A bustle in your hedgerow

[andrewj]

Re: A bustle in your hedgerow

Last but not least...

Name: Acrifer Castillo

Species: Human (Male)

Looks: Acrifer is a white, male, human with an athletic build - he is 6ft 2 tall. He has brown/green eyes and medium length dark brown hair (as an example, think Takashi from the Highschool of the Dead anime). He is most often seen in a plain black t-shirt, with dark blue jeans, and black trainers. Alternatively, Alex has kindly drawn a picture of him next to Anjushree.

Personality: Acrifer is a quiet and introverted character that goes about things in a methodical manner. He is, however, of slightly above average intelligence and quietly confident in his own ability. Acrifer is a deep and analytical thinker and enjoys listening to the opinions of others. Despite not being the most social person, Acrifer enjoys company and has a good sense of humour, although he does not take personal criticism well.

Back-Story: Acrifer is a pretty average 22-year-old computer science student from England. He lives alone in a small apartment and spends most of his time reading about his numerous interests, which include technology, elemental magic, and physical geography. When he's not studying, Acrifer also enjoys watching the local sports teams. Beyond this, his life is not particularly eventful, but that doesn't stop him from thinking that he is destined for bigger things. Upon finding a mystery letter in his apartment, Acrifer wonders whether this is the destiny he has been waiting for...

Inventory:

1) A black, leather, shoulder bag containing the following items:
2) Acrifer's favourite textbook on elemental magic
3) A notepad and pen
4) A small, collapsible tent for one person
5) A basic single-edged sword

Abilities: Acrifer has self-taught himself to use electrical elemental magic as part of his technological studies. Using this ability, he is able to light up a large room in the dark and power small electrical appliances. Offensively, Acrifer can produce moderate electric shocks, and at the cost of fatigue, is capable of producing a localised thunderstorm.

Skills: Acrifer is reasonably competent at fixing mechanical and electrical items. He is also capable of driving land-based methods of transport and can swim. His reflexes and running speed are above average for a human. Acrifer is fluent in English and can speak very basic French and Spanish. He is also an accomplished tea and coffee maker.

Weaknesses: Acrifer, being English, does not like extremes of climate at either end of the scale. Despite being knowledgeable, he is fairly inexperienced at using magic and weaponry for offensive purposes. His personality occasionally prevents him from sharing his ideas with others, preferring to hear what other people have to say first.

---

What? Were you expecting something creative from me? :P

[majinb]

Re: A bustle in your hedgerow

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand thats all 6!

I wish to provide the small disclaimer that, as discussed with Andy on MSN, I'm fine with the excistence of electrical contraptions much like computers, Im even fine with them being called computers, but they will be a rarity on this world and overshadowed by the magical contraptions build by the competition. Some say, however, that electronics have the future, and Acrifer might just be one of those .

Expect a prologue tomorrow!

[team_orr]

Re: A bustle in your hedgerow

Yeah why not. Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Led Zepplin, them crooked vultures and flock of seagulls sounds like an interesting mix.

...am I allowed to have headphones?

[majinb]

Re: A bustle in your hedgerow

headphones would be fine Jack

[majinb]

Re: A bustle in your hedgerow

This, is a prologue. It serves a number of purposes, from my perspective, chief among these purposes is to get into writing this story, and to get into each of your characters. By all means tell me how good or bad a job I did voicing your characters.

The Prologue

On came the creature. Majestically. Swiftly. His body fit to travel through the water, or over the water, or even, as he was doing now, over the land. His back perfectly suited to carry a human, or another being of similar magnitude. He was a creature that was aptly called €œseahorse€. He was the 6 foot tall, intelligent variant of the species, as opposed to his much smaller brethren that could be found in zoos.
He was on a mission. He and 5 of his fellow seahorses. He thought he had the shittiest task of the 5, but he was of a humble and hardworking race. And the payout was great as well. Still, the others had to pick up people who were actually€¦ you know€¦ awake. Not frozen. To have a frozen man read a letter was peanuts given the amenities the organization had at its disposal. But acquiring his physical presence meant the seahorse had to break into Seattle€™s cryogenic facilities. After he finally got into the right cell, the seahorse was puzzled when he found it was empty.
€œWehee€, the seahorse said, with a whinnying sound one might expect from a drowning horse, which was odd because the seahorse was on dry land, €œMr. Grohl? I am your ride for your mission.€
€œOver here mate!€ Dave Grohl said from behind him, €œI was just packing my bag, this will be a blast!€.

*cue intro music*

Observe, the ocean. Six characters, with very little in common, other than the fact that they all received a mysterious letter asking for their assistance in a mysterious mission. The 6 seahorses escorted them such that the 6 of them met simultaneously in the middle of the ocean, to from there move to their final destination in a glorious convoy. This obviously meant that most of the seahorses had to take an absurdly long way to get from A to B, but humble as they are, none complained. And please do not forget the payout was great.
Dave Grohl found himself in the front of the group, holding on to seahorse€™ reins with one hand, chatting with Natsume Oguro and Sir Shirley Ragington the Third. Both were humans, technically, as opposed to the Footonian Dave Grohl. This fact proves that looks can in fact be deceiving. Dave was holding his headphones in his other hand, positioned such that Natsume Oguro could hear the music as well. Led Zeppelin was shouting through the speakers, Stairway to Heaven. Dave was singing along.
€œ€¦if there€™s a bustle in your hedgerow...€
€œHedgerow?! hEDGErow?!?!€, Natsume shouted, €œa whole row of edges?!€
€œ€¦ don€™t be alarmed now€¦€ Dave continued.
Natsume calmed down. €œAlarmed? Me? What are you talking about? I am just my€¦ positive and energetic self€¦ albeit in a world I had never expected to witness firsthand, of course€¦€
€œAdventures in strange new worlds, now that€™s a topic I can relate too.€ Dave said, with a wink.
€œI must say€, Sir Shirley Ragington the Third sighed, €œthat while I approve of your flannel jacket, I find your taste for music outrageous, as well as that so called €œhead banging€ you display to put your awful taste across. I have been in some glorious adventures in my live, but never with such simpletons. When I sunk the Spanish Armada for example, now that was something, don€™t get me started about that!€.
And, for the sake of not turning this prologue into a full-length essay, neither Natsume nor Dave got Sir Shirley Ragington the Third started.
Sir Shirley Ragington the Third grabbed a cup out of his bag, and scooped some water out of the ocean. It cooked instantly.
€œWho wants some tea?€.
Slightly behind these 3, the more introvert duo of Mortimer and Acrifer Castillo were having a chat.
€œSo, you are a Maltese map maker?€, Acrifer asked while looking at the weird creature next to him. Even though the different species on the planet got more and more integrated over the last few centuries, Acrifer believes he had never seen a Moogle before, let alone one that makes maps in Malta.
€œYes I do!€, said Mortimer, somewhat proudly.
€œThen surely you can tell us where we are now, and where we are going?€
€œErrrrm€¦€ Mortimer looked around him, there was no land in sight, €œI did keep track of the route until crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, but I very much lost track since€¦€
Acrifer looked somewhat disappointed€¦
€œBut I do think we are very much in an ocean!€ Mortimer concluded, trying to keep the spirits high.
€œOn University, we got to work with this small computer that could tell one where he is at all times, it works through a connection with some weird contraptions orbiting the Earth. If we were at Uni now I could demonstrate one to you.€, Acrifer said, €œOn the other hand though, I€™m glad I€™m not there. This wonderful letter I got allows me to skip today€™s lecture! And I€™m sure I can accomplish much greater things here than in that classroom.€
Mortimer agreed.

€¦

About a quarter of a mile behind the quintet, was a sole seahorse carrying the 6th member of the team. Despite the specie€™s inherent humbleness, and despite the great payout, the seahorse opened his mouth.
€œListen, Anjushree, I know I am meant to be humble and all, but you are by far the heaviest passenger here, I am used to carrying normal humans you see. I managed to keep up with the rest for most of the route, but my back is starting to get sore€¦ And because your paws can€™t cope with these human made reins you are using your claws to hold on to me€¦€
€œWhat are you hinting at?€ Anjushree asked.
€œWell, see, I can€™t help but notice you can fly€¦ and you are easily strong enough to carry me€¦ could you please help me cover those last few miles?€
€œNonsense!€ the Gryphon shouted, €œI will not have this! I am part of the group, and I will be escorted as such! What a humiliating thought! Me, a leading expert on the field of counter-magic, carrying a horse€¦€
€œSea horse.€
€œ€¦ carrying a sea horse! That thought is preposterous! Besides, I can already see land!€
The seahorse watched with glee to where the gryphon was pointing. Sooner than he had expecting, during the argument between him and his passenger, the other 5 had reached their destination, a small and obscure island in the Atlantic Ocean. It wasn€™t before long that Anjushree too walked on dry land on the island€™s beach.
€œSorry that I couldn€™t keep up with you during the latter half of our journey, fellow adventurers, but luckily we had already become acquainted back when my seahorse was still fresh.€ Anjushree said, €œLets get this adventure started!€

Tune in tomorrow for some actual RPG action!

[kodster]

Re: A bustle in your hedgerow

*round of applause*

[majinb]

Re: A bustle in your hedgerow

This is where it starts.

Chapter 1

The unholy sextet stood on the beach, wondering why nobody has welcomed them so far.
Anjushree and Mortimer had flown into the air to get a view of the island, and Mortimer, mapmaker after all, had drawn some lines in the sand.
€œWe seem to be on a small subtropical island, kupo, not unlike my kupo Malta. Unlike Malta, however, there seems to be a massive industrial city in the middle of it all€¦€
€œLook guys, someone left a lawn gnome on the beach!€ Natsume said, somewhat distracted.
€œOf what importance is a stupid lawn gnome?!€ Sir Shirley Ragington the Third replied, €œwe are preparing our mission here!€
€œWe don€™t even know our mission yet€¦ and I thought this lawn gnome was cute, look at that little fishing rod!€
€œI can inform you€ the lawn gnome suddenly said €œthat I am neither stupid nor cute.€
The group stared in amazement.
€œLet me introduce myself, I am G¼nter, I have been selected to welcome you because of the virtue of my extreme patience as a lawn gnome. Sadly this means I can get a bit€¦ isolated€¦€
G¼nter looked at Natsume and Sir Shirley Ragington the Third, pointing with his rod
€œ€¦ but when people call me stupid or cute, I do notice!€
G¼nter turned his view to the rest of the group again
€œWelcome to the island of Houst€™a, I hope you all had a nice journey.€
in the sea stables, Anjushree€™s seahorse whinnied fretfully
€œThat €œcity€ you saw, Moogle, is the Houst€™a International Space Center. Allow me to explain exactly who we are. I realise not many people about what we do nowadays, with the focus of most high-ups in the world being on more fundamental magic these days. And even when it comes to applied magic like ours, people are much more interested in topics like commercial flight and the world wide web and what not€¦ even though we have done such great things!€
G¼nter€™s voice becomes deeper, which is quite something for a 1 foot tall stone creature
€œWe have send people to space! Everyone in the world knows how the Soviet Union managed to send someone into space back in 1961! Many nations had been trying to do it. In the end, the United States of America and the Soviet Union managed to finish their space ladder simultaneously. In what became known as the €œspace race€ the American astronaut and the Russian cosmonaut ran up the steps of their respective ladders. It was space magic at its best! The stairs had been magically reinforced to cover the long distance, the 2 space travellers wore enchanted suits to cope with the lack of oxygen. At first, it seemed the Americans had the advantage, but then the Russians revealed their secret weapon€¦ their candidate was a vampire. During the long way up the ladder, night fell over Moscow, and Yuri Vampirin managed to cover the last few miles of the journey flying. The Americans never stood a chance€¦ but what a great day it was for space magic. The Americans would get their revenge though, when they managed to travel to the Moon in 1969. They had come to realize that space ladders wouldn€™t be suited for this job, and they came up with the greatest pi¨ce de rsistance in space magic known to date€¦ Neil Wolfstrong. What little people knew those days, was that not only did the full Moon affect werewolves, werewolves also affected the full Moon. During the full Moon of July 1969, America assembled all their werewolves on the roof of Florida State Prison. They had chosen this place because it was the primary correctional institute for criminal werewolves. Needless to say the number of werewolves on site was off the charts€¦ and the Moon slowly moved closer and closer to them. This in turn, attracted the ocean waves nearby. Neil Wolfstrong, the best werewolf surfer of all times, rode the resulting tsunami (needless to say, the state€™s elementalists kept the tsunami within limits), and in one giant leap for mankind he made the jump to the Moon€™s surface. Sadly, America had not thought of how to get him back on Earth. It took America 2 years, using the intel they had acquired of the Moon thanks to this mission, as well as the help of the Greek God Apollo, to build a concrete contraption that could actually travel to the Moon to get Neil Wolfstrong back.€
G¼nter€™s eyes turn melancholic.
€œAnyway,€
G¼nter continued
€œso little people actually know what happened since those glory days! We have build more space contraptions! Satellites! We have done research! And we are on the brink of so many classified breakthroughs!€
G¼nter considers that just maybe he should not have said that
€œAnd, maybe more importantly, we unified nations! Look at this island, Houst€™a, an extraterritorial island in the Atlantic Ocean that houses our fully international space center! Russians, Chinese, Americans and Germans like me work alongside each other for the world€™s space needs! Why do so little people actually know us?!€
€œOn our way here, I told Mortimer about the satellites€¦€ Acrifer said, in an attempt to make G¼nter feel better.
€œListen, did we really come here just to hear you give an advertising pitch for some oversized hobby?€ Dave said, undoing Acrifer€™s attempts immediately.
€œNo, most certainly not€
G¼nter replied as calmly as he could
€œyou have come here because we have certain problems€¦ problems other than our lack of publicity, I mean. We are met with€¦ sabotage.€
G¼nter remained silent for a second, hoping to evoke a shocked reaction, no such luck
€œWe have reasons to believe our progress is held back by sabotage from the inside by dangerous people. Sadly no international or even national organisation can be arsed to help us investigate this, even though we do such magnificent work, but we hope you can. What I have got with me is a rough map of the island. Highlights show those spots where we fear sabotage of varying degrees. Other places of interest include the concierge, whose job is it to welcome all visitors, and the storage hall where you might find stuff to help you.€
G¼nter took the A0-sized map out of his gnome-sized pocket. He struggled to unfold it, dropping his rod in the process, and gave it to the team.
€œSo, what€™s it gonna be?€

[joey_picus]

Re: A bustle in your hedgerow

Mortimer *is looking at map* I find these places interesting, kupo...

(MASSIVELY OOC BIT: having briefly discussed it with Marti it has been sort of agreed that Mortimer will use his super geography skills to determine and make visible more information about all the places on this map that we have the option to go to, hehe XD)

[alex_holt]

Re: A bustle in your hedgerow

Anjushree has some questions for the gnome:

1) Out of all the people in the world, why were we selected?
2) Can you give us any more details of what type of sabotage has been going on?
3) Does your program have any enemies that might be obvious suspects?

[kodster]

Re: A bustle in your hedgerow

Natsume will stand there and look cute I guess. And ignore Ragington because he was being mean. :P

On a more serious note, she will second Anjushree's first two questions. She will also ask what will be provided for this task.

(also, not to be an arse or anything, Marti, but Natsume doesn't realize she actually HAS that edgemaniac personality; it just bursts out of her at such times.)

[majinb]

Re: A bustle in your hedgerow

As I said Kody, the main purpose of the prologue was to get the hang of your personalities, so its fine that you comment on it...

... BUT, Im under the impression that I wrote Natsume much like what you just described, getting all worked up over the idea of an edge item the one moment, and acting like Alarmed? Me? I don't know what you are talking about the next, but by all means correct me if Im overlooking something

Expect the answers of your questions to be posted soon!

[majinb]

Re: A bustle in your hedgerow

G¼nter listened to the questions asked by those in front of him, while Mortimer grabbed the map.

€œYou ask me fair questions, Anjushree and Natsume. As to why the 6 of you have been selected to complete this task€¦ it is because my superiors decided to. I am but a mere corporal of Houst€™a€™s Guard, entitled with the task of welcoming you, it were my superiors who actually selected you for this job. However, my superiors are highly capable men and women, and I am sure they had good reasons to pick you.

On the topic of what we can provide you, we will provide you 6 beds in the Houst€™a Space Hotel, as well as daily rations of food and water in hotel€™s restaurant.€
G¼nter points at the map using his rod.
€œFurthermore we will provide each of you with 50 Money€™s each day to spend as you wish at the Center€™s facilities. Even those people that do know of us, don€™t seem to realise that we really are a sovereign city-state, with all the buildings and facilities one might expect there. Heavily geared towards space, granted. And last but not least, I already mentioned the Center€™s massive storage hall. I have permission to grant you access to one of its backrooms and have each of you pick something from there. It is a fabulous collection of artefacts that Houst€™a Space Center acquired over the 10 years we have been active. It consists of such things as failed or unfinished experiments, outdated models, some archaic space equipment from the glory days of space travel, and some stuff that we simply found during our fabulous space work. I couldn€™t possibly tell you about the whole collection from the top of my head, you would have to see it with your own eyes, but I can say I€™m particularly proud of our enchanted piece of moonstone and the swimming trunks Neil Wolfstrong wore on the Moon.

About the potential enemies of Houst€™a€¦ I am reasonably sure that nearly everyone who gives a damn about our work, negatively or positively, resides within the perimeter of the island. First of all, I should mention the organisation €œOwn Planet First€. They are an organisation whose believe is that all creatures that originate on Earth, should at all times stay on Earth, and that all aliens should stay on their home planet for that matter.€
Dave Grohl looked annoyed.
€œDespite their passionate believes, they are normally a peaceful organisation, which caused my superiors to decide to offer this organisation their very own office on this island, to act as a moral backbone for the Houst€™a Space Center, and to show that we are open to criticism. Myself, I don€™t for one second understand what point €œOwn Planet First€ is trying to make, and I naturally distrust anyone who opposes to the great idea of space travel. Next, there€™s the Swiss consul. When I said that we unified nations, I really should have added that the Swiss have always been more of a hindrance than an ally. Even when most nations as a whole are careless about our work, their representatives that ended up here have always been helpful people. Not the Swiss. The Space Center as such has no Swiss employees whatsoever, and the Swiss consul is a most grumpy and negative man€¦ I can€™t put my finger on why this might be, but it makes me distrust the Swiss with a passion. I€™d also wish to point at the crime in Houst€™a. I am puzzled about why Houst€™a even has ordinary crime, we are a Space Center for crying out loud and everyone who came here 10 years ago came for just that purpose. I can see why we ended up having butchers and hairdressers, astronauts have to eat and get their hair cut after all, but criminals? Our mathematicians have worked out that when a certain place looks like a city, the odds of crime appearing within its border approaches 100%. We are pretty sure that our most significant criminals currently reside in the Houst€™a Prison, but one can never know how far their influence might reach. There€™s the Houst€™a Mafia€¦ their known members are imprisoned, all 4 of them. Then there€™s Chris, he was an excellent engineer for us, but then it turned out he had been stealing stuff during work time to build himself an enchanted power armour. We managed to apprehend him only just before he managed to finish it, but even then he did put up a good fight in his unfinished suit. Then there is Marc Mars. He is a wizard who threatened to summon a Mars invasion on Earth in the name of the Earth-based Mars Cult. At this point we have found no evidence that Martians, or the Mars Cult Marc refered to for that matter, even exist, but with a wizard as powerful as he is you take no second chances. Pity, his powers could have been useful for our purpose€¦ Beyond those, our other prisoners are really just insignificant petty criminals.

About the details of the sabotage€¦ allow me to point out some hotspots on the map, although I€™m sure Mortimer already figured out what I€™m gonna say now.€
Mortimer looks somewhat proud.
€œIn advance I wish to say I€™m really not much of an expert on the exact workings of space magic or space technology myself, so for further details I wish to point you to our concierge, situated here, who can help you contact our many different experts.€
G¼nter points to the concierge€™s location.
€œBut what I can say, is that someone has been trying to mess with the Large Lemon Collider. A great apparatus. We can learn so much from colliding lemons, like the nature of the universe around is, or how to harness quintessential energy for our own purposes. Recently though, the Large Lemon Collider seems to have stopped working. Our experts are currently running calculations to find the cause of all of this, but due to their sheer complexity these calculations will take months. Guardsmen, however, with their trained eyes, saw within mere seconds that the door to the Collider had been opened with excessive force. Foul play I say! Then there€™s the second highlighted spot on the map. That big area there called €œclassified€. I am not allowed to tell you exactly what is going on there, but it€™s a top-notch science and magic facility. It€™s a mess in there, and so much has gone to waste. Our best guess is that someone had forced his way inside and wrecked havoc. Shortly afterwards, our Mobility Center, where a large portion of our space vehicles are stored. Flat tires, bolts screwed loose, clearly someone badly wanted to sabotage our fleet. And strangely, these crooks left but one vehicle untouched, the Lightnar 2000. Luckily, our mechanics have since managed to repair most vehicles€¦€
G¼nter sighed
€œ€¦ but the sabotage did not stop at that. Those 3 situations were merely the most striking and important examples, but I could just as easily tell you of at least 10 other examples. Broken levers, jammed doors, the lot. Over the last few weeks, someone clearly wanted to hinder us in our great job€¦ the Houst€™a Guard hasn€™t made any progress on the matter, and now the higher-ups want to put this mission in your hands€¦€

[kodster]

Re: A bustle in your hedgerow

(danke Martijn)

Natsume: Um... *still adjusting to having her character as a real living body...as opposed to a character within a game while she herself is behind an M2D (some virtual reality helmet thing). She flexes her fingers nervously* These...these Swiss guys...um, do you think they might have a reason for what they're doing...? *twiddles fingers nervously*

[shadowflare]

Re: A bustle in your hedgerow

I don't suppose that the Lemon Collider could have run out of lemons or something like that. Does it produce lemonade as a result of the lemons colliding? Ragington asks, looking more curious then angry, at least for the moment. And about those space vehicles, the one that was left, was it not worth taking apart, or too difficult? Or perhaps someone behind this buisness has an.... attatchment to that one vehicle. A mystery, this is...

He taps his chin thoughtfully with the handle of his cane. However, before we investigate too much of this and possibly crack some skulls as it were, I have to confess that I believe we should head for the storage hall first, or perhaps second. A place as well guarded as, say, that Collider got broken into, so it wouldn't be a stretch for someone to break in and go after the wolfman's swimming trunks, or other things of worth to this Space Center. Wouldn't want to miss out on some quality things.

[majinb]

Re: A bustle in your hedgerow

Hardly an expert on the Swiss, but to me they are a grumpy and selfish bunch!

For the exact workings of the Large Lemon Collider, there are others that understand that thing better than I do... and as far as that 1 undamaged space vehicle is concerned, I understand that the Lightnar 2000 is an excellent vehicle for 1-person space flight, praised for its high top speed. I wouldn't know why just that 1 vehicle was undamaged.

The storage hall... if you lot decide to go there, I can lead the way if you wish.