Floating Roleplay- Noncannon Game Night

[RussetDivinity]

"Oh, we're insane," Likovya said, rolling her eyes. "And you're just here to watch the madness, are you? Come over to the Chaotic Good corner. My bard could use a shield." It hadn't been the Chaotic Good corner until just a moment ago, but it might as well be now. She finished her glass of wine and poured another, wondering what would happen if she did get drunk and if she was a lightweight.

A movement across the room caught her eye, and she saw something that looked like a rabbit. It was probably supposed to be there, and she didn't need to hunt for food around here, so she simply looked at it. It was rather cute, in a rabbity sort of way, so she set a knife on her chair to mark it and slipped around the table. "How'd you get in here?" she murmured when she got a bit closer. "Want a warm lap to sit on?" She felt slightly more cheerful than usual, even with how she'd felt earlier, and wondered if she was already a bit drunk. "Come on. Let's make sure Marcus doesn't steal my chair. He won't. Everyone should know that my knife means stabbing." It was even one of her good knives.

[agoraoptera]

The moment Anji had left Kevin’s lap, Eliziya saw her opportunity for a comfy, body-warmth-heated seat and she had dived into Kevin’s lap immediately.

“Eliziya!” Kevin said in startlement, less concerned by the odd fur and appendages the girl had than by the fact that she was in his lap. “Your, ah, sister was just here. Are you… well?”

Zi tucked her head under her tail and mumbled something vague, squirming about against Kevin to make the most of the warmth.

Kevin looked helplessly about the room, trying to figure out how to dislodge the very… active, very young girl sitting on him without hurting her.

Anji clambered over someone’s leg, and stumbled in front of her husband, before tilting her head when she caught sight of her husband. “Love? Did we adopt a pet?”

“I could use some help with your sister, beloved.”

Anji knelt by the small ball of furriness. “Ziya? Why do you have a tail?”

Zi’s ears twitched, and she blinked up at her sister. “Um.. I don’t know.”

“Why are you in my husband’s lap?” Anji petted one ear gently. “I happen to enjoy sitting there too.”

“It’sh sho warm,” Zi giggled as her sister played with her ear. “I can see why you like sitting here.”

“Please tell her she can’t have it,” Kevin half-yelped. “Eliziya, you should go commandeer an unmarried man.”

Zi shot him an unamused stare. “You want me to sit in Kurt’s lap?”

“Not Kurt’s,” Kevin conceded. “But not your brother-in-law’s, either. I care for you, but this is… wildly improper!”

Anji laughed, and ruffled her sister’s hair. “You can stay, Ziya. Maybe you’ll sit in my lap?”

Zi touched Anji’s abdomen tentatively, then shook her head. “You’re not thaaaat warm. Sorry, Jie,” she grinned mischieviously. “I don’t know who else to sit with,” whined the little girl, pulling both ears down in exasperation.

Anji looked pleadingly up at Kevin. “Come on, please? Look at that face. It’s so cute!”

“But your face is so cute, love, and I need it closer than this in order to kiss it,” Kevin complained. “Besides,” he pointed out, eyes twinkling, “aren’t you upset to find another woman in my arms?”

“I’m not a woman, I’m an itsy-bitsy little girl,” Zi replied primly.

“Itsy-bitsy little girls have no place in the laps of big scary married men,” Kevin told her, trying to stave off a laugh.

“There’s always a place in warm laps.”

Anji laughed, and pulled a free chair over, glowering at Curtiss, who had had his feet on it. Sliding next to her husband, she curled up with her knees to her chest. “This better, Love?”

Kevin frowned. “I need you, beautiful,” he said, with exaggerated silliness. Eliziya’s attempts to cuddle were making him increasingly uncomfortable. “Can’t she… uh… aren’t there armchairs or something here? I am no place for little girls!”

Anji shut him up with a kiss, wrapping her arm in his and leaning on his shoulder. “She likes you.” Anji mused wickedly.

Zi pulled away from Kevin ever-so reluctantly and pouted. “If I can’t snuggle against my brother-in-law, who can I snuggle against?” she complained, trying to find her way back to her original seat. “Oh well. At least I’ll have a good view of you two. They say you can keep warm by looking at distant fires,” Zi winked, jumping onto chairs for a better view and bouncing off Curtiss.

Unfortunately, her seat was missing and there was a lithe woman walking towards her, mumbling something about a ‘warm lap to sit on’, and Zi glanced back panickedly at Kevin and Anji.

Kevin had already pulled Anji back into his lap, stroking her arms protectively. “Go on,” he nodded encouragingly to his sister-in-law. “Likovya’s a good sort, Eliziya. She’s a lot more… female and unmarried than I am, too.”

Zi reached out for Anji nervously, but then Likovya was already picking her up and it was all the little mage could do to not squeak in terror as she tried, futilely, to wriggle away.

“Where were we?” Kevin murmured in his wife’s ear. “Characters. Shall we, dearest?”

Anji smiled, and kissed him, ignoring the half-completed form.

[Endless Sea]

Curtiss scowled at the empty space where his footstool had been and tried in vain to ignore the inordinately bouncy rabbit-girl jumping around the room. "I hate everybody," he grumbled, pulling out his bag of potato chips.

...a suspiciously light bag of potato chips.

He held the bag up to his ear and shook it. There was nothing inside. "...yeah, kinda figured that was coming."

[Richard The Warlock]

"Here's my character" Kyras said, handing down his character sheet "Saryk Flamestrike, the Lawful Good Dragonfire Adept. Lacking in Wisdom and Strengh, but with great Charisma and constitution. " Dragons always interested Kyras, more from a philosophical viewpoint rather than a kill trophy. That alone made the Dragonfire Adept appealing to him

[Blurred_9L]

"S...Sorry, I'm late" the nervous scout peeked through the door before coming in, finding the closest available chair. He looked around to see the other adventurers that had arrived before him. Some people he knew, some others he didn't; but didn't bother himself much about them.

"Anyway, I need a character, right?" he mentioned while he went through the stuffed pocket inside his cloak, trying to find the sheet of paper he had nearly forgotten to bring. Emptying his pocket out into the table in front of him, he finally found the crumpled paper. "Johannes Tyson. He's... Chaotic Good, I guess? Good constitution, average strength, dexterity and intelligence. His charisma and wisdom is lacking though..."

[RussetDivinity]

Likovya looked curiously at the rabbit-thing. She had looked a lot more rabbity from across the room. "I'm being weird, aren't I?" she asked. "Sorry. I'm usually not this strange. Well, maybe a little. I'm not used to wine, though." She started back to her chair, glad no one had taken it. Before she made it back, she glanced over her shoulder. "You can join me, if you want. Chaotic Good corner. It's the most fun you can have while being nice."

The phrase "Chaotic Good" from someone else's mouth caught her ear, and she waved to the new arrival. "Over here! I've got a bard who needs protecting."

[Guyshane]

Marcus glared from his new chair in the Chaotic good corner.

"Lik, if we run out of food in this quest your bard is the first person we're gonna eat." Marcus called out from across the room. "I'm already assuming the music she plays isn't going to be that good." He finished before taking another swig.

[Sicon112]

Kurt caught Curtiss' suspicious glance in his general direction from the corner of his eye and saw the empty bag of chips in the other man's hand. Without seeming to look towards the armchair where Curtiss sat, he innocently removed his own, half-empty bag of chips from underneath his coat, smirking a little bit too smugly as he revealed the secret of the mysteriously appearing potato chips.

Glancing over the obscure rulebook he was in the process of memorizing, he noticed Salvantas glaring at his character sheet(s). "Is there a problem? I simply assumed that it would help to have a complete reproduction of the religious books of my Lawful Good Cleric's particular sect." While his face appeared perfectly innocent, there was a slight hint of conceited superiority in Kurt's tone as he spoke, as though he had already won some game that no one else in the room was aware of.

[Victin]

Morionem frowned, behind the ever increasing pile of rulebooks in front of him. "I... I think I just made... A mage? And he's... Chaotical Good? Or... Neutral Good? I... Have no idea of what I am doing." He said, and then chugged down the entire content of his glass of wine - Or he would have, if it wasn't already empty. "Okay, I'm sure I don't want a paladin... But should I really go with a mage? And how does magic even work in here?" His eyes darted wildly among the pages of the books, and his mind seemed to spin faster each turn.

[narrativedilettante]

Giselle ignored the floundering of players who didn't know how the game worked... she'd read her rulebook, but wasn't versed enough to try to offer much in the way of help. Salvantas would presumably be able to corral everyone who hadn't gotten everything figured out.

"I hope you don't expect all of us to read that before we get started, Kurt," she said. "Even if you did bring enough copies to go around, which I wouldn't put past you, I'd rather like to have some time left to play the game instead of spending the whole time familiarizing myself with obscure, fictional doctrines."

[Sicon112]

"Not to worry," Kurt went right back to smirking as he addressed Giselle. "Only the Game Master should require the full copy. I'll just make sure to quote any passage that might become... relevant." There was something about the dramatic pause he inserted into his innocuous sentence that gave cause for suspicion. Ignoring any looks he might get, however, Kurt went right back to pouring over his rulebooks.

[eli_gone_crazy]

“Mmmm… Love?” Anji glanced confusedly at the paper, before showering her husband with kisses. “What.. Is this… nonsense?”

Kevin caressed her elbow absently. “You can ignore most of the gibberish. It’s just a guide for making up our characters, lovely. Pick a species, a job, the rest is unimportant.” He grinned crookedly. “I’ll follow your lead, dearest.”

“A dragon though?” Anji tucked her head into his shoulder, “I think you should handle this. I’m not knowledgeable enough.”

“Don’t be silly, sweet,” Kevin said, kissing her hair. “I don’t know any more about this than you do.” He frowned. “Pretty sure you can’t play a dragon, though. Look, they’ve got a list.”

“Let’s be… Cowborn.” Anji grinned widely. “And I’ll be a cleric, because why not?”

Kevin smirked, playing with the fingers of Anji’s left hand. “Cowborn it is, my love. I think I’ll play a thief.”

“Oh?” Anji smirked, and kissed him passionately. As she pulled away, she held his pendant up, tweaking his nose as she teased, “You need to work on your skills, love.”

Kevin shook his head, mischief glinting in his eyes. “You can’t call me that anymore, dearest. Your husband is now… Angus. Yes, Angus the cowborn thief. I’ll call you Betty, shall I?”

“Betty is so… very bovine.” Anji laughed. “Fine, I’ll be Betty the Cowborn cleric, you beast.”

---------------

meta: Because we’re sure someone is going to complain about the character races, we have this to back us up.

[Blurred_9L]

Darren took a sip of the nearest bottle of wine. He hadn't been particularly fond of alcohol, but he thought What the hell? Just this once can't be that bad..., as he continued to gulp down on the bottle from time to time. Unconsciously, he began playfully spinning a misplaced fork that was left on the table.

He heard somebody else calling him, something about a bard character. He looked over to the girl who called him, feeling a bit nervous about her. "Maybe it's just the alcohol..." he thought, as he kept spinning the fork on his hand. "Oh, okay..." he finally said, as he stood up, accidentally letting go of the utensil, which flew in a random direction.

"That wasn't me..." he whispered, returning to his seat on instinct, slumping a bit so that he passed unnoticed.

[agoraoptera]

Zi paused uncertainly. This Likovya woman was a stranger, yes, but she was also appealingly warm..

Her fennec ears twitched, then Zi clambered into Likovya's lap, wrapping herself in her tail and peeking out from behind the fur curiously. At the worst, she could always hop to Marcus' lap. He was probably much warmer.

"Mrmmhrmmhmhhr," Zi said, then adjusted her tail so that her mouth was visible. "My name is Zi.. short for Eliziya. How do we.. play this game, Miss Likovya?"

[RussetDivinity]

"Don't worry," Likovya said as the new arrival approached the Chaotic Good corner. He looked a bit nervous, and she couldn't tell whether he was regularly that way, especially since she didn't know him. "I don't think I'm going to stab anything tonight. Oh! Especially not if I've got something cute on my lap. Hello." The little rabbity person had climbed up, and Likovya tentatively wrapped an arm around the girl's waist. This close, she looked more like a desert fox than a proper rabbit. "It's nice to meet you too." Of course the fox-rabbit-girl would have a cute name.

"The game's pretty easy," she said, pulling her character sheet over from where it had slipped along the table. "You make a character first. Mine's a human bard, and she's a bit like me -- and her music will be beautiful, Marcus -- but you can make any kind of character, like a dragon or an elf." She had once been half-dragon half-elf, which had been an intriguing game. If she recalled correctly, it had also been the Chaotic Evil game. "Then you figure out what they're good at. Dexterity's like speed and agility, Constitution helps you fight poison, Intelligence is smartness, Charisma is something most people think's useless but means how well you get along with people, Wisdom helps with spells, and Strength is... strength." She'd heard that people who were drunk had trouble talking, but words seemed to be happening well tonight. Perhaps she could afford another few glasses of wine. "Then you go on adventures and roll dice to see how well you do, and it's loads of fun."

She took a sip of wine and decided the fox-rabbit-girl was too young to be drinking any. "Do you want a character sheet, Zi?"

[agoraoptera]

"I can be a dragon?" Zi asked, fumbling with the character sheet. She frowned as she tried to make sense of the fields to be filled in. "Class? Is that like.. upper-class and lower-class? Why do I have to write my name there? And.. I'm not sure how old I am. Or how tall I am. Or how heavy. How do people find out these things?"

Zi picked up a rulebook, scrutinising the races and classes. "Dragon warlock? Wait, that doesn't make sense.. Ooh, swordmage sounds cool. Zerth Cenobite sounds like fun, too. How about.. Can I be a draco-lich barbarian?"

[Victin]

Morionem's attention returned to the real world when a fork landed on one of the books he was reading, piercing the paper and sticking out at a right angle. Though rather than wondering where the utensil had come from, he simply resumed his confusing adventure through the rulebooks. "... Okay... I'm almost there." Lied Morionem, noticing the dryness of his mouth. Looking for a bottle to pour wine in his glass, he revised his character sheet, probably the fifth or sixth one he had made.

"I have a nameless human sorcerer, who seems to be chaotical good. He has great Charisma and Wisdom scores, reasonable Dexterity, Intelligence and Contitution, but poor Strenght. Oh noooo..." He said, his voice almost a tense whisper, although still audible. "I still have to pick his spells... And a familiar..." Grabbing a nearby glass of wine, which possibly belonged to someone else, he drank it empty at once.

[Krika]

Fern finished scribbling on his sheet with perhaps a bit of a flourish.

"And I finally have a proper character, people who intentionally make improper characters regardless.." He broke off with a embarrassed glance at his outburst.

"Erm...I have Mika, a Aarakocra Buccaneer. He is, ah, True Neutral, strong in Strength and Charisma....And is a bit of a wild-card..." He ducked his head slightly. Would they be alright with a character who did things on impulse? He thought that such a thing would be a useful outlet for his own impulsiveness, but if the idea was to be a party and work together, one character doing things in a disruptive manner might be frowned upon, although the variety of personalities that seemed to be assembling among their characters seemed to make that less of an issue, but this was his first time playing and he really didn't want to screw up.

It was at this point he realized that internal monologue or not, he should probably pay attention. Also, he wasn't sure if he'd started muttering to himself or not, but that couldn't be perceived well, at least in this context. He did he best shot at surreptitiously checking around him to see if he was getting any weird looks. He didn't see any right off hand, which was a good sign.

[eli_gone_crazy]

“So, what’s Betty’s story, love?” Kevin asked with a grin. He paused, then reflected, “Maybe Betty’s not the best name for her. How do you feel about Angie?”

“We have to have stories too?” Anji complained, playing idly with Kevin’s hair. “I can think of a few more interesting things than thinking up a story for a cow.”

“So can I, but most wouldn’t go over well in mixed company.” Kevin absently caressed Anji’s arm as he regarded the newly-minted character sheets. “We could do it together. If… you know. Angus and Betty-or-Angie are married.”

“Whatever you say love. I. Am interested. In. You.” Anji’s words were punctuated by kisses, distracting Kevin from his point.

“mmmm. Much more interesting.” Kevin turned her around gently so that he could kiss her lips. “I see what you mean, dearest.”

[RussetDivinity]

A draco-lich barbarian sounded like one of the most exciting things Likovya had ever heard of, and she almost wished she could meet one. Actually, she really did wish she could meet one. "Of course! Chaotic Good, right?" Even if Zi said that she was going with a different alignment, Likovya wouldn't send her away; she was just too cute. "Undead dragons can definitely be good." And if anyone said otherwise, well, she might just have to make up a story about meeting one. Surely she wasn't too drunk to be a good storyteller.

Speaking of drunk, her glass was empty. She couldn't remember if it was her second or third, but she poured a third or fourth and took a sip. Perhaps she should have had something more substantial to eat before coming over, but it was a bit difficult to buy when half the town seemed convinced that she was completely crazy. They might not be entirely wrong, either. "I hope this gets started soon," she said to no one in particular. "I never thought I'd get to play this again, and I'm pretty excited." She was practically buzzing, though that could have been just the wine.

[agoraoptera]

"I.. I guess so. I'm a good person, right?" Zi asked as she scratched her ear, seeking Likovya's validation. She still didn't quite grasp the idea of role-playing, but dragons were cool, and if she could be a dragon, that would be even cooler. "I'm not a bad person.. Only burned down the one building.. And I was mad so that wasn't really my fault." Zi nuzzled Likovya, reveling in her warmth and she licked her altogether too dry lips. Too much warmth and one could get thirsty far too quickly. "Can I have some?" Zi pointed at the beverage that Likovya seemed to be drinking like water. Must be tasty, Zi thought happily, hugging her own tail like a fluffy pillow. "And how do I fill in the sheet then? Is it really necessary? I'm not even sure what all these mean... Inventory? I didn't bring anything along."

[RussetDivinity]

"Of course you're good," Likovya said, rubbing Zi's other ear. She had no idea whether the fox-rabbit-girl really was good or was actually some kind of terrible murderer, but she was so cute that Likovya had to believe she was good. "And anyway, you're not playing yourself. You're pretending to be a completely different person who can be good or evil or completely neutral. Didn't you ever play pretend when you were little?" She had, in a way, but her pretending had been on stage, as the daughter of a knife-thrower or a princess.

The nuzzling tickled, and Likovya laughed. "I'm not sure you should have this. Have you ever had wine before?" She looked around for some sign of water before giving the fox-rabbit-girl the glass. "Maybe just a little. You might start to feel a bit funny, though, especially if you've never drunk alcohol."

She looked over the sheet. "Well, the Inventory's what your character has. My Kovyasha has... let's see..." She grabbed her own character sheet and scanned it. "A lute, a knife, and some gold. You won't have much at the start of the adventure, and you can buy things in shops and taverns. You'll probably want a little gold, and a basic weapon."

[agoraoptera]

Zi's ears perked up happily in response to Likovya's ministrations, and she sighed contentedly. "I played doctor, if that counts. But I never played pretend with paper and numbers.."

She grasped the proffered glass with both hands, tipping it back to take a large gulp, then she gagged and spluttered, setting the glass aside. Despite that, she had already swallowed a fair amount and her face was turning a fearsome red. "Ahh... that tasted weird... why is it suddenly so hot?" Zi began fanning herself wth the character sheet, ears quivering from side to side. Under the brown fur, her long pointed ears were turning pink and radiating heat.

"Doesn't Ko-Ko-Ko-" Zi sneezed violently, tail fluffing up. "Doesn't Kovyasha have shoes? Or clothes? Or- Or- hic- a bag for the gold? What kind of weapon would a dracolich bar-bar-" she sneezed again and rubbed her nose vigorously. "Barbarian need? A sword? A hammer? Turtles? Smaller dragons? Kobolds? Magic?"

The little mage frowned at the character sheet somemore then waved at Morionem. "Hi, Mister? Do you- hic!- do you mind helping us with my charablehbluh-" her words slurred, before she shook her head and began again. "Do you mind helping with my character sheet? I'm confuuuuuused."

[Victin]

"Do you mind helping with my character sheet? I'm confuuuuuused." Morionem heard in the distance. He looked over the book he was reading, and, crawling out of the towers of rulebooks which encircled him, he found a perky critter calling for him. It had fluffy ears and tail, and was of a diminutive size.

"Oh my, you are so cuuuuuute..." Morionem pronounced the first half of that word for so long that he almost forgot to finish it. Throwing himself across the table, he tried to trap the petite puppycat, or whatever that was, into an endless hug. "Can you be my familiar? Or, or, or... I could summon you with Summon Monster I..." He said, gently petting the head of that adorable critter. "Or you could just be my pet. For realsie even..." His eyes shone as those of a puppy which asked for something, at the same time he metaphorically rolled a dice to try and convince her.

[RussetDivinity]

"No more wine for you," Likovya said, setting the cup away from Zi's reach. She supposed she should have known the fox-rabbit-girl would be a lightweight; after all, she was getting drunk off of just a few glasses, and Zi was much smaller than she was. "I'll see if I can get someone to find you some water."

She looked over the inventory again, more to make sure she hadn't missed anything than because she actually needed to check. "Clothes and shoes are pretty much standard, but you'll need to mark down what kind of armor you have. Kovyasha -- you can call her 'bard' if you'd like -- doesn't have any, because she's just a bard, but you can pick up some basic armor when we start the game. But your skin might be enough." She bit her lip, trying to remember how strong dragon hide was. "Dragons can sometimes use magic, but I'd go with a sword. Turtles are more useful as shields."

As soon as the man tried to launch himself across the table, Likovya scooted her chair back and only barely stopped herself from pulling a knife. She didn't want to scare Zi. "Tell you what," she said, realizing that the man looked more interested in cuddling Zi than anything else. "Get her a glass of water, and I'll let you have a turn. If she says it's okay."