[ Outline ] · Standard · Linear+ Test Quest, An epic tale of epic proportions ...

[UnDirector]

... set in an epic setting of epic fantasy and epic steam punk.

With loads of epic.

Or so I would like to believe.

What is this?

It should be a thread about a possible adventure of epic proportions â„¢, with the members of this here site anime-club. In which everyone assumes a role based on the laws of decency (alas no my "character" can do everything better than the rest) and whom embark together to solve a mystery of epic proportions â„¢ in a world where magic and technology is in a continuous conflict and creatures of all kinds roam the lands. And cities. And where you have flakhuge rats in your basement. And no bards to call upon to "evict" them.

How would this work?

Obviously (it won't work) we need a narrator (DM), who can carry on a story, make plots, deal with bitching and cheating and offer anyone the thrills to continue partaking in this journey of epic proportions â„¢. We also need, either a very well built narrative based combat system or something along pen and paper games, with a few stats thrown in for an easier grasp of combat actions and the like. We would, obviously need "players". They would take turns to post in an orderly fashion, they would try having fun while letting others have fun and would try to act based on their character's code making decisions and accepting outcomes, rather than going OOC and start flame wars because they feel they have been wronged. In any way. I do mean it. IN ANY WAY.

So what about the world?

I would blatantly rip off Arcanum (a wonderful rpg from troika games) and generate a world similar to our 19th Century with all it's revolutions and revelations, starting from the industrial one to (the not so 19th century-ish) women's emancipation. This world is contrasted by the traditionalism of arcane/divine magics used by infamous/famous sorcerers and clerics whom held the power until steamtechnology became a common sight. Course we have technocrat dwarfs, slippery gnomes, spiritual elves (city/wild), jack-of-all-trades humans, warrior orcs (tribal... and feral?) and other not so important but permanently present in fantasy literature creatures (goblins, trolls, ogres etc) whom go on about their daily lives doing what they do best trying to cope with all the new ideas, technological breakthroughs, wars of independence and the like. I'd like a setting, where being a magician is actually a privilege, and although rewarding, still won't give you the ability to cast Dragon Slave at will (or you could, but would probably kill you in the process). Magic and technology are mutually exclusive, meaning the stronger one becomes the weaker the other gets. A magical tree inhabited by elves will certainly jam that elephant gun firing beams of highly accelerated charged particles contained in electromagnetic-fields of yours. Same goes for the 900 year old elven wizard trying to cast spark to light his candle when ambushed by a team of cyb-.. steampunkninjapirates with shuriken pistols and steam-scimitars.

Where are we?

The City of Amaranth, on the shores of the river Amaranth, situated at the heart of the Mega-Continent, is one of the most influential power houses in the middle region. Surrounded by forests and mountains to the west and north, lush plains to the east and south, it's a selfsustaining city rich in natural resources with a temperate climate.

The rise of the city to it's current state of neutrality. economical and political powerhouse (housing the headquarter of the Inquisition as well), was marked by countless bloody wars fought for controlling the central region between the neighboring kingdoms and empires of various races, until the creation of the Inquisition. Due to the significant power held by the institution, the city was declared a neutral area and its control placed in the hands of Inquisitorial representatives. The ruling council is lead by 8 high ranking inquisitorial officers, chosen by the institution for 8 years term in office.

The city itself, became a bastion of two worlds, magic and technology - clashing together, populated by all sorts of creatures. Divided by the river Amaranth, the two opposing sides contrast greatly each other architecturally and socially. Towering steel spires, refineries, slums and ragtag buildings, an industrial paradise on the western side and noble's mansions, palaces, gardens an elysian paradise on the eastern side.

The east-side is habited by prosperous humans, elves, gnomes, noble born and merchants, politicians. Breathing the clean air, partaking in luxury and grandeur, surrounded by amphitheatres, clean hospitals, towering libraries made of marble, in the style of gothic architecture, those found themselves in the east side live in a paradise. Statues of the city's founders of golden-brown bronze, children playgrounds in parks of green only contribute to increase the aesthetics of the eastern-side. The entire area is protected by the Inquisition's disciplined security forces, called the arbites (yes, I know AK, let it go...). That being said, the apparent peace is misguiding, for the ruling council of the city and the influential individuals are divided between those following the ways of new-found technology and those believing in the traditional ways of magic. An invisible war of influence, betrayal and political struggle lasting for decades in which neither side has won.

The western side is dominated by slums, factories, marketplaces, towering spires housing various administrative offices, structures made of metal, wood and concrete giving the entire region an image of different shades of brown. The streets are mostly tight and dirty, and the entire region is repartitioned into several districts based on their general purpose (commercial district, living district, administrative district etc). The air is heavy, laborers work day and night, marvels of technology roam the streets (such as steam powered automobiles or automatons carrying construction materials), poverty is at every corner, brothels and underground illegal fighting arenas barely containing the general discontent of the population. Theft, murder and insanity is on a daily basis, youth joining local gangs (some noble, some oppressive, but with the same motivation: to survive the the day after tomorrow), humans, orcs and some unfortunate half elves trying to to survive the ordeals of every day life, whilst opium lords and other criminal elements overwhelm the power of the law... of the brave law-keepers, "incorruptible" police officers. And even although it looks grim-dark, there are children playing on the streets and going to rag tag schools, the order of sanctus sororitas (YES I KNOW AK, BUT I SAID LET IT GO), taking care of the wounded and sick in churches and missions, whilst missionaries preach of equality in the eyes of the Silver Lady. Wacky scientists concealed within their laboratories set buildings on fire accidentally, but local fire fighters respond to threats with astonishing efficiency. Amidst all the discord and confusion there is hope, for in difficult times those who suffer are united under a common banner. The truly poor and unfortunate won't discriminate and will fight together for the greater good. Although human nature is defective, and at times when desolation and despair runs far too deep, eyes go blind and minds are clouded, an uprising starts and the mob finds innocents to take out all the hatred and anger. Half-elves, half-orcs and half-ogres are subject to general xenophobia. Shunned by society, and due to the mobs impossibility to went it's anger at the rich of the "other side", these unfortunate souls bare the brunt of the attack. The police forces usually delay their actions at times like these, until the inquisition's special peacekeeping forces, the Arbites arrive.

The city's population is preponderantly human (over 60%), followed by orks and half orks (16%), elves and half-elves (10%), gnomes (9%), other ethnicities (4%) and half-ogres (less then 1%).

The city infrastructure is solid, sewers running deep under the city, and electricity delivering light to (almost) all the corners of it.

Religion:
Humans, elves, dwarfs, gnomes have their own Pantheon of gods. Orcs have a shamanistic (a la' Lineage 2) culture. Anyway GODS and GODESSES. Lots of them. Not sure if I can be bothered to even copy existing settings. There is just too much, so I'd go with giving a free hand to anyone in choosing their deities. The City would have a local deity of it's own. "The Silver Lady" (*coughofpaincough*), similar to mythological Athena, dressed in white robes, white of skin, with long floating silver (duh) hair, her gaze turned toward the horizon. Her facial expression denoting stern discipline. She is holding an ornate spear pointing toward the sky, in her right hand, the Spear of Justice, said to strike those unpure of heart and corrupt and rallying everyone under a common banner. A strict ethical code requires her adepts to follow her laws to the letter. The law written in the The Book of Wisdom, symbolistically held by the Goddess in her left hand.

Magic:
As with D&D, magic is divided into Arcane, Divine, Nature and Special (me thinks along the line of Yoite's ability to blow ppl up). Arcane magic schools are few and far between, but those that exist, house severel hundreds of spellcaster prodigies (Hogwarts anyone?). Clerics, bishops, nuns and generally any priest can cast Divine spells, granted to them by their chosen deity without the actual need of learning those spells. Those closely tied to mother nature will drain their power from ... nature itself. Magical items of various power levels are abundant throughout the land. From magical weapons to psyche-enhancening runes and gems, you'll likely find anything that strikes your fancy. For the right ammount of coin that is.

The Inquisition (lulz):
Since the rise of civilization and that of magical powers there have been those who would abuse the unlimited force of spellcasting and thread a path of indiscriminate destruction. An organization was created of the most talented human, elven and gnome spellcasters, tasked with the investigation of magical anomalies and those corrupted by their power. For hundred of years, the inquistion regulated global matters related to magic, witches, wizard, sorcerers and the like. Ironically enough, the strongest of spellcasters be it divine or arcane came from the ranks of the inquisition. Fighting fire with fire. BUT, with industrial revolution, those dependant on magic to fight magic gained a new weapon in the form of technology. If in the past it was required a wizard to kill a wizard (unless throwing dozens of fighters against him, until he was drained of his spells or taken by surprize with a well placed backstab/arrow between the eyes), current day's see the rise of a new trend of radical inquisitors arming themselves with complicated mechanical armors and weapons against the threat of magic, a strategy resulting in surprizing effectiveness. Suddenly, those versed in the power of magic didn't hold anymore all the power in the organization. With the passing of decades, radical inquisitors outnumbered puritan ones, the inquisition becoming the biggest supporter of technocrats and their inventions. The Inquisition's dedicated fighting force, the Arbites, double for the city's security and army. It's ranks filled with spellcasters and technocrats.

So where should we start?

Good question. Might it be that our heroes meet on a train heading for The City, attacked by a mysterious group of well armed and well trained ninja (xD)-assassins looking for something or someone, whilst indiscriminately murdering anyone in their paths. Driven by revenge for loosing someone dear; or out of a strong sense of justice; or just plain curiosity; our rag tag wannabe heroes embark on a journey to find out the identity of the attackers and their motives just to fall prey to a conspiracy of ... epic proportions â„¢.


The Abstract Game Rules of Test Quest


1. The Stats

We'll have 8 stats representing a character's physical and mental ability. Each stat is ranked from 1 to 5 in letters. Best being S, worst being D.

- Strength - Ability to carry/lift/move stuff, hit hard in melee combat, overpower others, wield two-handed-weapons or really big guns, be able to climb and swim easier and jump higher. Your Guard-Breaker's efficiency with melee weapons (swords, maces, axes etc.), heavy melee weapons (two-handed swords and axes, pole-arms etc.), grappling attacks, take-downs etc.
- Endurance - Physical stamina, how long can you keep up physical effort, how many hits you can take before going down, how resistant you are to poisons, diseases, general resistance to just about anything. Twice the value of this stat gives your maximum hit points pool.
- Perception - How keen are your five senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch), helps you in being more accurate, more perceptive to things around you or just shoot someone in the face from afar with a sniper rifle. Your Guard-Breaker's efficiency with all sort of ranged weapons (bows, slings, pistols, rifles, handguns, machine-guns etc) depends on this stat.
- Dexterity - Ability to do precise work with your hands or anything else that requires finesse, such as carefully placing a dagger between the joints of the full plate armor worn by a mighty knight, picking a lock, pick pocketing etc. Your Guard-Breaker's efficiency with light melee weapons (daggers, short swords, kukris, rapier etc.) depends on this stat.
- Agility - Flexibility, balance, mobility, reflexes, acceleration, movement speed just about anything you need to be a potential martial arts expert or move around swiftly. Your Guard-Breaker's efficiency in Martial Arts depends on this stat.

- Willpower - Your resolution, determination, power to withstand the effects of fear, also the potency of your magical attacks.
- Magical Aptitude - Ability to cast spells, enchant or use enchanted items, the higher the stat, the lower your Technological Aptitude is.
- Technological Aptitude - Ability to handle and use mechanical tools, the higher the stat the lower your Magical Aptitude is.

There are 5 basic ranks for each stat: D = 1 (low) / C (human average) = 2/ B (above average) = 3/ A (heroic) = 4/ S (legendary) = 5
And several advanced ranks obtainable only in certain circumstances: S2 = 12 -> Sn = 6*n
Based on your Magical Aptitude or Technological Aptitude, being able to equip various magical or technological items, you have five intermediate ranks:
D+ = 1.5 / C+ = 2.5 / B+ = 3.5 / A+ = 4.5 / S+ = 5.5

You start out with D in all ranks and get a generous 15 extra stat points to allocate to any of your existing stats.

2. Magic or Technology

Characters with ranks in either Magical or Technological skills gain the following bonuses:

MA/TA Rank D = The character can use most primitive equipment as well as ranged and melee weapons, but proficient use of mundane magical or technological items, will already pose a problem.
MA/TA Rank C = The character can use C Rank Magical / Technological items, as well as magically enhance/technically augment a single D and C grade item to D+ and C+
MA/TA Rank B = The character can use B Rank Magical / Technological items, as well as magically enhance/technically augment a single D, C and B grade item to D+, C+ and B+
MA/TA Rank A = The character can use A Rank Magical / Technological items, as well as magically enhance/technically augment a single D, C, B and A grade item to D+, C+, B+ and A+
MA/TA Rank S = The character can use S Rank Magical / Technological items, as well as magically enhance/technically augment a single D, C, B, A and S grade item to D+, C+, B+, A+ and S+

NOTE! Fun fact: You can't magically enhance or technically augment your ENDURANCE, WILLPOWER, TECHNICAL APTITUDE or MAGICAL APTITUDE STATS.

3. Combat

Of course there will be a lot of combat. Abstract combat taking the form of "encounters". I included a combat tutorial at the end of the second post, showing a basic battle tutorial. To summarize, technically, you need to inflict a single or multiple successful attacks dealing a certain amount of damage points that equal or exceed the Encounter's Health value to win within one or multiple rounds.

4. The Encounter

Since this is RP, we will bend the rules of engagements to suit a forum based role playing system. I underline the fact, that combat is very abstract. Practically an encounter is treated as a series of attacks made by the player and the mob, without taking initiative (or the order of attacks) into account, the resulting damage being resolved at the end of the encounter instead of along its course. This essentially means that:

"Mob hits X inflicting 1 damage" ; X hits Mob inflicting 1 damage" is treated in the same way as "Mob hits X inflicting 1 damage ; X hits Mob inflicting 1 damage" for the purposes of counting damage at the end: Player lost 1 HP, Encounter Health reduced by 1.

5. Attacks

Both the mobs and the players have a series of different attacks based on their 5 combat stats: strength, perception, agility, dexterity and willpower (spell attacks). Attacks are abstract combat actions taken with a certain weapon (or unarmed) their efficiency depending on a particular stat:

Melee Attack: STRENGTH RANK<=#; - %; where "# " represents your char's stat rank, "<=" means it will successfully hit anyone with a lower or equal strength rank and finally "%" defines the weapon currently equipped or martial art used (boxing, kick-box etc)

NOTE! You can use strength for wielding and hitting with pretty much any possible weapon. You can make devastating unarmed attacks as well. It's up to your narrative to show that when you punch, walls crumble and when you chop, forests fall.

Ranged Attack: PERCEPTION RANK<=#; - %; where "# " represents your char's stat rank, "<=" means it will successfully hit anyone with a lower or equal perception rank, and finally "%" defines the ranged weapon currently equipped.

NOTE! Pretty much anything you can throw (rocks, darts, shurikens etc.), aim or shoot with (pistols, rifles, handguns, shotguns etc.) and involves missiles, bullets, beams etc. will fall under this category. Aiming takes sight, and a good one too. If you don't have a ranged weapon equipped, but you want to make an attack, better make sure you find some rocks or anything that can be used as an improvised weapon to throw it in the opponent's face.

Melee Attack: DEXTERITY RANK<=#; - %; where "# " represents your char's stat rank, "<=" means it will successfully hit anyone with a lower or equal dexterity rank, and finally "%" defines the light melee weapon or light improvised weapon equipped.

NOTE! Using any light melee weapon (knife, kukri, dagger, short swords, rapiers etc) or small improvised weapon (shiv, broken glass etc.) that take more manual dexterity than force to achieve maximum efficiency, will be handled by the dexterity rank.

Melee Attack: AGILITY RANK<=#; - %; where "# " represents your char's stat rank, "<=" means it will successfully hit anyone with a lower or equal agility rank, and finally "%" defines the martial art used.

NOTE! You can only make attacks that involve your fists, shins, knees, elbows (sometimes your head too). Of course using electric-mechanized combat gloves, combat greaves, knuckles, boxing gloves can overcome the penalty of using bare hands in combat.

Magic Attack: WILLPOWER RANK<=#; - spell class; where "# " represents your char's stat rank, "<=" means it will successfully hit anyone with a lower or equal willpower/strength/perception/dexterity/agility rank, wait what?

NOTE! More on magical attacks in the Magic Attack section.

6. Multiple Attacks

Along the course of a round you can't repeat an attack based on a certain stat (ex. you can't have two attacks based on your perception stat), only make attacks based on the rest of your combat stats. Essentially this means, that, if not stated otherwise, you can have a maximum of 5 attacks in a single round (based on Perception, Strength, Dexterity, Agility and Willpower). Don't forget that from a narrative point of view you can make hundreds of attacks in a single round. It all depends on your capacity to be inventive and enjoy imagining intensive combat sequences.

7. Combat Rounds

When you used up all your available attacks, and so did the enemy, yet both of you are still alive... then, all that is left is to essentially stare at each other without any idea what to do next. Kidding. If neither side RETREATS, the second round begins. Everybody resolves their attacks. Still alive? Third round. A combat round is that interval of time in which both you and your opponent get to make all your available attacks.

8. Guard-Breakers

Do you like getting hit? me neither. And probably any other non-masochistic person will answer the same. You will try to parry, dodge, evade to avoid any potential HURT. But there are time when you will get hit regardless of your defenses.

Just like attacks, guard-breaks are also based on your stats

Guard-break: STRENGTH RANK>=#; where "# " represents your char's stat rank, and ">=" means your opponent needs a strength rank higher or equal to yours to hit you.

Guard-break: PERCEPTION RANK>=#; where "# " represents your char's stat rank, and ">=" means your opponent needs a perception rank higher or equal to yours to hit you.

Guard-break: DEXTERITY RANK>=#; where "# " represents your char's stat rank, and ">=" means your opponent needs a dexterity rank higher or equal to yours to hit you.

Guard-break: AGILITY RANK>=#; where "# " represents your char's stat rank, and ">=" means your opponent needs an agility rank higher or equal to yours to hit you.

Guard-break: WILLPOWER RANK>=#; where "# " represents your char's stat rank, and ">=" means your opponent needs a willpower rank higher or equal to yours to hit you.

Ex.1:
Mob Melee Attack 1: STRENGTH<=A; Player Guard-Break: STRENGTH>=A; HIT -> the ranks are equal meaning Y mob hit X player for # damage.
Ex.2:
Mob Ranged Attack 1: PERCEPTION<=A; Player Guard-Break: PERCEPTION>=S; DEFENDED -> Y mob's perception is lower than X player's guard-break perception, meaning player X dodged/parried/evaded Y mob's attack.
Ex.3:
Player Melee Attack 1: STRENGTH<=A; Mob Guard-Break: STRENGTH>=A; HIT -> the ranks are equal meaning Player Y hits Mob X for # damage.
Ex.4:
Player Ranged Attack 1: PERCEPTION<=A; Mob Guard-Break: PERCEPTION>=S; DEFENDED -> X mob's perception is higher than Y player's perception, meaning Mob Y dodged/parried/evaded X player's attack.
Ex.5:
Player Melee Attack 1: DEXTERITY<=B+; Mob Guard-Break: DEXTERITY>=B; HIT -> Player X used an enchanted/augmented B grade weapon, obtaining a half-rank bonus to his dexterity stat easily overpowering Y mob's defenses.
Ex.6:
Mob Melee Attack 1: DEXTERITY<=B; Player Guard-Break: DEXTERITY>=B+; DEFENDED -> Although both the player and the mob has the same stat rank B, the player uses an enchanted/augmented B grade weapon, obtaining a half-rank bonus to his dexterity stat easily parrying Y mob's attack.

8. Importance of Weapons from a game-mechanic and a narrative point of view:

Melee Attack: STRENGTH RANK<=B - Two-handed Sword -> means that the attacker can make a single attack dealing a single damage point (if not noted otherwise) with his B Rank strength, the attack being made with a two-handed Sword.
But what if:
Melee Attack: STRENGTH RANK<=B - Boxing -> all the same as in the first case, for the purposes of game mechanics, but treated differently in the narration. Instead of swinging you will be punching, but with the same effect, beating enemies into oblivion. Because that's what this all comes down to. Narrating a fight, the mechanics being only a guide-line to even odds and keep the tension.
At certain times, certain enemies will have certain IMMUNITIES, (ex. can't be hit by attacks from dexterity, can't be hit by equipment lower than technological grade A/ magical grade A etc).
NOTE! Items/weapons truly matter when players use enchanted or augmented weapons, in which case your combat rank is upgraded with a half-rank as long as your attacks are made with that specific weapon, ex.:
Ranged Attack: PERCEPTION RANK<=A+ - Electroshock Rifle (TA Rank A)

9. Magic Attacks

Magic attacks are handled a tad bit different from regular melee and ranged attacks. When doing magical attacks you need to have the following in view:

-All your magic attacks are done by testing your WILLPOWER STAT RANK against one of the defender's stats. I know what you are thinking... "Whoa I can do strength, perception, dexterity and agility guard-breaks using my willpower instead of doing attacks corresponding to the respective stats? One stat to rule them all, HELL YEAH!" YES and NO.

-The potency of your magical attacks is determined by your willpower rank, but the variety of guard-breaks you can do with them is based on your MAGICAL APTITUDE STAT RANK. Also, you can only make a single magic based attack (even if you have S rank magical aptitude). Here...table:
Magical Aptitude Rank D = Guard-Break: NONE
Magical Aptitude Rank C = Guard-Break: WILLPOWER STAT
Magical Aptitude Rank B = Guard-Break: WILLPOWER + 1 combat stat of your choice (STRENGTH / PERCEPTION / DEXTERITY / AGILITY)
Magical Aptitude Rank A = Guard-Break: WILLPOWER + 2 combat stats of your choice (STRENGTH / PERCEPTION / DEXTERITY / AGILITY)
Magical Aptitude Rank S = Guard-Break: WILLPOWER + 3 combat stats of your choice (STRENGTH / PERCEPTION / DEXTERITY / AGILITY)

10. Healing

Sooner or later your character will get hurt, and if you are not careful enough he might get incapacitated, or even worse, die. To avoid such a cruel fate, you might want to keep your eyes on the character's hit points level.
Between encounters and if there is no imminent danger around, you might heal yourself or get healed by other characters.
You can get healed by magical means (healing spells) or "technological means" (ointments, healing salves, medicine... stim-packs etc).
The healing procedure lasts an hour in both cases, and you can heal up only as much as half of your total/maximum hit points (equal to your endurance stat. Ex.: a dude with B rank endurance heals up a maximum of 3 hit points by magical or technological means within a single hour).
Also, not ANYONE can heal or get healed. The maximum number of hit points one can restore depends on the rank of the character's Magical Aptitude or Technological Aptitude stats. Here... table:

MA/TA Rank D = No healing.
MA/TA Rank C = 1 health point restored within an hour (targeted character needs to have an Endurance Stat of >=D)
MA/TA Rank B = 2 health point restored within an hour (targeted character needs to have an Endurance Stat of >=C)
MA/TA Rank A = 3 health point restored within an hour (targeted character needs to have an Endurance Stat of >=B)
MA/TA Rank S = 4 health point restored within an hour (targeted character needs to have an Endurance Stat of >=A)


Encounter Stat Sheet


Encounter Name

Stats:

STR #; PER #; DEX #; AGI #; END #; WP #; MA #; TA #;

Encounter Health:

Tactics:

Encounter Attack 1 Melee:
Encounter Attack 2 Ranged:
Encounter Attack 3 Magic:

Weakness: N/A

Immunity: N/A

Goal: N/A

Guard-break on Player Attack:
Encounter Guard-break: STRENGTH RANK>=#;
Encounter Guard-break: PERCEPTION RANK>=#;
Encounter Guard-break: DEXTERITY RANK>=#;
Encounter Guard-break: AGILITY RANK>=#;
Encounter Guard-break: WILLPOWER RANK>=#;


Player Stat Sheet


Character Name

Stats:

STR #; PER #; DEX #; AGI #; END #; WP #; MA #; TA #;

Total Hit Points:

Special:

Tactics:
(ex.: Player Melee Attack 1: STRENGTH<=A; - Two-handed Power-Hammer )
(ex.: Player Ranged Attack 2: PERCEPTION<=B; - Revolver)
(ex.: Player Magic Attack 3: WILLPOWER<=A; vs STRENGTH/AGILITY)

Guard-break:
Player Guard-break: STRENGTH RANK>=#;
Player Guard-break: PERCEPTION RANK>=#;
Player Guard-break: DEXTERITY RANK>=#;
Player Guard-break: AGILITY RANK>=#;
Player Guard-break: WILLPOWER RANK>=#;

[Yoite-San]

The man blinked, watching them depart.
...Right.
He resumed looking out the window, keeping an ear out, listening.
"I know I am dying" ... What did she mean by that... he thought for a while over it,
before his mind wandered off to the blonde from his pocketwatch.


A male blonde neko stood before him at the train station.
He barely reached his chin but he seemed older than him.
Pale blonde mop (read: bob hairstyle) of hair covered his eyes, so you couldn't read his facial gestures properly.
White cat ears at the sides of his head, fluffy, long haired, clearly he was a well-kept neko.
Several silver piercings in both of his ears, earrings dangling.
His tail was white, long furred.
His clothing showed he was royalty:
A deep purple tailcoat with golden trims, fine embroidery all round it,
underneath a black vested shirt, a rather huge black ribbon at his neck, tied up as a loose bow tie,
the sleeves of his white shirt sticking out from under the sleeves of his tailcoat as laces,
covering his hands; a silver chain coming from under his vest, going into one of its pockets,
clearly another pocket watch; his pants were black, skin tight, a pair of long white boots,
with wide black ribbons for lace; and to top it off, a silver crown adorned his head.
Obviously a prince.

" Got everything~?" the neko grinned, passing him the leather bag he had with him.
The taller male just smiled and nodded, taking it from him.
The two of them sat down on the benches outside, waiting for the Inner-continental Express steam-train
to show up, leaning at each other, hand in hand, they were clearly more than just friends.
" We'll finally have a nice, peaceful life after this..." The neko purred, grinning from ear to ear.
" Yeah... Finally..." The taller male nodded once more in agreement.

Truth be told, he had a shit life to begin with.
Confined to the basement, his family has taken away any change of him to socialize normally,
they even prevented him from seeing his half brother.
His mother had died at birth, his family had called him an 'Angel of Death'.
The next moment he had turned 14, his family had tried to slash his throat, but had failed.
The little boy ran from home, to be found by an elderly man who took him under his wing.
However, seeing that this child had no intentions of living, he taught him the skill that now is killing him,
and passed him to a person he had acknowledged as "guardian".
It wasn't long since he had stopped his ninja training, he bumped into this neko while doing one of his missions.
The neko clung to him, trying ever so hard to have it his way, as a young bratty prince would. He demanded to be this kid's friend.
In the end, something clicked in his brain, making him run off with the neko to his palace, where he was treated with utmost care and love.

A year later...
It was a cold, stormy night when it happened. The two youngsters were sleeping, when all of a sudden, the brunette started wailing out in pain,
screaming, his arms tightly round himself, crying. The neko and the maids tried so hard to calm him down, but nothing had worked.
For 3 days and 3 nights, the boy kept crying in pain. His body stretched out, his bones enlonged, his hair grew out long.
Apparently, his cells became very active suddenly, aging his body before their eyes.
Everybody was confused as ever, even the medics didn't know what was up with him.
The pain stopped after a while, but the boy now looked like skin and bones.
They fed him a lot, to fatten him up, but nothing worked.
He ate everything, but with no results.
Alas, it took them a few weeks to return back to normal, as in resuming their lives; the neko kept getting closer and closer to him,
till one day...

"It doesn't work!" the male trashed everything in reach, as a gadget refused to work no matter what.
"It just doesn't work, god damnit!" he kept getting more and more pissed, the neko tried to calm him down but it was like fighting with the windmills.
As a desperate attempt, he grabbed the brunette, pulled him down to eye level, forcing a kiss onto his lips.
The male stopped bitching, his cheeks going a deep, dark red.



...It worked.

Tho the next moment they parted, they took a short glance into each others eyes,
before bolting to the opposite corners of the room, completely embarrassed of what had just happened.
That was the actual start of their relationship.
The neko was completely head over toes for this male, even if his health was starting to decay, coughing up blood on a daily basis if forced
to do a lot of hard work. When they would go out in the village, bandits would try and ambush them, the male pointed to the enemies and one by one would collapse before their eyes; the neko would summon up fire with his hands, flaming everything in wide range.
However, the side effects kicked in after a couple of hours, where the brunette was compelled with pain yet again.
This kept on going till he finally decided it's time for him to know of his troublesome condition.
Laying in bed, the neko sat beside him, he looked up to him and spoke out.
"There's something you need to know... " The neko perked out his ears at him, listening.
"I know what's the matter with me... but there is no cure for it... You see, before you took me away from the place where I... stayed at...
I had no meaning. I had no will to live, but to get erased. I don't have a family... They all called me a monster when my mother had died at my birth...
They cast me away from socialization... They tried to murder me... but I made a run for it. Til a nice old man took me home, and looked after me.
Tho he noticed I didn't want to live, so he taught me the Kira.
Kira is what is killing me. I use my life force to kill my enemies, but as a consequence, I loose my own life force and will eventually die.
I've already lost my taste, and my vision's going blurry from time to time." the male panted, apparently, even talking is tiring for him.
The neko was shocked, almost tearing.
"Why haven't you told me earlier?! There has to be a way out!"
The neko paused for a sec, thinking over it.
"Tell me, do you still want to live?" he had a dead serious look on his face. Even if you couldn't see his eyes, you could feel it.
The male looked up to him, smiled and nodded.
"Of course I do..."
"You don't seem that confident!"
The male chuckled.
"Yes. I don't want to die. I want to live."
"That's more like it..." the neko sighed.
"Alright. I'll go look for help. I'll get the maids and butler to search through the library for a cure."
He stood up and ran out of the room, leaving the brunette on his own.
Eventually, after a couple of weeks of checking through the enormous library the castle had, the butler had told them there is a man
deep within Amaranth's grounds that had the cure for all known death-inducing skills.
As soon as they heard, they prepared for departure. But the male insisted the neko would stay behind, at the castle. If he were to die on the way,
least the kingdom still has its ruler.

So we find the youngsters at the train station, just as the Inner-continental Express steam-train pulls up at their platform and people start climbing up.
"Right... you be good out there and don't die. Alright~?" The neko grinned up to him, passing him his bag as he got onto the train, along with a golden pocket watch. He seemed rather... motherly.
"Don't worry. I'll come back." The male smiled, as he bowed to his level for a quick exchange of kisses. They waved, and the male went to find his seat.
First class, the neko wanted him to travel safely, and in style. It was something normal for him, being royalty.
The neko paced around the train, watching him through the windows till he found his seat. As the train would leave, the neko chased it a little, waving to him, clearly excited that there is a way to cure their troublesome issue.
Little did the butler knew, he should've said it was just a rumor.


The young man's day dreaming was soon cut off, as the door swung open to reveal...