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Post by Fraze on Jan 26, 2013 14:09:15 GMT -5
A mysterious traveling show came to town, run by a charismatic ringleader and his businesslike secretary. Players who participated in the show were presented with a series of fairytale-themed challenges. The game was a success and fun times were had by all. Of course, there had to be more to the story. A nefarious plan was brewing, and the players were unknowingly gathering items for a heinous plot.  
"I would like to use this story to work on a personal project."
"...You have personal projects?"
"Not often."
"That's what I thought. Carry on."
"Quite simply, I wish to conquer a small part of this story plane."
"I see. Nostalgic for the good old days?"
"Something like that. However, if I'm successful, I will also rule over my conquered territory."
"And is this going to get in the way of working for me?"
"I don't believe so. But if I cannot manage both responsibilities, I'll relinquish my leadership in order to serve you."
"That's reasonable enough. What's your plan?"
"I like the motifs you're using. You've got some nice numerical symbolism, and that dramatic irony sounds delicious."
"Thank you, sir."
"However, you'll have to do it on your own. It will be a story in progress; too much meddling from me will ruin it. I may choose to aid some side or other, but only if it amuses me. But bear in mind, the people in this story plane...they have a way of turning the narrative in their favor, even without my help."
"I understand. And I wouldn't want you to give me an unfair advantage, sir. I want a good challenge just as much as you do."
"Ahh, now you're sounding more like a valkyrie."
  There was a scraping rumble as four heavy stone slabs slid off of the coffins and four figures stood up uneasily. They'd all evidently been buried in their very best, which was now dusty with the grime of centuries, but the eyes in the sunken, pale faces shone with fresh, cold eagerness. They looked around at each other with a hint of confusion upon finding that they'd had roomies in the afterlife. Then all four pairs of eyes set on the dainty figure of the blonde woman in her immaculate office suit. "You have been dead for a long time," said Miss Jensen. "You must be confused. I have endowed you with an understanding of modern language, but no doubt you will want some introductions." She gestures to the first of the four figures, a young man with a haughty expression that the other three were now stealing curious looks at.  "Hellas, the conqueror of legend. As of today, he lived nearly two thousand years ago. The rest of you may have heard of him." Hellas surveyed the room as if planning an assault against it, instinctively fumbling at his breastplate where the fatal blow still lingered as his last memory. "My empire. That last battle... what became of my empire?" "Much has happened since you died." The response didn't come from Miss Jensen, but one of the other revived figures, an elderly man with a charming smile. "Without your leadership, your soldiers lost the decisive battle and the great expanse that you conquered fell apart within months." Hellas folded his arms with an irritated look on his face and shot a glare at the next man in line, as if he held all warlords who followed him personally responsible for that grave incompetence in empire-building, as the introductions went on.  "Sukhbataar, the mercenary who led the army to an...impressively bloody stream of victories." Sukhbataar dipped to one knee and bowed his head. "I recognize you as my new commander."  "Sergeant Charles Brick, whose techniques for training recruits transformed the kingdom's army." Brick grinned. "I was quite enjoying retirement, but if I'm needed, I suppose I can dust off these mitts again."  "And Sir Alabaster Bode Pilkington-Emmett, whose skills in diplomacy were feared across much of the continent." The old man who had spoken to Hellas bowed slightly. "You are much too kind. But I fear that you have us all at a disadvantage. Might I ask the name and ambitions of our new commander?" "You may call me Miss Jensen," said the valkyrie. "My ambitions are simple: I wish to conquer the kingdom of Dunburrow. We are a short jaunt from the castle. But before we do that, there is one more thing." Miss Jensen led the four warlords out of the crypt, bounced onto the seat of the cart she'd driven in and pointed at the graveyard across the road. The four turned to look. There was a soft rumbling to be heard and the ground around the tombstones shuddered. A hand broke through the soil near a tombstone, a few strips of flesh still clinging to the tendons. A skull rose up nearby, fleshless but covered in dirt. In under a minute, the entire population of the graveyard was up and staggering. Most of the corpses had rotted away to bone, but some still retained varying amounts of flesh. "Should do something about their discipline," Brick commented, leaning against the cart and critically eyeballing the undead cadre of rotting flesh ambling closer in uneven flanks. "That will be your business," said Miss Jensen, busily breaking open the crates with deceptive ease and handing out brand new weaponry to all zombies who closed in around the cart. "As soon as we're secured in the castle." And shortly afterwards, the shuffling, ambling, reeking group led by the small cart closed in on the castle gates in the darkness. The night guards saw the approaching group, and commanded them to stop. "Kill them." Miss Jensen was a curt leader. Hellas drew his sword, Sukhbataar grabbed his axe, and the two leapt forward. The battle was over all too quickly. "Was that entirely necessary?" Alabaster asked. "The prospect of killing my own countrymen is most painful." "It is necessary to establish a position of power in the eyes of your enemy," Sukhbataar answered. "And look." The fallen soldiers got up, staggered a bit, and joined the group. "They will continue to serve their country in a new form," Miss Jensen said, with something that could almost have been an amused smile. She looked up at the imposing grey walls of Castle Kestrel. "I know somebody is watching," she called. Despite not speaking above her usual volume, her voice seemed to carry throughout the courtyard. "I am taking command of this kingdom. Let us in without struggle, and no more people will need to die." ((And with this, we switch into full roleplay mode. NOTE: We're going to be relying heavily on Hunty's world map to give the RP a proper sense of scale. According to this map, Mage Manor and Castle Kestrel are a good 20 miles/32 km-ish apart, so those players who said they went back to Mage Manor won't just be able to zip on over in a couple minutes--but don't let that stop you from finding something to do! Also, this will be open to everybody, not just those who participated in the Game of Skill. So tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell your doctor!
[1/20/13 11:20:36 PM] Draco (Stephan): zombies, we're missing zombies
[1/20/13 11:22:39 PM] Anna/Celestial: I think none of the culprits are guilty. It's all the doing of the circus master!
[1/20/13 11:22:50 PM] Anna/Celestial: And Miss Jensen.
[1/20/13 11:25:08 PM] Draco (Stephan): The Ringleader is a fish man!
[1/20/13 11:25:55 PM] Draco (Stephan): Well I find it a bit odd how we're in illusions, and yet they keep taking things out from the illusion
[1/20/13 11:26:43 PM] Fraze: Draco--that might be relevant.
[1/20/13 11:27:03 PM] Draco (Stephan): great, we're actually robbing people for them *nods*
[1/20/13 11:27:30 PM] Fraze: Iiiiiin a sense?
[1/20/13 11:27:49 PM] Draco (Stephan): The items will come together and they will summon a giant meepit zombie that will terrorize the lands
[1/20/13 11:27:49 PM] Fraze: Depends on how you define "people," really.
[1/20/13 11:28:05 PM] Draco (Stephan): the next guild wars begins
[1/20/13 11:28:07 PM] Draco (Stephan): XD
[1/20/13 11:28:07 PM] GLQ: They're actually morlocks!
[1/20/13 11:28:13 PM] GLQ: We're stealing from morlocks.
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Post by Draco on Jan 26, 2013 15:07:53 GMT -5
The ninjas hide in the shadows as they follow Euripides and Miss Jensen. When the duo split up, one went after Euripides, but soon lost sight of him. The others continued to follow Miss Jensen. When the zombies began to rise from their graves they looked at each other and nodded to each other. All but two split off and ran away. They needed to warn others. First stop, Mage Manor. On the halfway point they met up with another group of ninjas, passed on the info, and traded places in their run to alert people.
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Post by Gelquie on Jan 26, 2013 17:29:45 GMT -5
Gelquie jumped a bit at Ellen's sudden shapeshifting, but she soon recomposed herself.
"I see," Gelquie spoke. "Well, there are some mages at the manor that can help you with controlling that magic. That could be very useful. Though I guess you can't control it enough to get us to the Manor faster... I keep forgetting how far away it is. And good. We need more potion makers in the Manor. I dabble a bit myself, but not very often at all. My specialty is illusions."
They continued to walk to Mage Manor.
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Post by Celestial on Jan 26, 2013 18:13:13 GMT -5
"Oh for-" Celestial broke off in exasperation as she looked over the latest bit of paperwork. Sure enough, as predicted, a huge stack had gathered up on her desk while she was busy playing about with the illusions. Tax forms, insurance claims, inspection notices, requests for time off, pay slips, health and safety...all the various mysteries of the universe were nothing compared to some of the stuff that was in these papers. She had read texts in languages that nobody has spoken for thousands of years and where the ink had been eaten away by an odd species of mushroom that were more understandable than what was written in those forms.
Without any warning and on impulse, the mage leapt out of the window.
Thankfully her wings prevented her from meeting the fate most would have encountered if they tried that trick. She flew a little bit away from the Manor, taking in the cool evening air. Now this was liberating. It was good to use her wings after being deprived of them during the illusions. It was odd how quiet the Manor was. Normally, even as this hour, there would be other mages bustling about. As such, most of the senior mages windows were dark.
Celestial slapped herself over the head. In her rush she had forgotten them. They were probably still back in that circus place or walking away from it. It would take them ages to get back.
She changed into her dragon form and flew back towards Castle Kestrel where the tent had been. They were probably somewhere on the road back. Once she had gotten them back, Celestial figured they could just use the portal in the castle to go home. She thought briefly about why they had not used the portal in the first place but dismissed it quickly. Because the portal had not been created back then, simple.
She finally spotted them at a distance, not far from the Castle itself. However, something was going on far beyond the Archmage's neglect of her subjects. The air stank and in the place where the graveyard was, something was milling about. Focusing on one thing at a time, Celestial landed in front of the group of mages.
"I'm sorry I did not stop to pick you up but you'd understand if you saw the forms that I realised had been gathering dust on my desk all this time," she told them sheepishly. As sheepishly as a large purple dragon could anyway. "But we have bigger problems. Hop on. Something's happening at Castle Kestrel. We need to get over there now."
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Post by Kristykimmy on Jan 26, 2013 18:33:10 GMT -5
Kristy the Boo wandered towards Mage Manor. Though pretty sure she wasn't cut out to be a mage, she still wanted to see the place, and had neglected to pass by before. Now that she had a few friends there she didn't think they'd mind if she dropped in for a visit.
She came up to the front door and knocked, but no one answered. She leaned against the door, slightly annoyed about the seemingly wasted trip. She decided to wait to see if anyone showed up.
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Post by Tiger on Jan 26, 2013 19:40:15 GMT -5
((I'm just assuming Tiger stuck close-ish to the other mages. ))
When Tiger spotted Celestial in dragon form swooping toward them, she pulled her horse to a stop and watched the Archmage's approach. It wasn't long before she heard others approaching from behind to coincide with Celestial landing.
"'Hop on?'" she repeated. "You're sure?" But she dismounted the horse and held out her hands to start dissipating the creature. Probably a situation at Castle Kestrel was more serious than the Archmage's...dignity? Tiger wasn't sure what to call it, but somehow treating a sentient being as a flying horse felt wrong.
She kept an eye on the other mages as she reabsorbed the mist from her conjured horse. She had no idea how to get on a dragon's back, and hoped someone else would get on first so she could copy their technique.
((Read: If someone else gets on Celes' back, assume Tiger does, too. Don't wanna hold anything up ^^))
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Post by Pixie on Jan 27, 2013 0:06:09 GMT -5
"Illusions? That's awesome. Illusions are awesome! That big illusion was awesome too. What fun was that!"" Ellen jumps as Celestial flies down near her. She listens to the dragon and climbs gingerly on her back. "What do you think is going on?" she asks nervously. She is suddenly hit with the feeling that something is very, very wrong.
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Post by Gelquie on Jan 27, 2013 1:05:04 GMT -5
"Yes, fun... But I prefer my ow--" Gelquie jumps as well when Celestial lands, but she quickly composes herself when she sees who it is. She is silent for a moment when Celestial finishes speaking.
"...More trouble? When we just got out of that illusion? I was just about to..." Gelquie let out a sigh. She wanted nothing more than to just go home, after all that's happened. But she wasn't up for walking at least 20 miles by herself anyway. Maybe she could ask the Archmage for a ride later, after they go and check out the Castle. She gingerly climbs onto Celestial's back, trying to get herself into a good position so that she could at least be comfortable for the ride. She wasn't looking forward to what was ahead.
It wasn't until a moment later that she remembered what she was going to do when she got back to the Manor. That is, before going back to her room. "Celestial... That ninja brought something to my attention. He may be a fool, but... I think you should hear it."
Gelquie waited for Celestial to start flying before she started to talk. "The illusions in that game haven't felt right to me. I was going to let it go, but then Draco came and pointed out to me that Miss Jensen was taking some major items from the game, even though the events were supposed to be an illusion. As illusions, there should have been nothing for her to take There'd be no point in keeping those illusions items for show. But I can't figure out why those items would be so special if they were real. I don't have it fully figured out... But something was really not right about that act."
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Post by Fraze on Jan 27, 2013 13:48:20 GMT -5
The group waited in silence outside the doors. After several minutes, nobody had answered.
"Break it down," Miss Jensen ordered.
Brick stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. He punched the thick wood and wrought iron door several times, light flashing from his fists each time they made contact. After a few blows, it caved inward.
"If nobody heard that, the entire kingdom must be deaf," he quipped.
"I believe that several people followed me to the crypt," said Miss Jensen. "I would have killed them, but it would have delayed me and caused undue commotion."
"Allowing enemy spies to escape can jeopardize an entire war," Hellas grumbled. "You could have captured them, they might have had useful information."
"They were most likely ninjas, who aren't strictly involved in this kingdom," Miss Jensen said with a wry smile. "Their involvement could go any way. Watch what you say nonetheless; they might still be listening."
"Won't that make orders rather difficult?" Alabaster asked.
"Not necessarily."
Something happened, but not physically. Unspoken commands hit the minds of the four warlords, with all the gravity of a verbal order.
Brick raised his eyebrows, then grinned. "Whatever spell you cast to bring us back must have been a doozy. Understood." The other three nodded in agreement.
Each warlord took a number of soldiers. Sukhbataar left the castle heading northeast. Hellas and Alabaster took several revived battle mages and went eastward. Brick veered southeast.
Miss Jensen entered the castle with the remaining soldiers.
--------
Hellas and Alabaster walked in silence. They did their best not to be seen or heard. After an hour of brisk walking, they came to a town.
"I remember this place from when I was alive," Alabaster murmured. "It was one of the larger towns in the kingdom. There used to be a very nice inn here. And a graveyard that way."
They made their way to the graveyard, where several hundred more undead--mostly skeletons--joined their ranks.
They continued onward, keeping an eye out for potential enemies. It was well past midnight now.
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Post by Celestial on Jan 27, 2013 15:25:08 GMT -5
((If any of the other mages want to get on too, just assume you climbed on already. I want to keep going with the story.))
Celestial lifts Tiger up onto her back after she sees her hesitating and takes off once everyone was on board.
She listens carefully to what Gelquie has to say and it fills her with dread. These events had to be connected and if they were reponsible, well, they were the ones who had to fix it. Nevertheless, the archmage did not like the idea of being used.
"You're right, there definitely was something going on. If that is true, there has to be more going on and that ninja isn't the only one who is a fool," she replies, making herself heard over the roar of the wind. "We better look in any case, even if we are not to blame."
She swooped over the town, seeing the zombie armies overrunning it and the castle. For a moment, Celestial was unsure of where to go first. They had a duty to defend the castle and if the zombies found the portal, there could be trouble, but the graveyard was clearly feeding the armies and they could not leave the townspeople.
In the end, she dove down and landed in the graveyard, knocking over a number of skeletons, looking for their leaders. It was easy to tell who they were as they looked significantly better than the rest. She landed in front of Alabaster and Hellas and for a moment, Celestial was at a complete loss. She had read plenty of history books and knew well enough who those two were. Seeing great warlords who had died years ago was, surprisingly, not an everyday occurence for her. Nevertheless, she stood her ground in front of them and growled.
"What in the Underdeep are you doing? What is with the army and why are you out of your graves at this hour?" she asked them, spreading her wings for maximum intimidation and ready to attack in case they or their zombies decided to try something.
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Post by Fraze on Jan 27, 2013 19:56:38 GMT -5
"Is that a castle guardian?" Hellas asked, eyeing Celestial.
"I don't believe so," Alabaster told him. "They stopped using dragons as guards a few hundred years before my time. They proved too unreliable."
"Overlady..."
The two warlords turned around to look at the soldier who had spoken. It was one of the battle mages, fairly recently deceased judging by the level of decomposition.
"I beg your pardon?" Alabaster asked.
"Overlady," the soldier repeated. "Mage."
Alabaster's eyebrows shot up. "Really? How interesting."
"I have killed several dragons, but I've never seen one learned in the magical arts," Hellas commented. His expression implied that he was wondering why he hadn't thought of it first. "This one looks a bit small."
"I dare say you mostly encountered dragons bred for war," Alabaster said, before turning back to Celestial. "Please forgive us, we're being quite rude. Madam...overlady, is it? My name is Alabaster." He smiled and bowed slightly. "Or rather, Sir Alabaster Bode Pilkington-Emmett, but that gets tiring rather quickly. This is my companion, Hellas, the Shining Sun." Hellas shot a puzzled look at Alabaster, and then gave a reluctant nod in the dragon's direction.
"I would quite like to meet you properly under different circumstances," Alabaster continued, "perhaps at a later date. I am sure that we could find much to discuss. But for now, we are rather in a hurry. Please pardon us."
Alabaster walked around Celestial, surrounded by several undead mages. Hellas blinked several times, then jogged a few paces in front of Alabaster. The army followed obediently behind them.
--------
After jogging briskly for an hour, Sukhbataar and Brick each arrived at separate villages at roughly the same time as Hellas and Alabaster. They each raised several dozen more soldiers, before continuing onward on their respective paths. They moved carefully, watching for any possible confrontations.
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Post by ♥ Azzie on Jan 27, 2013 21:05:59 GMT -5
By the time Azalea arrived home, she was more tired than ever. It wasn't a long flight, really, but the late afternoon wind blowing in her face had made her realize that she was ready to fall asleep any moment. She hadn't any idea of how long they'd been in the tent, really. It felt like weeks, at least. She flew toward the Manor's grand structure with relief and landed in the garden, near the pair of trees she called home. Yawning, Azalea nestled into the hammock stretched between them.
A moment later, she sat up again with a yawn.
She reached into a hole in one of the trees and pulled out a small pink notebook. It really was too early to sleep, she supposed, and she'd want to have records of the game. Best to do it now, while it was still fresh in her head. After fumbling around in the hole again for a pen, she opened it to the nearest blank page and began to write.
She only meant to write the basics, but as she recounted the stories she'd lived through- for there was no other term for it- the memory came back to her and with each bit she wrote she grew more and more excited. It had been fun! There had never been any real danger, she saw now, and it had been fun! She scribbled madly and didn't stop until she'd finished writing it down, in as much detail as she could, the way she wrote her dreams.
When she looked up it was completely dark out. Oops. But Azalea didn't bother lying down again. She didn't feel a bit tired anymore, and while she knew she'd regret it later, she decided to go see if anyone was still up in the Manor. Maybe some of the players would still be up and want to chat about it.
As she approached she noticed two strange things. The first was that there was only one light on. She was certain there would be more people awake- though, she supposed, she had no idea what time it was; perhaps they were all asleep.
But she was distracted from that when she saw the second strange thing. Someone was up by the front door of the Manor. Azalea shrunk down to bottle-size and flew a bit closer, but returned to normal size when she saw who it was.
"Kristy?" she asked, landing by the door. "Hi! Why are you outside?"
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Post by Kristykimmy on Jan 28, 2013 9:37:33 GMT -5
Kristy grinned at Azzie, glad to finally see someone. "Hey, Azzie. Since I was nearby, I came over hoping the mages would give me a tour of the manor, however, I seem the be the first one here, or something. Which is odd, since Celestial can fly and the others have illusions to ride to speed their journeys."
Just then, there was a tremendous bang in the distance.
"That came from there," Kristy cried, pointing in the direction of Castle Kestrel. "That was either an explosion, or something massive fell in. We should go see if everything is okay. There could be people hurt and in need of help."
Kristy took off running towards Castle Kestrel.
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Post by Celestial on Jan 28, 2013 14:20:18 GMT -5
Celestial couldn't help but scowl at Alabaster. Something about him just set her on edge. Perhaps it was how smooth he was. No, slimy was definitely the word she was looking for. Smooth because he was covered in slime. This is why you should never meet with famous historical figures, they are usually completely different to what you expect. She did not even mind them thinking that she was an actual dragon. Let them think that. It will be a lot more surprising once they find out otherwise. Considering how things were going, a battle was inevitable and the mage wanted every advantage she could claw out.
She swung herself around until she was looking Alabaster right in the eye, making sure he got a good glimpse of her jaws. She didn't normally like ripping people apart as a dragon but he rubbed her in such a wrong way that perhaps she would make an exception. As long as no blood was swallowed, it would be okay.
"How like a politician you are, completely avoiding all of my questions. I may be long-winded but at least I give answers," she said and turned to the mages and Hellas. "This guy is hopeless so I'll address you. Mages, why are you following these two instead of having a peaceful rest where you were buried? And Hellas, why in your good name are you alive and looking incredibly well for your age?"
Celestial shot a glare back at Alabaster. "And if you answer for them, I swear to rip that honey-coated silver tongue right out of your mouth."
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Post by Fraze on Jan 28, 2013 15:03:28 GMT -5
Hellas gazed at Celestial with a steady expression. "Do not insult or threaten my comrade again. If you do, your life will be forfeit." There was no threat in his voice; he made the statement as though he were commenting on the weather. "We are forbidden from speaking of our mission. These soldiers do not know where we are going, so do not pester them. If knowledge is your only desire, our leader is in that castle." He jerked his head in the direction of Castle Kestrel. "She should be in the throne room. She informed us that any questions should be asked to her directly."
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