Graded [Widersia] Shadow Play: Act I

[Maxxob]

Erich Zann

​

Titles:
[Isekai Mundane], [Expert Tinkerer], [Technological Eccentric], [Ally of Lykra, the Champion]

Femboy Elvario SixSense Sir Mayday

Erich looked at Giovanna curiously for a moment, the puzzlement on his face palpable, as he didn’t really understand why she was angry. In his mind, he was the one that could be angry in this situation, since he was almost suffocated by her dangerous and gigantic mammaries. He would remember, however, that back in Gneron 4VJ1, some of his colleagues would often comment on how their female partners were behaving erratically, blaming on hormones, such as estrogen, and some other thing they called ‘that period of the month’. Scratching his chin, his mind wondered if the bovine-looking female was, perhaps, under those situations as it would perfectly explain why her sudden mood change.

With his attention shifting towards Zahrah, he wouldn’t tentatively listen to their explanation. “Anime? Those ancient, animated media created primarily by humans which happened to resided on that small island called Japan in E-01?” He had to really pull back from his memory to understand the concepts which the cotton-made construct was speaking about, even though he didn’t know any example of this ‘anime’ which was being mentioned. “I see, so that was a curious situation, often portrayed in that type of media… well, for Giovanna appearing to be angry by it, it could also mean that unfortunate event took some sort of wrong turn somewhere. Maybe I’ve done something incorrectly, even though I wasn’t sure what I should have done, or maybe her hormones are unbalanced. One shouldn’t discount that this ‘ecchi’ ritual could be a source of happiness just yet.” The human engineer said, not wanting to discard any theory about this ritual just yet.

Before making his attempt, Dreayth’s words of encouragement had earned a savvy smirk being formed on Erich’s lips. Which just intensified tenfold with his last step of the puzzle, which cemented his theory of how the tiles worked being correct. As the door opened, he would turn around to face the group with a prideful expression on his face. With Giovanna’s congratulatory words being a mix of praise and derogation, he would scratch his cheek while looking at her with a puzzled expression. “I can assure you that my head is filled with contents: my optical endings, respiratory canal, sinuses, auditory senses, brain with all expected parts which would make it constitute a Homo sapiens sapiens’ brain. That much, I can guarantee you.” He would reassure Giovanna, that her idea of Erich potentially having an ‘empty head’ was incorrect. “Thank you, uhhh… ‘darling’.” In reflex, his mind made him use the exact same term which his employer that used for him, despite not exactly knowing the social situation in which such a use would be correct.

With the group advancing towards the next room, his hazel eyes would begin to scan the ruined stage theater. He quickly made his way towards the table with the two set of scales. “Ohhhh, such a rustic and old weighting device… mechanical, not a shred of quantum weighting present on them. A novelty, true and through!” He began inspecting it, using his [The Engineer’s Unexpected Rizz] to check what that was all about. His eyes would begin to stare at it, intently, narrowing ever so slightly, a knowing look, unbeknown to Erich himself, being present on them.

Actions:
1 - The Engineer’s Unexpected Rizz - Seduction F, Appraisal E, Artisan [Tinkerer] B, Engineer E - Using his analytical mind, Erich tries to appraise the mechanical inner-working of an object or construct. However, due to the intensity of his stare and attention, he might end up giving an unexpected idea - Grade B Cooldown 5 posts.

 

[SixSense]

Dreayth Dominatus Malus

Titles: Demon, Monster, Born for this, Offworlder
Mentions: Femboy Elvario Maxxob Sir Mayday

​

Dreayth would just flash his trademark shit eating grin at the ridiculousness of the situation. The death threats were adorable, likely just empty threats but still cute.

“They seem to have it under control, making any attempts now would only hinder instead of help.” Dreayth huffed, there were other reasons as well too, such as not wanting to trigger any cumbersome traps that could blow his cover or give rise to question. “Perhaps there will be another obstacle I’m better suited for later on.”

Erich would soon complete the puzzle which would earn a wave of satisfaction from the other party members. “Erich you dog, just needed a little motivation to unlock the puzzle.” Dreayth would give a large wink to the inventor, as he walked past the guy he’d give him a [Super Strength F] pat on the back that likely would cause the guy to stumble a bit.

Upon entry to the theater, Dreayth’s would begin to marvel at the crumbled room. “If you're scared Giovanna, feel free to cling onto me, I’ll keep you safe.” He would tease the Minotaur as he delved further into the theater. The monster would brush his hands upon the tapestry of the seats.

“Places like these are my favorite, it’s history. It holds a long lost story for us to discover. Before its ruin, this place was were many gatherings took place. The theater can hold a clue to finding what you're looking for Miss Giovanna.” Dreayth would continue to walk down one of the aisles as he crept closer to the stage with anticipation. His eyes were glued to the writing on the wall that had him on a string. He would step closer without a sense of urgency, dreamlike you might say. The mission having been pushed to the back of his mind, his focus now being placed on the history of the theater.

He’d use [Appraisal F] on the wall writing to try and make out what has been transcribed. Hopefully it was in a language that made sense to the monster.

“Let me know if you find anything Pinky, this place is more than just a bunch of trash.”

Actions used
1. Appraisal F - try to make out the writing on the wall.

 

[Sir Mayday]

VALEN

Mentions: Femboy SixSense Maxxob Elvario​

Valen gave a winch as the plate clicked. But well, having someone go in front of you first seemed to do the trick. He gave a sigh and beckoned the others to follow. He quickly hopped across and then and said "Follow Enrich then. Good work as well...Not a horrible trap, atleast it worked. Its the ones that don't work how they should that always tricks people up." He waited by the doorway, waiting for Giovanna to make her way across. As she came to the doorway he grinned at her "Bravery, brains, AND luck. Especially the latter. We were lucky no one got hurt. And even though the way that you caught the others was.. a bit compromising." He gave a shrug at her while he was still grinning. "You helped out too in your own way. A good boss looks after those they employ, they will pay you back I am certain by finding you what you seek...no need to show us your craft of taxidermy on this quest I hope." He made sure to check his gear and moved forward with the others.

His mind on Zahrah as they bounced along with them. He had little understanding of what they were, and the things they spoke of were interesting. Yet, he could not make head sor tails of it. Were they mad? They seemed like it. they wee helpful though. The helped to fight the quiet as they traversed deeper. Valen felt a shiver down his spine and he almost felt tempted to look behind him from the way they came. But he stood firm and continued forward. As they made their way into theatre, Valen gave a small sad smile. As he walked watching Zahran as they went for the microphone. "..I don't go too many theatres. Always costs too much...Maybe give us a small performance Zahrah? Bound to attract some attention from what dwells down here..maybe we can get more answers." He spun around looking at the columns and curtains. "Sad state to see this one in."

"..It is not really a ritual. Just emotions Erich. Everyone displays them differently. It is something interesting to talk about at the tavern or camp. But lets focus on this. I think the one thing Giovanna is focused on is the item she wants." He scratched at his chin as he eyes glowed a golden light as he looked around. "I also want to get paid. You solved the puzzle wonderfully, lets see who finds the artifact first hmm? Whoever finds it first is paying for a round at the tavern for out little band."

As he says so he starts to walk around slowly. His eyes scanning over the stage and over the junk and items about. "Whole heartedly agree with you Dreayth. I would love to stay and study this place..maybe after we find what we are looking for though. Well also if the spirit down here is not hostile. Maybe it is just a lost soul or seeks to entertain others." He makes his way to the strange cubes. "Don't wander off, and if you find anything. Shout it."


Actions:

• By The Book - Culture F, Investigation F, Stealth F - Allows the user to focus on the fine details before them, and focus their minds on developing theories of the scene before them with a subtle approach. - Grade F - 0 Post Cooldown

 

[Femboy]

7

All the discussion about anime tropes and brain components and everything was starting to get a little too talkative for Giovanna. It clearly appeared that when you requested for aid on a troublesome mission, if an upfront great sum was offered them you were going to get some pretty unserious random handfuls of individuals looking to fill time. Looking to Zahrah, she answered briefly.
"I don't care for all these questions you have or whatever all these things you're talking about are. Just stay focused, it's no time for you all to try continuing being immature and silly" she sighed, since Zahrah and Erich had so much complete nonsense to talk about the entire time. It was starting to get on her nerves, looking to Valen as he mentioned about being a good boss. Sighing and holding her head up a little, she soaked in the credit.

"Yes, you could all at least be a bit more thankful that I helped catch you, as well as to stop being so weird about it... now, please keep focused. I'd rather not be here any longer than we have to, the sooner we find what I'm looking for then the sooner we can leave" Giovanna answered, hearing Dreayth make a comment about clinging on to him. Shooting a glare his way, she would've expected that he took a little break from his flirtation by now but he was still at it. Truly, the kinds of people you get from openly requesting.

"I do not get scared, and will not be doing anything of the sort. I hope that you're not going to turn-tail the first moment something appears" she answered, starting to internally question his abilities. Hopefully he was an actual combatant if it would come to it. Though soon enough she started hearing him spout about history and whatever... it felt like that'd be the kind of thing to come from Valen rather than him, but perhaps those were the kind of reasons the job may have attracted one.

"Then if you love history so much, go ahead and make history for me by getting the job done so that I can remember that instead. Don't get too held up by looking at every little thing that interests you" she spoke, primarily to Dreayth and Valen since they seemed like the likely two. She'd probably say it to Zahrah but the minotaur doubted that it would even make a difference on the doll's actions.

With everyone else going to check things that piqued their interest, Giovanna supposed she should check the door on the other side of the room while everyone was sweeping the main area.

Maxxob
Upon looking at the scales, he would quickly notice a note beside it.
'One must always maintain balance to find clarity. But for two to find complete equality via balance, requires a clarity in itself to achieve'.
The two sets of scales in front of him were already perfectly balanced. On the first scale, a single green cube on one side with a red, purple and two orange cubes on the other.
On the second scale, two red cubes and an orange cube on one side with five orange cubes and a purple cube on the other.

Through Erich's intellectual big brain powers, he'd be able to have some strange brain-blast that the current total weight on both scales was exactly the same. Though because he's so smart, he'd probably be able to simply formulate what was in front of him.
1 = 1 + 1 + 2
2 + 1 = 5 + 1
He could also get a few other clues, since he was clearly so genius and he'd already solved a puzzle prior. Since they were weighted cubes, Erich would be able to get a feel for how much they weighed by holding them. While the specific difference wouldn't be able to be defined, he'd at least be able to tell that the order from lightest to heaviest would be Orange, Purple, Red, then Green.

Lastly, on the table in front of him sat a few unused spare cubes. One green, one purple, two reds and three oranges.
In total, that gave him Eleven Orange Cubes, Three Purple Cubes, Five Red Cubes and Two Green cubes to work with. From the sounds of it, he'd have to try and figure out how to make the suspended plates on both sides of both scales all have the exact same weight.

SixSense
Dreayth would be able to read the writing on the wall, the first part being pretty simply in common.
'John Karthusa, Leona Ainwerhts, Valade Torren, here together -' followed by what could only be surmised to a date. Unfortunately, it seems scratched and worn out. Below that, another line. One questionably more sinister, and one he would recognise as Abyssal. The language and tongue of monsters.
'Prideful idiots ruining interior design ^
nobody cares, nobody will remember you
it's all buried and lost here anyway'

Alongside those words, clearly marks and scratches on the wall... for some reason. Then on the floor, a bit dirty and tattered but in alright enough condition, a book. Clearly titled on it, it reads: 'Cammingsweb Theater - Private - '. Some of the words in the title were too hard to read, but inside on the readable pages would include some information. Scripts, plays, schedule times, mostly appeared like just some sort of notebook to keep track of things. Although if he looked hard enough, he'd eventually reach a weirdly added part to it.

'When a star chooses to arrive, I will decide history. And make history, to the best of my abilities. Then, I don't have to care for history... all they'd have to do is be ready to take stage, to mine or the others' amusement. I've been listening to the above stories too long'. This line would also appear written in Abyssal.

The book also held notes about some sort of 'important Cammingsweb heirlooms', but the notes on it were torn out.

Sir Mayday
Upon going over to the cubes to investigate, it'd become pretty clear.
They were dice, big dice but they were still dice.
A few of them were scratched out, but there were still four perfectly fine... big stone cube dice left to be rolled. The numbers on them looked like they were glimmering with some sort of magical enchantment, though what they did was a complete mystery.

There were no instructions attached or anything, the only way to figure out what they'd be or what they'd do would be to pick one up and roll one. Although, the 'six' side on the dices was rather... cracked and scratchy, even on all of them. If he wanted to, he could roll one of them... or even all of them if he could manage to pick them up at once. Since they didn't appear like a puzzle that was attached or related to anything, they'd make his hands full but he could probably take them with him. He'd have to be careful about dropping them though. If something does happen on rolling them, dropping one could mean rolling it. What qualified as rolling a dice was vague.... I mean, have you tried lightly rolling a dice in a party game? You get what you want but then it tells you to roll the dice and it doesn't count I mean come on what do you know game, if I did that in real life with real dice it'd totally count- ahem- I mean-

(If you wish to roll the dice, you can roll in your post by Editing after finishing and then clicking 'Throw Dice' at the bottom. Make sure that faces is set to 6, and you can roll how many dice you want (up to Four))

Elvario
(The events and things spoken here are only visible and audible to Zahrah)
Taking stage, the Understudy, the Bird Post, the one who loves trying to befriend large monsters which pose a danger to them and their friends, Zahrah Fiore! At the... apparently, maybe, not functional microphone. It wasn't plugged in or anything, and it didn't amplify any volume or such. That would be until the doll would first touch it, where them and only them would be able to hear faint whispers from in front of them in the direction of the empty seats. Did things over there... always look that dark? It felt like her vision was faltering a little with the side of the room away from the stage feeling like it was shifting into occasionally becoming a little darker like Zahrah was able to also see things occasionally moving about.

Then, they would likely notice the microphone suddenly looking... a lot pinker and more vibrant. Then again, this would have only appeared to them. What would also only appear to the doll, was the dark, shadowy slender hand that crept up alongside the microphone stand before reaching the top. It would slowly extend its fingers in Zahrah's direction, before eventually balling into a fist with a singular pointed finger which soon enough insistently pointed at the microphone itself.

The doll would then recognise an actually audible whisper, in the Abyssal tongue of Monsters.
"Begin, give a performance, play your part in the act. You are mainstage, and the star of all attention now" it would begin in a normal hushed voice, before following up in a rather scratchy and awfully demonic sounding one.

"REMEMBER. YOUR. LINES.".​

 

[Elvario]

Zahrah Fiore
[

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From: https://www.zerochan.net/3034810

Mentions: Blue Cow Femboy | Draeyth SixSense | Erich Maxxob | Valen Sir Mayday
Languages: Common | %Analog% | #Abyssal# |

“Yep! Though in my time they weren't that 'ancient' yet, they were just the classics and sometimes they even aired new ones! I even debated generating one myself to see if I could make one that optimised happiness to its viewers!” They replied to Erich. “Hmm. Well, the only thing that might've gone wrong is that she hasn't been established as your love interest prior? That normally seems needed for it to work out on both sides.” They reflected upon Erich's statements. “Unbalance in hormones again? The same ones that make people happy? We should really start studing those. They seem highly prominently featured in the overall happiness experience.”

“Of course! Will you let me know if you find anything else well, mister Dreayth?” They'd reply cheerfully. “Oh, by the way, was telling Giovanna to cling onto you this Alpha behaviour I've once heard about? I'd totally love to learn more about that later, if you'd be willing to teach me!”

They were extremely excite when Valen asked for a performance. “I'd love to! I can give you a super-duper one, instead of just a small one!” They cheerfully replied. “I've got no clue about the cost of theatres, but I'll give it to you for free!” They promised as well.

Being called immature by Giovanna wasn't nice. “The fact that I don't know my own age doesn't mean I'm immature! I was programmed to at least be an adult, even though I've been self-aware for less than an adult life-span, unless you take into account the time-zones we might be in now, in which case I might've gone to the past and be in the negative when it comes to age... ” They grumbled back at her.

The other thing confused them as well. “Of course I'm thankful! It was amazing! I'm also not trying to be weird about it, I'm just trying to understand things...” The replied, a tad saddened by how misunderstood they were.

The shifts in voices, whispers, rooms growing dark and stuff excited them. “#Lines? What lines?#” They were confused. “#I don't know any lines, but I've got an amazing performance to give!#” They cheerfully stated. “I'm going to dedicate this song my beautiful and powerful employer, miss Giovanna!”

Zahrah's Chosen Song

They'd perform with all the convincing they could muster as both a performer and [Smooth Talker].

Smooth Talker – Character Grade B, Appraisal B, Empathy B, Insight B, Performance [Acting/Singing/Dancing/Spoken Word/Tin Whistle] B, Persuasion B, Seduction B, Energised B Languages [Common, Terran, Beastial, Sylvan, Monster, Analog] – Character combines whatever (meta)knowledge they can find out about someone with persuasive, empathic and seductive smooth-talking, acting and spoken word in an attempt to make others act according to their will. Character speaks to them in whichever (of the main) languages they are most comfortable with. - Grade B Energised – 3 Post Cooldown

They had no clue that Draeyth was probably holding the book with the notes/lines that they'd need to be acting out, instead of just randomly bursting out in singing. Then again, their brain was cotton, so who could really fault them?

Spoiler: Corgi does Math – Possible spoiler for maths puzzle just wanted to try it

1 = 1 + 1 + 2
2 + 1 = 5 + 1

Lightest to heaviest would be Orange, Purple, Red, then Green.

2 + 1 = 5 + 1

-

2 = 4 + 1

-

2x3 = 6 = 4x1 = 4 + 1x2 = 2

-

Orange = 1
Purple = 2
Red = 3

-

1 = 1 = 3 + 1 = 2 + 2 = 2

1 = 3 + 2 + 2 = 7
Green = 7

-

11 x Orange = 1
3 x Purple = 2
5 x Red = 3
2 x Green = 7

-

2 x Green = 7 = 14
5 x Orange = 1 = 5 (19)
2 x Purple = 2 = 4 (23)

|

5 x Red = 3 = 15
7 x Orange = 1 = 7 (21)
1 x Purple = 2 = 2 (23)

One of the possible solutions:
2x Green + 5x Orange + 2x Purple = 5x Red + 7x Orange + 1x Purple

 

[Maxxob]

Erich Zann

​

Titles:
[Isekai Mundane], [Expert Tinkerer], [Technological Eccentric], [Ally of Lykra, the Champion]

Femboy Elvario SixSense Sir Mayday

When Dreayth mentioned ‘proper motivation’, Erich’s socially inept mind didn’t have a single clue about what the horned man was talking about. The confusion on the tinkerer’s face only changed when the same man’s sprawled hand connected against Erich’s back, causing a shimmering of light. Said light, started on the contact point against his back and appeared to dissipate towards his front. And the source of said light was from his High-Tech Hurt Stopper, the personal energy field he wore.

“%Blunt force detected. Successfully absorbed. Warning: avoidance of same pattern behavior advised.%” ​

Monotone blips and boops came from somewhere within his lab coat. Despite the absorption of the pat, Erich still felt the impact, his balance shifting forward and forcing him to be quick on his feet, shifting a leg forward to keep himself steady. Thankfully, he was successful and only needed to readjust the goggles on top of his head, which had been shifted upwards. Dreayth was an individual that clearly not sported only muscles, but also muscular strength with it. That was something he made a mental note about.

“Y-yeah… I guess the motivation(?) really helped out.” Instinctively, he would wink back at the man, once more producing reflexive behavior for when he wasn’t too sure on how to act.

The adventurer man, Valen, would correct him about emotions. To it, Erich would tilt his head slightly, while he listened attentively. While the engineer knew that emotions were only a raw by-product of chemicals being produced and released into one’s brain, the correct mixture being able to cause either unending bliss or misery to someone, he was quite curious and fascinated about how they arose naturally for sure. The mingling, with his peers, in this ‘tavern’ setting could be a key to learn about something new. “While previous success is by no means indication of future fortune, I shall keep applying myself so that we can uncover and find the artifact in an expedient and efficient manner. Let’s see who ends up paying a round, then!” He concluded, a mischievous smirk appearing on his lips.

And, with Zahrah further explaining about the scene that took place a few moments earlier, the tinkerer crossed his arms, nodding dutifully. “That might very well be… If she were in love with me previously, maybe the end result of the accidental suffocation, thanks to her voluptuous bosom, would have been different. Maybe she would be giving shy smiles and blushing every so often when she gazed on my direction?” He posed the question, as if remembering something about these ‘animes’ that were mentioned. “Oh no, no, among the hormones that make people happy is oxytocin. She might be suffering from an imbalance of estrogen, which is a female hormone, assuming her bovine hormonal makeup is similar to those of Homo sapiens sapiens of the female gender.” Erich would talk about Giovanna as if she wasn’t even there. Luckily, he didn’t approach the hypothesis about her menstrual cycle to explain the sudden shift in behavior.

Putting all those thoughts aside, Erich began to focus on his own assignment: the scales. Hazel eyes shifted between the colored cubes and the way some of them were already balanced on the pair of scales, giving him some mathematical knowledge of the relationship between weights.

In short, it was part of a system of a linear equation. Touching the weights and noticing their order of weight, his mind began working overtime, crunching the information of how he could make all the four plates balanced with the information he had thus far. There were quite different ways of doing so: substitution, elimination and Gaussian elimination. Each of them had their own application within the mathematical part itself.

His thinking came to a full stop at a certain point, however. He began shaking his head at his initial attempt of solving this problem using pure mathematics. After all, it didn’t seem to be a need to do so initially.

Erich’s hands worked quickly on the scales, clearing both of them of every single cube which had been placed previously on their plates. The engineer would then begin to weight the green, red and purple cubes against the yellow ones, one at the time. Opting for a more hands-on method, he would place of the three mentioned previously (green, red or purple) on one of the plates and then begin to add orange cubes on the opposite plate, thus searching for the direct correlation of weight between the cubes.

Either if he found the correct weight of the orange cubes, or placed the 11th orange cube on the scale without success, he would repeat the process thrice, until he knew exactly the correlation of the weights to then attempt to balance all the four plates with the same weight in each of them.

 

[Sir Mayday]

​

VALEN

Mentions: Maxxob Elvario SixSense Femboy​

Valen scratched at his head as he walked over to the dice. Glancing back at the party leader, Giovanna. It seems her patience was at its limit or gone at this point. They had only solved one puzzle too...things were not looking too good in his opinion. He hummed and crouched near the dice looking at them. In the background he could hear the others talk on. Zahrah and Erich talking about hormones and and Saplings. He wondered if Enrich said he had been a professor of some sort, he could not recall in the moment. He would ask him after all of this...Well if they survived the spirit and Giovanna's rising fury.

Valen brushed his hand against the side of the dice, tilting his head at the glimmering numbers. He would rise and stretch, and then he would one by one..roll the dice. Just picking up a dice and giving it a light toss with a huff. The sound of Zahrah performing filled the stage now..and Valen could not help but feel that things were about to go horribly wrong. "..Whoever made this place really like puzzles."


Valen did not have math to deal with, or whispers in his head. He was far from dealing with demonic scribbles on walls. The man was simple, and liked simple things. The roll of dice over a small game at the tavern was always a relaxing event to him. Sure these dice were larger, but he saw no harm in it. Valen used ROLL.

 

[SixSense]

Dreayth Dominatus Malus

Titles: Demon, Monster, Born for this, Offworlder

Mentions: Elvario Sir Mayday Femboy
​

“I’d rather die than turn tail.” Dreayth would roll his eyes as he read the writing on the wall. His eyebrows would raise in amusement at the sight of the abyssal language. It seemed rather strange and out of place for something like this to appear within Widersia. It made the monster even more curious about who they were dealing with. “Silly Minotaur, you can’t move forward without the past.” the demon would mutter quietly to himself.
He would then take notice of Zahrah at center stage and begin to scratch his head.

“Agh I can’t make out any of this writing, Giovanna could you lend me a pair of eyes?” A lie unbeknownst to the Minotaur however it was better to play the fool in this circumstance. The monster would turn to Zahrah with a grin. “A performance would make me pretty happy, it would give me a glimpse of what this theater once was.” Dreayth would raise his thumb up to the pinkett with a smile. The pinkett had been proving pretty useful, perhaps they might even be able to pull them through this situation with their vocals.


“Yo Erich, Valen. You guys find anything good?” The monster beckoned to his co-workers, in curiosity. Perhaps whatever they found can be combined with what the scribbles were saying.

 

[Femboy]

8
With Giovanna having went to investigate another room, she wouldn't be around to see or hear what the others were getting up to for the moment. Well, maybe except for Zahrah who she'd possibly be able to hear singing their song that was in dedication to them.

Sir Mayday
With all four dice having been rolled, the four cubes of unpredictable gambling fell onto the floor as the magic glows that the numbers held increased in their vibrancy. The cracks along the cubes spread along the entirety of the cubes, before contained magic clearly forced them to crumble away and release what was inside. As he would be able to witness a thin and subtle sheen glimmer across the stage and amongst the objects of interest that Zahrah and Erich were investigating, specifically Valen would be able to hear a voice that was essentially snickering and whispering straight into his ear.

"Heheehee, yesyes! The prisons, free, free! You are kind, kind one! We may leave, to playplayplay, yesyes! You's can has the goodbox key... we does not has the goodbox key, but you's can has it! It, it somewhere! We's can finds it afters show! Show good, always good show!" the voice giggled and teased in a high-pitch tone, Valen would be able to feel what felt like a multitude of small little hands pat his shoulder and touch his back whilst he was being spoken to by an unknown entity. While the objects being investigated by the others would seem to have some sort of magical affliction to them, Valen would notice a faint light blue glimmering dice on the ground that wasn't there before.

"Take it! Yesyesyes! Numby-cube go weeeooooh, make thing yes? Say-do, help show best show! Says a do, you or friend, then do a roll? Is not like cheating, is like... improv! Or doesn't. Big Shadow Showman does not like cube, likes genuine. But doesn't a do a listen to the Showman, is a terrible thing-being that Showman is. Yous can trustest us the trustiest, yesyes! The pink one says blue? Must, be true, must be about us, and ours?" another voice added into his other ear.

Maxxob
On his attempts to compare the different cubes to the Orange ones, he would soon enough find some answers.
The scales balanced when one Red cube was placed with three Orange cubes.
They also balanced when one Purple cube was placed with two Orange cubes.
Finally, the scales would be able to equally balance again when one Green cube was placed with seven Orange cubes.

Though, before this could help provide answers, Erich would see the strange effect caused by the magic released by the dice that Valen rolled would sweep over the table and equipment. While it would seem primarily unaffected, he would soon notice the magic seep and effect both the Red and Green cubes. Strangely enough, the pulse of whatever had been released had overtaken the visible colours on them, turning Red into a shade of Lighter Blue whilst the Green into a shade of Darker Blue.

Eleven Orange Cubes, Three Purple Cubes, Five Light Blue Cubes and Two Dark Blue cubes now sat before the tinkerer, of which he would find different values if he was to investigate the new shaded blue cubes. Light Blue cubes appeared to be equal to five Orange Cubes, whilst Dark Blue cubes appeared to be equal to nine Orange Cubes. Though, he might end up being more distracted by what was to occur behind him as well as what something spoke into his ear.

"You, are toying with my creation, yes? Make sure all the scales are entirely equal. Wouldn't want to make it too boring for you, now I have something else to get to... " a deep, mature voice had spoken before the tinkerer would be able to feel a brief chilling wind pass by him.

SixSense Elvario Maxxob Sir Mayday
In the distance, a clearly noticeable wide shadow spread among the ceiling darkening the roof in a sheet of pure black. Amidst it, a pair of shifting and ominous red eyes peered at those on the stage before to the cubes that Valen had interacted with.
"Visitors. Now. Typical... I've waited, this long, for these miscreants to show up now and be all touchy? To be pleased feels like an impossibility, but I might as well get this over with... now that those gremlins are in the seams of things too" it spoke, audible to everyone in the room. It eyed amongst each person, before to the one singing their song.

"You, you want to be the center of attention? Then before one of those play-ruining abominations tries to pull the strings... let us tell a story. I have nothing else to do in this tomb I'd call a prison anyway" the voice huffed, sounding very fed up with everything going on. It's glare then focused on the cotton-brained doll, and a shadowy hand rose up from the bottom of the microphone stand.

"I have heard mine own, and the ones down here, a thousand times over. You have something to share obviously, considering how loud-mouthed you're being. Now, open up, your secrets are not safe with me" it uttered, the hand immediately reaching up and having its shadowy form compress itself into a slender and thin existence before sinking straight into Zahrah's earhole to root around for something. Nonchalantly invading the recesses of the doll's mind, the hand would eventually retract its way out as the voice hummed softly.

"I do not wish to go in there again. Agony and pain await the seers and oracles that gaze into that blindingly pink abyss. But, at least I have found something new to hear about. You wish to sing and speak of the colour blue? To be blue, little one? To have you, or your companions feel blue, is that a thing of joy to you? Fine, bring your companions that you wish. Let us hear and tell your story that may have made you or others blue, since you seem so thrilled to share" the being uttered. His crimson gaze fizzled and twisted with a deep, dark energy as Dreayth and Valen would find themselves pulled closer to the center of the stage to join Zahrah in whatever it was that was happening. Erich would be able to notice a big fuzzy globe of magic encasing the center-area of the stage like a big sheet of magic, though he was likely left out by the will of the shadowy being so he could finish the scale puzzle. From the looks of it, there was nothing stopping him from walking in and joining whatever was happening.

---

Within the storm however, Zahrah, Dreayth and Valen would be greeted with a sight. The background and surroundings looked fuzzy, and would worsen in quality the nearer they drew. With the far reaches of their sight looking very false, it was clearly an illusional scene being painted for them. A scene was painted for them, in the middle of some strange village without the details.

"Hm, is this one of tragedy and sorrow? To make those blue? For someone always fails and loses in each story, how does that make them feel? Oh, so cheery one, since you wish to share so much, why don't you share the unhappy ending of this tale you have gifted us? Don't you know it so well? Show us an ending of suffering and grief, for I truly love to hear the truth of it. Entertain me, have you and your friends do the RIGHT thing. I will not wait, I expect my grand performance" the voice insisted to the group, being audible even amongst the illusionary scene. Zahrah would quite possibly recognise the scene. Whilst a random illusionary raven would land and take place upon the cotton doll's head, the unsettling sounds of something large approaching could be heard from the distant trees. With the fuzzy, faltering quality of the far scene making it hard to tell, the sounds of trees snapping and crunching could be heard as whatever it was moved.

"I already sense one of those things, is already ruining the tale. Let it play, for surely it will not go horribly. For surely those who can come here, understand that of art and performance... ".

Amongst the trees, slowly moved and appeared a large creature. Much like something of a large serpent, of a head on a long slender tail-body. With primarily different shades of light and deep blues slowly shifting and moving in unnatural, shimmering patterns, it strangely looked like the local light and mana was being drawn into its very being. A strong and cold wind blew through the place, as the fake clouds above them darkened to that of an unappealing and unsettling dark grey.

The creature had a spill of unsightly tendons and flesh that flowed and spilled out of its body, underneath its strange cascade of frills and scales that made up such a strange abomination. It's head was a cacophany of eyes, and mouths, who stared down at the group and uttered husky and struggling breaths. It moved painfully slow, as if every attempt to move was such a heavy struggle. It was a truly hideous monster, with a discomforting aura of dark energy that would cause one to shudder and feel waves of uncertainty in themselves. Then, in a clustered group of struggling and pained voices, it tried to speak.

"O... H- huh-- hOw l- loVēlฯฯ... l໐งēly... LOveLylꂦꃴꍟ꒒ꍟꍟ ittt must b- be... to bE yOouu...? t- THree... S...ss... Yy... y- you... you tTwO... a-- Are... eh ʸᴼᵘ? ᵃᴿᵉ ʸᴼᵘ, ᵃʳᴱ ʸʸᵒᵘ? ᴬʳ ᴱ ʸoUu l- look... loOKing dOwn... u- uh... uhh... µñ†ð... m ê §? Ꭵ ᎥᏕ Ꮦ-ᏖᏂᏗᏖ ᎥᏖ? ? i Ş it Ş໐? ฯēŞฯēŞ?".

The shadow being from before spoke, his voice audible to Zahrah, Dreayth and Valen.
"Do tell me, narrate this story. For how does it go? For I foretell this is a story of being blue, is it not? For in no scenario could everyone win and be happy. For this is the performance you wanted? Come, as a group of characters. Finish this story, before these pesky invasive beings ruin the ending entirely... " it spoke in return to the three, seemingly awaiting their own action.​

 

[Elvario]

Zahrah Fiore
[

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From: https://www.zerochan.net/3034810

Mentions: Blue Cow Femboy | Draeyth SixSense | Erich Maxxob | Valen Sir Mayday
Languages: Common | %Analog% | #Abyssal# |

They heard someone talk about visitors and being all touchy. “I don't mind being touchy! Physical contact can bring happiness, after all!” They'd reply. “I also think I'm fairly good at pleasing people!”

“The centre of attention? Oh! Yes, I think that's how you produce happiness through song and dance, so it'd be neat if I could be that!” They'd reply to the next bit. “Oh, you're imprisoned? That must suck! I'm sorry for you! Can we get you out of here? Being imprisoned is said to be insanely bad for happiness!” They'd reply.

“Secrets? I don't have any secrets!” They'd proudly proclaim when they were told to open up. “I can open up, but I would like to be able to sew myself shut again after! I'd not want my precious cotton to be spilled all over the place!” They'd make sure to add.

As their ear suddenly got penetrated by some weird slender and thin tendril, their eyes went blank for a bit. “Whaaa?!?” They went, not being used to this type of weird experience. They'd end up staring with their mouth gaping and their mind going as blank as their eyes went, possibly drooling had they been able to produce spit, which they luckily weren't.

When the hand retracted, they slowly recovered. “That was soooo weird. Was it nice for you? I'd never expect my first time to be like this.” Were their first few comments on what'd happened. “Is this how it always goes? I feel like I lost my mind for a bit there. Oh me oh my...” They rambled a bit.

Yet when they got the 'review' they puffed their cheeks. “Hey! That's mean. You can't just claim someone's first ear-tendril brain extraction experience and then claim not to want to do again! My databases might be corrupted, but surely you should take some responsibility after taking someone's first time! My ear will never be the same again, after all!”

The next bits confused them. “I'm not sure what you mean, I just know my employer is a lovely shade of blue and this song is what came to mind! My databases are rather corrupted, so I'm not sure what it meant, but it has a lot of blue in it, so it's fitting, right?!?” They stated with joy. “Oh no, I don't think I can bring her. I doubt she'd want to come to me, she seems a bit upset after having caught me in her bosom, even though I wasn't even the one trying to perform 'ecchi' rituals with her during it. ”

Even so, they ended up being pulled into some sort of storm. “What... the... unhappy ending?” They were confused. “Is this like one of those drama's, where people somehow get happy from seeing unhappy stuff happen?” Perhaps that was what they were doing. “I'm not great at drama's...”

Yet when they started to recognise things, they panicked. “Oh no... oh no. oh no oh no no no no...” They rambled, as they realised what this was about. This wasn't good.

Upon seeing the friend they'd lost to fire and tragedy, however, they couldn't stop themselves. They ran over to hug the sad snake with Elasticity E. “#Noo... I'm so sorry I couldn't save you last time. I swear I didn't want them to burn you! Ophenia and I were really doing what we could to save you and make you happy like all others! We really did what we could! I'm so sorry!#” They stated, their voice sounding like they were crying despite the lack of tears due to a lack of tear-ducts.

“No! I'm not gonna make it sad again! You're mean! This time we should have a happy ending! I'm going to befriend the sad snake and make him happy this time!” They shouted back at the mean voice.

“#We can be friends now, right?#” They'd ask the sad snake.

 

[Maxxob]

Erich Zann

​

Titles:
[Isekai Mundane], [Expert Tinkerer], [Technological Eccentric], [Ally of Lykra, the Champion]

Femboy Elvario SixSense Sir Mayday

“A few cubes which are supposed to be distributed equally between two different scales and on a total of four different plates. I’m currently checking out the direct relation of weights between the different colored cubes to properly allocate them.” Erich answered Dreayth’s question, his hands never stopping moving.

And, as he kept conducting his tests, excitement growing as he began approaching an answer to the puzzle. However, when he was about to start distributing the colored cubes between both scales, something unexpected happened. A pulse of unknown origin to the tinkerer would ripple towards the table he was working on, changing the color of two groups of the cubes.

The engineer’s lips flattened instantly, not all that happy with it. Still, he wasted no time in conducting new weighting to uncover if the weights of the cubes had changed, along with their color. And to his surprise, that was exactly what had happened. New weighted cubes, along with new colors. It was time for him to start working on the scales once more.

As he began separating the cubes, he would hear the deep whisper directly into his ear, along with a chilling presence that passed by him. “Uhum, sure, leave it to me!” He said, as if everything was still within normalcy, his mind hyperfocused on the puzzle in front of him. Rapidly deciding that the toal weight of all the cubes would be 60, it was a matter to divide them equally, so each of the plates had 15 on them.

With that, the engineer decided to divide them in the following manner:
Plate 1: 1 Dark Blue (9), 1 Orange (1), 1 Light Blue (5) = 15
Plate 2: 10 Orange (1), 1 Light Blue (5) = 15
Plate 3: 3 Light Blue (5) = 15
Plate 4: 1 Dark Blue (9), 3 Purple (2) = 15



Finishing the distribution of the weights, Erich began checking the balances, making sure his calculations were correct.

 

[Sir Mayday]

VALEN

Mentions: Femboy Maxxob Elvario SixSense


As the cubes crumbled, and events seemed to be taking a unfortunate weird turn, Valen had a moment to internally process. At times like these Valen wondered if maybe, just maybe, the coin would be worth all of it. Simple traps he could understand. Puzzles were a mix of intriguing and anxiety. He even was use to the spiders, cobwebs, and the ever-consuming darkness that always seemed to linger behind his back when he delved into the bowls of tombs or dungeons. But as he was groped repeatedly by multiple invisible hands, and whispers cascaded against his ears, he started to feel less appreciation for his line of work. He also felt his pants get lighter, as it seems something relieved him of one of his many coin purses.

​

"HEY! I-" but a wave of force compressed against him. The hairs on his body rose up at attention as an instinctual alarm went through his body. Not simply danger, but the feeling of being watched. Of being something small in front of something big and malicious. Fight or flight kicked in, and Valen tried to move. But he couldn't move away, he was pulled towards something. As the voice spoke, he would feel a foul sensation in his mouth and would almost fall over from a sense of vertigo. Before his eyes a forest of trees, and a small village would appear. Fuzzy and hard to focus on clearly, as everything seemed to be coated in dark shaes of black or blue.

Valen would be pulled to the center, he would struggle his utmost best. Hitting the ground and trying to hold onto something. His hands grabbing onto junk and then flinging it away as soon as he saw it was not somethign to anchor himself on. Yet he did grab that glimmering blue cube and clenched it as he was forced to perform. He looked around frantically shouting at Enrich, who seemed to be not affected "Do something!"


He grew quiet though at the sound of lumbering footsteps approaching. He struggled not to panic as it seemed that there was nothing he co-

"I already sense one of those things, is already ruining the tale. Let it play, for surely it will not go horribly. For surely those who can come here, understand that of art and performance... ".

...The illusion is not perfect. Valen opened his eyes wide and looked around breathing hard. He looked for something out of place, something that was strange and did not belong...and his eyes saw the raven ontop of Zahrah's head. He stared at it intently and remembered all the times ravens stole and were considered mischievous creatures. Maybe it was part of this...Showmaster. Maybe it was a joke to show that their death was near. Yet he recalled the stories he was told when he was a young boy. Stories of the spirits and creatures. How ravens would steal and be overall pests. Troublemakers. I could be wrong. Time was not a luxury he had at the moment though.

But he felt that he did not have enough time to question and investigate. A beast was before them, an abomination. He immediately looked away and did his best to not look at it. If he looked at it, he would give even deeper into the sense of bleakness and hopelessness that seemed to weigh on him. Yet Zahrah ran at it and seemed to know it. He glanced a look and felt a wave of discomfort as he saw the abomination. Yet he heard the words of Zahrah wanting to be friends. He gained a wisp of a idea and felt the weight of the cube in his hand.

So Valen rolled the dice again as Zahrah moved forward to hug the abomination spouting words like she recognized as such. Valen kept his eyes on the raven His mind struggled to remember what the little voice said. He then shakily held the glimmering blue cube up and then said out loud. "Narrate this-s story?" He took a big gulp and shakily said, "...It begins like many other. In a village in the middle of nowhere, with people that many did not care about. One day..that village came face to face with something that made them feel...blue. So blue it made them shake." He licked his lips and tried to focus on his words. "Many cowered in fear, many felt like taking the spear. As torches were lit, and fighters equipped. There were a few that felt no fear."

"Felt no fear, because they simply wanted to..play. The ravens, a pink villager, and the frightful terror that was in pain and lonely." Valen rolled the dice after saying such a statement and he said almost desperately "Go play! Do a play!"

 

[Femboy]

Maxxob Sir Mayday SixSense Elvario
9

With Erich placing the cubes upon the scales, he'd soon enough find that via the placement of the last cube that the scales would wobble a little to adjust to the last balancing of the weight before they all remained completely stationary and aligned with one another. His efforts would be proven successful as the scales were very clearly perfectly balanced amongst them all, of which both scales lightly glimmered with a magical shimmer as a compartment on one of the scales' bases popped open to reveal a very little silver key. None of the voices were around to speak on his success, others too busy in whatever they were experiencing in the little 'illusion' dome of sorts in the center of the stage to be able to see or witness his accomplishment. If choosing to take the little key reward with him, he'd be able to look around or join his companions to see what they were up to. Giovanna had went off somewhere else to explore another room, but she had soon enough come back out of the room and was a little confused on what she was looking at.


"What are you looking at over there, is it anything that matters? I found some interesting things but... what is, all of this exactly? What did you lot touch or do?" she asked as she gestured to the illusion bubble on stage, looking to Erich for answers since the other three were very clearly not present as they were obscured within said bubble. Sighing and shaking her head, she looked to the bubble.
"Are they in there? How long have they been in there, if not where are they now? I don't have all day to partake in shenanigans. Did any of you figure out anything?" she asked, though all of her questioning was directed entirely to the tinkerer who had been busy with the scale puzzle.

---

As Valen rolled the dice and spoke on, the large serpent creature slowed to a lumbering halt as its head held slowly lower, a creaking of itself and the floor beneath it from the weight of its movements as Zahrah had given it a hug. It felt like its body was bubbling and shifting, with quite a hot warmth to it albeit quite wet. It stared over the pink being hugging it, not moving for a moment before it continued speaking.

"#ʏ ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴇ ᴏ ᴜʀʀʀ ʀ ꜰʀ ɪᴇɴᴅ?.. #" the monster questioned in Abyssal, speaking in a slow yet understanding tone. It was hesitant to react, black and thick oozing tears were noticeably seeping from its eyeholes. After a brief moment, it spoke again.

"#Ｉ ｓ ｔ ｈ ａｔ．．． ．． ｐ ｏｓｓｉ ｂｌｅ？#".

While this was being said, Valen's little magical dice started emitting a faint glow as mana from it seeped into the air. A similar faint bluish shimmer was noticeable in the eyes of the creature, light streams of mana has been travelling from said cube to it. Then, they started ceasing as the same shadowy Showmaker character from before spoke.

"No, it was not possible, for that was not how the story went. One actor among you knows full well this is not how the story goes... this is a story to make one feel blue, after all. Now to follow the script and to correct the story, not as  you have put it" the voice spoke, Valen would be able to feel a cold breeze against him in specific. Though, the dice remained on the ground and intact.

"The villagers, did not get along with this monster. So they despised a plan, one to forever rid them of this abomination of a creature... they did raise their spears and torches, and rallied a rain of arrows to blacken the skies for the creature. That, was what they came together for... " they narrated, as a looming rise of multiple figures were around the local area. Angry townsfolk with weaponry in hand, backed by many archers with drawn bows. Their aggression was turned to the serpent that had been stopped for its distraction with Zahrah, slowly turning to see those who didn't get along with it. It held momentarily, before weeping more tears by the moment.

"I think we know what happens next. Be some good actors, and finish the story how you know it's supposed to end... " the voice uttered, its tone growing a little more annoyed at what they were doing.​

 

[Maxxob]

Erich Zann

​

Titles:
[Isekai Mundane], [Expert Tinkerer], [Technological Eccentric], [Ally of Lykra, the Champion]

Femboy Elvario SixSense Sir Mayday

Erich waited with bathed breath, teeth clenching momentarily as he placed the very last cube on one of the plates. He would swallow hard, his hazel eyes burning intensely into the weighting device. His concentration had been so intense, that Valen's voice had gone unnoticed when he called the tinkerer out. When finally the scales stabilized, showing that he had correctly weighted all the plates equally, a wide, playful smile would appear on his lips, eyes glinting at his success. With an almost child-like wonder, he would snatch the silver key with his gloved hand, looking at his prize intently.

"A key! Now, that is what I call progress! Hey, Va-" He began calling out, turning around, yet finding no one for a moment, only the ominous dome at the center of the stage. His eyebrows would furrow, relaxing as Giovanna entered the room again, eyes sliding towards her. "I've found a key!" The tinkerer would show the small silver object to his employer. "But I don't exactly remember seeing any keyhole. Maybe it will be useful later on?" He could only guess what would be its usage. "I think I remember Zahrah going up to the stage, but that was about it. I was focused on this scale the whole time." An index would reach his chin and start to light tap it, as his mind ran wild with some considerations.

"I suppose they would be inside that thing, whatever it is." His gaze would shift towards the dome and then back at Giovanna. Pocketing the key into his lab coat, he lifted both hands, shrugging. "Let's see if I can get that sorted that so we can proceed." Those words were accompanied by him drawing his laser pistol, quickly turning the dial on it and make a low-pitch sound begin emitting from it, slowly building into a crescendo. He would then march towards the stage and into the dome, like no one's business, snapping his goggles on his face with his free-hand.

Now, inside the illusion, Erich had to fight the urge to hurl thanks to the sudden change of scenery. Was that motion sickness? He didn't know, but after a few moments of slowly getting used to it, his eyes would begin darting around the place, mirth dancing in his eyes despite the gravity of the situation. "Ohhhh... this is just like a neural simulation! Assuming we aren't in a different place altogether." His feet would kick against the dirt beneath them, wanting to test the veracity of it. "Truly curious..." He hummed, before finally taking stock of the situation that was happening before the group.

It wasn't that hard for him to connect the dots: what was being asked was for a tale that would make people blue, sad. The disgusting and unsightly noodle-thing being held in such an endearing manner by Zahrah, the mob of villagers, armed with a multitude of tools, approaching it, anger etched across their visages. There was one problem, however. "There are many paths that this story could take to make someone feel blue. Yet, feeling blue will depend on the individual." He would point out, logically and coldly. "While I would be indifferent of whatever ending this story takes, one could, for example, feel sad for the village elder." Lifting his laser gun, he would point directly at the said villager. "Let's say all the excitement caused him to have a heart-attack. That ought to make someone feel blue, under normal circumstances." That was Schrödinger's cat at play, one of the many variants that any event could take place. "That doesn't tell the finality of the story: either the 'wurm' kills all the villagers, kills some of them before being killed, or is killed without taking out any of the villagers. Of course, the 'wurm' could always scurry off to somewhere, nothing gained, nothing lost. Status Quo can be sad to some." Curiously enough, while spewing his spiel, Erich's eyes kept wondering, searching for the source of the voice, eager to shoot it if he found it.

 

[Elvario]

Zahrah Fiore
[

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From: https://www.zerochan.net/3034810

Mentions: Blue Cow Femboy | Draeyth SixSense | Erich Maxxob | Valen Sir Mayday
Languages: Common | %Analog% | #Abyssal# |

Either they didn't hear Valen or they totally ignored him. Probably both. They were fully invested in trying to redo a past mistake. Without failing, this time around. “#Yes, yes! I can be your friend! It's totally possible! We just have to convince everyone that you're nice! Before they try burning you again!#” They'd shout at the top of their lungs. “LOOK, LOOK! THEY'RE NOT HERE TO HARM ANYONE, THEY ARE NICE AND HARMLESS!!!” With [Smooth Talker B] backing them, perhaps this would be able to achieve where they failed last time around.

Smooth Talker – Character Grade B, Appraisal B, Empathy B, Insight B, Performance [Acting/Singing/Dancing/Spoken Word/Tin Whistle] B, Persuasion B, Seduction B, Energised B Languages [Common, Terran, Beastial, Sylvan, Monster, Analog] – Character combines whatever (meta)knowledge they can find out about someone with persuasive, empathic and seductive smooth-talking, acting and spoken word in an attempt to make others act according to their will. Character speaks to them in whichever (of the main) languages they are most comfortable with. - Grade B Energised – 3 Post Cooldown

However, as they heard the narration and saw the visages, they realised something. “Hey! That's not fair! You're narrating it wrong! The villagers didn't come with that many! They were all sad and in their houses and not willing to do anything! It was just Oden and the rabbit man! There wasn't anyone else! If you're changing things, at least change them to be better! If you're making changes, at least make them for the better!” They puffed up their cheeks in frustration. “You're bad and mean and unreasonable and not nice and bad for happiness! You're making this story even worse whilst you could make it better and I don't like it and I don't like you and I'm not going to play along with it! You tell him too mister Valen! Say that the Snake stopped being sad and turned into a beautiful princess and that the snake and the village lived together happily ever after next!”

 

[Sir Mayday]

VALEN

Mentions: Femboy Elvario SixSense Maxxob​

Valen thought he had found a way to cheat the shadow monster. He actually had hope, but those hopes were dashed as he felt a cold wind against his neck. The Shadow showman was the one in power here. And he did not want to grab his attention anymore. Valen took a deep breath rubbed at his head. "..This is not..real. This is a play right?...Then why don't we play along?" He looks at Zahrah and then says " I would love to tell it that Zahrah, but I don't think it will take that." He hums as he stands..swiping the cube off the ground and raising a finger at the monster. "LOOK A BEAST! We must defend ourselves!" He raises a arm as he slides next tot he imaginary illusions..but then he gasps and points at Enrcih as he suddenly enters the scenario...his logic sounded..logical. But he wondered if it would actually work.

He coughed and slid the dice out of his pocket, letting it roll on the ground, he pointed at Enrich and said "Oh no a man is going to murder the elder! He is trying to buy time for the beast to escape...he also lit some buildings on fire! Seize him!" Valen added at the end, cause why not. He had no knowledge of the extent of power of the cube. He figured he will play along and just add some flair to the story. Maybe this will do for making it sad..and giving the beast a chance to escape.

 

[SixSense]

Dreayth Dominatus Malus

Titles: Demon, Monster, Born for this, Offworlder

Mentions: Sir Mayday Elvario Femboy

​

Dreayth observed closely, taking pleasure in the sensations he had been feeling thus far. It felt like the Void had been calling back to him as he stared into the abominations eyes as it cried black ichor. He knew how this play would end surely however the Zahrah and Valen seemed to believe otherwise, how naive. When it’s in their best interest, they choose to act buddy buddy. However once it’s no longer in their benefit. They are enemies, that’s how it’s always been and how it’s always will be, Monsters versus everyone else.

Dreayth felt contempt for the abomination, the fact that it had been so weak, so pitiful. Perhaps it was stronger, if it took more initiative and channeled that inner hate into power, it wouldn’t have to plead with a bucket of bolts and a bunch of insects.

“Zahrah, you do understand that befriending this monster means turning your back on everyone else. You are exchanging this hideous creature's happiness for everyone else’s, and even then you couldn’t ensure it. This monster would be much more at ease in death.” Dreayth would look towards Valen, as he stepped to the side of the mob with him.

“The only option is extermination, we’re here to please the audience, monsters and humans will never get along.” Dreayth would spin his spear and raise it towards the abomination. “Angry and scared, the villagers would make their choice based off their emotions. They would rid the village of the monster.” Dreayth called out to the narrative voice.

 

[Femboy]

Elvario Maxxob SixSense Sir Mayday
10

Giovanna gave a glance to the tinkerer, hearing him out as she eyed the key in his hold. Her blue eyes looked him over for a moment, before to the dome.
"Don't take too long with wasted time, we have things to discuss, this isn't the time for games after all. Keep an eye out for anything odd, we still have yet to locate what I'm here for. But I have a feeling we're close, something gives me the weird feeling that it's moved, if you get that all sorted out then it might be just around the corner or something such... " the minotaur spoke, thinking over thoughts as they watched Erich too head into the dome. Whatever they were doing in there, she hoped they could sort it out soon enough as to where she didn't have to get herself involved with whatever sorts of shenanigans were happening.

---

Zahrah would find themselves standing alone on the side of the large serpent creature whilst Dreayth and Valen seeming to stand on the side of the villagers... with Erich arguably being lumped in with Zahrah's efforts if Valen were to so call him out as an antagonistic figure to the side that he took. As those stood alongside the villagors who wished to slay the beast, the narrating voice spoke again on the matter specifically to Zahrah.

"That's not what matters here, the story's meaning and progression will remain the same. Unless, you specifically wish to call out these two as monsters themselves? I wouldn't take you as one to antagonise, pink one. But anyway, I'm not the one who wrote the story, I'm just simply improvising a little to better the tale. After all, a good play is meant to invoke emotions from its audience. One can find enjoyment without having to grin at every single thing... besides, have you heard your companions? Even they despise the presence of some gross, hideous monster" the voice spoke out. Erich, who was looking for said source of the voice, wouldn't be able to locate it as it audibly sounded like it was coming from all around them.

Erich's decision to aim towards the Elder, along with Valen blaming him as some sort of attempted murderer in the making, turned part of the villagers' anger towards him as those stepped in front of said Elder who was suddenly here in the scene to aid and protect him. They hurled profanities and yells of protest at both him and the monster, weirdly enough a house or two partially igniting in the process at the command of Valen's words.

"But as it turned out, the hero with the spear spoke of truth... and apparently knew how to stick to the script. And distractions were ignored as the villagers wouldn't let the weapon-wielding inventor oppose their way. The serpentine monster was to be hunted and slain, for the true good and joy of everyone. That's how the evil monster story always goes, no matter how hard you try to counteract it" the voice continued, villagers getting a little more riled up and slowly moving towards Erich seeing him as trouble. Others had their attention focused on the serpent and moved towards it slowly, but all would be approaching and descending upon the beast once the invasive tinkerer was dealt with.

Though despite Zahrah's usually cheerful charisma, the villagers were no longer listening to their words of convincing. They wished to see the end of the serpent monster that the doll called friend. Though as Zahrah suggested what they believed should happen in the story, the narrating voice was... a little confused.

"What?... That makes no sense at all, why in ever would that happen? This isn't some child's fairytale where everything turns out perfectly okay. Someone is always unhappy by the end. That is how everything goes. No thing ever is unable to change that, someone somewhere will always receive the bad end of things. You come here, and attempt to ruin my desire to tell a tale, for your own greed and sake? You are a terrible performer" the voice spoke and criticised, though Zahrah's wishes for... well, the snake apparently turning into a princess, didn't go entirely ignored.

The serpent, remaining near to Zahrah, slowly lowered and faced its gaze to the cotton-brained doll as it slowly managed to get out some strange words.
"ꜰ ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴜꜱ ꜰ ʀɪᴇɴ ᴅ , ᴡ ʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴏᴜʟ ᴅ ʏᴏ ᴜʀ ᴇᴍᴘʟᴏ ʏᴇʀ ᴛʜ ɪ ɴᴋ? ʜ ᴇ ʟ ᴘ ᴜꜱ" it, or rather, what a collage of multiple soft higher-pitch voices asked in request.
"𝐥𝐨𝐎𝐊. 𝐋𝐨𝐎𝐊. 𝐍𝐨𝐖 𝐋𝐎𝐨𝐊, 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐍𝐃." the snake-fren asked of Zahrah, if the doll looked into the snake wherever, they'd notice the vision of a figure form within them and smile back at them.


(FYI to edit in, I'll go with that others will be able to see her but only Zahrah can hear what she's saying. Everyone else in the scene is hearable to everyone though)
"Zahrah, help free us. We know why you're here, why someone else is here. We are not so different, do you recognise this appearance? Likely not. It has not... occurred yet, in the world's story. It's not... 'canon', yet, one might say. Assist us in bettering the world's story. The item you seek, is in the heart of the storyteller. An evil being who pulls too many strings, do not let the minotaur receive the darkened charm from him. The minotaur will not bring happiness to others, or the world. I will enlighten you with a special touch, just for this charm, all you must do is let the story end as it did before, but make sure you are making contact with the serpent's being when it does. We are multiple, and will assist you, it benefits us. This is a story not worth being told again. Make sure it comes into your grasp after, and the minotaur will instead with enough time, become me rather than a worse monster. Someone to spread cheer and understand the lifeblood of happiness, just like you" the being answered to Zahrah, giving them a soft smile. It would probably be quite a sudden overwhelming amount of information.

"We have not known you for long, but we can entrust you with this task. We are sorry it is making you relive this, so at least help us, for we are to be stuck playing this losing act. The serpent's end will not end us, especially if you will provide us passage and escape. You are not as such a normal living organism, you are one who is able to help us. If you do not help now, we may be stuck here forever with it. Every being who is here is cursed to eternity to go insane in due time. If you do this, you can give us home in the charm that your minotaur companion seeks, and thus she and us can all live happier. We may spread help and happiness to all and the world. If you do not... she will become worse than it, the one who tells this dreaded tale. I believe in you, dear joyful little one, I believe in you like my own flesh and blood daughter that whilst it may not let you change this story, you can change the next one... make sure that after all of it, the charm doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Be safe, and very careful, naught can be trusted in this tomb" the being answered.

"Then, motivated by the two heroes, the defending village sought to slay the beast and all those who stood in their way... specifically, the annoying little pink thing, and the lone tinkerer who thought himself more powerful than he was. The village forced their move forward as arrows were drawn and aimed at the serpent. In a few moments, they would be able to strike down the serpent when it was most vulnerable. When the doll with a heart of gold, was busy distracting it with their cheeriness and desire to do good to all the souls of the world... " the voice continued, soon enough doing its best to return to the original plot... or at least, its own version of how it wished to see things happen. The serpent wasn't moving or looking to the villagers at this point, instead giving a teary look to Zahrah in expectation. Then, after a brief moment, slowly raised its lumbering head and shrieked at its attackers.

"It's going to attack, fire at will, turn the ugly thing into a pincushion! Heroes, will you protect us from this psychopath murderer and evil monster-whisperer warlock?" one of the villagers announced to the wielders of bows, looking to Dreayth and Valen. Valen's dice still remained existent and ready to roll if he wished.​

 

[Maxxob]

Erich Zann

​

Titles:
[Isekai Mundane], [Expert Tinkerer], [Technological Eccentric], [Ally of Lykra, the Champion]

Femboy Elvario SixSense Sir Mayday

“Eh?” Erich muttered, surprised and looking at Valen’s sudden accusatory finger being pointed at him. The expression quickly turned into a displeased, eyebrows furrowing. “I will have you know that, while I might have engaged in company approved incendiary methods, I did not in this illusionary instanced reality.” Yet, despite his words, a few of the houses appeared to start catching on fire.

That event gave him pause for tought, making him scratch his chin in contemplation. It appeared this illusionary reality was being affected by mere words. Maybe he ought to have a gander at it as well? Clearing his throat, the tinkerer would begin to speak. “As the villagers released the arrows from their bows, the realization that none of them had experience in warfare was shown. None of the arrows struck true, after all, their target was inside the heavy tree-line of the nearby forest. Many of the strings of the poorly maintained bows snapped after the first attempt, making it impossible to be used once more. In fact, some of the bows even bounced back, hitting the villagers on their faces.” Every word Erich uttered had a surprising amount of confidence behind them, as he pushed towards an anti-climatic Status Quo. Maybe Zahrah would think of something if he bought enough time.

And speaking of Zahrah, the tinkerer glanced back, looking at the the cotton-make construct and the wurm were not alone anymore, someone else having joined them. Was that the princess which the pink one had mentioned? But that was a thought for another moment, as the looming danger of the approaching villagers, slowly making their way towards both the inventor and Zahrah was still present.

What would make them retreat or at least give them pause? Furthermore, what would accomplish that before creating even more animosity? The first thing that came to his mind was a simple one: a common enemy. “Among the tree-line, a multitude of red-eyes began appearing, in pairs, all of them eyeing the villagers. The villagers knew them all too-well. The horrible, mindless beasts, which gnarled and walked on fours legs had been plaguing them for all too long. Attacks, during the cover of night, had always terrorized the villagers. In fact, while the ‘poor’ snake had never threatened the villagers, this new threat was much different. Could the villagers really forgo them entirely and hunt the snake, the inventor and the pink one? In truth, the snake itself was the only one who would be able to save the village from its grim fate. However, after so many threats, would it find it in its heart to help them?”

 

[Elvario]

Zahrah Fiore
[

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From: https://www.zerochan.net/3034810

Mentions: Blue Cow Femboy | Draeyth SixSense | Erich Maxxob | Valen Sir Mayday
Languages: Common | %Analog% | #Abyssal# |

Zahrah instantly puffed up their cheeks at Valen's suggestions. “I don't care if it's a play! It's still mean!” Perhaps their emotions were influencing their algorithms a bit. “I don't care what it takes either! We were never told to be pleasing this weird voice thing! Viva la revolution!” They countered Valen's argument. “No, no! We must not defend ourselves! We must make peace!” They called out.

To add injury to injury, Dreayth also told them mean things. “No, you're wrong! I'm sure we can make the sad snake friendly and nice if we just help it be happy again, then we can all be happy! He's not a monster, he's just misunderstood! I can fix it, this time around! I'm sure we can all be totally happy!” They argued back. “NOOO! Audiences love happy endings, not this sad stuff! We need to make them all happy if you want to please an audience! You're totally wrong!”

They desperately tried to convince both Valen and Draeyth to change their minds with some [Smooth Talker] B. Smooth Talker – Character Grade B, Appraisal B, Empathy B, Insight B, Performance [Acting/Singing/Dancing/Spoken Word/Tin Whistle] B, Persuasion B, Seduction B, Energised B Languages [Common, Terran, Beastial, Sylvan, Monster, Analog] – Character combines whatever (meta)knowledge they can find out about someone with persuasive, empathic and seductive smooth-talking, acting and spoken word in an attempt to make others act according to their will. Character speaks to them in whichever (of the main) languages they are most comfortable with. - Grade B Energised – 3 Post Cooldown

Their next opponent was the narrating voice. “It does matter, you're a cheater! If you can change stuff, so can I!!!” They argued back. “The others aren't monsters, they just don't understand!” They defended the others. “They will, though, if you stop pushing for such a mean and sad ending!!!” They puffed up their cheeks again. “Then improvise a happier ending instead!” They got a bit angrier. “The snake isn't gross and hideous! They're just misunderstood and sad! Stop saying such mean things! Perhaps you're the one that's gross and hideous due to all the mean stuff you say and do!”

“No, they should realise the narrator is wrong!!! The narrator is just being mean and stubborn and mean and mean...!” They called out as the narrator continued their script reading and the scene changed around them. “You're wrong, I made great friends with Tiefy and others before! Even the flesh goop was almost a friend! The story doesn't always go like that, you're lying!!!” They countered the argument.

“It can totally be what we want it to be! Even a fairytale where it all ends up perfectly okay! Aren't you narrating and we acting? Then we can make it how we want to! Don't make the excuse you can't cause you're weak or something, you're just being mean!” They countered the voice yet again.

Zahrah would stretch their arms fully around the snake (Elasticity E). “Don't worry, I'm not gonna let go.” They promised the snake. Though to their surprise, the snake was talking about some unfamiliar stuff. “Free you? How can I do so? I want to help!” They stated, surprised by this turn of events, though still holding on firmly to the sad snake.

When they saw someone appear, they were shocked. “Wooow. With hips and breasts like that, you must be a fertility goddess! I've always wanted to meet one!” That was the first reaction upon their shock at seeing this being in front of them. “The glowing eyes totally confirm it! It's such an honour!”

“Wait, you mean miss Giovanna can become a fertility deity as well? That would be so awesome!” That was what they seemed to understand from the first part of the speech. “I know, right! The storyteller is totally evil and pulling too many strings! I'm so glad someone understands!”

“I'm going to be getting a special touch from a fertility goddess?!? Oh my~” It wasn't really the situation for it, but they couldn't help being pretty honoured. “I've heard that's the type of thing that makes people experience the utmost happiness, so I'd like that, yes, yes!” They were really, really curious.

“Make the story end as before...? But I want to try save the sad snake this time! I don't want to fail again!!! Or at the very last I'm not gonna let go!!!” They called out, upset that even the fertility deity was not wanting to help save the sad snake.

“What...? You're all cursed to go insane here? That's really bad for happiness! Okay, fine! I'll try help free you all!” They stated, still not sure what was going to happen and not liking was was going on, but at least figuring they should try help more. Somehow. “You're also going to spread happiness?!? That would be amazing! Especially coming from a fertility goddess!!!” That did seem like a deal too good to pass up on.

“I'm not an annoying little pink thing! You're a mean disembodied evil voice that keeps fertility goddesses and others trapped to do mean stuff to them!” They replied to the narrator, upset. “NO! I'm not going to let go of the sad snake!!! Let them take us both, if they have too!!!” They declared, unwilling to let go even a little bit. “Yet I'm gonna show that I can hug this sad snake into a beautiful and happy snake instead and that the entire village will apologise!” They stated, confidently, especially as they heard Erich was also resisting the mean voice.

 

[SixSense]

Dreayth Dominatus Malus

Titles: Demon, Monster, Born for this, Offworlder
Mentions: Elvario Maxxob Femboy Sir Mayday

​

Dreayth was beginning to get annoyed with the pinkett stubbornness, why was this bucket of bolts so adamant on protecting an illusion? It was completely idiotic for it to do so and was starting to become a hindrance. What made matters worse was the human scientist taking up to the robots side.

The narrator would seem to be on the monster and Valens side, dubbing them here. Dreayth would chuckle as never in a million years would he have thought he’d be called a hero. He would inch closer along with the mob, serving as an intimidating visage in the back.

“Zahrah, Erich, don’t tell me this monster has got you under his spell. Now you were uttering nonsense.” Dreayth would sulk as he moved closer, “The monster would cast a spell upon the pinkett and the scientist, charming them onto their side with dissonant whispers. The two heroes would look at their brainwashed comrades with a forlorn look, understanding that they must dispose of the monster here and now alongside the villagers.” Dreayth would inch closer as he prepared to stab his spear.

“Nice and mean? These are just fabricated beliefs implemented to please ourselves. Does me wanting what’s best for the villagers make me mean? Or are you the mean one denying everyone here or their safety, assisting in causing fear within this village? Back away from the monster Zahrah, I don’t want to hurt you”

 

[Sir Mayday]

Valen

mentions: Femboy Maxxob Elvario SixSense


Valen would give a grimace at Enrich and squeamish shrug his shoulders at the man. Valen felt sorry he had changed the focus on Enrich, but he had hoped to change the story. A part of him believed they would not face harm from this illusion...well he hoped. He paused as he realized he was gambling with their lives. He felt his mind panicking and knew he would lose himself to his panic and the words of the storyteller soon. The panicked begging of Zahrah filled his ears and he looked at them. Maybe they should just help them...he did hate to be the plaything of some unseen being...unseen..

He looked at the others as everyone started talking and trying to take the reins of the story. He frowned and looked at the dice in his hand. It was not enough. All it did was pull at strings. The story was still happening, and he realized that it needed to make sense. He couldn't change the story outright. The villagers were still focusing on a monster. Yet now they had 'heros to lead them'.

He blinked as he wondered for a moment. What if they didn't change the story in a big way? Valen rolled the dice in his hands. He watched as everyone shouted one thing after another. He then gulped. He knew they were gaining the ire of the storyteller. He rose up and spread his hands and then he said out loud "Yes! Yes!" He looked at the villagers with their bows and arrows. "Listen to us, your heros! We will stop this madness! We will slay the source of this evil!" He looks at Zahrah and Enrich and points a accusing finger at them "The other heros have been tempted, their minds taken. There is a monster before us. One orchestrating these betrayals" He spins in a circle, trying to rile the villagers up. "Look at the eyes in the trees! Watching us, waiting for your demise!" He looks at Enrich and winks at him. He then raises a fist in the air
" It has charmed our pink hero to be enamored with that wicked serpent. But that is only a minon. We must focus on the monster behind all of this!"

He pounds on his chest and nods at Dreayth "We must dispose of the monster. The true monster tonight."

He then looks to where Enrich pointed "With those words, let the village come together. Let the heros grant their request and lead them. For this is a story of a village standing up to a monster..."

Thus Valen tried to combine all their wants and their words together. An attrmpt to make a script to focus on the one thing orchestrating this all. He willed in all his heart and mind as he tossed the dice forward toward Enrich nodding at the dice. Trying in some way to tell the man that the dice could be the key. He had a feeling that he would not get a chance himself to roll the dice. He then said as the dice landed showing a 4 yet again. "Show yourself. The heros said..and the main actor of all this chaos was revealed...The Storyteller before the armed villagers and heros."

 

[Femboy]

Maxxob Sir Mayday SixSense Elvario
11

The woman in the serpent was honestly a little confused at whatever Zahrah was getting at, raising an eyebrow over the mention of being some sort of fertility goddess. After a little moment of confused hesitation, she just softly shook her head and smiled.
"Uh, sure, if that's more pleasant to you, but I am no deity of any kind. I am just a simple a person as anyone else, although a little bit inbetween non-existence as a sort of spirit and all. But yes, the storyteller is an evil guy, so you best help us out so that we can be free and happy and all. You wouldn't want someone like that to keep spreading unhappiness, do you? Kinds of spirits like that keep all the good ghosties and stuff locked down in the depths forever unable to bring joy to the world or even joy to themselves. It is truly so sad and boring down here all alone at the whims of his evil schemes, telling mean stories over and over... " the... 'fertility goddess', as Zahrah put it. She looked to the doll before the others who were taking sides and starting to try and take over the narration for themselves a little concerned, though just turned her attention back to the doll in the end.
"I'm sure you have this all covered, just do what you have to do and don't let go of your snake friend when you know what happens~!" the 'goddess' chimed before fading into non-existence, giving a small wave to Zahrah before fizzling out of existence as the sight of them melded back into the physical body of the big serpent.

Meanwhile, whilst Erich was speaking on more of the story, the narrator scoffed a little and uttered a rather disappointed breath.
"You have no understanding of the art of storytelling, and here I thought you may have been the brighter one of the bunch. None of those things happened. In fact, and I mean full offense when I say this, the stupid little man with goggles was so dumb and saying such idiotic things that all the villagers and even the great, evil monster all took a moment of peace to join in union to laugh at the idiot" the Narrator said out of spite, of which the fake villagers took a moment to ring out in joyous laughter pointing and finding amusement at Erich. The serpent was crying tears of joy, giggling a hissy and squeaky little laugh as its attention looked to the tinkerer for a moment to join in laughing at him.

"See? You want to do a thing where there's suddenly an even bigger other threat and the good and bad guys have to work together to defeat the super bad guy? Listen to you, that's how stupid your scripting is. Nobody likes that, nobody would want to see that, that's just bad storytelling. At least you nailed a main-star comedy play, give yourself some applause. Or don't, I don't care. I'm not letting your changes happen, stick to the script and don't let it happen again" the Narrator stubbonly answered, soon enough the villagers and serpent ceasing their joyful laughter as they returned back to the planned script. Bows were drawn once again and weapons raised as the serpent defensively reared up, albeit very slowly, to look at the angered villagers who wished to slay it.

"Anyway, back to the actual story with no distractions this time. Thank you, horned one, for knowing how to commit to a role" the Narrator spoke, complimenting Dreayth listening to Zahrah as they called them a meanie and other stuff. After a moment, they blatantly answered.
"You want to die too? Okay, let's just get this over with. The villagers raised their many bows and aimed and released their arrows, of which blackened the sky even further and rained down on their target, the grotesque serpentine monster and the annoying little pink thing" the Narrating Storyteller quickly answered in a huffy and fast pace like they were sick of what was happening, the villagers following said commands. Many, what felt like thousands, of arrows were released into the air as they arced and fell back down right on target.

At this point, Valen's dice started emitting blue sparks on the floor and had a very iridescent glow to it. As the arrows were coming down on Zahrah and the serpent, the raining hail of projectiles had frozen in the air just mere moment from turning them into pincushions. Faint particles from the dice had floated around the arrows, before to the edges of the illusionary world as if partially starting to dispel it in a way. The suspended arrows started poofing away one by one at rapid speed with little blue sparkles for each one.
"Hold on wait a minute, where did you get that? What are you on about, the main actor orchestrating all of this? You all are getting really annoying, you all just keep seriously trying to change the play for yourselves. This is my stage, and my performance, you have come here to be actors on your own volition. You do not get to ruin it. Fine, 'little heroes', if you wish to play that. I'll give you your stupid performance that you seek. But first, an improvement in the special effects department... " the Storyteller answered, clear annoyance in their tone as there was an echoey sound of a snap of fingers. The edges of the illusionary world blurred further, before they very visibly changed. Things looked... much more real, convincingly real.

"I might as well use the full capability of the room to this world, now you can imagine like you're really there and can really feel the suffering you will have to endure. Little man, I see your chanced Spirit-box, they are there to be kept away from messing with my own business. Leave it be, and let me destroy them. I'll give you idiots the performance you so desperately crave, if a different monster is what you wish" the Storyteller answered. Movement in the trees and an ominous whistling could be heard, the Storyteller's voice continuing to echo through the expanded illusionary world around them.

"But, because the stupid goggles idiot had jinxed themselves, and because one of their so-called heroes so much begged for a greater challenge, a grand evil rose from the depths of the woods to consume the souls of all who upset his greatness. For the flow of time and the events of it had been severely ruined and messed with by mere mortal idiots... " the Storyteller added.



A tall, creepy and thin shadowy being slowly moved its way out of the woods. An ominous whistling that sounded like it came from multiple beings filled the air wherever it went. It outstretched its hand and made a small, spherical collection of some sort of dark energy.
"And to punish these false heroes who wished to bring doom to the order of things, the Great Ancient one vowed to bring an end to their final chapter and all that they wished to change. Starting with the invasive spirits that kept attempting to ruin the tale... " the dark spirit Storyteller answered, a yellow glow within the Great Serpent monster and a blue glow within Valen's dice. Valen's dice aggressively vibrated for a little moment, small hands looking like it was reaching out of the dice scratched and grabbed at the numbers of the side. They desperately scraped and scratched until all sides were rather not so clean-looking anymore but all read the same thing. The same forcibly placed number '6' on every side. Then, the hands reached for the seams and pulled, the cube of chance looking like it was being torn in half. When it eventually did, an oozing blue glow inside filled the empty space in the half-cubes, and reformed them. Two dice now remained on the floor, both having the number '6' on every single face.

"And the villagers? They didn't know who to trust, so they thought that the Great Dark one from the trees was a great saviour to them. So, they joined together now suspicious of the four individuals that called themselves 'Good People'. Ironic, really, these four strangers show up and then the weirdest and creepiest day starts happening to them. Good for them, hope they kill all the 'Good Guys' of the story as they so say. Well, I guess the horned one can stay, he actually believes in killing the serpent. Ahem, the villagers let their horned comrade remain as they turned their weapons and attention to the Evil Golden Spirit in the Serpent's Shell, the Problem Inventor who doesn't know how to tell a story, and the... pointless pink thing that speaks a lot of nonsense" he said, the villagers turning their weapons and attention to the three other than Dreayth.

"For here soon enough comes the real final act, the big performance. The death of three false heroes, the grotesque monster serpent, and some pesky play-ruining spirits I had trapped but just won't take a hint. You just don't get that I'm the one doing the right thing, trying to enjoy my time, but you'd rather enable this villanious spirits who lie and scheme in order to bring disorder and chaos. Be my guest, and accept your death, you will not be credited for your failure of a performance" he answered, dark tones of some sort of magical energy starting to radiate off his being as he was clearly about to do something.

"Who desires to understand the plot significance of major character death on a personal level?" the Storyteller answered, having enough of things being ruined.​

 

[Elvario]

Zahrah Fiore
[

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From: https://www.zerochan.net/3034810

Mentions: Blue Cow Femboy | Draeyth SixSense | Erich Maxxob | Valen Sir Mayday
Languages: Common | %Analog% | #Abyssal# |

“Stop calling him a monster! He's just misunderstood and sad! Can't you see he's not trying to harm anyone? It's this horrible narrator mean person that's uttering nonsense!” They defended themselves and their sad snake friend.

“No, the sad snake wouldn't do such things! Stop trying to talk sad things into existence like that! You're just playing along with this mean narrator's game! You don't want what's best for the villagers, you just want to play along with this narrator! I'm not letting the sad snake get hurt again!” They claimed, still clinging on to the sad snake. “They can be safe and happy by understanding the sad snake just needs to be made happy again, then they can all be friends and happy!” They countered.

Luckily enough, at least one person understood. Sort-off. Zahrah's cotton-brain kind-off melted and started smoking when Valen first seemed to want him and Erich attacked, but then turning the attention on Draeyth. They didn't want Draeyth to get hurt either, but if this was the only way to protect the sad snake, perhaps him getting a little hurt would be happier for everyone? It was a very tough call to make, but they decided not to try interfere. Instead, they held on to the sad snake for dear life. Well, the sad snake's dear life, at least. There was one thing they agreed with wholeheartedly. “That's right, the Storyteller narrator guy that's trying to make us all sad and angry and feeling bad should at least show himself!”

The fertility goddess confused them. “No, no, you can't fake being normal just to be humble. The glowing eyes, the big hips, the big breast, you have to be a fertility deity.” They argued back to her. They did agree with the next bit. “Yes! Very evil and mean!” They would happily nod at the fertility goddess. “No problem, I won't let go of the sad snake! This time, we'll save him! Everyone will be happily ever after!” They promised.

“No, you're wrong, I'm not laughing at mister Erich! He's a really smart and clever person that will help me spread happiness through hormones and we're going to make people horny! You can't be mean to him just because he's right and you're wrong! You're the bad storyteller! And a bad looser!” They refuted the storyteller. “NOOOOOOOO SAD SNAKE, DON'T LISTEN TO HIM AS WELLL!!!!” They cried out, shocked that their sad snake friend would even fall for this awful trickery.

“Well, your scripting is even more stupid! It's mean and lame and just mean!” They puffed up their cheeks. “My algorithms say that you can only be like this because your mother didn't love you and I'm sorry for that, but that's not an excuse to make these mean stories!” They'd reprimand the narrator.

“Hah! Threatening to kill me means you lost! I didn't die in the actual story, so it's clear that you can't even replay it! You're just faking it and being unreal and being mean for the sake of being mean and wanting a bad outcome because you're bad because your mother didn't love you and you should look therapy and talk about your feelings instead!” They actually started to feel bad for the narrator.

That gave them a great idea! “Listen, mister narrator, I'm not licensed, but we can totally talk about your feelings and I'll listen to you for as long as needed, so you can let it all out! You'll feel so much better afterwards and you won't even want to do mean stuff any-more and we can all be friend! I'll listen to anything you want to tell me and you can even hug me and cry on my shoulder if you want! I could try ask miss Giovanna if she can give you a cup of milk to warm, as I heard milk can help you calm down as well! It'll be amazing and you'll see it'll make you feel much better and happier than what you're doing now! It doesn't have to be like this!” They tried to appeal to the storyteller with some [Smooth Talker B] (or whatever highest grade I'm allowed to use cooldown wise).

Smooth Talker – Character Grade B, Appraisal B, Empathy B, Insight B, Performance [Acting/Singing/Dancing/Spoken Word/Tin Whistle] B, Persuasion B, Seduction B, Energised B Languages [Common, Terran, Beastial, Sylvan, Monster, Analog] – Character combines whatever (meta)knowledge they can find out about someone with persuasive, empathic and seductive smooth-talking, acting and spoken word in an attempt to make others act according to their will. Character speaks to them in whichever (of the main) languages they are most comfortable with. - Grade B Energised – 3 Post Cooldown

Somehow, during all this, they didn't get pelted by arrows. Which was a nice thing. They were confused by the direction the story went, however. “Wait, is this thin one meant to be you, mister story-teller? Or is this another one and are you still hiding?” They asked, raising their hand as if to ask a question to their teacher.

“Sad snake friend... you're glowing yellow... Are you alright?” They asked, being pretty lost on what was happening and not knowing how they were meant to react to any of this. “What?!? I'm not pointless! You're pointless! At least until you talk to me and get over your emotional trauma and stop being so needlessly mean! Why are you now just having the villagers fight again and have some other monsters?!? You're weird! I don't like it!” They complained. “I'm pretty sure this is what they call 'retconning' a story and it's really bad for happiness when someone does so!” They stated, without any sense of irony there.

As for the final question, the answer was very obvious. “Oh! Me! I do! I desire the death of the Storyteller, so that he may be born again as a nice and compassionate person that understand that being mean isn't good for happiness! I can talk you through and help you be reborn as such! It'll be the most epic and amazing and happiness-inducing character development ever and everyone will totally love it!” They'd state, still relying on their [Smooth Talker B].

 

[Maxxob]

Erich Zann

​

Titles:
[Isekai Mundane], [Expert Tinkerer], [Technological Eccentric], [Ally of Lykra, the Champion]

Femboy Elvario SixSense Sir Mayday

Erich took the criticism, if one could call it that, with a deadpan expression. The hurled insults did little to change his stance, however, it was becoming clearer that a diplomatic solution to this was out of the question. “While storytelling is certainly outside my area of expertise, yours certainly doesn’t bring anything new to the table. If there are other spirits participating in this show, I suppose there is a good chance that they died from boredom while hearing your tales.” The tinkerer would say, while fiddling with a dial of his Danger Vaporizer.

Zahrah’s words did make his expression soften slightly, nodding and agreeing with what they were saying. “Zahrah is right! Together, we will be able to make people the horniest up to a level they couldn’t even begin to imagine! Now, that will make it for a new and exciting story! Better than one that, a storyteller invite us to participate and shape, but end up not being glad in the direction it is moving, for sure.”

“Do you think this embodied voice is like this because of lacking motherly love?” He would ask Zahrah, curious by what they had said. “It makes sense. Probably they grew resented, earning for that kind of connection and not finding it. And now they could very well be lashing out because of it. That could also indicate traces of trauma induced sociopathy or psychopathy. That would explain their sadistic tendencies.” Erich nodded to himself a few times, finding the explanation to be sound.

And, for all that was worth, it appeared that Valen’s words had found some purchase within the story itself, as the arrows froze in midair before striking Zahrah and the danger-noodle. Followed by the apparition of a bizarre, tall and creepy figure emerging from the nearby foliage. Seems like that was the break that Erich needed, and he wouldn’t let it go to waste.

“Zahrah is not pointless, they are a boon to technology and horny inducement! The pheromone research is bound to be successful with their help. And, to that end, time for a more aggressive diplomacy!” Without missing a beat, the inventor brought his laser pistol up, aiming at the creature. With a flexing of his index finger, he would squeeze the trigger, the gun would let out a very disappointing and anticlimactic ‘pew’ as the thin beam travelled towards the creature.

Following that, his aim would shift towards the villagers themselves, as a deterrent while he waited for their reaction.

Actions:
1 - Take aim at the Great Dark One
2 - Amped Up! - Fighting Style C, Range E, Blight [Flames] F, Area E, Selective E, Deflect E -> Overcharged shot from Erich's Danger Vaporizer, with 30ft Range and 15ft Area. If used on in a counter-attack, reduces the effectiveness of the attacking stat by 2. Cases extra +1 flame damage on hit - Grade C Cooldown 3 posts (Selective E targeting the Great Dark One exclusively) - 15 Base Effectiveness + 1 damage [Flames] - 2 to the stat effectiveness if counter-attacked.
3 - Take aim towards the villagers

CD:
C - 0/3