Light of Amber - Series One

[Snowfire]

Awakenings

Nothingness

You feel it all around you, an oppressive blackness that warps your senses and wraps you in muffles of isolation. There is no sound, not even silence. There is no colour – or absence thereof. Air touches your skin though, letting you know that it is safe to breath. You try to move, but that same air restrains you gently. If you push hard enough, your outstretched hand touches an...edge and the lifeless cold of the void dances on your skin for a moment before your body overrides your mind and pulls back. For a moment, you feel yourself staring into the abyss. And then a voice speaks.

:Watch:

Far ahead of you, light flares into being. An infinitesimal point of Light, burning in the not-blackness ahead of you. Ribbons of the same stream out from it, dancing around you as they pour into the starless void. They dwindle to pinpoints of their own, but do not fade. Each one stops eventually, holding a place in what you slowly realise is becoming a night sky. And still the streams of ribbons come, brushing against your fragile cocoons as they pour ever onwards. Vibration shimmers in the blackness, the beginnings of sound forcing its way through the void.

:Listen:

The voice, neither male nor female yet distinctly alive, echoes through your mind. And with it comes music. The echoes of lost melodies, each more beautiful than a thousand symphonies, permeate the air around you. The point ahead of you pulses, a shockwave of white/gold/silver that washes outwards. You brace yourself as if for an impact but none comes. The light simply passes through you.

:Awaken:

The next word comes with a realisation. It's not passing through you! It's passing into you! Motes of light shimmer and dance around you in intricate spirals, twining themselves into your very being and calling to something locked deep inside of you. Your own light, your own power. Against the radiant nova ahead of you it seems a pale thing in comparison, yet that same blazing Light is calling yours.

:See my Light within You:

Darkness; true, utter darkness stains the starfield, pouring out of nowhere into being around you. Writhing in the light ahead of you, it looses a barrage of tentacles formed of a blackness beyond light, dozens of the things racing across the suddenly far-to-short space separating it from you.

:See Amber:

The star ahead of you flares again, this time so much brighter, carrying with it a piercing tone that is a Power all of its own. The...thing's...attack goes awry, the tentacle-esque spears melting away under the searing Light. A silent scream of rage slams through you, carrying with it alien thoughts and an agonising loss-born fury. And now you recognise the star ahead of you. Amber. The cradle of Light.

:See our Enemy:

The thing – you know it now as a Neverwere – screams again, false-light and not-sound stabbing your senses. A thick section of its massive bulk slides between you and Amber, blocking the radiant light stabbing through it as it lets fly with another barrage. Instinct tries to dodge, is forcibly restrained by subconscious and your eyes fly wide as lances of darkness wider than you are tall hurtle across the void. You see light flare again as it slams into the interposed mass preventing its protection and the Neverwere burns. But not fast enough.

:Know that you are Guarded:

And suddenly there is figure between you and the onrushing tree-trunks that spell your doom. Clad in blue and gold, the air around him shimmering with a bright azure light and wielding two-handed an elegantly crafted blade. His navy cloak billows behind him in an invisible wind, the gold of his helmet reflecting the starlight all around him. Then he moves. And his blade dances in the windless void.

:But that your Light is stronger than His:

The man seems to flicker across the space between you and the Neverwere, deflecting every strike, stopping every onrushing hammerblow on a wall of dancing silver-blue metal. And as the last lance falls to his steadfast defence, he surges forward, blade piercing the darkness. Crimson stains his blade as blood – it must be his own – wraps it in a weave of sacrificial power before he brings it smashing down through the Neverwere's form. Again it screams, but this time you are caught on the edge of the blast. Radiant light envelops its target, the knight in gold, and as it hits he straightens – as if drawing life out of the reality tearing energy focused on him.

:Remember:

The knight strikes again, blade shearing through the liquid blackness that shields the Neverwere's heart from Amber's light. The blackness explodes as he strikes, made brittle by the effort of shielding, and Amber shines forth once more. The blackness retreats, screaming, from the blazing Light, vanishing back through the tiny crack from whence it came as it snaps shut. And when you look, the Knight is gone.

:And never Forget:

The starfield blurs around you, the air cocoon whipping at its edges as you accelerate. Light shines forth, the golden Truth of Amber reaching out with open arms to accept you into its heart. And the light within you, the light that you all knew was there – even if you tried to hide it – blazes into ecstatic life. You marvel as it spreads through you, power that you never imagined shining forth in glorious counterpoint to the majesty of Amber. And you feel your lips moving in silent litany, matching the words of the voice within.

:Stars of the Heavens:
:Reflections of the Cradle:
:It is for them you shine:
:To them is your duty:
:Our eternal vigil:
:And to them we return:

The edges of your vision tears, space burning all around you. Amber embraces you, and everything goes white.

***

Burning. You hear the crackle of flames, the the pungent smell of smoke filling your nostrils as you rise into full wakefulness. Screams and desperate prayers fill the rest of the spectrum, and as you raise yourselves from the ground you realise why.

Around you, a city burns.

Above you, a Neverwere spreads its vast bulk in preparation to feast.

And around you, their silver barriers cracked and fractured, stand the last of Amber's defenders. Five of them, the youngest among them at least as old as the eldest of you. But their experience does not seem to have aided them.

Four are around you, their hands and devices outstretched, desperately maintaining the barriers keeping the flames at bay. The fourth, presumably their leader, is kneeling before you. She shakes herself, as if waking from a long sleep, then her green eyes slide open.

“So...it worked...” She whispers, an edge of awe and disbelief threading her tone.

“Amiya! We can't hold this for long!” One of those at the barriers yells, and the woman – Amiya – shakes herself again.

“I know!” She yells back, then focuses on you. “Please...all of you...Amber brought you here. I know she did. You know our foe and the consequences if they succeed. Please. Help us. We wi-”

“Amiya!” The same girl, you catch a glimpse of red hair, screams. The Neverwere above you has spread out further, and now a sweeping wave of black smashes into the barriers. Amiya rises away from you, her own hands shimmering red as she brings them up to reinforce the barrier of her companions.

“Hold!” She yells. “Just...a little...longer...” Then a second great tentacle sweeps out of the sky, slamming into the shield from the other side. Cracks splay across it, spreading like deadly spider's webs. And then it collapses. The tentacle barely misses you where you are on the ground, the air shaking under its passage. But the five, they don't stand a chance.

The tentacle rises back up, into the Neverwere that spawned it. And you see around you the somehow still breathing – but otherwise unmoving – forms of those who had been trying to explain. Amiya falls from where she was slammed into a wall, and a broken whisper falls from her lips.

“Please...”

The Neverwere in the sky breaks up, bits and pieces descending all across the city to feast. Six slam into the ground around you, uttering howls of hunger-fury as they rise from the craters their passage created and stalk towards the fallen Pentacle scattered before, clearly intending to finish them off.

[Princess Tracy]

A young girl of blue hair and green eyes and regular, if torn, street garb stands among the extradimensional stragglers, though not for long. "Well, I have no earthly clue what's going on, but these things don't seem particularly subtle, so why should I be?" Umiko remarks calmly, cracking her knuckles. Before anyone can stop her, she charges forward, her thoughts of beating answers out of her father tucked away for another time as she smiles, never more at home than in the thick of combat - higher causes are for officers to figure out, a true warrior pounds their opponents to mulch, at least admitting they'll find a good reason for it later - or else apologise. "I'M UMIKO, NICE TO MEET YOU!" she shouts, flinging herself foot first, a flying kick bearing all of her momentum as she aims her very being at the closest thing to a weak point as she can find on the nearest foe.

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Initiative (1d20+3)[21]
Attack (charge) (1d20+13)[19] -2 to AC, obviously
Damage, unarmed (2d8+9)[17]

[Snowfire]

Umiko's foot slams into the shadowstuff form of the closest Neverwere, catching it just as its foot begins to rise for another step. A faint light flares around her shoe as the kick impacts, driving into the whirling blackness of the thing's back. It stumbles forward, grunting discordantly in sudden pain and begins to turn, the claws on each of its four arms elongating into vicious blades.

It's hurt. It has to be after its reaction to that kick. But it seems more angry than in pain right now. The other five Neverwere continue slowly towards the members of the Pentacle, as if oblivious to the attack that one of their number just suffered. Or they simply don't care.

[Selinia]

Smoke. Ash. Screams.

"Am I..." Makoto struggled to her feet, fighting off a headache. "Is this... a riot or something?"

Of course not. She wished it was a riot, but that lightshow had made it pretty clear what kind of hell she was going to be dropped into. Which meant... something, but damn if she could remember what exactly. What Makoto did know was that she wasn't about to back down from another round with these things. The redhead gripped the burnished haft of her weapon with white knuckles, desperately wondering how it was supposed to be helping her in that task. As if in answer, Makoto felt a scratching at the edge of her mind.

"Ah, hell no. I am getting seriously sick of you Amber things treating my brain like a ten-cred whore." Makoto grinned as the scratching stopped. "Great, an understanding. Now, in Standard please."

"HUNT." The dull tone echoed at her thoughts - comfortably outside them, to be precise. With a sharp crack, the lance in her hand shattered. Just as before, Makoto held the haft, countless fragments slowly winding around her like some great serpent of iron and brass. She gave the handle an experimental twist, sending the entire array writhing. She regretted that a moment later.

"SEEK." With an audible "CRACK!", the tip of the lance abruptly buried itself in the asphalt behind Makoto... and with equally little warning, snapped the rest of its length like a slingshot, propelling her high into the air, directly towards the greatest concentration of the unearthly beasts. As a gesture of pure reflex, Makoto threw out a hand - downward, to break her fall, though she knew full well that she was probably in for broken bones at least. To her astonishment, the lance reacted once more, yanking its tip from the asphalt behind her... to strike in front of her like a viper, seeming to materialize new links out of thin air as its tip darted towards the umbral aberration meandering into her jump's trajectory.

Makoto couldn't do much to stop things at this point - just close her eyes, hold on tight, and hope that shadowy stuff made for a softer landing pad than it appeared to.

Actions:

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Initiative (1d20+3)[8]

Makoto (involuntarily) launches herself at the nearest neverwere. I'm assuming that the group was dropped in a staggered enough formation that Makoto's nearest neverwere would be different than the one Umiko has assailed. Otherwise, the nearest flat-footed neverwere.

Power attack is active.

Running Long Jump Check: (1d20+43)[61]
Charge Attack to-hit: (1d20+10)[28]
Damage: ((1d8+31)[38] * 3) = 114

Makoto isn't wearing her costume, but she is wearing a rather nice set of red flannel pajamas.

[Serafina]

Music
Fantastic opening by Snowfire:

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Cymoril was confused. Admittedly, that was relatively normal for her when it came to most things magical, which was a lot on Mid-Childa, but this was different. She looked down again at the box in her hands, that beautiful golden box that had hurt her so much when she had found out what it contained. To be holding it so close now, to know it was hers when it could have gone to someone who could actually use it, it confused her. She ducked back swiftly at the sound of softly approaching footsteps from the junction ahead of her, blending into the shadows with ease now after so many years of training.

The Sister – no, that was the garb of a Knight – stopped at the centre of the crossroads, looking around carefully for any sign of out-of-bed residents, then smiled and kept walking. Waiting until the footsteps faded was...difficult, but Cymoril managed. Then she popped back out of the shadows and made her way swiftly towards the junction. This was the last one before the stairs. She was almost there.

Then she saw it. A note. Sitting quite innocently. In the centre of the crossroads. Where the Knight had been standing. She looked around quickly, saw no one, then knelt down to read it.

Cymoril,

Happy Birthday.

Have fun, but try not to stay up too late. You will need your rest.

Carim

She blinked in confusion. Carim? It couldn't have...no. Some other Carim. Must have been. She shook her head in amusement at her own notion. She came to her feet, realising it was almost midnight, and ran silently for the stairs.

***

“Mori! You made it!” Cymoril oofed as her friend wrapped her in a bone crushing hug, her dark blonde hair waving around them both before she stepped back. “I was about to start looking.” Her eye's sparkled with amusement, emerald and ruby glittering in the dark as she looked up and down her friend, as if looking for something. “And you brought Sturmbringer!”

“Sturmbringer?” Cymoril asked slowly, opening her mouth.

“Yes. That's his name. I burnt a few favours to get Shari to run a scan on him – off the books.”

“Ok...you got one of the best techs in the TSAB to run a che- Vivio what does this have to do with me?” Cymoril burst out. “Why did you ask me to bring him up here after giving him to me for my birthday. It's not as if I can use a Device. I can't even ca-”

“Hush.” Cymoril stopped as a gentle finger pressed itself over her lips. “It matters because I want to try something.” Vivio smiled at her friend's look. “Oh don't give me those eyes. Look, Mori, I wouldn't have called you out here if it wasn't important. Shari's scan threw up something decidedly weird.

“What do you mean, weird?” Cymoril asked cautiously. “And how does it relate to me?” Vivio didn't immediately reply, instead gently taking the box.

“It was strange, almost strange enough that she called in someone official.” Vivio replied, her playfulness receding. “There was a...a resonance pattern emitting from him. There still is.” Cymoril blinked, green eyes even more confused and Vivio sighed, cracking open the golden case that contained the device. “According to the scans, even without being activated, Sturmbringer has attuned to someone.” Cymoril swallowed a painful lump of sorrow.

“So what, you have a device that's attuned to you and you give it to me? Why? Are yo-” Vivio cut off Cymoril's bitter tone just two things. A laugh, and a four words that set her entire world reeling.

“Not me, silly.” Vivio held out the bracelet that was Sturmbringer. “You.”

“What?” The comment came out flat, but surprise pasted itself across Cymoril's delicate features.

“You.” Vivio repeated gently, slipping the bracelet on to her younger friend's slender wrist. “The pattern running through the scan was a perfect match to your linker core.”

“But...but I can't even cast the simplest spells!” Cymoril stammered, looking down at the device on her wrist as if it was about to bite her. “How am I meant to be able to use a Device?” Vivio shrugged.

“I don't know. But clearly Sturmbringer thinks you can do it. And Intelligent Devices are very rarely wrong.”

“Well clearly this has to be one of those rare cases!” Cymoril shook her head violently, trying to clear it of the thoughts stampeding through it. “I..Vivio...you know...I...I can't-”

“Sturmbringer thinks you can.” The hetrachromic teenager replied softly. “And so do I.” She squeezed her friend's hand. “At least try?” Cymoril narrowed her eyes, pushing back tears, then nodded slowly.

“All right.” She said, and Vivio smiled again.

“In that case, focus on Sturmbringer, and repeat after me.” Cymoril was reluctant to close her eyes, but did so, bringing her hands up so that she could hold the bracelet. And she repeated.

“Starlight and lightning.”

“Rise from my heart.”

“Hold me close in the storm.”

“And show me the way.”

Yellow light pulsed outwards in a pattern of infinite triangles to surround Cymoril and she felt something pulse deep within her. Something lost and hidden, that drew her eyes to with all the pull of irresistible gravity. Green eyes met gold, the latter staring out at her and a word whispered in her mind.

:Awaken:

Her arm, the one with the bracelet around it, rose into the air. Her hand grasped an invisible hilt. And she spoke the final words of activation ahead of her friend.

“Sturmbringer – set up!” The falcon at the heart of the bracelet pulsed bright as it responded.

“Anfang – Schnitterform!”

Cymoril's eyes flew wide at those words, taking in the slowly spinning triangle around her.

“Oh my go-” A pillar of pale gold exploded into the heavens.

Her clothes vanished, crackling sparks replacing it with shining chainmail and armour of the finest steel as Vivio watched in joy. Lightning stabbed through the gap between her fingers, blazing in the heart of the transformation as Sturmbringer rose to his mistress's call. The hilt formed first, the lightning flashing up along the blade to reveal it in all its glory. Falcon's wings decorated the blade's cross-guard, but that detail was lost to the clean beauty of shining steel. Tears of joy streamed from Cymoril's eyes as she felt magic and light pour through her in a rampant torrent.

She lowered her blade. Sturmbringer spoke.

“Dimensionale Übertragen. Ziel Amber.”

“Wh-”

The triange around her pulsed bright, and then started to collapse. She felt herself moving away, and tried desperately to remember her lessons.

Übertragen...Übertragen...Transfer! Dimensional Transfer! No! She tried to move, but found that she couldn't.

:Cymoril!: Vivio screamed into her mind. :What's happening to you?:

:Dimensional transfer. Somewhere called Amber. Can't stop it!:

:No. NO!: Vivo leapt forward, trying to grab her, but her hand simply passed through her. :I won't let you go! I'll come for you. I promise! Do you hear me Mori'. I will find you again!:

:I...I hear...you: Cymoril replied faintly, the last of her energy fading as her vision started to white out. The last thing she saw was Vivio forcing herself to take a step back, her final words lost in the haze of energy. Iridescent patterns swept out around the nineteen year old. Her fists clenched in fury and helplessness. But she wasn't alone. She was never alone.

Cymoril's eyes, seeing nothing but light, flew wide as she felt her friend's presence shatter the world around her. A tightly focused call pierced the dimensions, shattering through the fabric of reality with all the power of friendship behind it. And the voice of Vivio Takamachi-Harlaowan slammed through her like a hurricane blast.

:Fate!: Cymoril stopped breathing for a moment. If she was doing that... No. No way! But apparently Vivio was. The psychic link didn't fade as the first word passed. It strengthened. Cymoril snapped her eyes shut, concentrating desperately on shielding her mind, as the second word burst through the howling energy around her, rising on the edge of a psychic scream.

:Nanoha!:

"VIVIOOO"! Cymorils scream trails off as a large...creature slams into the ground in front of her. Instinct raises the unfamiliar blade into a defensive position, and she tries to assess her position.
"Unknown surroundings. Ten unknown combatants. Four may be allies, six may be enemies. What would Vi-chan do?"

Sturmfalken! a stern masculine voice rings out. Four small birds of prey made of crackling lightning appear around her sword.
"Eeeeh? What's going on here?" Cymoril cries out in surprise. "Now wait just a minute, Sturmbringer! First you kidnap me and then you just start attacking anyone? No!"
She focuses all her willpower on holding her device back. The falcons start to fly straight towards the next creature, but her mental outcry stops them. She pulls them in, a tugging feeling inside her keeping the elemental birds in check. Finally they start to circle around her, and with a sigh of relief she begins to assess the situation around her.


Actions:

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Using Homing Shot, withholding 3 of 4 shots.

Dice i have already rolled, though only Initiative is relevant for now.

[Owrtho]

She had asked me to help. To protect the song, the light, from those that threatened it.
Even without vision, Daina could clearly see where the enemies were around her. They were abominations, their mere presence seemed to be a violation of sound and music. Not simply lacking it but destroying it. They needed to be stopped. Around her Daina could hear others getting up, acting to fight them. The girls she had heard upon first arriving seemed to be in the directions the un-sounds, the Neverwere a voice in her head corrected her, were headed. They had seemed kind, and almost seemed to sing with the melody of the light.

Getting up, Daina prepared to intercept the Neverwere. All she needed was to pick a song to dance to. A brief moment of thought during which she adjusted her glasses to make sure they hid her eyes, and she knew which to use. A foreign song perhaps, but she'd learned what the lyrics meant, and she'd show these Neverwere that they were no match for the music. In an action that seemed almost second nature, a record appeared in one of her turntables and began to play. To the sound of the music Daina danced into the fray, attacking the closest Neverwere that was not yet being confronted.

OOC Actions:

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Free action to dismiss and manifest devices with keen and thundering augments (and the required enhancement augment, which I assume is lost to get the other abilities). Also, perform (disc jockey) check to start playing the music, not that it has any effect in this case.
Move action to approach the nearest neverwere not already being attacked. Perform dance check here, again it doesn't actually have an effect.
Standard action to attack the neverwere with both weapons.

Initiative: (1d20+5)[17]
Perform (disc jockey): (1d20+20)[26]
Perform (dance): (1d20+18)[21]

Attack main hand: (1d20+12)[17]
Damage: (1d6+9)[14] sonic: (1d4)[2]
Crit confirm (15-20): (1d20+12)[27]
Thundering damage: sonic: (1d8)[5] DC 14 or deafened.

Attack off hand: (1d20+12)[21]
Damage: (1d6+9)[12] sonic: (1d4)[4]
Crit confirm (15-20): (1d20+12)[24]
Thundering damage: sonic: (1d8)[7] DC 14 or deafened.

[userpay]

“Fly. Bring my light home. And save it.”

Temeka can't help but blink distractedly as the waves of images finally cease, leaving her right in the middle of an apparent battlefield. Save... this?

"Good afternoon Temeka." A voice resounded in her head.
"Who-"
"Please save formal introductions for later as we seem to be in danger. For now know that I am Callisto, here to aid you with your suit functions."

At that Temeka finally glances at herself and notices her armor for the first time. Her armor. It was... Different than the original plans, a bit more showy, but even as she lifted her arm to get a closer look Temeka could tell it would protect just as well. Possibly the most untouched portion of her armor, visually at least, was the revolver gauntlet that had been entirely of her own design only... There were now two. Even as she watched the drum spun briefly and clicked into place.

"Ammunition fully loaded and ready. As much as I wish to allow you to further pursue your examination I need to inform you that there appear to be six enemy combatants, four likely allies, and five current non-combatants. What do you wish to do?" Temeka clenches her fist as she looks back over the battlefield, at the things that even she could feel were somehow wrong.
"Bust them up what else? Only..." While there had been few visual changes to her primary weapon one of the most important things seemed to be missing, an obvious firing mechanism. "How?" The mental voice sighed.
"For now aim at the beings you wish to fire upon and I'll assist in the targeting and firing until you become use to it."

As Temeka raised her arms a blur shot past her from behind, resolving into the lunging form of Chisaki. A giantChisaki. While Temeka stares slack jaw after this newest development the guns on her wrists whirled and clicked once more, apparently high enough for Callisto to take over as they spit out several tongues of flame and metal.

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I'm going to be revising the armor appearance slightly so I'll post more on that another time.

Anyway, fun fun time. So apparently not only tigers have the grab ability they have it on both bite and claws, quite fitting given the way kitties fight. So Chisaki will charge a currently free neverwere while Temeka blasts at the last free neverwere. Assuming the neverwere's are large or smaller.

Chisaki
Bite
Attack (1d20+14)[27]
Damage [roll]2d6+8
Grapple Attempt (1d20+19)[34]

Claw 1
Attack (1d20+8)[18]
Damage (1d6+4)[8]
Grapple Attempt (1d20+19)[28]

Claw 2
Attack (1d20+8)[10]
Damage (1d6+4)[6]
Grapple Attempt (1d20+19)[34]

Temeka
Being within 5 range increments revolver attacks resolve effectively as touch attacks.
Attack (1d20+8)[11]
Damage (1d8)[6]
Sonic (1d4)[3]
Attack (1d20+3)[19]
Damage (1d8)[4]
Sonic (1d4)[2]

Attack (1d20+8)[9]
Damage (1d8)[8]
Sonic (1d4)[1]
Attack (1d20+3)[14]
Damage (1d8)[7]
Sonic (1d4)[1]

[Snowfire]

Falcons of crackling electricity strain in Cymoril's grasp, as if itching to hurl themselves into the fray, but maintain their positions according to her commands.

Umiko hurls herself forwards with all the wild abandon of youth, her attack staggering her target for a moment, but it swiftly turns towards her, the claws on its arms lengthening and rippling strangely.

Then Daina's music blasts out across the battleground, its first notes seeming to startle the Neverwere. Her turntables spin around her, their whirling forms slashing deep into the shadowstuff form seeking to drown out the music she has been charged with protecting. The twinned devices elict a scream of rage from that target, the records atop them releasing waves of pounding sound into the blackness as they cut through them. It also starts to turn, claws following the same pattern the one soon to be facing Umiko.

Further back, Temeka comes to her feet. She stares for a moment, at the burning city before her, at herself, then is seemingly shaken from her confusion. Both arms rise, the snubbed barrels of her weapons flicking around towards one of the non-engaged Neverwere. This one, perhaps due to the sudden attacks on its companions, avoids the first shot from her second weapon. But the rest slam into the writhing not-flesh of her target, each bullet pulsing with faint light as they slam home.

At the same moment, her now enhanced companion springs past her with a roar. Chisaki's bulk, easily as massive as her target's but with a great deal more force behind it, crashes into the Neverwere closest to her mistress and carries it to the ground. Silver claws and crystal teeth, all glowing with a faint radiance, slice and tear at the downed creature. And whilst it may not be dead, it is - for now - contained.

And then the last of their number is catapulted from the ground by her device, her red hair jetting back behind her in the airflow. Her lance reassembles ahead of her, the crimson blade at its head shining as if in anticipation.

The blade's tip sinks deep into the body of the Neverwere, stabbing into and through the black-on-black form. Makoto growls something intelligible, crimson eyes glittering in a vengeful match to her blade and she whispers something to her weapon.

"End it!"

None of you hear it, but you all see the results. Light explodes out of the weapon in the redhead's hands, shattering outwards through the Neverwere's form. It's head spins - all the way around, you notice sickly - and it looks across as the girl suspended by her weapon, then down at the light eating away at its form. Dark teeth gnash futilely in a silent howl of hateful rage and the thing comes apart in a blast of screaming white-on-black.

Makoto's lance stabs into the ground before her as she hits the ground, a resonant CRACK signalling the departure of that Neverwere back into the beyond.

The last Neverwere increases its pace towards its target, the woman who her companion had identified as Amiya. One of its arms writhes, blackness rippling around it, and then the entire limb begins to stretch out towards the unconscious leader, the blades on its end spinning into a bladed whirlwind to shred the one who had brought these new foes here.

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One Neverwere is down. One is grappled. Three are hurt. The last one is going for the Magical Girl who greeted you.

[Serafina]

Still resistant to engage in a fight she knows nothing about, Cymoril sees one of the black figures charge a clearly defenseless girl, and her protective instincts kick in.
"Sturmbringer, Kreuzparade!" Jawohl Herrin!
She steps up into a short sprint, and her blade sweeps into a mid-guard that allows her to make a wide forward swing. The sparking birds that surround her move ahead of her path, taking position between the monstrous creature and Cymorils new ward. She readies to strike if it moves even one step further and knows that her Falcons will do the same.

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Move action: I position myself in such a way that i am standing next to the charge path of the Neverwere.
Standard Action: I brace my weapon against a charge and ready Sunny Daze. Once the Neverwere moves again i make a 5-foot step into its path, make an attack of opportunity (because it just tried to move out of a threatened square as part of a charge) and then strike with my readied strike-illumination, dealing double damage.
The Homing Shot also strikes as part of the readied action, should the Neverwere not be dead after the melee attacks.

Power Attack is active, and i am using Cornugon Smash for free Intimidate on a hit.
Attack of Opportunity: (1d20+8)[20]
Damage: (1d10+16)[18] + (1d6)[2]
Strike Illumination: (1d20+8)[28]
Damage: (1d10+16)[18] x2 + (1d6)[4]
Homing Shot (Touch Attack): (1d20+10)[24]
Damage: (3d3)[7]
Intimidate check 1+2: (1d20+17)[35] (1d20+17)[31]


Kreuzparade is a Thalhoffer martial arts maneuver that consists of a feint, a sidestep and then hitting the enemy as his footwork tries to catch up with your feint. Which is essentially what i am doing here, only without the feint, exploiting my enemies predictable movement path.

[Owrtho]

Daina hears the others engaging the Neverwere, and then, one of the horrid unsounds vanished.
Heh, I knew these things could be be defeated.
Taking encouragement from the event, she prepared to redouble her efforts. Then it grew claws.
Well, we can't be having that now.
Knowledge filled her on how to use her power to blunt the enemies attacks. Her music strengthend as she lashed out four more times against the abomination.

OOC Actions:

Spoiler

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Well then, full-round action and a mote to use Heartbreaker strike. Granting a full attack, so 4 attacks. For each that hits, the target gets a -4 penalty to damage rolls (cumulative with itself, but not future uses of the illumination). DC 20 Foritude save at the start of each turn to reduce penalty by 2.
5 motes currently.

Main Hand Attack 1: (1d20+12)[12](24)
Damage: (1d6+9)[10] sonic: (1d4)[3]
Crit confirm (15-20 x2): (1d20+12)[19]
On Crit Thundering sonic damage: (1d8)[5] DC 14 or deafened.

Off Hand Attack 1: (1d20+12)[2](14)
Damage: (1d6+9)[14] sonic: (1d4)[1]
Crit confirm (15-20 x2): (1d20+12)[13]
On Crit Thundering sonic damage: (1d8)[6] DC 14 or deafened.

Main Hand Attack 2: (1d20+7)[13](20)
Damage: (1d6+9)[14] sonic: (1d4)[4]
Crit confirm (15-20 x2): (1d20+7)[24]
On Crit Thundering sonic damage: (1d8)[2] DC 14 or deafened.

Off Hand Attack 2: (1d20+7)[11](18)
Damage: (1d6+9)[10] sonic: (1d4)[1]
Crit confirm (15-20 x2): (1d20+7)[20]
On Crit Thundering sonic damage: (1d8)[1] DC 14 or deafened.

[Princess Tracy]

Play this a couple sentences in

Umiko's attacks are sturdy, yet graceless - honed yet without discipline, at once bearing flair yet no real style, and a brutality that would make many demons cringe. She takes her jolt upwards in strength fairly casually, not even missing a beat as she continues her assault. No sooner does the dreadful foe regain its footing than does she sock it as hard as she can with a mad flurry; outstretching a foot in something resembling a dangerously wide stance, she backhands it with the full force of her upper body, hoping to crack its ribs (indeed hoping it has any). Using whatever momentum that put in the thing, wether it sidesteps, recoils, flinches or faints, she spins around, sweeping the thing in a tip with her off-hand, and with an axe-like descent of her leg, drives the thing's skull straight into the ground with al her might, shouting with excitement and at once eerie calmness "When you get to hell, tell them Umiko sent ya!"

Spoiler

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Two weapon fighting unarmed strikes! Of doom!
First attack (1d20+11)[27]
Confirmation roll if a threat (1d20+11)[16]
Damage (2d8+11)[23]

Second attack (1d20+11)[23]
Confirmation roll if a threat (1d20+11)[28]
Damage (2d8+11)[23]

[Snowfire]

Cymoril darts across the rubble-strewn square, spinning into place to block the final unengaged Neverwere's attack. Her sword pulses with light, slamming down on the rapidly elongating arm to tear a ragged section free from the whole.

But it keeps going, the tip of the 'limb' flowering out into more lethal-looking blades of nightstuff. Cymoril isn't finished though. She ducks under the oncoming knife-flower and her blade speaks as it stabs upwards.

Donnerschlag!

Sturmbringer flares, arcs of yellow crackling into being around it as it drives into the Neverwere, the tip of the blade erupting from the other side of the lengthened arm. Its owner screams in fury, leaping forward in sudden rage as it seems to notice the limb coming apart in a blaze of pale gold sparks. But even then, it's too late.

Sturmfalken!

The three circling falcons of blazing electrical light spring free of Cymoril's command, slamming into the creature in lethal sequence and its form comes apart as the golden sparks spreading from Cymoril's blow shatter it. Her weapon pulses and speaks once more.

Feind Versiegelt.

The creature facing Umiko seems almost taken aback by the strange blend of power that it's facing, but doesn't have enough time to react before her whirling feet smash it back and then into the shattered pavement. Again, the same bursts of light spread from her blows, and this time it has more effect than simply staggering the creature. Cracks of light splay out across the shadowform, but it does not get the chance to scream as its companions had. Umiko's foot slams down on its skull and the entire entity vanishes in the same whirlwind of nothingness-light.

And at the same time, Daina's whirling timetables flash with sudden light and fly from her hands. They spin out, surrounding the Neverwere before diving in on the aberration. It manages - somehow - to dodge the attacks of the second disc, but by doing so leaves itself wide open for the first. Again soundless agony-rage bursts from the creature, spinning melody ripping through it. More light spreads from the blows, but this time it does not rip it from reality. It coats the creature's claws, burning into their substance.

The thing screeches as light eats at its weapons, but still does not fall. And now it is its turn.

The Neverwere facing Daina suddenly seems to loom above her, then its four arms stab viciously towards her as a scream of sound bursts from the thing's 'mouth'. It washes over the entire group, seeping into their blood and turning it to ice. And then its claws slash at the one who has injured it so badly.

The front arms miss, one being deflected by a whirling turntable and the other dodged by Daina's whirling dance. But the other two strike home, and even with their forms crumbling strike hard.

Claw-daggers stab into the metal form of Chisaki as she holds her Neverwere down, her prey trying to break free through her death. She yowls at the sudden attack, but her grip holds.

And the final Neverwere, still recovering from the sudden death of its companions, fixes its vengeful gaze on the one who destroyed the first of their number.

Its arms flex and ripple, melding into two lances of jagged-edged night. It screams as well, a scream of rage and vengeance that echoes into the sky, before the limbs lengthen madly to strike across the distance between it and the red-haired lance wielder.

Makoto, still recovering from her leap, doesn't even see them coming. She screams as the two lances of utter darkness slam through her, their presence chilling her and filling her with alien emotion - if that is even the right word for it.

OOC stuff

Spoiler

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Makoto and Daina, you are both Shaken.

Daina takes (2d6+4)[15] damage - that is with Heartbreaker's effect factored in.

Chisaki takes (1d8+10)[12] damage from the in-grapple attack

And Makoto is hit for (2d8+30)[39]

[userpay]

Temeka bites her lip as she gradually comes out of her surprise. Most of the creatures were now down but the danger was still there, not to mention the one Chisaki was rolling in the dirt with. "I don't want to hit her..." Temeka mutters as she edges closer.

"I can take care of that. Initializing procedure Luminous Rain, targeting mode." Several dots of light streaked from the fingertips of Temeka's suit. Hovering, moving, almost highlighting. "Please fire when ready."

Lifting her hands Temeka takes aim watches carefully, firing when gaps between the combatants became obvious. Chisaki bringing her back claws into play.

Spoiler

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Temeka swift action to activate Luminous Rain, +3 to for all attacks vs the enemy Chisaki is grappling.
Grapple check to ensure maintaining grapple. (1d20+24)[42]

Chisaki
Free Rake attacks due to grapple, I presume they're made at highest bonus attack and str wise. Grapple rules for animals aren't clear whether your limited in which attacks you use similar to humanoids.
Rake Claw Attack (1d20+16)[17]
Rake Claw Damage (1d6+8)[10]
Rake Claw Attack (1d20+16)[25]
Rake Claw Damage (1d6+8)[10]
Bite Attack (1d20+17)[23]
Bite Damage (2d6+8)[14]
Claw Attack (1d20+11)[26]
Claw Damage (1d6+8)[11]
Claw Attack (1d20+11)[26]
Claw Damage (1d6+8)[11]

Temeka
Shooting into grapple, unsure if any penalties other than for target being in melee which I bypass with Precise.
Attack (1d20+11)[17]
Damage (1d8)[6]
Sonic (1d4)[2]
Attack (1d20+6)[21]
Damage (1d8)[3]
Sonic (1d4)[2]

Attack (1d20+11)[16]
Damage (1d8)[3]
Sonic (1d4)[2]
Attack (1d20+6)[7]
Damage (1d8)[2]
Sonic (1d4)[3]

[Selinia]

"Aaaagh!" One moment, Makoto had been hurtling downwards through the vaguely tangy residue left by the neverwere - the next, a swat of its companion had sent her bouncing painfully across the asphalt. The girl let out a ragged scream of pain, and was reasonably sure she'd broken at least a few bones, but she felt that somehow she'd be able to keep fighting despite that. In a way, it focused her. Whatever was going on, she had to shape up fast. Lacking any real protection, all Makoto could hope to do was finish off her enemies before they did the same to her.

She was vaguely aware of other combatants. There was an explosion of some melodious sound, and the tell-tale crunches of a skilled martial artist resounded from somewhere nearby. They didn't matter though. They weren't enemies.

"Retract!" Tightening her grip on her weapon's haft, Makoto felt the bulk of its links break away and dissolve into nothing, a new tip forming inches from where she held the lance. "Anchor!" She felt the tip slam into the street, stopping her erratic bouncing almost instantly and letting Makoto find the footing for a low crouch.

"Hunt!" Her weapon liked that command, Makoto could tell. She was a little more ready for it this time, trying to flow with the snapping motion as it catapulted her into the air. She felt the chain drawing in behind her, felt the soft "Clink!" of the links reforming into a single solid shaft. All she had to do was keep her eyes on the target before her - the beast that had dared injure her. Keep her eyes open, and hope her aim was good.

Actions:

Spoiler

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Once again, jump-charging (against the neverwere that thought it would be a good idea to beat up the girl in pajamas). This probably provokes an attack of opportunity, being movement in the reach of the nearest neverwere. While Makoto is only going to be ten feet from that foe, I'm pretty sure she can meet the distance requirements for a charge on her downward descent alone - if I'm misunderstanding something, feel free to correct me again.

Anyway,

Jump skill check: (1d20+43)[54]
Attack to-hit [PA Active]: (1d20+8)[28]
Attack damage [PA Active]: ((1d8+23)[28] * 3) = 84

[Owrtho]

Another two cease to torment Daina's ears with their unsound. Her appreciation is cut short though, as the Neverwere she is engaging cuts her with its claws, dulled from her abilities, but still dangerous.
Guh, why won't you die.
Recovering the blow, Daina resumes her dancing. Again her turntables shoot forth to attack the Neverwere as their music continues playing, and again they seek to dull the enemies attacks.

OOC Actions:

Spoiler

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Once again full-round action and a mote to use Heartbreaker strike. Granting a full attack, so 4 attacks. For each that hits, the target gets a -4 penalty to damage rolls (cumulative with itself, but not future uses of the illumination). DC 20 Foritude save at the start of each turn to reduce penalty by 2.
6 motes currently.

Main Hand Attack 1: (1d20+12)[6](18)
Damage: (1d6+9)[12] sonic: (1d4)[4]
Crit confirm (15-20 x2): (1d20+12)[16]
On Crit Thundering sonic damage: (1d8)[5] DC 14 or deafened.

Off Hand Attack 1: (1d20+12)[17](29)
Damage: (1d6+9)[11] sonic: (1d4)[4]
Crit confirm (15-20 x2): (1d20+12)[31]
On Crit Thundering sonic damage: (1d8)[8] DC 14 or deafened.

Main Hand Attack 2: (1d20+7)[13](20)
Damage: (1d6+9)[15] sonic: (1d4)[3]
Crit confirm (15-20 x2): (1d20+7)[11]
On Crit Thundering sonic damage: (1d8)[4] DC 14 or deafened.

Off Hand Attack 2: (1d20+7)[15](22)
Damage: (1d6+9)[11] sonic: (1d4)[2]
Crit confirm (15-20 x2): (1d20+7)[8]
On Crit Thundering sonic damage: (1d8)[4] DC 14 or deafened.

[Snowfire]

Chisaki growls fiercely, then sends her claws raking through the Neverwere as it struggles against her hold. Crystal teeth fasten around the thing's throat, tearing deep into the shadowstuff that makes up its 'flesh' as she twists away from the target markers her mistress' suit has created. The Neverwere pushes back, trying to free itself as it feels the light touch its form.

Too late.

Four shots spew from Temeka's revolvers, lines of searing light leaving after-images flashing in the eyes of those around her. Even with the targeting protocol, half of her shots miss. But half of them don't, and the Neverwere comes apart, fading away under the Light.

Makoto recovers, pulling herself up into a crouch and then launches herself towards the Neverwere who attack her, the thing's limbs retracting just ahead of her leap. As it realises her intent, the limbs splay out, dividing into two, four, eight, sixteen - each tipped with a razor sharp spike. And as Makoto reaches the apex of her jump, the Neverwere launches its defensive attack.

"Kill" The command echoes from the weapon into Makoto's mind, and she is sent whirling by sudden movement in her hand. Sixteen dagger-sized blades lance around her, each one trying desperately to turn her aside or impale her. But her weapon spins her around them, its silver chain spreading out ahead of her as a shield, and none of the spikes even graze her.

Then her weapon hits, the tip flaring with that deadly light that proved so effective against her last target. And the already wounded Neverwere simply explodes in a blast of cleansing light.

Across the battlezone, the whirling turntables pulse again with light and fly from their owner's grasp. They circle the Neverwere once, bouncing against its blades then dive in. Once more light blazes, music wrapping around it to silence the scream. And the last Neverwere collapses into nothingness.

[Princess Tracy]

Umiko looks around for something else to savage, seeming to notice her team-mates for the first time as she easily fells her initial opponent. "The key is to hit them really hard before they even get a chance to touch you," she remarks sagely, a naughty smile on her face. Having things disintigrate when they're beat is... so cowardly, she thinks to herself. Why, where I come from, when one loses, you have to take it like a warrior, not run away like that, coward. I mean, it seemed pretty dumb, so maybe it didn't even know it lost, but it's the principle of the thing. With those weird flashes, I don't know if I actually made contact with it. The hell is it anyway?

Clearing her throat and remembering she has a bit of knowledge in treating wounds, though not enough to be trusted with a scalpel (at least not on someone else's squishy, non-Valley-honed flesh) she approaches her companions and summoners. "So, who needs a bit of patching up?" she asks somewhat awkwardly as she surveys her surroundings. Wow, that's a lot of fire. Maybe I should do something about that. Is it possible to punch it away? Maybe actually - if I do some impromptu demolition, the rubble may quench the flames... Kneeling down next to the nearest downed girl, she starts trying some odd CPR as she addresses her fellow magical girls. "Nice shiny weapons you got there. Any of you know how we got here? Last thing I know I got assaulted by a tentacle monster and I kind of passed out."

Roll here - natural 20 on check to resuscitate magical girl!

[Serafina]

Music

As her swirls of motion come to a stop after the last creature goes down, she needs a few moments to gather herself.
Damn it, compose yourself girl. You've been in plenty of practice fights that were harder than this! Calm - breathe in, let it flow trough your lungs and out of your moth. In, flow, out. In, flow, out, In, flow...

A few deep breaths later she focuses on the one things she cares about: Getting home.
The best way to do that is to ask the person who ripped her from her world and brought her here. The person who made her fight against her will. The person who took Vivio from her.

more music
She makes a sharp tern and briskly walks towards the fallen girl she saved earlier. She is unconscious. Cymoril begins to shake her, but to her surprise Sturmbringer reacts: Erweckung!
This time the tug on her is different. Less energetic than before, and more - well, nothing she can describe that fits with her current inner turmoil. Still, she yanks at that feeling and forces all her willpower into it.

After a short while the fallen girl opens her eyes. Cymoril stands up, and Sturmbringers haft moves from the girls chest into her hand - and the tip of its blade rests on the girls throat.
Her voice has a light tremble, but is as cold and demanding as she can manage:
"Stay where you are. You will tell me why you ripped me from my home, and then you will send me BACK!"
The last word shakes with desperation, and she fierely looks upon the girl as she awaits her answer.

Spoiler

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Actions: Move to the girl i saved earlier. Cast CLW from wand a couple of times until she wakes up. Start questioning her, Intimidate if necessary (which i presume Snowfire will roll, since its social interaction)
Use Magic Device rolls for CLW
CLW rolls

[Selinia]

Clinkclinkclink. The faint rattling of chains and clanking of metal signaled the lance's apparent return to normalcy. Makoto tried a small mental nudge to see if she could get it to stop - the weapon obliged, stabilizing as a solid shaft roughly as long as its wielder was tall. Said wielder took a moment to wrap an arm around the shaft and lean heavily on the sturdy polearm.

"How did I get here? Well, roughly in order: vandalism, breaking and entering, assault with a deadly weapon, abduction and conscription by a foreign power, and general dickishness. Though that last one isn't a crime, just an observation." Makoto tried to chuckle, but quickly gave up at a jab of pain from her shattered ribcage. Trying to catch her breath, she really takes in her surroundings for the first time - including the injured Pentacle in their midst. And Cymoril, threatening one of them. The redhead considered readying her weapon again, but opted for a less exhausting approach instead.

"Hey, fellow abductee! Chill for a bit, why don'cha! Apparently you didn't get the memo along with the kidnapping. Long story short, some glowy wizard lady has decided to conscript herself a bunch of dimensional super-mahou-shoujo. Or whatever the hell we are now. Point is, these people," Makoto jabs her lance at the fallen pentacle "are on our side, and we're more or less the reinforcements. I think. Can you do some more of that heal-y thing, by the way? They look like they've been hit by a truck..."

[Serafina]

Cymoril tries to save her anger for those who deserve it as she looks at Makoto:
"On our side? Did they ask? Do they know whom they took, or from where? Do i know what their plans are? How do i know that they are not the villains - given that they kidnapped me? How do you know, unless you are in on their plan?"
Her blade gestures towards one other fallen Pentacle, who is surrounded by a short shimmer of light. Her blade then swishes down to the woman at her feet in a reckless move, and her gaze fixes the woman once more.

Spoiler

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Using Beacon of Serentity to grant some temporary hitpoints to another pentacle. Cymoril does notice what she has done, but doesnt particulary care right now.

Remember that Cymoril is from Mid-Childa, so bad people with the powers of Magical Girls are quite a possibility for her. And she got ripped away from an extremely emotional moment with her best friend/crush, just had her first real fight and has no idea whats going on. So yeah, pretty angry, though not yet irrational.

[Selinia]

"They're not made of living darkness intent on killing us all? Probably not the most solid evidence in the world, but I'd definitely say they're better than the alternative." The redhead accentuates her point by gesturing upwards at the ravaged sky.

"Also, this is a wild guess, but they're probably not behind your abduction any more than they are mine. That would be that goddamn sunshine lady - Amber, I think her name was. If she shows her face again, by all means, let's trash it. I'll even let you have first swing! But these poor morons are probably bystanders at worst. If you're going to talk like an army grunt, get your act together and scrape up some professionalism!"

[Princess Tracy]

Umiko finishes 'healing' her own patient, mostly just a quick jab to the ribs taht seems oddly effective as the girl stirs. Content, she gets to her feet, hearing out the shouting match between her would-be team-mates, looking quite amused.

"Don't be such a coward," she says with sudden seriousness to Cymoril. "What is this, your first real battlefield? Only cowards brandish weapons at the weak, and they don't come weaker than knocked out. I'm not happy to be here - first thing I'll be doing is walking home, no matter how many rifts in reality is. But that's after conflict is resolved." She points up. "Or did you forget about the giant shadow monster and the burning city? If you're going to fight like a child, at least don't die like a dog, rookie!"

[Serafina]

Cymoril just ignores the other women, desperate for some answers.

[Snowfire]

Soft yellow light capers across Amiya's dress-clad form, streaming from Sturmbringer into her and her eyes flicker open. She blinks at the swordblade at her throat, but does not flinch or immediately reply. Instead her gaze goes to her fellows, emerald eyes flicking to each of them before returning to meet Cymoril's glare.

The girl whom Umiko is tending coughs as the teenager runs through CPR, and then her eyes also slide open, returning her to the world of the conscious. She shakes her head gingerly, red hair sliding from side to side. And it is only then that Amiya speaks.

"I...am sorry, my lady Knight. But I am not the one responsible for your appearance here." Her voice is soft, the cracks of fatigue and exhaustion making it very clear that she likely is finding even this level of volume hard to maintain. "I was simply the channel." She pushes herself up and back, holding herself carefully at the same distance from Sturmbringer's tip. "And as for why you were brought here, your companion has already answered that question. But as I likely know more than she - no offence meant - I will try to answer as best I can." She coughs suddenly, the motion throwing a small spray of blood from her mouth and she doubles over - coming dangerously close to the tip of Cymoril's weapon. She shakes her head. "And yet, as I am, any answers will take far too long in coming." She raises her right hand, and you all see the ring glimmering on her finger, restrained light shining from stone set into it.

Restore

Cool rose light flashes across the square at the ring's command, flowing over all within it and washing their wounds away.

Spoiler

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Everyone heal (3d8+20)[35]

Colour fills Amiya's face again, replacing her pale, pain-filled visage. And then she continues, her voice once again soft but with underlying strength that wasn't there before.

"It was Amber who brought you here, Cymoril Maruyama. As she brought all of you. And whilst I know she would be sorry to you all for your confusion, it is to you that I believe a great many of her apologies would go to." She stops for a moment, mouth twitching as she tries to find the right words. "You...were so far away from her. And yet so important. And she could not give you the introduction that she was able to give to these others. Not without opening herself to attack from those that would make the Neverwere you just fought seem like little but playful kittens."

The girl who Umiko revived struggles to her knees, face clenched in utter concentration.

"Amiya...we...don't have much time." She chokes out eyelids flickering to reveal glimpses of swirling patterns of colour where normally an iris and pupil would be. "Our...survival has not gone...unnoticed." The ground rumbles from off to one side of the square. Amiya winces.

"Try to confuse them for as long as you can, Mica." She replies, before turning herself back to face Cymoril fully. "I will answer what I can, but we must be quick. And to preempt you, no, I cannot send you back. I do not know where you came from, and I was not what brought you."

[Serafina]

Music
Cymoril collapses onto her knees and her blade clatters on the ground.
Vivio...

She remains frozen for a few eternal moments, before her body begins to shake with silent sobs.
I can't go back? No...no, no, no. That can't be. I must! She's lying. I must go home! I have to see her again. I..I....I.....

A small wail escapes her lips before she goes silent and still again. Slowly her body follows her will and she sacks to the ground in a limp heap.

Herrin
Sturmbringer! HE brought me here! HE is responsible. HE took me!
"YOU BROUGHT ME HERE! BRING! ME! BACK!"
She screams at the device with all her rage, and the air begins to crackle with static electricity. She escalates into a true crescendo, before her rage ebbs away and she collapses once again.
Gefahr im Verzug
She ignores the device, numb to the outside world.

Spoiler

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Gefahr im Verzug=Danger approaching.
Which it probably does, and it doesn't say how far it's away.

Any attempts to calm her down during this time probably don't even register, but they might after she breaks down again.

[Selinia]

"Hey, hey, heyheyhey!" Makoto had started to formulate a proper response to Amiya's revelations, but Cymoril's breakdown took precedence. Catatonic despair had no place on a battlefield. Unsure what to do, the redhead defaulted to her catch-all solution to life's most difficult problems.

Blatant lies.

"Look! Listen to me for just a second, and stop yelling at your damn beatstick! I know a way to get you back to where you came from, but we have to get through this first, okay? If we all die because you're crying your eyes out on the tarmac, she'll never even hear from you again! Think of that for a second, and suck it up!" To emphasize the point, Makoto roughly grabs her counterpart's chin and engages in a staring contest, desperately hoping that this girl didn't have a knack for spotting lies.

Actions:

Bluff Check: (1d20+15)[32]

[Snowfire]

Around them, the rest of the Silver Pentacle rises to their feet, clustering around the prismatic-eyed Mica. But Amiya reaches out to the collapsed Cymoril, and the blade clutched in her hand.

Bright yellow sparks crackle and arc around the blade as he reacts to the pain of his wielder - pain that he never meant to bring but somehow had to - and Amiya hisses in pain as the electricity jolts through her. But, even injured as she is, she continues reaching. A veil of rose rises around her hand, absorbing the rage pouring through the device.

Cymoril feels something in her head. Faintly, almost lost in the raging storm she has created around her, but there. Light spreads out from it, calling the rage to order, the pain to calm. And a fading, lost echo resonates.

Spoiler

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:Hold me close to your heart
And you shall rise from the storm:

OOC

Spoiler

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Said in Vivio's voice. Through Sturmbringer. Did you honestly think I would be this cruel?

[Princess Tracy]

Yeah, total rookie. Umiko grunts as she goes to Cymoril's side. "Crazy, ain't ya? When this is over, you're coming with me and we'll be training you up to be a little thicker skinned. If you want to hold a weapon like this, you're going to have to grow up." Lending no more thought to the girl at the moment, knowing fine well that cowardice is treated as a defective warrior's cry for attention (in her battle-oriented culture), she turns to the Silvers. "Judging from the sound of things, we don't have long. Fine. Tell me, strange women. Where can we find the gal who called us here in the first place, and what's the fastest way out of here? And how big a fight did we just get dropped in the middle of? Oh, and how come those things didn't seem to have regular parts for me to smash - it made fighting one kind of confusing. I'll figure out the rest from there." She remembered the other girl, Makoto was it, mentioning something in the way of a wizard calling them to be magical girls. Thinking back, she could quite recall such a thing, but it made sense. Flexing her muscles, she felt a little more potent somehow.

[Serafina]

music
music, instrumental, if the above does not work

Cymoril stares with dead eyes at Makotos face. She believes her - she HAS to believe her. But it still hurts, and the rough actions only make it hurt more.
She knows she has to get up, she knows that she has to fight, to fight the whole world for a way home if necessary - but she can't. She just can't. She finds herself unable to even form a coherent thought. She can't even find the will to rest, to regain some small measure of strength - and the flimsy shell that protected her from the cruel, battering world just got shattered.
Now she knows that there is a way back - and that she is too weak to take it.


Vivio...
Its the first thought Cymoril had for minutes. She heard Vivios voice. She can be strong for Vivio, if not for herself. Maybe not strong enough, but she can try. She breaks away from Makoto and slowly stands up.
She is still weak, and her stance is shaky. But a stance it is, even if she feels like she'll throw up and hadn't slept for a month. She takes a look at her surroundings and readies herself for the next battle.

Spoiler

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Okay, i hope that wasn't too heavy on grief for anyone. That should conclude Cymorils first personal character piece, time to show some of her positive, team-oriented sides!

[Selinia]

"Awesome, on your feet. After this, ice cream for everyone - you'll feel right as rain, promise. Time for chatter later though - I think we're about to run into some more murderous jerks." Makoto awkwardly claps Cymoril on the back, turning her attention back to the Silvers - and the loud girl conferring with them.

"Let's call that a little more specifically - what the hell is setting you lot on edge? Something is coming, and it's giving you all the jitters. Those clawed monstrosities broke enough bones to kill me, I'm fairly certain, so if there's something worse on the way I'd like some heads-up at the very least." The redhead crosses her arms, and something seems to flare in her head as she surveys the others in attendance. "Also... where did you lot get your armor? And where can I get some of my own? I don't think flannel is going to keep my guts from spilling out if I get hit again. That might though." At the last, Makoto points to Temeka and her mechanized power-suit.