[Private] Hall of the Mountain King

[Capsule]

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∝:
1217

♪ ♫♪:
In the Hall of the Mountain King

✏:
Super spoopy

@:
kittygrey & Tobin

It was a chilly and dark night, but Capsule was out and about, her cloak wrapped around her shoulders. This was probably the first time in months that she had actually needed it. It was not just here, either; home at her castle in London was just as cool, especially at night near the river. There was pretty much no point in taking a dip in the pool, either, though Aranea, her Shield Mollusk, did not seem to mind. The oversized hermit crab was carrying on like nothing had happened, a fact that drove Meenah mad from time to time.

Capsule shuddered as she leaned against a tree for support. If someone were to see the woman and stop to question her, they would likely ask what she was even doing out here in the middle of the night? Why wasn't she camped out on a bed of hay in a nearby village's barn or something? Capsule would tell them that she would rather sleep on a stiff cot in a cheap inn. Barn hay was gross and smelly; she knew this all too well from experience, and could not stand to sleep on a pile of the stuff next to a pin of goats. Besides, there was still much she wanted to explore and fill out her map on while she was still in Avon.

Her only regret was not bringing Fiver with her. The little rabbit was good company, even if he was in danger of being squished or killed by much stronger monsters. He would surely get a kick out of all of the new plants, regardless of the nip in the air. But no - little Fiver was absolutely smitten with his mate, and could hardly be persuaded to leave her side. That left Dobby, her Golem Sentinel, and maybe even Duke, her little owl friend. Dobby was still sealed up in his trainer slot, but as a regular animal, Duke was free to do whatever. The little owl had, for once, decided to accompany her on her journey, though he often flew off to explore on his own. This was fine with Capsule, since he always came back to perch on the top of her staff.

The little owl was now snuggled up on her shoulder, his head peeking out from under her cloak. Capsule shivered as she pulled away from the lee side of the tree, back into the light breeze that had once been pleasant. Now it was becoming bitterly cold, thanks to nonstop exposure. It was oh so tempting to just use Call of Home and be zipped off back to the city of Londinium, but then she would be stuck suffering this all over again, and ugh. Capsule would prefer to fill up her auto map and go home afterwards. It was even better to do it now, before the winter months hit them hard. It was, according to rumors spread by a few Landers, already snowing on the Snowdonia Complex. There was no way she would feel inclined to map out anything once snow was falling all over the place, and may not even visit the Complex until she had something thicker and warmer than a cloak to hide under - or until summer, at least. It made perfect sense, though. Snowdonia was located up in the mountains, after all.

Little Archduke Franz Ferdinand gave a tiny hoot in her ear, which encouraged her to push on. She lifted her staff and tilted it slightly to the left, muttering a spell to summon her Magic Light. The little orb of light was still clad in one of those Halloween skins - Magic Pumpkin - already toggled on. Capsule lowered her staff and trudged on towards a steady light that bespoke of a village, the magic light hovering a few inches in front of her. Hopefully there would be an inn with room she could crash in for the night. If not… she might have to settle for sleeping in a barn or something. And while it was not a very pleasant prospect, it would at the very least be warm.

Capsule gave a weary sigh and an even wearier smile (if you could even call it that) as she slowed to a stop outside of a village sign post. The village's sign was in disrepair; the part where the name should have been appeared to have been scratched out, and the top of the post itself was tilted to the far left. It looked like it would fall if someone were to touch it. This was… literally a bad sign, and she probably should have turned away, but curiosity was starting to get the best of her. "Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back," she muttered to herself as she started to enter the village, only to be stopped a few steps later.

A man, haggard from what, she did not know, jumped out from behind a bush and waved at her to go away. Capsule wrinkled her brow in confusion. Was there something going on over there, or was he in the middle of committing a crime? "What are you doing-"

"It's not safe here anymore," the man rasped. "Especially not for children, but even if you are an adult, he'll… He'll… He'll stop you if you get in his way! This monster is incapable of-"

"Monster? Kids? Sir, are you drunk or something-"

"NO! Go back, you fool! It isn't safe! It's not even safe during the day! Our children… my daughter… They've all been taken… Never to be seen again." The man, prematurely grey and seemingly only a few years older than Capsule, stared at her with haunted, hollow eyes. As she watched, his eyes lit up with desperation, and he stumbled forward and seized her by the hands. "Wait... You are not one of us, are you? You’re an Adventurer! Perhaps… Perhaps you can bring back the village children, and my daughter… Oh God. What if they aren’t alive?! I haven’t seen Mathilda in weeks, and we don’t know what this being does with the children after he warps them out of the village… But… I mustn’t… I mustn’t give up hope."

Capsule wanted to shake the man off, but he had a tight grip on her hands. "What is this monster you keep going on about, and why do you need me-" She winced as the man squeezed harder.

"We’re powerless against him, you see! We die when we are killed, but not you lot! DON’T YOU SEE?! YOU’RE THE KEY!"

The poor Enchanter was very creeped out by now, and wanted nothing more than to shake this desperate bag of bones off. The harder she shook or pulled, though, the more he clung to her. ”Hey! Let me go! Cut it out right now!" The man, lost in his own pleas and yammering, did not let up. Duke was getting irritable, and under the magic light’s glow, Capsule could spot more and more silhouettes of disheartened parents coming out of their little shacks. Soon she would have a crowd of Landers begging with her to rescue their children, and unless someone stepped in to bring some sense to the mob, she would find herself utterly swarmed on all sides.

coded by benetnasch of ET

[kittygrey]

Night Exploration

The night was upon the land and it brought the cold air with it. It sent a chill up Ame's spine as she pulled her Kimono tighter around her. Why she had chosen to come to such a place she would never know, but she was here now and that was all that mattered. She found her nights had been sleepless recently and she couldn't bring herself to force herself to sleep at any given time, even filling her stomach wasn't enough. She had left her rabbit and Myobu Kitsune home, sleeping sound as she took a trip to a newer part of the world, one that had recently opened up to the adventurers of the land. She walked slowly, feeling exhaustion kick in. Of course the need to sleep would come to her now that she had decided to remove herself from her bed, but that was it, she was here, and she had to continue her trek. She felt her heavy legs picking themselves up and pounding themselves into the dirt as she wandered further towards the mountains. She checked her map, ever so often, to see the new area she was trudging on and let out a smirk as she closed her interface and continued on. There hadn't been a town yet that she had noticed and she figured she would be nearing one soon.

She sighed against the wind as it seemed to pick up, making the chills worse than before. She wished at that moment that she had heavier equipment. The full armed, turtle necked leather armor and the soft cloth Kimono just weren't doing the trick and she wondered if the area would become a snowy mess. She wondered if she could freeze and be frozen forever instead of dying and re- spawning back at the cathedral like adventurer's did. She wished that summer would come again and the hot sun would shine down on her skin, warming her, like it normally did, but, it seemed as though weather changes happened in this world as well. The thought made her think of her home world. Were they too, experiencing fall like it was here? Would children be hustling to find the best costume and getting ready for Halloween? Would parents be stocking up on treats and candy to hand out to those children? Would her family miss her during the season? Had Thanksgiving already passed? Would they be thankful that she wasn't there? She shook her head. "Of course not Ame, they love you." She smiled against the warm pounding of her heart as she spoke, wishing she could taste Mom's homemade treats one more time. She wondered if she would be able to recreate a thanksgiving feast and share it with the member's of her guild. Perhaps she could invite other adventurer's as well, to bask in her meal. She loved to cook, but she loved it more when she was able to share what she created with others. There was nothing like a full belly to feel at home.

Speaking of food, she opened her inventory. She still had some of the treats that she had made for other people, and was happy for them. She wondered if she would come across a starving adventurer, like she had once before, and would be able to share her food with them. She was an odd person like that, always thinking of others, but she had learned that she must think of herself as well, especially in times like these. She wondered if she should eat one of her hot sandwiches to warm her, but shook her head. "No, continue on. Perhaps you will come to a village soon." She looked at the road ahead, hopeful for a village. Perhaps she could allow herself some rest, as she was feeling quite tired, but she shook her head. Sleep wouldn't come, not now anyways. She closed her interface and continued on, up the mountain, hopeful for a place to stop and rest. She pondered stopping at an oncoming tree and letting her feet rest, but she shook her head and looked away from the spot as she passed it. She wouldn't rest, not with her mind racing to explore and find an adventure. Her mind was mentally exhausted, as was her body, but she couldn't stop it from racing. She didn't quite understand the feeling, but she had to continue, had to reach the next spot, had to continue her adventure even though the moon gave her thoughts of sleep and dreams.

As her mind came to a halt, so did her feet. She stared at an old, broken sign and tilted her head. She narrowed her eyes, trying to make out a name, but none could be found. The sign was unreadable and she prayed that she wasn't leading herself into a haunted town. She had had enough of ghosts and ghouls on her last raid and she wasn't willing to protrude on another quest like that for a long, long while, hopefully an eternity if she was being honest with herself. She sighed, wondering if she should turn around and find a different path, but she shook her head. 'There's no turning back now. You must not run away.' She nodded, letting out another sigh and headed past the sign, walking towards the town. When she finally came up to it, she saw a mob outside. She let out a sigh of relief and hung her head for a moment. 'Not abandoned, thankfully..' She took a few steps before her head shot up and she heard a girl yelling to be let go. She picked up her pace and found herself standing in front of the towns people, a man had a hold of an adventurer. She quickly skimmed the name, Capsule and the class, sorcerer as she ran up. "Hey! Let go of her!" Her voice called out as she slowed and she found herself withing a few feet of the group. She felt her hand reach out and grip the man's arm, a little tighter than she should have and he released her arm. As he did, she eyed him wearily. "What is the problem here?" She looked at the village people, letting the man's arm go and then turned her head towards the girl. "Are you alright?" Her eyes were filled with worry as she awaited the other adventurer's answer.

- Words -
1070

- Tags -
Capsule, Tobin

- Skills Used -
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- Notes -
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Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M
Modified by KittyGrey

[Tobin]

(OOC: I'm not affriad of no ghost! I AM THE BIGGEST HURRRRRR. Also, I will probably say that I am at leaast level 61 for this thread. If only so I can do fancy stage magic. spoonny. kittygrey Capsule)

WC: 1373

The night always had a wonderful ambience that made it unique when compared to the day, the fresh crisp of the early winter breeze carried a pleasant feel that the Dwarf had particularly liked back in the real world. There was a certain crisp aroma to the steady decay of leaves that felt warmth, yet the winds carried a sharp freshness, much like the truth, that served as a reminder of the dark days that came. Oh boy the nights would draw long, as long as the river Dee or just shorter than one of Saber’s monologs, and as dark as the pupil of your eye, though it would be in this period of darkness that the moon and stars would shine brightly; much like distant promises and possibilities for the future.

-I can’t look back, no, I can never go back.-

Tobin sighed as he drew his eyes away from the night sky, dismissed thoughts of home and focused his eyes back into the darkness. Rather stupidly the fellow had chosen to navigate by the moon, as it was bright tonight and the mushrooms required for an ingredient glowed brightly. As he had become a more experienced brewer the difference between brewing and pham seemed to decrease, to the point that the dwarf found that he could forfill both functions if he truly put his mind to it. Rumours of new ingredients in this long winding mountainous region had drawn interest and naturally the fellow wanted to explore Avon in its entirety. Along the river trees flourished, though they thinned the further upstream he and his boar got, the latter of which the Dwarf rode on as he trudged through the night towards the distant light, his sarroundings cast in a hue of monochrome moonlight.

The dwarf left the warm air leave him in a rush as the cloak was drawn tighter. Unlike him the boar was perfectly insulated with its thick craggy fur, so Toby had been glad he had persuaded the warmer fellow to come along with the promise of finding some mountain breathe to ‘interact’ with, though thankfully as of yet they hadn’t seen too much in the way of mobs. After burying his hands within the thick fur of the beast, the dwarf rubbed his warmed hands together as he started to gently sing, to pass the time.

"Something strange, in ta neck of these woods, who ya gonna cal-"

"Not you, ya daft runt snatcher. Snout it, I can smell 'n' hear somethin'- And for rutting sake, ya better give meh more then a first post camio Dwarf!"

"Look, tis not mah fault ta author rareh copes with more then one charactur. Giv' me a moment Gerald, you... Gerald you. I check et out."

"Wait, no, I didn't mean to insult ya sno-"

At that point the dwarf bolted off with a bound and a application of magnet grip he had disappeared in the foliage, trees shook as the dwarf slinked from tree to tree like a great big spider monkey as he followed the barely audible ambience of despair. As the distance closed and there were fewer trees to mask the noise he could hear the begging, a chorus of many voices conveying one simple message. My child, my child. WHERE IS MY CHILD PLEASE HELP US. It was only when the stocky fellow reached the outskirts of the village that the pace was slowed to a crawl. The squat fellow arched his eyebrow, now, Tobin might have been famous for his reckless activities, but even he felt slightly apprensive about tis humble mountain dwelling; additional reasons were given by the crowd gathered at the entrance to the village, two figures stood at the centre of that crowd.

-Right, not goin’ in the middle of tha’ with a little more intel-

The dwarf ducked close to the ground as he circled around the boarders and clambered up onto a thatch roof, it was then that he was able to observe the feverish focus of the crowd, an abnormally tall red-haired woman and a shorter, blond foxtail, both of whom he recognised immediately. What was less joyful was the landers that had mobbed the pair, gaunt, grey skinned, very much like something out of a horror movie. The ruffled his beard before he chuckled to himself as he balled his hand into a fist, a focus for his ki.

-Hmm, tis doesn’t look good, guess I will need to pacify them with a bit of stage magic.-

"My body is iron, hard and unyeilding."

It was just a horse whisper, barely audible, yet the dwarf had chosen to send the message to each lander and adventurers so that within the back of their minds, the gentlest whisper teased the curiosity, those most observant now observed the ghostly white glow from the amist of multed browns, that grew stronger with every passing sentence, then came the bellow, a thunderous roar delivered from the billows of lungs

"MY VOICE, IS THE ROARING WIND OF THE NORTHEN MOUNTAINS,

With that the Fist of Boreas was released fully charged, the winds picked up as the full fury of the snow storm erupted from the trees above, the wind itself amplified his voice many times as the air itself seemed to freeze at the command of the hidden being, the night's entire sky above them bloated out with a white haze as the cold air rushed downwards a mist that whipped around the spectators below., sucking the warmth out of the air their lungs. The power was directed above them as not to inflict damage, though the magic was intended to terrify those below of the speakers supernatural nature.

"And my soul is fire, FOR MAH PASSION AND FURY IS AN INFERNO."

The figure hurdled out of the air, clad in flame as the slivery air was parted in a fireball the squat figure landed between the laddies and the crowd thunderous crash that spilt the rended the silence of the night, in this area at least immense warmth can be felt as the animation of fire died around the Dwarf and he rose. The -Wyvern Kick- had boiled the cold air around him that caused it to shimmer in an artificial heatwave. The Dwarfs last sentence was spoken in a hushed whisper, though by now, they had likely been scared into silence.

"'n' Lik' ta earth, I hav' heard your voices for an eternity, but now like ta earthquiver I shall talk and ye will listen ta I, Tobin Stryder."

The Dwarf allowed the silence to hang few moments as the crowded was eyed with his piercing blue orbs, would someone cut in? The dwarf’s silence was only broken by a distinctive rumble that started from the chest, up in his throat and rumbled out of his lips in a roaring laughter as he brought his hands together in a clap, it had been some time since the dwarf had such a dynamic entry!

-How long I have wished to make a cool entrance like this. <3-

Then, after laughter subsided the fellow gestured to the crowd with a sweeping hand gesture, now a tad more serious in nature. They seemed weird, but surely now they would listen to reason?

"Now I got ya attention, I know ye be wantin' a bite from da finest pur of apples in tis land, but my dear fellas tis 'ard ta sort ya inquiries when ya speakin' so loud, so could someone froam 'ere actulleh tell these fine laddies wut the feck is goin' on 'ere?"

The Dwarf then turned his fellow breifly to look both Kitty and Cap in the eye, though he could ill afford to keep his whole attention directed away from the crowd.

"Grasshopper, we realleh gotta stop meanin' lik' tis. Oh ‘n’ bloody ‘ell fa gewds sake ladeh put some more clothes on. And howdiedo Cap! Ya well?"

Meanwhile the noble Swagtusk finally caught up, the fellow once again cursing in his native tongue about having the narrator leave him out for the majority of this post. Such 4th wall violations. Wow. That being said, the big fellow was the closest thing one could get to a walking radiator.

[Capsule]

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∝:
1529

♪♫♪:
Young Aren't Young

✏:
So much green

@:
kittygrey & Tobin

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Being caught in the middle of an indifferent crowd of people was bad for Capsule, and she tried to avoid them when possible. Being the center of attention in the middle of a crowd, however, was downright horrifying to the redhead. She was honestly starting to get afraid. Sure, her level was up there in the low seventies, but there a lot of Landers, and they seemed just as likely to beat her to death as they were to ask for help. She was close to lifting her staff and brandishing it wildly in the air, but the crowd was starting to get too thick to provide her the proper room, and the man was still clinging to her arm. In other words, she was stuck, and had a certain blonde haired fox tail not stepped up to help, things might have gone worse for this Enchanter.

The fox tail, a Cleric by the name of Kittygrey, had seized the distraught Lander by the arm and forced him to release Capsule. With the addition of the other woman, the Landers seemed to calm down a bit - or at least long enough to allow Capsule time to catch her breath and come to her senses. Jesus tap dancing Christ. One crazy was enough and easy to deal with, but a whole village was way too much for her. Why the hell couldn't they just put up an ad, or approach people with some sense of decorum? Going about business this way would just scare away potential helpers.

Capsule, with one hand placed over her heart, sighed and slowly lowered her arm down to her side, her other hand clenching her staff with such force that her knuckles were a shade paler than the rest of her skin. ”I- I'm fine," she rasped out.

The grabby Lander, on the other hand, clearly was not. "My daughter… Please… We just need your help… You Adventurers are like undying gods! You… You must help us…" His eyes teemed with tears. "I didn't mean to frighten you - none of us did! You may not have children of your own, but surely you understand how it feels to lose someone close to you? This isn't your world, after all." The Landers around them slowly nodded, their faces and eyes equally moist and filled with despair.

Those same Landers, moments later, shrieked and scattered as a small, stout figure suddenly came barreling down. Capsule gave a soft yelp and neatly hopped back, afraid that the monster these people spoke of was showing its face. The ground lightly shook beneath her feet as the figure - a man, by the look of the beard attached to his face - landed near them. Given the fact that he lacked any fur, wolfish ears or foxy tails, Capsule assumed it was likely a dwarf or a short human.

One of the Landers clapped his hands in… was that glee? ”Oh, what fortune," the man called out in delight. ”Another brave and strong Adventurer to take up our cause! And he's quite the looker, too." The man said the last statement quieter, though it was still easy to pick up for anyone who actually paid him any attention. The man, young in age and curly browned of hair, gave Tobin a sly wink and lightly puckered his lips. Capsule did not know which was stranger - the man's obvious attraction to dwarfs, or his not so subtle flirting among a group of desperate Landers. Seriously. Where was his sense of decency? ”I like your boar, by the way -"

”Enough, Nathaniel," a much older Lander woman called out from the back. Nathanial just pouted, and made a "call me" gesture at Tobin.

Meanwhile, while the Landers were somewhat arguing among themselves, Capsule casually scooted closer to Tobin and Kitty. She had remembered a saying she had learned long ago as a child - "there's safety in numbers." ”Hi, Tobin," she said as quietly as she could. ”These people are insane! They just ganged up on me, going on and on about missing children and monsters!" It was way too freaky, and like something you would expect to see in a horror movie.

While Cap was talking, the old Lander woman had stepped forward to speak up on behalf of the village. She waited until Capsule was done whispering, and in a much stronger voice than she had used before, spoke. ”As one of the village elders, I apologize on for the behavior of our young ones. As you may have heard from Samuel, many of the village children have been disappearing as of late. Any attempts to find them has ended in futility, or with the seekers being gravely injured in turn. Some of them have even been found dead, their corpses mangled beyond recognition." Okay, now this really was starting to sound like a horror novel.

Capsule absentmindedly reached down to pet the Iron Tusked Gerald she assumed to be Tobin's pet. "What's this about a monster, though-"

The old woman cut her off with a wave of her hand. ”No questions right now, child. Speak when spoken to." Capsule wrinkled her nose in agitation at the old bat. ”This phenomena began many years ago, when a few children, myself included, caught glimpses of a very tall and slender man near the miasma that taints Warwick castle. We were young and foolish, and despite the Warden's and village elders' warnings, strayed a little too close to the area. We did not get close enough to be tainted, mind you, but something saw us, and we believe it followed us home. Since then, the Slender Man, as we children grew to call him, has stalked the villages that line the river. He has stayed in the forests, frequently invading cabins and small houses for shelter, but was not much of a nuisance."

She paused for a moment to catch her breath, and then launched back into her story. ”The disappearances began the following summer… One of the children found a strange piece of parchment pinned to a tree. It bore a crudely written note, one that simply said 'follows,' and depicted a tall figure in a suit. The child brought the note home to show to his friends and parents. His mother and father thought it was rubbish, but we children… we knew that something was odd.

We were proven right when the boy went back into the forest, with the intent to find more of these notes. He thought it was a game, you see, and maybe it was. He came home almost a week later, dizzy, disoriented, and leaking great amounts of blood from his nose. He suffered several seizures and was never right in the head again - he only went on and on about notes, the lack of eyes, and the forceful teleportation he endured. The boy hung himself a few days later, but not without covering his room - floors and walls included - with depictions of a black suited figure with pale skin, no eyes or mouth, and additional appendages that resembled tentacles."

Slender Man. That was an internet thing. What sick game developer thought that putting it in the game was such a great idea?! "And… you think that this Slender man is the one that took the children?"

”I don't think, child. I know. That boy was not the only one who suffered. A few more children fell prey to the Slender Man over the years, notably those who knew the boy or were good friends with him. Some of them returned home, and suffered a series of mental problems, but grew up to forget the monster in their adult years. Yet, they felt somehow compelled to scare their own children with the thought of a boogeyman living in the woods, once who came to collect misbehaving children.

Recently, however, it seems that the Slender Man has taken a greater shine to the village, and the disappearances have become so common that our children were placed in grave danger. Some of our villagers have even moved or shipped their young ones off to the city, where they are sure to be safe. Those were the lucky ones, I'm afraid."

The old woman sighed as she took out a canteen and swallowed a few sips. ”We know not of what happened to the children whose bodies we did not find, and lack the power to deal with the monster on our own. Just getting close to him causes severe headaches and nosebleeds, from what the survivors told us. This is why we need you Adventurers to go after him, free the children… and kill him, if you can." The old woman turned her head to look each Adventurer in the eye.

Capsule felt a chill run down her spine when the old woman locked eyes with her. She felt glued to the spot, and could not even flick her eyes in another direction. ”I'll help," she suddenly blurted out. Why she had felt the need to do so, she could not say. Perhaps she was just as crazy as the villagers.

coded by benetnasch of ET

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[kittygrey]

Terror at it's Finest!

This was turning out to be one strange night and Ame hoped that it wouldn't get any more strange. Oh yes, she hoped, but that hope would slowly diminish as the scene before her progressed. She kept her eyes on the read head, Capsule, and watched her as she grasped for her chest, tthen let her hand go. Her staff hand was white from her grip and she felt herself sigh. The poor girl had been scared and with every right. These people, this village, they were all strange. It seemed like they were going through a calamity, the way that they were all staring at the two adventurers. Her ears twitched and her tail was trying to force itself through her legs, but she wouldn't let it through. She wouldn't seem afraid, even though the scene did make her want to shiver. It was only when the man who had been gripping the enchantress tight, that she realized the village was in need of some serious help. She felt her brow raise at his words. 'Undying gods? Well, we re- spawn and continue to live, but we aren't undying..' She supposed that, to the People of the Land, that was undying, but still, it wasn't proper. When you experienced death, you experienced it and the remembered it! Not that she had died or anything, she'd been stabbed, which really hurt and everything she thought of it her ribs hurt, but even still, she had heard stories. If only the Landers, wait, no, scratch that thought. She was glad the Landers didn't have to go through that. Her next thought was, 'His daughter, other children, understanding what it meant to lose someone?' She felt like she was missing a large part of this story, having arrived, clearly, after it had been told. She was going to ask, she really was, but an interruption came from behind them.

The dwarf character came in like a free- tailed bat in flight, her only warning that he was coming,being the soft whisper that sent a slight chill down her back, not thinking that it was Tobin's voice doing the talking. She followed the enchantress and took a swift step back. She tilted her head, then shook it and finally let out a small laugh. "Mentor? It's not my fault you're pop-" ping up all over the place lately, is what she would have said if she was able to finish. Instead, a young villager clapped and began fangirling all over poor Tobin. She raised her brow at the boy as he spoke and made many gestures towards the dwarf. She felt her head tilt with his words and her face was a wide look of confusion. 'Universe, if you can hear me, please, please don't let this place get any weirder than it already is!' Yeah, fat chance kitty, is what the universe should have said back, but it said nothing, nothing at all. She had to wait. She waited and an elderly villager stepped in, telling the boy to stop. At this point, Capsule shuffled her way over to the two adventurers and spoke to Tobin, quietly. "Mhmm!" Ame nodded as if to back her up but then her eyes widened. 'Wait! So now there's children and monsters?!' She sighed lightly and shook her head. For some reason, she felt a massive headache coming on. This night couldn't get any worse, could it? COULD IT?!

It did. The elderly woman, who spoke as the village elder, began her story. So, then the children were disappearing and people going out to look for them were brought back injured, or.. mangled to death?! She jumped at the sound of Capsule's voice beside her, but shook it off quickly, her eyes narrowing on the village elder as she told Capsule to speak when spoken too. 'You're the one who needs help yet, your basically telling the people who are able to help to shut up? Right..' She shook her head, looking at Capsule to see her wrinkle her nose. Ame looked back to the elder as she spoke, listening deep into her story. Her head tilted at some parts and pushed itself back at others. "He.. hung himself." She made an awkward face and put her hand to her mouth, mumbling a quick "sorry," before the village elder could scold her and hopefully she was feeling nice enough to not. Ame hated to be scolded, though she was too nice to scold back. She probably would just bow her head in another desperate apology. Wait.. Wait! Hold the phone.. Going back two paragraphs ago.. Did she say Slender Man, or was Ame hearing things? She hoped she was, oh, please have her just hearing things. Of course, it didn't turn out the way she wanted it and Capsule was the one who said it this time. Yeah, awesome, going up against Slender Man, great idea.. GREAT IDEA! Who made this game? Seriously? She wanted to kill them at this point. Not that she wasn't super happy with her life here, but, still, Slender Man?! Come on.. The world just couldn't stop messing with her, could it?

As the Elder's tale came to an end, her mind raced. 'Couldn't even beat him in the actual game, how do you beat him in this one? No way, I'm not doing it! I'm going to turn my ass right around and run as fast as I can in the other direction... But before I do, I'm going to give that Elder lady a piece of my mind! Yeah!' She pumped herself up mentally for her grand exit, until the woman's eyes stared into hers. Ame parted her lips and let out a soft, "I will as well." Her mind instantly kicked in. 'Yeah, that's right Ame! You tell her! Wait.. WAIT! WHAT? Did- Did you just agree?!' Her subconscious wanted to deck her out, punch her clear in the face and break her own nose. It was the conscious part of Ame that wanted to go, wanted to be apart of the adventure, wanted to help these people. There children were missing and who knows what was happening to them at that moment. She didn't care if the other part of her was afraid, she wanted to look her fears in the eyes, well, I guess not in this situation, but definitely in the face! Yeah! Wait, were you even allowed to look him in the face? Why was she drawing a blank now? This was important! Well, not so much for the metaphor, but really. She looked to the Elder and stepped forward slightly. "Do you have any advice for us?" She wondered really what the old woman could tell them that would be helpful, but at this point, she was surprised to find herself even the slightest bit hopeful, because frankly, strange went to weird, weird went to really weird and it was a downward spiral from there ending in terror and possibly death, by Slender Man!

- Words -
1172

- Tags -
Capsule, Tobin

- Skills Used -
---

- Notes -
So much green is right XD Also..
It had to be Slender Man riiight?!

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M
Modified by KittyGrey

[Tobin]

(OOC: I find it hard to write spoopy, though I imagine the true terror will begin when we start interacting with the slander man. XD Sorry for not pushing the ball along. Capsule kittygrey)

WC: 148

Well, first of all the dwarf was confronted by a lot of things that his mind couldn’t quite comprehend. Of course his huge dramatic entrance had drawn attention and scattered the mob, though in all honesty the addition of Kitty probably could have settled the situation without him bounding in like a hyperactive gerbil. However, one bit of attention the immensely masculine dwarf hadn’t expected to receive was from the village people. More precisely, a village person that had taken a fancy to the fellow, not that he was aware of that immediately.

“Ahahahah! Yes I am, I can squeeze ta water juice oat oaf a golem, width mah bare hands.” As if to demonstrate the point dwarf began to flex his arm as he initially enjoyed the attention, at least until he started puckering up at that point the dwarf froze mid pose, as he gave a startled blank stare as the blood drained from his face. For a change, words didn’t come easy, the horror! “Wait wat? I must be mist-”

“Tobin, he wants to pork ya a daft sod. Give ya a big, meaty sass-”

“Shut up swagtusk!”

The boar gave a shiver and a snort of irritation, though for most part enjoyed the petting with a sigh. For once the Dwarf was glad for the interruption from this “romantic” interaction. Though the Dwarf had experimented with some things and pretended to be many more in this life, even the stocky fellow preferred his meat well done! And dead. A slight nod accompanied the enchanter filling him in, the dwarf having already set himself to stand between the ladies and the crowd, though due to his absence of height even Kitty could see clearly over his frame. Then his gaze turned back to the landers, a simple nod given from his head as his hands combed through his rough, wavy hair.

“Aye pleas’ do ladeh, I need ta know wha’ tis is we be trackin’."

The tale was as long as any monolog given, yet despite finding most such tales twobble, trubish even, the dwarf found his attention hung up on every little detail of what was but a curious fable back in the previous world, his expression set in stone throughout the entire explanation. Perhaps it because the tales were real, that everything that was once considered fantasy was now a reality that made them more compelling. The dwarf especially turned a shade more pale at the detailing of the mental effects, for there was one fact one personal secret that he hadn’t shared with anyone in this brave new world. Gavin had actually been diagnoised with. It hung in his mind like a cloud of unbridled emotion, uncoordinated thoughts that he dammed with reason, A primal discord that he had kept largely in check, as such the idea that anything could mess with that delicate internal balance sent a cold spike of terror in his mind. Perhaps it was somewhat ironic that the fellow behind the identity of the crazy Dwarf was actually crazy himself. Strange that.

-My body is immortal, but I’m fairly certain my mind isn’t. One wrong trip, and my mind is gone. Thats... A terrifying thought.- A brief frown crossed his features as a slight shiver in his left hand was repressed, already he felt petrified of this being. -Gah, it’s enough to put the shivers in me. But I must be strong enough to deal with that, tis not as if I will be fightin’ the creature alone, but then- The dwarf didn’t look back as he folded his arms before his chest, repressing the doubt –What would they think of me?- That concerned thought was pushed back into the depths of his mind with a slight, barely audible chuckle. Laughing had always been the defence mechanism against challenges he couldn’t answer, tonight was going to be a rough night.

Naturally the tales were told onwards, about how this malicious being tormented the community got under the Dwarf’s skin, after all there was no logical reason for doing what it did. Unlike most mobs there was no reason for it to do what it did, it didn’t eat or behave in a manner most predatory monsters would but rather by the sound of the tales simply tortured landers for its morbid amusement by taking their children, and breaking the minds of the adults that would inevitably follow. That inspired a cold fury in the belly of the dwarf; it seemed inconceivable that any sentient creature could get joy from torture like this.

As such, when it ended the dwarf’s answer was obvious; as both of his comrades had agreed simply the squat fellow felt an immense pressure fall upon him, even as the woman locked eyes with him. The dwarf blew air out of his lungs in a slow sigh as he gestured with a wave of his hand, his mind was already set. These people needed hope from this most terrible of torments that these adventurers would have to provide.

-Well, I need to be brave, otherwise, who would? Cap seems capable enough, but I'm not sure whether Kit could handle it. Never seen her in the field.-

“Let me tell ya somethin’ ladeh, maneh of us hav’ faced maneh things in tis life, monster tha’ slept in ta depths of ta swamp ta colossus’s tat rival the mountains. Do ya think I feared them?” The dwarf paused momentarily, the fire swelled within him fuelled by the billows of his lungs. “Perhaps I did once, but I killed them width mah hand’s ‘n’ I hav’ yet ta find a monster tha’ I couldn’t do ta same to. I wouldn’t consider myself an adventurer if I didn’t confront tis one, aftar all, how could I liv’ with a child snatcher out ther’?”

The Dwarf’s speech was as much as himself as a motivation for others, his head briefly rolled away to gaze at the sky as he shifted from foot to foot, his gaze flicked to Cap and Kitty as he did so, yes, with them, perhaps fighting this thing might be actually possible. There was no room for despair in his frame, there couldn’t be.

-I wouldn’t want this for anyone else.-

“Fine, guess we ‘re all goin’ ta find tis slandarman and mak’ him show us where ta children are kept, oar at very least I'll break ta bastard ta give ta cold comfort of revenge. Tis just 'nother monster to overcome.”

Yes, the dwarf knew full well that it wasn't going to be as simple as that but he had to be the confident jock ,otherwise his uncertainty would wear upon the other adventurers who knew him to be unflinchingly headstrong. His hand flicked across his interphase as the fellowship invite was sent to the Capsule and Kitty, though as he glanced at her level a slight frown crossed his forehead as he noticed her level, accompanied by his gaze turning to meet hers and a raised eyebrow, followed by a shrug. Surely she had been much less experienced when he had first met her? “Cricky lassie, wha’ ya be doin’ ta get tha’ pumped.” Before mind turned to matters his blue gaze turned back to meet the old lady, though he had one more statement to ask after the foxtails’ question, his face a malted flame under the hue of the moon and the orange of the torchlight.

“Where about’s was it last seen?”

[Capsule]

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[attr="class","benetbar"]

∝:
1073

♪♫♪:
Rex Duodecim Angelus

✏:
Let's get this party started.

@:
kittygrey & Tobin

[attr="class","scrotum"]

The old woman's story was downright eerie and worrisome, but Capsule did not regret her decision to help - yet. Her only concern at the moment was whether she would have back up, or if she were to go in alone and undertake the task of finding this Slender Man and the missing children. If she had to do it by herself, she might end up fleeing the area altogether, and taking refuge in her home like a cowardly lion. There was just no way she had the courage to face up against a monster of this caliber - one that could warp people, give them nose bleeds just from close proximity, and was super spoopy - er, spooky - to boot?

Capsule casted nervous glances at Kitty and Tobin. She did not wish to pressure the two of them into joining up with her if they did not want to. Hell, she did not know if she herself could persuaded, had she found herself in their shoes. None of the three Adventurers owed the villagers anything. If they could not protect their own children or home, was that not their fault? Having to ask for outside help was a weakness, though when you were already weak… Capsule sighed and lowered her head. The cold air was starting to settle in, now that she wasn't moving anymore. Duke withdrew further into the shelter offered by her cloak.

The little owl gave an annoyed hoot as Capsule suddenly turned her upper body around to fully face Kitty, who had just spoken up and offered to help as well. The Enchanter could feel relief and gratitude flooding through her body, as well as a bit of disappointment. Part of her was actually wishing that Kitty and Tobin would say no, so that she could Call of Home the neep out of here. Yet, the other part was immensely glad for the extra hand. She would not be alone! The fact that Tobin also offered to come along was even dandier! There was just absolutely no way she could have done this on her own, not without a great deal of courage.

”Thank you Kitty, and Tobin, too." She found Tobin's little speech to be uplifting and hopeful. Maybe the villagers were wrong about this Slender Man. Maybe those incidents with the nose bleeds, or even the notes the first boy had found, were all falsified by an imaginative and troubled young lad, which then spiraled into a mass of village superstitions after the boy's suicide. That's how things went when they were passed via word of mouth; facts were skewed or embellished. Yep. This "Slender Man" would just turn out to be some eccentric hermit… right?

She accepted Tobin's party request with a finger that trembled from the cold, and then tucked her hand back into the warmth of her pocket. Kitty and Tobin had went ahead and asked something that she herself was too brash to think of moments ago: advice on how to deal with this village boogeyman, and its last known whereabouts. Capsule listened with rapt attention as the village elder launched into another lengthy monologue.

”The Slender Man was last seen lurking about the village border, around the same time this night. That's when he typically comes out, but he has been seen near the river during the day, too. We have no idea if this monster even needs to rest, but asides from the village, he has been known to stalk abandoned or empty cabins, bridges, and especially the forest that surrounds this area. Travelers coming from Stratford Upon Avon have claimed to see him watching them from the trees." The old woman paused to regard each of the Adventurers with stern, hollow eyes. ”However, you seem to have an easier time allowing him to come to you, rather than looking for him directly. To this day, notes, whether or not he has something to with them himself, can be found on trees, within or outside of structures, bearing warnings."

Capsule shifted around uncomfortably. The old woman had mentioned this earlier, when speaking of the first dead boy. ”The notes have phrases such as 'FOLLOWS,' 'CAN'T RUN,' 'HELP ME,' 'DON'T LOOK… OR IT TAKES YOU,' 'ALWAYS WATCHES. NO EYES,' LEAVE ME ALONE,' and 'NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!'" The old woman suddenly broke out into a violet coughing fit. A steady trickle of blood ran down her nose.

Soft cries and the sounds of feet nervously shuffling the ground followed. Some of the Landers had their mouths open in horror, others were covering their eyes, and one was pointing a shaking finger somewhere behind Kitty. Capsule could feel Duke digging his talons deeper into her shoulder as she spun around. ”DON'T LOOK OR IT TAKES YOU! DON'T LOOK OR IT TAKES YOU! DON'T LOOK OR IT TAKES YOU!" The old woman was screeching now, her eyes wide and white as she blindly pointed at a tall and slender figure, standing unflinchingly by the village sign post.

The air around the figure seemed to distort for a second, and then it was gone. There was no sign of movement - the black clad man just vanished from sight. Capsule took several steps back, towards the Landers, her eyes wide in horror. She wiped absentmindedly at the back of her nose, which was slightly dripping. Oh god. This was really happening, wasn't it. She looked to her party mates with wild eyes. ”Did you guys see that?" He had only been there for a second, but she was sure she had seen him - the Slender Man.

”YOU SAW! SHE SAW! NOW HE WILL NEVER BE SATISFIED UNTIL HE HAS YOU!" The village elder was now beside her with hysteria. ”GET OUT! GET OUT BEFORE YOU BRING HIM BACK! LEAVE US!" One of the Landers tried to calm her down, but she only continued her screeching and pointing.

Capsule shuffled back and away from the madwoman, who was swiping her hands in the air, as though to reach out and slap the Enchanter. The last thing she wanted to do was leave the relative safety of the village, but what choice did she have? The villagers looked ready to toss her out themselves. ”C-come on, you guys," she feebly said as she edged her way back. She avoided getting too close the sign post, though.

coded by benetnasch of ET

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[newclass=.scrotum ::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb]background-color:#033036;border-left:1px solid #00393d;border-top:1px solid #00393d;border-bottom:1px solid #00393d;[/newclass]

[kittygrey]

The First Note

If Ame had been drinking anything, the townspeople would be soaked with Tobin's comment. She let out a soft chuckle, but it was all she could manage since she really wasn't in the mood to deal with being yelled at by the village elder. She waited patiently, listening as the elderly woman explained where the Slender Man could be found, though Ame felt her head tilt as she said that they should allow him to come to them, as it would be easier? What did she mean. Her eyes looked at a villager beside her, his finger pointing outwards and she turned her head slowly, seeing the familiar man in the black suit, his face white, bearing no features. She felt her breath escape her body as she gasped out for air. She looked towards the villagers, and the elderly woman who was now screaming at them. She took a few steps back and looked towards Tobin. 'This isn't happening, right? Nope, it's just a silly game, play it like it is, but..' Her mind stopped and she felt frozen as she remembered one small detail, that suddenly turned into a large one and she looked at Tobin. "You didn't, happen to finish the game, did you?" She felt her breath come back, but now it was heavy, the air she blew out surrounding her face with a white fog with every exhale.

Ame accepted the party invite and turned from the villagers, looking back only to speak to Tobin. "We.. should go. We need to finish this.." Her voice wavered with nerves as she walked forward, picking up her feet and skimming the road as she walked. She would remain silent unless Tobin spoke to her, in which case, she would definitely speak back but she kept her eyes open. She swallowed hard as they came up to a tree with a white piece of paper planted on it. Was the mission the same? Find all eight letters to beat the game? No, because now they had to find the children, whether they were dead or alive.. the thought made her sigh and she breathed in deeply. She threaded carefully, her eyes constantly flashing around the area. He was there, watching them. She could feel his gaze, even though the creature had no eyes. He was lurking somewhere in the distance and she could feel it. She licked her dry lips as she came up closer to the tree, seeing the first note. There was a drawing of an 'X' in the top right corner, and a rather creepy looking stick figure with lengthy arms on the bottom. The note read; "DON'T LOOK... OR IT TAKES YOU," the same line that the villagers had been yelling as they left them behind. She blew out a deep breath and grabbed onto the bottom of the note. "I never beat the game, Tobin. But, I wonder..." She ripped the note off of the tree, not able to finish her thought for the moment. She felt herself feel shaky and she wanted to lower her head, but in the game, lowering your head meant death, and she didn't want to die, not by the Slender Man.

She stuffed the note into her inventory and turned to look at Tobin. She let out a gasp and fell against the tree. About 50 meters away, off in the far distance, she saw him. The white face wrang out like a bell in the midst of the darkness. She felt her hands gripping the trees, looking over Tobin's head. She stared as long as she could and then closed her eyes for a second before she forced herself to blink. When the flash of darkness was over, he was no longer there. She shook her head and stepped away from the tree, then looked down to Tobin. "It's time to move. He's still far out.. I have a feeling the notes will lead us right to the children.. And him.." She shifted her eyes to the road again and turned towards it, skimming the land. She breathed deep and took her first step forward. "Let's get moving. The faster we find the notes, the faster we find the children and get the hell out of here." That was the only thing she could think about, was getting this mission over with and high tailing it back to London, where she knew she was safe.

- Words -
739

- Tags -
Capsule, Tobin

- Skills Used -
---

- Notes -
So, I'm still going to tag her.. in case she returns and wants to continue.. that is all XD

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M
Modified by KittyGrey

[Tobin]

(OOC: It’s important to stress that Dwarf doesn’t quite understand how big a threat slender fellow is. Though even though he stresses talks about fighting the fellow, tis a load of empty talk from a fellow who thinks he’s seen it all. kittygrey

Feel free to make your reply a short one, I will make another longish one about finding the next note. Tis post is just all about getting the correct mood, and I spent too much WC focusing on getting that vibance, so feel free to keep your next one short and I'll pick up the slack in the next! I wish you were here Capsule! WE MISS YOU!)

WC: 1331 Spoopy meter: 5%

The tales of the old lady continued to build the dwarf’s intrigue in the situation, after all though he didn’t entirely appreciate the threat that this super natural being had. After all, adventures were different from landers in that they had the possibility for another chance, death was a mere inconvenience. Rumours easily built up over the course of many years, over three or four generations as the case were, thus Tobin felt no particular need to feel that concerned about a singular mob. It was only when the

“Lady? Ya o-“

Then the shrieking be gain, the dwarf jerked his head back to see it. For a brief moment the figure seemed nothing more than a suited person, without a face and with long arms, but none the less the person. That in itself was nothing unusual,

Then, it came.

A sharp blade of shrieking sound that erupted from within, the corners of his vision distorted like static as this foreign penetration entered his consciousness. With a jerk his gaze was torn from the spectre, the first conscious visualisation was that of the faint green hue and browns of the ground, a flick up of his gaze saw the forest as though the figure had never been there. Yet, as Tobin attempted to form words nothing came out but a wordless snarl; realisation that his jaw had locked soon followed. The Dwarf had collapsed onto one knee, one hand clutching at his forehead, the sharp pinpricks of stubby nails drew sharply, the other supported his weight, though it clearly shuddered as his emotions surged unchecked, the soft grinding of tooth the sole sign.

-Stop-

With effort the Dwarf hit himself once, immediately the pain relieved the fear in his heart, the sharp pain subsided to a soft migraine. “neepin’ bastard.” A soft rasp of irritated air blew out of the dwarfs dry lips as he rose and flicked away the coppery wet that had gathered under his nose with a snort. “I didn’t just see ‘im, I felt ‘im. Think a little magik tis enough ta scare me? Feck ya pinhead.” Did anyone see that? Tobin hoped not, for a moment the barrier that he had always bore had faltered though his response was immediate dismissal, the creature had merely taken him by surprise. Tis was just a simple trick, a mind trick. The bubby voice of Ame pierced his consciousness, though initially she was rewarded with only a blank stare that lasted for two, long seconds.

“Game?” The dwarf paused; an eye brow quaked up as he glanced up blankly into the blond woman’s features and examined her expression intensely in the faint light of the village, perhaps on another day he might have had some pun or blunt sentence to reassure Ame, but she seemed distant as did capsule, as was the crowd, as though all the sounds were foreign, then a flicker of recognition sparkled in his eye and he blinked. “Oh, tha’ one. Well-“ for a moment there was silence as his mouth hung open, the issue was that the Dwarf hadn’t played this horror game, and generally he avoided them like the plague. There was something about the unknown, the spirit world, the sudden music that deeply unsettled him, he preferred his action straight up, honest. Tob suddenly became aware of his silence and swallowed loudly, a gentle rumble tainted with a slight unease, though the admittance of weakness was a rare luxury that the dwarf ill afforded himself. ”Well I never got ‘round ta finishin’ tha’ one.” Was the muttered, unconvincing response that he bore.

As the party left, the dwarf found that he had trailed behind Ame ever so slightly, the adventures forming a rough triangle with the lass taking point. His gaze was almost permanently fixed left as the dwarf lit the bull’s-eye lantern, the light proved an pleasing companion, no longer did he trust his nighteye to discern the creatures from the shadows. Truth be told despite the unease at the back of his mind there was little doubt for what he had to do. He sincerely doubted that the children were still alive, but such an evil creature couldn’t be allowed the respite to continue its unfathomable acts of terror, this needed to end now.

After some time, the dwarf felt the desire to pierce the silence that had surrounded them to, no longer content to allow just their breath to converse. With a deep breath, the fellow chanced a quick glance to the right before he extended an arm and slapped her right on her lower back lightly, the scream he imagined that would follow sent a big chuckle rumbling through his body.

“Stop breathin’ heaveh like tha’ lassie, ya startin’ ta get me excited.” The throatily laugh seemed to echo into a forest, a unspoken challenge that remained unanswered by the shadows. This was the Tobin the ladies knew, each breath was deep and slow as the bulk of his cloak hid his shape from the neck down. For now at least it seemed that the stocky fellow had after the initial shock as he started to entertain casual conversation, the small beam of his bulleye lantern that scanned left sliced through the darkness like a knife, though the concentrated beam rarely seemed to cover enough area to make any of the party feel entirely at ease. “So, tis been a month, how ya be doin’ since then?” “‘n’ ya self cappie? not seen ya since ta weddin’.”

It was then that the small party had encountered the first notice and the eyebrow at it’s scribbled contents before it was stowed away. There was a quant flicker of the eyebrow as he waited an explanation, only one didn't come, instead her gaze was fixated on something else, her pupils dilated in terror. Something distant, yet by the time Tobin had turned only trees and shadows remained, as his gaze flicked back as he reached up and grasped her nose, both to get her attention and to prevent the blood from getting over her attire. His voice was a soft growl as he spoke harshly and swiftly, for a lassie whom had only ever seen him in a largely relaxed environment this sudden change in demeanour was abrupt, indeed Tobin was rarely this harsh himself just the tingle in his head gave him a really bad feeling about the situation.

“Tis message says ya dun’t look, wha’ ya go ‘n’ do lassie?  I haven't worked width ya in a the field befoar, so I dun't knuw wha' ta expect from you. Can ya keep ya head lassie?” A slight, strained silence followed as the dwarf pointed his touch towards where it once was, the silence aside from a general ambience of unease and their breaths. The dwarf gave a deep, long draft of air as he released her nose and began to walk before them. “Fine, I take point fa bit.” The beam cut before them, though now he felt a slight tingle of fear for at this point even he had to admit that his absence of knowledge was rapidly becoming a hinderance. He nodded as she spoke, though in Tobins mind there was one other question that needed answering.

“Look, I’mma gonna be honest ‘ere, I hav’ no idea wha’ tis is we need ta do. I just assumed ta notes were somethin’ ta toy width tis prey or somethin’. We tryin'a lure him close ta kill him? Wha’ tis it we are actualleh tryin’ ta do ‘ere? Because I dun't understand ta rules of tis game.”

The Dwarf remained alert as he trudged onwards through the dense trees, though he was slightly nervous there was little reason for him to be panicked just yet. Tis tale had only just begun after all, as she spoke, the dwarf began to hum a familiar tune very faintly to provide himself comfort, tis was gonna be a long night.

[kittygrey]

The Low Down

Ame had heard the shrieking sound, but because she had played the game, not for long, she knew the sound well and was used to it. As Tobin spoke, however, about not beating it, the way he had reacted to the scratching noise, she began to wonder if he had played it at all. No matter the case, she was sure that they could beat this thing, even though neither of them had actually gotten through it. She knew how to beat the game, but it would probably be a bit different this time, since it was a game within a game. They would probably have to face the Slender Man and actually kill him to be able to retrieve the children to bring them back to the village, if they were even still alive when the found them. The thought made chills sliver down her spine and she shuddered lightly. Dead children was not something she wanted to find, not something she wanted to find at all.. Though how cruel could the game actually be to do that to people. She would be scarred for life if that was the case, but no, she had hope, she could feel that the children were alive, she didn't know for sure, but she could feel that her intuition of them being alright was true, though how all right could they really be after going through such horrors as being taken by the Slender Man. She let out a soft sigh and continued on, leaving the village.

As she stared at the spot the Slender Man had been, the only thing she could do when Tobin spoke was look down at him. She wanted to smirk, she did, in her mind she had actually laughed, but on the outside, she could just stare, fear had over taken her. She shook herself out of it and breathed lightly, the heaviness fleeing and she answered the dwarven character. "I've been doing much better, up until now.." She searched the forest with her eyes and let out a sigh. "Why do they keep putting up creepy events like these? I get it, it's Halloween, but seriously.." With that comment, she found her smirk then looked to Capsule, waiting for her answer as well. She knew that she had recognized the sorceress from somewhere, but the drink had blurred the events and everyone apart of it together. The memories she did have were scattered and rare and she supposed she would never get the other ones back.

With Tobin's next question, after finding the first note, she stared at him. Could she, indeed, keep her head? She sure hoped so. Really, she couldn't keep her head in the real world, she had gotten to scared and had to turn the game off, never to be seen again, well, until now. She breathed deeply in and then nodded as she blew out her breath. "Do I have a choice, really? We need to save those kids, that's the only reason I am going along with this." Then he said that he would take point and be the leader for a bit. She nodded, definitely okay with that, but she had watched the videos of the game afterwards, to see how it ended, so she figured she would probably have to let them in on the details when the time came. Or perhaps, she should let them know now, so that no surprises arose. Then Tobin spoke again and she knew that now was as good a time as any to explain what she knew, so she took a breath and began.

"Alright, well, what I know of the game in the other world is that you collect notes and once you've collected 8 notes, you basically win. You never actually fight Slender Man in the game though, so that's were this might get tricky. Before I go on about that, I'll let you in on some advice. Never look at the ground, like, never. After we've collected four of the eight notes, Slender Man becomes very quick and we're going to have to start running to get away from him. Don't look behind you either, because if he is standing there, you die. After the four notes, if you catch a glimpse of him as he teleports look away quickly, you never want to catch yourself staring, or you die. Now, I think if we find all eight notes, it should lead us to his hide out where he is keeping the kids. I can't say for sure, but I feel like it may happen. Then, when we are there, we may have to fight him, though I don't know how we'll beat him if we can't look directly at him. What I do know, is one, we're now is prey and two, he isn't going to let his prey get away that easily, especially if they are trying to save those who are already his victims." She took a breath and began walking. "That's all I have for the moment, so, we should just head forward and attempt to beat this thing. I haven't died yet and I don't plan on letting this Slender Man be the one to take my life. Let's finish this quickly."

As Tobin began to hum, she listened, also finding herself hum along, though it made her think of her lonely assassin, one who she wished was really there. How interesting of a song choice to be singing in the midst of danger. Even still, he wasn't there, but Tobin was and she could just feel their success coming to hand. They would beat the Slender Man and end this reign of terror, and then she would turn her back from the village and never return. If he were a boss like any other, he would return eventually, or so she thought, but hoped it wouldn't be the case.

- Words -
988

- Tags -
Capsule, Tobin

- Skills Used -
---

- Notes -
---

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M
Modified by KittyGrey

[Tobin]

WC: 921


(Hello! I haven’t posted here in many months, forgive me as the rust is difficult to shake off, kittygrey. Ahahahaha!)

The Dwarf listened to Ame in silence as his eyes struggled to penetrate the darkness; after all the information was all new to him so only the occasional nod conveyed a understanding. After all, horror had been the least favourite of the Dwarf’s genres back in his previous life, so far there had been few things here that couldn’t be dealt with by the supernatural strength of the adventurer.

A loud sigh erupted from his lips as he rolled his neck with a loud crack of shifting bone; the prospect of confronting something that couldn’t be dealt drove the cold web of unease through his soul, the feeling soon repressed to save worrying either lass. Well, Benet had already vanished apparently; but it was hard to explain how one disappeared off like that aside from a wizard evidently doing something about it. In any case, the night already seemed long though young it still were.


“Rightio, gather tis fellas love letters ‘n’ he will bugger off ta the children. Then we can deal width ‘im thure, rite.”

The search continued on through the trees, two additional notes found soon after by the limited light of lantern and the dimming moon. Two notes were recovered without sight of the creature, yet that unease; that gentle high pitched tingle, that unfathomable intent lingered uncomfortably at the back of his mind. The boar couldn’t handle the tension and was eventually unsummoned thus he was reduced to walking with his swift half strides. Yet, just as he thought tree hugging would be all he would doing the Dwarf froze abruptly; a momentarily flicker of the brow, a squint, followed by a gentle soft whistle.

“Oh, navar imagined I be seein’ one of these ‘ere.”

The Dwarf trudged wearily toward the object lodged within the foliage, branches pushed aside as his bulk pushed through before he scratched his head as, and pentriated by a tree and tangled in the bush was a long hollow object, several meters long and coloured a dark brown from the rust. A gigantic gash had been rended into the container by factors long forgotten by the passage of time, after a moment to scan the exterior with his eyes, the half strider stepped swiftly through into the container. Though a feeling in his gut made him uneasy at entering a confined space when prescued, he reasoned that the creature would

What was immediate was the loud groaning of worn metal under foot and the light that shone through the skylight; or rather voids of night filled with jagged edges of crystalline glass that glittered as the lantern light drifted over jiggered shards. To his surprise the Dwarf felt he had to duck, a row of seating preched on the “wall” took place next to the wide window, though little more remained then bare iron frames, frayed and sullied padding and a shattered cockpit. With a moments pause, Tobin nodded quietly and with a quick start the fellow lightly clambered up the strein chair to peak up out of the window, a soft gasp erupted from his lips as his eyes pierced through the vail of darkness.

“I guess tha’ accicants were mor’ advanc’ then we gav’ credit fa. ‘ow curious."

The corpse of twisted metal stretched out beyond here for as far as the eye could see, twisted metal seemed to stretch along the length of the clearing, the entire scene of ruin rested in a low vast ditch, almost as it were a grave unearthed to reveal the bare skeleton of twisted metal, arcing through the trees that scavenged upon the remains. Although it’s shape had long been eroded by the ages and it’s grandeur hadn’t had been reduced, bronze hued and seeping beams by the sun made it seem almost alien compared to the medieval society that consisted much of the forgotten lands this day. The Dwarf seemed to have a hunch of what may have been though he was quick to drop down then to walk, time was too precious to share.

Toward the end of the corridor, a sharp white note hung against the horizontal door, with that the Dwarf plucked the note off the frame, a simple image of drawn trees and a gaunt stick figure. Already his mouth was running off as he examined the letter with a chuckle.

“Heh, how cute, he’s evan drawin’ little doodlies of ‘imse-“

WHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

The immense presence cut through him, the air itself seemed to tremble, immense pressure radiated down. The Dwarf felt his word dry up to a strangled choke as he chanced a glance back; he couldn’t see, the piercing shreek radiated louder, LOUDER. The dwarf clenched his fist and with a loud bellow swung his firm fist into the door, the -battering ram- blew the frame off into darkness. If Ame had followed the Dwarf, the usually jollical face of the half strider’s expression was gaunt; his expression twisted into a feral snarl, his eyes drew tight into narrow slits as he turned to stand facing the darkness., low sentence was hissed out though gritted white molars.

“Go. I buy ya some time.”

The dark metallic gauntest slid off into the voids of his pockets as he loudly clicked his neck, the air behind them twisted and distorted, his entire frame drew taut as he eluted his own, murderous presence. As the high pitched din grew louder, that distant prick began to take form as the shadows themselves drew near.

The fun was only just beginning. Capsule pls.

[Capsule]

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∝:
1099

♪♫♪:
Feral Love

✏:
Eight months later...

@:
kittygrey & Tobin

[attr="class","scrotum"]

Fear. It ran through Capsule's veins like the blood that pumped from her heart, though the emotion somehow avoided overtaking her mind. The child nabbing Slender Man and the villagers had done little to soothe her woes, and even Tobin's comedic relief could not break the threat that loomed over her. Still, in spite of the sword of Damocles swinging dangerously close to her, head, Capsule could carry on. She had to. A promise had been made, and she could not afford to back down and run away like a coward. Plus, she had already roped Kitty and Tobin into this mess.

Tobin and Kitty were discussing a game, which Capsule recognized as something from the Slenderman franchise. That was a game she had never touched, but she had seen a few videos. Although she liked the horror genre, she simply could not abide by games of that nature. The possibility of jump scares frightened her far too much, and she gave up on one game that involved haunted animatronics very early. Just how many jumps would they be given during this quest? She prayed for very few, since it seemed inevitable that they were going to run into something too spooky to handle.

As to be expected, Capsule reacted to the spotting of the first note. This was really happening. That note… "DON'T LOOK... OR IT TAKES YOU." The Magic Light hovering near her head illuminated her face well enough to show how sickly green it was. The villagers had screamed out that same phrase not too long ago. ”I think I'm going to be sick…" She drove the end of her staff into the ground and leaned against it for purchase. They should be fine for now, right? Slenderman would not show up until the next few notes… or so the games went, anyway.

But no; Kitty's sudden fright heralded the fiend's appearance. Capsule was beyond horrified, but her curiosity got the best of her. She dared to peak in the direction the fox tail was gazing in, and nearly toppled over the side of her staff. There, over fifty meters away, stood a pale, faceless figure. Her vision flickered and her mind told her to look away, but like a moth drawn to flames, Capsule was enraptured by Slender Man's appearance. She had no idea how long she was forced to endure the connection with Slender, but wanted to weep tears of joy when it ended. The shrieking and blurry vision were part of the jump scares that she hated the most in those games, and for a good reason, too.

She blinked, much like an owl, when Tobin mentioned her by nickname. Cappie was a new one, but sounded cute. ”Oh. I'm alright. Just been here and there…" There was not much else to say, and she could hardly be expected to converse normally under these conditions. The muscles in Capsule's body were wound up tight, like a spring. She was stuck in a perpetual moment of fight or flight, and bound to overreact at the first disturbance. If someone were to lightly touch the small hairs on the back of her neck, she would clobber them over the head with her staff.

As the party continued on, Capsule found herself gravitating towards the back of the party. She was not safe in any position, of course; the Slender Man could attack from any angle he pleased. Kitty's voice was comforting, but her words sent shivers down her spine. Even if she was just explaining the gameplay from the games, it was still chilling. The advice was all pretty straightforward and decent. Look at the ground, you die. Look behind you, die. Staring at a warping Slender Man? Die. A wide smile devoid of sanity briefly spread across Capsule's face. Great. This was just great - peachy keen, even.

It was just her luck that she would get separated from the group. For a harrowing amount of time that felt like forever, Capsule crashed about the wooded area. Originally, she had kept slow and cautious, but as the shadows under the moonlight and her own magic source twisted and tormented her, the redhead spiraled out of control and began running indiscriminately. Too afraid to use Call of Home and zip herself out of there pronto, the girl abandoned her wits entirely.

When she came to, something sharp was piercing her in the side. Capsule gasped in pain and withdrew from the jagged piece of rusted metal. Her mind screamed at the threat of tetanus (which she was of course immunized from, but rational thought had taken a backseat long ago). She didn't know she wasn't breathing, did not know she had been bleeding. Stars danced in her vision as she pressed a hand against the angry red line. According to her health bar, it was only a minor injury, but it had been enough to snap Capsule out of her panic.

Just where the hell was she?

A quick gander told the Enchanter that she was standing outside of the husk of an abandoned aircraft; an airship, to be more exact. Had this been under any other circumstance, Capsule might have stuck around and examined the shipyard for clues or any overlooked valuables. All she wanted to do right now was to escape, though. Before she could move, the sound of voices and a fist slamming into metal caught her attention. ”Tobin? Kitty? Is that you?"

Capsule followed the source of the sound, only to come to a stop as she spotted an undesired acquaintance. It was vague, but she could see the Slender Man from the back. A mass of shadowy tentacles hung over his body as he closed in on the dwarf. This was not good. 'Das ist nicht sehr gut,' her thoughts echoed. So why was she running towards the danger?! Mentally, she was screaming 'no, turn back!' Her body was disobeying her and acting of its own accord, coming to a stop ten meters away from the slender bastard. From far away, she could hear her quaking voice saying ”YOU SHALL NOT PASS." What an awful time to go full Gandalf.

Thorny vines snaked up from the ground and wound themselves around the Slender Man. It was not the best spell to contain a creature that could teleport in the game from the real world, but what else could she do to him? Capsule then summoned up three black orbs, her Gehenna Swarm. If the Slender Man decided to turn on her, he would not find it so easy… she hoped.

coded by benetnasch of ET

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[Tobin]

(OOC: I haven't been writing much recently, so I applogise if this is rusty. As a note; THE FOURTH WALL WILL BE VIOLATED. So I am being quite tongue in cheek. Because thats where tongues belong, in cheeks. Capsule, kittygrey

Only 2 months since my last post! Wooo!)

WC: 1378 HP: 89% MP: 85% SPOOPY: Harrison Ford and David Hasslehoff.

The Dwarf staggered back through the pilot’s cabin, steps faltering under him as he sought to put distance between him the faceless creature. With a grunt the Dwarf lunged backwards levelled his fingers and sent another wind bullet back; the corridors echoed as yet another dent was made within the pitted metallic cabin. His eyes by now barely able to focus as the creature ominously hovered toward him unblemished by the blurring in his image, as though the creature was an image superimposed inside his eye, penetrating the fortress of imagination.

Then the light tipped away with a loud shatter, only when the hard surface crunched under him did notice the cockpit, hanging just above him. He had gone straight through the window, letting a rasp leave his lips he rolled and slowly rolled onto his front, a slow, unsteady progress his hands quivered and his skin wet with perspiration. Mustering his mind he drove his head into the panel with a loud crunch, as the shards of glass tumbled away (and the hp gauge protested) a soft, uneven laughter echoed throughout the corroded hollows.

“Gawd damn it, can’t believe I even considered fightin-

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

-DON’T LOOK AT THE GROUND-

A sudden lunge put distance between him and the presence, halted only a firm enough support that clanged loudly as the Dwarf slammed against it, in the corner of his eyes he could see the twisting shadows of hands reach from the cockpit as the little light shimmered; only then could he see the faint outline of hollowed eye sockets against it’s otherwise smooth lumersiant skin; something that shown brighter as the madness flared up again, rattling his teeth with the high pitched scream. An eternity passed. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to days, days to months. Terror was curious in the sense that it gave those under its influence more time then necessary, to digest each moment of inevitable distaster in photographic detail. If only one knew how to harness that energy; to give each of us more time all the time to do those little things in life, to saviour flavour of a beverage or to solve that elusive timed puzzel. From somewhere distant to the Dwarf he heard a low pitch voice.

“Ame! What’s… taking you?!” The voice belonged to him! “YOU HAVEN’T POSTED IN MONTHS! YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU WOULD POST FOR ME!”

-W-ell. Or that. Wait a second! Dwarf! If ya fecked the fourth wall any more, ya would be buggerin’ me! Just get on with it.-

-Oh sod oaf author! I’m sweatin’ lika bull in a china shop! Oar twitchin’ lik’ two cannibal midgets in a fat man’s ribcage!-

-But bulls can’t even sw-

-I get it author. I’m just tryin’ ta get the creative juices goin’!... Wait, how the feck I’mma even talkin’ ta ya anehway? Are you from ta outsi-

-Reddy brek ovar there looks like she’s about ta pop a few ovaries. You might want to do something rather than standing there trying to figure out the meaning of life, unless ya fine with facing a blue screen of death.-

As sudden as it came the pressure dropped releasing the dwarf to slide down the pole to a soft whine as the light cut out, the spindly figure’s attention turned to the red haired woman, the orbs of darkness seemed to take its own hue. Tobin took a deep breath but found himself coughing as the air itself seemed so cold after being devoiced from his senses yet words were forced out as a low shout, he had shot magic and kicked chairs at the creature, everything it saw coming seemed have fallen aside, or short. Capsule needed to know!

“Red, I’m ‘ere! Ya hav’ to listen, nothing, works.”

The coughing returned, stronger after all, As if to make this point the creature itself seemed to take the thorns in; No, it moved through the Thorns toward the enchanter unimpeded! Tobin felt the cold shudder return; everything screamed for him to run! There were few creatures in the land that could keep up with his speed once committed! He could run outside the boundaries of-

-You’re a good for nothing coward Gav. You know you couldn’t live with yourself to imagine these ladies, those children, being violated by that creature, can you? Or you really half the man you always were?-

Tobin bit down on his lip as the sudden eruption of self-loathing erupted. Even now male pride was a stubborn thing inside as he boiled! Slanderman was taking the Jackson out of all his methods, something he especially detested! There would be no retreat! His eyes turned up to the ceiling as with a heave he brought himself up the jagged beam as the confrontation raged in the cabin, enduring the pain of strained limbs and looked up and saw his target; the congealed metal that once represented a deck had long weakened from centuries of neglect, much of it rested on the structural girder that once stood as it’s outer frame..

-If this bastards not gonna let us off this airship, theres gonna be no airship.-

Tobin then directed his gaze toward Capsule, his eyes only met hers for a moment before he nodded. That would be all the warning she would receive as he turned to the firm pillar that held much of the weight and with all his strength shattered it with a single blow. Yet even as he did so, the Dwarf couldn’t resist taking a brief moment to make a quip to the creature as he stretched out his hand to Capsule; immediately a strong presence tugged on her torso, his single message clear.

You better start running.

“Oi, Rolf Harris!-”

There was a moment where only a loud scretch and the crunch of straining meta echoed throughout the frame as it issued it's final burst of resistance, before everything underneath it ceased to exist with a scream of screaming metal. Of course the Dwarf wasn't about to watch this happen; he had already began to sprint into a maintaince coridoor, shoving the door open with a firm kick before he clattered down the catwalk. They wouldn't need to look up as ceiling was most definately falling so he broke into a sprint. Faster; once the eye of the tiger buff kicked in. Once he turned back to check Capsules progress (if necessary, he would probably stop to carry her, though somehow the shortest character carrying the tallest wasn’t considered all that spoopy.) but otherwise he didn’t stop, his fists pounding out a route through the falling debris, creating a trail of destruction through.

Eventually they reached the main body of the airship, though was a guess as it was only because it wasn’t collapsing here yet, the entire passage behind him became a mess of deck platting, structural beams and pipes. The Dwarf slumped against the wall, panting heavily as he shuddered to a stop, though that still didn’t stop him from finishing his quip.

“Ah, haaaaa, can ya tell, what that is yet? Feckin’ pedofile.”

The Dwarf chuckled to himself as was customary after doing something completely reckless. Though he soon turned up his gaze to the enchanter with a rare softness in his expression; he felt guility that he had almost had a hand in killing someone he barely knew. Though perhaps most unusual was that he didn’t bother with the Dwarf accent he usually put on; his voice carried an Irish lilt as he softly spoke, his eyes scanned deeper into the carcass of the metallic beast.

“Sorry ‘bout that Red, nothing else seemed to work on him; so I got creative.” Creative was a bit of an understatement, but a better word wasn’t coming to mind fast enough “You think that got ‘im though? It’s a pity ‘bout the Cleric, but I can only hope she either got ta message or she’s somewhere better than ‘ere.” Even as he spoke softly the notes seemed to drift further down these dark, diingy cooridors then he would like. Though for the moment at least, they seemed to have lost the preditor.

Somewhere in the world, on the set of Indiana Jones 5, Harrison Ford cracked a smile, knowing that someone out there was continuing his legacy in the destruction of priceless artefacts.

[Capsule]

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∝:
652

♪♫♪:
In the House, In a Heartbeat

✏:
A little short, gomen.

@:
kittygrey & Tobin

[attr="class","scrotum"]

Of course it was not going to do anything. Why even bother trying to fight or restrain the Slender Man? What on Earth was she even trying to accomplish, aside from buying Tobin and Kitty some time? Would Gehenna Swarm be any help to her right now? Was there anything she could do, aside flee from terror? She could not even think straight right now. Just staring at the back of the Slender Man's head was addling her mind. Or was she just panicking again?

Capsule's vision blurred as she doubled over. Her stomach twisted itself into knots, and her breathing grew erratic to the point where her lungs almost ceased functioning. Her entire life was flashing before her eyes, along with the realization that she had done sh!t with it. This feeling was similar to Torschlusspanik, midlife crisis for Germans who felt unfulfilled by their lives, but was not truly relevant to Capsule… yet. She had no idea if she was having a panic attack or an adverse reaction to the demon's presence, and surely would have continued having a fit, had a gruff voice not spoken out.

The dwarf's words were far from comforting, but it did help to bring her back to herself. Capsule coughed as she feebly raised her head, just in time to see the fiend charging straight towards her. She doubled over again, this time the coughing fit and dizzied vision unrelated to her moment of panic. Her thorns really were useless, and so was she. What good was a support if she could not aid her team? Capsule staggered, resigning to her fate. There was nothing she could do… Hopefully Tobin and the other girl would make good with the distraction and flee, before they joined her in temporary death. It would be her first, would it not? All this time evading death, and she was going to pop her cherry to a joke mob.

Dry laughter trickled out of the Enchanter's raw throat. This was a fracking riot. She stumbled a step back, tilting her head back and exposing her neck to the frigid air. The gesture was obvious. Take me, it said. I am yours to do with as you wish. She would offer no resistance. And yet, she could not resist one final glimpse into the missing eyes of that being that would be taking her first time. 'Tobin?' For a moment, her green orbs lit up with hope. Tobin had a plan! Maybe… maybe…

'I won't die.'

It was a lovely sentiment, but she had her doubts. She watched with lifeless eyes as Tobin scrambled around in desperation. Her eyes widened as the pillar was destroyed. It was a prelude to the Humpty Dumpty of airships. Mystified, Capsule was in danger of being crushed along with the representation of the egg man, had it not been for Tobin's quick thinking. An invisible hand tugged at her side, encouraging her to move.

Her movements were sluggish and unreliable, so much so that the dwarf took it upon himself to carry her. Too enthralled by the collapsing giant, Capsule missed the hilarity in the shortest member of the party carrying the tallest. She also failed to notice that Kitty was not amongst them, but that would come to light later. Oh well. There was still time.

Capsule leaned against her staff when they came to a stop. She was a little less dazed, but still not entirely there. ”I..." The redhead jerkily shook her head at Tobin. ”I doubt it. How do you kill a thing like that?" To her ears, her words were stilted and dreamy. Was this even real? Facing Slenderman was too surreal, even if it was just a video game. Suddenly, a peal of laughter erupted from the girl. ”I thought I was going to die." The obvious thing to do after that realization was only to laugh hysterically.

coded by benetnasch of ET

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[Tobin]

WC:900 HP:92%    MP:82%

(OOC: Felt like writing a super quick reply. kittygrey I'm just going for the chaos seperating us at the second, so just join in whenever you want to. ^^ Enjoy ladies! Capsule)

The laughter punched through the atmosphere like a shrill knife, Tobin’s eyebrow quaked up; from what little he had seen of the enchanter previously he had never seen composure shatter like this before. That sent a ripple of unease through him, immediately he began to shift, his voice a soft whisper, at first at least.

“Capsule, Capsule! Oi!”

His hands flicked up in a blur to cup her face, his grasp tightened as the smooth metal of plate forced her to meet his unusually stern gaze, it was his experience people tended to be awfully sensitive about the area that defined their personality. Perhaps it wasn’t unusual for him to be bold, but perhaps more rare was that the Dwarf hadn’t even attempted to joke, instead his face was locked in a neutral expression sharp blue gaze sought to lock with her green with an intensity to force her to acknowledge him, though a slight trembling of his left hand betrayed his otherwise steady composure.

Who could blame him? Comforting people in the field had always been Kumori’s job, with his womanising ways that only ended abruptly when he married Caer. Though considering all the lady boys that came into the guild afterwards, I guess buggery wasn’t technically a violation of his marr-

-Tobin.-

-Pfft, I’m just kidding!-

In any case, at this distance he could smell the lass; the sweat, the fear, it was all part of the humanity of this reclusive individual that he never observed to be vulnerable; a young woman that he would never have described as pretty, but handsome (that being said, the last time he noticed that trait in any woman; it wasn’t a woman, he had never run out a brothel that quickly in his life!) Just for now he held her attention, as for both of their sakes he needed her to focus. It probably helped that at this point the plate of his gauntlets were cool, rather than the dreadful cold of old slandy. Then, when her eyes focused; a soft hushed whisper passed through his lips.

“We could of died but we didn’t, personally I’ll worry ‘bout being dead if he does kill us, so lets focus on keepin’ it from gettin’ ta that point, alrite? You supports mightn’t be too used to facing death in ta eye like that, but since Kitty aren’t ‘ere, I’m going to need your eyes, do I have that?” A little grin played on his lips. He was aware of this as he gave a pat on the cheek (reaching round to pat the shoulder would have been difficult, since as it was only the gift of long, hardy arms gifted him reach.) “My little stunt probably only gave us a few mins so we gotta move.”

His grip slackened as he abruptly turned and began to march onward; almost immediately cursing as his steps seemed to clatter off the metal, for the first time this year Tobin regretted the heavy thick soles that had served to bind him to the earth. The first door that he came across had twisted shut; so he mentally cursed even more when he used battering ram to peel it open instead. A mental log to see professional ninja was made; well, if he could find them.

The thought was pushed aside as he spoke in brisk whispers, all the while he never stopped as he wandered through corridors of piping. In truth the Dwarf was still slightly unsettled himself; but then he had to convince himself he could crush that white pinhead between his hands to make fighting it seem more appealing.

“I might hav’ a rough idea of how to kill it, from what I can tell it’s letter are clues to somethin’, all I’ve been able to get from them is that it was probably written ta scare us, but curiously tis fellow has been becomin’ more interested the more we collect of these. Now if ya ask me tis might hav’ something to do with his powers, otherwise he would be an active preditor hunting children all the time. It’s a bit of a long shot We hav’ to focus on getting’ them fa now. So far we hav’ five papers…”

Tobin paused, an abrupt snort the only sign of his displeasure, though for Capsules sake he didn’t vocalise that revelation.

-Kitty had the letters. Best just not to dwell on it for the moment.-

“So we get the othars, then we can worry about old slandie and hopefully find ta kids. You see slip? You pick up, let me know. Besides;” For the first time this post, a soft rumble emitted from him “I haven’t found anything I haven’t bested width my fists yet, well, aside from Caer; that one’s tougher than a cockroach. I ever tell ya ‘bout tha’ time I had fisticuffs with her? Twatted her with one of stone henges pillars, in retaliation she cut my arm off. That was fun times.”

Tobin still had both of his arms; so the implications of what exactly happened were left for Capsule to inquire, or not. This time there was no door to open; mobs had long managed to claw their way into the great bay, the faint moonlight that trickled from the ceiling gave him just about enough light to navigate by they stepped into the void of the next great chamber

[Capsule]

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636

♪ ♫♪:
Easy

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@:
kittygrey & Tobin

The feel of warm hands on her face was enough to make Capsule cringe. Always a stickler for personal space, she tended to react by instinct when people touched her without her express permission. Tobin was definitely no exception to this rule. They were not that close, and despite him being a dwarf, he was still male. Her laughter gradually died down as she was forced to lock eyes with the little man. She blinked back at him, her lips contorted into an unpleasant smile. It was a sign that he had her full attention.

Some of his words were lost in the fog that was currently her mind, but the intent and sincerity was easy enough to discern. It was all true, too. As a support, she merely had to stand back and provide debuffs to the enemy, and occasionally provide some buffs or healing items to her party members. Capsule was also prone to fleeing when the going got rough, which a DPS or tank could hardly afford to do. They were the brave ones, the only ones who could do any significant damage. She still had not suffered her first death, either. It was all due to her lack of courage. 'But you stuck your neck out to help Tobin.' And she would do it again, for any friend.

The little pat on the cheek helped to stir her. If she continued to cower like a frightened butterfly. Were it not for Tobin, she would still be laughing her head off when Slendy caught up to them. ”Y-yeah… I think I am ok now." She did not sound like it, but followed Tobin easily enough. They had tarried for long enough.

Her knuckles were a paler shade of white, having gripped her staff for far too long. ”K-kill it?" Was she hearing him right? Was it even possible to kill that shapeshifting demon? ”Oh, right. The notes…" Of course, it had to be the notes. There was no other way to kill beings like Slenderman. There was always some strange ritual to observe, like driving a stake through a vampire's heart, or shooting a werewolf with a silver bullet.

A hand went up to her face, cupping and rubbing her chin in contemplation. ”His powers… they mostly involve teleporting, from what I recall. And making people feel disoriented… kind of like a mental debuff, which my class has a few of-" She stopped. Could the Slenderman in this game be related to Enchanters somehow? That information was bound to be useful later. Bit by bit, her resolve was returning. They just had to find the rest of the notes, and put this pervert in the ground where he belonged.

”Wait what?" The redhead almost tripped over her own feet. Tobin and Caer duked it out? And he whacked her with a piece of Stonehenge?! ”Mm. The Caer Bear is a tough little firecracker." Tobin being able to hold his own against the level Asian was quite impressive. And if he could stand having a limb lopped off, he should prove to be a valuable asset -- not that he was not one already. Bringing down an airship was hardly what she would call a small feat.

Capsule tensed up as they entered a new chamber, fully expecting for Slenderman to loom out of the shadows and snatch her up. It proved to be all for naught, however. The place was all smashed up, with only objects large enough for a child to crouch behind. Perhaps they even had, and this room was just one of Slendy's multiple torture chambers. The small sheet of paper on the adjacent wall seemed to be proof of that, but she was not about to go over there and retrieve it. Instead, Capsule pointed. ”Speak of the devil…"

coded by benetnasch of ET

[Tobin]

Capsule kittygrey

Word Count: 810 HP: 69%    MP:91%

Most of Tobin’s responds were slight nods of acknowledgement or single word utterings with most of his attention was on his surroundings, though he was an animal tamer, hunting dangerous quarry was the skill he was more often called upon. Not to say he wasn’t nervous, but rather once the mind bending trickery had died down Tobin felt that familiar blend of excitement nerves that sharpened him, the anticipation of the hunt.

The mention of it being similar to an enchanter drew his gaze for the briefest of seconds, eyebrow arched in curiosity before he turned his eyes back to the darkness; perhaps for the first time this evening he felt that the creature was more than a simple Easter egg rammed into a game. Miasma was abundant in this region after all and, with a little persuasion reasoned that he had killed creatures influenced by the substance before; that belief already eased that tightening of his stomach and changed the slight involuntary shudder in his left hand into anticipation rather than fear.

After all without that fragile belief it was incomprehensible to face the creature again.

The one time he did speak was after comment on his toughness; after all Tobin liked to talk and as long as that subject was about himself he was a liberary of rather useless knowledge and bravdo.

“Aye, ya should never underestimate what a man can do one handed!” There was a momentary pause as something small tickled his amusement, before he drily continued. “She did kill me in the end thou’, I guess it’s hard compete against Asians when it comes to video games, but if it weren’t fa that Murasame, I would hav’ had her number on my fist.”

Eventually she stopped and Tobin paused, his gaze flicked into the repurposed boiler room as he blanked out the dangling chains and the restraining racks to the letter across the room. A quick sweep with his eyes seemed to confirm nothing was in there; perhaps he dealt more damage to slandy then first thought? Despite that thought, something felt wrong about this room.

“Keep an eye out. Though tis really makes ya wonder, why…” He stroked his beard thoughtfully, though perhaps in knowing his bastardised version of English had stolen his subtly, he instead waved a hand around as if geasturing to the slandy himself. “Everything ‘ere? You think it chose to be a creature of darkness?”

A loud click emitted from his neck as his eyes peered into the room, conscious more so of how loud his boots were against the cracked plating. Most curious there were some natural lights in here, a gentling licking red flame in a cracked boiler gave the room a vague sense of illusion though it just made the shadows seem deeper, darker with the illusion that the various torture impliments seemed to dance in the void. Aside from the unease the stroll across the room was uneventful as he flinched the note, only a moment was spared to glance at it before it disappeared from within his pocket.

“Alright, I’mma com’-

A shriek cut across the silence as the shadows lunged at him.

In blur the rag was batted away with the force of a car collision, only afterwards did it sink in that the intervening blow had been his own, a counter break that landed squarely straight in the critical pressure point. The next thing he became aware of was the three a sharp red lines running along his arm, it was only after a dumbfound look; whatever he had struck had clawed at his skin all the way along. A quick pat of his throat found it undamaged, bar where his immaculate facial hair had been torn out (he had always thought about shaving it at somepoint, but not here!).

“Re-“

Before the word fully left his mouth the rag of darkness flung up at him, in the limited light he finally caught sight of the child under the hood; perhaps the little lass might have been a pretty thing, had it’s eyes not been dark void’s and it’s maw emitting a scratch that no child’s lungs could hope to imitate. Well, pretty enough for him to grant her a little pet on the head, with his fist.

“feck OFF”

The crackle of twigs accompanied the crunch as it was sent spirling back into the darkness as the Dwarf bolted for the door, yet; with a sickening crackle of bone shifting back into place it pounced again; it definately wasn't stronger then the dwarf, but the witch’s movement was blindingly fast, almost as soon his blow connected it’s fingers bit into his arm, he struck it again with his free arm but it kept moving, clawing it’s way around him as he struck at it, the dwarf staggered under its relentless clawing.

“Do somethin’ to get it off me!”

[Capsule]

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689

♪♫♪:
Bittersweet Symphony

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@:
kittygrey & Tobin

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A creature of darkness? That seemed an excellent title for a monster that tormented and kidnapped children. At night was when your fear came out in freer numbers, as there was nothing worse than finding yourself alone in a hostile, darkened environment. For some children, and even adults, fear of the dark could only be stalled with lights or the comfort of another being, usually a parent, lover, or even just an animal companion. Capsule and Tobin only had each other for the moment, though friendship was an equally important bond to take in consideration at times like these. Capsule was the sort of friend who would try to force the other to undertake the dangerous tasks, however.

She watched the darkness and shadows around them as Tobin braved the short walk over to where the note was pinned, and froze up as the man was cut off. A shriek, followed by a flurry of angry shadows, assaulted Tobin. Capsule sharply inhaled at the sight, and gripping her staff in two hands, raised it over her head like a baseball bat. Her first instinct was not to use magic, but to bludgeon the offending creature to death, with the assumption that it was Slendy.

To her surprise, that did not seem to be the case. What Tobin was punching at and being clawed by was draped in rags, and wraithlike. It was also a little too small to be the pedo. It was almost like… a child? Or was, for it was beyond feral at this point. Tobin had taken no mercy on the thing, and nor would Capsule. Taking care not to strike the dwarf, the redhead brought down her staff with as much strength as she could muster, right onto the clawing and screeching child.

There was an uneasy crunch as contact was made. Capsule twirled her staff like a baton, at the same time uttering the short cantation for a spell. ”Astral Bind," she hissed with some satisfaction. Magical chains snaked out of nowhere, and settled themselves around the limbs of the mad girl. For good measure -- or cruelty, who knows? -- Capsule casted Mind Shock on the girl to disorient her further.

With the girl temporarily confined, Capsule was free to examine Tobin. His health bar had taken a bigger hint than earlier encounters with the Slender Man, but nothing too major. ”This must be one of his victims, I am guessing. Or… maybe an accomplice?" That was doubtful. It was more likely that the girl had been spirited and stashed here for god knows how long.

Capsule gently prodded the tiny mad girl with the end of her staff. ”Are you all right in the head, or have you gone completely daffy?" A snap at her staff seemed to answer that all on its own. ”What should we do with her? Knock her out or uh… kill her?" If her mind was gone with no hope of returning, what good would it do to keep her alive? She may not be able to learn how to communicate either, if she was taken during those critical moments of development. Would the villagers even want her back?

High pitched laughter startled Capsule out of her thoughts. Helplessly bound in chains, the girl was laughing her head off, though it was utterly devoid of emotion. Yellowed teeth pulled back in a snarl, the girl uttered a series of sentences in a tongue that was completely foreign to Capsule, before biting down on her own tongue. Unable to attack the dwarf and half-alv, the child had settled to inflicting self-harm. ”Hey! Stop that!" Her staff rattled to the floor as she hovered over the girl, hands opening and closing in panic and confusion. The kid would bleed to death if she did not stop. ”Tobin…" What if this was some sort of planned diversion? What if a child died tonight, and it was her fault? Never mind the fact that she had suggested killing the girl. Anything they did to give her peace would be quick and as painless as possible. This, however... This was just cruel.

coded by benetnasch of ET

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[Tobin]

(It's been ages, so I finally done it! I rushed it a little, so I will likely make it flow better in time. Your muse? I be borrowing it!


Edited in tags; Only for sake of completeness. Capsule kittygrey.)

WC:953

Amidst the flurry of wild, imprecise attacks the Dwarf felt panic bite his heart as the creature came at him again, with a firm clout he grabbed it by it’s throat and forced it to rise; the thud of the staff and an eruption of chains relieved him from his obligation, a loud spluttering cough erupted from his throat, though even then Tobin found time for a quip and a thin grin.

“Thanks- I’ll be fine in a mo, regen makes light of any flesh wounds.”

With a shaky step the squat rolled up onto his feet, a hand inspected the damage to his beard as his gaze turned on the specimen with a dark frown; now that it hung in place the girl and the rags was more scawny and smaller than the fleeting glimpses would have suggested, it’s expression was feral, it’s face distorted in a snarl that seemed wholly unnatural to a young girl. It was an unsettling sight that brought back the uneering screech still to fondly engraved in his mind, a fresh memory that Capsules conversation relieved him of.

“It’s probably both Capsule, first one, then tha’ other. I’mma no expert on tis sort of mysticism ****, I imagined clerics and ta like would be more versed in it then I,but often if ya spend enough time in captivity it’s said ya begin to associate with them. Who's gonna know, she dun’t look too talkative.”

Tobin’s observation was confirmed by it’s gnashing as his hand scratched at the growing itch at the side of his head, a companion to many problems. Between them, the child thing 

“Well, we could adopt it.” Tobin paused as he raised his eyebrow and met capsule eye; yet quickly shrugged. “Nah, tha’ weren’t funny. I gotta admit, I hav’ no feckin’ idea. Animal tamin’ don’t extend to this ‘n’ our only clerics disappeared off with a serial killer on tha’ loose.

Tobin’s gaze turned blank; this time Tobin didn’t even attempt to justify an answer. Instead his gauntlets fumbled at the lock at the secure clamps at the base, the skin-tight metal cascaded into his pockets with a fluidity similar to that of liquid. Though he never mentioned as such, he often used gear that was under levelled purposely kept Tobin from using too much strength in day to day activities and kept the few fights he had interesting enough, however here? It was an indugance he could ill afford. Seconds passed as the Dwarf sought eye contact with the writhing mess, before a slow sigh coursed from his lips accompanied by a shake of his head. It was way beyond his means.

“lassie I suggest looking away.”

Almost immediately the the first blow rocketed it’s head back with a loud crack, leaving little time for response as blood sprayed from it’s maw, the open palm lingered momentarily before it’s face as a second blur cracked into the abdomen with the impact of a small car, the “creature’ crumpled under the blow with a squeal of forced air as it’s frame catapulted against the chains that held it firm. Hollowed eyes stared on with a lost indifference as it slid down to rest against it’s bonds, the first couple of acupuncture strikes made it obvious to the hand that gripped it’s chin, nor did it feel the sharp twist that brought her head around forcefully to meet his gaze, something within gave out.

"Sleep well."

-crack-

For a brief moment its features seemed to soften, a slight smile? Releif? Perhaps Tobin would never know, for its body erupted in gentle purple sparkles pixes that softened to white as a black mist boiled into the ground.

Then, she was gone.

Tobin remained frozen for fleeting seconds, expression set taut as his eyes followed the mist’s descent into the cold metallic decking as the red liquor dripped from his fingers. Without a word, the Dwarf spun on his heels and marched out into the hall, stride quickened as he matched down the corridor at a breakneck pace. This wasn’t the first time a Lander had died at his hands, bandits and other unscioipus individuals had been good game on occasion and rarely did he regret taking them dead or alive. But a possessed preteen lass? That was different, she hadn’t had the choices they had.

Yet, perhaps more alarming, killing her hadn’t felt all that different. There was no sorrow or that gut sickened feeling that one would expect, instead he was unerringly calm as his pace threatened to leave the Red-Head behind. Not the tranquil kind of calm, his stiff, powerful strides that struck the decking with the clattering of bells was much too vibrant for that, the building ringing in his ears was a storm, his thought processes so rapid with barely bundled rage that his single track mind focused into glass sharp clarity.

Kill the slanderman.

The only pause he gave was to snatch the notes that lay bundled on the floor; the warnings conveniently stacked for the sake of not explaining the inconvenience of member disappearance, that same respect wasn’t afforded to the firm hatch, a –battering ram- ripped severed it from its hinges and brought the chilled night air rushing in as he emerged into the night air. Tobin’s paused to take in his surroundings, buildings took shape in the darkness, yet ev-

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

He suppressed a cold shiver as pressure crashed down against his mental defences, though this time his defences didn't falter. A glance couldn't confirm its position, yet that was unnecessary, for it was coming. Rapidly. A soft growl escaped from the Dwarf as his eyes strained against the darkness, the blood like black ink against the dying moon.

-Come ya bastard, this time I’ve got a plan for you.-

“Two notes left, let’s do this quick, ja?”

With that he lead the way, breaking into a sprint towards the once was settlement.

[Capsule]

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∝:
954

♪♫♪:
Death By Glamour Extended

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----

@:
kittygrey & Tobin

[attr="class","scrotum"]

There was absolutely nothing Capsule could do about the girl. She had never been this close to someone so dementedly withdrawn from all sanity and rationality. And to up and bite off her own tongue…! She could not begin to imagine what horrors the Slender Man put the girl through, and she hoped to never find out. To be in such a state for god knows how long, must be a fate worse than death. Rehabilitation was out, and the odds of the villagers taking the girl back in was slim. No, it would be best if she never made it out alive. Such a thought hurt Capsule internally. She had never killed a child, and wanted no part in the matter. That left it all up to Tobin.

”Adopt… it?" She stared at Tobin in disbelief, his words slow to sink into her shocked mind. Damn it, now was not the time for joking around! They had to do something about the girl and split before Slender Man could find them. There were only a few notes left… ”You would need a Courtesan for that." Courtesans were to Landers as Animal Trainers were to monsters and animals.

Capsule barely had time to cover her face before Tobin cold clocked the girl. Wide eyed and staring, the redhead could only watch in horror as the possessed child’s head was sent reeling backwards. By the sound of the crack, Capsule had to assume that the girl’s nose or some other part of her face was broken. With all the blood gushing from her mouth, however, it was nearly impossible to tell. And then the chained girl took another punch to the gut, several ribs snapping under Tobin’s heavy handed blows. Capsule was repulsed and yet entranced by the scene, now shamelessly peeking through her splayed fingers. This was her first time seeing a crazy and a child being brutalized.

Sure, she had heard and read about that kind of stuff happening in the real world, and while this may have been a video game once, she was not the sort who aimlessly killed people in Grand Theft Auto. Capsule was not a very sadistic or aggressive person, and preferred to take her frustrations out by solving a complicated puzzle or settling in with a good book. This was different, of course.

It took her a moment to realize that the soft squeals of distress she heard was coming from herself, and not the girl. The dead could not vocalize their discomfort, and this one had finally been put to rest with the assistance of a snapped neck. Capsule turned her head away as the girl’s body was reduced to mere pixelated bubbles. There would be no respawning at the Cathedral for her, or anywhere else, for that matter. Silently, Capsule wished the girl well on whatever journey awaited her in the afterlife… assuming Landers had a virtual heaven to retire to.

Her steps were slow and heavy as she followed Tobin out of the room. The dwarf had fallen silent, and was moving forward in a mechanical matter. It must have been especially hard on him to be the one to carry out the girl’s death sentence. She picked up her pace to keep up with the dwarf, who was now striding fast for someone with such stubby legs -- and skidded to a stop as he used Battering Ram to force the hatch open.

Cool refreshing air greeted them, washing away the pungent scents of sweat, fear, and deterioration that lingered within the airship. Capsule caught glimpses of a ruined settlement of sorts beyond the hatch. The Landers that used to live here may have packed up and moved to Avon or started a new village altogether. She started to poke her head out, and was almost bowled over for her troubles.

A piercing shriek from their tormentor brought Capsule down to her knees. She feared that she would grow deaf from constant exposure. A hand pressed against her mouth to stifle the coughing fit that came with these disturbances. Only two more notes… This was where things really started to get hairy, was it not? Capsule could only eye the ruined village with trepidation now. That thing… he was waiting for them there, wasn’t he? She did not dare to summon a Magic Light to help light their path. Doing so would only make them even bigger targets than they already were, so stumbling through the dark, it was!

Capsule adapted the silent steps of a jungle cat, eyes desperately scanning the crumbling buildings for any sign of the last two notes. The village was small, even by the standards of what constituted the settlement. Judging by the age of the structures and other litter, Capsule had to guess that only thirty years or so had passed. She stepped around an overturned barrel, and had to wade through a tall patch of half frozen grass to set foot on the decrepit property. Tacked onto the door of an old general goods store, was one of the crude drawings.

Relieved at the sight, and glad to be one step closer to freedom, Capsule started to sprint towards the note. She was halfway to the store when her vision suddenly went blurry, and an intense buzzing assailed her ears. The woman opened her mouth to scream as a shadowy figure teleported into the space before her, blocking her path to the note. It was Slender Man, and this time he seemed to possess multiple arms. To Tobin, they would unmistakably be comparable to shadowy tentacles. Capsule, on the other hand, was too busy struggling to break the hold on her to sweat the small details.

coded by benetnasch of ET

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