I think I am here.

“Radiant?” Rob asked. “Yes, I am. A Stoneward, specifically. I can do weird things with rock. Sorry, that’s the best way I can explain it without any demonstration.” He stared at Aya for a moment longer, repeated her question in his head. “So, I’d assume you aren’t a Radiant, then?” He asked.

Family she’s staying with? So, not her real family? No use prying into personal matters, Rob thought, so he just nodded. When she laughed and offered him the cat he froze for a moment, suppressed the urge to say yes and pet the little cat, tried to hide his feelings underneath an impassive mask again. His father’s words were clear and resounding in his head: Emotion is weakness. “Oh, it’s not my cat,” Rob said. “It’s all of ours, I guess. I don’t overly like cats, anyway.”

“I... I have plenty,” Price said. “I guess, I have wishes about myself. Wishes of success, money, intelligence, recognition. But also wishes of a happy life for Tühinine people, a happy life for my mother. I don’t know.” He laughed nervously. “It’s just... it’s not every day you meet a deity.”

Rob cast a glance towards the cat, and then back to Aya. “You’re definitely welcome to stay here,” Rob said. He wondered whether Aya had any home elsewhere, whether he was like the many Radiants who’d run away nd found refuge here. Or maybe she’d chosen to come here. Rob wasn’t going to ask. If he asked about her, then she’d ask about him. “And you won’t bother anyone. We even some vacant rooms.”

Lusk didn’t swat the grape out of the air, or catch it, or even slice it in half with his knife. As he saw something fly at him from the corner of his eye, he tilted his neck and barely shifted his head out of the object’s path, watching it drop a short distance away from him. A grape. He directed a glare at Freedom. “My reflexes aren’t that bad,” he grumbled. He turned to the grape and crushed it underneath his shoe. “Even as an old man. Actually, you know what?” His grimace tilted slightly upwards in what could constitute as a smile for Lusk, and he looked towards Freedom. “We’ll do it Threnody-style. The next time you want to test me, make it deadly. That way, if I’m too weak to fight against it, I die, which makes sense, because I’m not worthy of mentoring someone else. That was how I trained.” His grimace returned back to normal. “Do you know how to use a knife? Or any weapon, really? We might need you learn that, too. Hand-to-hand can only get you so far.”

Price held his ledger closer to him, nodding as he stood up. “A few,” he said. “How do I contact you to give you updates?” He said. “And, uh,” He hesitated on his second question, shrugging. “As someone beyond the gods, as a deity, Concept, whatever, can you do anything? Like... grant wishes?”

People. Rob nodded. “Tell me about it,” he said. He listened to her next question with mild interest. He noticed her wince, though he wasn’t sure what it meant, exactly. Maybe he’d have to google it later, or ask Shana. Idly, he twiddled his thumbs, thinking about her question. Was it magic? “Some people here call it magic,” he said slowly. “The ones that like those fantasy books about dark lords and magic rings and wands. I’ve never thought about us as magical, though. I think it’s really easy to fall into a superiority complex that way. Really easy to start thinking you’re somehow above ‘normal’ people, if that makes sense?” He shrugged. “But I agree. For the first couple days, it’s surreal, for sure. But you’ll get used to it eventually.”

Rob watched the cat walk away, and slowly started following it. If he was sneaky, maybe he could take it and pet before anyone noticed. But as he followed the cat as inconspicuously as he could, foreign thoughts pierced him. There’s a lot of new arrivals, nowadays, he thought. And the Voidbringers know where we live. What’s stopping them from sending in a few Voidbringer lightweavers, impersonating new kids and infiltrating us. Mighty convenient all these Radiants are able to locate our house. Paranoia. Rob knew that. There were ways for word of the house to get to Radiants, and he knew that assuming some elaborate plot was overthinking it too much. Funny. It wasn’t very Rob-like to overthink things. He continued following the cat, but his dream of sneaking it away for secret petting were slashed when the cat hopped in someone’s lap, a new person’s, funnily enough. It was a girl who seemed incredibly nervous, and as subtly as he could (which was, in fact, not very subtle at all), Rob sat next to her. Did he have to greet her, lead her around the house like Shana did? He was never good at that sort of stuff. He was here for the cat. But... maybe he could try, at least, try making the girl feel at least a little more comfortable in their new home. “You look nervous,” Rob said, turning to her. He tried to make his voice sound as friendly as possible, but he was sure the blank face and monotone voice didn’t help. He gestured around the room. “They’re all friendly. So don’t worry about that.” He realised he didn’t introduce himself. “I’m Rob.” @Tesh

Coincidental Ah, that issue must because the text is coloured white (its supposed to appear on a black page). I’ll see what I can do about it.

The wars. Well, Price certainly couldn’t argue they were bad things. Insanity of the gods? Price could certainly see how that had been playing out. And here he was, in a position to help stop those things. He wrote down the extra words on the contract, whispering them to himself as wrote: “I, Pryclin Evada of Hopearaa, of the Twin Concepts of the Creator, give my word to the Concept First that I will assist it in the gathering of information relating to the deterioration of Hopearaa, and if required, participate in actions to control the spread of this condition. I pledge my Power and my intentions to this cause.” He looked back at the deity, remembering the words. Twin Concepts. And this one was the Concept First. Which meant... “So... there’s another Concept isn’t there? Another being like you?”

Rob stayed silent as everyone made their introductions. Two new people. Everest and that other girl. Interactions like these were always odd. What did he say? Hi, I’m Robert, yo can call me Rob? No, too boring. Way too boring. But Rob wasn’t sure how else to introduce himself in a way that wasn’t boring, did he? He didn’t like these complex interactions, he liked simple things, happy things. His eyes drifted to the cat strutting around the house. “I’m Rob,” he finally decided on saying, waving his hand slightly. Maybe those was the only words needed.

Hi! So, I wrote a little sci-fi short story, under a few limitations such as it needing to have to a character arc in under 1500 words. Which was... tougher than I expected . Feel free to read and if you have feedback or any suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it. Alright, enough rambling, here it is: Maya:

Rob walked silently to the centre of the room. He stomped his foot, and the ground beneath the corpses became loose and watery. Slowly, he waited for them all to sink below the surface, and waited some more until they were well and surely buried beneath the ground. He stomped his foot again and the ground hardened, no sign of death anywhere in sight. He turned to join the others, taken aback by the cat. A cat. He stared at it for a moment, wondering how it would feel to pet it. A cat. He would need to pet it later, sneakily, when no one was watching. He joined the circle and gave a thumbs up to Cassie.

“Then I accept,” Price said, the decision made. As if it made any difference, he wrote the deal down, a little contract in his mind. Contracts were good. Contracts were solid, sturdy. They were law, and no one in Tühine went against law. He wrote down his acceptance, signed it, looked up. “What do you need me to do? Instructions would help.” He hesitated. “And what bad things would happen, if you don’t mind me asking... Sir? Madam?”

Price didn’t respond for a while. He mulled it over. He had to admit — this was an incredibly strange. But then again, everything had been strange since he’d ventured into the forest with Sagitta, since meeting that Cahayan, meeting literal gods, and all the chaos that had ensued since then. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Still, he considered it. Precision. It was right. With a test, you had to be precise, exact. “And if I decline?” He asked, more out of formal curiosity than actual consideration. But still, it was good to know both options.

Smiling. It smiled and Price tried too, but he couldn’t. He was too busy processing information. He nodded as it spoke to him, noting everything down in his ledger. But his note - they wouldn’t be here when he woke up, would they? So he went against his instinct and just listened. Information, it needed. Nudges. Human? It implied the gods were... people. Just like Price had thought. Incredibly powerful people, but humans, nonetheless. Which made First... something else. Something beyond. And it needed Price, needed him specifically to help. An experiment using the world. He liked that analogy, but didn’t like what it implied at the same time. “This... message,” he said, tried to make sense of it all. “Do you come in everyone’s dreams, eventually? Why me? Why not my superior, or the gods?”

“Wita!” Marcel called in hushed urgency but she was already gone. He waited, keeping a hand in his scalpel and considering peeking over the corner. There was no certainty what would happen if they caught her, and Marcel couldn’t let that happen. His thought were interrupted by deafening blasts that echoed over the walls. He cursed louder just as Wita sprinted past, with the men in close pursuit. Stepping from behind the corner Marcel raised his scalpel threateningly. One man was running too fast and his momentum brought him to the sharp end of Marcel’s tool. “Now!” He called to Lewis. The second man had to be taken care of quickly, now, before he called backup.

Everything happened as it did, and in a clash of stormlight, weaponry, fists and Voidbringers it was over almost as quickly as it had started. Bodies littered the ground and Rob lightly touched one with his foot. Dead. He stood like that for a while, taking note of the bodies. Enemies, gone. Not able to harm anyone anymore. It made sense to remove them like this. They’d been trying to find alternatives for a while and to no avail. Doubt would only lead to more dead. He turned, saw Shana by Edwin, James and Cassie. He quickly scanned his eyes over each of them. No fatal injuries, no one dead, thank the stormfather. Just a testament to how skilled they were at fighting. His eyes drifted over at Shana, the warrior. How many Voidbringers had she taken down? He walked forward and thought about complimenting her combat prowess, but didn’t. It didn’t seem like the time for that, for compliments. No one looked happy or in a mood for compliments on how good at killing they were. No, practicality was what was needed. Be helpful, Rob. The sphere seemed to agree with this train of thought. “I can remove them,” Rob said at the talking of bodies. He inhaled deeply and held up his slight glowing hands. “Sink them into the ground. That would leave no trace, would it.?”

“... I was camping, I think,” Price said. He looked at the being, tried to gauge what it was, remembering the name. First. The nomad land travels, happening now? Yes, Price remembered a horse, remembered Sagitta, training with her. And then - nothing, but the icy expanse of the dream. This dream. “You’re one of the gods, I wager,” Price said and stared down the being, trying to regain some semblance of control of the situation. But a deep, primal fear laid at the bottom of his gut, a sinking feeling he was dealing with something far beyond his scope, far beyond what he thought was his scope.

No. Boats are too hard Don’t think I’ve played it in ages, though. Through years of research, I think I can reasonably wager I’m not there. So if I’m not there, I must be here, right? But what if I’m not anywhere? I think I’m content just to let quantum physics be quantum physics for now. After we achieved our goal of getting it started and getting ~30 stories on it, there was no real objective and it sort of fizzled out. There have been attempts to try and revive it though. is perfect. Sometimes you just want to smile without having it be a super-duper smile ( ). could in no way, ever be perceived as evil. Look at it. It’s just so innocent. And positive . Nope, his father ripped up all his stuffed animals I figured I’d get a notification when people posted in this thread anyway. Also, no idea how following works Never got around to it. Occasionally I would remember, but I’d just be overthinking the free-for-battle and then run out of time to answer. But I’ll do so now! Free-for-all!

“You’ll get them when you’re ready,” Lusk said, then grimaced. He really did sound like one of those cryptic mentor figures, didn’t he? Like those old, grumpy teachers from his youth. His youth. Though he turned to a kid often, it been a long while since he’d ever thought, reflected on that age. It’s your age. You’re getting soft. “If you’re ready to learn them, I’m ready to share,” he said, revised his previous statement, let his face harden and his frown deepen. Perfect. “Though, it always seems whenever the topic arises, you prefer your other ways of using atium. And that’s fine. When I was your age, I...” He paused. Stopped himself. “As I said, that’s fine. You’ll get over your little fear of blood soon. And you’ll be able to learn the real stuff. Stuff that can take down a steel compounder, if you use it right.” He winked at her. “Speaking of, we really need to find tapes of that duel.”

“Let’s,” I agree. I meet his eyes. There’s lots to learn, lots to find out behind those eyes. I’ve only met inquisitive eyes — truly inquisitive eyes, a couple times before. Inquisitive eyes mean trouble. Inquisitive eyes mean fun. You’d think it would be from other private eyes, but no. They find secrets for money, not because they want to know, not because they really want answers. I met this dame once — she was interested in what I did. I told her not to worry about it, because I didn’t go around asking dames their secrets, now did I? But, she found some out, eventually. Unfortunate thing, that a mob boss killed her before she could do anything with them. Inquisitive eyes mean trouble. Inquisitive eyes mean fun. I look to Raphael again, walking through the white door, into the room with all the creatures. The side-projects to distract from the main project. The main piece. I continue walking through the hall, until I’m in the dressing room again, my clothing scrunched in a bundle on the floor. I have to admit, your coat suits you a lot better. “It’s been a while since I’ve worn white,” I say casually, picking up my shirt. “Can’t say I ever missed it.” @Sorana

Alask paused, watching Lena walk towards the hulking war machines of death. Quickly, he followed her. “By talking to them?” He asked and raised an eyebrow. “They don’t seem too into conversation.” He turned his head and gulped again when he caught glimpse of the deadly space warriors. “Or into much, really. Well, excluding weaponry. I’m sure they enjoy that plenty.”

And just like that, the door is open again. He understands, he says. And now: an offer. The mystery is over and the curtains have fallen. I know what I set out to find, and here is an offer. An offer for more. But, I’m not interested in more. In knowing more. In getting more. I should leave. My goal is achieved, and I need to find work. Any night I’m not out working is one missed business opportunity. But what about a conversation just for the sake of it? Because Raphael finds me interesting and because the feeling is reciprocated. A conversation where I’m not overanalysing where it will lead, or what he implies. I get that feeling, the one where a customer offers too much money or when a target is out in the open. A too-good-to-be-true feeling. Like a mirage of genuineness in a desert of deception and neon-coated nightlife. But I had to take a chance “As long as I get to wear my coat again,” I say, looking down at myself. “This is clinical, but really not my style, sorry to say.”

Hi! It’s perfectly fine reading just to read, so don’t worry about that. About the character sheets, as of now they’re fine to use for character-building, it hasn’t been updated yet to my knowledge. There is a ‘current time’ in the Alleyverse, which is roughly Era 2 Mistborn and Roshar in the middle of fighting Odium. For the other planets, the settings are assumed to be how they’re depicted in the books (regardless of how much time has passed chronologically) simply because we don’t have any other version of those worlds to go off on. However, it’s very open, so if you want to have a character from Mistborn Era 1, for example, it’s totally within possibility that the character could’ve fallen into an inter-dimensional alley and ended up in the modern-day Alleyverse. To your third question: yes! We have the AlleyStorm, which in addition to doing everything a highstorm does (minus crazy destruction, you can be outside in the middle of it), also enhances all Investiture, kind of like a nicroburst that lasts for a couple minutes. It rolls around whenever is convenient () and can be used to change forms for Singers. Glad to have you in this RP, Mosiac .