Day of Long Shadows (Closed)

by **Entropy** on March 31st, 2018, 12:34 am

Happy Sweetday!

Timestamp: 60th of Spring 518AV, Noon

The atmosphere in the city was alive with the sound of laughing children and parents calling out to them as the children full of both energy and sugar run wildly from stall to stall looking for the best sweet treat to spend their tickets on. From professional bakers, candy makers, and to the lowest house hold cook, everyone of vendors were competing for the most tickets as they advertised their treats with colorful displays or verbally advertised their treats to the young and old revelers participating in the holiday. Musicians, jugglers, acrobats, and performers of all types were taking advantage of the growing street crowd and preforming for the both the children and adults alike. It was a warm sunny day in mid spring with little breeze, so everyone seemed to be outside enjoying the holiday and the weather. For the next few hours, everyone seemed to forget about the troubles of the winter season and the growing threat from the tainted shadows. For one spring afternoon, everything in Riverfall seemed somewhat normal. Normal days were a rarity these days, but to the average citizen of Riverfall normal was seen as a blessing given to them by the gods.

Syna was high in the sky as noon settled upon Riverfall. Squad Leader Mordar Sarmor Caldamor stood near a small tree watching the growing crowds filling the streets. The alakak wasn't the largest akalak of his squad only 6'2”, so the akalak kept up a athletic build to compensate for the lack of size. Mordar always though pure strength was overrated, so under his dark purple skin was well muscled body made augment his natural quickness and agility. The Kuvay'Nas was dressed in studded leather armor and armed with his lakan and scimitar. As the man stood guard watching the crowd, he was approached by another member of his squad. This akalak was large standing at 6'8” and dressed in breast plate, heavy metal shield with Riverfall emblem, and long sword hanging from the scabbard on his hip. Morder looked at his subordinate and asked with a serious look on his face, “Kalvar Delmond, both of you were assigned to guard the intersection. Why are you both here?”

Kalver Delmond answered with shrug, “May we ask why the city feels it necessary to put on a festival in a crisis? It doesn't make sense to me. Aren't they worried about the safety of the Kuvan especially the children?”

The Squad leader wondered the same question his subordinate just asked. When he heard the order that the Kuvay'Nas got the order to protect the festival and city in full force today. He was dumbfound. Sweetday honored no god, and the whole point of the festival was to promote self control in the face of temptation. The akalak hated the fact that with the threat of shadows that the higher ups felt like it was good idea to hold a festival who caters to children or the weak willed adults. If he had to take a guess, it was simply a ploy for the government to show that they were in control. Normalcy was a powerful thing even if it was a illusion in the face of crisis. Mordar looked at his subordinate and said simply, “It doesn't matter our opinions. The only thing that matters is we stay diligent and protect the populace. Both of you should return to your post...”

In the face of orders, Kuvay'Nas members needed to keep their opinions to themselves. The akalak knew that he was assigned to protect all the Kuvan of Riverfall with his life. If it was human, Zith, or tainted shadows, he would gladly trade his life for the sons of Riverfall to grow up and live their lives in relative peace. Looking at a group of children, they seemed to be dancing in a circle to the music of nearby lute player and reciting the cursed nursery rhyme.

“When Shadows Rise And Eat The Light
Those Sentient Gnash Their Teeth And Flee The Night
Ancient Wrongs Were Never Made Right
Torments Awake And Itch For A Vicious Fight
Take They Will Your Will And Your Beautiful Colorful Sight..”

Mordar Saramor heard the nursery rhyme when they were a boy and wondered why their father insisted on telling him it. It terrified them as a boy especially before bed, and they were man enough now to admit that it terrified them still. They watched the konti and the akalak boy dance hand and hand. It was the perfect image for Riverfall if it wasn't marred by the growing shadows at their feet. The squad leader gave the children a nod when they both smiled in his direction. They lifted his eyes and watched the ever growing crowd. It was good to have stability, but he feared for the children as the shadows started to grow longer as the day wore on.

Players: :

by **Madeira Dusk** on April 1st, 2018, 9:45 pm

Madeira didn’t realize how much the city was suffering until the suffering broke. In her first weeks in Riverfall she had seen the beautiful, stagnant port city as tense and dour. Children were rarely seen and always tightly controlled, laughter was sparse and the many guards were grim and serious. It was only as the cloud of the city’s situation lifted under the joy of festival that she realized how wrong her broad strokes were.

The Zhongjie Warren was abuzz with bands of roaming children. The air was filled with talk, shrieks of delight, and the intoxicating scent of sweets. A weight felt lifted from the city’s shoulders as they revelled in this simple, cheerful spring tradition. These people were not hard bitten and joyless like she thought. They simply had their heads down, pushing against the winds of hard times and were only now coming up for air.

“Oh! Oh! Maddy! Try this next!”

A little ghost was soundlessly clapping her hands as a wide smile cracked the yellow scabs in the corners of her mouth. Her brown eyes were alight with a transformative kind of joy as she bounced on her toes in front of a stall selling balls of colourful spun sugar on a stick. The stall owner, a middle aged Konti lady with curls of pink and green scales across her cheeks, seemed uncomfortable as she stared fixedly over the ghost’s head.

“A moment, Emma!” Madeira called between the shoulders of the crowed in her way. “Wait right there.”

The skinny Spiritist was holding tight to the hand of her diminutive, dark skinned lover and was standing on her toes to make sure her Kelvic was still close. Her other, learned senses were reaching through the confusing splash of stimuli to make sure her ghosts hadn’t wandered too far. The festival had been a good excuse to get everyone out and enjoying the day together, but with so many excited people in such a small space it was hard to keep track of everybody.

“Maddy!”

“I’m coming!” Madeira called again, rolling her eyes and sharing a chuckle with Ssanya at the ghosts whining, impatient tone.

She steered through the crowed, towing the Dhani along. The Konti behind the stall Emma was accosting expelled a relived breath to receive two living customers. She had been losing plausible reasons to ignore the ghost.

“Welcome! What can I get you?” the Konti asked a little too loudly. Madeira ignored her and turned to the ghost.

“What would you like, sweetheart?”

“The pink one!”

“The pink one then, please.”

Madeira dug a copper miza out of the pocket of her high collared green dress. As she pressed the coin into the woman’s palm a glint of steel from her bracer crossbow could be seen under her sleeve. As the Konti handed her the cloud of spun candy she nodded approvingly. “Can’t be too careful”, she said knowingly, and waved them goodbye.

“Try it! Try it! Try it!” the ghost was chanting before they had even moved away, her voice high with childish excitement.

The Spiritist took a dutiful mouthful, even as her stomach groaned. This was not her first candy of the day. Or her second. Or even her dozenth. Sweetday was Emma’s favorite holiday. And Emma, who lived and died in Riverfall, had missed last year’s festival and seemed determined to make up for it this year. Madeira had rather foolishly volunteered to be the surrogate for the senses the child no longer enjoyed, and had promised her she could do whatever she wanted. It was a moment of sentimentality her tongue hated her for. Yet if Madeira succeeded in exorcizing the ghost like she planned, this would be the last time the child could celebrate her favourite holiday. She couldn’t find it in her heart to deny the girl anything today.

The spun sugar evaporated as it hit her tongue, and a taste of strawberry and raw sugar coated her entire mouth. She handed the candy to Ssanya to finish with a pleading look as they weaved through the stalls and groups of families.

“It tastes like strawberries. Like sweetness and sourness being whispered through a cloud.” she explained carefully, while the ghost hung on her every word. “It almost makes your mouth fuzzy, like your tongue is made of velvet. And it feels… You know how you make a sandcastle, and when the tide comes in it disappears into the water? It feels like that. Like it’s dissolving.”

They passed a few more stalls, a group of rowdy young boys, and a couple of guards who stood stiff and out of place as they peered around with tense focus. The city was still in danger, and the threat of the tainted shadows was still rippling through the street, yet it was hard to feel the threat when the day was so bright and alive. All the same, Madeira spuriously ran her thoughts along Allister’s bond, squeezed Ssanya’s hand and reached her senses for Hurik and Jomi, to make sure those who belonged to her were all okay.

by **Allister** on April 3rd, 2018, 12:32 am

Allister was nervous. The crowds were huge and he'd never been around so many people before. He loved the idea of it but never having been one who's indulged in food and spirits, he had hit his limit within the first fifteen chimes of sampling sweeties. His stomach, used to food of decent nutritional value, simply couldn't take any more. Slightly bloated and puffing his cheeks to match, the tall man walked along behind the small women. He could feel the tension in Madeira's bond but he had been there when she had promised the little girl the daytrip of a lifetime. It was the little things like that which told Allister of the character that was his bond mate.

The blonde woman seemed to absorb so much in terms of headaches and nonsense but she always managed to repay it with goodness, kindness and charity. Allister was walking proof of that selflessness. At the time when they met, Useless was more than just a tattoo on his stomach. The hyena had little in the wayof talents and was broken in so many places that one might only have seen fragments of an individual. There she stood in the middle of the Ghost Town calling on a spirit in her high-necked dress and Allister couldn't resist touching her. Despite his daliance being unknown at the time, she discovered him. The spiritist put her own job on hold to offer him help- food, shelter. A ghost tried to take hold of her and in that moment of stillness was the first time the former slave got to hold the lady in his arms and it set something inside of him free.

His black eyes trailed to her now; Madeira, in her resplendant form seemed to captivate even the light that flowed around the square. Ssanya was an exotically beautiful woman but she was small and seemed like a child next to the scupted figure of the young Craven. Allister sighed and his shoulders slumped a bit. He was lugging a pack around with basic supplies in it because it seemed like a logical thing to do. Next time, he'd make one of the ghosts carry it. He wasn't in pain but it made the gaseous side affects of the sugary treats all the more incomfortable. Still, he could feel the contentment coming through the bond.

His lady was happy and that was truly all that mattered. Allister lazily allowed his gaze to fall upon the two feminine hands intertwined and it confused him. Every time, it confused him. He reveled in his bond mate's joy and wamrth that she recived from the sandy-skinned shifter but his sotmach knotted at the same time with the thought -or even wish- that it was his hand and not Ssanya's. The hyena shook out his head and tried to look around and focus on something else- anything else.

The guards gave him pause but only because they reminded him of the arse hats who threw him out of the workout place by the park. Big, blue and mean as a taskmaster's whip; the thin man had no accptance of such things. with a slight scowl, he turned the other way to watch some children play. Blue boys and white girls chased one another in a weird sort of game that seemed unfair to the girls. When Madiera swept the bond, Allister pushed forward his adoration. He never even knew about Riverfall and he was raised only a spit up the coast from this very spot. Traveling was not something he ever dreamed of... he didn't know it existed and Madeira had given him a chance to see the world.

The kelvic would forever be grateful of such a gift and was already contemplating ways to thank his better half. Emma had not been much help but he'd talk more with her later. The thought had even crossed his mind to ask Ssanya but something told him that might be a bad idea. Their first encounter had been strange and he'd never had a chance to talk through the events with the snake. Needless to say, Allister was having a good time but his brain was going fifteen times faster than his feet. This is why he kept running into people like a blue giant and his tiny white wife. "Ack! Sorry. Sorry! Sorry!!"

Thanks to Asterope for the Images

by **Salara Kel'Halavath** on April 3rd, 2018, 1:29 am

Salara prowled the bright hued skirts of the Zhongjie Warren that wore muted colors to her sight. The shadows had had their fun in their effect upon her and the city. Loss, fear and the threat felt by every body had made it seem as if there was no where to go and no one to turn to. For her, getting by had become an act of solitude - there was less suffering if one removed one's self from seeing every wary visage. But if this was the new norm, then it was high time she made the attempt to join it and find any poignant blessings left in Riverfall.

Truth, the sounds had drawn her out. Little by little rare joyful noise had grown squeezing through to her senses. She stretched her limbs long, drawing breath deep of Syna's shining warmth and it truly felt like a new day. The city, it seemed, had also chosen to live as best it could and perhaps this was exactly what was needed. The shadows had grown stronger in the darkness they shed but a little forced cheer was becoming more acceptable as childrens' laughter pushed back the depression.

A hand reached to tighten the bull whip circling her leather-trewed waist nearly concealed by the loose tails of her white muslin blouse. Ineffective against shadows, still there was comfort in the weapon's presence. The Kelvic paused a moment to prop the toe of her boot, bent kneed, against a be-flowered light post to tighten laces and tuck a dagger deeper. She was nearly knocked off-balance as an exuberant youth bounced off her backside, more intent to reach a vendor's stand with a shiny copper Miza clutched in his fingers than to be delayed by her roadblock.

"Scuzie, ma'am." He grinned impishly pulling a welcome tug of smile to her lips before blending into the mix of hubbub.

His enthusiasm caught her up making her decision to be more than a spectator as she followed in his footsteps toward the ticket booth. Scrimping and saving every Miza, when had she last treated herself after all? She approached the bright wooden structure that stood out even in her colorless sight marketing prices to benefit every pocket: one ticket per copper miza, a dozen for a silver, while a gold would support an entire family's fun.

Two silvers pinched from her pouch were handed across to the pretty Konti woman as her beefy indigo Akalak unobtrusively watched over the transaction from behind.

A strip of tickets torn from the wheel of paper were traded with a smile as bright as the Konti's blue eyes, "Enjoy the festival."

Fingers busied themselves as the tickets were folded into a more manageable bundle, Salara turned to meander through the booths hoping to find a few children she might offer a ticket to. People watching, she followed a clasp-handed couple that were striking in their differences. A thin pale young woman with depth in her blue eyes paired to a slim dark beauty with emotions dancing in her gaze. Salara listened for a moment as the strait-laced blonde called out to a child. Curious to see whom the child would resemble the Kelvic cast about but could not identify which might be theirs although she could hear a young girl's piping exuberance in demand and response. But odder yet was the akimbo jointed man that shadowed the pair. Something about the strangely painted man caused her nostrils to flare although there was no chance a scent would be caught in the overwhelming odors of sweetness.

Turning about, a circle of dancing children caught her attention as her budding merriment waned to hear the tune they cheerfully sang. How could the parents allow that dreadful verse to be chanted so easily, almost celebratory in the ignorance of their youth? Her steps quickened to pass; yet with firmed jaw and tickets clutched tight in fist she pulled up short. This Just Wouldn't Do.

In resolute pondering the Kelvic paused to watch with lips forced back into a smile's semblance and even deigned to clap along with the lute player's tune. At the break in verse for renewal of the macabre cycle she stepped forward.

"Well done, children! What fun?!" Their cherubic faces tilted up rose-cheeked, as Salara squelched pain to see their efforts to be happy. "I fear I've eaten far too many sweets and have some tickets to spare. How about I share?"

Their voracious agreement was unanimous.

Gift from Rohka <3

by **Taurina** on April 3rd, 2018, 5:33 am

The children were laughing. Cheers and joyous giggles were on the lips of the young ones as they rushed from stall to stall deciding which sweet treats were going to be their own. There was so much joy here, so much happiness. It was as if the beasts that lurked in the shadows were just the result of some bad dream. That the terrors of their world were not truly there at all. Of course, that was a lie. Too much proof of the opposite existed by this point. Still, it was nice to think that there was only pleasure to be found in this day full of bubbly laughs and sweat things.

The good days were beginning to outweigh the bad. Slowly, but surely, Taurina was learning how to live again. She was learning how to be okay again. There were more important things on her mind than the hole in her heart. She had her bondmate again, and in that came someone to care for and look after. Someone to protect. Not that the Ethaefal was any great -or even mediocre- protector of anything, but she was trying. She was failing, but she was trying. Maybe success would come with time. Maybe not. At least Alek would always know that she had tried, that someone had been there for her. A stroke of tender care was sent down the bond as if in reminder at the thought.

Taurina wove her way through the stalls that had been packed into the Zhongjie Warrens. She was wearing a lilac color dress that had flowing skirts and short ruffled sleeves with sand colored sandals on her feet. The outfit was the first true attempt the Drykas had made at adapting to their culture, to their fashion, but she was not comfortable in it and moved somewhat awkwardly. How she longed for pants and her boots! How she longed to be soaring across the plains with the wind in her hair and for her fingers to be tangled in Starfire’s white mane! A breath was blow out in a huff. Not today. Today was Sweetday! Taurina was not fully sure on what that meant besides the fact that there seemed to be sweets literately everywhere and the children seemed overly excited about it. She was not entirely sure that she cared to know more than that either.

Never before had the Ethaefal seen such a collection of sugar filled things. It looked as though everyone had come out today too, if only to see what all the ruckus was about. She thought at one point that she had even seen a familiar face or two among the crowds. Perhaps later she would run into one or more of them again, perhaps they would see her as well, or perhaps she would find someone new to speak with. New friends could be a good thing. She was not completely opposed to the idea… though it did make her slightly nauseous and cause her to grimace without meaning to.

“Which one do you think? Pink or green?” Taurina asked a child who had come up to stand beside her at the front of one of the stalls, a small attempt to step outside of herself and interact with another.

This particular stall was filled with lines of different colored lollipops, all spread out in various arrangements that created pretty mosaics to attract the eyes of would be costumers. The human male in charge of the stall had told her of the different flavors and Taurina had decided it was either the pink watermelon or the green apple that she wanted. Though which of the two she could not decide.

“Green!” the child beamed before shaking their head shortly after, “No, no, pink! No… Both!”

The child giggled before picking their own quickly and giving the seller a ticket before scampering off to rejoin their friends. Taurina laughed and shook her head, the remnants of an amused smile lingering on her lips. Such a silly day. Such a good day. Never before had she seen the children here have such fun, and she was glad to finally see it. Children deserved to laugh and play. They were the past, the present, and the future. Society rested on their shoulders, but the time for that had not yet come for them. She hoped they knew that, she hoped that somehow they cherished their time. It was fleeting. Time was fleeting for all of them.

Taurina decided on both and gave the seller some of her coin before she went on her way, licking away at the green lollipop and putting the other in the backpack she carried for later. Her caramel gaze took in all there was to see as she wondered the warrens, her feet carrying her in an aimless weave throughout the crowds. Today did not seem to be a day for getting much done or setting big goals. It was more about enjoying the little moments, the sweet things in life. The Ethaefal had decided she was going to do just that, and she was maybe even a little excited about it. It was going to be a wonderful day.

Common | Pavi | 'Thoughts'

Ledger- 1 GM and 5 SM for dyed cotton dress and - 2 SM for sandals

by **Jomi** on April 4th, 2018, 9:37 pm

Jomi was quiet, staring with unblinking focus at the mists swirling in his palm. The ghost was kneeling in the crowd and fully dematerialized with nothing more than a suggestion of a shape as Syna shone down into the massive press of bodies. Transparent brows knit together and his lips grew thin and taunt as he pulled his mists into his palms, focusing on weaving the etherial substance as tightly as he could to create a haphazard barrier. Once he was satisfied with his work did Jomi turned to his target: a young Svefra who was putting the moves on a Konti woman manning a modest candy booth selling glossy red apples on sticks. The man's arm rested on the counter as he leaned into her space, hand on his hip and boot kicked up and resting on the opposite ankle. He was oblivious to the flowing ribbons that cascaded off the sides of the colourful banner hanging from the stall, advertising the sweets.

Jomi quickly set to work carefully lifting and wrapping a length of blue ribbon with his concentrated mists around the Svefra’s ankles. The ghost not was dexterous enough to tie a knot with his mists, so he worked to twist the thick silky fabric around itself, hoping the tension would be enough.

Once satisfied with his work, Jomi turned back and breezed through the crowd to the motley crew of Alvads as they followed the ghost child through the pressing bodies. Madeira had insisted they all join in the festivities, saying it was a chance to get out together and escape the dour mood that had permeated the city since their arrival. And since this was to be Emma’s last sweet festival, even though the ghost no longer had the senses to enjoy it, Madeira wanted to make it special for her. Jomi had been reluctant at first, seeing others enjoy things he couldn’t wasn’t the badgers idea of a good time. But now, seeing the tiny ghost light up in delight and race around like a child again, and Madeira suffering under her attentions as the ghost piled her with sweets, caused the normally ill-tempered ghost to crack his first genuine smile in a long time. He found he was enjoying the outing despite himself.

Akalak, Konti and human alike twitched and shivered as the ghosts soulmist passed through them on his way to catch up to the smaller ghost. He scanned the various stalls pausing briefly to enjoy the soft, upbeat song sung by a human bard with a lute before his eyes fixed on a stall and mouth split into a shit eating grin.

Jomi screwed his eyes shut and focused hard to pull his mist back towards his core. Wrangling the errant wisps he solidified into his preferred shape of a young dark haired man and create a hazy border around himself, making it easier to be seen.

“Hey Em, look here.” Jomi whispered slyly as he beckoned the child over with a wave and a lopsided smirk.

Jomi was standing in front of a shining display of small hard candies in dozens of shapes and colours. They gleamed like tiny pearls inside their blown glass bowls catching the eyes of both young and old.

“I wonder what these taste like, do you think the red tastes like cherries or strawberries? What about the green ones? I guess you won’t know unless you try them all.”

Looking up, Jomi scanned for the rest of the group, catching the eye of the skinny tattooed Kelvic as he stumbled his way around the much larger Akalaks.

“Use your elbows, Fleabag!”

A large resounding crash and a Fratava curse could be heard as a colourful banner was pulled off a stall behind them.

by **Hurik** on April 8th, 2018, 2:39 am

60th of Spring, 518 AV

Hurik walked about the Warrens, his soulmist looking glassy and thin under the harsh rays of the midday sun. The ghost knew all about how his mists glistened and shimmered in darkness, looking like gathered dew hanging in moonbeams, but his substance seemed altogether less beautiful in the light of day. So many things had their uglier, and truer nature revealed in such intensity of illumination.

The children danced, and sang, and played, eating their sweets and treats. Hurik brooded on this, trailing his mistress at a distance as he did so. There were no illusions in this place, or at the very least few enough as to be uncommon, and magical. The illusions here were altogether more mundane, and perhaps more easily destroyed. The beautiful makeup a Konti might wear to accentuate her beauty beyond that which nature already granted. The bright colours an Akalak merchant might employ in order to draw children to his particular stand of candy. Even the forced expressions of cheer on many of the adults' faces as they minded their young ones was an illusion of sorts.

Hurik had understood on some deeper level, that as long as he remained a wanderer in the world, even bound as he was to Madeira, that there would ever be sadness and joy. The two extremes would constantly and haphazardly be shunted together in bizarre and uncomfortable ways, especially for those who cared to pay attention to them. Even as Hurik, for one, had been scoured and judged in a brutally agonizing and humiliating way, so had he gained a powerful bond to one of the few he'd managed to befriend in his second life.

Thus, while Madeira minded her other ghost's affairs, her bondmate ran afoul of the locals, and that damnable Jomi played yet another practical joke, Hurik's mind was dark and clouded by one impossible yet pressing question;

If we are surrounded by the joy of these children, then where could the tragedy and sadness be hiding?

by **Entropy** on April 10th, 2018, 8:07 am

Madeira, Allister, Hurik, Jomi

With his hood of his blue cloak pulled over his head, the drykas male walked through through the crowd of people in Zhongjie Warren. He was dressed simple soft brown leather clothing along with his high riding boots. The market was quite packed with people of all walks of life as they spent their tickets on tasty treats. The Priest of Akajia was not immune to the temptation of sugary treats either. The human was quite found of sweets, and it was one of his many weaknesses. He weaved quickly through the crowd as he went to his favorite stand, caramel apples. The drykas looked down at the ground and saw that his shadow was almost nonexistent. Taking a deep breath, the human could feel his heart start to beat faster as the line barely moved a foot in three chimes. Tapping his hand on his leg, the human kept his eyes on the ground and hoped that he didn't make a mistake venturing out into the public. He had been so careful.

Looking up at the vendors stand, he gently bit his bottom lip as his brown eyes watched shadows start to grow as noon was starting to pass. The line started to move again, but it was moving at a crawl as the the vendor seemed to be having difficultly keeping his cooking fire lit. When the fire finally caught, the akalak vendor stood up and yelled to the line, “Give me about half a bell, and I will have all the caramel apples you can eat!”

The drykas' heart sank because he risk to much to get eat his favorite treat. Looking at the ground again, he noticed the shadows off the people around him were starting to grow. Feeling his heart start to race, he walked out of line and into the growing crowd of people. Feeling the anxiety starting to grow, he could feel a tingling sensation start to go through his body as the adrenaline started to flow freely. His eyes started to flicker back and forth at the growing number of people and number of shadows each person was casting in one spot. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder as he was stopped by a beautiful konti woman with equally frantic purple eyes. He wanted to wrestle his arm from her grip, but her teary eyes seemed to hold him in place. She asked quickly in common, “Have you seen my daughter? She has purple eyes, snow white hair, and she is about this high.” The konti held her hand about three feet off the ground and said softly, “Her name is Naralia. She is about five years old...”

The Priest of Akajie shook his head and said quickly, “I am sorry, but I have to go. Unhand me please...”

The woman said with urgency in her voice, “Sorry for bothering you. She is my only daughter...”

“She isn't lying..”
“She has two akalak boys.”
“and a daughter from a different father...”
“Human father...her husband doesn't know.”
“She doesn't love her husband...”
“Her heart belongs to a human rogue...”

The whispers in makath came from all around him, but they all seemed directed at him. The drykas covered his ears with his hands to muffle the sounds of the disembodied voices, but with all his efforts nothing seemed to drown the sounds of the voices. The man closed his eyes and started to rock back and forth. As his efforts started to fail, he started to incoherently start to say out loud, “Shut up...shut up...why do you keep talking? Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Leave me alone!”

Suddenly feeling a hand on his shoulder, he looked up wondering if the konti was there, but she disappeared into the crowd. Still feeling the hand on his shoulder, he looked down at his shoulder and saw a shadowy disembodied hand on his shoulder. With a shriek, the drykas took off running into the crowd of people. Feeling tears streak down his face, the drykas man ran through the crowd pushing people out of his way not caring if they are men, women, or children. Each person was obstacle for him to get through for his own and everyone else safety. When he looked up, he ran at full speed straight into Madeira. The impact of his collusion with her knocked him to the ground.

Salara, Taurina

As he tapped the hilt of his lakan, Mordar Saramor dark eyes watched the crowd growing crowd. It was large crowd filled with laughing children and weak will adults. They were happy everyone was enjoying themselves, but his brother seemed to just want to say petch his discipline and duty and just abandon his post and join the merriment. The pair wrestled with the idea, but eventually, they decided to stay,watch, and protect the crowd. Suddenly, he saw a konti woman dressed in a silk ice blue dress. She must be a wife of a wealthy akalak because along with his her dress, she was glittering from head to toe with silver jewelry. Mordar found himself staring at the woman because her snow white hair seemed to sparkling in early afternoon light with all the delicate silver chains woven into her hair. Captivated by her beauty, the squad leader found his eyes following the konti woman.

Naralena Daval was desperate when she stopped in the middle of the market. The mother was looking for half a bell, and she couldn't find her daughter. The pain of not having her little Naralia by her side was unbearable, and she felt horrible losing her daughter in the market place. She took her eyes off her for only a few moments and the light of her life was gone. She was horrible mother. How could she loose her daughter especially in these dark times? She didn't even want to come to the Sweetday festival, but her daughter begged and pleaded for her mother to take her. In a moment of weaknesses, she caved in. Now a half a bell into the trip to the Zhongjie Warren, Naralena lost her child cause she was to tired to carry her daughter. The konti looked around the crowd, and she saw a pair of two children on a akalak boy and konti child talking to strange blond haired woman. She had snow white hair like Naralia! In ear shot of Taurina, the konti cried with joy, ““Naralia! I was worried sick! You were supposed to stay by mommy!”

With tears in her eyes, she straight for the child calling out the name of her daughter Naralia. The konti ran up to the children, but she slowed when she saw the girl had green eyes. Not the purple eyes of her daughter. The konti's pale skin turned pink with embarrassment as she interrupted the blond haired human and the pair of stunned children. She looked at Salara with tears in her eyes and said trying to not to just break down in the street, “Sorry...she looked like my daughter. I can't find her anywhere. She only five years old...”

The konti child gave the fear stricken mother a smile and said quickly, “I am eight not five ma'am. I am sure that she will appear again.”

Looking at the children, she said with forced smile, “Yes, you seem quite mature, Little One.” Looking back to Salara, she said with quivering lip, “Sorry for bothering you if you see a little girl with purple eyes and a tight braided bun. Can you bring her to one of the Kavay'Nas?” Suddenly, Naralena could feel the tears drip down her face and the proud woman started to cry uncontrollably.

Players :

by **Madeira Dusk** on April 10th, 2018, 11:18 pm

"Jomi!" Madeira was scolding the ghost soundly as she followed Emma's excited exclamations to a stall covered in jewel bright hard candies. "Watch your mouth! Really, I can't take you anywh-"

There were shouts of annoyance and a child's startled yelp, and Madeira was just turning her head to see what had happened when a human male barreled into her. The Spiritist bounced off his chest and fell backwards into the stall, where the smash of breaking glass muffled her winded gasp. Meanwhile the man's leather boots had tangled in her long skirt, and he went down hard in the street. Madeira let go of Ssanya's hand in the impact, and lost her in the confused flow of people. Little candies exploded in all directions at the collision and bounced away down the crowded market like a patter of rain.

Sliding off the stall to the ground, the Spiritist bit her lip to keep from groaning. That would bruise later, she was sure. Above them the stall owner was cursing and demanding she pay for the ruined candy, and around them a rush of children were laughing greedily as they stuffed their pockets with runaway treats. Head ringing with the angry tirade of the stall owner and the excitement of children, Madeira rolled to her hands and knees. Unhurt but livid she was ready to give the overeager klutz what-for, until she saw his face.

Streaked with tears and wild with panic, the man had a look of animal terror. At once Madeira's every nerve was on fire, and she was unconsciously reaching for the tattooed Kelvic fighting through the crowed.

"Emma, Jomi, Hurik!" she shouted, her voice tight but controlled as she called her ghosts to her. "We're leaving. Right now."

Her first instinct was not to help the stranger, but to make sure her own family was safe. Whatever he had seen she needed them to be as far away from it as possible. But far away wasn't far enough when the whole city was under siege by shadows, she realized.

"What's happened?" she demanded of the stranger, as she struggled to her feet. "What's happened!"

by **Hurik** on April 11th, 2018, 12:32 am

60th of Spring, 518 AV

As if in answer to Hurik's unspoken question, he heard an unholy ruckus break out just ahead, from right where Madeira and company had been moments before. Some deeper instinct lurched forward from Hurik's gut and he felt himself lunging forward as fast as he could. He didn't actually sprint per se, as he felt his soulmist flickering, and he seemed to jolt several paces every tick or so, but the effect was the same. Several people cried out as his chilled essence rasped through them uncaringly, and abruptly, only to leave them as soon as he had passed.

Hurik blinked to a halt over his mistress and some very foolish man clad in blue entangled with her. It was clear from merely the way in which they had fallen that this miserable petcher had barrelled into her when she wasn't looking. Hot bubbling anger roiled up in his chest, and his mists tightened considerably, his outline crisper than he'd wrought it before. Now the curling tongues of vapour seemed to cling to a living man, rather than them being the only strands by which a dead man carried on.

He stepped over the man, reaching a hand down to brush lightly over his temple. He wouldn't harm the man unless Madeira said so, but by all the gods Hurik couldn't see the harm in scaring him shykeless. Until Madeira spoke up, and Hurik felt his own rage tempered and tamped down by her serious tones. He lifted his fingers from where they'd been hovering over the stranger's chest, as though to tear his heart out.

Hurik stepped back and regarded the man with a glare that could strip freshly slain meat from the bone, and listened as Madeira made her demands. Almost unconsciously, he held arm out to try and steady her as she arose, before realizing how ineffectual that was in practice.

It was while glaring at the man before them, that Hurik saw the look in his eyes more properly, and it struck him that perhaps he hadn't actually been all that terrifying. At the very least, he had backed off from this fellow and he looked just as terrified as when Hurik had first bent down over him. That sheer constancy and strength of emotion... It set Hurik on edge. He began to scan the crowd, eyes searching attentively for possible threats. This man was scared of something much less mundane than a ghost. Even one as handsome, charismatic, violent and quick-witted as Hurik.

"Madeira, this man isn't a threat to us. It's whatever he's running from that should give us pause. I have a feeling..." Hurik's form relaxed somewhat, and his soulmists curled down to form floating steps up into the air, which he climbed up to gain a view. If Hurik had had a stomach, it would have leapt up into his throat at that moment. From his heightened perspective, he could see that the multitudes of people in Zhongjie were all standing under Syna's imposing glare. Syna herself was moving away from her position at the climax of the sky, and as she did so, she was through no fault of her own brilliance beginning to cast shadows against Riverfall's buildings, the candy stalls, and the people.

There were far too many people in one place. Casting too many shadows. Bunched together in such a fashion as to create large pools of shadows under their own legs, which they were practically swimming in. Hurik leapt back to the ground and the recuperated soulmist gathered about him, even though it still looked glassy and weak compared to the long shadows gathering behind even his mistress herself.

Hurik closed the distance between himself and the spiritist, looking down at her, his face contorted in an awful shape. A shape of fear. Of powerlessness. Of desperation. He'd never felt more incapable, at odds with the world, than now. His voice was a hoarse whisper, choked with emotion.

"I knew it. That petcher just caught on to the signs before anybody else has. In a couple chimes this place is going to be overrun by those things that everybody is afraid of. What do I do? I can't fight, I can't run, and I sure as shyke am not letting these things get to you." Hurik brought his hands up to his face, the mists fizzling gently in the sunlight. He still couldn't remember how he'd gotten the many and varied scars that marred these hands of his. Not really anyway. All that he knew remained frustratingly locked away behind a wall that Hurik didn't know if he could ever surmount.

Seems the sadness and tragedy have manifested in a particularly twisted fashion today. And my pitiful wretched self, without even the Vapours to comfort me...

Event Day of Long Shadows (Closed)