Administrator
high priestess
999
gold
familiar Familiariorek byrnison
played by OOC Namepandora
content monkey
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Post by pandora on May 2, 2023 15:58:24 GMT -7
[nospaces] [attr="class","staffcont"] [attr="class","staffheader"]
the queen's gambit declined
[attr="class","staffbody"] [attr="class","staffheadimg"]  with Julius Kingston[attr="class","staffpara"]the maps of delphi look different, in her mind. they have been redrawn, seen, by hydra's hand—farah knows little of the main streets, little of the broom-rider's path. [break][break] she knows, instead, the map an illusionist might know: wheren one shadow leads into another. where you can walk without anyone knowing you are there. where a tree, in other words, can fall safely on a forest floor. [break][break] maddox ruchbah had asked her a hypothetical question, of course. what if there was someone, say, that was in that corner of the forest? wrong person, wrong time? [break][break] ... [break][break] it's not hypothetical, he admits. [break][break] but, say it were. what happens? which way does the logger's axe turn? [break][break] the man at the door doesn't recognize farah, but she gives him a bored look, spots something indoors, and slinks past the doorframe without thinking much of it. neither does he. see, the leviathan is a monster as much as she is a ghost: doubly hard, therefore, to stand in the way of. [break][break] she finds a board set up against the wall, and takes the seat in front of the black pieces, waiting for her opponent to arrive. [break][break] you can mythologize it all you want—hydra, the second to move. the least likely to win. the color itself—shadowy, unchosen, always on the defense. [break][break] really, she just chose the side with the better view of the room. [break][break] welcome to your NPC thread, julius kingston[break][break] farah is currently: ?[break] farah is currently ? amelie is ?[break][break] ALL NPC THREADS ARE INJURY-ENABLED. [newclass="nullelem"]} .user-2 .mini-postname a { font-size: 0px; display: inline-block; } .user-2 .mini-postname a::after { content: 'FARAH SERIZAWA'; font-size: 32px; } .mini-profile.user-2 .mini-prof { background-image: url(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/971666871705280513/1038268862946353162/Screen_Shot_2022-11-04_at_8.49.39_PM.png)!important;[/newclass] |
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gold
familiar Familiarhermione - gryphon
played by OOC Namepandora
we'll burn the bridge when we get to it
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Post by julius kingston on May 2, 2023 16:00:11 GMT -7
[nospaces] [attr="class","post2"] so, old ghost, new haunts. [break][break] or new haunts, old ghost?[break][break] when someone asks him who that chick is, julius thinks his buddy's asking about the bombshell in the silver dress. he has to blink before he sees the foreground. [break][break] "huh," is his response. [break][break] julius kingston never thinks much before he speaks, and thinks even less before he acts. really, his defense is that the three should always be happening at the same time. people that think before they act end up forgetting to think during and after, see. and any game you play, the during is the most fun.[break][break] it's late august, and yazmine mercier is somewhere in the house. she'll miss the real party, of course, but how was julius kingston to know? somehow, in that moment, none of them are there: basil, serafim, anyone of note. anyone to tell him he isn't dreaming, when he emerges from this.[break][break] but that's for thinking after. thinking during, is well— [break][break] —the girl does a funny thing, when she catches his stare. she reaches to the side and, without even looking away, starts the clock. wordless. white to move. [break][break] he snorts. what the hell? [break][break] so anyway, he's moving. and then he's there. and then he's moving: 1.d4.[break][break] "hiiii," julius says. he hasn't quite sat down yet. the girl is moving quickly in response. ...c4, ...4...be7. "a friend tell you to come?"[break][break] [attr="class","notes"]notes |
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Administrator
high priestess
999
gold
familiar Familiariorek byrnison
played by OOC Namepandora
content monkey
|
Post by pandora on May 6, 2023 16:14:43 GMT -7
[nospaces] [attr="class","staffcont"] [attr="class","staffheader"]
the queen's gambit declined
[attr="class","staffbody"] [attr="class","staffheadimg"] with Julius Kingston[attr="class","staffpara"] it's been a long time since she's played chess. [break][break] like most things, farah was hardly a natural—she remebers learning to play: wooden board, missing pieces. forgetting, frequently, the right reply to the right sequence. was it lord lorraine, or someone else? [break][break] what had they said? [break][break] war is a lot like chess. you win if you can see the truth in the position. and you lose when you confuse hope for a good idea.[break][break] cruel thing, to tell a child.[break][break] you were there? farah asks. i remember you sleeping through the lessons.[break][break] hah. i was always there, child.[break][break] the position on the board stays closed. farah castles quickly, as early as the fifth move. a habit, even now. [break][break] farah lifts a brow, a downward smile. the question is amusing. "sure. something like that."[break][break] she is in a stranger's den, but farah hardly looks bothered by the fact of it. the noise, the commotion, the world itself does not affect her. and then— [break][break] —runes appear behind him, and close him into her room, instead. [break][break] ANSUZx(URUZ+AUROCHS)—she gives him a hypervigilance, of all things right in front of him. in otherwords, she gives a command: listen carefully. and a double-sided ANSUZxDROSS deflector—to keep the noises muffled, the sounds of that party away from this one. vice versa. [break][break] "julius kingston," farah says. her voice is suddenly at the center of universe. "you seem to care more about the integrity of your mind than your life."[break][break] spoken casually, as though discussing the weather. she gives him an appraising look, as the rhythm of the game settles. she takes the gambit pawn at last closing a diagonal. to her surprise, he castles. [break][break] welcome to your NPC thread, julius kingston[break][break] farah is currently: vaguely hostile[break] farah is currently using VARIOUS RUNES. amelie is ?unknown[break][break] ALL NPC THREADS ARE INJURY-ENABLED. [newclass="nullelem"]} .user-2 .mini-postname a { font-size: 0px; display: inline-block; } .user-2 .mini-postname a::after { content: 'FARAH SERIZAWA'; font-size: 32px; } .mini-profile.user-2 .mini-prof { background-image: url(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/971666871705280513/1038268862946353162/Screen_Shot_2022-11-04_at_8.49.39_PM.png)!important;[/newclass] |
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gold
familiar Familiarhermione - gryphon
played by OOC Namepandora
we'll burn the bridge when we get to it
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Post by julius kingston on May 15, 2023 16:51:06 GMT -7
[nospaces] [attr="class","post2"] the girl is nuts.[break][break] it's something you realize a little too easily, when you've been around people that are fucking nuts all the time, of course. [break][break] julius feels it before it happens. there is something off about her, something that puts every hair on end, sure—but the real kicker is, he thinks, she's totally normal about it.[break][break] there is something perfectly ordinary, in her eyes, about showing up at someone's gambling den, drawing runes in the air to alter the space to her liking, all the while playing the queen's gambit declined to unthinking, unphased perfection. [break][break] the game develops; he castles. he isn't thinking much of it. [break][break] "julius kingstion. you seem like the type to value your mind more than your life."[break][break] he blinks. [break][break] rapid, intentional. the runes are spinning and having an affect on his mind that he can't control, and it lends itself easy to over-processing the girl in front of him. he doesn't know her, but there are plenty of people that would want to meet him. he runs through the possibilities, assessing her threat. [break][break] "sure."[break][break] her pawn kicks his bishop—he blinks again. or does it? the runes seem only to accelerate the way his mind works, and he tosses a knight onto the next square. a checkmate threat is on the board. an effortless, casual, creative tactic. clever, danya would say, and delightfully pointless.[break][break] still, it's the satisfaction that gets the cat, remember? he feels the familiar buzz in his fingers, the thrill that never gets old. it's never about winning. it's about proving that you can. [break][break] green eyes meet the girl's cold gray, and he is saying: you know the drill. fire with fire. two offensives is better than one. come on, lose. [break][break] "but isn't that just most people? who the hell wants to live a life without chess, you know what i mean? you're very good by the way. you a friend of stevie's?" [break][break] he guy at the door. they both know the answer to that one. so he gives a pause. [break][break] "or maddox's?"[break][break] call it a hunch. [break][break] or a gambit, if he's lucky. [attr="class","notes"]notes |
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Administrator
high priestess
999
gold
familiar Familiariorek byrnison
played by OOC Namepandora
content monkey
|
Post by pandora on May 15, 2023 16:54:11 GMT -7
[nospaces] [attr="class","staffcont"] [attr="class","staffheader"]
the queen's gambit declined
[attr="class","staffbody"] [attr="class","staffheadimg"] with Julius Kingston[attr="class","staffpara"] her fingers are laced. her face sunk into them. she is calculating every single line to its furthest point, enjoying the rhythm and the math. and yet— Ng5. hah. what a play.[break][break] his or yours? amelie asks.[break][break] but the question she's asking—as to whether she's responsible for giving julius his egde—doesn't linger. farah's not competitive enough to care what julius's caliber sans her magic is. she plays with what she has. [break][break] she doesn't blink at maddox's name, or answer the question. [break][break] instead, she continues: [break][break] "neither matters much to me." his life or the integrity of his mind. "you'll only be able to keep one, either way. you can consider this a formality."[break][break] fXg5. forced. she frowns. she has doubled pawns, now, and the dark-squared bishop looks troubling. but her rook stares down a semi-open file, and she has to wonder...after all, the only difference in chess when it comes to structural development and structural weakness is the timing. [break][break] and julius's timing, well. [break][break] "when the game ends, either you will have no memory of hydra, or you won't be alive to speak of it." [break][break] bishop takes, then falls back into line. farah stares at the piece for several seconds, then looks at julius. [break][break] "but for now..." she shrugs. [break][break] Rxf3.[break][break] exhcnage-sacrifce. she plays it without blinking. [break][break] welcome to your NPC thread, julius kingston[break][break] farah is currently: vaguely hostile[break] farah is currently using VARIOUS RUNES. amelie is ?unknown[break][break] ALL NPC THREADS ARE INJURY-ENABLED. [newclass="nullelem"]} .user-2 .mini-postname a { font-size: 0px; display: inline-block; } .user-2 .mini-postname a::after { content: 'FARAH SERIZAWA'; font-size: 32px; } .mini-profile.user-2 .mini-prof { background-image: url(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/971666871705280513/1038268862946353162/Screen_Shot_2022-11-04_at_8.49.39_PM.png)!important;[/newclass] |
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gold
familiar Familiarhermione - gryphon
played by OOC Namepandora
we'll burn the bridge when we get to it
|
Post by julius kingston on May 15, 2023 16:57:36 GMT -7
[nospaces] [attr="class","post2"] hydra. [break][break] maddox's friend, then. [break][break] he tries to bite back the surprise. he really does. nothing surprises him much, anyway, but there is a kind of...tantalizing myth, there. hydra. he turns the word over on his tongue. [break][break] what had he said, to maddox? [break][break] if the mephistos—that's this godawful gang in the vale, by the way, even i could do better racketeering—can survive a decade of "eradication" by the cavalry, i'm sure "the biggest threat to peace on salem" or whatever can survived getting chased around by the wolves, maddy. [break][break] yeah. [break][break] then maddox ruchbah had broken into his house and stolen something and said nothing about it the next day. [break][break] then again, neither had julius. [break][break] he's not going to blame the guy for proving him right. it had fallen into place after that. the tattoo. the book. the strange placation with which a supposed mafia heir carried himself. the lack of ambition, the restless love for the forbidden. [break][break] he would have honestly clocked it sooner if— [break][break] —did she just play Rxg3?[break][break] what. [break][break] "what?" julius asks. [break][break] he only gets to keep-- [break][break] "—hold on, hold on. you're going to what, mind-wipe me?" he's laughing. the move has made him nervous. what the fuck is a rook sacrifice doing here? "where's the..."[break][break] the girl is dead serious. the runes are oppressive, now, forcing a heartbeat he doesn't recognize as his own. too fast. and julius stares back at the board. time passes, too fast. the chess clock goes down and down and down. [break][break] she doesn't say anything until he moves: [break][break] "fine." pawn takes rook. he'll play her game. "then you might as well talk, no?" there's something bitter, defiant in his smile. "who are you?"[attr="class","notes"]notes |
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Administrator
high priestess
999
gold
familiar Familiariorek byrnison
played by OOC Namepandora
content monkey
|
Post by pandora on Jun 30, 2023 14:48:35 GMT -7
[nospaces] [attr="class","staffcont"] [attr="class","staffheader"]
the queen's gambit declined
[attr="class","staffbody"] [attr="class","staffheadimg"] with Julius Kingston[attr="class","staffpara"] this happens, on occasion, she knows. if no one ever found out about hydra as it was, hydra would stagnate and die. but usually, hydra seeks someone out. or that person seeks out hydra. usually, you come with nothing to lose, and everything to gain. [break][break] she remembers—the girl and the radio show, that had been a part of their game for a while before zeke eventually decided to pull her in. that boy far distant, in the vale, that dodona spoke of. erin caulfield, who worked so tirelessly to find hydra that she found not one, but two monsters going by the very same name. [break][break] but julius kingston— not unsympathetic, but not reliable. or so maddox had said. [break][break] crass, emotional. afraid. [break][break] pawn takes rook. which means: he doesn't see a way out. [break][break] a rare tilt, eyes that thin, as if smiling. she doesn't smile, in the end, but there is a pleasure there—chess, in the end...so fundamentally human. it is about what you think you see. it is about seeing through vague things like principles, ideas, hopes, and contending only with the reality of the board. [break][break] he asks a question, and she answers: [break][break] "farah." serizawa, too, but does that matter? that name has not existed for a long time. the one that has, the one that survived— "or, i suppose, the leviathan."[break][break] spoken off-handedly. light-square bishop comes out, the white queen retreats. defense and offense. still, he plays well. maybe, farah realizes, he even thinks he's ahead. [break][break] in believing a lie, in refusing to see the truth, he has already lost. [break][break] welcome to your NPC thread, julius kingston[break][break] farah is currently: vaguely hostile[break] farah is currently using VARIOUS RUNES. amelie is ?unknown[break][break] ALL NPC THREADS ARE INJURY-ENABLED. [newclass="nullelem"]} .user-2 .mini-postname a { font-size: 0px; display: inline-block; } .user-2 .mini-postname a::after { content: 'FARAH SERIZAWA'; font-size: 32px; } .mini-profile.user-2 .mini-prof { background-image: url(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/971666871705280513/1038268862946353162/Screen_Shot_2022-11-04_at_8.49.39_PM.png)!important;[/newclass] |
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gold
familiar Familiarhermione - gryphon
played by OOC Namepandora
we'll burn the bridge when we get to it
|
Post by julius kingston on Jun 30, 2023 15:10:45 GMT -7
[nospaces] [attr="class","post2"] hah? [break][break] "hah?" [break][break] the words don't make any sense. the position on the board doesn't, either. he says: [break][break] "the leviathan." he looks at her again. she looks like she's younger than him, fuck's sake. but hydra, he knows, is real. he's found that out of his own accord; he trusts that. a girl going around calling herself the leviathan, after maddox likely tipped someone over. the chance of her not being the leviathan, then...slim. nonsensical, to lie. then the question is: [break][break] "the same one? the one that was killed in the war?" [break][break] the moves are getting sloppier. he's down on the clock. still, he's up material. and the position...he can't tell. isn't he winning? shouldn't he be? [break][break] damn it, that doesn't even matter. he needs to know something else, doesn't he?[break][break] his mind goes back to the theoryboard. what he has asked maddox, sitting in the ruchbah living room, aeris hovering in the kitchen. [break][break] a man that could've killed him, he realizes. [break][break] he had said— "unless...there's a hypothetical third entity. anyone can benefit from political consequences, but who needs an entire train? for what? parts? wouldn't it make more sense if both dmitri and the new dawn..." [break][break] "...why steal a train?"[break][break] his heart is pounding. queen retreats to g4. he's getting boxed in. [attr="class","notes"]notes [attr="class","post2tag"]@tag |
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Administrator
high priestess
999
gold
familiar Familiariorek byrnison
played by OOC Namepandora
content monkey
|
Post by pandora on Jun 30, 2023 15:33:40 GMT -7
[nospaces] [attr="class","staffcont"] [attr="class","staffheader"]
the queen's gambit declined
[attr="class","staffbody"] [attr="class","staffheadimg"] with Julius Kingston[attr="class","staffpara"] the same one? he asks. and farah quirks an eyebrow. [break][break] what a way to put a question. it's amusing, on occasion, to speak to someone that treats you with no reverence. it's grating, too. [break][break] is she the leviathan? is she the same leviathan? pointless questions. (and yet, isn't there a war being waged, in hydra at this very moment, about the same, pointless question?) "am i a corpse, julius kingston?"[break][break] wry smile. some grand joke he does not understand, words that arch high and remain quiet still, in her dull, room-tone voice. the runes keep the noise out, but even then, he has to strain to listen to her. [break][break] at his next question, farah blinks. he does not ask if, but why. overconfident. she is growing bored, with the way the pieces have been moving. her kngith falls back to the furthest rank, and the defenses are sealed. he has nothing to use against her. [break][break] still, if he knows this much...she blinks. [break][break] "why do you think?"[break][break] not pointed at all. flat, open, curious. her hand lifts to the side, two fingers push down on the clock. your move. [break][break] welcome to your NPC thread, julius kingston[break][break] farah is currently: vaguely hostile[break] farah is currently using VARIOUS RUNES. amelie is ?unknown[break][break] ALL NPC THREADS ARE INJURY-ENABLED. [newclass="nullelem"]} .user-2 .mini-postname a { font-size: 0px; display: inline-block; } .user-2 .mini-postname a::after { content: 'FARAH SERIZAWA'; font-size: 32px; } .mini-profile.user-2 .mini-prof { background-image: url(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/971666871705280513/1038268862946353162/Screen_Shot_2022-11-04_at_8.49.39_PM.png)!important;[/newclass] |
|
gold
familiar Familiarhermione - gryphon
played by OOC Namepandora
we'll burn the bridge when we get to it
|
Post by julius kingston on Jun 30, 2023 16:37:50 GMT -7
[nospaces] [attr="class","post2"] the world feels like it is spinning. she has a roundabout way of saying no (am i corpse?), and a worse way of saying yes (why do you think?)[break][break] he feels giddy. she's warned him, of course. that he is either going to die or suffer similarly anyway—to lose his mind, after all, would be a worse end. but if you give julius kingston the end of a noose, he will only walk it down to its logical conclusion. without satisfaction, the cat has no hope of coming back.[break][break] he takes a breath. these thoughts have not be formed before—he's had no reason to, until now, even assume there was a third party. [break][break] "politically, it was hydra's design, wasn't it? you'd be returning something to where it was. justice. a symbolic victory." [break][break] he says it like it's derogatory, like it's less. then, he says: [break][break] "but that can't be everything. you're not trying to control the network, or it would have been a straight forward seizure. you needing the mechanical parts." step by step. "cad trains are meant to withstand travel though the mana realm. you want something...that's inside there. i don't know what it is—" [break][break] does anyone, know what's inside the mana realm? there are ways to build portals to it, sure, but to step inside it is to die instantly. "theoretcially, it's just energy." he contradicts himself, plays out the counter argument in his mind. nothing exists in the mana realm. why go fishing inside of it? [break][break] "but there must be a reason why you would want to derail a carriage. and the reason would have to be big enough to either revive hydra—" [break][break] everything would finally make sense. when this city's monster is returned to its heart... [break][break] "—or kill yourselves trying."[attr="class","notes"]notes [attr="class","post2tag"]@tag |
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Administrator
high priestess
999
gold
familiar Familiariorek byrnison
played by OOC Namepandora
content monkey
|
Post by pandora on Jun 30, 2023 21:13:48 GMT -7
[nospaces] [attr="class","staffcont"] [attr="class","staffheader"]
the queen's gambit declined
[attr="class","staffbody"] [attr="class","staffheadimg"] with Julius Kingston[attr="class","staffpara"] ...there is a crocodile in the bathtub. [break][break] she is listening, quietly, eyes closed, to a conversation that turns. it is fascinating, or so farah says. but amelie cannot be convinced that it is worth much—novelty is hardly something to entertain for the sake of it. it has a timer on it, though. a 5 minute blitz with a 10 second increment. and the water, here, isn't all that bad.[break][break] the door slams open. [break][break] some girl walks in drunk, dazed. and amelie's mouth opens wide, and she snarls, and jumps out of the tub.[break][break]
[break][break] "hmm..." farah says, as though contemplating the idea, as though it were new to her. [break][break] the knight, pulled all the way to the back of the board, now leaps. ng6. the boy stares and stares. she thinks it's pretty simple—but she knows, she supposes, what it's like, to spend time trying to mitigate a loss. you want to believe there is a way out. [break][break] he makes a pawn push. [break][break] check. [break][break] "you're not very imaginative." farah says. train becomes carriage becomes compartment becomes, what? submarine? is that as far as he could go? queen, rook, bishop. knight, queen, pawn. it begins to happen too quickly.[break][break] kf1[break][break]
[break][break] the girl screams. [break][break]
[break][break] for a brief second, the runes vanish. farah makes a tch noise, as though someone had played a chord out of tune. [break][break] you're quick, child.[break][break] she likes to make a game of it—the crocodile. the girl with her hand around its snout. how much can you control a beast, before it remembers how to bite? amelie had been inches away, from taking a leg.[break][break] but the world splits at farah's feet, and amelie reappears there instead. the runes appear again as well, reconfiguring. the crocodile smiles up at julius, and opens a hungry maw. [break][break] the leviathan says: [break][break] "it is not a game of resources, julius kingston." is she still thinking of chess? ne1. a death knell. farah's elbows are suddenly on the table, her chin on a net of interlocked fingers, her pupils thin-bright like lightning. she stares at him, into his eyes, and the world around him seems to vanish. [break][break] "it's a game of fear."[break][break] welcome to your NPC thread, julius kingston[break][break] farah is currently: hostile[break] farah is currently using VARIOUS RUNES. amelie is hostile, at julius's legs.[break][break] ALL NPC THREADS ARE INJURY-ENABLED. [newclass="nullelem"]} .user-2 .mini-postname a { font-size: 0px; display: inline-block; } .user-2 .mini-postname a::after { content: 'FARAH SERIZAWA'; font-size: 32px; } .mini-profile.user-2 .mini-prof { background-image: url(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/971666871705280513/1038268862946353162/Screen_Shot_2022-11-04_at_8.49.39_PM.png)!important;[/newclass] |
|
gold
familiar Familiarhermione - gryphon
played by OOC Namepandora
we'll burn the bridge when we get to it
|
Post by julius kingston on Jun 30, 2023 21:32:33 GMT -7
[nospaces] [attr="class","post2"] the blinders lift for the briefest of moments, and the world floods back in. in noises, in pieces, in people he has forgotten. [break][break] air streams into his lungs. he's gasping. hands go onto the table, and julius jerks to the side. what? what was going on? did someone scream?[break][break] "croc...who the fuck—whose familiar was that..." [break][break] ...the runes reappear slowly, and julius tries to stare at them, commit them to memory even as they block out the world once more. he turns slowly to the board again, to the girl. [break][break] something brushes against his shin. [break][break] "holy fucking—" [break][break] he almost jumps out of his seat. somehow, instead, the fear just paralyzes him there where he is, and pushes him deeper. julius kingston, ever the contrarian, grits out a smile. [break][break] "ah...something about a crocodile being the leviathan... haaah." [break][break] he stares at amélie. [break][break] "you're funny," he says.[break][break] he feels delirious. did she call him unimaginative? he's actually never heard that one before. for a minute, he stares at the ceiling. he shouldn't be able to think straight, and yet the moves keep coming naturally. inevitably. he feels caught in a web beyond his comprehension, and there is a manic joy in the way he moves:[break][break] piece, board, clock. check. pawn, bishop, a...knight sacrifice?[break][break] from the moment she sat down, julius kingston had typed his opponent, the leviathan, as a simple, strong player. she had sturdy fundamentals. solid, unflinching chess. and yet. the look she gives him, in that moment—is nothing more than the razor's edge of insanity. a brilliancy thrown out carelessly, a tactic so carefully crafted it looks, on the surface, like passive, positional play. [break][break] fear, she says. is that it? is that what he is feeling? [break][break] how do you make someone fear a... a what? a train? a portal? a—[break][break] "—rupture." [break][break] the word comes without thinking. [break][break] "something that can travel between the realms. if you destabilize it. if you find a way to tear it open from the inside..." [break][break] damn. he was starting to like delphi, too. [attr="class","notes"]notes [attr="class","post2tag"]@tag |
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Administrator
high priestess
999
gold
familiar Familiariorek byrnison
played by OOC Namepandora
content monkey
|
Post by pandora on Jul 2, 2023 21:17:38 GMT -7
[nospaces] [attr="class","staffcont"] [attr="class","staffheader"]
the queen's gambit declined
[attr="class","staffbody"] [attr="class","staffheadimg"] with Julius Kingston[attr="class","staffpara"] ...[break][break] hmm. [break][break] he intrigues her. really, sybaris does. a coven that was born from hydra, whether it wants to admit it or not. a coven of witches trying desperately to be anything other than a coven a witches. quaint. [break][break] hydra has plans for it, of course. [break][break] some are already under way. [break][break] some are unformed on purpose—you must calculate, also, for flexibility, unpredictability. [break][break] when he realizes she isn't going to respond to him, julius closes his eyes, and offers his hand to her. resignation. still, he stares with defiant eyes. she stares back, lazy indifference meeting his indignation. [break][break] she takes his hand, and then, in a rare moment of unbridled arrogance, the leviathan yanks julius kingston over the board, puts her other hand carefully around his throat with her index and thumb pinching his jugular veins, and says:[break][break] "if you survive to see the day after, there's someone you can go to." [break][break] mana forms in the space between his veins. it's delicate, slow work. he has to be perfectly still, if he doesn't want to die. [break][break] "if you beg them to be useful, there may be work for you to do." [break][break] (under the table, as though receeding, shying from the leviathan's viciousness, amélie turns away from julius, flicking her tail and pressing her head against farah's feet instead.)[break][break] she seals her words with a MEMORY CHARM, and leaves the party as she came—wordless, unnoticed, trailed by a crocodile. [break][break] farah has left the thread! julius kingston[break][break] you may post once to optionally conclude the thread. [break][break] you've received: +3 MP, and: [break][break] [attr="class","spellcont"] [attr="class","spellimgcont"]  [attr="class","spellbody"] MEMORY CHARM (UNDONE)[break]A memory charm that hides this conversation from Julius's conscious mind, and goes as far as to prevent him from thinking too deeply about Hydra. Presumably, Farah meant to undo it at a later date, after he "survived" an unknown future event. However, it has been undone by virtue of Julius's signature spell.. [attr="class","spellcont"] [attr="class","spellimgcont"]  [attr="class","spellbody"] LORD LORRAINE'S BUSINESS CARD[break]An item that allows your character to start a text thread with Cassidy Wolfe. Unlike other NPC threads, text threads can be started under any circumstance the player character chooses. Feel free to chat with staff if you're looking for ideas. [attr="class","spellcont"] [attr="class","spellimgcont"]  [attr="class","spellbody"] KILLSWITCH[break]A killswitch embedded in Julius's throat, presumably can be activated by Farah Serizawa. When Hermione returns to Julius after the curse, however, the embedded mana-bomb takes a strange effect, as their strengthened bomb allows them to co-opt it. With conscious manipulation, Julius can render himself "magically and medically a corpse." Useful for avoiding certain kinds of magical detection. [newclass="nullelem"]} .user-2 .mini-postname a { font-size: 0px; display: inline-block; } .user-2 .mini-postname a::after { content: 'FARAH SERIZAWA'; font-size: 32px; } .mini-profile.user-2 .mini-prof { background-image: url(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/971666871705280513/1038268862946353162/Screen_Shot_2022-11-04_at_8.49.39_PM.png)!important;[/newclass] |
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gold
familiar Familiarhermione - gryphon
played by OOC Namepandora
we'll burn the bridge when we get to it
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Post by julius kingston on Jul 2, 2023 21:31:15 GMT -7
[nospaces] [attr="class","post2"] there is an art to losing in chess—you can play until checkmate, yes. you can play until the opponent has bitterly proven their win, you can play until the last pawn is kicked off the board and your naked king has a sword to his neck. [break][break] but there is an art, a finer appreciation—even seven moves away from checkmate, julius kingston knows that he's been defeated. there is an acknowledgment, that comes with anger. he stops the clock, and offers his hand. [break][break] it doesn't tremble, but something else does—what happens now? they had been playing games on borrowed time. she does not respond, which takes to mean yes, which he takes to mean: hydra will destroy everything. and he— [break][break] she yanks him over the board, and he gasps when thin fingers find the flesh of his throat. [break][break] his heartbeat is in her hand. his eyes stare into hers anyway. terrified, but also amazed. he can feel it, you see, the magic growing at his throat, the piece of her that she embeds into him, the weight of her words. [break][break] still, he is thinking of the grander game. hydra is revived. then what? it offers the world a chance to repent? hah. no matter their name, he supposes all gods like to claim both mercy and judgment. [break][break] but even farah serizawa cannot make a believer out of julius kingston. [break][break] the charm undoes his mind, and he collapses onto the board as soon as she drops his throat. [break][break] (a wayward white pawn tips and falls over from the table to the floor and, kicked around by strangers at a party, it lands in a nook of the room and is never found again.) [attr="class","notes"]notes [attr="class","post2tag"]@tag |
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