#city of rifts

[city-of-rifts]

City of Rifts: Diagnostics

Chapter 3: The Book

Owen plopped down next to Tosh. He was grouchy, and even he recognized it. Tosh was the only tolerable person in Torchwood when he felt this way. He sighed dramatically. When she didn't look up from his work, he tried again, adding a bit of a groan to up the volume.

Tosh turned to him. "What's wrong, Owen?"

"I'm bored," he whined, "and the rift is being boring! All we found was some old man with a cane. Where are the monsters? Where are the aliens?"

She shook her head and turned away to hide a smile. "Owen, surely you don't want to fight more weevils, or solve a terrible mystery!"

Owen leaned towards her. "Don't you?"

"I... a mystery would be fun." She had to admit, it had been too long since the team had to save the world from something. Too long since some alien threat had to be researched and solved.

"Exactly!" Owen agreed with a grin. "Where are the bad guys? Where are the mysteries?"

Gwen, having been wandering the Hub searching for anything to do that didn't involve sorting archive files, leaned up against the desk near them. "Maybe we already solved them all."

"I sure as hell hope not!" Owen cried.

"I wanted to be done with this all someday. Retire, start a family... but not this soon." Gwen's hand brushed against one of Tosh's many books piled on the desk. She picked it up to move it elsewhere, but hesitated. It was too small to be a textbook, like most of the others. And the cover felt like a fine leather, not a cheap paper cover. She moved it in front of her examine the title.

"Whatcha got there?" Owen asked, jumping up to either examine or steal the book. He wasn't sure yet. At the very least, he thought, he could make his own excitement.

Gwen had frozen, her mouth open, hand clutching the book. Her eyes darted to Tosh, then back to the book.

Owen peered at the book, it's cover a rusty tone of orange. It looked old, but not ancient. The spine was blank, no words or author noted. But as he positioned himself at Gwen's side to read the cover, he too hesitated.

The moment of silence roused Tosh from her work. She looked over at her two coworkers, both staring wide-eyed at a book, neither talking. She couldn't decide which was stranger: both Owen and Gwen being silent or Owen fascinated with a book.

"What's wrong with you two?" Tosh asked.

Slowly, carefully, Gwen rotated the book cover towards her. At first, she could see nothing unusual about it. But then, she read the gold-embossed title: Toshiko Sato. Where an author's name would normally be printed, there was nothing.

Tosh rolled her eyes. "Haha, very funny. Tried a bit too hard on that prank."

Gwen shook her head, then looked over at Owen.

Owen shrugged and shook his head as well. "This one wasn't me. My pranks are funny."

"Do you think..." Gwen began, furrowing her eyebrows, "Would Jack..."

"One way to find out," Owen said, snatching the book from her hands. Feeling a bit foolish for his moment of panic, he stormed towards the meeting room where Jack and that lousy new doctor were chatting. Leave it to Jack to play a bad prank. He refused to think of what it mean if Jack hadn't been behind this.

Owen burst through the door, waving the book in his hand. Gwen and Tosh followed behind him. "Jack!" he shouted, an accusation in the name. He slammed the tome down on the table in front of the captain.

Jack looked from the book to Owen, then over to the door where Tosh and Gwen stood, arms crossed.

"If you're going to pull a prank," Owen said, "at least make it a good one. Ask me for help! I know pranks."

Without a word, Jack carefully picked up the book. He brushed a finger over the title before gingerly opening to the first page. Inside, the page was lined with a small handwritten font, slanted and half-cursive, the letters looping into each other. He scanned the page, eyes widening with each word he picked out. In just a few seconds, he slammed the cover shut and pulled the book closer to him, covering it with one arm as if to protect it.

"Jack?" Gwen asked, creeping into the room.

"Where," Jack asked, his voice slow, a forced calm, "did you get this book?"

Owen's anger faded visibly from his face as he paled. "Gwen found it on Tosh's desk. Why?"

Silence filled the room. After a few deep breaths, Jack forced a smile. "Maybe it's nothing. But I'd advise no one read it. At the very least, for Tosh's privacy."

Tosh whipped her gaze to Jack. "My privacy?"

He nodded. "The first page is... excruciatingly detailed. It describes the day you were born." Jack paused. "But like I said, it could be nothing. Most babies are born the same way, after all. I would just feel better doing some research before letting anyone take a good look. Just in case."

"So... you're saying that book may contain every detail of Tosh's life?" Owen asked.

Jack shook his head. "I don't know. But I've heard stories, long ago, of men reading their own fate in books detailing their life. Some stories say they went mad. Others..."

Tosh stepped forward and cleared her throat. "What, Jack?"

"Others stories say you die reading the first page." Jack finished. His grip tightened on the book. But he once again forced a smile. "Those are just tales, though."

"So Tosh could read the book and be fine, right?" Owen pressed.

"No!" Gwen shouted. "I mean, we wouldn't take that risk, right? Until we know more."

"Precisely," Jack said. He tucked the book into his blue coat. "I'll ask around. Some of my old friends might remember the stories better than I."

Gwen straightened up. "I'll check for any strange deaths with the police." She strode out of the room, determined in her task.

Jack turned to Owen and Tosh. "You two should check online. See if you can l turn up any legends."

"Why would I want to do research?" Owen complained.

Jack could think of plenty of reasons. To potentially save a friend. To keep an eye on Tosh. To find a way out of this. But Tosh, of course, knew the best reason to convince him.

"I can give you safe access to the dark web. You can start there."

Owen's pout brightened and he grinned. "Cool."

In the commotion, the entire team seemed to have forgotten that Dr. House sat at the table as well. He cleared his throat. "So this is what you do? Follow fairy tales and... what? Slay the boogie man?"

"Sometimes," Jack confirmed. "And sometimes, the boogie man is just a monster who needs saving."

House snorted. "And here you almost convinced me I wasn't dreaming. Almost."

-----------

Gwen had just gotten off the phone with Andy, her friend and connection to the police. She bit the end of her pen, staring at her notepad. The conversation had been pleasant, as it usually was. Andy laughed at her prodding questions of unexplained deaths and mysterious books. She played along, joking about Torchwood having a dry spell and desperately needing something interesting to investigate. With plenty of good-hearted insults at Torchwood's expense, Andy had listed off every strange case of death he knew of. An old lady found with her tea still in hand, a young man barricaded in his tub, a student buried in a pile of textbooks. He relayed about fifteen cases that, although strange, the police had deemed as accidental death. And most of them did seem that way.

But a thread that connected too many of them gnawed at Gwen's mind. She reread her notes, counting the tally marks placed in the margins. Twelve had no determined cause of death. Eight were noted to have "a horrid expression on their face." And six clutched tightly a scrap of paper with their names written amongst illegible words ripped in half.

She glanced over at Tosh. She was hovering over Owen's shoulder at her desk while Owen read aloud a blurb from somewhere online. They both laughed occasionally, the improbable web stories lightening their mood rather than setting them into a panic. But Gwen felt that panic rising. She had felt nervous at Jack's serious tone, but now? With the information she gathered in such a short time, the crazy tales stood on real-world reports.

She needed to tell Jack. Even with all her Torchwood experience, this was out of her wheelhouse.

Ianto approached with a cup of tea. How he knew the exact moment she needed that, she would never understand. But he always seemed to know.

"She's in trouble, isn't she?" Ianto asked softly, warming his hands on his own mug.

Gwen nodded, pushing back tears. "There's too many connections. I'm afraid it might be true."

He nodded solemnly. "Jack's worried. I overheard him talking on the phone."

With a weak smile, Gwen asked, "Overheard?"

"Okay, so I was eavesdropping," he admitted wryly, then lowered his voice. "Apparently, there have been others. Someone's dad, I couldn't catch who, found a book of his life in an old bookstore. He took it home and died in his study. And the book disappeared."

"That's horrible," Gwen gasped, although the news didn't exactly surprise her.

Ianto took a sip of tea before continuing. "I caught another conversation. Sounded like the same story, different person. But there was some good news."

Gwen sighed. "We need all the good news we can get."

Wrinkling his nose, Ianto said, "Well, it's not that good. Just that both witnesses saw the deceased reading at least halfway through book before they died. So it's not instant."

"I suppose that's something,' Gwen said with a dry laugh. She finished her tea and rose from her seat to clean up.

Ianto took the mug from her hand. "Go tell Jack what you found."

She nodded gratefully, then turned to leave. Before she took a step, she turned back to him. "Ianto?"

"Yes?"

"I hate to ask, but Andy's emailing more case files than I can manage. Would you mind...?" She trailed off.

He gave a polite smile and nodded. "I'll get started sorting through them." He walked away, not bothering to ask Gwen for her email. She wondered briefly if she had any privacy within the Hub, but quickly shook the thought away. At the moment, it was blessing Ianto knew more than he should.

She walked past Owen and Tosh, doing her best to give them a reassuring smile as she passed. Knowing herself, she probably managed little more than a grimace. She headed towards Jack's office and rapped on the door.

To her surprise, the new doctor opened it after a long moment. "What?" He asked plainly.

"Uh... I need to speak to Jack," Gwen said.

House scowled. "I'm not his butler." He pointed over his shoulder. "He's back there, so go talk to him."

Jack was slumped over his desk, leaning his head on his hand, his elbow on the desk. He didn't look up when Gwen came in. "Please tell me you have good news."

She took a deep breath. "I... I can't do that, Jack."

He just closed his eyes. "Yeah... I figured as much."

Gwen filled him in on her conversation with Andy. She told him Ianto was sorting through the files as they spoke, but left out the part where he had been eavesdropping on Jack's calls. Jack, in turn, told her what he had found. Much of it was what Ianto told her already. But there was more to it. Those who had read the books of their loved ones never survived past a year. Jack's contacts couldn't agree on whether they fell to the same evil magic of the book, or simply grief.

Additionally, some men were said to have gone searching for their own life books, refusing to heed the stories of death. They compiled notes of research, notes of a Library filled books, one for each life that had ever been lived, and guarded by robed figures. They journeyed together to find the Library. No one knew if they succeeded or failed, just that they never returned. The notes they left behind had varied outcomes, though. Some were destroyed by grieving families. Others were kept, passed down as a reminder never to seek the Library.

"You're going after the research, aren't you?" Gwen asked when Jack had finished.

He shook his head. "No need."

"What?! What about Tosh! We have to figure out what's going on!"

Jack grimaced. "I know. But the research was taken years ago, thought to be either valuable or dangerous, maybe both. Along with a book, a book hidden and protected, but never opened, by the family it came from. Gwen, they're all here. In the archives."

(Prev Chapter) --- (Next Chapter)

[potatobugz]

The Fungus Spreads (AHIT doodle dump)

[moookar]

Two of my recent pieces :) the first one I just finished and is of @ace-lol’s character Kira in the D&D game we’re in together! The second one (done yesterday) is my PC in the City of Mist game @kingindecisive GMs :)) these were both really fun to work on. Shoutout to Waltz for sending me this brushpack, these have been so much fun to work with

[venacoeurva]

I was thinking about it and I personally really like my houses and set my own house mods around Riverwood/Lake Ilinalta and around the mineral pools in Eastmarch

[captainofthetidesbreath]

once you start, like, unpacking that the Trapp family installed mirrored windows on the trains and sealed off the maintenance tunnel where not just the lighthouse fell but the rift was located, it gets so bonkers huh...

[groundrunner100]

For those complaining about the Alien franchise not being on here, keep in mind the only aliens in that franchise are the Xenomorphs, & the Engineers.

Anyway, be sure to reblog your favorite alien species/character!

[hd-screamer-pics-and-gifs]

i translated some stuff in Nefarious City

[th3-0bjectivist]

“Rift in the Sunken City” - Animated painting

 https://poshmark.com/closet/galleryofluke

[shallyne]

She was just a little hungry

[city-of-rifts]

City of Rifts: Diagnostics

Chapter 2: The Hub

Tosh stared expectantly at her monitor. Nearly an hour had passed, and none of the rift aftershocks she predicted had occurred. In that time, she had double-checked every program, sent Ianto to assess every connected equipment throughout the Hub, and found nothing. She chewed idly on a pen as she ran diagnostics for the fourth time.

Ianto reappeared, smoothing his suit as he approached. "Anything?"

She shook her head. "Ianto, are you sure-"

"Tosh, I've checked every scanner, every battery, every nook and cranny of this place. I can assure you it's all functional," he said firmly but softly.

"It doesn't make sense," she murmured, eyes fixed on the monitor.

Ianto shook his head, silently agreeing. "Maybe it's outside interference?"

Tosh quickly turned to face him, eyes wide. "You don't think... alien?"

Shrugging, Ianto replied, "Usually is."

At that moment, the lift in the Hub lowered. It slowly moved to floor level.

Ianto raised an eyebrow. "You know he doesn't use that entrance unless he's showing off for someone new."

Turning back to her screen, Tosh agreed. "Usually calls ahead when he's bringing a visitor, though. Are we supposed to put on a show?"

As the lift reached the floor, Ianto grabbed the most impressive piece of tech he could find, a useless dark box with flashing colorful lights that they had deemed as nothing more than an alien art piece, and strode purposefully towards an empty computer desk. He pulled up a video of nonsense text, filling the monitor screen with impressive-looking code, and pretended to be very intrigued by what it said. Tosh didn't even have to pretend. She busied herself with renewed effort to diagnose any rift tracking failures, the code on her screen very real.

"Welcome to Torchwood," Jack boomed, dramatically spreading his arms to reveal the Hub.

Owen stalked over to Ianto, a scowl on his face. He grabbed the mouse and clicked off the code video. "Don't bother, tea-boy," he snarled, "just an American doctor."

Ianto raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as Owen stalked away.

Hurrying over, Gwen gave Ianto an apologetic smile. "Sorry about him. Bit of a disappointment, this mission."

As he knew all too well, Ianto was the easy target of Owen's rage. Just as Owen knew that payback was imminent.

To Jack's disappointment, Dr. House merely glanced around with a mild curiosity, taking it all in as if the Hub appeared no more impressive than an office cubicle. He followed the Captain off the lift, his cane clacking loudly on the floor as he limped along.

"Bit damp in here, isn't it?" House mused.

Jack deflated. "Well, yeah. It is underground."

House wandered around the room, aimlessly poking at various objects without enthusiasm. Jack followed, naming them for him, even the ones that didn't really have names. "The Mars Extractor. Ah, Andromeda's Spehere. The Prism Device. The Code of Raxon."

No responses came from the doctor. He walked as if in a daze, then finally settled on an office chair next to Tosh's desk. He glanced at the monitor in front her, then drew his focus to his leg, massaging it as he winced in pain.

Jack peered over Tosh's shoulder. "Any excitement while we were out?"

"No, sir. Not even a ripple," Tosh replied, "It's... odd."

"Hm," Jack agreed, "that doesn't seem right."

"I've checked every program! Had Ianto look at every sensor; they all seem to be functioning, except... they can't be." Tosh sighed and leaned back in her chair. She crossed her arms in frustration.

Jack patted her shoulder. "The rifts are always trouble, never playing by the rules. If you can't detect any, I'm willing to believe they're inactive." He offered her a smile as she turned to look at him.

"I'll keep looking," she assured him, leaning back towards her keyboard.

Jack nodded. "Let me know if you find anything." He turned to Dr. House. "And if you need anything, let me know."

The doctor nearly asked for vicodin. His last pill must have worn off, and even in what he assumed was a terribly patched together fever dream, the pain seared through his leg. But he shook off the idea. What good would that do, anyway? "Sure, got anything to wake me up? Captain."

"Coffee?" Ianto was at their side in an instant, a tray of freshly brewed coffee and a stack of mugs in hand. He had been preparing it for Tosh anyway, and was pleased that the timing worked out for this request.

House snorted. "No, I don't think that'll do."

From across the room, Owen called out, "cocaine?" He laughed to himself, just liud enough the others could hear and roll their eyes.

"Any of your gadgets give a sharp pinch?" House asked dully, "I've heard that'll wake you up from a dream."

Jack eyed his guest. "You... think you're dreaming?"

"Now don't try to convince me otherwise. The more lucid I stay, the more likely I am to wake up," House countered.

"Why don't I show you a few things, and you can decide for yourself if you're still dreaming," Jack offered, reaching out a hand to help up the other man.

He sighed heavily, then grabbed his cane and, ignoring Jack's offer of help, dragged himself to his feet once again. He waved a hand, indicating that Jack show the way.

They passed through the Weevil cages, wandered briefly into the archives, and visited Owen's lab before ending in the meeting room. Jack told House an abridged history of Torchwood, how aliens and creatures from other times frequented this area and others. He told him of the rifts that popped up, and how his team would seek them out in an attempt to stop trouble before it started. He told the doctor of cybermen, of weevils, of blowfish. At the end of it all, he asked, "So, Dr. House. Do you really believe your subconscious could come up with all this in a single dream? Or is it possible that reality is stranger than fiction?" (Prev Chapter) --- (Next Chapter)

[ilaac-art]

I was was bored while waiting for images to render in Blender so I made a little outline of what I think Emperor Nefarious' home looks like. May or may not be for RP reasons because we gotta know where shit is in that massive tower 😩

[notoriouslydevious]

Key Visuals for Wild Rift by Anna Podedworna

[springfever]

benzene & his hater sibling

[tildeathiwillwrite]

My OC's in the Knights Radiant Quiz

@illarian-rambling did this thing recently where she took the Knights Radiant Quiz for her ocs. Thought it was cool so I'm doing it too lol.

The Legend of Orian Goldeneye:

Jas: Willshaper (81%). Considering what her motives are in the story, this tracks nicely. Killian: Skybreaker (78%). I feel he'd be more of an ancient order Skybreaker, operating within his own moral code with an understanding of how rules are imperfect. Orian: Edgedancer (77%). It kind of fits his personality, and he would love to slide around. Henrik: Skybreaker (74%) and Stoneward (74%). Man was born to be a Skybreaker, he's a garrison captain after all. Stoneward also fits him, as a soldier. Diana: Lightweaver (74%). She is a musician, her morals can be questionable, and she disagrees with Henrik about many things. Azura: Lightweaver (57%) and Elsecaller (57%). She is very much into the subterfuge aspect of the Lightweavers. She's also decent at tactics, a theme of the Elsecallers, and dreamshaping is somewhat similar to moving through Shadesmar. Morpheus: Elsecaller (63%). Very similar to Azura, but he's much more on the cautious side.

Tales from Valaria:

Octavian: Windrunner (77%). Like me! And it also fits his role in The Watcher and the Thief, though by the time The Hunter the Myth and the Cure comes around it's changed drastically. Draven: Willshaper (73%). He does what he wants, doesn't really care for rules but he does have his own moral code. Reese: Lightweaver (62%). I'm not too sure about this one, mostly because her morals align closer to a Willshaper or Edgedancer in my opinion. But she does tend to hide her true self from others. Luc: Windrunner (78%). Fits his morals and his job, he's quite protective. Hector: Windrunner (79%). Same as Luc, makes sense since he's Luc's mentor, but I'd say Luc has a little bit more Skybreaker in him than Hector. Damian: Edgedancer (70%). Bodes well for Caenum to have a heir that cares for his people. He was also willing to give up his freedom if it meant his captor didn't get what she wants, so he's fairly selfless. Kaira: Lightweaver (57%) (Also -20% for Bondsmith apparantly???). She's very good at deception, but that's the only thing that would be Lightweaver about her. Personally I think she'd be a better Elsecaller, due to her search for power. Rift: Elsecaller (54%). I don't know how he got this one, he has average wisdom and intelligence is his dump stat. But he would definitely make good use of Shadesmar (for "borrowing" purposes).

(Forsaken: The Doomed City):

Rowan: Elsecaller (74%). Makes sense, he's fairly cautious, he's the leader of the group (not very good at it), and he's willing to do anything to get what he wants. Victoria: Windrunner (63%). She definitely likes working in a team, and is really attached to and protective of those she cares about, to the point where she'd do anything to save them. Ollie: Truthwatcher (81%). Considering their powers make him a great spy, fueled by his natural curiosity, this fits. Sam: Stoneward (61%). She's the group's tank, the most reliable out of all of them, and fairly optimistic. Whisper: Elsecaller (70%). What is with my villains and getting Elsecaller? Is it because they all seem to be selfish bastards who do anything for what they want? (Nevertheless this does fit him).

[meowmeowmessi]

every peps quote abt messi makes me feels so exasperated if you want to fuck him so bad being him to england my GOD

tears you know what they say abt absence making the heart grow fonder...

[protonpowered]

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Ambient Dr. Nefarious on Corson V, feat. the mental health goon