AURUM: ＜混乱大空ヘン ： Ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ Ｃｏｕｌｄ Ｈａｐｐｅｎ＞
AURUM: Starlight spilling from galaxies, the moon overhead gazing down like a loving mother with a wild laugh in her eyes, a silver forest spreading for miles.
AURUM: Six stars fall from the sky…
AURUM: They dance around each other, playfully, as shooting stars don't.
AURUM: Twine and braid, leaving little silver trails in the night, a record of their passage, bleeding into the air like someone used too much ink.
AURUM: Finally, with great care, the shooting stars touch the ground with a teacup-clink, in a clearing. There's an opal shimmer to the snow, and you could probably see your reflection in the needles of the pines -
AURUM: What I mean to say is, it's not really your central case of 'being a snowy forest', here.
ClarafinaRosemont twirls, arms out-spread, dressed in a long black coat trimmed with sparkling white fur. She removes, after a moment, her gas-mask, hooking it back onto her purse.
AURUM: The air is crisp and fresh and it's cold without being cold enough to hurt.
AURUM: You're facing each other! Try saying hello.
Nine touches down on the ground, still holding his book out with his right hand as if he were reading it, left hand on his coat's pocket. He looks around, closing the book rather loudly, and putting it inside an inner pocket "Looks like this is where it starts"
Ezekiel: "Well, okay. Hello."
ClarafinaRosemont: "So it is! Good evening, everyone, welcome to our…" She wrinkles her nose. "…Do you think this is a Strange Adventure…?"
AURUM: Weirdly enough, you're not holding the book any more!
AURUM: So, uh…
AURUM: You closed, like…
[OOC] Nine: No, my dear. That is my book
AURUM: One of those really cool old dictionaries you find in a lovingly-used bookstore.
Ezekiel: "Nawww there's nothing strange about this at all, chica."
[OOC] Nine: Oh, I see
Eidolon stands, his body shining with stardust, his coat made of space and the ether, stars cast across its fabric. His domino mask shifts, the eyes becoming wide and friendly.
AURUM: You know, the kind with a bookstore cat, and -
AURUM: Yeah, it's cool.
ClarafinaRosemont: "Of course." She crunches her boots in the snow as she takes a few steps forward. "Just a figure of speech."
AURUM: Anyways.
Eidolon: "Hello there, my other star children. I've been expecting you."
Nine: "Heh" he grins, there's bags under his eyes and he seems tired "It's good to see you all"
Nameless‘ takes a few steps upon landing. He was sitting, you know. The balance transition shouldn’t be graceful, but he makes it look effortless. Despite carrying a sword bigger than some of his new friends. Oh hey, friends. One item crossed off the mental checklist. "Ah, a man has company even sooner than expected. A pleasure to meet you all."
Ezekiel: "By which I actually ment, yes. Although there's decent odds none of you actually exist and I'm just zonked out so I mean, there's that."
ClarafinaRosemont: "Gosh, if we get embroiled in solipsism, this is going to take all night. Shall we get going?"
ClarafinaRosemont: "I think I see a trail."
Nine nods to Eidolon, then at Nameless. He chuckles at Ezekiel's phrase "Now wouldn't that be wonderful"
Ezekiel: "Works for me."
Nameless: "No, no. We exist. The alternative is much less pleasant, and I would like to avoid repeating it."
Eidolon: "Oh, I think we can spare a moment for the sixth to make a move."
Nine: "Why, I do think I have all night. I haven't practiced speaking in a long time" he shrugs "But if we must"
Eidolon glances over towards Solberg.
Solberg glances between the rest with some trepidation. Solberg had intended this to be a solo operation.
ClarafinaRosemont walks right over to Jo, crunch crunch crunch crunch.
Solberg: "Hello."
ClarafinaRosemont: "Hello!"
AURUM: Very good!
ClarafinaRosemont: "Did you know that the pure of heart, can…" She frowns.
ClarafinaRosemont: "…No, it's too awful to even speak of."
Solberg: "Try me."
Nameless‘ regards Clarafina with a suprised grin. "A girl does not look like a sproutling."
Nine lets them talk, he’ll listen. Meanwhile, he looks around, a clearing, is this?
Eidolon: "-Now- we can move." He waves a hand.
Eidolon: "Though we haven't even exchanged names or barely even pleasantries."
Eidolon 's mask shifts, eyebrows all sad.
ClarafinaRosemont: "Look all around you! The chill air, the fog of our breath, the glimmer of the ice-needles!"
ClarafinaRosemont: "…Truly, it's pleasant enough."
AURUM: It's a clearing! And because it's been mentioned already, I suppose I can point out that there's a trail through the forest. Walk with me.
Eidolon: "Hmm…" a hint of sadness.
ClarafinaRosemont walks along, taking point. Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Nameless‘ takes a few steps through the snow, towards the clearing, brushing a few flakes from his hair. "Exchanging names is… sometimes difficult. You may refer to a man as Peregrine, if you must."
ClarafinaRosemont: "Not a fan of…" She stops, briefly. "…winter?"
Ezekiel glances at Eidolon, makes a ’go on' motion with his hand.
Eidolon shakes his head. "Hm? Oh, no, it's perfect weather for fireplaces, warming brandies, and companionship."
[OOC] Nameless: *towards the path, rather. clearly I need some actual food in me if I'm this disjointed already haha
Eidolon continues along the path, content to let Clara take point.
Nine looks back at Eidolon "I… Haven't done this in a long time. I don't… Think I even have a name proper i'd like you to call me. though…" he scratches behind his head "Nine will do?" he's walking and talking, of course
ClarafinaRosemont hops over a tiny, frozen-solid stream.
Ezekiel: "Man ya'll are weird." He extends a hand to Peregrine, though. "Ezekiel."
Solberg: "Nine. Ninth of what?"
Nine looks at Solberg "The last number, as I am the last man. A rather sad story"
Solberg: "In base-ten, at least."
Nameless: "On the bright side… you are no longer the last man."
Solberg extends a hand. "Solberg."
Nine: "Certainly, it's my favorite base" he shakes Solberg's hand "Good to meet you"
Nine: "It's been a while"
Eidolon: "I am Eidolon. A pleasure to meet all of you." He bows slightly, and will wait until existing handshakes subside to offer one of his own.
Solberg: "A while since what?"
Nameless: "On the down side… Well, it's not worth speaking of." He is sad there are not more cute girls though.
Nine smiles at Nameless, it's obviously a tired smile, before he answers Solberg "I did this"
Ezekiel: "Solberg?"
Nameless‘ also shakes Ezekiel’s hand.
AURUM: The trees seem to keep shifting between mirror-pines and oak trees with crystalline leaves. (A few of the oak branches bend down to brush against Eidolon's shoulder, familiarly.)
Eidolon gives the branches an odd look, brushing them off.
ClarafinaRosemont spins on her heels a ways up the trail, and waves back to the pack of them. "Princess Clarafina Rosemont, by the way!"
ClarafinaRosemont: "A pleasure."
Nine looks at the trees, particularly the ones that seem so enamorated with Eidolon "What an interesting place"
AURUM: Well, they say this is the sort of place where anything can happen.
Eidolon: "Interesting and curious. I don't even know 'er."
Solberg turns to peer at Ezekiel. "Yes. Solberg."
Nameless: "A pleasure to meet you." He pulls a hat out of… well clearly there's a hidden pocket or something… and places it on his head. It's got a pair of fox tails hanging from it. Looks kinda fake though.
Ezekiel opens and closes his hand in a vaguely claw like manner for a second, lets out a little snort, then shakes his head and gives Solberg a dismissive handwave.
Ezekiel: "Oh man though a princess??" "
ClarafinaRosemont: "Indeed!"
Ezekiel: "How many ponies do you own?"
ClarafinaRosemont: "On paper? A stable! But, ah, we've been unable to visit them for quite some time…"
ClarafinaRosemont: "…I suspect they may not remain."
Ezekiel: "Bummer."
Ezekiel: "What's with the gasmask instead of the tiara and crazy elabo4rate hair?"
ClarafinaRosemont lifts her purse up to her face, looking into the pale green glass eyes of her gas-mask as it hangs on it. "Hmm…"
ClarafinaRosemont: "…It says 'reply hazy, ask again later'." She drops the purse back down onto her shoulder and continues along.
AURUM: Well, then.
Ezekiel: "I get it, because of the gas!"
AURUM: The path through the forest widens, a little, and seems to be going downhill.
Ezekiel: "So it's hard to see."
Nine chuckles at Clarafina, continuing to head on through the path "Exactly, Ezekiel"
ClarafinaRosemont dashes and leaps, skidding down the snowy path.
AURUM: After a little while, it slopes enough and the trees thin out enough that you can see it wind its way down to a town nestled into a silver-watered bay -
Solberg: "Gas can be invisible, you know."
Ezekiel: "Well sure but I mean."
Ezekiel vague hand motion.
Nine looks at the path heading down, and the little princess skiing with no implements. He just continues going down carefully, it's a town.
Eidolon peers over towards the town, narrowing his eyes, like that helps him see farther or something. (It doesn't, but.)
AURUM: You almost don't notice the town, though, because it's overshadowed and overwhelmed by a completely preposterous castle, floating in and on a dark, thunderous stormcloud, in the middle of the bay; spires rise from plumes of black smoke and arcs of lightning, glass walls revealing something moving inside, like the castle's alive.
Eidolon is pretty good at noticing things, then!!
AURUM: When you get a little closer, you can resolve some of the details of impossibly complicated gearworks, whirling away inside the towers…
Ezekiel: "Princess, check. Goofy ass looming castle, check. Magic bullshit, check."
Nine looks at the castle in the distance "An ARK? But such a wasteful one"
Nameless‘ regards the castle. "A man is going to need a bigger wooden crab…"
Ezekiel slidelong glance at Eidolon. "You some weird prince and/or vigilante?"
Eidolon nods back to Ezekiel. "Yes, close enough."
Solberg sniffs and looks at Ezekiel. "Smoke, though… visible, and lingers."
Ezekiel: "Aiiiight."
Ezekiel: "Solie’s probably the mad magician then…"
ClarafinaRosemont: "We're… following stories to their completion, aren't we…?"
ClarafinaRosemont: "If so, then I imagine a black keep is where a story might end."
Ezekiel rocks his head from side to side as they descend towards the town.
Eidolon: "Just what -have- you gotten yourself into, Ezekiel?"
Solberg: "What? I don't know any magic."
Ezekiel: "Duno but dibs on being the wacky sidekick or the damsel in distress depending on which one is less effort."
Eidolon: "Are we doing so? I'm looking for something, myself."
Ezekiel: "Probably."
Nine: "Should we not first check on the town, at any rate?"
Nine: "We are all here seeking something, the more we know, the better we are prepared"
Solberg: "I am, too, but I'm not sure I'll find it here."
ClarafinaRosemont enters the town square, then!
AURUM: The town's got quaint little walls, and a guardhouse.
Ezekiel: "The town is sorta on the way anywaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy."
Nameless: "Mm. A man does not recognize this story. Perhaps the town will provide clues."
AURUM: A voice echoes out, oddly muffled: "Halt!"
AURUM: "Um, please."
Ezekiel: "OKAY."
ClarafinaRosemont halts. "But of course!"
Ezekiel stops.
Solberg notes a possibility to themself: a compromised archive with a sensory simulation payload.
Ezekiel: "Sup?"
Eidolon casually turns to look for the voice.
AURUM: Even more muffled: "(Holy shit, we have visitors.)"
Nine looks up at the guardhouse, hands still in his pockets (because it's cold), and lets Ezekiel say the obvious
Nameless: "And you are making them stand out in the cold. Shame on you."
AURUM: Then the sound of someone tripping on something and stumbling down an entire flight of stairs in plate armour.
AURUM: Also, there is barking?
Eidolon furrows his brow. "Are you quite alright in there?"
Ezekiel: "This gets dumb in like, ten, nine, eight…"
AURUM: "YUP"
AURUM: "Just-"
Eidolon: "Do you need a hand?"
AURUM: "Hang on a sec-"
Nine winces a little bit every time he hits the ground "Just hang in there, man"
AURUM: There's the sound of someone fiddling with a keychain and a locking mechanism.
AURUM: Maybe it's been a while since they've ever opened the gate?
Ezekiel: "seven, six, five…"
Nameless: "Fortunately the armor means they did very little actual damage to the stairs."
Eidolon: "Is that right…"
Nameless: "Mm. Probably not, no."
Eidolon chuckles once.
AURUM: The gate starts to open, but then pauses, waiting for Ezekiel's countdown to finish.
Ezekiel: "Four three two one go go go go go go go"
AURUM: "YEAH"
AURUM: The gate cranks open; there's a seven-foot-tall fluffy-eared dog in battered, scuffed, fallen-down-stairs, not-very-well-taken-care-of armour a bit out of breath after having manually operated whatever mechanism was necessary. "Ho, travellers!"
AURUM: "You are travellers, right?"
AURUM: "You don't look like fiends."
Eidolon: "…sure!"
AURUM: "And fiends usually don't co-operate if I ask them to wait."
Ezekiel: "Bam!" Ezekiel points with both pointer fingers at the guard.
Nameless: "Well… you should associate with a more polite class of fiend."
Eidolon: "We've traveled here, and are appropriately un-fiendish enough by your estimate."
Nine just starts laughing at Ezekiel, almost out of control
AURUM: "Cool. If I opened the gate for fiends I'd probably get laughed at."
Ezekiel: "Almost definitely yeah."
AURUM: "That's… I mean. That's what the fiend door is for."
AURUM: "Not the gate."
Ezekiel: "Maybe even EATEN."
Nine doubles over laughing "T-this isn't even that funny…"
Solberg: "Anatomically speaking, no, I'm not a fiend."
Ezekiel: "Which is, generally bad."
Solberg looks down at Nine. "But it's been a while, right?"
Eidolon gives Nine a comforting pat on the back.
Nine stands up slowly after he stops "Y-yeah" he shakes his head "H-hi. Yeah we're travellers"
Eidolon: "Eidolon. Me, that is. And you are, good guard…?"
Ezekiel: "(Senile old mentor figure… check!)"
AURUM: "I, uh…"
AURUM: "Haha…"
AURUM: "This is going to be a little awkward, but, uh… well, I mean, first, welcome to _."
Eidolon: "Cat got your tongue?"
AURUM: "My name is _."
Solberg: "Come again?"
Ezekiel: "It's Doge, with one-a them fancy e's with them squiggles all over it, right?"
Eidolon: "I… " He shakes his head.
Eidolon: "I see."
Eidolon: "That's quite a case of the blanks."
Nameless: "…"
AURUM: Dogẽ stares at Ezekiel for a second in shock. "H-"
AURUM: "How did you do that?"
AURUM: "Who ARE you guys?"
Ezekiel: "Well I mean, it was obvious."
Nine raises an eyebrow, looks… Just exactly ahead for a moment "(Really, now? Are we playing this game?)" he shrugs "Apparently someone interesting"
Eidolon: "Mind if I stick to Doge? I'm no good with accents."
AURUM: "I'm not even sure how to PRONOUNCE this, but, shit, I don't care!" He runs up and picks Ezekiel up and hugs him, stopping just short of licking his face.
Nine: "Ezekiel want to be in charge of this or do I need to pull out the dictionary?"
Ezekiel: "God knows I was gunna." He pats the doge.
Ezekiel: "Charge of what?"
ClarafinaRosemont: "Traditionally, the naming of things is the dominion of the first man, not the last… no?"
Solberg: "And this is place is Evigheden, I take it?"
AURUM: He starts leading the group of you in to Evigheden - which ripples, becomes -different- in a subtle way, or has always been that way and you just see it now, the ripples spreading through the town at the speed of sound, with Solberg as the epicentre.
Nine for a moment was looking down at his book again, looking for something, but Solberg says it "Ah, pretty good"
Eidolon nods appreciably. "Not bad."
Solberg: "It seemed fitting."
Nameless‘ looks a little sad, but only for a moment. It’s good that this place now has a name.
Nine: "It's a beautiful town"
Nine: "It's… Pretty natural, too. I like it"
Nine: "I hope there haven't been any big problems looming around?"
Ezekiel: "Other than fiends, you mean?"
Nameless‘ glances up at the castle. "Heh."
Ezekiel: "Bet you a dollar there is!:
Eidolon: "Looming. Heh."
AURUM: A bunch of people come out of houses around the town, gathering together and then heading in the party’s direction; Dogẽ explains: "So, uh. Some time ago, a huge inkstorm rolled through, and when it cleared up, we… didn't have any laws any more! Or names, or… anything."
AURUM: "Nobody could remember whose house was whose, or keep track of time, anymore…"
Ezekiel: "Sounds rough."
Ezekiel smirks. Instantly removes it fomr his face.
Nameless: "Do as thou will shall be the whole of the law. Not… actually a bad system. If people are willing to act responsibly."
Eidolon: "How are you all holding up, despite?"
AURUM: "It's kind of a pain, but I mean, it's a pretty tiny village, it's not really that bad? It's kind of fun sometimes having dinner with random people."
Ezekiel pulls out the last peice of fruit from his jacket pocket and tosses it to Doge.
Nine stares at Nameless "People are often not"
Nameless‘ shrugs. "They should improve themselves, then."
Nine looks upwards "Did you see in which direction the ink went?"
Nine: "I mean, if it was a wave of ink, that washed the names away, maybe it dropped them off elsewhere"
AURUM: "Anyways, things were okay, but… some time after that, the castle showed up, and man, things have just been WEIRD since then-" -he catches the fruit and grins. "Hey, thanks! Haha, I get the feeling you’d like it here. But you guys are on a quest, right? Probably won't be stickin' around."
Eidolon: "Something like that. What's the story with the castle?"
Nine: "We're here to make sure everyone's fine and, prefferably, happy"
Nine: "As Eidolon said"
Eidolon: "Anything come and go? And you mentioned fiends?"
AURUM: "Anyways, uh, that's when the fiends started showing up…"
Ezekiel: "It's a story…" Ezekiel spreads his arms wide and wiggles his fingers, "Where anything…" his eyes go wide, "can happen!" and then gets bored and drops his arms and exagurated expression.
AURUM: "And that's… well. The closer you get to the castle, the weirder things are. Like… you imagine something, and it happens. People had to move away from the shorefront property because of the time one of 'em had a nightmare, and…" He shudders.
AURUM: "…basically, yeah."
Nine: "Not actually quite the best of circumstances"
Ezekiel: "Haha what a literally interruptation i love it, lets go."
Ezekiel starts walking towards the shore.
Nine: "I wonder if something in the castle is at fault. Is access to it difficult?"
Eidolon: "I'm pretty sure we could imagine ourselves having wings and fly up to it, really."
ClarafinaRosemont: "Has anyone here ever done any… siege warfare?"
AURUM: "The Sage has tried to get there a few times, but…"
Eidolon: "Yes, terribly boring stuff."
AURUM: "Even he's not strong enough."
Nine: "Hrm… Sounds like we should meet this Sage" he looks at Clarafina "I'd rather not get to that point, myself"
Eidolon: "Interesting. The Sage's title persisted?"
Solberg nods at Eidolon. "If the rest of whatever pops in our heads doesn't interfere."
AURUM: "I mean, he still had his hat on, so we all knew he was the Sage."
ClarafinaRosemont: "That's more or less how it works."
Ezekiel: "OH MAN hat based jobs!"
AURUM: "One time he tried giving the hat to someone else, to see if they'd be the Sage, then, but it didn't quite work out. He just started talking a lot and not making sense…"
Eidolon shrugs at Solberg. "If you must think of two things, then… go 'wings, then whiskey sours!'"
AURUM: "As opposed to talking a lot and not making sense, but being the Sage."
Nameless: "Sages are good at that, yes."
AURUM: "Maybe he didn't have enough XP or something?"
Ezekiel: "XP!!!!"
Eidolon: "I am very tempted to place a bet on the hat literally having 'The Sage' written on it."
Eidolon: "In fact, bet made. You're on, Doge."
Nine: "Hrm… A title is not a name, I presume. So it was probably ignored"
Nine: "Where does this sage lives?"
AURUM: "It's got, like, feathers and stuff?" He leads you to a house that has a bunch of snowmen around it in a circle.
AURUM: (Some of the snowmen have elaborate feathered hats, but it looks like whoever was doing that got bored halfway through.)
Ezekiel can relate.
Nine looks at the house, taking a deep breath. He looks over the snowmen one by one, then kind of shrugs to himself, and heads over to knock on the door
Eidolon waves at some of the gathered townspeople, if they're still following/closing in, and he closes ranks behind Nine.
AURUM: Dogẽ knocks on the door, and the Sage opens it! He's super short, with big adorable eyes and long pointy ears and a preposterous hat with a huge swooshy feather elaboration in the hatbrim. (It has 'the Sage' embroidered on the front of it rather half-assedly.)
Nameless‘ takes a hat off one of the snowmen. And puts it on Ezekiel.
Ezekiel spins the hat 90 degrees to the side.
Eidolon: "The Sage, I presume?"
Nine: "(Or that, that works)" he mostly whispers to himself, then nods to the sage, Eidolon says his phrase
Nameless: "Now it will certainly keep the sun out of your ear. Good job."
Ezekiel: "You know it."
AURUM: The Sage’s eyes light up delightedly. "Visitors! How wonderful!"
Solberg seems lost in thought for the moment, their mind still fixated on information that's been presented so far.
ClarafinaRosemont curtseys. "I agree!"
Solberg mutters something about tapirs.
AURUM: He hop-skips backwards and taruflails for you to come right in; there are normal-people-sized chairs, and a crackling fireplace.
Ezekiel: "Well alright."
Ezekiel mosies on in.
Eidolon brushes snow off of the ends of his coat before entering.
AURUM: There's an elaborate mural of a tapir along one wall, and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves along the other, then a fireplace, then a door into a kitchen. "I felt the village get its name back, and I knew you were finally here. It's delightful to meet you!"
AURUM: There's an awkward pause after he ends a word with -t, like he's trying to bite back a verbal tic.
Nine walks inside, he doesn't seems to clean himself of the snow before heading in "Seems like we were being expected"
Ezekiel: "It's true, everyone loves me."
Eidolon: "Ah, we were expected?" He takes a seat, crossing one leg over the other.
Nine: "I hope our timing has not left you vexed"
Solberg stares at the mural for a moment. Yup. Then shakes it off, returning to reality. So to speak.
AURUM: "Well, yes! Everyone knows visitors are how you solve winter-related problems."
AURUM: "So, I knew that if we just had faith and stuck together, visitors would show up eventually!"
Ezekiel takes a seat. "Grats!"
Eidolon: "Winter-related problems…" He brings a hand to his chin, and glances curiously at Clara.
Solberg: "Were you expecting us, or were we expecting you?"
ClarafinaRosemont smiles inscrutably at Eidolon.
Nine: "Hrm…" he sounds worried "That is… Well, I suppose it's a manner to lead one's life" he sighs "Still, if we are here, may as well help out. I suppose you know a manner in which to enter the castle?"
AURUM: To Solberg, with a huge grin: "Yes!"
Solberg: "Sort of a feedback loop going on, then."
AURUM: "And, uh, yes to that one too."
AURUM: "There's a powerful will inside the castle, bending reality to their will. I've given myself wings, I've launched myself out of a cannon at the castle…"
Eidolon smiles, taking it to heart, and he turns back to the Sage.
AURUM: "I've just got too much context weighing me down."
ClarafinaRosemont nods sagely at the sage.
ClarafinaRosemont: "Lucky for you, I'm an outside-of-context problem."
ClarafinaRosemont: "Shall we shatter it to its foundations?"
AURUM: "Mmm, I mean… I suppose definitionally that one will be up to you?"
Nine stares at Clarafina, then back at the Sage "I do believe we might as well be the solution you are looking for"
AURUM: "I say live and let live, myself. I'd rather be in this story than no story at all, after all."
Nameless: "Being in no story is a terrible way to be."
Nine: "It's a good story to be, certainly better than none. That, however, I reckon is the reason you cannot overcome your opponent's will"
Eidolon: "An interesting decision. Would seeing this story to its end also bring about its destruction, once closed?"
Nameless: "Or not be, as the case may b-… A man has reached the point where 'be' no longer seems like a real word."
Solberg: "Frozen in eternity, forever suspended. Instead of the other extreme, with perfectly distributed, randomized energy."
Nine looks at Eidolon "Of course not, that is not how stories work"
Nine: "As long as at least one soul is reminded of it, it continues alive. At times a bit weirdly so, but alive either way"
AURUM: "Mmm, you guys are good at this. Are you Sages too, or is this just… how Pure Hearts work?"
Ezekiel stages whispers "Faaaaan fictionnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn." to no one in particular.
Eidolon smiles widely, and leans back.
AURUM: "It's so amazing, to get to see this with my own eyes."
Nine: "Ezekiel gets it"
Eidolon: "To be in the company of such good souls."
Nameless: "From some suprising sources, depending on the writer."
Nameless‘ nods at Nine.
Nine: "It should be more common, shouldn’t it Eidolon?"
Ezekiel: "I have been called a Sage once or twice in my day, certainly."
Solberg: "Just an agent."
Ezekiel cross one leg over the other, smokes an invisible pipe.
AURUM: "Anyways, I'm not worried about what'll happen to us after you've moved on. I can't even say 'I remember last Firesday, and you weren't here then', because we don't even have a solid sense of time here, anymore. It's pretty silly, so why bother worrying about it?"
ClarafinaRosemont strolls out to stare down the castle.
Nine: "Well, I suppose we don't have some time for tea before we head onwards? I'd love to spend some more time here after we are done with this particular problem, but I wouldn't know what would happen once we are done"
Ezekiel: "A good policy, really."
Ezekiel: "Oh are we finally going to the fun part? Cool." Ezekiel slides out of his chair then chases after Clara.
Nameless: "A man will make some tea later, Nine. He simply has not had the time."
Nine nods "I suppose" he stands up, nods to Sage, and starts going after the rest of the party
AURUM: The Sage follows the party out, towards the beach.
Nameless‘ walks after the others, looking up at the castle.
Ezekiel holds both hands out in front of himself as they near the water’s edge. "Cheese burger and some fries, yo."
AURUM: The castle looms in the sky, silhouetted against the static-grey sky like a caliginous portent of doom. Or, you know, just a black omen.
AURUM: A cheeseburger and fries pop into Ezekiel's hands, obligingly; he spills a few of the latter.
Solberg: "Looks nice today."
Ezekiel: "Wait, shit! No table. Put the fries inside the burger!"
Nine: "I would suggest more caution, Ezekiel. Attempting to create things without knowledge of how they are made can lead to rather unpleasant consequences" he looks up at the castle
Nine: "As you just noticed"
Solberg: "So what's the story behind that tapir on the mural?"
ClarafinaRosemont takes a step forward, and a black ribbon rises up from the water to meet the bottom of her feet. She takes another, and there is another- she ascends them like stairs, stopping three steps up.
AURUM: Ezekiel: The resulting food item may be noneuclidean. You're not sure. It's probably still tasty, though?
Ezekiel: "Bro where I come from we have things called 'computers' and no one knows how they work but we use 'em every day anyway."
Ezekiel takes a bite, process a second… YUP STILL EDIBLE. Om nom.
Nine: "I do believe you are the only one who does not"
AURUM: The Sage looks thoughtful. "I just… felt like painting a tapir one day? Doesn't that happen to everyone?"
Nameless‘ clasps his hands behind his back, watching vague shapes appear and dissapear around him. There are *a lot* of cute girls. Also a puppet?
Eidolon: "Maybe it came to you in a dream, as inspiration."
ClarafinaRosemont turns around and offers a hand.
ClarafinaRosemont: "…Are you coming?"
AURUM: A shimmering, lovely, and fashionable staircase of black ribbon, stretching up into the stormclouds. The Sage claps, appreciatively.
Nine looks upwards, scratches his head. He pulls out his book again, flipping through it "Now, allow me to test this" he certainly knows exactly how to build an structurally sound elevator. He looks at Clarafina, back down to his book "You certain like risks, don’t you?"
Solberg: "A tapir ouroboros, devouring dreams and itself."
Ezekiel: "I duno I figured you'd do a thing to get us up while I was eating." Said between bites, of course.
ClarafinaRosemont tilts her head. "Risks?" She laughs. "…Race you!"
Ezekiel: "Maybe make it all escilator like or something."
Eidolon: "Stop, you're making me hungry, and I'll have to focus on not-that."
Ezekiel: "I can think you up a pizza or something if you want, ain't even hard."
Nine: "Such a bold-hearted approach with no foresight can often backfire, and second chances are rare" he puts a foot down on the ground, the metal walls of an small tower form, reinforced, an elevator upwards "Oh, no, you won already" he enters, and beckons Ezekiel in, because that man's lazy
Nameless‘ hands Eidolon a… well its a tortilla wrapped around something. But it smells pretty good.
Ezekiel: "Like," And there’s a pizza box in front of Eidolon now. "Bam."
AURUM: "That sounds terrifying, to be honest."
Eidolon shakes his head- then he accepts the tortilla, and then he looks at the pizza box.
Eidolon: "I'm good, really!" He laughs.
ClarafinaRosemont skips up in a spiral around the elevator. Depending on the height, she might even reach the Omen first!
Ezekiel steps into the elevator.
Nameless‘ takes the stairs. He wouldn’t want the princess to feel her gift was unappreciated.
Eidolon: "To the skies with you all!" He billows his coat, and imagines the ground taking off with them- part of the shore taking the shape of a ship, with propeller turbines and maybe a sail, even though that makes no sense.
Solberg trudges into the elevator behind Nine, keeping their thoughts clear of anything but the tapir. A dream eater that winks out of this existence before anyone has a chance to notice, because it, itself, is a dream.
Nine: "I sure hope there's some more constancy in our future"
Ezekiel: "Hmm yes… elevator takes the ground up with it… good."
AURUM: The ground itself gloriously shapes itself to Eidolon's will, carrying the airship into the sky, becoming an elaborately decorated airship docking tower; everything is, for a brief moment, just the way it should be.
AURUM: The elevator rises up into the sky; the ribbon staircase winds around it, playfully -
Nine is aware all this stands to fail at any moment now, he remains focused, he is not aware what sense of his might be able to notice something happened, to he remains attentive to all of them
Ezekiel: "OH shit right," Ezekiel finishes off the burger-fry abomination, then wipes his hands off on his pants, "before I forget!" He scrunches up his face just a little, thinking of a manual. "how i fite fiend"
Ezekiel: "Er shit I ment mine but whatever."
AURUM: Everyone except Solberg feels something that can only be considered /resistance/ to their dreams - another will interceding, pushing back against theirs with a force equal and opposite to the strength of their imagination.
AURUM: Little inaccuracies - the wood in the deck of the airship; the elevator buttons all saying they get off at the thirteenth floor; the ribbon going pink and frilly and preposterous.
Ezekiel: "Yeah that's why I'm gettin' the manual!!"
AURUM: Flickering, back and forth, between your dream and the other.
AURUM: A manual drops into Ezekiel's hand, but it's got lies in it, sprinkled in, and you're not sure which of the statements are true.
ClarafinaRosemont pauses to let a seagull past. "…But is a pink, frilly, preposterous dream so bad…?" - ANd continues on.
Nine knew this was going to happen. He closes his eyes, keeping his focus. Imagination is a great gift, but reality is often far more strange, he reminds himself of that. He's seen reality, and he remembers himself of how it can be. Dreams are only worth something if you are willing to make them turn true.
Nameless‘ hardly notices the pressure, letting it pass by like spiritual aikido. It doesn’t matter whose dream it is, really… He's walked through entire worlds made by other people. This is barely even a footnote.
Nine smiles
Ezekiel leans against the elevator side, skimming through it.
Eidolon: "(Go ahead then, will, you can put a bit of panache into it if you want.)"
AURUM: Starting from the elevator - it's impossible to tell exactly where in the elevator it started - there's an unfurling, beautiful golden light.
AURUM: It touches all of your dreams, and gives them form.
AURUM: For a second, you weren't sure you were going to make it, the closer to the elevator you got, but the golden light breaks through, carrying infinity in its wake.
Nine is certain they are goign to make it to the castle. Because they're there to ensure it will happen. It shouldn't be much longer now
AURUM: At once, the elevator dings, the black ribbon finds purchase on obsidian stonework, and the airship docks.
Ezekiel: "What the fuck is… oh charlie in the chocolate factory, that's it nevermind."
Nine walks out the door once it opens "Well, that was certainly some exercise of the sorts I have not expected to do, but it worked"
Ezekiel slips out of the elevator and into the castle.
Nine heads onwards after Ezekiel
Ezekiel: "You just gotta belieeeveeeee."
Eidolon steps from the bow onto the floating bits of land. He tries really hard to not envision an entire factory made of chocolate. "
AURUM: The storm rages around you, black and purple; the castle is obsidian and brass, flywheels whirling, gears turning.
ClarafinaRosemont hops down onto the fortress floor. She draws the axe from her ba - Oh, did I not mention it? She's carrying an axe.
Solberg: "… Please do not make me recall that film."
Ezekiel: "Too late it's already stuck in your mind."
Ezekiel: "Shit now I want gobbstoppers."
Nameless: "Don't think of a purple hippopotamus."
Eidolon: "I don't know what you're talking about but keep it up and they might end up raining from the sky."
Solberg: "I have a tapir that can erase it."
Ezekiel: "They're these really good little hard candies"
Solberg concentrates on -that- image again. In. Out. In. Out. A mental vacuum.
Eidolon: "Which I'm going to avoid by doing this-" He advances, gliding forward, towards a porticullis.
Ezekiel: "With little chew bits on the inside of the layers of outer shells."
Nine looks at the storm, and the way onto the castle. He goes after Eidolon
AURUM: A statue dressed with the Sage's headdress walks out from a shadowy hallway, blocking Eidolon, and speaks with an, unfortunately, gravelly voice: "You should not be here. This is not a place for mortality."
Nameless: "Some of us are less mortal than others."
ClarafinaRosemont laughs. "I'll go where I please!"
Ezekiel: "Steal 'es hat!"
Eidolon: "I have a habit of being where I'm not supposed to."
Nine: "Regardless of the princess' rudeness, we do have a reason to be here, wether we belong here or not"
AURUM: "You do not understand. It would be… better for you, if you turned back."
Nine: "It appears that you are causing a lot of problems, which we must solve
Eidolon: "And how is that?"
Nine: "Or well, one specific problem"
Ezekiel: "It cool I got a manual." He holds it up.
AURUM: "You seek the answers to questions that should not have been asked, and should not be answered."
Ezekiel: "Huh?"
Solberg bristles. For once, they seem animated. "According to what standard?"
Ezekiel: "No I'm pretty sure,"
AURUM: "There can be no bridge between the world of fiends and the world of the living."
Ezekiel: "My question is one you are supposed to ask."
AURUM: "This rule is written on the stone at the heart of the world."
Ezekiel: "It's featured heavily in commercials!"
Eidolon: "I don't think you won any friends with that argument. I feel like we're quite the stubborn lot."
Ezekiel: "And it's probably not even hard to answer."
ClarafinaRosemont: "Didn't you hear me…? I, and my cohorts…"
Nine: "There is… No question that should not be asked. No answer that should not be given"
ClarafinaRosemont: "…We go where we please!"
Nine: "Only actions that should not be taken, for good reason"
ClarafinaRosemont draws her axe and dashes in!
Nine: "Why was this rule written?"
Nine grabs Clarafine by the collar
Ezekiel glance between Clara and Nine, flips back and forth between a few pages in the book.
AURUM: He claps his hands together, and a huge statue of midnight-blue stone lumbers out from behind him where he came from; laws of creation are chiseled into the second statue's body, covering every available space.
Nine: "Don't be so hasty in wielding your axe. Do you know how important this one may be to the future? And wether or not he may be the last of his kind?"
Ezekiel: "Dude I'm pretty sure we're in a shitty RPG and the answer is definitely always 'kill everything in your way'. Just sayin'."
ClarafinaRosemont skids to a stop, her coat pulling her back.
Eidolon: "'Kill' is such a strong word."
Nine: "Essentially, if we are defying what is apparently one of the inner laws of this world"
Nine: "Should we not begin by defying them all?"
Ezekiel: "No one says defeat, it's more sounds than kill."
AURUM: "The Gods were bound by the laws of creation, such that all life would be raised up from sorrow and death by their directed grace."
Nine: "If that is the answer, then clearly in order to achieve an objective outside the scope of this world, it must not be the answer we reach"
AURUM: "Shall we mourn for them?"
Nameless: "But it is sometimes an important difference."
AURUM: "Shall we awaken, and leave the laws of the world unbroken?"
Solberg draws their baton, crackling with electricity, and eyes the 'Sage' up and down. "Hm. Judeo-Christian imagery. At least, popular imagery. But I hear the second edition is penned in fire."
Nameless: "As there are lots of people that will tell you that a man was killed. But he was simply… defeated."
Ezekiel: "Oh my goooood."
Nine: "Hrm… That is a little bit to unclear for my tastes"
ClarafinaRosemont offers a sympathetic look in Ezekiel's direction.
Ezekiel: "Yeah this is definitely 'kill me i'm not important' banter, Nine. It's cool don't worry about it."
Eidolon nods at Peregrine, smiling. "You get it."
Nine: "'Such that all life would be raised up from sorrow and death by their directed grace', what is such grace?"
Nine: "Hrm… If you would then grant me a favor and simply shove him aside?"
AURUM: He claps his hands again, and three more statues pour out of the hallway, one with a bow, their back painted with a red symbol of dishonour and its legs chained together to prevent its escape; the two others headless, carrying spears.
Nine: "I don't like seeing death"
Ezekiel: "He's even calling in adds!!"
Ezekiel: "No question at all yo."
AURUM: He bows to Ezekiel. "The laws must be followed."
Nine sighs "No"
Nine: "But let's do this, anyway" he pulls out his book from his coat
Solberg: "Or in the case of unjust and faulty laws - rewritten. Amended."
ClarafinaRosemont tosses her coat away through the air and twirls, her dress shedding a few crow-feathers. Her axe glints.
AURUM: He then intones a syllable that changes the world: You feel like you're falling forward, the world is swirling, breaking; actions constrained, out of infinite possibilities, a strict progression of cause and effect, a simplification, a contest, between your will and your enemy's:
Eidolon: "Let's be on with it. I haven't had a good tussle in gods know how long."
AURUM: Battle order: Clarafina [F]:34 Solberg [B]:36 Tochzori [B]:38 Nine [B]:39 Ezekiel [F]:39 Eidolon [B]:41 Peregrine [F]:41 Pilari B [F]:41 Pilari A [F]:42 Coruscati [B]:43 Ziggurat Man [F]:43
Solberg bows, almost in apology for their more hasty comrades. "Be assured, we break them only with the intent to reform them."
Eidolon: "So! I'll be nice and ask first- does anyone have a cup of mana to spare?"
Ezekiel tilts his head towards Clara.
ClarafinaRosemont extends her palm towards the Coruscati. [Black Spot in CT15!]
Nine: "Sorry, i'm just an engineer"
AURUM: Solberg!
Ezekiel: "Well then you're IN LUCK."
Ezekiel gestures towards Nine with the manual, "it's basically all just math."
Solberg takes aim at something with a pool cue. [Solid Pulse, CT15]
Ezekiel: "Baton and a… cue stick?"
Eidolon: "Is it that uncommon?"
Ezekiel: "Unless she's a stripper I guess."
Eidolon sadly shakes his head. "In this place of wills, wouldn't it be more likely of a pool player?"
Ezekiel: "I didn't say it was likely, I said it was weird 'cause I figured it wasn't!"
Ezekiel: "Anyway it's a weird combo but whatevs."
Teakwood: Anyways, the Tochzori - the bow-field - takes aim at Clarafina, with a shimmering red sigil forming in front of their arrow as they fire! [Hex Shot]
Teakwood rolled 1d100 and got 29 ( Total: 29 ) for 80
Teakwood rolled d10+96 and got 2 ( Total: 98 )
ClarafinaRosemont takes the arrow in the side, pausing to pluck it out. [68].
Teakwood: Dealing [98] ranged physical damage; until the Tochzori's next turn, conditions striking Clarafina receive +1 to their timers!
Ezekiel: "Handy, it's even in a different color."
AURUM: Battle order: Nine [B]:0 Ezekiel [F]:0 Eidolon [B]:2 Peregrine [F]:2 Pilari B [F]:2 Pilari A [F]:3 Coruscati [B]:4 Ziggurat Man [F]:4 Clarafina [F]:10 Solberg [B]:12 Tochzori [B]:49
AURUM: Nine!
Nine walks forward towards Pillari A, pulling his book out of his coat again. He simply strikes the fiend with the spine of the book [Attack, 40D]
Nine rolled 1d100 and got 27 ( Total: 27 )
Nine rolled 1d8+72 and got 1 ( Total: 73 )
AURUM: Whack!
Ezekiel: "So… magic user. Okay."
Nine seems content enough, something akin to a glowing panel lights up on the book's spine
Ezekiel: "Oh I'm up."
Ezekiel: "Uhh."
[OOC] Nine: HP: 500/500, [TMP: 80] MP: 550/550, SoS: 125 - Charge[20%] (U)
AURUM: Deals [73] damage to Pilari A!
Nine: "Little different. I'm an engineer, not a sorceror. I actually need materials"
Ezekiel runs forward, pulling a switch blade out from his jacket, flips it open, then slams it into Pillari A, before spinning it around to the party. [After Me] [47D]
Ezekiel rolled 1d100 and got 66 ( Total: 66 ) for 80
Ezekiel rolled d8+81,150% and got 8 ( Total: 133.5 ) for pow strike. also next one to hit it deals +30%
Eidolon: "Let's make this fast!" He shoots out a hand- a burst of magic in a dense ball rockets toward Pillari A! [SA - Big Bang]
Eidolon rolled 1d12+180,130 and got 8 ( Total: 244.4 ) for +30% from After Me, paid 60 MP for bigger damage
A spectacular explosion! A tiny white star lingers, and dissipates.
AURUM: Ezekiel deals [133] damage, followed up by a hit for [244] that blasts it ito pieces!
AURUM: The other Pilari stares at where the first one used to be with a look of obvious jealousy.
Nine stares at the other Pilari "Are you bound?"
Ezekiel: "Yeeeeeah that's how math works."
AURUM: There's a flickering golden light, spreading out from Nine's chest, and suddenly you're intuitively aware of the ebb and flow of the life force of fiends…
AURUM: Battle order: Eidolon [B]:0 Peregrine [F]:0 Pilari B [F]:0 Coruscati [B]:2 Ziggurat Man [F]:2 Clarafina [F]:8 Solberg [B]:10 Nine [B]:38 Ezekiel [F]:45 Tochzori [B]:47
AURUM: Status for Coruscati : [==========]
AURUM: Status for Tochzori : [==========]
AURUM: Status for Ziggurat Man : [==========]
AURUM: Status for Pilari B : [==========]
AURUM: Eidolon! Peregrine!
[OOC] Eidolon: teak humor me with descriptions for the non pilaris so I know what name goes to what body
ClarafinaRosemont: Tochzori carry bows, their backs painted red with a symbol of dishonor.
AURUM: The Ziggurat Man! Ambling statues of midnight-blue stone. Banded gaps are carved into them from their shoulders up, giving them the impression of stepped pyramids - or a person sheared into ribbons.
AURUM: The Tochzori… well, what Clara said!
AURUM: And then that leaves the Coruscati as the statue that originally spoke of laws.
Nine grins, and sighs, it's not sad actually. At any rate "Math, honestly, almost doesn't works, Ezekiel"
Ezekiel: "Sure it does."
AURUM: Pilari B is glowing red!
Ezekiel: "Comedic relief plus hero equals dead monster. Boom."
AURUM: Status for Pilari B : [==========] Jealousy(1)
Nameless‘ takes a few graceful steps and that massive sword is suddenly a whirling blur of steel through the air… and through Pilum B. [Setting Tinder, 60D]
Nameless` rolled 1d100 and got 77 ( Total: 77 ) for 85/5
Nameless` rolled 1d12+150 and got 11 ( Total: 161.0 ) for and +20 Crit on my next action. Shifted to Earth stance.
Eidolon: "I may as well give it my all." His body dims, and there’s a hiss of discomfort. [Backfeed] [-100 HP] [+160 TMP] [Quick Action] He points at the Coruscati, and a third eye opens up on his forehead! (It has a one-eye domino mask.) [Oracle Energy, CT 10]
As Nameless' is about to land the strike, he notices something just ahead of him- It's shaped oddly, and it beeps once. As he lands the strike, an explosion on Pilari B! [Interrupt Charge - S.A.]
Nine rolled 1d100 and got 96 ( Total: 96 ) for 80 CoS
Also rolled 1d8+72 and got 5 [Total: 77]
[OOC] Sugarlips: Grand Total: 173
[OOC] Nine: That could miss, it's cool
AURUM: Peregrine deals [161]!
AURUM: And then there's an explosion! It's very cool looking, but nothing really happens…
AURUM: (maybe he's a fireworks engineer?)
AURUM: Pilari B rushes towards Clarafina and tries to impale her with its spear!
AURUM rolled 1d100 and got 16 ( Total: 16 )
AURUM rolled d12+120 and got 9 ( Total: 129 )
[OOC] ClarafinaRosemont: Jealousy!
ClarafinaRosemont buckles from the force of the blow. Crow feathers scatter!
AURUM: Haha yeah, I remembered that as soon as I hit the 'Enter' key. Haha, oops! ^^; Deals +40% damage, for [180], and the spear's left in - Clarafina takes +20% magical damage for (3) increased to (4) turns!
ClarafinaRosemont: "Hffsh…"
Solberg: "Got you covered. … Sort of."
Ezekiel: "Man your uh…"
Eidolon: "Oh my."
Ezekiel: "Your dress is not especially well made for being a princess. Just keeps kinda… all over the place, you know?"
Ezekiel: "Also save your assist for a bit."
AURUM: The Coruscati reaches out both hands, and rays of piercing light sweep across the battlefield as it imposes a law upon the world! [Interception Ray - Triggers on actions that do not target the Coruscati!]
Ezekiel: "Oh shit that's right!"
[OOC] Ezekiel: The Party's Assists Deal +10% Damage Per Enemy Slain, I Have A Passive
AURUM: The Coruscati's plates glow brightly! [Extreme Judgement - the Coruscati takes +20% damage until its next turn!]
Eidolon: "I had to jump on that tasty bonus before."
Ezekiel: "Oh no I ment Clara specifically."
Eidolon: "SO alluring!"
Eidolon: "Ah, fair enough!"
ClarafinaRosemont runs a hand through her hair.
AURUM: The Ziggurat Man opens its mouth really wide and bites down on Eidolon's metaphysics!
AURUM rolled 1d100 and got 48 ( Total: 48 ) for 80
Eidolon: "As well as yourself, princes- yow!"
AURUM rolled d12+120,75% and got 9 ( Total: 96.75 )
AURUM: Dealing [96] physical damage and eating his language (3) - you can't fit words together quite, and spell CTs are increased by 10!
Ezekiel: "Clara? Clarafina? Duno what the hell you prefer."
ClarafinaRosemont: "What's in a name…?"
Ezekiel: "I don't remember the lines to that play, sorry."
Nameless: "More than most people realize."
Ezekiel: "It's kind of boring without the dumb movie adaptation adds swords and muscle cars."
[OOC] Ezekiel: adding^
ClarafinaRosemont points towards the Coruscati and snaps her fingers, and black ribbons shoot up towards it, binding its ankles and arms [Black Spot - 35D]
Ezekiel: "Er, guns. Guns called swords."
Nine: "I am certain you will be able to string that full sequence at some point, Ezekiel"
ClarafinaRosemont rolled 1d10*1.2+84*1.2 and got 10 ( Total: 112.8 ) for My judgement's extreme, too! [BLACK SPOT (4): Luck expenditures vs. that target are doubled (4)]
ClarafinaRosemont: "Would not a Rosemont by any other name smell as sweet…?"
AURUM: Is that physical or magical damage?
ClarafinaRosemont: Magical!
Ezekiel: "Do you really want people sniffing you to check?"
Ezekiel: "Anyway I'm guess that means you don't particularly care either way."
ClarafinaRosemont: "Come crawling over and we'll see~!"
Nameless: "That is the typical royal greeting isn't it?"
Ezekiel: "Uh."
Ezekiel: "No?"
AURUM: A shimmering shield protects the Coruscati, and it takes [82] damage!
Nameless: "Mm. It should be."
AURUM: Battle order: Eidolon [B]:0 Solberg [B]:0 Nine [B]:28 Clarafina [F]:33 Ezekiel [F]:35 Tochzori [B]:37 Coruscati [B]:42 Peregrine [F]:50 Pilari B [F]:50 Ziggurat Man [F]:52
AURUM: Status for Coruscati : [======== ] Intercepting(1) Extreme Judgement(1) Black Spot(4)
AURUM: Status for Tochzori : [==========]
AURUM: Status for Ziggurat Man : [==========]
AURUM: Status for Pilari B : [===== ]
AURUM: Eidolon and Solberg!
Solberg strikes a white orb, and it bounces off of various surfaces in the area to eventually hit Clarafina. [Solid Pulse (6), heal 50 HP after each action.]
[OOC] Solberg: also 35D
Eidolon: "Own ahtt's ym inkd fo oryatly." The Third Eye blinks, and a ray of light penetrates the Coruscati! [Oracle Energy, 35D]
Eidolon rolled 1d8+120 and got 2 ( Total: 122 ) for magical damage
[OOC] AURUM: hold on a sec
Ezekiel: "Ya'll're weird."
AURUM: With a screaming whine, [Interception Ray] goes off on Solberg! Divine retaliation!
AURUM rolled d12+288 and got 10 ( Total: 298 )
AURUM: Inflicting [298] magical damage!
[OOC] ClarafinaRosemont: Boosted by Extreme Judgement for 122*1.2 146 damage btw
[OOC] Solberg: O_o
[OOC] ClarafinaRosemont: The Oracle Energy, I mean
[OOC] Solberg: HP: 382/600, MP: 520/600, LP: 8/8, SoS: 150
A star lingers on the Coruscati. [Marked!] [This does nothing, mechanically, except allow me to target the enemy with specific attacks.]
[OOC] AURUM: Ehh it happens on the same tick, I'll allow it
Ezekiel: "l-o-l that's funny."
Eidolon shakes his head rubs his forehead as the third eye closes and disappears, mask and all.
Eidolon: "Shit langugea csmralber si amking ti hrda to aetectorcnn…"
Nine: "That last word escapes me, but I don't doubit it would make life harder"
Ezekiel slides in behind Eidolon's magic clast and explosion happening elsewhere to make EVEN MROE THINGS HAPPEN AT ONCE. [Assist Strike]
Ezekiel rolled 1d100 and got 85 ( Total: 85 )
Ezekiel miss
AURUM: The Coruscati takes [116] damage!
Ezekiel HAS LUCK THOUGh
Nine pulls out a spherical object from his coat, it fits on his hand. He tosses his book upwards, in his hand remaining a chip shining a dim gold light. He inserts the chip on the object, then pulls out another object, it's like a vial containing two differently-colored liquids. He inserts the vial in the object, it fits perfectly. He twists the top. It's a grenade. [Demolisher-Firebomb,
Nine CT20]
Ezekiel SPENDS ONE
AURUM: Guys!
AURUM: Guys!
AURUM: I'm…
Ezekiel rolled d8+91,170% and got 4 ( Total: 161.5 )
Ezekiel: Don't look at me I interrupted julian's the one hitting fastforward!!
AURUM: I'm really new at this, okay? I'm trying to do the best I can, here! But, it'd make me really happy if you waited until I called out names before you took your turn…
[OOC] Nine: Alright i'm sorry
AURUM: Those are the rules, y'know? It'd just… it'd make my job a lot easier. Narrating is hard work! <3
AURUM: It's okay~. <3
AURUM: Anyways…
Eidolon gives the narrative a comforting pat. "(Anhg ni etrhe!)"
Nine bows his head in shame, was a bit too excited
AURUM: The Coruscati takes [161] from Ezekiel's valiant strike!
AURUM: It's in SoS!
AURUM: Battle order: Clarafina [F]:0 Eidolon [B]:2 Solberg [B]:2 Ezekiel [F]:2 Tochzori [B]:4 Coruscati [B]:9 Nine [B]:15 Peregrine [F]:17 Pilari B [F]:17 Ziggurat Man [F]:19
AURUM: Status for Coruscati : [= ] Star Marked(U) Extreme Judgement(1) Black Spot(4)
AURUM: Status for Tochzori : [==========]
AURUM: Status for Ziggurat Man : [==========]
AURUM: Status for Pilari B : [===== ]
Eidolon: "Eyh, tel em inhfis ti off. It'll lopxdee before its txen rutn!"
AURUM: Clarafina!
ClarafinaRosemont slips behind the Coruscati, climbs up its back, and - SLICE! [50D]
ClarafinaRosemont rolled 1d100 and got 18 ( Total: 18 ) for 80/10
AURUM: Ouch!
ClarafinaRosemont decapitates it [1 luck] and reclines upon its shoulders, running her finger-tip over the clean cut she made along its neck.
ClarafinaRosemont: ..The ribbons keep it upright, you see.
Eidolon shrugs and shakes his head.
ClarafinaRosemont rolled 1d10*2.2+120*2.2 and got 1 ( Total: 266.2 )
Ezekiel: "Yeah okay that's."
AURUM: Oh! Oh my goodness. How… transgressive! Motes of moonlight drift onto Clarafina's shoulders.
Ezekiel: "That's not weird at all."
ClarafinaRosemont: "Aren't classical statues often… headless?"
Nine: "I see… Clarafina that is inadvisable. Please be cautious"
ClarafinaRosemont: "Remind me to never take your advice."
Ezekiel: "Hell if I know."
ClarafinaRosemont: "Well…" She looks down. "This one is."
AURUM: Well, um. Anyways, the Coruscati's definitely dead now.
AURUM: But the battle rages on! Pilari B glows red with [Jealousy]!
Eidolon: "Rmsiesipve ttheear, tcxeep het ctsu era lear nad the rbbions arne't oarudn ebuoqust."
AURUM: Battle order: Eidolon [B]:2 Solberg [B]:2 Ezekiel [F]:2 Tochzori [B]:4 Nine [B]:15 Peregrine [F]:17 Pilari B [F]:17 Ziggurat Man [F]:19 Clarafina [F]:50
AURUM: Status for Tochzori : [==========]
AURUM: Status for Ziggurat Man : [==========]
AURUM: Status for Pilari B : [===== ] Jealousy(1)
AURUM: Eidolon, Solberg!
Solberg lines up another shot. Quicker, this time. [Pulse, 2 Luck for CT 15->5]
Eidolon: "Elt's trsat gaain." The third eye opens again, peering at the Ziggurat Man. [Oracle Energy, CT20]
AURUM: Ezekiel, too!
Ezekiel glances between the Ziggurat and the Pilari a few times.
Ezekiel: "Hey your stance dropped right?"
[OOC] Solberg: gentle reminder for clarafina to remember pulse
Ezekiel: "Hm no it didn't haha this thing has a battlelog how cool is that."
ClarafinaRosemont regenerates a little. "Ah! Thank you."
Ezekiel runs forward, stabbing into the Ziggurat Man. [Forward Assault] [40D]
Ezekiel rolled 1d100 and got 64 ( Total: 64 ) for 80
AURUM: The Ziggurat Man stares at Ezekiel. "we are bound eternally to the wheel of law, statues are not carved with eyelids" , like that's a fucking answer.
Ezekiel rolled d8+91 and got 6 ( Total: 97 ) for Assist Strike On This And Do +20% And Gain 80 HP
Ezekiel: Er,
Ezekiel: more like 116 I JUST MENTIONED THE STANCE
[OOC] ClarafinaRosemont: S.A!
Solberg banks a shot through the Ziggurat M - or not
ClarafinaRosemont rolls off the Coruscati's corpse, landing with her axe embedded in the Ziggurat Man from above.
ClarafinaRosemont rolled 1d100 and got 27 ( Total: 27 ) for 80/10
ClarafinaRosemont splits it in two. [2 luck.]
AURUM: Ezekiel deals [97]!
[OOC] ClarafinaRosemont: Is that +20% including Domino Effect?
[OOC] Eidolon: it is not
[OOC] ClarafinaRosemont: so total of +40%~
ClarafinaRosemont rolled 1d10*2.4+120*2.4 and got 4 ( Total: 297.6 )
Nine raises his left hand up, finally his book comes down from where he's thrown it. He lowers it, and a brilliant red zone appears under the enemy front line "Please clear the blast zone" that was probably aimed at Clarafina
AURUM: Dealing [297], which is almost but not quite enough - there's a massive crack in the statue, and it starts thrumming a mantra as old as the universe.
ClarafinaRosemont bustles away from the blast zone, then, picking up her axe.
AURUM: Battle order: Tochzori [B]:0 Solberg [B]:3 Nine [B]:11 Peregrine [F]:13 Pilari B [F]:13 Ziggurat Man [F]:15 Eidolon [B]:18 Ezekiel [F]:38 Clarafina [F]:46
AURUM: Status for Tochzori : [==========]
AURUM: Status for Ziggurat Man : []
AURUM: Status for Pilari B : [===== ] Jealousy(1)
Ezekiel: "Sad-trombone dot wave."
ClarafinaRosemont: "I tried!"
AURUM: A symbol made of fire glows in the air in front of the Tochzori! [Ruinfire CT 15]
AURUM: Solberg, now!
Eidolon: "I eawsr I nod't dnseurtdna flah teh tngihs that mcoe tou of rouy hmuto. But ti -si- gsaiunm."
Ezekiel: "'hmuto'?
Ezekiel: "Oh wait nevermind."
Solberg banks a shot that ricochets between the scattered statues - this one eventually strikes Solberg's back. [Pulse, 40D! Heals 80 per turn (4)]
Ezekiel: "It's like,"
AURUM: Nine!
Ezekiel cups a hand over his mouth, opening and closing it as he makes the noises, "wha, whaa, whaaaaa…."
Eidolon laughs.
Solberg: "I don't understand half the nights anyone says, really."
Nine throws the grenade gently upwards, it arcs until it hits the ground- The entire front row erupts in flame! [Demolisher-Firebomb, 40D]
Nine rolled 1d10+150,120 and got 6 ( Total: 187.2 )
[OOC] Nine: Also: 40 damage after acting(4)
AURUM: Pow!
AURUM: …KABOOM!
AURUM: There's dust and chunks of rock everywhere…
AURUM: And then the dust clears…
AURUM: And the Tochzori in the back is the only thing left standing.
[OOC] Ezekiel: Oh Shit It's +40% On Assists Now
Nine walks on ahead, through the smoke and flame, until he stand where the front row once was. He picks something out of the air, grasping it with his entire hand, he turns around and heads back to the party [mist Condenser]
AURUM: Back Row's Exposed!
AURUM: Battle order: Peregrine [F]:0 Tochzori [B]:2 Eidolon [B]:5 Ezekiel [F]:25 Solberg [B]:30 Clarafina [F]:33 Nine [B]:38
AURUM: Status for Tochzori : [==========]
AURUM: Peregrine!
Nameless‘ spins, tassels on the vest swinging in a miniature echo of the steel in his hand as he slices into the Tochizori. [Moth Dance, 60D]
Nameless` rolled 1d100 and got 14 ( Total: 14 ) for 75/55
Nine: "Hrm… It still worries me, are they bound? They appear to work regardless of their will
Nameless` rolled 1d12+180,200% and got 1 ( Total: 362.0 )
AURUM: Crits flashily and dramatically for [362]! The Tochzori seems to welcome its oncoming demise!
AURUM: It’s enough to earn the target of that spell it was charging - an arrow made of flame sears through the air!
AURUM rolled d12+90 and got 9 ( Total: 99 )
Nine stares at the Tochzori "What sort of being accepts strikes just like that?
AURUM: Dealing [99] magical damage to Peregrine, and the fire clings to him (4) - Enemy CoSes are at +10, not that it matters.
AURUM: Something about all of these stone fiends seems terribly sad…
AURUM: Eidolon!
Eidolon retargets to the Tchzori, and a beam shoots forward from his third eye! [Oracle Energy, 35D]
Eidolon rolled 1d12+120 and got 12 ( Total: 132 ) for magical damage
A star lingers on the statue, probably not for very much longer. [Marked.]
[This does nothing, mechanically, except allow me to target the enemy with specific attacks.]
AURUM: I don't think I trust you!
[When have I ever led you astray?]
AURUM: Deals [132]!
AURUM: Ezekiel!
Ezekiel moves in to attack the archer dude! [Forward Assault] [40D]
Ezekiel rolled 1d100 and got 31 ( Total: 31 ) for 80
Ezekiel rolled d8+91 and got 4 ( Total: 95 ) for Assist Strike Off This for +20%dmg and Gain 80 HP [And Also +40% from Dominio Effect Lol]
AURUM: It's in SOS!
Nameless‘ will assist strike that! [A Sudden Spark]
Nameless` rolled 1d100 and got 34 ( Total: 34 ) for 85/5
Nameless` rolled 1d12+150,120 and got 4 ( Total: 184.79999999999998 )
AURUM: Aaaaaaaand smash.
[OOC] Nine: It’s +60, +20 from Forward Assault and +40 from Domino Effect
AURUM: With an audible sigh of freedom and release, the Tochzori falls, and the spell is broken.
[OOC] Nameless: oh well shit
Nameless‘ rolled 1d12+150,160 and got 1 ( Total: 241.60000000000002 ) for there you go then
AURUM: I’m totally okay with seeing bigger, sexier numbers for no reason, though.
Eidolon: "Ohw rtsgnae na efcienfto…"
AURUM: You all feel a little heavier, a little more substantial, somehow. Gained [some number of] XP!
[OOC] Reinhart: You would be, yes
Nine furrows his eyebrows "What sort of creature would welcome the end thus easily…"
Eidolon: "One that takes solace in knowing how the end is written and meets it…"
Nine: "That"
Nine: "Is still mystifying"
Eidolon: "Oh! All better now." He brushes nebulae hair from his face.
AURUM: The hallway seems lighter, now.
Eidolon: "To be fair I didn't say it was something we could understand on an existential level."
Nine continues heading forward, those beings were guarding something, perhaps the source of this strange disturbance
AURUM: Maybe because… the lamps are lit?
ClarafinaRosemont runs her fingers along the statue she left behind as she walks down the hallway. The ribbons disintegrate as she gets far enough from them, letting them clunk and shatter against the floor.
Eidolon: "And we even brightened the way! In the tomes of religions all over, this would be the light of righteousness."
AURUM: "Ahahahahaha, yes, righteousness."
AURUM: A harsh, bright voice echoes down the hallway from beyond.
Nine: "Greetings" he says, to the voice in the distance
AURUM: "Bwehehehehe, c'mere where I can see you!"
Eidolon stalks down the hallway towards the voice.
AURUM: "I've spent too long out of the limelight, waiting for my turn."
Nameless‘ spins his sword in his hand, sending little rivulets of dust scattering into the wind, and returns it to its sheathe on his back. He then follows the others.
AURUM: "And now you’ve got blood on your hands, you can see me, and I can see you! Isn't it delightful, that we can meet like this? Bwahahaha!"
Nine puts his book back on his coat, hands in his pockets "Were you perhaps the one to create those disturbing beings?"
AURUM: A throne room made entirely of white gold, impossibly elaborate, with a sort of clean, futuristic aesthetic.
Eidolon considers retorting but stops himself, shakes off the feeling, and continues.
AURUM: "Ahahahah, Nine."
ClarafinaRosemont twirls as she steps into the throne room.
AURUM: "We both know the answer to that question."
Nine: "Hrm… Perhaps"
Nine: "So you tell me you are here because you must, to cause this disturbance?"
AURUM: Seated on the throne, one leg casually thrown over the other with the other over the arm of the throne, arms crossed, sprawled lazily - a mechanical demon-jester in gold and purple, crystals dangling from his head, at the ends of either horns, or those little jester-hat curly-bits? Hahaha, I don't remember what they're called.
Ezekiel: "Hold up what's going on I wasn't paying EVEN A LITTLE attention since stuff died."
[OOC] Eidolon: jester-hat-curly-bits is Canon I think
Nine: "It's just a part of the hat, honestly"
Eidolon: "We've met, at the least, the jester of the place."
AURUM: "The jester who'd be king." He giggles insanely at a dumb inside joke.
Eidolon grins. "I didn't want to make assumptions."
Ezekiel: "WEait don't answer me yet still not paying attention"
Eidolon puts a hand on Ezekiel's shoulder and shakes him a bit.
AURUM: He launches himself from the throne, pirouetting dramatically. "So!"
AURUM: "Do you feel better now?"
Nine: "No, not really"
AURUM: "I know at least one of you has fought fiends before."
Solberg gives the jester a level stare.
Eidolon: "Inscrutable and beautiful in the same hand."
Eidolon: "Amazing how those two words can go together so often."
Solberg: "But less than six?"
Nameless: "Why thank you. I like your coat."
Eidolon bows slightly.
AURUM: "Don't you feel… like you've had a delightful meal? Don't you feel stronger, now? Like you could take on the world?" He really -is- beautiful, if in an unsettling and surreal way.
Nine closes his eyes
Nine: "That I do"
Nine: "Are you going to tell me why?"
ClarafinaRosemont: "I felt as if I could take on the world already."
Solberg: "No. I don't feel any different."
ClarafinaRosemont: "…But thanks for your concern."
Solberg nods at Clarafina.
AURUM: "Well, you will. I can't be bothered to actually do the math yet, but…"
Eidolon: "There is -something- different."
AURUM: "Just like you eat a living thing to sustain your life, destroying fiends will make you more powerful! Give you abilities you'd never even dreamed of."
AURUM: "Maybe you'll even get the ability to make a miracle happen, that way! Bwahahaha!"
Ezekiel: "OKAY I'M PAYING ATTENTION NOW what's up."
Nine: "And what, pray tell, of the fiends"
Nine: "Being who seem to have no desire to cling to their existance"
Solberg: "Just the mere act of destroying them?"
AURUM: "Oh, the Pilari and Tochzori?"
Nine: "The most disturbing of them, yes"
AURUM: "You're doing them a favour, really. Think of it as working off a debt."
ClarafinaRosemont: "Destruction begets decay… you could say."
Nine: "A debt paid in death?" he raises an eyebrow "Sounds rather cruel"
AURUM: "All they want is to fight and be smashed into pieces, their souls to be freed." He laughs, and sounds like he's wriggling his eyebrows, but he doesn't have any: "Breaking the Law has ~consequences~, you know."
Solberg: "Usually there's some conversion step. Kill prey, eat prey, get energy. But something whose composition is just scattered to the winds - "
AURUM: "…for them, that is."
Nine: "Hrm… Ah, I see"
AURUM: He drifts in, close. "Not for you lovely beasts."
Nine: "So in this case, for them, i'll make an exception. I suppose."
Eidolon: "And where do you fall on this…"
Ezekiel: "(Who's he hitting on by the by????)"
Nine raises a hand, don't get too close "I believe we are not noticing how one of those steps happens, Solberg"
AURUM: "No, you can do… anything." He shivers, lewdly. "Open your mouth and devour us whole. We exist for you. Doesn't that just make you feel…?"
Nine: "But it happens"
Eidolon: "(You, I think, because now they're talking about eating.)"
Nine looks at the jester "Makes me feel terrible, sadly"
Ezekiel: "(Uuugh.)"
Solberg: "Curious. Perhaps on a metaphysical level. So you'd quantify that by…"
ClarafinaRosemont giggles into her glove.
Ezekiel: "Sorry little dude, you're not really my type though…?"
Solberg trails off.
AURUM: "Mmmm, it shouldn't. You want power, Nine. You have a world to save."
Nine: "I do"
Ezekiel: "Why not zoidberg?" Opens and closes his hand a few times, then points at Solberg.
Nine: "And there's sacrifices that must be made"
Nine: "And those who must not"
Nine: "Until I am certain of which is which…"
AURUM: He smiles at Solberg, drifting over towards them.
ClarafinaRosemont: "…You should have made nastier fiends!"
Nine: "Tell me, is that truly the desire of a fiend? To exist like that?"
ClarafinaRosemont: "Ahahahaha."
AURUM: "They have factory farms where you come from, still?"
Nine: "I suppose i'll have to judge them one by one"
ClarafinaRosemont: "Nine…"
ClarafinaRosemont: "…You'll have to let me get a head-start, okay?"
Solberg: "Matter rearrangement. Self-sustaining, with a few minor inefficiencies."
Nine looks at Clarafina "I'll see"
ClarafinaRosemont: "So will I…!"
AURUM: "Ohhhh~, how civilised." He pats Solberg's shoulder, gently. "…well, then, this might all seem rather barbaric to you, then. Sorry, dear."
ClarafinaRosemont sashays towards the throne, holding her axe in a few fingers, by the very end of its handle.
AURUM: He drifts away, towards Clarafina, floating a few inches behind her and to the left.
AURUM: Not… saying anything, just messing with her.
Ezekiel: "OH SHIT IT JUST CLICKED YOU'RE A BATTLE PRINCESS LIKE XENA NOT A FRILLY FROO FROO ONE."
Ezekiel: "uh."
Solberg: "It's okay. It'd be more barbaric to contextualize an arbitrary arrangement of atoms as 'living' or 'dead.'"
ClarafinaRosemont: "Why not both…?"
Ezekiel: "Nevermind that just keep being whatever."
AURUM: "Really, kid? That was obvious even to me."
Ezekiel: "Dude do even know how much I was smoking until approximately whenever ago."
Nine: "I still think Ezekiel is slightly off-mark still, but i'd rather not spill the beans myself"
ClarafinaRosemont: "So, what was…"
AURUM: He tilts his head at Solberg, approvingly. "Well, you're interesting."
ClarafinaRosemont: "The name of this chapter, again…? I forget."
AURUM: "Oh!"
AURUM: "That's easy."
AURUM: "It's… Anything Can Happen."
Nine: "Either way… The fiends are cleared. Solberg raises an interesting question, are fiends alive truly? Sadly the jury's out on that one"
AURUM: "It's a really obvious title, I guess. I don't really… go in for the Shade nature, you know?"
Nine: "This hsould be the part where we give that village down there their names back"
AURUM: "Oh? OH! Right. Yes."
ClarafinaRosemont nods seriously. Black ribbons wind about the fiend-jester.
AURUM: "Do you want to do the honors, or…"
ClarafinaRosemont: "Shh."
AURUM: "I mean, I can just snap my fingers."
ClarafinaRosemont turns around and walks towards him.
Nine looks at Clarafina "You're the princess, you can do ceremony"
ClarafinaRosemont curtseys to Nine. "Thank you very much!"
ClarafinaRosemont: "In the name of the Soaring Court, in the company of these fallen stars, and upon my honor as a Rosemont - the 35th in line -"
AURUM: He smiles.
ClarafinaRosemont: "I do hereby pronounce that the names of things shall be returned to these things."
ClarafinaRosemont jams her gloved fist down the fiend-jester's throat and feels around until she find a fistful of names, and pulls them back up.
Eidolon: "(I liked the new town name more, though.)"
Solberg: "Are we going to end up with a few extra?"
Nameless: "Doge could always have two names. A man thinks it would be safe enough, here."
AURUM: He opens obscenely wide, jewel-eyes glittering lasciviously, brass-chain tongue flicking against Clarafina's wrist. The names start to leak out of Clarafina's hand, pulled towards their rightful owners.
Eidolon: "From what we know of Doge, he could proably use two names in case he lost his other just on his own again, somehow."
Nameless: "Mm.
Ezekiel: "Gross."
AURUM: He laughs, delightedly, bound by the ribbons.
ClarafinaRosemont pulls all the way back, playing tug-of-war with her ribbons, pulling the tongue taut…
ClarafinaRosemont: …Until it snaps, and she tosses the names away like confetti.
Eidolon: "(That was probably mean-spirited.)"
ClarafinaRosemont: "Eblemeti Vashfarim- all things shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well!"
AURUM: "Mmmm. You're going to be good at killing fiends."
AURUM: "The worlds will run black with ink and ichor."
ClarafinaRosemont smiles inscrutably and puts her gas mask on.
ClarafinaRosemont: "See you next story."
Nine looks at the jester "By the way. Do you know of a lady, which I presume has nature kin to you, with fangs dripping poison, jade body of a serpent?"
AURUM: "I want you… to kill… and kill… and kill… and kill."
Nine stares at the jester "A little too vehement about that"
Eidolon: "And that's why, we have 'defeat.'" He nods, thankfully, to Peregrine.
AURUM: He looks at Nine, his face breaking into a too-big grin. "Sounds like a Serpentia Archfiend. Sounds like trouble."
Nine: "Ah… Tsk"
Nine: "I knew you were wrong about something, Jester"
Nine: "It seems fiends aren't for consuming after all"
AURUM: "Toxic fiends, who chafe at their eternal bindings, and wish to embrace the universe."
Nine: "I suppose we should be moving on to our next story, then"
Solberg: "Growing attached to the fortune teller, are you?"
Nine: "I am yet to meet her"
Nine: "But I promised a friend to tell her and someone else a message"
AURUM: He glances between Nine and Solberg for a moment, in confusion, masking it with a languid stretch.
AURUM: "Mmmm. 7 XP, by the way. You'll feel it, when you land a heftier chunk."
AURUM: "Once you pop- bwahahahahah- you just can't stop! You know that one, Ezekiel?"
Ezekiel: "I think it's uh,"
ClarafinaRosemont: "I think it goes,"
Ezekiel: "Once you pop, the fun don't stop."
AURUM: The throne room is beginning to get colder, gold turning into ice, which turns into snow and starts to blow away. …it's a slow process.
ClarafinaRosemont: "…Ah, that wasn't what I was going to say." Hiss, hiss. Gas-mask on.
AURUM: "Eh, details."
AURUM: "You should probably run along now, dears. There are fiends to kill, after all."
AURUM: "Stories and stories full of them. What will you -do- with all that power?"
AURUM: "I can't wait to find out."
Nameless‘ nods at Eidolon. "But perhaps… not for fiends, we do not." The greatsword hisses, metal against leather, as he draws it, hefting the familiar weight easily. "A man is from a place with… traditions." A small smile. "Parties. Dancing. Music. Costumes." His grip changes. "And no mercy for devils." Two steps and a spin, the blade cleaving into the jester’s neck.
Ezekiel: "Speaking of killing fiends,"
Eidolon grins. "Also valid."
Ezekiel glances between Clara and the jesture with a slioghtly unsure look on his face…?
Nine looks at the snow, looks out the window at the little village. He opens up his book, goes to the last few blank pages and writes. He writes a description of the village, a couple of short passages denoting their adventure. He writes down Doge's name.
Ezekiel: "Oh wait Piere got it."
Ezekiel: "We're Cool."
Ezekiel: "Pierre? Man fuck french."
AURUM: The jester moans, lewdly, broken remnants of the chain-tongue lolling out of his mouth, back arching as he's impaled on the blade, extremities twitching. He's really playing this for all he's worth, isn't he?
AURUM: Oddly enough, you don't get any XP.
Nameless: "Tsk. Men don't *really* appreciate it when you fake it, dear."
Eidolon: "Ugh. I can't get into it if each fiend is going to do that."
Solberg: "Peregrine. Still english."
Nameless‘ sheathes the blade and shakes his head.
Nine looks at Peregrine, he grins. The man gets it, it seems. He looks at the door heading out "Come on, I think we’ve exhausted our potential here"
Ezekiel: "Listen language is basically stupid I'm just gunna call him Mr. P."
Ezekiel: "Maybe Dr. P, we'll see."
AURUM: "There's a Salamander fiend you'll want to watch out for, then, although I think the princess is more his jam-"
Nine starts heading towards the door "Leave this fool behind. No worth listening to him"
AURUM: "Shit, wait, I'm dead. Nevermind I said that."
Eidolon: "I'm sure we'll see and hear them coming."
AURUM: Where was the voice even coming from? Certainly not the fiend-corpse.
Eidolon eyes the corpse. Fiends are weird like that.
Nine shakes his head slightly
AURUM: …anyways, it's a lot easier to escape the castle, even with it turning into snow around you.
AURUM: The storm's gone - you could probably gently hop off and decide to let the wind carry you to the shore, even.
ClarafinaRosemont dashes free of it, leaping for a waiting ribbon on the way out. She ziplines down to the beach.
Nine murmurs to himself on the way out
Ezekiel figured they brought the ground up with them so it'd be to get 'down' anyway. Ambles on out of the castle.
AURUM: Anyways…
Nameless‘ heads out of the dissolving castle. "A man needs something to drink. There are traditions to be observed, if he is to be fighting fiends all the time."
Eidolon stalks off. Stops short, and tries to will the castle-becoming-snow into being light as a cloud, and then becoming a cloud… wouldn’t want this to fall on the town below. He rides a portion of this cloud down to the town.
AURUM: …well, this is awkward, heheh. I seem to be running out of ink?
Solberg: "I was expecting some Guns and Horses in the village for some reason."
AURUM: There's probably an interesting book in the Sage's library.
AURUM: And there's probably a festival for you in celebration of defeating the castle and its horrible occupant!
Ezekiel: "Why's that?"
AURUM: But that'll be a story for another time.
Solberg: "It falls within the subset of 'anything could happen,' I suppose."
Ezekiel: "Fair enough."
AURUM: For now, you just… drift back to the shore, gently, one way or another.
The narration abruptly leaves off, with an odd smudge, like the writer had to get up and run off, quickly.
Apocrypha Anything Can Happen