Personification Life - IC Part IV

[Swith Witherward]

The continuing saga of the housemates from hell (some of them literally!)

Welcome to the IC Thread!

TO JOIN, SIGN UP AT THE OOC Thread: http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=210522

PART V (new thread) - CLOSED until we're close to 500 pages here.

The background:
This is a continuation for the occupants of the Building.

IC Part I - The Beginning.
IC Part Deux - New Building, Same Nonsense.
IC Part III - Island Living for the Holidays.



Original OOC thread - Locked. Your behind-the-scenes glace at further insanity.

To join: visit the OOC thread and submit an app. Someone will come along shortly to approve you (or laugh hysterically at your attempt to join).

The Building Rules:
We have rules? Well, only a few. They're guidelines, really...

* HAVE FUN!

* Your character does NOT have to be a personification of your nation.

* New characters get an apartment to themselves. You can stay there or eventually find a roomie to share an apartment with.

* You can play your characters as either serious or light. We're a mixed group.

* Got a problem with a player? Take it to that player in TG to resolve it.

* It's a fast-moving thread. It's okay to ask "where is everyone and what happened while I was gone?" in the OOC thread.

* Please save earth-shattering adventures until the weekends. Earth-shattering would be any side-story that affects the entire house (blowing up the building, planet-wide invasions, world destruction, etc). Minor stuff (zombie attacks, localized plagues, genderbenders, etc) can be ignored by players who are offline.

* You don't have to play everyday. Play as you can, according to your schedule.

*What kind of character can I play: We have anthros, velociraptors, gods, demons, angels, cyborgs, robots, magic users and mystical beings, warriors/soldiers/super soldiers, average mortals, A.I.s, thieves, spies, emperors, mad scientists, and whatever Bones and his brothers are. Anime seems to be a big theme, followed by offshoots of various pantheons and fiction.

Who owns this thread:
No one, not even me (unless there’s a problem that needs to be addressed to the mods. I grant equal permission to the original founder, Dabfia.)

Here we go, again!

Love,
Swith

[Swith Witherward]

RP Locations
The Beach
The current location of our madness. More details to come. See character tabs for descriptions of their dwellings.

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The Building
Other location of our madness. The Building is not at the beach. It's in a colder climate. It's bigger on the inside than on the outside and it seems to heal itself. There's a janitor. The interior construction appears differently to each resident (tile vs wood floors vs carpet, metal staircases vs concrete vs wood) etc.

Common Areas

This is where everybody seems to flock, including those with apartments that have kitchens. Breakfast is usually waffles and omelets. Trashed frequently due to firefights, mobs, invasions, and Dab/Tsu. It's the only place in the building where the residents will kill you faster than the food.

These are the front and back yards. Used for Zalgofests, combat, snowball fighs and who knows what else. It has a shed in the back which most residents avoid for good reason.

Hallways. People roam them. Some people lurk in them. They have shadows to hide in.

Ground floor when you first enter the building. It has mailboxes by the front door (we never see the mailman but there's mail), a check in desk, a bench, an alcove with a payphone booth. It leads upstairs to the communal kitchen/dining room and rooms.

It's a roof. It's at the top of the building. It's used for gazing at the night sky, defending the building (weapons seem to change at the drop of a hat), housing Bran's helicopter, and a quiet place to drink. Stairs lead up to it from the inside.

Not So Common Areas and Other Information

Some residents are cheap bastards and only rent rooms. They use the communal dining room and kitchen for their meals. Apartments have full kitchens, bedrooms, and living space.

Cunning residents build secret labs in all sorts of odd places. They really aren't secret since everyone knows about them.

For whatever ungodly reason, some residents utilize tunnels and air vents to get around. Expect them to drop in anywhere at any time.

Some apartments exist in their own little universe and can not be penetrated by outside sources. These would include Bones & Co's apartment and Ceril and Naomi's apartment. Don't try. You'll only become frustrated... or die.

Other Places Near the Building

It's a bank around the corner. That is all.

Sometimes seen, but often not, these provide delivery service to the Building. They also provide deliverymen who end up eaten by certain residents.

It's a park nearby.

Located directly across the street from the building, Chaos is an upscale restaurant during the day, a club at night. Waitstaff are all NPCs (demons, succubi, incubi, etc) in human disguise. They bring drinks or food. They are non-combatants. They are not there to be tortured (looks at Tsu) or used in experiments (looks at NVE). Staff include two chefs (Head Chef: Cuisine, Breakfast Chef: Bran) as well as a bartender (Superbia). You don't want to piss off the bouncer (Ceril) because he's authorized to kill you. The building is Dab/Tsu proof and nearly indestructible given that it's in its own little pocket universe.

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People Herein - In Alphabetical order

Steve Marsham
Steve is 28 years old from Wigan, Manchester Majoris (^{Greater Manchester in OOC}) and presents various radio shows alongside running an events company - his second business. His Wigan accent is considered either hard to understand, or understood by some, due to the way the Wigan accent is! He is a decent, generous and kind person. ^{(OOC: No offence intended to Wigan, this is not an insult towards them}. He resides alone, and doesn't want a roommate - then again, probably doesn't need one, given that he uses the other bits of the apartment as storage space for props for his events company. He doesn't use the communal room, but eats out instead - then again, he can afford it.

Apartment: Interior of apartment is very much similar to late-2000s British council flats.

Factbook
Background on Bones & Co

Bones

Totenkopf (on left, with knife)

Herr Doktor

Eva (NPC) - Naomi's adopted daughter. Back story here and here. Her hair is black and she has odd glyphs on her face and arms.

Apartment

BIO: An Eastern European Dictatorship that is usually always at war with the neighboring nations.

Bran
Branson "Bran" Nikanor: A Branriech Airforce mechanic who was born in the Capitol city in 1988, a few years before the collapse of the Soviet Union. He grew up most of his childhood with his sister until the Branriech Civil War, he was also one of the first generation of young boys conscripted into the reformed military at age 15. After a few years of distinguishing himself as an exemplary mechanic, he was eventually marked for death by the current High General. He escaped through an experimental teleporter and ended up in the Fallout shelter of the apartment.

Rylli
Born in 1989, Amaryllis "Rylli" Volkova grew up in a rural village. Her father was killed in the Soviet-Afghan conflict and her mother was killed in an auto crash a year later. Rylli then lived with her older brother who was shot down and killed in an Airforce skirmish. Having no other family, Rylli joined the Branriech Airforce and was trained as a Fighter pilot, she met Bran and fell in love with him her first year of flying. She would later defect from the Branriech and has taken up residence with Bran.

Natiya
Natiya Nikanor, on the left, Bran's older sister was born in 1986. She was nearly conscripted into the Branriech Military along with Bran, but a quick descision from their parents saved Natiya from what would have been frontline service. They sent her to America just before their untimely demise at the hands of a firing squad, she went to college for a few years riding on the Nikanor's vast fortune before dropping out and joining a PMC before quitting that too. Now she leads a quiet life in the upper floor of the apartment.

Rachelle
Born in 2006, Rachelle and her family were captured by the Drone Empire. During testing, her mother was presumed killed while her father protected her afterwards. During Rylli's escape, Rachelle and her father tagged along while all the other subjects were gunned down behind them. As the trio was making their way to salvation, D4 killed Rachelle's father in a fit of rage, leaving Rylli and Rachelle to board the shuttle and escape back to Earth. Not knowing the true fate of either of her parents (But knowing she won't see them again), Rachelle has tried her best to get used to Bran and Rylli as her new parents.

Kei
Kei, the creator of the Branriech and it's people. A Demon or a Goddess (No-one knows and she doesn't care.) who is directly responsible for the creation of the Branriech as a state and as a people. Anyone hailing from the Branriech is descended from her and she refers to them as 'her childeren'. She claims to have no name but will respond to it if someone happened to find out.

Apartment, Bran's room
Bran and Co's beach house

BIO: - Not to brag but Chanarya is in the top 10% of the world for most drug use, happiest citizens, and least corrupt government. Our motto is "Don't Worry, Be Happy" and we are a Matriarchy in the old world tradition. Our national animal is the Chanaryan alligator - of which Chan travels with two.

Chan (pronounced with a SH sound rather than the hard Ch)
She is a young woman of vast unexplored talents who is in line to become a Matriarch - the Mothers have sent her out into the world to learn about other peoples and nations to bring her knowledge home, to establish relations, and to gain wisdom.

SpazKat
Calico cat who accompanies Chan, she is a familiar and a bit smarter and more magical than the average kitty

Smokey the spotted pony
Loves cigars and high heels

Two Chanaryan alligators, unnamed
Both male, tamish as long as they are well fed. One approx 21 foot long, the other a mere six foot long baby

APARTMENT

Ceril
BIO: Unknown in age, Ceril is quiet and intelligent but does have a sense of humor. He's currently employed by Swith. His primary function is classified; his secondary role is to protect Rachelle Nikanor. He carries the blessing of a god which aids him in his duties. He's ugly (even for a his people) and it doesn't bother him. He'll stick to the shadows and is usually nocturnal to avoid questions.

Ceril shares an apartment with Naomi and Eva. The apartment is in a pocket universe and the insides don't match up with reality. His upstairs loft and workshop suit his needs.

Dab
Dab is the personification of the empire of Dabfia, even though he may not act like it sometimes, He also represents the hideous creatures in Dabfia, you might see him with mutants sometimes, or digging a hole to china, or fighting the revenge of nature, or blowing things up in his lab.

Apartment: glorified dorm room of sorts, and a Lab

Malu
A demigod, Malu is the child of Gaia (the greek goddess) she can control plants, rocks, metals, lava etc. She is usually cheerful, unless you find some way to piss her off, then expect to get hit with a boulder, Or a lava ball. She has a little crab friend, she named it Jimmy. She was born in the early-middle of the hedean earth even though she is psychically 16, chronologically she is about 4300 million years old. She is the second oldest of 4 siblings, The 4 siblings always argue over their sectors of earth. Malu's sector includes the beach.

Agatone
Agatone is the oldest child of Gaia, He is the most mature out of the 4. He can usually be found drinking wine somewhere on the beach, or with Karoline and Sophia, watching the two argue.

Karoline
Karoline (the one on the right)
is a time traveler who has come from 1222 A.D. She is friends with Agatone and with (sorta) Sophia (who is also a time traveler.) She usually fights with a sword and can be rarely seen with the gun that she 'borrows' from Agatone. She has multiple scars she got from fighting in the Prussian crusade. She doesn't like Aristocrats/ Stuck up people. She has a crush on Agatone.

Sophia

Agatone's wife, Sophia came from the same year Karoline did. Instead of fighting in the Prussian crusades like Karoline, She led a simple life in the holy roman empire, Until she lost all her money somehow and was kicked out of her home, then she went out to the countryside, She worked on a farm for little pay, Until one day she met Karoline while she was in prussia visiting some family members, they quickly became friends, They argued a lot though. 4 years after they became friends they met Agatone in the countryside, he was sitting on a miniature volcano drinking wine, He and the two became friends also after about 5 years Sophia married him, which made Karoline jealous, sprouting more arguments between the two, but despite all the arguing, they are still best friends.

Terminator Doctor
Dab's modified T-1000 terminator.

BIO - The Drone Empire, a Multi-Galactic Empire of machines which destroys or ruins all that are not like it, most units of the Empire act like a part of a hivemind, completely unwilling to disobey the wishes of the empire. Recently, the Empire has been expanding into the Milky way rapidly, and this planet is now a prime target for possible Purging, but after facing massive defeat, they won't be coming back for a while. The Data Archives


Dani
Really, she was once a fully robotic being, but due to necessary intervention, she has since been out into a human body.. mostly human, anyway. She is quite good with constructing devices or computers, pulling from her memories as a Drone, and has a profound hate for birds. All birds. She also seems to lack a large sense of what is right and what is wrong, accompanied by other traits that add to her strange insanity.

The Caretaker
The supposed overseer of Earth after the second Drone invasion, he is a mysterious figure, who resides in The Aetherian, a strange yet small collection of enormous ships. He has unknown capabilities and origins, only known to answer the The Observant, but no more information beyond that.

Dani's Lab

BIO:Capitalism....that's it.

Drake Bartoz
When Drake was young his father disappeared from the face of the earth (note: he doesn't accept Orion as his father)...he was then transported to an orphanage he later escaped from, he can controll people's shadows and create some himself.

Shadow Drake
The shadow of Drake...he gets pissed off easily and he can create shadows...but to compensate for not controlling them he can psychologically damage a living being.

Apartment

Cornelius Thriller
Born in 1995 in New York City, new york. Was abandoned by his parents at the age of 3 and almost died on December 19, 1998 when Margret Thriller, a successful business woman and stock holder, took pity on him and took him in, however, his expuosure to the elements left him sick and eventually leaving him blind in his left eye. Today, 180 years old, 10 feet tall, weighing at a near ton, and has an IQ that is superb over all. Emperor of the Germanic Templars since 2095. Has plans to unite humanity under his banner, and conquer Earth. When it comes to warfare, and hand to hand combat, none can best him. When he is in his human body, he's 6''5 and weighs 170 lb.

Joesph Aleki R. Smyth
Born in 2159, of a father who works as an Honor Guard in the House of Representatives, First District and a mother who worked as a scientist on Oda Island, Third District. Joined the conscription force at the age of 16, later to be promoted to Commander of the Clone Army at the age of 21. Has been augmented with special genetic mutation add-ons such as limb regrowth, thicker skin, and electric tonic.

M.A.I
A maintenance A.I. built inside Thriller's body to help defend against virtual infections, provides updates and daily scans to make sure the Emperor stays immortal.

Maria Khrolodna F. Smyth
Born in 2156, older sister to Aleki. Likes to start a fight with him and prove she is the better of the two. She is the Battle Matriarch of the Feminine Forces and has been in many skirmishes with Aleki for the past year when they were not at the apartment.

Tarquinius Superbia- Was the first minorem of hell and guided Lucius Lupus for almost 2 millenniums. After the imprisonment of Satan, he became Maior Sextus Superbia. He is known to be prideful, an instigator, crude, and trustworthy (once he knows you well).

Lucius Lupus-Comes from a parallel universe similar with many of Earth's histories. Originally born during the time of the Roman Empire, as of 12 A.D. Born Pagan but later converted. Served as a Legionary in Jerusalem where he stayed till the year 30 A.D. moving back to his homeland on the western side of the Rhine river with his sister, who was tricked into sorcery of eternal beauty by a minion of Satan. Minorem agreed to work for Satan for the safety of his sister. However, in order for him to work, he had to fight and defeat Lesser Pride. He later joined in on many events in history from the Crusades to the Revolutionary War, even to WW2. Recently, he was staging an uprising in Hell to free him and his sister, however, Satan pulled a last second trick and teleported him to our universe where he is trapped til he can return home. After his return back to his dimension, he won his fight against Satan, conquering evil. And he has returned to find his sister.. Oh also, after that epic fight he had, he has been given the title of archangel and champion of humanity and earth, one that he takes seriously.

Sapphire Thriller- Born in 2158, she is an anthropomorphic and great granddaughter of Cornelius Thriller. She works in the Third District on Oda island as a genetic engineer. In the past, she has worked on many projects such as the synthesizing of cells from atoms up, and Project: Lazarus. She is known to talk a lot if you open a conversation with her, she is very witty, smart, and is known to be a bit emotional at times.

Thriller's room. A room that he has purchased from the property and claimed it for Germanic Templars to help nullify him having to pay rent on it.

Giovenith
Giovenith is the daughter of a benevolent goddess called Pearlelei, who is currently at war with a newer group of deities who wish to "delete" the universe. She is an artist, posses a whistle that can perform unusual abilities, and has hammerspace pockets. She is seemingly insane, but it is possible that this is an affect of her mother's. She has been shown on several occasions to have powers of her own, although she is not necessarily a full goddess like her mom. She is about 15 years old, but often acts much younger than that.

Asmodeus
Asmodeus is a fallen angel and the demon of lust, in charge of the second circle of Hell. He is outwardly the most polite and least morally bankrupt of all the sin demons, often acting friendly and helpful towards people. As lust, he can perform a Mesmer that causes anyone who beholds him to psychologically draw out and magnify features of him that they could find attractive or appealing, which can make him very manipulative. He is an open Pansexual. A long time ago, he had a deep, stalker-ish infatuation with a human girl named Sarah, who has since died and become an angel, yet despite this, still continues to stalk her. She is the only one he has any actual feelings for other than just wanting to screw. He is a fan of rock music in reference to this. It is possible that underneath his calm charm is a completely twisted dark side. He is physically 15 years old, although his racy make-up often makes him look older.

Belphegor
Belphegor is also a fallen angel, and the demon of the sin of sloth. A total misanthrope, Belphegor prefers the company of machines to anyone else, making a brilliant mechanic and inventor. This also makes him snide, mean, condescending, and insensitive to many, making him annoyed over even among his fellow demons. Due to his sheer laziness, Belphegor will always try to take the easiest way out of any situation, no matter how detrimental the consequences, and refuses to willingly travel more than fifteen feet without the use of a segway scooter. He can also travel long distances all over the planet via actually flushing himself down a toilet and reappearing in another someplace else (believe it or not, this actually does have a canon mythological reason behind it). When not tinkering with machines, he is usually seen lounging about and taking naps. Although he is physically 17 years old, he is very short for that age, about the size of a ten year old.

Beelzebub
A higher-up ranking fallen angel/demon, Beelzebub represents the sin of gluttony, and is in control of the third circle of Hell. He is one of the quieter, more serious, business-like demons, often the one being forced to round up the younger demons and remind them of their jobs. As gluttony, he has powers which make him an excellent cook and baker, and can manipulate how people react to food (making more food taste like less and vice versa; making good things taste horrible and vice versa, etc.). Since he is, "Lord of the Flies," he sometimes takes on two large housefly wings in his humanoid form, and wears glasses. It was, in fact, him who helped manipulate the children into slaughtering each other in the famous novel, 'Lord of the Flies.' He owes NVE over a hundred dollars in cash, and is the ex-husband of Swith, with whom he now has a polite but often awkward relationship with. He is physically 34 years old.

Apartment

BIO - An Empire spanning hundreds of thousands of miles on the face of nationstates Earth. The Isolationist Nation has survived hundreds of years, and with such a long lifespan has come utter corruption. The lower class are basically used as indentured servants to provide for the middle, upper, and royal classes. With it's motives unknown people can only hint at what's it's like through Imperial--Japan's Personification.

IJ
Never knowing her parent's. IJ is an easily tempted and manipulated person who believes she is truly the only civilized nation in the world. With an attitude like that one is sure to make many friends right? Her blindness is a result of the ever lasting corruption within the empire.

Manchu
Older Sibling of Imperial--Japan who is constantly pushed around. They have a distant relationship which could definitely be taken as a love-hate scenario. Her experience makes her a shrewd talker and a decent fighter. However there is nothing "special" about her besides the sword she carries. After all how many swords have cut through an "Abrams".

Korey

Apartment

Nation Name: The Republic of Liechtenstein (Alternative Liechtenstein)
Ilgniwz Ylil (Literately backwards of her Hetalia counterpart, Lili Zwingli)
Similar to what Liechtenstein looks like in her military uniform, Ilgniwz wears this uniform nearly all the time. However, the uniform takes more of a Liechtenstinian approach. Instead of having a Cross representing Switzerland, the mark of the President and Armed Forces of Liechtenstein is there instead. In addition, her coat is a bit more lighter blue than Green. Although not seen with it, she sometimes wears a Reddish-blue Beret that is a size of a French beret. She owns a Shotgun as well. Her race is Human-Imaginative Warlord and she's 17 (appears 12).

Unlike her Hetalia counterpart, this version of Liechtenstein tends to be more wanting to dominate the entire world, but she can't get the plan until the actually acquires some land, a council, a meeting room with a map of the world digital on it, and everything. However, this is WAY too much into her imagination, and therefore, some people just laugh and call her "Little Thing". She gets deeply angered by this, and threatens back saying, "ONE DAY, I WILL RULE YOU!"

Outside of her craving ambitions to rule the world-ness, The Republic of Liechtenstein is infact a girl who mostly gives a pouty face, but she's quite sociable and outgoing. When she first sees you (Unless you are a Ukranian, Hungarian, San Marinian, Liechtenstiener or an Andorran), she'll just give you a sour pout and call you a "client state". However, once you get to know her, she is pretty creative and imaginative. She absolutely dislikes Hetalia and finds the person who portrays Liechtenstein (which is surprisingly the forward version of her human name) nothing like her, and calls her a "pussy little girl who clings onto a Banker Nation (Switzerland)".

Apartment: A nice clean apartment with a brown door with printed numbers outside, "288" with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and two bathrooms. The entire house is paint a pure white, and the floors are clean with grey. Her living room is with a oval rug, a black couch, and a Mid-modern TV that's a small LCD (17') and a ceiling fan. Her bedroom looks nothing like the second room which she had changed into her "Office". Inside of her "Office" is blue lights, with a fake plastic map of the world, with several dots on it, yellow being Liechtenstein, and showing large boundaries of the nation (When in reality is not like that). She also has a computer on the right side, and a huge desk with a chair with papers that has her "top secret" information on it even though they're just her imaginary things. Her "plans" and "plots" on her next countries are usually in these folders, and they look like they're real, when they're actually, some of her drawings.

Monfrox (AKA The Zone, Marked One)
Monfrox was the product of what happened when you threw a Demon-spawn (Lidev) into a Time-Space Bubble anomaly mix. She can bend the anomaly properties to her whim, and can create her own artifacts that are free of radiation, which comes in handy at important times. She is one that is quick to stomp the other residents when they are getting out of line to keep some sort of peace in the apartment, although she is firm but fair when doing it.

She just wants to have a semi-normal day-to-day life, and sometimes can't understand why some other residents can't respect that. Still, she makes up for it with the occasional home-cooked meal. Still, a lot slides by her that she could get mad about, mainly because she believes that things will either work themselves out, or someone else will step in, or it doesn't seem like that big of a deal to her. Most of her time is spent with her Psy-dog, Splinter, in her room as the two work out more of the Zone's mysteries about it's entities and artifacts, and some other factions too. They share a certain connection since she found him in the Zone. She also became half-wolf during one of her resurrections by NVE.

Theme Song: The Sound of Madness


Lidev (AKA The Demon, Fang)
Lidev was once a proud child of Satan, until she was disowned after she was about five and sent to live in the worst man-made Hell on Earth: The Exclusion Zone of Monfrox. Here, she was brutalized, demoralized, and generally cast out by society. School did not go well for her. Still, she is definitely an attractive woman. She was trapped inside of Mon when she accidentally stepped inside of a Time-Space Bubble anomaly and became fused with the entity of the Zone.

She is not pure evil, but she has times where she just wants to kill something, or commit some other type of deed. Yet this feeling has been somewhat suppressed since she has been active with both Mon and the User. She still longs for a little something more. She also is a lot more laid back than the others, until you push her buttons, then she becomes a being of pure hate and rage hellbent on laying waste. Preferably to the one who invoked her wrath in the first place.

Theme Song: Monster



The User ( [Black] Widow, Snag)
The User had lived in a world unlike that of which all of the other residents, past, present, and future, had not yet seen unless they were like her. Brought into the realm of the thread through Lidev's will and whim, she keeps to herself and acts somewhat strangely. She has many faces to hide her feelings, and not even once has anyone been able to bring out her true inner self beneath everything. She is currently in a state of happiness though, so there is little that she needs to worry about.

She still misses her old life, and is often reminded of it through the actions of the other residents, but she knows that she'd like it here just as much as the old world she came from. Still, she is the most hard-assed of all. Having had extensive experience in a military-like organization in her other realm, she sees the other residents as equivalents to those she oversaw. And she aims to curb unnecessary violence before it gets too out of hand and spills over into her life, unwanted as it may be. She, like Lidev and Mon, see themselves not as prissy and queeny, but as those who keep people from getting too insane on a daily basis. They are still as humbled, despite other's opinions. And more recently, she was fused with her pet cat by Dabfia, making her part feline now.

Theme Song: Castle of Glass

Klanov
Son of the User, Klanov is one of the more normal characters of the Monfrox family, compared to his mother and her friends. His powers so far only include being able to summon music around him. This helps him concentrate, and can also give him much needed focus when in battle. He first arrived out of a 'time slip' when the User sent him back to keep him from dying. He awoke with little to no memory of his past life and wearing a very extensive military combat uniform, he soon noticed that his mother from this timeline had not only known of his existence, but was also expecting him. Incidentally, because of his amnesia, he cannot remember who his father is.

He makes his rounds occasionally, and keeps to himself after a run-in with the current timeline's resident raptor people almost ended in him becoming a meal for two. Thankfully, his mother intervened before anything serious happened. To which end, she gave him a necklace with a small drill on it. The drill glows whenever he is in immediate danger, and if it glows too brightly, his mother shall aid him. Other than that, he finds time to relax and kick back, but barely knows anyone still. He hopes deep down that maybe he could find some meaning in this life that he lives, but so far just tries to make it from day-to-day without dying like the trio has been known for. Still, something deep inside him thinks that he might not make it that far, and he does his best not to predict his own death.

Theme Song: Rooster

APARTMENT Pic:____________

Neil Von Eldritch (aka NVE aka "My Killer")
A psychotic supergenius mad scientist velociraptor MacGyver of atomic schizo tech bent on destroying the human race (and all mammals for that matter) with time travel, genetic engineering, lasers, nukes, and napalm (lots and lots of napalm). His IQ ha been measured to be 700 in comparison to mammals. Currently he uses a Telluric Interchanger to disguise himself as human or other species. He usually just goes by his initials, since nobody, except Gretta knows, his full name.

NVE's Human disguise

Supporting Characters:
Gretchen "Gretta" Garbo aka "My Pyro"
NVE's match in velociraptor form, only a wee bit more level-headed, and snout-over-claws in love with him. She is a bit more hostile towards mammals, but has more self-control.

Gretta's Human disguise


NVE042 aka Fortu aka Dr. Martin Fortu
Computer hacker who is more competent and less crazy than NVE. Can hack the Pentagon at the speed of thought...depending on the speed of the internet connection. He was cloned from NVE and then was beheaded by Dabfia. He now has a humanoid body with a few implanted devices of his design.

Scarface
Invulnerable zombie assistant to NVE and Fortu. A bit artistic and has an IQ of 100. Don't criticize his work if you like your limbs attached to you. Has a crush on the User.

APARTMENTS :
NVE's Apartment, Volcano lair

Primordial AKA Prime(on left)
Primordial was born in 1973 twenty six years before the second American civil war to a poor family in Boston. After the war in 2000 he enrolled in Miskatonic after joining up with the roving Luxan military, which paid for his tuition. There he majored in Divination and got his doctorate in Physics, gaining his first job at the newly formed RADICAL. He was elevated to the royal guard after saving Commander Winchester in the Egypt wars, and met Insidious while fighting as an Immortal. After the war they both met up again at SystemCorp when they were put on the same design team, and became fast friends.

Primordial is a master of situational manipulation, and always has a plan for the most unlikely and most insignificant of scenarios. Like all Luxans, Primordial has the Mark of Old Ones on his person, protecting him from foreign magical and unnamable forces. His preferred side arm is a Scion-6 pistol, a rail gun in revolver form, which perfectly complements his enhanced telekinetic power that allows him to easily move 10 tons of raw materials at 60mph. In addition he has branded his soul with hundreds of protection sigils that protect him from most types of physical and mental injury.

Insidious
Insidious was born to a rich Texan family in 1977; she was in college in Oregon during the American civil war. She feld to Canada but returned after the war to join up with Luxans, who drafted her into the military forces where she served as a pilot in the air force. After her mandatory conscription she went off to Kingsport College and got a doctorate in Mortal and Alien chemistry. During the Egyptian War she was promoted to piloting an Avatar Engines, this is where she met Primordial.

Insidious is a psychotic pragmatist, she is always trying to take advantage of people and situations and while a very caring person many of her good deeds are selfish in intention. She was born with natural telepathy that she cannot turn off causing her much stress in crowds. She has done an incredibly amount of modification on her internal system giving herself compete, bio memory and customization. With a host of over 37 extra organs and moderate shape shifting she is truly the master of her person.

Aegis
Aegis was born in 1970 to a middle class family in Massachusetts; at the age of 20 he suffered a psychotic break and killed 32 people with his bare hands in a city wide rampage. He was given life in prison and was confined to Providence maximum correctional facility, where he waited for 10 years before he was freed by the Luxan government. He quickly joined the Luxan military and rose in rank eventually being hired by SystemCorp as a political disruptor and is used to cause civil unrest and havoc in foreign nations to increase the companies’ profits.

Aegis is a monster of a man standing 9 feet 10 inches, weighing in at almost 300 pounds, and having a press weight of five tons. A master pyromancer he is incredibly slow to anger but is known to destroy civilization when provoked. His preferred style of fighting is simply one of carnage that revolves around breaking limps and bones with easy before destroying his opponents completely.

Room 6C
Primordial's room is on the sixth level of the house facing the west. Rather than acting as a regular room Primordial has taken the room and moved it to a separate dimension guaranteeing safety for himself and others as well as privacy. The apartment is very large and archaic but opens up to a nice and pleasant looking entrance. This is purely for guests and the rest of the apartment is more catered to the wants and needs of the residents consisting of many very person room such as a trophy room,Endangered Species Room, and over a dozen of Labatories.

USSR, United Socialist States of Russia (or United Soviet Socialist Republics, either one with fit.) Also known as The Red Star Union. (It can be called Russians, Commies, Reds, Red Star people/forces, Soviets, Ruskies, etc.)
Nation Bio:
The USSR/RSU is a massive Russian Socialist/Communist union inspired by the old Soviet times. We have massive production capabilities and amounts of land.

Sergei
Sergei is young for a Marine. He is 29 years old. He was born and raised in Kirov, Russia. Life wasn't exactly golden in the depression of post-Soviet Russia. People didn't have much money, there was poverty on a large scale. There was, of course, your average jerks who liked to be, well, jerks. He was a bored and unhappy kid. The Union rose when he was about 12. He joined the army at 18 to get away from his poor old hometown, and saw his first action in the Invasion of Kashkur, during which he was transferred into the marines.

Apartment:

Naomi
Naomi is a splinter from Swith's being and shares many of her abilities. She is capable of great devastation when under pressure. She's love personified and protective of her friends and humanity. She is the adoptive mother to Eva, a young and emotionally traumatized girl from the Friedhof (Bone Fort NPC.)

Swith
"Swith" is not a personification or representation of the nation of Swith Witherward.
Swith's matrix houses a chaos god who chooses to remain in female form while in this dimension. Pleasure, excess and perfection (as well as hedonism, lust and pain) are part of her mantra and she never hesitates to foster the desire in others to improve upon themselves. Her favorite activity is hosting nefarious and oft-hedonistic Zalgofests with Bones. Swith is seldom seen.

Chi
A chibi maxtrix thrust upon Swith when her essence needed a temporary body. Created by Herr Doktor and enlarged by Swith, Chi is Eva’s babysitter.

Building
Naomi’s apartment is a pocket universe created by Swith and controlled by Naomi; the security system itself is a splinter of the chaos god. It can only be accessed via a door leading down a steep flight of stairs from the lobby. There is a sign placed outside the front door. It reads:

TRESPASSERS WILL CEASE TO EXIST

Naomi shares the apartment with Eva, Chi and Ceril.
Main room: the main entertainment area .

Upstairs loft which belongs to Ceril.

Main gallery leading to Swith's old lair

Chaos (the restaurant)
See tab above. Owned by Swith and left in Naomi's care.

Cuisine
Sensitive about his height. Lives for good food. Often found uncomfortably hunched over in kitchens, where he can usually be seen experimenting with new recipes. Pretentious, so he puts on a different accent every so often. Dramatic, so he'll do other random things at times, too. To get a better idea of his appearance: 7'5" 290 lbs, gray hair, green eyes. Early 50s. Apply that to his picture (linked above).

MB
A magical rabbit with several powers, including that of teleportation. Enjoys playing poker, eating walls and metal, drinking WD40 mojitos, and being a pyromaniac. Claims Cuisine is his familiar.

Deader, formally Deader than Disco
A traveler about whom very little is known, gender included. It is the bearer of 12 mystical Swords which render it a formidable combatant, but it recently has only been using them to troll Tsuyoi. Currently traveling elsewhere on business. Has some connection to Dora, the nature of which is currently unknown.

Dora
An immortal servant of the god of entropy and time who claims to be just on vacation. Normally with gray eyes that turn pale purple when using her powers. Due to the nature of her work, she is cynical, hates fighting, and has low inhibitions. She is capable of stopping time for everyone except other supernaturals, and sees people's remaining lifespans (referred to as 'readouts') above their heads. She strongly dislikes cold and has a propensity to cause wholesale destruction in the name of self-preservation. For some reason, clothes never last very long around Dora, so by necessity she is an artist with a sewing needle.

To Dora, most ordinary people have decreasing positive numbers on their readouts. Supernaturals have symbols or equations, which confuses her. Laika, whom Dora is always chasing but never able to catch, has a negative number, due to her being out-of-place, timeline-speaking.

APARTMENTS :
Cuisine/MB
Dora

Torii Torsiedellious
Growing up as a cold war kid, Torii saw, and fought, in several wars, including the second civil war, the 1980s border conflicts, and the great southern war. She actively worked with the Soviet Union, and even today still fights for the cause of Communism. She is paranoid, xenophobic, nationalistic, and rather shy around strangers. She acts aloof most of the time, but can be an enthusiastic, by the books, mean soldier when she wants to be.

Katya Torsiedellious (Name changed), Katya, Agent-09
Katya looks identical to Torii. Main differences are being slightly taller, darker skin, deeper/sharper eyes, showing a Turkic or Arabic background.
Katya grew up in the Western half of her nation. Unlike Torii, who lived in the constant civil wars, Katya lived a privileged life as part of the Torsiedellie upper class. She's an avid capitalist and democrat, as opposed to her Sister's Communist Background. Because of this, she always looked at Torii with animosity. She is a senior Agent in the national organization, and one ups Torii at every chance, coming off as rude, a bully, or downright evil.


Apartment

Tsuyoi
A half breed demon/angel who wants to enslave the human race and take over the world only to prove she's the strongest.Usually scared of the demon and likes to sing.She has the full support of tsuyoi's military to help her. May not have a brain and is somehow living and able to stuff.

Tekikoku
The Oldest and The Most powerful of Tsuyoi Tekikoku Sisters.She always calm and is sadistic.She has alot of military training and Her element is unknown, and the fact is none one has lived long enough to See it except her sisters but they cant find out what it is.She is Dumber then edge but smarter then Scarlet and tsuyoi

Edge
The 2nd oldest of tsuyoi's older sisters and the 2nd strongest,Much Smarter then her other 3 sisters and Uses Earth as her element.She carries around a large sword and is Very Rowdy and easy to piss off. You should always run whenever she's drunk or you'll be on the ground in the next sec

Scarlet
Tsuyoi's 3rd older sister and the youngest of the older sisters, Somewhat dumber then tsuyoi and Acts more childish then her.
She controls fire and has always liked tsuyoi better,Begin the only one who doesn't wanna kill her.


Nemesis
A Tsuyoi Monster sometimes referred to as "Kaizer"
She has many ways of destroying from various guns and military Stuff,to her own Demon like abitiles.She has no relations to the tsuyoi tekikoku sisters.She has alot of rage,hatred and seems to like begin alone despite this,She Seems to get along well with anyone and has comptele control over her emotions,Nemesis is very powerful and has two even more powerful forms. Both are
called: Annihilation and Oblivion


Apartment

Nation Name: The Afro-Asiatic State of the United Egyptian Republic

Muslymah On the left, slightly darker skin
Muslim, only wears the hijab because being unveiled is too mainstream, has no problem with smoking, drinking, gambling, and having pre-marital sex but will not eat pork because it is haram. Critically analyzes and interprets the Qur'an to suit her beliefs.


Kristina
A Christian, literally believes that Jesus Christ was really born on January 7, yet celebrates Christmas outside of church on December 25 because everyone else is doing it. Believes that the Coptic version of the Bible is the word of God.


Isidawra
Practicing member of the Isian Faith (worships Isis), secretly considers all followers of the Abrahamic faiths to be traitors to Egyptian culture, though she would never admit this out loud. Has a strong distaste for speaking languages with gendered nouns where the sun is masculine and the moon is feminine (like French).

Yehuda (On the right)
Character Background: Ashkenazi Jew, overly represented as Jewish on Egyptian media, wears yarmulke to distinguish himself from the gentile majority, speaks fluent Hebrew, stereotypical "nice Jewish boy"

Abdel-Baha
Character Background: Bahá'í, participates in partisanship despite Bahá’u’lláh forbidding it, prefers speaking English, French, or even Esperanto over Arabic or Coptic as they are more "international", is arguably "the heart" of the group.

Apartment: Originally two separate units, until a door was built in the wall the two apartments shared. (Because of this, the "apartment" has two entrances) Now it is a single large "double-apartment" with the girls having their bedrooms in one of the previously disconnected apartment, and the guys having their bedrooms in the other. They all eat meals on the guys' side.
URL to Apartment Picture:

Hallway
Dining Area
Living Room

Zxam
Spent time in an insane asylum since dad died and brother whom gave company to cousin whom he hates. People think he murdered his brother and father at the age of 10. He has black hair and green eyes. He is 18 and is in college. He works at the music shop in town.

Apartment

---

News and Events

Movie trailer to ZALGOFEST 3: WHY DO WE KEEP DOING THIS TO OURSELVES

*Announcer voice, a la Pablo Francisco impersonating Don La Fontaine*

In a world,

*shot of the world*

where some fictional characters are being driven into oblivion by crushingly over complicated plots and lack of mindless shenanigans...

*montage of our characters doing whatever we normally do around the island*

Two friends decide to fight back,

*shot of Swith and Bones walking down hallway in slow motion towards the camera*

These unlikely heroes, one a goddess of lust and hedonism,

*cuts to Swith*

the other a genetically engineered god-killer,

*cuts to Bones*

must join forces to do the impossible..

*rapid montage of scenes from Zalgofest*

and save their friends from this horrible fate...

*fade to black*

From the creative minds who brought you ZALGOFEST

*Shows up in big letters*

And ZALGOFEST 2: HERE WE GO AGAIN

*shows up in big letters*

Double the action,

*explosion*

Triple the excitement,

*shot of Bones yelling "Get down!"*

More the excitement,

*Shot of Bones in the same position as previous shot, yelling "Get down again!"*

With soundtrack by Aaron Neville,

*shot of Bones and Swith running in slow motion, only sound is a heart beating*

Two Friends,

*Bones cocks a shotgun*

One solution,

*fires it at the screen*

Tonight...

ZALGOFEST 3: WHY DO WE KEEP DOING THIS TO OURSELVES

*appears in big letters*

This time, you really won't know what hit you.

---

Residents: if anything is missing from above, please post the info in OOC. TG me with the link so I can find it amidst the clutter.

Love, Swith.

[Primordial Luxa]

Primordial offers the audience some wine.
"did it just get roomier in here" insidious quips

[The BranRiech]

Bran sat on the beach, watching the stage when he suddenly felt refreshed. A new thread smell entered his nose and he smiled.

[Dabfia]

"So when does this surprise start?" Dab asks.

[Swith Witherward]

Naomi took a break from watching the girls tear into gifts. She offered Thriller a box. "Merry Christmas," she smiled.

[Tiltjuice]

MB perked up. This was a new time. A magical time.

He flash-jumped away, and four-point-landed on the sand between Dora and Bran.

[Bone Fort]

Bones lurks at the edge of the crowd, as if waiting for something to happen.

[The New Velociraptor Empire]

Fortu watched with Monique, what Mon was doing. While NVE and Gretta were in the back. NVE put Gretta's small gift in his pocket, waiting for the right moment to give it to her.

[Germanic Templars]

"That's the best part about it." *Soon both Aleki and Khrolodna were done chowing down on their food. A Krute walked up handing a bill to Khrolodna and Aleki.* "Shit, hey sis, got 5 coins to spare, i'm a little short.* He asked while digging through his pockets* "Fine here ya go." *She placed a few coins on top of his. The Krute came back, collecting the money* "Take ya time eating, enjoy it, can't get it back on earth."

Natiya nodded and tried toning it back, but she still scarfed it down within a few minutes.

"Well then, I'll have to come here more often." She laughed, cleaning her mouth off.

*Aleki laughed along* "That we should, that we should." *Khrolodna left ahead of the couple to start up the car* "So, we just got one last place to go and that's back to my sister and I's place... We share an apartment room."
__

Swith watched the girls squealing and tearing through gifts. "You know," she said to Thriller, "it's times like this that I regret never having one of my own. Then it passes, and I consider orthodontic bills, the cost of prom dresses and college tuition."

"Ahh but you see, it's better to consider on the times spent together than it is money spent." *Thriller accepted the gift and smiled* "Thank you Naomi."

[The BranRiech]

*Aleki laughed along* "That we should, that we should." *Khrolodna left ahead of the couple to start up the car* "So, we just got one last place to go and that's back to my sister and I's place... We share an apartment room."

"That sound nice, Bran and I would've killed eachother by now if that were the case though."

[Swith Witherward]

"Ahh but you see, it's better to consider on the times spent together than it is money spent." *Thriller accepted the gift and smiled* "Thank you Naomi."

"True," Swith sighed.

"You're welcome," Naomi said. "It's from both of us and Eva."

[Monfrox]

"Okay....you guys ready?" She asked. Klanov, Lidev, and the User both nodded. "As we'll ever be." Klanov said. Mon peeked out to make sure everyone was here, or at least most of everyone. "Okay....okay.....I can do this....I can do this...Giov, a bit of a change in plans. I forgot that there was a piano part for this, but it was in the sheet music. Lidev took care of it." She said as she put her on the seat. "I have faith that you'll do well. Just follow my lead." She said.

Mon grabbed her acoustic guitar. She was still wearing her outfit that she wore everyday as she sat in a stool in front of the stage. A two spotlights turned on and illuminated her. She bit her bottom lip before looked down at the guitar. She fingered the neck frets and strummed the strings to a tune.

She went very much into the song and the sound system behind her kicked in with an accompaniment as she played along. It was her version of a song that was famous back in the Zone, and one that she enjoyed hearing as much as playing. But this was only the first song. More were to follow in suit, although with a more festive kind of feel. Mon worked her fingers along the neck of the guitar and alternated between strumming up and down on the strings as she performed.

[Bone Fort]

Bones seems to be internally debating something before walking away to his bunker, leaving before the concert started.

[Swith Witherward]

Swith turned her head towards the music. "Thriller, if you'd rather attend the performance, please don't let us hold you up."

Chi arrived and clapped her hands upon seeing the gifts. She joined the girls in play, which left Naomi and Swith free and clear of parental duties. Swith opened a bottle of wine. Naomi, feeling awkward, made her excuses and left.

[Primordial Luxa]

"Okay....you guys ready?" She asked. Klanov, Lidev, and the User both nodded. "As we'll ever be." Klanov said. Mon peeked out to make sure everyone was here, or at least most of everyone. "Okay....okay.....I can do this....I can do this...Giov, a bit of a change in plans. I forgot that there was a piano part for this, but it was in the sheet music. Lidev took care of it." She said as she put her on the seat. "I have faith that you'll do well. Just follow my lead." She said.

Mon grabbed her acoustic guitar. She was still wearing her outfit that she wore everyday as she sat in a stool in front of the stage. A two spotlights turned on and illuminated her. She bit her bottom lip before looked down at the guitar. She fingered the neck frets and strummed the strings to a tune.

She went very much into the song and the sound system behind her kicked in with an accompaniment as she played along. It was her version of a song that was famous back in the Zone, and one that she enjoyed hearing as much as playing. But this was only the first song. More were to follow in suit, although with a more festive kind of feel. Mon worked her fingers along the neck of the guitar and alternated between strumming up and down on the strings as she performed.

Primordial was used to a different type of music being from a much different country but found it very enjoyable none the less. he and insidious made some plans once they returned to the apartment allowing the music to serve as an excellent background.

[Germanic Templars]

*Aleki laughed along* "That we should, that we should." *Khrolodna left ahead of the couple to start up the car* "So, we just got one last place to go and that's back to my sister and I's place... We share an apartment room."

"That sound nice, Bran and I would've killed eachother by now if that were the case though."

"Well surprisingly, we haven't mainly because of people complaining about us." *He laughed. Seeing Khrolodna giving him a signal, he lead her out of the diner and towards the car. He opened and closed the car door for her before getting in himself. Hour later, they would reenter Romlin, parking out in front of an apartment complex.* "Seriously Khrolodna, we need faster way of transportation." *He stretched out his legs before stepping out of the vehicle*Hey, it's the only one I could afford, we maybe commanders, but we are not politicians or masters of trade."

[The BranRiech]

Figuring this was the pefect time for what he planned, Bran exited the water near his shack and put his clothes back on, full dress uniform. He grabbed a box from under the bed and made his way back to the stage, his cap tilted off to one side slightly. He silently made his way over behind Rylli and stood for a few moments. Bran had seen nearly everything in his short life, but he could barely bring himself to do this. All of the time they'd spent together was flashing through his mind as he held the small box in his trembling hands . . .

. . . He tapped Rylli on the shoulder and took a knee.

--

Rylli was a bit surprised by the tap on the shoulder but turned around nonethe less, she saw Bran on a knee in front of her. A tear rolled down her face as she quickly embraced him in a hug.

"Yes!" She sobbed happily, not even giving him the chance to ask.

[Germanic Templars]

"Ahh but you see, it's better to consider on the times spent together than it is money spent." *Thriller accepted the gift and smiled* "Thank you Naomi."

"True," Swith sighed.

"You're welcome," Naomi said. "It's from both of us and Eva."

*He put on the scarf then gave both Naomi and Eva a hug.* "Thank you." *he repeated. He then turned his attention towards Swith* "Thanks but no thanks, still have to go back to the workshop and give M.A.I. her gift, plus I forgot Bran's gift as well as Mon's gift at the shop as well. Oh if Naomi wants to, she can see me get into my newer mech suit."

[Primordial Luxa]

Figuring this was the pefect time for what he planned, Bran exited the water near his shack and put his clothes back on, full dress uniform. He grabbed a box from under the bed and made his way back to the stage, his cap tilted off to one side slightly. He silently made his way over behind Rylli and stood for a few moments. Bran had seen nearly everything in his short life, but he could barely bring himself to do this. All of the time they'd spent together was flashing through his mind as he held the small box in his trembling hands . . .

. . . He tapped Rylli on the shoulder and took a knee.

--

Rylli was a bit surprised by the tap on the shoulder but turned around nonethe less, she saw Bran on a knee in front of her. A tear rolled down her face as she quickly embraced him in a hug.

"Yes!" She sobbed happily, not even giving him the chance to ask.

Insidious was knocked to the ground, her telepathy going into over drive and bombarding her mind with the powerful emotions of the pair.
she mumbled softly while on crawling on the ground "happy for you"

[The BranRiech]

Insidious was knocked to the ground, her telepathy going into over drive and bombarding her mind with the powerful emotions of the pair.
she mumbled softly while on crawling on the ground "happy for you"

The two shared their embrace for the longest time, savoring the music.

"Thank you." The both sobbed, still hugging.

[Swith Witherward]

Naomi wandered down to the dock and stared up at the ship. "I suppose Bones and Swith can't cart this back to the building... wait, yes they could, and break the laws of physics while they were at it." She stared up at the Friedhof flag waving on the breeze.

--

"Naomi's still in one of her moods," Swith shrugged. "Oh well, such is life. I really should go see where she's gone." She kissed Thriller's cheek and added, "Thank you again for the necklace. It's beautiful."

[Primordial Luxa]

Insidious was knocked to the ground, her telepathy going into over drive and bombarding her mind with the powerful emotions of the pair.
she mumbled softly while on crawling on the ground "happy for you"

The two shared their embrace for the longest time, savoring the music.

"Thank you." The both sobbed, still hugging.

Primordial helps her up and hands her a media player to block out the thoughts invading her mind.
He then notices her gaze and smiles at bran, giving a thumbs up.

[Giovenith]

"Okay....you guys ready?" She asked. Klanov, Lidev, and the User both nodded. "As we'll ever be." Klanov said. Mon peeked out to make sure everyone was here, or at least most of everyone. "Okay....okay.....I can do this....I can do this...Giov, a bit of a change in plans. I forgot that there was a piano part for this, but it was in the sheet music. Lidev took care of it." She said as she put her on the seat. "I have faith that you'll do well. Just follow my lead." She said.

Mon grabbed her acoustic guitar. She was still wearing her outfit that she wore everyday as she sat in a stool in front of the stage. A two spotlights turned on and illuminated her. She bit her bottom lip before looked down at the guitar. She fingered the neck frets and strummed the strings to a tune.

She went very much into the song and the sound system behind her kicked in with an accompaniment as she played along. It was her version of a song that was famous back in the Zone, and one that she enjoyed hearing as much as playing. But this was only the first song. More were to follow in suit, although with a more festive kind of feel. Mon worked her fingers along the neck of the guitar and alternated between strumming up and down on the strings as she performed.

Giovenith tapped along to what she could with the music, which was fair enough.

Though she almost did get distracted when she caught eye of what Bran had done. "Ahhhhhh-heeheeheehee!" she squealed delightedly, and kept playing with a huge grin.

[Tiltjuice]

Figuring this was the pefect time for what he planned, Bran exited the water near his shack and put his clothes back on, full dress uniform. He grabbed a box from under the bed and made his way back to the stage, his cap tilted off to one side slightly. He silently made his way over behind Rylli and stood for a few moments. Bran had seen nearly everything in his short life, but he could barely bring himself to do this. All of the time they'd spent together was flashing through his mind as he held the small box in his trembling hands . . .

. . . He tapped Rylli on the shoulder and took a knee.

--

Rylli was a bit surprised by the tap on the shoulder but turned around nonethe less, she saw Bran on a knee in front of her. A tear rolled down her face as she quickly embraced him in a hug.

"Yes!" She sobbed happily, not even giving him the chance to ask.

I froze time and did some fast work with a professional-grade digital camera MB had gotten from somewhere. (I didn't ask.)