It was pretty early in the morning when you knocked on his door. In the distance, you could hear loud sounds that resembled things being demolished. It could certainly be just a new building being made, but could also mean another wild attack from the Gruul. They've been restless lately. Trek did not answer the door, even after you pounded the door and yelled for him.
As you were returning to the Chasm and leaving the Precinct Two, there was a loud hum in the air. Turning back, towards Azorius Senate, there was a tower shooting colorful energy upwards, as well as sanding pulsing waves outwards. It seems the Izzet have finished their project... another 'improvement' that would for sure not help your life.
As you were about to resume your way home, immense bright glyphs appeared above New Prahv. Something wasn't right for sure.
You reach the Tenth District Plaza. As usual, there was a lot of people there, but this time they were all looking at the center of it, pointing. Following their arms, you see a massive dragon on top of a building, one hand moving as if he was extremely bored. Pieces of stone and metal from the surrounding buildings were being ripped apart, as if hit by a massive tornado, all converging to the center of the plaza, where they were merging together to form what appeared to be an enormous statue... of the same dragon weaving the spell.
There is a moment of unnatural silence as sound itself is sucked towards the center of Ravnica, heavy winds rushing in the same direction. When sound returns, it does so with a loud metallic note followed by the sound of crumbling stone. Where there was once the Embassy of the Guildpact, now there is just a massive sphere of blue energy, whirling and shimmering. From within, blows a hot and strong wind...
You find yourselves in a large plaza. In the middle of it there is a massive statue atop an obelisk depicting a dragon with its wings open. It is so awing that it can only represent an incredibly important being, perhaps a god. Besides the plaza there is also a huge church and a bank nearby.
There is people everywhere. Nobles, guards, merchants, street vendors, beggars... and all seem to be somewhat lost, as if a rug has been pulled from beneath their feet. Some look at the statue as if it was something new, while others run away from the plaza, bumping against those arriving at the place, as if drawn to it. Many seem just shocked.
Amid the screams, guards call for order and, from time to time, there is a humming sound that is followed by a wave of energy that washes above in the sky until disappearing. Seeking its source, you see a tower besides a large triangular building, shooting colorful energy upwards. Above the triangular building there is also a huge glyph, rotating in place.
What do you do?
A figure wrapped in dusty cloth knees down on the lip of the rocky crag, watching the herd of large reptilian birds. Twenty two of them drinking from the sparse pool of clear water.
A nudge rocks her from the side, like one a loving pet would give, except her 'pet' is a one story house on chicken legs. "I know, and yes, I'll-" the eerie voice behind a plain wooden mask had hints of amusement before it stops when a feeling the figure had never felt before clenched inside their chest.
New but they understands what it is. Her house feels it too, having shared a connection with them since that first wrenching, from their home into this hellscape.
So no more words were needed. The figure ripples like water hit with a peddle, becoming not a person again but a massive winged reptile, roaring so loud the water below ripples as well.
The roar is clear, 'MINE' it announces, and the herd is not dumb enough to argue with that, scattering in fear.
The winged beast lands at the pool, the house running behind it, then the creature ripples again into the plain wrapped masked figure. "We don't know where. So disguises."
The house hurumphs but shakes violently seconds later until it is just the size of a closet (or outhouse, but the house does not like being referred as an outhouse). The figure ripples again becoming a tan woman with blonde hair, a pretty face, and dusty travelling robes and leathers.
Then she kneels, pressing her face into the water. The water stills, like become solid, then shatters like glass as Ripple shattering the space between words.
When she rises, she is in another world. Looking about as quickly as possible, she does the most sense to her at the moment "What is that?" she asks the nearest gawker.
|
A swirling, crackling portal of interwoven blue and green lights appears in the plaza. Two young women leap through the gateway, hands intertwined. They land in a crouch, and the portal irises closed behind them.
The first woman rises to her feet, the rippling waves of energy buffeting her short purple hair. She looks around at the statue, the building, and the glowing glyph.
"This is definitely the place, Viridi," she says, frowning. "But why have we been called here?"
The other woman gawks at the sprawling city, leaning closer to her portal companion for support. She couldn't look more out of place; her clothes were made of woven reeds and strips of leather, designed for camouflage and protection in the wilds rather than getting along in an urban environment.
"It's all dead here. Like your home, but not as many poisonous colors. Maybe it won't be as dangerous?"
Viridi glances around nervously. "You're probably right, Gwenwyn. Why else would we be called to this place? I see nothing like a trapflower."
"Krokt spare me. What kind of rutting foolishness have I got up to to earn luck that bad?" Meliska's words hold nothing but complaints, but she can't keep an awed smile from her face when she looks up at the great dragon.
Before she realizes it she's begun to move. "Don't worry Cordy, we're just going there for a look - I must be mad as Mizzet to do that much!"
A teenage boy with a jagged scar across his face and clad in a dark cloak arrives, crouching with a fist on the ground. Slowly standing in the midst of this bustling, unfamiliar cityscape, his first instinct is to blend in and observe what is going on. His attention is quickly drawn to the chaos unfolding around him. People seem disoriented, their reactions a mix of awe, confusion, and fear.
He coughs twice and says mostly to himself "Where is this?"
He finds himself cautiously moving toward the tower and glyph.
A woman in impeccable attire turns to answer Ripple. Her clothes are formal and fit her shape perfectly, being mostly white and black and having a golden pin shaped like a sun on her chest. "I... don't really know." As she speaks, her words are a bit mumbled for a moment, at least until you get used to the completely new language. "It wasn't here moments ago."
This small conversation is all it takes to give the woman back her senses. She looks between the statue and then at the swirling portal in the distance. She quickly turns to leave the plaza, joining the many others who had the same idea.
The city around managed to be new to both of you. It is nothing close to the high sprawling technological metropolis of Towashi and far more advanced than any village in Naya. Nevertheless, the gap must have been smaller between the natives and Viridi, because some people look at Yuri with a sense of unease.
A nearby soldier walks towards you, a hand on his scabbard. "What is the meaning of all this?" He asks, apparently reaching the conclusion that whatever is happening, Yuri might be involved. The soldier wears a combination of plate armor and chainmail, with a white and red tabard on top depicting a closed fist in front of a red sun.
You watch the dragon looking around lazily, as if they had not a single worry in his mind. While it is hard to be sure, but you have the impression they might be grinning... pleased.
Most people don't think like you and are very eager to run away from the dragon and the plaza, many bumping you in the process. Suddenly and out of nowhere, a man in dark clothes materializes in front of you!
The place is a mess and the sheer number of people moving around makes it difficult to see anything. The distant tower and the massive glyph are easy though. Even without considering the probably maze-like streets of the place, it will perhaps take you about half and hour to get there.
After you take a couple steps towards the tower, you sense something strange on the ground, a sensation not dissimilar to when you last lost control of your powers.
Ripple tilts her head to the side at the behavior of the woman, the surprise, the fear, then the retreat. Then she is gone.
Ripple considered shifting to look like the woman, to fit in more with this world's humans. but someone could notice. And more terror would fill the area. But she does have a place to change.
A moment in her hut, she comes back out as a woman in impeccable attire, with clothes formal and fit perfectly for her shape, mostly white and black with a golden pin shaped like a sun on her chest.
Then with a cluck cluck, she calls her closet of her house, she does the only thing she can think of, move toward the tower. She is assuming IT is what was calling to her.
Yuri holds up her hands. "We apologize for the sudden intrusion. We are, eh, magicians, here to investigate the strange goings-on. What can you tell us about that?" she asks, pointing to the tower and the glyph.
Viri follows the same action as Yuri, and holds up her hands while letting her spear clatter to the ground.
"Yes. We are here for the strange-ness."
The Whispers in the back of Meliska's head roar to life at the strange runes stitched along the mysterious stranger's cloak. The whispers sound human, but their language isn't one that Meliska knows... or at least knew.
This is a Bad idea
Her tongue is thick around the newly familiar words, but she taps him on the shoulder and asks, "You're not just some Dimir sneak who stopped spooking around in the middle of the street are you? You really appeared here. Are you with the big dragon?"
Sorin seems intent on heading towards the tower, but he stops dead in his tracks when he absorbs what's in front of him. It captures his attention, and he ignores the warning signs that someone is approaching him from behind.
Startled, he turns quickly, sucking his breath and stepping back. Raising his hands as the pressure in the air shifts slightly, he prepares to defend himself or blast his assailant, only to find Meliska standing before him, asking questions. With wild eyes, he thrusts his hands towards his assailant and prepares to send them hurtling away from him...
... only it's not an assailant. It's a girl.
Sighing, he lowers his hands which are shaking with anxiety and shakes his head "I'm sorry. I almost. I was distracted. Yes, of course. But, no. I mean, well, yes. Sort of. Wait. One moment."
He closes his eyes and exhales, holding his palm towards Meliska, trying to center himself and slow down. Opening his eyes, he asks. "Okay. Can we start again? Yes, I just arrived here. While I'm from the land of Dragons, I'm not with that dragon. Hello. I'm Sorin."
"Meliska, Svog." Her handshake is firm, warm, and definitely would've caught any knives up Sorin's sleeve. "Do you mean Utvara? 'Cause you're not dressed like anyone I know from Utvara. And they don't speak whatever we're speaking. Where are you from, really?"
Sorin's shake is similar to Meliska's own. No macho squeezing or attempting to impress; Sorin's touch is almost soft.
"That's an interesting question with multiple answers. From originally or from where I just came from?" he closes his mouth, thinking for a few seconds. "I don't usually talk myself in circles. I think. Maybe? No. I don't."
Shaking his head, he says "Tarkir, originally. Have you heard of it? Most recently, though, Innistrad. Not as nice of a place, I'm afraid. Give me dragons over vampires any day. Geez."
Getting back to something Meliska said, he asks "Utvara. Is that here? Are we in Utvara? Wait."
"If they don't speak what we're speaking, you aren't from Utvara either. Where are you from?"
This one is full of exciting questions. She's pretty inquisitive.
"Nah, the Reclamation Zone's outside the City. And we're not speaking Utvar Grull or even Ravi," Meliska tugs at Sorin's cloak. "We're speaking whatever the Whispers say this is written in. So, Tarkir and Innistrad - two places I've never heard of, but one's got dragons and the other's got vampires, and probably you mean more of both than what I'm used to. So, are you and the Big dragon the same flavor of weird then? Krokt knows coincidences happen, but..." She stares back up at the Elder Dragon, "...That sure is a big one."
Sorin, taken aback by Meliska's forwardness, instinctively stiffens as she tugs at his cloak. There's a momentary flash of discomfort on his face, quickly replaced by a cautious curiosity. He relaxes slightly, understanding that Meliska's action is likely more about gaining his attention than a threat. "Uh, yeah?" Sorin responds, his voice carrying a hint of hesitancy mixed with the need to appear composed. He smooths his cloak back into place.
Still grappling with the whirlwind of new information and the overwhelming environment, he tries to match Meliska's conversation pace. "Hold on. Why am I weird?" Sorin asks with a hint of defensive curiosity. His brows furrow slightly. "And who's Krokt?" He shifts his weight from one foot to another.
Internally, Sorin's thoughts race, "She doesn't give me time to talk. I have questions, too!" His mind is a mix of curiosity and frustration, typical of a teenager trying to find his footing in a conversation that seems to run away from him.
Gathering his thoughts, he raises a hand to pause the rapid-fire dialogue, "Okay, hold on. Hold. Just slow down a second, please." His voice cracks slightly. He points towards the large triangular tower, his arm extending with a youthful eagerness. "That. Do you know what THAT is?" he asks, his eyes wide with curiosity, reflecting a keen interest beyond mere wonder. He turns slightly to the glyph, [b]"Oh, and how about that glyph? Do you recognize it? Does it make you... uneasy, too?" His voice trails off, the last word almost a whisper, as he tries to gauge Meliska's reaction.
"It's the new Izzet tower isn't it? Some new aethermatic electromantic thingamajigger. The glyphs are new-new too, though not quite as new as you, Pan Sorin-who-appeared-in-the-middle-of-the-street-which-is-pretty-werid."
The soldier frowns. "Kronsh-s~&* you are... you are not with the Boros, and I doubt you are an Azorite as well if you are asking what is going on in New Prahv. I'll have you come with me for questioning." He says, reaching for what appears to be some handcuffs with sigils.
He steps forward...
... the ground shakes a bit and small fissures crisscross the ground. Cobblestones buckle and fly, one of them hitting Ripple's hut in the leg, causing it to fall on its side. The Boros soldier talking to Yuri and Viridi lose his footing, falling on his knee.
There is the sound of buildings collapsing and now the panic is general. People run for their lives as fast as they can while pieces of stone hit them. Parents grab their kids, elders fall, a street cart falls on its side and Sorin feels completely disoriented as the gravity around the plaza appears to be under attack! Sorin takes a Powerful Blow
Amid the whole chaos, the strange dragon flies, its arms outstretched and from beneath him, where now many buildings have collapsed, a new building is emerging from the ground!
What do you do?
"Agreed." Viri takes off in a smooth and graceful run, climbing a piece of cracked pavement and leaping across a gap to a fallen balcony. Her experience navigating swaying branches in the high canopies serve her well as she scampers up the side of a pitched building, for a higher view, all the while keeping Yuri's purple hair in her field of vision.
A burst of worried fury erupts as their house is battered. Ripple wondered at the emotion. The house had been their cage, but in the year since, they have spent more time in its creaking silence than any other creature.
Ripple cared for it.
Hmmm...
Looking at the fissures, the dragon, and the rising building... they decide need more information. Which means they need to get closer.
As the ground beneath Sorin shudders and quakes, fissures spider-webbing across the plaza, he feels a surge of panic. The intense gravitational fluctuations exacerbate his disorientation, making it difficult to stand, let alone think clearly. It’s as if his force is being turned against him, leaving him vulnerable and exposed.
He turns to Meliska, his face full of fear and urgency, and croaks out a desperate plea. "Get away from me—now!" he gasps, his body shaking violently and his voice strained, barely audible over the din of the collapsing city.
"Krokt!" Of course, big new dragon comes to town and a spooky stranger starts rumbling the cobbles like an Izzet oscillator!
"Cordy, grab 'em!" Meliska scrabbles away, holding a very clearly deceased rat whose fungal growths snap out to grab at nearby Guildless and haul them with her.
Viridi climbs a nearby building, a very fancy one with lots of carvings and statues adorning the exterior and thus providing with a lot of places to for her to hold. Atop the building and away from the crowd, she can finally breath, even if the air is nowhere close to being clean. The dragon was indeed a majestic being, reminding her about the Godsire of Naya... it exuded power and ferocity, making it worthy of worship. Behind the dragon, in the distance, she also notices countless soldiers marching from inside a huge portal, causing her momentary lapse to end and at this point she realises she had lost sight of Yuri!
Ripple analyses the fissures and the flying stones and realizes that moving forward would be almost suicide. She could probably hop on her hut and hope to dodge all the hazards, but the closer she gets, the more dangerous it would be. The dragon was clearly the most dangerous being around, but the flying stones are more of immediate concern, both to herself and to those around.
Sorin loses control of his powers, the dragon's magic making it almost impossible to keep them from escaping. His body becomes weightless for a moment and all the stones around him stop in place, floating. Meliska can feel herself becoming lighter as well, making it difficult to walk. She then feel herself being pushed away and the same happens to the large stones around Sorin. She notices that a particularly large one is heading towards an old man that is looking at a building, so she orders Cordy to grab him!
The old man looks back at Meliska as he is yanked away and the stone misses his head by a couple centimeters... then there is a soft 'pop' and she notices the old man was working on a spell of his own. Enphasis on was. She follows the fillaments from his hands and notices he was keeping a large column from a large building in place so it would not topple! With an ominous sound of stone grinding upon stone, huge cracks crisscross the building, with small fragments flying away towards Sorin!
Viridi almost loses her footing on top of the building as she tries to find Yuri. By the base of the building she can see someone wrapped in what seems to be an aura of debris!
Sorin sees the many screaming faces around him, the stones flying around in all directions, his powers and those of the dragon feeding on each other. Unless he is able to stop it now, something terrible will happen!
The already widespread chaos intensifies as a huge building show signs of collapsing at any moment. Many civilians are nearby, and some are still inside the building!
What do you do?
Shuddering sounds break Ripple out of her observations. Her mind had been lost
in mapping every jump, dodge, and skid, in hopes of getting close enough to UNDERSTAND. She snaps her neck toward the sound, the motion too sudden for a human's neck.
The danger is revealed.
"Tides..." The dread pours out of her mouth. Her mind still pulls to the problem. The first problem. She looks ahead at the thundering stones, then frowns, before turning back to the helpless people.
Humans. They will hate her. Why would she try and help them? Why does she WANT to help them?
She doesn't have an answer. But her heart doesn't wait.
The woman runs, morphing into a beast mid-stride, one with mighty furred legs, purple and magenta, then speeds across the plaza. The beast leaps at the column, colors shifting to marble, wrapping around the column and holding it together.
For now.
Her smallish hut arrives moments later, tilting to the side, as if asking 'What are you doing?'
"Yuri!!" Viri shouts when she loses sight of her. Fighting a surge of panic at how helpless she'd be if she lost track of her other half, Viridi scrambles along the trembling building. The noise and chaos threatens to overwhelm her; spinning debris flying and people screaming as the dragon roars!
"Stop, just stop!" she shouts, pushing her telekinesis to the limit to freeze the spinning and flying rubble!
Ripple quickly morphs into an exotic beast to hold one of the pillars, stabilizing somewhat the building but knowing she'll not be able to hold for too long.
Viridi causes the heavy rocks around Sorin to slow down, until they are frozen in place, but this pushes her tremendously and gives her a hint of the powers in place. Like a dam, she feels that when she releases her hold, the ensuing power surge could be even more dangerous!
This gives time for some civilians to leave the building, but many more could still be inside and plenty were still around. Amid the whole chaos, an old woman moves slowly with her cane. Yuri pulls a father and his child away and then lifts the old woman, knowing she'd not be able to flee even if she had hours to do so. She doesn't notice a piece of rubble falling towards her temple.
Meanwhile, the dragon continues to create his ominous building amid the plaza, which is already high enough to hide him. Made of a greenish marble, the thing is enormous, resembling a temple or even a tomb...
What do you do?
"Careful! Meliska throws a big wad of fungal detritus onto the side of Yuri's face, cushioning the debris so it bounces off painlessly with a sproing!
"Springbloom and Chestnut slurry, sorry."
She's a fling and an explanation deep before she really takes in Yuri or her companions. "Oh. Not a one of you is from- Oh. Hey, uh, what - is - happening?!"
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"Ack!" Yuri cries, recoiling as the fungus slaps her face. "Ew, ew!" she complains. But the rubble falls harmlessly beside her, and she gives a grateful nod to the woman who saved her. "Thanks! No clue what's going on yet, but gotta help everybody!"
She tries to pull apart a wall of the building in the hopes of creating an exit for anybody still trapped inside.
Viri tries to make eye contact with the scarred youth. Trembling under the strain of keeping the rubble back, she shouts, "I can't hold this long! Get everyone away!"
The strange beast wrapped around the column holding the massive building from falling yells in twinned desperation to... Anyone. "I cannot hold this long either." the voice out of the furry giant was toneless and calm. Just Loud.
The calm voice grows even louder carrying over the destruction, up the many floors of the structure the creature is holding up. "This building will fall. Each of you needs to help the person next to you to leave as quickly as possible." Ripple includes the 'help the other person' knowing that Humans are herd animals, so do better with another of their kind around them at all times.
With the city crumbling around him and his powers spiraling out of control, Sorin's first instinct is to regain some semblance of order amidst the pandemonium. He realizes that if he doesn't get a handle on his abilities soon, the consequences could be catastrophic.
Fighting against the disorienting effects of the dragon's magic and the gravitational anomalies, Sorin struggles to ground himself. He closes his eyes for a moment, trying to block out the screams and the sounds of destruction. He focuses inward, attempting to tap into that central core of calm he's learned to find in even the most dire situations.
Opening his eyes, Sorin takes in the scene: the floating stones, the impending collapse of the building, the frightened civilians. His mind races, trying to formulate a plan. He knows he needs to stabilize his powers first; only then can he attempt to mitigate the disaster unfolding around him.
Yuri tears a wall from the building but she chooses poorly as it was one necessary for keeping it from collapsing altogether! People scramble as fast as they can, but if there was a doubt if the building was going to fall or not, now there isn't. Looking all around the place, it is clear that the toll in lives this day will be extremely high.
Ripple feels a shudder as the column she was holding topples, even if she was fast enough to move away in time, while Viridi looses her footing and begins to fall!
Sorin feels his power getting even harder to control, if he doesn't get away from the dragon now, the damage will be even greater and probably his life will be in danger as well.
"I. cannot. Hold. THIS!" The beast says in ever-increasing loudness, an edge of frustration coming into the previously inflectionless voice. The column gives out seconds later.
Jumping away, shifting to a bird in midair, they flap a million flaps a second to her house, running away from the teetering building.
The bird becomes a masked humanoid in blue robes "The people" the being says, the frustration in their voice again. The source of their frustration. People dying. So many unique bundles of undiscovered mysteries about to be snuffed out.
"Get them" they order their precious hut, and it runs toward a streaming mass of humans whose legs will not be enough to get them free.
Stairs unfold, flatten and become a ramp (or a tongue) as people are near swallowed by the running (and expanding) house on legs.
The eyes behind the mask see others performing beyond normal activities around the devastation. "I can carry more!" Their voice carries a far greater distance than it should.
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Viridi uses the momentum of her fall to twist in the air, strike the butt of her spear into a crack of split mortar, and swing out away from the crumbling building! She hits the slanted side of a toppling building and slides down with the scree of rubble before leaping out and away from the jagged foundation.
"Yuri!!" she shouts once she's back on the ground. "We gotta go!!"
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Meliska looks up at the animate house and its bird-person friend. "Finally, something that makes sense."
"Pan Sorin? You gotta go. I don't know if that's you or you're drawing the new big dragon's attention, but there's a lot of breakable people here. Grab whoever you can, but don't just stay here to figure it out!"
In the midst of the chaos, Sorin is acutely aware of the unfolding disaster. The building is giving way, lives are in imminent danger, and his powers are fluctuating wildly, further complicated by the mysterious dragon’s influence over him. He hears Meliska’s words, a mix of urgency and concern, and they snap him back to the immediate reality.
"R-Right. You're right." he acknowledges, putting his hands on his head and trying to calm the chaos temporarily.
"A lot of breakable people here"
These words resonate with him, underscoring the gravity of the situation.
He knows he needs to act fast, balancing the need to help with the need to keep himself safe. Sorin prepares to move away from the center of the chaos. But before he does, he makes a concerted effort to assist as many people as he can while he moves with the others toward the animated house.
The building finally falls as you all flee, grabbing and assisting as many people as you can, while trying to not thing of those you couldn't help. A cloud of dust envelops you and the sound of falling debris is all you can hear. Slowly, other sounds return, like people calling for help, moans of pain and the desperate cries of those who can't find their friends and family.
As the dust begins to dissipate, you see movement. There is a man on top of a rubble, looking lost. He is covered in dirt and his left arm is bent in an unnerving way. "June! June!" He calls, looking. "Honey! Juuu..." His words are cut short as the head of a spear erupts from his chest. His body goes limp and falls, revealing another figure behind him.
The soldier kicks the dead man from his spear and then looks at you. He, or she, is covered head to toe in a fullplate made of blue metal, the helmet shaped like a human skull... yet, aside from the already dread situation, there was something unnerving about them, for they were too gaunt, too gaunt for them to be human.
The soldier walks towards you with silent purpose, his spear ready.
What do you do?
The land shuddering crash of building, the billowing dust enveloping the running house, lost for a moment just before it leaps out of the cloud with a plethora of people held on to every bit.
"Good hut" the masked one says, running their thin hand across the rough wood. Before the masked one shifts again into a noble looking blonde she had become in the first moments of being in this land.
Stepping out, she looks to the man screaming. Her alien mind wondering why a person would choose a name so close to something else. Is there a person for every month. Hello December, I'm Feburary.
Then she realizes this is one of those moments where her inhumanity is flaring, so she stops thinking about months and instead steps to help him look for this June.
But then he is dead and she has NO idea if the path her was leading her toward, or anyone toward is lost forever or not, so she gets annoyed beyond question.
Suddenly her arms tear into long green vines grasping large boulders and slamming them in front of the spearman, creating a wall.
The crash, more dust, a sudden blocking of the enemy from the victims, then the pretty blonde woman with vine arms looks to the crowds and says plainly...
"Run"
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Shocked by the senseless slaughter of a man looking for a loved one, Viridi was about to do violence. With a thought, her spear leaps from where it had been lodged and flies to her outstretched hand. But before she could engage the blue metal figure, a massive wall interposes itself between her and her target.
She gasps at the vines that came to life to erect the wall, only to find that they are a part of a person!
Back on Naya, the tangle vines and strangle vines and mangle vines -- really, there were a lot of vines -- were hazards to be feared and avoided. But she had never seen vines as limbs! "What are you?!?" she gasps.
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It was Wrong.
Not because it was undead. Meliska slept most nights with a wrigglingly dead rat on her pillow. She was intimately familiar with the life that could come during and after death.
But this thing set all the Whispers around her to shrieking. It reeked not of death and decay, but of a horribly trapped hunger, an ambition that had bound it up and encased it in a hungry void that kept every shred of their virtues, everything they were shrouded in a walking blue tomb.
Everything in her screamed to get away. To let someone like Biely handle it. To let a hero handle it.
So she did.
Something was burning inside her. A roaring fire that had only been a spark of fear when everything was still a dragon all the way over there, but now was consuming everything in her being.
She felt lightheaded. She felt like she was becoming a ray of light, piercing through the shadows into the places between the world where everything lost someday ended up, her soul soaring out beyond the City that was her life and death and everything in between.
And then her soul smashed into a wall.
I'm cold. Part of my face is cold
It felt like her thoughts were swimming through sewer effluent, but she could still taste the burn of her magic. I didn't try to do anything, didn't try to draw this much in. I just wanted to go...
She looked up at all the strangeness on this street, the strangeness that didn't fit in with even her own strange world.
...somewhere Else.
But I can't run, can't hide, can't leave this to Biely when he's gone, gone gone... Can't do it on my own either, but fine that's fine, just get it started, just get the network moving.
Just like Sorin's cloak, the lazuli coating of the dead thing practically roared with the Whispers of Death. So despite her fear, she listened; she spoke.
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At the question, the blonde freezes.
Completely. No twitches, no shifting of her weight, no Breathing.
'What Are You' sends panic coursing through her mind, which makes her forget to make her body act Normal. Humans betray. Their dark fears of that which is different made her want to bury herself into the ground.
But then they would die.
Her face turns slowly. Measured and wooden, lacking any expression, she assures "Normal. I am normal." the vines coming out of her robe where her arms should be tighten on the rocks. "You should run"
Viridi spins her spear with a flourish, then holds it ready against anything that might breach the wall erected by the vine person. She looks to confirm that Yuri is close by, before answering, "If you're defending these people, then you're not normal. And I'll help."
The strange woman with vines for arms creates a wall, giving you all the opportunity to escape... yet you decide to stay behind and face this new threat!
Meliska feels strange, an alien sensation as if numerous hands were pushing her in every direction against a wall. She is sickened, dazed and beginning to feel suffocated all at once.
The plated undead slams against the wall, but it stands firm in place. Yet, after a couple more seconds a metallic hand reaches over the boulders and soon there is the soldier again, watching you with indifference.
Meliska focuses on the monster, drawing mana into controlling it. As she does so, she sends tendrils of magic which latches onto the undead... one, two... three. With each additional tendril it slows down a bit more, yet she can also see tendrils of another mage, purplish and considerably thicker. She knows she'll be able to do little more than just slow it down and even so it would take her all her concentration!
The undead soldier slows down considerably as it struggles against Meliska's magic, giving you a perfect opportunity to strike!
... then another soldier moves around the wall of rubble.
What to you do?
Viridi spins her spear in her hand in anticipation of seeing the enemies bypass the wall. As soon as one moves around the barricade, she sends the spinning weapon scything through the air at it!
As soon as it strikes, she calls the spear back with her telekinesis.