The Backways Bar [RP]

[OOC] Read the greatboard on the title page and my updates on page 7.

 

[I also have a Google Doc with everything that’s been shown so far. I haven’t had time to add all the new characters but it has everything from about yesterday (wow so much happened since then) and you can always contribute]

Four. In the past few minutes, Luthan had seen four people enter the Backways Bar. It’s going to get crowded… and perhaps unsafe. And of course, one of the new patrons bears the familiar symbol he’s also seen more times in the past few minutes than any single day on any of the worlds they controlled. Are they following him?

Low, seemingly driven to insanity by something that just happened. Thedra, acting differently to everyone in the bar. Two mysterious, tall, dark figures that seem to have sought out this place on purpose. A being from a strange world that can still speak the common language. And an enigmatic human who, to wear their symbol so openly, could only be an agent of the Cult of the Ascendant Sovereign.

He wants to find out more about all of them — he’ll feel safer that way — but chooses to avoid them, especially the human, and stand in the corner where he started, waiting for something to come to him.

 

Callenius notices Luthan’s look of surprise. They smile and raises their arms with a look of obviously feigned disbelief.
“It’s true-I’ll admit it. I’m a member of the Cult of the Ascendant Sovereign. Tell me, what gave it away? Was it perhaps the badge?”
They make their way towards the planeshifter. “I can tell you’re not pleased. I don’t blame you, we don’t exactly have the best reputation nowadays, with all of the imperialism and dark rituals and whatnot. But before you start plotting how to best and most efficiently kill me, let me introduce myself first.”
Their eyes flash with color again. “I’m Callenius; although you can simply call me Cal instead. As you’ve probably noticed by now, I’m a High Priest of the Sovereign, although it’s practically in name only. It’s quite difficult, in my opinion, to be a member of the clergy of a god who’s quite literally a corpse-and the first part is a lie as well. Of course, you could always hand me a couple strong drinks, and I’ll see what I can do to change that.”
They continue, their expression vaguely curious. “And you, planeshifter, don’t exactly need to introduce yourself. My associates are looking everywhere for you, and that’s not just a figure of speech. It’s quite the stroke of fate, isn’t it? They meant to demean me by assigning me here; and yet, here you are.”

 

(Low remains muttering incoherently to himself.)

 

Thedra breaks into one of her uncanny smiles, lowers herself down from on her stilt-like arms, and pretty much staggers over to Cal (this time at a normal pace), and starts speaking rapidly. Her mouth doesn't quite sync up with her words.
"Ooh, a member of the Cult! Let me tell ya, yours folks can be some right downers! There was this one fellow who up and snatched some fine tiefling fellow who brought me here! Quite a shame, I tell ya. But hey, maybe you ain't so ba-"
She gets cut off as her eyes flash with a purple light and she almost collapses. Anything in purple is her thoughts; if anyone can read thoughts, this is what they get.
That GODDAMN elf! I'M supposed to be the one who makes the illusions! [obscenities]!
Ah well, that wasn't going to come to anything anyway.
Her eyes return to normal.
"Excuse me for a mo'."
She slinks over to Low, and whispers to him in a voice only he can hear.
"You're a sneaky little one. Quite good at getting out of altercations, I see."

 

(ooc note: endistic and i wrote this together on the same google doc so we’re technically not npc-ing so don’t kill us hmtn)

The wanderer looks up from his paper and stares across the room, where a group of people were chatting. He squints at them from under his hood, and sees a familiar face. A smile cracks his solemn features, and he rises from his seat, taking his cup of chorus juice and his paper with him. Unseen, his black cloak and hood melt into the shadows of the tavern. A shadow seems to split from the dark corners of the room, and glides behind Endistic, tapping him on the shoulder.


Endistic jumps backwards, seeing an ever-familiar face. It was Enderae. His lifelong friend. He helped him. Killed him. Revived him. Slew kings. Established order. Did everything with him. “Oh hi! I was not expecting to see you here!” he said nervously. He wasn’t sure what to do. After Zainem’s Attack left scars behind, Enderae and Endistic had never seen each other.

“I visit this place every week,” Enderae chuckles as he throws off his hood, revealing a face remarkably akin to Endistic’s, although his eyes were a different color and were closer to his forehead, which was scarred with many blows. However, between them, it was clear that they still shared friendship. “Oh cool! This is my first time here. People here are a bit.. how do I put this… foreign.”

Enderae winces as he sees the many dirty looks coming his way.

“Hey, we- uh, we didn’t mean anything by it.” he says, raising his hands in the air as they both walk to a secluded table, stringing Endistic along. As they both sit down, Enderae sets his drink on the table. On the table is a cup full of stirrers, a ketchup bottle, and a mustard bottle, along with an assortment of many interdimensional condiments. Looking at his drink and frowning slightly, he grabs a stirrer and stirs it*.


*: reference to something y’all wouldn’t ever understand

 

(ooc: based enderae)

 

(ooc: based endistic)

 

Callenius turns to Thedra. “I would say the same for you, halflife. I do remember you-although you probably don’t. Contrary to popular belief, our kind can be quite forgettable.”
Calennius seems to briefly study Thedra with a critical eye, slightly tilting their head in an almost amused way. Finally, they nod and begin to speak again.
“I do apologize if I’m slightly wary-I’ve never been on the greatest terms with your friend the corpse king. Last time we met, he tried turning me into one of his husks; if he’s still using the same body as he was fifty years back, you can still see the bullet wound I gave him.”
Calennius chuckles. “I misspoke-I meant to say arrow. I wouldn’t want to impede this world’s technological growth, after all-those that do often bring about the most unfortunate consequences.”
They glance ever so slightly at Luthan after saying that.

 

Spoiler: Backstory: How I got here

The wind blows through my hair. The day is closing soon. Student Axyle is closing up the shrine. The sounds of the distant city grow quieter by the minute. It is time for me to begin my meditation. Suddenly, a sharp, painful feeling enters my stomach. Something is very, very wrong. “Father Eoc! Hel… pp. In a flash I summon my glaive, dashing into the next room I see Axyle lying in a pool of blood. However, there seems to be no threat in sight. As I approach is body I sense something wrong. Three masked men drop down around me. Each one has is armed with a dagger and a short sword. It is clear to me that they must be from the Order of the Blade. I heard that they have been targeting shrines around all of Hernan. I was clearly a fool for believing mine would be spared. Perhaps if I had listened to Axyle and closed the shrine, he would still be alive. I battle fiercely, metal sparking on metal, clothes and flesh being torn. I am at the end of my rope. Clearly outmatched and still outnumbered I make up my mind. The shrine is clearly lost, I must retreat. I make a dash for the exit. Barreling through the door I…

You see a male Au Ra, dressed in robe that has clearly seen better days, burst through the door and collapse on the ground. His glaive fallen beside him is bloody and chipped. Suddenly the temperature of the room changes rapidly. The air itself seems to freeze for a second, as icy crystals form on the man’s wounds. You hear a cough is the man begins to breathe. As he pushes himself off the ground with his glaive, his robe begins to magically mend itself. First to ice, then to cloth. He looks up for a second before he becomes unsettled. “YOU!” he shouts, “WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME!” It is clear the shout is directed toward the man you know as Low.

________________________________

(OOC: should prob ping @DesolateDiscord)

 

Low begins shuddering.
"Stop-th;the;-s;c;c;c/c;ream;s. Please!"
Low suddenly looks up, seeing the next to enter the bar. He looks directly at the newcomer, stops shaking and speaks with an echo:
"Who are you?"
Low flumps back down and resumes shaking.

 

What does Callenius want from him? They can't be there to hurt him -- the Bouncer would make sure of that, though Aurelion had gotten away with it outside, using an artifact they may well have. A High Priest! The Cult knew about the bar, probably because of whatever the soldier had done with his communication device! Who can he trust anymore?

And they know him so well too... why have they followed him? He may have opposed them, but he hadn't made a major move to impede their plans, not yet. Do they want to recruit him for their cause? They can't be foolish enough to think he'd accept, unless they had a plan. But of course they had a plan. Or is he overreacting again? What is he going to do?

"Two more," he tells the mechanical bartender, and sits down. Might as well play along, see where this goes, and prepare for the inevitable.

 

Eoc (you don’t know his name atm) gathers a deep breath. He looks around the room and notices all eyes are on him. He drops the glaive which vanishes into shards of ice. He decides to grab a stool and sit next to Low. “I am The Father of True Ice, and YOU took everything from me.”

 

After a short moment, a look of recognition flashes in Low's eyes.
"You. Killed him. Kill me."
His armor bursts into flame, and Low suddenly stops moving, barely even seeming to breathe, looking off into space.
The broken flask is still at his feet.

 

Eoc snorts. “I will not strike a man at his lowest.” Eoc begins to mutter a spell, “Edo Arg Frji Col”. Ice particles begin to enter Low from the nose. (OOC: This is meant to be a healing spell. @DesolateDiscord, rp whether you want it to work or not.)

 

Unfortunately, Low's illness is one of the mind.
Nothing happens.

 

Eoc sighs. “May Thalaik have mercy on your soul.” He then conjures a scroll and begins to read. “‘Many mental illnesses come from a damaged soul and heart.’ It is likely that this,” Eoc picks up some broken pieces of the flask, “has gone deep inside your soul.” (OOC: Kinda confused here. Maybe lead a bit more Discord?)

 

[Low was pressed to insanity by the betrayal of his former best friend - he now has trust issues and his inner monologue screams of death, but these were fairly obvious.

Low is a Trickster; a rogue that uses magic. Most mages use Mana, but rogues use Enigma instead. (hence the title about 6 pages back of "Arcane Without Mana").
The flask is the rogue equivalent of a mana potion. Low was running out of Enigma while using his Shadow Dislocation, and spent the entire remainder of his supply teleporting his body back to his shadow.

Using Dislocation stressed Low's mind, causing his insanity problem to become much more severe. Fully running out of Enigma caused additional stress, as Enigma provides low level neurological protection - the primary result is that reading the mind of someone with Enigma is more difficult, but it had the secondary effect of quieting Low's subconscious.

Pretty much, any effect that restores Enigma (not mana) or treats psychopathy would improve Low's psychological state.]

 

Since a lot of characters have been using portable planeshifting devices recently, let me just take a moment to explain how exactly it works.

Spoiler: About Planeshifting

Planeshifting is fundamentally simple-it’s the exploitation of flaws.
Flaws are what differentiates nature from machinery-countless tiny differences that ultimately add up to a new identity. Without these flaws, without evolution and learning, we would never be in the same place as we are now.
planeshifting works that same way-a happy accident, built on the ultimately flawed concept of space in the Greater Plane.
There are two main types of planeshifting, both allowing you to instantly transport yourself and nearby objects between points on the Greater Plane.
The traditional form of interplanar travel is known as fixed planeshifting; it’s how the Backways Bar operates. Fixed planeshifting is well, fixed by the will of the Greater Plane, unable to be controlled by the planeshifter. This form of travel is notably difficult to utilize, as planeshifters who use this will have to either search for gateways for long durations of time or hope they’re lucky enough to find one by complete happenstance. Common examples of this manifest in the shape of strange doorways, caverns, and for some reason, wardrobes and other such large pieces of furniture.
More recently, however, the Cult of the Ascendant Sovereign and a few other powerful interplanetary organizations have gained control over a new form of interplanar travel; what’s now known as instantaneous planeshifting.
This form of planeshifting is portable and able to be, in its essence, controlled by the planeshifter.
Instantaneous planeshifting first requires an interplanar key, a device that can consume energy in order to manipulate spacial boundaries. While many would say this is a significant upgrade from the alternative-there’s a catch. Nobody-and I mean nobody, not even the Cult itself, has managed to create an interplanar key capable of successfully sending the planeshifter to the destination they choose every time they use it. In its current state instantaneous planeshifting is still very unstable, with a success rate of only thirty percent (or less) when doing so.

 

(OOC: If the bartender can serve any drink, why doesn’t Low just order an enigma potion?)