Welcome to The Duality of Man, an original animanga role-play that features numerous supernatural creatures. Unfortunately, these various species have distanced themselves because of the war that occurred thousands of years ago, plaguing some with eyes that only see their dualism. While others meddle themself with their differences, two groups fight, each attempting to eliminate the other in for their definition of worldly peace. These two groups of the Terror Response Syndicate (TRS) and the Assembly of Phantoms (AP). With individuals fighting merely over their differences, it brings uncertainty to the outcome of this war.
We happily accept all role-players as long as they obey the rules and are capable of meeting our word count of 50. This does include those who are unfamiliar with this style of role-playing. The staff of The Duality of Man are willing to happily help those who are new to the role-playing world so they feel comfortable on site. Feel free to message the staff if you need help, they can be found here or in the site Discord and will gladly answer questions alongside calm concerns. If you have any suggestions we would love to hear them; guests may use the support board as a suggestion area as well. Should you decide to join, may I say welcome to the site and we all hope you enjoy your time here.
Yours Truely,
The Staff
season
Summer 2024
Heat has broken through into a glorious summer. The snow has entirely dried through the spring, leaving to the brilliance of the warmer months. Terror activity has risen as people are brought out of their homes, leaving the TRS in a position of consistent work. Each are attempting to maintain victory in the endless struggle for power.
Since the wonderful members of TDOM enjoy the site enough to play around on it, this thread is to assist with the site's tidying! Functionality is important and we want to make the site functional even if its activity will be minimal at best!
Not an hour ago the weather had been almost clear; now, as Sinai looked out the large awning window overlooking the closed-off patio, she could hardly see the ocean through the thick snowfall. The high-pitched yawning of the wind outside made her thankful she had gotten here before the worst of the storm hit. She felt a droplet of water drip onto her nose from the freshly melting snow in her hair and flinched. Damn the winters in this place, she thought to herself, exhaling with relief upon feeling the odd sensation of a warmed glass against her almost numb hands. A small pool of water had begun to form underneath her from the excess snow melting off her oversized dark coat, which nearly touched the floor from the barstool she sat on.
She gingerly sipped her hot toddy, likely the first of many drinks she'd be enjoying tonight. She thought to herself that she almost missed being able to feel inebriated, having slowly forgotten what it was like over the last couple of years. The drink didn't stave her hunger—nothing could—but she quietly admitted that the feeling of a hot drink in one's belly was a welcome sensation on a night like this. The bar was emptier than she'd ever seen it, since not many people had been there before it began snowing in earnest, and the meagre promise of a drink or two on a weekday night proved small incentive to brave the storm. She'd spent the last twenty minutes doing nothing but make occasional silent exchanges of eye contact with the bartender, who seemed none too keen for conversation this time of night. Not that she'd complain—she much preferred companionable silence to uncomfortable small talk. She took sidelong glances at the few souls stuck there alongside her, occupying plush benches in the booths or sitting alone at candlelit four-seater dining tables. Most nursed heady pints of ale or lager, some picked up discarded newspapers and leisurely skimmed last week's headlines or picked at half-finished crosswords, while a couple had brought books to read.
Sinai wasn't sure if anyone was occupying the private booths, nor was she quite bored enough to go check. Instead, her fingers moved idly across the surface of the small wooden box laid in front of her, gently feeling the texture of the decorative engraving which adorned its lid. Once she emptied her glass, she gestured to the bartender, who nodded and began fixing her a second toddy. She expected she'd be spending the rest of the evening alone until the storm passed, which she didn't mind; she was happy to take the time to herself after a long shift at work.
Then again, there's never a bad night for good company.
Seszitaz normally wasn’t an alcohol drinker. But, at this point, he was stranded at the bar for the time being. Despite being cold-blooded his entire life, it still has not fully gone through his head to wear a sweater when it gets cold. So, he’s trapped in the bar, the warm air his chains.
The young man still shivered despite the warm air surrounding him. He probably needed some warm drink—he didn’t know what bars would use to satiate that need, but he had no choice besides finding out. Seldom did he choose to sit next to another person, but between a young woman, and a few surlier drunk men, he chose the young woman. He walked over (he was in his human form, only as to not take up too much space; he much preferred his other forms.) to the young woman, and sat on the chair to her left. He was clearly uncomfortable, especially without asking permission, but he couldn’t get the air out of his throat to ask anyway. He had no idea what warm drinks bars would sell, so he picked up the menu and started skimming it for words like “warm” or “hot”. He found a thing called a “toddy”. He had never heard the word before, but he guessed he would have to try it regardless. He looked up to the unbusy bartender.
“He—hey,” he said to the bartender, clearing his throat imbetween. “Can I... can I have the... cinnamon... toddy... thing? Please?” He clearly showed his lack of confidence and alcohol knowledge to the woman he sat next to, who Seszitaz assumed the type of confident person who went to bars often. He felt embarrassed.
The bartender nodded, with an “of course”. While they got his drink ready, Seszitaz sat silently. He didn’t want to initiate conversation.
Sinai hadn't noticed the gentleman in the bar until he sat beside her. While she initially felt slight apprehension at his sudden, soundless appearance, his anxious demeanour told her he was probably just unfamiliar with the environment. She recalled her first few nervous visits to this bar, when she learned quite distressingly that alcohol no longer affected her. Unconsciously, she noted his reptilian eyes. Shifter? Naga? Something else? She didn't mean to devote too much thought to the question, but it crossed her mind regardless. She also noticed his clothes were entirely lacking for the weather—understandable, considering how suddenly the storm had come in—and she felt a pang of empathy for him as he shivered. She had briefly considered giving him a recommendation of a warm drink, but he began poring over the drinks list himself. As the young man fumbled with the menu and stammered his order, Sinai couldn't stop the corner of her mouth from curling into a slight smile. She wasn't used to being the "experienced" person at the bar, what with the gang of regulars usually milling about. Had he heard her order the hot toddy and decided to follow along? She wasn't sure, but the possibility entertained her. She wondered if he would eventually try to start a casual conversation with her; he couldn't know how long it would take the bartender to finish mixing their drinks, so the amount of silent, empty space to fill could be agonizing for both of them. She occasionally glanced his way to gauge his reaction, and couldn't tell if his face was flush from the cold or his obvious embarrassment.
The air hung completely silent, save for the sounds of the drinks being poured and stirred, until the bartender finally brought their hot toddies. Since they'd each ordered the same drink around the same time, the bartender had elected to serve them both at once. Sinai took the lemon wedge from her glass's rim and dropped it into the drink, stirring it somewhat pointlessly with the cinnamon stick it came alongside. While it had been fun to see her tongue-tied companion fidget awkwardly, Sinai figured she might as well offer him some respite at long last. She briefly wondered how to break the ice, before gently lifting her glass and holding it up expectantly.
"Yeah, cold weather sucks. Here's a toast to staying toasty," she said, and clinked her glass against his. She took a long sip, letting out a satisfied sigh. "I'm Sinai, call me anything you like. We might be stranded here a while, so might as well make ourselves comfortable." She rested her elbows on the bar as she looked at the young man out of the corner of her eye.
"So, what bad luck brought you out to the coast on a night like this?"
Seszitaz would have much preferred the young woman to have stayed silent for the entirety of tonight; he was perfectly content with the silence that had persisted as the two waited for their drinks. It was to both his dismay and surprise that the young woman spoke once the two had received their drinks. When she started talking, he jumped out of fear, just barely keeping in a small shriek. As she started talking about toasts and herself, he decided to follow suit in what she had done; squeezing the lemon wedge in his drink and stirring it with the cinnamon stick. He wasn’t sure how to respond to the toast, so he just sorta sat still.
He wasn’t quite comfortable in his position, with the young woman looking at him like she was. He didn’t respond immediately, instead opting to hope for her to magically disappear. After a short-yet-long awkward silence disappointing him, he decided to respond. Gulping up the air in preparation, he squeezed out, “My name’s Seszitaz... some people call me Sesz.” His S’s we’re somewhat drawn out, moreso than most people. His slightly hissy voice was only made more clear through his quieter tone. “I just... I forgot to bring warm clothes, and, I’d probably freeze to death outside.” This sentence he got out rather quickly. He hadn’t looked over at the young woman, hoping to drive her attention away from him without seeming rude.
Okay, rough start, Sinai thought to herself. It probably wasn't worth trying to pry anything more out of the guy. She had no intention of forcing Sesz into uncomfortable conversation, though she'd hoped to get over the 'introduction' hurdle a little more smoothly than that. She thought it was somewhat odd for someone to choose to sit right next to her in a mostly empty bar, order the same drink as her, but have little to no intention of actually interacting with her. Maybe a little impolite? But he definitely seemed to just be shy rather than outright unfriendly. Well, whatever. He had his reasons for being here, just like she did, and it was none of her business. If congenial silence is what he wanted, it's what he'd get. Though she was slightly disappointed by the short-lived conversation, at least she wasn't entirely lacking in things to do.
She turned her attention back to her drink and, with a long sip, quietly reaffirmed to herself that, yes, she did indeed miss being able to get drunk.
After putting down her glass she reached for the small wooden box in front of her, thinking it was about time she learned what was inside. She delicately slid the engraved cover off the face, and tipped the box's contents into her hand. A purple, hand-sized velvet pouch fell into her hand with a soft, metallic jingle. She loosened the drawstring on the bag and removed from it a deck of cards and a small brass pendulum on a chain, about half a foot in length. Ah, she thought to herself, nothing particularly special. She turned the cards over, flipping through them and examining their faces one by one. She shrugged and began to shuffle them with a practiced dexterity, before finally spreading them across the counter in front of her in a long, uninterrupted arc.
The bartender paid remarkably little attention to this, having seen it a few times before, and continued to dry glasses near the back corner. A look of boredom returned to Sinai's face as she stared at the spread of cards, lightly drumming her fingers against the counter as if wondering what to do next.
Seszitaz put his toddy to his lips, slowly; he wanted to be warmed up by the drink, not burned. As the alcohol touched his tongue, and went down his throat, he shivered. His whole body shook as he put his glass down, mumbling, “Wo-wow...” and trailing off flustered by the toddy. Even after the weird experience, Seszitaz opted to drink another few sips of the drink. He turned his head, to watch curiously at the young woman fumble with a box. While her truck with the cards didn’t impress the bartender, it certainly impressed Seszitaz. With another sip of the booze boosting his confidence, Seszitaz asked her, “Hey, uh... How’d you do.. that?”
His cheeks flushed a bit, both from the booze and from his embarrassment to interact with another person. he sorta slid down on the counter, letting his head rest on his hand.
Sinai turned to face Sesz, hiding how pleased she was by his show of interest. She cleared her throat before sweeping the cards back up into her hand in a swift motion, holding them out in front of her.
"You'd be surprised how long it takes to learn that, getting the pressure just right and everything. It changes depending on the weight and texture of the cards, as well as the surface they're on, so it's really finicky." She fanned the cards out into a large semi-circle in her hand. "But it's just tricks of the trade in the end. Some people just don't want to listen unless you can do this stuff, since it makes you look like you know what you're doing. I think I spent a whole weekend stuck in my apartment just practicing that spread over and over."
She turned the fanned cards over, revealing that they weren't playing cards, but tarot cards. They were illustrated with strikingly minimalist designs; black backgrounds surrounding sharp white forms. Each was identified both by small roman numerals above the design, and its common name written below.
"These ones were just released, I think the deck's called Stardust or something to that effect. Since our business supported their development early on we got sent an express order, and I'm on 'quality assurance' duty, as usual. I don't know if you go for this sort of thing, but as long as I'm meant to be testing them, I don't suppose you'd like a reading?"
“Wait, what business?” he asked. He’s never really seen tarot cards before, so naturally, he didn’t know much about them. “I didn’t know they had any sort of difference.” Seszitaz’s hand approached his neck, realizing maybe he should’ve known better. “I mean—sure, I’ll take a reading. Can’t hurt, right?” He leaned in just a bit closer, not entirely sure how this would work. Would he be grabbing cards? Should he be looking at them? Does it work sort of like a normal game of cards? He really had no idea, and simply had to wait and see.
The naga drank a bunch more of his cinnamon toddy. He’d almost finished the drink, and he was quite warmed up by it, but he wanted more. The alcohol started to loosen him up, breaking through his introvertedness. He waved at the bartender. After getting their attention, he asked for another toddy. They obliged. “Would your girlfriend like another?” they asked with a smile, turning to the young woman.
Sinai stared blankly at the bartender for a few seconds before fully processing what they'd just said. When it finally clicked, she couldn't help herself from letting out a sudden snicker, hoping she wasn't blushing too hard. Without thinking, she downed the last of her toddy in one gulp. She itched idly at her nose and tried to avoid direct eye contact with anyone. "Well I don't know much about his girlfriend, but I sure could use another." She did her best to politely shoo away the bartender so she could regain her composure. Finally steeling the nerve to look Sesz in the eye, she said, "at least, I'm assuming I'm not your girlfriend tonight. I don't think they do couples discounts or anything here." She let out a small laugh before clearing her throat and quickly turning back to her cards.
"A-anyway! If you've never done a tarot reading before, don't worry, you won't have to do anything. Since you aren't going into this with a specific question in mind, we'll just do a general look at your past, present, and future." As she spoke, she began reshuffling the cards. "If you were a customer, I'd tell you to centre your energies or something, but for now you can just sit back, relax, and let this wizened old crone blow your mind with some keen spiritual insights. You ready?"
With a flourish, Sinai suddenly flipped up the hood of her jacket, casting a grim shadow over her face. She once again spread the cards face-down on the counter between her and Sesz, then took a small candle from the bar and held it between the two of them, illuminating her visage in the dim, flickering light. Her face was serious, almost cold. She spoke in a low voice...
"Let shine the cold mirror, vast; reveal to me this young man's past!"
Her hand hovered over the spread of cards, moving it back and forth before suddenly coming to a stop, a finger outstretched. She took the card to which she pointed and gently slid it from the spread, looking at it only briefly before turning it over in her fingers, showing Sesz its face. It was marked with a beautiful spiral of starry motes swirling around a black void, above which was emblazoned the emblem XIII. One of Sinai's fingers covered the bottom of the card, where its common name was written. She grinned as she removed her finger, revealing a single word:
Seszitaz blushed at the bartender thinking the young woman was his girlfriend. He certainly wouldn’t have a girlfriend, let alone some weird lady he just met. Regardless, he watched her do her weird dark magic thing—interested, finding the whole method intriguing.
When the young woman revealed the singular word “death,” Seszitaz made a noise somewhere between a snort and a whimper. He wasn’t sure which of the two emotions he should be feeling. It was kind of funny for the card to make such an outrageous claim—having had a relatively steady life—though, she had a sort of aura around her that made him just a tad unsure. He opened his mouth, not even air escaping. He closed it. Again, he opened it, words escaping this time. “Wh-what is that supposed to mean?” he asked. “I don’t remember any sort of death.”
The bartender came back, two more toddies in hand. He set one down for each of the two. Seszitaz already began sipping his, starting to become desensitized to the sensation of alcohol. He was certainly getting drunk, though.
Sinai placed the card face-up in front of her and let out a laugh, pulling her hood off her head.
"Nah, that's just me trying to freak you out. It usually works on the more clueless superstitious types, it's fun." She nodded to the bartender and took a hold of her glass. "It might sound a bit spooky or melodramatic, but Death doesn't usually refer to actual physical demise, even in questions of health. It refers more to a dramatic change or transition, so you might think of it as Rebirth more than anything. Not to say it can't literally refer to death, though. All it really means is that your life so far has been punctuated by some deep, pronounced change. If that sounds like vague, Barnum-esque fortune cookie nonsense, that's because it pretty much is."
She chuckled and took a sip of her drink. Her hand hovered above the spread of cards again before suddenly descending, her finger landing on one of the cards. She pulled it from the spread and picked it up so Sesz couldn't see its face, then nodded. She turned the card over, revealing an emblem of a swirling galaxy. Though she held the card upside-down, the identifying legend clearly read:
Seszitaz chuckled. "Yeah," he said, "you can't be wrong if you're too vague." He took the other glass that the bartender held out, with a "thank you." Taking a sip, he watched as the young woman picked a card. He looked at the card, finding it slightly hard to read upside-down, but with a squint of his eyes and a lean forward he got it.
"Pfft," he snickered. "What does that even mean?" It then hit him that it probably meant that he was an introvert. "Oh, uh, yeah, that's probably actually true. . . I don't really leave my apartment." Subconsciously, his hand reached for his neck. "So, is there anything else you do besides this card thing? I don't know much about voodoo stuff. Is an of it somewhat true?" He looked back down at the card, studying the galaxy. "What importance does the Andromeda galaxy have on it, by the way?"
Sinai laid the card next to the first one and leaned back, thinking for a moment. "I think the galaxy is an allusion to the traditional Hermit card, which shows an old man guided by a lantern with a six-pointed star. A guiding celestial body of some kind, I guess. It's mostly an aesthetic choice, so I wouldn't read too much into it. As for its actual meaning, you've got one part of it right. While the upright Hermit normally refers to introspection and personal journeys, the inverted Hermit here alludes more to unhealthy isolation, seclusion, withdrawal, that sort of thing. It also indicates a fear of self-reflection, but I think it's up to you to decide whether that applies."
She held the hot glass in her hands, having gotten a little cold in the last couple minutes. "The cards are what I have the most experience in, so this is just me trying to give a good first impression," she said a little sheepishly. "I've gotten a little training in palm reading, charm casting, smoke-reading, that sort of thing, but I wouldn't call any of it 'magic.' As for whether it's true? That depends what you mean. Can I actually see into your past or future based on the cards I take out? No. But you saw this card," she tapped the Hermit, "and immediately thought of your introverted lifestyle, right? It may be a rather on-the-nose example, but it certainly tells me something about you. For a lot of people, contemplating these cards tells them things about themselves, which I think is what's really important. I won't be able to tell you what'll really happen in your future, but I can show you a certain... perspective, I guess. To some people, that's really valuable."
The corners of Sinai's mouth lifted slightly. "Not to say I don't have any methods of real divination," she said slyly. She cleared her throat and began hovering her hand over the cards again. "Anyway, I think it's about time we finished this up. This is the one everyone gets excited about, the future. Aaand..." She swept a card up, once again hiding its face from Sesz. She turned it over in her fingers, revealing a large, upside-down 2. The corners were alternately decorated with emblems of a diamond, as though from a playing card, and some kind of staff or rod. Sinai furrowed her brow and dramatically announced:
Seszitaz's face was covered in simple confusion. "The hell does that mean?" he asked. "'You're a wizard, Harry'?" He chuckled a bit at his own joke, but stifled it before he seemed too self-centered. "Seriously, though, does that mean I'm gonna learn magic or something? That would be kinda nice." He stirred his toddy a little more, taking a few bigger sips out of it.
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credits
The skin is created by Wolf of Adoxography and Gangnam Style. The thread and conversation remodels are by Kagney. The Strange Reality board list, Heal My Soul info center, I Remember Now mini profile and Electric Requiem profile remodel is made by Pharoah Leap. The Who's That Member member list remodel was made by Tictactoe. The Cbox.ws Shoutbox remodel was made by Trinity Blair. All templates used for claims, information sheets, applications, etc are credited to their owners; credits for these can be found in the threads the templates are use on. Images that are used on The Duality of Man are credited to their owners, however, they have been edited by Zac with a few being edited by Chibi Magician. The plot, rules and various other information pieces for The Duality of Man are written by Chibi Magician with the assistence of her co-admins, Finnegan and Dremulf, alongside other unlisted people who were kind enough to give their input. The TRS, AP and face claim were all created by Fleur for specifically the use of TDOM. All plugins used on The Duality of Man are credited to their owners. The templates my members use are credited to their maker, if you find a template that belongs to you, but is uncredited, please speak to Chibi Magician or the member themself. Characters created on The Duality of Man are credited to their owners and should not be used elsewhere without the creator's permission.
Special thanks for the members of TDOM who make suggestions to help make this site better. Even though we can not accept all suggestions, we immensely appreciate it. Thus, we give credit to any additions that you thought of and were later implimented by the staff, because we are glad you give us these excellent ideas.
