"Hello? Wake up!" You slowly open your eyes to see a concerned stable boy poking you in the shoulder with the butt of a pitchfork. Sitting up you see that you are lying in a stable. The smell is… unpleasant. You don’t recall how you got here, in fact the last thing you remember was an energy blast that… But this isn’t heaven. You hope it isn’t hell either because enduring a stable for eternity just might be a fate worse than death- wait. A quick pat down of yourself confirms, yup, you’re alive. Somehow.
You know that the world around you ended, or at very least, it definitely seemed that way. You were dead, you know that for sure. It seemed like just a dream that you met your god. It’s fading now, but you know you’ve been given a second chance. What you do with it is entirely up to you.
Each of you awakens in the stall of what appears to be a rather large-ish stable. As you get your bearings, and slowly begin the process of coming to terms with apparently being alive, you realize several things:
One, you seem to be physically the same. For some of you, there might be some significant changes, but you are all more or less as you were when you died.
However, internally, you all feel different. You sense a power within, something that was *definitely* not apart of you before. Regardless of who you used to be in your old life, or who you may have become in this in new one, whatever is inside you is, you are certain it is of the gods.
The next thing you note is your surroundings. You are in a city, of some sort, that's for sure, yet it seems subdued, almost peaceful. In fact, as you think on it, you all feel deeply at peace. As if, whatever may have killed you, or whatever insanity may be going on out in the world, as long as you are here(wherever here is), you are safe.
Lastly, you realize there seems to be a gloom to the sky, and it even appears to penetrate down into the city. This may be part of the subdued feeling, but it has nothing to do with the feelings of peacefulness.
Lian stands up, and looks around.
I'm... alive. I'm... different, though
She stretches, moves her limbs.
Ok, that's the same
And her... tails.
THAT's new!
"Where is this?"
"Ow, quit it!" said Karen as she began to stir. "Didn't your parents ever teach you that it isn't nice to poke a sleeping Dwarf?"
Standing, the stocky woman with green tinted skin began to stretch, with some audible *pop* and *creak* sounds.
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Loc would stretch slightly as he leaned up from his position. "Poking dead bodies huh? Child after my own heart. Now could you do me a favor and tell me where I am?" Brushing the dust off his body he would do a quick double check on himself just to make sure everything was still attached. Something felt different about him. It was definitely something he could get used to however. Walking out from the stable into the strange city he would begin to try and get a idea of where in the world he was. As far as he remembered, the world had been ending.
"Hello Loc. How did tracking down the Way go?"
Ken'ichi starts awake, his eyes opening in a flash, and one hand snaps up to grab at the pitchfork. As his eyes fall on the stable boy, though, the man relaxes, and he lets go of the wooden haft to push himself to his feet. Where am I? How am I here? As he stands he considers what he can recall. He had held the gate... so he'd thought. He gave his life to prevent the intruders from entering. But were that truly the case, he'd be dead now. Truly gone from this world, and to his resting place as a dutiful soul.
But he's very much alive. He has vague memories of a beautiful and powerful woman, with the aspect of a great Imperial dragon... And now he's here, in a stable. He looks down to see he's still in his armor, his swords at his side. He feels... different, somehow. As if granted great power for some purpose.
I must have failed. And now I must redeem myself. Very well.
He steps out from the stall and sees the city beyond, the gloom in the sky. It's all very different to him. Foreign. It looks like pictures from faraway lands, carried to Tian Xia by merchants in their books.
He turns to the stable boy, and realizes he'd spoken in the tongue of that land. Matsuoka had learned it as a boy, knowing it might be useful someday to speak to and understand the foreigners. So he asks, in heavily accented but passable Taldane, "Where am I?"
Karen sees Matsuoka, nods, and says "That's a great question."
The first thing she feels is pain. An aching soreness, as though her entire body has just been put through the ringer. Not surprising, given that nasty surprise of Xin's... wait. That surprise had killed her. She's certain of that. She remembers... she thinks she remembers feeling... warm.
The second thing she feels is just that, warmth. Not the warmth of a fire or another person, either. It's unfamiliar, and yet familiar at the same time, just like what she remembers, but from where, she has no idea.
The third and most striking is hunger. A wracking, ravenous hunger. Not the usual hunger either, the craving for the lifeblood of another. This is also unfamiliar, but focused in her... stomach? Is she... is she actually, literally hungry? That's nonsense, she hasn't been hungry in decades.
She finally opens her eyes when she feels something poking her shoulder, and looks at the stable boy. Then she looks down, because it's surprisingly bright in here. Beams of warm yellow light pour in through the windows of this stable she's woken up in, including directly on her. Disconcerting.
"AHHHH!" she shouts in panic, jumping to her feet and diving for a shadowy spot. The boy stumbles back, startled and confused. "I'm on fire! Dear Sarenrae help me, I'm on fire! I-" She freezes and looks down at her arms and torse. "I'm... not on fire?" She looks at the boy. A long, hard look. Then back at her hands. Still pale and blue veined. Back at the boy. She stares intently at his neck.
Nothing.
"... huh."
Mugmuff wakens suddenly at the poking and prodding... and leaps up, launching himself up and onto the haft of the boy's pitchfork, then runs up it, up his arms and onto his shoulders, where he stands for a moment... "What be this? Where? Who you, boy? and why you making pokings?"
He looks down at himself, surprised to see he's much as he was... not dead, that is. He jumps off the boy's shoulders and with a flip in the air, lands on top of the wall of the stall he was in.
When he sees the others... he tilts his head to one side, trying to assess if these strangers are friend or foe... but they are longshanks, so best not to take chances... he goes defensive, taking a martial arts stance anyone from tian xia might recognize. Then he immediately relaxes as a feeling of peace falls over him and he understands intrinsically that this place and these longshanks are no threat and that he is safe here.
"Who be you and where we iz?"
He looks out at the city and tries to puzzle out in his still-fuzzy brain where he might be.
Not being a terribly introspective sort, it slowly dawns on him that something is different, some quintessential aspect of himself was altered in a significant, if still yet unfathomed, way.
As Anastasia reacts to the world around her, then looks at the stablehand like she wants to eat him, Karen will give her a hard look.
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"Oh, hello Karen. Despite my appearance now it actually went awful. Ended up being torn to ribbons after the Tyrant was reborn. Thankfully I seemed to end up here instead of any sort of afterlife."
Loc would glance around at the people starting to leave the stable. Something strange was going on here. Still, it was impolite not to introduce himself. Loc was dressed in a pair of black leather boots. His trousers were stained slightly at the bottoms with mud but his suite was stainless. At his side was a large spell book strapped to his bag. In his right hand he carried a cane capped with a small humanoid skull. removing a large black top hat with a strip of red leather along the base he would offer a small bow.
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you all. I know not what brings you here but if it's anything like my circumstances my sympathies for your recent deaths. You may call me the Carrion Crafter, the Necromantic Negotiator, or as my friends call me, Loc Ludenburg."
"'lo, Loc. Me Mugmuff. What be romantic negoshator?"
"A necromancer?" the Kitsune's face can't help but show any disgust at the idea, as she leaves her stall and comes to the others, "Do you have anything to do with our returns? You may plead ignorance but if your magic is responsible... why, I'm supposed to look human!"
She suddenly transforms into a human guise- a Tian woman, sans puffy tails.
"Oh, yes, I can do this..." Lian gets distracted by her new powers again.
Anastasia's expression turns from strange elation and bemusement to something sour and unpleasant. "I find the company of a necromancer rarely tolerable and even more rarely enjoyable. What magic have you worked on me, wizard?"
Mugmuff seems at worst indifferent to Loc's stated profession. He does seem fascinated with Lian's disappearing tails... "How you do that?" He walks around her a couple of times, waving his hands behind her, checking to see if the tails are just invisible. Once Lian answers, or he loses interest he wanders off.
He starts munching on a handful of hay, spitting it out moments later with a disgusted look on his face. "That not be good food..." He starts scavenging in among the stalls... hunting for anything that looks edible.
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Loc will will smile at Mugmuff before rubbing his chin. "I will tell you what that is when your older my small green friend. Now my fine furry friend I regret to say I do not know why you seemed to have revived with such a interesting transmogrification."
He will turn to Anastasia before nodding. "I understand the deathist stereotypes that surround my profession. You ever heard of a white necromancer? Well I am not one of those, they are boring as hell and lack imagination. On the bright side I am not a violent psychopath! I know what is right and wrong and strive to keep myself on the up and up. Not my fault so many violent cults and criminals are happy to give me materials. I would be happy to take a look into your condition if you do think magic has been worked on you."
As Loc introduces himself to the group, Karen will follow suit. She is a stocky, powerfully built young woman with green-tinted skin and her dark hair is interwoven with various beats and totems that make slight but pleasant clacking noises when she moves her head.
"I should introduce myself as well. My name is Karen, and I am a priestess of Irori." She bows politely to you all and then, upon seeing Anastasia's reaction to Loc, says "I can't speak to his most recent adventures, but I have known Loc for a while. We were attempting to stop the cult of the Whispering Way, and although I was killed by a Vampire, I am not one."
Karen walks into the sunlight to prove her point.
"I am not sure what has befallen each of us, but I would hope that we can put aside our differences and work together for the common good."
"I am Lian Brook, diplomat."
The Kitsune introduces herself, much more formal now that introductions have begun.
"Formerly of the river kingdom of Avendale, in Avistan," she includes even the continent, just in case.
"I... was slain by fey." Lian adds, with more emotion in her voice. "If it is not Loc's necromancy, perhaps some magic of the First World...?"
"Me smacked in head by a giant... fell down nasty big stairs. No magic kill me. longshanks lady send me back, say me not done. Here me iz... but me feel strange."
"Were you... always a goblin?" Lian asks Mugmuff.
"Me allus gobbo!" he says proudly. "You not allus fox-wimmun?"
"Ah, no. This is new. Sorry for... well," Lian catches herself a bit. "I now wonder if this is species- specific. Was anyone else a human?" she asks around.
Anastasia narrows her eyes at Loc, but relents. "I've heard rumors of the Whispering Way in my travels. If you fought against them, Loc, then I have no quarrel with you. My name is Anastasia Vekova, Knight of Sarenrae."
"I was always a half-orc/half-dwarf, and it appears that I am still as such."
"Unusual," Lian takes in Karen's species as well. "Though perhaps I am the odd one out here."
She also raises an eyebrow at Anastasia, Knight of Sarenrae, endorsing Loc.
There is obviously a lot to take in with this crew, and she fears having already made faux pax.
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Matsuoka looks at the others curiously, still a little lost as to where he is or what's going on. The flurry of speech almost slips past his understanding, since he's unused to the language, but he keeps up well enough to get the gist, and he catches Lian's question. "I am human," he says, stepping forward. "I was before, as well."
He pauses and looks across the group. "You are a kitsune," he comments, looking at Lian. "But I think, I am the only one of my people here? Unless any of you are from Tian Xia."
"me know longshanks from teen-ja! He teach, me learn... me learn speak too. Coney-cheewawa!" He looks at Ken expectantly and if he doesn't get the Minkaian spoken with a goblin accent, he adds: "Means 'hello'"
"I'm human as well... or at least I was once... and I... might be again?" Anastasia presses an experimental finger to her throat, and starts slightly. "Why yes... yes I am." A bemused excitement appears on her face.
Lian looks at Matsuoka, "I am... was, Tian-Shu, though I moved to Avistan from Tian Xia when I was younger. So yes, I believe you are the only Tian-Min here."
She switches to fluent Minkaian- a slight accent, but it's a Tien accident rather than a Taldoran one, [b]"But I have known a number of Tian-Min from my old home in Goka, and a few in the river kingdoms. I hope your family is well."
Matsuoka gives a slight bow to Mugmuff, although he doesn't so much as smile at the goblin's added explanation, nor his accent. He bows to Lian as well, and responds in Minkaian himself. "Ah, Goka. I never visited there myself, but I have heard of that great city. As for my family..." He frowns touches his swords. "I am the last of my clan. And I do not know the fate of my lord's household."
Mugmuff scowls as Matsuoka speaks on in Minkaian... he recognize the language but doesn't understand a word that's being said...
"My apologies and condolences," Lian gives a bow, slightly deeper than Matsuoka's in apology. "There.. is a lot of that going around."
Then switching, and turning to Mugmuff, the Kitsune speaks another language, "<I've learned Goblin in my studies as well>," she begins in a cheerier tone, "<But I've never had a chance to practice it with a real goblin before! I hope my accent isn't too bad.>"
"Your goblin is fine, if a little heavily accented.. .but we can work on it if we hang out together some." he replies in goblin, then: "You talk good. Me understand." he replies in broken common for the benefit of those who don't speak goblin.
Lian smiles, and also in common, "Thank you."
"So it seems that someone brought me here for a reason, and I'm guessing you all were as well. I am acquainted with what Loc does during our adventures together, but perhaps we should discuss what our combat capabilities are so that we are prepared in the high likelihood that it should happen."
Karen begins bouncing on her toes and stretching while she continues "As I mentioned before, I am a priest of Irori, although I feel as though my connection to him has diminished since my death, but there is something else in it's place...."
She throws a couple of quick jabs and then says "like most followers of Irori, I am an adept martial artist, and will be able to keep you alive with Irori's gifts."
Finishing her shadow boxing, Karen smiles and says "that's pretty much me."
"Me death that creeps in dark." He shrugs... "But me feel funny... changed. not know how yet."
The stable boy stands to the side, leaning on the pole he used to poke youall awake. He seems almost bored with the meet-up, which is probably the opposite reaction you'd expect from a stable boy who just saw half a dozen people come back to life in his back yard.
"I am a swordsman. I practice my clan's ancient method, the... I don't know how to say in your language... Nigen-Sei-Ryoku Sokudo-Ryu." He pauses and shrugs, then pats the hilts of his swords. "I use two katana. Unusual, but effective."
"I don't know how to translate that either," Lian says of the sword school.
"As for myself, Sorceress, and diplomat, as mentioned. Talk is my preferred method, but I like to think I can handle myself in a fight with some choice spells."
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"I'll do a quick double check on everyone to make sure we don't have any death left on us." Loc's eyes will sudden glow a dull green as he activates a round of his life sight and examines everyone. "Well we all seem to be living. I suggest doing a quick double check on our bodies just to make sure nothing else got changed up with our resurrection. As far as I know my mastery of the necromantic arts is still complete. I suggest we visit a grave yard though. I feel a little naked with out my bodyguard. As a heads up I do have trouble with illusion and enchantment spells as well. Fell behind while I studied necromancy. If I may interrupt as well, should we be concerned about the kid who seems very blase about our sudden rebirth? For some reason that gives me a sort of foreboding feeling."
Mugmuff peers down inside his pants, shrugs... "Nothing changed." He examines his gear and clothing as well, making sure all is there, a little surprised to see some things he doesn't quite recognize, though he says nothing about that, afraid someone else might try to claim what are obviously his, even though he doesn't know about them.
Turning to the stablehand, Karen will ask "What is your name, young man, and where are we?"
Anastasia draws the scimitar at her hip. "I'm well trained in the art of the sword, as well as diffusing hostile situations." She resheathes the blade and levels a steady glare at Loc. "I would, of course, ask that you not perform such blatant acts of evil as raising the dead in my presence."
The boy, in his early teens best, nods to Karen. Finally. People usually ask where they are first. You'll must have died really badly...
You're in Absolom, the refuge camp at the center of the Inner Cesspool. You currently stand in the yard of the Blessed Cup tavern and way-house in the Puddles district. You'll want to go see the owner, Penchi. He has a golden rod up his butt but he's not too bad. He'll fill you in on the rest.
Mugmuff looks at Anastasia, tilts his head to one side... "You raise from dead iz okay, but no one else? Selfish!"
"Absolom, the center of the world," Lian speaks as if a line from a play. "I've never been here before," then adds, "Nor any place with an 'Inner Cesspool.' Ah well, it can't be that different coming from Goka." she speaks mostly to herself there.
Karen bows to the young man and says "Irori's blessings upon you."
She will then cast Guidance on him.
Mugmuff shrugs and heads for the main building of the tavern. "Me find Penchee, get gold stick. Make talk."
"Talking to him does seem to be the thing to do," Lian falls in behind Mugmuff- whether to support him or to prevent a dangerous exchange, well, that remained to be seen.