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Kim cried out as the foul humor burned through her protective clothing. Pretty words and good intentions were soon forgotten as her hatred for the Tainted creature and her sheer rage at seeing it harm her took over; she flared her holy power and a sheet of water whirled around her, washing away the corrosive gunk - but not before it could scorch her skin.
Kim, soaked, burnt, angry, feeling momentarily empty as her Wisps had been consummed in an instant to protect her, pointed the Device at the monster, snarling.
"BEGONE!" she said as she unleashed the full power of her Levinbolt, a volley of blue ribbons riddling the undead.
((So, I'm spending one Wisp to negate one Lethal damage, leaving one Lethal wound for Kim, and the other Wisp for this turn is spent to use the Acqua Invocation; I'm adding to this the bonus from a medium-burst directed at a single zombie.
Total: 6L, opponent pushed back 36 yards, Levinbolt empty.))
It felt like it took ages, but Nerissa finally arrived within the courtyard of the B800 building. What she saw taking place made her immediately gasp, covering her mouth. There was a battle taking place between what was obviously other Princesses and strange creatures. Her Queen had mentioned she'd likely encounter those like her, but Nerissa never dreamed they'd be right here -- in the school -- under her very nose.
'I have to transform...!' Planting her feet firmly on the ground Nerissa raised her right hand and proceeded to snap her fingers. Immediately a light overtook her, shifting her clothes to that of an elegant blue dress with white stockings and candy red shoes. Lowering her hand she held it out in front of her and snapped her fingers again, causing an ornate blue and white staff with a flower motif to appear within her grasp. It surprised her how natural this all felt -- but she would have time to dwell on that later. She had to help right now!
Leveling her Levinbolt at the creature standing near the gunman she focused her magic. The scepter took on a golden glow, and started to vibrate in her hand. "You will not hurt anyone else!" She shouted before firing off the energy that had accumulated within the scepter, which took the form of a burst of flower petals and colorful leaves.
Spoiler
*Spending one Wisp to transform reflexively...
*Spending one Wisp to summon her Levinbolt fully loaded...
*Spending a Wisp to use Terra (Quaking) in the attack...
At the corner of the building, Shina recognize her friend and slap her hand. Two hand, two Heart and one Soul. Shina feel her body melt with the power of her heart and soul' sister.
They move forward the scene.
Stop this once for all, all of you and freeze.
Shina shined with her light armor and her Katana in the hand.
Every body was observed by the young adventuress.
I will not allow a kill or other wound in this place. Her glance lingered on the zombi and the wounded man.
Spoiler
OCC action:
1wisp for the transformation An average roll to stop the action of everybody.
Edit comment: Sorry for the faults that I could make.
__________________
Last edited by Iscariote : 09-25-2012 at 02:38 PM.
Kim’s next bolt sends the creature that spat at her flying backward, energy surging through it, a gargled cry ripped from its mouth as its feet are rent from the ground and it’s body goes tumbling through the air. It lands with a sickening crack against the wall of one of the classrooms, leaving a splatter of black ichor behind before it starts to slowly rise to its feet again.
Shina’s cries are ignored by the combatants, busy as they are. The gunman himself is still dealing with the half-whole monster that’s lashing out at him, preventing him from moving after his target. As he jerks aside from its claws his weapon snaps up, another bullet fired. This one goes wide, slamming into the ground as the gun is knocked aside by the flailing creature.
Mrs. Grout, shocked out of her stupor by people yelling at her, seems to have found a little sense. She certainly doesn't want to step into the courtyard where who knows what in God's name is going on, but she does retreat back into the classroom. The door slams shut behind her before anything else can follow.
The final monster, the one guarding the escape of the fleeing man, turns it’s baleful gaze toward Mia when the bolt of her weapon makes her presence unable to ignore. It’s head jerks, arcing in a jagged circle before it spits its own black bolt at her. It misses, impacting the side of the building she’s standing next to. The metal instantly begins to melt and dissolve where the ichor strikes it.
Spoiler
((Alright. Nerissa, for Levinbolt you use Dexterity+Firearms. I notice on your sheet your Firearms is 0, but your Weaponry is 2 and you have a specialty of Scepter. What I'm thinking you intended is to have 2 in the skill that lets you actually use your weapon, so I'm going to allow you to move those dots and specialty to Firearms. Otherwise every time you use Levinbolt you'd be rolling only 1 dice.
I rolled your Dex+Firearms roll for you. You missed completely, with no dice over 8! That'll teach you to make me roll for you. :P
Shina, your words have no noticeable effect on the gunman, the zombies, or the injured man. One is busy fighting for his life, the others are presumably mindless, and the last is running for his life.
Gunman attacked Marionette III and missed.
Marionette II was blown away and has to spend this turn returning to battle.
Marionette I attacked Mia and missed.
Where have all my successes gone!?))
Approaching the B800, Shirley hears the sounds of what could anly be a fight, and starts regretting taking so much time getting here; but, well, even if she sprints the rest of the way, it won't make more than a couple seconds difference...
A chart of whats and whos forms in her mind's eye as she sees the scene; three creatures, probably of Dark origins. Several other Radiants... some I believe I saw at the Court. One that I KNOW I saw at the court; her name, Erin Watson, piqued my interest. Would be nice to meet her IRL. OK, other than that. Two people, one carries a gun, the other's injured. As clear as it gets - except the Darkspawn are on the victim's side, so does that makes shooter a good guy? Still, carrying lethal weapon on a school grounds... OK, classifying as "tentatively ally".
The creatures of Dark... are obviously enemies, but ones I'm ill-equipped to deal with. Luckily, our side has no lack of firepower. These magical weapons, Levinbolts they were called, I believe... a peculiar name, need to investigate origins. OK, the one trying to escape. Can't allow, need to question on his connection to the Darkness. Right, let's go with it.
She steps in the injured man's path, analyzing the rhythm of his moves, turning his own momentum against him...
Spoiler
Trying to grapple the fleeing man, using a Wist to apply Acqua: 5 dice - 1 success
The injured man is in little position to resist, his stumbling path taking him directly into collision with Shirley. He attempts to struggle free from her hold, staining her with blood in the process, the girl getting a good look at the bullet hole through the man's stomach as he feebly struggles with her.
"No, no, no," He's babbling, "Not now, not now, let go! Let go!"
Spoiler
((Due to wound penalties and being a weakling, he rolls a single die and fails to break free! Shirley continues to grapple him.))
As Sola claps her hand with Shina's, she calls her Light to wrap herself. A small but elegant golden tiara appears on her head, shining with rubises, while she now holds an orange-red harp in hands. Her dress, which was a classic blue dress, is now replaced by a long white dress, with golden embroidery and a red waistband.
She already was impressive, but now it's clear: she is the prettiest girl in this town, if not farther, and she isn't shy about it.
Mia politely swears, as the glob of vile goo begins corroding a nearby wall. The young mahou shoujo launched another of her cards at the zombie before running for cover. Part of her was amazed by how many other nobles seemed to be popping out of the wood work, but the rest of her mind was too preoccupied by impending face melting death in goo form to greet the others; let alone wonder at the chances of all of them being in the area. It was funny, one moment she thought she was the only one in the county; and then suddenly, BAM a half dozen nobles popped up. Fate worked in weird ways.
((OOC: Levinbolt the zombie with 3 success and run for cover.))
Mia's card's tear a chunk of her target's face off, sliding through the dark skin of it's head and burrowing through the other side in and drawing up a fountain of dark fluids. The left half of it's head looks like swiss cheese, gouged through by her attack. It is still up and moving, however.
The creature next to the gunman continues its assault, its long claws raking out and gouging into his arm, tearing free a few chunks of cloth and ripping open a nasty looking gash across his flesh. He lets out a sharp grunt in response, and the monster itself garbles in triumph as it continues to press the assault.
Princesses everywhere, what was up with that? It was like some kind of big Radiant Party here; one day ago she didn't know of any Noble other than herself in this town, and now they were popping out from all over schools to fight those damned zombies. The relief she felt about receiving a much-needed help right now was kinda offset by the thought of those other times she'd had to fight evil and rescue people without anyone but herself.
Didn't matter. The Device released a burst of steam as a byproduct of heavy Acqua use; Kim actioned the handle of the staff like a piston (or the pump of a shotgun) and golden energy flared as she reloaded the staff with more of her personal energy, bringing her slightly closer to exhaustion. She'd hoped she could assess the situation and take advantage of the unexpected back-up to prepare a more intelligent action that just shooting at the zombies, but she caught sight of the gunman struggling against one of the damned things - which she had hurt before, it seemed, but still wasn't dead. Or, well, was already. Anyway.
Oh, goddammit. Why can't I catch a break?
She pointed her staff, again, and released another burst of magical power, hoping to finally bring down the monster.
((Another attack against the zombie grappling the gunman, short burst, -2 for firing into a melee, no Invocation, that's 6 dice. 2L.))
The next blast of light that strikes the creature fighting with the arm man is enough to take it down. Golden light floods through it's body, overflowing through it's eyes and gaping wounds, the thing stumbling back before it hits the ground and burns away to ash. The gunman is left unmolested now, though he doesn't offer any immediate thanks.
Only two zombies are left on the field: The one blown back into a wall by an earlier blast is still shambling, though it looks like it's about ready to fall apart. The other is slightly more whole, attention focused on the princesses actively shooting.
Erin surveyed the situation. Hooo-kay. Looks like we've got the overwhelming numerical advantage, assuming we're all on the same side of course. Taking out the remaining zombies will be trivial. But that still leave the matter of the other two...What IS up with them?
To be on the safe side, Erin stepped between the gunman and the injured man even as she aimed her Boomstaff on the "healthier"-looking zombie, and letting out a blast.
Spoiler
((Attacking the zombie attacking the Radiants. 2 successes, two dots of damage.))
Nerissa looked greatly distressed when her shot missed, gritting her teeth. 'Don't give up!' If she started feeling sorry for herself now she'd never be able to hack this new responsibility that had so rightfully chosen her. Taking a step back she reassessed the situation. Her eyes quickly fell on the shambling zombie. It was nearly finished, and looked as if one good shot would end things...
Pointing her scepter at it she let it charge up like earlier before thrusting it forward as it fired off.
The zombie that was lunging to rejoin the melee didn’t have enough left in it to take the next hit, as wounded as it was by the previous strike. Nerissa’s attack hit home, blowing the creature backward again and pinning it to the wall once more. That time, though, it didn’t get back up. Instead the distorted, emaciated shape slumped to the ground and crumpled to ash.
With the immediate threat gone the gunman began to move toward his original target. The fact that Erin stood in the way prevents him from taking any shots in that direction, but he did raise his gun. For a moment it seemed as if he was going to fire at the girl, and then the weapon turned. Another sharp spit came from the silenced weapon and the final marionette jerked back as the bullet buried itself into its head. It staggered for just a moment, and then collapsed to the ground in a pile of ash.
The man that was struggling in Shirley’s grasp continued to do so, attempting to wrench himself free with little effect. The wounds and the effort of escape had worn him down, made his efforts largely ineffectual. “Let me go,” He pleads, “Don’t kill me, let me go, let me go!”
As he struggled he shook loose something from his coat, a thin and folded notebook that dropped to the ground at Shirley’s feet in the struggle. He didn’t seem to notice it in his panic, but she did.
Meanwhile, the man with the gun slowed to a stop, the weapon dropping to his side. Apparently he didn’t consider the group of Nobility to be targets. Not immediately, anyway. He spoke, a sharp bark, “Who are you?” The question seemed to be addressed to all of them. More importantly though, he gestured to the man, “Hand him over. He’s a servant of darkness, you know what that is, don’t you?” His eyes swept warily over the group again.
((Combat over. Post at will. If any hostiles actions we will set an order again. The injured man has almost no chance to escape as long as someone is holding him, due to massive would penalties. Once everyone has had a chance to post things will happen. I may respond individually or as a whole. For reference, all diplomacy or intimidation checks against either of these people will be at -3.))
Meanwhile, the man with the gun slowed to a stop, the weapon dropping to his side. Apparently he didn’t consider the group of Nobility to be targets. Not immediately, anyway. He spoke, a sharp bark, “Who are you?” The question seemed to be addressed to all of them. More importantly though, he gestured to the man, “Hand him over. He’s a servant of darkness, you know what that is, don’t you?” His eyes swept warily over the group again.
"There are many things in this world that need to be stopped," Erin said, still standing between the two, "but that does not mean one gets to play judge, jury, and executioner. I'm going..." she looked around, "We're going to require some context here."
She let the bottom tip of her Boomstaff rest on the floor. "I'm Soul of Reason, Champion...of the Queen of Diamonds." Should I be saying Champion of Diamonds? I'm not sure if I feel personal loyalty to the Queen herself, as opposed to the ideals... "Who are y..." Before she finished the sentence, she blinked, her eyes darting to the teacher. "Ohmygod Mrs. Grout, are you all right?"
"A servant of darkness he may be", Shirley replies, letting go of the man to pick up the notebook - him trying to escape in current circumstances would be... unwise anyway.
"But I still prefer to hear the full story, from every party involved. Also, please surrender your weapon; no doubt you know carrying it on schoolgrounds is illegal. It would be returned to you the moment we're done with it, assuming, of course, you have a license for it." Sometimes, Shirley asked herself whether a teenage girl dressed like she was currently and speaking like this looked ridiculous or just silly, but it worked. She tested it.
Spoiler
Using Mantle of Authority to gain a dot of Status (Police) success
"What I see is two men fighting each other to the death with little care for outside casualties," Kim adds as she walks toward the group. Damn, that's a lot of Radiant. "As the..." Oh god I need a nickname I can't introduce myself by my real name "...Champion of Swords" That'll do for the moment "I am tasked with defending this place from the darkness. That might mean this man. It might also mean you. Unless you are willing to kill us all - which, by the way, would be a fantastic proof of which side you're on - you'd better just start talking. Who are you, who is this man, and why do you want to kill him?"
The burns from the zombie's spitting attack did not contribute to her mood in a positive way. She was itching to just take the lighter she'd taken to carrying around and throw him in his face, demanding to know if he had anything to do with that fire weeks ago... But now was not the right time.
Mia Hendrix
Mia grinned to herself, it was nice to see she wasn't the only one new to this; though it seemed her court had briefed her on a few things the girl's had not. "Easy there Champ, " she began, reaching out to place a hand on the agitated princess. "The guy just got fondled by zombies, let'm breathe for a bit,'" she commented as she looked up at her fellow noble, hopefully giving the girl a chance to calm herself as well.
"Oh Mrs. Grout's alright, physically atleast. I managed to stop the zombies from getting her; we may want to deal with this quick and check on her. She was pretty shook up," she replied to Soul before facing the gunman, keeping an eye trained on the heavily wounded man incase he tried to run.
With her fully restored voice, Sola begins to speak, and that's as honey were flowing out of her mouth. Her voice, melodic despite the absence of melody, singing while no one were doing any music, as liquid gold, replenishes the hearts of everyone with joy and bravery.
"Lower your weapon. And you, stay sit here, on the ground. I'm not here to restrain you, but I will if I have to."
She looks at the other Nobles:
"I am just a Spark of Passion, Troubadour of Swords. It's a delight to meet you all!"
With a rare calm, Shina approach the teacher and take her head on her hand, share an eye on eye sight.
"M'am. You will come back to your home and sleep to night. Tomorow, all of this will be a bad dream and you will forget it, as all the bad dreams that you've got in the past."
Slowly, Shina release the teacher and step back in observing the leaving professor
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iscariote
Roll Presence + Empathy
(6d10)[2][6][2][9][6][1](26)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iscariote
Roll Manipulation + Persuation + 1 Wisp
(6d10)[8][9][4][8][10][8](47)
__________________
Last edited by Iscariote : 09-29-2012 at 03:40 AM.
The gunman’s eyes swept across the group again, the man clearly considering the implications of pressing the issue. As each girl introduced themselves in turn his expression became more pensive, and by the end his hand gave a flick, tossing his weapon to the ground at his feet when enough pressure was applied from the gathered crowed. He didn’t make any other immediate movements, save to crane his head back and forth between the Nobility addressing him.
“He’s killed people.” The words were quiet, “He’s a member of something called the Cult of Broken Dreams. You know what that is? We tracked him and some of his people, he get away while the others were being dealt with.” His eyes flickered toward Kim, turning hard for just a moment. “Are you going to kill me to protect him? You saw those things that showed up to defend him, why do you think they were trying to keep him alive? ” All of the girls got the sense that, yes, he was telling the truth when he said it.
When Shirley let go of the injured man he slumped to his knees, his fingers moving to his chest, clutching there. “Let me go, please,” He begged. “Please, don’t kill me. It’s over, there’s nothing left. Don’t let them kill me. Please.” And on and on, the phrases repeated several times over. Nobody had seemed to notice the thing she picked up, for the time being.
Spoiler
((Mrs. Grout has locked herself in her classroom. So if you want to interact with her that’s fine, but you’d also need to bust down the door.
You all passed your empathy rolls, and you can tell the shooter is likely not lying to you. Man, everyone has points in empathy. It’s like you care about people.
Roll Intelligence+Occult to see if you know what the Cult of Despair is. If you have dots in mentor add those dots in as a bonus to the roll. Anyone with a basic success will have been told or know that the Cult of Despair is an organization devoted to furthering the agenda of darkness by spreading sorrow and stealing hope from humanity. They are bad people.))
"Kill you to protect him?" said Erin, raising an eyebrow. "I'd rather not let the situation degenerate that far to begin with, if I have that option."
She sighed. "Look...Maybe he's as bad as you say, and needs to be neutralized...But he's clearly beaten, so I'd like to believe there's a better way to do that now than a summary execution. Civilization has prisons for a reason."
She paused. "Though frankly, I'd need to know more about this Cult of Broken Dreams in general and this situation in particular before making a sensible judgement call."
"They are... something like our worst ennemies, the despiser of all that is Holy, the harbringers of despair... need I continue? They are our ennemies"
She turns toward the man who spoke about the cult.
"How did you discover what he did?"
After that question, she begins to play with her harp. After a few notes, she asks:
"Does it sound like despair to you? It isn't. We are allies here, but we hate killing..."
"Kill you to protect him?" said Erin, raising an eyebrow. "I'd rather not let the situation degenerate that far to begin with, if I have that option."
She sighed. "Look...Maybe he's as bad as you say, and needs to be neutralized...But he's clearly beaten, so I'd like to believe there's a better way to do that now than a summary execution. Civilization has prisons for a reason."
"That", Shirley insert her line, "and, in addition, you said the others were dealt with... leaving the moral issues aside - though, I must remark, I agree with my colleague here -" she nods in Erin's direction "-Have you ever considered they could be a valuable source of information? A lead to the Cult's leaders - local leaders, at least?
Quote:
Originally Posted by sun_tzu
She paused. "Though frankly, I'd need to know more about this Cult of Broken Dreams in general and this situation in particular before making a sensible judgement call."
Shirley nods, "and this man is the best point to start the investigation we currently have. But, I believe we still have one question unanswered" - she turns to the gunman, "namely, who are you?"
Spoiler
botched the roll, Shirley never was big on the Occult front... Knox's Second, remember.
Mia Hendriz
"How did you and your friends's end up taking an interest in these guys? While we're at it, how long were you chasing this guys for before you ended up here? They weren't operating in this school were they?" Mia inquired as she scanned her surroundings occasionally, if the guy had friends; they'd do well to keep an eye out for them, lest they miss understand the situation and make a rather poor decision.
"I..."
Uh, this was going fast, and she was kinda lost. That the necromancer was a bad guy came as no surprise to her, but that still didn't mean the gunman was on the good side.
"...he might be tainted. Evil. But I don't think letting you execute him is the right thing to do. You best answer our questions, 'cause I'm not sure we can trust you yet."
Oh god, she felt powerless here. Dealing with people had never been her thing, really. Understanding them, and writing compelling speeches or poems or songs, sure. Actually talking to them and making sense when under pressure and the rush of adrenaline? Not really.
Nerissa remained passive for most of the conversation. She was just glad the fighting was over -- and that she helped end it. Watching that marionette get taken out by one of her blasts was exhilarating. Is this what being a princess would be like? The butterflies in her stomach both frightened and excited her.
"Cult of Broken Dreams?" Nerissa tilted her head a bit, searching her memory only to come up with nothing. "They don't sound very friendly..." She cast a tentative glance at the man on the ground. They definitely needed answers...
“I didn’t say they were dead.” His response to Shirley, like all his others, is curt. At other questions he expounds, “We’ve been rooting them out where we find them. They were meeting at a building nearby, not the school. This one got away.”
He paused. “A jail?” Now the man seemed outright incredulous. “You think a jail is going to hold someone like that? You think the police are going to deal with it well when more of those things come to rescue him?” then his eyes flicked toward Sola and the sound of music. “If you’re allies, you’ll give him up.
“I need to make a call. There’s someone who can explain to you who we are better than I can.” His hand reached into his jacket. It was a slow motion, as if to make sure the people gathered around him wouldn’t see it as overtly hostile. He removed a phone from it, beginning to punch in several numbers.
The injured man on the ground responded almost immediately. "No! No, don't let him do that. Please. Please!" His fingers still clutched his chest, stained a dark red by the blood soaking his clothing.
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