GuyYouMetOnline

[color=darkred]Things were not going as planned. Tesera had managed to escape from him yet again. How she did it was a mystery. How could a mere human escape one such as him? And she'd done it not once, but twice! She'd had the aid of a dragon the first time, but then she'd had none but humans to aid her. There should have been nothing they could do, but then one of them had slowed him with death magic, and another had pulled the entire group underground.[/color] [color=#8b0000][/color] [color=#8b0000]In his anger, he was tempted to lay waste to the human city, but he was able to restrain himself. The last thing he needed right now was the outrage that such an action would cause, outrage that would come not only from humans, but from dragons, as well. Even many of those who remained loyal to their kind would dislike such destruction. No, he would allow the city to remain standing for now. As the remaining dragons dearted the area, he made one last inspectionto ensure that he had not been fooled by the humans, then returned to his own lair. Something would have to be done about Tesera, but for now she would continue to live.[/color] [color=#8b0000][/color] [color=#8b0000][/color] Eso led the group through the tunnels, hoping that he was indeed leading them towards an exit. He didn't know anything about the layout of the catacombs, and he didn't know a single person who did. However, he could feel the passegeways was hollow spots in the ground, and he had a pretty good idea of where a nearby exit was. And he was corrrect. The route he'd chosen did indeed lead to an exit. The group was relelieved as they emerged from the catacombs. The day had gone crazy on them, but that was over now. Looking at the sky, they could see no dragons. Things seemed to have calmed down. There would be no more danger from the skies. Eso, however, knew that they weren't necesssarily out of danger. After all, dragons hadn't been the only ones after them. Eso was right to assume that there was still danger, for he quickly spotted a group of armed men. They looked like they'd joined each other after the battle calmed down and were trying to escape from the city without being noticed by the soldiers. Sheer bad luck had placed Eso and the others in their path. The men say Eso's group, of course, and they recognised Tesera. Eso drew his sword. "This isn't over yet," he told the others. "It looks like we have one more battle to fight." ------------------------------------------------- OOC: This one's a larger group, not just a couple people. Oh, nobody end the battle, please. You can have some of the attackers die, but leave at least a couple of them alive.

Reiku has given me permission to use a character I've used in multiple previous RPGs. Some of you may remember him. Important information from those previous RPGs is included in the bio. Name: Rorohiko Alkarlo Age: 17 Gender: Male Appearance: Rorohiko is well over 6 ft. tall. He's muscular, but not what one would call thin. This, hwever, has nothing to do with fatness. He's just a big guy, and a very imposing figure. He has a large scar on his left arm, though it's on his upper arm, and so is covered by his shirt. Personality: Rorohiko is smart, and he's a quick thinker, a combination that's probably the sole reason he's still alive. His experiences have hardened him, and he can seem very cold at times. This, however, is misleading, as Rorohiko is in no way an uncaring individual. In particular, he has a deep affection for his Absol, which has been with him since he was 11. Bio: Rorohiko's story started when he was only nine years old. His parents were watching the news, and the reporter was in Lavaridge (comftorably distant from their home in Lilycove, where Rorohiko was born and had lived all his life), where an earthquake had occurred earlier that day. The reporter mentioned that many people had evacuated the city ahead of time, even though there was no warning. Apparently, several people had seen an Absol, and had taken that as a sign of impending danger. The reporter gave a brief overview of Absol, emphasizing the fact that Absol are usually only seen by humans before a natural disaster hits the area. Rorohiko heard that part, and was facinated by Absol. Such childhood facinations usually fade, but Rorohiko's did not. As a result, when his sister, a very skilled Trainer named Katrina (I named her that when I first used Rorohiko a year or two ago, so shut up), encountered an Absol durring her travels, she caught it and gave it to her brother as a gift. Rorohiko was quick to bond with the Absol. Eventualy, he even learned to understand its speach. This particular skill is one that doesn't apply to any other Pokemon, not even another Absol. A few years after Katrina gave him the Absol, Rorohiko left home to pursue his goal: discovering why wild Absol behave the way the do.His first breakthrough came early, when he prooved a connection between the disaster thing and the Pressure phenomenon, which resulted in a Pokemon battling an Absol to tire out twice as fast (Pressure is Absol's ability in the games, and it doubles the foe's PP usage. That translates into an RPG as the opposing Pokemog tiring twice as quickly as usual). However, that discovery brought him no closer to his main goal. And as the efforts of other researchers to determine the reason for a wild Absol's behavior, their research and experiments, had borne no results, Rorohiko chose a different method. Instead of conducting experiments in a laboratory, he wandered around the world, searching for anything that would bring him closer to an answer. Though he encountered many wild Pokemon, he captured none. He had Absol, and that was enough for him. Absol was enough to handle any wild Pokemon Rorohiko enountered, and as a rsult of all the battle experience, it has become quite powerful. Durring his travels, he encountered a man named Victor Trolmont. Victor Trolmont was a member of a religious cult. He approached Rorohiko as a man trying to save Rorohiko's soul, which he believed would be damned if Rorohiko kept searching for the answers he sought. One of the cult's beliefs is that certain Pokemon were created by Saten to aid in the destruction of the world, and Absol is on that list. Predictably, Rorohiko did not agree with Victor Trolmont. In fact, he ended up beating the living s&*t out of the man. Since then, he's encountered Trolmont and the cult more than once. Rorohiko's travels took him all over the world. He started in Hoenn, but he didn't stay there. He went all over, to far-off lands like Jhoto, Kanto, and even the Orange Islands. He would often return to areas he had visited previously, following whatever leads he could find. He eventually found his answer, a previously undiscovered legendary Pokemon called Erivel. Erivel was a very powerful Dark/Psychic-type with the power to create and control natural disasters, and heturned out to be the ancestor of Absol. Absol's disaster thing is a result of that ancestry. Mystery solved? Not quite. There was still one question left, and though it seemed a minor detail, it was very important. Rorohiko, the one who'd prooven the connection bettween the disaster thing and the Pressure phenomenon, had discovered Erivel, the source of Absol's tendancy to appear before a natural disaster struck. But Erivel did not exhibit the Pressure phenomenon, which seemed to discredit Rorohiko's earlier discovey. Rorohiko knew there was an answer somewhere, but his time with Erivel had been too brief for him to get any answers from that source. So Rorohiko began a new search. With the aid of a girl named Rin, Rorohiko was able to locate another previously unknown legendary Pokemon, Ekratrel. Ekretrel, like Erivel, is a very powerful Dark/Psychic-type. She was Erivel's mate, and though she has none of Erivel's disaster powers, she does exhibit the Pressure phenomenon. Ekratrel was the answer to Rorohiko's only remaining question. He had his answers, and as a bonus, Ekratrel remained with him, the only Pokemon besides Absol that Rorohiko's ever had. Legendary Poemon: Ekratrel Other Pokemon: Absol Information about Ekratrel: Ekratrel's appearance is very similar to Absol's. She's larger, and her body, instead of being pure white like Absol's, has black lines running along it. Other than that, she looks like an Absol. Ekratrel is a Dark/Psychic-type, a type combination that has only one real weakness, and that's to Bug-types. Ekratrel is very powerful, even for a legendary. She's not quite as strong as, say, Mewtwo (or her mate Erivel, for that matter), but she's still extremely powerful (and due to her type advantage, she could probably defeat a Mewtwo in battle without too much trouble). She has the ability to communicate psychicly with humans, an ability that many legendaries possess. Though Ekratrel does not have the disaster powers of her mate, she can use the full set of 'disaster' moves (Earthquake, Whirlpool, Whirlwind, etc.). Her other moves are a varied set, allowing her to exploit many type weaknesses. Many of her moves are Dark- or Psychic-type, of course, but those are far from the only move types she can use. Her own type weakness is comensated for by her Fire-type moves, though she still excersizes caution when fighting Bug-types. Well, that's everything, I think. Tell me if I need to make any changes, Reiku.

What Eso was about to do was extremly risky. Sure, it would save them from the immediate danger, but what would happen next? Eso didn't know, but he did know that he didn't have a choice. it was the only thing he could think of to escape from that dragon. He'd almost had to do it while still in the city, but thanks to Ashwin, the group had had enough time to get out before the dragon cought up with them. It would be able to clearly see what happened, and would know that they weren't in the city. There was still the possibility that it would go into a rage, but that was a chance Eso had to take. The dragon was closing fast, but it was too late. The group had made it to the right spot. "Brace yourselves!" Eso shouted. He used his earth powers to collapse the ground underneath the group, sending them tumbling into an underground tunnel. They were all extremly confused, but Eso managed to get they to move away from the opening. He then collapsed another section of the celing, sealing them inside the tunnel. "What did you do?" Nait asked Eso. "What I had to," Eso replied. "As you may know, there's a large network of catacombs underneath Alsoto. Nobody knows who originally made the catacombs, but they're here nontheless. I had to bring us down here to escape from that dragon, but I didn't wanted to do it in the city because ofo the risk that the dragon would go crazy and destroy the city. There's still that risk, but it's a much lesser risk now, and I don't believe that it will happpen." "And how did you get us down here?" Alno'dra wanted to know. "I'm an earth elementalist. I waited until we were over one of the tunnels, which I could sense by the absence of dirt, then I collapsed the celing. I had to trap us in here to block the dragon, but we're not stuck down here for good. There are exits, and I think I know where one is." "Why didn't you use you power when those men were chasing us?" Tesera asked. "Because the dragon hadn't seen us then," Eso explained, "and I didn't want to risk attracting its attention. We needed as much time as we could get to escape the city. Now, enough talk. Nait, if you want to heal us up a bit, now's the time. After that, we get moving. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be down here any longer than I need to."

"Took you long enough," Eso said when Tesera returned. "I thought I went quqickly," Tesera replied. "Well, we don't exactly have a lot of time. That dragon's been at the other side of the city for a while, but now it's headed in this direction. It won't be too long before the thing finds us." "Can't we just hide somewhere?" Nait asked. Eso shook his head. "No. That won't work. Sure, the thing wouldn't be able to see us, but I'm thinking it'll get tired of looking very soon." "And what happens then?" James wanted to know. "Things will burn," Eso said. "If we're still in the city, we die. We don't exactly have a lot of time here. We need to get out, and fast." The group started moving. Tesera, who was clearly exhausted, had to be helped along by Ashwin. Eso was tiring out as well, but he'd been trained to push himself to the limits of his endurance, so he could take it. He was keeping an eye on the huge dragon. As the arial battle came to an end, many of the survivors seemed to join the large dragon in its hunt. One of those dragons flew directly over the group, its gaze turned downwards in its search. It saw the humans, and let out a roar. Eso quickly glanced at where the large dragon was. It was heading right for them. "Time's up!" he shouted. "[i]Move[/i]!"

[color=#8b0000]Tesera was prooving more difficult to eliminate than he had expected. Everything else had gone according to plan, however. The traitors were dying, and their deaths far outnumbered those of dragons still loyal to their race. But the human Tesera still lived, and this was intolerable. He would not allow her to escape the city alive. Unfortunatly, he'd lost track of her after killing the dragon she'd been riding, and he hadn't been able to find her again. But he would, eventually.[/color] [color=#8b0000]The battle in the air would not last much longer, he knew. Most of the traitors were already dead, and those that weren't soon would be. Some were foolish enough to attack him. He killed the ones that chose to attack him, but aside from that, he did not involve himself in the battle. He was occupied by the search for Tesera, and when he found her, she would die. She had escaped once through pure luck, but that would not happen again.[/color] [color=#8b0000][/color] [color=#8b0000][/color] Eso and Tesera ducked behind a pile of rubble as three armed men walked past, and this wasn't the first time they'd done so. Eso was feeling more confident now. For the first time since the dragons starting fighting, he was in a situation he understood. He knew the odds of surviving were not good, but at least he knew how to play this particular game. "How many of them are there?" Tesera asked as soon as the men were out of sight. "I don't know," Eso told her as the two of them started moving again. "Certainly more than I would expect." "More than you would expect?" "We've seen quite a few men so far. Now, this is a big city, and nobody has any way of knowing where in it we are. So they'll be spread out, searching the city for us. Think about what that means. We've only seen a fraction of the number likely to be looking for us. Which means this is a lot more than just somebody wanting you dead." "What do you mean?" "This is too much to just kill one person," Eso explained. "Nobody sends this many people to kill one person. And then there's the coincedince of timing. The first attempt to kill you occurred just as the dragons strated fighting." "You think this has something to do with the dragons?" Eso nodded. "I've never believed in coincedences. Whatever caused the dragons to go nuts like that may have something to do with all these people trying to kill you." "What about the dragons?" Tesera asked. "Why are they fighting?" "I don't know," Eso replied. "I just don't know." Eso spotted a trio of swordsmen heading towards him and Tesera. "Damn," he swore. "These ones see us. Move it!" Eso and Tesera turned and ran. Eventually, Eso pulled Tesera down a side street and behind someone's house. "This is carzy!" he said. "We can't go two minutes without having to run from somebody! Unless we stumble across someone willing to help us, I don't think we'll make it out of here alive."

Eso knew Tesera was upset by Dryoga's death, but there wasn't anything that either of them could do about it. The only option was to keep moving, and when Tesera had not done so, Eso had no choice but to carry her, so he picked her up after retrieving his sword. After a while, he was able to put her down, and she kept up with him. Eventually, she did tire out, so the two of them ducked into a nearby tavern. It was empty, probably beause everyone was running out of the city. Eso walked over to the window and looked out. He quickly spotted the large dragon that had attacked him and Tesera. It was not getting itself involved in the arial melee. "I think it's looking for us," Eso told Tesera, "and based on what just happened, I'd say we don't have a chance in hell of surviving if it finds us." "That's probably true. I've never seen a dragon that large before! Nobody has, not for centuries. Why's this one here?" "I don'k know. How rare are dragons of that size?" "Very rare," Tesera replied. "Most don't survive long enough to grow to that size. See, dragons can live for a very long time. Nobody knows just how long they can live for, but it's believed to be thousands of years. However, it's rare for a dragon to survive for longer than a few hundred. Something's usually killed them by that time." "So this particular dragon is older than most," Eso said. "How old do you think it is?" "I'm not sure. Nobody's ever seen a dragon that large for centuries, so I don't know, but old. In the thousands, certainly." "What's that mean in terms of how powerful it is?" "A dragon's size and power grow with age," Tesera explained. "As a dragon ages, it continues to grow in size. As it grows larger, it becomes physically stronger, and the hide of a larger dragon is usually much more difficult to penetrate. Also, the older and larger a dragon is, the stronger its natural abilities." "Natural abilities?" "You know, like the fire breath. Also, larger dragons tend to be faster in the air, though usually not as agile as smaller ones. That one that came after us was more agile than dragons of that size should be, but it still had the speed one would expect a dragon of that size to have." "And what about a dragon's power?" Eso asked. "Most dragons have some kind of magical power, frequently elemental powers of the same type as the dragon. An ice dragon would have elemental powers of ice, while a fire dragon's would be powers of fire. Of course, dragons can have all kinds of magical abilities. Some have healing powers, some are skilled with illusions, and on and on. The oldest dragons to ever live all had command over multiple forms of magic. That's how they survived for so long. The dragon who attcked us may very well have multiple forms of magical power. Andas a dragon's power grows with age, it's magic will be very powerful." Just then, someone opened the door of the tavern. Eso immediatly drew his sword, then relaxed when he recognized the person who stepped through the door. "Jaht! What are you doing here?" "Finding a calm spot to rest," Jaht replied. "Things hae been extremly crazy. I assume you're in here for the same reason I am." "Tesera needed to rest, so we ducked in here. What's been going on/ I lost track of the situation on the ground as soon as I got on that dragon with Tesera" "Understandable," Jaht said. "I'd have been distracted, too. Anyways, the city is now more or less evacuated. Everyone's paniking, and we've had several fights break out. If this doesn't end soon, there'll be problems. Any idea what's going on?" he asked Tesera. "No. I don't know what happened." "Neither do I," Eso said, "but something tells me that that huge dragon Tesera and I were attacked by has something to do with it." "Okay, so what's our next move?" "We need to get Tesera out of the city," Eso told him. "That dragon's not the only one who's tried to kill her. There've been two humans so far who've tried to kill her, and I'd bet there are more where they came from." As if on cue, the tavern door burst open and two men entered, swords drawn. "I knew I heard voices in here," one of them said. "And wouldn't you know it! There she is, right there. Do you have an idea how much trouble we've gone through to find you, bitch?" "Jaht, take care of them!" Eso ordered. He grabbed Tesera as Jaht drew his sword and faced the two men. Eso led Tesera out the back of the tavern. "Will he be all right?" Tesera asked. "Of course. There were only two of them, and Jaht's very good with a sword. He'll be fine. Now, we need to get out of here before that dragon finds us. Let's move."

[color=darkred]Things were not quite proceeding according to plan, but it could have been much worse. So far, the only problem was Tesera's continued survival. She was supposed to be killed before the dragons fought, but she had not died. He would have known if she had. Fortunatly, she had not had the sense to leave Alsoto. He would still have his victory. He would just have to do it himself.[/color] Eso had given up on trying to figure out what was going on a while ago. First, there was Tesera's unexpected appearance, and her calling the dragons to the city. Then all hell had broken lose. Eso had tried to get Tesera to saftey, but before he knew it, she was gone. Then she showed up on the back of a dragon, and Eso found himself riding the dragon with her. Eso tried to keep an eye out for trouble, but so much was going on around him that it wasn't easy to do so. Despite this, he was able to spot something approaching the city.As it drew closer, he was able to make it out. It was a dragon. He pointed it out to Tesera. "Looks like a big one," Tesera observed. "But what's it doing?" "I don't know," Eso replied, "but I've got a bad feeling about this." As the dragon approached the city, it quickly became clear that it was coming right for Dryoga. Dryoga flew a complex path through the fighting dragons,attempting to lose the pursuer. Unfortunatly, it didn't work. The dragon was surprisingly quick and agile for its size, and was able to keep up with Dryoga. Dryoga had no choice but to turn and face his opponent.

The initial appearance of the dragons had frightened many, although those who'd recognized Tesera and knew her reputation were less frightened then the ones who didn't. But even they began to calm down as time passed and people realized that the dragons weren't attacking them. "Damn," Eso said as he watched the dragons. "How the hell did she manage to pull this off?" "What about that jewel?" Jaht wondered. "People say it gives her the power to controll dragons." "Yeah, I've heard that," Azufe replied, "and it's clearly a bunch of shit. The jewel is unusual, so people point to it as the sorce of Tesera's supposed power. I don't know how she does what she does, but I don't believe it's any sort of special power." Eso managed to lok away from the spectacle above. "We're on duty," he reminded the others. "We should be paying attention to the crowd, not the dragons." But it was hard for them to force themselves to look away, and Eso knew that it hadn't exactly been easy for him to do so. But he had a job to do, and the disipline to force himself to do it. While scanning the crowd, Eso noticed someone on top of a nearby house. The man was armed with a bow. Eso hit Sako lighty to get his attention, then pointed out the man on the roof to him. The man seemed to be aiming at Tesera. "Take him out," Eso told Sako. Sako, who was an archer, quickly drew his bow and shot an arrow at the man. His arrow landed right in the man's chest. Eso started to scan the other rooftops for any other archers, but before he could, something splattered on the ground. A couple drops landed on Eso. He didn't know what it was, but it kept falling. Eso looked up, just in time to throw himself out of the way as a pair of dragons came crashing down. The two dragons were locked in a mortal struggle with each other. Eso watched their battle, both facinated and horrified at the same time. It didn't take long for one to finish off the other. By that time, people had started panicking, but Eso didn't think it would last, as the struggle had ended. Then more blood hit the ground, and Eso looked up again. "Holy shit!" The battle hadn't been limited to the one pair. The arial show had turned into an arial free-for-all. People were screaming and running, while others seemed to scared to move. Then Eso saw Tesera. She was still on stage, and still playing her flute. She had her eyes closed, and Eso realized she didn't know what was happening. And then, as if things couldn't get any worse, he saw another man with a bow on one of the rooftops, aiming for Tesera just like the first one had been. Eso jumped onto the stage. He ran towards Tesera, tackling her off the stage just as the arrow flew overhead. The two of them picked themselves of the ground. "What did you do that for?" Tesera demanded to know. Eso didn't say anything. Instead, he simply pointed up. Tesera looked up, seeing for herself just what was going on. "What is this? My God! What are they doing? [i]Why are they killing eachother[/i]?!" "I don't know," Eso said, "but that's not your only problem. Two people have already tried to kill you, and there may be more. You need to get out of here." Eso led her over to Sako and the others. "We need to get Tesera out of here," he told them. "Sako, keep an eye out for archers. Let's move."

Eso was up early the next morning. He had to, because he was on the morning shift. So was Azufe, though Jaht had the luxury of sleeping in. Of course, he wouldn't sleep too late, as he didn't want to miss the mystery performer. Eso quickly located Azufe, who was conversing with Sako, another soldier. They both looked up as Eso approached "Hey, Eso," Sako said. "Haven't seen you in a while." "I know," Eso replied. "And good morning to you, Azufe." "Morning. Anyways, Sako, you were saying?" Sako looked at Eso. "I was just telling Azufe what happened last night. Apparently, someone broke into one of the guard towers." "What?!" "I know. I was shocked, to. Anyways, they think it's a theif they were after earlier. Everything they'd taken from his room was stolen, along with a few other things. I don't know how the guy tinks he'll get away with it. Probably hasn't figured out that they put tracking spells on the valuables. This guy's good, though. Apparently, he's been evading pursuit all night." "He must be something," Eso agreed. "Yeah, but he won't last much longer. Kajo and Daego are going after him." "Damn," Azufe said. "This guy must be something special if they've sent both Kajo and Daego after him. But you're right, Sako. No matter how good he is, he doesn't stand a chance with those two after him. He [i]might[/i] be able to get away if he leaves the goods behind, because then the mages wouldn't be able to locate him, but Kajo and Daego could probably track him down even without the mages' help." Sako nodded. "Quite likely. Anyways, we have a job to do, and we should start doing it. I'll see you later." So far, the morning had been uneventful, but Eso knew that that was about to change. At 10:00, just a few minutes from now, the mystery performer would take center stage and do... well, whatever he/she was going to do. Once the stage this person intended to use was known, everybody was crowding around it. Eso, Sako, and Azufe were right by the stage. [i]One of the benifits of being on duty,[/i] Eso thought. [i]You can tell people to get out of your way, and they have to do so.[/i] Before long, the three of them were joined by Jaht, who'd managed to make his way through the crowd. "Hey, guys," he said. "Any sign of the mystery performer yet?" "Not yet," Sako replied, "but whoever it is should be onstage any second now." Just then, somebody walked onstage. Whoever it was was wearing a cloak. The person was holdng a flute. "What the hell?" Jaht said. "Is that Shian?" Eso remembered Jaht telling him about Shian. "The woman you saw yesterday?" Jaht nodded. "Yeah, that's her. her flute looks different this time, though. That jewel or whatever it is she's got attached to it wasn't there yesterday." Just then, the woman onstage removed her cloak. "Holy shit!" Eso exclaimed. "Who is that?" Sako asked. "Who is that? That's Tesera Shilu!" "[i]What[/i]?!" Eso shared Sako's shock, as did pretty much everybody in the audience. Almost all of them had heard of her, and many knew what she looked like. She'd made quite a name for herself by doing what some considered impossible. Many thought she had special powers. "Whatever's about to happen will undoubtably be like nothing we've ever seen," Eso said. "Yeah," Jaht agreed. "And you said we wouldn't see any dragons." ---------------------------------------------- OOC: Sakura, take it away.

As the sun set, the evening performances began. They were typically of a higher quality than the afternoon ones, and so drew larger crowds. The famous acting troups preferred evening performances, so they would take to the stages as the sun set. The plays varied in style, from uproarous comedies to emotional romances to tear-jerking tragedies. All were very good, assuming you enjoyed the genre. Eso and Jaht preferred the comedies, but Azufe was one for romance, so he went off to join some other friends of his. He'd watch the emotional plays he enjoyed, while Eso and Jaht would find the funniest show they could. After comeing across a particularly good-looking performance, Eso and Jaht sat down. "I saw an odd woman earlier today," Jaht remarked as he and Eso awaited the beginning of the play. "She was playing the flute. I was walking by that particular stage when she was playing. She was damn good, especially for an afternoon performer. But she never took her cloak off. Nobody saw what she looks like. Before she played, I'd have picked her as a prime candidate for the mystery performer, but we won't be seeing that person until tomorrow. Besides, she was just a fluteist, though a good one. Nothing special." "Well, it's like Azufe and I keep telling you," Eso replied. "We'll find out who this mystery performer is tomorrrow." "Okay, that was good," Jaht remarked as he and Eso walked away from the stage after the play had finished. "Especially that scene with the gravedigger and the hangman." "I lked the part with the horse better," Eso said. "Oh, and the bit with the hunter in the tavern." "That was classic," Jaht agreed, laughing. "It'd hurt like hell if anyone actually did that to you, but it was funny to watch." After discussing the play for a couple minutes, Jaht said, "I think I'll grab a beer or two, then find another play to watch. Care to join me?" Eso shook his head. "I'm going to head home and try to get some sleep. Remember, I've got to be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow." "That's right, you have the morning shift tomorrow. Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then." "Probably. Good night." And with that, Eso walked away. He soon came to his house. Upon entering, he made a quick inspection. Satesfied that nothing was missing, he put his things up and lay down on the matress. He didn't want to be tired tomorrow morning, as it was sure to be a busy day.

As afternoon turned to evening, people began to gather at the various stages set up throughout the city. Durring the afternoon, they'd been wandering around the city, looking in various shops, ducking into taverns for quick drinks, or just generally wandering. Some had watched the afternoon performances, but most people elected to pass. The evening performances, however, drew a lot more attention, being of a generally higher quality. Eso's shift was coming to an end, and he was glad. He'd had a busy day. As the day had worn on, reports of theft had started to come in. Eso had anticipated this. It was normally a couple hours after the festival started that the first theft reports came in. There would be more and more throughout the day. And while it was impossible to completly stop the problem, there were established routines for dealing with thieves. As people entered the city, they were inspected by the soldiers, who identified items that would attract thieves. Mages would place tracking spells on these items, enabling them to determine the exact locations of said items. The owners of these items were marked in the spell, as well. When an item was reported as stolen, a mage would examine the person for any such spell-marks. If there were any, the mage would draw upon them to determine the location of the item in question. Then, someone was sent to retrive it and bring the hief in. It wasn't a perfect system, but it was the best one anybody'd come up with so far, and it worked very well. But it ment that soldiers like Eso had their work cut out for them, as they were almost always involved in the retreval process. Eso'd been runing around the city all afternoon, chaseing after thieves. There was still work to do, but Eso was off the hook, at least until tomorrow morning. For now, Eso and some friends of his, Jaht and Azufe among them, intended to relax and enjoy the evening's performances before heading home for the night. "Man, I'm exhausted," Azufe remarked as he walked with Eso and Jaht towards one of the stages. "I've been running after thieves all afternoon." "Me, too," Eso said. "I'm glad I'm off duty. Another hour and I'd have collapsed." "You wouldn't have collapsed," Jaht replied. "As for me, well, I'd have passed out on the spot." "Well, we can sit back and relax now," Eso said. "Until morning, at least," Jaht said. "Anyways, I don't suppose you've learned anything new about this mystery performer?" He smiled. Azufe looked at Eso for about half a second, then punched Jaht in the stomach. It wasn't a hard punch, but it still had Jaht doubled over. Azufe and Eso waited for him to recover, then the three of them resumed walking, Jaht staring angrily at Azufe. Eso couldn't help laughing. [i]I love those two.[/i]

You;re in, Outlaw. I'm going to close sign-ups. If you still want to join, PM me, and we can try to work something out.

"There are too many of us for that, dumb-s#!t," Liquid said to Arachnid as she shot one of the wolf-creatures in the head. "Plus, we don't want to tire Sakura out like that. Don't worry, we'll get there eventually." "Only if we don't die first," Arachnid replied. "You shouldn't worry. You're safe in the tree with Era." Arachnid said something in reply, but Liquid ignored him. She was in the middle of a battle, and couldn't afford to be distracted. Besides, she'd just had an idea. Animals were driven by instinct, and that fact could be exploited. While these were certainly not normal animals, and while it was certainly possible that they were intelligent, it was quite likely that they were still at least partially instinct-driven. Liquid decided to chance it. Liquid picked out the largest of the wolf-creatures and shot at it, deliberately missing. The shot caught its attention, and it charged at her. Instead of shooting it, she dodged to the side, then grabbed the beast and swung herself up onto its back. She shot the creature in the ***, and it took off. "Don't wait for me! Keep going, and I'll find you!" she shouted to the others as the wolf-creature she was riding ran off, followed by many of the others. Liquid's gamble had paid off. Her move had drawn quite a few of the wolf-creatures away from the others. Kaida and the rest shouldn't have too much trouble dealing with the ones that had remained. Laqara, on the other hand, had her work cut out for her. In clear weather, she wouldn't have made the attempt, but the heavy rain augmented her abilities significantly. It would still be dangerous, but Liquid wasn't afraid to take risks. Besides, she was expendable. Era had to be kept alive, because only she could get them home. The rest of them didn't necessarily need to survive. Liquid went for as long as she thought she could before jumping off the wolf-creature. As soon as she landed, a trio of the wolf-creatures came at her in a formation that gave her only one option. She vaulted herself onto the back of one of the wolf-creatures. Things continued in this manner for a while before Liquid realized what was going on. [i]They want me to do this. They're herding me along, leading me somewhere. Probably somewhere I don't want to go.[/i] She looked up, and saw that she was being taken towards the fortress, which she was now pretty close to. Liquid leapt off the wolf-creature she was on, shooting it in the head as she did so. When the wolf-creatures charged, she vaulted onto one as usual, but this time she didn't stay on it. She lept off the creature, using it as a stepping stool. She grabbed onto a tree branch and managed topull herself up. They attacked the tree, tearing through it in an attempt to knock it over. Liquid was able to kill a few of them before she had to abandon the tree. She jumped down, landing on one of the creatures. She shot it, then jumped to the ground. She was readying herself for another charge when the surviving wolf-creatures withdrew. Even so, she wasn't ready to relax just yet. And she was right to remain alert, for as soon as they'd withdrawn, someone put a gun to the back of her head. Liquid didn't give the person time to say anything. Before the person could react, she dropped to the ground and kicked the persons legs out from underneath him or her. She spun around and kicked the person's-a man, she saw-gun out of his hand. Then she saw a second person, also armed. She shifted to a liquid state, moving very quickly towards the new attacker. Before he new what was coming, Liquid was on top of him, in her normal state again. The man threw his gun as far away as he could, thus preventing Liquid from taking it. By this time, the first man had gotten to his feet. Not wanting to waste time looking for his gun, he picked up Liquid's, which she had dropped, being unable to hold it while in her liquid state. The man pointed the gun at Liquid. "Freeze, ******" Liquid froze. The man gestured for her to stand up. She did so, allowing the second man to get to his feet. Liquid had her first chance to get a good look at either man. She faced the man with the gun. She recognised him quickly. She'd know that man anywhere. "Kajo." Kajo smiled. "Hello, Laqara. It's been awhile. Surprised to see me?" "No s&^t, Sherlock. Who the hell's your friend?" "Take a look for yourself. You should recognize him." Liquid did indeed recognize the other man. He'd died before she was born, but she'd seen pictures. She knew who this was, and it shocked her even more than Kajo's presence had. The man was Branit Solero. Her father. ------------------------------------------- OOC: Liquid's going to be apart from the group for a bit. I've got stuff I want to have happen to her before she does, so please don't have her rejoin the group. Let me do that, please. Oh, and remember that she told the group not to wait for her.

All right, I think everyone's good. The RPG is now up in the Adventure Square, so go ahead and post. I'll leave sign-ups open for a little bit longer, so there's still time if you want to join.

[i]Only two hours in, and we've already had a stage almost get burned to the ground,[/i] Eso thought. [i]It's going to be a long day.[/i] The Festival of Life had begun at precisely 12:00 noon, two hours earlier, and what looked like half the population of the world had flooded into Alsoto. The half-our opening ceremony had been spectacular, as usual. Afterwards, everyone had dispersed throughout the city. Several small performances would be occuring throughout the day, but nothing special. The really impressive ones would be saved for the evening hours. As a result, there usually wasn't much to see in the early afternoon. Which is why a certain event durring one play got a lot of attention. Eso hadn't been paying attention to the play itself. He'd been doing his job, and only chance had placed him by that particular stage at that particular time. One of the actors had dropped a lantern. The lantern was a prop. The actor was supposedly using it to light up a dark cellar, and for that reason is was lit, even though the sun was still high in the sky. He'd dropped the lit lantern onto a wooden stage. The actors had bolted off the stage immediatly, but most of their props and equipment were in danger. Fortunatly, a water elementalist had been in the audience. Otherwise, the stage would have burned down before anybody could have put out the fire. In the end, there hadn't been much damage to anything but the stage, and the stage could be repaired quickly. Eso had moved on. Eso was currently reviewing emergency plans with a few other soldiers. They were sitting at a table with a map of Alsoto spread out on it, modified to show everything that was there specifically for the Festival of Life. "Basically," Eso said, "things are set up so we can direct the people into three different areas. If people start panicing, we have men positioned so as to herd the people into the three areas." He pointed them out on the map. "Easier to deal with than if everyone's just running in random directions." "Yeah, and easier for somebody to kill everyone, too," one of the other soldiers, Jaht, remarked. "If that happens, then we'll all be dead already," Azufe, another soldier, replied. "The only ones who could pose that king of a threat are mages, and we've got mages of our own to couner them. Seriously, wasn't all this explained to you?" "I didn't pay attention. Anyways, so we've got a way to deal with mages. What the hell do we do if a dragon decides it wants a meal?" "It's unlikely that we'll see any dragons," Eso said. "Yes, they've been attacking merchants lately, but never any cities or towns. However, that didn't stop the commanders from planning for a dragon attack. Basically, most of us wouldn't stand a chance against a dragon. Magic-users of any kind are supposed to battle the dragon while everyone else herds people [i]away[/i] from the three gathering areas. If a dragon attacks, the last thing we want is for everyone to be crowded together. We'll let them scatter. There'll probably be fewer deaths that way. Of course,, I wouldn't worry about it if I were you." "I know, I know. I'm a bit paranoid, okay?" Eso nodded. "Understandable. Anyways, we need to get back on patrol." Azufe took the map, which was his. "Any idea who this mystery performer is?" Jaht asked as they all stood up. Eso sighed. "How many times do you have to here it, Jaht? Nobody knows who this person is. The only thing anybody knows is that this person will be performing tomorrow. We'll all have to wait until then to find out. Now, we need to get back to work." "Yes," Azufe agreed. "See you later." And with that, they all went their seperate ways, patroling the area and alert for any signs of trouble. ---------------------------------------------------------- OOC: All right, here we go. The festival is underway. For now, just have your characters be enjoying the festival, or whatever. And of course, have fun.

Well, depends on the specifics. I won't just join any Dogomon RPG that I see. I don't want something that feels like there wasn't a whole lot of thought put into it. Also, I won't join anything that's just anther basic Digimon RPG. I want something interesting. Obviously, the human-Digimon partnership thing has to stay the same, but other things can be different (for example, I once tried a Digimon RPG about a seccret government organization that conducted research on Digimon and the Digital World). One that's just the same as other Digimon RPGs simply won't grab my intrest. Now, if you need help making the RPG, feel free to ask me. I'd be happy to assist.

rokas, you're good. ghostchick, your character is too young. Remember, underage (younger than 18) people aren't going to be on their own. For the character you have, I'd recommend having her be at least 25. I'm going to start the RPG now. Sign-ups will remain open, so feel free to join if you haven't yet done so.

I think that rank should be seperate from everything else. I like the idea of using the names of metals to indicate rank, but do not use elements. Element should determine abilities, not rank. Also, for the class of human characters, don't limit people's choices. It's fine to give a few examples, but let people make up their own classes if they want to. You'll never think of everything, so let other people come up with their own ideas. Also, your backstory seemed rushed. It gave the impression that the races suddenly decided to declare war. That just doesn't make much sense. You should rewrite it to make it feel like the decleration is the end result, not an instantanious decision. Present the declaration as the end result of a process. Well, that's all I have to say.

Everyone looks good so far. Oh, the role of the mystery performer is no longer open. And no, I'm not going to tell you who got the role. You'll just have to wait and see for yourselves. Now, here's my sign-up: Name: Eso Kensajaq Age: 29 Gender: Male Apearance: At 6ft. 4in. in height, Eso is usually the tallest person around. He's in excellent shape,and it shows. He's a muscular man, which only adds to his overall image. Then there are the scars. He has several scars as a result of combat, and some are in rather... painful places. He's quite the intimidating sight. Class: Swordsman/Earth Elementalist Occupation: Soldier Personality: Eso makes an excellent soldier. He's strong, tough as hell, has quick reflexes, and absolutly refuses to quit. It doesn't matter how badly wounded he is; if he's physically able to keep going, he'll keep going. He simply refuses to quit. If he's up against a superior opponent, he won't rush headfirst into battle, but neither will he retreat. He's stubborn, but not a moron. He'll look for anything that can give him a chance. Only if there is absolutly no chance of success will he quit. Bio: Eso was raised in a sheltered environment. He and his family lived in a small village. His father, Kaeo, was the village blacksmith. When Eso was old enough, Kaeo began instructing him in the trade. Eso expected that, when the time came, he would take his father's place, but that never came to pass. When Eso was 19, the entire village was destroyed. Eso doesn't remember what happened. All he can remember is the village burning, and people dying. Only a few were lucky enough to survive. Eso was among the survivors; his parents were not. The surivors had to decide what to do next. Eventually, they'd all go their seperate ways, but for the time being, it would be best for them to stick together. They took everyting they could find in the ruins of the dstroyed village, then set off. Four days of travel brought them to Alsoto, where they parted ways. eso never saw any of them again. Eso was the only one of the survivors to remain in Alsoto. He was taken in as an assistant by a local blacksmith, but soon left. He just couldn't do it anymore, not after his father's death. And he had no other skills. He found the one occupation where they didn't expect you to be skilled when you first came. He became a soldier. It was durring Eso's training as a soldier that his powers as an earth elementalist first appeared. He was tols that this wasn't unusual; until then, there had been nothing to bring them out, except maybe the destruction of the village. Eso wondered if maybe that was how he survived, if he somehow used his power without knowing it. Such a thing wasn't unheard of, especially in life-threatening situations. The use of his powers was added to his instruction, and he is now able to fight with both weapon and his earth-based powers. Eso lives in Alsoto, and is no stranger to the Festival of Life. He's usually there as part of the security for the event, though there've been a couple where he wasn't on duty. This year, he is on duty, but he doesn't mind, though he is intriuged by this mystery performer. Of course, he'll be there for the performance anways, so there's really no problem. He just has to make sure not to give too much attention to the performer. After all, he's not there to watch the show. He's there to make sure the people stay safe.

[center][color=indigo]Welcome to the Festival of Life[/color][/center] [left][color=indigo]The Festival of Life is an annual three-day celebration held in the capital city of Alsoto. Nobody knows the origin of the Festival of Life, but that hasn't affected the celebration at all. As the name implies, the Festival of Life is a celebration of life itself. It's also an opportunity for people to enjoy themselves.[/color][/left] [left][color=magenta][color=indigo][/color][/color][/left] [left][color=magenta][color=indigo]Every year, the Festival of Life attracts talent from all across the [/color][/color][color=indigo]land. Artists will put their art on display. Acting troups will perform their latest plays. Bards will entertain the crowds with tales of heroism. There will be songs, dance, and basically every form of entertainment imaginable. Everything has a message, everything expresses in some way the importance of life, but that never gets in the way of entertainment.[/color][/left] [left][color=#4b0082]People come from everywhere to enjoy the Festival of Life. Many spend years saving up enough money to afford the journey. Each year, people fill the city, and even more set up camp outside, unable to find room at an inn but determined to experience the festival. This year, the city of Alsoto has spent weeks preparing for what could be the greatest Festival of Life of all time.[/color][/left] [left][color=#4b0082]Word has spread of an unknown person who will be performing in the festival. Nobody knows who this person is, but it's definatly someone special. Everybody wants to know just who this mystery performer is, and curiosity is drawing an unprecedented number of people to Alsoto.[/color][/left] [left][color=#4b0082]Security has always been an issue. With so many people in one place, many of them nobles or other weathy individuals, theft is a major concern, as is assination. Trained soldiers are everywhere, doing what they can to protect everyone at the festival. This year, there is an additional concern. Over the past couple of months, there have been multiple ocurances of dragons attacking humans seemingly at random. Settelments of any size were never attacked, but travelers were. Never individuals or small groups, but many merchant caravans have been destroyed, and there are even a few ships that dragons have attacked. Everyone was saying that it was only a matter of time before a city or town was attacked. This, plus the sheer number of people coming to the festival, has resulted in greater security then ever before, and preperations are being made for a possible dragon attack.[/color][/left] [left][color=#4b0082]People arriving at the city are not allowing themselves to think about such things. They are there to have fun. They're all filled with anticipation for this year's festival. Meanwhile, residents of Alsoto are themselves gearing up for the celebraions. Many are taking time off during the festival to enjoy themselves (though not everyone is, and those that are aren't taking the whole three days off. Nobody's willing to let such a good business opportunity pass them by); even though they've been there for past festivals, they await each year's with anticipation. Nobody ever knows exactly what will happen.[/color][/left] [left]In case you haven't figured it out yet, this RPG will be about the events at this year's Festival of Life. At least, that's how it'll start. Anyways, let's get down to business, shall we? This RPG is going to be pretty free-form. I won't be restricting your actions too much. As long as you follow OB's rules, there shouldn't be any problems. There will be a central plot, of course, but what your characters actually do is up to you. Of course, this is a fantasy-type world (you know, magic, dragons, low tech level, etc.), so keep that in mind.[/left] [left]Now, on to the characters. You're allowed to play as either a human or a dragon (if you want to do both, that's fine. I'll allow people to have two characters). Each race has different guidelines, which are explained in the relevant parts of their respective sign-up forms.[/left] [left]Humans first. A human character can be a resident of Alsoto, someone who's come to Alsoto to enjoy the festival, someone who's a part of the festival (someone performing in the festival, someone who works with such a performmer, etc.), or one of the soldiers hired for security purposes. If you want to play as the 'mystery performer', PM me. Now, here's the human sign-up form:[/left] [left]Name:[/left] [left]Age: I'll allow characters to be as young as 14, but keep in mind that your character's age affects other things. Younger characters are less knowledgeable than older ones. Also, younger characters can't be as skilled with weapons (in fact, most young people have never uesd any kind of weapon), and if they have any magical talent, they will still be learning magic. Also, if an underage (younger than 18) character has a job, it will probably be helping with the family business (for example, if the character's family owns a tavern, he/she would work in that tavern).[/left] [left]Gender:[/left] [left]Appearence: Picture or description.[/left] [left]Class: What your character is skilled at. Be specific. For example, don't put 'warrior'. Put something more specific, like 'swordsman'. Or instead of 'mage', specify the type of magic (basic spellcasting, elemental magic, healing, etc.). it's okay for a character to have more than one class, but the combination must make sense (for example, 'Healer/Water Elementalist' is fine, but 'Fire Elementalist/Water Elementalist' is an unlikly combination, and is not acceptable).[/left] [left]Occupation: Your character's job. This is affected by age, as explained above, and by class. Your characters job must fit the character's class (a healer isn't going to make a living as a hunter, for example. He/she will make a living as a healer).[/left] [left]Personality: The way your character behaves. This doesn't have to be too detailed, but put a few sentences down.[/left] [left]Bio: Your character's history. Again, this doesn't have to be too detailed, but it can be if you want it to.[/left] [left]Now for dragons. You can be basically any kind of dragon, and there aren't really any restrictions on character. You can be anything from a kinder dragon to a treasure-hording one to a monster who delights in taking life. If you decide to play a dragon, post your sign-up, and after I read it I'll PM you, giving you ways you can get the character invloved in the main plot. Now, here's the dragon sign-up form:[/left] [left]Name: Be creative. Make it sound like something a different race would come up with.[/left] [left]Age: Dragons have very long lives, so a dragon character can be very old in human terms.[/left] [left]Gender:[/left] [left]Appearance: Picture or description.[/left] [left]Personality: Keep in mind the differencs between dragons and humans. A dragon would probably not behave in the same manner as a human.[/left] [left]Bio: Again, keep in mind the differences between humans and dragons. A dragon's life will most likely be very different from a human's.[/left] [left]Depending on the number of sign-ups I get, I may or may not accept everybody. Larger numbers of participants is good for a free-form RPG like this one, but having too many will only create problems.[/left] [left]Well, I think that's everything. PM me with any questions.[/left]

[color=#008080][center][font=Tahoma][size=4][color=seagreen]Shift[/color][/size][/font][/center] [center][/color][font=Tahoma][color=seagreen]Pt. 1[/color][/font][/center] [left][color=#2e8b57][/color] [/left] [left][color=#2e8b57][/color] [/left] [color=seagreen]It would be worse tonight. Laqara could tell this as soon as Kajo walked in the door. He'd been deteriorating steadily for a long time. When Laqara had first come to live with Kajo after her mother's death nearly two years ago, there hadn't been any problems. Since then, Kajo had goneinto a downward spiral. First, he started drinking heavily. Then he started losing it at Laqara for no good reason. Then he started throwing things. And then there was the night he came home with what looked like blood on his hands. Laqara knew it was only a matter of time before Kajo came after her, but she didn't have anywhere else to go. She had no choice but to keep living with the man. So she enrolled in martial arts classes. She'd learned fast, which was good, because she'd only been taking the classes for about five months, and she knew she'd run out of time. It would happen tonight.[/color] [color=seagreen]Kajo was in a rage, and started throwing things as soon as he walked in the door. Laqara tried to make her way to her room unnoticed, but it didn't work. Kajo saw her. Shes stiffened; she knew exactly what was coming next. She'd seen it coming for months now. He was going to rape her.[/color] [color=seagreen]"Take off your clothes," Kajo ordered as he advanced towards Laqara. [/color] [color=seagreen]Laqara was scared, but she didn't let it show. She decided to play dumb. "Why do you want me to do that?"[/color] [color=seagreen]"It doesn't matter," Kajo replied. "Take them off."[/color] [color=seagreen]"I'd prefer to leave them on."[/color] [color=seagreen]"I didn't give you a choice." Kajo lunged at Laqara. Next thing he knew, he was on his back. Laqara was about to strike again when he drew a gun. Laqara stepped back. Kajo pulled himself to his feet, keeping the gun pointed at Laqara. "Take off your clothes. Now."[/color] [color=seagreen]Laqara was in a bad position. She was about to be raped. She didn't want to let Kajo do it, but she couldn't try anything, because Kajo would shoot her if she did. She couldn't make a run for it for that same reason. She only had one choice. She did what Kajo told her to.[/color] [color=seagreen]Kajo looked over Laqara's now naked body. "Damn," he muttered. "You're the best one yet." He advanced towards Laqara once more. She'd already been afraid; now she was scared shitless. [i]My God! How many women has the bastard raped? And what about that night, with the blood on his hands? What the fuck did he do?[/i][/color] [color=seagreen]Laqara knew she had to escape, and there was only one way she could. She let Kajo advance. She let him push her against the wall, and then she brought her knee up into his groin. Kajo fell to the ground, and Laqara knocked him out with a blow to the head. Then she took off into the night.[/color] [color=seagreen][/color] [color=seagreen]Laqara ran as fast as she could, her mind too clouded by fear for any rational [/color][color=seagreen]thought. Her only goal was putting as much distance between herself and Kajo as she possibly could. When she tired, she slowed to a walk. She kept going for quite a wile. Eventually, she calmed down enough to start thinking.[/color] [color=seagreen][/color] [color=seagreen]She came to a halt and looked around. She'd started from Kajo's house on the edge of one of the suburbs of Flagstaff, the name of which escaped her at the moment. She'd headed outwards, away from the city. To her right, she could make out moving lights off in the distance, presumably cars. There was nothing within sight to her left, or in front of her. Several miles behind her was the city. [i]How long was I going for?[/i] she wondered.[/color] [color=seagreen][/color] [color=seagreen]She had no idea what to do next. She had nowhere to go to in the city, there wasn't much chance of her finding help on the highway/interstate/whatever particular kind of roadway it was, and there wasn't anything else in sight. Plus, she was completely naked.[/color] [color=seagreen][/color] [color=seagreen]There was a sudden flash to the left. Laqara turned to look, but saw nothing. She sun in a complete circle, but the source of the flash illuded her. Suddenly, she saw a blueish-green light moving extremly fast, and it was heading right for her. It hit her before she could get out of the way, and she found herself on her back, lying on the ground. The liht seemed to be gone, but then she saw it. It was coming towards her again. She felt something when it touched her. It seemed to dissolve into her, and she lost conciousness.[/color]

[quote name='Violet Link']I didn't like SMB 2 because it didn't seem like a true mario game.[/quote] It's not a real Mario game. The Japanese version had nothing to do with Mario. They added the Mario liscense durring the translation process. [quote name='Violet Link']I didn't like SMW 2 because like I stated before i don't like mario games w/o powerups like 'shrooms, fire flowers, etc.[/quote] Does that seem dumb to anyone else? Seriously, did you really mean that the only reason you don't like Yoshi's Island is because it doesn't have powerups like mushrooms and fire flowers? Did you even think about, oh, THE ACTUAL GAMEPLAY? I mean, yes, it''s fine if you dislike a game, but disliking it because it doesn't have a couple items found in another game? That's just stupid. Anyways, I don't have an NES, so I'll just talk about the SNES. I don't really have a least favorite game, as I tend to buy only the games that really intrest me. My favorites are: Super Mario World: An all-around excellent game. Good levels, a lot of hidden levels (some of which take some work to unlock), I like how the power-ups are used, and it introduced the world to Yoshi. It's only real flaw, in my opinion, is that most of the bosses are too easy. Super Mario RPG: though the paper Mario games are better in my opinion, this is still a very good game. In fact, it's the first RPG I played. The story is, um, lacking, but then again, story wasn't as big a deal when this game was made, and I don't really care about story too much, anyays. I care about the gameplay, and this game is fun to play. The characters are different enough that you'll actually want to change your party for different areas, but you don't have to worry about switching them all the time, as every character gains the full experience from a defeated enemy, even the characters who didn't participate in the battle. And battles are fun. The only real problem? Too easy.

[size=2]Liquid had been through a lot in her life. She'd seen the word 'possible' redefined so many times that's she could accept almost anything. But there were a few things that she still believed were impossible. Time travel, for example. upo learning about her current assignment, she didn't know what to think. Even after meeting Era, Liquid still didn't really believe that it was possible to travel through time. But that was before Era had taken the team over 4000 years back in time. The trip through time had affected the entire team. Era, of course, was the worst off, but everyone was clearly disoriented to some degree. Though physical recovery seemed to come resonably quickly for everyone except Era, it would probably be a while before any of them would be able to adjust to their current situation, with the exception of Era, who already knew of the reality of time travel. Liquid was in her natural form, as there was nobody there but the rest of the team. And in battle, she was more effective when in her natural form, rather than her human one, as appearing human was a drain on her energy. As the team walked towards the site of the lightning strikes, Liquid mentally examined the area, getting a feel for the curent water content of the area and determining exactly how much it would boost her abilities. She was concentrating on this task as the wall of water approached, meaning that she did not sense it as early as she should have. As the wall of water came crashing down onto the group, Liquid reached out with her power, attempting to dissolve the wall and disperse the water. Unlike the others, she was in her element. As a being of water, she was at her prime when submerged in it. The force controlling the wall of water was unfamiliar to her, bus she was still able to overcome it. She freed the water to behave as it should, and thus, the wall was gone. Though the wall of water had posed to danger to Liquid, that didn't hold true for the rest of the team. Sakura diddn't seem as shaken as the others, but then again, she was the shapeshifter, so she could have simply altered her form. The already-weakened Era had fared the worst. Liquid helped her along as the team resumed their previous corse, headed for the sight of the repeating lightning strikes. Liquid, with Era in tow, moved up alongside Kaida."You doing all right?" she asked. "I'm fine," Kaida replied."How about you? Did you get through that all right?" "And what exactly would a wall of water do to me? Remember, I am a being of water." "True. You think you could stop another one before it hit us?" "The only reason I couldn't with the first one," Laqara explained, "is because I was taken by surprise. Now that I'm watching out for it, I'll have no problem getting rid of another wall. In fact, I could probably take control of it myself without much dificulty. See, water listens to its own over anyone else. That's how I was able to overcome the force directing that first wall. The water accepted me over the unknown force. I simply allowed the water to behave naturally after removing that force, but if I'd wanted to, I could have taken control of it myself. If another wall comes at us, I could send it right back where it came from." "Could you create one yourself?" "Yes. Normally, It'd be a bit difficult, but I could do it. But in this weather, I'd have no problem making one. This weather may be detrimental to you, but from my point of view, it couldn't be any better. As a result of current conditions, my abilities are greatly augmented." "Nice to know somebody enjoys this lousy weather." "I don't enjoy lousy weather," Liquid replied. "We just differ on what weather is lousy. I happen to like the rain. Anyways, yes, I could most certainly create a water wall of my own. I could do a lot more without a problem in current conditions. We'll have to wait until we reach the rouge's location to determine what todo, but I'll probably have an opportunity to do something fun." [/size]

DW, in order to help your project along, here's a few cliches that, amazingly enough, weren't on the list: the Rules of Artifacts. Your game won't be complete without them, so here they are: First Rule of Artifacts: The hero's quest to Save The World will require traveling around the world to collect or activate a number of magical artifacts, or sometimes to revive a number of deities referred to as 'spirits' of some kind or another. Second Rule of Artifacts: These artifacts (or deities) will be housed(or sealed, in the deities' case) in increasingly complex temples. Each temple will be more difficult to complete then the one before it. This also applies to any creatures that the party encounteres while inside the temple. Third Rule of Artifacts: Upon locating each artifact, the party will be forced to battle the powerful creature that protects the artifact. Each one is more powerful than the previous one. If the parrty is attempting to revive deities, the party will have to defeat each newly reawakened deity in order to prove their worth. Forth Rule of Artifacts: If there is any chance that the magical artifacts can be used to destroy the world, the main villian will posess all of them at some point in the game. He will aquire them through at least one, frequently more, of the following methods: his henchmen beat the hero's party to the artifact and take it just as the hero's party finds it, his henchmen steal the artifact the party has just acquired, or a traitor within the party gives the artifacts to him. Fifth Rule of Artifacts: One female member of the party, either the female lead or the summoner (who are frequently the same person), will gain a new power with the activation of each artifact or revival of each deity. This new power is often too troublesome to use to be worth using in most situations. Sixth Rule of Artifacts: The bad guys will never gain any new powers from the artifacts/deities. Even if the bad guy escapes with the artifact before the hero's party member gains the new power, the party member will still gain the power, while the bad guy will not. Seventh Rule of Artifacts: Villians never have to fight the guardians of the artifacts. The hero's party will always have to fight the guardian, even if a bad guy has entered the guardian's chamber well ahead of the party. Last Rule of Artifacts: Collecting or activating the final artifact, or awakening the last deity, is never the end. The party will always have to go to the main villian's castle and defeat him before the artifacts can be used or the deities summoned to Save The World.

[size=2]Sako looked around at the gathering team. He'd worked with a couple of them before; the others were agents he didn't know. That was how it usually worked. EDRI had too many field agents for anyone to knwo all of them; after all, their operations covered an entire world. That sort of thing can't be done with a small group. However, the more experianced agents, such as Sako, had been on enough missions with enough different agents that there were usually a couple they'd worked with before. The door to the briefing room opened again, and three field agents entered and took seats: Matthew Wayne Duffey, Aiya Minasuko, and Desdemonica Tahirah. To everyone's complete surprise, they were followed about a minute later by none other than Branit Selkaro. They all knew who he was, and they all knew that the head of External Management normally did not give briefings. So why was he in the briefing room? Branit took his place at the front of the room. "You're probably all wondering why I'm here," he said. "I'm here to brief you on your next mission, and the reason I chose to brief you myself will soon become apparent. Also, be aware that your mission is classified level Alpha. Nobody is to know of your mission. "Approximatly (sp?) 1 hour ago, I was notifed that one of our researchers, Jorman, had been taken to Medical Bay 1, along with a field agent by the name of Treana. When I arrived, I saw that Jorman was minorly injured, though he looked like hell. Treana, on the other hand, had multiple broken bones, mostly in her arms. Despite this, she refused to allow the doctors to anesthetize her until she'd had a chance to speak to me. The doctors say that they can repair the damage, but that she'll be out of commission for a month or two. "Jorman was a member of a three-person research team, and Treana was one of six field agents assigned to protect them. They had finished their research and were en route to the nearest crossing point for extraction when they were ambushed. I was told that the battle was quick, but fierce. Treana and Jorman managed to escape with their lives, but nobody else did. The two of them are the only survivors. "More disturbing than the loss of those men and women is the manner in which they were ambushed. According to Treana, the attackers knew more than their route. She told me none of the attackers showed any sign of surprise when she and the other agents opened fire. In fact, the attackers seemed to know who was more dangerous, and were able to prioritize in a way that they couldnt without knowing anything about our technology. "We're looking at a Code Omega, people. Someone on the other side knows about us. The extent of this knowledge is unknown. Also unknown is how they aquired that information. I'm sure that the first thought entering some of your minds is 'treason'. This is unlikely to be true. As you know, we do extensive analysis and background checks before approaching anyone about joining EDRI. If we think that there's any chance youll say the wrong thing to the wrong person, you're never approached. While we cannot afford to rule out the possibility of treason, the answer most likely lies elsewhere. "When we fed this little scenario into the computer system, it gave us a list of agents deemed suitable for this situation. We narrowed it down to you. Your mission is to locate the attackers and discover how they know about us, and just how much they know. You'll be going in fully armed, the best equipment we have. You'll also be provided with all data related to the research expidition. You are to report to the armory at 1430. That gives you an hour to prepare. Dismissed." ------------------------------------------ OOC: EDRI agents, make your preperations and report to the armory. Characters from the other world, I'll try to get you involved in the story in my next post. [/size]