HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Herein lies the various threads in which our characters live out their lives
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Reinholdt
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Reinholdt »

[Fairy Tales]

Reinholdt is quick to clear things up. "It not being the dragon. I don't generally consider dragons to be an it. The evil I meant is the King's method of 'controlling' the dragon. He should be the source of the evil and his methods should reflect that. The dragon isn't evil here."
Last edited by Reinholdt on Mar 27, 2023 7:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

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Reinholdt wrote: Mar 24, 2023 7:06 am [Fairy Tales]

"... Where else would she go if not to his castle?" Reinholdt asks Mr. C. Alternatives have to be offered.

"Dragon it is. Maybe mind controlled, but maybe not. It has to be evil, but the power the King holds also has to be blatantly superficial once Jane peels back the layers. So maybe Jane talks to the dragon and finds out it isn't mind control at all, but just suffering from some old fashioned blackmail and convinces the dragon to turn on the king and help her? It was planning to anyways?" Reinholdt mulls. "Maybe it flies her over the swamp moat at the front of the castle."
[Fairy Tales]

"A castle or maybe some place we suspect the king went as he was banished. The typical storyline where the hero researches for a weakness of the enemy." Mr. C replies.
"As for evil. It doesn't has to be evil itself, but it's actions under the controll should be considered evil so the hero has to confront the dragon. "
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Morty »

[Morbid Adventures in Medical Science]

Dorota snatches a seemingly random file from a table.

"Well, I've got actual work to do. Please see yourself out when you're done talking."

With that, she stalks out of the lab.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

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Reinholdt wrote: Mar 27, 2023 5:05 am [Fairy Tales]

Reinholdt is quick to clear things up. "It not being the dragon. I don't generally consider dragons to be an it. The evil I meant is the King's method of 'controlling' the dragon. He should be the source of the evil and his methods should reflect that. The dragon isn't evil here."
[Fairy Tales]

Ah, so she had misunderstood. She figured there was something off about that.
"Yes, I misinterpreted what you said. My apologies. Sounds like a fine way to weave a narrative then. Perhaps Jane figures out a way to break the spell, such as snapping the branch which it was bound to." Ambrosia makes a circular motion with her armored hand. "Or something like that. A physical component to the enchantment."

But then a new idea seems to occur to her. "That or she actually knows the dragon from before and manages to break the spell through their shared bond. As in, it was a friend to her."

"Huh, I'm learning new things about dragons already." Zhareen comments and starts taking notes again.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Arkhosia »

[Morbid Adventures in Medical Science]

"Right, but wouldn't those be like, incorporeal?" Dulcinea makes a face. Very tragic to consider not even being able to hold hands with her beloved Kahu in undeath. "Still, I suppose it is an avenue. Even if I would so hate being stuck seventeen forever."

"As for my soul, that's a good question. My mom would say it's -" She starts, before Dorota suddenly grabs some papers and stalks out! The girl watches her go for a moment, blinking in disbelief. "Well. That wasn't very polite." The comment is made entirely without irony or self-awareness.
"Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is: are we living a life that is worth the harm?"
~Welcome to Night Vale
SliiArhem wrote:Arkh I may be slightly delirious but I don't think that would make sense even if I was coherent.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

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[Fairy Tales]

Reinholdt considers the merits of other locations. "Hmm... we don't want to make the story too long, just how the Banished King is a short story. And it's not like Jane is looking to destroy the King here, just get him to stop being a dick. Which might still involve destroying him. Maybe... hmm... Jane's still on her way to the castle, but the dragon knows a secret that will help Jane deal with the King and flies Jane to someplace out of the way in order to learn something vital about the king. Someplace not too unusual..." Rein rubs his chin but Maria pipes up.

"A library! There is no better institution in the world to learn and dispel unwarranted phobias."

Rein tilts his head with an uncertain look. "Sure. A library I guess..."

"But backing up just a little bit, do we want Jane to physically break the enchantment on the dragon or to have been previous friends with the dragon and their bond is what sets them free? Either has merit."
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

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Arkhosia wrote: Mar 30, 2023 4:58 pm [Morbid Adventures in Medical Science]

"Right, but wouldn't those be like, incorporeal?" Dulcinea makes a face. Very tragic to consider not even being able to hold hands with her beloved Kahu in undeath. "Still, I suppose it is an avenue. Even if I would so hate being stuck seventeen forever."

"As for my soul, that's a good question. My mom would say it's -" She starts, before Dorota suddenly grabs some papers and stalks out! The girl watches her go for a moment, blinking in disbelief. "Well. That wasn't very polite." The comment is made entirely without irony or self-awareness.
[Morbid Adventures in Medical Science]

"Oh she's just very dedicated to her job. I have never seen her not working in fact!" Possibly since Zhareen never visits her on off-hours.
The merfolk taps her chin. "Say, I've heard that people sometimes let them get consumed by various entities to live on within them. Like a yu-seed or even a dragon. I heard that in the Hyshun empire people used to travel far and wide just to have a dragon eat their dead relatives. Fascinating, isn't it?"
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Arkhosia »

[Morbid Adventures in Medical Science]

"Still!" Dulcinea protests, wrinkling her brow with a noncommittal gesture. It's not an offense she feels slighted enough to continue beyond that though - there were much more interesting things to talk about, after all. Like this very bizarre concept of immortality through consumption, which just causes her to tilt her head and briefly affix Zhareen with a queer look.

"Erm- that is pretty fascinating, but I'm not sure it'd be what I would ever consider looking for. I mean, I suppose there's a certain immortality in persisting as part of someone else, but - if you're subsumed into another entity, that would suggest some form of ego death, wouldn't it?" A deeper insight than Zhareen might've suspected from a girl like her, even if it figures that she'd be so focused on that side of consciousness. "That said - aheh - it is pretty fantastic to imagine living on through something as grand as a dragon," she accedes after a brief cough, her tone a little sunnier as she entertains the thought.
"Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is: are we living a life that is worth the harm?"
~Welcome to Night Vale
SliiArhem wrote:Arkh I may be slightly delirious but I don't think that would make sense even if I was coherent.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

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[Morbid Adventures in Medical Science]

Zhareen chuckles. "Well, you certainly have the spirit of a dragon, dear girl. Very proud, won't take 'no' as an answer, very colorful. I've heard those are very dragon-like qualities from people that know their stuff." She nods and gestures at Dulcinea's hair. "You see, apparently the way to tell that someone is a dragon is if they have unusually colored hair. Particularly if its a striking color. Just like yours!"
The merfolk scratches her head. "Of course around here unusually colored here is a lot less rare so dragons would have much a easier time hiding."

A beat.

"What were we talking about again? Oh yes, ways to overcome your impending death. Well, there are myths of dragons being able to raise people from the dead too. Not to mention that eating their hearts is supposed to grant immortality." Zhareen taps her chin thoughtfully.
"Oh, maybe my wife knows something."
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

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[Morbid Adventures in Medical Science]

"Aww. thank you," the girl responds, genuinely touched. Flattery seems as effective on her as a dragon too. "I'm a little sorry to disappoint and say I am in fact quite mundane. My hair is just dyed, if I'm honest - I'm actually a ginger." She smiles. It's only mostly true, but Zhareen doesn't need to know that.

The further thoughts on dragons only gets Dulcinea to hike her eyebrows higher. "Oh no, I mean - I don't want to trouble you folks too much with some manner of wild goose chase, especially when I'm probably prophesized to pass on. Though this is like, incredibly fascinating from an academic perspective, if you really want to keep exploring it." Besides, the last thing she wants to do is get her hopes up - or Reilana's for that matter.
"Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is: are we living a life that is worth the harm?"
~Welcome to Night Vale
SliiArhem wrote:Arkh I may be slightly delirious but I don't think that would make sense even if I was coherent.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

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[Fairy Tales]

"If you want it to be shorter just make her break the seal by breaking something related to the king, like an amulet or another present the dragon got from the king." Mr. C says.
"A librarie is a good choice, but if you want it shor make the dragonknow it. That gives the kings action to controll it more structure without asuming to much backstory. Maybe they can ban the kind in some way as an end result?"
Last edited by Zefir on Apr 06, 2023 12:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

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Reinholdt wrote: Mar 31, 2023 8:48 am [Fairy Tales]

Reinholdt considers the merits of other locations. "Hmm... we don't want to make the story too long, just how the Banished King is a short story. And it's not like Jane is looking to destroy the King here, just get him to stop being a dick. Which might still involve destroying him. Maybe... hmm... Jane's still on her way to the castle, but the dragon knows a secret that will help Jane deal with the King and flies Jane to someplace out of the way in order to learn something vital about the king. Someplace not too unusual..." Rein rubs his chin but Maria pipes up.

"A library! There is no better institution in the world to learn and dispel unwarranted phobias."

Rein tilts his head with an uncertain look. "Sure. A library I guess..."

"But backing up just a little bit, do we want Jane to physically break the enchantment on the dragon or to have been previous friends with the dragon and their bond is what sets them free? Either has merit."
► The Story So Far
[Fairy Tales]

"Perhaps it's a combination of both? She has to physically break the enchantment but her bond with them is what gives her the opportunity to. Since their connection makes the dragon hesitate before attacking her." Ambrosia suggests. "That showcases both Jane's ability to make strong friendships as well as how much trusts she puts in them. Though its important to make sure it doesn't look like she acts on blind faith in such a scenario. Perhaps a conversation with the dragon makes her realize that she can fight the control the 'king' has over them. Then she uses guile to figure out what object the enchantment is bond to and to get close enough to be able to use the dragon's hesitation in her favor."

Zhareen suddenly raises her hand as the scholar finishes talking.
"Question for, uh, dragon-lady. Do dragons usually make such powerful connections to people?"

"...It's Ambrosia. But sometimes, yes. It's usually rare for most kinds of dragons but it does happen."

"So say, theoretically, if you had a dragon-egg could you raise a dragon as your little adorable baby?"

"Er, again, depends on the dragon. I would very much not recommend doing that unless you know exactly what kind of dragon it is. Or even having a dragon egg for that matter."

"But it could be done?"

"With some dragons?" She suppresses a small sigh. "Yes."

Zhareen makes some notes. "Fascinating, fascinating... no more questions your ladyship."

[Morbid Adventures in Medical Science]

"Oh, I sometimes dye my scales too. Having some style is nothing to be ashamed of my girl." Zhareen remarks with a sage-like nod. "And it's no trouble! You see, my wife is one of the diim. A people with a deep connection to the yu-seeds I mentioned. Powerful fey representing- drumroll." She drums her index fingers against Dorota's desk. "Life. If anything can extend your lifespan its them!"

She gets up and starts moving to the door. "Would you like to see some paintings of her by the way? She's very beautiful." Zhareen is already reaching for her purse.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

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[Morbid Adventures in Medical Science]

"Really?" Dulcinea's eyes brighten. "Well, I suppose it can't really hurt in the slightest." She takes hold of her cane and moves to follow. Her original reason to be here may not have panned out, but maybe the trip here would be worthwhile after all.

The question about paintings earns a flicker of amusement. "And I can't imagine why I wouldn't," she answers, choosing not to question too much why someone would carry around a painting in this digital age. Not everyone who's come here from the other planes is that fond of technology, even if other people like her mother had taken to it swiftly.
"Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is: are we living a life that is worth the harm?"
~Welcome to Night Vale
SliiArhem wrote:Arkh I may be slightly delirious but I don't think that would make sense even if I was coherent.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

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[Fairy Tales]

"I'm not looking to truncate the entire story down to a single paragraph. I'm just saying having her go in the wrong direction to begin with and having extended adventures elsewhere so we can draw this out into a trilogy and maximize profits isn't really the way to go here," Reinholdt explains to Mr. C. It doesn't need to be that short. "The amulet idea works well though. We can have that be the object in question. We could also emphasize after the dragon is free that the King didn't have the power to control the dragon directly, he had to cheat and slip it onto their neck while they were sleeping." Truly despicable this King.

Reinholdt has to pause a moment to look at Zhareen and ask the question everyone in the room probably had. "Zhareen... do you have a dragon egg?" He stares at her pretty intently. He must want to steal it and raise it to be his friend and not hers!
► The Story So Far
"We should probably decide now what we actually want the King in Rags weakness to be," Reinholdt suggests before taking the story any further.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

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[Fairy Tales]

"Please, Rein, let's not distract ourselves too much with my wife's flights of fancy. Let's all remain focused." Vax speaks up.

To support that, she goes on. "I would suggest that this weakness not be something too specific to an unrelatable skill. Attach the weakness to a strong moral. Such stories are persistent for a reason."
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

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[Morbid Adventures in Medical Science]

Zhareen picks out what at first glance seems like a big old fashioned camera from her purse. Dulcie can see some smoke raising from it however. Was it on fire? It smells strongly of tobacco.

Then Zhareen knocks on it. "Hey, Zhyrie? I need Vax pictures please. Also, you know what I said about smoking."

The back of the "camera" opens up into what seems to be a miniature artist studio whose sole seat is occupied by a tiny blue winged creature that's smoking an even tinier cigar. The imp, since that is what it looks like, puts out the cigar with a squeaky little sigh and then goes to the stack of paintings leaning against on of the walls of the "studio". "The safe for work ones?" The imp squeaks as its rummaging around.

"Uh, yes." Zhareen hastily replies, her scales turning slightly pink.

"arright." She imp replies and soon grabs a stack of them and with some amazing strength just lift them as if they had been nothing and flies out of the studio and start to hoover in front of Dulcie. Holding them out in front of them.

"call this one 'simply Vax'. one of my better pieces." The imp declares while holding out one of the tiny paintings so that Dulcinea can see it better (actually drawn by jeinu).
"wanna zoom in?" Zhyrie attempts to hand her the tiny painting and if she does accept it, the drawing suddenly grows in size until it becomes an actually life-sized portrait.

[Fairy Tales]

Zhareen looks up from her notes, glances at Vax, and then shakes her head as she blushes. Her white scales turning a shade of pink. "Uh, no."

Ambrosia latches on to Vax's suggestion though. "The lack of fear would be a good moral for this kind of story. Courage in the face of utter horror. The finale of the story could be the 'king' bombard Jane with all kinds of terrible monsters and visions of her demise. Yet she stands up to them and shows that his power was never real and only illusions. Being completely unable to harm her in any way or form."
Last edited by Shadowcaller on Apr 13, 2023 7:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

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[Fairy Tales]

"My first suggestion would be some material thats rare but not legendary. Something that doesn't grow or can be found around the kings place but in the end he also has something of that material in the palace." Mr C says.
"But if it needs to be something not material it could be courage as said. She confronts the illusions of dangerouse beeings she fears and get's over them by bringing up the courage to face them for the good of others."
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Reinholdt »

[Fairy Tales]

Reinholdt frowns at Vax. Asking one question was hardly too much. He recognizes an obvious deflection when he hears one. She was covering for Zhareen. Which meant Zhareen probably lied just now and does have a dragon egg. Rein'll have to trap Zhareen in a room without Vax later and properly get to the bottom of this. Ask the right questions and she'll break like a shellfish.

"Courage. Hmm... isn't that already the weakness of a fey that feeds on fear?" Reinholdt asks.

"Not necessarily," Maria states. "Though he wouldn't get any stronger in the absence of fear and this may appear to have an enervating effect, it wouldn't be an inherent weakness... probably. I don't think we have enough data to be sure. Perhaps if we knew someone who fought him and the results their fear or absence of it had..." Maria writes down some notes about the potential of fear measuring ritual spell that could monitor participants as they threw themselves at a fey lord.

Rein rubs the back of his head. "Well I guess it's still the natural choice when comes to virtuous intangibles. If anything we can at least amplify the effects of courage considerably." He turns to look at the board with the half-written story on it. "How does Jane learn courage from the library?"
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Thursday Violist »

[Fairy Tales]

Venus finally speaks up again, since she just thought of something. "Well, isn't there a common saying about fear of the unknown? A library is the perfect place to overcome fear of the unknown, since there she could learn more about who the enemy is, or how their power works, or a weakness, or even just learn about the identity of who she has to defeat."

Venus pauses...and then after a few seconds of thinking really really fast, counteracts what she just said by saying, "But, then again, having more knowledge about this Ragged King may already be what gave him all his power so far, right? Since otherwise he wouldn't have bothered to spread so many stories about himself all over."


[Docking Bay]

For the second time in a short time, a mysterious cloaked person using the cloak to obscure their identity arrives in my post at the docking station to enter HALO.

However, this time, the mysterious cloaked person actually has a name: Seraphina. She arrives, not from the Riftline station, but rather from walking a fair distance along the shore.

Her cloak (which has a few patches in it), of course, hides her figure and its hood casts way too many shadows over her face and makes it hard to see it, but she's definitely got short red hair.

She frowns when she sees the Riftline station. But then smiles after reading the destination - she made it! Finally made it here. She goes into a shuttlepod, and then (since her legs feel like jelly), collapses into the seat.

By the time the shuttlepod arrives at the undersea base, Seraphina has a hard time getting up because, again, legs feel like jelly. Even so, she perseveres and stands up and goes into the base.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Arkhosia »

► SHOW SPOILER
[Morbid Adventures in Medical Science]

Dulcinea's nose wrinkles at the odor and she waves a hand to clear the air, breathing shallowly to suppress a tickling sensation in her throat. "Ugh. Yes please, I'd rather you not." A foul, nasty habit. It's hard to imagine anyone having the tolerance for something so vile.

The picture is produced and she leans forward to inspect with some mild caution, careful not to inhale much before increasing the size. "My, this is gorgeous!" she praises, putting on a smile. "She's a very beautiful woman, and the painting is marvelous."
"Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is: are we living a life that is worth the harm?"
~Welcome to Night Vale
SliiArhem wrote:Arkh I may be slightly delirious but I don't think that would make sense even if I was coherent.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

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[Morbid Adventures in Medical Science]

"thanks miss." The imp squeaks as they take out yet another painting to show her. This one also includes Zhareen just behind Vax.

"Isn't she?" Zhareen beams and claps her hands together excitedly. "She's a really sophisticated woman as I'm sure you can tell." Zhareen gestures taps her finger against the Vax in the painting. "Yet there's so many hidden sides to her. Did you for instance know that diim can change their shape? Not many people do! They assume they're all different plant-based creatures you see when they're in fact just one."

This is probably related to the next painting which is of a ravenous creature on all fours that must roughly be the size of a human judging by Zhareen sitting next to it or rather her. Since as the creature is made of the same plant-matter and by the way Zhareen is hugging it, it can't be anyone else.
"She once devoured a whole piglet in one bite, can you imagine that?"

[Fairy Tales]

Ambrosia decides to jump onto Maria's spiel regarding the king's potential weakness. "I admit some ignorance when it comes to this kind of fey but they don't usually have a weakness like that. Sometimes certain metals can harm them, such as 'cold iron', while other times its... well, fey of that level can't usually be reduced down to a single emotion is what I'm trying to say. Their banes tend to be a bit more complex and requires a much more fundamental understanding of the 'king' that what we have." She gestures to Venus.

"And as she just pointed out that can sometimes be to one's detriment. We can't be sure unfortunately." She gestures to Rein, or more specifically the notes he's writing. "But that's why we're doing this. To give him a weakness that's easier to work with that doesn't make us vulnerable to traps like that."
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Reinholdt »

[Fairy Tales]

"That's, um, true, but I'm still uncertain as to how Jane discovers courage at the library," Reinholdt tells Ambrosia. He's already on board with the courage thing, just trying to figure out the intermediate steps now.

"Knowledge over the unknown is certainly a possible angle. I'm drawing a blank on any other possibilities though. Or how to even write that into the story. Do we still want Jane to go to a library for this? There may be more appropriate places the unnamed dragon can take her to learn about courage instead."
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Zefir »

[Fairy Tales]

"Maybe she can find a diary from her grandparents or some other family member she used to talk to. Or maybe a book of a Person she admires. You know like your favorit actors diary where he talks about his fears and anexies and how he got over it to be the famouse person you admire." Mr C says.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Reinholdt »

[Fairy Tales]

"That's not a bad idea," Reinholdt says. "A person she admires speaking about overcoming her fears. Maybe a particularly venerated author's autobiography or something like that? If she's into books. Pretty relatable either way." Everyone's looked up to someone at some point.
► The Story So Far
[Docking Bay]

Seraphina will find a handsome prince there to great her! What incredible fortune!

Unfortunately, it's Reinholdt. What horrid luck.

He's leaning non-chalantly on the wall and does not look like he was expecting her in particular. Which makes sense since they don't know each other, as far as Reinholdt recalls anyways.

"Welcome to HALO.... Are you alright? Do you need food?" She seems to be struggling a bit, but Rein doesn't know if it's because of hunger, exhaustion, or actual physical injuries. The cloak and hood hide too much from his prying eyes.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Arkhosia »

[Morbid Adventures in Medical Science]

"I- erm, that's - impressive," Dulcinea manages, swallowing down an uneasy shiver and a vivid mental image alongside it. "What... did you say she studied again?" Probably a much less ghastly topic, whatever it is.
"Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is: are we living a life that is worth the harm?"
~Welcome to Night Vale
SliiArhem wrote:Arkh I may be slightly delirious but I don't think that would make sense even if I was coherent.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Shadowcaller »

[Morbid Adventures in Medical Occult Science]

"Well, she's an impressive woman." Zhareen remarks with a giggle, smiling fondly as she seems to recall the memories brought up by this painting. "And she's specialized in fey, one of the most mysterious kind of entities around. That of course includes yu-seeds which are the progenitors of her people." The merfolk nods.
"All fey are immortal you see. Not even the, erm, expiration of their bodies ends them. Indeed, it seems like most of them prefer to exist without a body at all. Quite peculiar."

They now reach the end of the hallway they've been walking/slithering through and at the end of it is a portal. On the other side Dulcinea can see what appears to be a lobby of sort.

"Oh yes, our compound is on the other side of this portal. We're actually located on a charming little island on the surface, not far from this base. As extraordinary as this place is we prefer the outdoors."

[Fairy Tales]

"Perhaps its a person she admires who has passed away and while she has desired to read about them for a long time she has also been afraid of just what she will learn. It's possible that the person isn't as good as she thought they were and if Jane took their death hard she might be afraid of bringing back all those heavy emotions by reading about them again. So going to the library and reading it is also about overcoming those fears." Ambrosia suggests, not at all speaking from personal experience.
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Thursday Violist
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Thursday Violist »

[Fairy Tales]

Venus thinks that Mr C's idea is really good.
She nods.
Yeah, looks like a good idea.

She looks at the board to remind herself of the story so far.


[Docking Bay]

A handsome prince is incredible fortune! In fact, this is probably the first time this has ever happened to her!

It's actually rather fortunate that the hood is obscuring Seraphina's looks, though. If said handsome prince caught a glance of her face, he'd be struck with an inexplicable sense of déjà vu and nobody would have any answers as to why. But, no, he would be right: they don't know each other. Never actually met.

The cloaked lady steps out of the transport and walks in.
She practically collapses onto one of the benches in HALO's entryway. And Seraphina shakes her head: between heavy breaths, she says, "No, don't need food. Just water." She stretches a leg out straight, and then brings it in, and out again. "Ran out...four hours ago..." Seraphina gestures in some arbitrary direction. "Mermaids back that way gave...gave me enough food."
She coughs, then winces because her throat hurts from all the heavy breathing.
She leans forward, and tries to force her breathing to become more regular.

Since some of her red hair fell forward and is sticky with sweat, she brushes it back.
She audibly sighs.
"This place is actually HALO, though, right?" Yes, he literally just told her so.
She looks over at Reinholdt, to see who's she's talking with. [color=#55cc77}"No joke?"[/color]
Seraphina leans back against the wall. "Back during Spooktober, some shark person said I just had to visit HALO, but every single train or bus I took ended up having problems."
And...now she's here!
It's been long enough that she has forgotten why, exactly, she needed to come here.
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Arkhosia
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Arkhosia »

► SHOW SPOILER
[Morbid Adventures in Occult Science]

"Really? Fey?" Dulcie's brows arch. "I don't know much about them, honestly. Never been an area of interest for me, which I guess is a little ironic considering my heritage." Elves like her mother were rumored to be related to some variety of fey or other, after all.

"There's a couple of things I've gathered about spirits though - my, erm, best friend is a bit of an amateur necromancer. Nothing dangerous though! Sticks to these adorable little bone constructs, they're just delightful to watch." A fond smile breaks out on the teenager's face, as if she can picture them now.

"How's the weather there?" She asks conversationally, quirking her head. "I find I like staying in half the time, truth be told. The cold weather is ghastly on my leg sometimes." Dulcinea taps gently against her thigh to make a point, smiling as if she expects the fishy woman beside her to relate perfectly.
"Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is: are we living a life that is worth the harm?"
~Welcome to Night Vale
SliiArhem wrote:Arkh I may be slightly delirious but I don't think that would make sense even if I was coherent.
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Reinholdt »

[Fairy Tales]

Reinholdt glances at Ambrosia, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Seems fairly specific..." Maybe too specific. Rein thinks about it for a time. "Perhaps the deceased author is Jane's mother? And the courage comes from letting go? That'd make Skelly some sort of metaphorical foreshadowing or something. And it would explain why the dragon thought to bring Jane here."

"Hmm... but then again... making the respected author deceased might be drifting the story too much into dealing with grief instead of overcoming fears. They're not mutually exclusive, sure, but we really want the focus on the fears and courage."

► The Story So Far
[Docking Bay]

That is a shame because Rein is doing his best to get a look under that cloak. It needs to stop getting in the way, stupid cloak! Fortunately, at least, Rein knows exactly why Seraphina needed to come here.

"Ok, you need to get to our infirmary right away," Reinholdt insists, moving to help her up onto his shoulder and walk with her there. "Yes, this is actually HALO. Spooktober was six months ago. And we'll get you all the water you could ever want, just... let our nurses take care of you for a moment alright? Do you have any medical allergies we should be aware of?" Like an allergy to positive energy or latex.
► SHOW SPOILER
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Re: HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

Post by Thursday Violist »

[Fairy Tales]

Having finished reading the whiteboard, Venus decides to interject into the conversation again.

"Overcoming loss through letting go would make for an interesting literary parallel to the Ragged King, who dealt with the loss of his place and power by trying to bring everything back to how it was before," she says. However, she agrees: "But, you're right, we probably don't want to go into a classic overcoming-grief story."

She taps her finger on her foreleg, thinking for a moment or two. "How about the book she reads pertains to a traumatic experience she went through? And she's been trying to forget what happened, afraid to look into what actually happened because she was worried that the truth was even worse than she had feared. But then she got the courage to face and seek out the truth, read the story, and learn that the truth wasn't what she had feared? And if we want to keep a message from the author, the book could have an afterword from the author who knew Jane would eventually build up enough courage to face her past - the traumatic experience - and leave a message afterwards."


[Docking Bay]

In case Rein succeeds in looking at her face by either positioning himself too close or by pulling back her hood, he'll probably find himself severely disappointed! Very anticlimactic.
It's just a face.
And not even on of those cool faces, like the ones with scars or half-robotic or with draconic eyes or a cool moustache and goatee or anything interesting like that! It's just a normal human face. Most interesting thing is the fact that it's slightly freckled, and pretty plain and androgynous. In spite of what drunk flirts would claim, it's not even particularly pretty, just...plain. Maybe that's why she covers it up: just doesn't like her reflection or something.

Seraphina just wants to keep on sitting down and let her legs rest, but she figures if she doesn't get up now, then she'll never made it to the infirmary, and will just have to make this bench her permanent home.
So, she takes a deep breath and accepts his help to stand up.

Seraphina almost protests, saying she clearly doesn't need to go to the infirmary. In fact, she even opens her mouth and breathes in to do so! Fortunately, her upper row of teeth stops her by biting her lower lip, as she realizes...honestly? after the past six months? a check-up is probably fine. Who knows if she's still got glitchy ghosts possessing her, or if she's got zombie slimes under her fingernails, or if her bullet wound got infected, or if she's deficient in Vitamin C or something. Besides, they're probably just going to give her an IV solution and three pills.

"Yeah, fine." She shakes her head. "No, no allergies." She thinks for a few seconds, then shakes her head. "None that I'm aware of, anyway."

She goes along with Reinholdt to the infirmary.
"Wow, an undersea base is seriously so much cooler than you'd think. Especially being able to see out into the ocean.
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