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Curse of the Mirage Forest

Scene details

Setting: Recently, there were rumors amongst travelers that there has been an ambush against anyone who traveled along a misty woods. Those who traveled out to reach to their destination were attacked and forced to flee. The rumors even say that the forest is haunted; surrounded by mist, everything within the forest appears to be a mirage. Dwell too deep and you never live to tell the tale.
  The situation warranted the attention of the Vanguard Association, who put a task for those to investigate the situation. None other than the Beginner Vanguard, Reize Seatlan, took up the task.
  Join Reize and the team as they investigate the Curse of the Mirage Forest.

Log

This is the rumored Mirage Forest...

This land is not too far from the treacherous marshes, near a noble's home. However, it is for some reason that recent rumors prevented people traveling further southward. This place, shrouded with a misty fog, gives way to a wavey appearance, increasing the likelihood of everything being a mirage.

It is the treacherous woods that many people turned away.

This is why the Vanguard Association took up the request to investigate the matter.

Wandering from the northward are the entire team, led by Reize who is a bit more ..focused. In a way, the boy is in his element, being a person of the forest. However, he can tell that something is not right here. The young hunter scratches his head and he squints.

The mist is quite thick.

"...Looks like this is it." He frowns. "Guess we got our work cut out for us, huh?" He looks back over to the assembled crew with a bright smile. "Let's do our best to solve the mystery. After all, it's apparently only very recent that this became an issue."

Ruidosa La Crima has has come along after trying to talk Reize out of doing the 'Literarily has 'curse in the name' job' still, she softly sighs and follows closely along as they arrive into the forest, is letting Reize lead a good idea? Will they get lost?

Regardless, soon they're in a misty forest. She raises her hands a little and says. "The forest is misty and foggy, as forests get sometimes. Mystery solved." she says blandly.

"No? Of course not that'd be too easy." she sulks. "Fine let's...find out for real." she says as she follows along.

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 9 months ago

At least there are no zombies... At least there are no zombies... At least there are no zombies.

Such is the mantra running through Princess Anna Primrose's mind as she follows Reize into the misty forest. This is, technically, her element too, and as such she puts her game face on as best as she can.

Because there are no zombies.

"I'm sure we should be fine. You and I know how forests work better than just about anyone, so between you and I, we all shouldn't get lost even if the fog gets dense."

She pauses, pursing her lips at Rui.

"I don't think that's the mystery." She says very mildly.

At least there are no zombies.

...

Right?

"I'm on it, chief."

Ivo, smiling gamely at their fearless leader, is holding aloft neither Hauteclare nor his magitech amplifier but some new device, what looks like a cross between a weathervane and a flyswatter. Now that the ruined aqueduct's work space has been converted into a makeshift laboratory and their stoic homunculus is there to assist (when she's not grooming someone), the Cosmopolitan is positioned to reveal new tricks of the trade on their adventures.

"Hmmm..."

Whatever they might be.

"Strange... the salt levels are rather low."

The object spins lazily, flecks of crystal upon it lighting up in unusual configurations which Ivo is either interpreting or pretending to. His cloak, getting somewhat damp in the mists, flaps limply behind him as he brings up the rear of the party, focused on the thing in his hand.

"Fog typically has to condense around solid particles," he murmurs. "If it's not ocean salt blown far afield, it could be dust, but-- no, these readings don't square with that. Where is this fog coming from...?"

Ivo may have misunderstood what the mystery in question here is too, or, more likely, he has chosen to focus on the 'mystery' that more interests him.

Reize takes this moment to frown at Ruidosa as she still tries to talk them out of finding the root cause of the issue in the forest. The explorer runs a hand to his head. "Of course not."

He smiles once more, then he glances over towards Anna with a nod. "Yeah..." He frowns a little more, "However, there were tales that even the most seasoned adventurers were thrown into confusion. They said.. that everything appeared as if there was a mirage."

He considers, "They did also note that the sensed great magic around here as well.." He glances over towards Ivo as he introduces a new device. He blinks, watching in awe as the object spins around.

Where is the fog coming from...?

"That's a good question. We'll have to venture along to find out."

And so did the adventures continue on.

The path along the forest is fille with sightings of large, near-dead looking trees. However, further along the group travel, the thicker the fog as the rippling vapors shape itself around.

The soggy ground making noises...

A rustle of leaves is heard. Then, what follows is multiple rustling that swishes around. And then it stops.

Ruidosa ughs. and frowns back. You don't screw with curses! It's a bad idea! Still, she presses on and peeks forward as she sighs and opens her book and looks around in it for things like fog or vapor, but apparently her mother never encountered anything like this.

She looks to Anna and then Ivo as she blinks at the strange device and takes a quick note as she follows along, noting dead trees, stumps... and then thicker fog and...

Is something moving around them? She stops and looks around.

"I think we're being followed..." she mutters under her breath.

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 9 months ago

Slinging her axe over one shoulder, the princess furrows her brow.

"A mirage?" She asks, hoping for more detail.

"Well, at any rate, we'll either figure it out or we won't." She says with a mild shrug before she makes her way up to a dead tree...

And uses her axe to hack a marking into it.

She'll do this every few trees so that the group has a system of waypoints to follow in case anything happens. Axes are good for that kind of thing after all.

There is a look at Ivo and his device... But that's a science well above Anna's paygrade.

Then Rui whispers that the group is being followed. Anna... Continues to act casual and occasionally mark a tree now and then.

"Act like we don't notice. Maybe we can catch them by surprise if they try anything." Whispered back low.

One might reasonably be concerned by the prospect of the ill-fated boy explorer leading the way in these inclement conditions, but Ivo seems completely at ease, and this is because he's thought the matter through. Given how perilous the environs are, whether they are cursed or not, anyone trying to seriously navigate is bound to become lost regardless. Thus, by applying Reize's anti-navigation to this navigation-confounding situation, they will get lost in precisely the correct way and thereby reach their goal.

It's foolproof. Or at least, it worked last time, right?

Uh oh, now Anna's marking the trees and doing actual navigation. That'll ruin everything. As his suspiciously toy-like device continues to spin, Ivo grins in the princess's direction.

"What did those trees ever do to you?" he quips. "Does your fury know no bounds?" It shouldn't actually be a problem. After all, Faruja did actual navigation in the Lonely Woods, and Reize's anti-navigation still worked to counter the druids' spell. That's just science, and he should know.

Ivo looks back to his device, still grinning.

"Hmm, now *this* is an interesting reading," he exclaims. "I'm detecting a very beautiful rose-loving woman not far to the south. Reize, I suggest we make a detour and--"

At the sound of the rustling leaves, he finally stops.

"Scanning for excess aether," he says, smile gone, tone abruptly serious and subdued. "If the fog's activity right now is magically induced, like the report suggested, I should be able to tell." He's not going to leap to conclusions about what's going on here, but neither will he take it lightly, believe it or not.

Reize Seatlan rolls 1d20.

Roll(s): 2. Total result is 2.

Ruidosa La Crima rolls 1d20.

Roll(s): 19. Total result is 19.

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 9 months ago

Anna rolls 1d20.

Roll(s): 17. Total result is 17.

As Ivo focuses on the device in question, he is getting a reading of high concentration of aether in the air. It is as thick as the mist surrounding them. Even though the presence briefly stopped, the concentration of magic does betray the truth of the surrounding forest.

There is a strange presence, the fog is making some sort of wavey, misty presence. It is some sort of imagery that displays. It is perhaps a path further out, offering a quick sight of an exit. At least, it is what Ruidosa may see. ...But something doesn't seem right about that.

For Anna, it would be a path that would lead to a clearing... but something doesn't seem right about that.

As for Reize, it would lead to a path of a clearing that is filled with a treasure chest.

...And guess who takes the bait.

"Oh hey..." Reize is moving straight towards the western path, noticing the treasure chest and is already moving to meet with it. "Maybe something useful!"

Ruidosa is met with an exit, as she blinks a little. Something doesn't seem right about this. Mainly because she lives near here and something feels off. Still, she frowns a little as she stays where she is and crosses her arms and frowns a little. Something is off here as she looks to Anna.

"Oh. Look. an exit. I betterrrr take it." she says, walking in place, but not actually moving as she eyes Ivo and gives him a glare. It's a glare that says 'you're not my dad and never gonna be my dad, go away.' or basically 'lol let's leave mom outta this curse stuff' maybe. Who knows!

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 9 months ago

"It's so we don't get lost." Anna replies mildly to Ivo amid hacking a mark into another tree.

And then a path to a clearing opens up.

"... That's not quite right..." She murmurs. And then looks to Rui walking in place. And Reize running off.

"A-ah wait! Reize we shouldn't--...! ... Split... up..."

Too late, off he goes as she reaches out a hand at him ineffectually.

Despite the tense circumstances, Ivo takes the time to meet Ruidosa's venomous gaze with an innocent expression. "If this is about me reading your diary whenever you put it down," he says, gesturing toward the tome where she tends to take notes, "know that I do so only out of concern for my dear party members."

So he doesn't just look over her shoulder.

"A likely story," he then replies to Anna, even as Reize begins wandering off. "Just don't get it stuck. Remember last time?" It's like there a whole section of his brain devoted to remembering moments useful for teasing his allies. Meanwhile, the boy who is supposedly his greatest ally is in mortal peril, probably. "I'm sure he can handle it," Ivo continues, returning his attention to the flickers of light upon his device. It seems that while he was wasting time, he was actually waiting for it to finish processing information.

After a few moments, he lowers his voice so that only Rui and Anna can hear.

"Ruidosa, Anna. These readings are consistent with at least one spellcaster actively ensorcelling us and currently in the vicinity. I'm going to try to pin down their location as accurately as possible. If I can, will you two target them and try to break the spell? Stay safe, though."

It's not clear how many spellcasters there are or if they are humanoid or monstrous, so it would be best not to charge in too recklessly. It remains theoretically possible that this is a natural phenomenon, but-- come on, a treasure chest?

You roll 1d20.

Roll(s): 15. Total result is 15.

Unfortunately, it is too late. The one who first heard about the mirages and even imparted the knowledge to his fellow travelers... is the one who fell for the mirage. However, this is where the young adventurer will pay for such a folly.

As the young traveler approaches deeper into the woods, escaping the barbarian's grasp, the youth is approaching the chest. "...Now, let's see what you ----"

The treasure fades... instead, in its place is a wild, shadowy creature emerging, the tree. The tree appears to be a treant, its jaws open up to snatch the boy up.

"Whoa!" He finds himself nearly caught by the jaws until he smacks against the 'maw' with his crystal boomerangs. "Eat that!" Soon, the tree branches lunge up to ensnare the boy. "Gaaah!"

It looks like one of the residents came out to play. Or at least, caught a prey to play with.

The locator is able to do a good job in reading where the concentration is coming from. It is about a good 10 meters off to the southeast.

"Oh for the love of..." Ruidosa exclaims as Reize makes off for the fake treasure chest. She raises a hand and lets loose a bolt of shadow through the air at Reize's monster to follow up and help him, as she looks over to Ivo and ''frowns'' "Touch my family heirloom again and ... and I'll curse you!" she says dramatically.

Does she mean it? It's hard to tell with that tone of voice. She frowns at Anna.

"Know what this thing is? I don't. Is it what's responsible?" she asks.

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 9 months ago

Annnnnd there's a treant.

That's no treasure chest.

That's no treasure chest at all.

"Ah..."

At least Rui moves in to help him, but Anna, for now, stays her rage against the trees as she holds her axe at the ready, looking to Ivo for a direction to really go in these ensorcelled mists.

"Geh."

Ivo's expression is comically ambivalent after Ruidosa's theatrical threat. He blanches in genuine concern, taking the prospect of a vampire curse fairly seriously, and taking the likelihood of Ruidosa vengefully following through with it even more seriously. Yet at the same time, he fails to keep the corners of his lips from turning up in a lopsided smile. If she wants him to stop teasing her, he thinks, she should stop being so *funny* when she gets mad.

"Do you think she can do that?" he asides to Anna. But even he knows better than to dwell overlong on that question, relevant though it is to his interests, while Reize is under attack. As he slowly moves his hand, sweeping the forest to the southeast of them with the device, it finally flashes all over, a pulse of energy running through every fragment of crystal upon its surfaces, and Ivo stops. With his main hand he smoothly draws Hauteclare, still keeping the device steady.

"There!"

Whipping his sword about, he disengages the blade from its hilt, sending it arcing into the thicket in an attempt to drive out whomever or whatever may be lurking there and into the waiting arms, and the axe wielded by them, of his royal compatriot.

This is not good at all. Reize is ensnared by the tree, and the creature is about to take a nice bite out of him. At least, until Ruidosa comes to the rescue! The creature gets a nice bolt to the face, flashing in pain as impact sends it flinching.

Once the boy lands on the ground, he immediately launches back off ground to release a burst of energy in a flash. "Shining Moon!" This cuts through the creature, causing it to crumble.

The boy immediately joins back with the group, giving Ruidosa and the group. "Oooi, thanks Rui!"

Hauteclare's blade is off... it is off...into the depths.

After a few moments.

"GAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" It doesn't take long for the person to be drawn out. The figure is a lanky one, face covered with a fabric that shrouds over his face and head, as a bandit would appear.

In fact, it is a bandit that is running away from the blade.... right into the path of the royal axe-wielder.

Ruidosa De Lacrima smiles. "you're welcome Reize--" she almost adds the y at the end but stops because people are around and she doesn't need more guff from Ivo, who she can defiantly totally curse for real! Truly! As soon as she learns how to. She can do it. Yup. It'll happen. She'll curse him! When. she. learns. hoooowwww.

Still she huffs dramatically as a bandit is driven out, heading for Anna. She mutters. "Some highwayman!? Some curse!" she huffs dramatically.

"The curse of 'get that jerk'..." she frowns.

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 9 months ago

Rui can handle rescuing Reize, Anna is a little busy at the moment. Keeping on her toes as she waits for Ivo's mark.

Ivo gives the signal and Hauteclare's blade goes dancing into the woods.

Out comes a figure, running from that selfsame blade and Anna has the presence of mind to flip her axe in her hand as her vision hazes over with red.

And that's when she baseball swings her axe, intending to just flat out whallop the guy with the blunt side of the woodcutter's tool.

Hauteclare returns to its hilt with a satisfying clink as Ivo regards the emerging interloper with the same not-quite-suppressed smile he had after Ruidosa's cursing threat. He's restored his sword just in case Anna needs assistance with this fellow at close range, but somehow, he doubts it.

"This sort of nature magic is an unusual talent for a bandit," he remarks. "Illusions that utilize the environment to take on form... If the druids of Vaeltrandia remained, you could've found work with them instead."

He smiles for a few moments more before blinking, his brow furrowing and expression turning seriously contemplative.

"Yes," he murmurs, "both the woods and the shrine were rather like this, weren't they? The resemblance is rather uncanny..."

The bandit, while running from the pursuing blade, is apparently blindsided by the princess who takes a baseball-like swing at the man. "Gaaaaahh!" He is beaned against the entire body, rolling over towards the tree with a thud.

After he crashes, he rolls over to his side and he gives a growl. "... Okay, so it seems that you travelers are stronger than I expected." He looks at the assemble, glancing at the boy, the ladies, and the man. The oldest (looking) person is eyed, particularly for that device that he has.

"...No matter." He gives a grin beneath his mask.

"I have the lineage of the druids by my side!" The mention about 'Vaeltrandia' from Ivo earns a hate-filled look. "....Now that is a name I vaguely remember... but you know what?! I DON'T CARE!"

He extends his hands out into the sky. "FRIENDS OF THE EARTH! KILL THEM ALL! KILL ALL OF THOSE THAT LOOK DOWN ON ME!"

The group are treated with leaves fluttering from the shrubs. However, the foilage is razor sharp.

"Maybe if you hand over all of your gold and run away, I'll let you live! Aahahahhahaa!" He snaps a finger, drawing forth a chilling air around Anna. That numbing frost is circling around her to ensnare her.

Ruidosa huffs. "What? You're not special, you're just some common bandit that knows something besides stabbing people with shivs!" she scoffs. That's when leaves fill the air and move to cut her and slash up bits of clothing and she 'awks!' and curls around her book to protect it as she then angrily unfurls.

"YOU DARE ATTACK RUIDOSA LA CRIMA, DUCHESS OF HOUSE LA CRIMA AND YOUR UNTIMELY END!?" she bellows. "FOOOOOOOL." she calls out as she launches an attack, a ball of shadow energy that moves to land near the bandit, but continue to sparkle and crackle in the area around him, unless he makes a move to well. Move away quickly before it catches him, maybe.

Ruidosa seems full of herself because she was able to get out her whole spiel for a change and wasn't interrupted!

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 9 months ago

Anna is successful in baseball batting the guy, but it's not enough to take him down. And it's as he goes roll-tumbling away that her head turns to follow him before the rest of her body does suit.

So he's a druid. A druid with unscrupulous means.

That matters little to the raging princess of Suryle.

"Rrrrrgghhhh..." She snarls like an animal, steam hissing from between her teeth as the air chills around her enough to see her breath. The cold prickles against her skin. It makes it hard to breathe. For a moment, the girl wilts, color returning to her vision as she sinks to a knee, panting for breath as the cold makes her wheeze.

He says if they hand over their gold *maybe* he'll let them live.

Flashbacks dance across her vision. Goblins strewn out in a bloody clearing. Familiar faces left and right of old friends now long gone, soon they shift to visions of new friends, cut by leaves and frozen to deathy by hoary cold.

The thought of losing Reize, Rui, and Ivo briefly occurs to her...

And it's like pouring gasoline on the embers of a fire.

In an instant, Anna is back up, axe clasped in hand, one eye glowing a baleful and murderous red, the other bloodshot and livid.

"Rip... And... Tear..." She growls like a wild beast... And then she's off like a gunshot; ignoring the cold, ignoring the razor pain of leaves and forest detritus cutting her dress, her skin, and her flesh, leaving her a bloody mess as she bull-rushes the druid and attempts to shoulder check him into the nearest tree with inhuman amounts of force.

Ivo almost feels bad for the guy as Anna charges in. Given the environmental conditions, it would be difficult to send Hauteclare spinning back in at range to strike at the bandit non-lethally without risking hitting the little berserker in her fury. As the razor-sharp leaves descend from above, the Cosmopolitan elects to focus on defense, withdrawing toward Reize and the mid-speech Ruidosa.

"If this is an earth-aspected attack, then..."

Stuffing his new device in a cloak pocket, where it makes an awkward lump, he withdraws his trusty and now upgraded amplifier and adjusts some knobs, even as a leaf slashes a cut along his cheek, drawing blood.

"Rrgh... more power, then!"

The amplifier sparks and sizzles, seeming to war with the control already being exerted over the elements here, but after a few moments the fog about them begins to solidify, forming a temporary shield of hardened mist through contrary air-aspected aether to deflect the remainder of the razor leaves.

"Maybe another upgrade is in order," Ivo says, despite the success.

"...Some... common bandit?"

The man growls, then fixes the girl with a very hard glare. However, once she spouts out her identity, his eyes widen.

"...Oh.. the house of La Crima, huh..?" He starts to crack a grin beneath the face cover, "...I can fetch a good price for you." As the girl launches the shadow magic his way, the bandit's eyes snap wide before he's caught in the blow, sent flying against one of the trees once more.

"Good job, Rui!" Reize chimes out, then he looks at Ivo, "Wow, that is amazing!" For the most part, Reize managed to avoid the razor leaves. Just as Anna goes berserk, Reize is finally running forward and he takes a giant leap above her. Just as Anna is preparing to shoulder check the man, Reize is preparing to shoot off at an angle to strike him down.

The bandit gives out a snarl, "Don't you underestimate me...!" He extends a hand out, manifesting a bolt of lightning as he prepares to intercept the rush of both Anna and Reize. That surge of lightning is radiating from his hand before he releases a burst of energy within the fifteen foot-cube. It is a loud, thunderous force that sweeps out..

"THUNDERWAVE!"

Those within the fifteen feet distance will have to fight against the force, or feel the surge of thunder and get blown back...Unfortunately, Reize is going to fall right dab into that blast effect.

Ruidosa La Crima rolls 1d20.

Roll(s): 4. Total result is 4.

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 9 months ago

Anna rolls 1d20.

Roll(s): 16. Total result is 16.

Ivo rolls 1d20.

Roll(s): 20. Total result is 20.

Ruidosa La Crima scoffs. "My mom doesn't deal with common bandits!" she says angrily. "You can have two heads and spout acid and you're still just a common bandit!" she says before a wave of thunder lances out and she's blown into a tree, it cracks under the pressure, and she falls down it in a heap for a moment... She'll need a second.

@.@ *~

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 9 months ago

Anna...

Runs right into the Thunderwave.

The force is astounding, and the sound blows out her ears as her rush is aborted from the sheer pressure wave brought against her, for a moment. But she digs her feet into the ground, boots leaving a pair of furrows in the dirt as she skids back inches. At least Ivo handled the razor leaves, she'll have to thank him for that later when she's of more sound mind.

Only for her rage to win out against the sheer wall of force brought against her, taking only half-damage at the same time.

"Won't let you take her... My friend... My friend, my friend, she's my friend!" Anna growls as the rogue druid considers ransoming Ruidosa, dropping her axe as she hauls off and swings a mighty haymaker with all the force she can muster.

Ivo's hair raises with the oncoming thunderous blast.

"Heh."

Yet he's grinning without restraint, his eyes sparkling with a playful interest whose light rivals the energy fulminating towards him now. The amplifier still in his hand, though pushed to its limits, has been successfully attuned to the surrounding air-aspected aether. The original intent was to counter earth-aspected attacks. But if the magitech expert is targeted with an air-aspected attack--

"I'm glad to take you seriously."

Behind a mass of quivering energy, Ivo is speaking calmly. The portion of the thunderwave aimed for him is churning and pulsing in place, morphing into a roiling sphere as it strains against some invisible constraint. The device in his grasp is emitting dangerous whirring and grinding sounds, yet even as a bead of sweat trickles down the young man's brow, he continues to grin, only looking away to glance and confirm that Reize and Ruidosa are alright, if maybe dazed.

"The knowledge of Granse's druids is worthy of respect and admiration," he says over the crackling thunder, "but how avidly have you studied? For those of us who continue to learn and grow, eager to meet tomorrow--"

Ivo slams a small lever down with a flourish.

"--this kind of trick is just a relic of the past!"

And with a roar, the newly-formed sphere of crackling thunder is repulsed, reflected back at the bandit, hurtling at him in sync with Anna's vigorous punch.

Unfortunately for Reize, he jumped right into it... only to get blown back high. The boy with the long yellow scarf is rolling backwards and he is sent smacking against the ground hard. "Guhh...!" He grimaces, starting to get back up, but he can hear everything ringing in his ear.

He is going to need a bit. Ow.

"What was that brat?! Huh?!" The bandit sneers. "You aren't talking so big now, are ya?! HUH?!" The man sneers, then he follows suit with a smug grin.

However, that smugness fades when Ivo manages to cast that burst of energy at him. His eyes widen, shocked but he is ready to fight magic-to-magic. He extends a hand out, now drawing forth a gust of wind to counteract the crackling thunder's return. "You, I must admit, are a worthy foe... I will--- Haaaauuuuaaaaghhh....!" That's when the princesses haymaker comes in, mid clash.

It all happens in slow motion; the man's face is twisting in a rather uncomfortable manner, contorted and nearly going a 180 degree twist before the rest of his body launches off ground and he is spinning wildly.

He lands on the ground. ...He gazes up at both Ivo and Anna, twitching once, before he falls unconscious.



It is then that the fog is starting to fade, the forest still remaining misty, but it is not as thick as it once was before.

Ruidosa mutters, upside down. "Did someone get the number...of that wagon?" she asks as she tries to pull herself up to her feet, slowly. Carefully. "Owwwwww." she cries. "This is all your fault, somehow! I Curse you!" she calls out again at Ivo. Because the guy she can blame is now unconscious.

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 9 months ago

And down the rogue druid goes.

Anna snarls, glowering down at the man until he loses consciousness, before she begins to slowly calm, adrenaline tapering off as her ragged breath begins to slow.

She's a mess; cut up, bloody, a little frostbitten, and her clothes are torn up, but... She'll be fine. Mostly fine as she wobbles over towards Rui.

"H-here..." Said as she offers a hand to help her back up.

"As anticipated," Ivo pronounces at the bandit's fallen form, turning a satisfied little smile toward the device in his hands as it slowly powers down from the brink, having passed this test of its limits with flying colors. As his gaze shifts to Anna, his smile wavers somewhat, the young man glancing between her and the bandit a couple times. "...more or less."

And then he flinches.

"What!?" he calls back to Ruidosa, visibly alarmed. "Wait! Don't do that! I haven't even told Reize about that dream you wrote about the other day!"

And Ivo never rolled another 20 again.

Reize is getting up to his feet, staggering a bit. He grimaces as he rubs his forehead. He grumbles as he continues to hear his head ringing at an alarming pace. "....Ugh...." He stumbles over and he points at the unconscious man.

"You're under arrest!"

He collapses on his knees, grimacing. "Oh hey, that actually sounds nice saying that for a change instead of being told that."