Mac's Boarding House

[Rushu42]

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I'm here, I'm here - sorry.

And thanks, mathiau, I appreciate it. It's alright to ping me if I'm being slow, but also I'm fairly busy so if I take too long just go on without me, like Zinc said.

Aln gratefully accepted the bowl of stew and sighed as the warmth of the room washed over her. It was busier than she'd expected, and among the tangled threads of conversation filling her vision it took her a moment to realize that the man in the corner was waiting for her. So much for a chance to rest, she thought, and walked over to sit at his table.

On 4/21/2022 at 0:34 PM, EmulatonStromenkiin said:

"Something is wrong here, something is wrong about the entire reality. I can't say what, but I keep noticing strange things, things that should not be, but no one else notices. I don't know beyond that, I asked around and was told by many people that you would be the ones to ask."

That, however, drove any thought of sleep from her mind. She leaned forward. "What sort of strange things?"

@mathiau

[EmulatonStromenkiin]

2 hours ago, Rushu42 said:

Aln gratefully accepted the bowl of stew and sighed as the warmth of the room washed over her. It was busier than she'd expected, and among the tangled threads of conversation filling her vision it took her a moment to realize that the man in the corner was waiting for her. So much for a chance to rest, she thought, and walked over to sit at his table.

That, however, drove any thought of sleep from her mind. She leaned forward. "What sort of strange things?"

@mathiau

"Strange creatures, ones that seem to be missing ... something." he made a sound that was somewhere between a sneeze and the crackle of electricity. "I am unsure of the word in this language. They miss a vital spark from their past, an essential piece of who they are. The energy of this world seems ... distorted. Out of line of what it wishes to do. Like a ball in a too-tight box." Balance held out an open hand and for a moment a wireframe sphere took shape above it. It rippled and twisted, until a box formed around it and compressed it tight. Balance closed his hand and banished the image.

"I see ripples of reality, where possibility and the needs of the world strain near the breaking point, and then reseal. I have felt them, bending by body to something it should not be, eating at my mind, looking for memories that I never had." Balance looked at the two and waited, unsure how to explain more.

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vague!

@Rushu42

[Rushu42]

3 hours ago, EmulatonStromenkiin said:

"Strange creatures, ones that seem to be missing ... something." he made a sound that was somewhere between a sneeze and the crackle of electricity. "I am unsure of the word in this language. They miss a vital spark from their past, an essential piece of who they are. The energy of this world seems ... distorted. Out of line of what it wishes to do. Like a ball in a too-tight box." Balance held out an open hand and for a moment a wireframe sphere took shape above it. It rippled and twisted, until a box formed around it and compressed it tight. Balance closed his hand and banished the image.

"I see ripples of reality, where possibility and the needs of the world strain near the breaking point, and then reseal. I have felt them, bending by body to something it should not be, eating at my mind, looking for memories that I never had." Balance looked at the two and waited, unsure how to explain more.

@Rushu42

"How can you sense this?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the wireframe. "Some form of Forgery savantism, or a corrupted Nahel bond?  Or... ah, are you one of Calamity's Invested? Epic powers are often harder to predict with standard models of Investiture, which could account for a heightened awareness of SoulForged dissonance..." She trailed off as her fingers flicked to her pocket for a notebook. "Sorry, what was your question again?"

@mathiau

Edited April 27, 2022 by Rushu42
Grammar

[EmulatonStromenkiin]

11 hours ago, Rushu42 said:

"How can you sense this?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the wireframe. "Some form of Forgery savantism, or a corrupted Nahel bond?  Or... ah, are you one of Calamity's Invested? Epic powers are often harder to predict with standard models of Investiture, which could account for a heightened awareness of SoulForged dissonance..." She trailed off as her fingers flicked to her pocket for a notebook. "Sorry, what was your question again?"

@mathiau

"I am, as you say, one of Calamity's Invested. My power, which you just saw an example of, lets me manipulate energy, though it is more complicated than that and this is not the time or place to speak of it. Due to my power and the world I have lost I can to an extent sense the energy around me." Balance paused, lost in thought, then refocused with a shudder.

"I want to know more, to understand what is going on. I even seek to help, if I can. If it is safe for me to help you." Balance paused again, a pained look on his face. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Tashi out of the corner of his eye.

@Rushu42@ZincAboutIt

[Rushu42]

2 hours ago, EmulatonStromenkiin said:

"I am, as you say, one of Calamity's Invested. My power, which you just saw an example of, lets me manipulate energy, though it is more complicated than that and this is not the time or place to speak of it. Due to my power and the world I have lost I can to an extent sense the energy around me." Balance paused, lost in thought, then refocused with a shudder.

"I want to know more, to understand what is going on. I even seek to help, if I can. If it is safe for me to help you." Balance paused again, a pained look on his face. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Tashi out of the corner of his eye.

@Rushu42@ZincAboutIt

Aln glanced over at Folorian to see his response. She was inclined to believe in the Epic's honesty, herself - after all, sending a spy seemed an unnecessarily convoluted way to apprehend them, especially since the DA had demonstrated no qualms about direct assaults - but she didn't want to take that risk for both of them.

@mathiau

[mathiau]

Aln looked at Folorian, her eyes seemed to be asking the same question he was asking himself

Could it be a trap?

He reached for he medallion "This little thing can temporarily given the power to store memories inside the copper ring on the outside, I... You seemed to have issue explaining what exactly you're felling. This should help us see... The Alleyverse is a weird place, it's possible what you're feeling is just a normal effect of the Worldspike, this should help us see whether it's the case."

If it was a trap he would probably not have the memories, and even if he had them he would probably not want to share them with his marks

@EmulatonStromenkiin@Rushu42

[EmulatonStromenkiin]

Balance was quiet for a long moment. "That is an ... intriguing device." he paused again, then nodded to himself. "Very well, I will do that on the condition that my memories will be restored within an hour. I will not do it otherwise. I swear by my nature as a Truthbound that if you do not, I will reclaim them." Balance took a breath to compose himself. He shot bolt upright, and turned towards another man who had entered the bar. He saw this man, but to the energy it was almost like it did not want to be there.

@Arlin

After a moment, Balance turned back to the two in front of him. "What do I have to do?" he asked.

@Rushu42@mathiau

[mathiau]

1 hour ago, EmulatonStromenkiin said:

Balance was quiet for a long moment. "That is an ... intriguing device." he paused again, then nodded to himself. "Very well, I will do that on the condition that my memories will be restored within an hour. I will not do it otherwise. I swear by my nature as a Truthbound that if you do not, I will reclaim them." Balance took a breath to compose himself. He shot bolt upright, and turned towards another man who had entered the bar. He saw this man, but to the energy it was almost like it did not want to be there.

A Truthbound? Folorian didn't remember hearing that term

"That's a fair ask." He gave him the medalion

"Wait." He turned toward Aln "If we want to give the memories back without changing them too much, it's better if you read them. My bane creates distortion between the memories I read and the memory I perceive so when I'd put them back there could be some missing pieces"

@Rushu42

[EmulatonStromenkiin]

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A truthbound cannot lie, see my character's profile here:

On 4/7/2022 at 2:29 PM, EmulatonStromenkiin said:

I'm sorry I keep doing this, but @Voidus or other mods, can this be approved?

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Character sheet:

Name: Balance the Realizer

Physical Characteristics: Pale dark skinned with colored veins faintly visible beneath the skin, Deep black eyes with gold irises. Around 6 ft tall. Blue-brown hair. Otherwise, appearance is human

Investiture: Epic - Realizer. Able to create blue energy wireframes of just about anything. These wireframes have innate power and mimic actual objects in such a way that they can be used as the object with more power(i.e. A sword is actually sharp, only impossibly so), but will fade after a few hours if he is not actively using them and/or concentrating on them. He can also will them to fade. Upper limit of ten medium sized wireframe objects manifest at one time. With a significant investment of energy, can make the objects real, not just wireframes, and they will not fade. When this is done, any connection to him is severed, so he no longer knows where it is(+70). Unaging on 5th heightening level, though no other similarities. Not affected by calamity (+10)

Skills: Swordmaster - skilled(+60). Smart(+10).

Equipment: Realized cloak(made real) - self repairing, camouflage pattern on it that makes him hard to notice when standing perfectly still and wearing it - not mystical, just a good choice of colors(+30). Random mechanical/electrical parts in pockets which he tinkers with.

Weakness: Bad at social interactions, and often misunderstands the purposes of people’s choices, leading to bad situations that could have been fixed if he was brave enough to ask the right questions.
Clumsy in non-combat situations(average clumsy,-5).
Is prone to depression b/c blames himself for the destruction of his family and people - ties to epic weakness.
Depression in reference to his past triggers his epic weakness - actual epic weakness is failing/believing he failed to protect people that he was responsible for(-15?).
Slow to heal (like someone storing half health for gold slow). (-5)
Rushes into things, especially when he believes people are in danger(-5).
Bound to truth due to history - incapable of speaking untruth, but can stay silent, cannot purposely mislead or imply untruth - this has made him wary of situations in which he would be questioned, and so he avoids them whenever possible.(-5)

Family: none left, destroyed

Home Planet: Reckoners-Earth

Backstory: Gained epic powers upon entering the Reckoners timeline. Due to mistakes he made, a great evil was released upon his peoples’ timeline, and it was prevented from spreading by the undoing of possibility, erasing their timeline and all other people in it. He now seeks to prevent the same great evil from coming into the rest of the universes, but refuses to tell people what it is. Through some quark, he was ejected as his timeline collapsed, resulting in him being unaging and bound to truth and landing him in a Coma in the Reckoners universe, unaffected by Calamity in the same way that Dawnslight was. After Calamity was defeated he woke up and was active for a few months, in which he learned how to use his powers. Another quark sent him to the Alleyverse, specifically the headquarters of TUBA in Alleycity. He was cared for by the people there until he woke up, after which he was very confused, remembering only dreams from the Reckonerverse and how to use his powers. He feels a sense of obligation towards TUBA for caring for him, which is why he helps them when he can. Though he does not like being around people, he has gotten used to it and interacts with them. Was trained in the sword in his home world. 

Guild: TUBA

Psyche: Decently smart, very imaginative, analytical. Doesn’t understand people. Due to his oddness, he was unaffected by Calamity’s influence and remains like a normalish human. Avoids friendships and closes himself off due to a fear of bringing ruin on them - this hurts him, as he likes to be around people and listen to them, it makes him feel needed.

Personality: Wary and analytical, enjoys reading.

Appearance:

Fighting Style: two weapon-two wireframe scimitars. Prefers defense until spots opening for offense, except when vastly outnumbered, when he uses the techniques of Itari, moving so fast the enemies end up hitting each other.

 

how do you link a specific post?

"I will not be able to share all my memories, and it may be ... distorting to see things how I do. I will share at most five memories." Balance looked at the two and waited, occasionally glancing nervously over at the concrete-dust covered man at the bar.

@Rushu42@mathiau@Arlin

Edited April 27, 2022 by EmulatonStromenkiin

[+ZincAboutIt]

Tashi stood behind the bar and watched Balance and the two Scholars talk quietly, though Balance was keeping too close of a lookout for her to eavesdrop properly. She did not, however, miss the looks he shot towards the young man before her.

She pretended as though she didn’t notice anything amiss, and began to sort a stack of Boxing notes into piles just to the left of the young fellow.

”Don’t look now, gancho,” she said, softly enough that only the young man - or a Tineye - would be able to hear, “but that strange fellow with the impossible money and the blue lines comin’ out his fingers has been eyeing you like a half-price caravan.”

She placed ten one-Boxing notes down on their respective pile, then licked her finger to begin counting out another ten. “Normally I’d charge you for that kinda information,” Tashi went on, eyes flicking up to the table again for just a moment. “But a man ought to have his grief in peace, at least until he’s had a bit of liquor in him.”

Tashi went on counting, and watching, and wondering how this City became so small and so big all in the same night.

@Arlin

Edited April 27, 2022 by ZincAboutIt

[Arlin]

"I know how you types are. And I appreciate it." Bell offered back, adding a note to one of her piles "I'll come by again if I ever need help with an article I actually care about."

Bell squared himself a bit and took a larger swallow of his violet. "That's one problem solved." he said showing her one last sad smile, "Maybe he just wants a cookie." and began to stride over to the roundtable discussion with the plate of pastel confections, leaving the liquid electrum at the bar.

@ZincAboutIt@EmulatonStromenkiin@mathiau@Rushu42

[EmulatonStromenkiin]

On 4/27/2022 at 8:17 PM, Arlin said:

"I know how you types are. And I appreciate it." Bell offered back, adding a note to one of her piles "I'll come by again if I ever need help with an article I actually care about."

Bell squared himself a bit and took a larger swallow of his violet. "That's one problem solved." he said showing her one last sad smile, "Maybe he just wants a cookie." and began to stride over to the roundtable discussion with the plate of pastel confections, leaving the liquid electrum at the bar.

@ZincAboutIt@EmulatonStromenkiin@mathiau@Rushu42

Balance watched him nervously, continuing to tap on the table, but the faint lines were gone.

@Arlin@ZincAboutIt@mathiau@Rushu42

[Kvothe the Bloodless]

It was early afternoon when Therim walked into the inn. Mac's Boarding House. Hmmm, this'll do, I suppose, he thought. When he entered, the room was mostly empty, except for a few. Therim walked up to a man sitting at one of the tables, the one sloppily drinking, of all things, a mug of horneater white. " Pardon me, but do you happen to know the owner?" Therim asked the man. The man turned in his chair to face Therim, and he noticed the lute strapped to Therim's back. "Whut aure you, somma kind of jester?" the man asked.

Slightly insulted, but keeping his poise, Therim replied "I am a gleeman, a traveler giving stories and music to those that would hear it". The man blinked, took a swig from his mug, burped loudly and then said "Owner of the joint shoulda be outta their office inna bit. You canna talk to them then".

"Thank you" Therim replied. Stormfather, that man needs someone to take the drink from him. "I'll wait out here for them"

[+ZincAboutIt]

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I believe it’s currently evening, just so you know :] Tashi works at the Boarding House and can help you with whatever you need.

Tashi noticed the man speaking to a patron well into his cups, took in the lute and the cloak.

”Evening!” She called, beckoning the newcomer further into the barroom. “You wouldn’t happen to be a musician, now would you? It’s the kind of night for a tune and a tale, with all these strange goings-on.”

@Kvothe the Bloodless

[Kvothe the Bloodless]

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Oh ok cool, evening it is then

Therim looked up and spotted the woman who had spoken. "A gleeman, actually," He replied, "and I'd be happy to share my songs and stories. All I need in return is a meal and a bed." Therim paused and reached up to scratch at his chin. "But I must ask, what sort of strange happenings do you mean?"

@ZincAboutIt

Edited May 1, 2022 by Kvothe the Bloodless

[+ZincAboutIt]

Tashi shrugged, then pointed towards a table of four in the far corner. “They’d know better than I would, gancho. But as far as a meal and a bed, we’ve got Room 2 available, as long as you don’t mind sleeping next to the kitchen. I always liked a bit of music in the place. The phonograph is right handy, but there’s nothing like a song sung in person.”

@Kvothe the Bloodless

[Kvothe the Bloodless]

Therim looked over at the table the woman had pointed at and his eyes narrowed. Curious, he thought. He looked back at the woman and said "Thank you, any bed is better than the street. And I'll be ready to perform in just a bit. I simply need to get my mind ready." Therim began to walk away with a sweep of his cloak, but then paused and turned, shifting the lute on his back. Looking the woman in the eye, he said "I must have missed your name. What is it that you are called?"

@ZincAboutIt

[+ZincAboutIt]

“Ash’s eyes, where are my manners?” Tashi poured the man a glass of orange wine and tried to hide her flustered face. “I’m Tashi. Anything you need, you just call! And you? What’s you’re name?”

@Kvothe the Bloodless

[Kvothe the Bloodless]

"Ah, Tashi. A sweet name. Reminds me of my...oh nevermind. I go by Therim Daenyron." Once again, Therim glanced at the table that Tashi had pointed out, and he frowned slightly. Nodding toward the group, he asked, "Before I see to my room, could you tell me of those people? Why would they know of any oddities?"

[+ZincAboutIt]

“Well,” Tashi leaned across the bar, then nodded towards the table. “That fellow in the far corner came in earlier asking for the Scholar’s Guild, said he had some questions about ‘strange things’ happening. Called himself Balance. Then not an hour later, the head of the Guild herself shows up - that’s her there, name of Alanis - along with one of her fellow guild members. Both of them covered in dust and soaking wet. Then that younger fellow comes in about the same time. Turns out they were all in the hospital when an earthquake hit, and someone set off an explosive in the lobby.”

Tashi shrugged. “Strange goings-on around here. Makes a girl glad to have all her gold on her person at all times, is all I’m saying.”

@Kvothe the Bloodless

[Kvothe the Bloodless]

"Wise words" Therim mused, rubbing his chin, "though I wouldn't go around mentioning that to just anyone." Tossing Tashi a chip, he said "But thank you for allowing me to bother you. You've been very helpful." He smiled at her, then turned, got up and began to walk across the room.

Therim was calm as he walked up to the group, though his limp slowed him. When he got close to their table, he reached into the inner pocket of his cloak and pulled out several stones with markings on them. Scanning the faces of the group before he spoke, he asked "Any of you up for a game of breakneck?"

@EmulatonStromenkiin@Rushu42@Arlin@mathiau@ZincAboutIt

[EmulatonStromenkiin]

Balance watched the stranger, he had faintly heard a name, Term? Therm? "I am unaware of that game." he said warily. "And we have a few items of business to finish." He looked to Alanis and Folorian, waiting for them to answer.

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sorry, Kvothe. Not sure how Mathiau and Rushu want to do this, and Balance is about to give them memories. I think they're busy with IRL stuff right now. Arlin's character isn't at the table yet, either.

@Kvothe the Bloodless

@Rushu42

@mathiau

@Arlin

@ZincAboutIt

[Rushu42]

On 4/27/2022 at 3:01 PM, mathiau said:

"Wait." He turned toward Aln "If we want to give the memories back without changing them too much, it's better if you read them. My bane creates distortion between the memories I read and the memory I perceive so when I'd put them back there could be some missing pieces"

Aln nodded. "Very well. I'm no Archivist, but I'm familiar enough with the required Intent. Have you ever used a coppermind? The process is fairly intuitive, but it's useful to know-" she cut off at the sight of the figure approaching. He was carrying a plate of cookies.

Calm down, Aln, she reminded herself. This isn't the other timeline. Sometimes cookies are just cookies.

Before she could address him, another figure limped towards them, looking like some sort of travelling musician. She eyed the barkeep as the Epic turned down his offer of a game. Had she been sending people over here? A public bar had been a mistake. "I'm afraid you'd find me a dull gambler," she said, trying not to betray the tension that she felt. Were people normally this friendly? She'd never been one to go to bars, really, and after everything that had happened over the past few days, she couldn't help but see ulterior motives in every stranger. 

Aln stood abruptly and called to the proprietor. "Excuse me, how much to rent a double room for the night?"

@mathiau @EmulatonStromenkiin @Kvothe the Bloodless @Zinc Counselor @Arlin

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Yes, I'm in the midst of exam season right now, so I'll be slow - sorry about that! 

Also, to be clear, you're welcome to have your characters press the issue and still try to talk to Aln - I don't mean to shut down anyone's interaction, I just know that Aln would be feeling very jumpy about strangers right now.

 

[EmulatonStromenkiin]

29 minutes ago, Rushu42 said:

Aln nodded. "Very well. I'm no Archivist, but I'm familiar enough with the required Intent. Have you ever used a coppermind? The process is fairly intuitive, but it's useful to know-" she cut off at the sight of the figure approaching. He was carrying a plate of cookies.

Calm down, Aln, she reminded herself. This isn't the other timeline. Sometimes cookies are just cookies.

Before she could address him, another figure limped towards them, looking like some sort of travelling musician. She eyed the barkeep as the Epic turned down his offer of a game. Had she been sending people over here? A public bar had been a mistake. "I'm afraid you'd find me a dull gambler," she said, trying not to betray the tension that she felt. Were people normally this friendly? She'd never been one to go to bars, really, and after everything that had happened over the past few days, she couldn't help but see ulterior motives in every stranger. 

Aln stood abruptly and called to the proprietor. "Excuse me, how much to rent a double room for the night?"

@mathiau @EmulatonStromenkiin @Kvothe the Bloodless @Zinc Counselor @Arlin

 

"If you want, I'm renting a room," Balance said. "We can go there." He continued to tap on the table, and the faint lines had returned. "This is unsettling." @Rushu42@mathiau

"I don't gamble," Balance said as he turned to the Therm-figure. "Not with money, and preferably not with lives." His eyes glazed a bit, and the lines around his fingers abruptly disappeared. "not again, not again." @Kvothe the Bloodless

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No problem about the exams, I've got AP exams on friday. and live by a college.

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by EmulatonStromenkiin

[Kvothe the Bloodless]

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Ah ok

 

3 hours ago, EmulatonStromenkiin said:

Balance watched the stranger, he had faintly heard a name, Term? Therm? "I am unaware of that game." he said warily. "And we have a few items of business to finish." He looked to Alanis and Folorian, waiting for them to answer.

"Sorry to bother you then. I'll leave you to your business." Placing the stones in his pocket, Therim shifted the lute on his back, then turned and made his way towards his room.