Malintzin

YAS, THE GHOST SHIP. @_@

The Djinn was quick, and the Hyperian Queen was just as quick. In the time she had calmly regarded the creature, the world around her took notice of her presence. The grass would bent, the pebbles trembled and the rocks hummed with excitement. The waters of the rivers and tributaries seemed to splash--as if welcoming an old friend home. True to the Matreyan bloodlines, the Zevasrian Queen contained the Old Blood, and it too hummed with power. Tendrils--inky black snaked through the air lightning quick. Though the sun was on the verge of rising, she could see them against the earth and sky as they rose and fell. When they sank into the earth--the earth pushed back and a great upheaval of stone jutted from the ground. Raveena rode upon its back, swiftly racing up to its nose as it touched the sky. The wind's magic was pulled closer--closer still like a tightly wrapped barrier cloak around her. Earth magic served as a binder. And so--when Iblis would retract his tendrils, he would find the magic of the earth was not so willing to let him go. There was a great wind that swept through. It disturbed the trees, the mountain felt ill with omen. The sun had not yet reached the horizon when the sky's color dulled with a red haze. The world was darkening around them. Shifting and melding like shadows, until the destroyed ruins of Hyperion were no longer recognizable. The veil between worlds was thinnest here, where the magic loci was unstable and malleable. The haze became clearer, giving birth to a bloody sky. The air, thick and hot. The world around them, dilapidated and shifting to suit Iblis' imprisonment. The thing he sought the most--he would have to work hard for. YOU'RE IN MY DOMINION NOW. Raveena spoke--and yet, her voice was detached and overbearing to hear--a great pressure came with each spoken word. Silhouetted behind her was something else. A shadowy presence, tall and malnourished. A hideous amalgamation of machine and what might have once been human. Long tubes protruded from its back, stretching up endlessly into the queer red sky. It had been stitched together from nightmares, a wanton patchwork quilt of working parts and that skin and bones that would fit. Harendesa the Red once had an Avatar, a beautiful woman that had suffered his perversion. Esha the Vermilion, she had been known then—and Raveena could recall their last encounter. It was the thing from before. The monstrosity that had appeared before her in Sigil; the mangled corpse that had stared her down with crystalline blue eyes behind what had once been human. Now, however, it had changed. Though its outer limbs were still bleeding and mangled, it lacked a face. What was once a human avatar was not much put a sad pile of flesh, with skin even paler than before. Unnaturally bright red hair once hung down her bleeding back in a crimson cascade—it would have stopped at her waist, she recalled. Those same sapphire eyes burned out of their sockets at Raveena. Now Esha was nothing, her greed and pride her end. Kamala loomed over Raveena and it became clear in a moment of crystal clarity the two were connected. She cackled--a strange, omnipresent sound that faded. Then she too, melded into the shadows of Iblis' RED PRISON. YOUR TRIAL BEGINS. Raveena remained poised as she had at the nose of the rock, her new-found protection affording her a slight advantage to the onslaught of the creature's tentacles. If she recognized her settings, she gave no indication. She wondered what aerial advantage this creature had? Soon it would be time to find out. @danzilla3

Kirena sighed softly and clicked her tongue. "Make your way to Nebu and you will find a man there who is loyal to your cause." Kirena swept a hand over her face, her features rippling and twisting. Her skin and eyes darkened and the entirety of her sharp features changed as the glamour settled. Two, dark, glassy eyes, a narrow nose and a sly smile that reveals two long canines and a wide tongue. He was a wide, squared ear fellow with short tufts of hair. He was pock-marked and bronze-colored--and gave the distinct air of an aristocrat. "Hayari Ahdadr has been buying and smuggling slaves out for years. Getting to him is no small feat. He's a slippery eel with many hands in many pots. Nebu is no easy place to infiltrate--it's small, but it's where the most powerful congregate. What better place to hide than in the heart of your greatest enemy, masquerading as one of them?" "I can only imagine that if you draw him out of hiding you will tap you into his network. It's vast, complex, and has remained undetected for years. The Carmine Dominion wasn't built in a day as they say. These networks take time to build." She gestured to a metaphorical empire before resting a hand on her belly. An Umbral child was growing--one that would never know the atrocities of Dairut. She was exactly where she needed to be, and with who. Her features morphed again--far more visually appealing than before with her high cheeks and plump lips and sensual demeanor. Their little gathering--rowdy as it were--had gained the attention of those around them. Between one couple, the man stared openly at her--his eyes clearly fixated in the wrong place. She smiled and shifted in her seat to cross her legs. When she moved, his eyes moved with her--until his wife cuffed him by the ear and scowled. The demon was correct, it was time for them to scatter like roaches soon. It was then that she stood. "I will take my leave now, before my husband burns down all of Kyros looking for me. Keep your friends close," Her gaze swept across the group with a smile, "And your enemies closer." @Twitterpated @Akako Akari @ODSTDRAGON @Trexasle @-Lilium- @Cognitive Genome

Fire, an offensive magic to the Matreyan weavers--her Queen had chosen her champion well, for fire ran in her veins and the glory of the battle was a thunderous tempo in her heart. The molten gold of her eyes did not miss the sword nor the world around them. But she was no longer alone on the battle field--and she had no patience to risk her neck to save another fool-hearty soul from losing their head. Still, the Old One was struck--and that gave Aziza the perfect moment to strike. "Obsidian Obscurra!" The magic pooled into existence; behind each shard of Obsidian the sparkling magic of her divine assistance blinked to life in a sparkling display and seeped into the matrices of the glass shards. It were as though it was the magic itself that would propel the shards with the strength of Aziza's Goddess--and it was so. A sea of black hurled itself at god-speed--a curtain of igneous bombardment that assaulted the Ynliss in his maddening quest to decimate all in His path. They rained down upon him, seeking to return to the earth from whence they were pulled. As instantly as he had attacked had Aziza retaliated. A great wall of sand and dust, of heat and steam wafted into the air all around them as collisions were met. The Old One would surely sweep these useless pieces of glass aside with no effort. They would attack him like a vicious swarm of angry insects. Would the would-be hero that finally joined the fray be savvy enough to evade the assault she had unleashed? For a moment, only for a second-- sword would sag beneath his grip. What would Ynliss do to this vicious answer to his call?

"From infancy, all Nymerians are trained to fight. We are the citizens and the military. The women are the fiercest of all." Rahab lifted her chin proudly before sitting back in the carriage. She was not as well practiced in mannerism as Raveena was--nor as well dressed. Indeed, Rahab looked practically naked next to the Hyperion Queen. While Raveena was fair-skinned, Rahab was tanned with strangely beautiful, prismatic hair. Raveena was soft and round, but Rahab was lean and muscled. Being Nymerian by nature, Rahab was the tallest on in the carriage, which accounted for it's size and room to suit the Queen Regent. It all boiled down to culture, Raveena decided. Nymerians were far more open and unabashed in how they perceived things. In many ways, she admired Rahab for that spirited nature. It was not that Raveena as spirited--she was exceptionally passionate. But there was something in the way that Rahab viewed the world that she found endearing. "What is the meaning of...Ti-an-di Wuuu-shuuu?" Rahab played with the words--and took her time to explore sounding it out. She heard the cadence with which the others had used it--and yet, she wanted to try it. It felt all wrong--wrong in a way she couldn't quite place. And so, she abruptly slid forward and leaned closer to Kotori, hovering over the girl with the clear intent to invade her space and kissed the young girl's lips with a gentle peck. From it, came the magic of Nymeria--a tingle on the lips. And suddenly, a clear understanding flashed in the Nymerian Princess's eyes as she leaned back and sat again, satisfied. "Aah! I understand now! Tiandi Wushu!" She said it proudly, pleased that she had acquired a new language. If she seemed embarrassed, or took notice of any offense to randomly kissing a young girl, she didn't show it. "Err, Rahab--it's polite to ask first before doing that. They are not yet familiar with Nymeria and its ancient magic as I am." Raveena laughed nervously and nodded, "Nymerians can acquire language through kissing. Forgive my regent for her forwardness--she meant no ill will." Poor Kotori... @Laughingmad @danzilla3 @Twitterpated

"Have you decided on a name yet, Your Highness?" Sabine sat on a stone bench, her armor glinting in the light. It was one of the rare times she was at ease. There was a tenderness in her voice, for she was a loyal Knight and Imperator to Princess Raveena. Raveena walked casually, swathed in pale silks that draped her pregnant belly agreeably. She looked right at home in the Imperial Gardens of Umbra, the way the sun shone through the leaves, the gentle sway of the flowers--this seemed to echo in the very way Raveena moved. Sabine watched her Queen carefully, though the grin never left her. Motherhood suited her just fine, she decided. She wanted to think it was strange, knowing that Raveena had ascended to a higher state of being and yet--this avatar--whatever one would call it--seemed to human and sweet. "Everett," Raveena replied with laughter and smiles in her voices, "My brave little prince. My wild beast." She paused long enough to cradle a drooping flower between her palms. She whispered lilting, encouraging words in a language Sabine did not pretend to understand--it certainly wasn't any Vaa'denian she had picked up. While Raveena was a Terran citizen, her origins were from a whole other somewhere else entirely. Sabine felt very plain and boring by comparison. She missed Efrideet--and had hardly given up on her quest for vengeance. Raveena needed her now more than ever with Efrideet dead and Rowan in a coma. Prince Grant was still lamenting his failures in the wake of Hyperion's destruction. "Your son will be well loved, Your Highness. A new Imperial heir gives the people hope that--." She paused abruptly. She knew better than to speak his name. The Moon God had been cast out for killing his brother. Angry that his siblings turned on him, he was set to destroy the Hyperian Empire no matter the cost. Sabine thought back to Rowan's catatonic state and the demonic creatures from his world that attacked them. The God himself attempted to smite Rowan but Raveena had chosen to accept her mantle as Goddess of the Red Plane to even the playing field. Now an all out war between the gods and their champions was set to begin. The fate of the empire rest on who would come out as the victor. "I know," Raveena replied softly, sadly. The sun god--foolish oaf he could be, had done many great and terrible things to her through the course of her life. And yet...yet, she missed him. "He will carry and unfortunate burden. Be brave, my heart." She cradled her pregnant belly and began another circuit around the cut out. Just out of view, a retinue of the Daughters of Thaus and the Enforcers patrolled and waited patiently. Their life was to their ruler. Sabine rose to join Raveena, who casually opted to take to the main path again. Raveena tried to walk side by side with the Lady, but Sabine--by her own virtue--always remained flanked out of respect to Raveena's station in Umbra and beyond. "I'd like a hatchery," Raveena spoke suddenly, her attention admiring the flora. She would stop sometimes and read the signs, cross to the other side. She would tend to the dying or dead with encouraging words, and praise the living. "Pardon, Your Highess?" Sabine was startled by the sudden thought. "A hatchery? Here?" "In Hyperion. I will draw up the plans for it. I'll be damned if the South is going to wipe out one of Genesaris' oldest creatures. Oh?" She paused--though this was not to admire any plant or flower. Sabine recognized the look that Raveena sensed something. The Chimera gene was still strong in her, and she perhaps could smell something--maybe even see or feel something that the Lady Knight could not. "We are not alone." Raveena turned to glance at Sabine serenely, "This requires strict decorum. Five paces behind me, do not look nor acknowledge them unless you are given permission to." She returned her to leisurely stroll through the gardens, and Sabine grinned wolfishly before falling in line and assuming the part of of armed escort. "At once Your Highness." The Emperor's Paramour was here. @The Hummingbird

Considering I have twelve landing pages to work on, I'm not going anywhere with it any time soon. I only just finished Hyperion. I have a long list to go before I post any quests, no worries~ But I did update my Trello accordingly.

That works. People drop off their artifacts there to be repaired so I can imagine someone bringing it in and not knowing what it is or what it does and having her look at it and WHAM! I will flesh out a quest in Alethea to be something of a prelude to lead into yours~

I'd bring in my Artificer, Artamese. She runs the Enoteca Wine and Workshop in Alethea and 100% could potentially come across a cursed weapon.

Y e s

@Twitterpated @Laughingmad @danzilla3 Tell me more about what kind of future you want for TW. Expand? More storyline purpose? All of the above? Gimme all the juicy deets.

Burn everything. Am ready. >:)

As both a foreign noble house in UM, and someone outside of UM allied to UM, and as someone who is interested in all of this. You had me at "raiding".

Jotsy created Articats, and they are cute liddle Library Guardians and Keeps of Lore. The first Articat is named after his character, Mephisto!