The following are logs from a roleplay that is taking place on the MMOSG with three friends and I. Since it reads as a story and is not something that is open for new participation, I decided to post it here.
I can't make any guarantees about what this will turn into as it is not my story alone, but we hope that it makes for an enjoyable read. We've put a cast a quirky characters together and hope to explore how they work together.
I like to think that this group is stuck together 'permanently' (as in certain sligs are assigned to certain muds for a certain period of time) as that makes it easier to continue this. I only take credit for the paragraphs starting with 'Riley.'
Riley is something of a potty mouth so if you are easily offended please do not read.
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Characters
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Epsimabe:The occasionally smartass Mudokon slave. He dreams of one day opening Epsi's Health Haus, for treatment of slavery-related injuries. His ponytail is white from work related stress.
(Played by Oatmeal Head)
Tadelesh: Captured from the wild, this Mudokon was broken quickly by a very merciless Slig, and is consequently afraid of everything. Tinted blue by a constant state of depression, he can’t get through a single sentence without stuttering, and although he is socially inept in every way, he is a very hard worker and is therefore usually left to his own devices. He is commonly called Tad, and he can only see things in a negative light. Very few things can make him happy. In spite of his gloomy outlook, he is always whistling.
(Played by Skree)
Seydas A recent live-captured Mud who is apparently on his first assignment, or one of the first, as he shows little fear of Sligs. Seydas likes to point out the shortcomings of others and can be rather blunt, but has a strong sense of justice. He tends to hold his tongue toward those who have done him no wrong, but bearing nothing but resentment toward his captors, there is no telling when he will feel it is a good time to shoot his mouth off. Still overall healthy and agile from tribal life, Seydas imagines that a witty jab at the right time might resolve any situation, despite the painful reminders to the contrary Sligs have given him so far.
(Played by Tigrath)
Riley: Skree's best friend and possibly the only one who can stand his voice. Riley incidentally loves to hear Mudokons whistle, but he cannot tolerate the deep barks of Slogs. He tries to hide his mudlover state to such an extent that, around other Sligs, he can come off as psychotic about abusing mudokons. His sometimes volatile temperament has led his coworkers to fear him and he uses this advantage to defend Skree whenever necessary.
(Played by Ajiellyn)
Skree: Riley’s best friend and a well-known bleeding heart. Born a smaller than average Slig, he was allowed to live in a rare show of mercy, and his rigorous training was meant to toughen him up. It had the adverse effect, however, and he shows sympathy towards the enslaved that he is incapable of hiding, which leaves him at the mercy of his coworkers. He has a high-pitched voice that is very difficult to tolerate, and looks up to Riley as a hero.
(Played by Skree)
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Jan 18th
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Epsimabe was currently occupied, scrubbing with an old dirty brush against the hard metal floors of Zulag 3. There wasn't much else he could do this time of day, break wasn't for another 6 hours and the floors got dirtier and dirtier every day. He hated it, he thought someone was doing this on purpose, and it made him quite irritated to know that somebody might be purposely spilling paramite blood and scrab guts on the floor, just to make morework for him. He had spoken to the shrink about this, but he just came off as delusional and paranoid, and as such, kept scrubbing, regardless of his rag's cleanliness.
Tadelesh was cleaning doggedly as well, crouched a few feet away from Epsi. He was rather well known for keeping to himself, so he hadn't looked up or spoken since he'd first assumed his post, nor had he halted his monotonous
scrub scrub scrubing of the pink-and-red blood and guts of the floor below. It was just another day... The bleak blue of the skin on his fingers was stained red with his work. Without warning, he quietly began to whistle - a soft noise against his unnatural surroundings - but the very tone of it suggested that it was for him and nobody else. This song was his own, and it matched the pace of the scrubbing in a perfect cruel harmony.
Seydas saunters along carrying a pole over his shoulders with two large buckets of paramite and scrab entrails, not making much effort to steady his stride and keep them from swinging gently about. In their too-full state, even a gentle swing causes them to periodically splatter blood and related materials on the ground, but he seems to barely notice, having an almost devil-may-care attitude about the current state of even his own enslavement. As far as he was concerned, he hadn't been here long, and wasn't likely to be here much longer. He couldn't understand why the others put forth such effort for cleanliness.
Riley paced past the two after another long pause, his posture one of pure irritation. With Skree absent, this was bound to be one of the more uneventful shifts... even though he had just been paired up with three new mudokons to make for an astoundingly small block. Their location was an isolated one; isolated enough to break a few rules, but not isolated enough to take a nap. Wonderful. He glanced over at Tadelesh attentively when the mud began to whistle, not complaining one bit. Any other slig would have socked him for it, but he just stared... The bucket-bearing mudokon was thus strikingly disruptive and he went from quiet to volatile in a heartbeat. "
Watch what yer doin', mud! Yer spillin' that all over tha place!"
Epsimabe looked to the mudokon who was spilling
all that juice and gave an incredibly intense "Oh if you weren't being bitched out by the Slig I'd take care of you myself" glare, but he knew the more trouble this mudokon caused, the more trouble the rest of them would get into, so he had to try and keep him in line, lest they all get a beating, and he had obviously had enough of those judging from the white color of his hair. He wasn't old, just incredibly overstressed, and this new mud would be a handful. He looked to the blue mud, at least he was a good whistler, something to appreciate when it seemed the whole world was against you and the rest of your bros.
Tadelesh jumped at the sound of his Slig overseer's voice, his whistling cut off in a quick whimper. He shot a paranoid glance over both shoulders, and his posture slumped as he spotted the trail of entrails (no pun intended) that followed behind one of the other Muds in the area. That was the way it was... Someone was bound to undo ones work after it was completed... Heaving a great sigh, he looked back down at the floor - he'd never stopped scrubbing - and began to whistle again, a free, sweeping melody that seemed to be yearning to break free itself.
Seydas glances behind him to check how much he was spilling - ah, it couldn't be
that much. He pauses anyway, to avoid both the swinging of the buckets and a beating, as well as think a moment, just happening to catch the glare of the older Mud. "Really? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make all this noise, must make it difficult to nap. If you had, I dunno, lids for these buckets, I could work a little more efficiently so that you get your next
paramite pie a little sooner. Must be easier to nap on a full stomach." To demonstrate, he starts walking at a much slower pace. The buckets remain perfectly still and their contents barely slosh, but he's not getting anywhere very fast either.
Riley suddenly cared less about whether or not the contents of the buckets remained there or spilt to the floor. He walked right over to Sey with a few quick and ill-boding mechanical steps and made to slap him hard upside the head, the eyes of his mask dimming slightly as though he had narrowed them. "Don't get smart with me, prick. Put those down, take that blue mud's rag, and clean that shit up," he hissed with a nod over to Tad. It would save the poor mud a few minutes of work...
Epsimabe groaned, not only did he never get a break, but now he had to work with that bucket asshole. He kept his eyes on his rag, scrubbing with incredible speed. Sure he was new, and new muds weren't expected to know better, but this guy seemed to have a bit of an attitude issue. He could only hope that someone would knock him down a notch. His anger wasn't visible, however his skin was turning a slight tinge of red. No wonder his hair was so white, if stuff like this kept happening he'd probably have none at all, for he would have ripped it out in a mental breakdown. Those Vykkers, ever since that damned surgery.
Tadelesh flinched at the sound of the slap, his tone trembling. He tried hard to ignore it, but upon hearing 'blue mud,' he slowed his scrubbing to a stop for the first time, now turning to look at the Slig he'd been assigned to. He had to give up his rag? But... What could he do if he wasn't cleaning? If he didn't have something to do, he could get into trouble easier... His skin seemed to darken even more, but perhaps it was a trick of the mind; he didn't seem like he could get any bluer. "M... M..." He stood despite the painful crack of his stiff bones. "... Me?" A shaky hand pressed against his chest in disbelieving recognition.
Seydas's heart jumps a little once he hears the approaching, very mechanical movements, and rather expects the worst, given the physical and especially mental states of some escaped Muds he'd met in the past. He hunches himself backward slightly to lower the buckets quickly - trying not to make a mess, as he doesn't want to create
that much extra work for his fellows - but a little more splashing happens. It's nowhere near as bad as if he would have held onto them, however, as his disadvantaged stance makes the hard slap knock him fully forward onto his front, with a loud metallic thud on the floor plating and a slight growl of pain from the Mud himself. "Oh, aye. I suppose I shouldn't be *grunt* creating a *oof*
hazard in the
workplace." he says while laboring to his feet again, unable to keep the spite from his voice despite the threat of additional blows.
Riley was surprised by the mudokon's attitude, to say the least, but he wasn't inclined to hit him again. Never had he landed with a mudokon this unruly; he wasn't sure how to deal with it... Riley stepped right up to Sey when he fell, his mechanical foot coming all too close to the mud's face. "Yer a hazard ter yerself actin' like that, dipshit. Make like a mud, shut yer trap, and
clean that floor!" He turned his head finally to acknowledge Tad, staring as he had before. "Yeh, you. See any other 'pressed muds? Sheesh."
Epsimabe smirked just a bit, hopefully this new mud was put in place now, and was glad for once it wasn't him getting told off due to him misplacing one simple rag, or not cleaning a spot hard enough, which he thought was incredibly stupid, yet he never voiced his opinions, lest he get the crap beaten out of him. He tried not to grumble, but he did, mumblimg "I knew this was a conspiracy all along, newbies spillin' crap everywhere, disgusting." He never really spoke out against other mudokons, but this just took the cake.
Tadelesh stood frozen in place, torn and unsure of what to do. He didn't want any hostility or hatred, and handing his rag over to this new mud meant they were going to start off on some very bad terms... However, friends didn't seem to exist in this cruel, cold, industrial place... He walked a pace closer to the slig and mud, absently wringing the bloody rag between his big, awkward mitts. "I... I-I... I'm sorry, I just... W-Wanted to..." His voice faded, leaving a whisper of 'make sure' hanging half-unspoken in the air between them. Closing his eyes as if avoiding something horrible, he stiffly held his arm out, the rag clutched tightly within his fist, and stood there, dumb and motionless.
Seydas wished he could make his intentions clear to the others - knowing that in most cases the less useful they appeared to be, the more likely they were to have an "accident." He would have to settle for being the jerk, for now, as surviving long enough to escape would make a few bruised egos worthwhile. Not that other things wouldn't also get bruised, to say the least. Rubbing at the back of his head, he holds out his other hand to the blue Mud, making eye contact with a subtle empathy in his eyes until Tad closes his own like that. "I'm sorry, but this is what our benefactor wishes, friend." Assuming Tad's fist ever loosened to give him the rag, he knelt to scrub away after his rather nonsevere beating. Already he was beginning to wonder if either this Slig believed in not crushing the spirit right away, or if all the stories he'd ever heard were vastly exaggerated. He chose not to speak up to their guard again for the time being, lest the others be unduly punished.
Riley 'narrowed' his eyes once again as he watched the blue-skinned mud. Just what was wrong with this one? Who had overseen it last? "Wanted ter what? And ya wanna tell me who was watchin yer fer ya transferred?" he asked, hiding any and all concern in his tone until it sounded like a 'how's the weather' question. He was satisfied with Sey's response, although any other slig wouldn't have been. Epsi, on the other hand, was not far from receiving a lecture about stress from the slig. He'd landed such an odd block: small, but a handful already. As he waited for Tad's response, he glanced over at Sey and Epsi with a bored expression, sighed, and proceeded to grope around for a pack of cigarettes and a lighter in a small compartment in the back of his pants. Heath & Safety regulated against smoking on-duty as it allegedly 'jeopardized' employee health or something, but honestly, who gave a damn? There was smoke of all kinds all over the place. With the cigarette found and lit, he returned the the lighter to his pants, taking a drag and turning his head away from Tad to exhale.