This Was a Triumph - RPLOG
Participants
Date
17/8/477
Log
The tournament grounds are taken up mostly by a large Creator vessel, it's hold open wide for a stream of the curious to flow in and out of the ship! A number of creators wearing their strange, uniform like clothing stand guard over everything, making sure that no beings go where they don't belong. A plethora of wonderous contraptions lie scattered around an open area the size of a jousting field, awaiting those who wish to test their mettle! A Creator wearing a rather silly looking chain of office stands with a clipboard at the entrance to the field, taking names and information on those who wish to enter.
Kalt makes her way up to the tournament grounds, dressed in her armor with her sword at her side. The Vixen's gaze traveling to all the contraptions as she frowns for a moment, remembering her new duties for the moment at least. All the same, she soon bows deeply to the Creator at the entrance holding the clipboard before speaking. "Evenin' heard you lot were goin' an' testin' folks round here an' all?"
Cassidy reaches up to adjust her hat, whistling merrily as she saunters onto the tournament grounds. "Kalt! Good to see you. Yes, I am curious as to just what's going on here! Tests and challenges? I'd be happy to participate!"
Natska enters the tournament grounds at Cassidy's side, the jaguar looking around and taking in the scene. She nods her head towards the Creator with the clipboard and taps her fingers to her hat brim, then gives him a smile, and waits to hear his spiel.
Thelergramor walks slowly into the tournament grounds, not far from Cassidy and Natska. Ignoring the pain from his injuries for now. The wolf brought all of his weapons and equipment; a recently aquired chainmail shirt is worn under his torn and bloodied coat. Stepping up beside the two he followed, he looks to the creator. Makes no bow nor gesture to him. Just stares at him from behind his mask.
Rainer is standing tall and proud, fists on his hips and chest outthrust, with his tail swaying in a continuous, but casually-paced wag. Casting a glance back over his shoulder, he remarks to the poor sap that happens to be behind him in line, "I was the first person to set eyes on a Creator since they left us here, y'know." He starts to turn his attention forward again, but then looks back again, conceeding, "Well okay, there were some others there with me, even still~" The line shuffles forward, and he with it. "They taught us this weird Creator greeting, wait 'til you see it!" And so, when his turn comes up at the registrar, he ... extends a hand to rub the poor human's nose with his palm.
Jendayi arrives to the grounds in all her towering glory, sphinx rubbing her hands together and smiling broadly as she makes a beeline towards the Creator taking information. "Excuse me," she asks at as delicate a tone as she can muster, "Do you happen to know where I may sign up for the... the..." She rolls her hand in gesture, trying to find the right word, before giving up and just waving at the area in general. "This thing you are asking for Beings for?" At the sight of Rainer reaching out for the human, every muscle in her body tenses up like steel, and she draws a sharp breath in through her teeth as she grimaces.
Adolphus had of course head the Creator vessel hand landed. The big hippo does wander in with his mail and leather, and his war hammer strapped to his back. Military rank upon his shoulder, the royal would first stop with whoever looked in charge. "Greetings." he rumbles "I welcome you to Firmament and the nation of Sweetwater. Though I have to ask formally, you have permission from Commander Parson to be here, and none of your experiments will interfear with the Beings here ,or cross any of the treaties already signed and witnessed?" the offical looking Good has to at least ask first.
The creator looks up from his clipboard, at least it looks like a clipboard, but it seems to have no paper on it! More creator magic, no doubt. He looks over those who have come to show what they can do. "Thank you all for-" he breaks off as Rainer puts a hand directly in his face! He blinks in confusion for a moment, but decides to act as if the action didn't bother him. "Thank you," he says to Rainer, probably setting a dangerous precident. He then turns to address Adolphus, hesitating a moment before bending awkwardly at the waist. "All of our paperwork is in order YOUR HIGHNESS," his translator inserts the proper honorific and he makes a few motions over his clipboard before turning it to the hippo, "You will find all of the proper permissions here."
"As for the rest of you," he says as Adolphus looks at the little screen, "Thank you for volunteering! We hope to learn more of your people and have a better understanding of one another by seeing what you are capable of." The man points back at all of the equipment. "These machines will measure your strength and speed as you use them," he says, "If each of you would please step forward to state your name and allow us to scan your vitals." He holds up a small white box that glows with a soft white light.
Kalt blinks at Rainer's actions, but it seemed the creator approved! She'd have to take note of this for the future, good things to learn after all. As the Creator addresses them, she gives a slight nod and steps forward, pointing a thumb at her armor. "You gonna be needin' me outta this then an' such?" Before she clears her throat. "Ah, Kalt Tiefkuhl." She says while looking at the small box as she leans forward slightly.
The little box glows and a gridwork of light is projected onto Kalt as she stands before the Creator. There is a sense of warmth for a moment, then the box dings! and the machine spirit burbles something friendly sounding before the light vanishes, making ready for the next being!
Cassidy raises her brow and glances at Natska for a moment before she approaches the box, adjusting her mask. "Cassidy Solacious. I'm not the strongest around, but I'm quite fast! Speedy and mobility is my strong suit!" Even when wearing her suit-suit.
Natska tilts her head to the side, watching the process as it unfolds, hands on her hips. Her ear twitches as the box dings and gibbers, and she waits for her turn to introduce herself. "Natska," she states, tail swishing.
Thelergramor shrugs, steps up and speaks: "Thelergramor Alverriss." Yep. Definitely his real name. No reason to lie to the creators, as much as he wanted to. He waits to be 'scanned' or, however he puts it incorrectly in his mind.
The same grid appears across Thelergramor's front as has the others but after the little machine makes its bell tone, the machine spirit murmurs something and the Creator man frowns. "I am sorry, sir," he says through his translator, "But my readings indicate that you are unfit for these tests. Please step out of the line." He smiles a bit shakily as Rainer takes his spot and returns the wolf's surprising gesture, rubbing his pointed lupine muzzle.
Rainer bears a told-you-so smirk as he steps back from the Creator and returns his hands to his hips. "They're kinda oily, though." he remarks in a lowered tone, with his head turned away from the gentleman addressing the gathering, immediately following the comment by wiping his hands on the legs of his pants a few times. When it's his turn to steps forward again he of course is pleased as punch when the nose rub is reciprocated, as evidenced by the wag of his tail ramping up from gentle to hyper. Thumbing his chest and announcing, "Name's Rainer, Explorer Extrordinaire! Quick as a whistle, sharp as a thistle, best swordsman the Lightbringers ever saw," The device is surely done by then, given how brief the other scans were, but he prattles on, "Cliffside war veteran, -Shadow- war verteran, and I've probably kicked more Cultist butt than anyone else you'll likely meet today, too! Then there was the time I rescued those kids being held for ransome in an old fort -filled- with bandits..."
Jendayi steps up to the box after the rest, leaning her all too human face down towards the box a bit and speaking out firmly to it, like a tutor. "Jendayi." She rises up, standing stock straight and relatively still for the light- she's at a solid 8'5" and it really shows. "So, is there... some manner of contest? The details were very unclear to me- one cannot trust rumors too much, after all."
Adolphus squints, looking at the clipboard. He accepts the honorific gracefully and offers a slight incline of his head as he reads and makes sure it's all prim and proper. "Very good." he rumbles. "So we're testing our limits as it were?" He nods and will allow the machine to scan him, big hippo starting to unstrap his armor and his hammer. Not wanting anything to hinder the testing. "Adolphus Reginald Good." he says in his overly loud voice. The deep bass of his voice rumbles, not really able to regulate the volume coming from his figure. Underneath he wears some simple linens, hugging tight around his immense belly, good exercise clothing though, since they were made to be worn under armor and in combat.
Finding everything in order, the creator man nods and tucks his magic clipboard under his arms. "I will be responsible for the testing of this group," he says with an easy smile, nudging Rainer along as he continues to try to tell his story, "You will simply need to put forth your best effort on each of these fitness measuring machines so that we may measure your capabilities. Please do not over exert yourselves, this is only a general measurement." He leads them up to the first set of machines, a line of transluscent ball structures, open on one side, that seem to hover just above the ground with a black box on the closed, grounded side. "These RUNNING MACHINES will measure your speed and stamina," he says, "We ask only that you run as fast as you comfortably can for 10 MINUTES." He then waves his clipboard over each machine as the beings enter and a series of numbers and symbols appear on the black boxes.
Kalt takes the time when the others and being scanned, to remove her armor and pile it neatly to the side. Leaving her in the brown shirt and shorts she wears below, and her prosthetic left arm out for show as she follows along. Nodding slightly to the Creator, before making her way into one of the bubbles as she begins to run, focusing on going the whole ten minutes first while still maintaning the running pace with greater ease now that she was out of her armor!
Cassidy closes her eyes and takes a breath before stepping onto one of the machines. After taking a moment to adjust her hat, she starts into a quick run. Not quite a sprint, since she was doing for time, too, but the scout-fox was certainly intent on proving her talents at running!
Natska spends a few moments peering at the ball and the device under it as she considers the device. She takes off her hat and her gloves, setting them just to the side, then gets herself situated in the running machine and sets off at a brisk jog, pushing her speed up gradually as she warms up.
Thelergramor follows after the creator, once everyone was scanned. "Hold on one second here. I'm not one of you fragile creators. I can run with injuries. Hell, I can fight like this. Thought you wanted to test 'limits'? What better way to test that than on one who is injured to the point where one of -you- would be in bed crying?" He chuckles, crosses his arms, leans back, eyes the creator from behind his mask. His tone is more 'matter of fact' than angry.
"...I mean, it was like standing room only in the whole fort, wall to wall bandits and their boss was this -big guy- who was all--eh?" Rainer finds himself shuffled along. "Oh, right, yeah." Spitting into each of his palms and rubbing them together, he approaches the marvelous Running Machines! Not a moment's hesitation given before he steps inside, looking all about the enclosure with the expression of a child in a candy store. Only Theler's talking big to one of those People That Made Us All pulls his attention away, but all he contributes to the debate is a long whistle, watching with widened eyes and raised eyebrows. Running Commences! ...and naturally he completely defies the instructions by going full tilt from the outset, burning himself out in the first couple minutes, and by the time he actually finds a pace for himself, he's barely managing a jog. "Ah-hah... ah-hahah... who knew ten minutes was... such a long time? Hahahaha... aaauuuuwuuuhhhhisitoverrryeeet?"
Jendayi gives one of the machines a quick looking over with a broad smile, stepping as gingerly as she can into it, glancing about at the inside and quickly getting to work. She starts out at a calm, paced walk, quickly speeding up into a speedwalk, a run, then all but a sprint. She maintains that speed, gritting her teeth a bit as she quickly feels her muscles start to burn- perhaps overestimating her actual capabilities a bit, but she's managing, more or less. Perhaps a bit too eager to impress, though.
Adolphus ughs...of course it has to be running first, the huge hippo just gives a shake of his head. He's going to be sweating for this one of course. He tries to wedge himself into one and starts. A slow, long, heavy plodding. The hippo does NOT run fast, it's more like a brisk walk, though his stride does cover some ground. But at this pace he can go for quite a while. Belly jiggling and wobbling all over.
The little creator with the clipboard shakes his head at Thelergramor. "I am sorry sir," he says, "I cannot permit you to be part of the tests, as it is against protocol to risk aggravating injuries of a participant. Besides, the results from your examination would be tainted." He frowns as the wolf follows him. "I must ask that you leave the testing area immediately," he says, hand straying to a spot on his belt.
Another Creator, this one a woman, walks along the row of running machines. "There are 5 MINUTES remaining of this test," her translator says, "But please do not over exert yourselves. Please stop if you feel over extended."
Kalt keeps her attention forward as she runs, tail flicking behind her as she focuses on her breathing without over exherting herself. In all honesty, the Vixen was cursing herself for wearing the heavier metal arm today, instead of the lighter wooden arm!
Cassidy keeps her breathing steady, doing her best to keep her pace all the way through the test. She wasn't too concerned about it, though, all things considered. This was what she was good at, after all! A test of strength, on the other hand...
Natska may not be running that fast, but her pace was smooth and steady, the jaguar's fluid strides propelling her along at an even pace. She is tempted, very tempted, to give herself an assist; she resists, though, keeping things relatively tame for now.
Thelergramor shrugs, chuckles again. Ordinarily he may have spat upon the hairless ape. But, he's supposed to be respectable now. "Watch it, creator. Don't threaten me." The word creator sounds almost like an insult coming from the wolf. His arms uncross as he laughs. "Sure. I'll leave the testing area." Dick. "But, I'm staying close enough to watch. Unless you have a problem with that." Proceeds to speak more to the creator. Purely gibberish, trying to give the man the impression that his translator stopped working. Creator bastard. Thel proceeds to head back to... somewhere where they stop complaining, hopefully somewhere he can still watch from.
Rainer verbalizes his dismay at learning they're only halfway done with a long, drawn out, drawling groan, knitting his brows and rolling his head from one side to the other, back, then permitting it to swing forward and just... hang. However, in the face of adversity, he does what he always does: the opposite of what a sane, rationally-minded person would do: he keeps going. "Heeeeeeeey Kaaaaaaalt~" He must have spotted her during his whine. "How're you holdin' up over there~?"
Jendayi just keeps pushing herself onwards, panting slightly, the parts of her with bare skin glistening with sweat. She's determined, that much can be said, but her exertions are quickly taking their toll, sphinx nearly stumbling a couple times. "Just a little longer," she huffs to herself, doing her damndest to maintain that sprint.
Adolphus continues his fat and heavy plodding, the machine shaking a bit, and of course he's starting to sweat. He continues though without stopping or faltering, his slow steady pace un broken. Slow and steady wins the race!
The Creator male that Thelergramor is pestering frowns and reaches up to touch a spot on his collar. He mutters something and momentarily a pair of creator security guards are there almost immediately, flanking the wolf and leading him out of the testing area to the spectator stands.
The female creator smiles and makes a few motions over her own clipboard as a loud chime signals the end of the running test. "Congratulations, Beings of PROMISE," she says, "For completing this first test." The bubbles of the running machines lock back into place, allowing the runners to descend with no trouble. "Please, take this time to refresh yourselves before the next test," she says, pointing out a table laden with treats and with water.
The next crew of beings is being led onto the field toward the running machines even as those who just finished are being led to the break area. "We will be able to proceed to the strength test momentarily," the original guide says as he reappears, his smile firmly back in place, "Please, relax."
Kalt lets out a tired sigh, moving behind Rainer to give him a heavy handed slap on the back with her prosthetic hand. "M'holdin' up like a virmin in a house'a food. Ain't no big... But water an' a snack, now I ain't turnin' that down." Leading the wolf with her to the snack table as she gets a cup to drink, and begins to chow down on anything edible she can!
Cassidy abstains from the snacks, after such a run, but she does help herself to a generous amount of water! "Well, I hope I did well enough on that one to make up for whatever disgrace I end up doing on the strength test." She snickers softly and scoots over to Natska's side, still sipping at her water.
Natska slows to a stop in the running machine, then gets out and stretches. She gives Cassidy a happy grin, and calmly paces the length of the table, cooling down. "I don't think they're grading us, love," she tells Cass. "Or awarding scores."
Thelergramor laughs at the escort. Complies with whatever they want of him, though, seems they just want him to sit down. It finally ocurrs to him just how frail these -things- are. Could probably kill one with a punch. So, must restrain himself if he ever needs to bring one down. Arriving with the spectators; Thel sits, amused. Another laugh, so touchy the creators are. Glances at the other spectators; wonders if he knows any. Probably not.
THUNMPK. Rainer was not expecting the ball to stop. Rainer was not expecting the ball to stop at all. He spends a little time smeared against the inside of the bubble, lips contorted to the curved surface showing off his canid teeth and his lolled tongue, drool, breath condensation, and puppynose wetness forming little trails as they streak down the interior. But at last he pries himself off and stumbles out... only to get his face planted in the dirt when Kalt gives him a flyby slap on the back. Yet he springs right back upright, as if there'd been a trampoline right there under him, and aside of looking dazed for a moment he shakes it right off. How can he stay down and out when there's -food-! Free food, the best kind! All the wolf can do is "mm-hmm" and "uh-huh" along with the conversations of the others, as if he were even paying attention, so full does he keep his gob at all times his cheeks are puffed out to the point he could easily be mistaken for a chipmunk. He takes a moment to toss a sizable scrap Theler's way, too~ Wolves gotta stick together, amirite?
Jendayi steps out of the machine looking more than a little winded, huffing and puffing, but she has enough in her to stumble on over to the treat table. She partakes of her fair share of the snacks, at least she certainly hopes all that was her fair share. She makes the most of the respite she can, leaning against the table as she recovers. Wiping some sweat from her brow, she furrows a brow at Rainer.
Adolphus phews a little and he moves to take some water. downing a whole bucket worth of water into his mouth he drinks deeply and fully. "Ah good. Nothing like a cool glass of water." he rumbles hard. Looking over at all of the various snacks. He'll take one of each to try. Creator snacks are raritys after all.
The water is cool and clean, and the snacks are pretty good! Some kind of cake made up of toasted grains baked together with honey, or whatever the space aged equivalent is. Maybe they even had them made with local ingredients. Either way, not too shabby! There are even a few different kinds! The female creator watches the beings gathered around the table, seeming to make a few notes while they eat and drink.
A mild chime rings out from the guide's clipboard and he waves a hand to the group to gain their attention. "Thank you for waiting," he says, "Let us proceed to the strength test!" The creator man walks along a line of lit tiles on the hold's floor to another testing space. This area seems to be less elaborate than the last. All that seems to be here is a row of light metal bars. The creator guide turns to face his charges with a smile. "In this test, we will be gathering information on the raw strength of BEINGS from PROMISE," he says, "Please take up a bar and begin lifting it like this." The guide sets down his clipboard for a moment and picks up one of the slivery bars, lifting it first to his chest, then from there, over his head before repeating the motion in reverse. He then sets the bar down, and takes up his clipboard once more. "The bar should grow heavier with each repetition," he says, "Please continue until you feel that the weight has grown too heavy." He then procedes to wave his board over each bar in turn as each being takes their position. "Again," he says, "Do not overexert yourselves, we do not wish anyone to injure themselves, after all."
The security guards leave Thelergramor in the seats, moving back to their stations. Their clothing is worth noting, as they seem to have adopted a sort of helmet that earlier visitors have not worn. One of them puts a finger to one side of the helm and mutters something, shooting one last look at the wolf before walking away.
