Raptor

Their attempts to stall the beast weren’t for naught. Ewyers’ icy attack visibly slowed the behemoth as it struggled to continue to take steps. It roared in frustration as joints attempted to freeze over and prevent it from bringing forth their demise. Coupled with Irryn’s writhing vines, it appeared as though they might very well win with ease. However - just as Evelynn’s antics brought her close in an attempt to draw daggers into the rotting and disgusting flesh that dripped from the bones like liquid, the creature put forth both feet together, bent it’s knees, and jumped into the air. Valeries’ hair would find purchase on nothing, as the creature was already airborne and headed straight for the trio that remained a fair distance. It flies through the air, dropping little bombs of rotting flesh with each passing foot it soars, before finally landing a mere twenty feet in front of them. THe impact shakes the earth, rocking the creatures around Bob and himself as his locking joints shift and sway as they threaten to detach the very bones that make up his body. The ankles crush beneath the weight of the impact, and Bob falls forward, reaching for Ewyer with a wide open mouth, as an inhuman screech favors his throat, sending spittle and decay at the party. However, Ewyer doesn’t have to fear for long, for the vine that Irryn has placed is surely doing it’s job. Just as fingers would enclose about the magic user, the ruby colored gem bursts free of the chest cavity and clinks across the ground. There is a pregnant pause where it appears Bob might yet continue his assault, before the creature seems to fall apart before their very eyes. Bob melts into the surf, his bits and bones eager to return to the sea from whence they came. The beach remains eerily silent, for what seems the longest moment.

While Shanna’s eating habits may have left something to be desired, she cared not for the discomfort or displeasure that may have overcome anyone else in the room. Normally her manners were much more refined - but hunger and excitement saw her as lesser that day. Fingers excitedly wiggled over her plate, before the bacon was devoured and soon following - the pancakes, rightly smothered in syrup. Once finished with her meal, albeit far too quickly, Shanna’s lantern gaze turns to Jaro as he brings up the matter of revenue. “Ooooo, I bet it’s a good idea! Is that what you were doing all this time in your room? Thinking of awesome ideas?” Her excitement bubbles once more, making it difficult to stay seated in her chair as she considers the possibilities that Jaro might have come up with. “I bet it’s really great!” She chirps, before gasping. “Oh, I know, we can do some excursions, too! Eeeee! I can’t wait!” Her hands clap, not realizing the danger in her words. “As long as we avoid any places like the Enclave. I’d rather not repeat that particular experience.” Shanna had spent weeks moping after reliving some of the worst memories of someone elses life in that particular place. Jaro had done all he could to help, but it wasn’t really much help at all, she had nearly died and then had difficulty finding her will to live afterwards. “Annnyway.” She presses onward, “I was wondering if maybe later, after we figure everything out and do the tour, if you wanted to go to Umbra with me? I wanted to drop off some stuff before maybe considering a next destination.”

It can be anything!

Welcome to Val!

Jaro was spared by both breakfast and Tristram’s gentle reminder to Shanna that perhaps Jaro wasn’t yet awake enough to answer her excitable questions. Shanna gave a properly sheepish look. “Sorry, Jaro. I just get so excited and well...you know.” She offers with a laugh, her hand waving idly as though she was trying to shoo away the embarrassing behavior. His question, however, causes her to pause and contemplation cross her face. “Well, really, it’s just a matter of availability. If I’m travelling to these dangerous places, I might as well as make some coin off of it. Plus it doesn’t hurt to have some extra cashflow, the money has to come from somewhere, right? Valinde was a treasure trove, and I drew a detailed map of my excursion. Unfortunately there are more than one banshee and I barely defeated the one - though I think I’m now better prepared for facing another. That being said, there’s lots of forgotten stuff in all these abandoned cities. No one else is going after them, so maybe we should.” Shanna nods to this, before cooing as she noms a piece of her own bacon that Beth had put down in front of her. She wiggles her tongue when she finds it yet too hot, but that doesn’t deter her from devouring it messily before wiping her mouth on her sleeve. Manners were for other people, this morning, Shanna has no need of them. She takes her fork, before pointing it at Jaro after letting her mouth cool for a moment. “Besides, there’s at least a market for this kind of stuff, if nothing else.” She does perk at his mention of a tour, however, and claps her hands. “Ooooo, yay! I’m excited to see what you’ve been working on! Tristram has been repairing the lower half of the tower since we got here, and setting it up for appropriate things. We have a nice little stable now, for the horses, and whatever else we manage to bring home. I wonder if we might visit Lagrimosa someday and gain ourselves a couple of rider dragons.”

Oohoh I forgot Stargate RP. That was so much fun. Building civs for alien races and causing mayhem across the galaxy. Yesss.

My favorite is sort of a running joke - way back in the days of Yahoo! When Praetorian and I were young, we had a set of characters visit the beach. One thing lead to another and eventually someone threw a starfish at the other, and Prae dubbed it a "Shuriken fish" which is how they are forever referred to. Another favorite of mine was when Shanna vomitted lava onto a tavern floor. That was fun. A favorite arc of mine was a dragon age tabletop I played with some friends. We had a city called South Hallow Down that was our main base of operations, but our arch nemesis, Bann Manly-man(I dont know who named him) decided to try to overrun it in an attempt to stop us from preventing his nefarious plans. Our one mage was a primal mage, and one character just...unlucky. the mage repeatedly would cast stone fist, and the unlucky character was somehow always in the way and would take the brunt of the damage. It became a running joke that carried over into other games with different spells.

Shanna’s grasp tightens for the briefest of moments before Jaro is released and a sheepish look touches her visage. “Oooo, I’m really sorry, Jaro! I didn’t mean to squish you so hard! I just missed you a lot and I was really worried about you and, and there was lots of stuff that happened to tell you about but you weren’t there, and I didn’t want to bother you cause I’m sure whatever you were doing was really important.” This all said in yet another rush of air, as Jaro tried desperately to find his own air. Shanna withdraws, letting her hands fall to her sides briefly as Tristram shakes his head. The elder pities Jaro, a twinkling in his gaze suggesting that he knows of all the mans plights, before shuffling towards Beth. He peruses what she has lain out already, and adopts a pancake and an egg to his plate before sitting to devour it rather quickly. Meanwhile, Shanna gasps and gives a little flail - so much for her hands being idle. “I remember! I brought back some really old books and some tapestries from Valinde, so we need to find sellers for those things so that we can have some extra spending money.” She chirps. Not that money had been an issue thus far, Shanna seemed to have bounds of it. Her bounds were becoming thin, however, thus her determination to pull those historic documents and pieces of history from Valinde. The gems and handfuls of other various things were simply added to their coffers, padding their pockets while they waited for the big ticket items that would bring even more revenue. “We should go and get more things like this! Surely we can fill the treasury with all sorts of items and sell them all over Valucre! Did I tell you I went to Dairut?!” Dairut being the largest slave capital in Genesaris. IT is a well hidden enclave for the worst of humanity in the desert. “Though, I probably can’t go back there. I did steal some slaves.” A sheepish look is given as her gaze casts towards the two children that were still huddled at their little table near Beth. “Ah! What have you been working on?!” She asks then, suddenly curious.

Welcome to Val!

His absence was long lamented by Shanna. She had endured much without her friend, and even though she felt as though she always carried a piece of him with her in her travels, she felt herself considering that Jaro might not want her as a friend any longer. That thought brought her great distress, and Shanna often chided herself for it, and brushed it away to haunt her thoughts another day. As Jaro chose to suddenly make himself known once more, Beth nearly dropped the spatula she had been using to turn the pancakes on the griddle. “Master Jaro!” She exclaims, much to the surprise of the two children, who stare at the strange elder man with wide eyes, looking ready to bolt. “I didn’t hear ye come in. Do ye want anything special? I cen fry up some bacon for ye.” She offers, moving to grab the salted pork that was chilling in the ice chest. Without waiting for his approval - Beth places three generous slices on the griddle next to the pancakes - for that is the best way to cook all things. She smiles to herself, pleased as punch that Jaro is out and about. She knows not what plots and plans the mages get up to in their respective floors, and she cares naught to know. She is happy enough feeding the small group of people at the tower, and often enlists the help of the two children. William floats by, a mysterious orb of a strange glow, and the children giggle, but cut it short when they notice that Jaro is still present. The older of the two gently tugs on Beth’s skirt as he slinks around her side, mumbling something under his breath. “Nonsense, that’s Master Jaro. He’s nice as rain.” Beth tsk’s at the boy, who gives her a dubious look. They have been at the tower now for going on a month, and have never seen this mysterious figure before - though they had heard tales of his presence from the other mage who frequently came and went. Speaking of coming and going, the joyful humming outside the doorway was an indication of her arrival. She broke through the door like a hurricane, arms spread wide and joy plastered on her visage as her song came to an abrupt end. “I don’t know what you’re cooking today, Beth! But it smells amazing! I can smell it all the way up to my room, dont’cha know?!” Her attention remains steadfast on the cook, who just smiles in that homely way she has, before Shanna’s lantern gaze turns and takes in Jaro sitting in a chair - looking very much at rest. Rest wasn’t going to be his for much longer, as Shanna lets out an ear piercing screech and launches forward to wrap her arms around his frailer body. She seems to forget his frailties as she darn near squeezes the life out of him. “JARO! I missed you! I missed you so much! What have you been doing? Where have you been? Why haven’t you come out to help me and be social and stuff?!” She huffs then, though her hold doesn’t loosen for the longest of moments before Tristram clears his throat from the wide open doorway. Shanna gives a sheepish look and releases, allowing Jaro the opportunity to breathe, should he like to take her up on that offer. “Ohmygosh I have got so much to tell you! I don’t even know where to begin! Ok so first I got the grimoires, all of them. Which is surprising but not, they’re not as powerful as I was hoping they’d be.” There’s a momentary pause for breath. “And they’re kinda corrupted, but that’s ok, I’ll figure out how to make them work for us! Then I got these magic berries that can heal anyone from near death...I’ve only got one left though and I made it into a potion. I should go back and get some more of those. THEN! I fought off a banshee and got a stop watch that can slow time and speed me up! Isn’t that neat?!” She gives him a little shake, rattling this all off in a matter of a few moments, and just as many breaths. Poor Jaro.

Always a classic. I'm partial to the Far Side comics, myself. They give me a good chuckle.

I'd have to agree with Cacti, saying it out loud can definitely help. It's always a good idea to outline how you want to say something, too. I've written bullet points on the bottom of a post to remind myself of what points I want to hit during dialogue.

Evelynn’s arrows found their marks, each one falling a zombie-esque creature as it pierced through them. They fell backwards and became scattered across the rocky terrain as their bones scattered from their positions in their bodies and littered the ground. The fireballs that Nyx sent scattered the creatures even more, though none of the flames seemed to take hold as they were damp and far too wet to go up like kindling like one might hope. The creatures seemed unfazed by the display of a creature turning into a bear, and continued forth in the wake of the unfolding events. Ewyer was fortunate in that the zombies had given up on him for a moment, and while he escaped and attempted his spell, the smell of burnt flesh, akin to that of barbeque filled the air. His pain did not halt the colossus, however, as it approached, swinging it’s gargantuan hands about and shoving things from it’s path. As it finally made landfall, a few fish fell from within it’s pelvis and flopped about on the rocks below. Ewyer’s injury was no doubt a setback, as was the realization that his magics were not going to cooperate with him on this day. The single zombie it slammed into, one of the dozen left on the beach shambling towards them, became instantly of ash, the power of it far too overwhelming for even the damp demeanor of it’s being to prevent its demise. Whatever he is now considering, the Colossus turns its attention on the group - with it’s strange myriad of eyes across it’s face, skin stretched far too thin as it let out a grotesque growling noise before it grows in decibel. This action seems to spur the smaller monstrosities into action, their shambling steps becoming more and more hurried as they move, neverminding that the shores rip up the flesh on their feet. It would seem as though they feel no pain as they advance. Irryn’s plan is a good one, but the Colossus does not stay in one place long enough for the vine to take root. Rather, it moves as the vine tries desperately to infest it’s flesh. The winding tendril of plantlife is hardly strong enough to hold the colossus in one place, especially as it is only dug into one leg so far - but it does slow him down considerably. The colossus, let’s call him Bob, grabs ahold of one of the smaller near his feet, and throws it, yes, throws it, towards the adventuring party in an attempt to catch them off guard as it attempts a slow approach, looking to close the near 60 foot gap between itself and the adventurers.