[NE] A Thousand Years of Darkness - Part Two

Time goes by, seasons change, but the ever-present feeling of dread and gloom distorts all under the hellish nightmare that has become the world of Auloru. The dead walk the earth in various guises, some still retaining the spark of life they had before the Change, some spiralling into feral and abhorrant behaviour with no recollection of a past before their Fall. Trees have become twisted and gnarled, some even thirsting for blood. The waters have become clouded while stange beasts swim beneath the polluted film, some large enough to overturn whole boats should they desire it. The wind whispers into the ever-present night, speaking of revolutions and madness, pain and paranoia. The very spark of life has dulled, flaring only occasionally in matters of self-preservation or heated debate. The jungles of the mainland are clogged with the cloying scent of death and decay. The branches give no light and the swamps claw at unwary travellers, embracing them into the fold. The deserts and plains have become hostile, allowing for the rapid and serious growth of dangerous new breeds of dinosaurs and insectoids.

The island of Myr, once the most industrious and prosperous city state in all of Auloru, is under occupation. Tzielian forces, and a dangerous immortal dictator, keep the people firmly in an iron grip. The city itself has grown to encompass the entire island, though the old portion of Myr, the great mountain and the palace of the last Kingpriest, has been sealed away. The poorer districts of the city ring about the dangerous stone wall, separating the horrors within from the rest of the population. The ramshackle housing and lack of services from the government have made the area almost unbearable to live in. People die there, whether it be from sickness, 'accidents' or undead, and the more wealthy sectors of the city do nothing in response.

Five hundred years had passed since the destruction of Myr and the death of their last Kingpriest. Five hundred years of stalled progress, disease, death and madness - and there is no sign of it stopping. There is talk of revolution. It slithers down back alleys and worms out of gutters. The downtrodden are becoming restless. The wealthy are becoming agitated. The Lord of Myr, the cyborg known as Ironblood, has recieved assistance from the mainland. The winds will change - but in who's favor?

---

It was dark out. This wasn't a new phenomenon, as Tziel literally stole the throne of the Sun Goddess and blocked the sky with a heavy cloak of darkness. The clocks were never wrong about the time, though, so most Myrians went about their business with the ticking of time always close at hand. The street that you find yourself on is barren of souls. Old papers, newsprint and posters, litter the old cobblestone streets that signified the run down district known as King's Passing. Most of the buildings are a mixture of vaguely victorian and upwards to dingy concrete and affordable housing a little on the rough side. Various lights peeked out from windows affluent enough to own curtains, but the real beacon came from the diner on the corner. It flooded the streets with a sickly light and the promise of relatively fresh food.

It was red. Or, rather, it was once red. The colours had faded from the outside through years of grime and neglect. From inside, there was a lone man wiping down a nearly-white counter. A waitress wandered aimlessly about, coffee pot in hand, in case the two customers in the joint wanted refills. To the left, and down a hill, was the lovely habour. Covered in sea bird poop and strange things that occasionally clung to the rotting wood compliments of the sea, was the main entry point in and out of the city. A ship was coming in, easing carefully towards the dock. To the right of you was the bright lights and cleaner air that signaled the beginnings of the more classier side of town. It was, of course, higher up the hill than the poorer sections. It was a gated community, one that made sure all the rabble were put into their rightful places. A moan or two would drift to your ears from the mountain beyond the diner. That was where the crazy undead were bottled up. You don't want to go there.

Also, if you happen across a vampyre, give in. Best not to fight them when they just want a nip. The insects, Tziel's favorite creations, were more likely to be friendly to newcomers. Just don't piss them off or you will regret losing some limbs.

---

Please keep it relatively advanced lit and follow the rules [no god-modding, etc]. You guys can start without me, and I can gently nudge you in certain directions. The world that this place is located in has a wide assortment of races, and although the elves and dwarves died out, there are still lots of other creatures. If anyone has any questions, let me know. I don't bite [ I gnaw ;B].

Also, I intend to make this rp actually last one thousand years. There will be a time shift to 500 years later from this point and posted in the 'future' section of the forum. It won't be happening soon, though.

Updates will be posted here, so check back often. Once a week I hope to have something up because, heck, everyone gets busy with school.



Everything appears to be quiet on the home front. Immortals, once separated by time and geography, have come together. Love, whether an old flame or newly ignited, sparks between pairs of these wayward spirits. Lives are changed and rearranged through these reunions - but will it be enough to break five hundred years of absence, in the case of Kuar and Maria? Will a centuries long silence and denial finally be destroyed by Arjun towards his childhood friend? Can Rain move on past the horrors she had succumbed to by vampyres to find love with the more careful Nicoli?

More importantly, will these soap operas be put on hold while a factory manufactoring security robots explodes in a spectacular manner? Will the Bloody Sunrise strike again, closer to home and all that these immortals hold dear? Tune in Next Time for all these answers and more on Days of Our Lives TYD - II~!

SIMS!

For instance, up there is Beryl being cruel to the fishes in her fish tank. She likes to harrass them on a constant basis, using her hands as imitation shark jaws and making silly faces. She loves the colour Turquoise, elegant furniture and science books. Fortune Aspiration, not very nice but terribly outgoing and neat. Don't mess with her because she does have a few guns lying around the house for pranksters and hooligans. ;D

Beryl Woodward

Name: Beryl Rajani Woodward
Gender: female
Age: 26
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 163
Build: Has a rather voluptuous, hourglass shaped build

Appearance: Beryl would be considered quite beautiful - if she was human. Her hair is as soft and pale as a fresh snowfall, but is cropped short and out of the way for combat purposes. After all, should one find themselves in a fight, they should be able to see. Her skin is a dull brown, save for areas that express her genetic upbringing. Those places are a slick and smooth discolouration in bright, fiery red and dark splotches of black. They are found along her cheekbones, temples, neck, shoulders and parts of her collar bone, cresting along her breasts, down the sides of her torso and ending along the sides of her thighs. She does not have a tail.

Misc: She is primarily composed of salamander DNA. Her eyes, however, are a strange unidentified shade of green. Other things of interest is that she can breathe underwater almost as well as on land and can regenerate lost limbs. Of course, the limb-regeneration process is slow, painful and not really fun. Beryl only does this if she is in dire need of escape - otherwise, she'd rather not do it at all.

Weapons: Pistols, mainly. One for both hands.
Home: Lives in the underground with the rest of the halflings. Her home is moderately nice although she hungers for more - so much more.
Job: One of the many delegates in the underground city.

Bio: Born to a rather carefully constructed and maintained pairing of amphibians, Beryl was headed for genetic success within the underground city. She could have almost been a high-ranking member of the council if her great grandmother toad did not dally with snake. Of course, Beryl thought that such long forgotten mistake in the past did not warrent exclusion from the higher echelon of government. Her grandparents and parents fastidiously made sure to strike up favorable matches to return to the true and noble bloodline of which the woman was ever so proud of. It still irked her to no end, however, that a small part of her wonderous DNA was tainted by serpents.

And that the muddlebloods tried to put her down to their awful level. They insinuated such scandalous things, and Beryl was content to cut all of them out of her life, her world and her surrounding view of the city. Indeed, when the woman moved out to live on her own, she had bought a stately place beside all the other delegates and only moved in those circles. In fact, she hardly moved beyond the even smaller circle of amphibian delegates - horrible bores that they were. Beryl could not wait until the war with the humans would be over and done with - then she could finally get herself an impressive home and perhaps keep a human or two as a pet. Maybe she could even get the council to forgive her great grandmother's disgusting liason and make her one of them. That would be delightful.

If not, then she might go into drastic measures, and pull one of them painfully off their high thrones. After all, why should the puppies, kittens and, most frustratingly of all, birdies get all the fun?

Is Feminism Still Relevant Today? Y/N

Found a few interesting videos from my Women and Gender Studies Class, thought I'd share them and invite discussion. C:

Survey On the Street

What a Feminist Looks Like

Killing Us Softly: a look at advertising trends (1/5)

I'd love to hear some open discussion about these films and your opinions on them. Try to keep it relatively civil, though C:

The Bloody Sunrise [TYD]

"Rise up and take the power back, it's time that
The fat cats had a heart attack, you know that
Their time is coming to an end
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend"

Name: Bertram Renard Adriel
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 196
Build: Athletic but does not spend time bulking up.
Appearance: Bertram hair is straight and burnt orange in colour that he prefers to keep above the shoulders. His one good eye is a dark blue in colour, while his left remains sewn shut after an unfortunate incident involving a fight in his youth. That very same fight left him with several scars along his body which he is very sensitive about. Likes to dress in typical Myrian middle class clothes, as he is not quite royalty, but they are usually presentable and clean.
Misc: Has a general hate for the majority of his blood relatives. And those who continue to worship Ursula and the spirits. And those who try to thwart his plans, whatever they may be at that moment. And fish; he really dislikes fish.


- Ether Guard: Wraps the caster in a ethereal green haze that negates simple magic attacks.
- Invocation Killer: A fancy silence spell that is directed primarily at other mages.
- Rune Charge: A blast of emerald fire.
- Warlock's Napalm: In essence, a very deadly bomb.

Weapons: A hefty metal baseball bat, though he'd much rather be using his magic or a gun.
Home: A run down shack of a house near the market district of Myr.
Job: Officially, he is a guard for hire in the market district. Unofficially, he likes to consider himself a lover of sifting through the massive ruins of the library complex archives in Old Myr and a scholar.

Bio: His family line was supposed to be under the protection and gentle care of Arjun, but when the immortal took a fairly long hiatus from Myr, bad things started to happen to Bertram. Thirty years is a long time to be without the unseen support that the Skinwalker provided, and a whole lot of 'accidents' occurred in the process towards adulthood for the Myrian. As such, Bertram is a rather cynical man, prone to bouts of depression over his scarred appearance and lack of depth perception. The man unfortunately copes by putting down others, mainly through the arrogant belief that he is somehow better merely by virtue of his bloodline. When Bertram joined the Bloody Sunrise [or, 'BS' as he likes to call it because it allows him to replace the original words with something more fitting], he presumed that being an Adriel automatically made him the leader. He was not pleased to see that position already filled by a long-distant cousin of his, and still grumbles about it. No one really supports Bertram in his bid to become the next leader - the others find him distasteful to be around, and would rather shoot themselves in the foot than let the man bully his way to the top, not that they'd say that to his face.


Name: Umi Otharia
Gender: Female
Age: 23
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 204
Build: Athletic and built with relatively strong bone structure.
Appearance: As a lizardling female, Umi's horns are not prominant, her tail is thin, and is shorter than the males. Due to her lack of mammatory glands and constant bagering from Myrians who cannot tell the difference between the males and females in her racial group, Umi has taken to wearing skirts and other, more 'feminine' attire. While involved with the Bloody Sunrise, however, Umi takes advantage of the Myrian's inability to distinguish between genders and sports masculine wear. This is done so that she can easily distance herself and the acts done by her for the group with a change in wardrobe. Her scales are a vibrant green and she tends to measure the strength of those she meets with an often critical pass of her pale orange eyes. She is not of noble birth, so her orange markings on her forehead and more along her back denote this. Her silvery hair is usually left unruly.
Misc: She can be sometimes seen working on her graffitti art on the wall separating Old Myr from New Myr. Most of the time it is crude and directed at the dictator of the nation-state, though there are occasions when she doodles something pretty.
Weapons: Her claws, teeth, and tail are all she needs most days. Umi does like chains, however, for throttling purposes.
Home: She lives in the Lizardling ghetto which also happens to be one of the poorer areas of the city. She shares a room with her four siblings, her parents, and her venerable grandmother.
Job: When not engaging in mischief for the good of her gang, Umi works in her family's flower shop.
Bio: Umi is the eldest of her four siblings and works hard to bring in as much money as she can to help support her family. Both of her parents have two jobs, and her siblings try to help out with the chores whenever they can. Umi joined the resistance movement because she was tired of having to live like this while others partied like kings in the more well-to-do parts of New Myr. She became aware of the resistance group from a few of her peers who had been rescued from becoming zombie chow by Brune.


Name: Rishi Lilardul
Gender: Male
Age: 36
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 169
Build: Lean, and does not do exercise unless it is absolutely necessary.
Appearance: At the first glance, with his beaten up and worn brown suit and trench coat, Rishi does not look that much different from the people that he looks after. However, upon closer inspection, one would notice that the savaelian male lights his cigarettes with an expensive and lovingly polished silver lighter, that his pale blue hair is always smoothed out as neatly as possible and his posture is straight and assertive. His peach-pink eyes would regard you with a vague sort of interest.
Misc: A chain-smoker, Rishi always has a cigarette in his mouth.
Weapons: A revolver usually does the job, unless it requires stealth and pre-meditatied planning, in which case a simple injection of powerful drugs would suffice. Other than that, Rishi is pretty much powerless.
Home: Lives in the much slandered and poor section of the marketplace, not because he can't afford to live elsewhere, but because he actually gives a damn about the marginalized citizens forced to live in the cesspool of Myr and their health. Owns a small clinic that attaches to his home.

Pictures of His Home for the Curious:

The outside, including his small garden plot:
1, 2
The waiting room:
1, 2
The operating room:
1, 2

Job: A rather poor-man's doctor, Rishi only has at his disposal the bare minimum to keep up with demands. He has no formal degree in medicine but extensive field training that carried over from his years fighting undead in the jungles of the ruined Dragonbone Empire. As of such, he is also currently in charge of dealing with citizens that wandered too close to the unholy ground zero that was the capital's palace and got infected by the mindless undead that shamble about behind the thick stone walls that separate New Myr from Old Myr. The results of that side job are messy and usually painful to discuss.

Bio: Rishi has had a rather tragic life, but, like everyone else who is currently suffering under Tziel's rule, tries to shove aside the more troublesome ones in favor of focusing on the present. Ever pragmatic, and sarcastic, Rishi avoids and side-steps any and all attempts at other people trying to dig up his past. His weary eyes and haunted expression can sometimes overcome him in times of quiet reflection on rainy days. The man has seen quite a fair bit of horrors.

The Leader:

Name: Brunehilde "Brune" Adriel
Gender: female
Age: 28
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 162
Build: Built with broad shoulders and wide hips, Brune looks like she could shoulder the world and all it's worries easily.
Appearance: Brune has deep red hair, usually tied up in a ponytail or a bun and kept out of the way. Her eyes are also a deep, dark red that most people assume to be brown. She doesn't care either way, as it is not as though the colour means anything. She has a round, soft face with gentle features that most mistake as being 'weak' or 'childish' but the woman has quite a bit of wisdom and cunning under her round cheeks that makes her a danger to underestimate. Usually seen wearing simple, casual wear on her days off and more professional fare while on the job.
Misc: Likes to help out in the community as much as possible, and can sometimes be seen spending her evenings patrolling the Wall separating Old Myr from New Myr.
Weapons: A handgun, usually, is all that's required. to get her point across.
Home: Lives on the more cleaner streets of the slums in an old, run-down apartment building.
Job: Works as an assistant and secretary to Rishi's clinic.
Bio: Her branch of the family had always been protected by Rose, although Brune did not put much stock into the notion of secret, stalker-like protectors hiding out in the shadows. Despite having the red hair and eyes traditionally denoting authority over all Myrian citizens, the woman does not flaunt it. In fact, she tries not to have it as the focal point of her life. After all, with Tziel running the show for centuries prior to her birth, the notion that she would be a queen is quite silly. Brune does, however, want to ease the pain caused by the roaming, mindless undead scattered about Old Myr against the citizens therein. More often than not, though, most of the resistance group's plans revolve around minor incidents and mischief as she has gotten comfortable doing such.

When Brune is not secretly leading her band to action, she is quite content to help manage the clinic. It was, in fact, at the clinic where she got the idea to do a bit of undead hunting. It was there that she learned just how bad some parts of the city were when it came to infestations of hungry mutant monsters. It was also here that she became acquainted with the rare sight of a Savaelian in Myr and all the work involved in being his assistant. Rishi was a rather demanding and gruff sort of man, but she soon tolerated his presence.