Multiple Settings Stuck In A Room

[DovahBeat]

"Uh, I have no clue what all this talk about civil war is referencing to." Sabjorn announced his confusion, taking another drink of his mead. "But if you all want to know the date where I'm from, it's the 18th of Morning Star, the 583rd year of the Second Era. At least it was when I left."

 

[awriternamedian]

Nerissa stiffened at the sound of the new girl's voice, her whole body tense. Of all the wonderfully varied accents she'd heard among humans, hers she would recognize anywhere. Even before she heard Ginny ask if she was from England. Magic roiled in her stomach, but she forced it to calm, knowing that with no outlet things could go bad very quickly for her if her magic got out of control. She took a deep breath, forcing it to calm, and tried to avoid looking over at her too much, lest it rile her up again. "For me it is the year 3092 Under Neptune. The last I spoke with a human, I was informed that it was the year 2018."

 

[Beleth]

Apryl paused for a moment. She had the words but she couldn’t conjure them outloud. The United States? The Rebels actually WON the war? Her lips pursed and curled, her expression explaining her entire reaction in a few swift movements. “So they won…” she admitted aloud, observing the djinn as she spoke. “A disappointment, I must admit. But I suppose with the numbers that were growing, even the most patrotic fellow could have seen it coming from a mile away.”

Her expression softened at the subject change of magic. The female that offered the information proved to be far from short of topics and useful knowledge. She glanced down at her wrists, then her gloved hands. Apryl chuckled wryly. “Would you say there is a mixture of any? I’ve been told magic runs in the family but nothing truly surfaced until I cracked open a scripture or two.” She faced the other female. “Like what? Do you contract with other beings for your magic? I couldn’t help but overhear you were a djinn. A cousin of the genie, if I may? Wouldn’t you offer the magic to others?”
Eliasdagood


A larger fellow mentioned the year he had left. “18th of Morning Star, the 583rd year of the Second Era,” Apryl repeated back, allowing the date to roll of her tongue. It was a mouthful but fascinating nonetheless. Another, much smaller woman offered her year which followed the planetary system. She felt the other’s gaze waver in and out as she spoke. Out of courtesy, the Englishwoman offered the same, staring just long enough to include her in the conversation before breaking gaze. “3092 under Neptune.. 2018.” To think humanity’s natural daftness allowed them to survive past the 1900’s was beyond her. “Right, I believe you all. We’re all from different worlds and time periods. Just seems so... surreal, that's it. Not only have there been time periods I haven't heard of until now, but there are lands and species and...” She rested her head back against the nearest concrete wall, allowing herself to digest the information. "Good thing we aren't stuck with anyone with a few loose screws around, ey?" She chuckled mildly, hoping to bring about some assurance.

 

[Stikes]

Harper shakes his head in bewilderment at the various different dating schemes, his eyes bemused. "Like I said before, it's just plain old 1898 for me. And yeah, newcomer, 'they' did win. We're doing pretty well for ourselves, these days," he says with a very slight vindictive twinge in his voice. "Anyways, this alternate timeline shenanigan is pretty surreal. Let me tell you, dealing with time-travelers'll twist your mind up like nothing else."

 

[Nenma Takashi]

Alice wished she could add to the discussion, but she wasn't really sure what the year was in her time. She knew one of her friends had told her at some point but she wasn't really listening. Alice walked over to a wall and placed her hand on it getting a feel for it material. Strangely enough she couldn't really describe it. Sure it was stone of some kind but not what you expected in a prison. Why them? Who controlled this room? Where even were they? These questions quickly began hurting Alice's head, so like any thought that did that Alice ignored them. Instead she turned her attention back to the group. "So do we just wait around for the wall to give us another puzzle?"

 

[Eliasdagood]

Ginny grimaces slightly at Apryl’s Mention of genies and djinni from her world. “Actually, no. There are rumors that the first of our kind created was capable of granting wishes, but djinni are mostly just illusionists. Other than our strength, speed, and durability, of course, but I can’t count all the things in my world with equal or better physical prowess.”

 

[Beleth]

Apryl’s lips parted, very well catching the masked man’s drift. He swapped subjects, returning back to the taboo topic of time-travel, forcing the Englishwoman’s mind to switch gears -- again. She indulged the switch, nonetheless. “What do you mean by messing up our brains? You reckon all this time travel bogus is interfering with our sense of time perception?”

She turned her head towards the peculiarly silent one. There were questions about next steps and puzzles from the...wall? Apryl shook her head, quickly noting the void nature of the room around them. “Quite likely and unlikely at the same time if you ask me. We could, in theory, wait for a clue from our captors but only and only if they have found themselves to have been bored with our dawdling about.” Gloved palms faced upward, Apryl’s eyes fixated on them as she tried to get a spell going to help the situation. Much to her expected frustration nothing came of it.

The djinn corrected her understanding of the species, a wave of heated shame crossing over her cheeks. “So I see. You’ll have to forgive my ignorance, then. I clearly have been mistaken.” Her shoulders rolled and her back straightened, looking at each individual as they spoke.

 

[Stikes]

“Quite likely and unlikely at the same time if you ask me. We could, in theory, wait for a clue from our captors but only and only if they have found themselves to have been bored with our dawdling about.”

"That does seem to be the only way anything it's gonna happen in here." Harper says sardonically. He stands again, recommencing his pacing and the tapping of his gun belt. "I hope this room can make itself bigger, too. Gettin' kinda crowded..."

 

[Beleth]

"Nothing a few stabs wouldn't handle," Apryl matched the irony. She closed her fingers into a loose fist. There was heat coming up at her fingertips which suggested she hadn't forgotten how to cast her spells.
Earlier there were talks of anti-magic walls surrounding them. Whether it was due to timing of still coming to or simply dismissing it as hogwash wasn't about to be up for discussion.

Her eyes laid rest on the masked man, her fingers reuniting in an interlock with one another. Inhaling silently, Apryl made herself clear of his way, catching sight of his gun belt.

 

[StrixDesmodus]

Vex yawned almost inaudibly. Not much time had passed, but he was wary and weary of this room, which made time seem to stretch on like even a minute wouldn't complete itself.
"I say we don't try and do anything that might provoke whoever's behind this. I don't want to get asphyxiated again." He sounded more frustrated than terrified, though there was a rush in his last sentence.
Once more, he shifted position. This time, he turned to one side and stretched his wings out behind him as far as he could in the meager space. Folding them back up after a minute or two, he spoke again.
"Or maybe there's no avoiding it. Damn, I hope not."

 

[Eliasdagood]

Ginny sighs. “Yeah… firstly, the room is intelligent, secondly, it doesn’t like us doing that, and thirdly, nothing up to this point has worked.” She smiles at Apryl. “And I don’t mind. Frankly, I think some members of my species want humans to think that. Not that they’d use the lie for anything good…” she shudders a bit.

 

[Beleth]

"Yes, well, our kind can be rather ignorant as far as telling species apart," The englishwoman teased lightly. Though, something about her tone withheld some truth to it; especially in regards to humans without magic exposure.

Apryl shifted to look at the winged man. A part of her began to question the mention of suffocation when he shifted, wings expanding for what felt like the umpteenth time.
She couldn't exactly blame him. It was a bit crowded as is. She wouldn't put it beyond the creators of the room if the space itself began to diminish.

An idea slowly crept as Vex furled and unfurled his wings. "Vex, was it? Are you up for a bit of teamwork?"

 

[StrixDesmodus]

Vex was intrigued by Apryl's offer, but also suspicious. Still, he thought that even if he couldn't reconcile the only way out, he should probably not consign himself to be a prisoner of magical forces.
"Yeah, it depends on what this teamwork would entail. I might be, though, so let's see."
As he spoke, he turned back to his previous position.

 

[Beleth]

"Right, I suppose that's fair." Apryl agreed. A part of her begged to not go through with the commadarie for the sake of safety, another part, a much louder voice, granted her a forceful rush of energy to continue.

Pivoting on her heels, she turned to Ginny. "You've mentioned your kind are often exceptionally fast, yes? We can attempt to overwhelm the walls. Combine flight with inhumane speed, if you all will."

 

[Eliasdagood]

Ginny shakes her head. “I told you, last time I tried that, the room shrank. And I didn’t even do any visible damage. This is a bad idea.” She says, pressing her back further into the wall. I won’t stick my neck out. Not till I’m sure.

 

[StrixDesmodus]

Vex's brow furrowed at the suggestion that he participate in the provoking of the room. Though he realized it might be a way out, he didn't want to suffocate again.
"Are you sure it'll work?"

When Avram woke up, the first thing he heard was what Vex said. It didn't seem like a good sign to him. Such a question happened to be asked many times before something bad happened to him, or something even worse almost happened to him. For instance, his father had asked Dr. Foster that very question about whether or not a lobotomy would render Avram a manageable son. He may not have suffered the effects a lobotomy would have on, say, a human, but nonetheless things had gone wrong that day, almost half a century ago. And the time he was almost embalmed, or when he narrowly escaped the removal and incineration of his heart.... Yeesh!
"How about we don't find out!" He snarled, whipping upwards, with his fists balled up. But when he saw who surrounded him, and that nobody seemed to be paying any attention to him before he shouted, he became sheepish.
"Or, uh, how about we do find out.... What are we finding out, exactly?"

 

[Beleth]

Her eyes scanned the room again. The room breathed intently, as if monitoring just what the group planned in retaliation. Aside from the absolute stillness, some ripples gave way of its life-like nature.
Instead of provoking the idea further, Apryl turned back to the djinn, accepting the other’s feverant decision to not try anything aside from what’s proven to have worked thus far. What has worked, what was safe and what wouldn’t get them killed, that is. She rested a hand against the wall, fingers tapping against the surface and leaning some of her body weight into it. “Very well, I won’t push matters further. I do intend on discovering a way out, even if it kills us.”

A small nod was offered in Vex’s direction. “More or less. If we are able to rush up towards the wall at an abrupt pace, we can see if we can try and implode it from within. I can ensure no harm comes to any person within the said space. Of course, I cannot guarantee whether it’d have the same reaction as it had with Ms. Ginny, here.”
Apryl suppressed an internal huff at the new voice, giving the outburst a fighting chance to weigh the logic in its nature. Words slashed through the air, but quickly fell short in meaning when the explosion was met with retraction and even doubt of his initial reaction. Typical of American behavior. Immediate to react and even faster to apologize for it -- once they are met societal consequences.

The Englishwoman unlocked her stiffened jaw. “We’ve yet more company. This space is beginning to feel less like a room and more like a dump for unwelcomed personnel.” It went without saying that she herself was included in said ‘unwelcomed’ category. There must’ve been a reason and an algorithm for why they were just being dropped in such a vacuum tight space as this. “To answer your question - we are attempting to find out how to leave this very room. It seems to be… alive … the very least. Reactive to our reactions, receptive to our methods of learning and even adamant on keeping us sealed within here. According to Ms.Ginny here, the room’s shrunk considerably since they’ve first joined, so any wrongdoings will leaned to our, well, suffocation.” Her eyes drifted over to Vex, keeping in mind his earlier choice of words in terms of aphyxiating.

“Maybe it’s a waiting room...!” A female far more pale than Apryl chimed in. She rocked backward from her coddled position, and kicked a foot, propelling herself forward onto her feet. “It sounds like you guys just assume this place is bad because you don’t know what it is -- that’s the problem! For all we know, there could be a surprise on the other side of this room. A surprise that nobody else wants us to know about just yet!” Another was quick to approach the others, placing herself in the center so that she had the opportunity to see each and everyone up close. “Besides, what’s the rush? You guys got someplace to be?”

 

[awriternamedian]

Nerissa propped her chin on her knees. There were so many people now, all speaking english, quicker than she could keep up with. It was frustrating to say the least. Every time the english woman spoke she ground her teeth, forcing a calmness she didn't feel. Letting her magic get riled up in this form could get dangerous fast. If only she could change back. Even if only for a couple minutes, she could release the energy and be okay again. But without water around, that would just expedite her other problem. It was a no win situation.

At the suggestion that they try and attack the wall again she stiffened. Of course it would be her to come up with it. "I am not particularly keen on the idea of losing more space," she finally spoke up. There were more people now. The room was starting to get crowded. "I think maybe our time would be better spent trying to figure out how to get more room. If it can react negatively, I am sure there is a way to convince it to react positively."

 

[StrixDesmodus]

Avram absorbed the information, thoroughly interested if also perturbed. So he was stuck in a magical room that was probably alive? Who was behind this? Did the ACOPB finally find out his plans of mass escape? Who were these other people? Why did one think they were all in a waiting room? Certainly building codes, if nothing else, would ensure that there were doors.
"Not a bad idea, either one. Of course, I must ask if anybody knows why we're here?"

Vex rolled his eyes, then explained to Avram with brevity.
"Nobody knows exactly, but we might be here to participate in some kind of challenge. The first one was telling secrets or something, but I don't know what will happen next."

 

[Stikes]

Harper starts to get tense as the new people arrive - a large, boisterous man, and a remarkably, almost unnaturally pretty woman. He chimes in with his own two bits in regards to escape, saying, "It doesn't seem like we'll be getting out of here unless whoever's running this room wants us to be, yeah." He gestures to the sword sheathed at his hip. "All it did when I stabbed my blade into was go all woogledy. There ain't much this sword can't cut. It's even hacked up things that've got no right being touched, like spells and, er, non-corporal entities. Plus, Ginny here punched it hard enough to break her arm, and all it did was close the walls in by an inch."

As he finishes speaking, there's a shuffling from the floor as a rickety-looking man in heavy crimson robes and a twisted, horned mask sits up. "Where am I?" He demands, "And who in the hells are you people?"

 

[DovahBeat]

Sabjorn groaned as more people showed up. This was just fantastic. "This is fuckin' annoying.... I should just try to Wayshrine back, Fuck you all. I'm sick of this shit." He growled out, the mead he had been drinking as part of his reward starting to hit his system and increase his aggression.

 

[StrixDesmodus]

Avram's brow furrowed. "So we're definitely stuck? Damn...." He developed a rather sad expression, which is what came of the thought that he may never see his nephew, mother, or boyfriend again.

Vex hoped Sabjorn's attempt to "Wayshrine back." would work. After all, he had been told.... Oh wait. What if he's not really going to do what he says he is?
With that thought, Vex drew the dagger from it's sheath in his pocket, the silvery blade glinting in the ambient brightness of the room as he approached Sabjorn.
"You're going to leave? That'd better be what you're doing!"

Avram inched toward Vex, his eyes narrowing for a moment as he calculated a good way to disarm the boy. He didn't know what Vex was talking about, or if the man in the medieval-looking clothing was any better than the kid with wings, but figured that the one with the weapon in his hand would be a bigger threat.

 

[Stikes]

With that thought, Vex drew the dagger from it's sheath in his pocket, the silvery blade glinting in the ambient brightness of the room as he approached Sabjorn.
"You're going to leave? That'd better be what you're doing!"

As Vex advances on the Nord, Harper takes a step of his own forward, hands resting heavy on his revolver and sword. "Hey now, kid, cool it. I don't know what exactly you think you're doing, but fighting ain't going to get you nothin' but trouble," he says, voice hard-edged with frosty calm. He doesn't want to have to shoot this kid, but he can probably go for a a shot at the knife if it came down to it...

Across the room, Tzuriel throws his hands into the air, still sitting. "What is happening? Who are you people? Why are we inside the sacred geometry?! My confusion is boundless!" By the end, the aging man is shouting out loud, probably rather loud in the enclosed space.

 

[DovahBeat]

Sabjorn took quick notice of Vex's blade, and it only fueled his temper.
"Well, I was until you threatened me! You wanna go, feather face?" He threatened right back, flexing his arms for a second as semi-molten rocks formed over his skin and armor in the shape of sharp spikes. In his intoxicated state he completely forgot he had a greatsword strapped to his back.
"I can do a whole lot more than make myself armor, you know. I'm a poison based Dragonknight, so unless you feel like getting a taste of my venom back off."

 

[StrixDesmodus]

Vex was perhaps a bit too pumped with adrenaline to care what anyone was saying, nor appreciate the irony of having to find out anything about Sab the hard way due to his own actions.
He stopped approaching.
"I fucking knew it!" Vex exclaimed at the confirmation that there was something about Sabjorn that might be his downfall.
He flicked the hand that wasn't holding the dagger downwards in a sort of triumphant exasperation. The other hand was still level with his chest.

Avram soon dashed between the two, almost unable to stop in the right position.
"Exactly. Fighting is just going to be trouble." His gaze slowly shifted from Vex, to Sabjorn, and back to Vex.

Vex considered stabbing the newcomer, but when met with his calm yet authoritative stare, slowly lowered his knife until it was nearly parallel to his leg.
"Fine, but just be warned, all of you. Magic isn't everything, and neither is pacifism."