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 Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:21 pm
Koril- Post 4
Smiling rather contently now, Koril looked up as the speakers took the lead of the group. Steadily, his content expression fell. People were really going missing... Unconsciously, he held the mysterious stranger's hand a little tighter with concern. He looked down at Flana, who was attempting to cuddle up against the fluffy raptrix, and let himself calm slightly. He was never alone with Flana around. Yet...
Lips pursing, he closed his eyes thoughtfully. His family was back in Matori... Hopefully, they were all okay.
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 6:51 am
Volkarosh
Post: 5
Location: With Arronthain
--------------------Seven earthlings missing? No. Seven and possibly more. Vanished without a trace... That was significant. What is the pattern? she thought, a little frustrated. More than a little. But not, indeed, a lot. This was more data, either way. It was incomplete, but it was more than they had. More information, however, was needed. A trap? That was interesting, coming from Arronthain, but then, didn't Father take him trapping? "What will be the bait?" she asked. An ambush would be best, considering the circumstances, but other traps could work... In the meantime, she kept an eye on sol's movements, in the hope of tracking him down later with her brother.
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 7:59 am
AKIYAL
Post: 5
"Just seven, huh?" Well, seven wasn't so bad. As compared to the number of people here, it certainly wasn't even a lot. To Akiyal it made the odds of being abducted seem so small, and just as small to have someone you actually cared about turn up missing. "See there," he nudged Callum's shoulder again, grinning as he turned back toward the man. "Just a few vanishing. Prolly no one you knew. I'd say you lucked out."
Of its own accord, his mind flit briefly to his father, and his expression slowly melted into something less enthused as it did. He still didn't really know where Xilarn was, besides 'not home,' which was where he should've been, unless he was out looking for Aki. He was fairly certain Xil wasn't doing that, either. They'd had exactly zero contact since Janella had gone missing-
But that had happened before all of this, hadn't it?
She'd been attacked by bandits or something, in the middle of the night. He and her son, Kan had set out to look for her, but... Well, Akiyal was easily distracted and had decided she'd probably just gone home. He was not ready to go home, and so- He couldn't actually say where any of his friends or family were. Was this the same thing that had taken Janella from them? Had Kan made it home safely after they'd parted ways? Where was his father.
The thoughts tumbled messily over each other, and for a moment, Akiyal was only confused and maybe, just a tiny bit, very slightly- Fearful. But as quickly as it came, he tamped it back with a white wall of indifference. They weren't with him, either. They'd left him, so he was sure they were all fine and not at all concerned for his safety.
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 8:22 am
Nuawahn
Post: 3
Location: with Rhag'na
--------------------Compliments were not usually met with being grabbed and pulled, and Nuawahn felt a funny fleeting feeling of familiar fear. Dark tents and loud voices, shouting and screaming and blood. Not allowed to shine light, not allowed to make light, no light. No light. No light at all...That was the bad thing about remembering - the memories. "I'm sorry if I was loud..." Nuawahn managed, trying to make the memory and the itching feeling in his skin go away. "I'm sorry, I just..."Nuawahn was cowed enough to be quiet as the Wind woman and the Ice woman spoke, but their words went over his head... or perhaps, again, he was purposely ignoring them. Or, at least, he was trying, but enough was getting through to make him bite his lip and focus very intently on his hands, summoning an illusion light to it and playing with it a little bit. He liked to do that. It was soothing. He looked back at the Ice man who had grabbed him, feeling a little better after reassuring himself with his magic. "I'm Nuawahn." he offered, his smile flickering back onto his face as he let the magic fade into wisps of light, "Who are you?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:42 pm
Callum - 4
"Perhaps, or maybe it's everyone I know. That's the thing with travelers; you can never be sure." He knew Akiyal was likely just trying to be nice, but Callum couldn't help thinking that the odds were stacking against him. And seven...even if they weren't his people, seven was enough to bring worry to the faces of his elders and to stir up an impromptu meeting. He grinned back to Akiyal, hoping to keep the air a little lighter and just some amount of hope inside.
"I'm glad that you're here, though. Now that I know for sure that the scruffy punk from the inn is safe." It wasn't much, but he had worried over him. Traveling by yourself, especially through Zena, could be hazardous. The snow had a way of tricking the mind, and flurries could swallow a mammu whole, let alone one boy on his own.
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 1:15 pm
Sol - 4
He felt, rather than saw, the hand intertwined with his begin to squeeze. Sol added a little more warmth to the contact, adding just enough to prove calming and not scorching. Thanks to his height he was able to see over the crowd, which might have been more beneficial to him, had he not been in the process of going blind. Instead, he was able to make out vague figures to go along with what was being said. Seven people had gone missing for sure, and they were suspected more?
He could hear Sev grunt as she shifted her massive form to sit closer to him, moving in to snuggle all three bodies closest to him with her massive girth. They must have made for an odd sight.
"Did you come here alone?" He asked bluntly.
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 1:17 pm
AKIYAL
Post: 6
It could be everyone he knew. Akiyal's brow pinched by just a fraction. He supposed it could be, and the same could be said for him. As far as he knew, the abducted people didn't have anything in common- but what if they did, and that thing in common was that they were all somehow connected to one individual. His frown turned a little sharper.
Well, even if that was the case, it still felt especially unlikely that that one individual was him. Aki hadn't offended that many people, and he was really no one of import.
But he didn't know much about Callum. This guy could be someone important, and he could be hiding out in Zena to stay away from all the hassle of it. Akiyal couldn't say what would be so important about a pretty hybrid man with a husband and family to care for, but he supposed there was the potential for it to have offended someone. "Ohhhh, what could you have done, huh," he questioned with a mischievous grin. "To make someone take hostage everyone you know? You haven't been up to no good, yeah?"
He punched Callum's shoulder. "Bet you got nothing to worry about," Akiyal assured. "Not for me, or anyone more important to you. 'Sides, I'm not about to be abducted without a trace. I got fight in me."
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 1:27 pm
Callum - 5
Callum chuckled, and raised his hand to tuck some of his downy hair behind his pointed ear. "More than I'll ever care to admit." It was a wonder that Oban guards hadn't found them as he and Nimueh had escaped all those years ago, but it still made him fearful to return to the country. Or any, for that matter. Callum had lived such a cursed life that the only places truly safe for him were Zena and Yael; if only because he had yet to go there.
"Well, just in case, how about you humor me and don't take off just yet?" He rubbed at his shoulder, not because it actually hurt, but mostly because it had jarred the cloak on his shoulders. Callum tugged the edges down, trying to keep the fashion-over-function garment over as much skin as possible.
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 1:48 pm
Prala || Post 4
Prala felt cowed under the speaker's stern gaze as it swept the crowd, she heard the whispers in the crowd, this was Freya, she felt a bit breathless at the thought. Her brow furrowed at the advice offered and she found herself growing surly. She didn't travel in pairs, she could look out for herself very well, thank you. Her hand stroked the dagger sheathed at her hip, she was an archer, but you couldn't travel alone without learning a thing or two about knife work. She's have her blade plunged hilt deep into the chest of whoever tried to attack her before they had a chance to try and carry her off. Still....
A shiver ran through her body, she wasn't sure if it was nerves, a developing fever to go with her sniffles, or simply her body reacting to the blasted cold air nibbling away at her incessantly. How could someone... or something... Take seven people without leaving any sign of their passing? It was spooky to say the least. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot... Perhaps she would find a group to return to Zidel with after all... Although the thought of returning to waiting tables after all of this nearly made her want to scream in frustration, there was danger here, a chance for adventure and glory, a chance to make a name for herself doing something real. She didn't want to return to living off of whatever meager coins she could scrape together each week. If she had to struggle, she wanted to face it with her weapon in hand, not tucked away safe in her room. She was not made for city life.
She felt eyes upon her and turned to meet the gaze of the man in the crowd. She didn't know what to make of it, so she simply jutted her chin up proudly and returned his scrutiny until his attention passed. She felt sure she'd never met the man before, she quivered slightly, in a time when people were disappearing without a trace, could you trust any stranger?
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:14 pm
Chapter 9: Grave Expectations
|| IC ||
 It was almost immediately after the pair of women had stopped speaking that the rumors started. Well this was interesting, and frightful. People were being taken, and no one knew who it was. One of the taller men in the crowd, wind by the look of it, called out from where he stood. "What if it was the extremists? What if they're back? We've been too lenient with them, they could be trying to attack again." From the looks of the scars on his shoulders, it was easy enough to think that this man had more than likely encountered what it was like in the first attack personally. Others around him seemed to become uneasy. Murmers of 'he could be right' and 'I always knew they would come back' made their way out from the crowd.
Shouts of disagreement could be heard, but they didn't sound particularly sure of themselves. What if it was the extremists. It would make sense.
A little girl shouted out from next to her mother, her skin and hair the blue of the ice earthlings. "What if the Chiavi took them?" Anyone who had been paying attention to the little girl had noticed the look of fear she had been giving to Freya's chiavi when the meeting had first started. Her mother hushed her, but some in the crowd grinned or chuckled at the idea.
|| OOC ||
||. If your character is not signed up for their thread, they may not participate. You can PM Suhuba for late entries.
||. Please limit to up to 2 posts between NPC posts (these should be spaced out by responses from others to your post, no needless posting just to get more points).
||. NPCs will post twice a week, on Monday and Thursday.
||. If you have any questions, please post them in the Main Thread.
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 9:10 am
AKIYAL
Post: 7
Despite the chuckle, when Akiyal glanced at the other man, he thought there might have been something sad in his eyes. Callum certainly didn't look especially happy to begin with, not that the situation was a cheerful one, but Aki thought, when he allowed himself to consider it, that there might have been something deeper there, something hidden. For that moment that he was aware of it, he wanted to press. 'Like what?' 'What makes you so special?' 'Is that why you're here alone?'
But being a simple-minded boy didn't lend itself to any great amount of dedication for answers, and he wasn't in such a place that he really cared that much to begin with. He probably imagined it, besides. So Akiyal's thoughts flit easily back to the leaders and the crowd's disapproving rumbles.
Extremists and wild animals. Aki wasn't bright, be he thought it was pretty obvious that extremists weren't a part of this. When those people waged war, they did not do so quietly. Alkidike were a proud, fearless people, and their tactics probably didn't involve silently stirring up a cloud of confusion and picking off individuals one at a time. He hated Alkidike, but he didn't think they'd caused this particular brand of chaos.
"Ah, I should..."
What should he do? He could return to the dance troupe. There were at least a good cluster of them, such that he wouldn't have to travel alone, and they did go wherever it pleased them. But Aki was starting to wonder if it pleased him to go wherever they went, and it was starting to feel like... No, it didn't. He could return home. It would be a lonely trip, but he wasn't as frightened as some of these folks, and it would be nice to just see that his family and friends were safe where they belonged.
Aki pinched his tongue between his teeth and glanced at Callum. This man's personal demons really oughtn't concern him. But they had at least gone on one adventure in the past, and he'd asked, specifically asked for Aki to stay.
And that felt weirdly wonderful.
If his family was at home, than it wouldn't do him any good to be lost or hurt and alone before he got there. Staying with Callum was the smart choice, he was sure, and likely more entertaining to boot. So Akiyal clucked his tongue, rolled his shoulders, and nodded disinterestedly. "Yeah, guess that'd be okay. Just until you find who you're lookin' for, I s'pose."
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 5:51 pm
Koril- Post 5
He started to take a deep breath, but the chill of the air cut that attempt short. After a little cough, he looked back with surprise as the raptrix cuddled close. Flana was looking quite pleased at this point. Koril looked back up at the other, much taller hybrid, his brow knitting slightly. "I.... have Flana.." he murmured slowly. That wasn't what the stranger meant... "Yeah... My family is back in Matori." Pursing his lips, he cocked his head. "Are you alone with your raptrix?" Now he couldn't help a smile. "It's lovely, by the way! I never actually saw one this close before today."
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 5:58 pm
Arron Post 6 "I'm not sure what should be the bait, it will be harder to hide two people to lie in wait but the bonus of having them may outweigh the risk." His hand twitched at his side, with the need to do something but a part of him knew that a thorough plan took time to concoct. "In the mean time do we want to go say hello to our fellow alk hybrid? I don't think I can contain my curiousity anymore, hes unlike anyone I've ever seen, and while we look like no one else besides ourselves as well, I'm dying to hear his opinion on this all." He took his sisters hand and dragged her off in that direction.
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 8:31 pm
Callum - 6
"This is what happens when a crowd is given vague answers," Callum groused. What had they expected? Calm acceptance and a gung-ho charge to find the missing parties? Callum crossed his arms over his lithe chest, leaning towards Akiyal as he did so. At least, propped up as he was, he could make sure that most of his words were directed to the windling and not the crowd as a whole.
"If you've got somewhere else to go I can escort you. It would be better than traveling alone; at the very least you wouldn't be bored." He wasn't concerned about his own well being in the least. It had been stated more than once by concerned family members that Callum's death wish was a strong, fearsome thing, and it had yet to dissipate with over the years. Perhaps if he was taken he could at least find out where the others-
"Wonderful!" He smiled, genuinely this time, without any sort of reservation.
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 8:41 pm
Sol - 5
Sol clucked his tongue. He thought over the other's situation as he vaguely tried to keep up with the change in crowd dynamic. Instead of listening intently to their leaders they were not in a state of almost panic. Extremists and chiavi? The Chiavi didn't worry him half as much as the extremists, mostly because of the stories he'd been raised on about their cruelty. He would do everything in his power to keep those hybrid hating bitches out of his home-
"I've been staying in an Inn in Sauti. I can go with you that far if you'd like, or at least until you meet up with a larger group." There was no reason for him to do much more than that for a stranger, but Sol would be able to sleep easier knowing that the other had at least made it that far unharmed.
"At the moment it is just Sev and I," He reached down to passively run his free hand through her fur, eliciting a happy little head upturn from the raptrix. She watched him long enough to suit her curiosity before going back to her new, smaller, friend.
"Nothing about this gathering makes sense. If they didn't know why the others were being taken, why mention it? They had to have known it would cause a panic."
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