[farm]

"Well, let's see." Vince ripped another piece of flatbread off and headed for the stairs, eating it.

When Tsadro finished cleaning his hands with his napkin, he followed Vince off the patio. Without missing a beat, their clothes changed as they stepped back onto the grass. Vince went back to his work clothes, with off-the-rack shirts that fit his odd, tapering torso like tents, and trousers that needed to be belted, as the only ones that fit his height were intended for men who were much thicker.

Tsadro had changed to his street clothes. He wore a knee-length periwinkle-colored garment made of thick, quilted fabric, loose-fitting like the top portion of a man's kimono, but with a collar/lapel piece that stood up. This went over a thin, form-fitting black sweater, a necklace of five wooden washer-shaped discs strung flat with colored glass beads, and what appeared to be black jeggings, showing his thick, muscular build. He wore short black boots, his outer garment was held loosely closed with a white sash tied in a knot, and his red-faced pocketwatch moved to his wrist, trading its cover for a white metal watchband. His waist-length hair tumbled down and bound itself near the bottom with a small white band.

As they turned to head out, the fence and gate on the opposite side of the pasture revealed itself, as did the pens on the other side. They were reasonably large and grassy, each with their own little ponds, access to trees for shade, and wooden houses containing plenty of hay for beds. Pigs, goats, chickens, ducks, and their assorted young went about their business. The pens for the birds had wire coverings over their tops, in case the wyverns felt like stealing a snack.

Tsadro stopped at the duck pen and studied it appraisingly, ignoring one of the ducks as it eyed his flatbread with envy.

Vince kept going a bit, to the goat pen instead. "I've always had a soft spot for goats. A lot of people find their eyes a bit creepy, but I grew up in the mountains. To me, they're home. They have nicer milk than cows, too." Another piece of flatbread.

edited 2nd Apr '17 8:52:06 PM by CrystalGlacia

[Marble Corridor (Seilaan, Mazra)]

"Um," Mazra said cleverly in response. That was more of a verbal double take than me wanting to hear your whole life story, but okay. And it was very much a life story - that sounded more like the kind of thing she'd read about her adventure stories, or seen in her adventure sims, than anyone she'd ever met, even people from one of the High Royal Houses or actual Paladins. Not that she'd met a lot of those. Actually, now that she thought about it, she vaguely remembered seeing that exact plot (except the mind control) in one of the kaorrl princess cycles.

Of course, it would be horribly insensitive to actually say so. That sort of thing (when you were ten!) was much more traumatic than fiction, at least the worse kinds, made it out to be. Which would also probably be horribly insensitive to say out loud, though.

Actually, it seemed like there were a lot of things that it would be horribly insensitive to say to Seilaan. And most of the other possibilities that were occurring to her (such as 'wow, you have a lot of hair') would be inane at best.

She very slightly moved her field-sword again, just to remind the younger girl that it was still active. "So you didn't say, are we still doing the duel? I mean, I don't think so, since we're just talking and it was sort of pointless, but you're supposed to declare these things formally at an end if they're not for real."

Graveyard

"Two..." Half Caleb repeated the word in amusement. If the psychic link between him and the Anti Soul still existed, the Anti Soul would suddenly see a tapestry of life. Each life-form that became one of Half's predecessors, each of their mutant servants, displayed like stars and planets on a black space. People, animals, being free of will, beings programmed to their tasks, things beyond the definition of alive. "I am far more than two."

"But this is besides the point," Half Caleb continued, "if you are indeed being a 'good boy' then it is not you I seek, but the one called Armory Knight and Defiance. If you wish to realize my potential, perhaps you can start by telling me the cause of their wrath, and how to end it."

I don't really know if the Anti Soul can still hear him. Sorry if I misinterpreted.

Snow Castle (Gwenafer, Nick, Jackson, Adam, Rin, Megumi, Gliosem, Alice, Magdalene)

Gliosem was not at all surprised by what Alice said about the point of her experiment. She's been trying to prove that magic works differently in her world all along... so of course she'd agree with Gwenafer. But she giggled a tiny bit when Alice shot herself in the pinky toe, and from the looks of things she had another bullet ready for the rest of her foot.

"That comparison between music and magic is a lovely one," she mentioned at last. "And it is true that we couldn't read each other's spells, but that is due to understanding different written languages, not any difference in the magic itself. Words can help focus magic, but they're not the same thing."

Rin just sat there and raised an eyebrow during the discussion about magic; Gliosem did the same for Magdalene's discussion on souls. She didn't quite understand the flower queen's logic - if the world was dying, wouldn't that be more reason to let souls go on into the afterlife? - but she was just a child, so she likely didn't have much of a sense of logic.

And when Jackson mentioned where the strange glowing things came from, Gliosem replied, "They don't appear to be magical in nature - though what kind of force charges them?"

Twilight Ball (Amiluet, June, Lauren)

Well that was interesting. Not only could June use magic, but Lauren knew someone who could (sort of), no less. Was the notion of Earthlings not having an understanding of magic just a myth, then?

And not only did June wonder where Ferisen had gone, but Lauren wondered so as well. Amiluet's bright yellow eyes widened, as she remembered how June had pointed that earlier. "Well my my, I was so distracted by the talk about magic that I forgot!" She was rubbing one of her pigtails against her head as she spoke.

Immediately she looked over to the stage where she remembered Ferisen had gone... but couldn't see her there. Nor any trace of her aura. Even shen she jumped up and rapidly flapped her wings to hover for a bit, she still couldn't see her. She was just about to look to the other two in bewilderment when... "Ah, I know! I can contact her and see!"

And so, out of a hidden pocket on her dress, she withdrew a crystal ball that fit neatly in her palm. Levitating it just barely above said palm, she gazed into it, holding the image of Ferisen prominently in her mind... but the ball showed her things from the viewpoint of Gliosem and Emriel as well. She thought aloud. "Glee's off having tea somewhere... Reel's in... what? Is that blood? ...Oh wait, there she is! Huh, looks like she's on Eldarien after all... but where is her body?" She looked up to the moons in the sky, specifically the green one, but not that that mattered because all four moons were together.

Meanwhile, the hall filled with sounds and auras of panic. Many of the ball patrons moved to the edges of the hall, some of them bumping into each other in the process. The pointy-eared man who had announced the Four Bardic Sisters' performance was ushering many of these people out of the hall, primarily those who also had pointy ears, all while shouting announcements. "Our guardian mages have fallen!" he was currently announcing. "Everyone needs to evacu-"

He was interrupted by an explosion, causing the ceiling to shake and the glass window to shatter. To this, a few people, Amiluet included, conjured up an invisible psychic shield as an "umbrella" for the shards.^note Assume this one is large enough to protect June and Lauren as well. Once the glass rain cleared, most of the people had already left, and beyond the hall, several dragons were seen flying away in the sky, quickly disappearing in the distance. The same was true of the people, most of who were missing even from outside the hall. And the people remaining were all pointy-eared, like what some Earthlings might call elves, and all of them were carrying some sort of bladed weapon. A couple of them even pointed swords around as if they were dowsing rods. As soon as one of them pointed his sword the round-eared trio's^note As in not pointed, like those of humans and sumiri direction...

"Run!"
She glanced behind at June and Lauren, beckoning them to follow her out of the hall, carefully avoiding the fallen glass. Along the way, she pulled out a tiny wooden flute and played a quick tune on it... and a few seonds later, played that same tune again. And again...

"Ishtaran?" she called around. "Ishtaran! Where are you? Ish... humui!" Stomping her foot in frustration, she turned around to face June and Lauren, gesturing behind her at a fairly large dragon flying away, pulling what looked like a winged sidecar (an empty one) behind it. "See that? That's the dragon my sisters and I flew here on." And she bowed her head and held it in her hands. "What are we gonna do now!?"

Around them, the hall was surrounded by a dirt clearing, with some small residential-looking buildings on one side, an expanse of trees in the direction of the sun, and some starlit mist in the opposite direction where it was dark. A few warriors and mages, some with pointy ears and some with wings like Amiluet (but not both), could be seen fighting each other in the near distance with spells and explosives and blades and wooden clubs, though a couple of the pointy-eared ones would keep a leery eye on Amiluet.

edited 8th Mar '17 10:17:31 PM by ladytanuki

Snow Castle (Gwenafer, Magdalene, Nick, Adam, Jackson, Alice, Rin, Gliosem)

Gwenafer gave Alice a curious look. The strange woman had apparently reached some kind of epiphany by the look of things. Gwenafer herself wasn't so sure about the comparison of magic with music, but reacted with surprise when Alice called it "unnatural".

"Where I'm from at least," she said, shrugging, "magic is power from the Storm of Creation, that surrounds the mortal world and the demon kingdoms, and gave birth to them. Wouldn't call that 'unnatural', if you ask me."

As she noticed Magdalene poking the glowing pearls with her scepter, Gwenafer quickly turned her attention to the girl instead.

"Uh, are you sure that's safe? I ain't in the mood for any explosions."

The Eldritch Factory, Forest of Bone -> ??? (The Midnight Stitcher, Ayako, Durnem)

Having took note of Ayako hiding herself and how she inhaled sharply in pain despite reassuring him she's fine, the unnaturally long man thought to himself. "Is she so embarrassed of her body she'll willingly suffer pain instead? I really don't understand why humans get so flustered... Oh, it is because I'm male. One with tendrils... Humanity's educational videos disturb me greatly." Hardly surprising, the Brittles are worthless on their own

When Ethoya announced her departure, The Midnight Stitcher did little more than look at her and bow his head. Though as Durnem approached him, he could make out she wanted to say something- Yet went after Ayako as she leaped down the pit. Looking on for a few seconds, he abruptly breaks into incredible acceleration before leaping into the air- And slamming against the roof with his tendrils to hurl him downwards at even greater speeds.

Falling past Ayako & Durnem both, the inhuman man crashes into the ground, creating a small crater as matter is flattened and pushed away. Getting up perfectly easy, it would be obvious he hasn't sustained a single injury from that stunt. Using his tendrils to wipe himself off, The Midnight Stitcher realizes there's zero trace of the earlier platform.

Stepping out from the crater he made, the grey-skinned man begins sniffing the air- And compared to his usual, is notably confused when he couldn't detect Vita's smell or the Grevidaes. Still, amongst the smell of brain fluids, he could barely detect the smell of a corpse- Exactly what he couldn't make out.

So, taking in the site of this new place as if made out of brain matter, even The Midnight Stitcher couldn't make out what lies ahead in the darkness ahead. Still, the unnaturalness of it, seems to remind the humanoid abomination of something. "Lux Sniper? N-no...

Feeling tears watering at his otherwise crimson & gold eyes, The Midnight Stitcher turns his head back to Ayako & Durnem before speaking calmly even as even foreign(?) tears kept streaming from his face. "Do either of you possess some means of illumination? Unfortunately I'm fireproof, so I cannot serve as a 'human' torch."

Still, after he spoke, a thought intrudes on Ayako & Durnem- Seemingly one of their own. "He's 'unfortunately' fireproof? He makes it sound like he's disappointed he can't be immolated to death. Wait, can he even die? What's one suppose to do if he tries to kill you then?"

So that's the first action of the Psychic Reaper, speaking inside Ayako & Durnem's heads as if she's them. I'm not entirely sure if they would detect normal telepathic levels, but Psyche's strong enough to toy with one's perception. Not sure how quickly things should escalate though.

edited 9th Mar '17 10:04:07 AM by Kkutwar

[Castle (Room)]

Jackson gave an annoyed glance at Nick. "Yeah. He calls me Jacky. And he needs to quit."

Nick chuckled, them turn to Gilosem. "Well, a pysical force. Like..." He tapped his chin, and when he turned to his side, he was suprise to see his metal gloves there. Surely he didn't bring them with him, right..?

Wait. This was a dream world.

Where the fuck have you been? he thought, putting them on. You could've saved my ass earlier, damn it! Oh well.

"Like this." he continued. He balled his hands into a fist and slammed them together. As he did so, the gloves glowed briefly. "If I want to use these bad boys in battle, I gotta add some force behind it. Super strong one, too." He slammed his fist together, and again, it glowed—this time dimly. "I have to be super careful so I don't break someone's ribs, though."

As he took off his gloves and pit them to the side, his face twisted up. "That's why it makes no sense that these are glowing. They shouldn't!"

[Castle (Hallway)]

Adam frowned in confusion.

So...are all the guards carbon copies? he thought, Did Rin not dream enough detail to them? Hmmm...I'll have to ask.

Without further hesitation, he followed Megumi. At least this sort of confirmed that this Megumi wasn't a dream. Now the question of how she even got here—or if she's even aware that she's in a dream—came into his mind.

Sorry that it's short for Adam. x_x

edited 9th Mar '17 10:37:17 PM by Masterofchaos

[Twilight Ball] (June, Lauren, Amiluet)

While Amiluet was able to locate not only the missing Ferisen, but her other sisters as well, the party came to an abrupt halt as the party goers began to be discriminately evacuated. And then chaos erupted as an explosion rocked the hall. As Amiluet deflected the falling glass, a long dormant fire flared within June's eyes.

June began tapping the side of her jaw expectantly, eyeing up the pointed eared soldiers with a smirk. She twitched her nose in annoyance as Amiluet decided to flee the hall, wanting them to go with her. June shrugged before following.

"We can either fight or flee," June said in response to Amiluet's frustrated and distressed exclamation. She materialized a sword made from the same fire and ice as the previous dagger, "Personally, I'd rather make these fools regret any hostile actions towards us."

As one of the "elves" drew a little too close, June snapped her fingers, and a lance of emerald ice spontaneously materialized before burrowing itself directly in front of the encroaching soldier. She shot him a devilish grin, her sword at the ready and bounce in her movements.

[The Eldritch Factory ~ ???] (Ayako, Durnem, The Midnight Stitcher)

Durnem caught up to Ayako as she floated into the abyss, ranting at her for her recklessness. The girl pouted at the mage, "I'm sturdier than I look, you know. My powers can keep my bones in place in cases like this. 'Sides, my chest doesn't hurt that much now."

Their airborne chat was interrupted as the Midnight Stitcher made like a man-like meteor, tearing past them before slamming into the ground with a faint squish.

"At least I didn't do that," Ayako said, peering down into the darkness. She couldn't see the Midnight Stitcher, nor the bottom of the shaft. "Are you okay, Midnight Stitcher-san?" the magical girl called out into the growing darkness.

After a few moments, Ayako alighted on the ground, noting that is was quite... squishy. Something oozed into her shoes, sending shivers down her spine (and uncomfortably through her ribs). The Midnight Stitcher mentioned if anyone was able to provide light, oddly adding that he wasn't flammable.

"What do you mean you're..." Ayako stopped mid sentence. 'Unfortunately' fireproof? He makes it sound like he's disappointed he can't be immolated to death. Wait, can he even die? What am I suppose to do if he tries to kill me? Something began nagging at the back of her head, telling her that something was wrong, but she decided to ignore it.

Ayako scowled, though unless one could see in the dark, no one would notice. Fabric rustled as she used her powers to transform her umbrella again. There was a series of clicking noises, a bright flash, and flames erupted into life. Ayako held a torch made from spare cloth aloft, illuminating the area.

Looking down, she noticed the floor was pinkish gray, and wrinkly. Almost like a... brain. "Eww... it's in my shoes..." Ayako's face wrinkled up in disgust as she pulled a foot out of the floor.

A metallic glint in the distance caught Ayako's eye. Remembering Vita's earlier mentioning of treasure, she took a few steps tentatively in that direction.

Only Ayako can see the glint, which is an illusion.

Eldritch Factory - Forest of Bone (Midnight Stitcher, Ayako, Durnem)

Durnem decided to just shake her head and descend further when Ayako insisted she was fine. At least there was no longer a giant skeleton attacking the group. Instead they were... on a brain? Once Durnem landed, she spent several moments feeling the gooey ground with her finned feet. "Well, this reminds me of that time my clan killed a whale. In which case this must be a whale the size of a humi-no planet!"

But just then a thought occurred to her, just as the Midnight Stitcher was asking for a light. He can't be killed by fire... so then, how can he be killed? Is he indestructible? And if so, what will happen if he decides to turn against me? She looked over to the black-tendriled man ("At least he wasn't nearly eaten by a giant skeleton just prior," she told Ayako in response to her comment), pondering for a moment, but scoffed and shook her head.

Well duh. There are several ways to kill someone - and if the person is indestructible physically, the way to do it is to break the mind. Wait, why am I even thinking about this? "At any rate, something smells fishy here." There was a long pause. "Kraguor. Why do I bother with Earthen idioms anyway. I am part fish, and I can't even smell much!" She shook her head. "What I meant was... we were surrounded by bones earlier and were attacked by a giant skeleton and taunted at by a bone lady. So if we're on a brain, there is a very real possibility that we might lose our minds."

As she looked around the newly-lit room, she paid special attention to any aural disturbances. In fact, when she looked at the Midnight Stitcher, she could just about begin to make out an aspect of his aura that was indistinct from the "red noise" of the surroundings. Something of a deep blue, indicating sorrow... and the tears on his face confirmed it.

"Therefore this is no time for you to feel sad," she told him, placing a finned hand on his shoulder. "Does this place... remind you of something?" Indeed, now that she could begin to discern more about his aura, there seemed to be something there hinting at past troubles.

edited 11th Mar '17 11:12:42 AM by ladytanuki

Forest:

No you idiot, this wont help. Do something useful for once!, Tagui told himself during his brief paralysis, and took once again his hook to start working on his leg. Upon inspection it would be clear that the prosthetic part, which started slightly above the knee, was of mundane nature, lacking any magic and any power source or mechanisms for autonomous movement and relying only on the rest of his body and the branch he was forced to use as a cane.

Something arguably more interesting however was the way he went through his motions while pulling and turning the levers that locked its movement. He didnt look towards his prosthetic, making a point to avoid looking at it, and his neutral expression betrayed only the slightest tension as his eyes looked moved like an animal wary of predators, trying to cover all spots at once.

The frantic motion of his hands carried a complex cadence in its speed, too logical and precise to be a product of a human subconscious mind, yet devoit of visible supernatural power, or of any intent. In fact, all his intent was now focused on understanding what Ferisen was doing. Her words went undeciphered, her gestures not part of any tradition of the dark Art he knew... yet the... song he heard was familiar. Not in melody or rhythm, much less in sheer potency, but perhaps in sonority. Its effect however made him almost lose the breath for questions.

"To walk a trail in shadow, unsure of your destiny, or to wander between the trees with no compass or map?", Tagui said in a harsh tone and stared into Ferisen's eyes for a moment that seemed to last forever while the newcomer was distracted by the strange road. "I hope you wouldn't open a path hidding some form of danger.", he said, accepting her hand carefully.

Maybe Ferisen would feel a headache after some seconds, dizziness or brief confusion. With a particularly resilient memory she would be able to remember the stare itself, brief and empty as it was. But without previous preparation, without a heightened perception of the self, his gaze would burn its way to any thought of a possible trap in the path.

If she wasn't ready she wouldn't remember what she thought while their eyes crossed. She wouldn't remember the way he pronounced "danger" to call the correct thought to the surface, or the tingling sensation when his hand touched hers, and his feverish body temperature which he didnt seem to notice himself.

Even if she noticed it was not a forceful or deep probe as far as Tagui was concerned, having gone through it himself too often to even care about remembering. Just a test of truthfullness without permanent damage, a simple assurance in a time when blind trust dug graves.

And yet a fallible one, also traitorous when employed on beings as deceptive as magi and unable to give more than vague glimpses of a secret, so the lack of ill intent found by Tagui was not fully reassuring... yet attempting a deep reading on a unwilling subject was problematic on many fronts, to say the least. Maybe a more imundane method was better? Yes, asking her a question and seeing if there were any holes would be better than nothing.

"What exactly did that... evocation do?", he asked Ferisen, and then turned to Ruka and said "I wouldn't stand alone in there if I were you, a person just... disappeared while we weren't looking. But if we do go I think the dark itself won't be a problem for me. Still, I believe Ferisen wants to lead."

edited 11th Mar '17 11:43:41 AM by EternaMemoria

Forest -> Field of Souls

As Ferisen prepared to head down the path she had just opened, she saw Ruka walking a ways down it, where the path darkened and seemed to descend below the forest. Gazing into the unknown darkness herself, she began to think of possibilities for what the destination would be... but quickly dismissed those thoughts from her mind. We are in a dream. It is not wise to focus on potential outcomes when exploring a new path, for this is how nightmares are born.

Right when she was about to push the cart containing her latria forward, she heard Tagui ask her a question, and so she turned around to face him. As she did, she took a brief glance down at his prosthetic leg, which she had remembered seeing when he fell over, and the interesting wooden mechanics behind it. But that didn't concern her now. What did concern her was what happened when their eyes locked and their hands touched.

As the mention of danger entered her mind, she felt as if her whole body had been seized by a sort of electric field surging out of Tagui's hand, trapping her in a foreign aura to the point where she could no longer focus on her thoughts. All that filled her mind was this potential danger. While their eyes met, if Tagui's peripheral vision was not compromised, he might have noticed a noticeable crater-like depression in the middle of her forehead, about the size of one of her eyes, while the pupils of her own eyes dilated, until her irises were but narrow emerald rims around them.

And yet at the same time, her own aura filled that field, if very weak, as a fragment of an old memory lingered at the edges of her subconscious mind. It was visible now, now that all else had fallen away, and yet for now it was just a seed. Did Tagui plant it there? No, but he had given it its first taste of water since it was buried, left to remain parched as the rest of the garden of wisdom^note "Garden of wisdom" is actually the meaning of Ferisen's name - translated as ferena la arisen. Names on Orenya are often portmanteaus of such phrases, which leaves one to wonder if the naming ends up leading to the development of their very nature, like that seed that was planted. grew around it.

When he looked away the feeling was gone, and as Ferisen's eyes and forehead resumed their normal appearance, she felt her own aura slowly return back to its full strength - especially when she felt the presence of her latria next to her. For a moment, she even felt as if her soul was in there.

And then she returned her focus to Tagui. Looking at him, she felt an odd sense of something profound, though the exact details she didn't quite remember. And so she pushed the cart and followed Ruka down the path, remembering her question. "Yes, I believe I do have a..." Her gaze wandered innocently down to her latria, which she could see the aural energies of even through the box. And suddenly a familiar feeling struck her, cutting her words short.

Abrupty, she looked back at Tagui. In his aura, she saw a brightness that was somehow very dark, and though the feeling was lingering, there was a memory of that same bright darkness - which, when she held out her own hand, she could see hidden in her own aura. Suddenly she knew - if not all the details, at least the process, at least a brief recollection of that seed that had just been watered.

An uncharacteristic anger flared up inside of her, which she directed at Tagui (he might be able to feel something like a light breeze, though not a physical one) when she spoke to him. "You formed a telepathic connection with me, didn't you?" Where her voice was normally cool and airy, now it was suddenly low and firm. "At any other time I would not have minded it, but we are in a dream. The spell I just used opened a pathway into the unknown, and while that path is open, the state of the caster's mind is critical. I hope that whatever thought you brought up was a pleasant one, otherwise..."

In her periphery, she glimpsed a light floating around. And indeed, the minute she spoke those harsh words, the forest vanished, giving way to a dark landscape underneath a night sky. In this sky there were no stars - instead there was an undulating aurora of many coloured wisps of light, akin to smoke. Though the air was cool, a warm mist drifted over the desolate ground, but it was far from comforting. Upon closer inspection, it was actually two mists: the mundane warming one, and another that was entirely immaterial. This ethereal mist, apparent even to those who had never known magic, penetrated one's very consciousness, reacting to the light from the aurora. As a result, one's consciousness was prone to drift out of their bodies^note like it would during Astral Projection a slight bit, remaining loosely connected as long as they were in this place.

Images also came up in the mists themselves, conjured from whatever thoughts passively came up in one's mind. One image that was immediately apparent, again visible to all, was that of a strange instrument consisting of two concentric semicircles of pipes - that first appeared to be made of glass, but upon closer inspection seemed to be a kind of clear crystal, infused with the very same ethereal mists that flowed about the place. And it hovered right over the box, an exact replica of what was inside. But it appeared only for a moment, before unraveling into the mists. There was also a faint image of a sprouting seed slowly growing in the near distance, but that too vanished.

Throughout all this, Ferisen looked visibly worried, and after the very brief image of Tagui and Ruka flashed in front of her, she turned around to face the actual two, nervously shaking her head. "This is the Talitsavre, also called the 'Field of Souls'. I had all but forgotten about the nature of this place until now, for it has a notorious reputation all across Orenya. Here, souls easily detach from the body, and if one is not careful, it can leave it entirely. This place cannot be entered except when the sky is devoid of moons and stars, as it now is, but many a person had wandered into this place in darkness, and many have died as a result."

And then she slid off the lid of the box, where her latria was visible at last - aside from the image of it seen before. "See those lights out there?" She gestured out to the landscape, where a few indistinct lights glistened. "Those are crystals, hungering for the magical energies contained within the mists. People wander in here in hopes of harnessing that energy - and long ago, I came here myself with the crystals needed to create my latria," and here she gestured down to the instrument. "But it almost destroyed me. Fortunately I still had a clear purpose to remain in this life, and thus was able to leave mostly unharmed, but the memory of my experiences in the place vanished with it, as it often does. I am very sorry to have dragged you two here, and I can only say that your key to survival is to focus on your sense of self."

[Farm (Min, Varris, Vince, Tsadro)]

Min and Varris followed after Vince, looking around the farm as they walked. Min still felt out of place around all this farmland. Even in the greener areas of Greyvale there were always buildings and streetlights nearby. Here the sky was just… empty.

Min stopped behind Vince by the goat pen, peering over to get a better look at its inhabitants. “I never saw a goat in person before. I mean, we have ‘em in Acriment, but I’ve never gone past city limits before. Might be nice to check out the mountains some day. I dunno."

“Personally, I think they look more dorky than creepy,” said Varris, climbing up onto the pen and staring down at the goats with something of a smirk. “They look like they should be wearing little labcoats and goggles. Doing goat science. Changing the world.”

Sorry for the delay again.

[Snow Castle (Magdalene, Rin, Alice, Gliosem, Gwenafer, Nick, Jackson)]

Alice drummed her fingers for a time, contemplating, considering. Hmm... perhaps... ideas floated just out of reach. She wasn't quite able, at this time, to grasp them, and so let them go with a resigned sigh. Eager to change the topic while she considered, she looked over at Magdalene. "World's dying, you say? Folks say that about my world as well." She scoffed, albeit half-heartedly. "An exaggeration, but..." she paused. No, no, no need to go into that. "What's done yours, if you don't mind me asking?"

[Blizzard]

Friedrich registered the Eyes and Teeth's displeasure as only a twinge of unease; Abadal flinched and tried to grab Friedrich's coat again. The fear and trepidation radiating from Abadal was making it hard for him to concentrate.

"Er... thanks for holding it back. Burden... doubt.... Friedrich knew he was no magic teacher and Iveya's magic probably worked differently from his own, but he wondered if he could help her somehow. Then again, it sounded like she maybe wanted to change the subject. He made a mental note to maybe bring it up later.

The moment he completed the thought, Friedrich sensed another pulse of distress from Abadal. He grimaced.

"Our family is most likely descended from his older sister Belehasa. Abadal himself was offered up as a sacrifice to the gods my ancestors used to worship. I'm not gonna subject you to the entire yarn the writers of the holy books gave us, because what's more important is what they didn't know."

He watched the child sit in the snow and begin attempting to construct a perfectly spherical ball out of it, methodically patting it into the desired shape. "Before Abadal died, a giant mass of sentient energy called an Elder decided to use his body to regenerate itself, and fused with his soul. The flow of energy in Abadal's soul is just the right shape to allow him to persist indefinitely as a separate entity that is still linked to and can control the Elder. This is incredibly rare. There are five known Elders, which have existed for thousands of years, and they have made such contracts with countless people. Only three in all of history had the right kind of soul to achieve life after death in this way. So Abadal is the only ancestor—or clan-ancestor, as you call it—that I've met, but in a way, the others that he's made contracts with... become a part of him, in a way."

Abadal plucked Friedrich's sleeve and held out his snowball.

"Hey, good job. It looks neat."

Friedrich's compliment produced only a momentary flicker in Abadal's signals of unease. The child cradled the snowball in his hands as he began to march onward, not even glancing back at the adults.

"Right. The cemetery." Friedrich shoved his hands into his coat pockets. "Ya know, something about your magic doesn't sit well with him. Not just because it tried to do... whatever that was just now, if I'm reading him correctly. And me neither, if we're gonna be honest. It's probably just an instinctive reaction to its fundamentally alien nature, yeah? Probably nothing to worry about."

Probably.

So Mazra was just going to... ignore all that. Seilaan thought she'd be relieved, but part of her had been expecting... well, even she wasn't sure. A feeble "I'm sorry that happened to you", maybe? At any rate, that part of her was slightly annoyed. Which she knew was a very stupid thing to feel.

"Whatever." The total disappearance of her sword and armor seemed to signal that this was at least mostly true. She wandered over to the nearest window so she could perch on the windowsill. "If you want to keep fighting just for fun, that's fine by me. I'm a little burned out on the argument, honestly. Finally coming to terms with the fact that it's been incredibly unproductive. I've got one foot in the five stages of grief. I'm going to try my best not to care about it anymore. Which is going to be difficult. When I care about something, I care about it a lot." She sounded almost bitter. "Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I should probably care about my family and friends a lot, and my people, and my duty to them. But then there's... well, this. Sometimes I wish I didn't love to argue so much. You sure don't seem very into it. Or into... anything at all. Well, no, that's rather presumptuous of me. I'm falling into the same trap again. Whatever you're into, if anything at all, you seem like the kind of person who wouldn't be as obviously passionate about them. How's that?"

Maybe that was the thing about Mazra that made it so easy for Seilaan to ramble aimlessly like this. It didn't really matter what she said if the only person listening had such a hard time getting worked up about anything without being subjected to constant verbal attack like what was happening earlier. At least until Seilaan accidentally tread upon The One Thing Mazra would instantly get very passionate about, for better or worse. Seilaan almost wanted to find that Thing, though a wiser part of her knew that if it was a Thing Mazra would be passionately angry about, she might regret ever having that thought.

edited 14th Mar '17 12:42:56 PM by SnowyFoxes

[Yukijou-minato ~ Snow Castle (Main Keep 1st Floor ~ Parlor)] (Megumi, Rin, Magdalene, Gliosem, Gwenafer, Adam, Nick, Jackson, Alice)

The Admiral pointed towards the door when Magdalene moved to poke the gems with her scepter. "If you are going to mess around with potentially volatile things, please, take it outside," she said.

Rin returned to sipping tea (again), watching Nick's (explosionless) explanation and demonstration of their equipment. She placed her cup down and rested her chin on clasped hands, "Perhaps the stones are absorbing some form of ambient energy from around here. There are the pyralstone trees in Akamori, after all."

Just then, the sliding door to the hall opened. Megumi had returned with Adam following closely behind. The maid closed the door behind them before moving over to beside her master, giving a brief glance over the papers on the table along the way.

[Field of Souls] (Ruka, Tagui, Ferisen)

Turning around, she noticed that Tagui and Ferisen in were locked in some sort of trance-like state for a few moments. She crossed her arms and tilted her head in confusion at the sight to the two of them. What exactly were they doing?

When the two of them broke away from the pause, Tagui mentioned that someone had previously disappeared from the forest. Ruka hurried out of the mouth of the cave, she had no intention of getting shunted off to who knows where... again.

Meanwhile, Ferisen started to go for a light. Then she stopped, and grew angry at whatever it was Tagui had done. And then the forest suddenly changed.

The sky was washed in a soft rainbow of light, the open landscape around them cloaked in strange mists. Suddenly feeling lightheaded, Ruka wobbled a bit. She caught her self before she fell, one hand rubbing her head as the world spun.

Taken aback slightly by the strange imagery, Ruka wobbled over towards the others. She listened to Ferisen's explanation of where they were: the Field of Souls. "Sounds dangerous," Ruka said, glancing around at the surroundings. She tapped her chin a few time. "So..." she said, "how do we get out of here, then?"

edited 15th Mar '17 5:21:21 PM by WillDeRegio

Snow Castle (Magdalene, Rin, Gliosem, Alice, Gwenafer, Nick, Adam, Jackson)

"...I don't know?" Magdalene replied simply to Alice as she continued to play with the gems, "It looks okay to me; Messy's the one who says it's dying."

Then Gwenafer asked if what she was doing was safe, followed by Rin saying to take it outside.

"But they aren't doing anything!" she protested, in a rather whiny tone. She just stood there pouting for a few moments. "...Oh well. I bet there's another fun place somewhere else~"

At that, she went to recollect her sandals. After that was done, she headed over to the door and proceeded to put them back on. Then she turned back towards where the gems were sitting. Her wings reappeared as she summoned just enough souls. Then she pointed with her scepter, making the souls fly over to and into the gems.

A brief yellow glow surrounded each gem. Assuming the act of possessing the gems didn't make something happen, they would then float over to Magdalene and hover around her.

"Bye bye! See you later!" she said cheerfully, and then walked out with the gems in tow.

[Yukijou-minato ~ Snow Castle (Main Keep 1st Floor ~ Parlor)] (Megumi, Rin, Gliosem, Gwenafer, Adam, Nick, Jackson, Alice, Magdalene)

Rin blinked a few time, before smacking her forehead with her hand. Apparently, Magdalene was bound and determined to continue playing with the gems, and Rin had failed to account for fact that she might take her words to heart.

"Please, do not tell me she just did what I think she just did," the Admiral said, exasperated. "Megumi, fetch the girl. Make sure she does not break anything."

The maid was already in motion to persue Magdalene, crossing the entirety of the room faster than anyone else could react.

[Snow Castle (Room)]

"Adam!" Nick said, "You're back already?"

"Y-yeah!" Adam said, sitting back down, "I think being away from the gems helped a lot. You think that the gems reacting to this place has something to do it?"

"Who knows?" Jackson said. "Rin suggested—HEY!"

Without warning, Maggie took the gems straight off the table and ran off with them, much to the boy's horror. The three of them stood up.

"Shit!" Nick said, "She doesn't know what she's doing! We don't even know why they're reacting that way! We gotta stop her!"

Adam gave the room an apologetic bow. "S-Sorry to leave like this. Hopefully we'll be back!"

With that, the three boys ran out of the room, following Megumi and Maggie on this bizarre chase.

Snow Castle - Parlor (Rin, Gwenafer, Gliosem, Alice)

What had Gwenafer done? The mention of explosions didn't seem to sit well with Rin, who told Maggie to go play with the crystals outside and sent Megumi after her. It didn't sit well with the teen boys either - understandably, as Magdalene was technically stealing the crystals (more like forcibly borrowing them).

After giving the leaving group an odd look, Gliosem took another sip of tea, and looked around at who was left. Rin, Gwenafer, and Alice... in other words, all the participants in the magic and cooking experiment. And now the topic there was worlds dying... Magdalene's was only according to Messy, Alice's was but she didn't want to elaborate... There was a silence, until Gliosem finally spoke up.

"Which reminds me... my world is dying as well. A world-wide war has started on Orenya, and they're calling it the Day-Night War since it's between Rumia and Zurem - literally between day and night. The ball my sisters and I performed at is in the twilight region and has been a tradition for centuries. But this one was the final one, since that region is now a battleground. That's why we entered the Dream - to hopefully obtain advice on how to deal with the war." She looked over at the Admiral. "Rin, you look like you have experience with war."

Graveyard (Moreena, Sinistrina, Dark Priest^note since this post focuses only on the conversation between the three)

Sinistrina bowed her head again, hiding her face under the brim of her hat, when Moreena mentioned never having been mortal. More so in that she was a goddess - which explained the shapeshifting even better than being undead would.

As she was thinking that, the dark-robed man she remembered standing next to Gabe with a notepad approached the two, asking Moreena a very interesting question about her holy duties. To which Sinistrina added, "Or both?" in her still-very-raspy voice. Then she decided to return the greeting, extending a hand even though she didn't expect anyone to shake it. "And I'm Sinistrina von Schwarzwald, de facto queen of the Deathly-" She mouthed the word "glade", but no sound came out, her voice giving out completely.

Fortunately, the zombie butler she had summoned was not far away, and so she extended her usual traveling liquid-like shadow across the ground toward him, where the spindly hands retrieved the goblet and one of the bottles he was carrying, bringing them to her. Turning her back on Moreena and the priest for the time being and planting her staff next to her where it stood on its own, she retrieved the bottle and uncorked it, pouring the dark red fluid into the goblet. Instead of wine, it was blood, though a bit darker than usual, with traces of the same black mist she had absorbed earlier hovering over its surface. After quickly and cleanly draining said goblet, she turned her head sideways in the direction of Moreena and the Dark Priest.

"Oh don't mind me - I'm listening." Her voice sounded noticeably clearer. While awaiting Moreena's response, she poured herself another glass.

[Blizzard]

"You would think," Iveya began to say, that my magic would be just as wary if it was just about it being 'alien'. But she bit the thought short. Then she said, "oh, never mind. Anyways, contracts with a giant mass of sentient energy?" She studied Abadal's form.

"That sounds, uh," an expression of mixed pity and nervousness crossed her face, and she thought, creepy. But in Uel, so blatantly insulting someone's ancestors was an invitation to violence, so she carefully said, "very different from anything I've seen. I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable being bound to something that much more powerful, except maybe the Xayu itself, even if the alternative was death." Iveya missed the irony, having made her "contract" sub-consciously while starving to death and heavily sleep-deprived as part of the Magocracy's intentionally brutal initiation rituals. The Eyes and Teeth also missed the irony, lacking that sort of abstract intelligence entirely. It was still mostly muttering angry gibberish to itself, if one pried to hear it. "But then, I've never feared the spirit world." This was a half-truth; a pious woman, she feared death far less than most people and believed as unshakably in an afterlife as in the sunrise, but it had not always been so.

Iveya sighed and looked into the distance, not sure what to say now.

Now seems a good time to reach the graveyard, IMHO, but it's up to you.

Field of Souls

Tagui was struck silent by Ferisen's reprimand, listening with a shocked expression as she castigated him for his superficial probing and warned of the risks he brought upon themselves. Risks that he had no way of knowing about, and wouldn't be worrying if she hadn't summoned a passage so unstable a stray thought could warp it, but he dared not to mention such details, wary of bringing a more stable curse upon himself. If she didn't bind one already, for he noticed aggression fill her mind as she burned with power, and the very air of the empty fields now seemed to...

... empty fields?

"What have you...", Tagui said without saying, his brain's command dying somewhere between his skull and his throat as the misty breeze swirled and surged around him, caressing his skin with numbing, invisible flame, or being caressed by numb flames that couldn't see themselves. Tagui turned his vision to fully take in the desolate limbo he fell into, his eyes and head trailing behind what his mind actually saw, the wind spinning faster as if predicting his body's movements or following what compelled them. Half there, half else-there, Tagui took in mind the winged witch's words and the doom they foretold. That was like the stories of old, of heroes tying themselves to their ships to evade the sirens' song, or witches navigating the lands of ghosts protected only by their memories of life. Things of times men were greater, as for someone like him there generally wasn't choice beyond run or die... and he was unable to run.

That realization should have paralyzed him, made him panic, or forced his brain to race towards an answer, but instead his mind turned to the beating of his heart, the shaking of his hands, and the half-conscious motion towards what he vaguely recognized as the correct place to go. That was all so absurd, so sudden, he couldn't help but accept that the best way to keep sane was to avoid thinking too much... even if that may not have been the best way to keep himself in one piece against that mist. And so, instead of waiting for the witch's survival advice, which he was unlikely to trust anyway, he walked onward, not quite towards where the wind compelled not against it, but towards a nearby zone of metaphysical stability, a small and temporary eye of the storm created by the flow and oscillation of the aether. Alone in that place with a silence no god or mortal could have broken, he looked towards the distance with thrice-awakened eyes while his heart bet to the rhythm of the mists. For a brief moment the indistinct image of a person in red robes appeared in the mist, seven lights like stars shining above her head.

"Now find the answers.", Tagui said to himself, remembering the command that still echoed in his mind, the words from a faceless master in a library of black pages, somewhere between dream and fancy. He was alone now, without teachers to prepare him for the sphinxes or fellow monks to battle the sirens away, without known stone under his feet or a solid roof above his head, without the blessings of flame or the teachings of the wild. Indeed, he could almost feel himself creeping out of his numb skin, see a very faint afterimage of light moving with his body, partially yet never fully intersecting. He was drifting away fast.

Yet he could buy time until an idea, any idea came, with the right tool. Letting go of his staff with his left hand, he reached into the folds of his robe, and found his target: circular coins, each a inch and a half across, with the imperial wards of spears, fire and thorn, and the Two Thrones in the center. Shield-coins were not for transactions, yet no member of his order should be found without them. With a smile of relief, he picked then one at a time with the three fingers of his left hand and dropped each of then at a corner of his haven, until a perfectly symmetric hexagon was complete, providing a subtle yet very welcome shield against that wicked wind.

"Learn your place.", a feminine voice spoke in the edge of the warding circle, a bright phantasm floating slightly above the ground, this time with a face even if one not easily distinguishable in the glow. After manifesting it dissipated and faded slowly like a cloud of smoke in the wind, unlike the earlier projection's much briefer existence. Much like the other it brought no reaction or hint of recognition from Tagui, who now looked intently towards the horizon apparently seeing something through the mist. "Is that what I think it is?", he asked aloud, forcing his lungs and vocal cords to listen to his brain with more effort than he ever needed elsewhere. Maybe others could not see it rise above the plains, but the mist surrendered to his eyes, letting he see a structure in the distance with lights and traces of thought.

The very journey to that place could end him and he dared not to trust any protection the witch might offer, but if he did not muster enough strength to try then he deserved whatever the field had in store for him.

edited 16th Mar '17 6:10:06 AM by EternaMemoria

Snow Castle (Gwenafer, Magdalene, Nick, Adam, Jackson, Alice, Rin, Gliosem)

Well, this can't be good.

Gwenafer considered running after Magdalene as well, but she doubted there was much she could do. Maybe it would be better to let the boys and the impressively quick-moving maid handle it? Eh, screw it.

"Gods..." she mumbled to herself as she got up from the table, before following the others out of the room. "Get back here! No damn explosions on my watch!"

Graveyard (Moreena, Sinistrina, Dark Priest)

Moreena spun around, resting her gaze upon the Dark Priest, clenching her sharp teeth as she quickly glanced back at the necromancer. "Both" had indeed been closer to the truth more times than she'd care to admit. She reached out with her senses, but there was little she could discern about this new entity. He seemed... distant, for lack of a better word. For some reason, she also got the impression that he was harmless, though she very much doubted that. How much did he know about her?

"My actions here should speak for themselves," she answered. "The dead have a natural path to follow, and I do not take kindly to beings that prey on them."

She looked over at the approaching revenant, but it seemed to be a mere mindless construct. Noticing the the bottle of blood, Moreena realized that she could use some herself. Reconstructing her body after that nasty plasma attack had taken quite the toll on her. Dismissing that thought, she turned to Sinistrina, very reluctantly shaking her hand before pointing a taloned finger at the souls swirling about above their heads.

"Once this is over," she said, "I will attempt to return these ones to their proper path. Your assistance with that could serve as atonement for the little bargain you tried to pull off..."

[Graveyard (Moreena, Sinistrina, Dark Priest)]

The Dark Priest was clearly unsatisfied with Moreena's answer. "The natural path," he sneered. "And what might that be?" He waved his staffed a bit before thumping it to the ground with a thud. "To be thrown ceaselessly upon the uncaring wheel of reincarnation, to live life after life of pain in this tainted cosmos? Or to be sealed away in some living tomb of an afterlife, be it damnation unending or a false paradise whose fruits must in time come to taste of ash and bone?" He shook his head in contempt, slinging his staff across his shoulders. "

"Let me tell you who — what — I am. The natural path of all souls is to me. When at last souls realize that to be is, inherently, to suffer, they ask me to free them, and so I do." It was clear from his proud bearing as he spoke this that he truly believed his work a noble calling.

"And this place," he finished, "called to me. So many souls liberated evermore from the torments of self, granted true peace, true death at last. Even if," he glanced irritably around, "it was not to be so. He", the Dark Priest looked down at Gabe, who was beginning to stir, "gave me the door, and I followed it."

[Snow Castle (Gwenafer, Magdalene, Nick, Adam, Jackson, Alice, Rin, Gliosem)]

Alice shook her head. She wasn't being paid to deal with this shit. "War," she said to Gliosem. "Yeah, that can do a world in. Hope you guys haven't figured out any weapons too messy." She didn't have much else to add quite yet, content to observe (and stew a bit over shooting herself in the foot).

edited 16th Mar '17 5:38:58 PM by KillerClowns

Snow Castle (Magdalene, Megumi, Nick, Adam, Jackson, Gwenafer)

Magdalene didn't get very far into the castle before she started getting distracted by the change in scenery. She slowed down, occasionally spinning around as she headed to the left to get a better look at the scenery. She seemed to be quite impressed by it, almost like she completely forgot about the reason she even left in the first place.

As she was taking her good old time, it didn't take very much for the people chasing her to catch up. The first person to actually catch her attention was the maid, by virtue of her literally dropping down in front of her.

"Hihi again~" she said, as if this was the most ordinary thing in the world for her, "Where's the exit?"

At that point the others caught up to her. She turned to them, with another big smile on her face.

"Aw, did you all want to join me?" she asked, before her eyes flicked over to the three boys. "Oh, I probably should have asked before taking your gems, huh? Oopsies~"

[Yukijou-minato ~ Snow Castle (Main Keep 1st Floor ~ Hallway)] (Megumi, Adam, Nick, Jackson, Gwenafer, Magdalene)

Megumi hastily pursued after the girl, bounding off a support beam to the crossbeams above. Nimbly and silently leaping from beam to beam, she followed the creaking sounds that Magdalene's footsteps made on the floor. Quickly overtaking the whimsical girl, the maid dropped down, landing gracefully on her toes as she gave Maggie a look of disapproval.

After Magdalene admitted her absentmindedness in taking the boys' gems, Megumi gestured back the way they had come. "Young miss, I apologize if you felt not welcome there. I'm sure none of us wanted you to leave, the others simply didn't want you to accidentally damage those gems. Besides, it wouldn't do one any good if they were to get lost wandering around here," she said, smiling softly.

Megumi nodded her head toward Adam, Nick, and Jackson while still talking to Magdalene, "Now, if you don't mind, would you kindly return their things, please?"

[Yukijou-minato ~ Snow Castle (Main Keep 1st Floor ~ Parlor)] (Rin, Gliosem, Alice)

Rin nodded at what Gliosem had said, "Yes, I have had combat experience. My military career started approximately twelve years ago, during the Sankt-Port Campaign. A neighboring country, Medvia, had decided to station one of its fleets in a newly establish port in territory that was under Imperial Senjima's de facto control. The Northern Fleet was tasked with laying siege to Sankt-Port. Initially, we suffered heavy losses due to a few... hotheaded ship captains. I soon found myself in charge of mine sweeping duties."

At this point, the Admiral frowned, "This ended up leading to me developing some creative applications of my abilities. Eventually, I was able to completely freeze over the harbor of Sankt-Port, allowing the Northern to establish a blockade despite being short on ships at the time. From that point, the campaign consisted a series of victories for the Empire, due to the Medvian commander repeatedly underestimating us. Due to my efforts, I was promoted all the way up to the rank of Captain."

The Admiral drummed her fingers on the table for a moment, before going for her tea again. "Now a days, I am having the Northern Fleet be prepared for the inevitable conflict with the Balamar Empire," she said, before taking a sip of tea. "Their current neutrality towards Imperial Senjima has cause many a sleepless night for me..." Her other hand rested on her lap, clenched tightly into a fist.

Rin stared at Gliosem for a moment, tapping her chin a few times. "My advice: use common sense, and do not be an idiot. Fools who seek glory will find an early grave," she said.