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gabriel_legolas
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Post Aramus Inc.
on: March 17, 2004 08:01
::Katherine de Vilet::

Saturday. The day when all students are free from school and ready to enjoy the weekend. Not really. Ok, so there I was, lying in my bed with nothing to do. Amazingly, none of my teachers had given any homework (except Ms. Gora, who told everyone to read the last chapter in their sceince book but it's not like she's going to give us a quiz). I was just about to doze off when the phone rang.

bring... bring... bri-

"Hello?" I said, too lazy to state my residence, name, etc.

"Hi Katherine!" oh. I forgot about her.

"Uh, hi," i replied, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"It's me, Saeran, want to go to the Arcade Center? I heard there was this new game out and maybe we could try it," she said. Now, Saeran was the class techie. She hangs around other techies and does techie stuff. I, on the other hand, was not a techie. I have no clue whatsoever about all those geeky gagets she uses. Personally, she kinda creeped me out, but not in a bad way. Come on, me, hanging out with her? She'd probably be ten times smarter than I and remind me how stupid i was while I'm with her. I had this urg to say "NO AND LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Instead, I said, "Sure, why not?" You see, her mom and my mom go waaaaaaaay back and to refuse my mom's best friend's daughter would mean trouble if my mom found out *slightly out of breath after saying the long sentence*.

"Alright, I'll meet you there then!" she said, probably hurrying to get all her stuff and hung up.

Great.

[Edited on 26/3/2004 by gabriel_legolas]
Saeran
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 17, 2004 01:13
::Saeran Skye::

After I got off the phone with Katherine I began my planning. I needed to be subtle about my intents. I couldn't let Katherine know the truth about The Affair....yet.
With time, I supposed....

As I was leaving the house I looked back and was sure I saw a figure in the shadows. But, no, I knew it was nothing . My thoughts drifted towards Katherine. She was nice and all, but as long as I'd known her we had been distant. This was my time to get to know her. Well enough, at least, to get the game started. The bus ride was over. I realized that Katherine was waiting for me, and gave her a wide smile. Her face remained blank and stony.

"What do you want me here for?" She was persistant, as usual.

"To play The Affair, of course," I recieved a strange look. It was unremarkable how ignorant she could be. I rolled my eyes,"You know, that game that's, like, virtual and stuff."

More blank stares.

I sighed. Then, as we began walking up the steps towards the arcade I began explaining the rules and everything of The Affair.

"The object is to save the princess," I explained."There are other lands and cities, too, but the main goal is to save the princess. If you get enough points and items you can get an animal or specialized weapons. There are also secrets involving the game. With enough gold you can sometimes bribe other players for information. I have a cat named Gaerwyn, by the way. He can talk, so don't be supprised when you see him."

Katherine was staring at me like some kind of phycho.

"Look," I was getting impatient by now and it was showing in my voice."Over there by Shinobi are the directions. Read them until you understand."

Katherine walked off towards the area I directed her to. Things were going as I wanted them to, and I wanted her to understand the game. With time I would tell her the truth, however, and I imagined the look on her face....


[Edited on 19/3/2004 by Saeran]
aragornlvr912
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 17, 2004 02:10
::Samantha Jones::

I didn't know what I was doing here. Usually I'd be at home looking at myself in the mirror wondering, Why couldn't I have been beautiful?

I had just walked into the arcade when I noticed my best friend Katherine was here, Is she sick or something? I thought, She NEVER steps into techie territory. Not that I'M a techie, it's just I never imagined her here. I walked over to her, "Hey Katherine! What are you doing here?" Katherine was looking at a direction poster when she finally have up.

"What's the point of this?" She turned around, "Oh! Hey Sam!"

"So why are YOU here?" I asked.

"Saeran asked me to come!" She sighed.

"Ouch! Well I wanted to know if you wanted to stop for pizza later!"

"Sure! After I'm done "hanging" with techie over there. By the way... why are YOU here?"

"Me? My brother Trey asked me to check out a game called The Affair!

"That's why I'm here!" Katherine said.

"He said there was virtual reality involved, something about helmets?" We walked over to The Affair.

"You're here too Samantha!" Saeran exclaimed.

"Call me SAM! Yes, I'm here! Trey asked me to check this thing out!" I don't even LIKE video games!

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[Edited on 6/9/2004 by aragornlvr912]
Saeran
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 18, 2004 12:49
::Saeran Skye:: (Note:Why do I have to be the dork with no friends, anyway?Oh, right. Thanks Kitty...*evil glare*)

I noticed that Sam and Katherine were already putting on thier helmits.

"Hey, you guys?" I needed to do something about this,"why don't we just get private rooms?" They gave me cold, blank stares."Erm, well, that game is really just a practice one, you know. For people who want to try it out...so...I think it's a good idea if we split up. I can show Kat how to use it and you can go with that accessery over there."

I gestured toward a standing figure by the far side of the arcade. The android was examining her surroundings, searching for anyone in need of assistance. She saw my gesture and shuffled over."How may I be of help to you?"The android accessery was smiling brightly. I've always wondered why they resemble humans....

"Yes," I said, gesturing towards Sam. "My friend here needs a room for The Aff-"

"Right away, ma'am!" The accessery grabbed hold of Sam's arm and started to drag her to down to one of the many rooms. Sam reached out for Katherine, but I was already pulling Katherine in the other direction.

"Oh, yeah." I called back to Sam. "That android will help you out, so no worries, 'kay?" Without waiting for an answer I opened a game-room door and locked the door.

Katherine was furious, "Why did you do that!!!"

I didn't answer. Instead I pulled out a memory stick from my pocket and inserted it into the control system of The Affair. "Put the helmet on and choose your gender, name, age, etc," I ordered her. I didn't want to be bossy, but it was neccissary at that moment.

"NO!!!!" Katherine wouldn't cooperate. I turned to look at her. She blinked at me and refused to give up. So instead of yelling back I took a helmet an shoved it onto her head.

"You'll come back in an hour," I told her as she struggled to get free. "I'll meet you in there." A little cry emerged her lips as I pressed enter. She slacked back and I knew she was in her subcontious dream-state.

I put a helmet onto my own head and gave a satisfied smile, "Here we go, again."

And then I was in.

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[Edited on 19/3/2004 by CarolP]
gabriel_legolas
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 18, 2004 02:56
(Welcome aragornlvr! be sure to check out the ooc while you have time.)

::Katherine de Vilet::

How nice. Me caught red-handed. Well, I told myself, it couldn't be THAT horrible, Sam had come to play the game too. So there was the three of us, Saeran, Sam, and I, ready to put our "virtual simulators" (according to Saeran). We were in a room where there were couches and chairs so Aramus Inc.'s customers could relax while in their sleep mode. The A.I. instructor explained the procedure on how to put on the little helmet thingy, which was surprisingly light.

Of course, Saeran and I had to argue. I remember a time when I was at Aramus Inc. with her. She had explained this to me already...

(memory)
Pushing away my black hair, I heard Ms.Techie announce, "Remember, it will seem like we have spent days in the game but in reality, we will only be here for four hours. It depends on the program. Once, I was stuck in a game for two weeks, only it was actually three hours."

I gave a nervous laugh, "Ha, uh, yeah well, here we go, huh?"

"WAIT! If you die, you'll be automatically brought back," Saeran said.

Except this time, I wasn't as nice. It was only going to be one hour, but then again, programs nowadays were more complex and one hour could seem like an awfully long time. I needed to know more. WHY DID SHE SEPARATE SAM AND I???? Some people can be so weird. We better meet in the RPG Instead, she had to shove the thing on my head. Thanks a lot, you ruined my hair.

::Marquis Requel de Vilet:: LOGGED ON

The first thing I noticed was how different and real everything felt. It was if I was no longer sitting on a couch. The second thing I noticed was that I was alone. So uh, where's Sam and Saeran? Oh well, I suppose I meet them someplace. Speaking of places, where was I? My thoughts were interupted when this yankee doodle guy ran into the room.

"Your Grace, the King awaits you," he said with a heavy French accent, bowing. Just as I was about to ask him what in the world?, this thing kicked in. It happened so suddenly that it almost gave me a heart attack. Of course! Every character has their own conditioning, in other words, background knowledge when the players are in personal stituations. In my case, I now knew that I, the Marquis de Vilet, or Requel, often advised the Royal family. Cool.

But wait a second, why am I a Marquis? Aren't those people guys? Hey... yet again, another revelation dawned upon me. I never got to choose my race, gender, etc.!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Hold on, I must make myself presentable before the King," I said to the French Yankee Doodle. I sounded like a guy too. This is not good. The guy handed me a mirror and I almost screamed.

Well, actually, I wanted to scream and laugh at the same time.

Sceam because not only I was a guy, I was a guy in a freakin que, looking all 18th Century. Laugh because I was a GOOD LOOKING 18th Century lady's man. At least I didn't have a powdered wig on. Dark brown hair is fine with me.

Taking a last look at myself (wow, I make cute bloke) I strode towards court, with help from conditioning since Requel seemed to know his way around well. And you know, I couldn't help but wonder WHY I couldn't choose my character. Perhaps Saeran broke my simulator when we were fighting and there was a glitch in the program?

(Please visit the OOC, I have a plot for this beginning)

[Edited on 19/3/2004 by gabriel_legolas]
Saeran
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 18, 2004 05:52
::Saeran Skye::

::Kaori Saekye:roffession:Traveling Cleric:: LOGGED ON

Ah, yes. I was back in the world. The question, however, was not concerning my state, but the state of the others. I had treated both Sam and Katherine badly, but the reason for it all was justice enough, I suppose....

Okay, I have to admit that pushing Sam into the other room was wrong. I shouldn't have done it, but with Katherine's best friend on this trip, I had no hope of starting Katherine's beginning. If both she and Katherine had known that they would have ended up alone in the beginning, anyways, both of them would have insisted on being together in their character building sessions. It is possible to go into The Affair with friends in the beginning, but if Katherine did that, she wouldn't get as much out of the game as hoped. Her character would not be fully complete. I was worried that my father's dream would never come true....

"You look like an idiot just standing there, you know," I heard a low commotion behind me. Of course. He was there.
My demented little pet. Gaerwyn. My cat. My torment.

A magic accident, since I was a healer and had bountiful amounts of it, had occurred. I had been separated from my other self. And my other self, coincidently was a cat and apparently hated me. I made a humungous sigh. “Couldn’t you just go away for once; you know, scat when you're told to?"

"Saeran," Gaerwyn gazed at me with piercing eyes. "You know very well what would happen if we were separated. You would-"

"Yeah, yeah," I interrupted. My beloved pet looked like he wanted to murder me, “You’ve said it a million times. I would either become a zombie, or die on the spot. You don't have to remind me you little-" I was about to call Gaerwyn an immensely satisfying curse word, when I heard a commotion up the road ahead.

I had actually come back to the spot where I had logged-off on the previous weekend. I was in a large field filled to the brim, it seemed, with flowers. The field was a favorite place of mine to log-off; it was actually very near the city of Khita'gasse, where I heard the commotion coming towards me now.

Gaerwyn and I began running towards the city. We shared our thoughts on the matter(being the same soul, we could know what each other was thinking instantaneously). Gaerwyn seemed like he didn't want to get involved, but he shared my interest in checking things out before acting, so that's what we did.

Khita'gasse was burning. The commotion was coming from the center of the courtyard where battle was being held. There was a massive monster in the center of it, and the artificially intelligent citizens were fighting it off.

I looked at Gaerwyn and he looked back at me. Even with his catty nature he seemed to be smiling. I grinned back. We seemed to only agree in this sort of situation. It was our motto:

When it comes down to fighting for gold, drop everything and kill the damn thing!

So, this being our motto, we did as it suggested.
gabriel_legolas
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 19, 2004 07:34
::Marquis de Vilet::

Bowing before the Royal Family, I said, as formally as I could, "Your Majesty, I am at your service." Hey! It was the best I could think of, I mean, it's not like I'm a historian or anything. The only "history" I knew came from Disney movies like The Three Musketeers.

"Ah, the Marquis de Vilet, how good of you to assist me in this time of crises," said the King. Crises? What crises? Then I remembered what Saraen had said: The princess had gone missing or something.

"This...matter is concerning your daughter, is it not?" I said quietly, you never know when these people get mad.

The King glance sadly at me and took me aside, for an AI, they sure are convincing. "Monsieur Requel, my youngest daughter has gone missing! I need you, yes you because I have faith in you, to find her and bring back the conspirators who has captured her! I promise you, I shall give anything that is of your desire if the task is done. Do you understand?"

Okaaaaaaaaay, adventure, reward, chance to kick some butt... I'm in.

"It shall be done, your majesty, you needn't worry about it," I said.

"Right, I shall expect you soon," he seemed a relieved already, then secretly, he handed me a package, "all the information you need will be here. I trust that you will use your brains and godspeed."

Depending heavily on conditioning, I made my way past the courtyard and to the stable. All along the way, I couldn't stop grinning at myself. Sure, the rapier hanging by my side got kind of annoying with it banging on my leg. Not to mention that big plumy hat I had on threatened to blow its feathers into my face. But at the same time, I was thinking this is cool. For once, I could actually be someone different, someone who didn't have to always deal with their friends or family. In a way, I felt kind of free, not that I didn't like my real life.

When a reached the stable, I found a horse greeting me. A big white horse. Yup, flowing manes and fancy riding gear included. My first reaction was, please don't bite me! But the Marquis inside remained calm. Actually, I could tell he was pleased to see this beast.

"Have you grown impatient, General?" I said automatically. Oh, I soon realized, this was my horse.
aragornlvr912
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 19, 2004 12:23
((I know I just joined, but I'm going to be away from the computer from March 20-April 16. So could you 2 post for me?))
((Jazira's in the database!))

::Samantha Jones::

I was pulled away into a private room, "Why can't I be with Katherine?" I asked the android as he sat me down. He didn't answer, "Hey pal! I said why can't I..."

"You're a beginner, so you need time to learn the basic." He placed the helmet on my head, Man! He's rough! As soon as he placed the helmet on me, his other hand pressed the start botton.

::Jazira Sparrow:: LOGGED ON

Man! What is this? I was lying on the floor looking at the ceiling. Okay! I went through the character building, now what? I stood up, my legs were still a little wobbly. "My head hurts!" I felt my forehead. I brought my hand in front of my face, it was bloody. I hurried over to the mirror, "What happened?" There came a knock at the door. I reached for my sword. "I have a REAL sword?" I took my hand away and opened the door.

"You all right missy?" The man asked.

"Ay! I'm all right!"

"You 'ad a nasty fight last night! You shouldn't be pickin' fights in a tavern, 'specially if ur drunk!" The man grinned showing yellow and gold teeth.

"I 'ad a fight? So THAT'S why my 'ead 'urts!"

"Ay! Well ud best be leavin' soon! The gaurds are comin' through and it'd be a shame if they locked you up!"

"Thank's mate!" I even SOUND like a pirate! I turned around and looked at the room I was in. It wasn't the greatest, but it was a room. I searched through all of the things, but couldn't find anything that was mine except my long coat. This'll 'av to do! I wonder where Katherine's at? I didn't think about it for very long, because I heard trumpets sounding. "Great!" I quickley put my jacket on and rushed down the stairs.

"Ey! Luv!" I turned around and saw the man who came to my room before. "There be a back way!" He pointed to a secret door in the floor behind the counter.

"Thanks!" I opened the door and headed downstairs. The passageway was dimly lit, but I could find my way. I stopped for a second and lifted up my sleeve. Sure enough there was the sign of a pirate. So I AM a pirate! I quickened my pase because I heard heavy footstep upstairs. After I walked a while I came to an incline in the dirt. I found a door above my head an lifted it up. The sun was so bright it made my eyes hurt. They quickly adjusted so I lifted myself out of the hole. "So where is Katherine?"
Saeran
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 19, 2004 01:50
:: Kaori Saekye:: (Note: for the following section, it might be helpful if you read Kaori's history.)

Okay. I have to admit that in The Affair I was originally supposed to be a Cleric, or, as everyone else says, a healer. I should've been the weak one, right? Wrong. Clerics, if they gain enough healing points, are allowed to buy strength and weapons. That's just what I did. And that's why the thought took seed in my mind to fight that monster.

My weapon of choice was a Ninja Hand Claw(it wasn't exactly fit for the 18th century but.....well let's just say that the game didn't mind). It's actually quite a useful weapon. It's attached to a glove, and on the palm of it are three hooked talon-like claws. You see, I got those points because I was a...(how can I say this); hands-on healer. Unlike most of your average wimpy little Clerics, I had to go inside the wound. That's right. You heard me. Inside. Not a pretty picture is it? Well, even though my avatar isn't technically the real me, I could still feel the people's guts and stuff. I wasn't the most popular healer in Khita'gasse, or anywhere else for that matter. The only thing was, when I did find someone who was willing to hire me, I got so many healing points, I usually didn't have to heal someone again for a long time. That's how I got enough points to buy my claw and strength even before healing three people.

So, with Gaerwyn by my side, I strolled up to the burning gate. It was broken, but Gaerwyn needed help getting over the charcoaled rubbish. I picked him up and examined the beast destroying the city before my eyes. That's when a shiver of dread spread over my whole body. Before us was a dragon.

His fierce talons shimmered in the blaze of the fire which, at the moment, seemed like a molten hell. His armor-like blue scales made my metal shoulder pads seem like scrap metal. Even Gaerwyn, who never seemed afraid of anything, flinched at the thought of how much agony the dragon's teeth could bestow upon him. All I could think of were those yellow eyes staring at me with barbaric intelligence. Those eyes that I had seen too many times before. Those eyes that had destroyed my village and killed all of my people. Those eyes that followed me everywhere in The Affair....Those terrible eyes....

"What the hell are you doing here?" Soot was covering my face and the fire seemed to caress my anguish, “You are a minion of the darkness. Do you realize that you are the slave of the evil that killed my master?" I felt like crying. My conditioning...had been a hard time for me.

"My master does not concern the common human," the dragon gazed coldly at me. "And yet he has instructed me to inform you that he has plans for Marquis de Vilet just as you do. He also knows what your plans are, and has informed me that it would be wise for me to dispose of you now, instead of later."

The dragon turned his gaze to Gaerwyn, who was growling and spitting in my arms,"Shall I begin with an appetizer?" Gaerwyn leaped out of my arms ,all of a sudden, and positioned himself in front of me. There was no hope for him. My soul was screaming as the dragon picked Gaerwyn up and flung him into the air. Choking sobs emerged from my body and I reached for Gaerwyn as he did for me before he was engulfed by the enormous throat of the evil dragon.

I felt as though a secret bond had been torn from me. Part of me had disappeared into the dragon. I was afraid and hopeless. The game wasn't fun today and without Gaerwyn.... A deep hatred erupted from the darkest corner of my mind. I wasn't just angry anymore. I was out of control. A sudden wind whipped around my body. No; it wasn't wind. It was...power. My power. All of a sudden, it was as if I was playing one of those ancient PS3 games. I wasn't Kaori Saekye anymore. I was just watching her tear the dragon to ribbons. I was just watching her rip open the worm's stomach and retrieve a soaking white and grey hairball. Gaerwyn. We were together at last....

And then I was back in my avatar. My game-playing body was mine once again. There was no sign of the dragon's remains, just lots of blood...so much blood.... I was clutching Gaerwyn as if he had come back from the dead. He was mewing softly in my ear and purring loudly. We held each other for a long time, not seeing that our gold had increased by 999,999 pieces; not seeing that I had gained fifteen more levels; not even seeing that the buildings were covered in blood; and not seeing all of the AI townspeople return to Khita'gasse, burned as it was. It was just me and him; sobbing with hurt and relief.

I think that day changed us a little. For we had finally confronted our greatest fear: losing one another.
gabriel_legolas
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 19, 2004 02:21
(sure, we'll post for you)
::Marquis de Vilet::

Inching forward, I reached out to pet General. He let out a noise that sounded halfway between a snort and a whine. Er, sure, you're welcome General. Pulling out a carrot from my bag, I let him snack on it. Now, how should I begin? My thoughts wandered back to the package the King had given me. I sorted out its contents and found a map.

"Hmm," I said aloud, "I suppose we're off to the Chateau de Petite." The map wasn't very detailed. I mean, it only had little dots with the names of the cities, different types of terrain and blue river lines. Geez, talk about in depth. They could have AT LEAST made roads.

While I was contemplating this, General must have heard something because he let out a really loud neigh.

"Shhh, tha's right luv, calm yorself," said this female voice. Too late, I had already spotted her. She sported waist length black hair, beaded bangs, a red bandana, and to top it off, a hat and a big long jacket. A new thought, must have been Requel's, registered in my mind: pirate.

Acting off of instinct, I asked, "Who goes there?!?" I even reached for my rapier, like I've been using it for a lifetime. She too pulled out her sword.

"Be warned, matey, yor up 'gainst the infamous Jazira Sparrow," she said, smiling. I was almost expecting black and gold teeth but her's were straight and white as if she had her own personal orthodontist.

"Ah, really, that's just nice," like I cared, "Fortunately for you, I am on royal business. Therefo-" Before I had to react, she tore at me with her weapon. I dodged safely to the side, but my coat had recieved a fine rip. My handsome, expensive, latest trend coat ruined!? Pissed, I lunged forward, rapier in hand. And boy, was I good at it. Of course, she was good to so the two of us were going back and forth from defense to offense.

Deffense, offense, deffense, offense.

This carried on for a while until the both of us collapsed, exuasted.

"Yor not bad for a court prissy," she told me.

"You too have some skill," I said.


[Edited on 20/3/2004 by gabriel_legolas]

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[Edited on 20/3/2004 by CarolP]
Saeran
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 20, 2004 01:11
::Kaori Saekye::

By the time we had begun our travels once again, Gaerwyn was back to his ornery self once again, "I know that it wasn't you back there who killed the dragon, so who was it?" He was as demanding as ever and I wanted to squash his little head.

"It was my avatar," I explained, gritting my teeth in self-control. "It went berserk. I think that I was so angry that I was the one who triggered it, anyway. It’s hard to tell what happened." Gaerwyn didn't say anything else. I knew he was thinking about something, but when I tried to reach his mind, the insolent beast put up barriers. He fixed his green eyes onto the road ahead while he balanced on my shoulder amour. Gaerwyn was beautiful, despite his attitude; white with grey dapples speckling his haunches. He was a site to see in The Affair. Even I had to acknowledge that.

We had both agreed that it would be best to find Katherine and Sam before too long. The game never had an absolute time scale, so by the end of the day, our one-hour session might be over with. Another problem was that I had no idea how to find either one of my companions. For one thing, their voices would be different. Their bodies could even be different. Katherine could be an old man for all I knew; or, even better, a handsome bloke. I laughed out loud at this thought, and Gaerwyn in return jumped of my shoulder as if to say: I don’t know you, so you may as well give up trying to follow me around.

Another question formed in my mind as I picked up my walking speed; how would they recognize me, anyway? I inspected my clothing with pondering thought. I was wearing knee-high leather boots, and strips of leather wound up my legs served to cover the skin that my mid-thigh length skirt didn’t. I bore my hand claw, and a piece of metal protected my upper-back with a dirty peasant shirt covering the rest. A strip of leather connected this to my shoulder armor, and a canvas belt containing various medical supplies was casually laid across my hips. No, I would definitely not be recognized clad in this. It was up to me to find Katherine and Sam.

Knowing that I needed to rest up for coming events I went to an inn/brewery called Chateau de Petite. It was a major trade center and information bank. Maybe we could find my lost comrades here. I promptly huddled in a corner with a mug of cider and before I knew it, I was sound asleep.

Gaerwyn could keep watch I supposed….


[Edited on 20/3/2004 by Saeran]
gabriel_legolas
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 20, 2004 05:54
::Marquis de Vilet::

(sam doesn't know Requel is Katherine and vice versa)

I found Jazira's eyes studying me. They looked almost familiar, but that was stupid.

"Where you off too?" she asked. Did I have any choices but to tell her to the truth? Well, yeah, I thought, I could tell her that I was going to my boy- no, girlfriend's house so she would actually leave me alone. I'm sure pirates don't care about my personal business. However, I felt inclined to say the real stuff, she could maybe even help me along to way.

So I told her the truth. Jazira seemed interested enough and I showed her the map I had earlier, before she decided that she would run me over with her blade.

"Appears to me, matey, that yor gonna owe me," she announced grinning. Cheap low-life thief.

"By what means?" I demanded.

"Wake up, that lil' castle, whom you want ta reach, is on an island (so? there's a thing called a rowboat). Do you realize that it's hundreds of miles off the coast?"

"And since you have a specialty in watercrafts, you can assist with the voyage," I replied, finally caught on.

"Aye, but it's gonna cost you." Thanks. Thanks a lot.

Ten minutes later, Jazira and I, both riding on General, made our way towards West, the direction of the coast. I could tell that the Marquis in my conditioning did not approve of this situation. Poor guy, he's been raised up among nobles all his life and here he his, riding on the same horse with a rogue. A city, town, village, I dunno the map wasn't very specific, called Khita'gasse was the nearest stop. I BETTER meet up with Sam or Saeran there.

(guess what? guess what? I can ski blues now! Aren't you proud of me?!? I even tried a slope with moguls on it)

[Edited on 21/3/2004 by gabriel_legolas]

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[Edited on 21/3/2004 by CarolP]
Saeran
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 21, 2004 10:28
::Kaori Saekye::

I was awoken from my little nap by the sound of drunken voices howling with laughter. I almost left, thinking that maybe it would be best to leave before too late, when Gaerwyn silenced me by laying on my stomach and digging his claws into my skin. What is it, now!!. I was impatient to find Katherine and Sam.

Just listen to what their talking about! You might find it interesting….

So I lay back down and listened to the loud man who seemed to be doing most of the talking. It was only mid-afternoon, but all of the blokes huddled around him wielded large mugs of foaming beer. “An’ then I ‘eard ‘im talkin’ to a lady-folk. ‘Er name was Jazira Sparrow or somethin’ like it an’ ‘e showed ‘er a map thingy. ‘E told ‘er about a quest thing-or-another, an’ it ‘ad somethin’ to do with savin’ a princess. Bein’ the ‘orse-‘and, I was there a-spyin’ in the back hearin’ every last word of their talkin’, an’ they never noticed me presence. Last I ‘eard, they were headin’ to Khita’gasse. Now folks, I think it ‘ould be mighty fine to get that princess ‘fore ‘e does, so you bandits can ‘ave the prize money for yerselves….”

Bandits! So that was who they were! I knew I needed to worn whoever wielded that map. It needed to be in the right hands, and it was even likely that whoever had it was Katherine. Wait a minute, I thought to myself, didn’t that stupid banded say he?
If that was true than Katherine could be a guy! I then had to clamp my hands over my mouth to keep from laughing out loud. I didn’t know if it was Katherine yet, though, so I got up and walked over to the group of drunken bandits.

“Excuse me, kind sirs,” I gave an extravagant bow to show respect. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation….That person who had the map; would you mind telling me his name? I also am looking for the princess, and it’s even possible that I know the bloke who wields it.”

The bandits were silent for a moment, and then the horse-hand, who had been telling the bandits of his spying, spoke up, “What’ll you give us?” He had a little froth hanging from his lip and presently it had jiggled slightly with his movements. Ewwwww.

“I offer 100 gold pieces,” I suggested, even though I had more gold. The bandits would surely think this as a high price, though, so it was no use wasting money.

“Fine,” I saw a handsome bandit stand up. The man had obvious authority among the group, despite his young age. This must be their leader, I told Gaerwyn through my mind. He twitched his ears in return, but held his green eyes on the bandit. He thought the man was dangerous, so I kept my guard up as well. “We don’t want yer gold, though,” with this said he glared at the horse-hand. “Instead,” he strode up to me at this moment, “we want yer promise that you’ll give us part of the reward you’ll get fer savin’ that princess gal.”

I considered this and decided that I wanted only one thing in return, “I agree, but I , too, have a change of heart. I will take you with me, and you will help my party find the girl. Those are my conditions.”

The bandit leader’s eyes filled with greed and in reply he said, “I agree to your conditions.” I could tell that he was no AI either. He was a real player and would be useful. “What was his name ya’ll?”

He touched the pistols by his sides absent-mindedly, until the horse-hand stuttered, “M-ma-Marquis d-de v-vi-Vilet, s-sir.” They obviously feared the bandit leader, and Katherine’s last name was de Vilet. It must be her, I concluded with a slight smile playing my lips.

The head bandit grinned brightly, “Great. Later, ya’ll. Bernie’ll take my place for a while.” And so we began the short walk to Khita’gasse. I was surprised at how quickly the deal had been made, but I wasn’t complaining.

“So what’s yer name, little lady?” The bandit had a lazy air to him that Gaerwyn didn’t like, but I thought he was okay (not to mention how cute he was).

“Which one?” I asked.

“Both.”

“Okay,” I said. It wasn’t like he knew me or anything, so I guessed it was all right if I gave him my identities. “My real name is Saeran Skye. My game name is Kaori Saekye. How ‘bout you?”

“Real; Tom Tancredo. Game; Rhys Jones.”

We were walking at a fast pace. I guessed that in another ten minutes we’d be in Khita’gasse. Gaerwyn was still as a statue glaring at Rhys. The bandit realized this and asked me, “Erm, does that cat hold grudges before he knows a man?”

What a fickle fellow Rhys was. I smiled and said, “Oh, him? He’s just jealous.”

With that comment, Gaerwyn harshly exclaimed, “I am not jealous of this thief!”

“Than why are you staring at him?” I loudly answered back.

“I’m just suspicious of him,” with that said Gaerwyn hotly jumped of my shoulder and walked ahead of me.

Rhys, on the other hand, had stopped in his tracks, “What the hell is that?!”

I sighed, and for the rest of our short journey I explained the magic accident and whatnot to Rhys. There was even time left over for us to tell each other about our conditioning experience. By the time we had reached Khita’gasse the bandit leader knew more about me than anyone else in the game. It felt slightly odd, but I needed to let off some air.

The streets were full of life because the AI townspeople were still trying to clean up the mess I had made by killing the dragon. It was an odd situation because not only did I have to explain how the stain had been made to Rhys, but normally it would have been removed anyway. You see, usually in The Affair battles like the one I had with the dragon come up often. Normally, townspeople don’t have time to clean up their ruined city, so it is automatically taken care of by the game. In my situation, the buildings had been repaired, but the blood stains had not been cleaned up. Naturally, I was a little creeped out by the whole thing, but I continued my search with Rhys. He didn’t know what Katherine looked like, but he did know that she had a torn coat. That was our only clue besides the fact that she, I mean, he was traveling with a pirate-type woman.

We looked in and out of shops until we found a small café with a white horse parked in front of it. Duklyon Café was what it was called, and once inside I felt a strong relief because sitting in a corner looking at a map was a dashing man with a torn coat. Beside him was a pirate-like woman in her twenties who was staring intently at a map.

I had found Katherine at last.
gabriel_legolas
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 21, 2004 03:10
::Marquis de Vilet::

"Would you pay 'ttention already?" Jazira said, making me snap back to the conversation.

"Sorry, what was that?" I asked, distracted.

"Ughh, forget it." Here we were, sitting in a café minding our own business when this bartender girl came up and asked what we wanted. I swear, you should have seen her. She was totally into me. GROSS. If I ever have to play this game again, I am soooooo going to be someone of my own gender, thank you very much. And get this, if that wasn't disturbing enough, she's gotten all her AI friends to gawk at me. My conditioning didn't even care! It was like he was used to this. Don't they ever have any cute avatars besides me? Probably not.

"Alright, I suggest the closest way for us to reach the coast is to pass through the forest," I said.

"Aye, and that'll take us straight for the mountains, and who knows what'll be in store for us," my companion noted darkly.

Just as I was about to argue, a girl with a cat and rough-looking guy approached us. To make an understatement, they were rather "sporty" like. The bandit, I suppose, was as old as Réquel, but man, did he have huge abs! The other girls were already losing interest in me! My instant reaction was to reach for my blade.

"Katherine, Sam, it's okay," said the girl, holding out her arms to show that she was coming in peace. Not that it really helped since she had these claws strapped on.

Then, I realized something. Again.

Well, first, I now know that I'm pretty slow when it comes to realizing stuff.

Second, OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jazira, Sam? I even dueled her! My friend must have caught on too because she had this expression like she was either going to faint or die laughing. Yeah, yeah, who would've known that Katherine can make such a good-looking bloke. OK, got it over with? Now, who would Miss I-know-who-you-are be? Gee, I wonder. She must be Saeran.

"I'll be outside for some air," I gasped, walking as steadily as I could out the door towards General. At least horses don't care if you're stupid or not. I could see already that Jazira, Saeran and Mr. My-abs-are-bigger-than-your's laughing inside. Humiliate me why don't you...
Saeran
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 22, 2004 02:08
::Kaori Saekye::

When Katherine, I mean, Marquis, stormed off I couldn’t help but want to laugh. Well it was pretty funny seeing this really hot guy start looking pissed at the same time as being embarrassed. It was kind of like half of his face got all pale and the other half got really red, you know? I was starting to feel a lot happier than I had ever been since the beginning of the game a.k.a since I had battled that evil dragon. I was kind of bouncy and giddy at the same time because not only had Katherine been found but so had Sam.

So that’s when I kind of hugged Rhys.

Gaerwyn sort of growled deep in his throat and I just stood there. I felt like such a freak. No, I was a freak. And not to mention that the AI waitresses were giving me dirty looks that could murder. Hell, I think they did want to murder me. Sam gave me an odd look with a dash of disgust hidden deep within it.

“Woh there, cowgirl,” Rhys was grinning, but I felt little sweat droplets slide down one of my cheeks.

“Erm, sorry,” I was a deep crimson by then. “You, erm, had some dust on your biceps.” I made a swift movement over his bare upper-arm and the AI girls could barely control their anger. I noticed how hard his muscles were and shivered with pleasure.

“Thanks, Kaori,” I was suddenly very aware of my blood-stained shirt and the dreadful condition of my skirt. I looked up into his eyes which were green with bits of yellow scattered about in his irises. He had a sort of lopsided grin. What a hottie….

“D’you want to meet Katherine now?” I asked . Gaerwyn had rebounded of the wall to land on my shoulder bringing me back to reality.
.
“Sure, but didn’t ya say his name was Katherine?” Rhys was looking at the moping figure stroking General outside.

“Yeah,” I smiled inwardly. Rhys was just as ignorant as Katherine. “She’s a classmate of mine.”

“Erm,” the bandit raised his eyebrows at the thought.

“When’re ye gonna stop the flirtin’, you two?” Jazira wore a slight smile on her face as she stood up and placed her pirate’s hat on her silky black head.

Instead of answering, I opened the café door and joined Marquis. I was angry that my weakness had shown. I was supposed to be the tough, wiry, happy Cleric. I wasn’t going to be the soft boy-crazy child that had taken over my body back in there.

“What’s gotten you pissed?” Marquis still looked mad at me for laughing at him.

“Nothing,” I leaned my head against the window. Katherine was brushing her horse steadily. whoosh…whoosh…whoosh…. I shifted my eyes without moving my head towards Marquis, “why did you choose that avatar?”

“I didn’t.”

“Oh. That explains everything, then.”

“Did ya say somethin’?” Rhys was back.

I gave him a look of contempt, then I said, “Rhys, this is Marquis. Her real name is Katherine, and, Katherine, his real name is Tom. If he bugs you just tell him that he won’t get any of our prize money and he’ll shut up.”

“Nice t’meet’chya ma’am,” Rhys held out his hand, but I could tell that he was taunting the Marquis inside of Katherine. Hatred flashed in Katherine’s avatar. He thumbed his rapier. Rhys stroked his gun barrels.

Luckily, Jazira came out just in time and stood between the two of them, “what th’ hell ‘re ye fightin’ for?” She had a fiery gaze that made both of the men flinch. “It’s no use if you mates kill each other before we find th’ princess, luvs.” Gaerwyn hissed in agreement. Even General seemed to agree.

“I think it is wise not to hold grudges,” I growled. I made sure that my eyes looked as stony as Sam’s. The two men double flinched, but they held their ground until Rhys held up his hands in surrender.

“There’s no fury like a woman’s scorn,” he joked helplessly.

And so we moved on through the streets of Khita’gasse towards other matters….

Image









[Edited on 23/3/2004 by CarolP]
gabriel_legolas
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 22, 2004 06:16
(by the way, my TITLE is THE marquis, my name is Réquel)

::Marquis de Vilet::

As we moved through the streets, Saeran, now by the name of Kaori asked me, "So do you like your avatar?"

"It's a little too late now, isn't it?" I replied, flashing a smile at myself through the mirror by a window. I'm sooo fine. Might as well take advantage of my good looks. But, truthfully, as strange as it sounds, I really liked the marquis. He was someone I could relate to, somehow.

Rhys, on the other hand, I disliked. HOW DARE HE TAUNT RÉQUEL! He called him MA'AM! Even if I was a girl, he should address me by my character. Walking mostly next to Jazira, I led General. Riding him would make me stick out too much when everyone else was on foot. Instead Gaerwyn took my place.

We made our way to a street with little shops on both sides. A tailor store loomed ahead. Perfect. Signaling others to wait for me, I stepped inside.

"Hey, this ain't time for window shoppin'," I heard Rhys call after me, you should have heard Kaori giggle. That was SO hilarious. And what was up with that Texas accent anyway? Ugh, rednecks.

This old pruny lady with a hairnet was the first sight that greeted me. She immediately reminded me of my previous school's lunch lady, crabby, old, wrinkled.

"Excuse me Madame, an emergency has befallen upon me that requires your expertise,” I have no idea where those words came from, I was just like, Whoa!

"You wealthy parasites are all like that, aren't you?" she glared at me. "What's the matter? Found a little rip in your big expensive jacket? (Well, actually yes) You people! Don't you realize that there are poor starving children begging for moldy bread out there? Hah! Of course not! You're probably too busy counting all your money that's locked up in your big fancy chateau."

What's her problem? "Er, I'll just take my leave then..." I muttered, inching out the door.

"That's right, out! OUT SCUM!" she screamed. You know what? Certain people out there in the world can make you feel extemely inferior.

Going back to my group, I heard the door slam shut.

"That was fast," Jazira noted brightly.

"It, well, didn't g-" right when I was about to explain, the old lady ran out. Now what?

Suddenly, she ripped off her face. And pulled out a mace.

About thirty other guys dressed as peasants followed her example.

"Enemy bandits!" shouted Rhys.

Hmm, maybe the old lady wasn't one after all.

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[Edited on 24/3/2004 by CarolP]
Saeran
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 23, 2004 03:21
::Kaori Saekye::

It figures. Just when things were going along so well, something like this had to happen. Great going, Katherine. You just had to get a new coat. Well, Réquel didn’t get his coat and now a bunch of bandits were surrounding us. Lovely.

Anyways, we all got into our fighting positions. We were ready for battle when it came. And it sure did come. Since there were about thirty of these sweaty bandits, I was very doubtful about our situation. They were closing in on us. I was really freaked out and it showed on my face. Little sweat droplets were forming at the Marquis’s hairline. Jazira was grinning and thumbing her sword. Rhys was kind of blocking my view with his arms. I think he was trying to protect me or something, like I needed it.

Well, instead of attacking us, one of the bandits asked gruffly, “Where’s the map?”

“We ain’t gonna give it to the likes of ya’ll!” Rhys yelled.

“Aye, maties,” Jazira agreed.

“Uhm, you guys?” I muttered, “I smell…smoke.”

“What?” Réquel hastily said.

“I think we… should…leave,” Gaerwyn was sending me many thoughts at once and it was hard to concentrate. I sounded like a retard, but Gaerwyn knew what was going on. He knew where the smoke was coming from and why it was coming. My eyes widened. A witch was in danger. They were going to burn her! I needed to stop this madness. So I ducked under Rhys’s arms and tore at the nearest bandit with my claw.

“Out of my way!!” I grunted, shoving through the crowd. Behind me Jazira and the others were hacking at the bandits. I wouldn’t wait for them, though, so I ran into the streets of Khita’gasse and searched for the burning witch. I ran into the courtyard and a horrible sight greeted my eyes.

She was there propped up on a large wooden stake with flames licking her bare feet. Her dark hair was in a barbaric jumble of knots and tangles and her black dress was torn in many places. Her eyes seemed powerful and a metal staff lay nearby. I guessed it was hers because she was staring at it intently as if she thought it would somehow levitate and come to her. Her good natured face was contorted with worry, though, so I knew she couldn’t reach it. I needed to help her.

So I dashed to the front of the artificially intelligent crowd and leaped onto the platform where the witch was stationed. I avoided groping hands and grabbed the golden staff. I then went over to the witch and untied the ropes that bounded her arms together. I couldn’t help but notice how young she was, but that didn’t stop me from giving her the staff. Witches in the Affair were quite powerful. It wouldn’t be wise to mess with one of them.

Her grateful eyes met mine as I undid her foot ropes. By now the crowd was trying to pull me back to the ground, but I held fast as the last know was pulled. “Go and be free,” I told her. But she shook her head.

“I need to find the map-bearer,” her voice was like a song to my ears.

“D’you mean th-” I was cut off by the villagers. They were now climbing onto the platform. We needed to flee. I grabbed the witch around her waist and jumped into an alleyway. The girl was surprisingly light, so I was able to climb out and over the fence very quickly.

“What’s your name witch?” I had to lean against a wall to catch my breath.

“I am Reyna Rokutanda,” the witch answered. “I am very grateful for your help, but I must go and find the map-bearer for I am searching for the princess just like you are.”

She knew who I was. Gaerwyn looked at her curiously for a moment, but then decided that he trusted her.

I nodded. “Very well,” I said. “I will take you to him.”


[Edited on 24/3/2004 by Saeran]
gabriel_legolas
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 23, 2004 06:38
::Marquis de Vilet:: (WHAT? me sweating? EWWWW)

There we were after Kaori left, the three of us against, how many was that... Oh yes, I remember, thirty well-armed, well-seasoned, well-trained bandit warriors. Everyone kept throwing dirty glances at me like it was my fault. Didn't they realize that they were going to attack us anyway? Games were always like that. Anyway, it's not like I'm going around in a torn coat, as if I was in dept or something.

Pulling out my blade, I took on the guy closest to me. He was big, REALLY big. I had to look straight up in order to see his face. Chuckling stupidly at himself, he swung a club, the size of a tree trunk, barely missing my head. At least he was slow. He whirled it around again; only this time, the weight of it must have thrown him off balance because I heard a ground-shaking thump. Stupid idiot. Taking the fact of him being off guard, I plunged my rapier into him. Make it stop, make it stop...

But too soon was I pulled into another fight. And another. And another. It repeated over and over again until I was so weary, I didn't even care about people around me. At that moment, I faced their leader. I think it was the old lady guy since he still had an apron on, though during the time, I was so exuasted that it mattered little. The problem was, this person was quite talented with a mace when it came to battle. I successfully dodged a blow, but not comprehending how swift he was, I was unprepared for his next strike. The one choice I had was to drop and roll on the ground. The bandit smashed his weapon downward. Closing my eyes, I rolled slightly to the left. Luckly, I was still alive to see that his mace was buried on the spot where my head once lay. Growing desperate, I kicked him, as hard as I could, in his family jewels. His eyes told me that he was defenately in pain. Spranging up, I pierced him through the heart. Then, as if in a slow motion movie, he fell. The action stopped in an instant. It took a few seconds for them to realize that the leader was dead. I killed him. When the "reality" hit them, all the remaining bandits fled for their lives.

I don't really remember what happened afterwards, or I probably didn't want to bear my thoughts. It felt like I was floating in a dream or something. Maybe I was just shocked. Though I didn't forget one thing: Jazira and Rhys were staring at me. Ignoring them, I took out a small flask from my dusty coat and poured some of its contents down my mouth. Was it whiskey? Half of the time, I wanted to throw up because it was so strong. The other half of me drank it gratefully. What the hell was wrong with me? Afterwards, I kind of left the scene and found a peaceful place to sit down. Different images of slaughter kept wavering in my mind. Why did I find it disturbing? This is only virtual reality. The bandits, they were only AIs. Nonetheless, it didn't seem right. Lost in my own thoughts, I dozed off.

By the time I woke up, night had begun to fall. Gaerwyn was curled by my side, Kaori must have returned. Slinking to General, I found my supply bag. Inside was a fresh white shirt. Cute *sarcastically*... it has poofy sleeves and little ruffles too. I quickly changed into it. Feeling better already, I returned to the group. They were sitting together next to a fire. Having this hunch that they were talking about me, an awkward silence fell upon us as I neared towards them.

"Hi, uh, we were gettin' worried 'bout you," said Jazira.

"I was tired," I replied curtly. It was then that I noticed someone else.

"Réquel, I would like you to meet Reyna Rokutanda," Kaori said.

Having one of those moments, I winked at her and greeted. For a character, she was young compared to the rest of us.

"Hiya," she smiled shyly. Er, did I give her some wrong impression?

[Edited on 25/3/2004 by gabriel_legolas]
Kiro_Suki
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 24, 2004 06:10
::Reyna Rokutanda::


Hiya?! Was that all i could say? Well I WAS kinda blown away by that stud in the white frilly shirt. Oh? I was totally lost in my thoughts until I looked around at all of them. These People, who I had never met before. That one girl though, Kaori, she told me, I owed her a BIG one. Were these people A.I.'s? Or were they people? I didn't know.

"So. 'ou were burnin' atta stake, aye?"

"Huh?"I couldn't understand what the girl was saying. Her voice... It sounded like a pirate, or something. She looked kinda...wild, and rouge looking. I hadn't heard my own voice but twice: When stating my name and when saying Hiya to that stud.

"I says, You were burnin' atta stake, right?"

" Uh, i guess i was. That shaln't happen again." SHALN'T?! What is wrong with my voabulary, I mean, SHALN'T?! For a beginner, I seemed like I knew my stuff....

" Where 're you from, missy?"

"Khita'gasse, I guess. Um.. Where are you from?"

" Tha's none of yer business, missy." Geez! all i did was ask where she was from. I must've looked vulnerable, becase soon the pirate girl said. "Seein' tha' ur yuonger an' all, we 'av to put you in yer place, ye know."

I looked around to see the other's faces' (Gasp!) They were all staring at me. Kaori went into her tent with her cat, That pirate lady, Jazira I found out later, went into her tent to go to sleep, and I sat around the fire.

I heard a noise behind me, so I turned around, and saw HIM.

" Oh, sorry, miss. I thought you all turned in for the night. Well, you better get off to sleep, we have a long day tomorrow."

"Uh... "

"Well, goodnight, now."

So that was that. I had no tent, but I carried a blanket with me in my staff. I lowered it to the ground, head first, Lifted my head a little, and chanted: " Stupid Blanket!!!! come out already!!" and it did. Ii quietly looked around, and sprawled out on my blanket, and finally shut my eyes preparing myself for sleep.


I somehow knew in the back of my mind that this was going to be a looooooong journey.







[Edited on 25/3/2004 by Kiro_Suki]
Saeran
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 24, 2004 01:14
::Kaori Saekye::

So there I was in my tent with Gaerwyn. I needed to talk to him badly, and I wasn’t ready to go to sleep yet. “So why d’you trust her, anyway?” I asked, putting on a large woolen cloak.

“She’s too young to be of any harm to us,” Gaerwyn stiffly said. Despite his agitated voice, I knew he didn’t mind talking to me.

“I don’t know why she wants to find the princess, though. D’you have any idea why?”

“She probably thinks it’s just another way of gaining experience and magic points.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I confessed. “I just can’t shake this odd feeling I have….”

I heard the fire crackling dimly outside. I opened the tent flap and was pleased to see that Reyna was sleeping peacefully on the ground with her golden staff by her side. She was sutch a cute little girl, really. Most of the time I imagined a big grin on her face, and that’s how I remembered her…. I silently crept outside and walked towards the courtyard. I left the sleeping city silently and went to the field where I had begun my adventures with Katherine.

There was a big moon overhead that night. It looked kind of like fluffy cotton-ball that was in the shape of a perfect circle. I usually didn’t like sleeping in a tent, so I flopped down on a large bed of moss. The wind felt nice and cool, and a little caterpillar joined us in our little bed. I could already feel consciousness leave my body. I was so tired, I can’t even remember if what happened next was really true. Gaerwyn and I were about to fall asleep when I herd a rustle of foliage behind me. Being used to wild animals I called out, “Just go away, you pest!”

You can imagine how surprised I was when I heard a voice near me say, “Well, little lady, I didn’t know that you despised me that a’mutch.” It was Rhys. I had wondered where he’d run off too. He wasn’t at camp when Reyna and I had arrived.

“Oh,” I kept my eyes closed. “It’s just you, Rhys.”

“Do you like it out ‘ere, too?”

“I usually sleep and log off here,” I said dryly.

We were silent for a while until Rhys asked, “Kaori? D’you know somethin’ about the game that the rest of us don’t? You seem like the type who’d hide somethin’ from people….”

Did he have to be so direct? Maybe this time I would be the cause of confusement for him.

Tonight was just full of surprises. This time, though, it was his turn to be surprised. “I don’t lie to you, Rhys.” Well that finally shut him up. I was tired and was anxious for sleep, but I waited anyway for him to say something else. It didn’t come, though, and to tell you the truth I was a little disappointed. Gaerwyn made a small sound of anger. He was tired, too.

Then, I heard Rhys say something under his breath that surprised me even more than his sudden appearance had. “I don’t lie to you either,” he whispered. It actually sounded more like he was taking a breath. The words were clear, though. Maybe he thought I was asleep or maybe he was just talking in his dreams. I couldn’t tell but I found myself smiling, anyway.

Why am I so idiotically fickle?
------------------------------------------------
note: yeah, yeah. I know that there's been a lot of romantic stuff happining lately, but I can't help it, ya know? In all of the jucy novels I've reat there's been at least one relationship that seems to be mor than friends. I feel kind of like Arimis Inc. should be not just action but comidy and drama, too (Katherine brings in most of the humor). Yes. So, anyway, I just felt like saying this, and, erm, yeah.


[Edited on 25/3/2004 by Saeran]
gabriel_legolas
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 24, 2004 05:54
(Kiro, please see the "Out of Character Disscussion" for Aramus Inc.)

::Marquis de Vilet::

I had a feeling there was more to the little girl than just that happy grin. Whatever... Casting aside my thoughts, I quietly spread out my sleeping bag. Imagine that! A marquis, lying on the ground! I am defenately going to stay at an inn tomorrow. A short distance off was Jazira, she didn't seem to mind the hard ground. Crawling inside, I grabbed my pillow and hugged it tightly, it was one of my old slumber habits. And no, I DON'T snore.

The light gift of sleep did not take over until an hour later. For me, it was strange to go back to "bed" right after I had just got out. Lying there, I couldn't help but wonder how long this game was going to take. It wasn't one of which you could just log out of, you had to spend a number of days on it. If I got killed, I'll probably go back to the real world. That's another problem, if one of us died, we'd automatically be brought back while everyone else was still in sleep mode. Saeran once informed me that dying did not hurt, but wounds did. The virtual simulator sends messages to your brain indicating what is supposed to hurt.

A drowsy sensation settled in me and at long last, I was falling asleep. I hope Rhys trips on his own feet and cracks his skull but still manages to live. Ha ha...

In a field of wildflowers, a young couple laughed merrily.

"I assure you, Mademoiselle, I was quite capable of handling myself until you came along," said the beau.

"Well then, Monsieur," the lady said, "I have accomplished my obligations as a woman." She was beautiful. A pastel colored gown dripped daringly off her shoulders and wavy dark hair splashed carelessly away. Her features were flawless and those brown velvety eyes held love to the man that stood before her.

He offered a crooked grin, "Whatever helps you sleep at night, angel of mine." She gasped, and chased after him, the both of them were always laughing. Suddenly, the man turned his head. His expression changed from the appearance of bliss to an almost startling melancholy. It was Réquel.

Staring straight into my eyes, he whispered, "Katherine,"

"Where am I?" I questioned. But the image was already fading. "Wait! No, hold on..."

"Uh," I sat up from the ground. It was only a dream. Perceiving my environment, I saw that it was still dark. "Peculiar, was is not?" I murmured and instantly fell back into a deeper snooze.


"Wakey, wakey, lazy bums," a voice called to me. My eyes squinted open and before me was Jazira.

"Go dust off Rhys's bi- biceps," I muttered halfway between a yawn.

"Hey, if you don't get up right now, we're gonna give you the leftovers of our brek'fest," she scowled.

"Fine, fine... women folk..." Rising up cautiously because my back was rigid from lying on hard surface too long, I stretched and yawned again. Mmm, I think I smell some bacon.

[Edited on 25/3/2004 by gabriel_legolas]
Ringspell
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 25, 2004 07:14
((I already posted on the ooc so here it is....))

::Cach De’Lynn:: LOGGED ON

Ah night. It always seems to be night when I log on. Part of being a Vampiress I guess. Looking around I was startled to sense the aura of a small group of people not to far away. I’m sure they weren’t there when I logged off yesterday. “Good.” I whispered to myself. I was hungry, and fresh blood was just what I needed. Soundlessly I crept towards them, feeling their auras as I went.

“Da** it.” I hissed softly, my slender hand curling into pale fists. They were real users. I make a point of not feeding off real users because that would kick them out entirely. AI’s tasted just the same but they could be reborn the next time you log on. Oh well. I can feed later, my Bloodlust wasn’t quite to the max.

I stop not too far away from them and inspected power. Two magic-workers and a magic cat! The cat and one of the girls seemed to almost share the same aura and that intrigued me. Judging by the light of the sky it wasn’t too long before sunrise so I set out to wait.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

With the rising of the sun my Bloodlust came back with vengeance. I had to fed and fed quickly. Casting out my thoughts to scan a larger area I found an AI peasant going out to his farm. That’ll do. With the speed that only vampires can have I ran towards him, his aura getting stronger every second. Without pausing I pounced on him, sinking my fangs into his sunburned neck. Drinking greedily I felt my Bloodlust fall back down to normal levels and my strength refortified. With an easy gait I went back to the group, leaving the body behind me. They had started to begin breakfast, the smell of bacon turned my stomach but I pressed on.

Stepping to the out skirt of their little camp I stopped and held up my hands to show I didn’t have any weapons.

“Greetings traveler. My name is Cach, how goes it with one?”
Kiro_Suki
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 25, 2004 01:42
((Welcome Ringspell! Saeran, here( Kiro's computer is broken, so I'm posting for her when she can't). It's good to have a 'pire in the group! Either me or Gabriel will email you the outline for Aramus Inc. ,Witch is quite broad, now that I think of it....oh well. It's good to have you!))

::Reyna Rokutanda::

Huh? Where was I? I blinked sleepily and saw a beutiful sight. It was him looking as tired as I felt. I lay there happily, wathing the marquis eat a piece of bacon delicately. It was then that I realized that there was someone else at our camp. She was a dark figure, and at that moment she was talking to Kaori. The newcomer nodded and she and Kaori bowed slightly to seal thier agreement, whatever it was. The girl sat down a short distance from me and took a plate that Jazira offered her. She didn't eat it though, and thats when I noticed that she had small, sharp fangs poking out of her upper lip. She was a vampire. No worries. I could defend myself if it was needed.

"Hullo!" I said, forgetting my tiredness, "Will you be joining us?"

Her large eyes met mine, "I am. Your fellow traveler has offered me payment if I join your party."

"What'd Kaori offer you?"

"Blood." I shivered and noticed another figure walking towards our camp. Rhys was he called? Yes, it was him. Kaori had told me he was coming on our journey, as well.

I then felt a furry body lean against my hip. It was that cat. "We need to know your circumstances, Reyna," his voice was stony. "What are you hiding?"

I gulped and gripped my staff, "What d'you mean?" By now everyone was looking at me. I had no hope. I needed to tell them it all. My face drooped in sorrow. I didn't like remembering my conditioning.

"You must tell us, Reyna," Requel said. He was sutch a stud! I sighed, knowing it was useless, and began my tale.

"Fine," my voice was soft, but in the quiet morning I was heard. "I was a normal witch with a family, you know? Everything was fine. I even had a little sister who I taught all of my magic tricks to. Every thing changed, though, when that worm came! Well...there was this dragon that destroyed our house. It killed my family but since I was gathering berries I didn't know it was happening until I got home.... I buried them and stayed by the reckage until I heard these travelors talking. They said that there was someone who had a map leading to this magical princess. They said she could bring back the dead...." I was sobbing by now and found that it was hard to continue. I sniffed and went on, "I went to Khita'gasse, but these farmers thought that I was some sort of demon. They were scared 'cause there was something that destroyed thier town. They didn't know that I was just a normal witch, and that's when they decided to burn me at the stake...."

"An' that's when Kaori saved ye?" Jazira the pirate asked.

"Yes," I lowered my eyes. Gaerwyn seemed satisfied and then did an odd thing. He crawled into my lap and began washing me with his toungue. I was so grateful for this sign of affection that a new flood of tears dumped out of my eyes. He began licking my tears away when I buried my face in his beutiful white fur and clutched his frame. Kaori gasped in surprise.

"Gaerwyn...," she murmered. And then she, too was beside me and holding me like my mother had done so many times before, "I'm so sorry I thought you ment ill. Katherine was the map-bearer and I thought you wanted to take it."

I wiped away the last tear and asked, "Who's Katherine?"

"Katherine?" Rhys was now talking. "You mean Mr. Fancy-pants over there? You didn't know he was a girl?"

With horror I realized my mistake and everyone cracked up. Even the vampire smiled slightly. I was as red as Requel/Katherine was, and was going on to become a deep purple.

All I could think of while I was packing up was how embarassed I was. Oh well, I thought to myself, I guess that crush is over. So I gave up on him, slightly wondering why a girl had chosen a male avatar.

So we began our planning.
gabriel_legolas
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 25, 2004 05:51
(Welcome Spell! Saeran here can tell you the plot, isn't that right Sae? Anyway, I hope you are commited to posting in this RPG, if not, that's alright, just pm me if you want to quit. All I ask is that my character's storyline is respected.)

::Marquis de Vilet::

Rhys is going to be found dead one of these days... I hope Ms. Vampire over there sucks his blood and makes him as dry as a raisin. Mr. Fancy-pants

"I am pleased to meet your aquiantance, Miss," I said, nodding to Cach, " I am the Marquis de Vilet, or Réquel, if you wish." I noticed that she never turned directly to face the sunlight. Too bad they don't sell Matrix shades here, they would look awesome on her.

Personally, actually, not personally because vampires don't exist in my everyday life. Ok, let's try this again: Personally for the marquis, he did not associate with such beings. In fact, all the information I could gather from him was that they make powerful allies and dangerous enemies, not to mention they were the children of imortality and darkness. Though, hmm, something was up. I felt a strong sense of grief wash over me as I contemplated about death. Why was that? I never did before, was it Réquel's emotions?

Going back to our plans, I listened half-heartedly. Nevermind, I was more like daydreaming. Jazira basically went over the plans we had made before at the café and the rest gave us feedback. Pass through the forest, climb the mountain, get to the coast, sail to the island, etc. Yeah, yeah, uh huh, sure, ok, great. I pretended as if I was paying attention. They agreed anyway. All I had to do was nod and smile, nod and smile, nod and look irresistibly handsome.

At the end of our meeting, I pulled my coat over my shoulders and declared, "It would be agreeable for us to break camp and start on our way, we do have a rather extensive journey ahead." Whoo hoo. I love my newfound big vocabulary ( I can pretend to be smart)! Catching a glance from Rhys, he had on a pout, meaning to say "who made you the boss?". Smiling, I stuck my tongue out at him when no one was watching. Loser. Who needs dusty biceps?

By the time our growing band finished packing, an hour had been spent. We headed for the forrest, its name began with a R or something, I can't remember, but it was still a ways off. Since I had the map, I took the lead. Saeran, who probably thinks my knowledge will end at a certain limit, which she supposed wasn't too far off, strided by my side. General of course followed me with Gaerwyn on top. Jazira entertained Reyna with her nautical stories while Rhys and Cach guarded the end.

"You know," I said, striking a conversation with Kaori, "this game is pretty real. I mean, look at me, I can talk eloquent whenever I want to and I can even feel what my character's mood is like." She gazed at me with an indescribable appearance of uncomfortable air. Did I say something wrong?

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, for some situations, I let my character's conditioning do the work," I explained.

"For battles, right?"

"Not only battles, like finding my way around, remembering stuff, drinking whiskey, weird stuff I would never do."

"Katherine, that's not supposed to happen," she muttered, "It's not happening to me, not to Reyna, not to anyone."

"But what about Jazira, she talks like a pirate and I should know that she doesn't do that at school," I said, this was not making any sense.

Kaori rolled her eyes but continued, "In some cases, they can change speech and engage in battle skills depending on who you are. But to feel emotions and do involuntary action, that's impossible."

Remaining silent, I didn't want to tell her the dream I had last night. Now pondering back upon it, I realized that it couldn't just be a normal dream. Why would a normal dream be so... real and include somebody that I had no idea existed? That lady, who was she?

Kaori cast a worried glance but the topic was not brought up again.

[Edited on 26/3/2004 by ithillinde]
ithillinde
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 26, 2004 05:03
Hi guys! I just want to direct you to read the rp rules regarding violence as it has been getting a little borderline in here.

Thanks
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Ringspell
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 26, 2004 05:22
((I am always committed to every Rpg I join. I’ve already read the full thread up to now and have read the ooc.))

::Cach De’Lynn::

As I listened to the planning the sun came up even more and I quickly turned my back on it. I would have to rest at noon, unless the cover of the forest we were going to was dense enough. As the light began to heat us up I pulled off my black cloak that I wear at night and put it in the satchel I wear around my waist. My long silver gown caught the light fetchingly and I smiled down at it softly. It had been a gift from an enchantress I met a few weeks ago. It never ripped or got dirty or wet, and looked wonderful on my “Glamour” enhanced figure.

In my first time in The Affair I came across a merchant selling rare “Glamour” potions. I got a few ((well stole them off his blood-sucked body)) and drank the first one right away. My Beauty went up 50 points and so did my ability to persuade others. I kept the others in my satchel and now have three left.

As we started on the travels I found myself walking next to the extremely handsome Rhys. Subtly I combed my hand through my snow-white hair and inspected him through violet eyes. Gently I broke my shield around my “Glamour” and dashed him with it experimentally. My full “Glamour” brought men to a blubbering lump but I surely didn’t want that to happen. I need to talk to Rhys, not seduce him.

“So…” I said softly keeping up with his broad pace with the boneless grace all vampires have. “What’s your story? Why are you here? And please don’t say for glory and riches, that answer gets really old really fast.”

I bite my tongue and looked away quickly. I sounded more like myself then Cach right then, my sarcastic sharpness showing through. When in The Affair I always tried to put my own thoughts away and completely become Cach and never tell anyone my real name. This is Cach De’Lynn, the beautiful, charismatic vampiress. When I log off I’m Morgan, the bitter daughter of a drug addict. That’s the way it is.
Saeran
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 26, 2004 01:28
((I'm going on a trip this week and I'll be back on friday. We should maybe slow things down a bit, but that's up to gabriel_legolas. I hope you guys won't go too far ahead...))

::Kaori Saekye::

I pondered the discussion I had with Réquel. It was worrying. Of course, since The Affair was a game, all characters were supposed to have the ability of free movement. If you had no control over your movements, it seemed taboo; much like how it was for me if someone touched Gaerwyn without my permission. It made me wonder what Réquel had been before he was Katherine’s avatar. It was…disturbing.

We encountered few people along the road. Most travelers feared the forest and the beasts that dwelled there. Many people called it Howler’s Gate for the strange noises heard from its depths, even though it’s given name was Rænamel Forest. As for me, I had no fear of the creatures. I knew I was prepared for any emergency healing for before leaving I had a quick shopping spree in the market buying potions and healing herbs of all sorts. I even purchased a shield pendant for the bargain price of 1,200 gold pieces. However, I was concerned for the other members of our group. None of them seemed to have any healing abilities except for limited skills of Reyna. I was afraid that I might have to do what I dreaded: go into a wound and heal it. The worst thing that I could think of happening, however, was if our party got separated. I had a deep doubt that any of our members could survive for long in Howler’s Gate without being eaten alive.

So we barreled on. I talked more to Katherine about the works of the game, and she even seemed interested. She seemed so different in the Marquis; it was almost as if having him thrive inside of her calmed her. I was true that the game could be calming, but Katherine seemed in almost perfect sync with her avatar. Her whole personality appeared to be different.

I looked back at the rest of our group. Reyna was giggling at something funny that Jazira had said and Cach and Rhys were in deep discussion. I listened in on part of Jazira’s story; it was something about how she had gotten drunk one time and how when she woke up she found herself on a sea voyage to Australia. Cach was smiling slightly at Rhys, showing her pearly fangs. Rhys was saying something that I couldn’t hear.

Go and see what they’re up to, Gaerwyn. I then concentrated on what he was talking about. It didn’t think I was jealous until later. I just thought I had an increasing interest in what Rhys was saying. I was so in denial.

“-nd when she mentioned that she was looking for th’ map leadin’ t’ th’ princess, I knew it was my chance. The darkness is aware of me, you know? I knew it followed her, too, when I saw her eyes. Ya can tell when a person has been hurt by it an’ she was one of ‘em. Kaori has been through the same stuff I have. I had a great fealin’ that there was somethin’ I needed to do with ‘er and the map-guy. I need to pulverize the darkness. It needs to disappear forever. I knew when I heard her intentions.”

“Is that all?” Cach’s eyes seemed to know something else. “Your aura doesn’t lie, but you do.”

Rhys was a little startled by this comment, but continued, “I just had to….”

Cach sighed and with a frustrated undertone said, “You deceive. It is your profession. Are you only doing this to defeat the darkness? Do you love Kaori?”

“Ah?” I gasped, turning a bright red. Immediately Gaerwyn’s connection with me was broken. Of course I could always go back, but I didn’t want to hear the rest of that conversation. I felt like I was prying a little too much….

“Kaori?” Réquel was giving me an odd look. “You left for a minute an-”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Gaerwyn was striding towards me looking annoyed. I hardly noticed him, though, for only meters away were the dark trees of Rænamel.


[Edited on 26/3/2004 by Saeran]
gabriel_legolas
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 26, 2004 03:56
(Sure, we'll chill out for a while, we'll "wait for you in the inn") (btw, Australia? I didn't they had Australia in the game. lol.)

::Marquis de Vilet::

As we neared Rænamel forest, I felt General shudder.

"He's afraid," said Gaerwyn. Come to think of it, this was our first time talking. The kitty was actually kind of cute, despite his cantankerous attitude.

Everyone remained tense during our little trek across the woods. Truthfully, the terrain was more of a mountain setting. Although the real mountains were far off, we could already see them; that is, if we got a peek through the pines. Jazira had stopped teasing with Reyna and Rhys's blushing face had turned serious. Even Kaori was on guard. As we made our way deeper and deeper into the darkness, we inched closer to each other. Perhaps it was because of the fear of getting lost. No one said much and I was beginning to hear myself breathe, which made me feel really self-concious (and whenever that happens, I try to breathe more quietly but I alway end up gasping for breath which makes everything louder).

"What was that?" Reyna whispered, making us all jump. We all turned our heads.

"What was what?" I implored.

"That noise, over there," she pointed to her left.

Kaori, not wanting to waist any more time, declared that was but a wild animal. She, being one of the most experienced players among all of us, was probably right. Believing this, our party ambled on. But what if there was something out there? Quit making yourself all creeped out, I told myself. Then why did it feel like I was being watched?

Only one break was made and it was when we stopped for lunch. Lucky us, breakfast leftovers! I could hardly wait. Cach, naturally, did not share the vittles. And as soon as that was finished, we set out again. I predict that we walked for at least twenty miles, which was a good thing because there were a lot was us and also because horses aren't made for dense forests. By nightfall, I was drained. Then again, so was everyone else. To improve the situation, I allowed people to take turns riding General. Except Rhys. Not that I told him he couldn't, he was smart enough to figure that I would never let him on.

A clearing came into view abruptly and it took a while for me to soak in the new scene. Wow. Really big mountains. They almost reminded me of the Rockies, but more massive. And we were still so far from them too...

Distracted from such a sight, I didn't notice the little inn until Jazira shouted, "Ey, Réquel! Ye comn' or wot?"

"Of course," I said and proceeded.
Saeran
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 26, 2004 05:02
Alrighty. This is the last post before I head out to ye olde Mishigan (heh heh). I forgot to mention that Reyna won't be able to post either, concidering that since her computer's broken I usually post for her, anyway(with her consent, of course). I will miss you all, and to show my love I drew some fanart of Kaori and Rhys faring you all goodbye. Gaerwyn is in Kaori's arms, if you take time to notice. I quite like it actually, and for all of you anime haters, I'm sorry to burn your eyes. Ciao:
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 27, 2004 11:38
((See you later! We’ll miss you. Btw that’s a wicked cool picture! I drew one of Cach and actually started one of Kaoi... maybe I’ll finish it up sometime.))

::Cach De’Lynn::

Entering the forest brought a strong tingle on the back of my neck and I stopped questioning Rhys; he was blushing his head off already, I’m not sure why but I love to see cute guys squirm. Yes, we were diffidently being watched. My mind jumped automatically jumped to werewolves until I remembered that not only was the full moon not for a few weeks but it was daytime. Laughing slightly at myself I continued on with the group.

After lunch... well, everyone else’s lunch... we went on again. I slipped behind the group, my senses still tingling that we we’re being followed. No one seemed to notice as I fell farther and farther behind and then left entirely. I kept an eye on their auras but knowing something’s coming and not knowing what drives me insane so I resolved to find it.

Spreading out my thoughts to cover more space I was shocked to find.... nothing. Not a single blasted thing.

“How can that be?” I hissed to myself from between clenched teeth. “I know someone’s here.”

Sudden thunder from far off startled me into losing my concentration and breaking contact with the group.

“Da** it!” I snarled, both my hand curled into fists. I cast out my thoughts again and to my shock and horror felt nothing... true nothing. It was like my aura was being blocked somehow.. but no.. that would have felt like something... this was just nothing.. another clap of thunder, closer this time brought me back to the present. I was lost. I never realized how much I relied on my aura before. I felt Cach’s despair well up inside me and almost over take me. How could this be happening? It was impossible.

Suddenly I thought I smelt something. True my aura was stopped but not the rest of my senses. And even they were ten times stronger then a normal human. I caught onto the sent and followed it. It smelt like... like... blood. I stopped short, my Bloodlust rising. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and pressed on. The smell was getting stronger and suddenly I nearly stepped on a corpse laying on the ground in front of me. Blood was every where and it was with difficulty that I controlled myself. Peering down at the man my first thought was that he had been slashed for him money. But then I saw a curious thing on the side of his neck. Fang marks.

I stood up abruptly and peered around startled. Another vampire? But that didn’t make sense... any sane vampire would have sucked him dry... no mess... this was beginning to be less and less logical. Unless the vampire wanted to make sure I found the body. That blood would attract any vampire for miles. Or perhaps someone was just trying to make it look like a vampire was here.

Suddenly an new thought came to my head. In The Affair spilt blood didn’t stay for long. It disappeared after a little bit, a few minutes at the most. I touched a patch of it experimentally. The bright crimson stained my pale skin and I resisted the urge to lick it off. The blood was cold... freezingly so. Blood didn’t do that in The Affair. It disappeared in the time it took it to cool down to that point.

This was beginning to really freak me out. I left the body and went back the way I came, trying to find the path. It took a good time but eventually I tracked it down and sped up it, trying to find everyone else.

They had taken refuge in a small inn. As I reached the door the rainstorm caught up with me and I ducked inside. Looking around I saw my companions sitting around one shoddy table drinking and talking. I pulled up a chair and sat down gracefully, thanking Cach’s ability to be beautiful even in a time like this.

“Friends...” I said softly, my voice urgent, “we have a problem.”

I told them of all the things I saw and the fact my aura seemed to be not working. By the time I ended a the gale had grown outside, rain beating against the windows in sheets and thunder crashing loudly.
gabriel_legolas
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 27, 2004 05:45
(oh, you should post your pic. somewhere, Spell! I drew one of the marquis and I'm going to post it up as soon as I find a scanner)

::Marquis de Vilet::

When Cach told us of her strange encounter, I was literally creeped out. Ewww, let's not get too detailed there... Fighting for an logical explanation, my mind went through different ideas. Could this new threat be wanting my map as well as every other danger we had passed? Maybe this didn't have to do with us at all. What kind of creature was the predator?

"Ey, it's yor turn ta go get us some more ale," Jazira said signaling to me. Okay, since when did start drinking ale? Nevertheless, I threaded my way through the empty tables and appeared before the bartender. He was wiping the greasy tables with an already greasy cloth. Come to think of it, he was kinda greasy. He probably smelled greasy too. And his hair... really greasy... STOP IT! I had to halt myself before I got too far. The guy grunted to show that he acknowledged my presence.

"Sir, I would like four glasses of ale, milk for the girl and cat ( Sorry Reyna, you're too young for drinks), and a mug of coffee," the coffee was for myself, I dunno why, I guess at home in my real life, Mom never let me have that stuff. She said it would stunt my growth.

"Yeah, yeah, pay up," he grumbled. Just great customer service here, ain't it? Retrieving my coins, I noticed a stranger staring at me. What can I say about him? He was, um, very red and beefy. Even though he didn't have a beard, it looked like he was in need of a shave. Grizzly, I suppose. He was clad in simple civilian clothes, as if he played the role of a woodcutter. The unblinking stare was getting on my nerves. Once the money was handed, I quickly strided back to my table.
~~~~~~~~~~

Midnight had fallen upon the mountainside faster than anyone had anticipated. Because we didn't want to waste our gold, we each shared a room with a partner. The marquis, being a person of the male gender, was assigned to be paired up with none other than Rhys. UGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!! WHY OH WHY?!? We didn't even talk to each other, just glared and bumped shoulders. Except, of course, when he had to change into his "pajamas". Being well aware that I was really a girl, he made me tie a sash covering my eyes AND made me face the wall. Ho ho, talk about modesty.

Rhys fell asleep as soon as we clambered into our own bunks. I know this because HE SNORES!!! At first, I wanted to break up laughing, but then it just got annoying. Now I kind of regret having that coffee, it was going to keep me up all night. Becoming restless, I started to count his snores. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve... ninety-nine, one hundred... two hundred... I must have laid there for a few hours and sleep was still not taking over. Finally, I jumped out of bed, pulled my boots on, and walked to the stables. Perhaps spending some time with General will calm me down.

Without warning, a firm hand gripped my shoulder. OH NO, what now?

"Shhh, I mean no harm," whispered a hoarse voice. The person lit a candle and I recognized who it was: Mr. Beefy back at the inn.

"What do you want?" I demanded. It was impossible it tell whether he was an AI or a real player.

Smiling, he asked, "You a traveler 'round here?"

"Yes, in a matter of fact," I said, "but that does not concern you."

"Protective, aren't we?" shaking his head, he continued, "I only wish to warn you about the werewolves."

Werewolves?

(btw, does everyone know the plot?)
gabriel_legolas
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 28, 2004 09:13
(I'm going to post for aragornlvr since she asked us to)

::Jazira Sparrow::

I stayed behind when everyone had retreated to their rooms. Sleep? Who needs sleep when they can gamble? A bunch of rough-looking AIs were in a corner playing with cards. They didn't seem to notice me when I approached them. The table was scattered with coins and dice. Ooooh, money...

"Ho there, mateys, anybody up fer a game of blackjack?" I had to shout over the din they were making.

One of them eyed me stupidly, "Wot's blackjeck?" Guess they didn't have that game back then. So I explained the rules, which was simple and got a few rounds going on. Man, they were slow. After about the tenth round, I had won most of their gold. It was about time I left.

Standing up, one of the gamblers grabbed my arm. "Now wait jus a sec. Where you goin' wid my money?" Some of the others stood up as well. "Yeah, this ain't fair." "We'll show you who's boss."

"Well, uh, ye see, fellas- LOOK OVER YONDER!" I cried. Sure enough, they fell for the oldest trick in the book. Stupid, completely stupid. Taking advantage of this, I sprinted out the door.

"AFTER THAT THIEF! SHE'S GETTIN AWAY!!!"

There was no way I'd be running to the forest at night. Who knows what goes on. Instead, I crawled into the stable.

"It's no use, the night's too dangerous," muttered the voices outside.

"Well finish our business tomorrow."

Whew. I had barely breathed a sigh a relief when a cold hand covered my mouth. *gasp!* Biting the hand as hard as I could, it let go and I grabbed my sword.

"Jazira, what the heck? Are you mad? Ah, oww!" oops, that voice belonged to Réquel. It was weird hearing him say "what the heck", being the first time he had ever talked like Katherine. But then again, I suppose she was in too much pain to care.

"Sorry, sorry, oh, I'm so sorry! Heeeeey," I apoligized, though however, "what are ye doin'?"

"Sleep was not taking me. Of what reason are you here?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing, I was simply 'iding." Even if it was dark, I could tell that he was giving me a look, as if to say, did you have to get in trouble? Katherine is such a hypocrit! She's the one who ran into those bandits back in town.

A candle was lit and to my surprize, a third person was here.

"Who're you?" I asked.

"Nevermind that, remember travelers, do not go out on a full moon, or any other night for that matter if ye value yor lifes!" he said dramatically and handed the marquis a bottle. "If one of you gets bitten, well, you know what to do." Réquel nodded and walked back into the inn, pulling me along.

"What was that all 'bout?" I demanded hating how I had no clue on what happened back there.

In the safety of building, he said, "Guess the villagers named the forrest Howler's Gate for a reason."

And?

"We should be more cautious from now on."

So?

"They have werewolves here."

Oh.
Ringspell
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 28, 2004 04:27
::Cach De'Lynn::

I was assigned to room with the pirate but she didn’t come in when I turned in for the night. Just as I was slipping into bed a strange stirring got me up again. It was the one that I felt when there was a full moon. But that was crazy. The full moon wouldn’t be up for.... I stopped dead in my pondering. There was a full moon tonight. How could I have forgotten! The last time I was logged on I got knocked out and lost track of time for almost a week. Quickly I got to my feet and looked outside. The sudden rain storm had stopped and the bright moon light up the trees.

((sorry I g2g, I'll post more later.))
Saeran
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 28, 2004 05:03
((So mutch for a vacation from all electronic devices.... My grandpa seems to not be as technologically retarded as some other people I know...*cough*Kiro*cough*. Anyways, I can post pretty mutch whenever I want to now. I feel sad, though, that I did that drawing for nothing...*sob*))

So there i was with Reyna in that stingy little cabin of ours. Technically, I guess, we had three people including Gaerwyn. And none of us were tired. And we were all cramped. And hot. And drunk (Well, me at least). And Reyna, of all people, just started laughing at me.

To get it all out of my system, I proposed we have a sleepover at Cach's place. It was too bad though, that she wasn't exactly home at the time. Vampires can be sutch fun to be around, too, if you get to know them. the only problem is the blood sucking business....

"Awwwww,"Reyna pouted. "I wanted to talk to her again."

"Yeah," I casually said. "It's too bad you'd be sucked dry before you'd get a word in." I watched with amusement Reyna's expression change from happiness to horror to disgust in me.

"You never joke around, Kaori," she haughtily stated. "And, besides, Cach wouldn't suck my blood, anyways. You must be more drunk than I thought.

I guess I was, too, because at that moment I stumbled flat on my face. But, no, instead of groaning in pain, I histerically laughed. Very loudly, I might add.

"Wha's tha' noise?" Rhys was stumbling out of his room in pajamas with little teddy bears on them. How cute. Not. I mean, come on. the guy was drooling! Unfortunately, I was, too. I thought this was Cach's room, but I guess I went to the room of Katherine and Rhys.

"Hi, Rhys," Reyna said cheerfully. "Kaori's drunk." Instead of answering, Rhys moaned in pain.

"Hangovers," Rhys gasped as he held his head like a crazy man. That made me crack up even more. Ha ha ha. Right.

"Hey, Kaori?" Reyna was halfway out of the window looking at something moving on the ground. "Isn't that Jazira?" I looked and saw a figure with long hair skipping merrily away from some angry blokes.

Somehow, i became sober. "Should we help her?" I asked.

"Why not?" Rhys was still in his teddy-bear pajamas.

"Because you look rediculus," I heard a smooth voice behind me whisper. Ah, Cach was back. I turned around in time to see her wipe away a trickle of blood running down the side of her lip. I wasn't surprised. Her bloodlust must have been growing all day.

"Well," Reyna said, "now she's in the barn. D'you think she can wake up by herself in the morning from there?"

"Knowing her," rhys joked, "the hangover she'll have won't be a pretty sight."

"We should wake her then," Reyna concluded. What a brilliant child.

I sighed. Why couldn't I just be drunk for once and not have to play the game? Because you must, I answered myself. Or, maybe it was Gaerwyn. Ah, well, things just had to be difficult.

[Edited on 29/3/2004 by Saeran]
gabriel_legolas
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Post RE: Aramus Inc.
on: March 28, 2004 06:34
::Marquis de Vilet::

Jazira and I met up with the rest of the group in the hall. Kaori and Rhys were, um, really drunk. Reyna was just was standing there grinning like an idiot and Cach was leaning in a corner looking amused. The scene almost made me wish that I had a camera. I mean, Kaori's face was all purple from laughing her head off! Poor Gaerwyn, he seemed pretty pissed. Not to mention Rhys! Who's the good-looking guy now?!? He had drool streaming down both sides of his mouth and he was wobbling as he walked towards us. He suddenly tripped on his face. If I weren't so disgusted with the both of them, I would have cracked up. Kaori, on the other hand, burst out laughing.

"Hahahahahahahah...hahahahaha...hahahahah," stumbling towards us, she fell into my arms, "heeeeeeeeeeeey there, baby!" Ugh. No thank you. ( and this children, is why you shouldn't drink any alcoholic stuff by the gallon).

"Shhh," I said gently, actually, I wanted to slap her but Réquel wouldn't let me, "you're drunk. Go to bed before you wet yourself."

"HAhahahahahahahah.... OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOkaaaay then, my little HUGSMUFFIN!" she shouted. She'd better go to bed before I start hurting her. Rhys had this sour face on, what's wrong with him?

"Reyna, come help me," I said and we lifted the drunkard onto her bed. Kaori instantly fell asleep. As for the cowboy, Jazira led him into my room. She staggered back, telling me that ale had done its effect on her tonight as well. Retiring for now, only Cach and I were left in the short hall.

"My friend, I'm afraid I bring bad news," she said. I blinked owlishly, for the caffine in me was beginning to wear out.

"Not about those werewolves again?"

"How did you know?" So I retold my secret meeting.

"This is a problem..." she thought for a while, but I interupted.

"What say we take care of this tomorrow? After all, the moon remains full for a while and we are in no condition to solve this. Observe Kaori and Rhys," I motioned to their doors.

Nodding in agreement, we left.
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