Graded [Clockhaven City] Where The Blood Runs Thick

[Elvario]

This RP is part of the Isekai Hell setting. Check the links above to learn more about it.

This RP is also a direct continuation of Blood and Steam and Kinship and Smoke. Please check the above links to the first and second part to see more about the setting IC and OOC as well as the character goals. Joining for this part might be possible, but I'd like to work out a good way to incorporate new characters into the cast and setting and can't guarantee that'd work out well enough in all cases, so if you're really interested, let me know and we'll can see what might work.

Third Factory Street
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Third Factory Street
Time: 23:00 Weather Dark, cloudy

From: Gallery For Steampunk City
Mentions: Iberis TheTimePiece | Cayde The Last Curse | Scylla RavenSong | Shion Sharena | Sophia Silent Angel

Once more, they were at Third Factory Street. They had spent the entire day resting and preparing for this nightly mission. Right now, they were in an alley a bit away from where they'd meet the thrall, with only a few dim street lanterns lighting the area. It would be too dangerous to approach closer with the entire group, so this was where the rest would have to stay on standby.

Theron

Spoiler: Full Image

From: Dwarfen

“Well then, we'll be on standby here.” He said, brushing off the tip of the device on his arm.

Yumi

Spoiler: Full Image and source

From: Milleore - Granblue Fantasy Wiki

“Are you sure you don't want me to try stalking you guys?” She'd ask, wanting to shadow them. However, with the Thrall having seemingly had an ability to keep tabs on things easily, that'd probably be a horrible idea no matter how stealthy she was.

Senna

Spoiler: Full Image and source

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Q3adx

“Just let us know when it's time to burst in like the heroes~” She'd state, twirling a gun around her finger. She was getting a bit trigger happy.

Morana

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/92JWv

“Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them.” She stated, mentioning the vampire hunters. “Though do call early if things go wrong, I'd hate to miss out on a battle.”

Kelsey

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
Kensei

“I'll have to agree, for once! I can't wait to test out this new hand~” She said, holding up the enchanted hand. “I'll make short work of any possible trouble with this~” She'd rejoined them short after their planning had concluded and was quickly filled in on the plan.

Mr.S

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oAwl4q

“Me noggin's still doing stuff...” He said, staring off into the distance. With Shion's aid, Morana had been able to use a translate some of the analog warnings that were going on in his mind and had been able to activate some sort of recovery program, but nobody could say for sure what'd arise from it. Not even Mr.S. himself. All that was visible on the outside, was that he stared off into the distance a lot more often. “Will ya be fine, miss purple?”

Yurena

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
href.li

“I'm almost ready, just... one more thing.” She said, having changed into her alternate identity's clothes just before leaving. However, something was still troubling her, so she quickly pulled apart Cayde and Iberis.

She'd whisper to them. “Tell me honestly. If I were to ask to drink blood from you two directly, outside of a mission and just for the hell of it, would you allow it? If not, I'll do whatever I can to avoid having to do it again in front of the thrall or vampire, regardless of whatever happens. I still don't feel good about it, even if it was for the sake of the mission, even if it all worked out perfectly in the end. If someone doesn't want to let me drink from them without there being ulterior motives to it, I don't want to do so for the sake of some other mission or task either.” She'd finally made up her mind on how and what to tell them. Why this had been bothering her.

With that stated, she'd shortly wait for their answers, afterwards returning to the main group with them.

“Alright, I'll need to mentally prepare to act like I'm a monster again, so excuse me if I'll change up my behaviour a little... Otherwise, if there's any details or ideas we still need to discuss, now would be the last possible time for it.”

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: RavenSong TheTimePiece Sharena Silent Angel Elvario ​

One step closer.

Like a mantra, he kept repeating it in his head, ignoring the clamminess growing on his hands. Yet, a chill ran down his spine with every step closer to the lab. It was nothing, Cayde told himself. They'd handled everything before. They could take this too. But that bug was still there. Scuttling, gnawing, growing somewhere in the back of his mind. Spewing its demoralizing venom everywhere. It was hard to stay focused. "We've got this..." Cayde mumbled through gritted teeth before looking to Yumi. Drawing a silent breath, he continued, "Probably best if you stay on standby for now, Yumi. Don't wanna get the thrall angry just yet," His eyes drew back to the building. "We'll give a signal. Gonna need every hand we can get." Before he could discuss more, Cayde felt a familiar hand guide him away from the group. "Just a moment." He'd called back. Still, his brows raised. What was so important that they needed to be in private?

When Kalina whispered it to him, the corners of his lips dipped. All this time, and she was still concerned about the blood drinking? Had it been that uncomfortable? The scene momentarily replayed in Cayde's head, a phantom sensation pinching his neck. His nose scrunched up as it came to a close. No, it was uncomfortable. But fine. She'd need to hear that. "I'll admit, the last time it was...new," He whispered, meekly shrugging his shoulders, "But when it happened, nothing happened, Kalina. I'm still okay. And I'll be okay whenever it happens again. So, mission or not, it's fine by me." Feeling a smile come on his face, he chuckled, "Don't overthink it. It's like sharing a canteen with a friend, y'know? Kinda..."

After a brief pause, Cayde shook his head. There was something else to this. It couldn't have been just for permission. Something must've been eating at her. "Is this because you think you'll go too far? Hurt me, maybe?" He shook his head again, much more firmly, "No. You won't. I know you won't, Kalina." He said, before placing a hand on her shoulder, "Because that's not you. They can say whatever they want about vampires. But I know that's not you." Then, another lighthearted smile formed, evident in his tone, "You've always had my back, Kalina. Be damned sure I'll always have yours."

The small walk back to the group was wonderful. The smile never left his face, and it grew even wider as he approached the team. The pestering bug vanished. "Alright, so same thing as before. Though there might be a fight this time. Words alone probably won't make it easier," He said before looking at Shion and Sophia, "In any case, we'll have you two in the back as support. Shion, if you catch something, don't be afraid to relay it to us through you-know-what," Then, he turned to Iberis, "Iberis, we'll need your weakening spells to help subdue the thrall. I'll see if I can't help with that, too," Next to Kelsey, "I'll need you to run back and grab the hunters and Morana if something starts. They'll help lots," Pulling out the attuned crystal, he handed it to Scylla, "And Scylla, when we've got the thrall weak, you'll know what to do." He gestured to Senna, "The curse is part vampiric, part necromantic, yeah? So maybe after you heal it, try separating the two into different crystals. It just might be enough." Cayde fished through his pack pulling out another un-attuned crystal, "I'll keep this one on me. You'll get it when we're ready."

Cayde nodded, placing his hands on his hip, "So to recap: we go in, see what she has to say about last time, hop on the offensive and signal the others to come to join us. We know she uses weapons, so it's best to stay close. Once we've got her weak, Scylla will try to cure her, and all magic users need to channel their mana through Scylla. Then, we'll see what happens."

Finally, he placed his palm over the crystal, channeling magic through it again, [Magic E + Energized E + Arcana E + Nature E + Survival E + Focus E + Selective Magic F]

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis Odhir
​

Elvario RavenSong The Last Curse Sharena Silent Angel

The whole gang was back together along with some hunters now ready to do something dangerous. This was becoming the usual for Iberis it seemed lately with all the activities she partook in outside the academy, but at the very least it seemed to allow her to grow her powers with what she had been partaking in, which was essential to actualize her goals moving forward. When Yurena came over to her, and got her attention and she whispered that to her, Iberis couldn't help but feel a bit bad that Kalina was still conflicted about her feelings regarding being a vampire, there were things which Iberis knew that Kalina couldn't control, but she still trusted her, feeling very similar to how Cayde reaffirmed to Yurena that he trusted her.

Iberis replied softly back, "Listen, I've given you my blood before outside of a mission at that, nothing that's about to come up would be any different than that, I've seen first hand probably some of the worst and the circumstances were extraordinarily different than they are now, and even then I'm perfectly fine if you drink from me again even with that in mind." She said recalling how Kalina had gone all out on Hope pretty uncontrollably, but even then Hope hadn't been severely injured from that, had it been pleasant to have Kalina on her with her vampiric bloodlust in full effect? Probably not, but irrespectively it is what happened, and Hope had survived and had recovered, so Iberis had faith that she would too should the worst of the worst arise.

"I trust you to reign yourself in when it matters if need be, but like Cayde said I don't think it's going to be a problem."

After sometime Kane started to deliberate the tasks since he had assumed a leadership position of sorts it seemed. His plan seemed well reasoned out enough between what everyone's roles were, Iberis had no doubt with the team assembled there everyone could fulfill their part and they'd hopefully have one subdued and cured if her and Cayde's thoughts were accurate on how to deal with these issues. "Got it, my range is actually pretty good on them so should work pretty well with the sort of threat that we're dealing with." Iberis responded to Cayde's task for her. Channeling her magic into Scylla shouldn't be too difficult either and unlike what Scylla had suggested unless she quite literally didn't expel any magic herself the risk wasn't really there for her getting harmed by high concentrations of mana with the rate that she'd be subsequently burning through it.

 

[RavenSong]

Scylla has been walking along with the group, her slippers rapping and tapping the pavement of Third Factory St. her parasol was open as she walked, shading her purple eyeshadow and lipstick. Her dress was a bit ripped but that was her style at this point. It was impossible to adventure as much as she did with impeccable fringes. There was something a bit different about the witch, namely the horns on her head. Which weren’t there before, it seemed she had grown some of her own overnight, likely an effect of the boon that was granted. Being touched by a demon spirit apparently had its clear shortcomings.

“Are we there yet?” she’d ask as she walked along, she was growing rather impatient. Little did she know that they were practically there. “Oh.” she whispered before leaning on Sverres shoulder, “Don’t look so low, buttercup! I believe so much in you, just wait, when your memories return you’re going to know eeeeeverything! And then! You’re going to save the day.” Scylla would fake punch the construct on the shoulder, but would quickly wave her hand in shock. “Ow! Heh., I’m okay.” She chuckled, a bit embarrassed. “You just do as Morana here tells you, but uhm, maybe get your weapon ready, I have a feeling we might need you very soon.” The witch looked at Morana, giving her a wink. “Right?”

Suddenly, the witch turned her head to look at Cayde who stood before her holding an attuned crystal. She took it with both hands and put it away in her robes. “Hm. Fancy!” she replied with a smile and a nod.

Then she listened to the plan Cayde presented, she nodded along up until the bit about everyone channeling their mana into a Scylla, “Right! That’s when I’ll explode like a firework! Got it!” she giggled, amused with herself, perhaps it was that she felt useful and just had to somehow make it funny if she could. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “Sounds like a great plan, but,, who will strike first? I imagine that might be Sir Leader?”

 

[Silent Angel]

Sophia Smith

Sophia glanced between the group, a frown on her face, before she said, "Should there be some sort of code word for when the attack should start? It would give us some sort of element of surprise and might make things go a bit more... effectively?" She tapped her weapon before saying, "After all, I don't think it's a good idea for some of us to be caught off guard because we weren't able to pick up on how the conversation is going."

She hefted her weapon, glancing at Kalina as she did so. "And if we do have some sort of code word, it'll let me know when to try and disable the thrall. Hopefully my crossbow works out as well as I'm hoping, considering how much time, effort, and money I put into it." She was almost certain it would work, as she had tested it before, but in the heat of battle, things can always go wrong.​

 

[Elvario]

Third Factory Street
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Third Factory Street
Time: 23:10 Weather Dark, cloudy

From: Gallery For Steampunk City
Mentions: Iberis TheTimePiece | Cayde The Last Curse | Scylla RavenSong | Shion Sharena | Sophia Silent Angel

Yumi

Spoiler: Full Image and source

From: Milleore - Granblue Fantasy Wiki

She grumbled a little, before she gave Cayde a “Fine.” as reply.

Yurena

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
href.li

She wasn't fully convinced about Cayde's reply, at least not at first. After all, even without insight 'new' sounded like a badly veiled way of saying 'not nice' to her. She wasn't fully convinced if 'mission or not' was truly fine by him as a result, but she couldn't help tilt her head a the 'sharing a canteen' comparison. That was... one way to put it? Perhaps? No... not really. That's when he got to the bottom of the issue. She should've known. However, his words were surprisingly heart-warming. Almost made her feel alive again. “Just one second.” She'd say, as he told her he'd always have her back, pulling him in for a hug (if he'd let her). “Thank you.” She'd say, realising once more just how great it was to have a friend like him helping her out. She could truly consider herself blessed. “I'll do whatever I can to never betray that trust.” That was a promise. She'd not have something like with Hope happen again. Ever.

When Iberis replied, she was a little surprised. Of course, she'd gotten blood from both of them before, but the conditions had been rather different. Especially for Iberis, who'd seen the worst of her... It's why Iberis' words meant even more to her. Someone having seen her at her lowest, still being able to put trust in her, was worth everything. “That means more than I could tell you...” She said, pulling Iberis into a hug next (if she'd let her). “Now I'll just have to worry about reigning in this constant desire to cuddle you~” She joked, having regained a fair bit of her self-confidence after this talk.

Third Factory Street
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Third Factory Street
Time: 23:15 Weather Dark, cloudy

From: Gallery For Steampunk City

Cayde was giving commands, with the rest silently listening. Even Kelsey had toned things down, now that things were getting serious, except for one thing...

Kelsey

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
Kensei

“Are you sure you'd want me to be the fetcher? It seems more logical to have someone that can't fire-fist someone into oblivion for that task~ With this new hand, I'm sure I'd be better off at the heat of battle than with my back towards it.”

Senna

Spoiler: Full Image and source

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Q3adx

She was surprised when Cayde gestured at her. “Just so you know, none of us can use magic, so if you want to do that cure thing, that's all up to you guys. We could weaken her, trying not to kill her, perhaps? Is that you want from us?” She wasn't entirely sure.

Mr.S

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oAwl4q

Upon Scylla's command, he tiled his head upwards and stared at the sky. “I'm gonna be honest, miss purple, I'm not sure what ya want me to look up for.” He couldn't spot anything of interested. He wondered why she accused him of looking low to begin with. He'd been looking fairly straight ahead. “Me noggin's still being weird, but... I hope ya be right, miss purple. Although I can hit 'em already, if needed. Imma remembering how ta hit 'em already.”

As for her attempts to lean on Sverre's shoulders, she'd realise that even standing on her toes, she could barely reach them. Dude was insanely tall, after all. “Alright.” He said next, looking at Morana, having his eyes flash for a brief moment. “Morana has been set as secondary admin.” He affirmed.

Morana

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/92JWv

Neither lips nor eyes could reveal much of her reactions, but it was almost as if there was a hint of joy in her nearly monotone voice. “I'll make sure to make the most of this.” She spoke.

Yurena

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
href.li

“I'd like to do so.” She stated, upon the question of striking first. “I know a way to get close to her, so I could catch her off guard. I don't have magic either, so the rest of you better focus on that part.” She was also able to heal better than most, but she figured she'd best not mention that part right now.

As for Sophia's question, she pondered for a moment. “How about wanting to go to sleep? The moment someone mentions wanting to go to bed, we'll all get ready to attack or defend. That should be possible to bring up, right? It's late after all.” She hoped that'd be 'normal' enough not to stand out, yet specific enough to let everyone know something was going to go down.

Aquaculture Labs
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Third Factory Street – Aquaculture Labs
Time: 23:25 Weather Inside, water leaking, fairly dark.

From: Museum of Orphaned Concepts

A bit later, they arrived back at the spot they first met the thrall. True to her word, she was right there.

???

​

Spoiler: Full Image and source

From: Download wallpapers by subject fantasy

As she spotted the first of them walk in, she wasted no time to speak up. “So, you have returned. My mistress confirmed her interest in meeting you, but she wished to meet you alone first, vampire.” She immediately stated, her voice not really betraying much emotion.

Kelsey

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
Kensei

“Oh, come on~ Surely one more can't hurt~ I'm just so eager to meet her!” Kelsey called out, sounding as convincing as before. She approached the thrall a bit more, until it started to look like he thrall might get too suspcious.

Yurena

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
href.li

Kalina, however, was a bit less hesitant in her approach. “That's good news, but before that...” She held her head up high. “Don't think I've forgotten how you humiliated me by forcing me to feed. Now that you're mistress acknowledged me, it's no more than fair that you apologise, right?” She stepped forwards, using (deception D) to the best of her extend to pull off the biggest possible lie of her life. “I'm in a good mood though, so how about something simple? Bow down and kiss my feet. Perhaps then I'll forgive. Should be easy, right?” She spoke with her most sadistic sounding tone, hoping to sound like she thoroughly wished to humiliate this thrall. That'd allow her to get closer and catch her off guard.

???

​

Spoiler: Full Image and source

From: Download wallpapers by subject fantasy

The thrall herself looked absolutely furious, but so far, seemed to be letting Kalina slowly approach her. She didn't make any bowing moves just yet though...

In these precious few seconds, the rest of the group could prepare and figure out the idea spot for them to in, relative to the thrall. Especially regarding things whether they wished to be out in the open, relatively close to the front, as far as possible to the back, standing free from obstacles, or hugging the walls, should combat break out.

 

[Sharena]

​

Shion spent the day with Morana and Scylla using her [Mind Link] to attempt to bridge Morana's binary speech into Sverre's mind in hopes of trigger some kind of...reboot as Morana explained. It was a lot of repeating a sequence of numbers and clicks as Morana did, but she didn't understand what any of it meant. She was just the messanger. Luckily, as time went on, they seemed to make some kind of progress as Sverre gave her confirmation, it relieved her. The process had been rather taxing on Shion, having concentrated on Sverre's mind and Morana's words for so long she spent most of the afternoon relaxing. She brought Iberis along to assist in combing her tails as she had told the mage she'd have to help her with, but Shion was too exhausted to make much small talk despite how badly she wanted to ask about Audlich. Her exhaustive and emotional state from Iberis helping her comb her tails simply left her in silence.

She spent what time she had left resting her mind as she knew tonight would be even more telepathic links between everyone. When the time came, Shion felt prepared well enough to do as she had before.

Once they reached the alley, Shion's eyes began to illuminate in the soft azure glow as they had before. Her tails also formed back together into one. Whether this was through magic or some innate function of Shion's body wasn't exactly explained, but she did briefly mention that it'd likely be best if she didn't look any different to the thrall. She listened to Cayde's instructions, folding her arms under her chest before she nodded once he was done.

"If any of you need me to relay a message, try to signal me. My name would likely suffice. My mental state is current floating between all of your cognitions, so giving me something to hone in on will make it easier to link with you in the moment." Shion looked at Sophia as she brought up a signal. "As for a signal, Chandra, you can just signal me to tell everyone. It should be about as fast and more secretive for me to direct people through their minds than some code...I've also dealt enough in code today, I could use a break."

She said with a little brevity to try and lighten the mood a little. "Just like last time, it'd be best if I don't speak either once we're inside."

She looked to the hunters, Morana, and Sverre. She sadly couldn't think of a better alternative to bring them in than Kelsey. She looked at the halfling.

"You've proven your skills with stealth, you'll probably be able to leave unnoticed more than any of us, Kelsey. And yes, let's keep killing as an absolute last resort, please." Shion mentioned to the hunters and Morana at the end before sighing. "Worst case scenario, I can be the one to run the message out. If I felt my range with my telepathy could reach farther, we wouldn't have to worry about that either. But as things currently stand, Kelsey's probably our best bet for that."

Having addressed all she could think of leading up to heading inside, Shion braced herself. Once they had proceeded into the building and the conversation with the thrall opened up, Shion remained silent and let her mind float between everyone, once again catching these faint flickers of silhouetted memories or words from them, but nothing concrete. She didn't recall the thrall saying Yurena had to come alone last night, but she was too focused last time or this time on the minds of her compatriots to remember. What difference did it make anyways? The group had convinced her-it wasn't important, Shion recentered her mind back to the task at hand. She idly glanced at each of her companions every now and then if something more concrete escaped beyond the surface of their mind into the ether. She remained keenly aware for anyone mentioning her by name, she couldn't let anyone down.

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Elvario RavenSong Sharena Silent Angel TheTimePiece ​

As planning drew on, Cayde's gaze drew back to Shion. He smiled when she started answering most of the group's concerns. Did she have experience with leading in her past life? She'd make a fantastic second-in-command. "Very well put, Shion," Cayde commended, giving her a thumbs up, "You're making my job a lot easier." Briefly chuckling, he turned to Kelsey next, "I still believe you'd be great at the role. You're one of the quickest members here. By the time you get back, we'll probably still be setting up - there'll be plenty of time to test out that thing," He said, pointing at her arm and turning to Senna. "The plan's to keep her alive, yes. Just need you all to come in and help weaken her. Sorry if I wasn't clearer earlier." As he heard the group discuss a signal, Cayde raised a hand. "We should go with Shion's suggestion. When Chandra strikes, that's when everyone should fall into position. I'll leave it up to her to decide when," folding his arms behind his back, he said, "I might be able to help with positioning. We'll see when we get there."

When they did, Cayde knelt, eyes moving fervently around the room. Plenty of cover to sling magic from. Maybe some good sight lines. The ranged users could do good there. Then, he looked to the thrall as she spoke, a frown forming. No clues on her master's whereabouts. A likely non-negotiable demand. Kalina moving in for the kill. Something was bound to start any second. He closed his eyes, honing a thought of Shion in his head, "She's getting closer. Get ready to tell everyone to move, Shion." Cayde took a quiet breath, steadying his hands. Almost time for his part. He'd better remembered that spell.

"Excuse me, but when do you think we will meet her?" With a long yawn, hopefully made more convincing with [Persuasion - F], Cayde covered his mouth. Solidifying his focus into his mouth, mana seeped into his tongue, tingling his tastebuds as they awaited intention. He closed his eyes, picturing an ethereal channel connecting him to his allies. A [Silent Shout] from his mouth, directly into their ears. Technique was formed, and to Scylla, Shion, Sophia, Iberis, and Kalina, he whispered:

[Chandra, attack when you're able. Everyone else should take cover farther away near the walls when she does. Stay close, and keep a sightline on the thrall. I'll remain in the open until the hunters arrive. Should make her a good target.]

Removing his hand from his mouth, Cayde looked back to the thrall. "Sorry, it's been a long night."

Spoiler: Abilities Used

• Silent Shout - Magic E + Arcana E + Magic AoE F + Control Environment F + Selective Magic F + Persuasion F + Deception F + Steady Hands F + Focus E + Magic Range F + Magic Targets F + Energized E - After cupping a hand over his mouth, Cayde can covertly whisper a message to 5 targets who're within 30ft of him. The message materializes as a sound only the target can hear. Alternatively, Cayde can "throw" his voice to a location that is up to 30ft away, magically amplifying it to those within a 15ft radius of it. - Grade E - 0 Post Cooldwon

 

[RavenSong]

“That.. isn’t-“ she stuttered with amusement and disbelief a lot the construct before her. She’d giggle a bit, “Goodness you’re so silly Mr.S!” She smiled brightly traces of her chuckle still remaining before starting again with the construct. “It’s a way of speaking, but I’ll explain another time, mkay?” Her smile then faded a bit, “Hey uhm, please don’t die okay?” She held the constructs hand for a moment, looking up at him, “I’d be quite devastated if I had to figure out how to put you back together again, but, you best believe I will die trying.” She sighed. “No, no, I mean it. Don’t die.” For once in Scyllas life she meant a statement. Perhaps it was the potential possibility that Sverre could die here without remembering his purpose.

One of her hands reached into her robes, clasping onto the attuned orb in her pockets.

Could this work? What if it doesnt?

Shhhh! Focus, witch.

She’d then enter the thralls chamber bowing her her as she walked up and kneeled a few feet behind Cayde. When Kalina began to lean into the thrall, it was evident that this was how it would begin. The witch quickly evaluated her surroundings, being a critical part of this operation made her reconsider her stance. Scylla couldn’t simply go up to the thrall here, too little was known about the thralls abilities, she silently glanced at the others before looking up ahead, noticing the rage in the thralls face. Surely, they could have stalled and followed along with the meeting before starting the battle, perhaps they could even get the vampire to show up since they had convinced them about the intentions to join them.

No matter, Kalina was setting her off here, and well, they had to follow through with the plan, Scylla would follow along with the plan and would go towards the wall, although behind a structure but with enough vision to assess whatever was happening.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis Odhir
​

At least Scylla had actually been joking about the thinking she'd explode thing, sometimes with the way she delivered things as far as teasing went it wasn't always easy for Iberis to tell, which was probably part of the point. Sophia also raised a good point about the use of a code perhaps being useful, it wasn't even really something that Iberis had particularly thought of one way or another, but when she put it like that, she supposed it depended what the rest of the group thought on the input.
---
Iberis was pleased that her words had struck a cord with 'Yurena' as she truly did hope that, a smile forming on her face as she gladly hugged Kalina back and let her do so to her, feeling rather elated that she had been that receptive to her words, she had meant them after all, Iberis in that moment felt like she was doing something which was objectively good if she could help Kalina even feel just a bit better with everything that had transpired and all of those apparent insecurities which had arisen from her monster part. Iberis knew that she could trust her when it mattered most just like everyone else. She lit up a bit at the cuddling comment,

"Yeah..that was..rather nice last time." She commented with a positive inflection in her voice softly in response. It felt good to be..cared about was what Iberis had decided after the events that had unfolded, she had felt cared more for ever since she came to the academy than any other time in her life, and it never seemed to get old..to have people who actually cared around her..

It wasn't all to long before she found out that Kalina did think that Sophia's suggestion had some merit to it, that seemed like a solid enough mention for Iberis to be ready for, someone wanting to go to bed as a signal, not something the enemy would expect and not something that any of them would confuse with general chatter or acting.

Go figure that rest of the non normal party allies weren't really magic users according to Senna, that was fine with Iberis, the core group more than made up that with how many of them did actually use magic, the team composition seemed solid.

"Sounds good to me." She affirmed to Kalina's thought on the signal.

Iberis also had no objection to Cayde and Shion's assessment of Kelsey.
---

It wasn't long before they were back at that strange lab, it was safe to say that Iberis felt a bit better having Shion there, even if she hadn't regained much of her power yet, she held a certain confidence that made Iberis feel good, not to mention how generally protective Shion had shown herself to be. Then there target wasn't all that far away only making Iberis feel better that she was with her allies. Part of her felt bad for the thrall, so hopefully they'd be able to properly deal with her with their plan being actualized.

She hoped that the construct would make it too in all honesty feeling sympathetic to way Scylla was feeling best case scenario he could get his memories back and g back to assisting the Baron, who Iberis assumed had the best interest for this city in mind.

Thanks to the scope of the space, Iberis knew that she didn't have to be all that close to the thrall to inflict her with her weakening curse.

It looked like Kalina's bait was going to work well enough from what Iberis could tell. Then she heard Cayde's voice being thrown about which was very clear for what Iberis should do next, tightening the grip on her staff subconsciously with some anticipation as very much like she had been advised just before the entrance exam, Iberis made her way back close to the wall nearby where Scylla had stationed herself as far as distance went at hearing the instructions, knowing that she'd need to use the curse on the thrall probably pretty soon after Chandra attacked. Iberis trying her best to keep a sightline on the thrall while hse made this strategic manuever.

 

[Elvario]

Third Factory Street
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Third Factory Street
Time: 23:15 Weather Dark, cloudy

From: Gallery For Steampunk City
Mentions: Iberis TheTimePiece | Cayde The Last Curse | Scylla RavenSong | Shion Sharena | Sophia Silent Angel

Mr.S

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oAwl4q

“Alright, miss purple.” He replied to the promise of a later explanation. “I'mma attempt to follow ya command, miss purple. ” He nodded, registering the 'not die' command as a primal one. “Ya should'nt die yourself either.” He added, for good measure.

Kelsey

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
Kensei

“Fine... relay duty it is.” She grumbled back at Shion and Cayde, not too happy, but settling into her designated role regardless.

Aquaculture Labs
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Third Factory Street – Aquaculture Labs
Time: 23:35 Weather Inside, water leaking, fairly dark.

From: Museum of Orphaned Concepts

Yurena

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
href.li

She was caught off guard by Cayde's Silent Shout. She had know idea he could do that, so to suddenly hear him whispering from almost 30 ft away made her flinch a bit... It was something the thrall immediately noticed, as she seemed more alert by the odd behaviour. She knew she'd not be able to explain away that one, so it was time to drop the act. Honestly, she could call out, but she felt like that'd waste too much time. Any second was precious now, so she went for it. Drawing her Rapier from its [Concealed F] place in her dress and stabbing straight at the thrall's stomach. She knew the purpose was to weaken, not kill, but if she'd go for anything less impactful than the stomach, she'd probably not do a whole lot.

The rapier hit its target. Combat rules now apply. Three actions per turn, please track cooldowns in your posts. She didn't want to kill this thrall, but she did want to disable her, so she'd used a fair bit of power behind her attack (Precision Strike D), having her strike go through the thrall, spreading her own vampiric infection through the latter's veins atop the already existing curses and causing the thrall to scream out, clearly rather injured, but also clearly not down just yet. Immediately, the thralls eyes glowed a brighter red, after which she moved as if she was no longer in control of her own actions.

D CD: (0/2)
Precision Strike D: – Fighting Style [Specialized] [Precision Strikes] D, Accurate D, Penetrating D, Range D, Continuing [Vampiric Infection] D, Contagion D. Character attacks with their fighting style, ignoring 3 grades of speed, 3 grades of armour, reaching 100ft (30m), continuing to deal 1 hp damage for 3 posts and spreading to up to 3 others. - Grade D – 2 Post Cooldown

Things went fast from there. Kalina noticed something VERY wrong with her rapier. “SHE's METAL!” She called out to the others. It all fell into place now. The odd things around the thrall's head, her ability to sense things through-out this building, how easily she'd killed all of Sverre's men, why some corpses of others had been so horribly mutilated... However, as she called out to the others, she felt it. From below, the metal in the floor. It pierced straight through her heels, into her leg, burying itself through flesh and bones and causing her an immense amount of pain.

From there, the attack spread to the others. Loud noises of metal deforming, bending, twisting and shaping, spread from the thrall and through-out the room. Those further away were slightly better off.

Shion, standing somewhat in the open due to needing to communicate to everyone telepathically, saw one of the railings along a nearby staircase bend and contort, suddenly lashing out towards her. She'd have some time to defend, but would best be quick about it.

Cayde, standing fully in the open, could see something through the ground rupture and move towards him. Sounds getting louder. He'd best stay on his feet, lest he end up like Kalina.

Although they were further off and had more time to react, Scylla and Iberis were by far in the most dangerous position. Being near the walls and behind cover, they could hear the metal bending to lash at them from three sides. The cover, the wall and the ground. They'd need to come up with something quickly or at least one of those attacks would hit them hard.

Kelsey, noticing this was her time to go, was about to sprint off when the thrall noticed what she was about to do. From the ground, another metal spike attack headed her way. However, from the railings of nearby stairs, two lashed out of there. She managed to block one by counter-attacking it with her enchanted hand's firepower, but the other managed to pierce straight through one of her legs, which in turn made her unable to dodge the other attack from below. “FUCK FUCK FUCK” she loudly cursed at the sudden pain. They'd need another runner, as she tried to quickly figure out how to pull herself loose before she'd get thoroughly impaled.

Sophia is assumed to have stayed behind with the other group for some last minute repairs.

 

[RavenSong]

Upon noticing the steel, Scylla would [Control environment F] to change her lighting to better blend in to the environment in an effort to trip up the thralls magic. She was betting on the possibility that being surrounded by enemies, her accuracy might waver some.

This wasn’t good, and Scylla knew it wasn’t as she looked on at Kelsey being impaled, probably the second most critical person besides herself. Surely, they were all important. But how could Scylla run? She wasn’t exactly the fastest.

Velvet, remained quiet and still in the witches mind. However, there was a sense of ferocity welling within her that the witch couldn’t really explain.

She wouldn’t notice Iberis until she accidentally bumped into her bringing the witch back suddenly, quickly nodding at her academy companion, she’d clap her hands together along with her catalyst.

“Alright Iberis, your time to shine, gal!”

This was a rather quick channeling as the mana in her hands suddenly burst into a raging fiery flame that dripped lava as the witch gave her magic form, seeing the steel heading towards her. As she clapped, 5 fire bolts emerged with a cackling rage. Two would slice through the air towards the ground attack then two towards the wall and finally one towards the cover, with the intention to melt the ordinarily manipulated steel from the environment. [Fire arrows E]

Immediately after, the witch would spin her parasol, with an elegant movement bringing it down then quickly up pointing the end of the catalyst at the ceiling. Five shadowy and screaming specters would make their way out of Scylla mouth, maturing their forms as they violently ran towards the metal attacks as well. 2 at the cover attack, 2 towards the wall attack and 2 towards the ground with the intention to melt the steel with corrosive acid as the shadows splash upon the metallic surfaces.

[Shadows D]

• Shadows - Magic Affinity D - Witchcraft Affinity F - Magic Range E (30ft) - Multiple Targets E (5 Targets) - Energized E- Amalgamates necrotic energy into the form of five shades and specters, with a quick incantation sends them flying towards the targets, inflicting acid like damage. - Grade D - 0/2 post cool down [Energized E No effect due to ability grade]

• Fire Arrows - Magic Affinity E - Fire Affinity F - Magic Range E (30ft) - Magic Targets E (5 targets) - [Homing affinity F] [Energized E] - Scylla emulates the motion of firing a bow with her staff, charging her magical power before repeating name of ability, sending fiery arrows at great speed towards targets. - Grade E - 0 Cooldowns [Energized E]

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Elvario RavenSong TheTimePiece Sharena ​

As the metallic groans echoed around him, Cayde's heart picked up ten paces. Kalina's words flickered through his mind as he watched tendrils of metal flare out from the thrall. So that's what she was capable of. She could control metal. And there was metal everywhere. Nowhere was safe. "Shit! Stay on your feet!" He called out, quickly reaching for his crossbow, "Get away from the walls! Don't make yourself a target-" The words caught in his throat, the sound of something creeping from below reaching his ears—no time to give orders. With [Self-Preservation - F], he attempted to roll sideways out of whatever was coming, hopefully giving him some distance.

Cayde's eyes scanned frantically around the battlefield. His stomach coiled at the sight of it all. Metal swarmed around everyone, Kelsey was incapacitated, and Kalina almost skewered. All the offense was falling apart. They needed to strike back now. Honing his mind, he tried broadcasting a thought to Shion, "Get to the exit, Shion. Iberis and I will give you a distraction!" He reached into his jacket, a warm sensation radiating through his hands, "Iberis, stay on the offensive. Hit her now!" Then, with several flicks of his wrist, Cayde sent three vials of [Alchemist's Scourge - E] towards the thrall, three directly at her, the other two aimed beside her, hopefully catching her within the explosion. As they flew from his palm, he steeled his focus on the arcane potions, bending their intention around his allies. Only the thrall would be harmed by the flames.

That wouldn't be enough, he thought. His eyes zoned in on thrall, studying. If she was made of metal, did that mean she was a construct? Or some half-construct like Morana? Would fire work well here? Clicking his tongue, he activated [Bestiary Bookworm - D], searching the thrall for a weakness he could exploit.

Spoiler: Abilities Used

• Bestiary Bookworm - Medicine D, Perception E, Nature D Survival E, Arcana E, Focus E - After spotting a creature, Cayde can recall useful information on its strengths, weaknesses, supernatural capabilities, and typical behavior. Currently works on creatures of C-grade and lower - Grade D - 2 post cooldown
• Alchemist's Scourge - Magic E, Alchemy E, Survival E, Blight F (Fire), Continuing F, Steady Hands F, Focus E, Magic AoE F, Selective Targets F, Arcana E, Energized E, Magic Range F, Magic Targets F, - Cayde creates five sticky, magically-enhanced potions that explode into a 15ft wide flame once it hits a target. The fire causes burns that continuously sear but can also be manipulated to avoid unintended targets. Can be thrown up to 30ft - Grade E - 0 post cooldown
• Self-Preservation - Acrobatics F, Focus F, Perception F, Energized F - By utilizing his skills in awareness and acrobatics, Cayde attempts to dodge away from an incoming attack. - Grade F - 0 Post Cooldown

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis Odhir
​

Elvario RavenSong The Last Curse Sharena

Well that had certainly escalated quickly. The extent of violence had been somewhat surprising to Iberis as she definitely hadn't been expecting the thrall to have control over metal like that never mind the fact that she seemed strong against the sword which Kalina had tried to stick into her. This really was quite bad.

Then there was Kelsey who had been completely downed thanks to her leg getting impaled. This would have been a great time for Iberis to tap into healing If Auldlich had any useful information on the subject but a lot of that information was still dormant from within it seemed, and it wasn't exactly something she could just sift through in a high action situation like this. Truthfully during Iberis' had been much more focused on how to harm her enemies and give them an as worse time as possible from the get go so hopefully that would at least pay off here.

She was immediately alarmed by the metal coming toward her and Scylla, but thankfully Scylla attempted to counter the metal attacks with some fire magic. Hopefully that was going to be enough to protect them enough from what was to come and that they weren't going to get skewered since they were arguably in the worst position with the metal attacks coming from all over. She also had to bet on the things not having strong homing. The combination of Scylla attempting to decrease the lethality of the attacks and her one move action to get away from the walls and get herself more into the open to face off against the thrall was really all Iberis had to rely on.

She saw Cayde acting with ingenuity once more with on the fly thinking, using his firey brews to hopefully deal some damage. Iberis now in the open focused her curse magic on the thrall, she started to chant in a unique magic related tongue, a look of malice in her eyes focusing in on the the thrall, Hurt my friends and pay the price. WAs all that was on her mind in that moment, even if it wasn't the thrall's fault in that moment Iberis felt like she absolutely despised her for existing, in a way a parallel to how Renee felt before she had violent magical outbursts at people. Iberis targeted the AOE on the Thrall, using selective so that it wouldn't harm her allies with Curse of Weakness D.

Spoiler: Actions

1. Move away from wall into open in an effort to avoid attacks however many ft needed.
2 & 3. Use Curse of Weakness D on the Thrall.

Curse of Weakness - Magic Affinity D, Curse Affinity F, Selective Magic E, Drain (Strength) E Magic Area of Effect E, Magic Range E, Spell Duration E, Energized D, Focus D
Iberis curses desired targets through a maliciously magic imbued chant in a 50 ft radial AOE placed up to 100 ft away afflicting them with a curse of weakness lowering their strength stat by two grades for one day. - Grade D - 1 Post Cooldown (Energized), 2 Actions (Drain)
Cooldowns:
D On cooldown until curse cancelled or expires.

 

[Sharena]

(Bold + Italics = Telepathic Speech)
​

Everything ramped up suddenly, and Shion wasn't exactly sure why. Nevertheless, she steeled herself as she reacted quickly to the thrall's attack, shifting to whatever cover she could. She heard thoughts racing all around her afterwards, Kelsey's was the most obvious, she could at least feel her mind matching her obscenities even if she couldn't peer any deeper. Next, she managed to hone in on Cayde as he called out to her in his mind. She agreed, she offered to be the backup runner should Kelsey be unavailable.

"I'm on it, Cayde, just hold on!" Shion responded quickly to him, preparing herself to make for the exit. She heard Scylla say something to Iberis, and it drew her eyes. Her eyes widened as she saw the witch conjure forth flaming arrows to launch at the thrall, and soon after came Cayde's explosions. Her breathing spiked as she witnessed the flames, and in everyone's mind she could reach her memories poured out in an instance of losing control of herself.

Spoiler: Shion's memory placed into everyone's mind she's linked with inside the building.

A kitsune watched from the edge of a blazing forest, trapped in a magical sphere of water as she looked over the horrifying scene. The kitsune yipped constantly as if crying out into the woods. It was frantically trying to escape, but no matter what the magical sphere reshaped itself to make her movements have no effect on it. The kitsune's eyes welled up with tears, and the last thing everyone would see would be the kitsune crying out one last time, this time with a word they understood. The voice sounded much like Shion's, just younger.

"FATHERRR!"

Back in reality, Shion snapped herself out of it just enough to close off her [Mind Links] with everyone, tears in her eyes as if she had just relived the scene all over again. She pushed through the vision in her mind as she bolted from the building as quickly as her feet could carry her.

Once she was outside, Shion was shaking, her mind racing as she looked around frantically as if she'd forgotten exactly where everyone was standing by. Finally, she spotted Sverre, his silhouette was big enough not to miss in her state as she hurried over.

"Y-you wanted a fight, you got it! Go!" Shion's words sounded distraught and shaky, but she could at least speak clearly still. Any of the more observant folks, hunters or otherwise could see in Shion's eyes she was barely present, as if her mind was a million miles away reliving something she didn't want to. She didn't rush back in either to help, she grabbed her head with a hand as she stayed where she was.

Fire...why did it have to be fire...calm down Shion...come on...I have to get back in there...stop it...if you don't act it's just going to play out the same as with father! Shion finally managed to pull herself together, her body and mind calming down considerably. She was still shaking a little, but she managed to look at her hand and close her fist readily.

"I'm not that defenseless anymore..." She whispered under her breath. If anyone had stopped to check on her, she'd look at them and give them an encouraging "I'm past the worst of it, let's go." She'd be right behind the rest of the group after her panic attack subsided.

 

[Silent Angel]

Sophia Smith

The artisan looked over her crossbow one last time, confirming it was fully prepared for what was to come, when she heard the code phrase. She nodded, placing a bolt into the crossbow, before dashing to a place where she could get a good shot. She thought over their plan, an d decided that, if she took off an arm, it would be bad for the person, but magic could heal that, and what it couldn't heal, mechanics could help. However, it was better the thrall didn't get an attack off on them.

As she lifted up her crossbow, it began to shine. The magical stones she had placed into the mithril body sparkled brightly as it gave power to her bolt. She aimed at the thrall's right shoulder, deciding that arm was much less likely to kill her if she lost it, and pulled the trigger, releasing the bolt as she turned on all the enchantments to fire off a crossbow powered for Immobilization.

Spoiler: Enchantment Used

Immobilization: Tangle B, Penetration C, Accurate C, Range C, Drain (Strength) E, Blight (Sonic) F - Strikes the target with the force of all the enchants in the weapon, Immobilizing them and draining their strength to keep them from breaking free. - Grade B - 4 Post Cooldown

If it strikes, ropes sprout out from the bolt, latching onto the ground. A loud crack is heard, the sound slamming into the thrall's eardrums as a secondary blow after the initial powerful smack of the bolt. As the thrall is lashed to the ground by the ropes, the bolt itself begins to drain the thrall of its strength, making it more difficult to be able to break free from the lines.​

 

[Elvario]

Aquaculture Labs
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Third Factory Street – Aquaculture Labs
Time: 23:35 Weather Inside, water leaking, fairly dark.

From: Museum of Orphaned Concepts
Mentions: Iberis TheTimePiece | Cayde The Last Curse | Scylla RavenSong | Shion Sharena | Sophia Silent Angel

Player Defensive Phase​

Scylla's [Control Environment F] was not effective at tripping up the thrall's magic in the slightest, for the magic was not relying on traditional 'sight' to function. Two of the iron spikes charging at her through the floor, two through the wall and one through the cover were slowed down by Scylla's [Fire Arrows] as the suddenly heated metal seemed to bend and twist after the collision with the fire. Shion's resulting [Mind Link F] nearly broke Scylla's concentration, but thanks to her [Focus E] she was able to keep Focus and continued to cast Shadows D (please correct grade and CD to D-grade), which managed to permanently stop the five slowed-down metal spikes. However, the sixth spike went unchallenged and managed to pierce through Scylla's left leg, leaving a painful gash that'd make her lose a fair bit of blood and cause her speed to drop if left untreated.

Cayde's [Self-Preservation F] was enough to dodge the incoming metal spike from the ground. As he attempted to throw his [Alchemist's Scourge E] at the thrall, he was nearly distracted by Shion's [Mind Link F], but thanks to his [Focus E], he was able to pull through.

Iberis moved away from the wall and cover, getting more into the open. She too, would momentarily get distracted by [Mind Link F], but brushed it off with ease thanks to [Focus D].

Shion's [Dodge] action wasn't enough to fully evade the attack, but she did dodge the brunt of it. Still, her right side had gotten a rather nasty gash resulting from the spike, which would make her start to lose a fair bit of blood if left untreated. Biting through it, she was able to [move] out of the room to gather the others.

Kalina, having no [Focus] whatsoever, was thoroughly distracted by the sudden image of burning forests in her mind. Add the fact that Cayde's [Alchemist Scourge] was raging around her (despite not hurting her) and it prevented her from using all her actions (-2 actions this turn).

Kelsey did have some [Focus F], yet she was too panicked by being speared by spikes to ward off the [Mind Link], showing her the blazing forests and temporarily making her unable to do anything else (-1 action).

Thrall Defensive Phase​

At Cayde's inbound [Alchemist's Scourge] the thrall quickly erected a metal [Action 1: Barrier E] in an arc around herself, causing all three potions to explode against it before the fire could reach her or the floor besides her. If it wasn't for their [Selective] properties, Kalina would've been burning up instead, yet now, the fire magically seemed be burning around her instead. Cayde's [Bestiary Bookworm] got him very little information under the current conditions, with the thrall being partially obscured by barrier and fire as well as the mid-fight situation. Even so, he could confirm she was indeed somehow connected to the metal within this building and could use it not only to attack, but also to sense things.

The Thrall's barrier didn't manage to block Iberis' [Curse of Weakness D], which sapped away a considerable portion of the thrall's strength.

Thrall Attack Phase​

Having used only one action to defend herself, she was ready to return fire. First, she'd deal with the easiest target. The distracted vampire right in front of her. Blades former around her arm, which she intended to slash straight through the vampire's torso. [Action 2: Arm-Blade F]. However, she realised her strength had been sapped considerably, so much so, that she only managed to scratch the vampire.

It's why she quickly switched up her strategy, firing a metal needle straight at the source of her current trouble; Iberis [Needle F, Accurate F].

Outside Phase​

Shion managed to reach the others, who were on standby. (Normally, this would take several movement actions even with [Fast], meaning the battle would already be over before they'd return. However, as per 'rule of cool' I'll loosen it up a little.) It didn't take much for the others to notice what was wrong, as simply the fact that Shion was the one that came running showed that even their back-up plan had already been foiled.

Before Shion's eyes, Yumi vanished. Even her scent was gone. Next, Senna and Theron became impossible to see, although she could still smell them. Finally, Morana's legs bended backwards, suddenly launching her into an all out-sprint. Mr.S was the slowest to react and follow after them. Despite her visible discomfort and the injury, it seemed like none of them deemed checking up on her their priority right now, with how dire the situation might be inside the building.

Sophia was quick to follow along with the rest of the group.

Outsider's Attacking Phase​

Barging in just in time to see the thrall fire a Needle at Iberis after failing to slice through Kalina, Sophia was quick to fire. With ease, the Immobilization Bolt shredded the Thrall's barrier and tore through the thrall's shoulder, cleanly separating arm from body. (Note, Sophia technically doesn't have Focus F needed to use a magic item after moving, but I'll give it another rule of cool). As if that wasn't enough, ropes spread from the bolt, entangling the thrall and throwing her already weakened (and now further weakened) body to the ground.

Results​

Do note, attack on Iberis has to still be defended against.

The thrall was cleanly out for the count. Not only that, but she was bleeding to death rapidly, with her entire arm torn off. (Unless someone would focus on stopping her from dying immediately, she would not make it.).

Meanwhile, Kalina, having regained focus, managed to use her single action to pull herself loose from the metal spikes that'd impaled her and away from the fire. (Regeneration E timer 1/5 posts).

Although Yumi remained unnoticed by anyone, Theron headed to the nearest injured person (Kelsey) and attempted to bandage her up. Senna, meanwhile, held two guns aimed at the thrall, just in case. Mr.S headed straight for Scylla. “Are ya alright, miss purple?” Meanwhile, Morana had made it over to besides Cayde, awaiting further instructions. Meanwhile, Morana had made it over to besides Cayde, awaiting further instructions.

 

[RavenSong]

A strange vision would burst into her mind, she was in deep focus however, but her attention wavered only slightly enough to know exactly what had happened in Shions mind. It brought tears to her eyes, Its sad how we take for granted those who matter most, while others lose them and wish their return forever after. After quickly shutting it off, the fox ran, although wounded the witch was glad she made it through.

Unfortunately her efforts were for naught, as she seemed to have miscalculated, all the witch could do was brace before her leg was also impaled by a metal shard. All she would do was gasp, time seemed to slow down as her brain grasped her reality. Suddenly, she’d drop her parasol as both her hands immediately grasped her left leg as the limb seemed to give out in pain. She’d grit her teeth as tears once again formed in her eyes, but not for the excruciating pain she was feeling, but for the likeliness of failure!

All she could do was call out to Iberis, “Iberis! Watch out!” Her hand reached out towards her, but her spells were exhausted. However, she’d attempt to form a flame dart using her weakest [magic F] and [fire affinity F] paired with [Focus F] to hopefully deviate the needle attack coming towards her academy friend.

It was then that Sophia and the others would enter, swiftly making quick work of the thrall by blowing its arm off. “N-no.. wait.” She called out to the others to stand down.

Picking up her catalyst, and tucking it under her arm she noticed Sverre come to her side. “M-mr. S.” She said, as Scylla pulled herself up by the constructs hand. “I.. I cannot worry about me now, help me get to the Thrall. I’m.. I’m not finished here.” Limping and hemorrhaging, and likely with the help of Sverre, she’d finally drop to her knees beside their opponent m. Keeping some distance from the thrall so as to not provoke not just a possible attack but a finishing blow from the hunters.

“You know? Some people have told me it’s a curse that I do everything I can to see the good in people..” she began softly as a warm blue glow emitted from her catalyst, “..I like to believe everyone has good in them, gestures of kindness, or loved ones they’d do anything for out of love..” once the mana took form she’d make a giving like notion as the healing spell began to stream from Scylla to the Thrall. “..I have never met one with as much loss and grief in her heart as you. Would you ever give yourself a second chance? Could you ever.. forgive?”

Scylla winced a bit as the blood oozing from her leg began to pool at her feet. The witch would begin to sob, “Please, for those you’ve lost, and for the pain and sorrow in your heart. Say you will!” She exclaimed as the witch then extended her arm at the thrall, sending a bright and blue aqua like stream out of her hand with the intention to remove the curse the thrall was afflicted. [Healing B]

• Healing] B- You may apply may use magical or mundane means to aid others through their suffering. Healing and what can be healed becomes more powerful with higher ranks and when combined with other skills like magic. - B - reenvigor, Cure Any disease/ailment/curse/poison, raise dead if they have been dead no more than 10 days.

 

[Sharena]

(Blue = Common, Orange = Beastial)
​

Shion fought through the pain as she entered the building after everyone else. The first thing that she noticed was the metal needle heading straight at Iberis. She calmed herself as best she could before grasping her hands together as her mana stores flared within her. She pulled her hands apart as an orb of magic appeared betwixt them before she hurled the energy at the needle as it took the shape of a blade of magical energy in hopes of deflecting it off course from striking Iberis!

Magic Slash - Magic E, Magic Range F - Shion conjures magical energy to attack foes within range of her. - Grade E - 0/1 Cooldown

Whether that was enough or not, she took note that the thrall was immobilized and dealt with already. Almost felt like grabbing the hunters was hardly worth it. She shook her head, as if she had any other options at the time. Her fear drove her outside faster than Cayde's order frankly, she expected the thrall to take more to beat down than one volley of attacks from everyone. Of course, Sophia's crossbow seemed to seal the deal, so maybe calling everyone in wasn't a complete waste.

Shion rushed to Iberis' side, finally feeling her wound get to her as she finally let out a cry of pain. "Fuck!" She exclaimed as she bared teeth, dropping to a knee as she tried to look the mage over with no concern for herself.

"Iberis, are...are you alright?" She asked, hoping the mage was spared the worst of the thrall's attacks while she let the others deal with the thrall for the moment. She seethed as the pain rushed through her again.

"Damnit, bitch got me better than I thought...guess my body's not as nimble or durable as it used to be..." Shion wondered if this too was a result of her new surroundings, but something that simple to dodge would've been nothing back in her world. Did she somehow lose more than her magical prowess too? The thought was cut off as she seethed with pain again.

"Iberis...I don't think my Healing is strong enough to deal with this..." Shion forced through the pain, she couldn't exactly ask Scylla for assistance given her present task, and Shion felt like moving any more was a bad idea too.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis Odhir
​

Elvario The Last Curse RavenSong Sharena Silent Angel

The what Iberis could only assume was some sort of traumatic memory from Shion was distressing, but Iberis didn't have too much time to dwell on it in this fight or flight mode with all the attacks being thrown around the room. She really wasn't expecting this environment to be so dangerous for what they were trying to do as people had already been injured. She had barely noticed Shion leave the area, paying attention to the ongoing violence.

At the very least the weakening curse seemed to be effective at stopped the thrall from being able to effectively kill Kalina with melee attacks. Being essentially soldier of Renee was finally paying off with her superior Focus, letting her use her magic even in these stressful distracting sort of circumstances.

Scylla had been hit by a spike as well in the leg, truthfully Iberis was very fortunate that she didn't have the same fate in large thanks to Scylla's firery attack to counter attack. It did upset Iberis that she was unable to really heal anyone's injuries in that moment despite how much of the team had been hurt, it was quite literally her and Cayde who hadn't been hurt out of those who came so far. While she didn't know it just yet Shion had been gashed too, which she was about to find out herself soon enough.

Now Sophia had joined the battle, another one confirmed who hadn't been hurt yet at the least, except she returned fire with a great deal of damage, as the arm was taken off the thrall, as Iberis turned to see where the bolt had come from that's where she learned this information.

Unfortunately the damage was severe and Iberis could see very well that the Thrall wasn't doing so hot to put it lightly.

What was even worse was Iberis then had a projectile heading right toward her which was speeding along, if it hit her it was likely to do some nasty damage even if it was lower grade on account of Iberis not having appropriate armor which she really needed to remedy given the sorts of combat situations she got into. Iberis after noticing the attack heading her way all the way from the thrall, she had been instinctually attempting to cast Energy shield, but suddenly Shion was on the scene again and she was trying to protect her, so the spell went incomplete with her gestures, instead Iberis would duck instinctually.

Regardless of whether or not it struck Iberis, a look of determination fell on her face once more, instead of answering Shion's question she said,

"I don't have the skills needed to heal you either..or anyone else right now for that matter, I'm sorry, please stay put here until you can get the treatment needed, thank you for protecting me..I'll be right back I just need to help Scylla. We need to complete the plan." She said quite focused now when she saw that she was trying to heal the thrall. Even if Shion being hurt was a distressing sight to Iberis, the tone of her voice, suggested that what she was doing next was of utmost importance.

Iberis moved forward closer to Scylla as best she could given her current condition up to 60 ft with Fast F, with her D grade ability was still on cooldown for at least a round, whether or not it was cleansed by Scylla's high grade healing, so Iberis had to rely on on stringing together some weaker magic which was why she moved forward due to the range limitation, creating the ability Mana Transfusion E. If it was successful a string of mana energy would leave Iberis's staff and head toward Scylla just like they planned with a bit more almost dead Thrall.

Spoiler: Actions

1.Iberis Moves toward Scylla up to 60 ft, however many are needed to get in range of Scylla with her ability.
2. Iberis casts ability Mana Transfusion on Scylla.
Mana Transfusion E - Magic affinity E, Magic Range F, Magic Targeting F, Energized E, Focus E
Iberis shares her mana with up to 5 targets up to 30 ft away from her. Grade E- 0 Post Cooldown (Energized)
Cooldowns: D on Cooldown 1 round
E 0 (Energized)

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: TheTimePiece Elvario RavenSong Sharena Silent Angel ​

Somewhere between throwing the vials and watching them erupt against the thrall's defenses, a vivid memory flashed by Cayde's eyes. He blinked, a short gasp escaping him as his eyes adjusted to a blazing hellscape. Every muscle tensed in his body. What was this? Why was he being shown this now? Goosebumps forming on his skin, he let his gaze wander. The small kitsune from before was here. Alone. Staring despairing into the fire. The voice was instantly recognizable. "Shion?" Something tore through the air beside him as the name left his lips. He blinked, and the forest was gone, replaced with a sobering sight of the thrall. Except she wasn't attacking. And her arm was gone. Did they do it? Cayde shook his head, hands immediately searching for his med kit. The thrall wouldn't last long. He needed to act now.

While searching, he glanced at the arcane flames from the corner of his eye. The memory of the yipping kitsune flared in his vision, Shion's voice replaying on a loop. Cayde gritted his teeth. That'd need to be taken care of, too.

He heard the sound of several people rushing into the room. Breath steadying, he looked up to see the rest of the team approach, "God, and not a second too soon!" But soon, his eyes moved around the room, witnessing the fight's aftermath. A pit formed in his stomach. The team had taken a beating. He had to help. "Morana!" He called, pulling out two rolls of sterilizing bandages, "Get these bandages to Shion. Quick!" Then, removing another roll and a cloth tourniquet, a grimace grew as his gaze turned to Scylla. Was she starting the cleanse now? In that condition? "Wait..." He said, watching Iberis speed past him to Scylla. A painful realization washed over him as the mages funneled mana between themselves and the thrall. They already had their priorities straight. What was he doing?

Gritting his teeth, Cayde sped up to the thrall first, tying the tourniquet tight above her wound. "Sorry, it had to come to this," He muttered, unsure if the thrall could hear him. It still felt natural to apologize. When he finished, he moved to Scylla, lifting a palm and transfusing ethereal blue strands of mana into her. [Magic E + Arcana E + Selective F + Focus E + Energized E + Magic Range F]. He held tight to the second magical crystal in his other hand, just in case.

 

[Elvario]

Aquaculture Labs
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Third Factory Street – Aquaculture Labs
Time: 23:40 Weather Inside, water leaking, fairly dark.

From: Museum of Orphaned Concepts
Mentions: Iberis TheTimePiece | Cayde The Last Curse | Scylla RavenSong | Shion Sharena | Sophia Silent Angel

The combination of Iberis ducking (counting as a dodge action) and both Scylla and Shion altering the needle's trajectory through a Flame Dart and Magic Slash respectively was more than enough to have the witch remain unharmed (though it was mostly Shion, as Scylla's attack didn't even have the range to leave her hand and Iberis had no ability invoked to dodge with).

Mr.S

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oAwl4q

“I got ya, miss purple.” He said, upon being asked to help her to the thrall. He'd pick her up bride-style and carry her over near the thrall, where he'd gently put her down again. His size and strength made it seem easy.

???

Spoiler: Full Image and source

From: Download wallpapers by subject fantasy

As Scylla set to work on cleansing the thrall's curse, the latter was in no ability to reply to Scylla's words. The rapid and continuing blood-loss from her shot-off arm, the remnants of Kalina's attack, the weakening from Iberis and Sophia... It'd all added up to make her pass out and start to 'die' even more than her partial undead nature had already been. Scylla's healing didn't heal her for two reasons; Scylla was focussed on the curse first and foremost and even Healing B couldn't regrow an entire limb. So long as it'd be entangled by ropes further away from the Thrall, the creature would keep racing towards death, with or without the curse cleansed from her.

The cleansing itself, however, was progressing smoothly. Despite her near-death state, the metal around the thrall's neck started to retract and fade. Her skin started to slowly change colour, to an odd shade of green. Her entire shape was soon starting to bend and twist. A weird sizzling, was heard, as they could suddenly see metal melting away from her body through the [Curse Cleanse] effect of Healing B.

Scylla's own leg would hurt more now, after having been left untreated. The bleeding kept going and had indeed formed a small puddle.

Just as Scylla was about to run out of energy, Iberis stepped in, supplying Scylla with the mana to keep going.

Cayde, distracted for a moment, was almost too late to back them up. As Scylla was cleansing the curse, she'd start to feel it try to take hold of her instead. She'd need something to transfer this into. Luckily enough, Cayde remembered their mission and brought the crystals in time for her to transfer it without falling to the curse herself. With Cayde's mana also supplying Scylla, she had more than enough energy and power to cleanse the curse and transfer what parts she couldn't destroy into the crystals instead.

However... things didn't end there. The thrall was still close to death. Cayde, having [Medicine D], would instantly realise that his idea to use a tourniquet was worthless, as the arm was shot off at the shoulder. There was simply nothing left to tie it around. That said, the same knowledge allowed him to at least tie the clothing around the wound itself, across her entire torso, to at least slow the bleeding a bit. The latter was made even more possible when Sophia let go of the [Tangle] and the ropes faded away into obscurity, allow him to fully get a hold of the thrall. His [Medicine D] was also enough for him to know that, if he were to grab the shot-off arm and tie it back to its place, someone with Healing C or higher could reattach it, but they'd have to do so soon, as his own provisory first-aid wasn't going to make her last much longer.

Morana

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/92JWv

“Yes sir.” She'd reply, trying her best to hold the bandages without having her clawed fingers cut through them, which wasn't easy. She'd bring the over to Shion. “I'm afraid you'll have to apply them yourself.” She'd state, her clawed fingers not exactly being nimble enough to help bandage someone up.

Kelsey

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
Kensei

“Fucking hell... it bloody hurts...” She complained, as Theron finished wrapping up the wounds on her legs.

Theron

Spoiler: Full Image

From: Dwarfen

“Don't worry, you'll live.” He just replied, before heading over to the next victim: Kalina.

Yurena

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
href.li

Her legs were hurting like madness. Perhaps pulling herself loose from the iron spikes they'd been stuck on hadn't been the greatest idea. However, when she spotted Theron, she knew it was bad news. If he'd see her blood and wounds from up close, he'd likely know immediately what type of creature he was dealing with. She tried her best to bite through the pain, then, with Deception D, made her plea. “No, no, I'll be fine, leave me, help her!” She called out, pointing at Scylla instead. “She needs to focus on the ritual, so please, help her while she keeps it up!” That would hopefully work...

Which it did, as Theron nodded, heading over to bandage up Scylla. All that time, Mr.S. had been standing on standby besides her. Senna still had her weapons aimed at the thrall. Yumi was still out of their sights and senses.

Meanwhile, the thrall had continued to change shape, until she was no longer recognisable at all.

???

Spoiler: Full Image

The curse seemed to be cleansed, but the job wasn't finished. Thanks to Cayde managing to slow her dying process, she was still alive, but only barely and she was still deteriorating at every second.

 

[RavenSong]

She winced, and groaned out loud in pain as the shock of the wound on her leg set it further. As she channeled the healing spell, she extended her leg some, exposing the gash to the atmosphere.

However, her focus wouldn’t waver from the thralls dying body. She was an essential part of their mission here, she was prideful, it was subtle on the surface but within was a witch that needed to always “turn assignments in on time” so to speak.

Perhaps it was this unwavering focus that would drain her significantly into exhaustion. She’d begin to breathe heavily as the last bits of mana left her body. “Her.. arm..” she managed through a gasp, “..hurry.”

Her eyes would falter and flicker for a few moments, her hand slowly falling closer and closer to the ground, the spell would lose energy flashing on and off about to fail. It was then that before Scylla could fully pass out, the feeling of a differently formed mana was transfused into her. “Iberis?” She asked, but only looked over briefly as the mana intensified once again.

Suddenly, she felt a tougher pair of hands on her, it was Theron. Staying focused as the witch channeled the spell further, the thrall was peeling; changing. “Okay, okay, w-wait be gentle with-, agh!” She gasped and gritted her teeth but wouldn’t dare lose focus as the dwarf dressed her wound. “T-thanks.” She said finally when he was finished, “I can’t spare even a drop of mana on me. This needs to be done first.”

The witch’s voice was determined, however she wouldn’t move or attempt to stand, she sat on her good leg while the other stretched out a bit.

As she pressed on to remove the curse, for a moment it seemed like the curse was floating in the tethers between the thrall and the witch, the curse itself was momentarily sated by the massive amount of mana. However it wasn’t without challenge that the curse would attempt to latch onto the witch. Velvet would help here as she parried any sort of bewitchment.

At nearly the end of the ritual spell, Cayde contributed to the mana transfusion, it really accelerated everything, but being the conduit to all the mana was only beginning to overwhelm the witch before finally, the curse was lifted.

Saving a bit of mana, and pulling out the attuned crystal in her robes, holding it firmly in one hand as she waited for the arm part to be placed where it was meant to go for her to cast [Healing C] fusing the Thralls limb to its rightful place.

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Elvario RavenSong ​

As the thrall sizzled and contorted during the cleanse, Cayde took a breath, re-directing all his focus on directing his mana. He watched pale flesh turn green, metal dissolving into nothing, a whole new person seemingly springing from the thrall's body. His eyes widened. All of this felt so unfamiliar. So horrifying. And yet so deeply fascinating. How exactly was this working? Was healing magic really doing all this? Where could he learn to do something like this again? What could he do with this kind of magic?

The thoughts clouded Cayde's mind until he heard Scylla speak. Blinking out of his fugue, he glanced at her and the thrall. They both looked absolutely miserable. But Scylla would recover - she bounced back quickly. The thrall was a different story. "Y-Yeah, Gimme one second!" He waved past the thrall to her dismembered arm. He carefully picked it up and held back the urge to look away. No time for squeamishness. Not when someone's dying. "I dunno if you can hear me, but Y'know, this wasn't exactly how I'd thought this would go..." He said to the thrall, a hand reaching his pack to pull out a spool of twine, "But you're in good hands now, miss. Promise you that."

Carefully lining up the wound to the thrall's arm, ensuring it'd heal correctly, Cayde drew a long piece of twine with his other hand. With [Steady Hands - F], he tried to secure the arm back in place as cleanly as possible. When he finished, he held it up for extra support. "Alright, try it now, Scylla!" He nodded slightly, goosebumps rising on his skin. He'd heard of magic fusing limbs together before but had never seen it in person. What would this look like?

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis Odhir
​

Iberis thankfully had avoided being hurt for the time being so she didn't need to be healed up like many of the others in the room which she took note of. Of course the fact that the thrall was almost dead wasn't lost on her. As she looked over to see in her terrible condition with the arm gone and all the blood all over the place, as she had transferred the mana to Scylla who had gone to cure the curse. The mana transfusion had been effective it looked like as far as securing the energy she needed to get the curse off. While it was a bit alarming at first to see the curse start moving to Scylla, thankfully Cayde had come in for an assist.

Iberis was surprised by the changing form of the thrall, what was going on exactly? It almost looked like they were becoming some entirely different species, perhaps the curse had made them assume that metal form which had been bestowed upon them, it was really the only explanation.

It was interesting seeing the magical theory come into fruition as Cayde's crystals did their thing, very much just like she saw Auldlich move the curse to the bone. Perhaps he hadn't shown any signs of the curse effecting him due to being used to holding curses on himself..as it looked like he had taken and redirected it, surely his reanimation was a type of curse no? Iberis wasn't really sure but whatever happened it all worked out.

The youthful witch was relieved when she saw Shion, Kelsey, and Kalina who were getting aid for their injuries, even if Kalina tried to redirect the attention to Scylla's injuries which weren't great arguably.

But the person in the worst condition was still the thrall, Who Cayde had been trying to help had to shift his plan by getting that arm and setting it in place for reattachment with more healing.

Upon seeing that there wasn't really anything else for her to do as far as making mana move in that moment, she decided to go back over to Shion. She was almost tempted to go over to Kalina to see what she could do there..but she probably had her reasons for wanting to keep cover, and Iberis didn't really have anything she could do for Kalina over there without proper supplies and a lack of healing magic.

"Let me help with those It can't be easy for you to deal with this sort of thing when you're dealing with that sort of pain ." She said after using a movement action to get back over there, as she offer to help apply the bandages to Shion, feeling a great sense of relief that things were finally looking better. If Shion agreed, she'd try her best to apply them properly, feeling like it was the least she could do after all Shion had done.