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 Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 2:44 pm
Bandages may have hidden half his face but Alana still got a smile for her request to not be vague. His answer, of course, was less than obedient. "To higher ground," he nearly purred with a smile. There was something a touch dark but mostly coy in that smug little grin but it passed soon enough and Traveler turned his head away almost as if to look over his shoulder at the darkness despite his eyes being covered. "This is the lost catacomb of the First Empire of Drahn," he answered a question that had not been asked to keep them from asking something else. "Across the river is the lost catacomb of the Templar. Beyond that are those of the Nile, the Neblung, the Xian, the Oaxha. Every lost grave, tunnel, bunker, cavern, and dark hole is here, in the shadows of the Nibiru." The strange man tilted his head back to smile at his companions again.
"They will take us to higher ground. Away from the crushing wave," he started to explain. "But to where exactly," the man rose thin shoulders in a slight shrug. "The Nibiru is not a simple system of caves. There is no map. The darkness drinks the light," he waved his hand at the shadows around them and it did seem the light wasn't as bright as it should be, the darkness was darker, heavier than normal shadow. "We can not be picky with what hole we escape through. Just that we do escape - both the wave and this place. So, please, be patient while I find us a door."
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Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 3:46 pm
He was nearing sleep, at least, until a bright burst of light blinded him. Marfolious jolted upright and stared at the fire, completely amazed. No... I didn't hear any matches or anything so that's gotta be... Magic. He tried his hardest not to flip out. We CAN use magic! He started snapping his fingers in an attempt to create a flame of his own. Come on, come on...! After snapping until his fingers hurt, he sighed in frustration. Asking Traveler would probably be the best course of action, but the answer'd be cryptic, or just avoid the question. Books, he needed books.
As Traveler began talking, Marfolious instantly pulled out his notebook and began taking notes. Nibiru, eh? He'd have one hell of a time exploring this place, considering how vast and expansive it seemed. He'd definitely need his goggles to do anything down here. There could be creatures down here as well, maybe he could commission a team. That'd have to wait for now though. He'd need to study the hell out of all the material related to the various empires and factions that dwelled within the bowels of the Nibiru. And what did he mean by, 'not a simple system of caves?' Maybe the place was ever-changing in it's layout. That'd explain his last comment.
Marfolious' eye twitched. Exploring here would probably be a bad idea. He finished with his notes and closed his notebook. He needed a library, preferably a massive one.
Considering what Traveler said, it could be a long time before they'd be leaving this place. At least he made a fire and was willing to let them take breaks. Marfolious wiggled his feet to get some feeling back in them, but his knee stung when he tried. When he looked down at it, his pant sleeve had a large hole in it, and the knee was stained crimson.
"You're joking, right?" He ran both of his hands through his hair and sighed. "I don't suppose anyone's got some bandages or some-" He stifled a laugh, Traveler had some, but he probably wasn't going to share, not that it'd be sanitary to do so.
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 1:58 pm
The boy laughed at Sam's new offer but pursed his lips in consideration a moment before laughing again with a shrug, "Perhaps. But I would need to see the true value of your man first. He certainly thinks much of himself but all he has done is puff his chest and look threatening. For all I know he might not even be able fight off the concubine you wish to trade him for."
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 9:27 am
"'fraid daz his decidon." Sam replied looking towards the gunslinger. His next remark would be towards him.
"'hat say oo? Wiil oo sho da boi yor skill?" The merchant would be quite willing to see it himself actually. This might count as getting too far out of hand as something wiggled in Sam's brain to tell him as much. But he ignored it in the name of curiosity.
"Com den, be en gud fun." the traveler smiled his smile all around, and it came out orange for he had still not stopped glowing. A fact that would worry him in and of itself if he had cared even in the slightest.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 12:41 am
Quintus gave a grunt. "So... you want me to kill somebody, maybe? I don't do anything short of that." Not, strictly speaking, true, but his non-lethal options (read: bar-brawl style beatdowns) were so geared towards people used to gunfights that he was fairly confident they'd be completely nonfunctional against a guard trained to use a sword. This was, after all, why the Colt was still in his hand. He could improvise in that fight, but he'd be at a disadvantage.
Of course, there was his other weapon, which was on-the-spot planning. That had gotten him out of more fixes than his gun or his fists. In fact it was basically the only thing that had kept him alive up to this point and -
Why was he considering this? He was being sold. Slave traders didn't just give up their wares. God alone could know when he would next be able to leave. If he ever would at all.
Then again, it would get him away from the madman who was willing to sell him in the first place. There was no good outcome here, really. Other than maybe shooting his way out from all of them and figuring something out on his own. Yeah, that'd work brilliantly. Wandering off into the desert had gotten him here in the first place.
"I can demonstrate, but I think I'd prefer to find work on my own terms. I'm a paid employee, not property," Quintus reminded Sam. He'd not told Sam that, but now he might as well have, and that tied Sam's hands. Unless the trader prince didn't care. In which case there would eventually have been trouble anyway. "If you're prepared to trade for my contract, however, I might be convinced."
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 3:10 pm
Traveler tilted his head toward Marfolious for the question. There was a pause before the man pulled a silver flask from his bag and held it out, offering it to Marfolious. "Fill it with water from the river but do not drink. Bring it back and put it to the fire. When it has boiled the liquid will heal your wounds." The flask was a rich piece - solid silver from the looks of it, not plated, and ornately decorated with complex engravings of semi-floral geometric shapes. It was a pocket flask, fit well in the hand and held just enough to quench a thirst but not practical for traveling. It wasn't made for water, more for spirits, and the way Traveler spoke of it seemed the thing might have magical qualities to so easily brew a healing potion.
Traveler of course didn't say as much, didn't explain but he did at least give Marfolious a casual warning, "Do be careful. Don't fall in" before he turned his attention back to his bag, pulling a different flask, this one black, and a cloth wrapped bundle. The second flask Traveler kept but the bundle he held out toward Alana, unwrapping a corner to expose the flaky bread before offering it to the girl.
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 2:24 pm
The young Caliph was enjoying this immensely and his own guard's disdain for the conversation only seemed to make it all the more amusing. Wadi gripped his blade tighter when Quintus mentioned killing and the glare he gave was an obvious threat for him to just try it but the Caliph laughed and had started to wave off the suggestion when Quintus reminded Sam he wasn't a slave. The news seemed to both disappoint and intrigue the cat but he kept up his smile as he gave Quintus another study.
"So what are the terms of this contract then?" the Caliph purred with an asking glance to Sam but kept his eyes mostly on Quintus. "I've a feeling I could easily match them. Unless the merchant has a richer trade than his clothes would make it seem."
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 10:35 pm
When the liquid is boiled, it becomes a medicine? Marfolious cringed at the thought. As far as he understood, he was about to pour boiling water on his injured knee. Reluctantly, he took the ornate, silver flask from Traveler. Screw logic, this place makes no sense at all, so I guess this could work too. He briefly wondered whether it was the water or the flask that gave the boiled water it's healing properties.
He scooched over to the river and reached back into his satchel for his pickaxe. After locating a groove in the catacomb floor, he dug the end of it in and pulled to make sure it wouldn't give. When it didn't, he leaned towards the river and dipped the flask into the babbling river. After a few moments, he took it out and felt it's weight. Confident it was full, he moved back towards the fire. "I'm gonna feel bad about placing such a beautifully-made flask in a fire, but here goes..." Marfolious placed it inside the fire, looking at it remorsefully. He knew quality craftsmanship when he saw it, and the flask was a picturesque example of it.
He sat back, his arms supporting him from behind, and stretched his legs out again, trying not to move his left leg too much. When he finally looked around, he raised an eyebrow. The sight of corpses didn't bother him at all, it was the fact that some of the coffins were engraved with a symbol. Marfolious had the nagging feeling he had seen it somewhere before. He made a note of it so he could ask about it later.
Yawning, he took a look at his travelling companions. Traveler's appearance was reminiscent of the mountain monks that Marfolious had met on multiple occasions. Attaining the highest rank in the temple required one to ritually blind themselves, which allowed them to see everything, even energy itself, through their spirit. Alana's clothes reminded him of a few of his fellow Explorers, but she didn't seem like she was one. Either way, neither of them surprised him very much.
Sensing that the mood had lifted a bit, he drummed his hands on the catacomb floor. "So, now that we're taking a break, who is everyone? Where you guys from?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 8:32 pm
Alana watched Marfolious take the pretty flask to the river before being distracted with bread. She wasn't really hungry, but she certainly wouldn't say no to food. The young woman made sure to take her time and savor every bite.
I just want to go home. But home to what? She could admit that she had a pretty empty life. Her psychiatrist and her brother were the only people that she'd miss. Even then, her brother probably wouldn't care that she was missing, and her psychiatrist was simply doing what she got paid to do. Her job didn't really fulfill her, and she didn't have any close friends. I bet they only figure out I'm missing when I don't come in to work. One day max. That was better than others who went missing, but it still hurt to think that she would just become another empty statistic.
Now that the possibility of never going back home was presented to her, she wasn't really sure what to do. But if I don't go home, what will I do here? That was an even scarier thought. She had no money, and what skills she had might be useless. If physics went wacky here, then who knew what people's physiology was like.
She'd eaten a third of the bread before Marfolious asked his question.
She finished chewing before answering him. "I'm Alana. I'm from Chicago." The blank face made her falter. "Uh earth? Have you heard of that?" Alana understood that she was no longer on earth, but it had been hard to comprehend that no one would automatically know where or what earth was. Earth was just that - Earth. The place that every single living being lived on since it was the only planet that had life in the galaxy. It was a good thing she wasn't a scientist or else her mind would have exploded from the possibilities here. "What about you?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 10:38 pm
((Woo, 400 posts. blaugh ))
Earth, huh? Marfolious'd never heard of it. He rubbed his chin. Judging by her clothes, wherever it was, Chicago seemed like a modernized place.
"Marfolious D'Grenas Rickards, at your service. I come from a capital city called Nordaft, population is a couple 10 million I think." He wiggled his feet. Seeing as how he'd never heard of Earth, maybe he should mention his world. "I come from a planet called Dantalus. Crazy huge planet, lots of different environments in every continent. One could be freezing, but you could take a trip through the mountains, and the other side could be a complete wasteland." He chuckled. "Makes my job pretty damn fun."
He laid back on the ground. "Magic is a big deal, we use it in harmony with our technology. Unfortunately..." He snapped his fingers again in vain. "I'm not able to use any of mine. All of my stuff runs on magic from my world too, so it's all useless now."
Marfolious tilted his head towards Traveler. "And what about you, friend? Where you from?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2012 3:21 pm
As Marfolious neared the river he noticed two things: first the river was not natural, or at least not banked in dirt. The smooth stone floor went straight out to the river, ending in a slightly raised lip more like the edge of a pool than any natural river. Second, the water wasn't quite water. It had an odd smell he couldn't quite place but reminded him of thunderstorms and when he dipped his hand in with the flask the liquid tingled slightly on his skin. It wasn't altogether unpleasant - just not water. When he brought it back to the fire Traveler was drinking idly from his black flask and Alana nibbling at a bit of bread she'd been given. Neither seemed to pay much attention to him as he put the silver flask into the fire, which flared a bright blueish color as it burned off the liquid from the outside of the flask before settling back to a more normal orange-ish hue. Whatever the liquid was it had a biting smell as it heated slowly, something strong and slightly metallic.
Traveler just sat quietly as Marfolious asked his questions and smiled subtly at Alana's answer. His smile only widened at Marfolious' response but he took another long drink from his flask then capped and tucked it away in his satchel before not really answering the man's question. "There's no magic on Earth. Not to most people anyway," the man drawled a bit as he stirred the fire idly with a half burnt stick from it. "Chicago is a big city though, nearly 3 million people. Very modern. Some cultures would call their technology magic. Not as impressive as some but much better than others." He shrugged lightly then went on, "The planet has a diverse ecosystem and rich history. The dominant species is Human," he nodded toward Alana. "They have few natural predators and no recognized, sentient competition making it a relatively peaceful place, save the occasional atrocity they do to themselves." He paused a moment to smile wryly, "It has been described as 'mostly harmless' and compared to some I would tend to agree. Though humans are far from it," he added a touch darkly before tapping the flask lightly with the stick then reached in, bare handed, and pulled the metal out. He didn't even cringe and just held it out to Marfolious as if he'd not just pulled the thing from a fire.
"Magic does work here," he told the man as if it wasn't obvious by now. "Only differently. The farther your world is from here the more differently it functions but you can learn. If you try. And items can be tuned if you find the right mage - for a price of course." He nearly huffed a bitter laugh at the last then added after a pause, "Call me Traveler."
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Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 2:23 pm
"Sounds like Earth is pretty similar to my world, minus the 'no magic' part." Marfolious crossed his arms. "And maybe the 'few predators' part. Maybe about 50% of creatures that live away from cities will try and kill you. Requesting for a Travel Guard is usually a good idea if you can't defend yourself. But it's better to just hone your own fighting skills and travel with friends." He cringed a bit before continuing. "I hired a Travel Guard one time, they turned on me half way through the trip." He pat his hand on the pickaxe in his satchel. "Things got ugly. Long story short, the wolves had a nice meal that night."
Marfolious raised an eyebrow when Traveler reached into the fire for the flask and held it out to him. Considering that he just revealed that magic works in this world, there was no need to ask any questions. Marfolious reached out for the flask, and was surprised to find out it was pleasantly cool to the touch. He took off one of his gloves and waved his hand over the mouth of it. No heat was coming out. Deeming it safe, he steeled himself anyways in case the liquid was actually hot. Pouring a little bit, he quickly confirmed the water wasn't. At first, his wound felt a bit tingly, and he observed the liquid work it's magic. Slowly, his wound began to close a bit, but did only that. Marfolious continued to pour the liquid bit by bit, watching his wound close. After it closed, his skin slowly regenerated, leaving a faint scar. He set down the flask and reached into this satchel for his notebook, bent on taking notes on what just happened.
Once he finished, he tucked the notebook away and stood up to test his leg. Marfolious was astounded, there was virtually no pain at all, and his knee moved fluidly. "This is amazing. Not even the Royal Clerics can heal wounds this fast." Just what was in that water? He sat back down and reached back into his satchel for his sewing kit to stitch up the gaping hole in the knee of his pants. Nodding his approval at his handiwork, Marfolious packed his sewing kit away and addressed another issue.
"So is there anywhere I can go to learn this world's magic? I'm more than willing to learn." Nordaft was riddled with various schools of magic and was overseen by the Royal Library. Speaking of which.... "Another thing, there wouldn't happen to be any libraries where we're headed, would there?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 10:54 am
(Been a while but I've been told y'all are willing to come back so let's make a go of this.) Traveler just smiled a touch wryly at the man's words then nodded slowly for his questions. "Libraries and schools both," He answered with a casual tone. "If you are willing to pay the price of admission. Like most worlds very little is truly free here. Some are just better at hiding the costs," he purred a touch darkly then shook his head. "The Library at the Royal University is the largest publicly accessible collection though you would need papers to get into the city and to get papers you must swear fealty to the Queen. Unless you are willing to risk sneaking in without papers, then you can keep your freedom in exchange for going to the stocks if you are caught." Traveler grinned for the thought as if it amused him then shook his head, "Most of the Temples of the Nine have collections of their own but they tend to be narrow in focus and getting into the Temples is usually more trouble than it is worth. Atalan and Beimini have public Libraries but I fear they may be underwater at the moment," he shrugged, "The cheapest place to find books is likely a merchant's stall. The gold price is at least honest."
"As for magic, if you wish to learn the ways here the Mage's Guild claims authority over that" the man's tone hinted a lack of respect for the Guild's claim but he did not outright contradict it. "They will take you into their fold and teach you as they see fit. In return you would serve their every fickle whim," Traveler rolled a slight shrug, "For some it is a fair price. At least you would get access to their library."
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 4:56 pm
"Hiding the costs, eh?" That sounded... morbid. But that wasn't important, not overly anyways. There was a university library to get into, but how Traveler worded that made Marfolious uneasy, especially with the thing Traveler said before. "Now when you say 'swearing fealty,' is there something tacked on to that? Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but..." Not that he would jump at that anyways, Marfolious was a free man, and worked to his own content, not for someone else's. It'd probably be better to just buy them from merchants, but then he'd need to find a decent merchant and the selection would be like a market with only two apples and-
"Gah." Marfolious waved his hand in front of his face, as if to clear away the jumble of thoughts. Buy books if they were available, break and enter if he had to. Easy. Next issue, the Mage's Guild. That sounded like he'd be getting a bad deal. 'As they see fit?' Sounded like they'd make him a lackey and not teach him any actual magic. And he had to intention of making himself into some mage's butler. The mages he dealt with before were disgustingly pretentious and needy, so assuming these mages were the same, he'd work himself to death within a week.
Marfolious shrugged to himself. Gotta do what you gotta do, but you can't do what you gotta do if you're dead.
"Traveler, in your opinion," Marfolious stroked his thoughtfully stroked his chin with a raised eyebrow. "Which would be easier to break into? Which library, that is."
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