RPG Exile

[Shinkoru]

[color=gray][I] Nary's eyes widened in horror. A elegant gracefull woman should not be succomed to this discrace! Unclothed infront a human who dosen't deserve the privlage of casting eyes upon her.

Anger swelled within Naryu, unlike none she'd ever felt. She fled to Saitsune and as air circled her, her density grew. Her misty color deepened and became gray white, unable to see through. She legnthed to Saitsune's ankled, flowing elegantly about them, she smoothed and fitted around her waist and up her sholders making sleevless straps. Once she finished she was a long swaying gown of mists. Thick impeniritable mist. He would never remove her unless Saitsune wished it. she would know if that time came, for a part of her stayed inside her mind, listening to her thoughts.

The man looked at Saitsune.[/i]

[B]Man:[/b] Witch! I knew not of this type of magic. you kind do not have these powers...

[I] Saitsune was as suppried at the man. Some what greatfull thought. She felt the thick cloak of mist. It was as light as air and smooth as silk. It felt like a fine moist fabric. she smiled, now yett knowing what made the garment appear, but semi glad it did...[/i][/color]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Elairith lay panting on the forest floor, staring up at the strange being stooping over her. He was incredibly tall... and very pale. Dressed in black, like her, with a sword and silver pennant the only contrasts from the black. She relaxed into the leaf litter, staring up at the canopy, far above. She had gotten herself into something deep, now.[/i]

Elairith: I'm Elairith.

Strange Man: Hmmm... can't say I've heard of your kind. I'm half Vahnati.

Elairith: That's a strange name...

Half Vahnati: Name? It's not my name. It's my species.

[i]With this, Elairith shrieked and jumped up, flipping a sharpened butterknife out of her cuff. She backed slowly against a tree, keeping her eyes locked firmly on his hands.[/i]

Strange Being: What's wrong with you?

Elairith: You're not human?
Strange Being: No, I'm not. Haven't you ever seen a non-human before?

Elairith: No....

[i]She was about to say she didn't know they existed, but then she realised she was one.[/i]

Strange being: Don't be scared, I just saved your life. My name's Kris.

Elairith: Well, I'm half Nephil, half human.

Kris: I thought you said your name was Elairith?

[i]She hid a smile, making her angry this thing was getting to her. But he was right, he did just save her life. Perhaps he wanted to eat her.[/i]

Kris: What were you doing jumping into a hole?

Elairith: What were you doing saving me?

Kris: I was hungry.

[i]Elairith gasped, looking up into the trees. The limbs were very high off the ground, but if she jumped, she could clear at least ten metres. Glancing back at him, she saw he was smiling. A joke. Great.[/i]

Elairith: So, tell me... what's Vahnati?
[/font][/color]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]The breath caught lightly in her throat and she sent out her ethric hands...touching those of the being clinging to her. She let the mist caress her body, then sent out her thoughts.

"I thank you kindly.....whoever you may be."

"Nary. Mist fae."

"Pleasure....I am Empress Saitsune of the Water Dragons....disconnected from my clan...."

Glenn cursed then shoved her into a side room and locked the doors. Once he was gone, she swiftly turned to the windows....Nary disconnecting from her body at the same time. She smiled at the female....then held out her hands.[/i]

Saitsune: Are you ready to go?

Nary: How?

Saitsune: I'm a dragon ...remember?

Nary: ...oh.

Satisune: Get back, this is going to be messy.

[i]With the skills she had long practiced, she snarled and rippled her spine. Then her body morphed back into the half human half dragon shape. Nary smiled and stepped closer.[/i]

Saitsune: Ready.[/COLOR]

[Shinkoru]

[color=gray][i] Naryu stayed shapless, not looking human. Her shape altered slowly til she was human haped, her hand slid into Saitsune's ..claw I guess. She altered again and made herself a thin veil of mist surrounding Saitsune. She gripped softly, loving being noticed, and to someone like her, an honor.[/color][/i]

[The Harlequin]

[color=indigo][font=gothic]OOC: Shinkoru, write another post of that length, and I will summarily lynch you. You have [i]no idea[/i] how much I've had to tell people to stop writing such posts. Sage, my recruitment thread clearly said that you should be able to write your own storyline for any amount of time. Go do something strange with the world or something.

IC: [I]Nightfall arrived with agonising slowness. Not that Qyrain was all that eager for darkness, but if it was going to come, and he was fairly certain it was, at least it could have the good grace to do it at a decent rate. The sky bled away light and colour like lightly slit wrists in a warm bathub. Not that that analogy would appear relevant to anyone but a person quite like Qyrain, but Qyrain was willing to make sacrafices in the area of analogies. By now, the road was starting to widen, and small indentations appeared in it, the beginnings of wagon ruts. So most likely a city of some size, but one recently established. Corus, as Qyrain remembered, was somewhere around here, though it was destroyed by slime-like creatures after the first Exile war, a destruction his people had attributed to the worms, a destruction the worms had attributed to his people. Ironic that it had, eventually, nothing to do with either of them, but was the result of an interstellar giant slime beast. It was even more ironic, to Qyrain's mind, that it had been a group of rebels from Exile that had eventually defeated it, and other plagues besides. For nearly a year, the world had been populated with all sorts of bizarre monsters. Qyrain hadn't complained much, but apparently quite a few citizens had.

He'd bedded down beside the road, rather than brave the possibly infested Corus by night. He had no salves for acid, for one thing. He'd worry about that in the morning. Perhaps Corus had been reclaimed. He seemed to remember hearing something about that, in conjunction with rumours that pools of slime still cut off streets in some places. Upon listening though, he heard none of the sounds that would normally indicate civilisation. Which could mean nothing, considering that Corus was never a major city. Nevertheless, it seemed best to avoid it until morning. Slimes did tend to shimmer after all.

Now that the light was gone, the darkness was final. Qyrain's small campsite included nothing more than a deep, well hidden firepit and his pack beside him on the ground, and it seemed more than inadequate protection from the night around him. Not that Qyrain considered himself in a position for needing protection. Still, sleeping tonight seemed a less than intelligent thing to do.[/font][/color][/I]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]She clawed the window open then made her break for freedom with the mist fae clinging on easily. She swopped out and over the clouds, spiraling over the atmosphere happily, elated to be free once more. Nary smiled and held on gamely. Saitsune held herself still in midair, then peered down through the clouds. No humans. With all the skill of a thousand year dragon, she spiraled downwards, in slow lazy circles, then landed in the canyon between two huge hills. Her body reformed and Nary slowly disconnected herself.

The two women assumed vaugely humanoid shapes and looked up at the blue sky while resting on their backs.[/i]

Nary: ...that was fun.

Saitsune: Don't worry, there will be plenty of oppertunity to do it again...knowing me.

Nary: Are you always like this?

Saitsune: I'm afraid so.

[i]She rolled over and touched Nary's face gently.....then smiled.[/i]

Saitsune: That was very kind of you.[/COLOR]

[Shinkoru]

[color=gray]OOC: yesh master.

[i] Naryu would have teared, had she not been made of partly water. Nodding she spoke now, not inside Saitsune's head as she'd done before. Her voice was soft and airy, thin and elegant.[/i]

[B]Naryu:[/b] It was nothing.. I just couldn't see you discraced so..

[I] she formaed and fitted myself to her acostomed humanoid form. Long pale green hair wisping around, small top and skirt, ankle band clinging slightly as she walks.

Blushing and extremely nervous, especially about being only 40% visible. She shakily slid her hand into Saitsune's. a nervous wreck but she worked up the courage to. she also smiled likeing her nickname. Nary, fitting. she could get used to this.

While nervous outside as well as in her heart fluttred. She had never been seen by any creature but her kind and animals, shuch as birds ect. She prayed she had finally found an ally, a friend, in her deepest heart of hearts she also prayed in this woamn she might find much, much more.[/i][/color]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]She smiled and leaned over, kissing Naryu gently.....softly. Then she stroked her hair with a taloned and, and sat up. Arms resting around the lonely girl....protective and warm.[/i]

Nary: .....

Saitsune: Are you alright?

Nary: ...I'm fine...

[i]The female dragon smiled sweetly and kissed her again, this time, as a lover would. Feircly, but still in a sweet way. Nary sighed and leaned against her, cradled like a child, but knowing the truth. Saitsune smiled and let her hair fall down around her face, snakes crawling up, sliding over the two women, up between their tresses and down over their thighs. Naryu gasped for air at the surprising shock, like falling down into water, and Saitsune smiled. Such warmth was hers to offer, and the gift of the snakes was certainly a great one.[/i][/COLOR]

[Sandy]

[size=1][b]offgame[/b]: Harle, I know you said that, and I'm totally compared to build the world around my character, but that isn't the issue! What bugs me is that I have to do it alone! There's no relation what-so-ever to the other character, and that is making me hard to just bump into somebody. Okay, let's theorize: I'll make my character meet eg. Raven's. So, they meet and they chat, and perhaps decide to travel together. But where? And to do what? I haven't the slightest idea! What is it you want from this game, Harle? That one goes to hunt some artifacts, other decides to slay dragons, and third becomes a housewife and plays home?! I'm totally confused! You understand the problem here? We have the world, we have the characters... So what? :therock:[/size]

[The Harlequin]

[color=indigo][font=gothic]OOC: So you do something with them Sage. I don't particularly care what. But since I've been yelled at a few too many times, I'll skip the large number of posts I intended to be a semi-intro, and get straight into the start of the story line. It won't make much sense, since I haven't had time to explain a few things in greater detail, but feel free to get involved in some way with what I'm starting with here.

IC: [I]Morning broke over Qyrain like a wave, in stark contrast to the night that had crept up on him. He awoke with the first false-dawn, the world a rather pleasing colourless greyscale around him. Colours did not dare to intrude on this more simplistic impression of a world, leaving it perfect in many ways. In Qyrain's opinion, but then, that wasn't worth a lot in these matters. He rose quickly, covered the few remains of his firepit, redid his pack, and moved towards the hill, cresting it with his body kept as prone as possible.

Corus, below, was in ruins. Buildings, made in most parts of a soft white stone common to these parts, seemed almost to be rotting in some parts, and there was no sign of any attempted repairs. On the other hand, it did not seem to be infested either. Qyrain rose fully to his feet and sighed. Isolation would dog him yet again, it seemed. He surveyed the ruined hamlet a bit more, hoping some spark of life had eluded him, but was dissapointed. He turned his back on the city, and sat down, looking moodily out over the he had covered yesterday.

For several minutes, it eluded him, wrapped as he was in morose thoughts. A stray tangent of speculation crossed a line he was previously unaware of, and the realisation struck him. By his very nature, he was not alone. As the single entity in existance that was comprised to two identically Named beings, as whole, he could not possibly be anything other than in the presence of another, whether from the physical or the mental point of view. Perhaps certain aspects of both had been repressed, but they were still there. Suddenly struck, he tried reaching for the mental half of his physical body, scouring his aura with an exacting gaze, knowing that it had to hide somewhere inside him. He found absolutely nothing. Stunned, he went for the easier, but less rewarding course. He attempted to return to his "physical" body; the one occupied by his extra-planar mental self. Again, he met with nothing but failure.

Now intrigued, Qyrain's mind went through exhausting loops of conjecture and logic, and came up with only one option. Somehow, rather than the previously assumed duality phenomenon, he had merged the beings into one. Which left the question that perhaps, somewhere, possibly in the void itself, the other halves of his selves existed together. But surely, if these two halves of beings existed together, some link must exist between them? Though what kind of link could possibly exist between the veil that separated existance and non-existance?

That frightening thought was interrupted before it could continue by a sudden explosion in front of him....[b]coupled with a loud crashing sound behind him, from Corus[/B]. Qyrain looked to his left, a smoking crater now existed, about three metres squared. He looked to the source, and in profound shock, was greeted with a Vahnati staring at him, its strangely expressionless face locked onto him, already in the process of another spell.

Qyrain rolled away as lightning arced in to kill him. The actinic glare momentarily blinded him, but he shot to his feet anyway, erratically running his way towards the creature. He listened intently, and heard a soft, almost inaudible chanting to his left. Without pausing to check any further, he leapt in that direction, leg piercing outwards in a flying side kick. He was rewarded with a warbled cry and a loud crack. His vision cleared as he landed, and he found the Vahnati lying a few feet away, its collarbone splintered. Frail creatures...

Qyrain ducked and rolled to the side, sure that some other Vahnati would seek to take his life. Nothing happened. This one must have been alone, no matter how uncharacteristic that may have been. Nevertheless, Qyrain approached the body at a crawl. For his luck, the Vahnati had been enough of a fighter to carry a waveblade and a few razordisks. Waveblades, the typical Vahnati weapons, were six foot long swords, obviously waved, that due to their thinnnes, and some strange property of the metal they were forged from, handled like a dagger. Qyrain appropriated the weapon, and left the razor disks behind.

At the moment, he remembered the loud crash that had come from Crous when the fireball had hit. He jogged to the top of the hill, and survey the town. One of the larger buildings was now quite a bit smaller. The very uppermost part had broken, but the lower part was intact. And from what Qyrain could see, it certainly wasn't the foundations of the building that now touched the ground. In fact, a now broken window touched the ground. From what he could remember...that window had been about three metres above the ground. That struck him. He looked closer, and noticed small details that had previously eluded him. The building itself was only about two metres wide on that side. For half a metre on either side, the pavement was clear of rubble, and smooth. Glass smooth. Three metres squared..The same size as the crater destroyed by magic...The building didn't appear burned though...Merely like it had, disappeared.

Qyrain sat down again, confused. Thoughts at last came to him, but they weren't comforting. Magic....Magic had always been the silver threads that tied the various planes of existance together. Certainly, magic had been a factor involved in his transfer from non-existance to existance, in the form of the constant energy flux present in the body of an archon. That link he had previously worked out must exist...

That link, combined with the greater than normal magic use going on due to the war with the Vahnati....Magic the thread that tied the realms together....

Those ties were getting tighter. This realm, perhaps all existance, was being drawn into non-existance. They would come into contact...and nullify the entire multiverse. The perfection all creation had sought since separation anyway....

It occured to Qyrain that he potentially had the blood, fluid or whatever of all creation on his hands. It occured to him that if creation was indeed nullified, he had provided the vehicle for it. It occured to him that after all, it was probably his responsibility to stop it. It occured to him that doing so would most likely somehow involve retransferring the separate halves of himselves back together. The physical shadow and the mental archon in the void, the physical archon and the mental shadow in the material realm, the one he currently was.

Suddenly, the grey lack of colour around him was a lot more depressing.[/font][/color][/I]

[Sandy]

[size=1][b]offgame:[/b] Sorry for yelling at you, Harle... :( I was just frustrated, it wasn't anything personal. Sorry...[/size]
* * *
[color=green]Slowly the warmth of the setting sun woke Mayu up. She realized she was lying in a bed of something long, green and soft. Brown poles rose around her, each of them dividing to many smaller sticks. Some critters chirped and sang from their hiding places. Next to Mayu was a hill that lead to the mouth of the cave where Mayu had fallen from.

When Mayu tried to stand up, her head stopped her with a stinging pain. Slowly she managed to sit up, and she observed the place. Everywhere was green... She had made it to the Forest!

She took the pouch filled with food and piece of clothing that the villagers had given her, and with trembling feet she started to walk forward, away from the mountains.

For first few hours she carefully listened whether something or someone was approaching, but then she relaxed, and just enjoyed the darkening sky, the stars and the moon. It was all so magnificent and huge! There was no limits anywhere, one could run to any direction without crashing into a wall. And the scents, the voices, even the tastes... Mayu spent a long time just feeling everything around her. She observed the small animals that seemed far less threatening than the ones in Exile.

But then she begun to wonder if there was any population here - humans, nephils, sliths or even Vahnati. Everything just seemed so untouched, so savage.

As the night fell, Mayu was forced to stop. It wasn't the lack of vision, as she had grown underground, and saw perfectly fine in the dark. But as the colors faded, everything changed. Voices sounded more threatening, the scents were wilder, and even the brown poles started to remind monsters.

So Mayu stopped to a small glade with a little pond of still water. Then she noticed she hadn't bring any firestones to light a fire. So she lay down below one of the dividing poles, and was soon fast asleep.[/color]

[Shinkoru]

[color=gray][i] Naryu's eyes widened further. She steped back a bit, her heart raced. Naryu was hard to trust, but this woman won her over instantly. Naryu's defenced fell and she literally fell into Saitsune, wrapping her arms tightly about her. Intent on not letting go. She cried. Letting her tears and min tell all, letting a small part of herself stay within Saitsune's mind. Letting Nary read her every thought, and at the same time allowing Saitsune access to every part of Naryu's mind she wished.

Naryu had short doubts but her fathers words echoed in her head.."Find your one, and once you do never let go." Naryu didn't intend to do so, unless Saitsune wished it. And she prayed she would never...[/I]

[b]Naryu:[/B] Saitsune, you, how do you feel, about me?

[I] Naryu awaited an answer, nervously, hopefully, still a small pang of doubt twinged her heart.[/i][/color]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]She let the snakes slither lazily through their legs, slipping across their broad thighs, tongues caressing their hips. Naryu sighed and Sasitsune leaned over. With gentle fingers, she wiped away her tears, brushing her face with her downy soft hair. She smiled and cupped her cheek with her palm. Agony from the past, such pretty treason, bitterness, all washed away with a mist fae's tears. The kindness of her deed deserved an equal reward.... Such as the dragons could offer.

The female Water Dragon lifted her up and closed her lips around Naryu's throat. She gasped and drew a swift intake of air. The light breathy sound drove Saitsune wild and she bit down, fangs barely breaking the skin...then tongued the wound andn slid down to her neck....pulling the hair away, kissing with cool sensual movements.[/i]

"Are you going to kill me...?"

"Mmm...no....not now. I can't kill the one I love...Nary."

[i]The way she spoke her name, rolling the R slightly on her tongue... Intoxicating. She purred sweetly and lifted her up until the two were sitting close.[/i][/COLOR]

[The Harlequin]

[color=indigo][font=gothic]OOC: Hehehe, don't worry about it Sage. The only reason I got sharp was because I'd spent nearly an hour dealing with annoying posts. Being a Mod is a hard job at times....but I've got a lotta karma to burn off.

IC: [I]The sheer amount of time Qyrain sat motionless should have spawned some kind of reaction, simply due to his annoyance with this kind of behaviour. Despite rampant bouts of depression and melancholia, Qyrain had never moped. The temptation was there to pass this motionless daze off as brooding, but that was an easy answer, and easy answers tended to be excuses. And excuses tended to be lies. Qyrain was forced to sigh at the thought that it became so much harder to lie to yourself when you considered that in lying to yourself you were lying to two different entities. That sigh was all it took to jolt him into some form of activity...

Even if his inital activity was simply standing up, pacing back and forth, and ranting to the rather unimpressed sky about how much life hated him. The horses that pulled up behind him seemed pretty unimpressed as well...Though their riders were vaguely cautious. The myths about madmen being god-touched and protected died hard.

Qyrain stopped his rather self-deprecating tirade and surveyed them. By the look of it, it was those bandits he'd thought about earlier. He stretched a few major muscles, basically unconcerned with whatever their intentions were.

A burly red-haired man with a wall-eye and an apparently aversion to anything that wasn't caked in blood and dirt nudged his horse forward. The ill-favoured beast whickered evilly and did so, attempting to keep one eye on Qyrain, one on the bandit leader. The others hung back; this was probably some kind of bandit leader.[/I]

"Why do you walk our lands madman?"

Qyrain: Because they're in my way. And madman I am not. Severely aggravated man I am.

"What's yer point! I'm Roald Blackbane, Bandit Lord of these areas, so hand over yer gold and we'll let ye live!"

[I]The speech sounded rehearsed to Qyrain. The men behind the brigand seemed delighted with it however, and rattled rather shabby swords at him a while and shouted imprecations and threats. Qyrain sighed, and removed the waveblade from its sheathe. The four foot, flamberge like weapon cut through the air with barely a sound, despite the blinding speed with which it moved. The rogue sneered at him, and the horse, sensing its rider's mood, pulled its lips back from its teeth and stamped a few times. Qyrain shifted his gaze to the equine annoyance, that gaze one of disbelief and indignation.[/I]

Qyrain: Now what the hell did I ever do to you?

[I]The horse seemed to consider that for a moment, then shook its head and made a snorting noise, as if shrugging the question off as irrelevant. Qyrain sighed, and raised the blade, pointing at at the man and went by what was probably an alias, Roald Blackbane. Qyrain vaguely remembered hearing some old tale about a man named that...Couldn't remember the details though.

The man raised a weapon, a rather crudely made long sword, fashioned of cold iron, and sent his horse charging towards Qyrain.

As he drew close, Qyrain ducked to his left. The waveblade snapped out. Even as Qyrain ducked his head back to avoid a clumsy strike, his own blade shot upwards, through the man's forearm. Qyrain jerked the tip downwards sharply, a good half a foot of the blade past the man's shoulder; the horse wasn't that tall, severing the arm. The blade then crossed across Qyrain's body for momentum, and swept back, cleanly disemboweling the man. All this before the horse had gotten past him.

The other would-be plunderers were staring in amazement. Qyrain spun the blade around him in intricate arcs like a quarterstaff, spinning the blade itself through his fingers on a few occasions. The men in front of him stood dumbfounded. At last, Qyrain snapped the blade back into an easy grip, and absently let the tip fall to the ground. The smile he shot at the men was dazzlingly confident, and no small part amused.[/I]

Qyrain: And for my next trick, I'll need a volunteer....

[I]The men got the point, and made a point of leaving in a hurry. Qyrain let them get a safe distance away, and promptly doubled over laughing, his faith in the universe suddenly restored. This was, of course, until he received a sturdy, though in no way painful, prod to the shoulder. He turned around, to find the wicked looking horse glaring at him.[/I]

Qyrain: Oh come on, he provoked it.

[I]The horse looked back at its now empty saddle, then over to the fallen man. Qyrain sighed, and started to remove the saddle. He jerked his hand back with a sharp oath, as the horse went for his fingers. Qyrain shrugged, if the ill tempered thing wanted to remain like that, so be it. He started to walk away, only to have the horse follow him.[/I]

Qyrain: Fine. We'll do it your way, and see if you reconsider.

[I]He attempted to mount the horse. The horse allowed it, but as soon as Qyrain was firmly in the saddle, threw him off. Qyrain landed easily on his feet and glared at the horse, and started to walk off. The horse again followed him. Qyrain sighed and stopped.[/I]

Qyrain: So you want to come along, but you're too much of a contentious bastard to allow me to ride you?

[I]The horse gave an enthusiastic snort. Whichever wizard had imbued this creature with intelligence had better not cross Qyrain's path any time soon.

It was nearly midday, Qyrain having been motionless in contemplation for hours. His hopes of Corus having been unfounded, and with a new responsibility on his shoulders, he set out for his second option, the Mage Tower in Exile. If he remembered rightly, there was an entrance somewhere around here....[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Elairith stared out of the forest at the open plain she had just crossed, but had not noticed at the time. The hole and the consequent man... um, thing... had woken her out of her depressed state enough to note her surroundings. the manthing seemed cheery.[/i]

Kris: Must you keep referring to me as manthing? I'm a manvahnati. And my name is Kris.

Elairith: Sorry, I shouldn't do that I know.

[i]A pause.[/i]

Did I actually call you that to your face?

Kris: Yes, you've been muttering to yourself for a while now. Are you alright?

Elairith: As alright as a woman can be when her suicide attempt has been disrupted.

Kris: Ah. I'd say sorry, but I'm not. So, what now?

[i]Elairith thought hard, wondering where her life was aimed now. The world didn't seem like much of a bad place. And Kris was far from ugly.... she pushed the thought out of her mind. Never again. That kind of thinking had gotten her friend killed, and her exiled from her home. She would never walk that path again. Pulling her cloak around her, she realised she was crying.[/i]

Kris: Are you alright? You don't need to tell me what's wrong, it's not my business, but if there's anything I can do...

Elairith: And what were you doing? Were you following me? Just happened to be walking past when I leapt? What is it people do in forests, anyway?

Kris: You don't know that much about the world, do you?

Elairith: I've never been in it.

Kris: Well... that explains a bit. I was walking through it to get to the other side, which is where we are now.

Elairith: What's so special about here?

[i]Kris sighed and began walking forward, waiting briefly to see if she would follow. She did.[/i]

Kris: There is nothing [i]here,[/i] so much, as where I am going. Here is just a point along the way, as was the forest I found you in. Speaking of places to go, where are you going?

Elairith: Down, I hoped. I thought I might have seen something interesting at the bottom, or I might have died... I didn't really care either way.

Kris: I mean before that. Surely you weren't wandering around looking for a hole to leap into, where you?

Elairith: No, I was just walking anywhere. I didn't think about where I was going.

Kris: Where do you think you will go now?

Elairith: I don't know. But I have heard of a place...

Kris: Oh?[/font][/color]

[Sandy]

[size=1][b]offgame:[/b] Mind me tugging in? :toothy: Guess not... [/size]
* * *
[color=green]Mayu woke up to a noise coming near her. No, not noise, [i]voices[/i]. For the first time since she left Exile behind, Mayu heard two talking beings [i]talk[/i]. Her heart was pounding with both fear and excitement as she slowly stood up. It was bright again. Exhausted from her voyage, Mayu had slept the whole night through. This meant she could be easily seen unless she was careful.

Trying not to make a noise, Mayu slowly tiptoed nearer to the speakers. They were walking on a forest path, walking quite ahead of Mayu. She could hear them well enough to know that she didn't understand the language. She couldn't really see the details of the two strangers, but there was something oddly familiar about the way the other - clearly female one - walked. The other, male, was much taller than the female.

As the two strangers advanced, Mayu followed, carefully keeping a distance. She imagined what would happen if the two would notice her. Would she live long enough for them to notice she was Nephilim? Would they ask her questions she wouldn't understand, let alone reply because of her muteness? What if...

[i]Crack.[/i]

She had been careless. A large pole lying on the path had been cracked in two by her foot, and the two beings had obviously heard her. Swiftly both of them had turned to face her. Mayu closed her eyes tightly. She didn't want to face them... But as steps drew closer, she felt she had to open the eyes and see her destiny in front of her. It was one of the teachings of the Temple of Sakret: to face what was to be, without fear, without doubt.

As soon as Mayu opened her eyes, she regretted her act. The male being, now looking straight at her with a surprised face, was clearly a Vahnati.[/color]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Elairith stopped, looking at Kris. He had stopped and was staring behind them. Turning, she saw a small figure hidden low in the undergrowth. Elairith looked at Kris again, he was still relaxed, but not moving. She didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, the figure flexed and jumped straight up in the air, landing on a branch high above. Kris swore softly, obviously not having any idea what had happened. But Elairith knew.

Walking to the base of the tree, she flexed in the same way as the figure and jumped. She needed to jump twice to reach the height the other person had jumped to, because of her human blood. Landing on the branch with the other, she smiled and got into a comfortable position. The other person, a girl, was petrified.[/i]

Elairith: Hello! How exciting. I've never met another Nephilim before.

[i]The girl sat there, not saying anything. She glanced nervously at the man on the ground.
[/i]
Elairith: That's Kris. He's half... some strange word.

[i]Still nothing.[/i]

Elairith: Care to join us? We don't know where we're going. My name is Elairith, by the way.

[i]A pattern began to form with the repies Elairith was recieving.[/i]

Elairith: Well, just please yourself then. But it's good to see another of my kind.

[i]Elairith leapt from the branch, spiriling down in a splotch of white and black. Kris gasped and prepared to change the earth for her landing, but she landed perfectly on tightly bent legs. [/i]

Elairith: She doesn't like to say much. Or she's too scared... But she's nephilim, like me! Isn't that great?

Kris: Wonderful. I had no idea that's what you were, you don't look like it at all. So, where is it you said you've heard of?

Elairith: The city our food comes from. Corus, I think.

Kris: Just over the hill...

[i]They set off, the edge of the forest in sight.[/i][/font][/color]

[Sandy]

[size=1]offgame: Thankies, Raven![/size]
* * *
[color=green]
Mayu looked at the girl seemingly named Elairith leave with the Vahnati. How could she?! But apparently the Vahnati wasn't the same as the ones down in Exile.

Mayu hadn't understood much about what Elairith had spoken, but she had understood - and seen it with her own eyes - that she was half-nephil, half-human. Frankly, it made Mayu upset. In Exile half-blooded didn't live to see the next day. But Mayu was prepared that things were different in Lands Above.

When she watched the man, who was slowly disappearing down the path, she realized that he wasn't pureblooded either. Mayu shook her head incredulously. Did humans breed with everything they had in sight?

But then she realized Elairith and her companion had gone out of sight. Mayu's brains told her not to follow them, but her heart cried that she had been alone too long. Besides, if the two wanted to kill her, they would've done it already.

Quietly, Mayu hopped to another pole, and descended down. She began to walk the path, following the trails of Elairith and the half-Vahnati.[/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]OOC: Mwaha! At last, some Exile experience!

IC: [I]Qyrain stood in front of the small, insignificant appearing cavern, a low ridge of rock snaking out from the ceiling obscuring the view of the sharply descending passage just behind it. You had to duck quite far, but this was one of the more convenient entrances to Exile, simply based on the fact that it wasn't a sheer drop. Qyrain turned to the horse, smiling broadly.[/I]

Qyrain: I'm going to love to see you pull this one off.

[I]The horse simply splayed itself legs and semi crawled, semi dragged itself under. Qyrain folded his arms and scowled.[/I]

Qyrain: By all rights, you shouldn't be able to do that. In fact, that action should have sent your shoulder blades into your internal organs.

[I]The horse disagreed rather vehemently, snorting at him yet again, and giving its tail, one of the few parts visible behind the outcrop of rock, a vigorous shake. Qyrain sighed, swore, and looked at the sky, in vaguely that order, and was struck by what was vaguely the last one. He remembered the last time he had walked into Exile. HIs captain, and old campaigner, had ordered them all to turn around and stare at the sky for several minutes. They'd all laughed.

A year later, they'd wept in memory. Qyrain repeated the action nevertheless, hoping that this time, he'd be free to leave whenever he wanted, if at all. He turned his back on the light that had never really meant that much to him anyway, not until darkness became overwhelming, and ducked under the rock ledge that obscured his view. The horse promptly stepped on his foot.[/I]

Qyrain: I hate you. I'm getting me a lizard.

[I]The beast rather disdainfully ignored him. Qyrain decided that he'd find a name for the creature...Probably a very nasty one too. For now though, he had to worry about reorienting himself to live in Exile.

He moved down the steeply sloping corridor that lead to Exile proper with incredible caution. Even the horse made no noise, though it didn't manage Qyrain's furtive toe-heel step. If Qyrain wasn't near any major Forts, than chances are all sorts of creatures would be running around.

At last, he bridged a turn and was struck, as he was the first time. by the sheer strangeness of Exile. The immense cavern, leagues across and more than a mile high in places. The rocks appeared a soft blue, lit by phosphorant mushrooms that existed in huge clumps on walls, floors and even hung from the roof. Several hardy varieties even found purchase on the gigantic stalactites that stabbed downwards from the roof, some reaching several hundred metres long. Qyrain shuddered at the memory of a Vahnati Crystal Shaper dropping one of those giant ones on the walls of some long forgotten Fort in the middle of nowhere. The walls had been almost completely torn down, by nothing more than a small fireball in the right part. The two hundred metre long sword of stone had snapped off and fell more than twice that distance before hitting the wall of the fort. The shock of impact alone knocked people from the wall. The actual damage was staggering. A score of his comrades had died, and the walls had been irreparably breached. The Vahnati warriors had streamed in, cruel waveblades, like the one he now carried, aloft...

Qyrain tore himself away from that memory. He wasn't here to fight. Not anymore. He took the first, ginger, step forward, the horse a strangely comforting presence at his shoulder. At last, he stepped away from the cavern mouth and into the true wilderness of Exile. A small road, as good as they got in Exile, wound around in front of him. A signpost showed that Meros, Exile's capital city, or former capital city, was merely two miles south of here. He looked at the horse, shrugged, and started off, as alert and ill-at-ease as he never was on the surface, constantly assured that in the next second, one of the subterranean terrors would attack him.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Corus wasn't worth the walk. In fact, it was more getting in the way of the place at the moment... Elairith was dissapointed her journey would have to continue from here. She didn't think about her former home, who would starve without this city. Completely void of emotion, she turned to Kris and smiled weakly at him.[/i]

Elairith: I think I might go and check out what's down that hole.

Kris: You won't like it.

Elairith: What? You've been there?

Kris: It's where I came from.

[i]Elairith, confused and slightly angered by the dishonesty of the world, turned and walked back across the plain. She didn't bother to see if he followed.

Apparently, he did. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she turned and looked up to his face. The sun was behind his head, making him look like a deity. Emotionally fucked, Elairith collapsed into his arms and fell into a agonising sleep. He began to carry her somewhere. She didn't care where.[/i]
[/font][/color]

[Sandy]

[size=1]offgame: I have a bad feeling that Mayu is turning into some kind of Gollum following Frodo and Sam... ;)[/size]
* * *
[color=green]Mayu looked down upon Elairith, lying in the arms of the half-Vahnati. The man was carrying her somewhere with a determined look in his face. Mayu though about the options: maybe Elairith was a prisoner, and she had seeked help from her. Mayu felt a lump in her throat. Maybe the half-Vahnati was now carrying Elairith to Exile, to the other Vahnatis. Mayu felt she couldn't let it happen. In an odd way Mayu felt attracted to the half-nephil girl.

So she sang.

The man had time to just see her sitting on the branch before his eyes went backwards and he fell to the ground unconscious. Elairith fell down with him, but she didn't wake up.

Slowly Mayu crept to Elairith, stroking her hair and face, that was somewhat nephil-like, but not as clearly as Mayu's own face. Suddenly Elairith opened her eyes, and the two girls were face to face, staring each other.[/color]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic]Elairith: You again.

[i]The strange girl smiled, and the wave of sickness and anger inside Elairith was washed away by despair.[/i]

Elairith: I don't care who you are... I don't care who it is, someone take me to where I can die in peace....

[i]She didn't seem to understand, but she did lick Elairith's face. Elairith recoiled, more shocked in the strage feeling it awoke inside her. She needed to be with this person.
Although Kris had been kind, he was far too heavy to carry. Elairith plucked a sprig of jasmine from a nearby groundsprout and placed it on his chest, hoping he would understand.
The girl didn't seem to understand, taking Elairith's had and dragging her away from Kris. She didn't mind, he life belonged to no one now, and she welcomed whatever was to come.[/i]

OOC: Sorry, Jack.[/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=indigo][I]Qyrain reached the city without incident, a completely unprecedented feat in Exile history, most likely. The guards were even more on edge than normal, especially at seeing his less than dead white skin. Surface dwellers were not uncommon anymore, but they weren't really accepted by die hard Exile inhabitants. Then, of course, someone recognised him.

The cries of "Qyrain!" echoed around the walls, as soldiers formed up around him in a tight square, civilians backing away with indecent haste. A slate-eyed captain moved the soldier's pikes away and stepped slowly, cautiously forward, a slight hand gesture waving off the archers Qyrain knew would be in place.[/I]

"You've got a lot of gall, coming back here."

[I]Qyrain raised his hands slowly, in what was meant to be a pacifying gesture. For a man reputed to have killed hundreds with his hands alone, it probably wasn't the best course of action. Some more nervous than usual recruit lost his grip, and the arrow twanged out, its ashwood shaft making a low hum in the air that was unique to that kind of wood. Qyrain spun, a single strike deflecting the missile. Soldiers tightened their grips on their pikes....The bow was quickly reloaded. The captain in the square drew his sword in a desperate scream of steel. Qyrain raised his hands above his head and turned very, very slowly around. The horse promptly tripped him.

Even as Qyrain hit the ground, an over eager solider lunged forward with his pike, only to have kicked away by the horse. Shamefaced, he stepped back. Qyrain got to his feet, allowed the horse a half glare, and spoke quietly to the captain.[/I]

Qyrain: I'm not here for a fight, as my horse so aptly demonstrated. I'm here because the world is screwed.

[I]That elicted a half laugh, until another figure pushed through. An elderly man, clad in blue robes. Qyrain recognised him. His name was Miles, and he was one of Exile's more powerful wizards.[/I]

Miles: What do you know, butcher?

Qyrain: I know magic is causing a lot of strange effects. More to the point, I know why.

[I]Miles gestured for the soldiers to stand down, and they did so, albeitly grudgingly. Miles motioned for Qyrain to follow, and left. The captain trailed along, as did the horse. As its shod hooves struck stone to a crisp sound, Miles stopped abruptly and turned, looking at the horse very sharply.[/I]

Miles: What the hell are you doing here?

[I]The horse almost looked embarrassed. Miles turned back with a sound of disgust, a reproving look for Qyrain, and continued walking. Qyrain vowed then and there to get the full story on that horse, no matter what else happened.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]The girl took her back into the forest. Elairith found herself thinking of the hole, and sure enough it came into sight within the next few seconds. The girl seemed scared of it, but Elairith stood at the edge of the chasm, staring down.

The forest fell silent, just before a gust of wind. But in that period of silence, Elairith thought she heard something...

The girl heard it too. She grabbed Elairith's hand and yanked hard, showing surprising strength. Elairith was pulled right back a good few paces, just before something... someone... scrambled out of the hole. It was a Vahnati. Like kris... taller, paler, and looking rather embarrased that the ungraceful act of escaping the hole was witnessed. Rather than show a little wrath, however, the Vahnati merely snorted in an elegant kind of way and walked off.

Elairith made the decision then and there - she was jumping into that hole.

The girl decided otherwise, and needed to be shaken off before hand. To Elairith's despair, it was not an option. So Elairith leapt anyway...[/i]

OOC: If you don't like it down there, Sage, just leap the hell out of there. But I am in this RPG for the mushrooms, so to speak...[/font][/color]

[Sakura]

OOC:Sorry I haven't posted for so long.

Mia woke up and decided the forests were getting boring.She needed adventure,she needed excitement!She opened her large wings and flapped them and exited her tree hollow she called her home and headed through the forests.The morning light shone through the canopy and around her giving her a golden glow.She decided since it was still morning to rest a while.She went to the waterfall again and jumped in to wake her up.She broke the surface and flew out and shook herself getting rid of most of the water.She floated over to a tree and sat watching the light shine on the water and how it made the water glow.She saw some fish swimming inside and some other marine animals.A fish jumped the surface before sinking back down into the depths.Soon unknowingly Mia drifted off to sleep in the warmth of the morning sun.

When she awoke it was afternoon and she was supposed to be leaving and going on adventures.She sighed and flapped her wings and got out of the boughs of the tree she had been resting in.She yawned and flew straight up.She broke through the canopy and looked at the sky that she ever hardly saw under the thick leaves of the canopy.It was beautiful.So blue and wide.Like never-ending.And the puffy white clouds.Mia smiled happily and beat her wings hard and topok off into the distance not knowing where she was going but just following her instincts.