- Invitation Status
- Looking for partners
- Posting Speed
- 1-3 posts per day
- Multiple posts per week
- One post per week
- Slow As Molasses
- Online Availability
- On fairly regularly, every day. I'll notice a PM almost immediately. Replies come randomly.
- Writing Levels
- Adept
- Advanced
- Preferred Character Gender
- Primarily Prefer Male
- No Preferences
- Genres
- High fantasy is my personal favorite, followed closely by modern fantasy and post-apocalyptic, but I can happily play in any genre if the plot is good enough.
If Tage had thought there was a big difference between the Settled Territories and the Middle Territories, it was nothing compared to the difference between the Middle Territories and the Wild Territories. She had thought their name was only a reference to the fact that the land had yet to come under Djinni control, but she had never realized how cultivated and tended both the Settled and Middle Territories were until this moment, and how truly wild the Wild Territories were. The Middle Territories might have been rougher, more damaged, but as long as they had stayed close to the path there had always been signs of civilization. Out here, there were no paths. There was no civilization. The land was rugged, steep and jagged, and utterly unfriendly.
Rhanna had been right in her assessment that it was going to take her and Toreck twice as long to make it to the rendezvous site with the three others in tow. In fact, it was starting to look like she had been generous in her estimation. Most of the journey they were traveling along the side of a mountain, and the kind of athletic ability that was required to easily navigate these slopes was also the kind of ability that only high level characters could possess. There was no easy path, only paths that were slightly less likely to cause Tage to fall and break her neck. Which, out here, would be disastrous. There were no cities, and therefore no checkpoints. She'd wind up back in Reznic, on the other side of the river.
Both she and Halp were, therefore, extremely cautious. Probably more cautious than was strictly necessary. Several times, Rhanna ended up tying a rope to them and then casting a floating spell, getting Toreck to tug them along like embarrassed balloons, simply in an effort to speed up their movement. Ripley seemed rather distant from the whole situation, didn't say anything, and managed to move fast enough to keep up with Rhanna's expectations.
In one of their stints as a couple of balloons, Ripley fanned his way over to Tage, latching onto her shoulder to keep them from bumping into each other by accident.
"What's up with Ripley?" the young man asked. "He seems even more down than usual."
Tage had noticed this as well, and a frown crossed her face as she turned to look at the robed Djinni a little ways below and in front of her. His silence had been bothering her as well, and she had a fairly solid idea of where it had originated. "I think I said something to him that I shouldn't have in the cave. Or, rather, in a way I shouldn't have. Now he's..." What was the correct adjective in this situation? Tage had the feeling that Ripley wasn't mad. Nor was he particularly sad. If she had to guess, concerned would have been the best. Concerned for his own role as a "person". But that wasn't something she could say to Halp. "I think I hurt his feelings."
Halp blinked. "How? When?"
Tage chewed on her lower lip. "This is going to sound really stupid," she muttered, stalling for time.
"Everything you say sounds stupid," Halp reassured.
Tage snorted. "Gee, thanks. Well, while my account was bugged out, I had to find some other way to occupy myself. So, my family took me and my big brother out caving."
"Caving? Like... in a real cave?"
"Yes, in a real cave." Tage objected. "We live near the mountains, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Only a couple hours drive."
"Wow, that's really cool. My parents have never done anything like that with me."
"Halp, do you want me to continue this story or not?"
"What? Oh, yes. Of course."
"Long story short, the lamp I was using ended up going out while I was in... a very narrow space. Like narrow enough that my dad couldn't even fit through. I tried to move forward to follow after my mom and brother, it was only a little side excursion to look at a space my mother had been in when she was younger, but I ended up getting slightly turned around, and ran into a dead end. By the time my brother found me I was in the middle of a full blown panic attack.
"Being back in that cave, in the dark, with the air like that... It was almost too much for me to bear. You and Toreck... well, I would have just guessed it was the dangerous situation of the game, too. But it wasn't. Somehow Ripley hit that right on the head, and when he pointed it out I... snapped at him. Basically told him to mind his own business and leave me alone."
Tage turned to look at Halp, and there was real concern in her eyes. "I just wanted him to leave me alone so that I wouldn't think about it, but I think he took it a lot more seriously than I meant it. And now I'm afraid that a simple apology won't be enough."
Halp patted Tage on the head. "Yeah," he said. "Sounds like you really messed up."
Tage twisted wildly, trying to punch him in the shoulder. "I'm serious!"
"Stop writhing up there," Rhanna complained. "Or I'll drop you!"
Halp turned to look at Tage, and the humor was gone from his face. "Just talk to him. Tell him straightforward what happened, how you meant it, and why it might have come out wrong. Ripley seems like a bit of a recluse to me. He's so quiet, and rarely ever engages in things except in the way they are 'supposed' to be engaged. So, yeah, he's probably misinterpreted the situation. But I think he's also the kind of guy who will forgive you if you explain it to him. Just.. talk to him when we get to the camp."
A sudden grin crossed Halp's face again. "Actually, scratch that. Better do it before. We are going to be in a camp filled to the brim with the best of the best of the Kingslayers. We are both going to be fanning out so bad that no one will be able to look at us without wanting to slap us."
The serious mood completely shattered, Tage burst out laughing. Once her laughter subsided somewhat she grinned at Halp, and softly said, "Thanks for the advice." However, before Halp had another chance to speak, tage twisted out from in his grip and firmly shoved him away, causing him to spin out and nearly collide with the branches of a nearby tree. The sudden bout of fighting that followed soon had Rhanna casting a paralysis spell on them as well.
"Regret bringing them along yet?" Tage heard Rhanna say, far below.
Toreck laughed. "You kidding me? I always wanted my very own Djinni shaped balloons. This is the best thing ever."
They stopped for a dinner break after several hours of walking, or floating, in Tage and Halp's case. Halp brought out a couple loaves of bread he had bought from the inn earlier that day, while Rhanna produced a rabbit she had caught while they had been hiking. Toreck got a fire going, and even managed to drag out a couple of marshmallows from somewhere in his inventory, which he promptly set aflame. Tage and, much to the girl's surprise, Rhanna, simultaneously objected to such wanton waste of the confectionaries.
"What? I'm a fire Djinni," Toreck reminded. "Charcoal tastes like heaven."
"Then eat the coals," Rhanna muttered.
Once the rabbits were done cooking, Tage grabbed her piece, before moving over to the far side of the little space, where Ripley was sitting. "May I... join you?" she asked, rather hesitantly.
Rhanna had been right in her assessment that it was going to take her and Toreck twice as long to make it to the rendezvous site with the three others in tow. In fact, it was starting to look like she had been generous in her estimation. Most of the journey they were traveling along the side of a mountain, and the kind of athletic ability that was required to easily navigate these slopes was also the kind of ability that only high level characters could possess. There was no easy path, only paths that were slightly less likely to cause Tage to fall and break her neck. Which, out here, would be disastrous. There were no cities, and therefore no checkpoints. She'd wind up back in Reznic, on the other side of the river.
Both she and Halp were, therefore, extremely cautious. Probably more cautious than was strictly necessary. Several times, Rhanna ended up tying a rope to them and then casting a floating spell, getting Toreck to tug them along like embarrassed balloons, simply in an effort to speed up their movement. Ripley seemed rather distant from the whole situation, didn't say anything, and managed to move fast enough to keep up with Rhanna's expectations.
In one of their stints as a couple of balloons, Ripley fanned his way over to Tage, latching onto her shoulder to keep them from bumping into each other by accident.
"What's up with Ripley?" the young man asked. "He seems even more down than usual."
Tage had noticed this as well, and a frown crossed her face as she turned to look at the robed Djinni a little ways below and in front of her. His silence had been bothering her as well, and she had a fairly solid idea of where it had originated. "I think I said something to him that I shouldn't have in the cave. Or, rather, in a way I shouldn't have. Now he's..." What was the correct adjective in this situation? Tage had the feeling that Ripley wasn't mad. Nor was he particularly sad. If she had to guess, concerned would have been the best. Concerned for his own role as a "person". But that wasn't something she could say to Halp. "I think I hurt his feelings."
Halp blinked. "How? When?"
Tage chewed on her lower lip. "This is going to sound really stupid," she muttered, stalling for time.
"Everything you say sounds stupid," Halp reassured.
Tage snorted. "Gee, thanks. Well, while my account was bugged out, I had to find some other way to occupy myself. So, my family took me and my big brother out caving."
"Caving? Like... in a real cave?"
"Yes, in a real cave." Tage objected. "We live near the mountains, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Only a couple hours drive."
"Wow, that's really cool. My parents have never done anything like that with me."
"Halp, do you want me to continue this story or not?"
"What? Oh, yes. Of course."
"Long story short, the lamp I was using ended up going out while I was in... a very narrow space. Like narrow enough that my dad couldn't even fit through. I tried to move forward to follow after my mom and brother, it was only a little side excursion to look at a space my mother had been in when she was younger, but I ended up getting slightly turned around, and ran into a dead end. By the time my brother found me I was in the middle of a full blown panic attack.
"Being back in that cave, in the dark, with the air like that... It was almost too much for me to bear. You and Toreck... well, I would have just guessed it was the dangerous situation of the game, too. But it wasn't. Somehow Ripley hit that right on the head, and when he pointed it out I... snapped at him. Basically told him to mind his own business and leave me alone."
Tage turned to look at Halp, and there was real concern in her eyes. "I just wanted him to leave me alone so that I wouldn't think about it, but I think he took it a lot more seriously than I meant it. And now I'm afraid that a simple apology won't be enough."
Halp patted Tage on the head. "Yeah," he said. "Sounds like you really messed up."
Tage twisted wildly, trying to punch him in the shoulder. "I'm serious!"
"Stop writhing up there," Rhanna complained. "Or I'll drop you!"
Halp turned to look at Tage, and the humor was gone from his face. "Just talk to him. Tell him straightforward what happened, how you meant it, and why it might have come out wrong. Ripley seems like a bit of a recluse to me. He's so quiet, and rarely ever engages in things except in the way they are 'supposed' to be engaged. So, yeah, he's probably misinterpreted the situation. But I think he's also the kind of guy who will forgive you if you explain it to him. Just.. talk to him when we get to the camp."
A sudden grin crossed Halp's face again. "Actually, scratch that. Better do it before. We are going to be in a camp filled to the brim with the best of the best of the Kingslayers. We are both going to be fanning out so bad that no one will be able to look at us without wanting to slap us."
The serious mood completely shattered, Tage burst out laughing. Once her laughter subsided somewhat she grinned at Halp, and softly said, "Thanks for the advice." However, before Halp had another chance to speak, tage twisted out from in his grip and firmly shoved him away, causing him to spin out and nearly collide with the branches of a nearby tree. The sudden bout of fighting that followed soon had Rhanna casting a paralysis spell on them as well.
"Regret bringing them along yet?" Tage heard Rhanna say, far below.
Toreck laughed. "You kidding me? I always wanted my very own Djinni shaped balloons. This is the best thing ever."
They stopped for a dinner break after several hours of walking, or floating, in Tage and Halp's case. Halp brought out a couple loaves of bread he had bought from the inn earlier that day, while Rhanna produced a rabbit she had caught while they had been hiking. Toreck got a fire going, and even managed to drag out a couple of marshmallows from somewhere in his inventory, which he promptly set aflame. Tage and, much to the girl's surprise, Rhanna, simultaneously objected to such wanton waste of the confectionaries.
"What? I'm a fire Djinni," Toreck reminded. "Charcoal tastes like heaven."
"Then eat the coals," Rhanna muttered.
Once the rabbits were done cooking, Tage grabbed her piece, before moving over to the far side of the little space, where Ripley was sitting. "May I... join you?" she asked, rather hesitantly.