The Knights Next Door

[Lunar Blessing she/her]

4 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

[*snip*]

Rob nodded to himself at a job well done, but didn’t walk back to the house just yet.

Ashlyn drops down to sit on the grass, watching rob get rid of the bodies. After a moment she pushes herself up and walks over to stand next to him, "I need your help." 

Edited November 1, 2019 by Blessing of Potency

[ShadowLord_Lith he/him]

Jason watched as everyone finally finished killing and fighting. It was so... empty, suddenly. He wanted to go home, and to forget... everything. But he couldn't do that... not again. He wouldn't forget things not anymore... even if they hurt him, he couldn't afford to forget. He needed to face them. But that... that would be hard. "Ax... What should we do? I... Should we stay, or... go home?" He didn't know what else to do, but he was gripping Ax's hand so tightly for stability, for help to stop himself from breaking down and... crying? Screaming? Going into a manic bout of party-crazed lunacy? He had no idea... but Ax was helping him. He knew that much. He just... couldn't make a decision right now. 

@Sherlock Holmes

Edited November 1, 2019 by ShadowLord_Lith

[+Sorana she/her]

3 hours ago, Wyndlerunner said:

James broke into a wide eyed grin, that slowly faded once he noticed his hand, still tinged with gray. "But all actions have consequences."

James seemed better, although she didn't quite follow his "things need to die in order to grow" philosophy. In the end it didn't really matter, as long as he was better, as long as he found a way to deal with what happened, then it would be fine. They would be fine. She paled when she saw his hand and jumped to her feet. Grey. Grey skin. She knew what it meant, they all knew. It was bad, really bad.

"Ben." She screamed his name and rushed to the door, opened it. "Ben, James is hurt." She clarified and tried to think of something ,anything she could do. Grow. She didn't grow. She only destroyed. And she that meant she knew, she understood. It only made his injury more scary.

@Lunamor

[AonEne he/him]

5 minutes ago, Sorana said:

Maybe we should poll on whether there is way back for Voidbringers or not. We kind of agreed on that already, so idk if it's neccessary to undo that decision.

And are the 15 years set? I considered to rp Shana's daughter but given Shana's age that might be difficult...

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Sure, I’ll do that. 

No, it was 15-20 years, I’ll add a question for that into the poll too - narrow it down a bit more. 

Hey Xino, I posted  you all good? 

@xinoehp512 

[Sherlock Holmes he/him]

Ax hugged Jace, not sure what had happened. He just turned and hugged his husband, seemingly calm though his mind was more in shock than anything. He'd seen death, though. A fair bit for a pretty-normal kid. @ShadowLord_Lith

[Wyndlerunner he/him]

1 hour ago, Sorana said:

James seemed better, although she didn't quite follow his "things need to die in order to grow" philosophy. In the end it didn't really matter, as long as he was better, as long as he found a way to deal with what happened, then it would be fine. They would be fine. She paled when she saw his hand and jumped to her feet. Grey. Grey skin. She knew what it meant, they all knew. It was bad, really bad.

"Ben." She screamed his name and rushed to the door, opened it. "Ben, James is hurt." She clarified and tried to think of something ,anything she could do. Grow. She didn't grow. She only destroyed. And she that meant she knew, she understood. It only made his injury more scary.

@Lunamor

James studied his grey hand- it was odd really. He certainly could still use it, but it carried so many of the signs of a Blade wound. "What is that sword?" he whispered, absolutely terrified.

@Lunamor @Sorana

[+Sorana she/her]

9 minutes ago, Wyndlerunner said:

James studied his grey hand- it was odd really. He certainly could still use it, but it carried so many of the signs of a Blade wound. "What is that sword?" he whispered, absolutely terrified.

@Lunamor @Sorana

"It looks like the wound of a Shardweapon." Shana wrapped an arm around him in an attempt to comfort him. He sounded terrified and she wished that she could tell him, that it would be alright, but she feared that it was a lie. So she stayed quiet, only held on to him. "Ben knows what to do. He always does."

[I think I am here. he/him]

19 hours ago, Blessing of Potency said:

Ashlyn drops down to sit on the grass, watching rob get rid of the bodies. After a moment she pushes herself up and walks over to stand next to him, "I need your help." 

“Hi,” Rob said, turning to her.

“As you can see, these are the sorts of enemies you’ll probably have to confront when you join us. If you haven’t already.” He tone softened a fraction.

“What do you need my help with?”

@Blessing of Potency

Edited November 2, 2019 by I think I am here.

[ShadowLord_Lith he/him]

Jason looked at Ax, hugging him back and just holding him. "Let's go inside and sit on the couch... alright?" He forced himself to smile, rubbing Ax's back and trying to lead him inside. 

@Sherlock Holmes

[Wyndlerunner he/him]

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Wow. I just noticed the poll's title. You referring to the books or the movies/tv show Ene?

@AonEne

[AonEne he/him]

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Movies. I’ve never seen the show, and tried to read the books once, but couldn’t get through the first one.  The movies are amazing though! 

 

[Wyndlerunner he/him]

2 minutes ago, AonEne said:

couldn’t get through the first one

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If you can get over the fact that the books and movies are very different things, I really enjoy the books. They're quick, fun reads. Also, if you like the movies, you are doing yourself a serious disservice by not watching the show (Its on the Netflix).

 

[AonEne he/him]

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I think it was the childishness, actually. Probably some was the difference, but I was having trouble reconciling the adventure with the...*waves vaguely* I dunno, that. The writing style wasn’t my thing. 

Oh no, something else I need to give my time to  thanks for the recommendation. 

 

[Lunamor she/her]

Ben felt a jolt of fear when he heard Shana scream his name. Was she hurt? What was wrong? She clarified and he felt a different sort of fear. He grabbed the spheres off his desk and bolted out the door. He wished he had checked on him sooner, that he hadn’t wait so long. Who knew what that injury was doing to James, how it was still hurting him. Finally reaching his room, he dropped the spheres on the floor and inhaled, placing his hand on James’s normal one. He tried to use Progression to see what had hurt him, but all he saw was this dark void. It was this dark, terrible entity, kind of like-

The sword.

“James, have you seen any weird swords lately? Pure black ones?”

Ben stared James in the eyes, speaking slowly and clearly. He hoped he was wrong, but had the feeling that he was all too right.

[Sherlock Holmes he/him]

50 minutes ago, ShadowLord_Lith said:

Jason looked at Ax, hugging him back and just holding him. "Let's go inside and sit on the couch... alright?" He forced himself to smile, rubbing Ax's back and trying to lead him inside. 

@Sherlock Holmes

Ax nodded and followed Jace.

[ShadowLord_Lith he/him]

Jason led him to the couch, sitting down and pulling Ax down next to him, holding him and rubbing his back, trying to help him calm down. "Talk to me... if you have any thoughts, just tell me... okay?

@Sherlock Holmes

Edited November 2, 2019 by ShadowLord_Lith

[Sherlock Holmes he/him]

Ax nodded and snuggled against Jace's chest, shock fading to calm and resting there.

[ShadowLord_Lith he/him]

Jace just held him, slowly calming down as well. "That... that was an actual fight..."

@Sherlock Holmes

Edited November 2, 2019 by ShadowLord_Lith

[Wyndlerunner he/him]

1 hour ago, Lunamor said:

Ben felt a jolt of fear when he heard Shana scream his name. Was she hurt? What was wrong? She clarified and he felt a different sort of fear. He grabbed the spheres off his desk and bolted out the door. He wished he had checked on him sooner, that he hadn’t wait so long. Who knew what that injury was doing to James, how it was still hurting him. Finally reaching his room, he dropped the spheres on the floor and inhaled, placing his hand on James’s normal one. He tried to use Progression to see what had hurt him, but all he saw was this dark void. It was this dark, terrible entity, kind of like-

The sword.

“James, have you seen any weird swords lately? Pure black ones?”

Ben stared James in the eyes, speaking slowly and clearly. He hoped he was wrong, but had the feeling that he was all too right.

James looked at Ben, recognition filling his eyes. "Yes" he said quietly, "It's what I wielded in the battle."

[WrathofaShardKitten]

The yard still looked empty when Evelyn arrived at the back of the house, but looks didn’t really mean anything if there was the possibility of illusions in play. And she still had no idea how she could tell if they were or not. There might be aons that could help, but Evelyn had no idea what they might be. And if she didn’t know the aons, then she couldn’t use them.

The easiest, and stupidest, way to find out if there were voidbringers seemed to just be to go outside. The voidbringers would attack her, and she’d know they were there. Simple, right? It was also exactly the sort of thing Avina would do, and exactly the sort of thing that terrified Evelyn. It was also something that she could do to feel like she was helping. So Evelyn dismissed the edo sheild over the door and stepped out into the night.

For a moment, everything was still. Then a voidbringer appeared in front of Evelyn. She screamed, and some sort of instinct must have kicked in, because she punched the voidbringer in the face. It fell backwards, and Evelyn stared at her her hand in shock. Had she done that? Her smarting knuckles told Evelyn that she had, but she’d had no idea that she was that strong. Then the voidbringer moved, and Evelyn snapped out of whatever trance she’d been in. She jumped backwards and began blasting the voidbringer with aon daa until it lay still. She wasn’t sure if it was dead or just unconscious, but she didn’t have time to find out. As the voidbringer who’d popped up in front of Evelyn was still at last, five more appeared in the center of the yard. They did not look happy.

Evelyn moved away, mind frantically searching for options. There were too many voidbringers to use aon daa on them all, and the same thing applied to any of the other aons. Except for the one she’d wanted never to use. But it was her only idea. The only one that might work. And the voidbringers were moving closer.

Her hands were steady as she drew the aon, though they felt as though they should have been trembling. Evelyn drew the last stroke just as the voidbringers drew within striking range. The oan finished, Evelyn fled. She ran as far from the aon as she could before it activated, but it still wasn’t far enough from the column of flame that erupted from the aon, engulfing the voidbringers inside it’s raging heat.

Evelyn collapsed as the heat struck her. It wasn’t hot enough to burn her, but it was fire. She hated fire. Hated the way the heat seared her skin, hated it’s burning light, and hated how it could make her so afraid.

She laid there, curled up in a tight ball, knees hugged tightly to herself, watching through tear filled eyes as the voidbringers burned. There was a scream, too. The voidbringer’s as they were consumed. It seemed distant to Evelyn as she stared into the bright flames, unable to look away. And then the fire vanished, aon used up, leaving three still forms where the fire had once raged.

And lying there, shaking in a corner of the yard, was Evelyn. She stared unseeing into the darkness the flames had left as tears poured down her face. She didn’t notice when lights began to appear in the upstairs rooms as people came back inside after the battle. Didn’t notice the cold due to the phantom heat still on her skin.

[+Sorana she/her]

Shana continued to sit with James and Ben, made sure she wasn't in their way. She leaned against the wall, the expression on Ben's face scaring her deeply. If Ben was scared on an injury it was a bad sign. One of the worst. So she kept to herself, stayed with them to offer silent comfort and waited for Ben to figure the situation out. He would know what to do, he would find a way. He always did. He was so smart, he had to find a way, he had to come up with something. And yet a part of her knew, that she was lying to herself. That it was nothing more than a cruel lie, that she looked for hope where there was none.

If Ben had to take the hand off, she could cauterize the stump. The thought was scary as well and she pulled up her knees, moved them close to her chest and hugged herself. She had accepted her fate easily, had never questioned why she was supposed to fight, to kill. But sitting here, watching while James world was about to crumble she questioned her path for the first time. Life before death. How could they swear and oath like that and then kill? She had thought that she was a superhero, destined to make a difference. Like the Avengers. Fight your enemies at great risk and emerge victorious in the end. What a silly thought. She was no Avenger and her enemies were no aliens from the sky. She was just a girl, a girl about to repeat a whole year because she spend her time training. Training to kill.

Suddenly the feeling of the bloodstained cloths on her skin became unbearable and she got to her feet, pointed at her cloths in a wordless explanation and rushed to her room. Grab something else, anything, head to the bathroom. She locked the door and undressed, piled everything on the ground and stared at her fac ein the mirror. She looked haunted, dried blood covered her skin, had somehow found it's way into her hair. She was shaking when she stepped into the shower and turned the water on, hot, scorching hot, then she started to scrub at her skin, tried to get rid of the blood, continued to rub over her skin even after all of it was gone. There was a new scar where she knife had sliced her side open, it looked old, but it was there nonetheless. Shana tilted her head back, her tears mixing with the running water while she tried to forget the feeling, the moment when all light left the eyes of her victims.

[xinoehp512 he/him]

On 10/30/2019 at 0:48 PM, AonEne said:

 This doesn’t have to be something you have to ‘rebuild’, Xino. It’s just the RP going in a different direction than you thought it would go. It happens to all of us - we can still have fun here  [the Shard needs a hopeful emoji]  

On 10/30/2019 at 2:01 PM, ShadowLord_Lith said:

I wanted a liking quest, but I saw there were already four for episodic things. So I sort of went with the crowd. I mildly disappointed in myself about that, but it's true. Maybe there could be hints of an overarching plot in the background, and it'll eventually become a dominant aspect of the 'episodic' bits of RP? There's always a way to rebuild. I once had a cool little 'oh look, an enemy you'll defeat later on' moment in a campaign. Instead of acknowledging that they couldn't win, they dropped a cave on the bad guys head. I rolled with it, but believe me that made me rewrite huge chunks of the campaign... if you want, I'd gladly help. I just need to know how I can help.

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I like building.  I just wish I could feel confident that I could keep it.

On 10/30/2019 at 3:25 PM, AonEne said:

I think the occasional fight with Voidbringers would work for that, as well as the struggle against people finding out about Investiture - or the struggle to get them to do it - with elements of battling and defeating Sha-thoexis’s influence? That’s basically been what we’ve done so far. 

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I'm all for overarching plot, but there needs to be a shift in how it gets handled.

On 10/30/2019 at 4:44 PM, ShadowLord_Lith said:

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Yes, though maybe having it be a little more intentionally focused on the plot in those instances would help- I mean, this fight came from nowhere and had little to no build-up or reason behind it. That itself makes it harder to help with plot, and then it ended before xinoehp512 even had a chance to finish off the plot thread he'd started with his named antagonist. They could finish it off, but he has already expressed how discouraging this whole situation is. Honestly, we should probably consult him while thinking of whether or not an attack is going to happen, since he knows their motivations and knows whether or not they would realistically attack, and in what numbers. 

Does that make sense? What do you think, guys?

 

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On 10/30/2019 at 5:10 PM, AonEne said:

Sheln and Cassie (and theoretically Leona) are still fighting. I just need Xino to answer my post, then we'll see how it goes. 

While I understand where you're coming from, the way we handle plot stuff in this roleplay is by giving everyone input, and so far the Voidbringers have been...not that. Much worldbuilding has been done without the understanding of the other roleplayers, and I actually think we should be scaling that back a good amount. Instead of consulting one specific person, we should be consulting everyone, since ideally everyone controls what goes on. 

I do agree that we need to have a more focused reasoning behind our attacks - the one Ara started was out of nowhere - but so far the poll looks like it's leaning toward the other end of things, so while having underlying themes and linked miniplots is fine, we don't want to go too far. 

You aren't in the plot PM, right? Do you want to be added? 

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What if nobody does give input?

On 10/30/2019 at 5:14 PM, ShadowLord_Lith said:

That is fair, I admit. I just... dislike how upset he was. And I know how it feels to have days, weeks, or even months of world building ruined by a surprise from nowhere. You are also right, though. It isn't the end of the world, and everyone should have a say. 

Also a good idea and idea.  

No, I'm not, and yes, I'd love that. Mainly because then I can feast on more world building- I'm mildly addicted to the stuff.  

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On 10/30/2019 at 5:25 PM, AonEne said:

I don't like it either, but - no offense, I don't think this is offensive, but I'll say that anyway - Xino is not the only upset person in TKND. I've been trying to make this a fun place for as many people as possible, where everyone has a chance, and it does mean compromises have to be made. 

This also isn't a surprise from nowhere. This has been a recurring problem, one that I have tried to address often while being as polite as possible. (I'm sorry if that's unhelpful. I've written some, erased some. I'll go with that for now.) 

I'll add you! 

On 10/30/2019 at 5:28 PM, ShadowLord_Lith said:

Yay! And, I think I noticed that... not often, and I can't recall any major times, but... yeah, that's fair. I'll try to think bigger picture. Thank you for being willing to discuss this with me so calmly. It's immensely helpful and very nice of you to be so willing to listen to ideas and express your own without becoming confrontational. It means a lot to me.

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I would like to think I do my best to avoid offending others, but alas... finding a balance between expressing conviction and avoiding offense can be difficult at times. If I have offended, I apologize. 

I am grateful that you have accepted so much of what I have created. Worldbuilding is one of my favorite things to do, and it's thrilling to see it become part of a RP.  However, it's impossible to ignore the fact that the vast majority of conflicts between us have come because of my worldbuilding. 

I'm not sure what exactly it is about me or my worldbuilding that is causing issues. I don't want to leave the RP, but if the problem can't be resolved... 

 

On 4/23/2019 at 11:49 PM, xinoehp512 said:

First Fusion is red eyes.

Second Fusion is skin-color becomes red/black/white like a singer.

Third Fusion is carapace.

Fourth Fusion lets you hear the rhythms.

Fifth Fusion means you are a singer, with a gemheart, violet blood, and form-changing (although how that works without a storm I don't know.)

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This is the worldbuilding I forgot to post months ago.  Fifth Fusion is probably completely scrapped, but the rest of it... maybe it's salvageable.

 

[Lunar Blessing she/her]

21 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

“Hi,” Rob said, turning to her.

“As you can see, these are the sorts of enemies you’ll probably have to confront when you join us. If you haven’t already.” He tone softened a fraction.

“What do you need my help with?”

@Blessing of Potency

“Well. Shana told me that this bracelet.” She holds up her arm to show him, “isn’t actually a bracelet. She also told me that I need to say some sort of oath to get it to work, I guess, that’s what I need your help with.”

[AonEne he/him]

23 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

I like building.  I just wish I could feel confident that I could keep it. 

I'm all for overarching plot, but there needs to be a shift in how it gets handled. 

What if nobody does give input? 

I would like to think I do my best to avoid offending others, but alas... finding a balance between expressing conviction and avoiding offense can be difficult at times. If I have offended, I apologize. 

I am grateful that you have accepted so much of what I have created. Worldbuilding is one of my favorite things to do, and it's thrilling to see it become part of a RP.  However, it's impossible to ignore the fact that the vast majority of conflicts between us have come because of my worldbuilding. 

I'm not sure what exactly it is about me or my worldbuilding that is causing issues. I don't want to leave the RP, but if the problem can't be resolved... 

 

This is the worldbuilding I forgot to post months ago.  Fifth Fusion is probably completely scrapped, but the rest of it... maybe it's salvageable.

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1. That is a good hopeful emoji! 

2. Why do you think we need to shift how we’ve been handling it? 

3. People have been giving input every time, so I don’t think we need to worry about that at all. 

4. It has been decided that Voidbringers won’t have singer features, but I appreciate the suggestion. 

5. So, about your worldbuilding. They’re not bad ideas; the main problem, in my experience, has been that you are very rigid about it, unwilling to accommodate other ideas or changes, and that you often create this worldbuilding, then insist that it be used. We value everyone’s opinions, and don’t want anyone to feel left out - but people have felt smothered by this in the past. This is why we have used polls to determine what should be canon. 

Lately, you haven’t posted much RP from Draug at all, and a minimal amount from the Voidbringer side. Instead you’ve been primarily debating things OOC. This can be viewed as trying to control the RP without actually participating in it, which I don’t believe is your intention. 

I don’t want you to leave TKND, Xino, and see no reason why you should. Just because we’re trying to be fair about your worldbuilding doesn’t mean you can’t roleplay, and you don’t even need to worldbuild to be in the RP and to have a say in what happens. 

 

[King Aragorn of Gondor]

17 hours ago, Hope Spren said:

The yard still looked empty when Evelyn arrived at the back of the house, but looks didn’t really mean anything if there was the possibility of illusions in play. And she still had no idea how she could tell if they were or not. There might be aons that could help, but Evelyn had no idea what they might be. And if she didn’t know the aons, then she couldn’t use them.

The easiest, and stupidest, way to find out if there were voidbringers seemed to just be to go outside. The voidbringers would attack her, and she’d know they were there. Simple, right? It was also exactly the sort of thing Avina would do, and exactly the sort of thing that terrified Evelyn. It was also something that she could do to feel like she was helping. So Evelyn dismissed the edo sheild over the door and stepped out into the night.

For a moment, everything was still. Then a voidbringer appeared in front of Evelyn. She screamed, and some sort of instinct must have kicked in, because she punched the voidbringer in the face. It fell backwards, and Evelyn stared at her her hand in shock. Had she done that? Her smarting knuckles told Evelyn that she had, but she’d had no idea that she was that strong. Then the voidbringer moved, and Evelyn snapped out of whatever trance she’d been in. She jumped backwards and began blasting the voidbringer with aon daa until it lay still. She wasn’t sure if it was dead or just unconscious, but she didn’t have time to find out. As the voidbringer who’d popped up in front of Evelyn was still at last, five more appeared in the center of the yard. They did not look happy.

Evelyn moved away, mind frantically searching for options. There were too many voidbringers to use aon daa on them all, and the same thing applied to any of the other aons. Except for the one she’d wanted never to use. But it was her only idea. The only one that might work. And the voidbringers were moving closer.

Her hands were steady as she drew the aon, though they felt as though they should have been trembling. Evelyn drew the last stroke just as the voidbringers drew within striking range. The oan finished, Evelyn fled. She ran as far from the aon as she could before it activated, but it still wasn’t far enough from the column of flame that erupted from the aon, engulfing the voidbringers inside it’s raging heat.

Evelyn collapsed as the heat struck her. It wasn’t hot enough to burn her, but it was fire. She hated fire. Hated the way the heat seared her skin, hated it’s burning light, and hated how it could make her so afraid.

She laid there, curled up in a tight ball, knees hugged tightly to herself, watching through tear filled eyes as the voidbringers burned. There was a scream, too. The voidbringer’s as they were consumed. It seemed distant to Evelyn as she stared into the bright flames, unable to look away. And then the fire vanished, aon used up, leaving three still forms where the fire had once raged.

And lying there, shaking in a corner of the yard, was Evelyn. She stared unseeing into the darkness the flames had left as tears poured down her face. She didn’t notice when lights began to appear in the upstairs rooms as people came back inside after the battle. Didn’t notice the cold due to the phantom heat still on her skin.

Nym was busy talking to the Lightweaver, when movement caught her eye.  It was Evelyn, on the ground crying.  She raced outside without another word to the Lightweaver, she went up to Evelyn and asked "Are you OK?"  She never knew what to do with crying people.