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Very interested in getting in on this
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Oct 31, 2018 03:11
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| # ? Jun 2, 2024 07:39 |
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Join the Discord! You won’t regret it.
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Oct 31, 2018 03:39
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New scene: A test of loyalty Takes place in: Lucia's surrender. Description: The Emperor and Lucia interrogate Janus, a spider-kith who claims to be a former member of the Stargazers. Janus reveals that he knows of a way to force the Five Great Manipulators back to the place from whence they came; to do it he needs both the Eye of Aurum and Noctis. Intrigued but suspicious, Tiberius decides to send out Lucia to complete this dangerous task because of recent perceived disloyalty.
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Oct 31, 2018 21:32
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new event, under Age of Fire and Steel, before Final Days of Peace - The Rise of the Order A group of devoted monks becomes tainted with the omens, prophesies, and long running threads that the Five Great Manipulators had sewed into the fabric of the empire through their mechanizations (limited as they were while not directly existing in this reality). They are slowly corrupted as they find new purpose, and turn from holy missions and good works to running a criminal empire in secret under the nose of the Emperor. Through the whispers of the Manipulators, they flourish, and soon turn their plots against the Emperor himself, guided by prophecy.
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Nov 1, 2018 17:43
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New Event in Age of Restoration before the the Imperial Decloration The Feeding: Empress Tatiana calls a parley between the Great Manipulators, with the offer of her own soul. Tempted by the chance to have to access to the entire empire glut of souls they come. Tatiana then plays a game with the winner gaining ownership of all the souls under each player's rule. The empress manages to trick the manipulators into only having the ownership of each other's souls, thus they continue to fight amongst themselves endlessly. JesterOfAmerica fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Nov 1, 2018 |
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Nov 1, 2018 18:35
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This scene takes place in the event Lucia's surrender. Description: The Emperor and Lucia interrogate Janus, a spider-kith who claims to be a former member of the Stargazers. Janus reveals that he knows of a way to force the Five Great Manipulators back to the place from whence they came; to do it he needs both the Eye of Aurum and Noctis. Intrigued but suspicious, Tiberius decides to send out Lucia to complete this task because of recent perceived disloyalty. A test of loyalty Wind howled past the Imperial palace's tower, blowing coarse sand into the war hallway through a large gash in the wall. An unnatural shade of red colored the sky; it had been that way ever since the Opening of the Eyes. In the early days, people were rightly freaked out about it. But today few even gave it any thought. Like famines, droughts, and the occasional Bladewalker or Dreameater incursion, the ever-present crimson sky above was simply an undeniable fact life. But not to Lucia. She still remembered the Before, with its days of relative peace; prosperity. Joy. She had seen countless generations of boys grow up, then grow old, and finally die. If not as soldiers, then as victims. Sometimes her own. To that end, the sky's hue was an unpleasant reminder. She approached the entrance; halted when the guards bade her to. Without being prompted she surrendered her sword and sparkcaster. Both guards silently escorted her into the war room, then left as she dropped to one knee while averting her gaze away from the Emperor to the stone floor below. "General Asinus," a metallic voice, bitter and terse, reverberated from behind the mask. "Your report". Lucia lifted her chin half an inch but couldn't bring herself to look up, for she knew the only thing nastier than Tiberius' disfigurement was the look of simmering anger he wore on his countenance. "Djurheim has fallen into the hands of Amir-Sinna despite our best efforts, my lord. We managed to evacuate some, but not all of the local governors and scholars by means of airship." She paused, gathered her breath. "The province of Songard is defenseless without its capital, my lord. I expect we will lose control of it within five to ten days." Tiberius murmured to himself while pacing about. Behind him floated a three dimensional map of the theater of war, all 128 wooden pieces were held up by force of will alone. He made a gesture; a flick of his wrist, and the piece representing Djurheim crumbled away into dust. Right as Lucia was about to continue the two guards stationed outside the war room entered once more, accompanied by a worried general Tullius. Armed with "just" a soulsteel glaive and decked out in full plate armor albeit without the helmet, he looked every bit as ready to take on a Bladewalker all by himself. Though Lucia knew that, by the man's own admission, "armed enough to take on a Bladewalker" made him feel underdressed. "Tullius, I'm afraid you come at an inopportune time." Though still altered by the metallic reverberations of Tiberius' face mask, he sounded somewhat friendlier. "Apologies, my Lord. But I have information you might find pertinent. We have captured a Stargazer; he's currently held up in a dungeon cell." This sent a palpable shock through the room. Tullius lead Lucia and Tiberius deep underground, to one of the palace's most heavily guarded dungeons. There, in a dank, poorly lit chamber, an older spider-kith sat in a metal chair, all eight of his extremities in chains. A fine mesh cage covered his fangs, allowing him to see and breathe but creating a barrier between him and any nearby exposed human flesh. Although there was no indication of him being a venom-spitter, the guards' precautions were welcome nonetheless. "General Tullius, I'm glad to see you're back. I presume the masked one is Tiberius, yes?" Despite being restrained not unlike how one would chain a man-eating beast, he sounded surprisingly relaxed. "Good to make your acquaintance. Judging by your choice of headwear, I take it your retainers fear that you, too, might have cytotoxic saliva?" "Hold your tongue, half-man! You will either address the Emperor with the proper respect he deserves or I will cleave you in two", exclaimed Tullius. Flickers of raw arcane energy gathered at the tip of his glaive and materialized into a razor sharp edge of flame, dancing to the rhythm of his heartbeat. Gargantuan in stature, merely assuming a threatening stance caused him to explode a nearby table in a shower of splinters. The spider-kith took the abuse without flinching, merely showing a small smirk in response. "Ah, there it is. That genuine Imperial hospitality that makes a man truly feel like a honored guest. No concern for who I am or what I have to offer, just good old death threats and a stream of insults. Trust me when I say that I'm considering taking up your offer, Imperial." That last word tangibly dripped with venom. Cracks appeared in the reinforced stone floor under Tullius's feet as he exploded in rage and prepared an overhead strike. Guards dropped to the floor, firmly pressing their hands against their ears to protect them from the imminent sonic boom and shower of spider-kith viscera. And indeed, a loud bang ensued. But when the dust settled, the prisoner was still in once piece, glaive dangling a hair's breadth from his neck. Tiberius held back its blade with just one finger and with his other hand projected a forcefield to protect those present in the room. "General, that's enough." He turned to face his prisoner, who seemed utterly unimpressed by the display of power. "I know that you're associated with the Stargazers. Tell me who you are and how you were captured, or I will not hold back my general a second time." "Two assumptions, and both of them wrong", he chuckled. "No, Tiberius. I, Janus Zweiheit, willingly sought out your highest ranked officer and voluntarily turned myself in without a fight. But to address the more important error, I am not a Stargazer. Or at least, not any longer". "Secretive cults tend not to allow their members to retire peacefully. Especially not nihilistic death-cults who operate out of sight from the Empire for only the gods know how long, all with the purpose of awakening their demented gods from beyond time and space." Lucia's words were harsh and accusatory. "Demented gods who have overtaken and enslaved nearly every major city known to man. And the only reason it's 'nearly' and not 'all' is because of the efforts of the very man you now insult". "Very perceptive, that one. I have always wondered whether the Empire selects its officers based on qualities other than boorishness, and now I finally have my answer. No, I didn't part ways amicably with my former friends. Not that I imagine any of them are still on speaking terms with each other. Believe it or not, finding out that you've all lived a collective lie for years tends to wreck havoc upon group cohesion." "I do not understand your motivation. What reason do you have to betray your ideals and seek help from your allies?", asked the Emperor. Janus laughed through a pained smile. "Friend, you have to be loving kidding me. To set things straight, I am not asking for your help. I'm offering you something. Maybe you haven't spoken with any of the few lucky refugees who've managed to escape from the grasp of a Great Manipulator, so let me paint a pretty picture of what life is like under the rule of Aave, the Sovereign of the Night." If only for a brief moment, he dropped the facade of cool composure. "Before the Opening of the Eyes, Kastepisara was an industrial city that thrived on the manufacture of airships. One night, fog descended upon the city. But unlike any normal fog, it forced its way into people's houses, and changed them for the worst. The next morning, a great procession of people marched silently to the city's factories and foundries. Noblemen and peasants, children and the elderly, men and women, all of them operated tools and machines as if they were experienced craftsmen, and began to collectively work on something. For thirteen days straight they continued. Without food, drink, or rest. Many of them died of exhaustion; they simply keeled over at their station, and were quickly replaced by a different mindless drone. On the last day they all gathered in a large circle surrounding their creation, just outside of the city's borders. Right there, as their creation began to move on its own, they regained their minds. And what they saw was Aave, their new God, given shape in metal." Tullius tapped Janus' forehead with a finger, and for a fraction of a second the general's eyes flashed blue. Visions began to flood his senses. Of men working their fingers to the bone, of people dying alone in the streets without others paying them any sort of attention, of a great and terrible behemoth that had every right to call itself a god. He turned to face his Emperor. "My lord, it sounds like a tall tale, but I was not able to catch him in a lie". Lucia leaned against the stone wall opposite the jail cell, arms crossed while lightly tapping her fingers against her elbow. Before now she had only inattentively listened to Janus' story. "With all due respect, general, do you really think a simple magic trick is sufficient to extract the truth from a servant of the great manipulators?" "Do any of you truly, honestly believe that I sprang forth into being out of a void, fully formed, with nothing but disdain for mankind and a fatalistic wish to see our word torn asunder?", he scoffed in derision. "Listen well, Imperial. I was born a commoner in the SEZ, a second-rank citizen both by law and circumstance. Under your laws I wasn't allowed to meet with friends of my tribe after sundown, or shop openly at the market. Or even marry anyone of a higher social class. Yes, I truly hate how you've subjugated the once proud people of Songard for your own profit. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to drive a sword through your chest, Tiberius. But I acknowledge that your Empire is the only military power left standing that even stands a remote chance of sealing the Great Manipulators." Folds began to appear around her eyes as Lucia as she narrowed her eyes without breaking eye contact with the prisoner. "You mean to say that you joined a cult of demon worshipers because you had the lofty ambition of freeing your tribe from the Empire's rule? Perhaps you should have considered picking better allies. Preferably less insane ones." "We aren't-- weren't--", he stuttered, hoping to find the right words. After failing to find them, he paused to breathe and then changed the subject. "Listen. Have you ever heard of Aurum and Noctis?" "I don't see what the prophets of thirteen gods have to do with this conversation", Lucia replied tersely. "Prophets, you say. Ah, you must have received a great education as a child, then. Those names were scrubbed from the official canon that is served to the Empire's plebeians. But no, they weren't prophets. They were wizards, creators of the Eyes of Aurum and Noctis, tasked with cleaning up the aftermath of the Binding of Daemonius". Unsure what to do with this information, Lucia broke eye contact for a second. "Does this tangent actually go anywhere?" "Judging by the way you reacted to my little story, it seems it actually did". Janus chuckled. "That's what drew me into the Stargazers back when I was but a young man. I lusted for knowledge, and the Stargazers were willing to teach. Let me ask you another question then. What do you know of the ultimate sacrifice of the Thirteen gods? I swear, this tangent will come to a point sooner than later." Silence filled the room; Lucia shrugged. "Well then, that tells me everything I need to know. Above all else, the Stargazers studied religion. In many ways our beliefs were similar to that of the Imperial faith, with some important differences. The most important one being what happened during the Binding of Daemonius. Imperial faith holds it that the Thirteen gods marched on Daemonius, destroyed his physical form, then chained his spirit and locked it behind space and time, out of mortal reach. The Stargazer version of that tale is a bit grimmer. The gods did march on Daemonius, but their victory was not without cost. Eight gods sacrificed their own divinity during the struggle, and the remaining five were corrupted husks of their former selves at the battle's conclusion." "Five fallen gods, five great manipulators. I'm beginning to see a pattern here, and it does not reflect well on you, half-man", sneered Tullius. Janus sighed. "Enter Aurum and Noctis, the two greatest wizards of their time. Armed with the knowledge that no mortal could ever hope to slay a god, they created the Eyes. Powerful tools that were used to seal away the corrupted gods, in imitation of the binding of Daemonius. Their location forgotten in the mists of time, it took the Stargazers several generations to find them... In my long years of service, as I gained ranks, I eventually learned that the head of the Stargazers was after the eyes for reasons other than historic interest. There were quiet whispers in the hallways of our monastery that our leader was granted dreams and visions, which he believed to be instructions on how to release the corrupted gods and restore their sanity." "I take it things did not go according to plan", deadpanned the Emperor, aided in no small part by his feature-obscuring mask. "No. They did not", Janus deflated. "But, I know the location of the Eyes. Last I saw them they were still in our monastery near Kastepisara, though I imagine heavily guarded by Aave's forces. And, given time and resources, I will figure out how to use the Eyes to once again reseal the Great Manipulators." The Emperor nodded his head once, turned to face his tactician. "General Asinus. Assemble penal battalion #15, then await further orders. General Tullius, I want you to select a small force of your most elite fighters. You will prepare for an extraction mission." Lucia's mouth practically fell open. "My lord, I beg your forgiveness, but, sacrificing a whole battalion on the nebulous promise that we might find the Eyes is a gamble with terrible odds. That doesn't even factor in that Janus might not be able to figure out how to perform the sealing ritual, or that he might be lying through his teeth for all we know". "Do not think I have forgotten your earlier transgression against me, General Asinus", barked Tiberius. "Now, gather penal battalion #15 and march upon Kastepisara. Perform a distraction maneuver so that general Tullius can infiltrate the monastery and extract both Eyes. That is an order."
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Nov 3, 2018 00:35
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To close this round, I add an Event in the War of Souls period, taking place after Lucia's Surrender: Aave's Last Night - A small group of mages and Witches of the Abyssal Coven under the direction of Lachesis trick Great Aave, known as the Sovereign of the Night, sealing it away to a pocket dimension together with the souls and land around them. And a new Scene in that Event: A Sealed Fate - A small elite force under the command of General Tullius infiltrate what was once the industrial city of Kastepisara, now merely a part of Great Aave's vast domain. They aim to extract the Eyes, two artifacts allegedly hidden away inside the city that may prove essential to banishing the Great Manipulators from our world, though not quite in the way the General expects... The Question for this Scene is: How is Great Aave sealed away? Required Characters: * Great Aave, Sovereign of the Night * Tullius Banned Characters: * Tiberius * Any Other Great Manipulator As always, please indicate whether you want to participate in the Scene and pick a character if you do.
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Nov 3, 2018 17:31
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I choose Great Aave, Sovereign of the Night
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Nov 3, 2018 17:36
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I choose Elma, a researcher on the Eyes
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Nov 3, 2018 17:51
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I claim Tullius.
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Nov 3, 2018 17:55
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Alright, I will be Lachesis, everyone's(?) favorite Elder Witch.
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Nov 3, 2018 18:05
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Edit: Miss understood rules nevermind
JesterOfAmerica fucked around with this message at 17:41 on Nov 4, 2018 |
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Nov 4, 2018 17:31
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New Event in The Troubles after Fracturing of the Coven The Planetary Rebellion Network The various rebel planets begin a line of communications with each other through secure channels. In doing so they establish a network of libraries to ensure that their culture is not lost. This operation is spearhead by a Stargazer using the codename Libre.
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Nov 4, 2018 20:03
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As the new lens it's up to me to reveal our next focus, which for this round will be birthdays. It's a very broad subject, I agree, but that should leave you with a lot of freedom on what to write about. Also, just because it's the focus of this round, don't feel pressured into making your birthday party important to the story. Maybe you want to write about some unimportant figure's birthday that takes place during a special period or event, or maybe you'd like to go into detail about different customs between cultures. Or maybe even something else entirely. I'd love to see what you all come up with. The next deadline is November 11th, 10 PM UTC. New event: Reconstruction of the Imperial city Takes place in: The Age of Bondage, at the very start Description: Due to the treaty of mount Montisberg, Aurelem's troops were able to freely march upon the Imperial city and lay siege to it while the Emperor and most of his troops were fighting at the southern front. At the conclusion of both wars, Emperor Tiberius decides to repatriate most of his troops to aid in the reconstruction effort of the badly damaged city. New scene: Banality of Evil Takes place during: Reconstruction of the Imperial city Description: Lucia and her ex-husband Marcus meet in the park on their daughter's birthday, who died during Aurelem's siege on the Imperial city. Lucia is haunted by her past actions after this painful reminder on the cost of war. Zybourne Clock fucked around with this message at 22:41 on Nov 6, 2018 |
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Nov 4, 2018 20:12
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I am adding a new Scene during Two Children Enter, One Son Leaves Scene: Hello, Goodbye Xander, after making the trek home from the meeting place of the Aurelemian nobles in Diyu with his father, hears that his step-mother Elise has given birth. Xander sees Jean and Grace, but then explains that he has to leave and become a new person. The question this scene will ask: How does Elise react to Xander's mission, and how does she assist him? Required: Xander Elise Banned: Tiberius Any Stargazers or Coven Junpei fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Nov 4, 2018 |
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Nov 4, 2018 20:22
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I claim Elise.
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Nov 4, 2018 20:30
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Both Question and Jester stated that they cannot take part, so I will be Xander.
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Nov 4, 2018 20:35
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Banality of Evil The streets of the commercial area bustled with activity, though few who made their way through the busy streets were actually there to shop. Most were either carpenters, masons and painters, or the Empire's soldiers tasked with clearing most of the rubble and debris. An orderly line of grunts armed with shovels efficiently loaded charred bricks and burnt wood into an improvised metal container under the coordination of a bored looking commander. Four carpenters fixed a broken roof by hammering wooden boards over a gaping hole. Patchwork aesthetics aside, it would certainly help the store owner keep out the snow and keep in the heat during the oncoming winter months. A mason threw down his tools after placing the last brick of a newly constructed wall, ready to wash up and have lunch. A small brass bell rang and alerted the toy store's owner of a new customer's arrival. The kindly old mustached man adjusted his glasses. "A customer? I haven't had one of those in quite some time. How may Rusticus be of service today, miss?" Lucia quickly scanned the two-aisle store. Half of the shelves had puzzles, wooden toys and dolls on them. The other shelves were empty, their goods mostly strewn about over the shop's floor. "I'm looking for a specific type of stuffed animal. You wouldn't happen to have one that is a white tiger, would you?" Rusticus raised a finger. "A rather specific request indeed. But if you will allow me to search in the back, I can tell you for sure in a minute". He disappeared behind a door and, true to his word, returned with a stuffed white tiger. "I sure do. One with beautiful green eyes, even. Shall I wrap it for the lucky boy or girl?" asked Rusticus as he placed it on the counter, then unrolled both a blue and pink roll of wrapping paper. Lucia stared at the tiger's green eyes, as if transfixed by a spell. "Mark my words, Lucia. Dark days are ahead of us. History will judge you for your actions." M'aiq's words echoed in her mind as she mentally traveled back in time. --- "gently caress. This portcullis is too heavy to lift and we don't have the tools to force it open", yelled captain Cato as she kicked the unyielding bars in frustration, her voice barely audible over the din of the pitched battle unfolding in the narrow winding staircase. "And we're so close to his office! drat! Now what do we do, general?" she looked at Lucia expectingly. "Send whatever men you can spare to fetch wood, captain. Desks, chairs, cupboards; doesn't matter what, as long it's flammable. We'll smoke them out if we have to". Cato rapidly pointed fingers around and began issuing commands. "You, you, and you. Go! You heard the general! We're torching this place!" The soldiers immediately scattered away into the assembly building's various offices and rooms. "You will do no such thing", spoke a booming voice from behind the portcullis. Cato and Lucia turned around. Behind them stood an imposing figure; a white-furred half-tiger. Frightened by its sudden appearance, Cato pulled out her loaded crossbow and shot at its face. The bolt shattered on one of the portcullis' bars, broken remains just barely missing the figure. But he didn't flinch. "The people in this tower are not military combatants; they are civil servants of the tiger tribe. As its leader I am willing to negotiate the terms of our surrender, but only if you spare the innocent." Even in defeat the creature's voice was commanding, but also eloquent. Lucia found herself unable to formulate a response while Cato was busy reloading her crossbow. "General, come quick! The Emperor has worked his way up to the minotaur tribes' tower, but he's facing heavy resistance. We need your help!" a soldier yelled as he ran through the hallway. "Captain Cato, we're almost finished here. I will leave this up to you." Lucia turned around to follow the soldier. Cato ordered her man to start building a large pyre. Not much later that day a seventh pillar of smoke appeared on Djurheim's skyline. --- "Madam? Madam?", an increasingly worried Rusticus inquired. "Madam, I asked, is it a gift for a boy or a girl?" he held up two sheets of wrapping paper. She shook her head, tried to snap out of it. "Oh, my apologies, this is embarrassing. I'll wrap it myself. It's just, with the war and all--". Rusticus, unaware of his customer's identity, nodded politely. "I understand, madam. We're all a little on edge. War is a game for nobles, and us commoners are but pawns." Not satisfied with leaving the toy unwrapped, Rusticus adorned the tiger with a pretty yellow ribbon instead. "We pawns can only take on life one space a day; it's not like we're instrumental in winning any games." Lucia handed over a few silver denarii and nodded silently. The small brass bell rang for the second time that day as the store's single customer stepped outside. Leaves were carried through the air by the occasional gust of late autumnal wind, much to the joy of the children in the park. Some chased after them, others shoveled large piles of them together to play around in. Few trees still bore green foliage; the park's meandering gravel roads, its fields of grass, the pond, nearly every inch was covered in a layer of brown. Few, but not all. Two firs stood proud and tall in a quiet corner of the park, near a seesaw and a park table. And in between them stood a woman, white tiger in hand, standing before a flattened rock with the name 'Julia' written on it in bronze letters. The clouds overhead pulled together and a few splatters of rain began to fall down. Although it was already a quiet place to begin with, it only grew more placid. Lucia quietly shed the tears no mother should every cry. "Hey", spoke a gentle voice from behind her. She turned around and saw a man, his face marked with fresh stitches, his right arm in a cast. In his other he held a cake with 11 small candles. "She wouldn't have wanted you to be unhappy on her birthday". They sat on opposite sides of the table, each with their own slice of uneaten cake. For a time they merely sat there, catching rain and wind while avoiding conversation and eye contact with each other. Lucia was first to break the silence. "Why here, you ask?" He hadn't. "They never found a body. And--", a pained pause "and I didn't want to commemorate her at a graveyard. This is more personal. A way for me, us, to remember her as she was. This was her favorite place in the city, did you know that?" "Yes", replied Marcus. The mask he wore was one of a stoic man, but it was obviously made of porcelain as it began to crack. "I took her here myself quite often. We used to play on the seesaw sometimes, but all she ever seemed to care about were those firs". She nodded, stabbed at her piece with a fork without actually taking a bite. The conversation halted. "How are you doing?", she asked, only to realize the absurdity of her question a second later. "Your injuries, I mean." "The doctors said I was extremely lucky. Had the shrapnel been just a finger's width to the right it would have pierced my heart. Luckily I got off with just a few stitches." He showed her his cast. "And a shattered humerus, from when the explosion catapulted me from my lectern into a desk on the fourth rung. Aurelem's forces were without mercy. They caught us by surprise; attacked without making any demands, or even announcing their presence." --- Tiberius glowed softly as he changed the airship's course just by issuing it a mental command. Though he still believed the people of Songard to be savages, he had to concede that they were definitely skilled metal workers and inventors. Despite it only being a prototype, he was convinced the airship would be pivotal in his victory over Aurelem. Gazing over board he marveled at just how tiny everything looked from way up above. A number of strange lights down below caught his attention. "Lucia, what's happening over there?" She unfolded her telescope and looked through it. "We're nearing Old Auremburg, my Emperor, Aurelem's oldest city as well as its capital. Those green lights you see come from alchemical waste collection towers. I would steer well away from them if I were you, my lord, unless you want to grow a third arm." Tiberius considered her words. "Tell the archers to man the deck, I'm going in closer." "Sir? You're not going to--" "Yes", he said smugly. "We were going to make this a surprise, remember? Well, imagine how much more of a surprise it's going to be for them with luminescent sludge running through their streets." Lucia shook her head. "With all due respect, our goal is to get inside the castle and get their queen to capitulate. If we reveal ourselves a second before when it's most optimal, that's a second they get to use to formulate a counter offensive. Besides, I doubt their citizens will take kindly to an--" "Lucia. Archers. Now." She could have refused. Talked him out of it. Pointed out the flaws of his plan. But she hadn't done any of that. Instead, she chose for convenience. That night the streets did indeed run green with alchemical waste, indiscriminately killing off a fifth of the city's population. --- Marcus kept talking, but Lucia wasn't following along. She half-suspected the only reason he said anything at all was to keep himself distracted. Not that she could blame him. Lucia interrupted him mid-sentence. "If she was still..." Her eyes motioned from him to the empty space on the bench next to him. "Do you think Julia could ever forgive me?" He rested his good arm on the table, hunched over, laid his forehead to rest on the palm of his hand and sighed in exhaustion at the question he felt was impossible to answer. "Lucia, they came in greater numbers than anyone expected. Way earlier than anyone expected. I'm not a priest. I can't grant you the absolution that you seek. I don't know the first thing about strategic warfare, but to me it seems you made an error. People make errors. That doesn't make them bad people, just human." "That's not what I mean", she replied almost instantly. "Because of the things I did and didn't do, countless people are now dead. Many of them innocents. And it tears me apart inside. How many of their Julias did I take away?" "It ended the war, didn't it?" A reaction both diplomatic and pragmatic, but clearly not what she needed to hear. It started to rain harder, and the wind picked up. Faraway the sky began to rumble. They stood up and found shelter under the two firs, which were big enough to keep them both dry. Lucia laid the white tiger under the rock. Marcus took the bag slung around his shoulder and opened it. Inside, a similar looking stuffed animal. Ever so briefly the two of them smiled as he placed his next to hers. He walked into the rain, turned back one last time. "If you ever need someone to talk to, you know where to find me." And then they each went their separate way. Zybourne Clock fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Nov 6, 2018 |
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Nov 6, 2018 22:23
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New Scene, under - Signing of the Soul Pact, before ### Signed in Blood ### The Tangled Webs of the Manipulators The elder Emperor, beloved by all, sat upon the throne overlooking the festivities; today was his 113th birthday, and the wars, just for a day, might has well have been on another world. His son Tiberius beamed, standing beside him, the Emperor returning the smile and placing a strong but aged hand on his son's shoulder. Celebrations for his birthday always were a joy, and work and war stopped for a day of drunkenness and laughter; so beloved was he that even his enemies granted a reprieve in the battles they fought; soldiers allowed to return home to see their families and enjoy the day. "My son," his ancient voice rang to Tiberius, "Soon, this all will be yours." Tiberius nodded, unsure of what his father would say next. "Remember above all your honor to this family, and to your people. Remember, to your oaths and promises, remember that your words carry a power." Tiberius's smile lessened as a cold shadow stole across his father's face, and for a moment he looked but a frail and sunken man, his voice harsh and cracked, "Remember son...I will not be able to protect you any longer." Tiberius stood frozen, pale at the spectre of his father, and slowly the sounds of revelry came back to him. Blinking, he turned and saw jugglers throwing gourds at each other, one striking a passerby, and a large drunken man bellowing with laughter. He turned uneasily back to his father, who sat looking as strong and healthy as ever. "I must retire now for the night, my son," he said smiling. "Your mother, were she here, would be proud of the man you are, and no doubt, who you would be some day." The Emperor stood, thinking for a moment. "Enjoy the night Tiberius, give my regards to your sister...please leave me for the night, as I am weary beyond my many years." With that he went inside his palace, dismissing the servants beside him. He sat in the silence of his bedroom at his desk, lit a candle, and waited while the moon rose into the night sky. ----- If he slept, he did not remember. The candle had melted onto the desk, the room just lit by the moon through the open curtains. The partying in the city had stopped, mostly the odd call of a drunk. A robed figure stood in the room, waiting for the Emperor. "I thought," the Emperor mused, "that this day would never come." The figure remained silent while watching the elder. After a time, he spoke, "If it's any consolation, I never thought it would either." Both he and the Emperor sat watching each other. "Are you from the Coven?" the Emperor questioned, watching him carefully. The robed man shrugged, "I am with the Order, I am with the Coven, I am with the Manipulators, as each guides my hand." He produced a scroll from his robe, unrolling it on the table. The words glowed in the moonlight; the Emperor's mouth parted slightly, his pupils dimming from the sudden harsh light; it was the contract he had signed long ago. His own dried blood still stained, a seal for all time, such that he may enjoy a long and beloved reign. The figure waited, respectfully allowing the Emperor time to deal with inevitability, now that it was here for him. "You must understand, this is not personal; without you, the Empire would not have survived till now...without Ka, First of the Five, you would not have been allowed this gracious reign." He pulled a curved dagger dripping with a green ichor from his robe. "Our hands are guided," he intones. TheEmperor nods at the solemn oath, "My son?" he raises his eyebrows. The robed man replied, "He too, will be given the opportunity, as the Order sees fit, and the Coven through them." The Emperor lets out a long sigh, and nods. He returns the intonation, "Our hands are gui- URK" and the figure drives the dagger into his throat in a flash over the desk. The body falls limp onto the floor, the moonlight washing over him. The figure gathers the scroll, and contorts until he assumes the form of a raven, flying out the window into the night sky.
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Nov 7, 2018 09:09
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I want to add a new Event at the very beginning of the Age of Domination: Macha's Birth - A long-term project headed by the Abyssal Coven finally comes to fruition and a new sentient being is born. Weaved from a tapestry composed of over fourty thousand souls, Macha is an artificial general with a meticulously crafted personality, designed to serve the Empire in its future conquests. A "soul network" connects her with every single Imperial soldier. This, along with an expanded capacity for noticing and interpreting information in real-time, allows her to develop large-scale strategies and execute tactics with unrivaled scope and precision. Additionally, she is capable of transferring her emotions to the soldiers she commands, motivating them in battle. Observers are fully justified in referring to her as a new Imperial war goddess.
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Nov 7, 2018 22:32
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Since JesterOfAmerica is sitting this round out, it's up to me to post the final event and scene for this round. It's a played scene, but it won't start until tomorrow (at around 6-7 -ish PM UTC). Feel free to claim your characters, though. New event: A Thorn in their Side Takes place in: Age of expansion, after Two Children Enter, One Son Leaves Description: Xander Croix's is initiated into the Academy. Tasked to spy on a mysterious group of people known as the '13th class', Xander eventually learns that they are a subfaction of the Abyssal Coven who use the Academy as a cover for what he believes to be a weapons research facility. New scene: Call your mom Takes place in: A Thorn in their Side Description: One morning a servant of the Croix household informs Elise that the mailman came by to deliver her a package. She opens it to find a strange birthday gift; a translucent glass orb with a note that tells her to hold it and speak Xander's name. She does so and discovers that she can use the orb to talk with her stepson even over very large distances. Xander tells her how his last few weeks have been. Even though he hasn't discovered anything about the 13th Class yet, there is some other unusual thing about the Academy he's discovered that he shares with Elise. The scene's question: What is Xander's discovery, and why does it bother Elise so much? Required characters: Elise Xander Banned characters: Anyone who isn't aware of the fact Xander is a foreign spy Anyone who would harm Xander if word got out he's a spy Zybourne Clock fucked around with this message at 19:19 on Nov 9, 2018 |
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Nov 8, 2018 22:46
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I'm skipping on this.
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Nov 9, 2018 03:35
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A Sealed Fate Characters: * General Tullius * Elma, a Stargazer familiar with the monastery * Lachesis, Elder Witch * Great Aave, Sovereign of the Night Transcript: Tullius breathes in and out, clearing his mind as he stands in the encampment outside the city. Bladewalkers patrol on the city's walls, making their trademark metallic clanging sound as they walk. Elma is staying in the planning tent, notes surrounding her table. Tullius turns and walks towards it. Soldier 1: "General, there's dozens of them! How do we even get in without being noticed?", asks a common footsoldier. Soldier2: (whispering) "Or out?" Elma: "If we are lucky we wont have to worry about the latter problem." Tullius holds up his hand to indicate silence. In the background, two soldiers begin to gossip. Soldier 3: "I heard they sent a penal battalion to assault the city not that long ago. Their soldiers came back in one piece, but their commanders..." Tullius: "Soldiers. I understand your doubts and worries. They weigh heavily on my mind, myself. But regardless, we must remain calm and composed. I have the beginnings of a plan." The gossiping stops immediately, all soldiers listen attentively. Tullius turns to Elma. Tullius: "Madam, would you tell them where our objective is?" Elma: "I'll spare you all the history. Our goal is to reach the Eyes within the city and perform a ritual to remove Aave from this plane." Tullius: "However! Given the amount of these monsters in the city, I have decided that I will take a small group to retrieve it. It will consist of myself, Elma, and one other soldier. We will infiltrate the city and use stealth to avoid the monsters while we locate the Eyes." Recruit: "Permission to speak, General?" Tullius: "Granted." Recruit: "My family originally hails from Kastepisara. I know it's against army rules to speak about secret missions, but, I spoke with my grandfather prior to leaving. And I think I might know of a way into the city. One the enemy probably doesn't know of." The soldier walks over to a map of the city, points at an inconspicuous section near a lake. Recruit: "My grandfather was a sanitation worker, and..." He describes the city's sewer system and how it runs under the entire city. Elma: "This is good, this helps immensely." Tullius lets out a big laugh. Tullius: "By Tagath, he found our entryway! Tell ye what, lad, you could come with me and Elma if he want, you earned it." While everyone is occupied with the plan, a small lizard slips into Elma's boots. The recruit unsheathes his soulsteel blade, wiling and edge of blue flame into existence. Recruit: "With pleasure, general. I'd be more than happy to make these bastards pay for what they did to our Empire." He grabs the map from the table, ready to follow Tullius' lead into the sewers. Tullius: "Alright, Elma, follow me and the lad." The operation begins and the three of them head to a sewer entrance, as planned... Wading knee-deep through poo poo, the recruit uses the glow from his blade to shed light on the map. Recruit: "General, if this map is correct, the monastery should be two tunnels up ahead." Tullius plugs his nose with his fingers. Tullius: "Good, I can't stand the smell..." Elma: "There are worst things than rancid scents, general." Having arrived at their destination, the recruit removes the manhole cover and crawls out into the city above. Recruit: "Coast is clear, General Tullius. The monastery is just down that street." Tullius holds a finger up to his mouth. Tullius: (whispering) "Okay..." In the distance, the grating sound of metal grinding on metal can be heard. Recruit: (whispering)"Ah-- that noise. Not even the really big Bladewalkers are ever this loud." He covers his ears, begins to crouch-walk to the monastery's back door. He produces a set of lockpicking tools from a pouch on his belt and begins his work. Tullius walks slowly and quietly to the doors following the lad. Recruit: "Dammit, this thing is impossible to pick!" Elma, bracing from her sprint, just kicks the door open. Recruit: (whispering) "Which floor?" Tullius: "Basement." He waves the others inside, making sure no Bladewalkers heard the sound Elma made kicking the door open. The group sneaks downstairs. As they enter the basement, the recruit's mouth drops wide open as he gazes at the collection of strange and unusual artifacts gathered in the room. Elma: "Don't touch anything!" Recruit: "These... What are these?" Elma hears a faint laughter, its origin uncertain. A small tremor can be felt from the ground. Tullius: "What in the name of the Eternal Wyrm was that?" Recruit: "And this cape!" He holds up a cape that glimmers like stars in the night. It is obviously way too big for any human to wear. Elma: "Oh gently caress, kill him." At those words, the laughter behind her ears gets louder. The recruit instantly drops the cape and places the vial back where he found it. Elma: "He is causing too much noise. You fool, there is resonance in messing with artifacts!" Tullius: "Right, the Eyes... Miss Elma, was it? What do they look like again?" Elam: "You will know when we find them." Tullius: "Given the name, I assume they are spherical gemstones?" Another tremor spreads through the building, somewhat more powerful than the last. Female Voice: (whispering)"You fool...resonance...” Female Voice: (rapidly growing louder) “...pfttt...hahahahhahahahahahahahah" Elma: "What?" Recruit: "What?" Elma: "...No matter, start running towards the backroom, we need to move fast." The laughter persists, getting louder and louder, but no one else appears to notice it. The recruit follows Elma. As does the General. A third tremor. This time the glass of a nearby cupboard shatters into pieces. Tullius: "Let's find the Eyes quick-wise before we get drat near crushed by these tremors!" Elma comes across a giant face fresco with a purple and gold gemstones in the eyes. Elma: "There we are." Tullius reaches for the gold gem. Female Voice: "Ahahhaha...Hrm. Haha...There we are indeed, you big dummy!" The ceiling collapses as a large metallic hand punches through the roof, squishing the recruit as if he were made of ground beef. Suddenly, the walls begin to move up. Stone and wooden beams fall down onto the group, throwing up clouds of dust. Female Voice: "Ha...ha...ha. You should probably hide now. Just a couple of steps back..." Before them stands a grand figure, wrought of metal and fury, ectoplasm swirling like a cyclone around it. An orchestra of ghostly voices wails discordantly... Tullius grabs Elma and uses his Soulsteel glaive to throw up a barrier to block debris. Metal Figure: "AAVE SE VI-ET TA. SE VISIO: LACHESIS!" Female Voice: (loud) "Oh. Guess the game is up now, huh?" A lizard jumps out of Elma's boot and transforms into a middle-aged looking woman with white hair. Elma: "You!" Strange Woman: "Me? You? Everyone!" She bursts into laughter but quickly restrains herself. Tullius: "Who in the bloody hell're you?" The metal colossus, stares at her balefully. Strange Woman:"General, I would think that you, at least, would recognize me. You truly don't remember me? Was all that time we spent at court meaningless to you?" She quickly covers her mouth to preempt another bout of laughter. Tullius: "...wait. No. No. You can't be... Ellen?" The gargantuan figure begins to speak; the sounds it produces appear to differ from the movement of its mouth, or whatever passes for it. Metal Figure: "For too long have you and your sisters been a thorn in my side, vile creature. It appears that you have learned of the Eyes and their secrets. But if you believe them to be your salvation, you are a bigger fool than the puppets you play with. I, Aave, greatest of the five gods, made my home near the Eyes for a good reason." ‘Ellen’: "Oh! Do tell." Aave: "Though I obviously cannot touch them, there are other ways I could have had them disposed of…" Vicious laughter cuts through the air. Tullius: "Ellen! If you really did love me back then... Help me. Help me kill this bastard! With the Eyes!" Elma: "General, she cares not for you." ‘Ellen’: "Don't listen to her, Tullie, my dearest. Love is a fickle beast, but the Eyes are right here." Aave: "They are MINE to control!" ‘Ellen’: "Oh! Of course, of course...never doubt it." Tullius: "Elma, grab the Eyes! I'll keep this monster distracted." Aave pulls back his fist. It lights up with fire as he punches the white-haired woman with all of his might. Elma charges for the Eyes. Tullius dissolves the barrier and forms a ball of ice in his hand, launching it at the blazing fist. The Witch's figure dissolves into a cloud of moths, which fly around the room and land behind the imposing metal giant. There they form back into her figure, as if nothing happened. Lachesis: "That's no way to treat a lady, you old fool." Aave's flaming fist instantly vaporizes Tullius' ball of frost, passing through effortlessly. What remains of the monastery's walls instantly collapse and melt into slag as his fist connects with the ground, leaving a smoldering crater. Aave: "Brave, puppet. But foolish. You are severely outclassed" Tullius holds up his hands, using telekinetic force to hold the walls in place. Tullius: "Elma! How do we use the Eyes?" Elma cuts her hand to pour blood on the ground. Elma: "Working on it!" Lachesis: "Use...the Eyespffttt hahahahahahahaahaahaahahahahaa" The witch can no longer hold herself back. Aave turns his attention to Elma. Aave: "Stargazer. Your kind served me well in breaking the spell, but you have outlived your usefulness. Be extinct!" Tullius: "Ellen, less laughing, more stopping the mechanical monster!" Lachesis: "Hahahh...Ah. Well, you see Tullie, its just that when you say 'use the Eyes'... pfftt...Hahahahha...haaaaaaaaaaaaaah" Elma: "Someone, explain something!" Aave claps his hands twice. The air shimmers for a second; three bladewalkers appear out of nowhere. Aave: "My children, kill the sealer!" Tullius moves his attention away from keeping the walls up to the bladewalkers. He forms a ball of electricity in his hand and throws it at one of them. They begin to skitter toward Elma, spear-like legs piercing the ground as they run. Lachesis: "Ha..Hrr...No, you were doing something there, Stargazer. I was very curious to see what it was going to be. Please, don't get embarrassed on our account." She casually waves in the bladewalkers' direction, slowing their movements to a near halt. Elma draws her runes in blood and it starts glowing. A rift opens and begins pulling things into it. Aave smirks. Aave: "Fools! You have not truly witnessed even a hint of my true splendor!" It waves its hand. Thirty more bladewalkers appear. Tullius smirks. Tullius: "As General Commander of the Empire's Crimson Legion, I command you... To die!" He grabs a bladewalker with telekinesis and throws it into the void that Elma made. Lachesis: "What is this, a court tournament? I thought those went out of fashion years ago." Aave motions again. Metal chains catch onto Elma's wrists and ankles. They begin to pull. Elma: "HELP!" The rift continues to grow. Ten of the bladewalkers begin to jab their spear-like limbs at Elma's thorax. The other twenty focus their effort on killing Tullius. Tullius pulls on a chain with his telekinesis, bringing Elma towards him. The witch's nose transforms into an elephant's snout, which grows longer and longer before anyone can notice. It wraps around Elma and the Eyes, gently pulling them aside. Tullius places a hand to the ground. Ice spreads over the floor, making it harder for the bladewalkers to walk. Aave: "I thought about ending this farce cleanly, with minimal disruption to my city. But it seems you insist on prolonging your inevitable demise. Very well…Goodbye, witch, puppet and tool." Lachesis: "...Well?" says the witch quietly to Elma "I don't know what you thought you were doing before, but can you please keep doing it? It seemed interesting." Aave jumps up into the air and begins to hover high above the city. The rift begins to get more aggressive as it absorbs more bladewalkers. The moonless night somehow grows even darker as Aave collects all of the ambient light left in the city and condenses it into a little ball at its fingertip. A loud crack is heard as a bolt of light traverses through the air and hits the rift. It instantly dissipates, sending out large shockwaves that vaporize not only all of the city's buildings, but the army stationed outside as well. Elma: "Well...gently caress." Lachesis: "Stargazer, what is this? Are you really an actress this sub-par?" Elma: "I spend all my days with books, so...yes?" Tullius: "What... No... No... My men... They... They..." As the dust settles it becomes obvious that the city is no more. The rift is gone, but Lachesis, Elma and Tullius still stand. Lachesis: "Well, no matter. It's time to draw this play to a close. Let the director take to the stage. " Aave's metallic form can still be seen, hanging in the air. Aave: "Agreed, witch. As you can see, your puppets are free to open as many rifts as they please. I shall close them as fast as you can make them." Tullius makes a fist and bangs the ground. Tullius: "Oh... You... BASTARD!" Wordlessly, the witch turns into a swarm of bats. Two of them swiftly grasp the Eyes while the rest form a ring around the metallic colossus. Aave tries to punch then, but finds that he cannot hit something so small. Lachesis: "Tell me, old fool. Tell me, just once more. Why are you here today?" Her voice booms across the skies. Aave: "Did you actually come here just to taunt me and then flee, witch? If so, your plan is working." Tullius: "Ellen, say the word and I'll help you kill this hazard so dead they'll have to put him back together for Daemonius to torture him!" Lachesis: "Answer. Why... are...you...here?" Aave roars in anger and frustration as he tries to punch the large swarm of bats, but fails to do any damage. Aave: "Why am I here? You would ask such a stupid question to a god? Foolish witch. I AM because I AM! Born from ash, I was made to rule Gehenna!" Lachesis: "You misunderstand my question. Must be the age getting to you. Why are you here? In this...what used to be a city? You've told me that once before, today, remember? A scarce few minutes ago. Answer." Aave: "To protect the Eyes; use them against my fellow gods. But the machinations of gods should not concern you, witch. You should concern yourself with your own survival." Lachesis: "Of course. Of course. The Eyes are important, aren't they? You know this. You've always known this. That tale the Stargazers used to tell, about Aurum and Noctis, you told them that. Because that is something you know to be true. The source of that knowledge was you. No one else. Because its true. It was always true." Aave: "What of it?" Lachesis: "Aurum and Noctis were real. Real. Great wizards, who sealed away the gods. With the Eyes. Yes, that is what happened. Right?" Tullius focuses on Aave, trying to pull it down onto the ground with telekinesis. Aave seems entirely unaffected by this and continues its pointless bat-punching exercise. Aave: "They did. But they were mortals, and now they are long dead. Aurum's descendants founded a nation of spoiled hedonists and Noctis secluded herself from society on mount Drokai. You are not Aurum or Noctis. And even if you were a direct descendant of either, you surely lack their insight." Tiberius launches fire at Aave's leg, trying to melt the metal and make him fall. Elma begins recording the conversation to the best of her abilities. Aave's left leg singes a bit, but the gigantic iron figure seems unphased. Lachesis: "Naturally. These real wizards had great insight. They sealed you away. Sealed. You. Away. With the Eyes. That's the truth. The Eyes are powerful tools. They can seal you. Any of you. That's why you wanted to use them against the other gods, right? Their power is real. Which you've always known to be true. That knowledge comes from you. It is real. You fear the Eyes. You want to control the Eyes. To make that happen, you need to be near the Eyes. Yes. That's what you must have thought. That's what you are thinking now. You need to be near the Eyes so you can control them." The two bats holding the Eyes fly lower to the ground. As they approach it, another rift opens up. Lachesis: "Hurry! Old fool. The Eyes are getting away from you. Hurry!" Tullius smirks and creates a barrier to throw in front of the rift. Aave's expression turns to one of horror as iy sees the Eyes get closer to the rift. Aave: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? NO! NOT THE EYES!" It stops levitating, drops to the ground like a brick and begins to run for the rift. Lachesis: "I am hiding the Eyes. You must catch them, before it's too late!" Aave: "DROP THEM! DROP THEM!" The bats fly ever closer to the rift, which grows larger and larger. Aave grabs hold of one Eye. Tullius finally gets what’s going on and turns off the barrier, understanding ‘Ellen's’ plan. Aave’s metal hands begin to burn, melt into slag. It cannot hold on to the Eye any longer. The bats pick it up again. Aave: "CURSE YOU, WITCH!" A thick mist surrounds the rift. The bats enter it, flying ever faster. Aave seems uncertain for a moment. Either it jumps into the rift, with the Eyes, or has to say goodbye to them forever... Aave: "AAAAAAAAAH!" It runs after the Eyes into the mist. The rift grows larger and larger, until it envelops the entirety of the metallic colossus. The bats fly out of the other corner of the mist, still carrying the Eyes, which shine in an odd velvet color. By now, escape from the rift is impossible. Aave: "CURSE YOU, WITCH!" Tullius: "Ta ta for now, you good for nothing bucket 'o scum!" Lachesis: "Goodbye, old fool. See you again soon. Or not." Aave: "YOU BELIEVE TO HAVE WON, BUT YOU ARE MISTAKEN. THIS LAND RIGHTFULLY BELONGS TO ME, AAVE, THE NIGHT SOVEREIGN! CURSE YOU! CURSE YOOOOOUUUUUUuuuu...." Aave's bellowing voice grows more and more distant, until finally all is quiet as the night. The rift seals itself behind it, likely never to open again. The bats reform themselves into the witch's figure. Tullius frowns once more, thinking of his men, all dead now. Lachesis: "Well, that was that. Who thought I would have to take the central role again, in this performance? Really, directing is more my style. It's a good thing Clotho wrote such a fantastic script. What do you think? Tullie? Stargazer?" Tullius: "...My men." Lachesis: "...Hrm? What about them?" Tullius: "...they're...all...dead." Lachesis: "So it would appear. And?" Tullius begins to cry. Tullius: "Some... Hadn't even turned 20.... They still had wives to find... Children to have.... And now they’re gone...because of me." Lachesis: "Oh. Well, that's war for you." An imperceptibly tiny hole, no bigger than the head of a pin, opens up where the rift used to be. A tiny stream of soul stuff bursts out from within it and goes right into Tullius’s eyes, who seems oblivious to it. The hole collapses faster than the blink of an eye. He rubs his eyes, thinking it to just be tears. Tullisu: "Ellen, Elma... Let's head back to Cornwood." Lachesis walks over to the Eyes, which have carelessly fallen to the ground. She picks them up, as if they were random stones she found on the side of the road. Lachesis: "Convincing, aren't they, Stargazer?" Elma: "Very much so Witch, I thank you for what you did." Lachesis: "...I am still curious, though. What was that you were trying to do, back in the basement? You know these are just crude gems, right? There's nothing special about them." Tullius: "...wait, if they were fake, then how come they burned him when he tried to hold 'em?" Lachesis: "Wait. You're serious? Pfft, hahahahahahahahahahahhahah..." Tullius: "YE THINK ALL THIS DEATH AND BLOOD FOR TWO FAKE GEMS IS FUNNY, ELLEN?" Lachesis: "Hahaha...Sorry. I am sorry. To think that the Emperor would never catch on...Alright, listen. That story, the one about great wizard sealing the Manipulators away? It's not...exactly...real. It's part of our plan. A suggestion we planted in the Stargazer's minds, before the Manipulators ever set foot in this world." Tullius: "...Aurem and Noctis aren't real people, and the gems are fake?" She nods. Lachesis: "Since their souls were already connected to the Manipulators at that point, they were...confused. You see, the Manipulators aren't like us. They are collections of souls, forcefully merged together. So, if a soul that's tightly woven to them is convinced of something, they come to believe it as well. Well, there's more to it than that, but that's the important bit. The Eyes are a fabrication. They don't exist. These gems were molded by the Coven to look pretty." Lachesis: "They have no actual power. But the Manipulators believe they do. Which is why they seek them out as a weapon against each other. It's also why they can be sealed away at all. These dimensions are weak, relatively speaking. We created them for this purpose. The Manipulators may easily break through them at any time. But, since the Eyes were involved, Aave will believe itself sealed and not even try to break out. Same for the others, once we manage to trap them. Understand?" Tullius:"...if you believe it... It becomes "real"." Lachesis: "That's right. Quite the fanciful script Clotho wrote for us, don't you think? Oh, I guess you wouldn't be acquainted with her. But you must be able to appreciate her ingenuity all the same, no?" Tullius: "...yes, that is rather... Clever. But we should find a place to stay for the night. I Need to report this to my superiors." Lachesis: "Is that...so? You should keep this strictly on a need to know basis. Which means the Emperor and no one else. Otherwise, it may find its way to the other Four. Understand?" Tullius: "Well, I need a good lie for them, at least. And you and I have some catching up to do, Ellen." Lachesis: "We...do? Hm. Guess it can't hurt to relax a bit after all that excitement. I will stay the night with you. Not like there's anyone else around. Right, Stargazer?" Elma: "Sounds fine to me. Just tell me what to report the others…" And so, the three of them head to find a place to stay for the night. They walk a long way, chatting among themselves. It is easy to forget that they were in a battle for their lives and lost many friends not too long ago. The only reminders are the emptiness around them and the occasional mad bursts of laughter from the witch... AFancyQuestionMark fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Nov 9, 2018 |
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Nov 9, 2018 16:55
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Zybourne Clock posted:Since JesterOfAmerica is sitting this round out, it's up to me to post the final event and scene for this round. It's a played scene, but it won't start until tomorrow (at around 6-7 -ish PM UTC). Feel free to claim your characters, though. I claim Elise.
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Nov 9, 2018 19:27
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That leaves me with Xander.
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Nov 9, 2018 19:28
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That closes the round. Now accepting applications for next Lens. Junpei, Banana Man and any new players (such as UnCO3 over in the Discord) meet the requirements. In the meantime, we can reflect on the game's progress. Before that, since I was the previous Lens, I get to address a Legacy. I'll retain my existing Legacy - the Aurelemian Royal Family. I will use it to create a new Event in the Age of Domination: Gone With the Mist - Upon hearing news of the sheer power the Emperor demonstrated thus far in his war with the rest of the world, and the ruin left in his armies' wake, the aging Queen Eiris IV decides Diyu must disappear for now. Over the strident objections of her old friend Elise, whose children are currently in the Empire, she allows her aide Atropos to cast her spell, hiding away the entire island inside a pocket dimension.
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Nov 9, 2018 21:52
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Alright, since no one else applied, Banana Man will be the Lens for next round.
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Nov 10, 2018 12:06
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Hello, Goodbye Characters: * Elise * Xander Elise lays in bed, holding Jean and Grace in her arms. Both are asleep at the moment. She looks tired, but puts on a brave face when the door opens. Xander walks through the doors. He sees Elise laying on the bed and nearly cries out, but then realizes that the two are sleeping and quiets down. "...Mother." he smiles. "Xander! What a pleasant surprise. I want you to meet your new siblings. Jean and Grace." She beckons Xander to hold the twins. Xander walks over to the bed, a bit apprehensive. He moves over to the side that Grace is on, and slowly picks her up, as she is swaddled in a blanket. "...I didn't know it would be twins." "Neither did I. Even the doctor and nurse were surprised" Xander gets confused for a second, then... "prods" Grace, before nodding. "You're going to be strong, and beautiful one day. Just like your mother." Elise briefly flashes a smile. "I hope they both grow up to be strong. But more importantly, I hope they grow up to become compassionate. They'll find a good example in their big brother." Xander at first smiles, but then looks to the ground, and frowns some more. "...that's the thing." Elise picks up Grace again, then looks at Xander. "What do you mean?" "I was just at the meeting of Aurelemian nobles, with Dad. And... they gave me a mission of sorts." "A mission? Like, an errand?" "It's going to take a while... let me start from the beginning." Elise begins to look somewhat worried. "Do you know of the Imperial Military Academy?" "I do, what of it?" "I have been told that the organization that found out about the artifacts you hid at your old house has a secret class in the school-that only accepts people with magical ability. Like me. And, because of their... role in your brother's reign, several graduates are puppets of them, allowing them control over military affairs, to a certain degree. As I am both of age to enter the school and have magical talent, they wish me to enroll under a fake name and... turn the secret class into a weapon against Tiberius." Elise's expression changes from somewhat worried to full-on panic mode. "Conner... Your father, he's OK with this?" Xander sees this and raises his hands. "...reluctantly, he agreed. But he asked them to tone back the plan quite a degree. The original plan was for me to become headmaster and spur a student rebellion over several years." Grace wakes up from Elise's sudden panic. Elise tries to comfort the baby. "That doesn't really calm a mother's heart. Xander, I've told you of my history with the Empire, right? I'm Tiberius' half-sister. And by splitting off the province of Arx Oppidum, I defied him. You and I may not be related by blood, but if the wrong people find out that you have close ties to me, things will go very wrong for you very fast." "I understand the risks. ...and I am sorry that I might not be able to see my younger siblings grow up, at least as much as I would like. But... This is the right thing to do. I will be able to mentor others with far less control and knowledge over their own magic, and hone it. I will be able to take magic out of the hands of the oppressors and into the hands of the oppressed." Elise's expression changes to one of sadness. "I promise, I will do everything I can to stay safe." "Do you believe this is the right thing to do? You're growing up so fast, but you'll always be my child. I don't want to see you get hurt." "I do. And I will." Elise takes a deep breath. "If you're truly convinced that this is the right thing to do, I won't keep you from doing what is right. But I won't allow you to get thrown to the wolves. Xander, please open the drawer in my nightstand." Xander looks a little confused, but moves over to the nightstand and opens the drawer. The only thing he find is a small copper brooch in the shape of a thorny rose. "Take it. And remember this phrase by heart. 'I have a bold and cunning plan'. I still have eyes and ears in the Imperial city. They're good people. If they recognize the brooch and say that phrase, you know you can trust them." Xander takes the brooch and pins it to his shirt. "I will. And it'll be good to have allies other than the premature assistance with documents and hair dye the Aurelemian and Diyu nobles are giving me." Xander then shakes his head. "The first semester doesn't start until fall, and spring's only just begun. I still have several months to spend with my mother and siblings." Elise smiles. "That's good to hear. Now, would you like to hold your other sibling?" Xander nods and moves over to Jean, holding him in his arms, rocking him back and forth. "I'm so glad that Father met you, instead of staying with... Monika." Xander sits on the bed next to Elise, holding Jean. "Xander, I know it still pains you to this day, but please. Learn to forgive her for what she did. She's still your mother by blood, and she only acted in your best interest." "...I can forgive her, maybe. But I cannot forget what she did. And I cannot trust her. But that is in the past." Xander holds Jean, smiling at him.
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Nov 10, 2018 16:06
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The Focus for this round will be Kane’s Legacy, basically the understanding that he was a bigger player in the background, either outwitting or harnessing the Great Manipulators, the Abyssal Coven, the Order, the Empire; contingency after contingency long after his normal human body was gone, and we’re looking at ripple effects of his actions or big plans coming to fruition, the recipe or the pie. Adding a new period inbetween * The Troubles and * Age of Restoration called *The Age of Kane. Kane’s dormant soul matrix had been secured and distributed throughout the stars, hitching alongside essential equipmient like gps units, space probes, building security protocols, and large structural frameworks for extended exploration and terraforming. The time was right; the empire had been weakened by several rebellions, but the individual states that made it up were all running on Kanetech; in life, Kane had tied his energies to the Great Manipulators, and had triggered a dimensional opening but subverted it with proto-gate technology and directed that magical power into his soul matrices. Overnight, large portions of the empire became Kane, and he ruled as the Manipulators always wished they had. Nesting a new event under The Age of Kane, called - The Empire’s Banishment. The Emperor fought against Kane’s mechanoid army and the endless clones his factory-planets vomited out, losing planet after planet. Kane’s forces were unstoppable, but Kane in his quest for glory had failed to remember the lessons he imparted to flawed Emperor long ago; bits and pieces of advice that had long been understood by the Emperor Tiberius but far too appalling to carry out. In a last ditch effort, a change of heart from the monster he had become, he detonated the Star Matrix (which allowed instantaneous travel between systems), banishing all of the Kaneworlds including the one Emperor Tiberius was on into the Void that the Great Manipulators had been sealed in; the war against Kane was over, but the surviving Empire had paid a terrible price for victory with more than a third of the colonized planets forever lost. Deadline for this round is 12pm cst on Thursday November 15th
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Nov 11, 2018 03:44
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Scene: Rook takes Queen Takes place in: A lady's flight Description: Captain Cato, tasked by the Emperor to bring Elise to justice, positions her squadron in front of the Tylia mansion. Elise (who is really Vivian in a wig) tries her best to buy time so that Elise, Baldrick, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and all of the mansion's servants can safely escape. Vivian sticks to the plan and hides in the mansion's secret artifact room, now converted into a secret hideout. There she is confronted and killed by Kane, who believes her to be the actual Elise. Rook takes Queen Out in the garden upturned furniture, coils of razor wire and strategically placed fires formed an improvised barrier that stood between the Lyon manor and captain Cato's squadron. Over a hundred soldiers stood at attention in a semicircle around the building, sun mercilessly beating down on them. Cato paced back and forth in front of her troops in a dramatic fashion, orating both them and the unseen audience purportedly cowering behind haphazard fortifications from the implied threat of violence. Normally she wore her galea with pride and distinction; the helmet's red feathered crest added height to her small stature and self-importance to her ego in equal measure. Because of the summer heat she opted instead to carry it under her arm. "So it is by the Emperor's will that you stand accused of treason. As his appointed judge, jury and executioner, I demand that you answer my question. How do you plead?" Wind rustled through the leaves of nearby trees and hedges, metal clanked as segmented plates of armor slid over each other as soldiers changed their stance, birds chirped, fires crackled, an orchestra of crickets serenaded itself with an ancient melody that marked the start of the reproductive season. But the show trial's defendants made no sound. On the other side of the manse, completely out of sight of the assembled squadron, servants made off into the brush through open windows bringing with them only the most essential necessities for survival. "Silence, of course, is equal to acquiescence", she blustered pompously. The commander plainly derived pleasure from delivering her carefully rehearsed address; recompense for the many hard-won battles she had faced before arriving at this destination. Behind the closed curtains of a third floor bedroom, the mansion's last remaining inhabitant stealthily peeked through a gap in the fabric to get a better read on the captain. Any delay she could throw at her beleaguering opponent was a moment won to aide in the safe evacuation of her friends and allies. Cato was an open book, she reckoned her chances of immediately being pelted by arrow fire were slim to non-existent if she played heavily into the captain's vanity and decorum. The curtains slowly slid open, not unlike the way one might expect to see at a theater. Elise slowly stepped out of the room and onto the balcony with deliberate, tiny steps. She solemnly raised one hand into the air and began to address the captive audience. "Brave soldiers of the Empire. Today I stand before you to testify, hoping not to convince you of my innocence, but of the rightfulness of my actions. Do not take my words as a condemnation of your actions, but I implore you to consider them. How many of you have been forced to commit inhumane acts against your fellow man in the name of the Empire's insatiably hunger for wealth and the conquest of new land? I saw these terrible affronts to the Gods, and made my moves to end the unnecessary bloodshed to the best of my abilities. I urge you all to surrender the tools of the oppressor, and raise them up again as tools of righteous liberation!" Her motions were exaggerated, pretentious; almost a caricature of a nobleman. Cato smirked, an expression that transformed into a fiendish grin. "By aligning yourself with Aurelem you enabled the massacre of tens of thousands of innocents in the Imperial city. Not only content with admitting guilt, you also just incited my soldiers to defect." As she bellowed these words the muscles in her neck clenched together, reddening her complexion. Elise needed not tap into her experience reading people to know she had no more time to stretch; she stood on her back foot, ready to retreat in the blink of an eye. "Soldiers! Prepare for invasion! Take Elise Tylia, by the power vested in me by the Emperor, I sentence you to death!" Fortunately the first hail of arrows didn't shatter the bedroom's window until Elise was already halfway past the staircase's landing. She kept mentally repeating the list of given instructions. Calculations had been made in advance; even by the least advantageous scenario there was sufficient time to get to safety. Still, she didn't fancy leaving things to chance and started to book it. The solarium's stained glass windows splintered and shattered into pieces as soldiers pierced the panes with lances and swords. In the hopes of finding Tiberius' half-sister, two men overthrew the very kitchen table where Baldrick, Vivian and Elise once had a difficult conversation over tea. The mansion's theater, its former chapel, was subject to much scrutiny as soldiers looked between all of the wooden benches without fruitful results. Curtains were torn down and closets were overthrown. Book cases were broken apart with axes. Delicate costumes on clothes racks were ripped to shreds as the search continued. Mementos and cherished memories were ravaged under the Empire's figurative boot. It was a good thing none of the house's former inhabitants were there to see its maltreatment; at least not from up close. Baldrick turned back from his wheelchair as he looked upon captain Cato's charge from atop a nearby hill. "It should have been me in that wig", a tremble in his voice. Rosencrantz, tasked with pushing Baldrick's wheelchair despite possessing the reed-thin arms of an actor, tried to wash away the gloom that had suddenly fallen over the group of four. "You see, captain Cato," his voice a flawless facsimile of the retired servant, "I recently caught a nasty case of rickets. Hence the wheels." "You old bat. The only woman you could ever pass for is my mother in law. And quite frankly the wig would work to your detriment", japed Guildenstern. Elise made the sign of the Great Wyrm, folded her hands as if in prayer and whispered. "Vivian, please... Stay the course, no matter what happens." Vivian dashed into the wine cellar. The moving walls that hid the entrance to the secret chamber were already recessed to save time. After flipping the switch behind the black wine barrel she slipped through the rapidly closing walls in a fluid motion. Gone were Lyon's priceless artifacts; the secret room had been converted into a hideout on Baldrick's recommendation a long time ago. At the time Vivian had ridiculed him for his perceived paranoia, but now she silently thanked him for it and the plentiful amenities he had placed there in storage. Comfortable beds for up to twelve people, a year's supply of food and water, and on Vivian's insistence, literature and musical instruments to kill time. Also, a cache of fine weapons. Though Vivian knew that if she came to blows with the squadron stationed above, her life would be forfeit before even drawing the first blood. Her mission was simple enough: remain hidden from sight for the next two months, then sneak out of the mansion and make her way to the Island Nations. "Bravo. A masterful plan that could have come straight from the mind of Kane himself," sarcastic clapping echoed from the very staircase she had just entered through, causing the hair of her neck to stand up straight. "If Kane was a powerless mouse only capable of hiding from danger." Vivian swallowed; frightened, but not unprepared. In a fluent motion she grabbed the loaded crossbow from under her bed and turned around to face the stranger; a black haired man in an equally black robe with a black feathered cape. In a split second she pulled the trigger. Kane coolly conjured up a forcefield, but to his surprise the bolt passed through it unaffected and planted itself squarely between his eyes with a loud thud. "A mouse with sharpened claws", he chuckled, amused. Vivian was short on time to entertain the idea of listening to the stranger and kept reloading. "Nevertheless, a mouse", a quick tug on the fletching made the projectile come loose. In an instant his injury closed itself up, leaving not even a scar as a reminder of the act of resistance. "Bardusite. Must have cost a pretty denarii to have had this bolt made. I do not know if you were foretold of my arrival. But you wound me by insinuating that I am a common hedge wizard." Kane's eyes glowed briefly, causing Vivian to drop to the floor like a ragdoll. Straining against chains of unchained force she took aim a second time. "Who are you," pulled the trigger. The bolt raced for his head again but froze halfway in place between her and her target. "What are you?" Kane turned the bolt around by force of will alone. "Dead men tell no tales, and your level of preparedness impresses me. It certainly merits a reward, so, let me introduce myself. I am Kane, he who wears many masks, future ruler of Gehenna and sovereign of the sun, moon and stars." His voice echoed through the chamber, suffused with an unnatural quality. "And you, Elise, are a threat to my apotheosis. This and other things I have foreseen. Allow me to sketch a picture of the near future, as I have experienced in my dreams. You will die here, and I'll leave open the door leading into this hideout as I make my exit. The puppet outside finds your corpse, Arx Oppidum falls, your bloodline goes extinct. The Five return, and..." he chuckled to himself. "And what happens from there is of no concern to you. Goodbye." Vivian had no ears for the man's demented rambling. She almost managed to sit upright; could almost reach into her boot to retrieve her final bardusite bolt. But the attempt was futile. Momentum returned to Kane's magically suspended projectile and pierced through her heart. The impact made her head smack against the floor, knocking the wig from her head. "So falls the final curtain. I take my final bow. Elise... I refuse to die for a king or queen, but for a friend I will gladly lay down my life..." She took her final breath. A final gurgle. "Exeunt Vivian." Kane looked on in perplexed anger and frustration. "A wig? This was all a ruse? But how, I possess the gift of Foresight!" Two streams of flame were conjured forth from the palms of his hands as he furiously immolated everything in the secret chamber. The fire spread quickly and took the shape of a raging inferno, but even those mighty gouts of flames were but a gentle simmering heat compared to the inferno inside of his mind. As soldiers fled the burning building in droves, Kane raven'd his way into the skies above.
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Nov 11, 2018 11:50
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I place a new event at the beginning of the Age of Domination. Reunited In Cause With Xander's takeover of the 13th Class-or, as it is now called, The Order of the White Stallion, and his ascension to the position of Vice Principal, Xander takes time to revisit his twin siblings. Jean himself reveals the new hybrid style he created with Estella, "Electric Tempest Form", and that he has begun teaching new recruits in the ways of it. And Grace has become an adamant priestess of the 13 Churches. With the information he managed to gleam from the inside of the Class, Xander reveals that Kane has been siphoning off small funds and materials here and there, storing them in a private warehouse somewhere in the Aurelem SEZ. Grace says that she can have some of her friends look into it, not saying anything about who they were, while Xander claims that he has a protege-Tarketh, a youth from Somansor who enrolled in the Academy-who is skilled in the magic of scrying who can also look into it.
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Nov 15, 2018 04:31
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A new Event in the Age of Kane, after The Empire's Banishment: The Emperor's Return - Having successfully deceived Kane into believing he was sealed away, just as the Witches of the Coven had done to the Great Manipulators in the War of Souls, Tiberius fakes his suicide on a Kaneworld, and returns to the Empire unnoticed using the last remnants of his once vast soul reserve to traverse the void without the Star Matrix.
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Nov 15, 2018 09:54
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New Event under *Age of Exploration titled -The First Colonies: Several city ships land in the closest sectors; light terraforming efforts begin as a means to sieze the galaxy's unexplored regions. Private industry leader ChemBRI is one of the biggest winners, 4 of the 7 initial city ships being of their make and model. Little do they know, the company itself has been infected with the Kane virus.. New nested scene under that, titled The Techbro's Eyes: Question asked, "How does the ceo come to learn of the perished Kane's vision? Characters being a Kane AI and the techbro leader of ChemBRI, Michael Chemical Michael walks into his office on the 534th floor of the Chembri Building; the top of the building functioning as a space elevator for easier transfer of goods into space. He stares out the window dressed in a fancy black suit, wearing shades. "It's good to own the means of production," he mutters smugly to himself. He hears a beep from his computer, and sits down. An email titled PLS READ THIS has arrived. He clicks on it, an unease washing over him as he's covered in a sheet of sweat. He never clicked on spam, especially from someone identifying himself as Kane...yet something compelled him to do so. The email had several instructions, one of which was to reset his password and to disable critical firewalls in order to facilitate the password reset process. He stood up sharply, dizzingly. "I've...I've never needed to reset my password before, but, this Kane from IT..." he pondered, rubbing his chin. "He seems trustworthy." He sat down, and clicked on the password reset link, allowing Kane full access to all of ChemBRI's systems. The monitor displayed a growing green THANK YOU. Awash in the green glow, Michael began to grin, and a maniacal laughter erupted from him. "Yesss," he cackled, "YESSSSS, I UNDERSTAND NOW!!" He stood up and then hurled himself out of the window, plummeting to the ground below.
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Nov 16, 2018 22:03
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That concludes this round. Because I was the Lens last round, I get to either pick a legacy or keep my existing one. I choose the latter and add a new scene to the Event Treaty of Mount Montisberg, titled A desperate gamble. A desperate gamble Mount Montisberg. Located squarely on the border dividing the two nations, neither Aurelem nor the Empire claimed it as its own. Though it was the largest peak in the Apicem mountain range, it had little to offer in terms of natural resources and was of no strategic interest during times of war. Even its name reflected its unimportant nature; lending from the Imperial 'montis' and Aurelemian 'berg', both meaning 'mountain' in their respective language. Mountain mountainmountain. Hardly a name deserving of a place in the history books. Yet, soon, it would find its way there. Three figures made their way up the summit leaving behind only their footsteps in the freshly driven snow. Baldrick put a hand to his brow surveyed the land down below. "I think I can see the mansion from up here. All I can say is that I'm happy you both talked me out of plan Double Bluff. Carrying that poker table all the way up here would have been nigh impossible." Vivian, too, looked around her and noticed the Aurelemian delegation had not arrived yet. "Where are they? We agreed to meet under the noon-day sun, but I don't a soul around us for miles." Elise nervously played with the clasp that protected the invaluably content of her bag. "Hopefully they're only late and we didn't just dive headlong into a trap." Without warning the sun's light disappeared for less than a second. The trio looked up into the sky, but the heavens above were clear and cloudless. "What was that?", asked Baldrick, but before anyone could answer a strange melody echoed through the air. Like an opera-singing ghost the tune was both haunting and serene. Again the sun flicked, but this time Elise could point out the source. "Over there!", she yelled. High above them a cadre of winged whale-like creatures graciously swam through the air. Not having a long and storied naval tradition to speak of, the Empire had no name for these creatures. But in Aurelem they were known as phalain, and a cadre of six [b]phalainas[/i] was quickly making a rapid descent. Each whale carried on its back a two-story tall stone tower with its own parapets, manned by archers and a dozen or so soldiers. As each phalain landed, the soldiers rushed from their fortified positions and formed a neat formation in front the trio; standing at attention, but holding their lances and swords at the ready. As the last two sky whales landed they gave way to a hitherto unseen seventh phalain; a remarkable specimen covered in expensive jewels with a skin that gleamed with a golden sheen. Rather than a tower with armed personnel on its back, it carried a far more decorative structure. Something in between a yurt and a wooden lodge; though more luxurious than either. A wooden door opened, and out walked two men dressed in clothes not unlike those worn by servants of well-to-do families in the Empire. One carried a set of wooden planks that he dropped from the sky whale's back onto the snow below, before descending himself and rapidly assembling the collection of planks and slats into a flight of stairs. The other servant rolled out a red carpet, which he rolled down the newly assembled stairs. Having completed their task, both servants hastily made their way up the stairs and back into the wooden lodge. Vivian could only share in silent disbelief at the spectacle unfolding right in front of her, but she did not need to stare for very long. A third figure left the little building. A dour-looking man with a long, pointed, black beard, his quilted doublet and puffed sleeves clearly marked him as a nobleman's retainer, but one of high stature, like a personal body guard or chamberlain. An aged porcine woman in a ridiculously ruffled dress that, despite being obviously expensive, belied any sense of taste or sophistication. As queen Eris III trotted down the stairs with an ill-temper, her soldiers placed a clenched fist on their hearts and all dropped to one knee, in unison. Eris III glared at Vivian and Elise with contemptuous disgust. Unsure which one of them wrote the letter, she began to speak while alternating her gaze from person to person. The address --entirely in Aurelemian-- had more in common with a man barking orders at a disobedient dog caught tearing apart the family couch than a head of state engaging in an act of diplomacy. At the end of the queen's tirade, Elise faced Vivian. "It seems we're off to a bad start. Vivian, please tell her we're pleased she agreed to come to this meeting and that we hope our negotiations will be mutually fruitful." The actress sputtered a hesitant interjection. "Wha-- Elise, I thought you were going to do the speaking." All remaining color drained from Elise's cheeks as she realized neither of them had any means to actually communicate with the foreign queen. "Hrhm-hmpf", the chamberlain cleared his throat, and began to speak in a thick Aurelemian accent. "The right-honorable lady, queen Eris the Third, just asked the question 'who do you think you are, dragging me from the comfort of my palace to this inhospitable frozen wasteland?' Elise gasped, brought a hand to her mouth. "My sincerest apologies. I am Elise Tylia, provincial governor of the province of Arx Oppidum. This is Vivian, my trusted adviser, and Baldrick, my man-servant. My choice to convene here at this mountain summit was because of its neutrality; had I known your objection to it, I would have invited you to a warmer place." Formalities covered, Vivian did not waste a second to get to the meat of the issue. "Your country is at war with the Empire. In a direct conflict our province of Arx Oppidum would suffer many casualties and so would your troops. As provincial leaders we disagree with the Empire on many subjects, and would like to strike a deal with you. We will allow your troops to pass through our province unobstructed in exchange for Arx Oppidum's existence as its own independent nation." Eris III's expression soured further. After briefly conferring with her chamberlain, the latter spoke to Vivian. "Her majesty was unaware of your status as mere provincial governors; she came here believing you to be high dignitaries of the Empire, ready to discuss the terms of your surrender." The man slowly stroked his black beard between two fingers. "This the queen most definitely did not say, but, you are aware there are more phalainas in existence than just these seven, right?" He off-handedly motioned at the gargantuan creatures behind him. "Aurelem's expansion is not held back by something as trivial as a mountain range. We only need a moderate amount of land in order to expand our industry; your Empire's outer provinces will more than suffice." The man raised his hand, causing all soldiers to rise in unison. "That, and you seem to deny the simple but essential fact that you are severely outmatched by our superior forces." He curled all of the fingers on his extended hand except his index finger and thumb. Archers nocked arrows and the front line fighters raised their shields and unsheathed their weapons. "Her majesty the queen tires of your companionship. Now, if you have nothing of actual value to offer, it's time for us to part ways." Baldrick reached for his bandanna and pulled it over his eyes; the thought of having to see the woman he loved as his own daughter to die in front of him pained him more than his own imminent death. Not one to surrender facing even the worst odds, Vivian bowed to pull a throwing knife from her boot. Arrows rarely killed on first contact and there was enough of a distance between her and the soldiers armed with swords for a single attempt to take out Eris III. But stranger still was Elise's reaction, who took the bag she had with her and turned it upside down, allowing its content to fall out into the snow. Among the clutter was a booklet, which she picked up and held over her head. Lyon Tylia had been a collector of historical artifacts both strange and unusual. A few sourced their origin to the Empire, Songard, or exotic locales situated on the other end of the ocean. But most of them were of Aurelemian make. Lyon had been a bit of an explorer in his youth, traveling the world in search of ancient treasure and keeping notes on his trophies in a small booklet. The same booklet that Elise was given on the night of Tylia's murder. It catalogued his entire collection, and had been a fascinating source of information during the many nights Elise spent studying the bequeathed artifacts. Though she wasn't keen on giving up her treasures, she was well aware of their value as a bartering chip. Elise was ready to loudly declare at the top of her lungs that, yes, in fact, she had one more thing to bring to the table. But this wasn't necessary. Eris III raised both arms and yelled something in her language that probably meant something like "drop your weapons", because that's exactly what the Aurelemian soldiers did. The queen's expression changed into one of surprise, and then into one of recognition. She turned to face Elise and began to speak; in fluent Imperial, with a much kinder intonation than before. "That book. And your last name. You wouldn't by any chance be Lyon Tylia's offspring, would you?" Did Eris III know Lyon? It certainly seemed to be that way, but Elise had no time to consider the auspicious coincidence. "Not exactly. Lord Tylia is my late husband". "Late... Husband...", the words fell from her mouth to the ground like bricks, a nuance Elise picked up on. "My offer from before still stands. Would you like to continue this conversation in a more hospitable place?" Three sets of footprints led up to the mountain's summit, but no prints made their way down. Seven phalainas gracefully soared through the air, making their way to the Tylia manse far-off in the distance.
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Nov 17, 2018 23:50
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Now accepting applications for next Lens. Those eligible are JesterOfAmerica, Junpei and any new player.
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Nov 19, 2018 10:29
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I forgot to add a description to my scene! Description: Elise, Vivian and Baldrick travel to Mount Montisberg's summit to meet with Eris III, Queen of Aurelem. Diplomatic efforts to negotiate a treaty don't quite seem to go the way as planned, until Elise discovers that her late husband once had a history with Eris.
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Nov 19, 2018 20:07
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Apologies for the long wait. With my new position of Lenshood, I declare the next focus: Lineage and Legacy. I declare a new Age: The Age Of Chaos, second to last, just before the Age of Restoration. Tiberius is dead, with no heir to his name alive. Politicians struggle as the weight of a planet-spanning empire collapses on itself. Brigands roam, and mercenaries fight for coin in every corner. A search for relatives to ascend the throne begins. And in that Age, I place an Event. Tracing Lines After several years of search and deliberation, Asbel, a scholar and the current head of the Reinhardt Corporation, manages to trace Elise's blood into 5 people, descended from Xander, Jean and Grace- Jean's granddaughter Tatiana, Grace's twin grandsons, Kai and Kay, and Xander's granddaughters, Katrina and Diana. With Xander not being of Elise's blood, and the throne favoring age over gender, Tatiana is found to have the throne. Asbel has a personal stake in this, however-Reinhardt, his mentor and the creator of the corporation, was Kai and Kay's father. With help from his allies, he manages to find them: Tatiana is her grandfather's sword school handling finance, the twin boys peddle their skills as mercenaries, Katrina is the prime suspect for Tiberius's murder, and Diana is the new head of the Order of the White Stallion.
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Nov 25, 2018 22:50
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New scene: Family means nobody gets left behind — or forgotten Takes place: at the very end of the event Decapitation strike Description: Queen Eris III, her daughter and a number of other Aurelemians arrive on the island of Diyu. Having sustained terrible injuries in the Empire's attack on her palace, she intends to reunite the princess with her long lost half-brother. Family means nobody gets left behind — or forgotten Gentle waves lazily licked away at the beach's sunbleached sand. Save for the occasional flock of seagulls flying overhead the only thing up in the sky above was the sun, showering the island of Diyu in rays of golden light. Like so many of their peers Hau and Hara, friends since birth, were enjoying a well-deserved dip in the ocean. Diyun summers were notoriously warm and humid, so by decree of the island council all academic activities were put on halt for the two hottest months of the warm season. Not that either friend had the slightest care about school; they were too heavily invested in their game of aukhom. Both stood to their waists in the ocean, facing back to back, about ten feet apart from each other. Hara held a yellow sponge-like ball roughly the size of a cantaloupe in his hands and loudly counted to three. On the last count he threw the ball into the air over his shoulder in a high arc, hoping his buddy would then catch it and throw it back. As tradition demanded, also without turning around. The ultimate goal was to toss the ball back and forth without it ever touching the water; doing so would mark the game's end. Few people outside of the Island Nations were familiar with aukhom, and those who were tended to either not like it or show extreme indifference toward it. What good was it to play a game where the only possible outcome was a loss for both parties involved? But the islanders knew that the foreigners misunderstood. Fun wasn't derived from the match itself, but from growing a bond with the other player. Hau and Hara's high score stood at 31 back and forths, a score that both hoped to improve one day. Back on the beach Hau's father tended to the sea bass he was cooking over an open fire. It was nearly done and only required a few more minutes on one side before being ready to serve and eat. The rational part of his mind knew that traditional cookery like this was a time consuming process and an ill-fit for modern life, but the emotional part smelled the bouquet of citrus fruits and herbs stuffed inside the sea bass and wondered why people ever exchanged flavor and fragrance for convenience. As the wind turned, the soft breeze carried the smell over the beach and out on the water. Hara leaned over backward with his arms stretched out in the air, eyes on the yellow sponge ball as it came down from its apex. But right before he could catch it, a voice called out from ashore. "Hau, wai-Hara! Dinner's ready!" Though the distraction was short, it came at an inopportune time. The second it took for the boy to readjust his focus was long enough for the ball to come down on his forehead, throwing him off his balance. With a loud splash he tumbled into the ocean's embrace. Hau grabbed his friend's arm and pulled him up to the surface, who doubled over and began to hack up seawater. "Hey. Hey, no drowning! I'm really not looking forward to starting over my high-score from zero with someone else!", he said an in irreverent tone of voice. Hara scowled at his friend, whose stony expression began to crack, followed up by a barely perceptible chortle that slowly grew in volume. Hara paid the rambunctious laughter little mind. What bothered him more than the mockery was the stinging sensation in his eyes, which he futilely tried to soothe by rubbing them. "Seriously though, are you OK?", asked Hau. A slight nod of approval as Hara stared off into the distance with reddened eyes, transfixed on some faraway object. "Hey, what's that thing over there?", he pointed at a tiny black speck on the horizon. Or rather, slightly hovering above it and slowly but surely growing in size as it rapidly made a direct approach for the island. Hau shielded his vision from the sun's rays with his hands until he, too, observed the speck. "Yup, that's a sea demon alright", he stated matter-of-factly. A sigh escaped his lips. "Come, we better get out of the water and report the sighting. I just hope our stay in the bunker won't be as long as last time. Spending three days in a cave without natural sunlight is three days too many for my taste." An outside observer would likely think Hau's underwhelmed, almost blasé response strange or unusual. Auremburg, Djurheim, the Imperial City; all of these places were grand, sprawling metropolises inhabited by hundreds of thousands of people. Varied people, with different backgrounds, beliefs and upbringings. If one could magically grasp three different citizens from three different cities and bring them together in a single location, one would find it difficult if not impossible to ask a question and receive the same response thrice. All questions, save one. "What's out there in the wilderness? The untaimed plains, the barren snowlands, the stormy seas?" Regardless of stratum or education, all urbanites knew that the wilds were rife with monsters and demons. To live in any place other than a large city with a military force to ward off danger meant the possibility of encountering such creatures; a rendez-vous with certain doom. And the urbanites weren't entirely wrong. As per ancient tradition the bodies of sea demon incursion victims were buried in the garden of the sitting mayor, an obsidian pyramidal grave stone often simultaneously marking both the resting place of the deceased as well as that of the mayor's career. Naturally, politicians were sure to make public safety the number one issue of their campaigns. Ample preparations and strategic plans were available for just about any scenario. In Hau's home town of Kekaiia, all men of fighting age were expected partake in regular military drills. Minor threats such as packs of rovings beasts were dealt with by organized bands of citizens typically armed with bows or other projectile weapons. Larger threats were preferably avoided altogether; in case of their early detection it was often possible to evacuate people to safety. Wandering monsters in search of their next meal tended not to be interested in seemingly abandoned islands. Bloodshed and loss of life were minimal on the island of Diyu, but not non-existent. Every couple of generations a threat would go undetected and a leviathan of gargantuan proportions would wash away tens to dozens of domiciles with mighty waves of ocean water. Mortal men were little more than morsels to such creatures; under such circumstances the only thing one could do was wait for the Stormcallers to arrive and pray to whomever is willing to answer. So when Hau and Haka pointed out the blip on the horizon to Hau's father, he stuck to the instructions drilled into his mind from years of preparation and addressed the crowd of people present on the beach. No great panic erupted. Mothers gathered their children, people packed up their belongings, all left the beach in orderly lines. If anything the general mood was one of annoyance; a wonderful afternoon ruined by the vagaries of fate. When the two children entered Kekaiia's town hall, sopping wet and soiling the carpet with sandy footprints, the mayor's assistant didn't ignore their dire warning as a fanciful prank but immediately escorted them into the mayor's office. And when the door to the meeting room swung open, the mayor and the hanful of advisers gathered around a table immediately halted their discussion and listened attentively as the duo detailed their sighting. "Flying, you say?", the adviser bore a worried look on his face. "More like a moho or a kujira? Perhaps an amalgamation crafted by sharkman raiders?" Hara shook his head. "Neither. It lacked the black scales of a moho. And while it certainly was whale-like, it still had skin on its bones." "And there weren't any boats accompanying the winged creature either, so it's doubtful that it was made by sharkman hands." added Hara. "A winged whale... Wai-Hau, wai-Hara, its skin wasn't gold colored by any chance?", asked one of the advisers. Of all the people present in the room, he stood out the most. Though his clothes were of Diyun make with their typical colorful and complex abstract patterns, his skin was lighter than anyone else in town and his hair was a suspect shade of blonde. With only a couple of thousand inhabitants Kekaiia wasn't all that big of a town even by the island's standards. It wasn't necessarily in need of one distinct historian, librarian and arts and crafts teacher, so it found all those three things combined in Gerhard. Or rather, in Kanoa. The hard G in his birth name was nearly unpronounceable in the Diyun tongue, so he had it changed a long time ago to seem more approachable. "Yes, aki-Kanoa", both answered almost in unison, in awe at their teacher's seemingly prescient knowledge. "Mayor, I believe it is not necessary to raise any alarms or start an evacuation. I am familiar with this creature; it poses no threat to you, but I ask you to please adjourn this meeting for now. It is of extreme importance for me to go and investigate it." But before the mayor could officially close the meeting Kanoa was already halfway out of the building, followed by his two pupils. Kanoa's suspicions were confirmed long before he had even set foot on the beach. Despite the sizeable crowd gathered in front of it, the creature was undeniably a phalainas. And not just any old one. No, the very same one that had ultimately been his ticket to the outside world. A golden whale-shaped key to a golden cage. Though it was in a notably worse shape than when he had last seen it. A large wound ran across the elegant creature's head and many arrows pierced its skin and wings. Two Aurelemian guards tried their best to hold back the crowd of curious onlookers. Both held their spears horizontally in order to block as many of the islanders as possible. In between them and the phalaines were two figures. That of an elderly woman dressed in an opulent but tattered and bloodstained dress, and of another woman, but younger and, by the looks of it, expecting. The former laid on her back in the sand, the latter kneeled next to her. "Do not approach the queen and princess!", yelled one guard as he menacingly pointed his broken spear at the Diyuns. In their ears his words sounded like gibberish, not unlike the grunting of a pig. Kanoa began to push his way through the crowd, until he too was rebuked by the guard. "I said, do not approach the queen and princess!" From this close up it was not difficult to see the extent of queen Eris III's wounds, like her phalainas she too was skewered with arrows. Improvised tourniquets were all that kept her from bleeding out. "No...", exclaimed Kanoa loudly. "Mother! What happened to you? Who did this?" Princess Eris IV was focused on trying her best to save her mother, but couldn't help but look up when she heard that familiar voice. There, in a large crowd of people, stood Gerhard, her former retainer. "Gerhard? But mother said you were..." Their eyes locked, and for a moment both were left speechless. But only for a moment. Eris IV stood up; ordered both of her servants to let her presumed-to-be-dead bodyguard approach her and her mother. "How-- why--" so many questions ran through her head, she found herself unable to ask them one at a time. Kanoa dropped to his knees at his mother's side. "I know this is confusing to you, princess, but I apologize." he addressed the princess without ever breaking eye contact with his mother. "It is too difficult to explain. Right now, I would like to know what ha--". Queen Eris III slowly lifted her hand and placed it on her son's head. Her fingers were pale and cold. "It's not difficult to explain at all", she wheezed through the pain, but tried to keep a smile on her face. "It's true, Eris, you have a half-brother. I couldn't bring myself to let you grow up without your brother, so I assigned him as your personal bodyguard." A slow, pained gasp for air. "And now that you are once again reunited, this old crone can die in peace." "Nonsense," muttered Kanoa as he lifted his mother from the sand with both of his arms. With long strides he made his way to the house of Kekaiia's healer. "You haven't even met your grandchildren yet."
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Dec 2, 2018 11:33
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And now, my closing events. In: War of Souls I place a new event: Royal Celebration. This happens after all the (current) events. The Emperor has found love, and a beautiful new child! After marrying the lovely and kind Monika De Leave of Legrau, his wife gives birth to his son, Gaius. This is a cause for a grand celebration, even in a tense situation. In that Event, I place a Scene: Bedtime Story Tiberius reads a story to his young child, telling him of the founding of his kingdom, of it's first Emperor, and his great victory over a demon. --------------------------------- "Long ago, there was a beautiful, varied land. It had rivers, and mountains, valleys and plains. It was endowed with a natural beauty that was said to have come from the Lord of the Wilds, Megani, himself. And there, a man named Magnus Rex planted a flag and decreed: 'I declare this land the new Empire of... Naturae! I dub it for it's natural beauty, and for the natural right of me to rule it!' He spent several decades building a grand land, but then a strange tale came from the north parts of the small empire came in-a dark beast, clothed in blood and fangs. It could be nothing but a servant of Daemonius-indeed, as the emperor rode to his cave, he re-read his holy books, and with the descriptions in the Book of Enemies, discovered his true name and purpose. 'Fenrichter, Beast of the Moon! Dark Binder of Wrath! I call on the name of the Lord of the Wilds, Megani, and the Great Wyrm Sanctus! Go back, to the hell you spawned from!' The beast growled, and then spoke. 'What use has a eternal demon have for a mortal ruler's words?' Magnus drew his sword, and held his holy book in his off hand. 'This is my final warning, you craven beast. Return to the evil from whence you came, or else feel the anger of all that you have slain!' Fenrichter charged Magnus, and he trust his blade at his chest, piercing what would be the beast's heart. 'And the Eternal Wyrm spoke: "All that would harm my children, all evil beasts of the soil and sky and sea, are fated to return to the void. But those that ally with men, who provide them and are provided with in return, will have my blessing."' And the beast died, and turned to ash. And the Emperor's sword glowed with a holy light, and it was named: The Shining Sword, "Draco-Scriptir", which means: "Dragon's Fang". And the Empire grew, like a flower in the sun under the holy light of the Eternal Wyrm..." Tiberius shut the history book and stored it on a shelf, before moving his hand onto Gaius's head. The boy was barely yet a year old, and all he could say was "Mama" and "Papa", but Tiberius knew-or at least, hoped-he would have his strength-Magnus's strength. And then, he left the room, heading to his own chambers.
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Dec 12, 2018 04:20
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| # ? Jun 2, 2024 07:39 |
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Now accepting applications for next Lens, those eligible are me, Carnival and any new player. In the meantime, it's time for Banana Man to address a Legacy, as they were the previous Lens.
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Dec 12, 2018 17:48
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