Shadowbane: A fantasy/sci-fi rp

[Samuel]

to restore the dead shadowbane or to destroy the living ones -.-' anyways...we should kick this off..

[Tobias116]

(Kicks it off)

Grief stood within his smithy with a small piece of metal in his hands. The metal was seemingly harmless, but in the hands of a smith, a piece of metal can become anything. He carefully shaved excess pieces off with his nails, creating a blade out of the piece of metal. He created a flame just beneath its blade. The metal soon dripped like candle wax down the blade. He stopped the flame and began carving the hilt for the small dagger. What came out was a very small version of a kukri, about 12 centimeters long with the hilt included.

He cast a small spell and lines appeared in the center of its' weight. He quickly carved out the area marked on his little creation. The blade was hollowed out.
He then took the flakes from the piece of metal and melted them together into a single piece of metal. He looked at the hollowed out area in the knife and imagined a tube that would fit in it. A fire barely hotter than the new piece of metal formed underneath it. The metal twisted in the heat, turning its' point of gravity, it elongated.

Grief carefully put in the tube into the dagger's hollowed out point. He then scraped his nails across the surrounding area very lightly, creating small crumbs of metal around it. He then used his demonic fire to weld the tube to the blade.

He was interrupted by a rather shady looking man in a black robe walking in to his small smithy, which wasn't really a smithy, there was no furnace and no hammers. The face of the man was really strange, it was so plain that one couldn't really remember what he looked like if you looked away as much as a second. He walked up to the counter and looked up at Grief. "I heard you wanted to get out of this Shadowbane." the man said. Grief nodded slightly. "Someone has been really nice to you." the man said and from out of his robe, he pulled a yellow metro ticket.

"Looks like it's your day today." he said with a grim tone, holding out the ticket to Grief. Grief stared at the ticket, for the first time in his life, someone wasn't shocked of his looks, for the first time, someone was offering him something without an evil intention lurking behind its facade. Grief delicately took the ticket with his left hand which didn't have any nails. He looked at it Sazine. "Thank you." Grief uttered, his eyes glossy. He gently put the ticket in a leather pocket on his left thigh. The man in the black robe went out of his smithy again, without a word, took a left on the street and disappeared.

Grief understood that this was his way out of the Shadowbane. When he was a small, lesser demon, when his horns were just nubs in his forehead. His master used to take him to the metro, to tease him. Saying that he would never leave this place. Grief had made a vow that he would one day get out of this Shadowbane. He took out the small blade again and carved a long line in the tube. He then took out a small vial of mercury.
He poured the mercury down into the tube until it was half full. He then welded the tube together.

He put the knife in a small leather string with a piece of metal to connect it to his armor on the end, and connected it to his armor. (Hope that part wasn't too blurry. But like one of those metal buckler thingies we have today on coats)

He gathered all his weapons. One long sword, two short sword. 20 throwing daggers and 3 normal daggers. He couldn't forget his 2 handed kris named Tear. The blade was long and brutal with hooks barbs here and there. It was fashioned to reflect Grief's past.

He took his smith diploma and put it in the pocket opposite to the one with the metro ticket. He took up his box of metal shards and pieces and threw it out the window with immense force, almost hitting the hobo who lived outside and sometimes inside his smithy. "I'm getting out of here!!!" Grief screamed at the top of his lungs and strode out of the door with huge steps. Towards the metro.

(I thought this shady man would visit some of us, or all of us, leading us to Sazine, or some other place after Sazine. *shrugs*)

[Samuel]

Thanis Kestrel Nerum. A man who had brought the top arcane minds from across the globe and with them founded the Magic University of Sazine. The building itself was tube-shaped, a huge tower built around the very lowermost portion of the Major Shadowbane that cast its brilliance on the kingdom of Sazine. Day in and day out shifts of professors tried to decipher the Shadowbane's secrets--and many things had been found out, yes, and so many others remained secluded, yet to be found out. It was Thanis Kestrel Nerum who pioneered the dangerous art of Sun Magic, or, Solamancy, tapping from the vast reserves of Shadowbane in order to fuel powerful spells. It was Thanis Kestrel Nerum who set a standard of brilliance for his heirs, and Thanis Kestrel Nerum who was praised throughout the world for his accomplishments. So many revered him as a hero. Jacob revered him as his great great grandfather. However, the Nerum family had grown and spread. Not many knew of Jacob's existence-- as he was not using his name to play the delicate game of politics as his siblings and elders were. No. Jacob preferred to live in the shadow of his family, so that he could play out his role in relative comfort, with little interruption. The Shadowbane Stair, the core of the University was forbidden, even to the children of Nerum. One first had to gain a prestigious title in order to be allowed to even touch the Shadowbane. But Jacob had his ways. It was a day like any other--he'd snuck into the Shadowbane Stair and pulled a ray of light from within the towering structure. He disassembled it, studied the mana and glyphs it split into on end--and then recombined it, letting it slip back into the Shadowbane.

Vivisecting the Shadowbanes, as the process was called, was very dangerous work. One could easily slay themselves and several around them, Solamancy was a very delicate school of magic. But Jacob had been doing this for a long while...

"Nothing new. Nothing I don't already know. . ." He hefted a long sigh and slid down against the Shadowbane, sitting on the stairs and leaning into it. Just another day, he thought. Little did he know this was actually the most important day of his life.

[Woo]

These stunted nightwoods scream as they wither and die, they scream as the shadows grow and the Shadowbane perish. They whisper silent words to those less worldly, but to me they are a roaring horde.

Should anyone be walking through the barren, midnight woods of Tanan Bors, they would scarce see the silver streaks of fur and glinting eyes of the beast before it was upon them. Heard her, they might. Nothing else called out in these forests any more. Since the Shadowbane died all life had slowly ebbed away, and all that was left were travelers. She was strong and lean, her soft fur a shimmering silver and her eyes blazing with unknown, volatile fire. Her heart was wild and her panting breath rang out into the frigid, dead woods.

This was Samara. Each form she took changed her mentality, her temperament. And she so dearly loved the wolf. Her heart pounded in time to her running feet as she skipped and darted through the woods on silent padded paws. All the world was hers, and she wanted to keep it that way. No change went undetected, no sound or smell or sight escaped her notice, and she could tell by the oil and smoke on the wind and the growing glow of light that she was beginning to skirt the edges of some great Shadowbane or another. Her feral mind ran wild with confusion as she hopped through the gray twilight trees. Light brought people, noise and talking and eyes that followed her. But also food, warmth... Safety from the strange things that had begun to grow in the blackness...

With a sharp yelp, the sleek young wolf twisted about and launched herself off into the soft glow. Her thin stomach had been empty long enough, and she had great need to fill it before her strong bones began to show too strongly through her sleek pelt. Slipping through the trees, she began to seek, to smell out the oils in the air... She began to hunt.

(Hope that's ok. I don't know where I'm going exactly, but I've gotten her started up.)

[Nimnim]

(I have no idea where to start)

[Tobias116]

Grief made his way into the metro. The only way to safely travel when the distance was too far from shadowbanes to walk. The word metro had survived the ages, the tickets were still printed on paper, even if the technology to make the printers was forgotten. In the metro, the 200 below cold outside could not reach. When shadowbanes went out, everything inside became flash frozen in a couple of seconds. Except for the catacombs of railways hidden beneath the earth.

The darkness greeted him. Even though his eyes didn't let him experience "night" or "dark", he knew what it was, he knew its' effects on people and on him. People grew wary, paranoid and sometimes even scared. The sound of his metal boots echoed through the empty metro. No one seemed to be there. He reached one of those turning things he had seen on post cards. He was supposed to feed a machine his ticket to let him through. But why? When he could simply jump over it, or tear through it.

The sound of boots resonated in the air from behind him. "Hey there fella'! So, you lookin' for a way through the metro? Lemme' see your ticket." the voice of a man in his 50's said, and Grief was greeted by his face. Full of gray stubble. A baseball cap on his head and a cigarette in his mouth. He wore odd armour, if Grief could call it that. It was old military hardware. Very advanced, no one could replicate it today. The man had high cheekbones and a pair of eyes that had seen much joke. The rest of his face was thin. He smiled at Grief.

Grief hadn't noted his rifle, that also was an old military relic. It fired pulse rounds, they tore through armour, tissue, bone, everything, with the speed of lightning. Grief was fortunate to have seen a few of these rifles in use, and unfortunate for just that reason. They're like a dazzling poisonous snake. You want to be just close enough to admire its' beauty, but far away enough to not get bitten.

Grief calmly opened his left pocket with his left hand, retrieved the ticket carefully and gave the ticket to the aging man. He retracted it and waited for the man to evaluate the ticket. The man drew breath and the cigarette lit up, he then held the ticket closer, reading what it said. "Mah name's Joe, an' I'm your ferryman for today." the man said. The soft glow from the cigarette faded in the dark that eluded Grief's eyes. Joe heaved himself up on the metro ticket receiver and walked over it, jumped down on the other side and continued walking. A couple of metres away from there, was a couple of stairs.

Grief just took a huge step over the turning metal bars and followed a metre away from Joe. They walked down the stairs and Grief tried to make as little sound as possible. Joe hadn't been alarmed by the amount of weapons Grief was carrying either, if he had seen them. Deadly throwing knifes, some barbed, others razor sharp. Daggers, cutlasses, longswords, shortswords. A walking armoury.

Grief silently took the last step of the stairs down. The darkness faded to give room for light. Light from fire. Not a raging inferno of fire but campfires. People had decided to live down in the metro for protection and shelter. But if the shadowbanes where they began and ended died, they would surely starve. Most people crowded in the metros that hadn't collapsed. And most of those people also lived in metros connected to major Shadowbanes. Grief stared in awe at the people living there. "Well, this here is the stop." Joe said with slight disappointment. Grief felt the stares of both fear and hate in his back as he waited behind Joe.

Light suddenly bathed the metro and revealed a long tram. "Get on." Joe said, turning and looking into Grief's eyes with happiness. Joe pushed a button on one of the carts and the doors opened. He walked in, Grief following him. Grief decided to sit down on one of the seats as Joe pushed a plethora of other buttons which opened doors leading to the "front" of the tram. He then ran towards the tram in the front. "Departure in 5 minutes." a machine voice said in the broadcasting system in the metro. A bunch of other passengers joined Grief. All of them humans.

An old woman and an almost equally old man in noblemans clothes walked in, the womans high-heels resounded in a distinct "klok, klok" sound as she made her way in. The rest weren't interesting enough for Grief to care about. The woman suddenly gasped and pointed at him. "A demon?!" she almost yelled. "Since when do they let in such foul things here? Where's your seat, because you surely can't be sitting in this cart. They should have you dragged behind the tram!" she continued with a load of profanity and racism before Grief finally had enough and bellowed out "SHUT THE HELL UP!". "I didn't come here to be slandered by some uptight human noble who can't take a bit of dirt on her hands! I came here to travel to Sazine. If you don't want to travel with us 'lesser beings' you can take a hike outside!"

The lady let out a "hmpf" and stuck her nose towards the sky. Grief merely sat there. "Departure now." the machine voice said. The next thing was Joe yelling "Yeehaw, Sazine here we go!" over the intercom and the tram rolling.

[Samuel]

Jacob gave a long and hefty sigh. He knew that the teams dedicated to studying the Shadowbane would arrive soon. He knew they would get no further than he had. He longed to be with them, doing this out in the open, but apparently he was not old enough yet. He left the Shadowbane Stair, and after a day of classes, made his way out of the Magic University of Sazine and out into the capital of Sazine, Aster. Aster was a large city that usually took hours to navigate but Jacob knew shortcuts. Within half an hour he was out at the Aster Metro Station, and went to a bench. There he sat down and simply waited, intently gazing at those boarding and arriving. His eldest brother promised he'd be back this week from Greor, and it had been three days since the week began. Seconds crawled by into minutes. Minutes inched by into hours. Jacob shifted on the bench, simply waiting for his brother. Losing hope, he stretched out across the bench. idly calling forth a mana serpent and having it wind around his body.

[m-p3x9]

(did brackenwood crash 12 hours ago? i couldnt get on for the life of me but everything else was ok.. odd....)

"NO NO NO NO NO!!" Jason screamed. "I can't leave now! NO!"
I don't want to jump, not now

Jason's body disintegrated into a blue fire as he 'Jumped' into another place.

Samara's feet hit the ground soundless yet almost as fast as lightning. A blue flash caught her eye. It sounded like a creature, like some sort of food.

Jason opened his eyes and rubbed his hands on his face.  "where am i now?"
Jason sat down and took his only book from his bag. When he found the page he was looking for, He read it.

Most of the page was blank. It simply said:

day 1279 (Jump 112)

Samera

why must this book be so vague? Jason thought to himself. He put his book away, stood up and started shouting into the seemingly empty forest "Samara!" well i feel like and idiot

(If i am not clear, Jason just teleported a short ways away from Samara and she at least noticed. He does NOT know what Samara means by the way)

[Woo]

(Brackenwood was working fine for me all day.)

The fur on the nape of Samara's neck stood on end as she heard her name echo through the dimly lit woods. This is insanity. Who could know me here? Who could ever find me. She slunk silently behind a tree, her silver fur turning as black as shadow, her blazing eyes dancing with vicious green flame. Her whole body seemed to shrink, and her long and shaggy tail became a slender, swishing thing. With a sharp shake, the blackness of her fur became a mottle of tabby stripes. In her elegant cat form she took a graceful leap up he tree and skittered across it's branches, racing towards the sound of the voice that called her name.

Soon enough, sleek little Samara found herself looking down silently through the thick branches at the man who called her name. He stumbled a little way through the barely lit forests, calling for her intermittently and mumbling to himself. Human, most likely. She hadn't met many be she knew them well enough. Not this one though, never before had she seen him. Muscular, lean, looked strong. Funny hair and clothes, and such strange and unfamiliar smells clung to his skin. So how did he know who she was? Maybe he doesn't... But then, who else would he be calling for?

She let him walk a little ways past her before jumping from the tree. On the way down, she curled herself around, her fur turning pitch black and her body stretching and changing. By the time her feet hit the ground, she was her normal Elven self. The dull thud of her booted feet landing on the thick carped of dead leaves was the first clue to her presence, and it sent Jason spinning around to face the sound.

The young woman who knelt before Jason seemed as though she had just dropped out of thin air. Much like himself not a few moments ago. Her blazing green eyes stared up at him beneath her sleek black hair, and her snow white face was set in a strange and undecipherable expression. She straitened up, grasping her twisted staff in her left hand and brushing down her ragged clothes with the right, never breaking eye contact with him.

He blinked, perplexed, and glanced around the otherwise desolate woods before giving her a quizzical look. "Are... Are you, Samara? By any chance?" he asked, trying to flash a friendly smile. The girl merely smirked, looking him up and down. She began to pace around him slowly, observing him in a rather unsettling manner. After a little while, she stopped, let out a sharp bark of laughter and nodded slightly.

[Tobias116]

The brakes of the tram screeched. It slowed down. The lights inside the tram flickered. "Come on, come on!!! Hold it together!" Grief could hear Joe say over the intercom with a very pleading voice. The tram slammed into the metal beams at the end of the tracks, the loud noise from the metal of the beams tearing into the tram hull. Panic resonated from various voices inside the tram, but Grief just sat there, like nothing happened. "Silly humans, always panicking for the least that happens."

The doors of the tram opened and Joes voice said through the static. "Everything is fine, no need to panic, just go out through the doors." Grief waited until all the other passengers had made their way out and then got up and walked toward the tram doors, Joe followed tightly. He checked the rail and the wheels, they were spattered with some kind of oil. "Damn bats!" he exclaimed. "The live under the trams at times, and when the tram speeds up, they're too scared to fly away, some drop and the get run over. Their blood is like the thickest motor oil, breaks won't take for two shits."

Grief turned away from the tram, glancing across the metro hall. Exit sign, exit sign, exit sign. A magician. Ah, there. Exit sign. Grief headed towards the exit sign.

[m-p3x9]

jason stood still and just looked at samara for a moment with a slight smile, pretending to know what to say. "so...  you must be samara" Jason said again.

Samara continues to laugh.

"Sorry, it's not very- I don't-" Jason paused, collected himself, and put on a business look. "I've got food, water, a twinky, a bag of meat, and some fire." Jason dug into his bag looking for the items he talked about. "you are so lucky I hunted before i came here. You look hungry."

Jason  searched in his bag and took out a firestarter, a leather bag of meat, and a piece of scrap metal. "Listen- i know it isn't much but i think i should offer you a gift." He said smiling.

He started a small fire, suspended the meat by a stick above the flame, and cooked it. 

Samara's curiosity somewhat overcame her hunger. "How do you know my name?"
"i'm wondering the same thing. i have this book that tells the future- well... it just tells hints... i have a question for you"
"alright" she responded a bit curiously.
"is this the age of the shadowbanes? i mean. have they been built yet? if so how many are left?"
"For a stanger who knows my name you don't know much. three remain."

jason didnt reply. He slid the piece of meat off of the stick onto the makeshift plate and handed it to the girl.
He dug into his backpack and brought out his twinkie.

"The guy who prepared the meat said it was seasoned with the finest herbs- most of which are only released after intensely heated. Some guy with Spock ears. I'm not too sure i cooked it right, but it's the best i can do." He unwrapped and started to eat the twinkie as she picked up the the cooked meat and started to eat it.  "If you need anything just ask. I've learned to live through anything. I know i am talking quite a bit, i tend to rant when i am nervous." Jason paused "i have fought a bear and a very menacing mouse, yet i cant even chat with a stranger without getting nervous. i guess being on the road changes you a bit, huh? you never know who the person is until- well, whenever they wanna show it."

Jason packed up his bag and waited for this young woman in front of him to finish eating. "is it alright if i tag along with you? i am an excellent runner, oh believe me- i even outran a wolf once. well almost.." Samara laughed a bit. Jay continued "If you arent headed anywhere then the only place i have any interest in is the nearest shadowbane"

[Woo]

Samara chewed and swallowed the last mouthful of meat, her starved belly filling quickly. She watched the young man constantly, her sharp eyes never moving from him while she tore into the well cooked piece of meat. After finishing, she licked her fingers clean, wiped them on her trousers and thrust her hand towards Jason. He glanced at her nervously before taking her hand and shaking it.

"You know my name, but I do not know yours." She said as the two of them set off in the direction of the nearest Shadowbane.

"Oh, I'm Jason. Pleased to meet you." He smiled, relieved that the girl seemed ready to talk.

"Well, Jason, let's see if you can really outrun a wolf." She grinned, raising her staff in the air. The blue gem set into the fork at the top of her twisted staff pulsed a bright white light, momentarily blinding Jason. Once his vision had recovered, he looked around to confront the girl. But she was gone, and in her place stood a sleek and beautiful silver wolf, with fierce green eyes and flashing teeth.

He stood, dumbstruck, as the beast took off into the woods, heading for the source of the light. Jason stood for a moment, glancing around in utter confusion before chasing the wolf, leaping over branches and roots in his pursuit.

"SAMARA! WHAT THE HELL?"

(Hope thats ok, sorry it's so short.)

[m-p3x9]

(what is the shadowbane suppose to look like anyways? i thought it would be a castle tower gigantica nd whhite brick)

"I SAID ALMOST!" jason yelled will a slight smile. i wont have to worry about my daily jogging today

Jason lagged behind in the race to the shadowbane, but not by much. Though he was slower, Samara was impressed by his speed and endurance. about  an hour went by and in her own way she kind of played with Jason flaunting her speed, yet still somewhat impressed that he was still running.

Samara's running turned into somewhat of a trot at the site of a vine covered white brick wall in front of her. Jason soon caught up.

 *edit* deleted a portion of my post

[LavenderFairy]

Woot!! I missed rping! <3

Name Arianna
Age 20
Race  Human
Physical Appearance

Image by Sketchtastrophe <3. Not drawn by me.
Background: Living in the kingdom of Aethanar since very small, Arianna grew up in a family of gypsies that taught her elemental magic. The family of Lune is a very well known gypsy group that works in the castle to entertain the king. With most of her family dead, Arianna is the last entertainer from the Lune's.
Talents and Abilities: Arianna is the mistress of ilusions, disguise and trickery. She uses her magic to trick and hypnotize people. She is also very good at hiding her presence and melt into the shadows as if she was part of them. Some victims say her illusions are so real you can even feel them. Another one of her abilities allows her to speak to other beings , like animals or plants and even to manipulate them as she pleases. She is always accompained by her canine friend, Lala (a german shepherd)

 

Arianna finished her performance and received applauses and cheers. Bowing before her lord, she excused herself and walked out of the court towards the royal balcony. Underneath, she watched as the people walked by and chatted. In comforting silence, she wondered what it would feel like to actually get out of the kingdom for once and visit new places. After all she was only an entertainer, wasn't she? Why was the king so insistent in her not leaving the kingdom?

She respected and cared for her king because of her father's teachings. And since his father had been a close friend to his lord, when he passed away, the ruler himself had made his duty to protect the girl and allow her to continue her family's traditions.

However, as much as she loved the kingdom, deep within herself she felt she was needed somewhere else...

[Nimnim]

(can someone control my character??? I can't think of where to put him in, and I'm in a bit of a writer's blockage.)