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  1. #3706
    Invincible Jersey Ninja Tami's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bruceleegreyhulk View Post
    Praxat goes straight towards Craxat, Sraxat, Draxat, and Nraxat to check on them," Tell me what happen here?" Praxat said.

    " After hearing the truth about Araxat. I, Sraxat, Draxat, Nraxat, and 494 of you other siblings. Attempt to confront her. It didn't go so well, and she end up slaughtering most of us." Craxat said.

    " Don't worry about us, Praxat. We're fine," Naraxt said.

    Praxat uses her X-ray mod to check her sisters for internal injuries. " No, you all are certainly not fine. Your all's internal organs have been ruptured. You all need medical attention," Praxat said.

    Praxat then goes over to the graves of her dead siblings, and her skin turns a deep blue. As she stands there looking at them in silence. Clenching her right hand into a fist.

    Suddenly a female Replita rushes into a castle. " Araxat has raised an army of the dead! Balko don't know how she didn't, but somehow she did it." Balko said.

    " Balko encountered them herself. They were firing red glowy beams out of their eyes," Balko said. Cyanna would notice that Female Replitas would almost look identical to male ones. if it weren't for the fact. Their tails are shorter and sleeker looking.

    They're not as brightly color. Have no dorsal fins, horns, spikes, and crests. Have much larger rumps and wider hips.

    Another thing that Cyanna would notice is that Balako is massive like the males and females Replitas around her standing at nearly 11 feet tall." Yeah, I know what your thinking. It's quite shocking how much I'm dwarf by my own race," Killrog said.

    A bunch of what appears to be undead Toadians and Replitas rush into the castle. Firing laser beams from their eyes. "Cyanna, I'm going to use my X-ray mod to check, but something tells me something about these zombies is fishy," Praxat said.

    " First, we know for a fact that my grandmother can't raise the dead. So, something else is going on here!" Praxat said.
    Things were happening so fast, her emotions were having a hard time keep up. She knew she should be angry, furious even, but instead Cyanna felt oddly calm. It bothered the heck out of her, but now was not the time to figure it out.

    "Praxat, your siblings need a healer, they need Althena." As she spoke, she sent out a telepathic call to Althena. Then to Praxat, "Hold them off, I'm going to take a birds eye view of this situation." with that, Cyanna vanished, only to reappear high above the castle, floating in the air. Extending her senses, she sought out the power behind the zombie army, though as she did, she also took a closer look at these zombies from her vantage point.
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  2. #3707

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tami View Post
    Things were happening so fast, her emotions were having a hard time keep up. She knew she should be angry, furious even, but instead Cyanna felt oddly calm. It bothered the heck out of her, but now was not the time to figure it out.

    "Praxat, your siblings need a healer, they need Althena." As she spoke, she sent out a telepathic call to Althena. Then to Praxat, "Hold them off, I'm going to take a birds eye view of this situation." with that, Cyanna vanished, only to reappear high above the castle, floating in the air. Extending her senses, she sought out the power behind the zombie army, though as she did, she also took a closer look at these zombies from her vantage point.


    Althena starts healing Craxat, Sraxat, Draxat, and Nraxat. As she does this, she goes into Power Mode. To act as a shield to protect Craxat, Sraxat, Draxat, and Nraxat. However, it is of no use.

    As the zombies' fire beams that tear through Althena's skin. Desperate to protect the ones she's healing. Althena subconsciously increases her body's density. Boosting her strength and durability.

    As well as making her body heavier as a feet start sinking into the ground. With her boosted durability. The beams from the zombies stop tearing through her skin, as they are unable to penetrate it.

    However, they still leave bruises. Praxat gets barraged by a bunch of beams from the zombies before she can attack. ****, these beams are fast. They're too fast for me to track," Praxat said.

    Praxat goes into boost mode, and even in boost mode, she's having a hard time tracking the beams, and her strikes go right though the zombies as if they not even there." Okay, these things are really fucking annoying," Praxat said.

    In the middle of the barrage. Praxat uses her X-ray mod. What she discovers is that the zombies aren't really zombies. They're attack drones disguised with hologram technology. " I know something was up with these things," Praxat said.

    "Althena, send message to Cyanna. tell her that the things attacking aren't actually the undead, they're attack drones," Praxat said.

    " Cyanna, Praxat wants me to inform you that the things attacking are drones, not the undead," Althena said telepathically. Cyanna would discover the same thing that Praxat did that the zombies weren't actually zombies but rather just holograms being projected by something.

    Praxat thinks about using Lightning Storm. ( I could use Lighting storm to short circuit these drones all at once. However, I would accidentally hit Cyanna if I did that,) Praxat thought.

    ( Lighting Storm is a technique that electrifies everything around it. Including the ground and air in a wide area over long distances. I also discover while practicing it that it creates a powerful electromagnetic field as well,) Praxat thought.
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  3. #3708
    She/Her Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KingofPie View Post
    "...I see," the Arcosian mutters quietly, idly taking the folder and carefully, telekinetically opening it.
    Its contents are rather simple:

    Blizzar's full history.

    "You know uh, you got a pretty good grift going on, all things considered." The voice mocked. "But there's always someone who knows what's what." The shadows started creeping back in, slowly.

    "So, Blizzar ... what was that about calling your bluff ?"
    Yeah, but if you... man, we're getting into weird analogy territory, like if you disintegrated Superman's arms he wouldn't be able to go "fool! Little did you know that my arms and I are one and can be remade from me!" and will his arms back into being from pure nothingness. - Pendaran

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  4. #3709
    She/Her Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sub-Zero MKA View Post
    When Avoca picked herself off the ground, she groaned. "Seriously." She glanced back at Parsley and chuckled. "Alright, alright. Guess I get my own fur coat."

    She rose to her feet and smirked. A pinkish violet aura wrapped around her, swirling around like a summertime sunset. "Let's go, furball!" What fun! She was actually glad she decided to tag along. Not only was she going to get free food and fights, but she was about to get a free rug, too.

    A hand gesture dared Barry Togard to find his balls and come at her. In the meantime, there was an unusual sparkle in the air around her. It wasn't very threatening, but it was strange.
    "Twilight Sparkles aside," the Werewolf snarled, "I'ma enjoy eating that booty." In a blur of fur and fang, the Werewolf was upon her, a shimmer of energy rippling across the surface of its inky black coat as it approached.
    Yeah, but if you... man, we're getting into weird analogy territory, like if you disintegrated Superman's arms he wouldn't be able to go "fool! Little did you know that my arms and I are one and can be remade from me!" and will his arms back into being from pure nothingness. - Pendaran

    Arx Inosaan

  5. #3710
    She/Her Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MrSandman View Post
    "Ow..." Etrina shot her free(ze) hand out and grabbed the bat before it could escape, channeling a freezing blast of ice magic through it before letting the frozen bat drop and flipping herself out of the pit. "OK, SO WHICH ONE SAID I SUCKED." Etrina rested her hand on her wound and channeled temporal healing while she readied a sphere of ice in the other. "
    "Scree !" The Hellbat screamed as it was frozen, and quickly found itself in Etrina's icy embrace ... at which point it quickly died. Something of a rather shortlived, and somewhat impotent assault all things considered.

    As for the callout ?

    A rather sizable Mummy shambled to the front of the queue. "I did, cuz you suck !" A voice called out, a rock bouncing off of Etrina's forehead, the moment before a rather Eldritch looking fireball was sent hurtling her way.

    Seemed like the Mummy was also a Mage ...
    Yeah, but if you... man, we're getting into weird analogy territory, like if you disintegrated Superman's arms he wouldn't be able to go "fool! Little did you know that my arms and I are one and can be remade from me!" and will his arms back into being from pure nothingness. - Pendaran

    Arx Inosaan

  6. #3711
    She/Her Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yun Lao View Post
    The bandaged drifter was forced a step back with the impact of a headbutt, but within that moment, another had made their presence known and cut down the undead goliath in a hail of bullets. As the mighty corpse descended towards the gauzed figure, they simply slid between the zombie's legs and behind their now double fallen foe.

    Armed with... well... arms, the stranger utilized their prizes as makeshift clubs, bearing down on any nearby opponents who would dare to approach.
    The meat tsunami didn't last terribly long under the assault from the veiled stranger's makeshift weapons, the various moans and grunts of pain before being bopped back into re-death.

    Of course all good things certainly had to come to an end, and with a loud clang and a nasty snap, the arms were annihilated once they came into contact with an armored carapace.

    Yeah, but if you... man, we're getting into weird analogy territory, like if you disintegrated Superman's arms he wouldn't be able to go "fool! Little did you know that my arms and I are one and can be remade from me!" and will his arms back into being from pure nothingness. - Pendaran

    Arx Inosaan

  7. #3712
    Invincible Jersey Ninja Tami's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bruceleegreyhulk View Post
    Althena starts healing Craxat, Sraxat, Draxat, and Nraxat. As she does this, she goes into Power Mode. To act as a shield to protect Craxat, Sraxat, Draxat, and Nraxat. However, it is of no use.

    As the zombies' fire beams that tear through Althena's skin. Desperate to protect the ones she's healing. Althena subconsciously increases her body's density. Boosting her strength and durability.

    As well as making her body heavier as a feet start sinking into the ground. With her boosted durability. The beams from the zombies stop tearing through her skin, as they are unable to penetrate it.

    However, they still leave bruises. Praxat gets barraged by a bunch of beams from the zombies before she can attack. ****, these beams are fast. They're too fast for me to track," Praxat said.

    Praxat goes into boost mode, and even in boost mode, she's having a hard time tracking the beams, and her strikes go right though the zombies as if they not even there." Okay, these things are really fucking annoying," Praxat said.

    In the middle of the barrage. Praxat uses her X-ray mod. What she discovers is that the zombies aren't really zombies. They're attack drones disguised with hologram technology. " I know something was up with these things," Praxat said.

    "Althena, send message to Cyanna. tell her that the things attacking aren't actually the undead, they're attack drones," Praxat said.

    " Cyanna, Praxat wants me to inform you that the things attacking are drones, not the undead," Althena said telepathically. Cyanna would discover the same thing that Praxat did that the zombies weren't actually zombies but rather just holograms being projected by something.

    Praxat thinks about using Lightning Storm. ( I could use Lighting storm to short circuit these drones all at once. However, I would accidentally hit Cyanna if I did that,) Praxat thought.

    ( Lighting Storm is a technique that electrifies everything around it. Including the ground and air in a wide area over long distances. I also discover while practicing it that it creates a powerful electromagnetic field as well,) Praxat thought.
    OOC: Can Cyanna see where they are coming from?

    IC: Responding to Althena, "I thought so. And tell Praxat to feel free to fry them, I'm going hunting for the source of these mechanical nightmares." Landing again, Cyanna tries to backtrack them, seeking their point of origin or the one controlling them. Shifting her staff into full Trident Mode, she attacks any machine Zombie she encounters. Combining light magic and TK, she rips through them.
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  8. #3713
    She/Her Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by grampagen View Post
    The Gunman was caught unawares, and found he had lost his footing. Bracing himself as he fell, he found himself dragged toward the putrid corpus. The cold, rank blood running from its decomposing frame caused him to frown. Lifting one gun before him, he squeezed the trigger. As the hammer fell, the slide-lock kicked back.

    Empty.

    Yet despite this, as he was dragged upon the loamy soil, his expression only darkened behind his shaded eyes.

    "You want a bite? Go ahead and try it, hotshot."
    There was a measure of childlike glee to be found in Gutts' expression, when the rusted meathook found its target ... and when the Unknown Gunman was drawn in towards the Putrid Abomination's grisly maw; the politeness it had first displayed never wavered.

    "No mind if me do, thank you !"

    And when its free hands reached out to clasp and grasp, it seemed the Gunman had fired his last ...

    The Putty-faced Pugilist laughed as he sped forth, his rubber-matted dome not moving an inch as he struck out on the heaving corpse. His image flickered in and out between four figures, and as one struck out, it seemed to fade from sight just as quickly. After-images moving in solid synchronicity! Four limbs, four bodies, this was like sixteen feints at once! All to set up the perfect shot. The Maroon Marvel found an opening in the blind spot, drew his hand back, and--

    Wait...WAIT-!!!


    All at once the four images collapsed into a single figure, gagging under the noxious issue of Gutts' guts. Drenched elbow deep, he pressed his lips together, desperately pinching his nose as he plant both feet on the cadaver's wide frame, desperately trying to pry his arm loose.

    It only seemed to get worse!
    "Oh my !" Gutts declared, jerking upright as the Putty-Chinned Pugilist furiously fisted his feculent foe. For it was not simply some random hole that had been so lovingly and deeply penetrated from behind, no ... but Gutts' stomach !

    ... and as he hemmed, and hawed, and heaved to prise himself free ... he succeeded; and along with his fist came the contents of Gutts' previous meals.

    The horror.

    ... The horror.

    Yet despite the rank, and the stank ... the Gunman was spared a most putrid demise.
    Yeah, but if you... man, we're getting into weird analogy territory, like if you disintegrated Superman's arms he wouldn't be able to go "fool! Little did you know that my arms and I are one and can be remade from me!" and will his arms back into being from pure nothingness. - Pendaran

    Arx Inosaan

  9. #3714
    Lin Kuei Grandmaster Sub-Zero MKA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh View Post
    "Twilight Sparkles aside," the Werewolf snarled, "I'ma enjoy eating that booty." In a blur of fur and fang, the Werewolf was upon her, a shimmer of energy rippling across the surface of its inky black coat as it approached.
    Avoca's was taken by surprise by the creature's speed. Yet, instead of being alarmed, she grinned and managed to get her arms up to defend against the coming attack from the snarling werewolf. "The only thing you'll be eating is my fist," she remarked with a confident grin. "Or rather, your fist!"

    When the wolfman was close enough, the sparkling energy field that had enveloped her moments earlier shifted and spread out so that it surrounded him also. It was the opening act of one of her favorite techniques, Punishment of the Presumptuous.

    "Well? Let's get on with it, furbag."
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  10. #3715
    Retired Overlord
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    Quote Originally Posted by grampagen View Post
    "A failure?" Zaofan's tone jittered lightly as he futiley tried to assure her, though it would not conceal the rush of panic. So distant from the looming darkness just behind them, lining up the trigonometry for a Ruby Richochet in near darkness took his eyes off of her. "Morgan, you're not making any sense, I don't understand! We can help you! You just need to remember-"

    ~~~

    The vision took him, passing as easily as the veil of a dream. She stood there starkly, subject to the touch of cold hands and the scrutiny of distant whispers. Created to serve that kingdom she spoke of dutifully, this small pocket of paradise in these desolate snows, the bedrock of her existence seemed to be the fixture of this memory. Even now, Zaofan could still smell the figments of loaves never baked, the magical recreation of what was, and how it stood fast when she remembered it.

    Morgan's projection seemed to resonate with him with an eerie fidelity. Was it the small connection he had made with their little hostess, part a Familiar's instinct to serve?

    ~~~

    Remember...remember...

    "Morgan!"

    Awakening with a start, he called her name, but the martial chef found himself transported elsewhere. Wherever this was certainly was not Snowwall. Tossing his view around, he surveyed these walls briefly; but finding himself in solitude, his first thoughts were with the others.

    Oh no! Erosa! Shochu! Ochazuke! They're still out there! Propping himself up against the wall, he began feeling in the darkness for the edge of a door. But if they're still...'there', then where is here?

    Why would she do this? And where am I?
    ".....Don't go."

    A timid voice echo'd the chamber, coming from behind. Turning, he'd find Morgan sat quietly...eyes cast down to the floor.

    "I can keep you safe here.....Even if its just you.....it'll be enough." Morgan whispered, drawing her finger on the floor to her side. "...this place is a dream....and these walls will protect as long as I will them to. We can be safe here until the danger passes....and then....."

    Morgan raises her teary eyed gaze to the cook.

    "Take me away from this place......I'll lock all these awful memories away and we can leave them behind forever. Do you need a servant? Or...Or a lover? I can cook and clean, and I can create whatever you need.....We don't have to go any further then this. We can live a happy life in a far away land...but we have to leave this place." She suddenly climbs to her feet and stumbles towards Zaofan, holding him by his shoulders. "There is nothing ahead here.....not for you, not for your friends, not even for the monster your chasing. All he'll find ahead is a tomb.....you...you can't go there....none of you can.....you'll all die and...I'll have failed again.......I can't......I won't go back.....not to the wandering....not to the city......I don't want to go back. Tell them to turn around, tell them there is nothing there....anything....ANYTHING......just please take me with you and never look back. I'll do anything for you. Anything at all....just please....."

    She sobbed into his chest quietly.

  11. #3716

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tami View Post
    OOC: Can Cyanna see where they are coming from?

    IC: Responding to Althena, "I thought so. And tell Praxat to feel free to fry them, I'm going hunting for the source of these mechanical nightmares." Landing again, Cyanna tries to backtrack them, seeking their point of origin or the one controlling them. Shifting her staff into full Trident Mode, she attacks any machine Zombie she encounters. Combining light magic and TK, she rips through them.
    OOC: yes

    IC:


    The attack drones would be backtrack to the far eastern side of Lisia. Where Cyanna discovers that the holograms' point of origin is a metallic sphere in the sky, that is projecting the images on to the attack drones. Meanwhile, back at the castle." Praxat, Cyanna said to go ahead and fry them," Althena said.



    Praxat channels immense electricity throughout her body. She then slams her right hand on the ground and electrifies everything around her. Covering a radius of 100 miles and creating a powerful electromagnetic field.

    The attack drones within the radius are fried. The electricity doesn't affect the Toadians. Thanks to their immunity to it. It does affect the Replitas, who become bystanders of the attack.

    Their internal organs get fried. Which they regenerate within seconds. As if nothing happen.
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  12. #3717
    Invincible Jersey Ninja Tami's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bruceleegreyhulk View Post
    OOC: yes

    IC:


    The attack drones would be backtrack to the far eastern side of Lisia. Where Cyanna discovers that the holograms' point of origin is a metallic sphere in the sky, that is projecting the images on to the attack drones. Meanwhile, back at the castle." Praxat, Cyanna said to go ahead and fry them," Althena said.



    Praxat channels immense electricity throughout her body. She then slams her right hand on the ground and electrifies everything around her. Covering a radius of 100 miles and creating a powerful electromagnetic field.

    The attack drones within the radius are fried. The electricity doesn't affect the Toadians. Thanks to their immunity to it. It does affect the Replitas, who become bystanders of the attack.

    Their internal organs get fried. Which they regenerate within seconds. As if nothing happen.
    As soon as Praxat launched her attack, Cyanna took back to the air. The electrical attack moved quickly through the drones, though, as she suspected, there was a slight delay the further away the drones were. This helped her pinpoint the location of the source.

    It wasn't long before she saw the sphere in the sky. With her trident in hand, she moved in towards it as fast as she could, intending to pierce it and open it like a can of tomatoes.
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  13. #3718

    Default The Archive of the World (1/2)

    Though the rains had ceased, the winds continued to howl over the blasted heath. Once the water ran out, the rolling plains of the steppes slowly began to thin. The grasses had loosed their grip, choking upon the sandy, cracked earth, and billowed to dust. Long stretches of the plain eroded into fodder for a vast desert. As the zephyrs flew, as if reaching ever towards something in the distance, the white grains of sand cloaked that invisible hand where it brushed past cresting dunes.

    Whatever passed through more often than not was swiftly swallowed whole, the desert's gasp perpetually burying, eroding and disintegrating as it fell. Wild exiles from all over would find their way to this place, for all roads to great kingdoms passed through the wasteland, bearing upon them the wealth and lifeblood of nations. Their treasures guarded jealously from predatory eyes seemed only to invite them, and what they held in their hands made them aware only of what they lacked. Above all else, the denizens of these parched salivated in the presence of fresh meat.

    on occasion one may chance upon hint of what once tread here. Glimmering just below the surface, coin minted in the name of a nation that no longer existed. A fearful beast of burden goaded by a fitful master. The flaking chitinous hull concealing a sandworm's jaws. Whether of mystical stock or proud lineage, it was all the same. When they fell, the sands would rush in as if they never existed, their blanched bones disappearing from sight as if they had never been.

    Were one to allow himself to pretend the wind against their back was some guiding voice, they would be betrayed by this rather fickle force, for this place of shifting pathways led to only two places. Wandering death for the lost, and those who found the end would find, obscured by dust-devils, a towering shadow at the foot of the mountain. Where the winds met the anchored wall of rock, they swiftly pushed into a wailing updraft that stretched up, past the haze and into the distant clouds. In this intersection between two opposites, supported by an exacting balance it withstood the passing ages as it always had. Astride an impossible place that should not have existed was the last refuge for the long-traveled.

    At this desolate end, there was no choice but to further ascend.

    Scrambling up the mountain with a swift bound, Kuki raked his single arm over thin protrusions in that sheer wall, nimbly making progress through the tenuous grip the sands left on his palm and soles. When he pushed through the veil of cloud produced from the instant vaporization of rain that fell from that desert, as he moved higher, he found himself struggling against icy and hail. He'd felt more at home than he did in months when his blood got pumping. Shimmying up the cliff face, he found the narrowest outcroppings and barest outstanding pieces with such preternatural agility, it would seem as if he'd been upon this path before.

    "S'wrong Ishii?" he chuckled. "Y'ain't flyin' so swiftly now!"

    Behind him the thin clouds parted. The little turtle's shell whirled as he climbed altitude at a noticeable distance from his Master. The Hermit climbed so readily until suddenly, to his peril, he found his hand no longer had a thing to grasp onto. That would be all that it took and he would fall the stretch of miles downward; He slipped and started to fall.

    With a dull, hollow thud, he felt something small press against the shell at his back. "Heh. Sharp witt'd s'always." Finding himself splayed on his back, Kuki found himself at the perilous mercy of his companion, rocking and rotating, shell upon shell. He frowned deeply as they slowly ascended and the world slowly turned around him.

    "Gyek."

    A few meters more and the turtle unceremoniously dumped his sensei onto the stony ground. With a hearty laugh Kuki sprawled up his single arm up to his feet, grateful for steady footing. Even more resplendent was the sight of the temple. It had been quite sime time since he had visited the grounds of the Dragon School, and the Nine-Dragon Peak was decidedly more precarious than he had remembered.

    They were real firebrands back in those days, masters of crafting ki, deceptive combatants handicraft and swordsmen of such frugal technique they knew no need to strike first. Or so they claimed, anyway, especially the greater among their number claiming they never needed to strike twice, either, for that matter.

    The Dragons never sat quite right with the Turtles. It went without saying as a matter between the Five Schools, of course, but their feud had been rather...particular, philosophically speaking. It was stuck in everything, from dress, to conduct, to choice of venue. Really, who were the true humanitarians, the inhabitants of a tropical island of plenty everyone could access, or those waiting here atop remotest of peaks to screen out the unworthy? It got so bad it went down to the pettier things like the merits of bloodless staves compared the finality of a perfect killing stroke, a notion he himself had often had tested.

    Above it all was the matter of that singular obsession. They were rather taken with a fretful notion of their legacy. The logic - as he had understood it anyways - was such that the purest realization of an idea was as it was first conceived. The way something was first rendered possessed the purest essence of the creation at a conceptual level, realized with the greatest fidelity within the material. As a result, instead of trying to figure out how to deal with this ever-present condition of passage, they kept trying to return to the past.

    Kuki looked over the rooftops of the old temple. Spackled grey-green tile resting hevily upon ageless enameled pillars. The monument of the Dragon School's fearful struggle to endure stood fast, and though the grounds remained pristine, they were also cold and lifeless. Not a single disciple of this lineage remained to greet him. As the Turtle Hermit cast one last look over the abyss behind him, he wondered how the Dragon Priests must have felt as they congregated here, above the silvery fog, surrounded by a desert. Abbot Yoroi upon Turtle Island sat nestled in the heart of creation. Perhaps Seiryuu isolated himself in this manner as a bitter reminder of the world below: that it existed in a state of perpetual decay.

    To the Dragon Masters, to find a pinnacle, the ideal, was to find the truth, for the only path towards discovering the essence was to the return to origin of things. It followed that this, in turn, was to restore a notion of purity to this corroding world in some form or another. The problem is, held fast by the spoken doctrine, the Dragon often seized its own body aloft in its mighty jaws; If everything was once perfect, that would leave the future with little more than bleak prospects, now wouldn't it? If the only solution was to go backward, how might one find the strength to move forward if they are forever obsessed with carrying what was? Whatever the case, it certainly had resulted in a history of accumulation, though it was not always a matter of prizes.
    Last edited by grampagen; 11-17-2019 at 02:17 AM.

  14. #3719
    Astonishing Member KingofPie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh View Post
    Its contents are rather simple:

    Blizzar's full history.

    "You know uh, you got a pretty good grift going on, all things considered." The voice mocked. "But there's always someone who knows what's what." The shadows started creeping back in, slowly.

    "So, Blizzar ... what was that about calling your bluff ?"
    Blizzar took a moment to look over the papers and shrugged. "Perhaps...that will be unnecessary, eh?" but....The Arcosian then glanced up at the creature. "On your part. I, on the other hand will call yours."

    He folded his arms. "For you see, this document is false. I'm sure you know why. ...You do understand why, don't you?"

  15. #3720

    Default The Archive of the World (2/2)

    The desert at the foot of this mountain had once been green pastures for the roads that stretched across this continent to link its kingdoms. As the ancient monarchs raised their walls, the avaricious monsters produced from these wild fields grew to see them as a challenge to prove themselves against by ransack and conquest. They say Priest Seiryuu chased down the Man-horses of the Demon Khanate where they pillaged the land, who had been uncontested until he crossed their path with the fire-forged technique. There are no written accounts of these deeds wrought, only the miles of scorched earth, and bones beneath the dunes.

    When the war had concluded and the treasure hoard confiscated, there was no rightful owner to return this to. Wiped out without so much as a remainder, who would remember? How many things were lost and forgotten? The grateful dead paid a kings ransom to the priests of Seiryuu's order, and to ensure this never happened again, they moved each artifact piecemeal up the sheer mountainside. An impossible task, but not for a Dragon.

    Legends spoke of the wealth of the Dragon School, but that was a misnomer, for this was not merely an aesthetician's collection. The collective knowledge from time immemorial. The last bits of eroded civilizations, the sacred texts that prayed to deaf gods, lost they were all brought here, to Seiryuu's archive of the world!

    In his youth Kuki had so desired to see it, and in response to his plea they'd challenged him on Neutral Ground - again with the conciet of worthiness! He'd fought their champion Shenlong to earn a chance...for his Master Qinglong to hear his request in person. He wouldn't deign to see him unless he had an offering, but Kuki could only offer them a truce. They hardly considered it a boon - much less recompense for their man - but were honour-bound to comply.

    "...perhaps th'Balon fellow made good on th'amenesty. Hrm."

    They sought to retain the last remnants of a history to preserve what would had been lost, but over time had become overly attached to the material. Instead of seeking to preserve the fading world as it sunk into the past in honour of those that had fallen, the collection itself became the end. Objects of artisan craft, all the remnants of various, disparate histories come to silence, and symbols of the ideas that moved the hearts of people were displayed next to prizes won by blood or tithe. It became a hoard to guard jealously, vainglorious trophies of the Dragon school's mighty deeds. The hymnals of a spiritual rite were seen as little different than to slay a warrior-prince in combat in order to keep his armour.

    All it took to fall from the heights of grand ambitions was one slip.

    Now in these plundered halls, Kuki stood a lone Turtle among the Dragon's hollow bones. The practitioners of the mortal arts so mighty once may have been compelled to gloat, yet he felt no victory here. It had not escaped his attention how empty these grounds were. The doors stood intact, but the ornate dais that once held the relics of the world were destroyed. Now it stood Ransacked for a man's aesthetic pleasure and primal satisfaction

    All came to dust, the memories forgotten, and its worth traded on gilded appearances.

    It was a matter Dragons and Turtles never reached an accord on, for they were about as compatible as fire and water. It was well understood that water could both nurture life and just as well smother it, that to float upon it one understood the potential to sink. Was it the same with those who carried a will of fire? That by immolation, break down elements to slag and vapours, reveal a single pure substance? While it'd be nigh impossible to drink an ocean dry, a flame must be constantly minded, fed and able to breathe. Water will flow, or simply be. Flames, somebody must offer it tinder to carry it forth. The Dragons never wanted that first fire to go out, and reaching back across the ages,they would sacrifice anything as kindling.

    Yet the Sapphire Shell he now bore on his back had come from the same method as their holiest of relics, the Jade Dragon Claw. It was a remnant of this shared legacy, a piece of the Obushi-sennin offered as a material peace from Seiryuu to Yoroi. Whether Priest or Monk, there was an understanding that despite their acquired differences, that had at the heart of their paradigms a common goal, and a common root.

    The problem was such a material peace brought with it a material price. Soon and after the Master's death, the Dragons would never let their Turtle Elder forget it.

    But the ki and memory of the Master, created through this method of preservation was preserved with the greatest fidelity. If it was anythink like this Shell, it resonated with those who would listen to it. This Balon fellow had reacquired it. When Kuki had crossed hands with Young Ocha years ago, he knew that despite the ravaged archive around him, the spirit of the thing continued to live on. The coiling limbs, their dread talons, and the fire passed down through the ages passed through as any apt pupil. All it was that made the difference might have been a different way of seeing things; Doubtless what the Last Dragon saw within the fixed spirit was a history that went beyond its shaped greenery.

    What he could offer the order of Seiryuu now was a spiritual peace. Stretching his hand out, a small, green globe of ki fell into the environs, illuminating the pathways that had been the studious grounds for generations. A simple token of his will, the knowledge that their legacy, in a way, would yet endure. With a throaty grumble, Kuki stroked his chin. Casting a look over the sea of fog below, he asked his turtle companion, "Now, how d'ya s'pose we get outta here?"


    O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
    Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
    With forest branches and the trodden weed;
    Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
    As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
    When old age shall this generation waste,
    Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
    Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
    "Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
    Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."


    John Keats, "Ode to a Grecian Urn"

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