Post by Nathalia on Mar 11, 2011 22:32:30 GMT -5
Alexandra, Idril, Cavendish, Montenegro, Donovan, and Acantha were continuing their (near) race down the street, trying to calm the poor Buck, when Souris reappeared! She had wandered off a bit earlier and, unable to find her, they had continued on their way.
How did she get ahead of them and-
And what happened to her?
Those beautiful wings hum with an electricity produced from her own body! She can fly very short distances with them (Up to about half a mile every other day) before they sap her of energy and fail to operate.
She can partially retract them if she chooses, leaving a beautiful ridge of what looks like metallic feathers when she does.
The Mouse mix had stumbled out of a shoppe that looked a bit like...oh, it's a hat shoppe...smells a bit off, though.
Almost like someone's been smoking a good number of pipes in there.
There was a small bunch of green feathers stuck in the floor boards, almost looking as though it had been dropped intentionally, and then trampled.
Donovan and Souris each picked one up.
Eurwen's Feather x2: (One for Donovan, one for Souris) Oh, so nice and green, hope that Mouse won't miss it. It tingles a little when touched, be careful about using it! It can either be worn, eaten, or used in a breeding; PM the Admin to let her know which.
After a good half hour spent investigating the thing, they finally stumbled upon the basement.
Dank; dark, and full of odd boxes full of junk, they slowly began their search through the small maze of boxes.
Up until this point, Idril and Acantha had managed to keep Cavendish quiet and somewhat calm, a small blindfold made of blue silk wrapped around his eyes to calm him as both tried to soothe his nerves.
Odd, that blindfold tingles a little.
Cavendish's Silk Blindfold: This lovely blue silk blindfold is so very soft...and tingly? Once a week, the wearer will find that they are now able to cause a small fountain of their favorite flavor of wine to fill up a cup as often as they like for a full hour.
Sadly, this just wasn't enough for him when they pulled him into the basement.
With a sudden shriek of paranoia, he ripped the blindfold off and bolted up the stairs and away.
All cried out and followed him at a run, Montegro looking exceedingly put out and peeved as he'd just found a door in the side of a cardboard box. Bummer.
The Buck made it all the way out the door, and probably would have flown away, had something not reared out of the street shadows and slammed itself into the escaping Deer!
A horrible, towering monster, telescoping back in on itself and screaming madly with laughter, its body writhing as it fought to control itself, long arms wrapped tightly around the Deer's neck.
A Lowlander.
A horrible monster of a Lowlander.
Its head looked a bit like a Horse, with a terrible wound in the side, as though someone had struck it in the head as hard as they could. The monster dragged the Corvie back down to the street and seemed to swallow him whole in the ooze surrounding it! Confused, it glanced around at all of them, and opened its mouth as though about to speak, when Alexandra whipped into action!
Slamming her body forward with an incredible bite, she tore out a chunk of flesh...right over the creature's heart!
Screaming in pain and confusion, it grabbed her around the middle, releasing Cavendesh, who passed out and slid messily to the side through the puddle of rot. Roaring into her face, the monster bit down hard on Alexandra's middle, leaving a semi-circle of scars on either side of her body!
Her body wrapped tightly around the monster's neck and she struggled to throttled it as its thin fingers scraped bloody crisscrosses all down her spine and tore the fin on her tail.
After a minute...she succeeded, and the thing passed out, sank into its own ooze, and vanished.
Trying to recover, and Alexandra in poor shape, they dragged the Snake and Buck over to another shoppe; one full of clothing, and tried to cut strips from linen shirts to bind up the wounds.
Something about this shoppe felt..off, though.
Something about the way that the whole things smelled like ink and...blood.
Donovan and Monte slowly began to explore, dragging Souris with them as they skirted the basement and headed upstairs instead.
Souris was feeling rather horrified and huffy about this whole venture...so when the floor suddenly opened at the top of the stairs and began to pull her down into it, her screams were understandable.
Donovan managed to grab her before she sank into the soggy planking completely...it...it looked almost as though a door...a little black one, were trying to form around her.
Monte's assistance saw that they pulled her out just in time for the door to solidify into the top of the stairs and sit there, ominously.
Their attempts to open it were valiant, but ultimately futile, though Donovan felt an odd sensation...almost as though he'd inhaled something...
Donovan's Ability: Once a week, he is now able to cause a thick screen of glass to appear directly in front of him, 12 feet high and half a foot thick, for a full minute. The glass will move like a shield all about himself, keeping others out...or trying to keep people in... Fire wreaks havoc on this spell. PM the Admin if fire is used upon it.
They searched some increasingly creepy rooms and after about 5 minutes, could have sworn they heard hat door opening behind them...
A hurried investigation turned up nothing, though they could have sworn they heard the sound of violins.
Another 10 minutes turned up a few odd objects, but nothing further.
The group reconvened and waited out the horrors inside together until some police materialized, along with everyone else and hurried them downtown for food and help.
Boiler Mug: (For Sera) Ooh! What a cute little mug, it's shaped like a curled up Ace Feline. This mug that keeps drinks warm and, once a week, can heat the liquid inside to boiling temperatures...which can then be thrown over anyone. The boiling temperature will never actually burn the mug's owner.
Paper Stars: (For Rynnie) What cute little origami stars! Made with some incredible colors and surprisingly hard to destroy, they're awfully beautiful and cute. Once a week, the owner can whisper the word Bright, and the stars will begin to float around the owner's head, casting a dull light that only the owner can see. The lights last for about 5 minutes, before going out.
Charming Necklace: (for Ku) Oh! This cute little necklace has a single diamond drop dangling from the pure silver chain. It tingles slightly to the touch and, when worn, will grant a small power to the first person to wear it only. Once a week, they are able to cause Cards ranked 5 and lower and Leverets to feel as though the person casting the spell is the most lovable and cuddly person on earth for a full 3 minutes...regardless of their actions...
Zeus and the Hell hounds reappeared and was at the head of the group chasing the small fiery Fox, with every intent to catch and kill it. (Though he lost sight of it in the end, it was simply too fast and left little scent.) He had gone through the Portal in an earlier wave right before Viast showed up with all of his Hounds with exception to Trix.
Vishne was dragged through the portal as a prisoner of war along with Mirek and Raphael, Obidiah, and Trott, after Mirung led them to Cale. Cale welcomed them with a relief that was evident and opened the portal for them directly to the Lowlands home-front.
Once arrived in the Lowlands with some other forces, he found that a small horde of Josiggies were attacking!
The head of the hunt, a terrible Animal-formed Marten/Rottweiler (Queen of Clubs) called Marl, recognized Zeus for being an exceptional Lowlands leader from stories spread in his homeland and threw himself at the other Queen with incredible ferocity.
One of Zeus's ears was torn off and both screeched in agony as they each used a horrifying range of spells on one another, flying past the rest of the group in a mass of screams and pure rage.
A massive horde of Josiggies made their attack upon the renowned Hell hounds and the other Local leaders of the Lowlands. Mirek suffered a missing paw at the jaws of a Josiggy with mandibles like those of a digging Wasp, but was given an impressive bone replacement by a Lowlander general named Heath (a scrawny Biped Horned Owl) who took a liking to him.
Obidiah fought like a creature possessed; tearing down three Josiggies before they could so much as launch a weapon at him. A large, bulky Husky Josiggy managed to tear the rotted flesh alll along his throat to his gut, luckily leaving the sheen of translucent skin intact to avoid him spilling his guts, but leaving him dragging his flesh along like an obscene apron.
At least he managed to tear the Husky's throat out.
He tripped over a small object on the field...what was that doing out there?
Rat: This odd little rat carved out of bone was buried in the muck. It's quite detailed for such a tiny thing. Once a week, the owner of the object is able to whisper the words hearken to me, and the rat will "awaken". The thing is creepy as sin, does not breathe, blink, or move naturally, only in a freakish, stilting manner. It can then be told to scoot off and spy on people, bringing the answers back to him in either pictures or written clues as it cannot speak. If this creature is caught, PM the admin as it dislikes that highly...
Raphael fought bravely, but was ultimately overwhelmed until another Doctor could attend to him. A rather severe knock to the head has left him with a large scar down the front of his skull and face, making him look like it was cleaved in half and sewn back together.Though after the fact, he managed to heal up Zeus before he bled out, saving his life! Even if it did leave his boss with a massive, scary scar across his chest...
As they fought on, about three hours later, the portal suddenly cracked open again.
Viast spilled out onto the ground, children clutched in her arms, along with some of the guards left at the Capital post.
There were some ragged cheers...that quickly died when a small, bright light flashed as the portal closed.
A tiny Fox, its head and tail base completely aflame, stumbled dazedly forward from the entrance into the swamp of blood and ooze, and collapsed.
The entire area around him exploded into flame.
Lowlanders and Josiggy prisoners ran screaming in every direction as the flames caught and spread.
Quickly.
Zeus bellowed at the people nearest the portal and managed to keep them from panicking long enough to have the protal reopened. Mirek and Obidiah suffering burns on their legs because of the time taken, as they herded those in panic-mode toward the portal, mostly children who had been sent through the portal earlier.
Under the Hellhounds's persuasion and technique, they were able to get the portal opened again, just as the flames hit the shed a quarter of a mile behind them all.
Where Lowlanders had been building explosives to send through the portal to the Josiggy.
The roar of flames that hurtled out after the party was enough to melt the cobblestone and fuse the last two unlucky souls out of the portal to the stone as they slowly died.
Zeus spotted the creature that had started the fire and chased it at once, half in incredible anger...half in the desperate desire to send this little Fox right to the Josiggy to burn them.
He and a group of five adult Lowlanders and the remainder of his Hellhounds gave chase for half an hour, before losing their quarry and having to trek back to the plaza...to find Cale dead and the portal gone.
Along with anyone who knew how to operate it.
The children and teenagers that Emery had collected together remained with Menefer and Sloan for a short while, before they finally noticed the meadow growing outside and all rushed out with squeals of fear and delight to see.
Menefer's first few feet out found him stumbling over a thick, oozing patch of sludge...before he could move any further, it latched onto his leg and wouldn't let go!
ID: B08 out of 10
Species: Blobling
Characteristic: Crude Oil
Notes: This little Blobling is not elastic, but more of a thick, sticky substance. It is able to secrete a thick, bubbling foam that smells overpoweringly like motor oil whenever it feels that itself or its master is threatened.
It will only take to the creature it has bonded to, though if that creature dies, it might consider another.
Once a week, it is able to spit its foam with percision, causing temporary blindness of up to one hour.
Bloblings are exceedingly rare, in fact, there are only 10 of them. They cannot breed, cannot be split into multiples, and will not ever be found again. They have a mildly frightening aura and will not be viewed as a normal pet or familiar, many will view them with disgust and trepidation or fear.
A tall, thick looking man named Mirung and a Toucan named Seamus skidded into the square shortly followed by a beautiful Highlands Wolf named Amatseru. After the devastated Mirung was forced to conclude that he was the only member of the original Lowlanders rescue squad left alive, and had a very small, awkward chat with Seamus; Ama had pushed herself out of the shadows, hoping only to make sure that three children would make it out of this without dying as the odd woman had.
The children, especially Evaline, seemed to delight in the Highlands Wolf; her calming words, exquisite beauty, and protective aura made them all feel quite safe and cared for, though she couldn't quite convince Mirung to put Webster down...he kept muttering something about the Kitten being...his...
Weirdo.
The Highland Wolf and the girls spoke a good bit and enjoyed one another's company, the Corvie girl especially finding the Wolf's unintentional creepy vibes quite delightful.
Upon being placed in a shoppe to wait while Mirung scoped out the plaza, they found a few things.
Pencil Stub: (for Yuiven) This stubby little pencil burns a little to the touch when first grabbed, though that quickly fades. Once actually used, the owner will realize that this tiny pencil stub is quite useful.
They can now use it to sketch a small door on any piece of paper they have. This door will then open and take them anywhere they like, but the door is ONLY large enough for themselves and another person to go through quickly, after which it will close at once and become nothing but paper once more...woe betide the person caught in that "hallway"...
The pencil can be used a total of 5 times. Keep track of your uses and PM the Admin when they're used up...something may happen...
Extreme Matches: (for Spidey) This tiny box of three matches are sure packing a wallop! When struck, the matches explode into a fireball as big as the caster that will do their mental bidding for 30 full seconds. Careful, though. There are only three and they can only be used once each...
Mr. Todd regained consciousness very shortly after the meadow sprang up.
He watched Cale die with little emotion expressed, and then stood to observe the group, and walked over to join anyone left alive, listening and evaluating everything they said before making a motion to head back to his shoppe.
With Seamus's assistance, and the grudging help of the Mid-Range Barber, Mirung was able to get the children and Toucan a place to stay in the old bakery while he traveled to the Lowlands to figure out what had happened. I'm sure that just delighted Orin.
He returned about 5 weeks later alone.
Sadly, what news he brought back was not what people had hoped to hear.
The Lowlands, full of disease, oils, and rot; had taken like bracken to the little Fox's magical flame...helped along by the stockpiled explosives the Lowland resistance had been preparing to send to the Josiggy.
The resultant explosions were enough to catch the whole place on fire.
And where was there to run to?
There wasn't.
Mirung arrived on the borders to see Sorgaire digging through the cracked, dry remains to search for survivors.
They found none.
The Lowlands had become a burned-out, lifeless husk; devoid of any remaining living things or salvageable ground.
Truly a wasteland now, how...fitting. (The Highlanders and those in Avington finding it particularly amusing (or horrible, depending on the person) that the Lowlanders really did all go to Hell.)
(For player purposes: the Lowlands have become, quite legitimately, extinct.
You will never randomly run into one on the streets, see one working in a shoppe, or find one at the Palace again. Unless they're played by another Dealer, like you, then you will never see a Lowlander again.
They are all dead.
(Mirung and the NPC children will be herding themselves out to the Sorgaire shortly, you will not run across them unless necessary.)
Other characters now seeing a Lowlander, is rarer than seeing a Hisstor! Many still despise them, and the loss felt for this Realm is practically negligible compared to the simultaneous loss of the Selkie Lakes...)
As to the Josiggy; if they didn't have a bit of a bad rap before, they certainly do now.
While a good number of the Realms are quite happy to believe that the Lowlanders brought this on themselves, deserved it, or even (the Highlands especially feel this) started the war; there also happens to be quite the contingent who believe otherwise.
The Sorgaire, arguably, don't lie and tend not to care enough one way or the other on a topic to bother making up a story. Their version of the truth (which is pretty damn near the truth) is what is taken throughout Wonderland to be ready for the History books.
The Calloo have added the Josiggy to their line of Realms that they fear. Many refusing to speak to any of the bloodthirsty heathens again...and Lowlanders becoming something of a religious "fetish" for them. It would be quite the mark of pride now, for a Calloo to "salvage" a Lowlander to bring home.
Many of the Tulgey Wood, however, have come to respect the Josiggies for their victory.
They will not look upon them as the best of bosom buddies, but at least now, certainly a Realm able to accomplish what they set out to do, however slowly. The Golfam, surprisingly, tend not to care.
Beowulf will have to deal with a good amount of clamor over this issue coming to the Courts, quite the unpleasant realization to have to deal with, seeing as Xiven would probably much rather relegate the Josiggy complaints to an actual Josiggy, than deal with the hellish issues herself.
Speaking of Beowulf, his ghostly friend, Wiglaf, is also still suffering a slight issue...Vaska and that Rabbit-eared Puffin can still see him...speak to him too. Oddly enough, the Ace seems to have gained some abilities...
Spiritual Boost: He is now able to travel up to 50 miles away from Beo three times a day for up to an hour each time. He may go where he wishes, though he still cannot affect the real world on many levels...he can at least now visit those who can see and speak to him.
Especially since, for some reason, he is able to mentally locate those who can see him at any time.
While Rosewood's group in Mr. Todd's shoppe stood around arguing with an Ace and a fluffy Selkie Cat; Miah grew bored.
He and Mana had hit it off, what with her ability to agree to anything and his desire to play the handsome hero, he was easily able to convince her to follow the small crowd of Orin, Karrock, and the babies off down the street.
After they were all inundated by Mirung and his arrival with the 8 or so Lowland children, he became even more displeased with the smell of rotting flesh and...well, kids.
Grabbing the Kiwi, he convinced her to jaunt off with him for some fun...wonder what they got up to?
Rodney did his best to help Mirung with getting the kids in order, and offered Mr. Todd a stipend from the Courts monthly stash until they could get everyone jobs of their own and get them moved out to the Sorgaire Range. He then headed back to the Police station with trepidation.
Though the place was quite thoroughly wrecked, he was able to locate all of his officers and superiors over the course of a week.
None of them could quite remember what had happened to them, only that everything went dark and that they saw bright flashes of orange light and caught small glimpses of tiny doors, every now and then. The majority awoke where they had been "taken" from, and felt as though only 5-10 minutes had passed; leading to the wide-spread belief that there was a Corvie-experiment-backlash that caused everyone to pass out simultaneously.
Those who were immune to the crossed spell-effects and were awake for the contest, know differently. (For example, Donovan; who was underground in his lab for two solid days prior to and during the beginning of the event and missed out on the blast. Similarly, some of the other Corvies you didn't find by not searching the labs. I plan to re-use the ideas for these freaky creeps in future plots.)
Josephine was kept in the Police station and generally fussed over By Captain Faith and Eloise until her Mother was identified and came to pick her up. Remi was allowed to stay as well, if he liked, but after one infraction involving a kitchen knife...he was watched like a hawk by everyone there, including Beraht; who was located in the wreckage of the station near Sorcha's desk. No one was able to make him leave afterward.
Othello and his crew were also taken back to the station by Corporal Rodney in order to have their wounds dressed. Rigsy's body was iced for future identification and numerous others were buried on the very outskirts of the Capital.
A few medical Corvies had been pulled and offered either money...or passes from their "endeavors" with the law. They did their best to fix up Ichigo and actually managed rather well in their efforts.
Othello is now able to: Othello's Vision Ability: Once a day, for two hours consecutively, he is able now to see into the present. This is a result of his future/past blindness being tampered with by the magical shakedown and discharge caused by Cale's portal going off all day, the vanishing spells attempts to work on him, and other magical caustics converging on him.
Ayden set Victor up with a nice, small domicile in an area of his choosing, on the condition that he and his companions were allowed to "rent" (aka: use freely) the attic lounge whenever they liked, seeing as Ayden does not particularly have a "home", so much as regular places of refuge. Granted, this used up a good chunk of his money and a favor or two from friends, but it did get him a regular haunt and helped him feel better about extending assistance to his friend...though he did have cause to worry at the whispers of a war...that the Lowlanders had recently lost...
Mikael had staggered out after the small group and Ayden did his best to point him in the direction of the Police station, which he managed to find.
On his way there, he stopped in a broken bar to snag a bottle of water, nearing complete exhaustion from shock and thirst.
While in there, he found somehting...odd.
Sexy undergarments of Extreme Confidence: Oh...well, it is a nice set of women's panties...and such a cute little bra; they have smiling watermelons all over them. Once touched, Mikael will feel desperately compelled to put them on! They...they don't look too bad, actually.
Once a week, he is able to filter out any feelings of despondency or cowardice towards a situation from his mind and approach it knowing that he is going to, no holds-barred, rule whatever it is. due to his belief that nothing can go wrong...nothing usually will.
In order to be able to use this power, he must wear the undies set for an hour at least once a week.
Donovan finally managed to convince his small group that they should continue moving after the monster Blob's apparent "demise".
Jarvis was not quite well enough to walk on his own, but with help from Jerome, he was able to manage.
The children all seemed a bit subdued after the death of the Blob and all were making their way to the Capital center...and that light, as best they could.
Don apologized to Iso again after they got moving, unsure what he did wrong, but honestly just kind of assuming it was her hormones and that placating her would be awesome. Ercole stumbled out of an alleyway as they began to scoot, following after them and bringing Courante with him.
The pair of them ah..."borrowed" a few things from inside, didn't they?
Water-controlling Scarf: (For Courante) Wow! This scarf looks like its made out of actual fire! Good thing it's not. When touched it gives a slight tingling sensation, once per week, the caster can stare at an open container of liquid and cause up to one pint of the substance to end its relationship with gravity. It will slowly rise up from its container's opening and then float about. It will remain gravity-defying until it comes in contact with an object larger than its original volume. If used on anything alcoholic in nature though...the caster can then aim at at another Card's head (ranked Jack or lower) and cause them to become somewhat inebriated for a full hour!
Butterfly Frozen in Amber: (for Ercole) Oooh, a monarch butterfly cased in a decorative pendant of amber! How pretty. Any time they like, the caster can cup their hands together as though they're holding something between their palms. When they open their hands, a small purple butterfly flutters out and leads them to the nearest source of accessible, drinkable water. The butterfly will then slowly wilt and crumple until nothing remains but a pinch of ashes. If this butterfly is attacked or its owner while it is called, it will begin a small, steady down pour on the offenders head for a full 10 seconds.
As they tromped onward toward the fountain or the plaza (("Whatever we hit first, dudes. I'm just trying to skirt the bad parts of town."), they happened to pass by Fenzik and his "friend". The odd Corvie Rat had a badly injured Josiggy Bird riding on his back...both said they didn't need help, though the Bird wasn't all too convincing in his role and it took quite a bit of smooth talking for Fenzik to get away with his captive...at least without Iso tearing him a new one, verbally.
They ended up stopping just outside of the plaza due to the overwhelming stench of blood and...flowers?
Unwilling to let them go further, Don volunteered (out of sheer guilt) to take a quick flight over the area and report back.
What he had to describe to them of the bloody aftermath of Cale and Resta's battle wasn't pretty. Iso and Takio ended up stalking off to a few stores just as people began to re-materialize all around them!
Swept up in the storm of confusion, they ended up at the Police station with most everyone else.
Don took off shortly afterward, a certain Rat policeman shooing him away as if he'd been an Ace.
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Congratulations, guys!
You all (some of you) survived the Ticket Contest!
I hope it was fun, and here are the intense NPC battle fight points.
Mo -2
Colin - 2
Heike - 2
Joel - 5
Death - 5
Trix - 2
Farran - 2
Sabe - 2
(I hope you get to read all of this, Sera. Whew!) <3
<3
~Nathalia
How did she get ahead of them and-
And what happened to her?
Those beautiful wings hum with an electricity produced from her own body! She can fly very short distances with them (Up to about half a mile every other day) before they sap her of energy and fail to operate.
She can partially retract them if she chooses, leaving a beautiful ridge of what looks like metallic feathers when she does.
The Mouse mix had stumbled out of a shoppe that looked a bit like...oh, it's a hat shoppe...smells a bit off, though.
Almost like someone's been smoking a good number of pipes in there.
There was a small bunch of green feathers stuck in the floor boards, almost looking as though it had been dropped intentionally, and then trampled.
Donovan and Souris each picked one up.
Eurwen's Feather x2: (One for Donovan, one for Souris) Oh, so nice and green, hope that Mouse won't miss it. It tingles a little when touched, be careful about using it! It can either be worn, eaten, or used in a breeding; PM the Admin to let her know which.
After a good half hour spent investigating the thing, they finally stumbled upon the basement.
Dank; dark, and full of odd boxes full of junk, they slowly began their search through the small maze of boxes.
Up until this point, Idril and Acantha had managed to keep Cavendish quiet and somewhat calm, a small blindfold made of blue silk wrapped around his eyes to calm him as both tried to soothe his nerves.
Odd, that blindfold tingles a little.
Cavendish's Silk Blindfold: This lovely blue silk blindfold is so very soft...and tingly? Once a week, the wearer will find that they are now able to cause a small fountain of their favorite flavor of wine to fill up a cup as often as they like for a full hour.
Sadly, this just wasn't enough for him when they pulled him into the basement.
With a sudden shriek of paranoia, he ripped the blindfold off and bolted up the stairs and away.
All cried out and followed him at a run, Montegro looking exceedingly put out and peeved as he'd just found a door in the side of a cardboard box. Bummer.
The Buck made it all the way out the door, and probably would have flown away, had something not reared out of the street shadows and slammed itself into the escaping Deer!
A horrible, towering monster, telescoping back in on itself and screaming madly with laughter, its body writhing as it fought to control itself, long arms wrapped tightly around the Deer's neck.
A Lowlander.
A horrible monster of a Lowlander.
Its head looked a bit like a Horse, with a terrible wound in the side, as though someone had struck it in the head as hard as they could. The monster dragged the Corvie back down to the street and seemed to swallow him whole in the ooze surrounding it! Confused, it glanced around at all of them, and opened its mouth as though about to speak, when Alexandra whipped into action!
Slamming her body forward with an incredible bite, she tore out a chunk of flesh...right over the creature's heart!
Screaming in pain and confusion, it grabbed her around the middle, releasing Cavendesh, who passed out and slid messily to the side through the puddle of rot. Roaring into her face, the monster bit down hard on Alexandra's middle, leaving a semi-circle of scars on either side of her body!
Her body wrapped tightly around the monster's neck and she struggled to throttled it as its thin fingers scraped bloody crisscrosses all down her spine and tore the fin on her tail.
After a minute...she succeeded, and the thing passed out, sank into its own ooze, and vanished.
Trying to recover, and Alexandra in poor shape, they dragged the Snake and Buck over to another shoppe; one full of clothing, and tried to cut strips from linen shirts to bind up the wounds.
Something about this shoppe felt..off, though.
Something about the way that the whole things smelled like ink and...blood.
Donovan and Monte slowly began to explore, dragging Souris with them as they skirted the basement and headed upstairs instead.
Souris was feeling rather horrified and huffy about this whole venture...so when the floor suddenly opened at the top of the stairs and began to pull her down into it, her screams were understandable.
Donovan managed to grab her before she sank into the soggy planking completely...it...it looked almost as though a door...a little black one, were trying to form around her.
Monte's assistance saw that they pulled her out just in time for the door to solidify into the top of the stairs and sit there, ominously.
Their attempts to open it were valiant, but ultimately futile, though Donovan felt an odd sensation...almost as though he'd inhaled something...
Donovan's Ability: Once a week, he is now able to cause a thick screen of glass to appear directly in front of him, 12 feet high and half a foot thick, for a full minute. The glass will move like a shield all about himself, keeping others out...or trying to keep people in... Fire wreaks havoc on this spell. PM the Admin if fire is used upon it.
They searched some increasingly creepy rooms and after about 5 minutes, could have sworn they heard hat door opening behind them...
A hurried investigation turned up nothing, though they could have sworn they heard the sound of violins.
Another 10 minutes turned up a few odd objects, but nothing further.
The group reconvened and waited out the horrors inside together until some police materialized, along with everyone else and hurried them downtown for food and help.
Boiler Mug: (For Sera) Ooh! What a cute little mug, it's shaped like a curled up Ace Feline. This mug that keeps drinks warm and, once a week, can heat the liquid inside to boiling temperatures...which can then be thrown over anyone. The boiling temperature will never actually burn the mug's owner.
Paper Stars: (For Rynnie) What cute little origami stars! Made with some incredible colors and surprisingly hard to destroy, they're awfully beautiful and cute. Once a week, the owner can whisper the word Bright, and the stars will begin to float around the owner's head, casting a dull light that only the owner can see. The lights last for about 5 minutes, before going out.
Charming Necklace: (for Ku) Oh! This cute little necklace has a single diamond drop dangling from the pure silver chain. It tingles slightly to the touch and, when worn, will grant a small power to the first person to wear it only. Once a week, they are able to cause Cards ranked 5 and lower and Leverets to feel as though the person casting the spell is the most lovable and cuddly person on earth for a full 3 minutes...regardless of their actions...
Zeus and the Hell hounds reappeared and was at the head of the group chasing the small fiery Fox, with every intent to catch and kill it. (Though he lost sight of it in the end, it was simply too fast and left little scent.) He had gone through the Portal in an earlier wave right before Viast showed up with all of his Hounds with exception to Trix.
Vishne was dragged through the portal as a prisoner of war along with Mirek and Raphael, Obidiah, and Trott, after Mirung led them to Cale. Cale welcomed them with a relief that was evident and opened the portal for them directly to the Lowlands home-front.
Once arrived in the Lowlands with some other forces, he found that a small horde of Josiggies were attacking!
The head of the hunt, a terrible Animal-formed Marten/Rottweiler (Queen of Clubs) called Marl, recognized Zeus for being an exceptional Lowlands leader from stories spread in his homeland and threw himself at the other Queen with incredible ferocity.
One of Zeus's ears was torn off and both screeched in agony as they each used a horrifying range of spells on one another, flying past the rest of the group in a mass of screams and pure rage.
A massive horde of Josiggies made their attack upon the renowned Hell hounds and the other Local leaders of the Lowlands. Mirek suffered a missing paw at the jaws of a Josiggy with mandibles like those of a digging Wasp, but was given an impressive bone replacement by a Lowlander general named Heath (a scrawny Biped Horned Owl) who took a liking to him.
Obidiah fought like a creature possessed; tearing down three Josiggies before they could so much as launch a weapon at him. A large, bulky Husky Josiggy managed to tear the rotted flesh alll along his throat to his gut, luckily leaving the sheen of translucent skin intact to avoid him spilling his guts, but leaving him dragging his flesh along like an obscene apron.
At least he managed to tear the Husky's throat out.
He tripped over a small object on the field...what was that doing out there?
Rat: This odd little rat carved out of bone was buried in the muck. It's quite detailed for such a tiny thing. Once a week, the owner of the object is able to whisper the words hearken to me, and the rat will "awaken". The thing is creepy as sin, does not breathe, blink, or move naturally, only in a freakish, stilting manner. It can then be told to scoot off and spy on people, bringing the answers back to him in either pictures or written clues as it cannot speak. If this creature is caught, PM the admin as it dislikes that highly...
Raphael fought bravely, but was ultimately overwhelmed until another Doctor could attend to him. A rather severe knock to the head has left him with a large scar down the front of his skull and face, making him look like it was cleaved in half and sewn back together.Though after the fact, he managed to heal up Zeus before he bled out, saving his life! Even if it did leave his boss with a massive, scary scar across his chest...
As they fought on, about three hours later, the portal suddenly cracked open again.
Viast spilled out onto the ground, children clutched in her arms, along with some of the guards left at the Capital post.
There were some ragged cheers...that quickly died when a small, bright light flashed as the portal closed.
A tiny Fox, its head and tail base completely aflame, stumbled dazedly forward from the entrance into the swamp of blood and ooze, and collapsed.
The entire area around him exploded into flame.
Lowlanders and Josiggy prisoners ran screaming in every direction as the flames caught and spread.
Quickly.
Zeus bellowed at the people nearest the portal and managed to keep them from panicking long enough to have the protal reopened. Mirek and Obidiah suffering burns on their legs because of the time taken, as they herded those in panic-mode toward the portal, mostly children who had been sent through the portal earlier.
Under the Hellhounds's persuasion and technique, they were able to get the portal opened again, just as the flames hit the shed a quarter of a mile behind them all.
Where Lowlanders had been building explosives to send through the portal to the Josiggy.
The roar of flames that hurtled out after the party was enough to melt the cobblestone and fuse the last two unlucky souls out of the portal to the stone as they slowly died.
Zeus spotted the creature that had started the fire and chased it at once, half in incredible anger...half in the desperate desire to send this little Fox right to the Josiggy to burn them.
He and a group of five adult Lowlanders and the remainder of his Hellhounds gave chase for half an hour, before losing their quarry and having to trek back to the plaza...to find Cale dead and the portal gone.
Along with anyone who knew how to operate it.
The children and teenagers that Emery had collected together remained with Menefer and Sloan for a short while, before they finally noticed the meadow growing outside and all rushed out with squeals of fear and delight to see.
Menefer's first few feet out found him stumbling over a thick, oozing patch of sludge...before he could move any further, it latched onto his leg and wouldn't let go!
ID: B08 out of 10
Species: Blobling
Characteristic: Crude Oil
Notes: This little Blobling is not elastic, but more of a thick, sticky substance. It is able to secrete a thick, bubbling foam that smells overpoweringly like motor oil whenever it feels that itself or its master is threatened.
It will only take to the creature it has bonded to, though if that creature dies, it might consider another.
Once a week, it is able to spit its foam with percision, causing temporary blindness of up to one hour.
Bloblings are exceedingly rare, in fact, there are only 10 of them. They cannot breed, cannot be split into multiples, and will not ever be found again. They have a mildly frightening aura and will not be viewed as a normal pet or familiar, many will view them with disgust and trepidation or fear.
A tall, thick looking man named Mirung and a Toucan named Seamus skidded into the square shortly followed by a beautiful Highlands Wolf named Amatseru. After the devastated Mirung was forced to conclude that he was the only member of the original Lowlanders rescue squad left alive, and had a very small, awkward chat with Seamus; Ama had pushed herself out of the shadows, hoping only to make sure that three children would make it out of this without dying as the odd woman had.
The children, especially Evaline, seemed to delight in the Highlands Wolf; her calming words, exquisite beauty, and protective aura made them all feel quite safe and cared for, though she couldn't quite convince Mirung to put Webster down...he kept muttering something about the Kitten being...his...
Weirdo.
The Highland Wolf and the girls spoke a good bit and enjoyed one another's company, the Corvie girl especially finding the Wolf's unintentional creepy vibes quite delightful.
Upon being placed in a shoppe to wait while Mirung scoped out the plaza, they found a few things.
Pencil Stub: (for Yuiven) This stubby little pencil burns a little to the touch when first grabbed, though that quickly fades. Once actually used, the owner will realize that this tiny pencil stub is quite useful.
They can now use it to sketch a small door on any piece of paper they have. This door will then open and take them anywhere they like, but the door is ONLY large enough for themselves and another person to go through quickly, after which it will close at once and become nothing but paper once more...woe betide the person caught in that "hallway"...
The pencil can be used a total of 5 times. Keep track of your uses and PM the Admin when they're used up...something may happen...
Extreme Matches: (for Spidey) This tiny box of three matches are sure packing a wallop! When struck, the matches explode into a fireball as big as the caster that will do their mental bidding for 30 full seconds. Careful, though. There are only three and they can only be used once each...
Mr. Todd regained consciousness very shortly after the meadow sprang up.
He watched Cale die with little emotion expressed, and then stood to observe the group, and walked over to join anyone left alive, listening and evaluating everything they said before making a motion to head back to his shoppe.
With Seamus's assistance, and the grudging help of the Mid-Range Barber, Mirung was able to get the children and Toucan a place to stay in the old bakery while he traveled to the Lowlands to figure out what had happened. I'm sure that just delighted Orin.
He returned about 5 weeks later alone.
Sadly, what news he brought back was not what people had hoped to hear.
The Lowlands, full of disease, oils, and rot; had taken like bracken to the little Fox's magical flame...helped along by the stockpiled explosives the Lowland resistance had been preparing to send to the Josiggy.
The resultant explosions were enough to catch the whole place on fire.
And where was there to run to?
There wasn't.
Mirung arrived on the borders to see Sorgaire digging through the cracked, dry remains to search for survivors.
They found none.
The Lowlands had become a burned-out, lifeless husk; devoid of any remaining living things or salvageable ground.
Truly a wasteland now, how...fitting. (The Highlanders and those in Avington finding it particularly amusing (or horrible, depending on the person) that the Lowlanders really did all go to Hell.)
(For player purposes: the Lowlands have become, quite legitimately, extinct.
You will never randomly run into one on the streets, see one working in a shoppe, or find one at the Palace again. Unless they're played by another Dealer, like you, then you will never see a Lowlander again.
They are all dead.
(Mirung and the NPC children will be herding themselves out to the Sorgaire shortly, you will not run across them unless necessary.)
Other characters now seeing a Lowlander, is rarer than seeing a Hisstor! Many still despise them, and the loss felt for this Realm is practically negligible compared to the simultaneous loss of the Selkie Lakes...)
As to the Josiggy; if they didn't have a bit of a bad rap before, they certainly do now.
While a good number of the Realms are quite happy to believe that the Lowlanders brought this on themselves, deserved it, or even (the Highlands especially feel this) started the war; there also happens to be quite the contingent who believe otherwise.
The Sorgaire, arguably, don't lie and tend not to care enough one way or the other on a topic to bother making up a story. Their version of the truth (which is pretty damn near the truth) is what is taken throughout Wonderland to be ready for the History books.
The Calloo have added the Josiggy to their line of Realms that they fear. Many refusing to speak to any of the bloodthirsty heathens again...and Lowlanders becoming something of a religious "fetish" for them. It would be quite the mark of pride now, for a Calloo to "salvage" a Lowlander to bring home.
Many of the Tulgey Wood, however, have come to respect the Josiggies for their victory.
They will not look upon them as the best of bosom buddies, but at least now, certainly a Realm able to accomplish what they set out to do, however slowly. The Golfam, surprisingly, tend not to care.
Beowulf will have to deal with a good amount of clamor over this issue coming to the Courts, quite the unpleasant realization to have to deal with, seeing as Xiven would probably much rather relegate the Josiggy complaints to an actual Josiggy, than deal with the hellish issues herself.
Speaking of Beowulf, his ghostly friend, Wiglaf, is also still suffering a slight issue...Vaska and that Rabbit-eared Puffin can still see him...speak to him too. Oddly enough, the Ace seems to have gained some abilities...
Spiritual Boost: He is now able to travel up to 50 miles away from Beo three times a day for up to an hour each time. He may go where he wishes, though he still cannot affect the real world on many levels...he can at least now visit those who can see and speak to him.
Especially since, for some reason, he is able to mentally locate those who can see him at any time.
While Rosewood's group in Mr. Todd's shoppe stood around arguing with an Ace and a fluffy Selkie Cat; Miah grew bored.
He and Mana had hit it off, what with her ability to agree to anything and his desire to play the handsome hero, he was easily able to convince her to follow the small crowd of Orin, Karrock, and the babies off down the street.
After they were all inundated by Mirung and his arrival with the 8 or so Lowland children, he became even more displeased with the smell of rotting flesh and...well, kids.
Grabbing the Kiwi, he convinced her to jaunt off with him for some fun...wonder what they got up to?
Rodney did his best to help Mirung with getting the kids in order, and offered Mr. Todd a stipend from the Courts monthly stash until they could get everyone jobs of their own and get them moved out to the Sorgaire Range. He then headed back to the Police station with trepidation.
Though the place was quite thoroughly wrecked, he was able to locate all of his officers and superiors over the course of a week.
None of them could quite remember what had happened to them, only that everything went dark and that they saw bright flashes of orange light and caught small glimpses of tiny doors, every now and then. The majority awoke where they had been "taken" from, and felt as though only 5-10 minutes had passed; leading to the wide-spread belief that there was a Corvie-experiment-backlash that caused everyone to pass out simultaneously.
Those who were immune to the crossed spell-effects and were awake for the contest, know differently. (For example, Donovan; who was underground in his lab for two solid days prior to and during the beginning of the event and missed out on the blast. Similarly, some of the other Corvies you didn't find by not searching the labs. I plan to re-use the ideas for these freaky creeps in future plots.)
Josephine was kept in the Police station and generally fussed over By Captain Faith and Eloise until her Mother was identified and came to pick her up. Remi was allowed to stay as well, if he liked, but after one infraction involving a kitchen knife...he was watched like a hawk by everyone there, including Beraht; who was located in the wreckage of the station near Sorcha's desk. No one was able to make him leave afterward.
Othello and his crew were also taken back to the station by Corporal Rodney in order to have their wounds dressed. Rigsy's body was iced for future identification and numerous others were buried on the very outskirts of the Capital.
A few medical Corvies had been pulled and offered either money...or passes from their "endeavors" with the law. They did their best to fix up Ichigo and actually managed rather well in their efforts.
Othello is now able to: Othello's Vision Ability: Once a day, for two hours consecutively, he is able now to see into the present. This is a result of his future/past blindness being tampered with by the magical shakedown and discharge caused by Cale's portal going off all day, the vanishing spells attempts to work on him, and other magical caustics converging on him.
Ayden set Victor up with a nice, small domicile in an area of his choosing, on the condition that he and his companions were allowed to "rent" (aka: use freely) the attic lounge whenever they liked, seeing as Ayden does not particularly have a "home", so much as regular places of refuge. Granted, this used up a good chunk of his money and a favor or two from friends, but it did get him a regular haunt and helped him feel better about extending assistance to his friend...though he did have cause to worry at the whispers of a war...that the Lowlanders had recently lost...
Mikael had staggered out after the small group and Ayden did his best to point him in the direction of the Police station, which he managed to find.
On his way there, he stopped in a broken bar to snag a bottle of water, nearing complete exhaustion from shock and thirst.
While in there, he found somehting...odd.
Sexy undergarments of Extreme Confidence: Oh...well, it is a nice set of women's panties...and such a cute little bra; they have smiling watermelons all over them. Once touched, Mikael will feel desperately compelled to put them on! They...they don't look too bad, actually.
Once a week, he is able to filter out any feelings of despondency or cowardice towards a situation from his mind and approach it knowing that he is going to, no holds-barred, rule whatever it is. due to his belief that nothing can go wrong...nothing usually will.
In order to be able to use this power, he must wear the undies set for an hour at least once a week.
Donovan finally managed to convince his small group that they should continue moving after the monster Blob's apparent "demise".
Jarvis was not quite well enough to walk on his own, but with help from Jerome, he was able to manage.
The children all seemed a bit subdued after the death of the Blob and all were making their way to the Capital center...and that light, as best they could.
Don apologized to Iso again after they got moving, unsure what he did wrong, but honestly just kind of assuming it was her hormones and that placating her would be awesome. Ercole stumbled out of an alleyway as they began to scoot, following after them and bringing Courante with him.
The pair of them ah..."borrowed" a few things from inside, didn't they?
Water-controlling Scarf: (For Courante) Wow! This scarf looks like its made out of actual fire! Good thing it's not. When touched it gives a slight tingling sensation, once per week, the caster can stare at an open container of liquid and cause up to one pint of the substance to end its relationship with gravity. It will slowly rise up from its container's opening and then float about. It will remain gravity-defying until it comes in contact with an object larger than its original volume. If used on anything alcoholic in nature though...the caster can then aim at at another Card's head (ranked Jack or lower) and cause them to become somewhat inebriated for a full hour!
Butterfly Frozen in Amber: (for Ercole) Oooh, a monarch butterfly cased in a decorative pendant of amber! How pretty. Any time they like, the caster can cup their hands together as though they're holding something between their palms. When they open their hands, a small purple butterfly flutters out and leads them to the nearest source of accessible, drinkable water. The butterfly will then slowly wilt and crumple until nothing remains but a pinch of ashes. If this butterfly is attacked or its owner while it is called, it will begin a small, steady down pour on the offenders head for a full 10 seconds.
As they tromped onward toward the fountain or the plaza (("Whatever we hit first, dudes. I'm just trying to skirt the bad parts of town."), they happened to pass by Fenzik and his "friend". The odd Corvie Rat had a badly injured Josiggy Bird riding on his back...both said they didn't need help, though the Bird wasn't all too convincing in his role and it took quite a bit of smooth talking for Fenzik to get away with his captive...at least without Iso tearing him a new one, verbally.
They ended up stopping just outside of the plaza due to the overwhelming stench of blood and...flowers?
Unwilling to let them go further, Don volunteered (out of sheer guilt) to take a quick flight over the area and report back.
What he had to describe to them of the bloody aftermath of Cale and Resta's battle wasn't pretty. Iso and Takio ended up stalking off to a few stores just as people began to re-materialize all around them!
Swept up in the storm of confusion, they ended up at the Police station with most everyone else.
Don took off shortly afterward, a certain Rat policeman shooing him away as if he'd been an Ace.
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Congratulations, guys!
You all (some of you) survived the Ticket Contest!
I hope it was fun, and here are the intense NPC battle fight points.
Mo -2
Colin - 2
Heike - 2
Joel - 5
Death - 5
Trix - 2
Farran - 2
Sabe - 2
(I hope you get to read all of this, Sera. Whew!) <3
<3
~Nathalia
That's certainly one way to change the face of the land! I wonder what will end up taking over those places when the lands become livable again...
