Dimensions

[Jack Robinson]

A shimmering black stone. Glowing green runes. A flash of light. A sense of nausea. And then...you awoke.

You find yourself in a realm that is unfamiliar to you. Around you, the sky is a majestic swirling of black, purple, and colors you never knew existed. You lay on pure, white sand, with clear, blue water behind you, and a magnificent city all around you, made of all sorts of designs and differing varieties of architecture. All seems peaceful.

You realize you are not alone. And no, I speak not of the handful of scattered companions who lay around you. I speak instead of a cloud of darkness that you can see in the horizon, right at the edge of the bay. It is a small cloud, but it is advancing slowly, hovering close above the water. There is something unspeakably ominous about this cloud, something that brings you the closest you've ever been to unadulterated terror.

You don't know it yet, but you're in the Null Dimension, a place that exists outside of space and time, a place beset by great danger. And you and your companions are the only ones who can prevent the utter obliteration of not only this dimension, but all dimensions. Your journey begins now.

(Feel free to make posts describing your characters' initial reactions, interactions, etc. I'll post for my character as well, and make a GM post once everyone gets settled.)

@Assallya @Ygor's Revenge @Ragamoofin @Boo Girlie BoomBoom @Moogle-Girl

 

[Ygor's Revenge]

"Oh..."

The single syllable quietly escaped O'Lantern's crudely carved mouth as he found himself lying on his back. For a moment the scarecrow remained entirely still while he tried to reason what had happened. Moments ago he had been reaching for a curious stone in the garden, and now he was on his back staring up at a dark sky. Thoughts began churning in the pumpkin that served as his head. He wondered if perhaps he had fallen asleep, but then remembered that he never slept. It was possible he had fallen over when reaching for the strange stone, but that wouldn't account for the unusually colored sky or the sandy soil beneath him. His rough wooden fingers twitched and creaked as he dragged them through the fine grains of the beach. O'Lantern was fairly certain this was not the rich earth that made up the garden. But he wouldn't know for sure until he got a good look at it.

The odds and ends that made up the scarecrow's body creaked and rustled as long arms made of hickory helped lift it to its oak and cornstalk legs. The huge pumpkin head, as orange and fresh as the day it was harvested, swiveled from side to side on an old broom handle. A crude face had been carved into its shell, and from the jagged openings glimmered a faint light. The two round eyes took in the scenery and seemed to grow wider for a moment. Where seconds ago there had been a nice little garden and a quaint little farmyard now stood a white, sandy beach that stretched before a sprawling city. Yellowed cornstalks rustled as the scarecrow took a step back. The buildings stood taller than anything he'd ever seen; each one as exotically styled as the next, all beautiful in ways that O'Lantern couldn't even begin to describe.

A hickory arm reached up and gently scratched at the side of his head. He wondered if this was a new spell his master had concocted. Malagigi loved to whip up great and lovely things as a rule, but never at such a scale. O'Lantern's hollow eyes glowed brighter for a moment. Where was Malagigi?

The scarecrow's head began to swivel once more. He happened to glance down at the crinkling ends of his legs and saw something that was comfortingly familiar: A long, curving wooden shaft with two well-worn handles affixed to it, ending in an arching iron blade. O'Lantern creaked as he leaned over and wrapped his wooden fingers around the handles. He looked it over for a moment to make sure it really was the trusty tool given to him by Malagigi. Satisfied he slung it over the wooden bucket that formed his shoulders, and continued to search for his master. As he gazed out across the ocean he happened to spot something that drew a sense of unease from the metal pail that made up his midsection. A great black cloud was hovering above the distant waves, and seemed to be speedily approaching shore. The scarecrow took a clumsy step back. He wasn't quite sure what made him so wary of it other than it could have possibly been a storm, or worse, a cyclone. Duty and dread mixed together into an elixir of urgency in his mind. The chickens would need to be safe in their coop, the cows needed to be herded into the barn. The same would go for the goats and sheep, and the horses needed to be boarded in the stable. O'Lantern turned to run to the barnyard before glancing up at the city.

"Oh..."

The scarecrow looked back at the great black cloud howling in the distance and then at the city. After a moment of consideration he broke into a brisk stride toward the enormous buildings before his broom-like leg brushed against something on the beach. O'Lantern paused and glanced down to see another figure laying prostrate in the sand. His head tilted from side to side as he nudged the figure with his leg.

"Pardon me," he said, "But I think we should leave."

 

[Jack Robinson]

@Ygor's Revenge

Sqyd awoke. He felt sore all over, and rather queasy, as he usually did after a night of heavy drinking. But it was strange...he hadn't been drinking. He had been in the Bastion of Qul'kwa, an old castle from the days of the Quillonian Monarchy. He had been hunting the Azu brothers and their gang. The Bastion had been far inland. So why, and how, was he on a beach? He had seen an old artifact, he had reached out, and now he was here.

He had to figure out what was going on, and where he was. Had he been kidnapped? No. He didn't feel any restraints on him. He didn't feel wounded or anything. He made sure he still had his hat. He did. He lifted himself up out of the sand, feeling the fine grain sift off of him. The air smelled of salt. A pleasant breeze ran across his skin. His tentacles were flopping about and twitching, enjoying the climate. But where was he?

He lifted his face up, and what he saw shocked him. He was on a beach, yes. But beyond the beach, about a hundred or so yards away, was a massive city. Tall buildings, fat buildings, floating ones too, all mixed and matched together like some sort of architectural smorgasbord. He was glad he was still on his hands and knees, or he would've fallen. Where was he? There wasn't a city this size for miles around the Bastion. So where was he?

Something brushed against him, and he nearly cried out. He looked behind him, and saw a pair of plant-like feet. He frowned. What was this? He looked up, and almost pissed himself. It was some sort of frightening, otherworldly apparition he'd never seen before. It had a large orange head, a wooden body, and it had no right whatsoever to be alive. Then, it spoke. It said they should leave. Sqyd agreed completely.

He found his voice after a few seconds of shocked silence.

"Who are you? Where are we? What part of Quillonia is this?" Sqyd sat up, and looked across the bay. The water was calm and blue, like the oceans of Quillonia. That relaxed him somewhat. He was definitely on his home planet. What other place had such beautiful waters? But where on Quillonia was he? His survey of the waters stopped abruptly as his eyes alit upon something most foul. A cloud of intense black darkness was moving toward them. It was gaseous, yet almost solid, and fluid in its movements. It gave off a monstrous aura that made Sqyd's tentacles shrivel up and quiver. He cursed under his breath and checked his waist. His k'uurvas were still there. Good. At least he wasn't unarmed. He could easily overpower this strange monstrosity to his left, but as for the darkness...well, even Sqyd knew he couldn't just shoot the damned thing.

"What is that?" he asked, pointing at the darkness, not daring to look directly at it for fear of what he might accidentally see.

K'uurvas:

 

[Ragamoofin]

On the edge of consciousness, waves filled Anselle's mind. A potent, unfamiliar sickness upsetting his stomach, his slumber disturbed for it. Though his mind couldn't produce a dream, Anselle's memory provided a disjointed vision in his head. There'd been a stone, a misplaced rune, he'd thought at the time. Of course, being the Runecaster he was, he'd grabbed it and then- the sickness, the darkness.

A salty spray awoke his senses, and upon his next, shuddering breath, so did he.

Blinking awake, Anselle's hands gripped the ground - the sand, rather, beneath him. Confusion began worming into his chest, panic sprung to life at the sight of the sky. Swirling, kaleidoscopic and disorienting to look at. It took only the few moments Anselle had of waking to realize this was not the sky he was used to.

Gloves pushing against the sand, Ansell stirred the fatigue out of his joints, a quiet groan in his throat as he sat up on the sand. White sand, like snow, Anselle brushing what had stuck to his sleeves away. "What- what is this?" He voiced, to himself at first, eyes seeing through the dark covering to beach to see shapes not awfully far from him. After a second of focusing on them, Ansell saw them as people, but none like he knew. The standing, taller one, had the head of a gourd and a body of straw. A golem? That much was likely, perhaps the creation of the one it stood over. The one still sitting was - difficult to describe. Appendages and a face that looked like it belonged in the water instead of on land.

Where had he gone? These were not creatures of Urma, beyond that, Anselle wasn't entirely certain that this was Urma. It couldn't be, it was unrecognizable as his home. His mind recalled the stone, the ancient-looking runes engraved in it, and the flash. Anselle was aware of the power and overall unpredictability of dislocating spells; magick presiding over the bending of space wasn't something to be taken lightly, so how could he stumble upon such a rune? His elders never informed him of any runes like it, and the stone itself wasn't the typical runestone they dealt with. Just what had he found?

Staring at the two for a moment longer, Anselle's senses pointed him back towards the water, anxiety settling in his blood at the sight of the darkness on the horizon. It was a cloud of it, everything in Anselle screaming at him to run from it, yet he remained seated. Not for long, thankfully. Gathering his legs beneath him, Anselle stood up, eyes still on the approaching darkness. Looking behind him, Anselle felt a spark of hope at the magnificent city built in impossible shapes; it, like much of the bizarre world, was like that of a dream. At the moment, Anselle wanted nothing more than to find some shelter in it.

"Hey!" Ansell called to the two, lips working into a frown. "We- we shouldn't stay here," Ansell spoke, quieter than his shout. "I'm not sure what that cloud is, but I don't think any of us should stick around to find out what happens." Pointing to the city, Ansell backed away from the shoreline, suspicious of even the water now that he had eyes on the cloud. "City's our best bet to get some answers, and I'm assuming neither of you know how you got here, too?"

 

[Moogle-Girl]

Am I dead?

That was Kelkov's first thought. He'd had nightmares before about being pulled back to the world of the dead. A cold sweat tinged his forehead as he shook himself awake and sat up. The sky was dark, filled with unnatural colors. It was just like before, when he'd found his way to that world filled with the ghosts of demons. Panic started to squeeze his chest when he took a closer look around, finally focusing on the city that lay before him. It was dense, sprawling, and glorious. Nothing like his home, or anything else he'd ever seen. No, he was not back in Rera. But then... where was he? He didn't recognize this beach; it was too soft to be the rocky, typhoon-plagued Terton Coast back home. Wait. A beach?

Grimacing, Kelkov got to his feet and did his best to brush the sand off of his suit. He hated beaches, what with how much the stuff always clung to his clothes. While he was spinning around, checking his work, his eyes fell on the cloud of darkness looming over the horizon. It almost looked like dark energy, but there was something wrong about it. Why was it hanging in the sky, slowly expanding like that? Knowing that he wasn't back in the land of the dead didn't bring him much comfort. Though he did wonder if the darkness-loving demoness Emelia would have found the cloud so troubling, had she been alive to see it.

Kelkov shook his head. Now wasn't the time for thinking about her. He tried to remember what happened, instead. He was at the market, looking for a new book to read. There was a stone sitting near one of the stalls; it had a magic about it that Kelkov had never seen before. He must've picked it up to inspect it closer... and then everything after that was a blank.

Had a portal brought him here? That wouldn't be too far-fetched. He would just need to find the nearest interplanetary shuttle, or at minimum a Space mage to send him home. If this place was anything like Nuova, they'd be advertising their services, so he wouldn't need to search long. He knew he couldn't rely on that, though.

Still brushing bits of sand from his clothes, Kelkov turned towards the city... and saw that he was not alone. There was a living pumpkin-headed scarecrow, a squid-man, something that looked like a sheep or goat... Several others, too, but those three were awake and talking to each other across the beach. Aliens? And here Kelkov was thinking he knew what all of Zeta's major sentient races looked like. Oh well, the few words he could pick up from their conversation were Terran, so the best thing to do would be to introduce himself. None of them seemed like they knew what was going on, but if they put their heads together, maybe they could figure out where they were.

Straightening out his suit and putting on his best friendly smile, Kelkov strode up to the group. "Hello," he said. "My name is Kelkov Aerio. Call me Kelkov. I'm afraid I'm a little lost. Looks like the rest of you are too. Do any of you know what's going on? Any details at all would be helpful."

 

[Ragamoofin]

Hearing a voice come from behind him, Anselle gave a shallow sigh. Good, he thought. The others were coming to. The magic that had taken him there evidently had roots in other places, places Anselle he'd never known. He'd seen all manners of golems before, but ones with heads of pumpkin and looking so - frail? Golems were often strapping and sturdy, but the talkative one was downright skinny. He wouldn't even start on the aquatic looking person, or how they were surviving so far out of the water. Had they came from the water? Only time would tell, or at least a decent conversation.

Feeling a migraine swelling in his skull, Anselle gave a heavier sigh as he turned to the direction of the voice, gloved hands coming up to massage the base of his middlemost horns. "I'm afraid we're just as confused as you are. We-" Breath catching in his throat, Anselle let out a startled bleat, nearly echoing on the relatively empty beach. Eyes wide and roaming over the newly awakened person, Ansell's hand fell to his chest, an expression of concern on his face. "By the Stars," he whispered, shock filling his voice. "You're naked."

The per- Kelkov, as he'd introduced himself, was practically bald. Aside from the spare hair on his head, the man - Anselle assumed - didn't have much in the way of natural insulation. Anselle gave one last stunned glance at him and straightened himself out, lighter parts of his face running red as the embarrassment of his reaction sunk in. "Excuse my outburst, I'm terribly sorry," Ansell apologized, hands coming together, writhing of his fingers making wrinkles in his gloves. "I-I've just never seen someone like - you before." Clearing his throat, and trying his hardest not to stare, Ansell focused and caught his tongue before he made any more slip ups.

"As I was saying, I don't think any of us have the foggiest idea of how we got here." Crossing his arms, Anselle directed his gaze down to the sand, thinking back to what he'd done just before awaking. "I had just come across a strange runestone, and as soon as I touched it, here I was."

 

[Jack Robinson]

@Ragamoofin @Moogle-Girl

Sqyd, while waiting for the strange thing to respond to him, realized there were others on the beach. Strange, otherworldly demons he'd never seen before. An odd abomination with horns, a strange, smooth beast in fancy clothes. What horror show had he walked in on? Had he been smoking zug-guz? He didn't think so. So why was he having these vivid hallucinations?

Deep down, Sqyd knew this was not a hallucination. He was in some strange part of Quillonia. Maybe not even Quillonia. Perhaps he was adrift in the Black Sea, where horrible monsters roamed the stars and feasted on each other. Perhaps he'd been caught up in one of their eternal celestial battles. His hands rested on his k'uurvas, ready to stab or shoot the first threat he saw. He nearly opened fire when the furry, horned thing spoke. It spoke in Quillonian. How odd...as far as he knew, the demons of the Black Sea did not speak Quillonian. So how was he able to understand the beast? It made no sense. Was it using a translator? And yet, it seemed to be addressing them all. So...did everyone speak Quillonian? Sqyd was beyond confused.

"Where in the name of the Holy Tentacle are we? Who are all of you? Am I high? I swear by the Eight Arms, if this is some sort of ploy by the Church, I'm going to personally dismantle each and every monastery between here and Xyofrak Mountain...wherever here is..."

Sqyd did not take his eyes off the darkness. It was moving closer, hovering inches above the water, whispering and churning. Sqyd could've sworn he heard a voice coming out of it. He didn't dare look at the thing directly. He was no fool.

He repeated his question from earlier.

"What is that thing?"

 

[Assallya]

Her eyes opened. Golden irises adjusting around widening pupils. Her vision was obscured by a veil of shimmering black hair that had fallen across the floor. One of her hands reached up and pulled at the long tresses and she stared across an empty, soul sucking sea. White sand? There hadn't been white sand. It was all worked stone, and a pedestal containing some form of artifact and blood, crimson flowing across stone. Her vassals had slain everyone, cutting them down with abandon. She had scarcely needed to lift a finger.

For a long moment she waited, expecting a vassal to offer her assistance so she could summarily dismiss it, rise herself, and promptly punish the poor cretin. Apparently none were foolish enough to take the bait. She lifted herself up, her left pair of hands leaning her body up and gazed across a vast city. There was no sign of any of her entourage. Either that, or her entourage had, beyond all reason, become the motley assembly she now found surrounding her.

The woman possessed skin of lavender and her irises were the colour of molten gold. She stood with two hands on her hips while a second pair of hands, at the end of her upper set of arms, pushed her hair long black ebony hair back past her shoulders. She was covered in jewelry taken from the bodies of many murdered foes, keepsakes, mementos of past battles and her only piece of clothing was her skirt that hung from her hips.

She stood and peered about her, taking in her new surroundings, marveling at the sky overhead, wondering if it was some sort of black sun in the sky. Unlike many others she remained silent, keeping her distance so she might be able to conjure if necessary, and simply observed. A chestnut haired man in black and green was standing about. A strange squid like creature was complaining about a church and there was something else... a were creature perhaps?

 

[Ygor's Revenge]

O'Lantern stared for a moment at the strange creature that spoke to him, not entirely sure what it was. It was shaped like a man, but obviously not a man. It was a bit like a fish. It certainly smelled like a fish. Perhaps it was one of the merfolk Malagigi had once spoken of. It then began to ask him questions, only one of which the scarecrow could find he could accurately answer. Thus he stood silently for a few moments, and during those moments several new figures appeared. The first of these new figure was something that reminded him strongly of a sheep, but like the not-man-not-fish, shaped like a man. O'Lantern raised a gnarled hand to the lower part of his mouth. Was it a satyr?

Another figure, this time a man, appeared, and introduced himself as Kelkov Aerio. The Satyr reacted to him, rather strangely, proclaiming he was naked. The glowing light in O'Lantern's eye holes seemed to squint at the human. He did not seem to be naked. Maybe the Satyr's sight wasn't good. Contrariwise, maybe O'Lantern was failing to perceive the human's nakedness. The scarecrow wasn't sure.

O'Lantern looked from the tentacled stranger to the satyr to the human. Things had become very confusing rather quickly, and it made him nervous to be asked all these questions when he could not provide an answer.

"I'm afraid I know nothing about anything," he sheepishly admitted, "I wasn't made to be a good thinker, and it is likely you all know more than I do." He glanced in the direction of the approaching storm. "We should seek shelter. In a cellar, perhaps."

 

[Ragamoofin]

@Assallya @Jack Robinson @Moogle-Girl @Ygor's Revenge

Of course Anselle had heard the squid person talking, but that was another conversation and one that, from the sound of his voice, was of desperation. He had the feeling all of them, or at least the ones that were awake, were filling shaken in one way or another.

Something very off was happening, something that happened at the same time if their almost simultaneous waking was anything to go off. What the world was, what the stone meant, and why they'd ended up where they were was a pressing question none of them had the answer to. The city, for now, was all they had in regards of finding an answer. It looked incredible from afar, and Anselle had no doubt some kind of life was responsible for maintaining it; cities like that didn't just pop out the ground.

The conclusion that a higher power had a hand in it was at the forefront of his mind, but all he had backing that was his own theories, and he had no way to prove them. Their small group, if everyone finally calmed down, could offer what little they knew about their personal experience and hope to find some common thread in their stories. But for now-

Ansell pointed to the pumpkin golem, nodding his agreement. "That one's got a point," he said aloud, once again trying to convince the group to head towards the city. "We're not going to wrestle an answer out of the ocean and," he paused, looking towards the dark cloud on the hor- oh. It was closer, now. Way closer, nearing the beach enough that Anselle could hear something coming from it. Again, his stomach filled with that unexplained dread and the urge the run almost bested his desire to say his piece.

Swallowing back the bile in his throat, Ansell grimaced at the ocean, fearing the ebb of the waves might bring the darkness closer. "I'm...not the only one hearing that, right?" Looking around for help, verbal or otherwise, Anselle's eyes fell on a slimmer figure sitting on the sand. Pointing to her, Ansell glanced back to the sea. "Got another waker," he mumbled, not taking his eyes off the cloud.

Carefully feeling along the ruffles in his clothes, Anselle bit his lip and hoped he'd been carrying some runes, any kind of rune. He didn't know why, but there was just something about the cloud that laid paranoia in his veins. He felt like he needed to fight, or better yet, run. Hand knocking against something solid and warm, Anselle could've jumped for joy. Reaching into his pocket, Ansell pulled out a shimmering, crystalline object, the dark of the beach allowing the dim light within it to glow a little brighter. "Yes, Stars above, yes." He whispered to himself, gripping the rune with both hands, the slightest flex of his magic making the rune's glow intensify.

It was a runestone, more specifically a fire rune, the very essence of flame captured in a vessel of ruby. Back home, it's usage was limited to lighting fires or merely staying warm during tough snow storms, combat was not in mind when it was made. It hadn't been in Anselle's, and something told him his elders would be shaking their heads at the idea. Anselle didn't have a choice, he had to do something.

Gesturing to the pumpkin golem, Ansell waved it to step away from the shore. "Excuse me," he began, top pair of horns suddenly glowing a deep mauve, casting odd shadows over his face. "You might want to step back."

Turning his full attention to the sea, Anselle's horns started to shine with his aura, mana inside his body filling them and extending his shadow leagues behind him. His rune was captured in the same stunning glow, floating from his hand, the fire in it sparking to life. It rose until it settled between Ansell's glowing horns, by then it had been engulfed in fire, nothing more than a flaming sphere hovering in place.

Ansell's face was screwed up in concentration, lip tucked into his mouth, biting it as he tried to hold the rune in place. He could barely keep the pre-spell together, not feeling a trace of usable mana in the air to fuel it. Was this realm devoid of it? Budding lights gathering at the peaks of his horns, Ansell used the rune as a focus for his spell; a simple photomancy one he knew, designed to create light, but his spell mingled with his fire and created something new.

Soon, a ball of flaming light had been conjured at his horns. Tilting his head back, Ansell grit his teeth and headbutted forward, the sphere launched over the water, rune dropping at his feet; emptied, it's flame gone. The ball of light and fire, however, soared out over the water, aimed at the cloud of darkness.

Ansell on the other hand, looked beyond exhausted. "Oh, Stars above, I hope that works," he gasped. Why was magic so hard to cast here?

 

[Boo Girlie BoomBoom]

~Jet~

Subject PO-001994

<~~~<★>~~~> ​

The beach was white, pristine and unblemished. Save for that giant black rock in the distance. It stood out like a lump of coal in the driven snow. And now it moved. The rock seemed to adjust its position, unroll even, and in its shape changed from that of a giant black clump into a that of a giant black panther.

no-lightbox

She was immense. Yellow eyes blinked once as her gaze took them all in. A huge yawn she let out, exposing the huge ivory weapons in that maw. Standing upon all fours now, one could see just how huge she was. Even at this distance, one could tell that her snout would be near a male homo sapien's chest level. A full bodied stretch, a shake of her hide, a twitch of the tail. Suddenly, and with liquid ease, she strut on over to them.

This was the moment she was waiting for.

Of patience, she had a whole well to take from. And so the panther had waited for the others to stir, wake and rise. To bide her time, she had watched and wondered about that black flitting, almost dancing, mass in the distance. Of course it did not set her mind at ease. Then again this whole situation did not sit well with her. The last thing she remembered was the moment of bittersweet victory; her group was victorious in ending the 'antidote' that was to slay her kind and render her kind all but extinct.

And then she saw 'The Stone at Midnight.' Of course, she had to touch it. Oh, but it was supposed to be just a story parents tell their children, but it was real. Real enough. And as the saying goes; "She who earns the sight of The Stone at Midnight has earned the right to The Stone at Midnight." It was a saying that meant; 'When sudden fortune chooses you, you will know and you must grasp it.' And so she had reached out to grasp it. And so this was where the Stone brought her.

Upon this pristine beach. And in grave danger.

<~<★>~>​

You see, this panther was not just merely a panther. She was actually what was known as a Shifter; she had three forms. But she was stuck in this form. And she knew that she was in danger for she knew that she was... 'out of phase?' Yes, she was out of phase. She could not shift into any other form right now. And those that were perceptive enough would catch glimpses of wispy black strands of aether floating away from her fur.

That and she was gigantic and yet she left but nearly no pawprints in the sand. Only small puffs of white grains scattered, not full on enormous impressions into the sand trailed behind her. Out of phase.

But this was not the only reason why she knew she was in danger. No, it was because she could not communicate with these others. In this form she could not speak vocally, but she had a powerset that allowed her to Commune with sentient others using a form of telepathy. Yet all she got from them was static; she only read garbled babblings of nether babies. And in reaching out to them, she knew that they would hear only the same.

And when you could not speak to others and you approached others as a near 900 pound strong, enormous black panther, there were only 2 measures she knew others would take: Fight or Flight. And so before they rose, she had wandered off to a put a safe distance between them. But now she had no choice but to come on back to them now.

The others she saw strewn about her, she did not see them as food. No, for in this form she did not eat as normal animals eat. She saw them not as food, but as her only hope.

Yet she predicted a fight with them was coming.

She herself was a fighter, a survivor, a killer. But she was not a negotiator. If it was a fight they would give her, a fight she would give them and do everything in her power to steal victory against the odds. But she knew she needed them; she knew she would not make it out here alone. Not like this. Not 'out of phase.'

And so now she stopped sauntering towards them. And from a good distance away, yet stil within her own personal striking distance, she stood as yellow eyes scanned all their visages. For some reason, she could understand their speech as if it was plain French like back home on Earth. But again, she was no negotiator.

She did the only thing she knew she could do in this very moment to stave off the ensuing battle. A huge paw raised and all giant ivory claws extracted, glinting bright for all to see. With all her might she concentrated, and a heartbeat longer she held her giant claws up in the air.

Then with all ferocity she struck.

J
E
T ​

The letters were slashed into the sand before her.

Upon her haunches she sat now, eyes glowing. One could easily tell she was proud of her handiwork; she had managed to 'will' herself momentarily into proper phase afterall. A sharp nod she gave them all. Introduce yourself. She knew it was all she could do in this moment. That, and one more thing...

Jet, the gigantic black panther tossed a golden eyed wink at them.

<~~~<★>~~~> ​

 

[Jack Robinson]

GM RESPONSE POST

(note, this is not my big plot moving post for this weekend, merely a response to the actions of @Ragamoofin )

Anselle's fireball hurled toward the twitching, black tendrils of the advancing shadow. It flickered across the open water, painting the shimmering surface a bright orange. The blast of flames entered the welcoming arms of the stygian cloud, and was extinguished with seemingly no effort. The darkness swirled around a little, and everyone on the beach notices that the faint, whispering sound coming from the shadows is louder. Loud enough that you can hear what it is whispering.

It is whispering "Anlee."

You know not what that word means, nor where you've heard it before, but it fills you with dread. The darkness is only a quarter of a mile away from the beach, and is advancing quickly.

 

[Assallya]

Tessaril wasn't sure what to make of the fool hurling fire, drawing the attention and ire of the mysterious swirling vortex of- nothing? The strange furry wizardly creature had almost received an artless bolt of scarcely formed energy in the back. One set of her arms had already begun weaving and the other set was about to join in when the arcane syllables perished on her tongue.

Then the fireball was launched and the thing... reached back with smoky black tentacles that were reaching out as if from the abyss.

While, simultaneously, another thing of black smoke appeared adjacent to them shaped eerily like a giant hunting beast.

That was it, she thought to herself as she crossed one set of arms across her bare breasts. She was leaving. She didn't have any vassals or, better yet, any of her slaves to sacrifice playing with the thing that was encroaching. While she wasn't yet afraid of the thing she decided to exercise a healthy dose of self preservation. Let the others risk their lives with their foolish experiments. She would watch from a distance.

Then again she could use some servants-

"Whatever be it, this dark thing from beyond, " she intoned seriously, "I would suggest being vacant 'ere it makes the shore. Those who would live, follow, where we shall watch those who remain wither and succumb to futile deaths."

With that the four armed, purple skinned woman turned on her heel and walked up the beach, careful to not to appear to be running, not to betray an ounce of fear in her stride. She kept the strange billowing smoke creature in the corner of her eye in case it moved to rend someone and moved swiftly over the white sand, gold and silver anklets chiming softly against each other, golden skirt swirling above her bare feet.

 

[Ragamoofin]

@Assallya @Boo Girlie BoomBoom

Anselle watched his fireball fly with bated breath, hopeful that the impact would give him some kind of idea of just what it was. The sound it was emitting was too close to a voice, and that meant it was alive, maybe. The light of his cast flame was easy enough to follow as it flew, and then, all of a sudden, he couldn't see it anymore. The cloud had, apparently, ate it. He heard the whispering louder, now, and a word was among the darkness.

Anlee.

It...didn't ring a bell, but it set off alarms in Anselle. Again, he couldn't say why, but when fear that powerful was gripping him, he stopped asking questions and started looking for a way out. Groaning, Ansell rubbed a hand across his face. "It did nothing?" That was absurd, his spell was light and fire. How could a literal darkness not be effected by it's opposite? Looking at his feet, a dejected bleat came from Anselle's throat at the sorry sight of his used up rune. "That was my only rune, too..." Crouching, Ansell picked up the now cold ruby, its inner light extinguished just like his fireball.

Biting his lip, Anselle sighed. "Well, I guess that's that." Given that magic was awfully hard to use in whatever realm he'd ended up in, exhausting what mana he still had wasn't wise. Eyes drifting away from the cloud and to the purple skinned woman, Ansell quirked a brow at her statement, watching her walk away from the shore. It seemed she was off to the city, something he thought was the next best thing.

Then came the sound of sand being kicked up, Ansell's ears twitching at the noise. "Hm, what's that?" Looking over his shoulder, Anselle narrowed his eyes at a pitch black visage not a stone's throw away from the group, standing quite tall and looking - out of place.

Cocking his head at the sight, Anselle stared back at the towering thing, just catching the wink the creature gave them all. Anselle stood and pointed, alerting the group to the new presence. "Got another one!" Cheeks puffing with the effort, Anselle managed to cast a much weaker version of his light spell, lowermost horns wrapped in a steady glow, albeit dyed the color of plums. The light they cast lit up the sand ahead of him, allowing him to see the creature properly. It was huge, furred, and looking to be waiting.

Walking towards the creature, Anselle couldn't help the giddy smile on his face. Finally, something that made sense on the beach. The ethereal wisps rising from it's body wasn't missed by Anselle, not when he was practically bathing it in light. "Hi there! I imagine you've found yourself in lands unknown, too?" Opening his arms, Anselle's laugh was mixed with a humored bleat. "Welcome to the coven! So are we." Closer and closer Ansell got, seemingly ignorant to the obvious danger he was putting himself in. "I'm Anselle, and you're..." Eyes flickering low, Ansell looked at the creature's paws and the - letters in the sand?

Getting even closer, Ansell was literally underneath the creature to look at the carvings, casting his dyed light over the impressions. "J...E....T? Ju-Jet?" Anselle sounded out, looking up, up at the creature for a reaction. "Jet! Am I saying that right?"

 

[Moogle-Girl]

Kelkov pursed his lips and tried not to act offended at the sheep-man's reaction. He'd just never seen a human before, Kelkov told himself. Most demons had wanted to know why his skin was so pale or his nails so short. This was no different. Still, he couldn't help but flush a bit in embarrassment and anxiously smooth out his already-smooth suit jacket. "Don't sweat it," he muttered.

As he listened, Kelkov tried to force the pieces together. The goat-looking creature mentioned a runestone, potentially the same one he'd seen in the market. The squid-man rattled off a few unfamiliar names, including a Church. Did he have something against the Creator? Kelkov didn't blame him, but he didn't hear the word "church" thrown around too often except among the most devoted followers. And then there was the jack-o-lantern scarecrow...thing. Kelkov had heard of artificial life, but only within flesh that had been alive at some point before. His mentor knew a great deal about magic, but if he knew how to create a living pile of straw, he never shared.

None of this was consistent with everything Kelkov knew about Zeta's four worlds. So... what did that mean? Had Kelkov been sent to some pocket dimension, like the land of the dead? He frowned. Getting back home was going to be problematic, if that was the case. It had taken all the power of several Angels to send him home from the walled-off Hereafter. What would it take here? Or was he just being paranoid?

The goat-man's display of magic flared Kelkov's interest even more. The spell he cast was almost the same as one might use in Zeta, at least with the aid of a crystal, but Kelkov couldn't feel any magic about it. He liked to think his sixth sense was pretty attuned, but there was something different about the energy being commanded by the creature. The fireball he cast flew into the encroaching cloud of darkness, lighting it up briefly before being promptly engulfed. It won't work, Kelkov thought. He couldn't explain why, but looking at that cloud, he just knew: nothing they could do would stop it. And he was supposed to be a dark mage. He was starting to understand how his pyrokinetic friend Flare felt whenever he ran into a fire he couldn't control.

And then it whispered to him. Anlee. It wasn't a word he recognized, but it made his stomach drop. The scarecrow was right: they needed to find shelter, and fast. "I'm with Pumpkinhead," he said. "Let's--"

The largest wild cat Kelkov had ever seen approached the group. Raised a glinting claw. Kelkov widened his stance, willing magic into his hands, when the panther struck--

J E T

Jet?

Confusion in the moment was pushed aside when Kelkov realized that there was no energy pooled in his fingers, ready for a spell. He shook his arms, tried again. At its most basic form, all magic took was focus and a little imagination, but he had to practically scream at the energy to flow. It made his muscles feel sore, as if he were straining to lift some heavy object. Eventually he just gave up and let the energy ebb back into his soul. Something was holding his magic back. The thought made him feel sick to his stomach.

And then, to top everything off, a four-armed woman with purple skin and no shirt caught his attention before storming off down the beach.

Kelkov threw his arms up in consternation. "Guys, let's just get inside before the cloud eats us all or something. Any of you know how to play poker?" Card games were the only sanity he had to cling to.

 

[Ygor's Revenge]

For a moment, all O'Lantern could do was watch in awe as the Satyr stood on the beach and conjured a giant burning ball of what seemed to be fire. He had only ever seen Malagigi perform magic, and to see another sorcerer practice a spell was quite an experience. He'd never heard of a satyr sorcerer before, nor had he ever heard of one practicing magic through horns. But then again, there were many, many things O'Lantern was sure he'd never heard of. The scarecrow 's eye-lights widened as the satyr hurled the fiery orb towards the approaching storm, watching it as it arched over the waves like a comet. They grew wider as he watched the storm stretch open to engulf the sphere, swallowing it into whatever darkness lay inside. The storm roared ominously, and something like words reached O'Lantern's range of hearing. His carved mouth moved into a deeper frown.

"Anlee?" He looked out at the others, "What does that mean?"

"I'm with Pumpkinhead. Let's--"

O'Lantern turned to the human who may or may not have been naked and tentatively raised a hand.

"Beg your pardon, sir," the scarecrow murmured as he gave a slight bow, "You may call me O'Lantern. May I ask what your name..." his voice died away as he saw the form of an enormous cat stride up to them. Malagigi had books about strange animals that lived far away, and some of them looked like this cat. It's sudden appearance seemed to startle everyone except the Satyr, who approached the cat as though it were an old friend.

It seemed the cat wasn't going to harm them at all. In fact, it was nice enough to spell out its name for them. Jet. A nice name, O'Lantern decided.

 

[Jack Robinson]

MAJOR GM POST

As the newcomers to the Null Dimension talked among themselves, each perplexed in their own way, the darkness closed in. It was solid, liquid, gaseous, all at once. You smell a horrid stench, one you instantly recognize as that of rotted flesh. A dim red glow begins emanating from the cloud, and the whispering is now almost a shout.

"ANLEE. ANLEE. ANLEE."

The shadows are now almost a hundred feet from the beach. Just as you begin to go into flight or fight mode, you hear a whistle from behind you. At the crest of a hill, where the beach begins leading to the city, you spy three figures clad in white. The one on the left is at least nine feet tall, clad in platinum armor. He has four legs, wears a massive horned helmet, and wields a strange weapon you've never seen before. The one to the right wears a white mask with two dark slits for his eyes, and wields a smaller version of the weapon the large man has. The man in the middle is frail and elderly and wears a plain, loose fitting white robe. He is bald, and has a bushy white beard. In his hands is what appears to be a book.

"Get over to us, quickly! Come on, before you get devoured!" shouts the giant man.

The man on the right points his weapon at the shadow, and a blast of blue energy flies from it. It smashes into the darkness, and the shooter is rewarded with an ear-piercing scream. The darkness almost stumbles back, seems to gather its wits, and then continue its advance.

"Quickly and calmly, no reason to be irrational!" calls the bald man in the middle. "But make haste!"


Weapons of the strangers

 

[Moogle-Girl]

Watching the darkness accelerate, Kelkov wondered if he would be safer back in the afterlife.

He hated that he knew what rotted flesh smelled like. And he hated the shouts he was hearing. As close as it was getting, he tried to reach out to it, make a connection the same way he would to any other dark energy in order to manipulate it, but it just wasn't the same stuff. And he hated that too.

The severity of the situation cracking his facade, Kelkov faced the approaching darkness and screamed, "Shut up! Whatever you are, just shut up!"

A sharp whistle behind him brought him back. Three more aliens had arrived -- at least, he assumed they were aliens, as their headgear hid their identities -- but these newcomers were clearly not as confused as the rest of the group. Kelkov watched one of them fire a blast of magic unlike any he'd ever seen, and if just for a moment, it shot back the darkness. Those three were the key to their survival.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" he said with a nervous laugh, jogging after the white-clad figures. As he passed by the scarecrow, O'Lantern apparently, he gave a jerky little nod and added, "Sorry. Name's Kelkov. We'll talk later."

 

[Jack Robinson]

Shortly following the introduction of the strange, black creature, the darkness got closer. Sqyd was reaching his breaking point. He was beginning to suspect he wasn't in Quillonia. Had he been lost to the Black Sea? Was he doomed to wander the endless abyss for all eternity? Was he going to be absorbed by primordial beasts such as this one? Had the cult sacrificed him in some way? He pulled out his k'uurvas and ensured they were loaded. He would shoot first, then stab, if it came down to it.

But that word...that accursed word. Anlee. It haunted him. It made him want to turn the k'uurvas on himself. End his own life. To do that would be to save himself from a fate worse than nuur-va (suicide). He knew that should that darkness envelop him, he may very well be eradicated. Lost forever in the bowels of some endless, unknowable terror. He would die alone, surrounded by otherworldly strangers who he did not know. Sqyd was horrified of this fate. He fired one of his k'uurvas, sending a sharp, metal projectile flying across the water. It flew through the darkness with no effect, and landed in the water. Sqyd made a moaning noise of deep despair, and fell to his knees.

Then, he heard a sharp whistle, a gruff voice, and a peculiar zapping sound. A bolt of blue energy flew across the face of the water and smashed into the darkness, sending it hurtling back several feet. It almost seemed to radiate pure rage as it adjusted itself, and then resumed its approach, although this time, it was much slower. Sqyd turned around, and saw three white strangers standing on a sand dune overlooking their position. One had four legs, one looked like the species of that Kelkov character, and the other appeared vaguely humanoid, although all flesh was hidden by his white outfit. They called for them to flee, and Sqyd needed no further urging. He sprinted past the others, not stopping until he stumbled to the ground behind the three figures, out of breath, panting heavily.

"Who...what is that thing?" he panted.

"Nothing you would know about, newcomer," said the old bald man, "Nothing you would want to know about either. Worry not, though. You're safe for now. All will be explained soon."

Sqyd sighed, and slowly got to his feet, his eyes still on the approaching cloud of shadow. "I don't like this. I don't like this at all. What's Anlee? Why does it keep saying Anlee?" That word tasted bitter and scalding on his lips, as if it were some awful curse. Indeed, the three warriors looked at him with apprehension upon his utterance of that word.

"Don't say his name," hissed the four legged man.

"Name?"

"Don't say it," he repeated. "He gains power from it."

"What do you mean?"

"The Chaplain will explain. Just...just stay calm," the bald old man said.

Sqyd was in no way, shape or form calm, but he kept his mouth shut, and observed the fiasco below.

 

[Boo Girlie BoomBoom]

~Jet~

Subject PO-001994

<~~~<★>~~~> ​

no-lightbox

Nonplussed, she had watched as the fireball went hurtling into the distance. Fire versus the cloud of fear and despair, a darkness so deep the shadows of the soul could not help but be drawn to it. Fire versus the full depths of insanity in the abyss…? Pshh… it did not take even a novice ritual caster to know the Fire's utter failure. Jet had just marched onward, unerringly to meet with the ohers.

The white sand had been violated with slashes from her own claws; slashes that spelt her own name; Jet. If one could see the smug look upon her face after such an act, they would be certain now that she was no ordinary panther. But such a smug look did not last. No, for the insanity in the abyss responded to the futile Fire.

"Anlee. Anlee. Anleeeeee…"

No matter how hard she tried and no matter in what manner of blocking, the words could not be stopped. The sound ripped into her ears, mind and consciousness. The Abyss had spoken and no matter what the true meaning of the word, one thing was sure to Jet as sure as her hide was black; messing with this black mass of insanity any further was true insanity.

As far as Jet knew, all those that stood before, or speed-walked, away from her were reject Shamans or reject Shifters like herself. These folk were the ones that the 'Antidote' in her homeworld had someone afflicted them and thusly these folk, Jet included, were trapped in some kind of joint-spiritual-psychosis… or something along those lines. Jet was not a Shaman and had no idea what exactly happened to send her and these other Shifters and Shamans here, but no matter the case, she was still 'out of phase' and the insanity of the Abyss called out to them. Not good.

And the other thing that was not good was the luminescence cast upon her by the ram-faced Shifter. That and it had the audacity to slink towards Jet as if she were some kind of domesticated animal or pet. As it approached, her snout wrinkled up and more than a hint of ivory daggers she shone from her mouth, eyes blazed in deadly intent. ~I dare you… I dare you to call me 'kitty' and try to 'pet' me. I triple effin' dare you, goat-boy--

Undeterred by Jet's flash of immense teeth, the goat-boy suddenly spoke from practically neath her chest; she had allowed him to wander into immediate death's striking distance. Luckily for him, he flattered her by understanding her horrible 'penmanship.' Instead of a double death blow swipe of paws as big as his head, Jet merely nodded with pride as he asked her if 'Jet' was her proper name. A big pink tongue licked her chops in satisfaction. Meh. He seemed to be an alright fella… for an Antler Shifter that was...

<~<★>~>​

Golden eyes spied the multi-armed, purple skinned woman speed walking towards the buildings and cityscape beyond and she nodded at the brunette male garbed in green. She blinked twice at the failed show of bravado by the mere homo-sapien male, or de-powered Shaman, of which she was not sure, since he posed like a Shaman, yet dressed like a Sapien charlatan. But regardless, she had nodded at his suggestion to prudently follow after the multi-armed woman-- a failed Shaman, herself? But whatever the case, she could not speak her dismay at the second suggestion, but yellow eyes flashed deadly nonetheless. ~'Poke her?' Oh, how I dare any of you males to attempt to play 'poke her' with any female present… just try it and see what happens...

The pumpkin-headed one piped up (a Shananic Animated Construct?), and Jet literally had to bite her tongue. She was about to let out a terrible roar, extract her claws, rush the scarecrow and leap at it with all her might. The aftermath would not be pretty; the giant panther was a cat afterall and her instincts told her that the animated, stuffy thing was a toy. This was a red flag to Jet. She never held such urges before… but then again, she was never 'out of phase' before either. She remained with the goat-boy and resisted the urge to swat the thing; it was invading her personal space for longer than she would ever allow. But that smell… oh gosh, that smell… death and defeat.

Jet's golden eyes scanned the horizon and her head swivelled back in the direction of the cloud made of insanity of the abyss. That was the source of the scent. She had only ever known one thing that could emit such a-- fuzzy black ears perked up. Intruders.

Three of them and wielding very similar-looking and very-formidable weapons, in fact.

<~<★>~>​

A piercing whistle made Jet cringe and shrink back a touch. Then one of them launched a successful assault of blue energy at the mass of death and defeat as the Shaman-acting-homo-sapien screamed in frustration at said mass. Still wary of the trio, Jet was nonetheless thankful for such a show of force. It held the screeching mass at bay; for it was advancing upon them.

Finally Jet leapt into action. The tentacled Shifter had launched his own futile attempt at the screeching mass then turned to face the 'Three Wise Men.' Yes, they had given a show of their power, and yes, they spouted off their wisdom and knowledge of this forsaken place, but no, Jet did not trust them. And so she flanked the tentacled Shifter and had tried to telepathically communicate with it. But she had merely growled with great frustration; she had only received the buzzing static when she had tried to Commune with the tentacled Shifter. And so now she could only show unity in arms by trotting abreast with him. As the trio spoke with the tentacled Shifter, Jet remained upon all fours, tail twitching with much agitation. ~Devour. His name. Irrational. 'Chaplain…' yeah, I wanna hear this explanation that this 'Chaplain' has for us.

A lingering glower with bright yellow eyes she cast the trio, then she turned her head and roared, demanding that the others gather here and with much haste. And if they did not understand her impatient roar, her long, black tail stopped twitching long enough to make a 'come-hither' motion at them.

<~~~<★>~~~> ​