Riverside 15

[Recaiden]

[Southwest Gate]

"Good. You won't be, at the end."

Skye leads Elaine out through the gate, and off they go!

[Earl of Purple]

FF&FF

There's plenty of staff around, but most outside the buildings are guards with dart guns and nets. They probably won't know anything as they seem to just be hired grunts. It's even possible that most don't know of the pet shop's other, shadier side of business.

Westside Park

A girl approaches. She looks to be about eighteen, with long black hair and pale skin. Her eyes are blue with red flecks. She's wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a bright yellow t-shirt, with a black leather handbag slung over her shoulder. To most normal senses, she seems alive; she's even breathing. Her heart isn't beating, however, and she's a vampire so any supernatural senses may detect her.

[Morty]

[Westside Park]

The magic around Batu coalesces, burns bright and disappears. Then he opens his eyes.

"Oh... hello," he says. "It's not often anyone passes through here." Which is why he picked this spot to put up his tent and practise sorcery.

[Earl of Purple]

Westside Park

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt. I can go, if you want?" She's mostly curious and doesn't really want to interrupt.

[Morty]

[Westside Park]

"Er, no. It's alright. It's a public park," Batu says, nervous. He's not good at dealing with people, especially humans. He'd much rather have stayed in his tribe, but he didn't get to choose. "I was finished anyway. You might want to stand back, though. I'm not sure if what I'm about to attempt will work."

[Earl of Purple]

Westside Park

"OK." The girl will take a few steps back and sit down. She glances upwards, but this being Westside, the sun isn't visible so that's not something she needs to worry about should anything breach her skin.

[Morty]

[Westside Park]

Batu concentrates, says a few strange words and reaches out with his hand. The hand glows yellow, and a patch of nearby grass grows taller and more vibrant. The hobgoblin visibly struggles to keep the effect intact, and lets go after about thirty seconds. Then the grass abruptly returns to its original size.

[Earl of Purple]

Westside Park

"Oh wow, that was cool." She's really awed by that; she's not had too much experience directly with magic. There were a few clerics at the Temple she used to hang out at, but they didn't do much magic very often and never just for the sake of it or to practice.

[Morty]

[Westside Park]

"Uh, it was?" Batu asks. It's described as rudimentary magic in his books. "But, uh. Where are my manners? I'm Batu, son of Tengal, formerly of the Blind Crow tribe. I greet you in my father's voice," he says, giving a formal bow with his arms crossed across his chest.

[Earl of Purple]

Westside Park

She's seventeen, not nineteen; misread my notes, and they don't mention her surname or parent's names. I know she had a younger brother, though.

"I'm Emily Treatha, daughter of Sophia Treatha, associated with but not a member of Tenebras. I greet you to, but don't know the correct reply." She will imitate his bow, though, hoping she's not doing something wrong as she does so.

[Morty]

[Westside Park]

"If you were a hobgoblin, you'd greet me in your mother's voice and say you hear my father in my greeting," Batu says. "But you're not, so it probably doesn't apply." He rubs the back of his head. "I've had very little to do with those not of my people."

[Earl of Purple]

Westside Park

"I've never had much to do with hobgoblins, either. You aren't the first I've met, but the others were members of a motorcycle club. So I think they had a different culture." She will try to remember that, too, but will probably get it wrong, or forget. Or use it in the wrong context; there's lots of different hobgoblins across the myriad worlds, and many have visited the Nexus.

[Morty]

[Westside Park]

"What's a 'motorcycle'? Batu asks. Another strange thing in this strange city.

[Earl of Purple]

Westside Park

"A vehicle with two wheels and an engine that makes it go very fast. Very, very fast. They're usually very shiny, with black leather for everything that isn't polished metal or the rubber tyres." Hopefully Baku knows what an engine is.

[Morty]

[Westside Park]

"...so they're one of those machines that move by themselves and carry people," Batu says. "Bizarre. It's why I've stuck to this park ever since I arrived. Sorcery I can understand, not that."

[Earl of Purple]

Westside Park

"They're fun. You should try one. Well, be a passenger first. They're soo fast, it's incredible. Think of it as a metal horse." Emily doesn't understand magic or technology, but she's willing to take advantage of either.

[Morty]

[Westside Park]

"Well, I don't get horses either," Batu says, sitting on the grass. "What's the point of riding something so tame and easily spooked?"

[Earl of Purple]

Westside Park

"They're fast and they're strong. Maybe other reasons, too." Emily doesn't really know much about horses.

[FireFox]

[Northside - Wizard Community College - Open Scene]

It was the perfect day for a sniper spree. The weather was warm enough that an open window was expected, not unusual, and there wasn’t as much as a breath of wind to push a bullet off course. In addition, the melting snow made the campus field muddy. To avoid soiling their shoes and robes, the students walked to and from their courses on a narrow concrete path. Through his scope, the sniper could see 14 mage apprentices walking single-file towards him. From 100 meters away, with a zeroed in scope and a Sako TRG-42 rifle filled with .338 Lapua Magnum rounds, he might as well be shooting fish in a barrel.

Dwayne Gates woke up with a voice whispering in his head and the intent anxiety of martyrdom. He found a bag inside his car full of firepower. He didn’t bother to look inside it. The voice told him what it contained. He already knew how to use it. He left his apartment unlocked and drove right to the college. It was a wizarding school, a simple one. Undergraduate community college credits in all the practical witch and warlock subjects. Dwayne might apply here next year. If he had arcane ability. If he wouldn’t be dead by the end of the day.

He followed the voice’s directions and entered one of the towers without detection. Staring straight ahead, focused on his divine mission, Dwayne climbed the stairs to an open door. He locked the door behind him and set up an antipersonnel mine, aimed at the room’s only entrance and rigged to explode if the door opens. The second thing he took from the duffel bag was a foam mat, which he lays flat on top of a table near the open window. Then came the sniper rifle and ten five-round magazines. Finally a FN P90 with a spare 50 round magazine, which he put off to the side.

An over 19 gram Hollow-Point Boat-Tail bullet travelling over 800 meters per second with over 6,500 joules of kinetic energy hits the first student exactly in the center of his navel. As soon as he falls, the second student gets gutshot with equal precision. The third apprentice moved enough to take his round an inch or two off center. The screaming starts. The three victims in their pain and the other eleven in their fear. Dwayne works the bolt and calmly shoots the fourth in line, who was paralyzed on the path like a deer caught in headlights. The fifth mage in training was smarter, darting off the path. Too bad the nearest cover was over 25 meters away on either side. The sniper tracks her through his scope, his finger hesitating on the trigger. She’s a Halfling girl. A cute one, at that. Shooting her in the stomach might kill her too quickly, so he adjusts his aim and blows a chunk out her thigh in mid-stride.

The expressionless Mr. Gates reloads with practiced ease and resumes firing. The remaining nine students scatter in all directions. Three of them make the error of turning around and running back together, quickly getting shot in their lower spines right after each other. Eight shots, eight wounded magi. Someone at the far end of the field finally manages to call emergency services. God knows campus security can’t handle this. But the shooter has plenty of ammunition left. Unless someone in the school acts quickly, the rest of the original 14 are going to get shot. Of course, who knows what the surviving six students at the back of the line are capable of. They could be anyone. They could be heroes, not victims. Future adventurers, not future targets.

[Devixer]

Northside - Wizard Community College

Ashley Cross wasn't here to study - at least, not as a student. She was here to visit the library, hoping to find any kinds of texts about wizards suddenly losing control of their magic. Her journey hadn't brought her much luck so far, and more prestigious groups of mages didn't allow her entrance. So, she was here instead. She's heading down the path, a good deal behind the apprentices. She can't help but smile looking at all the students there. Maybe if there was a place like this where she grew up, she wouldn't have turned out the way she did. Maybe she would have stayed in her home world and became a prestigious sorceress. But then she remembers why she wouldn't want that at all.

Then gunshots rang out. Two years ago, she would've panicked and tried desperately to hide somewhere to discover the source of that blasted noise. Now, though, she knows the sound. That's a sniper rifle. A powerful one, too. Ashley is quick to run - although the direction might surprise some people, as she rushes to the source of the shots. When she starts running, she also casts a force shield in front of herself, in case the shooter decides to aim for her. Her eyes dart around, trying to find any sort of clue as to where this person might be.

[Arkhosia]

Mage School Shooting

One of the students, an [HAE of 18] year old drowess with dark skin, bright red eyes, and her white hair in a bun, an odd maroon tattoo on her right hand, takes cover behind a wall, flipping frantically through her spellbook.
She quickly looks out from cover to observe the location of the shooter, eyes full of fear.

[Morty]

[Westside Park]

"They're fast and they're strong. Maybe other reasons, too." Emily doesn't really know much about horses.

"Maybe it makes more sense if you're raised as human," Batu says. "I've only been living here a couple of months."

[Gullara]

Misaka sits down beside him if she can, suppressing a chuckle at the reprimand.
hmm... does that game have a multiplayer mode?
Misawa inquires with a dmile

[Suncrest Manor]

"Yeah, sure. Try not to die too fast, though. It's a lot harder with two people." Eliseo gets up and grabs a second controller, which he tosses to Misaka. "Catch."

[Slii Arhem]

Ok. Would it be possible you can aid me in learning how to use these abilities and master their use?
Ink asks, eager, intrigued and interested.

Plant Phone Science

"There isn't much I can do for you there. If you can't throw a small, light explosive object properly or learn to relax your muscles, then I have little hope for you to be any better at it even with my tutelage. Now I have another appointment coming up, so go give someone a thorny hug if it pleases you."

Westside Greenhouse

Elaine nervously squirms a little as the anesthetic syringe approaches her back, and then grimaces with pain as the needle slides into her back.

Not for long though, as when the anesthetic takes effect, a dreamy smile spreads across her face, and she slowly asks Shayan, "Sooo...You said dat you'd tell me watsh going to happen?"

Westside Greenhouse

"I'm going to inject you with a series of seeds that will grow inside your body and fuse with your spine. Rather derivative of me, but you asked for results and this was the quickest thing I had access to. The plants will extend throughout your flesh and should provide a secondary muscle network, reinforcing your bones and allow you to move even if you are severely injured, as well as enhancing your strength when you're in good condition." What Shayan fails to mention is that these planty muscles have a slight chance of stealing nutrients directly from Elaine's actual musculature and gradually replacing her flesh with a flora substitute that is many times stronger and unable to feel pain. ((It's up to you if this happens))

"And then the second enhancement should be ready, and your painkillers should have mostly worn off, enough to make you coherent enough to understand the next procedure." She gestures vaguely to the whirring machine, and then picks up a disquietingly large syringe with a tube hollow enough to pass sunflower seeds through.

Which is fortunate, because with a quick jab she's going to try to inject something sunflower-seed-sized into Elaine's lower back, along with a small payload of clear gel that will prevent the wound from leaking anything important while it takes root. She'll repeat the process up the spine every few vertebrae, provided Elaine doesn't flinch out of the way.

[Ionbound]

Westside Greenhouse

Elaine barely even notices the injections as she's high as a kite. She kinda woos around for the hour or so it will take for the seeds to gestate and grow, alternating between playing with the growing saplings and thanking Shayan profusely for helping her so much.

[FireFox]

Northside - Wizard Community College

Ashley Cross wasn't here to study - at least, not as a student. She was here to visit the library, hoping to find any kinds of texts about wizards suddenly losing control of their magic. Her journey hadn't brought her much luck so far, and more prestigious groups of mages didn't allow her entrance. So, she was here instead. She's heading down the path, a good deal behind the apprentices. She can't help but smile looking at all the students there. Maybe if there was a place like this where she grew up, she wouldn't have turned out the way she did. Maybe she would have stayed in her home world and became a prestigious sorceress. But then she remembers why she wouldn't want that at all.

Then gunshots rang out. Two years ago, she would've panicked and tried desperately to hide somewhere to discover the source of that blasted noise. Now, though, she knows the sound. That's a sniper rifle. A powerful one, too. Ashley is quick to run - although the direction might surprise some people, as she rushes to the source of the shots. When she starts running, she also casts a force shield in front of herself, in case the shooter decides to aim for her. Her eyes dart around, trying to find any sort of clue as to where this person might be.

Mage School Shooting

One of the students, an [HAE of 18] year old drowess with dark skin, bright red eyes, and her white hair in a bun, an odd maroon tattoo on her right hand, takes cover behind a wall, flipping frantically through her spellbook.
She quickly looks out from cover to observe the location of the shooter, eyes full of fear.

[Northside - Wizard Community College]

Ashley sees a tower ahead of her, but the distance involved means she won't be able to see which window the sniper is at. Not until she passes the wounded apprentices on the walkway, at least. By which time she will still have a hundred meters to travel directly towards the guy with a high powered rifle. Better hope that force shield is better than conventional military armor.

If the drowess is one of the six students being shot at, I have good news, better news, and bad news for her. The good news is that she's not being shot at. Two running magi ahead of her get picked off and then the Sako's magazine is empty. The better news is that she's close enough to see the muzzle flashes from those two shots so she knows which room the sniper is in. The bad news is that there are no walls close enough to take cover behind. As stated before, she'd have to run 25 meters over muddy field on either side of the path to get to safety. Or 100 meters down the path towards the tower the attacker is holed up in. Fortunately, if she's quick enough she'll be able to make it wherever she goes before being targeted. Unfortunately, that would be after the other 13 students got shot.

Immediate action is required to prevent anymore casualties. Dwayne stops shooting. He takes his eye from the scope. He ejects the empty magazine and tosses it to the side. He grabs a full one and loads it. He pushes the bolt forward and locks the cartridge in the chamber. He lowers his face to the cheekrest and looks through the scope once more. He inhales, waits a second, exhales half the breath, and puts his finger on the trigger. He prepares to resume shooting. The ten wounded youth scream in pain and terror and loss of control. Northside emergency responders are on their way by now, hopefully, but for the next few minutes... it's do or die time.

[Arkhosia]

[Northside - Wizard Community College]

Ashley sees a tower ahead of her, but the distance involved means she won't be able to see which window the sniper is at. Not until she passes the wounded apprentices on the walkway, at least. By which time she will still have a hundred meters to travel directly towards the guy with a high powered rifle. Better hope that force shield is better than conventional military armor.

If the drowess is one of the six students being shot at, I have good news, better news, and bad news for her. The good news is that she's not being shot at. Two running magi ahead of her get picked off and then the Sako's magazine is empty. The better news is that she's close enough to see the muzzle flashes from those two shots so she knows which room the sniper is in. The bad news is that there are no walls close enough to take cover behind. As stated before, she'd have to run 25 meters over muddy field on either side of the path to get to safety. Or 100 meters down the path towards the tower the attacker is holed up in. Fortunately, if she's quick enough she'll be able to make it wherever she goes before being targeted. Unfortunately, that would be after the other 13 students got shot.

Immediate action is required to prevent anymore casualties. Dwayne stops shooting. He takes his eye from the scope. He ejects the empty magazine and tosses it to the side. He grabs a full one and loads it. He pushes the bolt forward and locks the cartridge in the chamber. He lowers his face to the cheekrest and looks through the scope once more. He inhales, waits a second, exhales half the breath, and puts his finger on the trigger. He prepares to resume shooting. The ten wounded youth scream in pain and terror and loss of control. Northside emergency responders are on their way by now, hopefully, but for the next few minutes... it's do or die time.

The drowess fires a Magic Missile at the window in an attempt to hit the killer or at least temporarily incapacitate him as she sprints to get to the tower, and should make it there quickly.
She then attempts to quickly locate the entrance and enter, a magic missile held at the ready.

[Arkhosia]

[Suncrest Manor]

"Yeah, sure. Try not to die too fast, though. It's a lot harder with two people." Eliseo gets up and grabs a second controller, which he tosses to Misaka. "Catch."

Misaka catches it!
She nods.
Alrighty then! I'll do my best.

[Devixer]

Northside - Wizard Community College

The force shield is about as strong as conventional kevlar - meaning, it can take about one shot, then it's little more than a plate.

Although Ashley can't see where the muzzle flash came from, she can track the magic missile to a specific window. It was as good a place to start as any. She lifts off of the ground and starts towards the window. She's quick - maybe quick enough to get to the window before Dwayne is ready to shoot again.

[Deathkeeper]

Fourth Tower Compound

"Wait!" The gnoll yells. "You wanted math formula yes? Since you promised to do mission I can give you it. Just need to possess your hand and write it on paper or somewhere."

Fourth Tower Compound

Arty flinches as the spirit seemingly right in front of him yells in his face. "I think I have an idea for that."
He squeezes the spiritualist's hand for a moment to let her know he's talking to her. "Could you perhaps call your man in here again? I need something dictated." he asks her. He'd prefer not having his limbs possessed. And I don't think she was in a complete trance the whole time.