|
Post by AngelicTragedy on May 30, 2010 16:30:40 GMT -5
OOC- This is a build/retcon topic for Reb as well as a perfect time to intro any character you would like. Please keep the power level low to mid and go with the flow.
BIC- The early evening crowd had begun to roll into the Hairy Lemon pub and mill about as is common on most Friday evenings. Locals sat shoulder to shoulder at the bar taking in the cluttered scenery of signs and pictures, as well as more than their fair share of expertly mixed drinks, beers, and shots of all types. The scents of good food, old smoke, and too much perfume hung in heavy clouds about the pub but seemed to be largely ignored.
Sitting at a table next to a large panel window overlooking Lower Stephen Street Reb Lorsha sat nursing a pint of cider. A mask of perpetual sadness marred her once beautiful features and darkened her crystal blue eyes. Though she was well dressed in shades of blue and gray and her striking blonde hair was well kept, but Reb still seemed to be a wreck despite her appearance. Reb had never properly learned to grieve her fallen husband, Nade, and had resorted to traveling and drinking as a way of lessening her suffering. Even after Nades death Valon had treated Reb as family, but every time she looked in Valon’s face it just brought back painful memories of the only man she had ever truly loved.
Reb let her eyes wander to the growing line outside the pub hoping to see some faces that she might know. The past few weeks Reb had been looking for a group of fellow travelers online and through word of mouth to tackle a trek she knew she couldn’t even begin to take on her own. She had stumbled across a book that seemed to be written in blood that told of a stone that could raise the dead and Reb wanted it more than anything. It didn’t give an exact location but spoke of guardians such as the Cwn Annwn, a pack of gigantic white dogs with very foul tempers, so the United Kingdom was clearly the area she had to search.
Reb leaned back in her seat and waited for the coming meeting time she had set long ago of 10PM. If no one showed she would have to try to venture out into the bleak forests alone in search of the fabled stone that would bring her Nade back, but if anyone arrived at the end of their journey they would be gifted wealth like few people had ever seen. Outside on the roof a pair of crow sat observing the crowd but each had its own aura of power. The first bore a pair of wickedly red eyes and a thin curved beak while the other had yellow eyes and a short beak and stocky legs. The pair seemed fiercely intelligent and wickedly cruel. The pair stared daggers into the line as if trying to discern which ones they would be picking the eyes out of. Moments later they took wing and flew off into the night.
|
|
|
Post by Iron Mouse on May 30, 2010 18:12:23 GMT -5
Maybe they’d go away. Kota took another drag off of the cheap foreign cigarette and turned the corner, heading into a significantly nicer part of town. No luck. The three thugs were still following him. He blew smoke out of his nostrils, flicked the butt into the street, and walked a little faster. He’d been hoping that they just wanted to mug him. He’d hoped that in the low lighting his hair would pass for black and his eyes would pass for brown. He’d hope that they’d leave if he walked onto a slightly better looking street. He was a half a block away from what looked like a very well lit, well populated pub. If he could just make it to that line. A hand caught him roughly by the shoulder. Damn it.
“Are you just gonna leave that on the ground there?”
Kota didn’t answer.
Someone pushed him. “Did you hear him? Aren’t you gonna pick up your trash over there?”
He still didn’t answer.
Another shove.
“Look Larry, Curly, why don’t you and Moe go take a flying fuck off a cliff alright? And leave me the hell alone.”
Curly’s fist slammed into the side of Kota’s face, sending him wheeling into a nearby streetlamp. The people in line were beginning to stare in his direction.
“Holy shit,” Moe said, grabbing him by the shoulder again. “His hair. His hair’s fuckin’ green man!”
Someone, maybe Curly, grabbed a fist full of Kota’s hair. “He’s a summoner!” The nearby line burst into worry, and several men started jogging over. "I fucking hate Ireland."
|
|
|
Post by AngelicTragedy on Jul 19, 2010 1:50:51 GMT -5
“Let the kid go.”
The barrel of a specially build pistol pushed sharply into the back of the man holding Kotas head. With a deep swallow and a caught breath the man released the green haired man and dropped his hands. Without much though, Curlys hand drifted towards his waistline, which resulted in a loud cocking sound ringing out from the action of the weapon against his skull.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The voice advised and Curly noticed that the rest of the forming mob had dispersed. “You currently have a custom built 50 caliber pistol pointed at the back of your head. If I so much as run my finger across this trigger it will result in a bullet the size of your thumb turning your head and most of your upper body into a fine pink mist. You have two options, one is to walk away now and never come back here again and the other is you stay and become worm food. Choose quickly because I’m not known as a patient person.”
Curly slowly drew his hands up and began running into the darkened streets cursing under his breath about ‘the psycho with the gun’ and the ‘summoner lover’. Once the goon was out of sight the man slid his pistol into a hip holster and extended a hand to Kota. The man appeared to be in his late twenties to mid thirties with a mane of messy brown hair. A pair of bright, if slightly uninterested, hazel eyes sat deep in his deeply tanned skin giving the impression of a dry wit and cynical outlook on life. The man was dressed simply but his clothing gave his former profession away clearly. He wore a black tee and black cargo shorts that hung below his knees along with a pair of green and black shoes that were always nearly falling off his feet, but the most telling item was his military camo vest bearing many stripes of rank and a patch that read ‘Delmore’ below the image of a rust colored jackal.
“Name’s Aiden. C’mon, let’s get something to drink.” Aiden pulled the green-headed stranger to his feet and led him into the Hairy Lemon.
*****
“Are you Reb?” a cheerful woman asked as she plopped down in a chair across from Reb followed closely by an expressionless man.
“I am. Is this in regards to my summons?” Reb questioned as she took a slight sip of her cider.
“Of course. My name is Chloe Hopkins and this is my baby Marcus Ward. We heard about your offer and thought we might be of some help.” Chloe nearly sang, and to be honest, her cheerfulness was making Reb a bit ill.
“What is it that you are bringing to the table? I can’t have someone along that can’t pull their own weight.”
“I’m a martyr,” Marcus replied in his near robotic tone. “I can draw others injuries and negative emotions into myself. As a result I’m empathic and have no true emotions myself. I take pleasure in what I draw from others.”
“Sounds like you’re a bit of a vampire.” Reb stated calmly, for the presence of powers had long since lost its effect on her.
“Hey, don’t taunt my baby. He uses his gift to help people for free. That’s our mission in life.” Chloe dropped her tone a bit and something dark flashed across her eyes.
“Alright sweetheart, what can you do?” Reb snapped back.
“I can upgrade anything.”
“Excuse me?” Reb raised her eyebrows; this was one she had never heard before.
“Yeah, I can upgrade anything to fit my needs. Have you got a knife on you?” Chloe asked as she reached across the table with a pale hand.
Reb sighed and pulled a small, fix-bladed knife from the inside of her jacket. Chloe gladly took it and flipped it once. Chloe flexed her hand and soft amber light ran along the knife like oil on water. The knife began to quickly change shape and within a few seconds had become at least an inch longer, serrated, and appeared to now have a small chainsaw bar moving a long chain of wickedly sharp barbs along the blade. Chloe brought the knife up to Reb’s glass and touched it just above the line of cider, cutting the glass smoothly all the way across. Chloe sat the knife down and it reverted back to what it once was. Reb nodded and moved the top half of her glass away from the remainder of her drink.
“I suppose that you’re both very talented. Now, let’s get down to the job at ha-.”
“Excuse us girly, but we’re joining this little party.” Aiden said as he spun a chair around from another table and motioned for Kota to sit in the chair next to Reb. “I hope you don’t mind that I got us some drinks on your tab. I hear the Irish coffee here is to die for.”
“Yes, well….As I was saying, let’s get down to business. I’m asking you all to join me on my search for an item of interest. I’ve determined that it’s somewhere near here, hence the meeting. All you have to do is aid me in obtaining this item and I will pay you generously for it. Don’t get me wrong, there are dangers that you couldn’t even begin to imagine, but I will make the reward worth your time.” Reb stated, taking another drink from her now shortened glass.
“Now when you say that you’re paying generously, what are we talking about figure wise. It’s not like I have anything better to do, but I’m only in it for the green sugar.” Aiden jabbed, his Irish coffee in one hand and the other reaching out to grab the knife on the table.
“IF you must know now, it’s well into the millions for each of you. I don’t suppose that went to a finishing school, did you Delmore?”
“Well if the rich girl isn’t a bit of a smart ass too. I like that. As for the offer, I’ll take it, but the final dollar amount needs to stay high, and can always go up.” Aiden responded and then took a drink of his steaming hot coffee and whiskey blend.
“Well come along too.” Chloe said as if trying to break the tension. “Marcus and I can really be of use but the whole reward thing can be sent to a charity. We don’t need the money.”
“I’ll take your share.” Aiden piped up quickly to which Reb responded with a well timed glare. “Fine, send your cash to the cripples or something. It’s none of my business.”
“Now, what about you Mr. Summoner?” Reb asked with a slight smirk.
Everything was coming together for Reb and with any luck Nade would be back with here within the next week. Reb let a slight smile grace her features and she gazed at the Summoner and waited for his reply. Outside on a rooftop the pair of crows landed once again. Their oddly colored eyes gazed into the bar at the assembled group at the table. They looked at one another again and the thin, red-eyed crow nodded. The pair opened their beaks and let out a call that seemed to be neither avian nor earthly. In the alleyways below the sound of clicking claws began to sing into the night. Something dark and ancient was now prowling the streets of Dublin and seemed to be under the control of the Crows.
|
|
|
Post by Iron Mouse on Aug 4, 2010 17:16:13 GMT -5
Kota looked down before rich girl could attempt to make eye contact. “Look, I’m here in this hellhole of a country to look for my own item of interest. I’ll help you. The money sounds great but honestly we’ve got no proof you can pay up. But I owe Aiden for saving my ass and,” he took another experimental sip of the drink he’d been given, “whatever this stuff is.” He sat it down on the table and started fiddling with the knife, flattening down the barbs with his thumb.
“I can’t do much. I don’t have a summon, and I’m next to useless at jade magic, but I’m good at earth magic. ” He made a show of wadding the knife up into a ball like it was clay. “Exceptionally good. And if you need to dig to find whatever it is I can help. But ‘item of interest’ and ‘somewhere near here’ are pretty vague terms. Especially if I’m going to be facing ‘dangers that I couldn’t even begin to imagine’. I need more to go on.” He made eye contact with rich girl. Pretty, and caring looking. She reminded him of Estelle.
|
|
|
Post by AngelicTragedy on Aug 31, 2010 17:59:12 GMT -5
The dark alleyways of Dublin around The Hairy Lemon began to fill quickly, but with nothing pleasant. Creatures began to step out of the shadows and move as a massive pack of fangs and claws. Beasts that humans had long since written off as being myth stepped out of the dank shadows into the pallid yellow street light. Pure white fur stretched across ashy gray skin that resembled something more reptilian than mammalian. Long tails with push broom like fur swept from side to side as paws tipped in crimson hued claws dug deep into the concrete with each step. Heads shaped much like hippo skulls covered in leather sniffed the cool night air through flat noses. The beasts walked slowly towards the pub paying no mind to the halted traffic all around them. Pairs of creatures became dozens and dozens became hundreds. Within moments the streets were packed with the snowy hounds; the only way to properly tell where ones head was located was to pinpoint the red eyes and ears that seems to glow in the harsh lights of Dublin. The cars that were unlucky enough to be parked on the side of the road simply became obsticals for the monstrosities to climb over, fangs scoring the metal deeply with each sweep of their massive heads.
Reb smiled faintly at the summoner before draining her glass. She knew that summoners had access to some interesting abilities but had no idea about the use of earth magic. Though the ability would come in handy, she wasn't entirely sure that his young summoner was up to snuff without a summon. She thought about telling the poor kid to go home but was interupted by howls of fear from outside. Reb snapped her head around and came face to face with one of the massive white hounds outside.
"You wanted proof? Well, there it is. This, I'm guessing, is the Wild Hunt. Lost spirits that have pooled together and transformed into something rabid and hungry. Shall we?" Reb asked the group almost conversationally before grabbing her book and sliding it into a bag under her jacket before pulling out a long coil of rope with a large metal weight on the end.
"Hell yeah, this should be interesting. Anyone want to take bets on who takes out the most?" Aiden chimed happily as he pulled out his pistol and fired through the glass, causing the head of the of the hounds to explode into a fine pink mist.
With the death of one of their number, the hounds began to attack. Fangs the size of daggers snapped at everything they could reach. The pack seemed to be crazed but surged mainly at the pub, everything was destroyed for getting in the way. Aiden stood his ground firing round after round into the pack, each shot taking down another monster. Reb snapped her weapon forward with a smooth, practiced motion and the large weight made clear why the weapon was called a meteor hammer. The orb of metal snapped and spun with a beautiful, deadly grace as it sang through the air and shattered skulls. Reb wore a mask of controlled emotion as she progressed forward with fluid steps and smooth movements. Had she had not been a whirling storm of death, Reb would have appeared as some kind of beautiful dancer.
Marcus and Chloe stood stock still for a moment until a hound dove for Chloe only to meet Marcus' hand. For a moment nothing happened, but quickly the hound began to writhe in pain. It's fur began to fall away and the skin grew tight over the bones. Within seconds the monster was blowing away in a stream of dust. Chloe looked up at Marcus with a look of deep shock on her face only to be met with a savage smile from Marcus, who had grown long, razor sharp claws and a pair of fangs.
"There is such thing as to much of a good thing. If I hold on for too long I can absorb the whole of a being. Let's show these pups how real hounds fight babe." Marcus growled and took up a crouched position beside their table, ready to spring.
Chloe looked at Marcus for a moment more and smiled like a crazy person. She wasted no time and dove towards the bar, grabbing the ancient pistol hanging on the wall, and began to work. It was a simple matter to find something to upgrade but into what was a different matter. Chloe slipped behind the beer stained bar and began digging though the many items under it. A loud growl issued from the window where their table was that told her that Marcus had joined the battle, but she still had nothing to properly fight with the aid him. In a panic she stuck her hand on something large and hidden under a cloth under the bar and focused. Amber light washed over the area and left the hounds that were trying to get around behind Aiden blinded for a moment. Chloe rose from behind the bar holding what appeared to be a construct of wood, steel, and copper. She aimed a test shot at a nearby canine and fired a bolt of electricity that left the beast dead and smoking on the floor.
"Hey Delmore, you need to get one of these!" Chloe called out as she began firing bolt after bolt into the crowd to clear a path up to Marcus.
"Remind me to steal that from you later!" Aiden called after Chloe as she fought her way outside. "Come on Greenie, I'm not going to protect your ass all day! Get to killing or get to dying!"
|
|