OOC: This story takes place the final day of the Assembly. I'm still deciding on whether or not it will hold any relevance to our main arc.

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The sun has just risen. The Snake of Illusion slumbers, coiled in his cave of darkness. Shop owners begin to open their stores in Arcade. That's the central district. By day a bustling market place, by night, the hot spot. You'll find plays, pubs, festivals and anything other entertainment. There's also a brothel, to satisfy your needs, if you catch my drift. A large balloon arrives at the east gates of the city, filled with noisy passengers, looking to live new lifestyles. Some people simply don't like balance, and when you don't like balance you come here. Out of all the cities in Diyad, this one is considered the most... well for the sake of avoiding coarse language let's just say unique. You won't find your emmaculate, Venezzian inspired architecture of the golden capital, nor it's upstanding citizens here. Instead you'll find the Slums, the western district of the city. There you'll find your bums, your alcoholics, poor families and the occasional unknown street gang. In Yabavi, The eastern factory district, you'll find, you guessed it, factories! Hard workers who make decent pay. They can support their families as well as grab a drink at a pub. Not much else over there. In Arka's your southern residential district. Or more like the middle class. Nothing particularly bad around here. We enjoy our lives for the most part, and that's all we need. Now Dorado is another story. If I say the poor are the poorest, I mean it. And when I see the rich are THE RICHEST around, I'm talking about the Dorado folk. You see it hasn't been too long since the king took office down below, the nation's still suffering from the power struggle. A lot of the cities up here were independent from Diyad for a long time. We're one of the last ones. The families in Dorado run this city, some are really nice people, others aren't. They keep us afloat, literally. They own everything, they employ the maintenance workers that keep us from crashing into the capital. Dorado also privately owns the police force known as "The Briggs". You'll find more of them there than anywhere else. Right now you may be asking yourself, "But who is this Snake of Illusion and where is he?" To answer, no one knows. No one except me. At the center of Arcade you'll find the tall clock tower. Outside, at its base, you'll find the occasional group of loitering runaways or beggars. Not for long, as the Briggs show up very quickly. Inside you'll find the application offices, where people look to start small businesses or to find a job. Farther up and you'll find the minute men, responsible for making sure the clock is operating correctly. At the very top however, through a small hidden door, the Snake of Illusion sleeps. A fog starts to roll in. A man with a fancy red vest escorts a group of passengers off of the balloon. With he moves his arms in a swirling motion while bowing.

"If you were planning to leave soon, you're out of look. If not, Welcome to Gran Arcadia!"

The stage now set, the Snake of Illusion has awakened, the game has begun.


" You own nothing here..."

OOC: The whole city is a floating city.

OOC: Galrick's posts bring up an interesting point to consider. Where are we going? I'm happy to continue plunging into the dark and extracting the most fantastical tales from somewhere inside of me, but in the far, far future, what so you guys foresee? I mean, are we creating our own New Eden here? Perhaps we are the remnants of a space-age civilisation when we were fatefully cut off from everyone else when a worm hole closed? Or are we never going to progress to this technological tier? Right now, FTL and clone technology would screw up our story because we're progressing in a style which favours the magical, not technological. This is very strange because I've never seen a story where magic and gods are juxtaposed against such an objective race as the Collective. I've never seen, barring the Force, any magical power combined with spaceships and warp drives.

We might be forging a new genre here, my friends. I only hope that the story does not restrict new writers from joining us. 40 pages is daunting enough to fight through without creating too many rules to abide by that all our readers (not even sure how many actually read this besides us) are afraid to join in on the fun because they fear tripping over lore bombs, slipping up on technological progression or falling into endless plot holes.

If Galrick wishes, I don't see why he can't simply depart from the planet in his Ark. Some might go with him, some may not. There are so many paths, so many crossroads, that it isn't necessary to tell him he can't progress this fast.

He could leave behind the knowledge needed to create our own starships.

He could stay and remain how he is, and the Ark project could experience some unforeseen crisis and is shut down for a few decades.

If we decided to follow his idea, using his Ark as Noah did his, and evacuated before the supernova that I foolishly decided to add without really thinking it through, this is still viable.

Hell, Galrick, you could even delve into the creation or birthing process of new robots for a couple of pages while you wait for events to turn towards your favour. I, for one, would be intrigued by how your robots come to be.

There are dozens of other thing that are possible, hundreds of thousands even.

Options, my friends. We have them. Never say never, and at the risk of sounding even more cliche, always endeavour!

Remember, this is freedom. Writing is freedom.

Swords are sharp, guns are powerful, Death Stars can decimate planets, gods create them. Words can form them all, and destroy them in an instant.

And let me tell you. If we were word-warriors, gentlemen, we would be the elite. Forty pages, from a humble beginning. This is no mean feat, especially with such a boring audience. (I kid, I kid.)

OOC: Yep, I'll make sure she still acts like a [vulgarity replaced with kitten noise... *meow*].

Also thanks Nexhawk for bringing to my attention how stupid I am. I could have been using my phone the whole time. I'll be able to respond much faster now!!!

The two Ashborn raised their eyebrows at the daring question. Nexhawk abruptly stopped and whirled toward the Dwarf. "What made you think we want the Dark Arcanum? Judging from the pain and suffering it brought to the people of Praecantaria, one of my kind would be very foolish to desire the book for themselves. Trust me, there is no reason for us to wish to possess the Arcanum." Nexhawk rubbed his chin. The book truly has a great influence on his mind.

A thought of revelation pierced his mind. "Wait, is that all about the time I mentioned that the book will be crucial in my future endeavor?" He chuckled and patted Xavier's shoulder. "Believe me, my friend, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. You see, I am looking for a certain artifact. My suspicions are high that the Dark Arcanum is a necessary component for its assembly, but it simply needs to be present at the site. Hence, you will part with it for only a few moments while I will finish the incantations that bind the parts of the artifact together. Right now, however, I cannot tell you more about this object, so you'll have to excuse me."

[OOC]I believe it would be much easier if we just narrated Fate within our own posts. If she talks to Xavier, then I will write how I perceive her.

If she talks to Alixenus, then he will narrate how he perceives her.

And so on, and so forth.

But let us not completely demonize her. I have shown a (moderately) good side of her. She is not Chaotic Evil. Perhaps Lawful Evil? Or maybe even Lawful Neutral, for she is Fate, and therefore by nature must be unbiased about every-which thing.[/OOC]

Or, at least, that is what would have happened. Oh, but it is a blessing to have Fate itself on your side! She benevolently repressed the book's thoughts and influences on his mind; quite permanently, actually. But the damage was done. Repairing that mind in such a state, she could not do. This mind was almost impossible to repair. Oh, but she tried her best, she did, and, be assured, every bit helps.

So, logically, this is what truly happened:

Nexhawk's hand was pressed on Xavier shoulder. It was a firm grip. A pleasant grip. A warm grip. He looked in the man's eyes. The were, hmmm, crimson, but a friendly kind. Xavier could almost see the horrors the elder experienced, but also the happy times, the good times. For a split second, Xavier felt a rage like no other, greater than his hate for Thanatos himself, but it subsided, for the warmth mended his soul, and protected him from the corruption of the book.

"Please, walk on, comrade. Forgive my outburst; it was mighty rude of me to interrupt your conversation. But please, do not mind me walking with you, for I have absolutely no-one else to speak to."

long beard

Hi guys, I'm considering joining in. It'll take a while to catch up on this storyline (I'm on page 16-17 atm), but when I do catch up I'd quite like to have a go. I haven't done RP before, so forgive me if I'm god-awful. This seems pretty awesome though.

I have a few questions about the mechanics, in particular the 'population' mechanic. Nobody seems to have stuck to this tbqh. How much bearing does this actually have? How much bearing do any of the mechanics have? Also, people seem to like their alliances. I understand that not joining a group will, by its very nature, exclude me from some events, but I'm not going to be able to dedicate a huge amount of time to this thread so it'll probably just be a drop-in thing anyway. Am I free to somewhat randomly hinder people's efforts in RP?

Thanks in advance for the answers - if the response is positive I'll begin drawing up a plan.

OOC: Xavier, what are dwarves meant to look like? :P

long beard

Nexhawk calmly nodded at the Dwarf. "It is perfectly fine, Xavier. I understand the pain you feel when something dear to you is threatened to be taking away." He looked to the east and thought of Abismonus. How is Fatoxum doing there? Did he halt the Hydromancers, or had they already learned about the Core? "But you can have my promise that nothing will happen with your beloved book." That is, if he will not turn entirely insane before that. I have to remember to tell Nak'Sora to lessen the book's malevolent grips on his indentity. It would be a pity to have such an intelligent mind subdue to an object's will, even so potent.

He snapped out of his musings and directed a gaze full of attention at the Dwarf. "By all means, don't just walk silently with us. Talk to us about anything you want. Maybe your people's culture? What is it like to live in the mountains? In Abismonus, my destroyed country, there used to be several cities built on volcanoes, but, frankly, I've never been to one."

//OOC: Sorry about such a blatant way to make small talk, I'm honestly run out of ideas to touch upon while this meeting is still underway. If you, Xavier, can think of a better topic, please redirect the conversation; I'll be only glad. //End of OOC\\

OOC:By the way tis I who brought the Elder Gods Alixenus.

I'm talking Star Wars intro.

(Ooc) I apologize, for the back to back long posts. (Ooc)

//OOC: I don't think there is any need, your posts are always enjoyable! //End of OOC\\

OOC: For the last time, guys, there is no person called "Galrick" in Dustia. So please call my characters by their names (shouldn't we be doing that for all characters?) instead of my player name. I know it's minor, but it somehow gets on my nerves. Or maybe I should make the Engineer's unit designation "GL-RK-MK".