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!

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Comments

[jokey]

I'll back Kurapika up.

[He owes that dweeb a punch or two.]

So we're settled then?

[specialinquisitor]

I accede to the preferred plan. [Doesn't like it, though!]

THE STOREROOM - AKIRA & KURAPIKA

[promittere]

[ The door to the storeroom sits on the opposite wall of the way you came in.

Who opens the door, and how do they open it? ]

[revengier]

[ Kurapika turns to Akira, putting a finger to his own lips before pointing down to the ground. It's time for ultimate stealth mode here, and so he follows his own orders and crouches too, before slowly opening the door.

They're going for the careful route. ]

[jokey]

[Stealth suits Akira just fine. He drops into a crouch, molded against the wall to minimize himself as much as possible while Kurapika carefully works open the door.]

[promittere]

[ The door swings open slowly, and quietly, and they can both clearly hear the echoing footsteps of what is, presumably, the ghostly guard.

Shelves filled with things stretch from floor to ceiling, but do not go from wall to wall, though they do span the majority of the length of the room. There's a gap on either side of the room—on their side, and on the side opposite—so that any aisle is easily accessible from both sides.

Ahead of them, they can see down this aisle straight to a door on the opposite side of the room.

The footsteps resound to their left, and to the right, presumably walking through the aisles against each wall. They are growing faint, meaning the ghosts are moving away from where Akira and Kurapika are now. ]

[revengier]

[ He motions for Akira to come closer so he can whisper: ]

They're heading away from the center of the room. I think if we time this correctly, we can make it towards the door to see if it's unlocked.

[ Wouldn't want to go through a bunch of trouble for a locked door, after all. ]

[jokey]

...Right. But there are also two of us and two of them. When their backs are turned, we can knock them out. That would buy us time in case something goes awry.

[revengier]

[ Akira makes a good point, so... ]

Alright, let's do that. It's your suggestion, so I assume you can knock someone out easily?

[ If not, Kurapika would give him a quick tutorial. ]

[jokey]

Of course.

[Akira draws his dagger and holds it such that the handle sits lengthwise in his palm. Using the blunt end as a bludgeon is something he's done to Shadows countless times.]

And I assume it's the same for you. On your mark, Kurapika the Terrible.

[ :) ]

[revengier]

[ Kurapika rolls his eyes. ]

I'll go for the one on the left. I'll trust you to take care of this all on your own.

[ And with that, he's sneaking off to go and approaches one of the ghosts, going for a carotid punch to the neck to make them pass out (11). ]

[jokey]

Right. I don't need you to hold my hand.

[Hmph!! Except he should've saved the sass until after he dispatched with the ghost, his grip faltering at just the wrong moment (8). Ghost's gonna have a real tender neck for a few days, but unconscious it is not.]

[promittere]

[ Kurapika sneaks up behind one of the ghosts as it retreats, and his hit strikes true. The sneak attack, instead of simply causing the ghost to fall unconscious, causes it to dissipate entirely. One ghost down.

Akira, on the other hand, is not so lucky. It feels the contact, whirls around, and he should know this song and dance by now. ]

Intruder! [ Its voice echoes eerily. It whirls on its heel, showing its back to Akira, to make its way...elsewhere. ] I need backup!

[jokey]

[It's fine, it's fine. This situation can still be salvaged. Akira recovers quickly, bounding forward to grab the retreating ghost and plunge his dagger into the side of its (17) neck. Seeing how the other ghost dissipated into the ether, wanton acts of violence against ghostkind are back on the table.]

THE OTHER DOOR - MÒRAG, KIRYU, SYRLYA

[promittere]

[ The last remaining door is the one that the ghost was running towards for reinforcements, sitting on the wall to the right from where you came in.

Who opens the door, and how do they open it? ]

[specialinquisitor]

[She's quite happy to defer to someone else for the moment, while her wound clots. She doubt the key is necessary, although the ghost might well have just been planning to run through it...]

[chronosynthesis]

[That decided, Syrlya leaves behind the storeroom door to exit the kitchen and peek down the hallway to see if the door down the right is still guarded.]

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

[Kiryu in the meantime searches in the kitchen for anything for Morag's wound, really. She might be taking this...relatively well? But still, since they have a moment to spare while Syr checks that, may as well take a quick look and see if there's anything for Morag.

Using healing magic doesn't cross his mind because he doesn't know any of that yet]

[promittere]

[ Syrlya takes the cautious route and loops back out around the way they came; he peeks down the neighboring corridor, presumably onto which their door will open, to see that the ghost guards are indeed still there.

In the meanwhile, Kiryu will find clean rags, neatly folded, in one of the drawers. Good enough for dressing a wound. ]

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

[There we go, that helps! Kiryu wastes no time bringing them to Morag]

This should last you until we're back.

[Better this than bleeding all over the place]

[specialinquisitor]

Ah, yes, that will do. I need to remember to learn how to heal, unless someone else manages it first.

[Just give her a moment. First aid is yet another thing she knows.]

[chronosynthesis]

It wasn't too deep, was it? [He glances over his shoulder. She hadn't seemed terrible bothered by the wound, but...] If it becomes a problem, please let us know and we'll find a more permanent solution.

[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]

[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]