Cigarettes and Magic

[Who Am I?]

The Chevrolet Colorado hummed incessantly in unison with the singing bugs. It hummed in exasperation as the throbbing sun battered down on the red hood of the pickup truck. Inside, also humming along, was a woman - rather attractive to say the least, possibly somewhere in her mid-thirties; her straight, chestnut-brown hair flowed down to the collar of her red and black checkered shirt. Dark-blue eyes stared vexatiously out the truck window at the scenery surrounding her and the truck: a desolate, forgotten gas station in the middle of the Neveda desert.

A tall, signpost stood near the station - a pitch black square, a red circle, a white star, and a red T in the exact centre. The charred remains of a car sat glumly at the foot of the signpost; its wheels were melted puddles of black, gelatinous jelly - sticky, and hot under the burning heat. The convenience store looked dismal, almost looking like it had jumped out of some nightmarish world. The windows were blackened, and riddled with graffiti and the plain door whistled silently as it swung back and forth. The once proud, and useful pumps sat alone in the heat, their hoses laying wistfully in the desert sand.

The woman sighed apprehensively, reaching into the truck’s glove compartment. She yanked out a small red-and-white package. She smiled greedily, sliding the package open - Marlboro - and fished out a cigarette. Throwing the package back inside the glove compartment, she rummaged through it again in search of a lighter which she happily located amongst the piles upon piles of rubbish found within the confines of their Chevrolet Colorado. Hurriedly lighting the cigarette, she put the lit cigarette squarely in the middle of her mouth, and dragged on it deeply. She looked out of the windshield curiously, and glared down the dusty road leading north, further into the desert. There was absolutely nothing for miles.

Suddenly, she heard the chattering of a deep, male voice from the general direction of the abandoned Texaco station. She grinned wolfishly to her self, diverting her gaze to the station. The figure of a plump, middle-aged man trudged across the remains of the gas station, yanking at the zipper of his jeans, one hand tucked into his leather belt - the one with his name embedded at the front of it: Johnnie. He had a rounded head, on which a bush of dark, black hair sat on, certainly messy. He also had a briefly trimmed moustache, nothing spectacular. He hurried over to the truck, and rapped against the window with his knuckles. The woman nodded at “Johnnie” and swung open the door for him, who stepped back to avoid the door hitting him. He grinned. He popped his head inside. “So, ready to go? Or ye want to relax a bit in tha’ car?”

“Hah, I’m melting in here. Les’ go.”

“Alright, pretty.”

The woman smiled enticingly, and shuffled a bit as Johnnie climbed into the truck. Planting both hands on the wheel, he turned his head to the woman and watched her. The woman reached into the glove compartment and yanked out the keys, dropping them in the now open hands of Johnnie.

The key turned, the engine started and then…

It went dead.

Johnnie cursed. “What on earth?! Any idea, Roxy?”

“Nuh-uh.”

Johnnie climbed out of the truck momentarily, and trudged over to the front of the truck. He lifted the hood, and his entire body briefly disappeared from view. Roxy’s eyebrows perked, and she craned her neck to see what Johnnie was up to behind the hood of the truck. Lowering the window, she threw the shrinking cigarette out into the open, where it was quickly buried under shifting sands. Roxy was then very briefly surprised as Johnnie popped seemingly out of nowhere, one arm resting up across the roof of the truck, and his head poking in through the open window. “Don’t see nothin’ wrong, strangely enough.”



Roxy shrugged lightly. “What we gonna do then? Wait fer someone to pass by?”

Johnnie groaned angrily. “That could take hours, but it’s the best we can do.” Johnnie turned his back to Roxy, pressing his backside against the side of the truck. He stared anxiously down the road, waiting for someone to turn up. Roxanne reached for another smoke.

~#~#~#~

Legends say that before our time, before even the Industrial Revolution, the art of magic was still in practice all over the world. It was difficult to learn, and incredibly risky; it was usually associated with the Devil, and was only ever used in close-knit groups, always hiding their “dark” powers away from the law enforcement. However, when the Industrial Revolution began and technology skyrocketed, magic was slowly but surely forgotten and buried. Magic was part of the world, though, something like carbon dioxide, oxygen, helium; it couldn’t simply disappear, despite it never really being used in the world anymore. What happened to it? It went underground, of course. All that unwanted energy was soaked in by the ground, and there are certain “hotspots” in the world filled to the brim with magical energy, desperate to burst free; desperate to be used once again. Only a matter of time before it burst.

Only a matter of time…

And when it was about to explode free, when the earth could not hold the magic imprisoned for much longer, it began to attract humans, and use them to spread the magic across the world we know today. Magic was going to conquer technology… it was inevitable.

-Rules-

- Literacy and grammar, obviously, is an absolute must.
- No power-playing or god-modding.
- Your characters are NORMAL people, drawn in by the call of magic hidden at this “abandoned” Texaco station, be it a dead vehicle, a fake distress call from the general area or something else. I’ll decide if its suitable when you PM me with your profile.
- No one-liners.
- Romance is generally allowed in this RP, but keep it as the sub-plot, not the main plot.
- Cursing is fine, but keep it to a minimum. Censor it, if possible.
- Powers, magical skills and such is a no-no until later in the RP.
- THREE ACCEPTANCE RULES:

- Send your profile through PM.
- At the top of your PM write this: “Smoking kills.”
- At the bottom: “Magic kills.”
- Next to the bottom password: “I listen to you.”

- Have fun.
- Oh, I have not fully decided yet, but I’m currently only letting up to FOUR more people join. I may make exceptions, and I may replace some people; it all depends on your profile, understood? I’m being very strict with this RP.


-Profile-

Name - First and last name.
Age - I want a bit of diversity here. Its kinda strange when everyone’s sixteen.
Gender -
Appearance -
Personality - A paragraph.
Biography - Another paragraph. Please, include reason for being in such a desolate place. Make it believable, yet at the same time… uh… “unbelievable”? You know, the magic is callin’ ya, somehow.
Other - Afraid of the dark? Once had a pet you strangled? Arachnophobia? Tattoos?


My god, I haven't done this in ages. Whoo.

[Darkness Princess]

"Approved by Who Am I?"

Name: Dementia Delias

Age: 17

Gender: female

Appearance:
In general- Honey tan-ish skin, is about 5ft4, pretty slim, has crimson eyes and waistlength red hair with bangs.
Clothes- Black baggy jeans with a silver belt criss crossing around her waist. And a black tank top, also black fingerless gloves.

Others- A black tatoo on her left shoulderblade with the word Demon written on it.

Bio: Dementia is a pretty normal girl depending on your definition of normal, if normal is being obssessed with sharp objects and mastering as many martial arts and swords skills as possible then yeah, she's normal. If normal is spending hours and hours playing guitar and singing for a band who she knows isnt going anywhere as the music insults too many people to be accepted by
popular culture, then yeah she's pretty normal.

Growing up, Dementia was the type of girl who in kindergarden played alone by herself in the sandbox or who would find the nearest dead animal/bug in the area and poke it with a stick, or if that doesnt appeal to her then its off to scaring the people shorter then her.

Primary school was just amusing as many letters where sent home to parents by teachers who dispaired at her lack of enthusiasm and surprsingly high grades, parents who didnt exactly care, they just patted her on the head and asked her not to do it again before each returning to thier respective jobs, mother as an interior decorater, father as an aviation engineer.

Then high school, she was the weird girl who always wore black, couldnt care less about her appearance
and would spend hours with the scary goth guys who where suspended every now and then and only still in the school because of the generous donations thier parents donated to the schools funds.

Finally graduation, she graduated with top marks,
surprising many as they could've sworn she barely attended class, her presence never being noted as she sat at the farthestdarkest corner of the classroom.

Dementia now taking a break from school for a year before attending university has decided to take a tour around America and is now currently in the desert, having earlier on read something during her huge amount of seemingly endless free time about
magic and its existence and she was curious, having read earlier on, that many strange things had happened around this area, she decides to investigate.

Personality: Dementia isnt exactly the nicest person around nor is she the most dependable as she never takes the time to actuallycare about a person to trust or worry about them. She isnt the most outgoing person and mainly concentrates on her reading, music and martial arts. The only people she considers close are her band members and at times her martial arts instructors.
On the whole, Dementia is nice to those she respects and cold to those she doesnt.

[Tobuoi]

Approved by Who Am I?

Name - Pan Nyx
Age - 19
Gender - Female
Appearance - Pan is short, standing at a mere 5'0". She is of average weight and has short, dark red hair that falls no farther than her chin. Her eyes are a deep blue color and her face is spattered with freckles. On most days, Pan can be seen wearing either the typical, flare-styled jeans or oversized cargo shorts, as well as a T-shirt of some kind. She'll sometimes wear a casual, opened, button-up shirt over her T-shirt.
Personality - Pan is a rather outgoing person. She tries her best to be confident and fun, and it usually works. However, she has been known to have her moody days, as well as a raging streak of jealousy. When it comes down to it, though, Pan is able to get serious and get the job done in perhaps the most efficient way...whether the job be school, work, or just life. Lastly, Pan has a way with persuading people. If she wants something out of someone, she'll most likely get it.
Biography - Pan grew up in London, England and is not one for environments such as the one that the Texaco station is in. She graduated from high school about a year ago, and is now attending a fine arts school. Unfortunately, though, Pan had no choice but to come with her family to the States to visit her dad's family. They ran out of ice, one night, and sent Pan out to get one from the Texaco gas station. Little did they know that the station was now closed and had been, for quite some time...
Other - Pan has great love for art and music and is talented in both areas.

[Who Am I?]

Name - Roxanne Wheeler

Age - 35

Gender - Female

Appearance - About six feet in height, as is particularly slender. She wears light blue jeans, and burly wood-brown rigger boots, rather dusty and old. The rest of her appearance can be found in the Roleplay’s introduction. *Points upwards*

Personality - Flirtatious, yet stern. According to friends of her, she could make a man sob uncontrollably and laugh at exactly the same time. Despite her enticing nature, many men have turned her down for her… queer sense of humour - stuffing the head of a man who only wished to sleep with her down a toilet was considered by her to be “a good laugh”. She is not known to get stressed easily, and she takes things slowly and carefully, usually finishing the job much more effectively than someone who was rushing and sweating all over the place. She despises cocky “Mimics” ( Her word for people between 10-20); if they can’t learn to respect their elders, she ignores them completely.

Biography - Originally, Roxanne Wheeler was born in a town named Ash Springs; a town frequently visited by tourists for its natural hot springs, and home to the only “working” gas stations for hundreds of miles. Her mother, Maria, was a Native American and she was married to Roxy’s father: Richard Wheeler - a rancher. A simple family who worked hard, and earned their money without too much hassle. Roxanne was sent to school where she passed satisfactorily, yet out of the love for her hometown, she chose to remain in Ash Springs and avoid moving up in life outside in the open world. Richard died at the age of sixty when Roxanne was eighteen, yet Maria, despite heartbroken by his sudden death lived a healthy life up to seventy where she passed away from old age.

While in Ash Springs, Roxanne worked at the Shell gas station - she thought the job to be dull and monotonous. However, after her second year of working there, she met Johnnie; a cheerful, comical trucker who was staying in Ash Springs for various days. The first day, only after five minutes of conversing, they had already become “friends”. For the time Johnnie remained in Ash Springs, he would come and visit Roxanne every once in a while and talk, even handing over her new (the one that would stick with her for quite some time) nickname: Roxy.

She left with Johnnie, and married him - some say she was way too fast, but there was no doubt the two were a great couple.

While travelling through the Nevada Desert, they stopped so Johnnie could take a quick leak before heading off again. Unfortunately, the pickup truck died on the spot, and they’ve been waiting there for roughly one hour in the unbearable heat. Little do they know, something awaits them… this was not bad luck, this was fate.

Other - She has chiroptophobia. Yes, she’s afraid of bats. Meh.

[Who Am I?]

Time went by - on and on, and yet there was no way to count the minutes. No watch, no sun dial. Nothing. The sun relentlessly beat down on the unfortunate couple. Roxy was now outside the truck, her head pressed comfortably against Johnnie’s shoulder as she pressed her back against the car. A new cigarette dangled lazily at the corner of her mouth; the smoke wafted upwards, almost obscuring her face. Her hair clung rebelliously to her forehead with sweat. Awkward silence.

Eventually, after a few minutes of waiting, Johnnie turned his gaze down to Roxy, smiling reassuringly. “I’m gonna take a quick peek around. You alrigh’ waiting here?”

Roxy nodded, and Johnnie nodded back. Wiping a layer of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, he trailed around the truck and trudged off back towards the gas station, disappearing past the swinging door and into the empty convenience store. Roxy watched him, attempting to ignore the terrible heat… but to no avail. “Come on,” she muttered, “Someone. Anyone.”

She dragged on the cigarette, lifting it away from her lips, and then suspending it between her thumb and index finger, discarding the ash that fell away from the burning end of the cigarette. She diverted her gaze to peek down the dusty road, desperate for a vehicle to turn up. Someone had to turn up eventually…. Eventually.

She peeked over her shoulder momentarily, and there was no sign of Johnnie. What was he doing in there?

(( Sorry if this kick-start post is short. >: ))

[Jack London]

"Approved by Who Am I?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Taryn Wanderer

Age: 23

Gender: Dude

Appearance:

Face~ Taryn’s hair is long and straight, reaching all the way down to his tail bone. His hair is a very dark shade of blue and is very soft and silky. His nose and his chin are smaller than average, for a guy, which makes him look like a real pretty boy. Most of the time, there is at least a tiny smile upon his face. If not, than it is simply calm. However, he rarely frowns, if ever.

Without his smile, Taryn would look like the most depressed and hurt person you’d ever see. The reason for this is probably because of his eyes. They are a light shade of gray, with a hint of an ocean blue color. His eyes are never completely open; his eye lids are always a little over halfway open. They look casual, most of the time. There are times when his eyes actually look lively, but they are rare.

Body~ Taryn has very strong arms, and they look it too. However, they are not so big that it looks as if he were on steroids. Though, his arms are built, his hands look as if they don’t match it. Not that his hands are too small, but they look gentler rather than something that could crush things easily. He has a well built and slender torso, and his legs are quite built as well, but they stay looking slim, unlike the rest of his body.

Attire~ Taryn wears a sleeveless shirt, which is a very light shade of gray and tight enough so that it shows his toned torso, while still feeling comfortable. Around his neck, he wears a unique looking cross, with a circle toward the middle of it, followed by a dot at the center of the circle. Upon his arms, he wears black knuckle gloves, with studs upon the knuckles and at the ends, around the wrist area. On his waist, he wears a white robe, with a blue sash on top of it, reaching to about the halfway point of the robe. The robe reaches his feet, and has a large opening in the front, revealing his dark gray pants. Upon his feet, he wears black boots, with steel, black, shin guards attached to the tip of his boots and his ankles, covering just about everything in between.

~Refer to picture: Click Here!

Personality: The first thing that should be known about Taryn is that he never shows how he is feeling or what he is thinking. Most of the time, he simply smiles at the sight of danger, but whenever he is deep in thought his face remains expressionless. He has the attitude that gives people the impression that he sees life as a game and nothing more. However, he is never rude to anyone, especially women. When it comes to women, he acts like a gentleman. He treats every woman he meets like a princess, always complimenting them or flatters them in any other possible way, regardless of what they think of him or how they treat him. In fact, to fight a woman in battle is one of his greatest weaknesses. He has met many women in his life and has come to realize that every woman in this world is beautiful in some way. He does not believe in the word “ugly” when it comes to a girl.

However, there is a side of him; a serious side of him, which he usually keeps secret from people he doesn’t know too well. Acting like his intelligence is lower than his age of appearance is a strategy he uses very often to fool his enemies, and people in general, into thinking that he is harmless and underestimate him. He is, in fact, very intelligent. He just chooses not to show it. Taryn never lets an insult get to him, nor does he ever want to show to his enemies that he is hurt or weakened in any way. His pride is strong.

Biography:

Ever since Taryn was a boy, he had always been fascinated by war and martial arts. Though his mother had always resented this part of him she learned to accept it as his father taught him a bit of what he knew about martial arts. Learning quickly, and wanting to learn more, he immediately joined a martial arts school. He always went to this school after his school during the day. Every year there would be a tournament, amongst the students, to see who the best was. Of course, Taryn had joined every year, wanting to be the best he can be. However, the first two years, he has lost. But these losses only made him better and stronger, for after the third tournament, he was unbeatable. Though martial arts seemed to be his main priority, he never let his grades at grade, Jr. High, and High school slip.

Taryn had attended the martial arts school for a full eight years, since he was ten years old, and it had been the best years of his life. Most of his best friends had been made there, as well as a few enemies. He was easily one of the best, if not THE best, in the entire school and was well respected amongst the students. Once he was eighteen, however, he left the school, saying bye to everyone he knew; wanting to finally begin his life the way he had wanted to.

And this was to travel the world.

Yes, there was something else he had always been fascinated about, other than war and martial arts, and this was a simple question. What is out there and why is it here? As corny and cliché as it may sound, once he became a teenager, he felt the world calling to him as if it wanted to be explored and its secrets revealed. Never staying somewhere for too long, he set out on his life of exploring the earth, to quench this feeling of curiosity.

Years had past, before Taryn decided to finally travel through a desert, for the first time. Following his seemingly everlasting curiosity, he began his travel through the Nevada Desert, wanting to see the vast plains of sand and dirt. However, he couldn’t help but feel that there was something more than curiosity that was pulling him here.

Was it destiny?

Other: Taryn has a strong passion for adventure and exploring. He intends to solve the mysteries of the world.

[Darkness Princess]

Dementia drummed her fingers against the steering wheel of her black 2007 GMC Suburban, the radio was on full blast playing one of her favourite songs, The Used- Im a fake, and so was the AC. Dementia was lost and she knew it, she'd taken one of the backroads in hope of avoiding traffic and ended up in the middle of nowhere where the desert sands stretched endlessly on.

Two hours later and still no change, driving had started to get irritating and her car's gas was below the half full, she had another back up fuel tank but she didnt want to depend on that. Hopefully that black smudge in the distance was a gas station. If it was then, she'd be able to restock on the water in her car as she'd run low from the large amount she'd been drinking and if it wasnt well she'd just have to scream later on. Smiling to herself with the thought of a drink in mind Dementia pushed on the pedal to increase her speed and shorten the distance between her and the black smudge.

[Tobuoi]

Pan: Pan was irritated. It was hot and the day was slowly drawing to an end...but still, no sign of the Texaco gas station, or anything, for that matter. From behind the wheel, Pan pressed forward to get a glimpse out the windshield. Still, there was no sign of the gas station.

"Bloody Christ," Pan muttered to herself as she drove. "Where the hell am I? I haven't seen a sign or anything in at least half an hour...I hate this country." As she talked to herself, she watched out of the corner of her eye as bits of sand and dirt flew up on the sides of the car. At least it wasn't her car. Who was she kidding? Pan didn't have a car and she knew it. But then, why would you need a car when you lived in London? No, it wasn't a desolate heap of sand and nothingness like this place was. And it was so dry...

Pan thought of the drinks that she was sent to get ice for and scoffed. "You want ice? Fine. I'll get your ice. But by the time that I get back, it'll all be melt--"

Pan silenced herself and slammed on the brakes as a small building slipped past, out of the corner of her eye and rear-side window. Clouds of sand went up and engulfed the car. She looked behind her after the dust had cleared, and sure enough, there was the Texaco gas station. She put the car in reverse, spun around, and headed off in the direction of the gas station.

[Who Am I?]

Roxy almost leaped from her location. She waved her arms in the air frantically, kicking dust up into the air as she hopped up and down, “Oi, OI! Get back ‘ere! Over here!” She screamed. She sighed in relief as the car turned around, and begun to scream over her shoulder: “Johnnie, get back here! People!”

No reply.

“Johnnie?”

Still no reply.

“JOHNNIE!”

She cursed angrily. What on earth was he doing over there?

She slammed her fist against the side of the truck; he probably had tripped over somehow, and knocked himself unconscious. He was a clumsy man.

Waving her hand in the general direction of the incoming vehicle, she turned and jogged off to the abandoned convenience store, stepping over the broken gas pumps, and bursting past the swinging door. Yet there was nothing inside. There was one shelf, a counter, various packets of crisps, and a tin of old backed bins sat in the middle of the room. On the counter there was a register, half-way open, with one dollar note sitting comfortably in its dusty compartments. At the far end of the room there was a wooden door; perfectly normal, made from simple oak. The door hinges were made from rusty iron.

Yet there was no Johnnie and Roxy was becoming extremely worried.

~#~#~

Johnnie descended into the growing darkness; no lights at all. He could only follow the steps that he felt beneath his boots which creaked with every step. Part of him wanted to turn back and see how Roxy was doing, but the biggest part of him wanted to see what lay at the bottom - yet at the same time it felt like someone or something was slowly dragging him in. Whatever it was wanted to show him something - something big.

And as he descended, his image faded, and he disappeared… down the steps into darkness and Roxy had no idea where he was.

[Jack London]

The sun lay directly over the desert, shining brilliantly as its rays of heat poured upon the earth, as if the gods themselves were pouring a large mug of heat upon us. A road could be seen, cutting across the desert, with mountains to the left of it, miles away. A black dot seemed to be moving down the road, kicking up dust along the way. The waves of heat that continuously rained upon the desert made this dark and distant figure look like some sort of creature.

The sound of a roaring engine could soon be heard as the 'figure' could be seen a little more clearly. It appeared to be a motorcycle, driven by a man in his twenties. The man's dark blue hair flew wildly in the air, due to the velocity the bike was travelling at. There appeared to be headphones upon his head, with a cd player in his pocket.

"But here I am, on the road again.
There I am, up on the stage.
Here I go, playing the star again.
There I go, turn the page..."

He sang along to his favorite song to listen to while on the road, "Turn The Page" by Metallica. His voice could hardly be heard over the roar of the engine as it continued to travel down the road at a decent speed. Just enough so that he has time to look at the scenary. The man's grayish-blue eyes shifted to look at the mountain that was to his left. These eyes seemed to tell a story of his entire life, thus far. His ambitions, his personality...his name.

Taryn Wanderer.

A tiny grin appeared upon Taryn's face as he continued to look at the mountains, clearly enjoying the view. Bringing his attention back to the road he saw two vehicles, one parked and the other still moving a bit, at what seemed to be a gas station. The gas station, however, looked like it was attacked by a bunch of bored teenagers. Curious, he slowed the motorcycle untill it came to a complete halt, a few meters away from the gas station. Keeping his eyes upon the gas station he removed his headphones and placed the cd player into a compartment along the side of the bike.

Taryn dismounted the bike, tapping the kick stand in place as before he turned his head to look at the red truck that was simply sitting there. What's so great about this gas station? He asked himself as he saw the other vehicle backing up and turning toward it. If there's nothing special about it, what the hell are you doing here? His conscious seemed to ask him as he stood next to his bike, scanning the area.

[Darkness Princess]

The smudge was indeed a gas station and already there where two cars, one red truck and another car in the middle of parking. Also a motor cycle with a guy standing nearby. Slowing her car down she parked close to the red truck and got out.

The glare of the sun and heat was almost unbearable after the artificial cold the aircon had generated in her car. Dementia pushed her sunglasses up her nose, she was already beginning to sweat and the place seemed deserted apart from her and the two other people.

She nodded at the man politely before heading into the store, hoping that there was somebody there so that she could pay for the gas, fill up her car, buy some water and get out of that place as fast as humanly possible. As she thought about leaving a feeling nagged at the back of her mind, perhaps this was the place she'd read about.

[Tobuoi]

Pan: As Pan drove, the gas station came into clearer view. However, as it did, it also became clearer that there was nothing there to see. It had obviously been abandon some time ago. The outside was blank, the windows were dark and dirty, the gas pumps were rusty...

Pan reached into her pocket and felt around for her cell phone. She pulled it out and flipped it open. She held it out in front of her as she drove, so that she could still keep her eyes on the road, even though she had slowed down significantly. She turned it on and started searching through her contacts, but before she could dial, she noticed a woman and what seemed to be a broken down car parked at the gas station.

Pan closed her phone and turned into the gas station. She rolled down her window and stuck her head out. "Everything alright?" she asked in her distinct Brittish accent.