Lolory
RWBY Tuesdays
ELVYRA HIGHWATER | Blackwell Vampire-Human | VIP
The night had reached it's peak, and the gambling hall had settled into a loud, yet comfortable buzz as people watched Raia and Shu play Russian Roulette. Unbeknownst to either of them, the gang downstairs was on their way to becoming richer than anyone in that casino could ever dream of. Elvyra watched Pamela hop her way down the hall to investigate further. "We should follow her now, besides I think someone's already waiting for us down there anyways." Elvyra said to Hiroshi as she began to walk down the hall. She glanced at Snare's new...strange form with a grimace. "You should come with us, if anything your appearance will scare the daylights out of any old fool we come across, and this operations been quiet so far."
The group of people she'd partnered up, while good at their jobs, concerned her somewhat. Though it was also painfully familiar to the other operations she'd pulled off with her old crew back in Blackwell. When Naori spoke about taking some of the bodies for 'Experiments' she almost thought he was someone else entirely. "You know kid, you remind me of someone. He was a real...enigma I guess that's the best way to put it." She said with a chuckle. "But I'm afraid we don't have time to loot bodies. Plus, I want to keep this as clean as possible. I may have partnered with you all to rob this joint, but we don't have anyone to clean up after us. The guards in that room, and whosoever is waiting for us up here will be the only causalities tonight." At least, I hope so.
Pamela's sneaking and investigation would result in no guards being nearby so the coast was clear. The hall lead to a large open space it was clear this was more than just a "basement" but an actual vault used for the Casino. Along the walls were various safes that were closed tightly shut, yet Elvyra ignored them completely in favor of what was in front of them. There, on a pedestal and floating just a few inches from it's solid surface was a the shiniest piece of Jade that she'd ever seen. It glowed so much it left a slight green hue on everything, and not just that it was humongous. The jade chunk was truly a sight to behold, and standing near it was a man she'd only seen in the papers and out on the front steps of the Goldpot. Lu Jiang greeted them with a tired expression on his face, the heavy weight of grief had left it's mark all over him it seemed. He had heavier eye bags than before, and his shoulders sagged as he looked at the group unsurprised by their sudden appearance.
"I take it you're here for the Jiangshi Treasurebox?" He said to them. Lu gestured widly at the room they were in. "Well...you're here now. If you check the vaults, I'm afraid you'll find that they're empty. This whole casino is, and always has been, completely devoid of any material wealth."
Elvyra felt that something about this whole thing was off from the jump. She knew someone was waiting for them down that hallway, and that it would probably be Lu Jiang himself but she hadn't expected him to be waiting for anyone to appear. "I've been watching you all, you know. The moment you stepped foot in this place, I was able to see and hear everything I needed to know to be prepared for this moment." He grabbed a hold of the jade chunk, and just then someone else had finally joined the group.
"Brother? What on earth is going on? I came because-" It was Mei Jiang, she looked onwardly at the group in confusion. She recognized a few there, but made no move to do anything as she continued to speak. "The Golden Hour is almost finished. Have we been able to give everything away finally?" She asked him. Lu Jiang shook his head.
"No we haven't. I already told you that something like that wouldn't work. We're running out of time, as well..."
"Can you two quit the vague chatter already and just explain? I'm losing my nerves here, either call the cops or hand us the box!" Elvyra had the sense that she had been duped somehow. Like the Jiang's had been the ones to con her instead. It wasn't a welcome feeling.
"The short of it is that we knew you were coming to rob us. That was the plan from the very beginning anyways. If no one had been able to win the entirety of the Jiangshi Treasurebox, we'd just wait for your group to come and steal it, that way it'd be out of our hands." Lu Jiang explained. "You see, the truth is that...we are not normal long lived people. We're Jiangshi. It's a form of Monster that's not very common in this era...or this region of the world. We're practically walking souls, undead creatures that can never rest. We've been tied to this for nearly 3 centuries now." He held the jade chunk out for them to see. "This is the Jiangshi Treasurebox. It looks like a pretty piece of jade, right? Well it houses the souls of every Jiang that has lived in our family for generations. It takes souls and transforms them into material items like gold and jewelry or other fine items. This is how we've been keeping the lights on in this place...well, until recently."
"I did hear that this place was having some kind of financial problems...so what? Just feed that hunk of rock more souls and call it a day." Seemed simple enough to Elvyra, but Lu Jiang shook his head, and Mei walked to join him by the jade chunk.
"It'll only take Jiangshi souls, unfortunately, since we're legitimately cursed to hold it forever. Until someone 'wins' it from us like a prize. Our eldest brother, Xu Jiang, gave himself up to keep the Goldpot alive, but...I've decided I can't sacrifice anyone else to this thing! So, I was hoping someone would try and steal it from me, or win every last bit of treasure it held. But we're running out of time, soon it'll need another Jiangshi to satiate it and keep it going, otherwise well...who knows what will happen?"
And just as he said that, the room erupted with the power from the Jiangshi treasurebox. A powerful wind that threatened to pull everything in that empty vault into it's clutches unleashed, before it ceased and a wave of energy knocked everyone to their feet. Lu and Mei were gone now, it seemed that they had been absorbed by the Jade since they were the closest to it. But that was the least of the groups worries, as in it's place was now a very scary and powerful entity that roared at them in angry howl.
Covered in scales and fur, it was a dragon decorated in beautiful gold armor. Is this is the real form of the Jiangshi treasurebox?
"THOSE TWO FOOLISH JIANSGSHI ARE GONE NOW, I'LL TRANSFORM THEM INTO SOMETHING NEW ONCE I'VE REGAINED MY FULL STRENGTH..." Elvyra was able to stand up finally, and had a horrified look on her face at the new beast before them. Well it seemed she was right about one thing, at least. The Jiangshi Treasurebox was not something they could've ever divvied up between them all. The dragon then looked directly at Elvyra and the others, and she swore it grinned then.
"AH, HOW NICE OF THEM TO PREPARE MORE SOULS FOR ME. I'LL HAVE TO REMEMBER TO MAKE THESE JIANGSHI'S INTO SOMETHING NICE AFTERWARDS!" The horn on it's head began to glow menacingly...And then suddenly everyone was encased in a jade prism!
Inside Elvyra's Jade prism
Elvyra only saw white and could hear nothing until she blinked her eyes a few times to clear her vision. Once she was able to actually see, she was shocked for a moment to find herself in an all too familiar room. The oakwood desk and scruffy flooring from her old office back in Blackwell sat in front of her. Her desk was empty save for a few papers and a glass of "wine" she no doubt got from some poor fool earlier. The office was warm, relaxing, familiar. She actually felt at peace for once in this nice wallpapered room.
This could all be yours too...Just give me the rest of your Red Envelopes and I'll make it happen!
Elvyra heard a knock at the door and a small voice from the otherside. "Aunt Elvyra...? Are you in tonight?" She knew that voice, it was Winrey. He continued to knock on the door, and Elvyra felt the strong urge to let him in. But then that other voice came barreling in making demands of her, urging her to give up something. What was it again...? Red Envelopes...? She'd kept hers tucked away in her coat and hadn't been planning on using them at all that night. This isn't real...Winrey's off living his own life...a good one too! She clutched her coat tighter with a resolved look in her eyes. "You've got a lot of nerve, you damn lizard! Trapping me in here, using my own family against me! I'm done making deals with monsters. Let me outta here now!"
yeah hi it's me Lolory. Consider this a quick time event, everyone now must roll a 1d6 to determine their fate in the Jade (Yes, even if you were in the middle of a game and aren't at the battle, you still have to roll because everyone in the casino got trapped by this big dragon)!! If you roll a 4 you're stuck in the jade, if you don't roll a 4 you're free to break out of it! But don't worry! if you do happen to be unlucky enough to roll a 4 and not get out, the others can break you out once the battle is over with. In the meantime, feel free to write about what it's like in your characters Jade prism, a place where they'd have anything they'd wanted!
