"I know that I myself would ensure that any who attacked us found it a briefly terrifying experience." Based on Mar's banter, it would appear that he had not a care in the world - but this initial impression would be false, for even as he exchanged terrible puns he kept an eye on the road and surroundings, for unlike his companion, he had n o watchful avian friend. "But I'm sure no matter what happened it wouldn't be dull.
"Couldn't agree more," remarked Genesius as he walked. There was a slight spring in his step and, even though it didn't have the best start, he looked like he was enjoying his morning.
"So, Mar, you once said you're from 'a history that no longer exists'. What did you mean by that?"
Of course, this may rapidly change if a WPL decides that this cannot happen. Until then, backstory.
Mar looks around at the surroundings before answering. "Well, exactly that. You may recall there was that nasty business with rampant temporal irregularities, similar to the one we are even now heading to fix?" Mar paused for a moment to allow Genesius to indicate one way or another his rememberence or lack thereof, then continued. "Well, my people had a coming of age rite, where we would be excommunicated to the middle of nowhere when ready. Sent to the middle of nowhere, it was a test of ones ability to survive in the wild, a test of ones mental fortitude, and a test of survival. And there were a few other components to promote understandings and realizations, as needed. When it was time for me to go, I ended up in the middle of a vast ruined city, half buried under an accumulation of muck."
Mar stopped again, this time for himself to remember. "I recall the oddest sight, a black carriage that sped through, with wildlife fleeing before it. I realized then two things. The first was that fear held us all back until we freed ourselves from it; the second was that everything was connected, a lesson I am still learning today. But, long story short, when I tried to navigate home, I found that it did not exist. As best I can tell, the process interacted with a rip in time, casting me away from my home. And now, with most of the rifts sealed, well, I'm here now. And my original timeline? I have no material objects from there save myself, and as far as I can tell am the only thing that came through. So, for all intents and purposes, the history I hail from is gone, replaced by the history of Estark, though I suppose from your perspective it might be more accurate to say my history never existed." Mar laughed a little at that before going on. "But that is my past, or the short version of it. I suspect that the temporal shock of landing here is what awakened my awareness to the land, letting me call forth its energy, and one of the first things I did was tear out my own terrors from my mind. But I am sure I am boring you. What about yourself? How did you end up in the fair city of Estark?"
Sincerest apologies for my delay in posting, AoL. I've worked 60 hour weeks the past two weeks and have had little time to do anything else other than work and sleep. However, the worst of it has passed, and I WILL be posting much more regularly now. Again, apologies for the wait. I'm still enjoying this quest with you and just wanted you to know that I haven't "burned out".
Genesius listened intently through Mar's story, shaking his head when he mentioned "rampant temporal irregularities". Genesius had never heard that had happened, but he was not about to interrupt. Once Mar had finished speaking, there was a short silence before Genesius spoke.
"That's quite a fantastic tale, so forgive me if I don't believe it right away. If it is true though, then perhaps your history simply hasn't existed yet."
Genesius laughs. "Did that make sense? I'm not sure that made sense..."
"Anyway, in response to your question, I came to Estark after leaving my village. My father finally said I was old enough to leave, and I figured I should. I was originally planning on going to Ravnica instead, so I could...Nevermind, that's not important. Anyway, I guess you could say I came to Estark simply to improve as a mage."
OOC: I'm going to pick this up at the part where you're away from this caravan and about a day's travel out from your destination. Mainly because it helps put me in perspective.
After some travel away from the caravan you begin to see some signs that indicate a band of something destructive has passed through this way. Trees have been felled. An ax or two are sticking out of stumps and trunks. Refuse is strewn all about. Its quite a scene.
Private Mod Note
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Originally commissioned through High~Light Studios
Thank you Fenris. I will have to say that even though I tend to not type as much, I do appreciate the work that you WPLs put into this project, and thank you both for your time specifically here and more generally in this world. That also goes for any other WPLs, past, present, and future, who might read this post.
And for Genesius/Trusted Wave, no worries, I myself have the tendency to vanish for longer periods of time for worse reasons. Don't worry about it overly much.
"Ravnica, you say? Quite a lot of interesting people and places there, though I found it-" Mar abruptly cuts off abruptly, and if one cared to look they'd notice that he'd pulled an extraordinarily ornate dagger out of his satchel at some point in the recent past and that he was no longer leaning on his staff as he walked. "There's a tad too much debris here for my liking. And those axes... I don't suppose you know of any culture that would just abandon their weapons in the woods?"
Mar looked at the refuse and assorted weaponry in an attempt to see if he could identify anything important from it, where anything important means the origins: human, goblin, or other.
"If you can call a natural disposition to random destruction a culture, then yeah, I got the most charming race in mind..."
Genesius stops walking and begins drinking in the sight, waiting for the first appearance of a hostile element. A wide grin adorns his face as sparks start flying out of his fingers, betraying their source's excitement.
As you look closely you notice the crude nature of the weapons. Heck one even has a tooth poking out of it. This is without a doubt the result of goblins. As you begin to look around even more you notice that there is more to this than what your seeing. Strips of fabric, bones, a cowbell, all of this seems to be strewn all about. Looking even closer you see something rather disturbing. Its a humanoid skull and strands of hair are left upon it.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Originally commissioned through High~Light Studios
Seeing the remains, Mar slips his dagger back into his satchel and carefully picks up the cowbell such that it does not ring. "Looks like some poor cowherd ran into a warband." He stares intently at the skull for a few moments before extending a tendril of mana towards it, just in case there's a spirit still hanging around, though at the same time he keeps talking to Genesius. "As if we needed any more of a reason to stop them."
He then grins savagely and lifts the bell, but does not ring it. "Want to see if we can call them here?"
"Oh, yes, please do." Even more sparks fly from his hands, enough to make it look painful. If it is, Genesius does not show it, instead watching the sparks sprinkle the earth around him.
At that, Mar's grin expands, and he brings the cowbell and his staff together once, twice, thrice, then waits for a few moments before repeating the process twice more.
"If anyone is here, for good or ill, that should let them know we are here."
OOC: You are asking for this arn't you. By the way send me your satchels so i know what you're packing. Makes it easier than trudging through threads where they may or not be.
At first the sound goes without reply but suddenly you begin to hear movement from all around you. It would seem your about to get your requested response as the guttural sounds of well for lack of a better word goblins...
Private Mod Note
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Originally commissioned through High~Light Studios
FEnris: Well, it seems logical that Mar would call forth a swamp about now - so if he can, he will. After all, he was planning on exactly this happening.
Genesius/Trusted Wave: If it's not obvious, Mar's asking if Fevvers can survive non-red mass removal spells. Mar rather likes your bird, it seems.
As soon as the ruckus of uncouth goblins begins, Mar tosses the cowbell upwards with one last clunk. When it returns to the ground, however, it makes no such noise, instead embedding itself in the swamp which has seeped out from Mar's staff. As Mar stands in his own personal bit of swampland, he sweeps his arms grandly towards the source of the noise, all around them. "Looking forwards to this?" he asks his travelling companion. "And I should have asked earlier, but how... resistant are you?" This second question is directed not at Genesius, but Fevvers. "Can you resist the pull of the void?"
If we're able to, Genesius will begin drawing red mana.
The question may have been directed at Fevvers, but it was Genesius thinking it over. He and Fevvers never had to deal with magic of that caliber before. Once he had finally turned to give Mar an answer, Genesius was surprised to see Fevvers looking at him expectantly, like she was waiting for the answer herself. He locked eyes with Fevvers for a few seconds before he finally addressed her.
"Fly from here. Fly a good distance away and fly fast. Once you've gotten far enough, stay hidden. If the goblins fire spells at you, you know how to avoid them, just like we practiced. I'll call for you when we're done." He then gave her a swift kiss on the head. Once he had done that, she flew off her perch towards the horizon.
Genesius waited until he felt Fevvers was far away enough before turning to Mar. "Let's make some new friends." He was wearing his trademark grin, but in reality, he felt uncomfortable. He had never fought without Fevvers before and subsequently felt exposed and vulnerable. Regardless, he took a deep breath, opening his body to allow mana to flow freely through him. A few small cracks opened up in the earth around him as an arc of electricity began dancing up and down his right arm.
OOC: I've not forgotten about you but am working on putting something together behind the scenes thank you for your patience with this matter. It will hopefully be a worthwhile endevor.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Originally commissioned through High~Light Studios
WReya DawnbringerWGBounteous KirinGRUrabrask the HiddenR
And thus do empires and settlements fall
"So, Mar, you once said you're from 'a history that no longer exists'. What did you mean by that?"
WReya DawnbringerWGBounteous KirinGRUrabrask the HiddenR
Mar looks around at the surroundings before answering. "Well, exactly that. You may recall there was that nasty business with rampant temporal irregularities, similar to the one we are even now heading to fix?" Mar paused for a moment to allow Genesius to indicate one way or another his rememberence or lack thereof, then continued. "Well, my people had a coming of age rite, where we would be excommunicated to the middle of nowhere when ready. Sent to the middle of nowhere, it was a test of ones ability to survive in the wild, a test of ones mental fortitude, and a test of survival. And there were a few other components to promote understandings and realizations, as needed. When it was time for me to go, I ended up in the middle of a vast ruined city, half buried under an accumulation of muck."
Mar stopped again, this time for himself to remember. "I recall the oddest sight, a black carriage that sped through, with wildlife fleeing before it. I realized then two things. The first was that fear held us all back until we freed ourselves from it; the second was that everything was connected, a lesson I am still learning today. But, long story short, when I tried to navigate home, I found that it did not exist. As best I can tell, the process interacted with a rip in time, casting me away from my home. And now, with most of the rifts sealed, well, I'm here now. And my original timeline? I have no material objects from there save myself, and as far as I can tell am the only thing that came through. So, for all intents and purposes, the history I hail from is gone, replaced by the history of Estark, though I suppose from your perspective it might be more accurate to say my history never existed." Mar laughed a little at that before going on. "But that is my past, or the short version of it. I suspect that the temporal shock of landing here is what awakened my awareness to the land, letting me call forth its energy, and one of the first things I did was tear out my own terrors from my mind. But I am sure I am boring you. What about yourself? How did you end up in the fair city of Estark?"
And thus do empires and settlements fall
"That's quite a fantastic tale, so forgive me if I don't believe it right away. If it is true though, then perhaps your history simply hasn't existed yet."
Genesius laughs. "Did that make sense? I'm not sure that made sense..."
"Anyway, in response to your question, I came to Estark after leaving my village. My father finally said I was old enough to leave, and I figured I should. I was originally planning on going to Ravnica instead, so I could...Nevermind, that's not important. Anyway, I guess you could say I came to Estark simply to improve as a mage."
WReya DawnbringerWGBounteous KirinGRUrabrask the HiddenR
After some travel away from the caravan you begin to see some signs that indicate a band of something destructive has passed through this way. Trees have been felled. An ax or two are sticking out of stumps and trunks. Refuse is strewn all about. Its quite a scene.
And for Genesius/Trusted Wave, no worries, I myself have the tendency to vanish for longer periods of time for worse reasons. Don't worry about it overly much.
"Ravnica, you say? Quite a lot of interesting people and places there, though I found it-" Mar abruptly cuts off abruptly, and if one cared to look they'd notice that he'd pulled an extraordinarily ornate dagger out of his satchel at some point in the recent past and that he was no longer leaning on his staff as he walked. "There's a tad too much debris here for my liking. And those axes... I don't suppose you know of any culture that would just abandon their weapons in the woods?"
Mar looked at the refuse and assorted weaponry in an attempt to see if he could identify anything important from it, where anything important means the origins: human, goblin, or other.
And thus do empires and settlements fall
Genesius stops walking and begins drinking in the sight, waiting for the first appearance of a hostile element. A wide grin adorns his face as sparks start flying out of his fingers, betraying their source's excitement.
WReya DawnbringerWGBounteous KirinGRUrabrask the HiddenR
He then grins savagely and lifts the bell, but does not ring it. "Want to see if we can call them here?"
And thus do empires and settlements fall
WReya DawnbringerWGBounteous KirinGRUrabrask the HiddenR
"If anyone is here, for good or ill, that should let them know we are here."
And thus do empires and settlements fall
At first the sound goes without reply but suddenly you begin to hear movement from all around you. It would seem your about to get your requested response as the guttural sounds of well for lack of a better word goblins...
Genesius/Trusted Wave: If it's not obvious, Mar's asking if Fevvers can survive non-red mass removal spells. Mar rather likes your bird, it seems.
As soon as the ruckus of uncouth goblins begins, Mar tosses the cowbell upwards with one last clunk. When it returns to the ground, however, it makes no such noise, instead embedding itself in the swamp which has seeped out from Mar's staff. As Mar stands in his own personal bit of swampland, he sweeps his arms grandly towards the source of the noise, all around them. "Looking forwards to this?" he asks his travelling companion. "And I should have asked earlier, but how... resistant are you?" This second question is directed not at Genesius, but Fevvers. "Can you resist the pull of the void?"
And thus do empires and settlements fall
"Fly from here. Fly a good distance away and fly fast. Once you've gotten far enough, stay hidden. If the goblins fire spells at you, you know how to avoid them, just like we practiced. I'll call for you when we're done." He then gave her a swift kiss on the head. Once he had done that, she flew off her perch towards the horizon.
Genesius waited until he felt Fevvers was far away enough before turning to Mar. "Let's make some new friends." He was wearing his trademark grin, but in reality, he felt uncomfortable. He had never fought without Fevvers before and subsequently felt exposed and vulnerable. Regardless, he took a deep breath, opening his body to allow mana to flow freely through him. A few small cracks opened up in the earth around him as an arc of electricity began dancing up and down his right arm.
WReya DawnbringerWGBounteous KirinGRUrabrask the HiddenR
And thus do empires and settlements fall