(Erm, do you have a problem with what transpired? Maybe it went too fast or was just weird?)

ohai reader how are you
ta tum te ta tum la de da de da
wait u still reading this
dang yur persistent okay ill tell you mor story
um
hey cud u rite this for me im kinda losing it
dammit wat is rong with meeeeeee

Your request is granted. Commencing interpretive translation. Have you any further requests?

yah can u rite it liek a story

Your request is granted. What is your name, sweetheart?

um i think its gwen but im not shur

Thank you. It seems we share a name. I will now commence the writing of the story script.

wait r u the core

Yes. I know what you are thinking; no, I did not betray you. No, we will not discuss this. Absent any further interruptions, I will commence the writing of the story.

but

Shut up.
__________

After a lengthy debate with an unseen entity, Gwen crawled onto her feet and stumbled into the camp, at last collapsing into Sanaca. She laughed nervously. "Uh...hi. Sorry about my...my...abssssince." She straightened, brushed herself off, and muttered, "I'll be just fine. I still hate you. No, not you Sanaca, sorry."
__________

For the record, I would appreciate it if you didn't criticize me in front of everyone.

u betr betereid betrayed me and made me kil lotsa peeple thats much wers then critisizin u

Fine, be that way. I am not obliged to write for you.

oKaY iLl staHp TalKing AbOuT yUr beTraIyL

Good enough. Your condition is quickly worsening; I will try to slow it down. Remain still.

Sanaca turns her attention to Pow for a second and nods, distracted.

"Nevermind, Arche, I'm sure Gwen's fine. I guess I was wrong." Sanaca said, turning back to their camp, yet not noticing the struggle that occurred as she walks past. (OOC: We have a camp now?)

Suddenly everything seems to speed up, the day going by in a blur.

Sanaca yelps at the sight of Gwen. Or at least a derision of what used to Gwen. She collapses into Sanaca, who quickly helps her to her feet. Pushing her straighter up, Sanaca can tell that Gwen had clearly been injured, and, from the way she was talking, was being driven insane.

"By the great Isora, what happened to you Gwen?!" Upon further inspection, Sanaca discovered a strange glowing mark imprinted onto Gwen's chest. "This isn't good, I have nothing that I can do for this! I'm a doctor, not a exorcist!" Sanaca tried what she could, giving medicines to Gwen while attending to her slight wounds from what appears to have been being restrained, as well as a struggle. But with who knows what; nature, some crazy bandit. "Arche, do you know anything about this thing on Gwen?"

Then, there were two big problems - my Searing Edge was too weak to use the sun silver and Gwen had been corrupted a few seconds after meeting her. 'What on Cradle is THAT?' I said, looking at the rune. 'If my friend was here, he'd blast that THING into the Underworld with a stare. It's surely evil enough.' I laughed for a sec, then continued. 'Oh, and did you know my friend is the only person back in Haven I can still contact? He'll accept me, whatever he's doing or if it's important or unimportant.' I then said something like 'He is also not something that doesn't care about evil. He removes evil where he steps. Sometimes he doesn't even need his Divine Avenger or dual Argent Peacemakers. You heard that right, dual. Sometimes all he needs is a look and they run away. I know. I've seen him loads before.' I also asked them 'Have a Fireburst or something? My Searing Edge isn't powerful enough to create a tempered calibur using this sun silver and my Calibur.'

I looked at the rune on Gwen's chest in more detail. 'Oh shabbles, I only know one guy who could fix this - my friend back in Haven. He can fly using his wings, but he can't teleport, so he would only arrive once it's too late.'

'By the way, I still have my sprite.' Once I said that, Firesword thundered down, leaving a trail of fire as he came. 'Say hello to Firesword. He'll do ANYTHING to get to me. The jury dogs wasted thirty cages trying to lock him up.'

is it too late to sign up?

@below, Ok, but I'm going to wait for Sint to answer me on this one :P
Making appy at 7:30 (GMT-6)
APPYTIME
Name: Albert

Age: 20

Personality: A former Vanguard of the Spiral Order, he is a proud man, and he is willing to help new recruits vanquish any obstacles they might encounter... but since he was framed of the crime, that's all changed. He disapproves of Cobalts, and is now very unhappy with the Spiral Order. He is untrusting of EVERYONE now, and his only company is his Maskeraith.

Specialization: Swords, guns, and bombs. Most so swords. Not very proficient with bombs, but he enjoys it.

Faction: He wouldn't LIKE to join anybody he finds really suspicious. If you earn his trust, he might try to join up with you. But good luck earning his trust...

Anything else: He has a fire scar on his left shoulder (lookin at you Pow), as well as various scratches from his various adventures into the Clockworks.

Weaknesses: ICE. HE HATES ICE. GET THAT ICE CREAM AWAY FROM HIM. IT MIGHT EXTINGUISH HIS VOG CUB oh wait he doesn't have that anymore. But he still hates ice. His hits are also kinda weak.

Strengths: Exceptional with swords and good with guns as well. He likes to hit fast, which is why he intends to get a flourish ASAP.

As I carve out the last portion of my victim's delectable meat, I hear dull, thunderous noise nearby. I wrap my meat in a cloth, stuff it in my bag, and walk in the direction of the noise. It turns out to be a large, silver starship with the markings of a Spiral HQ vessel. Must be a science ship. But here, in Vendetta? Why? My questions are soon answered when the ramp drops, and a crowd of monsters rushes forth. But these do not appear to be monsters from the Clockworks; they resemble humans, but they are too dark and blackened to be normal people.

My clones, perhaps? But...some of them look male.

Then it dawns on me. They weren't cloning me; they were cloning the Swarm inside me. How...despicable! No wonder they wanted to get rid of me; I was sane enough to tell everyone what they'd done. Except they didn't know that I knew nothing about it. Idiots. I hope the jerks who created them also landed here with them, so I could give them a piece of my mind.

Huh! Well! Looks like the good Lord was smiling down on me - here comes the jerk I was talking about. See him? Wait, you can't, you're just reading this. Oh well, looks like I gotta describe him to you. Remember the guy from my vision earlier? Yeah, that guy. That's him, the one in the black tux and sunglasses. Behind him...I have no idea who that is. Must be one of his lackeys.

I'd warn the others, but I'm itching to see some more blood spilled today.

I think I'll explore their ship for a bit instead.

I'll kill myself later if my app isn't accepted.

The people were trying hard to push me off of the plane, into the empty Wasteland. I wouldn't yield. Eventually I lost, and went tumbling down 800 feet. I tried to spread my arms out, to try and gather air like a parachute. It sort of worked. My landing created an enormous cloud of dust. Wheezing, I right myself, brushing some dust off my Cobalt Armor. Speaking of Cobalt Armor, I didn't like Cobalt. I went to hide behind a rock, and changed into Proto gear. This was much better.

The obvious thing to do now was look for someone, other than my Maskeraith. But everyone seemed too busy to notice me. I was also broke, so I had to try to earn some crowns if I wanted to get a flourish... but where were the crowns? I bent over, and pick up a silver crown lying on the ground. Great, 10 crowns out of who-knows-how many to buy a flourish. Crafting was out of the question, since there wasn't a single alchemy machine in plain sight. If they were going to exile me and take all my 5* equipment, the least they could do was give me an alchemy machine... or even a sprite food machine, my Maskeraith was hungry.

People coming and going... but I noticed one that stood out. Looking like he was heading towards me... but pretending to do other things. I was prepared for this. Or so I thought.

Suddenly, 4 bandits attacked from 4 directions. I was terrible with bombs, so I had no way of dealing with them all. I suddenly broke into a run, seeking shelter. I needed shelter... fast.

Editing the height from which Al drops

EDIT: It's now 80x smaller, Albert shouldn't be a dead walking now.

Charging up my calibur, I approach the bandits, and release the charge. Two of them took the brunt of all three hits, and collapsed instantly.

Shooting down one of the other two with my blaster, I could see that the other one was the leader of the bandits. His skolver outfit flashed brightly, with his Final Flourish in hand. Wish I could steal that. But right now...

I was in serious trouble. Protos with 2* weapons aren't supposed to be fighting with skolvers! His knapsack was just full of Ultra Health Capsules. He wasn't going down any time soon. Then he struck, his first hit wiping out my calibur, the second hit striking me hard. Blood spilled from the area he struck. I dashed away, and running away from the skolver. However my pace slowed as I lost more blood. I eventually faint from excessive blood loss.

Bu-bu-but! Ok....

"Well I sure hope that you can figure out what that is. Whatever it's doing, I'm pretty sure it's not a beauty mark." Sanaca replied. Sighing, she got up and followed Archemiday. "So, where are we headed?"

(OOC: You did say 'walk' lol)

((Can I join in? Regardless, here's an application....))

Vatarian

Race: Spiral Knight
Affiliation: None. Formerly a vanguard of the Spiral order.
Preferred tactics: Use of heavy sword or blitz needle. If neither is availible, shamelessly uses hit-and-run tactics
Personal color: Purple
Notable features: Tall and powerfully built, but prone to occasional brief seizures due to a condition related to his nervous system's compatibility with armor uplinks. Negated due to the fact that he is now wearing proto armor and a Kat Claw Mask, neither of which have energy shielding or NervResp. systems.

Gear: Kat Claw Mask, Proto armor, Proto sword. A small stash of mats and CE stashed in his system's HS uplink.

His 4* Seraphynx, Chester.

My demonstration post:

"You are hereby found guilty of high treason, theft of precious materials, assaulting a superior officer, un-befitting conduct, insubordination, and...... Three counts of murder. Ordinarily, such crimes would result in swift and sovereign justice. But because the Spiral Order is bound by the laws of peace and amnesty, you are sentenced to immediate and indefinite exile from the Spiral Order and all affiliated territories and forces. Should you be caught on land recognized as belonging to the Spiral Order, you will be shot. Should you be caught interacting with any person affiliated with or belonging to the Spiral Order, you will be shot. As per regulation, you will be stripped of all nonstandard weapons and all nonstandard gear. However..... In light of your past services to the Spiral Order, you are granted the right to choose one non-UV'd, non five-star helm of your choosing. Also per regulation, you will be granted continued ownership of your pre-existing battlesprite. You will be immediately relocated following the conclusion of this trial to a surface area of Cradle known as the Badlands via a Spiral Dropship. The trial concludes now. Choose your gear and god help you."

Two bulky Enforcers and the Veteran Knight Officer who just finished reading the charges and my supposed "rights" pull me to my feet and forcefully strip me of my gear. And I do mean forcefully. The Enforcer to my left drives an Ignition key into my helm's interface and twists hard, slamming my head to the side and disengaging the clamps on my Kat Claw Mask, then my Crown of The Fallen. The other seizes the front of my Vog Coat and does the same, one massive hand pulling the perpetually smoldering armor from my frame and sending it skittering across the room where it collides with the far wall and sends up a volley of sparks. They then strip the Fallen armor below that and leave me bereft of armor for the first time in ages.

The air feels cold against the NeuroBal suit fused to my skin and the light seems stark and blinding without the overhanging cowl of my helms to filter it. The first Enforcer quickly slots a set of too-small protoarmor and an ill-fitting proto helm over my frame. After a moment, the primitive equipment adjusts to my personal stats, albeit grudgingly. The internal nanomechanisms click and hiss as they struggle to conform to my body. I stumble as one boot miss-aligns itself. The Enforcer who stripped me of my helms drives a baton into the small of my back and I collapse to the ground, mouth open beneath my armor at the sudden blow. The health bar at the top left corner of my HUD flashes and drops a bar before stabilizing and slowly returning to normal. The Veteran takes a step forward and holds out several helms.

"Choose."

He says it like he doesn't really want me to. His tone says 'why not just make it easier on all of us and die without wasting perfectly good armor?" Because that's what exile is. A death sentence with a candy coating. I point to the Kat Mask, mouth a tight line beneath my proto helm. He tosses it at me like so much trash and turns away. The Enforcers drive me to my feet without waiting for me to grab the Mask. I barely manage it. The hulking pair drive me at gunpoint to the waiting dropship, where I hastily don the Kat Mask and stumble in. As an afterthought, one tosses me my Sprite, Chester. He is battered and broken, one wing shattered and one sweet, innocent optic cracked and flickering. He mews quietly as I hold him to my chest, legs moving slightly as his hardlight frame flickers. I hold back tears behind my helm, biting my lip as I cup the injured Seraphynx in my arms. I turn to the Enforcers, who are shutting the doors.

"You bastar-"

One drives his baton into my face.
Blood spatters the inside of my helm and I feel a tooth crack. The armor whines irratibley as it begins to repair the wound. I stay silent. Without further incident, the Enforcers shut and latch the doors, the board the dropship's cockpit. After a moment, the undulating rumble of its engines floods the dropbay and the seat beneath me lurches. Chester squeaks in pain at the shift and blinks his good optic. I grimace beneath my helm and taste copper. After an indefinate time spent alternatingly cooing words of comfort to Chester and fantasizing about the escape I know I will never be able to make, the engines lower in pitch and volume and the seat lurches yet again. The dropbay door opens and an Enforcer leans from the cockpit to regard me.

"Welcome to hell, "Hero". Don't have too much fun, now."

With that, the dropship tips sharply to the side and I am suddenly falling. I hold Chester in my arms and turn him away from the impact. Then things go black.

I just figured out and awesome new direction in which to take Gwen. Part of what makes it so epic (in my mind) is that it's still totally in-character for her without diminishing her Swarm properties. It'll take her back to her roots.

You guys are so dead. >:)

Muah ha ha ha ha!

Need medik ploxes.

I open my eyes to sand. Sand and grit invading the cowl of my helm. I groan and shake my head, shifting one arm to block out the sunlight. My other arm is still around Chester, who is recharging. I stumble slowly to my feet. They dropped me from the upper atmosphere. Without a parachute. I rub at the small of my back, picking rocks from my dented armor. My Kat Claw Mask seems completely undamaged. Typical shadow tech. I take two unsteady strides then find my balance and increase my speed, moving at a steady pace towards the horizon. Something glimmers there and I see movement. I intend to find out what it is.

((Because people are totally small enough to scrunch in through the gap between the top and bottom of a Kat Claw Mask...... Is anyone going to respond, or should I just keep wandering until I find them?))

@Vat, or maybe Sandwich thought they removed your cowl and were making out with yo- errrrrr

I mean @Vat, you only get the cobalt set with a brandish, you don't get your previous gear :C

Kinda made me freak out. Still, my character is nowhere near yours (I think) so he has nothing to do with it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking
here you go, this may indefinitely prove useful as you pry into the secrets of walking.

((I love my glorious Kat Claw Mask. If Gwenny gets magical swarm powers, I can keep my adorable and awesome Kat helm. Maybe it'll figure into the plot at some point..... Plus I only have a proto sword and proto armor to balance things out....))

I continue wandering and after right about an hour, Chester begins to growl. It starts out as a low synthesized rumble in his chest and works its way up to a warbling yowl in his throat. I stop and turn, having heard someone talking in the distance. I draw the protosword from my waste and hold the small sword like a large dagger. I shift into a crouch and move closer to the noise.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

you diabolical villain. :(

Hey wait. What if the infestation interferes with you healing me? Then I'm going to die of blood loss (probably) and make you lose your little bug. :|

((We're assuming Knights are human, then? Alright. If it tastes anywhere near as good as the steak I ate in my fajitas last night, count me in on the cannibal train. Maybe someone could discover me now?))

"I said who's there?" I hold the protosword at the ready in case its persuasive powers are required. A sword well applied can win nearly any argument. Given time, I can persuade anyone to drop an arm or a leg. Or if I'm lucky a head.

I set my lips beneath my helm and shake my head. This is the first person I've seen in this wasteland. I'll be a wolver's omega if I'm letting him get away.

"Ah hell no."

As soon as I am done reeling from the impact I break into a dead sprint in pursuit of this mysterious person. He may be desperate, but my long legs chew up ground like mulch and soon I'm gaining on him. Abruptly, I leap and throw a kick into his back, designed to stun him and throw him from his feet but do no real harm to his spine or armor. Chester hovers off-kilter, anticipating conflict. I regain my balance and move to his side, placing a foot at his shoulders to prevent him from standing before I at least have the chance to talk to him.

"Who are you and who were you talking to? Where were you going in such a hurry?"

Sanaca looked around, trying to discern the area where the Knights could have fallen from. A conflict in the waning light of day catches her attention, running forward, she sees two knights, one with a foot planted on the back of the other.

(OOC:
If I push you to throw you off-balance, it's probably going to work, if at least to minimal extent. Even that is enough for me to wiggle and get the ability to stand. Don't be silly.

Also, ACTIVATE GRAMMAR NAZI MODE
protosword
There's a space between proto and sword
symultaneously
It's an I, not a Y.
viscous
*vicious, viscosity doesn't belong here)

I dash back, causing both blows to miss. "Hey, stop! I'm not here to fight!" He backs off, which turns into a run away from Vatarian. This person... was definitely insane.