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 Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 2:14 am
Ahrim The sorcerer gestured deftly, conjuring from nothingness a half-scale likeness of the sword in question.
"The Machinai's intelligence is unsophisticated, but very definite and focussed. It is driven by its thirst and its anger, and cares naught for any that would not aid it in its pursuit of what it desires." "A simple enough notion," was Joshua's responce to the sorcerer, casting only a momentary glance at the image of the Machinai that was presented, "when thought of like that. The power belongs to the sword, and the sword belongs to no man... but the sword thirsts for blood, and what better blood to feed it than the blood of your enemies?" "Though if it was just another weapon of war that you're after, I'm a bit surprised that you almost wasted another perfectly good toy trying to reach it." Unfolding his arms, Joshua reached his left hand out to a stack of tomes which rested by the base of a bookshelf, turning the cover of one and flipping through it page by page, while shooting half-interested looks between both the tome and the mage. Ahrim had been kind enough to know that formalities were put to waste, so he felt no true need anymore to give the formality of watching those imitated images dance in Ahrim's hands while the man explained his situation. Though as Ahrim finished, a mischevious smile crept its way across Joshua's expression. Ahrim "Though perhaps you come to me with a proposal of sorts, in light of these events. Some... Mutually beneficial agreement I gather. I certainly hope you bring something worthwhile to the equation, as my time is far too precious to use unwisely."
Ahrim turned and regarded Joshua with a penetrating gaze.
"Speak, sir. You have my full attention, albiet for a short while." "That really depends upon what you consider mutually benneficial..." he said, raising his eyes to look back at the mage and no longer paying interest to the dusty tome, "...I don't really see what you would stand to lose by it. I need nothing you have to offer, I want nothing you can give me... I've simply taken an interest in you." The man grinned slightly as his hand flipped the cover of the tome closed and the fingers slid off the edge of the stack, dropping the arm to his side again. "You should feel honored, really... Maybe you think I'm being pretentious, but there are too few out there which pique my curiosity anymore." The smile grew slightly wider as he took a step towards the mage, seeming as if this unfamiliar room filled with strange magics had been his own, and Ahrim had been the intruder. "Indulge me, and I'll bring you Hokuten."
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Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 8:16 am
Ahrim narrowed his eyes, whose shape and lustre seemed to change more so than would merely suit his mood.
"Think me not so blind as to imagine that you will do this thing for me unrewarded. From you I have gathered that you are one not interested in posessions or perhaps even power... But surely this task means more than just a distraction from the mundane."
But a closer look at Joshua's immovable smile told another tale. Ahrim said nothing for a while, though the swirling of magics around him was unmistakable. At length, he spoke again.
"Though... If that IS the case, or somesuch other that you wish not to tell me, so be it. I will not say that you will have my debt or gratitude if you do this as such things are obviously worthless to you, but I will "indulge" you nonetheless."
Ahrim bent his wrist and a heavy text leapt from its shelf into his hand, splaying itself to a particular page.
"However... I warn you not to vex me. Any further delays in what has already proven a most taxing wait will be dealt with judiciously."
Ahrim drifted toard Joshua, reaching a narrow distance that would have made any feeble man deeply uncomfortable.
"I have more than just flesh and steel in my 'toybox'."
Josh felt the text pressed against him, a faint magic seeping from it. Ahrim smiled, relented and found is way to his chair.
"Bring Hokuten to me alive, and I promise you no reward shall come of it."
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Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 1:07 pm
"If you feel so uncomfortable with the arrangement, maybe I should explain it in a different way?" Joshua quirked his head to the side slightly, looking down at the man sitting in his chair.
"There are a great many people in this world that are in the business of killing. There are very few who are truly gifted in the art. To put it simply, as long as people have the delusion that they can be at the top, they will struggle for that."
Reaching his left hand down across his body to his right hip, Joshua pulled a knife from a small sheath on the side of the belt there, and held it sideways out in front of him for just a moment, looking at it, before he turned it and thrust the point into his right forearm.
"They think they are strong, and they think they have the power to change the world through murder..." he said, his tone only wavering slightly as he drew the blade down the length of his arm; drawing a line down it which dripped a few drops of black blood, but left no cut behind, "...as long as they have a chance, they will fight, they will suffer, and they will die."
Pulling the knife free finally, he shook it a bit free a few drops of blood that clung to it, before wiping both sides of the blade on the leg of his pants and returning the knife to its sheath.
"Talented killers live in another world entirely from everyone else. They are not threatened, they can take what they want or what they need. And when they run across another one of them usually dies." He stuck his left thumb in his mouth for just a moment and then ran the saliva-wettened finger down the length of the blood streak on his arm to wipe some of it away, looking down at it rather than looking to Ahrim as he spoke. "For a man to train hard to be a murderer, and then only be killed by someone who is better than him, makes that man's life a waste. As long as there are those who think that being a murderer will make them anything more than a murderer, there will be foolish children who throw their lives away."
Lifting his head to look at the sorcerer, Joshua raised his hand again and licked the blood off of the end of his thumb, before smiling that same mischevious smile again. "Consider this a public service. More power to the strong, so that the weak won't throw their lives away..."
"...of course," he added, as he took a step to turn towards the door, only to stop and look back and cast an accusing glance towards the mage, "there is no reason at all to waste power on people who are powerless. Let the strong fight with the strong, or karma might get you in the end."
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 9:52 pm
(( So... where are our peeps at?
Ryu, Semaj, Kurio and the gang! They'z beez gonez in da hoodz... z. ))
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 10:50 pm
((Yeah, this banter is enthralling, but I gots some fun times in store for the main gang!))
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:04 pm
(( Yerp... So do I. 4laugh ))
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 8:38 pm
And so Ryutsume lead his weary friend to the doors that revealed the stony staircase. As they drew near, they saw that the stairway was black, pitch and shadowy save for a very faint, violet light that could just barely be made out. Various aromas began to saturate the air - basil, roses, sulfur...blood. Maybe not human blood, but it was still blood, perhaps shed for the purpose of some arcane ritual. This did not sway Ryutsume.
"Don't worry, Kokuza. We're going to get Mistress Valda to look at you, and we're going to find out what's going on with that Makka-nikka-ding-dong sword in you," he assurred, trying to keep his friend balanced, "By the way, you aren't...allergic to anything are you? The Mistress has some really WHACKED stuff up there!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 3:27 pm
(( We are so, so, horribly slow... crying
At least one post a day would be an okay rate to go, but this... it's kinda... bad. ))
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 6:31 pm
((Well, maybe we ought to sort out a date and time for hardcore postage...))
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 6:56 pm
(( That'd be great if we could get a bunch of people working at once, so we can move some stuff along... I was just commenting on how at the least we should each be able to get on and make one post a day if required, right? It takes ten minutes. :shrug:
Like Semaj and Geck, they haven't really posted anything yet, not even a reaffirmation of life, though I know I saw Semie on AIM the other day... ))
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 8:08 pm
((I messaged Geck/Kurio. He'll be on tomorrow night with any luck.))
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 4:34 am
(( Yeah, I think I'm good for tonight. Essay isn't due until Thursday.
So Ryu and Kokuza are in a shop in Barton right? I've already got a long entrance post waiting. ))
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 2:47 pm
((Yeah, we're all in a shop together. You may proceed.))
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 3:50 pm
Kurio stumbled into Barton, messy hair flailing about his face. "Ugggh..." He groaned, dropping to his knees in the middle of the street as he panted heavily, mostly due to exhaustion. He managed to get back up, though, and fell into an alleyway, before leaning back against a dumpster as he tried to catch his breath.
If one were to get a good look at him, they'd notice that his appearance had changed drastically. Eyes were now a dull gray and his hair was cut short and messy, though the color remained the same. Once favorable cigarettes were now disposed of, replaced by alcohol, specifically a small canteen of whiskey that he kept in his pocket. Clothing had changed too, his decent attire now baggy, stiched and ripped peasant garb, which offered little to no protection.
However, not only his appearance had shifted. His demeanor was less nonchalant, and he was now more pessimisstic than anything. In addition, his powers had become greatly reduced. The ability for his metal to generate electricity had been nulled, and his not-so-great transformation into a wild monster could no longer occur. To make things worse, the metal in his stomach, neck, head, torso, and legs could no longer break through the flesh. Now he was only able to to extend the jagged metal from his knuckles, arms, feet, and tail. Once a man with powers that seemed to have endless possibilities, he was reduced to little more than a peasant with a few tricks up his sleeve.
One thing did please him, however. Somewhere his travels (which were in an alternate dimension; so time was endless), the mechanical experiment had managed to find out his true name -- Zeid Sakyuki. He liked this name, for it suited him much better than 'Kurio'.
Suddenly, Kurio, or Zeid rather, felt a sharp object pressed up against his throat.
"Give me your #*@!ing money, punk." a voice ordered. "if you value your life."
Zeid said nothing. He simply remained quiet, gaze set off in the distance.
"Did you hear me!? I swear to God, I'll kill you if I have to."
An eerie chuckle then came out of Zeid's mouth, which made the bandit sweat a little.
"What's so funny?!"
"... you."
"Shut up! I'm gonna kill you!"
Before the bandit was able to react, Zeid elbowed him in the gut, causing the man to stumble backwards. Zeid then proceeded to ball his fists, which caused thick, rope-like piece of metal to wrap around his knuckles. Brass knuckles, more or less, except they weren't brass... and such.
"What the...?! You're one of those freaks, aren't you?! Why aren't you in the circus -- the carnival -- something!!!"
Zeid would simply laugh and punch the man in the gut, before grasping him by the shoulder and throwing him up against the wall of the alley. He'd hit him around a few times, then proceed to throw him into a dumpster, before locking the lid closed with a plank of wood.
"H-hey! Let me out, freak!"
Zeid smirked, then made his way casually down the street, hands stuffed idly in pockets. He had no idea who he'd run across very soon...
(( Bad starting up post, I appologize. But yeah -- that's it! o_o; ))
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 7:38 pm
((Whoo! Kurio's back in the saddle.
I'm waiting for Kokuza so we can get this shizow on the rizoad tonight.))
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