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.
and they arrive. knowingly or unknowingly, all at more or less the same time.
[break][break]well, not quite. the first are those that had been sent to search for the injured man who ended up being the high priest and head of lux university himself, bailey renico-- [break][break]
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bailey renico
the portal led them directly outside of the temple: the clearing, stood ominously empty and bailey turned to meet his ragtag group of adventurers. "i will make sure that none of you are injured further. but i think we owe it to those villagers to get to the bottom of this before we look at our injuries." he smiled weakly at the ones trailing behind, and then made his entrance. unadorned, the furthest thing from flashy, he knocked on the door once before pushing it gentle open. [break][break] maribelle sat on the sofa, but quickly jumped upwards when she saw him. [break][break] bailey could not help but smile. "hello again maribelle. i take it your sisters are here as well?" [break][break] the woman looked like she was staring as ghosts stalked into her living quarters. she was far beyond scandalized. she looked like she was staring at a world turned upside down. bailey took a step forward; she took two steps back.[break][break] "i'm not quite sure what medeia's ruling on this will be. but i do believe i need to put a permanent end to your operations that involve abduction, possible torture and violation of--" [break][break] "wait!" maribelle hissed, five steps from having her back against the wall. "you can't do anything here! this village-- beaumains and the areas near it. it's not under the jurisdiction of sundial. your law has no business here. you have no business here." [break][break] her eyes looked nearly feral, but bailey nodded slowly. "business. well. legally, we have none. but morally? that's a different question. and whether or not the village is under the jurisdiction of sundial is a matter to be decided by the elder of the village, is it not? a priest by the name of idyllweiss. a man you killed." [break][break] the woman is breathless.[break][break] "why did you kill him? aren't you after the blood of Gareth? if any of my reading in the caves was right--if what this young white haired woman told me was correct--, then he was the purest of all descendants. he was the most able to weild your magic. suixitium, is that what you call it? i spent quite some time there, you know. i learned quite a lot. it's sad. the things people do for power." [break][break] it's sad. the stories we forget. [break][break] "you don't know anything!" maribele screeched-- and then the next group appeared.
from the room beneath them, suddenly and without warning, a group of four young mages emerged. as soon as they appeared, a huge thread would wrap them up and pull them away, behind bailey and together with their friends from the first group.[break][break]
there was a loud thumping from the bottom, and the cracking of an old, wooden staircase. maribelle spun around. "iso--" [break][break] "oh, is that isobelle?" bailey interjected passively, and mariblle gave him a feral smirk. [break][break] "yes it is. but she won't recognize you. it's her first time turning, you know. she wouldn't recognize anyone at all." a maniacal, sudden and terrifying laughter escaped her throat. "you're supposed to kill it as soon as it appears...the familiar anyway. but father, oh he didn't want to hurt her. funny isn't it? when he did the same to all of us? do you want to see it, professor? the power of the blood of gareth? of suixitium?" [break][break] --- and then the last group if they came to the aid of the others, would likely appear at this moment, just as the final sister would begin her transformation. the magic in the room swirled around her. her skin erupted into scales. the pupils of her eyes morphed to sit on their sides- her face protruded outward and suddenly, there was no human in the room with them. [break][break] only a gigantic, seventeen-foot-long snake with spikes across its body.
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ooc notes
welcome to suixitium thread E. this event is not death enabled, however it is only open to participants who have passed through two other suixitium threads. your only requirement is to post once with a post of 450 words detailing character reactions and response to the fight. you may post more than once if you woud like. [break]break] there will be one more mod post before the thread ends. the thread will end in five day's time.[break] [break][break]
The supersonic zip-wire thread that Sybil had touched send him hurtling towards this new area. He wasn't exactly in a physical form during his travels, but it most certainly wasn't a simple teleportation spell. His body flashed into existence a few feet away from the threads end, one of the last witches from his group to arrive, with a rather famous man now in their presence.
Nothing was making sense. Nothing at all.
For now, all Sybil could do was stay close with the others and listen, gathering as much information as he could to try and make sense of what was happening. "Suixitim?" he muttered under his breath, the very thought of a strange unknown magic making his heart skip a beat. He too would very much like to read up on it's history (maybe not in a dank and gloomy cave however).
Bailey started making his way up the temple's steps, a hard firm stone yet didn't shake the feeling that it could crumble at any moment. 'Arveen, are you making sense of any of this?'
Silence.
Sybil bit his lip, slowly starting to feel the urges to cry. Why was his familiar just so... Reserved from all this?! From him?! Sybil was in pain, in danger and all his familiar could do was reside within its strata. Had Sybil done something? Perhaps Arveen saw Sybil as 'unworthy', which would be a load of shit if he ever said that. It almost felt like Sybil was nothing but a babe who had his wounds licked after being severely injured and traumatised.
But it didn't matter, he could figure this out himself.
A new magic. The sisters. White hair. And a holy priest? But the most disturbing part to all this was the accusations that Bailey was making - torture? Experiments? Was it wrong for Sybil to not believe this? He put so much faith in these strangers, he truly believed them. So far, everything he had experienced after joining the coven had been a life lesson. Fear, pain, deceit. It all left a bitter taste in his mouth, something he wanted to get rid of so badly.
One day he would. And one day he would not feel fear, he would not feel pain and he would not feel foolish to believe such lies of another.
Though now was not the time to fantasise over such ideologies. Maribelle almost seemed desperate with each of her pleas, the steps she took backwards making her more frantic like a wild animal trapped in a corner. A group of witches burst from a trap door, only to be ensnared practically instantly. Sybil stepped out from behind one of the witches he was hiding behind, he needed to see this first hand.
And he saw every second of that ungodly transformation. It was a horrific shift of flesh and bone, Arveen's energy shifting in his mind from the nerves. It was good to know he felt the same way Sybil did. The little witch took a step back, almost choking on his fear.
What were they going to do?
TLDR; Sybil just watches and listens, ready to gtfo if need be.
[attr="class","onlytimeleft"] A burst of speed carried her forward. The last minute or so was just a blur of colors and shapes. Also pain. Naomi couldn’t remember getting up the stairs, but the other groups that split off were already back. Some important guy that wasn’t with them before looked awfully familiar. This wasn’t the best time to be thinking about anything, so she’d try to remember who he was later. Not getting killed took priority over relieving this state of confusion. [break][break] A vague memory of being picked up at some point at least solved the question of how she crawled up here so fast. She didn’t Naomi placed her functional hand on Claire’s arm and tapped it gently. She appreciated the help, but it was no longer needed.[break][break] “Save that for the honeymoon” she said while standing back up. Okay, Naomi tried and failed. Before her legs gave out, Prince showed up to catch her. The zebra stayed seated, clearly lacking the energy to do anything right now. [break][break] Considering what happened a while ago with those light beams, the thought of getting shot twice again spurred Naomi into action. Once she regained her balance, the girl pushed away from her familiar. He needed to get out of here. ”I had this under control.” [break][break] “Are you trying to die?” With that, he left for wherever familiars disappeared to. His voice sounded weaker than she expected. Before, Naomi fully intended to keep going, if only to have something to do besides bleeding everywhere. Now…she still wanted to kick ass and get revenge for all this dumb shit. Forget the village, or Adel, or that strange curse—these sisters needed to die. The smart people could sit around and figure out the mystery. Someone like Naomi was only useful for punching things. So she’d fight. [break][break] Although, looking down at her mangled hand, this line of thinking wasn’t going to work anymore. Continuing this new career of pretending to be a terrorist only lead to more dangerous situations such as this one. She couldn’t fake her way into successfully beating up a giant snake monster. Even these kids were struggling, and they were all stronger witches. The better plan involved staying out of their way until she stopped sucking so hard.[break][break] That might take a while to fix. [break][break] Oh well, a problem for another time. None of it mattered if she got killed here. Naomi shuffled off to a nearby wall and rested her back against it. Just limping over here made her head hurt, but she could still watch the others do their business. Without any reason to keep moving, whatever willpower kept her standing immediately vanished. Why not sit down and take a break? If anyone needed her, they knew where to find her. She’d simply rest her eyes for a moment, and then. . . [break][break] She was out cold. [break][break] [break] Unsuccessfully flirting with claire fermont , standing up and being useless, casually moving out of the way before passing out. [break]
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[attr="class","onlytimelyric1"]dance like you're disappointed
As soon as Cassidy emerges from the room, Claire makes a break for it. Her feet feel like lead, heavy and dragging, gravity weighing against her. They have no light, and so Claire stumbles, misses a step, and thrice almost falls back down. Claire's mind is dulling, exhaustion creeping through every neuron, she feels like collapsing. Where are they headed again? Oh, right, they're already here. Light emerges from above--
The next thing Claire registers is... she is midair? She finds herself being lifted, an instinctively she goes limp. And then she's free again. She freezes as her feet touch the ground. The woman is unable to move for a whole minute, eyes wide as adrenaline retreats from her veins.
Naomi's tap wakes Claire up, and she slowly releases her hold to the black-haired girl. Claire stands up, breathing. The first thing Claire does is to look for her group. Naomi, Cassidy, Charani. Alive. Bloodied, battered, scarred, but breathing. Relief courses through Claire, and she takes a shaken breath.
In the group, Claire finds familiar and unfamiliar faces. Claire registers the sneering, psychotic sight of the sister on the other end of the room, and looking back, another unfamiliar face. Claire is sure she knows him, but she can't recall his name nor the affiliation. The rest more or less are from the other groups sent for another task. Her eyes scan the crowd, looking for a certain individual, someone dear to her. And then there's Lucena, same white hair, beautiful face. Claire blinks slowly at the sight of the woman.
One worry dissipates.
Claire understands that there is a conversation going, but right now words are gibberish to her. She barely has the energy to think, much less piece the puzzle together. The only thing she knows is that she her familiar is in pain, and she's ready to do anything just to get help for the boar. In a haste Claire calls Vani from the inner strata. He looks the same, if not worse, as he appears with a quiet thump. Black spots line his hind legs. It might be rotting, though who knows-certainly not her.
She seeks answers. "Mister," she croaks, "My familiar... he is hurt." Words spill over her lips as she hastily recounts the nightmare in the cavern. Even now thumps echo beneath them, and every time the floor shakes, so does her heart.
"The sister--she's aggressive. A monstrous fusion of a human and animal. Her sibling told us that the curse spreads, and so we attacked in hopes to subdue her. We attacked--and Isobelle. She bit my familiar--and black spots started appearing around the wound. His presence started fading, the joint feeling between us started disappearing--"
Claire's sentence is halted by the other sister's transformation. Claire watches as she morphs into a gigantic snake, easily taller than an average human. Claire takes a step back, fear in her ice-blue pupils. That's when it clicks to her.
"It isn't a curse," Claire whispers.
Then what is this abomination?
☂
TL;DR Looks for lucena zamóre at the crowd. Approaches Bailey (SOLSTICE) and tries to seek help for her familiar. Tells him what happened. Stops mid-sentence as Maribelle transforms. Comes to realization that there is no curse.
Post by maddox rothscus ✨ on Sept 30, 2017 14:36:00 GMT
that was you.
he follows the events that transpire quietly, eyes sharp. what he wants to do is to charge headfirst into battle against the sisters -- who could have, moosely reminds him in a low rumble, a slow approaching storm, very well led zephyr to his death. -- but he is not entirely suicidal. he acquiesces to the unspoken request, lingers at the back of the group well out of the way, and watches as bailey enters.
the woman's shock, an understatement, does not go unnoticed. neither does the tension: this grows thick enough to cut, to suffocate. maddox finds himself holding his breath, every muscle taut with anticipation. the conversation, back-and-forth, the sharp-sharp-sharp feral edge of maribelle's voice and the calm reason of bailey renico's. still waters run deep, he thinks, gaze flitting over the worn purple of the witch's suit; an ostensibly smooth creek, certainly not the instant, precipitous drop into a watery grave that it is.
but maybe he's just hoping a little too much that the head of lux university is a ruthlessly efficient killer who will put an end to all the immediate madness through the simplest and most direct of ways. not that one needs to be a ruthlessly efficient killer to solve all their problems, as he is sure bailey will demonstrate soon. still. he can dream.
he wishes he could transcribe their conversation, take notes on his interface, but there's something that tells him that probably isn't the best decision. the alternative: he commits as much to memory as possible, and takes some comfort in the fact that moosely has better memory than he has. an unknown magic, suixitium, something about killing familiars ( something twists in his gut ) and an equally unknown 'gareth', stand out the most.
a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye, and suddenly, an entire group is there. someone ( a covenmate, if his memory serves him right ) collapses against the wall, and claire approaches bailey, questions aplenty. then things begin happening very quickly.
observation number one: they look like hell. he has a sprained ankle. they have a sprained everything. they look, frankly, two steps from death's door. heck, the unconscious girl looks dead already. he kind of hopes she isn't.
observation number two: more burst through the door; he turns just in time to catch a glimpse of his brother and flashes a tight-lipped grin. at least they're ( relatively ) safe.
observation number three: he turns back, and there is a snake. there is a huge, spiked snake where the woman had been. somehow. the situation has devolved into something synonymous with dangerous, or at least even more so than before. doomed, perhaps, for the more fatalistic few.
extrapolation, from the bits of conversation finally starting to register: this is the power of gareth, the power of suixitium. it is very, very, very, far from a curse.
honestly, he hadn't signed up for this kind of drama at all.
but he's here anyway, and, like most of them ( probably ) he does still want to get out of this alive.
[attr="class","gearcore"] The portal had been hidden outside in the hopes that only the group which might have needed to use it would know it was there. To Zeph's relief, it activated successfully and without traps or immediate lethal force waiting for them on the other side. There was, however, maniacal laughter bursting from the temple's walls. That couldn't be good.
There was no time for secrecy or tact, so, before even getting back on his broom, Zephyr burst through the same doorway which the first group had entered. Truthfully, he was surprised by the number of people who were here. It seemed that all three groups had again converged in one place. Though he didn't have much time for a formal headcount, it seemed that most were there. Though he didn't see Sima, as he glanced at Mads he saw the purifier was able to smile, which meant the apprentice was safe somewhere. He was glad.
Tragically, Zephyr doesn't arrive in time for Bailey and Maribelle's exposition. He likely would have been upset, had he known he'd missed out on so many important answers. And it's true -- he is a bit behind on today's revelations.
"You guys found fuckin' Bailey Renico?"
The exclamation is accompanied by an exasperated toss of his hands and a look full of questions directed at his brother. Of all the people he'd expected to find out here in the middle of nowhere, the head of Lux University (easily recognized by the crafter who'd attended his school for one year and a fraction of another) wasn't even a consideration for the list. This whole ordeal was making less sense by the minute. "All we found was a bloody murderous bird-priestess!" And Adalie. And a villager from Beaumains. The sister-who-was-also-a-bird was undoubtedly the most exciting discovery, however. And even that wasn't much of a discovery, considering the eldest sister had already begun to shift into a similarly oversized animal before everyone's eyes.
Before the sister's transformation is complete, he hops onto his broom (which carried a single, larger bag than before) and zips over to the professor. "I've got rock magic, a canister n' a half o' mana, a link back t' Sundial, an' a broom. What'd'ya need?" he quickly asks, assuming that Bailey wouldn't have entered the heart of this temple without some sort of goal in mind. The ex-student made no presumptions on whether or not Bailey would recognize him. He hadn't been an exceptionally excellent, nor an exceptionally terrible student, and, surprisingly enough, had managed to stay out of any significant trouble. He'd had a strong grasp on Earth magic for his age, yet hadn't been able to discover a known affinity which particularly suited him. He was an odd case, but Zeph imagined it wasn't entirely unheard of.
SOLSTICEmaddox rothscus ✨ tldr: 1. bursts through the door & is honestly offended no one told him BAILEY showed up 2. offers to help if Bailey does in fact have a plan
weary- they are weary of it all- but they cannot afford to be weak. the time for action is finally upon them. they arrive as one group together again, and right when they have assembled, they realize that they must fight again.at least this time, there is little uncertainty.
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bailey renico
even as the girl's form begins to change, he hears someone shout his name. albiet, with profanities framing it. but he could forgive it as another side effect of the adrenaline (or, possible, the fatigue). youngsters needed someway to vent their emotions, after all. [break][break] and what, you're already getting old? asked camille from his shoulder. bailey smiled at camille- her skin was dark purple to match his suit. he shook his head wordlessly and turned to greet the stranger. "that's about it, actually," he said, with a sparkle in his eye. "move quickly. block the entrance to that stairway. everyone who is able bodied, move everyone who is not away as quickly as possible. i don't know if this building will hold." [break][break] "if you've got all that under control, then you can help me play pin the tail on the lass." that was probably the worst joke ever-- he was certain any of his student would groan with disappointment. but in the heat of madness, it was a man's job to restore what bit of sanity he could, even if it was just flavoring the existing one with his own kind.[break][break] and then the woman came rushing up to him and bailey blinked for a minute-- "what did you say?" he asked, breath catching in his throat. oh no. [break][break] i still have to do all the work in this house, don't i? camille said, rolling her eyes as a dozen strands of pure light materialized from thin air: even as the snake began transforming, the threads of light attacked, hopefully in tandem with whatever else was coming the snake's way. the threads of light would pin down the tail, but the tail kept thrashing and attacking whatever was too close. maribelle, now far from human, hissed in pain. [break][break] bailey, however, just stared at claire. [break][break] and then he put the rest of the lingering pieces together. familiar sacrifices, suixitium as a "magic"-- of course. they could not use it in the purest of forms, as sir gareth undoubtedly had. which meant that-- [break][break] "look out! take cover! whatever you do, do not let that hit you--" [break][break] he strained to turn to claire in the confusion: "do not worry. i will make sure that both you can your familiar emerge from this as close as possible to how you came forward. you have my word."
water projectiles, sharpened like a knife's edge, were thrown with all the force of a bullet. at everyone in the room- injured, unconscious and able alike. [break][break] the snake's voice cackled to life, a mix of human and animal: "you finally see it, professor! suixitium destroys whatever is not it! all the villagers, whoever had tainted their blood--whoever is impure, they will suffer the most gruesome of deaths. how they ridiculed us! 'blood magic-'- it's their own blood's magic and they act so innocent. it's their turn now. their familiars will be ripped from their bodies. only gareth's blood can save you now." [break][break]
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ooc notes
welcome to suixitium thread E. this event is not death enabled, however it is only open to participants who have passed through two other suixitium threads. your only requirement is to post once with a post of 450 words detailing character reactions and response to the fight. you may post more than once if you would like. [break]break] you have one more chance to post in the thread. it has been extended to an additional 5 days from this point.[break] [break][break]
Post by maddox rothscus ✨ on Oct 7, 2017 14:36:07 GMT
that was you.
the others file in behind, their exhaustion almost palpable in the air -- but they do not, they cannot rest just yet. he catches' zephyr's eye, and lifts his shoulders in a shrug. "we got lucky!" he yells back, though as his gaze slides back towards the monstrous snake, he appends, "sort of!"
then bailey is giving out instructions, looking so utterly at ease as compared to the rest of them in a way that maddox can only envy and hope to emulate. barrier-creation is out of his set of skills; he'll leave that to zephyr. instead, he moves towards the girl that had collapsed earlier -- a name yet escapes him, and in the rush of the situation, he doesn't really have time to sit down and rummage through his memory -- carefully moving her out of the building, to a space that is presumably safe. he is mildly surprised that he doesn't trip and fall. when he looks back down at his hands, they are stained scarlet with her blood. yikes.
a quiet, urgent brush against his connection with moosely and the familiar appears, eyes dark and glowering, sharp with pain and anger alike. "stay." there is no room for argument, not here, not now. "try not to let them die," he informs the moose, receives a sullen bellow in response, and head back inside. it's an odd side that greets him, chaos constrained within four walls that seem suddenly too small for this battle. it's suffocating. the snake's tail thrashes wildly, held ( vaguely ) in place by glowing ropes of luminous sunlight; he recognises these as the professor's. he wills up a gale, the air coalescing around his hands but not quite there yet, before bailey's voice cuts through his concentration, sharp and urgent.
"look out! take cover! whatever you do, do not let that hit you--"
something comes spinning towards him, knife-sharp edge glinting as it does, deceptively small but no less dangerous ( he thinks, at least, but does not linger long enough to find out ). he throws himself forward, the gale dispersing into a harmless breeze, hitting the ground and skidding forward on his elbows -- the blade of water flies past overhead, close enough to hear it whisper as it does, and he finds himself unconsciously holding his breath. it only lasts for a moment before he is up and moving again, scrambling forward lest he turn into a sitting target.
( 'don't die,' moosely says. one has to squint to detect the traces of any genuine care beneath that dry tone. )
'believe me, i don't really want to,' maddox shoots back, and it's a sentiment that holds true at least for the moment, because gods be damned if he dies out in some unknown temple because of some insane familiar-less women screaming about gareth and some mysterious magic. ( some other part of his mind reminds him that he's arranged to take sima out for lunch some time next week, and he really doesn't want to cancel a date over something like dying. )
admittedly, there's very little about maddox that actually caters to situations like this: restraining a target is, again, not exactly something he does often. but he'll try. he pulls out his wand, and, to the best of his ability, aims and fires.
- moves naomi out of the building to a safe space - tells moosely to stay with her ( + whoever else is dragged outside ) to keep them safe - goes back in to help bailey with whatever - uses vibrionus in an attempt to stun the snek and stop the water knives
Post by julius kingston on Oct 8, 2017 3:29:51 GMT
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if my woman were a fire, oh she'd burn out before i wake[break]
AND BE REPLACED BY PINTS OF WHISKEY, CIGARETTES, AND OUTER SPACE---
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When they arrive at last, Julius feels a shudder shake through his entire being- for a brief second he thinks that those eyes (half-human, half-snake) are bound to paralyze him and turn him to stone. But the eyes are not what get his legs to shake: it's the sight of Cassidy with blood (silently, quietly, gently) oozing out of bite marks that run down her legs.[break][break]
For a second, his mind blanks. [break][break]
And then he thinks of many things at once, as thought making up for the fraction of time he had lost: one, he's stupid and whatever the hell they were arguing about last night is stupid, too. Two: always assume worst case scenario. Three: he failed to assume worst case scenario. Four: this is worst case scenario.[break][break]
"Cassidy!" he screams, and then his legs thunder forward and he's not really sure how he's walking or if he's running or really where he is at all. It feels like he's running backwards on the ceiling and the rest of the world' adumbrated shadow is buzzing.[break][break]
The mosquito noise turns into a hive of hornets and some words seem clearer: Bailey Renico, suixitium, blood of Gareth. Gareth? [break][break]
He slams his back against a table-- his spine is numb to the pain. Water knives clatter against the surface and his breath comes out of his lungs as shaky as it entered. He holds onto Cassidy and presses her body against his. [break][break]
"We're going to be okay." [break][break]
He's not sure if he's really speaking or just imagining it. His tongue feels numb. Did he bite it along the way? The thought is drowned out by other thoughts: [break][break]
Quote 'Their' legacy unquote. The people of beaumains are being killed by methods of unknown magic. Unknown magic. Exciting, interesting. Should look into that later. Something about blood purity. Possible incest leading to insanity. (Or vice versa?) Possible severing of ties between the witch and the familiar. (Where is Hermione? Are you safe? Yes. Okay. Stay safe.) Destroys whatever is not it. Presuming Zephyr is sealing whatever Cassidy was subduing, we can use that for further research. Do the Helios Knights support using bodies of villagers and/or blood testing for research? [break][break]
He closes his eyes and whispers something. [break][break]
The buzzing gets louder.
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000
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@suix | tl;dr julius being useless and depressed. #foreshadowing
[attr="class","gearcore"] "Done." Zeph completes Bailey's first instruction quickly -- as soon as the professor is done talking, in fact -- by creating an stone fortress wall in front of the stairway. Next step is to get everyone away. Since Maddox had Naomi, and Juls was running towards Cass, that just left the Knights who had gone to subdue the wolf sister. Some from his coven might have found it odd that Zephyr considered helping Knights at all, but they had just helped keep two Leviathans alive, even if they weren't aware of it. The stone floor beneath them lifted, much like Zephyr had done with the villager and Sao back when they were fighting the giant bird, and began moving them towards the exit.
But then, blades of water begin cutting sporadically through the room, causing Spock shrieks in unrestrained frustration. How dare this imposter of a priestess try to cut her? Spock, not some oversized reptile, was the one who cuts.
As Zeph pricks his own skin with the wires of one of his last two magic canisters, Spock begins to quickly erect additional stone walls to defend as many as she could. They were in sync, each vanishing when one of the water blades appeared too close for comfort (Spock, by vanishing into the outer strata, and Zeph by making use of a blinking scroll spell). The stones carrying the Knights fell on more than one occasion as Zephyr had to break concentration in favor of self-preservation.
As he blocked and evaded the attacks, the sister rambled on about something. Suixitium? Claire had mentioned that in her message, though Zeph still wasn't sure what it meant. It was this odd form of magic they used, but what was its nature? And when she mentioned the villagers, Zeph presumed she must have been talking about the people of Beaumains -- the sisters had been picking them off one by one, after all (if the villager they'd saved earlier was to be believed). Ah, blood magic... possibly genetic? And Gareth's blood. Claire had mentioned that, too, right next to the word Suixitium. Was that their word for purebloods? For people who could use that magic most effectively? But who...
The most precious person from their town.
The one they'd sent to Sundial to be kept safe.
Adalie.
Zeph's eyes widen at the realization, though from anyone else's perception, the reaction may as well have been from the shock of nearly getting hit by one of the snake's attacks. "Hey, so, hypotheAH--" he shouts at the snake pausing briefly to blinks away from another incoming water dagger, "--hypothetically speakin', how would this Blood of Gareth help us, anyway?" Bailey, at the very least, should have realized the question wasn't hypothetical at all.
Unfortunately, Zephyr had been paying more attention to his own safety than the safety of his broom. One of the daggers slices into its side, causing a crimson bloom to burst out from the point of injury. Blood. The bird sister's blood. Though they'd tied her up well and gagged her to keep her from shouting warnings to her sisters (given the short time allotted), this left her wholly unable to defend herself. "Shit," the crafter hisses as he hastily directs the broom carrying the injured harpy to zip outside before the situation escalated even further.
SOLSTICE tldr: 1. walls for days 2. begins moving injured Knights towards the exit 3. verbally asks how the Blood of Gareth would help -- mentally concludes that Adalie is the Blood of Gareth 4. neglects to protect the bag hanging from his broom, causing the tied-up Anabelle within to get stabbed
THE TIME FOR POSTING IN THE EVENT SUIXITIUM IS OVER. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION. THE FOLLOWING EVENTS CAN BE ASSUMED TO HAVE HAPPENED AFTER THE POSTS. IF ANY DETAILS MUST BE CLARIFIED, DISCUSS WITH WINTER .
BAILEY RENICO USED A DUST OF SLEEPING POLLEN TO PLACATE THE AGGRESSIVE SISTER AS WELL AS THE WOLF IN THE BASEMENT AND ENDED THE WHOLE ELEMENTAL ATTACK FIASCO, AFTER WHICH THERE WAS A SWEEPING QUIET. SOON AFTER, THE HELIOS KNIGHTS APPEARED ON THE SCENE LEAD BY HEAD PARAMEDIC LUNACEA JOYHEART. THE KNIGHTS ARRESTED ISOBELLE AND MARIBELLE-- IT WAS FOUND LATER THAT ANABELLE HAD PERISHED DURING THE EVENT.
LUNACEA JOYHEART THEN TOOK CHARGE OF RESEARCHING THE 'INFECTION' THAT SEEMED TO HAVE SWEPT THROUGH SEVERAL OF THE ADVENTURERS. UPON RETURNING TO SUNDIAL, THOSE WITH THE 'CURSE' WERE KEPT UNDER QUARANTINE FOR A FEW DAYS. MEDICATION AND INTENSIVE ALCHEMICAL REMEDY SEEMED TO REVITALIZE THE VICTIMS. THE DETAILS OF THE TREATMENT WERE LABELED UNFIT FOR PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.
ADALIE AND THE VILLAGER, AS WELL AS THE REMAINING UNHARMED VILLAGERS WERE NEVER HEARD FROM AGAIN. IT IS UNCLEAR IF THE VILLAGERS WHO RECEIVED TREATMENT WERE ABLE TO REUNITE WITH THE OTHERS. HOWEVER, SINCE DIRECTIONS WERE EXCHANGED, IT IS LIKELY THAT THE PEOPLE OF BEAUMAINS HAVE MET AND ARE WORKING ON THEIR WAY TO THRIVING AGAIN. THE VILLAGERS WERE ALSO OFFERED HELP REBUILDING BY THE GOVERNMENT OF SUNDIAL.
THE STORIES OF THE BRAVE ADVENTURERS OF SUNDIAL SOON SPREAD THROUGH THE CITY: THEY WERE ALL GIVEN HONORARY BADGES AS A REWARD FOR PREVENTING THE DEATHS OF SEVERAL DOZEN INNOCENT CIVILIANS AND RISKING THEIR LIVES TO DO SO.
THEIR STORY, INCOMPLETE AND SOMEHOW UNSATISFACTORY, HAS SPARKED THOUSANDS OF WHISPERS THAT RUMBLE BENEATH THE SHOUTS OF PRAISE.
all characters making qualifying posts receive: [break][break]
[attr="class","stafftempstore"]
[attr="class","stafftempitem"]incomplete panaceaa serum that can cure any ailment except mortality. So close, and yet so far away. One time use.
[attr="class","stafftempsubtext"] feedback
ONCE AGAIN, a huge thanks to everyone for making the event a success. shoutout to Sybil Chime for actually initially proposing the idea to staff as sisters who can turn into wolves and much gratitude for letting us go wild with your amazing idea. thank you for participating and bearing with all the update delays and general DE madness. [break][break] as always, we're working on the best possible experience and we've come to recognize flaws with our systems. while we have a few ideas about how to improve the next event, your opinions are invaluable to us. please take the time to fill out our anonymous survey here [break][break] we hope that you're still on board for more events, deaths and excitement! see you next time.
