From: nealaphh@antiomni.org
To: okor@nurgle.nrg

Hello Okor,

Sorry I've been away for so long - the Underverse was more of a trial than I had anticipated. I apologize also for my sloppy exit; I can imagine affairs with the Institute have dissolved completely. But, as always, I am sure you were able to endure.

To that end, not that I am back in the Omniverse proper, I wish to continue our previous enterprise into bringing some sense to this puppeted worls. True, I still resent Omni and his nature, but he is no longer the focus of my ire. As contemptable as he is, his hand in the general state of affairs is ephemeral at best. I have my eyes set on targets that are a little closer to home; The Empire and Camelot. Their stalemate has made this finite universe of ours stagnant and sterile. It is time that life was forcibly reintroduced to this land.

To that end, if you do decide to do me the honor of assisting me, know that the weapons of the Institute have changed. We no longer operate with manipulation and subterfuge. Ours will be the weapons of the Arts and the Spirit; an approach that someone as devout as you can certainly understand.

Chiefly, I plan to open a research hospital on the new Institute grounds, and I would like you on the board of Alternative Medicine therein. As offputting as some people may find Nurgle's Blessings, I personally see them as medical marvels.

Of course, you are also a warrior and a proud soul; I would have equal use for you in commanding the Institute Expeditionary Forces.

None of this is final, of course. I hope we can arrange for a more personal discussion in the near future, but until then I hope you will apprise me of your passing thoughts.

Thank you as always, friend.

-Nealaphh, Now going by the name of Tearen Wover

Before he woke up, Sun was dreaming about home.

He wasn’t doing anything in his dream. He was just sleeping on his bed, back in his room. He had rolled up into his bedsheets and formed an unusual hybrid of a croissant and a caterpillar shape, drool edging out from the side of his mouth and onto his pillow as he tossed and turned in his slumber, seeking a more comfortable spot on the bed. At the time, he didn’t consider the paradoxical nature of the dream. Instead, his dream-self rested, enjoying the warmth of his blanket, the tropical breeze that coasted through his open window, the salty smell of the sea, and the rhythmic pulses of the ocean.

He missed his bed. It wasn’t like he could sleep at his old place anymore, given his role as Champion of Alola. The bedroom inside the League building was cozy and all, but there was something about it that was lacking. He had eventually chalked it up to how sterile it seemed; the bedsheets were always washed and always folded nicely; the mattress never sagged from overuse; the pillow was always starched and cleaned of his drool. As soon as he could break it in, it was if he was back at the beginning, when he had to move out of his own home and into the building itself. That was a feeling he could never get past: how unfamiliar it was, and it was only exacerbated by the realization of his new responsibility as Champion. He welcomed it nonetheless, but there were times where all he wanted to do was forget all responsibility and go back home to his Mom. At least then he could hide himself from the spotlight that was always on him. Maybe that was why he liked to sleep. He didn’t have to hide anything when he dreamed, as the only ones who would know would be his own imagination. When he closed his eyes and drifted off, he could be enraptured by the feeling of comfort everyday life could not give him.  

But when he opened his eyes this time, he did not find himself on a bed. As he awoke from the depths of sleep, the only thing he saw was a massive canvas of white.

At first, he thought he had moved from one dream into another. There was the familiar sea salt smell in the air, and he could hear water pound against the edges of his makeshift bed: a silver altar. The only thing that was missing were the calming winds of Alola and the warmth of his blanket, both of which he chalked up to the very nature of his dream preventing such feelings from being noticeable. Indeed, the sudden change of scenery was enough to make him laugh. He had never had a dreamscape like this one before, or ever had a pair of dreams as inconsistent in tone. He decided to test out his dream-legs by exploring the new environment, lifting himself up from the altar.

His legs fell asleep halfway through his attempt to rise. He tumbled headfirst into the pool of water surrounding the base of the altar. The coldness of the liquid combined with the stinging of his eyes and tongue as it seeped into his face was enough to snap him out of his sleep-induced haze.

He shot up from the ground, stumbling, water splashing and staining his clothes. He sputtered and gasped, spitting out as much of the salt water as he could. It wasn’t until then did he realize that he was no longer dreaming, that nothing he saw was of his own imagination. He wasn’t at the League building anymore. He wasn’t at home anymore.

Alola was gone. Professor Kukui, gone. Hau, gone. Mom, gone. All of his Pokemon, gone.

He darted his head around, eyes red and widened as he searched desperately to find something, anything, that could call back the memories of Alola, of home, within the seemingly endless desert of white. He circled the altar, his heart pounding as all sense of logic escaped him. He wanted to scream, but he couldn’t even do that; his brain had shut down, overwhelmed by confusion and despair.

Tears formed in his eyes and snot ran down his nose as he finally conjured up the willpower to form the words he so badly wanted to say. Stopping in front of the altar, he shouted to the heavens above.

“M-Mom!” he cried, no longer able to stop himself from bawling, “Ku-Kukui! Hau! So-Somebody! An-Any-Anybody…”

No one replied. Even the foreknowledge that no one would possibly reply didn’t stop him from collapsing on the spot. He fell onto his knees, cupped his hands to his face, and sobbed.

"Mumsy, there's not much milk left. Shall I leave it for your tea?"

"No my dear, you can have it! I'll just go round the shops in a second."

A man reaches into the fridge, pulling out the plastic bottle and closing the doorr, gently so as not to disturb the various magnets and child's paintings being held up by them. Placing the drink on the counter, he ran his fingers sideways through his hair and worked his way down to his neck, tilting it either side in an attempt to limber up.

"Sorry, milk isn't for cacti."

Lifting his other arm, a plushie cactus found it's way right next to the plastic container, facing the opposite way with it's smile beaming towards a wall, two black discs shifting slightly at the bottom of it's googly eyes. The man's hand gently grasped the top of the toy, turning it so it faced him.

"It's ok Cuddles, I'll get you some water. Not too much though, ok? Mumsy says cacti don't drink very much, too much is bad for them."

Reaching into a cupboard, the man pulls out a glass and a small beaker. Unscrewing the lid of the milk bottle, he fills the glass to nearly the brim, before placing the beaker under the faucet. Instead of turning it on, he starts to make a swooshing sound effect, his eyes slowly raising as they trace an imaginary water level.

"Here you go! Don't tell Reginald, you know he gets jealous sometimes."

Slowly pouring the 'water' into the brown felt at Cuddles's feet... Stem... Thingy, he then attended to his own needs, greedily slurping his preferred beverage before licking the white moustache off of his upper lip. Leaving the kitchen with the glass in one hand and his favourite cuddly toy in the other, he closed the door behind him... And opened it again. Walking back through, he placed both back on the counter before grabbing the bottle of milk, still out of the fridge, and returning it to where it belonged.

"Oh Bobby you silly sausage!"

Grabbing his things and leaving once again, he didn't see one of the magnets fall off the fridge. As it did, one of the pictures fell to the ground. Granted the art was of questionable quality, done by someone with a thick brush and presumably a thicker brain, but it appeared to be of Bobby, an old lady, Cuddles, a teddy bear wearing a top hat with some kind of black ring around it's eye and some non-descript grey blob with a smiley face.

"I'll be back soon my baby, you sure there's nothing Mummy can get you?"

"I'm good thanks. I love you!"

For some reason, defying all logic and expectation, the grey haired woman slowly started to fade from the picture. A loud thud could be heard from the other room.

"Mumsy? Are you ok? That looked like it hurt. Here, I'll help you up, Cuddles will too."

"... Mummy? Mummy? Wake up, you wanted to go to the shop! I mean, I don't mind you sleeping, but you'll get sad at yourself."

"Can you hear me? You're scaring me Mumsy. It isn't April, is it? Are you playing a joke at the wrong time of year?"

"... Please? Stop it Mummy, you're making me want to cry, I don't like crying. Mummy?"

Now, the rest of the figures on the picture began to fade away too, all at the same time and rate.

"Mum! What are you doing! Why aren't you waking up? You usually wake up so easy!"

And all that was left was a blank page. Pure white, unstained, ready to start again.

Because I'm a sad, sad person with no life, and a natural sheep when it comes to forum based treads, I will examine your character and use it to do something much like in the Digimon Partnering Thread, Monster Tinder , Are you a Bender and Does It Blend Threads. What am I going to do with the information I get, well, I'm going to post an Idea of how my are your charater could meet in The Omniverse, now let us begin.

Welcome to the Omniverse Book Club! Here, we put up a new completed topic every fortnight to read and review. By participating you'll earn a bonus 250 OM (subject to change) and you'll be able to suggest a topic of your own for the next fortnight. Aside from the helpful feedback, subjects of the book club will receive a Great or Exemplary bonus for their storyline if they qualify. :omni:

Do you ever feel like no one loves you? Do you think the world doesn't care about you, that you're just one in the crowd, that no one would shed a tear if you died. I wish I could tell you it's not true, I wish I could tell you that lots of people do love you.

But I'd be lying. We both know it's not true.

But there is still hope for you. In the Worship of the Slime, we teach all our members to love each other. You'd be joining an entire community of loving, wholesome people who will care about you unconditioning. We don't even ask anything of you, we just want you part of the family. It can be the greatest feeling in the world to truely belong

Please, consider the Worship of the Slime. If you decided to join us, reply to this e-mail with your information as well as a date you'd like to meet, and an associate will greet you at the nexus gate of the pale moors at the date of your choosing

Remember, we are eager to share with you the love and respect you personally deserve. Hopefully, we will see you soon.

Subject: New Contact

Greetings Daxter, I hope you haven't been too bored in the Dunes, perhaps you have found time to perfect your craft. It seems that an ally has wished to aid the guild in the dunes, we need you to establish a connection for us and complete any mission they have for you. Report to us on any false or new information, and you will be aptly rewarded. Coordinates are attached.

Subject: Mutual Agreement


Greetings, I see we have mutually reached out in order to reach further in this world. Please, if you need any information on anything or anyone, don't hesitate to ask. We can also send associates to help with theft and/or spying, among other things, so request those services as needed. In return, if we find anyone that seems to conflict with and impede on our craft, we hope to find you on our side to be rid of them.

So, if you haven't heard about the impending Forces update slated for after DA, then you are probably a dirty pleb who doesn't follow the site's facebook page.

https://m.facebook.com/omniverserpg/

There, now that you're educated, let's all discuss what units we would use for each class.

TEAREN:
Well, honestly, most of Tearen's forces are going to be modern or near-future military equivalents, for several IC reasons, so, mine aren't that imaginative. BUT, being a military and gun-geek, I wanna list them anyway.

Infantry:


Tactical as fuck. No nonsense. Ballistic weaponry all the way.


Armored:

Decent firepower, but ablative armor and fast-building cover make this more of a mobile fortification construction vehicle.


Support:

Little flying robots to deliver supplies, ordnance and medicine to units in the field. I mean, any self-respecting member of the IEF knows decent first aid, all they need is medicine on demand.

Assassins:

All-Terrain with partial adaptive camoflauge. What's not to love?

Trappers:

Emplaced multi-platform weapons that can deliver just a delicious amount of pain from their embedded positions.

Destroyers:

Mini-mechs. I mean....c'mon.

Debilatators:

Manned artillery platforms that can soften targets as well as deliver gas weapon salvos.

Mobiles:

This is where it's at booiiiii. Maximum air superiority. All day, erry day. 1000 OM a pop is a steallll

I just want to see all of our themed avatars together in one thread. :'D