Baron Samedi

[size=1]Des, couldn't you apply a class to the div which the post is located in, and just set the indent from that? That's what I've done on LSN, and Tony has done it at WiP.[/size]

[size=1]The Hall of Despair and Melinoe's room don't have to be really connected in any way. Melinoe was wandering the temple, as far as I can sum it up. Besides I needed a catalyst to propel the Legionnaires forward, and the re-appearance of Melinoe was necessary. We can always split up later. Perhaps Sheba will make us scatter...[/size]

[size=1]Tetros strained at one of the doors, pulling the massive monument wide open. As the other half ground to a halt, the Legionnaires gathered at the brink of a precipice. A single stone bridge stretched out into pure darknss. Who knew where it led. It was not natural. It wasn't... [i]right[/i]. In fact, there was something indefinably wrong about it. The smell was putrid. It was death, it was decay, it was malice. Pure evil and hate permeated the very air. It was the terror of the child, certain that a monster lurked in the cupboard. It was that wild, disturbing feeling of being watched. As one, the Legionnaires shivered. "I don't like the look of this... it's not right" Pandora murmured softly. One or two people nodded in agreeance. Tetros too felt it. Unhate sighed heavily. There was no way that he could lead the team out onto that narrow bridge. Obviously it was where they were meant to go, but they had to find another way. They had to keep looking. This could lead them to their destination, but it was too much like a trap. It just wasn't going to work. He turned, and was about to make his way away from the portal, when a voice called out from the darkness. "Guys, get away from there! They're coming! You have to follow me [i]now[/i]!" It was Melinoe. Everybody noticed the startling and worrying lack of the Phlegethon at her side, and her tear-streaked face. But the most concerning thing was the fear that had wormed it's way into her features. Melinoe was almost as stoic as Tetros, if somewhat quicker to anger. A warm breeze blew in from the room behind the Legionnaires. A rustling could be heard. "Come on, there isn't enough time!" Melinoe yelled, cursing the indecisiveness of the group. Then Pandora ran forward, out onto the bridge towards her. It was as if a dam wall had been breached. The Legionnaires raced out onto the bridge and into the putrid darkness, as Tetros and Unhate pulled the giant doors shut, hoping to slow their pursuers down. Pulling LED tubes from their equipment belts, the Legionnaires followed Melinoe along the bridge. *** Up in one corner of the giant cave that had once been called the Hall Of Despair, eyes that hadn't opened for centuries widened, and joints that hadn't moved for even longer creaked. Sheba would get her prey now. She felt the life begin to flow within her as she imagined the capture, the terror. Yes, the terror. But Sheba wasn't the darkest thing to be reckoned in the Temple. There was another even older creature drawing the darting invaders further into his heart.[/size]

[size=1]The Blue Team carefully made their way down from the plateau. As they passed a rock outcropping halfway down the plateau, a road came into view. Previously it had been hidden from sight, situated underneath the ledge that the outcropping was on, and as soon as they saw it Fox started swearing. "Are you telling me that I spent the last half an hour inching my way down this damn [I]mountain[/I] with five tonnes of metal on my shoulders, boiling in this infernal heat, when there is a damn road here?" He leapt down from the ledge, and sat down in the narrow shade provided by the ledge. Tucking his helmet under his arm, he wiped his brow with the back of his hand. "Damn it's hot" The others settled down on either side of him, unanimously agreeing to a rest break. Even though his costume was loose-fitting and light, Crash found himself sweating profusely. This was not a fun task. As Lara offered the water canteen around, a thunderous galloping was heard coming down the road. Scrambling to their feet, the team rushed into the middle of the road. Perhaps they could get a lift, or some form of travel to get them off this dusty plateau and into the lush valleys between them and the plains, and further beyond that, the mountain. An out of control horse came flying around the bend, attatched to a mysterious black coach. There was no driver, but a wild, leaping and screaming fiddle could be heard. The crazed horse shied at the site of the Adventurers blocking the road, and turned towards the edge of the cliff. It crashed right through the flimsy wooden barricade, and soared out through the air, arcing towards the ground many metres below. Lara and Crash moved towards the edge, peeking over the top. A flaming wheel rolled out of the wreckage. There always had to be clichés, as Lara had mentioned earlier. The fiddle had stopped. Sighing, the Adventurers turned their backs on the burning wreckage, and continued to mak their way down the road.[/size]

[size=1]Wouldn't it be vastly more interesting to see Liquid regress to her state immediately after being raped, after seeing manifestations of being raped again?[/size]

[size=1][COLOR=White]....[/COLOR]o_O I never thought that I would see a complaint like this. Is it really that important to you? Why must the paragraph begin with an indentation? Really, it seems like somewhat of a nitpicking request. We don't require perfect grammatical structure here at Otakuboards; I'm sure this semi-colon is in the wrong position - and that this extender is unnecessary. I do get what you're saying though, to a degree. I think it is unnecessary, but it would be nice if the space key worked. What I can't get over is that you're actually bothered by it. [b]PS[/b]: My smart-*** indent was used with four ellipses and setting the colour to white.[/size]

[size=1]Tetros had been braced to rush for the hulking metal beast with which Kaida had seemed familiarised, when the one named Pandora shredded it wth her mind. Tetros was reasonably sure that he could have handled the robot. It was big and strong, but Tetros felt like his speed and agility, as well as his power to weight ratio, could have done some damage. But nothing like this. He had never seen such an awesome display of power. A glance at her gave no indication as to the skills she posessed. Indeed, she seemed to be only slightly weakened from the energy she had used. Tetros' musings were interrupted as the temple once again shook. It lasted for only a few seconds perhaps, but the severity of the... convulsions had increased greatly. The only surface with any sort of texture at all was the floor, which was composed of some lightly dimpled compound, unknown to Tetros, or any of the rest of the team it appeared. There was nothing to steady yourself on, the hallway being both too wide, and too high to support oneself. The Legionnaires were being slammed into the wall, the floor, the ceiling, as it seemed like the whole corridor flailed like a monsterous tentacle. Indeed, it seemed as if the corridor wasn't as solid as it appeared. Looking back down the straight corridor they had come from, it was just possible to make out the floor, walls and ceiling constricting slightly in pulses, periodically bulging inwards, before expanding back to their usual position. It was only slight, but worrisome nonetheless. As the shaking stopped, the embattled Legionnaires rose from their positions on the floor. There appeared to be no serious injuries, however one of the females was dabbing some blood from her eyebrow. Tetros watched as three perfect drops fell from the cloth she was using, arcing off towards the ground. As they hit the ground, everything went dark. Half a second later the light re-appeared. It was enough to make you wish it had stayed dark. Every single dimple in the surface of the corridor had a drop of blood in it. The effect was horrifying, as though the Legionnaires stood amongst a sea of blood. Somebody retched against the wall. It went dark. 1...2...3..4...[/size]

[size=1]The Blue Team immediately drew into a huddle. Who was doing what? Pacman immediately opted out. Not only was the notion of him donning a costume ridiculous, but he was feeling slightly ill, and was concerned that it could have been a result of some... accidental ingestions during the previous mission. So, now only five were arguing. It raged back and forth for some time, until Shadow saw the rapper from the Green Team pull out his costume. Shadow paled and backed away from the group. "You guys go, I don't want [b]anything[/b] to do with this" he yelped, heading over to join Pacman on one of the floating cushions. Crash furtively glanced at what the other team was putting on. A bandicoot has to have his pride and there was no way he was going as a bard. What a ridiculous feathered cap! Of all the costumes he saw revealed, the Thief was most appealing. He immediately shot-gunned that, and ran over to Blue Team's cart, rummaging through for the loose-fitting clothing, and the belt of daggers. Slipping them on, he noticed that they fitted lousily....like they were made for a human. Then they grew warm on his body, and tightened in all the right spots.... a perfect fit! Turning back to the group he saw Lara step out from behind one of the clothing screens, dressed in a dark green shirt and brown pants. Over her shoulder was strung a bow, but at her hips still hung both of her pistols. Krystal and Fox appeared to be discussing something very earnestly, before Krystal went and grabbed the Bard costume from the cart and disappeared behind a clothing screen. Fox turned towards the cart, an agitated expression on his face. Three classes left to choose from...[/size]

[size=1]As Tony said, this piece looks pretty well much done as is. I prefer the brown version to the paler one though for sure - the paler one looks weak and flimsy, lol. Tree of Knowledge is a good name, but I was thinking of something like 'Bulb', to play off the item and the plant.[/size]

[size=1][COLOR=DarkSlateGray]For ease of use I will refer to Nightblade as Tetros. Don't know why? Check [u][url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showpost.php?p=681857&postcount=11]this[/url][/u].[/COLOR] Tetros moved along, slightly to the fore of the main group, who were following Unhate and Kaida down the shimmering corridor. Unhate had appeared to overcome his earlier problem, where he had somehow recieved a wound to his shoulder. Tetros wasn't exactly clear on what had happened, indeed it appeared to be something that he had seen in the reflection of the wall which had wounded him. Tetros knew that mental nightmares were beyond him. But he was not fool enough to assume that everything in this world had explanation. Hell, some of the Legionnaires were able to be likened to mythic creatures. The supernatural, whilst on their side, was also on their enemy's side, obviously. Their arrival at the complex had disturbed something, and whatever it was Tetros had early on decided that the less chance he had of discovering it, the happier he'd be. He wasn't ready to be... decommissioned. He grinned at his little joke, and one of the females next to him [name unkown] gave him a frowning stare. He occasionally found it hard to relate to his human counterparts. Blood did not flow within his veins. He didn't have a soul. He didn't have supernatural abilities. He was just a machine. A damn fine one, capable of feats of strength and agility far surpassing most people, but in the end he wasn't really anything. Just pieces. As much as he was emotionless, and knew that he worked on logic, he resented the fact that he wasn't actually anything, no matter what he appeared to be on the surface. The philosophical depression of a machine is not to be trifled with. Tetros' hands tightened on the grips of his guns, as up ahead, Unhate stopped suddenly. Switching to infrared, Tetros scanned the corridor. The gold-sheathed walls reflected a lot of the heat his teammates generated, and confused the image he was recieving. He stepped closer to the wall. Underneath, it swirled and pulsed. It was like looking through a two-way mirror by cupping your hands to it's surface. Most heat was reflected, but underneath it was giving off heat. It was active... almost as if it were somewhat organic. Tetros' examination was cut short, as Unhate let out a roar from the front. "Everyone, turn, back the way we came!" Tetros looked up, and saw a superheated wave of air coming down the corridor towards them. To his infrared sensors, it was pure white. The squad dashed back down the corridor, twisting and turning this way and that, as Melinoe, who when the group had turned tail had found herself leading, led them through the warren of tunnels. Risking a glance behind, Tetros noted that the heatwave was slowing down, losing it's momentum as it drew further away from it's source. Tetros moved forward through the group, and ran beside Melinoe. "Ma'am, the heatwave has dissipated, it appears to have stopped spreading." Bringing the group to a halt, Melinoe ordered a short break for some members to regain their breath. Gingerly walking back down the corridor, sensors alert for any new wave, Tetros examined the wall. Unmarked. Yet, that heatwave was more than hot enough to have melted the walls' exterior, if it were truly gold. Gazing closer, Tetros saw Unhate standing behind him, and behind Unhate stood a cowled figure, beckoning to.... Tetros turned away, and faced Unhate. Pointing down the corridor, Unhate said in a quiet voice. "Who are we missing?" Charred bones were strewn along the corridor, just around the bend and out of sight of the main group. --- [b]As always, any issues, don't hesitate to contact me and I'll see if I can rectify them.[/b][/size]

[size=1]You have two options for getting a picture there, either by attaching an image when you type the post, or by using an image hosting facility such as [u][url=http://imageshack.us]Imageshack[/url][/u] and then using the [*IMG](imageurl)[/IMG] tags [without the asterisk].[/size]

[size=1]Crash sat on the beach close to the campfire, gnawing contendedly on a piece of fish. Initially it had been hard to get over the fact that Pacman had had them in his mouth [same place as the lemmings?!], but the smell was so mouth-wateringly delicious that he just couldn't refuse. Lara, on the other hand, was looking a bit green. Crash finished his fish, and sat back on the sand, propping himself up with his elbows. As he gazed around, a pang of sorrow hit him. This was a fun team to be a part of. It was a shame that they were soon going to be broken up. Sadly, when it came down to it though, you just had to move on and do your best to get the most out of whichever situation you found yourself in. Nevertheless, Crash would miss the atmosphere and teamwork that he had found in the Adventurers. He reached out for another piece of fish.[/size]

[size=1]I'm really impresssed with the puffin John. That is some really good work. The feet, for one, are excellently done. I do think there are a couple of things to mention here though: the left hand side of his breast [calm yourself :p] looks a bit awkward. I'm guessing that was an attempt to portray a wing, it just doesn't really look that much like a wing. The second thing to mention is that whilst foreground detail on the rocks is sufficient, the water does need some more details. Just one or two whitecaps would significantly improve it. I like how you had the whitecap near where it met the rocks behind the puffin as well ^_^ I am really impressed.[/size]

[size=1]You need to get your game on Des :p Besides, I think our extra person was cut out anyway - we didn't have a numbers advantage. If anything we had to wait for an extra person to post, when their post wasn't going to be counted anyway.[/size]

[QUOTE=Imi][SIZE=1]We managed to get our whole team posted first, because Sakura and I made sure to PM/IM people when they were online. But everyone on my team is in different time zones, so it's impossible for us to post often. As far as I know, three people on the Adventurers are in England. I'm just pointing out that rounds where you have to post fast or often is going to immediately put people at a disadvantage. It doesn't seem all that fair. *sighs* I tried.[/SIZE][/QUOTE] [size=1]I'm in Australia, Shinji is in New Zealand. Solo is in England [?]. As far as I know, Doukeshi, KKC and Wraith are Americans. Time zones don't make much of a difference. If people visit regularly [wherein lies the problem] then you can win that sort of challenge. It in no way stops you from posting often.[/size]

[size=1]I'm essentially following a rough guideline to the maps Des posted about earlier on. And as for bringing people back without much explanation - well, there is only so far to go in a world, lol. And with KKC's post about what sounded very much like flagpoles, [b]inside[/b] [we were on World 1-2, as far as I was aware, lol] I took what he said into account, but attempted to make it so that we were still inside, lol. It does get confusing, but it just says we were transported to the Mushroom Kingdom, not particularl levels, even though levels work better, heh.[/size]

[quote name='Lord Rannos][COLOR=DarkRed']The only real downside I can think of is that now we won't be able to tell who's read the FAQ. This way, we know anyone who brings up a dead thread hasn't read the rules. [/COLOR][/quote][size=1] I always kind of saw it as people stumbling on a thread through Google or something, because unless you manually browse the archives, you can't access every thread in OB's history. So, it is most likely a) Google or b) the Similar Threads box at the bottom of some of our threads, which lead them to these old threads.[/size]

[size=1]Lara, Pacman and Crash stood, dumbfounded, as a whooping Fox flew through the air, destroying the flagpole, before landing on, and squishing, his mount. Crash high-fived Fox. "That was some aerial stunt there mate!" Crash hollered. On the ground behind Fox, Lara was holding her sides with laughter. The four of them then decided that they couldn't afford to wait for the others. They needed to find more mushrooms. Moving through the green pipe ahead, they suddenly found themselves in a world which seemingly existed as a series of brick columns of varying widths and heights. It was like some kind of ancient ruin, as the bricks were encrusted with moss and straggly grass. But it didn't really remind Crash of the temple levels he was used to. Perhaps it was the brightness, he decided. Crash partnered up with Fox, and progressed into the level in another direction to the others. As they leapt over gaps where the blue sky was their only carpet for miles down, the pressure began to show. It was worse than the interminable pits that Crash was used to, because if you looked down, you could actually see the ground. Between the gaps in the clouds, that is. If you looked, the vertigo was so intense that... you couldn't stand it. Nonetheless, it gave the both of them great joy to punt the red turtles off the edge of the platforms. It was a bandicoot eat turtle world after all. As Crash and Fox cleaned off another platform, Fox espied a mushroom racing along a higher platform. As it was his call, Fox chased after it, and left Crash to continue working his way through the world. Crash leapt up to another platform, jumping and flipping onto and over two of the brown mushroomy things. The toothy ones. As he scanned ahead from his vantage point, at the end of a moving platform he glimpsed what he thought was a box. And about damn time too! It was the first one he had seen since they came through the pipe. Taking a running jump, he leapt for the platform. Landing with an *ahem* crash, he flipped forward and destroyed the box. Holding aloft his prize with all the passion of a boxer, he again, began to grow. Turning around, he was about to proceed further on when he saw Shadow up ahead. "I guess Krystal and Shadow did get through then."[/size]

[size=1]o_O I actually posted the image to illustrate how I cleaned it up, and actually [b]did[/b] alter things to it, not merely take an image and directly crop it. Unless your monitor is seriously sub-par, how could it not be plainly obvious? I'm ******* sorry I posted it now.[/size]

[size=1]Before anybody could react, the small lizard-like creature grabbed Fox with it's tongue, and flipped him onto it's back. And then it was off, squawking like a lunatic and jumping off enemies, walls, obstacles....heck, it even bounced off the ceiling. Some people had all the luck Crash groused, as he fondly recalled the baby T Rex he used to ride. If only she was here now. Oh well. He followed after Pacman, as the yellow orb... whatever he did, down the corridor. It wasn't rolling, as you'd expect. And he was touching the ground, so it was like sliding. Crash shook his head. Too hard to think about for now. Maybe he'd ask him later. Double-jumping up onto a brick platform, Crash began to systematically smash his way through every block, whilst below, Pac kept an eye [and mouth] open for any of those nasty mushroomy things. Crash had just stomped the second-last block, when it crumbled and revealed a star. It squeaked at him, and waved it's pointy little... hand at him. Crash instinctively grabbed at it. It disappeared, and Crash began to glow with a bright yellow glow. He felt like he could do anything. He leapt straight through the next wall, and as he sped off, he told Pacman that he would 'be back soon'. He had to make the most of this while it lasted! It was almost as good as having a Golden Aku-Aku! As he crashed through wall after wall, booting enemies out of his path with a good-natured laugh, he almost forgot what he was actually there to do. He leapt off the top of a small stairway made of blocks, between two floating platforms, and slammed a red turtle off the far edge of the isolated platform he found himself on. And then the yellow glow flickered and died. How disappointing. Crash began to work his way through several bricks floating above the platform. As he reached the last one, a mushroom popped out, and promptly fell off the edge, and went down on one of the floating elevator platforms. Crash screamed as one mortally wounded, and leapt down to grab it. He sped along the length of the elevator platform, scooping up the mushroom, before double jumping off the other end, and back-flipping off the wall of the chasm. He landed on the elevator platform above, and as the mushroom disappeared and his bones began, for the third time, to distend, he double jumped off the edge, and clawed his way back onto solid ground. Up ahead loomed a green pipe - presumably the end of the level. He settled himself, waiting for the others to arrive.[/size]

[size=1]When you have found or created a banner that you like, and that fits within the 500x100 size limit, and isn't too large in memory size, and found a host for it online [I recommend [u][url=http://imageshack.us]Imageshack[/url][/u]], then you merely have to insert some code in your signature. Remove the asterisk from my example, and add it to your signature [IMG*]http://imageshack.us/whateveritsaysindirectlinktoimage[/IMG] You may like to request a banner in the [u][url=http://www.otakuboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=85]Art by Request[/url][/u] forum if you are unsure of how to proceed. Good luck.[/size]

[size=1]Ooh, it's close so far ^_^;; Just for reference, in response to some of the... comments in this thread, [url=http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/1267/bway17eg.jpg][COLOR=DimGray]here[/COLOR][/url] is the image I used.[/size]

[size=1]Crash grinned at the now giant Shadow. "Hey mate, reckon you could flip me up to that platform there?" Without hesitation, Shadow leant down and grabbed Crash, before flinging him up, up, up.... and onto a remote platform. There was a green spiky turtle up there, which promptly charged at Crash. But, really, this guy was tame. Crash was used to having cyborg turtles with buzz-saws on their backs. He slide-tackled the green beasty, which yelped as it shot over the edge of the 100ft high platform. This platform was composed entirely of the golden blocks with the question-marks engraved in their sides. Crash grinned. Surely there would be a mushroom in an area that was such an obvious Bonus level like this! So he walked along the platform stomping on every block. Showers of gold coins erupted, which Crash ignored with contempt. Where was a fricking mushroom? It was only at the very last block that it popped up. And before the exasperated Crash had time to react, it shuffled off to the right and fall off the platform. Crash uttered a string of oaths. And then leapt after the free-falling fungi. Due to the shape of the mushroom, it had enough air-resistance in comparison to it's weight that it fell somewhat slower than Crash. So, he was gaining on it, but the question that was being burned into his mind was whether or not he would catch it before impaling himself on the flagpole that was rushing up to meet him. With a last stretch born of desperation, Crash's fingertips brushed the cap of the mushroom, and he felt his bones begin to warp. Thankfully his extra weight caused him to fall just short of the pole, and just in front of Shadow's leap at the flag-pole. That wouldn't have been a nice collision. After the nice little birdies around his head disappeared, Crash stood, and dusted himself down. "Alrighty, let's go! No laggers now!"[/size]

[quote name='Lady Katana][color=darkblue][size=1]Advertising threads in any forum are not allowed and may lead to a ban warning or a ban itself.[/size'][/color][/quote] [size=1]What dear Katana meant to say was that advertising [b]forums[/b] in any [b]thread[/b] is not allowed :p[/SIZE]

[size=1]Crash squatted on the ground to get his bearings back after the teleportation from the CPU. This world was familiar in many ways, but strangely... cartoonish too. The ground was one solid colour, and above them, in the monotone blue sky, were monotone white clouds. Which only seemed to come in three different shapes. What an [b]exceedingly[/b] odd world this was. Of course, this oddness paled in comparison to the fact that they were here to collect some sort of [i]mushroom[/i] that would... make them taller? Maybe Mog had finally lost his marbles. And then, over near a bush, he saw Krystal just... sprout up, to almost twice her previous height. This was insanely weird. Shadow sped off to try and find some mushrooms, and it seemed that everybody just wandered off looking for them. Which left Crash alone, sitting and thinking, whilst he recovered from his trans-dimensional nausea. Maybe it was something about moving to completely unrelated worlds, because Crash should have had more than enough experience warping. Some distance ahead of him, floating in mid-air were what looked from afar like crates. With a shout of glee, he sprang up and ran towards them. Surely there must be Wumpa fruit in these crates! But as he got closer, he realised, quite disappointingly, that these were brick... blocks, floating in mid-air. Which was, Crash had to admit, rather unusual. Only crates floated in mid-air, right? But, in an odd world such as this, who knew what sort of insanity could occur? Just then, he saw a line of... small brown toadstools shuffling towards him. They were leering at him in a most uncomfortable way, and savagely squealing. Now, Crash had an inkling of what to do. Of the Blue Team, he was probably most prepared for a world like this, and the fact that these were rather... 'animated' mushrooms suggested to him that they were the natural predators of this strange land. So, Crash did what he almost always had to do with predators. He jumped on their heads. *poof* *poof* *poof* They vanished. Crash nodded smugly. Just as he had suspected. But, in that case, where were the mushrooms that he had to collect? He gazed thoughtfully at the blocks suspended in mid air. He double-jumped on top of them, and examined them closely. Perhaps they had some sort of hinged lid? Prising at them with his fingertips yielded nothing. What a disappointment. Jumping lightly off the edge of the bricks, he landed on the ground. Something behind him squealed, so he turned around and jumped on another of those savage brown creatures. He bounced up, and cracked his head on the block, which crumbled. He fell to the ground in a foetal position, holding his poor broken head. The pain was intense! It was never this bad when he had to smash crates open. Getting to his feet he gazed around. Sitting in a ring around him were gold coins. Kicking at them savagely he yelled at the indifferent clouds; "WHERE IS MY WUMPA FRUIT?!?!" After getting no reply, he leapt once more onto the platform of blocks. I'll fix these bastards he thought, double jumping and then Belly-Flopping onto them. They all disintegrated, except for one goldy-coloured one. And there weren't even any more coins. Or Wumpa fruit. Except for that gold coloured box. Crash leapt up and spun at the box. It changed colour, and out popped a mushroom, which began to shuffle away from him at a fair gait. "Oh no you don't, you little bastard!" Crash swore as he chased it down. He leapt for it in mid-air, and as soon as he grabbed it, he felt this sickening crunching in his wrists. With a pop, the mushroom disappeared, and Crash felt his internal organs doing things that they probably weren't meant to. And then he grew, to twice his previous size. Thankfully, so did his shorts and shoes. That could have been awkward. Crash shivered, and then with a delighted grin, began running towards another set of brick blocks further away. He wanted more of [b]those![/b][/size]