Witchers of Nifelheim

// Hello everyone ^^

The rp will launch in this thread shortly.


In preparation for this rp, we're gonna be implementing a linguistics system.

Please post here, which languages your character knows, and how well he can speak them, its gonna come up in the rp later ^^


In the current world where our characters live, there exists 23 different languages, with each country having its own unique language.
The Islands of Nereus, Tethys, Metis and Lumina are considered countries of their own, even though they only consist of one city on a large island, and each has its own language.

For example, Ashley comes from the island of Nereus, while Penny and Mira Lerner come from the island of Lumina.



Here's the updated world map for the rp ^^

Please write down which languages your character knows and how well he knows them ^^

The RP will launch shortly ^^
Have a good weekend!

// forgot to mention,


The Soren language is considered the Union International language and is spoken in most places on earth.

(The languages spoken by Twilight in this setting:

Equestrian, native language, fluid and completely.
Tesian, speaks the formal part with an eastern accent due to being it's easter neighbour.
The language of the Selene, can save herself there with the basics.
Soren's language, still learning it due to a lack of desire to learn it.
The language of magic chants and script, fluently.)

Languages for Alessandra "Sand" Dunemere

Hissing Desert: Native Dialect, Complete understanding. Rarely speaks it.
Verrian and Sorren: Can read, write, and speak it almost as well as her native tongue.
Equestrian and Nyx: Can read it much better than she can speak it. Often comes across as broken.

Harlequin
---------
Artemis and Soren - mother tongues
Nyx - can speak fluently but with an accent.




Kaylee Brown
-------------
Equestrian: mother tongue
Verrian and Soren: speaks relatively fluently, but with a heavy accent.
Mikasa: Can only say a few words



Johan
------
Nyx and Soren - mother tongues



Takeshi
-------
Mikasa - mother tongue
Soren - somewhat fluently, with a heavy accent




Eva
----
Soren - mother tongue
Nereus - fluently with an accent







// the rp will be launching shortly ^^

The RP wallpaper will be posted at the top of the page, it has multiple versions that will be updated as the rp progresses.

Have fun everyone ^^

You skipped three stairs at a time and tripped, almost landing face first into the crumbling, mold ridden stone pavement. You pick yourself up, trying to catch your rapidly increasing breath and look back.

They heard it.

The small screeches and shrieks loudly echoing behind you, became even more frantic.


Fighting through the pain of a sprained foot, you push forward, running down the circular staircase, that led deeper and deeper into the ground.



Your head was spinning, a rapid surge of adrenaline and the heavy pounding of your heart, loudly echoed inside your head like a hammer. You can't seem to slow down your breathing, the air here was too stale and heavy, making you feel like you're suffocating on your own lungs.



The screeches behind you grew even louder. Blood chilling, bizarre shadows began to play on the walls behind you, cast by the dimly lit torch lights that hung on the walls.




Your heart begins to curl up and hurt, at the thought of what will happen if they reach you.

Little things that will crawl under your skin and bite at your insides.
You frantically look at your shaking hands, dripping with sweat and obscured by the torchlight shadows.

Perhaps they already reached you. Already under your skin and crawling deeper and deeper, you can't even feel it. You begin screaming and frantically clawing at your own hands, trying to get out something that might not even be there.
The shrieks behind you grew even louder.





You let out a long piercing scream and rush down the stairs even faster, further and futher into the darkness.

You have to make it in time. You have to.




Reaching the last flight of stairs, you almost fall onto the stone floor below.
It was dark, a pale green light shining from somewhere within, did little to illuminate the stone cave.

Trying to slow down your breath, you frantically look for your target.


The door.
A massive three meter tall structure, decorated with intricate carvings and built into the middle of the wall, right in front of you.
Bizarre looking statues of two flipped pyramids, were floating on each side of the door, glowing a pale green and slowly spinning on the axis.



No time. You rush forward and slam your self at the door.


NO! IT WON'T OPEN! THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!



Your heart drops and cold sweat starts dripping over your eyes, as you slowly look back.

They're here.



As the shadows slowly rose and crept up behind you, you let out a piercing shriek and start clawing with both hands at the door, injuring yourself in the process.
You hear the soft clatter of claws on the floor, they're rushing towards you. Their desire to devour you was palpable.

Your shriek grew louder and louder as you banged, clawed and slammed at the door, that just wouldn't open.

As the shadows fell upon you, beginning to bite at your flesh, your shriek grew so loud, you almost went deaf.








You wake up.

Sitting upright in your bed, you almost knocked over your night lamp.
You must have screamed out in real life as well, your vocal cords feel coarse and pained.

Resting your head in your arms, you slowly wipe the sweat off your forehead and fall on your back.



It was a dream.
Just a nightmare.

Every night, the dream is the same.


The mad dash down the crumbling staircase, leading you somewhere deep underground. The unseen creatures that chase you.
And the door at the end.

The door that just wouldn't open.



You saw this dream every night, for the past month or so. Making you wake up at bizarre hours,
with your heart racing and trouble falling asleep again.

Medication and sleeping pills didn't help. Neither did magic.
A good nights rest seems to eludes you. You don't remember when you last slept well.




The door at the end was becoming annoying.
You have no idea what's inside, how to get through it, or even why you want to enter so badly.
In your dream, you only know, that you must reach it and enter.





You release a deep sight and look at the clock.
Its 3 in the morning.




Judging from past nights, with your heart pounding so hard,
you know you won't be able to fall asleep for a while now.


You roll off the bed and sit upright, turning the TV on without thinking, trying to find a way to pass the time.





The screen blinked to life with a blinding white color, making you wince and cover your eyes.


"...-evening, this is Mira Lerner, reporting to you live, from Lumina Island.

It has been exactly 34 days since Unicorns began Loosing Their Magic.




This unexplained phenomenon that started in the Green Planes region, has quickly spread across the globe.
The scientific and magic communities are completely stumped, being met with dead ends at every turn, trying to explain or find a reason for this occurrence.


At this time, no cause has been found and no probable theory exists, that could explain this phenomenon.
But we are told that every able mind, across the globe, is currently throwing themselves at this problem-..."




Mira adjusted her hair and took a moment to catch her breath. It seems the Lumina Island was very windy at the moment.




"...-A significant rise in psychotic breakdowns has also been registered.
Police data show a 40% rise in violence and suicides reports, over the past month, across the entire globe.


Scientist community still cannot find the underlying cause for this occurrence, but some believe it may
be linked to the gradual disappearance of magic."




Mira sighed again, on live television.
It was very atypical of her, to let her fatigue show.

You notice dark circles under her eyes, even with makeup. Is she getting enough sleep?




"The last bit of news is a subject that has been a throbbing pain in all of our hearts" Mira quietly continued:

"9 Months ago, the entire population of the Ragnveig Port Town, has vanished without a trace.
Even now, months after the fact, we still don't know what happened" Mira looked down.


"This is Mira Lerner, Union News, signing off"





As you sigh and look away from the TV screen, you notice a blinking light on your landline.
It seems someone has left a voice message to you, while you slept.



Sluggishly moved towards the phone, you click on the answering machine and the message began to play:

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Sluggishly moved towards the phone, you click on the answering machine and the message began to play:


 

Once the message starts, a familiar voice comes from the machine. It sound like she’s doing her best to stay calm, but that she’s clearly nervous about something.

“Hello, long time no see. I know our history has been… Rough, to say the least. And I doubt it is my voice you wish to hear at this hour… But this is something you must hear. There is something going on right now, something that endangers everyone.”

There was a pause, presumably for a breath. “I’m pretty sure you’ve heard about the situation, so I’ll get to the meat of things directly. I’m in the capital city of Tesia, amongst the various mages, wizards and sorcerers called there to put their heads together. Together, we’ve been researching this case in various ways, with all the tools at our disposal. For weeks, we’ve been testing, divining, seen the consequences, to no avail…. Until yesterday.”

Again, a nervous sigh. “I may have found a lead to the root of this problem, the source of the waning magic. If I follow this, the damage can still be undone before it’s too late. But ever since my discovery, there have been a haunting feeling over me, as if someone knew that I found the lead and wants to get rid of me. An assassin ready to strike at a moment’s notice. As I speak, I can feel the metaphorical blade on my throat.”

“Normally, I would be able to go through with my research, despite this. But my magic is evaporating as well and my body is currently very frail. I can’t do this alone, but I can’t let this information get away.”

There’s a moment of silence, as if she was bracing for something. “As such I need to ask of you… Please, come as soon as possible to the city of Tesia. Meet me in the central university of magic. I have need of the abilities of you guys, just this one time. For the sake of humanity, for magic, for…” You can clearly hear her swallow. “The Union and everyone in it. If this continues, the consequences will be disastrous and felt in your own lives as well. Come to Tesia, please…”

The message ends there.

Sluggishly, Sand stands up from the bed. Taking a moment to steady herself on the door frame she stumbles out into her kitchen. The house is quiet save for the low hum of the refrigerator and the commotion coming from the kitchen. Ever since the sleepless night began Omega had been the ones tending to their month old twins whenever they woke up screaming. As per usual the entire family either through nightmares or parenting duties where all awake.

The bubbling of fresh coffee is music to her ears as she enters the kitchen. Omega is attempting to feed the twins, Azure and Fjoran, and make breakfast with little success. Motherly instincts taking over she swoops in and takes over the feeding. Allowing Omega to focus on the cooking.

"...I want to help, but I don't want to leave you three" Sand and Omega sat in their living room, veins full of caffeine. She had played the message for Omega.

"This is bigger than all of us," Omega picks his words carefully "If it was anyone else I'd say ignore it. But if one of the most powerful users of magic is asking for help. Then it's something we can't ignore"

"Then why can't you go?"

There are a few moments of silence as Omega thinks of the right thing to say. The clock ticking away sounding like a gunshot with each time the second-hand moves.

"Of the times I've interacted with those in Twilights group, those with creativity and intelligence often had the best ideas. That's why you need to go instead of me. And I think you should leave on the next flight out of here."

A heavy sigh leaves Sand before she looks up at Omega.

"Ok, but I'm expecting pictures of the three of you and a phone call each day"

"It's a deal, now let me help you pack..."



Hours later, and having said goodbye to her family Sand's stomach finally settled from the aircraft reaching cruising altitude. Lucky enough to have a set of seats to her self she had taken up all of the trays. A laptop connected to an internet library and a freshly bought journal ready to be used. If she was going to be any help, she needed to familiarize her self with some basic magic theory and history. So for the several hour flight Sand forgot the nightmares, her family, and the world around her.

The old habits of cramming before a test while at university came back to her like an old friend and Sand put in her best effort to learn what she could during the flight.

Moon had never slept well. With several hundred years of violent experience, it wasn’t much of a surprise. But these nightmares were something new. No matter what sleeping draughty she brewed or how much alcohol she drank, every night the unicorn would find herself waking up with a scream. She tried to scream quieter, ever since Mist had begun to sleep on her couch.

The loss of magic had been worrying her, it was hurting her deeply. Without magic, Moon had been left rather frail. She could still swing a sword, but wasn’t going to go around fistfighting anyone soon. A little experimenting on herself had brought up something else, the loss of magic had affected her curse. She could age again. Moon’s body was no longer ‘locked’ in time, no longer stuck. Which left her with a few stress related grey hairs and the probability that any sort of ‘modern’ infection she caught could probably kill her.

Rising to listen to the message left on her old phone, Moon walked passed the curled up figure of the robotic assassin sleeping soundly on her old sofa and retrieved a small flask of blood from her fridge. She had never gotten along with royalty, but this felt too important. On her way to her computer she almost walked into the old crib set up in the corner of her living room. Melody, Mist’s impromptu daughter.

Smiling at the tiny pegasus, she returned to her bedroom and turned on the computer, booking a flight for Tesia.

The next day she found herself on an airplane, fully planning to get Twilight to pay her back for the rather expensive last minute plane tickets. Packing had been a pain, and there had been no time to arrange for any of ‘her kind’ of food to be available once she got there. And pony blood was something she definitely couldn’t get through customs, the sword had been hard enough.

Saying goodbye to Mist had been short. She didn’t consider their relationship to be romantic, not yet anyway. The assassin had turned up several months earlier pregnant and desperate for somewhere to hide. Moon could hardly say no. And the baby wasn’t too much hassle anyway. In some ways, it represented part of a life she had always hoped for.

Slipping in some old earphones, she relaxed into her plane seat and pulled her wooden jumper tighter around herself. It was going to be a long flight.

When the plane began its final approach for a landing, you could already tell that something was wrong.

The time was 5 in the morning, the horizon was still shrouded by a purple night sky, and yet, the city was dark. No street lights illuminated the roads down below. No lighting came from the residential areas. The skyscrapers were dark.


Usually, from this altitude, you should've been able to see, a spider web of countless orange lights, when a plane passed over a city at night, and yet, the capital city of one of the largest countries on earth, remained largely enveloped in darkness.


Only once the plane began landing, you noticed that a handful of structures still had electricity. The airport, and a few odd buildings, spread far and wide across the city.



An hour or two later, as you claimed your luggage and cleared the passport control, you began noticing up close the disarray and chaos that ruled the airport terminals.

Most of the computers didn't work. A lot of the automated job were now done by hand. You passed over restaurants, stores and even a small park, inside the airport, on your way out. None of those places worked, or had electricity.


A beautiful fountain in the middle of the park, made of countless geometrical shapes that were supposed to float in the air, creating beautiful shapes of water and small rainbows, as the water ran down from it, now stood dry and gray.
All its intricate parts laying stiff on the floor.



As you exit the airport, you noticed a line of ancient power generators, standing behind a fence, close to the entrance. It looked like they were powering up the entire airport.
The generators looked so ancient and so filled with rust, it looks like they were dug out of some warehouse, were they stood abandoned for a good 50 years or so.

A group of unicorns with haunted eyes, were bashing their heads together, trying to desperately keep the generators from dying.
Their expressions and unspoken feelings of despair, prevailed across the entire area.







Shortly after exiting the airport and stepping out, into the cold morning air, you noticed three figures, standing across the street and seemingly waiting for someone.
As you approach, one of the figures waved. They were definitely waiting for you.


Through the dark road that lacked any street lights, it took you a moment to recognize Rain, Twilight and an unfamiliar man.




"Welcome to Beusoleil, capital of Tesia and capital of magic" the man smiled to you and bowed slightly.
He was in his mid fifties, hair mostly gray. A calming smile. He wore very intricate robes, that both mixed the modern and the old gothic style.


"I am Professor Emile Deveraux. I teach magical arts at the Grand University of Magic, here in Beusoleil" he said with a smile.

You note he's an earth pony.


"I have been working closely with Mrs. Sparkle and Mrs. Runner for the past several days, to deduce the cause of the phenomenon" he politely nodded to Twilight and Rain:

"...so far, our discoveries have been.... unexpected"

“Nice to meet you Professor Deveraux. I’m Lady Moon Dusts. I do some freelance magic research, mostly on the topic of old curses and magics.” She politely introduced herself before looking to Twilight.

“Any idea on how we fix it? I’m guessing the state of this airport is a result of the lack of unicorn magic. I did a little personal research back in Equestria. Found a little, but not a lot.” Moon frowned.

She wore an old coat, a bright red colour which contrasted with her purple coat. A scarf covered her neck and part of her mouth. Most of her hair was tied back into an absolute mess of a bun, completely alien to the neat and pinned back curls she normally had. Massive bags were under her eyes, and her fingers seemed to be trembling. For once, she didn’t have any alcohol within reach. And a few small strands of hair had turned grey, her first grey hairs in her life.

Sand unzipped her parka slightly exposing her mouth. The heavy fur trim of the hood still obscuring a good portion of her face. She was dressed like it was -40 Celsius outside, clearly not used to or a fan of any kind of cold weather. Ornstein sat on her shoulder looking at each person around him with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.

"Alessandra Dunemere," she nods to everyone. Her arms wrapped tightly around her body. It's not hard to see that she is faintly shivering. "I'm more of a historian and explorer of ancient ruins, but I'll help where I can"

At the airport, Twilight was waiting for them, but she didn't notice the group approaching her team. She seemed absorbed with her phone, switching between a professional tone and baby talk.

She took a glance, noticing the group. She then turned her back to the group. "I have to go now Angelo, the reinforcements have arrived. I'll call you later. Tell our babies mommy is missing them dearly and hopes to see them very soon. And PLEASE stop Pinkie from setting up another monthiversary. Okay, love you."

She hangs up and looks at them again. She looks terrible. Her hair is in a bun, but it looks so hastily put together it looks like a birdsnest. Her forehead and eyes almost seems to develop wrinkles despite her young age. Her pose, normally straight and poised, has sunk to a hunch and drooping shoulders. Despite this, she speaks in a proffesional and formal tone.

"Hello everyone. Thank you for coming in these dire circumstances. It's a shame our meetings have to happen under such conditions... Again. Nevertheless, it's best we get to work immediately. The faster this is solved, the sooner everyone can get back to their old lives."

She scraped her throat. "Our discoveries were indeed quite shocking, to say the least. We should not discuss this in the open. You'll hear about it when we're a little more secluded."

She let out a heavy sigh, anoth thing that makes her look 10 years older then normal.

"Indeed. A pleasure to meet you" Deveraux nodded to everyone with a smile:


"You are absolutely right. The state of the airport, the entire city, is due to the gradual disappearance of magic" he sighed, and looked toward the horizon.
The sun slowly began to rise over the city, illuminating what seemed to be gray, yet intricate architecture.

Each skyscraper was designed in a different fashion. Some looked like cylinders and extremely tall pyramids, while others reminded you of massive waves, slightly looming over the streets and seemingly frozen in time. The architects really let their imaginations run.



"Beusoleil was designed to be an eco friendly city from the start.

Everything is run by magic, street lights, fountains, basic tools, computers and cellphones, even cars and city lights.
It was all dependent on magic, periodically recharged by unicorns. Completely unreliant on fossil fuel or oil. We were very proud of it"



Deveraux turned towards the horizon: "...you should have seen the city in its prime...

Calming blue lights illuminated every street, massive magical ribbons arced around the skyscrapers, changing their colors with the weather, and coating the city in bright and warm colors, golden in autumn, shining blue in the winter.
Statues of artistic design and historical figures, floating above the streets in seemingly random yet precise patters..."


Deveraux sighed, looking over the city: "Now look at it... only a gray stillness remains.

The palpable feeling of haunting uneasiness has coated this city. Everyone was so reliant on magic, now that it's gone... we feel like we lost both of our hands..."




Looking at the road, linking the airport to the city, you note that there was no traffic. No cars or buses were seen anywhere in sight. The parking lots were packed with vehicles however. A growing layer of dust on their hoods, indicated they've been here a while.



In this still silence, the sound of an approaching limousine stood out especially sharp.


Deveraux looked at you apologetically:
"...forgive me for forcing you to travel in such contrasted extravagance, there is only a handful of cars that still run on electrical batteries in the city, the Deans car is one of them. He agreed to let us borrow it, for this occasion.

Your arrival is very important, after all.
The truth is, we are at our wits end with cracking the magic phenomenon"



As the limousine quietly pulled to a stop next to you, Deveraux opened the passenger door and bowed slightly:

"After you"

Rain who has been silent for most of the conversation finally speaks up, "We have a few leads and an idea on whats causing all this. Harle will be joining us shorly." She looks to her companions as she approaches the car and opens the door. As the car lights turn on you can see that she isn't wearing a buisness casual you usually see her wearing. Instead wearing full casual a black Artimis t-shirt and cargo pants. A loose Nyx jacket rests over her shoulders and it wrinkles and flows on its own as she sits down. The jacket itself is a midnight violet made of velvet and it shines in the dim light.

Sand ducks inside and shuffles to as for over as possible to let the others take seats as well. Ornstein hops down into one of Sand's forearms. Clearly not enough space between the roof of the car and his head to sit comfortably on her shoulder.

She pulls off her hood revealing a mess of long hair. It looks like she tried to wake her self up with a shower, but the bags under her eyes indicate it did little. She blinks a couple times seeming to suddenly drift in and out of intended unconsciousness; massages her forehead with one hand; and gives her head a quick shake before looking back up.

Moon shuffled into the car behind Sand and settled down in a seat, brushing a few wisps of hair away from her face with shaky hands. In the dim light of the car, she looked worse. Almost, haunted by something. Clutching her bag that now sat on her lap, she forced a tired smile towards Rain.

“Nice to see you again Rain, wish it was under better circumstances. I never seem to get to meet anyone fun unless the world is ending. Geez, I wish I wasn’t sober for this.” Moon mumbled the last sentence under her breath, leaning backwards.

Twilight took a seat in the limo as well. Her hands moved like she went to grab a smoke, but failed to find something.

"Oh, right..." There was short sigh. It was clear she wasn't at the top of her game at all.

She looked out the window solemly. "Once Harlequin joins us, we'll explain. After all, it's best to give the complete picture at once."

Rain tosses half a pack of cigarettes to Twilight, "I hit my stopping point yesterday... their all yours." She sighs resting her head in her hand, covering her eyes, "I wish we could talk on better terms but currently we are on a downhill slope... looks like you are feeling it too."

“This feels like the worst hangover in a century. I can’t do anything properly, and my whole ‘never ageing’ thing seems to have been affected. Don’t give me any colds or the flu, it’ll probably kill me. I’m too old for this sort of thing. And too sober.” Moon groaned, and closed her eyes for a moment, her expression slightly pained as if she had some sort of headache.

"You best hope we dont lose any more magic or you'll come down with dementia." She jokes with what humor she has left.

“That’s unlikely. Hopefully. I don’t know. I haven’t had to worry about this in four hundred odd years, I’ve already gotten a few grey hairs, don’t need a modern ‘plague’ that you lot middle through to top it off. Already had to give up the booze.” She cracked a small smile. “First time in twenty decades I’ve been sober for over two weeks.”

Rain gives moon a small clap, "congrats. Welcome to the real world, heads up, everythings fucked." She shakes her head and leans back, "Actually Twilight I might need one of those right about now."

Twilight's looking at the packs of smokes she just had bouncing against her. But at the request for one, she tossed them back. "You can have them all, I've quit them cold turkey since..."

She grabs her phone. Once her eyes set on it, she begins to act very strange. "I was blessed with my two widdle tweasures, I love them so much!" There was an odd, happy sigh that escaped her lips. Those that could see her phone were able to make out that it showed a picture that had Twilight holding two babies.