No sign of them. He'd been looking for them for days, but there was no sign of them.
Xavier slept under moonlit skies tonight, tired of all the walking he had to do. It had been a long time since he had actually gone outside. He was coughing a lot and he had to stay out of the sun whenever possible, in fear of developing sunburns on his pale skin. Oh, Ursula help him, he was nothing like Alex, at least HE could walk several miles without getting tired or anything... He was going to burn and wither away like an old man.
As the mage set flint to tinder and cooked some rabbit meat he got when he hunted some game, he thought back to what happened. Two people, stealing artifacts. Not everyday that they do that. One left a residue of grime, so perhaps he was a... oh. That wouldn't be pleasant. Would that make the girl the mastermind? How could anyone have known that he had artifacts in his library, unless they were clairvoyant? Or maybe they sold their soul to the devil. Suspicious.
The Crown of Sylvana, Boreal, Enderthon, and Solaris were in there, the same crowns that aided in keeping the seal intact. There were also the eyes of the Nue in there, Gungnir, some mystical, evil gun that spoke of death and destruction... All of which would be dangerous in the hands of enemies. And of course he had put them all in the same place. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he berated himself under his breath. How could you live all these years and not know how to keep artifacts safe?
The answer came to him quickly. From his robes, he pulled out a mask, feathery and resembling the face of an owl. This mask and a change of clothes were all he needed to fool others into thinking he was not the heir. Who would suspect a boisterous, cocky black mage would be the meek, timid librarian? Not many. This mask alone allowed him to conquer the shyness and come out of his shell. It did him a lot of good, though he never really got on many people's good sides as a result.
Conquer? Not truly. It only masked his true self, replaced it with a fake. Faking it til he made it did him no good with this mask; it was a lie, much like most of his waking life. It did not teach him bravery or how to talk to people or how to get along with others or anything. It only pretended it did. A shield of overconfidence to hide just how pathetic he really was. A blessing and a bane.
As he stared into the fires, Xavier was lost in his own thoughts. Would the mask benefit him here? The others started accepting him one he showed his true colors, but... would that do him any good? What about people who did not know him? Gods, talking to anyone with that pathetic, soft voice in order to recruit them was embarassing, too embarassing. He actively avoided it, in fear of those who would make fun of him for it. Being bold and boisterious would help: have a few drinks, share a few stories, go on an adventure...
As his mind turned to the girl and the monster again, his mind was set. He knew he could not do this alone. And so he put the mask on his face.
Man hides behind many masks. They act their part with such masks, forgetting the world around them and getting into their role.
But a mask is merely a cover for what is beneath. And when the mask comes off, a million eyes are upon them. Watching. Judging. Waiting. And the man freezes, embarassed, stunned, scared, as the audience looks upon them. Scared of the eyes.
A mask can only do so much.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Rekindled Flames
All was usually peaceful in today's lands. The dark god that plagued them was no more, and most towns and cities were rebuilt within the last few years. There were the occasional bandit raids and monsters attacking, but it was nothing the others could not handle. All of it was out of his hands now, anyway. Until the next world crisis, he would remain in the shadows.
The shadows of bookshelves and towers of books, that is. The library was a mess, with books scattered everywhere and nobody bothering to put them back after they use them. Always a mess, this place. Always having to clean it up on his own. Or at least, he would, if he didn't know that it would merely find its way to become as if a hurricane had come by.
He always remembered who came in. Yesterday, a young, buff maid had arrived with a parfait-balancing girl, researching holy magic and looking deep into Levia's Trademark Recipes before asking each other about their master's afflictions and gluttonous ways. Then there was that annoying child, dressed like a knight, but with an attitude more fitting of a noble. Shunning the library and hoping all would burn as his younger friend read The Four White Mages. Perhaps a book ate his parents when he was younger? Ha, if they had teeth, maybe. And finally, there was that shadow of a man who thought he could sneak in undetected. But no, he read Creed of Pirates and Noble Rogues before skittering off with it and a copy of Self Improvement and Altruism, in 150 Easy Steps.
Yes... this was his life now. Simply writing, reading, and sharing the collection of books he had scoured the globe for. His story had long since ended.
So he thought.
It was the middle of night, the moon hidden behind a cover of clouds. He was at his desk, reading and sipping green tea, when he heard something topple over. Curious, he used an old, oaken staff to help him up and summoned a wisp of light to his side. He gingerly stepped around the scattered tomes and glyphs, eyes darting about, trying to spot the intruder.More books were toppled over, as far as he could hear, and when he checked the entrance, he could see a flash of green and the glitter of gold dashing towards it. Their voices, too.
"Hurry, hurry, HURRY, Greed, or whoever runs this stinky place is gonna catch us!"
The voice was feminine. Squeaky. A child? And whoever responded didn't respond in words, but with a loud moan. God, he smelled awful, like he hadn't had a bath in days, as far as the owner could tell. Either way, with a snap of his fingers, the door snapped shut-
...Too late. They had escaped. And they had left a nasty, smelly residue on the books, too! Ugh, he would have to wash that out somehow. He followed the trail of grimy books to see if it would give a clue as to what they were searching for. It led him to a small little place, one where he normally kept his safe. It had some valuables and magical artifacts he sealed away in fear of someone trying to steal them, stuff that he would NEVER let anyone take normally. Unbreakable artifacts.
And said safe was gone, with only grit and grime, or lack thereof, to show it was even there to begin with.
The wizard clutched his staff tightly and turned away, a fire rekindled in his heart. Whoever they were, they were dangerous. They knew those artifacts were there, somehow. And while they could not break the seal or the code, they could take the whole thing. If they managed to open it... Hell would be brought to whereever they took it. Heavens forbid it wasn't Levia, unless they wanted Alex to shove Excalibur through their hearts.
No matter. The safe was left in a stupid place, and he paid the price for it. He would find those who took it, and stop them, no matter what it took. He would not let Alex or anyone else know of this; it was his burden, and his alone...
The librarian slipped gloves on his delicate, bandaged hands, and slipped on a traveling robe. Shame that his good staff was destroyed in the battle; he would need to buy a new one. The old one was okay, but it couldn't withstand some of the stronger spells. Oh, and of course, he needed to bring a few good books to read on the way.
It was time to set off.
Time for the Scholar of Flames, Xavier Dean, to rise again.
The shadows of bookshelves and towers of books, that is. The library was a mess, with books scattered everywhere and nobody bothering to put them back after they use them. Always a mess, this place. Always having to clean it up on his own. Or at least, he would, if he didn't know that it would merely find its way to become as if a hurricane had come by.
He always remembered who came in. Yesterday, a young, buff maid had arrived with a parfait-balancing girl, researching holy magic and looking deep into Levia's Trademark Recipes before asking each other about their master's afflictions and gluttonous ways. Then there was that annoying child, dressed like a knight, but with an attitude more fitting of a noble. Shunning the library and hoping all would burn as his younger friend read The Four White Mages. Perhaps a book ate his parents when he was younger? Ha, if they had teeth, maybe. And finally, there was that shadow of a man who thought he could sneak in undetected. But no, he read Creed of Pirates and Noble Rogues before skittering off with it and a copy of Self Improvement and Altruism, in 150 Easy Steps.
Yes... this was his life now. Simply writing, reading, and sharing the collection of books he had scoured the globe for. His story had long since ended.
So he thought.
It was the middle of night, the moon hidden behind a cover of clouds. He was at his desk, reading and sipping green tea, when he heard something topple over. Curious, he used an old, oaken staff to help him up and summoned a wisp of light to his side. He gingerly stepped around the scattered tomes and glyphs, eyes darting about, trying to spot the intruder.More books were toppled over, as far as he could hear, and when he checked the entrance, he could see a flash of green and the glitter of gold dashing towards it. Their voices, too.
"Hurry, hurry, HURRY, Greed, or whoever runs this stinky place is gonna catch us!"
The voice was feminine. Squeaky. A child? And whoever responded didn't respond in words, but with a loud moan. God, he smelled awful, like he hadn't had a bath in days, as far as the owner could tell. Either way, with a snap of his fingers, the door snapped shut-
...Too late. They had escaped. And they had left a nasty, smelly residue on the books, too! Ugh, he would have to wash that out somehow. He followed the trail of grimy books to see if it would give a clue as to what they were searching for. It led him to a small little place, one where he normally kept his safe. It had some valuables and magical artifacts he sealed away in fear of someone trying to steal them, stuff that he would NEVER let anyone take normally. Unbreakable artifacts.
And said safe was gone, with only grit and grime, or lack thereof, to show it was even there to begin with.
The wizard clutched his staff tightly and turned away, a fire rekindled in his heart. Whoever they were, they were dangerous. They knew those artifacts were there, somehow. And while they could not break the seal or the code, they could take the whole thing. If they managed to open it... Hell would be brought to whereever they took it. Heavens forbid it wasn't Levia, unless they wanted Alex to shove Excalibur through their hearts.
No matter. The safe was left in a stupid place, and he paid the price for it. He would find those who took it, and stop them, no matter what it took. He would not let Alex or anyone else know of this; it was his burden, and his alone...
The librarian slipped gloves on his delicate, bandaged hands, and slipped on a traveling robe. Shame that his good staff was destroyed in the battle; he would need to buy a new one. The old one was okay, but it couldn't withstand some of the stronger spells. Oh, and of course, he needed to bring a few good books to read on the way.
It was time to set off.
Time for the Scholar of Flames, Xavier Dean, to rise again.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
2015 Plans: Too many characters
This year was a total mess. You thought 2011 was bad? HA. LOOK AT ALL THE CHARACTERS I'M RPING! WHEEEE. Honestly, I love all of them and I get obsessed way too easily, which kind of makes it hard to stick with just one thing. So, to hopefully inspire my future self to fucking stick to a small(er) group of characters, I am putting down a list of definites and maybes.
DEFINITE RETURNS:
PSYCHICS
Sammy- I'd have to be a complete monster not to bring her back. She still has her self-esteem issues and she's really fun to RP as. I'm sure she'll bring happiness and kickassery to every plot she's involved in, and she'll probably have a little arc of her own.
Carlos- He's the straight man, and he still has those weird fey things happening to him. Not to mention, he's the De Facto leader of the bunch. Someone has to rein Sammy in, anyway. Or release THE BEAST. He also needs to do more rapping to get some attention in Vegas.
Sol- I didn't really develop him well enough, at least in this year's RP. So I hope to do it much better next year, where he might have his own character arc revolving around masculinity v. femininity. He's Carlos's second in command, and is probably the big ol' mentor to everybody.
Michael- My giant excuse to RP as other characters in one. He's still going to have issues, and Psychicplot will really kick in and revolve more around his past and his powers. His past relationships, his current ones... Besides, I never elaborated on how he ended up with Gemini to begin with. Or, at least, had a split personality. Needs a biiit more character development.
MONDORIANS
Most will be returning because they got a plot that they'll invite the Kobbers over to. As in, all of them.
Janet- Who else would keep those nice, neat summaries? She needs to tone her cockiness down a bit and stop being so naive. She also needs to work on her own speed. And history... history is being erased, and she won't tollerate it any longer!
Hansel- Good god he's a big bag of what. His mental issues need to be addressed, as does his past. The Prince will be a plot point during Mondorianplot, and, to be honest, he's one of the more fun characters to roleplay as. All knightly and stuff, but with severe self-esteem issues! Also he's like Kirby only not really. :B
Juan- Someone's gotta collect the souls of the dead and probably drag Kobber souls back into their own bodies. He's fun to RP as, party for the same reason I like RPing as Mikey: an excuse to bring up more chars to RP. Besides, dogge, and he's the most laid back of the group. And I really want to do this empath thing justice. And what's this God of Death thing about, anyway? He just seems like a giant dork to me.
Belinda- BAND NEEEEERD. Heavily involved in Mondorianplot, being the Monarch's daughter and all. She's boisterous and fun, although calm and collected when needed. When she explodes, though, she explodes. Besides, I haven't seen many music-based characters, and any excuse to belt a villain with a cool song is a good one.
OTHER
Reimu Hakurei- Someone's gotta watch out for Tenshi. Someone's gotta police the streets of Vegas. The take-no-shit attitude I have given her has made her a very interesting character to RP as, and, considering Phantomplot is pretty much setting up Kaito Kid and Reimu to be rivals, things will become even more interesting! Also, she needs to stop people from gambling away everything. Maybe.
Kaito Kuroba/Kaito Kid- Can't leave a plot point hangin, can I? :P He's a normie that can do something on his own, unlike Apollo. Relying on deception, magic, and a good poker face... That's a tricky character, and I would consider it an accomplishment if I can last a whole year with Kaito defeating enemies using simple magic tricks and logic.
POSSIBLES
Kelashanda Ryoto- I never really used her much after initial conception, especially after I thought up of other characters. So maybe I could do her justice next year, where she can finally shine in the spotlight and try to make a big name for herself. I haven't explored the extent of her powers either, so she'd be a neat choice to return next year!
Satoshi - He's been neglected in 2012, and he's late-game here. We don't have many trickster characters, or those that tend to trap stuff, so why not? He's also a dragon and I have an idea for a plot for him...
Scarlet- Chalking it up to obbsession. Not likely to get in, but hey, weapon changing ain't all that bad.
Shiela- VALKRIIIIIE. She's Juan's little buddy and also tied to Mondorian plot, so she is probably the most likely wildcard to get in. Cheerful, naive, and full of childlike wonder... and going to a place full of heroes? She'd probably explode from joy!
Siren- Ricard wants that date. Psychicplot also involves her, at least a little bit. Another high chance of getting in. I mean, hey, illusionry and fey magic? And she's batshit crazy, unlike most of the characters I have. You never know what she might do!
Jill- SHE'LL TAKE YER BOOONES
The rest are left to either cameo (for game chars and Angie) or to stay on Ardea to fix shit up (Dorcha, Henry, Sonia). Prolly.
Hopefully I keep things at a managable level next year. Whew.
DEFINITE RETURNS:
PSYCHICS
Sammy- I'd have to be a complete monster not to bring her back. She still has her self-esteem issues and she's really fun to RP as. I'm sure she'll bring happiness and kickassery to every plot she's involved in, and she'll probably have a little arc of her own.
Carlos- He's the straight man, and he still has those weird fey things happening to him. Not to mention, he's the De Facto leader of the bunch. Someone has to rein Sammy in, anyway. Or release THE BEAST. He also needs to do more rapping to get some attention in Vegas.
Sol- I didn't really develop him well enough, at least in this year's RP. So I hope to do it much better next year, where he might have his own character arc revolving around masculinity v. femininity. He's Carlos's second in command, and is probably the big ol' mentor to everybody.
Michael- My giant excuse to RP as other characters in one. He's still going to have issues, and Psychicplot will really kick in and revolve more around his past and his powers. His past relationships, his current ones... Besides, I never elaborated on how he ended up with Gemini to begin with. Or, at least, had a split personality. Needs a biiit more character development.
MONDORIANS
Most will be returning because they got a plot that they'll invite the Kobbers over to. As in, all of them.
Janet- Who else would keep those nice, neat summaries? She needs to tone her cockiness down a bit and stop being so naive. She also needs to work on her own speed. And history... history is being erased, and she won't tollerate it any longer!
Hansel- Good god he's a big bag of what. His mental issues need to be addressed, as does his past. The Prince will be a plot point during Mondorianplot, and, to be honest, he's one of the more fun characters to roleplay as. All knightly and stuff, but with severe self-esteem issues! Also he's like Kirby only not really. :B
Juan- Someone's gotta collect the souls of the dead and probably drag Kobber souls back into their own bodies. He's fun to RP as, party for the same reason I like RPing as Mikey: an excuse to bring up more chars to RP. Besides, dogge, and he's the most laid back of the group. And I really want to do this empath thing justice. And what's this God of Death thing about, anyway? He just seems like a giant dork to me.
Belinda- BAND NEEEEERD. Heavily involved in Mondorianplot, being the Monarch's daughter and all. She's boisterous and fun, although calm and collected when needed. When she explodes, though, she explodes. Besides, I haven't seen many music-based characters, and any excuse to belt a villain with a cool song is a good one.
OTHER
Reimu Hakurei- Someone's gotta watch out for Tenshi. Someone's gotta police the streets of Vegas. The take-no-shit attitude I have given her has made her a very interesting character to RP as, and, considering Phantomplot is pretty much setting up Kaito Kid and Reimu to be rivals, things will become even more interesting! Also, she needs to stop people from gambling away everything. Maybe.
Kaito Kuroba/Kaito Kid- Can't leave a plot point hangin, can I? :P He's a normie that can do something on his own, unlike Apollo. Relying on deception, magic, and a good poker face... That's a tricky character, and I would consider it an accomplishment if I can last a whole year with Kaito defeating enemies using simple magic tricks and logic.
POSSIBLES
Kelashanda Ryoto- I never really used her much after initial conception, especially after I thought up of other characters. So maybe I could do her justice next year, where she can finally shine in the spotlight and try to make a big name for herself. I haven't explored the extent of her powers either, so she'd be a neat choice to return next year!
Satoshi - He's been neglected in 2012, and he's late-game here. We don't have many trickster characters, or those that tend to trap stuff, so why not? He's also a dragon and I have an idea for a plot for him...
Scarlet- Chalking it up to obbsession. Not likely to get in, but hey, weapon changing ain't all that bad.
Shiela- VALKRIIIIIE. She's Juan's little buddy and also tied to Mondorian plot, so she is probably the most likely wildcard to get in. Cheerful, naive, and full of childlike wonder... and going to a place full of heroes? She'd probably explode from joy!
Siren- Ricard wants that date. Psychicplot also involves her, at least a little bit. Another high chance of getting in. I mean, hey, illusionry and fey magic? And she's batshit crazy, unlike most of the characters I have. You never know what she might do!
Jill- SHE'LL TAKE YER BOOONES
The rest are left to either cameo (for game chars and Angie) or to stay on Ardea to fix shit up (Dorcha, Henry, Sonia). Prolly.
Hopefully I keep things at a managable level next year. Whew.
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