page 2 _________❂ head-first [entry] _________❂ just girly things [prp] _________❂ things with sticks [prp] _________❂ remembering the past [event solo] _________❂ mysterious wreckage [event solo] _________❂ beyond the trees [prp] _________❂ daydreamer [solo]
Hers was not the gentle childhood of others. Hers was not a placid, wonder-filled youth.
The land she was born to was not the ancient run of her foremothers -- it was not a place with well-worn trails, beloved play-places and a hundred sympathetic names for this here rocky outcrop or that there glittering cave. The land her little feet walked on was hostile to her and her kind, and their little village -- her whole world -- was trapped between a crashing shore and a jungle of monsters unknown. Day in and day out she would see her mothers turn their eyes towards the ocean, and if they thought that no one was looking they would bury their heads in their hands and pine for something she could not even imagine.
“Ku!”
The child stood at the top of a large and rough-sided boulder, which jutted far into the crashing surf. Foaming, salted waves came rose up on either side of her, the falling drops misting her gray-pink skin. Her arms were folded firmly over her little chest, and her face was creased into a frustrated sulk.
“What?!” She shouted back, not bothering to hide her indignation.
Frustration was a simple fact of life among the extremist alkidikes. Frustration coloured every day and every word, and frustration hung like a cloud over every meeting. The little one did not really understand it, all this angry talk of ‘traitors’ and ‘petty earthlings’ and other bad folks she had never met, but she had grown up stewing in it, and she knew it better than joy. In fact, the whole world to her seemed to be coloured in two shades -- one of frustration, and the other of pride.
“Ku! Your sister is hurt!”
Pride, of course, was the shade she liked better. Because sometimes, Matron would gather them all together, and she would begin to speak loudly and wave her arms and point at Elzira, and then the talk would not be of frustration and bitterness about things past, but of pride for the future. A future where they would rise up to claim the place they deserved in the world -- the highest place, the best place, like the crowing top of the rock that the youngling was now stubbornly standing on.
“What do you want me to do about it? She fell. I won.”
Matron said that they, the children of Elzira, were special. And Ku took this to heart, because… well, because it was true! It had to be true! She was old enough now to realize that she did not look like her mothers, and in her mind this could mean only one of two things. First it might mean that she was a runt, a despised mutation from the true alkidike stock, some half-crippled deformation that was as mistrusted as the island they lived on -- worse than the ‘traitors’, worse than the ‘earthlings’ and all these other ugly words she had heard, something like a muddy, poisonous imitation of what she was expected to be. This option Ku did not want to contemplate, so she turned right away to the other. And in her childish mind of blacks and whites, the other option could only be the opposite. If she was not the runt, then she was the best. She was born into the lot of the truest alkidikes who had ever lived, sprung from a tree that had grown like magic in this harsh and difficult land, and so she must be the strongest and truest of all.
Yes! She was special. She was put in this place just so that she might overcome it -- so she might wrestle every beast, and swim against every current, and climb every rock. For this seemed to her like the obvious course of things. If she and her young sisters were put here for some inevitable greatness, she was certain that she wanted to be the first among them -- no matter how many falls, tumbles and scabbed knees it took.
“You need to look after each other, Ku. Come down here and let’s take her back to the village!”
The youngling tipped her chin even further into the salt-sprayed air.
“I was looking after her! I told her to be careful! I told her it was slippery. But she wasn’t paying attention. And what’s why I won!”
And with that she turned her back to the fallen youngling and the preaching alkidike, and dove head-first into the waves some six feet below.
[words: 760]
Stereochrome
Lucky Wrangler
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Stereochrome
Lucky Wrangler
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Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 7:25 pm
⋒⋒⋒ PRP ⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒ _________JUST GIRLY THINGS
Ku came across Naquenni moving through the jungle, and followed her to an interesting-looking cavern. They ventured inside together and found that it held a wide but shallow pool, which they raced across... and tied. Tired out, they spent the day chatting about eathlings, wars, and their plans for world domination.
_________[ complete ]
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 7:59 am
⋒⋒⋒ PRP ⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒ _________THINGS WITH STICKS
⋒⋒⋒ EVENT SOLO ⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒ _________REMEMBERING THE PAST
Quote:
It has been seven long years since the Great Oban Invasion. It almost feels like a dream, considering all of the changes that have occurred in Tendaji since the great war. A new King sits on the Oban throne, and he has opened the boundaries of Oba and Matori. Many already are taking advantage of the open boarders to travel and explore. The world was expanding and changing all things to the massive war of the great nations.
Since the war, Tendaji took a stand against the extremist Alkidikes and won. They came together to show a new alliance that many could never dream of. Everything was settling, and now that there finally was peace everyone has begun to to take a moment and remember all that has come and gone.
How have the major wars and changes impacted your character these past few years? Are they bitter for their failures or happy about their success? Do they see a peaceful future to come or are they concerned about those who may be still holding grudges?
[Characters not part or even alive during the war can still respond to this prompt. Maybe they have a different way of understanding the war compared to those who were part of it, so feel free to explore those feelings and thoughts in your response]
_________Location: Yael
One of the Alkidikes had made the mistake of mentioning ‘the war’ to her once, and from that point on Ku was nothing but a torrent of questions upon questions. What war? Who fought it? Why were they fighting? What happened? Where was the big battle? Who won? What happened to the losers? She threw these questions at pretty much anyone she had the opportunity to corner for long enough, since no one person seemed to want to give her all the answers. Some said that it wasn’t important. Others said that it was before their time. Still others claimed they didn’t know very much about it, and that even if they did, they had better things to do anyway.
But Ku was persistent, and it didn’t take her long to figure out why some of the Alkidikes said that it wasn’t very important. The answer had surprised her too, and puzzled her for a while.
It wasn’t an alkidike war, to start. It was a war between earthlings. Several different kinds of earthlings -- and she hadn’t even known that there were different kinds! But apparently there were. There were these earthlings called ‘Obans’, and after she had dug up a little more about them, she had to agree that they sounded… well, half-decent, as earthlings went. They were powerful and they had a very strong army, with many, many soldiers and warriors of all types. Ku had trouble grasping exactly how many of them there were (since her experience of ‘many’ people was little more than a small crowd), but she gathered that there were a lot.
So this big army, she learned, had marched out to take over land from the other earthlings, who did not have a big army. However, the other earthlings did not want to be taken over (which, she conceded, made a good deal of sense too). They started fighting the Obans. These types of earthlings were called ‘Shifters’, because apparently they changed colours from night to day. They lived in a jungle, which Ku could relate to. Apparently their jungle was even thicker and darker than Yael, because they barely even lived on the ground. They built houses in trees, even, and spent a lot of time up there. They were not as strong as the Obans, but they had help from other different types of eathlings to fight against the army.
Very importantly, the Alkidikes also fought the Obans. Ku figured that this was why the Obans finally lost. No doubt the Alkidikes could fight much better.
But what then? Were the Obans exiled too, to some other island?
No! The Obans were still living as they did before, in big cities! They had a new ‘king’, who was the ‘man’ (Ku wasn’t quite clear on that concept yet) in charge of all the Obans. This new king did not want to attack all the other earthlings. He also agreed to free some other types of earthlings, which were called Water earthlings, and which had until then only been allowed to do things that the Obans wanted them to do. So now the Water earthlings and the Obans were living together, and everybody was living together, as if there hadn’t even been a war. Could that really be?
The knowledge of this big war had puzzled Ku for a while. It was difficult to figure out who was right and who was wrong because it was mostly all about earthlings, and she had at first thought that all earthlings were weak and stupid and traitorous. But now here she found that she admired them a little. All of them! She admired the Obans for having a big strong army, and she admired the Shifters for fighting back even though they didn’t. She was also happy that the water earthlings were free now, because it did not seem very fun to just do what you are told. And above everything, she simply liked the story of it. So many earthlings! So many battles! People fighting everywhere, winning and losing all over the place! It must have been so exciting!
“I wish there’ll be a war when I’m older.” She mused, having climbed a jungle tree to figure out what it was like to be a Shifter. It was hard for a little girl in a tree to understand all the hardships of war, and anyway, even if she had some inkling it was doubtful that Ku would have hesitated with her wish. So what if some people got hurt? That was just because they weren’t good enough! But Ku would be big and strong, and she would be the best of the warriors. She would win whole battles single-handedly, and all the earthlings of all types would fear her… and maybe admire her.
_________[ words: 800 ]
Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2016 5:23 pm
⋒⋒⋒ EVENT SOLO ⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒ _________MYSTERIOUS WRECKAGE
Quote:
Mysterious Wreckage Prompt 2
Solo or RP Format Counts as 5 RP growth Points Solo word minimum is 750, RP post minimum is 7
Rumors are spreading of a traveler who has entered the area. Apparently, this traveler has a strange item they claim comes from a different time. It's hard to believe what people are saying, and the only way to really know what is going on is if you see it with your own eyes. So, you make it a point to travel to where the traveler was last sighted, and as you approach you notice a crowd. The traveler is holding up an object, high above their head, and shouting across the crowd. Some approach to get a closer look, some appear fearful, but everyone can agree...this is something no one has ever seen before.
What exactly is the traveler showing off? Roll 1d6 to determine what strange item has been found using the guide below:
Rolled 1-2
The traveler pulls out a strange piece of metal, warped a bit on the edges and covered with an unknown language. It looked similar to what you've read, and you think you can make out words, but overall it doesn't make much sense.
Rolled 3-4
The traveler pulls out a strange piece of metal, wound around and almost bouncy in nature. It seems a bit sharp on the edges, but in general it looks like it could possibly be some sort of jewelry piece, if it was smaller.
Rolled 5-6
The traveler pulls two strange pieces of metal, which don't seem to go together outside of their color. One is covered in a language that sort of looks familiar, but isn't fully legible. The other is a winding spiral, which is too big to wrap comfortably around a wrist.
Make sure to respond with your reaction to these items. What do you think they could be?
Ku, as usual, had heard some things that she wasn’t supposed to hear.
Oftentimes, in the late evenings,a group of Alkidikes would gather someplace around a fire. Ku wasn’t allowed to join them -- it was for adults only, she was told, and besides that she had a feeling some of them just plain didn’t trust Elaria. Anyhow, she didn’t much care for that rule. If there was a good story to be heard (and some of the best stories out there were to be heard around the evening campfires), she was going to make sure she was around to hear it.
Fortunately for her, it wasn’t all that hard to hide when you were little and dark-skinned.
Tonight, she had gathered that gathering was happening out by the shore (a bonus, for the sound of the waves would make it even harder for her to be caught). It was a windy day, but a well-known alcove a few minutes’ walk from the settlement provided good shelter. The sides of this alcove were also covered by all sorts of vegetation, tree-roots and hanging vines, which made for perfect hiding. Why, it seemed like the whole world was just inviting her to listen in!
To her surprise, however, when she snuck around the alcove wall, there was no bit campfire to be seen. Instead, the five alkidikes present were holding torches and looking about suspiciously, whispering under their breath.
What was this? This was different. But Ku liked different, so she stayed put.
After a few minutes, a sixth alkidike joined them. This must have been the last of the group, for once she got there they all left the alcove and headed out across the beach. They were walking, however, away from the camp. After only a second of hesitation, Ku followed quietly behind. It was a good thing that she had been practicing her sneaking around! She knew now how to put her little feet in the soft sand, and to avoid paths where she might accidentally step on driftwood or the kinds of pebbles that would skitter about if disturbed. She knew also to stay to the side of the beach where the trees were, for even in the dark her body would be seen as a silhouette against the sea. These were not things she had known when she was littler, and she was proud of herself for being able to sneak after these grown-ups undetected.
They were nervous, after all, and they kept looking behind their shoulders. At first Ku thought she was making too much noise, but it soon became clear that they hadn’t noticed her at all. Why did they not want to be followed, then?
This was better than listening to a story -- this was a story.
A while later, they turned down a narrow trail that lead into the jungle. This went for a while, and Ku almost started regretting her choice to follow. She had never come this far out before! But just as she considered turning back and following the trail home (before she got so far that she lost her way!), the path opened up into a… a village? An earthling village?!
Ku had never seen anything like it. Everything was different from her own home. The houses, the defenses, the food and clothes drying out on racks and… the earthlings!
But oh! Before she could get a good look at them, they all scattered. They were terrified of the alkidikes, and in mere seconds all of them had disappeared into their homes or the jungle surrounding the village.
Well -- almost all of them. There was a funny-looking one still standing in the common, holding aloft some strange objects and. He didn’t look exactly like the other earthings she’d seen just now (tan-skinned, with purple hair) and he didn’t seem to care that everyone had run off and that the alkidikes were all staring at him. Instead, he took a step towards them, brandishing his funny-looking objects.
“See the words!” He shouted, making the lead alkidike flinch and step backwards.
‘The words’, Ku figured, referred to the writing on one of the objects. This one was a curved piece of metal, about the colour of an evening sunset. The inscriptions across it gleamed with the light of the Alkidikes’ torches, but Ku could not make it out in much detail.
The other object was much more interesting to her -- a wobbly, funny-looking thing, like metal keldari all wound up into so many loops. The man waved it with great emphasis, but it looked quite silly because of the way it swayed back and forth. She clapped her hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle.
* * *
Later, as she followed the Alkidikes back home, she wondered about what she had seen. She could hear the grown-ups discussing it too. They said that the stranger’s trinkets were rumoured to come from a different land -- no, not just a different land, a different time! How strange that sounded… and how exciting, too. It pleased Ku a fair bit, to find out that the world was full of mysteries and strange things.
_________[ words: 863 ]
Stereochrome
Lucky Wrangler
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Stereochrome
Lucky Wrangler
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 9:24 am
⋒⋒⋒ PRP ⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒ _________BEYOND THE TREES
⋒⋒⋒ SOLO ⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒ _________DAYDREAMER
_________Location: Yael
Ku was finally old enough to get her own house in the village.
She had been asking for one for a while -- she was one of the first Elaria, anyway, so it wasn’t as if she had any one specific mother to care for her. She had learned to be independent quite quickly, and she was certain that having your own house was an important part of this.
To be honest, mostly she just didn’t want anyone bugging her about coming and going as she wanted to. So what if she wanted to go swimming in the middle of the night, or take her lunch with her to eat on top of one of the high rocks? If she had her own house, nobody would ask annoying questions about where she was going, and why she was going there. She’d only have to answer to herself! She’d take along some of the other girls if they wanted to come with, or she’d go herself if she didn’t feel like it. Besides getting a real weapon and maybe getting to fight an earthling, a house was all the Elaria really wanted.
So finally, the elders allowed her to build one. She picked a spot close to the center of the village, but near the path that lead out to the shore. The village already had a stock of some slim but sturdy logs to build the frame of her house in the same fashion as the other dwellings in Zinris. The walls were built up with vines and sand-plaster, which she painted with patterns in crude inks made from red bug carapaces and bright purple berries. The door was scavenged driftwood, and the windows were covered with simple curtains. It certainly wasn’t fancy, but… neither were any of the houses in town.
Alkidikes (and Elaria) were supposed to have better things to do than decorating!
Her bed was simple too, dried swamp-reeds with a blanket overtop. She built herself a small (and admittedly shaky) table to put under the biggest window, and arranged her collection of bones on top of it. Her favourite was a keldari skull. She had found the animal drowned after it had become trapped in an underground pool, and did the gory deed of cleaning it out herself. She had given another Elaria the crystal-tail rattle as a present, not really being one to appreciate shiny things like that. It was the skull she liked, and that was what she kept.
With that all done, she threw herself back onto her bed and stared at the ceiling.
Now what?
Well, there were her other goals -- a real weapon, and a real fight. Those would come soon enough, she figured. She was practicing with a staff now and she was pretty handy with it, she figured. It was only a matter of time before could move on from that to something more exciting, like…
Laying back in her new house, she dreamt up a story about herself venturing out far from Zinris and arriving at the Yaeli settlement she had snuck into once, following a group of Alkidikes. She had seen how those earthlings has been terrified of her cousins. And that was nothing! Just wait until they saw her! She would be way scarier, swinging her weapon around, her hair flying and her blue-green eyes flashing.
But maybe… maybe one earthling would be brave enough to face her. Some of the alkidikes had said that there were brave ones amongst them and that they had skill with weaponry too. If one of these warrior-earthlings lived in the village -- one of those gross males they had, maybe -- he would run to his house and get his weapon. It might be… a sword! He would swing it around and it would flash in the air as he ran towards her.
She would be ready! She would hold her weapon -- a spear, say -- and she would wait for him to get close enough. Then -- WHOOSH, WHAM -- she would hit him, once, twice. He would fall to the ground and drop his big sword.
Then he’d know that the Elaria were something to reckon with!
Yup, she would definitely do all that. Then she could tell everyone the story!
Or… maybe... she could just tell the story first?
[words: 721]
Stereochrome
Lucky Wrangler
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Stereochrome
Lucky Wrangler
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Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 9:15 pm
⋒⋒⋒ PRP ⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒⋒ _________COOL WIND IN YOUR HAIR
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