Phantoms of fog dance across her path, vanishing into wisps as the demoness stubbornly marches through a nearby forest. The wisps turn into haunting shapes behind her. All of which she ignores as well as she did walking through the ghosts. Shifting shadows under the darkened clouds play tricks on the tired and weary travelers, but Ash had focus.

She found a beaten path and decided it was as good as any. Either she'd wind up in the fabled Darkshire or the infamous Silent Hill. Only until now did it occur to her how fitting Diablo unload his burden on Pale Moors. If anyone else had been in her way upon falling, she might be doing something incredibly different than waltzing with whispers of thick fog.

The dark grey cotton candy above rumbled in frustration as life lit up the folds. A storm threatened to rain down on her and end her determination. Arguably it only bolded her. She was the storm demon and the thunder was just the drums of war at her back. Lightning sparked across the background and landed on something far into the east. She continued forward, north.

The world around her vaguely reminded her of another deadly forest covered in fog. She even thought she saw bodies swinging from the limbs. A memory swaying into her mind made her smile a wicked grin as she remembered Desman stuttering a question in the Underverse about what it was he saw moving about in the wind. His look of horror when she'd drying delivered the message that they were corpses satisfied her to no end. As she originally thought, he was too soft. Merely another pawn on her table and not a very strong one at that.

He had been plenty useful, of course. He had been a saving grace for her in the Gauntlet of Fire but fell short of any expectations she might have normally encouraged. Spineless as well. He cowered and pleaded, cried for mercy at the first sign of disturbance when the ultramarine dropped down. Before that even. He had paid off his debt to her by showing her the power of fusion, she'd have to put some effort into learning that trick later.

She slid The Red Devil's Quill out of her long slender sock, letting the light of another random bolt catch in the metal.

Without Desman she wasn't sure if she would have been able to collect so much data or even resources. Would she have gotten out of there so quickly? Who can say? She would have had ten times more fun if he'd kept his nose out of her business. So what was the trade? Memories, or experience?

No use in playing with the choices now.

Ash twirled The Quill about in her fingers as she considered what to do with all her knowledge? Cause complete chaos in the mind of those who feared the banishing circles? "It was so easy to escape a man-child could do it with the right straws drawn." She said to herself, practicing for her made-up speech. Then she laughed to herself. The likelihood that anyone would ask her any details were laughable. The only people who knew had been the Empire and his men.

...And Desman.

She was now curious how he'd managed that. He had never told her. Now's a bit late for those questions, isn't it?

Not like that information was worth much.



Or was it?

Vash stepped into the savanna, immediately amazed by the presence of vegetation. like a kid in a candy store he excitedly walked around, gawking at the trees and grass outside of a controlled environment. Gaining his composure, he looked around for any signs of settlement in the area, seeing nothing, he searched for a water source in hopes of preparing for a journey into the sandy steppes beyond.

As Vash approached a slowly thickening mass of brush he began to move slowly. Hearing the movement of something under the scrub brush, he pulled out his signature silver revolver and pointing it at the source of the noise. Suddenly, an oversized boar charged at him, perhaps the size of a man if standing upright with thick muscle across its entire body. Firing once at the tusk, knocking it to the side and the rest of the boar's path with it. not to be deterred, the boar bounded toward Vash, slamming into him with its side. As it approached Vash shot it in the outstretched leg, causing the impact to lessen and its attempt at recovering from the fall into a complete failure as it rolled across the ground after a loud thud. it attempted to get up, a hole in its right foreleg and the corresponding left twisted from the fall, but to no avail. Vash approached it, pitying the suffering animal, likely defending its territory, he didn't have enough time to attempt to save it from the harm. putting pressure on the wound with his cybernetic arm to allow him to focus on creating a bandage, after a couple minutes he bound the leg after soothing the boar's constant struggling. He gathered some sticks from a nearby tree and used the excess fabric to bind them together into a makeshift splint, fastening it to the boar after setting the leg back into place. getting up alerted vash of the likely cracked bone from the hulking beast ramming into him.

walking to the small body of water nearby, Vash took the empty water pouch he had on him and filled it, then began foraging for food. Best not to waste this omnillium if it's as valuable as he was led to believe. Now he just had to rest up for his bones to heal. At least it was better than the badlands.

Hey,

I was looking at these two quests in the Coruscant description:

[spoiler]Rebel Yell

Location: Tiers 5 and 2
Requirement: Must not be affiliated with The Empire or Imperial Navy, Must have Completed Imperial Disarray, Must be at least Level 3
Difficulty: Hard (10,000 to 20,000 words, dependent on quality) + Imperial Bounty
Reward: Unlock Rebel Base on Tier 5 (w/ Recall, Teleporter – Nexus, Dataverse)

The group you’ve joined requires your services for something a little more… drastic.

The Dataverse is a common staging ground for clandestine operations. It allows for individuals to move materiel a little more securely and underneath the radar, especially between verses. Your group has just received a large shipment of magic-based munitions from Camelot, and they want you to be point-man on their recent operation.

With a group of other operatives, you’re to head up to Tier 2, where you’re going to disrupt a fundraising event between a bunch of the Empire’s bigwigs. These events are where a bunch of rich, entitled bureaucrats sit around and discuss how they can keep down the little people, so it’s your job to sock it to them right in the eye.

Your crew will plant the explosives. It’s up to you to trigger them and deal with whatever happens afterwards. There will be police response, but your group was smart enough to plan this on a day when Dredd is gummed up with staff work. He won’t appear, but you still may have to contend with space marines. Escape. Once you’re out, your group will contact you and Recall you to their base. For your success, they’ll give you access to some of the features of their HQ.

Quest Stipulations – Must be contacted by revolutionary group. Must receive instructions and meet group members. Must collect munitions. Must ensure crew plants explosives night before event. Must trigger bombs. Must escape chaos to follow and get back in touch with group. You will have to fight your way out and you will receive a bounty. You may also have to report back to HQ to deal with 'circumstances' or lose your access.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]A Day in the Life

Location: Tier 2
Requirements: Must have completed There are No Lines or Hand of the Empire, must be Level 3, Must have collected or helped collect a bounty for Coruscant
Difficulty: Hard (10,000 to 20,000 words, dependent on quality)
Reward: Imperial Cross + Imperial Blaster (Flavor item or may be fashioned into a Move)

As an established member of the Empire’s ranks, you’ve been invited to a public fundraising event on Tier 2, where many bureaucrats and middle-tier politicos will be present.

You arrive and immediately become something of the darling, regardless of how much you may or may not love being the focal point of a social gathering. People who spend most of their days working in stuffy offices or swapping gossip at the water cooler love nothing more than to be exposed to someone with a track record as exotic as yours. Live a little. Enjoy some martinis.

Sometime during the desert phase, when people are trying to enjoy their post-dinner café con leche, a bomb goes off. There is instantly a torrent of gunfire overhead. People start to die. It’s some kind of terrorist attack, and it’s up to you to be the hero. Fight back. Chase the ‘bad guys’ down and stop whatever other plans they may have had. They’ve been planning this for a while, they’ve got a few.

In the aftermath, you’ll have a personal meeting with King Bradley, who will give you a medal (the Imperial Cross) and an elegant blaster to wear, signifying your status. From this point forward, you have access to meetings with Bradley.

Quest Stipulations – Must receive invite to fundraiser. Must attend. Must be sociable and merry. Must enjoy dinner. Terrorists attack during desert/digestif. You must repulse them and pursue them. You must discover and foil any other schemes they have in place in Tier 2. Afterwards, you must go to meet with King Bradley to receive his commendations.[/spoiler]

I'm building up to Dexter completing Rebel Yell. Not sure if anyone has already done this, but would someone be interested in completing A Day in the Life at the same time in concurrent threads, coordinate details, then have a joint thread with an extended pursuit and fight? Preferably not a to-the-death type of fight, that's not really my thing.

Seems like it'd be neat. I'll probably be ready to start Rebel Yell in a week or two weeks tops.

Since I have been struggling to write as Warren lately, I've decided to use the swap I've been saving up to switch this character out for Jason Todd, seeing as how he is very interesting. Eventually I may reclaim Warren, but for now I'm going with Jason. 

CHARACTER NAME: Jason Todd 

CHARACTER SOURCE:  Under the Red Hood (AU) 

CHARACTER HISTORY: 

When Jason dug his way out of his grave in Gotham City, Jason was taken by the League of Assassins. For about 2 years he was educated and trained by them in various combat techniques. What Ras had planned was to mold Jason into his heir since the one he actually wanted as his heir would not do it. However no matter what tortures they used on Jason he would not follow their orders. After he got badly hurt and became brain dead they immersed him in the Lazarus Pit. For a while he was driven into a blood lust by the pit's effects and attacked Tim Drake, the one Robin he didn't consider his enemy until he was stopped. 

Eventually he decided that he would not return to Gotham after that. Instead he went to Bludhaven and started policing criminals in that city, because it needed him more than Gotham did. During one of his missions he got himself badly hurt, and was transported into the Omniverse by Omni. Now he has to cope with a new set of rules for himself, and a new life. 

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:

[float=right] [/float]  Jason is about 5"7 and weighs about 210 - 225 lbs, most of it being muscle. Typically he prefers to wear armor, though he does have a civilian form shown below. 

[float=right][/float] 
STATS:
ATK: 4
DEF: 2
SPD: 2
TEC: 2 

STARTING PROFICIENCIES:  Physical Proficiency 
STARTING POWERS: 
Flight (1800 OM) 
Master Acrobat (400) 
Insight (1600 OM) 



STARTING MOVES:
 


I confirm that I have read and agreed to the Rules of Conduct.

Where did you find us? I am a member. 

In the interest of the summer time being a season of people fighting for supremacy on the distant isles of parts of the Omniverse unknown, I was thinking of other 'fun' community stuff we could do.

Rosters.

Some people make roster's rich hubs of information about their character's personal world.  Others make rosters pieces of art.

What I'm proposing is that we hold a simple contest to determine who has the best Roster in the Omniverse...

1. people sign up
2. I'll use Challonge to make a random bracket and people will go head to head
3. People will vote on which roster they thing is better
4.  Winners advance, can retool their rosters
5. Rinse, wash, repeat as the pool things out

At the end, we'll crown the person with the most popular roster.

As there's no tangible prize aside from gloating over your peers, I don't think this has to be limited to a character per person.

Popularity contest aside, I think this could be a great exercise to help people develop their roster and learn tricks and tactics from the pros.

Anyone interested?

The young psychic, one of many in the orphanage hall, spooned the thin gruel that they called food into his mouth. The off-white paste was watery and flavourless, but filled the child’s stomach. He wasn't sure if he could stomach real food, anyway. He still struggled to recall the last few days without breaking into a fit of tears. Not that anyone expected a four year old to recover from almost being burnt alive so quickly. Erik’s eyes snapped up as there was a knock at the door. The orphanages matron, a kindly old woman that the children called ‘Grandma Siv’, answered the door. A look of shock crossed her face as her gaze met whoever had knocked, and she moved back to let them in quickly. 

“Elder Magnus, Lady Ingrid, I'm sorry, I wasn't prepared for your arrival.” The matron said as she self-consciously checked over her unkempt robes. 

A couple entered the room, dropping the room into silence, only broken by the chewing of the oblivious children, unaware of exactly who had just walked into the room. The man was heavily built, his muscles visible even through his royal blue robes, and at least six foot tall. His scarred, menacing face was set into a hard expression, his long, blonde beard doing nothing to alleviate his intimidating aura. Erik wondered why Grandma Siv called him ‘elder’ when she was clearly older than him. The woman he was with was much gentler in appearance. She had a thin, willowy look to her, but also carried an air of elegance. Her light blue eyes and long, brown hair reminded Erik of himself and, choking back a sob at the thought, his mother. 

“I was told that a new child was rescued just a few days ago, another blessed with the gift.” The man’s voice was just as harsh as his appearance, rough like he had swallowed a mouthful of gravel. 

“It's true.” Grandma Siv said with a hesitant nod. “Three being born in a lifetime, let alone within five years. What do you make of it, elder?”

The man was silent for a moment.

“I don't know. I'll have to discuss this the other elders, this is more than a simple gift from Father Gal’skap. That aside, may I see the child?” 

“Of course.” Grandma Siv said with another nod. The old woman scanned the meal hall for someone, before her gaze fell on Erik. For a moment the boy thought he was going to be scolded for eavesdropping, but to his surprise, Grandma Siv led the couple over to where he was eating. 

“Erik, this is Elder Magnus and Lady Ingrid.” The matron said gently. 

“Hello.” Erik said quietly, unsure of what was happening.

“Hello, Erik.” Magnus said, trying unsuccessfully to appear a little less terrifying. “Siv tells me that you have a special talent. Could you show me?”

A sinking feeling stabbed into the pit of Erik’s stomach. The last time he had used his ‘talent’ he was almost burned alive. The boy looked down and shook his head.

“I don't have anything like that.” He whispered, barely audible over the chatter of the hall. “You don't need to burn me.” 

Magnus shot a confused look at Grandma Siv, raising a questioning eyebrow.

“The village we rescued him from tried to burn him at the stake for showing his gift.” She said, eliciting a choked sob from the young Erik. Magnus’s face twisted into a mask of disgust.

“Backwards, heathenous animals.” He spat under his breath, once again failing to avoid intimidating the boy. Erik wiped away tears and looked up as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He found himself face to face with the woman Grandma Siv called Ingrid. She looked at him gently and beamed a warm smile at him.

“It's ok,” She whispered reassuringly. “You're safe here. Can you show us what you can do, please?” Her words seemed to out Erik’s soul at ease, calming the boiling storm of emotions in his stomach. Drying the last of his tears, Erik nodded and focused on the spoon he had been eating with. The boy felt something move inside him, something he had only felt a few times before, like a muscle in his mind, and the spoon lifted itself off the table. The feeling of using the mental muscle again was surprisingly pleasant, like stretching after sitting down for a long time, and Erik found himself unconsciously lifting the chair he was sitting. Alarmed, Erik placed himself and the spoon back onto the ground, hoping that they wouldn't think he was unnatural, just like his village.

“That's what I can do.” He said quietly, unsure of whether he should be making or avoiding eye contact, choosing to switch between the two every couple of seconds. The Elder and his wife exchanged glances for a moment, before sharing a silent nod. Magnus gently placed a heavy hand on Erik’s shoulder.

“I know you're still hurt about the last few days, but how would you like to come live with us, and another two children just like you?” The elder said, doing a little better to assure Erik he was safe.

“Like me?” Erik parroted. There were more kids like him? That meant that he'd be safe there…He didn't have any family to go back to anyway, other than the one who had tried, and succeeded, to get rid of him. “Yes, I would like that.” 

The couple smiled widely at the young psychic. “Fantastic. From this day forward, your name shall be Erik Vrell. Come on, then. We have a long way to go to get home.”

Erik Vrell. The boy liked the sound of that. Ingrid beamed down at him as she took his hand and lead him out of the orphanage. 

“You're going to love living with us.” She said quietly. In contrast to her loud, rough husband, Erik noted that everything she did seemed gentle and reserved. “This is the first day of the happiest time of your life.”

My friends and I are taking a casual poll of as many people as we can. How do you sleep? Answer the poll and discuss if you’d like.

How comfortable are you with fights having additional non-traditional elements?

(Most) Fights will already have interactive environments and equipment lying around.

I have though about having it so other fights are further 'non-traditional' but I waffled prior to launch because I didn't want that to be an impediment to writers with more rigid styles or characters.

What do I mean?  I mean stuff like "This fight takes place in zero gravity" or "you're sealed inside giant mech suits for this fight" or "You and your partner are fused for the duration of this fight."  Again, I shelved the concept because not ever writer may be able to handle curveballs, especially if their characters are reliant on X, Y, or Z.

I figured I'd make a poll to gauge participant thoughts.

So! It’s always fun when randomly assigned things happen to have utterly pointless discussions postulating what we think God (also known as random.org or, in this case, one of Alex’s hats) has in store for us. 

Who do you think the fates will match up?!

Who would you like to see the fates match up? (Obviously you can answer this question however you’d like, but I encourage people to stay away from talking about their own characters; it’s never fun to get matched up with someone who was very vocal about their preferred choice of partner in the lead up!)

Also feel free to put bets down on this. Bragging rights only, cause I’m pretty sure gambling OM is against the rules >.>

Quote:This dream takes place following the events of THIS post.