Welcome to Gaia! ::

Fragments of memory. An unseen evil percieved. A quest with uncertain leads and less certain means.

But in his heart, Kokuza knows that Ahrim is still alive and well... Whoever he is. And the knowledge that such villany is permitted to roam unchecked is cause enough to set forth and do what is right and pure:

To exterminate this devilry.

And in the doing, perhaps regain some of what he has lost. To regain another precious handful of memories chained away in his subconcious, memories long lost, some perhaps best left alone and yet still nececcary to know. It is a personal quest, a vindetta some may say, but he cannot do it alone. He must first find, study and finally destroy this wraithlike entity that has arisen and lodged in his mind, thereby ridding the world of him altogether.

Who will come? Who will fight? Who... May die?

Announcements:
This thread lives! After a 2-year absence, we've picked up and are sort of going full steam ahead with a kind of "Season 2" thing. Hope it will be as good as the first!

The story thus far (abbreviated):

Consult the first post and run of the original "Hunt For Ahrim" Thread:
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pt=1109733102&p=308321837#308321837

Detail:

I will be playing my character, Kokuza Hokuten and taking the role of any and all NPCs that will be encountered in the game. My ability to do this may be debatable, but you have to give a guy a chance, right? Right.

Application:

This is an open RP, but somewhat refined down to the characters who are aware of the event.

I will be issuing individual invitations to those I really want on board, and advertising on a few select threads. Post here or PM if you are interested!

Rules:

There are no stat or numerical rating systems in this RP. It is based entirely on the quality of your writing, and any munching, god-modding and generally being a lame-o will be overriden and ignored.

All participants are asked to adhere to the guidelines in the Anti Munch Project and the School Of Dedicated Roleplayers. No cheating or else!

This game is for fun, and not intended to establish any clearcut "winners" or "losers". It is about creating a spontaneous story with unpredictable results, a gathering of talented and semitalented fiction writers portraying their characters. Please don't come here expecting to get an ego boost by showing off your imagined power.

Posting House Rules

Posts are made in two varieties, In Character "IC" or Out-Of Character "OOC". Anything you write IC is through your character's eyes and mouth, and constitutes a turn, when turn order is enforced. OOC posting is unlimited (just don't spam, please) and is anything you yourself wish to say.

In Character
Anything your character does is in Italics or plain descriptive text.

Hokuten strode into the midst of the trees and sat down.

(or)

Ryu stumbled through the forest and fell flat on his face.

Anything your character says is always in quotations.

"Quiet!" Hokuten said.

Thoughts and inner monologue are in quotes and italics.

"I was being quiet." Ryu thought.

Present-tense actions can also be written closed by either double colons or asterisks.

*gets up, dusts himself off*

(Or)

::enters a deep meditative trance::

Out Of Character & Supplemental Text
All text not in character is free to post any time, but must be within double brackets. "OOC" is optional.

((OOC: I need to go in 30 minutes! Post, you fool!))

Coloured text is used for NPCs. IE if I were posting:

Kokuza whirled and saw the berserker thundering toward him.

"Too quickly you rush toward death!"

Slavering madly, the berserker swung his enormous sword in a wide arc.

"KILL YOU!"

Turn order will be enforced only when it is nececcary (such as in combat), otherwise characters are able to post IC or OOC freely.

Bear in mind that the above are merely guidelines, and since everyone has their own posting style, don't feel bound by it. Just be aware that I will be using the above style.

Application:

Please post a (brief) bio in this thread if you are interested. Include the following:

Character Name: Not nececcarily your username
Description: Basic appearance and personality, motivations, allegiances and memberships
Equipment: What gear, weapons and supplies you have
Abilities/Techniques: What you can do. You may list generally and specifically.

(( *Slaps himself.*

Actually, yes. I was going to ask you if she's ever online anymore, but it slipped my mind.

We just dragged Koku back from his long OOC life, and are restarting from where we left off in April/May last year... xp

Such a long wait. *shakes his head slightly* ))

((She's still around...but she hasn't been on Gaia in ages. Seems like she'd still be interested in this, though, or at least she was when I spoke to her about it.))

(( Bah... was gone all day. >< ))

"That depends entirely upon how long I'm expected to stand..." was the responce from the doorway. Joshua had stepped in and not taken pause as he looked quickly at the scenery about, still striding slowly into the center of the room, towards the large iron and oak desk, and towards the chair which stood beside it. There were no other places for Ahrim to hide himself in this room than that chair, if it was indeed Ahrim who inhabited this place, unless the man had concealed himself in some magical way... Had the room not been cached with magical auras already, the feel of the spell which might have hiden the man would have been apparent, though.

Joshua darted his eyes towards the spellcaster's flames which lighted the room, then to the stacked tomes, and the other artifacts within the room. It was apparent that this Ahrim had an obsession with old magics which only the most studious of mages seemed to... which promped the man's right eye to twitch slightly as he restrained a snarl.

He hated mages... well, certain kinds, at least... Hopefully Ahrim would prove himself to be at the very least tolorable if any type of agreement was to be reached in regards to the matter at hand. His mind rolled back briefly to the last mage which he had associated with on 'friendly terms'... a man calling himself Truewind, who had broken one of the walls when he was hurled through it...

"Introductions, introductions..." Joshua rambled to himself before trailing off; his head turning back down from the trappings and tappestries of the room to face the back of that graffitied chair that sat beside the carved desk. It had been almost half a century since he had introduced himself, at least in this way, though sometimes things needed to be done as such, to get one's point across. With the quick execution of a half bow, which would have gone unseen by the room's other occupant, the man straightened his posture and smirked.

"I am Razliek Kar, fourth son of T'ell Kar, sovereign of Kar'Tuh..." he began, speaking clearly, despite how mangled the names would have come out if most others would have tried to pronounce them, "...I would say more of that, but in our tongue the world does not have a name... it is simply 'the world'. Though to be brief it is somewhat similar to that," he added, making a swift gesture to the painting which hung above the desk, "...sans gate."

He would have continued on, though it didn't seem necessary now... He would have, if asked, listed many other names which he had been branded over the years, such as the ever popular 'monster', or his personal favorite, 'the boogyman', that he had jestingly given himself on a return trip to the west years back, when he had found that old men would tell ghost stories about him to the children at night...

Now, in propper procedure, it would be time for this Ahrim to drop the charade and show himself... though whether or not it was his true self would still be in question; from what had been seen before, the man had the talent to graft souls onto mechanical dolls, and from what he had seen here, it could also be done to soft bodies...

(( I'm here too. ninja ))

((I'll be making a post soon, guys! In the meantime smile )


"That is truly interesting..." Ahrim uttered, his words melting into the heavy air "To think a man of such high class could be from that place."
And at last, the sorcerer rose from his seat.

An anticlimactic movement, to Josh's reckoning. Apart from an expecially well-made jacket of twilight thread, there was nothing exceptional about this "Ahrim" whatsoever. A plain face atop an average height, cropped neatly with a short sprawl of dull blonde hair. Lifeless grey eyes and a faintly pale complexion.

"Though with your permission, I would like to shorten our formalities and sort out whatever business you may have brought to my doorstep. I am very busy, and as such able to spare only such time as may speed my work."

An expectant pause. Nothing in the room moved.

((I think Ryu needs to post up what's going on with the mistress, so's we can get a moov on with that. I have some things in store afterword.))

An unusually disturbing laugh struck the muted air.

"My, but you are foreward, sir..." Ahrim snickered, a bemused grin curling his thin lips.
"I'm afraid my business with the Machinai is a closed issue, but you do raise a legitimate point."
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."
With the slightest movement of one of his pale fingers, the translucent likeness pivoted to better suit Joshua's view.
"We are presented now with a unique problem. If the Machinai were free-roaming as it usually is, the matter would be simple, convincing it to join our ranks... But alas, now...
Another gesture and Kokuza's form joined the Machinai, then merged.
"We cannot have one without the other."
The spellcaster shut his hand, and as a candleflame the images were snuffed out.
"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."