Fantasy Dark Core -Dystopian- Roleplay [OPEN]

[FireMaiden]

Romoana Helix


"A lift? To the lower part of the city?" She said, sounding like a question, but she was actually confirming to herself what he said. "The closest one is actually in the way I'm walking. Do you think you can handle walking that way or y do you need some assistance?" 


She said this because it was surprising how many people did know where the lifts were, always asking for directions. Well, mostly the ones who asked for directions were newbies at their job, but eh. Still little annoying. "Also, if you want to laugh at me, go ahead. I'd laugh at someone with soot on their face." @Francis Stickmin

 

[Tom-Pen]

Kris Marr


The girl had an attitude - it was obvious the moment she opened her mouth, and Kris decided right then that he liked that about her (he didn't know why, not exactly, perhaps it was the defiance in it, so few people could muster the strength to be defiant anymore). 


"Right, that way?" He confirmed pointing in the direction the girl had been walking when he had first seen her.  His eyes narrowed a bit when she mockingly asked if he would need "assistance" but he took it in good humor and kept a smile,  "I think I can manage," he replied brashly.  When she called him out about holding in his laughter, he let it go, it wasn't an explosive hysterical sort of laugh, but a pretty good one nonetheless.


"Thanks for that, Grease-spot," he said, still laughing a little.


Kris started off in the direction he had been pointed but stopped short - remembering the promised crystal.  He pulled it from his pocket and was just about to toss it over, when suddenly, a rather interesting thought popped into his head.  A sly smile made its way across his face as he looked to the girl and said, "You know, you can get quite a few drinks at the 'Fivehand' for one crystal," in a very matter of fact tone.  He pocketed the crystal and said, "I'll be there at 7 if you want your drinks," just before turning away and jogging off down the street.


@FireMaiden

 

[cyndiratoms]

Gray eyed Newt for a moment and muttered, "In serious, when you heal I'll let you tag along. It's on yourself if you get hurt going without me. But I won't stop you, I understand how hard it is to make a living at the beginning of a role." 


She glanced at her house before nodding and moving off. She had to get back to work. The western tunnel was a good run away and she'd already wasted enough time. It was at that moment that Gray seemed to remember something and she groaned, taking off at a full sprint towards her location. It had been sitting at the back of her mind like an itch, something that she was supposed to be doing along with scouting the tunnel. A newbie. She's been stuck with a newbie and they were supposed to meet up at the guard post of the tunnel. She swore to herself and continued at the fast run through the streets. She dodged and slipped around pedestrians and made her way closer to her destination. She was already on the lowest level of the slums and simply had to make it all the way across them. Her breathing didn't change and her legs continued to pump, muscle rippling along the lines of her legs. 


Finally she turned the last corner, skidding to a stop, leaning over and pressing her palms to her knees to calm her heart and shake out the energy flooding through her. She loved running, which made her job all the more enjoyable. However, she was not looking forward to taking on an apprentice and showing them the ropes. She expected a tiny, scrawny, weak 15-year old with acne and big die eyes. Gray pulled her scouts seal from her pouch and rubbed her finger over the ridges, glancing around for her charge. Her dark brown hair had come undone from his bun and cascaded around her shoulders, down to her hips in thick mud colored waves. She was tiny, short and skinny, not just from being in shape, but from malnuriousment. 


@Francis Stickmin @Yiyel

 

[Tom-Pen]

Kris Marr


As Kris jogged on toward the lift he pondered what the odds of the girl he had met actually showing up at the "Fivehand" were.  When he finally got to the lift he quickly jumped inside and started the long trip down (to the lower level of the city); by the time the lift had made it halfway, he had come to the conclusion that the odds - of the girl showing up at the bar later that night - were quite low.  He would probably get to keep his crystal (if she didn't show, which is what he imagined would be the case) but then again, he planned to spend it anyway, so it really made no difference there.  The lift rattled its way down the dark shaft - dug by mole and man alike in years past - until (upon reaching the lowest level of the city) it came to an abrupt stop.  Kris slid the safety gate out of his way and took off - in the direction of tunnel XXX - at a brisk jog; letting his mind turn away from the girl (and their brief interaction they had), and back onto his job.


Kris's job - his first as an official scout - was to help one of the more experienced scouts map out a new tunnel (Tunnel XXX).  He had some parchment and a pencil to make a rough map with (that could be refined and copied later by whoever's job it was to do so) and an armband (that signified his right as a scout to be in certain restricted tunnels - like Tunnel XXX).  If he needed anything else, like rope, or perhaps a lantern, he would have to get it on his own.  Kris wondered if all scouts were given such sparse supplies, or if it had only been him - as a sort of punishment for trading assignments, or simply by mistake.


The jog from the lift to the entrance of the tunnel took Kris longer than it would've for most scouts - but in all fairness it was his first time ever going through that part of the city.  He got to the tunnel's entrance tired and a bit sweaty, but in good spirits.  There was a girl waiting at the opening - he assumed for him - also wearing a scout's armband.  She was small (both short and thin) with long dark hair.  Kris wondered if all scouts were normally that small, 'If so I'm going to look pretty out of place.'  He wasn't huge himself, but then again not small either.  He was strong - and looked the part - but not in a "big" way really (very few humans, if any, could actually be considered large or big now days).  What did make him stand out however - much more than his broad shoulders - was his healthy look.  He had - unlike many - been able to eat at least twice a day the entire time he worked on the Bug Ranch (near 4 years), and it showed.  He wasn't fat, not by any stretch of the imagination, but he was healthy - and looked it.


"One personal assistant, as requested,"  Kris said in jest with a quaint smile, as he walked up to the small girl (who, as he approached, appeared to be more of a young woman than a girl, really).


@cyndiratoms

 

[cyndiratoms]

Gray had been inspecting the seal to pass the time while she waited and when someone spoke, the voice was too deep. Too old. She blinked, looking up. However, she really only looked straight ahead, which meant she was staring at a mans broad chest, and she had to tilt her chin up to see his face. She said nothing for a long while, her brows furrowed and drawn together over dark brown eyes and she clicked her tongue loudly, thinking. He was definitely not a 15 year old brat that had just been assigned to a role. He was taller than her by 5 inches and had obviously been doing manual labor for years. Still, if he was here, and like he had stated, he had to be the newbie she'd been assigned. It almost grated on her nerves that he looked so well-fed and bright, while she felt her hunger nipping at her lower gut, like it always did. In her mind though, the fact she was hungry meant that her baby brother wasn't. 


Gray sighed and nodded. "Alright, my name's Gracial Agner, but most people call me Gray. Our job is to map this tunnel, figure out how bad the cave in was and see if there has been any change since it was abandoned a few years ago. You know your part, practice mapping and I'll teach as we go, I normally run these, but there are a few things I'll want to show you while we're working, and we need to be careful, so we won't be going as quickly as normal. Before we start, what should I call you, and how come someone of your age would be starting as a scout now?"


@Francis Stickmin

 

[Tom-Pen]

Kris Marr


The little scout, Gray, appeared to be surprised by Kris (or something about him) and took a long - thoughtful - pause before speaking.  She was gaunt, but likely a fair bit stronger than she appeared (scouts - good ones anyway - were like that).  When she spoke, her words were orderly and to the point (and a bit more formal than Kris thought was necessary) but not unkind. 


'Very military.' He thought.


"You can call me Kay, Captain,"  he said with a nonchalant salute and friendly smile.  His calling her Captain (and saluting her) was meant to be taken as a joke - a friendly one - though whether that's how she would take, he couldn't be sure.   "I..." he started but stopped short (he was thinking of saying something sarcastically ridiculous but changed his mind), "I traded assignments with a friend,"  It was the truth, and said in earnest,  'One jokes enough for now,' he thought (not wanting to get off on the wrong foot with her).


Kris paused for a moment before pulling out his parchment and pencil, looking to Gray, gesturing toward the cave entrance and asking, "Shall we?"


@cyndiratoms


Crystals (38)

 

[cyndiratoms]

Gray almost chuckled when he pulled out the parchment and paper. That would be almost impossible to use while walking. She spun her pouch around and dug around in it, pulling out a small leather bound book. Twine created the binding and it was something that was not commonly seen. She could undo the twine to easily remove a single sheet of parchment so that she could turn it in. The main reason for it, however, was that the covers were leather covered thinly shaved wood slates so that she could have something hard behind her paper as she was walking and drawing. Gray held it out to him.


"If you want to be able to do even an alright first map, you'll need this. I'll be running it a few times this week to get my map accurate, so I won't need the journal this time." 


She didn't ask any more about his past, but she did hear the humor in his tone. It didn't bother her, but she did kind of come off as severe, not that she was really going for that expression. Sadly, her sharp bone structure, from malnourishment made her face seem a lot harsher than her gentle nature. Gray bent over a bit, flipping her hair so that she could bundle it on top of her head and secure it with a twine. Wisps fell around her face and she blew them with the corner of her mouth, tying her bag back up and settling it on her back, ready to start off for real. She turned towards the tunnel.


@Francis Stickmin  

 

[Tom-Pen]

Kris Marr


Kris took what Gray held out to him and looked it over curiously, turning it over in his hands and examining both sides (Kris understood what it was for, or at least thought he did, but wasn't sure if he had ever seen something quite like it before).  He flattened his parchment over it, and scribbled a little on the corner of the paper, 'Clever.'  He threw an appreciative smile at Gray and nodded with thanks.


As the two of them started toward the tunnel, Kris drew an arch in the bottom left of his parchment and titled it "Entrance."  He had never worked on maps before then, but was no stranger to drawing.  His hands were deft, and kept a light, steady grip on the pencil.  He kept each stroke subtle and made thin, faint lines (so he could easily correct any mistakes he made along the way).


Kris was smiling as they headed into the cave - it was uncontrollable.  His imagination filled his head with images of old ruins and ancient crypts, never before seen treasures, and above all else, sunlight - 'The Surface...'


"What do you expect we'll find down here?"  he asked casually, not letting his excitement show in his voice.


@cyndiratoms


Crystals (42)

 

[cyndiratoms]

Gray shrugged, holding her lantern in front of her, it was small and only lit a tiny space before them. She had an almost ingrained sense of where the tunnels led, even though she'd never been there before, it was something about the feeling in the air or the sensation of the vibrations in the stone beneath her thin-soled boots. She brushed her fingers against a cool, smoothly shaven wall of the cavern. 


"Honestly," She glanced over at him. "This is the third tunnel they've sent me in that was a cave-in. The last two were nothing special. About a half days journey deep into the tunnel, no off-shoots, and then a dead end. They were just filled right to the ceiling and nothing was getting past them. So, my guess is that this one will be no different. But, the higher-ups wouldn't care even if I said my piece, and I get paid, so I go in."


She pointed to a small crevice in the wall to their left. "That's a point marker. Miners make them after every mile. It helps keep both them and our maps, accurate. Make sure to look for them. After a while, though, you'll be able to know a mile without having the markers. It's something you get used to. Also, it's hard to tell when a single tunnel branches or swerves, so that's important to watch."


@Francis Stickmin

 

[Tom-Pen]

Kris followed Gray along he listening to her intently, it was obvious to him she knew what she was talking about.  Hundreds - if not thousands - of scouts, miners and scavenger alike had disappeared in the caves, but not Gray.  'She's little, but damn, she must be smart," he thought, 'Tough too.'


Kris wondered if anyone had ever actually found anything interesting in any of the tunnels, or if every scout had experienced the same thing Gray had.


"Well, I suppose there's a good chance this tunnel will be the same as the others..."  his voice matter a fact.  "Sure would be nice to find something though,"  he added under his breath as he made some marks on his map.  His map was coming along well enough, but the farther on they went the more his feet ached.  He wasn't used to walking that much in a single day, but he didn't complain (it wasn't in his nature to) instead he just kept on following her, listening and drawing as the two of them went.


@cyndiratoms


Crystals (50)

 

[cyndiratoms]

Hours passed, more than she'd expected. She would randomly bring up the markers as they showed up, or point out little changes in the tunnels, showing the direction they were going. Gray was a very quiet person, not because she didn't have anything to say, but because she was not used to having someone along with her, so she was normally running in silence for hours on end. In the back of her mind though she knew that he was not trained for this kind of assignment, physically or otherwise. They turned a corner, one of the few that were pretty obvious, not just a slant in the tunnel, and Gray tensed, feeling something different, the wind. It wasn't still and heavy and damp. There was a slight breeze, one that she felt on her cheeks, just barely there and she reached out, coming to a halt and grasping for Kay's arm. 


"Stop, something's not right," She lowered herself, evening out her weight carefully, taking her small light with her, holding it out in front of her as she shuffled forwards. 


Rocks skittered away from her as she kept her feet against the stone. "What the..."


That's no cave-in. She thought. "Holy crap..."


A foot in front of her was blackness, there was nothing. A cavern in the ground, a straight drop off that went down far enough that Gray could hear echoes of water or wind or critters moving around below. She stood, her light illuminating her face and the hollows of her cheeks and she sighed, breathing in deeply. "I don't have enough rope, or anything to get across, and this oil's almost used up. It's got to be getting late already, we've been walking for over six hours. We'll have to go back and report this and see what they want me to do. I was told a cave-in, not a drop-off."


@Francis Stickmin

 

[Yiyel]

Regent's Quarters
​

Oct. 13th,  5027.
​

9:06am
​

The Regent didn't seem bothered even with the mans casual attitude, he did as he was told and as far as he was concerned, as long as the council didn't notice, it didn't matter. Remus also had a point in how difficult it would be to cover the anarchy and dissent already brewing in the city, but he had good reason to believe that perhaps that was exactly what the council wanted. They'd likely throw the Reagent himself to the angry mobs and stay hidden, as they always were, let a few hundred or so people kill each other, solve the food shortage problem with less mouths to feed, and then resume back once people realized it got them nowhere. He was their figurehead and scapegoat in the same, but that didn't mean he went about with no contingency plans. Once Remus had signed, he extended a claw and pulled the sheet toward his attendant, she quickly snatched it up and filed it into one of the various folders in her possession.


"Do as they require there, a contact will meet with you on occasion, they'll identify their-self when appropriate. Do you require any further information?"


@ReverseWells

 

[Tom-Pen]

Kris approached the edge, curious; when he looked down into the 'Drop off' (as Gray called it) there was nothing but blackness for him to see. 


"I suppose you're right," Kris said with some disappointment.  He kept looking down into that deep darkness, and was filled him with an unquenchable curiosity that he couldn't possibly resist.  Somehow - whether he was supposed to or not - he knew that he would find a way down into that place of mystery.


Kris stepped back from the edge, turned to Gray, and asked "What are the chances they ask us to explore it?"


@cyndiratoms


(sorry this took so long?)


Crystals (54)

 

[cyndiratoms]

Gray shrugged after a moment of thinking and she lifted her lamp, inspecting the oil reserves. There was very little left so she sighed. 


"I'm not the highest ranked scout, you know. Usually, they send the best to search things like this. But, since it was my run, they will probably allow me to do as I wish until I find something interesting. A drop off is not riches or anything like that."


She pointed back the way they'd come. "We should get going. I can find my way just fine without the lamp, but for your first run, let's get as far back as we can before this runs out on us."


@Francis Stickmin