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.
She eyes the rest of the group she's been assigned to warily. Four witches she's never seen before are to be her party for this simulation, when she can't even be sure if she can trust them? It's unnerving; worrisome enough to make her reconsider her actions. What's more, wasn't that boy with the long, flowy silver hair friends with the witch she'd had the misfortune of meeting back in the Hovel? What was her name, again? She was sure she'd heard it during their introductions in their first class.
Isadora, wasn't it? Fondue, her familiar, helpfully chipped in.
Yes, that was the name.
His hair was gorgeous and Vera was incredibly jealous of it; but, after seeing him getting all chummy with that Isadora girl, the brunette was quick to expect the worst from him. She'd have to be very careful around the witch, and so it is carefully that she follows the others' treads into the so-called Room #2.
it is only when the creature comes to life and a feeling of utter panic overcomes her that she realizes—oh, poor, innocent Vera—that what she felt during that Joker's Jamboree's prank a couple of weeks earlier was nothing compared to what she would face out there in the real world. What a fool she'd been to believe the mild fear from back then to be real. Her blood ran hot, boiling, across her veins. Whatever stretching of their mana that the instructors claimed their last couple of days' sparring would result in, she's certain that it did not prepare them for a challenge like this.
Vera, calls the agouti, sensing the same unease that his witch is experiencing, because he too is feeling it. His back comfortingly rubs against Vera's leg before adopting a battle position. Fondue is just as terrified as she is, but he'd always been the down-to-earth half of their relationship. He can't fail his witch now.
"Try not to faint?" she repeats in disbelief. The tremor in her voice betrays any semblance of calm her familiar was trying to instill in her, but it sure doesn't betray her feelings. I'm definitely going to faint, Due, she thinks, and already she is scanning the rest of the room in search for a suitable place to fall unconscious, in case the need arises.
[attr="class","intext"]Fuck, seriously? This? Not only was she aching and tired still from yesterday, but now she had to fight a monster with a bunch of strangers whose abilities were completely unknown to her? What a fat lot of bullshit. She drummed her fingers on the desk in irritation as they were paired off. She looked over at Rowan as the professor read his name. So far, he was the only one in the group that she knew, although they had really only exchanged names and lightly chatted. It was hardly enough to have an advantage and, really, with his personality? Sima wondered if he was going to be of any use at all. She quickly chased the thoughts away. This wasn't a very good time to start being cynical about people's abilities.
---
Oh a bird. Sima scowled as the monster took sharper form. Birds eat snakes. It was a little intimidating, the size of it. It could certainly take out an eyeball and a decent extra portion of the face, if it were real. But it wasn't. Right? Her breath caught in her throat and suddenly she became dizzy as her head pounded, filled too tight with thoughts that had hardly occurred to her just seconds ago. Spiraling thoughts of disaster. Would the monster kill her quickly by simply breaking her spine? Or slowly by thrashing her around until immobile and feasting on her insides while she bled out? She wanted to throw up. She wanted to run. She caught herself, though. She knew how this sort of thing went because she'd dealt with it before. Maybe not fighting a monster or anything of such a capacity, but anxiety? Fear? Spiraling thoughts? She could catch herself and realize that what was going through her head was irrational. All she had to do was not fall into despair. Think clearly and act. Easy.
It'll be easy. It'll be fine. She it repeated in her head, desperate words pasted haphazardly over images of worst case scenarios and the possible methods of death ordered from most preferable to least preferable, which is to say from fastest to slowest. It was a poor mask over a fear that wrapped its hands around her heart and squeezed too tight.
"The wings, if we can break the wings it'll— it'll be grounded." Her own voice sounded foreign to her, muffled through the blood rushing in her ears and she stumbled over the first syllables initially. She swallowed and tried to regain the confidence in her voice that she was sporting yesterday. "What are y'all's elements?" Quickly the sputtered them off once they regained themselves. Good, good, she could work with this, probably. "Water, birds can't fly when their wings are wet. It's important we keep this thing on the ground." She didn't look at them as she took command, focusing on the target in front of her in case it took the first move. It did, of course, because monsters don't wait for anyone. She dashed out of the way, sucked in a large breath of air, and continued, "Can you heal? If you can, it'd be great if you can stick on that, too. Rowan, right? Ah— You got air? Birds also can't fly very well when their wing feathers are all jacked up, so slice those babies up. After that just attack the thing, probably. Light, I'm not actually sure if blinding it is a good idea? It might be harder to predict its movements but it's worth a shot? If it starts attacking wildly I would maybe stick to just shooting it. And fire? Light the bitch up. Oh and don't all stand together! Move around!"
She felt Adina in her head. She was quiet, but her presence was there and easily felt, a grounding force in the tidal wave that was the fear. She stepped forward, energy at the tips of her fingers. She used magic to lift rocks from the ground and while she didn't think she would be able to actually do much, she could at least do something. They shot off at the bird, bouncing away but rising back up and attacking again before they hit the ground.
Lumin was buzzing inside of Roderick’s mind, but not exactly for reasons that were positive. When Roderick looked at whom he was to be grouped with for this next exercise he was…less than enthusiastic. Practically sharing this sentiment, Lumin could’ve grinned. A bit of a humdrum crowd is it not? They all look positively dreadful and weak. Had he a good ear, he would’ve sworn he heard ruffling feathers to accompany that pretentious comment. He couldn’t exactly judge anyone so bluntly, but then again there is only so much he can gather from their expressions and how they carried themselves. He exchanged a sigh and let it be once they were inside their room.
Perhaps he should’ve went with his gut when he judged the skill of his groupmates. The abomination that was created for them to fight was a large bird that was caked in shadow. Just looking at it made you feel a massive amount of dread. This downcast of negativity just heightened the experience, and Roderick out of instinct took a few steps back with widened eyes. Was this truly the threat? The true scourge? Was he even ready to face what his gifts and magic could give him? Lumin squawked mentally, trying to give him some form of comfort like wrapping his wings around his mind to block out that fearful haze.
What in th- Roderick! Are you quaking so easily?! This blighted dire-bird is nothing compared to what you have gone through already! Why, in that moment through all that suffering getting cut down by one of these would be a merciful act! He huffed, trying to snap him out of this delirious state and for a moment Roderick did look to show signs that he was coming around, standing stock still in the face of his predator real or not.
“Yes…I…I’ve gone through scarier things…than…this…” He muttered to himself, taking a deep breath as he took that tentative step forward. The commands and advice given did resonate with Roderick. Sure, blinding it may just make it more unpredictable, but he was surely good at shooting the damn thing if need be. “Yes, I will do what I can with the mana I have left. I’ll keep it occupied and centered on myself. If you can get any good hits in do so!” With light crackling at his fingertips, Roderick sped forwards.
Even though his legs felt so heavy from wanting to run away to save his own life this was training he could not ignore and he shot his first shot of light to have the creature come towards him and away from the others. Good show Roderick! No one said this would be a tranquil walk in the park! Keep at it!
Post by Rowan Ashworth on May 20, 2017 5:45:42 GMT
[nospaces][googlefont=Roboto:300,400]
[attr="class","jarbbgun"]
[attr="class","jarbbgunt"]
[attr="class","jarbbgunicon"]
[attr="class","jarbbguntext"]
Rowan is grateful when Sima takes over, barking out her ideas and advice. He mumbles that he's an air user, though he quickly clears his throat and repeats the phrase, a little louder - he's sure he can't be heard, it's too noisy in here. Or perhaps that's just the pounding of his heart in his ears. He's even too distracted to make note that birds, in fact, had a natural water repellency to their feathers. But this was no time to make smart-ass comments.[break][break] He glances nervously at his palm, to where he's got a blade of air ready to strike. He hesitates at Sima's orders - willingly throw such a weapon at it? He knows it's a monster, that he should fight back and hurt it as much as possible, but the thought is so foreign to him, so unlike what he is that he's stuck. This is the one black-and-white battle that he's avoided for years: fighting monsters. And now, being forced into this, he has no choice but to make a decision on what he'll really do.[break][break] He wants to use the air slice, he really does. But after hesitating more and more, he finally sighs. The blade dissipates. "I can't," he says miserably, more to himself and his familiar than anything. "It's just not me."[break][break] There is, however, no possible chance that Diana will allow her witch to get off with giving up. She slaps him hard with her tail, making Rowan wince with pain. Don't you ever give up, she says, glaring. You need to get in gear and focus! Switch your perception - you're not the attacker. You're defending. As the saying goes - the best defense is a good offense.[break][break] Rowan grumbles as he massages his calf. If the monster didn't get to him, Diana would, and frankly, that was a just as terrifying as the bird that faces him. With a gulp, he summons the blade of air once more. "I'm defending, defending, defending," he mumbles under his breath. He's so lost in his thoughts that he's nearly pierced by the monster's sharp talons when it switches targets momentarily, clawing wildly in the air and nearly raking Rowan. In desperation, he tosses the air slice, shielding his eyes and hoping the bird won't attack him again. He hears it screech, just before it turns away and continues to attack the others.[break][break] That's more like it, Diana says, a slightly smug tone to her words. I know you hate a fight, but this is one case where you need to be decisive and choose exactly what you'll do. For your survival and your team's.[break][break] Rowan stares at her, stunned, before he wilts. He glances at his palms, then back to Diana. His hatred for his grandmother and her schemes swells. Her plan of breaking him and his ideals bit by bit is, sadly, working. Diana knows what he's thinking, but doesn't say anything. Her gaze is cold and stony as she regards her witch, though it's a mask to cover her concern. The real battle here isn't the one before them. It's locked in Rowan's past.[break][break] He bites his lip, calling upon more slices of air. Mentally, he's deluding himself with whatever he can - he's defending himself and his team, the monster isn't real, this is just training practice. He's going so far as to try to convince himself that the bird is really just a cabbage when he fires his second shot, with the full intent of hitting the bird's wings if he can.[break][break] "I really do hate my grandmother," he says, fueling his anger and sending off another shot. He doesn't aim for the main body, sending the slices towards the wings per Sima's suggestion. Rowan's not sure how much damage that will do, but if it helps the team, then that'll be motivation enough for him to keep doing this.[break][break] Right?[break][break] tl;dr Rowan has a mental battle with himself. His familiar tries to get him to focus. His final decision is to shoot at the monster, hoping it'll help the team. He's in a bitter, angry mood...
Post by Charani Petrov on May 20, 2017 18:29:44 GMT
[googlefont=Roboto:300,400,900] [nospaces]
[attr="class","jartox"]
[attr="class","jartoxpic"]
[attr="class","jartoxlyr"] Although my heart is falling too; I'm in love with your body
[attr="class","jartoxpost"] It is not real. It is not real. This fear is not real... or is it? The air was thick with malice and it hurt to breath. Was this what it felt like to fight an actual monster. His brain knew that this wasn't real... this thing wasn't real but his body still reacted with fear. This feeling wasn't the same as with the fake invasion in the previous festival... it felt much more real.[break][break] Charani bit his lip to try and calm himself down, Teddy on edge because of this feeling. The Saint Bernard growled at the strange creature that was being created... or imagined maybe? Was there something like this in the world? [break][break] The witch simply told them this was a lightened down feeling that monsters give off. This was not good. Not good at all. He could feel himself moving in slow motion. Nausea. Fear. Terror. These were the feelings that hit him in waves while the illusionists worked their magic. He could hear his heart beating in his chest. Thump. Thump. Thump. This feeling had to go away. Would it leave it this octopus thing was gone? Or would it stay forever? [break][break] His familiar moved before he could, charging in front of his witch and pulsing magical energy. Technique: Lift sent a wave of magic into the ground in front of the pair. A baseball sized rock forming and being hurled at the octopus creature. He wasn't sure how strong this thing was. Given the aura exuding from it... stronger than he was. But there were others here so maybe... hopefully it was enough. They wouldn't let them die after all. Right? So far all he heard from any of them was a very real 'Oh shit.' from the boy next to him. They were in trouble. [break][break]
When they file back into the class, Isadora continues to hang loosely around the people she knows, but she seems troubled. Of course, someone who didn't kow her would just say that her face looked twice as sour as usual. She was engaged in conversation with Persephone. Except for once, her familiar wasn't being chatty at all.
The announcement made her eyes narrow in displeasure. "How fun," she intoned, looking over the room list before shrugging. At least she knew Lila. She stuck close to her acquaintence as she slipped into the room. And it didn't take long before the terror began. Isadora felt her heart drop to somewhere inside her stomach.
The monster's eyes looked like fire, and in the wake of the heat Isadora felt like a small child again- helpless to lose in the face of adversity. Unknowingly, her CLOAKING technique started up, making her ghostly still in the corner of the room. She could sense it. She could smell the fear radiating off of others. The fear radiating off of her.
She couldn't thnk or really breathe.
Persephone, on the other hand, replaced her fear with anger. "You know, Isadora. By going back in time, I didn't mean this far back."
Isadora opened her eyes and grit her teeth, trying to stop them from shaking and chattering against one another. "Well, I'm not going to be much use to them, am I? What could I possibly do? Punch it?" "You can act as a distraction."
Isadora attempted a scoff, but it got caught somewhere in her throat. "Y-yeah right."
I know the feeling Of finding yourself stuck out on the ledge
Even a regular octopus would have been creepy enough. This one could fly and had too many eyeballs. Knowing the monster wasn't actually about to kill all of them did not stop her from panicking a little. None of this really mattered. There were plenty of stronger witches on the other side of the illusion, in case anything went wrong.
A part of Zari's mind refused to believe they even existed.
It all felt so real. The rapidly increasing heart rate, the slight chill running down her spine, all of these sensations that never appeared in her comfy home life. Her usual confidence was not enough to shake off this feeling of helplessness. And this wasn't even the real thing. Just a test.
The longer she thought about it, the more her anger began to override the earlier fear. Ideally, there would never be a situation that involved fighting monsters, but standing around and doing nothing? Feeling to scared to move? Easily the worst option.
"Oh, s-s-so that's all?" Zari noticed her stutter and couldn't help but laugh nervously. Her new-found resolve did not prevent the creepiness from getting to her. Shout out to whoever this illusionist was. They really knew how to set the mood.
Clearly, attempting to beat the monster would be enough to pass the test. She only needed to stall for a minute. But wouldn't it be nice to be the group that managed to win? At least one other person wanted to kill the giant octo-thing too. Zari just needed to help him out so the monster wouldn't focus only on them. Or something. There's a lot of limbs. . . maybe it'll try to wrap up all of them at once.
"Relax, t-this is nothing." Glancing over at the familiar beside her inspired a bit of hope that this plan might not be as dumb as it sounded in her head. Together, the witch and her llama prepared to fire off their only offensive spell. The slicing technique didn't really deal much damage, but the target is covered in eyes. Eyes are squishy. Hitting one might hurt more than usual. To further increase the potential, both air blades were performed at approximately the same time and were intended to hit the same eyeball.
That should distract it enough to allow Zari and the llama to get closer for the next attack. They ran forward—making sure to stay away from the flailing limbs. She wasn't about to tackle the thing. Gods, no. This was simply to spread out more from the rest of the group. Don't need everyone getting swooped up at once.
You're likely to succeed if you try? | 438 words| @fourth room
Ling is not brave by nature. She startles easily, hurries past the uncertainty of shadows during the night, sticks close to people bigger and braver than she, stays well away from the violence that breeds such fear in her blood. And so, even before the illusionist curls paranoia and terror into the air, the menace in the boar's crimson eyes sets her heart racing and turns her limbs to stone.
Helpless. Vulnerable. Utterly powerless and useless - that is how she feels as the false reality of their situation settles on her. She wants to go hide in a corner but there is nowhere to hide; she wants to reach for her runes and draw enough barriers to ward away even death, but they are not allowed to use their affinities; she wants to scream or cry or whimper and pretend the world doesn't exist, but her words stick in her throat and die before they can reach her tongue.
Ling is a coward, someone entirely unsuited and untested for the fires of combat, and she has never felt so keenly this reality before today.
A rumbling growl rips through her terror; Valkea manifests in a wreath of light and launches himself at the boar, full-sized, fur bristling, determination and iron-clad protectiveness flaring through their bond; the earth splinters beneath his feet as he twists a Rupture into existence. 'Ling, stay with the others!' he orders, reminding her of the companions she'd forgotten about in her fear.
By pure coincidence, the closest person to her happens to be Percy, her one-time saviour, her totally-not-a-crush, but someone much more capable and powerful than she. Ling scrambles to his side, eyes darting around for the others in her group - she kinda remembers the brunette (Lila, right?), but the other girl with light brown hair is an unknown to her (wait, where did she go...?) - before her gaze returns to her flicker between Percy and the fight between her familiar and the boar.
(pain flares across her torso as Valkea receives a blow, and she barely refrains from doubling over)
"W-what- what are we gonna do?"sorry for the wait! and for ling being useless
Percy and Seraph got out of the room drenched, tired, and groggy. Sleeping in a deserted room with no one but each other got them both culture shock. They both didn't get much sleep. They were so tired they didn't even feel the changes those two days brought them. However, the event won't let them get a much-desired rest. They even subjected the whole lot of them into a monster-fight simulation. Percy knows everything is an illusion, but he can't resist it. Chills travel along his spine and he gets into fighting stance--trembling still.
He feels hands cling to him, and he looks at the person. "Ling," he breathes a sigh of relief. "W-well it's comforting to see a familiar face." He tries his best to replace the terror with light conversation, but he supposes it doesn't work well. When she asks what to do, Percy tries to think straight.
"L-let's just back away for a moment. I think I've got a plan."
He pulls Ling back slowly, closer to the other one, the brown-haired gal in the back. He doesn't know where the rest of the team is, but they can't wait for them. The whole retreat takes ten seconds, but when they got to supposedly where the gal is, he finds the place empty. Percy has no time to wonder where she went, as there's a more urgent thing at hand.
"Okay, enough trembling, gotta work," he says mostly to himself. "Ling, listen to me. Do you have long range attacks?" he gulps, wanting back out of his plan, but he forces himself to say it. "I'm going to get closer to the boar with an invisibility technique. Then if all goes well, I'll punch that boar hard in the face. I'll doubt it'll work, but it's worth a shot. While you..."
He takes a deep breath. "I have a technique right here that'll protect you while you do your attacks." With that he summons Seraph and together the two cast BUBBLE to Ling, and easily enough the girl now finds herself floating in midair, inside a protective bubble. He gives a thumbs up the girl. "Are you doing fine there?"
Sooner or later he'll have to go eventually. He eyes the boar, wary. Another second now it'll attack, he's sure... Percy waits for that to happen before he would attempt to cast ILLUSIONIST'S HANDBOOK 1.
☂
TLDR: Percy offers plan to Ling, puts her inside a bubble because he's smart like that, hoping she's got long-range attacks. /sarcasm included
But movement flashes across her vision as she remains motionless- she sees two kids, probably minors, dashing around and shouting at each other. She sees, almost in slow motion, a fox get slammed and a girl reeling. She sees these teenager struggle, and suddenly her mind flashes back to what it was like for her, ten or so years ago.
"I'm on your side. Do you really need anyone else?" Persephone asks, and Isadora twitches, rushing forward as the CLOAKING disappears.
"HERE!" she shouts, suddenly appearing to the boar's side. She smiles at Percy, lips shaking nervously from the fear that's built up inside. "Nice plan, kid."
She watches the bard rush at her, and everything's moving so slowly. She just wants it to be over, to disappear and re-appear back at home cuddled in with her toxic-smelling paints and terrible attempts at alchemy. "Wait for it," Persephone instructs, hovering close to her side. The butterfly only manages half a beat of her wings before Isadora flashes away appearing on the opposite side of the room.
The boar crashes but spins around. It's a lot agiler than she expects. It has its red eyes trained on her, and she's reminded of a fire she cannot remember.
"What are you waiting for!" she shouts, her tone panicky. "Attack!"
I know the feeling Of finding yourself stuck out on the ledge
Post by elijah silverwood on May 22, 2017 6:58:37 GMT
eye for an eye.
Elijah isn't the most hardworking of people. He's a firm believer in the statement work smarter, not harder--if he didn't have to, he wouldn't have bothered. After their talk, their spar had been light and sparse. He had walked into the classroom slightly worn but not exhuasted--in contrast to the bagged eyes and slouched shoulders that made up his classmates.
Some people had it harder than others.
He watches as an octopus suddenly appears, each of it's limbs acting with a mind of its own. Littered with eyes not their own, it proved to be a freightening sight.
Under normal circumstances, Elijah wouldn't have felt so scared.
But when he looks at it, he can't help it. He feels blood rushing through his ears, heart pounding so hard that it feels like it'll go through his chest. Fear, he realizes, barely registering the words in the background. They're left in the room, four apprentices and a monster. It couldn't be that bad, right?
In a fight or flight situation, Elijah's natural instinct is to run. His limbs feel weak, hands tingling and shaking. Keep calm he urges, more to himself than anything, Don't let it get to you. He pauses and breaks his gaze away from the creature, using that moment to summon his familiar.
Vesuvia coils herself tightly against his neck, and Elijah uses this to channel his mana into a scroll that read SOLIDIFY SHADOWS. His shadow stretches and extends, its limbs whip against the octupus. It's not as strong since he's a fledgling, but it'll work as a distraction while the others attack it.
"Light the bitch up," the dark-skinned girl had said. Such a phrase was not, by far, something that Vera herself would have used, but she supposes it got the point across. Desperate times called for desperate measures, also. Really, she was just glad there was at least one person in their group that could keep their thoughts straight for long enough to shake this fear off their minds.
Vera thinks back to the Joker's Jamboree, once more. She'd remained levelheaded then, if only because she had people to protect. Neither Ling nor Percy, or Uncle Rudy, not even Alric was around this time. She supposes, though, that these four other witches and herself could be a start. "Right. Right, got it," she says, mostly for herself than to the rest of her party. "We'll cook the bird. Cooking is easy. Nothing I haven't done a hundred times already."
Nevermind that the animals she cooked were all already dead and conveniently sliced for her. This, she convinces herself, would be just like cooking a chicken. "Just like grilled chicken," she repeats, and already her mind is considering the different ways she could go about this whole plan, picturing the illusion as an actual chicken she was about to grill for her brother's birthday dinner.
A ring of fire appears beneath the monster bird. Even just a smile fire of that radius was something she was not used to creating. Her fire abilities were often used in the kitchen, beneath a small metal pot that she could heat up with just the flick of a finger. She huffs loudly, letting out air she did not realize she had been holding in until then. Summoning fire powerful enough to reach it was going to be quite the mentally taxing endeavor.
She shouldn't stop, Vera knows, shouldn't stand still to show the bird she was an easy target. She wants to keep running. The problem is she can't concentrate enough to feed her fire if she's also worrying about putting one foot in front of the other and not tripping over herself or colliding into any other bodies. She stops, not because she trusts the other witches to keep the monster occupied, or pinned down, or even because she thinks doing so would be beneficial. Really, she's not too sure why she does it.
Vera only knows that she does stop, steadies herself, and lets fire pour freely out of her shared pool of mana. Fondue, from the other side of the room, is doing the same.
[attr="id,"cover"]
She really wants grilled chicken now. Using Technique: Close Quarters.
For a moment, it seems as if the room morphs into something entirely different. The illusionists have transformed walls into towering trees, yawning caves and stormy skies--they're outside the safety of Gale Valley's walls. Each monster has started to attack the witches. Despite the illusion, these summoned beings are very, very real. Do not ground your feet, for these monsters will not hesitate to charge and swing. [break][break] A voice calls out to them in each of these rooms. [break][break] "In these extremely dangerous situations, witches may have to make sacrifice--react quickly, because you may not have enough time to pull out a scroll. At this, you and your familiar must push the extent of your mana." [break][break] Your attacks haven't made much headway in defeating these monsters. Because of this, you as a witch may explore and use techniques that haven't been made yet, although do keep in mind the extent of your witches' powers and capabilities--some of you will most certainty become injured!
---------
oocly, you have 72 hours to post. you can be creative with your techniques, although remember to be realistic. each post must be at least 200 words.[break][break]
in addition, you have an objective for this section of the event.[break]
each room needs 250 points in order to defeat the monster.
each witch needs 70+ points individually to succeed in using a new technique. please write out all your posts as attempts.
since this event is focused on sacrifice and boundaries, every roll costs 2 ap. you do not have to roll on each post, however, it's highly encouraged.
remember that there is no posting order. multiple posts are encouraged, but double posting is not allowed. also, please put a summary at the end of each post.
Post by Rowan Ashworth on May 23, 2017 17:13:54 GMT
[nospaces][googlefont=Roboto:300,400]
[attr="class","jarbbgun"]
[attr="class","jarbbgunt"]
[attr="class","jarbbgunicon"]
[attr="class","jarbbguntext"]
He really wishes he could've simply gone to the dance. But no, he'd been sent here to endure this torturous training and be eaten up by fake monsters. How wonderful.[break][break] He's noticed the others are fighting back, too. They're doing their own share of work, individually trying to help with taking down the bird, but there's not much damage being inflicted at all. The monster's wings flap erratically as it dives at him. Rowan ducks into a roll, feeling the wind generated by the monster's flapping on his back. He swears he can feel the brush of feathers pass by. A near miss.[break][break] He does what he can to simply survive - tossing a blade of air or two towards the monster's wings and head, yelping as he dodges. Though by now, he's gotten his fair share of scratches and narrow escapes from being impaled. And that beak! It's absolutely terrifying when you see it coming for your head.[break][break] A voice calls out and Rowan is momentarily distracted. He can focus on the fight or he can focus on the voice, but not both. He manages to catch bits and pieces of the message as he runs for his life.[break][break] Push the limits....he can hear Diana in his mind, deciphering the message - they need to take risks. Try new things. What's currently happening is not working, and they have to overcome that.[break][break] The armadillo's done a good job of avoiding being hit, and that armor of hers is certaintly been a great aid in protecting her. She glances at Rowan with her silver eyes. So, what do you want to do? her voice says, calm and cool.[break][break] Rowan's forehead is beaded with sweat. He doesn't know. Right now, all he can feel is this toxic mixture of anger and despair and terror, and it's all swirling within him like a tornado. He can't think straight. He can't focus.[break][break] He pauses as something clicks. Tornado - that gives him an idea. A light goes off in his mind and he quickly starts piecing things together. Diana knows his thoughts and a smile slowly grows over her features. A tornado, you say? I like it, she muses with a grin. [break][break] He has no idea how to go about it. After the first failed attempts where he sent off another half dozen slices of air, he grounds his feet for a second, simply concentrating on the word tornado and hoping that something clicks. He imagines air swirling before him, but nothing happens.[break][break] He's stayed still for too long. The bird's dived toward him, and he realizes a little too late. He manages to avoid the talons, but he's hit with a heavy wing and thrown against the wall. The air's knocked out of him - he can't breathe. His chest hurts, too. For all he knows, he might've broken a rib, though the pain doesn't feel quite as intense as that. He's glad he practiced using cushion - even that split second before impact, it had managed to prevent him from breaking his back.[break][break] Desperately trying to catch his breath, he glances around the room, hoping the others are faring better than he.[break][break] tl;dr: Rowan tries new technique involving tornadoes, fails, gets hit and thrown against the wall.[break][break] 5zLTbJmf
The next time Vera opens her eyes, they're no longer in a room. Are they? They could not have possibly have all been moved in such a short time and without them realizing, so perhaps this was just another stage of their training. Surely. The brunette is taking in these new, brighter surroundings when the monster bird takes to the sky, successfully escaping her fire and completely breaking what little was left of her perception that they were still in a closed room, and knocks her off her feet in one fell sweep.
She falls back with all the grace of a baby deer learning how to walk. Which is to say, none. Vera feels Fondue rush to her side as she tried to rub her pained back. Rather unsuccessfully, at that: she was no contortionist, after all. "I'm fine," she lies, if only to get across the importance of not dwelling on this minor issue. Fondue knows she isn't right, as she claims, but nods.
Vera doesn't know where her group mates are, only that they must be somewhat close. She doesn't know what exactly they're doing at the moment, either, only that all their efforts have been remarkably fruitless, and another of them also got struck in the mess, if that groan she hears is anything to go by. She could notice a bit of a ruffle in the bird's wing feathers as they collided into her, but that was about it. It was a disheartening sight. Still, some level of damage, small as it was, is better than none at all. They just had to keep trying. Somehow.
That ring of fire was her best bet against opponents, but if she couldn't get it to reach the bird there was little use for it. Would fireballs do the trick? she wonders, but Fondue suggests not to waste mana in flickers of fire that would do nothing to a creature as big as the one in front of them. He's right.
If only our flames could reach that high up...
"Due," she gasps, an idea quickly sprouting in her mind, "you're such a genius."
I am, aren't I?
So the monster was higher than their fire could reach. Fine. They'd just have to make the heat reach it instead. She rises to her feet, and nearly misses another hit from the creature of darkness. Her eyes are focused on the stone circle that the earth witch has managed to form in her attempts at hitting the bird. She could use those. "Can someone bring it back to those rocks?" she yells, as loud as she can, because she's not sure if she'll be heard otherwise. "We need to restrain it somehow!"
She could make the rocks melt. Smolder. She'd never tried this before, but it was just like preparing a barbecue, right? She had to try. The disembodied voice resounds in her mind, amplified by her familiar's encouragement. Push the extent of your mana.
[attr="id,"cover"]
Vera falls on her back because she's dum dum. Barely manages to get back up. Later, she tries to light up some rocks for a delicious bird bbq, while asking her team if anyone can lure the bird back to what she hopes she can turn into a literal stone oven.
