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Ancient Spells and Hidden Treasures ( @Ranganok )

Started by Wild, November 15, 2015, 07:58:16 AM

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Wild

Sophie was on one of her numerous journeys, this time to Thanatos, where she was hunting for ancient runes and hidden relics as usual. She had made her way to the hidden ruins of an ancient village, and now she was excavating the area.

She was a woman of average height, slender built and with long, brownish curls flowing around her head. At the moment she was on her way to a cave where she thought there could be some ancient markings the stone near the entrance.

Sophie's specialities were languages and forgotten rites. That was why she was here now. There was a slight chance that her knowledge of the now forgotten languages and runes would be needed among the members of her secret order.

Having spent most of her life busy occupied with her studies, Sophie did not know the other people in this order as much as she knew her beloved books. She was quiet and thoughtful during most of the order's secret meetings. Her contribution to the group was the sharing of all the knowledge she learned from deciphering the ancient scrolls.

In return money had never been a problem when she needed to travel to find new scrolls - like now. Sophie had been on many secret expeditions, and she never returned empty-handed.

The withered leaves rustled under her feet as she made her way towards the cave. It was Autumn, and the weather was not as warm as she had hoped for. She shuddered and draped her long cloak in earth colors tightly around her. The last few meters she walked faster, eager to learn what she would find in the cave.

Ranganok

The cave was an entire ritual complex. Many altars, magic circles and runed walls could be found in there as the rooms seem to be endless. It seemed like this cave was the temple of some ancient cult that were worshiping what they would call: The Ascended. In the walls, lots of drawings and runes talk about men and women which became so powerful that they evolved into Godly beings.

Further into the temple a grim sensation could be felt...something uneasy happened here....it was the sacrificial chamber...Visions of the tormented and gore as they were sacrificed and devoured could be seen for those with divination. From the inscriptions in the place it could be learned that they thought that trough sacrifice and devouring the flesh and the souls of other mortals repeatedly, one could attain godly powers.  On the walls drawing with people stabbing and holding a blood soaked serpent dagger could be seen. It seems that their sacrificial was about stabbing the victims with a serpent like dagger in the heart, then slicing their chest and abdominal region in to and devouring his entrails. Although this being a sacrificial chamber, there were no trace of any human remains anywhere in the room.

But then...at the end of the sacrificial chamber...a massive obsidian door could be seen. It had a ratio of 5 on 3 meters and on each side of the door two skeletons that seemed to sleep on the side were carved. They had their back, and legs slightly curved and their hands were brought close to their chest, each one facing the other, facing towards the interior. Before the door there is a small stone altar which has a small gap in it.

Behind the doors, there was a dark room full of skeletons...the whole ground was covered in skeletons and they were even forming bone hills in a few places. Great agony, terror and pain could be traced by a divinator. By closely examining the skeletons, one could easily ascertain that they all had one thing in common, their ribcage was split open. However a faint smell of fresh blood could be caught in the area but the place looks like it wasn't opened and used in hundreds of years if not more.

A bit further into this pit of death, a big tablet, the same size as the door and from the same material could be seen. It is inscribed full of runes, which talk about finding power in death or how the dead would be honored to be a part of a god. The tablet was a tribute to those who were sacrificed into this temple. A ray of moonlight descends from a hole above lightning the tablet and the zone adjacent it. However, at the base of the tablet a lone man, having his back against it, and his head bent down could be seen. He was looking like a young boy, with a  messy brown hair and a slim-athletic constitution, having well defined muscles but without buffing him. But his body was in a pool of blood, fresh blood, being covered in cuts and stabs, full of wounds and possibly still bleeding. his hands were ruined and skewered...and no normal man could survive those kinds of wounds...but trough some unknown factor...he was still alive...unconscious but alive. Practically he was a living kebab.

By closely examining him, one could also learn that he has suffered brain damage and part of his memory was erased. Trough divination only one vision could be seen...A place at a high altitude, surrounded by mountains a black sky which fire raging in it like thunder and before him, a dark humanoid silhouette which reveals a purple glowing eye, the right eye. The unknown person laughs as he starts speaking: "Hahahah...Did you really think that in your current position you could defeat a god? You are really something...you knew that? But then it seems like it's not enough..." the rest is incomprehensive as the entire vision fades to black.

(OOC: I am a little rusty since I haven't rp-ed in some time...Hope this is good. :) )

Wild

(I like your post, you write very well. I hope my grammar is understandable. English is not my first language :) )

This.... was the dream of any researcher. Sophie entered the cave quietly, her eyes sparkled with awe as she looked around. The cave was an entire ritual complex. Quietly she took up her notebook and started copying the runes she found, in the exact same pattern they were carved on the walls and the floors. She knew she would have to work for quite a while to be able to decipher this. But she knew she would be able to do so as soon as she found the right key to deciphering it.

She quietly approached the wall, and it was as if a new world, or rather an old world of ancient legends, opened to her when she read about men and women becoming so powerful that they evolved into Godly beings.

Further inside the temple she felt a grim sensation. Something had happened here. She closed her eyes. Images of tormented creatures, both four-legged and two-legged - flashed through her mind. This was a place of sacrifice. She could feel the fear of the doomed when the leader of the ritual lifted his sharp weapon to end their lives....

She took in the sight of everything in the sacrificial chamber - the massive obsidian door included. It was a dream for a researcher like her. Ancient forgotten languages, ancient runes. It was all here. She wished she could have showed this buried treasure to her fellow cult members, the only family she remembered.

The next room - full of skeletons. Sophie smiled as she thought of Anise and Gradius. They would probably like it here... Perhaps she would show them this place one day....

Making her way further into the pit of death she noticed a big tablet. Her eyes sparkled when she noticed the runes, and again she opened her trusted notebook. She quickly copied the text into her notebook, smiling at the thought of finding power in death. It was sort of the same thing her own order used to do. She made certain to copy every rune, every part of untold  history. No detail was left out.

Placing her notebook back in her bag, she spotted the lone man leaned against the base of the tablet. From the looks of it he appeared to be a young boy with messy brown hair, slim and athletic. Sophie's eyes scanned the young man carefully, inspecting his wounds without touching him. Kneeling by his side she tried to find out how serious the damage was, if the neck was broken and if it would be safe to move the patient.

Holding her hands slightly above him, she tried to use her powers of divination, to whisper a spell, trying to find out who this boy was so she could try to speak to him - knowing what name to call him. But all she could find... was darkness.

Ranganok

The boy remains unconscious, still bleeding slightly. Even though he was full of wounds, the neck was incredibly well...it was like anything that attacked him deliberately stayed away from the neck region. Also, a very interesting thing would be that all the wounds he gained missed his vitals, some even by millimeters, but make no mistakes...his wounds were severe. The main threats to his life being the bleeding and wound infection.

But then, as the woman was examining the wounded body, a chill on the spine could be felt...it was a presence. At first, this grim presence would not reveal itself, but slowly, a silhouette is formed in the shadows. The first thing that could be seen would be 2 intense glowing blue eyes, however they were incredibly low in the height...but all will clear when his body is revealed. It was a black dire wolf, having a meter and 30 centimeters on his 4 feet. He looked like a proud animal, and even though he was intensely staring at the woman, he never sent any hostile intent....it was like he was inspecting and judging her. After what seems like a few minutes of staring, in which the wolf completely ignored any attempt of communication from the girl, if there was any, turns around and goes back into the shadow he came from, vanishing completely together with the chilling presence.

Returning to the boy, his fading to black made his consciousness drift into the world of dreams. He had several dreams while in this state. In one of them he sees himself on a high cliff, surrounded by armored and robed men, there were both warriors and mages there. They created a corridor, the people being on each side of it. Ranganok was walking on that corridor while the people around him were looking intensely to hi  waiting for his order. By going at the edge of the cliff, looking down he could see two armies fighting each other, warriors slaughtering each other, and explosions of magic. Ranganok then asks of his companions: "What is the status?" One of the men there, a black robed man, with grey beard and a simple wooden staff that was thicker at the head, a mage, answered bowing to the boy: "It all goes as you planned my lord! The kingdom took everything against our decoy army and the shadow division successfully infiltrated the fortress...it is just a matter of time before it falls.

The dream then suddenly interrupt as another one come into mind. There was another battleground, but this time, the boy wasn't looking from above, he was in the center of it. While war was covering all fronts, the boy just finished defeating a black armored boy, he was slim in build and had a black ,straight and short hair with black eyes. They boy looks terrified at Ranganok as he raises his hand prepared to finish this warrior off. But then, out of nowhere, a beautiful young girl with golden hair, no more than 16 years appears before him opening and straightening her hands in order to protect the defeated boy. She looks at Ranganok with confidence and says with a kind, yet strong voice: "It's enough." Wolf looks to a side with a disappointed and a bit submissive look and says "Tsch...Fine. Let's go." As the dark boy leaves the defeated warrior, going further into the battlefield. The girl then smiles brightly at Michael as she happily follows him.

The last dream he has, he is into a dark void, everywhere he's looking at, he is seeing is black, except for the ground. The ground is covered in white mist, which covers up until below his knees. Looking forwards he sees only one person. A black wolf with with blue eyes. He closely examine him and even tries to sue his divination, but nothing works. Then, Ranganok asks of the wolf: "What is this place? Who are you? What's going on?" The wolf doesn't respond to any of the boy's questions, only staring at him. After what seemed like an eternal awkward moment, the wolf finally speaks in a thick, almost demonic like voice "The time for you to awaken is nigh."

(OOC: Well seems like you failed to see my hidden riddle in my last post...well not that it's a problem though :) . Anyway, was thinking if you could try to treat him in this post so that I can make him wake up in my next one...I am slowly starting to go out of ideas about how to rp an unconscious man XD. Also I understand perfectly what you say...English it's not my first language either. )

Wild

(OoC: I'm sorry for not noticing your hidden riddle last night. It was kinda late when I got to reply to your post, and I was starting to feel tired. Please feel free to  let me know if you want me to edit my post ^^  I think your English is very good, so I had not noticed if you hadn't said it wasn't your first language. Sophie is not a doctor, but she will try her best to help the boy ^^. She normally works as a researcher, specializing in ancient runes and forgotten languages.)

Seeing that the boy remained unconscious, she gently started feeling for a pulse. Then she noticed his bleeding, and using the equipment she brought with her among her belongings she washed his wounds in water and then started bandaging. The light in here was not good for patching up wounds with needle and thread, so this would have to wait until they had broad daylight. For now, the bandage and the healing herbs she had pressed against the wounds would have to suffice. The herbs she had used were known to cleanse wounds also. She only hoped that it would be enough.

As she examined him, she felt a chill down her spine, and she looked around with watchful eyes. Did she see... a shadow silhouette in the darkness? She saw a pair of intense glowing blue eyes. She did not feel threatened by the wolf. It did not show any signs of aggression. "Hello," she told him friendly, thinking he was a regular wolf. "Are you hungry? I think I have some food in my saddlebag if you want..."

The wolf vanished when she spoke to it, and she turned her attention towards the boy once more. Now that his head wounds were taken care of, she started examining the rest of his body, searcing for other injuries that needed to be taken care of. While she did this she spoke to the boy, hoping to wake him up.

"Hello," she said, touching his face gently in an attempt to call on his attention. "Can you hear me? You need to wake up now..."

Ranganok

(OOC: don't worry about that...you just failed a test. No need to edit anything, after all, I am a flexible person. :) Cleaning and bandaging is all that was needed as I said at the beginning of my last post: "The main threats to his life being the bleeding and wound infection." so first aid on short.)

"The time for you to awaken is nigh." His voice resounded deep into Ranganok's head as everything was fading to black once again. In the emptiness of the dark, in which the man was now immersed, faint and muffled sounds could be heard. "Hello. Can you hear me? You need to wake up now..." Michael slowly drifts into consciousness thanks to the unknown female voice that captivated his ears. Slowly he started to feel a nice and warm feeling on his cheek...his sensations were returning to him. The ground was warm, mostly because he warmed it with the heat of his body,and a faint breeze could be felt in this cave complex, which gave Ranganok a nice cooling sensation.

Light is starting to get through his eye lids and as he slowly opens his eyes, he sees the blurry image of an unknown person, possibly a woman because her features couldn't be well seen in his current position. Suddenly, his defending instincts kicked in as he remembered what he was doing before he passed out. He took with his right arm the hand of the woman, locking in her wrist and twisting in it so that the girl bends towards the right side. He suddenly gets up, putting his other hand on the woman's shoulder, pressing her with the face on the ground. He keeps the hand perpendicular beside her body as the wrist is locked, having the wrist bent forward with Michael's thumb and the elbow being kept straight as it was pressed against the boy's ribs. His other hand keeping the same shoulder as the locked arm stuck to the ground and having his left knee on her waist as well. That is when his eyes started to focus more on the target, being eable to see ther traits: She was a woman of average height, slender built and with long, brownish curls flowing around her head.

He was in complete control, being able to break her arm as easy as breaking a stick and then he started to ask questions in an interrogation manner: "Who are you? What were you trying to do? And what is this place?" The place was totally unknown to the boy as he last remembers being in a mountain area. As he asked the questions and listened to the girl he was quickly looking around inspecting the surrounding and searching for other life forms. That is until the dizziness kicked in. His vision went blurry once again, his muscles weakened as his grip of the girl's body weakened as well creating an opening. It seems like the recent wounds and the sudden movements were a bit too much for his body.

Wild

(A test you say? I didn't know we were in school... Well, nevermind. I am a flexible person too.^^)

Sophie watched the man as he slowly opened her eyes. She smiled friendly, hoping to show him that she was a peaceful person and that he had nothing to fear. But she should have been careful with whom she chose to help, for the next thing that happened was that the man grabbed her, locked her wrist and twisted it so she was forced to the ground.

Being grabbed like this was not to Sophie's pleasure, and the part of her that was demon started preparing to defend her against the brutal attack. She let out a shrill cry that planted itself towards the sky - a cry loud enough to awaken all the demons in hell - telling them that one of their own was in danger.

In the distance she could hear them answering her cry, and she knew that if the attacker would not let up his death grip of her, he would soon be surrounded by a swarm of demons, ailing to end his life.... She knew however, that they had some distance to travel before they could get here. All she had to do was to wait until help had arrived.

She heard him asking questions in an interrogating manner, a manner she did not care for and thus did not bother to reply. If she had known about the brutality of this attack, she would just have left him here to rot.

She was surprised when the man suddenly weakened his grip on her body, and once he was limp she tore away from him with a curse, rubbing her aching limbs.

"Owww, it hurts!" she growled. "What the hell just happened?"


Ranganok

(OOC: It's one of my hobbies to constantly test people. Put them in certain situation to see how they react,what decisions they make, to see their attitudes towards certain things and so on.)

The woman let out a shrill cry...it was by no means a normal one. The moment she let out that cry, Ranganok got a vision trough his divination seeing a swarm of demons approaching this place. It was also very unpleasant for his ears. Then the dizziness took over and the woman took advantage of that by freeing her. Ranganok falling to the other side and rolling until the big stone tablet, getting his upper body up and staying with his back against that obsidian tablet.

He was still dizzy, having the impression that the entire room was spinning...was it because he lost much blood, or because of an intense sense of hunger? He then shifts his focus, or what remained of it towards the now free woman and lets out a weakened laugh: "Hahahah...I didn't think that my body would be so weakened." He inspects his body seeing that he was all patched up. Not knowing what happened, he thought that this lady here was the one that treated him. Then with a devilish smile he looks at the woman and asks: "I want to know something before your friends come here. Why did you treated my wounds? What is it that you want from me? Knowledge? Power?  Or something completely different?

Michael thought he was in a tight spot...his mind trying to fill the empty gap of his memory with assumptions. He reached a conclusion that she was part of the group which knocked him out, wounded and captured him. He tried to use his divination to look into his own past, but even for him, the answer was only darkness. It was one of the very few times when his divination didn't help. As he stands more relaxed, his heart rate drops and the dizziness starts to subside, being able to see more clear and focus better on this unknown person, trying to read her emotions, reactions and predict her future actions.

Wild

(OOC: Ah, that way. *Lol* Those tests are fun - I use to do them in real life though. I am a sucker for seeing their face expressions when they react ^^ If I had the freedom to choose my own path in life I would have chosen to be a stage actress. )

Sophie watched the man as he fell to the other side, rolling until the big stone tablet. One part of her was worried he might get even more injured than he already was. The other part was still in pain after his attack and wished for him to faint so she could run away. This time when he fell she did not follow after him, did not wish her arms to be broken.

When he let out a weakened laugh, she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him, a smirk over her face when he spoke of not knowing how weakened his body would be.

"It will be even more weakened when my friends arrive," she replied calmly. "Had you killed me they would have found you and claimed your life to revenge mine... You would never have gotten away with it. You are lucky that I am still unharmed..."

Her frown disappeared quickly, as she was not one to hold grudges for long. It was the human side of her kicking in - the one that was in control of the woman most of the time. "I treated your wounds because you looked like you were in pain and I worried for you," she said honestly. "I know nothing about you, thus I wouldn't know what to ask of you."

After a moment of silence she continued. "You have the ability to grant people knowledge or power you say? There must be more to you than what first meets the eye..."

She took a deep breath and sat down, resting her back against the wall of the cave. "Let's start again, shall we? It is much easier getting answers from people when you do not try to kill them to make them talk.... My name is Sophie, and I am a wanderer in search of knowledge. I have a special interest in forgotten languages and ancient runes, and I try through my work as a researcher to learn more about the past. If you feel a bit better now, perhaps you could tell me a bit about yourself?"

Ranganok

(OOC: Well, Morrighan, what if I told you that one of humanity's gifts is the ability to choose their own path in life(no matter the person). If you are gonna say that you couldn't because of family, money, or idk what other reason, let me tell you straight: That is bullshit! The only reason why you didn't have the freedom of choice is because you took it away and limited yourself. As I like to say: Nothing is impossible, you just have to find a way to make it happen...and believe me: there is at least a way for anything. Everyone has the ability to control their own life, their destiny but people tend to not know that. And the key to success is moderation...keep everything in moderation, even your own feelings, because if you don;t keep them under control they tend to become too intense and take over your judgement, your performance and you screw up 95% of the time.)

Ranganok looks at the woman as she crosses her arms and starts talking about what would happen if he would have killed her. He slightly smiles imagining various outcomes of that scenario and then responds to the girl: "Perhaps..."

Then he stood there silent letting the woman continue...finally she was going to answer to one of his questions as she seemed to relax a bit in the man's eyes.  "I treated your wounds because you looked like you were in pain and I worried for you, I know nothing about you, thus I wouldn't know what to ask of you." After hearing that from her mouth, Ranganok's eyes open up as he lets a very surprised face. Then he bursts into a healthy laugh  that resounds in the whole room. "Hahahahah...Are you telling me that you just accidentally found a wounded man that you knew nothing about, you worried about him so you treated his wounds out of good will? Hahahahahahah." He then stops, he starts to smile looking at the ground with eyes that have a great deal of sadness behind them and continues: "So there are still people like that..."

The woman continues her questioning with a question about the power and knowledge he can offer. He looks at her and responds: "No no...I am nothing that special. Every living thing has the ability to grant others knowledge and power. I am just someone who knows how and is willing to do so, that is all."

The girl stands down too, and starts from the beginning, telling Michael that her name is Sophie and she is interested in the ancient past. After she finished talking, she seems ti be waiting for Ranganok to talk about himself. He then responds: "Sophie huh? It has a nice ring to it. Well I should present myself.I am..." But, before he continues to talk a loud growling could be heard in the room which interrupts him...it was coming from the boy's stomach as he looks towards it during the whole growling. Michael then looks at the woman with a deadpan face and continues talking with no regard to anything: "...hungry. Do you have anything edible on you?"

Completely forgetting about everything around him or what they were discussing, his full attention is towards the woman, as his mind is completely filled with thoughts of food. After all, his hunger always gets the best of him, making him unable to focus on anything else until he fills his stomach. So now, Ranganok crossed his legs into a lotus position as he puts his hands on the knees and leans on them, eagerly waiting for Sophie's answer, hoping that she would have food on her.

Wild

(OOC: It is an interesting theory, I admit. I have heard it before. But much of it does not work out in the real life world. If it did, the world would be a much better place to live for us all, and perhaps there would be an end to all wars, all poverty and all suffering on this poor planet. ;) )

Sophie watched the man when he bursted into a healthy laugh, mocking her for treating his wounds out of good will. "Not entirely of good will," she replied, a hint of frost in her voice. "If I had left you bleeding you could have bled on the writing on the tablet, ruining them so they would be impossible to read...."

She nodded when he spoke of being able to grant others knowledge and power. "So you're telling me that you are some sort of teacher?" she asked.

She listened to the man when he started to introducing himself. "Hungry, hm? What an odd name... Oh, you mean you are hungry...."

She laughed and started rifling through her bags, and she pulled out some fruits and placed before him, followed by a couple cheese sandwiches. "Well, I have fruits," she said. "And some bread and cheese."

Ranganok

(OOC: Who said it doesn't work...as I told you...most people do not know of this because either their parents put them weird ideas inside their heads or they were "brainwashed" by other peoples, mass media or so on. And the reason it doesn't work for people is because of that moderation thing. People tend to attach themselves pretty strongly to things/persons which they do consciously or unconsciously.

For example, a man that goes to work for the sole purpose of making money, or his goal for going to a job is making money, he automatically attaches himself to money. If he does not control this attachment, it would be his "love" for money that drives him to do things, it controls him and thus he screws up because it's psychologically proven that attachments affects the way your brain works and thus affects the way you work and you will never work to your full potential, having many things that will work against you....a pretty simple concept which most people either don't know or don't want to accept it which is why only a select few become successful people...and one base reason for a man to become successful is this.

The attachments could vary though: an object, an event, a person etc. If those are not kept in check and under control well you will lose control over your life basically. :) The secret to draw out your full potential is to be able to detach yourself(even temporary) from all things, from everything. It is called a serenity state. But do not think that attachments are bad...they are what makes you happy after all, so it's ok to have them...just keep them under control )

Ranganok hears the woman a she continues her explanation as for why she saved him, hearing that she didn't want the tablet runes to be covered in blood. He slightly smiles as he replies: "Nice excuse there..." Sophie continues to ask him if he is some kind of teacher. Ranganok looks at her as he answers once again to her questions: "Not quite...I am just a traveler...someone who travels a lot from place to place, and by doing so I learn from a lot of people...and I just happen to pass that knowledge to those who ask for it. As I said...I am just a normal man that lives from a day to another.

After their conversation ends, they reach the most important point in this whole interaction: THE FOOD! She starts to take out from her bag several fruits and some cheese sandwiches. Michael looks at them fascinated like a little kid that hasn't eaten in days barely containing his saliva. He then, without any hesitation takes up a cheese sandwich and started devouring it, being done with it in like 15-20 seconds if not less. Then he takes another one. Then he takes an apple and eats it,then a peach, a banana, another cheese sandwich until it looked like he was eating all at the same time. At some point he starts to choke because of his eating style, beating with his fist in his chest and making Sophie sing if she has anything to drink so he recovers. In case he has, he takes and gulps it all down curing his choking and leaving a good "phew" sound of satisfaction. In case she doesn't have anything to drink, he just force-swallows curing his choking with a great deal of effort.

After devouring what seems like everything that looks edible...except for Sophie, he leans with his back on the tablet, caressing his belly, being satisfied. Then, with a deadpan face like nothing out of the ordinary has happened, he talks to Sophie: "So...where were we?"

Wild

(OOC: It is an interesting idea. I see my self as a calm person, not flashing my temper or attaching myself too much to things or persons. I have always preferred reading before social life and parties. All I need in my life is peace and quiet, time to think and reflect, and last, but not least write . Sometimes I fail in receiving these things because real life happens. Sometimes reality comes too close, closer than I like to think of.

Do you remember the terror attacks that happened in Norway almost 5 years ago? Some of the children and teens that were murdered that day were friends and sons/daughters of friends of mine. I was there for some of the survivors, talking to them, drying the tears of their faces and offering them a shoulder to cry on when they spoke of the horrors they had gone through. Their stories gave me lot to think about - how brief and random life can be... And I decided that the best way to live my own life is to enjoy each day to its fullest, because everything we got - everything we can be sure of - is here and now.)

Sophie smirked when she heard the man speaking of nice excuse when she spoke of why she had saved him. She listened when he called himself a traveler, living from a day to another.

"And some days are more dangerous than others, I see," she replied as she rubbed her still aching arm. "Why did you attack me? I had no plans to harm you..."

She watched him when he started eating the food she picked up from her bags, amazed by how fast he ate and at the same time worrying that the speed of his eating might make him sick and make him throw up over the tablet. She was not willing to remove another person's intestines from the ground. As she expected the man started choking, and she sighed and retrieved a waterskin from her bag, offering it to him.

"Here, take this before you suffocate...."

She leaned against the wall of the cave and waited until he had his fill. Then, when he asked where they were in their conversation she replied calmly.

"I think you were going to introduce yourself..."

Ranganok

(OOC: I have head about that though I didn't looked too much into it. And yes you are right...after all everyday is a gift and not a given right. Things like this happen, it could happen to anyone...but I think what's important is how you react to them...of course is good to release everything. After all suffering is an option...anger,sadness, depressions anything like that affects you only if you let them. But most important of all is to learn from what happened, get up and move forward. Standing depressed, crying, whining and others things like that won't solve anything...they are just good to release all the negative energy inside you...that is all but if you don't get over it, you will just fill yourself back with that energy going back to square one. I know how things are since from when I was a little boy I was frequently going to funerals since there were a lot of deaths in my family. Not all at the same time though.)

"Why did you attack me? I had no plans to harm you..." asked Sophie. Ranganok then avoids eye contact, looking to a side and replies while he scratches his back of the head: "Well sorry about that. I guess my survival instincts kicked in. After all...I have no memory of what happened to me and this place is totally unknown." and then he turns with a deadpan face towards the girl and continues " Which takes me back to my original question...where are we?"

Then the sacrificial scene comes in. Ranganok mercilessly devours any kind of food from Sophie like a demon hungry for someone's soul. After he finishes eating, Sophie reminds him that he was going to introduce himself before the hunger took over. Ranganok then nods in approval and replies: "Right. Well, my name is Michael Rugen but I am also known as Handsome Traveller, GrandMaster of Combat, Charming Gentleman, Saviour of damsels in distress, Know-it-all or smartass, Wise Hermit, Sex God and so on..."



Wild

(OOC: I think I remember Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Eleanor said something about this once too... That we can choose how we wish to react to what the world throws at us, right? You are right though, that the best we can do is to learnfrom what happened and move forward. Tears won't solve any problems, even if a few of them may release the pressure inside after bad things happens. But we can't let it get to us so we never dare to live again... Sorry to hear about the deaths in your family. It must have been painful.)

Sophie's face expression were milder when the man apologized for attacking her, sending the demons a mental message that she was no longer under attack. She got a reply that they would await the next move, but stay their ground for now.

She listened to the young man after he spoke of having no memory of what had happened to him and that this place was totally unknown. "This place is called Thanatos," she informed him gently. "I am not a native here, so I fear I do not know much about it. I am a traveler just like you, in search of ancient runes. I like to decipher them and perhaps get to learn more about the past."

She smiled when the young man introduced himself as Michael Rugen, and his other nicknames only made her smile deepen. "My word, you do have many names and titles," she said. "My name is Sophie, and that is the only name I know of. Where do you come from, Michael Rugen?"

Ranganok

(OOC: don't worry about that. I have never been affected too much by these things because I see death as something natural. If you see it as something normal it doesn't affects you much(So you could say that I am used to it). After all...the only sad thing about death is that you might not get to see them anymore, as I believe in afterlife.)

Ranganok seems very surprised when he hears that he is in Thanatos. Why is he back here? After all, the last thing he remembers is that he was somewhere in the Terrin Mountains. It was truly bizarre as the man started to worry. He stood there, thinking for a moment. Then with a serious face he asks: "Did you find me in this place? What can you tell me about this cave?" He had for some time some visions about people sacrificed and devoured but in his weakened state he couldn't really focus and rely on his divination.

"My name is Sophie, and that is the only name I know of. Where do you come from, Michael Rugen?" introduced the woman. Hearing that, Ranganok just switched to his deadpan sarcasm mode, answering her to the "Where do you come from" question: "Well...when a man and a woman love each other they start doing things. These things result in the woman becoming very bloated and then when she can no longer keep it in, a little thing slips trough a crack. That little thing starts to grow and develop into a child. I think you know from there."

The atmosphere around them was pretty pleasant to Ranganok. It was quiet, and relaxing, the cool was pleasant, especially when a slight breeze kicks in. He was enjoying his time there as he became more and more carefree. He totally forgot about his injuries, having no regard for them at the current moment.

Wild

(OOC: Yes, I too believe that we will meet our loved ones again in the afterlife :) It helps ease the pain when they pass away from us. )

Sophie looked up at him with mild surprise in her eyes when he asked if she found him in this place. "Yes, I did," she replied honestly. "You were laying right there by the tablet when I found you, and you bled so much that I had to bandage your head. I hope you haven't been injured too much. Such impact may lead to brain injuries I think... I am not a doctor though, so perhaps I could bring you to a healer or something if you need it..."

She thought for a while w hen he asked about the cave. "Well, I can tell you that it is old," she said. "It has been used for religious sacrifices, as the pictures on the walls and the ancient runes indicates. I have also found old ceramic bowls and vases that people could have used to sacrifice food, drinks and blood, and also a sacrifice altar where animals and possible people have been killed to honor the gods... The runes I have found so far though, have spoken of the rituals and the times that have passed, but not so much of what god they sacrificed to. I hoped to find out that from the tablet where I found you when you attacked me..."

Her eyes sparkled with mirth when Michael started giving her the lesson about the flowers and the bees. "Oh really?" she cooed, playfully pretending to never have heard it before or experienced it. "I would never have found out if you hadn't told me. Thank you so much for filling me in..."

She smiled and rested her back against the cave wall. "I don't know where I'm from either..." she said. "I was found as a newborn child all alone in the forest, and the people who found me took care of me...."

This was only partially true. She knew she was part demon, part human. When bad things happened, she tended to get help in the most mysterious ways. But nobody had ever told her the names of her parents or where they were now - if they still existed.

Ranganok

(OOC: Sorry for taking me so long...real life kept me busy.)

Sophie seemed to not know anything about how he got here. Things kept getting more and more mysterious. He didn't let it be shown but Michael started to become pretty worried about the events that might unfold in the future....especially since he can see anything with his divination. He was seriously thinking about his next steps and trying to remember any small detail which might provide a clue. Because of that, Ranganok was just half listening to Sophie as she was talking about brain something, a doctor, bleeding and healer. By analyzing them after he came back from his thoughts he concluded that she was maybe talking about taking him to a doctor to get professional help. He slightly smiles looking at the woman and replies: "Don't worry dear. I might not look like much but I am pretty tough. No need to get a doctor."

He learned that this was a cult based on sacrifices. Well they were pretty common, but he couldn't shake that feeling that the place was somehow connected...like he didn't randomly wake up here. He turns his head towards the tablet he is leaning inspecting the runes....they didn't seem familiar at all. It seemed that he didn't knew anything relevant about this cult to his disappointment. Then with his normal deadpan expression he asks Sophie: " Can you read that thing?"

"Oh really? I would never have found out if you hadn't told me. Thank you so much for filling me in..." said the woman. After hearing that, Ranganok chuckled saying "Is that a pun?"

But then, they gone to a more serious topic. It seems that the girl was an orphan. By using his divination, Ranganok could see some persons...a woman surrounded by strange people....a cult...that were using the people there in order for a certain person to gain power. The other one...it's not human....a demon perhaps, which then the previous vision with a group of demons coming this way would make sense. But then for it to go like this, Ranganok assumed that the demon in the vision was high ranked. He smiles and thinks loudly: Interesting...

The whole situation, even though it seemed somehow staged by something or someone, it was very interesting and thus he decided to stay close to the woman for now and see how the events unfold.

Wild

(No worries. Real life has been more busy than usual for me too this last week ^^ )

While Sophie was talking she had a feeling that the man she spoke to did not really listening. It was typical for men though, never paying attention to a woman's words. She wondered what would happen if she filled in a couple sentences that had nothing to do with the subject, if he would notice what she said. But she managed to resist the temptation. Instead the man smiled at her and assured her he was tough and there was no need to get a doctor.

"Are you sure?" she asked, a look of concern on her face. "Those head injuries look nasty. I think a doctor would send you to a hospital to get help...."

She smiled and nodded when Michael asked her if she could read these runes. "Well, naturally," she replied. "I am a researcher, specializing in hidden Runes and forgotten languages.... I've spent most of my life researching this."

She did not mention that she was around 500 years old and that it was her demon blood that made her look like a young woman still. Normally people would only start asking a lot of questions she didn't have the patience to reply to.

Sophie chuckled with laughter when he asked if she had used a pun. "Perhaps...."  she replied. "Or maybe I was just jesting..."

She noticed that the man studied her intensely, and she remained silent. Her own powers of divination worked best when she held onto something belonging to the person she was going to find information about. And she could not control the visions that washed over her. Sometimes they happened, sometimes they did not...  This time they did not work. All she could see in this boy was darkness, as if he had no past at all. She wondered what was the real story.

She heard him say something: Interesting.... But it was not a word he said directly to her. It seemed like he was talking to himself after a long chain of thoughts.

"What is interesting?" she asked.

Ranganok

The boy notices that Sophie worries for him as she insists that he gets to a doctor to be professionally taken care of. Ranganok smiles slightly talking with a thoughtfully voice: "I appreciateyour concern...howerer, I should be the least of your worries. I had worse injuries than this and  as you can see I lived...mostly."

Then he hears a bit of her background...it seems she was an archaeologist...pretty intresting giving that Michael is also interested in this kind of things. If she could read the runes on th tablet then maybe he would find a clue of why he woke up in this place. He then looks at Sophie asking her curiously: "What does this tablet say?" Then he waited silently for the girl to read and tell him everything like a good kid listening to a story from his grandfather.

Another thing he also noticed about this woman is that she was a bit different...and not talking about her past now. She was one of the  very few women who weren't affected by his sarcasm. Even though she looked very yound it was like she has been around for several hundred years. And this theory he came with it's actually plausible given that in his eyes, Sophie doesn't seem human...not fully at least. Well, what she is is not what bothers him...but rather what would happen when her past comes back for her. After all he si in a similar position. When his past will come back for him and force him into his old self...the simple though gives him chills down the spine.

After having his visions about the woman's past, she seemed to have noticed when he thought loudly. Ranganok goes back to his senses, in the "real world" as she was curious about what he was thinking. Michael smiles only with one corner of his mouth, and looking straight into Sophies eyes with a flirting look answering her: "You are. Your past...your group....your parents...your blood...everything." He knew he was vague about what he said...and problably she will get some ideas out of this...however, Ranganok has no intention of elaborating what he said. In the case Sophie continues her questioning about what he said he will just simply say: "All will be revealed...in time."

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