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Post by Vinestar on Sept 22, 2012 17:32:38 GMT -5
The heavens were furious. Or to be exact, the bureaucrat that currently holds much power in Heaven. Chejop Kejak, the eldest and most powerful Exalted in all of Creation, was very aggrieved. Stalking towards the office of his prey, the Elder Sidereal blew the large orihalcum gates off their hinges with a simple palm thrust, eyes narrowed. Though he was very old, and nearing the edge of his long lifetime, the Elder Sidereal still had the power to get things done, in this particular case through physical force. "What have you done, Lytek?" It was less a question and more a barely repressed growl of inquiry, rage seething beneath the seemingly calm face.
Seated behind a golden desk was a humanoid form made of light, his face serene- and smug. He wasn't the only one in the room though, for in his working space were a line of Celestial Lions and a ring of Lesser Elemental Dragons between himself and the old not-mortal not-god. The metallic great cats lounged where they were, though sharp eyes locked onto the intruder. The dragons though not as big as the grand felines were still intimidating, the manifestation of enlightened elements contained in draconian form- fire, water, wood, earth, and wind about in a perfect diagram.
Letting the measure of silence stretch until the Sidereal's facade began slipping away, the light man laughed at the uncomfortableness. "My friend, I am simply doing my job." As he said this, he opened his palm to reveal a small orb of luminescence that radiated the power of the sun, more forceful than the God's own light. "The vacation was rather long, but now I am finally doing my duty. And it makes me happy." Laughing as he sent the soul down into creation, he laughed once more at the impotent fury of usurper. "Let Heaven and Creation know that Lytek is working again, Chejop. Let them behold the return of the Solars."
In a vast land full of wonders and dangers, peace was enforced through the reins of the Scarlet Empress. Five years ago, she disappeared- Creation clueless without her rule. The Solars have returned, and seek their place as the rulers of Creation, their Lunar mates converging from imposed exile to implement sweeping social reforms and back their partners. The Fae have chosen this opportunity to besiege the Bordermarches, and the underworld has displaced its dead legions onto the world of the living. The Dragonblooded are close to a state of civil war, demons and machines regard Creation with hunger as their worlds begin pawing at the veil seperating the dimensions. The Sidereals themselves find the Loom of Fate becoming snarled and are debating what to do while all danger looms ever closer. Change is coming...
"Civilization is nice." Sighing in relief, a long haired man sipped a cup of watered down tea as he stared at the fire in the longroom. "Too bad the only place I could afford was..." Glancing around the room, all sorts of ruffians and otherwise shady characters squatted and sauntered about. The air was pungent with packed human, smoke, alchohol, and various other scents Golden rather not identify. Indeed, the Broken Drum was a rathole for the dregs of society to amuse themselves. And sometimes Anathema, like the ever hopeless Golden Theater Swing. "When did things ever go wrong..."
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2012 20:52:03 GMT -5
Chinatsu was on an adventure. For her true desire was to become the greatest swordswoman in the entire world. And of course, that meant she needed to do a lot of adventuring! ... Which she needed food for.
Only...
Well, Chinatsu had thought this was a restaurant. But... it... it didn't look like any restaurant she recognized. It was... dingy, and... all the people looked really unpleasant, and it was... it was just... Why would anyone make a restaurant this unpleasant? Who would want to eat food here?
No... that was an impolite thought. Chinatsu shook her head. Maybe the food was really good! Even if this place was kind of a mess...
She was having difficulty finding a clear table, though...
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Post by Rain on Sept 23, 2012 10:09:34 GMT -5
False Copy of Inscribed Creation followed Chinatsu, carefully ignoring all the strange looks she was getting and making one careful sweep of the room before being satisfied that no-one in here would currently recognise her as Anathema--at least, not from having met; she could do little about the risk that the Wyld Hunt had managed to spread the word of a white-haired girl capable of taking on grown soldiers.
Sticking close to the Lunar, the girl let out a little sigh and resumed bouncing her yo-yo in strange and painful ways, praying that no idiot would make unwelcome advances. Aside from one boy, everyone in here was so... filthy. Filthy, ugly, unappealing, and talentless. They didn't even have anything useful to make up for it.
"Chinatsu, go by him," the 'child' Abyssal said quietly, gesturing with her weapon and carefully avoiding shattering some random patron's skull. Well, at least this place was reasonably classy: no mass orgies or the like... though False would have been amused to see the Lunar's reaction then.
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Post by Krautman on Sept 23, 2012 10:49:12 GMT -5
"Look, your merchandise is crap. It's supposed to look like amber, not tar. I wouldn't pay two bits for this."
A handsome man was arguing at a table with what was clearly an opium dealer, before getting up.
"If you want my money, try bringing something decent next time."
Tiger of the Reeded Pond, Exalt of Venus, got up, knowing he'd be all but forgotten within the hour. He decided to go back to drinking from his endless sake gourd, leaning up against the wall.
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Post by dblade26 on Sept 25, 2012 12:07:47 GMT -5
Well, for once we've got some jewels showing themselves in this dung heap, huh? This'll be a nice break from fleecing half-blind drunks and druggies too stoned to even notice... The Broken Drum was well-known as the den of prowlers, purse-snatchers and wallet-lifters who were mostly happy to prey on the customers while they were intoxicated or...otherwise distracted, but Hound of the Red Plains considered himself to be a better class of thief.
Or at least he-for despite his androgynous, almost girl-like appearance he was a he-had thought he was before he wound up here, picking pockets and splitting his take with the owner in exchange for a place to stay, waiting for...something... in his life to change and give him some direction or at least distraction. Maybe this was his lucky day.
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Post by Vinestar on Sept 26, 2012 12:15:25 GMT -5
"Ey, you want fresh, don't come here anymore." Growling at the upstart, the brawny bartender continued pouring drinks for the other patron. "You still got served a solid portion, so you're paying for the goods." Eyes flickering to the pair of enforcers nearby, the bullish man let the threat hang in the air. Slowly, a change came over the establishment's atmosphere. It began with one person noticing the new "patrons", and nudging others, a chain reaction swept through the place. There were fresh meat in the Broken Drum, and they needed the action. Winter was cold, and human bodies needed stoking.
Golden felt the change in the place, grimacing as he set his cup down. Why did this always have to happen... As he finally turned around, he was met with a straggle of leering men. Undoubtedly they wanted a "serving boy". Similar other groups began hanging about the other beautiful newcomers.
"So... We're thinking of having some fun today." A particularly disgusting specimen was the ringleader, a balding and heavyset man with pox marks and a few missing teeth. "And we would love to have your company. We won't take no for an answer..." Chortling at his own rather stupid joke, he reached a hand out to hold onto the longhaired Solar's shoulder. It took the boy a considerable amount of willpower to not just backhand the scum across the room, an easy feat for the Exalted. He didn't want any attention drawn though... That would defeat the purpose. Still, he was simmering on the inside.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2012 12:33:19 GMT -5
Chinatsu glanced at companion. It was... weird. Her companion was an Exalt, like herself. Unlike herself, her companion was very certainly not a Lunar. The small girl was an Abyssal, an Abyssal that... Chinatsu felt very, very strangely about. She wasn't sure if she could explain it in words, but since they had met up, False Copy had been helpful, and certainly hadn't been unkind to her... and that feeling was just so... so very confusing.
But now wasn't the time for that. Chinatsu took notice of the boy that False had pointed out. He seemed to... stick out in the bar, to say the least. Chinatsu was far to polite to even think about the particular reasons why he stuck out in such a manner.
After all, it would be an insult to the other patrons...
... Who happened to be gathering around herself and False, right as Chinatsu had made to go over to the boy that False had indicated.
"Oh... um... excuse me," she began, "I'm sorry, but I need to get past you..."
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Post by Rain on Sept 26, 2012 13:36:15 GMT -5
False had much less restraint than the others and a conveniently blunt weapon. The unprepared, looming customers had no idea what was coming before it flashed out, catching the first one in the chin and sending him tumbling back into one of his fellows. Another had the string wrap around his neck before the spinning soulsteel weapon smashed into his temple, and a third found his fist redirected by a barely looking child straight into his face.
She was much too busy tripping the final customer looming over Chinatsu with the string so she could get an easy crotch shot. Satisfied that none of them would be trying anything for the rest of the evening, the white-haired girl ambled forwards and tapped the balding man on the shoulder before gesturing back at his friends.
"I advise you to sit down and behave for the rest of the evening," False said, flashing a predatory grin up at him.
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Post by dblade26 on Sept 26, 2012 14:09:30 GMT -5
Normally Hound would have vigorously applauded the small, odd girl's flashy display of martial arts abilities and even thrown in a half-sincere compliment or two, especially when those abilities were being displayed on the kind of lecherous pigs that constantly bothered him over his looks for...less than honest reasons.
However, with half of the bar's patrons out cold on the floor and the other half staring in slack-jawed amazement at the small girl who had just beat down a crowd of extremely creepy grown men, a golden opportunity had suddenly presented itself.
Namely the opportunity to rob this dung heap blind. Moving carefully and quietly so that it would seem like he was just moving from one end to the other but sticking to the shadows and crowds all the while, Hound started picking up whatever items of value he could manage and covertly slipping them into his clothes.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2012 22:45:58 GMT -5
"... Um..."
Chinatsu stared at the unconscious bar patrons lying about. She... was confused. They hadn't appeared to be doing anything particularly bad, but... situations like this always confused her. Carefully, she stepping over the bodies, giving a quite 'excuse me' to each one as she made her way to follow False.
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Post by Krautman on Sept 27, 2012 10:56:23 GMT -5
"Ah, come on now!" Tiger said, staggering up. It was obvious he was pretty drunk, but still coherent. "We're all friends here, no need for violence. I'm sure the young lady's just a bit scared in a place like this."
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Post by Vinestar on Sept 28, 2012 16:46:11 GMT -5
Awestruck as he was to the display of a wee lass smashing the regulars with a sort of black flail, the bartender's attention to his personal belongings were rather lacking. Hound would soon find and extract from the hiding place three bottles of sparkling amber liquid, the out of place objects looking like diamonds within a coalmine.
Turning about, the balding man's eyes opened as he took in his incapacitated fellows, before looking at False. "Who's done this?" Taking his hand off of the Solar, the ruffian clumsily grabbed at his hatchet in an attempt to look threatening. Many rounds of hard liquor however made him uncoordinated. When at last he unhooked weapon from his belt, Golden's scything right heel to his exposed temple all but knocked the unsuspecting victim out cold, dropping him on the spot.
"...Many thanks." Nodding his appreciation to the "help" he got from the scantily clad loli, the man tossed a few jade obols on the counter, which the blinking barkeep simply pocketed. "Though perhaps you attracted too much attention..."
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Post by Rain on Sept 28, 2012 17:36:24 GMT -5
"You call this attention?" the Abyssal asked, lip quirking in a half smile, "Attention would lead to some sort of danger. This is normal background gawking."
If it wasn't for her current situation being weird inuring her to such things, False's previous incarnation would achieve just the same thing. Admittedly, it was more because of blatant insanity and somewhat unbelievable thrill-seeking than being a scantily clad loli, but this was a much more toned down age, so the result was about the same.
"Chinatsu," the white-haired child said, gesturing to the girl with her before pointing at herself, "False Copy of Inscribed Creation."
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2012 16:32:40 GMT -5
"Chinatsu Seven Starlit Blades," Chinatsu added, wanting to introduce her name in full. Immediately, she blushed, and took a step back. "Sorry, I wanted to say my full... sorry..."
Chinatsu felt the need to apologize even though no offense had been taken at her introducing herself in addition to False's introduction. It was simply in her nature to apologize, just to make sure. She drooped visibly, in a rather submissive fashion. If she had been inclined to, she might've reflected on how different she was in and out of combat. However, she was not the sort to do that kind of thing, and instead focused on gearing her entire being towards a thus far unnecessary apology.
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Post by dblade26 on Oct 6, 2012 12:16:22 GMT -5
Hound grinned as he snatched up the bottles of rare amber liquid with the owner none-the-wiser. He wasn't really a fan of alcohol himself if that's what this stuff was, but he was sure someone somewhere would pay for such obviously high quality items, all thanks to that apparent little girl's distraction.
Still, this was hardly enough to satisfy Hound's pride or his wallet, and unfortunately no one in this trash heap had anything left to steal. Well then again, there were those other newcomers. They certainly weren't from around here, and that presented all kinds of possibilities. They could have rare treasures, or even just be naive travelers that loaded up their purses with too much gold. Either way the chance was too good to pass up despite the risks.
hmm...the little girl and her companion are definitely a no-go if I don't want to end the night picking up my teeth in an alley. The handsome guy is the same. So that leaves the last one. Perfect, he's drunk and distracted so..."
Hound crept up slowly but almost casually, trying his best to make his movements seem natural and free of all hostile intent. As he neared the drunk Sidereal he slipped a knife into his hands, searching for just the right place to cut like a heron sizing up a fish before the strike.
Rolled Larceny+Dex for a Threshold of 4 to pickpocket Tiger.
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Post by Krautman on Oct 7, 2012 12:43:57 GMT -5
Tiger suddenly turned and grabbed Hound's hand, smiling down at the boy. In the offices of the Cerulean Lute, working through a hangover was a part of the job description, and his office over the opium den made sure he was constantly intoxicated- and that he could work through the haze of just about anything. "Now now. Wouldn't want to cause a scene, would we?"
Dice, Result, Successes, Threshold Successes, Difficulty, Target,
6 Success 7 7 1 7
Tens are two successes. |
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Post by Vinestar on Oct 7, 2012 16:58:38 GMT -5
"Golden Theater Swing." The young man introduced himself, a look of slight amusement on his face. "Glad to see that I am not the only one with such a flowery name. Don't apologize for something as little as that." Looking at Chinatsu, Golden softened his expression on the lass. "Still, it's best to leave while we can. Staying in this establishment will certainly earn us no friends once they come to." Indeed, the piles of dirty ruffians might be a tad ticked off when they gained consciousness.
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Post by Rain on Oct 7, 2012 17:32:35 GMT -5
"And I was after a drink..." False sighed, turning to look the barkeeper. Well, she may as well. Playing up the cuteness, and clasping her yo-yo firmly in her hand, she smiled up at the grizzled man. He looked faintly perplexed by the sudden expression shift... and temporarily forgot everything she'd just done when she opened her mouth.
"Please, sir, I-I've been travelling for days w-with my sister, and we need something to drink..." the Abyssal began, voice wavering and sounding nothing like the snide female she'd been instants before, "So... c-can I have a bottle of your finest?"
Amazingly, despite all probability, a hand reached under the table and transferred amber liquid to False, who turned back to Swing (what an odd name--who would put one of them in a fancy theatre? Aside from her previous life) with a smirk. "Okay, NOW we can go."
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2012 14:59:24 GMT -5
"Oh... I... sorry," replied Chinatsu, managing to apologize for apologizing. She really couldn't help but apologize for just blurting out her name like that, even if it didn't seem necessary... "Ah... um... It's nice to meet you."
She very nearly spoke up when False said they were sisters... but quickly realized exactly what False was doing, and remained silent. Chinatsu wasn't good at deception, but she could at least prevent herself from interfering with False's manipulations.
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Post by dblade26 on Oct 8, 2012 16:05:05 GMT -5
Hound blinked back suprise as his hand was snatched up by the drunken sidereal's own. Either he was getting careless and clumsy at his work or this stranger was far more than he seemed. Regardless, in a situation like this, his best chance to make it out unharmed seemed to be playing along nicely and hoping the man would just let him go.
the boy put on his most innocent look and even spoke in a slightly different way to take advantage of his unusual looks. making a quick exit while the bar patrons were still unconscious was probably his best option even if it meant maybe negotiating his stolen goods with this guy.
"Uhm..no, we wouldn't. Already enough craziness going on tonight, right? So...I didn't actually take anything from you and I'm really just trying to make enough money to eat since I don't really have parents or a home to go back to or anything so it was really nothing personal. Maybe you could just let me go and we can leave? I could even give you some really nice liquor if you want!"
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