#“stealth mission? send the white mage!”

[karygurl]

infiltration? send the white mage! (ffxiv)

Takes place in Shadowbringers after returning to the Crystarium post-Il Mheg. After the pressure that the Eulmorans have put onto the Scions, perhaps it's time to return the favor. Word count: 8.6k

In the aftermath of the night sky returning to Il Mheg, there was much cause for celebration among both the fae and the people of the Crystarium. Once Cassandra had had a chance to rest, the strange tight feeling in her chest had eased somewhat, no doubt from the high tension in rushing to defeat Titania before the Eulmore army could overwhelm her friends… and the sudden appearance of Emet-Selch, Ascian and founder of the Garlean Empire. Something about the man had set her on edge in a peculiar way that she’d not felt around his other Ascian brethren, but she couldn’t put her finger on what the difference could possibly be. Strangely, the Ascian had introduced himself, asked for cooperation and then left. The odd nature of his offer hummed about in her mind as she headed for the Ocular, eager to discuss whatever the next step was in their grand scheme to save the world. 

“If Eulmore’s army is to pose such an obstacle at every turn for us,” Alisaie began after everyone had arrived, “perhaps that is the next region we should focus on.”

Alphinaud nodded his agreement. “If we deprive them of their tenuous armistice by restoring the night sky, then perhaps at least some of the people will see Vauthry and his so-called peace for the lie it is. Without fear of retaliation from the sin eaters he purports to command, his army might fall apart or at the very least, reduced in capability.”

Minfilia nodded in agreement, but paused a moment later. “But… we don’t know where the lightwarden is. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard anything about it, though I was confined to the tower, so…”

“I spent much of my time making inroads with the population, but did not think to inquire as to a possible lair for the lightwarden itself,” Alphinaud confessed. “Perhaps I can return to Kholusia and begin inquiries. Though for obvious reasons, I fear I should avoid Eulmore proper for the time being.”

“That would work to our advantage,” the Exarch announced. “As you were on your way back to the Crystarium, I received an invitation from Eulmore. It seems Vauthry intends to hold a masquerade ball, and I’ve been invited.”

“Planning a party so soon after retreating?” Thancred’s acerbic tone dripped from his words. “He certainly has peculiar priorities.” 

“Was it only thee who hath received an invitation?” Urianger asked, and the Exarch nodded.

“Regardless, we now know that there is an event that we may be able to take advantage of. I fear I will be of little direct assistance, as openly bringing a guest would be out of the question. A more obvious trap I cannot fathom, and whoever is associated with me would be put in danger. However, it would be an event ripe for infiltration.”

“To make the most of our efforts, I propose to speak with the inhabitants of Stilltide and Wright, so that I can gather information while still remaining in the wings should aught occur,” Alphinaud offered.

Alisaie immediately lifted a finger to wag at him. “And I’ll be with you to keep you out of trouble, brother dearest.” 

Thancred spoke then to Minfilia, her face falling as he did. “It would be best if you remained at the Crystarium. No doubt Vauthry and Ran’jit would be all too eager to put you back in a cage should you be discovered. So our best options to crash a ball would be…”

“I would venture forth, if thou wouldst have me.”

All eyes turned to Urianger. Thancred, to his credit, simply smiled at his friend and clapped a hand onto his arm. “Swimming to the island will be required in order to infiltrate it, and more than that, I need you to take care of Minfilia in my stead.”

The wave of disappointment that swept over Urianger was brief, particularly vanishing at the mention of swimming, and he swiftly agreed to take responsibility for the young oracle. 

“That leaves you and me, Thancred?” Cassandra hesitated only a moment before nodding. “My skills in espionage are lacking for sure, but if things go belly up, I’ll be sure to get us out safely. That includes you, Exarch.”

Their positions decided, they moved on to planning. The Exarch would not be making an appearance in Eulmore in person; he would be sending an image in his stead. Though he could do so from the Ocular, the illusion would be more powerful if he could have a piece of the Crystal Tower brought into the canopy of the gaudy city itself. Thancred and Cassandra were tasked to carry a piece with them as they infiltrated the island. They’d swim in at the changing of the guard a few hours ahead of the event, remain in the derelicts for a time to make sure they hadn’t been discovered, then change clothing and sneak into the city. They’d plant the crystal in the main hall near the aetheryte plaza, which would give the Exarch a connection via the aether network to give his projected image greater strength. The Exarch assured them that he was capable of destroying the crystal when he was finished, so there would be no need to retrieve it should a retreat be necessary. Alphinaud and Alisaie would be in Wright and keeping an eye on the city as they conducted their inquiries, just in case their assistance was needed.

The twins headed off to the amaro rookery as Thancred and Cassandra saw to their preparations. Formal clothing and masks commissioned from the Crystalline Mean for them both, waxed canvas bags to keep their items dry as they swam, setting out in clothing that they wouldn’t mind leaving behind, and extra supplies. She followed Thancred's directions to the letter, adding a few additions of her own, before they headed out to to the amaro launch to catch their own flights to Kholusia.

On their way to the launch, they rehearsed a few sparse details of a concocted backstory: a new name for him as a free citizen, and for her as one of the bonded. “First time at a masquerade ball?” Thancred asked her from atop his amaro as she adjusted the pack at her back, trying to make certain it wouldn’t fall off as they flew over the continent. 

“Afraid so,” she responded as they took off, raising her voice to be heard over the sound of the rushing wind as they wheeled over Lakeland. “Despite the Wood Wailers’ love of masks, I don’t think masquerades are very common in Gridania.” She was about to mention the banquet in Ul’dah, but caught her tongue. Even though it had been some time since that disastrous evening, and for him an additional five years on top of that, it wasn’t a memory she cared to relive in any part.

“Ishgard is known for their balls. Stuffy affairs normally, but their masquerades have a certain charm,” Thancred said, his tone almost a little wistful. Missing the Source, no doubt.

Cassandra hummed in interest, the sound nearly lost beneath the din of the amaros’ wings. “Been to several of the former, but none of the latter. Lord Edmont requested that Alphinaud, Tataru and I attend a few when we first arrived, to prove that House Fortemps stood behind us and to show our status as wards wasn’t some kind of shameful secret. And after the Dragonsong War, there were so many invitations that I had to ask Artoirel to help me narrow down the offers to only the ones that would embarrass him were I to be absent.” She smiled ruefully. “Noble house drama is too complicated a web for me to comprehend.” 

“Not at all,” he insisted, lips pulling in to a wide grin. “It can be fun to put together the pieces, and once you do, it’s hard to take an over-stuffed noble seriously when you know for a fact that he’s sold his wife’s jewels to acquire a painting of a dhalmel that he simply had to possess.”

“Truly??” she asked between bouts of laughter. She couldn’t imagine one of the men from the Ishgardian high houses delighting in something so absurd.

Thancred nodded, eyes sparkling with a hint of mischief that she hadn’t seen in them since they’d been reunited. “With that kidn of knowledge tucked away, those events become less drudgery and more of a circus. Perhaps next time the occasion arises, when we’re not fishing for information, I can be your guide.” 

“I’ll take you up on that once we’re home,” she stated firmly with a smile, and was grateful when he returned it. The mere thought of a plan to come, some future certainty, helped to quell the butterflies in her stomach. They would weather this, together, and return home with a bright future waiting for them. She would make it happen.

Between Thancred’s knowledge of the guard rotations and both of their skill in traversing areas under water, they had sent their amaros back to the Crystarium before plunging into the depths of the sea and were able to arrive at the rear end of the derelicts beneath Eulmore with little fanfare. Several of the inhabitants gave them sidelong glances as they rose from the surf, but all turned a blind eye. People washing up from the ocean wasn’t particularly rare here, after all. The pair trudged together toward a particular tent at Thancred’s direction, and his contact there, a miqo’te-- or rather, mystel-- with burgundy hair and a toothy grin was happy to see him, even moreso once he’d carefully unrolled the bag he’d hauled with him and unpacked supplies to hand out to those who lived in the shadow of Eulmore.

Thancred glanced to Cassandra as she began to unload her own burden, and his eyebrows rose when she pulled similar supplies from her own pack. He hadn’t expected her to have thought to bring extra supplies for those in need down here, and he couldn’t help but grin. Of course she had. She was nothing if not helpful to a fault. 

At his direction, the mystel bounded off to lead them to those best able to distribute the supplies, their arms steadily lightening as they were passed out. Food other than meol, blankets and cloth, fishing line and small sets of tools. Cassandra’s time in Eulmore had been brief, but Thancred apparently had made a much greater impression. Even though it had been several years since he’d been able to approach due to looking after Minfilia, a few people still remembered him and greeted him with hearty hellos. 

Though he did his best to gently remind them that the Crystarium was a safe haven for any who’d wish to leave their place under Eulmore’s thumb, nearly all ignored his offer. The meol was too good, apparently. Unfortunate, but Cassandra understood. Though they wished to help people, she couldn’t force them unless they wanted their help. 

As always, she was grateful for Thancred’s expertise. He seemed to know exactly where they could and couldn’t go to stay out of line of sight of the guards, knew who to talk to and when they needed to get ready. They took turns borrowing their mystel friend’s tent in order to change into their formal clothing, Cassandra struggling with the absurd amount of openings and tiny buttons lining the back of her gown. She’d faced and triumphed over similar circumstances in Ishgard when she’d first learned about their layered styles of dress that helped keep out the cold, but the temperate weather of Kholusia meant there was little need for layers and apparently all the more need for showing skin. 

The deep red gown had actually been commissioned some time ago from the Crystalline Mean by a Eulmoran, but had never been sent for. It was a wholly impractical garment of course, so it had languished until Katliss had remembered its existence and dug it up. A few tailors had worked quickly to alter it to Cassandra’s form, and suddenly she’d been in possession of a dress that hopefully was close enough to pass as Eulmoran fashion. She couldn’t imagine what the point of it was though, with the wide yet tight openings over her cleavage and at the middle of her back as well as the slit that rode up her leg nearly to her waist. She was no prude, and between the thigh highs and matching red undergarments that covered her particulars the amount of skin out in the open wasn’t that ostentatious, but all the same, this was probably the most exposed she’d ever felt. 

With a heaved sigh that she hoped might bring her some courage, she pulled on the delicate shoes with lace at the ankle and lacquered flowers decorating the heel before finally exiting the tent. When Thancred turned to look at her, she’d lowered her face, ostensibly to fuss with the slit at her leg to make sure it fell properly. 

“Enchanting.”

“Hopefully they’ll be so enchanted that they forget to speak to me,” she said with a self-conscious huff of laughter, ignoring the warmth rising into her cheeks at the low rumbling tone in that single word. No doubt he was simply trying to reassure her; he’d have said the same no matter what she wore or how she looked. 

As a last touch, he held out the mask she was expected to wear for the ball, a black and crimson piece of confectionery with similar lacquered flowered detailing as the heels of her shoes. The mask covered most of her face, curving around to the hollows of her cheeks with a delicate chain hanging from both sides that draped under the curve of her bottom lip. 

Cassandra nodded but before accepting it, she combed her fingers through the loose waves of her air-dried hair before fastening it in a loose ponytail over her shoulder. Better to refrain from putting her hair up in the style she’d worn when she’d visited Eulmore before, she figured, then reached out for the mask. 

She pulled it from his hands but he held onto the silk ribbons at its sides and stepped around her. Once she’d lifted it to her face, he worked to weave the ribbons in and out of her hair before fastening it, the dexterity of his fingers with the delicate straps surprising her.

“That’s quite a skill,” she remarked as he finished tying the mask, snug and secure.

“Both Minfilias share a love of ribbons,” he remarked quietly, and she could hear the warm ache in his voice. 

Nodding once they were both set, Thancred bid farewell to his associate among the Derelicts and they worked their way toward the base of the city. The plan was relatively simple: Thancred, dressed a Eulmoran guard’s uniform that had been smuggled into the Crystarium by a former resident, would escort her into the building under pretense of her being a lost ball attendee. They’d head for the stairs, stopping briefly for him to quickly change and drop off the uniform somewhere in the army headquarters in the tower’s middle levels, before heading up to the Canopy and the masquerade proper.

The plan went off without a hitch. Thancred did all the talking, of course, much to her relief; he’d spun a tale of “this airheaded, well-meaning chit” sneaking off to look for seashells for her hair, or somesuch. To be honest she missed most of what he’d said, her heart hammering in her ears as she did her best to appear suitably chastened. Thankfully, it seemed that the door guard mistook her nerves for remorse and impatiently waved them both inside. 

The stairs were no easier than the first time she’d climbed them with Alphinaud; in fact her heels made the climb even more strenuous, but slowly but surely they arrived at the Understory in the middle of the tower, strangely empty as she peered inside. No doubt many of the guards were at posts around the party. 

She’d barely turned her back on the space to give Thancred some privacy, her gaze sweeping the stairs for any patrols or wayward guests, when he stepped around her in a tailored suit sleek and yet on the verge of pompous with its detailing and coat tails. Perfect for Eulmore. But how had he changed so quickly? She lifted her eyes from his outfit to his face to see a smirk pulling at his lips. He’d done that to show off, hadn’t he? She exhaled sharply with a smile. This man.

Cassandra wordlessly helped him with his mask when he lifted it to his face, reaching out for its ties though he hadn’t asked for her assistance. Though her fingers were nowhere near as deft as his, she still ensured that the mask was firmly in place and absently pulled a few locks of his hair free so that they wouldn’t snag uncomfortably. Both of their outfits now in place, they resumed their ascent.

The tower gave her even more chills now than it had during her first visit, almost humming around them as they climbed the stairs. The music swelled as they rose, as did the strange feeling in her chest, almost as if it were stiffening, pressure squeezing it tight. As they arrived at a doorway and Thancred cracked it open, looking for anyone who might notice their entrance, her hand rose to her throat to try and assuage the worrying sensation. Surely it was nothing, simply nerves?

Thancred’s eyes turned to her, and before he could ask, she nodded at him with a smile. She was fine, it must simply be apprehension making her jittery. Espionage wasn’t something she had ever been comfortable with, but surely Thancred had this handled, and the mask would prevent anyone from recognizing her. 

His searching gaze didn’t let up for another moment, but he offered her a small smile in return and his arm. Wrapping her fingers around his elbow, she followed as he took one more look out into the hallway and then slipped them both past the door and onto a walkway that led directly to the Canopy.

The pair turned the corner into the open main floor, and their senses were assaulted with the myriad of overly opulent delights at every turn. The music rose to fill and echo within the soaring space overhead, food and drink placed strategically about the hall with their potent aromas wafting from every corner, conversation ebbed and flowed, laughter echoed in high pitched raucous nattering. Were it not so manufactured and fake, it might actually be inviting. 

Cassandra pasted a smile onto her face, determined to not let her thoughts show as they usually did. She kept her hands wrapped lightly around Thancred’s elbow, likewise determined to not crush his arm in a tight worried grip and give away her anxiety.

She remained mute as Thancred greeted several nobles-- free citizens, she reminded herself-- with gusto, and they returned his greeting before they moved on again.

“Do you know them?”

“Not at all.”

Gods, she wished she had his confidence. Primals she could face, but scheming nobility? She’d fumbled far too much in Ishgard even after she’d become some kind of figurehead whose missteps were easily forgotten, and still hadn’t learned enough to feel confident in the slightest. Thank goodness he was here with her. 

Had she been an outside observer, she would have easily believed Thancred was one of the free citizens of Eulmore. He had the confidence, the charisma, and projected the signature carefree attitude of someone who expected luxury with ease. How did he do it? She hoped she looked the part of a bonded citizen next to him, at awe at everything he did. It had been a good cover for the stumbling she knew she’d be prone to. And it had worked the last time she’d been in Eulmore with Alphinaud, had it not?

Their amble around the floor led them toward one of the tables piled high with assortments of food and bottles of wine. “Might as well avail ourselves of the luxuries while we’re here. Care for a bite?”

Her eyes scanned the food, trying to tamp down on the disgust she felt thinking of the people in the Derelicts subsisting on nothing but meol. The smells wafting from the dishes were pleasing but something about the food itself was revolting, turning her stomach in a sudden lurch. She shook her head quickly, hoping her reticence wasn’t noticed or perhaps chalked up to maidenly vanity. 

“Don’t see anything to your liking?” he asked quietly, lightly, in case anyone was listening.

When Cassandra shook her head once more, he nodded and continued their circuit of the room on their way to the aetheryte. As they passed it she reached down and fussed with the lace at her ankle, while gently letting the blue crystal the Exarch had entrusted her with slip from her fingers and sink to the bottom of the shallow pool. To her surprise, a soft Thank you echoed in her mind in the Exarch’s voice. He must have been waiting for her and the connection was now made. Thank goodness, at least part of their plan had been accomplished. She allowed herself a brief moment to close her eyes and breathe-- regardless of what happened the rest of the night, that much at least was a success.

“Are you all right, my lady?” the voice that she’d heard in her head was suddenly in her ear and her face snapped up to see the Exarch kneeling next to her. He wore his robes as always, though he sported a full face harlequin mask beneath the deep cowl. She blinked as she accepted his hand, only the hum of aether beneath her fingertips giving away his illusion. Had she closed her eyes for that long, or had he simply blinked into existence? There was still time before his meeting with Vauthry; she hadn’t expected him to appear so soon, or so suddenly.

As she stood, Thancred nodded at their new companion. “Care to take a turn with her before your audience?” he offered lightly, eyes carefully sweeping the room. 

Cassandra understood what Thancred was asking: he wanted to do what he did best, slipping into the shadows, without her at his side. It was no slight against her, and she knew it; she wanted him to succeed, and that meant leaving her to her own devices for a while while he put his skills to use. She placed a hand on his forearm, squeezing gently in reassurance before stepping back. Thancred gave her an exaggerated bow (though was it truly exaggerated, or was just that level of pomp expected in Eulmore?) before sauntering off and she quickly lost sight of him. Damn, but he was good at that. 

“Well then,” she turned to the Exarch with a smile. “Are you my guest, or am I yours?” 

“I believe we are both guests,” he said cheerfully as he pulled her arm to the crook of his elbow, “And we can experience this adventure together however we see fit.” 

They’d only just stepped away from the aetheryte when the music swelled and nearly every couple in the Canopy stepped forward, surging toward the open plaza and taking up a position with clasped hands raised.

A dance. And they were in the middle of a sea of couples. 

“I don’t know this dance,” she murmured, nearly in a panic. She wasn’t a poor dancer, but she wasn’t good at picking up steps on the fly, she needed practice. Would it be too visible if they were to sneak out to the balcony, perhaps? Would it be any better to visibly stumble her way through a dance she didn't know, calling attention to herself amid all of these people?

The Exarch shifted her hand again back into his palm, and once he’d lifted their hands to match the others on the floor, he turned to her with his head slightly bowed. “Fortunately it’s one I’ve learned, and a rather simple one at that. Unless you would prefer to quit the floor? I would leave the decision to you.”

He was asking her to trust his judgment, in so many words. He believed that this was something she was capable of. She nodded in a split second decision and though his entire face was covered, she could feel the smile behind the mask that was meant for her. 

The strings rose together with one vibrato note, shivering in the air building anticipation, and then the rest of the ensemble began to play and the first step began. 

The Exarch was right, the dance truly was simple. The steps were quite basic, the spectacle of it created by the upper bodies of the couples tipping back and forth though even that was an easy pattern. She quickly realized that the dance wasn’t for the sake of the dancers themselves; it was for those observing, to see couples in an inner and outer circle moving in grand observable gestures. How very like Eulmore, to pretend to be lavish and decadent for all but have its opulence truthfully meant for the enjoyment of the one overseeing it. Her eyes darted toward the lift to Vauthry’s chambers, but she quickly looked away and instead tried to concentrate on her dance with the Exarch.

The swish of his robes and the swaying slit in her gown were accentuated by the basic pivoting steps that led them around and around the inner circle of dancers. “I’m glad the dance is as simple as it is,” she murmured. 

“Gaudy, but unsophisticated. Like much in this place.”

She bit down on her laughter, trying to remain quiet. “I was thinking the same.” Her voice lowered further. “The food is… strange, though. I’d suggest not partaking… if you’re even able to, that is.”

“The food?” he murmured, head turning slightly toward one of the expansive tables laden down with foodstuffs. “Understood. Hopefully the lack of enjoyable victuals isn’t ruining your adventure?” 

She chuckled. “The glitz and glamor are a spectacle for certain, but I’d prefer venturing to new places and getting to know people my own way.” Her eyes scanned the people around them. “Helping people, openly. Not working against them. Though unfortunately the former almost always ends up requiring the latter.”

 After a particularly deep dip, they both snapped upright and she found herself pressed up against him as they moved, their similar heights even more pronounced. “Take heart, my friend. There will be many more adventures ahead of you, more memorable than even this.”

He had such faith in her, it confused her but also heartened her so much. “I hope you'll be there when--”

“Ah, the friend of our master is enjoying the reception!”

The Exarch halted his steps, Cassandra stopping with him, when the two fanciful jongleurs in Vauthry’s employ moved toward them in unison. The other dancers on the floor, forced to dodge them, murmured aghast until they saw just who had stopped them and then they moved aside gracefully. 

“Our master awaits you, if you’ll mind our interception!”

Cassandra curtsied low, praying that the two women wouldn’t recognize her from her previous disastrous visit to Eulmore. Thankfully, they seemed more interested in Vauthry’s lauded guest. 

The Exarch nodded slowly, before turning back to Cassandra and leaning forward to press her hand to the molded lips of his mask. “Find your partner, and be safe,” he murmured before releasing her and following the two comical assistants. 

Cassandra followed after them, if only to use their wake to dodge the dancing couples about the floor. Once she was free of their spinning movements however, she wasn’t quite sure what to do. Her eyes swept the wide room but didn’t see Thancred anywhere. Should she hunt him down, or remain in one place? She didn’t want to disrupt his information gathering, and besides, his eyes rarely missed anything, so if she stayed put, then surely he would come across her at some point. And so she stayed, watching, listening in to any gossip she could glean from those standing nearby, but didn't encounter much beyond useless gossip that made her feel so out of place. It didn't help that the emotional hums she'd felt from those around her had all been quiet little hums. Carefree. Shallow. She'd expected as much from her previous visit, but having this vapid superficial hum around her when the world was suffering clenched her heart in an iron grip.

She’d been so busy watching the crowds that she’d missed the tall form slowly but confidently striding up to her until he was nearly upon her, the hunch in his shoulders and the red Ascian mask covering half of his face unmistakable. How--?

“Attending a lavish ball and I didn’t even warrant an invitation?” he remarked as he stood next to her, hands sweeping out in mock outrage. “One might begin to think you didn’t desire my company.”

Her eyes snapped from him to the crowd again. No one seemed to be paying the two of them any mind despite the man’s theatrics, and Thancred was still nowhere in sight. Emet-Selch seemed to be all words and no plans so far as she’d seen in his brief introduction, and despite his flair for the dramatic, surely he wouldn’t create chaos in the middle of the masquerade? He hadn’t seemed eager to cause a commotion in the Crystarium. But there was no telling if his words could be even remotely trusted, what his plans may be, or if he was hiding something to unleash on them. She shouldn’t underestimate him.

He noticed her watching the crowd warily and sighed. “None here would recognize this mask, save perhaps one. I’m simply another guest at the masquerade to these pitiful half-lifes. Would you care to indulge me with your company? Parties such as this are so dull without a good conversation partner.” 

“What could you possibly want to talk about with me?” she asked in hushed tones, her eyes darting toward him and then back at the crowd. “You know who I am, and that I will do everything to stop you from another Rejoining. What more could we have to discuss?”

The disdain dripping from his voice was unmistakable. “Is that all you think about? Are you so eager to craft your entire persona around being ‘the hero’ that you’re above discussing the weather?” 

She turned to him then, incredulous. “What weather? There’s only ever light outside!”

“As a permanent fixture of the world, it is therefore an eternal topic of discussion, is it not?” Emet-Selch sighed heavily. “Well then, what would you talk about with the others about the floor? The gaudy decorations, perhaps? The garish fashion and soulless, vapid guests?”

Cassandra’s eyes narrowed slightly, watching his bored expression that gave nothing away. “If you think so little of this party, why are you here?”

“I would ask the same of you,” he responded, raising an eyebrow. “We both know your presence here isn’t due to the celebrations themselves.” 

“Fine, then. Where is Kholusia’s lightwarden?” she asked, voice low, nervousness fluttering madly in her chest. Was she making a mistake asking him directly? Then again, he must already be aware of their plans to eliminate the lightwardens. What did she have to lose?

His lips curved into a wicked grin at the lower edge of his mask. “Ah, she speaks her mind at last. And what makes you think I know its whereabouts?”

“They’re integral to your plan. You’ve played your game long enough that I know you’re too good to not know the position of the pawns on the board.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, dearest hero, least of all with me.” He cocked his head then, his sharp yellow gaze watching her, assessing from behind his mask. “Though it won’t hurt to tell you that you’re closer than you know.” 

Could she trust that he was telling the truth? Or did he seek to mislead her and have her chase down false leads? “It’s below the tower then?”

Emet-Selch sighed so heavily then, he nearly folded inward on himself as he allowed his head to droop. “What’s the use of a riddle if you’re just going to interpret it literally?”

“What’s the point of answering a question with a riddle in the first place??” she hissed back. Something about him rose her hackles, and she couldn’t describe why. She’d been taunted by Ascians before, and Emet-Selch’s words were hardly more cryptic than those of his brethren; on the contrary, he was far from forthcoming but neither was he obtuse. But something about him made her want to fight. “Either it doesn't matter if we know, or it does. Why leave it up to chance?”

He was still giving her that unamused look, his tone mockingly slow as if pointing out something that should have been patently obvious. “To observe your methods. I can hardly determine whether we’re suited to be allies if I’m unfamiliar with how you operate.”

“‘How I operate’??” Cassandra bit back her words, trying to temper the volume of her voice. The last thing she needed to do was bring attention to herself. “I don’t do games, Emet-Selch. Either aid us if you truly wish, or stand aside. You may be immortal, but our lives are limited enough as it is.” 

His eyes seemed to dim then, his expression falling from derision to something… remote. Unreachable. He reached out then, one finger following the edge of her mask down her face and onto the line of her jaw. “That, I know all too well.” Leaning forward, his gloved finger lingered while his thumb hovered over her lip, the delicate chain at her chin growing warm. “Happy hunting.”

Emet-Selch pulled his hand away and in the same movement turned to leave with an exaggerated flippant flick of his wrist, his slow tired movements accentuated by his perpetual stooped shoulders. She watched him leave, the edge of her cheek tingling from the scrape of his glove, and once he’d disappeared from her sight around a corner, she pivoted and headed in the opposite direction with purposeful strides, not wanting to stand there any longer. She felt too exposed, needed to shake the burst of… whatever that had been, that had risen up in her. For much of the evening her nerves had keep her silent, but with him they’d nearly led to an outburst. Where in the seven hells had that come from?

She strode purposefully for the open air walkway that surrounded the Canopy, hoping that leaving the crush of the crowd inside would help her head to clear. Perhaps Thancred would spot her easier if she were alone and not one face in a sea of them.

She inhaled the sea breeze that tugged at and threaded through the low ponytail at her shoulder as she stepped out onto the suspended walkway over the Derelicts. The path was specifically created to hang out over the edge of the island, hiding the plight of those below from sight, and she leaned against the railing to instead look out over the horizon and try to make out the sun setting behind the glare of light. 

The sight was demoralizing, were she to be honest with herself. Before she’d come to the First, she couldn’t fathom the concept of light as a source of pain or misery. But now that she was here, observing it take over and stagnate overhead, robbing this world’s people of any chance of peace, she had finally understood the calamity that the Exarch and Minfilia had worked so hard to delay and avert. Watching the light aether suffuse and stale and stand still was terrifying, and she needed to stop it.

“Taking in the beauty? Perhaps I could fetch a mirror for you instead.”

Cassandra had been so wrapped up in her musing that she startled at the congenial voice next to her. Too distracted again. With a quickly indrawn breath, she attempted to turn in a somewhat coordinated manner to the tall man standing at her side, his gaudy dodo mask encrusted with gemstones.

He offered her a deep bow and a wide smile that she certainly didn’t trust, though she returned his gesture with what she hoped was an appropriate curtsy all the same. 

“It’s quite an honor to spy a fresh face! I don’t recognize you. Even with the masks, I know most of of the residents of Eulmore. How are you enjoying the masquerade, mysterious damsel?”

“It’s… like a dream,” she hedged. A dream of something pretty but wrong, something that became less beautiful and more horrific the longer one stared. 

The man leaned in, eyes sweeping over her quickly and lowering his voice to what she assumed was meant to be sultry murmur. “Then don’t wake up, angel. I’d like to stay a while. Unless your patron isn’t one for sharing?” 

She blinked, not sure how to respond to that; was she even supposed to? She knew what he was implying but she was a long way from Buscarron’s Druthers, from the drunks who had propositioned her and were easily turned aside with a laugh and failing that, a jab from her elbow. The unspoken rules of high society were ever elusive to her. 

At her silence, he chuckled as if he’d simply told a joke, though somehow she doubted that had been the case. “To whom do we owe the pleasure of your company? Perhaps someone I know?”

Cassandra had practiced their cover story, had recited it over and over in her head, but now when she needed it the most, it vanished from her mind and left her standing there wide eyed and with no response to offer. The air seized in her lungs and any words she attempted to summon turned to ash on her tongue.

The man’s eyebrows rose as her silence stretched on, then he settled into another smile. “Come, then, I hear the next dance is about to begin. We’ll take a turn about the floor together and see if we can spot your keeper.”

He reached down, snatched one of her hands in his, then raised it in what she assumed was some kind of deferential manner before pulling her along to the dance floor. Was this all right? She didn’t particularly want to dance with this man, but she couldn’t think of a polite way to extricate herself. Besides that, did a bonded citizen have the right to refuse a free citizen of Eulmore? And surely causing a scene would be worse than acquiescing? It was only a dance, she could hang on for that long. 

The man in the dodo mask pulled her to the outer circle of dancers, the hand grasping hers turning it in his grip. “There now, you’re a natural. Have you been taught--” 

“There you are.”

Cassandra struggled to remain still and not exhale in abject relief at the familiar voice, Thancred appearing at her side as if from thin air and wrapping his arm around her waist. The simple reassurance of his touch had her leaning against him more than she intended. 

The man eyed Thancred’s tight hold on her briefly before he allowed his hand to slip away from hers. After giving Thancred a wink and a nudge in the shoulder, the man wordlessly bowed to excuse himself. Thancred accepted the gesture with a genial smile and pulled her hand into his free one once he was out of the way.

“Are you all right?”

Cassandra sighed heavily, trying to keep from falling against him entirely as her tension fled. “Embarrassed is all.”

Before she could say more, the music swelled around them and the couples all moved this way and that to take up their positions. Right, the man had said another number was about to begin. 

Thancred lifted her hand between them, lowering his head to press his lips to her knuckles with the barest hint of pressure before he spoke quietly, the words only for her. “Care to dance? It would give us a chance to speak.”

She nodded immediately, the private smile that curved his lips in response nearly but not quite hidden behind her hand. She didn’t need justification to dance, not if it was with him.

His arm remained at her waist as their joined hands rose to their sides, and she recognized the dance as one she’d spied earlier when she’d been waiting for him and watching the crowd. Thankfully, she had the general gist of the movements, and Thancred’s lead allowed them both to step to the rhythm alongside the rest of the crowd of dancers with relative ease.

“What happened?” he began, his gaze darting to sweep their surroundings for a moment before returning to focus on her. 

Her lips pulled into a frown; she didn’t particularly want to admit to her failure, but keeping things from him served no purpose. “I just choked over a very easy question. Nothing happened, just… nerves. Subterfuge will never be something I’m good at.” 

He hummed in dissent. “The fault lies with me. How did you end up on your own?”

As she explained the events that led to the Exarch being called away and Emet-Selch approaching her, she felt his fingers at her side curl tighter against her.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked again, his voice lower than before. His eyes were carefully sweeping over every inch of her with an intense focus that left her mouth dry. It made her feel strangely exposed. 

Thancred was ashamed that he hadn’t noticed that Cassandra had been alone. She’d been right to stay in one place, the better for him to notice her as he took stock of the room, but somehow he’d managed to miss her. How could he have missed her? Beyond the dress that put so much of her on display, she was real in a way no others in this entire misbegotten city were, to the point that not even keeping herself safe was enough to jeopardize her genuine nature. Not ideal for a mission requiring subterfuge, perhaps, but as far as their companions went, she had still been the best choice to accompany him. Should they encounter the lightwarden themselves, she had the best chance of getting them out alive. For that matter, it was also the case should the city itself turn on them. 

Honestly, there shouldn’t have even been a point where Cassandra needed to respond and offer answers, he should have been beside her. He should have realized that the arrogant leader of Eulmore would call for the Exarch at his whim rather than the appointed time. Still, he’d thought he’d had a moment to do what he did best: listen in from the shadows. Cassandra, as skilled and powerful as she was, was still a novice in stealth. He’d wanted just a short while to listen rather than cajole, in case that might yield different results, but alas, he’d had no luck whether from the shadows or from his precisely crafted questions. Though some of the free peoples of Eulmore were eager to speak of the sin eaters on the upper levels that resided with Vauthry, as if being in their presence was some honor to be proud of, none had seen any out of the ordinary or particularly powerful that would imply to him that a lightwarden was present. 

If not here, then where? He fervently hoped that it wouldn’t come to that; perhaps Alphinaud had seen or heard something come alight in his efforts. 

“Really, I’m fine,” she insisted, and that brought him back to the present, her small smile an attempt to reassure him. She squeezed his hand, and reflexively, he returned the pressure. “Did you have any luck?” When he shook his head, she sighed. “Me either, beyond that madman’s riddle, if it’s even worth considering.”

“It’s more than I’ve heard all evening,” Thancred offered, his smile returning. “Perhaps I should be taking lessons from you.”

The thought was so absurd, she couldn’t help but smile. “I’d happily teach you what I know, though unfortunately it boils down to simply ‘find an Ascian and hope they wish to brag about something instead of kill you outright.’ It’s an awfully rare occurrence, unfortunately.”

The thought of Emet-Selch speaking to her gave him pause. Though Thancred hadn’t seen them speaking together tonight, even during their first encounter there had been something about the way the Ascian’s eyes lingered on her as if he found it difficult to pull them away, and it bothered him. The weight in that gaze had felt more personal than simply an Ascian contemplating the Warrior of Light. 

Thancred coaxed Cassandra into going over the conversation she’d shared with the Ascian one more time, but there wasn’t enough there to fill in the gaps. Something about it needled at him; he’d need to find a way to get some answers from the bastard.

If he’d taken to giving her hints and riddles, no doubt he’d be back sooner than any of them wanted. Thancred needed a plan for that, too. 

Once the dance had ended, he released her waist but not her hand, gently pulling her along to the the outer walkway. When he found a secluded spot with no other prying eyes about for the moment, he allowed her hand to slip from his grip and he leaned his elbows onto the railing. Though the sun had set, light shone overhead as it always did. Unending, unchanging.

Cassandra pressed herself against the railing next to him, eyes looking down though she couldn’t see the derelicts that she knew were below their feet. 

“Where did you find her?” The question fell unbidden from her lips, and after a moment, she continued. “The last time you were here, I mean.”

He knew who she was asking about, even before she elaborated. 

Minfilia.

His eyes never left the horizon, though his mind retraced the path he’d taken, the steps he’d raced to cover. His voice was flat when he responded. “In the depths of the tower. Below the waterline.” 

Cassandra inhaled sharply, her heart clenching tight in her chest. That meant… not just a cell, but one with no windows? That poor girl… 

She reached out, resting her hand on his sleeve. “It can’t have been easy for you, coming back here. We’ll find a way to fix… this place,” she said, sounding like a promise. “It may not be perfect, but I--”

A bellow from above shook him out of his reverie, and he and Cassandra shared a look before he immediately pulled her toward the main circling stairwell that led down and out of the tower. The bellowing continued, punctuated with heavy thumping; apparently the meeting with the Exarch had ended, and it hadn’t gone the way Vauthry had hoped. Not that this outcome was a surprise; certainly, it was the one truly predictable thing about the evening.

Thancred hoped that the Exarch had been correct in his assertion that once his projection was finished with its work, or forcibly destroyed, the crystal left in the fountain would take care of itself. For him and Cassandra, it was time to leave. 

He held her hand as they ran down the stairs, hoping to get to the bottom and out the main gate before Vauthry had any time to finish his tantrum and bellow orders. It brought to mind his escape from the tower with Minfilia, though at least this time they were both dressed to fit in as just another pair of guests as far as anyone knew. 

And Cassandra’s hand felt different in his. He’d grabbed Minfilia’s wrist, desperate to pull her to safety, but he hadn’t felt right doing the same to his current companion. A defenseless young girl was different from the vaunted Warrior of Light. Her delicate fingers curled around his, their constant pressure serving to remind him that she was with him.

When she squeezed tighter in panic, he felt the angle of her grip change and he pivoted just in time to catch her as she pitched forward. Surefooted, he straddled two steps as he pulled her close, her body pressed to his with their hands still intertwined.

Exhaling heavily in shock, she took a moment to replant her feet and nodded stiffly to him. Even with their hurried flight from the tower, he was reluctant to let her go but stepped back and continued forward, moderating his pace more carefully and keeping her hand tucked away in his.

One the base of the spiraling staircase was finally in sight, he slowed his descent and pulled Cassandra tighter to his side, murmuring to her, “Laugh with me.” 

Her awkward barked laughter would have had him wincing, were he not already schooling his expression. Changing tactics quickly, he continued, “Ah, if only you had something amusing to laugh at, for instance the time my charge and I discovered all of Urianger’s clothing had been replaced with flower garlands by the pixies. He emerged from the Bookman’s Shelves to greet us wrapped in nothing but blooms, looking like nothing so much as a float in a Little Ladies’ Day parade…”

Her laughter then was genuine, perfect, the sound warming him. He added in his own laughter to sell the act and merrily waved at the guards at the door, acting for all the world as if they were two carefree nobles out for a bit of air.

When one of the guards tried to stop them, Thancred shooed them off with a haughty gesture and another laugh and the two of them paraded their way through Gatetown, keeping up the merry charade. 

Once they’d passed the large cliff that hid the wretchedness of the outer hovels from the gates of the city, they rested against the side of the stone to shake off the feeling of the tower. 

“I wish we’d had better luck,” she murmured, her tone holding a hint of bitterness. “If only I’d tried harder--”

“Your job was to infiltrate with me and ensure that we both made it out alive,” he reminded her gently, “and by my estimate, you’ve done just that. Well done, Cassandra.” The buoyant smile that lifted the corners of her lips was contagious, its warmth spreading into his chest. He held out his arm to her, admittedly not in an effort to keep up the charade but just to keep her close. “Care to join me on a walk to Wright? I believe there’s a particular pair of twins who await our arrival.”

She accepted his arm gratefully. Somehow, despite the myriad of tense and stressful moments at the ball that nearly made her break out in a cold sweat just thinking about them, she wasn’t quite ready for the evening to end.

“Are you planning on keeping your dress?”

She blinked, considering the question as they walked arm in arm. “I… I’m not sure? I hadn’t considered it beyond tonight. I suppose it’s tailored for me personally now, though I can’t imagine where else I could possibly wear it. Isn’t it a bit much?”

Thancred had no need to cast his eyes over the figure beside him to remind himself how the dress looked; he’d already memorized the way the deep crimson highlighted the fawn tones of her skin, the teasing window to the curve of her spine, the impossibly high slit and near sheer stockings that hinted at the shapely legs beneath. He had no doubt the image would haunt him for nights to come, regardless of whether she ever wore it again. “I believe you promised me an Ishgardian ball, when we return. Perhaps it might be suitable, if you can manage to keep from freezing to death in it.”

Her laughter settled a tension in his chest that he couldn’t define. The road to Wright ahead of them was devoid of danger as far as he could sense, Minfilia was safe in the Crystarium, and he had a woman on his arm. Not just any woman, but the one who proffered the closest thing to the concept of “home” that he’d ever felt, who was finally by his side after years of waiting for her arrival. For the first time in a long time, he was truly content with where he stood. 

[thewertsearch]

This Exile uses a darker, Derse-themed version of the White Queen’s font, just in case we were in any doubt that this is, in fact, Snowman. It’s conceivable that the Black King could also speak like this, but he was killed before he could be Exiled.

Snowman doesn’t use this ‘voice’ in the Intermission - but by then, she’d abandoned decorum to become a mobster. 

You were wondering when she'd come back. This time you are ready for her.

Terezi is fully cognizant of Snowman’s commands, so she can’t be controlled directly. Snowman will have to open a dialogue with Terezi and manipulate her the old-fashioned way. 

Savvy as always, Terezi is the first Player to figure out how to talk to her Exile directly. 

Well, I guess Snowman is actually Vriska’s Exile, since they’re both eight-themed, and that’s who she started with. Terezi’s true Exile hasn’t been revealed yet, and my fingers are still crossed for Problem Sleuth. 

>To begin your mission. [...]  >You must eliminate the archagent. >Exile Jack Noir. 

Send me my kismesis, Seer. 

>Nepeta: Surely you must be adventurin' by now.

Why yes, as a matter of fact. It does appear that the ROGUE OF HEART has been keeping herself quite busy.

Nepeta is a troll matchmaker. A heart isn’t the only symbol she’s involved with, but it is an important one. Maybe this Aspect represents love?

Rouge also makes a lot of sense. It’s generally a combat class, centered around stealth and agility - perfect for a catgirl, not to mention an experienced huntress.  

Admittedly, she doesn’t seem all that stealthy - but she’s definitely built for offense. 

You inquire into whereabouts of the MAID OF TIME. The HEIR OF VOID has no idea where she went! She just disappeared.

Congratulations, Equius, on narrowly beating out Mage of Doom as the coolest-sounding Title in the comic. 

His planet is the Land of Caves and Silence. Caves are holes in the earth, and Silence is the absence of sound, so Void seems like a pretty straightforward Aspect. It represents nothing, nullification, or absence. 

Plus, he’s an Heir, like John. We’ve talked about about how John’s Class seems to involve just being given things - and this is sort of true for Equius, too. He was born with his strength, and his place on the hemospectrum, and didn’t have to do anything to ‘earn’ them. This is true for all the high-blooded trolls, though, so it’s not exactly unique to him. 

I’ve also speculated that the Heir is a generalist class, which can fulfil multiple roles. I wonder what you could do as a generalist of ‘nothing’? 

[mythriteshah]

A Spot of Revelry, Pt. 2

Beneath the Ruby Sea, the Regalia’s submersible was approaching the Dive.  Everyone was prepared to carry out their task, though Lilina was anxious to commence with the fun part of becoming a Summoner, clutching her new soul crystal in hand.

“This is Head Secretary Yuanji,” she whispered over the linkpearl.  “Miss Shiro and I have made off with one of their trinkets, and have commenced the diversion.  We’re already leading them southward, away from the Kojin’s vault.  You may begin insertion.”

“Take us up, little mammet – we’re here!” Sarielle ordered.  As they made their ascent, Rhaegos landed atop the rocks looming over the isle, while Himmeya found a small landing out of view from wandering eyes. She kept her griffin there and climbed the wall, looking up to Rhaegos, who was scanning the area: the Red Kojin were growling and barking orders at each other, weapons at the ready as they took paths around the isle to pursue the intruders.  The way was now clear save for a few sentries, and his first victim was an unwary swordsman. Jumping from his elevated position, Rhaegos would land on top of the Kojin sentry, knocking him out instantly.  He slowly made his way to the center, where Jaanavar’s Vision was beginning to surface.  Two more Red sentries armed with daggers attempted to ambush the Vizier, only to be met with a wind-imbued fist to the face of one, and a swift kick to the other, sending them both flying into a rock face and incapacitating them.

“Nice form, sir!” Himmeya grinned.

“Comes with the territory,” he coolly replied.  The submersible finally reached the surface, and out from the hatch jumped Meriri, Sarielle, Lilina, and Thiji.  The Jaanavar’s Vision then took back to the depths after closing the hatch to maintain stealth.

“Rhaegos, this show’s yours now,” Thiji spoke.

“Right,” the Au Ra said as he cracked his knuckles.  “Miss Himmeya, you take care of anyone who gets past me.  Miss Sarielle’s got the heals and the power of time, so when they start to swarm, slow ‘em down.”

“Understood,” the green-haired Elezen acknowledged.

“Miss Meriri, disarm them with your arrows.  If they have any spellcasters, they’re priority targets,” he ordered.

“Aye!” Meriri stated. “These arrows are blunted, too, so a nice hit between the eyes’ll knock em on their shelled bottoms if need be!”

“Let Lord Thiji and Miss Lilina rest and conserve their strength for now; they’ll need it for the vault,” Rhaegos pointed out as he advanced.  With the plan now in motion and the diversionary tactic in place, it was finally time for the mission to begin in earnest.  Their push through the isle was relatively easy, occasionally taking fire from Red sentries who struck at them with volleys of water.  Though they were trying to prevent the Mythrite Sultan from engaging in combat, he had no time for holdups.  

The gems on his robes and turban were beginning to glow as he walked out of cover.  As the sentries prepared to conjure another water spell, the aether gathering within the gems shot out from his robe in bluish-white beams, freezing their weapons, and eventually their entire bodies.  The sight left everyone – including Rhaegos – utterly amazed and confused as they followed Thiji up the isle…

“How’d ye do that, My Sultan?” inquired Meriri.

“The Gemweave,” he answered.  “This particular robe was woven with materials conducive to aetherial manipulation; they travel through the robe like a conduit and is focused into the gems, allowing me to cast spells without somatic involvement.”

“Ye could’ve just said ‘Black Mage shenanigans’ and I’d still believe ye, milord, but I won’t question it!” Meriri commented.

Meanwhile, on the southern portion of the Kojin’s stronghold, Shiro and Yuanji were fleeing from the bulk of the Reds.  With quick hand gestures, Yuanji jumped over an incoming water blast and slapped the ground with her palm, disturbing the earth beneath her and turning it into a large patch of mud, slowing down the horde.

“Get back here, thieves…!” roared a Red marine, struggling to get through the disturbed earth.  “You will not get away with this!”

“But we are, as you can see!” Yuanji yelled back as she stormed ahead.  With the enemy thus distracted, the main host was able to enjoy a simple push through the Air of the Opulent, taking down a few striped rays that were straggling. Yuanji and Shiro kept retreating until they reached a dead end, where they came upon a stockpile of goods and other miscellaneous trinkets.  “The dead end at the southernmost area, as Lord Thiji planned.  Shall we, old friend?”

Shiro nodded and handed a small glass orb to the Head Secretary before they hid themselves away from view.  Before too long, the Red Kojin would swarm the area, searching high and low for the intruders.

“They’re here somewhere! The Mist Queen could not have gotten far!” spoke a Red Marine.

The preceding area now secure, it was time to begin the next phase.  Thiji and Lilina entered the vault and arrived within the Blessed Treasury. They immediately noticed the large altar on the far side of the area, lined with gold, trinkets, and all sorts of curiosities.  Submerged pedestals served as stepping stones leading to a platform in the center of the large pond; a faded scar could be seen, dividing the platform into two lengthwise halves.

“Welcome to the Pool of Tribute, Miss Lilina,” the Mythrite Sultan greeted.  “’Twas here I and several others encountered the Lord of the Revel, albeit brief.  And it is in this area full of water and lightning-aspected aether that you shall take your first steps into becoming a full-fledged Summoner.”

“I am ready to receive your teachings, my lord!” Lilina anxiously replied with a bow.  “What must I do?”

“Simple: make your way to the center platform.  I will then commence the Austerities of Revelry and call forth a scintilla of Lord Susanoo’s power, more commonly known as an Egi.  You are to face this manifestation and conquer it.  Doing so will absorb and merge its aether with yours, allowing you to call it forth and bind it to your will via the soul crystal.”

“Understood!” Lilina acknowledged.  She slowly began to make her way towards the center, eager to get started.

“I will offer you guidance your battle unfolds.  I would aid you in defeating the Egi, but I do not wish to run the risk of collecting its energies,” he further explained.

“Not to worry, my lord! I’ve no intention of failing you or the Regalia!” she reassured.  Once she was in position, Thiji unveiled his own soul crystal, stretching out an arm as he focused inward, shifting his aetherial balance.  The crashing of water and dancing thunder coursed through his body; his soul crystal would begin to glow in response.  At this time, Lilina would summon her Topaz Carbuncle to aid her in the battle, giving it a gentle pat on the head as it appeared.

After a short moment, something would begin to emerge in front of Lilina.  In a small flash, a bluish aetherial being wreathed in water and lightning energy appeared, brandishing a blade no longer than its form.

“The avatar of the Lord of the Revel has been drawn into the material plane, and the Austerities of Revelry is complete,” Thiji declared.  “The rest is up to you now, Miss Lilina: defeat the Egi and claim its power for your own.”

“Let’s do it, Carby!” cried Lilina as she gave the order to charge.  The Egi engaged her pet, and thus was battle joined.  Lilina’s Carbuncle leapt into the air to strike at the avatar, but the Egi showed its speed by moving to the right, avoiding the attack.  Its blade then began to crackle with electric energy… “Carby!  Incoming!”

The distinct sound of laughter came from Susanoo-Egi as it rose the blade in the air, calling down a column of thunder to strike at the Carbuncle.  It was able to dodge the incoming bolts by curling into a ball and rolling about the arena.  With the Egi’s attention thus diverted, Lilina readied her spell, using her quill to draw aetherial shapes in the air.

The Egi managed to catch Carbuncle with a lightning strike, temporarily immobilizing it.  However, enough time was bought so that Liliana could finish her spellcast, sending a large orb of unaspected aether towards her foe.

“Have some Ruinga!” she cried as her spell hit the Egi center mass.  While the Egi was still reeling from the attack, she sent a wave of restorative aether to Carbuncle, curing it of its paralysis as it fell back to her side.

“So far, so good…” the Mythrite Sultan said in his mind.  Meanwhile, outside the vault, Rhaegos and his crew had the perimeter secure.  While they set up posts around the Air of the Opulent, Meriri noticed what appeared to be smoke rising from the south.

“Oi, what do ye think that is?” she asked.

“That’s gotta be Miss Shiro and Miss Yuanji,” Himmeya replied.  “She’s called the ‘Mist Queen’ for a reason; getting out of her domain is difficult.  With her on our side, we shouldn’t have to worry overmuch.”

“Should we go and assist Lord Thiji and Miss Lilina, then?” Sarielle thought aloud.

“As good of an idea that sounds,” Rhaegos started, “we can’t interfere with the ritual.  All we can do now is stand watch.”

Back inside the treasure vault, the Egi had recovered from Lilina’s attack, and decided to change tactics. Raising its free hand, several dark clouds appeared along the outskirts of the arena, teeming with electricity.

“Whoa!  What’s this?!” Lilina gasped.  The clouds were beginning to charge up for a powerful attack, which gave the cue to get out of the way.  She dove to the left just as pillars of lightning shot across the pool in a cross-shaped pattern, while Carbuncle dodged in the opposite direction. After the attack, the clouds faded, and Susanoo-Egi returned to the fray with sword raised.  As Carbuncle charged their foe to draw its attention, Lilina watched the clouds part.  Small trails of water and lightning-aspected energies danced in the air, which caused her soul crystal to react.

“My Sultan!” she spoke. “The crystal is glowing!”

“It’s responding to the aethertrails left behind by the Lord of the Revel,” he explained. “Attune yourself to them and you will be one step closer to mastering Susanoo’s power.”

Without hesitation, she rushed over to the far side of the arena, stretching out a hand to attune herself to the aethertrail, but was stopped short by a wayward lightning strike.

“Whoa!  Carby, Glittering Topaz!” ordered Lilina.  Her pet nodded, its body glowing for a brief moment before channeling its power to the ruby on its head to erect an aetheric bulwark around Lilina’s form, absorbing the lightning strikes with ease as she successfully attuned herself to the first aethertrail.  “All right – two more to go!” she said to herself as she hurried to the opposite side.  The Egi took notice of what Lilina was attempting to do, and was making its best efforts to stop her, but Carbuncle was putting up an exceptional defensive effort, keeping it away from its master, and with the barrier still present, its lightning attacks proved ineffective as she was able to attune to the second aethertrail with no issues.  The excitement of mastering this power was beginning to get to Lilina, as she happily made her way to the final aethertrail, which laid behind the Egi on the far side of the arena, confident that the barrier would hold.

“Almost…!” Lilina uttered as she began to fuse her own aether with the final trail.  Just as it seemed like she would be victorious, her concentration would be broken as rocks began to rise from around her and her Carbuncle, encasing them in a stone gaol.

“Ama-no-Iwato…” Thiji thought.  Three blue chains sprouted from Susanoo-Egi’s free hand, linking themselves to the earthen prisons that housed Lilina and Carbuncle, as well as the empty third prison.  It rotated them around the center of the arena in a triangle formation.  Lilina and her Carbuncle were helpless, unable to do anything to break out from within, as the stones began to glow, preparing to unleash The Sealed Gate.

Thiji, sensing trouble, quickly opened his Blissful Grimoire and prepared to retaliate.  He would prepare a spell powerful enough to shatter the Ama-no-Iwato in one strike.  The Mythrite Sultan would not enjoy this honor, however, as he heard footsteps approaching from the entrance.

“Don’t waste your energy, My Sultan!  We got this!” shouted a voice.  Two Lalafell women zoomed past Lord Thiji in the blink of an eye – one with black hair, and one with strawberry-blonde hair and platinum-blonde highlights.  The black-haired Lalafell sprung into the air with her Mythrite pugil stick, while the other one hopped over the pedestals to enter the arena.  The strawberry-blonde blasted the center stone with a fire spell, destroying it and freeing Lilina, while the black-haired lass chucked her weapon straight through the gaol to the right, shattering it.  Unfortunately, it was the dummy.

“Sisters!  You came!” Lilina cheered.  Her older sisters, the strawberry-blonde Lelena, and the black-haired Luluma, had come to her side.

“And you didn’t invite us?!” Lelena scolded.  “We would have loved to see our baby sister become a Summoner!”

“Miss Yuanji told us about the whole thing before she set off for the isle, so we took the Vigil to get over here after suiting up,” Luluma explained.  “Mamai is always watching over her Angels – may she know eternal peace in Nald’thal’s realm.”

As they spoke, the remaining stone prison exploded, and the Carbuncle was gone without a trace.

“Aww, there goes your Carbuncle…!” Lelena groaned.

“Hold on!” Lilina exclaimed.  She slapped the pages of her book and stretched out her palm as a bright sigil appeared around it for a brief moment.  Out from below, Lilina’s Topaz Carbuncle returned and struck at Susanoo-Egi from below!  “I was able to recall Carby before the gaol exploded!  Swiftcast is so handy!”

“Miss Lilina, the final aethertrail,” reminded Thiji.  Lilina nodded and hurried over, her sisters covering her back while she attuned to the final aethertrail.  Luluma dodging a few lightning bolts and then struck Susanoo-Egi, knocking it back towards the far end of the arena and briefly stunning it, while Carbuncle ran to the opposite end and curled into a ball, rolling across the pool to gather speed, the resulting acceleration causing aquaplaning to take effect. Lilina had finished preparing a fire spell to cast underneath the charging Carbuncle, causing a tiny explosion of steam to propel it upwards to smack the Egi with enough force to send it plummeting into the waters below.  The aethertrail was thus extracted, and Lilina’s attunement was complete. The sisters cheered and began conversing among themselves as they started to leave the arena.  Thiji gave a nod of approval and would begin to turn around and leave, but something caught his eye.  With a double take, he looked to the far side of the arena and noticed that the aether stored in blade was beginning to stir.  It began to levitate from its resting spot for a few brief moments before shooting into the heavens.  Just as Lilina and her sisters would step out of the arena, a large thud was heard that shook the earth, with enough magnitude for it to be felt from beyond the vault.

“What was that…?” Sarielle questioned.

“Oh, shit…” Rhaegos murmured as he turned to the door to the vault.

“Intruders have breached our treasure vault!” cried a Red marine in the distance, taking notice of the tremors.  “Alert our main force and protect Lord Susanoo!”

Before he could get too far, an arrow would find its mark on the Red Kojin’s forehead, knocking him on his shelled back.

“Welp, there goes the neighborhood…” Meriri sighed.

“They still have yalms of mist to go through!” said Yuanji as she appeared behind them.  “Miss Shiro has stayed behind to maintain the ninjutsu.”

“Good, because until they leave the vault, our work here’s not done,” Rhaegos replied as he took to a combat stance.

Back at the Pool of Tribute, Lilina and her sisters turned around and immediately took notice of the large blade that had pierced the waters.  The surrounding atmosphere changed as well, with overcast clouds and rain suspended in midair.  The waters began to stir as the Egi had transformed into a larger variant of itself, towering over the arena by yalms.

“This one doesn’t seem as large as I remember…” Thiji pondered. “Two of the three sacred treasures are also missing…”

“How the heck are we going to stop that?!” Lelena shrieked.  The enlarged Egi took the blade in its hand and began to raise it over its head.  The Topaz Carbuncle ran over towards the shadow of the blade, turning back to Lilina and pointing upwards with a paw.

“Carby’s got our answer, I think!” Lilina commented.  “Sis, let’s do the Cryotic Feedback!”

“You want me to use Subzero now?!” she immediately questioned.

“Trust me!  We can’t let that sword touch the pool!” Lilina replied as she went over to Carbuncle’s side.  With grimoire in hand, she readied herself for Lelena’s ice attack.  Luluma attempted to stall for time with repeated strikes at the enhanced Egi, but it proved to give little effect as it shook off her strikes with relative ease.  Lelena finished conjuring enough ice energy to blast a large ray of frost at Lilina’s grimoire, which absorbed its energies into a barrier formed around the tome.  Luluma, who had did all she could to buy time, landed back onto the arena and sighed.

“Here it comes, girls,” she warned.  With the spell complete, Lilina rose her grimoire high in the air, meeting Susanoo-Egi’s blade head-on.  The sisters screamed in fright from the resounding clash, with Lilina’s plan actually proving to have some effect at holding back the sword.

“I am genuinely astounded and frightened right now!” Lilina informed everyone.  As she continued to hold back the blade, miniature lightning orbs formed around the arena, slowly making their way towards Lilina in an effort to shake her off.  Her Carbuncle took note of this, and began touching each one, which caused a small fulguration.  The resulting release of electric energy would take its toll on the Carbuncle, however, as it felt its strength waning.  “Come on… Come on…!” Lilina grunted with effort.  Once the barrier was broken from the sheer force of the clash, the energy stored from Lelena’s attack had shot out, causing a blast of ice-aspected energy sufficient enough to force back the blade.  This feedback sent Lilina skidding across the waters, her grimoire landing beside her.  Her sisters hurried to her side to get her on her feet as the Egi was recovering from the attack.

“Darnit!  That wasn’t enough to beat it?!” spoke Lelena.

“Lilina’s Carbuncle can’t hold out any longer, either…” Luluma spoke with concern.  With no other options, Lilina approached the shadow of the blade once more, but something about her was different.  Lelena pointed out the shift in aetheric balance within Lilina’s body, and her soul crystal had begun to respond to this change. Luluma watched in anticipation as the Egi begun to lower the blade back down again.  Just as it would finally hit home, a flash of lightning crashed down upon Lilina’s form, and holding the Egi’s blade back was another aetherial sword identical to it.  Lilina’s form had changed slightly as well, with the distinguishable helmet and plumage on her head.  She laughed victoriously as she held back the blade with ease. 

“Attendeth me, my sisters!” she called.

“Wait, what does she mean by that?” Lelena asked.

“She want us to do another team attack,” answered Luluma.

“Then let’s invent a new one!” Lelena cheered as she prepared the Triplecast spell.  Luluma got into position as her older sister sent three thunder orbs at her, knocking them overhead as they spiraled into the side of the Egi’s sword, significantly weakening it.  Lilina used this opportunity to strike back, knocking the blade out of its hands and disarming the Egi.  Her own aetherial sword then touched the residual lightning energies from Lelena’s spell, wreathing the length of the blade with its power before chucking it at the reeling Egi, landing right in its torso before erupting in a pillar of bluish-violet energy.

The scintilla of Susanoo’s power had begun to lose its form, letting out a roar before finally dispersing back into the aetherial sea, the atmosphere returning to normal signifying its defeat.  Lelena and Luluma heaved a sigh of relief while Lilina fell on her bottom, exhausted from the effort.  She looked over to Carbuncle, who was slowly approaching its master.  With a smile, Lilina petted its head and stated that it will be missed dearly.  With an Egi of her own now obtained, there would be little reason to keep Carbuncle under her employ.  The Carbuncle nodded and gave Liliana a hug before being called back into the aether.

“Congratulations, Lilina,” said Thiji.  “You are now officially a Summoner, and a practitioner of Susanoo’s power – a Master of Revelry.”

“Thank you, My Sultan. I could not have done it without your guidance and the help of my sisters!” Lilina replied as she got back to her feet.

“A question, My Sultan,” Lelena interjected.  “What was that spike in power that Lilina had during the second clash?  Was that the Trance thing?”

“Correct,” Thiji confirmed. “In addition to bending eikons to their will, Summoners are also able to invoke the powers and personalities of said eikon by entering a Trance. When enough of an eikon’s aether is attuned, they are capable of assuming this form change for a brief period of time.  With practice, however, they can uphold this Trance longer and more deftly – and even call forth a simulacrum of the primal itself as a result.”

“Then as the first to obtain Lord Susanoo’s power, I shall dub it… the Reveler Trance!” declared Lilina.

“Now we just need to get out of the isle…” Luluma pondered.  “The Red Kojin are definitely not happy to learn that we’ve stolen into their vault, so they’ll send everything they’ve got at us.”

“No problem, Luluma!” Lelena assured.  “I think we’ll be just fine!”

“Indeed we shall, ladies.  Miss Lilina, pray lead the way,” said the Mythrite Sultan.  With an enthusiastic nod, she hopped and skipped her way out of the arena, exiting the vault.  Meanwhile, the Red Kojin’s main force had finally caught up with Rhaegos’s team.

“We fear not those who trespass upon our sacred vault!  Least of all you, Demon of the Steppe!” taunted the Red Kojin’s commander.  Rhaegos smirked and crossed his arms, taking a step forward.

“Be thankful we’re not here to kill you, or you’d soon learn to fear me,” the Au Ra coolly retorted.  “But if you’re so eager, then step on up.  I can’t promise anything, though.”

The commander gave the order to charge.  Everyone prepared for the Red’s onslaught as they drew closer and closer.  Just as battle was about to be joined, however, the doors to the vault burst open, and hearty laughter was heard from within. The Red Kojin coasted to a stop, murmuring amongst themselves…

“The Kami of the sacred treasures…?”

“Lord Susanoo…?”

“Has He awakened once more?”

Himmeya and the others heaved a sigh of relief as Rhaegos turned his gaze toward the vault.  Out from the doors came Lilina, assuming the Reveler Trance once more, brandishing her aetherial weapon in the air with a wide grin on her face, with Susanoo-Egi in tow.  She was followed by her sisters and Thiji, who had approached the Red Kojin’s forces.

“What… what omen is this?” gasped the Commander.  Everyone on the isle was amazed at what they beheld.  With another spot of laughter, lightning danced around her being, frightening the Kojin and their pet rays.

“Behold, shelled ones!” boomed Lilina.  “These children of man hath come to pay tribute!  They sought not to abscond from ye who hath made us whole, but to offer respect to the banquet, and as thanks, have blessed them with a power none hath dared to hold!  Thus, the test is passed, and the feast hath ended!  Pray let these children of man free in the name of the divine!”

“If what you say is true, blessed one of Lord Susanoo,” began the Red Commander, “then we thank you for this test, and shall obey your words.”

Thiji beckoned the others over and fell in behind him, walking with Lilina out of the isle as the Kojin parted the way for them.

“So, does this mean that Miss Lilina’s gettin’ a promotion, milord?” Meriri thought aloud.  The only response she received was laughter from everyone but Thiji, who was shaking his head.

“Wait, wasn’t Miss Shiro with us?” Sarielle said as she looked around for any sign of the shinobi.

“Don’t concern yourself, Miss Sarielle,” Yuanji replied.  “We’ve already planned out for this; before this operation began, Miss Shiro went into the vault and took the Yasakani-no-Magatama and the Yata-no-Kagami, leaving the Ame-no-Murakumo alone.  She volunteered to stay behind and put them back in their proper resting place after our success!”

“That explains why the Lord of the Revel himself didn’t appear, and the Egi was considerably weaker when the sword awakened!” Lelena deducted.  “Wow, the Regalia’s just full of geniuses!  I may have to become a Summoner myself if we can have more exciting adventures like this!”

“I am certain we can strike a deal with the Immortal Flames when the time comes,” Thiji said.

“Well, I call dibs on Shiva-Egi!” Lelena decreed.  “And no one can say otherwise!”

With another bout of laughter, Thiji, Lelena, and her sisters took off on Mamai’s Vigil docked on the southern cliff face, while the remaining team boarded Jaanavar’s Vision, returning to their respective branches.  An Arcanist no more, Lilina Lina was ready to serve the Regalia with her newfound powers over the reveling chaos that was Lord Susanoo, setting her apart from the numerous other Summoners within Eorzea and beyond.

“I am Lilina Lina, and in revelry do I rejoice!”

(Credit and thanks to @minstrels-ink​ and @tsubi-uru​ for the pictures!)

[look-ma-im-on-tv]

The Two Kings

Summary: The kind is bringing the kingdom into ruin, and the people plan to stop it.

Word Count: 205

Author's Notes: This is a tiny thing I had to do for a class, so... plus I haven't posted anything I've written in a while so here's something.

The people huddled together in the dark room, planning for tomorrow. Finally the day was coming that they would exact their plan. It was nearly two years ago that they began their plot. They would raid the castle, and end the King's tyranny. He had gone on long enough with his way of ruining things. One day he would be signing declarations of peace, and the next he would be sending warriors into battle. The people had suffered greatly from his indecisiveness for long enough. So now, they would finally fight back.

The morning came, and the people sprung into action. The intellect had given them precise locations and missions, working to guarantee their success. The mage was at the back, valuable with his spellweaving, yet terrified of battle. The stealth had snuck intinthe castle and discovered the locations of any and all guards, and the liar had successfully gained the King's false trust. Exactly as planned, he stepped out towards the fighters with the King behind him. But something had gone wrong. Instead of springing into battle, everyone paused. Not one King followed their man, but two. One in bright white with a noble red sash, and the other decorated in black and green.

[sonicrevival]

Reunions: Chapter 3 of 4: Regicide

Quite large one today.

Read on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18573268/chapters/44028367

Sonic: Revival- Reunions

Chapter 3 of 4: Regicide Morning in Mobotropolis, and a small figure walked the streets, heading nearer to the palace as she pushed through the crowds. None of them paid her any mind, but if they looked closer, they might’ve spotted the faint glow in her blue eyes, or the similarly-bright gemstone in her forehead, mostly covered by her messy ginger hair. Emerl grumbled slightly. Sneaking wasn’t remotely her style, and part of her wanted to be caught so that she could run back and chant “I told you so” at her new friends, in regards to sending her on a mission that didn’t involve fighting… and yet, she remained undetected. She supposed that it wasn’t much of a surprise. Nicole’s holograms and nanite form were both incredibly lifelike. Even she had been fooled when they first met. Of course her new nanite skin was helping… Even if she had no idea what to do with the tail. She just wished that it hadn’t been her that had to do it. *** One hour ago… With the two teams reassembled, and all parties caught up on each other’s conditions, Sally had stressed the need to find where Naugus was first. “Fortunately, we have a team who are experienced with stealth and espionage,” She looked over at Harvey. “Well… we kinda fought Naugus, so now he’s going to be on the lookout for us,” Silver sighed. “We could try disguises, but that won’t hide our energy…” “And we’re not exactly in a position to go in, either…” Sonic grumbled. “I may have a solution…” Nicole spoke up, before gesturing to Emerl. “Me? I don’t think I can help unless you want me to beat his location out of someone…” She recoiled, holding up her hands. “All you need to do is a little scouting. Naugus won’t recognise you because he’s never met you,” Nicole explained. “Still a robot.” “Ah, but I can hide that for you… I can’t do much with the nanites at the moment, but I can form a sort of ‘skin’ with them that will make you look like a Mobian, like this…” Nicole’s eyes flashed green, and nanites swarmed around Emerl’s body. Despite her misgivings, she trusted the lynx, and allowed her to work. Once it was finished, Nicole waved her hand, the wall beside Emerl shifting into a reflective surface. The Nanite skin looked startlingly real. Staring back at Emerl was a small feline girl, with sandy-yellow fur, covered in black spots, with a short tail growing from her backside. Her lower legs and feet were almost completely black, and she had a mop of ginger hair on her head. “Huh… that… looks really lifelike… weird,” She mused. “What am I?” “A black-footed cat,” Nicole replied with a slight smirk. “I thought it was appropriate.” “Alright then… I guess this’ll work.” *** Truth be told, the Gizoid didn’t quite have the heart to tell the lynx ‘No’. Especially after she called her new form ‘cute’. Now that had confused her. She wanted to snap back that she, as a powerful and dangerous robot, was in no way, shape, or form ‘cute’... but she didn’t. Not even when she let out a soft laugh as Emerl’s new face contorted in response. This would require further study, she decided. For now, she had her mission to focus on. Drawing near to the palace, she spotted the figure of a skunk walking down the steps, carrying a staff tipped with a Chaos Emerald. All of that fit the description of Geoffrey St. John, Naugus’ apprentice, and apparently a turncoat. What didn’t match was the enormous energy spike she felt as soon as she locked onto him. Ducking into an alleyway, she made sure her surroundings were clear, then leapt onto the rooftop, brushing the hair away from her forehead to take a deeper scan. The energy levels were off the scale, compared to the profile Nicole had given her. “Hey, Nicole, you seeing these measurements?” She opened a communication link to her friend. “Yes, I can...  I’m showing Sally now…” “Alright…” She nodded, keeping her focus on the skunk. “Hey, is red a natural eye colour for skunks now?” “I… no. And Geoffrey’s eyes aren’t red.” “Well, I’m looking at him right now, and those are definitely red…” She retorted. Nicole went quiet for a minute, before speaking up again, sounding alarmed. “Emerl, get to the Council chamber. That’s not Geoffrey, that’s Naugus!” “Uh, isn’t Naugus bigger and uglier than that?” “It’s Geoffrey’s body, Naugus is possessing him, but don’t worry, Sally has a plan already working. Just get the Council building, I’ll explain on the way.” “Right,” She nodded, vanishing in a burst of blue. *** Emerl lingered in the crowd outside the Council building, fingers gripping the heavy weight in her hands. Sir Charles had passed it to her when she arrived, and she had quickly hid herself in the throng of bodies. Apparently, ‘Geoffrey’ was due to make some kind of announcement, supposedly on Naugus’ behalf, explaining the large gathering of people. If all went smoothly, that announcement wouldn’t be made at all. She listened to the voices of her friends echoing inside her head- Silver’s team inside the Council chamber itself, protecting the city’s leaders. The main Freedom Fighter team, just below the street with Nicole ready to bring them up to the surface, and their secret weapon, lingering on the roof of the building itself, ready to make his appearance, all confirming that they were ready to move. The skunk’s approach drew mixed reactions from the crowd. Nicole had explained that, while Geoffrey was Naugus’ right-hand man, and thus received plenty of support from the wizard’s more ardent backers, to others, he was still considered a traitor after he was found guilty of betraying Elias and the Acorns. “Alright...” Sally’s voice cut through the chatter, the rest of the teams going quiet. “Phase one, go.” As Naugus began to climb the steps, a thin blue shape dropped from the roof of the building, crashing down in front of him. The stonework cracked beneath its weight, the possessed skunk leaping backwards as it rose. Several people in the crowd screamed, and began to run, as Metal Sonic rose to its feet, lunging at Geoffrey’s body. Emerl wasn’t sure what to make of this mechanical Sonic, compared to the last one she fought. Not as strong, by all appearances, but significantly faster. It shot forward with speed greater than Sonic’s own, punching Geoffrey’s face. The force of the first blow sent the skunk reeling, skidding across the ground in a heap. The staff slipped from his fingers, as the robot stalked toward him, its right hand restructuring into a drill. “Emerl, now!” Emerl grinned, racing out of the crowd with her cargo in-hand, lifting it over her head and gently throwing it toward the skunk as she called out to him. “Geoffrey, catch!” Instinctively, his hands snapped up, snatching at the blur of gold and steel. His eyes widened as he looked down at the pristine form of the Sword of Light. The empowered weapon let out a brilliant flash, and Geoffrey screamed in two voices as black fog poured from his mouth and nose. His body slumped to the ground, fingers still gripping the hilt, as the fog pooled nearby, Naugus’ hideous mutated form emerging from it, skin wrinkled and dark, lips pulled back to expose his teeth, barbs growing from his clawed hand, horn curving to a sharper point. Hurriedly, he snatched up his staff, glaring at both Geoffrey and Emerl herself, before noticing the civilians that hadn’t fled. Before he could open his mouth, however, Geoffrey rose and swung the sword at him. Naugus hissed in pain as the blade nicked his left hand. “Monster!” The skunk roared, wincing as the blade continued to glow, smoke rising from where his hands gripped the hilt. “It burns you too, my foolish apprentice!” The wizard fired back, black lightning blasting from his Emerald, knocking the skunk off of his feet. He lost his grip on the Sword of Light, which clattered to the ground nearby. “Alright, Phase Two, let’s move!” Sally’s voice cut in, as the ground nearby began to ripple. “Shard, how are you holding up?” “Not great, unfortunately,” ‘Metal Sonic’ spoke up, optics lighting up in green. “I’m almost out of power. Going to fall back.” “We’ll take it from here,” Emerl smiled over at him. Shard nodded, nanites flowing away from his body to expose his normal, if battered, body, and he fired his engines, launching away from the plaza. As Naugus prepared to strike the prone Geoffrey, Emerl broke into a run, launching herself at the two mages. Curling into a tight ball, she slammed herself into Naugus’ gut, knocking the air from his lungs and forcing him back. Unrolling, she slammed her fist into his face, breaking several of his fangs and sending him sprawling across the ground, before grabbing Geoffrey and launching herself back to the steps, just as the rest of the Freedom Fighters, with the exception of Sally, emerged from below the city. “Oh gods, what’s wrong with his face!?” Sonic yelled, as Naugus rose to his feet, glaring at the assembled team. “His… his body is decaying. Whatever that white flash that Eggman’s machine made was, it’s destabilised him, and he’s starting to de-fuse…” Geoffrey explained weakly. “Gross,” Amy winced. “Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Tails nodded. “Well, doesn’t matter what he looks like. We’re still gonna take him down!” Sonic lowered himself, preparing to launch. “Don’t be so sure, Quickster…” Naugus rasped, leaning on his staff. “I’m not sure why you have returned from your excursion to find the former Princess, but you still need me… and I am still the King… call off your new friend, and I might not have you all arrested for treason…” “Oh, come off it, Naugus. We all know what you’re up to,” Bunnie groaned, preparing her arm cannon. “Doesn’t matter how many people you brainwash into electing you, yer still gonna lose in the end!” “Is that so?” His mouth split into a rictus grin as he raised his staff, black magic exploding out from it. For a moment, all of the organic Freedom Fighters felt something dark trying to worm into their minds, before a flicker of green light shielded them, Nicole’s eyes glowing brightly as she strained against the magic, forming a protective bubble around the team. The last dregs of the crowd weren’t so lucky, as their eyes turned black, and they began to lurch toward the Freedom Fighters, reaching out as they shambled forward. “Oh no!” “Not good!” “Dagnabbit, of course he did this…” “It would seem that I still have the support of the people!” Naugus cackled. “Although you are managing to resist, it will not be long before I break the computer’s shields and you too come to recognise my legitimacy! In fact, why not hurry the process along...” He pointed his staff at Nicole, only for Emerl to crash into it, grabbing hold of it and trying to wrench it from his grip. Yet, despite her strength, he managed to hold tight, power arcing along the shaft as both tried to wrench it free from the other. “Leave her alone!” Emerl growled, as her fingers closed around the Chaos Emerald itself. She felt its power flowing into her, felt the two stones already within her chest pulling it toward her. For a moment, her mind began to race again, another flash of the city, and she staggered, head swimming. That was all Naugus needed. The mad chimera wrenched his staff upward, dragging her with it, before she lost her grip and he flung her into the air. At the same moment, he unleashed the bolt of crystallising magic he had been aiming for Nicole, and it caught the Gizoid’s chest, propelling her into the Council building and entombing her within a chunk of green glass. “Emerl!” Nicole called out, but she received no response. Immediately, she remembered Bunnie’s comment in her Uncle’s office, about not wanting to share the fate of Titan Metal Sonic, and she thought back to the destruction of her own nanites at Naugus’ hand. “Emerl, please…” Nothing. “Nicole…” Sonic ventured, eyes fixed on a child, no older than Cream, scraping his hand blankly against their shield bubble. “You gotta stay focused, she’s gonna be-” Nicole looked up at Naugus, growling with barely contained rage, fists clenching. Green fire flooded her eyes, as she floated off the ground. “Are you going to attack me, Nicole?” Naugus jeered, spreading his arms, almost as if he were inviting her to strike. “You know that I will simply destroy any nanites you use against me, and leave your friends at the mercy of both my spell and my people!” “Nicole, listen to me-” Sally’s voice again, but this time, the lynx didn’t respond. The shield flickered and dropped, but before Naugus or his enslaved minions could capitalise in any way, all of them were thrown from their feet by a shockwave of unseen force, hurled backwards. As the civilians landed, the ground beneath them melted, first giving them a soft landing, then reducing to the consistency of mud as they tried to stand, causing them to sink until their legs were trapped, preventing them from moving. She thrust her hand forward, a tremor shaking through the plaza before the ground split open beneath Naugus’ feet, tendrils reaching up from within to drag him down. He recoiled, thrusting his staff down to shatter them as his cape expanded into a pair of huge wings, carrying him out of the gap. Snarling, she reached out for his mind, feeling the presence of four separate voices, all occupying his head, all in conflict. The destabilisation that Geoffrey mentioned.Zeroing in on the strongest voice, she struck, firing psionic lance directly into it. Everything he had taken from her, the people she protected, her friends, her home, and now Emerl, she packed it into her attack, forcing him to feel every last day of it, from the entire three month period, in an instant. Naugus screamed. The glow from the Emerald faded, and his spell died. Those that he had already enslaved remained in his control, but the Freedom Fighters stood firm, all free, as Nicole’s arms sagged and she sank to the floor. “I have the zombies trapped… tear him apart.” “It’s gonna be okay, Nicole. Promise.” Sonic placed a hand on her shoulder, before surging forward, as the rest of the team followed. “Our turn!” Still steadying himself, Naugus had no chance of avoiding the blasts from Bunnie and Rotor’s cannons, staggering him. He raised his staff to fire upon them, but was stopped short when Amy’s hammer slammed into his foot, then his gut, sending him reeling. Tails clubbed the back of his head with his namesakes, as Sonic crashed into his chest, bouncing away to loop around and strike his back. Growling, Naugus melted into his own shadow, reappearing behind them and taking to the air. Immediately, Tails caught up to him, lashing his namesakes at the wizard’s wings. Rather than slice through, however, he bounced off of the magic field flowing through them, recovering just in time to avoid a swipe from Naugus’ claw. Any attempt on the mutant’s part to press the attack ended in another hail of cannon fire, forcing him to wheel away from Bunnie and Rotor’s attacks. He raised his staff, taking aim at them once again, only to feel something wrap around his ankles- a coil of nanites, rising up from the ground to drag him back down toward it. Switching focus, he lowered his weapon instead, preparing to destroy the tendril, just as a second one enveloped it, and a third engulfed his claw. With a howl of rage, Naugus let out a blast of black fire, turning all three to glass. Shattering all three, he glared down at Nicole, the lynx having fallen to her knees, wracked pain from the damage to her city. “You have become a thorn in my side, computer. A once useful pawn, but no longer worth anything… so die…” He hissed, preparing to attack her once more. Below him, Bunnie circled slowly, Sonic hanging onto her arm as she lined up with the chimera. Spotting her chance, she drew her arm back, as Sonic flipped himself over to perch on the palm of her hand. “Ready, sugah?” She asked, flashing him a smirk. “Oh yeah!” He grinned back. Bunnie thrust her arm forward, extending it as she did so, and launching Sonic with all of her strength. At the same time, Sonic sprang away from her, accelerating himself even faster, the recoil from his jump forcing Bunnie back slightly. Sonic’s spinning form tore through the membrane of Naugus’ left wing, not slowing for a second as he uncurled and reached out to grab Tails’ arm. Letting the momentum shift him, Tails went into a tight spin and hurled Sonic back down, straight through the other wing. Just as Rotor caught Sonic, Naugus went into freefall. Spotting his shadow growing larger on the ground, he prepared to melt into it, body turning into black ichor as he fell. Before he could properly shadowmeld, however, the ground itself shifted, and suddenly a brilliant emerald light shone out of it, removing the shadow entirely, stinging Naugus’ dissolving form, and leaving him with nowhere to left softly. He thudded heavily against the ground, rising just in time for Amy to slam her hammer into his forehead, snapping his horn off at the base. “AWAY WITH YOU!” Naugus roared, a shockwave exploding from his staff that knocked all of them down, agony spiking through their bodies. Purple energy seethed within his eyes and the Emerald, his body bulking up. “You cannot take what is rightfully mine away from me!” Dark lightning sparked around his weapon as he held it up, clouds gathering overhead, flashes of the same electricity rippling within them. When the first bolt crashed down, it slammed against the shield dome, arcing out over it for a moment, before both the charge and the dome faded. Before he could call a second shock, however, the crystal stuck to the wall of the Council Building cracked, and then exploded outwards. Emerl clawed her way out of the remainder of the prison, body wreathed in blue fire, nanites sloughing away from her to expose her true form. “Emerl!” Nicole’s face lit up. “Oh, thank the Source…” “Everyone, move!” The Gizoid growled, as her chestplate split open, exposing the raging core within. The Freedom Fighters scattered, and she opened fire, the beam exploding out from within her. Gritting his fangs, Naugus responded in kind, a colossal blast of purple storming up to meet Emerl’s head-on. Both were pushed back by the force of the impact, Naugus’ boots scraping against the ground, sinking into the nanites slightly, while Emerl felt herself pressed against the wall of the building behind her. Bracing herself with her arms, she planted her feet against the wall. Panels on either side of her legs opened, metal rods extending from within to punch into the building, anchoring her in place. At the same time, Naugus felt his boots sinking further into the ground, and realised that he couldn’t move. He glared at Nicole for a moment, before focusing on Emerl once more, and, with a roar of fury, channelled more power into his attack. Slowly, Emerl felt her beam being pushed back toward her, spotting Naugus’ face splitting into a hideous grin. Straining against the force, she dug deep, trying to find more fuel for her fire. A little more rage, a little more fury, anything that could make her burn brighter. Then she spotted Sonic reaching for the fallen sword, and noticed Naugus’ feet sinking into the ground. She glanced down at Nicole, feeling her power surging up again. Something to fight for, and a shot at winning- that was all she needed. Chaos exploded from within her, driving Naugus’ attack back, much closer to him than before. She swelled as she watched his smile die, giving way to a pained grimace- Using that much power while literally coming apart at the seams couldn’t be comfortable, she mused. Then, Naugus let out a shocked gasp, followed by a roar of pain, as Sonic surged past him, slicing into his back with the glowing blade of the Sword of Light. For a moment, he whirled to face the hedgehog, blinded by hatred, then paused as he realised two very crucial facts. Firstly, the searing wound inflicted by the Sword of Light had caused him to lose focus on his clash with the robot. Secondly, he was currently not paying attention to said robot. Almost resigned, he turned back forward, just in time to see the oncoming ray of Chaos fill his vision. His arms raised to shield his face- Not that it was really worth shielding, Emerl decided, and the blast consumed his form, ravaging his body as it ripped him up from the ground and drove him back into it, cutting a furrow through the pavement, until finally the storm of untamed energy finally died down, leaving him embedded in a long crater, the Freedom Fighters slowly gathering around his unmoving body. Emerl peeled herself away from the wall, extracting her legs before dropping to the ground beside Nicole, landing on her knee with a crunch. “Sorry about the damage, Nicole,” She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “I was just trying to put him down for good.” “It’s alright…” She smiled back at her. “I already partially disconnected myself from the nanites when I realised the direction that this battle was going in. Didn’t feel a thing.” “Well, that’s good to know,” Emerl shrugged. “You alright?” “You scared me there…” She admitted, looking away. “I couldn’t feel you or hear you or anything. I thought you were dead.” “I couldn’t hear you either, the crystal must’ve blocked our signals out…” She murmured. “I’m glad you’re okay, though.” “I’m glad you’re unhurt too… Just, please don’t scare me like that again,” The lynx looked up at her. Emerl did her best to convey a smile with her eyes, and nodded. “Promise?” “Promise. Now, let’s go see how much damage I did to that ugly jerkwad!” She pointed over at the crevice her beam had dug into the city itself. Nicole laughed, and the two made their way over. The rest of the Freedom Fighters had approached the crater already, where the mad wizard lay, crumpled and still. “Is he dead?” Bunnie asked. “Nah… he’s breathing… Still, while we’re here.” Sonic planted the Sword of Light in the ground, and jumped into the pit, sliding down the ledge. He snatched up the fallen staff, turning it over for a moment before snapping it in half over his knee. It splintered with another flash of purple and black sparks, causing Sonic to leap back and drop both halves. At the same time, the black aura faded from the eyes of the remaining crowd, and they stumbled, most of them collapsing as they rubbed their heads. “W-what happened?” One of them asked, blinking rapidly. Freeing the crowd wasn’t the only effect of breaking the staff, however. Naugus’ eyes snapped open, hands flying to his chest and forehead, clutching at them as he writhed in place. “No… no no no… I can’t… you can’t take this from me…” He hissed, his claw snapping out to close around the fallen Chaos Emerald, plucking it from the ruined staff, pulling it close to his chest. “You’re not exactly in a position to bargain here, Horn-Head,” Sonic shrugged. “We’ve still got the Sword of Light, and you’re not looking so great after that attack. I mean, relatively. I don’t think you’ve ever looked great.” “Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong, Quickster…” Naugus allowed himself a chuckle, a horrible rasping sound, looking up at the blue hedgehog with a twisted grin. “You need me.” “Oh, really?” He asked, raising an eyebrow as he barely managed to keep his smile under control, leaning down a little. “How d’you figure?” “My power is the only thing that can save your precious Princess from her terrible, terrible fate!” He cackled, trying to stand. His leg gave out, and he slumped to his knee, laughter turning to a fit of coughs and splutters. “Your rabbit comrade has seen fit to reject my gift, but Robotnik’s cruel treatment of Miss Acorn requires my special touch. Kill me, imprison me, find any other way to punish me for my crimes… but it will cost you any chance of seeing her restored to normal!” “Is that so?” Naugus froze, as Sonic’s smile grew to truly smug proportions, as the ground split enough for Sally to walk up the flight of steps that Nicole had provided her with, drawing level with her friends, folding her arms as she looked down at him “No, impossible… he… how did you…?” “I had some very good doctors,” Sally replied. For a moment, Naugus stared up at her, jaw hanging open. He barely moved as Sonic sprang back out of the furrow to stand beside her. Then, his face contorted in rage, gritting his fangs, claw tightening around the Emerald. Purple fire ignited within his eyes, flooding out and engulfing his body. His hand slammed against the floor, rearing back up as his muscles swelled, his height growing massively. His wings, horn, and missing teeth regenerated, the former stretching outward to truly enormous lengths. He stood tall, form still silhouetted in the violent purple aura, the Chaos Emerald floating above his head. “All the time I spent scheming, waiting, kowtowing to your idiotic council, and you wretched fools try to take it from me… I will not allow that… you will die for your insolence!” Naugus’ aimed his claw down, lightning exploding out from it. The team scattered, Sonic grabbing Sally and leaping away. “How the heck is he doing that!?” Bunnie yelped, stabilising herself in the air. “It must be one of his new powers!” Tails called back. “That’s right, that form is mostly made of shadows…” Emerl added. “Nicole, give us a light from the floor, and make it big!” Sally commanded, standing up from Sonic’s arms. The lynx nodded, pressing her hands to the floor, beginning to morph the nanites into light-emitting forms once again. Spotting the change, Naugus’ wings opened, lifting him off the ground. As he went, black fog poured from his mouth, hugging the ground. The fog spread out from the landing point, blotting out the light before it could even touch him. Bunnie, Rotor, and Emerl all opened fire on Naugus’ form, but their shots failed to even flinch him. Naugus slammed himself back to the ground, a shock of dark power exploding from his claw toward the team, tearing up the nanite stonework as it went. As they scattered once again, Naugus grinned, releasing a violent burst of power from his torso, throwing all of them to the ground. “I want you to feel my agony… I want you all to feel what it’s like to be torn into three…” He rasped, fingers snapping. In that same moment, purple tendrils speared out from his feet, stabbing into the fallen Freedom Fighters’ foreheads. All of them fell to the ground, reeling in an indescribable pain, except for Nicole and Emerl. “Sally!” Nicole rushed to her best friend’s side, grabbing her hand, but the squirrel didn’t seem to notice the lynx’s presence. “Of course, you two do not feel pain, do you? Not in a way that my magic can trigger… but that does not mean I cannot destroy you…” “I beat you once already… I can do it again!” Emerl stood firm, wreathed in blue. “And if we work together, you don’t stand anything resembling a chance!” “Is that so…” “You bet it is!” She slammed her fist into her palm, rolling out her neck. “Come on, Nicole, let’s finish this!” “Right, right…” Nicole stood up, jumping into Emerl’s storage slot once more. “I admire your confidence… but can you stop me and save them?” Naugus jeered, raising his claw. He pointed at the remnants of the crowd, lightning surging from between the two pincers. “No!” Emerl yelled. In a flash, she was gone, reappearing in the path of the bolt. Thrusting her hands forward, a square barrier of jade light formed in front of her, catching it dead-on. Electricity spread out over the shield, forcing the Gizoid to brace against it. Glancing over her shoulder at the throng of terrified faces, staring up at her, she formed a second barrier as her first shattered, the lightning forcing its way through to the new shield. “You all need to run! Get outta here!” The few that hadn’t already started trying to disperse began to flee, but the size of the crowd was so large that progress was slow, hindered further by the news vans parked nearby, who had initially been there to cover another meeting, and now found themselves getting the scoop on the battle between Naugus and the returning Freedom Fighters. Across the plaza, Naugus chuckled to himself as he watched the two struggle against his new power. As the second shield came up, he diverted his attention to the Freedom Fighters, still wracked with pain at his feet. “Now… which of you shall I kill first?” To his surprise, Sonic stood up, shattering the tendril holding him with a ripple of green. The hedgehog rose slowly, breathing heavily as he glared up at the wizard. His eyes flickered to his fallen comrades, and for a moment, Naugus swore he saw a glimmer of red in them. “Ah, a volunteer.” He grinned, raising his free hand, power flowing between his fingers. Then Sonic vanished, a gale blasting in Naugus’ face. The wizard stumbled back, steadying himself with his wings, looking over his shoulder in time to see Sonic racing for the Sword of Light. Despite his initial burst of speed, the hedgehog was noticeably slower now, his injuries evidently taking their toll. Bolts of dark lightning slammed down from the sky, striking at him as he ran, drawn toward the faster target, even as Naugus spread his wings and lunged after him, more long leap than flight. But even with his body aching and sore from the battle, Sonic dodged, sidestepped, and evaded every bolt. For all his newfound power, the Sword of Light still presented an enormous threat to Naugus. Letting Sonic get to it meant game over, regardless of how strong he was able to make himself with his magic. His armour of shadows would give him no defence against the light. He reached out with his hand, stirring up the darkness coating the ruined floor. Wisps of black magic stirred up, reaching out for Sonic, trying to bind his legs, to trip him up, or pull him down into the dirt. Sonic stumbled for a moment, then leapt upwards, allowing his momentum to carry him forward, over the reach of the shadowy tendrils. That would cost him. Naugus grinned, thrusting his claw out, purple electricity surging out from it. With no traction in the air, there was nothing the blue hedgehog could do to dodge it. The bolt struck home, shocking him for a moment before he fell to the ground, scraping to a halt just shy of the blade. As Naugus loomed over him, Sonic growled, gritting his teeth as he reached out for the sword, but it lay just outside of his reach. The chimera’s claw closed sharply around his body, the serrations on the inside biting into his skin as he was hoisted into the air, face to face with him. “After all this, Quickster… do you have any last words?” Naugus jeered, pointing one sparking finger at Sonic’s head. “What, other than ‘You really need a breathmint’? Just the one…” Sonic spat, grinning back at him. “You really, really shouldn’t have lost focus.” As Naugus opened his mouth to ask what Sonic meant, he felt it. The power of the Chaos Emerald had vanished. Immediately, the spell brewing at his fingertip evaporated, the purple aura faded, and the cloak of shadows melted away to nothing, exposing his body, even more hideously mutated than before. “Missing something?” A mocking voice called behind him, and a glance over his shoulder only confirmed what he had already worked out: Emerl hovered there, throwing and catching the purple Chaos Emerald. Seizing his chance, Sonic forced the distracted wizard’s claw apart, perching on it for a second before slamming himself into his face. Stunned, and with his power finally ebbing away, Naugus stumbled, tipping back into the now-darkness-free ground. Sonic caught Emerl’s free hand, as she lowered them both back to the floor, watching the mutant mage shrink down to his normal size. Lying on the cobblestone plaza, Naugus’ broken horn, teeth, and wings had returned, staring up at Emerl in a state of shock, eyes wide, jaw hanging open. Nicole projected herself out of Emerl as they landed, leaving the slot and merging herself with the city once more. Sonic dropped to the floor, sitting down for a moment as he took several deep breaths. Then Naugus shifted, and all three were back on alert. The wizard rolled over, righting himself as he reached out toward Emerl, weakly grasping for the Chaos Emerald. Emerl stepped back, keeping it from his reach for a moment, before her chestplate opened and the gemstone evaporated, flowing inside her core.  She reeled back for a moment, optics turning purple as a matching aura ignited around her, but after a moment, she straightened, and the blue glow returned to her eyes. “Sorry, but that’s mine now,” She folded her arms. Naugus screamed in four voices. Sonic, Emerl, and Nicole all jumped back as the chimera rocked back on his knees, a dark crack forming across his forehead. Black energy floated out of it, as another crack appeared, then another, and then another. More and more cracks formed across his body, splitting wider and wider apart, until his form shattered, still screaming, into a chaotic spiral of magic and chaos, trying to force itself back together into one shape, then into three, then into one again, one mind fighting for control against three others, the former trying to hold their combined form together, the latter desperately trying to tear in apart. For a moment, Naugus’ silhouette was visible once more, the next, three distinct shapes, one with large wings and ears, one multi-limbed with clawed hands, and one with a large horn, clawing in an attempt to go their separate ways. “I guess this is what Geoff meant by de-stabilising…” Sonic mumbled. “What do we do?” Emerl asked, looking between her two more experienced friends. Just as Nicole opened her mouth to speak, a glowing blade tore through the centre of the magical aberration in front of them. The four voices- Naugus and his three components- screamed in agony for a long moment, before a brilliant flash of light tore them asunder, extinguishing their power in a violent conflagration of energy. As the glow faded, the Sword of Light fell to the ground, and Geoffrey St. John slumped down beside it, his right hand badly burnt. “Geoff!?” “I… I suppose you’ll all be wanting some answers, then?” The skunk wheezed, shifting to a sitting position. “I can explain everything.”

[rwbyconversations]

Why Cinder’s plan is brilliant

I’ll freely admit that I can be a bit of a negative nancy about RWBY. In fact I’ve partly made my blog off of it, alongside sharing other people’s content. But I like to think that, going off the responses I get to my analysis posts, that they get a good reception. So today, I’d like to try something different and do some positive analysis of RWBY.

Volume 3 has become known as the highlight of the show for good reason. It’s the volume that brings together the past two years and concludes the first act of RWBY’s story on a truly desolate note- the heroes have failed and only narrowly pulled victory from the jaws of defeat, while the villains nearly got away without a single notable casualty, their plan having successfully gone off without a solitary hitch.

And what a plan. Cinder Fall’s nefarious schemes across the prior two volumes come into the forefront and utterly cripple Beacon. In one semester, she plants the seeds of a multinational world war, cripples the world’s communication network, kills countless citizens and Huntsmen, secures the powers of a demigod and gets away with killing one of the most powerful men alive. Not bad at all Cinder.

So that’s the purpose of today’s post. I’m going to break down, in my opinion, why I think Cinder’s plan to destroy Beacon was nearly full-proof and why it’s a genius scheme. Buckle up, I get wordy. 

Cinder’s plan has the least presence in Volume 1, though that’s more due to Volume 1 thinking it was too cool for things like plots and overarching narratives. But more seriously, the Volume 1 part of the plan needed some quiet reworking after Cinder’s power source was changed.

See, Cinder wasn’t originally a Maiden. In fact, the Maidens only existed after Volume 2 had wrapped. CRWBY have been quite open about this plot change, as it was one Monty came up with prior to his untimely death. Cinder instead would have simply been a powerful Dust Mage who was using the Dust Roman stole to gain power for herself and the White Fang. In all honesty going from using Dust-infused clothing to the Maiden powers was one of the smoother retcons in RWBY’s history, especially compared to some of the more egregious incidents like the handling of Aura. So Cinder quietly went from a Dust user to someone with half the powers of a Maiden Ultimately since most of the major elements in Cinder’s scheme such as Ironwood, the transfer students or the mech army are present, Cinder herself has little to do in Volume 1 after saving Roman and looking Mysterious.

And that’s the point. Roman’s part of the plan is to be as attention-seeking as possible, Cinder’s plan relies on Roman getting all eyes on him as he steals as much Dust as he can carry. Not only does he deplete reserves that go into the White Fang and her own pockets, but it also creates distrust in Vale, brewing up tensions that the White Fang use to radicalize more people and bolster their numbers.

Volume 2 marks the point where Cinder begins making deliberate steps on her plan. Now that Ironwood (and his ships with all their robots and big guns) have arrived along with the transfer students now entering Beacon, Cinder has the perfect cover to slip into Beacon undetected thanks to the security nightmare that is the Vytal Festival alongside Mercury and Emerald (and Neo I suppose), and she wastes no time with setting the stage. Mercury is immediately set out to analyse the most powerful fighters at Beacon and figure out their Semblances ahead of time. Emerald meanwhile played social butterfly, getting in good with some of the teams and sneakily learning who they were sending forward ahead of the matches. And Neo... was busy helping Roman and likely only appeared in the first episode of Volume 3 so people wouldn’t ask who the fourth person on Cinder’s team was. This was mostly a three-man mission after Cinder got to Beacon while Roman and Adam prepped for the bigger events. 

Even here, Cinder was already setting up three chess pieces of her own in her master-stroke to take down Ozpin: The assaulter, the murderer and the patsy. Barring the murderer (who was almost always going to be Pyrrha because Cinder loves dramatic irony and nothing’s better than a champion helping cause the apocalypse), these roles could have been taken by nearly anyone. Once Cinder knew which team members would advance, she could play around them. Hell, if Cinder hadn’t learned about Penny’s robotic nature, things could have easily been set up for Pyrrha to kill someone else instead- 

Cinder even manages to spin a school dance in her favor. It may seem on the service like some harmless fluff between the big battle episodes, but the dance arc episodes are made critically important through Cinder’s infiltration of the CCT and planting of Watts’ Queen Virus, alongside the episodes themselves letting us see Mercury and Emerald’s parts of the plan. With this in play along with the White Fang, Cinder had half the work done for the Fall of Beacon before RWBY even had a clue she existed. 

When you’re this confident in your plan (and when you don’t ever skip leg day) you earn the right to make some sick flips

Talking of RWBY, it’s interesting how they never really had a chance at stopping Cinder. Thanks to Roman hogging the spotlight, RWBY genuinely think they’ve stopped his plans entirely after the Breach. Qrow has to tell Yang and Ruby that yes, crime’s down, but every hydra’s got another head. Cinder basically sets Roman up as a patsy, and I think it’s safe to say she didn’t really care if Roman lived or died after the Breach. If he happened to live, then she could use that and send Neo to break him out before they caused more damage during the Fall, but it wasn’t a be-all-or-end-all if Roman died early. Regardless, the Breach was a giant distraction, a gambit that Cinder intended to lose. It was one that RWBY jump-started early, but the results were ultimately the exact same. 

There was no hopes of the Breach being enough to take out Beacon, even if Cinder, Emerald and Mercury had personally joined the fight. Its goal was always to make Ozpin’s leadership look incompetent. Under his watch, with the Vytal Festival looming on the horizon, a massive terror attack occurs and Ozpin is left looking like a headless chicken. People being to distrust Ozpin, the council gives James new privileges and more emphasis is placed on the Atlas military for security reasons. Which, with the Queen virus in place, is exactly what Cinder wants. The more androids on the night of the Fall, the more images of Atlas mechs firing on civilians to fill the nightly news. The Breach was never Cinder’s endgame- to quote @alexkablob, it was just Act 2. 

With Volume 3, the stage is set. Once Ironwood connects his scroll to the CCT, Cinder has access to all of his personal files, and that gives her the cherry on top for her Murder Souffle. With Penny, Cinder has just been given the prime target to set up as the fall guy for the Fall of Beacon.  

Also on the subject of the Vytal Festival, can you imagine what it must have been like to be the first year team that had to fight Team CMSN? Two trained assassins, a master illusionist whose stealth skills make her just as lethal as the assassins, and a 23-year-old posing as a teenager in leather pants who didn’t even use a weapon to kick your ass. The whole “How’d your team do?” Emerald flashes back to her team ripping some first years a new asshole “... Really well.” joke is one of the best gags in all of RWBY BTW.

Lady can you CHILL

With her hacking of the CCT, Cinder basically just needed to do one fight and then she could sit back and enjoy the fireworks. She had her Actor in Mercury, and after watching the Vytal matches, it was easy to find someone with a short temper who the crowd could believe was willing to shoot an injured man after he’d already lost, breaking his leg. Penny was the perfect target to die, but make no mistake, Cinder would have used anyone else as the victim. Heck, in an alternate timeline, whose to say someone like Ruby wasn’t the one gutted on Pyrrha’s spear in the Vytal finals?

Pyrrha, however, was always going to be the Murderer in this little stage play of Cinder’s. Cinder likely pegged Pyrrha as one of the candidates to become the new Fall Maiden early on, and if she hadn’t before the finals, seeing Pyrrha and Ozpin enter the CCT was the red flag she needed. Pyrrha was the Invincible Girl, the one everyone knew as a hero, greatest Huntress of her generation, and she was someone who it wouldn’t look suspicious if she curbstomped all of her enemies. Why else does JNPR fight BRNZ, a team with at least one electrical weapon, in an environment that spawns thunder? Neptune’s weapon also would have likely supercharged Nora, so the SN vs NP match that was cut for time would have had a similar outcome (including another water biome). Pyrrha was really the perfect person to take to the finals, and her polarity Semblance just made Penny that much better a target. 

To further my point, here’s a stellar post made by @alexkablob, with the relevant part quoted:

But she (Cinder) 100% wanted Pyrrha, specifically, to be the one who killed her opponent in the finals, and she wanted that as early as volume 2. Because Pyrrha is the Invincible Girl, she’s the greatest huntress of her generation, she’s the world’s icon, she’s a hero in the making, she’s on the cover of every Pumpkin Pete’s Marshmallow Flakes box. And Cinder wanted to take that image and tear it down for the entire world to see.

So when the finals came around, after the crowd had already seen barbarism from Yang, Pyrrha’s shoddy mental state after the last few days combined with Emerald’s Semblance to make a show no one ever forgot. 

Once the Fall kicked off, everything went straight to hell in a handbasket. The mechs went rogue, Adam’s White Fang brought Grimm in and caused chaos while an army of Grimm charged Vale. Cinder cut the broadcast on Atlesian mechs firing on civilians, all while delivering a monologue that nailed home just how utterly screwed everyone was. The Huntsmen were scattered, and the fleet was firing on itself thanks to Roman. 

Which let Cinder lead Ozpin into the final stage of her plan. 

Cinder needed Ozpin to come out onto the battlefield, so that the CCT would be unguarded. Ozpin would be forced to choose between the people he swore to protect, the citizens and Huntsmen who he tries to care for as people and as children, and a sickly, dying woman. If he wasn’t there, her chances of finding Amber and killing her skyrocketed. The only way it could be better was if Ozpin basically led her right to the Maiden-

Well, well, well. YOU HAD ONE JOB, JAUNE.

And with that arrow, Cinder wins. She’s got this in the bag, she just got the full Maiden powerset, Ozpin is alone because his need to put The Men First meant that he sent Qrow and Glynda into the city instead of staying with him to protect Amber and the Vale Relic. As an aside, look at their faces.

As @ozcarpin pointed out in this post that I took some notes from:

The logical option here is to double down on protection of the Relic and Amber, a few more casualties cannot hope to compare to the destruction that Salem can wreak with a maiden on her side. But Salem knows what option Ozpin will pick, what he can’t help but choose again and again no matter how many times it does him over.

Glynda and Qrow come to him, looking for direction amid the panic, torn between what they know are their duties, and he tells them to leave, to go to the city. Their enemies are coming for the vault, and they don’t know how many of them there are, how powerful the opposition might be, but Ozpin chooses to go alone. Cinder later calls it arrogance but Salem knows better.

Even knowing that he’s dooming them all, even knowing that he’s likely marching to his own death, Ozpin will always pick the safety of his people above all else.

And in that moment, all three of them knew it.

Cinder makes short work of Ozpin after this, even with all of his experience she immolates him. After that, before going to secure the Relic, she returns to Ozpin’s office to lord over her victory. And gee, it’s almost like Cinder’s big weakness is that she’s prideful and will always take time to gloat before confirming the mission’s complete! Like, seriously, if Cinder just grabbed the Relic and snuck out of Vale with Em and Merc, she’d have been clear. Roman and Neo would have likely died and taken a lot of the heat posthumously and Cinder would have had perfect checkmate.

But she had to go to his office, and she had to gloat. Meaning she had to fight Pyrrha and had to kill her, meaning she had to take Ruby’s Silver Eyes right to the face. Because you can have the best damn plan, but if you let your ego control you, the best laid plans often go awry. 

In conclusion, Cinder’s plan throughout Volumes 1-3 is perfectly laid out and designed in such a way that Cinder was able to make rapid adjustments on the fly. Thanks to using Roman and the Breach as scapegoats, she diverted attention away from her (in spite of Qrow nearly seeing her face when she went for Amber), her underlings were able to assist in pinpointing who would be fighting and when, and Watts’ Queen Virus let her wreak havoc on Beacon when the time came. Cinder’s plan is genuinely a well-written masterplan; the pieces were on the board right from the start, but only in hindsight did we see everything after all we knew and loved had come crumbling down around us. Or to put it another way:

The shining light will sink in darkness

Victory for hate incarnate

Misery and pain for all

When it falls...

Thank you for reading.

[cwsfrpg]

Heroes | Session 1

Our D-List Heroes snart, Glompfk, and Jackson were picked up separately by a magical carriage, and began the journey to Linmen Manor. While alone in the carriage snart rooted around and found a dusty compartment with a pine stick in it. Upon Glompfk entering the carriage it seemingly became bigger on the inside to fit the massive rock man. After picking up all the passengers the journey began. Each player lost their con saves and fell asleep on the way. An undetermined amount of time passed and they were woken up by a wake of nauseating energy. It’s black outside the windows.

The door to the carriage opens and they are dropped off at the servants’ entrance of Linmen Manor. There are no lights of any kind here. Glompfk proceeds to bang on the door thrice before it is opened, briefly blinding the party. The silhouetted person who opened the door comes into focus. They are tall and slim, and have a bushy moustache. They are wearing a flopping night cap and gown and are holding a glass of wine. They say, “Who the fuck are you.” A letter is given to this person and a flicker of emotion passes their face before walking into the house, assuming the party will follow. They call after the party and they move down the foyer to a small sitting room. The NPC sits on a chair and Glompfk sits on the couch across from him. snart climbs up a bookshelf in the corner and starts re-arranging the books. A conversation ensues. Wine is served from a bar cart in the corner. The party finds out that this person’s name is Siri, and there are 7 other guests in the house. (Sven, Finneas, C.Clarity, the Warden, Crush & Muscle, and Susan.) The artifact they are looking for is a box, there was some sort of fight over the box though Siri said they were not present for this fight. They said everyone was in a bad mood so Siri retreated to this corner of the house. If the party wants to know what happened to the artifact their best bet is to speak to Sven or C.Clarity. The other A-listers are occupied or their location is unknown. Finneas bursts in at one point, complaining about something being broken, thinking the party is there to fix it. Realizes they are there to finish the A-Listers mission and is visibly distraught by it and leaves again. snart follows, rolling high on stealth, but the sheer amount of doors stops snart from getting too far, she backtracks to the dusty sitting room adjacent to Siri’s quarters. Picks up a silver letter opener on the coffee table and begins tuning a piano in the room, the piano briefly emits little puffs of green smoke but it is harmless to snart.

Glompfk and Jackson eventually catch up to snart and they continue through the door that snart previously entered in chase of Finneas. They are in a small hall with a stairwell leading upstairs. They continue through the door across from them. This opens into the Great Hall, an expansive room with tiled marble floors, a fireplace at one end and lined with suits of armor. snart pries a codpiece off one of the suits near the fireplace and wears it like a hat. And Glompfk runs over to Sven who is hunched over a small ornate chess board. They have a brief ‘himbo to himbo’ moment and then the party tries to figure out the chess game. One of the tiles has an ‘x’ scratched onto it and one of the knights is permanently stuck to a square on the side of the game. Jackson tries to wrench the knight off, upsetting some pieces, and tries again knocking more pieces off. Sven tries to swat his hand away, Jackson tries to stab him. Glompfk successfully backhands Jackson away and he only slightly scratches Sven’s hand. Sven is unperturbed by this. snart realizes she’s seen a similar scratch on a tile in the Great Hall (while on her way to get the codpiece). The group moves there. They figure out the suits of armor look the same as the knight and can be moved. Glompfk picks one up and places it on the x, a tile in the center of the room depresses. Sven filled with glee steps one foot down into the hole, the chandelier above begins to tinkle, gold coins raining down. It then crushed him, and everyone rolled initiative. Fight ensues. snart brings Sven out of death-saving throws. Suits of armor target Sven unless provoked and they seem to be piloted by the green mist from before. Jackson finds out if you head shot them, it’s an instant kill. Sven is killed by the crossbow suits. This causes the suits to try and grapple Glompfk. One succeeds, leaking green mist onto Glompfk. It trails up his arm and surrounds his head before slithering back to the suit. There is a moment of pause before suits collapse, the green mist rushing toward Sven. The chandelier moves back into position, and so does the tile. The green mist then seeps into the cracks of the floor disappearing. The suits, including snart’s codpiece, have magically snapped back to how they were and the party is left with Sven’s dead body.

Glompfk brings Sven to Siri (kicking down the door), snart uses mage hand to find where the basement is, and Jackson retrieves the gold coins. Glompfk explains to Siri what happened and Siri is visibly distraught, he says you need to find where this mist is coming from and tells you there’s a stair-less staircase in the entryway where you came into the house. Glompfk goes back to his friends, snart communicates that she’s found the basement and Glompfk tries to pummel his way to the basement through the marble floor in the Great Hall. After finding that futile, they make their way to the staircase.

The group drops down the staircase, finding it weirdly dark. Down one hall, light is cast. Revealing a kitchen at the end. The hall behind them ends and branches off in two directions. Perception check from snart reveals a tiny little snake of green mist, and snart follows it to the hall puzzle. Gompfk tries running through it. snart sits and repeatedly uses prestidigitation on the smoke to keep it from moving. By studying it they gain knowledge about the mist. Glompfk eventually figures out the puzzle, keeping his eyes closed and finding the key under the welcome mat. Uses it on the door revealing a portal, but Glompfk has his eyes closed and he reaches for the door knob, and gets sucked into the portal. Jackson runs after his brother, full speed through the portal. snart first gingerly puts their stick in it, losing hold of the stick, then following after.

Glompfk is the first to arrive in a hexagonal shaped room. In the center of the room is a glowing green cloud of stormy mist, with 6 orbs floating around it. Glompfk is then shoved off the one person platform by the speedy arrival of Jackson. Glompfk falls 10ft to the floor, activating the green cloud. snart arrives, less aggressively. And the party watches as the orbs reveal humanoid shapes surrounding them. Two are grey and dim (Sven and Finneas) and the other shapes are the same color as the mist. snart knows from studying the mist that this is a magical mechanism made to ensure the deaths of the 7 heroes in this house. At that moment a pained scream overlapped with a deep roar reverberates from above. The whole room shakes knocking huge stones loose. These stones kill our adventurers, sending them through a white space, before resting in front of a black figure. Darkness rushes from behind them until all that is left is a rectangle of white behind the figure. Everything comes into focus as they realize they’re standing before Siri again, and they say the familiar line, “Who the fuck are you?”

[knightofbalance-13]

Neither, it’s called “Chessmaster.”

http://dudeblade.tumblr.com/post/164537522051/rwde-theory-cinder-fall-villain-sue-or-just

You’d think a guy whose around Tv Tropes would understand this.

So… Anyone want to discuss the fact that Cinder’s plan relied completely on the good guys being idiots?

Because let’s face it; if Ozpin had sent a more competent or experienced team to Mt. Glenn, Roman and the White Fang wouldn’t have been successful.

... Dudeblade, the mission to Mount Glenn had nothing to do with the White Fang or Torchwick, it was for clearing out Grimm, that’s it. Team RWBY choose that mission so they could find the White Fang but Ozpin let them go because, being the protagonists, they would have gone anyway. ( https://youtu.be/bSdejzDaQEU?t=8m26s ). In fact, since they went there, the plan actually WAS ruined because t5hey were aiming for the time most Huntsmen wouldn’t be in the city but were forced to move early. This is very easy to fact check: the fact you didn’t shows how biased you are against RWBY.

Cinder’s plan relied on Pyrrha being in the finals, as well as Yang. While this makes sense due to them being the best fighters of each of their teams, she didn’t account for what might have happened if they had lost or chosen a different fighter.

... no, it relied on Mercury getting into the finals where he could fake an injury and on Pyrrha who she could manipulate. Yang had nothing to do with it and itb would be stupid to send out any fighter who isn’t Pyrrha: Nora is too slow, Ren is too fragile and Jaune...is too weak, too slow, too inexperienced and too...Jauney. Doing anything else would actually BE stupidity on the side of the good guys.

Cinder’s plan relied on everyone being stupid. Like the Ozluminati not acting on the fact that they are AWARE that someone hacked the comms tower? - I mean, this is how it went down: someone hacked it, Ruby SAW it, then all of a sudden, people are acting strangely.

Actually, NO: Ruby never saw it. This is Cinder hacking (https://youtu.be/0-f-mGvOba8?t=10m58s), Cinder finishing hacking (https://youtu.be/0-f-mGvOba8?t=11m22s) and this is Ruby appearing (https://youtu.be/0-f-mGvOba8?t=11m28s). Looking at the footage or even the time stamps shows that Ruby COULDN’T have known that sinbce Cinder wasn’t even spotted when Ruby got out of the elevator, let alone spotted near a place for hacking. See, this is your problem Dudeblade: You don’t do research or rewatch episodes otherwise you KNOW this.

That’s either bad writing, or it just means that Ozpin wanted that to all happen to kill off Pyrrha because the plot demanded it (And according to the writers, “It was already written. Too bad, so sad.”)

No, it just means you either don’t do research or do so but then reject facts to support your narrative. 

But that “Ozpin is the bad guy” stuff is for a standard rw/by theory. Not a rwde theory.

Because that woul;d make a lick of sense and contribute to the fandom.

And there would be a good reason for JNPR to use someone other than Pyrrha. Pyrrha is a celebrity. People would know how she fights, and would probably use different dust or equipment for the sole purpose of beating her. A team aiming to beat Pyrrha would study her fighting style, and take notes of who managed to land hits and who couldn’t. They would adjust accordingly. Send in someone who is basically an unknown like Nora or Jaune would mean nobody would know how to counter them.

Except that’s not the secret to why Pyrrha wins: She doesn’t win because she’s just strong, she wins because she can subtly move her opponent’s attacks and blocks in a way she can take advantage of. As you are trying to show: Subtle changes to a plan will fuck up said plan. And since no one knows that Pyrrha is doing this (save for Mercury whose the only person Pyrrha 2faced whose weapon was a part of their body) So Pyrrha is still t5he obvious choice.

Yang is a brawler, her fighting style is predictable.

Sois teh rest of team RWBY: Weiss uses Dust, Blake uses stealth, Ruby uses super speed. Except that Weiss and Blake are not built for one vs. one combat due to their subversive style being easy to counter and Ruby is powerless without her weapon whereas Yang is perfectly built for one vs. one combat and has both the power and durability to endure such a battle. SO again, this is no more a leap in logic than a sniper choosing a spot to snip from: You cannot account for everything, just make an informed descsion.

So Cinder, what exactly was your plan if the didn’t use the obvious picks?

A. Your very sentence defeats you: They are obvious so planniong not around them is stupid.

And B. Have Mercury get capped in the knee by someone else. Pyrrha is a guarantee and Mercury’s plan needs anyone so there.

“But seriously, what would have happened if someone had seen Emerald or had detected her using her semblance? “

They’d see her doing this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iq4xplqeI0&index=42&list=PLUBVPK8x-XMhCW2fW7ZYlD9MHjvmT8IGK) And there’s no way to identify a Semblence that way. There has been no proof that you can do this so this is a leap in logic to create a plot hole. AKA a logical fallacy.

Due to the writing being really bad at times, nobody mentioned that there was a field around the arena that would prevent outside interference via mind-altering semblances. And since there’s a certain ‘knight’ who said (and I’m not kidding) “Since they never said forgery is illegal in Remnant, it isn’t illegal!”I can claim that “since there was no mention of a barrier that would stop that sort of interference, then there never was one to begin with.” and that ‘knight’ can’t claim the otherwise.

A. This adds nothing to your theory. If anything, this justifies the reason why Emerald was able to do this: You basically just confirmed what I was going to say.

B. This shows a serious flaw in RWDE: They don’t understand the burden of proof is. (https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/burden-of-proof) It5 is not up to me to prove my side because all I am doing is showing you cannot do that: I didn’t make a definitive statement there (All I said was “You can’t prove forgery of Beacon transcripts are illegal therefore you cannot say they are illegal”) but a theory is nothing BUT definitive statements so if you cannot prove it then it isn’t correct. All i have to do is show you cannot prove that, either through an absence of evidence or evidence that contradicts you. That’s it.

Also, even if there was a barrier for that sort of thing, wouldn’t there be an official monitoring that thing? Someone making sure that there actually isn’t someone doing something like that? There would have to be a means to detect it to begin with. That official would have seen it enough times to know if something was up.

Except you cannot prove that this form of Semblence is common enough to appear to warrent such a thing or that if it has even appeared before Emerald. Ergo, this point is invalid.

But because everyone is a total moron (Or trying to get everyone killed like Ozpin), Cinder’s plan is successful. .”

Only by your illogical standards.

Cinder manages to get a person killed, and then a few moths later……… nobody brings it up……

Maybe Cinder’s plan wasn’t as successful as we initially thought. People are willing to accept people from Beacon despite it being “the place that trained Yang Xiao Long to kneecap a defenseless kid, and Pyrrha Nikos to dismember an innocent android.”

Except that it causes Dust Embargo of Atlus (https://youtu.be/rHjUHnG7WOQ?t=6m50s) implied by a fear of War (https://youtu.be/rHjUHnG7WOQ?t=8m19s) which is shared by other Kingdoms as well (https://youtu.be/VkBEzyHcbAU?t=3m57s) which means another Great War is on the horizon, which is exactkiy what Cinder wants as a servant of Salem.

AND THE ANDROID THING WASN’T EVER MENTIONED AGAIN! Seriously! Atlas is still exporting Dust (Or at least trying to) and nobody bothers to call Ironwood out on building a robot with a soul. Cinder’s plan wasn’t brilliant, but when compared to how smart the people who were supposed to be the protectors are, it was something that Albert Einstein would come up with… Y’know, if Albert was a femme fatale fire mage who used a bladed bow and arrow.

Okay, so you DON’T do research or you are WILLFULLY lying from the first sentence alone. Thanks Dudeblade, you proved yourself unreliable.

And again: Proof that Atlus itself was against Penny’s construction. The other Kingdoms maybe but Ironwood isa not concerned with other kingdoms and does not answer them, he answers to Atlus.

No more than a guy who constantly spouts stupid shit over twitter or a government so petty they’ll shut down because they aren’t getting their way. Yeah Dudeblade, I still fail to see the problem considering real life.

So, is Cinder Fall a lucky person? - Hell no.

Is she a Villain Sue? - Debatable.

Is she smarter than everyone else? - Yep.

Yes because she’s alibe after what happene dto her.

No, because I’ve seen far worse examples in far more critically acclaimed shows (NGE for example with Gendo and SEELE) so this sin’t beyond the suspension of disbelief.

And no considering she didn’t bother asking Salem about the specifics of Maiden powers.

So, considering that Cinder is the one of the very few people in Remnant NOT gunning for a Darwin Award, I’d say that she would be Remnant’s salvation if anything.

But since she is smarter than everyone else, she’s totally a villain sue.

Because she’s actually SMART. Unlike the side that decides to say that “symbolism is more important than function in every single way.”

I’m going to do a post on how stupid Remnant is now. Expect it in the future.

A. That’s all this theory is: An ad hominin against the writing as well as ignoring facts and lack of evidence.

B. Surprise, Dudeblade praises a female character. How’s the sexism going?

C. You already tried that before (https://knightofbalance-13.tumblr.com/post/163998852240/lets-start-with-you) and failed miserasbly. Do you really wanna make an ass out of yourself again?

[basementadvco-blog]

The Mystery of Darkwood Down Part 2: Show me your Boot!

When we last left our heroes, they had discovered the Ancient Tome that can control the Seal of Magic…had been stolen, replaced by a harmless Frog anatomy book.

A few details to note, the book has the same symbol embossed on its front that was glowing on the Wolves outside. Knowing who those Wolves work for could give us some desperately needed context.

The character of Roseni seems like she’s getting pushed aside and not allowed to do anything. While yes, in context our characters wouldn’t want a 10-year-old poking around a dangerous room, the player isn’t sitting in time out…she’s a warlock, and I often see her passing notes to the DM as she reads people’s minds and communicates with her patron, so there’s still plenty going on.

We begin by giving the book a solid look over, as it’s the biggest clue we have. It’s a new book, but there’s no exact publish date, so no telling exactly when this book was bought. Still, we ultimately conclude that if we find the bookstores (the University in town sells textbooks like these, so that’s our most likely option) that sell this book, we can find out who purchased it recently, which could narrow our search.

There is a bit of dispute over how much we report to the mayor. Novem doesn’t see any logical reason why he would be trying to deceive us, but, he did send us on this highly important mission with basically no intel, so he’s yet to be a “trustworthy” source, so we agree to test him on what he knows. We do a quick survey of the barrow and find no other footprints. Meaning the book was stolen a while ago, it wasn’t stolen and this book IS the real thing, just disguised, or, our enemies have some nasty teleportation and/or levitation magic.

We make our way back to Darkwood Down, not encountering any disorientation magic or wolves or any obstacles on the way. Its daybreak by the time we get to the Mayor’s home. Gates lets us in and leads us to the Mayor’s office where he was working through the night. We knock…no answer…knock again…no answer…We call out to him…no answer…Roseni reaches out telepathically…and finds no mind to speak to.

The door is locked and Roseni’s mage hand can’t unlock it from the inside. Novem considers picking the locked door, and Luther decides to break through the door itself.

Inside we see the Mayor, dead, numerous wounds to the chest, and his head nearly shredded open. His face is so mangled he’s little more than lasagna.

His office is mostly untouched, save for a bookshelf that’s been broken and rifled through. Novem tells Gates to send for the police immediately, and enters the room to make sure no other assassins are hiding inside and that it’s safe to enter.

Phillip and Yukiko immediately enter the room to start examining the crime scene, and Luther trails behind only long enough to tell Roseni to stay outside and…don’t look into the room.

We spend a while in this room, searching for clues and hints. Among the many things we are able to determine the following.

The window was intact, but unlatched, a set of footprints in the snow walk directly underneath the balcony but did not seem to stop, and headed toward the work shed. The wounds on the body were too numerous and too rough to determine the kind of murder weapon, or even if that murder weapon was a blade, or a shadow demon wolf. A small, broken off piece of sharp metal was found in the Mayor’s nose, shaped like an exacto-knife or something similar. A trap door, unlocked by a switch in the desk, was between the desk and the window. It was undisturbed and unopened. Inside was a small box with a key inside. The key has the number “128” on it. The papers on the desks were rifled through, but any important documents are absent. The bookshelf was heavily disturbed. Short, dark hairs were scattered on one of the shelves, the same symbol on the book and wolves was scratched into the wall, and a single bootprint, stained into the floor with a hint of mud, was left behind.

We do our best not to disturb too much so that when the police arrive, the scene is still in a state where they can learn from it. The Frog book ends up being handed to Novem, while Philip grabs a history book from the shelf, because reasons, don’t worry about it.

Novem and Luther head outside and follow the footprints to the shed. Inside isn’t much, but there is a hedge clipper with some flecks of blood on it…although the blood is old, and not nearly enough to be the murder weapon, so we consider it a red herring. Following the footsteps to the balcony to see if a grappling hook might have been used, Novem asks Luther about his divine magic, how he can heal despite being an undead. Luther’s god of Justice, Tyr, apparently still grants him his power. Novem is grateful, and asks Luther to pass on that appreciation to Tyr.

At this point, the gardener shows up, thinking we’re suspicious looking and shouldn’t be here…can’t…blame him. If you saw the Terminator, and a knight with a plain, featureless helmet 1 size too small standing in the front yard…yeah, I’d call that suspicious. Novem explains the situation: the mayor was killed and they’re finding anything relevant while the police are on their way. The Gardener is…very nervous about us…since we’re not cops yet we’re poking around the crime scene. Again, can’t blame the guy. He runs off, clearly afraid of the kill-bot and the faceless knight who is starting to smell a little bit like dead person.

The police arrive, escorted by Gates and Not Gates (running gag, Phillip loves confusing people.) Officer White, and Officer Strunk show up to find out what happened. Yukiko and Phillip come up to meet them, while Roseni hides…under a bench…in an empty hallway. Such stealth.

Phillip talks circles around the police officers, demanding to see their boots, saying Gates is not gates, and they’re untrustworthy…Officer White isn’t having it and has Officer Strunk take our crew’s statements and send us on our way. That includes the tiny child hiding under the bench…

Novem and Luther arrive, and try to calm down the police before Phillip ends up in handcuffs (they tried to muzzle him with rope with surprising success), and we all go downstairs to give our statements.

Thankfully, we all give the same story, with different details exaggerated. Independently we all tell him what we honestly found in the room, while leaving out the trap door, and the book. We did say we were hired by the mayor to find the book, but we leave it out as to not distract the police from the murder investigation…obviously the two are connected, but this is a secret magic book hidden by a secret order so…they probably wouldn’t buy that story anyway.

Phillip has the bright idea to make a big deal about this history book, pretending THAT is the book we were sent to get. He gives it to the police when they ask, but wants it back, pretending like its super important. The police look through it, and see that it’s just some rare, well-made book on the history of the town.

We end our little interrogation with seemingly no suspicion from the police…if we need their help again, we’re going to have to dance around not sharing what we knew before, but let’s face it, we’re adventurers, if we need help from the local law enforcement, we are in deep anyway.

Novem wants to ask if Gates knows about the symbol we’ve been seeing. Phillip follows.

This is going to go well.

We find one of the Gates’ in front of the crime scene (the other is being questioned by Strunk). Novem asks and Gates says no, he doesn’t, and seems to be honest. Phillip starts to be Phillip, messing with people and Officer White angrily steps out of the office…to which Phillip demands to see her boot!

Oh boy.

She tries to grab his wrist to handcuff him. Misses. Tries again, misses. Throws a punch at him. Hits. Phillip still only has 3 HP after being healed from last night when Roseni knocked him out.

Novem explains there’s a footprint in the room and Phillip is eager to help, trying to find people whose shoes match the bootprint. Officer White is so done with this bird and sends them away. Novem scoops up the wizard and follows after the others, who are going to take Roseni to breakfast, before returning home.

Some roleplaying happens, and Roseni talks about Iggy, her “caretaker” who is the only one who can give her parents their “medicine” since all the other doctors who come by also get “sick” even though she doesn’t know what kind of healer he is.

Luther, being a paladin, offers to help heal her parents when they return to her home.

Oooh, this is going to be good.

Novem walks up with an unconscious crow wizard. Luther is annoyed. Novem explains that the police were more annoyed. Luther gives our wizard an irritated Lay on Hands

We left off there. Our DM is providing a big list of all the stores and shops and landmarks we can visit in the city, and it’s up to us to figure out how to investigate it. He didn’t have it printed off this time, but next time we’ll jump right in and get this investigation into full swing.

[ipushedthewrongbutton]

Skyrim is such a fun game??? But also surprisingly emotional

it’s been more or less since the game came out that i played it. I don’t even know how many years but long enough for me to not remember anything but the literal first scene, so i decided, since we’re in quarantine and all, this would be the perfect time to start over and finally at least finish the main quest.  back when i first played, my english wasn’t great so i didnt understand upgrading or taking random quests from random npc’s so i mostly went along where the lil white arrows told me to go.

NOW THO, i can upgrade weapons, gear, i can actually understand alchemy and enchanting, i can do as many useless quests as i want and i have the internet at my disposal in case i was too stoopid to figure out the next step myself.

Started out great, clicked the wrong button while picking a name and so instead  of pressing the backspace button, i confirmed my male breton’s name as Prisoner, for the rest of the fucking game. He looks like a sweetheart tho who’s always confused, thin and wiry, ponytail, can’t grow a beard to save his life but he has a scar under his eye. He’s amnesiac, was arrested at the border, has no fucking clue what he was doing there.

I didn’t wanna think up a backstory, hence...

I immediately decided, fuck it, i ain’t fighting this civil war, I’m a breton, y’all nords do whatever the fuck u want. And i stayed with that. I briefly thought about choosing a side depending on whose point resonated with me more. Turns out, neither point is entirely valid. One side has no respect of history and culture, the other side is racist. So Prisoner was neutral for the entirety of the game. Neither Ulfric nor Tulius got any attention from this homie.

What did receive attention tho was the main quest and boi, i know everyone hates chosen one stories. And they’re right. But man, i love chosen one stories. And my baby boi is the dragonborn and he’s like ?????? And everyone is like “you defeat dragons and you are the hero everyone waited for” and my dude is like ????? Ok??? Sure?????? And he just goes to places and helps as many people as possible on the way. 

Fuckin, the best thing was sideplots happening BY ACCIDENT. Prisoner goes on a quest to murder a shitty orphanage keeper, goes to tell the kid who commissioned him, he feels pretty okay about it. Then he gets The Letter. “we know” with a black handprint. And the shit that left my body at that moment, could’ve started a new nation. I mean, i had a 35 damage weapon at that point and i had slain my, what, fifth dragon at that point so i wasn’t worried about dying from assassins but THE INTIMIDATION WORKED. 

LITTLE DID PRISONER KNOW that this would be the biggest emotional rollercoaster in the goddamn game, no lie. Being the chosen one, sure. Defeating dragons that will cause the apocalypse, no pressure. Become thane of a city, aight. But THEN I GET KIDNAPPED IN MY BRANDNEW HOME AND I WAKE UP IN A SHACK WITH A LIL LADY TELLING ME TO KILL ONE OF THREE PEOPLE. THE FEAR I EXPERIENCED... but then they recruited me, and they’re all really cute colourful characters and we’re assassins and we’re the black brotherhood and we kill people for a living but we’re a Family. And my baby boi character had yet to experience anything like that. Sure the greybeards are mentor-ish but Prisoner never lived up on High Hrothgar amongst the old dudes. The blades did a roadtrip thing which was fun but then they kinda just squatted in their new headquarters and sent Prisoner on his merry way. But this, they had a sleeping place and a dining hall and a lil garden and the werewolf man gave me insulting nicknames and there’s a little girl who says she’s a vampire and to this day, I’m still not sure if she was telling the tRUTH OR NOT. 

AND THEN, AND THEN, the whole emperor thing happens, right, and that’s fucking hilarious. Prisoner with a chef’s head, i was cackling like a madman. And then AND THEN, THE BETRAYAL. ASTRID SAYS there’ll be a surprise up on the lil walkway bridge thing. And then there’s no one. AND THEN THERE’S SOLDIERS TELLING ME THEY’RE AMBUSHING HQ. AND I LOST. MY. SHIT. The thing wouldn’t let me fat travel either because the soldiers kept chasing me and i thought i was gonna have to ride Shadowmere all the way to the other side of skyrim, hysteric and worried about mY FAmILy. AND THEN i arrive at hq and there’s on of them PINNED TO THE TREE and like, guys. Guys. I was crying and full on immersion, i was like “nobody leaves here alive”, it was horrific, I didn’t do any of the stealthing, i just ripped them apart with my draugr greatsword, i already leveled up to the point where i cut my enemies’ heads off, it was glorious. It was so emotional, seeing werewolf man get killed, HE GAVE ME INSULTING NICKNAMES OKAY, and then finding Nazir and then hiding in a fucking coffin with a corpse who’s then like, trying to sooth me??  it was so emotional and i was crying tears of goddamn grief, i was Prisoner and Prisoner was me. The line between fantasy and reality: gone. I had spent HOURS upon DAYS on this game at this point, there was no going back.

hoo

..

So then i killed the emperor, and the reacting of the land was “...hm?” And i killed the general captain dude personal, like, optional my ass, i was gonna murder that shithead optional or not.

So i bought a house. In whiterun. It’s called breezehome (that’s not a choice) and I instantly decided if i ever get my own place, I’m calling it breezehome. I really hesitated about getting a house, since Prisoner is a nomad and constantly on the road, plus, has a “””””home””’”’” with the blades and other places in other quests. But then i decided it takes too much frigging effort to get all my loot sold cus all the pawnbrokers are pawn broke (HAH) and i can only sell them like a few gems and that’s it. And i needed a place to store all that shit, plus, i was going nuts from my collection of keys on my person aaaaaand i needed like a drawer to chuck em all in. And so that’s what i diiiiiiid. I later got the place in solitude too to finish the thane quest there but i literally only used the mannequins in the basement for my brotherhood and nightingale outfits. Which i both have worn literally once and then i just went with my guild outfit. 46 armor is good fuckin armor and the best i owned the entire game. Added some fire resistant shoes and suddenly dragons were super easy to defeat. I also found dragonbane somewhere, i literally only used it to wack dragons when they run aground. Otherwise i switched between a bow and a greatsword, both with the power of stealing health. Glorious. I was invincible. Well, with that and the power of Strategically Running Away. 

I thought it was weird my guy never got the choice of being a leader of literally anything. I mean, thane is an honorary title so you can do whatever you want and not get shit for it, like the privileged fucks we all are, but arch-mage when i only entered the school like last week? Head of the thief’s guild after going on 2 assignments, one of them being the chasing and murdering of the previous one? Never got the choice, was just like “you’re perfect for that” and me “‘I’m LITERALLY the least qualified person im this entire province!” Also i has a flute on my person at all times, bard’s college never taught me how to play it, the bastard’s, all they did was send me on errand in dusty cAVES. AT LEAST IN ASSASSIN’S CREED YOU HAVE TO CHASE THE SHANTIES IN ORDER TO PERFORM THE SHANTIES. 

Then the husband thing.

I knew there was an option to get married and adopt. I don’t want kids, in game or out. But i am disgustingly lonely (especially after the massacre of the black brotherhood) in game or out, so i looked it up and SURE ENOUGH, SAME SEX MARRIAGE IS DELISIOUSLY LEGAL IN SKYRIM, OH BLESSED DAY. Things i learned with this: i cannot handle flirting. It was cute and Prisoner and Falkar are adorable but I CRINGE, A LOT. 

Honestly, the most i personally had with this was envisioning Prisoner finally leaving for Sovngarde (after putting it off for as long as possible) and giving his final goodbye to his brand new husband like, caressing each other’s cheeks and holding each other’s shoulders, “i promise I’ll be home again soon” “and if you don’t, i will find you in sovngarde” “keep the hearth warm while I’m gone” “keep your sword sharp, you always forget to redo the enchantments” “‘don’t neglect the companions just because you wanna housewife” just sacharine as. Fuck. They were in bed togeher the night before, just talking about useless shit and holding each other t was very PG. And then after defeating Alduin, Prisoner finds himself back in Skyrim, relieved that it’s all fucking over at long fucking last, and he climbs on Shadowmere’s back, tired, and rides back home. When he arrives in Whiterun, tired and weathered, he spots Falkar just returning from a mission, he’s also travel weary and just unlocked the door to breezehome. He spots Prisoner and Shadowmere entering through the gates. They pause, they look at each other like they’ve been apart for years instead of days. Falkar drops his back, Prisoner gets off the horse and suddenly they’re running towards each other, till they smack together and they’re just holding each other, it’s the best hug ever. 

Aaaaand that’s kinda where i left it. I have more companion missions but i physically can’t get myself to do them because i feel the story is over, there’s no point. I can also still pick which side of the civil war i wanna take but it would be extremely out of character now.  it’s weird, i feel like crying again. I invested so much time in this story and these characters with so little effort. Cus usually, writing my own stories, it takes effort to develop and build them. Here, all i had to do was make choices and kill the bad guys. And I don’t want to say goodbye even though i feel like there’s nothing more to add.

[asylum-miniatures]

Entry 1 - the start

Here's the Journel of our groups continuing adventures.  It all started so normally, but a single level 1 spell completely changed the entire campain.  I had been posting this on funny stories but every session is something crazy so I made a thread for it.

The players

(all guys just for clarification, but I will refer to them by character genders) Jaune (me) – human ninja.  I originally made him to as backup/base coverer to the rest of the party, having skills in trap finding, stealth, interactions and sneak attacks but I ended up becoming one of the only capable melee fighters

Ocelot – human gunslinger and the only player with any real experience.  Decent enough guy, but often way to “fair”, making choices and actions with a refusal to metagame.  Doesn’t sound too bad at first but he has at times made deliberate bad actions or attempted to punish us for not remembering certain things.  Still my most reliable teammate most of the time

“Sim with an e” – a female human druid with a cheetah companion.  Originally just a backup fighter/caster but has become the highest strength party member and our go to girl for melee/utility casting.  She also developed an affinity for wrestling after our initial short campaign had a fight she trounced simply by grabbing the brownies and tossing them into various wood-chippers.  She is Yurions boyfriend IRL and girlfriend in game

Yurion – a female human lore oracle.  The party healer/buffer in combat and has a mastery of every knowledge skill outside of combat.  Take a very “hands off” approach to combat, as in she doesn’t do anything when it starts, mostly because she doesn’t want to be in range of anything but most of her buff spells are touch and we have already waded in.  That said, she isn’t just doing nothing, she is one hell of a planner and schemer, and often has several plans she made with the DM by passing notes.  She is also Sim boyfriend IRL and girlfriend in game

Draspher – human sorcerer focused on summoning and the only good aligned character (everyone else is neutral in some way) which makes what happens all the funnier.  He built himself as a controller, without a single offensive spell initially but that ended up backfiring.  Has a “mischievous” raccoon familiar we like to threaten/torture called fumbles.  This is his first time playing a game like this and so he often makes mistakes or needs advice.  Unfortunately thanks to a combination of bad rolls and poor planning he ends up in the worst situations imaginable

Swaggy – a dwarfen paladin of “the force”.  He was our melee frontline/tank/healer.  The biggest problem was his player.  He hadn’t played that much roleplay games before, but he had played a lot of balders gate and similar RPGs.  This meant he only ever saw any problem as something to smash through brute force style.  He also kept arguing game mechanics, trying to compare them to video game ones when we were trying to explain how things worked to him, constantly dragging down the game into arguments about how things should work.  He also wasn’t into any kind of roleplay aspect, let alone as a paladin, so he would spend most of his game time bored until his turn, rolls a dice then goes back to the book he was reading.  He started to wind some of us up but in the end, he stopped coming due to other commitments and things picked up for us

the setup is a magic/steam punk world, standard pathfinder world but a lot of emerging steam punk tech and pistols and such.

we work for a guild, the white lotus (It was months before we asked for the name in game) set up in a massive airship.  The setup is that it takes in various types, particularly talented orphans, people who lost their home etc.  When they are old enough they are assigned to teams and sent off on missions.  This would give us a regular wage and the other big advantage of this setup was a rental system.  Any tools or equipment they find is sold to the guild and can then be rented out to different teams for a reduced price, or bought outright by individuals, with whatever team that brought them in having first dibs.  To accommodate this, we were started off at half gold at level 5, but this system has yet to be used due to circumstances

Our first mission was the carnival of tears.  The DM had not thought of anything yet and had just gotten it offline as he thought it would be fun to put us through the ringer as he liked the horror parts.  Unfortunately, as we had started off with half gold to match the frequent gold we’d get as wages AND we were still mostly new players wanting just a quick adventure to get used to things.  It just ended up a slog fest with the mages unable to do much as they needed to save spells and we were very poorly matched against the cold rider at the end as none of us could get close enough to hurt him and he just kept regenerating.  That’s not where this story truly starts though.  It starts at the debriefing from that.

Session one, part one, the day off

The guild master had given us the day off, and we decided to spend our gold in town, apparently there is a fair on today and a party that evening.  Draspher wanted to get a magic item or two with his share.  As we go through town our DM is constantly rolling dice.  (he does this partially to keep track of tons of side plots happening all the time but also to make us paranoid)

When we reach the shops Draspher checks his pack for his gold.  It turns out that, thanks to an abysmal perception score, has been pick pocketed.  The small amount of gold he had brought with him wasn’t so bad, but the big loss was his wand of cure light wounds.  So, we set off to find our thieves.

Thanks to Sim’s Cheetah we track down the scent to a dirty block of flats.  Deciding against breaking down the door on the place so I knock.  A slit in the door opens and I attempt to bluff our way in.  Unfortunately, the guy recognises us as guild members and I attempt to negotiate/intimidate our way in, pointing out that no matter how much he took from us, it’s not worth the amount of damage to his home and business we would cause trying to get our stuff back.  Again unfortunately, he has already left.  We eventually get in by sim turning into a beetle to get under the door and we start exploring.

After much searching we eventually find a lift that leads to an underground MASSIVE room with all these crates and boxes in it.  We find the wand and start investigating and find one full of swords.  Just then we hear knocking on the door upstairs so we panic and run through a corridor that leads to a sewer, because it always leads back to the sewers eventually.

To avoid completely grouping up, I decide to use my ninja skills to cross the sewer and walk on the other side, I could always just cross again if anything happens to them.  Unfortunately, all the giant sewer rats thought was “one of them is alone, rush him!”.  I dash back to the others and Yurion shows of her planning skills.  As part of the reward from the last mission we got a wand of lightning and we decided she should have it in the hopes of having more to do in combat.  Sure enough, she dips the tip in the sewer water and fries all 7 rats about to attack us.

Part two, party time

When we get out we decide to split up.  I will go with Draspher to report to the guild master and pick up his gold to buy the items.  The rest will party.  The guild master is quite worried about these weapons being in the city and tells us he will sort it out, just don’t mention it to anyone unless they say a code phrase.  We head back, I’m caring Draspher’s gold for security this time (with only a 10% fee for carrying it).  This is an example of Ocelot’s “fair play”.  He immediately upon seeing us in a large crowd starts loudly yelling to us about “how crazy it is that all those swords were there in the secret room under the city” (he even admitted he wanted to deliberately punish us for not remembering to tell us in character we weren’t supposed to tell anyone, stupid anti-metagame crap).  The only thing worth mentioning is that, thanks to a fancy magic machine brought in as an attraction I failed a will save and was made to do the chicken dance (this and the wood chippers from the carnival has sparked a personal hatred of any kind of machinery, I intend to sabotage the next mechanical device the DM throws at us regardless of function).  Eventually we make our way to a pub and start chatting with a girl called “angel” (probably a red herring from the DM as the code phrase mentioned angels to trip us up).  As we are sitting we see a man look at us, get up and make to leave.  A quick perception roll shows us this is the man who was behind the door before.  To stop him, Ocelot throws a glass at his head starting a barfight, I turn invisible to grab him and sim sends her cheetah to attack him.  To help stop him, Draspher makes an illusion of the city guards to try and calm everyone down.  Unfortunately, this starts a stampede of drunks that crushes the unconscious guy, losing us our best lead. And that was the note we finished that session on.