Ongoing Games (In-Character)Play-by-post games are going on in this forum as we speak (well, read). All threads on this board are actual games, so please, only post on a thread if you are a player of that game.
Nerissa looked into Marisol's eyes, face pleading with her not to go through with this. At the same time the strange woman looked over in her direction, and Nerissa wanted to scream at her to help -- to stop an innocent person from ending their life. But instead she spoke something over to the emotionally wrecked girl -- something that in Nerissa eyes only served to push her onward in jumping to her doom.
"NO!" Nerissa screamed, feeling as though she was fighting a loosing battle. If only she could reach her in time. If only... If only... If only...
Time seemed to slow for her then as something else took over. She sprung forward with an inhuman amount of force, and it was suddenly as if her body weigh nothing. Threads of fabric spun from nothing and surrounded her body, transforming her into what she needed to be -- or rather, what she always wanted to be. When her feet hit the ground again the change was complete, a golden scepter clutched within her grasp. Her eyes were filled with hope and determination. No one was going to die today.
My name is Erin Watson, and I've been having a weird couple of days.
This...transformed state of mine...I seem able to return to it without too much trouble. Like a superhero. I found a secluded spot to run a few tests in, and the Boomstaff (that's what I'm calling it) seems to work just the way my instincts told me it would. Which I guess means that next time, I CAN shoot the gangsters without worries.
I still need to get in touch with that guy, find out how well his mother is doing. How well HE is holding up. He was so furious - understandably so. I hope he isn't doing something stupid.
I've been trying to find information online about this. That...MIGHT take a while, but I'm gonna keep trying. There's got to be an explanation to this. So much of what I'm doing lately defies our current understanding of science...this suggests that there's SO MUCH MORE left to find out! That bit is actually pretty exciting.
I wonder if there's an...INTENT behind my powers? Did someone or something deliberately give them to me? Am I supposed to be San Diego's resident superhero, patrolling the streets? Not enough data. I should...
...Ergh, right now, I should try to get some sleep. I'll probably be dreaming about this all night, too.
((Probably gonna end up having her visit to the Dreamlands. We can play it or have it happen off-screen, whichever you think works best...but one way or another, Erin's gonna need the Queen to give her some explanations. XD ))
By the time she realizes what she’s done there are several dozen cards sticking out of the masked blob. It writhes for a moment, its neck elongating, turning down to view the items imbedded in itself. It seems confused for a moment. Then its skin seems to harden, crack, and begin to crumble away. It fall falls into a pile, and there’s a hollow thud against the wooden floor of the gymnasium.
What remains when the shadow is gone is something just as strange. It’s the mask, but there’s something attached behind it. It’s a rusted metal box with several wires and pipes sticking out of it, about the size of a basketball. From it oozes a viscous, dark liquid. Wisps of black smoke spew out the side, and occasionally a spark pops from the box.
In Sleep He Sang to Me
Spoiler
The blow to the creature’s arm does much more than Shirley might have thought. When she jabs the chunk of chandler into its arm the metal glows, pulsing with the light of her will once before a ripple of energy rips through the dark skin on the beast. It’s entire upper arm is removed, shoulder melting away, hand falling free and going limp. Dreamers begin to scatter, fleeing across the hall.
The beast raises itself on one hand, trying to balance and raise itself up, howling while it does. If she could find the perfect place to strike, such a blow might tear out an even more pivotal part of the monster.
Me and Gravity
Spoiler
The older woman on the bridge looks, just for a moment, surprised at the transformation that occurs in the girl speeding toward her. Just for a second, and then it’s something more quizzical. She takes one step backward, sliding away from the railing and the girl perched on it.
The burst of speed from Nerissa brings her closer enough to grab Marisol, and the cry that the Princess gives seems to have some effect. The girl on the rail’s turns again, teary eyes turned down toward Nerissa. She waves again, and then she flings herself down into Nerissa’s arms. Whether she realizes who she is or not, she seems to recognize her as a friend. And she tells Nerissa it all, who she can’t take the bullying anymore, how her parents treat her, everying.
“You know,” Mentions the older woman in a dry voice, “The weak don’t deserve to survive in this world. You should have let her find the truth.” And then she turns, beginning to move down the bridge and away.
I Need a Hero
Spoiler
((You'll find that you're taken to the Dreamlands fairly naturally, and you'll have your audience with your queen. She'll tell you all the stuff you're supposed to do. You can find a small community online of people like you. As for the kid, he doesn't show up at school over the next week. He's with his mother in the hospital, or off doing something else. I think I'm not going to play out your meeting with your queens, you can just assume you get the basics.))
Mia stares at the box curiously, unsure how the cards had made the beast crumble; let alone where the box had come from, why it was sent for her, or if there were more of these Things around.
She decided to grab her things, before poking the strange box with a rather long rod; ready to run and/or strike if it did anything weird. Well weirder.
Now, with the hostages - relatively - safe, Shirley can finally concentrate on solving the main problem... She takes a quick look at Holmes, to make sure she won't mess with his actions, then raises her weapon again.
With the effect her last hit had caused, it doesn't take long to decide on a place to strike; in fact, even as she goes for the creature's neck, her mind is already occupied by the questions she's going to ask after it ends than by the fight itself.
The most important of these questions being, naturally, "What does that all mean?", followed by, "where exactly I am? Well, besides 'in a dream', I mean?" and "what happens now - what can Moriarty be up to?"
((Should the creature actually perish, she's going to ask Holmes all that. If not - well, she'll still ask them later.))
"It's going to be ok, Marisol..." Nerissa soothes, rubbing the sobbing girl's back as she unloads everything she's been going through. She still isn't quite sure what's happened to her. Why she's dressed in this frilly yet comfortable get up or why she's feeling so empowered right now. But she does know one thing -- she saved Marisol. And that's what truly matters.
The strange woman's comment earns a withering look from Nerissa, though she doesn't say anything in reply -- instead just watching the figure move off. "Good riddance..." She says lowly, hoping to never encounter this awful person again...
There aren’t any more things around, at least as far as Mia can tell. The box lets out a puff of smoke when prodded, then another. The sheer sight of it is enough to fill the girl with a sense of foreboding, and even though it no longer moves she can’t shake the feeling that the mask is looking at her. In fact, when the lights flicker back to life, she can see the gleam of lenses behind the sockets.
There's a light there. A tiny red dot that blinks several times, and then goes dim.
((Do your choice is, you can either keep the box and mask, or you can destroy them. They’re not completely dormant, but they don’t seem immediately hostile.))
In Sleep He Sang to Me
Spoiler
When the weapon is impaled in the thing’s neck it writhes, squirming back and forth madly as more ugly ripples pass across it’s flesh. It lets out one terribly scream, and then crashes to the floor once again.
The crowd is gone now, having vanished from Shirley’s mindscape.
Sherlock remains, the man lowering his weapon slowly. He sticks his pipe back into his mouth as he turns to look at the girl, commenting,
“Excellent work, Watson.” Anything else he might be intending to say is cut short. The body of the monster erupts in a flash of light. Hot, violent light, and it’s over.
Shirley is lying in her bed, alone in her room. She’s enfolded in her Regalia, and in one hand she grasps a magnifying glass in a white-knuckled grip.
((That’s it! The next time Shirley sleeps she’ll be taken to an audience with her Queen to learn the gist of what she is. She’ll also meet Holmes again fairly often when she dreams. Despite his best efforts, no trace of Moriarty is to be found.))
Me and Gravity
Spoiler
Marisol stays with Nerissa like that for hours. It seems to help, and Nerissa can wash away her fears and despair, for the moment. She agrees eventually to go away from the bridge, following along, still sobbing occasionally. It barely even occurs to her to ask why the Princess is dressed so, nor consider why. She'll accept any offer presented.
And the woman in black merely goes on her way, vanishing across the arc of the bridge, leaving no reminders of her presence. Today she's lost, but there are always other days.
((The next time Nerissa sleeps she'll be taken to an audience with her Queen and learn basically what she's supposed to be doing and what she is. I think that's it for this, but you can add whatever you'd like to do with Marisol for now. Nerissa will have the next week to learn about herself and all her tricks.))
My name is Erin Watson, and I'm reincarnated nobility from a past version of reality before it got rebooted by the metaphysical forces of evil.
Yeah. Processing that has been taking the better part of my week.
I still need some time to think about it all. The things I've learned about the meta-History of the world...The things I've seen in the Dreamlands...My powers...The Darkness, the Twilight Queens...The Queen of Diamonds...My duties...
Gotta say, the Queen of Diamonds was...interesting. Quite the character. I'm still wondering how accurate the things I've been told are...I mean, I've found no real inconsistencies, but still. More importantly, though...I am now tasked with power and responsibility for saving the world. I mean, more so than before.
I'm still trying to figure out what to do. Create some Princess task force for eliminating Darkness targets in California? Patrol the streets in my futuristic getup, dispensing vigilante justice against street crime? Become a teacher?
In the more immediate term, however, there's someone I need to check up on. He's supposed to be with his mom right now, so...
Hiding in an unwatched corner of the hospital, Erin transformed into her Princess form, and set out to find the boy and his mother.
Mia exhaled in relief when the thing didn't exploud or something, and took the time to finally survay herself now that she had a chance to take a breather; which surprised her, mostly because she wasn't panicking, calling her parents or smashing the thing to bits out of principal. Everything just seemed so...calm all of the sudden; she barely winced when the lights came back. It felt nice, even if she still had no idea how or why she was wearing this; let alone where the uniform had come from or how she knew to use the cards. That said, she did approve of her new clothes.
That's when she turned back to the thing and saw it; it was staring at her, she could feel it. Mia tapped on the case on her side, releasing a trio of cards which flew to her hand, and prepared to deal the finishing blow.
This thing had just tried to kill her, and scared the living crap out of her no more than a minute ago; a fact that surprised her. Now her attacker sat a few meters away, blinking at her on the floor; a helpless paper weight, easy pickings for her. Just like she'd been to it moments ago. Yet her hand felt heavy for the moment as she stared at the pitiful little thing in front of her.
She mauled over options in her head as she stared back at the thing; surprised by how calmly she was dealing with this. It wasn't until the things eyes stopped flashing that she finally made her choice. She took a few additional steps back for safety, before flicking her cards at the abominable machine.
Everyone has finished their preludes. Anyone who had one gains +1 XP.[/center]
Death Masks
Spoiler
The cards cut through the machine like a knife through butter, shredding the metal and returning to Mia’s hand once it’s been sliced into pieces. There’s another spark, and half of the device erupts into a tiny explosion. A cloud of black smoke passes over her, fades into the air around. What remains is a twisted heap of steel and a chipped off chunk of white porcelain from the mask. She’s left with just slag, and nothing else.
She can feel things are different now. The inner light burning inside her has come to life, and all the power it brings is available to her. The rest of the night, though, will go as usual. She’ll be picked up, she’ll go home, she’ll sleep. When she does she’ll dream of many things, vivid dreams of palaces and queens, courts and duties.
((Next time Mia sleeps she’ll be taken to an audience with her Queen and be given the basic rundown of her new purpose in life. This is it for your prelude. I feel like I didn’t give you a great one, but I’ll try my best to make up for it in game.))
I Need a Hero (epilogue)
Spoiler
Asking around gets Erin the hospital, and she'll find the boy is there, keeping his mother company. She's still recovering, but the injuries will last for quite some time. No other family seems available to visit.
He has no desire to talk should she attempt it, and she'll be escorted out since you're not a member of the family. Some things take time.
((I am a stone! You shall not draw blood from me!
If you want to keep visiting you can, but for this first week you're not going to make much progress. When the game starts proper then you might. I am a horrible monster, I know.))
Things have been different ever since the transformation, though. The Hopeful can feel the passion of the people around them burn like fire, or chill like ice. When they’re happy the Hopeful can feel it in their bones, and it’s wonderful. That doesn’t happen very often. Mostly it’s pain, anger, fear, despair. A whole week of adjusting to that, trying to fight it where they can, little candles in the storm. Each of them has a purpose now, at least, and a will to go out and do it.
Today was a normal day. Classes, lunch, schoolwork. Friends and brief bits of gossip throughout the day. The boy Erin saved before still isn’t at school. The rest of the gymnastics team ambushes Mia at lunch to discuss their next meeting. Marisol joins Nerissa for lunch, while Kim witnesses an irritated teacher sentencing a large number of students to detention. Someone throws a wad of paper at the back of Shirley’s head while she’s reading. Sola and Shina are invited to a party later on in the week. Nothing too different from any other day.
After school all of the girls have their own reasons for staying after. It's several hours past the time the classes should be over. The clubs and after school activities have been left out, and only a skeleton crew of staff still remains at the school.
All at once, all of them sense something not right. An ugly feeling in the pit of the stomach, hairs standing on end, a brief nausea. It’s following instantly by a sound, a sharp crack that echoes across the open courtyard. Every one of them can hear it, and the general direction it comes from. The same direction the source of the unpleasant feeling is coming from.
((This Is where things get fun. Here is a map of the school. The source of the disturbance is in one of the rooms in Building 800. You can write yourself being wherever and staying after school for whatever reason. Everyone will roll Dexterity+Athletics. You will arrive at the scene in that order.
We will be rolling for things now. You all also get a full pool of Wisps, because I'm very nice.))
Mia sighed as she finished locking up the club room, just her luck to have lost her bet and gotten stuck closing up shop by herself. On her way out she couldn't help but stare at the spot where she had destroyed that...thing. Even after talking around in her court she wasn't sure what that thing was; though most had agreed she'd handled it well enough given her inexperience. More than a few had cracked up by the time she mentioned the shadowy tendrils. Her court was certainly weird, but fun. Moreover she enjoyed her transformed self, it was sort of like a vacation from herself in a way. It was peaceful, yet invigorating; even if she would eventually she'd be in over her head.
They'd helped her through the first week, and finding the forums had been...interesting to say the least. She hadn't realized there were so many others that had blossomed like her over the years. She hoped to find SOMEONE who had an idea where the thing she had come from, bit sadly had yet to get an answer.
Her reminiscing was sadly cut short by the sudden tidal wave of nausua that hit her. The queen had warned her about this, she had been dreading it really; but it seemed that fate had decided that it was time she faced her royal duties.
Mia took a deep breath and stashed her things before transforming in privacy; welcoming the clarity and warmth of her externalized light, before running off towards the source. Readying herself for what was to come.
That last week was... weird. But, however weird it was, Shirley did enjoy the benefits of her hew position - that clarity of thought that came with it, and the ability to speak with the police - and be actually treated seriously - was really nice (and yes, she did test it in field conditions... with caution). And, while she hadn't had much chance to socialize with other Radiants outside of the dream-visits to the Court, knowing they ARE there was nice.
Of course, Radiants weren't the only thing that were there, the reminder came with crystal clarity as Shirley was reading outdoors - and these other things were... less nice.
Shirley tossed the book aside and jumped to her feet, ready to run to investigate the source of wrongness... then, picked the book again, carefully placed it into her bag and walked to the B800, with hurry, but not so much as not to make a short detour to transform in private.
Spoiler
Does the -1 for lacking dots in Athletics apply here? If so, disregard the second die. (2d10)[1][10](11)
Erin started making her way from the library to the debate team, lost in thought.
Prior to her Blossoming, she had (in what she suspected was not an entirely atypical messiah complex for her age) considered it her duty to use her brains and non-apathy to make the world a better place. Nowadays, she mostly wondered how her powers figured into the equation. She actually hoped to get the debate team to help her out, with the subject she had in mind - "What could superheroes do in the real world?".
Duties aside, her Blossoming had been pretty amazing. Discovering something so big and vast...There was so much left to understand, to figure out, about her abilities, about the Dreamlands, about the universe! And not to forget, she had saved two lives in her first minute as a Princess. So, all in all...despite all the stress and doubts and concerns...She had considered this the best week of her life. Then again, Spider-Man loved his powers when he first got them, didn't he?
And then she heard the scream. Other thoughts were pushed to the side as she ran toward the source.
Spoiler
Should I remove dice due to having no Dots in Athletics? If not, here's the roll:
[roll0]
Running made her feel good. It helped cleanse the stain of unhappiness and negative emotions that seemed to congeal over her mind recently. Every time school ended, she had to wash her head with exhausting physical activities. Which is why she was now inside the gym, running circles and trying to empty her mind.
She was not wasting time anyway; sports would prove very useful to her new mission, she was sure of it. She needed to be fit and athletic, always on the edge, ready to blast away the darkness. She could not afford weakness. Nor could she afford to throw her studies away, but choices were for losers. She could do it all.
Her pace slowed suddenly as a dark pressure seized her stomach; she stopped, looking around - and then was the sound. A chill raised goosebumps all over her body, and she took off running. Whatever that was, it couldn't be good.
Nerissa waved goodbye to Marisol, watching the girl cheerfully walk off. She seemed much happier since the bridge incident. Talk about a load off her shoulders. She still kept a close eye on her -- looking for any relapses in her behavior. Folding her arms across her chest she leaned against her locker and sighed. The other, much stranger thing that occurred during the incident still stuck with her. As did the dream she'd had afterwards. The woman who identified herself as the Queen of Hearts had kindly explained Nerissa's new position in the world to her. She was a Princess -- and she was now saddled with powers that would allow her to change things for the better. It was a lot to process, but she'd shakily accepted.
Now she had to deal with the range of emotions she picked up from those around her. It all proved to be quite overwhelming. Nerissa was seeing sides of people they normally wanted to keep hidden. It felt... almost wrong. But still there was some good to be found. If she could really help people -- mend their broken hearts and dreams -- then she could deal with the day to day issues of being a Princess brought on.
The Debate Club was meeting up after school. She was feeling pretty tired, and considered skipping out. But that wouldn't have been fair to the other members. She'd grin and bear it. Sighing, she'd just pushed herself off the locker when there was a scream that shook her to the very core. "What...?" She went still, turning in the direction it came from. And that's when she felt it. A profound sense of wrongness that absolutely made her teeth rattle. Steeling her nose, she took off, running with all she had.
As Sola was tiding her things for the music club, she felt a strange feeling, deep inside her, as somewhere in the school, something were darkening.
"I'll be back soon to finish, just thought about something I forgot!"
And she took the direction of the feeling, half running, half wondering what was happening, and the last half ((yes, I know, that's 1.5 ^^ )) wondering where Shina was.
In the courtyard of the B800 building, between the parallel rows of green and white structures, a conflict is taking place. A man is crawling across the dirt, bent and bleeding, leaving a trail of crimson behind him.
Clustered around him are four figures composed of rotting black skin, vaguely humanoid, but too tall and too thin, their fingers ending in vicious claws. It may take a moment to realize that they aren’t actually attacking the man, but just the opposite. They seem to be defending him, huddled in a wall around him as he drags himself away.
What they stand facing is another man, a tall fellow dressed in dirty street clothes. He’s got a gun in hand, and seems to be leveling it in the general direction of the man surrounded by the murky looking zombies. The weapon is, unlike his attire, of fairly good make. It even has a silencer on the barrel, very professional.
((Alright, here’s how it’s going to go. Those that scored the highest on their athletics checks will roll initiative and enter the first round. After the first round everyone who scored poorly will enter the second round.
We are now entering the first round. The posting order is: Initiative Rolls
Injured Man: 14
Sola: 14
Mia: 12
Marionette III: 11
Kim: 10
Gunman: 9
Marionette II: 8
Marionette IV: 8
Marionette I: 5
Everyone else will roll into init on the next round. Shirley is going to be last in round 2 no matter what, because she was walking (and if she was running she critical failed, so!)))
The injured man is still furiously crawling away by the time that Mia and Kim make it to the scene. He’s mumbling something that they can’t hear, his face pressed nearly to the ground and his voice so low. He hasn’t even recognized the presence of those approaching yet, so frantic is he to crawl his way across the gravel.
((Accumulated success: 1. Ignore the attack roll on Mia. I flubbed initiative and though the Marionette went first.)
When the transformed figure of Mia appears there’s an immediate reaction from the shambling guardians. A low, agitated growling passes between them. There are a few things that might be words, but not in any tongue anyone is familiar with. Several turn toward her, empty eyes staring.
((Current situation: 4 shadow zombies are protecting 1 injured man crawling away while another is aiming a gun at him.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Shadows have 2 defense (-2 to your attack roll)
Gunman has 4/3 defense (-4 vs melee, -3 vs ranged)
Injured Man has 1 defense (-1 to your attack roll)
Shina is laying on the ground. She's skiping the last hours to think on the underground background she learned from the Sword Queen, a little smile on the face.
But, since a moment ago, there something that disturbe her. She doesn't recognize it, but the more the time go through, the more she felt uncertain.
She open an eye and look around her. She stand up and walk to the direction of the weird sensation.
Hmmm!! Perhaps I could call Sola.
Shina take her phone and start to dial her friend's number.
Quickly seeking cover, Sola sees the others, and wave hands toward them.
"Hi! Can you do anything against them? Zombies are so disgusting!"
At that time, her phone rang.
"Yes, Shina? Uh, I'm already there, your help could be nice... Yes, quickly if you can. Oh no no, all is fine! How where your class today? Oh, that? shouldn't be a problem!"
She now seems to be incredibly concentrated on her phone call.
((For Iscariote:
Spoiler
Je suis parti sur une conversation (de ta part) du genre:
"Tu l'as senti aussi? Besoin d'aide? Tout va bien? Ca va, mais on a un problème plus urgent sur les bras..."
))
Spoiler
English version of Iscariote guessed speech:
"Did you feel it? Need some help? All fine? Fine too, but we've got a problem here..."
((Mia is up. I won't cue you when it's your turn every time, so keep track of the initative if you can. I will, however, edit the initiative roster to put your name in bold letters. Also a few other people were smarter than me and noted in their preludes that declaring what you're doing OOCly is helpful.
So at the end of your posts just make an OOC note of all your attacks, spends, etc in the future.
Also I like how Sola is totally nonchalant about this. I clearly need to put the fear of God into her! :D))
Mia's eyes widened as she recognizes the sound of the gun shots, taping her deck as a set of cards flew into her grasp; she was unsure why this was happening at her school. I don't think anyone else was attacked last week...at least no one who's spoken about it; could this be related, and why here again of all places? she asked herself, considering the dreadful possibility that one of her fellow students was Tainted by the Dark. However upon her arrival, she did not face the sight she expected.
There was no sign of any shadowy blobs or umbral mechas; no, what she saw in the distance as she approuched the courtyard was far from what she had expected. There were zombies and sure enough the other man was attacking. Oddly enough, the zombies seemed to be on the defensive; shielding, who she could only assume was their necromancer, from the man shooting at them. She did't recognize either of them from school; in fact that gun men didn't seem to be from the area at all, or he didn't appear to be a noble either.
Still she had no idea what was going on. The shooter seemed no worse for wear, while the necromancer was the one with a limp. No, the man was bleeding; hell he could barely even walk. She had to act fast, but was at a loss on what to do. She had been told that their duty was to defend the people and their smiles, as well as to fight off the darkness and spread the Light.; but she couldn't just jump into this either.
The necromancer was clearly Tainted, but she didn't now how. She knew that some of those were touched by the Darkness were nothing more than hollow puppets for the darkness; but she'd also heard that some, mostly those recently Tainted really, weren't quite beyond it all yet or so she was told. The consensus in the courts and forums seemed to be summed up as 'better safe than sorry'; echoing her decision last week, but still. This was a living bleeding person; was it okay just to let him be killed like this?
Of course, her train was stopped upon noticing that the zombies had noticed her impending arrival and seemed less than thrilled about it. She swore she saw the things snarling at them. Realizing that her inner Light was no doubt agitating the creatures she tentively backed off; slowing down a safe distance away from from the zombies, far enough to hopefully be considered of less import than the man shooting at their master. Seeing as the shooter seemed to be doing well enough against the zombies; Mio took a defensive stance before eyeing the shooterer in hopes of divining some greater insight regarding the situation.
((OOC:
Spoiler
1 wisp to load Levinbolt charm. Not sure if this is possible in combat time, but I took a Dodge action, and decided to stay well outside of melee range; as in the zombies would need to leave their defensive line quite a bit in order to attack me. I am hoping to use an Empathy check to find out a bit more about the attackers emotional state. Is he scared, fighting in self-defense, outraged, angry or does he seem completely unemotional or unaffected by the fact he's shooting at zombies, ect?.
Given that I doubt he's hiding his emotion atm, wasn't sure if this needed to take an action in on itself or not. If it did, let me know and I suppose I'll swap it for the dodge action.
Looking at the situation and the man with a gun, Mia can tell, mostly, that this guy means business. He seems only briefly hesitant at the mass of zombies, as if he hadn’t expected them, but he also seems to be steeling his nerve to cut his way through them to get to the bleeding man. It’s very, very clear that he does not like man on the ground. It’s clearly not an irrational rage that’s driving the gunman forward, more like cold, angry purpose. He doesn't even seem to notice that there are other people arriving.
Moving backward doesn’t take all the attention off of Mia in the meantime, pairs of burning eyes do follow her. The first shadowy zombie to peel off from the pack, however, moves to deal with the immediate target approaching. It moves with surprising speed, lunging forward toward the man with the gun. Long, clawed hands reach out to grab him by the throat, gripping and keeping him from pursuing as it raises claws to strike at him.
((Mia finds out that the gunman is out to kill the crawling man with cold resolve, because he is his enemy. Marionette III grapples and holds the Gunman.
Light surges. Her resolve strengthens like steel. In her hand, always, the staff, her wisps flowing into it to power its destructive bolts.
Am I even still human? asks a scared girl inside her, but that's the kind of pointless navel-gazing she could afford before. Now she doesn't have the time. Besides, she's a Radiant. She saves the world on a daily basis. It's all that matters.
She runs and soon she's there, in the yard, facing the brutal violence of a murder about to happen, thr gross stench of tainted magic - zombies. The foulest of desecration of the dead. Like some aborted Darkspawn, too dumb to act on its own. Still a murderous abomination, grasping at throats withj its cold rotten fingers. The mere thought makes her want to puke.
But it's also a man on the ground, crawling for his life, and another armed and willing to kill. Not here, she thinks. Anywhere but here.
Bur she doesn't have time to think as one man is being assaulted by the undead. Before she even formulates the thought, the Device is leaping and blue energy bursts from its tip, illuminating the night.Burn, she thinks, but it's the power of water she's summoning.
Pretend you know what you're doing. Speak loud and carry your head like a grown-up. Like you ain't scared for your life.
And so she does.
'Drop your weapons at once and cease this fight!' She cries out, staff smoldering with released power. 'This territory is under my protection, identify yourselves, or suffer the consequences!' Please do. Please please please stop fighting and listen to me.
Spoiler
I am spending two wisps to load my staff and use the Acqua invocation to improve my attack on the zombie grapplking the gunman. And, uh, shouting, I guess?
I'm rolling 9 dice because I assume the zombie's defense applies, since you said 'your attacks,' but it's a ranged attack; if their defense does not apply I get two more dice.
Oh, and Acqua shots blasts the enemy 6 x Successes yards away. (9d10)[7][1][9][3][8][7][9][5][1](50)
The blast from Kim's weapon literally tears a chunk out of the creature locked in struggle with the man, part of its shoulder and side vanishing in an instant, providing a sickening view of its innards and dark crimson liquid that begins to drip from the opened wound.
The damage done to the monster is enough to knock it off balance, the man in it’s grip twisting around, shoving the thing just a few inches backward. Enough to break it’s grasp, and then he raises his pistol to its chest, the trigger squeezed and the gun letting out another sharp spit. The impact seems to have some effect, but not much. The creature spasms, shaking once, but still seems to be standing upright and ready to continue its attack.
“Help or get out of the way!” That’s the only reply the man with the weapon gives, a sharp snarl as he staggers backward.
Kim’s efforts have attracted the attention of one of the other monsters. It turns, beginning to stumble in her direction, breaking off from the rest of the group. Though it’s slow enough that it’ll take time to get to her, it quickly shows that it has other methods of harming the girl. It’s head jerks back violently, a disgusting gargling noise emitting from it before it spits. It’s a thick chunk of bubbling, boiling black ichor that comes forth, soaring through the air and splattering across the girl.
Abruptly, a shriek cuts through the night air. It comes from a large, middle-aged woman standing in one of the classroom doorways. She’s a figure most of the girls will recognize, one of their teachers, Ms. Grout. She’s standing paralyzed, eyes wide, viewing the scene in front of her.
The sound draws another one of the thin creatures from its duty. It begins to lumber forward, speeding its way toward the defenseless teacher.
The last one remains standing vigil, shuffling slowly along behind the crawling man, keeping between him and the man with the gun. The fellow on the ground is still frantically trying to flee, managing to actually get feet under him and start stumbling. The front of him is covered in blood, and he’s muttering almost incoherently, pleading, “No, no, stay with me, no, you stupid things...”
Now all the girls have arrived and can see the scene playing out in front of them.
((Summary: Gunman breaks the grapple after Kim’s attack hits and plugs a bullet into the zombie. It is still up.
Marionette II begins moving toward Kim and spits evil gunk at her. She takes 2L unless she decides to use Holy Shield.
A teacher hears the sound and comes to investigate. She’s paralyzed by shock and fear. Marionette IV begins to move toward her.
Marionette I remains near the injured man, who continues to flee.
NOTES: Now updated for remembering rules!
Shadows have 3/2 defense (-3 Melee/Archery/Thrown / -2 Firearms/Levinbolt)
Gunman has 4/3 defense (-4 vs Melee/Archery/Thrown, -3 vs Firearms/Levinbolt)
Injured Man has 2/0 defense (-2 vs Melee/Archery/Thrown, -0 vs Firearms/Levinbolt)
Remember that firing into a melee nets you a -2 penalty!
Mia found the gunner worrisome; if only because his intent to kill had nothing to do with zombies. That said she beamed upon spotting the other princess; over joyed by knowing she wasn't the only on in the area, even if she had a feeling neither party would heed her words. Sure enough, neither did.
Mia was deciding how to disarm the gunner when she spotted Mrs.Grout, and sadly she wasn't the only one; it seemed that one of the other zombies had gotten peckish, and decided to go for a bite. Noticing this Mia sped over to the teacher, going around the gunner so as to remain outside of his line of fire; before flicking on of her cards at the offending zombie. "Hey Teach, unless you wanna be zombie chow it's time to get the lead out and hit the road!," she called, hoping to remind the venerable educator of her flight instincts.
((OOC:Levinbolt attack to Marrionette IV, accumulaing 5 damage success, and moving towards Mrs. Grout taking a path that goes around the back of the gunner and well outside his line of fire.))
The shadow that’s on its way toward the teacher suddenly finds itself with much less mass. Mia’s attack takes its entire left arm off, and a good chunk of the shoulder. It howls when the energy strikes it, but continues on nonetheless.
The Marionette next to the gunman is still focused on him, one long arm sweeping outward. The arc of motion sends claws raking against the man’s chest, slicing easily through the clothing, leaving a shallow gash behind.
What the...?
As bookish Erin Watson reached the scene, trying to catch her breath, she attempted to make sense of the situation. Zombies? Injured guy on the floor? Teacher? Guy with a gun? Girls in...are those other Radiants, or something else? What the hell is going on here?
Figure it out later. Save the teacher first! I'll transform and shoot the...
Wait. I need to transform, load my Boomstaff, AND shoot that thing? I'll never do it all in time...But I HAVE TO!
Raising a hand in the air, she shouted: "To make sense of it all: The Soul of Reason!" As she did, light swirled around her, replacing her clothing with a dress of flowing, liquid silver, looking like a costume out of an old science-fiction tale; in her hands, she was holding an equally futuristic-looking staff, which she was now aiming at the zombie assaulting Mrs. Grout. "Don't touch her!"
Spoiler
Spending one Willpower to add dice to transformation roll. Exceptional success, so it's a reflexive action.
Spending one Wisp to summon her Levinbolt weapon fully loaded.
Shooting the injured zombie. Unless I've made a mistake somewhere, 3 successes on the attack roll plus one rank of Damaging on her Levinbolt mean a total damage of 4?
The blast from Erin's staff is enough to tear the rest of the upper torso from the zombie, only its legs left. They fall forward in a heap, crumbling to black dust just a few seconds after.
((Marionette IV is dead and no longer a threat to the teacher. Kim is up. After her is Nerissa, then Shina.))
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