[IC] The Five Senses

[Pezzle]

Chres Sansus

Interaction with @Elevation, @13Org, @SonOfJet, @HokumPocus
Mention of @eclecticwitch

---

The moment Chres let slip Karina's name, all hell broke loose. Hark pulled a dagger on Karina and although it was only for a moment, the damage was already done. Nobody likes having a blade pointed at one's throat. Chres suspected that was especially true for a certain daughter of a military genius. Sure enough, her response was harsh and swift.

The moment Hark lowered his guard, Karina turned her weapon on him. She then made known her displeasure. She no longer trusted Hark, which was fair. He did just pull a knife on her.

Chres felt his blood go cold. This was not good. Out of all the people in the group, Chres had seen her as the best fit to lead them on this mission. He said and did whatever it took to push that weight onto her shoulders. Now, that wasn't looking like a feasible option. A leader can't lead if the people she is leading don't trust her.

"You kids..." Chres said sighing when Karina finished her speech. His heart felt heavy knowing the burden he would need to take on. "Now is not the time be starting fights."

Chres closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He opened his eyes a second later and turned his gaze to Karina. "To be fair, Karina, your country is currently invading Hark's country." Chres began in calm and collected voice. "So, Hark's anger towards your people may be justified. Pulling a dagger on you, however,-" Chres turned his gaze in Hark's direction. "-was most certainly not. Especially considering Katrina here is one of the few sane people in this town right now. Karina makes some very valid points, Hark. There is a new invading force in this country right now. One that apparently can turn your friends and neighbors to their side. And they may not only be in just this country. For all we know, Karina,-" Chres continued looking back in Karina's direction. "-they could have sleeper agents in the Nation of Touch as well."

Chres paused for a moment to let that thought sink in. After the brief pause he then continued. "Regardless of all that, here's how I see things right now. Everyone of us here is an asset right now. We all bring different skills to the table. If we can not put our petty differences aside, then we will not make it out of here alive.

"When I went back into that burning building, I nearly stayed there and let the flames devour me. It would have been so easy to let it all end right then and there. Yet, I didn't let that happen. It tore my heart apart to walk away from the warmth of those flames, but I did so anyway. Why, am I mentioning this? Because just like the rest of you, I have something to bring the table. Such as, an convenient way to get you all off of this roof.

"Now perhaps you all can get of this roof without me. In fact I'm sure you all could get off this roof without me. Problem is, if I let myself die in there, this group would have been left with one less convenience at hand. And looking at the mess that is this town, we are going to need every bit of convenience we can get to escape. Any lost of convenience endangers the group as a whole. I had no problem with of ending my own life back there... but I couldn't come to grips with endangering the rest of your lives simply because I have personal issues.

"Point is, we each need each other here. We can't be fighting with ourselves right now. If I'm not allowed to kill myself right now, then you two aren't allowed to kill each other. Instead I would prefer if we focus our efforts on killing the crazies down there.

"Now enough chit chat. No more arguing. We need to move forward, and take care of whoever that woman is over there. Speaking of which, Karina, if you can launch any of your ice magic at that woman, it would be very much appreciated. I want you to stay in the back of the group and protect our rear. Hark, you on the other hand will protect our front, particularly the Innkeeper and his family. We'll also need you to direct us to that safe house of yours.. Octavio, if you know of a way to fix a malfunctioning familiar I'd very much like to hear it. And Almos... I'm not sure what you do, but whatever it is, do that and keep an eye out for trouble. DB, you do the same."

Chres didn't wait for a response. He turned away and expected them to obey. Wincing at the pain in his foot, Chres limped over to the next gap, placed his foot down at the edge and wove another bridge beneath his foot.

---

Plot Point

Mention of @eclecticwitch, @Fetzen

---

Sightless Syella, basked in comforting embrace of her Lord's Insight, gazing on the chase unfolding presently. She saw Clan members running after nothing... Pointing at nothing... shouting over nothing. What were they chasing? What did they see?

Syella, gazed at the vision intently, confused at the situation unfolding before her. It was only then that she noticed the blank spot in the vision. It was moving a constant pace, always just out of reach from her clan members. She could barely focus on the blank spot in her vision, which meant only one thing.

"Those fools!" Sightless Syella said out-loud. "They are chasing after an illusion. A damnable light construct!"

Sightless Syella, changed her vision of Insight back to the burning inn and began rummaging over things she missed. It was then that she noticed a dark skinned woman being helped by giant onto the rooftop. She did not recognize them as clan members. And if they won't running around mad, then she figured they must be the pact makers, or at least some of them.

Syella called out to her Clan Member, De'laire, and ordered her to send the remaining Clan members after the giant and his maiden friend. De'laire complied and sent seven clan members after them. Four men, and three woman.

Now, Syella needed to find the rest of the group. The disturbance she felt the night prior was too large to be for two people. After a quick search using the Insight, she found the a larger group, running across the roof tops. Syella cursed. So that was why the others were getting up on the roof. She could send her clan members after them, but it might prove difficult to get up onto that roof before the pact makers got away.

So be it! Syella decided. I'll chase after them myself!

---

[eclecticwitch]

Millie

She huffed at his reaction to the rock. “I be a healer, not a fighter sonny. It ain’t sumthin’ in my blood to be doin’ these sorts o’ deeds.” She glowered at the man, crossed her arms beneath her bosom again and clicked her tongue in her mouth. He began speaking nonsense about intelligible beings or some shit and she clicked her tongue again. Only to find that his hands wrapped nicely about her hips and grasped the full of her in a way she never though imaginable. A mean blush spread over her cheeks as she reached for the wall.

Millie nearly shouted but caught herself. In a hushed hiss, she said, “Oi, who do you think you are? What right gives you with the touchin’?” Kitty snarled as quietly as he could and bared his teeth at the man. His hair stood on end and a mean glint entered his eyes. He was ready to rip the giant to shreds for putting his hands on the most important person in his life. “Stop yer hollerin beastie. You stay here with this coont.” Kitty closed his lips and sat back.

“Touch my mistress again, without permission, and I will have your family jewels and staff for supper.” The tiger licked his lips but settled back calmly. His eyes turned to the woman he had come to adore. He watched the way the weirdo manhandled her and his tail twitched in agitation. He wanted to, and quite rightly, show this man his intestines and then shit in his open wound. But Kitty would never disobey a direct order.

Then Turkey made the comment about her weight and she about lost it. She kicked backward with one of her legs in the hopes of hitting him in the chin, but he easily caught it and used it to booster her higher. “Fookin’ monster is what ye be. Didn’t yer mother teach ye nothin’? And don’t be takin’ this chance for self-pleasure, lookin’ up a lass’ skirt. You keep yer eyes to yer own.” She grumbled and grumped the whole way up until her hands touched the roof and she, with difficulty, pulled herself up.

With an acute lack of grace, she rolled onto the roof and made it to her hands and knees. She huffed and puffed, gasping for air. As she sat up she found people glaring at each other, glaring at her, and some sort of strange ice blades pointed in her direction. She began to stand slowly and watched as they bickered amongst themselves and ignored the ‘threat’. Roight fekkin’ fools they were. She huffed loudly but did not move. She waited. And waited. And waited. And waited some fekkin’ more while the idiots argued amongst themselves.

The someone gave a grandiose speech, full of words and pomp. And while she could appreciate such diction, now was certainly not the time. With a glare she said, “Oi now! Quit all yer fussin. Obviously, I ain’t cracked in the egg and ain’t wearin’ no fancy culty suit. In fact, if any of ye had half a brain ye’d have recognized healer garb. So what be yer reason for pointin’ weapons at me? Y’all stand here agruin’ and ain’t even asked me name or purpose. Just assumin’ shite while I be standin’. If I be a true threat, y’all would be dead, dead, dead. If ya had any sense like yer mothers taught ya, you would be outta here long before. And realized that some fekin’ agent o’ Chaos brought us all together. We got one more in our group down below. Get him a safe place and let’s get outta here before we are all roight fekked in the brainpan.” She scowled at them all, dropped her hands to her hips and said, “Well? We all gonna act like this be some great god forsaken surprise or are we gonna be safe. Speechy, make a ladder or some shite and get our last ally along.” Millie, having had quite enough, moved toward ,the group. Her scantily clad body held no weapons and she herself was rather non-threatening. Just a an angry caste over her face. And a deep desire to get this party finally moving. Obviously Speechy wasn’t getting it done.

Interactions

@Fetzen and, well, everyone else. @13org@Elevation@Pezz570@HokumPocus@SonofJET

[HokumPocus]

---

Octavio had been halfway across the bridge until he decided that he couldn't take it anymore. His party members, both the ones that he had met at the inn and several newer ones, were quarreling with one another. There were even threats of stabbing each other, for crying out loud! Having opted to simply cross the bridge and do not much else felt rational. He didn't like that one bit. He also disliked the idea of one of his meat shields dying before being of any use to him, so such heavy disputes would have to be stopped.

He dramatically cleared his throat to demand attention and then began to cough from having agitated all the smoke that was being inhaled by his lungs. He coughed very nobly and gracefully, a product of his job. The ambient noises of general destruction swallowed the noise up, so his efforts went to waste, anyways.

One of the new additions to the party was a spirited woman with an interesting manner of speaking. He politely waited for her to finish before finally joining in on the conversation. "Ah, this is wonderful! More allies to aid us in our journey!" Octavio's words were loud and bold. They usually were only bold, but the volume was absolutely necessary when you factored in distance and screams of the dying.

"Now now, speeches are the food and drink of the soul! However... we must escape as soon as possible! Even power as divine as ours won't last forever under such circumstances!" He made a motion with his hands and spread them, an act that highlighted his exaggeratedly dignified mannerisms and the backdrop of total chaos happening around them. Lynx had crossed the bridge entirely and stoically ignored the idiocy of his travelling companion. He silently predicted to himself that Octavio would attempt to intervene, but was pleasantly surprised at him. Such a short speech, (mostly) free of convoluted and dramatic mannerisms?

What little trace of pride that the familiar had vanished the moment Octavio bowed in front of their group, however.

"I would also like for all present to please forgive me. A gentleman such as myself should first and formost begin with an introduction. My name is Octavio Grayeye, and I wish for a fortunate journey for all of us on this dark and bizarre night."

He saw no point in lying after Gin revealed is name to his team so directly. Lynx rolled his eyes.

Octavio resumed crossing the bridge without waiting for a response. He didn't want his teammates to kill each other, but distrust always made his job easier. To just have walked away and ignored the tension would be a cowardly first impression, and he knew better than anyone else about the benefits of first impressions. He once again held off on flirting with the woman, as just like with Karina, her personality implied that she would probably rearrange his spinal cord if he tried anything funny.

[Pezzle]

Chres Sansus

Interactions with @eclecticwitch, @Fetzen, @13Org, @HokumPocus

---

Chres spun on his heels as the dark skinned lady addressed him and his companions. Chres cocked his head to the side and arched an eyebrow. Did she just call him Speechy? "Fair enough..." he muttered under his breath.

Chres re-evaluated the woman. Before, all he saw was someone climbing on the roof after them. Now that he actually took her in, he realized that he may have misjudged her threat level.

Octavio, seemed to take an acceptance to her immediately, introducing himself with a graceful flourish. Chres was a little more hesitant. Could he trust this newcomer? He felt a small itch crawl up the back of his neck as the question popped into his head. He promptly ignored the concern and the itch. The woman did say she was a healer.

Chres paid a quick glance in Karina's direction and then looked down towards the ground below. A giant of a man stood on there with a tiger shaped familiar. "Is that your friend? Chres asked the woman, with a frown. "He's very.... tall..." Well, so much for being inconspicuous.

Chres formed a stairwell from the roof of the building to the ground below. "Quickly now. It won't last long." Chres called down to the giant man.

"An agent of chaos or an agent with some sort of grand scheme? He did have foresight to send a healer our way..." Chres pondered out-loud to himself. He then turned his gaze to the dark skinned lady and motioned with his head for her to cross the bridge he made for the rest of the group.

"My apologies. Our mysterious friend never did mention any others... Out of curiosity what did he say his name was? He gave us two different names Gin and Sally."

As Chres finished his sentence, he noticed a group of cultists heading in their direction. Chres cursed. "Tell your friend to hurry. It looks like we got company."

[13org]

Karina Frost

There was too much going on, so much that Karina was almost certain that she would be safer by leaving the group behind. Not only there was Hark, who could potentially turn on her, but now there was that stranger standing up on the other rooftop. Even though Karina had two of her ice blades pointed at her, it was difficult to keep her eyes on both her and Hark at the same time. In the army, if a soldier pointed his weapons to a superior, he would be shot down without hesitation...

Karina heard Chres as he gave his little speech trying to lecture her. To be honest, his words were starting to get on her nerves but the last drop was when he referred to her as 'kid'. Karina's hostility and dissatisfaction were almost palpable as Chres continued his speech, talking about how much he wanted to kill himself & etc.

But before Karina could say anything, the woman who was standing on the other roof spoke up with a rather rude tone, saying she was a healer, that she wasn't a threat and that if she was in fact a threat, they would all be dead.

While Karina wasn't particularly satisfied with that outcome, she reluctantly sheathed her rapier as the ice blades melted on the air.

"Dare to call me a kid once more, Chres, and I will happily grant that wish of yours." Karina said, almost hissing as he looked to him.

"In the army, if a soldier raises his weapon to a superior, he would be killed without hesitation. Having to cooperate with someone that raised a weapon at me will only be more stressful and dangerous. Trust is something that is very easy to lose and extremely hard to regain..." Karina continued, looking to both Chres and Hark.

"Pay attention at what I've said. I've given you all enough reasons to trust me even though I came from the nation of touch, yet you choose to play dumb and point a dagger at me nonetheless. If anything, you should consider me an ally even being from the military of touch... why? Use your heads... Why I would come here, on enemy territory, alone?" Karina said, looking to them.

"I may be a high patent officer, but I'm not the one calling the shots. I came here, alone, to know more about the cult and try to persuade my superiors that the cult is a bigger threat than the war itself. But still... if you want to go ahead and kill basically the only high patent officer at the military of touch that is trying to figure out another way to deal with this other than simply wiping out both your nation and the cult... Be my guest... Maybe you and Chres have similar wishes, Hark." Karina said, turning to the new arrival after she finished speaking.

"Regarding you, if you did as much as moved a muscle, my ice blades would quickly dispatch you. Healer or not, I clearly can't trust not even those who were supposed to be my allies, so don't expect me to trust a stranger just because they're wearing healer's garb..." Karina completed, still looking at both Hark and Chres with a cold, hostile stare.

She could... somehow... appreciate Octavio's intentions to lighten up the atmosphere but it was obviously not that effective. She didn't knew that nobleman's true intentions but after Hark's little stunt, trusting him wasn't an option anymore. The situation was already stressful enough without having to think about your allies backstabbing you...

"We do have bigger threats for now, but be warned Chres, if anyone tries anything funny, I wont hesitate in putting them down. Hark's little stunt was a clear reminder that we are not friends, only forced allies, and as I said before... trust is something hard to regain once lost..." Karina completed, turning towards the cultists coming towards them and waiting for the group. They had to conserve strength, so it would be better to flee than to fight against them, but sadly, Karina had to wait for the rest of the group.

[Pezzle]

Plot Point

Interactions with @eclecticwitch, @Fetzen, @13Org, @HokumPocus, @elevation, @SonofJet

---

Sightless Syella ran in the direction of the building on which the Pact Makers stood. She ran alone, and kept to the shadows. Before setting out, she grabbed a few magic deterrents. Mainly a pouch of pellets full of numbing oil to deal with the Tempraisionist, that the clan was already aware of. She also sent out a messenger to alert her fellow Sightless that assistance may be required of her peers.

Sightless Nieffar, the one who Sightless Vetius had put in charge of the Clan in this town, would not be pleased with Syella’s request for help. That did not concern her, however. For if Syella failed in retrieving the Pact Makers without requesting assistance… Well, let’s just say Sightless Vetius, the most ancient of all Sightless, is not forgiving to those who fail tasks due to of pride or acts of foolishness. Syella could put up with Nieffar’s displeasure. Sightless Vetius though… that was another matter entirely.

Syella abruptly came to a halt having reached the building the Pact Makers stood upon. She could hear arguing coming from above. One of the Pact makers was making a speech of some sort. Something about working together and how each of them added value to the team and some sob story about nearly letting the flames from the inn burn him alive -Oh, cry me a river- Apparently, one of the Pact Member’s pulled a weapon on another one of them -Really?-

Syella, tsked softly. This group was one big mess. She, was amazed the lot of them managed to even make it this far. Sightless Syella, made her way to a dark alleyway across the street from the building on which the Pact Makers stood. All the while, she listened to them bicker. There were two new additions to the group. The two she had sent the clan members after before breaking away from the group. One of them was still on the ground looking for a way up. Already having known this, Sightless Syella had made sure to approach from a direction which would keep her hidden from the newcomers. From the sounds of things, she remained undetected.

Having entered the alleyway across from the Pact Makers, Syella took that moment to call on the Insight. Her clan members were still a little ways off, they had just finished being gathered by Clan Member De’laire, and were now heading towards the Pact Maker’s direction. Syella had initially headed off on her own to slow down the Pact Makers. She was no longer sure if that was even necessary. However, now was not the time to be careless.

Being a Sightless came with many perks, among which included the ability for a Sightless to grow out part of one’s body. A creative Sightless could use this ability in many ways, such as a means to reach new heights. Sightless Syella stretched her arms upwards as if reaching for the ledge of the rooftop on the building in front of her. Syella’s hands immediately shoot forward towards the ledge, her forearms growing to an elongated length, stopping its growth only once her hands had reached and grabbed hold of the roof’s ledge. Gripping the roof tightly, Syella immediately began retracting the growth in her forearms causing her to be lifted off the ground and up towards the roof.

As Syella rose, something the newcomer said caught her ear. She mentioned an Agent of Chaos who had brought the Pact Makers together. Syella smirked. An ‘Agent of Chaos’? Yes, yes. An agent of chaos indeed. Whether it be The Maker Pacts, The Trickster of Tricksters, The One From Another, The Inciter of Mischief, The Lord of Senses, or even -the name Sightless Vetius preferred most- The Being of Many Names, throughout the ages, humanity had given this 'Agent of Chaos' many names. All the other names… well… those ones he had taken for himself.

None of the Sightless know what he was or how he came to be. Not even Sightless Vetius. What they did know was the Being of Many Names simply is, and he has taken steps to oppose the Root of Insight for as long as can be remembered. He is the clan’s enemy through and through. In order to put a stop to his interference, the clan must intercept all the pacts he has made.

Sightless Syella, lifted herself up onto the roof top and hid herself behind a chimney. She listened to them talk and bicker, watching them with her Insight. One of the males in the group, presumably the one who made the speech from earlier just going off the voice, formed a heat construct in the shape of a stairway leading to the ground below. She figured that would be the Temprasionist then. Syella decided she would take him out first.

Syella watched them talk a little longer hoping to gather more information. Unfortunately, she didn't get much else. The Tempriasionist began crossing the bridge he made. Syella chose that moment to strike. Another benefit to being a Sightless was that you could attack people from great distances. That was exactly what Syella did.

Ducking out from behind her cover, Syella stretched out her right arm in the Tempriasionist's direction. All five of her fingers shot out towards him and firmly wrapped around his leg...

---

Chres Sansus

Interactions with @13org and @eclecticwitch

---

Chres parsed his lips at Karina’s word. She knew not of the effect of her threat on his life had on him. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to just call her a kid and be done with it. Just one word. That was all it would take. Instead, he kept his mouth shut and listened to her words.

“Understood.” Chres said at last. “Regardless of all that, thank you, Soldier, for continuing to assist us.”

Chres knew that further arguing would only create further distrust. So he took Karina for her word. Later, however, he knew he would need to sit down and talk to her in order to form at least a little bit of trust. Chres looked away from Karina and began limping his way across the bridge as quickly as he could manage.

“When we are out of this,” Chres said, talking over his shoulder to the healer. “I may need some of your heal-“ Chres’s words cut off as he felt something wrap around his leg and pull his feet out from under him. Next thing he knew, he was being lifted up into the air by his foot. The movement stopped as Chres hovered several feet in the air. For a split second it felt as if he were weightless. Then, with a tug of his foot downwards, gravity began to reassert itself as his body followed the pull of his leg until he slammed face first onto the roof top below him. Chres’s vision flashed, and suddenly his entire world became pain.

“Well then.” He heard a familiar dry voice shout from the building across from them. His head felt cloudy. The voice sounding somewhat muffled to his ears. “That takes care of the Tempraisionist. So... which one of you is the healer?”

[Fetzen]

Týfurkh

It would hardly have required any more than just one of the ordinary five human senses in order to recognize that the woman he had just lifted up onto the roof was not amused at all by what he had just done. She probably was cursing more than half of the city had done... when it had still been alive, of course. Part of his mind was having troubles resisting the temptation to ponder about the irony of her cursing: All that random fuss actually only helped to diminish the effect of being actually pissed off. If a bad mood was the only mood one had noone would take it seriously anymore on the long run. Should he tell her about that ? Maybe not that of a good idea: Instead of reducing the randomness she could just boost the remainder even further...

Týfurkh glanced at Chres, then at the magical contraption he had just formed. Quite impressive one had to say, clearly. He was not worried at all about it holding, but moreso about the roof that was at the end of it. The tiles and struts were sagging beneath his armored feet. If the girl he just helped up here would see this she'd probably spot the opportunity for an immediate tit-for-tat response, but if he'd actually break through the structure and fall onto the floor below it would be a lot worse.

He was on the verge of saying 'Thanks!' and apologizing for the circumstances he created, but it never came that far. Right in front of his eyes the effects of the rapid and unexpected application of force and torque unfolded. Chres' head slammed right onto the roof very hard, but for no reason that was immediately obvious. Only when Týfurkh noticed the dry voice shouting at them he started to comprehend that this maybe had not been a simple mishap, but something else... He had no knowledge about everyone's voice so far, but there was something evil to it that didn't originate from the spoken words themselves.

In one quick move, Týfurkh detached the crossbow from his back and grabbed it firmly with both hands. A clicking sound indicated that the locking mechanism was disengaged. A bolt was already loaded, so the thing was ready. But... where to aim ? And would this kind of weapon even be effective ? At least he wouldn't lie if he'd say that he didn't know who the healer was...

[Pezzle]

Plot Point

Interactions with @eclecticwitch, @Fetzen, @13Org, @HokumPocus, @elevation, @SonofJet

---

Sightless Syella cocked her head to the side, not really looking at anyone in particular. A lopsided smirk forming on her face. She could see with the Insight that the giant had loaded and aimed his crossbow at her.

"Oh? Come now, my dear giant, you don't want to fight with me. Is that you're the healer then? No... no, of course not. The healer had female voice... But perhaps... perhaps you are the Pact maker who owned of the Familiar which threw dog waste at me? If so..."

The smirk vanished from Sightless Syella's face and was immediately replaced with a flash of rage. She raised her right hand above her left shoulder, her fingers extending half an inch. The fingertips ending in razor sharp points.

"-Then I believe I owe you a severed spine!" Syella growled through gritted teeth.

---

[13org]

Karina Frost

Karina could still smell the uncomfortable atmosphere in the air between her, Chres and Hark, and it was unlikely that it would get any better... Regarding the new arrivals, while they could certainly use all the help they could get to get out of that city alive, that also meant two more strangers... That entire situation was far from ideal...

“Regardless of all that, thank you, Soldier, for continuing to assist us.” she heard Chres saying. While she appreciated him thanking her, him calling her a soldier made her let out an unsatisfied stare. She knew that talking about military ranks with those who didn't knew much about the military was useless, but it was still annoying to hear someone referring to her merely as a soldier and not as Lieutenant Colonel.

Just as Chres turned to talk to the healer though, something wrapped around Chres' feet, pulling him to the air before slamming him to the rooftop below him with full force, immediately making him unconscious.

The strike was fast and sudden, getting all of them by surprise. Before Karina herself could even do anything, Chres was already on the ground. She silently cursed herself and Hark, by creating the perfect opportunity for their enemy to attack them. Unsheathing her rapier, she pointed it towards the woman responsible for what happened with Chres. It was that sightless whom they met before. Syella.

Týfurkh, the giant who came together with the healer was quick to aim his crossbow at her, getting ready to fight. Syella in the other hand, simply smirked at him. Karina didn't know why exactly she was looking for the healer, but it was clear that she wasn't happy at all after Chres' familiar threw things at her. In just the blink of an eye, she turned her long fingers into deadly sharp claws, growling through gritted teeth.

Immediately after seeing her transforming her fingers like that, cold air surrounded Karina as the air froze around her, making the ice blades appear once more, pointing towards Syella with their crystal clear points and their cold, cruel edges.
Neither of them knew nothing about Syella's skills or even how she fought. Karina couldn't afford to even speak. She was completely concentrated on every movement Syella made.

[Pezzle]

Plot Point

Interactions with @eclecticwitch, @Fetzen, @13Org, @HokumPocus, @elevation, @SonofJet

---

Blades of ice condensed around the light skinned woman. What kind of magic was that? Probably not taste or hearing. Sight, smell or touch? Maybe...

Sightless Syella frowned as she quickly reassessed the Pact Makers before her. It was probably safe to assume that all of them where magic users of some sort and at least two of them could attack from a range as well. On top of that, one of them had the ability to create illusions. Despite how troublesome an opponent healer could be in a fight, Syella was facing at least two people who could attack from a range.

At least that narrowed down who the healer was. There were only two other woman in the group. The dark skinned one and the woman huddling near the chubby man and scared child.

"If I tell you who the healer is, will you let my family and me go?" It was the woman huddling near the chubby man speaking.

"What are you doing?!" The chubby man asked exasperatedly.

"Trying to save our family!" The woman replied. Syella turned her sightless gaze towards the woman's direction.

"But-" The chubby man began before getting cut off.

"We have nothing to do with these people!" Syella's frown deepened. This woman claimed she had nothing to do with the others, and yet she had somehow escaped the Insight's touch during the previous night. "Because of them, our business and home was burnt to the ground!" Syella concentrated on the Insight, diving deep into the woman's soul. "If they had just co-operated with the Cult, then perhaps none of that would have happened."

"You don't know that." Said the chubby man.

"What I know is we are on the losing side!"

Syella pulled away from the woman's soul. This woman held no trace of The Being of Many Names's touch. Syella tsked audibly. "You fool woman..." She said with the shake of her head. "Because of your stupidity, I now know who the healer is. I also now know that your life is not necessary for our cause." Syella's sharpened finger shot out towards the fool woman, directed straight for the woman's heart.

[HokumPocus]

---

Lynx had fled the battle before it was even partway through escalating. Combat just wasn’t his purpose, nor did he have the skills for it. This was when Octavio’s dagger, short sword and illusions came in handy. What had made this fight different from the ones before it was that his opponent was able to attack at frankly terrifying distances with no weapons other than her appendages. A closer look at her frame through the inferno surrounding them made Octavio click his tongue in annoyance. Someone like her was definitely not up for a seduction attempt. Trying to get in between the potluck of ranged weapons and magic would be suicide, so that wasn’t an option either, or at least for now. This left him with one option.

It was a well known fact that he wore earrings. On one ear was the imprint of an ornate and beautiful royal woman, on the other an imprint of himself. These were his two most useful illusions. There were a few other bits of jewelry that were hurriedly stashed in his bag during the escape from the inn, most of which were stolen and were more of a novelty than anything. For a moment, he tried to remember if he still had that giraffe illusion he won through a card came. No, I sold it for these robes, shit. He wasn’t the type to say bad words, and this extended even into fairly normal words that just sounded unpleasant. But this was a mental conversation with no one but himself as he stood behind his allies. And although he refused to admit it to himself, there wasn’t much he could do.

Octavio stabbed the fingertips of his hands into his temples with none of the delicate grace of the last try. He was expecting his magic to be a bit more tiresome, but then remembered the sheer amount of light around them. It felt incredibly strange to receive such vast quantities of power so quickly, like a tired explorer tripping and noticing a steak on the ground. Quietly and subtly, a mirror image of himself began to form. He was more daring in the amount of energy he took in from his surroundings this time around, letting the feelings of light and energy prick his ear and shake with a gentleness that was somehow astonishing enough to be registered through the entire mess that was unfolding.

This illusion was definitely smarter than the women from before, as he had invested more energy into it. His illusions were unable to surpass the abilities of their original form, but nobody had said anything about just making several of them. A second, just as accurate illusion began to form right next to the first one. The effects of the magic took a slight toll on his energy, but he’d just suppress it. He was an actor, hiding his true feelings. This wouldn’t be anything different from the usual.

The trio inserted themselves behind their teammates and craned their necks in a display of total arrogance.

“There is no grace in killing so needlessly, my princess.” said one Octavio.

“As the number of your adversaries continues to grow, aren't doubts beginning to take shape within your head?” said another. This was quickly shaping up to be a nightmare to anyone not in favor of his personality.

“They have said enough, I believe.” uttered the third, likely having run out of ideas. Octavio was an actor, but had limits when competing against equally boisterous personalities.

He felt so intelligent at his sudden plan. It was both a great method of self preservation among a ranged attacker and gave his allies a chance to live if the woman chose to strike at his illusions.

[Pezzle]

Plot Point

Interactions with @eclecticwitch, @Fetzen, @13Org, @HokumPocus, @elevation, @SonofJet

---

Syella, stopped her sharpened finger inches away from the useless woman’s heart the moment she heard a response from one of the Pack Makers. Startled, the useless woman leapt backwards, her hand held over her heart. Her husband immediately came to her side and embraced her protectively. The woman’s eyes were wide; the realization of how close she was to death beginning to sink into her head.

A response from the Pack Makers was what Syella, was looking for, and it was a response which she got. Curiously though, this response came from three locations. Each response speaking with the same voice and in a plural sense. Syella searched frantically with her Insight to identify who was speaking, and yet she saw nothing.

Syella, grit her teeth. The Illusionist. Syella delved deeper into the Insight. She saw nothing. Deeper still. Still nothing. One more time, Syella dived even further into the Insight. A wave of euphoria immediately washed over her. She could see everything nearby. The past. The present. Glimpses of potential short term futures. Most importantly, though, she was able to notice the multiple blank forms of nothingness which could only be composed of light. The Illusions.

Illusions were rather troublesome for the Sightless. Without the eyes to detect their light, it was difficult to notice an illusion even if it was standing right next to the Sightless. The Insight tended to gloss over illusions as blank forms which were difficult detect. This made them dangerous to an unwitting Sightless. Syella would have to be on her guard.

The Insight enveloped her mind. She wanted to dive deeper into that abyss of knowledge. These illusions would never again be able to hide from her if she did so. It would give her the power to detect them immediately. Never again would they be a threat! She would be able to see everything and know all that there was. She would become more powerful than Sightless Vetius. If she delved deeper, then perhaps she would be able to...

No! The training Syella received as a Sightless immediately began to kick in. Only Sightless Vetius could handle that abyss, and it was well known Sightless Vetius was… different, than all the other Sightless. If she tried to delve any deeper she would become nothing more than a Seed of Insight. A Seed with no personal connection to the land in which she was in. A Seed a without a personal connection, could not take root. A Seed that could not take root, would wither away and die. Forever unable to serve her all-seeing master.

Reluctantly Syella relinquished her hold on the Insight. She now knew what she needed to know. There were five illusions total. Three humanoid. Two in the forms of four legged creatures, probably Familiars. Now that she knew where the illusions were, she was better able to make out the blank spots which she had previously glossed over. It wasn’t perfect, but definitely better than before.

Syella cocked her head in response to the illusions’ words. The Insight had provided her with a layout of the land around them, and with that new found knowledge, a smirk slowly began to form across her face.

”Doubts?” She asked as her elongated finger retracted in on itself. ”Perhaps you should be the ones having doubts.”

Syella immediately wiped the smirk from her face and replaced it with a look of fierce determination.

Sightless Syella pointed towards the healer. Her sightless gaze looking past the Pact Makers. “Immobilize the healer!” Syella commanded loudly. “Capture the others.”

---

Tayla was new to the clan and had yet to reach the point where she could consistently call upon the Insight at will. That put her not quite at the bottom of the Totem pole, within the clan’s hierarchy, but higher enough to be someone of some significance. That, plus the fact that she was a Hydrasionist, had earned her a spot as the head of her small squad of clan members. She was eager and willing to prove her worth to the clan so that she may eventually climb the ranks to the point where she could gain the awe-inspiring powers of the Sightless. With those powers in hand, she would be able to finally locate her abusive father. And once she did find him… ooooh the revenge she would inflict upon him…

Tayla shook her head awaken herself from her thoughts of vengeance. She felt an itch crawling up the back her spine. A feeling she had come to associate with having been away from the Insight for far too long. As soon as she was done capturing the non-believers, she would practice drawing on the Insight further. Perhaps the next vision would finally reveal her father’s whereabouts.

Tayla positioned her squad of clan members outside the building on which the Non-believers now stood. She could hear Sightless Syella in the distance distracting the heretics from Tayla’s squad’s presence.
Tayla reached for one of the pouches that hung from her waist and pulled out a cotton ball which had been doused in a tomatoey juice. She popped the cotton ball into her mouth, its savory taste registering on her tongue.

Placing on hand on the ground, Tayla tapped into her body’s water stores and called upon them to fuel her magic. The ground at her feet shifted and morphed, stretching into a ramp leading up to the rooftop.

Tayla, immediately felt the effects of her magic as her water stores began draining from her body. This was the most fuel intensive form of her magic. She motioned her squad to cross the ramp quickly. The squad complied.

Once the squad had reach the rooftop, Tayla released her hold on the ground beneath her. The makeshift ramp she had formed, out of the ground, immediately returned to its original shape, as if nothing had changed in the first place. She could hear Sightless Syella from above commanding her squad into action.

Tayla spat out the cotton ball and licked her lips. Her lips were a tad drier than they had been a second ago. Pulling one of the many water skins from her side, she took a deep swallow, popped a sour cotton ball into her mouth and then took a running leap forward. As soon as she left the ground, she called upon her magic, triggered by the sour taste in her mouth.

Sour tastes triggers a hydrasionist’s momentum modifying magic. With this magic, she could modify an object’s linear momentum. In this case, that object was her shoes. Keeping her legs straight after entering the air, the magic augmented her running jump, lifting Tayla up into the air and onto the rooftop.

Tayla landed on the roof in a crouch. One of her squad mates had already begun making his way towards the dark skinned woman. Another two approached the Giant, one of them was a magic user. One of her magic deterrent users had set her sights on the white haired woman. She was quickly at work testing different magic deterrents to see which one worked against the white haired woman’s ice magic. Tayla’s other magic deterrent user was making work of the illusions, trying to identify which illusion was the real thing. Her last squad mate had grabbed hold of the lone child and placed a dagger to the kid’s throat. The kid’s parents cried out in fear and began to beg for their child’s life.

They were going to probably need more people to capture everyone, Tayla realized. Sightless Syella must have thought the same, for at that moment, Sightless Syella leapt off the building she was on. Her arms stretching downwards, towards the ground. When Syella’s hands reached the ground her arms didn’t stop extending. Their continued extension pushed Syella back upwards allow her running jump’s momentum to carry Sightless Syella across the gap of the two buildings.

Tayla felt a strong itch crawl up her neck. One day, that power would be hers. However, until that day came, she would continue to prove her worth to the clan

Tayla raised herself from the ground popping four more cotton balls into her mouth. That made five cotton balls total. One for each of the five types of tastes. Drawing the duel blades she kept at her side, Tayla dashed towards the white haired woman. Left sword raised mid-strike, the right at the ready.

[13org]

Karina Frost

Karina could feel Syella's attention, focused on her, probably trying to discover what exactly was her magic. Karina stood still, still carefully watching everything that was happening. Despite the dire situation, the expression Syella did when 'looking' at Karina meant that they were at equal grounds. Karina didn't know exactly what were the woman's abilities, but neither did she knew what Karina's abilities were.

Unfortunately for Karina, she had completely forgotten that civilians tend to let their tongues run wild in stressful situations... And that fact became even more apparent when the innkeeper's wife revealed who was the healer out of panic. Even though her husband protested, it was already too late. The foolish woman's words had already told Syella everything she wanted to know. Even though Karina didn't changed her expression or even looked away from Syella, those around her could easily feel the air getting colder and colder. Even without looking at the innkeeper's wife, the woman would feel a shiver running down her spine. It was obvious who made Karina so angry...

When Syella shot with her sharpened fingers towards the woman though, Karina instead of sending her ice blades to defend the woman, simply let things happen. That foolish woman's own actions brought that upon herself. Betrayal was punishable by death from where Karina came.

But instead of killing her, Syella stopped her attack millimeters before hitting the woman. Once again, Syella's actions proved to be difficult to understand. After a quick glance though, the reason for her actions became obvious. It was Octavio, the illusionist. Conjuring three mirror images of himself, inserting themselves amongst their enemies, confusing them.

After a brief moment of confusion though, the order Karina was waiting Syella to give finally came. She ordered to immobilize the healer and capture them, that meant she had allies close, which was quickly proven to be true when a squad of cultists arrived at the rooftop they were standing at. Karina didn't know why exactly Syella wanted them alive, but Karina wouldn't give them the same luxury... The cold air swirling around her became a thin, slightly visible white mist around her. Her eyes, as cold as the air around her and her rapier's blade, which was ready on her hands. It was impossible to see past her expression. Expressionless, there was no rage, no fear, no excitement... There was only her cold, focused stare.

Underneath her cold and calm expression, her mind was working at full speed. The battle had already begun the second Syella revealed herself as she started analyzing which tactics Syella and her cultists would probably use. Karina's group had a few magic users, herself included, who would clearly be tricky to deal with, even for cultists. These magic users also consisted on the group's main offensive capabilities. Using magic deterrents to cut their fighting power was a strategy that Syella would surely use. Numbing Ivy. Even though Syella didn't know exactly which magic Karina used, she and her allies would soon find out.

Numbing Ivy was mostly employed as a magic deterrent in the form of oils and extracts. In battle, they could be used in a variety of ways... By dousing arrows with them, darts, blades or even by simply throwing them. Despite the difficult situation, there was a chance to win that confrontation. It was slim, but it was still there. Karina would have to be very careful, especially with the possibility of the cultists using magic deterrents.

As one of the cultists dashed towards her, wielding two dueling blades. Her attack was way too obvious, especially on how she was running, with one sword ready for attack and the other one ready to attack shortly after. She would probably try to take advantage of the fact that Karina had only one sword while she had two. But the cultist woman probably didn't know of one thing... Karina wasn't just a girl with a rapier... There was a reason why she was considered a genius fencer even amongst the military...

Instead of trying to defend herself or even parry the woman's attack, Karina dashed forward in a swift, agile and graceful movement, almost as she was sliding on the ground just as the cultist woman was about to get close to her. While wielding two swords meant that she could parry an attack and counterattack at the same time, the rapier had one advantage... It was much faster. By using Karina's small body, her natural speed and agility and her skill with the rapier, keeping track of her movements would certainly be difficult. Let alone matching them...

Karina moved out of the woman's attack with a graceful movement, spinning around her almost like she was dancing. Unfortunately for the cultist woman, she was fighting not just a genius fencer, but also someone who wielded ice magic... Just as she spun around the cultist woman to get behind her, the cultist woman would see two of the three ice blades flying towards her like needles, forcing her to either dodge them or block them with her blades while making it impossible for her to use her other blade to attack Karina. Regardless if the cultist woman would choose to either dodge or block them, her movements would already give Karina the chance she needed.

Just as she passed by the woman, spinning around her, she moved her rapier with a sudden and quick flick of her wrist just as she passed by the woman. The next thing the cultist woman would see, was the glint from her rapier's blade as it slid between her defenses just as she moved herself to avoid being hit by her ice blades, aiming precisely at her left arm, inflicting a cut on her biceps.
Together with the sharp pain, the woman would feel a painful and numbing cold coming from the cut she just received. It was just like there were millions of small needles inside her biceps whenever she moved it. If she looked at it though, she would quickly realize that the blood inside the wound was completely frozen. Even though it wasn't that deep of a cut, it proved to be even more debilitating than a normal cut. She could feel the cold sapping her strengths.

After that dazzlingly fast counterattack, the cultist woman would turn around to see Karina standing still with the same expressionless, cold stare while still in a fencing stance. From Karina's mouth and nose, the cultist woman would be able to see her cold breath visible in the air as she breathed. The cold aura around that small girl had wasn't just figurative, but literal as well. Engaging that girl without a proper tactic quickly proved to be a mortal mistake. After that cut, she was already at disadvantage due to the girl's weird magic. Not only that but every movement that small girl made was just like it was carefully calculated. She moved strictly the necessary, without spending unnecessary energy. Even the fact that she used only two of her three ice blades seemed to have a motive... The remaining ice blade, instead of being in front of her, was hovering just besides her. Not pointing towards the cultist woman, but standing still in a weird angle. If the cultist woman analyzed Karina's posture carefully, she would realize that the remaining ice blade was being used by that small girl as a mirror, a third eye to help her guard her blind spot.

The cultist woman quickly realized, after that brief exchange of blows that beating Karina in a duel was simply impossible. She would need help if she wanted to take down that girl. Taking out her magic would help a lot to make things a bit more even, but there was two problems with that plan. That girl probably knew what they were trying to do, which was evident by how she was using her remaining ice blade as a mirror and the fact that even without her magic, that girl was extremely skilled with a rapier...

[Fetzen]

Týfurkh

Týfurkh could see trouble crawling up upon them. The term was only metaphorical though -- in reality those hostile individuals came at them much faster and much easier than he had hoped for. Their enemies, whoever they truly were, must have been watching them all the time. Frankly he hated to jump to into action that fast, usually he preferred to shout at hostiles first in order to give them -- and himself -- the chance to save lifes and health mutually. The expression on the faces of those individuals however made Týfurkh think otherwise. If he wouldn't act quickly it probably would be him ending up disabled or dead.

The rooftile was shattered by the impact of the steel-shod crossbow as Týfurkh slammed its front onto the ground below. Reloading with one's foot was the most efficient way to do it, so the next bolt was ready well before any of the Clan's members could reach his position. It didn't look as if everyone of them actually had this intention though: In fact, one of them was... flying... well past him. For a moment Týfurkh couldn't resist the temptation to aim for Syella, but soon realized it would be a shot too quick and too far away. By the time he returned his view towards the others, they had fanned out. Two were left approaching him, male and female. Which one to pick first ?

With no better knowledge available, he targeted the woman. She had happened to be closer to his current aim than her partner. A brief, but intense hissing sound, then the latter lost the former out of view. She tumbled, something sticking out of her back that definitely should not be there normally. Her mind had probably shut down already by the time she collapsed, falling into small but growing patches of her own blood. The male didn't look behind, but he must have seen the bolt leaving Týfurkh's weapon.

His face turned from enthusiasm for battle to fury. As Týfurkh tried to reload in time for another shot, the cult member made movements with his hands as if he wanted to throw something at him. His hands obviously were empty, but still something happened a few feet into the imaginary trajectory. The air started to become cloudy, to fill up with something that looked like dense steam or mist, but with another color that was virtually crying out loudly that it was ugly. Týfurkh only became aware of this moments later as he was busy, but by the time he finally did these traces were already very close to touchdown. They appeared to be comprised of nothing more but some kind of gas indeed as there was no noise, but the circular plumes that started to spread from their impact sites were quite impressive.

Týfurkh was engulfed by the wavefront and started coughing. To his eyes it felt like cutting onions -- just a lot worse. He tried to take aim now that the bolt was ready, but only saw a pair of nebulous double images. The clan member had drawn a dagger, but luckily Týfurkh's armor managed to stop it. The clan member probably barely weighed one third as much as he did, so the impact had left the man out of balance for the moment. Still there was the urgent need to get out of this... cloud... or whatever it was... immediately before he'd be hit at the right spot the next time.

Týfurkh took a large leap and subsequent run to escape the obnoxious gas cloud, but his eyes had broken out in tears and there was probably nothing that would stop his enemy from creating another plume of that stuff or something even a lot more poisonous. Given how much space each of these clouds consumed it wouldn't take long for him to run out of roof area to stay on. What kind of magic was this guy using ? Smelling ? Must have taken an antidote against his own creation!

However no further clouds were thrown at him. Unbeknownst to Týfurkh his enemy was far from finishing his training, an important fact that explained why he wasn't yet able to invoke much more deadly concoctions. Throwing more of the purple gas would only help drive this giant off the roof and out of his reach and aside from this the effect on his eyes would last for minutes: No more danger from that crossbow! But from Týfurkh's hands... As the clan member came in for his second attack, Týfurkh managed to grab him. He couldn't escape from that much strength and started panicking with his dagger. A few banging sounds later as the blade hit the armor again and again and there was a different noise. Soft and painful. Týfurkh bared his teeth as he was trying not to cry out loudly while continuing to choke his enemy, almost lifting him off the ground. He could feel his blood starting to seep out from underneath his armor that had been circumvented by the last hit. Was there a smirk on the clan member's face ? Hopefully not for long! But that wound would have to be dealt with better sooner than later...

[Pezzle]

Tayla

Interactions with @Fetzen, @13Org

---

To Tayla's surprise, the white haired woman began to dash past Tayla, dodging Tayla's attack with a graceful spin.

Tayla quickly suppressed her surprise. Her opponent was positioning herself behind her! A counterattack was imminent!

Tayla began to pivot in an attempt to spin on her heels and parry the attack. That was when she noticed two of the three icy blades speeding towards her. Tayla cursed, the sound coming out as an incoherent muffle due to the tufts of cotton in her mouth. Tayla reacted quickly, twirling her left and right blades at the icy blue constructs. It was in that moment that she caught the glint of the white haired woman's blade out of the corner of her eye.

Tayla reacted without thinking. Her Hydraision training kicking in. Tayla applied her object modifying magic to the left sleeve of her outfit. Using the salty taste on her tongue as the magic's conduit, Tayla hardened the left sleeve of her clothing. The woman's rapier slid harmlessly off Tayla's left bicep, avoiding her neck by mere inches neck. At the same time Tayla's two blades connected with the death traps flying towards her, knocking them aside and shattering them in the process.

The immediate danger may had been averted, yet still Tayla could not spare a second to breath a sigh of relief. That rapier was still dangerously close to Tayla's neck. Tayla need to reassess her opponent, which meant she needed to get some distance between the two of them.

Not a second after Tayla fended off the woman's attacks, did Tayla sidestep to her right, away from the white haired woman. At the same time, Tayla cut off the magic she used to strengthen her sleeve and redirected it to her shoes. This time, Tayla used the bitter taste in her mouth as the magic's conduit. In the Art of Gustum Hydraision, a bitter taste triggers friction based object modification. Tayla used this to significantly decrease the friction of her shoes, allowing Tayla to use the momentum from her sidestep to slide away from the white hair women.

Tayla pivoted to face her opponent as she glided across the rooftop to a safe distance, locking eyes with the woman as she did so. She saw in those eyes a delicate yet cold and calculative warrior, rapier raised and at the ready. The woman breathed out a misty vapor, likely a due to a side effect of the woman's magic. The effect only added to perfect pristine image the white haired women held.

Tayla curled her lip up into a sneer as she slid away from the perfectly pictured woman. The woman's contempt for Tayla was crystal clear. That dirty bitch thought she was better than Tayla! The realization made Tayla's blood boil.

Tayla gradually reduced the magic's effects on her shoes, in order to prevent a sudden stop caused by the friction between her shoes and the ground returning too quickly. As she slid to a stop, Tayla's backup jumped in. Smit, a trained magic deterrent user.

Smit started with the basics. Tossing vials full of concentrated skunk spray onto the ground in front of the white haired woman. Tayla hated the stuff, but she could put up with it.

Tayla spent most of her late teens begging in the filth ridden streets that made up the slums of the city of Manibae. During the winters she would huddle away among the garbage in the tunnels which made up the city sewers. Her rags far too thin to shield her from the cold. Tayla was no stranger to unpleasant smells. But, that didn't mean she enjoyed them.

As the vials smashed onto the ground releasing their contents, Smit then drew two throwing knives and threw them at the woman. One knife coated in a Liquid Ageusia, the other coated in numbing oil. He followed up by throwing two other knifes at the woman hoping to nail some hits in.

Tayla let Smit do his thing as she assessed her companions. The giant had kill one of her non-special squad mates already, and was in the process of killing her squad's only other magic user. Tayla twitched her eye in annoyance.

Sheathing her left blade, Tayla grabbed a handful of coins from her money pouch. She then threw the coins at the giant. Using the taste from the sour cotton tuft as her magic's conduit, Tayla applied her hydraision magic to the coins. The magic increased the coins' momentum to frightening speeds the moment they left Tayla's hand. The coins sped towards the giant man.

Tayla didn't watch to see what happened. Instead she grabbed a few more coins from her pouch and turned a cold eye back towards the white haired woman. Tayla sneered at the woman who was so obviously privileged in life. Tayla would beat that overbearing attitude out the woman and reveal to the woman which of them really was the real piece of trash here.

[Jerkchicken]

Things had turned into an utter mess for the nameless man. First he was facing down cultist goons and their leader while defending the innkeeper and his family while it was also set on fire. The damage from the fire was bad enough that part of the inn collapsed on him causing him to disengage from the battle and find a way out. While the streets may be literally on fire and filled with cultists, it seems the people he was supposed to be with and fighting moved on without him. He took a breath, and was soon floating in the air to the roof tops.

The jumps between the rooftops were effortless and done almost in a gliding manner. It was the best method to get around in this situation as he could cover a lot of ground fairly easily. He had no clue where to go, but he figured now that they were all bound together to fight the cult, it should easy enough to bump into each other. Everywhere there was chaos with the fire and cultists trying to hunt them down in particular. Eventually he eyed something familiar to him, it was the innkeeper and the family currently being held by the cultists.

Like raptor that spotted its prey, he took flight once more as he jumped into the air with moon over him. This while dramatic, was also an attempt at sneak attack as he knew light was their blind spot and he figured he'd be invisible with the light of the moon over him. He attack the cultist over head by smashing the staff over his head. He said nothing to the family as he was now concentrated on defeating this cultist and any other that were lurking nearby.

[13org]

Karina Frost

The cultist woman's reflexes were indeed better than Karina had thought. Not only she had successfully avoided her ice blades, which was already quite a feat seeing how Karina had moved them to be just behind her, but she also, somehow avoided her rapier's blade. Maybe avoid wasn't the right word as Karina definitely felt her blade connecting with the woman's sleeve, making her rapier slide inoffensively through it and shortly after, sliding through the ground almost as it was ice to get away from Karina's blade. That would prove to be problematic to deal with... Karina could think only of one magic type that could fit perfectly on that occasion... Gustum Hydraision... She had already heard about it, but never fought against a practitioner, so the exact extent of their capabilities were still a mystery for Karina.

Just as she stop sliding though, Karina saw a reflection from her remaining ice blade, it was the cultist woman's backup. The man's first action was to throw vials of an exceedingly foul smelling liquid near Karinna. Even though she gave a step back on reflex, it became clear that he wasn't aiming at her the second the flasks hit the ground, releasing that foul smelling liquid. It was Skunk's spray. Even though it wasn't the correct magic deterrent for Karina's type of magic, she absolutely loathed that smell. She couldn't help but to sneeze and hold her breath a bit just after he threw that. Unfortunately for Karina, that brief second that she took to sneeze would quickly prove to be a mistake... A mistake that could potentially be really annoying to deal with... The second she sneezed, the cultist man threw four daggers towards her on quick succession. First was skunk's spray, a known magic deterrent. Now he was throwing daggers... He was going with a trial-and-error approach, using every single magic deterrent until he found the correct one.

If it wasn't for Karina's fast reflexes, she certainly would have ben hit, but thanks to her agility and the fact that she still had one ice blade near her (as the other ones were still returning to her) she was able to block one of the four daggers he threw and dodge other two. The first dagger was redirected by the crystalline ice blade, the second one flew only inches away from Karina's face as she dodged them, but the third and the fourth one grazed her cheek and her leg. They weren't deep cuts, but that was a clear indication that she had been careless due to the skunk's spray. Luckily enough, the two daggers that hit her weren't coated with anything. By the smell of the dagger that flew right nearby her face, it was coated with numbing ivy and the remaining one, with sticky sap as it became evident upon looking at her ice blade, where the first dagger hit.

As a thin drop of blood slid down Karina's cheek, she sent the cultist man a piercing glare. He probably already knew that it was either numbing oil or sticky sap the correct deterrents just by watching Karina's reaction. He would focus on those two now, probably throw more daggers. That entire situation was starting to get dangerous as the cultist woman was also a mage... The second her ice blades returned to her, she sent the one which she had blocked his dagger with towards the man, flying right towards him with a deadly speed. It was obvious that he would dodge it seeing how he was completely focused on her. The second it got close to him though, Karina made it so it shattered in many small pieces, making an area attack. Even if he tried to dodge, some shards were bound to hit him.

While she sent her ice blade towards the magic deterrent user though, she watched her grabbing a handful of coins from her pocket and throwing them towards Týfurkh like projectiles. Their speed was frightening. If they landed, they would hurt really bad. As she turned towards Karina once again, with coins on her hand and a snicker on her face, it became obvious that fighting passively like she was fighting wouldn't work. She was being targeted by both the woman and the magic deterrent user. Her best bet was to use her small size and her agility while being aggressive.

"Very well..." Karina said, swinging her sword with a flick of her wrist, changing her stance. That coin shot would be problematic to dodge from a distance, due to their spread...

"Quite a bit unfair, don't you think? Needing backup to fight against a single girl... Even though you're bigger than me... Such a coward... Pathetic." Karina said, with the same cold expression she had before, her icy words capable of cutting even a seasoned warrior's confidence.

"Let's see if you really can keep up with me..." Karina said, slowly walking towards the woman, giving only a few steps before dashing towards her with a surprising speed. Her small frame, while lacked raw strength, was more than perfect for dexterity, speed and agility. Exactly what made the rapier a perfect weapon for her.

Summoning one more ice blade to replace the one she shattered attacking the magic deterrent user, she placed it again in the same location, nearby her face angled in such a way to see the man's movements reflected on it. Using so much ice magic was starting to take a toll on Karina. While she knew she could probably continue using for now, she knew she had to either end that quickly or at least make that a duel only against the cultist woman. Having to deal with both of them at the same time would be difficult.

Dashing towards the woman in a deadly lunge, she sent one more ice blade flying towards her, but instead of aiming right towards her, she made it so it shattered right at the woman's feet, sending ice shards flying upwards while freezing a patch of ground beneath the woman's feet, making it so when she tried to dodge her lunge, the ice would either make it fall or prevent her from effectively dodging her blow. Regarding the coins on the woman's hand, as Karina lunged, she discreetly dissolved the two remaining ice blades, forming a thick, crystalline ice layer shielding her chest and legs as she lunged towards the cultist woman. She would certainly throw those coins at her to try and deter her lunge. What she probably wouldn't expect was Karina not trying to dodge them at all, instead taking them head on while continuing with the attack. While that move meant she had only one remaining ice blade, which she was using as a mirror to keep track of the magic deterrent user and was a risky move, if that worked, it would probably give Karina a much needed advantage, maybe even turning the fight on her favor. Judging how fast the coins she threw at Týfurkh the ice layer would be just enough to prevent any lethal or crippling damage while still being discreet enough so she wouldn't notice. While that didn't mean the coins wouldn't hurt, they wouldn't hurt Karina enough to affect her fighting capabilities.

[Pezzle]

Chres Sansus

---

Chres woke to a world of pain. Everything hurt. his foot, his ribs, his head... everything. His mind felt muddy like as if not having fully woken from a dream. His thoughts were slow. His brain was trying with difficulty to piece things together. The increasingly painful headache not at all helping.

Con... Concussion? The stray thought popped into his head more than once.

There was noise everywhere people shouting, crying, begging... fighting?

Chres heard someone make a tsking sound beside him.

"Useless. Every last one of them." Came a familiar dry voice. "No matter. The re-enforcement's are near."

The cult... right... Chres thought dully as he listened to the footsteps of nearby tsker walk away from him. Must have... fallen... asleep?...

Chres struggled against the pain and grogginess, trying to form a coherent thought.

No, no. That's.... that's not right... My head... must have hit my head...

Chres tried to move and gasped. Bad idea. Pain shot through his whole body accompanied by a wave of nausea. Chres entered a fit of coughing leading to the emptying of his stomach.

Pain... so much pain...

[Pezzle]

Sightless Syella

---

Sightless Syella strode with an air of confidence towards the newcomer. She had just risen from the depths of the Insight. She had seen the lay of the land. The possibilities that could be. The backup which was inbound. The hopeful battle the Pact Makers fought for. The Pact Makers lost. There was no escape for them. Victory was assured.

She sharpened tips of her fingers to razor sharp points. She pointed a lone finger towards the useless female whose child had just been saved by the newcomer. Her back turned away from the incoming threat.

Syella's finger extended, impaling the woman through the gut. The woman cried out in pain as she fell to the ground. Her husband falling to his knees. Crying out her name. Holding in the blood. Asking if she's okay.

"You're wasting your last few moments with her." Syella said coldly to the innkeeper. "Don't worry though. Together you will both bleed out on these rooftops. I know, for I have seen it." Syella's finger shot out again. This time towards the innkeeper.

[HokumPocus]

---

"Aaahh!!!"

"Aaahh!!!"

"Aaahh!!!"

There were several works of literature that were considered to be masterpieces among humankind, being unafraid to bare the very essence of the complex and fragile soul beneath every man. Octavio, talented in theater and theatrics, well versed in many of the past century´s most renown plays and legends, was quite proficient in employing language to suit the occasion. It is then perhaps confusing as to why all three of him decided that screaming was the best course of action. Or was the confusion a part of his strategy?

Having a magician specialized in deterrents probe your mind was certainly an interesting experience. Especially for someone so accustomed to always making the first move or taking the boldest actions when dealing with others. Is this how women felt like when his pickup lines failed? No no, he told himself, I can take a hint, plus I´m hot. And so it was that he was extremely uncomfortable and irritated at the current situation, and why he had decided to opt for the... louder approach in the middle of so many speeches and curses being flung from both sides.

All three of him sprinted and hopped around the surrounding mess to ruthlessly pounce on the magician that had been tasked with targeting him. She had to probe around his sight magic, which involved determining the ¨gaps¨ in sight rather than what was seen, no doubt an action requiring of some heavy concentration. All three of him curved in their trajectories, with center Octavio and left Octavio even swapping roles halfway to their intended target. An actor must know how to conceal various props, and while his weapons were exposed for the world to see he still managed to flourish them with a lighting fast grace. The three sets of daggers and short swords that had always been present glimmered threateningly for a brief moment.

He wasn´t primarily invested in combat, but when there were three of you and you were Octavio it made for an opponent that quickly made you want to pull your hair out. As the world´s fencing and chess champions often say, the hardest opponent is a beginner. Two opponents will always wish to create the best possible moves in any strategic game, but when one is incapable of this it rapidly creates an environment of chaos and confusion where anything can happen regardless of skill level. Taking that logic, what would happen if a moderate level player were to intentionally devote themselves to messing the game as much as possible, even perfecting buffoonery into a tangible skill?

It was at that moment that three Octavios all flung their daggers at the man with the accuracy of someone who´s spent a decent portion of their life betting gold on knife tossing games and winning.

"Bullseye!" shouted the first Octavio, his dagger having penetrated the magician´s body deep enough turn him into a human wine bottle.

"I´d like to see that granny do the same!" answered the second, no doubt offended by Syella´s just as cocky antics and prideful of his aim.

"Chres!"

The third one shouted much louder than the other two, his smile overtaken by severe concern. He ran towards his ally in a mad dash that was oblivious to his surroundings. The other two continued to circle around their new pincushion with unchanged expressions. Their swords swiped from safe distances, amassing a collection of gashes and scrapes and injuries of all levels around the magician´s body. They were doing what they do best in combat, fighting like cowards. Their chaotic movements were emphasized by the feigning of silliness and nonchalance to further taunt and bewilder their foe. It was safe to say that it created the illusion of underestimating the fight. Being an illusionist was an art, one that surpassed just knowing magic.