Welcome to Gaia! ::

((@Viper: Alrighty! As you wish!
Also, you're not too far off in your picture of the Sunlands! It's a very arid region of twisting canyons and such instead of dusty dunes, though. 3nodding ))

((Exactamundo! In fact, I may just go ahead and "get us there" in my next post, so everyone has a frame of reference.))

(We got plenty of time for you to decide what you would like her to have. But you've been having her feel lots of movement within her belly so live babies would probably make more sense then eggs at this point. She could birth fire elements, lol *ouch* )



(*pokes everybody else* Waiting on you guys. biggrin )

(Just poking people to make sure we get our little side conversations wrapped up before MM moves us along to our destination.)

((I mean, we don't all necessarily have to leave the carriage at the same time when we arrive. We could move along as if these aren't the droids we're looking for, and everyone can kinda mosey on out as they finish whatever they were doing. I know not everyone has as much time to post, so we'll just have to be adaptive!))

(Oh they were talking to me? ^^; my bad, after a while the rp sort of jumped around too much and I got confused. xP)

*Pokes zombie RP*

Check it out! I finally drew a picture of Roxanne!

((Its not a zombeh RP! I just got really busy with the Holidays and such, so I rarely had time to get on here for any length of time...and hey! I didn't wanna do this RP an injustice by just rushing out some blah post at this critical moment!
Anyway, here is something to get us moving again!
I hope you guys enjoy! Looking forward to this next leg of the RP!))


The dry winds of The Sunlands blew across the ivory stone of the balcony, disturbing the gossamer curtains to the lavishly-decorated chamber beyond. A man stepped through them with a whisper. He was tall, lithe, and toned, garbed in only a loose pair of stark white trousers that held tight around the ankles; a traditional piece of clothing for those that lived in hot climates. As he passed out onto the balcony and across to the railing, he tied a golden sash at his waist.
He gazed out across the harsh landscape below, his cold grey eyes a hard contrast to the heat of the season. His long dark hair, evenly peppered and braided several times with golden adornments, shifted to and fro with the gusts that shot up from the deep crags below. The Sunlands were certainly not the most friendly environment in the world, much less one of the more easy to travel...and yet, Thalmius felt the stirrings of a presence drawing nearer. One he'd not felt since...
"The damned fool." he muttered with a slight grin tugging at one corner of his mouth.
Just then, the doors to the room he'd come from heaved open, and several heavily-armored figures stepped inside. They were all almost impossibly tall and burly. From head to toe they were covered in thick grey leathers strapped over more practical white clothing, their faces hidden beneath wrappings of the same color. Pauldrons, bracers, and sashes all gleamed golden on them. Each man held a firm grip on a polearm with a wicked blade atop it.
They all filed in and stood in parallel lines on either side of the door, facing each other. A woman, likewise-clothed but bearing a serrated scimitar of blackened steel at her hip, rounded the corner into the room between them. She strode forward with purpose, the symbol of a golden sun embroidered across her chest-piece drawing the eye to her bosom as if the heavy fruits of her femininity didn't already do so well enough. Her face was exposed, revealing sun-darkened skin and a high-and-tight shock of white hair that matched her eyebrows, giving her a decidedly exotic appearance. She lightly bowed her head and then looked up with a pair of brilliant blue eyes as she spoke in a husky alto.
"The people await your blessings, My Lord."
"The people..." Thalmius began, soberly turning to face the considerably shorter woman, "...await Solia's blessings, my dear Danycka."
Danycka's eyes flickered wide in shock, and then her expression became pained.
"Yes, Lord. Of course. I did not mean to insult Her..." she said, looking away.
Thalmius allowed a faint smile to dance across his features, and then he replaced it with a compassion and touched the young woman's cheek.
"Child..." he began, lifting her chin, "Solia forgives all those that would turn their eyes to the light. For though night brings with it the Moon and its power to cast our shadows into nightmares, Solia grants us the Sun born anew each day."
"Lo, Daybreak comes and returns the shadows to their proper place as the stalwart guardians of the faithful." she added slowly, carefully, as if repeating a mantra.
He gave her an approving nod. "Very well, then. Lets not keep the faithful waiting..."
Thalmius stepped back into the room and patiently held out his hands, palms down. Danycka came through the curtain herself and walked over to a wooden case atop a table, opening it and retrieving its contents. The gauntlets inside were pure gold, with bright red crystals inset on each palm. She slid them on over Thalmius's hands, and he reflexively clenched his fists around them. Satisfied with the familiar touch and the surge of power that came with it, he took a deep breath and nodded at the guards.
Danycka led them to follow Thalmius out as he once again prepared to meet his millions of adoring devotees.
Or rather, Solia's devotees. he inwardly corrected himself with a chuckle, a wicked leer spreading across his face.

The sun was high in the sky as Cassius hopped out of the carriage, stretching and popping his neck. After a moment, his eyes adjusted to the light, made even more intense by the bright whites and golds of the city.
Suncrest was a sprawling metropolis that rose up a steep cliffside in tiers, much like a living fountain of wealth and culture. Banners of white with golden suns blazoned on them were hung on every corner, and the citizens themselves dressed in similar hues. The whole city appeared architecturally designed to always catch the day's illumination. Even in the lowest tier such as they were, the sun's light seemed to touch every corner and back alley.
Cassius noted that the carriage had come to rest in a somewhat out of the way spot at the end of one such alley, and found himself surprised that the exterior had adopted a facade not unlike any rickety desert caravan wagon. Camouflage.
"Thats...handy." he mused, rubbing his chin.
His magic had always been less than predictable and even far less than useful about 50% of the time...but this was something altogether different. Maybe an omen of things to come. Hopefully a good one. He had a nagging suspicion that they were going to need all of the positive reinforcement they could get in the coming trials.
"So..." he said quietly as he exited the alleyway and stepped out onto one of what must've been hundreds of busy streets within the city. "This is Suncrest. I've got to hand it to you Brother, you don't do anything in half-measures."
He glanced around, watching the hustle and bustle as it moved by. There were plenty of shops and harkers, and plenty more priests of the Sun Goddess shouting Her blessings at the masses. City guards bearing Solia's sigil were posted every so often, their numbers just high enough to be a deterrent to any would-be rabble. Cassius couldn't imagine the general populace of such a spiritual place would react well to the presence of strange outsiders, least of all the succubus traveling with them. That could be a problem.
"Hm. Maybe we can whip up a glamour of some kind for Vor'dra. Something more fitting..." he muttered to himself.
And then he found himself imagining Vor'dra fitting into things. Actually, it was more like not quite fitting into things. Tight things. Revealing things. Wholly inappropriate things. Her curves straining against various and sundry clothes, the red of her skin giving off a natural luster in the firelight...because, of course, there was a fireplace. There was always a fireplace. Although the manacles and whips were new. He shivered a bit and then slapped himself in the face, derailing that train of thought. Damned succubi and their damned pheromones. Being cooped up in a carriage, even a vast manse of one, was dangerous with a succubus around.
He turned and walked back toward the carriage, cursing under his breath the whole way.
"Coast is clear!"


((Here is a sort of recap, just so everyone has a good idea of what we're working with here because I know its a lot of information:
Suncrest is a massive tiered city of white and gold built into the side of a steep cliff in the middle of a really rough badland. For the city itself, think Minas Tirith from Lord of the Rings, but instead of the long cliffy thing that Denethor threw himself from in a blaze theres more of a St. Peter's Square from the Vatican at the top, where literally the whole city can gather outside of an enormous temple to the Sun Goddess! The Vatican is actually a good reference for the tone of the city, in general! Lots of statues and ancient-looking buildings, all dedicated to Solia of course!
Our carriage is parked at the end of an innocuous alley, and the outside of it is camouflaged to look like any other little covered wagon in the city.
Everyone feel free to roam around and do whatever. For now, the city is just like any other where we can all restock and such. Plenty of small temples to Solia dot the tiers of the city, in the market district there are shops of all sorts with no particular names other than those of their proprietors, and one large inn on the lowest tier boasts the only tavern in town - known as "Siren's Call." There are regular patrols of distinctly-armored guards all over the place, so crimes and trespassing probably aren't a good idea. Neither is walking around outwardly looking like a demon, *cough, cough* Vordra. *cough*
I'll control any NPCs you guys may come across if you want, but once everyone is out and about I'll be promptly moving the main plot along. So be prepared!
Alright, without further adieu...
Lets do this! dramallama ))


Also, for all you visual folks: