Game of the Gods

[Kawaii Kyuubi Kitsune]

OOC: Sorry about repeating the entire plot (At least that of it that everyone knows about) before adding two new parts. I do this because some people just read RPGs rather than participating, and I'd rather not confuse them. Don't ask why, or I might give an answer.

This RPG will not have a discussion thread in the RPG Cafe. Any plot related thing that needs to be discussed is highly likely to be something that isn't meant to be known by everyone, so use PM instead.

IC:
White. That was all there was in all direction. But there in the middle of it all was a table. The legs touched nothing as there was nothing to touch. Upon its surface appeared to be a map, though the detail was beyond possibility and clouds actually floated across it. It was not the world, yet at the same time it was. It was a table on which the gods played their games with mortals, competing against each other in whatever they thought would be fun at the time. Yes, a table, not the table: there were more like it in other such infinite expanses of whiteness.

Having no distractions was important.

A shadow appeared, growing out of nothingness and stood at one end of the table and waited. It did not have to wait for long, merely a few seconds, before two white figures appeared. They looked to be large white foxes, both looking a little uncomfortable with nothing beneath their feet. They glared at the shadow at the other end of the table as it spontaneously started to become more solid and real.

“You two were destined to come here and try to cheat for you master. Rig the game.” The shadow spoke as it became a human in a black robe, orange eyes and long white hair. “Mere messengers of Inari could hardly cheat any decent deity of a fair game, much less Fate himself. Being Fate, of course, means I have to forgive you since it is also my fault for giving you the destiny of trying such a thing.”

“One can not cheat Fate is something we understand.” The two foxes spoke in unison, though only being able to talk at all due to the natural of the place around the table. “Yet, it can hardly be said we were planning to cheat you. Fate never loses at these games, we were to cheat everyone else. One cannot cheat Fate, but do you not cheat to make that the case?”

Fate smiled as the two foxes faded away. Winning was too easy to be fun, it was impossible for it not to be rigged in his favor. Watching other deities play while being forced to play by the rules was a different story. It had been a while since a decent game had happened, it was a boring time to be a god, one needed complications caused by non-gods for any real fun to be had. But this would be the a good game because things were about to change...

~*~​

The tavern was rather empty. Rare but not unheard of. On the edge of a small forest, while being technically in the middle of nowhere, this place seemed to usually attract far more travelers than one would expect. The basic log cabin look, with the large magic sign showing the letters of 'The Lost Bar of Destiny' glowing in bright green. Those who arrived were always traveling for a reason beyond going somewhere new. It was usually a place where heroes and villains alike were rumored to gather with tales of their travels that seemed to help each other find what they were looking for.

No one ever found there way there by map, they just always stumbled there by accident and then took tales of it far and wide. One had to be fated to fall in the door, many spent years trying to find the place only to fail in the past.

Only a few were there tonight, none had tried to talk to anyone else as of yet. Best to wait till the bartender returned with the beer before start a conversation. The walls of oak logs were undecorated, so it was a boring wait. A boring wait in almost completely boring times. For a hundred years nothing much had happened in the world, no hordes of undead revenging the country side, no conflicts between kingdoms or even orcs... it was a golden age that was coming to an end.

In the past 15 years things started to change, a few minor disappearances, sightings of strange things, ordinary supernatural beings causing trouble, and the occasional emergence of old grudges. Nothing compared to what it was like before the golden age began, but still noticeable compared to how things were. Few took much notice, no reason to panic when it didn't effect you. Most people who were effected just complained to their kings to no result, though a few did set out to sort things out. Most of them vanished never to be seen again.

Cracks began to form in the wine cellar's floor, a orange glow came from beneath them. A burst of flames came up from between the cracks, and left scorch marks on a nearby barrel of beer. It wouldn't be long before something caught fire. The bartender did go down into the cellar merely a few minutes, yet he never exited through the one door and was no longer there... Maybe it had something to do with him being called Mr Destiny, though that was assumed to be a joke...

~*~​

“Now the rules are simple” Fate called out to the other deities that surrounded the table, with them finally having all arrived... even though they almost all arrived perfectly on time. “There is a group of 'mortals' gathered in a bar, always a good place to start them on the way to their destiny. They are whom this will center on. The rules are the usual: No acting out side your domains; No manifesting yourself in the mortal realm, even in dreams, relating at all to do with this game; If you act within your domain and it over laps with another deities domains, then if they complain to me I'll set up a penalty... say being able to trespass in your domains for a little more than you have unjustly done to them or some other penalty if they ask for something else. Finally, if any of the mortals currently in the bar happens to die, then which ever deities here is at fault, if any happen to be, will get a point penalty”

“The goal on the other hand...” Fate let out a laugh, “Well, those are probably complex. Each one of you has a different goal of your choosing that only you and I know about. Something that relates to the mortals in the bar in someway... something that is impossible to completely finish but can be seen that you are getting close to. Something I can give points for so as to mark who is winning. The easier it should have been to archive the less points I will award.”

“So basically we're meant to make alliances to give an easier position for us to manipulate the mortals from, while always being ready to back stab each other so as we're the only one getting points.” Inari spoke, being in the form of a black haired human girl with emerald green eyes, with a white robe on. “While you've basically getting unlimited points for both being the judge that gives points and that this group of mortals has already been give a great destiny that they'll achieve for you.”

“...” Fate smile faded, “Well, yes, but no violence here against each other please, blood is impossible to get out of the board. Refreshments will arrive shortly, so let the game begin... Second place is still possible for everyone.”

~*~​

This is going to be more difficult than I thought.

There sitting at a table near the center of the tavern sat Quoward. It is hard to tell whether his straight soft shoulder length hair is silver with black streaks or black with silver streaks, but in reality a close look would reveal no single hair is completely either of the colors. Pale skin, almost grey, would be the most unpleasant feature of him. His emerald green eyes had a sharpness that looked to be able to pierce the soul, while seeming to be the only color on him. The way his face was more triangular than the average human wasn't too much of a problem. His taste in clothing on the other hand was a bit different, all that is on him is a simple black robe... that seems to have two laers, the outer one stopping slightly below waist hight, and the inner one going all the way down to the floor.

Such a famous place for information and I don't even know who to talk to. I shouldn't of disguised myself as human before coming in, they'll be mad at me when they find out I'm not and what I'm looking for would make it kinda obvious. Even if I don't talk it is only a matter of time till on sees through me...

Quoward hit his head down on the table. “Why is this so difficult? Why was punished so? I don't even know what I did to deserve this.” He whimpered quietly as he lay there. It would require extrodanary hears to actually make out what he whimpered about, so it didn't matter that he said it... even if someone did, well, there was some major gaps.

That's right, if I came in without being disguised, then I'd of probably been dead or banished by now. I just have to build up the courage and ask someone... as long as the people here are stupid and aren't enough in touch with the spirit world to see through my disguise, then everything should be fine.

~*~​

“Let the game begin.” Fate voice cried out, though Inari didn't look up... she merely smiled, knowing exactly what was coming in a few moments. Fate's face didn't even flinch, Inari couldn't spot the moment the telepathic message reached him. Perhaps no message was sent and he just knew what happened. “... There seems to be a slight delay on the refreshments, seems someone decided to cause a bit of chaos that's now getting in the way. I'm not naming any names though, as it isn't important to the game.”

My messengers did their job well. Soon the other pieces will fall into place and then I'll have a clear path to victory. They won't see it coming, and they won't be able to complain about it afterwards.

“I'll make the first move” Inari giggled, placing a hand on the table, pointing at a small continent that was quite a distance from the tavern. “I know they make a certain beverage, Sake I think it's called, and I'm just making a large quantity of it 'disappear'. Trust me i know what I'm doing”

Now, lets see how many of the others are freaked out by this. They'll be too busy trying to figure out why I did that to think everything else through clearly. Psychological warfare is a major requirement when one is gifted with domains like mine. Of course I wouldn't do it without it having another effect to my benefit, just none shall see it.

“Inari, that's not quite as subtle as is expected in this game or of a god” Fate spoke, actually with a decent grin for once. He knew everything already, but it would ruin the fun to point it out. “At least what you did was, even if the effects are certainly subtle enough. The points favor those who are subtle all the way through.”

“A butterfly flapping its wings can influence the course of a tornado on the other side of the world”

I just had to say something stupid like that, and at perfectly the wrong time too Inari thought as she blushed a bit, It may help with the panic, but it is a load of rubbish in these circumstances. This game relys too much of bending the free will of the chosen mortals, instead of predictable things like tornadoes.... and since I can't help blushing at how stupid that was, it'll give everything away.

 

[Tiana_M]

Lost Bar of Destiny
~Tanya~

Once I had quenched my thirst, I realized that I was hungry, hunting had been sparse even for such a hunter as me. "I'll be having three of the besst Sssteakss you have, make ssure it'sss good and rare." The people closest to me began to stare again. I wasn't looking at them, but I could feel their eyes on me, I turned and glanced at them, they quickly averted their eyes. It is not my fault that my beak makes it rather hard to speak the human language, and I have always disliked that the human tongue made me sound like a serpent. But it could not be helped and I was in no mood to be stared at by strangers.

I heard a voice whimpering and mumbling and even though I could easiy hear every word, none of it made any sense and since my steak was coming I didn't really care at the moment and so I payed it no mind. I took to my steaks like a house to fire and soon they were gone, but I was feeling a bit more solicitous now that I was no longer starving nor parched. I remembered the job I had been given and the reward awaiting me upon my return, a hundred silver pieces, and twenty precious jewels of various sorts and I was eager to be on my way.

So, I thunked down another human coin that to me had no particular value but to them it seemed ridiculously important so she went along with their customs because apparently Tanya's pretties were something like the human coin something to have and cherish and yet they would give their coins away for a bit of meat which admittedly around this area seemed very scarce but I could not understand it where there was plenty of hunting to be had for all.

 

[Lemurian]

Death observed as Inari did his move. Very strange move, that. Probably something subtle. Death brushed away the thought and consentrated on the board. He opened the skeletal mouth and hissed out words dripping of spookyness. "My turn,"

His flame-like eyes swept over the tavern and they shrinked, as to indicate a narrowing of eyes. He couldn't control fate, but fear was good. From the tavern, some paths went into the forest, but they were little used. Except...yes! A broad-shouldered man was going down the path going east. Perfect. Death readied his scythe and stabbed it down into the paper, stopping a split millimeter from the chart itself. Death found an hourglass and confirmed that Harg the A-bit-barbaric-personality was dead. Perfect. He would die of...a branch with honey on it that fell into Harg's head and attracted a wild, and strangely hungry bear. "My move is done."

~~

Alexhaur shaded moved his barstool some more centimeters away from the ordering creature. Anyone with that hunger was dangerous, he thought. Best to stay away. He found a dry biscuit in his pocket, all poison had to be gone from it now if there was any in it, and had just taken a careful nibble when his ever-sensitive ears heard a sort of snapping sound. Like something being broken...He shuddered and concentrated on his biscuit again.

 

[Shadows Follower]

Angroth Von Krieg
Lost Bar of Destiny

Angroth let the last of his drink trickle down his throat before putting the empty tankard on the table. He put his feet upon the table and his hand behind his head. He sighed and looked at the other shroaded people among the bar, their whispers and conversations nothing he cared about to listen into.

He lifted up one of his pair of halberds and began to whack it into the edge of the table, repeatedly aiming for the same spot to cut a larger slit. He had to be careful on how much strength he put upon it or else he could go straight through the table. The last few days had been uneventful without so much as rabid monster to fight against or single person needing his services. He was one of the strongest fighters about yet he didn't have an opponent. When would he find one worth enough to test his strength? When?

A loud crack was heard as the table splintered cross its length, nearly splitting in two. He got a few stares from people on the other tables.

"I'm not paying for it. Wanna make a fight about it?" he asked. They all turned away after. He smiled slightly at their cowardness. A girl brought over another drink. He clasped it within his hand.
"Thanks." he said to her as she moved to another table. He tilted his head back and began to chug that one down too.

OOC: My guys a mercenary so can be hired by one of you guys/girls as along as they need him.

 

[Dactylus]

…Tavern, I guess.

Men. Derk narrowed his eyes in annoyance, his teeth deftly swiveling a pipe jutting from his lips. Men. One hand languidly tipped the brim of his hat further over his eyes, each fraction of the movement an elaborate pageant. Even the simplest of gestures swelled to elegance when performed by a bard of the Glinn family. He rocked his chair on its hind legs playfully and sighed, frustrated; men. What did they think they were doing there, taking up the precious space that could, at this very moment, be occupied by women of wealth, or power, or beauty, or connections or a plethora of other helpful traits that could only serve to bolster him in some way? Tcheh.

Some people were just rude.

Tipping his head back, Derk let his eyes drift across the near-deserted tavern again. One, two. Two women. A pittance when compared to the dozens of other places he could be at…why did he take this road? The path didn’t even look good, instinct and sense urged a different decision. So why? Why did he ignore the judgment that had oft saved him from various …inopportune circumstances in the past?

“Just lucky, I suppose.” The bard prodded one of his coin purses, grimacing at the infinitesimal jingle it squeaked in reply; this tavern was supposed to be reimburse him for all the coin he had dwindled on travel supplies…but with such a terrible crowd…Derk shrugged. No use in all this moping, he thought as a cloud of smoke billowed from his lips. In a moment, he had sauntered gracefully to an empty table near the center and easily leaped onto it.

“Good people of the ale,” he announced grandiosely, his voice a charming serenade, “draw your soaking beards from those mugs for a moment, and mull this over in your minds! We’re all here for our own reasons, and reasons they may be that you reason are a reason for a drink, but any reason, as I’m sure you can reason, is hardly a reason for the dismal mood blanketing this fine establishment! At least, that’s what I reason.” Smirking, he let the dance of his words do a fine jig through their dulled thoughts and then, to snatch any remaining drops of attention, performed a back-flip on the spot, landing with a graceful bow.

Almost as if from the hazy air itself, two balls popped into his hands. In one swift movement, he had them both in the air and slipped the pipe from his lips; it had seemingly vanished by the time the spheres fell enough to start the chain of juggling. As the spectacle proceeded, another ball slid into the mix, and another, until four were effortlessly gliding from the air to his hands and back again. “Now surely, such fine men – and women,” he nodded to the dark-skinned girl and a barmaid or two, “deserve a touch of entertainment! And don’t fear, because the gods have answered your prayers; Ten-Tale is here!”

Arching one arm behind his back and whirling around, he allowed all the orbs to fall neatly into his coats sleeve, and turned again in the same fluid movement, “Now, if you’d like to tickle your ears and amaze your senses with the stories I am so known for weaving, all I require is a hint of coin to keep food in my pack and boots on my feet. Copper, silver, gold, whatever you have to give would be appreciated. After all, on such dreary days as these, can you put a price on a good tale by a roaring fire?” Smiling, he swept his hat out, holding it to the people and turning every now and then, in case any others approached with their donations.

That other place.

Baros grumbled; he always hated these games. And now some blasted mortal was trying to turn away his main tool? Pah. Taking a closer look, the penguin let a grin finger his beak. Handsome, charismatic, talented, young…all reasons to make others jealous. Maybe he COULD be of some use after all.

 

[Tiana_M]

Lost Bar of Destiny
~Tanya~

OOC: I hope you all realize that my chara is a Gryphette. If you don't know what that is, which no one should 'cause I made up the creature the Gryphette, go look at my sign-up.

IC:I was just getting up to leave when a man jumped up on a table in the center of the room. He made a very quick and fairly dizzying speech, even to my clear-thinking mind. But I had a feeling this man was a Bard, just by the way he spoke and the fact that he went on to do a rather skillful backflip and then began to juggle. My assumpion was proved when he said, "“Now surely, such fine men – and women," here he nodded at the few women present, and I noted that he didn't mention me at all, but I hadn't excpected him to, humans are not all that accepting of other races even though they pretend to be, "deserve a touch of entertainment! And don’t fear, because the gods have answered your prayers; Ten-Tale is here!” I assumed that Ten-Tale was his performance name, I had learned that it was only to close friends that Bards usually told their real names. He went on to make a pretty little plea for money taking off his hat and holding it out to accept coins from the audience.

I stared at the Bard for a minute before deciding that my job could wait a little longer, I always enjoyed a good story especially from a good Bard and this Ten-Tale seemed to be a good Bard. So I walked up to the table that was now his temporary stage and looking him right in the eye I put one of my own pretties, a fair diamond, into his hat and said quietly to him, "You had better be good, thisss iss from my own persssonal collection. Oh, and the next time one of my kind iss in the audiencsse I ssuggessst that you include them when you addressss your crowd, they may not be asss, tolerant at being left out." I put emphasis on the word tolerant for although humans were consistantly raving about how important tolerance was they were not very good at it themselves. Not interested in a reply, I did not wait for one, instead I returned to my seat at the bar to see if I had wisely spent a pretty.

 

[Knightblazer]

Lost Bar Of Destiny

Lucifer Leonheart

“Shut your trap, Lucied.”

Or else what, Young Master?

“I’ll leash you up.”

You do realize that I’m a familiar, not your pet wolf.

“Which is precisely why I’ll leash you up if you continue blabbering.”

The jet black wolf beside me merely snorted and lay down once again. I sipped up some blood from the glass and sighed. Lucied sure was a pain in the neck at times. Fugitively speaking, of course.

In case you don’t know who I am, I’m Lucifer. Lucifer Leonheart, or simply Leon for short. I’m a Median –a bona fide bloodsucking vampire. I’m technically fifteen, but hey, reality check tells me I’m one hundred and thirteen. Which is still rather young for a vampire.

Lucied’s my familiar –every vamp’s must have. What’s a familiar, you say? To put it simply, a familiar is a Nosferatu’s animalistic counterpart, either spiritually or realistically. They can be anything, from rats to tigers and rarely, even dragons. But me, I’m a simple… boy. I’m a loner at times, but usually work as a pack. Basically why Lucied was my familiar.

Back to the story. I was just there, sipping on the blood offered to me by the barkeeper, Mr. Destiny, who strangely seemed to know that I was a Vampire. Perhaps it was my red eyes. Or giveaway fangs. No matter, I was famished. Damn that witch, cursing me with such a horrible curse. I sighed deeply again, looking out of the window into the starry night sky. Already I could smell the moisture hanging in the air. It was going to rain soon, I was sure of it.

God’s Game Area

Fentagon, Beast of Gales

“It’s your turn, Fentagon,” boomed a voice out of nowhere. I merely chose to yawn and scratch my back in response. “Isn’t there a pass button somewhere?” I mumbled, a bit too loud for myself to hear alone.

“Fentagon…” someone started.

“Alright… alright…” I sighed, getting up from my sleep. I walked up to the area and quickly scanned. A bunch of thunderclouds were heading towards the bar. Perfect. Smiling, I waved my paw and sent those gloomy clouds floating off to another direction. “Turn’s over. I’m heading back to sleep.”

Knightblazer ;262;

 

[Kawaii Kyuubi Kitsune]

OOC: Two things: Sorry for taking so long to do a second post; and just to remind everyone that the player characters are the only ones in the bar, the bar tender was last seen heading down into the cellar to get more drinks, thus no one is serving people... we'll get NPCs once the bar scene is over with, which will be soon due to it being about to burn down.

IC:

Inari watched a few others take their turns. Death cause some death, seeming to be attempting a vague trick like I just did. Just storm diverted by some random tiger god... a tiger god doing weather? Looks like all the weirdos are in this game. Just looking at the grumpy penguin is enough to say that, but I think my plan still has a chance.

“Come on death, I expected far better than that from you” Inari poked at his ribs jokingly, “No mass plague that the group are mysteriously the only ones immune to, nothing intresting at all? Please, even what I did had more meaning that your little trick, as you'll see in a moment... oh, is the tiger right about this game actually using a turn system? Because I was never told about it”

Now for stage two... they won't know what hit them

“Well, without refreshments being provided by our host” She grinned as she spoke, stepping back from the table, waving a hand out behind her and a large number of beer mugs full of a liquid that certainly wasn't beer appeared... They floated on nothingness. “It looks like I'll have to provide out of the stuff I just made vanish. Fate is really a bad host when he allows the refreshments to have accidents, but I'm sure everyone will be more than happy with what I'm providing... I think you need the most cheering up Mr Penguin” She pushed a mug in the direction of the penguin, hoping that it was actually a deity, not some random lost penguin... that sort of thing had happened before.

“... well, I guess I will just have to wait a while for things to start going off course before I fix them”

~*~​

“.., can you put a price on a good tale by a roaring fire?”

A bard... intelligent but he is most likely to know what I want. I know exactly how to stop him telling everyone what I am when he figures it out. Bards value stories, and some stories can't be told by humans because no human survived the event. But how to get him alone so we can talk privately?

Quoward slowly moved towards the bard, carefully keeping as much between him and other people as possible so as to increase the chances no one would see through his disguise. “Hey, Ten-Tale, you always look for more stories, right? After your performance I might share a few tales with you, as I am somewhat a bard too. Though a sort of different type.”

Wait... fire? He meantioned fire. I do smell a little smoke, but the fire over in the corner is a magical fake... smoke is coming from somewhere else.

Quoward jerked around and looked straight at the cellar door behind the bar... a few small wisps of smoke were floating up, most likely from under the door. “Bad new everyone,” Quoward yelped, his losing control for a brief moment, so the flick of a fluffy tail or two might have been seen but hopefully not. “Seems if we want our drinks we better rush into the cellar before everything down there is destroyed by flames... oh, alcohol is flammable, right? But is it explosive, because if it is...”

 

[Raposa Dalua]

Hakira watched the bard with bored, obviously uninterested eyes as he juggled, flipped, and generally appeared to make a total fool out of himself. His attempt at confusing others with his constant re-use of the word 'reason' was only outshone in stupidity by his offer to tell stories in exchange for the other creatures' hard earned cash. The were only two who appeared interested at all in the bard at first. There was the copper feathered Gryphette, who exchanged what looked like a very valuable diamond for a good story. Then a rather pale looking human approached and offered to tell the bard some stories of his own, whatever good it would do him. The black girl shook her head and leaned back against the wall her table was positioned next to, and propped her feet up on the chair in front of her.

"Gift from the gods huh?" she muttered quietly, "I can only assume he's referring to gods like Baros."

She allowed herself a small smirk, her pink eyes narrowed to the point where she would look like she was sleeping if one only took a quick glance at her. Disappointment was evident on her face, despite the fact that she was still smiling that evil little smile of hers. Her venture into this bar had been completely useless so far. Pubs are usually said to be veritible fountains of information, but all this one had was a few lowlifes and some bad booze. That, and she was pretty much bored as hell. Her only real hope now was that the bard actually had some decently violent stories to tell. Or maybe something could spontaneously combust. Fire is cool.

As if suddenly struck by inspiration (or lightning), the white-haired girl opened her eyes wide and took a whiff of the air. Catching the scent of softly flowing smoke that certainly couldn't have been pipe or cigar smoke, her eyes followed the source to the cellar door that the barkeeper had disappeared into only minutes ago. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one who noticed. The pale looking human from before had to ruin a perfectly nice firey death for most of the people in this tavern by warning them before it got too big. What a spoilsport he was. Still, he had a point though. If the alcohol down there really was flammable, then it would take much less time for the entire place to be incinerated. She placed a hand on the table, her long fingernails making crescent shaped indents in the wood as she lifted herself to her feet. She paused only to adjust the belt holding her two daggers against her waist as she made for the doorway, neither caring about the alcohol or the state of the now burning pub.

~~*~~

Angrenaka floated patiently next to the game board, making no seeable move as of yet. Then again, she didn't really have a reason to. She had no limbs after all; anything she did on the board would probably only be noticed if it was extremely obvious. For now she hovered impassively, waiting for the game to become more interesting. The floating ball of energy also ignored the drinks Inari had so generously stolen and was currently handing out. She wasn't one for eating or drinking at all, really. She had no 'mouth' to speak of.

 

[Kiruria]

In the Divine Realm

Maia started to feel a bit uneasy as she started examining the group of mortals gathered at the burning tavern.
Selenthe's there? Maia thought. This makes things worse as well as interesting, considering it was I who was the cause of her allergy... I wonder if I should keep away from her or use her to win the game? But winning--does it really matter? I'm not the goddess of envy or pride, and I deal more with respect and fairness... so who am I to be arrogant?

Maia made her move in a sort of trance--she seemed to be unaware of the presence of all the other deities, and the white nothingness seemed to be pitch black instead... Her attention was fixed on only the forest, the spot where Harg was covered in honey and running away from a bear. Maia decided to let Harg die, but that didn't mean that it didn't relate to her move...
"Thank you Death, by the way," Maia commented. "Death is a beautiful thing indeed, a wonderful means of purifying the soul." And especially a barbaric personality like Harg's could have deserved some purification.

In the Forest
The bear had just finished tearing Harg's legs off and was chewing on one of them vigorously. He had felt so hungry that he didn't quite care what he was eating, nor the fact that he had just killed someone. But as he ate, he noticed a nearby tavern... one that contained more people to eat.

As the bear finished Harg, he began to think twice about rushing towards the tavern. Feelings of greed inside of him were washed away, replaced by satisfaction. He had only eaten Harg because he was really, really hungry, and he would feel awful if he had to kill anyone else at the moment... So he ventured back, deeper into the forest--maybe tomorrow he would find some berries to eat.

Back in the Divine Realm

"That's just like you isn't it," Death commented. "I'm here destroying lives, and you're here trying to save them..."
"I could have saved Harg from dying," Maia said without looking at Death, "but yet there are things worse than death that could interfere with my plan."

In the Burning Tavern of Destiny

Fire didn't scare Selenthe much--especially in all the rain. Before the tavern started burning, Selenthe had just sat silently in a corner--for silently was her nature, even part of her name. She had been staring out the window, glad that it was still nighttime. She had not participated in anything that went on in the tavern, nor had she ordered anything to drink. She knew that being a cat was being more sensitive to alcohol, especially. Also, she was not wearing her usual black clothing, as she didn't need to--the sun was not out.

Now, when the tavern was burning, Selenthe crept out of the building, careful not to let anything of hers catch on fire. When she exited, she checked--nothing was aflame. And even if it was, anything small could soon be extinguished by the heavy rain that was falling on the area. However, this rain was not enough to stop the fire from raging on--it was simply too big, and partially protected by the tavern itself. Anyways, Selenthe stood out in the middle of the clearing, not caring how wet her fur was becoming. Quite strangely, she had never minded being wet--in fact, she always liked to swim. She kept thinking about her name, which meant "silent sea".

Selenthe stood still in that spot and closed her eyes. With such heavy rain, it almost felt as though she was under a waterfall. As the meditative feeling (if there was even any feeling) progressed, it felt more like Selenthe was actually swimming, in the ocean near where she lived. Nights back at home usually became among her best memories, alongside those of the faraway land she originally came from, alongside the memory of her mother.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OOC: Assuming the sun hasn't risen yet.

 

[Lemurian]

Death sighed and leaned back in the pillowed chair he had taken with him. Maia always needed to interfere...ah, well. He took another quick look at the board. The half-eaten carcass of Harg was lying where he had left it. Perfect. He then looked farther west. Another crossroad was placed there, with three forks. One, the chosens would appear if they took that path. Another lead to the village of Sliftly, named by its dyslectic founder and the final lead to the great city of...some great name. Death concentrated on exactly that city. Many thousands of people. Accidents could absolutely happen. Death reached for his scythe again and did a great sweap over the city. "My speciality," Death amused. "Plagues." Of course, some hundreds would survive and flee. "Next."

~~

Meanwhile, Alexhaur Shaded had fled the tavern the moment they mentioned fire in the basement. He now ran eastwards, hoping to get far away before it exploded. A path led into the forest, but something seemed to be lying in the way. Alexhaur hid behind a tree and peered at it. It was a carcass! Half-eaten and horrible! He sprinted towards the west. No smart idea to go through a forest with wild beasts.

 

[GoGoTenda]

Tavern

"Nya, the building's on fire?" Jolel was seated in a booth, looking out with eyes constantly scanning the crowd. In actuality, he wasn't so much 'seated' as he was 'carefully balanced on his head and leaning against the wall'. A bard had earlier jumped onto a table and said some normal bardic fare, nothing special. Even as the tavern began to grow hotter, people were still inside or just starting to leave, Jolel watching with a grin. "Aha! Of course, the girls leave first in their intelligence, but they leave the foolish men to burn. Not very polite, yes?"

Jolel rolled away from the wall, landing in a standing position next to the booth. He beamed at his perfect dismount, then whirled to face the remaining tavern goers. Frowning slightly at how dreadfully boring they were making their escapes, Jolel decided to run full speed at the bar. He did so, using one hand to vault himself over the counter at the last second. Unfortunately, he miscalculated his speed and crashed into wall behind the counter, bouncing to the ground. "Ow..." He lay motionless on the ground several seconds before rising to his knees.

Holding his head in one hand, Jolel searched the counter for anything of interest, His hand lightly brushed over various glasses and bottles before gripping tightly around a crystal wine glass. He stood and raised the glass in triumph before climbing back over the counter and heading for the door. Lowering the glass back down, he used his free hand to trace the rim in slow circles. "Ooooh, this is high quality...." Jolel subconsciously opened the front door and walked out of the burning tavern, and, no longer paying attention to where he was going, started ploding along the main path.


Divine Realm?

Eros sighed, crossed his arms, and acted, in general, impatient. There was little that he could do at this stage of the game, especially since Inari would probably call anything he did 'foul play'. And of course, Fate would have to investigate and stall the game, or trust her and immediatly dock points. It was dreadfully aggravating. A brillant idea came into his head, however, and Eros smiled. Casually, he pointed his right index finger at a random spot on the map. He laughed lightly and spoke. "My move's done. It's going to be fun, too."

 

[Knightblazer]

Lost Bar Of Destiny

Lucifer Leonheart

I frowned a little as the sent of moisture vanished. Strange. How could it just vanish so abruptly? I thought for a while, but then sighed and returned to drinking up what was left in my glass. Rain or not, it hardly mattered to me anyway -it was impossible for... well, dead people to get sick anyway.

I smell smoke, Lucied said, frowning.

"Problary nothin'..." I muttered, trying to reassure him. But of course, the wolf was never assured. Which was a good thing, as the first sight of flames began to appear. "Damn. We need to go, Lucied, now!"

I leaped out of my seat, looking around. The alachol spilled all over was helping the flames greatly. Grinding my teeth together, I ran towards the glass window... and burst out. My arms were cut by the shards, but soon began to darken and mend itself. I looked towards the burning tavern and sighed, "Well, Lucied... looks like I'm not gettin' any more drinks tonight."

God's Game Area

Fentagon

Damn fire, I thought as I watched the tavern burn. Inari sure was a real pain. Cunning and smart -a very bad combination. Yet I had to place my lots on the Median; he was my only hope now.

OOC: Sorry for the short post; I'm rather short on time.

Knigtblazer ;262;

 

[Tiana_M]

Lost Bar of Destiny
~Tanya: a Gryphette~

The Bard had turned out to be good enough that he could keep the pretty I had entrusted to him, although he was likely to just go and squander it on some human pleasure. But that was not my greatest concern when the basement of the tavern caught fire. I was one of the last to leave the tavern, for just as I jumped through the now burning doorway, the roof just beyond the door collapsed and blocked it. Once outside, I found that it was muddy, but that the rain that had been pouring just minutes before was quickly dissipating. There were some that had run and kept running, not looking back nor seeming interested in returning.

I did not much care that the tavern was burning, what worried me was that if the forest was not wet enough, it would also catch fire. it seemed like it might be wet enough, since it had just been pouring rain, but I stood just on the other side of the road watching the tavern as it burned. Some of the other tavern goers also stayed to watch, but some chose to leave not caring for the drizzle that remained. I had not, as of yet talked to anyone else in the tavern, but a wolf that I had noticed in the tavern caught my eye. then I noticed his companion, a young person that reminded me highly of all the tales I had ever heard about Vampires.

I cooed and gestured in the animal language, which all animals can understand, to the wolf, "Greetings, fellow creature of the night-forest." For, I although I myself had partially adjusted to the human way of living, by waking in the afternoon instead of in the evening, my species is naturally nocturnal. "What need have you to be, with this human-like creature, in a tavern?"

 

[Shadows Follower]

Angroth Von Krieg
Outside burning Bar of Destiny

Angroth calmly walked out the burning doorway of the now smoke filled tavern, a bottle of ale in his hands. He had experienced worse things than a fire and her couldn't let a good bottle like this go to waste.

He joined the crowd that was watching the fire, the flames roaring loudly as they gnawed at the wooden structure. Angroth tilted his head back and swigged some of the ale down.

"Shame really. I had hoped it was a monster but I guess not." He stared down into his reflection in the halberds. Their hilts were screaming for a fight but their calls were to go unanswered. Angroth guessed he would have to leave soon to make sure he was able to get a good fight in some time today. These hopeless saps were scared by the fire let alone him. They wouldn't prove to be good competition. He looked into the darkness of the wood, strange sounds echoing all around. Not long now.

 

[Dactylus]

Mortal thing.

Tavern? On fire?

Derk grinned sheepishly, sweeping his hat back with a flourish, the small diamond already tucked into a concealed pocket. He was no good with fire. Actually, any danger, really. Danger was bad. Fire was danger. Fire was bad. It all weaved neatly together into a perfect circle of things to avoid. Derk chuckled and leaped off the table, retaining his lofty grace despite the cold claws of fear carving deep furrows into his heart. With a small bow, he began moving back to the niche he had sat in before, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.

Fire roared, bursting through the portal to the basement and catching to the bar. Several patrons exited the building, cleverly at that, as wisps of flame licked the walls. The inferno spread quickly, consuming the puddles of alcohol, swelling in size. A heavy smog lined the ceiling, large and dark enough to outshine the pipe smoke and pushing its way to the ground. Within ten minutes, the entire tavern would be caught, and within an half an hour reduced to a burning madhouse, if that. Any who had not yet left the tavern had two choices; a bold, daring escape…or death.

In the corner, Derk hurriedly checked his belongings, stuffing wood trinkets into a sack. Blasted fire! Blasted bag! I can’t believe I tied the thing into so difficult a knot, just because I was wary of the shadowy drinkers here. I’ll have to remember that being so circumspect could cost me more than a few baubles next tim- Ah, Blast! His thoughts were torn away as a small flame blazed before him; Derk threw an arm over his eyes in meek protection. Blasted tavern! Blasted fire! Blast, blast, blast!

Hastily retying the knot at his sack – satisfied with its contents and making sure to do so loosely – Derk rolled across a table, careful not to let the bag bounce roughly; the magnificent lute resided within. He sprinted towards the exit, sidestepping a rearing fire expertly and letting his strides eat the ground between he and the door. A beam fell from the roof, blackened and scorched, barricading the exit just as Derk skidded to a stop. Oh, BLAST IT ALL! Whirling around, he scanned the room for another way out; the window. Some idiot had already rocketed through and shattered the glass.

Measuring the shards still on the frame, its size, and his distance as he ran, Derk effortlessly tossed his sack and then dove through the window himself, only a single razor-edged dagger of glass ripping a tiny gash in his breeches. Landing in a somersault, the bard stood and began brushing the soot away, coughing horribly.

“That was fun,” he grunted grumpily.

Other thing.

Baros ignored the drink and stared sadistically at the game board. Tavern on fire? How…surprising. Surprise often lead to panic. Panic to unbound emotions. Unbound emotions to, perhaps, jealousy.

“My turn,” he squeaked, high voice denying his motives. “Nothing fancy, just amplifying the surprise – any surprise at all they’ve felt in the last five or ten minutes – by a few times.” A few. Baros almost chuckled at the understatement as he put both wings on the board, smirking.

“It is done.”

 

[Knightblazer]

Forest: Location Unknown

Lucifer Leonheart: Vampire

"Greetings, fellow creature of the night-forest," asked a voice beside Lucied, "What need have you to be, with this human-like creature, in a tavern?" I spun around to see who was the one idiotic enough to try conversation with an insane wolf familiar, only to stumble backwards in surprise and half-screamed, half-gasped in surprise, “What in the seven hells…?”

A Gryphette! Lucied exclaimed in surprise, which was, well… rather surprising coming from an insane wolfish familiar.

About the size of a stallion, with rust-tawny fur, copper-colored feathers, polished ivory-colored sharp claws, feathered ears and golden orbs, the Gryphette looked down on the two of us. I could only try and hide my fangs; even Medians could tremble at times at the sight of the Gryphons and their Gryphette cousins. We would easily outfight them anytime, anywhere. But yet… their majestic sight was something to behold, unlike us damned monsters.

Back to reality, I was rather perturbed that she (was it a she? It does look like a female) called me a ‘human-like creature’. Then again, I can’t really say ‘no’ to that; I wasn’t really human after all.

What was I doing in that straw house you humans call a tavern? Lucied half-sneered, half-spat. I was merely waiting whilst my Young Master dined.

The Gryphette raised an eyebrow. She wanted to say something, but then I decided to take over, “Erm… yeah,” I cut in, trying hard not to grin, “I was -eh… eating. Lucied here was waiting.”

However, mentally I was talking to him. You are so gonna pay for this, Lucied.

How? Sooner or later she’ll realize that you’re a Nosferatu.

Lucied?

Yes, Young Master?

Shut. Up.

He made no response, but sent a sinister-looking smirk towards me. I rolled my eyes and groaned, much to the Gryphette’s surprise. I then reached out my hand for a handshake and promptly introduced myself, “Hi; I’m Lucifer; Lucifer Leonheart. Pleasure to meet you.”

Gods’ Game Area

Fentagon, Beast Of Gales

Drinks? Were they mocking me? It was a well-known fact that I don’t drink. Ingoring it, I turned to the game board, where the Median met with the Gryphette. So the Median decided to befriend the Gryphette? I thought to myself. If he does so… then I think greater things will be in store for him. Smirking to myself, I made one of the resident bears in the forest savage and ‘coincidentally’ sent it towards them.

The Gryphette will be unable to defeat it, so the boy has no choice but to show his true potential, I mused. Perfect.

Grinning inwardly, I announced, “My turn’s over.”

Knightblazer ;262;

 

[Kiruria]

The Divine Realm
Maia frowned in an exasperated way as she watched Fentagon make his move. Two new friends at the tavern were about to be split apart by another bear? Maia thought about her last move, which consisted of calming down the bear that had killed Harg and was heading for the tavern escapees. But Maia was pleased with this--for she had been thinking of just stalling for her next move after her last, since there was nothing else to really do. Maia was a little disappointed with making the same move twice (especially on the same type of creature), but any detail that got out of hand early on would have lots of room to grow as the game progressed. So Maia did the same thing for the bear headed for the gryphette and the vampire as she did for the bear that ate Harg.

The Forest

A bear, about the same size as the one who ate Harg not too long ago, had narrowly missed being hit by a lightningbolt. This bolt of electricity startled the bear, who began to run off wildly, without knowing where he was going. But, according to some "accident" caused by Fentagon's move, he was headed right for the clearing outside of Tavern of Destiny. Now, he was running, frustrated beyond his wits...

But all of a sudden, with the same instant of surprise as the thunderbolt had caused, a wave of consciousness swept over him, just like it had with the other bear. Had he continued running, he would have disturbed the perfectly innocent and friendly meeting of a vampire and a gryphette. Frustration is just another one of those sins that blinds the conscious self, to the point where the mind gets confused and the body goes haywire, so much that it can cause turmoil... It was thanks to the bear coming back to his senses that the harmony of the scene was sustained. Peace to all, fellow beings.

Outside the Tavern

Selenthe had dived so deeply into this day--er, nightdream--that she was having that she was actually dancing in the rain, feeling as if she was submerged completely in water, happier than the happiest clam. She had always heard--sort of--the most wonderful sounds while she was in the Surinora Ocean, that clear blue body of water that held the most majestic beauty in the most magnificent sunlight. It was a place where time was always day, where the alluring red sun stayed directly overhead all year long, where the only time when its light was not plummeting towards the ocean's surface was when a moon got in the way. One of thost glorious places on the other planet she lived on, the planet called Orenya which bore fading yet still existent connections to that surface Selenthe was physically on in the moment.

Selenthe had only been to the Surinora Ocean once while the sun was out--her mother, being a vampire, had always taken her there during a solar eclipse, which occurred quite frequently near the center of the planet's "light side". This was also the moment when Selenthe was exposed to the most sunlight in her life for the longest time--and this was before her allergy to ssunlight even started. But it was during the eclipses that feelings of divine happiness were most prominent. Selenthe's mother always said that "if you listen, you can hear the music without sound, the divine inspiration which can only be sensed". Selenthe felt warm inside at this, despite the icy rain in the real world. And at this moment, Selenthe was not only dancing in the rain, but singing as well--a song her mother used to sing to her...

Shisho jisu-ha --(Hear the voice of God)
Tui nakia, di da ishta-ma --(It is singing so wonderfully)
Watiri rina mo mau --(And one thing holds this divine inspiration)
Kiya pi latria. --(Feel the power of the latria*.)

This song contained many more verses, all which Selenthe sang softly--her voice seemed to be in harmony with the pitter-patter of rain around her. She knew that nobody could understand what the lyrics were, but the moment was just too perfect to hold inside powerful positive feelings. Selenthe knew that though she aligned well with the dark side of life, darkness is not the same thing as evil or negativity--it only relates to things that arethings that are hard to make truth out of or discover their true potential--things that are unseen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OOC: *Read the sample part of my signup to find out what a latria is.

 

[Kawaii Kyuubi Kitsune]

OOC: Sorry for taking so long, but I've been ill recently, in fact I still am. Odd how the tavern went from tiny wisps of smoke to the whole building burning in what must have been seconds, but this probably helps the plot a bit. Quoward runs into Hakira in this post if there is any confusion, though this doesn't mean others didn't see what happened.

Dactylus, surprise is a deadly weapon... Please be more careful, as it could of killed Quoward.

IC:
Fire!

Quoward suddenly was overcome by the sheer shock and surprise of it. He started to panic, unable to tell the emotions were stronger than they should be. Not that divine manipulation of emotions is ever easy to spot. His form shuddered as he scrambled over a table, rapidly seeming to shrink. Due to the fact his clothing didn't shrink, it got tangled around him as he fell on top of the table trapped...

Must escape!

The clothing began smoldering and burst into flames before the bar fire reached it. It had been ignited from the inside, as Quoward needed to weaken them to break free of their hold. He leaped out of the torn burning fabric, his fur smoldering... Now his true form had been revealed. His emerald green eyes remained the same, except that the round pupils had changed to an oval shape. He dashed from the bar and ran, not focusing on where he was going. Hitting something was certain, and he slammed right into the legs of something in a black tunic.

No...

He sat there stunned as he realized what had been revealed. He sat there as a fox, a small, weak, fox. Though not ordinary. The silver fur that covered most of his body, the rest being black exculding the white tip of his tail, was certainly rare and a little valuable... if is wasn't smoldering. The three tails also certainly weren't normal. He looked exactly like what he was, a Kitsune, also known as a fox spirit.

They'll blame me, humans always blame my kind. The occasionally pranks from the more playful doom all others... at least one of the humans was heavily armed... wait, something doesn't smell right.

Quoward looks up at who he bumped into and sniffed the air. His tails wagged a bit, though were mostly restricted by he fear of what everyone else must be thinking of him. There was a slight shake of the earth, then the air was filled with an unusual glow visible despite the brightness of the fire... Quoward was too busy inspecting what was in front of him to look back and see the glowing green spores coming from the bar rubble...

~*~​

No one is touching the drinks... come on, do they really think I could possibly get away with poisoning them? As if any poison would even work.

Inari held back from the table, an expression of disappointment on her face, then Fate's voice drew her attention back to what was happening. “Serving this stuff only in beer mugs?” The question hit Inari as a sort of insult, as Fate spoke mockingly as he actually was the first one to take one of the drinks. “Don't tell me you couldn't get anything larger? Even if this stuff is strong enough to be served in shot glasses, you're serving gods here.”

“I'm starting to regret not taking the time to poison the drinks...” Inari spoke with anger as she stomped back towards the table to get a look as to what was happening. “Still, I guess I have no opportunity to make another move as of yet... Maybe someone else would like to help me with my goal in exchange for my help. Eros my old friend, surely you are a bit restricted due to my presence?”

 

[GoGoTenda]

OOC: KaKyKi has asked me to inform everyone that he will probably be unable to post for awhile due to family affairs. The current time-frame of inactivity is a little over a week, though he may be able to get online sometime. However, there is still a chance that he won't be able to post at all for for some time. Please take note, thank you.


The Gods

Eros was bored again. The other gods were busy bickering, as usual. Two of them were fighting about bears and eating mortals, or some other equally disinteresting thing. A penguin had made an obvious lie about the magnitude of his last move. Eros chuckled at the thought of penguin gods, turning away from the one in his present company. When Inari began talking to him, he turned and faced her.

"Your help? Hm...further your goals, destructive as they probably are, in exchange for help towards mine. It would seem reasonable if you weren't so obviously crazy." Eros rubbed his chin with one hand, watching the board from around Inari to see what was happening. He thought through various plans, settling on one he liked. Making sure that the other gods, and especially Fate, weren't listening, he leaned forward into Inari's ear. "Just tell me what to do."

The Pawns...er...Mortals

Jolel whirled about, looking at the collapsing building through the clarity of his glass. The ruined wood was still burning violently, sending up great clouds of smoke through the gently rain. He lowered the glass from his eye, eliminating the slight warp the curved glass had lent the image. "Wow, it really went down fast...that's kind of a shame. All the wine went to waste. And wasn't there a bartender?" Jolel racked his brain for memories of any kind of staff, but found none, except for other patrons mentioning the bartender's disappearance into the basement. "Lucky for them, yes?"

Something odd caught his eye as the fires began to die down. Green flecks, floating upwards from the ruins. Jolel narrowed his eyes in an attempt to focus on the spores, which were drifting on the wind. "That's not normal. Something strange must be under the wood." He began to walk back towards the tavern, realizing mid stride that the wood would still be hot and burning for a good while to come. Jolel stopped walking and stomped his foot. "I want to see what it is now, though. Rain harder, you!" He pointed an accussatory finger at the dark clouds, smiling despite his harsh tone.

Letting his eyes drift back to the crowd around the tavern, they landed on something decidely not humanoid. Four legs, fur, three tails? "It's like a fox, but different! Doesn't look too dangerous, as it must have come out of the tavern. I'm surprised I didn't notice it earlier." Jolel tossed his glass into the ruins of the building, faintly hearing it shatter against a beam. He crouched onto all fours and lined himself up with the fox, spreading his smile into a grin. "He doesn't look very aware either...I should be able to sneak up on him."

With a sudden burst of force, Jolel had broken into a bear-run. All four limbs pounded the dirt with great haste, propelling him forward. He nimbly went around the legs of those who were standing, brushing against a few. As he neared the fox, and thus, the target, he let out a small growl and jumped forward, attempting to grab the fox without actually hurting it.