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

[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.]

[revengier]

[ Well, that probably takes care of it, but Kurapika still comes running just in time to see Akira stab it in the neck. ]

Here I was, thinking about calling you... what was it? A boyfailure?

[jokey]

................

[Oh god, he's learning.]

Shut up, Kurapika.

[promittere]

[ Not quite! It does a number, and the ghost falls to its knees, but it's not down for the count yet. ]

Another one! [ It chokes, and swings at Kurapika with its sword (4), but it's a wild, messy swing, and hits nothing. It probably won't take much to take it out. ]

[revengier]

[ It's time to use the opening the ghost provides with that terrible swing, so Kurapika gives the ghost a roundhouse kick to the head. ]

What was that about shutting up, Akira?

[jokey]

Did you say something? I must be hearing things.

[Aaaaaanyway, if that's the end of that ghost, Akira will be moving right along to that door.]

[revengier]

[ That... actually makes him laugh as he follows Akira to the door. ]

I'll let you redeem yourself next time.

[ As if Kurapika didn't literally just fall on his ass not even ten minutes ago. ]

[promittere]

[ With the roundhouse kick, the ghost dissipates.

The two make their way down Akira's aisle, and once they reach the end, they'll find another door on the right wall, one they could not see from the entrance of the room.

That is in addition to the door they saw from the entrance. ]

[jokey]

[He'll get you back for this, mark his word...!

Approaching the door, Akira realizes this is not the door they saw from the entrance. Two of them... He turns to Kurapika.]

Two doors. I think we should investigate them one at a time and stick together unless you have other ideas.

[revengier]

[ He shakes his head. ]

I was going to suggest the same thing.

[ Kurapika motions his hand towards Akira. ]

Go ahead and open it. Let's see what's behind this one.

[ He'll go ahead and stand on his tiptoes so he can get a look at what's inside over Akira's shoulder. ]

[jokey]

[Fine with Akira. He places his palm flat against the door and gingerly works it open. Easy does it, especially after fudging that attempt to knock the ghosts out.]

[promittere]

[The caution is probably a good idea, as Akira can get a glimpse at what's on the other side of the door. It looks like staff quarters, and there are three ghosts in the room.

What's their next step?]

[revengier]

[ He stays right where he is, keeping an eye on the ghosts, but he lowers his voice to a hushed tone. ]

So, what should we do? Try the other one first?

[jokey]

[pspspspspsps...............]

...Doesn't hurt to check.

[Akira, calmly and quietly, closes the door. He motions for Kurapika to open the other one.]

[revengier]

[ Kurapika nods and immediately moves to double back towards that other door. Time to see what's behind door number two...!!

Much like Akira, Kurapika will very carefully open up the door to get a peek inside. ]

[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...]