Fantasy Ascent into Madness

[Absurdisan]

POST TEMPLATE

Xhin Dionis​

Loyeqris Station - Star-Struck (and possibly suffering from magic deprivation)
Xhin had to stop herself from collapsing when Vaila touched her antlers. She was frozen with the widest eyes and widest grin she had bore for ages, afraid to move lest this wonderful dream end. She had been a huge fan of the bard's, both for her beautiful music but also because she represented almost everything that Xhin thought she wasn't herself - she was effortlessly beautiful, and men adored her and bent to her whims. She was strong and passionate, and took no nonsense. No one mistook her for a child, or questioned her skills. She was, in short, one of Xhin's idols.

When Vaila complimented her antlers, her face flushed as deep a red as it could manage. "Thankyousomuch!" she blurted out, looking at the ground again. "I like your hair," she muttered, instantly chastising herself for saying something so ridiculous, so obvious - of course her hair was amazing, everyone in the twelve levels knew that. Oh gods what a fool she was being. Perhaps the magic deprivation was getting to her, making her irrational. Possibly. Perhaps. Surely not.

While her inner monologue raged on, she missed the others continuing on, and a few of the other companions approaching Vaila and introducing themselves. Vaila herself took it upon herself to ask for everyone to walk on, as they were late - classic Vaila, taking charge and making things happen, gods she was amazing - and Xhin's legs shuffled her forward with the bard. When Vaila spoke to her, Xhin's breath caught in her throat and she had to take a few moments to compose herself and remember how to speak. She looked up to reply, and-

Landren was kissing her hand. Landren. The funny-hat wizard. Was kissing Vaila's lovely, perfect hand.

WOE. CONFUSION. ANGER. She had missed her chance to talk to Vaila Sonata, after Vaila herself had started a conversation with her. She had been so rude, so brazenly insulting. Oh gods, come and claim me, she thought. Stupid stupid stupid. Consumed by her grief - some would say, excessively so, stop being such a child you silly faun girl and get where some magic is pronto to sort yourself out - Xhin followed sullenly alongside Vaila and Landren, her shoulders slumped and her eyes staring at the floor, feeling very small indeed.

Interactions
Lexielai @LunarShines

 

[Dalamus Ulom]

Chain Breaker. Those words seemed to have shaken Dalamus, and his eyes would become clearer. It would seem that he had gained some measure of balance in what was left of his mind. "Y-yes. I believe so, anyway. Everything has been so confusing and strange for the last century. The voices are ever so loud, too. . ." Dalamus rambled a little at the deep human's question, before nodding at Kytrek's command. "A-alright, I will follow. Usstan skrel ussta ap'za wund dosst rahi, abbil. I place my fate into your hands, my friend," the Drow stated, using a common phrase of trust among his people, before following after the man. At Kytrek's behest, Dalamus would willingly place the skull into the bag, cutting off the accusatory whispers that seemed to pour from it that only he could hear. Silence.

"I don't remember soul leeches being a creature on any level. I cannot trust my mind anymore, though. Perhaps they always were a thing. But I just can't remember. . ." Dalamus would mutter to himself, trying his hardest to remember anything of the sort. "There are leeches in Level 7, but those are simply normal leeches. Magic eating leeches? Creatures of dwarf origin?," He continued to mutter to himself, before pulling a piece of charcoal and a grubby journal out from the bag, scrawling something down in both drow and dwarvish.

The drow would shoot a quick glance back at the dragonborn. He knew he'd seen a few before, but time had worn away the memory. But, that tends to happen when you've lived for over four centuries. Glancing back again, he saw a man just a tad shorter than himself separate from the pack that were still clumped in and around the elevator. Dalamus would slow his stride a little, in order for the man to catch up. "Are you an uptekker as well?" He asked rather bluntly, charcoal and journal still in hand. Dalamus was not the best at introductions. Unless his mind fogged again. He prayed to Tzeentch that his mind would stay clear for as long as possible.

He hated the voices that always seemed to come when it became fogged.

Devious Dilbert Lyro

 

[TripTripleTimes]

With James and Landron exiting the elevator, Faelen follows them out soon after. Perhaps the stag and its master need a bit of space before joining them. Again, the poor thing.

Out of the metal box, the half-orc stretches their limbs and breathes deepily in the musky air of the city air that ze can smell from the city's boarder. The smell is nostalgic; the city may not be their hometown but it has been a while since Faelen took a foot on the fourth level. Ze makes a note to themself to write letters to their family before they adventure off again. Mother Darora would have their ear for sending a letter than stopping by, but that would be an amusing reunion to return to.

"Most of us are ready," Faelen announces to the group. "The stag may need a bit of -" Ze looks back at the duo still in the elevator. "- coaxing after being wrestled around." The half-orc raises both eyebrows and a grin at the tiny Dragonborn. As much as been body slamed by a stage was as much fun as it sounds, watching the tiny man on the giant moose (stag) on the floor was highly amusing.

From the Dragonborn, their eyes trails up to the other new face in the group. Faelen's brows narrow and then widens in realization. A Drow! Not just some any old Drow either; it is Dalamus Slu-something something. Faelen heard muffled whispers of the man, like how his mind is mad and dark secrets brews from his hands. Rumors of course, much like how the professor is mad with homeworks and 10 pages essays and tons of group projects (though the half-orc can't imagen any of those things as life draining) and how the beautiful Vaila Sonata have charmed eight dragons at once and strangled a Duke of the eighth level with just a lute string.

"As much Iwould love to sit down and chat, I agree that we should head straight towards our client.," Ze says. "We can chat along the way."

 

[Lexielai]

VAILA SONATA
Human* Bard
​

Vaila was about to wait for the little faun to collect her thoughts when her attention was violently ripped away, and by a...dragonborn, nonetheless. A short dragonborn. Very short.

With the elegance of a drunkard, the black scaled being walked his way towards the beautiful performer. "Oi, You gangling Autumn branch... Just because..." He paused for a second taking a couple deep breaths, subconsciously tugging at the faintest glints of magic that has yet to dissipate in the under belly of the word. "Just because you're taller, doesn't mean YOU'RE the leader." He finished his sentence by poking Vaila in the center of her corset. Without much more to say he turned his back to the woman and proceeded to follow the path behind Kytrek.

As he walked away, stomping off with an air of utter arrogance around him, she smirked slightly to the faun. That was...interesting...for lack of a better word. Vaila had encountered plenty of crazed fans and mad adventurers in her time in the Depths, but the tiny, big-headed dragonborn was a tad more memorable than the rest.

Today was already proving to be an educational experience. First her encounter with a faun, and now this! She’d never encountered a dragonborn up close before either. They were rare to find in civilized society. And a chromatic nonetheless! She recalled that most of the stories spoke ill of the chromatics; cautioners had warned her that the black dragons and their ilk were the cruelest of the lot.

Vaila tried not to judge people based merely on their appearance and word of mouth. It was a horrible experience to be labeled lesser just because of the point of your ears. Yet, she thought, perhaps staying away from the black dragonborn would be for the best. He seemed horribly rude. Admittedly his diminutive stature greatly amused her when compared to his almost larger-than-life megalomania. Many she’d write a song about him. Ha! That would be a hit.

She then mentally shook herself out of her thoughts, returning to the present where she still awaited the little faun’s answers. Except she wasn’t there anymore.

He immediately took off his hat, spat in his hand, slicked his hair back (the best he could, it failed mostly) and approached the woman. "Why hello there darling, the names Landren Ozz, you may have heard of me, I DO go by many names; The Great Wizard, Legendary Hero, Lady Killer, but you can just call me Ozz." He introduces himself, taking her hand and kissing it, he then smiles, showing the large gap between his two front teeth.

Instead it was a gangly, white-blonde elf with large bags under his eyes looking up at her in a bow, clasping her hand in his long, bony fingers covered by a black leather glove, and posed in utter mockery of the mien of a legitimate noble. His wizard hat dipped weakly inside his grasp.

“...” Vaila hid her confusion behind a stone face. The same one she defaulted to whenever paparazzi’s tried to ambush her with cameras. “...Hello, Mister Ozz…” she said, hesitant in mind but a bit too pleasant in voice and expression; her training came naturally to her, which was wonderful sometimes. This was probably not one of those times.

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance...though, beg my pardon, I was just in a conversation with this young lady here,” Vaila said, starting to reach for any way to wiggle out of this she could. To her delight she caught a glance at the faun, too distracted to notice Xhin’s slumped posture, and hurriedly gestured towards the smaller girl. “Yes, this one. Would you please introduce yourself to Mister Ozz, dear?”

Her eyes betrayed no hint of nervousness or discomfort. And, to be frank, she wasn’t really feeling threatened by the poor sap who approached her. But, well, that didn't mean she wasn't accorded the right to internally scream.

Tags: Jeda Teq @LunarShines Absurdisan

*Vaila may be a half-elf, but she takes great pains to hide her elven ancestry as much as possible. Unless you're Kytrek or you've got a natural 20 perception, you're probably too taken in by her sultriness to suspect she's anything but human.

 

[C.DEX]

The infernal human pulled away from the group, choosing instead to walk ahead of them. Being amongst their company in the elevator was company enough. That, and he wanted to disassociate with the disastrous lot as soon as humanely possible. It wasn't really realistic, of course, as Cyell looked just as out of place as the rest of them. Runic tattoos covered his shoulders, arms, and even face; bone ivory studs came from his nose and ears; the only thing resembling normality for an adventurer was the dull, cave-like purple garb he wore on his chest. He stood only twenty centimeters taller than the dwarves of the area, though he took up much less space, with a lither figure. That wasn't to say that dwarves were the only thing that the infernal mage had to combat; deep humans, much like Kytrek, moved amongst the walkways. Then, the group slowly began to be amongst company.


That was a good sign; it had meant that they were getting closer and closer to Otres Upwards Relations. Species of every creed took up every tenth person that walked amongst the paved ways. There were elves, humans of more than deep human pale complexion, fae and faun, but... No tieflings. It was a run-of-the-mill observation. Even in groups chock full of those from the Upper Levels, tieflings and infernals were more than rare. They were a xenophobic people, partially due to their own ideals and partially due to others'. That wasn't to say that they weren't welcome amongst the Guild; after all, the Guild was generally accepting of anything and anyone that was competent and would take up missions under their banner. The mage briefly recalled an Uptrekker he had met in his early apprenticeship that used a Wajet as a mount. They were serpent-like creatures with multiple heads and calloused feet, completely wild and untameable to most. He was a Beast-Caravaner, a Transporter that tamed the fearsome beasts above in order to haul large loads of valuable magical gems. And he was absolutely insane. If they could justify that fellow as a guild member, they could justify tieflings.


His thoughts fell away from his previous encounters with the Guild, instead landing on where he was, looking back to the members of the group that were either attempting to rip Vaila or Kytrek's attention away at any given time. He sighed. The latter was a familiar sight; there was something about the old man that either drew the ire or awe of everyone around him. It was a notion which the apprentice didn't understand. He was a man, nose in his books, that talked too loudly and criticized quite a bit. Though, the latter attribute he was guilty of, himself. A new member of the team had cropped up, as well. A ... blue elf. Wielding a skull.


Well that was just fantastic.


@ Anyone, open to interaction

 

[Some1]

Shigi sat on the doorstep of Otres Upward Relations, his back against the wall. He took a sip from a small cup of tea he had bought from a nearby restaurant using his meager pocket change. It was cold and did not taste as good as the tea he brews himself, but it still quieted his stomach. Shigi had been waiting on these steps for over an hour now, waiting for some other uptrekkers to arrive. The time the meeting was supposed to start had passed. He thought that at least one other person interested in the mission would arrive in that time, but no one has gone through that door yet. So Shigi sat on the doorstep and watched the busy street, taking a sip of his tea every now and then.

It had been an uneventful journey, as far as he knew. It was, however, his first time on the elevators. He had always walked everywhere, but this time around he had to use the elevators if he wanted to make it to the meeting on time, especially since it had taken him so long to get down here. It was not a pleasant experience, and it looked like it was unnecessary as well. But Shigi had told himself that he would wait at least three hours before he gave up on them, so he sat and waited.

 

[Jeda Teq]

"Just take a deep breath and count to ten, if you can manage that," he shouted back. "It'll be at least two hours before they start eating what's left of your brain, so you'll be fine so long as we don't keep wasting time here."

Kniges' eyes grew wide with shock and panic. He gripped his head tightly and opened his mouth. The noise that came from the burly reptile was so high pitched, so shrill, so deafening and ear splitting that Carl flew into a lamppost.

After taking a deep breath and collecting himself Kniges drew his dagger and axe from his belt. "If anyone slows me down from getting away from these leeches I'll give them a new mouth to eat from." He murmured to himself as he stormed pass Kytrek. It wasn't until the nervous creature came to a fork in the road that he noticed he had a problem. The scribbles on the signs made no sense to him. He knew the Dwarven and Evlish letters, but he was never taught how to arrange them into words with meaning. He did drive his caretaker insane before she could teach him such things.

 

[Lyro]

Prof. Kytrek Rhodius
Mentioned: Dalamus Ulom Jeda Teq Some1 ​

"We all are," Kytrek replied in a dry tone to the elf who was following him, "thanks to the Guild's increasingly low standards." He was right outside the building now and took a moment to spare it a cursory examination. It was an unassuming thing, compared to the massive structures around it. Of recent build, it lacked traditional dwarven architectural elements, and seemed instead to be an inspired but ultimately unsuccessful attempt at fusing together the races' various preferences. In more prosaic terms... "What an ugly little thing." With a snort, Kytrek followed the miniature dragon who had already rushed inside.

As he climbed the steps, he noticed the elf waiting on the steps. Putting two and two together, he nudged him with his foot. "Hey pal, party's starting. Nice of you to wait, though." Not waiting for a response, Kytrek continued walking and entered the offices of Otres Upwards Relations.

The interior was little better on the eyes. The uptrekkers emerged into a cramped, dimly lit room with drab walls and no adornments, one which smelt fainly of perspiration and alcohol. A small bronze logo of the company was set above a tiny, barren, wooden desk, behind which lay a deserted chair. A rickety bench in a corner of the room was the only other furniture on display. On it lay a very concerned-looking male dwarf, currently occupying himself by wringing his hands nervously. His appearance, in keeping with the overall tone of the place, was plain and dishevelled. His unkempt beard seemed to have various crumbs stuck in it, while his clothes were adorned by a plethora of multi-colored stains of dubious origins. His eyes were sunken, and a faint red tinge to his nose combined with the whiff of ale exhaled with every breath he took indicated he had been drinking.

As the professor and the rest entered, he looked up and jumped to his feet unsteadily. "F-finally!" he stuttered excitedly as his eyes flitted to and fro, taking in every visitor. Far from the confident, even occasionally arrogant and haughty attitude of most adult dwarves, the dwarf's entire demeanor was subservient and hesitant. "You're late. O-oh so late. But you're here now. Good, good." He extended his hand towards the group, then seemed to hesitate. "Too many of you. Hadn't expected that much," he muttered to himself as he let his hand drop and walked somewhat shakenly over to one of three doors in the room. Taking out his key, he unlocked the door and beckoned the others towards it. "Don't make her wait any longer. Dol Vzik, by the way!" he added, almost as an afterthought, extending and immediately retracting his hand once more. "Head... head of Otres Upper Relations. Upwards. Upwards Relations." He flashed an uncertain smile at everyone. "I'll be your liaison."

Kytrek listened in silence throughout the dwarf's monolog. It wasn't often you encountered someone like him this deep. Unsure of what to think, he shrugged his shoulders and followed the dwarf's instructions. "Pleasure, I'm sure," he muttered as he walked past him and emerged into a larger, and yet somehow even starker room. Approximately ten uncomfortable-looking chairs were arranged in a semi-circle around a small, octagonal table set against the wall. On the table rested a speaker box, under which a half-open folder had been placed. A small light underneath the speaker was currently glowing red. Looking suspiciously at the speaker box, Kytrek walked past the chairs towards the opposing wall. With a small sigh of relief, he dropped his bag to the floor, and then relaxed against the wall, still looking at the box.

This, he had decided, was Unusual.

 

[TripTripleTimes]

Faelen follows the group through the street, up the doorstep, and into the impressive looking building only to find zeself a bit disappointed by the interior of the host building. Only a small huff of air indicates the half-orc’s disappointment before ze spots the lone dwarf sitting on a bench and walks towards him with the party. It seems like that in today’s buildings the designs are only surface deep and the interior kept simple and practical. Shame really, but understandable since ancient temples and modern office buildings are not the same.

The smell of the building nearly causes Faelen to sneeze. Strange, the place doesn't smells like some ordinary offices. Once the group nears the male Dwarf, Faelen apologies for the party’s tardiness and grins wolfishly when he mentioned it twice. The greeting with the Dwarf, Dol Vzik, rushes by and before Faelen knows it, they are in the room with chairs not enough for everyone, and the wall and speaker, but there is no person to greet them with a disapproving glare (someone Faelen has thought of as their client.)

“Is this a call interview?” Faelen wonders out loud and heads over to the table with the speaker. Seeing that there is a folder open on the table, ze takes it to read what is in it. There is no point in waiting and wasting more time. “A bit strange considering the job they posted.”

As the half-orc tears open the folder and proceeds to dig their massive hand into the open file, ze asks, “What does the Uppers Relations do again? They do paperworks and social works right?” Their eyebrows arch in confusion hoping for an answer.

((Open to all.))

 

[Lyro]

Prof. Kytrek Rhodius
Mentioned: TripTripleTimes ​

As the half-orc ripped open the folder, the nearby nervous dwarf's eyes widened and he rushed into the room. "No, no, no, put that down immediately!" he shrieked at the towering giant, jumping up and down in front of them in an attempt to grab the folder. "That's my job, you're doing my job!"

"Easy, Dol," said a voice coming from the speaker. The dwarf immediately swivelled to look at a hitherto unnoticed security camera in a corner of the room and bowed deeply, almost comically, his beard nearly touching the ground as he did so in complete silence. "It does not matter," the voice continued. It was a woman's voice, soft and clear despite the speaker's sound artifacts. Kytrek furrowed his brow as he listened to it. He had expected their employer to be a dwarf, but this woman sounded like no dwarf he had ever met. "Our companion here is merely eager to get to business, which I can appreciate. You may leave us, Dol."

With another bow and a look of enmity directed at Faelen, the dwarf walked out of the room, careful not to bump into anyone. Reaching the front door of the building, he looked outside from side-to-side and, failing to see anybody else, closed the door and locked it shut. Looking at the uptrekkers still waiting in the hallway, he gestured with his hands to indicate the small room where Kytrek and Faelen were, then exited the room through one of the other doors, taking care to close it behind him.

"You will have to excuse Doctor Vzik." A human voice? Maybe. Deep humans often worked in collaboration with the dwarves. But this did not sound like a deep human either. "His mind has not been the same since testing began. Running this facade of an office is all he is good for these days. And as for you, orc, please indulge me and allow me to expose the folder's contents when dramatically convenient. They will not make much sense to you without appropriate contextualization."

 

[TripTripleTimes]

Faelen, with their giant grubby hands on the file, looks down at the franticly jumping Dwarf and freezes. Whoops. Seeing that there is a speaker in the room where Faelen had expected to see a single, head-of-the-office person the orc have simply brushed off the poor Dwarf to be a part of this meeting. Sure, Dol Vzik's name was on the job posting but look at the guy... Okay, Faelen admits that ze was being rude and judged the Dwarf unfairly.

Fortunately for Faelen, the voice from the speaker saves the half-orc the awkwardness. Ze listens, relieved, and watches Dol Vzik leave the room. Their eyebrow shot up towards their hairline when the voice tells them that the Dwarf is not the same as he used to be and their office façade confirmed. With their eyebrow still raised, Faelen look from the folders to the speaker and then lowers the file back on top of the speaker. Ze hear the voice correctly, right? She said that she will open it. From the other end of the speaker?

"Are you in the building somewhere?" Ze asks and looks at the direction where Dol Vzik bowed deeply. "What is up with this set up?"

The half-orc has yet to put their bag down yet. Perhaps ze can sit beside some people, or maybe stay standing, since, well, there isn't a lot of seat for everyone and ze is a giant compare to everyone.

 

[Totorokoro]

MAPLE​

Unknown to the group, they were being followed by a faun. A faun who developed a new liking to experiment with chemicals and essence that shouldn't be mixed. Why would she do that, you ask? The young faun was trying to create a new smoke bomb that would help for a quick getaway. Sure enough, she ended up with a result that guaranteed easy getaway. But it wasn't what she hoped for.

As a result of her unwise actions, she ended up turning herself intangible to the world. Maple trudged behind the group, unable to talk or interact. The effects wouldn't last very long, luckily. Well, at least if I was just invisible, I could pull pranks. But no, I had to turn myself into a ghost. She huffed, following them into the office. She was looking forward to this mission and hoped nothing would go wrong. Unfortunately her first step was less than successful. Fortunately, it wasn't drastic.

Stats

Open for Interaction? Yes
Tagging: -

 

[Absurdisan]

Xhin Dionis​

Otres Upwards Relations Office - Intrigued
With a sullen nod, Xhin greeted Landren with a low, "Hello." She had been foisted off to this elf, she could tell that much, Vaila not wishing to talk to either of them any more. No real surprise, she thought, but it still set an anger within her that festered uneasily. Was she angry at Vaila? Landren? At herself? She would have tried to start a conversation with Landren, if only to distract her from her own feelings, but as she thought these things over, she realised she had developed a headache - too much excitement on the lower levels, she reckoned. It had happened to her before, and Xhin tried her best to calm down and ignore it.

She followed the group to the strange, awkward building that stood as the Otres Upwards Relations office building - a strange hodgepodge of architecture that looked like it didn't belong in any city on any level. Walking inside, she too noticed the fretful dwarf, all aflutter and smelling of alcohol. His erratic behaviour lightened her mood a little, as it was funny to see a dwarf acting so flustered. She followed into the room as Dol Vzik beckoned them in, and seeing some chairs in the sparsely decorated room, Xhin leapt at the chance to rest. Taking a seat, she leaned back and took a few deep breaths, closing her eyes to dull the throbbing behind her eyes.

She didn't notice the alteraction between Dol and Faelen, so focused on relieving her headache was she, until the speaker in the center of the desk spoke up. Xhin snapped-to, caught unawares by the soft female voice. Whoever it was on the other end sounded very composed and in control, and Xhin couldn't help but wonder who this myterious figure was. She didn't sound like a dwarf, and certainly not like any faun she'd ever heard. Human, maybe? She looked at Kytrek for any indication of familiarity or recognition, but saw that he was as in the dark as she was.

This was definitely odd. Odd intrigued Xhin, and so she sat up in her chair - slightly annoyed that her legs swung freely beneath her without touching the ground - and listened intently, while scanning the room to see if anyone else looked like they knew the speaker.

Interactions
@LunarShines Lexielai Lyro

 

[Dalamus Ulom]

Dalamus had followed along quietly, his only means of starting a conversation snatched away by that dreadful deep human. Damn that deep human! Now how will I start small talk with these people? I mean, it's not like I can talk about the weather! There isn't any down this deep! Ugh, what am I supposed to do! Dalamus would mentally ramble to himself, completely ignoring his old compatriot, the building, and the crazy drunk dwarf inside said building. Upon entering the room, the first thing Dalamus would do was to plop down in the nearest seat to the end, with a quiet exclamation of, "My seat," Almost like a child, as if he were proclaiming that one seat his soverign nation with those two simple words. However, that nation of one would quickly fall into anarchy as Dalamus would litterally jump at the sound of a woman's voice coming from the speaker next to him. "A l'phraktos!" he shouted, before turning to the speaker. "Don't DO that! It's very rude to scare people! At least, I think it is. . ." Dalamus began to mutter to himself again, debating with himself the morality of scaring people, before slamming his hands into the table, the sound echoing through the room. "Do I know you? I feel like I know you. Gertrude?" The drow inquired of the speaker, oblivions to the security camera in the corner. "You see, Gertrude, I have a very particullar set of skills. Namely, throwing magical fire at things until they turn into ash. But when it comes to throwing magical fire at things until they turn to ash, I am the best. Well, I was. Maybe. That doesn't matter. What does matter is that I want to know why! Why the surface?" With that, the utter madman would cross his arms with a look of victory on his face and a puffed out chest.

Lyro TripTripleTimes . Absurdisan

 

[Lyro]

Prof. Kytrek Rhodius
Mentioned: Totorokoro @LunarShines Dalamus Ulom ​

"Before we continue," replied the voice, pausing briefly as if to make sure everyone could properly hear her, "you understand, of course, that everything related to this mission is to be strictly confidential. I need not remind you of the exact terms you read and agreed to in the non-disclosure agreements you all signed."

"Ha," barked Kytrek mirthlessly, arms still crossed. "Best joke I've heard all day, and that's counting the wannabe wizard's prattle. Get on with it." Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a figure shimmering into existence. Or was it simply a trick of his eyes? Either way, he couldn't help frowning at the thought of another faun in their midst. This just kept getting better and better by the second.

"Allow me to be blunt, then," the voice continued impassively. "There is no such thing as Otres Upwards Relations. There is a company registered to that name, yes. That company has its worldwide headquarters here, certainly. But it has no meaning. It is a useful proxy we use whenever we require confidentiality. You will excuse me if I do not divulge our identity. It is largely irrelevant to your mission in any case. Call me Gertrude, if you wish."

There was a brief pause as the rustling of papers was heard on the other end of the line, and the voice resumed. "Some of you may have kept up with the recent scientific literature. Tell me - have any of you heard of the concept of 'space'?"

Kytrek looked up at the mention of the last word but said nothing, choosing instead to look directly at the camera on the ceiling.

 

[C.DEX]

Cyell had slunken into the room without as much as a word to the others, though the drunken dwarf that had pushed by him caught his eye. He propped his head up in his hand as he sunk into the cold, uncomfortable chair. One of many. He sat next to Kytrek, sparingly glancing upwards and around him as if trying to take in the scenery. Or, the lack of it. Being down in the lower levels was dreadful in itself, and now they were confined to what had amounted to a hollow metal box. At the same time, for whatever reason, he felt exposed. Bits of paranoia crept in, but he knew well not to trust his senses in the lower levels. After all, it could have just been the magical withdrawal.

He thought on his status with the Guild, wondering quite if he should have spoken at all. Being the youngest in the room, the least accomplished, and the lowest ranked ... was a problem. One that he had been warned on bringing up. The apprentice, however, was an apprentice, and not a particularly tactful one at that. Luckily for them, he didn't care about gossip, much less the contemptuous infamy that came with betraying a secret.

"If this is the worldwide headquarters of a company, I'm a gnome. Try paint and air freshener if you want better results." He said. His eyes fell right to the professor, who had taken on a serious air. Suddenly, panic settled in.

Shit. Did he miss something in one of his lectures?

"What are they talking about?" He asked coyly, to Kytrek.

 

[Absurdisan]

Xhin Dionis​

Otres Upwards Relations Office - Intrigued
Space? What was this talk of space? Xhin assumed that the voice on the speaker meant more than just the empty distance between objects, especially since she mentioned "scientific literature". No, this was Space, with a capital S. Something very important indeed. Xhin looked to the professor - as one of the most educated people here, she wanted to see if he would say anything - but he was instead looking into a camera in the corner of the room which she hadn't noticed before in her rush to sit down and ease her pounding head.

The mysterious speaker's absence coupled with the insistence on discretion and the revelation that Otres Upwards Relations was just a front - and the mention of testing on Dol Vzik, oh yes, she hadn't missed that - set off warning signals in Xhin's mind. She had dealt with some cloak-and-dagger stuff in the conflicts of the upper levels, but this was a level of secrecy beyond that. This "Gertrude", whoever she was, definitely didn't want to be found.

Looking around, in infernal Cyell seemed ill-at-ease too. Xhin's foot started bouncing below her chair, and she wondered just what she was getting in to. Looking back at the speaker on the table, she cleared her throat. "No," she said, shooting a glance at the camera. "What is this 'space', and what has it got to do with us finding the surface?"

Interactions
Lyro C.DEX

 

[Dalamus Ulom]

Dalamus was silent for a few moments, before a near silent laugh would come from him, which would grow louder and more hysterical, before reaching a booming crescendo. The, he stopped as suddenly as he started. "Space? Oh, I know of it. I know it quite. . . intimately." The way he said the word made it seem perverted and disgusting, dirty and degenerate to the ear. If one were to take a closer look at him now, it would seem as though Dalamus had changed. He had become harder. Leaner. Darker. Crueler. Like a switch had been flipped inside of him, morphing the kindly, almost entertaining manic from before into the twisted sadism and paranoia of the demented. So different he was now that it seemed like he had taken on a wholly separate consciousness, and yet they were one in the same. Two sides of the same coin, one could say.

After a moment, his head would whip around to look directly at the little faun, a cruel smile playing across his lips as he began to speak. "Why, it's really quite simple, my dear," He began to explain, with each word leaning forward just a little more, closer to Xhin, like a predator stalking it's prey. "Space is what's believed by many to be what's ABOVE the surface, the thing that contains the ABORIGINAL source magic. The Sun. It really is quite an interesting idea. Of course, most scholars believe it to be poppycock. Hogwash. Balderdash. Palaver. But nobody knows, as it's all simply speculation. But the math seems to support it," By this point, Dalamus would be almost fully on the table, inching himself closer. Closer. Closer to the faun, with a twisted malevolence in his eyes, as if he could see a hundred thousand different ways in which to bring true agony to that tiny body of hers.

And then, he'd stop. Releasing a deep huff, Dalamus would quite easily pull himself off the table and into his little sovereign seat with a single movement. "At least, it's what I've been told. Not really my forte. I research general magical application in combat and war. I wrote a book. It rotted away before I could publish it, though." And with that, he was back to mania, and would act as though the little performance he just put on didn't even matter, or was at the very least of no concern. "Gertrude! I asked you a question, but you ignored me! Why the surface? Why space? Are you trying to be a Mananaut or something? Mana Sailor? You wanna see the sun? Obtain immortality? I actually wrote a thesis on that! I believe that the huge amount of mana available on the surface could prolong one's life for thousands of years! Or make you pop like a balloon. OR BOTH! Isn't this simply exciting!" He would say, looking around at everyone, an innocent, almost goofy grin spread across his face.

Absurdisan Lyro C.DEX

 

[Lexielai]

Vaila Sonata​

Vaila slid into the room after the others without fanfare, partly grateful for not being bombarded with eager fans as she walked in for once. She pulled out one of the wooden chairs for herself, and another to rest her feet on as she leaned back, making herself comfortable with her hands pulled behind her head.

Her eyes wandered the room, scanning the faces of the adventurers that joined them. People like Kytrek, who started looking a tad bit interested at the mention of “space,” or the drow who started rambling on and on. A few seconds of waiting turned into over a minute. Then two minutes.

“Just get to the point, girl,” she finally interjected, eyes still fixated to the ceiling. Her relaxed pose, sprawled across two chairs, didn’t seem interested in the slightest. “Yeah I’ve heard of space too. Some of the wizards in the Guild just love to ramble on and on about it. That, and how impressive they are.”

This was taking too long. “Let's skip all that, yeah?” she said, irritated. "What's the job?"


Tags: C.DEX Devious Dilbert Absurdisan EMP TripTripleTimes @LunarShines Jeda Teq Lyro Dalamus Ulom Totorokoro

 

[Absurdisan]

POST TEMPLATE

Xhin Dionis​

Otres Upwards Relations Office - Uneasy
As the dark elf started crawling his way towards her, all the time spewing insane ramblings about space, Xhin shrank into the chair, her hand inching its way towards her sword beneath the table. He seemed like an elf possessed, intent on doing something foul to her. What kind of people were coming on this expedition? Her hand wrapped slowly around the hilt of her sword, the feeling calming amidst this onslaught of madness.

But as soon as it had started, the elf withdrew. He acted as if nothing untoward had happened at all. Xhin blinked, her hand still holding her blade in its sheath at her hip. Whoever this drow was, he was as mad as a dragon in heat, and Xhin took no comfort knowing that he would be accompanying her to the surface even if he was apparently a knowledgable fellow. Noticing movement, she saw Vaila speak up from her reclined position, ever the image of casual-cool.

The danger apparently subdued, Xhin let her hand fall to her side once more, quickly looking between the drow, Vaila, and the camera. This situation was becoming more and more uneasy the longer she stayed here, and as her fingers started pulling nervously at the bottom of her tunic she wondered if she wanted in on this trek at all, no matter how thrilling the prospect. She could also have sworn she just saw a person-shaped shimmer in the corner of her eye, but dismissed the notion as part of her headache.

Leaning forward in her chair and propping herself up on the table, she attempted to mirror Vaila's confidence. "Yes, what is the job, speaker-lady!"

Interactions
Dalamus Ulom Lexielai

 

[C.DEX]

"Sit down, mainty-sokla. You're obstructing the view and making everyone uncomfortable." Cyell said, choosing not to hold his tongue at the ludicrous display of ... was it intimidation? Dementia? - that Dalamus had displayed. Whether his words rang true or not didn't matter. In fact, the blood mage often had trouble himself telling whether the ramblings of Kytrek's associates had been actual maths or just hogwash from too much magic gone by. This seemed to be one of those moments; listening to a madman drone on about little pieces of factual evidence mixed in with magic-addled conjecture. "The voice in the box obviously wants to have her own dramaticism. You should let her, because you do an awful job of it."

Just like that, the tension in the room seemed to ebb away. It was a relief in itself, as the biting tones of Vaila and Cyell grazed the hostility in the room like a knife.

"If you can do a better job of explaining it, Gertrude, without subjecting anyone to hot drow breath, then feel free. I'm listening, at least." he said, showing a sliver of educational attention. In reality, he was very interested, but the voice on the other end of the speaker seemed to be at least a bit more coherent than the one coming from the ashen-skinned, skull-beholding drow.

Dalamus Ulom Lyro

 

[TripTripleTimes]

Of course, there is no such thing as an Otres Upwards Relations. Faelen muses and thinks rather that their client of theirs is a secret scientific organization that may or may not be experimenting on live subjects and strange materials. Who knows, but the sterile smell that one would expect in a hospital and in dentist was what really threw this half-orc off about this place in the first place.

Moving on.That Drow person is… Faelen’s lips tighten, causing their tusks to poke out a little more from their mouth. At least he has passion? Their eyes shift to a side for a moment before wondering if ze should take a seat. Ze ends up just standing. It’s easier that way anyways.

On the subject of Space, Faelen only heard of stories and passing debates about Space. It’s an interesting story to listen but other than that, Space is merely a tale for the half-orc as how Yahweh is just a tale for others. However, Faelen thinks that ze is pretty open to believe in science. After all, science was first created out from religion and ze likes to think that science and religion can co-exist.

“Oh.” Faelen breathes out. “That is why we are going to the Surface. To the outermost crust of our home.” Their eyes stare down at the speaker box. Ze was curious about their job before coming to the fourth level, way before the elevator ride, and this would be a good time for the client’s reason to send them to the Surface. Ze wants to tell the woman behind the speaker to stop beating around the bush and just give them the detail of their mission, but ze bites their tongue and is ready to listen to a long exposition and then the detail of their mission. This is going to be a long hour. Reluctantly, Faelen says, "I am listening too."

 

[Lyro]

Prof. Kytrek Rhodius
Mentioned: Dalamus Ulom ​

Kytrek responded only with a shushing motion when Cyell attempted to get some clarifications from him, pointing meaningfully towards the speaker box.

"It is much as the wizard has said," resumed Gertrude after the others had quieted down. "More and more scientists believe there is essentially nothing above us, and that the Sun is just another object floating in that void. Something to do with periodic fluctuations in background magic levels. But this is tangentially relevant to your mission at best." More rustling of papers on the other end, before Gertrude continued with an added intensity to your voice. "Your mission is to reach the Surface, report on it, and come back down. Simple as that. Our motives, much like our identity, are irrelevant; just do the job and don't ask too many questions."

There was a pause and a slight creak, like the sound of somebody relaxing in a swivel chair. When "Gertrude" spoke again, her voice had recovered its earlier, more serene quality. "You will have considerable means at your disposal, naturally. Would someone with a preferably delicate touch kindly open the folder now? You will find several papers within. Take out the large, blue, folded one, unfold it and display it to everyone."

 

[Jeda Teq]

Once inside the building Kniges laid eyes on the dwarf. His grip on his weapons tightened as the dwarf hesitated over his actions. Kniges took a step forward, preparing to end the dwarf's uselessness, until he proved useful by opening a door to where they are to go. "Move" Kniges said sternly, pushing the dwarf out of his way so that he would be the first into the room.

Seeing nothing but a room filled with 'empty' chairs, Kniges grew more agitated. He began tapping his foot impatiently until he heard the voice creep out the box. The situation now reminded him of the lectures and scoldings he had received from the guild. Most of the big hats and long beards didn't like to be around Kniges too much. Maybe it was because of his bad habits of showing them up. So, he thought the same of the mysterious woman behind the box. She had less courage than the feeble dwarf who let them in.

The party and the box talked about space and sun. By Sun they clearly meant the great upper dragon that scorched the surface and forced all life underground.

"Now that we know what you want, why are we still here? Let's Go, these soul leeches are are starting to really nag at me!" Kniges walked closer to the table so he could hear the voice more clearly. In route a fauna suddenly appeared in front of him. Kniges frowned and sucked his teeth, "Great, You're trying to steal my trick? I'll show you how it's done!" He Spread his wings to attempt to cast, but nothing happened. His eyes became dilated and his heavy body fell forward towards the new Fauna. With the lack of mana Kniges depleted, again, what small traces had clung to him.

Totorokoro Lyro

 

[Totorokoro]

MAPLE​

Space. Maple had heard that term before when she had gone on a little mission to a mage's quarters before. They seemed to be torn about that word. Few scoffed, calling it a myth while a couple stood firm on it's existence. Whatever this... Space was, she could tell it must've been a big matter (horrible pun intended). Unfortunately she didn't understand how it would be significant to her and never learned about it. "Space is what's believed by many to be what's ABOVE the surface, the thing that contains the ABORIGINAL source magic. The Sun." The Drow who called himself Dalamus said. Maple stroked her chin and nodded like she'd seen academicians do. They seemed to do that when they thought something was smart. It did sound like a story, but she liked the idea of it.

Maple stared in concentration, trying to grasp the information silently. All of a sudden, she heard a voice behind her and jumped, "Great, You're trying to steal my trick?" She turned around in confusion and blinked at Kinges, who seemed angry for some reason. "I'll show you how it's done!"
"What?!? No. Wai-" She held up one hand to defend herself in reflex while the other reached for her dagger.

Her accuser suddenly went limp, falling towards her. "!!!" Maple held out her arms and caught him, utterly confused as to what happened. "Oof you're really heavy" She said as she sank to the floor.

Stats

Open for Interaction? Yes
Tagging: Jeda Teq