To Be Feared is To Be Loved

Erebus -one of the primordial deities in Greek mythology, born out of the primeval void, Chaos. It was the personification of the deep darkness and shadows.- Circus Guild Master.-irl : Hayden Collins

[chxticerebus]

Erebus was starting to miss her comforting conversations with her favorite person, so she felt it was the perfect time to call her up to come over to her place for a nice night with murder-free incidents. It took only a few seconds for the guild leader to pull up Conejita’s contact, and she messaged her a quick I want you at my place in ten, before pulling off her mask with a sigh and changing into a comfortable tank top and sweats. Oreo laid next to her on the couch as she waited for her friend, and both of their eyes lit up once they heard the noise of familiar steps entering her home. 

“I need a break time, want to join me in being lazy for once?” @conejitacatalan​

[chxticerebus]

usernameachilles‌:

“ Why does this invitation send a chill down my spine,” he chuckled looking towards Erebus as she approached him. It wasn’t so much a nervous chuckle as it was one of apprehension. The player didn’t scare him, but since their last meeting he knew ( or could surmise) that Erebus being pleasant was either because she was actually in a good mood ( not that he would know) or, she wanted something. And in Velia, everyone wanted something. Achilles just wasn’t sure what that something was. Still, he figured he’d bite. He didn’t have anything else to do and chest sounded innocent enough.

“I’ve been gathering intel on a player, who appeared and disappeared to quick to my liking. So there’s that.” he shrugged. “ I actually wouldn’t mind the distraction of chess or the company. If your being serious?”

A hidden smile creeped its way onto Erebus’ features as she shrugged along to what sounded like a jest from Achilles. “It’s just a simple board game. What? Afraid you’ll lose?” She looked through her inventory for a few before finding what she needed and pulled out a small box that held the game. It was probably the only non-violent item she held on her when she wasn’t on some sort of mission. Usually it was only pulled out when she was playing with Conejita or as a way of information gathering from specific type of people. For now the guild leader hadn’t exactly decided why she wanted to play Achilles, but she’d figure it out as they went along.

The mention of him being frustrated with tracking a player down caught her interest, and shrugged as she searched and found a stump to set the game down on. “Of course I’m serious.” The board was pulled out and one by one the pieces were pulled out until they were neatly set in their right positions. “You know, for the right price I could easily get information on your player. I’m quite good at it, probably more efficient than whatever method you’re using.”

[chxticerebus]

Erebus was mindlessly picking out some plants on floor 37 for a wide arrange of uses that could kill, heal or satisfy a player. The repetitive action of pulling items out of the ground was starting to bore her though, and she sighed heavily as she sat on the ground shoving her ingredients in a bag. Suddenly, familiar figure made the rogue perk up from her mundane actions and she tossed aside the roots in her hands to get up and approach Achilles. “Haven’t seen much of you around. Care to spend some quality time with an old friend? I’ve been looking for a new partner to play chess with for a while now.” @usernameachilles​

[chxticerebus]

It wasn’t uncommon for Erebus to assign personal tasks to certain members of Circus to test how much they truly fit in with the guild. She had picked out a fairly simple task for Tempest, get rid of a pestering info broker who was spreading distasteful rumors about her. It would get her member another mark on her mask, and Erebus one less person soiling her name. 

As soon as her masked face laid eyes on Tempest the guild leader shoved the mission file into her chest and spoke up in her lackadaisical modified voice. “I have a job for you, get it done in less than a week and you’ll be rewarded. Can you handle it?” @tempestremy​

[chxticerebus]

I’ve been living that high stress college life and been going through trials like getting a huge ass glob of wood glue in my hair to wanting to punch my stats teacher in the throat so I haven’t got to catch up, but I wanna be more active again so slap that mf heart or leave some sorta comment if you want a special lil moment with Erebus that I can invest myself in.

[chxticerebus]

usernameachilles‌:

“Clearly,” he said eyeing the some Circus members moved past them. Some carrying cleaning products others, carrying objects in and out of the door. Achilles hadn’t expected an invitation in and wasn’t surprised that Erebus didn’t offer to invite him in.  When you had a guild leader at your doorstep asking for someone that wasn’t a part of your guild. There was no reason too. But he did know how close Mars was with a circus. Though he thought it was more so because of Psyche and less about the actual bond that he made there. 

“I’m aware,” he said curtly. Leaning against the opposite side of the door. A smile on his face. The pair of them looking for all intent and purposes like two old friends. Having a pleasant conversation ( possibly, who knows with that mask Erebus wore all the damn time.)  “ He’s not causing any trouble. I was told he was seen here a lot. So, I need him for something.” it wasn’t a complete lie but his face read nothing but honestly intent more malice or contention. Though, if Erebus was actually telling the truth. Achilles wondered where the other man was currently hiding out at.

Erebus didn’t like the fact that Achille’s had gone out of his way to search for Mars, no matter how much he emphasized that it was for good intent. No matter how well mannered anyone was in this game you always have to question their motives for wanting someone or something. “Well I’m sure he’ll turn up to my hq eventually today, so why don’t you tell me what you need Mars for and I’ll relay it to him. Anything he knows I end up knowing anyways since he never shuts up, and you won’t have to go around on a where’s waldo mission for the dumbass.” 

If he didn’t tell her what it was it would be enough to raise some red flags, and if he told her then it could also be enough information to see if she was interested in what he was trying to use her guy for. It was a win-win, and of course if it was nothing important she wouldn’t even bother telling Mars since he would have better things to do like helping her instead. 

[chxticerebus]

playerkitty‌:

Her eyes stayed locked on Erebus’ for a moment, taking in a deep breath and holding it for a second before letting out a huff. She wanted to talk back, to ask why she’d even bother threatening her to give the position to anyone else when she could’ve done it in the first place and they’d probably be better than her anyway. But instead she sat up and tried to hide the pout she wanted to bring to her face. 

Colorful candy? Kitty’s head tipped to the side and her mouth fell open slightly in confusion, clearly not getting what her guild leader meant. Instead of prolonging the pause she slowly answered, “Um.. no?” As soon as she finished her eyes lit up a second later. “Oh you mean Skittles? I haven’t heard from her, well yes but not about what you want to know. I can ask, if that’s what you’d like.” 

Studying Kitty’s physical reactions to whatever she said was always interesting. Erebus knew she was frustrating her guild member, it was part of how she pushed those she saw potential in though. Tough love was how her mentor created the guild master of Circus, so it made sense that she did the same to those she saw potential in. If she truly didn’t care about Kitty she wouldn’t be sitting across from her at all right now. “I know or at least I’m putting together enough pieces to actually get at what the little rebel is up to. I just want to let you know, we don’t just give out masks to anyone.” 

There was a pregnant pause for her words to sink in before continuing. “Which is why your new task is going to be making Skittles join Circus. I’m sure since you’ve become so buddy buddy it won’t be that hard.” Erebus shrugged and smirked under her disguise. It was the perfect chance for Kitty to step up to the plate, and if she did well, they would have an extremely new promising edition to the group.

[chxticerebus]

L O A D I N G …

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ update complete

||LIMITED EDITION EVENT OUTFIT||FLOOR 25-MONSTER BASH||

(art by Hector Pohl)

[chxticerebus]

glitchcd‌:

psyche was busying herself with multiple duties that were passed onto her by erebus. she didn’t mind the work, even if she could be a lazy bum at times, there was a certain part of her that liked to please erebus. erebus had done a lot for psyche, she was grateful for her in ways she couldn’t explain through words. she wouldn’t be where she was without her. she was wiping down one of the common tables when she noticed erebus’ stiff figure walking straight to an unfamiliar face. she snickers slightly to herself, throwing the rag loosely over her shoulder as she walks over to the two of them.

“hey buddy, hope this isn’t urgent.” psyche gives a tight grin as her eyes only slightly glance over at erebus before back to the visitor. “miiiiighty busy, need a quick meeting with this fun one right here. you don’t mind waiting for you?” she didn’t wait for their answer as she was quickly following her words with a bright smile. “great! erebus, i need you over here. adios!” she bumps hips with erebus before she turns on her heel and begins walking towards the masks the circus leader was just at.

“looked like someone who wanted to waste your time with boring formalities, thought i’d insert myself where i didn’t belong. as per usual.”

Erebus was a few seconds away from just stabbing her way out of this conversation, even though a pretty big point in politics was to never shoot the messenger. The marks on her first Circus mask showed just how much she cared about the grunts sent from other guilds to try and negotiate. If they wanted her to care enough then send someone actually worth the Circus leaders time, like their second or the actual head of the beast. The familiar voice of her own second made the masked rogue exhale in relief, but was awkwardly stiff when the other girl bumped into her. “Yeah, coming Psyche. Can’t have our very important meeting waiting.”

She looked back at the unwanted visitor with hidden disgust and shrugged. “Best come back another time, or never if you want to keep your pretty little head.” With that Erebus turned to catch up with Psyche and grunted in frustration. “Exactly why I chose you as second. Another waste of pixels in this damn game. I was this close to ending them, I don’t have time for these little details here and there about Circus is doing this wrong, oh Circus is doing that wrong. Did you know that a Circus player just massacred a group of players blah blah blah. We’re not known for sniffing glue and sticking our thumbs up our asses like Unity, they should know our lifestyle by now and get over it.” 

[chxticerebus]

usernameachilles‌:

Leaning against the side panel. Stood Achilles arms crossed, it was a rare thing him going out of his way to look for the circus leader.  As it stood, he had gone looking for the other one time before this. Found her in a bar, blood, mayhem, and carnage in her wake.  Not that it bothered him, Circus was a bloody guild. One that didn’t apologize for it; nor one that would change their ways just because it made other people… squeamish. Normally that wouldn’t bother him but as it stood it seemed that he had a reason for a little concern.

Hearing that familiar voice of her’s pulled him out of his thoughts quickly. Achilles didn’t make a move to stand up fully when she came into view. Instead, he held his easy-going stance against the wall. A pleasant enough look on his face. “ Had no idea that it was cleaning day at Circus hq. I did ask for your second but she’s out and your here.” he shrugged looking up towards the overcast sky above them. “ You wouldn’t have happened to see Mars around? Have you?”

Despite Achilles not being able to see under her mask, Erebus put on the most fake happy to see you smile that would have creeped out even the deadliest of killers. “Keeping hq clean is very important to me, if left unattended to things tend to get a little...too messy.” She leaned against the doorframe instead of inviting the other guild leader in, the small rogue wasn’t ready just yet to allow him to enter if he was looking for Mars since even she wasn’t sure where he was at the moment.

“He’s not a Circus member you know, doesn’t exactly make me feel the need to track his every movement. Why? Because if he is causing you trouble well... good luck with that.” It was a nice enough perk that he wasn’t technically part of their band of crooks, though Erebus would still prefer Mars to have an official mask and tattoo most of the time. Whatever he did was on him, even if it was an assigned task from her.

[chxticerebus]

zcndi‌:

Look, normally Jal wouldn’t do this. Minding their own business, though it was hard to believe, was kind of their thing. They only got involved when asked to get involved. However this Hela situation was a predicament, especially now that Z found her. How was it such a coincidence that Erebus and Hela were missing for a similar period of time? Yeah, sure, Erebus would probably have killed Hela if she were behind it. It didn’t hurt to ask, though.

“Take me to your leader,” they said sarcastically to the mohawked guard who answered the door.

The Circus member slammed the door in Jal’s face, which they assumed meant to fuck off, but hey. What hospitality were they to expect? Instead of leaving immediately, they hung around the door just in case. And it seemed to work well, since when the door opened again there stood the guild leader themself. “Hey buddy,” they said with a grin. “I had a couple of questions for you - first being how are you?”

Erebus eyes quickly scanned Jal up and down while her jaw tightened into a scowl under her mask. “I don’t have time for small talk, buddy. Nobody comes visiting my hq to ask how I’ve been. Just get straight to the point instead of prancing around what information you need so we can both get back to ignoring the other.” She propped the door open with her foot in a motion that showed they could step into the hq if they wanted to, but only held it for a few seconds since a large crash happened behind her. “What did you assholes break this time?!” the small rogue turned towards the ruckus to find that a member broke a shelf trying to clean it by climbing, and only sighed in frustration as she mumbled out, “Never mind, just...follow me to my office to get this settled. It’s too chaotic here for me to think.”

[chxticerebus]

location: Circus Hq

The Circus Hq was a hustle of members running around cleaning as Erebus yelled and threatened that if everything wasn’t tip top sparkling shape by the end of the day she would give them all hell. She refused to let her guild turn to shambles because of her long absence, and the short rogue made sure her presence was known in a fury of anger as she glared holes into Circus grunts not working or slacking off on dusting or organizing some part of their place. A long day of cleaning also built character, and it gave Erebus a chance to fit right back into her leadership role. 

She was in the middle of reorganizing some masks on their main wall when one of her green mohawked idiot looking members approached her with a nervous smile. “Hey uh, so there’s someone looking for you up front boss.” With a roll of her eyes she set a mask aside and shoved him out of the way as she walked with purpose. Eyes barely scanned up and down at her visitor as the guild leader set her hands behind her back. “What do you want. Can’t you see we’re all busy right now.”

[chxticerebus]

playerkitty‌:

giving erebus any attitude was always going to be a bad idea, but her filter wouldn’t turn on and actually stop her from doing it. kitty on about five hours of sleep was about as close to the worst version you can get. peanut was definitely going to be hearing a long winded rant from kitty later, her poor cat. “yeah it’s really easy to get people to join happytime murders, they eat that shit up.” kitty mumbled while sitting back and pulling her hair up into a ponytail. after the words left her mouth and she actually processed what she said, she winced. running her hands over her face, she sighed, “sorry. long night.”  

there was no point in trying to save or explain any of it, so she just flagged down someone for a cup of coffee and braced herself for another lecture of either how she wasn’t to disrespect her, that her attitude sucked, that she needed to do better with recruiting, and potentially that she thought her hair looked stupid. (that was a thought she had for about five minutes she had after she impulse changed it.) “how stellar is everyone doing in comparison to me?” 

It seemed that Erebus wasn’t the only one being hit with a big wave of exhaustion and mood change. She didn’t even have the energy to give Kitty another one of her lectures about respect and just let her fix herself. Sitting in a proper manner was never the guild leaders forte and she just leaned back in the chair with her legs stretched out while she spoke. “ If you can’t handle the new responsibility then I have plenty of other candidates in line.”

 There were a couple of members for sure, but she believed if Kitty found the right approach they would have a much better job at fining new recruits since she had a way of working the room with her whole clueless act. “Alright, only really checked in so far with some low tiers that need some more training. I still need to talk with Cheez and Conejita about any updates. They come to you for anything...or anyone else for that matter? Maybe someone named after a colorful candy ring a bell?”

[chxticerebus]

playerkitty‌:

location: bistro on nova?

players: open

so on top of opening her own store, taking care of a drunk syphon, and taking on a recruiter position for circus, kitty also decided to dye her hair blue. yes, blue. it would be a temporary installment but she was itching to do something, so that’s where she went with it. she traded her long dark hair for something a little more electric and was honestly really enjoying it. mostly. 

this time kitty was sitting at a table with a solo player, attempting to reason with them some positive factors of circus, but all her sleepless brain could get from them was an ‘i’ll think about it.’ after they got up and walked away she let her elbow slide forward and rest her head on the table, a frustrated grown leaving her. she was given one job and that was to charm people enough to join circus and she even struggled to do that much, not hard when you’re the fucking murder guild. 

the sound of the chair being pulled out from in front of her prompted a muffled, “go away.” after she spoke out though, she picked up her head, eyes focusing on the person sitting in front of her now, “oh. hi?”

Erebus was tired. Her leadership duties and expectations were wearing her down, along with this new floor that just seemed to be a never ending damp and humid nightmare of forest. Just because there were bags underneath her eyes and moments of nodding away to sleep while standing up didn’t mean she could just stop to take a breather, after her last disappearance it wasn’t wise to just go off doing what she wanted again. So it was back to checking in with her members and getting status updates, with Kitty up in line next now that she had her new job as a recruiter. 

With a robotic sigh the short guild leader pulled a chair out across from the other, making sure to emphasize the screeching noise the legs made when being dragged out to sit on. “How is your new job treating you? Seems as if you’re doing amazingly well.”

[chxticerebus]

padmeonline‌:

Location: A bar somewhere

Players: Padme + Open

Padme sat at the edge of her barstool, sipping at her fifth glass of red wine and watching the pool players yell and fight. She was in half a mood to join them. She could recall something another player–Skittles–had said to her earlier that week, about using a good NPC fight to level up and never care for the consequences. All she knew for certain was that she was comfortably drunk and when the room was spinning, then really, it was a waste not to be dancing and spinning too. 

She downed the rest of her wine then set the glass on the counter and moved to the center of the room, grabbing the arm of the first person she came across. “Dance with me.” 

Bars seemed to be Erebus’ more constant hangouts recently, whether it was to gain info from eavesdropping or slipping something into some poor drunk bastards drink for them to choke on and die later.  She was leaning against a wall that she thought was far enough away from all the rowdiness trying to spot an opportunity when suddenly someone tugged on her arm. It only took a second for her to register that the woman was Padme, and she swiftly pulled her arm away from her with a scowl hidden behind her mask. 

“I don’t dance. Especially with someone like you. Go find some other idiot man to lure into your life to prance around with you.” The guild master could tell that she was definitely not sober, which would explain her poor judgement in approaching Erebus.

[chxticerebus]

fmk the first 3 people on your dash

“Ugh fine I’d fight Hades, mutilate Hela and kill Solstice.”

[chxticerebus]