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]

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...]

[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?

[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.]

[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.]