Campaign Promises

[Coolpikaaa]

"Hey Palace Garden People!"

Indeed, it seemed every last citizen of the Dojo was seated in the Palace square, (well, everyone who was still kicking around anyway) and almost all of them seemed to be murmuring with their neighbors in anticipation.

"Ah, uh Palace Garden People?"

The tiny voice of Coolpikaaa was frantically trying to broadcast over the noisy group with very limited effect. The beauty of the sunny day, coupled with the faces of friends they hadn't seen in so long was raising the crowd's noise to a fever pitch, and without the microphone CP was too short to reach, it seemed hopeless to control them.

Crash!

It seemed in one final move to control the audience, Coolpikaaa had rammed the podium and knocked it far off stage while at the same time, grabbing and detaching the microphone.

"Well uh. That seemed to work in a very disorganized fashion." said Coolpikaaa, lamenting the clutter for such a serious meeting. "Howdy everyone! I'm CP, lovable electric rodent thing of the Dojo, and I have summoned you all here for a rather important meeting."

More mutterings had broken out in the audience at this point.

"I'm sure all of you really know why I am here. The signs of Blackstar's defeat were obvious. For a while there, I'm sure we even lost color to the void!" Several faces looked to their neighbors in sad acknowledgment. "But! As you now know, a sudden rise in activity has left us once again with a world of promise. A world of adventure. A world of new Campaigns and new friendships!"

The crowd seemed very enthusiastic now. Several even started to clap.

"A world of Anarchy." Coolpikaaa concluded, casting a rather deep shadow on his otherwise motivational speech. "Our former leader is gone. Dead? We don't know. We have been left without any direction, any guidelines, any other support. It seems the Immortals have left us as well. This has lead to unfortunate circumstances. I'm sure all of you have heard about the rapid rise in general crime? This is very true. The Slave ring of the Southern Desert, the mass kidnapping of all senior citizens in Psychotopia, and the sudden increase of "frighteningly lifelike" statues in our Art Galleries all stem for this lack of control."

"And that is why I am here, standing before all of you in the Palace Gardens. I want you to consider myself as a leader in this time of uncertainty. I don't wish to be the figure of worship you all are so used to having as a ruler, but rather, a friend you can always count on. As corny as it sounds, I consider all of you here my family. And I want my family to be able to walk the streets in safety. I want my family to be safe from kidnappers and felons. And I want Blackstar to be the place it was, and always will be in our hearts!"

"Hello, My Name is Coolpikaaa... And I want to be your leader."

((Hmm. It seems CP has gotten too old for the Adventuring gig, and now plans to run for government! How will this turn out?! Why not stick some of your characters in and poke around for his political agenda? It is your home world after all....))

[The Whitestar Regime]

~This child and the glorious Whitestar Regime would disagree.~

A section of stone paving close to Coolpikaaa crumbles away as one of the colossal children of the Whitestar Regime rises up to confront the rodent who would be king. It's deep eyes focused firmly on the bold creature, then looked out to the rest of the crowd present. It was difficult to see in all this sunlight, but this child was a messenger, and this message needed to be delivered. The invasion had been delayed long enough, it was now or never.

~This child expresses the Whitestar Regime's deepest apologies for our unexplained absense, Dojodians. We had not expected that there would be so many amongst our own who were opposed to our decision to take the realm for ourselves, and this grave error cost us dearly - our ealier attempt at invasion was cut brutally short by in-fighting, and several factions with numerous goals made themselves known to us. Some sympathized with you, others loathed you, but none agreed with us.

We of the Whitestar Regime deemed this to be unacceptable.

Our own battles were unknown to you all, but through them we have grown much. We have come to understand the need for pain and suffering, that only by passing through the flames of war can we achieve that which we desire.

Our hands are stained with the blood of our fellow children, but their deaths will not be in vain. We will no longer hesitate Dojodians, our hearts are hardened and with a powerful new ally guiding us we cannot fail.~

The Whitestar Regime had long considered itself to be alone in this realm, without any friends or sympathizers to their cause. This was no surprise, for their goal was the destruction of the very world itself, so that a new world, shaped as they saw fit, could rise from it's ashes. And yet, against all odds, they had encountered a like-minded being who saw things there way. It too sought to bring an end to this dismal world, and like the Whitestar Regime it did not think that the inhabitants were capable of bringing it back from the brink... Not like the idealistic old rodent who was now standing in their way.

~Those of you convinced that we are merely bluffing, observe the kind of power that our ally grants us - the power that would have the very land itself lend us it's aid!~

[Blackstar Foundation]

The child of the Whitestar Regime simply holds the Emerald Bow, and all nearby plantlife turns towards them, pleasantly conversing with their new master.

[The Whitestar Regime]

~Those of you who would join the old one, I am here to deliver you a warning: it shall be we of the Whitestar Regime, not this Hero of Old, who gather up the sacred relics and take the Lord's Throne for our own.~

The child reaches down towards the plantlife, the very flowers themselves bowing their heads in reverence as they whisper words promising allegiance to it. They have no choice in the matter, for they are forever bound to the will of those who bear the Emerald Bow, and it is now in the possession of the Whitestar Regime.

~We shall spare those who have not yet been here long enough to be tainted by this realm, but those who are a part of the old Blackstar must burn along with it. Whether you choose to oppose us or not will not change this, it will only determine how soon you perish by our hands.~

The child did not wait for a response to his message, for that was not the task he'd been trusted with, and there was no time to waste. It left as suddenly as it appeared, sending a storm of soil and clay flying as it burrowed back underground.

[Danikat]

Danikat sat to one side of the garden, half her mind on CP's speech, the other half lost in nostalgia. Even she knew her life had been unusual and it was beggining to dawn on her that along the way she had lost a lot of homes and a lot of friends. Relatively few of them had actually died, she supposed she should be grateful, but they were gone all the same. They had moved on, or she had, loosing touch as friends so often do in time.

It hadn't really bothered her before, but now it seemed she missed them. It was just possible, she conceeded, that she was growing up.

She didn't pay much more attention when The Whitestar Regime's child appeared. In all honestly she didn't much care who ran the Dojo, life would continue in spite of politics, but something about the speech drew her attention. She dismissed the display of power, a lot of beings had power, including many of those The Whitestar Regime sought to make their enemies and Danikat had never put much stock in the Dojo's relics. She certianly didn't believe they could convey the ability to rule.

But something about the speech or the attitude behind it hit a nerve. Danikat considered herself pretty easy going, even trying to kill her wouldn't annoy her much, but threatening to kill her friends and wipe out their entire world, which she actually kind of liked, was definately top of the list.

When the child had finished she sighed and shrugged to herself as she stood up. "Pick you battles," her old teacher had told her "Don't get involved when it doesn't concern you, but never, ever let them take away what's yours". Of course her old teacher had been a gold dragon, they had strange ideas on possession, but the lesson certainly seemed appropriate today. No matter what had happened this was her world, and no one was going to just take it away from her.

"Here we go again" Veamoth muttered as she jumped into the air and flew to the stage, landing just to one side of CP. She smiled down at the familiar rodent. "Do I even need to say I'm with you? 'Fight and maybe die or just die' doesn't seem like much of a choice to me....Leader."

((It looks like even I didn't realise how much Danikat has grown up. I might even need to edit her profile. It also seems that more of her backstory might even come out.))

[Raven]

From the shadowed side of the stage Raven watched the small rodent with what some might call a smile – if they could see it. Half-hidden behind a wall, she stifled a snort with CP’s unorthodox was of getting his microphone.

~"Well uh. That seemed to work in a very disorganized fashion."~

Her arms were crossed as she leaned against the wall. She could see the podium, but she was in a blind spot – invisible as far as anyone else was concerned. ‘Silly rodent’. Raven thought, shaking her head at CP’s antics and speech. She’d help him, of course. He’d all ready stuck a deal with her for her... services.

When the Whitestar messenger appeared, her eyes narrowed. This would not do. No, it would not do at all. Blackstar, as agreed earlier with CP, was under her protection, it was her domain. That meant that no one would disturb it. No one would do anything to it without her approval. A fierce, possessive flair sparked inside her as she watched the Whitestar messenger go.

‘They have a relic?’ She asked herself, scoffing at the messenger’s pathetic display. Raven slipped out of the shadows and slowly made her way to the podium. Later she would check the files, to find out just how they got the relic. Perhaps they hand a traitor in their midst. ‘That would be fun.’ She thought to herself, imaging a game of cat and mouse to play if that was the case.

Blackstar may be a realm of insanity and chaos, thus, their government – although a much needed stable aspect - was going to be a bit... mixed. CoolPikaaa, the leader may be an agent of “good”, but that didn’t mean that it ruled Blackstar. They needed a mix – and thus he’d approached Raven. Ideology doesn’t run things. Sometimes even the best people need a hand in the shadows.

That was where Raven came in with her ‘talents’. Black and white, yin and yang – Raven was Blackstar’s “Black Ops” leader now, an enforcer of sorts. Allegiances had been sworn and contracts had been signed. Raven would protect her home to the very end – even if her modus operandi wasn’t quite... honourable.

With light feet, she slipped behind the rodent. “Your orders, Sir?” She drawled, secretly hoping to startle the rodent. Raven may work for him, but she was still loyal first and foremost to the Evil Council. She would do her job, though – and how she would.

[Tav]

((Bah, since I'm writing two posts, and they're all reacting to various other posters, I'll use 'CP's post here' or 'whitestar post here' to help quantify what time the events in my post occurs.))
((Cp's post occurs here))

"Uh. This- This is wonderful!" Ashael exclaimed. Her aura swelled up. "Go Coolpikaaa!" She called, waving her arm up at him, her eyes shining. "I'll vote for you!"

((Whitestar's post occurs here))

Then the Whitestar messenger showed up. Ashael's eyes turned dark, and she stepped back. Glaring. Her aura shrunk down and hardened over her body, becoming a semi-transparent armor around herself.

She didn't say a word.

---

"Sure thing, mom." Athena said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "I know, I didn't mean to break that lantern. There was a goo creature after me! It was pretending to be that ColdPikachu guy or whatever! I'll get a new one from Shop Row, I promise." She stepped out the door, and started walking.

((Cp's post occurs here))

"What the-" She looked up at the small lightning rat, listening to his spiel. ~This- This could be that goo creature, trying to get control. but- But it's talking. I- I can't be sure.~ She sighed, and then closed her eyes, focusing. A small flare of fire burst up from her hand, and she grinned. ~If that is an impostor, I'll be ready for it.~

((Whitestar's post occurs here))

Athena took three steps back, looking up at the tall insectoid. Then her eyes focused on that relic. ~How did they get -that-? I thought it was in the arms of that one corporation? Maybe that CEO guy kept it underground, and those formicids dug their way in. Hrmm. . . ~ She grinned, pulling out some yen. It'd cost quite some money to buy the supplies she'd need for her plan. ~It -would- be handy to have a relic. . .Or maybe four of them.~

[Coolpikaaa]

(( Not even one shot to kiss a baby before everyone dies? So much for politics.))

Sensing a sudden disturbance, Coolpikaaa deftly rolled off the stage just in time to dodge the weak earthquake as a child of Whitestar burrowed out of the ground. Unfortunately, he failed to take into account the wreckage of the podium he himself had created, and ended up disgracefully tangled in the sharp wood.

Then soon enough, the dizzying effects of Mindspeak.

CP had never really gotten used to this form of non verbal communication, and the effects were doubled in his temporally out of place brain. He had died, been brought back as a spirit, then mixed back together. It was simply numbing to the rodent's mind if he was able to reply or not.

Despite the droning of the Whitestarian Children's voice in his head, Coolpikaaa managed to tilt his head and watch as the Regime gain power over the garden with the emerald bow. Was the Corporation part of this? What was this about taking a throne with the relics? Was that even possible?

But despite having control over the infinite amount of plant life in the garden, for some reason the Regime chose not to attack any further, in fact they just left after their speech. Why bother just showing up to indicate your plans? That was like the number one indicator of bad Mastermind-ship.

Then of course came the panic. Several of the Dojo's finer heroes bolted up, either running over to the stage, or spreading around to quiet the frightened crowd. Coolpikaaa pulled himself out of the wrecked podium just in time to watch Danikat get out of her seat, and a Bronze Dragon land beside him.

"Uh.. Thanks for the support." Cp said beaming in pride to the Dragon's motivational words. "A vote for Coolpikaaa is a vote for the Doj- Oh Hello Raven! Beautiful day we are having." The electric mouse said to the figure who had popped up behind him. He had simply been lucky enough to spot her shadow and not get even more embarrassed, but it was unlikely he was going to let up his "mysterious ways" so easily, especially to a member of the EC.

"Remember a few hours ago when our battle ended and I was like "You should be my black ops body guard" and you were like "K"? That was good times." Coolpikaaa said with a smile. He might as well bug her before he got shoved into her smut closet or something. "But in all honesty, I am glad you are here."

"Well guys, it looks like we might have to postpone the press conference for a bit." CP said, addressing the startling amount of females that had decided to stick around in the chaos. "It looks like we've just received a dare, and I have never really been one to put down a challenge, especially if lives are at stake."

Rubbing his head, he continued.

"Ah so... Relics. They were actually before my time so I'm kinda weak on this, but all sorts of magic powers right? Sorry about the rush into this, but if the Whitestar Regime plans to reshape the world with their power it is probably safe to say we should grab as many as possible before they do.

"Therefore, our first stop for anyone interested would probably be the Corrupted Cave. My "old friend" Holloweyes has the fire dagger thing, and Fade has the Onyx sword, both of them being part of the EC. So Uh... Anyone who wants to help save the Dojo, your help as part of the group would be awesome."

Turning to address the figure behind him solely, he continued. "Raven, do you think there is some way we can get there really quickly? Did you guys have like secret decoder rings or something?"

Politician back to world saver in about half an hour. Got to be a new record.

-CP

[Tav]

Athena peeked her head out of the window in shop row. It seems that the lightning rat was asking for volunteers. Something about getting the relics. . . She grinned, and started buying more things. Lucky she had a recent hit on the stock market; ~I was planning to use the money on buying a house, but a relic would be -much- better.~

---

An odd figure stepped up from the crowd. He was a short, pudgy figure, with bags of all types and patchwork clothing covering every inch of his body. He had a pot for a hat, and a large mustache stuck out from underneath the pot. "Ah reckon this might be a good thing fer everybody, won't it?" He asked in an obnoxious southern drawl.

---
((Huh. Ashael reacted to that way differently than I thought she would.))

Ashael raised her arm. "I'll help." She said. "This place's okay already, and those freaking buggers want to remake everything." She stepped up, walked over to her bike, disassembled it, and then remade it into an overly large futuristic rifle. She then walked up to CP and cocked her rifle. Her aura vanished completely, and her gun started whistling. She grinned, looking very odd in a long periwinkle dress, carrying a whirring rifle the size of a motorcycle.

"Let's see them dodge a bullet at twice the speed of light." She said, pulling her hair out of the bun.

[3kul]

((Damn, I need to hurry up and get my other characters organized

The profiles will come soon, but for now I just want to post ))

Hidden within a rather large topiary of a duck and out of sight crouched a large, snake-like creature. He watches CP carefully, listening intently to his every word.

"He's very popular, as expected. I can't imagine a more suitable candidate for the successor to the illustrious DP." He hissed into a microphone, relaying the events unfolding towards him to a distant ally.

Deep in the southern desert, in an old, supposedly abandoned medical facility was the slave trader, sitting behind a somewhat rusty surgical table that he'd decided to use as a desk. Atop this makeshift desk were several outdated pieces of communications machinery, one of which was acting as a speaker to allow him to hear of what was transpiring in the palace gardens without actually being there.

"How about somebody a little more open-minded?" Mr. Thompson replied, clicking in disapproval. "Honestly, the kind of discrimination I've seen against respectable businessfolk like myself here is downright criminal!" The creature acting as his ears ignored him. He wasn't opposed to the practice of slavery but that didn't mean that he would be sympathetic to the slave trader.

Well, he'd planned on ignoring him, but then the spider-like Whitestar messenger showed up. "Be quiet now, something's amiss!" He hissed as it mentally conveyed it's declaration of war and conquest. The slave trader himself had told him rumours of these creatures when he'd arrived here in Blackstar, and the presence of one of these dark children was most disturbing indeed. Regretfully he quickly realized that he could not record this speech to listen to again as it was only audible within his mind, so he did the next best thing and attempted to commit the most important details to memory.

"What's happening? Why can't I hear very much going on?" The slave trader's voice anxiously enquired through his headset. "One of the Whitestar Regime showed up. It's projecting some kind of psychic message to us, forcing it's words directly into our minds." "Ah, the locals call this mindspeak. Very useful ability, I'm trying to learn some myself. What is he saying?"

"Their previous invasion attempt was called off due to disagreement on how to handle it. Lots of in-fighting, but Whitestar came out on top. In short, he's telling everybody that their Regime has become smaller in number, but their forces are more dedicated to the destruction of the world than before... And they are claiming to have a new ally backing them up."

The pair of hidden observers were quiet for a moment, each contemplating the possibilities. "Perhaps it's just a bluff? The rumours I'd heard suggested that the Whitestar Regime was not interested in allies." The slave trader thinks aloud, tapping his long fingers against his forehead. "He says it's not, now he's... He's raising up a green bow." The correspondant hisses as the messenger acts, narrowing his eyes and trying to get a better look at the weapon itself. "But he's holding it all wrong, I don't understa..." His voice trailed off as the plantlife reacted to the bow, the very shrubbery that he was precariously perched in shifting beneath him. "The greenery is responding, as though he's calling to it. What is the meaning of this, slave trader?"

"I don't believe it... They're real, and he's got one! Damn!" The slave trader snarled in a rare moment of anger, slamming his fist on the metal table before him and nearly knocking off his microphone. "I've heard tales, the kind of nonsense that I previously took to be mere mythology, of six sacred relics, created by the God of this world to be used to protect it. He kept one for himself, then... Well, stories vary greatly after that. Some say he gave them to five loyal knights, others say five theives took them for their own."

"Not many accounts agree on how they were distributed, but all acknowledge these objects as being supremely powerful." Mr. Thompson's voice conveyed a mixture of grave concern and uncontrollable excitement. That the Whitestar Regime possessed one of these relics was a disaster waiting to happen, but the knowledge that they truly did exist meant that this was an amazing opportunity to gain legendary power. "It sounds like this one possesses the vivid Emerald Bow; the relic that controls the life of the land. You must steal it from him!"

"He has already left." The correspondant replied. "But even if I could have I wouldn't. I have no desire to make myself known to these people yet." "Ugh, I forgot how insufferably shy you are." The slave trader replied with a groan. This was not the kind of ally that would prove of any real use to him in this sort of situation. His correspondant ignored him once more. "You are surprisingly knowledgable on these... relics. Perhaps you'll be able to make sense of the later part of the messenger's speech - he said 'it shall be we of the Whitestar Regime, not this Hero of Old, who gather up the sacred relics and take the Lord's Throne for our own.'"

"Heat and cold; life and death; heart and mind; each is said to have a corresponding relic to govern over it... These are the Ruby Dagger, the Crystalline Staff, the Emerald Bow, the Onyx Longsword, the Diamond Heart and the Sanity Blade. That Whitestar upstart is not lying, if the relics are real then they are the very key to controlling this world!" The slave trader turned his gaze to the room around him, which was plastered with papers containing images and texts - all of the intelligence that he had gathered since arriving in this realm. Slave trading was a dangerous business, and Mr. Thompson knew that it paid to know as much about everything and everybody as possible.

"The Sanity Blade, that which governs the mind, was retained by the God. He was said to enjoy toying with the minds of mortals, but since he supposedly died I'd have no idea where that one might be. The Diamond Heart which, as it's name suggests, sways the heart, went to the Guardians, a band of just knights sworn to protect the realm..." "Like Coolpikaaa?" "Yes, he was a member, but the Heart did not belong to him. The Guardians disbanded a while ago, it's quite possible that one of the other members held on to it, or it too could have been lost."

"The Emerald Bow, that which commands life, and the Crystalline Staff, that which freezes all... Well, up until today I'd have confidently said that both were also lost. The Emerald Bow was claimed by an organization called 'The Corporation' - a group said to be devoted to the economic growth of the land. The Crystalline Staff went to a mysterious tribe called 'the Wamphyri collective'... There is not very much intelligence on them at all, and both groups have not been seen or heard from in a long time."

Before he could cover the last two relics, the correspondant interjected. "Coolpikaaa is mentioning something about a 'Corrupted Cave'? He says that somebody named Fade possesses the Onyx Longsword and a 'HollowEyes' holds the Ruby Dagger."

"Are... Are you sure that's what he said?" Mr. Thompson replied, sounding somewhat confused. "Yes." Came a very certain response. "This could be worse than we thought..." He began, scanning his walls for all the information that he had on the Council. "The God of this realm was said to hold the Evil Council, a group dedicated to spreading chaos and mayhem wherever they went, in high favour... or high disregard. Different sources say different things, but for whatever reason they have come to possess not one but two relics. Fade, an assassin of legend, possesses the Onyx Longsword, the relic that turns it's weilder into the shadow of death, supposedly. She is quite loyal to both the Council itself and the Dojo, and she's rumoured to be impossible to find when she wishes it, perhaps thanks to the abilities that her relic bestows upon her. I highly doubt that the Whitestar Regime will be able to take it from her."

"HollowEyes, on the other hand..." He paused on several rather empty looking reports. These were a great cause for concern, not because of what they said, but because of what was left out of them. "He was, until very recently, the Second in Command of the Evil Council. Intelligent, calculating and extremely powerful, he was a spirit medium without peer. The Ruby Dagger, that which manipulates flame, was not terribly useful to him, for his variety of magic was said to be particularly weak to fire, but he kept it to ensure that the Council commanded this power, rather than it's enemies. I suppose that it goes without saying that he was fiercely loyal to the Council, rather than the realm of Blackstar itself."

"I think I've heard of him, but the information seems a bit wrong." The correspondant whispered in reply, seeing a dark individual sneak up to Coolpikaaa. "Most people know that the Rallen is the Second in Command of the Council, not HollowEyes."

"Indeed, but as I said, HollowEyes was, until very recently, the Second in Command. Lady Raven... replaced him, if you catch my drift." Mr. Thompson did not know what to think of this knowledge in light of recent events, but it seemed that foul play was a very distinct possibility. "You don't mean to suggest that-" "The Council has been extremely tight-lipped about this, and they will no doubt deny it if asked, but some of my sources seem to believe that HollowEyes is dead, and that the Ruby Dagger is currently unaccounted for."

The snake's eyes widened, now viewing Raven with newfound distrust. The Council was reputed to be a den of theives and murderers, it didn't take any stretch of the imagination to suspect her of murdering her superior to gain his position, and in the process she might just have obtained the relic...

"The Regime mentioned a powerful new ally, do you think that Rallen...?" "I'd like to know more before jumping to any serious conclusions." Mr. Thompson replied, even though he'd been thinking the exact same thing. "However, for now I think that we can both agree on one thing: Lady Raven is not to be trusted." He tapped his forehead, contemplating how they should proceed next. There was too much uncertainty, too little that they knew - being new to this realm was an infuriating handicap in this sort of situation. "Keep as close an eye as you can on all of them, I'm going to have to look into these relics a little more."

"Understood." The snake hissed in reply, maintaining his vigilant watch over the proceedings as they continued.

((Of course, I know that Raven didn't kill HollowEyes, but it's interesting seeing how a couple of characters outside of the loop piece this information together

Such a long post! I thought I'd include a bit of information on the relics for those of you unfamiliar on them, although keep in mind that these details are given in character and thus they're a bit exaggerated. The Blackstar Wiki can given you more straightfoward answers if that's what you're looking for.))

[Cirrial]

For years it had slumbered. Too many years.

Deep below the surface of the Dojo it had slumbered, its alien mind blank.

Its mind sparks. The neural webbing within its glass head sparked into life. The unnatural, metronome beating of its spherical heart resumes after years of inaction. Teal fluid courses through the aberration, the sickening mesh of glass, metal, flesh, and madness.

the threEEeee

Its form has changed in its slumber. Resembling some horrific insectoid nightmare, with a head more reminiscent of something predatory than the perfect sphere it once was, the creature starts to dig with new claws, new limbs, that it has spent so long growing. The earth is as air to it now. The greatest burrower qualities it could find had been absorbed into its being, and it uses them now.

the ThREEEeeeeee, thrEE, missing, the THReee, damaged, corrupt

Its objectives have become corrupt. Seek perfection. Absorb qualities. Destroy life. That is all it can recall. It does not question these changes. It lives for the Three. It lives by the Three. What the Three are is irrelevant.

It has sensed the chaos of the realm once more. It has waited patiently for many years. In this realm, it has felt empires rise and fall, felt threats approach and be driven away, felt the deaths of gods and the fall of mortals.

The Protoparagon surfaces noisily in the palace garden, the horrific scraping of glass against metal and metal against its own flesh, bleeding thick teal fluid all over it. For the first time in years, its heart beats faster in anticipation.

It has absolutely no idea what to make of the meeting going on around it as it erupts from the surface. It burrows down slightly as it attempts to analyse its surroundings.

[Tav]

Ashael screamed, stepping back from the - the - the monster. She pointed her obnoxiously large rifle at it, and the rifle started whirring faster. "Get away." She said, her voice trembling. "Y-You're not welcome here. I-I will fire. G-go away."

The man with the pot for a hat just stood there and watched. This was interesting.

[Fort]

Many miles away, make that many, many miles away, more of the realm's crust was dislodged by forces ethereal, which made the total number of strange crust movements more than two, three in fact. Coincidences tend to crop like that.
The earth shifted in disturbance, as if running away from an impeding catastrophe, a tree nearby spontaneously caught fire; as the flames lapped around ruined branches, the hill's interior began to cave into a hole dense with shadows, coupled with strange metallic sounds that spewed forth from the rock. Then, without a moments reprieve, a steel door decided now would be a good time to pop into existence as an afterthought.
Nothing moved as wayward dust began to settle, a smell of old must hung in the air, fighting for supremacy over that fragrant burning wood, it was a smell that said, if indeed this new construct was trying to act nonchalant, "yes, I've always been here, that burning thing too. Carry on as normal."
A bird that had made a nest in the nearby tree, came back, circled a few times, thought the better of fighting off this new invader, and settled for going to greener pastures. It was then that the steel door opened, and out came a walking stick followed quickly by a Fort making his grand entrance. "Pah, do you think we will bend so easily to an inva-?" The Headmaster stepped out into the greenery, squinting into the distance.
"Oh...oh bugger," he muttered, jaded that his grand entrance was so ruined by a certain "healthy" amount of displacement.
Fort slumped, keeping his weight off his bad leg, he shifted his walking stick uncomfortably. Time had not been kind to him, that is to say, time in the cave, a fickle headache of relativity, had been rather cruel. Lines now carved a weathered map on a face now ashen and rough with stubble, once tall he walked with a stoop, and a limp to boot, his hands were more gnarled than Sir Gnarly hands on national gnarl day, and they already qualified for more than a lookalike contest to begin with. He was by no means immortal, nor was of a design for a very long lifespan, he was, to put it simply, old.
There were a few clicks, as a box shaped effigy of a person followed on spindly legs, it was waist-high, lenses constantly whirring and changing as it took in the surroundings, its creator had not given much intent into carving features into its carapace.
"Don't forget to put on some suncream," it chided in a hollow voice.
"Is that the sun?" Fort asked, scratching his chin, unimpressed with the fiery spectacle, "I'd almost forgotten what it looks like...it's been a while since I've been out."
"Affirmative."
"I'm not going to make a entrance like that...for a while," Fort mused.
"Approximately three years and 23 days until The Cave is ready to create stable doorway into THIS dimension...again," the robot put in, following Fort's shaky steps, "do you want me to get you the wheelchair?"
Fort shot the manservant a dirty look, "the day I get in that contraption is the day...the day..." the robot stayed dutifully silent, "...is a day." The headmaster slumped. Bugger it. "Cardal, We're walking, keep me up to date with any intelligence you glean."
"No network to connect to, no intelligence to glean, I'm afraid."
"Then...look pretty."
"Affirmative."
Fort sighed, "bugger me, how come I can't look young and pretty like the rest of them," there was a pause, "no don't answer that, really. Gods, I thought I'd die heroically, rather than start craving prune juice, or using a stick."
A small cup holder holding a purple beverage shot out of Cardal's side.
"No, not right now," Fort chided.
Behind them, the cave collapsed back into the earth.

[Swix]

A relatively large figure had been sat in the crowd, listening and relaying messages to those he represented. The figure was about the size of a small horse, though he!d grown a few centimetres since his last appearance.He was considerably more serpentine than a horse however, being a young Dark Fire Dragon barely over a hundred years old. His narrowed wings were folded tightly against his black scaled body-black except for his bright red underscales that began from the top of his long neck. Smoke left his nostrils in thin wisps and his bright red eyes smouldered as he listened and discussed what was happening with his kin. Redwing pulled his lips back over sharp, pearly white fangs when the child of Whitestar appeared, other than that he just waited and watched.
Redwing stood up and began walking towards the group that had gathered around the yellow speaker from before, ignoring the panic around it as best it could. When Protoparagon appeared he turned his horned towards the strange creature, seeing it just sitting there the young dragon continued.
When he reached them Redwing bent his forelegs and lowered his head close to the ground in a deep bow before he arose again and began to speak. "Excuse me, my name is Redwing. I represent the Dark Fire Dragons that live below" he began, as polite as he could be "we swore not to interfere with surface affairs when Au'Marui brought us here, but it seems that the Whitestar children would pose a risk to our home as well. So the Elders have asked me to tell you we can offer our help. Though they cannot promise too many-they need to protect themselves-they can bring some volunteers up to help get you around to the Corrupted Cave quicker, if you just point the way"
Redwing paused, and scratched one of his forearms nervously "Dark Fire Dragons have a lot of pride and most would look down on other dragons that would offer surface dwellers a ride. Please try not to offend them, or it might not happen again"
((Basically, they're just offering you a lift. If you choose to accept then once the volunteers have burrowed up they'll become NPCs. Redwing won't though.
Oh, and Fade'll turn up soon ))

[Coolpikaaa]

((Thanks for the back story 3kul! I'm glad that Fade will eventually appear too. We will need to tie her up and steal her sword at some point! Or... you know... get her to join our group. ))

Coolpikaaa kicked the dirt, mumbling something about how everyone seemed to show up after his awesome speech. Oh well, his duty was to the Dojo, and he really needed to get this group organized before Whitestar managed to snatch another Relic under their noses.

Taking a small sketched map out of his ever present leather pack, CP traced their route to the forest. It would be a very long trip by foot, but if they had this many people moral would be high enough it didn't really matter. Just when the electric mouse started to lay down general areas fr camps, the ground started to quake again. A nearby girl started to scream insults at the new arrival, brandishing her weapon like she was going to shoot the thing.

"Whoh! Chill!!" CP said, rushing over to the girl and sending a few volts her way, hopefully stunning her before anyone got hurt. "We can't just start shooting at people! What's wrong with you!"

"Sorry about that.... man?" Coolpikaaa said to the semi-hiding Protoparagon. He seemed nervous enough already and the gun waving woman had not likely helped. "She is just a bit trigger happy. Did you come to join our little expedition to save the world?"

Then suddenly a second Dragon appeared, suggesting a truce so neither party was eventually injured. Even better, they offered to give rides!

"A lift to the forest? That would be awesome! Thanks! Could we start soon?"

-CP