Prepare for the #LodanRespawn2024 Existing characters may choose to be displace from/have memories of different timelines, thereby allowing returning members the option to retcon their whole character. These changes are the result of the "Unnatural Fog" plot device that is running between now and the Respawn. The plot is simple: no matter where your character is, that place is shrouded in a thick fog that suspends time, but not thoughts or memories, so even if they're repeating the same day over and over again, they continue to remember, so each time feels like a new day. For those retconning OCs; this is where new versions of themselves have the opportunity to replace the old versions. Official lore and tree updates will be announced asap
Lone stalled for a moment. "Ain't anything more than a child..." She murmured in hushed tones, as if to herself, "But..." she glanced behind her, to Danny, long porcelain locks whispering in the wind as the flew with the motion, "So are you..." and in a fraction of a second, as if she had never said anything at all, she hissed the spell to herself to retract her wings back into the tattoo, and skittered away to the back of the crowd. The humans saw them as monsters. Those words reverberated within her mind, over and over again. It wasn't untrue - not in the slightest. The humans did see them as monsters... But wouldn't fighting them prove it to them? Fire and blood... Wouldn't it prove them right?
"Don' getcher knickers in a twist. Ain' ever'one 'ere seen wha' most'a us already know's 'appenin'." Danny didn't even bother to look at Lefiruc as he continued. "Some'a ya ain' 'ad it too 'ard, or ain' been in the city long so ya don' know 'ow bad it gets. Lone 'ere knows, an' she ain' anythin' more'n a child." Danny smiled at Lone and nodded. "A'right Lone, thankya fer showin' us yer wings." Danny looked back up at her little assembly and continued. "Lone ain' even the worst'a what 'appens to us. She's one'a the lucky ones, to 'ave even gotten outta what she was in. More often'n not, our kind ain' so lucky. An' all'a this's 'cause'a humans. They don' see us as real, livin', breathin' people. They don' see us as equals. We're jus' monsters ta them. An' we 'ave been since we got 'ere... Tha's never gonna change unless we do somethin' 'bout it ourselves." Danny paused and took a deep breath. "We're gonna make em change. We're gonna force em to open their eyes. They think we're monsters? I say we show em wha' we can really do. Nothin's gonna change unless we change it. So I say, we change the city. We rebuild this sick city of gears an' steam with fire. Fire an' blood." Danny looked over her assembly again and let her sentence sit in the silence for a moment before continuing. "If any'a ya don' wanna be part'a tha', yer free ta leave. But don' expect ta come back 'ere, an' if ya do anythin' that'll compromise wha' we're workin' for, there -will- be consequences." Danny leveled a meaningful eye at Lefiruc.
"And what do you know of war? Of fire and death? Of destruction? Of devastation of friends and loved ones?" Lefiruc said, his own burned wings blazing forth into view with a burst of psuedo fire as the seal was broken. "Look upon the past boy and see your future that you so eagerly envision!" he roared, his torn and burned wings spread wide for several moments before the came to rest by his side. "You have the heart and determination I will not deny that, but you seem so eager to force the hands of the world to do as you see fit." he said, his voice once more at a normal volume. He took a few steps towards the boy, his cane reverberating across the hall as it moved with him. "I know enough of fire young man that it can burn the user just as easily as its target." said the old man before looking around the two of them.
"Assuming that this war you seek starts... how do you plan to fight it hmm? With what army? With the few who stand here before you?" he asked of him, gesturing to them all. "Some amongst us have never fought in a battle, let alone a war. Our numbers are too few for what you seek. Our resources are thin as they are without trying to stretch them into the pit of destruction." said the old man. "And consider what you ask, if you believe we few are enough. Some of us here have friends, or even family amongst those whom are considered human. Would you truly ask of them to turn against them now on your words alone? Is that what you desire? Brother against brother? Sister against sister? Mothers and fathers against their children? Their friends? Their loved ones?" asked the old man, letting each word lay still through the air.
"And let us not forget the Queen's most recent guest, who according to rumours of late is constructing their own army of machine based death to take down this city and all who dwell within it... is now truly the time you seek for the City to be at war with itself? And even if the rumours are false, what of the Shadow beasts beyond the walls?" he said gesturing to the door. "We humans and Anders fought with one another before, and then the Beasts struck when we did so... I do not for one moment believe that history would not repeat itself should what you desire come to be... and I am under no illusions that we would not be able to strike back as hard this time as we did in those times past." he said, letting his words fall upon their ears. "Much of our peoples knowledge has been lost... and yes, the humans do look down upon us... but should this plot of yours take place, and fail, then it would give them all the more reason to continue the atrocities they do today... with even greater vigour and renewed passion." argued Lefiruc. "So tell me Daniel... are you prepared for all that? Are you prepared for the possibility of defeat, and the responsibility of what comes after?"
Post by Danny Ravensdale on Jun 30, 2015 7:54:51 GMT
"I know tha' yer way ain' gotcha nowhere. I know tha' yer a coward, 'idin' b'hind pretenses'a 'avin' survived this long." Danny's voice and visage darkened considerably as Lefiruc approached. "Ya don' need an army fer a fight. Ya ain' thinkin' smart, fer all yer s'posed wisdom. If yer goin' against somethin' bigger'n ya, hit em where they ain' lookin'. Ya know anythin' 'bout guerilla tactics? 'bout pickin' yer mark an' 'ittin' quick an' 'ittin' 'ard b'fore folks got a chance ta look yer way? 'course not. Ya live in a cushy 'ouse wit a pair'a servants an' the pretentious airs'a the same folks tha' keep us down. No, we ain' gonna 'ave a war. Tha's implyin' we're gonna go in fer a straight up fight."
Danny paused before she continued. "I ain' askin' ya ta fight family. I'm tellin' ya ta stay outta my way if ya ain' with me. Each'a ya 'ave a choice ta make. I made mine when I was put in charge'a the place. I ain' gonna watch my people bein' abused no more." Danny crossed his arms over his chest. "An' tha' guest o' the good ol' queen? 'is timin' couldn' be better. Play our cards righ', ruin wha' chances the military 'as itself, an' they'll -need- us. Then i's jus' embrace us, or le' the city burn. We ain' gonna get no change playin' nice. So I ain' playin' nice. If ya ain' got the stomach fer it, then get out."
Post by Lasair Landevier Lupen on Jun 30, 2015 18:51:28 GMT
Lasair turned away as Lone unfurled her wings. He had seen them before, every time he met her actually, but now he was actually looking at them, and well, it wasn’t pretty. He was close enough to hear the hushed words Lone said to Danny, and although he wanted to see her reaction, that was cut off by Lefiruc stomping forward, shouting a bunch of nonsense that we didn’t know what we’re getting into. Danny handled it well, talking down to the old man, but Lasair felt like there was more to say. He shook off his bad mood and stepped forward, hoping to break an argument between the guild leader and the veteran before it started.
“Danny knows what she’s talking about,” he began, and then paused to make sure the attention was on him. “And Lefiruc brings up a point that war is dangerous. But everyone, you need to realize; now is the time to act. Now is the time to get up and change things. We have the opportunity, and we need to take it. If we let it pass us by, that’d make us a whole lot of idiots. But you’ve been around Lodan lately; surely you’ve noticed it too. Crime rates are high, supplies are low, the hovel is growing larger each day. The regular folk would blame those things on us, the Anderswelters, but they need to realize that it’s not us, it’s them. They’re the ones pushing this massive group of people down. They’re holding us down and then kicking us while we’re there. It’s not right. And we need to do something about it before something snaps. Remember the murderer from last October? I have a feeling he’s not the only case of someone going around, killing our kind. He just set his sights too high and attacked the wrong families. How many do you think are out there, attacking the ‘right’ families? They’re out there, and they’re not being stopped.”
He took a deep breath, calming the nerves he had riled up, before finishing his piece. “This meeting isn’t a discussion about what we can do. It’s an update about what we’re going to do, and how we’re going to do it. If you think it’s wrong, and you think things should be done a different way, well, don’t let the door hit you on your way out.” Lasair took a step back and nodded to Danny, hoping that Lefiruc would keep quiet from here forward.
SO much was happening so fast, and so few people seemed to even realize it. Maybe it hit her harder because she'd read the book. THE Book, on the history of MI. Elowyss, Jakobi Frost.... The Ella and Jak? She felt lightheaded and in awe of the legendary duo who stood in this room as though they had never left it. Danny looked right at home among the other two. Figured. But they made a nice trio. The wings of the girl reminded her a lot of old mr. storm, who, until that moment hadn't said a word - and his voice snapped her eyes his way. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and bopped out one hip. Yep. the gang was all here.
Danny raised his--er, her voice again and Clairee missed half of what she said as her thoughts got sidetracked again to the fact that Danny was now Danielle. Did no one else find this strange either? She glanced around for the dozenth time. Nope, everyone was playing it cool... so Clairee decided to do that too.
Post by Elowyss 'Ella' Cleireigh on Jul 2, 2015 9:57:38 GMT
"If you think for one second that we're all going to sit down and ignore the crimes that are happening to our kind, you're both mistaken." Elowyss piped up from the other side of the room, approaching Danny and Lefiruc, turning to the veteran, she nodded to him; "You're correct in some aspects, we don't have the resources or the allies for another war and gods, both me and you know that we don't need another war. We've been there, we've seen our people die. However.."
Ella's golden hawk-like eyes turned to Danny and she smirked, "The young guild leader has a point. Tensions are running high within Lodan currently and our people are suffering the brunt of it, so something needs to change, we need to start working towards a change and unfortunately it needs to be an aggressive one; a change that will probably involve dark situations that none of us pictured ourselves in but we have to do what we must for our people and our guild."
Her expression softened and her eyes grew sad as she glanced over to the young girl named 'Lone', eyeing her wings, only a child and she had already experienced the unfairness that walked hand in hand with her race.
"We must do something, it is a necessity."
Hey guys, I can be found on Discord under LunieLu! Drop me a message if you're around.
"Bu-but... People will get... hurt..." Lone forced out, gripping the sides of her skirt hard with her tiny fingers. She didn't want war. She didn't want war. She didn't want war! This thought circled inside of her head as worry shot into her veins and caused her thin frame to tremble, tears welling up in her large, yellow eyes.
Lefiruc listened to Danny's rant first, then to the words of the others, in particular one of the original members of this grouping, who understood -exactly- what he was talking about. He turned his gaze back to Danny. "I hope you somehow manage to reach my age young man... lady..." he said as he processed the information offered from others words concerning this person before shrugging and just going with, "young Danny. Then perhaps you'll understand the difference between cowardice and caution." said the old man before he rubbed the bridge of his nose between his fingers.
"However... I will concede that action must be taken." the old man admitted. "But, there is a slight flaw in your logic young Danny when you said that you weren't asking us to fight our families or friends. Whilst we may not directly wish to fight them, we can be sure that if any single one of the identities of the members of this room gets out... then this city will truly show you how ugly it can get. Mobs do not tend to care for innocent or guilty in the moment of their rage." said Lefiruc somberly, gripping the head of his cane tighter as his wings bristled slightly from the memories of the fire in that past day and time. He let out a slow breath before speaking again.
"Now, you proposed a guerrila action... I will assume you already have targets picked out..." he said before looking towards Elowyss with a single nod. "Then perhaps you would allow us to check this stratagem you have concocted... to ensure that there is minimal loss of life to both sides, whilst still carrying the full impact of the actions meaning. Whilst I am more than certain you wish to cripple the city and prove to humanity the strength of your mission, one must also take into consideration the long-term as well as the short-term effects. Too many lives lost and it could cause the entire city to go up in flames in such a way that it wouldn't matter if the military turned to us for help come any external invasion..." he said before looking towards Lone then back to Danny.
"And there is the legacy we leave behind as well to consider. Legacy may not mean much to you at this moment young Danny, but consider this... history is written by the victors. What sort of history do you wish to be written should you succeed? How would you want it to be remembered in the years to come, when you reach my age and have grandchildren of your own growing up in this city?" he asked of the young leader. "I say these words, not to dissuade you as you may think, but to have you consider carefully what you are about to undertake. You said it yourself, for better or worse, you are the leader of this little group... and should this plan of yours succeed, I dare say you could find yourself the figurative head of all Anderswellters in Lodan... as far as the eyes of the general public are concerned that is." he said before going to place a single hand on Danny's shoulder.
"Do not let the fire in your heart consume your soul young Danny... that is all I ask if you truly wish to lead us into this undertaking. A leader, must think with their head, as well as their heart." said the old man before he removed his hand from the young person's shoulder. "Now then, assuming a single word of mine managed to somehow lodge itself betwixt your ears and into whatever can be called your brain, then I shall do what I can on my end of things to try and aid in this endeavour. I may be too old to fight directly as you may so wish young Danny, but there are other ways I could be of assistance. Caterers and such are always required at the functions up in the high echelons of society, as well as couriers... One of the advantages of being an old coot young Danny, is that you live long enough to get to know several people in several places who owe you several favours." said the old gentleman with a smirk.
"Oh, and as for my "cushy" lifestyle and pair of servants? They are a human father and half-Feline daughter who remain in my employ because they choose to. God above knows I don't and can't pay them nearly enough for all they do for me... And as for the cushy part, why do you think I don't hold any gatherings and such you tend to hear those up top having hmm?" he said before a thought struck him. "Hmm... but there is still the issue of the other guilds. One can assume that they would not sit quietly whilst this little uprising of yours took place. I assume you have something in mind for them as well? Perhaps forming alliances and such would be advisable... God only knows how many Anders, half or otherwise, are amongst their numbers..." he said, a sobering thought occuring to him.
"...A final question young Danny about this crusade of yours... You say your goal is to uplift the Anders and stop them from being abused and such... but what of those with Anders blood in their veins, that exhibit no magical ability whatsoever? Do you consider them friend or foe in this?" asked Lefiruc, letting his final question hang in the air like the sword of Damocles... this would truly show exactly what sort of person Danny was... and sort of war this would be...
Post by Danny Ravensdale on Jul 2, 2015 19:41:36 GMT
"Ain' no flaw, old man. I ain' so dumb as ya like to think I am. I already been lookin' fer where I'm gonna 'it, an' I been thinkin'a ways we can do our work without losin' our freedom ta walk the city. So yer all gonna be gettin' somethin' ta 'ide yer face, Yer each gonna get a mask. Bu' it ain' gonna be somethin' generic. I wan' the city ta know who we are, ta know tha' we're the ones doin' it. Yer each gonna 'ave a mask... but a unique mask. They'll be kept 'ere, in 'eadquarters so if folks is pokin' around in yer stuff, they ain' gonna find it. Bu' we need a face, an' we need folks ta know it's us."
Danny took a deep breath before continuing. "Bu' we're goin' after the money. Ya migh' think a city runs on it's citizens, but far as I can tell, it's money. Money's wha' moves moun'ains. Money's wha' keeps folks fed an' homes clean. Money's wha' runs everythin'. So we're goin' fer the infrastructure. Factories, ware'ouses, trade shipments. An' I know 'ow we're gonna do it too. See, I been thinkin' 'bout this fer quite a while, an' I'ma letcha in on a lil secret. Ya've all 'eard'a the infamous Queen'a Rogues, yeh?" Danny paused for dramatic effect. "Well, I go' the good ol' Queen in my back pocket. See, the lady owes me 'er life a couple'a times over. Who she is, I ain' tellin'. Jus' know tha' we're gonna 'ave 'er 'elp stoppin' trade. 'specially if she's gettin' a cut'a the goodies we're takin'."
"When nothin's gettin' in'a the city, we're gonna 'it the stores. Drive Lodan in'a a crisis. No food's comin' in, no supplies're comin' in. Then we take all'a those supplies we been scoopin' an' redistribute ta the city. We'll go through Mingo's a'course. Give em an incen'ive fer 'elpin' us, or at least stayin' outta the way. We're gonna win the 'eart'a the city by givin'a supplies free ta 'elp. Bu' tha' ain' gonna give us wha' we really need. There needs ta be someone tha' Anders'n humans're workin' t'gether ta stop. Tha's where those Svedes come in. Seen it on the streets. Bes' way ta get folks to work t'gether? Give em someone ta 'ate. Give em a villain. We do our work right', ain' gonna be no way humans can take Sveden themselves."
Danny rolled her shoulders as she continued on. "Our jobs gonna be ta stop anyone or anythin' tha's not followin' the course tha's been laid out. If it all goes accordin' ta plan, the humans'll -need- us, an' we'll be able ta dictate the conditions'a our 'elp. Far as Anders tha' don' got no magic in em? They can either 'elp, or stay outta the way. They try an' get in'a way, they ain' no differen' then the humans."
Post by Ratna Campbell on Jul 3, 2015 12:44:50 GMT
Ratna only peeked from below her hat , "my~ my~ could you keep your voice down please , i was resting my eyes~ couldn't you all get along~ " at this point Ratna was not bothered since she had her own plans, this meeting was just a brake away from the book and it was being such a loud brakes she could have ever had. enough for her to say a few words. before letting the hat cover her eyes again.
Jak shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other, and kept his hands in his pockets. All the yelling, and arguing, and talk of war was making him extremely uncomfortable. Another civil war was NOT his idea of the nicest way to return to the city. All the scars and hurt in this room already were bad enough. He cleared his throat after the small break in the escalating heat, and took a step forward. "Right, yeh, action should be taken. I've seen first hand what it's like growin' up an Ander or half blood kid on the streets. Starving, cold, abused, treated worse than stray dogs. As one of 'em I'm lucky to be alive today, honest. But....that's just it, innit? If you take all the resources, it's the Anders what'll pay first. I'm not about to try an' go against you Danny, but, if we've got it all anyway, what's to say we can't do a little charity on the side?" he raised his palms and shrugged questioningly. He wasn't going to attempt to dissuade Danny, there was no point in that at all. Once Danny's mind was made up, nothing would change it. He just couldn't stand the thought of innocents suffering by MI's hand. "I'm not sayin' we make ourselves the Robin Hood of a Penny Dreadful or nothin', but what's the harm in giving a tiniest bit o' what we take to the less fortunate Anders?" he swallowed and tried to make a half-smile. "Only.....fighting for Anders would be null, really, if most aren't even left. I just don't want to be killing nobody, er...that we don't have to. Directly or not." He furrowed his brow and glanced over at the girl with the mutilated wings, he'd never met her before, but he cringed all the same. "I'm with you Danny. But... how d'we start?"
Post by Danny Ravensdale on Jul 9, 2015 20:20:13 GMT
Danny looked a Jak for a moment and paused before speaking. "Jak, we ain' gonna jus' 'oard it all ta ourselves. I was sayin' we're gonna be givin' it all back. Bu' we gotta put a squeeze on the city first. If folks know tha' stuffs goin' ta Anders, then they'll set up an' take the supplies anyways. Wha' I'm tryin' to accomplish is bringin' everyone down in'a the mud. We can' give any warnin', an' fer this ta work, fer us to completely win the city's 'eart, we gotta tear it down first. We gotta make it so tha' the 'ole place's on the verge'a collapsin', tha' the city is gonna fall, an' tha's when we can 'elp. If we're makin' it easy fer folks when it's s'posed ta be an a big issue, then it's jus' gonna prolong the experience. But I ain' so 'eartless tha' I don' think we can do a lil 'elpin' on the side." Danny glanced at Lefiruc for a minute before continuing. "We can distribute a small, an' I mean SMALL, amount'a the goodies through the old man. Won' raise no suspicion if 'e's got stuff ta spare, seein' as 'e's a noble an' everythin'."
Danny looked at Jak's half smile and did her best to keep her face a mask. She had to be completely committed to her plan... there were enough doubters as it was. If she couldn't lead by example and put her whole faith behind her plan, the others wouldn't follow.
"Well, fer now jus' ge' a mask an' start squirrelin' supplies back 'ere. Stuff tha' ya think would come in 'andy if we were to say... oh... 'it a warehouse or raid a docked ship. I gotta go meet wit the Queen'a Rogues an' after tha', the Mingo's 'ead. Anyone who wants's welcome ta come when I meet the Queen, bu' I ain' gonna guarantee tha' she's whatcha 'spect. I wanna be transparen' 'bout what I'm doin', 'cause fer this ta work you all gotta trust me. So if ya 'ave any questions at any time, ask me an' I'll tell ya the answer."
Danny looked over her little group and smiled to them the confident, almost arrogant smile they'd be expecting. No turning back now.
Make a mask, sounded simple enough, but the rest of all that back-and-forth dialogue sounded a lot more serious and it left her with an emptiness in her gut. Clairee worried about where this was all headed, and wondered if she should be concerned for her human brothers, specifically the one in the EIRAL's, but she wasn't about to ask that outloud. The speech was rallying, it made them sound like they were only doing what was right, but somehow she still felt nervous. Collecting supplies and making mask was how it would begin... who knew where it would go from there. She just put on her brave face, smiled when smiled to, and searched for Lasair in the crowd, the one person she felt comfortable talking to despite him outranking her by quite a bit.
Last Edit: Jul 15, 2015 3:23:37 GMT by Clairee Donya
Shoutbox
Welcome to the Shoutbox - If You Have Discord, Ask to Join the Discord Server