Closed Books RPG

[lovebrookelyn]

The Chief sat next to Kaliyah, patting her tail twice as it rest on the ground next to her.
She looked thoughtfully as the spirits rolled about in the sky.

"Our days were made of struggles and battles long forgotten," She said.
"But we laid down a foundation for good lives and good tribes and good people.
They don't have to struggle like we did now.
They struggle in a new way. A way we can't understand, you and I.
And their work will never be done.
They must come back, they must continue.
They must lay a new kind of foundation."

Crow nodded to herself for a moment.

"We came back too," She said. "We came back just like they did.
We came back because people needed us.
And their people need them to come back."  

[cosmos_rose]

(SUH took me a lot longer than expected to post, so I'll post here tomorrows)  

[cosmos_rose]

Sorrryyyyyy - I know I said I'd post like 5 days ago but I work 13 hours shifts lately and I'd rather post coherent posts than lame ones.
I WILL post tomorrow! Thanks for the patience guys!  

[cosmos_rose]

BhelliomBlue-Rose

Miiighhht be doing a time skip. Not sure yet.
This week is my last week of doing lots of 12-13hour shifts though, so after this week I'll be able to post regularly again. smile  

[BhelliomBlue-Rose]

(Understood. And a timeskip might be wise, as even with the towers, the Sphere is the size of a continent. Also, who's to say Adam isn't already here?)
Will be posting tomorrow at the latest, if I don't get to it tonight. Sympathies on the business: half-day shifts? DAMN.)  

[BhelliomBlue-Rose]

The transition was not always smooth.
So many of these bodies bore cleaned and unhidden wounds that it was clear this was no isolated thing.
Violence ripped at a soul, the dealing more than the taking.
Jagged edges smoothed at the sound of the chime, mending hurts as fragments of souls pulled free of their shells.
At the edges, some of the torn pieces attracted others, lumping jig to saw at the raggedy ends.
These, the monk strode towards regardless of his pattern, that the sound of ringing might reach them.

It was done now, and he moved beneath the tree, as the two chieftains and... Noire sat.
The Sanskara folded his legs beneath him, laying his jangling staff down to one side.
("It is not always this gentle a passing.
I think your commotion startled them before the wounds of this turn could find focus.
...They can fester, poison others. They have done so before.")
The first real expression he'd worn since arrival cracked the placid mask.
The monk's smile blossomed, and the warmth was near-physically tangible.
Kaliyah was likely the only person in this group that couldn't understand him yet, but it would prove hard to misinterpret that.
("It may not have gone so well without you.
Thank you. Will you take salt with me?")

Glory, bereft of anything particularly irritating for the present, said little, and watched everything.
Anger might well have been his default state, if detached calm didn't pop up in it's absence...
________________________________________

With the lush dryad pried from his arm, the Rider found him other amusements.
Crowdwatching didn't seem like much, but there were entertaining spots everywhere, if only one knew where to look.
About every third or fifth alley, for instance:
One might spot duels being fought in silence.
Most of them decided at first blood, but every so often there was a sigh of life lost, or someone kneeling over a body.

If their guide noticed, he paid the death no more mind than the blood.
No one had offered him offense, after all, and he was of the Deva.
The Durga were almost all of the warrior caste, and he was Vaisya besides.
If asked, he would explain that they did not always see eye-to-eye with their subject tribe.
Vaseiya's scrutiny caused no more concern, as he was watching them as well.

Conquest's smile, sheathed in laziness, drifted towards the less formal pair.
"Depends on you.
They prob'ly know a shitload of magic. Might be able to pass ya a couple tips, yeah?"
Passing from Olive to Jay, it only grew more content, softer somehow.
"Now there's the right idea, brothaman.
If my god should fail me, I will kill him too, right?
We'll make Royalty of ya's yet.

'Course, if you wanna sharpen your blades on some locals, who'm I to stop ya?
Look. Listen. Breathe that in. It's death on the air, and it never stops.
Just insult somebody well enough, an' you can have yourself a nice scrap. Mind the revenge chains."
Hands fingered the hilts of a pair of remaining knives at his belt.
So many empty sheaths to fill. He'd lost a couple favorites, more was the pity.
Their yellow guide had begun to pick up the pace, with the Rider's speech.
It were better to hurry them along, if this bunch truly grew so bloodthirsty.
Parvati and Brahma frowned upon unnecessary bloodshed, though it was allowed in matters of honor.
And frankly, these outlanders were starting to scare him.
Shakti would know what to do.  

[cosmos_rose]

The Assassin of Chaos

(Gonna be honest. Keep trying to post but I've been brain dead on the story lately. )

While her group bantered and chatted behind her, Abeline zoned out to the world around her in boredom. Lots of thoughts, most of them memories, passed through her head in this time. A couple times she would glance at Conquest as she thought of memories of him
Sometimes she'd find herself watching the Sanskara just a little bit too long, as she wondered if her old partner had died like she had a long time ago. If he had, then he was now somebody she no longer knew, and thus the end of their short lived tale.
Then she thoughts of Lotus and Alai, and even Vasieya, as she pondered the tree's relationship with her friend.
How trustworthy was the french tree really?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the voice of another Sankara, who approached them. This one was a navy blue in color, with dark eyes and long dark braided hair. Touching the guides shoulder, she asked him to stop.
Her voice like a bird, she spoke concerningly to the Sanskara who seemed to be her friend.
"आप थके हुए लग रहे हैं, आप इन यात्रियों को कहाँ ले जा रहे हैं? क्या आपके पास भाग लेने के लिए अन्य व्यवसाय है? अगर हाँ, तो मैं यहाँ आपकी मदद कर सकता हूँ।."

Though kind and open in her nature, the Sanskara likely would not recognize her. They had not ever met before, but for whatever reason she was acting as if they had.
She looked at the group behind him, and smiled warmly with both of her lips.

Meanwhile, Vasieya was doing much of the same as Abeline had been doing.
Though instead of reminiscing on 1,000 years worth of memories, she focused on the present and listened to what her roots told her. She felt the earth, the pitter patter of the large Sanskara feet as they walked about. Every now and again, she even felt the foot steps of perhaps some other species that seemed to be wandering around here.

Occasionally, she felt as though they were being followed almost. As the same set of feet would walk in their direction for sometime, but just before she felt alerted by it, they would walk away towards somewhere else.

Olive yawned and stretched her arms out.
"Wha? Why are we stopping now?
And is it just me or do your guys's feet hurt like a MOFO?!
I wish I could summon like an undead horse or something.
Give Glory some more friends, ya know?"

---------------------------------------

Kaliyah looked downwards as the other chief sat next to her.
In a sense, Kaliyah was feeling a sense of envy and embarrassment with her counterpart chief. Crow had been so open to the ways of the Sanskara, unlike herself, and yet they were from the same ancient ways. How was Crow able to understand this world better than she?
Her words were wise though, Kaliyah noted to herself as she listened.
Wise like the shaman and stone readers/carvers.

She huffed and watched the ice crystals of her breathe float to the ground gracefully, before looking back up at Chief Crow.
"I...don't believe I was meant to come back though.
I have been dead for thousands of years. The people that I WAS born to save, have been resting with my father for just as long. "
She lifted her gaze up to the sky now, watching the souls swirl around.
"But...I should not complain, nor be so...angry with death returning to life.
It's nice after all, to remember what breathe feels like."

If Abeline was around, she would've known that something was definitely off about Kaliyah. Her eldest sister hardly ever spoke of herself and her innermost thoughts that way. The drugs that Noire had forced upon the dragon chief were certainly taking an effect of calming her down and bringing ease to her muscles and mind.

Without moving, she watched as the Monk took his place beneath the tree.
Her tail twitched on the ground as she remained alert, but was non-threatening and interested in her surroundings. Though she did not understand the words of the many armed creature, she felt like she might understand the gesture.
Still unsure however though, she would let the others speak with him.

"You should ask him about his Goddess." She spoke up to Noire.
"Or ask him about the book.
We should not forget our purpose here."

(TRANSLATION: You look tired, where are you taking these passengers? Do you have other business to attend? If yes, then I can help you here.)  

[cosmos_rose]

lovebrookelyn

Sorry about not posting! Hope you're still around!  

[The Assassin of Chaos]

"... Man, I almost wish Nerien was here now," Jay realized after a pause.
"She'd probably complain, but at least we'd be not in pain for the minute..."
He, uh... was kinda focusing on anything but his legs.

---

"Why not both?" Noire mused, lighting up a weed-ladened ciggy before asking, "आपने एक किताब देखी, बाय? शायद तैरना, निश्चित रूप से खतरनाक, दुनिया को ढहने से रोक सकता है।
और छिपकली आपकी देवी के बारे में जानना चाहती है, मुझे नहीं पता कि लेकिन ईमानदारी से मैं अभी इस के लिए बहुत ऊँचा हूँ।"

(translation)

show spoilerhide spoiler

You seen a book around, by the by? Probably floating, definitely dangerous, can stop the worlds from collapsing.
And the lizard wants to know about your Goddess, I don't know why but honestly I'm too high for this right now.

 

[lovebrookelyn]

"My tribe is long buried, their bones are dust.
But these people, their ways, they all came from tribes like yours and mine.
In a strange way, they are like our children, just like all of the children where we came from.
In my tribe, if you were of age, you were the parent of the children.
These new people, these new tribes, all lead back to us.
And we are their parents. We must protect them and their ways, too." Crow said.

She smiled after a moment, listening to her fellow chief.
Crow was very comforted by her presence, if she was entirely honest with herself.
Their relationship felt like a little piece of home.

"I, too, missed breathing," She chuckled, sucking in a chest full of air before releasing it in a puff.
She watched the ritual with observant eyes, but with such ease, it almost appeared she was watching a sunset somewhere back home.  

[BhelliomBlue-Rose]

Conquest's thought, almost a mirror to Abeline's, went anywhere and everywhere.
All but for one conspicuous issue, his mind crawled through several things, from casual murder to less lethal entertainments.
Like his prospective shipping chart, for example.
Vaseiya had proven her trustworthiness while she had a stake in things, but a holdover from Sca'than was to have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
Certain habits died harder than others, and this was no exception.
A lover was the best positioned to put a knife in one's back, after all.

"बहुत दिन हो गए, पुराने दोस्त के। मुझे दिन के कारोबार में सफलता मिली है, लेकिन इन बाहरी लोगों को शक्ति और ब्रह्मा से मिलने की जरूरत है।"
His relief at meeting someone familiar could have lifted several pounds of tension.
Though he could not quite place from where they had met...
"क्या आप हमें कर्म के परास्नातक पास करने में मदद करेंगे? वे रहे हैं ... अप्रिय, हाल ही में।"
Somehow, he knew (or remembered?) that this female was trustworthy.

The Horseman's golden eyes settled on the night-skinned Sanskara.
That same familiarity lay upon him, but he had the impression he knew where they'd met.
"Nothin' too serious, Olive.
Just old friends showin' up outta the blue."
The gaze wavered, blinking back to the witch.
"Wait, you can't conjure undead? Thought that was a basic one for necromancers.
You whistled that oversized rat up pretty quick before."
We have got to get this chick a solid teacher. I think my education was more comprehensive, as far as it went!
_________________________________________________________

The dead were well on their way now. This male knew his work, and had been at it long enough to have felt if something went awry.
Though he could understand only half of their conversation, the funerary overseer listened closely.
Crow alone provided much context for their presence, and the glimmer in his eye did not speak of stupidity.
As none of it was addressed toward him, the monk did not butt in until Noire posed questions.
("I have seen many books, some of which can do any of those things, in the right hands.
Knowledge is a power all its' own.
But it is more likely that you mean a more literally potent one, if you mention it in the same breath as Shakti.
With potent souls as you have, to come back from the Wheel as you once were, it could be little besides.")

Now that the dead were in no danger of disruption, their unexpected host wore his smile openly.
A pouch of salt had been fished from his robe, and a cloth laid out before him for it.
He had only hardtack and some dried fruit to flavor it, but this was offered the same.
("You say goddess, we merely say 'she'. You say god, we call him 'he'.
Shakti and Brahma, the original male and female pair.
They dream, and we are their dreams. As are their aspects, the Trimurti, that guide us more directly.")

Whatever it was, The White Horse kept quiet.
His Rider was content, or at least seemed so, and his steed pawed at the earth in counterweight.
Bereft of conflict or danger to address, he grazed in silence.
No expression graced those curiously expressive eyes that studded his flesh.
And Kaliyah wonders why I object to her lizard's nibbles...

((It's been a long day, old friend. I have had success in day-to-day business, but these outsiders need to meet power and Brahma.
Will you help us pass the masters of karma? They are ... unpleasant, lately))  

[cosmos_rose]

The Assassin of Chaos

"I AM HERE NUMBBUTT." Nerien's tiny voice growled, apparently she'd taken the form of a spider on Jay's shoulder..
"Just...not sayin' nothin', or doin' nothin'.
What am I to you by the way? Some kind of ride? A limousine? I've got back pains too you know! I may look young and beautiful, but I'm actually really damn old. Which is funny though cuz technically everyone but Olive has been alive longer than me.....
You're probably regretting about complaining about my complaining aren't you?
Because now I'm gonna complain!"

"WEEELLLLL," Olive drawled as she stretched her arms out behind her head.
"I mean I CAN summon skellies and basic zombies. Easy as pie. But like, for me to do that though there needs to be skellies and/or dead people in the ground already. And like, I can do a few special tricks too, like summon that particular oversized rat you mention.
But like, witches like Apocalypse can actually summon monsters and demons from the actual underworld. Which is something I can sometimes do, but most of the time I can't get them to cooperate with me."
Sheepishly she looked at Conquest and shrugged as she let her arms fall back to her sides.
"But you know, now that I'm alive again I guess I can try learning right?"

For whatever reason, she almost felt a little guilty right now that she didn't know more.
But it wasn't her fault though, not really.
Odile, her adopted mother, had done her best to teach Olive magic. But Odile was the Witch of Roses, and therefore her magic was entirely different from necromancy. And one Odile had met Apocalypse, the ancient witch hadn't been interested in teaching her the arts.
And so that was that.

A warm smile still compressed to the dark skinned Sanskara's face, she nodded to her companion.
"बेशक मेरे दोस्त। मैंने आज अपना कर्तव्य पूरा कर लिया है, इसलिए मेरे पास मदद के लिए समय है। कृपया अपने दिन के बारे में जारी रखें, मैं इस बिंदु से उनका मार्गदर्शन करूंगा।."

Gently clasping all 6 of her hands together, she would wait for the other Sanskara to part ways. She would wave him goodbye, and then urge the group of outsiders to follow her.

"इस तरफ। यह बहुत लंबा नहीं है।."

Silent at this point, she would take them to where as promised.
Some more time would pass, but this time it seemed to do so more quickly.
Before they knew it, they would arrive.

A tall tower that looked to be spiraling upwards is where she'd taken them.
She walked up to the archway before taking a step back and offering them to take the first steps inside the temple.
"मैं तुम्हारे ठीक पीछे रहूँगा"


(of course my friend. I have completed my duty today, so I have time to help. Please continue about your day, I will guide them from this point.

This way. It's not too long from here.

I'll be right behind you.)

----------------------------------------------

Kaliyah nodded to Crow, but she was not sure how true that was.
Perhaps in a way, yes, at least the Oravian's were all technically her descended children. And then if she really wanted to be generous, she could consider all other races her descendants as well.
And while Kaliyah knew that Crow did not perhaps mean all this in a literal sense, it did remind Kaliyah of her own failure to conceive...

That was off topic though.
Kaliyah looked at Crow and watched her laugh, and in return, the dragon chieftess actually smiled a little in return.
In this moment, she wondered to herself if she'd smiled before this.
She was glad that Chieftan Crow was here.

Lifting herself from the ground, she recognized the offer that the death priest made.
"I think he means to offer us food", She said to Crow and Noire.
"Perhaps we should partake?"
Walking up to the priest, she would sit cross legged in front of him again and reach for a single, dried fruit.

She took a nibble to test the taste. It wasn't meat, but as carnivorous as Kaliyah acted, her species was omnivorous. But that didn't meant that sometimes vegetables/fruits didn't give them tummy aches. She took a bigger bite anyways, and glanced at Noire.
"What's he saying?
Can he offer us direction?'

Speaking of Kali's horse, where was that little bugger?
Probably off grazing by her lonesome. Should Kaliyah call her though, the dracolisk could hear across vast distances and would likely be able to return to her master.  

[The Assassin of Chaos]

"... Why not just roll around and we hitch a carriage to you or something then?" Jay asked Nerien, almost seriously but still jokingly.
Less back pain then, right?
"I can always beat some sense into anything stupid enough to resist ya, if ya do need to try it?" he informed Olive with a wink and a mock-punch. Not a mach-punch, though.

---

"I think their Goddess Shakti told them about it," Noire let Kaliyah know, then added, "Oh... Shakti is apparently part of a pair. The other one's a guy called Brahma. I swear, they sound familiar... anyway, they seem to think everything's a dream excluding the goddess and her pardner. And they have something called Trimurti, who are their aspects or something?
"Io equitum, scitis aliquid de hoc faecibus exturbandis opitulatur?" she asked Glory.

(Yo Horse, you know anything about this feces?)

(apparently italians never needed to say crap.)  

[cosmos_rose]

lovebrookelyn

 

[cosmos_rose]

lovebrookelyn

BhelliomBlue-Rose

Wanna give Brooke another day or so, but post when you can Blue. Same goes for SUH.