Roleplay ~The Happy Journal~ (Roleplay)

[Cam1949 21]

Drawing in some of the man's energy, Varius commented, "I'm always prepared, but people like me an animal-human hybrid are usually hated... Aren't you afraid of your reputation? If not, then let's get these tests started I'm ready to protect and serve, whether people hate me or not."

[Vaude 535]

Stin with Varius

 

Stin felt weaker, his hand faltering just a tad before redrawing his grip.  He looked up at the boy with curiosity and interest.  Was the reason of this odd sensation because of strength or something more?  He had to wonder.

 

"Reputation is something earned, and hard-earned at that," Stin answered in turn, his hard eyes focused and his hand newly withdrawn.  "I as well as Gumshoe before me have long believed that mixed blood holds merely heritage and should not hold prejudice.  If you do pass these tests, we would welcome you based on your skills as a prospect for sheriff, not your lineage.  Prejudice would yield to respect later.  Now, let's get this underway.  Follow me."

 

Leading the boy to the back of the office and out the door, Stin revealed a training grounds complete with ropes, swings, and wooden platforms.  One of the tests was to get through the course in three minutes, Stin explained, but the first test was elsewhere.

 

Moving on, another space was revealed after opening the door to what seemed like a very large shed without a roof.

 

"This is our test of courage.  You must find the key that will unlock the door, a spare of the one I have on me right now."  The officer raised a key from a rope around his neck, a silver thing with a long neck and had an oversized link.  "There are three keys in the room, but only one works on the door," continued the man.  "That wall over on the other end"--he identified a wall with wooden cogs on the side and wooden spikes very sharp in appearance--"will come into the room, and if you are too late you will be splatted between two walls unless you ask me to be let out.  One participant got overeager and demanded to be let out a little too late.  It was difficult to clean the blood out of the wall, so don't be that guy.  Still sound fair?"

 

((You may start now if you say yes, and Stin would leave to let the challenge start.  Here are the rules:

 

1.)  Open the door with the correct key of three keys.

2.)  Your character has three minutes to figure out the keys.  If he runs out of time, that's fine; the wall will not crush him.

 

Hints:  One wrong key is on the floor, covered in dust but still easily visible and easy to trip over.  One wrong key is on the left wall, hanging on a nail.  The correct key is on the moving wall, its key ring eight feet up and stuck on one of the tips of the wooden spikes, easily reachable by a nimble person or by using a sword or one of the hooks on the wall to catch the key ring.))

Edited December 22, 2017 by Vaude

[Scrapmaster 1,731]

 

Jade / Vincent, in the lakeside forest

 

Awaiting either of the two on the way back to the town could be found a wagon with a broken wheel.  The owner is having great difficulty picking up the side of the cart, as every time he tries to do two tasks and take out the broken wheel the weight gives on the wagon and down it goes.  He groans and wishes he did not carry so many trade goods in his covered wagon.  Further he wishes that he could gain help.  Any assistance, whether to replace the wheel or get help from town, would be richly awarded, for he could not abandon his wares in these dangerous parts

 

 

 - Vincent - Laketise Forest -

 

As Jade left, causing an unamused frown to form on Vincent's face as she left, woman followed the beat of her own drum it seemed, nothing he could do if she wanted to go back to the lake, he had already done what his journal asked, and had nothing else to do.

 

As he walked his way back he notices a merchant of sorts, having trouble with a broken wheel on his wagon, which was replete with odds and ends only a true merchant would carry, no doubt making the wagon devilishly heavy for the man to fix his wheel.

 

Vincent slowly approached the wagon, speaking to the man in a friendly tone. "Looks like you need some help, may I?" Vincent spoke cooly as he moved himself to the side of the wagen with the broken wheel, and with both his hands, lifted the wagon and held it still, for the man to look at and potentialy remove his broken wheel.

 

"This should let you take a look at it without the Wagon falling over." Vincent commented as he held it steadily, with no trouble whatsoever, this weight was actualy light for someone with draconic strenght,

[Cam1949 21]

"Yup, lets get this under way!" Varius stated with excitement taking a running stance already looking around the room seeing the 3 keys 'The one on the nail is to easy and obvious, so I will go for the one on the floor.' He thought to himself. "Oh, quick question... What if I brake the moving wall?" He asked.

Edited December 23, 2017 by Cam1949

[Vaude 535]

Stin with Varius

 

((My imagining of Stin:))

 

 

 

The officer quirked an eyebrow at the newly spoken concept before swatting his own face and pulling it down, shamed by the thought.

 

"Break as in destroy?  Of all the--if you do that, this test of courage would be meaningless!  Unless the action is necessary, don't break it!  Wooden cogs like those cost a fortune to replace.  Now, let's get this underway, and remember:  don't die, all right?"

 

Spinning on his heel and stepping away militarily, Stin exited the room and closed the door.  A solid click resounded through the oaken wood, followed shortly by the grinding of gears coming from the other side.  The spiked wall was closing in, and the rest was up to Varius.

 

((Five minutes remain.))

 

Vincent in the Lakeside Forest

 

The merchant glanced over his shoulder, half expecting a brigand with the cool, casual manner of speaking Vincent had, but he did not expect the friendly local bartender to assist him.  Stunned for a short while with mouth slightly agape, he nodding adamantly to Vincent's offer of aid.

 

"Yes, that would be capital, young man, thank you!" replied the older trader, shuffling over so that the two of them can lift the cart in unison.

 

To his great surprise, however, Vincent the barkeep lifted the cart's side in one try, and seemingly without much effort, which made things much, much easier for the merchant.  A popped dowel pin here and there, and off came the broken wheel to be replaced by the new one.  The process took three or four minutes to complete, and the wagon once again could continue its trek towards the town.

 

"You may set it down now, young man, thank you," voiced the man through a few huffs, clearly winded from the rush and exertion.  "I honestly didn't think I would be able to continue without losing some or -- heaven forbid it! -- all of my goods to thieves and ruffians.  I haven't a gold piece of anything on my person, but it would make me proud to give you some of my inventory as compensation.  What are you in need of, or, rather, what would you like?  I've many things to keep you warm, or to keep you well protected from ill-meaning individuals out there."

Edited December 23, 2017 by Vaude

[Cam1949 21]

Varius, using his speed dashed to the key on the floor. Quickly going back to the door, he hurriedly put the key in the key hole and noticed it did not open

. 'Crap, wrong one.' Varius thought. 'Then there is only one key left. Varius pushed off the wall giving him a small bust of speed. He got to the front of the moving wall, Varius reached for his sword to pull the key from the wall. Varius after a 4 minute struggle he pulled the key off and unlocked the door just as the wall was closing. "Man... That... Was... Close." Varius stated breathing heavily.

Edited December 24, 2017 by Cam1949

[Vaude 535]

Stin with Varius

 

The black-maned Stin was not wholly impressed with the time of the new cadet, but after peering in once the moving wall reset itself he was impressed by the untouched set of keys on the fixed wall, and that Varius had made only two attempts of unlocking the door.  It was that sort of astuteness and discernment which the police needed, and he smiled down at the boy.

 

"Well done.  Most people aim for the two more apparent keys, and some lose faith in their ability to succeed once the wall passed over the key ring on the floor.  Furthermore, you are quicker than most both in mind and body, or so it seems.  We shall see in the next test."

 

Stin next led the animalistic youth to the staging area outside.  Five ropes were lashed from the ground to the top of a monolithic pole of wood twenty feet away in all directions.  Its surface seemed tested by time and appeared the victor, having several slashes adorning its side, but nothing scarring deep.

 

"This is our testing grounds, as you have probably seen," commented Stin.  "We use it predominately for testing our speed through an obstacle course, but another challenge has proved more daunting for beginners and veterans alike.  My test of perseverance for you is to scale one rope and climb to the top, hang on to the next rope for three minutes, and after those minutes are up you can go down the next rope using only your hands.  This is perhaps the most challenging test, but with good hand placement I'm sure you would do fine.  Do you have any questions for me?"

 

((Here are the rules:

 

1.)  Climb up any rope to the top using hands, feet, or what-have-you.

2.)  Using your hands, reach across to grab another rope nearby and hang onto it for three minutes.

3.)  Using your hands again, go to the next rope still and scale it using only your hands.

 

Difficulty level:  3.8/5, a challenge for any man, woman, and child of good upper body strength, but nothing herculean.))

[Stardustblade358 806]

- Vanitas - w/ Bistro, Jynn, James & Aya -

Vanitas nodded at Bistro, raising his hands as the kid seemed a little bit too eager to just run off and resume to whatever he was doing. "Slow down, you'll fatigue yourself out." Vanitas said, waving his hands at the kid. Not only that, but glancing over, it seemed that they were being watched by someone else. Or more specifically, followed. Vanitas could feel the slightest lump against his throat as his mind began to race. They were already at a rather delicate, and probably dangerous situation concerning them and the Journals. Now they had someone following them? Was it the Keepers?! Were they here already?! Vanitas jumped slightly, taking a few steps back before picking back his hammer, gripping it almost defensively in case it did turn out that the Keepers were going to show. He looked over at Bistro, frowning slightly. "Well, if you're in that much of a hurry, I don't think we have the right to stop you, but if you're in trouble, the police can help, you know." Vanitas said, offering some advice. He couldn't help but to mentally scoff at himself. He had already gotten James and himself into a grave that they didn't know if they could dig their way out of. Could the police help them too? "(No. Getting them involved might only turn things for the worse.)" Vanitas acknowledged. He made this mess, and with the appreciated help, he was going to resolve it. Even if it killed him.

[Cam1949 21]

Varius nodded "I think I can handle this, I do have to be able to swing a sword with high velocity and speed so I should be fine." He starts climbing up the rope, Varius thinks to himself 'If I was part monkey this would be a hell of a lot easier.' He finally reaches the top and wraps the rope around his hand and grips it tightly, he reaches out with the other hand to grab the next rope and using that same hand, does the same thing, and let go of the first rope. He hangs there for 3 minutes and moves on to the next one noticing slight muscle pain he kept going, and he slid down the last rope happy that it was over. "Man, Gumshoe sure know how to give his cadets a hard time." He said rotating his shoulder and rubbing his forearm. "But we have one last test so let's get this over with so I can take a cat nap." Varius says moving his cat ears, chuckling.

Edited December 29, 2017 by Cam1949

[Scrapmaster 1,731]

 

Vincent in the Lakeside Forest

 

The merchant glanced over his shoulder, half expecting a brigand with the cool, casual manner of speaking Vincent had, but he did not expect the friendly local bartender to assist him.  Stunned for a short while with mouth slightly agape, he nodding adamantly to Vincent's offer of aid.

 

"Yes, that would be capital, young man, thank you!" replied the older trader, shuffling over so that the two of them can lift the cart in unison.

 

To his great surprise, however, Vincent the barkeep lifted the cart's side in one try, and seemingly without much effort, which made things much, much easier for the merchant.  A popped dowel pin here and there, and off came the broken wheel to be replaced by the new one.  The process took three or four minutes to complete, and the wagon once again could continue its trek towards the town.

 

"You may set it down now, young man, thank you," voiced the man through a few huffs, clearly winded from the rush and exertion.  "I honestly didn't think I would be able to continue without losing some or -- heaven forbid it! -- all of my goods to thieves and ruffians.  I haven't a gold piece of anything on my person, but it would make me proud to give you some of my inventory as compensation.  What are you in need of, or, rather, what would you like?  I've many things to keep you warm, or to keep you well protected from ill-meaning individuals out there."

 

- Vincent - Dragon Man - With Merchant in Lakeside Forest - 

 

Vincent smiled as the merchant was able to fix his problem with the wheel, Vincent held the wagon steadily without any shaking or struggle, this wasn't even heavy for him in the first place. 

 

Vincent promptly set the wagon down safely onto the ground, checking to see if the wheel held fast, and it did without a hitch. Which was good. Vincent smiled warmly as the merchant a piece of his inventory as thanks for the dragon's good deed. Vincent pondered for a second, he liked shiny things...like gems or even trinkets, it was a dragon's thing. Vincent had to hold himself somewhat to not ask for a shiny trinket or anything. But it wouldn't be right to take something as expensive as a shiny pendant off the man.

 

Vincent simply gestured his hand in the air as he smiled back. "No need, friend. My only request is that you stop by  the Dragon's Wing inn sometime." Vincent proposed, it was always good to bring more customers to his owned business after all. Vincent began to walk away, in direction of the city as he waved back at the merchant.

Edited December 30, 2017 by Scrapmaster

[Vaude 535]

((I'll wait on others before posting for James and Bistro.  I'm drawing a little bit of a blank in their regard.))

 

Stin with Varius

 

Stin had to marvel at the spryness of this youth, and the lack of effort it took him to accomplish this difficult task in one try.  It took him and several other officers many attempts to accomplish this feat, and Gumshoe himself had three attempts before finishing with a smile on his face.  This kid had promise, more promise than he himself had, not that he would bring it to voice.

 

Clapping a hand on Varius' shoulder, the policeman answered with a grin, "I do hope you're joking about the cat nap.  We've only gotten started in the day, after all."  Stin withdrew his hand.  "You have done well on the first and second tests, but the third one is more puzzling.  Honestly, I still don't understand how it works, but maybe you would be able."

 

Stin next led him to a small table nearby, where a wooden box with a strange red block on top of it sat with a scattering of dust on top of it.  Stin offered the nearby crude chair to Varius as he next picked up the box and blew the layer of dust off.

 

"This puzzle is an intriguing thing Gumshoe found in his search for tricky amusements.  What one has to do is fit the red block in the box, but as you can see within there is no space for it."  Stin offered an example while talking, removing a cover for the box and showing that the red block could not fit in, as it was already full of small blocks of various sizes.  "There is a secondary goal for you, one which you can answer immediately or learn throughout your lifetime:  to find something you love in life.  A hobby or a pastime you will keep throughout your life -- that is what Gumshoe wanted to accomplish, I think, in newcomers and veterans, but let's get back to the puzzle."

 

Stin raised a finger and offered, "One hour is the limit for this exercise, and only two attempts -- or two hours -- are allowed per person.  However, if you can solve the puzzle in thirty minutes, I would be happy to nominate you for sheriff.  Others might be skeptical.  Some will learn to appreciate your new blood, while others might harbour a grudge.  If you are up to the task of dealing with mixed feelings, or if you simply want to try the challenge, please continue.  Elsewise, you're better off as you are now.  Oh, and don't break the box like you were thinking about with the wall."

 

The officer set down the box and smiled in his shadowy manner, waiting for a reply.

 

((Rules:

 

1.)  Find a way to fit the block in without breaking anything within thirty minutes for sheriff nomination or one hour for acceptance into police.

2.)  [Optional] Find a joy in life Varius likes to practice, like a hobby or a pastime.

 

Solution and visual aid:))

 

 

 

Merchant with Vincent in Lakeside Forest

 

The merchant was surprised by Vincent's request, but was nonetheless okay with his decision.  Being a profit-based individual, he wanted as much to sell as he could muster, and parting with a few coppers or silvers for drinks was better than parting with materials worth a few golds.  Besides, a choice of ales and wine sounded very pleasing to the thirsty man.

 

"I'll accept your offer, my friend!" the vendor replied heartily, waving back towards him even if Vincent was facing the other way.  "When I stop by, remember to approach my table so I can drink with warm company!  And remember my name!  Slartibartfast of Slartibartfast Artisanry and Goods!"

Edited December 30, 2017 by Vaude

[Cam1949 21]

Varius nodded, "Yeah I'm ready." He grabbed the box and took the pieces out of the box. 'If it doesn't fit one way, sooner or later the piece has to fit somewhere, somehow." He rotated, flipped, and placed the pieces into the box trying a kinds of combinations. Until 30:01 minutes later puts the Red block in the box shutting it smiling. "To answer your question I like to practice my swordsmanship as a hobby not just as a necessity." He commented "Also, how did I do, I had to have gotten it for you to nominate me as sheriff right?" Giving him a grin, closing his eyes and tilting his head excited for the win.