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!
Xander made his way towards the morgue. Even the thought that Lisa may be there, was not enough to improve his mood. The anger in his eyes, his posture, the way he BREATHED, was enough to make everyone passing him in the halls, hug the wall as he walked. His mind went over the call again, and again.
Mr. Xander? We need you to come down and identify a body. We believe it to be a young man by the name of Ollivander Grayson. He was found in severe condition, and unfortunately passed while our surgeons attempted to save his life. There are a number of tattoos and other bodily markings, but his face is...we will not be able to use facial recognition to identify the body.
Xander was sure it was Ollie. Kid wasnt part of the TRS, but Xander had taken him in, kept him off the streets. Ollie had said something about, about finishing 'it'. Kid had belonged to a gang, left them, it hadnt gone over well. This was probably tied to that. and if it was, may all the gods have mercy on those who did the boy in.
Because Xander sure as hell wasnt.
He pushed into the morgue room and scanned the tables. He didnt know where to begin looking, and chose to wait for whoever was in to show him the body.
“Vrrrrt.tck.tck. VVRRRT.” The sound of the vending machine down the hall, taking Lisa’s crumbled-up-but-hastily-smoothed-out-over-the-edge-of-the-machine dollar, thinking about it, before spitting it back out at her. Like it had been. For the past two minutes. Lisa groaned and stamped her foot as she pushed the dollar back into the electronic bill taker.
“Take it.” Lisa hissed unhappily, “Take it and give me the soda.”
“Vrrrt…” Lida took a deep breath in her knee-length black dress and her pink suede heels, waiting on edge as the machine threatened another mechanical ‘tck’, before it accepted the dollar and gave her a dollar’s worth of vending credit for the machine. “Finally.” She huffed and pressed the button for a metallic orange can of orange soda- [ Sold Out ]. The digital display on the vending machine told her, “Oh… ok.” She said and pressed another button for a can of cherry-flavored cola which was also sold out. Lisa clenched her teeth unhappily and pressed a button for a can of dr.pepper. This too was sold out. “So you’re really going to take my money and not give me a soda I want?” Lisa grumbled to the machine then hit another button and on the machine for even a cola. Her least favorite. Sold out.
Lisa hissed with frustration and kicked the machine angrily and it gave a mechanical snarl before there was a repeated thunking noise from inside and five sodas fell out: A collection of the sodas it told her were fucking sold out. Not to be one to waste an opportunity, Lisa grabbed them and as she was about to make a snide comment as she stood up, another assistant came out of the morgue in a white-lab coat,
“Dr.Chamberlain.” They- Amelia, the Morgue doctor- called and Lisa looked at her abruptly with her arms full of the forbidden acquired sodas. “The TRS agent is on his way?” Lisa trotted back to the morgue as fast as she could in her heels, and put the sodas away, by the time she did that, Xander had already blasted into the morgue and Amelia approached him first,
“Good afternoon, you must be Mr.Xander, we haven’t pulled the body out yet.” Amelia said warmly, pushing her brown hair out of the way as Lisa came into the morgue and walked over to the wall of body cabinets, “If you’re a guardian, we would really appreciate you signing some forms-” “Dr.Conway.” Lisa said loudly and the other female hesitated, “Can you go and grab the test results for Mr. Grayson, from the labs up on the third floor? We don’t have them.” Amelia nodded nervously and left the room as Lisa opened a lower cabinet and pulled out the sliding tray, producing the body in question. She slipped her hands in her white lab-coat pockets.
“Here’s the body, Xander.” She said and took a couple of steps back, “Take your time; go slow if need be.”
Xander nodded. Although it was not his intent to seem cold, or distant, he likely came across that way. This was not a personality issue. It was truthfully a matter of his brain structure. Neanderthals did not have the same emotional processing as Sapiens. They felt emotions, but intense emotional reactions were suppressed. It was a survival feature.
He pulled back the sheet. The face was smashed beyond recognition. He had expected this. He lift the left arm, and turned it. There, as he knew it would be, was a tattoo of a skull, in the Hispanic 'day of the dead' style.
"Its Ollie."
His voice was cold. Although this was only their second meeting, the difference between his light and warm tone of the first meeting, would be a stark contrast to this new display. He replaced the sheet.
"I'm not his legal guardian. His parents were killed by a Terror. I let him stay at my place for a while. He was only 17."
Xander pulled a small packet from an inside pocket of his duster coat. He opened the packet and poured out several amethyst crystals. He selected one about the size of his thumbnail, and placed it carefully on the metal table, moving the hand so it covered the stone.
"Not that many know this, but, my father's people, they believe purple crystals acted as guides to the spirit lands, the place on the other side. This is a funerary practice that is only observed by myself now."
Lisa watched him look over the body and turn to see a particular tatto then confirm it was who they assumed it was.
Then Xander advised the boy was only 17. When she was all of 17, she had a family and a guiding hand but the lack there off in human societies meant th ecommunity would help them- to destroy them. “I am glad you were there for him where you could be.”
“I didnt know that but thank you for telling me that; I am always willing to learn.” Lisa said and sighed, shaking her head, “Humans are so disgusting to each other sometimes… It’s almost as unsettling as how they treat things they dont understand.”
Lisa hesitated, “Forgive me; I… do not have a grasp for human emotions, myself, anymore, so I don’t want you to think I am cold to this situation.” She advised before adding, “As the mortuary director, I am at your disposal to help you decide what is best for this boy… even if that involves forging some paperwork so that you have a decision in place of his parents... “
She looked down at the body and inwardly voiced her condolences, “It… had been difficult for me in the past, as there have bene many other humans I found myself fond of, who met unnatural fates like this- before their time.”
"Emotions are...difficult things. Many humans struggle to understand how they feel, or to express themselves appropriately. I struggle with things like empathy, with sadness. Not because of anything wrong with me, but because it is the best for survival. Being what i am, as old as i am, letting my emotions boil over is...dangerous. i will have to contact Lorsette PD. Let them know everything i can about those who did this."
He rubbed his forehead. "Told him to just stay away from them. He didnt have to go back and try to mend that bridge."
The half neanderthal let out a sigh. In truth, though he looked cold, and perhaps unfeeling on the outside, inside, he felt a rage that threatened to spill over the brim. He could picture himself, clearly, snapping the necks of those who had killed Ollie. He wouldnt even need his combat based ability. He could easily do it anyway. Sapiens were so weak. So...delicate.
Lisa quietly watched him and his body language, “Why would you speak to the police department?” She asked as her brow furrowed with confusion, “Certainly the humans will figure it out themselves and it’s honorable that you are trying to do the right thing… but when does it end? Where do you draw the line between yourself and the humans?” Lisa asked,
“Yes; this human did not deserve an end like this. Yes, it could have been avoided, but arent you worried about getting too attached to them?” Lisa questioned, “Even if we had stopped this poor boy; you or I; in time, there would be no promise this would not still be an outcome.”
She sighed, “I am overstepping but… I am struggling to understand why you are willing to so casually mix the humans and even help them. Even if you were to seek vengeance for this poor boy’s death… when does it end? Are you not risking what shaky safety you have found here, by being discovered for enacting justice for this poor boy?” Lisa asked, “I…Would be lying if I said that I havent done the same for a few humans I grew fond of, but the gamble never truly ends in my favor.”
Xander smiled softly, her obvious fear of discovery was something he had once felt himself, a long, long time ago.
"It is not for him that i am doing this. Those who did this to him, will be willing to do this to others. I could not save him. But by acting, by giving the information so that the authorities can act, and deal with this themselves, i may be able to save others. There is risk, for sure, but, nothing worth doing, is without risk."
He sighed, reaching into his duster again. This time, he pulled out a very, very old piece of paper. It had clearly been folded, and unfolded, countless times.
"This is a letter of thanks, written by one Anita Delimita. I tracked down the man who killed her parents, in 1932. I risked exposure at every turn. This letter, which simply says 'Thank you' in rough, barely legible hand writing, did more to soothe the ache in my heart, than decades of working orphanages, hospitals, and animal shelters. Its...difficult to explain in words, and truthfully, i am not sure you can understand the feeling, with how muted undead emotions tend to be."
He put the letter away after a moment, and looked at Lisa. "I have lost count of how many times i attempted to take my own life. I dont know the exact span of my life, but, i have lived so long, as to see the rise of the stone age, the start of the bronze age, and all the way through till now. I once hunted beasts that only exist in legend, and as crude paintings on the walls. I thought i would never regain my desire to live. Yet i always find myself convinced, even when i think it is not possible. I cannot say how others would feel. I have met a few other immortals of human origin. None as old as me. All have their own reasons for wanting to continue, their own way of enjoying their eternal life. Each must find their own. My reason, at this point in time, is to save as many lives as i can. The love and gratitude of a single child, makes me feel...fulfilled. As if i have truly done something with my time. Getting attached is indeed, painful when they are lost to me. but it is human nature to seek attachments. You may not realize it, but the relationship between you and your apprentice, is similar in nature to the relationship found in adoptive human family groups. Even as immortal undead, the two of you still seek to form bonds."
“Attachments… and fulfillment…?” Lisa echoed absently but almost thoughtfully. She thought of her apprentice.
“I know you may feel as if I have deceived you… but I have stayed. Haven’t I? I have stayed, in the shadows; please let me stay next to you, this time, and beyond.” Lisa had conceded and accepted and they had been bound since; nearly inseparable as far as one of his species could be.
“This year, I will be one-thousand, two-hundred-and-ninety-nine years old. I think… my ‘Anita Delimita’, would be a woman by the name of Jeanne d’Arc. I knew what the feeling of ‘love’ was once before my lichdom… and I believe I deeply loved her. For many years I was bitter and vengeful, making ‘deals’ with humans in exchange for the curse of lichdom following my resurrection with no care whether they understood the weight or not. I thought differently when I met her and I offered to give her lichdom thirty-seven times before they burned her at the stake on May 30th, 1431.” Lisa said and looked down and covered her eyes,
“I loved her as she was; as the person she was, as the individual she was, for her mind and her views, never romantically and I respected her more each time she turned me down. She always quoted her devotion to ‘God’ but it took me a long time to understand that her devotion to her religion overpowered me. I do not think I am capable of having offspring, if you do not consider those I have cursed, but I wailed, I cried and I screamed like a mother losing their child as they burned her. I tried my best to be louder than she was to save what dignity she had left.”
“My apprentice and I gave her the burial rites she deserved.” Lisa lowered her hand, looking at the boy’s body, “So, in a way; it was a result like this that led me to the decision to become something like a… tasmanian devil, of the liches I cursed, my ‘offspring’ if you will. In the weeks that followed I was inconsolable, I grieved, I was emptier than I had been before and that's when my Apprentice advised me one of the liches I cursed had killed humans. Not just one or two, they had killed the inhabitants of a small village. 547 humans; including the babies he killed in their own cribs and the pregnant women.”
“I kept thinking ‘How?’. I know madness grips humans, but the dulling of the emotions should have, in my mind, made something like that near impossible…Do you know the reason, Xander?”
“He snapped because he ran up a bar tab and didn’t pay. Humans are hideous- but the lich I created, went into school houses and killed children in their classrooms, went to orphanages and killed them, killed patients at the ramshackle hospital they had.” Lisa looked at Xander, “For all humans are, for the many ways they could deserve something like that- as I stood in that town square, even someone like me could feel the warmth of what it had once been, fade and vanish. Those humans did not deserve that fate; but you know who did? That wayward son of a lich. I killed him and the ones he made; I uprooted him and his by the roots of their tree, all three hundred and twenty one of them.”
Lisa looked at Xander, stoic as she voiced, “There is a time and a place; your boy was at the wrong end of both. My boy, too, in the end. I respect a man who tries to put a stop to things where he can, even when risked with a gamble.”
Xander listened, he did not speak until she had finished.
"I reason for his actions, though, it may not be the answer you want. A Lich is nothing, and nothing less, than a human who has returned to life, when they should have died. Their emotions, though muted, are not gone. I have walked this earth longer than any other born to it, as far as i know. there may yet be angels, or demons, who are older than i am. But no being born of the Earth has seen more sunrises."
He closed his eyes, as if listening to something far away.
"Undead, Earth Born, Heaven Born, Hell Spawned. They are, for all their differences, the same when you look beyond their appearances. You have claimed many lives. Even if you count those that you yourself did not take directly. I have taken...so many more. I have slain mothers as they wept over the corpse of their child. I have murdered men as they held their wives who breathed no more. War is a monster, and it makes those who are drawn into it, into monsters as well. I have spared lives that i should not have, causing even greater harm."
His eyes turned dark.
"In 1910, i fought in the countryside of Italy. I saw before a young German, his eyes filled with terror as i came upon him, ready to take his head from his shoulders. I spared him. i still wonder, to this day, if the soldier i spared, was then one who one day brought about the second world war."
She listened to him as he spoke and she paused, wondering if people she had spared had caused more problems. Her phone chimed and she pulled it out of her pocket to find a new text from her apprentice.
[ Two have died; one by my hands, another tried to run from me and got into a car crash. Killed instantly. I checked. Twenty remains.] The text read and she frowned, sighing and pressing the button on the side to lock it and darken the screen. She could hear Amelia returning.
“As heavy as this topic is- thank you for speaking with me.” Lisa said, “I enjoy your companionship and our talks.” As she finished, Amelia came back into the morgue with the paperwork she had gone to go grab, in tow, and Lisa smiled,
“Welcome back, Dr.Conway; please go over the results you’ve brought us with Mr.Xander.” She said and pulled the sheet respectfully back over the young boy, sliding him back into the cabinet and locking him in, “Dr.Conway is the one who performed the autopsy on Mr. Grayson.” She said as she produced a small doll that looked similar to Amelia, from her white lab coat pocket, as Amelia looked at Xander- Lisa ran her thumb across the doll’s forehead, “Mr.Xander has provided the proof of clearance.”
Amelia smiled at Xander, “Thank you for providing proof of clearance.” She said as Lisa tucked the doll away, turning and walking away to go to where she had put her sodas and took one out- Dr.Pepper- wait-
“Why does this say ‘Doctor Thunder’?” Lisa grumbled and inwardly cursed the cheap humans who put knock-off brand soda in the name-brand soda vending machine. “I can’t stand humans.” She mumbled to herself unhappily as she cracked open the soda and took a swig- then sarcastically blanched, sticking out her tongue, “Bleck- they don’t even taste the same. Acetone cherry.”
Xander listened to the report, and filed the name of the officer in charge of the investigation away in his mind. He glanced over the report himself, providing commentary on the findings that showed he had what would be a shocking understanding of the field of forensic Pathology.
It was only reasonable really. He had lived a long time, and he had to occupy his time somehow. He focused on part in particular.
"It says here, he tested positive for high levels of lead? How would he have been exposed to something like that, in those levels, without dying directly from it?"
In reality, he knew the answer, but it was not a matter of general knowledge. Lead was used by many drug dealers to artificially increase the weight of the powdered drugs they sold. Ollie didnt use any drugs other than a bit of cannabis. The likely answer to the question of how he had ended up with Lead in his system was that the gang had pure Lead powder and was planning to mix the highly toxic chemical with their cocaine supply.
Lisa heard the conversation from her office thanks to her office door being opened- lead? Why indeed would he have lead?
Amelia hesitated to answer as she didn’t know, “Just… a moment.” She said and left the man alone, going down the hallway to Lisa’s office, “Dr.Chamberlain-” Lisa was mid-swig into another drink and she looked at the younger woman, “I don’t know how to answer Mr. Xander’s questions?” She said and Lisa finished her drink, looking at the clock then nodded to Amelia,
“Why don’t you go on home for the night? I will handle Mr.Xander and the paperwork, you’ve done enough for the day.” Lisa said and the woman nodded as Lisa got back up and entered the morgue again, “Have a nice night, Dr.Chamberlain!” Amelia called as Lisa put on a fake smile, watching the woman leave the morgue before letting it drop,
“So, the lead could have been ingested, or maybe… he was taken to a lead factory to get his fatal end.” Lisa offered then offered, “Where there are gangs, there are drugs, and where there are drugs there are human mules… perhaps they forced him to swallow some type of drug package and it exploded?” Lisa said but then counter-argued, “Human stomach acid is just hydrochloric acid, and though it can dissolve metal it cannot dissolve plastic; so if we go with the theory that it was a packet of drugs, we didn’t find any plastic in the stomach, so either they are using something more organic or there was another type of entry.”
"Given the high levels, it likely was absorbed from some kind of mucus membrane surface. But, there is the chance it was inhaled as well, i noticed there was no lung biopsy done, but given the obvious damage to skull, it would have been low priority. Its simple enough to check."
He nodded towards the cooler, moving to pull it out. He didnt need to cut the body open, he just needed to swab the upper sinuses. He suspected powdered lead, and long exposure.
Ollie had been missing for a week before his body was body. His injuries showed some signs of healing, which to someone who wasnt aware of the poor kids clotting issues, would make them look as if they occurred just a few hours before death. But, in reality, depending on how long he was without his meds, they could have been days old.
If he had been kept in a building or space filled with lead dust...he would have inhaled it.
“The lack of a lung biopsy is my fault entirely.” Lisa voiced, opening the cabinet for him to pull out the body on the slab again, “When I got here, the number of bodies going out was too much for even the funeral home and crematorium drivers to even load up, so I asked that biopsies and time consuming autopsies be refrained from, until the flow had steadied- so Mr.Grayson was, most likely, a casualty as we simply went with blunt force trauma for a death reasoning.”
She walked off, opened a drawer and produced several packages of sealed, singular cotton swabs, before walking back over to Xander, “Would these be of any help to you?” She asked as she offered them to him, “We have cotton balls too.”
Xander took the swabs, and carefully inserted them into what was left of the nasal opening, pushing up as far as he could. The damage made this difficult. For a moment, he wondered how Lisa would react if she knew he was part of the group that first researched the effects of lead on the body, back in the 1800s. Or that he had helped Aristotle with his early biology research. Science was the future, and Medicine was the greatest tool created by mankind. A tool that could fix, rather than destroy.
He pulled the swabs out, and he didnt even feel like they needed to send them up for testing. The swabs were coated with silvery grey material.
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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.
