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.
Valerus had tched as he watched Cain announce the reward for master trickster. He'd never really been asked to be included in the list of eligible candidates (since winning the award four times in a row when he was younger, apparently they decided he had had his fill and to be fair, he had) but he was certain his friend had been staring at him in the eye when announcing the name. [break][break]
The illusionist walked out of the starshow early after that, opening up a quick communication card that he and Hestia used. He took out a small fountain pen and wrote "Come up with an excuse for me if necessary, I'll be out back. ~V"
[break][break] A good twenty minutes of loitering later and a crowd was beginning to spill out of the starshow. Valerus sat quietly on a park bench, using an advanced cloaking scroll so as not to attract unwanted attention. The people walked on, chattering excitedly. And when the winner filed out along with them and the crowd had sufficiently thinned enough, Val shifted his gaze from the horizon to the man's face. "Hey there. Congratulations," he said, voice casual and unassuming, although the bright red hair telling all. [break][break] tagged: @anthonyskies notes: n/a
Tony's wide and bright smile grew bigger with every step he took up to the stage. While he would insist that he'd done what he did for the simple fun and spirit of pranking people, winning the award had always been lurking in the back of his mind. At last, his efforts were recognized for its ingenuity.
As soon as the celebrations were done and he was free to step down, he hurried into the sea of people, hiding from those he took advantage of. They were no doubt still pissed that he bought their drink then sold it at a higher price. It took them quite a bit to figure it all out, allowing him to gain enough money - as well as their wrath - to be satisfied with his endeavors.
Even as he mixed himself in with the crowd - changing the color of his hair to black for good measure - he whistled cheerfully as he twirled and tossed the tiny token they gave him in the air a few times. He couldn't wait to show it off to his friends and recount how he cunningly won the master trickster award and profited from it at the same time.
As people spread out and went their separate ways, Tony heard someone speak up and turned in the direction of the voice. The moment he saw the striking red hair and the familiar face of Valerus Blaze, he widened his eyes and froze on the spot. Then he let out a girlish squeal as he covered up his mouth with his hands.
"Y - y - you - you're Valerus Blaze!"
Loki, strolling beside him, rolled his eyes as he spoke into Tony's mind. "Get a hold of yourself before you start hyperventilating to death."
Tony fell silent, willed his heart to settle down and stop pounding so hard against his chest as he took a few deep breaths. Once he was calmer, he grinned as he walked up closer to the older man and bowed.
"There's no greater honor for a trickster than to be congratulated by the greatest trickster of them all." He had hoped that Valerus would be the one to announce him and present the award. This wasn't bad either.
The urge to bounce and giggle was strong, but he managed to hold his excitement in. It wouldn't do to look like another one of his fans. He had to make a good impression.
The man seemed to blink once before letting out a squeal, using his hands to grab onto his mouth. Valerus smiled lazily. "The one and only," he said, mildly amused at the reaction but generally not disturbed at all. He'd gotten the kind of reaction a lot, although it was generally more enjoyable when it wasn't coming from a grown man. That being said, he'd make no comment for now. [break][break]
"I'll give you a minute," he said cockily, watching the male compose himself with some degree of smugness, but not one that wasn't practically a marketed trademark of his name. The straight up bow caught him off guard, causing him to flinch a bit. More like, shit does this kid actually look up to me? [break][break] "Greatest of them all, huh?" Valerus asked, wondering when his mind would become numb to ego boosts like that. Suddenly, there was a holler of "don't encourage him he'll do it again next year!" from the street and Valerus looked up to wave at the passing Cain Delacour. He looked back at the male after the second's worth of distraction, vaguely wondering if he was a Jester or not. He probably should have stayed for the reward distribution. [break][break] "Haven't seen you around the cafe much. What's your name?" tagged: @anthonyskies notes: n/a
As Valerus mused on the compliment he gave him, Tony lifted his head up and grinned. A little ass-kissing never hurt anyone, and the man before him was reputed to be one of the greatest illusionists of their time. The prank he pulled speaks for itself. If he wasn't the greatest, then at the very least he was good enough to be up there among the best of the best.
He jumped in surprise when someone shouted from afar, then turned in that direction to see Cain Delacour passing by. Just like Valerus, he knew of Cain's reputation in Salem. His was just as big as Valerus' of course - maybe even bigger since he was a high priest. Thankfully he continued on his way. Tony didn't think he'd survive having to interact with two renowned and powerful witches without feeling completely out of his depth.
"Huh?" Valerus' question brought Tony's attention back to the conversation.
"I'm Anthony Skies, sir. Tony for short. I...don't really like spending too much outside of essentials." Best to leave out his coven. There was always the risk of causing Valerus' ire just because he was of a different coven. While Tony didn't really care who was in which coven, people were stingy and rude that way.
"And just between you and me," he whispered, loud enough so that only Valerus would hear. "I think Mister Delacour's just jealous that you took all of the spotlight in the event."
His eyes glittered brightly as he straightened up and spoke in a much clearer voice. "Your illusion was amazing! I couldn't imagine how you did it. You had to consider what happens to those who were supposedly killed or got sucked into that black hole. Were they unconscious? Paralyzed? Or were their memories wiped out? Was it all really just an illusion that you put into everyone's minds? The scope of that spell would've been ginormous!"
Valerus wasn't very good at names, but he could usually juggle them for a bit before they eventually either faded or were stored into Hestia's infinite mind. He gave the introduction a flash of a smile but really didn't know what else to say to the boy. "I see," he offered, one supportive while his eyes remained distracted, scanning the parking lot. He knew Hesia was going to come hounding after him in a bit, and he wondered how much long he could hide behind the newest Master Trickster. [break][break]
Valerus blinked at Tony's remark and chuckled. Though the comment itself wasn't particularly humorous, it reminded him of something else. "Right," he said, mind suddenly swarming to the memories of Cain before he became a High Priest. But that was a story for another day. [break][break] "Thanks. Ah, it wasn't too difficult," he said, shrugging off the two and a half months of preparation in favor of keeping an image with this apparent fan. In fact, the illusion had been hell on earth to create --but the flawless nature of it had to be kept intact or the beauty of the illusion would be lost to simple mechanics. The boy seemed excited, and for once a genuine smile crawled onto Valerus's face. Passion brewed passion, or so it said. He shook his head gently. "Hey, an illusionist never gives out his secret." [break][break] "You're absolutely right. Illusions, to be perfect, require the caster to prepare for every single sensation and possibility. You need to be able to imagine the same scenario - or even a couple dozen- from every single perspective about a hundred times over before you can be sure you've gotten it right. And even then, you can never be sure until the exact moment of execution. It could all collapse before your eyes because of a single oversight..." His excitement showed in the way his words spilled out faster, several syllables tripping over each other to come out of his mouth first. [break][break] "Isn't that exciting?" he asked, finally deciding to slow down. [break][break] tagged: @anthonyskies notes: n/a
He stared at Valerus, thinking of the magnitude of his spell and how easy it was for him to pull it off. A chill ran down his spine as he thought of how cool it was. After all, it encompassed a large area of the city, with nearly everyone affected by it. To one day be able to achieve such grand spells without breaking a sweat was a dream he hoped to achieve.
When Valerus smiled and shook his head, Tony pouted. But then he began a monologue on making illusions, causing Tony's eyes to widen as he nodded vigorously, drinking in his every word the older man said. It was things he already knew, but never really thought of seriously before. Coming from someone as famous as Valerus, they seemed to have more impact compared to hearing the same lecture from his old teacher over and over again.
"Yeah it is! I love illusions!" He clenched his fists as he looked up at Valerus with bright, twinkling eyes. "I like coming up with the craziest, most convincing illusions to fool people. And the satisfaction of a prank well played - to know that you were able to think of every possibility that could happen - is just perfect!"
Crossing his arms, he furrowed his brows as he reflected to himself. "If I had taken into account everything that could've happened, my illusion would've lasted longer..." He remembered the way the white haired woman - his last customer - knocked over the tank illusion and broke the spell unintentionally. If he had thought of the possibility of the tank breaking into pieces and spilling out, it could've held on. He would've made sure of it.
Thinking of what happened back then made him slump his shoulders in disappointment. "I can't believe I didn't think of it then!" Taking a deep breath, he straightened up as his eyes lit up. "I won't make the same mistake again. From now on, I'm going to always think about every scenario that could happen."
Clasping his hands, he looked back at Valerus. "Mr. Blaze, sir! If you could give me any other hints or tips - it doesn't have to be your secret - I would be forever grateful. And maybe one day..." He placed both of his hands behind his head as he smiled cheekily. "I could pull a prank even bigger and better than yours!"
Ah, now he almost regretted not staying to watch the stunt this Tony had pulled. Valerus seemed caught in his own monologue, but he noticed the way the young kid seemed to perk up and nod, and he wondered yet again how exactly it had come to him being looked up to. Nevertheless, excitement bred excitement and Val seemed to resonate with the blonde's enthusiasm.[break][break]
The kid was then caught up in his own frustrations, and Valerus frowned along with him. He couldn't exactly help if he had no idea what the actual circumstance was, but he shrugged and decided to offer doggedly generic advice. "Experience counts as much as creativity does," Valerus said, shrugging the boy's mistake off easily.[break][break]
And then in the background, he caught the deliberate, confident steps of one Hestia Hemsworth and found a nervous smirk working its way up across his face. "Ah, a tip, did you say," he said, the boy completely out of focus as he saw the girl marching through the thinning crowd to make her way towards him. [break][break]
"Illusions are about perception," he said, calmly watching as Hestia walked right towards them but seemed to look right past them. He looked as though he was invisible to Hestia, but Tony would be able to see him just fine.[break][break]
"My advice if you're trying to up the scope of your illusion, or affect a bigger range of people would be to take examples of light and shadow. Misdirection, too, is an asset."[break][break]
Hestia seemed thoroughly confused like she had just caught on to something before but wasn't sure what. She would have likely run right into Valerus if he didn't step back immediately.[break][break] "Studying lines of sight is important for any kind of trickster."[break][break]
Hestia spun around suddenly, eyes narrowed at the place were Valerus was. [break][break]
"Ah, she got me," he lamented, but something about his tone suggested he hadn't been trying at all. Hestia put a hand out, and a blinding white light radiated, like a vortex sucking in different colors until the effects of the illusion were practically drained in one fell swoop.[break][break]
"Here you are," she said. "Talking with a friend?-- No, a fan?" She gave Tony a quizzical look, as though she'd never heard of such a thing before. [break][break] Valerus shrugged. "No, not really." He gave Tony an appraising look but managed to seem smug the whole way through. "A rival in the making, apparently." The red head spun around on his heel and began walking away, hands leisurely put in his pockets. [break][break] Hestia smiled apologetically, assuming Val was just covertly being an ass. Hestia fumbled around her handbag before giving Tony a card.[break][break]
"I'm sorry to hear he'd been bothering you."[break][break]
[attr="class","stafftempstore"]
[attr="class","stafftempitem"]ILLUSIONIST SKILL: PERCEPTION MASTERY ISomeone with this skill has practiced illusions on an experimental basis. They can now have standard illusions affect multiple people, and select targets when performing a stunt with a generally wider audience. In other words, they are able to more carefully manipulate their illusions and put more thought into their calculations than a regular witch of their rank. This counts as an item during threads.
[attr="class","stafftempitem"]VALREUS'S CARD It's one of Valerus's cards. Except apparently, the number isn't quite real because, upon calling the number, the caller will be greated with a long-since recorded voice of Valerus saying "Hi, this is me, Valerus Blaze. Actually, it isn't. Looks like you've been tricked again. Have a gooooood night."
tagged: @anthonyskies notes: you may post once more in this thread before it is locked by staff.
Oblivious to the approaching woman, Tony listened attentively to Valerus' on-the-spot lecture, taking his words of wisdom with the seriousness of a student learning from a master. His eyes were wide in awe. He was completely starstruck by this grand opportunity that would never have happened had he not played a prank. If he didn't pinch himself hard and feel it, he might think this was all a dream.
The newcomer's presence broke off his concentration as he glanced in her direction and jumped in surprise when she reached out for some kind if dispelling spell. He didn't remember who this woman was, though he did recognize her among the likes of Valerus and Cain. She must be a friend or a co-worker.
While wondering if Valerus was in trouble, he grinned and provided his best, innocently harmless smile for the woman. But when Valerus spoke, he froze and stared in disbelief at the older man, jaw slack and heart thudding against his chest. Even as the red haired man began walking away, his eyes stayed glued to his back, his words echoing in his mind.
Dark voices invaded his thoughts as well, reminding him of the discouragement and insults he faced on a regular basis. People often laughed at him when he made claims, telling him what a fool he was for even thinking he could be as great as others with the way he was right now. Even his teacher would grin and pat his head patronizingly, telling him he would need a thousand years of experience before he could reach his level.
Tony clutched at his chest, hands clenching at cloth. He had expected Valerus to laugh off his challenge and brush it aside, treating him as no threat at all. Instead he got an acknowledgment, a single word that meant so much more than any hints or tips he could've given. Whether he had spoken seriously or not, Tony clung to it like a lifeline.
A new kind of light flashed in his eyes as he smiled and shook his head at the woman's apology.
"No worries. He wasn't bothering me at all. Just a friendly discussion between tricksters."
