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C. Or perhaps more accurately which organization/nation is funding him or purchased his services? I'm interested in who his backers are that want poo poo to go very badly in Aqua. I was prepared for Emile to die last vote, I'm similarly prepared now.
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May 15, 2020 22:16
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May 15, 2020 22:33
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H - Focus totally on Emilie, not giving even one second to direct questions https://youtu.be/DyThvat5-SI https://youtu.be/ERWREcPIoPA E: If this guy was really gonna answer our questions truthfully and then pack it up like he claimed, then he can keep his word, and wait for us to come out of fugue
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May 15, 2020 22:50
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Inverted Icon posted:H - Focus totally on Emilie, not giving even one second to direct questions
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May 15, 2020 23:06
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Inverted Icon posted:H - Focus totally on Emilie, not giving even one second to direct questions
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May 15, 2020 23:08
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Guys we're not a trauma specialist we're a half-trained teenager, and her intestines just got straight up deleted. It sounds callous but don't waste the question she died for.
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May 15, 2020 23:24
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We're not here to gather intel on foreign assassins - we expected to be putting out fires, not this. Our friend is dying in front of us, and we're a life/body mage. The question is the last thing on our mind now. H - Focus totally on Emilie, not giving even one second to direct questions
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May 15, 2020 23:27
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What should we know about why you’re here and your purpose tonight?
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May 15, 2020 23:28
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H focus on healing exclusively, IDC who asks the question.
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May 15, 2020 23:52
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Crazycryodude posted:Guys we're not a trauma specialist we're a half-trained teenager, and her intestines just got straight up deleted. It sounds callous but don't waste the question she died for. She didn't die for a question, she died to stop his assault.
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May 16, 2020 00:01
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And she hosed up massively doing nothing but losing the rest of her team time and morale (and almost definitely her life) because she was WAY out of her depth. Our mentor straight up told us that you can't get too sentimental in school, don't make the same mistake she did and waste our time on an impossible task at the cost of something important. I don't get the impression that we're a particularly skilled healer of other people's bodies when we can barely make minor changes to our own, healing someone who just had their guts literally deleted by a magic murder staff is way out of our depth.
Crazycryodude fucked around with this message at 00:08 on May 16, 2020 |
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May 16, 2020 00:04
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There Bias Two posted:She didn't die for a question, she died to stop his assault. She died (or will shortly probably) because she decided to assault a deadly assassin instead of doing the mages' challenge that we agreed to. I guess we could have tried to reel her in but that would have cost us time that we pretty clearly needed.
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May 16, 2020 00:17
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She went too early, but if it had worked it would have been the best solution. Besides, she's our friend. Even if she's probably dead, we can still try our hardest to save her. This guy also has some kind of rules, or he would have kept killing us. Maybe those will keep him here to answer our question, or come into play later if he leavea
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May 16, 2020 00:40
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The only reason he didn't murder us all is that he doesn't overly enjoy killing kids and we weren't on the hitlist, I doubt he's got an ironclad moral code that will keep him here spouting exposition, he's a hired killer who's extremely good at his job. Which he will continue to do imminently, and leave us here with a dead friend and no exposition.
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May 16, 2020 00:50
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He said he would bail on the job, and answer a question. He's offering to answer a question, so maybe he'll bail on the job too. If not, then the answer to his question would be suspect anyway. Do our remaining companions even really need us, to tell them, to ask him? Emilie wouldn't. Surely they don't need a "take over Felix" as much as Emilie needs that second
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May 16, 2020 01:04
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Callous though it may seem, this is what we trained for. If we can identify the enemy, we can save...or avenge...the city.
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May 16, 2020 01:13
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Oh poo poo he did say he'd bail didn't he. Ok yeah I'd forgotten that tidbit, he's clearly not a mercenary first if he's willing to bail on a contract over a bet. I think it's still kind of a waste to futilely try and save Emilie instead of making sure we ask him who his boss is, but stopping his assault on the city is a big win.
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May 16, 2020 01:14
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Inverted Icon posted:She went too early, but if it had worked it would have been the best solution. Besides, she's our friend. Even if she's probably dead, we can still try our hardest to save her. She didn't go too early, unless you mean by several decades. It wasn't going to work, but spending more than two seconds to get her to go for the thorn would have cost us Aurora's life and probably more.
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May 16, 2020 01:27
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We made the right decision based on what’s happening. And now the right decision is trying to figure out why this happened so we can take action to prevent more people from dying later. One life now wil cost many in the future if we can’t get a grasp on what is happening. Dude will just come back next week if we don’t try and out whoever is being a prick.
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May 16, 2020 01:47
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G This dude is an ultra heavy hitter than murdered a whole squad of guards and is just kinda screwing around trying to distract/murder presumably a whole team of our own heavy hitters from.. what? What's the actual play he's providing cover for?
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May 16, 2020 03:35
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Olothreutes posted:She didn't go too early, unless you mean by several decades. It wasn't going to work, but spending more than two seconds to get her to go for the thorn would have cost us Aurora's life and probably more. Hey, she almost touched him. With a few more seconds and us following up, i think we could have done it. I may be alone in this, though E On a reread, she played her part perfectly. Shame on me for missing that. I disagree on combat analysis, but what's done is done Inverted Icon fucked around with this message at 15:38 on May 16, 2020 |
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May 16, 2020 14:42
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She did touch him, she connected a full-force magic punch directly with his face that would have exploded a normal human's head, and it literally bounced off because of course the expert professional killer isn't going to get taken down by a sophomore with a massively outsized idea of her own competence.
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May 16, 2020 15:16
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She may or may not have affected his concentration, but knowing that Metal Mages can imbue their own bodies with the properties of metal is at least valuable intelligence we can pass on if we get out of this alive. It may not be what she was hoping for, but there still was some value to her attack.
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May 16, 2020 15:40
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Personally I doubt even that, just because we don't know much about metal mana and its uses doesn't mean our superiors are as clueless. It's common enough that even as a student we've seen it before, surely in a city this rich and magical there's an expert or two who knows all about it already, I doubt she even got any new intel she just threw her life away. Maybe, potentially, she kinda disturbed his concentration I guess there's no way for us to know. It was still incredibly stupid.
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May 16, 2020 16:34
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What i’ve come to realize is that he’s controlling these things while being aware of what’s going on around him and not entering a fugue where he’s oblivious. That’s some next level poo poo.
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May 16, 2020 21:18
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TK-42-1 posted:What i’ve come to realize is that he’s controlling these things while being aware of what’s going on around him and not entering a fugue where he’s oblivious. I think that's a bunch of layered enchantments. Tabor and Emilie both had persistent effects running outside of a fugue, this guy almost certainly has the same. Only with years of experience, lots of crazy mana, and way more than eight seconds of prep time. In the shadow mage option we'd have been able to make items that persist for some amount of time, and earth mana leaves physical effects after it dissipates. It's not hard to believe that a highly experienced mage could use metal mana to create lasting objects with bizarre properties, especially if he can also use that weirdo magenta doom mana to impart other effects, even if only temporarily. Basically we're so far beneath this guy that his challenge was "stop the most basic thing I can do with a handicap and I guess this guy as an obstacle." He knew that was a real challenge for the eight (not counting Aurora) of us.
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May 16, 2020 22:03
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Yeah fair enough. Doesn’t discount that it’s next level poo poo tho. I guess the I don’t fully understand how mage fugues work since we can do so much in a few seconds but still need protectors to allow us to do it.
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May 16, 2020 22:32
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The clypeus is there to make sure you don't get punched in the face in the 20 seconds it takes you to cast your incredibly OP spell, I think. Doesn't matter what you can do with a little fugue work if someone just puts an arrow in you or cracks your skull open while you're standing there with your eyes rolled back.
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May 16, 2020 22:50
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TK-42-1 posted:Yeah fair enough. Doesn’t discount that it’s next level poo poo tho. I guess the I don’t fully understand how mage fugues work since we can do so much in a few seconds but still need protectors to allow us to do it. You don't *need* a protector. You're just unaware of the world and any person with a spear could stab you in the throat and kill you. Well, not exactly unaware, but your perception is changed, you *would* see the life mana of someone coming at you with a spear, and you're not totally blind. A mage with a few seconds of prep time is going to be very difficult for some random with a spear to kill. Well, assuming they aren't doing something like focusing on a non-physical plane, like say buffing themselves on the mental plane. Or working on an enchantment that requires laying down mana in a specific shape and with a specific timing that would be disrupted by reacting to someone trying to stab them in the face, like say creating a bunch of webbing to try to snare a thorn, or crafting a water-snake-elemental. And assuming you can lay down mana quickly in response to the threat of course. If you need to put down four dots to generate an effect, and you can only put one down a second, that's four seconds where you're immobile and unable to dodge without ruining your magic.
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May 16, 2020 22:58
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Voting is closed. Update soon(tm)
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May 17, 2020 15:50
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You ignore the man. You desperately want to ask him who hired him, but every second you waste is a second in which Emilie slips closer to death. She’s already precariously perched on the edge. You close your eyes, and whisper “Aegis”, and softly speak the words that will summon the mana to you. You extend your senses, not as you do when you’re fighting, but for healing. You sink into an ocean of inputs and understanding, disregarding what’s happening in the outside world. “Ok then kid” you hear, before your sense of hearing is replaced by the regular beating of Emilie’s heart, and her ragged breathing. Its growing shallower with each breath.  You extend your hands, and *feel*. Your mind quickly explores the abdominal cavity. The ba-bump-ba-bump-ba-bump of her heart keeps you company as you analyze, an ocean of information pouring into your mind. The damage is ruinous. You knew that, but not the true extent of it. It looks like the blow penetrated the soft tissues all the way to the spine, and shattered that as well. If you do keep her from death, it's going to take someone much more capable than you to allow her to ever walk again. You’re dubious that it can even be done. Her breathing is shallow, and she lacks the blood to properly carry oxygen around. Her stomach is gone, it's going to have to be fully regrown. Her intestines are hanging free and have taken some amount of damage. There are at least twelve blood carrying vessels hanging freely, letting blood seep out of her. A plethora of more minor wounds, like a shattered right arm, probably from the impact against the wall, and bruised lower lungs. It's a testament to how drat stubborn Emilie is that she’s still breathing at all. Ba-bump-ba-bump-ba-bump. As long as that sound keeps echoing through your hand there is still hope. You run your senses through her vitals. She’s lost so much blood. You whisper to the marrow, and set it into overdrive, feeding it mana so it can create blood. That won’t help, not yet, her body’s bloodstream is currently more like a sieve than a cup. Ba-bump-ba-bump-ba-bump You have a few seconds before the blood starts pumping through her veins and joins the giant puddle that is staining your gloves with even more gore. You set out to close as many of the gaps as you can, using mana to remind the remaining vital fluids that these are wounds, and wounds need to be shut. You know this isn’t sustainable long term. She needs a stomach to live, but right now you’re just buying her time. You feed more mana as to not tax her overtaxed body, but you can only do so much. She has to carry some of the burden of healing. Ba-ba-ba-bump ba-bump-bump bump  That’s not good. That’s very much not good. Arrhythmia. Her heart obviously couldn’t handle the added strain, along with the lack of oxygen. You’re going to have to re-start it. That might put even more strain on it. Damaging it now would not be ideal. You ponder for a split second, and then you commit. You stop the heart. It’s not a trivial action. Hearts, by their very nature want to keep working, even when they’re pumping blood out of their host at an alarming rate. Even when they’re self destructing and tearing themselves apart. To be a heart is to want to beat. You don’t have the frame of mind to worry about it not starting again. You put mana into it, a tiny sliver. A single pulse. Ba. You put another tiny fragment, in the right place. Bump. You pump it, slowly, manually. The heart desperately wants to start back to life, To stir again, but you don’t let it. You are in charge. You have to be Emilie’s heart. At least for now. You pump it again. Ba. Something is off. Something you can’t quite place your finger on. Bump. You examine the heart carefully, taking time you don’t have. Ba. You can feel her breathing slowing more. Bump. Something is acutely wrong. Ba. It's not in the anterior chambers. Bump. There. The tricuspid valve. A small fragment of bone. Ba. Wrecking chaos, sending the heart into disarray. Bump. You… you’ve never dealt with anything like this before. You think. Ba. For a heartbeat, it’s all you can afford. Every beat it threatens to rip forward and damage the heart further. As more blood goes in the risk grows even higher. You don’t want to modify the heart. It’s already under too much strain. Bump. You can’t think anymore. You must act. You speak to the fibers that make up the heart, you organize and order them. Slowly coax them to grow. This will thin out the heart, slightly, dangerously, but there isn’t any time to grow fresh tissue. You make them gently wrap around the bone fragment. Bump. You miss the first time, and pump the heart, realizing you’ve waited to long between pumps. You wrap around it the second time. You ensnare it, pull it to the side of the heart, bury it in the tissue. Ba. This is not a long term solution. This is the best you can do. Bump Emilies breathing has stopped. That is also not good. You must have missed it, but thinking back it hasn’t stopped too long ago. You’re not done with the heart yet. Ba. It would be great not to have to think about it right now. Bump. You slowly, methodically, line up the mana, and then let it go. A fragment of a second of uncertainty. Will it start? Have you failed? Ba-bump. You have not. Her heart is pumping. The blood is not being oxygenated of course. But it's something. Ba-bump. You busy yourself with the lungs. Lack of oxygen is a problem, of course, but it’s less urgent than it could be. At least her brain is fine. You check. Her brain is not fine. The blood vessels have narrowed dramatically. Oxygen flow is down. Emilie is dying. Quickly. You begin looking it over, looking for a thing you can manipulate. The first step should be to… “Old man?” Emilie's voice breaks through your concentration like a two-ton malet through a thin sheet of ice. She’s not speaking aloud, rather her voice is in your head… somehow. She shouldn’t be conscious. “It hurts” she says, and the pain in her voice makes you hurt. “It hurts so much.” she says. “I’ve got you” you try to reassure her, thinking it at her. Hoping that reaches her. You desperately look for the part of the brain that handles pain. You don’t know how to turn it off. Not without doing other, terrible things to her brain. You reduce its inputs, as much as you can. Her brain is still not getting much blood, and the blood that she’s getting has no oxygen. You examine the lungs. The bruising at the bottom is severe, more severe than you originally diagnosed. They should still work. The lack of blood due to the shock and the heart stopping is probably what caused them to shut down. You need to kick them into action. “You can hear me, huh?” her voice seems less pained now. “I can’t hear you, if you’re speaking to me” her voice sounds rueful. “I’m not stupid though. I know I’m dying.” she lets out a sigh, and you can even imagine her expression of resignation. “I guess I hosed up, huh?” You pour mana into the lungs. They do not stir. You encourage the blood vessels to expand. To allow more blood. They do not stir. They’re not listening to you, contracted in reflexive terror. You could force the issue. It's getting harder to think logically. How long have you been in a Fugue? Are you losing track of your own rationality? Are you being subsumed? You’ve thrown yourself at healing Emilie, and you’re suddenly keenly aware that all your senses have been overwritten by all these inputs. You push those thoughts aside. You don’t have time. Blood vessels. You prod them. You force them to widen, despite their wishes. This might damage them, but it doesn’t matter now. Keeping Emilie alive is the only thing that matters. “If I’m going to die, I need you to do something for me” Emilie sounds rushed, worried. “In my room, in a small wooden box hidden under a loose stone under the bed, there is a pendant. Take it, take it before anyone sees it. If grandfather found out, he’d never forgive me. Tabor can explain…” her voice breaks. “Grandpa is going to be really torn up.” she’s whispering now, quiet, tiny, terrified. “I don’t want to die, Victor.” she uses your name for the first time since that day she learned you were three days older than her. You know it's serious. “It hurts.” she whispers. You can barely make out her voice anymore. She’s fading. You’ve only been giving her half a mind, less. You’re busy. You’ve figured out how to kick-start the lungs you think. You slowly feed mana into the paths that talk between the brain and the lungs. First a little, then a lot. You force it, you command it, you make the lungs react, whatever their natural inclination would be. With a gasp, Emilie breaths again. It’s labored, shallow, but you can feel the oxygen flowing through her blood again. You jump back to her brain. It is not doing well. The vessels are still constricted. Closed. You push against them, trying to get them to open. They don’t. You cannot risk damaging them. You have borrowed time, restarting the lungs, but Emilie is still in grave danger, and this is far beyond anything you have done yet today. You reach out, and suddenly feel a jarring, abrupt, sensation, like you’ve missed a step. “Drop out” it whispers urgently. “Do it now.” You don’t want to. You’re busy. You have to fix Emilie. You live in the time between heartbeats and the sound of ragged breaths. You can do it. You are robbed of the choice. With a jolt, you drop out of the trance. A man is shaking you gently. “It’s ok, we’ve got her” he says to you. You blink, not understanding. You are the flow of mana and the shape of bones. You are the sound of blood flowing and the way marrow is structured. His words don’t make sense. “You are in trance shock. You’ve been under for minutes” He says slowly. A woman is kneeling next to Emilie and she is in a Fuge. You can tell because the way she is commanding mana has the right shape. The shape of breaths giving life. The shape of bones melting. You are suddenly aware of a sharp pain in your brow. No, not your brow. The pain is like a shard of glass has been slowly and deliberately introduced under your eye and into your skull, and then heated until it burns. You open your mouth and let out a scream, straight in the face of the polite man wearing a white hat. Something behind you moves abruptly. You something press against you, and you smell blood, and the way organs feel when they move under your hand. Then, there is darkness, and a relief from the pain.  When you awaken you are in a relatively comfortable bed. It is large. Someone has carefully changed you out of the outfit you were wearing, and clothed you in what you’re pretty sure is silk. Outside the window, it is still dark. You’re not sure if its been a day or an hour since you were last conscious. Your head is still pounding. Next to the strange bed is a pair of gloves, ivory and copper. Not the traditional silver scroll pattern, but one you recognize as House Fulcarus. House Fulcarius is descended from one of the original members of the conclave and has made a fortune as one of the major interest holders in the Windcallers guild. The patriarch of the family is one of the council of twelve that advises the Archmage. The fact that you have their interest is either a good sign, or a terrible one. A man is sitting in the room. When he sees you stir he turns his back to you, as to not see your ungloved hands. He’s tall, taller than you, and dressed in a simple but elegant uniform. You don’t recognize the livery but you can guess that it’s Fulcarus. “House Fulcarus apologizes for the intrusion” he says, his tone formal, an accent you can’t quite place behind his words. “You are our honored guest. We weren’t sure when you would awaken.” he pauses. “The Keeper of the Augury would very much like to speak to you, but he is otherwise detained.” he continues, relentlessly obsequent. “Until then he bids you rest, and recover from the tumultuous night.” you have the gloves on by now, but the man’s back is still to you. “He also bids I inform you the crisis is well in hand, the Lady is safe in the hands of the best vivomancers in Aqua.” he pauses, as if hesitating, and you can imagine the pained expression on his features, even without seeing his face. “In more unpleasant matters, there’s a member of Aqua’s Reach here to debrief you. She has been very insistent that she speak to you as soon as you roused. I could send her away, if you insist. We take our guests-rights very seriously, but it would probably be in your best interests to answer her questions.” he says, almost regretfully. You don’t have the energy to argue. “Alright” you say. The man turns around. He looks exactly like what you expected. A high, angular face, a carefully cultivated look of neutrality. You’re sure he could blend into the furniture of any room with practiced ease. He presses a small bell into your hand. “In case you need to summon me during your interview.” he explains. “We do not take kindly to rudeness towards our guests.” the implication that Aqua’s Reach has limited sway here is not lost on you. He guides you through a vast, sprawling hallway, paved entirely with shells. The walls have scenes of archmage Lurio Fulcarus making peace with the tritons, after one of the many wars with the Mitauiae. The scene is made with pearl inlays, and you imagine, based on the craftsmanship alone, that this hallway is the work of a generation of craftsmen. Your brain is still a too fried to form questions. The servant guides you into a small waiting room, where a woman is waiting. The room is small, but equally luxurious. Small comfortable couches with sea-foam motifs almost look like waves, and the floor is a full map of the city of Aqua, in shallow relief, seemingly carved by flowing water out of pure diamond. He holds the door open for you, and before shutting it gives you a significant look, as if reminding you that you can, and should, call upon him at your convenience. “Sit” the woman says. Her face is slightly ashen, and she looks exhausted. She has an unfortunate face, one that simply doesn’t seem to fit together. Piled on the table next to her is a massive stack of paperwork. “My name is Ava. I’m a Three” by her gloves you can tell she’s a high ranking bureaucrat of Aqua’s reach. Ten pips on the glove for ten years of service. A Three is one of the categories of inspectors, but you’re not sure which. “I’m sorry to interrupt your rest, but we’re in a bit of a crisis and we’re trying to piece together what happened.” She pulls out a fresh piece of parchment, and wets her quill with ink. “Your name is Victor, right?” she confirms, putting something to paper. “And you’re a student at the Academia, pledging to the Silver Scroll?” You nod. She gives you a smile, an insincere, hard thing. “Victor, can you tell me what happened tonight? In your own words.” She leans forward. What do you want to tell her? I’ll try to collate the responses into something resembling a coherent response, but we might do a follow on vote.
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May 17, 2020 23:39
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My friends and I woke up to the fire raging in the city. We thought we would be safe enough in a group to go down and help with the fire and see if we could figure out what the strange Mana we felt was coming from. Eventually, we ran into a man using a sort of Mana I'm unfamiliar with. Rather than killing us immediately, I'm sure he could, he gave us a wizard challenge instead. If we could stop his weapon, a thorn of metal, from killing our weakest member he would answer a single question from us. He put sosme sort of monster to guard it and gave a ten second countdown. The monster killed one of us and Emilie was fatally wounded by the man when she attacked him directly instead of going for the thorn. Between my vivomancy created webbing and another's hydro magic we were able to stop the weapon though. Because my friend was dieing and I have healing magic I immediately started trying to stabilize hey. I didn't have time to ask the question, I'm hoping someone else did. I'm sure Emilie would have died if I waited even a second longer. After that I collapsed from exhaustion after help arrived to take over Emilies care.
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May 18, 2020 00:02
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I woke up to the alarms, felt fire and void creatures in the lower city, and went to try and help. I don't know what I was going to do, I'd have figured it out when I got there. I ran into Emilie, Tabor, Felix, and Aurora and we went to help. We found a dozen dead whitehats at the base of Divination Crag, and decided to try and chase down whatever had killed them. We found a strange man, some sort of mercenary or assassin, and for reasons beyond me he decided to offer us a mages' challenge instead of just killing us all. He certainly could have done it. He said something about not wanting to kill kids, he seemed... bored, maybe? I accepted, his part of the challenge was that he would "bail on the job" and answer a question. We had to stop the least of his, he called them thorns, they were metal rods that seemingly floated of their own accord. Anyway, we had to stop it before it killed Aurora. We had 10 seconds to do it, but he produced some bizarre centipede/snake thing from his cloak to act as a clypeus. He had to look for the word clypeus, which was weird, saying that was what we called them here. We managed to stop the thorn, but Emilie attacked the man instead of the thorn and she did not fare well in that encounter. He shattered her shield and most of her in a single blow. I tried to save her, I hope that Felix had the sense to ask one. I wanted to know who he worked for, but Emilie's life was more important. He was using a lot of metal mana, and something else I've never seen before that made up the centipede thing, it was magenta and felt like guilt and ruthlessness.
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May 18, 2020 02:01
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Olothreutes posted:I woke up to the alarms, felt fire and void creatures in the lower city, and went to try and help. I don't know what I was going to do, I'd have figured it out when I got there. I ran into Emilie, Tabor, Felix, and Aurora and we went to help. We found a dozen dead whitehats at the base of Divination Crag, and decided to try and chase down whatever had killed them. I like it, use this.
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May 18, 2020 02:14
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jng2058 posted:I like it, use this. Agreed. I’m surprised we’re back conscious after a few hours. I figured it’d take a day or two. We seemed to be losing our grounding at the end there.
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May 18, 2020 02:39
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Update probably tomorrow.
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May 20, 2020 01:22
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He used blood mana to make his clypeus. I've never felt it, but i dont know what else...that could be. He claimed to be unfamilair with the word clypeus Somebody paid him, but not enough to care and follow through. ...unless he was supposed to fall back and leave questions. He seemed to be waiting for a counter attack. Certainly, he seemed more deranged than professional. His gloves were purple and black. He had a vertical scar under one eye. He came straight through a weak point at divination craige and it seemed like he had a destination in mind when we caught up to him. He's killed often enough to know both that he doesn't like killing kids, and that he would. He gives pretentious names to his metal mana, of which he has copius amounts. Apparently an impetar, his blood construct turned invisble. He owes me the answer to a question
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May 21, 2020 04:13
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Hurrah! We did it! :confetti: Sorry for the late reply E: oh man, one full day later. I dunno know even Inverted Icon fucked around with this message at 04:43 on May 21, 2020 |
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May 21, 2020 04:14
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You give Ava a more or less accurate recounting of what happened. You skip some of the minor details, like how you somehow managed to grab a salterpillar in the middle of a crisis, or Emilie’s message to you while you were trying desperately to mend her dying body. You stick to the facts. You were awakened by the alarm. You arrived at Divination Craig and saw a slaughter had taken place. You chased after the perpetrator. He issued a challenge. You took it. Emilie tried to attack the man. It did not go well for her. You desperately tried to save her life. Your head feels like an overinflated balloon, or like the world’s worst hangover, but you keep it together. She takes down notes as you speak, with clear, bold strikes of the quill. You get the impression she does this a lot. “I see” she says, her lips pressing together, clearly thinking. “I have some questions.” she says, her tone still even. “What time would you say you were awoken?” You don’t know for sure. Midnight maybe? “How did you get down to the middle city?” You took a Salterpillar. She raises an eyebrow at this but doesn’t inquire further. “Why Divination Craig?” You thought you’d be able to survey the city and judge how to best help that way. Your head is pounding furiously, like a deranged goblin is bouncing around inside. “Did you think it…” she stops herself “Did you or any of your companions have any kind of grudge against Emilie?” you feel your stomach drop a little at this line of questioning. No. None of you had cause to want to hurt Emile. That you knew at least. “Do you have any ties with elements within Aqua that would want to do harm to the city?” Several feelings surge through you. Anger. Outrage. Before you can form an answer, the tall man that greeted you opens the door. It is an almost silent action, but it breaks the atmosphere of the room, like a crack of thunder in a quiet evening. The expression he is wearing is a sour one. “That’s quite enough”. His tone is sharp, but composed. Ava seems to disagree. A flash of annoyance crosses her face before she reigns it in. “This is my interview” she says, very neutrally. “I was gracious enough to allow House Fulcarus to listen in, but that is it.” The man smiles. It is a practiced smile, with no genuine warmth behind it. He speaks: “Of course House Fulcarus has the greatest respect for the members of Aqua’s Reach, and would never dream of interfering in an investigation. Even one that touches so closely to the near murder of Our sole heir.'' His tone is polite, servile and respectful. You can still feel the barbs in the words. “It would be unfortunate however, if an investigation were to be seen to cast aspersions on a person who has so highly served the House. It might even call into question why Aqua’s Reach is so quick to point fingers at an upstanding citizen. It might make a public inquiry necessary” he pauses, his eyes like steel, the smile still glued to his face, concealing obvious anger. Ava thinks for a second, opens her mouth to speak, and then pauses again. “Perhaps it is best if I conclude my interview then.” she says, and you can see how much effort it takes her to utter those words. “I will add to my notes that this line of inquiry was paused at the request of House Fulcarus, of course” she continues, her quill striking the paper with the same sharp precision as before. “It might be of interest later”. She adds, standing. “Goodbye, Victor” she says, picking up her notes as another servant materializes as if from nowhere at the door behind her. She follows him, not looking back, and leaves you alone with the tall man. “I apologize for that” the man says to you, the forced smile finally fading from his features. A more neutral, more natural expression taking over. “This attack has been a heavy blow for the reputation of Aqua’s Reach. There being an assassin that was only stopped by the courage of a handful of students will just add oil to the fire. I suspect they’re looking for any justification to doubt your story.” he gives you a small smile, “Unfortunately for them, we’re not going to allow that.” he guides you out of the room. “I suggest you get some more sleep.” he offers as you walk, and this seems like a fine idea, your head feels like it’s trying its hardest to tear itself in half. You lay in the comfortable bed, and sleep comes before you have time to really think. You dream of strange shapes. Of shards of bone and pounding hearts. The sound of vessels expanding and contracting, and of muscles shredding. Emilie’s voice. It hurts. You remember none of it when you awake, beyond the shape of dancing mana just out of reach. When you wake up, your headache has diminished to a dull ache. The tall man who’s name you still don’t know is sitting in a chair next to you. He rings a small bell, and a servant bearing a tray of pastries quickly appears. ”The Keeper of the Augury is eager to express his gratitude” he says, giving you enough time to pick out a pastry. “His time is limited. You picked an excellent time to wake up.” he ushers you out of the room. “You have slept through an entire day and most of the night” he clarifies as he guides you down progressively more ornate hallways. The decor for each ranges between extravagant and impossible. The pastry is excellent, and gone far too quickly.  It doesn’t take too long before you’re deposited in a study. The tall man opens the door politely for you, and then closes it behind you. The study is small, but it doesn’t look that way, each wall has been carefully painted with a different nautical scene, and the artistry is such that it almost feels like you’re in the ocean. Pale blue light suffuses the room, and you can’t quite spot the origin. The only decor beyond that are a pair of chairs facing a broad desk that seems to be made of coral. The desk looks like an overturned battlefield, sheafs of documents, scrolls covering every inch of it, several stacks of parchment are taller than is probably advisable. Behind the desk, perched on the edge of a comfortable looking chair is a bespectacled man, who resembles nothing moreso than an owl. He seems absorbed by what he’s reading, but after a few seconds he looks up at you. He seems to study you for a second before gesturing to one of the chairs facing his desk. “Victor, right?” he asks in a tone that doesn’t really admit discussion. “I’m the most exalted Keeper of the Augury.” you hear a tone of hard bitterness in that. “You should call me Marcus.” he says, producing a small bottle of something bright amber from below his desk. Carefully, he pours two glasses, also produced from somewhere below the desk. He does so slowly, almost with reverence and hands one over to you. He takes an almost exploratory sip, and speaks again. “You did House Fulcarus a great service. More than that, you did me a great service.” He pauses, looking over at you, almost by reflex you take a sip. Whatever it is, it's very potent, but it goes down easy, and tastes faintly of sea-salt and honey. He seems undaunted as he speaks: “I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you personally. My granddaughter can be a tremendous fool when she pursues what she thinks is right.” he pauses, “But you already know that.” he says, and gives you a grimace that might be mistaken for a smile. “Your friends have been well taken care of by the Academia.” he offers, “Felix showed great presence of mind while you tended to my granddaughter, and asked the man who he worked for.” He pauses, as if savoring the dramatic tension “The man claimed to be hired by the Archon of Pilos.” You actually recognize that name. The Archon of Pilos is the equivalent of the archmage for Pilos, and notionally one of the leaders of the League. “Of course not everyone believes that the assassin was wholly truthful.” he says, swirling the drink in his glass. “Assassins are not known for just outing their masters.” he says, “I happen to think his goals included letting that little tidbit slip.” he frowns slightly. “We’re still working out what to do with that information.” he seems to hesitate, and then continues ”Based on the description of the man, we’ve identified him as the Iron Rose, a master thief for hire.” he finishes his drink. “Of course, all this is highly classified and cannot be shared with anyone. In fact, if Aqua’s Reach knew I’d shared this with you, they’d want to have words with me. Again.” he looks into your eyes, and you get the feeling he’s scrutinizing your very soul. “I happen to think you deserve to know.” He pauses, and takes something else out from a drawer in his desk. “This is for you,” he says sliding over an envelope sealed with the Fulcarus Crest. “It is a letter of introduction, and you can consider it my personal thanks. It should secure you any job you wish when you graduate, or a hefty loan to start your own thing, if you decide to go that direction.” he says. “Don’t use it lightly. It will make its way back to me.” He pauses, and adds “If you do take out a loan, you better plan to repay it too,” he says, “I don’t take freeloaders lightly.” you’re not sure if he’s joking. The atmosphere in the room changes. He lets out a deep sigh. He almost seems to deflate. You suddenly get the impression that he is very old, and very tired. “I have some bad news.” he starts. “Emilie’s condition is not great.” he hesitates, as if wondering how to phrase it. “The damage to her brain was not extensive, but it seems to be irreparable. At least as far as the vivomancers are concerned. They’re afraid if they try, it will destroy her mind.” he continues. “Beyond that, it seems like something inside her… broke. Not a physical thing, but a mental one. She’s trapped in a sleep from which she cannot escape” the man says this cooly, but you notice his hands are shaking. “I’m told she might awaken any day… or never… or worsen and die. That there is no way to know.” he pauses. “This too, I thought you deserved to know.” he says with a bitter finality. He looks at you again. Shakes his head, as if dispelling a cloud around his head. “Still, you have given us hope. She would be beyond any help, if you had not saved her life. We can’t ask for more. You certainly did all you could.” he gives you a grimace smile. “Now that you’re more or less recovered, and I’ve shut down the lines of inquiry Aqua’s Reach was so eager to follow, I’m afraid you’ll have to return to the Academia, though I’m told it’ll be another week before classes resume.” he says. He pauses, as if he’d said everything he planned to, then leans back in his chair. “I’m sure you have questions. I have…” he glances over at an overly complicated sand dial on his desk. “About fifteen minutes. I can’t answer everything. Or even many things, but ask.” Question time is open. Next vote will go up in 24 hours TheCog fucked around with this message at 21:32 on May 21, 2020 |
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May 21, 2020 20:58
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What sort of mana was it that he used to make his clypeus thing? More generally, perhaps not for Marcus, is the term clypeus not universal among magicians?
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May 21, 2020 21:17
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