The Missing Constellation

Kal:

You feel as the river would be a more viable path to take to search for the pirate, and you both head outward into the desert to pursue him. The scholar, while walking inquires, "I never did catch your name, by the way. What is it? You can call me Crolan."

>

Hello Crolan, I'm Kal. How do you propose we capture this pirate once we've found him?

Let's see if there's any grub, eh? But since this is SOLARA's lair, maybe we should be careful there aren't any booby traps.

Kal:

"Capture him? We won't need to, I just need the map half back. I'm certain he won't be of much threat to us," Crolan assures you as you both continue to traverse through the riverside. "It might be a while, so I figure we have time to get better acquainted, so I'd like to share a bit about myself. As you already know, my name is Crolan, and I am a wandering scholar of worlds. You see, I am not a native of Rivana, but instead a cross-traveler of realms. I come from the academic world of Candiasper. I have been studying there for all my life, and I hope to one day become a renown researcher. So what about you... Kal was it? How as your fine life led up to this moment?"

>

Riley:

Malachai's eyes glow up and a light flashes through the entire floor. "Analysis: No harmful hidden trigger mechanisms detected within the vicinity at this level. There is however a larger structure beneath this one. Entrance to the structure appears to be located in the living room, secured by an unrecognized lock type. More investigation is required," Malachai explains. "Well then, can you detect any life forms or active machinery in the house itself?" Ivan asks. "Negatory," Malachai replies. "This part of the entire structure appears to just be an average architectural creation of human-kind for the purpose of shelter. What lies below us does not appear to be of original design." Ivan presses on. "Alright, that should give us time for a break then. You said before you could cook, right? I have some canned ingredients, think you can make us something out of it?" "Affirmative, I shall do so right away," Malachai obeys. Before Malachai leaves, Isabella speaks up. "You know, Ivan. I can cook us up some food as well. We don't really need to make Malachai do that for us."
"Ugh, again, Izzy? Just because you're a vegetarian, doesn't mean I want to be. No offense, but I'm kind of sick of eating salad, potatoes, and meat substitutes."
"You need to eat healthier Ivan. Whenever you were always cooped up in your room working on your tinkerings, you ate nothing but junk food. Remember the time you thought coffee was a viable replacement for food AND sleep? You were in the hospital for a whole month and I was so worried."
"Can we NOT do this?"

>"Actually, I'd like to try some of Isabella's cooking."
>"You've done enough for us for now, Isabella. You should take a break and let Malachai serve us."

Flash's Storyline:

You find yourself in a dimly lit room, but you aren't exactly sure of where you are. In fact, you don't even remember who you are or where you came from. Your life before this point is a complete blank, but you can feel a twanging pain in your head. A middle-aged man walks into the room and the lights brighten up, nearly searing your eyes blind. "Sorry about that," the man says. "Let me take a closer look at you." He walks, hands casually held behind his back as he walks around you and observes you. "Yes, I see the amnesiac process was a success. You should have absolutely no memory of your previous life, and we've managed to preserve your basic functions. You don't remember anything, do you?" He questions you, stroking his chin. You shake your head no. "Excellent," he goes on. "Allow me to give you the basic rundown. According to the dossier we have on you, you were best suited for a special sleeper agent program. What we do here is train highly skilled individuals to join our exclusive organization. You might be wondering, 'Well what is it do we actually do?' To answer: We play the invisible hand in the varying universes to balance what we feel is the natural order. Yes, I said universes. Our organization goes far beyond simple comprehension, and you have been given the chance to be a part of it. I can't explain more now, but I am going to have to ask you something. Do we have your full cooperation? Will you join us in our cause, or do you wish to return back to what you once saw as a 'normal' life? We do have the power to inject you with false memories, and we can have you placed back into your society with you believing yourself to be yet another cog in the machine like the rest of them. So what do you say?"

>

I'm a native. I am a fan of music and knighting, and I recently got mugged and had all of my possessions stolen from me. You could say that my bass abilities are quite.... astronomical. My brother Grant recently fought with me, and - while I won - I fear he is still on the loose in another realm.

"As I don't know any other place to go, I'll accept."

I'd quite like to try Izzy's food. Ivan, I'm sure a potato wouldn't kill you.

Kal:

"Ah, I'm sorry to hear about that," Crolan offers his condolences. You both continue down the designated trail until you stumble across a man lying face flat on the ground. Crolan walks up the body and kicks it over. "Aha!" Crolan exclaims. "Found you at last! Thought you could steal from me and get away with it, did you? Well I'm here to inform you that your little escapade failed MISERABLY, and was rather poorly executed, I might add. First of all, I'll be taking THIS back." Crolan grabs the stolen map half from the exhausted man. "All my life, I've been getting absolutely SICK of bullies like you, just taking whatever you please no matter how much people suffer from your actions. THIS TIME IS CROLAN'S TIME NOW," Crolan triumphantly shouts as he retrieves a tome from his pack. Opening the bindings of the book, his eyes begin to glow as he speaks mystical words.

"NO LONGER SHALL I BE VICTIM TO THE LIKES OF YOU. YOU MISERABLE FILTH. A THIEF LIKE YOU KNOWS NOT THE TRUE VALUE OF KNOWLEDGE! WHAT YOU HAVE TRIED TO TAKE FROM ME IS PARAMOUNT TO MY RESEARCH, AND YOU SHALL PAY FOR DERAILING ME FROM MY PATH! FEEL MY WRATH, SCUM!"

Crolan closes the tome and shoots a bream of incinerating fire at the pirate until there's nothing left but ash.

"Ha..."

>

Riley:

-5 Affinity lost with Ivan
+5 Affinity gained with Isabella

"Ugh... fine."
Isabella walks into the kitchen with ingredients and you and Ivan wait at the dining table. Soon, Isabella places autumn salad, vegetarian chili, cooked noodles, and several other various organic dishes.
"Seriously?" Ivan complains. "Cauliflower? Nobody likes cauliflower, Izzy. It's like someone took a piece of broccoli and sucked the absolute essence out of it. I don't even like broccoli either, why would I want to eat dead broccoli?"

>"Yeah... I kinda changed my mind about this too..."
>"She worked really hard on this. You're really being disrespectful right now."
>(Practice your fake Italian) "Wassa matta wichoo? Stop bein' a bambino an' eetcher greens so's you can be big 'n' strong, or else I'mma smack you in da pie hole."

Devin:

"Excellent. Very excellent," The man says. "From now on you shall be referred to as Agent 9. Codename: Ouroboros. We will train you with various weapons, every tool of the trade, every exercise, and condition your reflexes and physical prowess. You may refer to me as Eight of Wands. Much like you, my past life memory was wiped before I joined this organization and I was given a new codename. Follow me, new recruit." The man leads you out the door and you find the world outside to be just a dark alley of some urban area. The man signals you to enter a telephone booth with him. He then grabs the phone and rapidly dials on the pad, finishing by placing the phone back on the receiver backwards. The booth lights up and descends into an elevator passageway.

"This is going to be a long ride, Agent 9, so if you have any questions, you may as well ask me them now and I will answer them to the best of my ability."

>

In attempt to relieve some tension, practice my fake Italian.

"Could you give me an example on these, "varying universes"? I'm interested on exactly how those work."

Riley:

The room remains silent as Ivan only has an utterly confused expression on his face. "I'll eat my damn veggies... just... never do that again," he bargains. You all sit down and enjoy a traditional "family" meal, with Ivan leaning his face against his fist with his elbow on the table as he picks at his food with a fork, Isabella properly eating, needing to cut all her food with a knife, and Malachai sort of just... staring at all of you. After an invigorating meal you all decide on your next plan of action.

>

Kal:

"Years, of practice, my fine friend! The most I can teach a stranger to the art of it such as yourself are mere parlor tricks, for to master this powerful asset, one must condition their mind and will and learn not to bend his body to create sorcery... but rather bend the world around him. Very complex. Much learning. Wow. Anyway, now that I have my map back together in once piece, what say you find the tomb ourselves, eh?"

>

Agent 9:

Eight of Wands simply responds to you as he blankly stares at the passing view outside the elevator. "To first understand our work environment, we must first understand our occupation. To put this in perspective, we are sanitation workers, cleaning up after the messes caused by results of interstellar warfare, political corruption, and intervention of supernatural or deific beings. Upon the great macrocosmos lies many planes and worlds linked subtly with one another. Many are inhabited by humans, others by dimensional creatures, or both. The one we are occupied in right now is the central hub world, the world that connects up to the furthest reach of realms. We lie at the core of the connected universes, and our agency has become in complete control of it. The inhabitants do not know of it, and we intend to keep it that way. This is our world. Welcome... to Infinitum."

(Muzaks here)

Spoiler:

The booth elevator descends into a large, hi-tech, cybernetic world of flying vehicles, extraordinary metal skyscrapers stretching far beyond what one can see, a dark sky filled with nebulae and stars.

"Any last questions before I direct you to your training facility?

>

"Just one, just how many people like us are there?"

So, how about we get on our way, eh? (head towards the entrance to the underground complex)

Riley:

You walk into the living room, there isn't much here except a couch, a television set, a wall painting, a piano, a bookshelf, and an armoire. Where could the entrance possibly be?

>

Kal:

"Ah... well... sure. Here's a beginner trick they taught me when I was first starting out. A very lesser healing regenerative technique. I'll teach it to you. First, close your eyes and think of warming thoughts. Perhaps someone close to you... or even someone you have a crush on."

>

Agent 9"

"Well in those of us with administrative or record-keeping positions, we total up to 56. As for elite specialized field agents, there are 22 of them."

The man leads you across a straight, suspended bridge and stops at a tall building. It's hard to differentiate the differences in buildings with them all having the same general scheme. Eight of Wands slides a security card by a reader, and it beeps and flashes green, allowing entry. You continue walking with him through the hallway until you stop at a single room in the building. It's strange, as you saw no other doors but the one you came in and this one. The room itself is of no significance other than the fact that it's completely empty. Eight of Wands places his hands in the air in front of him and a holographic menu appears before him. He makes turning and sliding motions with his hand, navigating through it until he stops and presses a virtual button confirming his selection. Suddenly, the room lights up, and the walls begin to shift mechanically. The room expands and various shelves pop out, as well as a large variety of equipment, electrical and otherwise.

"Welcome to the Training Room, Agent 9," Eight of Wands informs you. "Here I will be teaching you all the skills you need to know to survive in the field. I'll bring up the holo-menu for you, just select what you wish to learn first."

>Agent Basics
>Combat Training
>Social Awareness
>Gadgetry
>Undercover Espionage and Stealthwork.

Malachai, you detecting any entrances?

"I'll take a look at the agent basics."

"Loading screens are a bitch."

Yes hello GM, I'd like to roll for revival.

bruh you died so easy in this game, some nostalgia right there