Futuristic Among Gods

ChrisClark13 · Mar 21, 2017

Str̀a̧n̴gȩ ̶t͞h͟įn̶gs h̛ap̢pen͠ when ąn ̴i̶nquis͜i̶t̸ive̡ mind͝ iş l̡ocke̸d ͝i̡ń t̶i̕m͘e̶ wi̕t̢h̸ na̴u͞g͞ht͠ b̛u̧t thei͡r҉ o̷w͘n͏ ͡t͘h̸ou̡gh̨ts͡ ͠and ͟a̛ gơd-̷li͜ke ̀we̸ll ҉o̧f ͞p̵o͝wer̨.

̧I c̢àm͜e ̛to̴ t̶he ̶r͞e͘al̴iz̡át͏ion that̕ I ̧n̛eèd͜e̛d͡ ̨to̴ l̸e̴a͢v̛e ̢th̢is͠ d͠amne͜d͞ f̕uc̕k͝i̸n͟g̨ s͢hi͘t̡-̧ri̷d͠den ̕hell̡ho͜l͠e͞ be͡hin̸d̶ ͢o̢r ļest͞ I ̕m̷a̸y̴ ͏j̶ust l̨os̡e m͟y͞ m̸in͝d̛ u̴n̨dèr ̸all o͟f t͘he s̀t͝res̀s. ́It͞'s not̸ l͟ike beiņg̶ here͠ ̕dìd͠ m͝e ̵an͢y̷ ̨d͞am͠ń ́favors any͠w͞a̷y͟s̵! Alw͜ays͡ ͟"̧en̕d ͘o̴f́ th͡e̴ w̛orlḑ"҉ t̀his, ̕"imp͏en͝d͠in̸g̢ do͢om"͘ ̵tha͢t̷, ̀àn̢d́ ͢a͝ godd̸es̴s ̸w̡ho̷'͏s t̵oo s͟car̛e͢d ̧o҉f he̸r ̴ow͟n damn ͞po҉w͡e̴r ͝t̀o do͢ ̕shit̷.
̛
̴So̡ I͜ ́puzz̧led̕ ͏th̛e sec̢r͞e͜t̴s̶ ̵óf ̸this ̵u҉ni̛v̨ersé ̛and ̕t̸his͞ ͡t̡ime̛ s̵t͘o͜p ̡o͠u͟t̨ ̷and go̷t the̷ f̀uc̶k ҉ou̡t. ̶I̸t͡'s̷ n̕ot̷ l̴ik͝e ̡I̕ ̀wa҉s̴ ͞ac̀tųa̕l͘ly d́o̵in̢g ͝a̴n̨ýt̀h̀ing̀ ̧u̶sef̨ul̨ hér̶é ̧a҉n͢y̢way͢s͘ ̷o̵t͜he̵r t̛h̷a҉n t̕ryi̷ng͢ ̸and̶ faįl͘i͏n҉g̛ ͠to k̨ee̵p ́sḩi͜t҉ ̀t͟o̢get͝her̛.̧ ̴G͠o͟ód͠ luc̕k ͢t͝o ̶the̶ r̀est́ ̕o̕f̀ ̴you̡ f̡uc͞ker̡s,̵ be̵ça̧use̸ I'm҉ o͏ut of̧ ̵fuc̀k̢s to͝ ̡gi҉ve ̕aǹd̷ I͟'m ́f͠u̡ćk̡i҉ņg̴ o͠u̵tta̛ h̀e̴re!

F̷U̡CK̨I̡N̵G ̧EX͜I̡T̨ ̷S̛T͞AGE ͘RI̡GH҉T!̡
͢
O͠h a̢nd ̸I̛ ́doņ't ņeed͜ ͜t̀h̨is god͏forsakén͏ ͜Mo҉dif̴ie̛r ͜anymo͢r̡e̴ so I͢'ll̴ just́ ̛chuc̸k ̨i̕t̕ out́ ̡in͘to t̡h͜e̸ ȩtheŕ! ̨H͠ąh!͠

Ruthie was in the process of traveling back from the Afterlife Plane back to the Physical Plane when a strange green object struck her with immense metaphysical force. In the very depths of her soul, she could feel herself being torn away from her home reality as the object's color changed from green to her own color, that of a dark blue. Indescribable colors swirled around her as she spun throughout the interdimensional cosmos. Suddenly she felt herself abruptly change course as the spinning and the shifting of the colors slowed.

Looking ahead, she saw a world rapidly approaching. Not knowing what else to do, she gritted her teeth and braced for impact. It wasn't long before she passed through a barrier of some kind and saw the ground rush up to meet her...

- - - -

In the middle of the group, there is suddenly a flash of blue light as something impacts the ground with tremendous force, leaving an indent in the hull of the ship.

When the light fades, everyone can see a dark-elf looking girl wearing stylish dark blue leather armor unsteadily trying to get to her feet as she clutches a matching dark blue Modifier. In her right hand, she clutches a black revolver in her hand that has it's barrel replaced by a dark blue gem-like material. The way she holds her weapon gives the impression of a wounded, but still potentially very dangerous animal. By just looking at her, one can get a sense of the aggravation she is feeling just by how it is etched into her face.

She eyes the assembled group wearily, unsure if they are friend or foe.

Name: Ruthie Anna Asagan

Physical Appearance: Ruthie is basically her world's version of a Dark Elf called a Demora. She is on the short side, standing at around 5' 5". She has dark gray skin, long silver hair, and deep blue eyes. Her ears are elven and stretch out for a good 4 inches. She usually wears her hair in a ponytail that arcs upwards from the back of her head. Her face is round and she in general looks younger than she actually is. Her looks straddle the line between cute and sexy (which is intentional on her part). She wears adventure's clothes that are made out of dragon leather. Her outfit consists of black steel-toed boots, formfitting dark blue dragon leather pants, a fine white shirt with mithril chainmail hidden inside, and a long jacket made of dark blue dragon leather. She wears a soulgem pendant on a short necklace.

Abilities: Ruthie is a seasoned adventurer/treasure hunter/bounty hunter. As such she very skilled with her revolver and her knife. She is moderately skilled in handling other blades and adequate when it comes to most other types of both melee and ranged weaponry.
As a Demora, Ruthie has a natural affinity to Darkness based magic and abilities. Though she hasn't pursued this kind of magic very much and only really knows how to augment her weapons with an aura made Darkness for extra cutting and penetrating power. Still, this affinity does come in handy when she needs to handle Darkness attuned magical items.
As a child of the Asagan clan, Ruthie has been trained in the use of Soul Magic. She focused this magic mainly on enhancing her own capabilities. Her main pieces of equipment rely on the use of her Soul Magic.
Soul Boost: She uses the energy of her soul to make herself stronger, faster, and more durable. With that ability, she can burn more energy in order to increase her boost.
Soul Steal: Ruthie also knows the basics of the art of stealing souls, though doing so requires her soulknife weapon to be stabbed into her target when it dies and the stolen soul is stored inside of her soulknife. She can use the stolen soul to fuel her Soul Magic instead of using her own stores of energy. She cannot replenish her own stores of energy this way though.

Equipment: Dragon Leather Armor: This sleek suit of stylish leather armor is dyed dark blue. It has been enchanted to inside the efficiency of her Soul Boost magic.

Rose Soul Revolver: Custom made for Ruthie, this dark gray revolver has images of long stemmed roses etched into it. The cylinder of the gun is made from a carved soulgem. In the ends of a normal person, it acts as nothing more than a high-quality revolver. In the hands of a Soul Mage such as Ruthie, it is a devastating weapon.

Chain Soulknife: Traditional weapon of the assassins and bounty hunters of the Demora clan, this is a large mithril knife that is attached to a chain. It contains a soul gem in it's hilt that is used for storing the souls of slain foes.

Geralt's Soul Pendant: This bright red soulgem pendant contains the soul of Ruthie's grandfather. As is traditional with the Asagan clan, most members that lay on their deathbed will have their souls in specialized soulgems so that they may lend their magical power and guidance to their close family members.

Sun Protection Ring: This simple toe ring has a symbol of an eclipse etched into it. Prized by Demora and other sun-sensitive races alike, this ring provides protection from the sun's rays comparable to that of a strong sunscreen.

Dark Blue Modifier: Ruthie has a dark blue Modifier in her pocket. It is attuned to her and as such she is capable of channeling its energy in order to improve her Soul Magic.

Weaknesses: Ruthie has a natural weakness to focused sunlight and Light-based magic and abilities. Also while she is hard to kill thanks to both her experiences as a high-level adventurer and her equipment, she is ultimately mortal.

Personality: Ruthie is in life to experience adventure and to get money (so she can go on more adventures)! She has a very carefree attitude and enjoys doing things that excite her and make her happy. She is also a bit of a battle maniac. She prefers to cut to the chase. She is capable of being very serious and focused on the task at hand when she needs to be, but most of the time she's just serious about having a good time. When misfortune strikes, a nasty temper reveals itself.

Biography: Ruthie has always had wanderlust and adventure in her heart, even before she knew what those words meant. She would've left home at a very young age, if not for her family's insistence on making sure she was prepared. On the day she left, she actually skipped out on her own going away party. Since then she's been all over the world in search of adventure. During her early days, she would often get in over her head and made the choice to go back to her clan in order to get additional training, something she has done on a regular basis during her adventures since then. Ruthie eventually became quite well known in several circles and quite the powerful person. Now she finds herself in a new world and in the middle of a new adventure!

Neow46 · Mar 21, 2017

Update 3/21/17
[

Ferociousfeind @Peppermint

Shadow Dancer

Lily Moriya

Maurj ]

(If you're having any trouble making a new character or refitting and old one, or just plain lost in how to respond, please PM me either here or on the Discord and i'll help you get situated!!
It feels really good to be back though you guys
Also let me know if the update is hard to read in any way, it looked different in editing versus the post here, so give me some feedback and don't be afraid to speak up!)

Koya and Danielle:
According to Koya's memory, the two cyan shards and a orange piece counted for a little bit over a third of the complete modifier and formed the bottom of he completed diamond shape. Last you recall, the two of you checked the seeker-bead earlier this morning and it's direction still darted downward into the earth. It still doesn't help either of you like you would desire in terms of actually finding the rest of the shards, although a neat little interaction you noticed with the seeker, is that it points to other modifiers if brought close enough to them, say within a meter's distance.

Anyways, Rosanna actually pops her head up from behind a navigation console upon hearing Danielle.
"We're getting there, but the Divergence sure as heck is going to be grounded for the rest of its days.
Good news is we'll have power back in a day or two once the Hargrak Ambassador and the first engineering team fix leaks and get equipment in engineering functional." The girl was tinkering with a multi-tool, quickly switching between wire cutters and a mini-welder as assisting marauders were jury rigging a ancient looking keyboard to the console. "Once that's up we should have a official communications relay running and be able to have better connection with the settlements, "fresh" protein bars, and on board limited intranet..." There was quite a bit of disappointment in her voice once she came along to intranet. Danielle knew the ship's on board network was as good as a ultra-phone in deep space without the beacon network, as in, completely useless. "Buuuut no heating, hot showers, atmospherics, galactic email, or robotics, since those sections of the ship are either off in space, the forest, or completely busted beyond even Modifier repairs unless they had blueprints or incredibly detailed knowledge to a high class capital ship."
"Other then that, these things take time, and old dusty bones over there isn't really of much help." She pokes a thumb towards the Keeper.

Speaking of the Keeper, Koya listens in on the ancient being and Ms psychologist drill sergent is she actually the leader here Delphi.
"Look, if we're going to have ANY GOD DAMN CHANCE against Tortured hoards we're going to need more then just bullets and a few Modifiers."
"Indeed, but Mistress Delphi, you must understand in order to solve this "problem", it will take even me quite a time alone to actually shield the entire Divergence."
"But you were able to do it so easily with the Safehouse AND the entire camp? Why can;t you do that here, you DID say you were an ancient being comparable to the high gods themselves."
The Keeper seemed to sigh as the cat woman barraged him with questions, shaking his head in his hood.

"Young mortals are honestly so spoiled and impatient, arn't they Koya? Danielle?" You hear in your minds suddenly. "Granted, Miss Delphi isn't quite so young for 31 sols, but certainly acts young. Would either of you agree?"

Marcus
The knowledge of the crystalline object on your hand eluded for a minute or two as you stared at it. It's deep purple glowed softly, yet powerfully. The size of the crystal was a little more then your hand, and thus rested a little above your hand, rather similar in fashion to Wolfess's gauntlet, as you realized you had your sleeve rolled up to better display the glove and crystal.

Then the memories started to hit you, and you had realized that this was your own Modifier. To put it shortly, you recall it to be a sort of godhood catalyst and pretty close to being something like an ultimate multi-tool or sorts, it is able to create just about any object you can accurately conceive in your mind, using power like a sort of self-recharging battery. Often more complex objects require more energy, more simple objects require less, and you usually measure power by the strength of it's glow. You've also seen it used as a weapon or enhancement of sorts as well, embedding them into weapons or armor to increase power and in some cases utility.

You remember creating the glove to embed the gem upon both for carrying convenience, increasing a bit of it's power, and giving yourself a bit of a stronger, more magically enhanced swing next time you ran into some trouble.
Sure did beat having to stealth or beg for everything now that you've basically got your own free food and clothing vendor, although considering the world and the situation everybody here was in. You still debate whether it was a good trade off still, free food and small stuff forever at the cost of possibly being obliterated by some god or horrible monster the next day, so much for that pill you guess. Granted, you didn't really have a choice when you suddenly ended up here, and you did have a bounty on your head which you no longer have to worry about.

Coatl
Strange, but the memories of fighting very recently with gods seem only to have been a dream. A rather terrifying and heart racing dream, but regardless, you felt at ease here on the bridge of the Divergence once more.
It was only a few days ago you were last here, when you struggled to climb up a rather infuriatingly high ladder up to this very bridge over on the side there and met up with Elijah and the others, you can't exactly remember how, but you recall the gem in your large necklace to be one of the fabled Modifiers, it's glittering green glow warm against your hands as you touched it gently, it's power certainly resonating with your own as you recalled its functions and what it was capable of. If the book back in Iania was to even compared to this gem on your neck, Mezbets powers would shrivel in comparison to the potential of the Modifier.

You still wonder to yourself however what has happened to your home, your mind had blacked out during that final fight, and you were then in this world, in a foreign tree no less, seemingly re-birthed from its grotto... The last you remember was Phase's voice, calling to you before you allowed the possession to take place... Some of the more loyal marauders, and even Elijah here reminded you of the old general...
But alas, reminding yourself, your mind was focused on the here and now, and that is all you knew.

Lily
It takes some time for your mind and body to readjust to your surroundings, but you immediately knew that you were safe here as the memories began to come back in. You were amongst the Marauders, a immense group of people led by the Wolfess Elijah and the Cat woman Delphi.
You were called here by them alongside these other people whom you have barely a chance to meet yet, your memory began to kick in from the morning drowsiness as both you and Mey recognized the diamond shaped prism on top fo your staff was a Modifier, an immensely powerful godhood catalyst. From what the Marauders who filled you in described, it was certainly beyond any sort of magical trinket, or even power you've ever encountered before... the possibilities were endless in your mind... although... the anomaly in the dimensional step, transporting you to an entirely different universe, even you knew that was something you couldn't reverse given the circumstances *out there* between the universes....

Ruthie
That impact into a capital ship space-craft made entirely of an extremely strong metal certainly didn't make that day any easier for you when you were ripped form your own reality yesterday.
Luckily the people here were kind enough not to shoot you on sight and even get you pretty quick and effective treatment for the internal hemorrhaging, given how heavily armed they all were. Granted, you think that might have been because of whatever hit you in the head (Feels more like it split your skull in half though with the speed and spin it had.) between dimensions, which you now had in one of your side pockets, it's blue color glowed warmly and brightly underneath the dragon leather jacket.

From what some of the people here filled you in with, you were in the possession of a Modifier, a sort of Godhood catalyst that also served as a extremely powerful booster and item creator. Although with that comes a whole different set of issues you now have to deal with, A war amongst the gods, hoards of horrendous charred monstrosities, moody and scared people, no civilization save the Marauders, and a very scarce amount of souls to take that wouldn't get you killed by an entire society of people.
Although... from what this odd, old ghost guy has told you, the idea of taking God souls sounds incredible to you... so long as they didn't smite you back into your own hell, but given the people you were now allied with... the possibilities seemed more then endless...

Mei
The nausea disappeared quickly as you stood amongst the others, calmness washing over you as memory kicked in since you woke up this morning, and was called here alongside the others who have modifiers to talk with Elijah and Delphi about something.
Looking around, there seems to be some differences in people, and many missing faces. Although you can't quite figure out why or how it bothered you. These newer girls, clad in what looks to be scaly blue leather and white-blue robes, were faces you didn't entirely recognize, even more so their Modifiers. You did recognize Coatl, Danielle and Marcus however, although it seemed the snake man and the boy had some new artifacts of thier own, as it seemed Danielle held peices of Koya's old modifier.
Shaking your head, the dream is all but a blur in your memory, you still clearly remember the fight with Xenoth that took place here on the bridge and most of everything that led up to it all, you still clearly recall Diana passing her power onto you as well with the staff now turned scythe. But even still, those who were in the dream weren't there in memory still bothered you slightly, but whoever they were and their names, they were as much as a blur as their appearances were.
At the very least, the Divergence was a safe place rather then one crawling with death in the long, tiresome dream, a welcome respite for what you knew what was going to soon come.

Everyone
(Side note, you're going to REALLY want to read my post before this with the background information so you arn't entirely confused or if you need a refresher.)
As you all go on about your own thoughts, you all suddenly hear a familiar voice call to you all.
"Is this really everyone? Did NOBODY wake up the others?" scolded a particular cat woman.
All of you recognized her as Delphi, the second in command of the Marauder, she beckoned you all over to approach, and join in her conversion with Elijah and The Keeper.

"Welcome, welcome all of you, I am so very pleased you could join us this fine morning!" The Keeper smiled, his armed open wide to you all as his ghastly robes flutter in the gentle breeze that cooled you all underneath the exposed part of the bridge here. The cat woman seemed to glare at the ghostly man, Elijah behind Delphi smiled at you all and waved a little before turning her eyes back onto the Keeper.
"The others will arrive in time, I am certain of this." He smiled at Delphi, who only glared at him further, crossing her arms.
Shaking her head and turning to all of you, Delphi spoke up.
"Alright, aside from the constant threat of Tortured and apparently gods now. Most of the Marauders are nothing more then children armed with pea shooters and hand lighters versus the increasing Tortured waves and whatever constitutes for a low god."
"If I may elaborate, a good comparison to a low good in most mortal understanding would be like pantheons that various universes may have. Such as the Earthbound Greek of Egyptian gods, usually capable or responsible of one or several domains, while High Gods are more equivalent to those in monotheistic beliefs who are able to "do everything". "
Most of you are not even sure what the hell a Greek or Egyptian god is, but from the way the ghastly man is describing them and high gods, you all get a good idea.

"Thank you Keeper."

A bright cyan text floats mid air, emitting from Elijahs modifier as she nods towards the ghastly man.

"You know why we've called you all here this morning correct?"

She seems to be asking all of you here... do you actually know why you're here?
Some of you suspect it's that your needed places here and there aboard the ship to use your modifiers, some of you expect its for this white wolfess and cat woman to get to know you, others of you think there might be a bigger mission here they're going to announce, and others, you just plain don't know why you're up this early morning on this strange ass planet, amongst all these strange ass alien people, with these strange ass crystals and strange ass situation.

Time taken: Around 3 and a half hours with some focus
Word count: ~2200 words, a good update.
Players: 6/13 Players accounted for so far since haitus.

Shadow Dancer · Mar 21, 2017

Marcus shrugged and looked around before speaking up. "Might be best to fill us in on those details Elijah. Most of us seem to be just now getting out of a haze." Marcus decided to hold off on commenting on everyone looking like they just came from one hell of a night out. Figuring it would not bode well for his health, definitely seeing as Delphi did not look too happy with life. Though their situation was not one to be happy about. Tortured and lesser gods out to kill them, and the chance that some gods pawn could try something.

Marcus was still trying to figure out which situation he preferred, admittedly free food and small items like lockpicks smoke bombs and whatever else he could think up was something he would have walked through Hevean and Hell to have such a thing back home. Though ironically he realized he might end up doing something akin to that here.

aquaInferno · Mar 22, 2017

Coatl tried to remember what he was standing here for but could only remember bits and pieces. Whatever the case, surely it must be for a new mission.
"We are discussing our new mission correct? Regarding our current threats it had something to do with the possibility of hive-minds organizing the Tortured? I remember explaining this to some extent. If I took control of the Tortured, it could help us with both our problem with the Tortured and our problem with the hostile gods."

Maurj · Mar 23, 2017

The breath of fresh air and greenery filled the area as gary sat down in the middle of a lush forest clearing... It was a long day today, he had finally consumed every single last bit of yulithium in the planet, his planet of origin. It had been plagued with a very bad case of spontaneous matter appearances, which caused issues where matter already existed in, causin the suffocation of living beings and the creation of now harsh and hostile environments, as yulithium spread around the world, a type goo with strange properties caused havoc across the cities of his planet. Gary was created with the purpose of eliminating one last single bit of the material, in order to help the race prosper after this planet wide threat. Gary is made out of small nano machines that compose his form, gray goo. He was only capable of devouring yulithum, and he did with stellar results... whoever it developed a strange side effect. The material had caused the goo to become sentient, sapient, and quite intelligent; it gave him senses and gave him a rather large intelligence

He now waited his de-activation... upon fulfilling his duty, he waited for his creators to come around and put an end to his run... in the fear that he might try and start eating other materials to fulfill its purpose. However gary no longer maintained himself by directives, so he had no intention in trying to consume other materials, yet he still awaited his de-activation patiently. He took a few deep breaths, sitting cross legged, taking in the atmosphere and closed his eyes. A few moments passed, nothing happened, a few more passed, nothing happened as well... By his calculations, his creators should have arrived a long time ago... the air smelled different, the grass beneath him felt different, the air felt different?

Upon opening his eyes, he admires and marvels at how he either had gotten smaller or the trees bigger, no, something wasn't right. this wasn't his place and natural home, something had yanked him from his plane of existence and made him appear in some place different. He marveled at the trees, just by how big and large they were, they even parted the skies with how tall they were. He stood up and continued ot eye around, before finally starting to make a move and eplore the strange and surreal landscape, when suddenly as he checked his belongings, he felt a slight bump in his labcoat pocket, where did this crystalline object come from? well, looks valuable, he probably got it when eating the rest of the yulithium back in his planet.

His eyes wondering on and about, he suddenly gets ambushed by a group of humanoids, threatening him to be told he was too close to a "perimeter" a ship of sorts of the so proclaimed marauders. Gary exclaimed to them that he had just gotten here, and had no idea what the directions where from all sides... They seem somewhat interested at the fact that he had just "arived" there, so they ask him to come with him as he happily obliges since he wants to find directions and a motive as to why he's here as soon as possible. He continued to walk with them as he spotted rather closely the large, knackered ship that the marauders called a base... such technology reminded him of home.

These marauders begin escorting Gary into the massive starship, they fill him in on what they know about this world and who their leaders are. According to these men and women, everybody, including Gary himself, were all people either accidentally brought or stolen from thier own worlds by total random chance, they dont quite understand it, but this Universe appears to have rather special properties that allow multiple laws of physics, biology, spiritual, and even magical laws to co-exsist togethor. Although this world is rather barren population wise, it is still extremely dangerous. They explain further to him the two major threats which hunt this community as they walk through dark, unlit corridors, often passing other small groups or individuals of varying species making thier way through the long corridors or conducting repairs. There is a constant force of charred, horrendous beings of litterally all shapes and sizes called tortured that use bone to slice and maime even the sturdiest of steel alloys, who often hunt in swarms which only fire or dismemeberment can destroy quickly. The other threat being what is described as litteral gods, immortal beings that are after the power of the Modifiers, which they point out, is the crystaline object Gary has in his pocket, which scouts saw through scoped rifles aimed on his head in the clearing when he appeared. They're thankful Gary had gone with them willingly, as now he is immediately considered a VIP of sorts amongst the Marauders. They begin to pipe down after talking for awhile as you leisurely walk through corridors, rarely passing by windows that revealed Gary and these people were going high and higher up into the ship and further towards it's helm, the trees stood taller then what Gary estimated to be roughly a 500 meter high, and 1.2 kilometer long ship from the walk alone.

Eventually, they stop at the end of a very long, windowed corridor which you could tell was nearing the far end of the ship, on radios they ask those on the other side for clearence, notifying they had another Modifier weilder on board. To which immediately, the futuristic doors slid open, revelaing a large, open helm area, the torn apart roof and walls replaced by make-sift rails and covered with canopys of various matierial to protect the bridge from the elements. Ahead of Gary, he saw A diverse variety of Marauders and what looked to be civilians whom were all hard at work with various technology related tasks, make-shift repairs were patched into a multitude of the partially destroyed computers and equipment, doing their damndest to get them functional once more. A large group of unique looking indivduals stood at the far end on a uncovered sort fo balcony, immediately Gary noticed all of them had similar gems to the one in his pocket, each having their own different colors, intense glows, and patterns on the diamond crystals, some of them even mounted or fused togethor with armor and weapons. The most noticeable one perhaps being on the singular gauntlet of a humanoid hybrid female, a White wolfess whose crimson gem glowed with what Gary could perceive as the most intene and powerful of all the ones he could see. Before the Marauders escorting him returned to thier duties, they tell you to respect the Wolfess and those she's with as a warning, saying nothing else as they depart the bridge. "Hold on Elijah." You hear a voice call out amongst that group, leaning to the side, you notice a cat woman who you didn't spot beforehand, alongside a ghostly looking being. "You, get over here, who the hell are you? The troops said you had a Modifier, is this true?"
She beckons to you demandingly as She, the wolfess, and everyone else seems to either look at you or not pay attention to you.

"Hi, hello, greetings and good present time of day... I am a G.A.R.Y unit, the only one in existence as far as i know, and I'm afraid i don't know exactly where i am... I have just arrived to this place and i have this odd crystalline gem on hand, would you care to tell me anything you know about this predicament?"

((this post was written with the help of

Neow46 i am in no way speaking in behalf of his characters))

Description (Physical & Mental): He's a puddle of gray goo itself, but can chooset to take whatever shape he desires, granted he has the mass to do so. He is able to change colors once he has adapted a form for a couple of minutes, and for a period of time he remains gray. The form that he usually shows, is a bidpedal, 5'7 human, who wears wears a long white unbuttoned labcoat with gray reflectvie strips that run from each shoulder down torwards his his hips. Coupld with a black shirt bellow the coat, and a set of cargo shorts. He has pronounced face, a long pointy nose and very sharp teeth, coupled with gray colored bags under his eyes.

Mental:He's more often than not calm and concentraded, but he does leave room for error, and when he does make an error, he often becomes extremely nervous and exhalted at his mistake, to which he tries to fix but more often than not, ends up digging a bigger issue. He is somewhat caring for others, though he needs to have their resons to care for them

Bio/Backstory: Originating from his universe, to where the effect of the gray goo was reversed, to which matter began generating out of thin air. causing wierd solid blobs of matter that occupied space and wrecked havoc across the world. G.A.R.Y was created with the purpose of absorbing this specifc called of matter called "Yullitum" and no other type of chemical components, however, those compounds that had yullitum on them, would end up being absorbed aswell. G.A.R.Y once succeeded with his mission would be erradicated and elimnated. Once he had finished his job and there was no yullitum left, he was being seeked for elimnation, to which he waited his impending demise patiently... until he was forcefully removed from his dimention

Abilities, Skills, and/or Powers: G.A.R.Y Is able to control density, color and shape of his own body/mass, he uses it for all sorts of different things, such as mimicking objects/other people, the ability to copy certain attributes like heat, friction and weight. He also has the ability to absorb and gain mass out of yullitum, a rare and highly unstable piece of matter that generates through certain specific means, this gives G.A.R.Y the ability to empower his form. He also cannot feel any sort of pain

Weakness(ess): If gary is exposed to a certain sound frequency, his entire body collapses down into a puddle until the noise stops. The only way to kill him is to divide him into pieces

Lily Moriya · Mar 25, 2017

Lily blinks a few times, the memories becoming clearer. A modifier, of course, what else would it be. To think that something this powerful would find its way into her grasp. Mother would have been blown away just by the energy this puts out. She nods towards what is being discussed. "Is there not an incredible amount of Tortured?"

Mey remains sitting, listening to the conversation. She makes sure to keep the telepathic link to Lily open. [Everything we have heard about the modifiers describes them as quite powerful artifacts full of a near godly amount of energy. Perhaps they can power individuals' abilities?]
Mey concentrates for a moment, and a small transparent image of an old wizard in gray appears in front of her.

Neow46 · Mar 28, 2017

Update 3/28/17
[

Ged Merrilin @ferociousfeind @Peppermint

Shadow Dancer

Lily Moriya

Maurj ]

Everyone

"Yes, of course, and yes, we are Coatl."

Elijah's text responded to Marcus and Coatl.
"If I may advise Master Coatl," the Keeper interjected.
"An individual Tortured, or an individual swarm, which are indeed quite plentiful indeed Mistress Lily, isn't quite hardly enough to deter a low god entirely, it would certainly make them uneasy, but even with the help of a Modifier, I do not think you'll be able to amass enough tortured before they deteriorate unfortunately." He looks at Coatl with a innocent shrug.

"They do decay rather fast after you 'kill' them, after all, You did say they were more or less physical manifestations of a concept right?"

"That is correct Mistress Elijah." He nods hid head happily in acknowledgement.
Some of you notice Delphi looking particularly distracted as she listens in onto an ear piece in her ear, looking behind everyone.
"Hold on Elijah." Delphi holds her hand up a little, before pointing a finger over towards a man in a labcoat in shorts, who looks like he hasn't slept in years with the grey bags under his eyes.

"You, get over here, who the hell are you? The troops said you had a Modifier, is this true?"
She beckons to the man demanding as he approaches.
"Hi, hello, greetings and good present time of day... I am a G.A.R.Y unit, the only one in existence as far as i know, and I'm afraid i don't know exactly where i am... I have just arrived to this place and i have this odd crystalline gem on hand, would you care to tell me anything you know about this predicament?"
The man speaks up as he now joins the little circle that is everybody here, Delphi only narrows her eyes further at him while Elijah tilts her head a little.

"Did those dumbasses not explain on your way here?" she hisses slightly under her breath.
"That gem is the reason they brought you here you know, Once i-"
"Mistress Delphi, if I may, perhaps he means to ask what the Modifier's function is?"
The cat woman still death glares Gary with a raised eyebrow.
"Hrmpf. Well they should have at least told him where the hell he is right now."

]"Calm down, Delphi, we were just as confused when we arrived year over a year ago too you know. Same with everybody else. Plus you can;t expect the troops to know everything all the time. It's probably in our best interests he doesn't know how to work it just yet."[/COLOR]

The Wolf woman puts a have gauntleted hand on the cat woman's shoulder, looking her in the eyes as the text projected itself. Delphi opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself and sighed, her face relaxing as she looked back submissively at her only superior.
Patting the woman on the shoulder, Elijah looked towards Gary, her modifier projecting holographic text for all to read.

"Anyways, welcome Gary, we can fill you in on the finer details as the rest of the briefing continues here. If the troops didn't already tell you, I'm Elijah, the leader of the Marauders, or generally every single person you see on the ship here, this is my second in command Delphi, do excuse her temper at time, and my secondary advisor, The Keeper."

She gestured to Gary with a a small wave of her hand, pointing at herself, Delphi, who looked away with a bit of a disgruntled frown before raising her eyebrow at a tiny wizard in front of Lily's cat, and then the Keeper, who bowed with a smile.

"Moving on, as I was going to explain why you were all here this morning, We have a definite lead regarding the Tortured hive mind, I'll allow the Keeper to explain."

She gestured once again to the ghastly man, who bowed in response.
"Thank you Mistress Elijah."
Outstretching his hands, the Keeper's hands spark a ghostly blue before a spherical image is create in front of you all.

"As explained previously, the majority of the underground of the planet is an enormous, complex network of tunnels that me and several other, now long gone, progenitors used as our labs, homes, and controlled Tortured storage, or prisons if you prefer to think of it that way, to keep this planet hidden from the eyes and perceptions of the gods.

My laboratories and complex are further back east, nearer to the ocean, which most of you are familiar with as the Safe house or the stone tower, however, my late "brother" The Warden, his complex was the alrge dome like structure you see here far underground, and my oh my have i been getting some rather.... peculiar, energy from that location.

A larger then usual.... let us say, gathering of Tortured, more then usual in the Warden's activities when he still... existed. We hypothesize that the possible hive mind is there."

"I predict this route to possibly be the least troublesome and most direct route, unfortunately the majority of the local tunnels around the Keeper's complex are dimensionally anchored so to say. He was quite the private one when it came to his own research, thus Physical entry through an exposed access point is the only path forward. Which, would be where the old city used to be."
Elijah starts to noticeably look uncomfortable at the mention of the city, her tail curling up around her legs, ears folding down, and crossing her arms and looking down and away from the images.
"Travel out of the forest and into the plains should take less then a few hours with the vehicles the marauders have access to, although the challenge will obviously be actually getting through the tunnels themselves, which are the "natural" home of the Tortured on this planet."
"That and whatever might decide to attack us out ON the plains.
The Tortured are bad enough, but Low gods could be several magnitudes worse."
"Mmm, that would depend upon the god, Mistress Delphi, from my observations the more powerful gods are somewhat more preoccupied with the overarching war, and often tend to their own issues, worlds, and so on. However, the more independent, weaker gods will be the ones you shall most likely encounter."

"But that certainly means do not underestimate them."

"Indeed Mistress Elijah! Even if they are not all powerful gods, they are still incredibly powerful, honestly those equipped with modifiers have a chance against even a few of them!"
A lot of you, especially some of the marauders working around you kind of wince at what the Keeper says before Elijah's text pops up once again.

"Well, with that comforting thought, Are there any questions so far about anything? Before we get into attack plans? or any recommendations for an attack plan?"

Time taken: About 5 hours, a lot fo unfocused time and a few breaks inbetween.
Word count: ~1100 words, shorter update due to lack of postes
Players: 9/14 Players accounted for so far since haitus.

Maurj · Mar 28, 2017

Gary listens to them both with a rather dead look in his eyes, just somewhat annoyed that he wasnt given a straight answer, yet somehow he knew deep down there was something they wanted him for... be it good or bad? he didn't know, and frankly for now he didn't care. He would do whatever it would take him to get the answers he needed.

Upon hearing their dialogues end, he shakes his head rapidly almost as if to snap himself into a trance he'd been put into, and finally spoke up while clearing his throat "i may not know what we're facing against and i also don't doubt the knowledge you may posses... Delphi, keeper and Elijah... but there is a certain flaw with your plan that i see quite clearly. Noting the fact you said it is the less troublesome path i am willing to disagree from a tactical point of view. As it is not the direct route and it seems that the troubles we could face could be easily solved using tactical advantage. Let me explain" As he took his coat and opened it slightly, showing most of his attire, however, as gary reveals the inner cloth of the coat, markings simulating the same map he had seen start to form and take shape as an identical replica, except for the greyish colour it adapted.

"As you can see here, not only does this route provide a more direct path, but it is also advantageous tactically since most spots allow our group to acquire the high ground, aswell as less entrances were we could be ambushed. The best part of it all? the entrance to the dome complex is absolutely orthodox, it is very unlikely the enemy would be waiting for us in such an entrance, why? because it would be a lot easier to walk through the lower sides of the dome... Is it a bit more work? yes, is it more quick? yes, is it tactically flawless? absolutely." He closes his coat, clearing his throat a bit, looking over at the group expecting some sort of response.

aquaInferno · Mar 28, 2017

Coatl watches as the goo man's body shifts to form a map. He would call it gross but he has no right to judge based on the field of magic he is in. Regardless, he faces the goo man with a smirk.
"I am glad our new member possesses an understanding of tactics and will not be useless to us like others before. This path would definitely help us to avoid possible ambushes. But, I would not call any plan flawless without knowing anything except for the map's layout, yes this route looks faster but it is possible that traveling down the top of the dome would take longer than traveling around to the bottom. In addition it could prove more dangerous to our less agile warriors."

Shadow Dancer · Mar 28, 2017

Marcus shrugged he was a thief not a tactician and without a detailed map of what the dome looked like he had very little in the way to work with. Gray's plan made sense but once more without a image or good look at the dome's interior he could not say which entrance would be more viable. Marcus after juggling his question for a bit decided to ask. "Any idea of what this underground dome looks like on the inside. Gray's idea could work provided there is not just a strait drop and even then the service routes still need to be intact. One weak beam and a poor step and we tumble to our deaths."

Marcus thought some more, "Might be a decent idea to have those that are not good climbers go through the main entrance and those that are sure footed take the top entrance and find a good location to meet or a way to talk between groups. It still has risks if say one group is ambushed but may work"

aquaInferno · Mar 29, 2017

Coatl now looked to Marcus. "We should absolutely not split into groups for this mission. The threats we are facing are powerful, we have a better chance if we stand together. If one of our groups is ambushed they have an even smaller chance of survival if we are all split up. We would also lose the advantage of moving quickly if one of our groups gets held up."

"Nonetheless. I agree that we cannot make our decision unless we know what the underground dome looks like on the inside. If it is a straight drop we should take the Keeper's plan. Even if we used our Modifiers to make some type of pulley-system we would not be able to drop enough troops at a time which would make us nearly defenseless for a short time. If there is an easy way down we should follow G.A.R.Y.'s route."
Coatl now waited to see if anyone else had any more input.

Bonzo · Apr 1, 2017

A rare smile coupled with a softening of Danielle's gaze materialises as her friend from engineering appears. Her lips tighten as she nods along to Rosanna's report. No robotics! глупости... That's one less tool at their disposal.

It was good news, however, that food and engineering could be unburdened from the Gauntlet and the other modifiers. With greater autonomy the magic could be put to more important uses...

In response to the Keeper's observation about Delphi, Koyaanis answers, 'Having been through the young to old cycle more times than I could hope to count, I'd not write Delphi off as a fur(y)ball of impatience, seems like it can mask a deep determination. Fair to say, she's got both going on.' His thoughts are warmed with appreciation for Delphi's hard work for the good of the group, and softened with the humour of an elder beholding the rough edges of youth. Clearly something he has in common with the Keeper.

For the first time in a long while, Koya felt if not old, somewhat timeless.

And while Coatl's attraction to the idea of controlling the tortured smacked of insidious ambition - rulers - it was heartening to see Elijah more talkative and confident than he'd seen her previously.

Hearing the exchange between the new grey figure, Marcus and Coatl brings Dani out of her more strategic musings.

'If we could cool our blood for a moment, I'd like to point out we have far too little information at this stage. We've just gained the Divergence. We should focus ourselves and our resources on securing and fixing as much as we possibly can and build our strength before charging into the dark. In the meantime we can perform reconnaissance on the tunnels, but we can't act before we know what we're getting in to. We don't even know what this "Hive Mind" could be like, or if it's there at all.'

Koyaanis chimes in, 'Also - weren't the tortured there to deter gods from showing up? Not that I'm a huge fan of the gore-monsters from satan's barbeque, but if we rip out their hive mind couldn't we be up to our collective arses in low god-types when we get back to the surface? Not saying we shouldn't try, we could really do with seeing what's down there, just I reckon we could play the tortured off against the lowlies without Coatl here having to convince 'em to play on our team? For now, anyway.'

'Also Dani wasn't making a snake joke, about the cold blood thing, I checked.'

'That's..!' Dani sighs, 'Shut up, Koyaanis.'

Shadow Dancer · Apr 1, 2017

Marcus chuckled enjoying the friendly banter it let him forget for a moment how dire their position actually was most of the time.

Though he kinda had a hope there was something pulling the tourtured's strings then that ment a hope to make a deal with hypothetical hive mind leader to keep the gods away and one less thing to worry about getting eaten by . The idea was nice if unlikely.

"If only there was a way to get the low gods to investigate this place blind" Marcus said, so lost in his thoughts he didn't realize he spoke out loud.

Lily Moriya · Apr 2, 2017

The small wizard standing in front of Mey fades out of existence as she loses the mental image. She looks up at Delphi, flicking her tail at her and letting out a loud 'Meow!'

Lily looks between the maps, comparing them. "It is a good idea to try to scout the areas we plan on going through before the mission, if possible." She thinks for a moment on this. "Do we even have anything we could do that with, though.."

Neow46 · Apr 8, 2017

Update 4/5/17
[

Ferociousfeind @Peppermint

Shadow Dancer

Lily Moriya

Maurj ]

Everyone
The three observe Gary's jacket with some curiosity and surprise in their eyes as he replicates the map and even draws upon it without issue.
They however, remain silent as they wait for others to speak first.
"Coatl, Danielle and Marcus make some very good points." the Cat woman speaks up.
"Aside from the Keeper, we don't exactly know whats IN those corridors and or rooms down there.

Additionally, why SHOULD we be splitting our main forces, and arguably the most powerful people in this group, to deal with this hivemind?

Splitting up is definite suicide for everyone involved, since those tunnels are nothing BUT stone and tortured, correct Keeper?"

"Indeed, they are more or less nothing but stone and tortured, Mistress Delphi.
However we should not underestimate a Tortured hivemind, it can get out of control rather quickly, and if we do not deal with it while it is still young, there will be far more tortured then either of us would enjoy seeing.
Additionally, recall that Tortured are attracted to God energy, and each of you standing before me hold that kind of power in your hands, armor, and weapons.

While yes it is incredibly dangerous to be splitting the groups, The Tortured threat will decline considerably in the absence of modifiers, as well as the threat of Low gods, since all they're after is the modifiers anyways.
Removing the hivemind will lessen Tortured threats and prevent them from growing even further out of control, leaving us to only have to primarily deal with low gods.
And I am afraid master Marcus, I do not think we could ask a god to investigate something they know they are extremely repulsed to.
Although... it is a possibility some of the more.. curious ones could already be trying to investigate the area, but i would not place even a mortal gamble upon it.

As for the route...
While the path you proposed IS faster newcomer Gary, "

"You're all guaranteed to encounter Tortured regardless of the route, but that first, verrrry long drop is more or less a giant cylinder of storage upon a large Elevator, hallway down is a connection to another storage area which should contain more Tortured.

I would have suggested this route, however the God energy from the Modifiers would cause enough of a stir in Tortured to break even the toughest of containment that isn't 200 meters of solid stone. That is, if they haven't broken their containment already due to the Warden's absence.

The longer route towards the east (or left in the case of this map.), Would be best to skip over the elevator entirely, and additionally that hallway has less connections to other paths or rooms that no doubt contain Tortured forces.

There is another sort of Elevator at the end of the path i have drawn, Which i have labeled as '2', while this one is also a tortured containment unit, there is significantly less stored in there, as much of the room for that hallway is more ventilation and transportation of things that are not quite easily teleported in a mass anti-teleportation zone.

From 3 to 6, it should be a relatively unhindered path directly to the Warden's old Laboratory with minimal tortured resistance due to the lack of connection corridors.

It should be cautioned at 6 however, that there is a incredibly likely chance a large force of tortured will be waiting, given The hivemind does not desire your presence, and will very likely be the most dangerous stretch between the open surface and the dome itself.

Speaking of which..."

The image of the map rapidly changes, zooming in upon the large, underground dome structure as it gets incredibly more detailed.

"The Warden's old lab is more of a immense, city sized containment chamber containing the immense local, anti-dimensional field device.
This device is what prevents me from simply opening a portal into the lab itself, and additionally preventing gods from cascading down upon us immediately.
To explain it's function at a baseline, if you look at the small diagram up in the top right, You start at A, then attempt to Teleport to B. However, the field will redirect you to C instead.

By acting as a sort of bend in both dimensions and reality, anything that tries to teleport into the area affected will simply end up upon the other side of the area, opposite of the original teleportation point. Which I am certain there are many unhappy Gods that are going in and out of the upper mantle of the planet as we speak.
It is possible to teleport WITHIN the field itself, however only for extremely short distances.

However, as evidenced by this very ship we stand upon, the crater and rubble that was once a city, and the rather sharp increase of people arriving upon this world from the Universal anomaly directly to this area, that device seems to have been neglected by a certain somebody... or possibly even tampered with for... unsavory reasons... that allow certain individuals and oddities slip past the field.

It would be within our best interests to leave the device UN-DAMAGED, or at the very least barely functioning if we want to avoid a smaller scale God Wars upon the surface and the underground.

Other then the device however, if i recall, Skyscrapers of tortured containment float about in the room for whatever the Warden desired with them."

"As circled, I do not think they should be of much issue unless they are grounded to the bottom of the dome or unless the hive mind is somehow utilizing them. Not even tortured can survive a several hundred foot drop without being turned into paste... Unless they were to pile up corpses, or make living bridges, or concentrate enough to form larger amalgamations, they should not be a worry."

Delphi looks at the Keeper concerning, as Elijah shivers at that last thought.
"Rrrrrrregardless, what about the Warden's actual laboratory or the location of the hive mind itself? And what the fuck are we supposed to do when we encounter it?"

"I am delighted you asked! Those answers are very simple of course. The Warden's work space is perhaps the entire dome complex itself, with no doubt many scattered stations admist the room.

While the hive mind itself, simply look for a rather gigantic mound or blob of flesh that may or may not have various extremities! You will all know it when you see it, the Tortured aren't exactly ones to take upon a more coherent form when of the size of a hivemind.
I am very certain it should pose no threat so long as you do not get near it, there IS plenty of space in that dome, its more like a large, developing organ rather then something that can defend itself with something other then regular tortured.

And to simply solve the issue, there are two different possible locations for Chamber immolation, which is typically our safeguards against large Tortured infestations such as this.
Of course, anything in that chamber minus the small space where the safeguard is, will be totally obliterated by a mixture of spiritual, magical, and chemical fire!

One will be upon the Anti-Dimensional device with its control panels, the other at the very center of the chamber.
Where no doubt the Warden has done most of his work and or slumber since we've been on this planet for the few billion years it has been around post-terraforming from the previous planet.

After either switch is confirmed and triggered, there will be a maximum of 5 minutes to either evacuate to a safe zone, or out of the chamber entirely."

"What about communications? Will we still be able to have radio contact down in the underground?"

Elijah's hologram asks the Keeper.
"Ah yes, normally, that's a definite no, considering you would be hundreds of feet underground. But that's for more mundane communications. Magical communications, or boosting the radios with the modifiers will have them function perfectly fine."
The Wolf Woman seems to raise an eyebrow at this before places a gauntleted hand upon Delphi's shoulder, they nod at each-other in acknowledgement as the white wolfess begins to walk away from the group, pointing at several engineering marauders and beckoning them to follow. They all respond with a hasty "Yes Ma'am!" and running off out of the bridge with her, presumably to engineering.

"Well, armed with all of... that...
To address the scouting issue that some of you are mentioning, the best we have is ourselves and honestly a few really shitty drones that need to be remotely operated close by, and those drops in the path certainly do not make it easy, especially the first elevator.
Even if robotics was functioning though, anything will probably be turned to scrap within seconds of encountering a single Tortured. Even whatever the hell alloy they used for this ship isn't strong enough to withstand a Tortured attack. Marauder armor alone can only take a few hits at best.

But, is there any further questions or suggestions on the line here?"
Delphi looks around to all of you, crossing her arms

Koya
As the Keeper speaks aloud and explains a great deal of exposition to everyone, Koyaanis hears within his mind.
("Hrmmm, indeed, you are correct to a degree. Although Miss Delphi still seems to let her hotheadedness take over, but perhaps that determination is somewhat of a blessing when commanding a rather large group of Mortals.

Additionally, we would not be taking out a large enough force to deter Gods, more so preventing the Tortured from developing even larger forces then they already have.")

Mey
The cat woman seems unnerved by you, perhaps because she is a cat herself? Either way, she gives a look towards Lily, and back to you before focusing back onto what they were all discussing once again.

Time taken: A lot longer then I wanted, was demotivated this week kinda. Around 7 Hours i think combined?
Words: Around 1700 words, bit shorter today.
Players: 9/14 accounted for since haitus.

Shadow Dancer · Apr 8, 2017

Marcus found the plans so far to make sense the fun part would come once they got inside and had to find the switch to torch the place and with a five minute timer to get to safety he figured things would get interesting very fast seeing as nothing in his experience ever went as planned "So get in, fight through any Tortured, find the immolation button and find the safe room, because we will not be getting out the way we came till the immolation is done, and prepare for shit to go to hell. Anything I'm missing?"

Bonzo · Apr 8, 2017

Content with the Keeper's response Koyaanis' attention drifts as he weighs up the consequences of the plan taking form. He ends up studying the spectral auras of the souls around him. They are pretty beautiful - like the lovechild of stellar corona and colourised strange attractors. Eek, I'm starting to think like Dani. The lines, shapes and colours stick and dance hypnotically in the otherwise colourless void. Was there meaning in the shimmering movements? Thoughts and emotions, maybe, or just the magic that binds each spirit to this world? Inevitably the brightest halo surrounds Eli. The Gauntlet's doing no doubt. The power within warping the ghostspace around it. Yep, still scary. Is that the same thing the Tortured sense?

Danielle mutters a quick calculation under her breath, 'Two point five miles, approximately four kilometres... twelfth of an hour.' She frowns 'Even if we had a clear path from the central immolation controls, whoever activated it would have to travel at forty-eight kilometres per hour at barest minimum to escape the chamber. We'll have to do as Marcus suggests, unless we have some form of transport, else the one that activates it must be sacrificed.' She glances at the creatures around her, doubtful that the latter would be accepted as an option.

'Hey, would if I could - I've got more professional experience of blowing up than anyone here. Think this ship looks bad? Could out-inferno the Divergence any day.' Inside, Koyaanis was not unhappy that his exploding days were over. Probably...

Ignoring him, Dani queries the Keeper, 'What precisely is it that the Tortured are attracted to? It's too dangerous to leave the modifiers behind. Is it the crystals themselves, their usage or the... magic contained inside them?'

Absent mindedly Koyaanis throws in 'Take it there's no teleport station underneath the field generator that'd conveniently ping us straight to the surface again, is there?'

'The Keeper just said - that's how the Low Gods end up in the planet's mantle! So no. Don't interrupt me.'

With the ghost equivalent of a shrug Koyaanis retorts, 'Well that's just a design oversight innit. What's a cool teleport deflection field for if not shenanigans?'

Giving up entirely, Danielle pretends Koyaanis didn't exist. 'This is far outside my remit,', she hesitates, 'Would it be worth considering draining all the modifiers on producing equipment at the beginning of an expedition downward...', or fixing the Divergence, she thinks inwardly, 'And save any recharge for emergencies in the chamber? Would that lower the attention drawn from the Tortured?' Even an answer in the affirmative wouldn't assuage her misgivings about this plan. Suicide was written all over it. 'Either way, I'd like to make it clear I'll be staying here and helping with the repair effort. I'm no warrior, and while neither am I an engineer I can work on some of the technical systems. I'd be happy to focus on seeing what medical facilities are salvageable for your return' A return which was far from inevitable...

'Suit yourself. I'm definitely going down. The only thing spookier than the shadows and shreiks of Tortured in dark tunnels is me.'

ChrisClark13 · Apr 10, 2017

Ruthie stood in the back of the group, bored as she waited for the discussions to cease.

"So what are these 'Tortured' weak to anyhow? Why not just bring a lot of that?" she snarked.

aquaInferno · Apr 10, 2017

"The Tortured are weak to fire. That is why the old warden has these immolation chambers. Other than that. I think dismemberment will do," Coatl explains to Ruthie.
But then Coatl brought his attention towards the central group, more specifically the Keeper.
"But still, we have a piece of technology that we want to protect: the anti-dimensional device. If we were to use those immolation chambers would we not lose the technology we are trying to protect? To my understanding that would be destroying the only thing (other than the Tortured who would also be destroyed in the fire) that is stopping every god in the universe from coming to this planet to kill Elijah."

Lily Moriya · Apr 14, 2017

Lily's ears perk up at the mention of a device able to cause difficulty with teleportation, but smiles at the allowance of short ranged blinking. The machine itself is still incredibly interesting to her as she wouldn't mind being able to mess around with it to see how it works. Too bad that situation won't be presenting itself.
Though Lily's attention is grabbed again when the Keeper says something about using the Modifiers to boost the radios. She wonders about what other kinds of things could be powered by them, and how that would work out.

Mey looks over at Lily, who seems to be in a world of her own at the present moment, and proceeds to try to talk to her again. [Moriya, now is not the time to daydream. This is an important meeting.]
Lily snaps back to reality. [Oh, sorry.] She shakes her head a little and returns her attention to the current conversation, which seems to now be on the anti-dimensional device and the immolation operations. "It seems strange to have a machine that important not have a protection against the immolation procedures."

Illusionus · Apr 24, 2017

"So we have to get down there and kill the hivemind? Easier said than done." The young man who has remained in the corner of the room since the beginning of the meeting, staying away from the big group, but still listening to the plan that The Keeper had proposed. Byron has had several years of practice when it comes to making both long term and short term plans. After years in the colosseum, he knew how to make up plans after being thrown into a situation without much preparation or prior knowledge as well as taking the little knowledge he has to make a working plan.

"So we've got the hivemind within what is supposed to be a pri..." He winces at the thought of the word that he was on the verge of saying. "A giant dome. And then we have the pillars of Tortured. Sure, the tortured might not survive a fall like that, but it's a hivemind. Who's to say that there aren't tortured trying to get in there and break out the hivemind. Hell, if we'd be able to get in, it doesn't seem like a group of tortured would have as hard of a time getting in there."

Thinking about different complications that they might face, the overall goal came into his mind. "As for the hivemind. It can't be the only thing that we're doing down there. What about that 'anti-dimensional device' that this scientist had been working on. I can't imagine why we wouldn't want to use it for ourselves. It has to help in some way or another. And what kind of plan did he have for this device anyway. He couldn't have just made this thing to keep this far underground." Byron had learned to be skeptical about nearly everything and question almost everything he learns. You never know when somebody might be hiding something crucial from you.

Name:
Byron “The Forstbitten Reaper”
Species:
Human
Gender:
Male
Age:
21
Bio:
In a far off world lost to the destruction and devastation of worldwide war and conflicts, the nations of this world fight for control of the rapidly diminishing natural resources. There were many different countries taking part in the war, but one stood out from many others. This country was far different from the others taking part in the war as it was one of the leading countries in technological advancements. Because of this, the country was one of the most formidable participants in the war and, even then, was on the brink of a milestone in military technology. This milestone would be the modification of those in the military to create super soldiers to take part in the war. As to be expected, this idea was met with skepticism and hate by the citizens of the region. The head of military operations in the country knew that the only chance to win their world rested on the possibility of creating their very own breed is super soldiers. In the end, they took the only action they could think of.

In this far off land, lives a young man and his elderly mother in a broken down house near the outskirts of a massive city. This man’s father had not been present in his life for as long as he could have remembered. With his father gone and his mother far too sickly and old to get any work, they were only able to live off of what they could scrape up off the streets and whatever he could steal from unsuspecting people on the street. He knew that this was not something that his mother would condone, but it was the only way for them to live. At the time, there were public advertisements showing a great need for volunteers for their country’s military force. It was promised that those who would be brave enough to fight for their cause would be highly rewarded with better living conditions and a regular supply of food and clothing. This was wha he was looking for. No more living in shambles and no more having to steal from off the street for his next mean. Maybe he'd even be able to help provide for his mother. He had to take this chance.

Once the young man joined the military force, he was subject to fairly average training in the art of war as well as various forms of martial arts and gunplay. Life in military training was very similar to what the average person might expect, but this young man had no idea what to expect when it came to military life. After about a two months of basic training, though, things took a turn for something stranger. A large number of trainees, including himself, were selected from the rest of the trainees and shipped off to a top secret location. Extra precautions were taken so that none of these trainees would be able to tell where they were being taken to so that no inside information would be spilled out.

Although most of the events that happened after he was transported are still unknown to most, the young man could still remember his and the screams of others along with the intense pain that he was made to endure for many long days and nights, having god knows what done to him. It is speculated that the minds of those who were submitted to this had suppressed those memories. It is still unknown what might happen to these people if their memories were to be recovered.

The clearest thing that the young man could remember after the transport was waking up in a small cell made of some kind of metal with a small bed in the corner and no visible door. This would be his life from then on until he could find a way out. For the next few years, he would be subjected to various kinds of experiments with newfound abilities as well as pit against others like him, seemingly for the amusement of others. Every attempt of escape made by him would be met with failure and extreme disciplinary action, but also more knowledge of the facility he was in, each time he would attempt an escape.
Abilities:
Due to the various experiments that were conducted on him, Byron is now able to manipulate and create ice from from any direct source of water such as pools of water, and water vapor within the air. He is only able to create and manipulate ice that is in direct contact with his bare skin or specially crafter gloves. Sources of water such as sweat, saliva, and blood are unable to be frozen for reasons unknown to him as well as the scientists who conducted his experiments.

While he was still held in the Coliseum, Byron was forced to stay in containment with others who were part of experiments similar too those that he had been subject to. There were very few, but those who had been there the longest had become much stronger and developed their abilities much further. In doing so, they had developed a technique they have named Diamond Ice. The ice created by this technique is far more dense and sturdy, being able to survive extreme heat and other extreme circumstances. His core temperature has also been lowered to an extreme temperature so he is able to survive in extremely cold environments. Because of his lowered core temperature, Byron’s breath can always be seen as a sort of mist similar to how breath is visible on very cold days.
Weapon of Choice:
Byron has had at least two years to experiment with different fighting styles and weapons while in containment. His ice can be formed into any type of weapon but he normally makes use of spiked knuckles, katars, and swords reminiscent of the Greek falcata and the Egyptian khopesh. He knows very well how to wield a firearm and how to use a wide variety of different kinds, but if often reluctant to do so.
Personality:
Normally, Byron prefers to keep to himself and stay quiet, especially in large groups. Most people that know of him often attest his stoicism to his bleak past. Although it was a very short time that he had to remain hidden, he easily became used to trying to hide himself from others and hiding as much about him as possible. Because of that, he prefers to be alone and talk very little when around other people unless absolutely necessary. Byron also tends to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder in different ways. He loses sleep often because of frequent flashbacks and visions to his days in the test chamber and in the coliseum as well as nightmares. His mental stability is fairly fragile and his PTSD is easily triggered.
Appearance:
Byron wears a stolen suit of standard issue Mk. 3 exosuit with inner body armor, communications device, outer armor for the legs, and shock absorbent boots. He has modified the armor of the suit by using his abilities to cover it with a coat of diamond ice. On the back of the suits waist, there is a standard combat knife and a standard sidearm. As a result of the experiments conducted on him, Byron’s hair has become a very pure white and his eyes became a very pale shade of blue. He also possesses a stark white modifier with a pale blue pattern resembling cracked ice along the entirety of the surface. The modifier is attached to Byron’s armor’s left upper arm for easy access.
Weaknesses:
Having a yet to be diagnosed case of post traumatic stress disorder, Byron can have his mental state disrupted by a number of things relating to what caused him to have this disorder. Some things that Byron is afflicted with from this are frequent nightmares which cause him to lose sleep, infrequent flashbacks, and rarely fits of extreme rage which can make him do things that he normally wouldn't. Although this can be good for fighting, he can sometimes cause harm to his allies and friends. On the matter of his abilities, he is currently unaware of what he is really capable of and what he isn't. Because of this, he may try to do things that he isn't fully capable of doing. He is also unaware of his limits, so in fights he may become very tired very easily if he does too much in a short time.

Neow46 · Apr 25, 2017

Update 4/5/17
[

Ferociousfeind @Peppermint

Shadow Dancer

Lily Moriya

Maurj ]

Everyone

"Well, we're not necessarily sacrificing anyone so long as everyone makes it into the safe rooms, Mistress Danielle.

However, i suppose if one was somehow resistant to both magical and chemical fires, they could survive the immolation process.
Although, the only Modifier that could be capable of defending against such an inferno would be mistress Elijah's, provided she also insulated a shield or barrier."

"Marcus has the right Idea from what I'm hearing."

"I'd perhaps not use the kind of rhetoric he did but, more or less yes. Although i'd say things would be much easier after immolation, considering you'll have an entire dome free of Tortured.

As to answer your question Danielle, The Tortured are attracted to what is considered to be their opposite. God Energy.
More specifically, the usage of god energy. Modifiers certainly do attract Tortured ambient, but quite honestly unless there's heavy usage of one, it's not much of an issue. The marauders are plenty capable enough of dispatching sparse loners and packs if these past few weeks say anything."

The Keeper waits a few moments for Coatl and Lily to speak up, asking about the feasibility of turning the ADF into molten scrap with immolation, and explaining to Ruthie that the tortured require either immolation or dismemberment to defeat.

"Well, of course we've designed the device to have protection against both immolation procedures and possible Tortured outbreaks! Magical and Chemical Fireproof materials, in addition to simple force fields my friends! Unless the hivemind has somehow breached the field around the device and created holes in it, it'll be absolutely fine during procedures."

Delphi seems to give a look towards Byron, frowning at him a little.
"If you were listening, the device is to more or less PREVENT gods from immediately swarming and overwhelm us creating a miniature god wars. Plus, im not entirely certain with what we could do with a device that prevents long distance teleportation besides turn it off and on."

"Indeed... the device, while complex and powerful, serves only a simple purpose as far as I am aware, if the Warden made any changes to it however like i suspect, we shall notice almost immediately.... However Master Coatl..." The Keeper points to the necklace around Coatl's neck. "You're a target too by the gods, all of you are! Even if your Modifiers aren't as powerful as Mistress Elijahs, any sort of catalyst that'll give them easy leverage, they will desire!
It's rather funny to me, while most gods think themselves to be perfect beings, they still act no better then some mortals!"

A few moments of silence befall all of you as the thoughts mull around inside of your heads, Delphi however breaks the silence.
"Alright, So we've got a simple plan going here, Go in, fight our way through, immolate the hivemind if it's there, and then get out?"

"Correct Mistress Delphi."

"And if the device is destroyed or damaged?"

"If it is damaged, or is somehow deactivated, I will know almost immediately and be able to bring myself there and begin repairing it as quickly as possible. However, Its likely the surface and the tunnels themselves in the Field's radius would already be scourged with gods. So most hopefully the device will remain intact, since it is in all of our best interests."

"And, when would it best to go after the hivemind?"

"Preferably as soon as possible if we are to control this... outbreak. Additionally, keeping the ADF device functioning will give us further time and protection to plan our next move towards Ascending Modifier users."

Delphi simply sighs, running a hand through her hair in thought. She turns more directly to all of you.
"Fine then, Everyone go and prepare as quickly as possible, we can take today to-"
A loud beeping noise starts blaring on Delphi's waist, pulling out a radio, she clicks a button and begins speaking into it.
"What the hell is wrong? Where on the ship is this?"

"We have a breach in ---- Hangar! Unidentified entity-----Non-tortured-----has begun engaging the Commander!"
A panicked male voice speaks from the radio, heavy static making it difficult to hear the words.

The Cat woman's eyes widen at this almost immediately, and in the distance you all hear a subtle -boom- in the far distance.
Marauders and engineers begin scattering around the bridge like insects as troops begin immediately moving out of the bridge to start heading towards the far end of the ship.

"Well, don't just stand there! Get going!"
The Cat Woman shouts at all of you as she also takes off.

"Hold."
The Keeper says, stopping most of you after Delphi leaves.
"It's no doubt that these... new arrivals... are hostile gods."
He turns away from you all, looking off the edge of the open bridge, staring up into the sky. Those who look closely could see his tiny pupils darting around, tracking something.
"Certainly more then one. I know Mistress Elijah is certainly capable of fighting low gods, however she can still be easily overwhelmed."

Circle shaped runes and symbols begin appearing all around the ghastly man, glowing with intense power within each floating line.
"Go!"
He ushers you with a wave of his hand as the glowing circles floating around the keeper suddenly shoot beams of energy upwards into the sky!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone
With a rather long Jog, you all eventually make it to the other far end of the massive Divergence, already almsot out of breath from the near mile long distance.

Upon exiting the corridors of the Divergence, and into the large, open hangars of the torn apart ship.

You all witness a ferocious fight occurring Between several armored figures, and Elijah!

The humanoid, Medevily armored figures stand twice the size of the average human, wielding traditional melee weaponry that they use to bash away several supporting Marauders out of their ways towards the open side of the Hangar, where the Wolfess is fighting off the various, large knights.

Marauders pepper several of the knights with bullets and explosives, which hardly even suppress them as they take swings at Elijah, who barely holds against the force of their blows with her gauntlets, her modifier sparking bright red energy wildly from blocking blows and striking back in return with her own fists, tearing holes in their magical armor to where bullets quickly fill and force a knight to collapse to defend itself.

Upon your entrance and dispersal into the Hangar however, a set of knights seem almost immediately drawn to each of you, raising their weapons and shields ready for a fight! Taking a lot fo pressure of Elijah herself!

Each one of you faces a large knight each! Wielding their own varieties of weapons and armor, they approach rapidly to attack you!
What shall you do?

Time spent on update: Abooout i'd say 4-5 Hours combined? Been busy a lot lately
Word Count: 1150 Words roughly. Maybe the smaller word counts make things easier to read?
Players: 10/14 accounted for since hiatus.

Shadow Dancer · Apr 25, 2017

Marcus looked at the giant knight that confronted him and pulled out his sword readying himself as he searched for the gaps in the plate armor it was wearing figuring it would have the usual gaps though he would have to focus on the gaps behind the knees. 'I'll also have to dodge that greatsword, it's taller then me. One hit from that thing and I won't be getting up.'

Marcus looked at the gem embedded in his leather glove and decided to find out if he could create a poison that increased the heart rate and thus cause quicker bleeding. It would not be the most potent but it might give the edge he needed.

Set on a course of action Marcus imagined a vial of poison made from several ingredients from his home and hoped for the best, keeping an eye on his opponent.

Ferociousfeind · Apr 25, 2017

(Yeah OK procrastination time is over: let's crunch out the rest of this silly app.

Name: Indigo Brown

Physical Appearance: standing at little over 4 feet tall, Indigo is often mistaken for a hobbit, due to his slim figure and spunky attitude. He is very humanoid in appearance, wearing a black tri-cornered hat and a lightweight brown overcoat. He wears a bag containing plentiful handheld novelties, including a grappling gun, a "Swiss Army knife" multitool, along with valuable gems, coins, and trinkets.
(Indigo may or may not gradually transform into midget Indiana Jones. But I'll try my hardest to stray away from too many identical traits)

Abilities: Indigo has two powerful eyes, built for the darkness. He also

Equipment: Grappling gun

About as generically adventurous as it gets, this gun has saved Indigo nonviolently plenty of times, and makes a good projectile bludgeon in a pinch.

Multitool

b8b0dd33-c867-4933-8f9f-320da777e5c4_1.9862571e367ec9cc115a030ae87c494f.jpeg

A novelty, this multitool has:
Large knife
Larger knife
Smaller knife
Cork screw
Flathead screw
Phillips head screw
Keychain
Better keychain
Tweezers
Scissors
Bottle opener
Can opener
Shrub "opener"
Weed "opener"
Lockpicker
Lockchooser
Lock opener
Shiny red exterior with modified, "square" cross on what looks like a shield outline

Gold coins:

A small collection of various gold coins. Worth up to $5000 from where they come from, but are worth around $500 for all intents and purposes.

Valuable gems:

A small assortment of the definition of sticky fingers. Probably worth as little as $150 to an expert examiner, or upwards to $400 to an uneducated "layman".

Weaknesses: Night vision has its perks, but the light of day really bugs Indigo. It's like always being in the dark, and then opening window blinds to find a very bright Sun in your face. Not fun.
Indigo has, as evidenced by his collection of coins and gemstones, rather sticky fingers. This has resulted in close-calls in the past with trapped valuables.
He also is self-conscious about his height. In "normal" circumstances it may come in handy, but being around people upwards to twice your height can get to you.

Personality: Indigo is a bit of a charlatan, occasionally dabbling in the manipulative power of words. Other times he is rather spunky and adventure-driven. The mere mention of "ancient," "treasure," "traps," or "pay," can often bring Indigo on board. However, he can sometimes be too adventurous, to the point of being brash and reckless in the heat of adventure.

Biography: Indigo comes from a long line of globe trotters, archaeologists, spelunkers, and adventurers. Being raised somewhat underground, with forests and mountains in his back yard, Indigo grew up as an out-doors-y kid: always looking around for the next coolest little bug, or the most interesting looking stick. As he grew up, he basically mirrored his grandfather's career in exploring ancient structures and occasionally foiling evil organisations and their schemes.

Yeah, his name is Indigo Brown.)

Misfortune walked off, distracted by something. As the group left for the Divergence, a new character quickly approached, "Oh hello! What is with all of this running?" Indigo queried, following the group. He quickly checked the items in his handbag, before closing it with a leather strap, "Mayhaps there is treasure or villains on the other side of this jog. In that case I may join your escapade for the time allowing!" His voice was supposedly not heard over the sounds associated with procrastinating on making an application. He decides to follow closely behind instead.
---
"Following the group somewhat, Indigo was confronted by a large, armorclad figure. He took a step back, shielded his eyes from the knight's glaring armor, shouted, "take this!" and pulled the trigger on his grappling gun, with egregious results. Take that as you will.

Seahorse · Apr 26, 2017

Meilikki tried to move quickly to Elijah's side, eager to provide aid. But before she could reach her a knight stepped into her path. Mei looked up at her new opponent and grinned. It had been a while since she'd been in a good fight and was thrilled to get her blood pumping again. Keeping light on her hoofs to dodge oncoming attacks, Mei swung her scythe towards its sword arm, with a hope of copping it of. Her second attack came not a moment later and was accompanied with a burst of electricity from her modifier.

Futuristic Among Gods

Member

The Man Among Gods

One Thousand Club

The Snake

HULKAMANIA BROTHERRR

Lady of the Worlds

The Man Among Gods

HULKAMANIA BROTHERRR

The Snake

One Thousand Club

The Snake

Heretical

One Thousand Club

Lady of the Worlds

The Man Among Gods

One Thousand Club

Heretical

Member

The Snake

Lady of the Worlds

Belongs in that dumpster

The Man Among Gods

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Shamrock Shake

Heir of Life

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