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The Menagerie play by post RPG would like to thank both Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson for their Dungeons & Dragons role playing game. They made the world that much more fantastic.
Kiko Administrator [M:725:2029:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=378&page=1#8679] member is offline
[b]Walk on the edge and bleed.[/b][0:Running With The Pack][1:Wherever I May Roam]
Joined: Sept 2011 Gender: Female Posts: 2,124
Re: Reacquaintance « Reply #45 on Jun 13, 2012, 7:40pm »
Kiko threw her head up like a startled horse when he spoke. She was twisting it around, too. A dozen birds had taken flight with the last few words.
"I didn't say you were wrong, Bard. Just that you don't want to have anything to do with the Drow. If you're lucky all they'll do is toss you out on your ear when they find you. And they will find you."
Kiko's voice stiffened and when she spoke again there was a sound beneath it that came straight from the wolf's throat.
"It's a fool's errand. I take it you've noticed the missing arm on your friend?"
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144] member is offline
[b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Joined: Nov 2011 Gender: Male Posts: 329
Re: Reacquaintance « Reply #46 on Jun 13, 2012, 7:54pm »
Dominic felt real outrage, anger that had been burning right down in the pit of his stomach for what seemed like years now. When he first heard what happened he'd try to play it off as just 'one of those things'. But the more he thought about it, about how Chaz and the ones he loved didn't deserve that kind of treatment, the more it offended and sickened him. Perhaps he wouldn't have cared before he'd gotten close to the man, but now he was he knew that if Chaz was unahppy, he was unhappy.
"Oh I noticed. I don't know how it happened, since I remember him having two working arms when I left. But I intend to find out. I know just asking questions is enough to get me in trouble even though I'm not going to go Mirrax the Slayer on them and lay waste to their capital single handedly." His face became a mask of frustration. "I'm a performer moonlighting as a courier and eavesdropper, I'm no soldier. But I have to do something."
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Kiko Administrator [M:725:2029:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=378&page=1#8679] member is offline
[b]Walk on the edge and bleed.[/b][0:Running With The Pack][1:Wherever I May Roam]
Joined: Sept 2011 Gender: Female Posts: 2,124
Re: Reacquaintance « Reply #47 on Jun 13, 2012, 8:07pm »
Kiko had taken another quick survey of the area. Dominic's voice had gotten rather strident and he projected it extremely well. But, except for the birds; who had found a less noisy spot to be nothing was out of place.
"You have to do something? You'll have to forgive me if I doubt you Bard. But, I've heard too many stories of people heading out in the direction of the Drow and never coming back. And I have only been on this continent for a little over five years."
She did not like the thought of the Bard or Chaz caught in some massive web of deceit that was life blood of the Drow. In fact, the more Kiko thought about it the less she liked it.
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144] member is offline
[b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Joined: Nov 2011 Gender: Male Posts: 329
Re: Reacquaintance « Reply #48 on Jun 13, 2012, 8:17pm »
His teeth clenched so hard they squeaked before he managed to get his anger under control. His voice was quiet but emphatic, filled with emotion. "They came into his home and tried to execute his daughter." It's said in a manner that makes it clear that no more explanation is necessary.
"I'll look for them. I'll find them. I'll expose them. Done right and we wouldn't need to touch them. The politicians would disappear them nice and neat to keep the peace, though I'm sure a number of them are complicit behind closed doors."
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Grayell Administrator [M:945:3807:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=372&page=1#226] member is offline
[b]"I've got your white wolf right here..."[/b][0:Baying at the moon...][1:Running with the pack...]
Joined: Aug 2011 Gender: Male Posts: 5,530
Re: Reacquaintance « Reply #49 on Jun 13, 2012, 11:52pm »
There were no words to respond to her message, but only a content smile and a huff of breath that accompanied his hearing her. He wondered once in a while, if she could feel his thoughts, his emotions - with or without that bracer.
He nodded as though she were there with him, nursing the newborn fire before him. The cave was small and easy enough to find if you knew where to look; but it was adequate enough to give such meetings some privacy. This was the way of the Vanguard, they met in small, secretive locales that rarely were used more than a handful of times and never time after time.
He had not met Dominic in earnest, had not spent any length of time with the man. He liked him well enough, perhaps more on the back of the praise his Chosen heaped on the man. Grayell snickered at the thought, he knew they'd trained and if a blind bard could hold his own against her; then he had to be a man of no small substance.
So, with a little less business and an equal dose of pleasure, Grayell prepared a pot of tea and waited.
Kiko Administrator [M:725:2029:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=378&page=1#8679] member is offline
[b]Walk on the edge and bleed.[/b][0:Running With The Pack][1:Wherever I May Roam]
Joined: Sept 2011 Gender: Female Posts: 2,124
Re: Reacquaintance « Reply #50 on Jun 14, 2012, 4:00am »
Kiko exhaled silently and slowly her eyes dropping to the bracer. Of course she had known what had happened to Chaz. The Wolf had been there for the aftermath. But that was years ago. Why now? What had changed?
"Why now, Dominic? That incident occurred years ago."
She was not doubting his determination or resolve. But Dominic did not have the years of experience it took to unravel the tangle of Drow politics. He was a good man. A decent man. The Drow were not decent.
(We are in the gully now Wolf.)
Her mind voice was softer but it carried a hint of tension that had not been there earlier.
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144] member is offline
[b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Joined: Nov 2011 Gender: Male Posts: 329
Re: Reacquaintance « Reply #51 on Jun 14, 2012, 6:10am »
There was hesitation in his voice as he mulled his words over "I'm...different..." he says, something approaching shame in his words. "Things started to get a bit too hot in Wistvale, and since I am at one and the same time an idiot with a hero complex and a selfish bastard I decided to just remove myself from a place where people needed any help, so I wouldn't have to help them." He laughed, a little rueful in tone.
"I am probably insane in some way for that. I don't want to get into trouble. I just want to sing my songs. But I can't ever stand by and let people be bullied. And I kept running, saying I was wandering to find more stories, but that wasn't true..." He sighed and smiled, feeling a modicum of pride return.
"It has taken me years to get to this point because it has taken me years to realise that I'd made a real friend, that I cared about him, and that the horrid, gnawing feeling inside me was guilt for not helping him." His eyes couldn't let him percieve the world, but they shined in a way that easily let her percieve his emotions.
"So I signed on to spy and courier and advise so that I couldn't run from the people that needed help, so that I wasn't allowed to be as selfish as I'd been. Self-reliance shaped me, forged me, tempered me and helped me survive. But, I asked myself, what's the point in being so damn awesome if nobody but you reaps the benefit?" His voice had become more jovial once again at the end, signifying that he'd done a lot of soul searching to come to this point, and felt he was doing the right thing.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Kiko Administrator [M:725:2029:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=378&page=1#8679] member is offline
[b]Walk on the edge and bleed.[/b][0:Running With The Pack][1:Wherever I May Roam]
Joined: Sept 2011 Gender: Female Posts: 2,124
Re: Reacquaintance « Reply #52 on Jun 14, 2012, 8:25am »
Kiko stopped walking. There was no reason to continue to try and dissuade him. She understood the reason. Dominic had battled his demons and survived.
Hell, he was still battling them. He could have easily been bitter or resentful about his lack of sight. Instead he created tales of far away places with such detail that you did not need eyes to see.
As for a friend, well, maybe all it really takes is for someone to see you without the handicap of sight. Kiko was well versed at having people hate her immediately for no other reason than her family's ancestors. She took another glance at the bracer.
The Wolf saw her. Not her name. Not her family. Her. It had given her confidence and courage to battle through her personal hells and come out whole on the other side.
Kiko held up a hand even though Dominic could not see them.
"If you wish for me to get this information? I will ask a favor in return."
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144] member is offline
[b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Joined: Nov 2011 Gender: Male Posts: 329
Re: Reacquaintance « Reply #53 on Jun 14, 2012, 9:42am »
He smiled broadly and nodded. "I am but a mere servent prostrating myself in humble genuflection before my superiors. I am yours to command." he opined, his usual rural drawl clipped to a courtly precision. He even completed the gesture with a sweeping bow. He could very easily pass as a high noble if he wished.
Straightening, and returning his hat to his head from where he had flourished it, he chuckled. This whole business could get him in serious hot water, but all he had to do to not feel bad about it and think of the possible alternative, what would have happened if he'd never left home. He'd probably be comfortable, gouty, miserable and fat, a sideshow freak for his father to crow about.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Kiko Administrator [M:725:2029:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=378&page=1#8679] member is offline
[b]Walk on the edge and bleed.[/b][0:Running With The Pack][1:Wherever I May Roam]
Joined: Sept 2011 Gender: Female Posts: 2,124
Re: Reacquaintance « Reply #54 on Jun 14, 2012, 9:55am »
Kiko shook her head at the grandiose gesture. Her voice was firm when she spoke, though.
"Allow me to go with you."
It was all she said. Kiko had a thousand mixed feelings about this already and she had just agreed to go along. But, she could not let him go toward such a hostile environment as the Overwood without making sure he had reliable protection. As much as she liked Chaz, and she did like him, he did not have a reputation of being very sensible when it came to his decisions.
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
Grayell Administrator [M:945:3807:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=372&page=1#226] member is offline
[b]"I've got your white wolf right here..."[/b][0:Baying at the moon...][1:Running with the pack...]
Joined: Aug 2011 Gender: Male Posts: 5,530
Re: Reacquaintance « Reply #55 on Jun 14, 2012, 6:54pm »
Grayell, meanwhile; has finished preparing tea just a stone's throw away and did not enter the scene just yet because that would be eavesdropping really `
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144] member is offline
[b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Joined: Nov 2011 Gender: Male Posts: 329
Re: Reacquaintance « Reply #56 on Jun 15, 2012, 4:13am »
Dominic nearly choked when he laughed. He chortled long and hard and had to take a breath to compose himself. "Is that all? I thought I was going to have to rub your feet for a month or somesuch." He calmed and smiled. "You'll have to ask Chaz, but if it were up to me I'd have you along in a heartbeat." He sobers further and sighs.
"I'm stubborn and sometimes irrational, but I'm not an idiot. I know how dangerous looking into Drow dealings could be. I know, even if Chaz doesn't, that taking his little girl home is going to be far more difficult than just saying goodbye. A good sword arm is always a welcome thing. Me and the fuzzball, we're not exactly warriors. Though I guess I could croon them all to death." His grin came back, lopsided and flippant again.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Kiko Administrator [M:725:2029:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=378&page=1#8679] member is offline
[b]Walk on the edge and bleed.[/b][0:Running With The Pack][1:Wherever I May Roam]
Joined: Sept 2011 Gender: Female Posts: 2,124
Re: Reacquaintance « Reply #57 on Jun 15, 2012, 12:46pm »
Kiko laughed quietly.
"You know I heard a story once about sleeping lady. She had become so exhausted while waiting for her betrothed to return from a meeting with a warrior tribe she could not keep her eyes open any longer. For days she had waited with no sleep. Each one she did everything she could not to worry. Finally, when she could keep her eyes open no longer. She fell asleep. The rest of her village received the news that her lover, and those he had convinced to follow him to offer the invading warriors a peaceful existence instead of war, had been cut down with a spear.
Of course, they ran quickly out to find her and could not bear to wake her up when seeing her resting so peacefully. Why make her cry now they thought? Time enough to tell her when she wakes. So, instead they wove a blanket of grasses and wild flower blossoms to place over her. She did not wake up that night or the next, in fact; she never woke again.
All the joy left the village in the wake of the massacre. The sweet fruit trees withered and died. As did the people, for there were no strong young men left to them. The tears of the villagers were gathered into clouds and were returned to the earth as the first snowfall. And the young woman sleeps there still."
Kiko turned to gesture toward the horizon her eyes on a mountain range far in the distance with the shape of a sleeping body.
"It is said that she will awaken only when war no longer threatens the world. That when everyone can live in peace she will be reunited with her beloved."
Kiko coughed, cleared her throat, and looked toward the cave where the Wolf was waiting for them. Her grandfather was lingering in her mind. He far surpassed her when it came to telling tales. When she was able to speak again her voice was as wistful as Dominic's had been flippant.
"We are here."
Kiko slid around the concealing trees to enter the mouth of the cave.
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
Grayell Administrator [M:945:3807:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=372&page=1#226] member is offline
[b]"I've got your white wolf right here..."[/b][0:Baying at the moon...][1:Running with the pack...]
Joined: Aug 2011 Gender: Male Posts: 5,530
Re: Reacquaintance « Reply #58 on Jun 15, 2012, 6:23pm »
Grayell was, of course; by the fire. Standing on one leg, the other one cocked, one hand stuffed down his shirt and the other one flailing about madly. gibbering nonsensically and hopping about rather frantically.
"Ack! You little! Get the.... come here.... ARG!"
He might have seen them, he certainly looked in their direction, but only had a hopeless, comical look on his face as both his hands were shifting all over his body, him scurrying about like a madman.
"No! I'll get you.... HALP!"
He then plunged his hand down the front of trousers, rummaged about a bit and his face soothed as he let out a blissful coo of noise, tension leaving his body and what looked like a manic seizure of some sort having abated.
"Oooooh. Sooo much better...."
He then removed his hand, cupping something. He brought it to his chest and rummaged through his pocket, tearing off a sizeable piece of stale bread for the tiny mouse that had invaded his apparel. He smiled as the furry little creature busily ate the morsel.
"Aw. See, you didn't need to tickle me to death to get it. On your way."
He placed the creature down in the dark and then looked up and sighed, dusting himself off.
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144] member is offline
[b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Joined: Nov 2011 Gender: Male Posts: 329
Re: Reacquaintance « Reply #59 on Jun 16, 2012, 5:21am »
Dom was surprised. Not by the person who was waiting for him, there'd been a strong suspicion it was Grayell ever since Kiko had confirmed it was her who'd put him up to the Vanguard. What surprised him, unsurprisingly enough, was the strange outburst and the shuffling sounds. He's not had much interaction with the man, only knowing him in passing, knowing he and Kiko were close, and that there was something quietly feral about his mein, his scent. If Dom was truly honest, the man had scared him.
The fact he was hopping about and talking about tickling didn't erase that, but it definitely eased the tension that had been stiffening the singer's spine during the walk over. His greeting is similarly flippant, considering he was talking to his de facto commanding officer.
"Hey yourself. Kind of suspected it might be you who'd put together this show. Kiko was just reminding me of a sad story about a sleeping beauty. Seems though you mean to wake her up." Of course he was talking metaphorically, the mission to prevent suffering had been explained by the men who approached him on the road.
Welcome to The Menagerie. We are a free role playing game with less rules and more freedom. After many years, a couple of hosts and a few different game systems, we feel that less is more. Players get to be truly creative, which in turn leads to more enjoyment in game.
We invite you to join us in crafting our world and look forward to making friends. Should you have any questions, feel free to post in our chat box or ask any of our members or staff.
May you enjoy your stay.
It must be said that this game is the product of continued dedication and friendship.
Grayell: Game inventor and closet basement geek.
Yukiko: Admin and dream-weaver.
Marlena: Admin and promoter extraordinaire.
The Menagerie has enjoyed many incarnations, revamps, reimaginings and renovations and none of it would have been possible without the ongoing support of my friends, the players. Their unwavering loyalty and endless dedication to this project has been stellar.
I would like to thank all admin and staff past and present, in particular Tiberius.
I would like to thank friends and staff no longer with us, and to the few I hold most dear: John, Roland, Alex, Azriel and Jenkins.
Thank you all.
All images are the property of their creator.
Our 2nd site archive with: Total posts 70665, Total topics 1819 & Total Members 86.
...or our first site archive with: Total posts 69401, Total topics 1325 & Total members 145
...OR the very humble start of our game at our friends, www.Heroscapers.com.
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