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!
Mikaela observed Salem's casual manner with a passive expression. She wasn't sure whether it was an attempt to intimidate her or if he was simply that arrogant, but she wouldn't let it throw her off. It was a tactic she'd use if she actually cared about this fight. If he wanted to catch her off guard he'd have to do better than that. She wasn't sure that she wasn't overthinking it, but Salem's assistance on some sort of performance lead her to believe she wasn't. Until it was proven otherwise she'd assume every action was purposeful.
Her gaze remained fixed on him, watching for any tension that would telegraph another strike. When it came, she stepped to the side, letting the impact distribute across both of her forearms. It was stronger than the last one he'd taken. He was still testing her. She didn't blame him. After all, she was doing the same thing.
She was in a good position to make a counterattack, but she let him retreat back instead. She still considered this playing more than an actual fight. Her brother would have laughed at her for not striking anyway while she had some semblance of an advantage. Then again, her brother had never had any sense of fun. If he ever visited Canada he'd be more focused on killing her than critiquing her reckless style.
Salem's next words brought a smile to her face. Try me. They were undoubtedly two of her favorite words in English. When people called her bluff, her usual policy was to pull the trigger. She may have been a pathological liar, but any threats she made were genuine. In her mind it went hand in hand with sticking to deals, and she'd never break a deal. But in this case Salem had nothing to hold her to. She'd simply stated a fact. It wasn't a threat until it was weighed against another demand.
"And how, pray tell, do you intend to test your theory?" she smirked, keeping her distance to hear his response. Her muscles remained tense, ready to dodge an attack if it came her way. "Careful or I’ll start to think you want to swap the stakes." she warned.
"I stand by my word, no stake swapping," he assured Mikaela, stretching out his arm until he heard a pop before putting a hand back in his pocket, his stance as careless as his attitude towards fighting. His eyes were still narrow and his vision rather clouded, but he could still make out the visuals in front of him clear enough.
To continue his moonlight performance, he began to again close the gap between them... by walking. If there's anything his father taught him when it came to hunting and combat, it was that you should never move slower than your opponent in pursuit unless you had a plan. And he did not, he liked improvising after all. It's what made every song unique, but there was something else on his mind besides this questionably dangerous routine he'd found himself in: how would he entice her to ask this oh so destructive question?
"That is a good question, but I don't think I have to test anything, Ms. Mikaela," Salem said, quickening his pace. "While your soul entertains the grey lies that flow out of you, the statement that you can end me with just one question is just that: a lie." Satisfied, he stopped just a few feet from where she stood, waiting for an answer. Shrugging, he placed his remaining hand into his pocket and lightly yawned, eyes still remaining on his adversary. "I mean no offense. It's just a fact."
While he waited, he looked around with quick glances. Salem was very aware that this person could easily take away from him the unique ability all things have: the ability to live; he had to ensure that his limited vision wouldn't hinder him, he had to retain close quarters "combat". Of course if push came to shove, he had other abilities at his disposal. Was he going to use them, was the question, and the answer was absolutely not. Not even if it saved his life. "Are you ready to continue the play, or will you stay there, silent like a rest?" Salem asked, with very minor concern in his voice.
[attr=class,Mikheadertext1]I'm not ready for the truth to see the light
[attr=class,Mikheadertext2]Make it up, Make it pretty, I don't mind
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[attr=class,Mikmaintextbox][attr=class,Mikmaintext] "You truly believe that, don't you?" Mikaela chuckled. People always called her a liar, but at the very least she knew what she was. Everyone lied, even though many of them were foolish enough to think they were honest people. It was simply impossible to be completely truthful, especially in her world, and she’d given up hope long ago. There was an honesty to her lies, at least when people were smart enough not to take at face value, that she much preferred. [break][break] "Dear Sogna, you're worse at standing by your word than me. You're the one that started this after we both said we weren't looking for trouble." A hint of frustration touched her voice. She did enjoy their game, but she had yet to forget the holiness of the grounds they’d turned into a battlefield. "...I truly hate to disturb the dead." she muttered. [break][break] Salem was approaching her, but she held her ground. If he got too close she'd be ready to dodge, but for now she wanted to see where this was going. The words that came out of his mouth were nothing more than a distraction. Accusing her of lying was like accusing a serial killer of stabbing someone. Anyone who knew anything would assume the accusation was the truth without her confirmation, but she couldn’t very well come clean about it herself. Not that this was a lie. She’d gotten used to people grouping the truth in with her lies long ago. [break][break] "Alright, say what you will about your intentions," she frowned, "I'll point this out anyway. You losing won't force me to ask anything. As it is, asking a question just to see you crushed would be a waste. The only way you have to get something honest out of me would be winning." If it was true that Salem wasn’t tempted by the threat of a single question the statement would have been pointless, but it was better safe than sorry. [break][break] "I could do this all night, there's no reason to rest. Unless you're trying to buy time again." A challenge flashed in her eyes, covering her wary suspicion. She didn’t know why the boy did so much talking. She had nothing against it, but he seemed to want to focus on the fight. Was it because her words were so distracting or was he just very good at covering low stamina.
"I truly do," Salem replied in a dry voice, void of emotion. Unmoving in his stance, he continued. "Dear Ms. Mikaela, I'm no worse than you are when it comes to standing by spoken words. If you consider this play trouble..." Salem stopped abruptly, sneaking in a small chuckle during his pause, "then at best you are as dull as the dead." The reaper gestured with a nod towards some of the tombstones around them, his gaze never leaving the living person in front of him. "The dead aren't disturbed, I assure you. I am a reaper after all... they sway to the tune of my song and mine alone, unrested or not." Smiling, he did a quick mental check. He was all good to go, just in case.
And now, he was laughing. Yes, he truly was enjoying himself tonight. It was a nice change of pace from his usual loner life, and he didn't mind it not one bit. It could have been worse. He could be dead right now, or, a slave to his mother, but he isn't. He's here, in a confusing entanglement of dark symphony replacing muse. "You say those words as if you could crush me any time you want... bold, but accurate," Salem replied with a shrug. "But alas you see right through me. A composer without control over the performance's tempo is a poor one. The same goes for everything else. Ready?" With that question, Salem, with his hands still in his pockets, shifted to the right and aimed a low left kick at Mikaela Lye , the force of the strike if successfully hit powerful, yet not enough to seriously injure, only sting. He tested the waters already, and was confident in how to approach this delicate situation now, so he thought.
[attr=class,Mikredheadertext1]I'm not ready for the truth to see the light
[attr=class,Mikredheadertext2]Make it up, Make it pretty, I don't mind
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Salem was wrong. Mikaela knew it with a stunning certainty she’d never be able to explain. She had no insight on the dead, but she knew what would disturb them. Just because it didn’t disturb the husks of their corpses didn’t mean their souls wouldn’t resent their presence. Salem himself seemed to have no grasp of his unholy ability. He played with things beyond this world and for that he’d be condemned in the afterlife. Even if she had her doubts, the aura of fear that hung around him would confirm it. Reapers were unnatural abominations. [break][break] Of course, her deeply rooted belief in her religion had never stopped her from breaking the rules. She herself had been condemned to burn in hell from the day she was born, but for now she was intent on having her fun. As long as she and Sogna would end up in the same place there was no reason not to enjoy this brief period of entertainment. [break][break] "Dull?" Mikaela laughed. "I’ve had many people describe me as many things, but dull?" She broke off again, examining the word. It was one of those terms she didn’t know the subtleties of, but she knew it was pretty similar to boring. "I quite like that description. If you want I could put you to sleep with poetry lessons. Oh! Or art history is just a fascinating subject. I know my philosophy too, so go ahead and take your pick of dull." [break][break] Mikaela’s face was still twisted in amusement as Salem went on to answer her other question. He was, indeed, procrastinating. It was an admirable quality, to be able to keep this game in his favor. Normally she’d never allow it to happen - she always tried to have the upper hand - but this was all in good fun. Plus as long as Mikaela was playing along Salem wouldn’t get the chance to learn her tactics so she was confident she could take the upper hand back at any given moment. [break][break] Without giving her a chance to prepare, Salem struck, forcing her to move much faster than she would have preferred to dodge. Tapping into her enhanced speed was giving too much away too early. He’d already seen plenty in her previous performance, but it was slightly different up close. She would have just let the strike land but that leg was already bruised from a previous scuffle and it would do more damage than whatever Salem intended. "I suppose rehearsal’s over." she sighed. The brief disappointed act was interrupted as she lashed out with a fist aimed at Salem’s face.
"Yes, dull, in that scenario, there's a first time for everything. At least that's what I want to believe." Of course Salem didn't mean what he said when he proclaimed Mikaela to be dull in nature... not entirely. To the reaper it was a grey area, a confusing grey area that he himself couldn't really explain. "Although... I do enjoy poetry and art quite a lot. Those sounds dull enough for someone like you to explain, doesn't it?" Salem laughed lightly at his question, regaining himself to attempt to clear his name. "Absolutely no offense, of course."
Salem watched with rather lazy eyes as Mikaela evaded his strike with ease, and even lazier eyes as she punched out at his face- the reaper just barely managed to move back to dodge it. A drop of blood fell to the ground unnoticed by the reaper as he took a few steps back; he brushed off his blazer from dirt and other foreign elements with a few brushes of his hand. Unfortunately, Salem wasn't too savvy when it came to social cues, and didn't know such an act would make it seem like the attack did absolutely nothing to phase or damage him; akin to stepping on someone's shoe.
"I suppose rehearsal is over," Salem said, coolly. "For you. I was always in the main event! You're pretty fast, Ms. Mikaela, does it come with controlling the dark?" A curious, open ended question, for as he asked it, he began to quickly move into a more offensive stance, lashing out at Mikaela with a series of jabs, all aimed at her chest from multiple angles; ten in total. He didn't want to aim at any vital organs, her face, and especially not her neck. All such places could possibly be fatal if she didn't use the speed she just demonstrated to Salem to block or dodge them... in other words, to Salem, any moment of doubt or hesitation from his current Muse could spell death. He also had to watch himself, he not using all of his prowess puts him at an even greater risk than that of Mikaela, evident by her last hit. It would be an unfortunate ending to a good, silent night.
At the end of his series of jabs, he would attempt to retreat a few steps, his red eye briefly flickering to life as from his lips uttered a command to the dead. "Obey," the musical reaper said, and as he did, a pair of undead, withered hands erupted from behind Mikaela, attempting to grab her legs. Salem smiled, wondering what his current Muse would do next, his hands still up, now in a defensive stance.
[attr=class,Mikredheadertext1]I'm not ready for the truth to see the light
[attr=class,Mikredheadertext2]Make it up, Make it pretty, I don't mind
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Mikaela smirked. She'd gone with poetry and art since the idea of it alone seemed to be enough to make most people weary, but the subject didn't really matter. She was quite certain she could make any subject sound dull. She could also make the same subject seem like the most fascinating thing in the world. It was all in how it was presented. [break][break] Personally, she adored literature. It was one of the few things she could enjoy without worrying about what a monster it made her or who's influence made her gravitate towards it. Like this fight. Tonight was turning out to be far from what she'd expected, and she wasn't sure she liked it. If she had the life she really wanted, which she supposedly did, she wouldn't be fighting. She'd be walking away. [break][break] She watched as he shifted into a more offensive stance and moved into her own defensive position. "You see some link between shadows and speed?" she asked with amusement as she stepped back from the first jab and held up an arm to block a second. It was a strong blow to block, confirming her belief that she should be trying to dodge. If she just blocked she'd end up with bruises all up her arm and explaining that at work would be a whole ordeal that was far from worth it. [break][break] She shook her head, falling into a rhythm of dodging. This reminded her more of a training match than a real fight. "Speed is a strength. Darkness is a less stable crutch than a rotten twig. Labeling the two as similar would likely be the death of me." There was a note of frustration in her voice, directed more at herself than him. That was just another thing she'd taken from her father's influence. Sometimes it felt like the lessons he'd taught made up more of her than her own mind. [break][break] Her brief moment of distraction was shattered at Salem's odd command, and she tensed, ready to jump in any direction. Something shifted in the ground deep beneath her, and by the time she processed exactly what was going on she barely had time to start moving before two hands snapped out of the ground and tried to latch onto her. She moved fast, but one of the hands managed to clasp onto her left ankle nonetheless. [break][break] "Oh Sogna!" she gasped, eyes alight with joy. She was careful not to let her guard down entirely. She'd defended herself backed into a corner, if he tried to land any blows how it would hardly be any different. "Parlor tricks?” [break][break] It was rare that an attacker grabbed her ankle when she hadn’t already been taken to the ground, so most of the training she’d had hadn’t directly addressed this sort of situation. Still, she had enough practice in momentum that she was sure it couldn’t be that difficult. With a sharp motion, she took a step forward and pivoted on the captured ankle then jerked away. Her normal follow up to escaping a grab was to break the wrist, but she had a feeling that wouldn’t affect the undead so she put some distance between herself and the grave instead, consequentially putting her closer to Salem. "Come on, let’s finish this off, I’ve got to go to work in like…" she glanced up at the dark sky. It was still the middle of the night without a trace of dawn’s light. That made it harder to tell the exact time and she didn’t really feel like pulling out her phone to check so she guessed. "An hour and a half?"
"If the dark is such a scantily clad crutch there would be more dead nekomata..." Salem replied back, his eyes scanning the ground as if searching for something that isn't there. "More dead warlocks, warriors, witches and litches with dreams of escaping the Afterlife's grasp... more dead missus that believe they know everything about a power they themselves did not create." Sighing and shaking his head in disappointment, he said nothing else on the matter, his dark eyes speaking for themselves.
Salem watched with a very, very subtitle smile as his Muse escaped the undead's grasp... just for a moment even he could see that she briefly was cornered. Placing his hands in his pockets, he waited in his usual grim and mournful posture for her to approach, staring as she did. "Yes, parlor tricks. Do you like them?" the reaper asked curiously, "I quite like parlor tricks. It makes activities such as hunting a bit more... entertaining."
Following her glare, Salem's eyes eventually settled on the moonlit sky for a brief moment. Taking a deep breath, Salem allowed himself to relax a little more. "I would say a little less than an hour..." he would say, but not to Mikaela, but to himself. He was still monitoring his limits and how much he can and cannot afford to push himself. An hour more and he would be spent, the product of not training as much as literally any other living soul on earth.
"We can continue this stanza another time then, I'm sure you're a very busy woman, and I would prefer you alive and well to continue being my muse. I have a lot of music I have yet to show you. They're quite breathtaking, I promise."
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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.
