OC Contest

[ATTN: Open]

"@$*$!" Femaust screams as his backpack is slammed into his back from his fall his vision going white as his shield slaps him in the back of the head. Rolling over trying to shake off his dizziness he stands up. the sudden pain in his hand causes him to reflexively pull his hand up to eye level, where he is greeted by several cuts and gashes on his arm and hand. "By the Primes! Again! I just woke up!" he curses loudly while stringing together some words he heard the sailors use, but doesn't understand the meaning off. Taking a quick look around he notices the bare landscape, and lack of anything in the sky.... Clearly puzzled by the lack of a star and the presence of illumination he scans the ground around him.

The grass nearby appears fairly normal at least, but some of it appears odd, but thats away from him and the door. Keeping an eye on the odd grass he tends to his arm with some light stitching and bandages. Another injury, at this rate I won't be able to fight if this keeps up. At least his hand got off lightly, he could still hold his axe if need be.

"What to do? what to do?" He asks himself since no one is around. "Ahh ha!" as an idea forms into his head. Placing his hand on the ground he closes his eyes and pictures the formula in his mind, with a effort of will he forces the dirt around the door to shift. Slowly as if drawn by a giants hand the magic script of a circle forms around the door. After he is finished he examines the circle for errors, corrects them, and places his hand on the door frame. "Same stupid barrier on this side well fine, I can't break it, but the door is mine!"

The script on his arms begin to shine and the circle slowly follows in suit picking up in intensity. After a few minutes he begins to sweat as the door resists, its bloody resists his attempts to change it, finally it begins to melt. As it softens its form congeals and lengthens into a haft, then with more effort a blade widens to about a foot in length at the tip and the haft takes on a rougher texture, much like wire on the outside. The Circle fades and he feels the fatigue hit him as he stands... leaning really on a spear that tops him by a foot and a half.

Looking around he checks again for signs of danger, he lost focus on his surroundings there for awhile. Anything with a hostile intent could have taken him unawares. Not seeing anything he reaches into his bag a pulls out a small compass and checks it hoping that it would still work in this strange place.

There Nor.... WHAT?! his mind reeling as the compass starts and stops spasmodically spinning. Getting ever more confused he shoves it into his pack and starts walking away from what used to be the door. Trailing the spear point behind him he drags it along the ground marking a line as he wanders onward. Stopping a fair distance from one of the odd patches of grass he pokes it with the pointy end of the spear and parts it before taking a look and carrying on if nothing is amiss.

{Attn: Joseph, Shiva, open}

Kyrie watches Shiva suspiciously as she builds the ice around her. She arms her blaster as Shiva talks. She keeps a keen eye on her as she begins to crystallize.

What happens next was too quick for her to process at first. She sees the ice shell around Shiva break apart. Then the young man stand in front of her. "Nooo what the he...." was all she got out before she was knocked over.

She slides backward with the young man. He blocked most of the shards from her only a few managed to slice in her uniform. She looks over and sees the young man. She shakes her head and goes over to him. She touches his shoulder. "You idiot we were supposed to work together!" She does a scan as tears filled her eyes. "I am so sorry..."

Mists begin rising up. Kyrie looks around wildly. Is this part of the challenge? She keeps her hand on him the least she can do is relieve the pain.

[ATTN: Girl]

Trick didn't turn around yet, but instead shut the door again slowly with a click. He leaned sideways against the door, looking at the girl out of the corner of his eye. He shifted his grip on his knife. His palms were wet.

"How kind of you to remind me," he said slowly, finally turning and looking at her. He kept his back pressed against the door, and looked away from the girl's face for an instant to look at his gun. His eyes flicked back up again to stare her in the eyes.

He didn't dare underestimate her. Everything about her seemed... off. She couldn't be all that she seemed. And he didn't like her having his gun. It was still loaded, after all, seven bullets in the magazine - he always kept track.

"Mind passing that over, dear?" he said, holding his free hand out straight. He held the door handle and the knife in his other hand. If things turned sour, he needed to be able to leave. "Or, is there anything you want for it?" he said, trying for a relaxed smile. She couldn't know he was scared - animals could smell fear, so he had heard, who said this girl couldn't do the same?

[ATTN: Open]

Rae shifted and began to come to. Something didn't feel right, and as soon as he opened his eyes he found out what. He had been travelling to a nearby village, and had somehow wound up in a in a bed in a foreign place. The room was pretty plain overall, with a multitude of beds lined up; for what reason, Rae had no idea. It was impossible for him to tell where he was.

He slowly got out of the bed and looked at all four walls of the room, wary that anything could happen in this strange place. However, it was completely silent in there. There was only one door in the room, and when he tried the knob he found it was unlocked. Whoever had brought him here apparently didn't mind him leaving the room.

He exited the room and found himself in a hallway. He began to walk down it, his crossbow bumping against his thigh as he went. He found a multitude of strange doors lining either side of the hall. Someone had been very creative when designing them, to say the least. There seemed to be nowhere else to go, so Rae figured he'd have to pick one.

The door leading out to a gravel road looked the most promising to him. It could be some kind of trap, since there were so many other doors; what would be the point of them if this one simply led out? Though this one could lead out while the others lead to different rooms in the building. He stood there, trying to rationalize it, then decided to just go through it and see what would happen.

{Attn: Shiva, Jose/tasm}

Kyrie looks down at Joseph as she relieves his pain. He tells her to stand back. She sees the mists swirling and scrambles back. She watches in shock as the mists swirl around him and transforms him into a different form.

She swallows hard as he stands up. A scythe suddenly appears in his hand, unnerving her just a little. A low voice reverberates off the walls. She stand as he rushes towards Shiva. She raises her blaster and fires making sure to avoid him. She is not going to let him have all the fun.

[Attn: Open]
[Colored Italic is Thought, the italic doesn't show well so I made it more obvious]

After a few seconds, he notices a slight hissing noise and a pungent odor in the air. Pulling his spear out he notices the blade fizzing.... An Acid perhaps he is careful not to touch it with his hand, for surely if it reacts to metal this fast he doesn't want to see what it'll do to his hands. Noticing that the fizzing stops shortly after he takes it away from the grass, he leans down and observes the plants. What mechanism causes this? A coating or secretion? he ponders taking a look but remaining careful not to expose himself to the odd plants.

"Well a change of process is in order" he decides after realizing that he will have to carefully test the ground in from of him as he moves. Placing the pommel end into the grass he notes the speed of the reaction. What'll I do when I come across the creatures here? Surely they have some kind of way to prevent themselves from being harmed by this. This will ruin any attempt at evasion.... he rationalizes... What kind of place has no Solar, no magnetosphere? What do they use to navigate, no starts or clouds... not even a breeze or wind. How do the plants get water? he continues pondering his studies trying to understand even slightly this strange place. Drawing a rough circle about a span wide, he attempts to figure out the composition of the soil, where does the water come from? Do all the creatures dwell underground? Is it clay like or sandy? These things might help him understand where he might find shelter....

After a few minutes analyzing a scary thought comes to mind. What'll I do when it gets dark? he lost the torch when he fell into the strange door.... no portal, yes that's it. Wondering for a few minutes he reaches a conclusion that should it become dark and he will have to create a shelter from the earth itself and close it all but enough for air to reach him. There are no tree's nor brush for him to make a great fire.... perhaps some of the taller grass might serve if bundled together.... yes that should work. The thought of walking onto one of the acid patches was a very troubling thought. For now he would review his findings, then carry on, it would still be a few hours till he needed sleep.

{Attn: Aittasm, Shiva}

Kyrie watches in amazement as Shiva was split in two from the man's attack. She is glad he is on her side. She looks and sees not living organ inside. Maybe this is one of Haggar's tricks after all. Her blaster seems to harm the ice mistress though as she hits the wall from it.

However it seems to infuriate Shiva more. Shiva whips up a furious blizzard within the room. The winds cut through Kyrie's outfit chilling her to the bone. She stands and shivers until dark mists envelope her. The winds stop and it warms up a little, however it does not stop a different kind on chill from going up and down her spine. She is happy to be out of the wind though.

The being then spoke to her. "Odd that we have to work together." Kyrie looks at the blaster and thinks of the swirling winds outside. "I doubt my blaster will work in that blizzard, unless I am standing right next to her. I am not very skilled on it yet. My sword is my primary weapon." We have to find a way to calm down the winds."

Kyrie shivers as a smile creeps on her face. "How large can you make your mists?"

[ATTN: Open]

When Rae passed through the door and onto the gravel road, he turned and found that a yellow barrier was now blocking the door. He cringed inwardly and had a sinking feeling as to what was to come.

"What 'ave I got myself into..." he said to himself.

He seemed to be in the courtyard of an old castle. The castle wasn't in the style of the one at Grandir, so it was safe to assume he hadn't been taken back there. Where was he? There was no one there to ask, so he had no choice to follow the gravel path.

It wound around the castle toward a side entrance. When he tried the door, however, it was stuck. No matter how hard he pushed and pulled, it did not move. The sinking feeling in his gut intensified.

Suddenly, a red substance began to pour from the walls of the castle. He stepped backward so as to not get any on himself. Was it blood? He couldn't be sure. He reached into his coat and pulled out of one of the inside pockets a cylinder made of metal. He flicked his wrist and the cylinder extended to a length of 6 feet. The opposite end dangerously sharp.

He reached the lance out and poked the red stuff with it. He then withdrew the lance to examine the end.

[ATTN: Girl]

Trick smiled as he reached out and grabbed his gun back from the girl. He opened his coat and found a pocket for his gun, tucking it safely away. The coat was a long, black wool thing, way too hot for here, but it had been perfect for Russia.

Being in Russia would be nice now.

"Oh, sure," he lied. No way was he letting freaky sand-girl come with him - he trusted her as much as he trusted a lion. He eyed the quicksand moving towards them - was that her? He didn't plan to stay to find out.

Trick suddenly dived for the door without warning, tearing at the handle and flinging it wide.

{Attn: Airtasm, Shiva}

The being succeeded in containing the storm, so Kyrie takes a chance. She step outside the misty barrier raises her blaster and lets out a succession of shots that the guys would be proud of. "I told you my name is Kyrie, none of that healer crap or I will call you the "right hand of death"." The creepy feeling along with the chills from before has sapped the good mood out of her.



((((OOC: Post 6000)))))

[Attn: Open]

Something about his probing of the soil didn't make sense. Femaust tries to put it together and finally begins to piece them together. I should be able to sense deeper than this. Its like something stops me every time I try to sense past a few feet. but what troubles me so much is the dirt itself. Its to uniform, and there isn't anything really in it. No telltale signs of old life or gravel. Its like someone just uploaded a vast amount of dirt and made a garden of it. Well the dirt doesn't pose a problem. Carefully he focuses and causes the earth to sift outwards in waves, starting small but getting larger and moving more dirt until he stands in a cylindrical hole about 6ft wide and only about three feet deep. The bottom is a smooth plane of stone, without crack or fissure, its grain a most unnaturally even and small grain.

"Odd" he says aloud, placing his hand on the stone and attempting to probe and shift it. Both attempts fail. "This place is getting even more bizarre." Femaust validates as he tries another method. Placing his hand on his spear he focuses and changes its form into that of a pickaxe. Wasting no time he swings it down with all his strength, and skill. The rock chipping away under the barrage of his swings. After sometime he rests and drinks some water from his pack, making sure to save some for later. Catching his breath he gets up and goes to start again.... noticing the irregularity that the stone chips seem to be melding back into the floor and smoothing out again. "Well now what am I going to do?" Taking some time to contemplate he pulls out a piece of chalk and starts drawing some diagrams on the stone. Vast sums and equations using several mathematical formula. He eventually stops and nods. Picking up the pick he shifts its form slightly into that of a hoe and climbs up out of the hole.

"Well I'm just sick and tired of all this. If this doesn't work at least I can sleep somewhere tonight." With a patience that befits a must older man he goes about tilling and hoeing the grass for a quarter mile, here and there and various places. Occasionally having to reinforce the hoe as he works through sections of the strange acidic grass. After several hours and a few breaks, he arrives at the center and jumps down into the hole to check one last time. "That seems like everything is right" placing his hand on the wall of his hole he sends out a stream of energy and confirms that it is. "Sorry master but this is one of those moments" Femaust apologizes as he pulls out the magic stone his master gave him for emergencies. "I'm tired and exhausted, so you'll be used up all right." he tells the stone, as if it had a personality of its own. Bracing himself he pops the stone into his mouth and chews its up granting him a reserve of strength enough for the task, any left over will fade away.

"Here we go" He places his hands palm up at his sides and closes his eyes concentrating. Slowly the dirt gathers in the hole lifting him up inch by inch out of the hole. A roar much like the sound of a waterfall begins to gather as instead of rippling out the dirt ripples in towards him to raise him even further. The surrounding dirt starting to crest like waves in a stormy sea as they pile ever higher stripping the area of the circle. Each successive wave crashing into the mound, packing and building ever higher. Eventually the noise becoming almost like thunderclaps. After an hour or two he eventually succumbs to exhaustion on the top of a earthen tower, reaching far into the sky. It comes no were close to his masters tower, but at this height he can see much much farther.

Scanning the landscape, his hopes are dashed further. Even from here nothing beyond the circles edge looks any different. He can note the two contrasting types of grass, but no tree's, rivers, or animals of any kind. Even within the circle that exposes the stone bedrock there is no differences. All of it still has that appearance and feel of false uniformity. Still there is no change in the even light, no breeze or wind up here on his tower. So sitting there he rests, eating a little of his food and watches the landscape beyond, listening and waiting.

[Attn: Open]

Huh? No it's nothing he thinks as he begins to nod off. !!! It's moving! Am I imagining it? Faumaust starts awake and carefully focuses on the grass in the distance. Yes it is changing... the color shifting, the grass is coming together He analyses, trying to pick out more detail. Looking in several directions he notices that the same thing is happening all around his tower. Taking some time he notices slight differences, some moves faster and some slower. Its like a group birds gathering around a feeding pool. This thought scares him, he only hopes that he isn't their prey.

Then suddenly his hopes are dashed as finally a sound echoes faintly across the plains. That was laughter! There is something there! Feeling very alone 71 places his hand on the handle of his axe to reassure himself. Looking down he notices the runic numbers carved on the blade that match his name 'LXXI'. Trading glances out to the grass beyond, he starts work by placing his hand on the earth beneath his feet, and sending out a very wide shift, causing several different circles to form along the surface of the tower, wrapping it in a sort of eerie writing. As he does this his eyes stay riveted to the grass beyond, watching.

Again, There. He notices that the grass moves in a rhythm, almost like it is set on a timer or clock. Every so many minutes... ten or so the grass stirs then moves for the same window and stops again. The grass itself, rippling, bunching and moving much like birds or people. Finally after a fair time, several cycles his preparations are complete. Engraving the dirt takes almost no strength from him, its consistency able to be shifted easily. Alright, that's taken care of. Now if they prove hostile I have an option Femaust shivers slightly at the thought of what a crazy plan it is, but he hopes not to use it. Peering out he notices the grass hasn't tried to move out onto the stone or pass the massive circle he used to make the tower either. He does notice that several of the symbols are disturbed however. This an interesting note, but not of much worry. It's not like I was going to use it again anyway. One more thing then.

Unstrapping his shield from his back he picks up the hoe and places them together. Using both hands he opens up his magic again, a brief amount of light and he picks up his shield only now its much larger resembling a oval-like hemisphere instead of the spherical one it did. Holding it by its straps he makes sure that its size and dimensions are correct, yes its bigger than he is tall. That should work. Femaust 71 reassures himself.

Standing up he takes a sip from his water skin and puts it back into his bag. Walking to the edge of the plateau of his tower he stands proud and resolute before speaking in a loud carrying voice. "I HAVE HEARD YOU!", briefly pausing he continues "COME FORTH AND SPEAK TO ME!" he challenges. "MY NAME IS FAMAUST SEVENTY ONE! I WISH LEAVE OF THIS PLACE TO RETURN HOME! AGAIN, I SAY TO YOU: COME FORTH AND SPEAK TO ME, I AM READY!"

{Attn: Shiva, Airtasm}

It is just as Kyrie concluded the storm is counter productive. Her blaster is just not powerful. Her mind starts think of ways of making it better. An ice chunk flying past brings her back to the current situation. She looks up and sees more following.

She dodges one of the ice shards. Another one hits her shoulder hard pushing her down. It was a good thing because just as she was falling one breezes by her head. If she hadn’t been falling it may have seriously injured her. She stays in the ground as the other shards fly above her. Her shoulder is injured, but she does not have time to think about that now.

She stands up, looks around and sees the mists gone along with the storms. Shiva is standing by the other being. Kyrie notices the energy forming in his hand. She raises her weapon. Hoping the blasts from the both of them will be enough.

Kyrie turns her weapon to the big blast. It was a setting for situations just like this. It will drain it in one blast. Thankfully she and Pidge reconfigured the blasters to recharge on their own. But after this it will be useless for a bit.

Just as Airtasm fires his energy, so does she.

[ATTN: Girl]

Trick had already taken a step into the next room when the quicksand caught up with him. He fell through in an instant, and sand filled his mouth, burned his eyes. There was a long moment of nothing, and Trick clawed at the sand frantically as his lungs felt ready to burst.

Something solid pushed beneath him, and just as quickly, it was over, and Trick flew out of the sand and landed in a heap. Trick coughed violently, sand spilling from his mouth, and he felt ready to puke. He managed to push himself up, realized his knife was still in his hand, somehow, and felt frantically for the bulge of his gun in his coat.

Trick finally looked up to see that he was kneeling at the girl's feet. He looked back down quickly, giving a short, nervous laugh. He sheathed his knife once more in his boot, and realized that his hands were shaking.

"Sorry, dear," he said, out of breath. "I thought you'd just follow me, I'm sorry." The lie came easily, even as he visualized his gun in his coat pocket. Not now, though. Not with the quicksand right behind him.

[ATTN: Open]

The liquid was one of the strangest things Rae had ever seen. When he brought his lance in to examine what he had on the end of it, the liquid just dropped right off and onto the ground. The colour began to darken, and although it looked like blood, Rae wasn't quite sure that it was blood.

It continued to pour from the wall until it was completely around Rae. However, strangely enough, it never touched him. It made a circle around his feet, and when he walked around the stuff actually moved with him. It was impossible for him to step in it. It soon darkened until it turned black.

It seemed that the liquid could be parted by objects, but reassembled afterword. However, when he approached a door, the liquid covered it. He stood there, perplexed by the strange phenomenon. What was this place? What was this liquid? He quickly found out that his lance did no good, so what else could he try?

He remembered one thing he had made a while back. Just a simple little thing which could be used to set things on fire. He took it out, started the fire, then tossed it into the middle of the substance to see what effect it would have.