Alm watches the little person circle them. Their blue/black eyes follow him carefully until he asked a question. "I'm a Star! Roly is too! We're on a very important mission, right Rol?"
Alm turned their head to see Roly laying on their side and watching the horse with wonderous eyes. Their black/yellow irises trace every step and move the horse makes with their mouth slightly agape in awe at the equine.
Alm cups their hands over their mouth and hollers at their twin. "Roly! Stopping gawking at the cow! We have things to do!"
Roly scrambles up, spooking the horse away and looks at their twin. "What do we gotta do?"
Alm was about to answer only to pause and ponder momentarily. "I forgot."
"Me too."
Alm looks back at Joseph. "My name's Alm! That guy over their is Mr. King. And the other one is Ms. Sourface. And that one-" They see the new blonde haired person and pause. "I dunno! It's another weirdo!"
Roly looks over and gasps. "Holy moly! So many weirdos!"
Alm turns to Joseph, sniffs him, and cringes. "Why do you smell gross?" They cover their nose with their huge claw.
Joseph wish he had a notebook with him. "Fascinating. A star? How strong are your claws? How much can you lift and how fast can you run? I wonder what your stomach acid could break down. My god, you would make a wonderful miscreation."
He stopped and looked around, realizing that there were several people here, just standing in a field. The man next to the fire shouted something, but he really wasn't paying attention until he said something about introducing themselves.
Joseph made his way over to the fire and crouched down, enjoying the heat from a good distance. "My name is Joseph Maléfique. You may call me Joseph."
Alm makes a step toward the fire and sits next to their twin as they eye Joseph suspiciously.
"Don't know. Don't care. And I don't know what acid is but I probably don't have that either." They cross their arms and glare at Joseph intently. Roly notices Alms intensity and pokes them with a question in mind.
"Hey, what's the matter?"
"Dr. Smellsbad gives off some rancid vibes."
"Oh." Roly looks at Joseph then back at Alm. "Is he part onion?"
"Probably."
Roly looks at Joseph with wide eyes. "Are you an onion?"
Vladimir nodded his head toward Allison, Famine, and Joseph. “Well met, all of you, I am Vladimir, son of Nardera.”
He gave a low whistle and the black mare sauntered forward, pausing a safe distance from the fire. “Her name is Nival. Pardon her disrespectful self, but she does trust you enough to introduce herself yet, but give her time.”
The white flames cast shadows about the man's eyes and cheekbones, giving him an almost gaunt look. “While names are a good start for an introduction, I would like to know a little more about yourselves. Where are you from? Why are we here?” His blue eyes roamed about the group pausing for a fraction of a moment before moving onto the next individual peering into their eyes as if to try read their thoughts, before settling onto the flickering flames and awaiting their reply.
"No, I'm entirely human. For all intents and purposes. And, yes, pardon the subtle smell of blood, I had just finished with an autopsy before… this. I am from Washington, in the United States." Joseph turned to the horse that cautiously approached the fire. "Interesting. Does it speak? You seem to think it more intelligent than an average horse. Is this the case?"
“Yes, it is the case.” Vladimir nodded, “She is quite intelligent, more so than plenty of men I had the…honor to speak with.” He kept his gaze upon Joseph as he asked his own set of questions. “Are you some kind of doctor or a scientist? I use autopsies as ways of learning about different races and species. Is that what you use them for or are your methods more on the lines of…trying to help them?” Steepling his hands together he rested them upon his lap as the man before him aroused his interest.
"Why would I help demons? They are mindless beasts and cannot return the favor in any way. No, I was studying a demons anatomy and harvesting anything I could use. I consider myself a scientist, though I have no… formal… training. This horse, um-" Joseph seemed to fumble with his words for a moment. "Nival. Yes that's it. More intelligent than most humans? Oh that is interesting. Is it from the Other Side of the Veil? I haven't much experience outside of Hell, but I've never heard of an intelligent demon. Especially not a demon that isn't outright hostile."
Joseph stood up and made as if he was going to touch Nival, but he caught himself before he could even take a step. He made a half bow. "Hello. You may have heard, but my name is Joseph. And how are you?"
Nival stared at Joseph for a long while, her brown intelligent eyes roaming up and down his form. She tossed her head giving a low whinny of pride.
Welcome Joseph Maléfique. Her voice seemed to echo through the night as she allowed those around her to hear her voice. It was full and powerful, the type of voice one would expect a queen to have. It isn’t common to hear a human with kind manors, but I expect there is one in every race.
Vladimir let out a low chuckle. “Hmmm, she has a thing for flattery, but no, she is not-”
A demon. Nival interrupted walking forward and allowing Joseph to pet her silky main. We have never heard of this Other Side of the Veil, and I do not appreciate you putting me on the same level as a demon.
Vladimir nodded. “The only demons we know live behind the Boundary and don’t show themselves except on rare occasions, like you said they are very mindless and love destruction. So you are from Hell, but you are not a demon.”
"Ah I see. I didn't mean to insinuate that you were anything similar to demons. I spend a lot of time with their… mindlessness, so it's only natural. Our conundrum here is that you are some form of magical creature, but you have never heard of the Veil." Joseph began to pace, at this point talking to himself more than the others. "Which means that we simply aren't from the same world. That certainly is interesting. I suspect that even the demons we're talking about are only similar in intelligence and goals. The demons I know are nothing more than animals with a talent for killing. Yours are likely similar… but they are most definitely different."
Joseph stared off into the distance, pretty much lost to everyone else.
"My boyfriend is a demon, and he's the smartest being I know." Allison scowled
"Well, unless he's the kind of demon that doesn't wear clothes and who's head opens up into a mouth full of teeth, I'd say it's safe to assume we're talking about different things here."
“That is very interesting,” Vladimir sat up and watched Jospeh pace about the field. "Well, your demons are quite different from the ones I know. Our demons do not have a physical form, choosing to go about as black mist. They have no form of speech but talk through your mind using your memories as a way to communicate. What else does your world have?”
Nival turned her gaze onto Allison. You're mating a demon? She asked, tossing her head and giving a snort, her breath visible on the night air. Trotting around the fire toward Roly sniffing around him for another treat. Where do you come from Roly? She asked tail swishing with interest.
Roly's eyes bug out of their head and they make an excited squeal. "TALKING COW! TALKING COW!! D'you want more grass, Ms. Cow?" They hear her question and tilt their head. They straighten themselves a bit as they ponder. They tilt their head back till they're looking up into the night sky, scanning the stars closely. Without taking their eyes away, they grab Alm's hand and whisper. "Alm. Where did we come from?"
Alm looks at their twin, and then up into the sky as well. After a few seconds, they answer with a shrug.
"I dunno."
Roly looks at Nival with a silly grin and squinted eyes. "Whelp! That's lame, but we don't know where! We're from the upside. That's all we know." They look at the sky one more time before redirecting their attention completely to Nival with excitement on their face. "Where are you from? And how did you meet Mr. King? And is there a Mr. Cow with you?" They giggle at their question while they look at her curiously.
Alm looks at Joseph with a grossed out expression. "Ew! How are you from somewhere called Washington, but you smell like a butt?" They lean their head down and sniff him one more time before seizing their head away and gagging. "Yuck! No wonder Uncle Brutus gets mad when we don't bathe! You smell worse than a fresh potter's field!"
Nival pawed the ground with a then blackleg and shook her head. I am not a cow Sir Roly, where I am from they call us horses. Where am I from? I hail from Thirignam which Sir Joseph thinks is a different world and I believe he is right. She turned to look at Vladimir, her eyes sparkling with love and admiration. I was a young filly when he found me, my people deserted me when renegades attacked our village. Vladimir brought me to Castle Dorgal and raised me as his own. She gave a little whinny that sounded more like a laugh at having to answer Roly’s as a question, there is no Mr. *Horse with me and there never will be.*
“She lost interest in any horse and doesn’t want to mate with any stallion.” Vladimir had spoken, leaning forward and resting his chin on his fist, gazing at Nival with the same love and admiration mirrored in his own eyes. “That is my fault,” He continued, giving a thin half-smile, “I connected our minds too much, she is part of me and I am part of her. Her only thoughts are wanting to serve me with everything she has.”
Which is right where I want to be. Nival spoke softly staring at Roly, still waiting for a treat.
"A horse?" Roly scoffs incredulously. "Nah! That's the fat thing with the, uh, horns! And the weird stomach thing! They're pretty smelly and soft, and they scream REALLY LOUD! Especially when they're being chased! It's funny!" Roly sees the expectation in Nival's eyes and gasps softly. "Oh! Do you want more food Ms. Cow?" Before anything could be said, Roly took their hugs claws shanked the ground with enthusiasm. They scoop out a huge portion of the earth and place it in front of Nival. "Here you go! You eat mud and grass, right?" Roly looks at the crater they made and gasps some more. "Oh! More food for you!" They reach down and start picking out tiny creatures that are further dwarfed by the sheer size of their hand. It was worms. The poor things are too easily squished by Roly's strength. They place the crushed bits on the mound of dirt and look at Nival with joy. "Eat up!"
Nival gave another low whinny of pleasure. I don’t care for the mud or warms, but the grass is adequate, thank you. She stooped her head toward the mound of dirt and grass before her, sorting the grass from the mud with due care, skipping over the dead insects, and shaking her head in bliss as the sweet taste of fresh grass filled her mouth.
Vladimir grimaced in disgust as Roly and Alm squished the warms between their fists and turned to Joseph. “If we are in fact from different worlds, how come we are all here in the same spot at the same time? How come we speak the same language? I only see one connection between all of us…demons, nothing more.”
(I have a few ideas but I’m not in the environment to do that now. I’ll reply some time tonight)
(K-ok! I was waiting for Williamnot to post. We might have to go on, so the forum doesn't die. Sorry if that came across as rude, that wasn't my intention.)
(I was waiting for them to reply too, but I don’t know how much time should be given to someone to reply. An entire day passed, so I guess now would be a good time to continue the convo? Unless Williamnot is somewhere without WiFi or something or came up And they can’t reply. Idk but let’s keep this rp alive)
“That is very interesting,” Vladimir sat up and watched Jospeh pace about the field. "Well, your daemons are quite different from the ones I know. Our demons do not have a physical form, choosing to go about as black mist. They have no form of speech but talk through your mind using your memories as ways to communicate. What else does your world have?”
"Fascinating. Fascinating, fascinating, fascinating! Black mist, using memories…" Joseph looked lost in thought. "Hm? My world? All sorts of things I suppose. I spend a lot of my time in Hell though, so I don't get to see a lot of the other creatures the Other Side has to offer. I did find this fungal demon that will grow in these ropelike forms that can become as thick as tree trunks. If there's enough sustenance in one area, the fungus can completely block off entire halls in Hell. It's fascinating."
(Sorry, between school work and actually being at school it's difficult to reply. Go ahead and move on without me if I'm offline for too long!)
(Can someone engage my character?)
(If you're feeling left out, have your character interact with someone. You can engage with anyone any time you want, you don't have to wait until someone initiates conversation. Ask or act or something it's a roleplay anything can happen)
Roly gleefully watches Nival eat the grass. They deicide to eat some handfuls of dirt and worms with her so she wouldn't feel left out. They hold a hand out to Vlad and asks through mouthfuls of filth. "D'you wan sum?"
Alm laughs at their twin and falls backwards onto the ground, landing with a thundering slam. The fire gets bigger and hotter as they laugh. It grows and sways dangerously in the air nearly sets the field ablaze. Luckily this fire isn't the type to spread. The sit themselves up and look over at Allison and Famine. They crawl over and sit themselves down slowly, being careful not to crush them. "Where are you weirdos from? Do you come from the upside too, or from Washington like Mr. Smelly?"
"I come from California, but I live in Montana." Allison said to him.
"I come from Africa." Prospero said. (Haha name change go brr)
Alm looks at the two of them with wide and empty eyes. They have a small smile that conveys that there is a lovely variety of elevator music wafting back and forth in their head. "The who and where? Nah forget it, sounds boring." They were slightly curious at first but abandoned the thought for the sake of ease. They look back over at their twin. "Hey Roly! Are you done playing with the cow?"
Roly looks up at Alm with soil and grass poking out of their teeth. "Excuse you. Ms. Cow."
Alm rolls their eyes. "Are you done playing with Ms. Cow?"
"Nope!" Roly goes back to eating the dirt. Alm sighs. They reach up to their braid and begin to fiddle with it anxiously. They turn their attention back to Allison and Prospero. "What's the deal with all this demon talk? I don't think they exist where I'm from."
(OOC: Is Prospero a reference to Shakespeare's The Tempest?)
"Demons are basically angels gone bad…" Allison explained.
"Correct," said Prospero.
(OOC: Is Prospero a reference to Shakespeare's The Tempest?)
(No, it's supposed to be ironic, because he's Famine)
Alm slowly nods as they process their words. They flick their eyes between their two companions, Roly, and the grass surrounding them. They turn their attention back to Allison and Prospero. "So, if demons are angels gone backwards, does that mean you two were angels? And what are angels? Are they… something good?"
