Free States of the Crescent

[Through the Living Hope]

5 minutes ago, The Stormfather said:

“No.” Mark sighed. “The best thing to do is probably to go along with them.”

Until bullets start flying. The Killer finished, in Mark’s head.

She nodded a bit and looked at the two playing cards. “Who’s winning?” she asked, not loud but audible. 

[The Stormfather He/Him]

17 hours ago, Spark of Hope said:

She nodded a bit and looked at the two playing cards. “Who’s winning?” she asked, not loud but audible. 

One of the two sighed loudly. “Not me.”

The other grinned, although they weren’t playing for any stakes. There were fake coins on the table that they were betting.

[Through the Living Hope]

47 minutes ago, The Stormfather said:

One of the two sighed loudly. “Not me.”

The other grinned, although they weren’t playing for any stakes. There were fake coins on the table that they were betting.

She smiled a bit and turned back to Mark. “Well… I’ve gone out of my way for years not to get to know you, so…”

[The Stormfather He/Him]

11 hours ago, Spark of Hope said:

She smiled a bit and turned back to Mark. “Well… I’ve gone out of my way for years not to get to know you, so…”

“I…” For a moment, Mark seemed angry, though he quickly calmed down. “Is there much that you wouldn’t have found out in the last few years?” He paused. “There isn’t much of a story to tell that you weren’t there for.”

[Through the Living Hope]

10 hours ago, The Stormfather said:

“I…” For a moment, Mark seemed angry, though he quickly calmed down. “Is there much that you wouldn’t have found out in the last few years?” He paused. “There isn’t much of a story to tell that you weren’t there for.”

“Well.. um…” She had a question, but seemed hesitant to ask. 

[The Stormfather He/Him]

12 hours ago, Spark of Hope said:

“Well.. um…” She had a question, but seemed hesitant to ask. 

“Whatever you’re trying to say, just say it. I’m going to listen to you, no matter what it is.”

Stupid Ideals.

[Through the Living Hope]

1 hour ago, The Stormfather said:

“Whatever you’re trying to say, just say it. I’m going to listen to you, no matter what it is.”

Stupid Ideals.

“Why did you join them?” It just shot out. 

[The Stormfather He/Him]

19 hours ago, Spark of Hope said:

“Why did you join them?” It just shot out. 

“I-“ Mark sighed. “I didn’t have much of a choice. I wasn’t doing very well, not at all. Not many jobs are great for Soothers, except for…”

”At first, it wasn’t anything terrible that I was doing. I would use Brass to scam some Capitol agents, take some from the rich who would barely notice. Then… We got caught.” He sighed. “That was what made them see me less as a scammer and more as an assassin. First time I killed someone, the peacekeeper who broke into our lair and started shooting. I barely registered it before my knife was in his throat. We all realized that I was good at fighting soon after that, when there was another scuffle with agents of the Capitol. Things…. Devolved quickly, after that. We had to leave our lair, which left us vulnerable. We had to move into the domain of other gangs. We tried joining some of them, but nobody wants to take in people getting hunted by the peacekeepers. Too much of a risk.”

”We settled, eventually, in Adris’ childhood home, oddly enough. Didn’t realize that criminality had taken over pretty much everybody in the neighborhood. Three gangs formed. Us, the Steeles, and the Raiders. The Raiders were… caught… a few months after we got there. Then, well, you know most of the rest. Sereine… Then we and the Steeles merged. We eventually decided our name should be the Steeles. There weren’t many of the Rusted even left.” Mark groaned. “Not enough of us knew how to fight. With me gone…”

[Through the Living Hope]

49 minutes ago, The Stormfather said:

“I-“ Mark sighed. “I didn’t have much of a choice. I wasn’t doing very well, not at all. Not many jobs are great for Soothers, except for…”

”At first, it wasn’t anything terrible that I was doing. I would use Brass to scam some Capitol agents, take some from the rich who would barely notice. Then… We got caught.” He sighed. “That was what made them see me less as a scammer and more as an assassin. First time I killed someone, the peacekeeper who broke into our lair and started shooting. I barely registered it before my knife was in his throat. We all realized that I was good at fighting soon after that, when there was another scuffle with agents of the Capitol. Things…. Devolved quickly, after that. We had to leave our lair, which left us vulnerable. We had to move into the domain of other gangs. We tried joining some of them, but nobody wants to take in people getting hunted by the peacekeepers. Too much of a risk.”

”We settled, eventually, in Adris’ childhood home, oddly enough. Didn’t realize that criminality had taken over pretty much everybody in the neighborhood. Three gangs formed. Us, the Steeles, and the Raiders. The Raiders were… caught… a few months after we got there. Then, well, you know most of the rest. Sereine… Then we and the Steeles merged. We eventually decided our name should be the Steeles. There weren’t many of the Rusted even left.” Mark groaned. “Not enough of us knew how to fight. With me gone…”

She looked down. “I owe you another apology, then. You’re not like them deep down.”

[The Stormfather He/Him]

On 3/11/2025 at 5:19 PM, Spark of Hope said:

She looked down. “I owe you another apology, then. You’re not like them deep down.”

“None of them are how you picture them. All of us… We do what we can to survive. That’s it. We’ve made mistakes. We sure as hell have, but that doesn’t make every one of us bad. Instead of looking at Adris and the ones who went after your father for your blame, look to the ones who offered them and all of them a way out of the gutter if they did the job. Look towards the corruption and scams that forced all of us into the streets in the first place.” 
Mark stared upwards. “You say that I’m not like them. Maybe that’s true. I’m the only of them whose sworn ideals, who has accepted the authority of others. But I’m more akin to them than you can know. Without them, I’d be dead. I wouldn’t have been there to fight the Marksmen. The rebellion may not have happened in the first place. You say that I’m not like them as a compliment, and I accept that sentiment. But what you are truly saying, or what I dearly hope you meant, is that I am not like what would seem to be to those who don’t know them. Those who see them as criminals, and nothing more.”

”Deep down, I am like them. I…I am a criminal. A murderer. A revolutionist. An enemy to the capitol. Someone just going through life and trying to stay alive. We don’t like the things we’ve done. It… it haunts us, for long, long times. But sometimes, we just needed to do what we could to survive.”

Quote

I just typed that whole thing on my phone.

without realizing my laptop is right in front of me.

XD

 

[Through the Living Hope]

11 hours ago, The Stormfather said:

“None of them are how you picture them. All of us… We do what we can to survive. That’s it. We’ve made mistakes. We sure as hell have, but that doesn’t make every one of us bad. Instead of looking at Adris and the ones who went after your father for your blame, look to the ones who offered them and all of them a way out of the gutter if they did the job. Look towards the corruption and scams that forced all of us into the streets in the first place.” 
Mark stared upwards. “You say that I’m not like them. Maybe that’s true. I’m the only of them whose sworn ideals, who has accepted the authority of others. But I’m more akin to them than you can know. Without them, I’d be dead. I wouldn’t have been there to fight the Marksmen. The rebellion may not have happened in the first place. You say that I’m not like them as a compliment, and I accept that sentiment. But what you are truly saying, or what I dearly hope you meant, is that I am not like what would seem to be to those who don’t know them. Those who see them as criminals, and nothing more.”

”Deep down, I am like them. I…I am a criminal. A murderer. A revolutionist. An enemy to the capitol. Someone just going through life and trying to stay alive. We don’t like the things we’ve done. It… it haunts us, for long, long times. But sometimes, we just needed to do what we could to survive.”

 

She thought about that for a while. He could tell this was all things she hadn’t considered before. She’d hated them for what happened in the past, refusing to humanize them in her mind. 

“If you think about it, everyone in the Crescent is a criminal. We all committed treason, technically.”

[The Stormfather He/Him]

1 hour ago, Spark of Hope said:

She thought about that for a while. He could tell this was all things she hadn’t considered before. She’d hated them for what happened in the past, refusing to humanize them in her mind. 

“If you think about it, everyone in the Crescent is a criminal. We all committed treason, technically.”

"True." Mark said. "Though we're not criminals anymore, or, at least, we haven't been arreste-" Mark looked at the bars surrounding him. "Maybe we did get arrested for treason."

[Through the Living Hope]

29 minutes ago, The Stormfather said:

"True." Mark said. "Though we're not criminals anymore, or, at least, we haven't been arreste-" Mark looked at the bars surrounding him. "Maybe we did get arrested for treason."

She snorted. 

[The Stormfather He/Him]

3 hours ago, Spark of Hope said:

She snorted. 

Quote

How long do think it would have taken Lily to run back to the house?

 

[Through the Living Hope]

Just now, The Stormfather said:

 

Quote

A few minutes probably

 

[The Stormfather He/Him]

On 3/13/2025 at 11:30 AM, Spark of Hope said:

She snorted. 

"I...Hopefully the others don't end up caught like us. It...Hopefully they can organize some kind of defense against these people." Mark sighed. "Although, if they did, they'd probably end up in a real prison. Something about this... These people have put a lot of money into this. They had a good amount of Breath, at least fifty, because they were able to see Spren."

He paused for a moment. "They also had a lot of rifles and firearms, which don't come cheaply. And this... place... It seems like they've gone through an awful lot of effort for this 'vengeance'. And, if they've gone through this much effort to capture us, why haven't they either captured the others or killed us? Do we know if they even want to catch the others or not?"

He sighed again. "This doesn't make sense to me. None of it does. Although... When has life ever really made sense? Maybe this is just me trying to find a deeper thought when there isn't one. Maybe this is just me trying to find some reasoning that they won't kill us, my deeper human survival instinct kicking in with it's last resorts. I don't know. I..."

"I'm... I'm just so... tired of all of this."

[Through the Living Hope]

2 hours ago, The Stormfather said:

"I...Hopefully the others don't end up caught like us. It...Hopefully they can organize some kind of defense against these people." Mark sighed. "Although, if they did, they'd probably end up in a real prison. Something about this... These people have put a lot of money into this. They had a good amount of Breath, at least fifty, because they were able to see Spren."

He paused for a moment. "They also had a lot of rifles and firearms, which don't come cheaply. And this... place... It seems like they've gone through an awful lot of effort for this 'vengeance'. And, if they've gone through this much effort to capture us, why haven't they either captured the others or killed us? Do we know if they even want to catch the others or not?"

He sighed again. "This doesn't make sense to me. None of it does. Although... When has life ever really made sense? Maybe this is just me trying to find a deeper thought when there isn't one. Maybe this is just me trying to find some reasoning that they won't kill us, my deeper human survival instinct kicking in with it's last resorts. I don't know. I..."

"I'm... I'm just so... tired of all of this."

She sighed. “Me too. But they haven’t taken anyone else that we know of, and if they aren’t hurting us we can be glad for those two things.”

[The Stormfather He/Him]

On 3/16/2025 at 12:27 PM, Spark of Hope said:

She sighed. “Me too. But they haven’t taken anyone else that we know of, and if they aren’t hurting us we can be glad for those two things.”

"I- I know. I just can't help feeling..." Mark searched for the word. "I don't know. I should have been able to stop them. I stopped the group that was prepared specifically to kill us, and got caught by some backup after taking out their main force." He glared out at one of the guards. "Even with the Killer's help, I couldn't have won. It just seems that whatever outside force there is in this Ruined world, it really has it out for me."

[Through the Living Hope]

2 minutes ago, The Stormfather said:

"I- I know. I just can't help feeling..." Mark searched for the word. "I don't know. I should have been able to stop them. I stopped the group that was prepared specifically to kill us, and got caught by some backup after taking out their main force." He glared out at one of the guards. "Even with the Killer's help, I couldn't have won. It just seems that whatever outside force there is in this Ruined world, it really has it out for me."

She hesitated and put a hand on his shoulder. 

[The Stormfather He/Him]

On 3/17/2025 at 6:30 PM, Spark of Hope said:

She hesitated and put a hand on his shoulder. 

he fell silent, glaring out at the guards.

Let me through, Mark. I'll break us out of here, kill all of them and make them pay. They will feel the hurt that you now feel! Let me-

"No." He growled. "No!"

The guards glanced over at him, but didn't really react.

"Not everything is solved with death." He whispered.

He turned to Marewill. "Do you think... Do you think any of them would've noticed we're gone by now? Do you think they'll be coming to help us?"

[Through the Living Hope]

Just now, The Stormfather said:

he fell silent, glaring out at the guards.

Let me through, Mark. I'll break us out of here, kill all of them and make them pay. They will feel the hurt that you now feel! Let me-

"No." He growled. "No!"

The guards glanced over at him, but didn't really react.

"Not everything is solved with death." He whispered.

He turned to Marewill. "Do you think... Do you think any of them would've noticed we're gone by now? Do you think they'll be coming to help us?"

“I- I’m sure they noticed, Mark. But I don’t know how they would find us. If they could help us.”

She sighed, back against the wall and hands over her face. 

[The Stormfather He/Him]

19 hours ago, Spark of Hope said:

“I- I’m sure they noticed, Mark. But I don’t know how they would find us. If they could help us.”

She sighed, back against the wall and hands over her face. 

He sighed, kicking around some of the dirt in the cell. "I... I feel like there should be something we can do. Every time I've been in situations like this, I've always been able to do something. I've always been able to fight, or scheme, or do some hairbrained and far-too-complicated method of escape. Now... It's just... Nothing."

[Through the Living Hope]

Just now, The Stormfather said:

He sighed, kicking around some of the dirt in the cell. "I... I feel like there should be something we can do. Every time I've been in situations like this, I've always been able to do something. I've always been able to fight, or scheme, or do some hairbrained and far-too-complicated method of escape. Now... It's just... Nothing."

She didn't answer. Every once in a while she took a deep breath and sighed it out.

[The Stormfather He/Him]

5 minutes ago, Spark of Hope said:

She didn't answer. Every once in a while she took a deep breath and sighed it out.

Quote

Do we want to timeskip to when things start happening?

 

[Through the Living Hope]

Just now, The Stormfather said:

 

Quote

Yeah

She'll just be crying silently and hiding it