Bloodlines: Control IC

[Jansviper]

Waking up is like flicking a switch.

One moment, there is nothing. You don't even have a concept of time to compare the void before waking to the sensation of now. The very idea of seperate moments is startling for a moment, as you have never had one before this and have no idea if there will be one in the future. Knowledge bubbles up from the dark recesses of your brain telling you that time is linear, there is a before and an after, and you have existed or will exist in both. But you can't be sure, because for you this could be the very beginning of everything.

All you know for sure is that this is the first time, the very first time, that you have known anything at all.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The alley was the black sheep of its kind. Other alleys tended to scorn it, poke fun, and play tricks with its belongings. They would make nasty remarks about conduct unbecoming of an alley, and about not really being an alley at all but more of a hopped up courtyard with nowhere to go.

They would be correct.

The large square courtyard is in pristine condition. There is no trash or mark of rodents, the walls are old but not dirty, and the cobbled ground is down right clean compared to other parts of the city. On three sides, massive buildings raise up and seem to block in one's view of the sky. The sun is directly over head, shining its light down into the courtyard, but the tall structures make it feel oh so far away.

If anyone had wandered into the alley that led to the courtyard from its west end, they would have come upon a strange sight. Six people were lying in the courtyard, arranged in a hexagon with one person's head resting on the next person's ankles and the person before them's head resting on their ankles (etc. etc.).

There were three men and three women, alternating in the chain, and all were stunning to behold. Lithe and well build, with flawless white skin tanned with just a hint of healthy activity and brilliant golden hair falling to the shoulders, it is astonishing to see the physical perfection found in these six.

On a second glance, a slightly more disturbing conclusion is reached. One has odd tattoos on his shoulders that look like they may descend down his back, another has faint carvings of some kind laid into his skin and... is that a tail? Two of the females stand out a bit more than the third, though all are ridiculously beautiful, and one of the males is a bit larger than the others. However... it is downright uncanny how similar they look. If one had the word for it, sextuplets would come to mind despite the differences in gender.

The matching clothing, pale grey surgical scrubs, does not help to detract from this.

However, no one is around to make these observations.

A twitch runs through them as they wake up.

Spoiler

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Your wakeups need not be the same, everyone generally has the first thoughts mentioned at the top of the post but after that you have free reign. Please do not c&p that section, I'll assume it happened. You currently know nothing, though words, phrases, and their meanings will come to you as if you have spent a lifetime speaking common. Actions such as walking, talking, eating, etc. will feel strange (as if you have been out of practice for a long time) but you will know how to do them as well.

Characters that use a weapon will feel an odd ache, as if a piece of them is missing. Spellcasters will have the opposite problem as you may have a little too much power running around inside of you.

[WhiteKnight777]

Blood. It was life. It pounded through the veins, fed the muscles, brought the brain to life. Sweet, thick, succulent copper. And flesh - the flesh was life, too. Hot, steaming meet, suffused with chemicals and brief bursts of electricity. So fine an edge. So thin a line.

Delicious.

He - for he knew he was male, even before the name came up like a bubble of marsh gas, burning brief and bright and dancing on his brain, casting shadows into corners and banishing the cobwebs as his thoughts began to move again, slowly at first, but quickly moving faster and faster, whirling like dancers about an ever-growing pyre. He looked down at his fingertips, and felt power there. He flexed his hands, and knew he was strong - strong in more ways than one, he mused, as syllables came to the fore of his mine, words of arcane power and hidden import, like the secret language at the heart of the universe. It was a wonderful feeling, this power. He smiled, and whispered his name.

Zol

He looked around at the others, feeling an odd...connection to them. There was something of him in them, and them in him. He breathed deeply, and he felt more words bubbling up from unremembered depths.

Who... are we? And where are we? I remember... nothing. Not there... and then.. there.

[Whiplord]

The woman blinked in the light filtering down. Blink. Blink. Her eyes opening and closing almost lethargically in their movements. Blink. Blink. She slowly sat up, the muscles in her back clenching and twitching in a most unfamiliar fashion as some contracted and others stretched to accommodate her movement. Her head slowly turned, looking around her. Looking at herself.

Blink. Who were these people? Noticing the arrangement of the others, she looked behind herself as well, her neck craning around and downwards. Yes. There was one behind her too. Blink. Had she been like that too? She must have been. Seemingly as an experiment the woman's arms stretch upwards. An elbow joint cracks as it bends, complaining at it's disuse.

Both arms straight up now, casting shadows across the courtyard that stretched disproportionately up the far wall. Blink.

Fingers twitched, convulsively moving back and forth in a frenetic wave. Her skin seemed itchy. Blink. Experimentally she brought one hand down, scratching at the back of the other. Scritch scratch. Scritch scratch.

The woman frowned. The itching didn't seem to help; if anything it got stronger. It felt different somehow. She paused to analyze that thought in her head. Different from what? Never mind. She filed that away in her head to be worked out or not worked out at her leisure.

There were more important things right now. The itch. Scritch scratch. Still no relief. It was almost as if the sensation came from beneath her skin. As if dozens of tiny creatures were crawling through her bloodstream. Interesting. She filed that thought away too.

Blink. Her knees came up to her chest, drawn up slowly, her feet making an elongated dragging sound as they moved along the cobble-stoned ground. Her hands slowly came down to her side, palms against the ground, fingers splayed disjointedly.

Blink. Push. Shuffle. She pushed against the ground, attempting to straighten slowly, more cracks sounding from various joints in the woman's body. A foot shot out, sliding along the ground as she bent, attempting to keep her balance. A catch. She stood.

Blink.

A strange sensation from behind her. The woman frowned for the second time that day. Bending her neck and arching her back, craning to get a view of what might be causing this sensation. Blink. Just... a little more.

Stare.

A..tail? The tail twitched as if in response to the thought. It was black and leathery, yet smooth at the same time, thin and whip-like as it moved through the air. At the end was a triangular point. It looked like it might be sharp. Maybe.

The tail moved through the air. If she concentrated slightly the woman found she could control its movement.

Swish. Whir. Slip. Srish. Srii. Whip. Ssurii.

Yes. The woman smiled. An almost impish grin worked it's way across her beatiful features, lighting up her face.

"Ssurii."

[OverWilliam]

Thought is the Heartbeat of the mind. So constant, ever present in the mind, to feel its absence is to be dead. So strange it was not to have any thoughts at all. His mind was empty, the hollow lack of process, having nothing now and nothing to prompt any to come, the chain reaction of mental activity silent. His eyes watered, burned.

He blinked.

The movement was at once reflexive, and frightfully foreign, leaving him struggling to move the simple muscles back and then forth. Somewhere in his mind the primitive, wordless preference arose; he liked it much better when his eyes were not in pain. That was enough; the spark lit, the infinite domino effect begun, his mind no longer stagnant. Still slow was the beat, but growing ever faster, not yet a rhythm, but not much longer. His eyes burned again. This time, instead of continuing to stare blankly up into the sun, his head rolled to the side. Oh, how nice that was! Everything was dark, soothing, cooling dark. But... There it was, a condition. Pleased with itself that it had learned (or remembered?) a new way to process information, his newborn mind nearly forgot what the objection was to. His eyes were still open.

A needling poked into his eyes; that wasn't fun, and now even opening and closing his eyes (as he had gotten quite proficient at doing in the last few seconds) didn't banish this one. Slowly, patches of his vision repaired themselves. He saw movement. What-- Ah hah! Another one. His view cleared further. Now things really took off. In the space of but a moment, he learned how to see. But what did he see? Color? Oh, but that was fantastic. He was improving in leaps and bounds now, the individual returning memories too numerous to remember as being distinct from the others. I want... to see more. So he looked around. It was flat and wide, and reached off to one side. He realized, that is not me. He looked around some more. That is not me either. Finally, his eyes came to rest on a hand. He almost jumped at the recognition. That is me! ...But it wasn't. It could have been, so just like him it was, and maybe in a way it was him all the same; but somehow, it didn't fit. However, now given a distinct clue about what he was looking for in the search for himself, he pressed on. Finally, his brain realized that there were other senses that it could rely on, and in that second he learned to feel. Now, with this new power at his disposal, he reapplied himself to the task at hand. He concentrated quite diligently on the problem, and by complete accident he learned how to move. An arm fell to one side, every tingle of feeling of any kind rocketing up his shoulder and sending a shiver through his whole body. I can use this! He thought, and up the arm came, until he could see it. THAT is ME! He realized in triumph, the longest and most arduous quest of his life finally completed. The sense of accomplishment, of pride in himself, it was the greatest thing he had ever felt. His fingers danced back and forth, not even tangling with each other, and then he smiled.

A smile; that felt so good.

[Diarmuid]

Another of the men began to see a strange brightness where before there had been only darkness....no, more than that emptiness. A strange sensation of warmth spread across his skin as the sun's rays washed over him.

The rush of sensations caused what had previously been a perfectly rhythmic breathing pattern to catch in his throat. A cough escaped his mouth and he gasped for air, the effort parting his eyelids.

Efforts to regain his breath halted as his eyes were now assaulted by the pure light beaming down from the sun above.

Like the others, his eyes blinked rapidly at this new assault upon his senses. It did not take long for his lungs to remind him that he still required fresh air, and another brief coughing fit overtook him, this time his momentum taking him up into a sitting position.

It was then he noticed the odd position he was in, and the others similarly arrayed. An odd croak escaped his lips as he tried to voice his question. A couple of smaller coughs and a swallow found his voice for him,

"Who? Where?"

Taking a better look at the others, he noticed the similarities between them all. The clothes, the hair, the skin...it seemed strange they would all be so alike. While looking around at the others, he noticed his own clothes.

Why am I dressed like them?

Reaching up to his hair, he yanked a few strands out and brought them in front of his face.

My hair is the same...what's going on here?

A flicker of movement to the side caught his attention, and the swishing of an odd pointed extremity surprised him. Surprise released adrenaline into his system, and his muscles reacted before he could actualy think about what was happening...

A quick sideways roll cleared him of the strange hexagram. Once away from the tangle of bodies, his back and arched and then quickly snapped taught again, lauching him awkwardly forward where he wobbly landed on his feet and quickly fell to a knee.

As his mind caught up with what had just happened, he again considered the source of his concern and he reached behind him, fumbling at the wasitband of his pants,

Ok, I dont have a tail...so we're not some strange clones.

Similar questions to his were voiced by some of the others along with what he assumed were introductions. Not wanting to seem standoffish, he offered his own, and then waited to see if any of the others would have a better idea of what was going on when they awoke.

"Brannon"

[Whiplord]

The woman Ssuri looked around as some of the others awoke themselves, seemingly going through similar reactions and realizations of awareness. Her tail continued twitching behind her, moving intermittently fast and slow, in an almost feline expression of what might have been pleasure.

She giggled at the reaction of the man she had almost hit on accident. Brannon. Was that his name then? She turned to him, the impish grin still pasted onto her features. She shook her head slightly to clear the waves of hair from her eyes. Forgetting any sort of original task she became temporarily obsessed with getting rid of this annoyance. She gathered as much as she could in a fist, pulling it behind her neck, only to be met with failure as it all simply fell right back.

Growling under her breath she released her hair and grasped at the carbon colored and copied tunic she was wearing, and lifted it slightly, tearing off a strip off cloth from the bottom, which she promptly transferred to her mouth, holding it almost daintily in between her lips. Her hands once again returned to her hair, pulling it away from her face. One hand left the sheaf of hair to pluck the improvised ribbon from her mouth, and after a few more minutes of wrestling with the unruly bundle she had it tied away from her face somewhat satisfactorily. Something seemed a bit off about it, but it wasn't worth worrying over.

Observers were almost certain to note the odd positioning of the tail of hair. It wasn't normal to have it on the side... was it?

Her arduous task completed, she looked up and found herself staring at the man Brannon. Ah, right.

Her head tilted slightly to the side, and her tail at showing over her shoulder as it switched at the air, she addressed another person for the first time in..ever?

"I don't suppose you know where we are do you? Or who we are? Or we're here? Or maybe why we're dressed in this unflattering color?"

[The_JJ]

What... how... agh... Pure blue eyes open to the world, darting, taking in information, but failing to process.
What is happening? Why... I can't... must control this. A pulse slowly buids, lungs suck at the air... and then, a maxim, from deep inside the empty darkness behind the eyes. All control begins with the self. The, no, her pulse drops, her, no, my breathing slows to normalcy. Another maxim, if you lose control, find it. I, (Yasmine?) sit up, and look around. These people seem... familiar. I shake my head, lift my eyelids again, but truely open my eyes for the first time. And then... we look... funny! That's the word. I start to laugh, giggle. It comes out as a high, tinkleling noise. Six bewildered twins laying on each other? And the slow, startled reactions! My own ordeal aside, it was... funny, somehow. Whatever that was.

But something was missing... some other itch wanting to be scratched. Ah yes, how to do this? I shift my fingers make them dance, mutter some strange words, hold my hand out like so and, tahdah! Huh, that last phrase seems important... No matter, I've got my toy now. I spin the thin, elegent flute between my fingers, and then raise it to my lips, and begin to play, a tune from nowhere and everywhere. Simple notes, as I wait for the others to finish gathering themselves. I pauses after just a few moments though, and with a flick of the wrist send the flute spinning into my sleeve.

It is a horrible color isn't it. And the hair... I pull a strand out in front of me to confirm it's color. I think it works for you, especially like that. But I don't know... if I like it one me? I'd prefer black? Wait, what do I look like. Well, like them but... how do I know I look good with black hair?

[Whiplord]

Ssuri turns to the other woman, and smiles at the compliment. "Thank you. I think yours looks very pretty as well though." The woman Ssurii absentmindedly scratches at her arm again, only realizing what she's doing when she once more recieves no relief.

"Something should be done about the clothes though... perhaps we could find something nicer somewhere. Maybe. First though, what is your name. I don't think I caught that."

[OverWilliam]

Meanwhile, progress marched on, sometimes at double-time and sometimes obstinately marching backwards, but in motion at any rate.

A foot... It twitched. And another one... The other didn't. Two... feet. He smiled to himself. So far he had discovered two 'arms', one 'chest', two 'legs', as many 'fingers' as he could count on his fingers, and now two feet. Feeling quite pleased with this accomplishment, he set to work figuring out what to do with them. Erm... rrgh... He almost managed into a sitting position. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in his leg as he tried to sit on it at a bizarre angle. Oops no, bad... He adjusted slightly, settled down, and finally took another look around him. For the first time gravity was righted enough for his hair to fall into his eyes, but he didn't care. This... place, it was just so, big. So much bigger than himself... He shivered small, looking around too quickly to actually see everything, wishing he could look at it all at once. It was just so much to take in.

After a little while of adjusting himself to what the world looked like, he settled on the other people in the huge open area with him. He looked at Ssuri, though he had no way of knowing that name, and recognized her as owning the not-his hand from before. He wanted to say something to her, to communicate, but he wasn't sure how-- "You're... like me." He told her suddenly, as though concerned that she ought to know, now beginning to pull his knees up and leaning his arms on them, shoulders hunched. He looked at Yasmine, and then Zol, "You're like me too," He said, quite sure of himself, but not really sure what it meant. He pulled his legs up close and hugged them, seeming very small in the middle of the courtyard. "I'm scared." He said, and sounded it. He didn't know why.

[Whiplord]

Ssurii turned slightly and looked down at the speaker. Her tail continuing its slow wave and adding in the occasional loop. She bent down at the waist to look into his face.

"I suppose I am like you..." She looked at the others, either up or getting up.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't be scared. Or, well, maybe you should be. After all, we don't know who we are, where we are, or...what we are? And we're wearing this terrible color too."

She took a deep breath and paused for another. "Though, curling up like that is unlikely to accomplish anything." She removed the hand from his shoulder, and instead proffered it in front of him, smiling. "Come on, get up."

[Fishy]

For an unmeasurable aeon, Krane was at peace. She was all knowing, and all powerful. She was at one with the universe, she was the undisputed master of the universe, she -was- the universe. It was perfection.

And then, in the darkness, something moved. And again: a slow, rhythmic thumping, a sensation that flowed all through her perfect being- even without recognizing it, she could sense it was a part of her, and that there was no reason to be alarmed.

And then, more sensations, this time coming from, impossibly, outside the universe. From one place, warmth, in another direction, hardness, from a third, sound. Things that weren't a part of her, which meant that there was something in this universe that was not Krane. This was... tolerable, if she could find out what it was, and control it.

Her eyes opened, and everything shattered.

Not only did the universe contain things that were not-Krane, but there were more of them than of her. The world was bigger than her, by far. She wasn't even at the center of it. And furthermore, as she rolled onto her side, taking what might have been her first breaths, she recognized that five of the not-Krane-things were... 'people'.

This was going to be a problem.

"Who's... Who's in charge here?"

[WhiteKnight777]

Zol

Zol stood. What was he. What had he been before this body? Had he been someone else? Something else? He shrugged. Such things did not matter - at least, not yet. For now, there were more practical concerns.

None of us is 'in charge.' - perhaps someone else is in charge of this... place where we are. But we do not know yet. If none of us possesses a memory of how we came to be here... of what we are... then we must find our own answers.

But... I do not think these... shells, these bodies, are natural - I cannot remember specifics... but to see faces so like mine, so many, and not in a mirror... it is not... 'normal?' yes, that is the word, I think. Something shaped us. Or changes us.

Was it this force I feel inside me? These words beating at the walls of my head, aching to be unleashed? Spells? Magic? Are these the things that changed us? I do not know. We must learn where we are. Who we are. What we are. I do not know why. Only that we must.

[The_JJ]

I'm Yasmine, Ssuri. And uh...in charge... I like the sound of that. Can I be in charge, or are we all in charge? Yasmine frowned at Zol, with her blue-eyed stare. You should try that... magic stuff. It's real fun. Yasmine patted her arm for a moment, trying to find the flute she'd hidden there. Huh. I guess I hid it better than I thought... And then, with a shrug, Yasmne repeated the ritual, and began to play. This time she played a stronger, uplifting tune that rose to a creshendo, inspiring courage in the hearts of these newborn.

[Whiplord]

Ssuri frowned again, her tail dipping confusedly. Magic. Could that be the source of the itch she felt? The man mentioned words.. spells. She felt nothing like that.. Only the itch under her skin, as if something ached to be released. Or, itched rather.

Perhaps though... Ssuri stretched out her hand, fingers splaying against the air, as if pressing against some invisible force. And then she concentrated, picturing the innumerable microbes trapped beneath her skin, teeming in her blood stream, and willed them..out.

Four pinkish orbs of light appeared in the air in front of her outstretched palm, spinning ever more rapidly in a widening circle, vertical to the ground, until they seemed to fly off abruptly and disappear.

The grin had come back and widened across Ssuri's face as the lights appeared.

"Yes... Magic."

[Diarmuid]

Brannon

Brannon's mouth quirked into a semi-frown as more of the others awoke just as confused as he and the rest had thus far. As one of the other men curled his legs to his chest, it sparked a kind of desire inside Brannon. The posture reminded him of something. As he thought more about it, he felt as if there was something...amiss within him. He felt...unruly...lacking order.

Delving inside himself, his muscles took control where his mind could not. From his kneeling position, he sat down and crossed his legs. His hands folded in his lap and his eyes closed as he bowed his head. Mental exercises he did not understand flashed through his psyche as his thoughts organised themselves and he reached for his inner peace.

While his mind was re-ordering itself, externally a much different picture was painted. The strange "scratches" on Brannon's skin began to give off a bright orange glow. The scratches' patterns could not be discerned originally, but now that they are standing out stack against his skin it can be seen that they represent some kind of symbols.

Spoiler

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Meditating for 5 minutes to ready my maneuvers.

[WhiteKnight777]

Zol

Zol smiled. His eyes closed, and lightning flashed beneath his lids. It was like... reading. Looking through shelves of knowledge within his own mind - but the books were all locked with keys and chains. here and there, pages drifted through the air, facts without meaning, knowledge without connections - orphan thoughts adrift in a sea of dreams. Among the few things he knew for certain were the powers gifted to - no, taken by him. He knew what each little phrase would do, the effects of each small spell stored in his headspace.

his eyes snapped open, and Zol spoke once more It matters not who says they are in charge, who is in charge - all that matters is results. We must claw from this place the knowledge that we need, and if it be lost, then we must replace it. No more, no less.

[Fishy]

Krane rolls onto her hands and knees, eyes closed as Zol's words wash over her. Magic? Magic was as good a word as any for the feelings of power that were slowly welling up inside her- but it didn't feel anything at all like he described. Words? What are words? All there is is the simple difference between the way the world is, and the way the world should be.

"Yes, that does sound like... 'fun'," she murmurs, peering into Yasmine's eyes, as the colorful freckles high on her cheeks start to shimmer in a complicated way.

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Is it alright if Krane flexes her (DC 16) Charm Person muscles in Yasmine's general direction, JJ? Just while she's working out the things she can do?

[OverWilliam]

He stared for a moment at the offered hand, wanting more than anything to take it, and yet not sure he would be able to without making a fool of himself. Finally, an arm came forward (though, weirdly, the left one) and took Ssurii's right hand from the wrong side. The two hands, so perfectly sized, fit perfectly with each other as Ssurii tugged patiently to remind him to get to his feet. He tried to stand, at first without wanting to let go of his knees, but finally realized that would not work. The muscles in his legs and everywhere else moved without his direct intent as he stood next to the tailed woman, looking quite concerned and feeling rather precarious, tipped up on end like this.

When the magics began to swirl, he looked on in total awe. These people around him, the ones he had woken up with, they were incredible. How lucky he was to know of people like these! Did they know of him, he wondered?

[The_JJ]

Yasmine stares back at Krane. I can feel... something. Heh. It... tickles. But I don't think it's really working on me.

[Jansviper]

Da hell!?

The voices reaches your ears moments before the smell does. The bum doesn't reek per se, not of garbage at least. Instead the sharp scent of mint seems to roll from his mouth and ooze from his pores. Indeed, the man's loose jaw reveals teeth stained green with crevices filled with the pulped remains of said plant. A close observer could see a ball of the stuff tucked into his cheek while he talks, spittle flying everywhere.

He stands there at the entry to the courtyard staring for a moment before pointing at the six of you.

Da **** did ja'll come from? I'z been sitting in fron ah dis alley all damn day long and ain't no one came in here. Not no bunch ah twins neither. Da **** is dis! You betta be gettin outta here, night shift be sweepin 'n settin up soon and I be needin some sleep.

He clears his throat and spit a phlegm and mint mass at the wall to his side. It seems... wrong to have marred the pristine cleanliness of the alley, but the bum doesn't notice. He stalks by the six of you and heads for a corner to sit down, mumbling under his breath and chewing on the mint.

[The_JJ]

Yasmine frowns at the bum. Can I? I think I can. Then, with a sickly sweet tone, her hands clasped in front of her in a vaguely pleading manner, and her blue, blue eyes opened in a wide, watery, style she says,I'm sorry sir, but could you do me a favor and take two steps to the right?

[WhiteKnight777]

Zol

Zol looked at the bum with a long, hard stare. He seemed to be weighing him... which was true, after a fashion. He was wondering how much meat was in his body, how much blood, how much bone. It'd be easier to measure if he could... unwrap him... An eerie smile flickered across his face like a lizard on a hot rock. Then he pushed those thoughts aside... they seemed... unwise to entertain. Not in a city - too many people around. Besides, who knew what the others would think.

He stretched and yawned like a great cat, revealing even white teeth, perhaps a bit more pointed than usual, and began to walk towards the mouth of the alley, exploring

[Whiplord]

The woman Ssurii peered closely at pungent being. Her tail swooshed behind her, moving sinuously back and forth, the tip showing above her shoulders and beside her hips in an alternating manner.

He seemed a very interesting fellow. But was it normal to be chewing such vast quantities of that odd green plant? Perhaps everyone did it wherever they were. Maybe they would all stand out if they weren't chewing it? Maybe she should ask him for some. The worst possible thing she could imagine was to not fit with the fashions.

And there was also the matter that as soon as the man had entered into their little alleyway, she felt a strong urge, almost.. outside herself to see him in a panic. Almost as if the universal forces of chaos were using her body as a channel, and wished release. And the pent up feeling was getting annoying.

Her mind made up, Ssuri sprang into action.

Outwardly, she began to show all the signs of a worried panic. Her tail stood up straight and taught behind her, all movement suddenly halted. A hand, trembling ever so slightly was slowly lifted to cover her mouth in a gesture that seemed to come naturally to her from.. somewhere. Her other hand stretched out, and pointed, shaking much more than her other one, at the man.

"Th-th-th-that stuff is poisonous!" She finally manages to stutter out. "I've seen the signs. The slight discoloration, the smell that's not quite right. It's even more sticky than normal! It's all there! Surely you've noticed something?" Something that sounds almost like a whimper escapes her throat. "You need to stop chewing that immediately! If you give it to me I can insure it's safely disposed of. Although the thought frightens me, it's what I've been trained to do." A pleading tone enters her voice, as she sinks fully into her act. "Please sir, I couldn't bear to see you die!"

As a grand finale, tears begin rolling down her cheeks as her voice seems to give out.

Spoiler

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Charisma - (1d20+5)[7]

&%*#&$*~!

[OverWilliam]

A new voice? His mind's jaw dropped. There was someone else here, suddenly, other than the six of them! Was this possible? Apparently so. This threw a whole handful of new fuel onto the fire, and that was exactly what these newest questions burned like. Where had this person come from? He hadn't ever considered the idea that there might be more than the people who had always been. This, in his mind, somehow set this new person apart from them. There had been a time when he hadn't been there, hadn't existed. He wasn't sure why that was important. But now here he was, though how the new man had come to be so was a riddle he didn't know if he would ever solve.

He looked different from them; the face was different, the skin was different, the hair was different, the voice was very, very different. How weird this man was, so different from everyone else; the man must feel lonely being so different, he thought. Is he still like me? He wondered, and looked at the man more closely. He had two hands, two feet, two eyes, just like they did. That didn't help to answer the question, though, as he couldn't get over how unusual he looked, not at all like they did, grey on the chest until the elbows and down the legs, and with honey pale skin everywhere else. He almost felt sorry for this new arrival, not at all like the rest of them and looking much sadder for it.

Finally, he realized that his legs were getting weak, and so he sat down, a little choppily, though he made sure to leave his legs folded across instead of up where he could rest his chin on them-- apparently Ssurii didn't like it when he did that. He shivered a little.

[The_JJ]

Yasmine glared at Ssuri. Mine! But... she is a friend. Ah, very well, so long as she can take turns as well. Disintrested in the man Yasmine gestured at the gob on the ground, with a different range of motions, and it lifted and floated up to her face. Yasmine took a double take. How did I...? Hmm. That wasn't quite like before... more natural. In another move that was just as natural, Yasmine tried to spin the flute with the fingers of her left hand. But it was gone. Her lips pursed. She hadn't done that. She didn't like it when things happened that she hadn't done. But it was small. She could pass it by. I don't seem to have as much reserves left.I can't do this in perpetuity. I'll have to find a more permanent solution. Deprived of normal options for entertainment, Yasmine flicked the gob to the far end of the courtyard, and went to try something else out. She went to one side of the courtyard, sprinted and, halfway across, leap and rotated, planted her hands on the ground, pushed up, spun again, and landed in a roll that she came out of while swinging both hands diagonally upward. Should be holding something in my hands right there.

[Jansviper]

@Zol

As you wander out, you notice a "XI" carved into the right wall right before the alley turns into the street.

The street outside isn't much more impressive. Small, cramped, and flanked on either side by the same tall sunlight stealing buildings. Now, madly criss-crossing wires and lines fill the space above you as well. Clothing hang off some of them, connected to balconies. Others hum or crackle with power, and as you watch an arc of pink eldritch power leaps from one line and into another without much fanfare. Out of the direct sunlight of the courtyard, this new world is full of shadows and dusky light.

A few bums are sitting around, backs pressed against walls with tins or boxes held out negligently. A flash of light catches your eye, revealing a small piece of metal pushed through the index finger of a grimy hand clutching an old mug. A quick glance around notes several people in the dingy street have this same piercing, and all of them seem down on their luck.

Across from you, one man does not. He stands out from the other people in sight simply by merit of size. He's big, bigger around than the other blond man you woke up with, and has ratty brown hair with a long drooping moustache. He's currently wearing a white, food stained shirt and polishing a mug from behind a stall of some kind. Arrayed in front of him on the other side of the counter are a half dozen stools.

He's especially noticeable because beady black eyes have been watching you from under heavy brows since the moment you stepped into sight, whereas everyone else has generally ignored your presence.

A few other doors line the street, but they are all unlabeled and closed.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The man glares, annoyed that you're all still here. Yasmine's words soften his expression a bit (though her requests for him to move get a flat stare), so when Ssurii starts freaking out he just sits there with a surprised look on his face.

Its mint girlie. Been chewin it all mah life, think I'd know betta than some little slip if somma wath off.

With the lot of you still kicking around and generally bugging him he makes shooing motions from his place in the corner.

Now git outta 'ere, 'fore I call the Watch and ya'll get chucked outta Low like da gings ya're. Sumuv us are tryin to catch a bit oh shutty before the Sweepers get 'ere.

[WhiteKnight777]

Zol

Zol looked back at the man - no emotion in his eyes, save, perhaps curiosity. He wondered idly how much this one would way. It looked as though he had a lot of guts... perhaps he'd... But no - there were even more people here than before, even if the symphony of bonecracks and the sweet scent of sanguine spilling would be balm on his soul... he grinned at the unmarked man, giving him a hearty wink as he moved over, leaning on the counter, simultaneously groping his pockets - it suddenly occured to him that these sorts of places usually wanted for coin - disks of metal, or else some sort of trade - something for something. Yes, that felt right - right for more than just trade. That was how magic worked, wasn't it - yes... costs for costs, something for something.

Is there something on my face, friend? You seem quite interested in it. Or have we met before, perhaps?

[Whiplord]

Sniffling slightly, Ssuri simply shook her head as if deeply saddened by the man's answer, and her tail drooped appreciably. Turning around, she swiped a palm across her face to rid it of the salty tears. A scowl now played across her features, where anguish had been only seconds earlier. That had not worked at all how she had planned. She would have to work on that. The crying seemed to have had the most appreciable effect though. She would have to remember that in particular.

Stepping out of the alley, she notices in relief that no one else seems to be chewing the strange 'mint' stuff. That was good at least. She would have been most irritated if her plan had failed that catastrophically.

Peering down at herself she heaved a sigh, brushed off her clothes, and swore that the first thing she did would be to find some new clothes.

[OverWilliam]

Out of here? He wondered in shock, before suddenly realizing that someone was missing. Zol, where's Zol? He worried, looking around for his brother and not seeing him anywhere. Then another one vanished, and Ssurii was nowhere to be seen. This was troubling in the highest degree, until he leapt from his feet and spun to see her at the mouth of the alley. It had never occurred to him to travel along the length of the world, just to watch from where he was in it. Now the different man seemed to want them to leave, though until a few seconds ago he hadn't even known that was an option. Not really sure why he should stay, but only presented with mildly more reason to go, he wandered forward hesitantly, looking over his shoulder to make sure the others were coming, and then hurried to catch up to Ssuri and Zol.

[Diarmuid]

Brannon

The events in the alleyway were registered by his occupied mind, but catalogued as unimportant for the time being. His thoughts ordered themselves and options for channelling the restless energy within himself presented themselves. As he considered them and commited himself to those he thought to be the most useful, he felt a certain calmness wash over his being.

That’s much better. It doesn't answer most of the questions I have, but at least now I will be able to devote my complete attentions to them without these internal distractions.

Spoiler

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I have readied Stone Bones, Burning Blade, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, and Charging Minotaur.

As he slowly extracted himself from his meditational position, he stretched out his arms and legs a bit, finally getting to his feet. All the while, his mind replayed for him the conversation with the mint-chewing bum that had happened. As he went through it, he found himself becoming increasingly annoyed with this man. Opening his eyes, he looked around and saw the man sitting in the corner. Unconsciously, his fists began to clench and unclench at his sides while he ground his teeth. A determined set came to his jaw and he stalked over to where the man had taken up his place in the corner.

Standing nose to nose with the man, the carvings on his skin flashed briefly as some of the runes took on an orange.

Spoiler

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Initiating Stance of Clarity.

Reaching outn slowly, he wrapped his fists into the front of the man's shirt and jerked him off the ground a foot and a half, pinning him against the wall at his back. Growling his words, he spat them in the bum's face,

"You stink of your vices, and have made my friend cry with your callous dismissal of her concern for your well-being. You would do well to take a care where you aim your insults and disdain…or you will find the consequences far from pleasant"

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Intimidate - (1d20+8)[23] (Figured I'd use Str insteaf of Cha for the Intimidate check, but they're both 18's, heh)

Releasing the shirt bundled in each hand, he let the man drop to the ground. He continued to meet his gaze for a few more moments before turning on his heel and calmly walking to follow those of the group who have exited the alleyway.