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 Bellia Breakstar, The Kimera(Orc) Infinite Oregano posted:Bellia Bellia suppresses a scream when the bear trap's jaws latch onto her leg, keeping her eyes up even as she's brought to a knee by the pain and sudden stop of her motion. Fortunately it seems she is once again alone in these woods, giving her more than enough time to use that sturdy branch she'd grabbed earlier along with some of the destroyed armor to pry open the trap and free herself. The thin grasshopper leg she'd been working with until now is left mangled by the bear trap, forcing her to replace it with a sturdier wolf's paw. After a brief stint of testing Bellia is able to move adequately again, but the mismatch is going to cause issues with sudden movements for the time being. "So you've decided to retreat after drawing blood? Fine then, then the battle remains for another day," Bellia says as she fashions the leftover scraps into a new set of weapons, more to herself than anything else. There doesn't appear to be anything left for her to do here, so she returns to the river to plan her next move as she waits for news of her allies. quote:Damaging Grace here, spending a use of Something I found over there somewhere to pry open the bear trap, and restoring my stock of Orc-made weapons thanks to Fires of Industry/Sons of War.
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Apr 20, 2024 20:47
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Nikolaos She pauses for a moment as she stares at you. Her features soften for a moment as she sighs. "There's no need for that, come on - follow me." she declares, holstering her weapon, hauling up what she can carry and beginning a speedy ascent towards the roof, away from the unknown threat below. You distinctly get the feeling that although she does not feel it is fitting for an old man to have to help fight off... whatever her foes might be, nor especially put himself into danger by trying to distract them, that this isn't over and she is going to ask a favour another time. Swiftly you arrive at the terrace atop this huge building, the exposed space and the high altitude make for bitter winds that cut through you as the distant yet powerful arcano-mechanical spotlights sweep across the building, but few (if any) of them go this high for the moment. Once you get sufficiently far enough away from the rooftop entrance, she stops and unslings what she was carrying on a surface, here you are surrounded by mysterious arcano-mechanical workings house in huge structures, then she turns to you - her face quizzical. "So what's this about a realm, and leaving? How would we do that? Where is this way out you mentioned?" she inquires, her gaze whipping around the rooftop, occasionally peering at the edge - beyond which lies a great drop to the ground below. What do you do? Bellia With your struggle finished - for the moment - you withdraw back down the valley towards the frozen river that you had managed to cross earlier. The Ice Elemental still stands roughly where you bid it to, its icy gaze staring at the side of the river that it volleyed you towards, and as you break the treeline it swivels around to be looking directly at you. It still hasn't called in that favour that you asked for yet, but also it has yet to carry out the favour that you asked it to give your comrades safe transport across the treacherous ice. Presently it's just staring at you from across the treacherous frozen river, the sunlight brightening up the scene now and causing scintillating colours to dance off of the gleaming ice and snow that bedecks this scene and conceals the danger of the perilous icy death that lies beneath the thin ice that holds a grip upon this river. quote:Ice Elemental: A creature made entirely of ice and snow. How or what it eats is a mystery, but it punches like a sledgehammer. quote:The Treacherous River: A beautiful, deceptively field of white. The ice and snow look passable, but one wrong step or sudden blow and you'll fall beneath the surface. Freezing icy water and death await below. Although there are no immediate dangers (the perils of crossing the river on foot notwithstanding), you notice some kind of commotion on the other side, past the trees and up the other side of the valley - a lot of disturbed snow and some smoke rising. Also, no sign your comrades near the river. They've been gone a while - this probably does not bode well. Although at the very least their delays did avoid them being spotted by the sharpshooter, so that's a small boon at least. What do you do?
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Apr 24, 2024 03:53
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 Match waits for the First Gift’s response, staring into the dark between the trees and waiting for the subtle signs that seem to be the Gift’s way of communication. Snowflakes flutter past, and a tree branch moves in the wind. The automaton tries to listen and understands but, in the silence, finds his thought drifting towards what happened between Haar and him, whether it is true that the First Gift is only driven to imprison and torment people and how he wishes that Nikolaos were with him, safe, there to guide him, answer his questions and help Haar much better than he could. All is quiet, and no answers are forthcoming. Eventually, something changes, and eventually, the First Gift responds in its own way, telling Match what it wants in return for Nikolaos. A full minute passes as Match thinks, first doing his best to be sure he understood correctly, and then to think through what it means. For a few moments, Match finds himself not wanting to be right, for the First Gift to have meant something else, but the images it had shown him were clear enough. The wooden automaton hangs his head and slumps his shoulders, wishing that Nikolaos was with him even more than before. He glances over at Haar, wanting to talk to her and ask her for advice, but with a feeling of confused sadness, he decides against it. Match stands still, thinking hard, half-wanting to simply give the First Gift what it wants to save Nikolaos. The automaton’s head wobbles just slightly once - and then he falls over, into the snow, face first. He lies there for just a moment, his arms still held straight down his sides, and then Match gets up, snow clinging to his wooden face. He looks up into the night sky. “I understand, First Gift. You want someone to replace Nikolaos if you let Nikolaos leave. You want me to give you the person that replaces Nikolaos. You want to trade.” Match stares up into the sky. “I have thought a lot about the trade. I want Nikolaos to be free and safe. But I… am not sure I can give you what you want.” He inclines his head. “No. That is not right. I am not sure if giving you what… who you want would be a good thing to do or a bad thing to do. I do not think Nikolaos wants to stay inside the world you made. I think Nikolaos wants to help Haar and Bellia and me to help people. I think it would be good if Nikolaos was free.” Match lowers his head. “But it would not be good to trade another person for Nikolaos if the other person also does not want to be here and has not done anything bad. I think it is a bad thing to keep people in a place where they do not want to be. I do not want to help with that, even though I want to help Nikolaos.” A moment passes as Match considers his next words. “I can ask people if they want to come to you, First Gift. I think maybe some people will want you to make them happy. But I do not want to give you someone that does not want to stay with you or if something bad will happen to them.” He looks up again. “Please tell me if that is enough. I hope it is. Please tell me if you want to trade for something else. If it is not enough, then I will try to free Nikolaos myself. I am sorry. I… you let me leave on my own when I told you that I wanted to leave. Please do the same thing for Nikolaos. He is a good and kind man. Please do not make him stay if he does not want to. Haar was sad and angry because she did not want to be in the world you made for her. I think it is better if you let Nikolaos go.” Match raises up his wooden hand and he looks at it, its joints and fingertips. “I do not understand you. But I do not understand a lot of people. I think maybe you want to collect people because someone made you with instructions that told you to collect people to make them happy. I was also created with instructions that told me how to do things. I was defective. I was confused. But I think that it is not a bad thing. I have to think a lot about what I want to do because I am not listening to my instructions. By thinking about it, I can find other ways to do what I was created to do - and what I… want to do. To help people. Please think about what you want to do. I think maybe capturing people that do not want to be captured is not a good way to do it. I think maybe there is a better way.” A pause. “If you want, I can try to help you. I know it is difficult.”
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Apr 25, 2024 18:33
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Bellia Breakstar, The Kimera(Orc) Infinite Oregano posted:
Bellia finds herself with a rare moment of quiet after her harrowing on this side of the river, unfortunately not seeing any of the fellowship preparing to cross by any means. The Ice Elemental she'd struck the bargain with has yet to leave though, providing at least a small measure of hope as she scans the surrounding area. While sight and sound don't suggest much has changed, she's aware that can't be the case given the scenario that prompted their desperate flight and her rapid crossing of the river in front of her. "What's really happening here?" Bellia asks herself as she closes her eyes and re-tunes into the rhythms of the world, searching for signs to help direct her next course of action. quote:Look Closely at the River Agent Rush(Bellia) Request: [2d6+1] Roll: [4, 3] Result: 8
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Apr 27, 2024 10:50
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 Haar, Itinerant - The Remnant Haar casts her eyes down gloomily, unable to meet Match's gaze as the automaton makes his case to the First Gift. Whatever the two are discussing is evidently a private matter. She snorts softly - good. Her ghastly presence would only make things worse, and while Match seemed to have an understanding with the force that kept them in this bizarre prison, she knows its purpose is malignant, keen to torture her with her greatest desires. She leans against a tree, claws running against the bark absent-mindedly. The aurora-weaved sky; the unending throngs of snow-laced trees; the memories that the First Gift so cruelly dangled in her face; she cannot help but think of home, of all she had lost. Heimalhail marked the first night of winter, when bitter chills would creep in from the fjords. Her people would feast upon spiced cakes, tell stories by the fire, hang pouches of fragrant herbs by their beds. Then, most importantly, under the cover of pitch, the woodspeakers and other tradesfolk would weave renewing magics into the community's homes, bolstering them for the coming season. It was a night of quiet reflection for most, but one where Haar was at her busiest. Strengthening her people's furniture and structures was an important job, and she was one of the best at it. She looks down at the Match doll, slightly cracked from her grasp. Now look at me, she thinks miserably. I can scarce even hold timber without ruining it. Nor even hold my allies... Rites around us, how she could gorge on a full basket of spice cakes right about now... Match's voice snaps her out of the terrible, unending hunger that pangs inside her. Haar tugs at a braid, clawed finger running through the wispy hair. It seems as if the First Gift wished for a replacement to Nikolaos - a price that Match was not willing to pay. Just as she thought - the gift shows its malicious truth once again, as it had with her. And yet, Match continues, adamant to see the potential good in this force. The spectre, unmoving from her position against a nearby tree, gives some slow, deliberate nods of encouragement to Match. She doesn't believe the Gift can be redeemed, but Match does - and he needs to keep his conviction. While she is not well suited to helping the conversation in any way, she is letting Match know that she has faith in his actions, even if she disagrees with them. As she listens out for a sign from the First Gift, Haar wonders if Match thinks her worthy of redemption too. Skeletome fucked around with this message at 11:55 on Apr 29, 2024 |
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Apr 29, 2024 11:15
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Bellia You scan around your environs and pay keen attention to anything and everything that you judge to be important. Your breath lightly crystallizing on the cold air as you take in a view that would have been described as pretty if this situation wasn't perilous. You concentrate on the distance, the clouds of driven snow, the toppling of trees, and rising smoke which indicates the presence of the dreadnought soldiers. But moreover as you once more cast your mystically attuned senses out to where you remember feeling the First Gift earlier... it's still there, it hasn't moved - but the dreadnought soldiers are moving away, not necessarily directly away but in a pattern that doesn't seem to imply that they are homing in on it, something or someone is distracting them, but for how long you cannot guess. Or so you initially thought, because as you step down the slope slightly to get a better view and change your perspective, there is a quiet 'click' beneath you, and a series of hisses that rapidly change into loud screeches as rockets fire off into the skies above you - exploding loudly and brilliantly in a vivid array of colours... alerting all within a large distance of your position, including the dreadnought soldiers who seem break off from whatever target they were pursuing as the wave of noise and smoke and debris changes direction... towards you. Your vision flickers back down towards the Ice Elemental. It appears to presently be waiting, although now it is looking directly at you - so it knows you're there at the edge of the treeline. Although it's difficult to get a good tell of its intentions or demeanour from its icy gaze, you get a feeling it's trying to be patient, but the deals you were making with it implied that this wouldn't take long. It seems based on its 'body language' and what you can grasp from its less-than-obvious temperament that it will wait a bit longer, but only for so long before it will leave the scene. It hasn't noticed the oncoming dreadnought soldiers yet, but if they reach it, it is unlikely to be so inclined as to stay and fight. Nova is still out there of course, and with that comes the consideration of retrieving her - you could, but you would have to do so fairly loudly given the distance (from your estimations) - assuming the rest of the Fellowship are close to where the First Gift is currently located (as far as your mystical senses say, at least) - then she should be able to come running, but then there is a substantial risk in you calling her from this distance, as now the dreadnought soldiers seem to have locked on to this crossing point - dramatically increasing her chances of coming into conflict with them. What do you do? Match You say your piece, and then there is silence. Silence that lasts for so long that thoughts begin to creep in as to whether or not the First Gift had listened at all, or perhaps it did and merely did not intend to respond. But then once more arrives more subtle signs which are rapidly replaced by a metaphor-laden festive scene in your head. A festive exchange beneath a tree! One gives the other a Santa doll, festive and jolly and alluring (perhaps it is destined to be sat atop a tree?) - in return, they receive a wooden artist's mannequin - how thoughtful! Although perhaps comparing Nikolaos to him is in poor taste... the message is clear. If you're unwilling or unable to source another, less willing participant in this exchange... maybe you can instead take his place in whatever fantasy he is stuck in. Although this might be more than just a simple technicality, maybe the gift is asking for you to prove yourself once more to it - a show of virtue or daring or similar? Hopefully that's the case, rather than it being a simple mechanism trying to do a simple job, however it is difficult to ascertain its feelings about things - perhaps this is part of its nature? It does indeed seem powerful, having many layers both figurative and literal would make sense after all. What do you do? Haar Once more, after a distressingly long time, another series of subtle signs manifest before something occurs that you can't readily perceive. It's probably better this way, if this entity is capable of alluring people so readily, it's probably best to avoid unnecessary mental contact. In your moment of self-reflection (or self-loathing, perhaps) you feel your vision drift away from Match as he communes with the gift. It is then you notice one of the gifts near the base of the tree that you lean against, although it appears old and abandoned (as a gift) you notice a familiar name written on its tag. Despite its dilapidated appearance, the lurid scintillating lights of the auroric skies, and the colourful lights upon the tree combine to paint a strange image. Who are or were they? Whatever happened to them? Infinite Oregano fucked around with this message at 09:20 on May 14, 2024 |
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May 7, 2024 20:28
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Match waits and listens for the First Gift’s response, as he has by now done several times, until something in the wind, the trees, the snow shows him what the gift means to say - though as before, it is somewhat abstract and up to interpretation, like a dream or a painting. The automata stands still for several seconds to try to understand the First Gift’s answer, or rather, what he should do about it. Match turns around on the spot and walks over to Haar, his arms swinging like pendulums. “Haar. I will try to help free Nikolaos by going into the gift with the label ‘Franscesca’. I am not sure if it would be better if you would come with me or if you would stay out here. I think you should decide. I think you are… I think you are still sad or angry. I am sorry I could not help you. I think maybe it will be safer if you stay outside and help us get out again.” The wooden puppet tilts his head. “If only Nikolaos comes out of the gift, please leave with him and find Bellia and run away so you are all safe. I hope it does not happen. If it happens, please help other people made of wood and the tired people that are working in His workshops.” Something catches Match’s eyes, something Haar is still holding in her hands. “I have seen the small puppet you are holding. It looks like a person made of wood, but smaller. Can I… Can you give it to me? The First Gift wants to trade for Nikolaos. I think maybe a small wooden puppet is not what it wants.” Match looks back up at Haar. “But I have observed that if you give a gift to someone else, how much the gift is worth is not the only thing that is important. I heard someone say ‘it is the thought that counts’. I think it means that you have thought about whether the gift is the right gift for the other person. I think it means that maybe the gift you are giving away is important to you.” The wind blows. A tree rustles. “Maybe the First Gift will accept the gift. I think maybe… the small puppet is important to you? If you cannot give the puppet to me, I understand. I do not want to take something important away from you.” Match turns his head and looks at the gift where Nikolaos now no doubt is trapped, the one labeled ‘Franscesca’. He looks up into the night sky. “First Gift, I do not want to trade a person that does not want to be in a gift for another person that does not want to be in a gift. I think that is bad. I hope you understand. I will try to help free Nikolaos. I do not want to take Nikolaos’ place. I want to do things on the outside that are important to me. If you… If I take Nikolaos' place, I think it will be because you forced me to after I went into the gift to help free Nikolaos. I think I will not be happy.” Match holds up a hand towards the sky. “Please do not do that. Please let Nikolaos and the others go. They have not done anything bad to you. I will go into the gift where Nikolaos is now. If you want to keep Nikolaos, you have to stop me.”
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May 11, 2024 19:32
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Bellia Breakstar, The Kimera(Orc) Infinite Oregano posted:Bellia Bellia lets out another bitter laugh once the fireworks she'd inadvertently set off start exploding, her rage and shame at falling for yet another trap briefly overcoming her mystical focus. Given her current position on the opposite side of the river, merely letting the dreadnoughts follow the noise to chase her across wouldn't be the worst idea. It would likely make crossing more difficult for the rest of the Fellowship, especially if the Ice Elemental were to decide its obligation to her isn't worth the hassle and goes back to the depths. "Well, I've certainly got their attention away from the others. Just like I wanted," Bellia grumbles to herself as she considers her next move. "Whatever the others are doing with the First Gift, they certainly don't need the soldiers interrupting them. Nova can link up with the others and find her way back to me later," she says, girding herself for the approaching challengers. "One way or another, this will certainly be interesting..."
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May 12, 2024 23:08
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Haar, Itinerant - The Remnant Haar listens to Match's plea, flinching as he approaches, leaning back on her injured calf. She does not want to hurt him again. Her eyes dart between the wooden doll and the real automaton asking for her help, and she clears her throat shakily. "This doll helped me to realise the bitter lie that the First Gift entrapped me in." Haar starts, pondering how best to phrase her concerns. "I...I'm unsure why it resembles you, nor where it came from." The spectre sighs, and it echoes softly among the trees, like a wounded groan. "I'm worried that without it, I may forget myself again, and fall pray to the Gift." Her clawed hands gently inspect the doll, rearranging its limbs into a natural resting pose. She strokes the back of its head, as if trying to memorise each groove and grain. Haar extends a trembling hand, letting the doll lay in her open palm, nodding softly at Match. "If you think it will save the Gift Bringer- then please - take it. I will stay here, as you suggest. Please be careful with it- wood like this deserves care." Feeling decidedly less secure without the doll in her hands, Haar steps back, watching Match converse with the First Gift from afar. Her mind quickly wanders - the anxiety of being without the doll, and miserable memory of Heimalhail still fresh - and as she leans against the base of a tree, her glowing eyes find focus on a curious box. It's tiny, dwarfed by the larger, garishly decorated boxes around it - a weathered, darkened teak - adorned will a dull, gold anchor on its top. Haar crouches down, raiment spooling, towering over the odd little thing, taking it between two clawed fingers, careful to avoid the anchor lest it cause her searing pain. She lifts the nametag in her right claw, eyes widening in surprise - a name she knows, but had long forgotten. Carol. The memories come rushing back, and it is like Haar's surroundings weave to bring them to life. --- A cold, grey morning, a few days before His arrival. Frozen shores gently lap at an empty beach. In the distance, a caravel, sails bound tightly, rocking in a tender rhythm. Next to her, a mystifying woman decked in a simple naval coat, buttoned tightly to the collar. Her matted hair smells of brine, and she smokes from a conch-like pipe. "I wish ye'd reconsider me offer." She says, gruffly, weathered brow furrowed. "Ghosts 'n ships make fer classic bedfellows, aye?" Haar could hear her own voice- the timbred snarl barking in retort. "You have shared your song with me, sailor. I have shared one in turn. Begone, before I test if you taste as brackish as you smell." The woman chuckles darkly. "Suit ye'self. Perhaps I'll see ye' when I next shore up." "Where will you go?" "Wherever the cold winds take me." The woman says simply, shrugging. "Away from Him. I've got tunes t' carry." The sailor smiles, a twinkle in her eyes, and Haar remembers how she revelled in the spectre's confusion. "As long as there's carols, there's hope. Ta for the song, ghost." --- Presently, Haar stares at the box in realisation. She does not know when, for the years had been agonisingly long, but she had met Carol before. Haar had been consumed with sorrow, huddled on a lone beach. The woman seemed like an unassuming, brash sailor, but the way she sung was beautiful. Like a divine chorus rang out in unison from her lungs, the very sound feeling like a balm on Haar's long-dead heart. Haar raised the box to her nasal cavity, sniffing sharply. The smell of the ocean hits her like a wave. Hurriedly, she raises on her hind legs, moving towards Match. Thoughts rush in her mind - she knew little of Carol, but the sailor had a certain magic to her. If what she had said was true - if she held hope on her caravel - and if she was trapped in this Gift...then it did not bode well. Haar holds the box aloft, silently, waiting for Match to conclude his plea to the First Gift. She would need to tell him what she had found. Skeletome fucked around with this message at 13:42 on May 19, 2024 |
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May 19, 2024 13:39
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Match tries to concentrate on his surroundings, to see if the First Gift would reply to his plea, his challenge right away, but the tree and the wind are empty of meaning and words. He turns around, having heard Haar shuffle around behind his back. When he sees his companion holding some sort of box, seemingly waiting for him, he inclines his head quizzically. The automaton looks from the box, to Haar’s horse-skull head, to the way she is avoiding putting pressure on one of her legs. He thinks, for a moment. “Haar. I thought about what would be the right thing to do.” He holds out his wooden hand, the small doll in it the miniature image of Match. “I think you should take the doll back. I think it is important to you. If it helps you not get lost, that is very important.” He pauses for a moment. Whether it is hesitation is impossible to tell from his wooden face. “You have told me that you have lost people. I do not think they were small people made of wood. But if the doll helps you not be as sad and not be lost, then I do not want to make you lose the doll.” Match steps forward and places the doll on Haar’s claw. “I will now try to help Nikolaos. I hope that Nikolaos and I can find you again very soon and we can escape together. I hope that Nikolaos is not injured and that he can walk. If Nikolaos can walk, I can try to carry you again if you want. I do not see any walls I need to climb here.” He briefly glances down at Haar’s injured leg. “Maybe it will be… more comfortable for you.” His head turns, and he gazes at the gift where Nikolaos must be trapped still. “I have observed that if someone leaves to do something dangerous, other people that are not leaving sometimes wish them good luck. I have observed that only people can be lucky. I have observed that sometimes people say that things they own are lucky like a set of dice or a sword, but I think it means that the things give them luck, not that the things are lucky. I do not know if people made of wood can be lucky.” The aurora in the night sky glows like colonies of luminescent underwater creatures under a dark, wide ocean. The wind blows, though it almost seems gentle. “I will go now, Haar.”
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May 21, 2024 20:00
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Haar, Itinerant - The Remnant Haar flinches as Match approaches, staying perfectly still as he places the doll back in her hand. She steps back hesitantly, keeping a little bit of distance from the automaton, as he explains what he intends to do. She clears her throat. "When...When I was me, and not this...I used to speak to wood. The magics that exist around us find their way into everything...and I felt very privileged to be able to communicate in some small way with the timbers that housed us." She awkwardly chuckles, a guttural, hacking sound. "That is to say - I think that people made of wood can be lucky, automaton, and that I wish you luck." She pauses, gazing down at the tiny teak box in her claw, as if ruminating on whether to comment on it. "Match - wait. I found this." Haar holds the box aloft, turning it in her wrist. "It's addressed to someone - someone I have met before. She...well, I'm unsure who she is, actually, but I think that if she too is trapped like we were..." The spectre trails off. Was she really willing to go back into another illusion? To run the risk of being tormented by all she had lost again? "I will investigate." She finally finishes decisively. "Bring back the Gift-Bringer safely. You, Provvy and I can reconvene here when our tasks are complete." She cradles the Match doll to her raiment. "And do not worry about me. I have a companion to ensure I do not get lost."
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May 22, 2024 22:02
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Match nods. “I understand, Haar. I would like to ask you questions about many things you have told me today, if you want to tell me more. But first we should all run away together so we are safe. I hope we can all meet here again quickly and nobody is lost. If you are not here when we return, I think you might be in that small box.” He looks down at the small wooden puppet in Haar's other claw. “It is good that you have someone that can help you not be lost.” “Provvy.” Match turns on the spot to face Nikolaos’ floating companion. “Please follow me if you would like to help find Nikolaos. If you want to stay here, I think it would be good to help Haar.”
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May 23, 2024 19:53
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Bellia And so you stand ready, on the side of the valley overlooking the river - but clearly visible from the treeline - as the loud noise and disturbed snow and trees signal the approach of the Dreadnought Soldiers. quote:Group of Dreadnought Soldiers: These giftclad soldiers are the hammer, and you are the nail. Santa rarely deploys them outside his workshop, when he does, he means business - and doesn't care about collateral damage. Exploding out of the treeline on the opposite side of the river comes the Dreadnought Soldiers, emblazoned in red and white - glittering with the glowing lights of myriad colours - gaudy and profoudly dangerous, their every motion disturbing their surroundings. The one near the middle of the group has a mask of Santa that you can clearly make out all the way from over there, one has a mask representing Rudolph with the glowing red nose to boot, another has an elf's face for their mask, and there are others too but less clearly distinguishable at this distance. The Ice Elemental visibly flinches at the sudden approach of these figures. There's a mechanical murmur from their direction as the heads of their suits move around to clock both the Ice Elemental and you. However, unfazed by the obstacle between you and them, they steadily advance towards the Ice Elemental (and the icy shore) for the moment. There's only a short time before they reach them and although against lesser foes the Ice Elemental might put up a better fight, the Dreadnought Soldiers will likely be able to drive away the creature with relative ease. What do you do? Haar Grasping Carol's gift, you open it - despite it being old and abandoned - and the magic remains within it, as you find the world around you fade away into light, and a falling sensation briefly overtakes you before another world resolves around you. However this time you are not so easily ensnared for you are both aware of the illusion this time, and also this was never meant for you. This place manifests the deepest desires of those it wishes to ensnare, as you well know. Tell us of Carol's greatest wish when she was here, and how this might manifest. Match Grasping the gift, with Provvy close by - the world around you turns to light, and you feel a falling sensation before you find yourself (and Provvy) elsewhere. It is cold, and windy, and dark and yet light. You are atop some kind of strange structure, a building of stone and metal, dotted with large metal housings and other such details. Above you is the night sky, twinkling with lights - though perhaps a bit washed out by an orangey haze. Off of one side of the building there is the sounds of a commotion and what seem like searchlights of some kind that pass by the building. However you don't get much opportunity to truly examine your surroundings before you become profoundly aware of a presence here, and a welcome one at that! Closeby stands Nikolaos, accompanied by a young woman who streaked with sweet and blood, carrying arms and equipment, and in a state of partial dress that implies that she is not in a present state of ease or moreover a situation that is dangerous or violent. She is with Nikolaos at the moment but whatever was happening is seemingly interrupted by your appearance as she spins around and points some kind of arcano-mechanical firearm at you, its design strange - but its utility obvious. "Woah there! What is this - who are you?!" she shouts, she seems stressed and not happy to see someone appear mysteriously on this rooftop. This situation is probably not an easygoing or relaxing one. quote:Francesca MacLane: A hero who is convinced she will save the world. What do you do? Nikolaos Before you get a chance to respond to Francesca's queries, there is a sound like the tinkling of bells as though from a great distance - your head pivots around and you notice that in one corner of the rooftop that Match and Provvy have both materialised here. Francesca is taken by surprise and spins around, shouting at them and waving her arcano-mechanical firearm around. Although a welcome sight, of sorts, this definitely complicates the situation - Francesca is already tense and additional surprises are unlikely to make her more cooperative. What do you do?
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May 25, 2024 22:05
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