lunae calamitas mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
promittere) wrote2024-04-27 03:43 pm
promittere) wrote2024-04-27 03:43 pm
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."
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!
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!
no subject
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. ]
no subject
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. ]
no subject
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]
no subject
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.]
no subject
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. ]
no subject
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. ]
no subject
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). ]
no subject
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!]
no subject
[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.]
no subject
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).]
no subject
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. ]
no subject
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. ]
no subject
[Maybe if it breaks, the curse is over?]
no subject
Syrlya's hands presses by the wound and he hisses, but he doesn't dislodge the arrow. He just turns to push further into the vault to Kurapika.] Neutralize it. The group to the South managed to cleanse that moon rock simply by pouring their intention into the magic. Perhaps the same will work here. Don't think too hard about the specifics--just focus on your magic purifying.
[He moves his hand to hover it over the stone, although he seems unable to focus well enough even with his chant to actually start things off (1).]
no subject
[Turning her focus from the ghosts to the rock, she shapes the idea of pure flames in her mind. Not to heat, burn, or illuminate, but a metaphorical flame to scorch impurity out of the stone and temper it like a forge's fire.]
FOR MOR ARDAIN!
[She squeezes her hand shut, and unleashes her power. (with a fat 19)]
no subject
His free hand claps down on Syrlya's shoulder. You've got this, lettuce lad. Don't let one bad roll throw you off your game.]
no subject
He channels everything he can into a purification spell—his desire for this to end and for no one else on their team to be affected by this object pouring into what he puts out (20). ]
no subject
But with the space to do what they need, the four of them channel purifying energies past the pulsating energy, aggressively enveloping the evil rock with their intention—it will be neutralized, whether the stone likes it or not.
It works. Willing the stone into silence, the purple glow fades, sputters, then darkens completely. Waves of anxiety pass through them, but those, too, eventually fizzle, and the stone lies dormant. With the glow gone, the team can see that it resembles the one that the Southern wizards brought back: it is a fragment of the moon.
The white glow, emanating from the crate beside it, eventually fades in turn. Should any of them take a look later, they will see an ornate sword, carefully enclosed in its crate. Kurapika may be able to put two and two together—this is Caledfwlch, the sword that forged Central country as it is known today.
And when Caledfwlch quiets, the ghosts around Kiryu evaporate. It seems this artifact's energy was attracting them to fulfil a duty no longer needed in this day and age.
The castle falls silent. The air lightens, it becomes easier to breathe, and the warmth of spring returns. In the first moments of peace, before any of them can speak or move to leave, four pale golden orbs appear before them. They emit a warm, friendly glow, and they seem to gaze kindly at the crew. Should they lend their ear to the spirits, they can hear a distinct voice coming from each of the orbs: Thank you.
But before anyone can communicate with them, they shoot through the air, through the ceiling, and away.
For the first time, the air in this world has felt more stable than it has been since coming here. It seems neutralizing the moon fragment has smoothed over one of the cracks in this breaking world.
You emerge from the castle to see Drummond and the rest of the entourage still waiting for the team. They are shocked and horrified when they learn of the moon fragment, and are more than willing to allow them to take it back to the manor to study if they like. Upon returning the vault key, they will express their heartfelt gratitude, and, nothing the late hour, they offer the Central wizards a place to stay at the castle for the night.
In the morning, you'll be free to return to the manor (or not return) in any manner you like (that includes knight escort, if you're feeling extra). Tatara is there to greet everyone as they return, and he seems relieved you made it back safely. Afterwards, the five of you are free to resume your regular activities.
Congrats on a successful mission, Central wizards and witches! Now you can rest, and decide what to share with your companions and what to do with your new rock, should you choose to bring it back. ]
no subject
He'll pass the rock over to whoever wants to take it, now that it no longer seems volatile. ]
That sword... that's the Caledfwlch.
[ Kurapika goes to reach for it and get a better look at the weapon, but he can feel his balance starting to shift and he quickly latches onto Akira's arm so he doesn't keel over. ]
Can you heal?
[ He's still bleeding, the back of his shirt soaked a deep red. ]
FUCK THIS I'M NOT ROLLING FOR SHIT
You okay? That's a pretty nasty wound. I can take the edge off, but we need to get you medical attention ASAP.
no subject
Take me wherever you need.
[ Kurapika won't fuss, even though he's sure that whatever has happened to him can't be fixed at an infirmary. ]
no subject
[Kurapika will understand why Akira asks that of him in a moment. Hunching down on bent knees, Akira sweeps Kurapika up into his arms, adjusts his hold, and sets his feet into motion. Kurapika is so much smaller than he looks.]
How are you feeling? Aside from the obvious pain.
no subject
Fine.
[ Because that's the thing. He feels normal, despite knowing that there's something wrong. ]
And you?
[ Actually, let him do something stupid. He places his hand on Akira's chest, murmuring his incantation as a light warmth blankets Akira.
A healing spell. ]
no subject
[A quick, rote answer, one he's delivered countless time regardless of how he's truly feeling. Something within him feels wrong, like a set of books shelved in the wrong order, but the feeling will pass. He's sure of it.
Akira carries Kurapika off in the direction of the bed chambers. They'll be staying overnight, so they may as well get comfortable while they're on the mend.
He's about to say something else, but he falls silent when Kurapika expends his limited energy on healing him. Rather than thanking him with the usual warm smile, Akira frowns.]
...Kurapika. Conserve your energy. I told you I'm fine.
no subject
[ And what he wants to do right now is help heal. Despite his exhaustion, he certainly has a lot of fight left within him and his tone suggests he won't be taking any orders even in this state. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)