Lethal Reword - Tatters of the Fourth Wall

A high-pitched CPU hum, punctuated by the occasional frantic keyboard noises filled the room. The room was almost completely dark, only illuminated by the light coming from the computer monitor. Seated in front of this computer monitor is a hunched figure.

"It's a little bit too silent in here" Vincent thought as he opened another computer program. Afterwards, foreign music filled the room, harmonizing, instead of drowning the hum.

"Better..." he thought as he sighed and went on typing.

He absentmindedly looked at the window just beside his desk and looked at the silent neighborhood. An indifferent moon drifted slowly over a horizon punctuated by trees, houses and buildings. Neon signs could be seen from a distance, indicating where the downtown is.

Vincent turned his attention back to the computer, resumed typing, and stopped. He seemed to blank out for a moment, and then pounded on the backspace key. This pattern of typing, silence, hitting the backspace key, and typing again went on for an indeterminate amount of time, only the accompanying music changed, from what seemed to be ancient Chinese music, to some Japanese pop tune, to what might pass for rock music.

"Ok, might as well check out Iwaku." Vincent thought after a while.

Vincent opened a browser window and waited. The high-pitched CPU hum became even higher, as if straining from the effort of loading a forum.

"This might take a while..." he thought as he reached out for a cigarette. As he took puff, the banner loaded, and then followed by the index. The chatbox loaded last.

"Bleh! The chatbox's dead... as usual." he sniggered as he scrolled up. On the right hand side of the screen, he saw a linked named 'Private Messages' with a number one enclosed in parenthesis after it.

"Hmm.. seems I have an unread message..." he thought as he clicked the link, and another link that led him to the unread message.

However, even before the new page loaded, a shadowy hand burst itself from the computer screen with a head-splitting screech, latching onto his face... and pulling.

"Wh... where am I?" he asked after regaining consciousness, totally confused and bewildered.

"Wa..wait.. what's this?" he asked himself as he noticed he was holding a piece of paper with lots of numbers.

"Hmmm... name written there is Faramond, and he is a deva bard, or whatever it is." he said to himself as he tried to make sense of what's written on the sheet.

After the line named 'level', he saw were lots of numbers, and then parts named 'race features', 'feats', 'trained skills' among others.

"Wai.. wai.. WAIT A MINUTE?! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! AND WHO THE HELL IS THIS FARAMOND!!" he thought as he almost threw the sheet of paper.

"This doesn't really make much sense..." he said as he tried to stand up. "I mean, really!"
 
"Hey! Don't stand, you'll..." An accompanying sploosh as Faramond hits the water makes it clear that the speaker was too late. "...hit the water." The speaker's hand reaches in, pulling Faramond back into the boat. A short distance away, the remains of a plane slowly sink into the waters. "Lucky the others didn't reach you first. Demihumans aren't well liked 'cause of the war. You were with the others, though, so you can't be too bad." The speaker, a young female dressed in wet, tight, white clothes smiled as she rowed the boat. "I'll get you to shore in a second. After that, you might wanna make a run for it - don't let the humans see you, or you'll have hell..."

-----

On the shoreline, Roxelvi and those that followed him reach the docks. He looks around for a bit, looking out there towards the slowly-sinking plane - the rest of the boats are coming back, though one veers off, going somewhere else instead of towards the docks. "...Looks like we weren't needed... least we can get the info we want, and..."

Roxelvi is cut off. A woman yells, "Hiro! My young Hiro's still in there!" She turns and attempts to dive back in, and a few others stop her. "You don't understand! My son! It's all I have left! Let me go get my son!"

Roxelvi's ears switch to the vulpine ears once more, and he flings his shield to the side. Clutching his spear, he sprints down the dock, jumping into the water. "This better not get me killed!" He yells before hitting the water, swimming as hard as he could for the sinking remains of the plane.

Despite some slight difficulty, he swims just fine in the calm waters, even with the scale armor on - it didn't seem to affect him at all.
 
"Hey! Don't stand, you'll..." a female voice warned him.

"What?" Vincent asked but it was drowned by the accompanying sploosh as he hit the water.

"...hit the water." the female voice went on.

A hand reached out to Vincent and pulled him back into the boat. A short distance away, the remains of a plane slowly sank into the waters. Vincent looked at the plane as it sank, wondering where he is, and what is happening around him.

"Lucky the others didn't reach you first. Demihumans aren't well liked 'cause of the war. You were with the others, though, so you can't be too bad." she went on.

The speaker, a young female dressed in wet, tight, white clothes smiled as she rowed the boat.

"I'll get you to shore in a second. After that, you might wanna make a run for it - don't let the humans see you, or you'll have hell..."

"Uhm... How about introducing yourself first, and telling me where the heck are we and why are we here?" Vincent asked the female.

"And oh, perhaps you know this Faramond..." he said as he showed the girl the character sheet he was holding.
 
Ronen was startled when the party was surrounded by the funnel of wind. He grabbed the hilt of his greatsword, unsure what was going on but would prefer not be caught off guard. He turned and looked at the direction of the shouting. He didn't draw his blade but released his grip when he realized they were civilians, and relaxed his posture. He kept his hand on the hilt of his dagger, as Michael conversed with them. He assumed that they were referring to him when the word "demihuman". He couldn't help but think it was directed at people that were not like the mob that seemed ready to defend the village behind them. He loosened his gripped on his dagger when it appeared that Michael had convinced them that the party was heading to the tavern.

He did agree with Roxelvi that the villagers seemed self-aware. Technically these people should not know that plot followed adventurers where ever they would venture. There was something strange about this world, indeed.

Ronen was split on whether to going to the tavern, or following the others to see the crash site. He wasn't sure about what he would do at a tavern, since he didn't really drink. So he ran after the three of them, flipping up the hood of his cloak to conceal fact that he was not human. He shout over his shoulder to Michael, "We'll meet you at the tavern!"

When he arrived at the dock, it was a hive of activity. There were boats going back and forth, some were ferrying survivors, others searching the wreckage. There were many people about, so Ronen tried his best to blend in with everyone, as they bustled about.

He heard a women yelling that her son was still in the wreckage, and saw Roxelvi dive into the water. He grabbed his robe out of his bag, just in case he would have to toss Roxelvi a line. He stood their on the dock, watched as the situation unfolded.
 
"..Damn, he's crazy strong..." Kat watched as Rox swam out after the child. She dragged her feet on the ground a bit. "Man, I wish I could do something useful like that...actually...I have an idea. Nerusai, watch this."

She walked over toward where most of the villagers were getting off of the boats. They were helping some rather distressed plane passengers back to dry land.

"Alright...listen, we weren't actually planning on going to your town. We were pretty much dragged here by the plot, so it's clear that there's no turning back on it anymore.

Right now, you've gotten pretty much everyone off that plane wreck. One of my companions is swimming out into deep water in heavy armor in order to save the one person you missed. He is risking his life for a person who he's never met, even after the warm welcome you gave us. You may not want the danger that comes with our presence, but now that we're here, we can't make that worse. We can, however, help solve your problems.

Now, none of us are from anywhere remotely close to here. So what I propose is this: You treat me and my companions like people, whether they be human or not. And if you'll explain the history behind your current situation with demihumans, we might actually, you know, help you."

She scratched her head.
" 'sides, then we'd be out of your town."

((roll result-17))
 
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Nerusai's eyes seemed to reflect the injure he felt as Roxelvi swam towards the wreckage. He would have made a move to stop him except, how noble, how good. Nerusai couldn't help but notice how very strong the man was as well, awe catching in his throat.

"Nerusai, watch this."

Nerusai turned to the girl with rapt attention, a small smile stealing across his features as he kept near now to the young woman. Setting a warm hand across her slim shoulder, he looked at the people she was speaking to expectantly, prepared to step in if needed.

"Very good, marvelous in fact."
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Kat started a bit as Nerusai put an arm on her shoulder. It felt nice, knowing that he was there to help her out if she needed it. Kat leaned up against him and smiled.
"Thank you."
 
The woman in the boat smiled at him in a 'poor thing' fashion. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you then, Vincent. My name is Ann Onymuss." An obviously fake name... right? In any case, she continues, "...I don't know a Faramond, and I'm not sure how a blank piece of paper helps me figure out who. Did you hit your head in the crash?"

The boat thuds against the shore. "Here we are... sorry I can't stay longer," she says while getting out of the boat, winking at him. "I'd love to stay and help, but my family and the villages need my help. Ta~!" She then turns on her heel, running towards the crowd.

----

Said crowd looks at Kat, then out to the form of the swimming Roxelvi. They seem to look at each other - though a few seem occupied keeping the worried mother from going crazy. From behind them, they hear a voice, "Hey. You adventurers lost or somethin'?" A young woman in wet, tight white clothes gives them a winner's smile. "If you need information, I can tell you what you need to know." She gives the group a wink. "Rather than tell you a bunch of random information, why not you just ask me what you need to know, and I'll answer it?"

Offshore, there is a high-volume rending noise as the plane's weight works against it, and it tears in half, beginning to sink slowly... the woman screams out in horror as she imagines what the fate of her son is...

----

Roxelvi's ears flick back at the loud sound, displeased and pained by it. It was around this time that he had gotten to the plane, and gotten on - it was uneven under his feet and quickly filling with water. He yelled, "Hello! Hiro!" He remembered the name.

"Help me..." Mumbled a meek voice nearby - trapped under some chairs, a cut on his forehead bleeding down his face, was the boy in question. His face was pale, and almost under the water.

"Hold on kid, I'm going to get you out of here." Putting his spear in his teeth, he grabs onto the pile of chairs and heaves with all his might... His muscles bulge and he lets out a grunt as the pile of metal is rent by his own hands, freeing the boy. Roxelvi kneels down, lifting the kid up. "Don't worry kid, I've got you. Just hold onto me."

Hiro does just this, halfway between awe and terror at the lycanthrope-blooded man before him.

Roxelvi proceeds to swim out, the water having gone up to his chest now... Swimming with the child on his back would be difficult, but he'd try. Behind him, another rending noise alerted him that the place they were just at wasn't there anymore...

Even with the child on his back, he proceeds to swim just fine.
 
The woman in the boat smiled at him in a 'poor thing' fashion. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you then, Vincent. My name is Ann Onymuss."

Vincent nodded and smiled as the woman, Ann, introduced herself, and she went on, "...I don't know a Faramond, and I'm not sure how a blank piece of paper helps me figure out who. Did you hit your head in the crash?"

"What...? A blank sheet of paper?" Vincent took a look at the piece of paper he was holding. The same data was still there, a name, a class, a race, stats and other data.

A sudden jerk and a thud stopped Vincent from reading the sheet further. "Here we are... sorry I can't stay longer," she said as she got out of the boat, and winked at him.

"I'd love to stay and help, but my family and the villages need my help. Ta~!" She then turns on her heel, running towards the crowd.

Vincent was left alone on the boat, wondering how come Ann saw the sheet of paper he was holding as blank, and...

"WAIT! WHAT THE HELL!! I hadn't introduced myself to her yet she called me Vincent!"

At that thought, Vincent put back the sheet into his pocket and started to chase after Ann. But since he took so long in getting out of the boat, and because he can't run as fast because of all the gear he was carrying, he soon lost sight of Ann.

"Oh my... And I suppose this crowd is supposed to be hostile to me..." he thought as he sought to find a way around the crowd.

"What to do...." he thought as he looked around, he's on the shore, with some sort of a crash up ahead, and a town further on. "Wait! There's only one town around here! So I guess she lives there."

With that, Vincent turned away from the crowd and walked towards the town.
 
Vagre was sitting absently throwing shurikens at a nearby tree, only stopping to collect them all again. He growled softly to himself, basically his has of saying "You're a whiny little bitch." without actually speaking to himself. Sliding the weapons back into their leather holder he stood and looked over the town. "Well town that doesn't want to be important enough to have a name, I'll play your game." he moved off to see what the others where doing, "Trying to save nameless NPCs in a nameless town, thats just poetry." he mumbled, 'At least they're manning up to the task, now get your level 1 ass there, might be able to see how far you can push this game.' he scolded himself, before walking towards the town. "If this game wants me to play it, I'm not playing by the rules. No character sheet, no goal, no limits, NO STINKING PLOT! He couldn't help but laugh, he had a feeling that the game would fight to keep him in line, but it hadn't counted on a wildcard, someone who didn't know the rules and didn't care,a Vagre, in name and purpose. This was going to be one hell of a fight.

He reached the docks where the girl, whatever her name was, Kathrine maybe, was trying to convince the NPCs to allow them to save more NPCs "Good morning!" he called out, not actually knowing the time of day, "I have low diplomacy, but I think I can do something to help. He waited for a boat to clear and then jumping in "Come on!" He called up to Nerusai "Lets not make him swim back here too."
 
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Nerusai blinked and smiled weakly at the man who approached. He let his gaze follow Roxelvi. Biting his lip, Nerusai turned away to ignore an unfamiliar clenching in his stomach. He wished vaguely that he was stronger so that he could help Roxelvi. Realizing he was being impolite, Nerusai spun to face Kat again.

"Be careful," Nerusai cautioned, a smile warming his eyes. "I don't think I'm much protection for you should anything happen..."

Nerusai wandered cautiously towards the woman who spoke, tugging Kat gently with him.
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"moment killer..."

"I'm not exactly the queen of rowing...we'd just add to the weight you have to move." Kat decided to ignore the man's mad ranting for now. She could talk to him about it later, when there weren't people all around.

Nerusai started walking off in the direction of the information lady, and Kat followed. It got them away from that man, which was good.
"It's alright..." She leaned on him. "You're probably going to be more useful than you think."
 
Roxelvi gasps as he reaches the shoreline, some of the villagers helping him in and taking the kid from him. Roxelvi is left recovering from the swim at the shoreline as the villagers check up on the injured child. His chest rises and falls, looking out at the shoreline...

It was at this point that Roxelvi's imagination took hold of him - of the many fates, of the many viscous creatures that roamed the waters in fantasy realms. He twitched, and then started to shiver... not from the cold, neither the water nor the climate had been cold... but out of fear of what could have happened.

Roxelvi had remembered his fear of deep water only when he had gotten back to shore. He hid a few tears among wiping water from his face, standing up. Composing himself, he turns. "The kid okay?"

----

The villagers turn to the man, silent for a few moments. Many of them clearly staring at his vulpine ears... "...Yeah, Hiro will be okay. It's just a little scratch..." A man states, walking over to Rox. This man was dressed in blue robes, with the symbol of a seashell upon them. "...Thank you." The man bows to Roxelvi, and then turns, bowing towards the party. "...It isn't much, but if you wish to stay a few days, I will be happy to allow you rest at the Temple of Melora," He points to a building made of wood and coral a bit of a ways off, with the same symbol. He then turns to help the villagers detach the relieved mother from her child in order to provide the proper first aid.

-----

Ann looks over at Roxelvi. "...Huh. Never seen that sort of demihuman before. Much less any sort of demihuman paladin. Ah, well." She shrugs. "...Ears are cute, though."

Looking at Neru and Kat expectantly, she waits on any questions they might have.
 
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Nerusai patted Kat's hair gently, an indulgent look on his face as he glanced down at her. Looking back at Roxelvi, Nerusai bit his lip. "You're coming, right?" he directed to him, soft voice cutting through the strange quiet. To the woman offering information, he then directed his attention.

"If we could go somewhere more private, I do have questions, ma'am...."

Nerusai wrapped an arm tightly around her shoulders. His quarterstaff clasped in his other hand, he shifted his spellbook to the hand resting near the woman's shoulder.
"I feel this meeting could be important..."

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Roxelvi was dripping wet, resting himself on the shoreline. "I'll... I'll catch up. You guys just tell me what you come up with, okay?" He glances over at Ann uncomfortably, then looks away, pretending that he didn't. He also shoots an awkward glance at Nerusai and Kat, but he pretends that didn't happen, either. "I'm gonna stay here and... rest a bit. Swimming in armor and all that." He didn't look or sound tired, though. He gave his 'comforting' smile. "I'll be fine. Go'wan."

----

Ann nods. "Sure! Come on then... Later... Roxelvi, was it?" She smiles, turning and walking - giving a nod at Vagre, Vincent, and Ronen - "You guys can come, too. I've got a private place at the tavern in town. We can talk there." She walks a bit faster, urging them all to keep up.
 
Kat smiled as Nerusai patted her hair, and she kissed him playfully on the cheek. She laughed, in a tone akin to the tinkling of bells, and looked back over his shoulder to the others. "Come on!"

She walked along with Nerusai and the other woman. "So...what's your name? If we're going to be talking for a while, I can't just call you woman."

Kat looked Ann up and down. Nice...I wonder...
 
The Tavern

Whilst at first the atmosphere had been cramped and unfreindly, as michael consumed more and more ales (at a gold peice each) both he, and the others at the bar, grew more amicable, until, all either tipsy or drunk, all began to sing songs about all sorts of things, taking it in turns to lead the others in a particular song.

After a while, it came to be Michael's turn, and he smiled, walking towards a raised section of the tavern, like the rest of the establishment, it seemed to be built from recycled ship planks, and Michael stumbled a little as he took to the 'stage'

"Alright" he said, only slightly slurring
"this one is one of me favorites back home, and it goes a little something like this" A nod to the now very drunk Human mage and his (strangely enough sober) Halfling Apprentice at the back of the room and music filled the Tavern
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Michael Proceeded to provide the vocals, whilst the Mage and his apprentice provided the music, and whilst at first slightly unnerved, the locals (the mage and apprentice also being locals, albiet not from this particular town) they soon relaxed, some even joined in singing the chorus, and jsut as the song wound down, the door to the tavern opened.
 
Ronen offered his bed roll to Roxelvi, and smiled, "You did good, man!"

He pat Roxelvi on the back, "Don't be long alright."

He smiled at Roxelvi, before running off to catch up with the others.
 
The waters edge near Roxelvi started to ripped a little faster and then faster still as the wind picked up. It suddnely drew very cold and a bit of cloud cover filled the sky. It was an odd storm that seemed to suddenly envelope the lake and village.

Not to far from Roxelvi a crashing sound filled the air. It sounded like a tree being ripped from the earth. Leaves breaking and snapping in all directions as a masive oak tree seemed to be opening up. Its knot seemed to be moving and with a twisting motion the tree seemed to throw up a dark figure. The form fell to the earth with a harsh thud. Moaning softly the poor creature rolled around trying to get its barings.

Once on her feet the yelling started "FINE YOU WORTHLESS RODENTS.. KEEP YOUR.." she was about to say more when a silvery piece of paper floated down amoung the leaves and landed on her foot.

Looking down at it she glared. "Whats this a good bye letthhh" her eyes blinked over and over as she looked down and saw a massive claw and no longer a human foot clan in grey fuzzy slippers. Somehing was different.. very different. Her robe was now armor?? What the hell. Her would be figners crumpled the paper in anger. "What had they dont to her, first the prank phone call, then the flower in her only blow dryer... and now this.. they must have slipped her some wickedly expenisve acid to make her trip this hard.

It was all a dream. A wicked dream where she was now some reptile, in a forest all alone.. Letting out a sigh she rubbed her eyes and looked down at the crumpled paper in her hand. What did it all mean? and would she dare read it? What would it say? Closing her eyes she composed herself just enough to read the first line or two.

Zu Trissia
Dragonborn

"What the hell is that?" she said out loud. She thought she was talking to herself when she heard something and got scared. She jumped behind the massive tree to hide.
 
Ann led the others into the bar, looking over at the drunken singers and the not-so-drunken singing leader. She smiled at Micheal, still dripping yet herself, before leading the group into a back room. Ann claps her hands together twice, and with a 'fwoosh', the torches and candles in the room lit up, along with a crackling fire in the fireplace. "Aaaanyway. I've just heard from someone that asking people's names without giving your own is rude, so I'mma go ahead. I'm sure you can figure out - my name is not Ann Onymous. My name is Aidyn Lightbringer... and I'll be happy to answer any questions you have."

------

Roxelvi takes the bed roll, wrapping it around himself in an effort towards dryness. He gives Ronen a grateful glance. "Thanks... I won't be too long. I just remembered how terrified I am of deep water... funny how that works?" He chuckled nervously, before letting out a sigh and looking out towards the ocean...

...And the huge storm coming through. With the events that followed, Roxelvi could only stare and blink... and then he saw the dragonborn. His jaw dropped slightly, and he scrambled to his feet. His fox-ears flicking curiously, he walks over to the female. "...Hey. Are you alright?"

He looks around at the villagers, frowning at their gaping faces and making a 'shooing' motion at them. To his genuine surprise, they departed. He looks upat the dragon-woman before him. Despite himself, he found her rather appealing. His ears flicked... and he looked at the paper she was holding. "...Ah. Of course you're not alright. You're a Reworder, too..." He reaches into his own back pocket, pulling out a sheet of paper and offering the dragonborn his "comforting" smile. "...My name is Roxelvi Pale... I'd say it's a pleasure to make such a priggie... pretty lady's aquaintance..." Stumbling over the word 'pretty', not having to use it often. "...But I don't even know your name, so I really can't say that." A lame attempt at humor, and he knew it. His ears flicked back, and he laughed in an awkward, embarassed way.
 
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