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.
[break][break]The people of Eclipse Town are an unusual bunch. Rather than trading with other civilized peoples, they tend to keep to themselves, living off of the hostile forests surrounding their home. Though often forgotten in the list of Salem's major havens of humanity, it is a developed enough society to offer continentally-recognized Acolyte status through the completion of particularly difficult government-assigned missions.
[break][break]A few miles away from this isolated town, a host of Giant Cave Weavers have begun nesting. Your task is not to slay them -- no, on the contrary, it is to save them. Although a powerful threat in their adult forms, the eggs of these 7-meter tall arachnids are a tasty treat for many of the other monsters in these woods. The spiders' numbers have been declining over the past decades, and with the current population consisting of nothing but the very old, this may very well be the last chance they have to raise a new generation before their species dies out completely.
[break][break]This is a problem for the people of Eclipse Town, since the Giant Cave Weavers' web provides the town with natural protection against more aggressive threats, and the silk is an especially powerful medium to mages with the weaving affinity (including, most notably, the only surgeon in town). You've been tasked with protecting the spiders' eggs from any threats until they hatch. Be warned -- the spiders become aggressive when nesting and possess a paralyzing venom. They will not hesitate to attack and eat you if you stray too close.
[break][break] The people of Sundial have a problem. Every few years after the mating season of the Giant Cave Weavers, the mother spiders bring their newly hatched children all the way up to the Southern Hillocks, right outside Sundial's walls. These beasts have a rudimentary grasp of Earth magic, and within a manner of days can create an underground labyrinth which not only compromises the structural integrity of the walls, but has also claimed the lives of numerous city guards, snatched from the surface by a young arachnid's grasp.
[break][break] All of these beasts have recently converged at their nesting grounds to lay their eggs. This may be the only opportunity the city has to exterminate them for good -- and thus, this is your mission. Even simply destroying all of their eggs is good enough, since without children to raise, the parents will not leave the forest. Granted, it's unlikely that the parents will stand by and watch the destruction of their young without a fight. Since the Weavers' web is quite flammable, be careful to avoid burning down the entire forest -- who knows what kind of environmental repercussions that would cause.
[break][break]
[attr="class","stafftemptitle"] ooc instruction
Each character has been given a mission which will result in a promotion to Acolyte if completed to the satisfaction of the governing body which hired them. Post as if this were a normal mission thread -- staff will post only when necessary, so do not wait for them at the end of each round. There are no time limits, so you may begin at your leisure.
Post by maddox rothscus ✨ on Jun 13, 2018 13:44:25 GMT
of all the missions he has undertaken, this is easily his least favourite.
staring down at his eight-legged charges, situated on a tree a safe distance away, maddox wonders why on earth such terrifying creatures would ever need protection. the spider eggs are, ostensibly, delicacies among the local wildlife. it is what he has been told, anyway.
there is some truth to that statement, he does admit; he’s spent the past few days camping out in the wilderness, batting off incursions from overly curious monsters who wander too close to the nest for comfort. on multiple occasions, he has been tempted to simply let nature run its course. surely, giant spiders can hold their ground. it would simply be an evolutionary flaw to be something that big and terrifying and not be able to fend off a few raptors.
alas, there is the success of the mission at stake, and the very pleading case of the town’s one and only surgeon, so he tries his best to do his job -- observing from a safe distance, as is encouraged when the beings you are told to protect didn’t get the memo and simply see you as an undersized snack.
his hair is a mess and the circles under his eyes dark, the sleeve of his coat torn where he had caught it on an errant branch earlier that day. he looks about as tired as he feels, and he desperately wants to go back to camp and take a nap. but it’s the third day by now ( or perhaps the fourth ) and if he hopes hard enough, he can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
please, please let these goddamn spider eggs hatch so i can go back home and sleep.
Post by kasimir burovski ✨ on Jun 22, 2018 8:28:15 GMT
blue moon
you saw me standing alone
there are some missions he despises, that he would have liked nothing more than to decline - and then there are the missions that he has no qualms in taking. this? this would be one of them. after some very recent, very close and personal encounters with giant spiders, kasimir is more than willing to help in the elimination of the seven-meter high arachnids, even were it not for the string of deaths they have caused.
he slips through the trees with both invisibility and CLOAKING draped around his shoulders, footsteps silent as he ghosts towards his target. he is aiming for an unseen takedown, clean and quiet with minimal fuss, and to that end being undetected is important. kasimir has absolutely no desire to directly combat these massive monstrosities, no matter that they are susceptible to fire.
not to mention, he is quite certain the council would prefer if he were to keep environmental damages at a minimum.
drawing nearer, he frowns when an unfamiliar silhouette catches his eye - it is neither natural, nor that of a spider or egg. a person perched in a tree in the middle of the wilderness, right next to aggressive nesting giant spiders - that is decidedly not normal. he should probably approach them and advise them to retreat before he sets out to combat the arachnids; should things go wrong, he would prefer if there were no possible bystanders to protect.
only, the closer he gets, the more the figure solidifies into someone familiar. maddox with his hair a mess and circles beneath his eyes, looking as though he had spent the last three days out here in the wild. kasimir pauses, frowns. concern rears its head - perhaps the other witch is injured?
"maddox," he whispers once he is within earshot, careful to keep his voice hushed so as not to attract any attention from the spiders. "what are you doing here? are you injured?"
Post by maddox rothscus ✨ on Jun 22, 2018 9:10:07 GMT
even with moosely quietly perusing the local selection of shrubbery some distance away, there is very little a lookout can do against an illusionist determined to be stealthy. as it stands, the moose notices little else apart from the drab coloration of nearby vegetation, pawing at it with some disdain. it isn't as if he has to eat for survival's sake, but he has grown terribly bored of simply sitting and waiting.
maddox has his attention singlemindedly devoted to the nest of spiders and any immediate threats, of which, he has gathered, are often large enough to spot from some distance away. such is the nature of creatures who are foolish enough to prey on giant spider eggs. or be anywhere in this vicinity voluntarily, really.
'large and stupid,' quips moosely, with a pointed sort of voice that makes maddox fairly convinced that he ought to be somewhat offended. somehow, he is not, if only because at the same time there's a disembodied voice somewhere close by and he feels his heart jump into his throat, just as he jolts upright with enough force to almost send him toppling over the side of the branch.
he stifles a yelp, clutching a handhold on the tree with stubborn determination. spins around to where he thinks the voice might have have originated from, hissing under his breath, "what the hell- am i hallucinating? kasimir?" tentatively, he stretches out a hand, trying to poke wildly at the invisible figure.
"if it is you," he says, as quietly as he can manage, still trying to get a grasp on whether he is truly talking to air. "then i'm working. making sure eclipse's precious spider hoard doesn't die or something. and no, i'm not injured, though maybe i wish i was so i could go home."
Post by kasimir burovski ✨ on Jun 22, 2018 15:07:05 GMT
blue moon
you saw me standing alone
for a moment, kasimir is rather worried that maddox might fall from his perch. even reaches out upon instinct in case it should be necessary to catch him, but the purifier, thankfully, manages to retain his balance and stays put. he feels vaguely guilty for not, perhaps, announcing himself in a less startling fashion, but he would really rather take every precaution against the spiders sensing him that he can, given the situation.
"my apologies," he says softly, and confirms, "yes, it is me." but then, though his lips quirk up momentarily at maddox's complaint, a frown quickly overtakes it. this... is not something he had calculated for. there is a pause, and then, "... i think we may have a problem."
he leans against the tree, letting his invisibility fade though keeping the cloaking, and offers a wry expression with a glance up at the other witch. "i was sent to eliminate the spiders, and their nest," he explains, running a hand through his hair. "they have been the cause of several deaths, and the hatched young will only cause more."
Post by maddox rothscus ✨ on Jun 23, 2018 8:17:35 GMT
he drops his hand back to his side as soon as kasimir confirms that yes, indeed, he is talking to one invisible illusionist, and not a hallucination from his sleep-deprived mind ( of which has been over-saturated on thoughts about ways to die via giant spiders as of late ). relief, however, is short-lived.
“oh,” he ends up saying, watching kasimir fade back into view with a slight frown. “that’s...yeah. that’s a problem.”
he turns his gaze downwards, to look towards where the spiders reside. the cave is drenched in shadow, lit oddly by dim sunlight refracting off the webs that drape haphazardly across its entrance. just beyond, he can barely make out the shifting of legs too thin and too long, in the odd jerky movements that spiders possess. “the web and silk are particularly important, and apparently they’re an endangered species, now? so i’m supposed to make sure this batch survives.”
the more he looks at them, the more he has to resist the urge to throw up. he truly wishes he could join kasimir in razing this nest to the ground, or alternatively turning tail and running as far as he can. he is silent for a while, thinking. or trying not to barf. perhaps both.
“do you think i’d be able to run in there and grab some eggs? dump them back on the people who hired me and then you’ll be free to kill the rest? i mean, whoever hired you doesn’t necessarily have to know.” the suggestion leaves a bad taste in his mouth, more so regarding the idea of getting close to the spiders than lying to an employer, but he can’t think of another viable option.
Post by kasimir burovski ✨ on Jun 29, 2018 14:55:27 GMT
blue moon
you saw me standing alone
he watches the relief slide off maddox's face to be replaced by a creased brow, the situation sinking into the air like a quiet, sombre shroud. kasimir has been on missions before wherein other witches were in direct conflict, of course - any active witch would likely come across this problem once in a while, and particularly at higher ranks - but this time, now, it is different.
the mission goals do not conflict with his personal morality, for one. and for another, he cares about maddox. cares about what maddox might think of him, cares about what consequences his actions will have on maddox; he cares enough about the other witch that fighting him or immobilising him are not even options he will consider. compromise, he hopes, will be attainable - surely, the purifier is not too eager for these monstrous, lethal arachnids to breed and propagate.
( he follows maddox's gaze to where one of the spiders resides, long spindly legs jutting out from the shadows like a creature straight out of hell. cobwebs hang like silken drapes across the trees, innocuous and pristine just waiting for some unsuspecting prey to reach out and touch. through the darkness, he can make out too many pairs of glimmering eyes.
kasimir resists the urge to shudder and burn everything down )
reluctantly, he concedes that the people of eclipse have reason to desire the spiders' continued survival. he considers maddox's proposal, slanting a calculative eye at the clearing as he makes and discards plans. he does not need to even think about whether to accept the compromise. "eliminating the spiders first, and coming back for the eggs later will likely obtain better results," he murmurs finally. a slight frown. "immobilise and quietly kill them here, or draw them away and ambush them?" he asks.
the former runs the risk of destroying the eggs should the immobilisation fail and a fight break out. the latter has no guarantee of drawing out all the arachnids, not to mention posing a greater risk to their person.
Post by maddox rothscus ✨ on Jun 29, 2018 15:12:43 GMT
he rubs his eyes. stifles a yawn. lets a blink go on for a second too long and for a moment, lets himself hope that the problem will be solved as soon as he opens his eyes. ( he opens his eyes. the spiders are still there. he kind of just wants to close his eyes again. )
"i can set up something like an anti-magic field for a bit," he offers slowly, eyeing the spiders with undisguised distaste. "just a small, localised area around the eggs. i mean, i'd probably have to get closer to them to do it, but at least it'd lower the risk of accidentally burning them."
in the worst case scenario, he reflects, at least he still has that serum. not that he has the slightest clue on how effective it truly is, but there's a good ninety-percent chance that it would save his life if he did get bitten, and he's willing to gamble on that. he stares at the spiders for a little while longer, and is all the more convinced that he does not want to get close to them at all.
alas, he has never been one for long-distance fighting, and snatching eggs right out of a spider's nest demands a closer encounter than he would ever wish for.
he unhooks the axe from its sheath, tests its weight restlessly in his hands. "i suppose i could get moosely to stay at the perimeter, wall in whatever tries to flee."
Post by kasimir burovski ✨ on Jun 29, 2018 15:40:53 GMT
blue moon
you saw me standing alone
he eyes the purifier with no small amount of concern at the slightly too-long pause and the uncharacteristic fatigue. exhaustion is evident in maddox's very bearing and he cannot help but worry. for a moment, he entertains the thought of suggesting that the other witch go rest and just let kasimir take care of the spiders, but even he knows that such a proposal would be met with a firm rejection.
he thinks about bringing it up anyway.
kasimir tilts his head in consideration. "true," he says, then points out, "but physical damage may still occur." seven-meter tall giant spiders are not exactly restrained, after all, and especially not in the throes of death.
he frowns at the clearing, as if staring intently enough at it would yield a plan. then looks up to see maddox unsheathing an axe, turning it restlessly in his hands. kasimir automatically reaches up to still the purifier's hands, making a soft note in agreement while his mind continues to search for solutions. "discretion, i think, will serve us best," he says softly. "i can slow down their perception of time, sneak up on them and quietly take them out. if we do kill them one by one, carefully enough, we can hopefully eliminate them without a fight." a pause. "i could also send a clone."
Post by maddox rothscus ✨ on Jun 30, 2018 1:31:34 GMT
"oh," he says, pausing briefly in his restless spinning of the axe, "that's...true." as useful as anti-magic fields were, it would hardly stop a thrashing spider from accidentally destroying the eggs. he thinks about the last time he witnessed the spiders hunt, unstringing their struggling prey from the webs strung out between trees ( he resists the urge to simply call it quits and retreat once more ) but their strength is quite undeniable. restricting the spiders in any way will surely prove a challenge.
there are hands on his suddenly, calm and steady; he inhales sharply, reminds himself to breathe, and slowly stills his hands. tries his best to turn his attention to the plan instead. it is odd to think of maddox as an anxious individual, but the truth is simply that exhaustion ( and spiders ) frays his nerves thin; still, bravado is a familiar face to wear.
a thought flits in at the edges of his mind; he catches it, frowns for a moment, then launches the athenean interface. its screen immediately descends into a flurry of action as he quickly scans through the wi-stor database on monsters, hoping to glean any additional information on the spiders. he lets this run for a while longer, distractedly nodding at kasimir's suggestions.
"i'm, personally, pretty shit at stealth," he says, shrugging helplessly, "i could try and keep the rest occupied while you work on one, and so on." there are options available to him, ways of the elements or meddling with whatever brains the spiders may have; options that are short of running around and playing bait -- he's seen how fast they move, and he's not too keen on a race.
Post by kasimir burovski ✨ on Jun 30, 2018 6:19:49 GMT
blue moon
you saw me standing alone
there is a certain mixture of unease, adrenaline, and tension to planning the demise of seven-meter tall monstrous spiders mere meters away from said spiders, with their spindly legs and glimmering eyes always visible in the peripheries of his vision. even worse is the worse are the stray beams of sunlight that catch upon the cocooned eggs - somehow, the almost liminal space where deep shadows hide the worst of the bodies and hazy light plays upon the webs is even more unsettling than if everything were properly lit and visible.
a flicker of movement in the air above and he looks up to see maddox scrolling through a translucent blue screen, frowning at whatever is writ there. hopefully, the other witch will be able to gather some information about the spiders' potential weaknesses.
he considers maddox's statements. it is true that his partner is not... as trained in stealth as kasimir is, and also true that attempting to sneak up on an eight-eyed monster with an axe in hand and no illusions to help is not a task easily accomplishable. "you, moosely, and kirjava could maintain watch while i eliminate the spiders through stealth," he says slowly. "in case they notice me, or something goes wrong. one of you could guard and drive them away from the eggs if it becomes necessary." not kirjava, of course. keeping fire away from the very flammable webs is rather a priority.
he hesitates, then shrugs slightly. "if all else fails, i can send them fleeing and then we could hunt them down individually," he says quietly. preferably such an option will not need to be used - hunting down giant spiders in a dark and dangerous forest is not his ideal day - but an undesirable contingency plan is better than no contingency plan at all. or death.
Post by maddox rothscus ✨ on Jun 30, 2018 7:58:10 GMT
try as he might, he realises he has only ever really read up on wraiths, much less giant spiders: he has never quite anticipated the day where he has to fight them, much less save them. he flips it over to his own personal notes instead, scanning briefly through the observations he had made over the past few days.
"don't get bitten by them," he says distractedly, "they've got this paralyzing venom. not sure if they can spit it too, so-" pauses, frowns. "be careful." he doesn't like the idea of sending kasimir down into the cave just by himself, even though his own utility is admittedly limited.
"they'll probably be on high alert as soon as you kill the first one," he points out, "if they do, just go straight for plan b and i'll make sure the eggs don't get completely wrecked." he might be able to take advantage of the ruckus to slip in past them. maybe. he didn't want to think about it too much; diving headfirst into a situation without too much thinking has served him well in the past, and he can only hope that it does similarly this time too.
he hefts the axe in hand, leans forward to examine the ground below. he could probably make that jump. "well, ready whenever you are."
Post by kasimir burovski ✨ on Jun 30, 2018 13:04:33 GMT
blue moon
you saw me standing alone
"lovely," he says drily as his partner lists the properties of the venom. the mere thought of the spiders being able to spit it too is distinctly horrifying. he truly hopes that is not the case, although knowing their luck not only would the spiders be able to spit venom, it would have other disastrous side effects in addition to potent toxicity. he will simply have to take care not to be hit. or rather, remain unseen.
he nods at maddox's words, already fairly resigned to the reality that they will probably end up needing to fight despite how much he hopes stealth will suffice - if there is anything he has learnt after so many missions, it is that no plan ever survives contact with the enemy. that, and the inevitable occurrence of anything that could ever possibly go wrong. "if it comes to that, perhaps slicing down the eggs and removing them to a safer place would be easier than protecting the webs," he suggests.
maddox hefts the axe in his hand, and kasimir sighs, straightens. this part of the mission, he is truly not looking forwards to. kirjava slips into existence in her regalia of tawny-gold and eyes burning amber, silent and focused with shadows sliding down her fur like liquid ink. "alright," he says, and fades from view.
his first target is the spider closest to the webs, a monolith of a creature lounging in a pool of darkness with just enough light filtering through the treetops to highlight the lethal gleam of its fangs. kasimir approaches it with silent, cautious steps, creeping closer with illusions woven tightly over himself keeping a careful eye out for any signs of attack. in an ideal situation, he would prefer to attack from above with a single thrust straight down through its head, but here and now he is entirely unwilling risk the chance of it hearing him climb a tree. thus, not even daring to breath, kasimir casts a rapid temporal spell to slow down its perception of time ( and thus, its reflexes ), and swiftly lunges forwards to thrust a sword of fire straight up into the spider's brain.
it dies silently, gracelessly, without time to even process any danger before it is already crumpling to the ground. the position it had been in before makes its passing barely observable - the other spiders do not even twitch. he lets out a formless sigh of relief, and moves on to spider number two.
Post by maddox rothscus ✨ on Jun 30, 2018 14:42:45 GMT
with a fight imminent on the horizon, maddox can sense moosely's anticipation; the familiar reverses the retreat, beginning to edge his way back towards the spiders' nest, dark fur camouflaged against darker woods. he is in his element in the woods, even if maddox is not.
"i'll do what i can," maddox responds, already not enjoying the prospect of having to handle spider eggs at such close proximity. perhaps he could simply hover the eggs over the ground and not actually have to touch them. oh, gods. he doesn't want to touch them.
'use your jacket,' moosely advises, reveling in the witch's discomfort. maddox considers burning the jacket after. and, by the time he looks back up, kasimir is gone, as though he had never been there in the first place.
for a terrifying, delirious moment, maddox thinks he may have hallucinated the entire encounter, before moosely drags him back down to his senses with an unceremonious, mental equivalent of a boot to the ribs. he gathers his wits about him, or whatever is left after three days of camping ( he's a city kid through and through ), and lets himself fall.
to his credit, the descent is noiseless. gossamer wings unfurl to slow the fall, the air itself rising to cushion the impact. there is little sound other than the crunch of leaves beneath his feet, and though in other any circumstance he might be proud, right now even that sounds too loud for his tastes. he freezes, doesn't even breathe, momentarily afraid that he has ruined the element of surprise.
he turns his focus to the spiders, scanning what few he can see. the sunlight is thin in this forest, details sparse from what he can see. yet the spiders are hard to miss: there is a hint of light reflecting off too many eyes, the too-long legs that twitch in unnatural, jittery movements. he watches, silent and patient. blink -- there is a flicker of flame that bisects a dark skull -- blink -- the spider dies.
he takes stock of the situation, prays kasimir has it under control, and waits some more.
Post by kasimir burovski ✨ on Jun 30, 2018 15:44:49 GMT
blue moon
you saw me standing alone
spider number two dies with the same lack of ceremony as spider one. a silent, invisible approach, a beat of slowed-down time, a swift uppercut with the fires of the sun, and a dead arachnid corpse. cautiously rising is the hope that the rest of this mission will proceed with the same unprecedented smoothness. two out of nine have been eliminated with no fuss - surely, the rest could similarly die?
of course, he should have known better than to hope.
spider three dies with a jerk of legs that tangles with spider four, and suddenly, there is a giant seven-meter tall arachnid shooting upright and screeching with a sound kasimir did not even think spiders could make. he curses, abandoning all attempts at stealth to lunge forwards with a whip of fire blazing through the air; "get the eggs!" kirjava roars even as kasimir's flame whip bisects spider four and slices half of spider five's legs off.
everything descends into chaos thereafter; there are four giant spiders remaining, all of them terrifying and furious. he flares the whip again ( catching several eyes and legs ) but dares not use it again for fear of setting the forest ablaze. wings for aerial manodrvrebility; an idea occurs in a split second and kirjava races forwards to distract the monsters while kasimir whirls towards the webs where his partner presumably is.
"give me the eggs, i can fly them away!" he shouts.
