• This section is for roleplays only.
    ALL interest checks/recruiting threads must go in the Recruit Here section.

    Please remember to credit artists when using works not your own.

Multiple Settings Project Guf (CLOSED)

Characters
Here
Lore
Here
For the umpteenth time does the very ground shake with the force of another, positively massive explosion. Endymion would later swear he could feel his bones reverberate from the force. In the moment however his legs are once more swept from underneath him, and he falls like a body from a balcony. One hand stays wrapped around Lyli’s body and the other comes up to cradle her head from the impact. His own temple comes crashing right into the icy ground. It makes his head swim, and he has to pull away from Lyli for a moment so he can roll over and empty his stomach of its bile. Endy manages one thumbs up to let Zack know he’s listening and hopes, if nothing else, that this will be over soon. He is really not of the hero’s constitution.

The nausea does recede, although he still feels bubble-wrapped by the time he staggers back to his feet. He does his best to prop Lyli up in a semi-upright position against his legs; this way, he can’t drop her again.

Zack, however.

“Drop him, you hag!” Endymion spits, practically sparking. “Don’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t be doing!”

She’s right, about some things, but he has no idea who this rotten bitch is and he won’t give her the satisfaction of hearing so. Zack is undeniably young. Honestly, Endymion had half suspected him a high schooler. Someone so young, so full of light and a willingness to reach out to anyone in the darkest of situations had no place in a mess like this one, where death and a good ass beating stood ‘round every doorframe. Though perhaps that was the paradox, wasn’t it? Maybe in order to survive this kind of life you simply had to burn brighter than the flames around you.

Endymion stands on a precipice. To be honest, he has jack shit going for him. No life, no love, and nothing to live for. He’s been a hair trigger from a hikkikomori for years. Hell, he’d probably have offed himself already if he weren’t soul-bound to a damn toad. Maybe his existing didn’t make the world any better, but he drew the line at inflicting harm on innocents, and that included his crybaby familiar. This is where his dilemma lies.

His whole life he’s felt as if he were something alien. Like he didn’t walk the same wavelength as everyone else, and they all could tell and laughed about it when he wasn’t around. Endymion had grown to accept this. He’d planned to scrape by day after day in his little apartment, wandering along and finding things mildly interesting until he died of a heart attack or something. He was okay with that. He felt safe that way.

So why, now, does this world-ruining, safety-shattering, yawning abyss call to him so? It scares the shit out of him to get any closer. He could tip over the edge at any moment. Lose anything he’s ever known.

But that’s the thing, isn’t it? You’ve got nothing left to lose. Not really.

And maybe, just maybe, there’s something to gain:

Maybe you could save someone else, the way you couldn’t save yourself, and the way nobody wanted to save you.

The force of his yell seemingly tears at his throat on the way out, until he realizes that sparks shoot past his lips too. He feels like he’s burning up. To anyone onlooking, he glows at the seams; his eyes, his chest, they burn up with him and blast a ray of glassy-glittering photons at the woman keeping Zack held aloft. Lyli’s head is let to fall and hair shields her face from the light. Flash blindness takes over.

Endymion steps forward and falls over the edge.
 

V A N D Y R , L E X
Interacting with: ​

It was good that, even with the civilians panicking, they followed her orders rather well. She took one last look at the remaining people and the hail of bullets, magic, and weaponry clashing against each other. She studied the people's faces for a moment for her report before turning her back and escaping with the civilians. She wondered what kind of actions the council would undertake because of this— or, well, what the Tecnet people would do. God, she wasn't even sure who she was working for nowadays with this new reassignment. Whatever, she would just submit it to whichever higher-up would receive the damn report.

An explosion rocked the building and pulled Lex back into the reality of things. Rubble rained down upon the group and Lex quickly moved the force barrier on top of them and watched as the rocks clattered harmlessly to the side. With Father Flemming at the front of the group, it was almost assured that no kind of magical pollutants would infect the group and hinder their escape. A couple of the civilians, though terrified, finally found it in themselves that they, too, were mages of some caliber. It gave some kind of newfound confidence as someone managed to get their bearings to help out with their escape.

When they reached a roadblock in the form of some of the structural damage to the stairwell. Lex huffed as she switched concentration to pulling out all the rocks in quick succession. One of the other detectives helped out by enhancing his own strength to dig out the rocks that wouldn't cause an immediate cave-in. Once it was done, they started evacuating as fast as possible and Lex cursed how high the building was for the nth time that day. If she was ever invited back, Lex wasn't going to ever accept it again unless it was on the fucking ground floor.

And just like that, the building shook once again. Something had crashed straight into the building that she couldn't see and it was clear that the building would go down soon. It was obvious from how the building shook and the support pillars groaned with the impact. Shit. Hurrying the people straight down until they were in relative safety from the building's near imminent collapse. Whoever was still in that building had her prayers or something along those lines.

Maybe this might her make a believer yet.

 
Aftermath
​
Huddling onto the comparatively shit compensation, Julius braced for impact. After a few minutes he could feel himself tumbling and going towards the wall as the building itself flipped over. The window spot had proved to not be shabby of a spot, as just before the impact, he mustered every ounce of strength and leapt from the window, diving onto a parked car. Shielding his eyes and body from the rubble, he saw from his forearm cover that a construction rod pierced an onlooker's dog. As more people ran for their life, Julius dragged himself up, leaking blood and made his way into an alley, batting away any potential rubble traps like flies. He finally knelt down and decided to catch his breath. A masked man came up, hearing the of the coins in his bag,

"Hey!-" Bang, this human's skull wasn't that well equipped for a 50 cal. round. The gun was masked over the absolute chaos, had Julius not been in such a dire situation the sheer loudness might have overwhelmed him. He opened his duffle bag and started taking out his medical equipment. The wound didn't seem to have any sort of curse or everlasting effects, so all he had to do was patch up a little and let the healing factor take over. His eyes were growing heavy, and realizing he had lost a chunk of blood, his sights were set on a nearby restaurant. All in all, he had been closer to death, with far more dangerous wounds.

After about ten minutes, he picked himself up, along with his two bags, and limped over to the restaurant. Julius, not exactly a screen junkie, pulled out a flip phone and dialed Morgan, situations like this made him wish he could at least cast a telepathy spell.
"Hey, I collected the payment, got a tad bit fucked-" as a civilian bumped into Julius, in a moment of wrath he whipped around and threw them into the 3rd story window of an apartment, before his limp gradually became a solid walk with his healing factor. He stepped onto the light up stair lift, a simple levitation spell.

"Yeah 50 pounds, I'm low on blood, so I'm going to eat and book it to the meet up spot by the canal..." flipping the phone closed, the Black Sun took to the kitchen. Everything having been left on, he helped himself to it, whipping up a traditional carbonara, and eating it while observing the chaos the outside beheld.

After a few hours, near sundown, Julius exited his apartment in casual attire consisting of an oversized sweatshirt, dress pants and simple sneakers. He threw the gold in his duffle bag, and exited, but not before grabbing his faithful goldfish companion Jerry. With the sun bloodying the sky, he made his way to the canal, the sight of his other two companions brought a warming relief to his cold heart. After engaging in the plan for himself to stay and the three of them to head south, Julius felt a strange compulsion to give an actual smile and goodbye, and he turned to face the sun, a trench like feeling in his gut told him pandora's box had just been opened.

Julius

1725255543789.png
​
Where did the time go? It seemed so quick, and yet so much happened. The city overnight seemed to turn into a dystopia. The mass deaths, the destruction of property, Alexia's crippling, Aidan's death and degeneracies coming to life. It had piled up to the point that it felt like a warzone without violence. Who even was Aidan? This question ran through the Black Sun's head ad nauseum, along with that symbol, that odd, ever creepy symbol above Alexia's head that day. And that's not even getting started on what had happened to Julius when he tried to attack their employer. The employer! That was why he was here. It could be hard to remember with the avalanche of information and change that had been occurring within Drezzen. Nor what Julius had been up to. His life for the past 3 months consisted of playing private investigator and part time enforcer. He frequented both the public places mages gathered and its dark underground, looking for both information on the technique used on him and the symbol above Aidan's head. He had used a rough sketch he could produce; he wasn't a total failure in the visual arts department, but he wasn't a Da Vinci by any stretch of the imagination.

Month 2 turned to be a rather tumultuous month. As he frequented to a new tavern, he was greeted by the stench of cheap ale and could feel the tension in the air. This was the Black Deer, and it had a rather repugnant reputation for magically enslaving humans and trafficking them to be used for various experiments or labor. This was the darkest underbelly of this society, while Julius was no saint nor a paragon, torture wasn't exactly up his alley. That is to say he wasn't bothered; however, he'd rather not indulge in low brow sadistic meddling's. It should be noted that Julius while not one to ever underestimate someone, would brazenly throw himself around with a slight ego, this could be seen by the fact he was casually dressed and carrying a

"Fucking fish?" Luca Iritally. Nephew of the leader of the Black Hand (Julius had a chuckle in regard to the various names mages tend to choose), a powerful gang that specialized in trafficking back in the old world. They were top dogs back in Europe and parts of Northern Africa, but here they were competing with the likes of the Underground Pillar and other mages who wanted to cement their names in the bloodied boots of the underworld. Julius had actually done a hit once on them, Luca's younger brother, he remembered he had taken Zack on this one and it turned out to be a rather rambunctious roller coaster of events.

"You gotta lotta fuckin nerve comin' into a place like dis" Luca had a rather thick accent. His jowls dropped below his face, and while it appeared he might be overweight, he was in actuality, rather strong, and had a reputation for brutalizing people with both fist and summoning magic.

"I'm aware Luca, however unfortunate the business with your brother was, it was merely business. If you remember I offed him quite painlessly, 50 caliber rounds tend to beat a skull in a head on fight." He grinned, crossing his legs, Luca's brow furled. There was a begrudging respect he owed Julius and his organization. Morgan himself had offed Luca's promiscuous wife and her lover. These men weren't crime lords or corrupt cops or even mages at their core: they were killers. Their blood froze rivers and Luca had to respect both their quality of work and the danger they posed. Mages often tend to be obsessive, some chase status, some chase the arcane arts, some chase love or other worlds. These men chased death and reveled in it.

"What'd ya want Snow white, and make it quick, I've got 3 other guys who needa see me, and, don't try anythin' funny..." Luca leaned forward, clasping his greasy, callused hands. Julius leaned back and kicked his feet on Luca's ivory looking table, as a show of good faith he placed his pistol on the table. Julius had swapped to a p2000, carrying around a cannon was getting old.
"I only want some information, I've got some gold in it too," he reached into his pocket again slowly, as to not anger Luca's guards. Interestingly, they were minotaurs, and rather grotesque ones. Luca had a servant in silver chains, a rather young-looking boy pour him wine. Julius slid the drawings of both the symbol above Alexia, and a rough drawing of the Herald's staff, along with 40 gold coins.

"Yeah, I've seen this before, the staff that is, haven a clue what this goofy fuckin circle you drew is but eh, this ere staff, it jogs the memory a little." Julius knew what he was getting at and dropped 10 more gold coins to him, "This here is the prototype of Merlin's staff, notice I said prototype little man. You know that big fuckin thing the council keeps, yeah that's the real one. Dis here's a prototype, it used to get passed back and forth all around Europe. Council eh, kinda destroyed any information regarding it and sought it out. Somma my boys at the detective agency said they've been picking up traces of this thing. See it's gotta rather unique Tenebris trace. The Tenebris itself is serrated, ya know, like a knife, you're a big knife guy I hear, you oughtta know." Luca chuckled to himself seemingly lightening up a little. It seems the money and the fact Julius wanted something he perceived as stupid loosened him up. Julius was no fool though, there was a projection going on here, his tone and mannerism hinted at a sharpened underlying edge.

"Where has it been seen Luca?" He slid 10 more coins; this info was good, and he wanted to avoid a bloodbath this time.
"My guys they eh, see, there's somethin funny happenin in this city. First a building comes down, now were getting policed at every other fuckin city block. Now we can't even teleport shit. Next Alexia's gonna have a 24/7 telepathy on beaming do gooder thoughts in my noggin. How's a man like me, supposed to give a guy like you business if I can't get around or send the goods around?" He laughed, pointing to his "servant" as he said goods. "But get this, supposedly you got some serial killer runnin around now too. 3 crimes in 2 months, 6 bodies. Look buddy even Bundy wasn't wrackin up numbers like dis, dudes out here runnin through like the Jordan of merkin fools. But thats not the weird part, all 3 a these 'ave been a man and a woman. Did I say woman? Sorry, I meant nephil, thats right a nephil. Fools somehow finding Nephils with that barrier up."
Luca wiped his mouth with a napkin after finishing his steak. Julius was left puzzled, the case sounded interesting, but he had trouble seeing how these were related. "Luca, I need more. How are these two connected?"

"Sorry buddy that's all I got, but thanks for the business." Luca slid the drawings back, slightly covered in steak juice. Julius took it, surprised at how well the interaction went. He stood up and took Jerry, putting his pistol in his waistband. "Thanks for the business, Luca, I look forward to the future..." As he went to the door, two human mages blocked him.

"Ahh Luca, I'm not sure this is in your best interest-" he could feel the vibration of the table crack and Luca stood up.

"No no no, look buddy, as far as I'm concerned, this gold wasn't a transaction. Its repayment for Michael." Julius sighed and set Jerry down on the railing, he wasn't worried in the slightest. But Luca was both good business and a good source of information, losing him would prove a setback.
"Fine Luca how much?"

"See dis is the thing Julius, ya know I figured you of all people would know what I'm feeling. Michael, Michael was everything to me! And you took him away from me! You sorry sacka shit you and your mopey fuckin boss goddamn you. No loyalty, Michael was priceless-" Luca stood there as the heads of his door guards flew past him. Julius had heard enough, while he was slightly irked by the comments, Luca telling him Michael was priceless told Julius there was no bargaining. Blitzing the Black Hand's 5th in command, Julius swiftly kneed him through the wall. Using his senses, the Child of the Eclipse could tell there were around 15 mages in here, and none felt stronger than any of his previous contracts. Julius proceeded to manhandle the minotaurs to the ground, stabbing one through the head with the others horns, before pulling out his rapier and finishing the other off.

What happened next turned into the bloodbath he had hoped to avoid. Limbs, innards and blood flowed in seconds as well as explosions, ice, shadows, all sorts of magic. The air was heavy with the scent of iron and ash. the only damage Julius had sustained was when Luca's best managed to catch him off guard with a blade spell, burrowing deep enough into his cheek that it left a cross shaped scar on his right cheek. Emerging from the rubble, he confronted the frightened Luca, and before he could utter a word, Julius removed his sight with his blade. The servants scrambled and proceeded to unlock their chains, as their binding spells disappeared, and Julius left, sheathing his sword and taking Jerry.





A month later, Julius had broken into the various crime scenes that Luca had informed him of. While his deduction skills were rather strong, one thing he lacked was any magical ability that could help him deduce further. These crimes were magical in nature, and as such, were almost impossible to solve without the use of it itself. Julius' weakness had presented itself here. He was a monster when it came to fighting mages since he was a cheat code, but anything else involving it he lacked. Swiftly, word got to him that a new set of victims had appeared. The Black Sun made his way there, Jerry in hand. He hadn't encountered any Black Hand assassins either, it seems Luca or maybe his uncle understood the value of treating business as business.

Arriving at the scene, Julius waited for 2 detectives to leave. It took place in a seemingly rundown warehouse. The floating lamps that lined the sidewalks of the city shone down on this moonless night. Sneaking his way through the rooftop window, he descended down to the rafters. One of the detectives commented on how it was a fucked scene. Concealed in the darkness and not giving a trace of Tenebris, Julius descended once they left. The detectives weren't lying, for starters, it seemed that whoever did this cut the lights off to the rest of the warehouse. This singular light shone down on the victims, drawing attention to it. Just as usual, a man and a nephil woman. She appeared to be dryad, a type of fae.

Julius looked deeper into the face of the man. His visage struck Julius. Drawing back memories to a while ago, Julius remembered the 5th member of the crimson hand, Lionel. He wasn't particularly powerful, but Julius enjoyed his company. When he was killed, Morgan went on a rampage on the target in a rare showing of emotion.

Hearing heartbeats and footsteps coming from a way, Julius ascended into the darkness again, a total of 3 stepped its way from
various directions, before he was greeted by a familiar face, and an unusual figure who gave off a strange aura. He watched her do her work for a few minutes, before like a shock of electricity, he decided she was someone he could trust with this. Descending down from the darkness, Jerry in hand and duffel bag in hand, he landed silently in front of them.
"Alexandra Vandyr, it's good to see you..."


Katrina
1725261330235.png​
The past few months had been interesting for the young Vanderbelt woman, from chasing through ruins in the Middle East, she found herself immediately interested in the happenings at Rodinia. The council could mass lie and manipulate to ordinary people that a gas leak and plane crashed into that building, but any mage worth her salt could tell that was a comet. It wasn't just a manifested comet, that was the real deal, summoned and pulled through the atmosphere. She immediatley used her family funds to book a ticket. She was however, met with extreme regulation and couldn't get farther than New Versailles. Frustrated at the barring of access, she took to digging in the underground. Using her dual status as both an explorer and somewhat of a detective Katrina was able to quickly pick up on the happenings of the world. It had seemed a rather influential businesswoman was involved DIRECTLY with the events of what had transpired. Seeing as how Tecnet was to be of only hostility, she quickly sought to track down Angelica Pierce.

Two months of snooping around. Two months of snooping had led her to this. Boarding one of the light rail trains. Katrina sat down and let out a sigh. She had various successes back out in the other parts of the world. From ancient demons to divine sacrifices, she felt as though her research on the "Red Man" was starting to turn into a wild goose chase. On top of that, no matter how much she traveled, this small-town girl was just incapable of getting used to big cities. The crammed spaces, the pollution, and on top of that, the constant surge of Tenebris used throughout these newer cities was almost nauseating. the train started to slide, the rails always made these high-pitched noises, many people likened them to screams, but they were rather fast. To and across a continent in 2 hours they say. Katrina pulled up a bumblebee pillow and turned on a horror movie, seated in her private cabin, might as well get through that back catalog.

New Versailles area was marked by beautiful forests and mountains. The skies were a lovely blue with clouds. Halfway through her movie, Katrina felt the sun blot out, and her lungs immediatley felt sharp. She coughed as though she had the plague.
"Famous Yug Gorod air I see..." Passing up through the southern mountains, it was rather exciting. The train went over a rather churning volcano, and lava shot up as they went over it, with magic being used to shield the train from any harm. There wasn't even as much as a shake, just a geothermal spectacle. Another hour had passed, the train locked itself into place at the station. As she exited, she was immediatley hit with the grim, dingy, and quite frankly shithole setting. Not being insanely overly priced, her clothing stood out as the nicest set there. It seems Yug Gorod is rather productive with Every. Single. Square. Inch. As Katrina took a few steps, sparks flew up from a vent below, clearly OSHA was not a factor here, as the train station was built right under a factory.

After dropping her things off at her hotel, she immediatley begun to work. A month later, she was still attempting to figure out how to either contact Angelica or acquire information about her. The word around town was last week, her own men attempted to gun her down, and these past few days Miss Pierce has been having everything gunning for her head it seemed. Angelica's men were quick to shut down anything with Katrina, this was likely due in part to her reputation and the fact Pierce was likely scared of losing her head. Katrina spoke to fellow detective at Yug Gorod. Angelica almost ruled these streets, it only made sense for threats to start coming from within. Other gangs were having a hard time competing with her and these Tecnet golems that basically equated to mechs, they were fleeing more and more to Brilhante just across the channel. Katrina had learned through various tellings that another player had entered into the city, their reputation was just about as large as the Calamity Walker's.

"A gun for hire would be much easier to get to than stuck up spoon in her mouth..." Katrina pulled her contacts within the rather corrupt Yug Gorod. It was rather easy to get the phone number of a one Morgan Dimas. A top ten assassin in the world would probably let his reputation do the defense for an easily accessible. "Evening Dracula. You're on the phone with Katrina Vanderbelt. THE Katrina Vanderbelt, but between us you can call me Kats. I'm not here to butter you up, I hear your clients' payments are good enough compliments. I just want to chat, and this is just between girls, no feds or handcuffs for you I promise. I heard you were at that tower, hehe, word travels fast in the mage world as you know. Meet me at the Pony Express Hotel, 6th floor, room 46. Make it quick, I can get you some gold to pick your teeth with." Katrina had a nice habit of immediatley word vomiting her whole propositions. She hung up before he could even make a sound. She had given him all the info he could need, whether he would come or not was all that mattered.

Within a matter of hours on a moonless night, Katrina heard a knock on the door. She welcomed in the rather well-dressed vagabonds to her humble abode.
"Thank you for coming, let's get started."
 
A thick red fog permeates the deepest sections of an old warehouse in Yug Gorod. Where once old machines were left to rot now hundreds of afflicted wander its concrete floors with idle concentration. Their host mind, sound sleep within the depths of the pink mist, was currently slumped in a chair at the center of the warehouse. A room that was likely once a place to house documents. Or a overthrown foreman’s office, as it was full of empty shelves and cabinets adorned with broken locks and scorched by long diminished flames. Now lining these shelves were dozens of crimson and pink mushrooms, including twitching red weblike creatures within several sealed jars, happily cared for by the man who slept below them.

Baron’s hood and rebreather laid absently on the desk next to him. A rare occurrence, but one that he savored when he got the chance to do so. He breathed soundly as he slept. His exhales drifting yet more spores into the already heavy air. Even though having an enclosed space like this allowed him to better create more afflicted, it isolated this particular warehouse from the other TUP members. At least the ones that werent equipped with gas masks.

He slept dreamless till he heard the faintest whispering. Like a thousand voices within his ears, Moving... cold… rain... here... Baron opens his eyes to the semi dark room, noting his messenger pinging in his pocket. Flipping it open, his hands still at the notice.

Pierce was here to check out the new safe house. A roughly scheduled visit, yet still not the most convenient… a little too early. He barely had the other warehouses cleared out from all the junk the previous owners had left behind. After Angelica had established TUP as a formidable force in this region, things have only gotten more short notice. Everyone had stared cutting corners as a response to the halts in their operations. And with their newfound vulnerabilities, if Tecnet got a mind for it, a few well placed automatons could wipe out TUP’s chain of command. Leaving him stranded in this wartorn shithole.

Sitting up and shouldering the rifle he had propped next to his chair, Baron slipped the rebreather over his angular nose and flipped the heavy layered hood over the crimson gill like fungus that lined his neck and shoulders. He moved out of the room with ease, the afflicted parting the way as he went to meet up with Angelica. The afflicted here made themselves busy by picking up debris to later be deconstructed, relaying messages to members of The Underground Pillar, or standing around to guard the place. Very few were in wait for new instructions as these afflicted were cultivated to fill out the ranks of Barons previous horde. With the increased security at Drezzen’s boarders, there was little to no way to safely get the hundreds of afflicted out of the ratways and back into his vicinity. A shame. But it allowed him to keep an eye on TUPs headquarters.

Exiting the sporic warehouse through an isolated hallway, a cloud of red clinging to his footsteps for a few paces, Baron awaited the arrival of the megalomaniac he called his boss.


Active Effects: none.
 
Last edited:
Aftermath
​
Rather unimpressed was the only way to describe the man's thoughts as he fell, glass and concrete zooming past and wind howling, Morgan squeezed the icicle embedded in his armored hands until they broke apart with a satisfying crack, chunks of ice now following him with his descent. All in all, that woman's performance was almost disappointing, to her credit she did put on a decent show with whatever she was spouting about up there before he tuned it out, yet she chose a non-lethal method of dispatching a thorn in her side. Rather foolish in all honestly. Morgan sighed and crossed his arms staring at the ground still a ways away, he considered detonating all the blood on that floor just to make sure Angelica wouldn't survive the now collapsing building however... Zach was still up there. A tinge of anger washed over the man, if she was to do anything to him he would have to pay her back tenfold.

Suddenly a rather annoying buzzing sound interrupted his thoughts, his phone. Morgan retrieved it from his pocket, answering the call from Julius, he was barely able to make out anything he was saying over the wind. "Hang on a moment..." He glanced downwards to see the ground creeping up ever quicker, Morgan retrieved a scroll from within his jacket, a spell to dispel the gravity around him for just a second, within seconds of impact he casts it essentially breaking his fall completely. Barely a few feet off the ground the scroll burns up, forcing the gravity back to normal, turning a lethal fall into a simple tumble off a bed. Morgan returned the phone to the side of his head after dusting off his coat, he glanced upward at the ruined Tecnet building "I'll meet you there. We're gonna have to talk about Aiden, this whole thing feels off."


Morgan
Q5j48FP.jpeg

​
While Morgan wasn't opposed to meeting up with "THE Katrina Vanderbelt" as she put it, she didn't even let him get a single word in, he wasn't particularly keen on people that act as energetically as her. Typically he'd have Julius or even Zach deal with clients that acted as such, Morgan simply couldn't keep up with people that acted like that. He sighed exhaling another cloud of smog to add to the lovely Yug Gorod atmosphere while approaching the meeting place Katrina alone decided upon. Morgan raised the scrap of paper he was barely able to scribble the address down on towards the first decent looking building he has seen since arriving at this shithole of a city, as if to confirm it was indeed the correct one. However... He was unsure if he even wrote the correct location down. He sighed flicking the still light cigarette into a puddle of who knows what before entering the Pony Express Hotel.

Floor 6, room 46, this was where they agreed to meet. Or at least that was his best guess, if he was wrong he'd never hear the end of it from the two people with him. Luckily for him, he was indeed correct, that woman Katrina didn't even feel the need to introduce herself just straight to business. Morgan entered the room his eyes scanning the perimeter to make sure this wasn't a setup or anything similar. He stepped near the open window displaying the many beautiful sights of the Yug Gorod skyline including but not limited to; factory smokestacks, industrial furnaces, and not a single star in the sky, how lovely.

The entire city put him in a rather unpleasant mood. He speaks up his eyes falling upon the detective. "You know... usually you aren't supposed to invite Dracula into your home." He seemingly joked to get her back for that earlier comment. He shook his head at his own joke as if to dismiss it immediately. "Before we start anything, I'd like to know how we can trust you." Morgan glances out the window as if someone is going to be looking back into their 6th floor room. "No, never mind. First I'd like to know what you wanted to 'chat' about."


Albion
yCFUhKL.jpeg

​
It was a surprise to be sure that the Council of Solomon would appoint him to this, this was the work of their detectives was it not? Especially now since Drezzen has firmly taken its stance against Nephil. It was all quite baffling, to send the Nephil representative and King of the Fae to assist in this. Perhaps the situation was simply that dire, but then again perhaps not. This whole ordeal was just quite annoying. Albion had a long list of better things he could be doing with his time, especially since That One decided to show his face once again. How long had it been since he encountered him? Ah, but perhaps it was his own fault. He didn't bother to tell anyone about him, as if anyone would believe the words of a fae after all.

He would play his part in all of this, he followed the pair of detectives as they arrived at the scene, one of which looked quite awful to be honest, the man named Yuri Belekov appeared as if he hadn't slept in days not to mention his rather poor habit of constantly stuffing his face in that journal of his. The other was slightly familiar, a woman, she was at that tower that fateful day. He wondered what she thought about all of this, the whole falsified story the council shoved out, but... Asking her seemed like it would require far more effort than he was willing to give, especially to this pair of humans. A few insects fluttered past the group, Albion being the only one to smile at their appearance.

Within the palm of his hand, his moth familiar lands, Albion raises the creature to his ear to hear the chittering indecipherable words spoken to the fae, he simply gazes down at the insect like creature his expression souring. "You shouldn't say such awful things about them. Especially with them right next to me." With a quick motion Albion closes his hand leaving no trace of the creature, before his smile returns to his face gazing upon his two 'Companions' "Sorry about that, usually they listen better than that." On top of that... Albion simply hated liars. That detective Yuri appeared to be quite upset with the display as he shook his head and muttered something to himself, but no matter. The opinions of individual humans didn't really matter in the slightest.

Within moments they finally arrived at what can be described as quite a sorry sight, two corpses stared back at the fae. Seemingly unphased that detective Yuri immediately sprung into action jotting down notes in that rather new journal of his, Albion wondered if he was ever without that thing. It was indeed an awful sight, someone wanted them to see this, as if they were casting a line out to sea. I wonder what the look on their face will be when they see what they've caught. Perhaps they were still around this very moment. As if to interrupt his thoughts on purpose a new figure arrived... Holding a fish. Albion gestured towards Yuri, who was hovering his hand over his firearm at the entrance of this new party. "Now now relax there..." Yuri lowered his hand saying something along the lines of "Great now I have to watch two of them." before fixing his attention back on the two corpses. A false smile spread over Albion's face towards the new figure, he recognized the man of course, Julius didn't really take any steps to hide his appearance in the slightest, that and the fact that he had 'nothing behind him' not a single bit of Tenebris. However the fact that he knew Miss Vandyr was a surprise. "I was unaware you knew this man, Miss Vandyr." He sighed and shook his head almost condescendingly "Though... Isn't it a bit odd to be buddy-buddy with someone who usually makes murder scenes like this?" He gaze fixes on Julius, he was... Underwhelming to be honest. A far cry from that one but still a tad bit interesting.



Captain Jakov Dagon
fH4g3Hb.jpeg

Jakov a captain of The Underground Pillar, notorious for his particularly lazy attitude and sadistic selection of spells glanced up at the rearview mirror at face of his boss, the businesswoman Angelica Pierce. He was assigned to be her chauffer for today despite it being a rather odd job for an 'esteemed' enforcer like himself. He didn't bother complain, simply driving her around beat doing any of the hard work he was normally assigned. They were to arrive at their new "Base" in just a few minutes... Jakov spoke up with a fake smile "So... Should I just give you my report now?" Hm. A rather stupid question in all honesty. He shouldn't be wasting her time, just get this whole driver schtick done so you can sleep. "Y'know we probably shoulda known Munroe was no good. Honestly didn't trust the guy the second I saw him the first time." Jakov tapped his fingers along the steering wheel in an attempt to keep himself awake "Good thing you got outta there in one piece. I doubt anyone would be able to replace you." He turned a corner into a long narrow street, the warehouse's shadow covering the vehicle as they pulled up to its entrance. "Besides, Mr Baron would be pretty upset if anything happened to you. We're here by the way... Unless you need me to walk you in too." He said the last part stretching his arm forward before yawning loudly, the engine of the car reached a halt as he stepped out, rubbing the back of his head. The prospect of getting some sleep seemed to grow further and further away as he looked at the sorry state of their "new base".
 





4:46
















  • Instagram















    theraven























    2.5M likes



    theraven
    (cont. in comments) in this world, gold is the strongest currency -- name a price, the job is done.




    View all 69 comments










    messages


    9:06pm






    TOM FROM SCHOOL


    is my contact name still "from school" on your phone











♡requested by dreamglow, coded by uxie♡
 
Last edited:
















  • filler tab! ignore
















  • h


















mood



nervous and a little tense







location



pony express hotel?







outfit



zLiOInp.jpg







interactions



morgan, zack, & katrina







tags



true force true force calamityone calamityone Bush Bush








the butterfly








nine lives

 
FLASH!

A blinding light takes over the room, causing Angelica to let go of Zack in a foolish attempt to shield her eyes from such a blast. However, in doing so, Angelica accidentally stepped off of the edge, beginning to fall to her doom. "Ahhhhhhh!" She screamed, as she finally was able to see her surroundings as she falling faster and faster towards the ground. Beginning to panic and breathe heavily but determined to not die, Angelica pulled her cloud closer and closer to her, eventually reaching her and allowing Angelica to stop her descend. Angelica then noticed the building was beginning to actively collapse, resulting in Angelica hurrying out of there, flying her cloud to a safe distance and away from the scene, leaving Zack, Lyli, and Endy to be crushed by the falling debris.

Endy, however, was blinded by his own light as well and had stepped over the edge as well. Zack, who managed to regain his sight, noticed his newfound friend falling to his doom and panicked. "Shit!" He cried out as he jumped out of the building towards Endy. Using his flames once again, Zack raced to catch the falling Endy, going at fast speeds in order to prevent him from touching the ground. Zack, using all his might, eventually reached the wizard, picking him up bridal style and flying him over to a nearby rooftop, putting him down in hopes he would regain his senses. "Endy? Endy!" he exclaimed. "Are you okay?" As he was watching over Endy's body, he noticed Angelica flying away from the scene, refusing to even look at the people she left for dead. Zack stared for a moment and frowned. Someday I will get you...

A sound of a loud rumble then brought Zack's attention back to the Tecnet building. It was actively collapsing...with Lyli still inside! Zack realized the situation and panicked. "I'll be back, Endy!" He called out, unsure if he was even conscious. "Just stay here!" Zack then walked to the edge of the building and, with all of his might, engaged in flight, flying as fast as he could back towards the 150th floor, dodging falling debris as part of the building began to tip over. Shit, shit, shit, shit! Zack thought, narrowly dodging part of the roof, nearly being hit by a satellite dish. Zack then busted through the glass and ended up back on the 150th floor, where he noticed a part of the ceiling about to break and drop onto Lyli's body. "Oh, no no no, NO!" Zack rushed over and caught the falling debris with his hands just before it landed on top of his friend. It was extremely heavy, with Zack struggling to keep lifting it. "Ahhhhhhhh!" He cried out before looking all around and noticing falling pipes, vents, chairs, and the collapse of Angelica's ice wall all around him. Zack, with all his strength, threw the debris off to the side, picked up Lyli, and began running to the edge of the building. More of the ceiling collapsed all around as he had to navigate blockages in his way.

He wouldn't be halfway through the floor when it suddenly collapsed, which, combined with the pre-existing ice, turned the floor into a slide. "Oh my Goooooooood!" cried Zack as he began sliding down the floor towards the edge of the building, nearly dodging a collapsing steel beam before getting hit on the head by a chair, causing his head to crack on the ice. "Ah, fuck!" he spoke, becoming dizzy as he and Lyli went flying out of the window, with Zack accidentally letting go of Lyli, resulting both to enter free fall. Zack blacked out for a few seconds before awaking to the sight of a steel beam approaching him. Suddenly taking notice, Zack used his flames to dodge out of the way before noticing Lyli falling by herself. They were extremely close to the ground by this point. Zack, realizing he only had one shot at this, positioned his feet towards the building, and with one last chance, kicked off the building and blasted off, catching Lyli right before hitting the ground. Zack flew away from the scene as fast as he could, noticing all of the people who were running away from the collapsing structure. Zack was horrified and disgusted at the sight. Look at what Angelica and Baron did...

Zack brought Lyli to the rooftop he was at before and laid her next to Endy. He then turned around and watched as the rest of the building came down. All that beautiful architecture and the hard work that went into it...gone in a matter of seconds. Sure, the building kinda looked like a penis but...to see it be destroyed in a matter of moments...it was how his parents described the World Trade Center going down when they witnessed it firsthand. Such a thought made him think about his father once more...how he saw a facade of him inside the building due to Baron's spores...it made him rethink everything that has happened, especially after Angelica said to him. Was I...really a hero? Am I...really living up to my father's...legacy? Zack then turned back to see Endy and Lyli on the rooftop. They're alive because of me...but all of those other people, Zack thought as he looked back at the destroyed building. Did they make it out? Did we...do this? Zack sighed, trying to not to let the negative thoughts consume him like they usually do during times like this. He turned his attention back to Endy and, in an attempt to lighten both of their moods, told him, "I guess we aren't meeting on the 50th floor anymore."

Such negative thoughts continued three months later. Everything changed because of the attack on the Tecnet building. Zack saw the world slightly differently now, especially Lyli, who, since the incident, has appeared as a totally different person to him. Was it because he almost watched her died? Probably, but now it was time to find answers. Zack, Lyli, and Morgan were in Yug Gorod; an absolute shithole of a city. It smelled bad, it was hard to breathe with all of the pollution, the Underground Pillar has set up camp here, and worse he had to explain to his mother that he's "going on a business trip to expand McGill Gold Banking to the Russians", making his mother worried sick about his safety. Apparently they were to investigate the client that ordered them to murder Aiden in the first place. Apparently Julius and Aiden had a fight with each other, where Aiden revealed he was a super spooky guy with some weirdo as his boss who slammed the Tecnet building with a meteor (or as the media called it, "an airplane"). They're here to meet up with some detective lady who might give them answers, which Zack desperately needed. He wanted to know what the hell happened, why it happened, and whose ass he needs to kick in order to save the world.

"I don't know who she is either," Zack rebutted Lyli when she asked her question. "Don't tell Morgan this but I texted Endy earlier if he knew who she was but he never got back to me. Service is pretty bad here...at least this hotel has some." Lyli then proceeded to comment on the name of the hotel. "Ain't no more weirder than Motel 6. I've stayed in a Motel 6 before. It sucked," rebutted Zack, unknowingly flexing his privilege. He has only stayed in the most prestige of hotels due to his wealth and status, preferably with a water slide or a pool. Well, before the incident, that is. His limbs can't get any water in them or else they'll rust. Zack has been patiently waiting for the company that has made his arms to create a water-proof version of their arms. Plus, it'll help him in encounters with Angelica...Zack was still mad that she managed to get away. Apparently Baron is still alive too...at least Aiden died from that mess but, with how complicated that whole situation and that they're still sorting it out, it wasn't worth it. Lyli almost tripped on the carpet when entering the hotel and told him not to speak about it. It would've be cute if Zack didn't see Lyli fall onto the ground when she was hit by Baron's bullet. Now not's the time for PTSD, Zack thought to himself, immediately starting to think about all the shit that Angelica said to him, causing him to shiver. She's gonna pay for this...

They arrived at the room. Thank goodness we're here, Zack thought to himself. I wonder who this Katrina even is. She's probably just a nobod-bod-bod-bod-oooooooohhhhhh my god. Zack thought to himself as his eyes immediately lit up as the detective opened the door and let themselves in. Here stood before Katrina Vanderbelt, a young femme fatale that Zack stared upon, taking in every angle of her being. That beautiful black hair...those tattoos..that dress...look at that face! That smile...her nails and makeup are so pretty...I need to learn from her...is my outfit good? My hair's a little messy and I...wait. What I am doing? Think, Zack! You're on a mission! We need to focus! Zack walked up to Katrina and sticked his hand out to shake. "Hi, I'm Zack. Member of the Crimson Hand. Are you single?" Zack immediately started blushing red. "UH, I MEAN-do you-UH-do you w-work a-alone? G-Got any...allies and s-shit?" FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK ZACK YOU IDIOT! STUPID! Panicking, Zack, when he got the chance, began texting Endy in his time of need. "yo Endy my man. listen I need ur help. you look like u got mad rizz and get mad bitches" Zack began texting, unaware of his friend's sexuality. "how do you talk to girls I'm so bad at it 😭" Zack then put his phone away and let Morgan and Lyli speak to the detective Zack was totally not simping for.

On the opposite side of town, a depressed, paranoid, but bored Angelica sat in the back of her escort, driving to her new base that Baron had the pleasure of setting up. Baron still hasn't told me how he escaped the building, Angelica thought to herself. She tried to not let it bother it her but it did immensely. She left him behind...just like she was left behind on that island...no, now was not the time for thinking this way. Her life was at stake, constantly dealing with different assassination attempts ever since arriving in this shithole of a city. "Munroe saved my life back in 22'," she replied to Captain Jakov. "I thought he was solid...turns out he was no different than those backstabbers at Crimson Hand. Surveillance has reported that they're in the city. Go figure. Always trying to ruin my parade." Angelica was especially pissed knowing that Morgan was still alive even after everything she did to him. I should've stabbed him in the head, Angelica brooded to herself. "Now I need to worry about them as well as the Russians...oh, and apparently JCPenny is mad we're raising the fee to have stores in our malls." This stupid lockdown is making everything more expensive...at least Baron has everything set up. Angelica proceeded to step out of the car alongside a giant water jug that she has been carrying around, alongside her good luck charm and pet Finny the Fish. Angelica grinned at the creature. Who's a good fish? Don't worry, baby. I'm sure this trashdump has some food for you. Angelica looked around the area and noticed a pair of cars pulling up a small distance away from where they are parking. Oh great, she thought to herself. And to think I was going to keep this dress clean today.

Baron and Raven were waiting outside the building for her, with Raven seemingly bothering Baron like she always does. Angelica frowned. Deep down, she hated Raven. She was very useful when it came to hacking their enemies but, like always... Someone so young shouldn't be involved in the game. Angelica tried her best to suppress her feelings. It was too late for Raven. It was too late for that boy back in the Tecnet building (His name was Jack, right?). It was too late for Angelica. Nevertheless, Angelica maintained her composure and approached the two. "Good morning, Baron," she spoke professionally. "Hello, Raven. I apologize for being late. The Russians have weird zoning laws when it comes to commercial buildings. I know you two care deeply about the East Yur Gorod NWS shopping mall...sad to say it has been delayed by another 2 years." Angelica made a fake pouting face before whispering to Baron, "We got company," with Angelica tilting her head to point out the cars that parked up the street without anyone getting out. Angelica then backed away from her right hand man. "Right, let's see this warehouse. We have to make it quick; Ms. Kelly is still suing us for forgetting to put up a wet floor sign in the food court of West Drezzen Mall." Angelica began walking into the building, taking a quick glimpse at Raven. Her skin was as pale as ever. It upset Angelica to see someone so young throw their life away. You should be at amusement parks, going to the beach with friends, have fun in the sun...you shouldn't want what I had.

Angelica entered the premises, visually impressed by the work Baron has done. At least, for how impressive transforming an abandoned dirty warehouse in Yug Gorod could possibly be. Lots of fungus as usual, she thought. Almost looks like Super Mario Brothers. Angelica looked upon all of her brand new mechs. Tecnet technology is getting better and better, Angelica thought to herself before remembering that weird stare Alexia gave her back in the building. Perhaps he does know...I wonder what exactly I could do with that. Maybe a little Baron brainwashing might reveal all his secrets. "Very impressive, Baron," Angelica commented, looking at all the affected soldiers guarding the place. "I'm sure those will come in handy," Angelica told Baron. "We have a massive collection of Tecnet weapons here. Yug Gorod is even worse of a criminal shithole than Drezzen was. It won't take long for every criminal in these streets to have Underground Pillar weapons in their hands. The moment the last cartels convert or be destroyed is when this city is ours. The Reptiles, the Baba Bratva, and the Ilyin family are the last major remnants of this criminal landscape. Not to mention that Crimson Hand has been spotted in the city." I hope Katrina can give me more info on those fuckers, she thought, unaware of what Katrina was doing right now. "Raven, how has the progress been on hacking into the Reptile network?"

The Reptiles sat patiently outside of the warehouse. Their leader, Gennady Ermakov, was loading his shotgun. "That American woman thinks she can come into my territory and steal my customers?" He exclaimed to his driver in his thick Russian accent. "Then she has the balls to try and hack into my network? No!" He said, cocking his shotgun. "This ends today!" Suddenly, he and his men exited their vehicles and ran over to the warehouse, where they busted through the doors and made their presence known, with all of their men aiming their sights at Angelica, Baron, and Raven. "Hello, Ms. Pierce! Let me just say that I am a big fan of your half-off Tuesday sales! Was always a highlight when I visited Drezzen! Too bad you won't be reaping any of those sales anymore!"

"Hello, Gennady," Angelica coldly said. "Funny enough, we were just talking about you."

"Oh, really?" Gennady replied, sarcastic and quippy. "Was it about how I managed to storm your warehouse without you and your men noticing?"

"Oh, I noticed," Angelica corrected the invaders.

"Really?" He rebutted. "Then why else would you allow me and my men to enter your very secret warehouse with all of your secret weapons and documents?"

"I don't know," Angelica sarcastically replied. "Why else would I allow you to enter my warehouse which is filled to the brim with my heavily armed men surrounding you from every corner?"

Gennady's smile faded from his face. He looked around the room. All of Baron's men were present, all armed and dangerous. Angelica patted Baron on the shoulder. "You're up," she told him, as Angelica opened up her water jug to prepare for the chaos that was about to be unleashed.
 
ENDYMION
3 Months Later

IMG_8378.jpeg​

“Sir, I have to ask you to please put out your cigarette, or we’ll have to escort you off the train.” The steward, a fat man with balding white hair, gingerly clasps his hands in front of himself like an approximation of a bow. His moustache quivers anxiously.

Endymion could appreciate his politeness, at least. He grinds the end of his joint into a napkin and drops them both in an empty sandwich bag. Beryl never complained. She just slept on soundly in her puppy crate under his seat.

It’d been nearly three months of this. City hopping and late nights on the train, sometimes staying at a grungy hotel, oftentimes sprawled out on a park bench. Endymion isn’t going anywhere in particular. That’s the problem. He drifts between worlds, chasing down news stories that catch him in the heartstrings until the adrenaline wears off and he has to have a meltdown in some public washroom over being so far from home and his comfort zone.

The train steward leaves with a twisted frown. Endymion spares him no glance as he leaves his seat to go wash up in the endcar toilet. It doesn’t help much; his hair and clothes still stink and the bruised circles under his eyes seem to be permanent. The sink water is chilly though and it perks him back up a bit from the haze he’s under.

His phone buzzes once. Endymion sits fully clothed on the toilet to answer it, stained jeans and a baggy, musty hoodie. A far cry from his traditional wizard regalia, which is stuffed into his luggage. Just in case. (He was a germaphobe once, but these days he can’t seem to focus too much on anything anymore.)

He snickers a bit to see Zack’s text. Oh sweet summer child.

“LOL.” He texts back first. Then,

“Just be yourself. That’s what I’ve heard, at least.”

.
..
…

A minute later, he adds,
“Stay safe.”

Not that it matters. What’s Endymion gonna do, rush across the country again and go save Zack himself, if he does get into trouble? No way. The kid — who’s not all that much younger than himself, although it feels like it — can take care of himself better than Endymion can. He’s the one who saved them all from the fucking comet explosion. Spirited them away to safety like a damn TV hero. He’s the one away on a “business trip” with the rest of his murder buddies from the conference, doing dangerous shit and saving even more civilians day and night with nary but a confident grin on his face. Endymion can still close his eyes and map out the bruises on his arms from where Zack lifted him from the falling building. After he lost his fucking mind a bit trying to be a hero in return, that is.

Who does Endymion think he is? He’s not a damn hero. He’s a bum and an overgrown street kid and a NEET and, apparently, the guy who lights up on public transportation for lack of fucks to give. So why does he keep feeling himself drawn ever close to these kinds of dangerous situations? It does give him a rush. Doing the detective work, catching a train across cities, plodding along in the rain after dark just to intrude on a crime scene and convince himself he could stop these things from happening, someday, in a different life…

Frankly, it’s obsessive. But something broke, or twisted a bit after he survived that conference attack and the comet. Something deep inside him wants more than what he is, and that same part thinks that if all he can manage is to be in the right place at the right time and save someone from getting hurt on his watch, one of these times, it’s worth it. That’s why he does what he does and hoards all the information he can find about crime scene after crime scene.

Someone bangs on the car door and startles him from his pity party. Endymion whips the door open and stalks out. He’s not really sure why he’s acting so pissed. His brain chemistry’s been off since he huffed spores and got tossed off a building, he supposes.

Back at his seat Endymion digs through his raggedy backpack for what he calls his “files,” which are piles of newspaper articles annotated in red pen, printed MapQuests, motel reservations and Beryl’s vet records all stapled together. Everything one might need while travelling and paranoid schizophrenic.

He flips through to the stack titled Verona. (Hey, he’s still got an artist’s soul deep down.) Here’s his next target. One could take a deep dive into his past and make accusations as to why these lovers’ murders strike him as emotionally significant, but Endymion just keeps chasing every lead he finds like a hamster running endlessly after a carrot, unaware it’s trapped on a wheel.

He pulls up the map he’s made up to the industrial district, where the latest crime scene takes place. Right there, in the centre of the page, an unfortunate occupied warehouse stares up at him. His heart sings.

Roll on, hamster, roll on.
 

V A N D Y R , L E X
Interacting with: true force true force calamityone calamityone ​

Lex wasn't going to lie; at that moment, she wanted nothing more than to be picked up by the Council and reassigned again. She had always liked the thrill that came with investigations, the danger it brought upon her. You had to be particularly suicidal to continue being in her line of work. Either that or extremely benevolent but Lex considered herself to be the former. Still, no training could have really prepared her for what Drezzen was going to undergo in just a few months following the attack. Lex had barely gotten her report of the events before they were locked in a totalitarian state.

Thanks to her position, Lex had a lot more freedom than the common folk but that only made her feel worse about the situation. She couldn't even blame the governing bodies for their extreme paranoia since their beloved heir had been turned into nothing more than a husk of himself— gone was his charismatic behavior that sent people for loops. Still, that didn't help the fact that the barriers that were erected had such an impact on both the environment and human living.

They were practically living in greyscale.

That, however, was a problem for politicians. Lex had another matter on her hands. Reports of five murder-suicides landed on her desk the night before and an assignment to figure out what was happening. Considering the fact that Nephils weren't even supposed to be in Drezzen due to the barriers made it even more of a mystery and that was causing public panic. It being paraded as some sort of murder-suicide didn't feel right either. One time was a fluke, two times might be an impostor but five times? Someone was intentionally targeting "couples" and allowing them to be found. To what end, Lex wasn't sure. A message? A warning? Revenge?

This deployment might answer all those. She was set to investigate with Yuri Belekov. Lex hadn't seen the detective in a long time ever since he had broken his leg and he was sent to heal up. He seemed... different. A lot more tired and quiet but she chalked it up to the seriousness of the situation. Her other companion was Albion, a Nephil representative sent in by the Council. Bit of an odd one but Lex supposed they all were in that moment. Albion spoke to little moth-like familiars and Lex just gave a shrug. "To each their own opinion, insect or not."

She followed them into the warehouse and shook her head upon the sight. Before she could start with her investigation, another presence revealed themselves from the shadows and it nearly gave her a heart attack. Lex had always been confident about her passive Tenebris sight— it allowed her to take note of a situation and all the players in it. This man did not have a single trace of it. Like a void in the environment. What more it was... "Mr. Volkanovski. I didn't think we'd see each other again." She admitted. After the incident at Tecnet, she thought that was the last time she would see the last scion of the once powerful family. Apparently not. She turned to Albion and gave him a tight-lipped smile. "A coincidence really. I used to work on their case when I was younger." Too green to really make a difference. "But... right now we have another case at hand. As long as Mr. Volkanovski doesn't interfere, we have no reason to engage." Not that they would stand a chance at such close quarters anyway. She turned back to Julius and studied him. It was true, this man was a notorious murderer but it didn't seem like he was here for their blood.

"Someone you know?" Lex asked the question as she walked towards the bodies. She put on her gloves and began to inspect the state of the bodies, trying to estimate how long it had been since their presumed death. She checked for any injuries, both physical and magical, that might indicate what kind of spell was used as well as if they had any sort of defensive injuries that would imply that they had fought the assailant prior to their deaths. And finally, what kind of traces of Tenebris energy that could imply what sort of spells had been slung around.

 

Julius
1725934453872.png​

Amidst the social droop he had just made, Julius lightly fiddled some fish flakes into Jerry's bowl. There was an odd, yet mysteriously warm air. The mix of Lex's comforting, paragon aura and Albion's fantastical one made the room feel fantastical, almost to a degree of being a child listening to stories of Camelot once again. It was swiftly snubbed by such a gruesome scene at their feet, but that tiny moment of clarity was enough to improve the mood of Julius. Spinning his handgun around with one hand and emptying the mag, he handed it to Albion as a gesture of good faith. He addressed the scene comment and Lex's concern,

"I'm not here on business your royal highness, rather my own interests. I'm sure we can look past the naiad incident?" A slight sadistic smile stretched past his face, that run in with a fae looked back for Albion, so called nephil ambassador and fae "king". It was one thing for a fae to hire an assassin, as tarnishing at it was, it was another for them to try to backstab their client and end up getting shot in the head for it. But Julius wasn't here to explicitly rip into Albion, in the game of what outweighs what, a council members help might outweigh talking shit.

"Funny you say that though, typically what I leave is more all over the place. It's no surprise either that me and Vandyr know each other, we're both residents of the Fatherland." His gaze shifted back to Lex, and pale white met lush green, "Alexia's treehouse was quite the rampage, its why I'm here." He snickered slightly, impressed by how Lex was able to remember him from the split second they saw each other, given she wasn't necessarily a fighter. "You look good though, and it's nice to see you taking care of yourself. My father spoke highly of you." Tossing Jerry rather haphazardly to Albion, he knelt down, knowing Albion wouldn't let an animal die for no reason he looked in between the wounds of the crime scene.

"No, he just looks like a guy I used to run hits with, nothing more," he watched Lex start to examine the bodies, while not being a bloodbath, this was some grizzly stuff. There was another player here too, it was just a seemingly normal detective. He looked into Yuri's eyes, grinning. this detective likely knew who this butcher was, or at least had heard of his crimes. A simple intimidation attempt, the Black Sun decided that Lex was clearly the proper gal for this.

"I'll be clear, Lex, I trust you based off my father's word alone, you, however..." he pointed to the king, "I know how your kind act. I'm not sure why they would call such a big shot down here to deal what just seems like an odd string of occurrences." Julius decided to play it safe with his cards, he had the vital info of both the devilish figure he encountered and whatever happened with Aidan. He was well aware the level of hubris to walk into a police investigation as a murderer and demand proof of trust. He was, however, the one with the important info that could be relevant here. In truth, he did have a bias against Albion, but Julius had been around the world of Nephil through the blackmarket, while a fae he was said to be a great "man". What happened next would decide whether or not he would divulge with these 3 what he knew.
"I have an idea of what could be going on here, I'm sure we're all smart enough to know this isn't 5 incidents exactly the same by pure coincidence. But I want to know everyone here is worth telling it to.." his went from Lex back to Albion, he wanted to see his hand and verification


Katrina

1726089765485.png​

Immediately revulsed by the rather unflattering advances of what she perceived as a child, Katrina was flabbergasted. Was this really one of the most elite assassin groups in the world? Morgan here matched the description, down to the dead pan look and trench coat. Lyli, while looking a bit too aristocratic to be here, could be a killer. However, Morgan brought a wide-eyed child here who came off so strongly if he came any closer Katrina might've phoned security. In a turn of events, it seemed as though Katrina was the one who would need proving to.
"Um, riiiiiiight..." she held up her left hand, flashing her engagement ring in a not so obvious "please leave me alone" After everyone was allowed to recover from this, Katrina had prepared a table of rather expensive coffee. She used magic to levitate each cup to the three Crimson Hand members, turning her attention to Morgan first.
"How can you trust me? Well-" Katrina weaved a spell, while she wasn't a good front liner, she had some of the fastest sign weaving a mage could do. Immediately a sharp pinkis reddish portal appeared above her. A chained bloodied hook flew out of the portal in a sweeping manner towards Morgan's head. To a man of this caliber, to any of these three, this was a rather slow attack. She knew he could dodge it.
"...I couldn't harm you if I wanted. I'm a researcher, not a killer. I'm not into the black and white morality of a legal system, at both times your girl has been in and outside the law. What I care about is the good of the world and stopping things that may come to pass." She smiled, taking her sunglasses off and clasping her hands, turning to the rather white colored one.
"Let me put in an easy way to understand, had you turned on Channel Merlin, or read a book you'd have heard of me. I've done various jobs around the world, completed deep studies of Tenebris, and uncovered numerous artifacts. I was halfway to finding Excal' before the world willed me over here-" coughing out smog, she took out a handkerchief and coughed into it, the white fabric becoming black, "Jesus. Cities killing me, at this rate I'll get cancer before my dad and he's a fan of this garbage." She chuckled to herself before levitating what seemed to be an actual barrel full of clean spring water over, taking sips out of a rather long bendy straw.
"I wanted to chat about what had happened to you hobos on top that little tower. Tecnet CEO ends up a vegetable, Drezzen gets locked down, and a goddamn meteor comes crashing through the stratosphere. Mass death and suffering, directly because of magic. I won't say it's your guy's fault, your much more profeshy than that, however, I have seen this behavior before. And I think what you might want to know is what I know..."
 

Attachments

  • 1726089746104.png
    1726089746104.png
    448.4 KB · Views: 0
There was hardly any time for Baron to register that the young raven haired hacker was speaking to him before she had set upon littering his already messy mind with her telepathic words. Dwarfing her with some height, and broadness, he did look to be about as old and as large as someone's grandfather… as strange as that was to think about.

Baron barely moved as Raven attempted to poke and prod at him to stave off her boredom. And odd question here and there, without so much as a shrug from the taller man. To nothing in particular as she asked her questions far too quickly for him to answer properly. He couldn’t tell if she had even seen his response before she was on the ground, leaning against him. A common breach of personal space he had become accustomed to with her. Not that he cared really. She was one of the few people around here that treated him like more than an odd coworker. Still, the kid was simply on another wavelength than he was. She understood the mathematically immaterial, whereas he was bound to oil and steel. The most metaphysical he could reach revolved around the fungus… which functioned as naturally as sight for him at this point.

He stood stock still as she played with her sparks. Slightly annoyed by her hyperactive antics, but otherwise tolerant. The sight of Angelica’s escort caused him to perk up ever so slightly.

Things had been odd between them since the infiltration at Tecnet. As far as to what he deemed as ‘normal’ from the cold Angelica Pierce. Gentler words. Considerate gestures. Nothing completely out of the ordinary, but he could tell there was something on her mind. He hadnt thought to ask about it. Breaching the subject didn't feel appropriate. Nor did he entirely care what sort of mood she was in, so long as it didnt cause him any trouble.

After the second tremor at the tower, he couldnt recall much. A blending of senses from the other afflicted… a swirling shared experience that rushed reality and psionic visuals blurring the events that transpired. It wouldnt be the first time he had experienced such things. Getting enough afflicted into one life threatening space usually ended with everything to mesh in an attempt to survive as a group. The fungus’ will perhaps. Manifested as instinct. Regardless, his individuality regained itself outside of the tower, the other afflicted had dispersed and nothing else but civilian chaos surrounding him.

Maybe Angelica's behavior was a result in missing her mark on Morgan. And the incident with Munroe only made things ever more terse.

As her escort pulled in, his surveillance of hidden scattered afflicted altered him to the two cars following her. Done so by those too small or weak to serve any other purpose, standing still for so long plants would grow along their bodies -should they be in the area long enough- eyes unblinking. Although they couldnt see past the tinted windows of the approaching cars, Baron figured they were uninvited guests. They werent going to make any moves just yet. Not this far in, if they were smart… better not bite in case it was bait.

He watched Angelica step out of her vehicle wordlessly, not bothering with dusting her or the kid. Nods and hand gestures usually worked just fine in more casual scenarios. For as long as such things lasted. He made a mental note to alert Angelica when they were out of view of the intruders, or as it was applicable. If her demeanor changed out here, they may spring their trap.

And he worked better in enclosed spaces.

He bowed his head slightly at Angelica’s greeting. Quick and brief. Their business rarely, if at all, lingered on pleasantries. Angelica motioned down the way towards the suspicious visitors as they were about to go into one of the ‘enclosed’ buildings, one that had only a small amount sporic exposure from the afflicted walking around partially uncovered. Baron only nodded again, not looking where she was indicating. He already had a few eyes on the cars as it was. Though it was good to see Angelica hadnt lost her touch with all this stress. If this organization went under, he wasnt sure where he would end up.

Baron held open the doors for the two women with him, propping them open a second longer than necessary to allow for some airflow. The afflicted that roamed this particular building were wearing enough layers to make them look like plague victims, and the fungus was kept secured behind glass, in jars or partitioned in separate rooms no bigger than a moderate closet. Regardless, this particular warehouse was where he decided to keep their backlogged inventory. Nothing special. The boss lingered on the mechs, the ones that they were re purposing for manual labor while they rebuilt this place for TUP purposes, eyeing them proudly. He nodded again when she acknowledged the progress, but said nothing despite their now established sporic connection. This was business as usual. He listened to her speak about the politics of this foreign land while he kept a part of his attention on the vehicles outside. Split between eleven different perspectives, he had a grand view of the armed men bursting out of their cars and running straight towards the warehouse. He recognized their weapon choices. Their insignia. Reptiles. One of the small fry Angelica wanted to stamp out. Or tame. Either or, Baron didnt care. He was as proficient with the rifle as he was with a ‘forced welcoming party’.

The afflicted were made aware to avoid detection from the encroaching small invasion. Tucking into corners and empty shipping containers. Not but a moment later did he barely lift his hooded head to look down the barrels of the Reptiles shotguns.

They didn’t look like a well armed malicia, unlike the rumors and reputation they held for being a royal pain to any law enforcement in the area. Angelica seemed to think the same. Baron couldnt help but grin a little at Angelica’s snide sarcasm. Why else indeed? Perhaps he could get used to being underestimated like this.

Without a sound, let alone movement, Baron ordered every afflicted person in the area to swarm the building. Sixty or so surrounded the outside, whereas near forty fungal guards popped out of their hiding places, vaguely armed from anything between augmented mechanical teeth and claws fused to their bodies, to Technet firearms held firmly in their barely conscious hands. The look on the gang leader’s face was priceless, and the tap on the shoulder from Angelica was just an adornment to the whole scene. This was like a present, in some ways. And in others… a little too easy to be interesting. Baron rolled his rifle from his back into his hands as he finally spoke into every mind in his vicinity.

“Sure,” he hummed without any sign of amusement.

Rather, he had a tone of callous apathy as his afflicted all twitched into action. He could tell by Angelica’s stance that she wanted a piece. And, knowing Raven, she wouldnt get her jitters out without seeing someone tazed by her own hands. So he went easy on the already piecemeal group, allowing the afflicted armed with firearms one shot per, so that they didnt waste any rounds. Gunfire and bloody carnage erupted some feet away from him at the afflicted’s unhinged rampage. With this, Baron decided to take the time to make sure his sights were in good order, pointing the barrel away from the fighting and his comrades, pulling his rifle scope to the lens of his mask before polishing it off with the palm of his glove. By the time he flicked his luminescent eyes towards the doors, only a meagre number Reptiles remained standing.
 
Last edited:
Albion
yCFUhKL.jpeg

​
While the prospect of this meeting being just a coincidence was far too convenient for him, Vandyr didn't appear to be the type of person to go about lying and consorting with these types of people. It was the fact that this man was skulking about here was the part that put off the fae, what did this man have to gain by investigating these murders? Regardless Albion responds to the detective with a cheerful smile "I'll take your word for it this time." He waved off any further remarks he may have had, he didn't want to make a bad impression of course.

Now addressing the "Child of the Eclipse" who offered a firearm as a sort of gesture. A half-assed gesture if you asked him, this gun of Julius's was probably the least threatening weapon in his whole arsenal, perhaps if he handed over one his swords or even didn't bother with the whole thing it would have come off better. Despite this Albion takes the handgun from Julius with a rather dull expression and looks it over just once, inspecting every detail closely. Following his inspection he tosses the firearm over his shoulder towards the now irritated Detective Yuri who nearly drops it twice in an attempt to catch the weapon.

"Hmm... Naiad Incident..." Albion appears to ponder this request for just a moment tapping the side of his head as if it would bring up the memory quicker "Sorry I can't recall such a thing. Perhaps it wasn't as important as you think." It was unclear if the fae was even being serious or not or if he was going out of his way to annoy the man before him. Perhaps Albion's earlier assessment of Julius was slightly poor, underwhelming wasn't the correct word. This man's personality clearly was quite the opposite. The fae's thoughts were interrupted by a fishbowl being thrown his way, nearly catching him off guard, why was such a thing here in the first place? Upon catching the pet flung at him Albion brought the animal to his eye level staring at it. It was nothing special, clearly not a familiar. Just another average pet store fish. How odd.

While the pair with him observed the rather gruesome murder scene Albion's eyes wandered elsewhere, he wondered if Julius's murder buddies were around here too, perhaps they're all just hiding about. This thought was again interrupted by a rather annoying set of words being thrown his way, Albion pointed to himself as if Julius was talking to someone else entirely. "You're acting rather cautious now that's rather unlike you, Julius." But the man wasn't wrong, the fae in general were a rather untrustworthy bunch, they would make promises before immediately betraying said promises. Albion then gave his first genuine smile thus far "Wow, you think I'm a big shot huh?" It was obvious he was messing with Julius at this point before Albion moves to take a closer look at both of the corpses, his smile fades replaced with a very slight look of anger for the briefest of seconds not directed towards anyone in particular before being replaced with yet another false smile "As far as what I'm allowed to tell, Mister Julius... I do have information you'd be interested in but I believe it would be best for our relationship now if I kept it to myself. Besides, your track record with my kind isn't perfect either."


Morgan
Q5j48FP.jpeg

​
Morgan was simply left speechless by the whole display he just had to bear witness to from Zach. In a rare display Morgan's cold showing seemed to fade as he was completely caught off guard by this whole event, he shoots Zach a glare as if to say What on earth are you doing. Morgan could feel the second-hand embarrassment when Katrina showed he ring off. Perhaps he should have told the pair he brought along with him who Katrina was but he was under the false assumption they already knew. He cleared his throat as if to move on from the whole thing, hopefully they would all forget this ever happened. "Sorry about that... I'll make sure it doesn't happen again" He glances over at Zach and then Lyli

As if it was the most natural thing in the world Morgan snatched the hook out of the air before it could reach his head, he looks it over disgusted with its rather hellish appearance, he almost felt pity for Katrina in that moment before releasing the metal object his attention being returned to the woman. "Fair enough." He seemed to dismiss the whole event as if she didn't just try to cleave open his skull. He still stands near the window refusing the offering of beverage. Her description of the entire incident in Drezzen was rather on the mark, it was clear she was aware of something they weren't. Morgan retrieved a scrap of paper from his jacket pocket, holding it towards the woman to present the first of his questions, on the paper was a rather crude and poorly drawn symbol of what Julius saw while he fought with that man Aiden. "Do you know anything about this symbol? It was on one of Alexia's officials we were contracted to kill. The man took a .50 cal to the chest and got up from it, I doubt its anything normal."


Captain Jakov Dagon
fH4g3Hb.jpeg

The whole parade of cars pulling up to their "New base" was obviously a bad look on his part as he was responsible for escorting Angelica all this way, you could call it bad luck or just a bad coincidence, or maybe the world just had it out for Jakov. He sighed putting a hand over his eyes as if maybe if he got a clearer look it wouldn't be a group of thugs pulling up. He watched as each of the Reptiles exit their respective vehicles, weapons in hand. A rather poor showing in all honesty, they couldn't have spared a single golem or homunculus? Jakov sighs again shaking his head before he speaks to himself. "Hopefully Baron's around otherwise..." He didn't want to finish saying such a thing out loud it would likely manifest more bad luck. Jakov failed to notice Angelica already left, another rather unfortunate showing on his part, but in all fairness those Reptiles distracted him, at least that's the excuse he'd make if asked. He decided to finally make his way into the structure making sure to keep an eye on the thugs hanging around just outside, with his first look at the interior of their new base it was... Disgusting. There was not a single redeeming factor to him, and it wasn't just the usual Yug Gorod atmosphere either, there was now fungus nearly everywhere he looked. Lovely. While the whole place looked worse than shit, perhaps he would be able to take a nap in the meeting room, surely it wouldn't be tainted as well, this prospect was immediately shot down by the commotion outside, gunfire screams and other such sounds could be clearly heard. With a resigned sigh he exited the building to join his fellow captains, not that his appearance would make much of a difference, he considered himself the weakest among them, on top of that he wasn't too keen on fighting such a number of opponents when Baron alone seemed to have this covered. His first sight upon exiting confirmed this, Jakov smirked at the sight of The Reptiles being swarmed by afflicted, kinda stupid of them. Honestly what did they expect to happen?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

  • Total: 3 (members: 1, guests: 2)

    Similar threads

    Wayne
    Fantasy The Fractured Lands: Story [CLOSED]
    dark fantasy medieval
    Replies
    14
    Views
    618
    Ayama
    Ayama
    summerlush
    Realistic or Modern gossip girl: new royals — a small-group roleplay — open
    Replies
    1
    Views
    39
    summerlush
    summerlush
    Drumonkey
    Fantasy The Sleep of the Gods
    4 5 6 7 8
    Replies
    188
    Views
    1K
    Drumonkey
    Drumonkey
    T
    Fandom X-Men Second Class IC
    Replies
    5
    Views
    208
    Thatguy1
    T
    Wyll
    Fantasy Shadow of The Seal - OOC Page
    assassin fantasy found family
    Replies
    10
    Views
    110
    Wyll
    Wyll
    Back
    Top