This is ONLY a demographics poll. We are not killing the Art & Writing forum. XD I would just like to see what percentages of our members ultilize artistic talents outside of roleplaying. So please vote in the poll and get other members to vote as well!
She's killing the Art and Writing Forum!!! AH Knew it!! *ahem* Neh... only do two of those things... neither well, but yes two...
Sam leaned over to read across Natalia's shoulder. He frowned darkly, not liking what he was seeing. Not one bit. "'The Lord of Change,' 'the Master of Illusion,' 'the Prince of Chaos....'" he read off. "Hardly friendly-sounding. '...attributed as the origin of Anansi, Briar Rabbit, Robin Goodfellow....' Natalia, your imaginary friend is a trickster Fae." "And that means...?" Landel inquired. Raven filled her in, understanding instantly the kind of power a creature like that possessed. "Fae in general operate on a completely different logic and morality than humans. Its what gives them power. Tricksters are even more dangerous, because everything they do is, well, a trick or a prank. And the definition of a 'harmless prank' differs drastically when your definition of right and wrong is on a different wavelength than ours." "So...instead of black and white, they think in blue and orange?" Landel offered by way of metaphor. "That's a pretty good way to put it," Raven agreed. "This still doesn't answer why the Puck would be interested in me," Natalia said. Sam tapped the page. "According to this book, the Puck is the manifestation of change. All Fae are the manifestation of some kind of natural phenomenon -- snowflakes, rain, thunder, whatever -- in the Puck's case, its change. That's a pretty broad definition, which means he's probably extremely powerful, even by Fae standards. Someone like that could definitely awaken a pair of powerful elementals. If he's taken an interest in you, its got to have something to do with his portfolio -- change." The blonde still had a confused look on her face, so Raven translated, "Sweetheart, it means that the Puck thinks you're going to change things up a bit around here. Probably in a big way. I guess that's no surprise to anyone here, considering what we've seen you do." Natalia's shoulders slumped. "Why doesn't that make me feel any better?" --- An hour after concluding their research into the Fenway Tome, Crippling and Landel found Sam at the quartermaster's armory, strapping on a bulletproof vest and a tactical belt of weapons and ammunition. Ruth Borwell and Crossfire were with him, similarly loading up. "Gearing up for a fight?" Landel inquired. "Natalia and Raven decided to head back to the Ivory Tower," Sam said, snapping the last buckle in place and grabbing his skull-shaped helmet. "The three of us are going to find Emily Sternit. I tracked her down to an abandoned rec center in Boston." "He's even going to take the teleporter...and not bitch about it," Ruth quipped. "Sternit better watch out; the Skullman's on the warpath!" "...You know Natalia's in some real shit if a Fae that powerful is watching her," Crippling said, causing Sam to pause. "...We've all noticed just how strong she is," the mercenary said. "Strength invites challenge." Crossfire raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses. "That's one of Karin's sayings. You saying you're not surprised by this?" Sam frowned. "Cross, you and I have both fought enough powerful creatures to know its true. Hushcobb wouldn't be here if the strong and dangerous didn't make themselves known. Natalia is the most powerful being any of us have ever met -- no, I'm not surprised she's attracted equally powerful attention. I am surprised that its happened so fast. She's not ready to face what's coming after her. And neither are we." "Damn. Now I'm depressed. Remind me to never ask you to read my fortune," the marksman said, holstering his weapons. --- MARCH 30, 2017 BOSTON, MA The trio kicked down the door leading into the rec center. With the familiarity of old habit, they split into their usual positioning. Sam took point, an assault rifle in hand with a barrel-mounted flashlight sweeping in practiced, easy motions to maximize visualization of the darkened room. Several steps behind him, just slightly off to the side, was Ruth Borwell, also armed with a rifle to maintain mid-range cover. To the other side and further back was Crossfire with a pair of handguns, handling long-range. The rec center itself had the pall of creepiness bequeathed to horror films. The stench of old, dried blood suffused the stale air. Furniture had either been pushed aside or broken. However, there wasn't much dust. To the two agents and their longtime companion, this was telling. "They were here," Ruth said with certainty. Crossfire nodded to a stairwell. "Over there." The basement was even more revealing. Magic circles written in blood lined the walls and floors, but key parts had been scrubbed away, rendering them useless. "They've abandoned this position," Crossfire said, running a finger along the ruined circle on the floor. "Doubt we'll find much here." "Don't be so sure," Sam said. "No one's perfect about clean-up. Especially when they're in a rush." Ruth tilted her head in question. "What makes you say that?" "They left the circles in place, for one," the mercenary answered. "If they took their time, they could have cleaned it up, instead of just deactivating them." He walked up to a table of papers and maps. "Hushcobb's layout," he said grimly. "So there is a traitor," Crossfire growled. "How could they have gotten these? Look, they even got the tunnel system under the town." "Good thing Ferrara doubled up on security," Ruth said. Crossfire's brows furrowed. "Something's not right." Sam nodded. "Agreed." Ruth asked, "What is it?" The marksman continued, "Lorentz is crazy, but he's not stupid. Why leave all this here? This is sloppy. Even if he and the Sanguinaar were in a rush to relocate, why leave maps of all things?" "He's taunting us," Sam concluded. "He has to know we can't make anything of the clues he left behind." The mercenary leaned over the table, pouring over the map of Hushcobb and willing it to make sense. "But there has to be something we can use. What's he planning?" Ruth was walking around the ruined circle when she noticed something. "Hey, does this look new to you?" She shined her flashlight on a pair of blood-written symbols that looked fresher than the rest of the circle. Sam studied it. "'Undeath,'" he read. "'Control.'" He went back to the maps. The only part of Hushcobb that stayed stable during the blood puppet attack had been Inversion, and only by virtue of having its own independent power supply. Hmm.... "Cross, Ruth -- are there any undead locked up in Inversion? Right now?" The marksman answered, "Yeah. A bunch of vampires. Why?" "Son of a bitch...." --- MARCH 30, 2017 LONDON, ENGLAND Teleportation -- whether through Hushcobb or Natalia -- was a luxury Raven thoroughly enjoyed. It certainly saved on plane tickets and got her back home in record time. After all, the "Magic Girls," as Jill and Erika had enthusiastically started calling their group, had a schedule to keep. Tonight was the night they would take London by storm. The four of them were on top of a department store in Piccadilly Circus. Cars zoomed beneath them through the streets, their head and tail lights glowing like multicolored snakes in the night. The cool March air carried with it a gentle wind that made the girls' hair dance. "This is so awesome!" Jill gushed, fully clad in her homemade costume. She beamed at her compatriots. "So, did you guys figure out your codenames, yet? I know Natalia's okay with being 'Asylum.'" The blonde shifted on her feet, uncertainly. She used her magic to summon forth her straightjacket-based attire from Hyde Park. It was easier now than it had been when she instinctively used INNI during the fight with the elementals. For one, the whole ensemble fit better. For another, it actually looked good. "I, uh, gave it a lot of thought. I like the sound of it -- being a safe haven for people." Jill grinned happily. Then she jerked a thumb at herself. "I'm going to call myself...Exchange! Makes sense, right?" Erika nodded in agreement. "With what you can do? Hell yeah, it does. I like it. Short, catchy." The psychic had rummaged through her closet and seemingly selected the most publically inappropriate articles she had. She had made plenty of suggestive comments about styles of shorts and seemingly adopted them for herself. A ripped tank top, fishnets, and hot pants a size and a half too small left very little to the imagination. Of course, she kept her trusty axe on hand. "I'm going with 'Sidhe,' myself. Fighting Irish, and all that." She flexed a magically-enhanced bicep for show. Jill then looked to Raven. "What about you? What'd you pick?" The brunette also went closet-shopping. A black turtleneck, black, snug jeans, and black knee-high boots with low-cut heels made the base of her costume. The primary eye-catcher, however, was a knee-length leather long-coat with a voluminous hood pulled low over her face. The cut of the hood was particularly inventive, with a reverse-scallop cut that gave it the silhouette of a bird's beak. Raven, getting into the spirit of things despite how silly it all was, posed dramatically, flourished the tail of her coat, and declared, "Call me 'the Red Raven!'" A pause. Jill and Erika burst out in guffaws. Raven pouted. "What? What? Stop laughing!" "That's like calling myself 'Jade Jill!'" "If it were me, I'd be 'Erika Erotica!'" "...I thought it was good," Natalia meekly offered in defense. "Natalia, I swear, sometimes I think you're my only friend," Raven said with mock melancholy. Then she said to her two naysayers, "Okay, what do you two geniuses have to suggest?" Jill rubbed her chin thoughtfully and said, "How about...'Preybird?'" Another pause. Instead of silence born from incredulity, this one was born out of strong consideration. Grudgingly, Raven admitted, "Actually, that's kind of cool...." "Preybird it is!" A third pause. "So...um, what do we do now, exactly?" Natalia wondered. Jill huffed indignantly as she looked down to the streets below. "Well, usually, some crime is happening and we can just go and stop it. That's how it is in comic books. Wish something would hurry up and happen, though...." "And how do we go about that?" Raven asked seriously. "Its not like any of us have access to the police band or anything. Speaking of authority figures, we all okay with doing this under Ferrara and my grandfather's noses?" "Well, duh," Erika piped up. "Are you?" Raven threw her a rebellious smirk. "Get one under on my grandfather? Hell yeah." The psychic threw a companionable arm around her shoulder. "That's my girl!" "Um, whatever happened to keeping a low profile?" Natalia asked. "That's what the codenames and costumes are for!" Jill replied easily. Suddenly, Natalia stood ramrod straight. Visions flashed through her mind's eye. Guns, fighting, danger. Nearby, no less. "Uh...I don't think we'll need the police radio, after all." "What's wrong, Natalia?" Jill inquired. "What's your Spidey-Sense telling you?" Raven groaned. The blonde pointed below. "The club we went to the other night. A group of the patrons are actually thieves. I think they're armed." Jill whooped in excitement and pounded a fist into her other hand. "All right! Just like in the comics!" She excitedly to turned to the others. "We need a catch phrase! Like, um, Magic Girls a-go-go!" Erika pointed out, "That's already being used in Viewtiful Joe." "In the name of the Ivory Tower, we'll punish you!" "Sailor Moon." "Its Magic time!" "Power Rangers." "Oh, come on!" Raven followed Natalia's gaze. "Ladies, we may want to put that on hold." Frightened clubgoers were already streaming out of the nightclub in terror and gunshots echoed from below. "Looks like we're on." Jill beamed and proudly declared, "That's it! Magic Girls -- we're on!" "...Sigh."
I mainly do graphics (sigs/banners/avatar sets/etc.) and take photography if I need to. I also write stories, but that's been awhile -_-
