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[OPEN] Mission 156
Characters: Open to participants who signed up here.
Location: Lake Tahoe, CA
Rating: Various.
Time: March 27th, late morning.
Description: The second of the three Madness emitters outside Death City is the target for this mission. Bundle up, everyone -- it's gonna be a cold one.
The mission begins late in the morning, to allow the mission-goers as much sunlight as possible in the warmest part of the day. Not that it'll help much… Temperatures are well below freezing already -- unnatural even for early Spring in the mountains -- and a howling snowstorm threatens to blot out the sun, beginning up the mountain where the slope just begins to rise sharply.
The slopes themselves are fairly barren: a windswept-looking tree here, a cabin that may have once belonged to the snow patrol there, maybe a Madness-crazed bear or mountain lion. Those braving the storm are lucky enough to see five feet in front of their face in these conditions!
Those brave few who manage to make it to the top (enduring falling temperatures and defeating the corrupted fauna and hulking kishin yeti along the way) may come across their goal at the very summit of the half-mile-high mountain: the Madness emitter itself, in the eye of the storm… And one last obstacle: the Witch guarding it.
OOC NOTES.
- The event summary post containing all relevant links is located here.
- Make your own threads, but please indicate in your subject line [CHARACTER(S) | LOCATION | OPEN/CLOSED]
- If you have any further questions, the mod thread on the coordination post is here!
Location: Lake Tahoe, CA
Rating: Various.
Time: March 27th, late morning.
Description: The second of the three Madness emitters outside Death City is the target for this mission. Bundle up, everyone -- it's gonna be a cold one.
The mission begins late in the morning, to allow the mission-goers as much sunlight as possible in the warmest part of the day. Not that it'll help much… Temperatures are well below freezing already -- unnatural even for early Spring in the mountains -- and a howling snowstorm threatens to blot out the sun, beginning up the mountain where the slope just begins to rise sharply.
The slopes themselves are fairly barren: a windswept-looking tree here, a cabin that may have once belonged to the snow patrol there, maybe a Madness-crazed bear or mountain lion. Those braving the storm are lucky enough to see five feet in front of their face in these conditions!
Those brave few who manage to make it to the top (enduring falling temperatures and defeating the corrupted fauna and hulking kishin yeti along the way) may come across their goal at the very summit of the half-mile-high mountain: the Madness emitter itself, in the eye of the storm… And one last obstacle: the Witch guarding it.
OOC NOTES.
- The event summary post containing all relevant links is located here.
- Make your own threads, but please indicate in your subject line [CHARACTER(S) | LOCATION | OPEN/CLOSED]
- If you have any further questions, the mod thread on the coordination post is here!
[Lezard/Lily | Heavenly Mountain | Closed]
Not built for climbing mountains by any stretch of the imagination, preferring to teleport here and there, he found himself feeling unusually vulnerable. He hated it. He needed to find a Meister and shift forms soon, and continue with his original plan.
...And that was when he'd pushed the buttons of dearest Lily Ivory far enough, and she'd decided to find those in need somewhere among the slopes. What sort of human being was he if he let her go out on her own? Why, he turned and followed right after her. He hadn't any idea of whether or not Lily was a Meister, but two heads were always better than one.
"Somehow I doubt freezing to death was part of the mission objective!" He called, the howling winds nearly stealing the sound of his voice completely.
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Although Lily had seen a fair number of snowstorms and mountain landscapes in her travels, that didn’t mean she was used to hiking up one in the middle of a blizzard. The unfamiliar snowshoes, snow so thick it resembled grits, frigid wind that threatened to knock her off balance and send her tumbling back down the slopes. It had the potential to end even more embarrassingly than the time she went camping with those students in the Swiss Alps. And worst of all, that magical nuisance was still following her!
“Then, I reckon you should have stayed at the medical tent.” Her teeth chattered as she yelled back over her wool coat-clad shoulder. “I didn’t ask you to come with me! And I don’t need your help or your sarcastic quips!”
Turning her attention back to the snow in front of her, the witch squinted at some large impressions on the ground. Were those snowshoe tracks? They were already half-obscured by the falling snow but someone had come this way before… She pulled her scarf closer and trudged on, following them.
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"A Witch with her powers intact lurks at the summit along with whatever else happens to walk these slopes. 'tis foolish to separate!" He chided as gently as he could, yelling through the winds.
When she proceeded onward, following tracks that made even him wary, he suppressed a sigh of frustration. He'd seen the snowshoes one would wear in this time period, and he knew of no one who would wear ones that large. This stubborn woman aimed to get herself lost and killed, and visibility was low. Lezard had to move quickly in his pursuit. While he had an unabashed enjoyment in teasing her, there was a fine line between following her to annoy her and following her to ensure her safety.
And - he noticed as the tent quickly disappeared from sight - his own. The snow did well to muffle all sound when the wind wasn't howling, and the silence did well to unnerve him, though he would let none of it show.
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“And I suppose you’re going to protect me from all the dangerous critters out here?” Encounters with Lezard tended to bring out her stubborn, sarcastic side and she kept moving, partly in hopes that she would lose him.
As they climbed, the snow fell more heavily and obliterated whatever tracks there were. Lily paused to look around but could hardly see more than a few feet in front of her.
Dag nab it! Were they lost? She shivered as a howling sound filled the air. That didn’t sound like the wind…
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But it was the only real indication of life they both had, as the near-deathly silence all around them - combined with no sign of any fallen allies - was nearly as unsettling as the Madness Wavelength that even now started jabbing at Lezard's mind. He wanted to sit down and laugh at the absurdity of it all, lie in the snow and take a very long nap, but he knew now of the seduction of Madness. This time, he would not let himself falter, even as a corner of his mouth twitched.
If anything could send a chill through his blood, it was that howl. Lezard hopped across a small gap between two snow-covered boulders to Lily's side, turning his head this way and that to determine the source of the sound.
"It would seem our time to chat has come to an end. Let us set things aside for now and deal with our incoming guest, shall we?" He breathed all-too-casually. He lifted a hand to guide his path of transformation, and without another thought there was a light as he changed. What better tool for a witch than a spellbook?
I'm pretty curious which spells Lily will end up with. Her powers were all over the place in canon!
A frown crossed her face as Lezard came to her side and the sudden light made her squeeze her eyes shut. “What in tarnation?” When she opened them again, she blinked at the large tome that had fallen into her hands; it reminded her of her Book of Shadows but was far more ornate. “Lezard?” Where did he disappear to?
Having always avoided the war, Lily had never seen a Weapon transformation before. And it obviously followed that she’d never tried resonating before either. Heck, she didn’t even know for sure that she was a Meister!
She clutched the mysterious book to her chest, not realizing exactly what (or rather who) it was, and swore as there was another howl. This one sounded closer…
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"Take cover and quickly! We have been spotted, but we will use the lowered visibility to our advantage," came his voice, almost filling the air and yet not. Was it in her mind, or did he speak directly from his soul to hers?
How strange... her Soul Wavelength hadn't reached outward at all. Had she ever done this before, or had she truly spent her entire time here gardening?
He supposed it was time for a crash course. As much as he enjoyed being pressed against Lily's chest, he unfortunately had to focus. Lezard's life was purest lament.
"The book you hold is my Weapon Form. My Ability requires Soul Resonance to work. I will need you to try and 'reach' for me, and I will close the gap and read your soul." That sounded simple enough, yes? Lezard began to reach, and though he bumped her once - he wasn't an expert at this yet - he managed to pull wait and wait.
...That closer howl had him turning his head. Damn it. They were short on time.
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Lily ducked behind one of the boulders and then glanced down at the tome in her arms. While her Book of Shadows had a life of its own—the pages would flip by themselves, a new spell would appear on occasion, and others would alter—it had never talked to her…
That voice again! So, that was where Lezard had disappeared to! She held the book at arm’s length, a bit put out. “You could have explained earlier! And what the heck is Soul Resonance?”
She felt him reaching out, like that time Aidan asked to feel her energy. In that instance, they had made a connection, their powers mingled, and the candle sconces in the cloister had been reduced to misshapen globs of pewter. Was he hoping to achieve something similar? With a bit of reluctance, she let her guard down and tried to reach for his energy.
It might have triggered something that one time with Aidan but Lily most certainly wasn’t going to try kissing this annoying sorcerer!
After much deliberation... fire!
"Simply put, the synchronizing of our soul wavelengths," he replied, and when he felt her soul's reaction, his swept in, cool and shrewd. Intelligent, but... frustratingly dense.
"Interesting. There is a strange barrier whenever I attempt resonance with ones such as myself..." He noted mostly to himself. Lily might feel an odd, fluttering sensation, something akin to the feel of flipped pages sweeping across one's fingertips.
"Hm! Perhaps the lady is a Meister! Ohh, this will turn out far better than I expected. ...I have it!" And just like that, Lezard gave a peal of laughter. There was a bloom of light as something seemed to slip from between two pages of the tome- an ornate burgundy ribbon of sorts acting as a bookmark, ending in a charm shaped in the letter L. The tome jumped open in her hands to the page marked, revealing what were once blank pages...
...Now, information flooded the two pages, detailing the history of magic of a very particular type on one. The next, backed by pictures of the appropriate flame runes and detailing their origin, detailed the spell Fire Lance.
"Yes, I think this will do. Surely, I need not instruct a witch on how to focus and direct magic, correct?"
Lezard pulled in his focus and felt a rush of power. Yes, there was no doubt... Lily was definitely a Meister! With his lips spread into a grin in mingled excitement and only a tinge of the surrounding Madness, he now actively sought the soul of whatever it was trying to find them.
"Let's not keep our pursuer waiting!"
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She nearly dropped the book when it popped open to the marked pages. The history would have been fascinating reading… if there wasn’t some unknown creature moving closer to their hiding spot by the minute; those cries didn’t sound like any ordinary mountain critter. For now, she scanned the symbols and spell on the other page. Fire Lance… Hmm…
Of course, Lily had great concentration. After all, magic was focusing one’s intentions to alter reality. But the witch often did so with help from a cauldron full of brew or a charm crafted from the herbs in her garden. And while she could light candles with her mind, attempting to fling magical fire at hostile creatures was new to her. “Exactly how do I cast this? Draw the runes in the snow and start chanting? Fighting magic isn’t exactly my expertise.”
She wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic about facing whatever was out there but it didn’t look like she’d have much of a choice…
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A window 'opened' upon the page, revealing the man behind the weapon form as something of an ink sketch. Fortunately for the both of them, the view was only from the chest up. He lifted a hand and what looked like flames began to lick at his skin, before blooming into a fire that engulfed the palm entirely.
"While this magic is old, it isn't quite that old that we need stand around the chant all day. No, what is needed is focus. Let this power build deep in the pit of your soul, and channel it outward through your body!" With that, he extended an arm. An unseen wind was playing along his hair as spectacle-less eyes turned in the direction of the noise.
"Focus, channel, and command! The flames bend to do as you will!" And with that, his soul wavelength seemed to build in power - or had he been holding it back in the first place? - as he offered but a fraction of it to her. It was warm, and if she noticed the snow had begun to soften and melt away in a perfect circle at her feet.
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She blinked when the drawing of Lezard appeared. But being more interested in his directions at the moment, she failed to notice the vanishing act that the sketchy sorcerer’s clothes and glasses had done. (There would likely be an outburst once this was all over and she realized though…)
Focus and channel, huh? Looked like this would be kind of like the energy blasts she sometimes used in a pinch back home. Lily shifted the book to her left hand, cradling it in the crook of her arm as the warmth of Lezard’s soul wavelength filled her. She took a deep breath and concentrated, hoping to blazes this would work on whatever was out there.
Following Lezard’s gaze, she peeked around the boulder concealing them. A stifled scream escaped her throat at the sight of a huge shaggy white beast charging down the mountain. “What in the Sam Hill? An abominable snowman?!” The startled witch instinctively thrust her hand out but the bit of flame that shot from her palm only grazed the creature, resulting in some singed fur and an even angrier yeti. “Is this really going to work?” Fighting the urge to run, she refocused and sent a second fiery arrow towards the monster…
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Emitter be damned, despite its success in raising the stakes. Were it within his power to regain his own magic, this yeti would not have taken a single step within his line of sight. Utter obliteration... that was the name of the game.
BREW was frustrating. Really.
Keeping his part of the resonance steady, he focused on the very soul of the beast hurtling down the mountainside with the intent to kill. Not in the mood to perish on this godforsaken mountain or allow the falling snow to make a mess of his pages. A fierce determination to reclaim his former glory flared from deep within that dark blue soul, and almost in reply, runic circles began to burn deep beneath the snow.
"The magic knows not where to go without a steady hand... strike quickly and without mercy!" And he looked up within the soul space. Sparks ignited from all around, his wavelength crafting 'starting points' for this next Fire Lance, six arrows in total. Whether she uses them individually or all at once was the Meister's call.
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Lily tightened her grip on the spellbook and started chanting, concentrating on channeling his soul wavelength as she would have channeled the powers of her ancestors back home. Although Lezard said the chanting was unnecessary, it was what she was used to with her own magic and helped her focus as she raised her free hand and sent the first arrow flying.
The abominable snowman stumbled but barely slowed down as the flames collided with its leg. The second was a near miss—she wasn’t used to rapidly moving targets—but the rest crashed into that angry oversized mop of a monster one after the other. Would it be enough…?
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But something changed, then. Those quick, last-minute sparks of her soul had tightened, become more refined. Focused. The chanting was actually working!
He watched at the arrows let fly, the first and second a waste in his mind, but no... there were four left. As Lily struck true with the final four, the sheer heat of them evaporated the ice and snow clinging to the fur, drying the fur to turn it into a most spectacular walking bonfire.
"It draws too closely! Let's give this beast a little space to contemplate its demise, hm?" He queried loftily. It would be no use to use another spell on it- he would rather save the energy.
"Regardless, 'tis finished. I will gather its soul when it perishes. Perhaps previous visitors to the area have suffered injuries from our hairy friend and remain close by." Lezard clicked his tongue. The yeti was making far too much noise- did it wish to alert the entire damned mountain of their location? Whatever they chose to do, they had to do it quickly before reinforcements arrive.
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“Its soul?” Sure, she had seen a case back home where a person had thrown their soul towards a demon when they died. And heard about another forfeiting a piece of their soul to break an agreement with a demon. But the sorcerer made a soul sound like something tangible he could walk over and pick up, as if he were a hunter collecting a trophy from a dead animal.
Lily ducked behind a solitary tree a little further up the slope, looking for hints of movement in the snow but couldn’t make out anything at the moment. “Now what?” She glanced down at the sketch of Lezard, to see if he had any suggestions.
Huh? “What happened to your glasses?” He looked a lot less geeky without them…
Blink. Wait a minute… “Where the heck are your clothes?!”
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But his eyes turned when he noticed that eyes were upon not just his form, but his appearance in the illustration's window from the bottom of his ribcage and upward. He was prepared to explain in plainer terms when she noticed he'd been without his garments and cloak.
An impish grin played upon his lips as he gave a devil-may-care shrug.
"My dear Meister, are you staring?" And he leaned against one wall of the 'frame', the grin widening. Oh, if only he could conjure a little blush of shame, but that would require one actually having any.
Instead, his hand lay on the bottom of the frame, giving it just a little nudge. Perhaps if he lowered it a bit...
"Shall I adjust the view for you~?" Mission? What mission?
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His second question was answered with a forceful “No!” Hopefully, it wasn’t loud enough to attract any beasts that might still be lurking nearby…
Trying to keep her temper in check, she pinched a couple of Lezard’s pages between her fingers and let the tome dangle in the air, as if she were pulling on a naughty child’s ear. She scowled at the sketch and lectured, “You’d better behave or I’ll pitch you into a snowbank and go back by myself.” It was the type of tone she used on Oscar when her familiar abused his porcine disguise to sneak into the dressing room at her vintage clothes shop. “Is that understood?”
She had to speak loudly to be heard over the gusts of wind. Was it just imagination or was there also a faint sound of something moving in the snow…?
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"My pages! You seek to tear them, when even I know not what will happen when they do? They are your pages, you understand." He warned, half out of uncertainty and half to get her to stop doing this. He didn't even wish to know what he'd feel if his pages tore, but he could feel the strain as the weight of his form tested the tenacity of his paper.
But in the very edge of his senses he could feel a sense of danger. Disintegrating like wet black paper, the yeti finally fell, revealing that glowing red light.
"Something draws near. You will need to collect that soul - the floating red orb there - and lay it against my pages before our new guest does the very same."
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And another critter on the way. Great. She didn’t normally deal with such things in rapid succession back home and hoped their powers would hold up.
As quickly as she could with the snow and wind, she made her way over to where the creature had been. She would have expected either a burnt corpse or the nothingness left when a demon was exorcised and sent back to its rightful dimension. But there was no singed fur or charred bones, only a red orb floating a couple of feet above the ground.
“This is a soul?” To Lily’s surprise, her hand actually closed around the glowing sphere instead of passing through as she would have expected from its appearance. She wasn’t sure what Lezard intended but she dropped it onto the book. “Now what?”
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"The soul of a kishin egg is a bright red, tainted but strong. The soul of a normal human is blue, while those of Meisters and Weapons differ among one another in color and appearance." The soul lingered upon his pages for just a moment, but soon began to sink inward as his weapon form would 'eat' it. There was a brief thrum of power once the soul disappeared, fully absorbed.
"A Weapon must collect kishin egg souls to grow in strength, while the Meister gathers her courage in exterminating the tainted beasts that would seek to destroy humanity and feast upon their souls in their own search for greater power. Eat... or be eaten, I would suppose," Lezard spoke loftily. He climbed back into the little window, reaching instinctively for his face to adjust glasses that he was too late to realize weren't there right now.
His hand quickly withdrew.
"All I can sense is our approaching foe, but nothing in regard to any injured or fallen. As your muse of flame, the choice is yours: Avoid detection by another hairy friend, or stand and have him face the fire as well~" For the Meister was indeed the master. What would she do?
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Looking around, she could just discern a bit of movement further up the mountain, likely another of those beasts. Lily relied on time and preparation for her exorcisms back in California so the thought of dealing with another monster so soon was one she didn’t relish.
“We’re going back,” she said decisively. But she froze when she turned to head down the mountain and saw that another yeti had appeared further down the slope.
“Dag nab it! How many of these doggoned things are there?!” And no convenient boulders or trees for them to hide behind. So much for having a choice…
With an exasperated huff, she added, “I guess we’d better get rid of that one down there.” Maybe, if they could defeat it, they could escape before the one descending from above reached them.
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But as Lily made her decision and descended the slopes, two more of their wonderful friends had decided to come out and play. A thrill raced through Lezard's mind- further opportunity to stretch his limbs so to speak, and should they both fall, that was two more souls ripe for the taking.
The sorcerer laughed. "And I'd only just grown bored! They are slow-witted as well as slow on their feet- have every confidence that I've the strength of soul to keep them both busy should the need arise."
That eaten soul had given him a boost. His soul wavelength remained strong, and with the smallest nudge, he wordlessly inquired toward boosting the strength of their current connection as well. It just might improve her accuracy; if only she'd open up, if just a little.
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“Well, at least someone is enjoying this whole mess.” Lily wondered if she was just fated to keep getting stuck in these supernatural situations, whether here or in her own world. All she had wanted was to finally have a normal life, make friends, and maybe find love… Was that too much to ask for a witch?
That little nudge brought her out of her thoughts but she hesitated a moment. She’d spent her life holding herself apart from people and it was rare for her to be magically connected to anyone like this; she could count those people on one hand. (And there was the matter of that nearly obscene stunt the sorcerer pulled just a few minutes ago!)
Still, she relented, having no desire to become a demon’s dinner. Perhaps, Lezard could sense the less positive aspects of her soul—the loneliness, the insecurity, the awkwardness—as well as a strong protective streak.
And slow-witted or not, the creature below had spotted them. With a roar, it quickened its pace up the mountain.
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"This would appear to be sufficient practice in my eyes!" And he turned his eyes left and right as he maintained a 'feel' for the yeti both above and below- he would not allow either of them to be ambushed on his watch.
Another Fire Lance was prepped, half a dozen fireballs just large enough to fit in one's palm springing to life with soul energy spent. Lezard, for a brief moment, felt that loneliness, the insecurity and the awkwardness... and for now turned a blind eye to them. 'Twas life or death at this very moment, and the sorcerer was feeling a tad short of breath. A frustration flit from his end of the connection, combined with the very beginning of fatigue.
He could handle these foes, and refused to acknowledge that that was the last he may have for the mission.
He pressed on, syncing his wavelength with hers to the best of his ability, and quickly suppressed that tired little spark.
"This slovenly fool appears quite eager. Let us continue the assault!"
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