this is Salem, a land filled with magic and maladies. It is a place where witches and their elemental familiars gather, a home to legend and
lore that predates time itself. Yet of all the wicked and wonderful stories the past can tell us of, the most magical are the ones yet to happen.
This is Salem - this is the start of your very own journey. Welcome to starfall
Starfall is an animaga witch roleplay set in mostly modern times. Members play as witches in a world plagued by monsters, where the only safe spots are walled cities. Starfall strives to be a character-driven roleplay with expansive lore and a highly interactive plotline. We want to allow members to
create and look back on a magical journey, and mold the site and its plot as their characters grow.
Post by claire fermont on Jan 27, 2018 16:39:08 GMT
[attr="class","daiya"]
Claire stands relaxed at the arena. She wears a relatively light suit of armor, only covering the most vital parts. She needs the light suit in order to move around easily. Vani stands beside her, yowling and growling in excitement. There is no panic or nervous radiating from the wild boar. He is in fact, stoked for battle. Claire does not look forward to battling, especially not someone as small and--she dare say it--as fragile as Ling, but then she is not nervous as well.
She is built for this. Trained for this. She will be the last one standing.
The announcer proceeds with the formalities, introducing the duelists, formally starting the round. Claire pulls her wand, and as soon as she points it straight into Ling's general direction, the temperature in the arena drops a few degrees, enough for the audience to notice.
"It's nice to meet you again, Ling," she tells the small girl, sincerity clear in her voice. "Let's give it our best." As much as she is adverse to fighting her acquaintance, she must do this. The novice already has her eyes on the prize, you see. Her minds wanders until it finds the image of Milo. He stands as the most obvious threat to her victory.
'Focus on who's in front of you,' Vani firmly tells her, a voice echoing in the back of her mind.
"Of course," Claire easily says. A slow blink, and she moves her wand to the side. Vani snarls, and together with it comes the crackling sound of water vapor freezing. Claire swipes her wand to Ling's direction, and a wall of ice materializes, deliberately head to the girl. (Technique: Large Spread)
Her first thought is that Miss Claire looks so cool standing there in her light armour with her familiar by her side, a figure tall and proud like the knights of the old. Which, considering she's part of the Helios Knights, isn't actually that far from reality. Her next thought is excitement that she gets to fight Miss Claire!!! Which is such an honour!! The knight is probably one of the best in the tournament, and Ling gets to duel her!! Sure, she's a little disappointed that she's probably going to lose, but what little regret that surfaces is completely overshadowed her elation and happiness.
So what if she loses? It's Miss Claire, and heck if she won't give it her all anyways.
"It's an honour to be duelling you, Miss Claire!" she chirps in response, beaming at her opponent. "Let's do it!" Valkea is, of course, much more sedated as he stands quietly by Ling's side, tail swishing back and forth in a lazy rhythm as he keeps his eyes on the boar, relaxed and mildly amused like he would be even at the world's end. And as usual, Ling envies her familiar's poise.
And then, the duel starts.
She barely has time to register the signal before a wall of ice is materialising in her direction, the air chilling by several degrees as ice magic streams from her opponents wand. Yelping, Ling jabs her wand to raise a thick wall of rock to counter it (FORTRESS), then darts back as she swishes her wand again to summon a shower of rock and small boulders (EARTH SHOWER) to barrage Miss Claire. Already, her heart is racing - this is intense!
Post by claire fermont on Jan 28, 2018 16:35:10 GMT
[attr="class","daiya"]
Well, Ling is indeed exuberant. She is handling this well, too. When they first met at the opening ceremony, Claire had a glimpse of Ling's capabilities... if you could compare having to maintain a levitating scroll for an extended period of time as magical power. It feels like it has been so long... wherein reality it has only been weeks. Claire can't wait to discover the extent of Ling's abilities.
"Likewise," the Knight says, already making her move.
Claire's ice wall is met with an earth one. It brings back so many memories, and they are not something Claire would like to remember. With a quick flip of her wrist the technique is aborted shortly before it's supposed to hit the earth wall, seeing as there is no point in continuing a technique that is doomed to fail.
The duo feels a rumble from deep within the arena, and the next thing they know is that rocks are lifted from the ground and are now tumbling towards them. Claire and Vani, simultaneously skates (Technique: Skater) away from the area of the shower, splitting in opposite directions. While Vani is able to take a hit of the rocks--he only shrugs it off with an angered snarl, Claire barely misses getting hit by one. A medium-sized rock descends upon Claire, and with quick thinking, she recalls the words of Arkhanka Themisis. The rock is about twice the size of an average volleyball, and Claire catches it with ease.
All this time Claire and Vani both have moved closer to Ling's general direction, from two sides. Vani is charging straight to Ling, with no signs of slowing down, while Claire takes the brunt of slowed speed catching a rock. Very deliberately, with a flex of her biceps, Claire throws the rock back at Ling.
"Catch," the Knight says, a smile playing on her lips.
Miss Claire dissolves her encroaching ice before it manages to hit her earth wall - which is smart! because mana conservation and everything! - but Ling doesn't do the same. If she's already expended the mana to create the wall, there's little to gain from tearing it down again. Besides, an extra defense in place is probably quite handy.
Valkea darts swiftly forwards towards the other side of the arena as Miss Claire and her familiar split up and skate towards Ling; she, meanwhile, flicks her wand again to erect another wall of earth ( FORTRESS ) - this time as wide as she can make it - between herself and the wild boar, before quickly turning back to face her opponent.
And... she probably shouldn't have taken her eyes off Miss Claire, because now there's a giant rock heading straight for her face.
She yelps, eyes wide in alarm. No time to bring up a barrier or wall or defense-! heart hammering in her chest, Ling does the first thing that springs to mind: she BLINKS just in time to avoid the boulder, and watches with a dry mouth as it smashes into the earth wall she'd erected to keep Vani back. The wall shudders, and cracks appear at the site of impact.
That's not terrifying at all, nope.
Panicking slightly now, she's brought back to reality ( and a semblance of rationality ) as her familiar darts towards Vani's side of the arena and pulls some stone spears up from the earth to skewer the wild boar ( SPEARS )- or at the very least, bar him in more. Valkea's calm mental focus helps her regain her own mental equilibrium; Ling narrows her eyes in concentration, and the ground rumbles as a rocky dragon rises from its depths and it sent shooting towards the blonde ( EARTH DRAGON BULLET ).
Her wand remains steady even after it's cast - if Miss Claire doges, Ling wants to try to make the dragon chase her a little, though she's only really done this a few times.
Post by claire fermont on Jan 29, 2018 15:24:50 GMT
[attr="class","daiya"]
A fox versus a wild boar? Vani scoffs at the thought. Of course the wild boar will win, because the wild boar is him, the mighty Vani. His advance is met with an earth wall, and he is all but about to smash onto it himself... when Claire's rock hit and shatters it first.
"God dang it," Vani curses. "Don't steal my kill!"
Claire rolls her eyes heavenwards, then. Ling has disappeared right before the rock hits her, and now Claire wheels around 360 degrees and spots her not far from the point of impact. Her moment of hesitation proves to be lethal as Ling summons an earth beast, barreling straight towards her. Given the distance it's impossible to block the dragon completely, instead Claire backtracks with SKATER before whisking her wand forward, erecting an ice barricade (LARGE SPREAD) It shatters, of course, and Claire is blown away by the force of it, gaining cuts and bruises all over her arms, which she had brought up on defensive reflexes to protect her face.
"Tsk," Claire curses. She supposes these cuts are some form of magical contact? She can't be sure.
Vani, meanwhile, is facing trouble as well. Familiar with familiar, Vani feels the earth rumble once again. With quick thinking Vani uses LARGE SPREAD to create a pathway in the air, and he runs up and straight, very narrowly avoids being skewered from below. The spikes shatters part of the ice and the ice shatters it as well, but it doesn't stop Vani from rampaging--now meters above the ground.
The still moment for the duo doesn't last. Claire charges forward again, zigzagging with SKATER, dipping low as to avoid getting hit. Vani continues to run in the air, creating an arc above the arena. Claire focuses, and in a blink, Vani appears in her place. (SCROLL OF THE SWITCH)
Ling finds her dragon being tackled by the wild boar. Claire stands on top of the arc, wand pointed at her familiar as she gives him the blessing of endurance. (AUGETE: CLAUSTRA) Vani straightforward tackles the earth dragon, attempting for a kill.
"HAH!" the boar exults, barraging forward. "HELL YEAH! I'M COMING FOR YOU, GIRL!"
One minute she's guiding her rock dragon to chase after Miss Claire, the next minute the blonde knight is replaced by a wild boar with wicked tusks charging straight at her. Not fun. Quickly assessing the situation, Ling lets her control of her dragon lapse - given that Vani is aiming directly for the construct, there's really no need to waste mana and focus managing its course. Instead, she flicks her wand to pull more SPEARS from the ground, all aimed at the boar; then, with a flash of inspiration, summons another EARTH DRAGON BULLET. This time, though, she doesn't send it flying towards the familiar immediately; instead, she slaps two EXPLOSIVE ARRAYS onto the dragon before aiming it towards Vani.
She's quite proud of those arrays, actually. They're altered from the standard - not that the majority of the crowd would notice, unfortunately; bigger and more intense explosion with the tradeoff of a longer countdown. Not the most elaborate modification, but given the limited time she had beforehand to create her arrays, she thinks it's a pretty good job. Considering arena size and the dragon speed and everything, they'll probably explode a few seconds after reaching Vani.
Meanwhile, Valkea finds himself facing the Helios Knight. Standing atop an arc of ice, there is no way he can reach her - nor does he want to. Taking on the witch head on would be a bad idea. Instead, the fox focuses on disrupting the ice and distracting Claire; he, too, pulls SPEARS up from the ground in the general area below where the witch is standing, then launches an EARTH SHOWER up towards her with a rather indiscriminate aim - both witch and ice arc are acceptable targets.
Post by claire fermont on Feb 3, 2018 11:01:32 GMT
[attr="class","daiya"]
Having Claustra, Vani survives the collision with the Earth Dragon without breaking a stride. It's relatively easier because Ling has dropped the control on the summon. He is then met with rock spears and this time, Vani erects a wall of ice using LARGE SPREAD. The ice wall, though half-assed, is able to lighten the attack of the spears coming from the front, while CLAUSTRA is able to help Vani withstand those from under him. All this time he kept on advancing, unfazed as rocks merely tickle his hide.
The boar sees another earth dragon being hailed, and he huffs when he realizes the short pause. That time is enough for him to hail LARGE SPREAD and materialize a thick wall of ice, only meters from Ling's spot. The ice wall encompass the diameter of the arena. He readies SKATER to evade further attacks.
'She's using mostly techniques,' Claire notes from the top of the arc. While she's in it she casts CLAUSTRA upon herself, too, and quickly renews Vani's.
'If Vani reaches her, she's beat.'
Claire finds herself being assaulted with rocks from above and spears from below. The witch does minimal dodging, and just jumps from the arc. LARGE SPREAD enables her to materialize landing area in the spot in which she points her wand. With two quick bounds she's back on the ground. Rocks bounces off her skin without so much a scratch. She closes in onto the familiar as fast as she could, because claustra wouldn't hold for too long.
When the earth dragon clashes with the ice wall--exploding, too, something that Vani realizes is the reason for the delay--the boar closes in once more using SKATER, barraging through the shattered ice and rocks. By this time Claire would have neared the fox considerably, too, albeit still in the air. Abruptly she stops, and Vani appeared in her place. Being switched on the move (SCROLL OF THE SWITCH), Vani barrages straight to the fox.
Claire appears completely still. She points her wand at Ling and casts a quick KNOCKERBACKER.
The earth dragons don't faze Vani, not even the one with the explosions. Crap. ( Even in the midst of this crazy duel with most of her brain focused on adapting new tactics, thinking strategy, rapid-fire processing, there is still a not-insignificant part of Ling's mind that feels unduly disappointed by the lack of effect her explosive arrays have; even worse is the fact that her runescripting feats are nowhere near as impressive as Miss Claire's augmentation. Not that she'd expected otherwise, but still. )
Quickly darting back as the ice wall explodes, sending shards of glittering white and earthen fragments everywhere, Ling BLINKS back once, twice for good measure. She frantically slaps an Uruz rune on herself with the time bought by her backtracking, activating it for a sudden burst of revitalising energy - only to look up in time to see Miss Claire appear in a clear switch with her familiar. Crap.
An idea takes place, frantic but crystal clear; as the Knight raises her wand to cast a spell, Ling flicks hers to erect yet another wall of earth (FORTRESS), brow furrowing in concentration as she throws all the intent she can muster behind it's strength and durability. Which is, actually, quite a lot, given her practice with runescripting that relies more on mental direction and emotional intent than clearly written directives. It rumbles into place, thick and sturdy and high enough that she cannot even see the witch on the other side- but that is not enough, probably.
Using this moment of time, Ling slaps down and activates a barrier array - a design she's been slaving away at for ages before she'd finally arrived at this stable configuration. A crackle of mana and it shimmers to life, iridescence flickering through the air before it vanishes into invisibility again. She smiles, proud. It'll let things out from her side, but not Miss Claire's. A bit more time bought, a chance to go on the offense.
Valkea, meanwhile, finds himself facing a wild boar barreling directly towards him instead of the witch he was just facing. He narrows his eyes, flicking his tail in cool contemplation. Earthen walls have proven to be less than effective, so... it is time for a different strategy. The earth cracks (RUPTURE) before his feet, deep ruptures in the ground fanning out from his position in a half-circle as it reaches out to the boar. Even if Vani does not fall into the cracks, they should at least disrupt his charge, slow him down.
With another tail flick, the fox calls upon yet another downpour of rocks (EARTH SHOWER) upon the opposing familiar. There is no respite to be given.
Post by claire fermont on Feb 15, 2018 16:20:59 GMT
[attr="class","daiya"]
Claire raises an eyebrow, surprised that Ling is able to erect an earth wall with such speed that the knockerbacker bounces harmlessly on it, in its point of impact shows a sizable crack. Claire renews CLAUSTRA on Vani and her, for good measure, before she springs up. With three quick bounds with her footing provided by LARGE SPREAD, Claire is on top of the earth wall, looking down on Ling. She sees characters blink into life and disappear, and she wonders what Ling has come up this time.
But it's no time to wonder. While Ling readies her runes, Claire has her wand already raised. The Knight gathers strength, to the best of her ability, before bringing her wand down. Along with it is ice, materializing from the nothingness of the sky, right down at Ling. Claire doesn't stop at a single strike, she swishes her wand forward, two, three, her eyes glowing with intent to pulverize, to destroy. Multiple ice barricades (LARGE SPREAD) head straight towards Ling--from the top, from behind, from both sides.
Claire swishes her wand around, and with her indomitable will, she wills a circular, jagged ice--not even a wall but uneven blocks of ice--enclose Ling.
And even if Ling attacks, Claire will not mind--for the meantime, she is immune to pain.
Vani, on the other side of the arena, scoffs at the petty move of the fox. He does not slow down even as the ground split--he simply runs over it with renewed footing of ice (LARGE SPREAD). Again, the rock shower barely scratches him. Vani growls, beaded eyes narrowing, as he materializes ice around the fox, aiming to trap him inside (LARGE SPREAD). The ice would close inward, closer, tighter, until there is no more room to move.
The boar skids to a halt, then, concentrating. With LARGE SPREAD, he materializes a steep fall of ice, in which direction is aimed at the fox. Valkea would now find himself with ice closing in upon him, and another stab from the top.
