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| Tweet Topic Started: July 13, 2014, 10:27 pm (114 Views) | |
| Phi | July 13, 2014, 10:27 pm Post #1 |
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The darkest days are still ahead.
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“What are you doing in here? How did you get stuck in that cage?” The young woman asked plaintively. The woman on the other side scratched her chin, her mouth set in a thoughtful moue. Though the plain gray cloak concealed most of her features, she could swear that the woman's eyes sparkled in her hood. What's more, she was clearly considering how much to tell them, and that didn't sit well with her. Her critical considerations were interrupted when the woman smiled, giving an air of amusement. “I guess you could say that I fell in. In any case, I WOULD appreciate being let out.” The girl's companion chimed in; “Why should we? We're busy. We don't have time to be playing hero.” The cloaked woman frowned. “Busy? What business would bring you into a ruin forgotten in a hole?” “We're looking for a treasure to bring back to our village so that we can earn our titles.” The girl commented glibly. Too late, she clapped her hand over her mouth as her companion slapped her shoulder, chiding her. The woman smiled behind the bars. “Aha, a proving? Let me guess; your village leader has presented you with this option or accepting a title based on your guardian's trade, which is practical but boring. Am I close?” The woman seemed to smirk at the pair's reluctance to respond. “Oh, come on. A few minutes won't kill you.” At the pair's nods, she continued: “Do you have an archivist? Lorekeeper? Storyteller? Something to that effect?” “Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?” The woman's cheery grin became a knowing smile. “I'll tell you what, then. Since you don't want to waste your time, and I want out of this cage, we both have something to gain here. You find a way to break this lock--” She rapped the square device before the door- “...and I'll give you a treasure so incredible you'll be remembered for generations to come.” |
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| Phi | July 15, 2014, 2:07 am Post #2 |
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The darkest days are still ahead.
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The lock broke, the twisted glyph burning away in flame of a color that Naal couldn't quite recognize or comfortably look at for long. With a heavy clang, the device crashed to the ground, fracturing the old tile and raising a small whorl of dust. She wiped her brow with her free hand, exhaling at the exertion. Ryga eyed the lock with shock behind her; that thing was immense! The woman inside whooped victoriously, pushing the door open with ease despite the protests of the hinges. She stood and strode out, and the pair realized with some surprise that she was actually comparatively small. Naal stood a head above her, Ryga not far behind. “Finally! Hah, you have no idea how long I've been stuck in there. Seriously, it's been a long time.” The woman chattered happily, her hood only kept on her head by her horns as she stretched, jogged in place and giggled. Naal privately wondered if she was quite right in the head. She glanced at her companion, who only shrugged as the cloaked figure whipped about to face them in a matter best described as dramatic. “Right! A deal's a deal. You got me out of that cage, at no small risk to yourselves! For your efforts, I give you this.” She produced from seemingly nowhere a blade in a scabbard, offering it to Naal with a strange sort of smile on her face. The young woman hesitantly took it, drawing the sword partially. She uttered a confused “whuh” as she beheld the blade. “Take that back to your village. Be sure that your archivist looks at it; she'll be able to tell you its true worth!” With that, the woman bound past them, displaying a speed shocking in someone who had been confined for so long. “I'll be back for it another time! Careful on the way out!” Ryga adjusted his hairband as she disappeared into the distance, her laughter still audible. “...I'd hate to be cooped up THAT long, that's for sure.” ---------------------------------------------- “Wh...where did you find this weapon?!” The old man sputtered as he held the sword gingerly in his wrinkled, spotted hands. “It was g—in the ruins, south of town. One of the the chambers had been opened fairly recently, we thought, so we decided to check inside...and there it was.” Ryga felt a little queasy as he lied through his teeth. He recalled the old saying that your horns turned white if you told untruths and childishly hoped they remained the orange shades he was accustomed to. The archivist didn't seem to notice Ryga's discomfort as he shakily returned the sword. “Naal, my girl, grasp the handle. Yes, right over Ryga's hand. Good. Now, let me stand back, ooof...” A flash of light blinded the pair, prompting a yelp of panic from the boy as he stumbled backward just as Naal attempted to do the same in another direction. When he came to, he held in his white-knuckled grasp a long weapon, a shimmering watery pattern dancing across the metal with a blue like a summer sky. Naal held in her hand a similar sword, the green of trees and fields fairly humming on the blade. ---------------------------------------------- Naal thrust her newly acquired blade aloft as she stood on the stage, grinning triumphantly alongside her companion as he, too, lifted high his treasure. The village chief shouted authoritatively to the crowd to quiet down as she issued her proclamation: “For finding a treasure of such value and bringing it back to us, to aid and protect us and help us become ever stronger, I hereby declare these youths have earned their titles! From this day forward, they are to be known throughout our village, and goddess willing, this land, as Naal-Ryga of Body and Mind!” Ryga couldn't be sure, but he could swear there was a strange quality to the chief's voice and the way she looked at the pair. He chalked it up to nerves and grinned as the village cheered, soaking up the praise. This was the start to a proper, contributing role to the town. |
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| Phi | July 29, 2014, 3:39 pm Post #3 |
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The darkest days are still ahead.
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"Look to the stars, children of dust! Look to the sky and see the multifarious gifts our Starmother has given to us. She gave us the world, the land, the air, the sea, and the sky as our home, and we are grateful. But those were not the greatest gifts she gave! No. Sit down, children. I will tell you a story of the first of us on this glorious soil." Long, long ago, before this world or any other in the firmament was, the Starmother and her companions waged a seemingly endless battle against horrors we could not understand today. Great were their foes, terrible were their trials, and tragic were their squabbles amongst themselves. Starmother and her companions persevered and continued to struggle, until finally their great enemy was defeated. It was said to be a vile creature, with one thousand eyes and endless seeking tendrils that sought to hold everything in its evil grasp. In jubilant celebration, the Starmother waved her arms and created the tapestry of the night sky. Her tears of joy fell to the canvas, and they became the first stars. She clenched ancient primordial coal in her hands, and it became the brightest diamond that she set among the stars. And that is the moon, children! The Starmother, tired from her works, then wandered the sky for a time, looking at the world in contemplation. It was empty, she saw, with no trees, no grass or animals. It was too quiet, she decided. She turned to the Overseer and asked him to give to the world the living things, the plants and animals and more things besides. He acquiesced, and so life walked on the world as he carefully set all things in their places. The Starmother laughed and clapped her hands, and from them the wind issued forth, circling over the world. Life surged forth and thrived, and the various birds and beasts walked the land. The Starmother, pleased, continued to explore, but frowned when she noticed that the plants began to wither. She deduced that they needed light to thrive. And so she took a small portion of the world's heart and shaped it into a sphere, hot and bright. This too she set in the sky, opposite the moon, and called it the sun. But now, without the warmth that she had taken, the world became very cold when the sun was not overhead! Starmother decided that this was alright; life would continue on anyway. And so long winter was born. Starmother continued to walk the world, looking in every place and marveling at all of the things that the Overseer had made. So busy was she with her exploration that she did not notice when her companions left her, all turning to their own worlds and pursuits. Only Dragon remained, and she and the Starmother, while sisters, did not get along very well. So Dragon kept to herself, and it is said that she is somewhere in the world, even today. Starmother finally noticed that she was alone, after countless ages, and once she did she felt very lonely. She wept softly, and the streams and rivers issued forth, nourishing the land. So long did she weep that she filled the lands, the great valleys and basins flooding with her tears, that the plants and animals there were forced to learn how to swim! And that is how the sea was born. Starmother cried so long that she fell asleep there, atop the hill. She slept, and she dreamed, and her dreams left her and became the clouds, sometimes bright and soft, sometimes dark and forbidding. After a long while, she woke. "I do not want to be alone." She said, decisive. And so she set about her work. |
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9:43 AM Jul 11