The Crown of Thorns ((Semi-Open/Semi-Closed RP))
By
Hallucinogen_NA,
Posted on: 2006-08-16 10:29 in Roleplaying
Night, and the moon was full. Moonscribe sat on the bed in his room, looking out the window.
Hmmmm. What are you thinking about, human?
I dont know. I have. . . I dont know. . . I think something bad is going to happen,
Haha. Relying on gut feelings instead of logic and clear thought, again?
Djehuty, you cant tell me you havent felt it too!
True. I suppose even blind emotion can find the truth occasionally. . .
There was someone behind him.
Moonscribe turned around and saw a small green cloud of smoke, vaguely humanoid but mostly obscured by a viridian haze. A gas mask was visible on the beings face.
Hallucinogen? Moonscribe said. He was still perfectly calm, indeed he was calmer than when he had been talking to Djehuty, for now he was turning his face on the world.
I am just an illusion, the being replied. But obviously, Hal sent me. He wants your help.
Moonscribe laughed. I thought he hated me?
That doesnt mean you wont be helpful.
Fair enough, Moonscribe said, adjusting his glasses, which somehow always reflected light of the lenses so that his eyes were obscured.
So where is he? What does he want?
Come to the MAGI office in Atlas Park, at 11:30 AM tomorrow. He will see you there. Hals phantom vanished.
((And such is my example. Have Hals illusionary visit be in any form you like; having him send a copy of himself, however, makes much more sense.))
* * * * * *
So. Gabriel smiled, holding up the sword of the fallen Pledged of Steel. He seeks to use this weapon to preserve human life.
Gabriel was a dark-skinned man, probably East Indian in origin; he once had been handsome and his features were pleasant, but now they were twisted into a mask of hatred. He wore a long, black cloak.
There is nothing wrong with protecting your own, Gabriel. Please. . . you make me uncomfortable.
Gabriel laughed at the voice in his head. And so I thought, for so many wasted years. Preaching faith and hope and the love of God. . . and yet it is all lies. My efforts accomplished nothing, and now I am simply another tool in the Councils eyes.
Gabriel, please.
Gabriel laughed again. I thought you wanted revenge, Raphael? You are much too soft!
I want revenge on the Council, yes! They are the ones who wronged me, you cant. . .
And yet, a race of beings who would mutilate a being such as yourself. . . how is it that they deserve to exist at all? Gabriel demanded. I have preached for years, I have seen everything. . . anger, greed, jealousy, hate, madness in every form. . . The human race is destined to fall. It makes little difference if it is by my hand!
. . . Gabriel. . . you frighten me.
I doubt I can frighten a Nictus that easily! Gabriel laughed. You will see, Raphael. The world will be better, without beings like me to send it into ruin. Perhaps you can destroy me when I am done. Then my crusade will be complete!
Gabriel. . .
Shut up, Gabriel snapped. He had just found a sheet of paper on the fallen hero. A Council base? One under the direct jurisdiction of Requiem? It was almost too fortunate. . .
It is probably a trap. . .
I care little, Gabriel responded. For it is likely a trap by the Council. . . and then I can have my revenge!
Gabriel. . . you have killed hundreds of Council soldiers. The truth is. . . you have had your revenge already.
It is never enough! Gabriel laughed, as he and Raphael pooled their energies, transforming him into the squid-like flying form, Nova. The human race is corrupt, and I shall cleanse all of them of their unforgivable sins!
Gabriel. . . what have they done to you, by doing this to me?
((Villains must find some anonymous tip. . . what sort doesnt matter. . . that leads them to an indoor area of some sort. Once they enter, they are taken to the Temple of Steel, Steel Eclipses base; Gabriel will enter the base shortly, afeter a few people have posted. By the way, Gabriel is my Peacebringer, but this version of him has been corrupted and turned into a Nictus. And no, I havent ever used him before. But I had no one who fit. So there.
Well then. . . feel free to join in! . . . And yes. . . I have too many characters who talk to themselves.))
"NUB ME!"
Slap!
"NUB, ME!"
Slap!
"NUB, MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
And two Troll brothers dove on the 'dyne, beating the living hell out of one another as all good Trollkin should.
And then a vision appeared.
Prikker looked up, then did a double take.
"Halliloosenujjun?"
"Prikker. Snikker. The MAGI Office in Atlas Park. 11:30 A.M. tomorrow. You are needed."
"Gah, bud wud we du? Da skah uz neebed fur?"
"He will elaborate when you get there.
And just like that, the illusion was gone and the Trolls were slugging it out once more.
Essex sighed.
Genki just never learned.
"Ooooowwwwww!!!" the red and blue android complained as his 'sister' took a welding torch to his left leg. "Ess, come on! Hurry it up!"
"You're not going anywhere." Essex murmured, peering through the blast shield on her helmet to make sure she was repairing Genki properly. Usually her nanites were sufficient for most repairs, but Genki always seemed to push the limits. "Maybe this will teach you to challenge Babbage one on one."
Genki groaned. "You're such a drag." he complained.
"That I may be..." Essex said, straightening and shutting off the tool with a click. "But I know what I'm doing. Now get off and do ...whatever it is you do at night."
"Awlright!" Genki chirped, bounding off the table. "Pocket D, here I come baby!"
Essex shook her head, putting her tools away for the night...when she was suddenly startled by the presence of some unexpected green smoke. With a girlish shriek, she barred an arm over her nose, angrily turning towards the hallway.
"SEAWING, if you don't stop chlorinating my laboratory I'll-- Oh, I'm terribly sorry!" she said curiously as she examined it closer. "Hal-chan! You nearly scared the toast out of me!"
"No, Essex. Just an illusion." the false Hal asserted. "But Hallucinogen has requested that I ask for your aid."
"Oh...does he need my help?" Essex asked, her expression turning to one of concern. "Of course! What must I do?"
"Go to the MAGI offices in Atlas, 11:30 tomorrow." the illusion instructed.
"Duly noted." Essex said with a smile. "And do give Hal-chan my regards!"
The illusion only gave her an uneasy smile before vanishing once again...
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"It should be here," Gabriel said. He stood next to a battered door in the wall of a cliff. "This is the Council base."
He pushed open the door before Raphael could protest, and everything went black. . .
I told you it was a trap, Gabriel. . .
Gabriel opened his eyes. They were in the center of a massive room made of a strange dark metal. The roof ws so high that it was hardly visible, but the walls slanted inward as they stretched higher and higher, suggesting that they eventually came to a single point, like a pyramid. All around stood statues made of steel, most with the heads of jackals, some topped with the head of a lioness. Against each wall stood a huge statue of a man wearing an Egyptian crown and holding a long, curved staff.
"Where is this?" Gabriel demanded to the room.
A voice answered from nowhere. "I confess myself insulted that you do not know. This is the Temple of Steel, my friend, and I its keeper, Steel Eclipse. But calm down, for the others are coming shortly."
"Other what?" Gabriel demanded.
"Others," Steel answered. "I wish to discuss a matter with all of you. And I am afraid I do not intend to take no for an answer."
Helper sat patiently underneath the chemical spray. He had been dispatched to effect repairs on a leaking nuclear conduit. Subsequently he required several hours of decontamination before it would be safe for him to interact with humans again.
He cast his gaze downward quizically as a green mist slipped out from one of his exhaust vents. It swirled and thickened and formed the familiar image of Hallucinogen.
"Helper, I'm going to need your help."
"Of course, sir," he agreed genially.
"MAGI. Atlas. 11:30."
"I understand, sir," Helper confirmed as the illusion faded.
*BKZT!* he telltale crackle of the communication system ripped through the dull hiss of the chemical spray.
"Did you say something, Helper?" The technicians voice rang out in the tiny room, distorted by the cheaply constructed comm.
"I was reciting a lesson from school to pass the time, sir. I apologize for the confusion," Helper wasn't a very good liar, but he calculated that this would an appropriate time to practice the skill.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Finally, I'm gettin off this floatin chunk of space trash!" Kreigg cheered as he rammed the thrusters of his newly 'acquired' vessel forward, punching the ceiling in excitement. "Off to good weather and good times! Oh, Gurssk yeah!"
A klaxxon flared to life in the tiny cockpit, Kreigg looked down at the panel to find out what had triggered the alarm. The 'Enemy Weapon Locked' panel was flashing. His heart sank in his chest.
"Figures," he grumbled as the rocket tore off the tail of his ship, sending it plummeting back towards the planet. He braced for the inevitable crash.
Slamming into the unyeilding rock at near-cosmic velocity, the ship was dashed into millions of tiny shards, the fuel cells exploded, and Kreigg was hurled hundreds of yards. His chest hit the ground flatly and he skipped like a stone for half a mile more. When he came to rest he looked up through bleary eyes. All he could make out was a shadowy, sillouetted figure.
"Ky Glar..." Kreigg said weakly.
"Just as I expected. Time to put you with the others," the figure said blandly. It reached out a hand at Kreigg just as he lost consciousness.
Toy Dispenser slapped a teleport bug on the last crate in the warehouse and looked over at the Sky Raider guards that he had beaten up to get these supplies.
"Thanks for the stuff, boys," he said. "Too bad for you that you had the last stuff I need to retrofit the bots."
Hitting a button on his wrist panel, the several dozens crates of equipment flashed and disappeared, teleported up to his satellite manufactory. Whistling, Toy turned around to look at the empty spaces where the crates used to be and almost did a double take when he saw the unarmed Sky Raider Captain staring at him from where he had been hiding behind several of the crates.
"I got him!"
Mini Bot suddenly dashed forward and tackled the captain, knocking him to the ground. The battle drone and Sky Raider struggled for a bit before Mini Bot finally knocked him upside the head with his claw hand and knocked the captain out. Toy sighed and shook his head before motioning for his bots to form up. Combat Toy and the others moved forward from where they had been stationed.
"Hey boss! I think I found something!" shouted Mini Bot as it trotted up to Toy, clutching a piece of paper in its hands. "It looks like another base where they transferred some new tech!"
"Let me see," Toy said as he grabbed the paper and looked it over. After reading it, Toy almost dropped it in shock. "Holy crap! They got their hands on a freaking Mark XI power cell! That's the same make and model as mine!"
"Sooooooo, that's good?" Mini Bot asked as it cocked its head.
"Hell yeah that's good," Toy replied. "Let's go knock the joint over. Maybe we'll snag some more stuff to sell while we're there."
"Time to break some more heads!" Combat Toy shouted as the robots left the warehouse.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
The clinking of wine glasses. The soft background music and the hum of polite conversation. This gala was highly publicised, and the richest men and women of Steel Canyon had done their best to make it the most popular event of the year.
The Innovation Ball. Where up-and-coming inventors showcased their newest inventions to the top minds at Crey, Portal Corp, and who knows what other companies. One thing was for certain though. Every person in the room who wasn't an inventor was an influential person.
A singularity existed among them, though. Those who knew her would never have recognized her. Vanessa Eirene tossed her hair as she laughed politely, deep in conversation with a pair of Crey engineers. Her straggly brown hair pulled back into a wave of curls and her eyes hidden behind stylish sunglasses, earrings that were stylish spirals of steel dangled down to her bare shoulders. Vanessa's dress was strapless, a bright red sheath gown that complimented her thin frame, and she wore gloves that reached to her mid-upper arms. A black purse on her shoulder and a cigarette holder in her left hand, her right had a caviar hors d'ouvre that she was nursing.
Not long now. she thought, glancing down at the gold watch in the shape of a star that jingled on her wrist.
As she continued her conversation, the Crey gentlemen seemed to really respond to her. After all, her ettiquete was flawless and she was really quite nice. She had an unnervingly predatory grin, but beyond that...
An explosion rocked the building. Screams came from the ladies' room.
Right on time.
"Nobody move." Vanessa shouted, a laser pistol suddenly out of her purse and in her smartly-gloved hands. "I'll nae tolerate yer lip."
A sharp pounding heralded the arrival of Gasket, towering over his mistress threateningly. "You're right, ma." he said. "That gunpowder gelatin really did the trick."
"Course I'm right." Nessie muttered back. "Now where are the lads with the --"
"Got 'em, Mom!" came Rotor and Torque's voices from the other room. The inventions were all neatly secured, the inventors bound and gagged in the coat closet. It was crowded, but it worked.
"Stop right there, Ultraviolet Nessie!" a hero suddenly cried out, sweeping through the window heroically. "The Azure Flash is here to --"
Laser fire abruptly ended the hero's speech, and the next sound was that of the mediport patch zapping him out of further harm. Vanessa cackled madly, until she heard the rustle of clothing from multiple sides.
A handful of businessmen were disrobing, showing the tights underneath. Secret identities, eh?
"Amber Claw!" "The Anomaly!" "Freezeazy!" "Chicken Butter!"
After an awkward silence, Nessie shook her head.
"Now's when we make our escape, lads!!"
Running gracefully in the sheath dress, her red pumps neatly clicking on the floor, she leered over her sunglasses, revealing the ultraviolet glow of her left eye as she fired backwards with precision. Force fields erupted around her as her protector bots did their job, and the contigent of bots stormed through the building, breaking artifacts, shooting diplomats and causing havoc as the four heroes chased them.
Finally on the bottom floor, Nessie lured the heroes out into the lobby.
"Say goodnight, lads and lassies!" she roared, firing three well-placed laser blasts at the remote fuses of stockpiles of dynamite Spindle had painstakingly disguised as lobby plants.
Munching her caviar, Nessie twirled her laser pistol back into her purse as she walked back towards her labs, the building exploding in on itself behind her....
----------------------------
"Mom..."
"Ungh."
"Moo-ooomm..."
"Aye, aye..."
"MOM!"
Vanessa Eirene sat bolt upright, fumbling for her glasses.
"Bloody HELLFIRE, child, what'd I tell ye about wakin' me up in the mi'il o' the night!?" she snarled down at the offending robot.
"I want a cup of antifreeze." Prickle said sadly, gazing up at his creator with the petulant longing of a child.
Nessie sighed. "Fine, fine, lad, I'll get it for ye." she mumbled, wearily rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. "Jus' have Gasket get it for ye next time, all right? Mommy needs 'er beauty rest."
"You were having the dream again?"
"Aye." Nessie responded glumly, opening up her supply closet.
Walking back, her slippered foot crunched on a small note that had been slid under the door. Squinting at it, she picked it up, holding it close to read the print.
".......Innovation Gala...." she whispered in disbelief.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
((Because it's important to me 
I'm going to ask.
Does this fit into any particular time line? My main character has a huge transition in personality in his younger years so I gotta know...))
((The timelines confuse the heck out of me. But, this is definitely several years after SH101, at least, and sometime after GoCC and FF, according to Hal's timeline. Not sure if that helps.))
((Nobody move! This is a single-post thread hijack!))
He still remembered the day.
Reikoff frowned. "Hey Marcus?"
"Huh?"
"Why did we not have agents there to stop her?"
"Err...eheh.."
"Marcone...."
OOC: Silly Soviet. That was a dream.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
((*double takes*))
((I can do this.))
((I believe in faeries! *clapclapclap*
Uhm... and by the way -- Essex: Chicken Butter? I just about spit Dr. Pepper on my monitor!))
(( You guys really gotta learn not to drink things while reading the CoX forums... I learned that waaaay back...))
An explosion racked the Paragon City Times for the fourth time that morning.
And it was only 2:00 AM.
"Okay, for the last time, who the hell let a hero live under the PCT?!" yelled photographer Karl Jennings.
"Eh, he isn't any harm..." muttered Kevin, an intern of the editor. "At least Ex- the hero hasn't blown the building up yet!"
Then, after returning to his desk, his whispered into a tiny microphone.
"Damnit, John, what did you blow up this time?"
"Listen, Kev..." came a crackled, british response. "I despise getting devices wrong. I hate having malfunctioning devices around, so I set fire to them. I can not help it if the device is explosive!"
"Sure you can! You pour gasoline onto the thing!"
"....It lights up easier. Just get back to covering for me, okay?"
"Look, I doubt that they will believe that you have been in the bathroom for almost..." Kevin looked to his watch. "Fourteen hours now."
"Pfft... Just say I went home last night, and need to get a bus back."
"...Experiment... There ARE no buses around here."
"Exactly."
--------------------------
"Exactly." 2.0 replied into his comm. "2.0 out."
Experiment shut off the unit, as he cleared off charred metal and materials from his desk. He blew the last flame from the tip of his hair, which had since grown to his face.
It covered an eye, allowing him to regain the mysterious look he liked from movies and comics.
However, when 2.0 heard a *POOF*, he had to move the hair from his left eye to see who appeared to be some kind of humanoid, green smokey... guy.
"Uh... Who are you, and how the hell did you get into my lab?"
"Experiment... How often do you see green smoke?"
"All the time. The Circle of Thorns uses green everything."
"Ugh. Does the name Hallucinogen ring a bell?" muttered the illusion coolly.
2.0 caught the change in voice. He remembered Hal from the slight transdimensional jumping of the Chess game.
"Ah, the master of illusions! How did he figure out how to send anything here?"
"He has ways... Look, it matters not. Get to MAGI in Atlas Park at 11:30."
"....Ugh... Do I really have to? I kinda wanted to test out this new tracker I got. It only self destructs if someone nearby says 'Pie is disgusting' now."
"Experiment...."
"Ugh. Fine. Hey, did you contact anyone else I know?"
"...No. I do not think so."
"Oh. Okay, just wond-"
In another cloud of green smoke, the form disappeared.
The red armoured hero raised an eyebrow.
He had been able to note when Hal was not telling the whole truth before, and he could swear he had sensed it again.
He shrugged it off, looking at his PDA...
Which gave him an almighty jolt.
He was sent flying at the wall behind him, smashing into it, causing an avalanche of devices. After clawing his way out, a disgruntled female voice yelled at him. "You had better not EVER do that to me again! You hear me, Experiment! Never!"
((Thanks for the tip, Guy. 
))
(( Hey, 'tis the least I can do! I must not let others feel the pain of the loss of a clean keyboard... I believe it was General CoH discussion I had my first spill... Bah, memories... ))
"Funny," said Toy as he looked at the non-descript warehouse in front of him. "I didn't think the Sky Raiders had much of a presense in St. Martial."
"I guess they think it helps being the only bozos with jetpacks on the block," Mini Bot said as it jumped up to look through a window.
"Ok folks, you know the drill. Combat Toy in first and then the rest of us pick up the pieces."
"Hoo ha!" the assault bot shouted as it kicked open the warehouse door and charged inside, multi-part shields shimmering over its form.
"Charge!" Mini Bot yelled as it led the rest of the group in.
*****************************************
The next thing Toy knew, he and his bots were in the middle of a pyramidical room surrounded by metal statues that his sensors screamed were actually fully functional robots.
"I would like to state for all and sundry," Toy said as he slowly pulled out and assembled his pulse rifle. "That I heartily disapprove of being kidnapped and shoved into a B-rated Egyptian movie."
"Makes me want to smash something," Combat Toy added as it eyed one of the pharoah bots.
"I think I remember these guys," Large Toy said as it looked over at the Anubots.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Morning dawned.
A figure in a blue robe with glasses that hid his eyes walked casually into the MAGI office.
A woman clad in a colorful robe approached him, staring though him as though he were a window.
"Ah, you are here," said Azuria. "Hallucinogen is waiting for you inside the portal. But, it can be a little dangerous at times. . . Why not stay here and wait for the others. You are early."
"Very well, Priestess," said Moonscribe and went to sit down.
"Oh, and by the way. . . remember that how you get somewhere is often as important as where you go. . . Djehuty."
And she smiled, as though she had not just said something very unnerving.
* * * * * *
"Who are you?" Gabriel said, turning to the leader of the robots that had just appeared beside him.
"Now, now," said Steel. The eyes of the Anubots glowed red, and they drew swords. "Why don't we wait until the others get here before the . . . negotiations. You may need some help."
((Hello, everybody. . .trying my first RP here! *sheer terror*
There are a lot of rules to this, so if you dont like that. . . dont join. By the way, kids, out of character posts like this one should be surrounded by double parentheses like I am using or designated OOC when you are out of character and BIC when you are back in character (for instance, OOC: Im not godmoding, BIC: your character dies.)
Which reminds me. First of all, no powergaming/godmoding/whatever. I have never actually heard this defined, so I will try to do so now; bear in mind, though, that I, well, havent ever had it defined for me. There may be someone else who understands this much better than me, but if there is, I havent seen them defining it :P
Essentially: Dont give your character an unfair amount of power or control. If your character is attacked, they cant dodge every time. Think about what your character could do rather than what you want. The most important rule to me, though, is that you should never dictate another player characters actions or what happens to that character. If your attack is unresistable, unblockable and unavoidable, not only can you not say it kills them, you cant even say it hits. You can only say it is unresistable, unblockable and unavoidable and explain why. (Note that I am pretty dang strict with myself about this stuff.)
And if you write that you arent powergaming, you probably are. Rewrite your post.
Second. There are two sides to this. You may have two characters, and they may be divided as you choose between the sides. NO MORE THAN THAT. Unless there is really no one joining this thing, and then it will probably flop anyway.
There are restrictions on the characters as well. Hero characters must have met Hallucinogen (my RP character), much like with Essex in the 24HV thread; it doesn't matter where, they just need to know who he is/what his powers are. Otherwise. . . it will make no sense. As for villains, they have to be a significant threat. Actually, a hero *can* join villain side; this side is essentially forced to work together. But if you CAN join Hals side and are a hero, do so. Anyway. . . if you want to enter a villain, and no one has ever heard of them, it probably wont work . . .
Which brings me to the last point. Your characters all must have appeared in an RP before, and at least two is preferred. And yes. . . I am going to break this rule for one of my characters. Im the GM. Deal with it.
If none of your characters fit, never fear: you can have them enter as NPC characters later on. I will explain this after the RP goes semi-closed.
. . . Oh yeah, didnt mention that. There will be no joining the teams after a certain point. I use the word semi-closed, however, because you can still join at this point. . . there are just far more rules governing how, you are much less important to the plot, and you cant join a team. Probably the phrase semi-closed doesnt mean anything different from semi-open, but if I want to use terms that dont exist, thats my prerogative.
. . . I really should just start. Ill explain more as I go along. . . The next post will demonstrate character introduction.))