promittere | central mission

central mission

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!

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[Rude much? But thanks for not sending him rolling down the stairs with your bony little shoulder, bro. Akira is the mature(?) adult(?) here, so he ignores Kurapika and continues forward, eyes casually scanning their surroundings.]

Yeah. Morag, you've got the key, right?

[By all means, ladies first. Should anything go awry, she's got four able-bodied men backing her up. She did, after all, assume the role of leader here.]

Is that the staff quarters? [Syrlya reviews the directions in his head. The quarters are definitely behind a door but how are castles usually laid out?]

Well, we might as well try it. If we can't get through, it probably isn't the right way.

The key is to the vault, specifically. If it fits other doors, they have regrettable security indeed.

[Still, they haven't impressed her so far, although she'll only try the key if just opening the door doesn't work.]

[Syrlya is correct that these are the staff quarters, so the door is currently unlocked!

Though, are they going to open the door slowly or just throw it open?]

[Mòrag opens it like a normal-ass door opening. Somewhere in the exact middle between slowly inching it and smashing through shoulder-first, y'know?]

[So, not taking the stealth option here.

On the other side of the door is a kitchen—even more stocked and well-furnished than the one in the manor, though it seems like nobody's been in the kitchen for days... not that there's much time to look at the kitchen, with how jumpy the ghosts in the manor are. It's almost like they're expecting some sort of violent assault or something, with how they shout in the alarm.]

Intruders?!

[There are two ghosts in the room, swiveled in a way that's clear their backs had been to the door previously. There's a long prep table and counters in between them and the ghosts that would have been perfect for hiding behind, but alas.]

[Mòrag slightly turns her head to address the others.]

It isn't the staff quarters, only a kitchen. Unless that is considered part of the staff quarters in a place such as this?

[The stealth option was never an option anyway. She'll defend her actions to her dying day.]

It could be. Some places have kitchens meant solely for staff.

[ And given that this is downstairs, Kurapika thinks that could be the case here. But ah... that shout. ]

Be prepared to fight.

[Syrlya hears before he sees them, hand wandering to his blade. Filtering through the door is too tight to draw it, but he's still trying to peer around Mòrag. See if the ghosts look like civilians or guards.]

[Ah. They really are ghost busters now, aren't they? Akira never goes anywhere without his trusty dagger and (airsoft) gun, so if a fight is inevitable, he's more than prepared.

...But hold on a sec. Not all hope of a non-violent confrontation is lost. The ghosts have been jumpy from the start, so Akira's gonna just... try and calm them down......]

Relax. We're not here to steal your dinner. In fact, did you need some help? Sorry we didn't knock first, but we're here to help out on behalf of our good friend Ser Alec.

[These ghosts are much jumpier than the others—and just as armed. One of them fumbles with his sword (my nat 1....), and doesn't manage much...

The other, however, manages to draw his blade. He's not about to ask questions, scoffing.]

Please, if you were comrades we'd know you were coming!

[Seems there's not much communication between ghost gangs?

This ghost swings and his strike hits true, slashing Morag. Please imagine some cool battle music, thank you.

If you can dispatch the ghosts quickly enough, you might be able to back to sneaking, but you can also just fight your way through to the vault if you're feeling frisky.]

[All hopes for a peaceful encounter were gone the moment one of them slashed at Morag and actually managed to strike her]

No choice but to subdue them.

[Kiryu faces this kind of situation incredibly often, that's for sure. A pair of people not willing to talk and instead going to violence? Story of his life, happens even when he's just strolling down the street]

Let's not take long here. We don't need a whole bunch of fights.

[Who knows if there'd be reinforcements if they take their time. It's because of this focus on going for defense that Kiryu doesn't hesitate and goes for the prep table, using his typical tendency of grabbing nearby heavy objects at hand for fighting to lift it up, focusing and channeling his magic through it, trying to turn it into a magical tool for fighting the ghosts. With this prep table he should be able to both defend himself against the ghosts' swords and strike at them, is his intention!

Which is why after stepping ahead of the rest to avoid friendly fire, Kiryu swings the prep table at the ghosts]

[Make no mistake, the hit landed cleanly and it hurt, but she isn't about to acknowledge that. With combat so suddenly declared, she darts forward into the midst of the room in the table's wake, sweeping a lash of fire around towards the ghost that had just engaged her.]

[It doesn't go well.]

[Off to a swinging start... literally, in the case of the prep table. Akira won't dock any points for a lack of sophistication so long as Kiryu does numbers on those ghosts. Good luck and godspeed not dying, Morag.

Akira channels the ball of flames in his palm into his gun and fires at the ghosts surrounding Morag (15) to give her a chance to recover. Better luck next roll.]

[Syrlya watches Kiryu lift up that prep table with the face of a person thinking "well, whatever works". Things are immediate chaos, and Syrlya filters into the kitchen behind the others and immediately shuffles along the side until he's perpendicular to the ghosts and everyone else. He has the space now and draws his sword, pointing it forward toward the ghosts, trying to get them in line as he speaks his incantation.

And then a laser of condensed magic just shoots straight from the tip of his blade (14) at the ghosts.]

Edited 2024-04-28 17:17 (UTC)

[ Honestly, the table is a pretty creative move, and Kurapika is taking notes. He’ll wait for it to connect with one of the ghosts before aiming a blast of wind at one of them with the intent to knock them down, or at least off balance (16). ]

[ The kitchen descends into chaos in the blink of an eye. Kiryu's reaction is instant, his table swing (16) connecting with both ghosts in one elegant sweep. This guy is oddly proficient with table, isn't he...?

As they stagger, Akira's magical bullet strikes true at the one that hit Mòrag, while Syrlya's sword laser pierces the other. Kurapika sees his chance, and his gust of wind connects, knocking both on the ground before they can retaliate.

Mòrag isn't so lucky, however (1). She sweeps forward with a burst of fire, only for the embers to catch on a shelf on the opposite wall. The wood smoulders, and begins to burn. Oops.

Both ghosts are knocked prone but not "dead" yet, while a shelf is about to catch fire. ]

[A potential fire in an enclosed space that probably won't have as much ventilation as it should? Oh, better try to get rid of that problem right away. Kiryu tries to focus the same way Bruno did not too long before this day, making a deluge of water appear from nothingness and splashing on the wood. Plenty of water, to ensure that, if it's not extinguished, at least its surroundings will be too wet to catch fire.

The other four can handle the ghosts, clearly. They can be trusted to do that]

[He owes you a golf clap for that well-timed deluge, Kiryu. In the meantime, Akira continues targeting the most aggressive of the ghosts, aiming for headshots (15) whenever he can.]

[Since Kiryu's swiftly dealing with the fire, Syrlya fires off another magic laser at the ghosts (8).]

[ Kurapika is about to aim at the ghosts again, but he slips on some of that water Kiryu has summoned and just... falls right on his ass (2). ]

[PFFT,]

[This is exactly why she asked about collateral damage earlier.]

[All right, she has to admit, she underestimated how strongly she would be affected by not being a Driver at present. Rather than lunge in again as she would were she wielding her proper weapons, she steadies herself to fire a more focused, carefully aim lance of flames at one of the ghosts.]

[It goes slightly better than the first one, in that it just misses instead of igniting the room.]

[FRIENDLY FIRE THANKS KIRYU]

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revengier - 2024-04-28 19:40 (UTC) - Expand

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