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A Tempestuous Arrival

Scene details

Setting: The pirate princess Roseline arrives incognito in Rosia to beseech the aid of the Star Chasers -- or perhaps demand it -- and summon them to the seafarer's utopia of Nova Luria. An unfortunate misunderstanding follows.

Log


 The lively idyll of Oradia's capital, Rosia, is all the more bustling as one approaches the harbor, talk nearly drowned out by competing melodies of street musicians and the boisterous exchanges of itinerant orators, sound which blends into a peculiar harmony rather than mere cacophony. Streets that are typically suited for sedate strolls by locals or tourists are energized by knowledge of the Queen Rani's upcoming royal Ball, in which the greatest performers, whether renowned or plucked from obscurity, will be invited to showcase their talents.
 "I of course cannot help but compare the city to Cosmopolis," Ivo is saying to Fabroxo, the latter of whom once had Ivo's governance of a Cosmopolitan district temporarily thrust upon him. Presumably, the district is still there. Ivo doesn't know. He hasn't gone back yet. "I feel as though this realm is horizontal where Cosmpolis is vertical, literally and figuratively: the competition seems so egalitarian here." Weaving past passerby on the increasingly busy street to the harbor, treading on river-mined stone with peridot-green veins, he turns his head to gaze over his shoulder back at the great Hanging Gardens, an everpresent reference point to navigate Rosia. "Even the highest point is largely a public park, accessible to all."
 He looks ahead again and neatly dodges someone shouldering a bundle of canvas-wrapped artwork before proceeding down stone stairs, approaching the piers where riverboats cluster like leaves fallen from the dense jungle canopy above.
 "But it is an illusion, to a degree," Ivo continues, his exposition relentless. "At the height of the Hanging Gardens is the Royal Palace, accessible only to those invited by the Queen, who claims divinity, a categorical difference from the rest. Though she's wildly popular, we've already met those who resent her rule, and so are banished from the city."
 His gaze sweeps the assembled boats, looking for anyone suspicious. The Vanguards had warned him that figures potentially resembling said resentful folk, the Ankhialean cultists, had been spotted by fellow adventurers at the harbor. With Reize and Ruidosa occupied with preparations for the ball, when Ivo ran into Fabroxo, naturally the former dragged the latter along, if only for a conversation partner.
 "I don't know *how* they manage banishment, though," he murmurs. "I never see any guards in Rosia."

  • Character: Fabroxo
  • 1 week, 3 days ago


  "Ah, politics! If ever there was a pursuit more wasteful of the glorious gift of sentience, surely it has yet to be discovered." Fabroxo muses as he strolls along with Ivo, tinkering with what would surely be considered a generic magitech doohickey were it not for the uncomfortable squelching noises it occasionally makes as he twists a screw or tightens a bolt.
  "The affairs of kings and countries are of little concern when compared to the grand pursuits of the mind, Ivo." This opinion surely gives insight into the fate of his Governorship, but the self-proclaimed renaissance man doesn't seem to mind, such concerns already long forgotten.

  • Character: Laineth
  • 1 week, 3 days ago


  Over at the pier, a certain ship is docked. It seems fairly benign at first glance, barring its larger than normal size and the array of closed 'ports' on the sides that seem to suggest this ship has... a lot of firepower. But you'd have to be quite observant to tell. The sails were plain white. No obvious skull and bone insignias here. What sort of self respecting pirates would openly port in a protected city flying such obvious identifiers?

  The crew were nearly all rough looking burly dudes, laughing raucously as they moved cargo, and among them, a certain figure makes their way down the ramp from the ship's deck, to the pier. Wearing a white cloak with the hood up, it hides their features and manner of dress. They'd be too conspicuous if they just walked around openly. Wanted lists and all that.

  ".........." From under the hood, they stare across the port, eyeing the various ships. Mostly merchant vessels. But they spot one among them that makes their eyes light up a bit. TThat sleek, advanced design in comparison to the other ships here... "That must be the Romancing Saga." A girl's voice murmurs aloud under the hood. "So they are here." Their information network hasn't failed them yet. Good.

  She turns and makes her way inwards towards the bustling port. Now to actually find these people. That might take a little more doing.

  That's what she thought anyway, before she spies a blue cape, and the person its attached to. One whose description matches what she's heard before. ... What luck. That saves time. Good.

  She makes her way towards Ivo, not realizing that cloaked figures aren't the best thing to be at this moment.

  • Character: Tulip
  • 1 week, 3 days ago

  While Ivo and Fabroxo make their way through the crowd and that suspicious cloaked figure pursues them, there's another figure making her way down to the docks. Those are always a good place to find someone who's itching for a fight, what with all the sketchy travellers and all that. Grumbling and occasionally bumping into into someone who quite understandably overlooked her, a short, unimpressive looking rabbit girl spots the definitely legitimate and very much non-criminal sailors that are working their cargo. With a grin she ensures her brown hair is tied back into the short ponytail she keeps it in when things are going to get rough, plants her hands in her pockets and stalks her way towards the ship.
  Pirates are always good for a scrap, right?


 "I couldn't agree more, my friend," Ivo indulgently replies to Fabroxo, utterly unfazed by the persistent squelching. A small band of musicians playing by the side of a warehouse edge away from them, moving as a group, without interruption to their playing. "Why, my skin tingles with the memory of our extraordinary accomplishments on the Isle of Blessed Winds. Our synthesis of the vacuum-aspected aether gem was vital to our successful quelling of the Infernex there. Now that you're here, we should engage in some proper research into the beastkin relic that we uncovered."
 So saying, from a pouch within his signature blue cloak, Ivo withdraws a pale green orb enscribed with sigils and into which a strange sort of key has been inserted, courtesy of their erstwhile ally Lether, a pirate who had absconded with the key from a rumored utopian city.
 "We recovered this so-called Tempestquell from a tower that had crumbled and fallen beneath the waves near a coral reef," he explains, showing it to Fabroxo in convenient full view of anyone who, say, might have gotten a description of it from some local wind elementals. "By activating it in the heart of the caldera, we at last brought an end to the raging winds that angered the sea monster and so prevented our escape. Supposedly, according to the self-proclaimed Catgirl Mafia, an old organization called the Beastkeepers, that carries on the knowledge of their ancient golden age, knows more. But nothing stops us from learning more ourselves... hm?"
 At last, Ivo catches a glimpse of a cloaked figure as she emerges, at which he smiles lopsidedly.
 "Our intel network could use some work," he quips, in unknowing contrast to the cloaked figure's thoughts. "These aren't Ankhialeans. Though a lot of them are quite... robust, aren't they?"
 Still holding the Tempestquell, unaware of the approach of a certain pugnacious bunnygirl, his smile widens as he approaches the cloaked figure directly.
 "Welcome to Rosia, traveler!" he exclaims, as though he owns the place. "I am Ivo Galvan, your humble servant. A lovely city of wonders awaits you, but I must extend a word of warning: cloaked figures will arouse some suspicion here. Proceeding unhooded would be prudent, if possible..."
 Though he says that, passerby bustle around them without much concern, no one paying much heed to the cloaked figure. If Ivo is telling the truth, it doesn't seem that such concerns have spread to the populace as a whole. At least, not yet.

  • Character: Fabroxo
  • 1 week, 3 days ago


  "Mmhmm," Fabroxo nods sagely as Ivo yammers on about a bunch of irrelevant nonsense after rightfully expressing agreement. "Yes, that seems like an adequate use of your time and talents. However, HOWEVER!" Fabroxo shakes his head sadly, clicking his tongue.
  "This is all in the past, my foolish friend, and as explorers on the frontier of discovery, we must always be looking forward, to the future!" He tightens another bolt, and this time there's a squelch AND a small jet of clear, unpleasantly aromatic fluid, which flies through the air toward Hooded Figure 1. Fabroxo doesn't seem to notice. not even looking up from his machinations.
  "What does it matter if some behooded stranger wanders about? I have an exciting new trepanning technique that I feel quite confident in."

  • Character: Laineth
  • 1 week, 3 days ago



  She planned on following Ivo to somewhere less...... crowded, before she called out for him. But Of course, the fates decide that he should notice her and approach HER instead. Well crap. This throws a wrench into the works.

  And Ivo gives her the spiel as if he owns the place, she raises a hand to the rim of her hood. Tsk... Well, maybe this works out just as well. It's not like they will immediately clock her and bring in a swarm of security or peacekeepers or whatever. "...Hmph. I suppose you have a point." She glances at Ivo and then spares Fabroxo a look. She's vaguely heard tell of this guy too. Something about a mad inventor and to keep him away from anything you don't want exploding. He's not who she has business with, so her eyes go back to Ivo.

  The girl finally lowers her hood, sighing to herself in annoyance. Turns out, she's a young adult lady of about eighteen or nineteen. Maybe twenty, but unsure. She's got bright red hair, with loose bangs and a length that's currently rolled into a loose loop at the back to keep it from spilling everywhere. Her eyes are a sharp yellow, her expression set into something to a mild glare. "Ivo Galvan. My crew and I have been looking for you." She states, resting a hand on a hip beneath her cloak.

  Then she raises that hand, gesturing as she speaks. "You and your bunch were at Nova Luria some time back and made contact with the wind elementals, didn't you?" She asks rhetorically, as she goes on. "I'm going to need you to hand over the artifact you got your hands on." She says bluntly, not even introducing herself.

  ...MEANWHILE, over at the totally not a pirate ship, some of the sailors catch sight of the... rather small buny girl approaching. One of them points. "'Ey boys! Get a load of this half-pint!" He says loudly. Another looks that way, and then snorts. "Pff! Hah! Didn't even know they made em fun size! Ahahahahaha!" There's a round of laughter, and a third definitely not a pirate directly calls out to Tulip. "Hey girlie! You lose yer mommy n daddy? The lost n found's in the other direction! Bwahahahaha!" And a fourth raucously adds "Careful, tiny! Don't wanna get stepped on while yer on yer way to preschool!"

  ...These people.

  • Character: Tulip
  • 1 week, 3 days ago

  The grin on Tulip's face only widens when the totally legitimate sailors start to heckle her, looking the first one in the eyes as she pushes a fist into the palm of her other hand with the distinct sound of cracking knuckles. "Knew I'd find some jerks if I poked around down here!" she declares as she repeats the gesture with her other hand.

  The girl certainly doesn't look all that impressive. Brown hair and green eyes aren't all that unusual compared to some of the features people can sport in this world, and the set of long, white-furred rabbit ears that stand up above her head are only marginally less usual than the rest of her. At least they help add a little to her less than intimidating height. She doesn't look especially muscular either. It's little wonder that the pirates feel like they can pick on her.

  "SO!" she declares proudly as she points a finger, sweeping it across the four of them. "Which one of ya wants the honours of being first, huh?" she declares as she slips her other hand into a pocket, her fingers curling around something in there. How suspicious.


 Ivo nods gamely to Fabroxo, never even batting an eye at the occasional insult. That's just how Fabroxo shows affection, just like Priel, surely.
 "The future indeed," he affirms. "We must not be distracted from--"
 He falls silent the moment the hooded figure reveals her face, as though her appearance has pressed a reset button on his brain, staring at her. The background music and the peripheral taunts of the pirates fall on deaf ears.
 "Well, well," he says softly, his smile growing. "Some pieces of the puzzle are falling into place." Ivo considers the tales Lether told of a pirate city, the stories the elementals told of a relationship with mortals lost and abandoned, the ship they saw observing them as they left the isle. "Representatives of Nova Luria... how exciting."
 With a gallant flourish of his cloak, he extends his arm behind him, where the Hanging Gardens loom, lovely and majestic, on a tiered hill, with the royal palace its crowning jewel.
 "Alas, though your servant, I cannot obey you," he continues. "Not without consultation with my friends, the heroes who dispelled the isle's winds. They prepare for a wondrous ball, the heart of culture here in this most cultured city, and cannot be deterred by any means--"
 An explosion, seen before it is heard, detonates in the distance, sending up a cloud of smoke around the royal palace, obscuring it from view. The moment he hears it, Ivo falls silent, glancing over his shoulder, then glancing back to the girl, now deadpan.
 "When-- when I say *any* means, I-- hm?"
 Before he can come up with some sort of quip, an odd phenomenon follows: the shadows grow. As though the jungle canopy were extending, though it does not move, its shadows spread until the whole of the harbor is rapidly covered in a dusk-like dark. As Ivo stands, evidently bewildered, the citizens of Rosia freeze briefly and then rapidly disperse. Chaos erupts for brief moments as those seemingly in the know rush to barricade themselves inside whatever buildings or interiors are available. A man carrying a barrel drops it, opens it, and dives inside before shutting the lid atop it. The squelching sound inside is almost as bad as those from Fabroxo's device.
 "I thought I understood the norms here," Ivo says, in a sudden silence.
 The silence is first broken by the musicians from before who, now visible through the window of the warehouse they have escaped inside, resume playing, this time a lively and more frantic tune.

> BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bq9MjUvWwc

 Ivo had wondered where the guards of Rosia are and now, at last, he learns. Emerging from the shadows of buildings are staggering, swaying humanoids wreathed in dark garb armored with blackened plates. Upon their hands are affixed blackened metal claws and, upon their mouths, metal jaw-like implements seemingly designed to afford them a fearsome bite. Where moments before there were none, suddenly there are many, shambling into view, slow at first, then scurrying quickly, moving to surround anyone still in view. This is primarily our heroes.
 "I think there's been some sort of misunderstanding," Ivo says, instinctively moving to tuck away the Tempestquell and secure it. But as he reaches inside his cloak, one of the shadowy figures leaps, forcing Ivo to hastily half-draw Hauteclare to parry a slashing claw. "There's *definitely* a misunderstanding...!"

> The foot soldiers of the Shadowguard, the Ghouls, are attacking!

  • Character: Fabroxo
  • 1 week, 3 days ago


  "You see? You must rid your mind of preconceptions, and accept reality for what it is! This delightfully quaint local custom is surely steeped in backwards tradition and superstition. Some kind of festival, or an offering to imaginary gods." Fabroxo still hasn't looked up from what he's doing, though he does seem to have reached some manner of satisfactory conclusion as he stows away his custom multimagitool and dusts the top of this...mysterious fluid dispenser off.
  "And while I'm flattered by the attention, I honestly am quite busy, I wouldn't have even come this far if not for some of the opportunities you mentioned, you know." Reaching behind himself, the Device vanishes into the array of cloth and junk scrap he calls an outfit, whereupon a high pitched whirring begins to emit from somewhere on his person. With a mechanical screech, four narrow, spindly appendages, roughly segmented and ending in wickedly sharpened points, burst out from Fabroxo's backside, seeming to automatically lean and sway toward the nearest of the ghoulish aggressors.
  "So, while I would love to learn about whatever regressive party they're throwing, I think we should continue on." The Artificial Reactive Melee System (ARMS mkI) quivers and twitches dangerously, and ever so softly seems to be screaming.
  "Oh, and pardon the noise. I think I should probably be able to fix that in the next version."

  • Character: Laineth
  • 1 week, 3 days ago



  The totally not pirates all look at each other after Tulip makes a show of getting ready to fight. Then they look back at her. "Wait a sec, lil lady. Yer bein' serious?" Right is they're about to burst out laughing though-

  KABOOM

  That's not normal.

  Immediately, the jokes stop, and the heckling sailors start rushing to move cargo onto the ship. "Sorry lil bunny! Time to work!" And they scramble.

  MEANWHILE... Roseline frowns at Ivo's theatrics, but before she can call him a fool- An explosion. Ah. Ivo looks back at where it occurred, and then looks back to her. When he does, she's got on an expression most unimpressed. ".....Uh huh." She looks aside and calls out to the not pirates scrambling with cargo by the ship. "Boys! Get the cargo on board and assume defensive positioning!"

  "Aye aye, boss lady!" Come some of the crew in response.

  She's about to go and join them, not keen on being conspicuous here, but then those..... shadowy things emerge from the dark of various buildings. "...What the-?" The shambling ghouls surround them and then attack Ivo suddenly. She jerks backwards, away from the danger zone while shouting

  "What the hell did you do!?" She shouts towards Ivo, in regards to this sudden altercation. Another ghoul swings a claw her way, as if attacking by association, and she jumps back to avoid it. Well crap. This just got a hundred times more complicated! She's already a wanted person. She does not need to incite attention by revealing her hand and fighting willy nilly!

  • Character: Tulip
  • 1 week, 3 days ago

  "Why're you all running? Hey! Get back here, ya wimps!" Tulip starts as the legitimate sailors rush away, left hand coming out of her pocket adorned with a set of simple, unadorned brass knuckles. "It's just an explosion! Or are ya just too cowardly to fight me like..uh." she goes on to shout after them, fist raised to threaten them. But it's then that the shadows start shifting and the locals join the sailors in a hurry to hide.

  Her ears swivel as she sweeps her eyes around at the sight of the shifting shadows, peering with a mix of suspicion and interest as those Ghouls start to emerge. They don't seem interested in her yet, given her distance from Ivo and company. But, the bunny reasons in the confines of her own head, if everyone's running from the things they must be interesting, right? That's just common sense. Besides, they're starting a fight in public. That totally makes them bad guys.

  Hey! HEY! YOU!" she shouts as her hand slips into other pocket and comes out with another brass knuckle just like the first, fingers flexing to get used to the feeling of them on her fists. "C'mere and fight like, uh...shadow monster guys!" she shouts as she assumes a solid stance, feet planted firmly to the ground. Then she's rushing towards the group, fists held in front of her as she prepares to pummel the nearest monster.

  Unlike Roseline, she's absolutely willing to incite attention by revealing her hand and fighting willy nilly.


 "Why are you doing this!?" Ivo cries out to one of the attacking ghouls. "We don't understand what's happened!"
 It does not seem that these revenants either can or are granted permission to speak. There is no reply, merely an acrobatic leap and a frenzied assault that the magitech fencer manages barely to deflect. Nearly overwhelmed by a sudden flank from another assailant, Ivo finds himself saved by his proximity to Fabroxo, whose ARMS compels the ghoul to fade back defensively.
 "If there was an explosion... then..."
 Quickly determining that he must figure this out for himself, Ivo's mind is racing. The Star Chasers had encountered the Ankhialeans in the tunnels of an abandoned waterway beneath the Hanging Gardens. Our heroes had been forced to retreat due to their potent command of fire elementals, rather dangerous to vampire companions. If the Ankhialeans had been making their way through warrens beneath the royal palace, laying fiery traps in the stone...
 "It's not *me*!" he suddenly shouts to the cloaked girl, his eyes widening. "It's you! That explosion was meant to disrupt the ball, and you look like the people who probably did it!"
 For once, Ivo has gotten caught up in someone *else's* problem.
 "Watch out--!"
 Having a difficult enough time defending himself from the sudden onset of ghouls, Ivo cannot reposition to help support the girl amidst the increasing swarm of foes, and is reluctant to leave Fabroxo's side in any case. Fortunately, an unexpected ally appears, happening to launch herself at a foe approaching Roseline and smash it aside.
 "Thank you!" Ivo calls to Tulip. "We need to withdraw and escape-- uh?"
 With the breathing room required to sweep his gaze throughout the surroundings, Ivo notices something new: the shadows fallen atop the tallest rooftop in the vicinity have begun to writhe. A single bat flutters from the jungle canopy and, alighting upon the roof, transforms into a dark-uniformed woman, hair a blonde paler than platinum. With a merciless and stoic expression, she raises a manicured hand and, before their very eyes, gathers the shadows into a great arrow or bolt, pointing at the party-- and, beyond them, the ship on which the pirates arrived.
 "Move!"
 Even if Ivo launched Hauteclare at the woman, it would be too slow. In the split second he has, he turns, desperate, to yell at the girl and her brawny friends.
 "Get off that ship!!"

> The Shadowguard Lieutenant, Osanna, has appeared!
> Osanna is gathering power. The party is in peril!


 PREVIOUSLY, ON STAR CHASER STORY MUSH:

> BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bq9MjUvWwc

 An explosion visibly erupts on the distant Hanging Gardens, obscuring the royal palace at its peak in dust and smoke, as our heroes gaze on from Rosia's riverside harbor. As though the heretofore peaceful city of arts were having an immune response, the shadows of the jungle canopy unnaturally extend and masked figures emerge from the depths of the shadows, blackened metal claws dully gleaming, artificial metal maws affixed to their jaws clamping. They are the Ghouls, the underlings of Rosia's secret Shadowguard, one of the institutions founded in the little-understood alliance between Oradia's ostensibly divine royal line and the nation's vampiric aristocracy. As the denizens of the harbor scatter, the Ghouls throw themselves at our confused protagonists, who desperately fend them off.
 "If there was an explosion... then..."
 Ivo's mind is racing. The Star Chasers had encountered the Ankhialeans in the tunnels of an abandoned waterway beneath the Hanging Gardens. Our heroes had been forced to retreat due to their potent command of fire elementals, rather dangerous to vampire companions. If the Ankhialeans had been making their way through warrens beneath the royal palace, laying fiery traps in the stone...
 "It's not *me*!" he suddenly shouts to the white-cloaked girl and her brawny associates, his eyes widening. "It's you! That explosion was meant to disrupt the ball, and you look like the people who probably did it!"
 For once, Ivo has gotten caught up in someone *else's* problem.
 "Watch out--!"
 Having a difficult enough time defending himself from the sudden onset of ghouls, even with Fabroxo's automated and mechanized assistance, Ivo cannot reposition to help support the girl amidst the increasing swarm of foes. Fortunately, an unexpected ally appears, happening to launch herself at a foe approaching Roseline and smash it aside.
 "Thank you!" Ivo calls to Tulip. "We need to withdraw and escape-- uh?"
 With the breathing room required to sweep his gaze throughout the surroundings, Ivo notices something new: the shadows fallen atop the tallest rooftop in the vicinity have begun to writhe. A single bat flutters from the jungle canopy and, alighting upon the roof, transforms into a dark-uniformed woman, hair a blonde paler than platinum. With a merciless and stoic expression, she raises a manicured hand and, before their very eyes, gathers the shadows into a great arrow or bolt, pointing at the party-- and, beyond them, the ship on which the pirates arrived.
 "Move!"
 Even if Ivo launched Hauteclare at the woman, it would be too slow. In the split second he has, he turns, desperate, to yell at the girl and her brawny friends.
 "Get off that ship!!"

> The Shadowguard Lieutenant, Osanna, has appeared!
> Osanna is gathering power. The party is in peril!

  • Character: Laineth
  • 3 days, 20 hours ago



  It becomes increasingly clear in all this confusion and violence that it's not what Ivo did, but rather... what she did?

  Huh?

  "Wait, are they after /me/?" Roseline asks aloud incredulously, dodging another swing from an oncoming ghoul. "What the hell? We literally just arrived!" The redhead hisses angrily. But there's no time to demand answers. Especially not from these things.

  Not that it matters because events take a turn for the worse when, on one of the rooftops, some woman appears. Gathering energy into a great bolt, at first, Roseline thinks it might be aimed at them and braces to evade, but then... its aim goes beyond them and to... "My ship!?" She shouts.

  Well shit. What now? It's too late to launch some kind of counteroffensive. She could try to put up some kind of barrier, but that would be too slow. The only thing she can do is shout at her crew.

  "Boys! Abandon ship! Now!"

  Crap crap crap, everything has been going south all of a sudden! Someone, somewhere has a lot to answer for!

  • Character: Tulip
  • 3 days, 20 hours ago

  After smashing one ghoul aside with surprising strength for someone her size Tulip is eager to follow up, pursuing it to deliver another solid blow. "You guys get into trouble here, huh?" she shouts out between strikes as she keeps an eye out for any ghouls that might take a swing at her.

  "So what'd you do? Steal somethin'? Start a fight? Insult some stuck up noble?" she continues in a brief lull in the battle. Or to be more precise, in a moment where she's not the one being targeted. While she's speculating as to the reasons behind this little tussle, that dark bolt is soaring towards the ship, the short rabbit grunting and muttering something under her breath at the sight of it.

  Those guys better survive. She owes them a little beating.



 While Ivo was away to handle his trip with Fabroxo, Reize was handling some shopping with Ruidosa. The two were busy getting some things together, especially as enjoyed their days. Upon the creeping feeling, it was confusion between the couple, before the presence of the Shadowguards got their attention.

 Ruidosa and Reize split off; Ruidosa would handle a group while Reize would focus on clearing out the city to make sure that no one was hurt. Upon his end, he would encounter a few that did remain in the city--- particularly a mother and a child. The shadowguard that would attack them would had regretted their decision; the boy's passionate rage burned with the carnelian bracers, igniting the crystal boomerang, and thus, the shadowguard.

 After getting the family to safety, Reize would bolt ahead. Any of the Shadowguards that got in his way would had been assaulted by the burning, passionate flames of his kicks emanating from his aura thanks to the carnelian bracers.


~~~~


 That dark woman, who had been gathering power, would have her preparations interrupted as a forceful flare erupt through the sky. That crystal boomerang, soaring through the sky, would rip through the wind at sonic speed strike towards her side and light her ablaze---or at least interrupt her.

 That interruption would come from a boy who is running ahead towards Ivo. "IVO!" Reize calls out as he watches the commotion. However, he will short live that as he hops over towards the roof top to close in the distance.

 


 Ivo can already tell: there's not enough time.
 "You've got to be kidding...!"
 As he witnesses the massive dark bolt summoned by the Shadowguard Lieutenant preparing to be unleashed upon the pirate vessel, he is reaching into his cloak for some trick or technique that might subvert this art. Perhaps if they still possessed Kernunnos's Crux of Creation or if Argent were here and willing to wield the morally-dubious Crown Jewel, formed of sacrificed homunculi, they might be able to generate enough Creation-aspected energies to counter the coming blast of Destruction. All Ivo can muster himself is a burst of lightning from their elesphere research into the Heavenly Crowned Beetle. He reaches for his best option, knowing it will be useless, compelled to do *something*.
 Alone, however, he can't. Fortunately...
 "Reize!!"
 He's not alone.
 The Carnelian Bracers, claimed from the ritual remains of Ankhialean elemental summoning and identified through careful scrutiny, channel Reize's inner aether and passionate emotions into gouts of undead-punishing flames. As the Ghouls are battered aside, Osanna looks startled, reacting too slowly to the oncoming boomerang, forced to duck behind and reposition her own gathered energies to deflect it. This throws off her aim, the beam firing just above the deck of the pirate vessel as the crew hurl themselves into the water or onto the docks to escape, though the mast is sheared off, among other serious damage inflicted.
 "To the SaGa!" Ivo yells at the top of his lungs. "Withdraw!"

> Objective: Hold off the Shadowguard and escape Rosia!

 Cloak whirling, he turns to hasten away toward their magitech speedboat, both to get it started and to indicate to the fleeing pirates where to go. Within moments, however, several Ghouls weave in front of him, forcing Ivo to pause and adopt a fencing stance, Hauteclare at the ready. He can't easily use any of his orbital blade Arts while facing multiple foes at once.
 "We've done all those and more," he quips at last to Tulip, despite his duress, "but this is a case of mistaken identity, and I don't think our foes will be reasonable about it!"
 It's hard to tell if the Ghouls possess reason at all. The Lieutenant, for her part, says nothing, merely glaring at Reize for foiling her attack. As he attempts to close in, she gathers shadowy power to her hands, slashing out with two blade-like projectiles-- that then fizzle as a boulder collides into them from the side before they can reach their target, interrupting her again in rapid succession.
 here, on the deck of the damaged pirate vessel, now stands a very surly-looking giant tortoise, glaring in Reize and his foe's general direction. Its throat works as it prepares another projectile. Did Roseline befriend it when she visited the Isle of Blessed Winds to interrogate its elemental inhabitants? Did it stow away? Either way, their old friend is helping.
 For now.

  • Character: Fabroxo
  • 3 days, 19 hours ago


  A lot of things, Fabroxo notes to himself internally, are happening, with a lot of different interesting people doing a lot of different, less interesting (mostly just violent) things. There is shouting, there is fire, there is chaos. It feels...cozy.
  HOWEVER. Is Fabroxo, a veritable renaissance man of magitech, medicine, and a vast array of other disciplines a man of logic and reason, or a man of emotion? Obviously not the latter. And even as he nimbly hops away from an aggressive ghoulie guard, the mechanical appendages swiftly moving to parry its furious pursuit attacks, he can't help but think that he doesn't have time for this.
  "Ahem, well, this is a nuisance, isn't it?" With furrowed brow and the lightest of frowns, the greased up magitechnician goes deep into thought, a feat perhaps only made possible by his automated defenses. And when Ivo's strange, overly emotional friend appears, literally on fire, Fabroxo decides enough is enough.
  "IVO! This is clearly someone else's problem, and as such, I believe I will be taking my leave! After I finish setting up a temporary laboratory, I'll send you a messenger!" Thus, now producing another small gadget, Fabroxo throws it to the ground directly at his feet. "SMOKE BOMB!"
  It explodes, but what emerges is not smoke, but a goopy black mess - as though a tar pit decided this was a fine place to spontaneously incorporate. Gunk spatters in a wide radius, thick and, in its own way, blinding. And, it must be said, when it finishes wetly slapping onto the nearby ground--
  Well, Fabroxo IS gone, so...success?

  • Character: Laineth
  • 3 days, 19 hours ago



  And now there's Reize.

  Roseline recognizes him based on the description of him that she's heard. Black hair, big yellow scarf, red shirt, headband... Yep. That's him. Not that she's in any sort of proximity to speak to him. Nor is this the time.

  But his actions do save her ship from behind completely destroyed, instead only damaging the mast. ...Still sucks, but that's better than the worst outcome, so she'll take it. Still, the ship can't very well sail now...

  She parries a strike from another ghoul and kicks it away as Ivo calls for everyone to get to the Romancing Saga. ...Even them?

  Tsk, getting onto another ship. How insulting. But this is a crisis. They don't have the forces to launch an offensive, nor did they intend to. This was purely an information gathering trip, so the crew was relatively small. As for that giant tortoise.... Well, it lumbered onto the deck back when they visited the idle of blessed winds and wouldn't get off.

  They tried, but it seems set on making the ship its home for now, so.... they sailed off with it on. Look, they'll just deliver it back home some other time.

  Or maybe not.

  Roseline calls out to the scattered crew. "To the Saga, boys! Quit screwing around and move!" She shouts as she makes a break for the other ship.

  "Aye Aye, Boss Lady!" One of the crew members calls as they shift gears and make for the Saga, batting Ghouls out of the way and ducking and dodging otherwise.

  • Character: Tulip
  • 3 days, 19 hours ago

  "Hey...HEY! Where are you all going? Stay here and fight these weirdos, damnit!" Tulip calls out as Ivo breaks into a retreat right before she delivers a savage blow right into a Ghoul's stomach. How much one of these things can be winded she doesn't know, but it's worth a try right?

  The bunnygirl sidesteps a swing from a Ghoul that seems to have cottoned on to her being a threat, then gets out the way of another. Much as she'd love to stay and keep the fight going, Tulip isn't stupid enough to take on a legion of Ghouls and their leader all by her lonesome. "Gah...hey! Leave a spot for me!" she shouts as a ghoulish claw comes an inch or so from her face.

  With that she breaks into a run, chasing along behind the pirate crew and closing the gap between them. Will those poor pirates even realize she's joining them, rather than chasing them down?



  Reize, however, is on his own.

  Or not...

  The abrupt appearance of a boulder impacting against the blade-like projectiles gets the boy's attention. He turns towards the damaged vessel and he brightens. "Oh! Buddy! It's good to see----"

  *PLINK!* A boulder strikes him in the face and slips down, leaving a pink imprint on his face. A trail of tears run down his eyes as he sighs, "...I missed ya too..."

  However, the reunion is short-lived as he turns towards the Lieutenant. "I don't know who you are, but you and your friends tried to harm the people here! I'll make sure you don't get away with that! Your fight is with me!"

  BOSS FIGHT BEGINS!

  Reize closes in the distance between himself and the lieutenant. He is lunging forward with a combo of boomerang strikes and roundhouse kicks. The aura continues to emanate from him, leaving a trail of flames following with his movements. He follows suit with a spring from the ground, the aether erupting from him as he swings his foot down to straight bring his foot down.

  Should the lieutenant attempt to block against it. .... She will find that it'll crush through her defenses.

  ~ Art: Fading Sun! ~

 

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20+5>=12.
Comment: Osanna's evasion (enhanced by Shadowed Stage)
Roll(s): 14. Total result is 19. This is a success (by 7).


 Ivo grits his teeth as he parries one Ghoul and activates his energy buckler to deflect the attack of another. Their foes seem to swarm whenever they get the chance, and he has difficulty dealing with swarms, unless his elespheres happen to be suited to the occasion. Given Reize's success in breaking through, Ivo could do the same at least once if there were just an opening. But more are already closing in...
 ...until they stumble, slipping in the mire that Fabroxo has created moments before his dramatic disappearance.
 "Thank you, my friend!" Ivo calls to his fellow magitechnician. "I shall await your missive eagerly!"
 And, slapping a fire elesphere into Hauteclare's pommel, he releases the blade to unleash a wheel of flame, spinning before him to clear a path while he rushes to the SaGa, aboard which pirates are already clambering. He's already considering how they lack the supplies for so many, but that's a problem for Future Ivo. Present Ivo has enough problems as it is.
 As he takes the tiller and begins to rev up the magical engines, he looks up to see Reize engaging the Shadowguard Lieutenant in a rooftop duel. The Ghouls seem to falter a bit as he does, their movements slowing, as though their leader were providing them some silent direction. But when he descends with his fierce kick, she seems to evaporate into mist, becoming intangible, only to reassemble some paces away, where the shadows are deepest. Ivo's brow furrows. To be able to pull off such a technique so quickly, in addition to summoning so much dark power...
 "Reize!" he calls. "I think that whatever they did to cover everything in shadow is empowering them!"
 Even though there is sky above, shadow seems to blot everything out. Ivo tries to think. It was as though the shadows of the leafy jungle canopy above had been stretched out, somehow... is there any counter to this?
 But while he focuses on getting the SaGa running and organizing the retreat, Osanna is counterattacking Reize. Coils of shadow, drawn from where the darkness is deepest, where the canopy actually shades even when its shadows are unextended, burst from her hands like drills, aiming to thrust Reize back and keep those flames away from her.

Reize Seatlan rolls 1d20>=13.
Comment: Evading the Drills
Roll(s): 3. Total result is 3. This is a failure (by 10).

  • Character: Laineth
  • 3 days, 18 hours ago



  One of the pirates booking it to the SaGa passes by Tulip and shouts in passing. "Ain't the time for tusslin' now, Lil Bunny! Better book it unless you wanna end up in a cell!"

  Roseline meanwhile gets to where the SaGa is docked and jumps, boosted by a gust of wind, to land on the deck of the ship. She looks out at the situation. That mire of... tar? Goo? It's slipping up the ghouls for now, which is good. Some breathing room at last. Enough breathing room to try and do something.

  Though reluctant to display any grand powers, Roseline decides that now is the time to do something to try and swing the situation a bit more in their favor. She spreads both arms, forming several swirling orbs of wind around her person. They grow in size until they're about the size of several large stones.

  "Move it!" The pirate shouts, and then with an arm outstretched, she fires the orbs of wind onto the port, each impacting the ground and exploding into mini tornados that grab up the various ghouls scattered about to lift and toss them away.

  She makes sure not to accidentally get the stragglers of the crew or Tulip. Some of her crew seem to have been bantering with her and she's been fighting, so she must be an ally. At least for now.

  • Character: Tulip
  • 3 days, 18 hours ago

  "So we'll fight later, yeah?" the Lil Bunny shouts back as one of those wind orbs whooshes past her, blowing her hair out of the neat little short ponytail she was sporting and into a chaotic, unrestrained mess. "Agh! You little..." she snaps, arm swinging out to point towards Roseline without breaking stride. "You're gonna fix that!"

  Occasionally a Ghoul gets in the way, but with how their commander is distracted just one of them alone isn't a particularly major issue. The rabbit simply barges them out of the way with surprising ease for someone who looks so light. Anyone sensitive enough might feel her channeling aether, which would handily explain the force she's able to put into blows!

  Pretty soon she's made it to the boat, leaping airborne just like one would expect from a rabbit and landing on the deck with a loud THUMP. "And your boys owe me a scrap, too!" she adds on, arms crossed as she glares at Roseline, seemingly quite unconcerned about the Ghouls in pursuit.



  Reize gives off a hiss as the lieutenant manages to evade the technique by blending into the shadows. His eyes dart around to see the creeping darkness around. Hearing Ivo calling out to him, his eyes dart back to the man's direction.

 '... Whatever they did to cover everything in shadow, huh?'

  Reize does not get the chance to think too deeply as Osanna launches out the coils thrust forward and nail Reize. The shirt has a rip as it pierces his skin. "Gah!" He grimaces as he recoils away. He eyes around, looking over towards the darkness.

  "...So, all I need to do is just dispel the darkness, right?" He reaches into his pocket to procure a jar. He opens the jar and he frees up the shimmering jewel bettle. "I need your help, buddy!" It is then that the jewel beetle flies out and hangs by Reize's side. As it shimmers brightly, it starts to look for the source of the manifested darkness and lead Reize for a way to clear it away...

  "Oooooi! Buy me some time!" Reize calls out to the tortoise.

 


 "Let's just not break anything on board," Ivo is saying to Tulip as she lands dramatically upon the SaGa. "We can stop at an island or something and-- whoa!"
 In the midst of endeavoring to accommodate her battle lust, with the air of someone who is used to this sort of warrior instinct by now even if he does not remotely share it, he half-ducks impulsively as Roseline's orbs of wind burst upon the dock, scattering the floundering Ghouls. He glances back at her, impressed, and then looks up. The canopy is swaying, brief shafts of light piercing the gloom as the leaves move.
 "Wait, that's it," he blurts out. "This Art relies on the jungle canopy. If you move it or go through it..."
 His words are drowned out by the revving of the SaGa's souped-up magitech engines. The ship is ready to go, but Reize is on the back foot. At least, he is until the jewel beetle is released. Osanna flinches back, shielding her face from the light, as the beetle flutters up, darting to and fro for a moment, and then, drawn to the shafts of light that Roseline incidentally produced, it ascends toward the center of the canopy. There, radiating luminesence, it seems to peel back the stretched-out shadows, exposing a halo of sunlight that begins to expand in the center of the dock. The Ghouls are further thrown into confusion, scattering, and Osanna lowers her hands to reveal her alarmed expression. As some of the Ghouls, seeming to be operating more or less autonomously, start trying to clamber up the sides of the SaGa, their leader gathers what shadows remain to her into a javelin in her hand and turns to aim it-- at the fluttering beetle.

 FAR AWAY

 The lizardfolk priestess looks up as the great stag statue before her seems to stir, bejeweled eyes twinkling.
 "What troubles you, Kernunnos?" asks Cutini Nak.
 "My child," he echoes, "is in danger..."
 She looks around at the central plaza of Aurita Meloda, its canals peaceful as ever, visibly puzzled, insofar as her expressions are readable.
 "Reize!" the eidola calls.
 Reize!... Reize!... Reize!...

 HERE AND NOW

%

> Reize feels his aether surging!

 Everything seems to happen in slow motion. Osanna throws the dark javelin towards the harmless jewel beetle undoing the spell on which her prowess and the Ghouls' summoning depends. Ivo's eyes widen in horror at this threat to an innocent and peerlessly beautiful creature (Kernunnos's opinion). A few Ghouls, not many but some, claws stabbing into the hull, start to pull themselves onto the deck of the SaGa. And, from said deck, a boulder, tumbling through the air, is launched at Osanna.
 It is not quite able to intercept the dark javelin or protect the jewel beetle at this crucial moment, given that it took the tortoise a while to get on deck, being, you know, a tortoise. But unless Osanna can evade, it will strike her soon. And while in midair, it might serve as a decent platform... for one swift enough to use it.

  • Character: Laineth
  • 3 days, 18 hours ago



  Roseline stares at Tulip as she demands a fight from her men or something or another. ".... Uh huh. Maybe fix your hair first. You look like you just rolled out of bed." She says with a mildly amused smirk. She's used to these meathead sorts, evidently. Her gaze shifts from the short statured brawler, to the port, watching as the remaining ghouls make an attempt to climb up the SaGa and onto the deck. Her eyes narrow.

  "...Boys." She calls out to the crew on deck. There's a chorus of /schwings/ as cutlasses and other weaponry are drawn. "Aye aye, Boss Lady!" They immediately go to work, fight the climbing ghouls off the side of the ship and into the water below.

  She seems done with all of this now.

  Her gaze shifts to the fight on the rooftops. She contemplates assisting, but after having that thought, the giant tortoise launches another boulder.

  Yeah, maybe not. You know what they say about too many cooks. She'll watch for now.

  • Character: Tulip
  • 3 days, 18 hours ago

  "Yeah yeah, I won't break your stuff. And as for you! You're the one who messed up my hair in the first place!" Tulip grumbles, one hand pushing some of that messy hair out of her face as she watches Reize's battle with interest. The rabbit observes him closely as she tries to pick apart his skills. With some difficulty from this distance, admittedly.

  "So, uh. Who are you lot anyway? Uh...one sec." she goes on nonchalantly, pausing to POUND a brass knuckle clad fist down upon the hand of one of those clambering Ghouls as its claw reaches up over the edge of the deck. "Name's Tulip. Save a spot for me, kay?"

  Aaaaand she's off, making a leap onto that flying boulder as if it's a perfectly normal thing to do. Look, it's the quickest way to get into the most interesting fight. That makes it a totally reasonable thing to do!

  Hopefully she'll be able to help, and won't try and fight Reize or anything.



 "That's right! We can do this, my friend!" Reize looks quite cheerful as the jewel beetle shimmers with the light, warding off Osanna. Reize watches the beetle at work until it heads off to the center of the canopy and peel away the sahdows. "You did it!"

 As Osanna launches her dark javelin, the boy immediately pushes through. As he is flying forward, his aether is surging, shimmering his own body with that bright light. He swings at the dark javelin, smacking it down to intercept it.

 He leaps over towards the boulder as it flies out towards Osanna. The swift boy, faster than usual thanks to the enhanced blessing, shifts the boulder over while he leaps off, he dives to the other side.

  He descends like an arrow, giving a diving kick to strike her down. He's using another classic Art: Sky Raider.

 



  This may, or may not follow up with another Art in his combo while he is in the enhanced form.... A trail of spinning roundhouse kicks to launch her back into the air... another Art: Sparrondo. --- Which will cross over to the next Art as he twists to spike down: Talon Spike.

 

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20>=14.
Comment: Can Osanna survive this combo? (Shadow Stage negated)
Roll(s): 16. Total result is 16. This is a success (by 2).


 Ivo spins the SaGa's steering wheel, artfully withdrawing from the dock while narrowly avoiding scraping the side of its hull against wood and stone, all while managing to knock a Ghoul or two from their perch and send them plummeting in the water. Thanks to the pirates being so steady on their sea legs, they're successfully fending off the rest of the assailants, casting them back whence they came. But Ivo doesn't plan on sticking around. They've got everyone on board but Reize, so--
 "Wh--"
 Glancing to the side, he sees a boulder rocket past with a certain bunnykin perched atop it, and is compelled to double-take, eyes widening.
 "He's got it handled!!"
 So he says, and so it seems, as Ivo begins to peel out of the harbor, staying just close enough that someone can still jump on board while being ready to rush down the river. Osanna snarls as her attack is snuffed out once more, the jewel beetle fluttering innocently back to Reize's vicinity and following him faithfully as he sets upon her. His diving kick strikes her squarely, the vampire lieutenant unable to summon any more shadows to protect her. Staggered, she is launched by the next series of kicks into the air, juggled, and then spiked down to the rooftop, which cracks beneath her as she's slammed to the ground. With unnatural toughness, she drags herself into a sitting position, only to find herself staring squarely at a boulder about to impact her face with a bunnykin brawler atop it.
 *CRACK*
 The boulder-- hits her outstretched hand, crumbling in her grasp, Tulip abruptly about to lose her footing. Osanna's garb is rippling, her eyes blood-red, veins beginning to bulge about her brow and cheekbones, her fangs protruding as she hisses. The shadows no longer blot out all the light, yet darkness spills from her like ink now, the Shadowguard becoming a local dynamo of Destruction. It seems that even without their formidable Shadow Stage technique, dedicated to the protection of Rosia, the Shadowguard remain powerful.
 "Get out of there!" Ivo yells.
 It's not just because he wants to retreat, even with the Ghouls seemingly undone. It's not even because Osanna has begun a fearsome counterattack, the pool of darkness around her lancing upwards in spikes that attempt to stab at the empowered beetle-defending Reize and the boisterous Tulip.
 "Reinforcements are arriving any minute now!"
 It's because he can see more bats fluttering, on their way.

  • Character: Laineth
  • 3 days, 17 hours ago



  Tulip hops onto the boulder and goes sailing over to the rooftop rumble, and Roseline stares incredulously. "Hey- Don't make this more complica- ....and she's gone." The redhead sighs deeply, pinching her brow. Seriously? Did she not think about the possibility of reinforcements? It's not like she's some law abiding citizen, but fighting against a city's standing militia is always a terrible idea unless you're prepared for it.

  But fight maniac gonna fight, she guesses.

  Sigh

  The woes of having a brain.

  "Listen to this guy! Get your butts out of there, unless you want to sit in a cell!" She shouts over at the fight. Especially considering that their opponent has shown herself to be startlingly strong. She's faced interruptions, disadvantages, and some heavy hits and still is standing. Not someone to trifle with without preparation.

  • Character: Tulip
  • 3 days, 17 hours ago

  Tulip lands into a brief stumble once that boulder crumbles away beneath her, managing to catch her footing before she goes plummeting over the edge of the roof. "Made it!" she declares proudly as she turns back to wards Reize and his vampiric opponent, fist brandished her way. "Save one for me, scarf!" she adds on as she takes her stance, fists raised up in front of her as she steps towards Osanna.

  "He-damnit! No fair with that magic junk!" she grumbles in irritation as she steps away from those spikes. One of them nearly manages to spear into her before she intercepts it with her arm, diverting it aside while managing to receive a gash on the limb as a reward for her brashness.

  The woes of not having a brain.

  "...uh. They've kinda got a point, huh?" she says, indicating at the assembling bats with a tilt of her head. "You got a quick way outta here?" the bunnykin adds as she takes a jab Osanna's way, seemingly seeking to interrupt those shadowy spears.



  Reize expected the Romancing SaGa to depart without him. He prefers to stick around with the LaCrima family while they sort out the mess. However, it looks like things are going to be a bit worse when another person joins in.

  "Buh?!" He blanches, "You were supposed to be with the others!" He sighs, then he looks over towards Osanna as she releases that pool of darkness. Luckily, it appears that the bunnykin interrupted the blow. However, the bats are coming.

  "Ugh....."

  His eyes drift towards Tulip and then towards the ship.

  "Well, there's only one way..."

  He looks at the beetle, "Betty! Let's go!"

>>> Reize has named the Jewel Beetle 'Betty'.

  It is then that 'Betty' lets out a shimmer of light, swoops over to grab Reize by the scarf to yank him. In turn, Reize is reaching to Tulip to grab a hold of her.

  The jewel beetle is zooming towards the fleeing ship as their get-away.

 


 Ivo had considered if Reize should stay behind in Rosia, but under the circumstances, he can only be confident that the La Crima family can protect themselves, not anyone else. He had no idea that the Shadowguard even existed, let alone any knowledge of their power dynamics with the rest of the vampire aristocracy. Right now, he judges it better to leave while the heat dies down.
 Besides, little does Reize yet know: they have a new quest.
 "And here was I thinking he'd turn into a bird," he casually remarks to Roseline as Reize and Tulip float over carried by, of all things, a little beetle, proudly shining. Its radiance slowly dims over time, suggesting the source of its otherwise baffling strength.

 FAR AWAY

 "Fly, my child," Kernunnos whispers.
 "I wish you'd tell me what's going on," Cutini Nak replies.

 HERE AND NOW

 Ivo revs the engines the moment that our heroes alight upon the deck and, with a great splash of water, the Romancing SaGa speeds out onto the river, seeking the labyrinth of tributaries beyond in the hopes of losing any pursuers. Osanna, bloodied and skin mottled with magic and fury, rises to her feet and glares after, reaching up to wipe her lips with the back of her hand, bats landing behind her. To the last, she never speaks a word.
 With Nova Luria ahead and the Shadowguard behind, our heroes venture forth on a new adventure...