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The Pen is Mightier than the Sword

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Posted

Wyvern squints through his worker goggles as he hammers the last of the large blinking machines into place. A jet of steam rises from a machine to the lizard's left, and he coughs over the rhythmic bleeping sounds that ring from a wide metal contraption above him. Wyvern steps over a small metal box on the ground and passes by a whirling machine to the right, distancing himself from the series of devices to get a better view of the scene. The reptilian Elder smirks at the booth's ressemblence to a life-sized WWF version of Rock'em Sock'em Robots, and claps his claws together as he takes a seat at the rickety wooden table set in front of the various contraptions. The steam machine, bleeping sound machine, whirling machine, and worthless hunk of metal machine were all nice decorations to the set, but there was only one device that truly mattered...

 

"Come one, come all!" Wyvern removes his goggles and pulls out a straw hat and corncob cane. "Come experience the wonders of the Almost Dragonic Brand Ge-olographic Carnival Setting Circuit™. Set the Carnival's environment using yer own two handsss!"

 

Wyvern tacks a sign to the front of his table as pennites begin approaching:

 

----

 

$ettings $ettings $ettings!

Give'er a whirl! Choose the Carnival's setting for the course of five days!

(satisfaction not 100% guaranteed)

Earn 5 geld!"

 

----

 

"Sssstep right up." Wyvern puts on his best carnie sneer and raises his cane to the spinning device at his side. "This booth is not to be confused with previous Almost Dragonic Brand Hollow-grams™, which failed to be marketed as three-dimensional. The Ge-olographic Circuit uses DoctorEvil's state o' the art technology to spin wide-scale illusions for spans of five-days. Any place or time, real or imaginary, is right here at your finger tips."

 

"Would you please turn off that bleeping noise?!" Dros covers his hands over his ears as he approaches Wyvern's booth. "I'm trying to concentrate!"

 

"What'sss that you say? How does she work?" Wyvern holds up a claw as if he has a hearing deficiency, then places what appears to be a worn out keyboard on the rickety table. "You just imagine the type of setting you'd like, type the keys in randomly, and it'll create illusions throughout the Carnival for the next five days! Of course, since they're just Ge-olographic, the settings'll only exist in sight and won't be real."

 

"Would somebody turn those blinking lights off?" Pheonix approaches Wyvern's booth wearing a pair of sunglasses. "Uh oh, wait, is this an Almost Dragonic Brand booth...?"

 

"Yesss ma'am, Almost Dragonic to the core." Wyvern strikes a wide grin and waves around his cane, missing the heads a few pennites by a few inches. "But I'm happy to inform ya that this product is 1000000% glitch free... meaning that glitches only occur with it ever so often."

 

;-)

 

OOC: A more straightforward explanation of this thread: anyone can participate by posting a roleplayed response in this thread and changing the entire Carnival's RP setting to a setting of their choice. Once a person has established a setting through the machine, that setting will remain throughout the Carnival for the course of five days. After this period has passed, another person can change the Carnival setting to something of their choice. Note that all of the settings are in illusion only- e.g you won't be able to swim in an ocean, you won't be able to smell a patch of flowers, etc. Also, due to the glitchy Almost Dragonic nature of this machine, the illusions will not always stretch to every Carnival activity (giving people the option to make booths outside of the setting, if they choose), and other odd errors in illusions may also occur. 5 earned geld for participating. Also, even if you're not out to change the setting or are in a period where you can't change it yet, feel free to roleplay your characters in this thread. ^_-

Posted

Evangeline had been watching curiously as Wyv was setting up, and still hung back while he explained. But when no one else was stepping forward, she decided to break the ice. Again. She always seemed to be the one to do that.

 

Evangeline politely pushed her way to the front, trying not to catch her long black skirts on anyone's feet - as comfortable as crinolines and petticoats were, they weren't very practical for crowds of people who had no clue how to handle them.

 

"Excuse me - pardon me! My thanks!" Finally she got to the front and stumbled a bit into the slight open area before the booth. Wyvern looked eager to see his first participant, and Evangeline was suddenly feeling a bit hesitant. But, she stepped forward anyway.

 

"Sir Wyvern, I think I would like to try thy new machine. Perhaps it might prove enjoyable?" //Even with the glitches... the creature DID say 'twas in sight only...// Going over to the table, evangeline looked at the keyboard, looked at Wyvern, then looked back at the keyboard. All the keys were blank.

 

"Sir, how might I type in commands if I have no guide?" Wyvern rolled his eyes and reminded her of the 'random' clause.

 

"Ah."

 

Eyes unfocusing for a few minutes, Evangeline pictured a scene:

 

Mountains, snow-capped, rose in the background, thrust jagged spires through the ever-present white clouds. Below them was a series of foothills, slowly melting away into a flat plain. The plain was rife with greenery and creatures, tall grass waving gently in a soft breeze and flowers bobbing their colorful heads politely. An azure stream cut across the field, reflecting the sky and giggling to itself. On the near bank, the field levelled off and the grass was shorter, courtesy of the herd of sheep currently grazing there. The pasture was quite large, more than enough for whatever decided to happen there.

 

The grassy sward ended in a sharp cliff plunging down for hundreds of feet or more to land in a hazy forest. The cliff edge was slightly curved, so that if you looked off into the distance you'd see it curve away from you into the horizon. There appeared to be no visible end.

 

The sky was as clear as could be, with a few wispy clouds high in the sky. A perfect day for a Carnival.

 

 

Still with her eyes unfocused, Evangeline let her fingers dance over the keys. Then she came back to the world.

 

"Well? When shall we know thy machine has worked?"

Posted

Evangline froze as she found a bulky snowman staring back at her, with two brown button eyes and a long cinnamon stick for a nose. Her eyes widened as she reached a hand over the crumbling rock in front of her, only to blink as Wyvern stepped out from the snowman illusion. The lizard raised a claw to his chin.

 

"Gee, I dunno, never thought o' that." Wyvern drummed his fingers on the crumbling rock and stared up at the clear blue sky. His straw hat now took the appearence of a beaver-skin cap. "I guess we'll jussst have to wait and see if it does anything."

 

Evangeline's eyes moved from the peppermint candy smile of the snowman to the mountainside presented before her. The craggy structure was an irregular collection of odd-looking rocks, including a rock that seemed to be perpetually spinning in circles... along with a rock that flashed annoying lights, and a rock that made computer bleeping sounds. And a large hunk of rock that didn't seem to be doing anything at all.

 

"Oh," managed Evangeline. She glanced over her shoulder and stared out over the hilly green fields. There were no baaing sounds, but she swore she could see several spots of wool grazing. "That's O.K, I think it might work."

 

Wyvern's jaw dropped as he turned and noticed the snowman standing at his side. He instinctively took a step back, his knowledge of illusions not conquering his fear of H2O. As he did so, his foot crushed a small piece of machinery camoflauged as a thin sheet of ice. Wyvern stared down at the broken contraption, then shifted his foot across it with a frown.

 

"Well, I guessss you're no longer the only person breaking the ice, eh Evangeline?"

 

;-)

 

OOC: Carnival Setting set to "Evangeline's Hilly Herding Setting." This setting will last until 5/25/06, at which point someone can switch it in this thread if they choose. ^_^

Posted

Evangeline was certainly surprised at the elements added to her memory, but paid it no mind. As long as some things were the same, she was satisfied. Wyvern's pun, however, was terrible, and she just barely managed to stop herself from groaning. Completely unlady-like behavior, that.

 

She cleared her throat politely as Wyvern started to turn away, and held out her hand. The lizard-man slowly turned around, a suspiciously innocent look wreathing his scaly features. It did not fool Evangeline.

 

"Uh... Eh-heh?"

 

"My geld, if you would?" Evangeline's face was stern. "I do believe thou mentioned a reimbursement of five geld for participation in thy hare-brained scheme?"

 

 

{{...Or did I misread something?}}

Posted (edited)

Trying to get money out of Wyvern?! Excuse me for a moment. . .

 

(Tzimfemme looks around for cover, and doesn't find much of it, instead dashing for the nearest bleeping rock.)

 

*bleep*hahahah*bleep*ahahahah*bleep*ahaha!

 

(She returns.)

 

We've found it's easier to update the running gold totals (points at the sidebar to this post) at the end of each carnival, to prevent gold from being double-awarded or not at all, and also to accomodate the events with longer participation.

 

[EDIT: Aha. The running gold total doesn't display in this skin yet.]

Edited by Quincunx
Posted

Wyvern tightens his suit of "sheep mail" and staggers back to the crumbling rock of his booth, avoiding the sharp segments of shattered ice scattered on the ground. The lizard turns his head to the fields and forest that span the rest of the Pen, squinting at the number of sheep that soar through the air below. He begins counting them as they pass over the river, and slowly starts to doze off as he reaches variants of twenty.

 

*bleep bleep bleep*

 

"Wazza?" Wyvern shakes the sleep from his eyes and turns towards the large bleepy rock. He pauses and scratches his head as the rock image surrounding the machine turns to static for a moment. The rock seems to blur in and out of focus, rippling before regaining its mountainous image. On the smaller crumbling stone, a green light begins blinking on a worn out keyboard.

 

"Huh... already?" Wyvern scratches his chin as the light flashes on and off, then jerks his head up and lets his jaw drop as he realizes the limited amount of time he has to execute last minute schemes. The reptilian Elder tosses out a sign and begins frantically nailing it to the ground next to the snowman, which now possesses a blinking circle of static for one eye.

 

----

 

Get yor pikture tacken next to th'abomable snow image!

Onli a mere 5 geld peece (not erned).

Perfek way to pas yerself off as cold-harted!

 

----

 

Wyvern tilts the sign so its semi-upright, then dives to the ground and starts scraping up pebbles in the hopes of passing them as a snow cone. Too late. The overgrown lizard lifts his head as he notices the next pennite interested in settings approaching. He grumbles and hops up from the ground, accidentally knocking over his new sign near to the snowman with the swipe of a tail.

 

OOC: Five days have passed since Evangeline's setting, meaning that if someone else would like to change the setting of the Carnival in this thread, they can do so now. Until the setting is changed, the Carnival setting will remain "shepherd's paradise." Have fun. ^_^

Posted (edited)

Inspector Clueless had left her rather, well, clueless, and with a hug she said goodbye to Patrick. She wanders around on the carnival terrain and somehow it feels emptier than it has been the times before, then again, the carnival is just starting so maybe most pennites are just a bit late. Troy flies overhead, and every now and then he comes down, touching her with his wings, lovingly stroking as if he wants to show that he’s glad to have her back. She smiled as he projects excited thoughts about the carnival, and admits that she too is glad to be back here.

 

As she walks along she sees Wyvern busying inside a booth, and decides that she might as well walk over for a chat. She saunters into his direction, and sees him kneeling next to a snowman as if he’s proposing to it.

 

She reads the scribbles and chuckles so warmly that the snowman almost melts, “Were you asking the snowman to marry you? Oh and I don’t think anybody around her would want to look cold-hearted, dear Wyv.”

 

Wyvern grumbles and jumps up and swipes over the photo sign with his tail.

 

“For your information, I was not asking him to marry me…I was just errr….trying to get you a snow cone.” He holds out his claws, filled with pebbles disguised as snowballs, “For a reasonable price, of course.”

 

Sweetcherrie chuckles again, “No thanks, however I would like to take a try with this settings machine, if that’s ok?”

 

“Sure.” The lizard steps aside, “That will be 50 geld please.”

 

“Err…Wyv, it says here I can earn geld with it, not pay,” she points at the original sign, “Has that changed?”

 

Wyvern gumbles, as only Wyvern can grumble, and waves a claw at the machine, “Yeahyeah..should've changed that” he mumbles under his breath.

 

Sweetcherrie grins and steps forward. She closes her eyes, thinking of what she would like the world to be for the next five days.

 

In her daydream she opens her eyes and looks around. Clouds drift by and the world turns slightly warmer. The green fields of grass disappear and the sheep dissolve into nothing. The earth cracks open, and inside the crack golden liquid of lava streams by. A magnificent red-golden landscape unfolds before her eyes. There are clouds everywhere, so thick you could probably lean on them and float around a bit with them. The sky seems to be on fire with an eternal sunset, and though the ground looks hot, she can easily walk on it.

 

In the distance she sees the Pen Keep, but it has changed. The towers have turned into cupolas, and somehow there has appeared gold lining all along the building, almost as if it’s glowing with warmth. The Keep looks as if it comes from an Arabian dream, and she wouldn’t be surprised if she would see fakirs flying around on carpets.

 

Sweetcherrie holds out her hand and some sort of small fearie dragon lands. It rubs its green-silver head against the palm of her hand before flying away again. She hears the cry of another dragon in the distance, and then the world becomes darker for a moment. She looks up and large winged dragons are flying over. None of them seems hostile and it really feels as if she has ended up in fantasy land.

 

She smiles and slowly opens her eyes, only to stare into Troy’s fiery eyes. He blinks and coos softly. Then he nudges her to look around, and she sees that the land of her dreams has become real.

Edited by Sweetcherrie
Posted

Wyvern scurries across the wide flame-design carpet of the highest Pen cupola, raising up a large hunk of fabric as he skids to a halt. The reptilian Elder pants and hunches over, ignoring the red dragon that stares at him from a curving balcony attached to the ceiling. He doesn't hear the large monstrosity as it buzzes with a bout of static, nor does he see the dragon's scales as they pulse and implode for a moment. Wyvern steps around the hunk of carpet in front of him and inspects the chamber, skimming over the twirling dragon mural, kneeling camel statues, and dart-riddled hovering carpets before finding the table of scripture. A worn out keyboard is planted at the center of the cryptic writing, positioned within a drawing of a pyramid adjacent to two dragon claw prints. A green light flickers on and off at the base of the keyboard, like an exotic glowing emerald.

 

"That sssseemed quick."

 

Wyvern ignores the bleeping sound that a tall guardian camel statue makes and steps to the side of the twirling dragon mural (which, in addition to depicting images of twirling dragons, actually twirls around in circles). He leans back against a large camel statue that doesn't seem to be doing anything at all and reaches into his bag, pulling out several Almost Dragonic Brand Molten Lava Lamps™ and a couple of "End Sale" stickers. The lizard sets three of the lamps onto the scripture table when a tiny object zips through the air, narrowly missing his horns. Wyvern pauses for a moment as he tries to remember the types of illusionary mosquitos that fly in this temperature, only to jump up as two darts land an inch away from his feet. He drops the rest of his lamps and turns to run as the distinct sound of girlish laughter echoes through the tall walls of the tower.

 

;-)

 

OOC: Five days have passed since the Carnival setting was set to Sweetcherrie's "Middle-Eastern Magma" setting, meaning that the setting is now available to change for anyone who hasn't done it yet. The Carnival will remain in the current setting until a post is written here changing it. Have fun!

Posted

Lavender mountains, far in the distance, slowly melt down to rolling hills of green and gold, dotted here and there with scrubby trees and sprawling heather which reflects the mountains in small purple flowers. The valleys between are sparsely populated by sheep and "wild" cattle, gentle and aimless as they meander between the hills yet never quite spreading onto the plains. Green and gold stretches from the hills onto the plains, a wind-rippled grassland which looks like flowing silk yet hints of secrets to those walking through the bobbing heads of grasses and grains which gossip with the breezes, could one but hear them clearly.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Wyvern crawls his way up the tallest of the lavender hills in serpent-like twitches, dragging a bag of curly onion cheesedoodles on his stinger for provisions. The lizard hisses for breath and slows his pace, cursing and collapsing as he finally reaches the flat field that marks the hill's pinnacle. The lizard considers the potential profit that an Almost Dragonic Brand Forked Tongue Lift™ might make as he stares back down the flowery slopes, his eyes fixed on the trajectories of the Flying Booth participants below.

 

"Reduce travel time by six and a half daysss...?" Wyvern grumbles possible slogans under his breath as he lifts himself to his feet. He freezes at the sound of a rustling bag, but turns too late as the remaining cheesedoodles fall down the hill in cheesy-looking rolls. Wyvern slumps his shoulders and sighs, avoiding thoughts of cheesy rolls as his stomach lets out a hissy growl. "Ride the Forked Tongue: destinations a flicker away, no lie...?"

 

Wyvern wanders towards the tree stump at the center of the clearing, ignoring the gigantic cattle that lie seated around it. One of the cattles lets out an abnormal *bleep* noise while another flexes its wide spinning horns. Wyvern pauses next to an enormous sleeping cattle that doesn't seem to be doing anything at all, then wanders up to the flashing keyboard on top of the tree trunk. The flickering light of the worn circuitry blinks on and off quicker than before... a result of upkeeping the setting data for an extended period of time. Wyvern casts a final glance at the clear blue skies, then tacks up a sign at the foot of the stump.

 

----

 

۩ SAVE WOODY'S WARDROBE ۩

urgent setting change needed to enforce door's masculinity

۩ SAVE WOODY'S WARDROBE ۩

 

---

 

OOC: The five day (or in this case, over ten day!) period has passed, and the Carnival Setting is once again available for change from someone who hasn't done it yet. Just wanted to post this as a reminder (and favor to Woody the Door)! :-)

Posted

A nearby tree's branch bends downwards as the naked mage crawls out onto its thinner end, dangling from the branch by her legs and lowering her towards the keyboard with a rustling flurry of beeps--Wyvern's machine's sound card still isn't working.

 

"Wyvern," she tells the almost dragon as she reaches down, "you might want to grab hold of something solid. I've been thinking deeply." She types in 'Pain in the Astrals' and hits the 'enter' key.

 

Everything vanishes, except for Wyvern, Tzimfemme, and beeping sounds.

 

". . .The aural illusions are still busted, huh. We should've been surrounded by heavy metal."

 

Tzimfemme wraps both arms around the invisible tree branch and hangs in the void like a sloth, considering. After a few minutes, she begins to hum. Pinpricks of color appear around her, swelling into scaly-sided cubes, glowing and emitting heat and red light.

 

"Bass line!" she shouts, and lets go of the support as the cubes float away severally. With the first violent strum against the air guitar, the stippled egg-crate surface of the wave cuts through the void, shimmering and green. Wyvern climbs onto the invisible tree stump to avoid putting his claws through it, and it accelerates into the distance with the cubes.

 

He looks up at her. She looks down at him.

 

"Feels stupid to do it in dead silence, but. . ."

 

She throws devil horns and headbangs. Both of them are released from their perches and float through the darkness, turned and twisted until they sit level on an unseen plane. Above them, the night sky populates itself with stars of silent music, the aurora shimmering air-guitar green.

 

". . .only half the show is better than no show."

Posted

Wyvern's eyes dilute as they absorb the infinite stretch of space, roaming over the many stars that dot the vast span of night sky. He watches the twinkling stars vibrate to the dying echo of the air guitar riff, then carefully edges a foot forward and finds that the next few inches of sky are just as solid. He bites his lip and lets his eyes wander towards Tzimfemme. The naked mage seems to linger in rock star position as the echo passes, her hair a bit frazzled from thorough headbanging.

 

"Well, I s'pose there'ssss no business like a half a show business." Wyvern raises his claws to count, only to notice that the illusions have caused gloves to become part of his current attire. He wriggles his claws through the fingerless studded leather and glances down, noticing the chained leather "God Save the Queen Money" shirt and steel-toed boots that he now wears. The lizard instinctively strokes his horns, not noticing that they've been coated in KISS zebra stripes. "Except maybe three-fourths of a show business, errrr... should I look into getting a neon 'EMO' sign or something?"

 

Wyvern takes a full step towards Tzimfemme, and exhales as he finds the unseen plane just as solid as ever. The overgrown lizard glances in both directions to make sure that the expanse of space is clear aside from the two of them, then strikes a sly grin and lets his tongue flick out twice.

 

"Y'know, it feelsss stupid to do it in dead silence, but..." Wyvern slams his tail on the ground and spreads his leather-clad arms wide. "... MOOSSSSSHHHHHHH PIIIITTTTTTT!"

 

Tzimfemme smooths out a strand of her hair and calmly watches as the lizard flings himself in her direction. She sidesteps as the bulk of scales and leather nears her, and watches as Wyvern starts a not-so-peaceful descent through space.

 

"Arrrrrggggghhhh!" Wyvern falls head over heels in a diagonal slant downwards, cursing at the tough feel of the leather with every bump. "Da-am-mm-n-nn yo-oou-uu, cell-lle-ess-sst-ttiiiia-aaallll sttt-taaaaiii-iirrrrrrcc-caaa-aaa-aaa-aaa-ssss-sssse!"

 

;-)

Posted

Wyvern strings curses together like "The Very Best of Cannibal Corpse," struggling up the invisible staircase in loud clunks and hisses. He teeters as he reaches the uppermost plane, balancing himself between the tangled chains of his outfit and the black asp that remains coiled around his leg. He stumbles across the stretch of space, ignoring the bleeping sounds of a nearby sattelite and making his way towards the constellation of a keyboard. From the distance of the Pen's chambers below, the blinking lights of the machinery could easily be mistaken for the twinkle of a tiny star... but Wyvern could identify that disjointed light pattern anywhere.

 

"Yeep!"

 

A star narrowly misses Wyvern's horns, spinning in orbit around small planet. The lizard twists his nose as an open vortex spews a cloud of steam, and pauses next to a large hunk of floating machinery that doesn't seem to be doing anything at all. The asp on Wyvern's leg seems to tighten its grip as he approaches the rapid flashes of the setting keyboard circuit.

 

"Well, I sss'pose the actual music bit may have to wait 'til next concert." Wyvern lifts his claws and headbangs a salute. "Rock, rock on."

 

With that, Wyvern places a neon-lit sign face-down on the unseen plane. The words buzz on and off, blinking to the pennites below.

 

>>

 

OOC: This is just a reminder that the Carnival setting is once again available to change from someone who hasn't changed it yet, and has been available to change for the last four days. The setting will continue to be 'Pain in the Astrals' until it's changed. Have fun. ;-)

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Wyvern grumbles to himself, decidedly bored in his secluded corner of the Astral, watching the orbiting star as it continues spinning around its base in hypnotic twists. Intergalactic mosh pits were one thing, but the starlit setting distress signal didn't seem to be doing the trick, and what was the point of listening to silent rock music when there was nobody to silently criticisize it with? Besides, the asp on his leg just seemed to keep getting tighter. Wyvern turns towards the glowing neon sign, squinting to examine the words closer.

 

"Next time, I'll have to remember to ussse red." Wyvern taps a claw against a crooked glowing 'S,' and watches as the letter blinks on and off for a moment. He pauses and frowns, then taps the letter again only to recieve a thorough electric shock that sets his scales on end. Wyvern jitters and bounces in place for a moment, then slams a foot down and starts smoothing out his crooked mess of scales, almost getting bitten by the ever-present asp in the process.

 

"Dammit all, now where wasss that staircassse?" Wyvern wanders about in a directionless manner, tapping at the ground with his tail stinger to avoid another celestial plummet. The lizard pauses as he passes near the blinking light of the setting keyboard, and stares at it for a long moment in silence. He glances left and right, then hops beside the device with an electric-charged hiss.

 

"Well, I sss'pose I could give it a whirl while noone's looking." Wyvern strikes a gleeful grin and types in 'Midastouchstripclubincandylandwithchocolatejetskiscopes' before hitting 'Enter.' Sparks begin flying from the lizard's claws as he rubs them together in anticipation, but he frowns when the current illusions turn static and the keyboard freezes up in its 'Loading...' screen.

 

"Awwwww MAN." Wyvern kicks the floor as he watches the blinking lights of the keyboard turn red. "Ssssystem overload? Ah well, at least it got rid of the illusion of that annoying-"

 

Wyvern freezes up as he feels something slither across his leg. A terrified scream echoes throughout the Pen quarters moments later:

 

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssppppppppp!!!"

 

;-)

 

OOC: The Carnival Setting Circuit can no longer generate specific settings due to technical difficulties. However, the malfunction sparked by the device will cause fragments of illusions from the settings of Evangeline, Sweetcherrie, Ayshela, and Quincunx to combine and blend in random ways with the traditional Pen Keep. This "Illusionary Glitch" setting shall last until the end of the Carnival... beware of the Void cows.

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