<small>Related to a post in A Blind Eye</small>


Long into the night did Armande contemplate the Ascendancy's message.

He lost count how many times he replayed the video. Eager and straining for reinterpretation.

However, every time the ouroboros showed itself, Armande's stomach turned sick, but he made himself memorize its shape until the scars grew bright behind otherwise disbelieving eyes. Nikolai Brandon was once Atharim, but under who's reign? Where were the records of his initiation?

Sleep did not come that night. Nor the following day. He locked himself deep in this office, and rose only to savor a drink of water across parched lips. Everything upon which his task was built must be newly critiqued. It was like Michelangelo redesigning all of Saint Peter's just before the last stone was laid.

When he finally emerged, he was pale from the lack of sleep and drawn from the dizzying search for knowledge.

"I must go to the Vatican," he sent out the order to his staff and departed in preparation for the journey. In the meantime, he ordered an immediate stand-down of all Atharim against the Ascendancy until the truth of these matters became clear.

They were all in grave danger.

The hot new quiz floating around the book of faces lately is asking which star wars character you are.

Well, we decided to fill out the quiz as if our characters were answering! Let us know who you get! And what you think about the choice.

To start off.....


Nikolai Brandon is....


... YODA!



HELL yes! Nik is old and wise, indeed indeed, but whether he uses his power for good or for ill remains to be seen. Maybe if we give him another 850 years.



And just to make things extra fun. I am personally...

...THE EMPEROR!



And this one is accurate in ways that are a little bit disturbing.


So go take the quiz and let us know who you get!

Star Wars quiz

Just a suggestion, can we move the current date/time for the rpg someplace we can see while logged in.

Thanks in advance.

The past few months had been trying to say the least. The first few days were nothing but a blurred memory. And the days after weren't much better. To say Aria's faith had been shaken was not a misnomer, she wasn't sure the direction of her life was going to take. The business of the city was something Aria still wasn't completely used to. Her little apartment above the old book shop was barely adequate enough to get a good night sleep.

The couple upstairs was constantly fighting, their anger seeped into Aria's dreams and would wake her with a pounding heart and fury nearly as bad, the only solution was to drown herself into the solace of a water covered grave. Or so it felt at times. She really didn't want to kill herself, but the pain of it all was getting to her. The solitude of the Vatican city's Historical society buildings were something Aria never thought she would ever miss. She never even contemplated the need for that basement room shielded from the world, and now she longed for a quiet night.

But even worse was what they did when they weren't fighting. Their passion (and their noisy love making) was louder than their anger. It woke Aria in a flush and embarrassed by the things that entered her mind. But worse was that she could never touch another like that even if she did so in her dreams. The one fleeting moment of the possibility with a man raged through her body. One little kiss and Aria felt the mental barrier shatter and all she felt was him. Aria had collapsed from that one touch, and the boy had never returned her affection again. Though Aria suspected it was no fault of his, Father Dimitri strictness increased after that, that was when even he stopped touching Aria and use the confounded stick he had sent with her.

Aria sighed. The couple above had started their fighting again, early. She slipped out the door and started walking. It was cold. Snow falling from the sky as it did in the winter months. Aria thought it was a bit early to see the snow fall, at least in the Vatican City, but she was not there any longer. The solace of the churches near by were plagued with the same emotions of her apartment. She walked for hours until she saw Novodevichy Monastery. The river side view and the historical impact of the place drew her to it.

The buildings themselves told stories but that was not the final draw, once upon the grounds Aria felt at peace, as if she had been seeking the holy land the whole time. It was not quiet per-say, but the emotions surrounding her were the most pleasant she had had in the last few months.

The graveyard was one of the finest attractions the monastery had, and it was also one of the quietest places Aria knew. The dead don't feel anything - she hoped. Aria slowly walked through the rows, glancing at each marker and studying it. What had the person been like? Why had they died? Questions she couldn't answer and their emotions did not reveal. It was pleasant.


Edited by Aria, Jan 17 2014, 01:23 PM.

It appears we are having issues with the wiki (if anyone ever notices something just let me know and i'll take a look as soon as I can)

I have notified my provider that there is an issue. My assumption is a service has stalled (as it has in many cases of other sites I host at the same location). If this becomes a repeated problem the I will see what has to be done.

Please just let me know if there are any issues at all no matter if you think it's just you having issues.

I'll keep you posted on what happens here.

The following report was released to the public last week.

For full story, click here
.







Redirect:

<small>
Custody Court has ruled in the matter of Minutemen v. CCD. The court has ruled in favor of the plaintiff.

On a related note, the CCD has refiled sanctions of financial reprimand against the Minutemen under classified accounts. </small>

Now that Seth had Rune, they were almost ready to start on their actual job. He just had to find John White--Hood. He'd already gotten the chance to read through some of the guy's files. From what Seth saw, they were going to get along just fine. Then they could kill themselves a god.

Fridjof was quick to chime in once he reactivated the glasses. Seth had to hand it to the kid, he kept all the other boys in check while Seth was gone. "The truck is out front."
Even with the silly accent, he'd be damned if he hadn't found his second in command. Besides Rune of course, but she had a special rank. Kind of a cross between mascot and attack dog.

A brand new white Ford Expansion pulled in right as they reached the building's main doors. He'd already given the driver points for choosing American. Now if only they could start driving real trucks.

Seth realized he was only over complicating things by bringing the kids along but, by the same token, if they weren't able to drive him to a building without stepping on their own toes he didn't expect much in an actual hunt. He held down the button on the side of his frames once they reached the car. "Thanks for keepin' 'em from running off a cliff while I was gone, Fridge."
He opened Rune's door for her before he hopped in the passenger seat. Seth still couldn't believe they wanted to go in as a group.

Fridge chimed in a final time. "I do my best. See you at headquarters."
Why couldn't they all be that competent? He was pretty sure it'd save him a few heart attacks down the line.

Everybody was in the truck, so it was time to get back to HQ. "Heard that, Mauri? Let's get going."
He turned back to Rune after it was clear they were heading the right direction. "Alright Runey, I'm willin' to bet you want to know why I'm here."
When he noticed her expression, he raised an eyebrow. "And judgin' by that look on your face if I don't let you ask soon you're gonna hurt yourself."


<small>((Tried not to mode you too much but ya said start a new thread. :L ))</small>

Silas' footfalls pounded the steps up to the broken down church fortified more like a den than a condemned building. His pants were caked with mud to mid-thigh like cement shoes. Pants?

He curled a paw around the knob, gripped it like a bear wringing the neck of a cod and threw his weight against it. The white heat of pain flashed through his shoulder. Nothing moved, the door was locked. He scratched at the door then, heaved back on two legs and dug in his claws until scratch marks bit into the wood.

He yipped and yelped, but nobody inside heard, and he was too weak to gnaw his way through. He pushed the image of himself outward, but there was nobody to hear. None to hear for miles and miles.

He fell to his knees. Knees? And curled up in front of the portal. The fur on his face crunched frozen with snot and ice. His paws ached. The sun would warm him soon. Or somebody would find him and drag him indoors. Or he would remain cold in the long sleep. Which was fine by him. He'd spent a week tracking his way back to their den. It'd be about right to die on its doorstep. It'd taken longer to forget the shrill sense of panic that sent him running beyond the golden ring at all.

Michael's plans played out around Torri. Their mission had been to plan for contingencies. The cover had been that these contingencies would be of the mainstream medical emergencies, but Torri knew better. She had higher clearance than what Michael could access. More than once over the last few weeks she'd considered sharing everything with him, but something held her back. Call it intuition. Whatever it was, she'd adapted a few details in his plans to make room for sicker individuals than the typical bioterror attack.

Arriving in Mecca brought back memories. Unless counting 3d map simulators, she'd never been here before, but then again, the airstrips all looked alike, right? They'd taken her to the city's base as a place to work until the Ascendancy himself arrived. It was a fine enough operation. Her job could have been a lot more hellish but most of the work was already completed before her vehicle pulled up. The tension was thick, though. Like battening down the hatches. Torri didn't blame them. They prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. What kept her lips down turned was the realization that they actually hadn't prepared for the worst, because they didn't know it existed. . .

. . . but she did.

Amira lay in her bed as she tried to shut out the pain form her leg. It didn't quite want to listen to her voice of reason. She could still feel the pathway the bullet had taken from upper hip to just before her knee. It felt like fire burned right through her muscle, it did.

It would get better. For Allah would reward the faithful. And she was a pure woman who walked in the righteous fear of the one true God. Even though she couldn't actually walk at the moment.

There was a knock on her door. "Come in," she let out. The door swung open to reveal Ashka, first cousin by her father's sister. A good man. He'd been one to try and protect her honor at the checkpoint stop. One could not be too careful in walking the true path in these times. With the coming of the Mahdi -- surely it was true this time -- the final days were drawing close.

No one had thought the guard had been so hot blooded and inexperienced as to pull his trigger at the wrong moment. In an eyeblink, a tiny piece of hot metal shot forth from a barrel and through the tender flesh of her thigh, crippling her. So here she lay. Untouched by a man but at the same time pierced by hot jacketed lead. How would she find a suitable husband now? She should resign herself to maidenhood now, never knowing the hot touch of a lover's carress in the loving approval of Allah's blessing.

"Ashka," she said.

"Amira," he replied. "I hope you are feeling well and I am sorry to tell you in your condition that we have a visitor. Do you feel well enough to entertain him?"

A visitor? Amira brought herself upright in the bed. It took some effort, but she managed to gain her footing. She wrapped her hijab around herself and grasped for the wooden cane near her bed. "Who seeks us at this hour?"

Ashka gave her a chagrined look. "You aren't going to believe me if I tell you."