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Post by Thorn on Oct 8, 2019 3:11:12 GMT -5
Was having trouble with 'storm', so decided to tick off another requested NPC. This is therefore for Moni, who asked for me to write Ragnailt during OCtober! For those not involved in EuroAtlantis: Ragnailt is an undead firbolg. (this is not the storm right before Ragnailt found the party- she persisted through that. This is much earlier.) Day 8: StormRagnailt fed scraps of rabbit to her dogs. Water still cascaded past the cave entrance from branches battered by wind and rain. It seemed best to wait out the storm here. Her companions would not fare well in this weather.
She didn’t need to sleep, but the same couldn’t be said for the dogs. They were restless and snapped at shadows, plagued by nightmares, but they were still living beings and needed what little rest they could acquire. Kiara nuzzled at her side, whining for more rabbit. Ragnailt held out her empty hands.
She’d long ago stopped starting at the sight of her withered, decaying flesh.
“No more, Kiara,” she growled. “Lie down.”
The dog complied. Ragnailt withdrew her hands and sank back against the cave wall.
She tried not to think about him, but more and more often those memories pounded in her head like a physical pain. The sound of death. His eyes aflame. Dead silence as she woke in the aftermath. None of them deserved what happened. Ragnailt had been right, and in every way she’d feared. She should have been more watchful. What good was a ranger who couldn’t safeguard her own clan?
Now she was an abomination, but she had a purpose. She was here for one reason. It didn’t matter what happened to her, so long as he died. Ragnailt was content to see herself as an instrument of justice. Somebody had to be.
She fought the urge to keep hunting as the dogs slept. The scenes in her mind refused to fade. She might be unable to sleep but Ragnailt was not, it seemed, immune to nightmare. |
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Post by Blueysicle on Oct 8, 2019 18:36:08 GMT -5
So I decided to go with someone aside from the six main characters for this prompt. As such, I didn't make a profile for Frazer when I did the other write-ups, so in a nutshell:
Professor Marshall Frazer (Strawberry Grarrl) is the head of the Seekers in 145 B.N.. (In other words, that era's equivalent to Professor Lambert. They're not related, though) He led a branch of the Seekers around Neopia in search of a solution to an outbreak of natural disasters, and eventually settled in Moltara to build the Core Stabilizer. He was also one of Wingen's teachers when the latter lived in Central Cavern twelve years before the current point in the story.
Also, I allude to something in this one that I thought about elaborating on, but decided against it for now. That's because I'd rather save it for a short story I want to write in the near future for the Neopian Times. It has much to do with the backstory to another character, so I thought it better to just hint at it for now and save a full explanation for a more appropriate moment.
Day 8: Storm
I would strongly advise against making any supply runs to the surface in the immediate future. Judging from the rise in water levels and the debris flowing in from outside, this year's storm season appears to be particularly severe.
Frazer deeply sighed and set down the letter in his hands. It was for this reason he liked to have eyes and ears spread throughout Moltara instead of having them all confined to Central Cavern. The report from the hydrologists doing field work on the subterranean rivers in Upper Moltara gave him and the rest of the Seekers plenty of advance notice and saved them a lot of trouble.
He grabbed his schedule and scanned it for any planned supply runs within the next few months and immediately crossed them off. Frazer couldn't imagine that many of the Seekers were going to be happy about having to do without certain materials for the time being. Nor did he expect to hear a shortage of complaints about having to ration what they already have. But he wasn't going to risk it; it was better safe than sorry.
From the moment that Frazer and the rest of the Seekers set foot on the islands above the Moltaran caves, he thought it strange that the jungles were totally uninhabited in spite of the bounty of resources they provided. But after fifteen years worth of research and interviews, the historians on his team put forth the theory that the earliest Moltarans descended into the caves when the extreme storms became too much to bear.
To consider smothering darkness and boiling magma safer than the storms... Frazer believed it.
In all his travels, what terrified him the most weren't the pirates roaming the seas around Krawk Island. Nor was it the massive beasts of Tyrannia, or the dizzying heights of Shenkuu. No, it was the treacherous waters that dominated the ocean east of Maraqua. The lashing winds and the roaring waves...
It was still all so clear in his head: those instances their ships had to bear the brunt of the worst weather the Seekers would ever encounter. Too many times Frazer watched the hands of colleagues and dear friends slip out of his as they were thrown overboard, never to be seen again.
And then there was the incident with...
He groaned and put a hand to his forehead. No, he couldn't do it. Even all these years later, it was still far too painful to think about.
Despite living so far underground, he couldn't shake the apprehension storms gave him. Whenever he so much as entertained the thought of making a gamble, the faces off all those lost would appear before his mind's eye. Thus, he was quick to pen his response to the hydrologists and order them to take caution around the rising waters, and not to hesitate to return to Central Cavern if they felt the risk was too great. |
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Post by June Scarlet on Oct 8, 2019 19:56:52 GMT -5
Storm is my Wocky Thief. But did you also know her real name is SandStorm_pinkcollar, and that I adopted her from the pound? Storm
"Storm?" said the Pink Uni.
"Yeah?" replied Storm.
"Someone's ready to adopt you," said the Adoption Uni.
Storm's ears perked up. She didn't exactly like the idea of being an owned 'pet, but it had to be better than the pound. "Pah, let's meet 'em, then."
The Pink Uni led Storm to the front of the pound, where her new owner awaited. Maybe they lived in Meridell too, maybe she could return to her homeland. Brightvale probably wouldn't be too bad either. Storm wondered about her new owner so much she didn't even notice her until she said, "Hi Sandstorm!"
Storm froze. "Me name's Storm."
"That's what Rose said, yeah," replied her new owner brightly, "so I thought I'd keep it as part of your name! SandStorm_pinkcollar, to be exact. I know it's not perfect, but Sandstorm was already taken, obviously."
Storm continued to look at her new owner, confused. "But I don' have a pink collar. I'm a Shadow Wocky. It's grey."
"I can fix that!" she said, pulling out a Yellow Paint Brush. "Now obviously, I'd prefer Desert, but this will have to do for now, until I can save up for a Desert Paint Brush."
Storm looked back at the adoption Uni, but she was already leaving. "Enjoy your new Neopet!" she said. Talking to the owner, not Storm.
It suddenly hit Storm that she had no choice in the matter. As her new owner motioned Storm to join her, Storm decided that she would make a choice in the matter.
She would run away from this blonde owner the first chance she got.
***
(This, however, is not the story of when I adopted her. Storm would continue to run from owners, thieving to survive until something else happened...)
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Post by Moni on Oct 8, 2019 20:13:13 GMT -5
you can say this is low-effort but you know what? ur face is dumb storm: journaling edition You flip to the earliest pages of Khamet's journal.
Today I saw a storm, can you believe it? I know this sounds odd, but the storms we got are nothing like these! The rain poured for hours and I heard thunder, like a booming yell from the sky! Before it comes a discreet flash of lightning. Sometimes you see it as a branch-like structure suddenly appearing one moment, and disappearing the next. I would liken it to a glowing bare tree etched into the sky, but very much short-lived! Sometimes the lightning is concealed for one reason or another, but the sky lights up the forest, and temporarily, it's like morning again! Morning at night!
The rain sounds like a parade of drummers, too! Very noisy, but also helps me sleep. I loved it so much! I will try to get a more accurate description of it when I can.
The next few paragraphs are a less enthused, more clinical and accurate explanation of thunderstorms. It includes quantitative data such as the frequency of the storms, the inches per hour of water they generate, and how loud the thunder is relative to the apparent distance of the lightning. |
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Post by Thorn on Oct 9, 2019 4:11:38 GMT -5
Day 9: StudyKaztae and his brother in ye olde days! Zorithal is ~30 years older than Kaztae and is pretty much the Perfect Son! He is a great wizard and married well! Due no doubt to his familial wealth, and excellent wizards being in high demand. Kaztae is a much less creditable wizard (although he consistently insists otherwise throughout the campaign I play him in...) (Kaztae/Kaz and Izazdin/Zazz are the same character, can't remember if I mentioned that. The one in my avatar. Misleadingly adorable drow, he's actually not a great person, but a lot of fun to write and rp.) The information was absolutely there. He knew how to cast in theory, could explain how a spell worked a thousand times over but, when it came to actually physically casting it...
“Stop chewing on that quill.”
Kaztae looked up at his brother. “Zorithal, this makes perfect sense right now.”
“I’m glad.”
“I know theoretically how to conjure a fireball. I know the stances and the gestures and which phrases are best for power or for range, but when it comes to actually casting one...I just can’t. Am I just stupid?”
Zorithal gave him a Look. “Kaz, you just said you’ve got it all memorised. If anything, it’s a wizard’s understanding of the theory that reflects his intellect, not any practical magicks.”
“I guess,” he sighed. “But remember how we imagined we would grow up to defend a temple from invasion? So brave and dramatic but it seems that neither of us were destined for-”
“Speak for yourself,” Zorithal snorted, folding his arms.
It was Kaz’s turn to give his brother a Look.
“And what would she have to say about you getting killed by a bunch of surface-dwelling degenerates?”
“I think she’d be proud. It’s an honorable way to go.”
“I don’t think she’d let you.”
Zorithal raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”
“What are her prospects if she loses you? That other guy is trash. I think he was a mushroom farmer.”
“You say that about everyone you don’t like, Kaztae.”
He shrugged. “Never met a mushroom farmer I liked anyway. Point is, Zori, neither of us get what we want, and that’s just how it is.”
“Have you spoken to father about it?”
“Yeah. Kinda.”
“And?”
Moments passed and Kaztae didn’t elaborate. Eventually he just changed the topic altogether.
“Zori, did I tell you about the book I’m reading? The fictional one, not the study-stuff.”
“Does it have a murder and an overly dramatic widow?”
Kaztae shook his head. “No, that was the last one. And they got together in the end, and he bought her a fancy ring and got down on one knee and all that.”
“Surface stuff.”
“You don’t have to say that every time I describe a book. Anyway, the new one is about a thief.”
“Oh?”
“He’s really charming and funny and gets away with a lot- he’s surrounded by really horrible people, but they always get what they deserve. It’s pretty funny.”
“I’m sure it is.”
“There’s this one bit where...eh, never mind.”
He picked up his quill. “Anyway, are you coming tomorrow night?”
“I think I’ll be disinherited if I don’t. I suppose you are?”
“Yeah. Just gotta stand there looking pretty,” Kaz pressed the end of the quill between his teeth. “Gonna get my hair done and everything, it’ll be great.”
“Mmm,” Zorithal stood. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“See you tomorrow,” Kaztae echoed, already back to scribbling in the margins of his textbook.
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Post by Celestial on Oct 9, 2019 16:04:43 GMT -5
I had one for Storm but I was too exhausted yesterday. I may still write it when I have time. For now, enjoy this one. Another Vran and Ysha story, this time in the form of a myth. Day 9: StudyVran once had a dream. He saw the world’s knowledge flying free and wild. Perhaps, he thought, he could trap it and contain it for all mortals to use. In this great task, he enlisted two mortal aids: a man and a woman. Both of them were the greatest and wisest scholars of their age. They promised the All-Teacher that they would aid him in this task.
Crucially, however, they made the promise to him individually. Though they knew of the other’s existence, they never met. Vran believed that they would work better alone. He gave them everything they would need: good food, refreshing drink, comfortable lodging, and most importantly, paper, quills and ink that never ran out.
To avoid distractions, he placed them in the middle of the wilderness and set them to work. At first, both scholars took to the task with great zeal. They wrote feverishly, stopping only to eat and sleep, and before long, they had amassed a sizeable amount of knowledge. Vran sorted and organised it, adding his own piece whenever he could, but most of it was down to the scholars. Indeed, they proved why they were the greatest minds of their time. No subject was left untouched. Magic, nature, mathematics, literature, history, philosophy, all channelled through their minds and on to paper.
Soon, however, the scholars began to grow restless. Though they had everything they ever wanted, they were alone. They loved studying in peace, and they knew the importance of their task. But late at night, when their eyes were heavy and their thoughts sluggish, their minds drifted to thoughts of companionship.
Such thoughts did not escape Ysha’s notice. She saw the two lonely souls, out in the wilderness with no company, doing an endless, thankless task. Of course she knew this was her husband’s project, which made it all the more appealing to help these two.
That night, she appeared to the woman in a dream. She presented her with a token, which if pressed, would cure her of her loneliness. When she awoke, she had the token in her hand. Eager and curious, she squeezed it in her hand-
-and immediately found herself in the home of the other scholar. He was so surprised that he spilled ink over the parchment he was working on!
Once both of them got over their amazement, they tried to get to know each other. To their delight, both had similar tastes and interests. They were intelligent people; conversation flowed freely and delighted both. That day, they hardly worked at all, staying up late into the night satiating their desire for company.
Eventually, both realised that they had a duty to fulfil, to both their god and to all mortals. The woman squeezed her token again and returned home. That night, Ysha appeared to the man in a dream, giving him the same token. Now they could travel back and forth as much as they wished.
Their relationship grew. Though they still enjoyed their work, they could not resist the temptation to see each other some more. They reasoned it was to share their knowledge with each other, and indeed, that helped in their endeavour. There was an improvement in the quality of their work, and Vran was pleased. He noticed they had slowed, but the greatness of their work made up for it. He reasoned that perhaps, they were working slower to make the final product better.
But the intense work could not be balanced with their need for each other. Especially because it was not long before they fell in love. From there, it was only a matter of time before she became pregnant. That is when the two scholars realised they did not wish to continue their sacred work. Instead, they had a new desire: to live together and raise their child, teaching them all they knew.
Vran was furious when he found out. He was even more furious when he found out Ysha’s involvement. Here was something that would benefit all mortals and she had sabotaged it! He allowed the two to be freed of their duties; he could not force them to stay even if he wished. It was his wife who deserved his ire.
Ysha was waiting for him. As always, she met his fury with an impish smile. Oh, she knew that he had a grand plan, but how could she ignore the chance to find love for two lonely souls? More importantly, how had he, a god of knowledge, not foreseen that this would happen? Mortals need company. They would wither and die without it.
Through his fury, Vran saw her point (though he would never acknowledge it). He did not give up in his desire to trap all the world’s knowledge for mortal use. However, instead of two lone scholars, he gave the task to his clergy. Remembering how well the two scholars worked when together, he instructed them to work together and help each other to find all the wisdom that this world could offer and make it available to all.
To this day, many priests of Vran still labour under this task, housing vast libraries in their temples of records they have either found or researched themselves. However, the world is vast, and new things develop every day. It is impossible for them to keep pace with recording all knowledge for mortals to use. Only Vran, a divine being, can know all. And of course, the task becomes even harder when Ysha mixes love into it. It is why few Vrannite clergy have families: the task of serving the god of knowledge is one that is difficult to balance with marriage and children. |
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Post by June Scarlet on Oct 9, 2019 20:04:59 GMT -5
Jane Scarlet is my Red Xweetok, and for a long time, my only Neopet. She's my battle pet, book pet, you name it, and she's pretty much my go-to pet for it. There's a lot of telling in this piece, but I might have hit upon a reason why Jane feels the need to be the best at everything. Study
Jane was a very driven Xweetok. When she wasn't studying stats in the Battledome, she was studying books to become smarter. She had gotten the Scarlet family through several wars, was a Honorary Member of the Neopian Book Award, and as if that weren't enough, she had also become Honorary Member of the Gourmet Club.
Jill hadn't know Jane back when she was just an only 'pet. It had been just Jane and June for a very long time. And then Yibit had been adopted, and then June achieved her dream pet of a Rainbow Cybunny in Jill, and then Wanmei was adopted as well, creating a complete account family of four.
Apparently, though, even back then, Jane had the dream of being on the book list. Not that June could afford it back then. But they did their best until June finally had the chance to be more active in Neopia. And Jane started hungrily reading books. And then Jane suddenly had sisters.
Jane was about the same age as June, older than Jill and Yibit. She felt protective of her sisters, even Wanmei, though an adult, was rather small, being a Meerca. So Jane, in addition to reading, trained. She trained in case she ever needed to protect her family, in case war broke out in Neopia again. And it did break out, and Jane was prepared. She joined the Seekers, a group of like-minded book-lovers, and fought against the five other factions, and brought great glory to the Scarlets.
And when the Seekers won a skirmish, they granted a boon, one that increased her intelligence even more when read a book. She read and read and read, studying until she reached the top 200 list of book-readers in Neopia and had an intelligence of 7356.
At first, Jane was thrilled. But Jill noticed that soon enough, Jane didn't know what to do with herself. Then June struck on the item of aiming for the Gourmet Club next. Jane had never considered herself much of a foodie, having survived on Omelette for a long time, but she soon got into the spirit of it, and before too long, she had reached that list as well.
Jane was always striving to be better, to be perfect. She had even submitted herself to the Lab Ray to perhaps become a better color, before eventually settling back on her original Red. She'd been a Red Xweetok this long, Jane reasoned, might as well stay one.
Jill sometimes wondered why Jane was so driven, why she wasn't just content with the way she was. Jane had just about everything. Smarts, looks, strength, age, even a good name. There was only one thing Jane wasn't.
Jane wasn't the Rainbow Cybunny June had saved and worked so hard for so many years to get.
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Post by Thorn on Oct 10, 2019 0:23:36 GMT -5
10. MemesTenacity and Tevineri are the easiest duo ever to write, okay??!?? (Tevineri is a variable eladrin 'time-cop', and Tenacity is a pink tiefling trainee 'time-cop'!) “Maybe we should try memes. He seems the sort who would respond well to those.”
Tevineri didn’t even open his eyes. “I don’t know. That seems a bit silly.”
“Because you’re old,” Tenacity asserted. “All the cool young ones are into memes.”
“I’m not old. Anyway, by humans standards, he’s not any younger than I am.”
“True,” Tenacity mused. “But he has a decent sense of fun, you know? A real product of his time. I think it’d work. I have some really great ‘Distracted Boyfriend’ ideas I want to try out.”
A moment passed. Tenacity fidgeted and poked at her timekeeper. When Tevineri didn’t reply, she sighed.
“I feel like you’re ignoring me.”
“I’m meditating,” came the irritated retort.
“Not very well.”
“Because you keep talking to me! Go and do, I don’t know, young people stuff. Study your memes or your gifs...jifs?...or whatever.”
“Are you angry at me?”
His eyes snapped open. “Not exactly. But you are distracting me from distracting myself from the wonderful limitless potential of the multiverse which I would rather not consider and, you know, that does grate a little.”
“You don’t like considering wonderful limitless potential?”
“Memes,” he said, changing the subject, “are an excellent tactic. Yes. I agree. Go and make some, quote-unquote, ‘sick memes’ to win this fellow over. I wholeheartedly believe in you.”
Tenacity gnawed her lip. “Okay. Fine, I’ll leave you to your weird meditate-y stuff. Have fun doing like the least fun thing ever, or whatever.”
He closed his eyes again. “Have fun anywhere but here. Come back in an hour and we'll get dinner.”
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Post by Moni on Oct 10, 2019 0:39:30 GMT -5
"edgyfriend can't be that horrible" that's where you're wrong, kiddo. anyways this was for "tender." he would totally have a blog.
Cooking with Cepith: Demon Tenders Recipe
Cepith is not one of these annoying people that gives you his life story before he gives you the recipe, and it is this fact alone that compels you to read past the... interesting... choice of food and onto the recipe itself.
I promise you this will stun your stuck-up family members; they will be completely speechless at the sight of the finished product. For this recipe you will require:
- 2 lbs of sliced chicken breast
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- 1/2 a teaspoon of pepper
- 2 tablespoons of ras-al-hanout
- Olive oil for cooking
- 1 tomato
- 1 cucumber
- However much lettuce you would like
- 1 bell pepper
- 1 lemon
- 1 giant meat tenderizer
- A captured living demon. (If you do not have one, click here to view my guide on how to hunt demons.)
The first step is to marinate your sliced chicken breasts in a mixture of salt, pepper, and ras-al-hanout. Let it sit for about ten minutes, and while you do that, heat up your olive oil to 375 degrees Farenheit in a nonstick pan. Pan-fry your marinated chicken inside the olive oil until it gets a nice, crispy exterior, and put it aside.
Then, chop your pepper, your tomato, your lettuce and your cucumber and mix them together to make a healthy salad. Spritz your lemon onto the mixture, add a teaspoon of olive oil, and sprinkle in some salt and pepper to taste.
The step, of course, involves the demon. Kill it with the giant tenderizer. This ensures that they scream for the longest possible time with the least amount of effort on your end. This is an incredibly important part of the recipe; you cannot skip this step.
This will take some time, but the effort will be worth it, because you will replace your furniture with your tenderized demon. Now, with your friends and family, you can enjoy your meal knowing that you have done good for the world.
Like this recipe? Follow Cepith's Cooking Blog!
[the report function on this website is currently unavailable]
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Post by June Scarlet on Oct 10, 2019 13:46:47 GMT -5
Fizxy is the spokesaisha for the Alien Aisha Vending Corporation. In her teens, she's a quick-rising young star, but it looks like she's gained some unwanted attention because of it. Meme "What do you mean, I'm a meme?!" The Purple Alien Aisha picked up her smartdevice, and started typing and scrolling. Sure enough, there she was, her image splattered and parodied with text about Gross Food. "No no, Miss Fizxy, this is a good thing. It's free advertising for the Alien Aisha Vending Corporation. And you'll be an even bigger star than you already are!" Fizxy scrolled through her device, and picked an image at random. Her slogan, "For the best food you've ever seen, try Alien Aisha Vending Machine," had been altered to read, "For gross food that's super obscene, try Alien Aisha Vending Machine." She showed it to her agent. "Some Neopets," her agent confided, "Have no taste. But sales are up already because of this. Now the Aishas down in the marketing department have whipped up a little something to keep the momentum going..." *** Sinax was on break, scrolling through her smartdevice when this came across her feed:  The Red Alien Aisha looked over at Teraz, her tech guy. "Did you see this latest Fizxy Meme? They combined Fizxy with the old Helpful Zafara Digger Meme." The White Alien Aisha didn't look up from his screen. "It was actually done by the Alien Aisha Corporation itself, trying to get in on the action with their spokesaisha's popularity." "Might as well," replied Sinax. "Now, what's my next mission again?" |
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Post by Blueysicle on Oct 10, 2019 23:20:51 GMT -5
A day late, but eh. I think having the motivation to do a prompt eight days in a row was a lot more than I was initially expecting. (On that note, I don't have a clue what to do with today's prompt that won't result in me embarrassing myself, so I'll just skip it. It would have been nice to be able to do thirty-one prompts, but that's expecting a pretty huge amount from me.  )
It occurred to me after writing the "Bitter" prompt that I wrote Wingen in that one a lot more angsty than I usually do. So this one's more light-hearted. For reference, this one takes place when he was still living with the Seekers - so when he's chronologically thirty-two and physically eight. Frazer at this time doesn't know about Wingen's slow-aging curse, but he does at the current point in the saga.
Day 9: Study
“Wingen?” Wingen gasped and quickly lifted his head up. The voice startled him, though he couldn't figure out why at the moment. As his thoughts organized and his eyesight came back into focus, he noticed the textbook sitting on the table in front of him. But within seconds, the words and pictures began to blur together as his eyelids started to close again. “You're still here?” the voice asked once more. Wingen wearily looked behind him to see Frazer with his own books and notes held under his arms. Aside from them, the library was vacant; thus Frazer's approaching footsteps echoed in the open air. “No...” Wingen mumbled in a half-awake daze. When he realized the foolishness of his answer, he rubbed his eyes and tightly closed and opened them in an attempt to shake off his sleepiness before Frazer reached him. He gripped the covers of the book and tried to put his focus back on it. Though he was Kiele's student in potion-making first-and-foremost, Frazer insisted that Wingen receive a more well-rounded education as well. Wingen liked to read and learn, so he usually didn't feel crushed by that sort of pressure. But Frazer told Wingen recently that if he did well enough on his next test, he'd consider advancing his studies to the next level sooner than originally planned. Thus, Wingen thought it best to prepare the way he saw the Seekers do: spend hours upon hours reviewing the material in the library. Frazer took one look at the book in Wingen's hands, then to Wingen himself. He exhaled and said, “Wingen... It's good that you're studying, but you shouldn't push yourself this hard.” “I'm okay...” Wingen yawned. “You guys do this all the time...” “We're also much older than you,” Frazer firmly countered. The fog in Wingen's mind was so thick that Frazer's unknowing comment barely got a reaction out of him. “You've done enough today. You need your rest.” “No, no! I can handle it!” Wingen retorted. But the more he tried to snap himself into alertness, the further he'd be dragged back into drowsiness. “I can... I can...” Though he was briefly jarred by the sound of a stack of books being gently set on the table, Wingen's head bobbed forward and his eyesight was overtaken by darkness. * * *
For a moment, Wingen awoke and found himself in a strange place. After a few seconds, he realized it wasn't strange at all. It was his favorite room in the library: a small, cozy reading space with a plush sofa and a lamp that softly illuminated the area. It was tucked out of the way of the rest of the library and barely anyone else used it, so Wingen often slept there when he wasn't staying at Kiele's house. It was funny, though; he didn't remember leaving the library's main room. But the questions in his head drifted away before he could come up with any answers. He grabbed the blanket wrapped snugly around him and rested his head back on the pillow, then returned to his slumber. |
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Post by Thorn on Oct 11, 2019 0:07:37 GMT -5
11. CityI spent half the day designing a questgiver NPC in HeroForge, so ended up using them for this too. You know the drill: EuroAtlantis, wood elves, bla bla, this person oversees overseas (hurhur) trade in Cai Shaan. “I wanna go into the city,” the five-year-old complained.
Usavias looked up from the manifest, and then gestured through the glass at the windswept port. “Look out there. It’s raining and very windy. Do you want to get sick?”
“Won’t,” the child pouted. Then, scrambling up next to them. “I’ll tell you a secret.”
“Mmm?”
“I love you.”
They tried not to smile. “We’re still not going. If the rain stops, I’ll walk you home. You can see the pretty lights. We can count the colours. Won’t that be nice?”
The child shook their head. “I want coconut cake.”
“I’m sure someone can bake that for you.”
“Na-uh,” the child scrambled down, running to pick up a small wooden horse. “The place. The place you like. With the smiley man.”
“What are you on about?”
“The place! The smiley man! The ugly human man.”
“That’s not a very kind thing to say.”
The child booped Usavias’ nose with the horse. “He makes it nice.”
“We don’t call people ugly. His name is Lawrence.”
“Lawrence! Yes!” the child crowed. “Please? Please, can we get the coconut cake? I love you and I will never ask for anything again ever, ever ever.”
Usavias sighed. “Can you wait ten minutes while I finish this?”
The child laughed. “Yes! Yes, I will be very quiet and very good. And he will give me the little crackers too, he always does, so I can eat crackers on the way home. And I’ll share because I’m a good child!”
“Good children can keep quiet for ten minutes,” Usavias reminded them.
They froze. “Yes! I can do that too.” (I suspect maybe two minutes passed before this kid was humming and talking to the wooden horse, but at least there was An Effort made.)
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Post by Blueysicle on Oct 11, 2019 20:55:33 GMT -5
Part of me feels like this one has more to do with worldbuilding than character development, but the other part thinks that this has enough of Flicker thinking about stuff for it to count. Also, I don't outright say it in the saga - since it takes place a century and a half in the past - but "Central Cavern" is what eventually comes to be called "Moltara City." Obsidian Quarry in site canon is supposed to be in Moltara City itself, but in Infinity I put it in a cave nearby, but separate from Central Cavern. Day 11: City When Flicker came to live in Central Cavern, he remembered being awestruck at the sight of the surface-dweller's city. But more specifically, it was the height of the buildings that rendered him speechless. From ground-level, it looked as if the great structures of stone, with dozens of stories stacked upon one another, might scrape across the ceiling of Central Cavern. That, of course, was an illusion and Central Cavern's height far dwarfed any Neopet-made building. But simply the thought of it caused a feeling of vertigo within Flicker.
Though it wasn't his first time around buildings taller than one story. No, the largest building in Obsidian Quarry, Mine Headquarters, was his “home” for three years – going by the thinnest possible definition of the word. Flicker used to think that it was especially tall, but the benefit of hindsight and living in Central Cavern made him realize that it only appeared that way in comparison to the rest of the city.
“City” was another word that was used too generously. Obsidian Quarry was less like a city and more like a giant slum with a mining company in the middle. The best construction materials and the most skilled architects were reserved for Granite's use. Everyone else? They either had to make do with the scraps or nothing at all.
Thinking about it further, maybe it wasn't solely the height of Central Cavern's buildings that fascinated Flicker. In Central Cavern, if someone were to climb up to the highest story, find a window, and set their eyes in a straight line, they might see another person in another building doing the same exact thing. The first time he looked out of the windows in the library in Town Hall's second floor, he thought his sight was playing tricks on him when he saw the entrance to his father's light shop directly across from it.
Perhaps a better way to put it was that Flicker couldn't believe that there were so many tall buildings of equal height all placed together. In Obsidian Quarry, there was nowhere to look from Mine Headquarters but down. And those in the slums all lived in the shadow of the structure that loomed over every aspect of their lives.
Every now and then, Flicker would see Granite stand next to his office window and look down at the city below. He would never ask why – he didn't dare to. But there was one time that Flicker heard Granite talking about the citizens and workers in Obsidian Quarry as he watched their activity from above. “They exist to make me Neopoints; nothing more and nothing less.”
Flicker made a toneless hum as he thought about that statement. He idly imagined what Obsidian Quarry might look like in the future now that Granite had vanished. There probably wouldn't be any sight that Granite would hate more than for the rest of Obsidian Quarry to be built up higher than Mine Headquarters ever was. |
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Post by June Scarlet on Oct 11, 2019 21:15:09 GMT -5
Read Ink: www.neopets.com/~RonjonoDon't want to log onto Neopets? You can still Read Ink: fav.me/daazicwDon't have time to read a multi-arc comic? Okay, fine, I'll tell you that Ronjono is a Defender of Neopia called Ink, and Evelyn the Xweetok Defender is her supervisor. That's really all you need to know for this blurb, I just like encouraging people to read my comics. City
"Serve your City, serve your world! Join the Defenders of Neopia today!"
Ronjono looked at the Xweetok Defender flatly. "You really expect me to say those lines? I'm not really that kind of Defender, Evelyn, I'm more sneaky and quiet, I don't know that appearing in a public campaign is the best idea..."
Evelyn frowned. "Judge Hog thinks you might be good for this job. Get some good PR after all the bad rep you've been getting lately."
Ron lowered her ears and looked down. "I mean... I guess that's true... But still, these lines? In a public campaign?"
"Well," said Evelyn, "what would you say?"
Ronjono considered for a few moments. "I guess... I guess you have a place in this world, and your place might be with the Defenders of Neopia. It's a nice job, you get to help people, and save lives and junk. And certainly don't go evil, okay? That's just a bad idea."
Evelyn laughed. "No exactly snappy, but I guess we can work on it. We'll figure out the right words for you to say."
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Post by Moni on Oct 12, 2019 1:45:59 GMT -5
Day 12: Obsess Bird is the only character that matters. He is obsessed with doing the right thing and being kind to his friends! IT COUNTS OKAY he is also very stupid because... he's literally... a regular bird... but like 1000IQ Bird had a very nice life!
He had a birdhouse--nay, a bird mansion, two human security guards, and a gauntlet of traps designed to instantly kill someone who tried to harm him! He was very grateful for all of this, of course, and tried to give back to the nice humans!
Humans liked shiny things, so much so that they exchanged them for things like food, water, and these weird things they wore! Poor humans, thought bird, they were so unpretty that they had to resort to putting weird things on their bodies!
Someone had to help them, and that somebody was the bird! He would help them be beautiful, and he would start with the sharp angular human who loved him very much. He was nice... but he was also the ugliest human he had ever seen, and he deserved to look prettier!
So over the course of the week, he plucked some nice-looking petals from the nearby place where humans grew flowers and arranged like the feathers on his skin. What the angular human needed, the bird decided, were some pretty flowers in his head-feathers and in the weird gray-wood container he walked around in.
While Cepith sat reading, the bird got to work. He weaved the petals into the human's head-feathers, then he gave the human the most beautiful thing he could think of: a tiny bit of branch that he could give to a pretty human so they could build a nest together! |
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