central mission

[promittere]

ECHOING PAST MARZIALE

The sun sets on the manor when Tatara seeks out Akira, Kurapika, Syrlya, Kiryu, and Mòrag individually and brings them all outside, saying they've been summoned.

When they step outside, they will quickly see why: dressed in the royal blues and golds of the Granvelle family is an entourage waiting for them on horseback. Among the multitude of castle guards are two distinguished-looking gentlemen that everyone here will have seen at the ball. One, a shorter, portly man, leaps from his horse when he sees the wizards emerge, while the taller of the two remains perched atop his white horse to watch in silence.

"Good! You decided to show yourselves," the man says. He remains professional, but there is a hint of distrust in his eyes. "I am Drummond, Minister of Arcane Management at Granvelle Castle, and we have summoned you today to fulfill a direct request of ours.

"We believe the the castle is experiencing—don't laugh!—a haunting to a degree never before recorded or spoken of. It is simply unbearable to be there after dark. It is so much worse in the lower levels of the castle. Too many of our staff are flat-out refusing to come to work, and the situation is growing dire.

"We believe a magical artifact located somewhere in our vault is causing this. Locate this item and neutralize it."

He gestures to five horses, saddled with no riders.

"You will be coming with us back to the castle. Chop-chop! We don't have all night."

OOC NOTES

Welcome, Central wizards (and witch), to your mission!

Missions are mod-guided events that are partial CYOA, partial play-by-post instances. In general, you are free to interact with a scene as you please, and the mod will tell you how the scene reacts as a consequence of your actions. Some scenes will allow for more flexible threading, such as exploration or conversation, while some scenes will require strict turn order to preserve rounds, such as combat or other time-sensitive conflict. The mod will inform you if strict turn order is required at the start of a scene. Regardless, always be sure to bold any important actions you take.

This mission has been specifically tailored to Central disposition, attitudes, and magic. If you find yourself struggling to tackle a situation, refresh yourself on the description of Central on the locations page, and make sure to confer with your teammates too!

As a bonus, here's your theme music!

You will have until 11:59 AM EDT on Saturday, May 4 to reach a conclusion for this mission. Good luck!

» NAVIGATION

Comments

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

Anyway, let's get this done quick. Try diplomacy first -- the two that were here already proved the ghosts aren't aware what each other do.

[That and also these days Kiryu is in a state where he must pick his battles, and fighting too much could be harmful to Morag. Let's see if we can get away with not fighting]

[promittere]

[On the other side of that door is... the corridor the others were investigating! So, they can either reconvene with the old folks and Plant or go fight more ghosts...]

[promittere]

[Diplomacy was never an option.

With these ghosts, at least.

Though their rolls were absolutely awful, they don't actually manage to attack, but they do draw their swords.]

Intruders!

[Isn't this familiar...]

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

[Kiryu had wanted to do things peacefully. He wanted a bit of a break, and these two guards just...do this. Kiryu just stares in silence for a second before strolling forward, grabbing one of the ghost guards, and vaulting them over his shoulder, throwing him several feet down the hallway.

And he looks at the other guard, silently inquiring if this one wants to do this the hard way too]

[revengier]

[ He turns to look at Akira. ]

Well...?

[ Truth be told, he kind of wants to investigate. :(

That may or may not be obvious in his expression. ]

[jokey]

[Oh, it's super obvious. Akira snorts, grin pulled wide, and claps Kurapika on the shoulder. How cute.]

We're birds of a feather.

[Intrusive little thots.]

Let's go. I'll follow your lead.

[revengier]

[ HE'S NOT A THOT! BEGONE! That clap on the shoulder earns a glare, but he doesn't say anything as he makes his way back to that first door. ]

So, should we fight them or try to knock them out again?

[promittere]

[In the face of a nat 20, the ghost can do nothing but get yeeted down the hallwys while it's comrade watches... and then dissipates on impact. The other ghost doesn't have the will to face Kiryu and get tossed themself, and they only rolled a 2, so they drop their sword and make to flee.]

[chronosynthesis]

[Kiryu takes the lead, one-shots a ghost and sends the other running.]

... Good work. [Syrlya really sees no need to chase down a terrified ghost. Instead, he's going for the doors to open them.]

[jokey]

Trying to knock them out didn't go so well.

[Wonder why that might've been...]

This time, we go in swinging.

[revengier]

So you want to fight them for real, all because you're terrible at sneaking up?

[ UGH. Fine!

But that means Kurapika will waste no time in rolling for initiative here, throwing open the door and immediately charging at one of the ghosts, punching them with a fist imbued with icy magic (8). ]

[jokey]

Who said anything about wanting to fight? I'm just trying a new method.

[...One that immediately fails, because Akira bolts in after Kurapika and trips over his own feet, nearly concussing himself on the cold hard ground (1). Truly, it sucks to suck.]

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

[Kiryu steps aside, nodding. It's time to take a look in there, Syr taking the lead now, while Kiryu stays near Morag.

He's sure the teens meanwhile are doing well too. They're capable.

if only you knew kiryu]

[promittere]

[Well, they're doing their best(?). Akira stumbles in a moment of gracelessness, and while Kurapika manages to close the gap between himself and the nearest ghost, he only manages to graze them.

It swings at him in response with its fist, with Kurapika too close for him to draw its sword. The other two do manage to draw their weapons, another one swing at Kurapika and slashing his arms, while the other goes towards Akira, also landing a hit.

They can at least get a better look at the room, now. There are four beds in total in the room, three lined up on the left side, evenly spaced apart, while the fourth is against the right side of the room. A small table with chairs around it is on the right side of the room as well.]

[revengier]

[ So, no more doors… this is most likely a dead end, but they’re already in the midst of a fight so he might as well ignore that cut on his arm and try to knock the ghosts down with a wind spell (14). ]

[jokey]

[Great. Wonderful. Thanks for carrying, Kurapika, because Akira can't even get up off the ground. He tries, slips again, and ends up actually hitting his head on the ground this time (1). That, of course, leaves him open to getting slashed by the ghost and injured. Leave him for dead, it's fine.]

[promittere]

[The doors lining the hall open to the two rooms already explored, and the room where the teenagers are currently engaged in spectral combat.

The door at the very end of the hallway is locked, and getting near it will cause the hair (and leaves) on the back of their necks to raise, while a prickly anxiety sweeps over them.

This is the door go the vault, but they have the feeling they should all reconvene before continuing onwards.]

[promittere]

[Kurapika's wind spell gets the ghost to stagger enough that their next swings don't connect, which spares Akira a nasty fate.

One of them raises its shield to try to block the wind, and tries to charge at Kurapika, but he's too off-balance and bumps into one of his comrades.]

[revengier]

[ Wow, Akira really should thank him for that later. Kurapika lets out a small breath of relief—this is why he doesn't fight with others, he worries about them too much.

But he doesn't have to be distracted by a potentially fallen ally, and so he tries to make quick work of one of the ghosts, pulling a knife out of one of his pockets and slicing at their Achilles' tendon (17). This should be enough to make the ghost disappear completely, or if not, incapacitate them. ]

[jokey]

[He can never show his face in front of Kurapika again... but as nice as it would be to vanish into ether just like a ghost, Akira persists. He staggers upright and gathers his bearings, popping a cap in that ghostly ass (14) just in case Kurapika's attack was not enough to subdue it.]

Thanks for that.

[Embarrassing............]

[promittere]

[Kurapika's attack doesn't take the ghost down—magic seems far more effective against them—but the shot from Akira finishes him off, the ghost vanishing after the indignity of being shot in the butt.

The other two ghosts are still there, though, one jabbing his sword forward through Akira's defenses and getting a hit to his thigh, while the other tries for another shield bash that... doesn't do much to Kurapika. It feels like a gentle bonk, entirely ineffective.]

[revengier]

[ He gives Akira a little nod before they're suddenly preoccupied again with the ghosts charging at them.

But what seems it might be like a bash turns out to be a nice little bonk with a shield instead, and Kurapika uses the opening he gets on the ghost to send a wind charged kick to their chest (8). ]

[jokey]

[His leggie... That one's going to smart in the morning, but adrenaline carries Akira forward and onward, slashing his dagger in a wild arc at the ghost that landed a hit on him (7). Nothing is coming up Akira today, is it?]

[promittere]

[me looking at all of our rolls and crying... help...

The ghost tangling with Kurapika tries for another swing, this time with it's sword, but the wind from his kick manages to discombobulate it enough all it manages to do is rip a hole in his clothing.

The other presses the advantage at Akira, blade work quick and precise, aiming to disarm the boy. This does make it vulnerable to a counterattack, with all of its cockiness.]

[revengier]

[ Ugh. That wasn't enough. Kurapika tries for another kick, this time at the side, but it doesn't land very well (4).

Maybe this was a mistake. ]