This is the main thread for Bladebound, a sort of quasi-Interordi RPG continuation thing that me and Rising Dragon are doing. If you haven't read the Interordi RPG thread, don't worry - this is more of a standalone story if anything and doesn't require knowledge of the events in that thread. As the game progresses, this first post will be used to contain links to character sheets as well as other information.

As a quick reference, any OOC talk will be punctuated with "OOC:" beforehand.

The ruleset we're using is Fate Core. Download it for free at the official website: http://www.evilhat.com/home/fate-core-downloads/

Edited by The Helldragon on December 16, 2013 at 19:09:14

Chapter One


Banners advertising the upcoming fall carnival hung between lamp posts that lined the sidewalks of Silverton Street. Only a few cars rumbled down the road at a time, usually heading straight, only to turn into the larger parking lot near the hardware store closest to the lake. The lake itself was called "Dependable", the basic town history went, and settlers relied on the abundant fish in the lake so much that the town Dependable took its name from the lake itself. Gossip claimed that Dependable had the best seafood shack in Colorado, though nobody liked to brag. It seemed like a humble town perfect for one of those idyllic weekends stamped on the back of a postcard.

At least, it would be perfect to Ileyna, if there wasn't that annoyingly energetic charge to the air.

Not for the first time, she wondered why her hair wasn't standing on end of frizzing out like it was full of static electricity. Part of her rational mind knew it was just the residue of an energy signature in the air, detectable thanks to the Ao-Gem fused to her. Still, it bothered her in a rather physical way, and it'd been quite a while since she'd felt that way. Not for... oh, maybe a year? Little more.

The teenager forced her hands away from her blonde hair, instead using them to smooth the long, light blue skirt on her legs, and then stuffed them in the pockets of her dark blue jacket. A cool breeze was running through street, but she paid it no mind. The jacket over her pink halter top would ensure she wouldn't get cold, and it wasn't enough to shift the old, faded white beret resting on her head. Not that she had to worry about strong winds doing that anymore.

She let out a bored sigh, and wondered--not for the first time--if this was why Matt was like he was. Bored out of his mind, so he loosened his sanity to keep himself entertained? Maybe. Bright blue eyes flitted back and forth as she walked down the street, and idly she wondered what everyone else in this town would be doing if they could feel the same things she felt. Such a charge in the air was hardly natural.

"But no, I'm the lucky one who gets to be annoyed by nothing," she muttered. She wasn't even sure what she was going to find in this sleepy little town. She sure as hell hoped it'd show itself soon, though. Without a friend to accompany her, she was about ready to beg for something crazy to happen.

The residue intensified like a slow rising wave. Faintly, she could feel it swirling overhead, just above the tallest of the nearby buildings, a multi-level clothing boutique. Yet there was no visual sign of anything out of the ordinary. No rainbow-swirled rips in reality, no sudden appearances of demons or giant mechanical monsters. Nothing like the old days. But that jumbled mass of building energy still hung overhead, ominously, like it was getting ready to pop.

Ileyna stared at the building, feeling out the distortion gathering just above the building. It was as if she was challenging it to do something fantastic and cause chaos to break out. Or cause everyone to snap pictures of it with their smartphones. That was a thing now, right?

For several moments, nothing happened. She blinked, letting her guard down for that brief half-second. Nothing happened. She let out the breath she was holding a disappointed sigh. Well, shopping was always fun, and hey, at least she had viable currency on this world!

... so long as she checked the bills. Different presidents made things kinda awkward at times.

"Seriously, ones are okay, tens are okay, but you bring out a five-dollar bill and they think you're a counterfeiter," she murmured as she crossed the street towards the building. "Now, what to do? Go in, browse, wait for chaos? Try and get up there without anyone seeing?"

Yeah, that last one would be fun. Hard to hide with talents like hers. Pushing open the doorway and giving a distracted nod to the employee that greeted her, Ileyna began to look for a way to the top.

Oooh. That was a nice shirt... No! Bad Ileyna! Don't get distracted!

Being a teenager was hard when strange invisible phenomenon plagued towns.

In the back of the classy boutique, behind racks of glittered shirts and acid-washed jeans for all the local hipness the town could endure, elevator doors opened, and people started to file out. A quick glance told her that it could go as high as four floors.

Ileyna ducked and wove through the throng of people pouring of the elevator and into the aisles to browse, until finally she was able to slip her hand through the closing elevator door, causing it to open back up and allow her entry. No mashing the up button for her!

She thumbed the 4th story button on the panel and stepped back, glancing at the ceiling of the elevator car. That energy signature was starting to feel stronger. "Hopefully this one won't blow up when I examine it," Ileyna said to herself as the doors began to close.

The elevator quickly ascended to the top and the doors slid open with a soft ding. The energy signature was really intense now, like it was building up to some silent conclusion. A quick glance around revealed a hallway leading off to bathrooms and the back offices, and not much else beyond T-shirts calculated to be as adorable as possible.

There weren't as many people here, which was convenient. Still, there might be the random security guard just waiting for some unsuspecting shoplifter to slip up, and cause some ruckus that'd get her spotted, and that'd be oh so annoying to explain.

Ileyna made a winding path through the clothing racks, faking interest as she came ever closer to the hallway leading towards the restricted sections of the building. Once she got there, then she could look for a way to the roof, assuming she wasn't distracted by the growing distortion or a really nice...

... was that a vintage Lunatique evening dress? Ileyna mechanically backed up and snatched the outfit off of the rack, fumbling to find the price tag.

"... they want how much for this?! Ugh!"

Disgustedly she shoved the dress back onto the clothing rack and stalked off. What was she doing again?

Oh, right. Going upstairs, poking unstable warp in reality with a metaphorical stick and hope it didn't implode the building. That'd be difficult to explain to the cops and we didn't want that on our record! Not that she had a record.

A quick glance showed no one watching the hallway entrance, and no really obvious cameras that'd notice her acting all suspicious-like. Quietly Ileyna slipped into the hallway and went past the bathrooms, towards the offices.

"Better be a stairwell back here," she growled to herself.

Various closed doors awaited Ileyna in the back, with one or two cracked open and people murmuring inside. At the end of the hallway was another firmly closed door, with a black "Stairs" sign on it.

Distantly, Ileyna wondered why a clothing shop, no matter how big, needed so many offices at the top. Maybe she'd know if she had ever held a proper job once in her life. God knows Colleen would've found her something to do, there was no end to the reconstruction efforts.

As quietly as she could, she snuck down the hallway, slowing down every so often when there was a cracked-open door, to make sure no one was about to open up the door and blow her stealth efforts to smithereens. Everyone else was busy at their jobs, and she grew more confident, picking up her pace until she got to the doorway at the end of the wall and turned the knob.

The door opened, and the hinges creaked loudly. Surely loud enough for anyone nearby to hear.

The trespassing teenager froze on the spot as the door swung open, and she could hear all talk in the room die on the spot. She spun about to see some of the doors opening. "Ah, crap."

She pivoted around and darted into the room, grabbing the doorhandle behind her. Her foot caught on the first step and she yelped loudly as she fell. She stopped only a couple inches from the ground, as if something invisible were holding her. As if completely unperturbed by the possibility of ghosts mandhandling her youthful body, she pushed herself up and yanked the door closed as some office jock went to grab it and ran up the steps.

Another door was at the top, and she quickly wrenched it open--it too squealed from a lack of use, causing her to wince, but she swung herself around the door and threw her weight into it to close it again.

Oh, hey. She was outside. Not a total failure then. Ileyna looked up from the door she leaned against, right at the invisible distortion she could feel concentrating above the rooftop.

The mass of energy swam together in a bulbous, invisible knot high above her head. It felt more defined up here, like it was seeking to crystallize. For the moment it remained in its place, looming above the town.

And then, a second flash of energy crossed Ileyna's awareness below, down the side of the boutique. In the alley below, space pulled apart into a long gap of shimmering prismatic light, and something blurred purple streaked from the entrance with a protracted yell, landing head-first into gathered garbage cans with a resounding smash. The gap puckered back into nothingness with a crackle as if nothing had happened.

Ileyna blinked at the sound, then pulled her gaze away from the distortion and towards the flash of light that burst from the corner of her eye. She waved her hand awkwardly behind her, at the door, as she walked over to the edge of the building, and looked down into the alleyway.

"Uh... hello? Anyone alive down there?" she called out.

Someone rustled underneath the garbage cans and scattered trash, with a weak groan.

Oh good! Survivors. She glanced back at the distortion knotting over the boutique, then back into the alleyway. Well, I don't suppose anyone could see me get back up from here...

Luckily there was a fire escape down into the alleyway. Not something she could use to get up right from the start, but as she traversed it down and kicked the last ladder down, that wouldn't be much more of a problem.

"Nothing broken?" she called out to the visitor as she climbed down the stairs. "I hope not. I'm not much for fixing broken bones and the like. And I know there's no convenient health pick-ups 'round these parts."

Another groan. A gloved hand reached out and pushed aside a trash can, rolling it off the survivor's body. He pushed himself up and clasped the side of his head, fingers clenched against his short white hair. Lines of age in his face tightened as he grimaced with pain. "Uuuugh...what happened now?"

Ileyna clasped her hands behind her back, leaning forward a tiny bit and causing a lock of blond hair to slip over her shoulder as she examined the newcomer. She smiled brightly.

"Judging by the fluctuations in reality that occurred moments ago, and the optical spectrometric phenomenon, along with the extent of your injuries, the velocity of your travel, and the angle of your landing, I can only conclude that you have arrived on planet Earth via a dimensional anomaly typically referred to as a 'Gateway'," Ileyna replied cheekily.

"A Gateway?" muttered the stranger, wiping his hand down his brow. "So I'm..." His hand dropped to his lap, eyes widened. "Wait." He looked at Ileyna. "I'm on Earth? What year is this?" He frantically glanced about. "What city? Who's the president? What kind of government is in power?"

"Uh..."

Crap, she hated pop quizzes.

"Last I checked, this is the year 2024, in the city of Silverton, Colorado, in a democratic government that's slowly been leaning towards facism for the past two decades, under the rule of President Cordon."

She thought she got all those answers right. She cocked her head to the side, glancing at the aged man curiously. "Not your first trip through the rabbit hole?" she asked.

He scrambled onto his feet, his deep purple trenchcoat fluttering, and he bolted out towards the end of the alleyway, where he stopped, glancing up and down the roads, at lazy moving cars and people, and the sparse clouds in clear sky.

"Ohhhh, no." He clapped the sides of his head. "No, no, no! It messed up! The damn thing messed up!" He spotted the closest lamp post, and shuffled up to kick it hard. "Damn it!"

Ileyna shrugged and followed the man out of the alleyway, watching his actions. "Well, this kind of travel is a bit finicky at times," she said conversationally as he kicked the lamppost. "What was it that screwed up on you?"

"My device, it -" The man swung around to face Ileyna. "You mentioned something called a Gateway, right? A dimensional rift? How did you know about that?"

"I'm kind of old hat at traversing the unknown reaches of the Multiverse," Ileyna replied, shrugging in her jacket. "Been doing it since I was nine. So I've been through my fair share of Gateways."

"The multiverse? Then..." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Damn it, Feedback, I knew you'd screw it all up somehow!" he hissed under his breath. Then, at normal volume: "Well, if you know how to travel through dimensional rifts, where I can find one that points back to my home dimension?"

Ileyna lifted up her hand, index finger pointing up, and opened her mouth to say something.

She stayed that way for a moment. Then:

"I'm not sure!" she said cheerfully.

"What do you mean, you're not sure? You travel dimensions but you don't actually know how to find out where your little Gateways lead?"

Ileyna slumped at the man's words and nodded regretfully. "There's plenty of ways to travel with Gateways," she explained. "Sometimes a device, or a magical artifact... sometimes the anomalies even form on their own and you just have to find them."

She stood up straighter and spread her hands out. "But actually controlling where you want to go? That I can't help you with," she told him. "What I used when I was a kid... it took my friends and I to where we were needed, rather than where we want to go. And it eventually did take us back home."

The man threw his hands up. "Fantastic. The perky little sprite is completely worthless, just as expected." He yanked on his coat collar and dragged it back to its proper place. "Well, I don't have time for pie-in-the-sky Gateways powered by friendship. I've got to -"

A deafening crack of thunder exploded above the clothing boutique, throwing the man out of his tirade. The ball of energy popped - Ileyna felt it crash down upon the boutique's roof.