|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:00:00 GMT -5
It was a wonderful day in the land of Centros. The sun was shining, the pants were singing, and the birds and the sun were almost down from the top of the sky. From atop his Chromium Tower, the man known only as the Mechanist King, surveyed the land from horizon to horizon. All that he could see was his. Soon, we would extend his reach beyond – to the lands of Esteros and Wessos, to Northros and Sothros, perhaps even across the Rending Seas.
But not this day.
No, today was the day he would finally complete his dominion of Centros. There, he noted a small town just at the edge of his sight. He had discovered it the previous night while reading over his maps of the area. Hero’s Refuge was a small town just on the horizon. Somehow, it had escaped his notice until now. The gears in his robotic arms whirred in anger.
“Rurik!”
“My liege.” The man had been waiting in the shadows for his lord’s call.
“Ready your rider. I’m going to see this Hero’s Refuge.”
“Is that wise sir?”
“No one has seen my face since the…accident. When last I left this tower, I was still entirely organic.” He pulled on a long, black cloak that covered him completely and pulled up the hood. “I will be careful.”
Less than an hour later, the cloaked figure dismounted a gleaming brass and bronze motorcycle. “Stay out of sight, Rurik. If I require your assistance, I will signal you.”
Rurik bowed his head and sped away. The Mechanist King, cloaked in black, gave a short sunning start, and jumped, landing with a roll on the roof of a building. “From here I shall observe this town and determine the best course of action.”
-
Meanwhile, down in that town called Hero’s Refuge, a young man named Jeffrey Valentine looked around blankly. “Uh, can anyone help me? I’m sort of lost… I wandered into this world – dimension – realm – place by accident.”
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:00:11 GMT -5
Magnus leaned against the railing that bordered the front porch of the Hero Tavern -which in his opinion might have been the least imaginative name in existence- sipping a drink quietly. He'd watched this young man wandering around town for about half an hour now, blabbering on about being lost and from another dimension, and studiously ignoring the sound of a rather violent bar fight going on in the tavern behind him.
Well, Magnus supposed he'd help the boy out...eventually. He was curious. No one ended up in Hero's Refuge on accident, that was a fact that Magnus was sure of.
Hero's Refuge was possibly one of the last independent towns left in Centros, by Magnus' reckoning. He'd traveled a good bit, and most of what he'd seen wasn't good. So he'd come to Hero's Refuge. Perhaps something interesting would happen. Perhaps not. Either way, at the moment all he wanted was to finish his drink.
His bottle rested lighting in his hand and Magnus realized that he'd finished it while he was thinking.
....well, he supposed there was no time like the present.
With a sigh Magnus tossed it aside and straightened himself. He stepped into the street, approaching the confused youth. Coming up behind him he placed a hand on the man's shoulder.
"Hey, kid." he said. "I can't help but notice that, from the confused, lost puppy look on your face, you're a bit lost. I suppose I could help you out a bit."
Honestly the only real reason he wanted to was to cure his boredom. Not a whole lot caught his interest these day, which wasn't a good thing. When Magnus got bored he tended to....cure his boredom by means of mischief. Which would be fine if Magnus didn't have the power to sneeze and cause a lighting storm. On accident.
"Welcome to Hero's Refuge. The finest godforsaken town in the middle of nowhere."
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:00:21 GMT -5
Dante was wandering down the road to a place called Hero's Refuge, maybe he would find something interesting here. Behind him was four mannequins which were covered in blades, arms, legs every bodypart had a blade attached. These mannequins weren't just any ordinary mannequins, no they were made from light steel. He came to Hero's Refuge and passed someone who seemed lost and someone who was trying to help. He looked back at his mannequins, "Stay close to me ok?" the mannequins nodded and watched every they passed.
Meanwhile, Raphael was already in Hero's Refuge, he was currently in his human form. He just come out of the bar as he was making a psycho laugh, his eyes were red and his teeth were showing. He started to lose control as wings and a tail started to form. He laughed louder and now was on his knees. People gathered round to watch, evan Dante was interested. Soon he was in his Hybird form and he was laughing harder but suddenly he stopped and looked around with a psycho look. He smiled evily as he licked his lips. "You look so tasty." he started to laugh again and stepped forward.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:00:35 GMT -5
Jeff stepped out of the way of the man and his mannequins - more like jumped sideways. The character didn't seem to be very friendly, and his followers seemed even less so. All those blades...Jeff was pretty sure most of that anatomy was impossible. But there it was, staring him in the face. With knives. He shivered.
He focused on the man who appeared to help him. "Hero's Refuge? That's not very original...why do I get the feeling you're some kind of wizard person?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:00:50 GMT -5
"Because I'm some kind of wizard person." Magnus said cheerfully. His grin drooped a fraction. "Though you could have let me reveal myself in an over the top and flashy way though. Bad form, that." he shook his head dramatically, specifically not looking over his shoulder at where the insane cackling was coming from. He'd spotted the guy in the bar earlier. Wasn't too worried about that guy. The person who had just walked by, however...Magnus wondered how he controlled those mannequins. Magic? Some sort of telekinesis? Magnus would have to observe and study this for fu-....ah, he was getting off track.
"So what can I do for you? You don't look like the usual rabble in this dump." A few folks passing by shot him a dirty look that he promptly ignored.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:01:21 GMT -5
Jack whistled a happy tune as he walked down the streets of Hero's Refuge, looking around and taking in what little sights there were. "This place ain't half bad, small, out of the way-" Jack started
"And boring as cow shit. Why are we here? And go into an alley I want to walk too."" Kel'Nareth interrupted hurriedly. He could feel alot of strong people in this place, and wanted to be by Jack's side on this one. His human companion wasn't dumb, but he was too nice at times.
Jack sighed and ducked into an abandoned side alley, coming out a moment later with Kel'Nareth at his side. ""Much better." Kel said with a smile.
"You just want to show off, you horny idiot." Jack said with a snide smile. Kel, as Jack called him, was an ancient being, and not dumb, but he enjoyed women. Alot. "Sins of the flesh should be on your business card."
"Shut it idiot!" Kel fired back. And before long they were in a fight in the streets. Kel was skilled in karate, and Jack was a great boxer, so these exchanges always ended up with both of them injured.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:01:37 GMT -5
Iorik had been resting from his travelers underneath the shade of a tree on a smooth slab of rock, silently allowing his eyelids to gain a moment of peace, until loud laughter filled the streets. Really loud, so loud, it began getting on his nerves. "Crazy place, crazy people," he mumbled glaring at the direction of the laughter, but his view was blocked by the useless mass of people asking for death as they surrounded some psychopath who was definitely trying to make Iorik's day worse. Earlier on in the day, he had accidentally stepped on a cat's tail, ok, maybe it wasn't a cat but a mountain lion's cub, and Iorik was a very... well, magnanimous guy, he decided instead of killing the crazy cougar, he would make a clean escape. So much for the clean escape when he accidentally lost his footing along the stone path, causing him to tumble down to a lower level worsening his mood after gaining cat saliva on what used to be a clean cloak and barely polished armor. So, he decided to go wherever the path may lead him, despite the fact that a warning signal told him that he was in pain, and in the ending... well, he made it here, to the so called Hero's Refuge. Oh the joy, as if his luck couldn't have been any worse. Frowning slightly, he was vacillating whether or not he wanted to go over there and get that moron to shut the hell up, or stay put and watch to see if any entertainment would occur. And that was when his magnanimous personality day - yes, he had days for whether he would be generous or not - came to an abrupt stop. He had decide not to cause any real trouble for himself, but it seemed like life was messing with him. Two morons in the streets were now brawling away and yelling while they're at it. 'Ok, this is it!' In the ending, he finally lost his patience, and stormed over to the laughing maniac, because... well, that weirdo was the one who was getting on Iorik's nerves for real.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:01:55 GMT -5
Jeff looked Magnus seriously in the eye. "I suppose you can tell me where exactly I am and how I got here." A swordsman pushed past him. "Also, what the hell is going on over there? It sounds like the noises two demons would make if they were going at it."
He turned and saw a huge crowd had gathered around the source of the noise. "Yeah, I think I definitely want to go home as quickly as possible."
-
The Mechanist King, still atop the building, still completely cloaked, looked down on the crowd with amusement.
It seems the denizens of this filthy hovel are more like to destroy themselves before my Army would even get here. I was considering using my Breath to turn the buildings against their occupants...that idea is still on the table, but for now I will observe.
And observe he did.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:02:05 GMT -5
Heroes Refuge wasn't really a town in the traditional sense of the word, lacking a civic government, common currency, or recognition by any authority. It was simply a collection of buildings united only by the expedient of proximity, only given a name to avoid receiving a blank stare when asking for directions. There was no laws, no rules to speak of.
Except for Fury's law.
A place like this needed order, dammit. So when Mitch Fury squeezed his bulk through the crowd to find two men fighting in the alley, his blood boiled. As the sole self-appointed law enforcement officer of Heroes' Refuge, he wasn't going to stand for this. Unholstering his massive chrome-plated semiautomatic, he lifted his arm and fired a round upwards. "Nah more fahdding in my town!" he roared. The effect was somewhat lessened as the man who had been watching the fight from a third-story balcony smashed into the mud directly in front of Fury, the marshal's bullet having gone straight through his head. Still, Fury's law had to be enforced.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:02:14 GMT -5
Dante looked at his mannequins and sighed, he nodded to them and they began to move closer to Raphael. Raphael stopped laughing and jumped back. "Do you want to play?" Raphael suddenly shifted in a Dragon and roared. Dante's eyes widened as he smiled. "This will be fun." the mannequins started to attack the Dragon, Eventually Raphael turned to human as he bled, he licked the blood and began to laugh again. "The blood is very tasty, but I gotta say, you are very powerful." Dante shrugged, "I did nothing, it was my friends who did the fighting." the mannequins stood by Dant
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:02:46 GMT -5
Jack and Kel looked up from their little spat to a big man with a large gun, then they slowly looked at each other. And began to roll around on the ground laughing. The image of this man might have been frightening if it hadn't been for the stiff falling from the balcony and the man's horrible grammar.
"Holy shit.... that was great." Jack managed to say through guffaws as he got up and managed to help Kel up too.
"Ahhh... that was great... ok I think we're safe I'll go ahead and get back in the holster." Kel managed to brush himself off through laughs and jumped in the air, transforming suddenly back into a .44 Magnum Revolver. Jack caught him and put him back in his holster, stretching a little and walking past the big man.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:03:01 GMT -5
I like this fellow, the Mechanist King stifled a grin. He certainly seems to have a decent head on his shoulders. His big meaty shoulders...ahem. Perhaps I can convince him that justice would best be done on my side of the war?
-
"That man scares me," Jeff remarked to Magnus about Mitch Fury. "He also reminds me of someone - someone who'd be a really good action hero, but not much else." Making jokes was the only thing keep his bowels in check.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:03:20 GMT -5
It was a disappointing day for Iorik, when he arrived to where the people had gathered, the laughing freak who was still laughing for the sake of it, was in wounds. "Pssh, excited me for nothing," he mumbled to himself as his hand drifted over his blade in a familiar motion when the sound of gunshots made him as heck annoyed. He was debating whether or not to see the commotion, but then decided it would not be much use to him anyways, so he decided to push forth. His interest was sparked when he heard the laughing freak state that someone was very strong, than another person responded, and spoke about friends making him notice the mannequins besides a strange man's side. One was a laughing maniac, the other a very strange but powerful man, which caused Iorik to smirk, but his smile was soon wiped away. 'I've seen competent people, but there's no fun.' He was frowning as he thought about that fact, a look of annoyance crossing his face. "Well, that's rather a cowardly action, hiding behind your so-called friends," Iorik stated as he approached Dante. There was laughter in his voice, "You only know how to hide, don't you?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:03:29 GMT -5
Satisfied that justice had been served, he holstered his pistol, then turned and walked away. Luckily he had resolved the fight without anyone getting hurt.
Fury wandered off through the streets. Time to find a new crime, or perhaps a drink at the tavern.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:03:59 GMT -5
Some distance out from Hero's Refuge, lay the sprawling and mysterious woods. Many of the townspeople feared what lurked inside, rumors of monsters and demons being popular among the town children. Although, in recent months, people had returned from the foreboding forest, claiming to have been rescued by a towering lumberjack and his trusty axe. People soon worked it out for themselves that the great lumberjack of legend, Samson Mortlock had decided to stay for a spell in their woods.
The crack of Fury's gunshot rang throughout the trees, disturbing the forest. In a clearing, sat on the stump of a fallen tree, sat the eponymous woodsman and hero Samson Mortlock. His ears prickled at the sound of the gun, and he tutted lightly.
''Crazy townspeople. Always fightin' about somethin' or other...''
Beside him, sat a large grizzly bear, happily gnawing on the leftovers of Samson's meal. The lumberjack rubbed the tamed bear's head with his large hand. The echoing of the shot faded, the woodsman yawned and leaned back on the tree behind him, resting his head on his arms on the tree trunk. This is the reason he avoided the towns and cities, there was no problems for him out in the woods. The only reason he went to town was to bring firewood to the people, no charge as always. His beloved axe sat beside him, topping five feet in length and much too heavy for a normal man to lift comfortably.
Rising back to his feet, Samson yawned and stretched his tree trunk arms across his chest. He hoisted his heavy axe with ease into his hand, swinging it around skillfully. He stepped up to the towering tree in front of him.
He brought his axe back, as calm and poised as a professional golfer. The lumberjack drove his axe clean through the whole width of the trunk, slicing through four feet of strong tree trunk in one powerful swoop. He spun his axe happily in his hand, satisfied with his perfect slice. Samson wielded his trusty axe in battle as gracefully as when chopping wood. With a loud splintering and cracking of bark, the tree began to topple.
''Timbeeeeeer!'' he bellowed to noone in particular.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:04:14 GMT -5
Magnus finally turned his attention to the impending fight between the demon-looking guy and the mannequins he'd spotted before. Though honestly he wasn't all that worried. He was confident that if things got out of hand, the town's "law enforcer" would re-appear.
These things tended to work themselves out. Usually. Maybe.
"Hmm, maybe we should put a stop to this first." he muttered to himself. "This could get a lot of people hurt." Not that he actually cared about the people, but any incident that caused wide-spread chaos would attract the attention of the Army, which Magnus didn't want.
"Excuse me." Magnus stepped away from his new acquaintance towards the two about to break out into violence. "I believe that you two should calm yourselves down a bit. Wouldn't want to cause a scene, now would we?" Magnus asked in a light tone, giving a friendly smile.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:04:21 GMT -5
Jeff happened to be in the path of the falling tree - apparently a very large indeed, since it managed to fall within the town limits. He dived out of the way before it crashed to the ground, collapsing a building or two with it.
"Who would do that?"
The building that collapsed just happened to be the one that the Mechanist King was perched on. He failed to dive out of the way because, at first, the tree didn't seem all that tall. But then it came closer and close...and WHAM!
Suddenly the building was gone and he was flying through the air...and landing on Mitch Fury.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:04:40 GMT -5
Fury swore as the man smashed into him from out of the sky, but quickly regained his composure. He rolled unnecessarily, then drew his immense sidearm on the stranger.
"Um, Ah had someting for dis," he mumbled, searching his memory for the wisecrack he had prepared well in advance in case someone fell out of the sky and landed on him. His eyes brightened as he remembered. "Nice ov ya to drop in!" He mentally congratulated himself. Good one, Mitch. Good one.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:04:52 GMT -5
The Mechanist King dusted himself off. "Ahem. Yes, that was...very clever my ill-understood friend. Say, aren't you Mitch Fury, the greatest policeman in all of Hero's Refuge?" The King turned on his charm and answered his won question. "Of course you are, how could I even mistake you for anyone of lesser status." He thew a good-natured arm around Mitch's shoulders.
And by good-natured, I mean conspiratorial.
"Say, I have a problem that only you can fix. Wahddya say? Will you help a man out?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Mizagium on May 18, 2013 16:06:10 GMT -5
Samson came wandering in through the town entrance, heading straight through the crowd in search of his collapsed tree. Some of the townspeople were angry at the destruction, but Samson figured that the tall trees were here centuries before the small town was started, and they had right of way. Townspeople noticed the hulking lumberjack moving through the town, and even the dumbest knew it was obviously his doing.
Some irritable men began shouting at him, demanding repayment. Suddenly, an elderly man spoke up.
''You damn fools. That's Samson Mortlock!''
The hecklers silenced themselves almost instantly, and the once angry crowd began to stare in disbelief as the recognized the towering lumberjack from the legends they were told as children. The size, the axe, the beard. They recognized the iconic description.
''I think we can let him off with this one...'' the old man smiled to the lumberjack.
Reaching the trunk of the tree, Samson calmly hopped up on top of it, getting a feel for the weight and width, thinking how he could move it. Stepping off the tree to the ground again, Samson planted both feet firmly on the cobblestone. Driving his burly arms beneath the tree trunk, he hoisted it off the wreckage, allowing it to crash harmlessly onto the cobblestone street below. As he walked past the people, he gave his humble apologies, and promised to haul down a stack of firewood for the town early in the morning. Walking back to the end of the tree, he grabbed the bottom with both hands, and began dragging the massive weight through the crowd, heading back towards the forest. The tree was the length of almost three buildings, and watching the man drag it through town was quite a sight.
He caught a glimpse of a shady cloaked figure getting friendly with a burly gunman. His sensitive hearing picked up a light whirring from beneath the cloak that would have been unnoticeable to most others except for the woodsman. Technology, a waste of time in Samson's eyes. He sighed and shook his head at the sight of the unnecessarily large sidearm the lawman carried. Overcompensating for something, perhaps?
''Hmpf...guns.'' He tutted. ''Gimme a sturdy axe any day of the week. Crazy townspeople...'' he mumbled.
|
|
