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<<if $TyrMorgan is 0>>\nHand ruffling through his hair, Russo tried tugging up at the short brown locks adorning the exterior of his skull. "So. I see it didn't take too long for all of that," he gestured vaguely at Tyridia, "to grow back." One of these days Russo would find himself an antagonist that didn't breathe fire all over him. One of these days.\n\nThe fox scratched shyly at one his puffy fluffy cheeks. Shades of red burned through the cream colored fur adorning the sides of his muzzle. "Morgan really helped that along with her healing spells." Tyr pinched at his cheeks in seeming disbelief. It had only been a month or two at most since that demon, Umbra, down in the basement went and burnt most of it off. \n\n"Morgan, huh? How long have you two been together anyway?" the human asked. Russo peered down expectantly at the foxy summoner as he awaited an answer. And waited. Annnnd waited.\n\nFumbling with his hands, Tyr nervously turned his attention towards anything and everything that wasn't that question.\n\nRusso rolled his eyes. "I meant as partners," he clarified. \n\nJaw opening and clamping shut without rhyme or reason, Tyridia visibly choked on his words. Tail puffed out behind him he was flustering up quite a storm simply thinking about his raccoon lady friend.\n\n"...As coworkers? Shit, if you're going to be this difficult I can just ask Morgan." \n\n"NO," the fox practically bellowed. Lurching to a standing position, hands pressed down firmly upon the table, Tyridia's assertive posture crumbled just as quickly as it came. "I. Just. Can we talk about this some other time?"\n\nA shrug was offered up by the mage in response. "Alright, alright," Russo nonchalantly answered. "Have it your way." Turning away from the fox he casually sauntered on over towards Morgan's general direction. \n\n"Russo! Oh... please don't." A soft whine rising up from his throat, Tyridia ventured away from the cluttered confines of his table in pleading protest.\n\n"Would you relax," the human answered without even bothering to look back. "I'm not gonna pry. Besides, I have plenty enough to poke and prod her about as it is." Russo received a sigh of relief in response at which he could only shake his head. "You're free to join if you want." \n<<else>>\n"You're welcome by the way." Smug grin creased upon his lips, Russo couldn't help but smirk at the fox.\n\n"For what?"\n\nRusso laughed. "You know damn well what. For bailing on your ass. Leaving you and Morgan to pack and prepare alllll by your lonesome." \n\nTyridia huffed at the thought and curled his kimono tightly around his thin frame.\n\n"Just think about it. You and her-" The mage's teasing narrative abruptly cut off as a book whapped him in the side of his face. He blinked rapidly in disbelief as it flopped down to the floor and came to rest at his feet. "What. So you have no problem standing up to me but not Xis?" Another whap sounded out while Russo bumbled backwards.\n\n"You're an ass," Tyr grinned. Another tome weighing heavily in his hand was guided forward. It slapped against the human's chest with a tunk. "...But thanks."\n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $TyrMorgan = $TyrMorgan + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n<<if $TyrMorgan is 1>>\n[[Russo: Fraternize]]\n<<else>>\n[[Russo: About Xis]]\n[[Russo: Books books books]]\n[[Russo: Seeya]]\n<<endif>>
<<if $character eq 1>>\n<img \t\tsrc="http://radda.incongruency.com/Twine/Animation%20Test/Morgan.gif">\n<<endif>> \n<<if $character eq 2>>\n<img \t\tsrc="http://radda.incongruency.com/Twine/Animation%20Test/tyridia.gif">\n<<endif>> \n<<if $character eq 3>>\n<img \t\tsrc="http://radda.incongruency.com/Twine/Animation%20Test/Xis.gif">\n<<endif>>\n<<if $character eq 4>>\n<img \t\tsrc="http://radda.incongruency.com/Twine/Animation%20Test/Dax%20Pixel.gif">\n<<endif>> \n<<if $character eq 5>>\n<img \t\tsrc="http://radda.incongruency.com/Twine/Animation%20Test/Kovania.gif">\n<<endif>> \n<<if $character eq 6>>\n<img \t\tsrc="http://radda.incongruency.com/Twine/Animation%20Test/Nadie.gif">\n<<endif>> \n<<if $character eq 7>>\n<img \t\tsrc="http://radda.incongruency.com/Twine/Animation%20Test/Umbra%20(Cloak).gif">\n<<endif>> \n\n
<<if $DaxXis is 0>>\nAn idea, devious and terrible, sprouted to life in the menagerie that was the mage's mind. "Hey Dax."\n\n"Hmm?" The wolf cocked his head to the side while dishes and silverware clattered beneath his plump fingers. Standing before an open table, he slowly took to sorting and stacking them while he eyed Russo attentively.\n\n"Remember how you were wanting to dig into summoning earlier?" Russo nurtured, stoked, and guided his dubious machination along. \n\nDax's eyes lit up at the mention. His ears poked up against the top of his hood as he nodded an emphatic yes.\n\nThe human calmly presented his questions to the wolf. As if one organically lead into the next. "Wellllll... who better to learn from than an actual summon? Just bumped into Xis and figured that, you know, maybe if you're still interested-"\n\n"Where where where where where?" Bouncing up and down on the balls of his paws, Dax demanded to know. His broad belly jiggled violently, bumping aside the stacks of plates that had accumulated before him. Yelping in panic, he lunged after the displaced dishware and carefully piled them back up. "...Where where where?" he continued to ask while he bounced at a much more restrained rate. \n\nRusso forced a sigh and shrugged. "Since you just had to ask..." The mage paused and hmmmed aloud. "I guess I could let you know. He's hunkered down in one of those dark and dreary corners towards the back." It took all of Russo's willpower to stop himself from bursting out cackling as Dax dashed by. "Remember! He's the four-legged fox. Not the two-legged one." \n\nA maniacal grin spread wide across the human's face once the sound of the kitchen door creaking shut registered in his ears. Rubbing his gloved hands together, Russo hummed in delight.\n<<else if $DaxXis > 0>>\n"So whatcha think of Xis?" Hands shoved into his pockets, the human casually sauntered up to the wolf. \n\nSleeves pulled up and kneeling before a wooden tub filled to the brim with water, Dax splished and splashed as he cleaned up after himself. "He talks funny," Dax answered. Exposed paws wiggling in the warm air he scrubbed roughly at the sides of his food-stained bowl. He growled as he kept at it. "That and... he's spooky! Those creepy eyes and and and him being dead!" The wolf shook his head furiously side to side. He didn't like it, not one bit!\n\nLaughter, callous and gleeful, echoed within the confines of Russo's mind. "Ehh, you'll learn to tolerate him. Just give it some time," he answered with anything but a straight face.\n\nDax barked back in response and violently swished his tail at the thought. \n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $DaxXis = $DaxXis + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n<<if $DaxXis is 1>>\n[[Russo: Fraternize]]\n<<else>>\n[[Russo: Stop that]] \n[[Russo: Not gonna introduce yourself?]]\n[[Russo: Later then]]\n<<endif>>
<<if $MorganDepart is 0>>\n"You good for now?" Morgan asked as she plunked down upon one of the benches that lined the sides of one of the broad tables. Situated in the center of the guild hall, the ancient and well-worn furniture offered a prime view of everyone entering, lingering, or leaving this place. Provided that said masses of people the raccoon was people watching didn't block her view of everyone else.\n\n"Yeah, I'll leave you be," Russo said as he bid goodbye to her with a wave. He grunted when the procession of humans and furs through the gaps between the tables grew far too slow and congested for his tastes. Snapping his fingers, the mage vanished in a burst of blue light. He reappeared before the door leading down into the Yash guild's basement. \n<<else>>\nFingers fumbling with the red lined hem of her robe's sleeves, Morgan yawned. "Catch you later," she mmffed as she clamped her jaws shut so as to stifle yet another yawn while Russo teleported out of view. \n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $MorganDepart = $MorganDepart + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: Fraternize]]
<<if $TyrDepart is 0>>\n"You're nothing if not committed," Tyr snorted. Chin cupped in the palm of his hand, his eyes followed Russo around the table. \n\nAny and every stack that was greater than or equal to three books high was toppled over by baps and taps of the human's gloved hands. \n\n"Done?" The fox asked as the last stack teetered over and plunked loudly against the already accumulated pile of paper and hardcovered texts. \n\n"Done," Russo smirked. With his back turned to the fox, the mage shot him a wave and ventured off.\n<<else>>\nKimono sliding down off his shoulders, Tyridia rubbed against the back of his chair. "Don't be a stranger," the fox half-heartedly stated as his attention drifted towards one of the many books splayed out before him.\n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $TyrDepart = $TyrDepart + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: Fraternize]]
The mage turned away from the kitsune and casually paced away from him mid-conversation. Dammit. He knew better than to get his hopes up but some part of him wished that Dax would have taken the bait. Sighing, he whirled about on his heels--only to freeze in place.\n\n"Wow." Gloved finger tapping against his cheek, Russo was legitimately surprised to see Dax's portly form suddenly blocking his view of Xis. "Honestly wasn't expecting that to work." Curiosity aroused, the human slowly crept up on the duo. \n\n"Russo says you're a summon!" Dax stated excitedly. Tail swishing side to side, the wolf unloaded one question after another into the fox. \n\nThe kitsune stumbled on his words. "I. Well, yes." Soliticing such... primitive inquiries was something he was unaccustomed to. "That is not incorrect." \n\nDax hmmmed and nodded his head up and down. The cloak of his hood, pocked with off-colored patches where the canine had accidentally ripped or nervously nibbled on the blessed blue fabric, brushed against his ears. "What's a summon?" he asked.\n\nXis regarded his grey furred guest with uncertainty. Surely. Surely he wasn't that stupid. The kitsune pursed his lips. "If you must know, I technically ought to be referred to as a spirit." He puffed out his chest and rose upon his haunches. "The title of summon is merely a formality. Indicative of the fact that a spirit has formed a contract with one who would summon them forth." \n\nThe wolf's head bobbed with every spoken syllable.\n\n"A promising start," Xis told himself. He cleared his throat before continuing on. "In a previous life I most assuredly must have been a savant. One who devoted himself wholly to the magical arts and whose very soul and being became invariably intertwined with the magic he wielded. Upon death, instead of passing on, his soul simply faded into the ether where it was reshaped into the debonair entity who sits before you." \n\nDax frowned at the mention and hrmmmed. "So... you're dead?"\n\nEavesdropping all the while Russo couldn't help but grin as bits and pieces of their conversation filtered into his ears. \n\nXis' jaw went slack. "No. I mean." He sighed and tapped his paws against the floor in an effort to rein in the flow of the conversation. "I will not deny that at some point the person who I used to be ceased to be, but that has no-"\n\nThe wolf winced. "Oh no does that mean you're a ghost?" A low growl rose up from the canine's throat as he slowly stepped back. \n\n"NO!" Concentric crimson eyes gone wide, the four-tailed fox embedded his claws into the hardwood planks at his feet. "I am a summon! I-I mean, spirit!" \n\nRusso was unable, or unwilling, to hold back his laughter any longer. Clutching at his sides he strode up besides Dax and grinned contentedly down at the kitsune.\n\n"YOU. THIS IS YOUR DOING ISN'T IT?!" Xis all but bellowed. \n\n"Russo help, it's a ghost!" Arooing softly, the wolf took cover behind his self-appointed teacher. \n\nRolling his eyes, the mage gently pat Dax upon the head. "Relax, you'll be fine." Brows arched, Russo couldn't help but smirk at the positively seething summon.\n\nXis fumbled through a snarled mixture of consonants and vowels while he glared at the human. "TAKE THAT PORTLY PONDERER AND DEPART."\n\n"Gladly. Come on Dax, you're not going to get anything else ouf of this stiff." Patting him proudly on the shoulder, Russo coerced his canine companion forward and shepherded him back towards the guild's kitchen. Overwhelming satisfaction filled the mage's bosom when he heard, and felt, Xis growling furiously behind them. \n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $DaxXis = $DaxXis + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: Fraternize]]
<<if $XisDepart is 0>>\nThe mage tossed his neck side to side, loud pops sounding out when he did so. "This was certainly something. Not exactly enjoyable, but something." Back turned to the kitsune, Russo gladly distanced himself from the mouthy summon. He shot Tyr a wave as he passed by.\n\n"I can only pray for your continued absence," Xis sighed in relief as his unwanted guest departed.\n<<else>>\nConcentric eyes narrowed, Xis swished a paw at Russo and motioned for him to shoo. He had long since tired of verbalizing his disdain towards the mage.\n<<endif>>\n\n<<silently>>\n<<set $XisDepart = $XisDepart + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n\n[[Russo: Fraternize]]
Heavy footsteps echoed through the narrow hallways as the human tread along a gentle incline leading towards the stairs. No matter how hard he tried to ignore it his eyes always drifted back towards a non-descript door with a simple sign hanging upon it.\n\nDO NOT ENTER BY ORDER OF THE GUILDMASTER\n\nRusso sighed in relief when he spied the subtle changes made since he last entered this place. The simple handle that served as nearly every other door’s means of entry had been removed. In its place was a slab of steel bearing a small keyhole. \n\n“Doubt that’ll do much to keep Umbra in, but at least it’ll keep most people out.” The mage being one of those few folks who could enter regardless of the security measures put into place. What with the ability to just teleport right inside should he so desire. \n\n<<silently>>\n<<set $Ascend = $Ascend + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n\n[[Russo: Pay Umbra a visit]]\n[[Russo: How about no]]
<<if $Ascend is 1>>\n“Yeah let’s not,” Russo thought to himself as he tiptoed by. The less he thought about her the better. If Nadie had managed to keep Umbra subdued for this long then what was stopping her from doing so indefinitely? No need to make that panther’s job harder for her by antagonizing that damn demon. \n<<endif>>\nHand held up to the side of his head, Russo manually put on the blinders as he hurried past... 'her' quarters. A rough and crinkled wall of black pressed along his sideburns cupped inward to prevent his wandering eyes from seeing anything other than a big mitteny glove. Heh. It was strangely satisfying that he would use the spoils wrought from a prior encounter with Umbra to prevent another one with her entirely.\n\n\n[[Russo: Stairmaster]]\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $character = 0>>\n<<remember $character>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>
<<silently>>\n<<set $character = 6>>\n<<remember $character>>\n<<endsilently>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<loopbgm V9os2cftrSg>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n"Might as well," Russo thought to himself upon approach to the huge fucking panther's office. He lightly rapped a knuckle against her doorframe.\n\nNadie's gaze remained planted on her desk. "Just a moment, Russo." Quill pinched between two padded fingers, she hastily scritched and scratched out a thought before punctuating its completion with a loud tap against her desk. She lifted her head and turned those grey eyes towards him. "Come in, come in!" Hand held out before her, she beckoned him forth.\n\nShoulders scraping against the barely propped open door and the frame beside it, Russo popped into her office. The crisp smell of leather filled the air. There wasn't so much as a streak of dust to be found in the feline's office. Every book upon every shelf, even those littered about on the floor, were utterly pristine.\n\n"Cordial. Surprisingly so, even," Nadie demurred. She rumbled in delight at the eyeroll she received in response. \n\nShoulders slumped, Russo fidgeted with his gloves. \n\n"It was a compliment, child. I would hope you're familiar with the concept. Varun doesn't completely starve you of them, does he?" Purring, she reached out and roughly ruffled his hair. \n\nThe human groaned as his head was practically pushed down between his shoulders. "I think I liked it better when you were aiming to kick my ass."\n\n[[Russo: Real talk]]\n[[Russo: Never mind]]
<<if $TyrXis is 0>>\nJust over Tyridia's shoulder, Russo spied the kitsune keeping a watchful eye on the both of them. Still within earshot, Xis was far away enough to make conversation with him an effort but close enough to intrude and force his presence upon the duo if need be.\n\nRusso mulled his options on how best to bumble through his inquiries. Subtle? Blunt? Regardless of the approach taken, Xis was bound to notice and take offense. He paused to consider the implications of doing so. "...Good," the mage thought to himself. If Tyridia wasn't willing to voice his displeasure at the kitsune then Russo would be more than happy to. \n\n"Mind if I poke and prod about what the deal between you and Xis is?" Arms crossed about his chest, the human saw no need to force manners when they weren't needed. "Oop. Almost forgot something." Eyes half-lidded Russo cleared his throat. "Shut up, Xis."\n\nThe kitsune groaned and exhaled between his clenched teeth. "I have yet to even lambast you!"\n\n"We all know you were going to," Russo shot back. He grinned when he received an irritated growl in response.\n\nTyr sighed and scratched at an ear. The fox offered a resigned shrug. "...What is there to say? It's exactly what it looks like."\n\n"I. Huh." Lips curled down, the mage uneasily clutched at one of his elbows. Goddamn. That was about as depressingly straightforward as could be asked for. \n\nThoes green eyes of Tyridia's dipped down towards the table. "Don't get me wrong." His padded fingers shyly flipped through upturned pages. "I appreciate what you're trying to do. Really." \n<<else if $TyrXis is 1>>\n"So he hasn't been giving you too much grief?" With a jerk of his head Russo motioned towards Xis.\n\nTyr's eyes drifted towards the edge of their periphery. "Not any more than usual. I've been uhh... partnered with him long enough as it is that I've learned to manage it. Really."\n\n"If you say so," the human reluctantly replied.\n<<else>>\nStanding before Tyridia's table, Russo yawned. Eyes clenched shut he brought a hand up to his face to rub away long-ignored crusts of sleep. Facing Xis, he dragged a middle finger back and forth against an eyelid.\n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $TyrXis = $TyrXis + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: Books books books]]\n[[Russo: You and Morgan. Are you...?]]\n[[Russo: Seeya]]
Russo then proceeded to be an all-around wet-blanket and shirked off any attempts to be social or interesting whatsoever.\n\nThe End\n\nTHIS IS WHAT YOU ASKED FOR. I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY.\n\n
"I. Umm. Thanks," Russo said. He awkwardly shuffled about, unsure of how to properly express his gratitude.\n\nErrant rumbles and purrs continued to rise up from deep within the panther's throat. "You are an accomplished and powerful mage in your own right, Russo. I wouldn't have you accompany Morgan and Tyridia if I thought of you as a liability. While the same cannot be said for your companion, Dax, I can rest assured he has fallen under capable care."\n\nRubbing at his chest with one of his knuckles, as if to tamper down the pride welling within it, Russo failed to stifle a smug grin. "...Keep talking."\n\nNadie rolled her eyes. "Shoo, child. Go stroke your ego elsewhere." The panther paused and nibbled playfully on her quill's feathered tip. "Unless you'd like to do so by divulging the details behind that draconic magic of yours. Then by all means, please, continue!" \n\nWell then. "Bye Nadie," Russo stated as he waved to the Yash guild master and slipped out the now propped open door.\n\n"Goodbye, Russo." Bidding him a cheerful wave back upon his departure, Nadie quickly slipped back into her studies.\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $NP = 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: Turning In]]
It is the middle of the fucking day. Russo may be a lazy son of a bitch but he isn’t out and out slothful. No. \nRolling his eyes at the invisible hand of the narrative the mage came to a stop before one of the many guest rooms littered about on the lower levels. A heavy wooden door, splintering edges scraping against the floor, stood before him. \n\n[[Russo: Yes]]
Door creaking open, a dimly illuminated stairwell opened up before Russo. The first few steps practically glowed in the waning sunlight that stretched this far. Whereas the remainder cast a stony blue hue courtesy of the illuminatory crystals embedded into the ceiling overhead. \n\nRusso ventured down to his temporary quarters. Stepping forward his boots clacked loudly against the carved stone beneath them. Behind him, the slab of wood and iron that granted him entry closed with a soft click.\n\nFootsteps echoed around him as he plodded off to his guest room. To his right were a series of doors. One of them leading to rest and respite. Before him... huh.\n\nNadie's office door was propped open. The panther sat hunched over at her desk, scribbling out something.\n\n[[Russo: Nahhh]]\n[[Russo: Office hours]]
<<if $DaxDepart is 0>>\n"You're leaving aleady?" Hands clasped together and resting atop his bloated belly, Dax's lips quivered.\n\nRusso rolled his eyes. "If you want to stay hunkered down here for the day, that's your prerogative. Now I can't believe I'm actually saying this... but there's nothing stopping you from tagging along." \n\nThe wolf sighed and let his shoulders slump. He let slip a subdued bark and dragged a paw back and forth along the floor. "M-maybe in a little bit."\n\n"Alright then, seeya." His back turned towards Dax, the mage tossed a wave in the wolf's direction. Pulling the door towards him, Russo stepped back out into the main hall.\n<<else>>\nTail wagging behind him shyly, Dax's fat fingers fumbled and played with the crystal draping down from his neck. "You know where to find me!" he called out as the human made his exit. \n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $DaxDepart = $DaxDepart + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: Fraternize]]
<<if $XisCooperate is 0>>\n"Should I bother geting my hopes up for this upcoming mission given that you're a part of it?" Expression gone flat, the human stared down the fiery fox.\n\n"What?" Xis smirked and narrowed those crimson colored eyes of his. "Frightened that my presence will render yours unnecessary? You are not wrong to think that any aid you could provide would pale in comparison to my own."\n\nRusso blew a raspberry. "I'm surprised you're familiar with the concept." He pointed a finger accusingly at the kitsune. You, help? If you managed to do anything besides drag us down I'd be pleasantly surprised." \n\nA warm, moist, puff of air buffeted the human's cheeks when the four-tailed fox lunged forward and snapped his teeth at the air. With a flurry of blinks, the mage flushed away what globs of spittle that he could. "Someone's feeling salty," Russo said with no small amount of pride.\n\n"Call my competence into question at your own peril," Xis growled. Claws digging into the planks lining the hardwood floor, wood shavings peeled back beneath the fox's paws as he retracted his outstretched form. \n\n"Hah. Now I see how it is." It wasn't a conversation so much as it was a verbal confrontation at this point. And Russo would have it no other way. "You're not used to people pushing back, are you? Everyone is supposed to just suck it up and roll with the punches." \n\nXis glared back at the human while his nostrils flared. A mixture of indignation and embarrassment reddened his fluffy cheeks. He was under no obligation to answer such baseless acccusations. "I fail to see how such combativeness lends itself to cohesion, much less cooperation, for the trials ahead that await us."\n\n"Tch, you're one to talk. All I've ever seen you do is rag on Tyridia!" The mage pointed back at the orange furred fox who shyly recoiled at the mention. "How the hell is that helping?"\n\nMuzzle clamped shut, the kitsune refrained from giving Russo any additional incentives to continue conversing.\n<<else if $XisCooperate is 1>>\nGroans and gushes of air escaped from between Xis' sharp teeth. "Have you nothing better to do than seek out strife?" He shuddered when Russo shook his head side to side. "You will have to pardon my recalcitrance, but I am loath to entertain such base and primitive desires."\n\nSnout turned up at the mage, the foxy summon dismissed Russo with a snoot.\n<<else>>\n"I... why are you still here?!" Lips pulled back, Xis's composure faltered. "Depart at once! I will say this as many times as need be, I have nothing more to say to you."\n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $XisCooperate = $XisCooperate + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: What do you even do? Besides complain]]\n[[Russo: Bail]]\n<<nobr>>\n<<if $DaxXis is 1>>\n[[Dax: Bother bother bother]]\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>
<<if $TyrBook is 0>>\n"Never did think to ask, but what is all this?" Russo paused to actually take in the contents of the tomes he had splayed out upon Tyridia's table. \n\nBalancing a book between his padded palms, one hand pressed against both the front and back cover, Tyr gently clapped it shut. He twirled it between his fingers until the cloth-covered spine faced towards him. "This one is..." The fox's cheeks pressed up against his eyes as a palpable sense of embarrassment overtook him. "Is... 'An Introduction To Spellcasting.'"\n\nThe mage blinked repeatedly. "Why?"\n\nSomething approximating a sigh tumbled out from between the fox's lips. "Because I'm trying to brush up on the basics," he hurriedly blurted out. "Summoning and spellcasting are two entirely different schools of magic. They hardly overlap," Tyridia timidly touted in his defense.\n\n"Annnnd those illusion and fire spells from earlier?" One eyebrow cocked, Russo pressed on with his questions more confused than curious.\n\nTyridia huffed in noticeable irritation. His green eyes slowly slunk to the sides of their sockets. "Those... those don't count," the fox quietly mumbled. \n\n"Ahh." Teeth clenched and lips curled down, the human regretted having asked in the first place. \n\n"So that's..." Tyr slowly started speaking as he twirled the book between his fingers once more and flipped it open. "I want to learn my own spells. Make my own mark. Not just... not just be an extension of Xis."\n\nRusso nodded and purposefully neglected the act of breathing for a time. Lest he risk snorting at the thought of Tyridia as 'Xis Lite.'\n<<else if $TyrBook is 1>>\nFingers running through the orange fur atop his head, Tyridia sighed and buried his foxy face into the books before him. \n\nRusso pondered the plethora of responses available to him. "Is that how reading works now? You just absorb the words straight off the paper and through your skull?"\n\nThe vulpine chuckled. "Noooo. It's a nice thought, though." He turned his gaze upwards towards the mage. "This... might not work out as well as I had hoped. I'd practically have to unlearn summoning for this to work." \n\n"Why's that?"\n\nTyr's jaw clacked open and shut as he chewed on his words. "Summoning is all about offering the purest magic you can muster. In terms of quality and quantity. You have to clear your mind, free yourself of thought and feeling. Anything that could shape or distort the magic offered up has to go."\n\nSucking in air between his teeth, the human wheezed. "Whereas casting spells is everything... not that." \n\n"I've noticed," Tyridia groaned. \n<<else>>\n"Still at it?" Russo asked of the fox. \n\nPalms pressed tightly into his cream colored cheeks, Tyridia's muzzle bobbed up and down. \n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $TyrBook = $TyrBook + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: About Xis]]\n[[Russo: You and Morgan. Are you...?]]\n[[Russo: Seeya]]
One hell of a story this will turn out to be if Russo just goes straight to bed to end it. \n\nGloved fingers curled around the wrought-iron handle, the mage arched his brows and awaited the next inane command. \n\n“If you’re not going to take this seriously than neither will I.” Grunting, his eyes dipped down towards the bottom of the screen.\n\n[[Russo: Do it]]\n[[Russo: Nah I changed my mind]]
Woah now. Hey. Slow down there. Just walking away, middle fingers raised up high, accomplishes nothing. That'll just leave her be to do whatever it is she does completely unbothered.\n\nLook, you chose this conversation path for a reason. And if it was for anything other than to antagonize someone then you're doing it wrong. But that's okay! Because this is an interactive story where everyone gets to make their own choices. Which of course, also includes me. \n\nSo. Know what I want? I wanna steer this narrative right on back to harassing a hyena. Just like I wanted! Ummmmm. I mean, just like you wanted!\n\n[[Russo: Antagonize |Russo: YES]]
Tough tiddlywinks. You had your chance to derail the story and turn it into a boring mess and you fucking blew it. \n\nEnergy crackling around his fingertips, Russo turned his attention towards the narrative choices hovering just beneath his feet. Flicking his index finger against his thumb a bolt of lightning shot forth from his digits and crackled against one of the remaining options. \n\nThe consonants and vowels hissed and seethed with energy as they smoldered. Ruinous red cracks formed along their curved surfaces before they crumbled to ash. \n\n"No more waffling you wishy-washy bastard. Freedom of choice is obviously too much for you to handle," Russo grumbled. Shaking his gloved hand, the arcs of electricity that jumped between his digits dissipated.\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<set $PlotBad = $PlotBad + 1>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: Sightsee]]
“You’re sure about that?” Head cocked to the side, Russo worked out some kinks in his neck. Staring down at the dark space beneath the floor was positively killing him.\n\n[[Russo: I'll be good]]\n
<<silently>>\n<<set $character = 5>>\n<<remember $character>>\n<<endsilently>>\n\nWind, bitter and chilly, whistled through the streets of Yash. It was subdued but consistent. Gushing down the darkened alleyways, flitting over the wide boulevards, and slinking through the burnt out husks of buildings.\n\n"Ideal auditory cover," Kovania thought as she skulked about. Her footsteps were measured. Slow. She kept to the sides of broad, and neatly kept, streets. Away from any refuse that might crinkle or crunch under her boots. \n\nStringy tufts of clouds, swarmed together, sailed across the night sky. Their patchy forms obscured the moon's pale glow for seconds at a time. \n\nThe hyena darted between buildings when the cloud cover would allow it. Yash itself waxed and waned under the celestial body's interrupted luminescense. \n\nCape of her cloak pulled tightly around her frame, unwilling to let it risk flapping about, Kovania came to stand before the Yash guild. She steadied her breathing and bore into the handful of stairs leading up to the entrance with her eyes. "Really should have practiced this more," she thought. \n\nSwallowing hard, the hyena tried to pick out the sweet spots she had identified over the past few days from entering and exiting the guild. With hesitation she lifted a boot off the ground. The latest cluster of clouds passed and illuminated both her and the well-worn planks of wood. There! Without so much as a creak, Kovania ascended the first step. \n\nKovania's climb marched to a stilted beat. The unpredictable ebb and flow of darkness and light cast over the town made for slow going. \n\n[[Kovania: Breaking and entering]]
Rolling his shoulders the mage winced when he felt them pop either into or out of place. “Alright let’s get this rolling.” Stepping back from the door, Russo took to sauntering off towards the stairs leading up into the Yash guild’s main hall. The soles of his boots wobbled uneasily along the bumpy and uneven stone surface that served as the basement’s floor. \n<<nobr>>\n<<set $Good = $Good + 1>>\n<<endnobr>>\n\n[[Russo: Wait no. Plot bad. End this now!]]\n[[Russo: Sightsee]]
The door swung open with a creak. Kovania exhaled nervously as, for the first time in years, her heart rattled within her ribcage. Shit. She should have greased the hinges first. \n\nHer composure crumbling, she shook off the debilitating mistake and entered. There were far too many unknowns awaiting her. Would it be cooperative? Would it lash out and blow her cover? \n\nThe uncertainty was too much... but the pay was too good to pass up. Purple aura seething around her fingertips, Kovania readied a silencing spell. \n\nTwo yellow orbs, cutting through the dark, burst to life before her. Kovania tensed up as a low growl filled the room. The scent of flame filled her nose as twin wafts of smoke spontaneously manifested below the orbs and clouded them in a grey haze. \n\nThe thief's prize flapped its gums. Molten spittle and saliva dripping down from its murderous teeth illuminated faint traces of its pitch black muzzle. \n\n"Just who the hell are you?" Umbra rumbled out.\n\n\n[[RaddaRaem: The End]]\n\n<<silently>>\n<<set $character = 7>>\n<<remember $character>>\n<<endsilently>>
<<if $XisPurpose is 0>>\nHands shoved into his pockets, Russo cocked a brow at the kitsune. "What exactly do you do again? Morgan heals. Tyr illusions things up. You..." If there was a better way to word this it wasn't readily revealing itself to the mage. "You constantly run your mouth with nothing to show for it. Kind of like a useless version of me."\n\n"Such biting words," Xis responded with a snort. His black lips parted to reveal a sharpened set of teeth. "I wonder what pierces deeper. My teeth? Or your limited vocabulary? Perhaps a demonstration is in order so that we may ascertain the answer."\n\nRusso clamped his own pearly whites, much flatter in comparison, together. That's right. It may have been some months back but Xis did prove himself remotely useful by mauling a demoness, the one which was currently shackled in the basement below, half-to-death. Damn four-tailed fox's mouth was just as good at dragging down the mood as it was as drawing blood. The human's eyes darted down to the long black pointed nails that adorned the kitsune's lithe toes. As were those claws. \n\n"Alright, fine. Your mouthiness is a very potent asset," the mage acknowledged. A subdued relief trickled over Russo when the feral fox ceased to actively bare his fangs at him. \n\n"Your ignorance is positively aggravating," Xis groaned. The kitsune's four tails fanned out behind him and purple embers manifested upon their tips. Red concentric eyes drilled into the mage. "I... permit that misunderstandings may have been allowed to manifest given the anomaly that was our last encounter. My fox-fire is intended to conflagrate its desired target." Xis clacked his claws against the hardwood floor and hmmmed. "Which, technically speaking, did occur during our confrontation with that thing." \n\nUnease gripped the mage at Xis's dismissive demeanor towards the demon. "You mean Umbra?" \n\nThe kitsune shrugged. "Call it whatever you see fit. She's hardly a threat now that we've familiarized ourselves with her antics."\n\nRusso grimaced. "If no one else will take her seriously, then I will." Repeated, and worryingly close to successful, attempts on his life had made him reasonably fearful of the demon labrador.\n\nUnimpressed, the alabaster colored fox carried on. The angular red stripes that coursed through his coat undulated as Xis bobbed his head and swished his paws before him. "Then of course there's the potential for misdirection with the magic I wield. Flames distort the very air around them. Warping and transforming how one perceives the environment immediately around it. As well as those who reside within it." A crackling heat radiated out from the purple wisps balanced atop the kitsune's tail. The dark stains and streaks in the planks of wood at Xis's paws swam about and freely jumped from one plank to the next.\n\n"My fox fire grants one the ability to control the appearance of these distortions. Illusions, if you will." A pap of his paw against the ground was all it took for Xis to transform the subject of his surroundings. Rising to his haunches, the kitsune's feral form gave way to an anthro one. His dainty feet thickened out in both length and width to something capable of supporting the whole of his weight. "You'll find they're quite convincing." A smug but restrained grin spread wide across the fox's muzzle as he peered down at Russo from his new vantage point. One that allowed him to look down upon the human. If only just barely. \n\nBrows flattened, Russo swatted at the air before him. "Convincing or not that still doesn't stop them from being, you know, illusions." The two-legged fox vanished in a puff of embers. A four-legged, significantly shorter, and none too pleased fox remained. "...Wait. Aren't all of these Tyridia's spells?" The human cringed when Xis guffawed in his face. \n\n"His spells? Is that what he's led you to believe? Tyridia is tutored, not self-taught." The kitsune hhmmphed. "It will be some time before his facsimiles approach anything approaching the quality of the originals from which they are derived." \n\nThe human shot a glance back to the orange fox well within earshot and sitting all by his lonesome at a table stacked high with all manners of books and scrolls. Russo shrugged. "Well. I did ask."\n<<else if $XisPurpose is 1>>\n"Again?" Xis cocked an eyebrow. "Hrrnngh. I suppose it is too much to expect you to absorb that quantity of knowledge in one sitting." In short order the four-tailed fox: loudly chomped his teeth together, flit flames forward that manifested atop his tails, and resumed a looming stature.\n\n"We're done here."\n<<else>>\n"Ooof!" Russo stumbled back as a flurry of tails slapped him.\n\n"Enough," Xis grumpily barked. "I've entertained your idiocy \nlong enough. Begone."\n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $XisPurpose = $XisPurpose + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: And the chances of you being remotely cooperative for this mission arrrrrre?]]\n[[Russo: Bail]]\n<<if $DaxXis is 1>>\n[[Dax: Bother bother bother]] \n<<endif>>
<<if $DaxSocialize is 0>>\nRusso knew better than to ask what serving that was. "Please don't tell me you just ducked in here right after that little pow wow with Nadie."\n\n"Okay!" Bringing the bowl up to his muzzle, Dax tilted the contents back into his maw. His throat bulged with every swallow of the bilious mixture of meat and veggies.\n\n"DAX."\n\nThe wolf's pink tongue slurped across his lips while he bunched his shoulders together. "What?" he shyly asked. Timidly, he stared down at his paws and tapped his toes together. \n\nRusso's nostrils flared when he exhaled a pent-up breath. "We're going to be travelling with a new bunch of fuzzy folks for a while. The least you can do is introduce yourself."\n\nDax kicked at the floor and barked softly. "I guess."\n\n"You guess?"\n\nSetting the emptied bowl on a table beside him, nestled amongst the strewn about kitchenware, Dax took to twiddling his freed up fingers against his curved belly. His hood plopped down flat against the top of his head as his ears splayed apart. "What if they don't like me?"\n\nThe human's expression went flat. He bobbed his head side to side while he mulled over a response. "Only one way to find out."\n\nDax slouched forward and hung his head low. \n\n"Knock it off," Russo said while he papped the back of his hand against the canine's muzzle. Dax straightened his posture and swatted away the smacks in response. "Not everyone is going to like you, Dax. Sooner you face up to that the better. Besides. The two of us got off to a rocky enough start and here we are now."\n\n"It wasn't that bad..." the wolf grumped while he puffed out his cheeks. Nervousness settling upon his frame, he took to fingering with the magic suppression crystal dangling down from a thread looped round his neck. \n\nEyebrows arched, Russo's lips contorted into a lopsided grin. "You tried to rob me and I tried to kill you."\n\nA steady stream of embarrassed barks spilled forth from Dax's maw while he tugged the hood of his blue cloak down as far as it would go. "...Russo. Are we friends?" \n\n"You're wearing my fucking clothes. What do you think?" \n<<else>>\n"That doesn't look like shooting the breeze to me," Russo called out. \n\nDax's portly form, huddled before the fireplace, froze in place as his grey tail went stiff. Stitches and colorful patches sewn into that hand-me-down cloak decorated and spruced up the mage's view of the wolf's broad back. \n\nThe human patiently waited for the canine to respond. An awkward silence lingered in the air before the tink of iron against iron rang out from Dax's general vicinity. "Seems more like you're stuffing your face," Russo carried on. \n\n"S-so?" Dax answered back between mouthfuls of food. Guilty as could be, he turned to face his teacher with slop stained upon his muzzle and puppy eyes cranked up to maximum cute.\n\n"Get your fat ass out there and socialize."\n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $DaxSocialize = $DaxSocialize + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: Stop that]] \n[[Russo: Later then]]\n<<nobr>>\n<<if $XP > 0>>\n[[Russo: Say, Dax]] \n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>
<<silently>>\n<<set $character = 3>>\n<<remember $character>>\n<<endsilently>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<loopbgm FJDFYMWVuLc>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n<<if $XP is 0>>\nThinking back on it, 'Dis Xis' would have been the perfect name for that command. Shit. Too late now.\n\nFloorboards creaked under his gait as Russo ventured towards a twilit corner. Far beyond the sun's reach, the fiery orb's territory consisting of wherever those thin needles of light and warmth piercing through the windows lay, Xis sat on his haunches. \n\nThe human nodded at Tyridia when he passed the secluded table that the fox had claimed for himself. Just within earshot, and shrouded in shadow, the kitsune made no effort to mask his displeasure at his unwanted guest's approach. \n\n"Begone, you bothersome burden," Xis declared with his muzzle turned up at the mage. \n\n"You can try to look down on me all you like," Russo replied with an impassive shrug. "But uhhh... only works so well when the person you're snooting at stands head and shoulders above you." He sniggered when the kitsune took to staring straight up at the ceiling and ever so sneakily pushing off his haunches. Xis bared his alabaster colored neck at the mage. Russo stood atop his tiptoes and peered over the multi-tailed fox's snout. "Like I said." \n\nXis huffed into the human's face and irritatedly brought his face down to a level parallel with the floor. "This is encouraging you, isn't it?" he bitterly sighed. "Do what you will and leave me be."\n<<else if ($XisPurpose > 1) and ($XisCooperate > 1) and ($DaxXis > 1)>>\n"No. NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT. GET OUT." Teeth bared, Xis mauled any hopes for a conversation before it even had the chance to flutter off the ground.\n\nRusso heeded the kitsune's instructions with a shrug and a smirk.\n<<else>>\nAs Russo neared, Xis shuddered and narrowed his gaze. Wrinkles formed around the kitsune's lips while his teeth clamped together and ground against one another. \n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $XP = 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n<<if ($XisPurpose >= 2) and ($XisCooperate >= 2) and ($DaxXis >= 2) and ($XisDepart > 0)>>\n[[Russo: Bail]]\n<<else if $DaxXis is 1>>\n[[Dax: Bother bother bother]] \n<<else>>\n[[Russo: What do you even do? Besides complain]]\n[[Russo: And the chances of you being remotely cooperative for this mission arrrrrre?]]\n[[Russo: Bail]]\n<<endif>>
"Oof!" Pedaling backwards, Russo grunted as the back of his head bounced against the iron bar spread across the length of the door. The one the human just closed.\n\nShouldn't have gone and slammed that shut, huh numbnuts? You made a commitment to speak to Nadie and so help me I will drag you kicking and screaming to this conversation's conclusion. You're stuck here. Nothing left to do now but see it through.\n\n[[Russo: Real talk]]\n\n
<<if $MorganCarry is 0>>\n"Tell me, Morgan." Hands clasped behind his head, Russo bobbed back and forth on his feet. His boots tunked rhythmically against the floor as the mage's weight shifted between his toes and heels. "You think this'll pan out any differently than last time?"\n\nThe raccoon blinked her dark brown eyes at him quizzically. "Pardon?"\n\n"You know, you carrying the whole fucking team and singlehandedly saving the day. I'm all for that if you are." \n\nMorgan sucked air in between her teeth. She honestly couldn't tell whether she should be flattered by the show of confidence or wrankled at the sheer laziness on display. "Everyone played their part," the raccoon tactfully answered. "It was a coordinated effort."\n\nRusso smirked. "You choked out a demon with a barrage of healing spells. Where again did Tyridia, Xis, and I fit into that?" The human shrugged and gently tossed his arms out to his sides. "Really, do tell. If I had anything to do with that I sure as shit don't remember." \n\nHood pulled down over her eyes, Morgan groaned. "Do you ever shut up? Just because it happened before doesn't mean it'll happen again." That ringed tail of hers gently swished back and forth. It bapped against one of her legs repeatedly. With a huff she pulled back her hood. "Don't get used to it."\n<<else if $MorganCarry is 1>>\n"This again?" Embarrassment and irritation lit up Morgan's cheeks. "Just because I can fight on the front lines doesn't mean I should. Mmfff." The white mage hesitated. "I mean. I would say that if I was content sitting on the sidelines tossing out words of healing encouragement."\n\nRusso circled his hands about one another. "Sooooooo... carry?"\n\nShoulders bunched in together, the raccoon narrowed her eyes and glared at the human. "Look. I relish being able to take care of myself and not having to hide behind anyone. I like the thought of me standing there besides Tyr and Xis, not just to support them, but to charge headlong into trouble together with them." Heart emblazoned on her sleeve, Morgan carried on. "Did you... did you catch that whole 'together' thing? Me not doing everyone else's work for them? It's a recurring theme if you haven't noticed."\n\nArms hanging down at his sides and fingers tapping at his thighs, Russo snorted in amusement. "In that example 'everyone' consisted of Tyridia and Xis. Hey, think of it like this." \n\nMorgan sighed and cupped her face in the palms of her hands.\n\nThe human simply grinned before continuing on. "Now we already agreed that it would be great if I didn't stir up any trouble. Unrealistic, but it's a nice ideal to strive for. However. If such a thing were possible, what better way to guarantee a lack of shenanigans than by having you take care of everything for me?"\n\n"Please stop," the raccoon mumbled from between her fingers. \n\nRusso quietly mouthed 'never' before composing himself. "If that doesn't scream 'team effort' then I don't know what will." \n<<else>>\nThe raccoon rolled her eyes at the oft-repeated request. "Let's just hope it doesn't come to that. That's all I have left to say on the matter."\n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $MorganCarry = $MorganCarry + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: So. What've you been up to?]]\n[[Russo: Depart]]\n<<nobr>>\n<<if $TyrMorgan is 1>>\n[[Tyridia: Umm...]]\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>
<<silently>>\n<<set $character = 1>>\n<<remember $character>>\n<<endsilently>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<loopbgm 4K8iVY0OXzU>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n<<if $MP is 0>>\nLeaning back against a wall, cloak catching against stray splinters sticking out from the planks of wood stacked horizontally upon one another, Russo sized up his options for engagement. His blue eyes bobbed against the right side of their respective sockets. "There's Tyridia and Xis..." he mulled aloud.\n\nTwo-thirds of the Yash trio that Russo had come to familiarize himself with, the foxier fractions in particular, had plunked themselves down within one of the sparsely furnished far corners of the hall. Hmmm... pass. \n\n"She's gotta be around here somewhere," the human reassured himself as his gaze took to flitting back and forth across the expansive room. All that remained was to suss out the ring-tail that rounded them out. \n\nWhich was easier said than done. \n\n"Shit, you would think the white robe or the tail would be easy enough to pick out." Sighing, Russo took to aimlessly meandering around. After a couple of minutes of pacing he recognized a familiar voice amongst the errant chatter that filled the cold crisp air.\n\n"...wouldn't happen to know anything about Kovous, would you?"\n\nRusso moseyed on over towards the soothing sounds of a man err... woman with a plan.\n\n"Thanks anyway," Morgan replied as she bid the porcupine off with a polite wave. Pulling her white hood down, the raccoon puffed up at the long strands of hair that draped down over her black masked eyes. \n\n"At least you're trying," Russo greeted her with a shrug.\n\nA wry but appreciative smile creased her lips. "If I don't, nobody else will. I mean it's one thing to read about Kovous or hear of it from Master. To experience it is something else entirely." Morgan snorted softly through her nose and tossed long locks of her hair back behind her shoulders. She pursed her lips as a train of thought chugged along the mental tracks she had laid out for it. "Now that you're here would it be too much to ask you to, as a favor, *not* go out of your way to unearth or unmask or whatever it is you do that dredges up all these demons and doomy dealings?"\n\nRusso hmmed aloud and reluctantly refused to make eye contact. "Uhhh... it just. Kinda happens. No promises."\n\n"I tried," Morgan sighed.\n<<else>>\n"You're not still trying to shake people down, are you?" Russo asked as he approached the raccoon from behind.\n\nMorgan shook her head side to side. "Nahh. Just making the rounds. Patching up scrapes and scabs and the like." Splaying her fingers out, every digit coated with a gentle white aura, she made jazz hands at the human. "Need something?"\n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $MP = 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: Carry me, Morgan]]\n[[Russo: So. What've you been up to?]]\n[[Russo: Depart]]\n<<nobr>>\n<<if $TyrMorgan is 1>>\n[[Tyridia: Umm...]]\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>
Fine.\n\nWith a shrug, Russo shoved open the door. It creaked as it swung along the diameter of its hinges and loudly smacked against the wall behind it. \n\n“I’ll take crushing disappointment over disaster any day,” he smirked when he flopped back onto the bed that was arbitrarily determined to be his. If it wasn’t his before then it was now. Not even bothering to change out of his clothes, Russo pulled the covers up over his form and comfily nestled the back of his head against a frigid pillow. \n\n[[Russo: No wait for realsies I changed my mind. I mean it this time.]]\n[[Russo: The fun stops here]]
How about NO. We're in too deep now. You are not just up and bailing on this conversation. Get your ass back in there and be social and remotely amicable.\n\n[[Russo: Explain]]
<<silently>>\n<<set $character = 2>>\n<<remember $character>>\n<<endsilently>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<loopbgm HlIyNSSORCw>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n<<if $TP is 0>>\nRusso's attention drifted from one side of the guild hall to the other. His lips tugged themselves down in displeasure when he came to recognize an antagonizingly familiar face. \n\nXis, tucked away in a shaded corner, narrowed his concentric eyes and glared right back at the mage. \n\n"Feh," the human grunted in disgust. As he turned his line of sight away from the kitsune's general direction, angry eyebrows locked in at moderate levels of grump, Russo's expression relaxed when he spied Tyridia. Or at least those orange ears of his.\n\nStacks of books lined the circumference of the fox's table. Their spines, some faded and some fresh, faced outwards and formed a protective wall around timid Tyridia. Comprised of equal parts knowledge, history, paper, and glue it was a force to be reckoned with. \n\n"Hey Tyridia," Russo announced himself as he knocked aside a tower of tomes with the back of his wrist. \n\n"Hi Russo." The fox winced at the avalanche of books that smacked against and buried his hands beneath them. "I did put those there for a reason," he mumbled as he reluctantly pulled his fluffy fingers out from under the splayed apart pages. \n\n"Wouldn't it be easier to just slum around in library then? Instead of hauling all these upstairs?" The human cocked his head to the side as the texts continued to tunk and slide against one another. \n\n"Sure would," Tyridia answered. He pulled up one of his kimono's loose sleeves and brushed at the cerulean fabric. "Master insisted that I, at the very least, make myself available to be socialized with."\n\nRusso errantly tapped over another stack of books. "Available is one thing. Approachable is another."\n\nTyr exhaled softly through his nostrils while the human circled around the table and kept on knocking over what he had so painstakingly arranged. "Not like that stopped you," he laughed wryly as he rolled with the punches and his green eyes settled on his guest. \n<<else if ($TP is 1) and ($TyrMorgan is 1)>>\nTo his surprise, Russo found Tyridia's tome topped table empty. No flustered fox to be found. \n\n"Huh," the mage mused aloud. His gaze flit to and fro across the guild hall to no avail. Guess Tyridia must have taken up his offer after all.\n<<else>>\nTyridia's pointed ears flit to attention as the heavy and rhymthic tunk of boots against the hardwood floor accompanied Russo's approach. Eyes half lidded, the fox went ahead and knocked back down what he had been foolish enough to stack before the human could do so for him. \n\n"You're no fun," Russo smirked.\n\nToothy grin curled up along his muzzle, Tyr sheepishly scratched at a fluffy cream color cheek. \n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $TP = 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n<<if $TyrMorgan is 1>>\n[[Russo: Fraternize]]\n<<else>>\n[[Russo: About Xis]]\n[[Russo: Books books books]]\n[[Russo: You and Morgan. Are you...?]]\n[[Russo: Seeya]]\n<<endif>>
Shady Socialization
<<if $MorganNew is 0>>\nScratching at his stubble, Russo's gaze drifted towards the windows flanking both sides of the Yash guild's entrance. Frost collected on the edges of the glass. "You uhhh..." The mage squinted at the steady stream of sunlight that poured through and assailed his eyes. He warily took in the burnt out husks of buildings visible just out front. "None of that's new, right?"\n\nA lopsided grin creased up along the raccoon's muzzle. "We haven't had any incidents since then. Thanks for asking." \n\nEmbarrassed, the human dragged his gloved knuckle against a cheek. "She has a strong track record when it comes to almost killing me. Cut me some slack."\n\n"And how about you have some faith, Russo." Morgan's lopsided grin evened out into something a little bit more reassuring. "We stopped Umbra once. There's nothing that says we can't do it again. Though let's be honest, I really hope we don't need to. But you get the point."\n\nRusso let himself fall back onto one of the nearby benches. The table behind it pressed into his back. "Yeah yeah," he dismissively replied. "You say that because you're not the one she'll be chasing after."\n\nThe white mage snooted right back at him. "And you don't think she'd try to kill the people that put her under lock and key in the first place? We have just as big a target painted on our backs as you do."\n\nA groan slipped free from between Russo's lips. She wasn't wrong.\n\nAt seeing the human visibly deflate, Morgan relented. "Like I said. Have some faith."\n<<else if $MorganNew is 1>>\nAt the sound of approaching footsteps, the tunks growing louder as their owner drew closer, Morgan turned to face her guest. \n\n"So what all have you and Tyridia been up to since then?" Russo flicked a thumb towards the blackened structures visible through the windows.\n\nThe raccoon's brown eyes rolled to the sides of their sockets as she pondered. She held a hand out before her and tapped against her fingers as she counted off their deeds. "Let's see. Mostly we've been been clearing out a couple of nearby caves. Kobolds, flans, coeurls, you name it. Constantly patrolling them to make sure nothing sets up shop is tedious but makes the days go by. You?"\n\nRusso nodded. "Not too much. Jem and I, buddy of mine, went and killed a dragon. You know, the same old same old."\n\nMorgan's brow flattened. As did her lips. \n\n"Not a fan of the modest approach?" The human laughed. \n\n"If that's what you want to call it," she answered with a roll of her eyes. \n<<else>>\n"Been up to much?" Russo inquired of the white mage.\n\nMorgan hmmed. "Well... since you last checked in I've inhaled. Exhaled. Brushed some wrinkles out from my robe. Anddddd... that's about it!" Ringed tail swishing behind her, she couldn't help but smirk at the human's indifferent reaction. "You did ask."\n\n"I did ask," Russo conceded.\n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<set $MorganNew = $MorganNew + 1>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: Carry me, Morgan]]\n[[Russo: Depart]]\n<<nobr>>\n<<if $TyrMorgan is 1>>\n[[Tyridia: Umm...]]\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>
<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<stopbgm 4K8iVY0OXzU>>\n<<stopbgm FJDFYMWVuLc>>\n<<stopbgm R8Obws9vvD0>>\n<<stopbgm HlIyNSSORCw>>\n<<stopbgm hXxaFAgZ6hQ>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n<<if $Fraternize is 0>>\n"So," Russo spoke aloud.\n\nA low din sounded throughout the hall. People both fuzzy and not so fuzzy milled about the Yash guild and lent their indsinguishable voices to the ambient noise that breathed life into the building. \n\n"Who to hit up first?" Russo's eyes darted between foxy fencers, wombat warriors, human healers, and aardvark archers. Alliterative options abound awaited him. He hmmed and pondered whether or not it was worth the effort to approach, much less engage, total strangers. A veritable tyranny of choices lorded over him. Would he seek out new friends? Talk up and then completely forget about new acquaintances? Find some fresh foes to antagonize? ...Nahh. \n\n"Let's stick with who we know," the mage mumbled to himself while he scratched at his scruffy neck. Arbitrarily cutting down his choices for socialization to what few furs he was already familiar with, the mage scanned the room. \n<<else if $Fraternize is 1>>\n"Decisions, decisions..." the human thought aloud while he mulled his options. Fresh air, crisp but frigid, buffeted Russo as the main door to the Yash guild continued to swing open and shut from the steady stream of foot traffic. \n<<else if $Fraternize is 2>>\nNavigating through the maze of tables, Russo deftly dodged nameless guildmates and guests. Whether it was via sideways shuffles, inhaled guts, or uncharacteristic pardons the mage-\n\n"Watch it."\n\nManaged to get off with only bumping one passerby. Not bad. "Sorry about that. You ooooohhhhhhhhhh. Oh. It's you." Russo narrowed his eyes at the hooded hyena. He had yet to forget how dismissively, or how lowly, she thought of Morgan and Tyridia when the hyena directed him towards their in-progress sparring match.\n\nThe hyena responded with a grunt and turned her attention elsewhere. \n\n"Well fuck you too," Russo mumbled under his breath as he sauntered out from the narrow gaps between the benches.\n<<else>>\nHeels of his boots scuffing against the floor, Russo aimlessly wandered about the Yash guild, bouncing from one place or person to the next. \n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $Fraternize = $Fraternize + 1>>\n<<set $character = 0>>\n<<remember $character>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: Wrangle a wolf]]\n[[Russo: Mingle with Morgan]]\n[[Russo: Talk to Tyridia]]\n[[Russo: Something... alliterative... Screw it. Fuck you, Xis]]\n[[Russo: Back to Bed]]\n<<nobr>>\n<<if ($Fraternize > 2) and ($KP neq 1)>>\n[[Russo: Wait... I know you.]] \n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>
<<silently>>\n<<set $character = 4>>\n<<remember $character>>\n<<endsilently>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<loopbgm R8Obws9vvD0>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n<<if $DP is 0>>\n"Suppose it wouldn't kill me to check in on Dax..." Russo told himself. He scritched at the back of his head, fingers sifting through his short brown hair while he awkwardly milled about looking for the wolf. Turning his head side to side yielded nothing. "This should not be that hard."\n\nReluctantly, the mage owned up to his responsibilities. First thing Russo did was set his sights on the long lines of tables, stained and splintered slabs of oak pressed together into rows, that dominated the center of the guild hall. No sign of Dax. "Alright so if he's not already stuffing his face..." He tried to remember where the kitchen was from the last time he visited. "Then he's probably well on his way to doing so."\n\nSlinking along the sides of the broad and expansive room the mage propped open one door after another. \n\nCREAK\n\nDust sparkled in the air as Russo gazed upon musty but well-organized shelves of supplies. Coils of rope, piles of flint, and canteens. He wouldn't doubt Dax might try to eat any of these but they probably wouldn't be the wolf's first choice. \n\nCREEEEEEEK\n\nThe mage's cheeks flared red as he promptly closed the door no sooner than he opened it. "Least I know where the baths are now," he mumbled under his breath.\n\nCRK\n\nA heated blast of scented air buffeted Russo's face. Exhaling loudly, he tugged at the neck of his cloak and stepped into the Yash guild's toasty kitchen. \n\n"Russo!" Dax yelled out excitedly. Standing before a stone fireplace, blackened wood glowing red with cinders crackling at its base, the wolf turned his attention towards a large pot. Panting, he scooped out a heaping helping of steaming slop from its iron innards and plopped it into a waiting bowl. \n\n"Was wondering where you went," Russo replied. He shook his head as Dax happily plodded over and gulped down half his meal in the process. \n<<else if $DaxXis is 1>>\n"He still isn't back? Wait. Why am I saying that like it's a bad thing." Arms gone limp at his side, Russo hurriedly forced himself out of the cluttered kitchen. No way in holy hell he was going to miss even a moment of that beautiful disaster. \n<<else>>\nSniffing and snuffing, Dax followed his nose as he meandered about the kitchen looking for yet another snack.\n\n"You're staying out of trouble, I'll give you that much," Russo stated as he sauntered on towards the wolf. \n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $DP = 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n<<if $DaxXis is 1>>\n[[Russo: Fraternize]]\n<<else>>\n<<if $XP eq 0>>\n[[Russo: Stop that]]\n[[Russo: Not gonna introduce yourself?]]\n[[Russo: Later then]]\n<<else>>\n[[Russo: Stop that]]\n[[Russo: Not gonna introduce yourself?]]\n[[Russo: Later then]]\n[[Russo: Say, Dax]]\n<<endif>>\n<<endif>>
TOO LATE. WE’RE IN TOO DEEP NOW. \n\nEyelids slipping shut, Russo simply splayed out on his bed. He tossed and turned lazily as one bout of napping transitioned into the other. \n\nWE'RE DONE. THE END.\n
<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<stopbgm V9os2cftrSg>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\nHands shoved into his pockets, Russo meandered down the Yash guild's subterranean hallways. Save for his footsteps, and the furious sound of scribbling wafting out from Nadie's office, all was quiet. \n\nThis is about as tranquil a transition as can be hoped for to cap this thing off. Go ahead and get it over with.\n\n[[Russo: Sleep |Russo: Nahhh]] \n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $Fraternize = $Fraternize + 1>>\n<<set $character = 0>>\n<<remember $character>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>
<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<stopbgm e6LqDezHLqY>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\nThe End\n\n\n\nIt's exactly what it says it is. If you expected something else then... well. You really should've known better. \n\nSnark aside, thank you so very much for reading through this Twine! Really do appreciate folks taking the time to wind their way through this. Any and all comments or critique or gush would be greatly appreciated. Hell, I'll outright encourage it. Do the thing I just said.\n\nThat and since we're on the topic of giving credit where credit is due it would be remiss of me not to thank DemonRoni. He arted up those absolutely wonderful sprites you, hopefully, saw while working your way through this the twisty-turvy interactive narrative. You should check out his stuff. Give him money like I did.\n\nhttps://www.furaffinity.net/user/demonroni/\n\n\n\nMusical Credits\nDax's Theme: Crumbs Off The Table - RJD2\nKovania's Theme: The Move - RJD2\nMorgan's Theme: The Girls From Art School - RJD2\nNadie's Theme: The Sleepaway - RJD2\nTyridia's Theme: Work It Out - RJD2\nUmbra's Theme: Ghost - El Huervo\nXis' Theme: Laws Of The Gods - RJD2\n\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $character = 0>>\n<<remember $character>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n\n
Morgan sighed while she scratched at one of her softly pointed ears. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about Kovous, would you?"\n\nRusso simply shook his head side to side, eliciting yet another sigh from the raccoon.\n\n"Couldn't hurt to ask," she mumbled. The raccoon gently lowered herself down onto a bench. "I know there's something to be said about being flexible and spontaneous..."\n\nThe human leaned back and rested his hands against the top of a table. "May or may not have eavesdropped on Nadie drilling that into you as she was tossing out haymakers." \n\n"Ignoring that," Morgan replied with puffed out cheeks. She reluctantly rubbed at a still smarting shoulder before continuing. "But there's no reason to walk into this blind."\n\nIn the periphery of his vision Russo spied an orange furred figure making a tentative approach. "You act like we'll be helpless," the human shot back. "That and shouldn't Tyridia be a part of this discussion? He went through the same hard knocks you did, after all."\n\n"No, but we'll certainly be worse off than if we knew what to expect or to prepare for." The white mage crossed her arms about her chest defensively. "And no. This is fine, Tyr's fine." \n\nTail gone limp, Tyridia hesitated to insert himself into the conversation. "I'm... not interrupting something am I?" \n\nMorgan's posture went stiff before it hurriedly relaxed in the fox's presence. She exhaled and rested her hands on her legs. "Nothing important." The raccoon twiddled her fingers against her limbs as she paused to collect her thoughts. "So, what's up?"\n\nThe summoner bit down on his bottom lip with one of his pointed teeth. He curled his clawed toes against the soles of his sandals as if he were steadying himself. "Well... ummm... I was thinking that maybe if you wanted some help, n-not that I'm saying you need it, uhhh prepping for this Kovous trip I'd be more than happy to help!"\n\nFor the fumbling fox's sake, Russo decided to nudge the conversation back in his direction. "Before you shot me down, Morgan, I was about to point out that it's not like you can't prepare for the unknown." The mage's eyes bounced up to the top of his sockets as he shook his head in concession. "Maybe not very well, but it's better than nothing."\n\nScratching at a cheek shyly, the raccoon flopped her tail onto her lap. "I suppose that's true." She squeezed at her tail in muted embarrassment. "That obvious what I was up to, Tyr?"\n\n"It is kinda your thing," the fox teased as he grew more comfortable and confident with the situation at hand. "When was the last time you didn't religiously plan out and prep our missions ahead of time?"\n\nMorgan pursed her lips and resisted the urge to hug her tail close. "...Since you brought it up, maybe if you and Russo wouldn't mind-" \n\n"Passssss," the human casually interrupted.\n\nShe rolled her eyes and puffed up at her long black hair. "Maybe if you wouldn't mind Tyr, you could help me start packing later tonight? Figuring out how much flint, canteens, and crystals we'll need for the trip ahead. You know, the works."\n\n"Sure!" White tipped tail swaying gently behind him, Tyridia tried to play it cool. "Guess I'll uhh.. see you then!" Bidding the raccoon a wave, and visibly blushing at the one he received from her in turn, the fox moseyed on back to his comfy-cozy corner with a gleeful spring in his step. \n\nRusso waited until the vulpine had long since sauntered out of earshot before piping up. "Well don't you two make just the cutest couple," he snorted.\n\n"Shut up," Morgan curtly shot back as her cheeks went red.\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $TyrMorgan = $TyrMorgan + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: Carry me, Morgan]]\n[[Russo: So. What've you been up to?]]\n[[Russo: Depart]]
What? No. Fuck no. That’s stupid. You’re stupid. Pop in and do what? Shoot the shit with a demon? That’s just inviting disaster. Up the stairs you go, we’re done here.\n\n[[Russo: Stairmaster]]
Even in the absence of natural light the human’s biological clock had no difficulty determining it was still the middle of the goddammned day. Squinting his eyes, Russo peered up at the luminescent crystals embedded into the curved ceilings. They dipped down claustrophobically low, much to his chagrin.\n\n[[Russo: Sleep]]\n[[Russo: Sightsee]]\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $character = 0>>\n<<remember $character>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>
<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<loopbgm e6LqDezHLqY>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\nA few days later...\n\n[[Kovania: Approach]]
<<if $DaxNarrative is 0>>\n"Dax quit batting at the narrative." Donning his angry eyebrows, Russo stormed off towards the wolf and shooed him away from dialogue options. \n\nThe chubby canine grumpily barked back and scuffed his paws at the floor. He pressed his padded heels into well worn planks of wood that creaked painfully beneath his generous weight. All to make it marginally more difficult for Russo to shove him aside. \n\n"Awwww how come?" Dax whined while those colored bits and bobs of text hovered tantalizingly close to his fluffy ankles. \n\nHands clutching tightly at the wolf's soft shoulders, the human grunted as he continued to coerce Dax along. "Because I said so." \n\nArms crossed about his chest the wolf took to growling, grumping, and pouting up a storm. "You always say that..."\n\n"And I'm gonna keep on saying that," Russo replied. "Look, you can screw around with the narrative to your heart's content after you've become the main character of your own story."\n\nDax gasped at the thought and excitedly papped his curled fists against his chest. "Y-you think so?" \n\n"Pfffft. No." \n\n"Awwwwwwwwwww." Chin tucked against his chest, Dax arooed softly. \n<<else if $DaxNarrative is 1>>\nHand held out before him, Russo pointed a finger accusingly at the wolf. "Hey. I saw that!"\n\nDax yelped and retracted his leg. Toes a twiddling, he had not so sneakily tried to reach out to tap and bap at the ever present narrative choices.\n\n"Shoo!" Russo plodded towards the canine and swatted at him. All manners of aroos and barks were directed Russo's way as he took to chasing Dax around. "I can outrun you, idiot! Not like I even have to bother teleporting to keep up with you. Hey hey hey don't think I don't see you trying to circle back around! DAX."\n<<else>>\n"Know what. You're done." Scooping up the dialogue options in his arms, Russo cradled them close and kicked out at Dax whenever he ventured too close. \n<<endif>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $DaxNarrative = $DaxNarrative + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: Not gonna introduce yourself?]]\n[[Russo: Later then]]\n<<nobr>>\n<<if $XP > 0>>\n[[Russo: Say, Dax]]\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>
"Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't," Russo snarked back.\n\nWrinkles formed along the hyena's muzzle. She resisted the urge to bare her fangs. "Everybody's business is your own? That how it is?" Her fluffy black cheeks pressed up against the bottom of her eyes. "I've seen you shuffling around. Forcing conversations and then dropping them at your leisure."\n\nThe mage felt the weight in his chest plunk down to his stomach. She was... observant. Unnervingly so. Russo dismissively laughed at her to save face. "You seem to know an awful lot about me. Not like that's at all hypocritical or anything what with... making my business your own." \n\n"Like I said, just been minding my own matters. Taking in the sights and sounds," she shot back without missing a beat. Her lips subtly curled down. "Can't be helped that your loud mouth carries further than others."\n\nRusso narrowed his gaze. "...I don't like you," he said. Not exactly the most creative putdown, but it got the point across. \n\nThe hyena grunted and turned her attention elsewhere. "Whatever it is you want from me, I'm not interested."\n\nThis was not going according to... Russo hesitated to even call it a plan. Okay, maybe he could say he was hoping to get a rise out of her or some smug sense of satisfaction. Abject apathy and indifference though? Definitely had been aiming for something a little higher than that. \n\n"Fine," the human grumped. Russo pondered leaving her with a myriad of profanity-laden parting gifts. ...None of which would yield the desired reaction. Or one at all, if he was being honest with himself. Discouraged, he slunk off. \n\nKovania didn't bother with a retort. \n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $KP = 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Russo: Sulk |Russo: Fraternize]]
Curling his fingers around the Nadie's thick fluffy wrist, the human pushed back at her affections to no avail. "Is this really necessary?" he groaned.\n\n"No." She took to noogying him gently. "But I can't very well be all business all the time, can I? A little doting now and then never hurt."\n\n"That's debatable," Russo stated as his head lurched side to side with the rotation of her knuckles. The mage sighed in relief when she let up.\n\nNadie offered a pat on the head before at last rescinding her arm. "...Whatever it is that's on your mind, you've made no effort to hide it. Is there something you wished to speak about?"\n\nThe hulknormous panther, clad in a form fitting grey sweater that barely contained her mountainous curves, loomed from behind her desk. Even while sitting she found herself eye to eye with her guest. \n\nRusso scooched forward, knees tunking against the front of the feline's desk, and closed the door behind him. Once he heard it click shut he gave form to his thoughts. "Nadie, let's be honest. Why am I even here?" \n\nShe arched her brows quizzically. "I shouldn't have to repeat myself but-"\n\n"I said be honest," Russo curtly interrupted her. "You heard me fumble through that explanation I gave earlier. I'm no expert." The mage exhaled in modest exasperation. "Besides, both Morgan and Tyridia know plenty enough about teleportation. They'll get by."\n\nThe panther clasped her hands together while those short pointed ears of hers listened intently. Once the human had said his share she offered a retort. "Teleportation in concept is altogether different from teleportation in practice. Do not be so quick to dismiss the value of your views on the topic. The practical uses and abuses, for example, are something you are far more familiar with than any of us could be." \n\n"I dunno about that." Russo crossed his arms about his chest defensively. "Xis seems pretty savvy to the potential pitfalls." \n\nNadie's kitty nostrils flared. The pale black cloak draped over her shoulders, hood crumpled behind her neck, rose and fell with her every breath. She patiently waited out the mage.\n\nArms spread out to his sides, Russo emphasized his point. "Look. Morgan has her shit together. Tyridia is plenty competent. And Xis is... ehhh. He's. Something. ...I guess I just fail to see where or why I fit into all that." \n\nPadded thumbs papping together, Nadie pondered the arguments presented to her. "That's it?" \n\nRusso silently stood there as the sheer dismissiveness of her response sank in. "Well. Yeah."\n\nA gentle grin spread wide across her greying mug. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say this was nothing more than a drawn-out attempt to fish for compliments." The panther said with a purr. \n\n"What."\n\n[[Russo: Explain]]\n[[Russo: Abort elaboration]]
Negligibly sleepy, Russo paid no heed to the thought of turning in for the day. The dimly humming crystals above him, more or less spaced out fairly evenly, maintained a faint but constant glow down where the sun didn’t shine. \n<<if ($Good is 1) and ($PlotBad is 1)>>\nThe smell of ash crackling against the cold and frigid air tantalized the mage’s nostrils. A pleasant papery smell wafted up from the stone below. Hell if Russo knew how that made any sense but fuck it. \n\nCurling his fingers back and forth against his palm, Russo grinned when he heard the muffled snap of his digits. Alright, that’s enough screwing around. Time to see what everyone’s up to.\n<<else if ($Good is 1) and ($PlotBad is 0)>> \nCurling his fingers back and forth against his palm, Russo grinned when he heard the muffled snap of his digits. Alright, that’s enough screwing around. Time to see what everyone’s up to.\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Russo: Ascend]]
<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $TP = 0>>\n<<set $TyrXis = 0>>\n<<set $TyrMorgan = 0>>\n<<set $TyrBook = 0>>\n<<set $TyrDepart = 0>>\n<<set $MP = 0>>\n<<set $MorganCarry = 0>>\n<<set $MorganNew = 0>>\n<<set $MorganDepart = 0>>\n<<set $DP = 0>>\n<<set $DaxNarrative = 0>>\n<<set $DaxXis = 0>>\n<<set $DaxSocialize = 0>>\n<<set $DaxDepart = 0>>\n<<set $XP = 0>>\n<<set $XisPurpose = 0>>\n<<set $XisCooperate = 0>>\n<<set $XisDepart = 0>>\n<<set $NP = 0>>\n<<set $KP = 0>>\n<<set $SP = 0>>\n<<set $Fraternize = 0>>\n<<set $Good = 0>>\n<<set $PlotBad = 0>>\n<<set $Sleepy = 0>>\n<<set $Ascend = 0>>\n<<set $Descend = 0>>\n<<set $display = 0>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\nHands shoved into his pockets, Russo slowly meandered through the stony subterranean hallways of the Yash guild. Faint puffs of mist wafted up from his lips every time he exhaled. Dismissed for the day, the mage was free to do as he pleased. Overflowing with the power of choice and self-determination the present was his to shape as he willed!\n\n[[Russo: Go to sleep]]\n[[Russo: Ascend |Russo: How about no]]\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $character = 0>>\n<<remember $character>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>
Moments later she found herself staring at the Yash guild's entrance. Kovania quietly let herself in. \n\n"Sights and sounds..." she quietly mouthed out as she closed the double doors behind her. It was amazing how much one could glean if they kept their eyes and ears open. What doors led where, where to find the keys to open them, and of particular interest, who was imprisoned behind them. Damned mage nearly ruined all that. \n\nKovania rankled at the very thought of Russo. He was loud, persistent, and worst of all, mindful. No matter. That human was no threat. At least not until she was paid to regard him as one.\n\nThe hyena deftly manuevered amongst the benches and tables sprawled out through the main hall. Her shadow stretched and contorted to the moonlight's tide trickling through the windows. Advancing and receding to the unseen dance of the clouds overhead. \n\nTeeth clenched together, Kovania leaned into the basement door. Damn thing was going to scrape against the stone stairs. There was no getting around it. Slowly, methodically, she nudged it forward inch by inch. \n\nUnder any other circumstances she would have preferred to slip through the instant she was afforded the space to do so. Then tug the door shut behind her the instant she cleared it. Unfortunately, given the nature of this theft, it would need to remain propped open. She needed to work fast. \n\nOnce more, Kovania steadied her breathing. She inhaled and exhaled through her flared nostrils without so much as a sound. Fingers curled around the side of the door, the hyena pushed it along the circumference of its hinge. Kovania stopped when her digits knocked against the chiseled out walls.\n\nThe soles of her boots softly tunked against the stone steps during her descent. Kovania grimaced at the pale blue crystals embedded into the ceiling. Showered in their pallor, the hyena padded on over to her target with restrained urgency. Anything as mundane as a midnight snack or bathroom run had the potential to ruin this. \n\nDO NOT ENTER BY ORDER OF THE GUILDMASTER\n\nEven in the wan light the warning plastered across the door was legible. Kovania snuffed. Fingers stuffed into her pockets she fished out a key. Cautiously, she slid it into the wrought-iron keyhole. A click, much too loud for the hyena's liking, sounded out. \n\n[[Kovania: Enter]]
<<silently>>\n<<set $character = 5>>\n<<remember $character>>\n<<endsilently>>\n\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<loopbgm hXxaFAgZ6hQ>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\nWhat felt like a lead weight tugged down at the back of Russo's ribs. He could feel his chest tightening while he sifted and sorted through a murky, albeit fluid, stew of emotions. All aroused and stirred up by that hooded hyena. \n\nRusso methodically ventured towards the table that sat her.\n\nWas it annoyance? Irritation? ...Nah. That was Xis' territory. This was different. This was out and out distaste. Disgust, even. Even though he hardly knew a thing about the hyena he could hardly stand to look at her much less think about her. Which was exactly why he was going to plod right on over to her and get his antagonism on. \n\nRusso's boots thumped heavily beneath him upon approach. So preoccupied he was with nurturing a grudge that the human practically had to remind himself to breathe. \n\nHis pace slackened to as he neared her. Oh shit, she has a sprite and background music and everything? That can't bode well. Salt, now tempered with caution, carried the mage forward to his conversational combatant.\n\n"What the hell is your deal?" Russo bluntly inquired, directing his question at the back of her head.\n\nThe hyena's shoulders visibly tensed beneath the draping contours of her brown cloak. She turned her head back to face him, chin resting against a shoulder. "Minding my own business. That's my deal." White tufts of hair poked out from just beneath her golden hemmed hood as she narrowed her copper colored eyes at him. "Does that concern you?"\n\n[[Russo: Fuck this and fuck you]]\n[[Russo: YES]]
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<<if ($DP is 0) and ($MP is 0) and ($TP is 0) and ($XP is 0) and ($KP is 0)>>\nWell that sure as shit didn't take very long. \n\n"Should've just sent my ass straight back to bed if this is what you had in mind," Russo mouthed off to no one in particular.\n<<else if $Descend is 0>>\nHand wrapped around the basement door's iron handle, Russo hesitated. He hadn't forgotten anything, had he? No stone left unturned and no person left unbothered? Russo's fingers twiddled against the curved steel. \n\nOnce he made the descent back down into the basement it was a done deal. The mage sincerely doubted he could bring himself to trudge all the way back up. Such fickleness would be murderous on his legs after all.\n\n...And no. It didn't matter that he could teleport back up the main hall at any time. It was the principle of it all!\n<<else>>\nShoulders rising and falling with his steady breaths, Russo stared at the basement door once more as he battled with indecisive urgings.\n\nA confused line of folks both fuzzy and not so fuzzy queued up behind the mage while he gazed intently at the slab of wood before him. \n<<endif>>\n<<nobr>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $Descend = $Descend + 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n<<endnobr>>\n\n[[Russo: Descend]]\n[[Russo: Fraternize]]
Hand pressed against his guest room's door, Russo shifted his weight forward. The bottom of the wooden entry scraped against the stone floor as it swung back along its hinges.\n\nA homely but sparsely furnished scene greeted the mage. Cape of his cloak fluttering gently behind him, Russo stepped forward. Two beds, and little else, filled the space. Reaching back behind him he shoved the door back shut. A cold gust of air puffed at his back as the steady scraping sounds gave way to a decisive tunk when the curved block of wood slid back into its frame. \n\n"Which one of these is mine again?" The human's gaze drifted down towards the foot of the beds. Bundles of cloth and supplies rested at the foot of what were Russo and Dax's respective loungings. He lightly kicked at both of them. "Seems sufficiently lumpy," Russo mumbled aloud. \n\nOff came the mage's cloak, gloves, and boots. Lazily, they were all piled on top of what Russo assumed were his belongings. \n\nIt may not have amounted to much, but it felt good hitting up and harassing folks! Or at least making a passing effort to pretend that he was going to.\n\nPeeling back the mounds of blankets and comforters coating his bed, Russo slid under the covers and allowed suffocating amounts of warm to overtake him. Sleep overtook both his thoughts and senses as the human drifted right off to sleep.\n\nWhatever it was that awaited them in the travels ahead... Russo rested easy. After all, he'd just wing it and bumble his way through it like he had every other time. That or let Morgan take care of it. \n\n<<if ($TP is 1) and ($MP is 1) and ($XP is 1) and ($DP is 1) and ($NP is 1) and ($KP is 1)>>\n[[...]]\n<<else>>\n[[RaddaRaem: The End]]\n<<endif>>
Nadie couldn't help but laugh. "Forgive me, Russo," she managed to rumble out as her broad and generous chest convulsed with every giggle. \n\n"I'll wait," the mage mumbled.\n\nThe panther held her index finger out before her while she calmed down. She puffed loudly once she had composed herself. "Russo, you are a valuable addition to this mission. Let no one tell you otherwise. Least of all, yourself." \n\nLeaning back against the door, Russo's lips parted to voice a rebuttal. He acked when the panther leaned forward and painfully pinched a cheek so as to shoosh him.\n\n"Self-doubt doesn't suit you," Nadie gently growled. She tugged his cheek side to side as if she were shaking it out of him. "I can already imagine your protests that you'll invite yet another demon or disaster to come upon you. The concern is sweet, certainly, but uncessary." \n\nShe released the vicegrip that was her padded fingers. \n\nSulking and smarting at the half of his face that had gone all but numb, Russo reluctantly took the hint and quieted down.\n\nNadie triumphantly arched her brows while her black furred tail swished and swayed behind her. "You see, Russo. I believe you have come to wrongly conflate the source of a conflict with its discovery. The common thread I've identified in all the trials you've divulged to me is that you are not the one who gave rise to these myriad dangers. No, you're just the first to notice them."\n\nThe panther tapped a clawed finger against her cluttered desk. "Take Umbra, for example. She had set up in Aurelianis long before your arrival. She was established, ingratiated, amongst the locals. Quietly killing off and making disappear any and all who had the misfortune to call upon her for her..." Nadie brought a curled hand up to her mouth and coughed into it. "Services."\n\n"I..." Russo rubbed at the back of his head. "Okay. You're not wrong."\n\nPurring in delight, Nadie carried on. "Who knows how long that would have carried on, how many more lives would have been lost, had you not ascertained her true nature when you did? Now, it is unfortunate that in her desire to see you dead she threatened harm upon those of us here in Yash. But look at it this way! With her so doggedly determined to end your life she has been too preoccupied to take anyone else's!" \n\n"Sure are grasping for those silver linings, aren't you." The human lurched back to avoid a whap only to loudly smack into the office's door. Said whap of a plush panther finger still ended up being delivered regardless. "Ow!"\n\nThe feline shook her head side to side. "The same can be said for whatever it was you discovered in that abandoned temple to the Goddess of Light. While the decision to explore the lower levels of that place was a questionnable one... I am grateful for it all the same. It's frightening, really. To think that we were so blissfully ignorant to that dark entity lurking inside it." \n\nRusso sighed. At least she acknowledged he came across something in there. Shame that the particulars proved too much for her to swallow, but still. \n\n"I could go on," Nadie stated. Plucking back up her quill, she dipped the pointed tip into a pot of ink. Drips and drops of the thick black liquid simply vanished into her furred fingers. "Particularly with regards to that draconic magic you were so kind as to show off earlier but... I'll leave it at that."\n\nA faint warmth, and blush, overcame the human's scruffy cheeks. "That's not like you. N-not that I'm complaining," Russo hesistantly offered in response. \n\nShe simply shook her head, a teasing smile creased wide upon her lips. Chin tucked against her chest, the Yash guild master turned her attention towards her latest journal entry. "Difficult as it's been to believe, you've been nothing but forthcoming and honest with me thus far. You've earned my trust, Russo. Both through your actions and your words. It's only fair that I let you keep a handful of secrets to yourself." \n\n[[Russo: So we're done here?]]
By: RaddaRaem
Russo's thighs stiffened with every step he ascended. The muscles within his legs quietly complained at being forced to carry his weight up along the vertical plane in addition to the horizontal one. He exhaled loudly through his nose, refusing to let loose a gasping breath that would so much as hint he was at anything other than his physical peak. \n\n"Please don't let Nadie see this..." the human screamed within the confines of his skull while he controlled his breathing. Hand pressed against the door, he calmly and more importantly, quietly, inhaled and carried himself out into the Yash guild's main hall.\n\n[[Russo: Fraternize]]