular set of indulgences that dominates the particular area of the metropolis. The Rim, the Rise, and the Royal Districts are named rather aptly for what they offer.

The Rim

The First district, The Rim, welcomes travelers into a taste of carnal delights. Things which can please the senses between brothels and bazaars, if it is to be touched and felt, it can be found in the Rim for the most basic needs of all. The various attractions which are highlights of this district afford the great wealth generated by the city.

I'Zhystana: The Infinite Markets

A series of bazaars which never seems to end, save for when it does at the edge of the second wall. Each tent and stall offers wares ranging from far-flung exotic goods imported from the reaches of the world to local artisanal crafts made by some of the best artificers in the world. And though many hotels and hostels, villas and inns are offered for rent, the marketplace never sleeps in I'Zhystana as coins always trade hands. Common currency is accepted here, however the God-King's benevolence allocates a portion of the city's tax money as a welcome package to new arrivals to encourage economic exchange, along with various other incentives for new merchants to set up shop...

I'Zhystana: The Everlasting Spirits

Those who which to taste the good life may dine at the various eateries which offer a selection of food and drink as complete as the wares sold in the markets. Exotic delights and compounds strange offered to sample and try, spirits flowing in chalices such that they may never be empty, and plates constantly replaced with more portions of food. It is said that one can tour the entire cuisine of the world in a single plate, or at least by merely walking from one diner into the next in a single city block, and even the dogs may eat as kings here.

I'Zhystana: The Eternal Pleasures

Ah the fragrant houses for the pleasure of flesh. What lusts can be slaked off here? Man, women, anything really. Whatever the traveler wishes to try and is willing to do. There are even some darker dens which lace their acts with magic to perform unnatural things. But one will find in a place like I'zhystana, there is no such thing as taboo. Such public knowledge of these intimate things are common in city that is said to be everyman's paradise.

The Rise

The second district, The Rise, caters towards those seeking self-improvement and things which cannot be held by mere arms of flesh. In the second district scholars find libraries to dwell in, warriors find arenas to test themselves, artists find gardens of meditation and inspiration. It serves to channel the productivity of the city, and thus the various attractions of this district afford the great people and status of the city.

I'Zhystana: The Boundless Emporiums

Libraries, polytechnics, and institutions of learning dot the sector. Museums and records for those who love the past, books and auditoriums for those who care for the present, and laboratories and guilds for those who look to the future. For those who seek knowledge and wisdom, a day is not enough to take in all the resources available and so many stay to rejoice in the halls as scholars of their own field to ever-increase the reputation of I'zhystana.

I'Zhystana: The Forever Gardens

Where once life did not grow, now it thrives in the city of the desert. Green and lush with beauty in nature, tended carefully by the unnatural hand to appear as natural as can be. It is a tamed beauty to look wild, a source of paradoxes and intrigue for philosophers and artists alike. For it is beauty captured and experienced, but far more beautiful than anything that could be captured. To walk in the growth and stroll lazily through the park, to sleep perchance to dream. The gardens offer tranquility and serenity, a place to lose oneself and to find yourself.

I'Zhystana: The Immortal Arenas

And for those who care not for understanding or peace, the arenas shall win their hearts. The blood and battle, the sweat and grime. All of it to entertain the masses of others who wish for sport. Races, fights, and displays of skill, every form of competition to claim victory in exists here. For fame to be renown and sung through the desert winds as the best in I'Zhystana. Who shall claim the title and honor? The Glory is yours to take, to take from the other man unworthy of your mercy. Win and you shall be the subject those painters shall paint and those students shall learn of!

The Royal

The Third and final district, the Royal district, serves as the residence of the God-King as well as the administrators of the city. It is also within this district that temples are made to the God-king, and of course is home to the sacred Oasis of Acrid and the Palace of the God-King. It is the very heart of the city, from which all forms of regulations and bureaucracy arise. Thus the seat of power of the Forgotten Desert.

The Grand Villas

The estates of the important citizens of I'Zhystana. Luxury beyond luxury, only those who are chosen by the God-king himself may live in the inner circle. Of course this position is a precarious place to be as others seek to acquire the very same post. Those who live in these villas are often duplicitous sociopaths who are both paranoid to lose their position, and seek to enjoy their elevate status in the public eye. Forming a court of backstabbing bourgeoisie and fiendish friends as part of the elite of I'zhystana.

The Grand Temple of the God-King

The holy of holies. The God-King's faithful come to worship and praise him throughout the lesser temples built in his glory, but it is the Grand Temple which the God-King himself is said to attend. Inside the sanctum the devout may genuflect and beech the statue of their God-king to fulfill their desires. And if the clergy allow it, hearing the whispers of their Lord, the faithful may ensign themselves and their wish upon a blank scroll that shall serve as a new contract.

The Grand Council Chambers

The main administrative building for the city of I'Zhystana. New laws are adopted, written, discussed made, regulations, policies, and more. The final process is democratic and each seated member may cast their votes to decide the fate of I'zhystana symbolized by dropping their council rings into the set of scales behind the three seats before them. Though often the Great Seat is empty for the God-King hardly appears to rule on such trivial manners, the Lesser Seats are for the Hands of the God-King who are those who have achieved the highest status of power beneath the God-king.

The Hands of the God-King

An interesting pair who keep the city within the God-king's grip. The seated man and the dancing woman depicted are The General and the High-Priestess respectively. Both of the Jaria Clan, the General heads the military enforcement and decrees of the God-King, while the High-Priestess tends to the spiritual adherence and teachings of the God-King. And both are just as twisted as their ruler, for the General seeks to take control of the city from beneath the God-King by careful undermining, and the Priestesss is solely devoted to the worship of the God-King as the greatest fanatic obsession she bears. As such They by in large tend to cancel each other out, with one being rooted in betrayal and the other in devotion. Something which the pleases the God-king as he sits upon his true solitary throne.

The Throne Room of the God-King

Here upon the Golden Throne the God-king Sits surrounded by a few guards and consorts as he dines upon his awaiting prey.

@Rune_Alchemist

Well my Desert is central. They are different deserts then. Your desert perhaps a bit more bountiful than mine. Mine is quite literally a wasteland where no life exists as no water existed there before Zhystkrexas made a deal with the Jaria droven inward. Only living on the edge allows a meager form of life, but now in the middle of it all is this bustling city which brings new life to the desert.

The Harbingers (High Casual Fantasy Villain RP)

<Snipped quote by Legion02>

Is that dessert taken by anyone? It could very well be Khata's dessert unless you have some plans for that, Legion.

Failing that, if anyone else wants a desert full of eldritch horrors to be their neighbor, we can definitely work something out~

@Rune_Alchemist

I have taken the desert <_> but there could be multiple Deserts you see.

Zhystkrexas' Desert was originally a desert. A wasteland of nothing. Of which I am currently writing a more detailed description of I'Zhystana.

EDIT: that being said, a new desert could be conveniently right next to the old desert due to the lore of nyarlathotep Khata being built on the ruins of an old kingdom. My desert is set in a central-ish location.

The Harbingers (High Casual Fantasy Villain RP)

So yeah...like Lizard Boss said, how do our characters all know each other again?

@TheWindel

Maybe we all shop at EvilCo?

EvilCo.
For all your Villainous needs.
Join now and get a free upgrade to blacker card.
We will even throw in 3 competent* henchmen and a basic Lair**

*subject to subjectivity. These henchmen have been tested in groups of hundreds through rigorous product testing. They are 98% more competent than your average henchmen, and have lifespans 50% longer to maximize utility. However EvilCo does not guarantee the competence of each individual henchmen when not placed in the presence of at least 97 incompetent henchmen as we test our products in groups of 100.

** subject to availability. Not all lairs are of equal value, and not all lairs are guaranteed to be free of any remaining artefacts from the last inhabitant of said lair. No substitutions or other offers available if member is unsatisfied with selected lair.