The Grey Dust

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

Thomas Richard Harrison

Location: Michael Bay & Quentin Tarantino Collab.
Interacting with: Ntaj, Ice, Exploding Skellies.

A beacon of knowledge blazing out,
Across a black sea of ignorance,
Harlek's Incantation of Incineration.

Why wizards so often had the urge to place their own name within a spell was clear. Those of great power had even greater egos, egos which were rightfully held with the vast powers some magi obtained. Some had powers to twist the planes within their hands and summon forth great elementals from the uncharted realms, others ignited the skies to hail rimefire and lightning, other still could make the very trees uproot and march upon a king and his army. And of course the necromancers, who had power over the veil of life and death itself. Such is the act of creating a spell and naming it after oneself in the magical world: a legacy for all others to remember the power which lends itself to your cast. For there is power in some names, and they say merely to speak of a famed magus' name was to invoke the cosmos to restore a portion of that magnus' power to be lent to the caste who speaks such a name. Of course, this is merely a theory.

Well, holding his ground against the ice was one thing, casting a spell was another. The consequences of this spell was not the best, However it was quite the illuminating display of sorcery. A pillar of radiant light, dropping down from the high heavens and breaking through the night. A cylinder to banish the shadows from before the wall, as if an attempt to keep back the dark creatures as well as show their numbers or anyone who was controlling them. The six feet diameter was fairly wide enough to certainly make anyone think twice before entering the zone of cosmic light. Anything beneath the beam was bathed in the splendor of the sun, yet soon pleasant warmth became sweltering discomfort, and then wrathful blazes. Solar flames akin to watching an ant burn beneath the focal point of a lens in daylight, painful and certainly damaging as the downpour of light came to a close.

The spell however was not quite done, as the zone of light persisted, no longer a cylinder from the sky but an illuminated area, the borders containing the remnants of the sunlight as they began to fade over the course of time. Anyone passing out of the zone created would feel the lingering powers for even more pain as the miniature balls of light softly lit the battlefield.

A new entity was summoned. So the red mist was...

But Thomas was in a daze, his head spinning as the blinked his eyes a few times trying to recover. It'll be done in a minute or so, but casting always took quite a lot out of him.

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

I'll Post sometime later this evening or tomorrow afternoon.
Albeit it'll be a short post describe the spell essentially, since Thomas is dazed for this round.

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

@Lady Amalthea

Sorry, it's another cast of celestial beam.

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

Uh... I Hope I'm doing this right.

@POOHEAD189 Your turn :D!

@Lady Amalthea Also a slight reference in mention to your costume change in the post x3

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

Thomas Richard Harrison

Location: Michael Bay & Quentin Tarantino Collab.
Interacting with: Ntaj, Ice, Exploding Skellies.

Energy escaping. Sheer power crackling from his core which spread to release itself. Arcs of arcana jumping in swirls, twisting like coiled snakes around his arms. His body unleashing burst of a spell miscast all due to a snap in concentration. A simple sneeze to interrupt a moment's focus. And thus the spell is lost. Well, that was rather embarrassing. Not the first time Thomas had botched a spell, and quite possibly not the last. The effects however were, far more liberating than casting as it appears Satilla had enough support, including a rather seasick crocodile. Always support your supports, after all if you fall and die in combat, did you really want to be resurrected as an exploding undead? The consequences at least was only fire smoldering away at his outstretched fingers, hastily retracted and blown out.

Thomas however had no time to look into the possibility of whatever happened afterwards, as the rumbling and other ominous sounds may or may not have had been triggered by Thomas' spellcasting attempts. For it seemed the Skeleton before him had other ideas having swung at Thomas just as the energy escaped. The results? A rather large cut on his right arm, and his robed slashed. An arm can be healed easily by anyone white mage worth their coppers, but a wizards robe? Only the most skilled of tailors could mend it back, let alone a wizard's pride. Still, the spell miscast and now this new gash was not helping Thomas keep his concentration on the strange reactions occurring.

"Thanks, Ntaj," The charging Orc had swiftly dispatched the enemy before him. He did want to comment on the green man's nudity, but it seemed rather inappropriate to tell the emperor of his new clothes right now. Certainly Thomas may have been blushing as Ntaj got close enough to him but the slight discomfort of his arm certainly reminded him this was still a battle, and necromancers do not play fair, fortunately they had their own army of orcs on their side, but it was certainly similar to a historical fiction Master Wolfgang had once mentioned: The Battle of the Five Armies. The Elves, The Humans, The Dwarves, the Orcs, and a misfit band of unlikely heroes. "No Ntaj there's too many!"

Oh praise the powers that be, whatever fortune and good luck the naked battle-frenzied orc wore like a sigil over his brow. His misfortune at slipping upon whatever it was his footing caught had just saved him from being like the other orcs not in the party. An dagger-like object thrown at the Skeleton seemed to have done it, causing an explosion and other explosion as another one met its mark. All in all, this whole scene of exploding dead everywhere. At this rate they would all be dead, but to the necromancer the dead only replaced his losses. Fortunately Sana it seemed had taken to singing, magical singing, the bard's art which evoked the mystery of how song and voice and music could summon forth whatever it was at their whim. A wall of ice! How impressive, a killing wall of Koryx! The freezing ground however, slowly would become a problem as Thomas wondered just how long Sana could hold on as all forms of magic had their price.

However the necromancer had other plans it seemed, really wanting to kill everyone or at least seriously prove his superiority over the living. Loud explosions still ringing slightly in his ears as Thomas braced his right arm with his left hand, holding to steady it as he raised his injured arm towards the ice wall. The same spell intent to cast, just beyond the thinning ice wall, to slow down the impact of the skeletons exploding against their barrier. Sana's voice inspiring enough to keep going, it was all up to the range combatants now. Focusing in on a point above them, past the wall, targeting any skeleton which may have remained, ideally in a group within five feet together. It was time to test out a hypothesis, to see if his spells are reacting with forces unseen. If successful, it should block of a section of the wall from being attacked for a minute or so, as anything attempting to leave the field should be rebuked by solar flames, an astral seal to add more light into the darkness.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again...

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

On the bright side, he might just be raised as a naked zombie orc and we have to go attempt to find a way to cure him of undeath.

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

@Lucius Cypher

Warning Explicit Humor

Full House

Mood Music.

Stitched thin the family binds,
A funeral shroud fraying at the ends,
The spiral after he left for the ones left behind,
The ones who upon you they depend,
First the mother, and then a son,
and now misfortune stalks the innocent one.

How blind was she to it all? Focusing on winning approval for her choices from her eldest, enough to neglect the pain of the youngest? Yet the girl hid her suffering well, better than Leith did in his moody silence. And Taron, well Taron had kept his silence too, but he was the last of Meredith's worries. Richard was her gamble, and more so right now her bread and butter, she reasoned she had only a few months left to tie the knot and become Mrs. Pryce before her luck ran out. Her savings already dwindling down, even with Richard's generous gifts and covering her credit line for her. It was just too much. May, well she was godsend in a way. Taron and Bailey, they had no reason to go. Leith was family, but Ceren, well Ceren was not family yet and honestly Meredith took the boy in because she knew Leith would hate her forever if she didn't. But honestly, 4 Bedrooms, in this house they had? Sure it was enough for when they were one family, but with two extra people...

It was hard, the mother of three and a half rubbed her temples with one hand and tipped the wine to her lips in the other. Her mind weighed heavy, her head supported by her arm which dug into the table. There was only one light at the end of the tunnel there, one gleaming bit of hope within reason and reach. That Ceren would have broken Leith's heart so terrible that he could never love again. Oh what sort of mother was she to think such thoughts? It was the wine, the wine and pressure, to wish your child be hurt as such. But love was not the romantic gesture society has made it. An arrow through the chest is still an arrow through the chest. It would hurt, there would be pain, and scars that may never fade. It is only a tragedy when those scars hurt the innocent products of such believed loved.

It was his fault for leaving. Or was it hers? Regardless of who was at fault however, she had three beautiful children. Three wonderful people to bring her joy in her life. Even though Leith reminded her so much of him, she loved him most. And perhaps that was why she loved of all the three children most. Taron was on his way too, the feature of his father starting to break through, but he had more of his mother in him compared to Leith. And Bailey, well she was all mom with a sprinkling of dad. What did they remember of him? Did they know why he left? Did Leith explain it, did he understand? Love that was true, was bound by love. It could not lust for another, want for another, be with another. She could not forgive him, and he could not bear her guilt-laden looks. Perhaps that is why he left, because of her broken heart.

So is that why when she saw Leith with Ceren, she always swallowed down her tears? Seeing so much of the man she loved and hated, in love with another man? No, though she loved to comb her fingers through his hair as she cradled Taron in her arms and watched over Bailey in her basket, Leith was still her baby. Despite the beard and body hair, of blushing when mom caught him less than decent, she saw in him the boy they raised together. A boy grown up now, and finding a love of his own. All she could wish for as a mother was that his heart was in the right place. Such that her child would never feel the pain she felt when his father stopped loving her. A single tear wiped away from the corner of the eye, before May could see into her sister's mind. May had been through enough already, and has done so much for them all.

"I don't know May. I just don't know anymore. I don't think Rick would even think of moving in with us, plus we're already over booked as it is... And Leith..." The tone of her voice fading away, "I'm not sure what to do May. Is it too much for me to want my kids to live a good life? A better life than we had growing up? But look at me Sis, Mom was there for us, me? I'm hardly there at all for them now. I just don't know May... Maybe I can convince Rick that Ceren's not that bad, I mean he makes Leith happy, and that's all I could ever want for him right now. He's a good kid May, but... I just don't want to see him struggle, he can't make it out there alone, let alone having Ceren to support too now." A long drink as needed, chased down by more rubbing of the temples, as if those fingers prayed to the gods for a miracle there.

"And besides, that's a total lie, we both know you're just as pretty. What are you wearing to dinner May? It's a Japanese place, I have no idea if the kids will enjoy it, Rick's says they cook right in front of you on a hot plate. Sounds fancy right?" Changing the subject, casually as if wishing the family issues to just disappear with a wave of a hand, or eight ounce of wine in this case. It was far too early, far far too early, but given the circumstance, she probably needed it, and even poured her sister a glass and slid it across the table.

"Don't worry about my eggs May, did you get the kids lunches? you said Leith was working garage did he need a lunch too?" Ah there was an idea, maybe Leith could work for Rick at one of his dealerships? Working up on those cars? Maybe they could bond as father and son over a business together? Maybe Leith could even be a shop manager instead of a tech? Or would Leith hate working for Rick? It was a thought, grasped as they came, fluttering innocently by like butterflies resting against the lip of the unclassy-wineglass. "Taron, Bailey! get up Kids!" Shouted downstairs as Meredith began to ascend, glass in hand before Ceren came hopping down. His Latin flair mixing in with his boyish causality chewing on a lip in a V-neck and faded jeans as he reported the kids were up.

"Morning Ceren, are you taking the kids today?" Of course he will be Meredith-wine-glass-in-hand. But how will she tell the news that the rest of the family was invited to dinner with Richard? Perhaps in the gentlest manner possible, civilly. "Leith's going to the café to work tonight, do you both have plans after? Did you need some cash if you do?" Digging around her purse for her wallet, as she counted out the dollars she had left, thirty two. Handing a two tens and two singles to Ceren. "Twenty two's good enough right?" Pretty much a big hint for Ceren to take Leith out tonight without telling the boy anything.

"Taron Honey, make sure you leave enough water for your Bailey, and hurry up there, Ceren's got places to be too!" The least she could do was hug and kiss her kids, bidding them a nice day at school before hiding away into her room to break down in tears. Tears over it all. Tears over her family, broken and barely held together by May. And the little voice in her head which shuddered at the thoughts of the boy before her and her son's activities in Bailey's room, a thought she preferred not to linger and fed away with the hope that she raised him better. Her glass finished now as she waited for the little ones to come clambering down. "Don't worry about picking them up Ceren, I'll pick them up at threeish. Our driveway's getting way to busy isn't it May?"

Full House

Yeah she's getting the better end of the stick, for now at least, I'm under the impression that Richard's letting her believe she's got the advantage. To that end, maybe he knows he's getting played, but plays along to see how close he can get before ruining her. Blackmail is not just a form of dark protective armor it's also a... dark Protective armor.

I'm seeing a very awkward dinner. Technically I guess Ceren could show up at the place and dine alone. Or Leith and Ceren could go elsewhere together, or something like that.

As for the wine, well... She's probably earned it.

I think I'll wait for Silent to post before doing one, as such I'll probably try and post tomorrow evening. I've gotta do some more shopping, help a friend pick out clothes, and go catch a movie (most likely Fantastic beasts).

Full House

Home is where your heart is,
Waking up in someone else's house.
Family is with whom your heart lies,
Lying beside him in his bed.

It has come to this. A life where she found herself in the arms of another man, in his house and upon his bed. There he lay beside you, his body betraying his age just as your did your years. The kids had May, and Leith was old enough to fend for himself, but still he was your child. He worked, he was the man of the house now. He had even started seeing someone. And Taron, well he was on his way there, a few more years and a college degree. She had managed to put the eldest through, and yet Bailey would have nothing left. Bailey, was it tough for her? Thank goodness for May, the girl needs a female influence in her life, a mother who could be there. And not here. But Leith, oh Leith, her first child all grown-up now a bit of his father in him, and her own contributions. It was okay, he would do fine, and yet why could you not let go? Was it because you felt his silent screaming? Angst and worry bottled up within his delicate heart? Hardened perhaps by the need for machismo, but she knew her son too well. Just as she knew the man beside her.

Richard Pryce. A business mogul with a stock portfolio as big as his ego. Well, he had every right didn't he? On the account of his bank account alone? Of course he inherited his lion's share after his father passed, Richard had managed to out maneuver his older brother, dividing the lots rather nicely as Victor took a failing market of real estate, and while Richard reinvested into auto dealerships. The move paid off, and soon enough, nearly everyone in the greater metropolitan area was driving a car from a Richard Pryce dealership. A shrewd man, ruthless even some may say, but she knew he eyed her. Ever since she meet him on that day they went to deal for a car for Leith. Look the part she told her eldest, look like you can afford it and they'll give it to you. Walking out with his eyes gazing over her body, manager by his side, she remembered that look, she's seen it too many times with all the men she had in her life: wanting entitlement.

And so here she was beside him. Beneath the sheets of a night spent in his company, listening to him muttering sweet nothings into her ear. It was not love, there was no love. He wanted her, just like any other girl he was with, and she needed him to support her family. Even if she did not become the next Mrs. Pryce, the man was getting on in the years himself, and soon he would be dating someone half his age. Until then, all she could hope was that no one would judge her for being with him. That her family, they would understand why Mom was with him. This man who had been very explicit about his opinion over Leith and Ceren. Sure she did not understand it, but she loved Leith enough to allow Ceren in. But what did she know about love? How could she speak of such things after lying with him?

"Morning Meri." His voice dripping with venomous honey, filled and inflated with his sense of worth. Vanity beyond a mirror, a trophy that she was to him, his hand placed around her handles. "How was last night? The way yo-"

"Amazing Rick, but I've got to go back, May's waiting for me to take care of the kids." She interrupted his self-glorification in the most backhanded and politest way she could. "I'd stay for a drink but Bailey's got class and Taro-"

"Alright fine, take the bottle on your wait out if you want, Kristoff will drive you back." He yawned and waved her away with a few pats to her shoulder as Meredith rose from the bed pulling the sheets across her chest. There was no modesty to be afforded in the presence of one so boastful, yet perhaps it was ironic that she of all people should want modesty when she dreams of more than her modest home. This place was a villa, acres of land across town, gated upon a hill, landscaped with beautiful gardens and water features. Empty rooms which seemed to have no purpose but to be, baths with showers and hot tubs, walls which hung with ugly modern art. A home she wished for herself and her kids, a place to call her own. "Dinner later tonight? Six O'clock? Make it Five. We'll try out that new place on 5th. Wear something Delicious Got it Sweets?"

"Oh Rick, I was hoping to see my family tonight, May can't handle them all by herse-" An excuse just to get away from another night of this. Or was it? No, she missed them truly, guilty that she was here more often than there. Enjoying the pleasures of wine and dine, of movies and as much as she hated to admit it, Richard was not all too bad. For a hedonistic narcissist.

"Fine then, bring them along, but only your family, I don't want your boy bringing that skank-fairy. He's not going to take my family name if he's still with that boy. Tell him to go screw a girl first Merie, then I can call him my son, hell if he's got trouble looking for one, I'll send a call girl to him and he's going to enjoy her or else I'm cutting his queer-ass off." There it was. The ranting of man who values nothing more than his ego. Of course he would know a call girl, of course a man of his character would prefer hate over love. Yet it was only because of his own pride, as to not tarnish his own name.

---

You got that Meri? The last words still echoed in her ears as Kristoff the driver opened the door for her. Meredith thanked the young man, who seemed to smile in kind, yet never spoke a word to her. Maybe he just was not the sort of person to speak a lot, or maybe he's worked for Richard long enough to realize all the man ever did was talk about himself. It was hard to get a word in edgewise when you're being suffocated by such superbia. Slowly she walked to the door, sighing as her heels clacked through the old porch steps. It was too small for them all, May moving in was a blessing but, well, at least Bailey was safe with Leith around. Not that she was concerned about Taron, but a boy his age...

"Morning May, did Leith leave already? Are the kids still here? Ceren's got to start pulling his weight around here you know it's like having another kid." A half-joking laugh as she tiredly set her purse down on the counter, along with a half-emptied bottle of wine. "Rick sends his regards, oh and I guess we are all invited to dinner at five... Well, except for..." her eyes darted towards Bailey's room. Another sigh escaped her lips as she sat down beside her sister, uncorking the red and pouring it into a glass meant for orange juice. No need for fanciness here, medicine did not work better in a tall glass or a short one.

"Do you want him May? I mean we're practically the same right, and you're younger too. He's wealthy, decent looking, and not too bad in the sack either. Am I crazy not to want him sis?" Perhaps a bit too much wine...