World Lore, Dice Rolls, Tables and Cypher System mechanics (Dropbox Folder)
The room was quiet except for the initial pop I heard before standing in near the back wall with several glittering purple portals that hummed with magic. The room was mostly white with accents of purple lighting to highlight the glimmering portals in the room. A large polished reception desk sat in the middle of the room with an ethereal figure sitting behind it. Her scarves floated and twisted around her on unseen currents.
She smiled at me with piercing green eyes behind a thin frame of glasses that made her look sorta like an owl. Though she had a smile on her lips she glared at me.
“Welcome,” she said with a soft voice like she was talking in a library. “Your party will soon arrive.”
“My party?” I asked.
“Of course. You can’t be expected to do this alone. He should be alone any moment. The show’s about to begin.”
“The show?”
“You are full of questions, aren’t you?” She held her finger up in front of her lips and shushed me. “Shhh, I don’t want to have to repeat myself.”
A bell tolled and there was another pop. Standing next to me in the moment was a man dressed in all black looking like he’d come from some alternative rock show. I didn’t give him a good look before I turned to him with a bright smile. His eyes were a piercing ice blue that made my heart melt and other things wake up as I placed my long fingers on his clean shaven face and leaned in and kissed him.
The initial touch of our lips sparked but I leaned into it further and the man on the other side opened his mouth to gasp in surprise. Music started playing, the acoustic guitar serenading our kiss.
Another disembodied voice began over the music. “Woah, looks like we have a hit here! Welcome to the Interdimensional Reality Entertainment Program. We are happy to have two new participants. Nox and Alex, and it seems they are hitting it off right off the bad. Let’s not interrupt them.” The voice was was like silk on a bed, flowed over you with ease and warmth. It carried the promise of a very entertaining night. Though I wasn’t certain I liked that there was someone watching me all the time.
Alex pulled back with a chuckle. “Like that wasn’t an interruption.” He looked around seeing who might be watching.
“I don’t think there are cameras as we know it.” The walls and ceiling were plain white. But on the plain white while facing the full length windows was a projection with projection of pair of purple lips speaking all Max Head Room style.
Alex guffawed. “From one fucking frying pan into another.” He rolled his eyes.
“I’m Nox.” I said offering my hand and ignoring the rest of the things going on.
“No fucking shit.” Alex smirked. “Because I’m Alex.”
“No really?” I laughed with a bright smile.
Alex rolled his eyes and ran his fingers through his inky black hair. “Alright, I shouldn’t be angry with you.”
“It’s okay if you are. I did kiss you.”
“Why did you kiss me?” Alex asked.
“A flaming purple phoenix asked me to. As payment for keeping me alive today.”
“You spoke to someone?”
“Sorta. But not really. Made a pact with a devil, I guess.”
“I didn’t sign my soul away.” Alex chirped.
“You weren’t about to die.”
“I sure the fuck was. Hit by a fucking car.”
I dropped my gaze to the floor and nodded. “But when you stepped out of the portal and time started to flow normally, you weren’t going to be hit by the car. I would have died once time started flowing again.”
“I don’t understand.”
I sighed. “My heart gave out. I could feel it standing in that void. The end, the knowing. I didn’t need them to show me how I was going to die, I knew already. I knew there was no saving me. I was dead no matter what.”
“So what? This devil healed you? Doubtful.”
I shook my head. “No, but it’s keeping me in a state of existence, of ease, of freedom I’ve never had. As long as I do as it asks.”
“Dead or favors. But you don’t know if you’d have died, they saved us didn’t they?”
I shrugged. “You took a deal to continue living. I have two, why take the chance. The other options didn’t guarantee me I’d be defect free.”
“I suppose.” Alex grinned. He took a step back and looked me over. I had been on my way to a rehearsal, I wasn’t dressed in anything special, my jeans were carefully ripped, the heather grey t-shirt I wore underneath the red hoodie was untucked and visible with the hoodie since at my waist. “At least I got a pretty boy to keep me company.”
I blushed biting my bottom lip. I looked up at him with a shy smile. “I suppose I could do worse.” I said with a wink. He was hot, and familiar. He wore all black except for the t-shirt underneath the faux leather jacket. His jeans were black and buckles, zippers and pockets which were probably all just decoration. His black combat boots sported chains. He was a rockstar.
A rockstar. Not really my scene, but I’d done some music videos for rockstars, though I’d have remembered him, if I’d been in a video. His eyes and his lips drew more of my attention. I wanted to kiss him again.
“I’m sorry about the kiss.” I mumbled.
Alex chuckled. “Why? It was good.”
I laughed. “Could have been better.”
Alex opened his mouth but the lady behind the reception desk cleared her throat loudly. “If I can draw your attention…” she said in a hushed roar. You know that voice librarian’s used when you were being too loud and they wanted to yell at you — that was the voice she used even though there was absolutely no reason to be quiet in a nearly empty room. There were literally only three of us.
The Mind of Nox 