TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 7

[avalonmods]

✨ Greet new players on the OOC intro while apps are processed HERE! ✨

{ QUICK NAV } Premise ⚔️️ Rules ⚔️️ FAQ ⚔️️ Taken ⚔️️ Reserves ⚔️️ Apply ⚔️️ Locations ⚔️️ Bestiary ⚔️️ Top-Levels Only ⚔️️ A ⦿ Soaking in Your Arrival KERPLUNK, SPLASH! Regardless of what you were in the middle of, you and your familiar have been magically pulled into the world of Avalon just above the Bay's waters. After a brief plunge into the Bay, the rush of water filling your ears and soaking up into every creak and crevice of your body, you may need to cough to clear your airways when you rise above the surface. It's still chilly, but not enough that you can't manage on your own. The Lady of the Lake is swimming around under the water, helping to rescue any wayward travelers who look like they're struggling in the water. This month's helpers are giant pillow jellies, a species of jellyfish that is capable of ballooning itself at the surface to create bouncy pads for characters to hop across to the shore, should they choose or not be able to swim. They come in a variety of bioluminescent colors, but do not seem to be very talkative even to animal magic users. Those who try may find themselves being ignored, even if they hear the jellies talking amongst themselves about this and that. If anyone tries to ask the Lady of the Lake for directions, she will direct you to Archimedes at the Rent-a-Ride. The shores themselves are littered with new arrivals complaining their way up a staircase carved into the walls of the White Cliffs. There is no railing, so be careful, but if you do fall, be prepared for a mysterious sand hand to reach out of the side of the cliffs to catch you. The hand will pat you atop the head twice before retreating back into the wall. This is the Cliff Beast; despite the name, he is quite friendly. *Reminder: Your character's familiar may or may not be with your character in their initial plunge. If the familiar isn't partial to water, it may meet your character on the beach or sit atop their head while they swim. Or if they are, they might splash about and swim alongside your character. Familiars have different personalities and body specs and we leave those up to the players. B ⦿ The Caravan to Camelot Once everyone is wrangled up to the top of the White Cliffs, the handsome owner of the Rent-a-Ride, Archimedes, will distribute smart phones and a pair of special ear buds (the supplier was out of the regular ones) and tell them to "Check the Shit Box." The "Shit Box" refers to wardrobe more formally known as the Wardrobe of Finding, a hammerspace-like wardrobe that opens to each person's items and pets when the person touches the handle. It was recently enchanted by Merlin to prevent people from having to fish their waterlogged possessions and pets out of the water with them. From there, Archimedes directs everyone to settle in groups into modernized carriages pulled by horses and gives them a basic explanation of why and how they've been brought to Avalon: The rest of the universe is frozen in time and your character has been brought here by a familiar that was able to bond with them. They'll have to learn magic to help save their own world from destruction, but first they've got to get them to Camelot. It is here that you have the first opportunity to decide who they will be in their new home. You'll have about an hour to wander around here, meet and greet, and pet the horses before it's time to go. These carriages use fae technology that combats weight, so your character will be able to get in regardless of whether they're light as a feather or weigh two tons. The carts have air conditioning when it's hot, heating when it's cold, and a mystical shield to protect from bugs. There is also a mini-bar that pops out of the console with nip bottles. Characters can use their smartphones to connect to Camelot's internet service, avalononline (AOL), to chat with other characters, watch dumb videos, learn about the world, contact Camelot Support (they'll answer any questions they can for you, from how to use a smart phone to where to find quests and resources to learn more about your magic). Be careful if you decide to use your phones while in the caravan-- if you don't use those earbuds and start forcing everyone to listen to your nonsense, Archimedes may make you walk. C ⦿ The Red Spring The journey from the White Cliffs to the City of Camelot is a long one, and the first evening you arrive you'll end up spending at the Red Spring, a booming resort town. Because of the volume of new arrivals and vacationers, inn rooms are assigned two-to-a-room. The rooms have two twin beds, a bathroom, a mini-fridge and microwave, and a TV equipped with a couple of entertaining video games and a few free movies. If you don't want to relax in the room, try taking a dip in the spring for another chance to meet your fellow travelers. The waters have restorative properties that help horses and travelers recover quickly when drunk. It is known to relieve stress, improve energy levels, and mildly accelerate healing. It may be a little chilly when you get out though, so make sure you don't slip rushing back indoors when you get out! The springs are also home to a large training grounds just outside town limits, where there are teachers who will teach basic magic safety and help you discover what kind of magic you have together with other new arrivals. Try target practice, obstacle courses, meditation circles, and other ways to try to figure out just what you can do... if you didn't already have an accidental discovery on the ride there. After the new arrivals come in, they'll find that this month they came in on the middle of a rather tumultuous time... people are arguing and debating about a future decision to be made. King Arthur recently tried to negotiate with Celliwig's people to open the doors to Camelot, but they refused, and the people have been left with a decision: 1. attempt long-distance, slow wooing of Queen Elphame via the Elphame Traders of the next couple of months, 2. attempt to prove a balanced and deeper understanding of the need for both pure and impure hearts by suggesting an acceptance of trials from Celliwig, or 3. band together under Camelot's flag to invade Celliwig. Celliwig is a place of communication between Elphame and Camelot that bypasses the need for weeks of dangerous, often fatal travel, so the choice is very important in regards to how Camelot both presents itself to the fae people in the future. To that end, people with strong beliefs about particular choices have arranged gatherings to draw people in to hear their perspectives on what the choice should be. A ⦿ Honey Over Vinegar A wide variety of people have sided with this group, including the Elphame Traders, as cutting Celliwig off from them would mean a much harder journey each month to the city of Camelot. (Though commerce always does find a way.) This group is hosting a Tree-Picking Tournament! Of course, the trees to be picked are out in the farmlands, and members of the lobbying group will be giving people free one-use Farm Totems to get to the tournament. The trees in this grove are a little different than normal trees, however. For one, they don't bear fruit. This is Camelot's cookie orchard, composed of special fairy tree hybrids that grow a variety of sweet treats on their branches instead of fruits. There are your usual chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies, but also little puff-like wedding cookies on bushes or checkboard cookies blossoming out of stems instead of flowers. There are even some trees that have clusters of miniature French macarons! The best part, at the end when you turn in your cookies for the count and get your participation prize (and bonus pamphlet about how slow and steady wins the race), you can totally keep and eat them, so be careful not to drop them! How you get them down from the tree is up to you, of course. Try some magic, or maybe just some regular old tree-shaking will do the trick.. just be careful you don't accidentally knock down any wasp nests. Those stings will hurt bad! B ⦿ A Balanced Approach The party of people who want to try to woo Celliwig over to smooth things over see this little political gathering with cookie-based bribery and quickly fashion their own event to make sure the fanfare isn't all for just the one idea. To gather people in to hear their side of the story, this group has decided to host a bug catching contest! Head out into those flower fields between Camelot and the Red Springs that are now thriving thanks to April's plentiful rains. Whether you use a net or figure out how to use your magic to get the bugs, it's how many you catch, not what kinds you catch that count-- so make it fast and make it plentiful! And at the end of the day, what you choose to do with your captured bugs is up to you. Crush them or free them, keep them or eat them, whatever it is you want to do... ultimately, all moral choices are valid, right? So let's go along with what Celliwig wants! Don't forget that May is the season of the frog, however, and you'll be in competition with a variety of sentient and wise members of the Frog Tribe, a group of bipedal frogs who live in the southernmost part of the lake and come up to the flowerfields to stick their tongues out for some delicious bug treats. They have no problem sticking their tongues right into your captured bug nest, hopping on heads to steal your catches, and do all kinds of crazy interferences like snipping belts and tonguing ankles to trip people. You may want someone to watch your back for this event, lest you get done in by a hopper. C ⦿ A Show of Strength The more war-hungry citizens of Camelot seek to go to war. This whole issue will be over if Celliwig itself isn't the one in charge of communication and it's just made directly between Elphame and Camelot, rather than having a mediator who refuses to mediate. They believe that a show of strength is the only way to solve this problem, and as such, they'll be demonstrating that the greatest rewards come from strength by organizing an expedition to a cave at the base of the Ash Mountains. Taking a path squarely between the Dusklight Woods and the edge of the Lands of Rot to the base of the Ash Mountains, this expedition will lead into a cave known as the Giant Cave. It's a pretty on-the-nose name, since it really is a big cave. One of the cool things about this cave is that it's filled with geodes. Those who have enough strength can use provided pickaxes and drills to dig up their own crystals and gold, both great for jewelry and enchanting. In particular, there is a large amount of: • Rose quartz: dark mages can make their love spells much more powerful and healers can use this to enhance spells that soothe anxieties and self-doubt • Amethyst: siphoners increase the potency of counter-curses and light mages will find this stone makes their hard light shields stronger than ever • Agate: strengthen cognitive abilities like post-cognition for a clearer picture of what happened by enhancing perception, and death mages will find they're able to extend their possession times by about 30 minutes by using an agate to stablize their aura • Moonstones: will increase navigation as a traveler's protection for kinetic users-- no longer will you risk tripping over a rock while going at enhanced speeds, or can be traded to fairies to potentially bring down a steep price to something more reasonable • Black tourmaline: a crystal that shields from opposition/negativity-- for technomancers and elementalists, this means that technology is more likely to side with them over another technomancer, or elementalists will find that when using opposing elements, theirs will come out stronger-- like water vs fire, electric vs rock, etc. • Hematite: can soothe blood, leaving it a good tool to enhance animal and blood magic-- animals may trust you more readily by having a calming effect on them, and blood mages may find that they heal more readily after using their abilities • Boji stone: alchemists will find that this is a good stabilizer for for particularly volatile potion combinations, and the properties of this stone leaves green mages to sense new types of plants they haven't yet encountered in passing, even if they're not looking at them It's not particularly a contest in this case-- you can keep and use what you want, and this show of strength has given you more power than ever, so why not consider the same concept for how to deal with our unneighborly neighbors in Celliwig? It may be sweaty business, but surely hitting some rocks will show you the value of strength! With the surprisingly tame day in the Giant Cave, one would think that the Ash Mountains were something of a safe place. No one really bothered the travelers, but that's because no one had been home at the time. as it turns out, the Giant Cave is home to a giant... douchebag of a minotaur. Not a giant, despite the name. His name is Simon and he doesn't like to share, and now that a bunch of people have gone and taken his rocks (he didn't even know there were crystals inside, nor does he do anything with them). Now he has to take his revenge, regardless of not knowing who actually took the crystals that were never really his to begin with, they just happened to be in rocks near where he sleeps. A ⦿ A Stone's Throw from Revenge The minotaur is a very instinctive creature, and his instincts say that the people of Camelot, the nearest settlement, are the ones who need to be punished for this. He uses his superhuman strength to drag huge rocks and boulders all the way to the north-east edge of Camelot, seemingly for no reason, until he's got practically a wall built. At which point he starts picking them up, spinning, and then vaulting the rocks into Camelot's buildings. You may find yourself inside of one of those buildings and scrambling to check if everyone and yourself is okay, or perhaps you're rushing out to stop the minotaur from throwing another. Either way, it's a sudden attack and you're going to have to act fast. Trying to attack the minotaur will be difficult, since it has superhman strength and durability, sharp horns atop its head, and can smell you coming from a mile away. Get creative, and stop the minotaur before it's too late! B ⦿ There's Safety in Numbers Once the minotaur's attacks stop, it flees to recover its wounds, promising it will come back to destroy Camelot once and for all. It's a time for reprieve and to help clean up the damage. Use your magic to help clean up broken buildings and structures, or heal and help others who were injured in the sudden, mostly unprovoked attack. Many of the uninjured citizens will be going around town and providing drinks, towels, and cups of noodles to those who are helping out. Because of the impending threat of the minotaur's return, it's recommended that otherworlder's use the (Recipe) Buddy System spell. The way they explain it, it's a spell designed to alert your buddy if you're in danger and lasts about an hour. The way it actually works is you must be touching your buddy in any way at all times for the next hour. Unfortunately, it seems like the volunteers sharing the recipe may have missed that it was created in a kindergarten class, not for adults. C ⦿ Gross Thankfully, the Buddy System wears off before the Minotaur is back for round two. When the Minotaur returns, the castle has since gathered forces to the edge of town to defend it from another attack. It's unclear where the Minotaur went to get healed, but whoever he went to apparently had some advice, however, and the instinctive minotaur gave into a different instinct for part two of his revenge. Rather than go right back to his pile of rocks, he instead travels the day to get to the southernmost part of Camelot and barrels into town unopposed, as most of the troupes are where they had thought he would come from again. After all, minotaurs are not known to be big thinkers. Instead of violently destroying this time, however, the minotaur instead heads straight to lowertown's well-- and takes a pee in it. It turns out, not only does he have a giant-- ahem, but he is a giant dick as well. Now the entire lowertown has to be evacuated due to contaminated water up to other areas of Camelot. Many people who live there are relocated to live in extra castle rooms. After all, Minotaur Urine is known to be incredibly potent and stinky. Mages who are able to handle the smell are asked to come help perform a ritual of water purification for the lowertown's water system. This ritual involves multiple groups of people performing synchronic magic, a magic type that requires you to be in perfect sync with your partner. Draw a special ritual circle with four candles at equidistant points. Chant a spell in sync with your partner, and blow a special powder made of ground jasper, charcoal, and rosemary into the center of the circle. It will be drawn into the candles' flames and with enough people doing this, all impurities will be removed from the lowertown's water and dissipate into the atmosphere. KEY POINTS New arrivals drop into the lake and have to climb up a cliff to the Rent a Ride, where they are given their device and some headphones and can retrieve their personal materials. They travel to Camelot, which is a multiple day journey, so they stop at the Red Springs along the way and stay at an inn there. There is a vote pending for Camelot and each side of the issue is trying to engage otherworlders to their side of the vote. The slow/steady approach is hosting a cookie harvesting tournament from a grove of cookie trees, the middleground group is hosting a bug-catching contest, and the group that wants war is hosting a mining expedition. The mining expedition aggros an asshole of a minotaur, who throws rocks at Camelot. Driven away, the townspeople try to help by distributing a spell called "Buddy System" which binds two people together, not realizing it was intended for kindergarteners. (Oops.) The minotaur returns and pees in the lowertown's water, so a ritual of water purification must be performed because it's gross and stinky. The minotaur is still at large. **** The above key points are a new feature we're going to start including on TDMs and Events. Since it's new, the format is still fluid, so please let us know if you have any feedback for this section here. It should just include brief summaries of each prompt to make parsing information easier and more accessible. The original prompts should still be read and referred to for complete information and details. **** MOD NOTES: • All test drive prompts are open to anyone in the game at any time to create your own logs with, but this post should have top-levels by potential new characters only. Current characters may reply to any threads, but should not top-level comment on this post. • If your application is accepted, you may accept TDM threads as game canon as long as both players consent. Characters may begin threading as soon as their journal is accepted to the communities. • A poll will go up a little later this week regarding the mentioned voting, which should be answered ICly by each character you play. The poll will remain open through the 15th so that newly accepted characters may also vote if they choose to. •If nothing here tickles your fancy, try one of this month's Quests for your TDM prompt. • The first "Arrival" prompts are present on every TDM, but contain seasonal tweaks for flavor. All other prompts will change monthly. • Questions about this TDM's content? Comment here! If you have a question about the game at-large, please head over to the FAQ.

Comments

Elza | Suikoden 2 | IronMoon | Kenetic /Green

[markedfordeath]

Soaking in your Arrival

Elza had accepted her fate. So when the cold embraced her the gunner thought death had finally come...

Then... her lungs felt like they were filling with water and something didn't feel right.

Her eyes snapped open and instinct kicked in. Two weapons sank down around her as she sprang into action. The first, a pistol, was within easy reach. The second, a long rifle sank faster. Swimming to reach it, Elza felt her lungs burn for oxygen but she didn't think of trying to allow any in until get fingers curled around the length of the barrel and she pulled it in safely. That familiar feeling of power and rightness coursed through her arm at the touch. Sturm.

Confusion swam through her mind. She had just been in Sajah village so how did she end up in this body of water.

Pulling the rifle in close to her, the gunner swam up and broke through the waters surface. Her blonde hair was plastered to her face, her chest heaved to draw in more breath, but her eyes darted around to watch as others also broke the waters surface and began to swim towards one the cliffs.

Elza was at a loss as to what had happened.

Clive.

She couldn't see him or that kid around anywhere. No. This wasn't how it was meant to be. The weight of the rifle in her hold was tremendous along with the guilt that came with it.

Her attention drifted again to that cliff off in the distance. Maybe there were answers there. Things couldn't be left this way and she needed to know what had happened. How has she survived?

The swim was uneventful, and as she reached the base of the cliff, Elza clutched onto the rocky edge and glanced up. There had better be an answer at the top especially considering she no longer felt any pain.

Slinging the rifle over her back and holstering the pistol, she began to scale the cliff. Graceful like a cat, the gunner pulled herself over the edge and stood up to take in her surroundings.


A Stone's Throw from Revenge


[Elza sat alone at the table. The inn was busy and most tables were full except for her own where she sat nursing a bowl of stew. The gunner may not have appeared to be paying attention to any of her surroundings, but that was further from the truth.

So much had occurred that she wasn't quite certain what to make of it all just yet. Little did the knight know that her peaceful meal would be interrupted soon enough.]


Wildcard

[up for anything! Feel free to add on plurk (ozzypoos) if you want to discuss]

Cliffs

[konpeito_aji]

Nobunaga was dying to talk guns. He was about to head back the stairs when he sees someone (well, no first, he thinks he's hallucinating guns floating up to him, THEN he sees the person!) trying to climb the cliffs without rock climbing tools or... using the stairs. So this, he has to watch.

He feels like he should get that caramel popcorn treat everyone talked about that goes with movies.

There's a gentle applause as she reaches the top and doesn't even seem out of breath. But then an arrogant cocky smile. "You know there's a flight of stairs over there," he pointed in their direction. "Or do you just like scaling sheer vertical walls for practice?"

[markedfordeath]

She had been hoping to avoid the bigger crowd and opt for a more secluded area by climbing those cliffs. Then the applause hits her ears. So much for that. The gunner shouldn't have been surprised masked it over by an easy smile.

"I like a challenge," Elza offered in return while sizing up this man. That arrogant cocky smile was one she'd seen many times during her travels. She hadn't yet decided if he was like a lot of men who did it just for show, or if that arrogance came with something else to back it up. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

[konpeito_aji]

He wondered why. Even though he'd been more than a little fired up to see new lands, he didn't go for scaling the cliffs instead of stairs. There was too much more yet to see! Maybe she didn't know that yet?

"Demon King of the 6th Heaven, Oda Nobunaga. What kind of guns are you carrying?" And since it's only polite, he shows off his own Tanegashima. "This is my Tanegashima. Designed by Akechi Mitsuhide. But it doesn't have the gunpowder inside the bullets. I'm told a lot of newer models do."

[markedfordeath]

The name wasn't familiar to her and she showed no signs of recognition. Demon king? 6th Heaven? Demon wasn't a term used often and certainly not in a casual conversation.

Elza passed a brief glance back at Sturm before her attention settled back on Nobunaga. "A rifle and a pistol." she offered but gave no indication that she'd hand out her name. A keen eye might be and to place the pistol partially hidden at her side as a dueling pistol.

Something wasn't right. Guns were something most were unaware of even amongst the best fighters in the land. They were strictly regulated and used solely by those in the Guild. It was completely unheard of for someone outside of the Guild to have possession of any. It may have been years since she had lived inside of the Tower, but she definitely didn't remember this man being a part of it. What Elza had yet to realise though was this was not yet her world.

"I can't say that I've heard of that gun before," Elza admitted. "If it doesn't use gunpowder, how does it work?"

Did it have a soul?

[konpeito_aji]

"Care to elaborate?" He was already getting bored, wondering if they were just for show. Or she was just a normal soldier who didn't care about the models, designers, ingenuity and people who went into the production of such things. BORING!

"It does use gunpowder," Nobunaga arched an eyebrow. "Outside the bullet. I haven't devised a means to replicate it inside like the newer models."

Unfortunately he was a little thick when it came to what people knew, understood, THOUGHT, or didn't. So he has no idea that she hasn't even gotten ahold of how this is Avalon, there are wormholes, and time and magic is involved. He's a genius, but there are so many fucking things he's a fucking moron about.

[markedfordeath]

"What sort of elaboration would you like?" there was a teasing air to get tone. Still she reached to the holster at her hip and withdrew the pistol.

It was an intricate design of wood and brass with a long barrel. Her left hip felt naked without Stern hanging there, but the gunner distracted herself from that thought by easily twirling the gun around her finger before the grip fell comfortably into the palm of her hand. "To think, you haven't even brought me a drink and you're wanting to know all my secrets." A moment later it was returned to the holster at her hip.

"You seem to be quite keen when it comes to gun design," she mentioned off-handedly. Elza's attention dropped back to his weapon. "I haven't heard of your weapon smith, but you seem proud of his work. I'd like to see a demonstration."

[konpeito_aji]

"I am. He is my left-hand man, and the best sharpshooter I've ever seen."

He holds up the Tanegashima for her to examine more closely, his other hand resting on the katana hilt out of habit. "In Japan, it was the weapon we used to make our armies able to withstand the stronger trained cavalry and samurai. And warrior monks." He is damn proud of it.

"There are too few gunners here for my tastes, and just as few archers. Especially with claims of war being on the horizon."

Soaking in Your Arrival

[luminatus]

Eleven had been traveling out to the cliffs on horseback to check in on new arrivals. He's surprised when he sees a lone figure scale rock and pull herself up several paces away.

"Wotcher!"

He smiles and waves.

"Not a fan of crowds, I'm guessin'? The stairs are perfectly safe. Noisy but safe. The Cliff Beast will grab you if you fall."

[markedfordeath]

Her attempts to avoid the crowds worked, but as she crested the cliff, the familiar sounds of horses feet against the ground had her instantly in guard.

No one high enough in the Guild would use such transportation but there was still that war between Highland and the City-State that could give her some annoyances... And given she'd last been in Highland territory she wouldn't put it past them to try and give her some trouble.

The smile and wave were not what she was expecting though. Her hand paused mid reach towards Sturm at that and instead she made it appear she was merely adjusting the long cloak draping down her back.

"I'm not much for noise unless it comes in the form of the local tavern," Elza said in return. The mention of the cliff beast caused a slender brow to rise up as she repeated, "Cliff beast?"

She'd never heard of such a thing in either lands before.

[luminatus]

"Yeah!"

He nods and gestures behind her, towards the cliff.

"A big monster or somesuch but it's friendly. It caught me after I took a tumble off the stairs. ...It's not the strangest thing about this place either."

[markedfordeath]

A thoughtful "Huh" was all Elza sounded in reply to his answer. Elza looked back over his shoulder at the gesture. How odd the piece of information could come in handy in the future though.

She would have thought the Guild would have known about such a creature. As she glanced around, something just wasn't adding up.

"Where is this place?" she disliked being at a disadvantage. That position had cost her dearly years back and she wasn't about to let that happen again.

[luminatus]

"Hm? Oh!"

Eleven bounced slightly in his saddle.

"This is the White Cliffs... More broadly speakin' you're on the Isle of Avalon on planet thingummy....I forget the world's name honestly."

Which would normally be an embarrassing oversight if not for, well...

"But the island is the only place where time isn't frozen. It's stopped everywhere else. Our own worlds included."

[markedfordeath]

White Cliffs? Isle of Avalon?

Elza's brows knitted subtly at this information. "Time is frozen?" Elza asked. Were one of the runes behind any of this?

If time was frozen though then that would mean Clive wouldn't even be aware of her departure... If that were the case then he may not be distraught by Sturm's removal.

"This is not Highland?"

[luminatus]

Eleven nodded at "Time is frozen?" then immediately shook his head no at the following question.

"I've never heard of Highland, ma'am."

He looked back over his shoulder, along the cliff.

"At the top of the stairs is Rent-A-Ride. Do you think you can handle crowds long enough to ride in a caravan?"

Stone's Throw

[ofsilverflame]

"Pardon me." Chris approaches with her own meal. "Apologies, but there don't appear to be any other free tables. Would you mind terribly if I sat?" She nods to a seat. "I don't wish to be a bother."

There's a loud rumbling from outside, and she glances towards the windows. "Was that thunder? I thought the weather was quite tame out when I came in."

The screams of alarm that follow the rumbling however, suggest that not to be the case.

[markedfordeath]

She had been watching the woman approach even though her gaze was elsewhere. When the other woman spoke, Elza's attention slid over to regard her.

"Now that's rather courteous of you," Elza teasingly said in reply. Her gaze was assessing, but whatever the gunner was looking for mustn't have been found as she gave a slight nod. "Sit if you li--"

Elza's words drifted off at the sound from outside. The screams came after the rumble.

"Sounds like things are getting exciting out there." There was another rumble before the crash of the boulder shook the very foundation of the inn they resided in. "And they're about to get a lot livelier in here."

She stood up from her bench and moved around the table. Reaching out to grab the long rifle resting against the wall behind her, the gunner held it comfortably within the palm of her hand.

She walked to stand to the side of the woman. "I wouldn't stay around here for too long," Elza offered. She didn't know her, but this woman had been polite. It had been some time since she had been on the receiving end.

The panicked conversations around her went unnoticed as she glanced to those blue eyes. "Things are about to get more exciting in here too."

[ofsilverflame]

Chris' head turns sharply at the sound of the screaming. "Lively indeed." She says, putting the tray down on the table, her hunger forgotten. As the inn shakes violently around them, Chris puts a hand on the table to steady herself as the other woman retrieves...Chris' brow furrows. A...firearm? She's seen weapons like that used by Claire, though hers were much smaller.

"Stay in here? Not a chance, if the city's under attack." Chris agrees. "Are you new? Best stick with me in that case." The streets already sound like they're full of panicking; easy to get lost in the crowd and swept away. "Come on!"

She steps out onto the street just in time to see a boulder go hurtling over them, and the inn they just exited. A moment after it sails over the roof, there's a crash, suggesting it came to rest in the street behind them. Another is already being hurled, and as she expected, the street is quickly filling up with townsfolk trying to get away.

"We need to get these people to safety. That's going to be difficult by myself." She looks towards Elza, her expression serious. "Will you help?"

[markedfordeath]

Stick with her? Those words drew a silent chuckle from the gunner. So chivalrous. Such an innocent statement. If that hadn't have been said, Elza simply would have disappeared into the night. Whatever had caused those noises didn't have anything to do with her and she had no interest in helping out in any way... Usually anyway. So instead of retreating, the gunner calmly walked through the chaos as if she were walking through a crowded market place.

There were more boulders whistling as they flew overhead and crashed into the street behind the inn. Elza's gaze followed the path the Boulder came from while her chivalrous companion worried over the safety of those around her. She could estimate where the attack originated from but wouldn't be able to pinpoint the precise location without seeing another boulder fly.

"I can't say it's really in my skill set," Elza said with an easy smile. Any pain and suffering going on around them due to the boulder attacks didn't faze Elza in the slightest, and she didn't bother hiding that either.

stone's throw

[latkje]

[ Nash is, for once, minding his own business, contemplating what sort of ale he wants to drink, when he sees a flash of pale hair out of the corner of his eye.

He stops. She looks like—

Nah, couldn't be. It's been, what, fifteen years? And of course he heard about what happened, though he tried to stay out of Guild business and out of Guild books since the Zaj affair.

He realizes he's staring. She's probably noticed. Bad form, Latkje. ]

Sorry. You remind me of someone I used to know.

[ Which is honestly, not the worst line he's ever used. ]

[markedfordeath]

[The stare drew her gaze in Nash's direction. Elza's brows subtly furrowed. His features were familiar, the air around him too... But it was the voice that semi-confirmed that familiarity.

The voice had aged but their conversion in the forest hadn't been that long ago for Elza to forget. That youthful appearance had begun to slip away and the signs of age sending mixed symbols to her. How was that possible though? Perhaps the elder? But that seemed just as implausible hardly also.]

Heh, do I?

[Leaning back on the bench, the gunner's face turned casually to the side but her attention remained fixated on Nash. Her action purposefully drew attention to the long rifle resting in the shadows behind her. A test to see if her suspicions were correct.]

I could say the same but the man I knew wasn't fond of the game of tag we once played.

[latkje]

[ He didn't like to be this obvious; he was pretty sure staring like this will give him wrinkles. Or accentuate the wrinkles that were already there. But he couldn't help it. Nash didn't stay in the Guild long enough to be chosen by a gun, but he still knows their significance. That rifle.

He blinked. ]

Elza? But—

[ That's when the giant boulder crashed through the wall, and he had to jump out of the way. ]

[markedfordeath]

[Their little conversation was cut short by the giant boulder that came crashing through the wall. Her hand whipped out to snag the rifle behind her as she leapt away from the table.

The large rock came to settle on top of tables in the middle of the inn. There were cries of panic and pain from those who's been injured by the boulders landfall. Beyond that the chaos ensured as people scrambled to get outside to safety.

Elza moved with ease through the chaos. Her training could have allowed her to disappear in a blink of an eye but instead the gunner stopped and stood at the new door in the wall the boulder had created. She gave a brief glance back to Nash before her attention fixated in the direction that bolder would have come from.]

It seems that our paths would cross again, Master Latkje.

[It seemed inappropriate to add the 'young' any longer.

There were questions she wanted answers too, but they were answers she'd have to wait for. Whatever was happening right now, whatever had thrown that boulder, was not her problem to deal with. She didn't make it a habit of helping others. It simply wasn't in her nature.]

[latkje]

[ Somehow, not being called Young Master Latkje was just as insulting as the original title. ]

No, you were right before. I don't know anybody called that.

[ But of course, there was no time to contemplate his wounded pride. There wasn't even time the complicating factor of someone using his real last name, which he hadn't used on business in almost a decade.

Because Nash did want to stop whatever it was throwing boulders. And to do that, he had to figure out what was happening. He positioned himself on the other side of that door, following the line of her gaze. ]

Did you see where it came from?

[ He figured she was probably a better judge of aim than anyone else in the inn. He had been facing the wrong way. ]

[markedfordeath]

Alright then, Handsome.

[She's a gift that keeps on giving.

Elza didn't bother hiding her amusement. The subtle smirk she sent has way let him know that their conversation was far from over but she was tabling it for the time being.]

[Her gaze ran over the drag marks to the point of origin for the impact. Running the scenario through her mind, she traced the rock back to the approximate location it originated from.]

Well enough. I'm sure it won't take long for another to come this way.

[And she wasn't wrong. Moments later there was a telltale whistle on the air as another boulder appeared out of the darkness and sailed just over their heads to land on the other side of the inn.]

Care to make this interesting?