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C O R E B O R N Here lies the official RP thread!
An Arcane inspired Group RP 
When you want to get a player's attention, please @ them in your post. Have fun, be creative, and have a wonderful time! [ RP ] [ OOC / PLOTTING ] [ CHARACTERS ]
[ LOCATIONS ] [ NPCS ] |
hex - 7AA2C4
The Flickerhive was a notorious social club draped in the atmosphere of eternal celebration. The booming party anthem infected the bones of eavesdropping ears and possessed them with the undeniable urge to groove to the rhythm. The beats hummed and shook the walls. It’s a miracle this old coal factory even remained standing. Smart carts frolicked about the tracks as if happily delivering people, smuggled goods, or food and drugs. Storing goods had never been easier. The walls came alive as neon danced more passionately than scantily clad girls from the jiggle joint and entertained as if showcasing a rudimentary motion picture. The liquor was heavier, morals were looser, and the bliss was high. Thus is life in the oasis in this lawless land.
While the two siblings walked together through neutral ground being careful not to arouse the attention of the locals to their presence, the glow of a certain device had caught the scientist's attention. Given Summer's connections with many influential figures in the underground, she was given access to a magical device that allowed for untraceable contact between her and others who preferred to avoid face to face meetings as much as they can. "Looks like a change in plan. Our friend wants to meet us at the Lowtown Arena instead. He already bought a couple seats in advance." Slowing her footsteps down to a halt, the direction of her boots had shifted while they were stopped at a fork in the road as she turned towards an area in Virelow that was considered contested territory between a gang and a cult. Before she was able to take another step in that direction however, she felt her body freeze due to the presence of a strong grip on her shoulder. "Hold it, Sum. That asshole wants us to go there? Why?" Unlike his sister who was more tactful with words, Winter held little back when it regarded his opinions of others to the people he cared about. "Why can't we make a deal in his club?" He understood that changes in plan were always a risky matter, especially when those changes would have them likely going through places where their reputation wouldn't be held in popular regard. "Maybe he has faith in you. I'd like to think that no one would want to get close with someone like you around." Taking the opportunity to tease him, Summer got Winter to roll his eyes at her playful joke. "... Its because he has visitors. Powerful visitors. Didn't mention who, but having that many important people in one place would be enough to get anyone antsy." Crossing her arms and leaning back against the wall of one of the decrepit buildings nearby, Summer scratched her chin as she thought over the other influential figures that could cause this shift in the plan. "Then why can't we wait for more of us to come? I doubt anyone would press us if we moved through as a group." Given her need for guards around, Summer had others on payroll to ensure that security around her hospital as well as the area surrounding it was kept safe, truly treating it as a place where the residents of Virelow could come to seek her services without concern for allegiance. "Because if we move with too much force, the cult and the gang that resides there might take it as an act of war. We're here to do business, not start unnecessary drama." Coming off the building to return back to her brother's side, she wiped her mask to clear it from the murky stains of the rain above to look Winter in his eyes. "Besides, I trust you. Its not like we didn't come to meet the Elarian unprepared either." Her eyes glanced over the weapon present at his hip; A scrap katana enchanted with runic script that she crafted herself with the materials he scavenged and stole. The padding underneath their clothes had also served some protection against attacks from outside, allowing them to shrug off lighter blows without sacrificing freedom of movement or fashion. "And if we ever need to, we could run." Winking at her brother to feign confidence, he sighed before crossing his arms and relenting to her words. "You owe me for this, you know?" "When do I not? I'll pay you back; You know I'm good for it~" 
If not for the threat of targeted violence being aimed towards them, Winter would've assumed that the streets of Eastern Virelow were little different from the rest of the city save for its proclivity to be underwater. Given the rifts in the ceiling, on this side of the city, there was much more rain when it stormed leading to rivers of pollution forming in the city streets and the creation of makeshift bridges made of rusted metal being used atop of it to handle foot traffic. It was far from ideal but many here made due with what little they could afford. If it flooded anymore, the mercenary for hire would've simply assumed that it was just another expansion of the wire docks. "Watch your step. I'm not diving in if you end up taking a swim." Thanks to the masks, the two siblings were able to avoid the scent of passing sewage as they crossed one of the metal bridges towards the arena. There were no guard rails, merely wet pipes underneath them that gave them steady ground over the passing current. While they moved, despite Winter tossing a joke, he kept his head on a swivel, scanning for any signs of suspicious eyes and stalking shadows. "Relax, Winter. We've been here before, I know how to cross and I have waterproof boots. Besides, its not like I'm a little girl anymore." Being careful while walking across in her boots, thanks to the expectation of there being stormy weather due to a machine she built to act as a weather station which detected humidity, she made sure both of them came to the Havenwall with the appropriate wardrobe. "I'm older than you after all." Smirking behind her mask, she patted the head of her brother; Due to her boots giving her an added couple inches in height, she was able to stand half an inch taller than him. "Have a little faith in your big sister, why don't you?" "I would if you actually took our workouts seriously." While her strength lay in her skull, Winter's on the other hand was in his body. Regardless of the pull of the passing current, he was sure that he would be able to get himself to safety should he have fallen. However, he couldn't say the same when it came to trying to swim for two people. "You could stand to gain a few pounds of muscle, you know? I don't want to be doing all the fighting for you." Hopping off the bridge first, as she approached the end as well, he helped her off before she had a chance to slip. "But fighting is your thing!" Whining, Summer played a higher pitch, making herself seem more like the younger one compared to her annoyed brother. "Talking, thinking, planning, and crafting are mine. What's wrong with delegating to our strengths? Ach-" Chopping her gentle on the forehead through her mask, Winter pulled away to cross his arms. "Especially all the more important. If I get hurt, I'm replaceable. If you get hurt, there's no one who could take your place, dummy. Lift some weights and run a little. You don't have to be strong, you just have to be strong enough to come out alive." "But it sucksss. Ouch!" "And? Studying sucks, but you make me do it too. Don't make excuses."
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hex - 6A7A5A
hex - 7AA2C4
Interactions - @Lockdown "I can never understand why people would spend so much to watch blood be spilled." Finally making it without too much more than weather getting in the way, the pair of siblings had finally arrived at the warehouse on the other side of Virelow. Outside, the ground shook with excitement as applause roared from within, causing a shaking in their knees that felt akin to that of an earthquake. Despite the ground rumbling with the energy of the audience, the two continued their way inward, stopping at a pair of drakkari that guarded the entrance from drug addicts or potential undercover Elarian enforcers. "Hold it. Its awfully dangerous for you to be travelling by yourselves; Who are you?" One of them roared, pointing their scrap rifle towards the two. "Relax. We're expected here." Stepping in between them and Summer should violence occur, Winter acted as the wall that stood in between their draconic glares and his sister. He was a guardian and shield contracted to be her living barrier. hired to keep her safe from all, from both Elarian and Vilerowen forces. Keeping his hands away from his weapons, he didn't feel the need to ready himself as a threat. To kill off customers and patrons without good reason was to tamper with the reputation of one of the premier places for entertainment down in these underground depths. "I hope our colors are enough to show that we're not among one of the warring gangs or cults." "Let me handle this, Winter. You're making them nervous." Placing a hand on Winter's shoulder to move him aside, the moment that Summer came into clearer view, as she took off her mask to greet them properly, they too took their hands off their weapons to open up a much more cordial exchange. "Excuse me, we're here to meet a friend. I'm the doctor running the clinic a few streets away from the Scraphound Market. You may have heard of us, its a little place called the Aether." Choosing to name her laboratory after a fictional alchemical element called aether, she hoped to encapsulate the idea of granting heaven to those that many Elarians deemed lesser than. "My brother and I are here to talk to someone really important, so I would appreciate it if you could let us through. I don't think he would be fond of people that might get in the way." Eventually joining Summer in taking off his mask, Winter took a deep breath of the air outside, once again smelling the ordinary spunk of Virelow's atmosphere. "Well, if there's anything good about this place; At least the smell of blood cuts through the sewage." Flicking his lighter, he took one of his cigs out before glaring at the drakkari. "So are you going to let us through or do you want your corpse to take a swim in Elarian's shit?" Without being able to inhale the nicotine that brought his mood some calm, after spending so much time underneath the mask, Winter felt on edge. "We're on business. If you want more of a reason than that, take it up to the Baron's men, not us." Upon realizing who the two were, the larger one of the pair of drakkari bowed his head before opening the way indoors. "My apologies. Its been a rough day here. Others tried to break in earlier. Cultists and gangs. The ones that want to make this their own." Waving them inside as the rain continued to pour, Winter and Summer entered, followed by the smaller one of the drakkari acting as their chaperone. "She will take you further inside. Get you seated while you find your friend." Before Summer had walked all the way through however, the drakkari that opened the door had patted her on the side of her arm. "... The Aether right? Thank you for your medicine. You saved my son, Mrs..." "Halo... But you? You could call me Summer." At the end of the day, while selling customized arms and synthetic drugs were a part of making her living down in the depths of Virelow's Scraphound Market; It was the act of being able to save lives even here that made her wake up every day. She always wanted to be a doctor; Whether that medical practice would involve Elaris or Virelow, it didn't matter to her. "That's what I'm here for. Should you ever need anything else, feel free to stop by the Aether any time." Offering the drakkari guard a smile, she made her way inside the hallways of the warehouse. Passing through crowded hallways, her smoking guardian scanned through the few curious onlookers only to eventually stop once he heard the sound of a female voice beckoning them over. "Come in, the Baron is on his way. He has the rest of what you ordered, but you can check what I have for you. Or enjoy the main event." Their drakkari chaperone looked at Jade with a bit of curiosity at first. "They're with you?" A nod of her head was enough for the dragon to leave the responsibility of escorting the pair of siblings to the skaarian. "Well, it looks like the Baron has a peculiar taste." Eyeing up the skaarian to size her up, once Summer had felt as though they were close to the place where they needed to be, she calmed down enough to tease her brother. "Oh? You prefer the scales, Dusk? Oof-" Immediately responding to her with a jab to her side, Winter grumbled. "I prefer to know who we're working with. Don't make things weird." Sighing, once they were brought to the booth, the two took their seats with a view to the center of the ring. It felt odd to be someone so disinterested in combat for sport to sit so close to the entertainment-focused fighting. However, if this was the place their contract preferred to speak, then who was he to complain. "Hey you. You know what's holding up the Baron? We were supposed to meet with him earlier but he changed plans; Told us to meet him here instead." Turning to the skaarian, he blew a puff of smoke away from her direction before locking eyes with her. "I hope he has something good in mind to make up for sending us through danger in the rain." 
Summer poured the two a glass of the offered drink. "I think the tickets and the seats are a good start. I might prefer a conversation over bar tables, candles, and sweet drinks but who am I to judge someone who would offer us this much already?" |
The Baron hooked his collar and loosened his tie. It felt as if the temperature shifted. His heart began to race. He knew making mama Nox angry was off the cards, “Well yeah, but it’s like bringing a thermal nuclear warhead to a peace summit,” he chirped while his thumbs twiddled around as if he had to explain why his hand was in the cookie jar. It was apparent of how afraid the Baron was of the Core.
Jade froze while she pivoted towards the seats once the door closed and turned to look at Winter. Her eyes narrowed, “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked in an offended tone and placing her hand on her hips.
Interactions - @Lockdown "As for his excuse. That's private details I can't disclose to one of his clients. Even if you're a VIP member," "Hmm." The defensiveness that his skaarian aide displayed in her words over her owner had suggested that this response was very much well-practiced, most likely as a result of others asking very similarly of her. While a bit cold in his eyes, it wasn't unexpected; They were there on business rather than pleasure, negotiating terms instead of building chemistry. Turning his eyes to the brutes that exchange thundering punches in the midst of the arena, the look of disappointment in her face was shared by his own. They were nothing more than gladiators for entertainment, choosing flashiness over function to ensure that their patrons would be given a great show instead of holding a focus on bringing out the best of themselves in combat. Seeing it up close had only cemented his conclusion in making the experience feel ever more fake; If it was true combat, it would be over by now. "I suppose its only right. You're not his mouth. You aren't speaking for him after all." "Relax, Dusk. She's trying her best." Turning over to Jade while using a hand to block out Winter's view of her face, Summer whispered. "You're doing a great job by the way, sorry about my brother." Unlike the man sitting in front of her, she was skilled at the art of de-escalation and reducing tensions. Having everyone be anxious was often bad for business, making terms tougher to negotiate due to each party having their guard's up. Giving her a thumbs up and her classic smile, upon seeing Jade point underneath her chair, she raised her eyebrow before stretching an arm to feel what was hidden beneath her. "Oh?" "Check under your seat and let me know if this'll suffice," 
Feeling underneath her cushions, her gloved hands traced upon a familiar outline of something she brought up to the baron in passing as something she was interested in. "... No fucking way! Is this what I think it is?" Appearing excited, she grabbed the case of a rare medical tool that she was trained with as a graduate student in a research lab back in Elaris. It was an invention birthed of overengineering that served two purposes: An x-ray that could capture high resolution pictures from the body of those its scanned and a bio-scanner that displayed various statistics about its target to aid in diagnostics of rare diseases as well as the effects of what her drugs can do to the body. "Gods, a girl could love a man that listens~" Wrapping her arm around the scanner, she gave it a kiss while Winter looked confused. "Uh, Dawn. What the fuck is that thing? A gun?" He was far from the most technologically savvy. Believing it to be a weapon at first, as he reached out to examine it, once he brought his hand close to a part of the device that was sensitive to physical malformation, Summer swatted at his hand before turning it away. "Hey- What the hell was that for?" "Dusk, there's not that many of these specialized medical scanners in circulation. There aren't many people that know about it, let alone know how to use it." Returning it back to its case before laying it on its side, she shared her knowledge on it. "The baron must have great connections with Elaris, or at least, a good smuggling network and a bit of cash to convince them to part with this beauty." Not realizing that she was in the presence of their skaarian company once she became hyper fixated on the device, the sudden voice had caused her to jump in her seat. "So you're a doctor, or…something along those lines. The Baron told me you started or work at a hospital. It's one or the other," "You can call me that. I'm a doctor that does many things, Virelowens recover from illness and injury through surgery and medicine are among them!" Summer seemed quite amused at Jade's interest in her profession. It was far from the most legal, but it was something she was proud about that paid the bills while serving the community similarly to what she would've done above if not for being cast out in the first place. "Given everything that happens down here, there's always more than enough work to go around." Due to the ordinary violence that Virelow saw on its streets, she was often a very busy person, dealing with clients from each rung of the local faction's hierarchy. As long as someone could afford her help while signing a contract that her space close to the Scraphound Market, she would assist them. Otherwise, she would refer them to some street-doc she could trust that would rip them off some other way. As she spoke however, both her and Winter's eyes had caught on the the tightening of Jade's fists, causing both of their dominant hands to linger towards where their weapons were unconsciously. "So why do you do it? Search about the Core I mean. Doing some experiments or something?" 
Before Summer had a chance to speak, Winter gave a warning. They were meant to be there on business; Should any violence come up, especially towards him or his sister, he wouldn't hesitate to squabble. "Easy there, Jade. You don't want to be making any mistakes you'll end up regretting." The chair creaked against the floor as he stood up, walking towards the space that existed in between Jade and Summer. "I'm sure we would all prefer keeping our insides inside, but if you plan on throwing any punches, we don't have to be friends." From underneath the fabric that covered his throat, an illumination of a tattoo that ran up his neck and the subtle matching glow of his eyes had hinted at his weapon being far from the only weapon that could be used against her. "I'll guarantee I'd be the reason why you'd regret it." His sister had worked on more than just magic infused gear. Given her work with prosthetics, creating magically infused artificial implants was not too far of a step up. "Dusk." Upon calling out his name the first time, he didn't shift in his demeanor. She understood why he was so protective in the first place. She the only true family he had left, the loyalties of everyone else was a mystery to the overprotective brother. "Dusk!" She called again, this time, grabbing his collar to pull him away from glaring down Jade. "Let me speak, okay? If anything happens, I'll leave it to you, but she hasn't done anything yet." "Fine." He pulled his arms away from Summer, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall, refusing to leave his spot in between the two should anything happen. Given the environment they had to cross on the way here, he was still amped and prepared for a fight. Deals that went too well had always made him antsy. "Just don't pull anything on us and we won't have any problems." Sighing in relief that their deal was preserved through a bit of quick thinking and tactful words, Summer took a sip of her wine before addressing Jade's question. "We got paid by someone to make sense of it. A lot more cash than usual." Only sharing her reasons and not any details of her contractor, the doctor danced around the topic, giving her enough to sate her curiosity without exposing her hand. "Thought that if I took the job instead of anyone else, I could use the knowledge to help this place out. Do some good, you know?" The amount of death she had seen on the streets over fights for meager resources had made her grow concerned about the state of the underground city that became her home. While there was nothing that would keep it from being run by gangs and cults, she truly believed that if there was something to shift their hate over the contesting of shared resources towards something more productive, such as the development of research towards core fragments, they could unite and build a world similarly to the one above. She knew that there were good people fighting and dying in these streets, good people that sought the same as her, only separated by skin and allegiance. If they somehow could be given the same goal, then maybe if given the opportunity, they could cast their differences aside. Summer was one that dreamed big ever since she was born, to help people no matter what method, as long as it worked. It was the biggest reason why she became a doctor in the first place and a drug researcher in Virelow. It was also the reason why her small, independent faction consisted of good people from dying gangs and stray members from cults, people eager for training who saw that vision of peace in her and sought the same. Her goal was noble, to reduce unnecessary suffering, even for the people that had seen her as something akin to a mad doctor. "I make enough money. Maybe not enough to pay for a false identity to retire with back in Elaris, but enough to do what I want and take care of myself and those I want to protect." She smiled over at Winter, before crossing her legs and turning back to Jade. "And so I thought, given what I know and the influence I have here, why risk letting anyone else around here or Elaris experimenting with the core other than me? I'd rather see the knowledge from the core fragments be used for something productive for Virelow rather than something to be weaponized against us. Maybe I'm dreaming too big, but there's nothing wrong with trying to make this place a little better, right?" 
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