MEETING MINGLING
As characters arrive, the forest clearing is still dark, barely lit despite the evening hours. It makes it all the more difficult to clearly make out the men and women shuffling about in cloaks, but at the very least they don’t treat the ALASTAIR recruits suspiciously. Rather, they seem to be expecting guests already.
It becomes quickly apparent that these are no ordinary people. There's something off about them, something a little... magical. Hidden by their hair is their pointed ears, one of the only things that suggests they have goblin ancestry.
Needless to say, there are no refreshments, but recruits are encouraged to find each other and try to put the pieces together. There may be clues in their surroundings, tomes and trinkets left about various tree trunks in lieu of proper seating, and the Order members around them.
INITIATION
Eventually, a silence falls over the crowd as two figures take to the center of the gathering. There’s an obvious familial resemblance between the pair of men, though one hangs a step behind. Chances are, you've seen him before, lurking quietly in the background. This time, he does the same.
The more outspoken of the pair steps forward, spreading his arms out to greet the assembly proudly.
”Welcome, old and new friends. My name is Michel. No doubt some of you are wondering what you are here for — don't worry, all will become clear. We are the Order of the Chimera, and today, you are the lucky few who will join our ranks and fight for justice.”
The crowd cheers.
”We are special. Gifted. We have goblin blood running through our veins that makes us strong, and that terrifies the humans, so we must live in secrecy. The goblins have hatred for the human side of us, so we must hide from them, too. We're half-breeds. Chimeras: beings made up of parts from different races, something that should not exist.
But the Chimera is also powerful. Before, all we could do was take the sun away, but now I've discovered something greater. A spell that will change everything. Magic that will strike anyone who does not stand with us down. We wi—”
SHUTOUT
Naturally, nothing’s that easy! Before he can finish, the speaker gets cut off mid-syllable by a bang and rise of surprised shouts along the back of the assembly. Despite the scrambling, those who were involved in the town square debacle might recognize what’s happening.
The law enforcement must’ve gotten tipped off, because they’re here to crash the party -- and all invited PCs get to be part of the collateral damage. Between the physical skirmishes and Order members retaliating with spells sizzling through the air, it should be possible to use the resulting noise to make a break for it and lie low until the heat’s died down. The hard part is making sure everyone makes it out to begin with, because you can bet that the punishment won’t be a slap on the wrist and a night in the slammer.
[ooc notes: there will be a subthread for NPC interactions, though was stated in the event post we recommend grouping up -- the more minds, the better! There's no set tag order, so characters may come and go as they wish. ] |
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epidemiology2015-11-21 01:41 pm
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she listens as he speaks, catching the pauses and change in tone. it feels like there should be more, but it never comes. all that she hears is Thor's guilt, and she wonders if her own brother felt this way when he was pursuing her. she can't say, even with memories that span so far backward, she never considered Thor's desperate attempts to bring her back.
a part of her is almost jealous for it, and this Loki that squandered these chances of—redemption? no, companionship. ]
Thor ... [ she says gently to get his attention. ] You couldn't have saved him. Not from death, and not from himself.
[ the pit turns in her stomach. ]
I've gone down that path, and I know where it leads.
no subject
What angered me the most was not his folly, it was not even the lives lost because of his pain. [ That shames him a little, gruffer for it. ] It was how he revelled in the role he was given, the crazed monster taken in by Asgardians, an adopted threat. He would have lied himself blue [ hah ] telling me he regretted none of it, if I had deigned to listen.
[ Quiet for a moment where he backtracks over the present Loki's reply, he frowns and holds his tongue when it comes to asking What have you done? That would not be a short story, she said so herself. "Thousands" of infractions. He will ask one day but it will be elsewhere, some place with walls and a better chance of boxing Loki in so she cannot run out of fear of discovery.
For the first time in a long time, his expressions softens along with his voice. The dirt he stares at certainly isn't commanding his emotions, thickening his tongue to lead. ]
He apologised as I held him in my arms. Called himself a fool. Loki died for me, wallowing in sorrow and grief in a cold, dark realm, and there I left his body in a nightmarish land we had feared as children. That is the last time I saw him.
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no, probably not. not in the place where the regret should be. regret that the game didn't work in his favor, possibly, or that the pieces weren't right. in Loki's desperate dance toward madness, there were dips and turns, and consequences that were expressed simply with words were twisted in bitterness and spite. there weren't any explanations for that kind of selfishness, at least not any that she'd like to give.
that Loki, much like the one that strained to leave behind, had died a hero. somewhere in the back of her mind a voice buzzes: it's a trick, just a shadow on the wall. when Loki dies, there's always a reason. to accept death meant that he had to die, must die, but for what? there was a game to be played here, with Thor as one of the pieces. the notion makes her uncomfortable, as much as she had just done the same. ]
He was where he wanted to be.
[ it's double sided: on one end, the possible comfort, on the other, the possibility of his death playing into some scheme very real. ]
And others have to live with it. It usually goes that way—Loki does something, and the consequences follow suit.
[ she pauses and an awkward look crosses her face, brows pinching. ]
Are you all right?
no subject
[ It ripened the whole experience all over again, more so because of the younger Loki being the one doing the asking. Thor closes the distance, brushing Loki's hair over a shoulder to slide a warm calloused hand supportively behind a neck, all but coaxing her to look at him if the need is there. ]
I know not what your history with your Thor is or whether he has been a good brother to you, but I do know this — for as long as you wish to stand beside me, Loki, I will let no one take you from my side. You may trust me in that.
no subject
then there's Thor, and when he approaches everything seems warm again. she lets out a breath, her shoulders relaxing and chest deflating as he speaks.
she had caused her own Thor countless horrors, but maybe she could find a way to make it up to this one. not her Thor, but ...
her head cocks upward at the urging. ]
Aye, terms accepted. Trust that I've dotted my "i"s and crossed my "t"s. Know I'm doing what I do for the best, and I'll tell you my schemes.
[ the smile on her face twists a little. ]
Maybe more, one day.
[ maybe. ]