Tiger

The Adventures of Caleb Crowsnest

Caleb staggered his way back up past the pews. He'd had some pretty intense training sessions before, but nothing ever like this. As he realized that things were over, his body began to react. His arms were trembling, shaking nearly too hard to keep a cautionary hand on his sword's hilt. His legs could barely hold him up and he staggered like Taylor the town drunk. Everything about his body ached.

Rainbow frowned at him. "Well, you did alright, for all that you nearly ruined."

Caleb didn't have the energy to answer. His reply came in a much more crude manner. His stomach rolled and he heaved.

Rainbow leapt back. "Ugh! Do you mind!?"

Caleb ignored him. His knees throbbed from hitting the floor so hard. He braced one hand against the ground, his other arm wrapped around his stomach. He heaved again. Ribbon whined and shoved her nose in his face. Slowly Caleb draped himself around her shoulders, his arms about her neck. She laid her chin upon his shoulder and whined again. Caleb buried his face against her soft fur to cry.

Rainbow's boot thumped into his ribs. "We don't have time for this. Get up before you get us killed."

Caleb dragged himself to his feet, tears still coursing down his cheeks. "I killed them." He'd killed animals before, of course, but it was nothing like this had been. Ribbon, significantly more sympathetic than Rainbow, shoved her head under Caleb's hand.

"Yes," Rainbow sounded exasperated. "And if you don't get moving, you're going to kill us."

"I took off her head, I stabbed them, I-I-"

"Brag later, let's move!" Rainbow reached up and grabbed the front of Caleb's shirt. As the little man moved forward, he dragged the boy along behind. "Alright, now remember, we're looking for the central crystal. Once we find that, we'll be able to initiate phase two!"

The Adventures of Caleb Crowsnest

Caleb drew himself up as tall and as straight as he could. When one imitated gods, one walked with good posture. He didn't actually know if that was a rule, but he'd never met anyone pretending to be a god before so he hadn't had much of a chance to ask. It seemed like a good rule for a god impersonator to follow, though. With that thought in mind, he lumbered into the clearing.

Karrass leaped to his feet. He whipped around towards the intruder. The damp musty scent of the disturbed fish carcasses and ancient leaf-litter filled the air. Caleb wrinkled his nose against the invading scent. Karrass still stared at him in a decidedly nonagressive manner. Emboldened by the lack of immediate attack, Caleb pressed on. He avoided looking at himself as he walked forward. It was best not to think too hard about what Rainbow had done to him, least he accidentally undo the illusion.

"Y-" Karrass choked on his word the first time before he managed to spit it out, "you!"

"Me?" Caleb blinked.

"You!" Karrass seemed to be at a loss for a more meaningful word.

"Me." Caleb agreed again. His thoughtless answer last time hadn't gotten him killed, so it seemed a safe choice to repeat.

"You." Though he was repeating the same word again and again, Karrass sounded significantly more strangled this time. Before Caleb could answer with his obligatory 'me', Karrass was moving. He threw himself down at Caleb's feet, choking over the word 'you' again. This time he managed to form a full sentence. "You heard Karrass! You answered Karrass!"

Caleb awkwardly patted the sobbing dwarf on the head. "Yes, little cub, I have been sent because you were heard." It felt so weird to call a man at least twice his age 'cub'. Twice his age? Maybe that was wrong. Did dwarfs age the same way humans did? Did they show age the same way humans did? Karrass' voice had not sounded like an old voice, but what if that was how old dwarfs sounded? Caleb should have asked Rainbow more about the dwarfs. For that matter, was he even sure Karrass was male? He was fairly certain one of the older boys had said female dwarfs grow beards.

"Karrass knew his god would send a sign," Ah, that was right. Karrass referred to himself as male, that's how Caleb knew. "Karrass did not doubt the Mighty One. Karrass is the most loyal servant, the most humble. Karrass shall make a thousand miracles in his god's name."

"Very good, Cub. The Mighty One is pleased with his devoted one's devotion." Caleb could almost feel Rainbow roll his eyes behind him. "Take me to the others, so that I might tell them of your loyalty. The Mighty One has sent me as a messenger, so all might know of you."

Karrass stood at once. He patted down his clothes as he answered. "Karrass shall be honored to escort the Mighty One's Messenger. Oh yes, Karrass has waited long for this. Karrass always knew he was the most worthy. He is the best servant." His hand slid into a hidden pocket somewhere in the folds of his shirt. From within the brown cloth he pulled out what he had been searching for. He cradled the key cautiously to his chest. "This is the way, great messenger."

The Dwarf held his key aloft and shouted a phrase that Caleb could not comprehend. From seemingly no where a large door appeared. Karrass pressed his key against the center of the door. It sprang open.

Caleb drew a deep breath and against all instincts followed the dwarf into his lair.

The Adventures of Caleb Crowsnest

Caleb sat up slowly, gingerly. He wasn't really certain how to move with this new form. How were you suppose to stand when you weren't you, much less be able to fight. Everything about this was wrong. "Can you undo it? Please?"

"Of course I can." Rainbow answered comfortably. He picked up an odd looking fruit - or maybe a vegetable, Caleb couldn't be sure - from a nearby bowl. He took a bite out of it. He was half finished with the thing before the boy realized he wasn't going to continue.

"So, will you?"

"No." Rainbow smiled happily.

"Why not?" Caleb's voice was whiney. He tried to harden it as he pressed forward. "I don't wanna look like this. You didn't even give me anything cool. I just look weird and I don't have, like, sword hands or flaming hair, or anything!"

"Do you want me to set your hair on fire?" Rainbow appeared to be contemplating that idea just a little too hard for Caleb's liking. "I don't think it would be comfortable for you, but it's an idea with merit nevertheless."

"No flame hair!" Caleb backed away. "Changed my mind!" Rainbow nodded, so Caleb relaxed. He looked around the small home slowly. From his new height, he could see over even the tallest of the furniture. It had been a tight squeeze before, but this was just uncomfortable. His head brushed the ceiling if he moved wrong.

Gingerly he felt his face. Nothing really felt incorrect, but it didn't feel right either. Some part of him was convinced this was his natural shape, and yet he knew that was wrong. Was that a wart above his eye? Caleb shuttered. "Change me back, I don't like this." Ribbon snored softly from on top of her pillow. Rainbow cackle. Caleb thought he might cry.

"You need to learn. You can probably adapt to them changing things around you, though we'll have to practice with that too. More importantly is if you can fight!" Rainbow's eyes gleamed as he leaned forward. "It's good to fight in one form, but what if those dwarves use another illusion on you? I can't have my prize winner getting himself killed because he didn't know what to do with an extra leg," Rainbow laughed again as Caleb's eyes snapped down to confirm he still only had two, "or a tail," Caleb spun around and knocked his shins on the table, "or maybe arm length horns on his head." Caleb slammed his hand into the ceiling in his haste to pat down his hair to check for horns.

"Owwww."

Rainbow shook his head. "You're no good at illusions at all." His face lit up. "It's a good thing I'm here to teach you! You'll be able to fight despite them soon enough!"

The Adventures of Caleb Crowsnest

The dog inched forward, ears back and tail thumping hesitantly. She skittered back when Caleb moved but didn't go far. He crossed his arms sullenly across his chest as he studied the animal. She was thin, but not malnourished. Dirty, but not diseased. Now that he was taking the time to truly look, he spotted a dirty, weathered ribbon around her neck. He suspected he had once been red, or maybe pink, but now it was dingy brown and the ends were fraying into nothing.

"Someone use to love you, didn't they?" He asked softly. He held his hand out towards her, but she jumped back once again. For a moment a surge of disappointed flared deep in his chest. Caleb forced himself to settle. This was his fault, he'd scared her with his earlier burst of anger and careless kicking. He wouldn't have hurt the dog, but how was she to know that? Caleb forced his voice to sound calm, like the way Ms. Ardia would speak when the littler kids -not him, he was always brave- were frightened by a loud storm. "Come on, dog, I'll be your friend. I can name you, you don't have to be alone."

"She has a name." A voice sharp in tone and high in voice rang out from somewhere lower on the embankment.

Caleb couldn't decide if he should sound defensive or friendly. He chewed his lip as he mulled over the proper way to respond to the voice. The dog seemed nice enough, and if the dog was with this person, then surely the person would be nice as well. But the voice sure hadn't sounded particularly eager to be friends.

"I know you're not mute, I've been listening to you talk." The owner of the voice finally appeared, popping up onto his little safe haven. Caleb stared dumbly. Whoever this stranger was, they weren't human.

The Adventures of Caleb Crowsnest

Hey, so sorry I wasn't here sooner, the internet is down at work. I'm going to blame some electric pokemon. Definitely their fault.

Anyway, here's my application!

Quick little scene

Jesamae stepped into her kitchen. Her hands settled on her hips as she surveyed the brightly lit space. A smile slowly crept across her lips as her spirits swelled. Tonight was her first free night in a log time. Tonight called for music. Turning from her workspace, she crossed to the audio system in the living room. Jesamae spun the volume dial as it woke and her song swelled until it almost hurt.

Dancing her way past the couch, she returned to the kitchen. Jesamae sung along loudly, allowing the power of the lyrics carry her away. The fridge door she flung open in time to a particularly explosive verse. She swung her hips to the words as she pulled out eggs and butter. She kicked the door shut as she belted out her favorite line.

The whole wheat flour and sugar were in their proper spots, but she had to hunt down the baking soda. She needed baking powder, but what was the difference really? She knew you could sub one in for the other, so she wasn't concerned. She also didn't have vegetable oil, but melted butter was close enough. They were both fats. And white sugar would do in place of brown. She remembered to turn the oven on when she located the cooking spray.

She grabbed her largest mixing bowl and shoved the ingredients aside to make room for it. Her measuring cups were where she thought they were and she started dumping everything into her bowl. Jesamae got egg on her hands when she cracked them, so she washed while her butter melted in the microwave. She added the almond liqueur last without bothering to measure. She could eyeball it. She took a shot straight from the bottle before putting it away.

Jesamae carted her mixing bowl with her as she danced through the kitchen. When everything was combined, she poured it all into her baking pan and tossed the dishes into the sink. She'd clean them in the morning. She sashayed her way back to the fridge to fetch herself some juice.

The front door opened and her housemate stepped in. "Jes!"

Jesamae spun into the hallway and grinned. "Hey Summer!"

"Why is the music so loud?" Summer demanded as best she could over the din. Her eyes widened in horror. "Don't tell me you were baking!"

Jesamae beamed even wider. "I made brownies! Oh, hey, it's cool to use hot chocolate instead of cocoa powder, right?"

Summer sighed and shook her head with a loving smile. She tossed her coat and purse aside, then kicked off her shoes. "Come on." She grabbed her best friend's hand and headed for the living room. "We'll see what you came up with later. Let's dance."

A Writing Experiment - One Story, Multiple Authors

A loose turn order is definitely doable. They use to be pretty standard when I was more active, though usually the gm would be the only one allowed to declare skips. Since we'll all have an equal hand in this, I think a time limit is a good idea.

A Writing Experiment - One Story, Multiple Authors

I personally don't do any kind of smut content, but aside from that I'm open to whatever.

@Bria The Human

No hard limits here, but I'm too inexperienced to write smut and also not comfortable writing it with anyone I haven't known for at least a year.

@Hyde

So smut is out. Good choice if we're using a thread. Speaking of,

I'd think a forum thread would be good. It makes it clear where one person's post ends and another begins. We'd just have to have a heads-up that somebody is writing a post at a given time so we don't accidentally duplicate sections and have one writer lose their time. As for limits, I don't really have any. I've been on the internet long enough to see the nastiest shit imaginable, and I don't think we'll approach that. Haha.

@Relin

I also vote for a thread.
+1 for forum thread.

@Hyde

A thread is perfectly fine with me. We can set up a system for post writing. Maybe a dedicated ooc thread or pm system where we can state if we're starting a post, so it won't clutter up the rest. Alternatively we could 'reserve' spots if we're writing something, or use the like or laugh to indicate a post we'd like to follow up. Maybe only use the system if there's three or more of us online at a time.

Also, if we're all good with sci-fi/fantasy, we should try to narrow down the genre so we're all on the same page in terms of tone and whatnot.

Obviously, we'd need to choose between fantasy and sci-fi.

For sci-fi: Is it on earth? Space? Multiple dimensions? How advanced is the technology? Dystopian? Utopian? Are we exploring a frontier?

For Fantasy: Light-hearted adventure? Grim oppressive world? High magic? Low magic? Lots of politics? Or are we just slaying a dragon?

I will say I have one hard rule if we do a traditional fantasy setting: no guns. Guns ruin swords and sorcery for me.

@Relin

As far as science fiction goes, I'm personally not fond of space exploration. I wouldn't mind the other options. Same for fantasy, but I do think light-hearted adventure could be a bit more fun for this kind of Roleplay. A little chance to flex comedic muscles is never bad.

@Hyde

I'm on board with the no guns in fantasy rule, if we want to go that route. How about we take a quick vote for either fantasy or sci fi, then narrow it down from there?

A Writing Experiment - One Story, Multiple Authors

@Abolish nICE Does Fantasy/Sci-Fi work for you as well?

Where all do we want to see this come to life? Are we looking to make a thread here on the guild, or do we want to move outside this site? I've found google docs easy for collaborative writing, but I'm down to try anything that works well for the group.

Also, we should establish if anyone has any hard limits for what they're willing to write about. I personally am not a huge fan of graphic torture scenes or gore, but as long as there's a sufficient warning or clear indications of a start point and end point, I can just skip over anything I'm uncomfortable with.

A Writing Experiment - One Story, Multiple Authors

I would be fine with either of those genres. Does anyone else have a preference?

On The Hunt Again (1x1 Plots & Prompts)

I would totally be down to give something a go! Message me? These look cute!