by kiduf » Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:30 am
[Edit 3: The Islands of Ecestrim is an extremely freestyle RP. Every player gets a huge amount of control in the story, and it's more about building interaction than making sure 'so and so' dies.
Please keep in mind that by entering, though, you automatically give other players the right to play your character for short amounts of time, to progress the story and (like I said) build interaction.
=D So... yeah, if you're interested... check out the OOC thread, and then read the RP itself, and then post in OOC! *thumbs up*]
-[GROUP MISSION]-
-[CHARACTER INTERACTION]-
-[SCI-FI/FANTASY]-
"This world... this world of creatures of violence, and creatures of peace... this world is built on fates and destinies. It is built on action and consequence. Great adventures have been had, and they shall continue to be had throughout the years. Know this, though: No matter how troubling the situation, no matter how hopeless the cause, you are never alone. Welcome to the Islands of Ecestrim."
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[Part One]
There was no one around. Good. Azerbarth couldn't risk being seen. No, not now. Not in his current state of mind. There was nothing in his head but thoughts of murder. This was the closest Azerbarth had ever been to getting what he wanted. For two years, he had planned for this night. The night when he would kill Denskrae. Everything was perfect. The hall was dim, the door to Denskrae's sleeping chambers dead ahead. Azerbarth approached, knife in hand. It was hard to keep quiet, with his long tail and massive feet not designed for stealth operations such as this. As crazed as he was, he was all too aware of every creak, of every scratch, that he made as he inched closer and closer to his target.
Finally, he reached the doorway. 10 minutes couldn't have passed from the time when he left his own chamber 'till now, but to Azerbarth, it seemed as if he had been wandering for hours. He began to breath heavily, as the reality of it all began to come through to him. This was it. As quietly as he could, Azerbarth reached toward the door handle. He firmed his grip on the handle and turned it. The door opened silently. It was welled oiled. Azerbarth would've hoped so. Denskrae was a mysterious one, he was. He was seen only at the Dome Meetings, but otherwise, he might as well have been a ghost. That was precisely why Azerbarth figured that it was him. Everyone else... everyone else had their things to do. Everyone else could to pinned to a certain time and place. But not Denskrae.
The room was lit with ambiance obviously in mind. A pale yellow light covered the whole of the room. This unnerved Azerbarth more than he was willing to bare. He dropped to the floor, and slowly crawled towards Denskrae's bed. It was a vain piece of furniture, with intricate designs carved into the frame, and ruffled bedding. This only fueled the flame of Azerbarth's rage. Fearing the end of the night, he quickened his approach. When he reached the bed, Azerbarth brought himself back onto his feet, using his tail as a support, so that he wouldn't make any sound with his hands. His body a shadow over the sleeping form of Denskrae, he spoke.
"Wake up, Denskrae. Your end has come."
There was no reply. Under Azerbarth's logic, Denskrae had been given his chance to defend himself, and not taken it. He savagely attacked the bed, slashing and thrusting in a frenzy of silver on white. It was a good 5 minutes before Azerbarth realized that whatever he was attacking, it was not Denskrae. Noticing that his eyes were closed, he opened them to find himself sitting on the remains of Denskrae's bed, and nothing more, with a troop of Drakonian Guards at the foot.
"Oh."
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Exile. How did it happen? He had planned all too perfectly. He had watched him like a hawk. He KNEW Denskrae would be in his room that night. He KNEW. He was caught in the act, so there was no denying that. It was the end. Tomorrow, 0800, he was gone. Azerbarth would never get his revenge. There was light at the end of this tunnel, though. As the son of the late General Hygarth, the Drakonian Army had no jurisdiction to confine him to a jail cell. That would be considered 'inhumane' in his society, though no one would've given it any thought when locking up a citizen from the bottom of the spiral. He was sent to his room, where he would be retrieved the next morning. They would surely ship him off to some desolate island, probably Terra Fester...
He wouldn't let them. They left him with an advantage, and he was sure as hell going to take it. Not worrying whether or not there would be guards posted outside of his room (they couldn't do any more than send him back in, anyways), he walked right out. Surprisingly, they had not left anyone out there at all.
"Hahaha, you are too stupid, Denskrae. I am more daring than you think!"
There was only one thing that Azerbarth could do. Get a suit, get the Talons, and get out of there. But another realization came to him. The Talons were in the spire, even higher up than the very top of the dome. He was in the middle. Running up toward the Safe Room, Azerbarth cursed the spiral design of the Life Dome. It was a good 20 minutes before he made it to the spire. No one ever actually went up here, so it was unguarded. Amazing, the naivety of his people.
After climbing the intricate system of ladders that would lead to the top of the spire, he reached the Safe Room. Azerbarth walked in as if it were nothing. There they were, resting upon a gleaming pedestal. The Drakonian War Talons. His father had worn them, until the untimely death of both him and his wife. Azerbarth was almost afraid to touch them, but they were calling to him. There was no chance of being caught at this point, as every one of the hundred thousand residents of the Life Dome, nestled snugly in the center of the island of Drakonia, was asleep, save for a handful of guards patrolling the Government Building. He planned to don the Talons slowly, so as to make it a special moment, but he felt the need to get out quickly. He grabbed the Talons and placed them on his hands. A brilliant array of light resonated from the Talons as they permanently bonded themselves to Azerbarth. It hurt a little, but that was a small price to pay for the power he now held. What WAS a large price to pay, was an unexpected result of putting the Talons on.
The light had shattered all of the windows in the Safe Room, and he could hear the startings of a ruckus downstairs. There was a General's DRA (Drakonian Army) suit of armor in the room, most probably his father's. Azerbarth would probably need that. He hastily put all of the armor on, making sure to double check the wing guards. If he were to get injured there, it would make for a dire situation. With everything he would need for the day he would come back and finish his deed, he approached the window, and jumped. His wings unfolded and he soared away into the distance, to plan, and possibly gather forces, to destroy the pile of corruption that was the Drakonian Government.
As the outline of the massive dome blinked out of sight, Azerbarth had one last thought...
"Denskrae WILL pay...."
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[OOC] Sorry if the ending of my opening segment was a little weak. I'm a bit rushed right now. If you noticed any loose threads, that's because I planned it that way. Stuff will be revealed. For now, feel free to join in and start characters. I intend to have this RPG be alot more 'free', in terms of how other players can shape the events. I'm giving my part of the plot, and now you guys add yours. Eventually, our characters WILL meet.[/OOC]
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[Part Two]
"Wow, that military training really came in handy. I don't know how I could've made it this far without it," Azerbarth thought to himself as he soared over the multitude of islands scattered throughout the ocean. The many days that his training squad flew continuously had not been in vain. Although many of his fellow trainees (himself included) had fallen ill to exhaustion afterwards, it had made all of the boys (as boys they had been) feel stronger than ever. This was the third day that Azerbarth had been flying, and he was only starting to feel the fatigue inching in on his being. He figured he would be okay for just one more day, though.
Azerbarth had no particular destination, and had spent most of his flight thinking, as he had come to do quite often in the past two years. Mostly it was of his father, and what he would do, given the situation. Needless to say, he would've come out on top, no matter what. To Azerbarth, his father was immortal. Once again, he closed his eyes and let his natural navigational abilities take over, and reflected on recent events. Azerbarth grew up only hearing stories of his father's various adventures throughout the islands. They captured his body and mind, and Azerbarth could think of nothing more than one day, being able to have those adventures. In the same year that his father was murdered, Azerbarth planned to enlist in the Army, to be able to battle alongside his father. However, he would never have that honor, as his mother and father would both be brutally attacked and killed on the eve of his graduation into the Dragonian Army. Not having any desire to continue in military life, Azerbarth opted to not attend his graduation, and instead sought refuge in his dwelling, mourning the loss of his parents for weeks.
As he grieved, though, he was also thinking. Thinking about who could've done it, and planning how to get back at them. Azerbarth in no way expected the Government to handle it at all. From his short time in the military, he knew that the politicians were all nothing more than pompous asses, and nothing would get done if not for his father's sound advice to the mayor. His father's top priority was to lead the Dragonian Army in greatness, but he was also officially the Mayor's Advisor. It might not have been blaringly obvious, but everyone still knew that that essentially made him the most powerful person in the Dome. Everyone also knew that Azerbarth's father would now abuse this power as well, though.
"Whoever did this HAD to have wanted nothing more than to be in my father's position," was what ran through his head over and over again as he sat on his little cot.
After the murders, the Government did give Azerbarth a steady flow compensation money, which was the norm in any case of high-class murder. This did not appease his thirst for revenge at all, though. Yes, he did have money, but he was alone. He could have all the money in the Life Dome, and it still wouldn't matter. He had to get revenge.
So, the next two years were spent planning and scouring the spiral to try and figure out who would kill his parents. Those two years led up to that night, 3 nights ago. For the last two months, Azerbarth had no doubt whatsoever in his mind that the killer was Denskrae. Denskrae was the Chief Healer of the Life Dome, a position that anyone high class would know was more for show than anything. The medicines gotten from the island of Pearlton were all anyone needed to stay healthy anymore. Everyone in the Dome was happy with their position, as everyone played a part, and everyone was rewarded in some form or another.
Azerbarth could see why Denskrae would be tempted to kill his father. As useless as the position was, Chief Healer was still one of the highest ranking positions available in Azerbarth's society. It was directly under Hygarth's position, General of the DRA and Mayoral Advisor. According to Island Policy, Denskrae would be placed into that position. Azerbarth was furious at himself for not coming to such an obvious conclusion until almost 2 years after his parents' death. His two months of planning had also been in vain. Was it just a coincidence, or did Denskrae know? But... how could he know? As far as he knew, Denskrae had seem him perhaps twice since the murders. Once, of course, was to give condolences for the tragedy that had struck his life, and the second was a rare occasion that Denskrae had actually been in the spiral walkways. Surely there was no way that he could've gotten any information about Azerbarth's plans.
That didn't matter right now, though. What mattered was that Azerbarth needed to take his attempts to a higher extreme.
"Apparently, I can't have you in a man-to-man victory, so I'll have to take drastic measures," and he knew just what those drastic measures would be. Azerbarth would assemble a team. A 'strike force', if you will. Yes, he would nullify any chance of anyone in the Dragonian Life Dome interfering with him. He'd need everything. A healer, a thief, a true warrior, and a scout [OOC - You guys, *wink wink nudge nudge]. Especially a scout. If he was seen last time at all, he couldn't afford to be seen again.
His plan set, Azerbarth was able to go for a rest. First, though, he took a quick look around to see where he was.
"Amazing. In three days, I passed 9 of the 11 islands...," Azerbarth thought to himself as he recapped the islands, just to test his memory, "there was Dragonia, land of all that is serpentine; Mageleron, where nearly every magician in the world resides; Pearlton, the origin of all conventional medicine in the world, as well as all healers you may encounter on your journeys; Damnitaria, the source of all evil, and creatures of the night; Agreshille, training ground for all who wish to be mighty in strength; Foreline, a land where archer and animal can live amongst; Crooklin, the island where nothing is sacred, and all are thieves by trade; the Apocalary, where the gods of good and evil fight an endless battle; Terra Fester, basically a 'global prison'," as well as the twin islands that Azerbarth would soon be landing on, Gem and Ini. They were the smallest islands of the 11, and were considered, at most, mere pit-stops along one's route. However, that's not to say that the islands still didn't have their own bustling cities.
Seeing the islands Gem-Ini below him, Azerbarth folded his wings up and performed a technique that he had perfected over his time in the military. He essentially became a plastic soldier and dropped until he was within 100 feet of land, and then opened his wings like a parachute. They had multiple effects. The first would be knocking him back with intense force as his wings caught the wind, giving any Dragonian male a nice adrenaline rush, the second being the prevention of his untimely demise at the hands of terra firma, and the third being a great stretch for the muscles between his shoulderblades and wings. Azerbarth also thought it made him look incredibly cool, despite how everyone he knew told him how silly he looked, flailing after his wings caught.
He made a slow and graceful descent toward the ground, and landed with a dull thud of his feet connecting with the earth. Azerbarth had landed just outside the gates to Ini's city, Luna. He walked in freely, as there was no military presence ever on the twin islands, and immediately noticed the extreme blend of cultures from every island on the planet. There were thiefs playfully being chased away by warriors as the healers ground their herbs nearby. Birds flew happily above, as children, who have not chosen trades at all yet, played tag in the streets. There was no place like this on Dragonia. It was all about duty, and Azerbarth was blown away by how happy everyone looked. He knew that people were definitely happy in the Dome, but not this kind of happy.
Nearby, there was a large, 3-storey building with a sign hanging from it that said 'Inn'. Feeling in his money satchel, Azerbarth noticed what a large amount of money he was carrying.
"Hmm... I suppose I haven't been out much in the last little while," Azerbarth realized, as he walked in the door. It was a quaint little Inn, with a kind looking lady at the counter.
"Hello sir, welcome to the Inn. My name is Juni. Will you be staying in one of our rooms?"
"Please, Azerbarth is fine. It is I who should be calling you maam."
"*chuckles* Oh, don't worry about it, Azzie, no one cares about formality here. It's just policy to start with 'sir' or 'maam'. So, a room for you, then?"
Azerbarth was confused. It was enough that everyone was free of duty like this, but there was no system of heirarchy either? This was all new to him, but he decided to enjoy his time away from home and try to blend in.
"Oh, yes, please. Just one night, though."
"Only one night? Surely you'll be staying longer than that?" Juni inquired as she handed Azerbarth the keys to his room, "that's room 2, third floor, hun."
"Well, possibly, but I have some business to attend to. Thank you."
"Will you get through the door fine, hun?" Juni had just noticed how immensely tall this Azerbarth fellow was.
"*grins* I'll manage," Azerbarth said, as he turned to the stairway. Juni was right; he did have a little trouble getting through the door. Nothing that a bit of bending couldn't fix, though. On his way to his room, Azerbarth noticed that he hadn't seen any of his kind this whole time. "Oh well, they don't matter to me right now. What does matter, is where the hell my room is." Azerbarth, for some reason, had an extremely tough time trying to find his room. He eventually did find it, though, room 2, third floor. The room was just as mellow as the lobby, and he was glad to see that. The bed wasn't quite large enough for him, so he had to drag the second bed from across the room to make it fit for him. Smiling as he thought about the happiness he had seen outside, Azerbarth had one final thought before he fell asleep.
"Tomorrow, I will put my plan into motion. Tomorrow."
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[OOC] Okay, so you guys are starting to see where you play into this, right? Feel free to start your characters on any of the islands, and feel free to build their own problems on said islands as well. We'll all meet up at some point or another, and we'll fix all of those problems. I don't want to be the main character. We're ALL the main character. =) Don't be swayed into thinking that you have to choose either warrior, thief, scout, or healer, either. Those were just examples. [/OOC]
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[OOC] Sorry if the verb tense (or other aspect of the English language) is a little off between segments. This intro is basically ported from about 3 posts at another board that I go to where this RPG failed. I think it should all fit together, though. Sorry about the length. Anyways, I hope it meets the high-quality standard that I assume this board has. [/OOC]
Edit: [OOC] There's a character profile for Azerbarth in the Character place thingy that should fill you in on his backround. Check it out. [/OOC]
Edit 2: [OOC] I moved Appendix A, which had the 11 islands, along with their descriptions, to the OOC thread for this RPG. Check there for information. Also, please post all questions about this RPG there. [/OOC]
Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=kiduf>kiduf</A] at: 3/14/05 20:35