Voidus

Sudiov grimaced as the Shade vanished, it was almost as irritating as the Stranger himself and twice as slippery. But it had made a request to him, something the Stranger had only ever done once before, and it had seemed genuined. Fine. He thought, settling back and casting his gaze over the world. I can watch this boy along with the others. Those that need to be watched are few enough that one more is no real strain. He was already keeping an eye on many of the central figures in the city and those most dangerous to the Forgery. The Acolyte had met the Daughter again, that had been a dangerous pairing but as soon as he discovered how best to stabilize these echoes of memories then they would pose no more danger. For now he watched over both to ensure that neither was in any serious danger. Voidus of course he watched most carefully of all, he was bound more tightly to this Forgery than any other and so far had not shown any of the signs that others had shown of regaining memories. But Sudiov could never be too careful, there was no telling what Voidus was truly thinking as he sat in his false freedom inside a gilded cage. Sudiov still would have greatly preferred to destroy Voidus entirely but this was perhaps the best compromise that could be made. Actually, where is he now? Sudiov wondered, looking for Voidus. Blasted Shade distracting me, he was heading for the hospital... But Voidus was not in the city. Instead when Sudiov's gaze finally found him he had wandered deep into the Alleys along with one of his former denizens. He had not, it seemed, regained all of his memories, but this proximity to his former life could not possibly be easy on the already strained fabric of reality. We must remove him immediately. Sudiov thought, grabbing for the void and hoping to use this chance to destroy his rival before he realized that he would, of course, be countered by the Stranger before he could do so. Who's to say this isn't simply some part of their plan after all? But then he saw what Voidus was doing in that moment and all caution was thrown to the wind. Because Voidus was Alleytravelling, he grabbed for an Alley at random it seemed but there was one Alley that Voidus was more connected to than any other, more even than the original Alley. The Alley that held his former power, the Alley that had given birth to Sudiov during Voidus' seventeen year absence. The Alley that held the Well of Voids. He cannot be allowed to find it. Sudiov grabbed at the void, trying to pull all of its quiet and terrible power to obliterate Voidus, the denizen, even the Alley they stood in. But he saw, by reflex the Stranger moved to counter him and realised that even if he could win that contest, by the time he did so it would be too late. Something subtler then. He separated a thin strand from the rest and slipped it past the Strangers grip. A fragment of the void so tenuous that it would barely even be worthy of consideration. Far too small to destroy any matter at all, let alone Voidus. But it was enough to disrupt that connection, just for the moment of travel, enough that they would arrive closeby, in one of the other forbidden Alleys where all manner of secrets were kept, but at the very least not at the well.

Good or bad? Whisper wondered as she looked at the strange man. Bad that he won't let this go at least, but the whispers... The silence was very odd, once she'd noticed the whispers she'd become accustomed to seeing and hearing them everywhere, little fragments of messages that she could almost but not quite make sense of. Most were quiet, little more than the equivalent of an absentmindedly hummed note. Others were louder, and some, like Lita when she had seen her could barely be called whispers at all. And then there was that screech from the earthquake. But nobody was completely silent, nobody until now. Does this mean he is favoured by Them? Or that he is despised? She wondered. Either way, this must be a message from Them. Now it's just a matter of deciding what to do with him. She turned on her heel and began to move through the Alley, habitually veering towards the shadows at the side. Unsurprisingly the man followed her, after a small delay, and equally unsurprisingly began to question her almost immediately. "These would be the so called Dark Alleys then. But how does that work precisely? No Fabrials here to warp the space, nor Aons to create gateways." He began, seeming to create and dismiss a number of theories. "That sensation didn't quite feel right either, not quite the same as Transportation. So not us that moved but the region around us?" Whispers step faltered at that. It was a remark dangerously close to realising one of the essential tenets of Alleytravel. Others might liken it to some of the other transportation based abilities in the cosmere, but it was fundamentally different than most. Even the most seemingly instantaneous of Alleytravel required a passage, an Alley with zero distance was no Alley at all. True that distance travelled might be miniscule but it was this realisation that kept many from truly understanding how it worked. "Yes, the Alleys move." She reluctantly confirmed. "Stay close, most are not safe." He hastened his step a little to catch up with her, leading her to quicken her own stride in turn until he was nearly jogging behind her and had less energy to ask further questions. She valued curiosity greatly, especially when correctly applied. But this was quickly growing dangerous, and she was now certain that at the least she could not allow him to wander back out into the city. They must want me to kill him. She thought. A dangerous man who cannot hear Them or even hear their whispers but wishes to gain the secrets of the Alleys? Far too dangerous. "Ah. There it goes again." The man said as she moved them into another Alley, altering the path to lead them deeper into the Alleys. "But you don't seem to be consuming or expending any kind Investiture." Of course. She thought derisively. No level of Investiture could move the Alleys, they are only moved by Their will, and sometimes we servants are able to shift some pieces of that grand design. "So these passages themselves. Alleys? They must contain the power to do so, some new form of Investiture." Whisper felt her heart briefly seize, and her uncertainty only grew. Surely this level of understanding could be nothing but a blessing from Them, how else could an unremarkable mortal from the city pick apart the Alleys secrets so quickly? "Yes." He said as they shifted once again. "Definitely different from any other Investiture I've seen, the walls have neither Light nor Aons nor any other telltale sign." She felt the Alleys begin to fumble in her grip as her panic grew, and her pace slowed as she struggled to regain control. But that only gave the Professor more time to think, and if she'd been shocked before his next words very nearly brought her to the brink of fainting. "And controlled through an exercise of will was it? Like this?" The Alleys twisted and broke free from Whispers grip as an assortment of others was shuffled into their place at random, an experimental exercise of curiosity with absolutely no regards to the consequences. Which of course meant that the Alleys chosen were not safe, and the next in particular... "Not that one!" She screamed hoarsely, voice barely audible as the Alleys shifted again.

Tearing memories from herself to place in the ring was an unpleasant experience, each memory deposited with a sensation like nails on a chalkboard and her pauses between one memory and the next grew longer and longer. There was not much time, Lita had started before she had and would likely finish soon. But even so, Laurelai used the time to think, doing her best to ignore the spine-shuddering sensation as part of her mind devoted itself to the unpleasant work. We'll forget it all. She said to herself. I'll go away and it will just be up to you. "We're the same person." She reminded it. "Just a different history, we of all people should understand that." And we also understand how much those different histories change a person. We're both Laurelai but we're not the same Laurelai. She had no reply to that, a lifetime of changing other people's history, a career at a hospital where she used that ability to literally change people's minds and personalities, all of it confirmed that they may as well have actually been different people. She agreed with herself on many things but as long as it was even possible for them to disagree about something, she would not be able to truly reconcile her two selves. "But we're both here now." She said. "We can work together." Until you destroy me again. "But I'll bring you back again." She told the voice. "I promise." We'll see. The voice replied, unconvinced. We can't really know what you'll do once I've left. No, they couldn't. A stamp could guarantee you a history but not a future. All they could do was guess at what Laurelai would do, especially since they would need to remove even more than the memories she had just regained. If only there was a certainty that she could rely on. If only. The voice echoed back. They looked at each other in this mindscape with identically regretful expressions before both turned at once, towards a silent sound and a gentle falling of water. A place of peace and calm, a place where questions could be answered and all knowledge gained, a place full of danger. A terrible place. A wonderful place. "The chapel." They said in unison, longing evident in their voice. -------------------------------------------------------- A long, clear note pulled Laurelai back from the darkness. She felt the last tremor of something unpleasant run up her spine, some resonance with something but it was forgotten almost as soon as she noticed it and her eyes steadily open. A striking woman with red hair and green eyes stood over her, waking her from her sleep and calling her attention back to the present. "Lita." Laurelai said, blinking awake and rising from her crumpled position in the chair. "So sorry, not sure what came over me." Wonderful impression to give your new benefactor. She thought to herself. Sleeping on the job and slouching down into a chair. Her musings were interrupted as she noticed a delicious scent filling the room, mingling with the lingering steam and faint lavender that drifted from freshly bathed skin and the warm and toasty sensation of a fleshly laundered bath robe. It felt like luxury and comfort. It felt wonderful, almost wonderful enough for her to forget how tense and stressed she was feeling. "Is that the food? I must confess I feel absolutely ravenous for some reason." She said, trying to shift attention and lighten the mood. Though she did feel very hungry for some reason, and strangely exhausted. Had she been running? "Where did we get to?" She asked, with a tinge of confusion, her memory was feeling oddly muddied even for having just woken up. Though with a quick glance to a nearby empty port glass she managed to solve both that memory and why she'd fallen asleep. "Did I mention the curious and rather well-dressed gentleman I encountered? I didn't get his name but I know his tailor, which should be enough of a lead to follow." She said, trying to shake the confusion. The tension was thankfully leaving her now, though she was still a little confused as to why she felt it. It felt almost like waking from a nightmare, but she remembered her dream as being rather pleasant, standing beneath a beautiful and gentle waterfall. She could almost imagine its waters calling to her still. @ZincAboutIt

Sorry thought I included this in the previous post, yep this one looks good. Approved.

Apparently about an hour after I login for the day. Generally these days though the timing can be a bit chaotic, depends who's on when, etc. Still not quite as active as we used to be.

Hey! Glad to have you on board, just taking a look over and I think this one is going to be over, I'm assuming some skills here but basing those on the backstory. Points tally: Steelrunner (50), Slider (40), complimentary twinborn (20) Raysium knives (Haven't actually been pointed yet so will go with 30 points to put them on par with Shardblades) Weaknesses: Prone to emotional breakdown (-10) Total for this without including any actual skills is 50+40+20+30-10 = 130 Could at most reach amateur level assassination techniques but I will note that those don't include combat abilities at all, just a general kind of stealth/infiltration skillset. And I feel like you're aiming for a more skilled character here so may need to make some changes to either the twinborn combination or possibly the knives, and potentially some changes to weaknesses to be either more crippling or easily triggered.

Startled, Laurelai was late to return the hug but it brought a warmth to her smile as she did so. She nodded at Lita's final words, blinking through the tears that began to form and echoing the promist as her friend sat down and began to drain herself of memories. "Promise." She whispered, wiping at her eyes with a fluffy white sleeve. Our turn now. She reminded herself. Stamps first, then the ring. With the tears dealt with Laurelai gave a resolute nod and began to focus, feeling the stamp begin to appear within her mind as she started with the boundary followed by the unique map of the city that was required for Forgery here. And then the smaller details, the little alterations which would add up to a new history and a new reality. Hopefully enough that when she awoke she would not simply run screaming from the strange room she found herself in, and hopefully not with any details which would draw more of those shadow creatures. Stamp completed she waited, holding the image in mind, ready to apply it. She looked down at Lita's expressionless face, wondering what their relationship would be once the two of them forgot again. She though they had been heading towards something amicable at least, still two similar individuals who could enjoy one another's company. But perhaps the next time they awoke to their memories they would have devolved into bitter feuding or dislike. With a quiet sigh, Laurelai retrieved her glass and drained the last of it until only a faint droplet remained on the interior of the surface. She lifted it to the light and watched the interplay of light through the amber liquid until finally setting it back down. Stalling would not get her anywhere other than awkward questions once Lita awoke. With a final deep intake of breath, Laurelai let herself sink into another chair and allowed her mind to begin slipping away, ready to be replaced by a falsity. "See you soon." She whispered to Lita before darkness took her.

The ring felt heavy as it fell into Laurelai's hand, though soon it would no doubt be even heavier with the weight of the secrets it would carry. She felt an immediate resistance to the idea of giving away the memories that she had only just regained, but at least she could be comforted that she would at least have them close to hand this time. That there would be some way for her to regain them again. "You know I probably would have asked for a brass spike to use Copperminds." Laurelai commented, twisting the coin around and examining the carefully polished metal surface. "But the idea of wearing copper jewellery constantly was a little off-putting." She slipped the ring on, with a grimace of mock distaste before giving a saddened smile to Lita. "We're going to have to put everything back aren't we? Not just the Forgery itself but everything that stems from that." Laurelai's voice cracked a little before she reclaimed it. "We'll need to forget who we are again." A shudder that she couldn't quite suppress ran up her spine, the chill thought of having to allow her very identity to be overridden once again, not in a temporary Forgery but to permanently deposit her memories in a fragile band of copper. Trusting that some day she would be able to retrieve it from there. She felt the pen twitch in her hand, though she was uncertain if that was her own nervous tremor or some magical property of the pen itself. But giving it a quick spin from one finger to another calmed her, the familiar practice settled her nerves and allowed her to speak with confidence again. "Changing our memories will mess with it a little but I can Forge a slightly altered version of recent events as well." She offered, carefully placing her glass down. "Mine should be easy but yours wouldn't last long, but maybe long enough that if you're not actively trying to recall it anymore we can get by. No doubt you're clever enough to notice the strangeness but perhaps we'll chalk it up to the other oddities?" Having a plan helped, uncertainty always provoked anxiety but even a bad plan was still a plan. She could manage like that for a time, and it wasn't like she would feel the stress of the decision once the memories were gone. If only she could do something about the stress she was already feeling. Her eye paused briefly on Lita's bath robe, and after a moment of thought she gave a grin. If they were about to have to replace their identities then the least they could do was go out comfortably. A little self care would certainly make the experience easier. With a tap of the pen against her palm, Laurelai's own clothes were replaced by a similar robe, her hair became slightly damp and her skin felt immediately softened by the steam of a shower recently taken. "I don't suppose we'd have time for room service first would we?" She asked with a hint of a grin. @ZincAboutIt`

Yeah, and we have done like fight threads and no holds barred threads, etc. in the past and they tend to die out pretty quickly. There's just not much sticking power to the plot of 'I have ultimate power!' 'Well I have EVEN MORE ultimate power!' 'But I bet you didn't know that I secretly had ALL the power!'

Poor other one.

Or am I not nearly kind enough? (But seriously everyone should read Zinc's RP and be amazed at how great they are and then go and see all of her art as well and wonder what we did to bless us all with such a talented and generous soul. Just make sure you don't read them aloud, or at least not one of those ones that makes me cry) But yeah, just a note because we have a few new players lately, I think you will get much more out of the RP if you focus on the small stuff, your character and how they are affected by the world around them. Who do they become friends with? Why? What is happening that you might be able to involve yourself in, and ideally not just as another person to fight shadow monsters but try to find somewhere that will affect your character. Don't just think about where they can succeed but think about where they can fail and how that changes them as a person. Character arcs like that are much more interesting to read and much more likely to invite other characters to interact with you than just running through the city stabbing things with Shardblades or hurling coins. The AV does have its roots in a very absurdist power-fantasy space but that was with vastly different structure and pacing, the only way we managed to transition into a full collaborative RP like this was that we by and large left those elements behind. And I think the RP is much better off for it, because as entertaining as penguin's building a death star is, if it happens every 5 minutes it loses its charm and it also makes telling any kind of serious story very difficult.

Voidus' entire character has been built as refusing to call himself a God or meaningfully exercise power. I'd rather not undo that and turn him into yet another cookie cutter villain with ego problems. Super powerful characters are just not all that interesting for story. If we ever decide to wrap up the AV and have one final era I might do a Villain Voidus plot, but barring that I'd rather he stays on the sidelines. Interesting stories come from struggles and from the frustration of those who have no power. Lita(Zinc's character) is a great example of this, and one of my favourite of all characters. Even now, when after several eras she finally has risen into some power of her own she still struggles with the fact that it's meaningless for what she's dealing with. It's an amazing journey and I hold it up as one of the pinnacles of good RP.

Also happens pretty regularly actually, I think we've had at least one of those each era too? Not to mention era 1 where someone tried to ascend to being the God Beyond.

Plenty, the DA tends to have more just actual gods in honesty. But we've had at least 1-5 people each era with a god complex, most of them outside the DA. Of course some might say that the entire DA has a god complex by messing with things that mortals have no business in, to which the DA has replied: *Will reply later, busy seeing what happens if we spike a chinchilla with the Shard of Cultivation*

Eyes locked on Lita, Laurelai watched the internal struggle at the question. Even in this relaxed environment her expression was still guarded, but she gave herself away in her silence and movements. The way she finished the last of her glass and her tone as she finally spoke. ”The favorite pet gets the prettiest cage, I suppose,” she said. Laurelai's brow furrowed at that, unsure exactly how to rebut Lita's insecurities but still feeling like she needed to do so. She may have wondered at the exact nature of Lita's feelings for the Stranger before, and she joked about favouritism but Lita it seemed was even harsher on herself. “It doesn’t make sense that he’d help us escape those…things. Not if he designed them. What is the point?” She continued. Laurelai agreed on that too, what was the purpose behind setting those creatures up only to help them fight them off? Why not just exclude them from this Forgery in the first place if he was just going to try to help them break out of it? No, you know why. A snide voice whispered. He needed you. The bait for the trap, the prize that the Stranger wanted to give to his friend. A happy and loving daughter, forced to forget the terror that she used to hold. No matter how good an actor you are you never could have kept that up if you knew who he actually was. She grit her teeth and felt a clink as the stem of her glass snapped in her overly-tight grip. She winced at the loss before a shattering of crystal brought her gaze up to the wall where Lita's glass now slid down in a thousand pieces. "What" Lita said, voice a whisper. "Is the rusting point?" Laurelai slid her feet off the chair and stood, stepping to Lita in a single graceful step. Lita was so strong, so capable and confident that it made it difficult to remember just how fragile she must be underneath it all to have led her here. Those who sought out the Dark Alley and rose to prominence within it were rarely without their own scars, whether or not those were visible. Laurelai gently wrapped her arms around the other woman. "The point?" Laurelai echoed quietly. "I'm not sure, not sure that we could ever really know even if they deigned to actually talk to us about it. I'm sure that whatever it is is unbelievably convoluted and probably stretches back to a time thousands of years before we were even born." Actually, when was I born? She wondered, the thought not having occurred before. Did Voidus have a child before the seven days war? And who is actually my mother in that case? "But." She continued, ignoring her own mental distractions. "Who cares? Why do we need to worry about what they wanted or expected us to do? You are not the Stranger's pet, and you are far more than simply his protege. And I am much more than just the daughter of an ancient demigod." She pulled back, giving Lita a little space, and made her way to the wall that Lita had smashed her glass on and picking up a small fragment from the carpet. "We are Lita and Laurelai, seekers of secrets and denizens of the Dark Alley. We are the head of Counterintelligence and her apprentice, we are the finders of the Chapel of Rain, the infiltrators of Plasma Core, we helped to make this in the first place Lita!" She gestured around them, to the entire world, reforged. "And having lived two lives, one dominated by fear of my own father and the other controlled entirely by the Stranger I'm really not inclined to give much mind to what either of them wants. I think we do what we do best Lita, we let them go around destroying the city and confronting monsters. And we..." She tapped the shard of glass with her pen, stamp appearing upon its surface and glass reforming in her hand, already filled with port again. "We have some drinks and talk about what we want to do." Laurelai said, back straight and proud, a smile on her lips as she handed Lita the glass back. "So, spymistress, we're no doubt being chased by shadows that want to rob our memories, the world is slowly collapsing and two of the most powerful men to have ever existed are both locked in a near-infantile misunderstanding of their own emotions. I'm at your disposal of course, so what should we do?" @ZincAboutIt

Notes in red, total is -35 That still puts them over by about 20 points, I'd prefer not just adding more mildly inconveniencing weaknesses though so perhaps something a little more impactful or else changing some of their skills/abilities. Love this, great to have another Forger around So for the ability to read object histories were you thinking of that as a use of Malatium? If they're burning Malatium to do it then I'm kind of okay with that not needing any additional point total. But if it's something they can do freely then that's probably going to be a decent sum of points due to the obvious synergy with Forgery. Skills: 30+30 = 60 Equipment: 25 Investiture: 60 (Forgery) + ?? + 35 (Misting) Weaknesses: Subservient (-10), other two are great characterization but can't really get any points off, non-combatant (-10) As things stand they're only 10 points off at the moment if we assume Malatium is required for object reading, which we can approve I think since I'm not sure what I could suggest to change without altering the character concept too much and I do think they'd be a great addition. And we tend to give a little more leeway to skill-based non-combatants since 'OP' doesn't quite mean the same thing or cause as many problems for them.

@Stormblessed0421 I've just hidden the topic you posted since it seems like you found the info you needed but if you have any questions let us know here.

Yeah that was the previous suggestion, which I do like better than just more guild wars but at the same time it's going to be pretty easy for a DA civil war to render pretty much all characters effectively meaningless. So I think someone suggested the DA having a cold war style civil war, using others for proxy combat and control of resources, etc. There's some potential to work with there.

Guild alliance to take down the DA was the plot of the first era. I'd just really prefer people didn't try to fixate on threatening the DA or trying to usurp them, realistically in world it is just not going to happen. When you're trying to deal with a guild that has access to world-ending weapons and entities powerful enough to literally create the world, there's not really a whole lot to be done about it. It is a story that has been attempted many times, never ending well. And also doesn't particularly make sense in-universe. Every time someone has attempted it it ended up killing a large number of innocents, many people from the guilds and did not significantly impact the DA in any way. Meanwhile when left alone the DA are basically a non-threat to anyone in the city, the only time they ever attempt to exercise power is when people directly challenge them or try to deliberately limit them. If you don't poke the bear then you're pretty fine, and if you do you run the risk that it explodes and levels half the city again. It's also kind of difficult on a personal level because every time someone tries to do it I end up forgoing any of my intended character development or arcs and instead have to spend an era trying to justify why the DA don't just annihilate all of these people who are annoying them. I don't really enjoy using Voidus as a power fantasy or setting him up as a despot but honestly I would find it very difficult if yet another group rose up trying to usurp him or oppose the DA to not just have him disintegrate them out of annoyance.

Yeah this is a little too similar to the plot of nearly every other era, some new guild arises and immediately tries to threaten the DA, which has not once ended well for the guild in question. I'd really prefer that we worked on new plot ideas like the Forgery was.

"The bar is in the sitting room. Help yourself to whatever while I take a shower. We can't all perform miraculous self-cleaning." Well thank Domi that our priorities are straight. Laurelai thought with a smile, heading to the bar as Lita made for the shower. "Let's see... whiskey, bottle of the Hasting's latest whites, ah!" She muttered before gasping in victory and pulling a sturdy bottle filled with fortified happiness. "Elariel. Bless whichever member of that house decided to practice fermentation instead of messing about with house politics." She set a pair of glasses out and poured her own immediately, taking her time to luxuriate in the scent before gently sipping it. The warmth spread through her steadily, relaxing limbs and releasing tension as it went. And for the minutes that it took for that warmth to spread she simply allowed herself the time to enjoy it, without dwelling overlong on her recently returned memories or the horror of those shadow creatures. Just felt the calmness and her joy at reuniting with a friend that she had not even known she was missing. She's certainly moved up in the world. Laurelai thought, smiling with happiness for Lita's success. And if that means we don't have to break into half-destroyed taverns to get a fine drink then I suppose we can manage. She examined the room, they were well appointed, if perhaps a little impersonal feeling in the way that hotel suites often were. The finery marred only slightly by the mucked and dirtied shoes that Lita had deposited at the door. Unable to bear the thought of fine stilettos being in this condition Laurelai moved close enough to identify them and then constructed a quick forgery. Doing so for Lita herself would be difficult without her help, such Stamps tended to wear off very quickly indeed if they took at all. But her clothes were another matter entirely. With a quick flourish the muck vanished as though it had never been. With a satisfied nod, Laurelai removed her own shoes and collapsed back onto a nearby chair. She gave up any sense of posture and poise and allowed her head to loll over the backrest as she heard the bathroom door open and Lita returning in what seemed a comfortable bathrobe. Well now who's being unfair? "So," Lita said as she retrieved a glass of her own and sat. "After those... things attacked us. Did you hear it? Did you hear the voice?" Laurelai pulled herself upright again, and watched Lita before finally nodding. There was no need to hedge or seek to clarify here, they had clearly both heard it. Though perhaps in different words. "He called me the 'Forgotten Daughter'" Laurelai replied sombrely "It's strange it must have been completely filling my mind before he started this, before he changed... everything. But when it all started coming back it was one of the last things I remembered. It feels so much less... terrifying. But then the Voice mentioned a choice and I reached out and, well." She twisted the pen in one hand, movements that only hours ago had felt a little stiff and unpractised now came with perfect fluidity. Well, it's not a sword but it did the job fine. She signed in Alleycant. "Yours seems a little more impressive." Laurelai said, nodding towards the blade. "A promotion and a better weapon. If I didn't know any better I'd swear he was playing favourites."

Re: Guild You are welcome to create new guilds in the Alleyverse if you would like but I would suggest having at least a certain amount of other players willing to support, otherwise we get a bunch of tiny 1-person guilds which fade out of existence if that person goes quiet. I'd also rather not have anything too ridiculous or meta as a guild in the AV, so like obviously a signature guild does not really make sense in-world without some changes because the characters do not have a concept of signatures. Similarly, they need a certain degree of seriousness to justify people in world treating them as a serious entity. Never opposed to a little joke, which is after all kind of how the entire AV started, but the AV is by and large a pretty serious and dramatic RP these days so we don't want too much ruining the over all tone.

Yeah canonically we've used memory spikes before, and of course Aylitha's shadow monsters for Forgery-related memories. Forgery is inherently temporary and also takes time to be able to utilise so probably doesn't see much use for that purpose. Possibly some unkeyed Copperminds if the Denizen in question is feeling particularly lenient.

Whisper had not even had the chance to take a deep, comforting breath of Alley air before realising her mistake. Someone had followed her into the alley. Sometimes that was intentional, when R&D wanted some more subjects but in this case it had simply been her own foolishness. A rookie mistake of the sort that so often caused her to deride others for lack of forethought. She stopped in the Alley, thankfully one of the less horrifying, and looked back to the individual who had chased her here. Disposing of him would be the simplest solution but she hadn't researched him at all, it was possible that he was well known or connected, possible even that some had seen him chase into the Alleys. And that could cause an unfortunate amount of attention for all of them. Ordinarily she would lead him to Acquisitions who could spike the memories of the Alleys from him, but he had followed her while she was on a mission which Lita had explicitly told her not to discuss. "How odd." He remarked, looking around with curiosity. Her head tilted reflexively at his response. He was shocked understandably but other than that seemed more curious than terrified. And as she studied him closer she realised something else, the man was quiet. The ringing in her ears had finally stopped and she could hear once again, though there was little to hear in this particular alley other than his speech. But other than the actual words he spoke the man was utterly silent, she could not hear even the faintest of whispers from him. How odd. She mentally echoed as she studied him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was not an illusion, nor did he think this was the cognitive realm. The Professor was quite familiar with both from previous research, but this seemed to be something else entirely. Something rather strange and oddly comfortable about the space, the walls were not close enough to induce any claustrophobia and there was a dim light which provided illumination. It might even have been peaceful if it weren't for the sky of tumultuous darkness that felt like it were ready to reach out and engulf him. "Don't look up." A hollow voice called out, echoing strangely in the space. He looked towards the only other person nearby, but his mouth was not moving and the gravelly disjointed tone did not match his appearance. In fact from how he had pointed out the scars on his throat, the Professor had assumed him mute. "Yes, I speak." The voice called out, and by the boy's facial expressions it did indeed seem to be him. "Can I convince you to leave and forget you saw this?" He looked at the boy with some amusement at that, as though he could simply forget what appeared to be a trans-dimensional alleyway. Perhaps if he had his daughters talents he could craft a stamp to force himself to forget himself, but he was unfortunately unInvested. "I'm not typically in the practice of lying so I'll have to say no to that." He replied. "But given that question and our environment, I can only assume that certain rumours about the darker alleys of the city are true? I owe my daughter some apologies."

Not sure that the Oathgate should still be there unless Elsa wants to join back in. As for the CR, I honestly kind of prefer it being vague and unspecified. Having just a blood-soaked realm of weird geometry is a little too demistifying.