character development Devaan's Training ground

[Grey Knight]

"Orren?" Kerith called. "Orren!"

He started jogging towards the motionless dreadnought. The sarcophagi in the dreadnought's center sparked again, tiny flames springing into life around the gaping hole. 

"Storms, storms storms storms storms! Orren!"

[Silva]

She waited for Devaan to stand and breath for a minute before approaching. It was obvious something was going on, and Mejin didn’t want to interrupt, but she had something to ask.

Pulling out her knife and the small key from it, she held both out to Devaan.

”What is this?” she asked as bluntly as possible. 

When he gave her a look of desperation, she knew he wanted some peace and quiet for now. Sparring lessons did that to him.

”I’ll be inside,” she said. “Let me know when you get a chance.”

Edited August 22, 2018 by Silva

[Nohadon he/him]

Devaan wandered out of the training ground, a little dazed. He didn't want to kill one of his pupils, he had Aons scattered around the training ground that would strengthen everyone and heal them, but it was a system he used rarely as recovery times was something every capable fighter had to get used to. He sat down on a ledge that sixteen years ago he thought about throwing himself off. But this time he had a smoke instead, calming himself, he stepped inside his home.

"Hey Mejin. Earlier you said you weren't ready for it, but you feel ready now? Ethil and Silphio got theirs during the war, But sixteen years made you curious eh? follow me" Devaan walked over to the dining table and opened the trap door under it, descending down into the aluminium bunker where he came to a stop in front of the wall-safe.

"You've got the key"

[Grey Knight]

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Just to be clear- you're letting Mr. Dreadnought over there die? Without doing anything to help?

Because Kerith might get a little angry if that's the case.

 

[Nohadon he/him]

4 minutes ago, Grey Knight said:

Just to be clear- you're letting Mr. Dreadnought over there die? Without doing anything to help?

Because Kerith might get a little angry if that's the case.

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No. If it looks like the Dreadnought will die then the Aons will automatically activate, but Devaan would rather the injuries be patched up the old-fashioned way if possible.

 

[Silva]

“Many times I considered returning, but each time I found a reason not to,” Mejin inserted the key into the lock. “Lei finally convinced me.” She gestured at her feet to where the Cryptic stood. “He told me that if I couldn’t forgive you now then I never would. And I couldn’t live with that.”

 She turned the key and the vault opened.

[Grey Knight]

10 minutes ago, Nohadon said:

No. If it looks like the Dreadnought will die then the Aons will automatically activate, but Devaan would rather the injuries be patched up the old-fashioned way if possible.

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...How are the Aons going to get through the aluminum plating?

 

[Nohadon he/him]

"Thank you." Devaan told her.

Inside the vault stood an three pedestals, two of them had their cases opened already, the one that didn't had a plaque that read Mejin. Upon opening it, Mejin saw:

A deck of cards.

A long calvary sword, sheathed but made of aluminium.

A soulcaster.

A suit of strange armour.

"The cards are suited to your pacifism, Illusions, distractions and various other displays of power lie within those card. The blade is serrated and looks fierce, It's useful in self defence. The armour fits to your clothes, making you faster, stronger and more durable, I recovered it from a boundless world. I know this won't make it up for what I did. But I'm truly sorry"

Devaan climbed the ladder back up to check on Orren

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There's a gap in the armour now, right where the wound is. So Orren should be able to heal

 

[Silva]

She watched him leave and promptly sat on the floor and cried.

Cried for hating him for so long. Cried for leaving without a word to anyone.

Cried for refusing to respond to Ethil’s attempts of contacting her.

Cried for her years of solitude spent traveling instead of with her family.

Cried for forgetting herself.

Cried for every foolish, petty, or selfish thing she had ever done.

Mejin didn’t know how long she stayed down there like that. She remembered someone bringing her a plate of food - she didn’t know what meal it even was for - and them standing there for a while, just watching, before going. She wondered what they had thought, a woman in her thirties on her knees and in tears.

Probably something pitiful. She thought and stood up. Wiping her eyes, she glanced in a puddle of water and turned from it quickly. Her eyes were red and her cheeks streaked.

”Don’t lie to them,” Lei told her. “Stay true.”

”Why?”

”I don’t know.”

Mejin placed the items of the vault in her bag and climbed up the stairs, not ready to face people, but going anyways.

[MetaTerminal he/him]

Alum waves goodbye. “It was fun to spar, Jonas, but now I’m going to investigate this city. Bye!”

[Cyanic he/him]

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@Spacefaring Ferring we might have to continue combat later.

7 hours ago, Grey Knight said:

 

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to my knowledge Dreadnoughts have no exits, but aren't used for life support like those of Dragoons and Immortals from Starcraft.

EDIT: apparently, it is life support, but the opening should give the Aons or the Progression surge some room now.

The noise made Deras hesitate, the mech from earlier was down and sparking. He stopped in his tracks, but put an arm up in case the man, he believed his name was Zaphoid, was about to attack. "Sorry." He started, "might have to continue later. Need to help." He finished and dashed toward the downed mech, ignoring any farther attack from his opponent.

Another man swearing up a near-literal storm beside the downed mech. "No exit?" Deras asked as he looked around the mech, looking for doors or hatches he could pry open but found nothing. He had an idea. He called upon the strange sword and it dropped into his hands five heartbeats later. He put the sword tip-first into one of the cracks in the metal and pushed in careful not to hit the man inside, the thick metal resisted, but he managed to plunge the sword through a decent ways. Deras began prying at the metal, it was thick and gave even more resistance than pushing it in.

He stuck to one direction and held the sword with both hands as he began to wrench the metal and after a while of straining, the metal started to give, and the crack started widening. "Need help. Open quicker." He said, not a hint of straining in his voice.

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Since Deras doesn't know the properties of aluminum, (nor of his shardblade lol) he's assuming the sword not going through without resistance is normal.

Edited August 23, 2018 by Cyanic

[Spaceferring he/him]

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@Cyanic I can continue the fight now, but it doesn't seem to be appropriate right now. 

Zaphoid saw his opponent rush to the fallen Dreadnought. 

- Not my problem, he started, and turned away to leave. 

But he didn't know anyone around here. Maybe it would be smart to get allies, or even friends. 

- Oh, rust it! 

Zaphoid turned around yet again and flew towards the strange metal carcass. He then noticed that it didn't give off any Allomantic lines. Aluminum, he thought. Why does everyone here have aluminum? Makes it a lot harder to save people. He landed next to his opponent, who seemed to be stabbing the wounded person inside. 

That was when Zaphoid saw the spikes. 

Rusts! 

He had a repulsive fear of spikes. Terrible things. Reminded him of his grandmother. He prepared to attack the stranger stabbing the wounded person, when he saw the spiked creature was cutting through the aluminum with his strange blade of his. He asked the spikedude:

- How can I help? 

[Cyanic he/him]

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Yeah, but we might be able to continue the fight after this situation's resolved.

Deras looked at the source of the voice: The person he was fighting earlier. "Hold sword, help pry open." He told the man. And left some space by the handle, grabbing hold of the blade at the blunt end, careful not to cut himself. He started pushing and he could hear the metal start buckling, thankful for his nigh-infinite, likely infinite amount of stamina. He intended to evacuate the person inside to be properly healed.

He wasn't sure whether there were healers here or if he had to take this man several kilometers to the hospital from before. Or even if the man would survive on such a journey, but he didn't care. Right now, he just needed to get the man out.

Edited August 23, 2018 by Cyanic

[Grey Knight]

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The problem is more technological than medical- the life-support systems in the dread are damaged. Getting the sarcophagi out of the hull is a good first step, though.

Kerith winced at the blatant desecration of the dreadnought's sacred systems, but he clambered on top of the mech anyway, grabbing hold of the sarcophagi's edge and pulling with Deras.

"Don't... cut it open," he said, straining at the ancient metal. "Orren's... been injured... for too long to be healed."

[Silva]

At the door Mejin stopped for a minute. She hadn’t seen anyone on her way out. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to.

But she couldn’t leave this way again. Mejin sat down on a stool and waited.

 

[Cyanic he/him]

if they could get to the body inside, I think Progression could heal him or Resealing at most (even at the state his body is at). Worst case, AonLen should keep him alive if the sarcophagus isn't made of aluminum as well.

Deras continued prying, the opening now large enough that he didn't need his the sword anymore. At a thought, he dismissed the blade and grabbed hold of the metal itself, and pulled, bracing himself on the opposite end to get better leverage. The metal gave and bent, and the bolts on the rest of the frame popped off, making the metal even easier to bend outward with the help of the man in heavy armor, finally revealing what seemed to be a smaller sarcophagus connected to thick tubes. "What now?" He asked the man beside him.

[Grey Knight]

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True, but Orren  sees himself as injured, so any healing wouldn't work on him. I think that's mentioned in Oathbringer, near the end.

Kerith quickly scanned the interior, then sighed in relief.

"Orren is okay," he said. "We need to get the dreadnought into the Thunderhawk. This is a job for the Omnissiah to solve, not magic."

[Cyanic he/him]

Ah yeah, intent-based, I've heard about theories, but I haven't read OB yet so I can't give thoughts, though a Returned's single breath should heal pretty much anything, but we don't have any Returned right now and that's not exactly expendable lol

At the man's relief, Deras was also relieved and he found himself motioning to sigh, but found no air in his lungs, it was a strange feeling. "Understood." He replied. He didn't know what the Omnissiah was, but that was their business, not his. "Will help carry if need." Deras commented.

[I think I am here. he/him]

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Sorry for being so inactive these days. Here's some more brother-sister stuff.

Max sat on the edge of a cliff, letting his legs dangle over the decline. He was bored. And bitter. Taking out his staff, Max ran his hand over the smooth wood, slight ingraves imbedded in it. It had been made specially for him. Pressing a small depression in the staff, two small blades popped out of either end, pushed by springs. Aluminium. Retracting the blades Max heard a scuffle behind him and turned to see Mara gliding towards him off of a coin.

He'd rarely seen her use such precise movements before. Usually, she would rely on her raw steelpushing power than intricacy. When you could become a weaker coinshot for a couple days if it meant being able to push metals in stomachs the next, why wouldn't you rely upon that instead of classical coinshot tricks? Of course, Mara didn't supertap her nicrosilminds as much as Max did, but the potential was still there.

"Hey," she said, taking a seat next to him. "How's it going?" A usual question from her.

"Fine," Max said, sighing, before turning back to her. "Do you ever wonder what he was like?"

"Who?"

"Rashan." A pause.

It had been traumatic for both of them, memories painful to remember. Max tried to not freeze up just at the memory, and by looking at his sister he saw that while her face was calm, her fists were squeezed so hard they were almost white. This topic had always brought these sides out of them.

"All of the time." Mara replied. "They always say he was a hero and all, but that's probably all dressing. A hero wouldn't let himself die just for a bunch of kids, right?"

"I don't know. You know what Master Sheonar says about him, though who knows how much of that is just the old man's mind playing up."

"Don't say that about Master Sheonar," Mara snapped.

"Why not?" Max said, standing up, raising his voice, subconsciously Rioting Mara's fear. It was starting to become a habit. "It's the truth! The man's been through so much, who knows what's going on in his head! And it's not helping that we all constantly pretend that the war was fine, 'oh, it's fine we spent 16 years rebuilding around a crater,' because it's not! So many died in the rusting war and whoever didn't was screwed up mentally. Just look at us!" He gestured to Mara and himself. "You can't say our reaction to Hemalurgy is normal."

"It's right," Mara said, stepping forward. She seemed to know Max's emotional tricks, and tried to resist them. Max was more powerful than an average Rioter, however. "It's a monstrous, hateful thing!"

"It's EFFICIENT!" Max shouted at his sister, supertapping one of his many smaller metalminds and filling her head with fear. Wait.

Oh, no.

Immediatly realising what he had done, Max stopped the Riot and covered his mouth with his hands. How had he said that? How had he come up with such a response. No, Max hated Hemalurgy, Mara despised it. But still, there was something unique about it, something... Max gasped in horror at his own thoughts, looking back towards Mara, completely pale, shaking. What had he done?

She was almost in tears. Max tried remembering the last time someone had told him how it felt to be Rioted by one of his supertaps. It wasn't pleasant. "How could you..." She shivered, but not from the heat. "It's the Ghostbloods, isn't it?" She asked, preparing to run backwards. What could he say? "Answer me!"

"...Yes," Max responded. "They're trying to get me comfortable with Hemalurgy, assassinations are going to be hard if anybody with a sp-" he was interrupted by the sound of Mara gasping, trying to wipe away tears. She'd never approved of the Ghostbloods. Max had taken the job to honour Rashan, but she didn't see eye-to-eye to him on that.

Mara ran, jumping off of the cliff.

"Mara, wait!" But she was already gone, shooting herself off into the sky with her coins, flying far away from the training ground, far away from Max.

***

How could he? How could he?

Mara knew siblings had fights, she knew they had disagreements. When Max had joined the Ghostbloods, Mara tried letting it slide, not bringing up the topic too much. But Hemalurgy? Ruin's own art? If there was one thing that unified Max to her, it was their hate of it.

But, Max's freezes had been getting better lately. Still not good, but better. He'd stopped openly denouncing it, asking Master Sheonar more questions about it. It had to be the Ghostbloods. Those rusting assassins, twisting her brother's mind, turning him into a slave of theirs, following instructions without question. Had Rashan really been one of them?

Her body was still shaking all over, still in shock from Max's Rioting. It was like something had gripped her, forced her to be afraid, something unstoppable. But when you unleash so much on a single mind, things start to break. Mara already felt she wouldn't be the same for at least a couple more days, just because of Max's outburst.

But there was something else, too, something she saw. So much fear, so much pure emotion, and Mara couldn't tell whether her eyes had played tricks on her or she'd actually seen something. But she remembered what she saw. And it horrified her to no extent.

Max. Caked in blood, growling in the middle of a stormy night, scars across his face.

Mara's beloved brother, turned into an animal. A killing machine.

She saw him on top of a glass throne, smiling as he saw dozens of spiked Abominations among him.

She saw him mercilessly kill.

She saw him smiling cruely as he got promoted within the Ghostbloods.

She saw him smile cruely as he killed her, on that same stormy night.

She'd overheard Master Sheonar's speeches a dozen times to Max. Pull on minds too much, they start to break. Had Mara's mind broken. Had she imagined her vision? Part of her said yes, but another part worried what she saw was a horrifying truth, a man her brother could become. She didn't know.

She didn't want to.

Edited August 23, 2018 by I think I am here.

[Nohadon he/him]

Devaan felt a wave of fear before managing to start tapping his allomatic copper. You don't train a rioter without keeping a nicrocilmind with a coppercloud on you at all times.

He ignored it for now and ran to Orren.

"Hang in there, you should live through this" He tried to comfort the dreadnought

"Can you reseal the armour? Or do we need to get him out of it" Devaan asked Kerith.

***

Silphio watched Mara fly off, she was experienced with her steelpushes, but Silph had true flight, he flew in the same direction as her, catching up.

"Hey" He shouted to her through the winds

"What happened?"

[Cyanic he/him]

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In one part of the Alleyverse: A brother and sister arguing and their relationship getting strained.

In another part of the Alleyverse: A cowboy tries to trap an old wizard! With a crate and a maaaaaagic waaaaaaand~

What a fun, great RP/universe, really! XD

Edited August 23, 2018 by Cyanic

[I think I am here. he/him]

4 hours ago, Nohadon said:

Silphio watched Mara fly off, she was experienced with her steelpushes, but Silph had true flight, he flew in the same direction as her, catching up.

"Hey" He shouted to her through the winds

"What happened?"

“What do you know about the Ghostbloods?” She replied, no answering Silph’s question and not turning back. After a small bout of silence, she continued.

“I’m going to the Tomb of the Forgotton. I need some peace from all of this.”

[Nohadon he/him]

2 minutes ago, I think I am here. said:

“What do you know about the Ghostbloods?” She replied, no answering Silph’s question and not turning back. After a small bout of silence, she continued.

“I’m going to the Tomb of the Forgotton. I need some peace from all of this.”

"The Ghostbloods?" Silph responded quizzically, in the rare times Devaan talked about events prior to the war, he had heard a bit about the ghostbloods, and done some dealings with them during his short years as a bounty hunter.

"They are mainly assassins. The guy that saved you was from that organisation, but most of them don't love killing, but they are sure as hell good at it, good at stealth and one-to-one combat, but they also do good things, from what I know, they have been backing Einladung hospital for the past sixteen years, and the group spearheaded the march to retake alleycity, Master Sheonar is an honorary member himself." Silphio finished

"If you're going to the tomb of the forgotten, I'll come with you, I want to show you something there"

[Silva]

Mejin noticed movement by the door.

”Pry?” she asked. “What are you doing here?”

The girl took a deep breath. “I heard you were here. I needed to see it for myself.”

”You would have just looked through the window if that was the only reason why you came,” Mejin raised an eyebrow. “Just spill.”

Pry slouched into the wall in a very Pry manner - hip leading shoulder.

”I’m not quite sure, Jin. Coming here just felt right,” Pry said. “Got any paper by any chance?”

”Here,” Mejin handed her a sheet as well as a narrow stick of charcoal.

Pry took it and started to sketch. Stroke by stroke, an image of the ruins began to take shape.

”You saw them? The remains of the Root Beer Bar?” Mejin asked.

”If everyone calls me a tourist, I may as well act it.”

”True, true.”

”I’d best be going,” Pry said, rubbing her charcoal covered hands on her pants, “spray this with a fixative and it shouldn’t smudge.” She handed the picture to Mejin.

”At least wait for Devaan to return.  I’m not about to just leave this picture here without any explanation - it may give the wrong impression,” Mejin said.

”Only if you agree to spar,” Pry insisted.

”Knives?”

”Nope. Dueling canes. You’re still below average with them.”

”Fine.”

The two left the drawing on the table and went to the yard.

[Cyanic he/him]

Deras walked back to the training ground proper after helping with the dreadnought. He turned to the man he was sparring with earlier. "Thank you for help." He nodded, "It's sorted. Resume spar?" He asked, wanting to continue to both improve and determine the outcome of the fight.

@Spacefaring Ferring