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Post by Ponic on Dec 9, 2014 23:57:34 GMT -5
(Again this takes place at some point after Remmy's arc...don't bother me with timing! It's a long time skip damn it!)
In the cabin a shadow would slowly take form from seemingly the open air. It floated in the air moving silently, apparently seeking out someone.
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Arianna
Niko
Dimension of Emotions
Posts: 2,241
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Post by Arianna on Dec 10, 2014 0:10:08 GMT -5
Arianna was in her room with the door cracked, and noticed a flicker of shadow move across the opening. The hairs on her neck stood up, so she went to go see who--or what--it was, opening the door further and looking into the hallway to see a long shadow, not seemingly attached to anything or anyone!
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Post by Ponic on Dec 10, 2014 0:24:53 GMT -5
As Arianna approached the shadow it would suddenly turn around and face her. It paused for a moment, as if recognizing her, and then took the form of Ponic's shadow. It spoke with his voice, though Arianna would feel it in her mind more than hear it through her ears. "Arianna? Keera and I require assistance, can you come to the Shadow Realm?"
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Arianna
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Post by Arianna on Dec 10, 2014 19:49:18 GMT -5
She was a little surprised to see Ponic's shadow, as she hadn't seen him around in around in a while. "Oh, sure? I've never been there before though, so I don't know how to get there.."
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Post by Ponic on Dec 10, 2014 20:46:25 GMT -5
Ponic's shadow smirked, "I'll take care of that." It floated in the air and cracked and coalesced until it became a swirling portal to the Shadow Realm. Once Arianna stepped through the portal trip would begin. Fortunately for Arianna, the trip was much less bumpy than when Neon did it as the Irates for now seemed to have taken a blow and weren't as active.
Arianna would find herself ejected out in the Ponic's village, the village of the Veluts. She was near Ponic and Keera, who were more on the outskirts of the village. Arianna would notice the rundown buildings and broken craters in the land, clearly a land touched by war. Ponic and Keera were there to meet her. "Sorry for the abrupt pull," said Ponic, "how was the trip?"
Keera smiled and waved to Arianna. "Welcome to the Shadow Realm."
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Arianna
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Post by Arianna on Dec 10, 2014 22:46:43 GMT -5
"A little disorienting.." she said as she stumbled out, "but fine." She smiled at Keera, then looked around at her surroundings, blinking as her eyes got used to the lack of color. If the trip had been disorienting, this was even more so! She immediately felt extremely self conscious of her hair, and donned her hood, tucking her hair back into it.
It was then that she noticed all the wreckage. "What happened here?"
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Post by Ponic on Dec 10, 2014 22:55:21 GMT -5
Ponic looked around, "years ago," he said, "the Ulters, invaded our village. They killed many people, we were under occupation for sixteen years until they were expelled."
"They tried to invade Earth through a portal they had created, but our group," Keera was referring to Ponic, Skylos, Neon, her, Rem, and Halo who were the only ones at the time, "managed to close the portal at the perfect time. Most of the Ulters' army was killed, the few remaining fled, and the village broke into a riot to free itself. Now nearly seven years later you can still see the effects of the battles." Ponic nodded, "but our people are resilient, it's much less depressing within the village." Ponic pointed to the run down house. "This was where, Keera, Markov, and I lived when we were children."
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Arianna
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Post by Arianna on Dec 10, 2014 23:15:55 GMT -5
She gazed at the house solemnly, not knowing what to say. She realized that she had never known much about any of the Shadow Weilders' pasts, and now that she was discovering it, she felt as though she were trespassing on some sacred memory. "Oh.." she said, feeling stupid, then continued. "What did you need assistance with? Are there still battles or riots happening?" It seemed like they would have been going on for an awfully long time, if that was the case.
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Post by Ponic on Dec 10, 2014 23:43:24 GMT -5
Ponic waved Arianna over, Keera walked with them toward the house. It was true, Arianna was likely learning about her Shadow Wielder compatriots for the first time now. Ponic, Keera, and Markov usually kept their pasts to themselves unless asked directly.
"The Shadow Realm is divided into multiple states. The village we are from is the Velut village," said Ponic. "We understand Shadow Wielding in its broad forms. For the most part our village keeps to itself. The Ulter's don't have any deep connection to Shadow Wielding, and thus they've used it along with technological means, although their connection to shadow allows them to be quite...durable. The Nictucs use Shadow Wielding in a way that allows them to become more like shadow. They don't battle on the most part, but when they do they are a force to be reckoned with. Where Veluts manipulate shadow, Nictucs make it a part of themselves. Irates, are the final race, and they are more infection than beings. They allow shadow to overcome themselves more than needed and alter it in a way that makes it a mockery of Shadow Wielding, the entire process is disgusting and unseemly."
Keera nodded to Ponic's summary. "The races, we all live in various villages, its rare for any of us to mix together, we are not a united people. The Irates are the ones who mostly move between villages but in recent times they seem to have been working more openly."
"Keera and I came here to discover more about her family, I suppose it would be best if we get you caught up to speed on what happened before and why we had to come here to find out about her parents."
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Arianna
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Post by Arianna on Dec 11, 2014 0:53:42 GMT -5
She nodded along, taking it in. "So there are those four races then, and I take it the Irates are at enmity with the others and causing problems?" She thought she was understanding everything so far, but didn't understand what Keera's parents had to do with anything, but she figured it would be explained soon so she didn't ask.
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Post by Ponic on Dec 15, 2014 21:36:02 GMT -5
"In a way, yes," said Keera, "frankly, none of the three races mingle together. Nictucs see themselves as above all others, Ulters are warlike, we Veluts are somewhat isolationist, and the Irates are well there's no word to describe them."
Ponic continued. "Some time ago, our friends had all come here to find out more information on Keera's parents." Keera sighed, "I had barely known them, they vanished early on in the war, they were killed."
Ponic put his hand on Keera's shoulder and continued. "We were ambushed by one of Abrianna's minions, his name was Theron." Arianna would likely recognize the name from the most recent adventure where they had to contact Abrianna. Theron was one of her children, the 5th. The spire of death, she had corrupted him and altered his memories so he would be completely and utterly loyal to her. "Things happened and we got diverted, Keera and I have just now finally had the time to return. Theron, and I suppose by extension Abrianna, did not want us to find out information about Keera's family."
"They were scholars, learned as much as they could about the worlds and realms and all the species within it. We found out that Abrianna was trying to stop us from finding out about her plan. Now that it's done we had assumed that Ponic and I could return here and begin our search again," said Keera, she then shook her head sadly. "The Irates have now begun attacking us. Now they are trying to stop us, and they are working more openly than usual. In our time, you only really encountered an Irate if you ventured out of the village into the highlands or the great plains, but now they have been seen in our village. They've never crossed over into villages before..."
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Arianna
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Post by Arianna on Dec 15, 2014 22:08:22 GMT -5
Arianna was surprised to hear of Abrianna's connection to this, especially involving the 5th whom she knew to be dead. "Is that how Theron died," she asked them, "when Abrianna sent him to attack you?" That story always made her sad and infuriated with Abrianna all over again, but she didn't dwell on it now. It did make her curious as to what in the world(s?) Keera's parents could have been researching, though.
"It must have been really important.." she commented. "How can I help you?" It didn't seem like she could do much, considering she knew much less than they did about all of this. What could they possibly need her for?
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Post by Ponic on Dec 15, 2014 22:23:28 GMT -5
"It's a long wind," said Ponic, knowing he couldn't go too far into it not fast enough. "Come inside," said Ponic, "we have something we must show you." Ponic and Keera led Arianna into the house. Within the wreckage was the Irates' orb, contained within Neon's darkness containment field. "The Irates use this to spread themselves and infect other Shadow Wielders." The orb pulsed and crackled within the darkness containment field. "Neon killed the leader of the Irates, and they have begun rioting to get here and take their orb back. That is why we need your help," said Ponic.
"We have some information of my parents, but we need more, but we can't get it with the Irates rioting so near," said Keera, "Ponic and I think my parents and I found a way to reduce Irate infection or completely eliminate it."
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Arianna
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Post by Arianna on Dec 15, 2014 23:43:27 GMT -5
Arianna looked at the orb curiously, then backed away from it once Ponic explained what it was. She still didn't quite understand what her role in this was, they couldn't possibly have wanted her to be their bodyguard for the orb, right? She could think of plenty of other people who would be much better suited for that job than herself.
"That's great!" She said in reply to Keera. "So.. what do you need me to do, exactly?"
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Post by Ponic on Dec 15, 2014 23:57:25 GMT -5
"We need help finding more information on Keera's parents, but we also have the riots to deal with. You're a Love and Hate human, we thought you might be able to calm emotions. They might be Irates, but Keera and I would both rather not harm our own people if we can help it," said Ponic looking at Arianna. His gaze was usually somewhat piercing, not as much as Neon, but it seemed that he was constantly observing a person. Ponic's deep voice and tall stature also added to this effect. Right now, however, he seemed to be genuinely asking Arianna if she'd assist them.
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Arianna
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Post by Arianna on Dec 16, 2014 0:21:31 GMT -5
"Ohh, I see. Yes of course, I'll do the best I can!" She felt flattered that they'd thought she could be useful like this, and that they'd even thought of her at all. "Can you tell me any more about, like what their goal is? Are they just trying to infect all of the Shadow Weilders to turn them into Irates?" She hoped she'd been understanding correctly.
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Post by Ponic on Dec 16, 2014 0:28:11 GMT -5
Ponic and Keera shook their heads. "We don't know," said Keera, "for a long time that did seem to be their motivation, infect others and increase their numbers. They would do it through that orb, which is what they need to survive because they must make frequent return trips to it. Any Shadow Wielder that touches it will become infected. Their minds are generally very warped, it's hard to know what their motivations are."
Ponic stood suddenly. "I sense them, they are coming." He looked at the two girls and nodded to them. "Wait here a moment, while I go and see what we are dealing with." With that Ponic vanished in a shadow.
Keera looked at the orb and at Arianna. "I can tell you what we've found out so far about my family and their connection to the Irates."
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Arianna
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Post by Arianna on Dec 16, 2014 23:34:55 GMT -5
Warped minds? That made her nervous.. having a compromised mental state could either be helpful to her or make it extremely difficult to guide their emotions.
She was thankful to Keera for filling in the conversation and getting her mind thinking on something else for now. "Yes, if you don't mind, please do," she replied.
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Post by Ponic on Dec 16, 2014 23:45:58 GMT -5
Keera reached into a shadow and produced the book that Zoe had procured from Mintrock not too long ago as well as some of other documents. "Their not all complete, there are pieces missing," said Keera opening one of the books to Arianna. "It's written in code," it was also written in Velut language so it would be very unlikely that Arianna would be able to read it. "Right here, this is what we think the Irates may be interested in, but Ponic and I might be wrong. It talks about how the Irates infect other Shadow Wielders. My parents found out that the orb fuses itself with the shadows of the Shadow Wielder, on a deep power level. It's almost like getting your molecules infected. The process is painful and alters the Shadow Wielder completely on an entire form, but it's remarkably not entirely permanent. The Irate infected power will eventually fade if they don't have regular contact with the orb. However, letting it fade away won't fix the Shadow Wielder, it will just cause them to go mad or die as the infection eats them from the inside out."
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Arianna
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Post by Arianna on Dec 17, 2014 23:00:36 GMT -5
"So.. that's why they're trying to get to the orb then?" She gestured to it. "They need it to survive." Suddenly, she was even less thrilled to be in such close proximity to it. The book, however, interested her. She couldn't read a word of it, she had trouble with English even, but it looked fascinating.
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Post by Ponic on Dec 17, 2014 23:04:24 GMT -5
Keera nodded and looked at the orb with a slight shiver. "It's incomplete, but my parents...I think they found a way to undo the infection, or at least weaken it." Keera let the strength of what that would mean hang in the air, not only for any infected Shadow Wielders but for the Irates as a race.
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Arianna
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Post by Arianna on Dec 17, 2014 23:35:09 GMT -5
"Oh.. wow. And you think you know how to complete it? That could change everything around here, couldn't it?" She didn't know much about this place, but judging by what she'd seen so far, things were bleak. Hope of this magnitude would be powerful.
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Post by Ponic on Dec 17, 2014 23:43:44 GMT -5
"I don't know," said Keera, "that would be the hope." Before Keera could say anything else, Ponic quickly appeared back in the house. "The rioters are coming," he said, "we need to go quickly, they are at the village entrance." Keera quickly put the book back into a shadow and got up and beckoned Arianna. Ponic teleported them via shadow toward the outskirts of the Velut village. There were many Irates, in a massive crowd trying to break through the village gates. There were a few Veluts out there blasting at them with shadows, but there were too many to deal with.
"We need to stop this, and quickly," said Ponic, "we have better things to do than deal with Irates." The Irates were clearly enraged. They were all shouting, but it was incoherent when coming from such a massive crowd. They all shooting infected shadow at the Veluts, who seemed to be quite worried about them. The Velut's shadows were even appearing in some cases near useless as the Irates would infect those. One name seemed to keep coming up from the Irate crowd, however, "Rickta!"
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Arianna
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Post by Arianna on Dec 17, 2014 23:54:50 GMT -5
"Who's Rickta?" Arianna asked, a little nervous about the rioting. What if she couldn't calm them down? Ponic and Keera would have brought her here for nothing.
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Post by Ponic on Dec 18, 2014 0:01:33 GMT -5
"The recently late ruler of the Irates," said Ponic, "Neon killed her when he came to assist Keera and I. They're probably a little sour about that," answered Ponic.
Keera seemed to pick up on Arianna's fear and put her hand on her shoulder. "Even if you can't stop them all, just do your best," she whispered to Arianna, "Ponic and I are here to help also."
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Arianna
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Post by Arianna on Dec 18, 2014 0:20:29 GMT -5
She raised her eyebrows slightly at that. So, Neon just killed their ruler. Oh, that's all.
"Yeah, I'd imagine so," she said, then nodded at what Keera was saying. She picked out a couple of the rioters who seemed to instigating the chaos, and with a breath, closed her eyes and attempted to get a read on and then delve into their mental/emotional states.
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Post by Ponic on Dec 18, 2014 0:30:23 GMT -5
Keera nodded and moved with Ponic toward the gate. They immediately began putting up shadows to reinforce it. The Irate rioters began trying to infect it, but Ponic was one of the stronger Shadow Wielders in existence out of all of the races. It would be hard to do so, however they had numbers, even Ponic wouldn't be able to hold it indefinitely. "Away with all of you," shouted Ponic to the Irates.
What Arianna would sense from them and their mental and emotional states was mostly chaotic. There was an heir of disgust against the other races of the Shadow Realm. An urge to spread their infection and thus continue their numbers. That was bout as much as Arianna would be able to get from them, besides their clear anger at the loss of their orb and the death of Rickta. Other than that they were very chaotic. It would be like Arianna was looking at a mind in entropy, with nothing but jumbled thoughts and swirls of shadows around those jumbles. It was near impossible to discern what it all meant, their minds seemed to even be sick...
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Arianna
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Post by Arianna on Dec 18, 2014 0:43:46 GMT -5
This.. this is a mess. This won't be easy at all, she thought, then attempted to forge a temporaty mental connection. She tried sending small amounts of Love Energy with a soothing, calming presence to start with, and waited to see what kind of a reaction she might get. She would increase the Energy as needed.
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Post by Ponic on Dec 18, 2014 0:46:41 GMT -5
This seemed to work on some of the Irates, but they were quite volatile, it was unlikely that Arianna would be able to stop them with one quick emotional tweaking. The Irates continued to blast and try to infect the shadow. One Velut fell into the crowd at the gate was knocked, and instantly vanished beneath it. Ponic gritted his teeth and sent more shadows into the crowd to try to force them back. Keera was doing the same, both of them were trying to be nonlethal, but it was like fighting with one hand behind the back when the Irates clearly had no compunction against lethal force.
Irate shadow blasts began to shoot at the gate, and Arianna's shadow even began to move from underneath her.
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Post by Arianna on Dec 18, 2014 0:53:51 GMT -5
Arianna was in a deep focus, so she didn't notice her shadow moving yet. She took what she got, and counted it as mostly successful, so she continued using the Love Energy but stronger now, and started to add in some Hate Energy. The Love Energy would continue to be calming, soothing, ad relaxing while the Hate Energy was lethargic, fatiguing, and drowsy.
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