World Lore, Dice Rolls, Tables and Cypher System mechanics (Dropbox Folder)
I was about to comment on the kiss. That fucking kiss. His lips on mine. He was fucking hot. And he didn’t seem to recognize me. No one was looking in the window and trying to accost me. It felt glorious. Maybe this dying thing would be alright. Though I didn’t intend to die. Not then, not now. I’m still sort reeling from the chase.
The voice that came from the woman behind the desk was hushed and hurried. “If I can draw your attention…”
I rolled my eyes and Nox smiled. I could keep doing that. He nodded towards her and took a few steps to close the distance so she wasn’t whisper shouting at us.
I shouted. “What?” He chuckled behind his hand. His nails were painted black.
The woman began speaking about things. I wasn’t really paying attention as I looked at the man who kissed me for no other reason than he was asked to. He glanced in my direction and he’d smile reverting his gaze back to the woman. He leaned towards her listening. I didn’t hear a thing she said. I was too busy thinking about that kiss.
I was pretty sure she was giving us the grand tour, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him as I followed them through the small room and then through the swinging door I’d spied before.
The bustle of plates and silverware clinking and the smell of food pulled me from the thoughts and I looked around.
“… and this is The Enchanted Feast Hall. Anything you can possibly imagine is here. Just head on into the line and pay at the end.”
“Pay with what?” Nox asked.
He pulled out his wallet and fanned a couple of bills. “I doubt you take US dollars.”
The woman who probably introduced herself but I didn’t remember slapped her forehead as she stopped floating forward and turned around leaving a small swirl of the mist that drifted around the room creating an almost spooky atmosphere. This place was a bit spooky — not in the scare you to death way, in the frivolous, gaudy, unicorn vomit type way. I didn’t like it.
The floating orbs above us shed shifting lights that colored the walls and decor below. The magic hummed all around us. It was tacky and overdone if you asked me.
The woman floated back in. Floated… she hovered several inches above the ground. What the fuck!
She came back holding a bag of things. “These are your Welcome to Everlight Starter kits. Inside you’ll find your Soul Crystal.” She looked inside the bag and started to hand me one bag then thought better of it as she switched, “No this is yours.” She handed Nox the bag she started to shove at me. “And this is yours.” She gave me a bright smile and a wink.
Uh…
I didn’t know what was going on.
Nox asked, “What’s a Soul Crystal?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. It has a piece of your soul. It is what holds you in Everlight. If it breaks you’ll drift forever…” She made it sound like it might be fun and magical to drift through the aether forever with no care in the world. I didn’t think that sounded good at all.
“What’s it good for?” I asked. “I mean other than keeping me anchored.”
“It’s your identity, your credits from IREP will be there. Your meal plan. All that personal stuff you can access with your Soul Crystal. You need to keep it on you at all times. They tend to have a mind of their own if you try to leave it someplace. They start following you around floating and eerie like. It scares people.”
“Floating around scares people?” I guffawed. What the fuck lady!
She smiled at him. “He’s got a voice.”
Nox grinned, “He has a nice voice. He’s just distracted is all.”
“He needs to pay attention.” She turned to Nox and started talking again. But I was still focusing on the fact that he thought I had a nice voice. That could mean so many things. Did he know who I was? He sure as fuck didn’t act like it — but maybe that was a good thing.
My stomach growled with the smell of food. At least it smelled good, though everything out on the tables was as different from reality than I could imagine and so were the people. “I’m hungry.” I looked at Nox and smiled. “But this place looks like unicorn vomit, let’s go somewhere else.”
I looked to the receptionist. “I assume we can go wherever we want. You are just following our lives we don’t have something we have to do do we?”
Nox chuckled. “We can go. I’ll explain things to you.” He turned to the floating woman and offered his hand, the long fingers with black painted nails wrapped around hers and he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed. “Celestia it’s been a pleasure. I’m sure we’ll see you when we come back to sleep.”
“We are sleeping here?” I groaned.
“I’ll explain.” Nox said with a grin. The woman watched us turn around and walk out the swinging door and back into the quiet and cleanliness of the reception area. The moment the noise and vomit inspired decor vanished I was left with a calm and stillness that made me feel better. Something didn’t sit right.
Nox put his hand at the small of my back and guided me out the door in the floor to ceiling wall and we were greeted with the oddly familiar sights and sounds of an epically busy city. But there was nothing familiar about what I looked at.
The Mind of Nox 