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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ He nods. ]

I agree. Let's not split up.

[ Because clearly The Teens can't handle this stuff on their own. ]

...And I'd like to exercise caution this time.

[Syrlya watches the teens filter in looking... a little rougher for the wear. He sort of took "exercise caution" to be the expected, but decides not to just point that out.]

There's probably more than one artifact in there that's enchanted, so try not to touch anything unless necessary. [That goes for everyone.] Does anyone need their wounds checked before we go in?

I am fine.

[As if she'd claim anything else.]

[Since she has the key, she takes the lead -- though she doesn't turn it in the lock till everyone has assented. No jumping the gun here.]

[Akira's suffered more than his fair share of injuries this round, but he's nowhere near ready to throw in the towel. Caution is, especially right now, of the utmost important.]

I'll be fine. Let's get this done.

I'm fine as well.

[ Actually... give him a moment to mutter his incantation and heal himself up a bit. ]

Who wants to do the honors of opening that door?

[Go ahead, Morag!]

[The key works flawlessly, but there's a ripple as the portcullis raises. The seal on the door has been broken, and the air gets even colder as shapeless forms begin to circle them. Slowly, they start to solidify into the soldiers that have been haunting them this whole time. It's clear, now, this isn't going to be any easier with the ghosts bearing down on them.

One of you also feels a particularly harsh shiver down your spine, but... it doesn't seem like anything happens besides that?

Crossing the threshold is difficult for all of you—it feels like your soul is being torn asunder, shredded to pieces by a presence inside of the vault. By now, you have enough magic of knowledge to get the feeling a protective spell will make things somewhat easier to bear. Continuing on without any attempts to shore yourself up against the ominous magic in the vault may be ill-advised.

The glowing is coming from two neighboring crates. You can investigate whichever you choose, but the ghosts are starting to swarm.]

[This chill in the air... It sets the hairs on the back of Akira's neck on edge, but he's felt worse, hasn't he? Surely. This is nothing new, he convinces himself, his movements minimal and cautious while they're assessing the potential threat ahead of them.]

...We'd better arm ourselves before continuing. Everybody have their weapons?

[Anyone need to grab a table to throw around?]

It's not much, but I can shore up our defenses.

[And for once, I didn't roll a one. One incantation later and Akira's hooked everyone up with a minor protection spell (13). At this point, he's unwilling to take any unnecessary risks.]

[ He was ready to bolster up their defenses with another protection spell, but honestly? Akira’s is sufficient. Thank goodness for a decent roll. ]

Thanks.

[ A halting, almost dismissive thanks, but it’s something.

With a breath to calm himself from the difficulty of crossing the threshold, Kurapika looks between both crates. ]

One of those crates should have the culprit.

There's going to be a lot of improvising on my part.

[Kiryu doesn't have any weaponry with him because yeah, we all know his fists is his weapon of choice, normally]

All of you know how to do crowd control?

[To be able to fight against a lot of enemies surrounding you!]

Lacking a Blade's weapons, I shall continue to use fire of my own creation. Allow me.

For Mor Ardain!

[Focus crystal in one hand, she conjures a long whip of fire, then lashes it to cover them. All she need do is keep the ghosts from advancing, for fear of being struck. Actual fighting would be a worse outcome!]

[Syrlya nods to Akira as thanks before pushing through the barrier. It's awful, but a degree before feeling actually shredded with the counter-protection.]

I--[Syrlya scoots away from the fire as fast as possible.] Yes, I'm very familiar with control spells. But we should be quick--let's inspect the purple glow first.

[ He nods. ]

Right.

[ And with that, he’ll avoid those flames and try to approach that crate with the purple glow! Anyone else is free to join him right at the crate as well, if they like. ]

[ Smart thinking on Mòrag's part—the wall of flame does seem to do something. Three ghosts dash through the fire, undeterred, and one fizzles as it makes contact.

Two, however, make it through. ]

For Ser Alec!

[ One, sword in hand, turns to slash at Mòrag (17), landing another well-placed blow onto her arm. The other, also armed with a sword, slashes at Kurapika (16) across his back as he retreats.

Kurapika, and any who join him afterwards, crosses the threshold into the vault. Now's the time to thank boyfailure Akira for the protection spell, because even with it on, it feels like the energy in here is unbearable, and the protection spell is doing all it can to keep the very fibre of your being from tearing apart.

An unusual energy, the sorts you have never felt before, pulsates painfully from the purple glow. It resonates with...something, in the air, but you can't tell what.

As you approach the crate, you see the source of the purple glow is medium-sized lump, about the size of a large housecat. There is no door on the crate. The container is open. ]

[That feeling...Kiryu see the source of the glow, and his immediate move is to try to diminish that by wrapping it in a barrier, the way Akira had done with them.

Unfortunately, it's not enough, because I rolled an 8]

Someone better at magic come reinforce this!

[Who knows if Akira's protection spell will last forever! Better have a failsafe in case it goes down. With how close they are to this thing, the protection failing can have terrible consequences]

[Syrlya stays by the door once inside the vault, aiming his sword with the incantation to draw a line of magic on the ground behind the fire. In one second it pulses to try and drag the ghosts backwards through the fire once again (14).]

Akira, can you help Kiryu? [They will, it seems, have to split up regardless with how persistent the ghosts sees. But at least it's only across the room.]

[ Kurapika hisses, but he doesn’t fall or trip as a result of the slash, doing his best to press forward in what’s quickly becoming an overwhelming atmosphere. Gritting his teeth and already bleeding through the back of his shirt, Kurapika makes his way towards that lump.

He doesn’t want to get more injured that he already has, so he’s going to try and touch it to see what happens. No carrying it just yet… he’s not that big of a risk taker. ]

[ Kurapika touches the object.

It's rough to the touch, and by the texture he can tell, in a brief moment of clarity, that it is a stone.

But the moment of clarity only lasts so long. A split second later, a painful, almost terrible tear in the fabric of who he is shoots up his fingers, his arms, through his chest and his entire body. Images flash through his mind: the moon, shattering, like a mirror broken. In the shards, he sees himself.

The vision cracks. As it does, he feels something break inside of him. He doesn't know how yet, but Kurapika will not be returning from this mission the same.

The feeling passes, and all seems normal despite that. The terrible, pulsating dread still emanates from the stone, and Kurapika's allies continue to fight the ghosts. ]

[ Something breaks and it feels like another piece falling away from himself, falling with the rest of the bits of his shattered self. He doubles over in pain, taking the searing wave of it through his body in complete silence. This pain is temporary—getting back home is permanent.

This pain, and whatever has broken, is worth the knowledge he’s gained in this moment. He can relay this to the others, let them know what could happen to them, to know how to prevent this pain.

It’s another sacrifice, one that’s all too easy to make in the name of success.

He stands back upright and tries to aim a spell at one of the ghosts, but he’s so shaken that he can’t even get the magic to spark at his fingertips (2). ]

[With Akira presumably having helped form the barrier around the source of this eerie atmosphere, Kiryu decides it's time for some offensive action.

Stepping forward, Kiryu thinks back to Ahito. It's inspiring...the way Ahito used ice crystals to attack enemies. Perhaps that's not a bad plan! Kiryu tries to give it his own spin -- ice spikes appear on his arms]

Ready to die? Step up!

[And he launches himself into the fray, bludgeoning any ghosts he can reach with his widest-reaching moves! It's a 14 roll. Decent crowd control, it seems!]

Mind the flames!

[By now, her left arm is hanging at her side. She still has grip strength in her fingers, but lifting it against the wounds is more pain than she's willing to accept at the moment. With the battle descending into chaos, she condenses the flame-whip into a long, curved blade, with which she strikes at a ghost.]

[Not with any success, mind, but hey.]

[Darting to Kiryu's side, Akira shouts back to Syrlya.]

On it!

[Nothing says cautious like immediately touching suspicious rocks, but he's chosen to put his faith in Kurapika and his decision-making. All Akira can do is trust his allies in a do-or-die situation, and circling around to cover Kiryu's back, pooling flames between his palms and unleashing them in a fiery great wave (19).]

Edited 2024-05-02 19:01 (UTC)

[ Syrlya's pull, in combination with Mòrag's flame wall, does wonders. The energy pulses, and pulls in four ghosts, all of which fizzle and burn as they cross the threshold. A fifth aims its bow and arrow from across the fire to aim at Syrlya, striking true (16).

Three more ghosts attempt to cross the wall of flame, but one fizzles as it passes. Kiryu greets one with a well-timed wallop and Akira sends a flaming wave at both. Mòrag is doing her best.

Both are armed with swords; one aims at Akira, but only slices the air nearby, while the other lunges for Syrlya, and misses quite brilliantly.

Though the party is only engaged with two ghosts, one of you with an attentive eye will see more ghosts manifest beyond the flame wall.

It seems the ghosts will not stop coming until the cause of this is neutralized in some way. ]

[ Ah... this is bad. Very, very bad. ]

There are more coming. [ He looks back towards the purple lump. ] We need to seal the curse or neutralize it somehow.

[ Because he really doesn't think it will stop. ]

If any of you have ideas... let me know and I'll follow through.

[ After all, Kurapika is the one who's touched it already. He doesn't want them to accidentally do the same.

Of course, that doesn't mean they can't usurp him here either. ]

Is breaking that thing an option?

[Maybe if it breaks, the curse is over?]

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