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
OPEN TO Viktor Croswell and Alice Wulfgang Amon was hunched over the right arm of a clockwork doll, making a few adjustments to it. He was going to try something out, just for funzies, and was currently waiting for Viktor to arrive as he required the man's knowledge in synthetic skin to augment his own. In the meantime, the Twins were doing what they usually were doing: Abby was sweeping and Abe was on door guard duty. Just another quiet day.
"I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible! And when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are named after people!" - Taryn, Nerf This
Post by Viktor Croswell on Sept 22, 2015 21:42:14 GMT
What an interesting day today would be. With how Viktor figured it would go, two of the three would be engaged in conversation while the last of them third wheeled and of the likely scenarios the red headed mechanic figured that the fool who would play that role was him to which he was not overly upset--mildly, but not overly. Nikolai towed along behind him as the young man closed up his shop, stuffed his hands into his pockets then ambled across the street in his mechanic's clothing toward Amon's shop.
Some days prior he would have not avoided Alice to pass on the word of meeting with Amon. He could only hope that she would show--though admittedly, other than her persistent want to open up Nikolai, he rather enjoyed the girl's company. It was nice to have someone to talk to from time to time who wasn't a sarcastic little dung.
"Amoooooon! Oi, there ya are," grinned the red head as he stepped into the shop.
"Oh, hey, there you are," Amon said, looking up at the sound of Viktor's voice.
"Hello cousin," the Twins greeted Nikolai in unison.
"Did you bring the stuff I requested?" Amon asked, going back to working on the arm.
"I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible! And when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are named after people!" - Taryn, Nerf This
Post by Viktor Croswell on Sept 24, 2015 6:48:47 GMT
"Good day, cousin Abbey and cousin Abe," replied the larger of the three clock work dolls.
"Yeah, yeah, I did," Viktor said with a dismissive wave of his hand before gesturing back to Nikolai who currently held a large box in his hands. "Just put it over there on the counter, Nik." The red head nodded in the direction of the counter and NK-5 stepped over to set the box down. Inside were several jars of materials, measuring tape, a model arm, paints, several brushes, and other shaping tools.
"You mix each of the jars' contents until it turns into a putty like substance then apply it onto whatever model you have for what shape you need. So, what's this all for?"
"Interesting..." Amon muttered, taking some of the bottles, Taking a look at their contents. "It's just for fun," Amon replied, motioning for Abby to retrieve a mixing bowl from the back. "Just wanted to try something out is all."
"...You mentioned something about an apprentice earlier...care to elaborate more on that?" he asked as he began organizing each of the bottles according to their approximate contents.
"I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible! And when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are named after people!" - Taryn, Nerf This
Post by Alice Wulfgang on Sept 24, 2015 19:56:31 GMT
Today was the day! She'd finally found Viktor... or... well... he'd found her, and told her to show up at another workshop to meet the robotics expert he'd promised to introduce her to. Alice practically floated along the streets with delight as she drew nearer and nearer to the shop. She glanced down at the slip of paper she'd written the address down on, just to make sure, and took a deep breath. Okay... just across the street. Alice looked into a glass window next to her and fixed her hair. Okay... nothing on her face. She brushed off her skirt and checked her tool belt... just to make sure her application was still in good shape. Okay. Alice headed across the street and into the shop. Here goes nothing.
"Hello?" Alice looked into the building from the doorway and noticed Viktor and NK-5. Okay, so this was the right place. Her eyes swept over to see not one, but two other clockwork dolls and a man with a metal arm. Alice wasn't sure which she was more excited for, the clockwork dolls all in one place, or the man with the robotic prosthetics. Whelp, there goes her resolve for professionalism. Alice quickly crossed into the shop, straight to the cyborg man, and grabbed his mechanical arm with delighted curiousity. "How does it work? Do you have it linked up to your nerves or something? How did you figure out a way to make it move?" She lifted it as high as she could to try and get a better view of the socket. "What kind of metal are you using for the casing? It doesn't seem heavy enough to be something like solid steel or iron... that'd make it hard to even move with your balance being thrown off and stuff... a carbon mixture maybe?"
Post by Viktor Croswell on Sept 25, 2015 0:08:51 GMT
With a raised brow Viktor watched one of the twins leave to fetch a bowl then directed his attention back to Amon. "Just for fun, huh? Well, I hope that somethin' fun pays off 'cause gettin' this mix just right can be a major pain in the arse. Unfortunately, that was the last of what I had so I hope Nikolai doesn't decide to tear anything," he said with a sigh before eyeing the clockwork doll who now seemed to be hovering over Abe or rather simply just standing beside him but appeared to be hovering due to the drastic height difference.
"Hm?" His attention was stolen back to Amon once more. "Oh! Right. Her name is Alice. She is a knew girl in town from some place out in the countryside. Said she came here with a brother? Small details. She has an interest in robotics and seems mostly obsessed with--" The red head hadn't even the time to finish his words when the girl's voice broke out from behind him. In the moment it took him to turn around she was gone and already beside Amon which left Viktor blinking in disbelief. Well, she sure did not waste any time. "Uh, well, guess you can figure out what she's into now..."
Amon barely had time to process Viktor's words before a whirlwind of pure enthusiasm rushed over to him and grabbed his arm.
"...well that answers my question..." he thought as he quickly yanked his arm back, subltly clicking his mechanical fingers to prevent his security system from going off; he saw Abe's head snap up just as Alice rushed over to Amon, and he didn't want to scare Mingo's newest recruit. Though in actuality, it may have the opposite effect...obsessed seemed to be an understatement.
"Clockwork technology and myoelectric connections; in a sense, yes; I technically didn't, it was originally made by my old man; originally iron and whatever my old man could find; yes, now a carbon-steel alloy," he replied in a monotonous voice, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu as he addressed the newest hyper-activity train.
"Thanks for the warning Viktor," Amon muttered, rubbing his temples with his left hand. Cripes...bubbly did not even begin to describe this girl.
"Let's start from the top: I'm Amon, leader of Mingo's Merchanics," he said, putting his hand down and addressing Alice. "Though I do run a clockwork toy store, I specialize in almost everything robotic and mechanical in nature; in fact, I'm currently in the middle of reviving the clockwork doll industry. Sorry I wasn't around when you entered the guild...was in the middle of some projects. So, with my introduction out of the way, tell me more about yourself."
He never thought he would ever get an apprentice, nor did he ever want one, but...this girl could be useful, might as well give her a chance...
...and at least find out if she is somewhat sane, though any hope of that seems unlikely at the moment...
"I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible! And when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are named after people!" - Taryn, Nerf This
Post by Alice Wulfgang on Sept 28, 2015 6:49:53 GMT
Alice pulled her hands back to her chest quick as you like when Amon jerked back his arm. Okay... so far not so good. And then he started just rattling off answers monotonously. Great. He hated her already. Okay. That's fine. She just needed him to be willing to teach. He didn't have to like her, just instruct her. That's fine. It's good.
Alice closed her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking again. "My name's Alice Wulfgang, from Bimbury. I've been a tinker for as long as I can remember, and have a particular specialization in robotics." Alice paused after her introduction and reached into her tool belt to get her application. In Alice's cupped hands was a small mechanical butterfly, the body and casing being constructed of a polished brass and a wire frame for the wing structures. Across the wire frame was tightly stretched cloth, done up in pink, yellow, and blue. Alice inserted a small brass pin into the 'head' of the butterfly, which slowly came to life. The wings beat slowly and gathered speed until it was hovering a couple inches from her hands.
"I've come to Lodan to learn more about technology, and robotics in particular. I figure I've got a better chance of that here than I do back in Bimbury."
Post by Viktor Croswell on Sept 28, 2015 7:10:32 GMT
Viktor leaned forward on the counter and folded his arms together as he cast a glance between both Amon and Alice. The corners of his lips tugged upward in a smile as he saw how Amon pulled his arm back--hadn't he himself done that to the poor one armed man when he first met him? Of course he had but that was some time ago. When Alice withdrew to show her butterfly creation, the ginger straightened and lifted both brows. "Well, ain't that pretty cool," he grinned as he looked to Amon.
"...Wow..." Amon thought. "...Pretty good...too fancy for my tastes, but pretty good..." Then again, it did make a perfect fit in his shop if they were to sell it, so who was he to judge. Observing her again, he realized, once she calmed down, she was almost a splitting image of his old self: obsessed with technology and eager to learn, though much more energetic than he ever was.
Amon merely glanced over at Viktor and rolled his eye at his comment, shaking his head. "Alright, alright, you found one good one," he said, taking Viktor's smile to be smug. "I really don't know how to approach this; never really wanted an apprentice to be perfectly honest..."
"Hey now, don't be rude. She could be quite helpful you know..." chimed Abby.
"Still not quite the people person...how did you get this position again...?" teased Abe.
"Oh shut up." He paused, drumming his human fingers on the counter absently.
"How much do you know about robotics and technology in general?"
"I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible! And when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are named after people!" - Taryn, Nerf This
Post by Alice Wulfgang on Sept 30, 2015 20:43:43 GMT
Alice watched Amon look over her device and held her breath until he said Viktor'd found one good one. Well, that worked she supposed. Foot in the door. Okay. Alright. Alice waited as the clockwork dolls spoke with Amon before he directed his question to her.
"Not enough." She tried to hold back everything she wanted to say, but Alice just couldn't do it. Not with an apprenticeship on her thoughts. "I understand basic motor mechanics and have an incomplete understanding of engines and propulsion systems as well. My programming is just what I've been able to teach myself through trial and error, and I have the barest bones of a working knowledge of Nikolai Tesla's work."
Amon blinked. "Cripes, what do you even need me for? You already seem to know more than I did when I was your age..." he said with a smile.
"Alright, here's what we'll do: like I said, I never planned nor wanted an apprentice, so I'm going to need to get some preparations done. For the most part, I guess I'll just have you help with basic assembly for now. During down times, feel free to experiment around and I'll help point you in the right direction. I would rather you not start fiddling around with certain machines...my arm and the Twins included, but for the most part, ask before you break it down. As for programming..." He paused, collecting his thoughts. "...I'll walk you through the basics. Anything after that though will be back to trial and error. I have some...unique scripting when it comes to programming that I rather not share at the moment...who knows, I may give you a hint later on. For anything else, I'm still learning myself, so feel free to bug the other members of Mingo's for advice...though take it with a grain of salt for some...a spoonful for others."
"We'll start sometime next week. Sound good?" he asked leaning over with a smile.
"Welcome, looking forward to working with you," the Twins chimed in unison.
"I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible! And when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are named after people!" - Taryn, Nerf This
Post by Viktor Croswell on Oct 1, 2015 2:34:37 GMT
"Hey, I only ever brought you one person and that's her," Viktor defended then turned and planted his palms onto the counter before hoisting himself up to sit comfortably on the surface. "So if the only person I brought you was good in your eyes therefore I am one for one and that means a hundred percent which means I got a skill for spotting talent," he continued to grin triumphantly.
With the chiming of the dolls, he fell silent and nodded along then snorted at Abe. "Well, I hear that the position is cursed. All the other guild leaders just up and disappeared or took off. Ain't sure why. Maybe they just got tired of it," he said with a shrug. "Amon's pretty smart though, there is that. He made you two after all." Again he fell silent as the conversation drifted to what Alice knew. When Nikolai heard his name, he stopped his inspection of the shop and looked up as though he was called and waited for some sort of command before speaking up, "Viktor, is that who I was named after?"
"Maybe? I ain't sure. The old man did look up to him so possibly." His answer was accompanied by a shrug. NK-5 looked between all present then turned his full attention on Alice. "I don't even know what you guys are talkin' about now..."
Alice waited with baited breath as Amon spoke. That is, until he agreed to accept her as his apprentice. Alice squirmed in place before quickly stamping her feet like a pair of pistons and letting out a giddy squeal. She swooped in, gave Amon a hug, and spun in a circle before she let him go. Alice kept saying, "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" until she let him go, and burst out the store. She gave joyful scream outside before rushing back inside and making a beeline for Viktor. She gave the man a big sloppy kiss on the forehead and laughed giddily before skipping around the store and spinning in happy circles.
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