Crunchiest_Leaf

wariwari.... more lightstones

very pog, and very based

Kikurage looks over the missive from his lord, and favourite battle-buddy, putting on his bandana - ready for round three with hemlock, his boney arch nemesis

"The First Great Rat" A book sits atop a dusty shelf, old, battered and forgotten. A seeming translation of a translation at a glance - a story captured upon paper, though not by those who first spoke it. No author, nor references would be found, be they erased with the weathering of time, or rather forgotten altogether. A large black rat, with piercing red eyes adorns the cover. … Long ago, in the time before men, elves or even dwarves there were animals; though far fewer than we see today. Simple creatures, akin to mice we see today, were however abundant. Their sprawling twig nests across grassy plains showed just how successful they had become - enjoying bountiful berries, and a seemingly unending supply of grain from the grasses in which they lived. Sprouting seemingly from the ground, these mice multiplied, tenfold… a hundredfold… A A thousand times over - though delicate and frail creatures, there was no real cause for worry for them - the berries would last, and the grain would flow for as long as mice had tails. Or so they had convinced themselves. After a particularly harsh winter, sleepy mice awoke from their nests to find no berries for them to eat, and very little grain left over from the previous autumn. The bushes that had sustained them had withered in the cold, leaving only hewn twigs and rotten seeds in their stead. The grasses were not as unfortunate, though the nice had been left with barely enough to live in, and barely enough grain to sustain their terrific number. Though the line to doom would be thin, with careful sacrifice and hope, the mice could endure this famine, until the new growth of the coming summer into autumn. Fear however had already found itself in the hearts of many of the mice. They had never been without, and did not know if the coming harvests would be as harsh as the spring they had awoken to. This led many to hoard what little grain they could get their whiskers upon; leaving many with none. Tensions grew in the coming weeks, into months - and where many in the beginning had hoped for a forgiving autumn - the harvest had gone forgotten. War and distrust had the mice in its grips, the once tight-knit nests and grassen communes had devolved into bitter battles, rending skin from tails, fingers from hands, and lives from entire families. Where the new autumn grain sat plentiful upon grassy heads, the most foul and terrible of battles were seen. Fuelled all in ferocity by fear of the coming winter, and what might be left in its wake come spring. Nameless spirits looked upon the mice with sadness and tragic grief. Nameless as none with the gift of word had been to give them names, beyond thought and the occasional thankful squeak. With hearts full of pain, for the mice that had once been, the spirits saw but one way forward. If the mice could not be trusted to share, and to cast out the greed that had wormed its way into their souls like a worm might a rotten apple - the spirits would teach them with a force yet unseen. Not out of hatred, but of hope that a balance once lost could be found again. Without mice. Great beasts were forged in the divine lights of the nameless spirits, unlike any that they had trodden upon the grassy plains before. They had great and terrible claws; not for digging or for reaching itches, but for rending flesh from bone and trapping souls in their grips. They had Great fanged teeth, not for husking grains, nor for the grooming of fur, but for the crunching of bone. Great eyes, not for loving gaze upon family, but to find and to catch in even the darkest of nights. They came in the night, taking and destroying - leaving only chewed bones and strewn fur in their wake. Without prejudice, remorse or even malice, these beasts swept like a winter’s fog, flooding through the plains. Never having even imagined such things, the mice were defenceless; no hidey-holes, no tree roots, nowhere for them to hide from the piercing radiant moon, and the dark things that prowled within its glow. This lasted for 13 nights; only halted by the pleading prayers of one meek and mouse, calling not for himself to be spared, nor for the forgiveness of his family; but rather the acceptance of the sins of his people as a whole, asking only for a chance to start again. For many more moons, the prayers of this mouse fell upon deaf ears - though gradually - after thirteen times as many moons, with his devotion, remorse and determination more of the spirits took interest. Soon the congregation to hear out the little mouse grew into a spiralling mass; stirred with whispers and discussion from plains for beyond - whistling through the trees and dancing amongst the blades of grass. A message came as a lul in the chaos; not as word but as feeling. A bargain from the spirits, accepting the mouse’s pleas for a second chance - though with a harsh reminder of what had already come to pass, and what would come if actions were repeated. The mouse, steadfast in his redoubled resolve of his side of the deal; and with that it began. The spirits reached out with endless tendrils blue, gripping at his features and wrapping him in their powers. Such as they had with the beasts sought to erase his people, the spirits forged the mouse. Great Claws, not for catching or slashing; but for digging. burrowing and building in earth too hard and unforgiving to mear mice, Great piercing eyes, not for finding and chasing, but whose glow would light even the darkest of path, Great stench to drive out the beasts of the night from a new home built, Great writhing fur of black, thick and dense, to hide from the most determined of pursuer. With the dying of the mouse’s previous form, it was replaced - similar yet different, greater than before, but no-longer kin the the mice that had committed such sins against the balance. Stood now upon the soft earth, a great rat; the first of its kind to tread upon the earth. Leaving the clearing of the spirits, the rat sought out his family, similarly repentant to himself he gathered them each into a great column, an exodus from grassy nests - now torn and sundered across a moonlit waste. Though not all would follow him, choosing instead to remain, determined to fight against the moon, the beasts, and the mice they so eagerly tried to compete against for any scraps of grain that remained from the forgotten harvest of the year before. Marching onwards, the rat and his kin delved first into soft soils, clearing and building paths into the belly of the earth. Where the ground became tougher and harder claws in turn became hardened through work, until all could dig freely. Where the light from above faded into blackness, eyes grew brighter in turn until all could see freely in the absence of sun. Where food became short and warmth lesser, hearts grew closer and sharing amongst kin brought ease in times of hardship. Where a stench had once been, a welcoming scent was shared amongst them; a marker of their new family and the bond between each member. Before long, the mouse-kin the rat had brought upon his pilgrimage resembled what he had become - greater than they were before; changed compared to the kin they had left behind in the world above. As was the home they had come to recognise within burrowed earth. Different to the homely grassy nests of their kin, though warm with the energies that mice had lost their grasp upon. After many moons beneath the surface - what once was mouse was all but lost; new ways, new teachings and lessons learned, a sprawling nest took shape, welcoming all rats within its halls, with the grand architect - the first of their kind - never resting. Though one thing had been noted by these new rats; the curse that had led to their fall was ever present, more and more rats began to appear, multiplying tenfold, a hundred fold.... The first great rat, still with the weight of loss ever upon his soul, with the fear of what horrors the spirits might unleash should he fail his duty made a vow to himself and his people. The nest would be endless, sprawling in the deep - large enough for an unending number of rats, so that the sins of the past might not be repeated. And so he remained digging - endlessly - expanding this ever growing home within the deep, so that the rats would want not for space, or food or that which their forgotten kin had fallen folly to. And so - to this day, the first great rat continues - digging, building and remembering the mistakes of the past; and all rats, though forgotten in original name, remember his vow, and his sacrifice made for them. … A scrawling would be made on the backmost page of the book reading; “Kiku nevah forget - doku-doku.” A small four fingered hand print would be left aside

"Throw in an Apology about me 'orse that yer lads offed 'an 'al call it a day" Ser Bedwyr, the templar knight, garbed in orange would grumble - pinning the missive above his counter for him to ponder while baking.

永遠のネズミの巣 - Eternal Rat's Nest Drifting, a soft melody sang out through the under-earth; a flute in the sakura-gakure sewers. The song drew a picture upon the heart, of two nameless musin - entangled in a dance beneath a radiant moon, their edges swaying through a gentle rain of blossoms. Soon however, as the the night grew on - the music would fade, along with the dimming candles dotted carefully about Kikurage's family shrine. The soft whistle of musin slumber would overtake the peaceful rememberance, as the lone shinobi took to the realm of dreams. Though the gentle grip of sleep would not hold kiku for long. One eye would open. Followed thereafter, albeit reluctantly, by the other. Dokuuuuu.....Doooookuuuuuu..... A dull thrum would lift dust from the floor; Loose Debris agitated by the very sound, fleeing towards the door. ...Dokuuuuu.....Doooookkkk..... Kikurage remained still; frozen in place by the very heartbeat of the sewers. Though not of fear, of the unknown or otherwise. Kiku remained still out of respect. Respect for what - or rather who had been stirring the fabric of the underground at such an hour. "Doku-Dokuどくどく" Kikurage would answer - staring out into the darkness, past the small musin sized threshold of the shrine. A darkness thick enough to dull a sword - thick even enough to be groomed with a brush. A great red eye would open upon the other side of the sill, a piercing hue gifting a glow upon all in its gaze. rippling and writhing around the border - the darkness jostled as the familiar rumble came once again. candles sent dancing across the shrine floor, with the once resting ornaments hung above stirred into a clammouring song. The great Rat-Kami had arrived. Perched now upon his knees, kikurage watched on in repectful silence - his own crimson eyes reflecting the ominous glow within the illuminated shrine. Thereafter the voice came. "....Kikurage...." the voice came, the loose debris now fleeing back towards kikurage as it jumped and tumbled at the behest of the voice. "...Slimy, slippery, stealers..." came next, words full of spite - laced with green mists, hovering about the doorway. "ancient adversaries cling to the roots... wretched wonk userpers... " Kikurage's fists clenched; knowing full well of the wonks in question. Wallowing deep under norland, an enclave of wonks had made their home. "you have brought much honour to your resting parents, to your village and all Nezumiネズミ. I have taken notice". Kikurage's head bowed to the words. "Arirato Doku-Doku-sama..."; though before he could finish, another rumbling came, drowning out kiku's meager voice in comparisson. "You will bring me the feet of every wonk, so that they might know who's sacred nest they tread... You will bring me their hands, so they might reconsider picking up their crude blades against Nezumi ever again... and you will bring me their eyes, so they may never again glance upon the beauty of my realm; built in my care. A nest for Ten Thousand Nezumi, ruled forever in my name". Kikurage threw forwards, placing his blade upon the floor before himself and before the great-rat-kami. "Kiku do this. Make Rattu home be free of ancient wonk enemy, bring Doku-Doku GREAT HONOUR! bring all rattu GREAT HONOUR and bring hims parents GREAT HONOUR". With this, a final rythm would come. A great rumbling as the great eye flicked fowards - leaving down through the winding sewer passages. Dokuuuuuuu.....Dokuuuuuuuuu... Kikurage would once again be left in darkness, the distant thrumming dying down as Doku-Doku made his way; the dust finding itself scatted peacefully across the floor once again.

The fashionable knight upon receiving the missive would grimace - scrunching it up and tossing it. "oh THAT king of Balian" he'd go about his day.

+100

[!] Ser Bedwyr curls the corners of his moustache, half asleep still, having been only briefly awake in the time between waking up and being gifted land in the shire. "Does this make me a duke? - bloody hell, now I need to build a house" [!] He thereafter goes back to bed.

"At' isnae very Froggy Chair" the knight would offer to the missive

Bedwyr nodded, a pious grin passing across his face

"Cannae wait fer the 'wack-a-mori™' game - time fer some ... re-enactment." Bedwyr would add, gripping his heretic bonking mallet.

Love me church Love me king 'ate Darkspawn 'ate 'Eretics nuff sed

Just my two cents *disclaimer - openly RPing sexually ON THE SERVER is mad cringe, and you should be given a stern talking to, if not banned* Easiest way to prevent nonces diddling underage players; raise the applicant age requirement of the server there are so many topics and goings on on the server that have been equally if not more disturbing or morally ambiguous than adult slice of life rp'ers taking it to discord, that nobody blinks an eye at. it'd be far more straight forward to simply accept that the server has adult topics - and police the age of people joining the server, rather than sit in discord calls discussing the morality of consenting adults having extra-server relations outside the limits of the server, and then somehow successfully policing that. the fact that this hasn't even been put forward goes a long way to how the credit cards of kids' parents who shouldn't be exposed to even a quarter of the stuff on this server are more valued than the safety and security of said minors in the first place. "but people will just apply for the server and lie about their age" - it's alot easier to police that than investigating, debating and then policing the private conversations of individuals away from the prying eyes of the server. if you're found to be under the applicant age -> get banned (atleast until you're not), a rule that's already in place, provided the moderation team care enough to be policing that RIGHT NOW, that just needs an age adjustment, if you don't think you can police that, where is the confidence that you can police the current applicant age? past that, if you are an adult, and the sexual relationships between other adults unrelated to yourself makes you uncomfortable - see a therapist about it.

I love the smell of napalm in the morning