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.
[attr="class","inkpost"]things are quite rapidly taking a turn for the worse. he did not anticipate this when he woke up today: he had assumed that today would be a Fun And Interesting Day, not the annual No Good, Very Bad Day. he thinks he might sprain his neck with all the turning around that he’s doing, between keeping an eye on the fiasco happening at the back with the giant goat familiar and all, and also the crowd that he is following, which seems to have slowed down dramatically. oh, come on — people are trying to get out, move faster![break][break]
he stifles a frustrated sigh, hops a little to gain a better view of what may have slowed people down, and then notices the commotion at the front. he watches as the guards, empty-eyed and moving oddly, begin to draw their weapons on the crowd.[break][break]
great, just great. an absolutely amazing day. he could have stayed home and taken a nap instead.[break][break]
he grumbles under his breath, brings a spell to the forefront of his mind, and bites down hard enough on his lip to draw blood. his form shrinks, his teeth sharpen — a wolf of mottled colouring and slender limbs leaps out from the crowd, bounding across abandoned benches and weaving between legs to make his way to the front. [break][break]
and there, the wolf splits into two as miro slips into existence, the shadows trailing long and dark behind them. shadow tendrils snake upwards, attempting to disarm the guards or trip them up.[break][break]
idk who to tag man[break] items used: CHANGELING’S SCROLL
Last Edit: Jan 17, 2019 1:36:19 GMT by ninos knight
Post by raven delacroix on Jan 17, 2019 13:21:05 GMT
When the sleepy people refuse to go back to sleep, Raven takes a step back. And then eventually, she runs away. Well, not really away, but to the direction of the two Knights... It's easy for her to note that she has nowhere to run, though. She, too, despite not being involved in the scene, knows that the giant goat familiar belongs to the girl Aiden is carrying. Between the rampaging familiar and the onslaught of the sleepy people--Medeia's barriers break, too, destroyed by a lightning strike--Raven chooses the bigger menace.
A fireball appears beside Raven, growing larger and larger until it takes the shape of Dai. The stag's antlers are already on fire. A ring of fire appears around the duo, then, swirling hot tongues ready to burn anyone who dares to slip close. (CLOSE QUARTERS)
As for Raven, she breathes deep. This may not be much, but she's going to try her damn best to get this familiar down. Size can both be an advantage and disadvantage. Raven raises her arms and calls upon the energy of the cosmos. It's near 12'o clock and that's good. Her eyes shine fiercely as she calls upon the heavenly bodies, as she asks for permission to use and manipulate its attributes for this one particular feat: gravity.
It's one damn big familiar, though, and Raven is sure she can't yet bring the whole thing down. Medeia has one front hoof glued to the ground. Raven manipulates the gravity around the other leg, increasing, increasing its downwards pull until the leg (hopefully) buckles. (ASTRAGIC GRIMORE: LIBRA THE SCALES)
aiden emerson throws over half a dozen spectators backwards with his concussion wave, causing them to collide with even more of the mind controlled witches and collapse over the stands. Although they do not snap out of whatever trance they've been put under, they also are not quick to get back up on their feet. Chrysanthemum's familiar struggles against the tightening scarf (enough for Chrysanthemum herself to draw increasingly strained breaths), but Medeia's spell holds it fast. Even so, the teal haired woman's new flock was spreading out as they moved down into he central level of the audience bleachers, and growing as people who'd been knocked out begin to stand back up with the same dulled, unfocused gaze. [break][break] Unfortunately, the woman at the center of the growing chaos is approaching Aiden and @emery, taking her time as she makes her way down the steps. [break][break] "I ᴋɴᴏᴡ ɪᴛ ɪs ᴅɪꜰꜰɪᴄᴜʟᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀsᴛᴀɴᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴍɪɴᴅs sᴏ sᴛɪꜰʟᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ Kɴɪɢʜᴛs' sᴄʀɪᴘᴛᴜʀᴇ, ʙᴜᴛ I ᴏꜰꜰᴇʀ ꜰʀᴇᴇᴅᴏᴍ. Tʜᴇʀᴇ ɪs ɴᴏ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʀᴜɴ," the woman speaks, and her voice reaches both the ears and the minds of those in the middle and upper stands (including aiden emerson, @emery, Desmond Grey, taylan karga, and raven delacroix). The tone of the mind-voice is soft and sweet, and almost all those who heard it would feel a sense of calmness wash over them. In Aiden's mind, though, the unnatural voice flows through the web of his dreamcatcher as little more than a venomous hiss. [break][break] The oversized goat familiar produces a strained, out-of-breath bellow as its back legs buckle beneath it from raven delacroix's spell. Between the strangle scarf, increased gravity, and master-rank jinx, most newly-materialized familiars would have been forced to banish their physical body and return to the inner strata, but not this one; it was as if Chrysanthemum's familiar was being stabilized by a mana source more powerful than her own. When long, stone spears shoot up from below aiden emerson and @emery, piercing through their legs in an attempt to prevent movement, it quickly becomes apparent that the familiar is not only being stabilized from another source, but also empowered. [break][break] The sleepwalkers do not seem to avoid pain or injury, either from raven delacroix's flames, taylan karga's thorns, nor heath ambroise's sword, but physical barriers and magical restraints do seem to be holding them back, at least for now... Even so, @raven soon finds arms grasping around her neck from behind, though they are very much on fire due to her close quarters technique. Desmond Grey and taylan karga, upon approaching the exit, would find it occupied by three guards with glazed eyes and drawn weapons, standing over a fourth on the ground, clutching weakly at crimson-stained gashes in her chest. [break][break] heath ambroise's biological metrics show brainwaves of a deep REM sleep, to suggest that the guards were vividly dreaming. Near the ground-level, claire fermont, ninos knight, Billy Kasparian, heath ambroise, and Zephyr Hart would find even more guards and unarmed sleepwalkers congregating around the exit which Medeia had specified, attacking both those who offered up a fight as well as those who didn't. [break]"What in Merlin's beard is going on down there?" Medeia hisses, a destructive rage burning behind her eyes. From her VIP seating, she could see escaping spectators being attacked by other citizens of Salem, and, even worse, by Knights of her coven. She fires off a quick series of Vanishing spells, causing the swords of suspiciously-acting knights to disappear right out of their hands. She does the same with a stalling scroll spell, causing anyone hostile around this side of the ground-level exit to slow their movement nearly to a halt. [break][break] "I don't know what you're waiting for, but I could use a hand here," she barks to the VIP seats just behind her... [break] "Well, excuse me for not wanting to interrupt, princess," Valerus Blaze replies. He looks a bit more tired and irritated than his usual exuberant self. His assistant had finally cornered him yesterday and coerced him into finishing up some urgent (and overdue) paperwork. He'd really wished she could have waited until morning instead of keeping him up so late. [break][break] Though, with Luna investigating the happenings of the yet-unexplained necromancy attack, and Cain on some classified mission from the Salem council themselves, he supposed he had the next highest authority here, after Medeia. Damnit... [break][break] The illusionist actually has been trying to help stem the chaos, but those sleepwalkers were barely responding the the effects of his illusions. He hums as his hands move in well-practiced dances -- it was time to get a bit meaner. Instead, he targets the goat familiar with an illusion of pain -- don't even ask why he knows that one -- prompting another bellow from it. Though it wasn't easily visible from so far away, those who were close by might be able to see Chrysanthemum and the teal haired woman flinch. [break]OOC REMINDER! The next staff post will be in 3-5 days (assuming Ice doesn't get hit by another week-long work emergency ;; ). No new characters are allowed in this thread at this point.
[break][break] Bad things are much more likely to happen to characters if they fail to post for 2 consecutive rounds.
OF ALL OF YOU THAT BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE RIGHT, AND YOU'RE RIGHT, BUT ARE YOU RIGHT?
[attr="class","frniknaktop5"]
THE JUDGEMENT MAN HOLDS MY FATE. AS I GAZE AROUND THE ROOM, THEIR EYES ARE LIKE KNIVES: COULD DECAPITATE.
[attr="class","frniknakmid"]
She shouldn't have asked. She wished she could take that back.
[break][break]These people are anything but fine.
[break][break]They all are waking up, but they are not themselves at all and Emery knows it. She doesn't know whatever the fuck that woman had done, but now they seem to end up being undead... while not really dead. Whoever they make contact with is already strangled, or beat up with fists by the stronger ones--
[break][break]Hands suddenly grab on her neck, which catches her off guard; she is forcibly unmounted off from her gryphon Gallardias, who shrieks, seemingly in panic as she can't get in to save her master. But Emery is still struggling to get out of brutal hands who are still holding her intact. Her vision starts to go blurry but her consciousness is still there; she manages to hit the guy with a punch, which certainly loosens his grip on her. She gets away in a flash, but more hostile hands are reaching out to her, so she backs away quickly in both directions.
[break][break]She hears Aiden yell at her, and from the corner of her eye she could see a young man trying to attack her with fists; she skids away quickly which sends the guy stumbling down. From the right, as a mob approaches she casts FORTRESS and it manages to block their way temporarily, but the more people there will be she knows they will be doomed to be beaten by hypnotized people soon. Better be prepared than anything, then.
[break][break]"Yeah, I'm good! You?" She calls back to Aiden, casting another FORTRESS to the left of her. "Salem, the hell's going on..." She finds herself grumbling. The mod is getting worse and worse. Some people manage to get to her, but she manages to hold herself out; though she knows it won't be long.
[break][break]Unfortunately, she is knocked out by a fist who punches her from behind the head, and she falls to the floor with a grunt. She finds herself sliding her right leg along her assaulter, which allows them to fall headfirst to the ground as well. She turns and sees the teal-haired bitch from earlier, claiming to offer freedom. At these statements, she sneers and tries to stand up from where she is, with no avail. That hit certainly rendered her a bit immobile for a while.
[break][break]"You offer peace, huh?" She glares daggers at the teal-haired woman. "What kind of peace is this supposed to be--"
[break][break]There is a sudden pain in her legs as she feels them being impaled; her eyes widen and she slowly turns to her legs, shivering as she sees the spears protruding from the ground, blood smeared from the tips as she comes to the sudden realization that her legs are pierced by stone spears. Her mind is drawing a blank, but thoughts suddenly make their way into her mind and they're making her panic and they're making her afraid and it's just painful, that's all there is, it's painful and she fears she won't be able to walk anymore-- it's just PAINFUL EVERYTHING ABOUT IT--
[break][break]...A sharp scream erupts from her lips and she covers it with her hand, tears protruding from her eyes as she looks back at the spears keeping her secure to the ground. Salem, she can't move, what use would she be now if she can't so as much move an inch--
[break][break]( she looks pathetic and she knows it, she's just too shocked to make a move )
Post by claire fermont on Jan 24, 2019 10:19:11 GMT
their words bared their teeth into the wall
i would rid the world of feral animals
[attr="class","dbody"]There are guards near the exit and they should be helping. When they don't move, Vani charges ahead and throws them out of the way as he smashes the exit. Claire, meanwhile, picks up that something is wrong. She stops, and takes a moment to survey the situation. She turns her attention to the closest guard to her. "Knight, what are you doing?" she asks with a venomous voice. Most lower-ranking Knights would have snapped back into reality after hearing that tone of voice, but this one doesn't. Claire narrows her eyes. "What are you doing with that weapon? Drop that."
But the guard doesn't listen. Instead, he raises his sword and comes right for Claire. Fool.
Claire knows that no Knight would antagonize her directly--unless it is a cocky newcomer--so she points her wand at the sword and casts GLUE JINX. With a quick downwards motion, the Knight's sword is brought down and hits the ground--and it would be while before he gets that back up.
Just for good measure, though, Claire punches the guard unconscious.
But he isn't the only one to rebel, so it seems. With glassy eyes still, guards and civilians begin to turn against the authorities. Claire doesn't know what is causing this, but she's had enough. "VANI!" she roars among the crowd. The boar has been unsure of what to do as Knights begin to attack him, too, and is just shaking them off like annoying flies. "FIGHT THEM!" And with that, Vani gains the permission to actually put up a fight--defensive, but still a fight. Temperature drops dramatically as Vani speeds up--trampling anyone who's in the way. As he clears part of the crowd, he rises with LARGE SPREAD as he creates a new path in the air with ice alone. He divides the crowd apart with LARGE SPREAD, too, but he just creates more chaos.
Claire, on the other hand, also takes to the air, using ice as foothold. "What the hell is happening..." Claire asks, but lost in such a huge and chaotic place, has no one to answer her question. She singles out crowds of suspicious sleepwalkers, and bounds them using SPATIAL SCROLLBOOK #2. She also pinpoints some Knights who seems to be affected by some kind of spell and binds their arms to their bodies, forcing them to drop their weapons (GLUE JINX). Being busy with crowd control does not make her miss the bigger commotion--the giant goat. But she makes no move about it as it begins to buckle. Good.
Post by raven delacroix on Jan 24, 2019 11:07:09 GMT
Well, it seems to be working... Energized, Raven pours more mana into the spell, until finally, finally, the goat's leg buckles. It's a victory... it is a victory, isn't it? Does look like it, but not quite, as well. Raven is all too aware at the power of voice, and how simple words uttered could have mana woven in it. Manipulate, deceive. So even as a sense of calm washes over Raven, she tries to remain unfazed. "No," Raven grunts. "Freedom endorsed with violence is not freedom at all. Get lost!"
As much as she wants to fight, something tells her she'll just be pulverized on the spot. The goat buckles under multiple attacks, including Raven's, but still hasn't de-materealized. Raven narrows her eyes at the teal-haired woman. It's the woman, isn't it?
But there is no time for question and answer. Hands on her neck, on her throat, makes her drop the spell. The hands are hot, and although Raven has relatively high heat tolerance, being a fire witch, it does not make her immune to burns, though. She hears that there is actually a skill for that, though, but she and Dai hasn't mastered it yet.
The danger activates the BAND OF THORNS disguised as bracelet which keeps her unharmed, though the burn stings. A lot. Dai has been kicking sleepwalkers right and left, but apparently, some slips from his watch just from their sheer number. The fire doesn't faze them, not one bit.
"Fucker," Raven curses under her breath and does a round kick towards the nearest creep. Calling upon the mana of the stars once more--she's gotten pretty good at it--Raven creates three starettes at once and increases the pull of gravity towards each starette (THE STARMAKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY #2). It would keep pesky sleepwalkers away from Raven and Dai, at the very least. Hopefully that would be enough because Raven is seriously tired of them. Can't they just go back to sleep or something.... Oh that's right, it didn't the work the last time.
Dai on the other hand launches several FLAME BOMBS towards the giant goat familiar, aimed at its head and underbelly. Raven kind of wants to attack the creepy witch, too....
@/idk
NOTES
ITEMS used - ( 1 ) astragic grimore: libra the scales ( 2 ) the starmaker’s guide to the galaxy #2 ( 3 ) band of thorns ( 4 ) a gentle whisper
[attr="class","inkpost"]the shadows snake long and dark, rising from the ground in coiling arcs as miro and ninos both dart around the side of an approaching trio of knights. a cage of shadows springs up into existence, attempting to halt those in their tracks. spin — target — repeat. wolf-witch and familiar are a blur of mottled fur and bared fangs and rippling shadows, trying to stem the flow of controlled guards as much as they can, pausing only to herd unarmed civilians into any relatively safer spot.[break][break]
he doesn’t want to harm them, not really. chances are they aren’t in their right state of mind, because perhaps one errant knight with a chip on their shoulder might attack civilians, or maybe two, with a vendetta. but when basically every guard is raising weapons against people indiscriminately, there’s a problem. ninos, unfortunately, has a very limited repertoire of magic that doesn’t directly harm ( has, in retrospect, a limited repertoire in general ), so he’ll have to settle for just not killing anyone.[break][break]
the spell is called to the forefront of his mind as he whirls around to face another crowd of guards. he aims low, pulls his lips back into a snarl, and lets loose a knockerbacker to sweep a small group of knights off their feet.[break][break]
tl;dr just trying to fend off guards and get folk to safety[break][break] items used: [break] (1) CHANGELING’S SCROLL[break] (2) KNOCKERBACKER
Last Edit: Jan 24, 2019 12:05:58 GMT by ninos knight
[attr="class","a1lyric"]i got nothing but dreams inside[break] i got nothing but dreams
[attr="class","a1lyric2"]i'm just young enough to still believe, still believe [break]young enough not to know what to believe
[attr="class","a1icon"]
[attr="class","a1white"]
[attr="class","a1scroll"] The current mood of this entire debacle was SHIT!Shit! Shit! Shit! He was only adding to the problem at this point. He couldn’t move around as freely as he would’ve liked while carrying a child. He needed to go. Every hair on his body stood on its end as he heard that hiss in his mind while the woman came towards him. Fury, panic, and determination coalesce into a rumbling mixture inside of him as he continued moving backwards in an attempt to keep the distance between himself and the woman. “I’m more interested in hearing what Metnal is!” he shouted back, unwilling to be coerced with violence. Maybe if they kept her talking she’d be more distracted. He already felt a struggle as he moved away, wanting so badly to stay and help subdue the familiar or keep back sleepwalkers but he had to take care of this. He’d made the decision already he had to follow it through and be careful about it. He didn’t want to risk his mana running out on him. If he overexerted himself, he might become the woman’s next pawn, and he wanted anything but that.
[break][break]
But these thoughts are interrupted by one animalistic thought almost blinding him as he feels stone pierce flesh and leather and he can’t help but dig nails into Chrysanthemum’s flesh as he yells. That yell, very quickly forming into very loud, very pissed off curses as his heartbeat thundered in his rib cage. His body is doing it’s best to counteract the shock and he needed to move but he can’t his legs are still caught but he must. “You must think clearly.” His familiar’s voice states, there is an obvious shaking in her voice as she tried to control her pain. “Regain control of the situation.” She demanded as he cast wild eyes on the teal witch. He is just quick enough to spy something bother her, and Chrysanthemum moves in time with her. That’s right, they were bound together, somehow. Or not, but he remembered the dark magic and its strangle hold on the girl in his arms and it emboldens his resolve.
[break][break]
Nimble fingers once again dig into his bag and he rips out a spool of emerald thread. It’s the best he can do under short notice. “Emery! You have to get up!” he yelled as he tossed the spool of Restorative Thread. Now for the worst part. Aiden dug into his bag for a stray piece of corduroy only to shove it in his mouth as he began to try and pull his legs out of the spears. The efforts lasted for two seconds before Peregrine dives in, beak grabbing onto his rider’s gear and ripping the witch right out despite muffled shrieks and tears. The gryphon is quick to deposit him a ways away from the source of it all, dumping his bleeding body near the center of the arena where the duel had been taking place. Aiden can’t even say thank you as he desperately dug into his inventory with tingling hands. He ripped out a vial, teeth clamping on the cork before he chokes back a healing potion, begging for the bleeding to stop and torn flesh to coalesce back together. Whatever was left of it. It hadn’t felt like the smoothest sliding of flesh off barbed stone.
[break][break]
McKenna shouted a reminder into his brain, and Aiden remembered the fleeting link between witch and child and he rummaged for another item under Peregrine’s temporary watch. Out came a bottle of ink and he dumped the contents on Chrysanthemum, drawing a from her head down to her legs. Black bleed into her worn hospital as Aiden pulled out his shears, praying for their help, before pressing the tip to the girl’s forehead gently. Remembering the strange coils of magic, mana sparked like fire hitting gasoline. The ink ignites as he cast Purge and for a second, he wished the Gods would have blessed him with Charani Petrov ’s presence. It had always been clear who had been the better purifier between themselves. “Chrysanthemum Blackwood, you must wake up.” He snapped hoping he could at least chip away whatever it was that was holding her so tightly in her slumber.
[break][break]
tl;dr: sorry emery he bounced, trying to exorcise chrys at the center of the arena thnx perry love u lots
[break][break]
spells used: dreamcatcher, bag of holding, purge, STARING AT A DRYING WALL: MANA-DIFFUSING INK [break] techniques used: [break] items used: giving emery WEAVING - RESTORATIVE THREAD: CLOTHES FOR CONTACT HEALING | using healing potion, heirloom wand: shears of fortune
"Hey Zephyr Hart you think you could trap some of them with like a wall or something? I feel like thats a thing you can do right?" The connection staying established was very helpful with coordination in tactics. Especially because he currently couldnt see where his comrades were in the folly of all this chaos. He normally liked chaos too but this was just becoming annoying.
There were more guards coming and wandering with weapons out. They all looked to be sleep walking or something like that. He really just wished he could force them all to sleep but then again since they were... you know asleep that wouldnt be very helpful at all. He had to make do with restraining them.
Maybe he had something that could wake them? Sleep potion. Sleep potion. Fire Potion. Nope. He really needed to learn an anti sleep potion. That would be real handy right now wouldnt it?
"Yeah they look like their sleep walking or something? Maybe a trance. They dont seem to give a crap about pain though which is... unhelpful." He used some more wires with his ultraviolet skill to test that theory. Nope just burns and nobody seemed to be waking up. Well that was no help.
With another wave of wires he takes out another two guards. They just seemed to be coming and coming with their weapons and annoyance. He could see not super far from him was the ice queen doing her thing as well as the boar more than likely rushing through civilians and guards. Typical.
[attr="class","gearcore"] "The plan right now seems t' be tellin' all the voices of self-preservation to go fuck 'emselves an' chargin' in without a plan, 'cause Heath can't pass by drama without jumpin' straight into the thick of it," Zeph huffs over the mental network, "But yeh, I can make some walls around 'em if they're gathered together. Normal people keep gettin' in the way."
As he's mentally conversing with Billy, the crafter bounds after Heath, grabbing the ankles of a few hostiles who get too close with hands of Gaia. "Yeh, yeh, and I could've left ya in the swamp too, but we both know that ain't gonna' happen. Just don't get too far in, alright? Can't write a story if yer dead."
The crafter snorts at Heath's excited declaration that Billy was not, in fact, dead. "I sure hope so -- otherwise I'd be networkin' with a ghost. He says the people actin' weird must be sleepwalkin' or somethin', but pain isn't gettin' 'em to wake up."
As Billy takes down two guards, Zeph takes the opportunity to erect some metal walls around them -- two to the side, and a third angled enough to meet the nearest wall, encasing them completely. "We see you," he notes to Billy, raising an arm and waving to get his attention "On the other side of the exit. Not sure how Heath plans on gettin' past the crowd, but lemme know if things start gettin' outta hand n' I'll blink in."
Post by heath ambroise on Jan 25, 2019 3:46:11 GMT
“I don’t intend on getting directly involved. I just need a perch and a quick getaway.” Heath told his friend, with no intention of going any farther than he needed. Not when Zephyr was intent on following him, which he appreciated but also didn’t want to endanger unnecessarily. Then again, they did sort of have a habit of ending up in dangerous situations together without really trying. Like in the swamp. Heath let out a snort, feeling the ache in his gut his body still recoiling at the feeling of poison running through him and blood spewing out.
“That’s accurate. Biometrics was saying they’re just dreaming vividly. They won’t stop because they’re already knocked out.” Heath said, nodding in agreement with Billy’s assessment. This is a weird kind of hypnosis. Witches were dreaming, but their brains had unlocked their bodies and allowed them to walk amongst the conscious. It’s wasn’t abnormal some people did that, but this was on a massive scale. It was weird magic alright, fascinating but dangerous. He imagined they would stop once they were dead…but then he remembers that weird instance of necromancy and that plan goes to shit. Not like he would kill anyone. He couldn’t. They were sleeping, not consciously choosing to attack them. Even if some of them were getting too close for comfort.
Zeph seemed to be having it easy though, quickly incapacitating a few more guards without punishing them too much. Unfortunately for them, the exit was kind of locked and abandoned. Probably to keep the menace of sleepwalkers from getting out. Ok Cool, but like, he had a story to get to. Billy’s just in sight too. He lifted a hand to wave halfheartedly at his friend before turning back to the Gate problem. “I only really have spells that can strengthen a gate like this.” He said before looking over at Zephyr and pausing for a moment as the thought struck him, as the witch had just commanded hands of stone and metal two seconds ago. “Zeph…have I ever mentioned you’re the most skilled crafter I’ve ever met?” he asked before glancing at Spock. “And you the best at flinging knives, Sprocket?” he added
When as an unnervingly familiar voice brushes up against his mind, the seer immediately reaches for a small dreamcatcher hanging from his hip. It is rare to see Desmond without weapons or a fistful of trinkets, and today is no exception.
The afflicted witches cover themselves in cuts and scrapes as they reach through Taylan's thorn-covered vines. They are too far gone to be swayed by reason. Too far gone to show mercy. As three guards block the exit, the seer considers his options.
Nonlethal stabbing (thorns do not deter them)
Knocking them out (a fairy ring does not steal their consciousness)
Binding them (there is no open water for his web)
Murder (though it is a bit extreme...)
Paralyzing venom (though Grendel is too slow to bite them all)
Mutilating their legs (at least it isn't murder)
Thankfully, he is not yet desperate enough to manipulate blood in the middle of Sundial -- in the Knights' headquarters, no less. He does not plan on dying today, and does not desire to make himself a fugitive.
It happens quickly. Behind the trio, inside and at the top of the stairs leading down, Grendel suddenly materializes and lunges. The giant arachnid's mandibles (easily the length of a human forearm) sink like a pair of blades into one of the witches' ribs. Grendel pumps some venom into the wounded flesh, and then tosses aside the Knight's body like a rag-doll for good measure. At the same time, Desmond lunges forwards towards the other two, forcing past with the blunt shaft of his weapon, and slicing through one of the guards' hamstrings with a wide arc of the blade from behind. Two down. The third is dropped with a sweep of his leg and pinned to the ground with the tip of the war scythe's blade. He realizes this is only a temporary deterrent, but he wants to see the colors of this one's fate. The seer's eyes swirl black as he again activates Guide.
ooc taylan karga spells used: guide (adv), heirloom wand (staff of the eternal depths), dreamcatcher (adept item)
[attr="class","i1scroll"]the crowd pushes past the barrier, slowed but not stopped, the thorns carving needle-thin crimson lines against their skin. taylan grimaces. that simply isn’t ideal. but then there’s a voice that brushes against his mind, silky smooth and disarming, and his arm falls — a pause, confusion drifting over his features — and there is an overwhelming urge to just step back and let it all play out. there’s nothing wrong, here. just good ol’ justice being doled out, freedom one step at a time. what is he even so worked up about?[break][break]
hold on—[break][break]
taylan takes a step back, his gaze flat as desmond steps up to the three guards. why are they trying to get out, anyway? the stadium’s perfectly fine.[break][break]
wait that’s—[break][break]
absolute bullshit, iris says, her gentle voice twisted into something more of a hiss, sharp-edged and furious. it pierces through the reverie, throws taylan back into unceremonious reality, where he watches as a giant spider tears into a guard, and desmond swiftly cripples another. there’s another pinned to the ground, but taylan ignores that.[break][break]
instead, he strolls over to the guard with severed hamstrings, and with a notable lack of mercy, delivers a hefty kick to the guard’s hands. there’s something about a boot to the fingers that makes people drop weapons.[break][break]
he picks up the blade, holding it ready at his side in case any more ambitious sleepwalkers venture forward, and approaches the fallen knight instead. “not really your day, i take it,” he says flatly, even as he bends down to drape his jacket across the knight’s wounds, a makeshift and truly terrible bandage. “apply pressure,” he advises, knowing full well that this may well be useless the moment any sleepwalker decides to wander over.
[attr="class","gearcore"] Zephyr and Spock simultaneously give an amused snort at Heath's transparent efforts to flatter them into opening the door. "Mate, I wouldn't be surprised if I was the only crafter you ever met," Zeph retorts with a light laugh. But, still, breaking down this door was probably a better option than fighting the crowd. "Yeh, ok, I'll get it -- jus', back up a sec," he says, tugging on Heath's shoulder to move him away from the blast radius.
The doors were more wood than metal, but the parts that mattered (the lock, the hinges) were something he could control. Ironically, it probably would have been easer to just take a whole chunk of the stone wall out, but he was looking to avoid drawing too much attention from the inside of the stadium if he could manage it.
As he mentally tugs at them with his lift technique, a whining creak is the only warning either get just before as the hinge's integrity gives way and the entire door flies outwards with a much louder CRACK. When it came to elemental manipulation, subtlety was not one of his strengths. He blamed Spock's influence for that.
"Ah, well, that'll do it," he says, glancing back towards Heath and motioning towards the frame, "After you."
How very noble. How very, very noble. Very brave. Very stupid. The teal haired woman isn't sure whether she admires or detests the boy with fiery hair and spirit, though she's leaning towards the latter. [break][break] aiden emerson's question causes her to frown. "Sᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ꜰᴏʀɢᴏᴛᴛᴇɴ ᴜs... Iᴛ ʜᴜʀᴛs ᴛᴏ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴀᴛ sᴏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅsʜᴇᴅ ᴍᴇᴀɴᴛ sᴏ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ." She does not, however, stop her advance for a lecture. [break][break] She would have likely reached the two Knights who had stone spears pinning them in place before either escaped if it wasn't for the sudden burning sensation across her skin (and Chrysanthemum's skin, where burn marks creep up from beneath her clothes to the young teen's neck). The woman halts, stoops as she clutches her chest, and mutters something under her breath while the huge goat familiar shrieks and bellows in pain from raven delacroix's flame bombs. All at once, the creature quiets and its remaining two legs collapse, as if all of its unnaturally high strength and power had been taken from it. Suddenly dangerously close to death, its figure dissipates back to the strata of familiars, vanishing from the stadium. [break][break] It takes her just a few short moments to recover, but that proves to be enough for Aiden to flee with the child to the arena's center. The woman continues to walk down the steps towards them, passing by the row of seats where @emery is screaming, as if nothing were amiss. She's nearing the arena's edge. Chrysanthemum is in a worse state than before, barely breathing and shuddering throughout her upper body. [break][break] "Uɴꜰᴏʀᴛᴜɴᴀᴛᴇʟʏ, ꜰʀᴇᴇᴅᴏᴍ ɪs ʀᴀʀᴇʟʏ ᴀ ᴘᴇᴀᴄᴇꜰᴜʟ ᴀꜰꜰᴀɪʀ, ᴡɪᴛʜ sᴏ ᴍᴀɴʏ ᴡʜᴏ ᴡɪsʜ ᴛᴏ sᴜᴘᴘʀᴇss ɪᴛ," the woman's words are now humming into the minds of everyone in and around the arena, dripping through the crevasses of the brain, warm and honey-sweet. (Among the rare exceptions are aiden emerson and Desmond Grey, both keenly aware of the mind-voice's venomous and manipulative edge). "I ᴀsᴋ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴊᴏɪɴ ᴍᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ I ᴡɪʟʟ ᴛᴇᴀᴄʜ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡʜʏ ᴡᴇ ꜰᴏᴜɢʜᴛ sᴏ ꜰɪᴇʀᴄᴇʟʏ ᴀᴛ Mᴇᴛɴᴀʟ: ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴘᴀʀᴀᴅɪsᴇ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪɴsᴛᴇᴀᴅ ᴅʀᴏᴡɴᴇᴅ ɪɴ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴅʀᴀᴡɴ ꜰʀᴏᴍ Hᴇʟɪᴏs ʙʟᴀᴅᴇs. Iᴛ ɪs ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ I ᴅɪᴇᴅ." [break]
[break] Medeia spins around to give Valerus an almost accusatory glare, but, from his surprised expression, she quickly realizes that he is not the source of the voice within her mind. It must have been that woman again -- with power enough to take down one of the high priestess's own barriers, who else could it be? [break][break] She drops the other barrier she'd been maintaining, realizing there was little point to keeping it up now that the threat had already spread, and returns her focus to the unidentified woman. This time, it is Medeia who launches a well-aimed Vibrionus spell, and the teal haired woman who erects a personal shield to protect herself from it. Medeia's gaze turns to a snarl as she realizes that the spell's shield actually holds. She doesn't have much time to puzzle at the other woman's strength before she spots the spark of a Vibrionus spell about to be fired back in her direction. The tall crystalline structure from a stalling scroll bursts up from the ground just in time to block it. [break] [break] Val admits he'd been looking for some excitement when he'd shown up to the dueling arena today, but this was not the type of excitement he'd been searching for. [break][break] At this point, he's just happy that the giant familiar had been dispelled, and that some witches seemed to have found effective methods of keeping themselves relatively safe from the brainwashed witches. From shadow cages, to fortress walls, to high-gravity starettes, they all seemed to be fairly effective, albeit on a small scale, just enough to protect themselves. [break][break] "Hey," his image shimmers into view near a few faces he recognized in passing, including Billy Kasparian and ninos knight, "It looks like a lot of Knights were specifically targeted. Try to get near the exit and help each other with the evacuation if you can. Make some new exits if you need to -- we'll sort out the damages later," the image says with a thin smile just before it vanishes. Claire is also visited by one of Val's images, pointing down at the guy she'd just punched. "Careful there. They don't stay down." And indeed, the man who should have been unconscious was beginning to stand back up. The image again vanishes. [break] Away from the eyes of most bystanders, taylan karga and Desmond Grey are now surrounded by one knight who is bleeding out, another who has collapsed but is attempting to get within stabbing range on his hands, a third who is twitching and failing to fight the onset of paralysis, and a fourth, beneath Desmond's blade, who is pushing himself into the blade in a failed attempt to get closer, disregarding the damage it causes. The one which Taylan is attempting to stabilize offers a weak "Not really," in reply, putting a hand over their wound but having little strength to press down with much pressure. The one which Desmond sees though his guide spell is covered with short golden lines -- over his neck, his heart, his head -- all just about the length of a wound inflicted by a deep stab from his scythe, all in fatal positions. If he were to glance around the room, all others sported similar marks visible to the seer alone. [break] [break]OOC IMPORTANT NOTE! For this round, please include the following tag (without the spaces) at the very end of your post (final results may be modified by certain item/spell use, witch rank, physical location, and character physical/mental state -- consequences will be revealed next staff post): [ roll ]
The next staff post will be in 3-5 days. No new characters are allowed in this thread at this point.
[break][break] Bad things are much more likely to happen to characters if they fail to post for 2 consecutive rounds.
"What in Merlin's beard is going on down there?" Medeia hisses, a destructive rage burning behind her eyes. From her VIP seating, she could see escaping spectators being attacked by other citizens of Salem, and, even worse, by Knights of her coven. She fires off a quick series of Vanishing spells, causing the swords of suspiciously-acting knights to disappear right out of their hands. She does the same with a stalling scroll spell, causing anyone hostile around this side of the ground-level exit to slow their movement nearly to a halt. 
"Well, excuse me for not wanting to interrupt, princess," Valerus Blaze replies. He looks a bit more tired and irritated than his usual exuberant self. His assistant had finally cornered him yesterday and coerced him into finishing up some urgent (and overdue) paperwork. He'd really wished she could have waited until morning instead of keeping him up so late.
